DESTRUCTION OF MOSQUITOES, ETC. 663 



The official statistics of the Suez Canal Company showed that 

 whereas in 1902 there were 1990 cases of malaria at Ismailia, the 

 incidence fell to 37 in 1905 as a direct result of the crusade 

 [par tine surveillance constante) in destroying mosquitoes as soon 

 as their presence was recognised, and by the methodical labours 

 of the sanitary corps. 



In 1906 there was not a single new case of malaria at Ismailia, 

 and on visiting the town the Sanitary Inspector of Port Said, who 

 was anxious to obtain some anophiles for examination, was unable 

 to secure a single specimen. 



During the controversy I pointed out in the British Medical 

 Journal that if Colonel Hamilton had substituted " Port Said " for 

 Ismailia his indictment would have been correct. After some 

 private correspondence (to which I was indebted for the suggestion 

 of utilising petroleum in mitigating the nuisance from flies in the 

 Hedjaz Pilgrimage Quarantine Camp at El Tor in the Sinai Peninsula, 

 where I had observed flies feeding on the faeces during an epidemic 

 of bacillary dysentery) I met Col. Hamilton on his return from 

 India, and was able to show him then that by similar measures 

 to those undertaken at Ismailia, mosquitoes had also been prac- 

 tically abolished from the European quarter of Port Said. 



To Dr. E. J. Ross, a younger brother of the distinguished 

 Director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, is due the 

 credit of having removed the mosquito pest from the city at the 

 entrance to the Canal. Shortly after taking up the appointment of 

 local Health Officer at Port Said in the Egyptian Public Health 

 Department, this enthusiast commenced a crusade for the extermina- 

 tion of mosquitoes. 



It was recognised that the first requisite was to arouse public 

 interestin the project and enlist the co-operation of the officials and 

 other residents. 



Dr. Pressat delivered in French an oration at the El Dorado 

 Theatre to the different nationalities, illustrating the scheme by 

 the success which had followed the Ismailian campaign. At Dr. 

 Ross's request, through the courtesy of the Editor of the Egyptian 

 Gazette, I published in that journal a series of papers and leading 

 articles on " The Extermination of the Mosquito." A careful 

 survey was made of the town, a house to house inspection being 

 carried out with a view to locating the breeding places of mos- 

 quitoes, and financial assistance to the amount of £600 was obtained 

 from the Suez Canal Company and the Government. In a short 

 time there was added to the many interesting sights at Port Said 

 the procession of a native sanitary gang with their donkey cart and 

 petroleum barrel. Every house was visited once a week and 

 petroleum poured down the W.C, sufficient in quantity to spread 

 over the fosse. 



Stagnant pools were drained, wet cellars fiUed in with sand, 

 and refuse regularly removed. Within a few months even the most 

 sceptical were convinced, and the only people who suffered as a 



