OTHER MEASURES AND EXPEDIENTS 217 



over $13 an acre. In tabulating the history cards of persons 

 receiving the treatment, it was found that 71 per cent reported 

 having had malaria within the preceding 5 years; 21 per cent 

 reported having had malaria in 1919; and 13.5 per cent reported 

 having had malaria some time in 1920 before applying for 

 treatment. 



Discussing the demonstration, Abercrombie 1 says: 



"There were 600,000 doses of quinine given . . . The people who 

 took the treatment were 10,339, divided as follows: white people, 

 6,849, and colored, 3,490. There were 1,691 families. I think the 

 report shows that out of this total . . . there were something like 

 27 people who developed chills after completing the treatment. We 

 figured that this cost approximately 50 cents per capita over the county. 

 It cost probably $1.50 for each person taking the treatment, but, since 

 it is a county-wide proposition, we are figuring it on a per capita basis 

 in the county." 



The campaign was started by interesting the plantation owners 

 and managers from an economic standpoint. Their assistance 

 was obtained in distributing the quinine to their tenants and 

 employes; in addition, 14 free dispensaries were established at 

 various points in the county. In all, about two-fifths of the 

 population of the county was treated. 



QUININE VERSUS ANTI-MOSQUITO MEASURES 



While quinine, as has been shown, is very valuable in coping 

 with malaria epidemics, use of quinine should in no sense be 

 considered as a satisfactory substitute for anti-mosquito measures. 



In the first place, quinine is merely a remedy for but one of the 

 effects of mosquito bites. It has no bearing on the annoyance 

 caused by mosquitoes of all species and the grave effects of this 

 annoyance upon the health. Moreover, quinine is of no value in 

 coping with those other consequences of mosquito bites which 

 take the form of yellow fever, dengue and filariasis. 



It also seems probable that over a period of years, covering 

 entire populations, administration of quinine would frequently 

 prove more costly than execution of anti-mosquito measures. 



There is no doubt that quinine has its place in the mosquito 

 problem, but that place is necessarily a limited one. 



1 Southern Medical Journal, April, 1921, page 286. 



