106 INSECTS AND MAN 



two men who had never suffered from malaria, nor been 

 out of England, were to be bitten with infective mosquitoes, 

 sent from abroad. 



The Roman Campagna, "a district so well known as 

 the classic land of malaria, not only on account of the 

 ravages of the endemic, but also because of the noble work 

 accomplished by the Romans during their long struggle 

 with the disease," was selected, and, by the middle of July 

 1900, the two scientists entrusted with the experiment, 

 Drs Sambon and Low, together with Signor Terzi, were 

 ensconced there in a mosquito-proof hut, of which more 

 anon. The actual site chosen was at Fumaroli, in the 

 district of Ostia, on the low, swampy, alluvial soil at the 

 mouth of the Tiber, and noted for being intensely malarious ; 

 so much so, that it has been said " that it is sufficient to 

 sleep one single night in Ostia, during the fever season, 

 to contract the disease." The district has no indigenous 

 population ; agricultural labourers arrive in the midde of 

 October, but depart again in June, before the malarial 

 season begins; their place is taken by other workers for 

 the wheat harvest, who in turn are succeeded by the 

 maize harvest workmen, in September; these peasants 

 suffer very severely from malaria. 



In describing the experiment to the writer, Dr Sambon 

 said : " We not only intended to corroborate a fact already 

 scientifically demonstrated, but also to overthrow a number 

 of fallacies and prejudices which prevented the full ap- 

 preciation of the new discoveries in malaria, and impeded 

 the advantages which would undoubtedly accrue from their 

 practical application. The routine of our life in the 

 Campagna was therefore greatly influenced by the object 

 the experiment had in view. We had to prove that 

 malaria was not carried by a vitiated condition of the air, 

 as the name of the disease implies, and therefore we always 

 slept with our windows wide open, although the stench of 

 the decaying vegetation and putrefying animal matter 



