374 



MEDICINE, ADVANCES IN. 



to fall in light flakes. The pilgrims halted and that a brief account of them as described by 



made their pitifully inadequate preparations tor Major W. C. Gorgas, the chief sanitary officer 



camping. With their hands they tore up some of Havana, will be of interest 



long grass to serve as beds. From their pouches For a century and a half yellow fever has been 



DOUKHOBORS THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



each took a handful of dry oatmeal and munched 

 it. Some scattered in the darkness to hunt for 

 the dried fruit of the rose-bush. With no shelter, 

 under the open sky, they lay down on the snowy 

 prairie, wearied with their 20-mile tramp. Before 

 flinging themselves down they sang a psalm and 

 quoted Scripture verses responsively, standing 

 meanwhile with bare heads while the snow fell 

 quietly over them." Many dropped out of the 

 ranks from sheer exhaustion and lack of nutri- 

 tious food, and many others would have fallen 

 by the way had not their stronger comrades made 

 litters and bore them along. They arrived at 

 Minnedosa, 100 miles west of Winnipeg, in the 

 night of Nov. 7, and on the morning of the 8th 

 attempted to resume their journey, with the 

 thermometer at 10 below zero. They were for- 

 cibly detained by the townspeople and farmers 

 until the arrival of a military special train with 

 500 mounted police. After a slight struggle, the 

 whole body were locked in the cars and carried 

 back to Yorkton, to be forcibly returned to their 

 villages. 



MARYLAND. (See under UNITED STATES.) 



MASSACHUSETTS. (See under UNITED 

 STATES.) 



MEDICINE, ADVANCES IN. The Mos- 

 quito Diseases. The remarkable etiology of yel- 

 low fever, which was worked out in 1901 by the 

 Yellow-Fever Commission of the United States 

 in Cuba, has during the past year received prac- 

 tical confirmation in a number of localities, no- 

 tably in Havana. New measures for combating 

 the disease, based on the mosquito theory, were 

 adopted in that city immediately after the pub- 

 lication of the commission's report. 



The altogether astounding results which have 

 been obtained by the first year's application of 

 these methods in Havana leave practically no 

 doubt as to the mosquito's agency in causing 

 yellow fever, and are almost equally emphatic as 

 to this insect's being the sole agency 'for its spread. 

 The results are so striking and furnish such con- 

 vincing proof of the truth of the mosquito theory 



endemic in Havana. As far back as the historic 

 records go, a month has never passed until the 

 American occupation without a death from yel- 

 low fever, " and there has probably in all this 

 time never been a day on which there was not a 

 case of this disease in Havana." Up to July of 

 the first year of the American occupation there 

 was little yellow fever in the city. Then immi- 

 grants began to pour in, and about 10,000 reached 

 Havana between July and Dec. 31, 1899. During 

 this period a serious epidemic began. 



In February, when Major Gorgas was appoint- 

 ed chief sanitary inspector of the city, a system 

 of compulsory notification was enforced; every 

 case being promptly isolated and quarantined. 

 In case of death the body was buried with all 

 sanitary precautions, and the sick-room thor- 

 oughly disinfected. The general death-rate of the 

 city was meanwhile decreasing under the im- 

 proved sanitary conditions, but the greatest care 

 and watchfulness produced no decrease of the 

 yellow-fever death-rate. The epidemic continued 

 throughout the spring and summer, and reached 

 serious proportions, even for Havana, in the fall. 

 During 1900 there were 1,244 cases, with 310 

 deaths. All classes suffered. During this work 

 $25,000 a month was spent, and 300 men em- 

 ployed every day. At the beginning of 1901 the 

 non-immune population was larger than it had 

 ever been before, and hence the conditions \\crr 

 favorable for a still more serious epidemic tliun 

 that of 1900. The deaths in January and Feb- 

 ruary were numerous. At about this time the 

 results of the Army Board's investigation were 

 published, and Gen. Wood, who was determined 

 to do all in his power to improve the sanitary 

 condition of the city, authorized Major Gor^a> 

 to go to any reasonable expense in testing the 

 new theory. 



As a result of this decision an ordinance was 

 at once issued requiring all people within the 

 city limits to keep receptacles containing water 

 " mosquito-proof." Inspectors were appointed 

 who went about and enforced this ordinance, ac- 



