13 



inquiry, and the successful termination of such 

 researches in the development of efficient pro- 

 tective measures attest the value of these dis- 

 coveries from a purely practical point of view. 



From the practical results that have followed 

 from scientific investigations, no line of work 

 has been fraught with more import than that 

 which has been carried on by the lamented 

 Reed and his associates on yellow fever. Curi- 

 ously enough, the inception of the theory that 

 this disease was transmitted by mosquitoes was 

 American, yet the idea lay fallow for a consid- 

 erable period of time, until the researches re- 

 ferred to were so convincing that the whole 

 system of prophylaxis was changed almost in a 

 day. The curse which for centuries, has rested 

 on the seaport towns of our sister republics as 

 well as menaced our own borders seems likely 

 to be removed as if by magic. 



In the line of problems that have engaged 

 the attention of many other observers may be 

 mentioned the venom work of Flexner and 

 his associates, also the researches which have 

 been made on Shiga's organism and their rela- 

 tion to infantile disorders; the important mor- 

 phological researches of Opie and MacCallum 

 on the significance of the flagellated struc- 

 tures in malarial parasites and other hemame- 

 bae; the recent discoveries of Councilman on 

 smallpox. 



The work of Smith and Ravenel on the 



