49 



about five to ten pounds, or much more ; and the constant 

 use of a punkah could not be obtained, even in India, under 

 about twelve pounds per annum ; (2) that the vast bulk of 

 the population, at least in any town in the tropics, could 

 not afford such luxuries ; (3) that, as people cannot legally 

 be compelled to adopt these measures, the latter will simply 

 not be attempted even by many of those who can afford 

 them ; (4) that people who scrupulously avoid mosquito- 

 bites in their own houses will be apt to become infected 

 when they visit less careful neighbours ; (5) that nets and 

 screens will certainly be frequently left open ; (6) that there 

 will be constant disputes between house-owner and tenant 

 as to which shall supply the mosquito-screens ;* (7) that 

 screens and nets check the cooling breezes which are so 

 necessary in very hot climates. 



Another method for controlling malaria is the one 

 recommended by KOCH, namely, the destruction of the 

 parasites in man by quinine ; so that the Anopheles ', even 

 if they exist in swarms, no longer become infected from 

 patients, and consequently do not in their turn infect 

 healthy persons. This method has the double advantage 

 of curing and preventing the disease at the same time ; 

 but it has many drawbacks, (i) The treatment is not 

 likely to be successful unless large doses of quinine are 

 taken regularly for at least three or four months under 

 skilled medical advice. (2) In order to stamp out the 

 disease within a given area, it would be necessary to treat 

 all the patients within that area. (3) In a town of, say, 



* In the tropics, most Europeans rent their houses from rich natives, who 

 :>eldom care to spend a penny on their property, and will not generally be 

 induced to provide wire screens. Hence the tenant will hare to do this for 

 himself. Since houses are generally taken by the month or quarter, few 

 tenants will be found willing to incur the cost. 



