77 



With the sanction of the Secretary of State the measures being 

 taken to improve the sanitary condition of the town are being applied 

 as far as practicable to the railway. " Borrow pits " near all stations 

 are being filled up, or kerosene is used on them. The mosquito 

 netting is to be employed there as in other quarters. Certain buildings 

 have to be shifted. But there is nothing peculiar in this. In the dry 

 season mosquitoes will all but disappear on the railway with reason- 

 able attention to drainage. 



In the matter of large trees, of which there are not a few in Lagos, 

 a compromise has been adopted. It did not appear desirable to 

 deprive the Lagos subsoil, which is made up of sand and mud, of the 

 great pumping power that must be exercised by the many large- 

 crowned trees now growing here. On the other hand, these trees did 

 afford shelter to many mosquitoes. They have been thinned out, all 

 undergrowth has been cut away, and all the lower branches that 

 could be lopped off without disfiguring the tree have been removed to 

 allow free passage to the sea breeze which generally blows at Lagos. 



It is painfully apparent that what is being done at Lagos against 

 malaria is far short of what is required, but it is a beginning, and if 

 these measures are continued for even two or three years the effect 

 will begin to be felt to such an extent as to encourage their continu- 

 ance, let it be hoped, on a greater scale. 



Malarial fever is not the only disease that creates a great mortality 

 here. Large expenditure has to be incurred with special reference to 

 dysentery for instance. The total sum set apart for sanitary and 

 health purposes in this colony during the current year is not under 

 ,34,500, or about one-seventh part of the whole revenue. More 

 cannot be done without deranging other parts of the administrative 

 machinery, which in turn would stop sanitation. 



[After Sir William MacGregor's paper was read copies of lectures 

 which had been delivered to the general public in Lagos were passed 

 round.] 



