io8 SOME MINUTE ANIMAL PARASITES 



it. Thorough repair should be insisted upon, and 

 on no account should the net be allowed to touch 

 the ground, as mosquitoes collect in its folds, and 

 may be set free within it instead of being kept 

 outside. 



The segregation of European dwellings from those 

 of the natives appears to be a most effective measure 

 for the prevention of malarial attacks in Africa. 

 Among African children under the age of fifteen 

 there is a widespread malarial infection, and parasites 

 carried from the native to the European is the chief 

 cause of malaria among Europeans. The main 

 source of infected mosquitoes in Africa is the native 

 hut, and in some parts of India similar conditions 

 prevail. In India the usual arrangement is that 

 European dwellings are separated from the native 

 bazaars, but in many parts of Africa little or no 

 attempt is made to separate the dwellings. Wherever 

 it has been done, the malaria rate among the 

 Europeans has decreased enormously. Accra, on 

 the Gold Coast, had one of the worst possible 

 reputations as a home of malaria, and an alarming 

 proportion of the Europeans there succumbed to it. 

 But a resolute attempt was made to stamp out 

 malaria among Europeans by removing them to a 

 higher district away from the native quarters. The 

 result is that the suburb of Accra known as Victoria- 

 borg is often considered the healthiest place on the 

 West Coast. There is a marked contrast with what 

 obtains in Freetown. European and native quarters 

 exist side by side there, and the natives are perpetual 

 reservoirs of malaria. High country alone cannot 



