64 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



even in the open country, for they are the direct cause of 

 malarial affections which, be it understood, do not ahvays 

 manifest themselves simply as fevers, but assume many 

 and varied forms, attacking always the weakest parts of 

 the individual. 



Wherever vegetation is undergoing the process of de- 

 cay and fermentation, there look out for the breeding 

 places of these fatal germs. It does not matter whether 

 the locality be north or south, at the equator or the north 

 pole, given certain conditions such as the above, and the 

 same result will follow. 



There are some places in Canada, and some in New 

 York, and some in Pennsylvania, some in California, in 

 Texas, in Georgia, in Florida, where we would not build 

 our home for all the wealth of the United States, because 

 we could not live to enjoy them, neither we nor any one 

 else. But these places are self-evident ; no one is comj)elled 

 to live there, or even to try to ; there is room enough for 

 all in healthy localities. 



Where, however, this presence is known or suspected, a 

 thin cotton screen in the windows and doors — cheese-cloth 

 for example — will prove a great safeguard, as it has been 

 proven by frequent tests that the disease germs can not 

 pass through cotton ; the fine loose films catch and hold it. 

 This is a fact well worth remembering by those who have 

 unhappily ' ' cast their lines " near low, swampy ground, 

 where these germs "most do congregate." 



Nor is this cotton screen the only barrier that may be 

 interposed between these fatal atoms and their intended 

 victims. A thick belt of forest trees or of sunflowers, or 

 where the climate is mild enough, the eucalyptus tree, all 

 these serve as efficient body-guards and hold the enemy in 

 check. This is especially true of the latter tree, which 

 acts iu a double manner; first, by evaporating moisture 



