CHAPTER III 



MIASM, TRADITION AND PREJUDICE 



It is only those who have been practically engaged 

 in anti-malarial and anti-yellow fever prophylaxis who 

 have any idea of the depth to which the old doctrine 

 of the miasmatic origin of these diseases has sunk into 

 the minds of men. 



On account of this deep-seated belief in man, the 

 pioneer finds it far more easy to overthrow the strong- 

 holds of the disease-carrying mosquito than to over- 

 throw this deep-seated prejudice, which begets apathy 

 and indifference, characteristic of the tropical countries 

 where these diseases are so prevalent. I suppose it 

 is not to be wondered at, considering in the first place 

 the enormous mass of literature which has been written 

 upon the so-called deadly miasm, tlie veritable night- 

 mare of the tropics, which surrounds you on all sides, 

 which you encounter at its worst in the cool eventide 

 or early morning. It was especially bad over the 

 marsh and in the mangrove swamp, and if any colony 

 was so foolhardy as to engage in dredging the harbour 

 or the river bar or in constructing a new road, or so 

 rash as to disturb an old and disused cemetery, then the 



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