26 THE MOSQUITO ORIGIN OF DISExVSES 



this purpose, acting upon his usual plan of investigation, 

 he removed into Britisli Guiana, and it was whilst 

 engaged upon this study tliat he died at the Penal 

 Settlement, JMazaruni Kiver, British Guiana. 



The inscription on his tomb, for which I am in- 

 debted to the courtesy of Professor Harrison of 

 Demerara, reads as follows : 



LOUIS DANIEL BEAUPERTHUY, 



M.D., OF PARIS, 



Born at Guadeloupe, 



Died Sept. 3, 1871, 



Aged GJf, years. 



After his death his papers were collected together 

 and published in book form by his brother, Pierre 

 Daniel Beauperthuy, at Bordeaux in the year 1891. 

 I am indebted to Dr. Deverteuil, of Trinidad, for 

 having placed in my hands a copy of this work. It 

 is written in French. 



In my opinion, Beauperthuy wished to publish a 

 treatise on insect-borne diseases. There is little doubt 

 also that he regarded the mosquito or " tipulaire " as 

 the cause of very many diseases. AA^'here he failed in 

 his argument was to account for the source of the 

 virus with Mhich the mosquito infected man. He 

 believed tliat the mosquito introduced some poison 

 into man which it obtained from tlie decomposing 

 matter on which it fed {maticres pclugiques), or 

 perliaps from decomposing phosphorescent animal sub- 

 stances, as fish. In support of this he mentions that 



