88 SUMMARY OF THE ANTIMALARIAL CAMPAIGNS 



period of ten years 1898-1907 to liave been 4*4 

 per cent. He states, moreover, that the deaths due 

 to mahiria in 1907 were 4,094, and the total deaths 

 from tliat disease in ten years 34,695. According to 

 this authority one-fifth of tlie total death rate in the 

 island is due to malaria. Tliis of course sliould not 

 be, considering that malaria can be so comparatively 

 easily grappled with. In analysing the hospital re- 

 turns, Prout states that one-lialf of the cases admitted 

 into hospital are malarial, and he estimates the actual 

 cost of these cases to the Colony at £6,300. Amongst 

 the coolies he states that 50 per cent, of the illness 

 is also due to malaria, which he estimates is equivalent 

 to a loss of 16*9 days out of the 100 working days 

 of each Coolie labourer. 



To remedy this state of affiiirs Dr. Prout proposes 

 to make it a punishable offence to harbour larvse on 

 premises (this is now the case, as we shall see, in 

 many of the ^^^est Indian islands) ; tliat all wells, 

 tanks, and barrels should be screened ; that all gutters 

 in towns should be cemented, as is the case in 

 Trinidad ; that all margins of rivers be kept free of 

 grass and w^eeds ; that drainage operations should 

 be undertaken bit by bit but systematically ; that 

 mosquito nets sliould be invariably employed and 

 houses screened where desirable. He also recommends 

 tlic daily use of quinine by those exposed to infection, 

 and the application of kerosene oil to all breeding 

 places which cannot be drained. 



The report also emphasises the importance to the 

 Colony of the services of an entomologist. In Jamaica, 



