PROCEEDINGS. 257 



Dr. Bentley, in the course of his paper, said : — 



Modern Preventive Medicine has had to borrow very largely from other 

 sciences and in particular has received immense assistance from students of 

 Natural History. This is clearly shown by the present state of our knowledge 

 regarding malaria. Laveran's discovery first attracted Naturalists to the study 

 of malaria, but it was Ross' magnificent work which led to real alliance between 

 Natural History and Sanitary science. 



The Natural History of malaria can be approached from three different 

 aspects : (1) As it relates to the malarial organism ; (2) as it affects men, the 

 human animal ; (3) and lastly as it applies to the alternative host — the 

 anopheles mosquito. 



It is the latter aspect with which we shall deal to-night. In November 1908, 

 Capt. Liston announced his discovery, that the species of mosquito responsible 

 for the dissemination of malaria in Bombay was N. stepliensi. This discovery 

 is of very great importance, as a careful examination of Bombay shows that we 

 are justified in assuming that N, stepliensi is the only mosquito able to carry 

 malaria that is present in the greater part of the city. This being so, it is 

 necessary to learn everything we can about the Natural History of this 

 mosquito in order. 



Dr. Bentley described at length the different type of breeding places in which 

 N. stepliensi was to be found, and after discussing the habits of the insect and 

 the causes which lead to its spread, indicated the measures which could be 

 adopted for reducing the number of the insects and eventually control it. He 

 exhibited specimens of the small mosquito destroying fish " Piku " and some 

 of the water-weed Wolffia arliisa. 



Col. Bannerman called attention to the fact that the first intimation that 

 N. stephensi was the cause of the epidemic of malaria in Bombay was in a paper 

 read before this Society by Capt. Liston, I. M.S., in 1908, and that another 

 member of the Society, the late Mr. E. H. Aitken, had been the first to call 

 attention to the mosquito devouring fish ,( Piku " referred to and exhibited 

 here by Dr. Bentley, 



Col. Bannerman also said it would be a good thing if all the members of the 

 Bombay Corporation were members of the Society, so that they could obtain 

 some information from such papers as these, since the information would be of 

 great value to them. 



A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Dr. Bentley for his interesting paper 

 which will be published in full in the Society's Journal. 



