594 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIII, 
words, he harbours but.a harmless number of quiescent parasites, and the 
exception is only apparent. The fact of the possibility of the trans- 
mission of malaria in this way having thus been now conclusively 
demonstrated, we may take it as practically certain that every malaria] 
patient has at some time been bitten by an infected mosquito. Further, it 
appears probable that only mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles are cap- 
able of acting as the host of the asexual stage of the parasite, but this 
‘is not certain, Now the malarial parasite is responsible for by far the 
greatest proportion of all sickness and death in the tropics. 
Cholera and Plague are comparatively insignificant enemies that per- 
haps kill a few thousands a year, in an impressive way it is true. But the 
quiet, insidious malaria sweeps off its millions, and the utmost effort that 
has yet, been made in India has been the vote of the magnificent sum of 
Rs. 30 per monsem by the city-fathers of Calcutta, to hire a man to 
destroy mosquito larve. I doubt if India will ever bea pleasant 
residence for the white man for the greater part of the year, but I am 
by no means sure that the tropics would not be well nigh as healthy 
a residence as the temperate zone, could we but do away with malaria. 
Under these circumstances, it is obvious that the first step in the 
attack of the preblem of prevention is the acquisition of an exact know- 
ledge of the life-history of the various species of mosquito of each 
malarial country, and this isa task which might well be taken up by 
the members of this Society, and it is to urge upon you how much 
might be done by a body animated by a common interest in natural 
history, such as the Bombay Natural History Society, that I am so 
glad to comply with the request that your Honorary Secretary has 
done me the honour to make to me of contributing a paper on the 
subject to your transactions. Such experiments and observations are 
badly wanted, for the number of workers is extremely small, and it is 
surprising how difficult it is to induce people to go to the least trouble 
either to observe or even to avail themselves of what is already known 
to protect themselves from the attacks of the most widely spread 
and destructive of tropical diseases. 
Such being the case, I would suggest to the members of the Society 
the following points for collective effort and investigation :— 
_ 1. To make a representative collection of the mosquitoes of India. 
In which connection I shali be happy to receive, and, as far as possible 
