512 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVI. No. 1195 



on Mt. Waialeale for the past six years. I am 

 under great obligation to Mr. Hardy for many 

 kindnesses, and I am indebted to Mm for tbe 

 accompanying tables. The second table shows 

 the rainfall data for Waimea, a village on the 

 leeward coast of Kauai. 



Douglas H. Campbell 



STANrOKD UNtVEKSITT, 



California 



QUOTATIONS 



THE ROCKEFELLER HEALTH RESEARCHES^ 



The third annual report of the Rockefeller 

 Foundation, the International Health Board 

 (known previously as the International Health 

 Commission), deals with the year 1916. The 

 general summary, which precedes the details 

 of different states and countries, shows that in 

 addition to ankylostomiasis, malaria and yel- 

 low fever have been dealt with, and this would 

 seem to indicate that the Board is prepared 

 to tackle all tropical disease where the neces- 

 sity arises. As regards the first of these 

 scourges, ankylostomiasis, it is stated that ac- 

 tive measures to control and prevent the 

 disease are now in operation in Kentucky, 

 Louisiana, Mississippi, IN'orth and South Caro- 

 lina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia in the 

 United States ; in certain West Indian islands 

 — Antigua, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, 

 and Trinidad; in British and Dutch Guiana, 

 Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, 

 Salvador, in South America; and in Ceylon 

 and Siam in the East. Such widespread work, 

 properly controlled as this is, and with no 

 lack of funds to support it, is bound to do 

 good, and, though remarkable results can not 

 be looked for in a few years, nevertheless re- 

 sults will come, all in due time. To ensure 

 this, permanency of the work is essential, as 

 otherwise matters would quickly drift back. 

 The sanitation of many of the small tropical 

 towns and villages at the present day is very 

 similar to that which existed in England a 

 hundred years ago, and only time and much 

 labor will bring them into line with modern 

 sanitary ideas. As many tropical maladies 



1 N. Goormaghtigh, Arch. m4d. Beiges, Paris, 

 1917. Tome LXX., p. 697. 



are insect-borne, study of the habits of the 

 insects concerned is essential, and engineer- 

 ing works, large and small, may be required 

 to abolish their different breeding grounds. 

 The importance of collective investigation and 

 organized campaigns in such a task is mani- 

 fest, and it is here that the great value of 

 the efforts of the International Health Board 

 lies. The report describes fully the means 

 adopted in the fight against ankylostomiasis. 

 Of great interest also is the work of the com- 

 mission appointed by the board to inquire into 

 the problem of yellow fever centers in South 

 America. The report states that the only 

 endemic center of the disease in South 

 America at present is Guayaquil, Ecuador, 

 though certain sections of Colombia, Vene- 

 zuela, and the adjacent West Indian Islands 

 are also under suspicion and require close ob- 

 servation. The eradication of the disease, 

 with this knowledge as a guide, is feasible. 

 The report suggests that Mexico and West 

 Africa should similarly be examined. Experi- 

 ments upon the control of malaria have also 

 been commenced, and these will be extended 

 in due course. Further, a new school of 

 hygiene and public health has been established 

 in Baltimore by the Rockefeller Foundation 

 in connection with the Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity, and is to be opened this month with 

 Dr. William H. Welch as director. Three 

 main purposes will be served by the new school : 

 first, to furnish trained men on whom the 

 board may draw; secondly, to serve as a train- 

 ing center to which students from other coun- 

 tries may be sent for instruction ; and, thirdly, 

 to provide a laboratory for solving scientific 

 problems which arise. This Rockefeller 

 Foundation is a splendid conception. Un- 

 trammelled by questions of expense, its activi- 

 ties are unlimited, and the benefits it can and 

 will bestow upon mankind in the tropics are 

 inestimable. It is a dream the original work- 

 ers in tropical medicine often dreamed, and it 

 has come true. Finally, a word of congratula- 

 tion is due to Dr. Wickliife Rose, its able 

 director-general, for the work he has already 

 accomplished. Long may he continue to di- 

 rect its energies. — British Medical Journal. 



