58 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No 495 



"The sytem of irrigation by flood, which, happily, we do 

 not know as yet in the State of Morelos, but which is likely 

 enough to be introduced by and by, as the rice culture pro- 

 gresses, is the worst of all. It is this system especially that 

 is meant when competent authorities denounce the cultiva- 

 tion of rice as homicidal, declare its history to be one of 

 blood, and contend that every sixteen hectolitres of rice are 

 bought at the price of one man's life. Tlys form of irriga- 

 tion is said by experienced men to combine in the most ef- 

 fective manner all the evils of the very worst of sweet-water 

 swamps. 



"The rice cultivated under the current system, now gener- 

 ally adopted in this State, is irrigated from February to Sep- 

 tember by means of currents, renewed according to the 

 necessities of the plant, but generally continuous. Now as 

 perfect slopes are rare, the drainage is rarely, if ever, com- 

 plete, so that every field of any considerable extent presents 

 hollows ready to receive swamps. Moreover, the want of 

 canals and drains, or their imperfection, is cause that at the 

 points of entrance and exit the irrigation water diffuses itself 

 in lagoons. But supposing even this system to be carried 

 out in the most perfect manner, without any flaw, there re- 

 mains still the evaporation, on an immense surface, from a 

 soil exceedingly rich in organic matter. The harvest begins 

 in September. It leaves on the ground, more or less damp 

 and swampy, a large quantity of vegetable detritus, whose 

 decomposition fills the air with most pernicious, because ever 

 renewed, poison. 



"As to the dry system, which is used on hill-sides, I am 

 not practically acquainted with it. Of course it is not as 

 lunhealthy as the two others, but then it is less productive. 



"Now, if once we have created in our midst this class of 

 artificial morasses, with a large superficial extension, we 

 find safely established among us the paludic fevers and all 

 classes of gastro-intestinal affections. These are always 

 endemic in the districts where rice is cultivated. 



" Each progress of the rice culture is followed by a corres- 

 pondent advantage gained by the fever. More than fifty 

 per cent of the field-hands are attacked by it. It appears 

 under all its forms, but mostly under those of daily intermit- 

 tent, tertiary, and continuous fever; in the first two cases it 

 is accompanied almost at the onset with swelling and hard- 

 mess of the spleen, and very frequently of the liver. It is to 

 be observed that the continuous or remittent fevers do not 

 :at once appear as such, they are usually preceded by two or 

 three attacks of daily intermittent fever, whose duration 

 gradually increases until the disease becomes continuous or 

 remittent. Notwithstanding its paludic nature, this fever 

 is not amenable to any form of quinine. Neuralgia, espe- 

 cially in the form of trigeminus, urticaria, and purple spots, 

 is very frequent. Pneumonia becomes here an epidemic, 

 and is cured, or very favorably influenced, by the use of salts 

 of quinine: this observation is continually made in the 

 battalions which come from the south. The day-laborers 

 who come down from the central table-land and the Valley 

 of Mexico are almost invariably affected with cachexia on 

 their arrival. 



"I think this is the place to give a few details concerning 

 the physical geography of the State of Morelos. It forms 

 an inclined plane from north to south. Its highest parts 

 are 2,000 metres, and the lowest 500 to 650 metres above 

 the level of the sea. The prevailing winds by day are from 

 south to north, by night from north to south. 



"There is an abundance of water, both from springs and 

 rivers; the former is sweet, the latter sweet and salt. 



"The course of the waters is naturally opposed to the forma- 

 tion of lagoons or swamps, and the climate must have been 

 very healthy in former times. 



"It is in the lower part of theState that the rice is cultivated. 

 It grows there in company with the sugar-cane, another 

 cause of paludism. 



"The hygienic measures which the State Board of Health 

 submitted to the approbation of the government, through my 

 initiative, are as follows: — 



" 1. The cultivation of rice by the flooding system is, in no 

 case, to be allowed, even as a trial. 



"2. No new rice plantation shall be established, without a 

 license from the government, for the granting of which, the 

 Board of Health is to be consulted, the State engineer to be 

 a member of such Board. The Board will appoint a com- 

 mittee to study the subject, composed of one of its members 

 residing in Cuernavaca, a physician from the rice districts, 

 who may be a corresponding member of the Board, and of 

 the State engineer. 



"3. If the ground, in which it is proposed to cultivate rice, 

 is situated to the south or north of any village or town, and 

 distant therefrom less than 3,000 metres, the petition shall 

 be at once rejected, unless, in the opinion of the health ex- 

 perts, not less than three in number, the three being unani- , 

 mous, an intervening hill, or forest, or other such natural 

 feature, removes the danger. 



"4. Any rice-planter who shall commence his harvest with 

 the ground in a soaked condition, if such condition is due to 

 bad management or carelessness, the waters not having been 

 removed in due season, shall be liable to a fine of not less 

 than $50, the amount to be fixed in consultation with the 

 governor, and to be deposited with the funds of the State. 



" 5. The cultivation shall be suspended on any plantation, 

 in which, in the opinion of the engineer of the Board, the 

 irrigation waters form swamps or lagoons, either at the en- 

 trance or at the outlet. Once these defects removed, the 

 permission to cultivate may be renewed. 



" 6. Any person may denounce before the Board, or its cor- 

 respondents in the district, any defects in the irrigation or 

 cultivation, which may cause the formation of swamps. 



"7. Whenever the rice is beaten down by strong winds, 

 hail-storms, etc., it must at once be cut, and especially if it 

 is in the water. 



"8. The laborers employed in the rice culture will begin 

 work after sunrise, and will leave the fields before sunset. 



" 9. The overseers will, under no circumstances, allow the 

 wives of the laborers to bring them their meals or visit them 

 in the fields. This prohibition applies with still better reason 

 to children. 



" 10. The owners and administrators of rice plantations, 

 who have the well-being of their laborers at heart, may apply 

 to the State Board of Health and obtain from it a pamphlet 

 setting forth the rules to be observed for the prevention and 

 cure of paludic fever." 



There is a large rice culture in the United States also. 

 How large is shown by the following numbers, which I 

 have obtained from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 In 1879 the census data for the crop were as follows: — 



Pounds. 

 South Carolina . . . 52,077.515 



Georgia 25,369,687 



Louisiana .... 23,188,311 



All other States .... 9,495,860 



Total 



110,131,373 



