Inaugural Address. -487 



diseases, and when a French surgeon, Lareran, 

 described parasites in the blood-cells of malarial 

 patients similar to Drepanidium ranarnm, his discov- 

 ery was regarded with scepticism. Even those who 

 accepted these animals as the canse of the disease 

 were utterly at a loss to explain how it was communi- 

 cated. An Indian observer, Dr. Ross, however, working 

 on birds, which were known to suffer from the presence 

 of a parasite in their blood-cells, found that it produced 

 germs very similar to germs found in mosquitoes. Then 

 it was shown that some mosquitoes carried germs 

 similar to those produced by the human blood-parasite, 

 and, finally, an Italian zoologist, named Grassi, pointed 

 out that it was one particular kind of mosquito only 

 which carried these germs, and thus the whole 

 problem has been narrowed down to this — how are we 

 to fight the mosquito ? To solve this a thorough 

 knowledge of its habits and life-history is necessary, 

 and this the natui*al historian has supplied. Thus, 

 JSTatural History showed the way in the beginning at 

 every step a knowledge of zoology was required. But 

 we can go further still — our whole conception of the 

 relation between patient and disease is founded on 

 zoological observations. The modern treatment of 

 disease differs from the older in the recognition of the 

 comparatively small value of drugs. In olden days, 

 even so recently as my own childhood, one was dosed 

 vrith horrid mixtures of drugs in the belief that it was 

 possible to act directly on the disease. JSTow the posi- 

 tion of the modern doctor is almost identical with that 

 of Macbeth, " Throw physic to the dogs — I'll none of 

 it !" He knows that drugs have their uses as tem- 

 porary expedients in emergencies, just as everyone 

 knows the value of alcohol when given to a person 



