388 CAPT. p. J. BARRAUD. 



In early summer the Bedouins, with their flocks, descend to the plains in search of 

 pasture and water. From their habits it has been assumed by some authorities 

 that the majority of these people are malaria-carriers, and in their wanderings assist 

 in the spread of the disease, but I am not aware that this opinion is based upon any 

 extensive investigations. It is possible that these people derive a certain protection 

 from the fact that they are usually accompanied by numbers of the larger domestic 

 animals, horses, donkeys, camels and cattle. I have observed that frequently some 

 of these are stabled under one end of the curiously shaped bivouac tents used by the 

 Bedouins. These conditions appeared to be favourable for the feeding and shelter- 

 ing of Anophelines. 



Although I was unable to prove that Anopheline mosquitos prefer feeding upon 

 animals rather than man in this part of the world, I have noticed, when searching 

 camps, that they are usually to be found in larger numbers in tents pitched near 

 horse or mule lines. In the towns and villages the number of large domestic animals 

 would not be sufficient to supply food for the abundant Anopheles, and in these places^ 

 no doubt, they mostly subsist upon the blood of human beings. 



One of the most abundant domestic mosquitos of the country is Anopheles 

 bifurcatus. I have seen it breeding in countless thousands in the basement rain- 

 water cisterns, which are to be found almost universally beneath and around private 

 houses. As this stored water often represents the sole supply for the inhabitants 

 during the summer, anti-malarial work is difficult, and opposition is sometimes met 

 with. 



In Jerusalem there are upwards of 4,000 basement cisterns, besides an extensive 

 system of ancient drains and sewers, many of which have become blocked by 

 subsidences. Some of these cisterns are of considerable size, having a rain-collecting 

 platform as large as a tennis court, with a correspondingly large surface of water 

 beneath. They are from 15 to 20 feet deep, and usually have only one opening about 

 2 feet square, so that a satisfactory examination is hardly possible. Even where a 

 lid or cover has been made mosquito-proof, and a pump fitted to draw up the water, 

 there is always an opening through which the rain enters. Mosquitos find their 

 way in and out through this. Large surface wells protected by masonry are 

 another frequent source of trouble. One of the most important medical problems 

 with which the new Administration has to deal is the provision of an adequate piped 

 water supply to all the towns, and the abolition of basement cisterns, surface wells 

 and catchment tanks. 



In Egypt, where the incidence of malaria is much less, the three chief Anopheline 

 carriers of Palestine, viz. A. maculipennis var., A. bifurcatus and A. superpictus, 

 are practically unknown. A. multicolor is there considered to be the principal 

 carrier. It is common in the Canal zone, and especially abundant in the oases. It 

 is in the last-named places that malaria is most prevalent. Here again the popula- 

 tion is largely a nomadic one, tending to spread the disease from place to place. 

 It is interesting to note that all the species of Anopheles so far found in Egypt occur 

 also in Palestine, in spite of a wide strip of waterless desert separating the two 

 countries. On the other hand, there are four or five species in Palestine which ar^ 

 absent from Egypt. 



