EXAMPLES OF MOSQUITO EXTERMINATIVE MEASURES. 89 



EXAMPLES OF MOSQUITO EXTERMINATIVE MEASURES IN DIF- 

 FERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD AND OF THE SANITARY RE- 

 SULTS FOLLOWING THEM. 



It is proposed in this section to describe briefly some of the most 

 striking examples of successful warfare against mosquitoes that have 

 been carried out since 1900 and to bring them together into one 

 consecutive account, a task that has heretofore not been attempted. 

 Of many of them the details are not well known on account of the 

 inaccessibility of the documents of record. 



FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 



The work was begun at Klang and Port Swettenham in 1901 and 

 1902, the object being to abolish malaria, which was disastrous in its 

 prevalence and virulence, by the extermination of mosquitoes by 

 means of extensive drainage and the abolishing of breeding places. 

 The town of Klang is situated on swampy ground lying between the 

 Klang River — from which it takes its name — and a semicircle of low 

 hills. Klang was formerly the terminus of the government railway 

 and the port of the State. The river navigation, however, was diffi- 

 cult, and a new port was selected near the mouth of the river, which 

 was opened in September, 1901, and named Port Swettenham. 

 The anchorage was good, but a half mile of mangrove swamp inter- 

 vened between the shore and a wide extent of flat peaty land. The 

 mangrove swamp was intersected by a narrow road running up from 

 the coast to Klang, some 5 miles away. 



After Port Swettenham was opened malaria increased alarmingly; 

 almost all of the laborers were attacked, and many severe cases oc- 

 curred on board ships lying alongside the wharves. A commission 

 was formed consisting of physicians and engineers, and antimosquito 

 work of an extremely effective and complete character was carried 

 out. The following condensed account of the operations, and the 

 tables showing striking results in the reduction of malaria, are taken 

 from an article by E. A. O. Travers, state surgeon, Selangor, and 

 Malcolm Watson, district surgeon, Klang, published in the Journal 

 of Tropical Medicine for July 2, 1906: 



Port Swettenham. — An area of about 110 acres, formerly low-lying swampy land 

 covered with mangrove trees, has been cleared and carefully drained. In the neigh- 

 borhood of the railway, government buildings, and town site a considerable area has 

 been filled in and leveled, partly to do away with the breeding grounds of mosquitoes 

 and partly to provide building sites. The whole area not occupied by buildings 

 or roads is now covered by grass. 



The total expenditure on works other than the preparation of building sites has 

 been (to the end of 1905) £7,000 [$34,020], and the annual cost of upkeep of drains, 

 etc., is approximately £40 [$194,40] for clearing earth drains, and for town gardeners, 

 £100 [$486]. 



