﻿IX, B, 3 Colder on: Medical Geography of the Philippines 201 



as indicated by the thermometer at sea level is practically the same 

 throughout the Philippine Archipelago, it is higher in some regions than 

 in others during the months of April, May and June which cover the 

 periods. There exists a considerable difference in climate between the 

 coastal regions of the islands of the Archipelago and the elevated regions 

 of Luzon and Mindanao. Mountain climate of these two islands is similar 

 to that in Baguio, Luzon, whose altitu(ie is 4,777 feet and whose average 

 temperature and humidity are relatively low during the hot months of 

 March, April, May, and June owing to the prevailing winds blowing from 

 the China sea during that season. The climate of this region is ideal from 

 November to June. 



The article of Jerome B. Thomas ^ describes the principal 

 diseases found in 1903 and 1904 among the Igorots and Ilocanos, 

 who live in Baguio and the neighboring mountain regions. 

 These diseases are : Beriberi in benign form, bronchitis which is 

 most common during the months of January and February, 

 influenza, malaria, rare cases of amoebic dysentery, gastro- 

 enteritis due to indigestion, some cases of cerebrospinal menin- 

 gitis, various kinds of skin diseases, and parasitism. 



In regard to the intestinal parasites, we should mention the 

 interesting article of Garrison.* This investigator examined 

 microscopically the fseces of 4,106 inmates of Bilibid Prison of 

 Manila, and found that 3,447, or 89 per cent, had one or more 

 varieties of intestinal parasites. The author suggests that, 

 although these prisoners come from all parts of the Islands, it 

 would be interesting to make a minute investigation in the dif- 

 ferent provinces of the Archipelago and without doubt it could be 

 demonstrated that in certain regions there is an excess of intes- 

 tinal parasites. In the same year, 1908, Ross S. Rissler and 

 Liborio Gomez presented a paper about the campaign they made 

 against the intestinal parasites in Las Pirias and other towns of 

 Cavite and Rizal ; of 6,018 individuals they found that 5,406, or 

 89.84 per cent, harbored intestinal parasites. In another paper* 

 these authors, having examined the faeces of 10,000 individuals, 

 arrived at the conclusion that parasitism is a universal affection 



' Notes on diseases encountered in Baguio, Benguet, P. I., and the adja- 

 cent highlands of central Luzon, including revised excerpts from the advance 

 sheet of a report to the Secretary of the Interior. Read before the Manila 

 Medical Society on February 6, 1905. 



* The prevalence and distribution of animal parasites of man in the Phil- 

 ippine Islands, with a consideration of their possible influence upon the 

 public health. Read before the fifth annual meeting of the Philippine 

 Islands Medical Association in 1908. 



• Prevalence of intestinal parasites in Rizal and Cavite and in Cagayan 

 Valley. Read at the assembly of the Far Eastern Association of Tropical 

 Medicine in Manila in March, 1910. 



