i62 'INFINITE TORMENT OF FLIES' 



pensory hairs, and by their breathing apparatus. 

 Anything which prevents the breathing tubes reach- 

 ing the air ensures the death of the larva and pupa. 

 Hence the use of paraffin on the pools or breeding- 

 places. It, or any other oily fluid, spreads as a thin 

 layer over the surface of the pools and puddles, and 

 clogs the respiratory pores, and the larvae or pupae 

 soon die of suffocation. 



In Ismailia the disease has been reduced to an 

 amazing extent, and quite recently remarkable 

 results have followed the use of these preventive 

 measures at Port Swettenham, in the Federated Malay 

 States. Within two months of the opening of the 

 port in 1902, 41 out of 49 of the Government quarters 

 were infected, and 118 out of 196 Government servants 

 were ill. Now, after filling up all pools and cleaning 

 the jungle, no single officer has suffered from malaria 

 since July, 1904, and the number of cases amongst 

 the children fell from 34*8 to 077 per cent. The only 

 melancholy feature about this wonderful alleviation of 

 suffering due to the untiring efforts of the District 

 Surgeon, Dr. Malcolm Watson, is that his fees for 

 attending malarial cases have dropped to zero. 



Thus a considerable degree of success has attended 

 the efforts of the sanitary authorities, largely at the 

 instigation of Major Ross, all over the world, to 

 diminish the mosquito plague. It is, of course, 

 equally important to try and destroy the parasite in 

 man by means of quinine. This is, however, a matter 

 of very great difficulty. In Africa and in the East 

 nearly all native children are infected with malaria, 

 though they suffer little, and gradually acquire a high 

 degree of immunity. Still, they are always a source 

 of infection ; and Europeans living in malarious 

 districts should always place their dwellings to the 

 windward of the native settlements. Knowing the 

 cause, we can now guard against malaria ; mosquito- 



