24 The Control of Mosquitoes 



21,934 malarial fever patients entering the hospi- 

 tals, 195 deaths occurred, or less than one per cent, 

 of the cases. It can be readily understood from 

 these death-rates how prevalent infection was in 

 the city of Panama before 1904. The hospital 

 physicians who were at Colon and Panama previous 

 to 1904 state that over seventy-five per cent. 

 of all hospital patients had malaria. Of course, 

 in the villages out in the Canal Zone surrounded 

 by jungle, breeding places for Anopheles were 

 quite numerous and close to the houses. The 

 question of controlling malaria appeared at first 

 sight to be utterly hopeless. The United States 

 Public Health Reports describe the situation as 

 follows : 



From Panama to Colon, a distance of forty-seven 

 miles, along the railroad there are many villages, in 

 fact almost a continuous settlement the entire dis- 

 tance, the total estimated population being 15,000 

 in January, 1904. The population is almost entirely 

 negro and Chinese. All the villages are filthy, with- 

 out regulations or restrictions, without sewers, and 

 having the usual water supply of the country, viz., rain- 

 water during the wet season, and water from streams 

 during the dry season. No attention is paid to the 

 wholesomeness of the source of the water supply. 

 Mosquitoes are prevalent in all these villages, breeding 

 in rainwater barrels, in the swamps, along the streams, 

 and in ponds. Malaria, elephantiasis, and beriberi 



