282 The Control of Mosquitoes 



ities. The sanitary department thought it of 

 prime importance to have the building, which 

 was located in an infected area, properly screened, 

 as it was used almost exclusively by non-immunes. 

 The importance of neglecting some other work, if 

 need be, and attending immediately to the screen- 

 ing of the Canal Building was brought to the atten- 

 tion of the architect time and again, but he thought 

 the matter of secondary importance compared with 

 the work he was doing elsewhere, and the screening 

 was delayed. The architect even joked about the 

 fuss made over the screening. He had not lived in 

 tropical America before, and had but little faith 

 in modern ideas pertaining to yellow fever trans- 

 mission and control. This able and .efficient 

 young man was among the first Americans who 

 died of yellow fever, contracted in the building he 

 had not screened, and other employees in the 

 offices in the same building also contracted the 

 disease. It cannot be said that the architect 

 was responsible for his own death and the death of 

 the others : the source of the trouble was higher. 

 When the power of the sanitary officer is limited, 

 the efficiency and speed in obtaining results will 

 always be limited proportionally, and often with 

 very serious results. 



The non-immune population lived in Panama 



