284 The Control of Mosquitoes 



as possible a list of the places he had. frequented 

 (so far as he cotild remember), and a list of his 

 friends or relatives. We questioned them in turn 

 to make the history of the patient's previous move- 

 ments as exact as possible. We often received con- 

 flicting testimony, and the patient in many cases 

 was not in a condition to remember where he had 

 been at the time of infection, or since. It was 

 very important to obtain this information, so that 

 effective measures might be taken to destroy by 

 fumigation the infected mosquitoes that had 

 inoculated the patient, and that the Aedes calopus 

 which had bitten him during the first three days 

 of the disease be destroyed, before they in turn 

 should become infectious and bite non-immunes. 

 In some cases the patients were delirious, and 

 gave no clue to their history. In a few cases 

 false information was given and the much-needed 

 facts withheld. The missing of one link in the 

 chain of evidence meant leaving some infected 

 mosquitoes alive, with the possibility of secondary 

 cases. As some cases occurred which could not 

 be traced to previous known sources of infection, 

 it was decided to fumigate all houses in the city 

 of Panama in succession as rapidly as possible. 

 The fumigation brigade was increased, and the 

 work pushed as rapidly as conditions would per- 



