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They, however, are taking to various other things. Beer was 
supposed to be a safe drink in the Federated Malay States, and 
can be imported free of duty; but it is now found that the 
native shopkeeper is supposed in some way to be adulterating 
his beer, and the beer is a very potent liquor indeed. A Food 
and Drugs Act which has recently been passed will, it is 
hoped, enable the medical officers by analysis to detect any 
adulteration. It is also feared that there is adulteration in 
toddy. Toddy is the native drink of the Indian labourer, and 
we have always said that if he must drink he must be 
encouraged to drink toddy. But recent instances have led us 
to fear that toddy also is subject to adulteration. 
Mr. G.H. Gotiepce (Ceylon): Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen 
—I did not come prepared to speak on this subject to-day, but 
I should like to emphasize Dr. Fernando’s remarks with regard 
to the way coolies come from India impregnated with 
ankylostomiasis. It would seem a point for inquiry as to 
what is being done by the Government in India before the 
coolies come to us. There is no doubt that the medical aid 
question has received very considerable attention, certainly in 
Ceylon, of late years. An enormous amount of money has 
been spent by proprietors of estates to eliminate disease as 
much as possible on estates, and I think a very great deal has 
been done and a marked improvement made. One of the 
speakers referred to the influence of alcohol with regard to 
disease, and there is no doubt that we are very much handi- 
capped by that fact. It is to be hoped that now the Govern- 
ment have taken steps to control the liquor traffic, some 
improvement will take place. 
Sir SypNney Otivier: Mr. Chairman—With reference to 
the statement by previous speakers that in some of our 
British Colonies it has been found that natives of India, 
imported as labourers, were highly charged with ankylos- 
tomiasis, I wish to say that almost any Government would 
do well not to take it for granted that ankylostomiasis 
is imported necessarily by alien labourers. Our atten- 
tion in Jamaica was drawn to ankylostomiasis very largely 
by the fact that we had imported natives of India who suffered 
from it, and suffered from it very largely because they were in 
barracks on the estates. Having had our attention called to 
it, we then proceeded to make an ankylostomiasis survey of 
our population, and we were able to do so by taking those 
classes of population which came under control in the prisons, 
the hospitals and asylums. You may say that is not a very 
representative type of population, and that it is necessarily a 
part of the population which is perhaps in a rather low state 
of vitality. We found then that although the general idea was 
