A GATUX LAKE IGUANA, 



THE GIAXT LIZARD OF THE SOUTH, 

 NATIVES FOR FOOD 



MUCH PRIZED BY 



the contraction of such contagious dis- 

 eases, threatening all the great ports of 

 the world and resulting in a quarantine 

 that might disrupt commercial intercourse 



for months. 



A CASE IX POINT 



Our experiences in this respect were 

 suggestive. At no time in Gatun or other 

 government towns were mosquitoes no- 

 ticeable, since thickets had been cleared, 

 the swamps drained or sprayed, and every 

 precaution taken against the presence of 

 insect life or their intrusion into dwell- 

 ings. When the house-boat was anchored 

 in the lagoons it was equally well pro- 

 tected against mosquitoes, besides we had 

 little fear of fever when not near native 

 villages. 



But at the plantation on the Trocha 

 were half a dozen laborers, and we were 

 frequently bitten by malarial mosquitoes 

 when coming through the clearing at 

 dusk or when taking a refreshing bath oft 

 the boat after a hot day's work. All 

 three of us developed malaria on or after 

 leaving the Isthmus, and as we learned 

 later that the white manager of the plan- 



tation had been taken to the Gatun Hos- 

 pital, a week before our arrival, suffering 

 from a severe case of fever, it seems 

 quite certain that we were only an addi- 

 tional link in the chain of dissemination. 



ENLARGE THE LAKE ZONE 



In a communication recently received 

 from a former canal commissioner, who 

 was in charge at the time the Hay-Varilla 

 Treaty was being negotiated, he wrote : 



"What you say of the dangers arising 

 from the lack of control by the United 

 States to the lands adjoining the margin 

 of Lake Gatun and outside the Canal 

 Zone is not exaggerated. When the width 

 of the zone was fixed at 10 miles, from 

 ocean to ocean, the plans did not con- 

 template the construction of the dam at 

 Gatun. but at Bohio, and the resulting 

 lake would have been much smaller had 

 that plan been carried out. The necessity 

 has become greater as the area of the 

 lake has become greater. . . . 



"Until we have a lesson of experience 

 in one or more elements of danger, I fear 

 that opposition will develop more strength 

 than can be overcome. . So far as the 



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