554 



SCIENCE. 



- [X. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 530. 



with all the colonies eggs, larvae and pupae. 

 The queens lay freely in captivity, but a break 

 in the normal succession of forms may be dis- 

 astrous, because nurse duty is performed by 

 the young, light-colored workers, the preda- 

 ceous, hunting instincts appearing with greater 

 maturity. The neglect of the young in some 

 colonies and a frequent tendency to cannibal- 

 ism may be ascribed to this deficiency of keleps 

 of proper age, though even in colonies other- 

 wise normal some of the larvae are occasionally 

 killed and fed to the others, especially if there 

 has been a deficiency of other animal food. 



Detailed reports on the social organization 

 and other features will be made, but in the 

 meantime it is apparent that a fair experiment 

 to determine whether the kelep can maintain 

 itself in the United States will require the 

 planting of full-sized colonies early in the 

 season, and in sufficient numbers, if possible, 

 to protect the field of cotton from the leaf- 

 worms as well as from the boll weevils. That 

 the kelep is not a true ant, and that its habits 

 differ so greatly from those of any other in- 

 sects previously known, are facts that show 

 how impracticable it would have been to de- 

 termine its possibilities in advance by the 

 application of analogies drawn from insects of 

 other families. 



O. F. Cook. 



New Orleans, 

 March 16, 1905. 



QUOTATIONS. 



THE SANITATION OF THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE. 



Dr. Charles A. L. Reed, chairman of the 

 legislative committee of the American Medical 

 Association, and lately president of this the 

 representative organization of the medical pro- 

 fession throughout the United States, a man 

 capable in every way of forming just conclu- 

 sions and with the courage and capacity vig- 

 orously to express his convictions, has, at the 

 request of the Secretary of War, submitted 

 a report of the sanitary, or unsanitary, condi- 

 tions in the Panama Canal Zone and in the 

 towns of Panama and Colon placed by treaty 

 under the management of the United States 

 commission. 



If the report of this gentleman is correct. 



and it must be accepted as such until it is 

 proved that he has made misstatements, the 

 sanitary department of the Panama commis- 

 sion has been in great measure paralyzed by 

 circumlocution and red tape and the mis- 

 guided interference of those who have been 

 placed in authority over the medical corps. 

 In certain quarters Dr. Reed's report has been 

 classified as 'frenzied' literature; but if one- 

 tenth of the criticisms which he has made 

 were justified sanitary affairs on the Isthmus 

 are in such deplorable shape that the presi- 

 dent should compel an immediate change "in 

 a disgraceful and dangerous situation. 



There is but one conimonsense solution of 

 this problem, and sooner or later it will be 

 applied; but the chief magistrate should not 

 wait to take this matter in hand until the 

 graveyards of Panama are filled with the vic- 

 tims of ' red tape.' 



As an illustration of the absurd methods 

 employed. Dr. Reed says in substance that if 

 the surgeon in charge of the Ancon Hospital 

 makes a requisition for supplies it must go to 

 the chief sanitary officer for approval, then to 

 the governor of the zone, then to the chief dis- 

 bursing officer and thence to the commission 

 at Washington. It must there wait for ad- 

 vertised bids, and when the award is made the 

 requisition is -filled under the supervision of 

 a purchasing agent, often not properly quali- 

 fied to select medical supplies. The material 

 is then shipped to the Isthmus, the disbursing 

 officer is notified, he notifies Col. Gorgas, and 

 he in turn must notify the surgeon in charge 

 of the hospital, who then applies to the quarter- 

 master for transportation; and, finally, so 

 much of the material as in the judgment of 

 the governor and chief disbursing officer and 

 the commission ought to be allowed to the 

 sviperintendent arrives at the hospital. 



There are cited numerous other instances 

 of this ridiculous routine which in the light 

 of a recent experience are a reflection upon the 

 intelligence and conscience of the American 

 people. 



We refer to Cuba, where Major Reed and 

 Col. Gorgas practically had carte hJanche to 

 do what in their judgment was best for the 

 sanitation of Havana and Cuba. 



