Miscellaneous. 506 [Dec. 1906 



The general agents, external to the flower, which can carry pollen from one 

 flower to the stigma of another, are wind, animals, and water. 



Wind-pollination occurs in the grasses, sedges, and other plants. The 

 flowers are usually inconspicuous, not needing to attract insects, and produce large 

 quantities of powdery pollen which easily blows away and may be carried to a 

 stigma. The anthers of such flowers are usually large, and often project beyond the 

 flower on thin, easily shaken stalks, so as to give the wind a better chance. The 

 stigmas are very commonly large and brush-like, to have a better chance of catching 

 the floating pollen. 



{To be continued.) 



Sanitation on Estates and the Health of Coolies. 



The Disease Anchylostomiasis or Dochmius Duodenalis. 



The cause of this disease, which is very prevalent in the planting districts, 

 is a small intestinal worm ; its spread is due to want of proper sanitation. 



The eggs of the worm, or the recently hatched worms themselves, gain an 

 entrance to the human subject either by the skin, or are swallowed. 



The disease is spread by soil or water contaminated by the excreta of 

 persons suffering from the disease. 



The measures to be enforced to check the spread of this disease fall under 

 four heads :— 



(1) The proper disposal of night soil (excreta). 



(2) Protection of the legs and feet. 



(3) Pure water for drinking and washing purposes. 



(4) The segregation of all cases in hospital until cured. 



Under the First Head : it is necessary for Superintendents to prohibit 

 coolies from fouling the soil indiscriminately, and to carry out this prohibition 

 latrines should be built on every estate, and coolies who do not make use of them 

 should be punished. The night soil should be collected in buckets and buried daily 

 in a part of the estate away from dwellings and water-courses. 



Under the Second Head : means should be employed to protect the legs 

 and feet of coolies, for the worms which are in the polluted soil find their way 

 into the system through the skin, and are often the cause of ulcers so commonly 

 seen on coolies legs. A cheap form of boot worn outside putties would afford 

 protection ; in some countries tar covered with sand is applied to the feet and legs 



Under the Third Head : at present water-courses and bathing-places are 

 contaminated by the surface drainage of the soil being washed into the water 

 after rain : means should be taken to see that this cannot happen. The water used by 

 coolies for cleaning themselves after a call of nature should not be allowed to run 

 into the drinking or bathing supply. 



Under the Fourth Head : it is quite impossible to admit every cooly with 

 anchylostomiasis into hospital and to keep him there until cured, because the disease 

 exists in nearly every cooly on every estate, and the hospital accommodation is in- 

 sufficient for them ; but as far as possible coolies will be admitted and retained in 

 hospital until they are cured, and will be put under a new treatment that has 

 recently been introduced into the Island. (Medical Officers will refer Circular Letter 

 to Provincial Surgeons of the 27th June, 1906.) 



