270 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturtst 



with the outbreak, but perhaps it was not 

 genuine malarial fever. I do not know, I can 

 only say that the symptoms were : first ague, 

 the patient shivering for 1 hour on the average, 

 then high temperature and finally profuse 

 perspiration and an after headache. The 

 patient would be left very weak and the body 

 would ache, especially the legs. The attacks 

 recurred at regular intervals. These are symp- 

 toms of what ? being no doctor, I cannot 



say, but at lea6t they resemble malaria. Ex- 

 cluding mosquitoes, which were not in evid- 

 ence at the time of the outbreaks, I put down 

 the fever to climatic conditions and to situa- 

 tion of the estate I was on, in a river valley 

 at an elevation of 2,000 feet above sea-level. 



The Fever Season. 

 The time of year at which the fever oc" 

 curred was generally in April, May and up 

 to mid-June, starting with the first heavy 

 showers of the little monsoon. These soem 

 to hive a bad effect on the soil previously 

 baked by a fierce sun from beginning of 

 December to mid- April. At night as a result, 

 a heavy damp 'ruiasmic' mist would sur- 

 round the lines, the atmosphere at the same 

 time being so oppressive that coolies slept 

 in the open verandahs and so caught 

 chills. Here is one cause of fever, I think. 

 That in my case the fever was due to the wea- 

 ther and not to the malaria mosquito seems to 

 me to be proved by what happened this year. 

 There was practically no fever. Instead of the 

 usual heavy showers in April and May, those 2 

 months were quite dry and unusually cool. When 

 the rain did come it was the heavy downpour of 

 the big monsoon, the sun vanished and the 

 temperature dropped. There was not the com- 

 bination of extreme heat, afternoon rain and 

 subsequent fierce morning sun usually experi- 

 enced which, together with the mist, invariably 

 produced bad outbreaks of fbver in the past I 

 should like to know if other of your readers 

 have not found this to be the case. It certainly 

 seems to be that if you can avoid the peculiar 

 weather condition of April and June — mosquito 

 or no mosquito — you will have little fever, other 

 things being favourable. 



Treatment of Fever. 



So much for the causes. I now come to what 

 I humbly hope to be the more valuable and 

 practical part of this article, my own experi- 

 ences in treating the disease amongst my estate 

 coolies. The natural unavoidable conditions, 

 which no man can alter, were, as stated above, 

 when I first met with fever. My predecessor 

 had done his best to combat the evil in every 

 way possible. 



He had good wells where previously the water 

 supply had been stagnant river water : in the 

 worst months he gave his coolies who were work- 

 ing at a distance from the wells hot tea, "red 

 leaf," — and jaggery, so that they should not drink 

 from the filthy puddles that were all that re- 

 mained of streams. 



He moved his lines from a hollow where no 

 breeze ever came to sweep away evil vapours to 

 a healthier higher position where the breezes of 

 the S.-W. could have full play. His lines too 



were built 'pukka.' More he could not do: he 

 could not dispel the mist or cool the fierce sun- 

 rays, but what he did had good results; pre- 

 viously coolies had died in tens every fever sea- 

 son, now only one or two deaths occurred during 

 the whole period, but still there was fever when 

 I came. So 100 coolies daily would be "sick." 

 I did what I could, as anyone must have done 

 I think, but no one will expect me to say I ban- 

 ished the malady. I only hope I may say that 

 I lessened it. The weapons 1 fought with were : 

 Bi-sulphate of Quinine in powder and pills, 

 Eastons Syrup, a tonic of the best, 

 PheDacetin. 



"Slops," Bovril and Sago, as a change of 

 diet to rice. 



Also, as far as possible, I managed to get my 

 work and my coolies' work done in the cool of 

 the morning and evening 5— 11 and 3— 6 as I found 

 from my own experience when I myself joined 

 the victims, that the fierce noon and early after- 

 noon sun was positively dangerous in the 

 weak state one gets in consequent on fever. 



Medicines Employed in Treatment, 



I add a few notes on the niouiciiies mentioned 

 before 



Quinine. — B. SuLp. seemed to be most effective. 

 Sulp. simply, not strong enough. A good way of 

 administering it, which all may not know of,is in 

 gelatine capsules containing 8 grns. These 

 do away with the bad taste of quinine in the 

 mouth, and are easily dissolved internally. A 

 dose for 1st attack 8 grns. for 2 or 3 days : if no 

 improvement 16 or 20 until cured and then 

 8 grns., say every three days for two months to 

 prevent recurrence. In ray own case 8 grns. 

 was always sufficient to cure, and after taking it 

 at regular intervals I had no more fever. With 

 the cooly, of couise, his weaker- stamina, lack of 

 nourishing diet and low spirits (he often makes 

 up his mind he is going to die at the outset in 

 this or any other illness) retard recovery. 

 The gelatine capsules 1 found enabled one to 

 carry (say) 100, 8-gru. doses about always in the 

 pocket in a bottle. 



Phenaoetin — of course, as a prevention of the 

 splitting headache that is the aftermath of an 

 attack of fever and cools the heated blood by 

 inducing a heavy perspiration. 



" Eastons Syrup "—as a tonic after attacks. 

 The cooly I found often developed swellings all 

 over as result of after weakness, and the way 

 in which a dose or two of this tonic removed all 

 traces of swelling absolutely astonished me at 

 first. Coolies had faith in it, too, which is saying 

 a lot— and asked it first in preference to anything 

 else. Quinine they did not like, though they 

 used to have to swallow it in my presence, 

 owing to the headache and loss of appetite due 

 to after bad taste in mouth that invariably 

 results. 



The regular administration of Bovril and sago 

 too, cannot be too 'strongly recommended and 

 one thing which is sometimes done, but 1 did 



not do, seems to me the best measure of all to 



have a line set apart as a hospital with the most 

 reliable person or persons obtainable detailed to 

 administer medicines regularly. This has the 



