108 Insects and Disease 



particularly in the evening or at night, and as ex- 

 posure to these mists very often meant an attack 

 of malaria they were naturally supposed to be the 

 cause of the disease. So for a long time the whole 

 attention of investigators was turned toward study- 

 ing and analyzing these vapors, and various experi- 

 ments were made which seemed to show conclu- 

 sively that the malaria was caused only by these 

 emanations. The investigations even went so far 

 that the exact germs that were supposed to cause 

 the fever were separated and experimented with. 



THE PARASITE THAT CAUSES MALARIA 



The blood had been studied time and again and 

 the characteristic appearance of the blood of a 

 malarial patient was well known. In 1880 Lave- 

 ran, a French army surgeon in Algiers, began to 

 study the blood of such patients microscopically 

 and soon was able to demonstrate the parasite 

 that caused the disease. His discoveries were not 

 readily accepted, but other investigations soon con- 

 firmed his observations and the fact was gradually 

 firmly established. Not until recently, however, 

 did this distinguished physician receive a full rec- 

 ognition of his work. A few years ago he was 

 awarded the Nobel prize for medicine, perhaps the 

 highest honor that can be bestowed on any physician. 



