A. D. Peacock 
247 
the subject, to the writer’s knowledge, has not received sufficient attention. 
The evidence given above, however, would seem to indicate that, from an 
absolute standard, the degree of infestation for the Flanders region is low. 
Comparisons can only be made then from existing standards which are 
all concerned with conditions existing in sub-tropical and tropical countries. 
To illustrate, a few examples may be cited from countries in the various 
theatres of war. In Italy, in 1900, Grassi caught 200 adult Anopheles during 
a two hours’ coach ride across the plains of Capaccio 1 ; in Macedonia “the 
quantity of Anopheles reaches absolutely extraordinary proportions in some 
regions, it being possible to catch hundreds of dangerous mosquitoes in a few 
hours 2 ”; in Palestine, I am informed by Capt. Adams, R.A.M.C., he found 
30 % of the wells etc. in Jaffa to be Anopheline. From the number of larvae 
found in Flanders and, bearing in mind that only a proportion of larvae 
reach maturity, it may therefore be safely asserted that the degree of Ano¬ 
pheline infestation of Flanders is very low compared with that of these sub¬ 
tropical malarious countries. 
THE PROBABILITIES OF THE SPREAD OF MALARIA AMONG TROOPS 
IN SOUTHERN FLANDERS. 
In estimating the probabilities of an outbreak of malaria among the 
troops in the area surveyed two other considerations had to be taken into 
account: 
(1) How many troops and civilians were malarial subjects. 
(2) What had been the incidence of “primary” malaria among troops 
from non-malarial districts of the British Isles. 
Owing to the insufficiency of the epidemiological evidence it is impossible to 
discuss these in anything but a general way. Undoubtedly many divisions 
of troops which occupied the area contained a high proportion of malarial 
subjects as, for instance, the Indian Division which occupied the area as 
early as 1914-1915, and a succession of colonial troops, old and new army 
divisions which had served in the Eastern Fronts, as well as Chinese and 
coloured labour corps. My only information as to the incidence of malaria 
among civilians is meagre and was received from Major McNee, D.S.O., 
R.A.M.C., who stated that he had been informed by a local general prac¬ 
titioner that an outbreak of malaria had occurred about 1905 at Steenwerck. 
However, from the military evidence alone it is certain that the district has 
never had such a large and varied population of human malarial hosts, even 
during the conditions which may have existed in the many campaigns con¬ 
ducted over this historic fighting ground. 
At the time of writing an insignificant number of troops had contracted 
“primary” malaria. 
1 Cited by Nuttall, Cobbett and Strangeways-Pigg (1901). 
2 Armand-Delille, Abrami Paisseau and Lemaire. Malaria in Macedonia, Military Medical 
Manuals, 1918. 
