497 
possible  to  reduce  this  amount  of  sickness  appreciably,  by  measures 
directed  against  malaria,  and  at  a  reasonable  cost,  it  is  well  worth 
while  giving  those  measures  a  thoroughly  systematic  and  determined 
trial.  It  will  mean  eventually  that  estates  can  be  worked  with  a 
smaller  staff  as  satisfactorily  and  efficiently  as  they  are  at  present 
worked  by  a  staff,  a  considerable  proportion  of  which  is  permanently 
incapacitated  by  illness. 
Malaria  among  the  Constabulary. 
In  the  Jamaica  Constabulary  we  have  a  body  of  picked  men  who 
have  to  attain  a  certain  physical  standard  before  enlistment,  who  are 
constitutionally  sound  at  the  time  of  admission  to  the  force,  and  who 
live,  on  the  whole,  under  favourable  circumstances  as  regards  food, 
clothing  and  housing.  They  ought,  therefore  to  be  a  very  good  index 
of  the  prevalence  of  malaria  in  any  given  locality  if  they  suffer,  much 
more  will  the  general  native  population  suffer. 
Colonel  Kershaw,  the  Inspector-General,  has  been  kind  enough  to 
supply  me  with  the  number  of  cases  of  malaria  at  each  station.  To 
get  an  absolutely  accurate  idea  of  the  prevalence  of  malaria  in  the 
force,  one  would  have  to  obtain  the  number  of  days  off  duty  from 
malaria  and  the  proportion  of  average  daily  sick  from  malaria  to 
average  daily  strength,  and  no  doubt  this  can  be  readily  obtained  if 
required,  but  the  present  return  (Table  IX)  is  sufficiently  accurate  for 
comparative  purposes,  and  I  have  only  calculated  the  percentages  at 
the  principal  stations  where  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  men, 
as  with  small  numbers  the  figures  of  illness  are  more  liable  to  error. 
Here  again  we  find  Annotto  Bay  occupying  the  unenviable  position 
of  easily  heading  the  list.  Every  man  stationed  at  Annotto  Bay  has 
on  average  six  to  seven  attacks  of  malarial  fever  every  year.  Port 
Maria,  Buff  Bay,  Alley,  May  Pen,  Port  Antonio,  Old  Harbour, 
Savanna-la-Mar  and  Black  River  are  all  stations  showing  a  high 
percentage  of  malarial  attacks.  Kingston  shows  a  low  malaria  rate, 
while  the  higher  stations  in  the  Manchester  districts  are  practically 
free. 
The  total  number  of  attacks  of  malaria  in  the  force  in  igoy  was 
749,  and  in  1908,  820,  a  total  for  the  two  years  of  1,569.  If  each 
attack  incapacitates  the  man  from  duty  for  five  days,  which  is 
