524 
4.  Cement  all  gutters  in  towns, 
5.  Screen  all  wells,  tanks,  barrels,  etc. 
6.  Gradually  reclaim  and  drain  swamps  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  towns. 
Preventive  Measures  affecting  the  Individual 
We  can  prevent  the  individual  from  becoming  infected  by 
protecting  him  from  being  bitten  by  mosquitoes  already  infected; 
and  we  can  prevent  the  mosquito  from  becoming  infected  by  placing 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  biting  individuals  already  infected,  and 
thus  becoming  infected  in  his  turn.  We  thus  diminish  two  sources 
of  danger. 
The  measures  to  be  adopted  come  under  the  head  of  Mechanical 
Prophylaxis,  and  are  mainly  a  matter  for  personal  application :  — 
I.  Use  of  the  mosquito  net.  As  the  habits  of  the  Anopheline 
mosquito  are  mainly  nocturnal,  it  follows  that  if  we  protect  ourselves 
from  the  bites  of  these  animals  during  the  time  we  are  in  bed,  say 
from  ten  to  six,  that  is  to  say,  for  eight  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four, 
we  are  protecting  ourselves  for  a  third  of  our  lives,  and  that,  at  the 
time  when  we  are  most  defenceless  and  liable  to  attack ;  and  yet  I 
was  astonished  to  find  that  in  Jamaica  the  use  and  value  of  the 
mosquAo  net  was  so  little  appreciated,  and  that  its  use  was  not 
carried  out  in  a  satisfactory  and  efficient  manner.  I  can  only  recall 
one  single  instance  in  which  it  was  properly  used,  that  is,  hung  inside 
the  mosquito  poles,  so  as  to  permit  of  its  being  tucked  underneath 
the  mattress. 
Occasionally,  when  I  suggested  the  use  of  the  mosquito  net,  I 
was  met  by  the  answer,  ‘  Oh,  there  are  not  many  mosquitoes  here, 
and  they  don’t  touch  me.’  But  one  infected  mosquito  is  sufficient  to 
do  the  mischief,  and  surely,  apart  from  comfort,  an  elementary  precau¬ 
tion  of  this  kind  should  not  be  neglected,  especially  in  the  hotels.  I 
was  assured  in  one  hotel  that  there  were  no  mosquitoes,  but  I  was 
kept  awake  for  some  hours,  until  apparently  all  those  in  the  room 
had  had  sufficient  nourishment,  when  I  succeeded  in  falling  into  a 
troubled  slumber. 
The  use  of  the  mosquito  net,  then,  as  a  personal  protection  in 
malarious  localities,  is  one  which  should  never  be  neglected  by  those 
able  to  afford  it. 
