Report on two experiments on the mosquito-malaria theory : instituted by the Colonial Office and the London School of Tropical Medicine / by Louis W. Sambon and George C. Low.

  • Sambon, Louis W.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report on two experiments on the mosquito-malaria theory : instituted by the Colonial Office and the London School of Tropical Medicine / by Louis W. Sambon and George C. Low. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    vitiated condition of tlie air, as the name of the disease implies, and therefore we always slept with our windows wide open, although the stench of the decaying vege- tation and putrefying animal matter from the drying- up canals was very unpleasant at times. The people of the neighbourhood were greatly amazed at what they considered our temerity in exposing ourselves freely to the night air, and many in Ostia who heard of our mode of life would not believe it until they had seen it with tbeir own eyes. To assure themselves on this point several came and walked round our but in the early hours of the morning. The habit of the Eomans of sleeping with hermetically closed windows probably originate'd on account of malaria, and is, of course, a perfectly consistent one, especially if viewed in the light of our present know- ledge of the aetiology of this disease. The water of malarious localities has also been con- sidered an important vehicle of the disease, and many even now hold that it is so, notwithstanding the negative result of numerous experiments made by Celli, Branca- leone, Zeri and Marino, and the discovery of the role played by mosquitoes in the transmission of malarial infection. The only drinking water in our neighbourhood was that of a draw-well in our own compound, and that of a pump-well near the pumping-station. Both supplies wei'e undoubtedly polluted. During the erection of the hut one of us and the servant drank of the muddy well-water nearest our hut, and both subsequently suffered from diarrhoea, which was probably caused by this water. After that, all water from the locality was thoroughly boiled and filtered. However, boiled water was not used long for drinking pui^poses, because Signer Bisleri, of Milan, kindly presented us with an unlimited supply of his excellent table-water called Nocera Umbra. The servant, throughout the whole period of our stay in the Campagna, continued to drink very recklessly any kind