One of the important scientific discoveries made during the year was in regard to the continuance of the disease from season to season. Over 2,000 Anopheline mosquitoes in malarious districts were dissected, during the early spring months, without finding a single infected insect, and not until May 15, 1915, was the first parasite in the body of a mosquito discovered. The Public Health Service, therefore, concludes that mosquitoes in the latitude of the southern states ordinarily do not carry the infection through the winter. This discovery indicates that protection from malaria may be secured by treating human carriers with quinine previous to the middle of May, thus preventing any infection from chronic sufferers reaching the mosquitoes and being transmitted by them to other persons.
Although quinine remains the best means of treating malaria, and is also of marked benefit in preventing infection, the eradication of the disease as a whole rests upon the destruction of the breeding places of Anopheline mosquitoes. The Public Health Service, therefore, is urging a definite campaign of draining standing water, the filling of low places, and the regrading and training of streams where malarial mosquitoes breed. The oiling of breeding places, and the stocking of streams with top-feeding minnows, are further recommended. The Service also gives advice regarding screening, and other preventive measures as a part of the educational campaigns conducted in sections of infected territory.
This study is typical of the scientific investigations which are being carried out by the Public Health Service, all of which have a direct bearing on eradicating the disease. The malaria work now includes the collection of morbidity data, malaria surveys, demonstration work, scientific field and laboratory studies, educational campaigns, and special studies of impounded water and drainage projects.
Reviews and Book Notices
“Pellagra.” By George M. Niles, M.D., Gastro-enterologist to the Georgia Baptist Hospital, Wesley Memorial Hospital and Atlanta Hospital, Atlanta, Ga. Octavo of 261 pages, illustrated. Philadelphia and London. W. B. Saunders Co., 1916. Cloth, $3 net. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia. London.
We are in receipt of the second edition of this work upon a subject that has of late attracted a great deal of attention from the profession. Pellagra has in recent years sprang up in an unaccountable manner, especially in the southern section of the United States, and it behooves every practicing physician to equip himself with such knowledge as will enable him to recognize the disease when encountered in his practice and to handle it in a scientific manner. This work in its second edition, although following the appearance of the first edition so closely has undergone many changes and had numerous additions so that it has been brought fully up with the present state of knowledge. The chapter on etiology contains the results of the recent investigations of Dr. Joseph Goldberger, Special U. S. Agent for the study of the disease, and Thompson-McFadden Commission on Pellagra. The work is that of a southern physician and should receive the warm support of southern physicians everywhere.
“A Practical Treatise on Infant Feeding and Allied Topics.” For Physicians and Students. By Harry Lowenberg, A.M., M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia; Pediatrist to the Mt. Sinai Hospital; Pediatrist to the Jewish Hospital; Assistant Pediatrist to the Medico-Chirurgical Hospital and to the Philadelphia General Hospital; Formerly Instructor of Pediatrics, Jefferson Medical College. Illustrated with Sixty-four Text Engravings and Thirty Original Full Page Plates, Eleven of which are in color. Philadelphia. F. A. Davis Co., Publishers. English Depot. Stanley Phillips, London. 1916.
Our thanks are due the obliging publishers for a copy of this exceedingly valuable book. The author’s long experience and intimate acquaintance with the subjects treated of eminently qualify him to present a work that will prove of most valuable assistance to physician and students. The work is eminently practical and presents throughout the subject matter in an easily accessible form. The arrangement of the text is systematically perfect and only such material is used as may render the work available for the needs of practitioners and students. The importance of breast-feeding is emphasized and artificial alimentation discussed thoroughly so as to furnish the best schemes for obtaining the best results. The article upon “Surgical Treatment of Infantile Pyloric Obstruction” is by the celebrated surgeon, Dr. John B. Deaver, a chapter that adds much to the value of the work. A feature of the work is the presentation of a number of plates showing in colors the appearance of stools in various conditions of alimentary disturbances. We are greatly pleased with this work and can conscientiously recommend it to students and practitioners.