458
7. The question of the severe prevalance of Malaria among employées of the Railway of all nationalities became a very serious one during the latter part of the year. Accurate figures are not at my disposal, but it will give some idea of the state of affairs when it is mentioned that on one day in October over fifty coolies belonging to the South Face camp were removed to hospital, most of them suffering from Malaria; and that at the North Face camp eighty-one cases of this disease came under treatment in November, and one hundred and twenty-four in December. Work at the ends of the tunnel was in consequence seriously hindered during the Autumu months. A few cases of Dysentery and some of Beri-beri also occurred at both camps; but otherwise cases coming under observation were principally boils and ulcers resulting for the most part from skin abrasions sustained on the works. Cases of serious accidental injury have fortunately thus far been few.
8. Under instructions from His Excellency the Governor, I made a special visit to the South Face camp on 3rd September to report regarding the causation of the prevalence of Malaria there, and on 25th October 1 similarly inspected and reported on the neighbourhood of the North Face camp. In both localities I found conditious existing that fully accounted for the severe epidemics that prevailed, into which, however, I need not enter here in any detail; and in each case I made a series of recommendations for the ameliora- tion of these conditions. My recommendations have been largely carried into effect; and further works are now in progress that may be expected to greatly improve matters in this respect before the advent of the next Malaria season.
J. C. THOMSON, M.D., D.P.H., D.T.M.&H.