PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
mmimmim C.O. 885
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scutellaris, carries the disease or not, the bionomics of those species, and many other matters of prime importance in connection with etiology and prevention; and that, should occasion arise to deal with an irruption of yellow fever in a new territory, this want of knowledge would greatly hamper and delay efficient and enlightened action on the part of the authorities concerned.
Therefore, my second recommendation is that the study of the subjects named, and of other subjects of which a complete knowledge is essential to a successful combat against the disease, be adequately taken up.
Turning now for a moment to consider how these two recommendations can best be carried out, it is clear that India is not alone concerned in the matter, and that by herself she cannot undertake such extensive and prolonged enquiries as they may necessitate. The subject is of the greatest importance to the British Colonies in the East, but it affects British possessions generally, and I think there can be no doubt that the most satisfactory results would be obtained by dealing with it as a matter that is of common interest to the British Empire as a whole. From this point of view it is a national task best carried out under the authority of the Home Govern- ment, by combined co-ordinated action in various parts of the Empire, the assistance of India and the Colonies being given as may be necessary. I need not emphasise the great value of a central co-ordinating organization in work of this kind, but I may remark that during my tour I gained the impression that in some Colonies local action is inadequate, and that, owing to the absence of a correlating organi- sation, the useful effect of correct and complete information in one area would possibly be frustrated by lack of knowledge and action in others. The first recom- mendation made above implies the necessity not only of appointing "intelligence officers" to whom adequate co-operation on the part of the several authorities in the foreign and colonial ports must be assured, but of establishing a central intelli- gence bureau for the compilation and distribution of the information collected; and the Home Government are in the best position to arrange for such requirements. Again, as regards the second recommendation, although some of the problems will doubtless be solved in the near future by individual action on the part of the Colonies and of India, there are others about which it must be said that little or no advance can be expected except from continuous and sustained research organised and carried out on a much larger scale than has within recent years been attempted; and it is clearly very desirable that as to the means by which such enquiries can lest be carried out, and as to their scope and objects, the advice of the Royal Society in England should be sought, and that the enquiries should, if possible, be conducted under the control of that Society. The Home Government are in the best position to secure the co-operation of the Society in this matter.
(3) If the above recommendations are accepted, India should, I think, take a prominent part in the initiation of the joint action by representing the matter to the Home Government, and by offering to give financial or other assistance towards the appointment of the intelligence officers, the establishment of the Central Intelligence Bureau, and the institution of any scientific enquiry which may be carried out under the auspices of the Royal Society. Although the evidence at present available indicates that India is not in immediate danger, the continuous receipt of first-hand information on the subjects already mentioned is, I think, of such importance that if the Home Government, acting through the Colonies, are not able to arrange for the appointment of intelligence officers, India will be compelled to ensure her safety by appointing such officers from her own medical service.
Secondly, it is very necessary, I think, that India should proceed uninterruptedly with the systematic investigation of the stegomyia problem according to a definite scheme, as well as with the continuous improvement and house-to-house extension of public constant water supplies, combined with the abolition of cisterns and other water-storage receptacles, and, in general, with the continuous carrying out of such measures as are of permanent value in reducing the breeding places of stegomyia mosquitoes.
Thirdly, one other problem calling for enquiry on the part of India must be mentioned, namely, the problem of the possible spread of yellow fever by way of the Cape of Good Hope. So far as I am aware, attention has not hitherto been drawn to this subject, but any one who studies a mercantile marine chart of the South Atlantic Ocean will see that the problem of the spread of vellow fever across it, either directly or by way of the Islands of Ascension and St. Helena, is very similar to the problem of its spread across the Pacific. either directly or by way of the Hawaiian and Fiji Islands. Rio de Janeiro is nearly 1,500 miles
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nearer to the Cape than Panama is to Honolulu and the Cape is 500 miles nearer to Colombo than Honolulu is to Hong Kong. In Capetown, which is at latitude 33° S., as in Yokohama, which is at latitude 35° N., there is, I understand, no record of the presence or absence of stegomyia fusciata.
(4) Finally, I recommend a reform which I think should be carried out inde- pendently of the scheme outlined above, as being urgently necessary both for general reasons and for the special reason of the possible introduction of yellow fever. I refer to the advisability of strengthening the line of sanitary defence for our Eastern Colonies and for India, especially in Hong Kong. I have recorded in Section III, my opinion regarding the present arrangements for the inspection and control of ships and for quarantine in that port. It is not at present clear what satisfactory steps could be taken if a ship infected with yellow fever were to arrive at the port, and it is greatly to be hoped that a modern quarantine station, adequate to the needs of a shipping centre of such importance, and with a resident staff whose sole duty is to protect the port from the entry of infectious diseases, will be established without delay. The Port Health Rules regarding yellow fever might also, with advantage, be brought into line with modern knowledge, and arrange- ments made for the destruction of mosquitoes on ships.
III.
This section contains a general description of the conditions in most of the ports that I visited. In order that the account may be as short as possible, only such conditions as are of importance in connexion with yellow fever are dealt with
in it.
*
"
The Isthmus of Panama, which is in the centre of the endemic area of yellow fever in the New World, runs in a general direction from east to west on or about the 9th degree of north latitude, and the Panama Canal, when completed, will cross it in a direction approximately from north to south in the position shown on the following map. The town of Colon, with its port, Cristobal, is at the northerly or Atlantic entrance to the canal, and the town of Panama (which is considerably east of Colon) with its port, Balboa, is at the southerly or Pacific entrance. The territory within five miles of each side of the centre line of the canal, together with the coast lines of the area and the islands in Panama Bay, is called the "Panama Canal Zone,' which, by a Treaty ratified in February, 1904, was ceded to the United States in perpetuity. Part of the district traversed by the canal is low and swampy, part is hilly, and within it are the main streams and tributaries of two large rivers, the Chagres and the Rio Grande. Following the route from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts the canal first passes through tropical jungle on a low swampy alluvial plain to the Gatun locks and dam, which, by impounding the waters of the Chagres, and its tributaries, will form in the valley of the river an artificial lake 24 miles long, and with an area of about 164 square miles, extending to the series of nearly continuous hills, through which the Culebra cut has been dug. At the end of this section the canal will enter a second smaller lake formed between the locks at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores by impounding the waters of the Rio Grande, and afterwards it will pass down the valley of that river to Panama. The Panama Inter-Oceanic Railroad, along which are a number of large and small villages, follows, in general, the same route. Including employees of the Canal Commission the population of the area over which the United States has sanitary control is estimated to be nearly 155,000, of whom about 46,000 are in Panama and nearly 20,000 in Colon.
Climatic conditions on the Isthmus in this region are represented by an average temperature which throughout the year varies less than 3° from the annual average of nearly 80° F., and by an annual rainfall, which is about 140 inches on the Atlantic coast, about 93 inches in the interior, and about 60 inches near the shores of the pacific. As regards rainfall, however, there is a sharp division into dry and rainy seasons, the dry season beginning in December and lasting until about the middle of April. The rains of the wet season are sometimes " torrential and widespread flooding occurs. These and other conditions, such as the arrangements for collecting and storing water during the dry season, the frequent importation of large numbers of non-immunes, and the trade communications with other ports in the endemic area, have been favourable to the presence of yellow fever; and although such statistics
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* Not forwarded.
F 3