April 7, 1900.]
HONGKONG VOLUNTEER CORPS
MACHINE GUN COMPANY.
The tie for the "A" and "B" cups was shot off on Sunday morning under very unfavourable conditions. Bombardier King wins the "A" and Bombardier Plummer the "B" oup
This closes the series. Shooting for the new Caps will commence on Sunday next.
THE MALARIAL MOSQUITO IN.
HONGKONG.
The accompanying notes concerning the exis- tence of the Malarial_mosquito in Hongkong were read by Mr. C. V. Ladds at a meeting of the Sonth China Branch of the British Medical Association on Monday evening
In a Circular Despatch from the Right Hon- ourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated December 6th, 1898, His Excellency the Governor was requested to forward to the Col- onial Office & collection of mosquitos from the Colony with a view to investigating the possible connection of Malaria with this gens of insect. Two collections were forwarded as requested upon August 19th and November 24th respec- tively, and none of the species Anopheles having been included in these collectio s it was thought at that time that they did not exist in Hongkong. Having always taken a great interest in the Malaria question, and not being satisfied with the result obtained during the above investiga. tion, 1 determined to take up the subject pri- vately, and commenced work in December, 1899. After going thoroughly into the matter, and after baving cultivated t larve of many va rieties of mosquito, I at length found that the Anopheles undoubtedly did exist in the. colony and was to be found in most of its known ma-
larial districts. I first discovered them close by & Governmeut Bungalow at Kennedy Town. The different occupants of this house having been subject to repeat d attacks of fever ever since its erection in 1895, I determined to make this place my, starting point, and after a very careful examination, I found a small pool swarm- ing with Anopheles larve within fifty yards of the building.
Extending my search I found the same species near the Kennedy Town Fever Hospital, at Magazine Gap, at Wong-nei-cheong village, near a house in Bonham Road, at Quarry Bay, close by the Tsikoo Sugar Refinery, all round the Camp of the Welch Fusilier detachment at Kowloon, and in many other places.
This being sufficient evidence of their exist- euce over a considerable area of the colony, and having now no doubt that they were to be found in all the malarial districts. I next pro- ceeded to examine the particular kind of pool which the Anopheles appeared to select as most suitable for the propagation of its spécies.
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
I trust that I have given a fair general idea of what to look for,
I find by experimenting that the Anopheles weed which is found in their particular pools, larvae appear to feed upon the algae or water and also possibly upon some of the animalculae which they contain. This I proved by placing some larvae in clear tap water and others in water taken from an Anopheles pool which contained water weed; those in the former dy ing quickly, while those in the fatter batched out in due course. I should not say that the larval stage of the insect is a long one, probably about a week to ten days, this depending a good deal upon the nature of the pool; after which time they emerge therefrom as adult mosquitos, The life of the mosquito itself probably ex- tends over a period of several weeks, perhaps longer.
I have so far not succeeded in finding the Anopheles larvae in any of the healthy districts of the colony, or far distant from human habit- ations, nor have I yet found them in rice fields, in large pools of water, in rapidly running streams, in pools with sandy bottoms, in wells, old broken pottery, tubs, pans, etc., as in the case of Culex, which may be found in almost anything which contains water.
In contradistinction to the Anopheles, water
weed does not seem to be necessary to the exist snce of the Culex larve, they being often found in pools, etc., from which it is entirely absent. A further distinction between the two species being that the former appears to be much more delicate than the latter. It is not necessary here to describe the Anopheles lara or mos- quito, they being so entirely different from the other species as to be easily recognised after having been once seen. Having satisfied my. self as to the existence of the Anopheles in the Colony, and having given a brief description of its habitat, etc., I will now pass on to the possi- bilities of its extirpation from the island. With this object in view, 1 have been testing the effects of various insecticides. I found that kerosene used as described by the African Commission was very effective in still pools, or in those which were temporarily stagnant; gas tar also proved to be very useful, but in my opinion Joves' Fluid is the best of those which I have tried up to the present.
So far as my experiments have gone, I find that one part of Jeyes' Fluid to 10,000, of water kills both Anopheles and Culex larve in a few hours, very much weaker solutions destroying them after a longer interval.
Permanganate of potash appears to be of very little use, In a solution of 1 to 1200 of water, equal to one in five of Condy's Fluid, the larve lived for twenty-four hours, and were as lively as over at the end of that time, while in a solution of 1 to 500, equal to nearly one in two of Condy's Fluid, they lived for four hours without there being any appreciable effect upon them, and even after twenty four hours more than half of them were alive.
A small shallow pool containing algae, or green flocculent water-weed, and fungoid growths, abonnding in all kinds of aquatic insect life,quently with Jeyes' finid, kerosene, or gas tar, and which is not quite stagnant (or if staguant at the time of discovery is not likely long to remain so, but is renewed occasionally by small fushes of rain water), appears to be their favourite habitat.
in nearly every instance I found them only in such pools, which were in most cases fed by minute streams issuing from small springs in the - hill side, and these not being of sufficient volume to scour out a channel of their own, just spread themselves over the surrounding lower ground, and so help to form and feed the typical Anoph. eles pool:
Hence by treating all Anopheles resorts fre-
during the whole of the dry season, when such, pools are comparatively scarce, and by paying particular attention to surface drainage in malarial destricts, much might be done toward effecting their partial, if not total, exter. mination.
In conclusion, I think I may safely say that by working upon these lines, and given the services of half-a-dozen intelligent coolies, some one to look after them, and the necessary supplies of the above mentioned chemicals, in a very short time it would be possible to cause the Anopheles to become so scarce in Hongkong They do not seem to inhabit pools which are that should they prove to be the only source of entirely stagnant (or likely to remain so long) infection by malaria, cases of malarial fever or which contain no water weed; and appear to would soon be as rare as cholera, and the find- particularly careful in their selection, as, ing of the Anopheles larva in any part of the although there may be dozens of pools in the island as difficult a watter as looking for the locality, only a few of them may contain proverbial needle in a truss of hay. Anopheles.
Having repeatedly found the mosquito hover- ing round a pool which contained the same. species of larvae, it is probable that the adult insect returns to its original home to deposit its eggs, and this theory may, if correct, account in a measure for their not being found scattered indiscriminately about everywhere. After once the particular kind of pool which these mosquitos affect, it is easily recognized but it is not quite so easy to describe it correctly; yet
seeing
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The final competition for the Captain's Cup took place on Sunday at the Golf Links in the Happy Valley, the finalists being Mr. J. Mc- Murtrie and Dr. J. A. Lowson. Mr. McMar trie won the trophy on the last green by one hole, after leading nearly all the way, and being 2 up and 6 to play. Then the score became all square with one to go, when Mr. McMurtris won.
HONGKONG.
$217
cipal Civil Medical Offeer, with effect from the Dr. J. A. Lowson is appointed Acting Prin- 21st instant, during the absence of Dr. J. M.
Atkinson.
The accounts of the Football Shield emi Finals and Final have been audited and the balance of $163.31 has been handed over by the Hongkong Football Club to the Shield Fund.
Sir Thomas Jackson left by the Empress of China on the 4th inst, for England, via Van- couver. . As we have already mentioned, he will be present at the Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire.
The total number of cases of Bubonic Plague in the Colony from 1st January to noon of the 31st March is 20, and the deaths during the period are 19. Two of the cases and two of the deaths occurred between noon of the 30th and noon of the 31st ult.
the Consul there.
Consulate at Manila,
left Hongkong on the 6th ingt.
Dr. F. C. Rieloff, the German Consul, take during the three months' absence on leave of charge of the German
Dr. Rieloff departed by the Sunkiang. During his stay at Manila, Consular business here will be dealt with by the German Consul at Canton, Herr Kallen, who arrived in Canton about a fortnight ago.
An old Hongkong official has passed away in the person of J. J. Clerihew, who died at his residence, West Point, at 4 on the 3rd inst. Deceased was formerly an inspector in the Sanitary Department and retired on a pension in consequence of ill health last year. He was a member of the United Service Lodge, and wat accorded a Masonic funeral on the 4th inst., the cortege passing the monument at 10 a m.
At the Magistracy on the 31st ult., before Mr. Gompertz, a Russian named Nicolos Nicolos, who is acting as assistant at the shooting gallery on the Praya near Prince's Buildings, was charged with wounding a China boy named Chang Yung by shooting him on the top of the head with an air gua, P. C. Brown said that the previous day the complaincat came to him and said he had been shot. He accompained him to the shooting gallery, and the defendant, was pointed out as the man who had fired the shot. Witness took him into custody. The complain- ant was taken to the hospital and would not be able to leave before Monday. The defendant said that the injury was accidentally done, He did not mean really to do it. The case was adjourned to Monday.
On Wednesday afternoon, the 4th instant. a meeting of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace was held at the Magistracy for the purpose of considering an application from Joseph H. Donnenberg for the transfer of his publican's license to sell and retail in- toxicating liquors on the premises situste aj honse No 1, Jubilee Street, under the sign of "The Colonial Hotel," to Moritz Papier. Mr H. H. J. Gompertz presided, and there were also present: Dr. Jordan, Dr. Bell, Messrs. Badeley, A. Shelton Hooper, and W. M. B. Arthur Mr. Looker, who appeared for the ap- plicant, said that his client had been ten years in the colony and had held an e eating-house license. So far as he was aware there was nothing at all against him im any respect. He was a Turk by nationality. —Mr. Badeley said there was no police objection, and he was strongly in favour of the application being granted. The application was granted.
COMMERCIAL.
TEA.
EXPORT OF TEA FROM CHINA TO UNITED KINGDOM AND CONTINENT
1899-1900 1898.99
1bg.
Hankow and Shanghai... 13,160,074 Amoy Fouchow Canton
12,061,298 502,317 688,318 16,171,605 12,976,678
430 4.913.484)
30,689,678
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