(    88    )
F. is the hospital followers' quarters, containing perhaps 40 or 50 children, 60
per cent. of whom have malaria parasites in their blood. G. is the regimental
bazaar containing numerous children, the majority of whom are infected
with malaria parasites. All these children form a constant and abundant
source from which the numerous Anopheline mosquitoes which breed in the
irrigation watercourse (H.) and in many other watercourses near become
infected.
It will be readily seen that under these conditions the men in the
barracks must suffer severely from malaria. They are, in fact, in the midst
of an area of infected Anopheline mosquitoes, and it is difficult to understand
how, under the circumstances, any of them can escape getting malarial fever.
Assuming that in this case our prime object is to protect only the
soldiers from malaria, it is very probable that we shall attain this end more
efficiently and cheaply, and with less inconvenience to all concerned, by
adopting the principles already indicated for the individual than by any
other plan. Which of the three methods for the individual shall we adopt ?
If we decide to adopt the method of Celli we must either render the barracks
where the men sleep mosquito-proof with wire netting or we must give each man
a mosquito curtain and see that he uses it correctly. Perhaps in some Indian
stations this plan would be impracticable on account of the great heat during
the summer nights.* If so, it would be best to adopt in a modified form the
method of segregation; that is to remove the barracks or to remove the
native lines and bazaar so that the men may be at least a quarter of a mile,
and preferably half a mile, from any source of infection. It is to be noted
that as regards many cantonments in India such an expensive method as
the removal of barracks or native lines and bazaars is not essential. In the
Punjab, for example, the malarious season lasts for three or four months only,
* The malarious months of the year are not, in India, by any means the hottest months;
as a rule the nights are cool and mosquito curtains can be used without discomfort. It is
very probable that there are very few, if any stations in India where soldiers (European or
Native) would object, to use mosquito curtains during the malarious months if the curtains
were issued free. At the present time many European soldiers in India provide themselves
with curtains at their own expense (aided in some cases by grants from regimental or insti-
tute funds) and use them regularly with great care. Punkahs, of course, are in general use
in the barracks of European troops during the hot weather, and they have the reputation of
keeping away mosquitoes to a slight extent, but the protection afforded by them is quite inade-
quate, and it must be remembered that in many malarious stations like Rawalpindi and
Peshawar their use has to be discontinued before the malarious season is over on account of
the cold nights.