It is the general belief that the practice of medicine in tropical countries consists largely in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases peculiar to the tropics; that is to say, diseases which are entirely different from those encountered in the temperate zone.
That such is not the case was amply demonstrated to me during a recent visit to the Canal Zone. Therefore, because of the importance to us of the opening of the Panama Canal, I deem it worth while to call attention to some of the diseases seen there which are also common here, as well as to those peculiar to that area and found here infrequently or not at all.
Moreover, every practitioner must familiarize himself with diseases peculiar to the tropics, because, first, on the return of workmen when the canal is completed, some are certain to have contracted diseases peculiar to that climate and second, the