In connection with the recent discussion of malaria ria by the American Public Health Association, it is interesting to note the conclusions reached by Prof. feverommasi-Crudeli, of the University of Rome, as to the causation and prophylaxis of fever and ague. These conclusions, first published some years since, have beeen reaffirmed recently in a study on “The Preservation of Man in Malarial Regions,” published by the Italian government.
Tommasi-Crudeli believes malarial fevers are caused by a bacteric ferment which grows in the soil, and thence finds its way into the air. Both he and Klebs think they have discovered a specific intermittent germ, which they have christened bacillus malariæ. This germ is not of necessity paludal in origin. He seems to have established beyond a doubt that there is no cognate relation between marshes and malaria—some marshes, though filled with decomposing vegetation, are innocent, while many comparatively dry and even