Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/988

NAME REED 966 REED by Dr. Carlos Finlay in 1882 that the disease was conveyed from one person to another by a certain species of mosquito, the stegomyia fasciata. Some preliminary experiments showed that there was reason to believe in the truth of this supposition, and an experimental sani- tary station, called Camp Lazear, was estab- lished by Reed near Quemados, in order that further experiments might be carried on under conditions of absolute security. The first experiment at Camp Lazear was made upon a young private from the United States Army, John R. Kissinger from Ohio, who volunteered to be bitten by mosquitoes which had bitten a yellow-fever patient. Kis- singer was kept in strict quarantine for two weeks and was then bitten by some mosquitoes which had been purposely infected fifteen to twenty days previously. At the end of three and a half days the disease developed and he had it in a typical form. This experiment was confirmed by others of the same nature, proving conclusively that yellow fever is trans- mitted by the stegomyia fasciata. It was next necessary to prove that the dis- ease is not conveyed by fomites, and for this purpose a building was especially constructed by Maj. Reed from which all ventilation was excluded, the temperature being extremely hot and the atmosphere damp. In this building Dr. E. G. Cooke and two private soldiers. Folk and Jernigan, volunteered to sleep for twenty nights surrounded by articles of clothing and bedding used by yellow fever patients and soiled by discharges. Not a single case of the disease developed, and the same experiment repeated on several subsequent occasions was followed by the same negative result. These experiments were succeeded by others for the purpose of investigating various secon- dary points connected with the mosquito theory of the disease, the facts established altogether being these: The mosquito, stegomyia fas- ciata, serves as the intermediate host for the parasite of the yellow fever. Yellow fever is not conveyed by fomites, hence disinfection of articles supposed to be contaminated by the disease is unnecessary. The infection of a building with yellow fever is due to the presence of mosquitoes which have bitten some one with the disease. Yellow fever can be produced experimentally by tlie subcutaneous injection of blood taken from the general circulation during the first, second and third days of the disease. Intervals of at least twelve days must elapse after the mosquito has bitten a yellow fever patient before it is capable of transmitting the disease. The bite of the mosquito at an earlier date after contamination does not appear to convey any immunity against a subsequent at- tack. The mosquito is capable of infection for at least fifty-seven days after contamination and possibly longer. On the conclusion of these experiments, in February, 1901, Maj. Reed returned to his work in Washington, where he was professor of bacteriology and clinical microscopy in the Army Medical School, and of pathology and bacteriology in the Columbian University. His natural aptitude for teaching appears to have been great, and as the subjects which he taught were then comparatively unknown, he was compelled to develop his own methods of in- struction, a fact which imparted an originality to his lectures and laboratory work which made them peculiarly attractive. In the summer of 1902 Harvard University showed her recognition of Reed's services to humanity by conferring upon him the honorary degree of A. M.. and shortly after the Uni- versity of Michigan made him an LL. D. In November, 1902, he was taken ill with appendicitis, for which his old friend and brother officer, Maj. Borden, operated, finding trouble extending back over some years. The removal of the appendix was followed by sloughing, and unfortunately Reed's general health was so much depreciated by years of over-exertion that he had no strength to make resistance. On the fifth day after the operation symptoms of peritonitis appeared, after which he sank rapidly and died on November 22, 1902. He was buried at Arlington, the monument erected to his memory by his wife bearing this inscription, taken from the address made by President Eliot when conferring upon him the Harvard degree, "He gave to man control over that fearful scourge. Yellow Fever." Walter Reed married, in 1876, Emilie Law- rence of Murfreesboro, North Carolina. He had two children : a son, Walter Lawrence, who became an officer in the United States Army, and a daughter, Emilie Lawrence. Reed's greatest service to humanity was, of course, his discovery of the means by which yellow fever can be controlled, a discovery which, as Gen. Leonard Wood said, "results in the saving of more lives annually than were lost in the Cuban war and saves the commer- cial prosperity of the country greater financial losses in every year than the cost of the Cuban war." Aside from his work in yellow fever, however, he accomplished much in the service of his fellow men. His investigations in ty-