Page:George Archdall Reid 1896 The present evolution of man.djvu/287

Rh The above table is even more significant than it appears. Had the habits and customs of the Europeans been the same as those of the Asiatics, without doubt their death-rate would have been higher than it was, as may be judged from the following extract—

"It has been stated over and over again that negroes and natives of the countries where malarial fevers are endemic are themselves immune to the poison of malaria.

"This is too sweeping a statement to make, certainly so far as regards British Guiana, and I believe of other tropical countries as well.

"It is quite true, I think, that the negroes and Creoles of this colony do not suffer to nearly so great an extent as foreigners; a very marked difference in this respect being evidently noticeable' in the numbers of the coolies attacked compared with those of the negroes and Creoles. Coolies all suffer to a very great degree, and are probably the class of foreigners most subject to the malarial poison.

"On the other hand, we must take into account in dealing with the question of immunity in the natives of tropical countries the various conditions under which they live as compared with those of foreigners. Now, unfortunately, the natives of this country live under the most insanitary conditions—conditions which would soon be fatal to Europeans unaccustomed to tropical life. Yet their death-rate would probably compare very favourably with that of foreigners.

"Again, the reason why the coolie suffers so terribly from malaria as compared with other foreigners is obviously due to the conditions under which he lives, and doubtless partly also to his occupation. The coolies, as we all know, live in huts built on the ground, in many cases no attempt being made to raise the floor, the latter as often as not being mother-earth; so that they may be said to be literally grovelling in malarial dust. Their occupation being mainly that of agriculturalists,