(2) Much attention has been directed in scientific circles to the possibility of "stamping out" epidemic malaria by administrative measures. The problem is one of great practical importance, especially to the British Empire. There are no data for estimating the damage inflicted by malaria in the British colonies. It is, indeed, quite incalculable. In Italy the annual mortality from this cause averages 15,000, which is estimated to represent two million cases of sickness and a consequent loss of several million francs. In British tropical possessions the bill is incomparably heavier. There is not only the heavy toll in life and health exacted from Europeans, but the virtual closing of enormous tracts of productive country which would otherwise afford scope for British enterprise. The "deadly" climates, to which so much dread attaches, generally mean malaria, and the mastery of this disease would be equivalent to the addition of vast and valuable areas to the empire. The problem, therefore, is eminently one for the statesman and administrator. A solution may be sought in several directions, suggested by the facts already explained. The existence of the parasite is maintained by a vicious interchange between its alternate hosts, mosquitoes and man, each infecting the other. If the cycle be broken at any point the parasite must die out, assuming that it has no other origin or mode of existence. The most effective step would obviously be the extermination of the _Anopheles_ mosquito. A great deal may be done towards this end by suppressing their breeding-places, which means the drying of the ground. It is a question for the engineer, and may require different methods in different circumstances. Put comprehensively, it involves the control of the subsoil and surface waters by drainage, the regulation of rivers and floods, suitable agriculture, the clearing of forests or jungles, which tend to increase the rainfall and keep the ground swampy. The city of Rome is an example of what can be done by drainage; situated in the midst of malaria, it is itself quite healthy. Recent reports also show us how much may be done in infected districts. At Ismailia malaria was reduced from 1551 cases in 1902 to 37 cases in 1905. The cost of operations amounted to an initial expenditure of 6.25 francs, and an annual expenditure of about 2.3 francs per head of the population. "The results are due to mosquito reduction together with cinchonization." The following is a tabulated list of the cases. The population of Ismailia is about 6000. +------------------+------+------+-------+------+------+--------+ | Year | 1900 | 1901 | 1902* | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | +------------------+------+------+-------+------+------+--------+ | Cases of Malaria | 2250 | 1990 | 1548 | 214 | 90 | 372[2] | +------------------+------+------+-------+------+------+--------+ * Drainage works begun.