The kidneys are particularly liable to be attacked in this way; indeed, one of their involvements is so serious and fatal in the tropics as to have been given a separate name, "Blackwater fever," from the quantities of broken-down blood which appear in and blacken the urine. The vast majority of attacks of malaria are completely recovered from, like any other infection, but it can easily be seen what an injurious effect upon the system may be produced by successive attacks, keeping the entire body saturated with the poison; while there is serious risk of the parasite sooner or later finding some weak spot in the body,--kidney, liver, nervous system,--where its incessant battering works permanent damage. How long the infection may lurk in the body is uncertain; certainly for months, and possibly for years. Many cases are on record which had typical chills and fever, with abundance of plasmodia in the blood, years after leaving the tropics or other malarious districts; but there is often the possibility of a recent re-infection. Altogether, malaria is a remarkably bad citizen in any community, and its stamping-out is well worth all it costs. CHAPTER XIV RHEUMATISM: WHAT IT IS, AND PARTICULARLY WHAT IT ISN'T What's in a name? All the aches and pains that came out of Pandora's box, if the name happens to be rheumatism. It is a term of wondrous elasticity. It will cover every imaginable twinge in any and every region of the body--and explain none of them. It is a name that means just nothing, and yet it is in every man's vocabulary, from proudest prince to dullest peasant. Its derivative meaning is little short of an absurdity in its inappropriateness, from the Greek _reuma_ (a flowing), hence, a cold or catarrh. It is still preserved for us in the familiar "salt rheum" (eczema) and "rheum of the eyes" of our rural districts. But this very indefiniteness, absurdity if you will, is a comfort both to the sufferer and to the physician. Moreover, incidentally, to paraphrase Portia's famous plea,-- It blesseth him that _has_ and him that _treats_; 'T is mightier than the mightiest. It doth _fit_ the throned monarch _closer_ than his crown. To the patient it is a satisfying diagnosis and satisfactory explanation in one; to the doctor, a great saving of brain-fag. When we call a disease rheumatism, we know what to give for it--even if we don't know what it is. As the old German distich runs,-- Was man kann nicht erkennen, Muss er Rheumatismus nennen.[2] [Footnote 2: What one cannot recognize he must call rheumatism.]