hat little or nothing could be done in the
way of successfully treating this disease, but quite recently a French
physician, who has been conducting a long series of experiments in the
Society Islands, announced that he is able to cure many cases by certain
surgical operations on the affected parts.

DENGUE OR "BREAKBONE FEVER"

This is another disease of the tropics often occurring in widespread
epidemics. It is probably most frequently met with in the West Indies,
but may occur in any of the tropical countries or islands. Occasionally
it spreads into subtropical or even temperate regions. Several extensive
epidemics have occurred in the United States. Once introduced into a
community it spreads very rapidly and nothing seems to confer immunity.

The various names by which it has been called well describe its effect
on the patient; breakbone fever, dandy-fever, stiff-necked or
giraffe-fever, boquet (or "bucket") fever, _scarlatina rheumatica_,
polka-fever, etc. While the suffering is intense as long as the disease
lasts it seldom terminates fatally.

It has always been classed as a very contagious disease and it has not
yet been definitely shown that it is not. Recent observations, however,
have shown that it is probably caused by a certain Protozoan parasite
that is found in the blood of dengue patients and several experiments
have been conducted by Dr. Graham which seem to indicate that it is
transmitted by mosquitoes. In these experiments, _Culex fatigans_, a
common tropical or subtropical mosquito, was used. The same parasite
that is found in the human blood may be found in the stomach and blood
of the mosquitoes up to the fifth day after it has fed on a dengue
patient.

Sick and healthy individuals were allowed to remain in close contact in
a room from which the mosquitoes had been excluded, and the disease was
not spread. Mosquitoes that had bitten dengue patients were taken to a
higher region where dengue had never occurred and allowed to bite two
healthy persons. Both developed the disease and as they were protected
from other mosquitoes until they had recovered, the disease did not
spread to others of the community. These and other observations seem to
make a complete chain of evidence, and most medical men to-day accept
the theory as well proved and in their practice take every precaution to
prevent the spread of the disease by keeping the infected patient from
being bitten by the mosquitoes.

The ye