"كتيّب الجزيرة العربية. مجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٣‎٦‎٠] (٥٤٢/٣٦٤)

BT'T
360
HYGIENE AND DISEASE
T icks, Argas Permcus (fowl tick), though not known to carry auv
germs hurtful to man, is such a pest along the Persian Gulf that it
has been known to compel people to quit their houses.
Ornithodorus Savignyi conveys the spirochaetes of relapsing fever •
Ixodes ricinus, very common in Arabia, is responsible for diseases
due to Piroplasma.
C rustaceans . Various species of Cyclops, which carry the
larval forms of the guinea-worm.
M ollusca . Species of Katayama, Bullinus, and Planorbis are
known as hosts for cercaria of Bilharzia (Schistosomum) kaematohia,
and several kinds of Limnaea harbour the larva of ' flukes
Our knowledge of the arthropods and worms, &c., of Arabia is
very small. It is to be hoped that travellers and civil and military
officials will collect new or rare species and send them to England.'
G eneral H ygiene and some C ommon D iseases
Within the last forty years the true causes of many infective
diseases have been discovered and proved, and many new methods
have been devised to safeguard the health of men suddenly ex
posed to the risk of tropical diseases. Malaria, yellow fever, cholera,
typhoid, typhus, plague, are at the present time so well understood'
and the precautions to be taken against them have been so far
worked out, that a man need not be greatly afraid of them—if
only he will be careful.
But, of course, he must not only be careful to obey the ordinary
rules for the avoidance of infection ; he must also be careful to
keep himself thoroughly fit and up to the mark. If he impairs his
health by any bad habit or excess, or by any neglect of himself,
his natural power of resistance becomes less. Proper diet and
clothing, avoidance of chill, attention to the teeth and the skin
and the bowels, all are of great importance to him. Men ought
to be encouraged to believe that, if only they will be careful, they
can really do a great deal to protect themselves from infection,
ior the fear of disease may get more hold on a man than the fear
of dying in action. Losses in action and losses by disease', says
Lieut.-Col. Melville, are very different things. . . . Disease takes
the heart out of men in a way that mere death on the battlefield
does not.'
Our present knowledge of the causes of the infective diseases
comes from the work of Pasteur (1822-95) and his followers. It
was Pasteur Avho discovered and proved that the infective diseases
are distinct species of microscopic germs, multiplying in the body,
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