TWICE DAILY after meals.. Two spoonful of Mritesojibani mixed with The Season's greatest restorative for that extra sparkle-in your health four spoonsful of Mahadraksharista (6 years old) THE CALCUTTA REVIEW Vol. 155] MAY, 1960 [No. 2 RONALD ROSS AND THE DEATHDEALING MOSQUITO EDWARD PODOLSKY, M.D., LITT.D. It was in the year 1894 that Ronald Ross was again visiting England on a vacation from his duties in India. He had heard a great deal about Patrick Manson who had discovered the cause of filariasis and who had established a world-wide reputation in diseases of the tropics; in fact, Dr. Manson was becoming known as the "father of modern tropical medicine." He had some very definite theories about malaria, and Ronald Ross was very much interested in malaria. It was Dr. Manson's belief that the malaria parasite spent part of its life cycle in the body of the mosquito, although he supposed that man became infected, not through the bite of the insect, but from drinking water into which the parasite had passed from the mosquito. Dr. Ross spent quite a bit of time with Dr. Manson and he was thoroughly convinced by the latter that the mosquito hypothesis was the correct clue to follow in the malaria mystery. When Ross returned to his post in India, all the time he could spare from his duties as regimental officer was devoted to studying the mosquito's anatomy. His researches were carried out without adequate equipment and assistance, and he had many heart-breaking difficulties to overcome. It was on August 20, 1897, at the end of a long, hot, fatiguing day when Ross, peering into his microscope, saw what he had long been seeking. There under the lens of his microscope was a malarial parasite in the wall of the stomach of the mosquito, which was later identified as Anopheles. Ross's happiness was short-lived, for only a short time after this discovery he was ordered to a different station where there was no malaria, and his investigation were thus completely interrupted. After many months of pleading Ross was able to get himself transferred to Calcutta, where there were some malaria cases, although not too many for research purposes. It was for this reason that his demonstration of the remainder of the life history of the Plasmodium was done with the parasite of bird malaria. By now Ross had become thoroughly intrigued by the malaria problem and he had also become thoroughly convinced that the importance of his work was not being appreciated in India and by the military medical department. He resigned his commission and became Professor of Tropical Medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. His scope was now widened; he paid many visits to tropical countries to continue his researches in malaria, and in time he attained a world-wide reputation as the foremost expert in this disease. In 1902 Dr. Ross received the Noble Prize in medicine because of his researches in malaria. Honours came from all over the world in further recognition of his work. In 1911 he was knighted. During the First World War Sir Ronald Ross was called upon by the British Government to become a consultant in tropical diseases, which post he filled with great distinction. After the war he continued his work for the Ministry of Pensions as well as conducting a private practice in tropical medicine in London. In 1926 he became Director-in-chief of the newly organized Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London. Ronald Ross was born on May 13, 1857 at Almora, in India, in the Himalayas, the eldest son of Major (later General) Campbell Claye Grant Ross of the British Army. Until the age of eight young Ross remained in India learning to speak Hindustani as well as English. In 1865, as was the custom of British families in India, Ronald was sent to England to be educated. He lived with an uncle and aunt, seeing his parents on rare occassions when they visited England. Those early years in England were happy ones. Ronald Ross was fond of reading and music. He was also something of an athlete, excelling in swimming, fishing and sailing. His inclinations were toward the arts, but his father had set his heart on Ronald becoming a physician and entering the Indian Medical Service. At the age of 17, when General Ross was in England on a year's leave, Ronald entered St. Barthomew's, one of the leading medical schools at that time. Young Ross did not distinguish himself as a medical student. He was far more interested in music and poetry than in medicine. He drifted through his medical causes, and when the time approached for his examinations for his license he realised that he was inadequately prepared. By "cramming" he managed to pass the examination of the College of Physicians but failed to obtain his medical qualification. This was a bitter disappointment to his father, who was about to retire and had been anxious to have his son qualified for the Indian Medical Service before he himself left India. Ronald was also disappointed, but he determined to make the best of it. As his degree of M.R.C.S. was acceptable as qualification for a ship's surgeon, he obtained a post as surgeon on the S. S. Alsatia, running between London and New York. He made several voyages as ship's surgeon, and as his work was not too demanding, he used his time to good advantage in studying for his medical degree, which he finally received early in 1881. It was a short time thereafter that Ross took the examination for the Indian Medical Service, which he passed and following which he received an appointment. In spite of the fact that Ross had been born in India and had spent the first eight years of his life there, he had no real feeling for India as his home. As a matter of fact, India was completely foreign to him. In the course of his medical service he was frequently transferred from station to station and was far from happy and content. He saw misery and poverty everywhere he went; he saw disease taking a terrible toll of the native population; he began to take his work as a doctor seriously. The regulations of the Indian Medical Service permitted a year's leave of absence after five years of duty. In 1888 Dr. Ross asked for and was granted his furlough and at once sailed for England. He put his year's leave to very good use; he devoted his time to studying for the diploma in public health, which the Royal College of Physicians had recently instituted. He was also busy learning the fundamentals of the new science of bacteriology which Pasteur had founded. Another important event took place during this visit to England; Dr. Ross married Miss Rosa Bloxam, who was to be his devoted companion for the rest of his life. It During his medical duties in India Dr. Ross had been particularly impressed by the terrible havoc brought about by malaria. was estimated that at that time in India alone malaria was responsible for 1,300,000 deaths annually. About one-third of the British soldiers admitted to hospitals were suffering from malaria. The cause of malaria had been discovered by Alphonse Laveran in 1880. Laveran and others advocated the hypothesis that the mosquito played a part in transmitting the disease, but no proof of this theory bad been forth-coming. Being a member of the Indian Medical Service had its disadvantages. On his return to India after his year's absence in England he was given a three-year appointment to a post in a part of India. where there was no malaria and Ross was bitterly disappointed. He bided his time, however, and in 1893 was transferred to Secunderbad, a large military station which had many regiments of British and Indian Soldiers and which was rife with malaria. Ross settled dowL to a study of the disease which had intrigued him for sometime. He worked on the problem in his spare time, receiving no encouragement from his superiors. However, he was a man with a strong purpose and the will to pursue it. He persisted in his labors, and after many trials and errors discovered what he had been seeking. Ronald Ross had always had two loves, medicine and writing. He practiced both throughout his life. His most famous work was "In Exile," which was written little by little from 1890 to 1897 when he was engaged in his work that led to his discovery. It begins with the reflections of the young doctor in a foreign and far from congenial environment and contains many poems which bespeak his disappointment and despair. The most famous poem he wrote on the very evening of the hot August day when he made his great discovery. It goes: This day relenting God. Hath placed within my hand |