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Various

"Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884"

A complete atmospheric purification is nevertheless the
most stable of all the methods of obtaining a suspension of malarial
production, but unfortunately its realization is very limited, for it is
restricted to inhabited localities and to sodded surfaces.
The ideal method of insuring freedom from malaria should be to obtain a
permanent immunity, that is, to be able to modify the composition of the
infected soil in such a way as to make it sterile as regards malaria,
without taking from it the power of furnishing products useful for the
social economy. But all the elements indispensable for obtaining such a
result fail us utterly just here. We do not yet know what ought to be, in
general terms, the composition of a soil incapable of producing malaria,
yet retaining those properties which are suitable for vegetation. When we
shall have arrived at this first stage, there will still be a long road to
travel; and the most difficult part will be to discover a practical means
of imparting this salutary composition to all the numerous varieties of
malarious soils.
Scientifically, then, in the present state of our knowledge we are unable
to affirm anything on this point.


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