But, in order to
arrive at such results, it is necessary to be at once bold and prudent. On
the one hand, it is necessary to graduate very carefully the daily dose,
never exceeding at the commencement the dose of two milligrammes (3/100
grain per diem) for adults, and never giving the arsenic upon an empty
stomach. On the other hand, it is necessary to gradually push the dose up
to ten or twelve milligrammes (15/100 or 18/100) a day for adults, in
districts where the malaria is very severe, giving the arsenic in such a
way that there is never an accumulation of the drug in the stomach. Most
of the experiments which have been undertaken this year are being
conducted on this plan, and there is reason to hope that they will give
satisfactory results.
We must not, however, rest here if we wish to attain promptly the end
proposed, namely, that of planting colonies in malarious districts without
exposing the colonists to grave danger. Even if we realize perfectly the
hope which I conceived in 1880, and if we are enabled to prove that
arsenic increases man's power of resistance to the assaults of malaria, we
must not imagine that everything is accomplished. It will take a long time
before the use of a preservative method of this kind becomes generalized;
we have first to contend against the fear which nearly every one
experiences when arsenic is mentioned, and then there will also be
difficulty in establishing everywhere a proper control over its
administration.
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