Curious facts, concerning man and nature : with a few practical suggestions on other subjects / by Samuel W. Francis.

  • Samuel Ward Francis
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Curious facts, concerning man and nature : with a few practical suggestions on other subjects / by Samuel W. Francis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    If the back of a turtle or tortoise is stood up before the student it at first resembles neat shingling ; but if the outlines are followed from above downwards, be will at once see the marked similarity between that and the head-dress of the Egyp- tian Cleopatra and the Eastern women of that day. It was because in olden, meditative times, observation had more fol- lowers than orig nation. Long walks, much reflection and silent revery bared to view the secrets of many things that to the casual observer seemed merely the result of cause and effect. Educa- tion teaches us to see beyond the surface. Taking as my stand- point the aphorism, that all things were created for some good purpose, it is my firm conviction that the mosquitoe was created for the purpose of driving man from malarial districts : for I do not believe that in nature any region where chill and fever pre- vail can be free from this little animal. Now if man will not go, after the warning is given in humming accents, then the mosquitoe injects hypodermically a little liqu’d which answers two purposes—firstly to render the blood thin enough to be drawn up through its tube, and secondly in order to inject that which possesses the principles of Quinine ! This idea I pub- lished in a work .entitled “Life and Death,” page 210— March, 1871 ; a few lines will suffice—“The time will come when it will be publicly acknowledged that the little fluid they (mosquitoes) inject into your blood, contains certain specific properties for different diseases. To prove that I am right, let any skillful chemist test the powerful drop contained in a mos- quito’s sack, and he will find many of the properties of Quinine.” This theory was ridiculed at first by many, but it was with emotions of great pleasure I lately learned that about eigh- teen months after I had made this statement, some German Philosophers actually obtained the liquid from mosquitoes and by a careful analysis, discovered that it contained the “principles of Quinine.” How truly appropriate are Pope’s lines : “All are but parts of one stupendous whole Whose body nature is, and God the Sold.”
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