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subdivisions of the city called Kalau and Sando, each with a population
of 1,000, making 5,000 in all. In 22i years (1875-1898) no case of
cancer occurred in the western suburb, Sando ; cases were not infrequent
in the central main town, and 73 deaths from cancer, out of a
total of 663 deaths from all causes, occurred in the eastern suburb,
Kalau. Cancer, therefore, caused one death out of nine in Kalau, one
out of 25, or 30 in the entire town, whereas no cases occurred in Sando.
During the 22½ years the number of inhabitants and their habits of life
remained the same. The population is agricultural and lives on the
products of its own gardens and fields. The dwellings are similar in
size. The soil of Kalau and the central town is flat, low and moist ;
that of Sando, elevated, sandy and dry. A stream or ditch closely
encircles the central town and Kalau. Cancer followed the course of
this ditch. In Kalau all the gardens were watered by it. Of the 127
houses in Kalau, 56 were cancer houses; 45 had a single case, 10 two
cases and 1 four cases."
Bella attributed this unequal distribution of cancer to the location
of the ditch. In the cancer suburb, all the gardens were watered from
it, and the people were in the habit of rinsing vegetables in water from
it which was stagnant and foul. Behla believed the vegetables were
infected from the water of the ditch, and the people by the vegetables,
large quantities of the latter being eaten raw. Behla considered that
a parasite must be the cause of this irregular distribution of cancer.
Again, in his work, "Cancer Clinically Considered," Sir John Bland
Sutton says:—"The frequency with which cancer attacks the large
intestine is in favour of those who believe that cancer is due to a microparasite,
probably something which is taken in with uncooked food or
with water. Indeed, I feel so strongly on this matter that for many
years 1 have avoided eating all sorts of uncooked vegetables. Much as
I enjoy salad with my chicken or my cheese, I do not touch it. ... "
Cancer is more prone to arise in glandular organs which have been
injured or are the seat of chronic disease, than in those that are healthy.
Strong are the grounds for believing cancer is infectious, that is,
transmissible from one individual to another, directly or indirectly, by
the agency of a specific micro-organism, either a bacterium or a
protozoon.
Dr. Gaylord showed that rats developed the disease after occupation
of cages previously occupied by other rats suffering from cancer.
When the infected cages were thoroughly disinfected no further
infection occurred.