Immunity from Colds—See Vitality Low. IMMUNITY FROM DISEASE The island of Barbados, in the West Indies, is remarkably free from malaria, and this immunity from a disease which is so common in the tropics has been attributed to a species of fish that inhabits the waters of that island, and whose chief food is the larvæ of the mosquito. These fish are tiny minnows, never exceeding an inch and a half in length, and are generally known as "millions," altho they bear a most impressive scientific name. They belong to the family of "top minnows," feeding on the surface of the water, and their diminutive size enables them to swim over lily-pads and similar vegetation, which is covered only by a thin film of water, and there feast upon mosquito larvæ and other insects. These fish thrive in stagnant or running water, and whether it is fresh or brackish appears to have no effect upon them. The minnows will swim up stream against a strong current and then enter the smaller rivulets, thus distributing themselves over an entire water system. The young of these fish are not hatched from eggs, but are born alive. The Panama Canal Commission has decided to employ these minnows in the fight to rid the Isthmus of the malarial mosquito, and has imported a great quantity of the little fish. There are mosquito-eating fish in the Panama waters, but they are not sufficiently numerous to be of much value. However, a systematic stocking of the lakes and streams in the Canal Zone with the "millions" from Barbados should act as a severe check on the mosquito population of Panama, and indirectly aid in stamping out malaria.—Harper's Weekly.
(1544)
See Disease, Exemption from.
Immutability—See Individuality of Germs.
IMPARTIALITY
Lieut. Edmund Blaney, of the Atlantic
Avenue police station, Brooklyn, who locked
up his son brought in on the charge of fighting,
is to be commended for his determination
that his own shall be treated no better
than others. It is a gratifying instance of
the absence of "pull" and a delightful example
of paternal willingness to see that
punishment is meted out when it should be.
Lieutenant Blaney could have let his fighting
son, a man of twenty-three, and the other
prisoner go upon their promise to appear in
court, and no one would have taken exception
to such a display of fatherly interest,
but he preferred the Spartan attitude. The
public need not expect this rule to be generally
followed, for not many parents have
the firmness to deal out the same degree
of severe treatment to their own offspring
as to those of others. A not to be over-*looked
feature of the case is the evident reduction
of the young man's opinion of his
ability to violate the law and escape the consequences.
He thought, or said, that he
could not be arrested because he was an
officer's son. That was yesterday. To-day
he is wiser and it is hoped a slightly better
citizen from a forced realization that
ordinances are intended for all alike.—Brooklyn
Standard Union.
(1545)
Impartiality of God—See Privilege.
IMPATIENCE
Victor Hugo pictures a man who is so
maddened by failure and misfortune that he
resolves on suicide. He is at the end of his
resources, and he capitulates to death. No
sooner has he committed suicide than the
postman drops a letter in at his door which
contains the information that a distant relative
has left him a large fortune. If he had
waited but one hour longer! For want of
patience he lost all!
(1546)
Sergeant Cotton in his book "A Voice from Waterloo," tells us what Wellington thought Napoleon ought to have done:
Napoleon never had so fine an army as
at Waterloo. He was certainly wrong in
attacking at all. He might have played again
the same defensive game in the French territory
which he had played so admirably the
year before; that campaign of 1814 I consider
the very finest he ever made. He
might have given us great trouble and had
many chances in his favor. But the fact is
he never in his life had patience for a defensive
war.
(1547)
IMPATIENCE OF REFORMERS
The besetting sin of the reformer is his
impatience. The world must be redeemed at
once. "The trouble seems to be," said Theodore
Parker of the anti-slavery cause, "that
