Stagl Verena, Sattmann Helmut, Hörweg Christoph
Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, 3. Zoologische Abteilung, Wien, Österreich.
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2010 Oct;122 Suppl 3:6-9. doi: 10.1007/s00508-010-1431-0.
The term miasma was coined by Hippocrates of Kos. He introduced it to describe dangerous fumes from the ground that are transported by winds and can cause serious illnesses. Up until the late 19th century, miasmas from swamps were blamed for giving rise to and spreading so-called intermittent fever, cold fever, swamp fever or malaria. It was not until 1898 that the mosquito genus Anopheles was identified as the agent responsible for transmitting malaria. On 30 April 1857, the Austrian frigate Novara left Trieste to circumnavigate the globe. One of the medical officers on board, Dr. Eduard Schwarz, studied the composition of miasmas in detail and published his investigations in the medical section of the "Novara Chronicles" in 1861. Schwarz attributed the dreaded Nicobar fever to decomposition processes of organic material, which released dangerous miasmas that could only be eliminated by draining the swamps. Karl von Scherzer, the scientific director of the Novara expedition, collected exact information about the distribution range of the cinchona tree, which was said to be threatened with extinction, a rumor that later proved to be false. Quinine was gained from the bark of the tree and was used worldwide to treat malaria, pains, and fever.
“瘴气”一词由科斯岛的希波克拉底创造。他引入这个词来描述从地面升起、随风传播并能引发严重疾病的有害烟雾。直到19世纪末，沼泽产生的瘴气都被认为是导致和传播所谓的间歇性发热、寒热、沼泽热或疟疾的原因。直到1898年，按蚊属才被确定为传播疟疾的媒介。1857年4月30日，奥地利护卫舰“诺瓦拉号”离开的里雅斯特进行环球航行。船上的一名军医爱德华·施瓦茨博士详细研究了瘴气的成分，并于1861年在《诺瓦拉编年史》的医学部分发表了他的研究成果。施瓦茨将可怕的尼科巴热归因于有机物质的分解过程，这些过程释放出危险的瘴气，只有通过排干沼泽才能消除。“诺瓦拉号”探险队的科学负责人卡尔·冯·舍尔策收集了有关金鸡纳树分布范围的确切信息，据说这种树面临灭绝威胁，不过后来证明这一传言是假的。奎宁是从这种树的树皮中提取的，在全世界被用于治疗疟疾、疼痛和发热。
