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I H S A N U G U R D E L I K A N L I , TO D O R D I M I T R O V, R O E N A A G O L L I

MULTIL ATER AL
DEVELOPMENT
BANK S
Governanc e and Financ e
Multilateral Development Banks
Ihsan Ugur Delikanli • Todor Dimitrov
Roena Agolli

Multilateral
Development Banks
Governance and Finance
Ihsan Ugur Delikanli Todor Dimitrov
Istanbul, Turkey Thessaloniki, Greece

Roena Agolli
Thessaloniki, Greece

ISBN 978-3-319-91523-4    ISBN 978-3-319-91524-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91524-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018942751

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the
whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does
not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective
laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are
believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors
give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions
that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps
and institutional affiliations.

Cover image: © RooM the Agency / Alamy Stock Photo

Cover design by Tjaša Krivec

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part
of Springer Nature.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For our families and children as well as all children of the world.
 Foreword

During several decades the benefits of multilateralism were taken for granted.
This is no longer the case. In this context, Multilateral Development Banks:
Governance and Finance is a very timely and valuable book that offers a rich
description of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), an assessment of
their roles, and a constructive critique with recommendations to enhance
their contribution to the development agenda.
A useful taxonomy of 25 MDBs is proposed and applied for the analysis of
these banks as a whole and by type of MDBs. Having worked for the three
different types of MDBs considered in the book, I can attest that this classifi-
cation makes sense.
This volume is an important contribution to the qualitative and quantita-
tive knowledge about MDBs practices and standards. It addresses misconcep-
tions concerning MDBs, provides a comprehensive review of governance and
funding issues that constrain MDBs’ effectiveness, and suggests means to
overcome those constraints.
It is to be noted that Chap. 3 provides an adequate presentation of the
important issue of additionality, whereas Chap. 5 presents a novel system of
MDB-specific governance principles, which is used in an assessment and in
identifying areas for improvement. It includes the standards developed for
independent evaluation by the MDBs’ Evaluation Cooperation Group
(ECG), considering also other areas relevant for MDBs.
The book concludes with a discussion on the future of MDBs, providing
ideas and suggestions for addressing complex problems, highlighting the
importance of improving governance and strengthening independent

vii
viii Foreword

evaluation, as well as the engagement with stakeholders and the promotion of

synergies across MDBs. Thus it points out ways in which the MDBs can
become more effective and efficient agents of change, playing a key role in
shaping, implementing, and evaluating the development agenda.

Osvaldo Néstor Feinstein

Former manager and advisor at the
World Bank, former senior evaluator and
consultant for IFAD, former senior consultant
with IADB, AfDB, CDB, and several UN and
bilateral development agencies
 Preface

Multilateral Development Banks: Governance and Finance is a novel, theory-

inspired, and practice-based guide to the essence and prospects of Multilateral
Development Banks (MDBs). It provides a comprehensive overview regard-
ing virtually all MDBs, involved in lending for international socioeconomic
development. With seven stand-alone chapters, the book represents insights
on a wide range of often misconceived and unattended MDB aspects.
The analysis covers 25 MDBs worldwide to offer unprecedented under-
standing to a broad range of audiences who would be interested in the com-
plexity and the prospects of these institutions. The MDBs are covered as a
family and by groups, rather than presenting each one in detail. The grouping
is based on geographical lending outreach and has three categories of MDBs:
Global, Regional, and Sub-regional.
Unlike similar books and articles, which treat MDBs as banks, the authors
offer a novel perspective by addressing the obscured specifics of multilateral
lending institutions, revealing multiple aspects of their nature and operations,
based on their unique self-regulation and governance. MDBs are addressed in
a forward-looking manner, toward “knowledge banks”, “change agents”, and
even “benchmark setters”, diving into the very essence of the often elusive
additionality (offering of a value that is additional to what is already available
in the market). The variable elements of additionality make an MDB distin-
guished from any other institutions or banks.
The book’s novelty and insight draw on relevant comparisons of the three
regional groups of MDBs, with a focus on their governance and finance, to
outline relative comparative advantages, among other key features. While criti-
cism and reforms were addressed in the past, the book presents the importance
of phased incremental elevations through an evidence-based advancement of

ix
x Preface

values, human capital, and governance. This approach is in contrast with

already known polar ad hoc pressures that led to various stop-and-go reform
campaigns, associated with severe side effects such as “reform fatigue” and staff
disengagement.
The book reflects on the key role of most MDBs in inspiring and advancing
sustainable economic development through the transfer of knowledge and
funding by addressing key global challenges. It provides a constructive elabo-
ration on issues of recent criticism, such as opaque governance, domination
by “donor” countries, controversial requirements and operations, and lack of
inclusiveness. The bold calls for institutional reforms and the recent geopoliti-
cal and social turmoil in the world that have challenged multilateralism for
development (among other post-war values) make the book timely and rele-
vant, with a prospect to remain such for years ahead. Therefore, it is expected
to constructively enhance the ongoing debate, involving a growing network of
stakeholders, directly or indirectly, dealing with MDBs and their agenda (e.g.
OECD and G20).
Originated by a team with experience at a relatively small MDB (the Black
Sea Trade and Development Bank), the book presents a neutral position,
backed by years of diverse experiences at/with numerous MDBs, providing a
hands-on insider perspective. Utilizing their wide networks, as well as insight
from working closely with peer MDBs, the authors offer analysis on a number
of unexplored aspects, drawing from vast ex-post evaluation resources, reflect-
ing the wealth of lessons learned at most MDBs. This makes the book a unique
and hopefully inspiring source of knowledge on a wide range of standards and
practices, for the benefit of practitioners, consultants, government officials,
borrowers, and researchers.
The book is expected to be of particular interest and use to a very wide
range of multilateral as well as bilateral organizations and stakeholders con-
cerned with development. It should also become a key asset to academics and
students with an interest in international finance and development. It may
also be useful to members of the general public interested in the complex
geopolitical context of international development and multilateralism, as they
have never been more important, yet challenged. It is clear that rapid transfor-
mations are taking place toward political and social upheavals, driven by pop-
ulism and nationalism, triggering unprecedented debate about the challenges
of poverty, inequality, peace, and sustainability. This makes the MDBs par-
ticularly relevant and important, at a time when they are pressed to deliver
deeper and wider, faster and better, with even more limited resources.
The opinions and positions expressed in the book belong to the authors
and not to the institutions they are associated with. The authors take
 Preface
   xi

r­ esponsibility for all errors and omissions and acknowledge the importance of
contributions by many other people.
The three authors worked jointly on the book upon the idea of Ihsan Ugur
Delikanli. Their primary contribution is as follows:

Ihsan Ugur Delikanli: Chaps. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7.

Todor Dimitrov: Chaps. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, editing.
Roena Agolli: Chap. 2, index.

Credit for photograph of Todor Dimitrov (back flap): Kalina Dimitrova.

Istanbul, Turkey Ihsan Ugur Delikanli

 Contents

1 Introduction   1

2 The Nature of MDBs   9

3 Financial Dynamics  33

4 Current Governance  89

5 Principles of Sound Governance 123

6 Clients’ Perspective 163

7 The Future 177

Glossary 193

Index 203

xiii
 List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Unilateral and multilateral principles 23

Fig. 2.2 Multilateral delegation 24
Fig. 3.1 Subscribed and paid in capital, global MDBs (USD, billion).
Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’ annual reports 39
Fig. 3.2 Subscribed and paid in capital, regional MDBs (USD, billion).
Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’ annual reports 40
Fig. 3.3 Subscribed and paid in capital, sub-regional MDBs (USD, billion).
Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’ annual reports 40
Fig. 3.4 Equity and paid in capital, global MDBs (USD, billion).
Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’ annual reports 41
Fig. 3.5 Equity and paid in capital, regional MDBs (USD, billion).
Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’ annual reports 42
Fig. 3.6 Equity and paid-in capital, sub-regional MDBs (USD, billion).
Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’ annual reports 42
Fig. 3.7 Total borrowings (USD, billion). Source: Authors’ compilation
from MDBs’ annual reports 44
Fig. 3.8 Gearing ratio (Borrowings + Total equity)/(Loans + Guarantees +
Undisbursed commitments). Source: Authors’ compilation from
MDBs’ annual reports 45
Fig. 3.9 Total assets (USD, billion). Source: Authors’ compilation from
MDBs’ annual reports 46
Fig. 3.10 Liquidity asset ratio (Cash and due from banks + Treasury assets)/
Total assets (%). Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’
annual reports 47
Fig. 3.11 Liquidity borrowing ratio (Cash and due from banks + Treasury
assets)/Borrowings (%). Source: Authors’ compilation from
MDBs’ annual reports 48

xv
xvi List of Figures

Fig. 3.12 Total loans, debt securities and equity investments (USD, billion).
Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’ annual reports 49
Fig. 3.13 Leverage ratio (%). Source: Authors’ compilation from MDBs’
annual reports 53
Fig. 3.14 Gross income from lending (%). Source: Authors’ compilation
from MDBs’ annual reports 59
Fig. 3.15 Return on equity (RoE, %). Source: Authors’ compilation from
MDBs’ annual reports 61
Fig. 3.16 Administrative costs ratio (Administrative Costs/Gross Income
from Lending and Treasury, %). Source: Authors’ compilation
from MDBs’ annual reports 62
Fig. 4.1 Governance structure 91
Fig. 6.1 Eligibility and concept review 169
Fig. 6.2 Appraisal and due diligence 170
 List of Tables

Table 2.1 Classification of MDBs in terms of regional coverage by lending 10

Table 2.2 Why MDBs are different from banks 28
Table 2.3 MDBs—weighting the M, D, and B 30
Table 3.1 MDBs’ credit ratings and risk weights 54
Table 4.1 Quorum and decision-making, Board of Governors 95
Table 4.2 Voting power of G7 and G20 countries at MDBs 97
Table 4.3 Composition of Board of Directors 102
Table 4.4 Requirements for quorum and decision-making at Board of
Directors’ meetings 104
Table 4.5 Selection of president 109
Table 4.6 Examples of MDB’s committees 113
Table 5.1 MDBs’ adherence to the seven governance principles 157
Table 6.1 Phases in the financing cycle 164
Table 7.1 MDBs’ safeguards 187

xvii
 1
Introduction

Rationale
Address Misconceptions, Clarify the Essence of MDBs

Despite existing publications and public discourse, the role, governance, and
potential of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) remain obscured by
fragmented and often inaccurate information. These institutions remain
poorly understood, implying the need for an open, comprehensive, and bal-
anced overview, going beyond history and data.
This book sheds light on a number of misconceptions regarding MDBs,
widely spread not only among the public, but even among MDBs’ stakehold-
ers such as counterparts, shareholders, managers, and staff. These misconcep-
tions include but are not limited to the following: (1) MDBs are UN agencies;
(2) MDBs are aid/grant/subsidy funds; (3) all MDBs are subsidiaries of the
World Bank; (4) MDBs are just international commercial/investment banks;
and (5) MDBs provide a key share of financing in some countries but there
are no tangible results.
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 (Financial Dynamics, Current Governance, and
Governance Principles) constitute the core of the book, providing insight for
the bumpy road ahead, outlined at the concluding Chap. 7 (The Future).
These chapters provide a comprehensive review of multiple governance and
funding issues that constrain MDBs’ effectiveness, presenting seven novel
governance principles (Chap. 5), followed by an assessment of reality against
those principles.

© The Author(s) 2018 1

I. U. Delikanli et al., Multilateral Development Banks,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91524-1_1
2 I. U. Delikanli et al.

Compare Global, Regional, and Sub-regional MDBs

The book provides an overview of what the MDBs are often mistakenly
assumed to be, in order to reveal and clarify their distinct nature and modus
operandi, recent evolutions, toward future perspectives, covering all essential
aspects, including the most recent challenges to institutional governance and
finance. This is a timely and forward-looking response to the aggressive pres-
sures on multilateralism and development, fuelled by contemporary tides of
populism, nationalism, and protectionism, already affecting many MDBs and
other international institutions.

Methodology
The book has a specific focus on recent waves of criticism and discontent
with governance and results, both legitimate and ill-informed, that triggered
ad hoc reforms, as well as a proliferation of “new”, “green, lean, and clean”
MDBs. The recent motion of creating “alternative” new MDBs is subject of
a balanced assessment of pros and cons, with the ultimate objective of sug-
gesting feasible improvements in both the “old” and the “new” generations
of MDBs.

Approach

The book covers 25—virtually all—MDBs. While a reference to particular

cases is used along with specific individual examples, the important institu-
tional issues are approached in a forward-looking perspective, dealing with
and comparing three groups of MDBs—Global, Regional, and Sub-regional—
revealing their similarities, differences, strengths, and weaknesses. The goal of
grouping and comparing is to perform “MDB family” mapping in order to
suggest possible enhancements that are relevant for each respective group, as
individual MDB approach would be less meaningful or efficient. Another
goal is to make MDBs more aware of comparative advantages and potential
to improve, toward becoming more synergetic and relevant to the pressing
regional and global challenges of the future.
The methodology used in reviewing the 25 MDBs consists of an interdisci-
plinary process, integrating a number of interrelated components, outlined
below. The issues covered by each chapter are addressed by extensive data
reviews, as well as several rounds of peer-to-peer anonymous direct interviews
 Introduction 3

with key MDB staff and management, focusing on the departments involved
with institutional learning and memory—the Independent Evaluation depart-
ments. The analysis is also supplemented by interviews with key MDB bor-
rowers, to reflect their perspective. Most interviews were conducted in the
course of several years, within an ongoing MDB comparative research, cover-
ing 260 respondents from 19 MDBs.
The methodology, along with the main messages of each chapter, should
remain informative and relevant in the years to come, as the focus is on
how to improve MDBs’ functioning, looking at the cross-cutting groups
and issues. Hence, it is aimed at providing practice-based inspiration for
further debate regarding the MDB evolution, with a particular attention
on the need and obstacles to enhance old-fashion institutional governance,
in the light of recent efforts of last generation MDBs to challenge the more
traditional “old” development institutions (perceived as inefficient and
donor-dominated).
Overall, the methodology constitutes an interdisciplinary mapping pro-
cess, catalyzing insights from extensive reviews and discussions, involving the
following key elements: (1) MDB categorization based on geographical out-
reach; (2) development and application of MDB-specific governance assess-
ment framework (principles); (3) an assessment of the outreach and impact of
MDBs, based on key ex-post evaluation results; (4) a financial assessment
framework for MDBs, addressing inherent subsidies and privileges as unrec-
ognized risk mitigation instrument; and (5) evaluating the accessibility of
MDBs to borrowers through a borrower-based perspective. Details on the
approach regarding these five elements are presented below.
Unlike existing research that treats MDBs as banks, hereby they are
addressed by revealing the institutional aspects of their operations, going well
beyond the bank concept—toward high-profile self-regulated knowledge
banks, change agents, and franchise-based standard setters. These concepts
involve relevant comparisons of the three regional groups of MDBs, with a
focus on a feasible and sustainable governance-centered, rather than ad hoc,
reform agenda. The goal is to improve all or most MDBs through an evidence-­
based advancement of values, management, staff, and governance, rather than
already known polar pressures that resulted in various stop-and-go reform
campaigns, triggering alarming staff disengagement and overall reform fatigue
across most MDBs.
4 I. U. Delikanli et al.

MDB Categorization

All MDBs are grouped by their regional coverage. This facilitates the process
of understanding and improving different institutions, based on common
denominators rather than extensive piecemeal approach. It is instrumental to
demonstrate the similarities and differences among groups, as well as key
issues and shortcomings without criticizing a particular individual institution.
The ultimate goal is to offer feasible improvements that acknowledge MDBs
as complex related institutions, providing additional value beyond mere
finance, unlike conventional banks. This mainly refers to the provision of
knowledge and public goods—hence arguing that MDBs are primarily knowl-
edge banks and role models that should be treated very differently from any
other financial institutions.
The categorization generally reflects the MDBs’ size and ambition and is
defined as follows:
1. Global MDBs lend to several continents, covering those almost entirely;
2. Regional MDBs lend to just one continent, covering it almost entirely;
3. Sub-regional MDBs focus on a specific region that is smaller than a
continent.

Governance Assessment Framework

The very specific governance systems utilized by MDBs deserve central atten-
tion. For this reason, Chap. 4, dedicated to MDBs’ Current Governance,
followed by Chap. 5, which offers principles to elevate governance, are of
specific importance. The latter chapter is based on a methodology involving a
thorough process of reviewing and assessing respective governance systems
against a set of principles, developed by the authors. This is done at group
levels rather than at each MDB, but outlier cases are also addressed as a source
of insight, from both negative (risk) and positive (potential) perspectives.
Given the extensive experience and communication (including dedicated
interviews over the past four years) of the authors in dealing with those gov-
ernance systems within the MDBs, a particular attention is devoted to the less
obvious but very important details and practices of implementing the gover-
nance rules, as they have substantial implications, rarely understood. The
analysis is steered by a review of critical post evaluations at corporate/
institutional levels, in order to derive common issues.
 Introduction 5

Chapter 5 (Governance Principles) presents the development and applica-

tion of a unique governance assessment framework, specifically tailored to
MDBs. This involves MDB-customized institutional matrices, addressing the
role of two couples: formal/visible vs. informal/invisible practices at all levels
measured against seven core principles. Hereby an outlier assessment is also
instrumental in revealing and understanding borderline governance practices
that could inspire improvements, with due respect of existing constraints and
feasibility considerations such as the inherent complexity and inertia in mul-
tilateral dialogue.

Financial Assessments

The application of standard instruments of financial analysis (Chap. 3:

Financial Dynamics) is enhanced by applying an assessment framework for
the MDBs’ financial performance, covering the complexity of their unique
and poorly understood capital structure, risk mitigation, and institutional
nature. This highlights the impact of important aspects such as leverage-based
pricing and respective additionality-based premiums, inherent subsidies, and
privileges, as well as linking financial resources with institutional safeguards
and know-how, especially in a time when the latter is in the lead of provid-
ing a competitive edge. In this light, the financial resources, leverage and actual
performance, are assessed in terms of their role and potential for multiplier
effects, as the empirical evidence suggests that even the MDBs’ combined
financing is a tiny fraction of borrowing countries’ GDP (under 1%). In other
words, the concepts of additionality and catalyzing remain in the lead.

Borrower Perspective

The important perspective of the borrowers is covered by Chap. 6, revealing

the various layers of the typical operational and approval cycle, often causing
frustration among applicants. The ultimate goal is to help MDBs become
more inclusive and user-friendly. The analysis is based on a mix of data sources,
such as MDBs’ policies, ex-post evaluation reports/studies, and interviews
with actual and potential clients, as well as key front office staff—covering a
period of 15 years and at least two MDBs in each group of institutions (Global,
Regional, Sub-regional).
6 I. U. Delikanli et al.

Structure of the Book

The book consists of seven chapters: 1. Introduction; 2. The Nature of MDBs;
3. Financial Dynamics; 4. Current Governance; 5. Principles of Sound
Governance; 6. Clients’ Perspective; 7. The Future. The chapters are related and
naturally flow in that order. However, they also represent a stand-alone over-
view of the respective subjects. While the first two chapters are more descrip-
tive, the other five are more analytical and forward-looking, balancing
information with insight.
Chapter 2 contextualizes MDBs in terms of their institutional emergence,
role, and evolution, starting with the broader issues of roots, categorization,
and challenges. It groups the 25 MDBs into Global, Regional, and Sub-­
regional, to facilitate the scope of analysis. The nature of MDBs as complex
public institutions is outlined, revealing common misconceptions. The review
delves into a number of specific MDB conceptual features that are often
poorly presented and understood—from the wider issues of multilateralism
and development to the more specific political and extraterritorial dimen-
sions, moving toward knowledge bank concepts.
Chapter 3 presents the complexity of MDB finance, revealing major differ-
ences with other institutions that may look similar, as well as across the three
MDB groups. It covers capital formation, deployment and structure, borrow-
ing and catalytic capacity, lending outreach and terms, as well as the impor-
tance of inherent subsidies, safeguards, additionality, credit ratings, and so on.
While this chapter is inevitably more technical, it is written so that the wider
public and policymakers can also grasp the key messages, if not all of the
addressed financial metrics and concepts.
Chapter 4 goes beyond the mere description of typical MDB governance
systems, as this issue is at the core of most MDB challenges and future evolu-
tion. It looks at multiple written and unwritten governance elements, identi-
fying shortcomings and ill-based reforms that were often counterproductive,
with the goal to highlight the way ahead.
Chapter 5 presents a set of novel MDB governance principles, developed
by the authors. They cover virtually all aspects of governance, from the need
to distinguish several Board roles and capacity, to the overshadowed impor-
tance of attracting, motivating, and nurturing the right mix of dedicated
human capital. An assessment of governance against the new principles is also
offered, to inspire possible improvements.
Chapter 6 is a reflection on the implications arising from key issues
addressed so far from a very practical borrower perspective. In addition to an
Another random document with
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 12 feet, thus holding water adequate to the development of
about 100,000 horsepower. The mouth of the canal is 600 feet
from the shore line proper, and considerable work was
necessary in its protection and excavation. The bed is now of
clay, and the side walls are of solid masonry 17 feet high, 8
feet at the base, and 3 feet at the top. The northeastern side
of the canal is occupied by a power house, and is pierced by
ten inlets guarded by sentinel gates, each being the separate
entrance to a wheel pit in the power house, where the water is
used and the power is secured. The water as quickly as used is
carried off by a tunnel to the Niagara River again. …

"The wheel pit, over which the power house is situated, is a

long, deep, cavernous slot at one side, under the floor, cut
in the rock, parallel with the canal outside. Here the water
gets a fall of about 140 feet before it smites the turbines.
The arrangement of the dynamos generating the current up in
the power house is such that each of them may be regarded as
the screw at the end of a long shaft, just as we might see it
if we stood an ocean steamer on its nose with its heel in the
air. At the lower end of the dynamo shaft is the turbine in
the wheel pit bottom, just as in the case of the steamer shaft
we find attached to it the big triple or quadruple expansion
marine steam engine. …
{440}
The wheel pit which contains the turbines is 178 feet in
depth, and connects by a lateral tunnel with the main tunnel
running at right angles. This main tunnel is no less than
7,000 feet in length, with an average hydraulic slope of 6
feet in 1,000. It has a maximum height of 21 feet, and a width
of 18 feet 10 inches, its net section being 386 square feet.
The water rushes through it and out of its mouth of stone and
iron at a velocity of 26½ feet per second, or nearly 20 miles
an hour. More than 1,000 men were employed continuously for
more than three years in the construction of this tunnel. …

"The American Company has also pre-empted the great

 utilization of the Canadian share of Niagara's energy. The
plan for this work proposes the erection of two power houses
of a total ultimate capacity of 125,000 horsepower. … With
both the Canadian and American plants fully developed, no less
than 350,000 horsepower will be available."

"Within the last five years," said the "Electrical Review," in

a "historical number" issued at the beginning of 1901, "there
have been built in many parts of the world electrical
installations of great magnitude, transmitting the power of
cataracts for considerable distances. The longest of these, in
California, operates over a distance of 115 miles. Perhaps the
largest of them is that at Niagara, where 105,000 horse power
is developed, and much of it transmitted … to the city of
Buffalo"—20 miles.

The first transmission of power from Niagara Falls to Buffalo

was made at midnight, November 15-16, 1896, when 1,000
horsepower was sent over the wires to the power-house of the
Buffalo Railway Company. The important event was signalled to
the citizens by the firing of cannon, the ringing of bells and
sounding of steam whistles.

ELECTRICAL SCIENCE:
The rotary magnetic field.
Polyphased currents.
Nikola Tesla's inventions.

"At about the same time [1888], Galileo Ferraris, in Italy,

and Nikola Tesla, in the United States, brought out motors
operating by systems of alternating currents displaced from
one another in phase by definite amounts and producing what is
known as the rotating magnetic field. This invention seems
destined to be one of the most important that has been made in
the history of electricity. The result of the introduction of
polyphase systems has been the ability to transmit power
economically for considerable distances, and, as this directly
operated to make possible the utilization of water-power in
remote places and the distribution of power over large areas,
the immediate outcome of the polyphase system was power
transmission; and the outcome of power transmission almost
surely will be the gradual supersession of coal and the
harnessing of the waste forces of Nature to do useful work."

Electrical Review,
January 12, 1901.

The following description of Tesla's invention was given by N.

W. Perry in the "Engineering Magazine": "If the north and
south poles of a small horseshoe magnet be suspended over a
bar of soft iron free to revolve in a horizontal plane, or be
placed over an ordinary compass-needle, the latter will be
attracted at either end by the poles of the magnet and take up
a position parallel to a straight line drawn between the two
poles of the magnet. Now if the latter be revolved through any
angle the soft iron or needle will follow, being dragged
around by the magnet, and if the magnet be caused to revolve
regularly the iron will also revolve, being pulled around by
the full force of the magnet. It was not feasible, however, to
cause the magnet to revolve in this way, and Tesla's invention
consisted in obviating this trouble and, in fact, greatly
simplifying the problem. He conceived the idea that if he took
an iron ring and used two alternating currents, one of which had
its maximum value at the instant that the other had a zero
value—or, in other words, two currents whose periods were such
that one waned as the other increased—he could produce in that
iron ring by winding these circuits in alternate coils
surfaces that without any mechanical movement of the parts
would travel around that ring with a rapidity equal to the
number of changes of direction of the currents employed. He
thus had a ring, the north and south poles of which were
rapidly revolving just as would the poles of the horseshoe
magnet were it tied at its middle to a twisted string and
allowed to revolve. A piece of iron pivoted at its middle
placed concentric with this ring would therefore be dragged
around by the changing poles of the ring. He had thus
discovered what is somewhat awkwardly expressed by the
expression, 'the rotary magnetic field,' and also the use of
what have been termed 'polyphased currents'—the one referring
to the magnetism and the other to the combination of currents
by which this changing magnetism was produced. This discovery
is undoubtedly one of the most important that has ever been
made within the domain of alternating currents."

Engineering Magazine,
volume 7, page 780.

Another of Tesla's inventions or discoveries which excited

greater popular interest was that which produced what were
called "high frequency effects," first publicly shown in
connection with a lecture at Columbia College, in the spring
of 1890. "Mr. Tesla started with the idea of setting matter
into vibration at a rate approximating that of light (some two
and a half millions a second), with the expectation that
under such violent molecular agitation it would emit light. He
has not as yet succeeded in obtaining so high a rate, but a
much lower one produced some very surprising luminous effects.
… The dynamo method for getting very high frequencies was soon
abandoned as inadequate, and the oscillatory discharge of a
Leyden jar or plate condensers was substituted. … Perhaps the
most surprising of the new facts elicited from his
investigations is that the shock due to these very high
voltage and high frequency currents can be supported by a
person without any serious inconvenience. He passes a current
of two hundred thousand volts through his body with perfect
impunity."

F. J. Patten,
New Science Review,
volume 1, page 84.
ELECTRICAL SCIENCE:
Development of the Telephone System.

The annual report of the American Telephone and Telegraph

Company (by which the property and business of the American
Bell Telephone Company were taken over at the close of the
year 1899) for the year ending December 31, 1900, contains the
following brief review of the development and growth of the
telephone system, especially in the United States: "The year
just passed rounds out the quarter century, within which is
compassed the discovery and application of the art of
transmitting speech by telephone.
{441}
A brief review of the development and growth of this new
industry, which has become so important a factor in commercial
and social life, seems appropriate at this time. Twenty-five
years ago the wonderful invention of Professor Bell was made
known to the world. Twenty-three years ago the first telephone
exchange in the world was established in the United States, and
from that beginning has been built up the great system of
exchanges, and the network of connecting lines over which
conversation can be held between points over a thousand miles
apart. Twenty years ago there were 47,880 telephone
subscribers in the United States, and 29,714 miles of wire in
use for telephonic purposes. At the end of last year, there
were 800,880 exchange stations equipped with our instruments,
and 1,961,801 miles of wire were employed for exchange and
toll line service. The United States has, from the beginning,
held the leading place among nations in respect not only of
the extensive development of the business, but in the
employment of modern and improved appliances, tending to
greater efficiency of service.

"In connection with the record of development of telephone

service in this country, some comparison of the systems of
foreign countries is of interest. The latest reports that can
be obtained, part of which are for the year 1899, others to
 the close of 1900, show the countries next in order to the
United States, as respects the development of telephone
service, to be the German Empire, having 229,391 stations;
Great Britain, 171,660; Sweden, 73,500; France, 59,927;
Switzerland, 38,864: Austria, 32,255; Russia, 31,376;
Norway, 29,446.

"As before stated, there were, at the close of last year, more
than 800,000 stations connected with the exchanges of our
licensee companies, which exceeds the aggregate number of
subscribers in all the countries of Continental Europe. In
addition to this, there were over 40,000 private line stations
equipped with our telephones. The number of exchange and toll
line connections in the United States now reaches almost two
thousand millions yearly."

More detailed and precise statistics of the telephone service

in the United States are given in the report as follows:

January 1,
January 1,
1892.
1901.

Exchanges. 788
1,348
Branch offices. 509
1,427
Miles of wire on poles. 180,139
627,897
Miles of wire on buildings. 14,954
16,833
Miles of wire underground. 70,334
705,269
Miles of wire submarine. 1,029
4,203
Total miles of wire. 266,456
1,354,202
Total circuits. 186,462
508,262
Total employees. 8,376
32,837
Total stations. 216,017
800,880

The estimated number of exchange connections daily in the

United States, made up from actual count in most of the
exchanges, is 5,668,986. Or a total per year of about
1,825,000,000. The number of daily calls per station varies in
different exchanges from 1 to 15.9, the average throughout the
United States being 7.1. The average cost to the subscriber
varies according to the size of the exchange and character of
the service, from less than 1 to 9 cents per connection.

ELECTRICAL SCIENCE:
Dr. Pupin's revolutionary improvement
in long-distance Telephony.

The most important advance in telephonic science that has been

made since the invention of the Bell instrument was announced
at about the beginning of the new century, as the result of
studies pursued by Dr. Michael I. Pupin, of Columbia
University, New York. Mathematical and experimental
investigations which Dr. Pupin had been carrying on, for
several years, led him to a determination of the precise
intervals at which, if inductance coils are inserted in a long
conductor, an electric current in traversing it may be made to
travel far without much loss of force. He is said to have
taken a hint from seeing how waves of vibration in a cord are
strengthened by lightly "loading" it at certain exact points,
determined by the wave lengths. It is probably correct to
 describe his invention as being a scientific ascertainment of
the points in a long telephonic circuit at which to load the
electric current in it, and the precise loading to be applied.

In a paper published in the "Western Electrician," describing

his investigations mathematically, Dr. Pupin wrote: "If an
increase in efficiency of wave transmission over a cord thus
loaded is to be obtained, it is evident that the load must be
properly subdivided and the fractional parts of the total load
must be placed at proper distances apart along the cord,
otherwise the detrimental effects due to reflections resulting
from the discontinuities thus introduced will more than
neutralize the beneficial effects derived from the increased
mass. … The insertion of inductance coils at periodically
recurring points along the wave conductor produces the same
effect upon electrical wave transmission as the distribution
of the small loads along the stretched cord … produces upon
mechanical wave transmission along the cord."

The result is said to be that conversation by telephone over a

distance of 3,000 miles is made not only practicable but easy,
and that it is believed to be as practicable through submarine
cables as through overland wires. If it does not make the
telephone a common instrument of communication from continent
to continent, it will, at least, improve oceanic telegraphy
beyond measure. According to newspaper report, Dr. Pupin's
invention has been sold to the Bell Telephone Company for a
very large sum.

ELECTRICAL SCIENCE:
Wireless Telegraphy.

"In 1864 Maxwell observed that electricity and light have the
same velocity, 186,400 miles a second, and he formulated the
theory that electricity propagates itself in waves which
differ from those of light only in being longer. This was
proved to be true by Hertz, in 1888, who showed that where
 alternating currents of very high frequency were set up in an
open circuit, the energy might be conveyed entirely away from
the circuit into the surrounding space as electric waves. … He
demonstrated that electric waves move with the speed of light,
and that they can be reflected and refracted precisely as if
they formed a visible beam. At a certain intensity of strain
the air insulation broke down, and the air became a conductor.
This phenomenon of passing quite suddenly from a
non-conductive to a conductive state is … also to be noted
when air or other gases are exposed to the X ray.

{442}

"Now for the effect of electric waves such as Hertz produced,

when they impinge upon substances reduced to powder or
filings. Conductors, such as the metals, are of inestimable
service to the electrician; of equal value are non-conductors,
such as glass and gutta-percha, as they strictly
fence in an electric stream. A third and remarkable vista
opens to experiment when it deals with substances which, in
their normal state, are non-conductive, but which, agitated by
an electric wave, instantly become conductive in a high
degree. As long ago as 1866 Mr. S. A. Varley noticed that
black lead, reduced to a loose dust, effectually intercepted a
current from fifty Daniell cells, although the battery poles
were very near each other. When he increased the electric
tension fourfold to sixfold, the black-lead particles at once
compacted themselves so as to form a bridge of excellent
conductivity. On this principle he invented a
lightning-protector for electrical instruments, the incoming
flash causing a tiny heap of carbon dust to provide it with a
path through which it could safely pass to the earth.
Professor Temistocle Calzecchi Onesti of Fermo, in 1885, in an
independent series of researches, discovered that a mass of
powdered copper is a non-conductor until an electric wave
beats upon it; then, in an instant, the mass resolves itself
into a conductor almost as efficient as if it were a stout,
unbroken wire. Professor Edouard Branly of Paris, in 1891, on
this principle devised a coherer, which passed from resistance
to invitation when subjected to an electric impulse from afar.
He enhanced the value of his device by the vital discovery
that the conductivity bestowed upon filings by electric
discharges could be destroyed by simply shaking or tapping
them apart. …

"The coherer, as improved by Marconi, is a glass tube about 1½

inches long and about 1/12 of an inch in internal diameter.
The electrodes are inserted in this tube so as almost to
touch; between them is about 1/30 of an inch filled with a
pinch of the responsive mixture which forms the pivot of the
whole contrivance. This mixture is 90 per cent. nickel
filings, 10 per cent. hard silver filings, and a mere trace of
mercury; the tube is exhausted of air to within 1/10000 part.
… The coherer, when unexcited, forms a link which obstructs
the flow of a current eager to leap across. The instant that
an electric wave from the sending-station impinges upon the
coherer it becomes conductive; the current instantly glides
through it, and at the same time a current, by means of a
relay, is sent through [a] powerful voltaic battery, so as to
announce the signal through an ordinary telegraphic receiver.

"An electric impulse, almost too attenuated for computation,

is here able to effect such a change in a pinch of dust that
it becomes a free avenue instead of a barricade. Through that
avenue a powerful blow from a local store of energy makes
itself heard and felt. No device of the trigger class is
comparable with this in delicacy. An instant after a signal
has taken its way through the coherer a small hammer strikes
the tiny tube, jarring Hs particles asunder, so that they
resume their normal state of high resistance. We may well be
astonished at the sensitiveness of the metallic filings to an
electric wave originating many miles away, but let us remember
how clearly the eye can see a bright lamp at the same distance
as it sheds a sister beam. Thus far no substance has been
discovered with a mechanical responsiveness to so feeble a ray
of light; in the world of nature and art the coherer stands
alone. …

"An essential feature of this method of etheric telegraphy,

due to Marconi himself, is the suspension of a perpendicular
wire at each terminus, its length twenty feet for stations a
mile apart, forty feet for four miles, and so on, the
telegraphic distance increasing as the square of the length of
suspended wire. In the Kingstown regatta, July, 1898, Marconi
sent from a yacht under full steam a report to the shore
without the loss of a moment from start to finish. This feat
was repeated during the protracted contest between the
'Columbia' and the 'Shamrock' yachts in New York Bay, October,
1899. On March 28, 1899, Marconi signals put Wimereux, two
miles north of Boulogne, in communication with the South
Foreland Lighthouse, thirty-two miles off. In August, 1899,
during the manœuvres of the British navy, similar messages
were sent as far as eighty miles. …

"A weak point in the first Marconi apparatus was that anybody
within the working radius of the sending instrument could read
its message. To modify this objection secret codes were at
times employed, as in commerce and diplomacy. A complete
deliverance from this difficulty is promised in attuning a
transmitter and a receiver to the same note, so that one
receiver, and no other, shall respond to a particular
frequency of impulses. The experiments which indicate success
in this vital particular have been conducted by Professor
Lodge."

G. Iles,
Flame, Electricity and the Camera,
chapter 16 (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.).

"Shall we not," said Professor John Trowbridge, in an article

published in the "New York Tribune," January 6, 1901, "in the
 next hundred years dispense with the limitations of wires and
speak boldly through space, reaching some expectant human ear
hundreds of miles away with the same ease that we now converse
in a room? It is already possible to send messages by dots and
dashes sixty to seventy miles without the use of wires. In the
early days of the telephone this was the practical limit of
that instrument, and we are all familiar with the immense
extension which has taken place. Shall we not see a similar
extension in the field of wireless telegraphy? Some late
experiments which I have made lead me to be optimistic in
regard to a possible great extension of the methods of
wireless telegraphy.

"In the first place, I believe that these experiments prove

that wireless telegraphy is not necessarily or merely
accomplished through the air, but, on the contrary, that the
earth plays the controlling part, and that the message flows,
so to speak, through the earth or over its surface rather than
through the air. The most striking experiment was as follows:
The poles of a storage battery of twenty thousand cells were
connected with the ground at the Jefferson Laboratory, and I
was enabled to receive the message in a room three quarters of
a mile from the laboratory without the use of masts or wires
of any sort. The earth was the medium of communication, and it
seems possible, by arranging the sending and receiving apparatus
suitably in connection with the electrical capacity of the
earth, that we may dispense with lofty masts and overcome in
this way the curvature of the earth."

{443}

Extensive experiments in wireless telegraphy are being

conducted by the United States Weather Bureau, of which the
following is a recent report: "Recognizing the advantage that
would result to commerce and navigation by the establishment
of wireless electrical communication between vessels at sea
and exposed points on our lake and sea coasts, and also
between islands along said coasts and the mainland, the
Weather Bureau was directed to systematically investigate the
various methods of electrical communication without wires. The
progress made is eminently satisfactory. New appliances have
been devised for the transmission of signals, and receivers
have been constructed that probably are more delicate than any
heretofore made. Messages already have been successfully
transmitted and received over 50 miles of land, which
presented a rough and irregular surface, conditions most
unfavorable for the transmission of electro-magnetic waves. It
is believed that the efficiency indicated by such transmission
overland is sufficient to operate successfully over several
hundred miles of water. The apparatus used is capable of
further improvement. I hope the time is near at hand when the
great number of craft employed in the coastwise commerce of
the United States and over its great inland seas will be
placed in instantaneous communication with the numerous
stations of our Weather Bureau, which are located at all
important ports. The matter is one of such great importance to
our commerce that I have authorized extensive experimentation,
which, from the success so far attending our efforts, will be
vigorously prosecuted."

United States, Annual Report of the

Secretary of Agriculture,
November 24, 1900, page 12.

On the 12th of March, 1901, the chief of the Weather Bureau,

Professor Moore, gave to the Press the following statement as
to experiments in progress along the Virginia and North
Carolina coast: "The most efficient method of long distance
transmission has been found to be from wire cylinders. The new
coast stations are being equipped with cylinders of sixteen
wires each and 140 feet in length. From these cylinders it is
expected to cover a magnetic field of not less than five
hundred miles. The stations now in operation are at Hatteras
and at Roanoke Island, in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina.
 Workmen are beginning the construction of a station at Cape
Henry, which will be the third station. When this is finished
the two remote stations will be 127 miles apart."

MECHANICS:
Steam turbines.

"The latest form of steam-engine recalls the first. The

steam-turbines of De Laval and of Parsons turn on the same
principle as the æolipile of Hero. That simple contrivance was
a metallic globe mounted on axes, and furnished through one of
its trunnions with steam from a boiler near by. As steam rushed
out from two nozzles diametrically opposite to each other, and
at tangents to the globe, there resulted from the relieved
pressure a swift rotation which might have done useful work. …
Before the steam-turbine could be invented, metallurgists and
mechanics had to become skilful enough to provide machinery
which may with safety rotate 10,000 times in a minute; Watt
had to invent the separate condenser; means had to be devised
for the thorough expansion of high-pressure steam; and the
crude device of Hero had to be supplanted by wheels suggested
by the water-turbine.

"The feature which gives the Parsons steam-turbine its

distinction is the ingenious method by which its steam is used
expansively. In a piston-engine the cylinder is filled to
one-twelfth or one-fifteenth of its capacity with
high-pressure steam, when communication with the boiler is cut
off; during the remainder of its stroke the piston is urged
solely by the steam's elasticity. In the Parsons turbine, by
arranging what is practically a series of wheels on the same
shaft, the steam passes from one wheel to the next, and at
each wheel parts with only a fraction of its pressure and
velocity. …

"The 'Turbinia,' a torpedo-boat of 44½ tons displacement, 100

feet in length, and 9 feet in beam, driven by this turbine,
 has consumed but 14½ pounds of steam an hour per indicated
horse-power. The 'Viper,' a torpedo-boat destroyer of 325
tons, and provided with a turbine capable of developing as
much as 12,000 horse-power, ran at the rate of 37 knots in a
rough sea during her trial trip in November, 1899."

G. Iles,
Flame, Electricity and the Camera,
chapter 5
(New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.).

MEDICAL AND SURGICAL:

The determination of germ diseases.

"Since 1880 it has been proved that anthrax, Asiatic cholera,

cerebro-spinal meningitis, diphtheria, one form of dysentery,
erysipelas, glanders, gonorrhœa, influenza, certain epidemics
of meat poisoning, pyæmia and suppuration in general,
pneumonia, tetanus, relapsing fever, tuberculosis, bubonic
plague, and typhoid fever are due to minute vegetable
organisms known as bacteria; that malarial fevers, Texas
cattle fever, and certain forms of dysentery are due to forms
of microscopic animal organisms known as microzoa; and for
most of these diseases the mode of development and means of
introduction of the micro-organism into the body are fairly
well understood. To the information thus obtained we owe the
triumphs of antiseptic and aseptic surgery, a great increase
of precision in diagnosis, the use of specific anti-toxins as
remedies and as preventives, and some of the best practical
work in public hygiene."

Dr. John S. Billings,

Progress of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century
(New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).

MEDICAL AND SURGICAL:

Antitoxine.
 Treatment of diphtheria.

"In the early study of germs and their relation to disease it

was supposed that the symptoms of the disease depended
directly upon the germs themselves. This, however, has been
proven to be false with reference to most of the infectious
diseases studied. Thus, in diphtheria, the bacilli were found,
as a rule, only in the throat or upper air passages, while the
effects of the disease were far-reaching, involving the heart,
the nerves, and other distant parts of the body. This, and
other like observations, led to the careful study of the
products produced by the growth of bacteria. As the result of
the work of Roux in Paris, and Brieger in Berlin, the exact
nature of the toxic products of the diphtheria bacillus was
discovered. It was found that this bacillus produces in its
growth a poison which is known as the diphtheria 'toxine.'
This was isolated and injected into animals with the
reproduction of all the symptoms of diphtheria excepting the
membrane in the throat. …

{444}

"In his early work upon splenic fever and chicken-cholera

Pasteur, having established the causes of these diseases, set
himself the task of discovering means of preventing them.
After very many experiments he found that animals inoculated
with the germs of splenic fever, when these germs had been
cultivated at a relatively high temperature, were protected
against the disease itself, while these inoculations
themselves were harmless. … These methods of producing
immunity have been extensively used in Europe for the past
twenty years and have been of immense practical value.

"With the discovery that it was not the bacteria themselves

which produced most of the symptoms, but their poisonous
products or toxines, new experiments in immunity were made by
injecting these toxines into animals. It was found that if the
quantity of the diphtheria toxine introduced was at first so
small as not to kill the animal, the dose could gradually be
increased until finally such a tolerance was established that
the animal could resist enormous doses of it. Many theories
were advanced as to the manner in which this tolerance was
established. The conclusion was finally reached that it was
due to the gradual production in the blood of larger and
larger quantities of some substance which neutralized the
toxine, i. e., an 'antitoxine.' … Later experiments showed
that if some of the blood of an animal, which in this way had
been made insusceptible to diphtheria, was injected into
another animal, the latter likewise became to a certain degree
and for a certain time insusceptible; that is to say, became
'immunized. …

"The present plan of producing antitoxine is somewhat as

follows. Large animals, such as the horse or cow, are usually
employed for purposes of injection. In the beginning as large
a quantity of the toxine of diphtheria is injected as the
animal will bear without danger to life. … It is found that
the dose of the toxine can gradually be increased with each
injection until enormous quantities can be tolerated. When
this point is reached at which the injection of large amounts
of the toxine produces no reaction, the animal is said to
possess a high degree of immunity. At this time the
blood-serum contains a very large amount of the antitoxine. A
long time is required for the production of this condition,
the period being from three to twelve months, according to the
size of the animal, its susceptibility, and many other
conditions. … The antitoxine is obtained from the blood of the
animal, generally by bleeding from the jugular vein. … After
standing for a few hours this blood separates into a clot and
a clear portion above which is known as the serum. The
anti-toxine is contained in the blood-serum."

L. E. Holt,
The Antitoxine Treatment of Diphtheria
 (Forum, March, 1895).

See, also (in this volume),

PLAGUE.

MEDICAL AND SURGICAL:

Discovery of the secret of malaria.
Detection of the mosquito as a carrier of disease.

"Twenty-five years ago the best-informed physicians

entertained erroneous ideas with reference to the nature of
malaria and the etiology of the malarial fevers. Observation
had taught them that there was something in the air in the
vicinity of marshes in tropical regions, and during the summer
and autumn in semi-tropical and temperate regions, which gave
rise to periodic fevers in those exposed in such localities,
and the usual inference was that this something was of gaseous
form—that it was a special kind of bad air generated in
swampy localities under favorable meteorological conditions.
It was recognized at the same time that there are other kinds
of bad air, such as the offensive emanations from sewers and
the products of respiration of man and animals, but the term
malaria was reserved especially for the kind of bad air which
was supposed to give rise to the so-called malarial fevers. In
the light of our present knowledge it is evident that this
term is a misnomer. There is no good reason for believing that
the air of swamps is any more deleterious to those who breathe
it than the air of the sea coast or that in the vicinity of
inland lakes and ponds. Moreover, the stagnant pools, which
are covered with a 'green scum' and from which bubbles of gas
are given off, have lost all terrors for the well-informed
man, except in so far as they serve as breeding places for
mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. The green scum is made up
of harmless algæ such as Spirogyra, Zygnema Protococcus,
Euglena, etc.; and the gas which is given off from the mud at
the bottom of such stagnant pools is for the most part a
well-known and comparatively harmless compound of hydrogen and
carbon-methane or 'marsh-gas.'

"In short, we now know that the air in the vicinity of marshes
is not deleterious because of any special kind of bad air
present in such localities, but because it contains mosquitoes
infected with a parasite known to be the specific cause of the
so-called malarial fevers. This parasite was discovered in the
blood of patients suffering from intermittent fevers by
Laveran, a surgeon in the French army, whose investigations
were conducted in Algiers. This famous discovery was made
toward the end of the year 1880; but it was several years
later before the profession generally began to attach much
importance to the alleged discovery."

G. M. Sternberg,
Malaria
(Popular Science Monthly, February, 1901).

"It was the French doctor Laveran who, after a stay in a

deadly malarial region of Algeria, discovered the malaria
parasite in 1880. True, that pigment-cells, which we should
now describe as malaria-parasites, were observed in human
blood as early as 1835, among others by Virchow; but their
relation to the disease was not known. In 1881, Laveran
embodied his researches in a book, but its importance was
overlooked. Bacteria attracted then general attention, and
Laveran's parasite, not being a bacterium, was little thought
of. He stuck, nevertheless, to his discovery, and was soon
joined in his researches by Golgi (the Italian professor to
whom we owe the method that led to the discovery of the
neurons), as also by Marchiafava, Celli, Councilman,
Sternberg, and the Viennese doctor Mannaberg who published in
1893 a full compendium of these researches. Dr. Mannaberg
proved in this book that the real cause of malaria is
Laveran's parasite, and he told its most interesting
life-history so far as it was then known.
 "The parasite of malaria is not a bacterium. It is one of the
protozoa—namely, as it appeared later on, a coccidium, which,
like all other members of that family, undergoes in its
development a series of transformations. … Laveran saw that
some parasites ('corps à flagelles') would send out thin and
long flagella which soon parted company with the mother body,
and, owing to a proper helicoidal movement, disappeared in the
plasm of the blood. This never happened, however, in the body of
man, but only when a drop of his infected blood was drawn and
placed on the glass plate under the microscope.
{445}
Laveran noticed, moreover, minute 'crescent-shaped bodies'
which adhered to the red corpuscles and looked very much like
cysts, protected by a harder envelope. From fifteen to twenty
minutes after these bodies had been placed under the
microscope, they also gave origin to a great number of
'flagella'; and this evolution, too, he remarked, seemed to be
accomplished only when the cysts were taken out of the human
body.

"It was only natural to conclude from these observations that

the further development of the flagella may take place in the
body of some other animal than man, and this consideration
brought Laveran, in a book which he published in 1884, to the
idea that, taking into consideration the quantities of
mosquitoes in malarial countries, they may be the agents of
transition of malaria. This remark passed, however,
unperceived. Many had the suspicion that gnats may play some
part in the inoculation of malaria: the Italian peasants
always thought so, and in the medical literature an American
doctor, Mr. King, had advocated the same idea. But the
complete life-history of the malaria parasite being not yet
known fifteen years ago, the necessity of the mosquito or of
some other living being serving as a host for the completion
of the reproduction-cycle was not understood."

P. Kropotkin,