malarIa

The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia · 1910 · p. 31

[Ital. mal ' aria, for mala aria = bad air: mala (Lat. mal us ) =bad, and aria =air.] A morbid poison usually due to microbes generated by the decomposition of animal or vegetable matter under certain conditions of heat and moisture, and which, in marshy districts where the people are obliged to drink the water impregnated with the IMG:content-0859.png:[blocks in formation]