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Roger Ellul Micallef: Zammit of Malta. Allied Publications, 2013. 902 pp.

While there is no shortage of biographies of politicians and prelates in Malta, the same cannot be said about biographies of scientists who have made a real impact on the Malta scene.

Such a book is the one about Sir Temi Zammit, arguably the most famous scientist that Malta has produced.

Written by Roger Ellul Micallef, Zammit of Malta is a detailed study of the many-sided personality and achievements of Zammit. Most people would associate his name with Mediterranean fever (brucellosis).

Others think of him as an archaeologist and discoverer of Neolithic temples. Few would be familiar with his career as an academic and rector of the university, and only the lovers of Maltese language would associate his name with writers of Maltese.

In the first volume of this biography we are given a comprehensive introduction which serves to clarify the historical/political background of Malta towards the end of the 19th and early 20th century. It also includes biographical information about Zammit’s notebooks and journals.

But it is in the second volume that the real exciting story of scientific discovery that we associate with Zammit actually starts.

And it starts with the work involved with a disease which had reached epidemic proportions in Malta.

Known originally and, as it turned out incorrectly, as ‘Malta fever’, this disease killed hundreds of Maltese, as well as members of the British forces stationed on the islands at the time.

It was calculated that it was responsible for 75,000 days of illness per annum among the British forces, incapacitating more members of the armed forces than any casualties during military activities. Malta was looked upon as a place to be avoided.

To start with, it was believed that this disease was transmitted via mosquito bites.

Several hundred mosquitoes were dissected to see whether they were the culprits.

For a time it was concluded that, like malaria, Mediterranean fever was transmitted by mosquitoes which, Zammit remarks, were “very savage in their bites”.

Indeed, the microbe which was associated with the disease was found in the mosquito.

The microbe could be grown in cultures in the laboratory and transmitted to animals including monkeys and, eventually, goats. Zammit was very much involved in the laboratory work that established the growth of the microbe.

As is normal practice when one does not quite know what to do, a Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem of Mediterranean fever.

Zammit, as medical officer, was very much involved with this commission.

By 1905 it was determined that goats were infected with the microbe. By this time it was becoming clear that the goat could be a carrier.

A special agglutination test developed by Zammit made the diagnosis of the disease so much more rapid and simple, and through its use, the presence of bacteria in milk could be confirmed.

A book which should be consulted not only by those interested in the history of medicine and archaeology, but by anyone wishing to acquaint with the history of Malta

One would have thought that, once it was established that goats’ milk contained the microbe for Mediterranean fever, steps would be taken to prevent transmission of the disease by the simple method of sterilising the milk by boiling. And, in fact, by 1907 we read that “both the navy and the army are practically free of it, which is a really grand thing”.

The situation with the civilian population was, however, quite different and it took much longer to convince the average Maltese to take precautions and avoid drinking unboiled milk or eating their favourite cheese made of unboiled milk.

It was estimated that there were around 20,000 goats on the islands, and that a tenth of them were probably infected.

It is not as if the disease were a mild condition that could be ignored. It was estimated that in 1905-6 there were 1,606 cases of the fever with 138 deaths, a case-mortality rate of 8.6 per cent.

In view of the current resurgence of resistance to vaccination to prevent infectious diseases, it is salutary to note that even the educated classes find it difficult to understand basic scientific information and prefer to stick to their untutored views, preferring ‘natural’ as opposed to safe procedures.

Even as late as 1922, there were 1,102 cases of undulant fever reported, with 59 deaths (a case-mortality rate of 5.4 per cent).

A milk pasteurisation plant was set up in 1938 and, from then on, only pasteurised milk was distributed in Valletta and surround-ing cities. By 1938, the chief government medical officer could report that “...since the prohibition of raw goats’ milk has become effective in Valletta, no cases of the disease have occurred in the city”.

Various attempts were made, including by Zammit himself, to produce an effective vaccine against the microbe. But these were of variable efficiency and it was not until the 1950s that an effective vaccine was eventually made.

There is no doubt that Zammit played a pivotal role in ensuring that Malta was freed of this disease, not only through his undoubted technical skills, but equally important through his ability to liaise with centres in England and Italy and to coordinate the complicated procedures which eventually led to the discovery of the microbe, as well as the route of infection of the disease.

He was also instrumental in the educational process involved in ensuring its elimination. For his contribution to the elimination of this condition he was made knight.

On another track completely, but just as important, was Zammit’s work in discovering and excavating archaeological remains in Malta.

There were others before him involved in this pastime, carried on with more enthusiasm than scientific rigidity. Zammit brought to this endeavour a strict scientific approach.

His first archaeological work involved the excavation of the Hypogeum at Ħal Saflieni (1896), followed by the discovery and excavation of the Tarxien Temples (1915-1919).

Other work involved exploration of several punic tombs, as well as excavations of remains at Santa Verna, in Gozo and elsewhere. The plethora of temples led Zammit to speculate that Malta must have been “the holy island of Neolithic faith, the half-way house of the early mariners who trusted themselves to their frail wooden craft, full of hope in a protecting power”.

He was responsible for setting up a national museum, of which he was the curator for several years.

A third aspect of Zammit’s career was as professor of chemistry and, later, as rector of the University of Malta. At the time (1921), the number of students was still a mere 112 (including four women).

Some of the problems he had to deal with included the thorny question of language use: at a time when Italian was the language used, he insisted on lecturing in English, stating that it was ridiculous to lecture in Italian when the textbooks used were written in English.

Another interesting issue related to the award of doctorate degrees in the faculties of theology, laws and medicine, and the pressure to reduce these to bachelorships, in conformity with the practice in the UK.

This led to a student strike (1915), which presumably ensured that this anomalous practice has remained unchanged to the present day.

Largely forgotten now is Zammit’s interest in the Maltese language.

Firstly, he joined the controversy as to the origin of the language and dismissed the then-current suggestion that it was Phoenician in origin.

He concluded that it was more akin to Arabic, parti-cularly that spoken in Syria and Lebanon.

More significant was his contribution to Maltese literature. He was president of the newly-formed Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti (1925), and contributed several short stories between 1926 and 1935.

Oliver Friggieri considers these novelli, to be “a monument of considerable significance in the evolution of Maltese narrative prose”.

Zammit was showered with honours during his lifetime. There is no doubt that he was instrumental in establishing a solid scientific approach to archaeological research which earned him the respect of fellow scientists around the world and put Malta’s reputation solidly on the world map.

This book is the work of an academic and a scholar. One cannot but be impressed by the amount of information presented here, supported by the detailed notes at the end of each chapter, giving exact reference to statements made in the text.

It is a book which should be consulted not only by those interested in the history of medicine and archaeology, but by anyone wishing to acquaint themselves with the history of Malta between the mid-19th and early 20th century.

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