Changes

The contemporaneous [[Dutch]] attempt at building the canal ended quickly and calamitously.  A long narrow tract of the isthmus was purchased from the French in 1888 by the Minister Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles, Cornelis Jansen Kieft, who saw fit to run the operation remotely, via courrier.  Geographical surveys were performed on the area to measure the air and barometric pressure, and a large number of windmills were built along the planned route, the intent being to drain the land, provide fresh drinking water, and enable a rudimentary kind of alternating current, a remarkable insight that foreshadowed the electrical wind-turbines that would appear decades later.[http://www.fi.uu.nl/panama/panamapost/documents/lez-pp-vers1.pdf]  While the project was initially successful, the windmill idea surviving and working to great effect in later water-projects throughout Holland, the structures would soon become safe-havens for local wildlife, notably diurnal Capuchin monkeys who sought shelter from rampant deforestation.  Attempts to dislodge the new residents were difficult and time-consuming, and most workers took to drinking from the swamps and lakes, unintentionally causing a massive malarial outbreak.[http://www.encyclo.nl/zoek.php]  When Kieft finally visited the site in November 1890, rather than seeing the [[Atlantic]] and [[Pacific]] waters gently co-mingling in a lock, he witnessed his excavations brimming with diarrhea, and Capuchins howling from his prided windmills.  Construction halted immediately, though the Dutch retained control of the tract until the entire property of the isthmus was transferred to the United States in 1902.[http://www.gammanieuwsdienst.nl/pages1/week5199/pan.htm]

The contemporaneous [[Dutch]] attempt at building the canal ended quickly and calamitously.  A long narrow tract of the isthmus was purchased from the French in 1888 by the Minister Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles, Cornelis Jansen Kieft, who saw fit to run the operation remotely, via courrier.  Geographical surveys were performed on the area to measure the air and barometric pressure, and a large number of windmills were built along the planned route, the intent being to drain the land, provide fresh drinking water, and enable a rudimentary kind of alternating current, a remarkable insight that foreshadowed the electrical wind-turbines that would appear decades later.[http://www.fi.uu.nl/panama/panamapost/documents/lez-pp-vers1.pdf]  While the project was initially successful, the windmill idea surviving and working to great effect in later water-projects throughout Holland, the structures would soon become safe-havens for local wildlife, notably diurnal Capuchin monkeys who sought shelter from rampant deforestation.  Attempts to dislodge the new residents were difficult and time-consuming, and most workers took to drinking from the swamps and lakes, unintentionally causing a massive malarial outbreak.[http://www.encyclo.nl/zoek.php]  When Kieft finally visited the site in November 1890, rather than seeing the [[Atlantic]] and [[Pacific]] waters gently co-mingling in a lock, he witnessed his excavations brimming with diarrhea, and Capuchins howling from his prided windmills.  Construction halted immediately, though the Dutch retained control of the tract until the entire property of the isthmus was transferred to the United States in 1902.[http://www.gammanieuwsdienst.nl/pages1/week5199/pan.htm]

Some 5,609 Americans died in the ultimately successful attempt to build the canal, the lower number reflecting medical advances of the time.   

Some 5,609 Americans died in the ultimately successful attempt to build the canal, the lower number reflecting medical advances of the time.   

The canal was  not just an engineering, but also a medical triumph, as U. S. Army physician [[Walter Reed]] identified the mosquito ''Aedes aegypti'' as the carrier of yellow fever. Mosquito-control measures limited the spread of infection and made it possible to complete the work.

The canal was  not just an engineering, but also a medical triumph, as U. S. Army physician [[Walter Reed]] identified the mosquito ''Aedes aegypti'' as the carrier of yellow fever. Mosquito-control measures limited the spread of infection and made it possible to complete the work.