Section 1.
61
CHAPTER V.
THE MOSQUITOES OF BOMBAY.
138. Bombay appears to have suffered from a plague of mosquitoes for
many years. Aungier, nearly 250 years ago, writes of "The vermin created in
the wells and tanks," and Ovington mentions "The prodigious growth of vermin
and the venomous creatures in the monsoon," and it is more than probable
that these remarks referred in part at least to mosquitoes. Lady West, in her
diary written between 1825-1828, repeatedly complains of being tormented with
mosquitoes, which appear to have been numerous in the Fort in her day ; and
Douglas, in his "Glimpses of Old Bombay," quotes some verses by a Bombay
writer in 1829 which begin—
"Adieu Bombay! May I forget thee ever, pestiferous hole
all other pests excelling,
In dust, mosquitoes, pariah dogs, and liver ; not
Milton's limbo would be worse to dwell in."
139. Shortly after the announcement of Ross' discovery, the late Colonel
Weir, I. M. S., then Executive Health Officer of Bombay, turned his attention to
the question of mosquitoes breeding in the City and referred to the matter in
certain of his reports ; and in 1899 Mr. Santo Crimp suggested that malaria-
carrying mosquitoes might breed in the tanks in the City. But the late
Mr. E. H. Aitken appears to have been the first to really investigate the
mosquito fauna of Bombay. In an interesting letter on the subject, published
in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society in 1900, Mr. Aitken
refers to a number of mosquito-breeding places in different parts of the City in
which plenty of Anopheles larvæwere found. He also mentions experiments
with small fish as agents for destroying mosquito larvx. In these experiments
Mr. Aitken used a species of Haphlochilus locally known as "Piku" but
named by him "Scooties" because of their darting movements.
Among other observations, recorded by Mr. Aitken, one relating to the
relative frequency with which adult Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes were to be
met with in the Fort is of considerable interest.
He states :—
"As regards the nature of adult anopheles, the most remarkable fact
"mentioned in my notes is that I have not seen one during the twelve
"months excepting those that I reared. This fact will give the best idea
"of what an insidious enemy we have to deal with. I lived most of the
"years at the Bombay Club, within a stone-throw of the Frere Fountain,
"in which anopheles were being produced by the thousand, but I never
"saw one, though I was often tormented by culex, the larvæof which
"were comparatively scarce.
" All the mosquitoes that I have reared appear to belong to one
" species, which is probably A. rossi."
140. During 1901 considerable attention was paid to mosquitoes in
Bombay ; and the Executive Health Officer in one of his reports makes the
follwing statement :—
" The chief specimens of anopheles mosquitoes found in Bombay
" are Anopheles Rossei, Barbarosei, Jamesei, Culicifacias, Stephensei and
" Listonii. Of these the Anopheles Culicifacias and Listonii are the
" only malaria-bearing mosquitoes known here at present."
This list of anopheles corresponds very closely with the findings during the
present enquiry.
141. The Culicid fauna of Bombay is extensive ; the number of different
species both of Culicine and Anopheline mosquitoes is considerable and certain
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