22
In this connexion I may note that according to Dr. Van Dine the islands of
Hawaii were entirely free from mosquitoes of any kind until 1826 when they
were introduced by the sailing ship "Wellington" from San Blas in Mexico,
and that up to the present only three species have been found in the islands,
namely stegomyia fasciata, stegomyia scutellaris and culex fatigans. Systematic
search for anophelines has been made by entomologists and medical men
without their having been found. It is perhaps not very likely that stegomyia
scutellaris was introduced from Mexico, because there is no record that it occurs
there or in adjacent countries. The following is a list of the places where the
larvae of stegomyia mosquitoes have been found in Honolulu :—
Fasciata.
Scutellaris.
The management of sanitary affairs in Honolulu is in the hands of the Board
of Health of the territory of Hawaii, consisting of a President, a Secretary
and six. members, of whom two are medical men. It appears from the annual
reports of this Board that prior to 1909 efficient sanitary work was hampered
for various reasons. In 1909, however, partly owing to outbreaks of cholera
and plague, there was an awakening to the necessity for a more energetic
and liberal sanitary policy, with the result that at the present time the territory
devotes at least one-fifth of its total revenues to health and sanitation, and the
Board of Health is well equipped for a thorough and continuous campaign. For
the two years ending June 1913 some of the appropriations are :—
J
\-J
fc/
•*•
*-r
General sanitation
Filling insanitary lands ...
Reclamation of swamp lands
Water-supply
Sewers
...
...
...
...
...
..,
...
...
...
Suppression of contagious diseases and tuberculosis
Mosquito campaign
Rat campaign
...
...
...
...
£
12,584
50,000
7,000
100,000
30,000
20,480
6,000
3,600
Through the action of the legislature of 1911 an expert and influential
Sanitary Commission was appointed with power "to investigate the sanitary
conditions of Honolulu with reference to present and future dangers and require-
ments and to report the result of such investigation with its recommendations
of what work should be done and the necessary plans and specifications for doing
it, "This enquiry is being carried on continuously and at the same time a
vigorous sanitary policy is being pursued upon the basis of new laws by which
the powers of the Board of Health were greatly extended and strengthened.
Special campaigns against rats and mosquitoes, and against tuberculosis, leprosy
and other particular diseases are a feature of the policy, The anti-mosquito
campaign was started in March 1910 and has since been prosecuted with much
vigour. At the time of my visit in February 1912 the sanitary authorities of the
territory were being assisted in the work of investigation and supervision by
Dr. George McCoy of the United States Public Health Service. The campaign
has for its chief object the obliteration of the artificial collections of water in
which stegomyia mosquitoes chiefly breed, but efforts are also made to diminish
the enormous numbers of culex larvae constantly present in the extensive natural
collections of water in the neighbourhood of the town. There are 26 sanitary
inspectors engaged in searching for breeding places, each man's district com-
prising the area occupied by about 2,000 people. The sewer catch basins,
of which there are about 400 in the town, have been found to be prolific
breeding places as well as numerous cesspools and waste-water holes.
Throughout the city, house roof-gutters are one of the most i mportant
breeding places of stegomyia mosquitoes and at the time of my visit they
were being entirely removed, or perforated so that water could not lodge in
them. A systematic examination for breeding places in trees, banana planta-
tions and gardens was also in progress, and an endeavour was being made by
filling holes in trees with cement, and by clearing away undergrowth, to reduce
the output of mosquitoes from such places. Irrigated rice fields and large areas
of water on low-lying land were dealt with by stocking them with larvae-eating