The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1889-09-21
THE nOsQUITO.

Can und should He be Extermlaated
strong Reas0us for Believing
that He II Blessing
IN Disguisc.
IChicAgo Trlbune.l
II Ia uot0tten that tho m osqutto has
figured In the stateiy pages OF dfRni
fed reviews, though there Ia no sufii-
cient reason why he should so lonk
have Deem denied that honor. He is
ono Of the few om mnipreseUt iusects. He
Ia an ancient inhabitant of this globe,
for he il found among the f0sstls. No
insect antedatee him. Ho was one
Of the earliest creations Ia the class OF
ssslnail deer" II there was damp
place In the Garden Of Eden he was
there and improved tho peculiar ad-
vantages offered him by the scane COS
TUNES Of our progenitors to their ut
moet. When the waters subsided and
Noah with all his two aud s0ur-f0oled
voyages emerged from the ark their
hrst welcome must have been exteud-
ed to them by the buxxlDg leglons de-
veloped by the waters, which ore in-
disrensihle TO tho genesis Of their
tarv@. He is the devoted attendant
OF man and makes his lair alike In
the cottages of the poor. tho caravau-
sarles OF society, aud the palaces OF
kings, uudtsmayed by nets, canopies,
oil of peppermint, camphor,
or auy other method OF protection or
determination which has been utilised
against hlm. He is always With u
and always will be, winding bis tiny
horn and, presenting his bill to the
last syllable of recorded time.
Can this pest be mitigaied: Is the
subject CT q learned Inquiry In the
columns Of the North American Re-
view by Henry G. McCosh. He wisely
assumes that II cannot be exterminat-
ed but may be mitigated, aud his
suggestions are unique. Il IL well
knownto to science that the mosquito
has natural enemies. II IL one Of the
kindly provisions OF nature that Its
animal creations should prey upon
each other. AS Swift saye:
So naturalists observe q deA
Has smaller fleas that ON him prey
And these have smaller deas to blte'em
And SO proceed ad inhnitum.
The mosquitoes natural enemies are
the dragon fly, Familiarity known NJ
the devil's darning needle, and the
spider, aud il their propagation could
only be developed by improved
methods OF insect culture, as we pro.
duce fish aud chickens, It is not doubt
ed that the, ranks OF the mosquito
might be materially reduced. But
right here is the despair Of the situa-
tion. There Is popular prejudice
against the dragon fly and the spider,
which canuOt be overcome. The
former is associated not only with
every species Of demOniac lore, but
with the devil himself, though he Is
one Of the most beautiful and certainly
the most innocent of oil insects. The
appearance of one Of them will throw
q schoolroom into a panic, arouse
superstitious fear In a congregation,
and create CONSERVATION In house,
hold. He Is under the ban Of human
prejudice, charming and iDnocuous as
he Is, and there is probably not q
housckceper In the land who would
not rather have her house flied wit,
mosquitoes than with these phantoms,
zlgzagging about in qvest Of their
prey, who she firmly believes are oi
diabolical origin aud capable Of In
fiicting ali sorts of calamtties while en-
gagged in their Rhos'ly occupations
One can family imagine the panic
which would seize upon the children,
servants, and women Of the household
at sight of an army of DEVILS darning
needles engaged in a sanguinary en-
counter with an army OF mosquitoes
chasing them about the grounds aud on
the porches and boldly invading every
room In the house In their efforts tc
capture and massacre the enemy
There is the same prejudice agains
the spider also, and not withou
some foundation, for while some o
them are innocent there are other
who bite worse than tho mosquito
and this offense Of an indefinite few
is charged up against the whole fam
lily OF air sailors. Pfobablg no amour
Of Industry in mosquito capturing
would ever reconcile the averag
housekeeper to spiders. Tho spide
may be the natural foe of the mos
quito, but the housekeeper Is still
more relentless foe 10 the spider, ant
no amount OF pursuasion will ever In
duce her to consent to their Indefinit
multiplication, involving unlimite
fabrication of their gauzy and exquis
ite restoonry, to her mind the synonym
| nj fiIib The advocatos Of the sDileI