The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-10-11
MOSQUITO and ITS FOES.
The Dragon Fly and the Spider Make
War on II.

By Lending His Encouragement to
Them Man Might Save Himself Many
Bite That He Now Gets-Spiders
With Uses Not Generally Dreamed OF.
Lawrence Irwell in the st. Louis Republic
Can we mitigate the mosquito pest?
The bite of the mosquito plays quite a
prominent part among the many trivial
troubles to which flesh is heir. Although
there are summer resorts where these lit
tie pests are unknown, such places are by
no means numerous, nor are they al
ways free from other disadvantages, and
while it is here that some persons are able
to spend days and nights in the pres
ence of the mosquito without receiving
any attention from her" yet the number
of these fortunate people is small as
compared with those unfortunate people
who are invariably tortured when in the
regions affected by this numerous family
In writing of this troublesome little in
sect, l have used the word her" and
have done so adVisedly, for the male
lives upon the nectar of flowers, and is
harmless as far as men and cattle are
concerned; and there is also reason to
suppose that the taste for blood upon
the part of the female is not a natural
but an acquired habit.
OF the culicidae family there are about
$50 known species, of which more than
thirty have been found in Europe, all of
them possessing the desire and the ability
to bite to more or more less serious ex-
tent.
The least annoying specimen of this ex-
tensive order seems to be culex ciliata.
known in England by the name Of "gnat.
but the seriousness Of the bite depends
more upon the condition of the blood of
the sufferer than upon any other charaC-
teristic, the actual poison being a minute
n a q u al HafA 81
be relieved by the application Of any al
kalt-papaine seems to be very etflcaciour.
The female mosquito is recognizable by
her simple antennae, and by her posses-
sion of mandibles; she Is also provided
with proboseis containing six sharp
teeth with which she punctures the skin
and sucks the blood Of her victims.
Wherever the conditions are favorable
for propagation and growth the mosquito
Ike other animals, will flourish This is
an example Of what Darwin named the
process OF natural selection" and, al
though II rs not within human power to
counteract this law Of nature. vet science
put into practical operation can undoubt-
eddy modify its action to an almost UNI
limited extent.
We must commence by inquiring what
are the conditions specially favorable to
the inCessaut multiplication OF mosoui-
toes While this question cannot be an
svered with absolute accuracy neverthe-
less, general i4ea can be easily given
Water rs essential 20 the propagation Of
these Insects, because 81 IS their breeding
grounds, but my observations have led me
TO the conclusion that so long as the
stream is not rapid, SIS other qualities are
immaterial as far as mosquito generation
is involved.
The female mosquito deposits he- eggs
about $50 al "a time-iu pool. mooriup
them Nv "a leaf or some other float. bv Il
gutnuuH substance, and they 1re so ar
ranged that neither wind nor rain. snow
nor ice can Interfere with their davelop-
ment From these eggs brIatle-fringcd