The record-union., 1897-08-18
MOSQUITO BITES.
THEY MAY PROVE FATAL IN
CERTAIN CASES.
Danger of Poisoning Greatest
When the Season is One of
Extreme Humidity.

The dangerous illness of Miss Do
rothy Dodworth of No. los East 10th
street, due to the bite of a mosquito
as described in yesterdays Herald,
has directed renewed attention to a
danger which has been treated hitherto
as imaginative. That this little pest,
which has been regarded merely as one
of summers inconvenience, can inf1ict
a wound which may result in disable
ment or death is now well proven. 1t
was feared for a time that Miss Dod
worth would die as the result of her
wound, but her sister, who has re-
turned from Elmhurst, l.. l., where the
afflicted girl is visiting, brings word
that she has passed the danger point
and is now cOnValeScent.
THE MOSQUITO HAS MUCH TO
ANSWER FOR.
Deaths from mosquito bites have
been reported as far back as 1889. In
March of that year John j. Collins, an
insane patient, escaped from the asy-
lum at Snake Hill, n. j., and wandered
for several days in the Hackensack
Meadows. When found he had been
terribly bitten by mosquitoes, and he
died in spite of medical care. Charles
Mihgard, of Hoboken, N. j., died from
similar cause in September, 1889. A
more recent case was that of Carl
Head of ST. Louis, who died in Sep
tember last from the effects of a single
bite.
j. R. Flynn, a private in the Thir-
teenth Infantry, stationed at Govern
O1s'c Tel ha
July 24th, as was told in the Herald, -
and only prompt medical attendance
prevented serious complications. The
insect punctured an arterial vein, and
Flynn lost a great amount of blood.
Two cases besides Miss Dodworth's s
have been reported within a few days.
Richard Wolff of No. 1884 Second ave-
nue., was bitten on the arm on Wednes-
day. Within few hours the arm had
swollen to nearly twice it's ordinary
size, and a doctor was called to relieve
the mans intense suffering. The pa
tient is still in serious condition.
Thomas McGrath, an Inspector in the
Custom House, was bitten on the right
hand several days ago. He thought
the wound trivial, but symptoms of
blood poisoning developed, and on Fri
day he asked to be relieved from duty.
A doctor is attending him.
Cases less serious than these are re-
ported every day, and there are un-
numbered instances in which tempor-
ary Disagreement, accompanied by
great pain, has been caused by the bite
of this insect.
GUARD THE VEINS BEHIND THE
II
This record, fragmentary as it is, con-
viCts the mosquito of being a menace
to life and health. Physicians so re-
gard it. DR.. Frank E. Miller of No
6S West Thirty-seventh street, said
yesterday:
THE mosquito undoubtedly is capa-
BILE of infficting a fatal wound. The
insect is bred and fostered in decayed
matter, and it is the transfer of the
germs of this fetid substance to the
blood of the victim that causes the
complications. The poison is injected
into the blood and then circulated
throughout the system.
''The most fatal spot to be attacked
is just behind the ear. A person bit
ten on one of the veins there by a mos
quito inoculated with the poison of
putrid matter would be in imminent
danger of death, for the poison would
reach the heart and brain within a
few minutes. The puncture of large
vein also would be highly dangerous.
1.-The constitution of the victim has
much to do with the effect of the bite.
A person whose blood was thin or dis
eased would be much more liable to
;,,i, +I,a,
and healthy. A patient came to me
recently within an hour after he had
been bitten, yet already his arm was
swollen to almost thrice it's natural
size. He had been bitten over large
blood vessel
THE extraordinary danger from
mosquito bites just now is due to the
humidity of the season, which has pro-
duced large quantities of decayed mat
ter, upon which the insects thrive, and
from which they derive the fatal poi
SON"
An interesting, though not comfort
ing, fact concerning the mosquito is
that 1t can communicate the disease
known as anthrax, believed to be iden-
teal with the plague of olden times.
James T. Whitaker, in the American
Text Book of Medicine is authority
for this statement. Anthrax is the di-
rect result of incubation from diseased
animal matter. The symptoms will be
recognized by those who have suffered
from mosquito bites:
The period of incubation varies from
one to several days. The symptoms
may show themselves within an hour of
inoculation; they may be delayed as
late as four days A slight itching,
prickling sensation is first perceived at
the site of incubation. Very soon
there appears central vesicle, the rup-
ture of which discharges bloody con-
tents, to be converted into dark, red
brown or black crust, the anthrax"
REMEDIES AND PREVENTIVES.
Innumerable remedies have been put
forth for relief from the bite of the
mosquito. The application of oil of
pennyroyal is recommended by many
physicians as the most efficacious The
use of alkalies, such as liquid ammonia
or a solution of bicarbonate Of soda or
of potash, is also OF benefit Lint soaked
in chloroform and laid on the bite gives
great relief. and ipecacuanha applied
externally is said to be beneficial. When
serious results are threatened the pa