The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-11-20
FATAL MOSQUITO BITES.
EXTREME DANGER IN WOUNDS BACK
OF THE EAR.

Ek hEME UHNNEH IN WOONOS DAWN
OF THE EAR.
This Is Spot People Should Carefully
Guard From Onslaughts OF the Insect
Danger of Poisoning Especially Great
in Humid weather-Petro1eum Kills.
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
Mingard, 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
TENDER last from the effects of single
bite.
Cases less serious than these are
reported every day, and there are un
numbered instances in which temper
airy Disagreement, accompanied by
| great pain, has been caused by the
bite of this insect.
This record, fragmentary as it is,
convicts the mosquito of being a
menace to life and health. Physicians
so regard it. DR.. Frank E. Miller,
of West Thirty-seventh street, said:
'"The mosquito undoubtedly is
capable of inhicting 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
mosquito inoculated with the poison
of putrid matter would bel in imminent
danger of death, for the poison would
reach the heart and brain within few
minutes. The puncture of large vein
also would be highly dangerous.
''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
serious injury than one who was
strong 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 its natural
size. He had been bitten over q large
bloodvessel.
ssThe extraordinary danger from
mosquito bites just now is due to the
humidity of the season, which has pro.
duced large quantities of decayed
matter, upon which the insects thrive,
and from which they derive the fatal
poison"
An interesting, though not q com.
forting, fact concerning the mosquito
is that it can communicate the disease
known as anthrax. believed to be iden
tical 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 bt
recognized by those who have suffered
from mosquito bites:
"The period of incubation varies
from one to several days. The
symptoms may show themselves with
in an hour of incubation; they may
be delayed as late. as four days. A
slight itching, prickling sensation il
first perceived at the site of inocula
ton. Very soon there appears I
central vesicle, the rupture of which
discharges bloody contents, to b.
converted into a dark, red-brown o.
black crust, the anthrax"
Innumerable remedies have beer
put forth for relief from the bite of The
mosquito. The application Of oil o
pennyroyal is recommended by man!
physicians as the most efficacious. Tn
use of alkalies, such as liquid ammonia
or a solution of bicarbonate of sod
or of potash, is also of benefit. Lin
soaked in chloroform and laid Of
the bite gives great relief, AM
ipecacuanha applied externally is sal
to be beneficial. When serious re
suits are threatened the patient shoul
be stimulated with ammonia or ether
to counteract the symptoms of syncop
or coma.
To rid district of a plague of mos
quitoes the liberal use OF crud
petroleum has been recommended
! An experiment made at Staten Islan'
seemed to show the efficacy of tn
scheme. The company controlling
Midland Beach, a summer resort, tool
extraordinary measures to combat I
plague of mosquitoes. A large sal
, marsh near the place, which had beer
o prolific breeding ground for the in
scots, was the scene of operations.
, large area of the ground was saturate
with crude petroleum, sprayed fror
, force pumps with ball nozzle attach
ments. The experiment was sue
, cess. for the plague almost disappeared
|, and since then has been hardly notice
, able.-New York Herald.
New Era For Siberia.