The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-26

The REAL MOSQUITO.
Jerseys Great Plague Dis
cussed by Entomologist
Smith.
MALARIA CAUSED BY BITES
Female Pests Methods of Work
Those Reported Poisoning
Cases.
MALARIA CAUSED BY BITES

moods and ramifications, was seen re-
| Gently by a reporter in his laboratory at
Ahe New Jersey State Experiment Sta
ton, located here. Prof. Smith was at
that moment examining the anatomy of
a new species of Old Gallinnipper, writes
Arthur Boyd IN the Newark Sunday
Call The reporter asked him if it were
tkue that the mosquitoes that demanded
human blood We're all of the female per-
| suasion.
why. of course, it's true" said DR..
Smith. 1.-The male mosquito is COM
paratively a harmless fellow. He don't
even buzz around your head at night
while you are trying to sleep like the fe-
male, but is altogether a very decent
sort of a bird"
Does the bite. of a mosquito ever cause
death?,
IF you mean whether the puncturing-
of the skin of a human being and the
introduction of a small quantity of poi
son can cause death, | should say no.
If you mean whether a mosquito bite
might not from other causes result in
death, / should say yes. decidedly
How do. you explain that?'
well, you see the poison injected by
the mosquito is not particularly v%irulent
and it's quantity is very minute. 1t is
merely a small drop of acid saliva and
not visible. to the naked eye. The lancet
which places it beneath the skin is finer
than the point of a cambria needle. 1t
is not one of the ptomaines or toxalbum-
Minis; it can set up only a little local ir-
~ritation which helps the insect to Sc
cure blood. The Inflammation is entire
ly local in a healthy organism, and it
does not last long. Sometimes, how
ever, in particularly sensitive persons a
considerable swelling results. If that,
harmless bite be scratched with dirty
finger nails until it bleeds, any quantity
or variety of bacteria may be introduced
into the wound that may set up lock-
jaw or other form of blood poisoning.
Although death may result in conse-
quenee, the mosquito bite will not be
the actual cause. Or else the mosquito
may nave been feeding upon some an
imal that is infested with anthrax, or
similar disease, and some micro-organ-
isms adhering to the beak may be intro
duced into a healthy person with fatal
results. But that rarely happens. In
either case it is the addition to the bite
that causes death"
Ii Is HOt pOSSlOic " q pei " W
stung to death by: mosquitoes, then?'
We'll, not literally, bur if a man were
exposed, without clothing, and his hands
fastened SO that he could not defend
himself, to the mercles of the mosqui-
toes, he would be dead or insane in a few
hours. But. in either case. it would be
the increasing torture of a case Of many
mickles make a muckle, the numerous
So. !, ~ nos,t~ncs nf iY1f1l M m a finnZ world d0
the mischief.
Mosquitoes vary in size, form and vir-
ulence,s. There are some specimens which
will do their work hurriedly and get away
There are others that go about their
business deliberately, and if you happen
he is your prey. Others get their fill of
blood and you do not feel the bite until
the insect is away. There are-perfectly
maddening creatures, and many a time |
have been out collecting in the woods or
sWamps and have been actually driven
away Isl the pests. All methods Of pro-
lection were in vain."
rs there any way OF keeping them OH,
other than by n~ettlng?'
Yes, / have a formula which / use fol-
protection, but it is as unpleasant 10 me
as to the mosquitoes, and some say that
they would rather have the mesquite bite
them. | Iaix two ounces OF oil of tar,
one-half ounce of or of pennyroyal, one
and one-half ounces of sweet Oil, mixed
thoroughly and applied to exposed parts.
A mosquito will seldom attack a person
thus protected.
a well established connection between
mosquitoes and malaria. The filariae,
which are characteristic of material
troubles, are developed in swampy re-
gions under the same conditions favoring
the mosquitoes. We know positively hat
the mosquitoes are inflated in all stages
with the same flariae."
Then a mosquito bite may cause ma
laTia?'f
Exactly; many a mar suffers from ma
leria because a mosquito bit him. A story
spanions laughed at him for continuously
wearing MOSQUITO netting. But he was
the only man that escaped fevers, and
without doubt he owed this to his pre-
cautions.
The stories going the rounds that the
mosquito does not suck blood are ridicu-
blood from your hand and then gently re-
move and crush: ii. The blood which you
will find is genuine human blood SUCH as
Microscepical examinations will further
show thatfit is human. The apparatus
which the mosquito has for extracting
geaious construction. Inside of the
head, if you examine closely, you will find
a structure shaped like a sugar scoop
a long trough extends. This is covered
by a fiat strip to the tip. The scoop
serves as a protection to a bulb like ex-
,pdIlSC aOl tlt iI1Odl dfiQ lOlEliltr dttdtI1-
ment of muscles. Thus the mosquito
an arrangement like one of the rubber
syringes that are operated by a compress
sion bulb. and by means of these the
blood is pumped through the covered
trough into the stomach
" A further examination will reveal a
little bladder-like structure. with a very
fine Tube so fine that If you enlarge it
800 times you Gan just see it. This APP
paratuS forces the poison into the wound.
There are also piercing lancets to make
the. hole, two sets of them, one pair with
a sword-shaped tin with a smooth edge.
The other pair is furnished with hooks
and barbs to tear the tissues and make
the. blood f1ow. All of these delicate
structures are sheltered in a long beak,
which is ordinarily considered to be the
mouth of the insect
us all of this machinery inserted when
the insect bites?"
No. If you watch the insect when 1t
bites you will notice. that the beak. which
is open in 'front.', bends in the middle and
the lancets are guided by the tip only
So you see the biting apparatus of a
mosquito is a complicated piece OF me-
chanism.
Mosquitoes are to. besfound in every
part of the world. They are at home
from the Arctic regions to the Equator
and are worse in Alaska thanin New Jer-
sey. simply because they have oppor-
tunity TO breed unchecked. In summer
the melted snow and ice form water
everywhere. 1t lies in every depression.
n the mosquitoes multiply to untold
millions In New Jersey and also Long
Island and Staten Island these conditions
are found only in the marches toward the
shore. 1t is not impossible to get mos
quitoes under control. The task would
No. don't mean by dragon flies. for
they would not be equal to the task. UNI