Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-08-25
DAILY KENNEBEo JOURNAL WEDNESDAY,. AUGUST & dsH



Union Hill, N. j., Aug. 24.-A mos
quito with deadly sting bit Otto Mil
ler's 18-months-old child on the cheek
The child died from the results OF tn
bite. DR.. Stellwagon had the case. HI
said:
II believe that certain kind Of mos
quito has been bred this year with ,
sting dangerous or fatal to children.
have had four cases of mosquito bite II
the last two weeks. One, that of tn,
Miller child, was ratal. The three 9th
er children will recover. though one
nearly lost his leg. All three are still
under treatment.
THE infant had symptoms Of cere-
bro spinal meningitis. attributed
the meningitis to the fact that the pol
son from the insect had been absorbed
by the BRAIN"
The physician said he had never be-
fore had a fatal or even dangerous case
of mosquito bite. He thinks that the
poisonous mosquito is new evolution,
like the Oxfiy
In this connection, recent interview
with John B. Smith, state entomologist
of New Jersey. will be Of interest:
Does the bite of mosquito ever
cause death?
I might answer that question by
either "yes" or mo" and would be
both right and wrong in either case.
If the question means whether the
mere puncturing Of the skin of a hui
man being and the introduction OF the
usual quantity Of poison by mosquito
can of itself prove fatal. should say
no! But if it means whether a mos
quito bite might rot from other causes
result in death. would say yes. most
assuredly.
How do 1 explain that? Well, you
see the poison of the mosquito is in
itself not particularly virulent. an is
very minute in quantity. 1t is really
a very minute drop of acid saliva not
even visible to the naked eye. introduce
ed beneath the skin by lancet finer
than the point of cambria needle. 1t
has no power to Increase in quantity,
it is not one Of the ptomaines or toxai-
bumins, and it can set up only little
local irritation, which helps the insect
to secure blood. In healthy organ
ism this Inflammation Is entirely loca!
and does not last long; but sometimes
in extremely sensitive people. consid-
cradle swellings result. Now, il that
harmless bite be scratched with dirty
finger nails until 1t bleeds ever SO little,
any Quantity or variety of bacteria or
other micro-organisms may be intro
duced into the wound. that may set up
Iockjaw or other forms of blood poison
ing. Death thus may result in conse-
quence, but not as result of a mos
quito bite. Or a mosquito may have
been feeding on an animal infested
with anthrax or some like disease, and
some micro o-organfsms adhering to the
beak may be introduced into healthy
animal with fatal results; but that can
rarely happen, as will show you later.
In either case 1t Is not tie bite alone,
cause of deah.
On. of course! Mosquitoes differ in
in the virulence Of their poison. We
have not less than ten or a dozen spe-
cies in New Jersey. and no two of them
bite alike. Yes. that is literally true!
There is as much difference between
the mouth parts of mosquitoes as there
is between those of the different kinds
Of dogs or snakes. Some work very
deliberately and give you lots of chance
to kill them before they get fairly to
work; others tend to business at once.
and you feel the bite almost before
times you wont feel one of them biting
until she is all done and is off, filled
with gore. She? Oh. yes. that's all
right! All the mosquitoes that bite are
females; the males cannot bite, and
keep themselves very much concealed
under ordinary circumstances.
Certainly! Put man into a cloud of
or tie him out among them
over night and he will be dead or mad
before morning. A sensitive person ex-
posed without clothing to mosquito at
tack and unable to defend himself,
would go mad in a couple of hours.
1t is case of many mickles make
and the numerous small CEN
tres of Inflammation would set up
fever in no time.
Yes. sir. have been driven out of
woods and swamps when collecting, be-
cause with all methods of protection
the mosquitoes were simply unendur-
able.
Well, there are several ways of keep
ing them off other than with netting
The following. formula serves me as
well as anything, but some claim that
the remedy is worse than the disease:
Oil of tar, ounces: oil of pennyroyal
" ounce; sweet oil, IL ounces; total,
4 ounces.
This mixture applied to exposed parts
will, in ordinary cases, secure compara-
tive freedom from attack.
Malaria and mosquitoes? Yes, be-
lieve there is a very real connection be-
tween the two. The filariae, which are
characteristic of malarial trouble. are
developed in swampy localities. under
exactly the conditions favoring the
mosquitoes, and we know positively
that the mosquitoes are infested in all
their stages with these same filariae.
They can be very easily transferred
from mosquito to man, and If in a sus-
ceptible condition malaria develops in
tho victim, OF onoa .7s.