Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1898-10-08
TO Oct RID OF MALARIA AND
MOSQUITOES.

great many inconvenience, and
even tortures. for the reason that
we do not apply the knowledge that
10 furnished us by scientific investi'
CATION or accidental discovery
Simple and useful discoveries are
frequently made by men of science
A note 10 made of the matter and
possibly 1t is mentioned in an of
hand way in some scientific publ
cation. In time the idea may be
called to the attention of a news
paper man, and If sensation can
be made of II, he makes It public
property. If not II again receives
a careless mention, and the great
mass of the people to whom the
knowledge would be of value never
learn of il.
A bit of this kind of knowledge
was recently given out by the Pub
lie Health Journal, of New York,
and while the knowledge has been
in the possession of number for a
good while, il seems to be curious
fact that no one has ever applied
the knowledge to the practical work
of relieving suffering humanity
from the annoyance of a ereat pest,
for such, believe all will admit, is
the mosquito. This pestiferous in
sect has often surprised US with it's
apparent ability to spring from the
very ground and attack US with al
most resistless fury within a few
hours after a summer rain, and
from the persistency of their attack
one is to be led TO believe that they
had not tasted food for days. This
is where our mistake has been
made. II requires but two and one
half hours for full-grown mos.
quito to develop from it's first stage,
a mere speck. resembling the germ
of cholera. Is il, then, at all sur
prising that they swarm in such
numbers when conditions are right
for maturing themf They are a
very sbort.lived insect aud their
natural food is a drop of the juice
or moisture of plants. Warmth and
water are both necessary in their
birth and growth; hence the ponds.
marshy uplands, swamps and damp
timber.lands are their birthplaces.
The fact that water as well as
heat is necessary to them gives us
a very simple, cheap and effective
means of Kidding ourselves and our
neighbors as well as the dumb ami.
mails of the annoyance of their pres
ence. Permanganate of potassium
is cheap, simple preparation. and
a very minute quantity of ii will
kill the mosquito at any stage of
his development; single handful
of it will oxidize a ten-acre swamp
and kill all of the embryo insects
and keep Il free from organic mat
ter for thirty days. The cost would
not be over twenty-five cents. A
single pinch of permanganate has
killed all of the germs in 1OD.gal.
Ion tank. One pint of the perman.
ganate of potassium in l75 gallons
of water distributed through mos.
quito marshes and swamps would
render it impossible for the Larvae
to develop.
This knowledge should furnish
employment for some of
our members who live in the vicin.
ity of summer resorts that are
troubled by the pests. Our New
Jersey members and the army in
Cuba are especially recommended
avail themselves of this knowledge
and live in peace. No harm will
follow the use of this simple pre-
but much good. II is one
OF the best antiseptics, ana would,
no doubt. render many places free
from malaria that are now prolific
sources of disease, for il may be set
down as fixed rule that wherever
mosquitoes are plentiful malaria 10
in the surface water, and where
there are no mosquitoes there is no
AS a cheap, practical disinfectant
for garbage barrels, cesspools, out
houses, barn yards, and other foul
Enclosures and unhealthy places,
this simple, non-poisonous chem
ical material is very effective.
Property at J. C. Ebenstein's sale.