The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-24

Dr. Dimmock, lhat We have known how
the mosquito gets ln his bl and sucks
Inc blood. Scientists mad general id,a
regarding the blood-Jlirsty act but il was
not until the Springfield physician began
his investigations thar the rlSduito's
modus operandi became fully known. An
plying his powerful microscope to the bill
of The mosquito he discovered il TO be
composed of six distinct prongs with
sheaf around the whole When the in
sect begins work it pulls ihis sheath
back, which leaves the prongs free to
operate. OF these prougs The first two
are notched like a saw and are used to
pun the rest of the tools in. Otherwise
the mosquito, being such a Hght-weight
and not being able to hang on with his
feet, if il attempted TO thrust its bill in
by main force would smp.y pry itself
off into The air But by interSecu ting
these two hooks alternately, il actually
pulls its beak inside It's victims flesh.
The next two prougs are joined together
to make a chisel and serve to dig the
hole Qua wider. Thu next, the fifth prong
IS tubular and carries the poison from the
poison duct back in the mosquitoes head
down into the flesh This makes the
more easy for the insect to suck up.
The last prong is the largest of all and
is meant to reap in The harvest for which
all the other work is purely preliminary.
for il is tube through which the insect
sucks in the blood of its sacrifice. OF
course, all these pronss are exceedingly
minute. Not only the naked eye. but
most microscopes fan 10 show their sep
arate existence, and il was only when
Or Dimmock had applied his strongest
microscope 10 some cross sections than he
made the discovery.
just why the mosquito bites people Is not
yet known. 1t is not TO furnish il food, for
it is an established fact that a mosquito,
after gorging himself with human blood,
dies within a few hours: whereas mosuui-
toes that have never tasted blood have
been known to live very comfortably even
through the entire winter and into the
next season. The adult mosquito does not
need food. During IFS larvae stage, it mas
stored up enough nourishmcnt TO last an
its life, and il is a normal state for il TO
so without for the rest Of its existence.
All that it needs is moist air, adult mos
quitoes being known TO pass the winter in
damp cellars living on nothing but the
moisture The fact that il is estimated
that only one out of 10000 ever tastes hui
man blood also proves thatit is not neces-
sary. Why il persists in torturing man
kind. therefore, has not vet been found ont,
and scientists can only swear softly with
the rest of mankind and make the general
statement that the mosquito is born with
Vitialed appetite for human gore-an ap-
petite that causes the death of the in
duleer
Theories have been advanced to show
that the bite of the mosquito is beneficial.
One of the most interesting of these is TO
the effect that the insect, in biting per
son. leaves inside Of the flesh a germ
which inoculates the person against ma
laria. The fact that the mosquito is
most abundant In malarial regions is used
to support this theory, and also the face
that the itching that follows the bite Of
one of the insects is very similar to that
which accompanies the injection of small
poN germs into the arm after vaccination.
The same misguided theOrlst, says Or.
Dimmock, states that the mosquito in
this act is purely philauthropic and does
not suck the hood at all. He swelis up,
to be sure, but this is merely the eXpan-
sion of the Emphatic fluids in his own
body due to the muscular exercise which
he is undergoing. In support of this
theory the theorist states that the pro-
boscis of the insect is so shaped that it
cannot suck blood. Or. Dimmock doubts
the truth of the malarial part of the
theory and says the lymphatic juice sup
position is absurd, for he has seen
through the microscope that the Insects
prOboscis is hollow and he has also traced
the existence of q pumping machine back
in the insects head, whereby he sucks
the blood up precisely as syringe draws
water AS to me malarlal theory ne
makes no DEFINITE assertion, 1t may or
may not be true. Inc tact that mos
quito bite sWels up on some people
while on others II mas no erect what
ever these theorists clam IS due 10 me
fact that the former are malarlaHy IN
c.ined, ana TINS. they say supports tAelr
theory. But Dr. i'mmock VIII nor ac-
cept this for ne hlmseH Is one or nose
who are grleVousiV aHected oE the pics
but Is not IN the east SUBJECT TO malaria.
And Yet there IS no doubt, ne says lhat
the mosquito does carry disease germs
In Havana Dr. flnd-ay mas louhd lhel
yellow fever IS carried by the mosquitoes
They VIII bite a patent WAC Is SICK WIN
the disease ana WIN t4elr DIS ladeh
With germs bite another person II the
germs thus carried are rev me second
person rs mace ouly paftiy slch' anu -
thus Itd4lN IIlDNb.a ANAs Jul AilolN N1aN'
chan one have been recorded OF the
Spi t Ud e,iT oe ne diseaso Nv he
nosouito
To get rid Of these companion Of man