Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-09

it's original object being to determine II
possible which insects were a boon ana
blessing to mankind, and which We're the
reverse. Altogether the statistics that
have been obtained have quite upset the
old ideas, and text books will have to be
changed as the result of this investiga-
ton.
According to the opinion that has gen
orally prevailed all insects as Wen as III
lower animals We're created Tor the peIe-
fit of man. 1t is true that science mas not
held his opinion for years, but it has GER
tainly been the popular opinion. lhstea'
of that, however, it has now been concur
siyely proved that while there are many
insects that render MS conslderaDle ser
vice there are almost as many thal are
properly termed pests, ana some VI
these little enemies of men succeed IN ac-
complishing an amount or eVl entlrely
out of proportion to their SIZE.
According to the census there are 3ol
families of insect life and these nave peen
| divided into three classes, good, bad ana
indifferent. The good insects NUMBER llo
families: the bad insects, lib families,
! while the insects OF whom not enough IS
known to permit the investigators 10
classify them at present number u fami-
! lies. The future work of the census COM
! uissioners will be to study these doubtful
! characters in insect life in order that
their purpose in living may be ascertain
ed after WHlcn lHey too / NC - """
as good or bad.
Of the l13 families of bad insects some
of them are of a most disgraceful char
acter, for those who do not spend their
lives in devouring thousands OF dollars
worth of vegetables every year. oDplln
up spring cabbages, carly potatoes ana
srcculent young peas in the most ruth
less fashion, have, as their object in life
the sole desire to bring suffering and dis
ease to the animal kingdom, OF winch
man is a part.
While the good or beneficial insects are
of less interest to us at the present time
ii is f. .structive to know just what their
mission in life is. OF the 1l6 families, 70
devote themselves to the destruction OF
their wicked, notwithstanding breth-
rem; 80 families act as scavengers and
clear away with great %rapidity all sorts
! of dccaying vegetable and animal matter
which otherwise might cause wholesale
death by plague; two act as pollenlsers
and three form food for our eatable
fishes.
One of the most important achieve
ments of this census commission, how
ever, has been the determining of the
lproper classification for the mosquito. II
has been the popular impression FOL
years that the mosquito although often
a nuisance, was IA public benefactor ano
that his determination would react upon
the races of man. Contrary to TINS opln-
ion it is now known that they are most
harmful insects, one of the most harm
full families of the insect Kingdom, In
fact, and thai instead of absorbing
elements tina might be injurious to mar
they themselves inject disease into the
bodies of their victims.
Ernest Austin of the Natural History
department Of the British museum knows
more about mosquitoes than ordinary
people ever imagined there was to learn
In his work of assisting the census TAX
ers he has gathered mosquitoes from ey'
cry part of the globe, and he does no
hesitate to give his stamp of approval t.
this conclusion of the commissioners. ..
have found" he says, that such dis
eases as malaria are undoubtedly con
tracted from mosquito bites at times
and l expect to prove chat it is always so
We have already found that bird dis
eases in India are spread by parasites pc
culiar to them, and there is little reason
to doubt that a similar state of affair!
exists between mosquitoes and man AM
that malaria and its kindred diseases ar,
due to the bite of this insect"
Another important discovery made b.
these novel census takers Is that the an
sect population of the world is increasin.
at a most ~prodigious rate. and hat bug.
are constantly changing their habitation
That means that the insect population o
the temperate zone is getting mixed III
with that of the tropical, which accounts
to some degree for the appearance of 81
many so-cailed new bugs. That Their
is a great deal of truth in this statemen
there can be no doubt, for there is no re
cord of a greater bug year than thi
through which we are passing.