The sun., 1901-09-15
YELLOW JACKS WINGD AGENTS
MOSQUITO Wards or GOVERN
MENT TENDERLYC FOR.


Here In email glass Jars are carefully kept
captives more dangerous than the beas In
Of the biggest circus that ever advertised
lie man-eatsrs TO a gaping public. These
are the United State- Armyis yellow fever
mosquitoes; more highly valued and more
tnndcrly nlrtured than evor were insects
before Each has her own private apart
ment-it Il only the female mosquito that
| imparts the dreaded disease-where she is
watched over. tended and fed with tho re-
spect due to an individual who may have
killed her man or men.
IL n now established that Yellow jacks
emi--ary " certain sps-cies Of mo~quito.
Sie1omgid fdscid,d. Without the aid Of this
winged mercury the pes thence would soon
I die out for 50 far as can be a-ccrtsined
no other living creature becomes infested
4 with and Transmits the germ to man. Not
| without the nsrtyrdom To sci.nce OF valued
| lives was the responsibility % the mosquito
established. No sooner was the theory
fully confirmed than the medicL authorities
| Of Havana set about gathering their menag-
erie Of these insects and the work has gone
on ever since. Tho population Of the
mosquito laboratory depleted 10y deaths
, by disease. accident OF old age was supple
nentod 10y the capture OF new specimens,
who had bitten yellow fever patients. or
1 by the infection OF insects bred from the egg
| for that purpose.
The experiments proving that yellow
! fever s impaired. not by contact with
J infected clothing or bedding, hut by the
bite Of the Stegomyia AT. Of such unusual
nature a. 10 he worthy OF general atten-
tion. AZ Camp Lazear. near Quemados.
named in memory of the doctor who was
the fret victim 10 Experimental science
In this limo. mosquitoes were drpo.ited
after hsving bitten yellow fever patients
In the early stages OF the dtp~a-e
These mosquitoes w-r. kept without
food until they were very hungry. and
were then turned loose upon FIVE non
immunes who had volunteered. The Inn
munes were promptly attacked 10y the
bloodthirsty creatures and four OF tho Ave
developcd light. but distinct cases Of yellow
fever within ths recognized period. All
Of them had been quarant ined for "A sum
cient period before tho test TO render u
impossible that they should have con-
tracted the disease In any other way
In another building nearby. room was
carefully screened on so that no insects
could gain access to IT, II was kept tight
unfortunate mosquito who might have
lodged there should starve 20 death. Into
this room a quantity Of infected clothing
and bedding from the yellow fever hos
pital was taken. and three nou-immune
volunteers spent twenty nights there, sleep
ing on the bidding and in pa jamas taken
from the bodie- Of yellow fever victims.
None of them took the feyer. Twice after
ward other groups underwent the same
test with the same result
Even more convincing were the exper-
mcnts carried on at Camp Lave Ia a SEC
ond building Building No 2 was thor
ously screened at windows and doors aud
across its centres from ceiling to door
ran n double screen OF fine wire mesh
In the room ON one sids Of this screen mos
quitoes known "a have been Infected 10y
biting yellow fever patients were let loose
The room at the Other side Of the screen
was thoroughly protected against the en-
trance OF any mosquito whatever. In
the side free from mosquitoes numisr of
men who had never had yellow fever slept
night after night without developing any
symptoms Of the disease. Men who merely
entered the rOom conta ming the mosqui-
toes and remained hong enough only TO bs
| bitten were promptly attacked by tho
disease. Thus again IL was demonstrated
that the mosquito acts as the vehicle by
which infection IL transmitted,
still. there was much to he done IN the
study of the Infected insects and OF the de-
| velnpment of the fever through the agency
| Of their bites. A special department for
the hrseding, raising. injecting and study
| of the yellow fever mosquito vas e-tab-
| lished At Las Anifnas under the Special
| supervision Of Doctors Finley, Guiteras
| Alberteni and Majors Gorgas and Ross. and
experiments are going on all the time
| Ten or fifteen glass jars half fled with
/ dirty water and covered with gauze arc
the br-edsng PLACES. Here tho eggs are
hatched into the wiggle-tails. which
In turn become full-fedg-d mosquitoes
| In each jar there ar. from twenty To- fifty
Of the creatures In all stages Of develop
ment These are perfectly harmless. eI-
| ccpt for the slight poison common 10 all
| oi their family Their capacity for serious
damage Is derived from contact with "A
yellow fever patient.
In tho course Of time several OF the best
specimens ac carefully removed from the
jars, taken to the yellow fever hospital
/ and introduced to their first taste Of human
/ blood Instinct does not tell the insects
| that IL is tainted blood They feed their
| I'LL, and then r,tire, swollen almost To burrt-
| ing. TO sleep on their debauch, When they
awake they have yellow fever, The poison
has already begun TO work In their system:
| the germs develop and spread.
But though Madame Stegomyia e-ts
\ yellow fever, II IL very doubtful whether
4 she suffers from II. so far as IL known, hsr
| temperature does not rise, nor II her pulse
| abnormal. Nhs eNhlbits no sNfnptOfns OF
| discomfort; she lives long a. she would
otherwise, and far better, for from the tims
81 her infect Ion she h the object Of AZ solicit
Gus ohre and n s much hedgcd about
with safeguards ~ a yacht or a racehorse.
| A comnodious and comfortable jar II pre-
| Jared for her and labelled with her name
I Tor as soon as she H. infected she become-
"a new individuality and takes the name Of
y the patient whom che has bitten. Bread IL
/ fed 10 her often as she ne-ds Il. on which
! diet she grows larger and more active than
her compatrto,S, who will hy and hustle for a
/ living In the Cuban swamps and moras.e~
! Vegetable food. by the way. b the natural
| diet Of most mosquitoes, who never get
| within reach of n warm-blooded animal 80
blood may be regarded ~ q luxury,
| THIS luxury the Governments pets g-t
| in abundance. After our in-ecf patient
| has dev-lop-i an active case Of yellow
| fever she u tenderiy removed from her
| jar and Introduced 10 q volunteer. who is
! willing to gain future immunity from
! yellow Jack hy incubation from her sharp
! hill She hlls up ON his blood, and incf-
! deniAily infuf~~ Into Il the gcrms Almost
invariably he develops the fever within
| few DAYS u would -,en Ia the sv~rAs.
I mind that vnlun'srr- for this s-rvicc raight
- dificnt 60 Get ! asked one of N.
/ doctors n he wasn't ofteu sbort of sub
is.sfa