The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-20
VANISHING THE MOSQUITO.


 VANISHING THE MOSQUITO.
 It is time that the authorities and citizens of Montgomery were begin ming a war of exterminatfon against the mosquito family, for this is mat ter in which delays are dangerous. and when that which Is soonest done will be best done. The time has been when mosquitoes were only looked on as pest and a nuisance. almost intolerable at times and in some places, but not prevent sleep and disturb rest. suck the blood and ruffle the temper, but no dangerous qualities were attributed to them.
 But a change in sentiment has fol- lowed a better acquaintance with the habits of these insects. and science has come forward with what we must look on as unimpeachable testimony to their covery of their fatal habits is not al- together new. More than a score of years ago Manson. Cobbold and oth- CTS had been making investigations and were groping along the way to the light. They found that when mosoui- toes had sucked the blood of persons afflicted with certain diseases, the in- sects, as they understood and expressed it. '.take. these parasites into their own system, and 1t is believed that they afterwards (by their death and otherwise) contaminate drinking water with them, and thus convey the ento- goa into the blood of persons previously unaffected"
 By this roundabout method 1t was then supposed that the mosquito car ried disease. but very recent investiga- tion and observation settle the uues- tion, apparently beyond dispute. that the mosquitoes carry germs of yellow fever and other deadly diseases from the sick to the we'll as certainly and as directly as poison can be carried from the drug store to the home in q vial or paper parcel. or as letter may be carried by the mail-carrier from the writer to the reader. The act of this little disease-carrier is direct ana effective. The disease germs they take up in one place they deposit in an- other, so that, in addition to being Il nuisance, they are Q constant menacs to human life.
 As is the case with many other dan- gers, 1t is easier and better to prevent mosquitoes than to drive off or destroy them, and fortunately the scientists have shown us simple and effective method of warding this danger by the use of crude petroleum. The explana- tion is very simple. AS is well known the female mosquito lays her eggs on the surface of the water, and they pre- fer still and stagnant water. As soon as they are matched the larvae or "wiggle- tails" descend into the water, but they must come regularly to the surface for air, as all who are fanil far with their habits must nave mo- ticed.
 This necessity for obtaining air makes the use of oil effective. A small quantity of it poured on the water will cover the surface with a thin film through which the air cannot penetrate. and as the wrigglers cannot raise their heads through and above this coating they die from suffocation, just as sure ly as a human being would die if con- fined under water. Pour oil of any kind on water and at once 1t will be seen to spread in all directions and form an unbroken film on the surface
 Here is where science gets in It's work and where 1t points out an easy way to exterminate the embryo which might at a later stage spread disease and death over the land. The crude pe- troleum Is cheap and everywhere Ob- tainable, and its application is simple, easy and speedy. The City Council of Baltimore has taken the matter in hand. and under the direction of Sur geon Alexander H. Stark of the regular army, who is stationed at Fort Mc- 1 f1enTy1 lHS dulhOAltiCS anu INS SASiHSAAS are working in harmony for the pur- pose of preventing the maturity of the usual mosquito crop. In Cuba, un- der the orders and directions of Gen
 eral Wood. they are treating with petroleum "all the lagoons around Ha- vana, where the insects that carry ma laria and yellow fever germs have Tn years past been bred by millions" They
 are using oil at the rate of one ounce
 to ten square feet of surface, and the
 statement is made that malaria has
 been almost banished from the r>sion.
 thus treated"
 These statements are gratifying an( at the same time they are both sig