The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-08-13
correspondence
MosoU1ToEs AND MALARIA.

The most prevalent disease in
North Carolina, certainly from now
until frost, is malarial fever in one
form or another. 1t is by no means
confined 60 the low lying Eastern
section of the State, but is quite
abundant in many localities in the
hill country, having been reported
even from Cherokee.
By recent scientific Investigations
the cause of the fever has been
shown to be a microscopic animal
known as the pLGSmOdjltm mGLGriR
or hem dmobG UiUdr, which feeds
upon the red corpuscles of the blood
hence the pallor of persons suffer
ing from chronic malaria. The de-
velopment of this little parasite in
the blood is as follows: One of the
spores or baby germs, so to speak,
enters a red corpuscle and, feeding
on it's contents, grows until at the
end of t~wenty-four hours it has be
come nearly as large as the corpusole.
1t then, by a process known as seq
m~entation, splits up into a dozen or
more little spores again, which for
a short time are free in the blood
and unattached to the corpuscles. 1t
is lust as the augmentation occurs
that the chill comes on, which ex-
plains the periodic recurrence of the
chill every twenty-four hours, and
as it has been found that quinine is
most effective in killing the germs
while they are free in the blood and
not buried in the substance of the
corpuscles, the best time to give
quinine is just before the chill is ex-
pected.
The method of introduction of the
malariaI poison, the plasmodium,
certainly the chief method, has been
demonstrated beyond all question to
be the sting of a certain variety of
mosquito known as anopheles the
common mosquito, which while more
abundant, is innocent as a carrier of
disease, being known as culex. The
latter species will breed in still water
of any kind, no matter how pure,
but the former, our enemy, will only
breed in stagnant pools in which
there is a certain amount of vege-
table matter, especially if there +
no fish, such as top minnows or sun
perch, which feed upon the larvae or
wiggletails. This explains the fact
that malaria is much more abundant
after freshets, in the course of which
the stream, getting out of it's banks,
washes holes in the ground, and
speedily falling leaves there stagnant
pools with few or no fish in them.
Mosquitoes are much more abundant
this exceptional year of freshets
than usual. 1t also explains the dan
ger of brick holes.
The larvae, or wiggletails, as we
generally call them, are the young
mosquitoes. Although they live in
the water from the time they r
Matched from the eggs which we're
laid on the surface until they reach
maturity, they cannot live without
air-they must breathe. Contrary
to the general rule, they breathe
wrong end Unconstitutional a
long breathing tube which springs
from the body near the tail and
which they stick out of the top of
the water when they want air. The,
bearing of this arrangement on their
destruction will appear later.
There is a popular misapprehen-
sion in regard to the movement of
mosquitoes. The general impression
is that they are carried by the wind,
and people at the seaside say that a
land breeze brings mosquitoes. 1t is
a fact that they T abundant
when the breeze is from the land or
in a calm, but according to those
who know best the fact probably is
not that they + blown from the
swamps to landward, but that they
simply come out again from the trees
and shrubbery and the lea side OF
houses where they had taken refuge
from the strong sea breeze which
was too rough for their fragile
bodies. With rare exceptions they
travel, it is said, seldom more than a
mile, and generally not so far. When
one is troubled with mosquitoes a
careful search will almost always re-
veal stagnant water in the neal
Vicinity.