Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1901-04-20
MALARIA AND MOSQUITO
MODERN SCIENCE HOLDS THE INSECT
PEST LARGELY RESPONSIBLE.

PEST LARGELY RESPONSIBLE.
The Amazing Story of tho Relation be-
tween Malaria and Certain Mosquito.
Is Now Told For the First Time by
Entomologist l.. .. Howard.
L. o. Howard, chief cntomOloGist of
the United States Department of
Agriculture, tells in the Century the
amazing story of the relation between
"Mnlnrla and Certain Mosquitoes"
As plain ms this story Is, the llllng
of all the gaps and the rounding out
of MI the details have taken years Of
patient work. Before Lavcrans orig
inal discovery of the parasite became
generally known, an American physi-
elan. DR.. \. i. \. King, Of Wash
inglon propoundcd the idea that ma
laria' Is transmitted by mosquitoes. His
paper, read before the Philosophical
Society of Washington, was II mas
tcrly one. and summarized In an adj
mirnblG way the arguments favorinG
such theory; and the lOng-dclnycd
proof now comes rs triumphant vim
dication OF the views of this eminent
American physician. views which
were ut first received with general in.
crcduily. Even of late the mosquito
theory" rs it has been called, has
met with strong opposition on the part
OF conservative physicians and lay
men. The point Is often made by
such persons that malaria exists in
| localities where there are no moSQul.
| tos, that persons get malaria without
| having been bitten by mosquitoes, and.
| stupidity enough, that mosquitoes exist
in numbers where there Is no malaria.
All opposition, however, has been
forcibly met, and the consensus of
expert opinion is now united in the
conclusion not only that the agency of
mosquitoes of the genus Anophclcs is
the only demonstrated method of the
transmission of malaria, but that it Is
! perhaps, even probably, and some say
certainly, the only method by which
the disease enters ,hc human body.
In the United States many phySi-
clans in malarious neighborhoods have
taken up the question with cnthusi.
assn, and persons living in mosquito.
ridden localities are organizing and
beginning eXtcrminativc work. At
the present time there is probably
more intelligent work being done or
being planned against mosquitoes in
the United States than elsewhere in
the world. The great braclish marshes
| Of In A l,n
inland swamps and pools have made
many portions of the United States
great breeding places for mosquitoes.
The vast majority of our mosquitoes,
however, are noXious only from their
bite. Most Of them belong to the
the mosquitoes of this genus the NAL
arlHl parasite dies and is digested
These mosquitoes breed everywhere in
standing water. They are found not
only in the brackish marshes, in the
great Swamps, and in all ponds in
which fish are not numerous, but
they breed also in horSc-trOughs, in
rain-water barrels, in water running
slowly through open sewers, and even
penetrate through the perforated sew
cr-traps in large cities, and breed in
The sewers below ground. a transient
pool of surface water left by heavy
rains will breed a generation of mos
uutOS in Il little more than a week
They will breed i'm the water collected
in the hollows OF old stumps, in old
bottles or tin cans thrown on the
dumps or in vacant lots: i'm fact, wher-
ever still water stands for IL week or
ten days in the summer time the fc-
males of some species of mosquito
will lay their eggs upon it, and Il gen
GRAFTON will be produced. This water
need not be perfectly uncovered, since
Il female mosquito, in her desire to
find II place to lay her eggs, will en-
ter through Il very small Oriiicc.
Water-tanks, therefore, not perfectly
covered, afford such situations. Old
wells or cesspools. with board covers
in which there are cracks wide enough
for Il mosquito to enter, are often
most prolific places.
The general question of mosquito
control has been carefully studied.
The writer conducted a large series of
experiments number of years ago,
before the mOsquitO-malaria relation
was established, with Il view to civ
ing the inhabitants of mosquito lOcali-
ties some relief from the attacks of
these pernicious creatures. The three
main remedies are: the drainage Of
swamps and standing pools where
this is possible; the introduction of
fish, and particularly of certain vOra'
cious species, such as the sticklebacks
and the tOp-minnOws, into tishlcss
pools tho water of which is used for
watering live stock: and third, the
treatment of pools or ponds, or othel
bodies of water which cannot be
drained, with Kerosene. All these
measures are etficaciOus. A cOmbina
ton of all is usually found necessary
in any given neighborhood. Drain
age of swamps as Il community meas
rre is highly to be recommended from
every point of view. The use of kerO
sene where drainage is impossible Is
perfectly cfficacOus in destroying the
wigglers. or larvae, of mosquitoes. Tho
amount to be used is about one ounce
for each fifteen square feet of water
surface. and the application should BIZ
repeated every fortnight. The kero
sene not only kills the wigglers whel
they come to the surface to breathe
but kills the female mosquitoes whel
they alight upon the surface of thu
| water to lay their eggs.
Farmers Their Own Bankers.
/ One of the great features of the co