Waterbury Democrat., 1901-07-24
THE HOUSE FLY DANGEROUS.

Dr l.. o. Howard, who is connected with the United States division of en- tomology, contributes an article to the June Good Housekeeping (New York) in which he calls attention to the great harm done by the common house fly in the carriage of disease germs. After referring to the activity of the fly in this direction during the Civil and Spanish wars, and in Egypt, where the fly is responsible for the transfer ence of the eye disease (purulent oph- thalmia,) common among the lower classes, Dr Howard says:
 Evidence has been gathered which shows that where excrement Is not properly cared for, as in box privies in small towns and in the country, as well as in the low quarters of large cit ies, where in alleyways and vacant lots and other waste places this substance is frequently found, the house fly carries virulent typhoid germs and transmits them to food substances in houses. It has been shown that active typhoid germs may be found in excreta for some time before the character of the fever can. be recognized 1t is also shown that they are found in such places for some weeks after the pa tient has apparently recovered and now that we know as definite fact that the kousefy breeds in this substance, when we consider the enormous num- bers in which it swarms in the kitchen and dining-rooms, and how, for exam pie, in many cities milk jugs are left standing in the early morning when just filled by the milkman outside the kitchen door, it becomes a matter of wonder that typhoid fever is not more prevalent than it actually is.
 The importance of organized effort looking toward the decrease in num- bers of this insect, therefore, at once becomes evident. Considering that horse manure is the breeding. place of the very great majority (and I think 1t Is safe to say that more than 95 per cent of tlie house flies in most civilized regions breed in horse manure), the first step is remedial work is naturally to stop this breeding. Experiments in the treatment of horse manure piles with a number of different substances have shown that the best material to use for this purpose is chloride of lime. This, however, cannot be economically and thoroughly used except where some effort is made to keep the manure for a time at least in a more or less confined space. The open manure heaps everywhere seen about stables account for the majority of our house flies. They may beswarming with house fly maggots, the numbers of which, in a good-sized pile, will undoubtedly in midsummer run into the millions. One thousand two hundred mnggots have been counted in a pound of manure.
 The house fly is rapid breeder. In seven or eight to ten warm days q gen. eration will be produced. Each female lays 120 eggs, and with twelve or more generations in a summer, the descend ants of single individual, increasing in geometrical proportion, will in au- tumn be almost countless. Stables, es- pecially in towns and cities, should be kept clean Manure piles should be kept either in a vault or in closet, and shovelful of chloride of lime should be thrown over them with each days addition. to the pile. When the manure is to be removed to the garden or field, then and then only should the closet or vault be opened, except, of course, for the daily additions. I am assured by a competent chemist that the addition of chloride of lime does not injure the value of the manure. Some such measure as this should, in towns and cities be enforced by the boards of health. Penalties for the open disposition of human excrement should be made and enforced.