The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-17
SHORT IN MOSQUITO
THIS SUMNER HAS NOT DEVELOP
ED USUAL NUMBERS.
so MANY PEOPLE DECLARE.
THEIR COMPARATIVE SCARCITY
ATTRIBUTED TO USE OF OIL.

rector OF Pubi1c Morks AT ouSBes-
ton of Mr.. Otis AshmOre. as Pre-
VentiVe for Mosquito Breeding in
Catch Basins-Its Effects Conceded
by Many-Heavy Rains Latterly
Have been Washing Out Oil and,
InciJentaIIy, Any Larvae in the
Bnsins-Can Malaria BE Dissemi-
mated by Any other Agency Than
Mosquitoes:
A diminution in the number of mos
ouitoes to he found this year is claim
ed by many. 1t is asserted that, thus
far. there have not been nearly so
MANY of the insects buzzing and biting
about as during past summers. Some,
in making this admission, however, re-
mind their hearers that August and
September are really the prime months
of the twelve for the pests. They de-
clare that it would be well to wait un-
Ill September has come and gone be-
fore hurrahing because of a compare
tive scarcity of mosquitoes. -
For some weeks the city has been
using oil to prevent the production OF
mosquitoes, and there are not few
;tdherents to the view that the use of
the oil has been responsible for de-
crease in the numbers of the insects.
Mr.. Otis Ashmore advised the use OF
oil in the catch basins at the street
corners, prolific breeding places Tor
mosquitoes. Health Officer Drummer
agreed to act upon the suggestion and
secured a quantity of oil, which was
turned over to the director of public
works. who instructed the force that
cleans the catch basins to deposit
small quantity of the oil in each basin
after cleaning it.
Washed Out the oil.
Once every two weeks a catch basin
is cleaned. Latterly rains have been so
heavy. that the oil has been washed
cut as fast as it could be put in, but
there was compensation in this loss for
the larvae of mosquitoes, if there were
any in the basins, We're washed away
at the same time.
Mr.. Ashmore believes that his plan
is operating successfully. He does not
think there are as many mosquitoes
as there would have been had the oil
preventive not been employed In this
view u great many join him. saying
that neither on their Verandas in the
evening nor in their rooms at night do
they notice so many of the pests as
tAey would nave reason to expect fl ON
former experiences This, too, despiet
the tact tIldt there has been so much
rain OF late, and that moisture is CON
ducive to the lie and happiness OF
Incsq uitoeS.
malaria And Mosquitoes.
An answer written by Government
Entomclogist l.. q. Howard to Con-
gresham ". Il. Fleming of Augusta.
who advanced the popular view that
la ria fG fxr
than the bite of the anopheles, a mos
quito, is OF interest. Congressman
Fleming referred to the inhabitants OF
the swamps below Augusta, who do
rot have malaria as they did before
they began securing other than surface
water Tor drinking purposes, and his
deduction was that the surface water
had been responsible for the disorders
Congressman Fleming wrote:
Furthermore, it is almost universally
believed in South Georgia that the
JntI oduction OF artesian wells has
greatly lcssened malarial fever in that
section. NO doubt 1t is scientifically
true that malaria can be carried, and
often is carried, by mosquitoes, but
do not the facts also show that it can
be carried by water containing mas
larial germs? Please let me know if
you scientific men are fully satisfied
that malaria cannot be communicated
by drinking water. Am l to
understand that the mosquito never
originates, bat only transmits, malaria
from some human patient? If So what
is the origin OF the malaria? How does
the human patient get it? l assure
you that / ask these questions in all
sincerity, and would be glad for you
TO give me, if you can, the present
state of scientific knowledge on this
subject"
EntamOIogist HOward's Opinion.
In answer to the congressman, Mr..
Howard wrote as follows
Your questions are interesting and
significant. am thoroughly conVinc-
ed that malaria is contracted by hu-
man beings only by the bite of the
genus Anopheles. Where malaria orig
mated, however, is still unknown. We
simply know that the malarial para
site undergoes a sporulating develop
ment In the red blood corpuscles of hu-
man beings, and that il undergoes its
sexual development in the stomachs
OF mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles
The sexual development is necessary
Tor the perpetuation of the species and
what We know of the mode of life of all
OF that group of the sporoza indicates
that secondary host is necessary for
this development.
"Of course we know. very little about
the malarial diseases of the lower an
lmals, and 1t is possible that there may
be other host animals for the malarial
parasites. 1t looks to me as though
the malarial parasite of human beings.
by process of evolution extending
through very many years. has come TO
be dependent upon mosquitoes and HUI
man beings, or at least upon mosqui-
toes and warm blooded animals From
the standpoint of the we'll known life
histories of the parasites of this group,
II is inconceivable that they should ex-
list in any stage in drinking water
Moreover, careful experiments have
been carried on, in the course of which
not only have human beings been al
lowed to breathe the night air, or So
called miasma, of Swamps full of de-
caying vegetation, but have also drunk
the swamp water and did not contract
malaria so long as they were protect
ed from the bites of mosquitoes; where
as on the contrary persons living in
the most approved sanitary conditions
but exposed to the bite of Anopheles
very often contract the disease If there
is malaria in the immediate vicinity.
1T is very difficult to explain such
cases as that described at some length
by yourself, but / think / may safely
say that the best authorities are fully
satisfied that malaria is not communi-
Gated by drinking water OF course
there are conservative physicians who
are still on the fence and there is
one. resident al Norfolk, Va. who has
published several papers. still main
tanning the drinking water theory.