The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-09
MOSQUITOES AND COLOR
To Avoid Being Bitten 1t is Only Necessary to Wear Light Col
 ored Clothing.

London Times.
 In continuation of their researches on the structure and biology of Anopheles maculipenis, the commonest British mos quito and one known to convey malaria, Dr. Nuttall and M. A. E.. Shipley ob- served some interesting facts on the pref erence this species exhibits for different colors and for different shades of color The experiments were conducted as fol- lows: In a spacious photographic studio a large muslin tent was set up with one end against the glass window through which the sunlight poured. At the bot tom of the tent was some large pans for the anopheles to breed in, and these were from time to time renewed. The mosquqitoes were fed on bananas-which, it may be noted, must be kept fairly fresh. otherwise dates or figs are pref erable. On one side of the tent seven teen boxes without lids were piled one upon the other, the order being changed each day so as to eliminate any prefer ence due to position or exposure to light. Each box was lined with a cloth having a slightly rough surface. not shiny or smooth one, to which a mosquito could easily cling. The experiment consisted In counting the number of mosquitoes found in each box on seventeen different days. The results obtained are striking. During the seventeen days on which the count was made 10S mosquitoes were found in the navy blue box, 20 in the dark red box. s1 in the reddish brown box. 59 in the scarlet box. 49 in the black box. There was at this time a sharp drop to 31 in 8 slate gray box and 2i in an full blue boxes had respectively IS, IT and n. Pearl gray had g. pale green 4, light blue 3. ochre and white ? each, orange l, and pale yellow. about the color of khaki. had none at all.
 It is thus evident that color has marked power of attracting this species of mosquito and that the color which Is by far the most attractive Is navy blue. In both services and equally among civilians this is a very common, per haps the commonest color for male at- tire. The experiments just quoted show that 1t is at least equally popular with malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Light col ors were avoided, especially those with ments would seem to have other advant- ages besides that of invisihility on light soil.
 The results of these observations. con- ducted on one species and in the midst of an English University town. must not too rashly be thought to hold good of other species living in the open; but there is a certain amount of evidence that points in the same way. It has been mo- ticed in Indian hospitals that anophees hide on black coats and avoids white ores. so that the men who catch them take care to hang up dark coat or two in the wards when they wish to collect the insects. The Frenchman Joly mo- ticed in Madagascar that the mosquitoes were attracted by black soil more than by a red or light one. and that persons wearing black shoes and socks were more often bitten than those who wore white or light coverings for their feet. While a black dog was severely bitten, its companion. who Was yellow. almost entirely escaped-thus the val Ter dog of western fiction has some ad- vaRtages in this world
 Other observations not only point to a modification of dress in malarious dis tricts, but they indicate that much may be done to render dwelling houses and temporary shelters less habitable to the insects MT. J. Chopper has put on record how attractive the dark blue lin- ing of the tent he used in Palestine was to anopheles and to other Culicidae, and Austen has noted that If the walls of a room are whitewashed with dark dado the insects are invariably found on the dado and not on the light surface. This points to doing away with dados and using only whltewash.
 The gist of these experiments. which seem to have a very practical bearing on life in malarious districts. was published In The British Medical Journal for Sep tember. They seem to have attracted little attention in this country, but the