The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-04-28
SCIENTIFIC
WAR ON THE
MOSQUITOES
Can Sweep Pest
Out of the
Islands.

Quitoes of Honolulu will do more tt
make these islands perfect place
Of residence than any man has evel
done. And it can be done. Mr.. d. l.
Van Dine, entomologist at the United
States Experiment station, has point
ed out the way. A systematic effort
in the direction and along the lines
pointed out by Mr.. Van Dine, will d.
the job.
1T is the common opinion here, "
said Mr.. Van Dine in a paper on the
subject recently prepared, that the
taro patches and rice fields are main.
ly responsible for the abundance OF
mosquitoes. Mosquitoes undoubtedly
breed to some extent in these places
and homes in the vicinity of such
places are no doubt infested with mos
quitoes from that source but a study
of the subject of breeding places will
disclose the fact that the taro-patches
and rice fields are only partly re-
sponsible for the conditions here.
never in my life passed so uncomfort-
able night as l did on these Islands
seven miles away from the nearest
taro patch or rice field The source
of the mosquitoes proved to be a rain
water barrel and tank for storing
water in close proximity to the house.
The places for the most part respon-
siblc for the abundance of this pest
are pools, swampy places (such as are
found in abandoned taro patches and
rice fields) barrels, water tanks, wayside
bitches, open sewers, cisterns, wells,
fire-buckets, cutters and caves that
have become clogged, empty cans and
broken bottles on rubbish heaps, post
~xt t0TS
filled, and such vessels as flower
vases in houses left for any time with
ont omptying. Mosquitoes have been
found breeding in tin cans filled with
water and placed under the legs of
a table as prevention against ants.
l believe the many tubs, barrels, and
vessels found about houses as contain
ers of water in the outlying districts
not supplied to be more productive
of mosquitoes than all the taro patch
es about here
METHODS OF FIGHTING MOSQUE
TOES.
The only efforts directed against
mosquitoes here are an attempt to
protect oneself from the adult by the
screening of houses, the use of nets
at night, and the burning in the rooms
of buhach or pyrethrum powder. These
methods are more or less successful
in obtaining individual relief but in no
manner lessen the number or remove
the source of the nuisance. The. COM
munity as a whole receives no benefit
because one man is fortunate enough
to be able to screen his house. A few
individuals here and there have di-
rected their efforts against the lar
vac by the use of coal oil but this is
of little Importance when a neighbor
can breed enough in a neglected OIL
tin or a tub under a water-tap to
make it uncomfortable for the whole
neighborhood. A real estate man can
not be forced to remove from his prop
erty a nuisance that units it for res
idential purposes. A city cannot be
forced to make the place more COM
Portable to the citizens and more at
tlactive to the visitors but certainly
the Board of Health has the power to
compel man who is not anxious to
promote the interest and welfare of
his community to remove from his
property a nuisance and, since we
have the dreaded yellow fever mos
quito here, a constant source of dan
ger to health.
In reviewing the life history of the
mosquito it is evident that the effort
to exterminate the pest must be di-
rected against the breeding places.
Let the war-cry be "No standing wa
ter" Overlook no breeding places,
however, small, even to the empty
tomato-can on the rubbish heap.
The most effectual way to destroy
a breeding place is to fill it up, this re-
moving the place as source of mos
quitoes at once and for all time. The
next best thing, providing the place is
too large to fill or the material for
filling is not at hand, is to drain it
out The larvae and eggs cannot
stand thorough drying and in the flu
ture the place cannot act as breed
ing place with the absence Of water.
If it is not feasible to either fill or
drain the breeding place then two
more methods remain; % the coal
oil treatment on the surface or If for
any reason that cannot be done Ga
trough used for watering stock for ex-
ample), ca the introduction of fish
known to be feeders on the young of
The coal oil method, widely under
Stood consists of applying to the sur
face Of water in the breeding places
a sufficient amount of coal oil to
spread evenly over the surface. The
in which this Is effective in
destroying the young mosquitoes will
be pointed out in the illustrations to
follow. 1t is sufficient to remind you
in this connection that the larvae are
and must come to the
surface of the water to obtain the air.
The oil in no manner affects the water
for use where the water Is drawn off
from the bottom.
ENEMIES OF THE MOS
QUITO.
consider the dragon-flies or mos
as they are locally
known, to be the most effectual enemy
we have here OF the mosquito. In
searching the swampy places about
Honolulu for the larvae of the mos
quito 1t was not unusual to dip up