The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-12
THE COMMON HOUSE FLY.
4 Pest and a Prolific Source of
Disease.

Washington star.
With summer almost upon US and screens and
awnings being put on the hotels and residences
Of the city, # behooves the careful citizen to
look to his health as at no other time OF the
year. am. with this in mind. his first attention
should be directed to the common house fly. IL
not an exploded theory that flies are the scaven-
gers OF the air. 1t has been scientifically proven
that man can Go very well without them. for in
those localities where proper precautions against
their breeding have been taken a better average
OF health has been maintained and no trouble ex-
perienced because OF any extra contamination OF
the air.
DR.. L. o. Howard. the entomoogist OF the
Department OF Agriculture, is the authority for
the statement that the generation Of the house
fly is limited to ten days. and when TO this state
ment Is added that a female deposits about 12o
eggs at a time, simple calculation of the OFF,
spring Of a single fly that has chosen TO remain
with us during the winter in order to get an
early-spring start viii result in figures that will
startle and terrify. The whole number OF chill
dren's children. and so down the line of figures
! during the summer Is beyond belief and. when
an Illustration il may be assumed that a female
fy deposits 10 eggs, from which are developed
an equal number OF male and female ofspring.
Taking this as "A base for calculation and assum-
ing that with each Matching OF the resultant flies
| found that st The end Of the seventh eeneration
or less than two and one-half months from the
laying OF the hrst egg the enterpIisihg Mrs:
numbering 5GS7.03,559. 800 individuals. the chief
himself in the coffee or trim his finger nails on
the point or the human nose. And 1t must not
INTO ,0 eensIdera suar t n1s G fact tSat there dOss n %ay saf in
some hatchings be a preponderance Of females,
in which case the total would be startlingly aug
mented.
According to DIR. Howard. the disease that is
most commonly transmitted by the house fly is
i typhoid fever. and to avoid the I'LL We must get
at the root or the evil and effect a remedy. This
Is cleanliness about the house and yard. particu-
larry about stables, for it is in these latter
places that flies breed. 1t has been found that
cleanliness Of stables the number of dies was so
\ perceptiely diminished as to make them scarcely
disease of all kinds. With the germ theory fully
developed and substantiated by experiments dur
ing a course of years IT is known that it is in
this manner alone that disease is spread. and
The fly is responsible for all that the mosquito.
well known in many OF the best families. are
not.
The first of all measures 20 be taken. says DIR.
Howard on the subject, is to screen the house
thoroughly. killing all flies and mosquitoes that
h %ay nave ones got Tsts IL ar before Tri,h 'n rs. Is done; d if the
problem to eradicate them. but with these do
m rance a of sies frd4 he an da injected laf' l&o 1n fhe f foI
tsbgn ,he d allsne upon 'n tha 100 thd prepared dor ths
with them from the neighboring house OF illness
partakes of it is very likely to contract the dis
ease.
The close relationship between flies and disease
and death Is a matter that calls for the unre-
hitting attention OF all the people. so that dras
tie measures may be taken to check the cause
Although every fly that enters the house does
not carry the germs OF typhoid on his feet. he
where that illness exists, and 1t requires only
the proper conditions for the inmates Of the mex
place of his visitation to contract the illness.
Stables in cities and everywhere else are the
primal causes of the flies, and Or. Howard as
serts that from a single pound OF ordinary
1 manure loo flies issue The figures ALREADY
given will serve to illustrate what Incredible
number of the pest will be Matched from the
eggs later deposited by the females of these !, Ns
| from that one source alone. Multiply this pound
by the tons Of uncared-for manure that abound
about ali stables, and the result is sufficient e
cause alarm. Therefore, with an abundance OF
house flies breeding about a stable, and with
perhaps unsupported or not yet fully developed
case OF typhoid in the immediate neighborhood
there Is no reason Why the disease should no
be spread 10 healthy individuals, and that It Il
80 spread Is not to be questioned. II was forci
bly, demonstrated by the army typhoid-fevei
commission that investigated the concentration
camps during the war with Spain. The remed,
Is plain and consists of two courses OF proce
dure: Proper care of stables and the destructio,
of the flies that have already bred Whereabouts.
To care for the stable requires but a littl
chloride OF lime and a pit for the manure. AM
for the houses screers. In thickly-settled com
munities concerted action of the inhabitants i
necessary TO carry out these requirements, bu
that this should be done is obvious, and to avof
malaria the mosquito must be cared for in sim
liar ways. These pests breed in marshy place
and are the carriers OF malaria. On the sam
high authority IL Is stated that persons may lv
IN malarial districts with perfect Immunity /
they are not bitten by the malarial mosquito
but in order TO avoid the bites is almost impos
sibie, and the best measures are TO protect tn
house with screens and drain the breeding places
kerocene oil poured in a thin coat over tn
swamps Is a certain destroyer Of the larvae O
the insect, and since the life OF a mosquito i
very brief these precautions will soon max
them a dsagreeable memory only.