Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-26
But Warfare Has Been Waged
in Recent Years.
TALKS OF MOSQUITOES
LECTURE BY DIR. L. o. HOWARD
YESTERDAY AFTERNOON.
The Carrying of Infectious Diseases
Campaign for determination
of Pests

The second of the Saturday afternoon
lectures under the auspices of the Biologi-
cal Society of Washington was given yes
terday afternoon by DIR. l.. o. Howard.
chief of the bureau of entomology of the
Department OF Agriculture. The subject
was Mosquitoes. Dr. Howard has long
been prominent in the anti-mosquito work.
and it is largely due to his practical writ
fngs that the mosquito crusade in this
country and elsewhere has attained the
proportions IL has reached In introducing
his subject he said that while people for
many years suffered the plague OF mos
quitoes without undertaking any means OF
relief. within the past five or six years, in
stigated largely by the discoveries relative
to the carrying of malaria and yellow fever
by mosquitoes, an enormous anti-mosquito
warfare has sprung up. The literature OF
the subject in this short time has become
very great Many books, hundreds OF
magazine articles and thousands of news
paper articles have been published; many
individual owners of country homes have
taken up the work with success; many
towns and even cities have spent large
sums In fighting mosquitoes: one state
New Jersey has given large appropria-
tions and even the general government has
taken the matter into, consideration, bills
having been introduced at the last session
of Congress.
The lecture was illustrated by excel
lent series of lantern slides. and the speaker
described at some length the life history of
the Culex or non-malarial mosquitoes IN
contrast with the life histories of the ma
larial mosquitoes (genus Anopheles. and
the yellow fever mosquito tStegomyia fas-
ciata). He said the malarial mosquitoes Will
breed in almost any chance accumulation of
water. that they do not fly far, and that
practically. in the country and in the sub
urbs of towns. almost every householder is
responsible for his own mosquito supply.
Series of Pictures.
He illustrated the various breeding places
of the different kinds of mosquitoes, and
showed an Interesting series of pictures of
the important operations recently carried on
in the Roman Campagna which have result
ed In largely doing away with the so-called
Roman fever, which had made the so-called
black belt of South Italy practically un-
inhabitable and had greatly reduced the
economic resources of the Italian kingdom.
His description of the Investigations of the
yellow fever mosquito. instituted by the
American army of occupation in Cuba. was
especially full Portraits We're shown of
Drs. Reed, Carroll and LaZear of the Ameri-
can commission. That of DIR. Lazear, the
first person who died as the result of an I'M
doubted bite OF the yellow fever mosquito.
was of especial interest. Pictures were
shown of Camp LaZear, in which the con-
elusive experiments were made; the mos
quito house and the infested clothing house.
the laboratory in which the experiments
were made, and portraits of the principal
men engaged in the work being also shown.
Operations against mosquitoes which are
now being carried on in Honolulu. on Long
Island and in the salt marshes of New Jer-
sey were also described in full and pictures
were shown illustrating the different opera
lions of drainage. filling In the marshes. and
the large-scaIe collecting of tin cans, bot
n t.aal.a
Conditions in Washington.
The speaker in closing dwelt especially
upon the mosquito conditions In the city OF
Washington. and told of the prevalence. of
mosquitoes in South Washington before the
filling in of the Potomac marshes. He an
nounced that Baltimore, after an agitation
of municipal appropriations for mosquito
work Tor the last two or three years, has at
last taken active steps, and that an expert
has been engaged to locate all mosquito
breadjup nlaceS around Baltimore during