The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-06
SUNDAY. AUGUST 6. 1905.
MAN AND MOSQUITO.

It really looks like the irony of fate to be assumed that the lives of the most intelligent and advanced of Gods crea- ton are intimately mixed up with. and dependent on, an insignificant looking insect. When we reflect that all the learning and powers and achievements of humanity are powerless to protect man from death by an insect bite. we must admit that humanity is not very far above the lower orders in some re- specss
 And yet that Is just the condition we are in. In all this tropical and sub tropical region. the life of man depends on the mosquito, and thus the two are intimately mixed. When we say that man is powerless, we mean relatively, of course. Constant vigilance and in- te1ligent work and precautions will guard humanity to a large extent from the death-dealing attentions of the in- sect, but there are immense regions where such precautions cannot be ob- served. or where the insects are so nu- merous that they cannot be guarded
 
 city. where vigilant and intelligent methods are constantly at work, one fever-iaden insect may get in it's work and bring sickness and death after it. To use the language of The Portland Oregonian:
 at the mercy of a parasitic organism, dlscoverabie to the eye only through the microscope--a parasite that devel- ops through an annoying insect; and the result is wholesale destruction of the human race Life of man, then the immortal being. depends on the mos life of the mosquito are In some way mysteriousiy correlated. And Nature then, is one-man and mosquito-and man must take his chances But we may suppose man has some advantage Ills range of knowledge Is limited: but he knows it. and perhaps the mosquito has no such thought. But think of human beings. the lords of earth, de- stroyed in multitudes. in this secret and 5nsidious way. through a contemptible mindful of himy Is. " hoWeVer nSS thGS the sre spg perior power more mindful of man than of the mosquito? It would not so ap- pear. from these or from similar facts discoveries or revelations. Bitten by this mosquito. carrying it's parasite in a particular stage of Its development. SpobaSiy viii die rife process lsver Wili ahe be less mysterious than heretofore but the why and the wherefore will be even more insoluble.
 As long as disease has existed on earth 1t has been known that some dis eases are catching" Just how 1t was conveyed from one to another. the wise men knew no more than the simple. That 1t was conveyed by contact. by nA through the air was common knowl- edge, but how 1t was done was the mys- tery. Then the germ theory was estab- lished and that somewhat simpllfied matters. When 1t became certain that an infinitely small atom would commit nicate certain diseases from the sick to the well. 1t was easier to provide against infection. The touch of hand. contact with clothing or bedding. was sufficient. Even the winds carry the germs from one to another.
 But in the case of yellow fever the germ theory has been subject to one confusing fact. Wherever that disease has prevailed it has been observed that the first frost checks 1t and that it soon ceases when COlu weather sets Tn. The general opinion was that the cold killed the germs and that ended it, so far as the old theory was concerned. But 1t is well known to scientists that the most intense cold will not kill disease germs They have been frozen into solid blocks of ice for an indefinite pe- riod and when released were as danger ous as before. That was the puzzle un- til the fact was established that yellow fever can only be carried and com municated by mosquitoes and then all became plain. As the cold kills the mosquitoes. there is nothing to trans mit the fever. and that settles it. Thus man. mosquito and frost are intimately connected It is all a complicated busi- ness. but our medical men are fast learning all about it