The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-01-01
THE SUCCESS OF NEWARK.

gerous animal known is the mosquito.
Compared with the evil done by the
insect pest, the cobra's death toll is
small. This venomous serpent is found
only in hot countries, particularly in
India while mosquitoes knew no fav-
Orite land or clime-unless it be Jer-
sey. Arctic explorers complain of them.
In Alaska it is recorded by a scientist
that mosquitoes existed in countless
millions, driving us to the verge of sui
eide or insanity" A traveller on the
north shore of Lake Superior, when the
snow was several feet deep, and the
ice on the lake five feet in thickness,
relates that mosquitoes appeared in
ewarms literally blackening the banks
of snow in sheltered places"
In the temperate zone this evil-breed-
ing insect was, until cent years. con-
sidered more in the light of an exas-
perating pest. 1t is now known, how
ever, that malaria is due entirely to
the bits of mosquitoes. But it is in
the tropical countries that their dead
| lest work is done There, it has been
proved beyond question, the mosquitoes
are responsible for the carriage of yell
low fever. If, in a yellow-fever-ri ridden
region, one were to live entirely in an
enclosure carefully protected with
proper screens-as certain entomolo-
gists did-there practically would be no
danger from the dread disease, even If
all other precautions were neglected
The crime committed by the mosqui-
to against it's innocent victim, man, is
more in the nature of mansaughter
than of murder, according to the au-
thorities. There is no premeditated
malice. "A mosquito bites primarily
to obtain food" says a leading ento-
mologist there is neither malice nor
venom in the intent, whatever there
may be in the act" There isn't great
comfort in the intelligence conveyed
/ by the scientist, nor in his further OBJ
servation:
Theoretically, there would seem to
be no reason why there should be any
pain from the introduction of the min
ute lancets of the insects, and the small
amount of blood-letting is usually a
benefit rather than otherwise. Unfor-
tunately, however, in its normal condi-
ton the human blood is too much in
clined to clot to be taken unchanged
into the mosquito stomach; hence,
when the insect bites, a minute droplet
of poison is introduced, whose function
1t is to thin out the fluid and make ii
more suitable for mosquito digestion
It is this poison that sets up the in
fammation and produces the irritation
or swelling. The pain is caused
entirely by the action of the poison in
breaking up the blood, and, as the first
act of a biting mosquito is to introduce
the poison into the wound, the pain and
Inflammation will be the same, wheth,
err the insect gets its meal or not. In
fact, it has been said that if mos
quito be allowed to suck it's fill and
then fly, the bite will not itch, and
there is just a basis of justification for
this"
To make a scientific inquiry into the
habits of the mosquito and to do ii
patiently, one should be far from the
maddening swarms, or at least effect
lively screened in. Then it would be
possible to believe the statement of the
Governments entomologist that not
zone mosquito in million" ever gets
the opportunity to taste the blood OF
a warm blooded animal. AS proof of
this there are, in this country, great
tracts of marshy land never frequented
by warm blooded animals, and in which
mosquitoes are breeding in countless
numbers. The point is emphasized by
the prevalence of mosquitoes in the
Arctic Circle and other uninhabited
regions
If this CORY insect does not live by
blood alone, how it is nourished? Fee
male mosquitoes are by nature vegeta-
rians; they are plant feeders. Why they
should draw blood at all is a question
which remains unsolved by entomolo-
glsts-as well as by the suffering vic
Tins. The females have been observed
sucking the nectar of flowers; obtain
ing nutriment from boiled potatoes
even from watermelon rinds, from
which they extract the juice As re-
CARDS the blood habit, the male mos
quito is a "teetotaler." Just how this
male insect lives, scientists have not
determined. He may not take nourish-
ment at all. At any rate, the mouth
parts Of the male are so different from
those of the female that it is probable
his food is obtained differently. The
male is often seen slipping at drops OF
water, and a taste for molasses is as
cribed to the male mosquito by one au-
thOrity.
A common remark heard along the
Jersey shore, also on Long Island, is
mis-: when We have a sea-breeze We
are not troubled with mosquitoes, but
when there comes a land-breeze they
are pest. While this observation is
by the unscientiflc mind are erroneous
, The matter of the absence or abundance
, OF mosquitoes in varying winds Is
closely related to the inquiry which en-.
/ tomologists have made: How far will
mosquitoes fly? Says one investigator
| ''The migration of mosquitoes hal
been the source of much misapprehen
: sion on the part Of the public. The idei
: prevalent at our seaside resorts that {
Iand-breeze brings swarms OF mosqui