Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-07-28
Mistellaneuns Grading.
MOSQUITO DETERMINATION.
Surgeon General Wyman Gives Some
Timely Advice.

Surgeon General Wyman Gives Some
Timely Advice.
Surgeon General Wyman, Of the pub
lie health and marine hospital service,
Is giving some timely advice on the
subject of the prevention and destruc-
tion Of the mosquito. He considers this
one of the most important matters that
could come before the people Of the
country at this time, and urgently begs
them to heed his advice.
The habit of the mosquito in feeding
On the blood Of man and other animals,
the surgeon general says, the irritating
character Of its bite and the more or
less vague suspicion that it Is connect
ed in some way with the propagation Of
disease have always given the mosquito
a certain and economic significance.
But the demonstration Of recent years
of the essential part played by this in
sect in the propagation Of filariasis,
(elephantiasis,) malaria, yellow fever
and dengue-diseases which annually
cause much human suffering and many
deaths and. incidentally, an economic
loss appalling to contemplate-has CIV
en- great economic and sanitary i'm
portance to the problem Of its extermi-
nation.
The chief of the mosquito tribe, and
really the bad fellow Of the bunch, Is
the stegomyia calopus-the yellow fe-
yer breeder-and he Is not only to be
avoided but slain without compunction.
There are other varieties, all Of them
bad, Of course, but that just mentioned
Is the worst of all, and usually where
it is found trouble Of serious nature
Is to be looked for.
The adult insect may be carried to
considerable distances by winds, but
on it's own wings it does not ordinarily
travel outside Of radius Of half a
mile from it's breeding place. This
means that the destruction of all breed
ing places within this radius Of a ha-
bitation will practically rid 1t Of all but
those mosquitoes which filter in or are
brought in by the winds from more or
less distant marshes.
The "wiggletail" is the larvae Of the
mosquito in the pupal stage. They
never breed in damp grass, weeds or
bushes, as has been popularity supposed,
but only hide in them during the day.
They delight to live in old tin cans,
bottles and broken crockery, and in the
garbage heap; in buckets, tubs, barrels,
cisterns and wells; in flower pots and
sagging roof cutters; in street and
roadside puddles; in bitches, cesspools
and sewers. AS long as people Will
continue to have these convenient lodg-
ing places near them, just so long will
the mosquito be found.
The mosquito is something Of an
epicure. While it's general food con-
sists Of vegetable juices, unfortunately
the female in many cases has develop
ed a taste for human blood, and in
deed a feed Of human blood has be-
come indispensable to some Of these for
full development Of their eggs. After
the female has obtained her! feed OF
blood she soon-from day or two to
week or ten days-seeks a suitable
breeding place; here she deposits va
riable number Of eggs, which depend
ing upon the species, either float sep
arately upon their sides or up-ended
and adhering together in irregular
raft-like masses.
In a day or two one may look for the
"wiggletail" The real work Of exter-
mlnation should then begin IL nothing
has previously been done, for the
"wiggletair' develops rapidly and in a
short time the genuine mosquito is on
hand.
Stripped of all technicalities, General
Wyman has made plain just how every
person may exterminate the mosquito,
or at least help to do so. Natural COL
lections of water which do or may
serve as breeding places should be
drained. Where cisterns or tanks are
used they should be provided with COW
ers and they should be inspected fire.
uuently to see, IL wood, that seams are
not opened up and cracks formed.
Cesspools and vaults should be done
away with by providing dry earth
closets or sewerage system. But
above all, premises should be kept
clean of old bottles, old buckets and
ANYTHING that will hold the next rain
fall. More may be effectively done to
make the home clean and healthful by
this means than perhaps any other.
Then when old bottles, tubs and
buckets are collected, do not carelessly
throw them over the fence into the
next lot. but have them hauled off and
see to it that they are burned. In that
way alone will effective work be done,
says General Wyman.
There are many other ways that an
effective crusade may be waged against
the mosquito, but the first work must
begin at home. The time Is now ap-
preaching when every precaution pos
sible should be taken to see that mos
uuitoes not only do not thrive, but are
not even allowed to get into the wig
gletail" stage.
Begin work now" General Wyman
says, land don't stop working"