The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-19
The H0USE-FLY INDICTED.
The Greenville News.

"The House-Fly at the Bar" is the
title of a 4S-page illustrated pamphlet
which the Merchants Association Of
New York is sending out. The pur.
pose is to inspire interest in. the nat
ional movement in educating the pub
lie to a knowledge of the dangers of
the fly plague, and the means for put
! ting an end to it. The News Is in re.
ceipt of copy of this interesting book
let. We wish that every person in
South Carolina who could read could
scan it. In this pamphlet are as
sembled the testimony of health Off
GERS and other expert sanitarians of the
country as to tn e dangers arising from
the house fly. There are letters from
the health departments of 70-odd cities
scattered all over the United States,
giving the results of Investigations
with regard to transmission Of typhoid
and other germ diseases through the
medium of flies. 1t is the unanimous
verdict Of all that the common house
fly is the most dangerous living thing
known to civilization.
In this part of the country the spring
and summer are the time of the year
for the wide and disturbing activities
of the house-fy; hence, this is most
suitable time for celebrating on the
dangers of disease dissemination by
them.
Hitherto, the fly has been regarded
complacently as harmless nuisance
and considered to be an annoying
creature with great persistence and ex-
cessive familiarity. Regarded in the
light of recent knowledge the fly is
more dangerous than the tiger or the
cobra. Worse than that, he is, at
least in our climate, much more feared
than the mosquito and may be easily
classed as fearful to life. 1t has been
for some time thoroughly we'll demon
strated that he is one of the chief
agencies in the spread of Asiatic chol-
era. We now know him to BE- the
source of high percentage of the cases
of typhoid fever, and the chief dissem-
inalor of intestinal diseases from which
about 1000 children die annually in
New York City alone.
There are seven different varieties OF
flies found in our homes; 9S per cent of
which is the common house-f1
Born in manure, generally that of the
horse, or in decomposing matter of
any kind, vegetable as we'll as animal,
they enter our homes to alight on foods
there stored. Their tastes are indeli-
cate and omnivorous; they subsist on
sputum, faecal juices, and the slime
and dirt that stick to exposed surfaces.
Their proboscides, through which
they feed, are connected with an ex-
tremely active salivary gland, capable
of pouring out large quantity of SAL
iva, which the fly projects against a
dry surface, swallowing the subse.
quent solution. Natural solid parti-
cles, living organisms. parasites, and
eggs, small enough, may pass into the
digestive tube Bacilli of different
types and eggs of the nematodes have
been observed in the proboscides, stom-
ach intestinal and tract and defec-
tions The time that particles remain
in the digestive tract of the fly is from
l2 to % days. Evidently the digestive
secretions are not active for harm, as
organisms will not only pass through
alive, but increase in number while
in transit. There must be some
absorption of the toxins of baccili fol
fies die in large numbers which have
had the misfortune to imbibe SUCH ibac'