The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-24

now DeinG maze IN the Nhfioh" cAetto
of the country has brought about a
complete revolution OF sentiment as to
that insect. When science came to
look carefully into his habits, Mr.. Fly
was found not to be the inonensive
sort OF citizen he had always been re-
garded. 1t had long been known that
he was bothersome. but he was found
to be villain of the deepest dye, KILL
ing more people every. year than are
killed by all the murderers In the
world. He has been given new
name since his true character has come
to light, name which brands him
wherever he goes--the typhoid n.y."
DR.. l.. c.. Howard the United States
entomologist. has selected that name
for him. He agrees that the term is a
little harsh, as there are other causes
of typhoid. and says that manure
fly" would fit him rather better, since
his favorite breeding place is In horse
manure. But for public use DR.. How
ard thinks typhoid fly" Is the best
name.
The evidence against the fly is COM
plete and convincing. Many muir
derer has gone to the gallows on
weaker. Not long ago Ala flies were
caught in different parts Of the coun-
try, and they carried an average of
million and a quarter germs to the
the fly is SO small he cannot carry
fifth. But IL anyone will look at him
through a high-powered microscope
the error OF such a conclusion will
clearly be seen. Under the micro
scope he becomes the most fuzzy crea-
ture alive, hairy from tip to toe, and
terribly Indifferent about keeping
clean.
These Ala flies were caught in ster-
hoH the
found could be laid to the account of
the net. Then each fly was placed in
a separate bottle which had been ster-
ilized and filled with a known quanti-
ty of sterilized water. The fly was al
lowed to swim around until exhausted,
and then a drop of the water was
placed under a microscope and the
germs counted A careful record Oh
each fly was kept, and the germs found
on each were found to range from $50
to $500, 000-estimated. The next fly
that falls into the readers coffee or his
milk may leave six million germs in
the cup.
The house fly is thoroughly oInniv-
orous. He will eat anything that he
comes across, and the more filth there
Is the better 1t suits him. Breeding in
manure by preference he spends fair
share of his living days in such sur
roundings. He flies direct from the
manure heaps to our houses, and onto
our food, whenever opportunity pre-
sents itself and is always laden with
microscopic particles of filth and dis
ease. Here again has Mr.. Fly been
Caught with the goods on him., as
the police say. In the army camps du-
ring the Spanish American war 1t was
found that the flies which swarmed
about the latrines would come direct
ly to the mess tents, the white lime
being plainly visible on their feet. In
New York filth was dyed with red ink
and set in the street. Flies soon
showed up in the house with red on
their feet,
The most startling and conclusive
evidence that has been brought against
the fly is that gathered by DR.. Daniel
d. jackson, in his investigation OF the
subject Of harbor pollution at New
York. With his assistants he went In
to the whole question with great thor
oughness, and his findings are note
worthy He found that in the neigh
borhoods of sewer outlets the flies
were most numerous and that in those
same neighbqrhoods typhoid fever and
other Intestinal diseases were most
prevalent. The Number of victims OF
these diseases rose and fell with the
coming and passing of the fly tribe
Daily examinations of captured flies
were made, and millions of germs were
found In some instances the flies
were carefully washed and completely
cleansed Of germs. They were then
released and allowed 10 swarm over
infected material in the laboratory.
They collected as many germs the sec
ond and third time as they did the
frst. In one instance hundred
thousand typhoid fever germs were
found on q single fly.
In New York there are more than
5000 deaths from typhoid and other
intestinal diseases during the fly sea-
son. 1t Is estimated that were the fly
effectually banished it would result in
the saving of 200 lives a year in that
city and the prevention of $4,000 cases
of sickness. Typhoid fever is esti-
mated by experts to cause an annual
economic loss amounting to $350,000,-
600 in the United States and fully $25,-
600 900 in Canada. 1t is also figured
that the American people spend $lO,-
600, 900 a year for door and window
screens. Not only is the fly dissent
inator Of typhoid, but he likewise COM
municates tuberculosis by carrying it
from the sputum of tubercular patients
to others, and carries every form OF
intestinal disease. 1t is said that much
of the cholera infantum, the most fatal
of children's diseases, is carried to the
little victims by the flies.
It has been found. In studying the
life history of the fly, that the female
lays an average of 100 eggs during her
life, and that in favorable localities
there are twelve generations of them
in a single season. One writer has
figured from this that the progeny of a
single pair of flies which survived the
winter would amount to several sex
tillions. But when 1t is remembered
that one-sextillion is one thousand mil
lion trillion, it will appear that he has
overshot the mark. If every egg
Matched, and every female fly lived to
lay 100 eggs, the result would be just
about what was estimated. But, fgur-
ing that only fifty females would
hatch from the eggs of each fly, the
result would still reach the inconceiv-
able total of 4SS quintillion flies.
How impossible it is that even such
figures obtain Is shown when one
comes to figure up the bulk that such
a number OF flies would make. More
than a hundred flies cannot be con-
tanned in a cubic inch of space, yet
piled that closely 48S quintillion flies
would cover 10000 square miles of
territory one foot thick, and the prog
eny of 500 pairs of flies would cover
every acre of United States territory
one foot thick. But If each female
male flies. the total progeny of a pair
of flies starting at the beginning of
the season would be over twenty-six
trillton, Even with ten female flies to
each generation the resultant bulk pro-
duced by a single pair starting in at
the beginning of the season would fill
$50 600 900 cubic feet of space, the