The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-06-04

the liquid part Instead, with even
more fatal effects. The Stegomyia de-
tends Itself by showing that never in
the history of it's race did II give vel
low tever to man until man had first
given the disease to IL. And IL would
take judge wise enough to tell which
came first, the egg or the hen. 10
decide whether man first gave yellow
fever to the mosquito or the MOSQUITO
to man.
The male mosquito is something of
musician, and IL You want to see
MIN all attention make a sound of b12
| vibrations to the second, and he will
| Degin to dance around with the eraca
or peacock. That is the tone In
which his mate calls him. A sontbern
electrician some years ago accidental.
~ learned about this trait of the mos
| quito. He was experimenting with a
harmonic telegraph instrument Tho
moment the instrument reached a cer-
tain pitch every male MOSQUITO with,
nearing distance came hot foot IN tho
scene, but the sound had no attrac.
ions for the females.
IL is said that the Cuiex females al
ways mediate awhile before biting. but
mat the Anopheles go right into the
ploody work with the air of n surgeon
VINO would have 1t quickly over. It ia
commended that the fact that the mails
! mosquito never bites is not to he mr..
trlouted TO any particular forbearance
UT soouness of heart, but rather to the
iaet ahat MS head is not properly
| equipped for bloodsucllng on a salts
iac.cry scale. Some of the recent in
neslisators even go so far as to be-
.eNe that II is an acquired habit with
ene iehiale ana not a natural one. 1t
WIN oe remembered that there is g.
"iu uiru Which learns to kill sheen
aile, iohg association with the shep-
herds fiocks So 1t is with the female
MOSQUITOES according to these investi-
gators These insects first learn to sin
.,puius from the eyes of animals and
then acquire the habit of going he.
neath the skin. In many instances, 1t
Is asserted, they acquire their taste for
blood by making a dinner in fresh
! wounds. They have a little bulb In
their proboscis like a fountain nen
| filler. and draw the blood with that
| Some mosquitoes will bite one person
ana show a distaste for another. Ex-
periments have shown that the aver
! age male mosquito is fond of beer and
wine, while the female will have moth
ing to do with such things. The male
Is essentially a vegetarian.
Unless Isaac Weld were qualifying
for membership in the Ananias club.
George Washington lost his reputation
| for veracity when discussing the mos
| quito. Weld declares in his Travels
through North America" that George
Washington told him that, of a truth.
| he had encountered mosquitoes which
were able to bite through the thickest
| boot AS this was in the campaigns
around New York and in New Jersey
some Will still believe that the Father
of his Country was nat exaggerating
even there.
The department of agriculture has
recently issued a new bulletin on the
economic losses caused by insect pests.
The mosquito has its character black
ened in that report to such an extent
as to constitute criminal libel. Not only
| Is 1t charged with being responsible
for much disease and suffering, with
heavy economic losses attendant there
upOn, but the assertion is made that 1T
rotards the development of states and
nations, and has caused the decline and
decay of other nations. 1t is charged
that vast areas around New York,
which would otherwise be bcehivas of
industry and thrift, are held under the
dominion of the mosquito and made as
uninhabitable to humanity as the
bleakest peak in the Rocky Mountains.
In other places they have so annoyed
the COWS that the milk supply ran
short and left the dairyman a bank
rUpt. At Sheepshead bay they annoy
ed the race horses so much that the
track authorities spent thousands of
dollars in banishing them from that
section. One writer declares that New
Jersey taxable values are $4,000, 900
below what they would be If it were
not for the mosquito. Another be-
lives that the introduction of malaria
into Greece was largely responsible for
the progressive physical degeneration
of one of the strongest races of history.
Still another asserts that half of italy
is rendered more or less inhospitable
to mankind because of the malarial
mosquito.
And so the indictment runs. Charged
with causing the death of more than
100000 American citizens every decade,
and with bringing about 5000, 900 cases
of malaria every year, all of it result
ing in an economic loss large enough
to maintain the whole American army
year in and year out, the Anopheles
family stands a good prospect of be-
ing banished forever by the court of
enlightened opinion, and the "evil night
air. will be robbed of its terrors There
are fish that have an appetite for the
larvae of melarial mosquitoes greater
han that of ferret for the blood of
a rat. In the island of Barbados
these fish have effectively kept the
malarial mosquito from multiplying.
America will probably import many
such fish within the next few years.
and they viii help solve the problems
Of mosquito determination