The daily sentinel., 1910-07-16

only in regions where high tempera-
ture is experienced. In Lapland they
swarm in dense clouds. Only by
keeping their cabins filled with thick,
acrid smoke can the natives eat or
sleep. As a partial protection, the
Laplander covers his body with fish
grease or tar ointment, and when he
goes into the open incases his head in
net that Is stepped in fetd birch
oil. The Alaskan gold miners go
about with netting over their faces
and keep fires al green wood burning
, in their dwellings. But, despite these
/ precautions, the mosquitoes drive
them TO the verge of suicide or in
sanity. In the Polar regions eX-
plorers have encountered multitudes
of the pests.
The length of life of mosquito
has not been definitely ascertained.
1t is known that the adult hibernates
for six or seven months, In captivity.
however. 1t has never been known to
live for longer than five or six weeks.
The male does not of necessity take
any nourishment, and II is doubtful
whether it feeds at all. The female
| only is the germ carrier and blood
sucker. but IL does not depend upon
million mosquitoes ever find the
| opportunity to bite a warm blooded
! animal Their fondness for blood
seems to spring from an Epicurean
| taste that extends to wine. which
they will drink to intoXication when
| the chance occurs. In fact. the most
approved method of keeping mos
| quito alive is to provide II with a
mixture of sherry and sugar every
two or three days.
Misapprehension exists as to the
distances which mosquitoes will fly
| from their breeding places. 1t is a
fairly well established fact that they
| seldom travel as much as. mile un-
| aided. Furthermore, the quite gen.
eral belief that they are commonly
carried far by the wind appears to be
| a fallacy. A number of scientific in
vestigators have observed that the
mosquito is incapable of long sus-
| tanned flights, and that its habit is to
seek shelter as soon as a strong
| breeze arises. Immediately the wind
| dies down, however. they come out in
swarms with increased activity, and
| therein. doubtless, lies the eXplana-
| tion of the mistaken idea that they
are carried in by high wind. These
|
quitoes are important as showing
that If particular locality is freed
| from the insect it need not fear in
vasion from distance. There is one
exception to this exemption that
should be noted. Railroad trains are
the means of conveying the pests to
places where they would never be
seen otherwise. The cars running in
land from the New Jersey coast. in
particular, carry hundreds of thou
sands into the mountains and other
districts that would be ordinarily free
from them. OF course. only a small
proportion of these are Anopheles, or
disease carriers. However, the intro
duction of a half score of females into
favorable environment is enough TO
create a malarial locality in a brief
space of time. A single insect de
posits from 50 to 100 eggs at a time.
and twelve or more generations will
be bred in one season.
Sanitary experts and entomologists
hope that the malaria mosquito will
be extirpated, and believe that il can
be without great difficulty in all the
inhabited parts of this country. Such
an end is dependent on general CO.
operation. which can only be effec-
tive provided the public is made IA
miliar with the life history of the
insect and the best methods of de
stroying it. This knowledge applied
| in restricted areas by individuals and
small communities would result III
| immediate benefit to them and con-
tribute TO the broader object aimed
| at
Anopheles infests rural districts.
] 1t breeds in stagnant pools or in the
marginal shadows of slowly moving
streams. 1t is larger than ordinary
and its wings are dappled. marked
point of distinction between 1t and
Culex is the manner in which theN
rest. The latter clinss to the wall,
for instance. with its body close to it.
The former rests at a sharp angle
from the sustaining surface. A Brit