Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-08-18
Carriers Of Deadly Disease Germs.

A very old proyerb tells us tnat the
fly is of small account till it gets in
ones eye. But, there are flies and flies,
and the most dangerous are those
which the average man rarely hears
about.
Town people complain bitterly of the
way in which they are pestered by the
common or garden house fly during the
summer months, but that little member
of the winged tribe is Kindness itself
compared to the pestiferous little crea-
tares that ruin the farmers crops, kill
his cattle. and cost him millions of
pounds yearly.
The ox-warble fly causes damage to
the amount of quite e4.O00.000 annual
ly, and it is one of the most destruc-
tive creatures under the sun. Resembl-
ing small bumblebee in appearance.
it has the habit of laying its eggs on
various parts of the bodies of cattle.
The larvae. or "bots," hatch from the
eggs, and these work their way beneath
the hide and set up inflammation.
AS consequence the perforated
hides are worthless for tanning pur-
poses, and very often the animals
which have been attacked by the OK
warble fly are. when slaughtered, unfit
as food for human consumption
Every year we hear much concerning
the locust and it's ways. This insect has
caused famine after famine in India.
Arabia, Asia Minor, and Egypt, and in
1871 America suffered terribly from the
pest. Its ravages in the States of Wy
ioming, Dakota, and Montana cost over
fs,O0O000.
In Argentina for years past thous-
ands eff acres of crops have been ruined
annually by locusts. 1t was feared the
other spring that the country would be
overrrun with them, SO the government
called in the services of DR.. Felix d.
Herelle, a young French scientist OF
the Pasteur Institute. who had dis
covered that locusts We're subject to an
epidemic disease. and that the best
means of destroying the insects was te
spread the disease among them.
Having found the bacillus of the dis
ease, he set out for the infected fields
accompanied by mules carrying a sup
ply of the disease spreading liquid.
Every swarm of locusts that could be
found was sprinkled, and within three
weeks only one living swarm was left
in the infected districts
A mosquito has been found to be re-
sponsible for that terrible fever known
as the Yellow Jack, and a year or two
ago 'larvaecide'' was discovered
which is almost certain death to that
insect. 1t is composed of carbolic acid,
caustic soda, and resin. and makes an
emulsion or may be mixed with water,
A few drops of the '.larvaeeide, worked
wonders in the extermination Of the
fever. breeding insects iii Panama.
The common house fly isl dangerous,
owing to the fact that IT is often in
the. habit of tiying about with the ba-
cilli of typhoid or of cholera. During
the Spanish American war it was de-
clared that this little insect was far
more deadly to the American troops
than all the Spanish bullets.
The wasp, again. is a bad enemy OF
man and beast and agriculture, and It
has received special attention in the
way of slaughtering. A gun for wasp
shooting was inveEsed a little while
ago. and it fires neither powder nor
shot. 1t is fitted with q trigger that
pulls open pair Of small Jaws at the
end OF the muzzle. The owner OF this
weapon has to get a sight on q pes