, 1915-06-10

- tnat NY or swat that fly" CruBadeS
have been instituted In many places. But 1t has
been found by experiment that we cannot hope
TO Kill sufficient fes to reduce seriously their total
numbers. This is because flies breed at a very
great rate when the weather is warm, and the
total numbers which we can kill is SO small, when
compared to the total numbers born, that the re-
suit of the "swatting" campaigns has been disap-
pointing.
All our efforts should be directed at preventing
mouse lilies from breeding-for prevention is bet
ter than cure: The best way to do this is to OBJ.
serve strict cleanliness
ana nome cleanliness. Then these insects will
desert the neighborhood, and the diseases they
convey will vanish. This was the policy pursued
on the Suez and Panama canals to prevent ma
larfa and yellow fever, which are conveyed from
one person to another by mosquitoes. The method
was most successful.
The house fly breeds in Nth. Each female fly,
as soon as the weather is warm enough, lays
ABOUT lbo eggs on collections of manure, decom-
posing garbage, street rubbish or house refuse.
ana the eggs hatch into tiny maggots. After five
uays nave passed, each maggot becomes a rolled
up oean-shaped ~chrysalis, and after another five
Gays each chrysalis gives birth to a wo-winged,
six-iegged, whiskered, bristly flying insect known
U US as the house fly. Bluebottles breed
similarly. but they prefer to lay their eggs on
routing carcasses or ~decaying animal matter.
me house fly and the lesser house fly convey
disease by bathing their legs in germladen ma.
terial, which they find during their feeding forays.
Ihe germs stick to their legs and to the lips of
their teiescopic proboscides, and then are carried
TO the milk jug, the teacup, to the cut loaf. and
TO the culinary utensils. Sometimes the flies
swallow the germs. which multiply inside them,
and afterwards the concentrated disease focus is
again deposited wherever the fy settles.
we can be rid of flies If we observe the ordi.
nary common sense rules of cleanliness and sanI.
tation. No fly lairs, or breeding places, must be
permitted near human habitations. All unclean
places must be made clean regularly once a week
by the sanitary or municipal authorities. and then
the fly maggots will be unable to come to ma
turity, and so the pest will be exterminated. Re-
Gently a war on flies has been taken up assidu.
ously by the press, and the medical officers of
health are exerting themselves to start anti6y
campaigns.
= Thus the municipal authorities have made a
start, and 1t remains for the individual house.
holders to help them. Each one of us can do our
snare OF fly prevention. We can prevent flies
In our own homes. On one morning, every week.
we must inspect our own premises. Begin in the
Kitchen. Observe every nook of the scullery. the
pantry, the cellar, even the dining room. and see
that every corner and Granny is scrupulously
clean. Next, we must examine the dustbin to
see If 1t is completely cleaned out. Let there be
no small collections of tea leaves spilled out of
1t, or rotting Feelings or scraps of bread. or any
other places where flies can breed. Let the
cheese be well covered, and the bread be in its
pan, and all food within the larder in its proper
place. And let everything be clean and whale
some.
1t is most important. also. to inform our neigh.
bors on every convenient occasion of the disgust.
ing and dangerous character of house flies. and
to ask them to cooperate in preventing them
Then there will be an organized campaign against
these insects. The more we talk about 1t the
sooner will the thing be done The education
of children in the matter is also most essential.
Then a new generation will grow up knowing
the dangers of flies and how to prevent them.
S~choolmasters and schoolmistresses should be IN.
vited to teach their charges about flies, and should
set the example by instructing them in the tenets
of school cleanliness, This will help us greatly
If we all keep our own homes sweet and clean.
our children's lives will be spared the horrors OF
summer sickness. typhoid will be lessened, doc.
tors bill will be reduced. and the health of the
community will be improved enormously. With
regard to house flies and fy-borne diseases the
remedy is simple, Let us apply it.
As a result of experiments, the specialists
of the United States department of agriculture
have discovered that a small amount of ordinary
borax s~prinkled daily on manure will effectively
prevent the breeding of the typhoid or house fly.
Similarly, the same substance applied to garbage,
refuse, open toilets, damp floors and crevices in
stables, cellars or markets, will prevent fly eggs
from Matching. Borax will not kill the adult
fly nor prevent it from laying eggs. but its
thorough use will prevent any further breeding
The investigation, which included experiments
with many substances, was undertaken to dis
cover some means of preventing the breeding
of flies in horse manure without lessening the
value of this manure as a fertilizer for use by the
farmer. 1t was felt that II some means of pre-
venting the breeding of flies near a human habi.
tation could be devised, the diseases spread by
these filthy germ carriers could be greatly re-
duced. While the swat the fly campaign" traps
and other devices for reducing the number OF
typhoid-carrying flies are of value. they are of
less importance than the prevention of the breed.
ing. 1t was realized, however, that no measure
for preventing the breeding of flies would come
into common use unless it was such that the
farmer could use it on his manure pile without
destroying its usefulness for growing plants, and
without introducing into the soil any substance
that would interfere with his crops.
As a result of experiments carried on at the Ar
linston carm, in Virginia, and New Orleans, La