The evening leader., 1917-02-28
MOSQUITO TALK
JOSEPH Y. PORTER
HEALTH OFFICER

In time of peace prepare for war!
Winter in Florida is the peace time
with the mosquito, but, he, or rather,
she, declares war, active, aggressive
war within few minutes after the
latest chilly spell in the spring and
never hoists the white flag until about
the time our winter visitors begin to
crowd our hospitable hotel piazzas.
There is no use denying the fact
that Florida is rich in her mosquito
fauna and they are about as voracious
as their relatives in Chicago park
on summer evening or in that fam
Gus resort known as the Jersey Flats.
But we, in Florida, don't have to suf-
fer from their attentions if we donis,
want to. Honestly, We don't aslxgor
|s-ss..:ss s-z.:ss ttlss TRY "a pitysss our
northern friends who might think We
are entitled to either.
By carefully screening our homes,
sleeping porches, our bedrooms ana
our beds, we manage to keep the mos
quito at a, distance-on the outside
looking in and buzzing her disappoint-
ment. The mosquito that distributes
the germs of malaria doesn't begin
work until just before sunset, and re-
membering this, we protect ourselves
accordingly. Very few of these sum-
mer insects are active at midday or
under the summer sun, so we don't
really need to take any extraordinary
precautions during daylight hours.
And we are, finding out new facts
about her ladyship, the mosquito (the
man mosquito is necessary link in
the chain, but he doesn't bite nor car
ry disease germs) and we are begin
ming to appreciate her importance in
relation to health matters. She has
risen from the rank of a mere nuis-
ance calculated to inculcate patience
and cultivate profanity, to be respect
ed as first class power that. never
sues for peace. We have much still
to learn, but we know enough to make
successful battle against her. 1t is
mot enough to screen our houses and
ourselves against her. We must fight
her in her breeding places. With an
incubation period of ten days from one
generation to the next fully developed
and ready to tackle her mission in life,
one healthy mosquito in April may
become several billions by September.
The same healthy lady can deposit
enough eggs in teaspoonful of water
to actively populate radius of 500
feet in two weeks, and a breeze may
carry the progeny a mile with the
wind.
A Jacksonville physician, DR.. M. B.
Horlong, has recently advanced in the
daily press a splendid suggestion to
lessen the mosquito crop this year,
and his idea should be given the wild
est publicity. He urged housekeepers
to have the cave troughs Of their
houses cleaned of all accumulated re-
fuse that could hold stagnating water,
and to have the uneven places
Strengthened so that water might flow
away naturally and. not remain stand
ing in the hollow places, to afford the
mosquito breeding spot, and he in
sists that now is good time to do It.
The house should be looked over for
such defects every year (several times
a year in fatty tand ispfing is a per-
fectly good time to have it done.
But why stog with thvgutters under
the roof? See that there is no place
or chance for standing water any
where on the premises. g{he mosqui-
to will find MRGs s&ha ohan you will,
Continued on page 2.)