Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-05
HUNDRED PER CENT
INSECT EFFICIENCY
Millions Moved Down by Plague.
Physician Warns Us to Be Pre-
pared Against 1t
BY HENRY SKINNER, M. D., Sc. D.
President American chronological Society. Curator
Department Of Entomology. Academy
of Natural Sciences.

'Tcsdent American EntomoloEical society, Curator
| Department Of Entomology. Academy
| OF Natural Sciences.
INSECTS have 100 per cent preparedness,
100 per cent efficiency and 100 per cent OF
activity. To combat them successfully man
kind needs the same requirements. except
that 1t should begin work before the insects.
The Roman empire owed its downfall more
to the anophelcs mosquito than to the swarm
ing hordcs Of barbarians from the north
| The knowledge of the causes Of diseases
| has been acquired through centuries Of
| effort, and the saving of human life thereby
has been very great, but even after the ac-
qulsitlon of such knowledge. its practical
application has been slow and relatively
inefficient.
Loss OF life from disease especially during
| wars, Is greatly increased; tho remedy lies
| In the recognition of the cause and the adop-
| tion Of preventive measures before outbreaks
| occur. Provision for the medical trcatucnt
| of the sick is usually ample; the preventive
| measures require foresight and preparedness.
This is particularly true of the fatal dis
| cases transmitted by insects. In addition to
| the infectious diseases among troops, their
| introduction by returning soldiers Is real
| menace 10 the civil population The history
of plague, an nscct-borne disease, IS very in
| tercsting and instructive in this connection.
| In recent years it has spread over nearly
| the entire earth and has visited several cities
| In the United States.
Plague Killed Millions
| In the year 542 \. u. plague killed 10000
persons in one day I'm ConStantinOplc In a
| short time 100000 died from it in China
| In 1852 oxford. England, lost two-thirds OF
It's academic population. Onc-quarter of tho
| population Of Europe died during various
epidemcs. In 1927 10000 died in Dantzic
| and the year previous 10000 succumbed in
| Paris In 1868 10000 died in London in n
| week. and few years later the mortality
In Moscow was 100000. In 1909 1,00O,OOO
| persons died in Egypt. and in 1856 Naples
| suffered Il loss of 100000 in five months. In
| 1861. out of n population Of 100000 in Lon
| don 6S596 perished. Thousands of unburied
dead filled the streets in MarScillcs in 172O
Medical efforts were fruitlcsS and In London
| the College of Physicians, by royal command
put forth such advice and prescriptions as
were thought best for the emergency, but II
| iS clear that neither these measures nor
medical treatment had any effect in check
ing the disease.
! The more recent crdcmics are enlehten.
| ing. From 1895 to 1906 3,S6S152 individ.
uals died from plague in India alone, nearly
ono million dying in that country In 1905.
The value of scientific research is shown
by recent discoveries In 1891 tho bacillus
rcstis, tho cause of the plague, was dis
covered and this organism was found on
rats. meas, llCS, DCubuES anu ants. llN
disease Is largely carried from rat to man
by an intermediary agent, n species of flea
known as PulcN Chcopis. These discoveries
were the keynote to the prevention and tho
elimination Of this terrible scourGc TO hu-
manity.
We are lax in taking advantage of pre-
vcntivc measures and rely too much on the
application of medicine for the cure of dis
ease. The plague has lost its tcrrors If the
necessary preventive work is done. IT was
Iisl. Il. .,Itt II, Gan nriG md Npt
orleans The house fly plus human incni-
cheney was the cause of most of the NOR
taity during the Spansh-Amercan War
for while there were surgeons and medical
officers in attendance, many Of them had
never surgical case, and they knew
nothing of tho house-ny and its dangers.
even though the danger had been pointed
cut years before
These insect. were known to have been
responsible for n considerable part OF the
mortality during the Civil War. After the
damage was done the Government appointed
commissioner to visit the hospitals and
various camps and make n report. lie stated
that In all places visited In this country and
in Cuba the flies obscurcd the food and even
the mouths of the sick soldiers. Last sum
mer the conditions in some of the canton
ments were almost as bad. House flies carry
typhoid fever. dysentcry, tuberculosis and
some other diseases of less Importance. They
increase with great rapidity during the early
summer and efforts for their eradication
should begin before they swarm by the mill
lion and convey disease.
Ravages of Typhus
The serum prevention of typhoid fever ir
efficient but even with its use there are
cases Of this disease in the camps at the
present time. This is also true of dyscntcry.
which is likely to increase during the fly
season The dyscntery among our troops on
the Mexican border was undoubtedly carried
by the houseny.
Typhus fever has caused an enormous
mortality in the many European wars. not
excepting the present one. In the Crimean
War the deaths from disease were about
$4,000, most of them due to typhus fever
1t is probable that this disease is exclusively
carried from the sick to tho well through
the agency of the body-louse The mortality
is sometimes as high as 40 per cent, in spite
of treatment, and therefore preventive meas
ures are most important. 1t is quite posi-
BILE to eradicate these insects and also to
prevent them from carrying the disease from
soldier TO soldier. 1t is folly TO wait until
1t Is necessary to apply a lighted candle to
the seams of ones clothing.
In Russia and Serbia in some cases the
skin on the backs of the soldiers could not
be seen on account of these insects. These
insects were particularly bad during our
Civil War and doubtless accounted for some
of the 1926 deaths from disease on the
Federal side.
Another human scourgc. solely carried by
was known to the Aztecs under the name
"matlaZahuatlt," and Humboldt dated II
from the eleventh century. Columbus in
1898. attributed the great amount of sick
ness and death among his men to peculari-
ties in air and water in the new land. The
disease with which he had to contend was
probably the mesquito-borne yellow fever
This disease has also killed millions At
one time half the population of PHILADELPHIA
either died or fed from II. Thousands of
deaths have resulted from it in our southern
cities. In Havana the deaths numbered 1000
a year. The disease Is readily prevented
owing to the knowledge that It is only trans
mitted by the yellow fever mosquito.
That this disease was carried by mosoui-
toes was pointed out in 1858, but it was NOT
until 1898 that any advantage was taken of
the knowledge.
The yellow-fever mosquito is common in
the Gulf States, and it will be a menace 10
our southern cantonments Active worl,
against mosquitoes is important in the spring
and early summer, otherwise dangerous epi-
denies may occur.