The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1925-06-12
DO YOUR WORK AGAINST
MOSQUITOES NOW
from state Dept. of Health.

mosquitoes this summer, do your
preventive work now, is the advice
of Mr.. Abel Wolman, Chief of the
Bureau of Sanitary Engineering OF
the State Department of Health.
His advice is sumed up under these
headings:
Screen your house. Drain or oil
mosquito harboring streams. Clean
up the banks of other fresh water
streams and stock the streams with
larvae-eating top minnows.
Mosquitoes are more than mere
pests. Leaders in preventive medi-
cine-the men behind the micro
scopes-have proved them to be
winged criminals of the worst type.
They are the go-betweens in the
transmission of certain diseases.
One member of the family spec
ializes in malaria another in yellow
fever and dengue, or break-bone
fever; and others in a less well
know disease-filiariasis. The least
Objectionable, lower the powers OF
resistance and dimish the vitality OF
the human kind whom they beset
and annoy. Even this last class,
which is the one we have to combat
in may parts Of Maryland Is a
liability in any neighborhood.
Our present knowledge OF the
habits and methods of work OF the
MOSQUITO family has all been &C
ouired in less than half a century.
Until 1884, when the tiny or
ganism that is the true cause OF
malaria, and that is carried by
mosquitoes from person to person,
was discovered by Laveran the
French surgeon, mosquitoes were
looked upon merely as unavoidable
evils. The subsequent discoveries
by other scientists of habits and
characteristics of the winged OF
lenders and of methods of control,
has made possible some OF the
greatest engineering achievements OF
modern history-the building OF the
Panama Canal, among them. Sim
liar methods applied to the control
or determination of the creatures in
local and much less difficult situa-
lions will be equally effective and or
corresponding advantage, SO far as
the health of individuals and COM
munities, and the value OF property
are concerned.
Instancing some OF the notable
achievements in mosquito control,
Mr.. Wolman said mosquito borne
diseases are no longer mystery;
the idea is no longer prevalent that
malaria is the result of exposure to
humid mists and vapors. In 1901,
DR.. Gorgas, by screening and anti
mosquito methods succeeded in WHIP
ing out yellow fever in Havana,
Cuba, in a campaign that lasted less
than four months. This remarkable
accomplishment together with Dr..
Gorgas' still greater triumph in the
results obtained in his anti-mosquito
work in the Panama Canal Zone,
furnished to the world concrete ex-
amples of the possibilities OF
mosquito control.
'In considering these possibilities,
it is well to remember that al
though the mosquito is a winged in
sect, it's life history carries it
through four distinct stages. To its
existence, in three of these stages,
water is essential. The eggs are
laid in quiet water. In two or
three days, under favorable condi-
tions, larvae or wrigglers are hatch
ed from the eggs; in four or five
days more, the larvae become
pupae and during the next three
days the adult mosquito emerges
from the pupal shell. Therefore,
only eight or ten days are required
for the egg to develop into a
mature mosquito, the normal life
of which probably extends through a
period of several months.
1.-THE established methods OF mo-
squito control consist of screening,
drainage, oiling and fish control
that is stocking the streams with the
top minnows that eat the mosquito
larvae. OF the methods OF exter-
mination, drainage is probably the
most satisfactory because of its per-
manent elimination of breeding
places, but in swampy and marshy
lands it is often necessary to supple
ment it with oil spraying, while in
ponds that cannot be drained, il the
banks are maintained clean and ac-
cessible, fish control is one of the
cheapest and most satisfactory ways
of solving the problem.
''Of their own volition, mosquitoes
seldom travel more than half a
mile from their breeding places. but
it is advisable to extend the control
area to twice that distance, es-
Daoiallv in, tho dirootiOn nf tho Uro-