University of South Carolina Libraries
VOL. XLII. NO. 121 NEWBERRY. S. C.. TUESDAY OCTOBER 17, 1905. TWICE A WEEK. $150 YEAR WAR ON THE MOSQUITO. Cause of Malaria and Yellow Fever How they Propagate-Interest ing Lecture by Dr. W. G. Houseal. Everybody would be delighted to be rid of the m6squito. How to be rid of him !has long been the puzzling question. Dr. Houseal says it should be made a misdemeanor for anyone to have the pestiferous little singer on his premises. That it causes the ma laria which is prevalent in many sec tions and is generally a very danger ous thing not to speak of the annoy ance which it gives those who want to sleep. We prin't below a full re -port of a lecture delivered by Dr. Houseal before the student body of Newbery college on last Thursday morning on the mosquito. -It is an -interesting exegesis of the history, life and habits of the mosquito and we. feel sure it will be read with in terest. Dr. Houseal said in part: It is now known that mosquitoes are culpable in spreading several dis eases, viz- Elephantiasis, Filaria san guinis homino, malaria and yellow fe ver. And recently Blanchard 1has pro duced strong arguments to prove that Iep-osy is spread by them. In order to get into this subject thoroughly it is necessary to know something of the history of this im Vortant discovery. In 1717 Lancisi of Rome held that marsh lands are noxious because of the emanations coming from them, which he divided into inorganic and organic. By organic he means 'the mumerous insects which develop in -marshes, the mosquito especially. In 1880 Manson showed the connection tetween Elephantiasis. and mosqui toes. In the discovery by Lavaran in x88o of the malarial parasite, which causes the disease malaria, lay the Promie of the most potent gift the laboratory had ever given to mankind -the destruction of the disease mala ria. In 1883 King, of Washington, at tracted attention by arguing the con nection of mosquitoes with malaria. os,an Engiish army surgeon, in india made possible the promise that lay in the discovery of Lavaran-the banishment of malaria from the earth. From 1895 to 1899 he demonstrated by the most rigid scientific experi ment t.hat malaria is contracted alone by the sting of the mosquito. About the same time Bignani 'of Rome dem onstratred by many rigid experiments to the entire satisfaction of the scien tific world that malaria is contracted -alone by inoculation through the bitce of the mosquito. In 1881 Finley suggested the rela tion between the mosquito and yellow fever. In 19oo the Amenician com mission composed of Drs. Reed, Car roll, Lazier and Agramonte was sent by 'the American government to Ha vana, Cub~a, to study yellow fever and demonstrrated that yellow fever is contracted only by the bite of the mosquito, stegomyia fascita. Two of these doctors offered themselves vol untarily for the experiment. Dr. Lazier took the disease and lost his life, becoming a martyr to science. Up to this ti-me three hundred kinds of mosquitoes have been discovered Thirty-six kinds have been found in North America, of these the culex genus is most numerous, next the anopheles, 5 kinds, and the stegomyia 'hree kinids. The anopheles is 'the kind that. spreads malaria. The word anopheles if from the Greek which means injurious. The anophe les may exist and not necessarily ma laria. The insect must be infected by rhe malarial parasite, but no anopheles no malaria. The anophele; is readily distinguished from any other variety. It is mottled having spo:s on its wings and sits on the wall with its body to the wall at an angle between 45 degrees and a right angle. Other varieties sit with t.he body paral-lel to t*he wall. The malarial parasites of Lavaran belong to a numerous class of beings that are developed in the red blood cells of many animals. They are known to exist in the red blood cells of birds, reptiles, frogs and mammals. The life 'history of these parasites is very complicated. Taking the best known of these 'beings, the parasites of the worm blooded animals, we know they have two cycles of existence-one cy cle is completed in the red blood cells and the other in the tissues of an in sect. The parasites of Texas Fever of cattle live in the red blood celss of cattle; from these they pass into a pe culiar kind of tick, then into the prog eny of the mother tick; these biting healthy cattle communica te the infec tion-bovine malaria. In an analogous way the anopheles mosquito takes the malarial parasite from the blood cells of man, it com pletes a cycle of existence in the 'Eis sue of the mosquito and healthiy hu man beings are inoculated with -mala ria by the bite of the infected insect. The proposition may be stated with out furcher argument that an insect so injurious should be exterminated. For such efforts to be attended with success we should know all about the .habits of the mosquito and the conditions of its existence. We must know first that it propa gates its species in water alone. This fact gives definite information of the whereabouts of its breeding places. The female mosquito deposits her eggs four hundred to five hundred at one time, then come the larvae or wigglers, then the pupae, then the winged mosquito. From twelve to twenty-five days after the deposit of eggs comes the full fledged mosquito, the anopheles in twenty-five days. Some species propagate most ac tively in offensive water. Water is se lected containing decomposing or ganic matter, such a,s spoiled fish or any kind of meat or in sewage water, other kinds prefer small quantities of fresh' water in which to deposit their eggs. The anopheles belongs to this class. This kind deposits its eggs in small depressions in the earth filled with water, in small ponds covered with green scum, in pockets of water, in marshes and along running streams. They also. deposit in the most unsuspected places, in.the crotch of trees, in a sagging gutter that :does not empty perfectly, in the chicken trough when the water is not changed often, in rain barrels, in any 'wooden or metal utensil that is left sitting around to be filled with rain water, an old discarded cooking utensil or an empty .fruit or meat can. How long is the life of the mosquito is a disputed point. The general im pression is that it lives tbut a few days, that the daughter mosquito sucks blood but once and deposits 'her eggs and dies. The male mosquito is not a blood sucker, 'he is a vegetarian. The. mosquito 'has been confined in a cage and kept alive for two months on sugar water. How much loi'ger would the insect live if allowed to go and come as it pleased and allowed to se lect its own food? The female mosquito hibernates. Wihen the cool evenings come she seeks a place of refuge in such places as barns, stables, caves, cracks of stumps, hollow 'trees and our dwelling houses. This explains why we have more 'malaria in the fall than any oth er time. In the dormant 'hibernating state the mosquito lives the winter through, at least, enough survive the winter to deposit eggs in the spring and rear a new crop of mosquitoes. Larvae found in blocks of ice will become act-ive again and eggs having lain on dry land for months will hatch out mosquitoes when water is supplied. Another much discussed question is how far will the mosqjuito 'fly? The crews of pilot boats lying four miles frorn t'he Jersey shore sometimes be toes. They are of the culex solicitans or Atlantic Coast striped legged mos- I quitoes which breed in salt water marshes. They are carried far on the wings of the wind 'Jhe anopheles . I never found far from home, no mos- S quito willingly -goes far from home. t Ross states 'that he never found I anophc es mc.e than on hundred and fifty yards from home. They never d fly high from the ground. This ex plains the fact long known, Vhat those i who sleep up stairs are not so apt to c .have chills and fever. C They may be carried far in R. R. d trains, on ships and in farmers loads t of hay from country to 'town and in c this way spread disease. They will not live when packed -in clothing in v trunks more than thirty hours. So it c would be useless to fumigate baggage, n from a yellow fever district, two days old. The way .to rid the world of yellow e fever .is to exterminate 'the stegomyia t fascita. Thie ways to destroy malaria I are: ist. To protect our dwelling houses from mosquitoes by screens and if I necessary sleep under mosquito nets. g 2nd. To wage an active, earnest p warfare against the pest. Drain pools, t ponds and marshes; and be careful s that no receptacles 'to hold water are N left about the premises. And in the C malarial season w1hen pools and ponds k cannot be conveniently drained to use fi petroleum oil sprinkled upon them, the crude oil is best, one pint to every diameter of twenty feet. The larva, I come to the surface every two minutes t< to get air and the oil is sucked into X t.he delicate respiratory apparatus and kills the larvae, in a pond or pool it h is said, in twenty minutes. The oil a should be used every two weeks. Every case of malaria should be re ported to the health authorities and s screening should be required so that r mosquitoes would not become infect ed. Every case of malaria should -have a thoroughi treatment with quinine so that every malarial parasite in the blood is destroyed. The time will come when it will be a misdemeanor to have 'mosquitoes r breeding on one's premises. It is so u now in some cities of the world. Such a law exists, I am told, in Habana and has accomplished wonderful re-e sults. Previous to 1900 when the U. c S. governmenfl took 'charge of t-he city the average death rate for thes preceding ten years from yellow fever. was 462 annually.. In 1901 there were n only five. In 1901 there were 350 cases of malaria. In the first fouf months of 1902 there had occurred t< only twenty-six cases of malaria. t Tihen is it not well to heed the i2 teaching of scientific and practical ex perience? And inaugurate a war of C extermination upon the mosquito and v rid the world of one of its greatest I scourges-malaria. s New Telephone Line. t1 The new telephone line which 'has been 'talked of for a long time leading d out about 8 1-2 miles to the residence of Dr. W. E. Lake 'has 'been abouth b completed and will be ready for use in a very short time. This line was built largely by Dr. Wv. E. Lake and h Mr. R. L. Schumpert and Rev. H. W. Whitaker who will have phones in their houses. Mr. I. H. Boulware will d also have a phone. We are glad to I see this enterprise on the part of these progressive farmers. Tihie telephone e and free delivery of mail in the rural I districts are doing much to make country li-fe not only pleasant but de- a sirable. Just one other thing is neces sary and that is better public high- r ways. These will come in time and when they do then you will see the people who have business in the cit- i jes seeking country homes. If we had I a phone system out toward the Cald- v. well community we would be in a speaking distance of almost the en- c tire county. The Diary of Mr. Noah. qew York Sun. February 17.-Star:ed to work. Prouble with Mrs. Noah from the ,ery first jump. Always the. way. ;he wants a door in the back end of he ark. I stand firm for a window. shall not give in. February 18.-Compromised-on a ,oor. February 23.-More trouble. Walk rig delegate of the building trades ame around and ordered all hands ff 'che job, said one of the caulkers idn't have a union card. A few of he animals had arrived. They're out n a sympathetic strike. February 24.-Had a private inter iew with walking delegate. Strike alled off. Find walking delegates get iore expensive every year. February 25-Another interruption. olicitor for Sca.ds and Scandals drop d in this morning. Wan-ted five flents for a write up. Told him to go. 'hen he asked insinuatingly if I adnft been leading a double life. 'old .him only once. That was when ate too many green peaches. Just etting ready to kick him off the remises when he mentioned a cer iin litfle matter; said it would make picy reading in the next issue of lillage Venom. Had forgotten about ertain Little Matter. Decided not to ick solicitor. Also decided to pay ve talents -for writre up. February 28.-Launching today. Lrk to be christened the Marjory J. prefer calling her the Tody Hamil >n, but wife favors a ladylike name. Vife wins. March 16.-Animals coming in. Two ippopotamusses and one pair of red nts arrived t-his afternoon. March 30.-Found a fresh egg in ie dodo-bird's nest. Dodo hen said he was laying up something for a iiny day. Have an idea this saying rill live. April 8.-Weather bureau predicas dry spring. Friends tell me it's )olish to be figuring on so much rain. !uery: Can it be possible I'm on the rong star? April 9.- -Fair and warmer. My pri ate forecast calls for storms tomor-' >w. Feel .mighty dubious. If sched le goes wrong M'rs, Noah will never :t us hear the end of it. April 1o.-6:3o a. m.-Clear weath r. Feel more dubious. 11 a. i. louding up to windward. Easier in iy mind. 4:30 p. m.-B-risk shbowers nice noon. Tra la tla! April rx.-Still rasining. I guess iaybe I ain't the real thing. April 2.-Steady rains since last ~port. Roof of the weather observa ry under water. Weather observa >ry issued its last bulletin this morn ig: "Continued fair weather." .April 21.-Everything under water. lur party apparenrly the only sur ivors. All of wife's relatives lost. tan ill wind, etc. April 22.-Coursing south today we ighted the oldest citizen on top of le Park. Row 'building flag staff. eemed to be out of Ihis head. As we rew alongside I heard him saying. Tglk about your early spring fres et, you may rhink this is pretty big ut I remember in the spring of .oo58" -Just then a streak of lightning 'hit im and he shriveled up like a spider 1 a hot skillet. April 23.-Shem reports several ad itions to the red ant family. Cute ttle cusses, Shem says. April 24.-No change in tche weath r. Spent the day reading Mary Jane lolmes' "Tempest and Sunshine." Lppropriate. but pretty thin stuff for grown man. April 25.-Amateur minstrels last tight. I was the middle man. Ja 'het got "if a dandy; asked me When is a door not a door? WXihen Csa jar." A jar. see? made a hir, ut seems :o me T've heard it some there before. Mighty few jokes now days. Japhet made a first-class act r, but his 'brother was a Ham. April 2...-.More rerd ants. All rar suicide bets are off on red ants. April 28.-Wife objects to my smoking on board. Says a pipe smells up the whole place. Positive ly refused to quit.- Wifeg etting en tirely too bossy since she took up with the new owman idea. April 29.-No sleep. Wife fussed all night. 2 p. m.-Decided to give up cmoking in the ark. Think maybe it affects my heart, anyhow. April 30.-Who said the leopard couldn't change its spots? It's always changing 'em-most restless brute on board. Says the red ants bother him. General complaint on this score. And not a speck of insect powder on board! And no ant eater! May 1.-Only time I ever remember thef irst of the month without a lot of bill collectors around. Silver lin ings to these clouds all right. May 6.-Row today. Shem's wife started it, trying to make burnt-wood designs on the eephant. Advised her to work on the red ants in the ice box. There's about 2,000,000 of them that we could spare and still have plenty. May 8.-Forgot to say that it's nev er missed a day raining. Rain busi ness beginning to be overdone. Noth ng else happening. May 15.-Fierce storm. Everybody seasick. I stood it for a while but after dinner I gave up too. Compelled to batter down the hatches in the af ternoon. All hands thrown together informally and nobody appeared to hold anything back. Humpty Jock son, the camel, seemed worse off than anybody. Honestly, at times I thonght that camel was trying to turn 'himself wrong side out. I told him if he tasted anything slick in his throat to swallow it back quick, it would be his liver. Calmer toward evening. Memo.-In my magazine article on the voyage shall head this chaptir, "And the Ark was Pitched Within and Without." May io.-Reading up on natural history, I find the camel has seven stomachs. No wonder Humpty Jack son suffered yesterday. Look how i felt, and me with only one. May 20.-Hurrah? Clearing up at last. Sun out today for about five minutes. Shem went to bed suffering from nervous prostration, and Ham has his jobwbos&.f the red ant de partment. Ham says it's the 'hardest work 'he ever tackled. May 22.-Water going down. 'I'm afraid we're in for a malarial summer, even after the roads dry off. May 29.-Senet out the raven today tfind a real estate agent if possible. Am in them arket for a good, high, solid location. June 1.-Nothing doing with the raven. Guess he decide-d not to come back on account of the ants. Can't blame him-like to get away myself. June 3.-No raven yet. Send out the dove. Doves may make a better advance agent for this floating insect emporium. Wife inclined to be snap ps-h-says I ought to have known to send out a dove in the first place. June 6-Dove back oday, bringing handbill announcing a bargain sale of dry goods, slightly damaged by wa ter. Mrs. N. and the boy's wives all worked up at the prospect of getting in on it. Dove meant well, I guess, but I can see mighty well this selec tion of reading matter is going to cost me some money. Shem, Ham and Jap'het feel the same way. The express company hauled over ab&out three loads of jugs one day last week. Capt. Langford explained the large amount that day by the fact that the supply for the day before missed connection in Columbia. M\r. A. T. Brown is nominated for nmayor in another column. It is getting time for the city democracy to meet and provide for