Culcidce, or Mosquitoes 97 
Of repellents, he cites as one of the best a salve composed of the 
following: 
01 . Anisi . 3 grs. 
01 . Eucalypti . 3 grs. 
01 . Terebenth . 3 grs. 
Unq. Acid Borac. 
Of sprays he recommends as the least objectionable and at the 
same time one of the most effective, formalin. “The dark portions 
and angles of sleeping apartments should be sprayed with a one per 
cent, solution of this substance every day during the season in which 
the flies are prevalent. A fine spraying apparatus is necessary for 
its application and an excessive amount must not be applied. It is 
considered an excellent plan also to spray the mosquito curtains 
regularly every day towards sunset; nets thus treated are claimed to 
repel the attacks of these insects.” This effectiveness of formalin is 
very surprising for, as we have seen, it is almost wholly ineffective 
against bed-bugs, mosquitoes, house flies and other insects, where it 
has been tried. 
A measure which promises to be very effective, where it can be 
adopted, is the use of electric fans so placed as to produce a current 
of air in the direction of the windows of sleeping apartments. On 
account of the inability of the Phlebotomus flies to withstand even 
slight breezes, it seems very probable that they would be unable to 
enter a room so protected. 
Culicidae or Mosquitoes 
From the medical viewpoint, probably the most interesting and 
important of the blood-sucking insects are the mosquitoes. Certainly 
this is true of temperate zones, such as those of the United States. 
The result is that no other group of insects has aroused such wide¬ 
spread interest, or has been subjected to more detailed study than 
have the mosquitoes, since their role as carriers of disease was made 
known. There is an enormous literature dealing with the group, but 
fortunately for the general student, this has been well summarized 
by a number of workers. The most important and helpful of the 
general works are those of Howard (1901), Smith (1904), Blanchard 
(1905), Mitchell (1907), and especially of Howard, Dyar, and Knab, 
whose magnificent monograph is still in course of publication. 
