256 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



(3) Four of these specimens, namely, Homaloymia canicularis, 

 Muscina stabulans, Phora femoraia and Sarcophaga trivialis, possess • 

 some degree of importance, but their comparative scarcity in houses • 

 renders them by no means of prime importance. 



(4) The common little fruit-fly, Drosophila ampehphila, is a 

 dangerous species. 



(5) The house-fly is a constant source of danger, and wherever 

 the least carelessness in the disposal of or the disinfection of dejecta 

 exists, it becomes an imminent source of danger. 



When we consider the prevalence of typhoid fever and the fact 

 that virulent typhoid bacilli may occur in the excrement of an indi- 

 vidual for some time before the disease is recognized in him, and that 

 virulent germs may be found in the excrement for a long time after 

 the apparent recovery of a patient, the wonder is not that typhoid is 

 so prevalent, but that it does not prevail to a much greater extent- 



Fig. 10. Muscina stabulans— Enlarged. 



FlG. 11. I'HORIilA CINEKELLA — ENLARGED. 



Box privies should be abolished in every community, or they should be 

 disinfected daily. The depositing of excrement in the open within the 

 town or city limits should be considered a punishable misdemeanor 

 in cities which have not already such regulations, and the law should be 

 enforced more vigorously in towns in which it is already prohibited. 

 Such offenses are generally committed after dark, and it is often diffi- 

 cult, or even impossible, to trace the offender; therefore, the regulations- 

 should be carried even further, and should require the first responsible 

 person who notices the deposit to immediately inform the police, so 

 that it may be removed or covered up. Dead animals are so reported,, 

 but human excrement is much more dangerous. Boards of health in 

 all communities should look after the proper treatment or disposal of 

 horse manure, primarily in order to reduce the number of house- 

 flies to a minimum, and all regulations regarding the disposal of garbage 

 and foul matter should be made more stringent and should he more 

 stringently enforced. 



