Vol. XXX ] EXTU.MOI.nijiCAl. NEWS. IO1 



A Resurrected Paper on Mosquitos and Malaria 



(Diptera). 

 By HARRY B. WEISS, New Brunswick, New Jersey. 



Mr. George A. ()sborn. Librarian of Rutgers College, re- 

 cently called my attention to a paper entitled "The Mission of 

 the Mosquito" by J. Suydam Knox, which appeared in Vol. I, 

 1873, f "Our Home, a Monthly Magazine of Original Articles, 

 Historical, Biographical, Scientific and Miscellaneous," mostly 

 by Somerset and Hunterdon County (New Jersey) writers on 

 subjects largely pertaining to these counties, edited by A. V. D. 

 Honeyman, attorney-at-law, Somerville, New Jersey. 



Mr. Knox starts out by quoting Josh Billings on the mosquito 

 and describes at length its method of securing a meal. He also 

 states that during the summer of '67, while resident surgeon 

 of one of the hospitals of the city of B., he determined to 

 investigate the mission of the mosquito. Vast numbers of 

 specimens were caught, their heads separated and macerated in 

 alcohol. 



"The tincture was then strained, boiled, filtered and set aside to cool. 

 Slowly small white crystals formed on the bottom. They were evap- 

 orated to dryness and examined. Eureka, the question was solved. 

 They were isomeric with quinine. Their chemical composition was the 

 same, C 30 H 12 N O. 2. They presented the same fluorescent appear- 

 ance when dissolved in water. The same reaction occurred in chlorine 

 and ammonia. The sole difference was their influence on polarized 

 light, producing deviation of the plane to the right instead of the left. 

 The mission was found. The question of ages was answered. The 

 mosquito carried in its sting the antidote to malaria." 



After remarking upon the presence of mosquitos in districts 

 where fever and ague prevailed, the results of further experi- 

 ments are given as follows : 



1. Blood was drawn from the arm of a patient and examined: a 

 mere trace of quinine was found. Said patient was bribed to expose 

 himself to mosquitos and then bled. Abundance of quinidia was found 

 in the vital fluid. 



2. Three patients, suffering from ague, were selected and placed in 

 separate rooms. One was given a solution of quinine and rigidly ex- 

 cluded from mosquitos. The second received a solution of morphia, 

 and was also excluded from the insects. The third received a similar 



