PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 103 



except in case of high water, and cleaning the other in the mean- 

 time. It must be borne in mind that some of the disease carriers 

 breed in moist places, where there is no standing water. Along 

 the Mediterranean literal papatasi fever is carried by the midge 

 (Phlebotomux papatasi) which breeds in damp places and attacks 

 primarily lizards and other cold blooded animals. 



The greatest entomological sanitary measures arising from this 

 war however are those aimed at louse control. Among these 

 may be mentioned the great vacuum tubes used in (Jerinany for 

 the fumigation of cars returning from Russia, and the bath trains 

 used by the different armies for the cleansing o f ' the bodies and 

 clothing of the men. While the men are going from one bath to 

 another and being shaved and hair cut the clothes are being treated 

 for the control of the lice. The entire proceeding is timed so that 

 thousands of men can be cleansed in an orderly manner in a day. 

 The clothes cleaning establishments are on three general principles 

 and probably a fourth should soon be added. Dry heating huts 

 or cars may be used with the assurance that in thirty minutes at 

 60C. the lice are killed. Other places used steam sterilization with 

 subsequent drying. The third method is the washing in insecti- 

 cides, principal of which are the petroleum and cresol preparations. 

 A few favorable tests have been made of vacuum fumigation and 

 there is no reason why portable vacuum tanks for fumigation and 

 sterilization should not be more generally used. This method is 

 rapid and certain and has the least waste, as the gas can be recov- 

 ered for using again. One of the latest contributions of the war 

 has been a new method of fumigating horses for mange by the use 

 of sulphur anhydrid, devised by M. M. Lepinay, Vigel and Chollet, 

 in which the horse is placed in a stall with the head out and pro- 

 tected from the gas by a close fitting collar. 



Great advances in prophylactic measures against insects have 

 been made in the last two years and entomological sanitation is 

 coming to be one of the important professions of the day, although 

 at present it has but few practitioners. 



SOME PROBLEMS STILL TO BE WORKED OUT 



There are many important problems in medical entomology 

 awaiting solution, a few of which may be briefly mentioned. 



A practical portable field equipment for vacuum fumigation 

 and disinfection 's desirable. 



We should learn as soon as possible what bacteria can be readily 

 carried by flies, cockroaches, ants, and lice in this country to check 

 the work of European investigators. 



Fly larvae breeding in the presence of infected excrement can 

 take up bacteria, which may multiply in their bodies. We must 



