26 DKAGON FJ.IES VS. MOSQUITOES. 



enemies, which are now estimated at fifteen tliousand 

 species, teem with the accounts of successful experiments. 

 Tlie thousands of abortive attempts, which of necessity 

 were required to lead to final success, are not narrated, 

 and the magnitude of the work which they entailed is 

 thus lost sight of. In the United States, so free are we 

 from a parental form of government, national aid is by 

 no means a necessity, nor is it a prime factor in a large 

 proportion of the results coming from these lines of 

 inquiry. 



The public spiritedness of private individuals has been 

 productive of much which is now recorded of the life his- 

 tories of noxious insects. It is to this class of incentives 

 to economic research that this essay, and others with which 

 it will compete, is to be attributed. Much has been writ- 

 ten, far more has been said in scientific gatherings, of the 

 mosquito and flj as destroyers of human comfort; but 

 the question of their utility is still unsettled, and it is to 

 the generosity of Dr. Kobert H. Lamborn that the pres- 

 ent discussion is due. If anything of value be added to 

 our present knowledge of these pests, the honor and credit 

 should be his. The circular note issued by him on the 

 15th of last July has brought about much beneficial dis- 

 cussion, which must lead to a clearer understanding of the 

 problem. AVe propose to discuss this subject in the fol- 

 lowing order : — 



1. Life Histories and Structure. 



2. The Medical Problem. 



3. Possibilities and Cost. 



4. A Bibliography. 



As much that follows may be made more comprehen- 

 sible by figures of the creatures or articles under discus- 



