CAN THE MOSQUITO BE EXTERMINATED? 141 



for flight, lie might well imagine that he had obtained a 

 glimpse of the good old days when one might see ''old 

 Proteus" or young Venus "rising from the sea." Alas, 

 that Professor Gradgrind, the naturalist, should be com- 

 pelled to tell him that he had oidy seen a mosquito trans- 

 formino- ! 



This is the natural history of the animal's environment. 

 The practical question is. How can one so control these 

 conditions as to limit the multiplication of the insects? 

 Obviously the answer is, Limit their natural breeding 

 grounds! When swamps are dried up, when stagnant 

 pools are filled up, when brackish lakes and sluggish 

 streams are drained and dredged and graded so as to give 

 free current to their waters, when the swamp grasses, 

 weeds, sedges, and various plants in which mosquitoes 

 find refuge after transformation are cut down and cleared 

 away — when, in short, the scythe, lawn mower, grubbing 

 ax, and gardener's hand of diligence, thrift, cleanliness, 

 and care have turned our country into a cultivated garden, 

 the days of the mosquito as a pest will be numbered. 

 Culex pipiens and all the other species of CuHcidfe (the 

 family of mosquitoes and gnats) will still have their repre- 

 sentatives in the land; but they will be shorn of their 

 power to deplete the veins of summer cottagers and guests 

 and the purses of summer landlords. 



II. 



The second factor in limiting the number of mosquitoes 

 is that of natural enemies. Of these only two may be 

 mentioned — the dragon fly and the spider. It is a strange 

 illustration of human perversity that these two animals^ 



