358 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



pointed out, a map was prepared showing the exact distribution of malaria 

 in the city, and photographs were made showing the character of the breeding- 

 places of the malaria mosquito. It is probable that these Worcester e£Eorts to 

 interest the school children were the first made in this direction, although the 

 idea was carried out to a much greater extent later in San Antonio, Texas, under 

 Doctor Lankford, as will be pointed out on subsequent pages. Other work, 

 during the summer, was carried on at Pine Orchard and Ansonia, Connecticut; 

 at Old Orchard Beach, in Maine; and on the campus of the Michigan Agri- 

 cultural College, in Michigan. Strong efforts were made during the summer 

 to start work at Baltimore, but for a time the City Council refused to make 

 appropriations. At Atlanta, Ga., the Sanitary Department used a large amount 

 of kerosene in the stagnant pools and swampy places around the city, and warned 

 the citizens to watch their rain barrels and keep their gutters open. A great 

 many pools of water were drained, and in the negro quarters of the city the 

 sanitary inspectors were constantly on the lookout for standing water in buckets 

 and other chance receptacles. The matter was taken up with the County Com- 

 missioners and the area of preventive measures was extended toward the close 

 of the season. In Savannah some work was done and the number of mosquitoes 

 reduced very considerably. Oil was used diligently by the sewer-cleaning forces 

 and was placed in the catch-basins. So great was the relief that many people in 

 Savannah for the first time used no mosquito-bars. At Talladega, Alabama, 

 under the direction of Doctor B. B. Simms, anti-mosquito work was commenced 

 early in the season and was carried out systematically and thoroughly. Ko place 

 that could possibly prove a breeding-place was overlooked. The application of 

 kerosene was repeated several times during the year. St. Louis took up the work 

 early in July, and the Municipal Assembly made an appropriation for supplies. 

 The Health Department, however, was hampered for lack of men and little 

 work was done. 



Such were the early steps in the mosquito crusade in this country. Many other 

 communities have taken up the work since 1903. Some, through inefficient 

 work, have allowed their efforts to lapse, and have become more or less indiffer- 

 ent. Others have gone ahead and have spent considerable sums of money in 

 their mosquito fight. 



In the early days of mosquito warfare there was great indifference combined 

 with incredulity as to the danger from mosquitoes, even among the medical 

 profession, and particularly in the South. This indifference and incredulity, 

 however, have now, for the most part, passed away. Boards of health very 

 generally appreciate the desirability of anti-mosquito work, and as rapidly as 

 town councils can be induced to appropriate the necessary funds, the work is 

 going ahead. 



Excellent anti-mosquito work, backed by rather modest funds, has been 

 carried on during the past few years in Honolulu, under the direction of the then 

 Entomologist of the Hawaiian Agricultural Experiment Station, Doctor D. L. 

 Van Dine. In Porto Eico some work is being done, as well as in the Philippines, 

 under the United States government. In Cuba and in Panama the work has 



