414 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



show that the railway station of Ouled-Eahmoun, formerly greatly troubled by 

 mosquitoes, was visited by them much less frequently after the cutting down of 

 great Eucalyptus trees which surrounded it. The station of Ighzer-Amokran, 

 which is isolated in the middle of a desert plain, is surrounded by a little grove 

 of Eucalyptus. Before the windows and doors were screened the rooms were 

 visited every evening by quantities of Anopheles. The traveling Kabyles who 

 stopped at this station would never sleep at midday under the foliage of the 

 Eucalyptus, for they said mosquitoes always came down on them. They went 

 under the olives where they were never bitten. 



RICINUS AND PAPAYA. 



During the winter of 1901 a great deal was said in the newspapers about 

 the planting of castor oil plant {Eicinus communis) to ward off mosquitoes. 

 These notes were mainly based upon a consular report from Capt. E. H. 

 Plumacher, U. S. Consul at Maracaibo, Venezuela. In this report Capt. 

 Plumacher stated that his residence is surrounded by plantain and banana trees 

 and that he was troubled in the past by a great number of mosquitoes which 

 gathered in these trees. Following the example of old settlers, he planted castor 

 seeds which grew up in profusion, with the result that no mosquitoes were to be 

 found among the trees, although he kept the ground well irrigated. Capt. 

 Plumacher came to Washington the following year and called on one of the 

 Writers April 18, 1901, bringing with him the seed of the particular variety of 

 the castor oil plant with which he had noted the result above stated. The seeds 

 were planted upon the U. S. Department of Agriculture grounds in Washington 

 and observations indicated that mosquitoes were not at all deterred by the plants. 



Some of the Venezuela seeds brought by Capt. Plumacher were sent to Mr. J. 

 Turner Brakeley, of Hornerstown, New Jersey. He planted them in the early 

 summer of 1901, and later in the summer observations were made with the 

 result that mosquitoes were found both on these Venezuelan plants and on other 

 castor oil plants. Mr. Brakeley wrote : " The castor oil plant is no good as a 

 skeetonal protection in New Jersey. It may be a protection against the Vene- 

 zuela mosquito, but it is no good where the blood pirates of New Jersey are 

 concerned." In a report sent in from Progreso, Yucatan, September 17, 1903, 

 U. S. Consul Thompson makes the following statement : 



" The belief is current among the natives of Yucatan that a few castor oil 

 plants growing in or near a dwelling will protect the inmates from mosquitoes 

 and certain other noxious insects peculiar to Yucatan. This belief has been to a 

 certain extent confirmed upon experiment by me personally. My dwelling at 

 one time seemed to be peculiarly acceptable to mosquitoes. I planted a row of 

 castor oil plants around the court yard and in a short time the mosquito was as 

 rare as he was formerly a frequent visitor. My plants were destroyed by the 

 cyclone and now the mosquitoes are as abundant as formerly." 



Giles published a letter sent to the " Pioneer," an Indian journal, in 1901, 

 in which the correspondent states that he had seen a recommendation of the 

 castor oil plant as a deterrent for mosquitoes, and in consequence had six plants 

 placed in pots in his room. The result was that the plants were thickly covered 



