444 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



THE UNITED STATES. 

 In the United States, it is sad to relate, almost nothing has been done in the 

 way of an active campaign against malaria alone, even in restricted localities. 

 It is true that extensive work has been done against mosquitoes, but in the most 

 of these cases the incentive does not seem to have been to better the health of the 

 people or to stamp out malaria. We have shown that in the New Jersey work 

 the item of personal comfort is concerned and that of the enhanced value of real 

 estate and the enhanced taxable value of land to the community, but the main 

 fight there is conducted against mosquitoes that have no relation to disease. 

 We have shown also that the fight against mosquitoes in the marsh lands back 

 of Brooklyn was financed by a wealthy man whose immediate motive was to keep 

 his race horses in better condition by preventing the annoyance of them by mos- 

 quitoes. In different communities there have been intelligent and up-to-date 

 citizens who have made strong efforts to start anti-malarial campaigns, but they 

 have not succeeded, through indifference on the part of city councils or other 

 bodies controlling public funds. Many health officers themselves have seemed 

 indifferent on this subject. In some localities citizens' associations, civic im- 

 provement societies and women's clubs have made efforts to improve the situa- 

 tion. Good work was done by such an organization in South Orange, New 

 Jersey, and instances of this kind axe scattered here and there at very long in- 

 tervals over the country, but these efforts as a rule were spasmodic and only 

 temporary in their effects. 



One of the best pieces of work with a direct anti-malarial bearing that has 

 been carried on in this country and that was begun at an early date was 

 started on Staten Island under Doctor Doty, the health officer of the port of 

 New York. The following account is largely taken word for word from a letter 

 received from Doctor Doty, but it can not be directly quoted on account of occa- 

 sional necessary alterations of the verbiage of a personal letter. 



Staten Island, lying in New York harbor, had had a rather unenviable reputa- 

 tion on account of the great number of mosquitoes present and the continued 

 presence of malaria. It was largely on account of the latter condition that 

 Doctor Doty began his investigation in 1901. He soon found that there were 

 two factors to deal with, namely the inland mosquitoes and the salt-marsh 

 mosquitoes. 



In the extermination of the inland mosquitoes, the section of Staten Island 

 which was known to contain many cases of malaria both in the acute and 

 chronic forms was selected for experimental work. This section consisted of a 

 basin of lowland about a mile square containing about one hundred small 

 dwelling houses some distance apart. Within its boundaries were a large num- 

 ber of stagnant pools varying in size from ten feet in diameter to an acre or 

 more in area. A house-to-house visit showed that at least 20 per cent of the 

 inhabitants of this district were suffering with some form of malaria, and in 

 the immediate vicinity of every house were found typical breeding-places in the 

 shape of old tinware, rain-water barrels, cisterns, cesspools and ground depres- 

 sions, many of which contained larvae. For the purpose of detecting the pres- 



