156 THE HOUSE FLY—DISEASE CARRIER 
The case reported is interesting and unusual on ac¬ 
count of the fact that the hospital in question is a hos¬ 
pital for the insane, and that it is impossible in such 
an institution to control the intestinal discharges of 
the patients and confine them to one place. In the 
hospital all bedding and clothing were brought for 
cleaning to the laundry, and the laundry contained 
many flies, and in the laundry colonies of Bacillus 
prodigiosus were exposed under experimental condi¬ 
tions. Subsequently at varying intervals flies were 
caught in the other rooms of the hospital, and upon 
test from a large number of them cultures of the Bacil¬ 
lus were had. 
Doctor Orton’s conclusion as published is that flies 
were entirely responsible for the epidemic. It is rather 
a pity that the causative organism of the dysentery 
could not have been used in this experiment, but that 
was of course impossible on account of the danger, and 
it is altogether probable that Doctor Orton’s conclusions 
from his experiments with the other Bacillus were per¬ 
fectly correct. 
Dr. C. W. Stiles tells the writer that the causative 
organism of amoebic dysentery sporulates more readily 
as the feces dry. Therefore under a dry-privy system 
this disease is the more likely to be carried by flies. 
Diarrhea in Infants 
Diarrhea and enteritis, commonly known as summer 
complaint, cause a great mortality among children in 
the United States. It is doubtful whether the average 
