MOSQUITOES IN GENERAL 19 



of houses may be but a few rods off, filled with unsuspecting mor- 

 tals who imagine their tormentors are far inland over the salt 

 meadows. But if the wind dies down, as it usually does when 

 veering, out come swarms upon swarms of the females, intent 

 upon satisfying their depraved taste for blood. This explains 

 why they appear on the field of action almost immediately after 

 the cessation in the strong breeze ; on the supposition that they 

 were blown far inland, this sudden reappearance would be un- 

 accountable. 



Many observations made by the writer and by his cor- 

 respondents support these views which Mrs. Aaron has 

 expressed. Mr. W. C Kerr, of Staten Island, an excellent 

 observer, is strong-ly of the opinion that mosquitoes are 

 not blown over from New Jersey to Staten Island. Pro- 

 fessor Herbert Osborn, formerly of Ames, la., has noticed 

 that in dry seasons small pools within a quarter to a jialf a 

 mile from the college buildings at Ames, dry up, and the 

 mosquitoes disappear, in spite of the fact that within 

 about a mile there are large pools which never become 

 dry. One of my former assistants, Mr. R. M. Keese, 

 found in Baltimore that by treating breeding-places a hun- 

 dred feet or a little more from his house with kerosene, 

 the supply of mosquitoes in his house was greatly re- 

 duced, although there were many other breeding-places 

 only twice as far away. Dr. John B. Smith, a well known 

 entomologist, has recorded his observation that mosqui- 

 toes will not rise or take flight wlien a brisk breeze is 

 blowing, and that even a com'paratively slight breeze will 

 keep them from the upper stories of houses. 



Dr. H. T. Fornahl, however, after several summers' 



