98 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



inevitably become infected by them before morning. 

 It is advisable, in traveling, to carry needle and thread to 

 mend the rents in bed nets ; or, better still, to carry a 

 small light net in one's bag for use where nets are 

 absent or where they are too badly torn to mend. 



I can do no better than to quote the words of Ross. 

 He says " perhaps our first and best defense against malaria 

 lies in the habitual and scrupulous use of mosquito nets 

 at night. . . . The first care of the resident in the tropics, 

 of the traveler, the sportsman, the soldier, the miner, 

 the clerk, should be for his mosquito net. Wherever 

 he lives, wherever he goes, he should see that his mosquito 

 net is with him, that it is in good order, and that it is 

 properly arranged at bed time." 



WIRE GAUZE SCREENS AT WINDOWS 



From his own experience, the author considers wire 

 gauze screens at doors and windows next to bed nets in 

 the prevention of malaria. It is true that the bite of 

 one infected Anopheles will not, as a rule, give as severe a 

 case of malaria as the bites of two or more. Hence, any 

 measure capable of lessening the number of these insects 

 that can gain access to an individual lessens the chances 

 of contracting malaria, and also lessens the severity of 

 the disease if contracted. It is not claimed that wire 

 gauze can be fitted tightly enough to keep out all 

 mosquitoes, but any one who has lived in a well-screened 

 house in mosquito regions knows well the difference be- 

 tween the buzzing swarms of these pests found in out- 

 houses after dark and the occasional ones in dwelling 

 houses. 



