266 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 2 



Stegomyia calopiis, Bubonic plague by several species of fleas, notably 

 the rat fleas, Pulex cheopis and Ceratopsyllus fasciatus; typhoid fever 

 conveyed in part by the housefly, Musca domestica, which is also a 

 transmitter of cholera and pretty surely of tuberculosis; anthrax by 

 horseflies, certain forms of opthalmia by flies of the genus Hippelates, 

 various forms of Trypanosomiasis by the stable fly (Stomoxys sp.), 

 and the Tsetse flies of the genus Glossina, Texas fever by the Texas 

 fever tick {Margaropus annulatus). This list could be considerably 

 increased by other references, but let us merely add to it a few ex- 

 amples of insects living parasitically in some form or other and pro- 

 ducing severe and often fatal forms of irritations, such as the lice 

 (Pediculidce), the cone noses (Reduviidas), the bed-bugs (Acanthidae), 

 the bot flies (CEstrida?), the screw worm flies {Chrysomyia macel- 

 laria), etc. 



The facts as presented by the study of the above inter-relationships 

 are being accepted by the medical profession, of today with much 

 less skepticism than evidenced even ten years ago. The great trouble 

 is that the average practising physician cannot keep up with the 

 scattered work done in this field. Several workers have attempted to 

 place much of this material wdthin reach of students in the same field, 

 notably Nuttall, Braun and Osborn. To the writer it is evident that 

 the time has come when the study of insects and their relation to 

 disease must be placed on a more independent footing and the sub- 

 ject treated in a more systematic manner, in order to provide medical 

 and veterinarj^ students and practitioners with a better knowledge of 

 the matter. In treating the subject of medical entomology I have de- 

 parted somewhat from the usual method. Ordinarily the subject is 

 covered in a few lectures on disease-transmitting insects in connection 

 with general entomology or general zoology or parasitology, in which 

 latter cases the habits and systematic relationships of the insects are 

 treated more fully. There exists today rather a lack of responsibility. 

 Whom shall we hold responsible for the study of disease-transmit- 

 ting insects, the entomologist, the physician, the veterinarian or the 

 bacteriologist ? AVhile I believe in cooperation as the solution of many 

 scientific problems, it is also a fruitful source of disappointment, 

 since there are many important matters which are often lost some- 

 where between the cooperators. It may be that we should be farther 

 along relative to preventive medicine, and particularly in regard to 

 diseases transmitted by insects, had not phases been lost somewhere 

 between the followers of the professions already named, each fully 

 .engaged in his own work, the duties of which are pretty well out- 

 lined. There is need of men specifically prepared, upon whom can 



