February, '13] HUNTER: medical ENTOMOLOGY 29 



intelligent list of suspects, whereas the non-entomological investigator 

 would be compelled to grope about in the darkness and might experi- 

 ment for years along fruitless lines. In this connection let us refer 

 to the work of Reed and his colleagues on j'ellow fever. That was a 

 case in which no time was lost and in which it might appear that a 

 knowledge of entomology had little to do with the solution. In mak- 

 ing plans to determine whether an insect was the transmitter of the 

 disease, Doctor Reed and his colleagues went to Doctor Finlay. He 

 was not an entomologist, properly speaking, but had been studying 

 mosquitoes for many years. These studies made him familiar with 

 the habits of the Cuban species. He had learned that one species 

 alone should be considered. He had specimens in his possession and 

 actually gave Reed the eggs from which were bred the first mosquitoes 

 that conveyed yellow fever in the experiments. To this extent the 

 work of the Reed commission was started without delay on the right 

 course on account of the entomological knowledge of Doctor Finlay. 

 Moreover Reed and his collaborators were in constant communication 

 with Doctor Howard and -spent some time in Washington studying 

 mosquitoes while the Cuban experiments were under way. 



When a list of possible transmitters of a disease is formulated and 

 transmission experiments begin, the work of the entomologist is even 

 more essential than before. It is necessary to obtain specimens, breed 

 them and handle them. Immediately a host of points about feeding 

 and manipulation come up, and here again the entomologist is the 

 only man who can supply the information. Suppose the investigation 

 has been continued and it has been found that one or more species 

 are the sole or important agents in the transmission of the malady. 

 At this juncture the work of the entomologist becomes more important 

 than at any other time. In fact, here something close to a separation 

 between entomology and medical science takes place. The control 

 of the disease becomes a question of the control of the transmitting 

 agent and no one can deny that the entomologist is more fitted than 

 anyone else to devise means for the control of insects and to carry 

 them out. 



The present practical unanimity of opinion that the primary method 

 of controlling insect-borne diseases is through attack against the 

 insect host and that the control of the human host is secondarj^ is the 

 outcome of practical experience. After the demonstration of the 

 carriage of yellow fever by the mosquito, the first idea of medical men 

 was to control the human host by isolation and to suppress the insect 

 host only as a supplementary measure. The work of Gorgas at Ha- 

 vana in 1901, of Liceaga in Vera Cruz, of White in New Orleans and 

 of Gorgas in Panama was all based upon this conception. But now 



