February, '19] BUSINESS PROCEEDINGS 11 



■especially since Professor Osborn has, through his state connections, considerable 

 power and authority over extra-cantonment conditions which cannot be reached 

 •directly by you. 



By direction of the Surgeon-General: 



(Signed) F. F. Russell, 

 Colonel, Medical Corps, U. S. A. 



It was our intention to choose in the first instance a few typical, widely separated, 

 camps and cantonments such as might be supposed to give us a fair idea of con- 

 ditions throughout the country, and letters were requested for entomologists in the 

 states of Arizona, Colorado, Alabama, Illinois, Ohio, New York, and New Hamp- 

 shire. Owing no doubt to the terrific pressure on all military offices in Washington 

 at the time, the letters called for were not actually issued until the last days of May, 

 and reports of surveys were received by the committee at various dates from June 8 

 to August 9, and these were forwarded to Washington soon thereafter. In the mean- 

 time, the vacation season had so far dispersed the official entomologists, including the 

 chairman of this committee, that no further progress was made on this program. 



We scarcely need say that the visiting entomologists were cordially welcomed in 

 every case; that every facUity and assistance was rendered them in making their 

 observations; and that their comments and suggestions, when matters of any impor- 

 tance came to light, were received with evident appreciation of the service rendered. 

 Full reports were received by us concerning seven different camps, and brief general 

 statements concerning two others. 



It was evident from these reports that the entomological problems relating to the 

 ■camps and cantonments were being handled much more successfully than those relat- 

 ing to adjacent areas outside. There was little found, indeed, concerning interior 

 conditions to which serious exception could be taken. In one southern camp house- 

 flies were common in mess-halls and kitchens, although all buildings had been thor- 

 oughly screened, the trouble here being due to an imperfect fitting of the screens to 

 window openings, and to an unsuspected breeding place of flies in livery stables about 

 a mile away, the surroundings of which were not as clean as they should have been 

 although all manure was being removed from the stables every day. In one or two 

 camps somewhat infested by lice and other parasites, the officers were taking the 

 proper steps to abate the nuisance. 



The following are fair examples of the reports received, one relating to Camp 

 Sherman, in Ohio, and the other to Camp Devens, in Massachusetts: 



Camp Sherman. — "As I had letters to Surgeon Robinson from Dr. Freeman and, 

 to Colonel Allen, Division Surgeon, from the Surgeon-General's office, I received a 

 very cordial welcome from these officers and believe that the information I secured is 

 thoroughly reliable and that we can depend upon the men in charge of sanitation at 

 the camp to cooperate in every practical way in the matter of utilizing any informa- 

 tion that we may be able to furnish concerning most effective plans for insect control. 

 In this first visit I think the main accomplishment was the establishment of cordial 

 relations as a basis for cooperation in the future. 



"From all of the facts that I learned, it appears that the health conditions in this 

 camp have been excellent and there have been practically no cases of disease which 

 could be attributed to in.sect carriers. Typhoid has been j)ractically eliminated as a 

 result of inoculation, but the disease is more or less prevalent in the vicinity of the 

 camp and the public health service in cooperation with the State Board of Health is 

 making a vigorous campaign for the reduction of flies and the elimination of all possi- 

 ble .sourcics of fly-breeding and contamination. 



"The camp itself has disposed of stable waste very effectively bj- daily distrii)Ution 

 to the surrounding farms — so efTectively, indeed, that it was said that there was more 

 difficulty in disposing of the stable wastes from the city proper. The local officer 

 •considers that they have this fairly well in hand now, ana expects improvement as 

 they get their organization more effectively at work. 



