44 Proceedings of the First Convention 



as ever before. This, I believe, is proof of the fact that we 

 have succeeded extremely well. Surely if our people felt that 

 the salt marsh mosquito formed even a considerable part of our 

 local supply we would not be given so great a financial support. 

 The fact that the malarial and the house-entering mosquitoes 

 are purely local in their habits is justification enough to en- 

 courage local anti-mosquito work. In fact, I may say more, 

 a local Board of Health which neglects to take up the campaign 

 should be censured for not doing so. 



Mr. Claflin : May I ask the gentleman who has just 

 spoken how far, in point of fact, he has ever known an Anophe- 

 les to go from the point of breeding? Of course, one cannot 

 always tell what that point is. 



Mr. Miller : All I can say is I have never traced them 

 over 200 yards. It is a matter of a work of years to determine 

 that question. 



Mr. Claflin : Of course, that cannot be determined with 

 certainty. 



Mr. Miller: Two hundred yards, I think. 



Mr. Claflin : I think it ought to be made clear in the pro- 

 ceedings of this Convention that these mosquitoes, carried a 

 long way by the wind, are the non-malaria mosquitoes. It has 

 been very difficult to impress this fact upon those who do not 

 understand. I am continually met by persons who have given 

 the question no thought, and they say what is the use of trying 

 to eradicate malaria when you have the mosquitoes blown in by 

 the wind from marshes, lo, 20 or 30 miles away? Now, I 

 I understand quite well that anopheles travel only a little dis- 

 tance and it is very likely that Dr. Ross' statement is quite 

 within the truth. Apropos of all that, there is a most interest- 

 ing fact which perhaps all the ladies and gentlemen here know, 

 but it may be that some do not, and that is that many years 

 ago when they were draining around Rome, it was discov- 

 ered that when a square mile was drained, in the middle 

 of that square mile and for an undetermined, but con- 

 siderable distance about the center of that tract, malaria abso- 

 lutely disappeared, and Prof. Crudelli so reported to the Roman 

 Government, and in consequence of that report a great deal 

 of additional work of draining was done. Now, that entirely 



