52 



p. 212) that in the French quarter of New Orleans it has been a eom- 

 aion practice for many years to place kerosene in the water tanks to 

 lessen the numbers of mosquitoes in a g-iven locality, although he knew 

 nothing that had been written to show that such was the case, and he 

 says: 'In this age of advancement we can no longer go by hearsay evi- 

 dence/ Suggestions as to the use of kerosene, and even experiments on 

 a water surface 10 inches square, showing that the larva? could be killed 

 by kerosene, were recorded bv Mrs. C. B. Aaron in her Lamborn 

 prize essay and published in the work entitled 'Dragon Flies versus 

 Mosquitoes' (D. Appleton & Co., 1S90). Mr. W. BeutenmuUer, also 

 in the same work, made the same suggestion. 



"The quantity of kerosene to be practically used, as shown by the 

 writer's experiments, is approximately 1 ounce to 15 square feet of 

 water surface, and ordinarily the application need not be renewed for 

 one month. Since 1892 several demonstrations, on both a large and a 

 small scale, have been made. Two localities were rid of the mosquito 

 plague under the supervision of the writer by the use of kerosene 

 al()ii(\ Mr. Weed, in the article above mentioned, states that he rid 

 the college campus of the Mississippi Agricultural College of mos- 

 quitoes by the treatment with kerosene of eleven large water tanks. 

 Dr. John B. Smith has recorded, though without details, success with 

 this remedy in two cases on Long Island (Insect Life. Vol. VI, p. 91). 

 Prof. J. H. Comstock tells the writer that a similar series of experi- 

 ments, with perfectly satisfactory results, was carried out by Mr. Ver- 

 non L. Kellogg on the campus of Stanford University, at Palo Alto, 

 Cal. In this case post holes filled with surface water were treated, 

 with the result that the mosquito plague was almost immediately 

 alleviated. 



"Additional experiments on a somewhat larger scale have been made 

 by Rev. John D. Long at Oak Island Beach, Long Island Sound, and 

 by Mr. W. K. Ilopson, near Bridgeport, Conn., also on the shores of 

 Long Island Sound, the experhnents in l)oth cases indicating the effi- 

 cacy of the remedy when applied intelligently. 1 have not been able 

 to learn the details of Mr. Hopson's operations, Init am told that they 

 included extensive draining as well as the use of kerosene. 



''It is not, however, the great sea marshes along the coast, where 

 mosquitoes breed in countless numbers, which we can expect to treat 

 by this method, but the inland places, where the mosquito supply is 

 derived from comparatively small swamps and circumscribed pools. 

 In most localities people endure the torment or direct their remedies 

 against the adult insect only, without the slightest attempt to investi- 

 gate the source of the supply, when the very first step should be the 

 undertaking of such an investigation. In 'Gleanings in Bee Culture' 

 (October 1, 1895) we notice the statement in the California column 

 that in some California towns the pit or vault behind water-closets is 



