55 



individuiils kept their tanks free by putting- in a little wheel, whieh is 

 turned b}' the windmill, and keeps the water abiiost constantly 

 agitated." 



Later' use of kerosene. — Since the publication of the recommendations 

 just quoted, a great deal of experimental work has been carried on in 

 different parts of the country, both on a small scale and on large 

 scales. An unfortunate editorial note pul)lished in the American 

 Naturalist in 1895 states that the writer discoyered the kerosene treat- 

 ment against mosquito laryw, whereas in his first article on the sub- 

 ject (Insect Life, Vol. Y, pp. 12 to 14) he began Avith the words: "One 

 of the most reasonable of th(^ reconnnendations which haye been made 

 from time to time * * '^ is the application of kerosene to restricted 

 and Ashless breeding ponds." The note in the Naturalist was the text, 

 howeyer, for a sarcastic note in the Reyue Scientitique, 1895, Volume 

 IV, page 739, by a writer named Delbcjeuf, aimed not only against the 

 writer, ])ut against Ann^ricans in general. He stated that he had used 

 kerosene as a remedy for fully tifty 3^ears, and that its use is referred 

 to in the Journal Pittoresque for 1847, page 80, where it is spoken of 

 as something already well known. Since the Avriter made no claims 

 to an\" originality, l>ut simply announced exact experimentation upon 

 a somewhat large scale, the matter may rest yery comfortably where 

 it is. But it is interesting to note here that as long ago as 1812, in a 

 work published in London under the title "Omniana or Hora^ Otio- 

 siores," a collection of odds and ends of all kinds, the following sugges- 

 tion is made: 



The mosquito, which is of all the race of flies the most noxious, breeds in the 

 water. Might it not he possible at the seasons when they emerge and when they 

 deposit their eggs upon the surface to diminish their numbers by pouring oil upon 

 great standing water and large rivers in those places which are most infested by 

 them? 



The writer is indebted to Mr. D. C. Clark, of Baltimore, for this 

 i nteresting reference. 



During the past few years kerosene has been rather extensiyely used 

 at many places in an effort to limit the mosquito supply. As already 

 pointed out, there are man}^ places where the source of mosquito sup- 

 ply is delinitely limited and easy of treatment, and in such cases on 

 account of the cheapness of kerosene it will be the T)est means of erad- 

 ication. In other places where communities are surrounded with 

 swamp land or in the case of extensive sea marshes kerosene can be 

 practically used in connection with other and more elaborate measures, 

 comprehending, as a rule, dyking and draining. At a relatiyely slight 

 expense, however, a country club on Staten Island has during- one sea- 

 son practically stopped the breeding- of Ciilex piiiKjens in ponds and 

 marshes in the \'icinity ])\ the use of kerosene alone. This substance 

 has also been used with good effect by the Town Improvement Society 



