REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1908 31 
“though there may be a question as to how generally flies are re- 
sponsible for the dissemination of this disease. Parke admits the 
possibilities of flies distributing, in addition to those mentioned 
above, plague, trachoma, septicemia, erysipelas and leprosy. Fur- 
thermore, there are those who would hold flies responsible for the 
more frequent new cases which occur in the zone immediately sur- 
rounding the smallpox hospital and which may be due either to 
the wafting out of infected particles or their carriage by flies. 
The latter is considered the more probable. Howe, according to 
the statement of Dr Howard, has demonstrated that the purulent 
conjunctivitis of the Egyptians is spread by the house fly. The 
experiments of Grassi show that the eggs uf Taenia, Trichoceph- 
alus and Oxyuris pass uninjured through the alimentary tract 
of flies. 
Sanitary and control measures. It is perhaps needless to add, 
in view of the foregoing, that the greatest care should be taken to 
exclude flies from the sick room, especially in the case of con- 
tagious diseases. The flies are not only annoying to the patient 
but may aid in carrying the disease to others. The proper dis- 
posal of infected discharges such as those from typhoid patients 
should never be neglected. Vessels which have contained any such 
material should be thoroughly cleaned and never left where flies 
may.gain access to the infection. 
All food, particularly that eaten without cooking, should be care- 
fully protected from flies by the use of screens. This is especially 
true of milk, since it affords a favorable medium for the multipli- 
cation of certain disease germs. This applies to dealers in food 
supplies as well as to the home. An important step toward better 
sanitation would be taken if the public refused to patronize stores 
and eating places overrun by flies. 
A large reduction in the number of house flies found in most 
p:aces is thoroughly practical. This end can be best attained by 
doing away with conditions favorable to the unrestricted multipli- 
cation of this pest. The first step is to prevent flies from breeding 
in horse manure and other waste products from the stable. All 
manure should be placed in a fly proof receptacle or the accumu- 
lation treated daily with small quantities of chlorid of lime. If 
all manure is removed from the stable at intervals of three days 
and spread upon the field, there will be comparatively little breed- 
ing. Some one of these measures can be applied to every stable in 
cities and villages. The farmer, if unable to carry out any of the 
