Yellow Fever and Other Diseases 119 



and make their way through the cavity of the body 

 to the connective tissue in the forward part of the 

 thorax in front of the muscles. By the twentieth 

 day these larvae have gone into the head and beak, 

 by which route they are transferred to the human 

 subject, in whose lymph glands they become adult 

 and probably pair. A patient with Filaria should 

 certainly not be allowed to run at large without any 

 precautions, especially as the common house mos- 

 quito is supposed to be one of the intermediary hosts, 

 and it may be that other insects than mosquitoes are 

 able to transmit the disease, though from the laws of 

 parasites this is very improbable. 



Other Diseases. — Mosquitoes also come under the 

 accusation of conveying that most loathsome disease, 

 leprosy. As leprosy is due to bacteria it follows that 

 any mosquito might carry the infection under the 

 proper conditions. Other biting insects, as fleas and 

 bedbugs, also fall under a ban in this respect. (See 

 the Appendix, p. 267). 



In the U. S. Marine Hospital Service laboratory 

 experiments were conducted with a view to ascer- 

 taining whether or not mosquitoes can convey a bac- 

 terial disease from infected to healthy animals. The 

 experiments wer f e conducted with anthrax, very viru- 

 lent pneumonia coccus, and Bacillus ictcroides. Cu- 

 lex pipiens or 5. calopus was used. The experiments 

 resulted negatively, except in two instances where, 

 after several weeks' exposure to the mosquitoes, two 

 white mice died of anthrax. 



