REPORT ON MOSQUITOES. 411 



whole Jersey coast. Inspections were made throug-h the whole 

 town and the salt marsh south of it. 



"It was at once evident that mosquitoes must be extremely 

 abundant, here as every house and bam was heavily screened 

 from top to bottom. The soil is sandy, but water remains every- 

 where in depressions long enoug-h to breed the insects. 



"Many breeding-pools were found rig-ht in the heart of the 

 town in vacant lots, and many of the gaitters are in such bad 

 shape that they are veritable pest holes. Along the Philadelphia 

 and Reading Railroad are some very bad places and thousands 

 of larvae were found breeding under the station platform. Pools 

 of water were found in back yards everywhere, and all that 

 were examined were found swarming with larvae." 



Ocean City is an excellent example of the result of hasty, ill- 

 considered work which made mosquito conditions infinitely worse 

 than before the ground was touched. Only one thing can be 

 done here and that is grade and fill in the breeding pools and 

 put the gutter system into shape to do the work it was intended 

 to do. Filling material is easily accesible and if every lot owner 

 attended to his own property the cost woiild be insignificant, 

 while the resulting benefit would be enormous. 



The salt marsh area which lies just south of Ocean City is 

 also a rather bad place and there are many danger pools in the 

 meadow. But these breeding places can be destroyed by drain- 

 age and a little filling. There are little creeks and natural ditches 

 present into which ditches might be run, and which could be con- 

 nected so that the fish might run in freely to destroy the larvae. 



Several species breed on this meadow ; not only all the salt 

 marsh forms but, in addition, the species of Anopheles as well ; 

 the latter not at all rarely. 



A dredge has been at work on the bay side for some time, and 

 has materially improved conditions so far as its operations ex- 

 tend ; but its area of action is too small to reach all conditions 

 here enumerated. 



The marsh between these beaches and the mainland has not 

 been examined, nor has the edge of the mainland been in- 

 vestigated. 



