Culcida, or Mosquitoes 97 



Of repellents, he cites as one of the best a salve composed of the 

 following : 



Ol. Anisi 3 grs. 



Ol. Eucalypti 3 grs. 



Ol. Terebenth 3 grs. 



Unq. Acid Borac. 



Of sprays he recommends as the least objectionable and at the 

 same time one of the most effective, formalin. "The dark portions 

 and angles of sleeping apartments should be sprayed with a one per 

 cent, solution of this substance every day during the season in which 

 the flies are prevalent. A fine spraying apparatus is necessary for 

 its application and an excessive amount must not be applied. It is 

 considered an excellent plan also to spray the mosquito curtains 

 regularly every day towards sunset ; nets thus treated are claimed to 

 repel the attacks of these insects." This effectiveness of formalin is 

 very surprising for, as we have seen, it is almost wholly ineffective 

 against bed-bugs, mosquitoes, house flies and other insects, where it 

 has been tried. 



A measure which promises to be very effective, where it can be 

 adopted, is the use of electric fans so placed as to produce a current 

 of air in the direction of the windows of sleeping apartments. On 

 account of the inability of the Phlebotomus flies to withstand even 

 slight breezes, it seems very probable that they would be unable to 

 enter a room so protected. 



Culicidae or Mosquitoes 



From the medical viewpoint, probably the most interesting and 

 important of the blood-sucking insects are the mosquitoes. Certainly 

 this is true of temperate zones, such as those of the United States. 

 The result is that no other group of insects has aroused such wide- 

 spread interest, or has been subjected to more detailed study than 

 have the mosquitoes, since their r61e as carriers of disease was made 

 known. There is an enormous literature dealing with the group, but 

 fortunately for the general student, this has been well summarized 

 by a number of workers. The most important and helpful of the 

 general works are those of Howard (1901), Smith (1904), Blanchard 

 (1905), Mitchell (1907), and especially of Howard, Dyar, and Knab, 

 whose magnificent monograph is still in course of publication. 



