62 THE HOUSE FLY 



should the flies not be infected with the microbes of various 

 diseases, surely the fact that flies feed on human 

 excreta, breed in it, and wallow in it, is sufficient reason 

 for every possible effort to be made to exterminate them. 



The condition of the privies of a large percentage of 

 homesteads on farms, and in many villages and even 

 towns, is too sickening to describe. An inspection of the 

 bucket privies in some towns, and even those which boast 

 the name of city, would reveal a shocking state of things. 

 The privies used by store employees are frequently in a 

 disgusting condition, and the employers should .most cer- 

 tainly be prosecuted, for by their neglect they are sowing 

 the seeds of disease and death amongst their fellows. ^ hen 

 the bucket system is in use, it is an easy matter to make 

 the privy fly-proof, by having the top part of the door 

 screened with fly-proof netting, and a suitable well-fitting 

 flap at the back for the removal of the excreta. 



In all cases where the privy cannot be made fly-proof, 

 the contents of the bucket should be regularly treated with 

 paraffin, chloride of lime, sheep-dip, carbolic acid, or 

 sulphate of iron in powder or in solution with water. 



On farms where a pit is usually a substitute for the 

 bucket in privies, there is always a grave danger of soil 

 contamination by infected stercus, as well as the spreading 

 of it by means of the fly, therefore in these instances it 

 is doubly necessary to systematically disinfect the privy. 



In all reforms it is not only good policy but a necessity 

 to educate public opinion. If the people are forced to 

 obey a law or municipal regulation and fail to see the 

 reasonableness of it, the authorities will have considerable 

 difficulty, and will frequently fail in their endeavours for 



