74 THE HOUSE FLY 



the number of deaths from fly-borne diseases of nearly 



75 per cent. 



THE HOUSE FLY IN CAMPS 



When men live in temporary camps there is always grave 

 danger of epidemics of disease breaking out, and Enteric 

 fever, otherwise known as Typhoid, is one of the chief of 

 those diseases. In the past the causes of these scourges 

 were not understood, consequently epidemics of disease 

 raged in the camps during the times of war. The diseases 

 which cause epidemics have been carefully studied, and 

 we now know that they are caused by microbes, and we 

 have also found out how these microbes are carried from 

 man to man. In the great majority of wars more men 

 have been put out of action by disease than by the enemy's 

 bullets. 



In the Concentration Camps during the Spanish- American 

 war in 1898, Enteric, otherwise known as Typhoid fever, 

 and Camp Diarrhoea played havoc with the troops, and 

 very seriously crippled the army as a fighting machine. A 

 thorough inquiry was made by a Commission composed 

 of the leading medical men of the United States, with the 

 result that House Flies were found to have been the princi- 

 pal carriers of the infection by swarming over the human 

 fecal matter in the pits, and then visiting the food pre- 

 pared for the soldiers at the mess tents. It was found, 

 for instance, that officers whose mess tents were protected 

 by screens, suffered far less from infectious diseases than 

 those whose tents were not so protected. 



During the Spanish-American war, Typhoid fever was 

 raging in every regiment within three months after assem- 



