CHAPTER X 

 THE BITING STABLE FLY (Stomoxys calcitrant) 



IN the year 1905 a dreadful epidemic of Infant Paralysis or 

 Poliomyelitis occurred in Sweden. It stalked through the 

 land, and eventually spread over the world, both east 

 and west. In 1907 it gained a footing in America. Some- 

 times one child in a family would be stricken down. In 

 other families all the children were laid low. Parents were 

 almost crazy with alarm and dread, and physicians were 

 utterly puzzled. The disease was beyond them ; the 

 cause of this terrible scourge was a mystery, and knowing 

 not the cause, they could not attempt to treat it with any 

 degree of success. 



The plague continued to spread, cutting short the lives 

 of thousands of bonnie children, and permanently crippling 

 those who survived. Many remained helpless invalids for 

 life ; others, after a long and tedious course of massage 

 and electrical treatment, recovered sufficiently to be able to 

 walk weakly. Many mothers broke down utterly under 

 their load of trouble, becoming nervous wrecks ; others 

 actually became insane. Imagine, if you can, a fine, 

 sturdy, healthy son, and a bright, rosy-cheeked daughter 

 suddenly rendered helpless, and after a long, lingering 

 illness emerging mere shadows of their former selves, and 

 doomed to a life of helplessness. The children of rich and 



poor alike were stricken, and parents watched their loved 



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