114 DDT — Killer of Killers 



get rid of the mosquitoes! And if you can't get rid of the 

 water, cover it with a film of oil so the larvae can't breathe. 

 These are the methods that our army engineers applied so 

 successfully in Panama, where they fought and defeated the 

 yellow fever-carrying mosquito Aedes, the killer that had for 

 so long held up construction of the canal across that narrow 

 strip of land. 



But drainage or oil treatment aren't always feasible. 

 You know that during a wet spell the mosquito population 

 increases phenomenally. There may be no ponds or lakes 

 or marshlands near, yet the mosquitoes seem to find plenty 

 of places to breed. The damp woods and fields offer in- 

 numerable little wet spots for mamma mosquito to lay her 

 eggs and for the results of her love life to pass through their 

 various stages of development. After all, a mosquito larva 

 is not very big: it doesn't need much space. That's all right 

 for the mosquitoes, but what are we going to do about it? 

 Shall we try some DDT? 



We know that a DDT space spray or a shot from an 

 aerosol bomb will knock for a loop any mosquitoes present. 

 We also know that a residual spray leaves a deposit of DDT 

 that lasts for several months and kills any mosquito that 

 comes in contact with it. These methods are extremely ef- 

 fective. The U. S. Public Health Service, in its battle against 

 the malaria-bearing mosquito, treated the walls of practically 

 all the sharecroppers' shacks within a 36-square mile area 

 near Helena, Arkansas, with a DDT residual spray. Cost: 

 74 cents per shack for material and labor. Results: A 94 % 

 reduction in the mosquito population for at least 2 months. 

 Not bad! 



Perhaps you are familiar with the ferocious and enor- 

 mous mosquitoes that inhabit the miles of salt marshes along 



