44 



MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 



20, Where not to start Mosquito Brigades. I now 



make some general remarks concerning matters of import- 

 ance. I have left them to the last, not because the matters 

 are of less moment than those already dealt with, but 

 because the reader will not be able to consider them until 

 he has first learnt exactly the scope and nature of the work 

 proposed to be done. 



In the first place, we must understand that there are 

 certain localities in which it will scarcely be profitable to 

 commence a war against our winged enemies. These are 

 mainly as follows : 



(i). The Open Country. We cannot go to the expense 

 of draining large tracts of open country far from habita- 

 tions, merely for the comfort of the beasts of the field. 



(2). Isolated Houses. Except in a dry country, where 

 there are very few breeding pools, or unless we have plenty 

 of labour at our command, it will generally be unprofitable 

 to attempt to drain round isolated houses. The cost of the 

 drainage may often exceed the value of the house ; take 

 for example a traveller's rest-house, a railway station, or 

 farm, situated in the midst of marshes or of dense tropical 

 forest. In such cases it will generally be much cheaper to 

 protect the whole building by wire gauze screens to the 

 windows and doors. At the same time, of course, it is 

 always possible to prevent Culex larvae from breeding in 

 cisterns and tubs in the back premises, even of the most 

 isolated houses ; and also to sleep under mosquito-nettings. 



(3). Native Towns and Villages. Unless Europeans are 

 present in towns and villages, mosquito gangs will scarcely 



