156 THE HOUSE FLY— DISEASE CARRIER 



The case reported is interesting and unusual on ac- 

 count of the fact that the hospital in question is a hos- 

 pital for the insane, and that it is impossible in such 

 an institution to control the intestinal discharges of 

 the patients and confine them to one place. In the 

 hospital all bedding and clothing were brought for 

 cleaning to the laundry, and the laundry contained 

 many flies, and in the laundry colonies of Bacillus 

 prodigiosus were exposed under experimental condi- 

 tions. Subsequently at varying intervals flies were 

 caught in the other rooms of the hospital, and upon 

 test from a large number of them cultures of the Bacil- 

 lus were had. 



Doctor Orton's conclusion as published is that flies 

 were entirely responsible for the epidemic. It is rather 

 a pity that the causative organism of the dysentery 

 could not have been used in this experiment, but that 

 was of course impossible on account of the danger, and 

 it is altogetlier probable that Doctor Orton's conclusions 

 from his experiments with the other Bacillus were per- 

 fectly correct. 



Dr. C. W. Stiles tells the writer that the causative 

 organism of amoebic dysentery sporulates more readily 

 as the feces dry. Therefore under a dry-privy system 

 this disease is the more likely to be carried by flies. 



Diarrhea in Infants 



Diarrhea and enteritis, commonly known as summer 

 complaint, cause a great mortality among cliildren in 

 the United States. It is doubtful whether the average 



