230 THE HOUSE FLY— DISEASE CARRIER 



creased, and, per contra, the health of the people so 

 easily bettered, as by the reduction of the numbers of 

 the house fly to a negligible quantity. 



Boards of Health 



The health officers, both State and local, of the coun- 

 try have their associations and organizations of one 

 kind or another. Probably all of them are members 

 of the Public Health Association of the United States. 

 All are thus, or should be, acquainted with the work 

 of all the rest, since there is a constant interchange of 

 ideas at the meetings and a constant interchange of 

 publications in the intervals between the meetings. But 

 it is well for citizens' associations, civic leagues, wom- 

 en's clubs who take up sanitary matters, and public- 

 spirited citizens generally, to know what an effective 

 health officer or board of health should do, in order 

 that they may intelligently criticise the administration 

 of such matters by their own local officials in case, 

 when, as it sometimes happens, these are lax; or, on 

 the other hand, back up efficient officials where village 

 trustees or town councils or city boards of aldermen 

 are not disposed to grant the funds necessary to carry 

 out proper sanitary regulations. 



This is our excuse for quoting at length the sanitary 

 regulations of the District of Columbia in so far as 

 they relate to the fly problem. The regulations are 

 sound and the citizens of the District have no cause 

 in this respect to criticise the health officer, but the 

 appropriating body in this case (and it happens to be 



