454 



Biology in America 



in 1907 as a result of the anti-mosquito campaign there were 

 but 23 deaths, and the disease is now virtually unknown 

 there. 6a 



Within the United States anti-mosquito work has been 

 sporadic and local in character, in many cases being under- 

 taken privately rather than under national or state direction. 

 Wherever it has been consistently pursued however it has 

 given striking success. One of the most notable instances of 

 this local work is that undertaken on Staten Island in 1901 



WAR ON THE MOSQUITO 



Filling in salt marshes with the contents of Brooklyn ash barrels. 

 Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology. 



by the New York Health Department under the direction 

 of Dr. Doty, health officer of the port of New York. Staten 

 Island is a long narrow island on the opposite side of New 

 York Bay from the city, and between it and the Jersey shore 

 a ridge of low hills forms the backbone of the island, with 

 the land sloping down to salt marshes along the shores. 

 Malaria has been epidemic there for many years, and its 

 mosquitoes have been almost as famous as the New Jersey 

 brand. The details of the work are similar to those already 

 described, except that more extensive ditching operations were 

 ea Noguchi has recently discovered a probable cause of yellow fever 

 in the Leptospira icteroides. He has also devised a successful pro 

 tective vaccine and a curative serum, which latter in several experiments 

 reduced the mortality from 50% to 9%. 



