456 



Biology in America 



which swarmed from latrine to mess table. Typhoid fever 

 developed in the camp and the resultant roll of 22,420 cases 

 and 1,924 deaths told all too plainly the work of the fly as 

 the agent of death. Bacteriological examination of the bodies 

 of flies confirmed the evidence of the sick list, showing beyond 

 peradventure the responsibility of the fly. Contrast this with 

 our record in the recent war. In the army camps an almost 

 entire absence of flies, even though nearby towns and villages 

 were furnished with an ample quota, no uncovered garbage 

 piles, loose refuse, or unscreened mess halls and kitchens; no 

 poorly built and unsanitary toilets, no dirty streets and ill- 

 scrubbed floors. A returned soldier put the situation in a 

 nut-shell when he said that he wished every civilian could 

 have a dose of sanitary training in the army. And the result ? 

 A reduction of the death rate from all diseases, prior to the 

 influenza epidemic in 1918, to less than one-half that of the 

 healthiest part of the United States. This epidemic levied 

 a terrible toll upon the crowded army camps, serving to illus- 

 trate man's utter helplessness in the face of an enemy who 

 fights with unknown weapons. 



As a further specific example of the results of the "swat- 

 the-fly" campaign in America, when consistently carried out, 

 let us take the experience of Wilmington, N. C., in 1911. 

 During the summer of this year all manure piles and other 

 possible breeding places for flies were several times sprinkled 

 with pyroligneous acid to destroy the developing eggs and 

 larvae. The result of this work is shown in the accompanying 

 table in which + indicates the time of sprinkling. 9 



Typhoid Cases 



Date of sprinkling with 

 pyroligneous acid 



In 1907 the Merchants' Association of New York City 

 appointed a committee to study among other things the work 



9 From Stockbridge, ' ' How to Make a Fly less Town, ' ' World 's Work, 

 vol. 24. 



