MISCELLANEOUS. 57 



speaking of preventive measures, refers to the various organizations 

 that have arisen in the United States to deal with the House Fly 

 problem, and I take the liberty of quoting him at some length, from 

 his admirable work, which should be in the hands of all interested. 



" In a number of towns and cities in the United States, the 

 initiative in the fly crusade has been taken by health officers, but in 

 the majority of communities the health officials have to be stirred 

 up. In some cases, as in the State of Florida, the whole State crusade 

 has been begun by the State officials, and they have stirred up the 

 town officials. In a few communities but these are very few- 

 private practitioners have been the exciting cause of anti-fly work. In 

 one State only, so far as the writer knows, has the State medical 

 association established a fly committee which has taken upon itself 

 to carry information concerning the typhoid fly into every portion of 

 the State. 



Elsewhere, and here are the majority of instances in which anti- 

 fly work has been begun, the beginnings have been made either by a 

 single private individual or by some local organization, as a civic 

 league, a women's club, or a town improvement society. Women's 

 clubs have done very effective work in this direction, and it may be 

 parenthetically stated that a great latent power exists in these 

 organizations, a power which is only just beginning to manifest itself. 

 The energy shown for years by these organizations, while never mis- 

 directed, has not until very recently been directed towards the work 

 which is the most productive for the good of all, namely, general 

 sanitary measures with a focussing upon one point after another. 

 The Women's Municipal League, of Boston, as an example, has 

 recently taken up the fly question through its department of sanita- 

 tion, of which Mrs. Robert S. Bradley is the chairman, and is doing 

 admirable work. 



In most communities nowadays, one or the other of these organiza- 

 tions or all of them exist. In towns where there are no such organiza- 

 tions, they should be started at once. In such cases let anyone 

 convinced of the necessity for an anti-fly crusade, talk to his or her 

 friends and, unrebuffed by indifference on the part of others, persevere 

 until a group is formed. Then with perseverance the growth of the 

 organization and the growth of public spirit in many directions will 

 be rapid. 



