212 SLEEPING SICKNESS, FLIES, AND DISEASE 



ftccal matter has for house flies, which hitter may after- 

 wards come into direct contact with man or his food- 

 stuffs, 'i'hey may, as \"eeder puts it, " in a very 

 few minutes . . . load themselves with dejections from 

 a typhoid or dysenteric patient, not as yet sick enough 

 to be in hospital or inider observation, and carry the 

 poison so taken up into tlie very midst of the food and 

 water ready for use at the next meal. Tliere is no long 

 roundabout process involved." 



5. Ashpit refuse, which in any way tends to fermen- 

 tation, such as bedding, straw, old rags, paper, waste 

 vegetables, dirty bedding from the " hutches " of pet 

 animals, etc., should, if possible, be disposed of by 

 the tenants, preferably by incineration, or be placed 

 in a separate receptacle so that no fermentation can 

 take place. If such precautions were adopted by house- 

 holders, relatively few house flies M'ould breed in the 

 ashpits, and the present system of emptying such 

 places at longer intervals than, say, four to six weeks, 

 might be continued. 



6. The application of Paris green (poison) at the 

 rate of two ounces to one gallon of water to either 

 stable manure or ashpit refuse will destroy 99 per 

 cent, of the larvje. Possibly a smaller percentage 

 of Paris green might be employed with equally good 

 results. 



One per cent, of crude atoxyl in water kills 100 per 

 cent, of fly larvju. 



The application of either of these substances might, 

 however, lead to serious complications, and it is very 

 doubtful whether they could be employed with safety. 

 Paris green, at the rate of one to two ounces to twenty 

 gallons of water, is used largely as an insecticide for fruit 

 pests. It does no harm to \egetation when applied in 



