(149) 



390 0. GORDON HEWITT. 



numerous in aod around the sinks. Eggs ofMuscadomes- 

 tica were seen in large clusters on the faeces, and in some 

 instances the patches were two inches wide and half an inch 

 in depth, resembling little patches of lime. Some of the sinks 

 were in a very dirty condition and had a very disagreeable 

 odour/' 



A few examples of the prevalence of conditions favouring the 

 dissemination of enteric by flies in permanent camps may be 

 noted. Cockerill (1905), in describing camp conditions in 

 Bermuda, mentions kitchens within one hundred yards of the 

 latrines ; the shallow privy, seldom or never cleaned out, and 

 middens are found which contain masses of filth swarming with 

 flies. He states that in more recent years the period of greatest 

 incidence is in the summer, being chiefly due to flies and con- 

 taminated dust. Quill (1900), reporting on an outbreak of 

 enteric in the Boer camp in Ceylon, states : " During the 

 whole period that enteric fever was rife in the Boer camp 

 flies in that camp amounted to almost a plague, the military 

 camp being similarly infested, though to a less extent. The 

 outbreak in the Boer camp preceded that among the troops; 

 the two camps were adjacent, and the migration of the flies 

 from the one to the other easy/' Weir, reporting on an out- 

 break of enteric fever in the barracks at Umbala, India, 1 says 

 that most of the pans in the latrines were hall: or quite full, 

 and flies were very numerous in them and on the seats, which 

 latter were soiled by the excreta conveyed by the flies' legs. 

 The men stated that the plague of flies was so great that 

 in the morning they could hardly go to the latrines. He 

 found that the flies were carried from the latrines to the 

 barrack-rooms on the clothes of the men. This state of affairs 

 suggests another mode of infection, namely, per rectum. 

 As Smith has pointed out (I.e.) it is not improbable that 

 flies under these conditions may be inoculators of dysentery. 



Aldridge (1907) gives some interesting statistics showing 

 the influence of the presence of breeding-places of flies. Flies 

 are found in greater numbers in mounted regiments than in 

 1 ' Army Medical Department Report,' 1902, p. 207. 



