ECONOMIC LOSS THROUGH INSECTS 



745 



liberation of tubercle bacilli from fly- 

 specks is unlikely. If mechanically dis- 

 turbed, infection of the surrounding air 

 may occur. 



"As a corollary to these conclusions, it 

 is suggested that — 



"3. Tubercular material (sputum, pus 

 from discharging sinuses, fecal matter 

 from patients with intestinal tuberculosis, 

 etc.) should be carefully protected from 

 flies, lest they act as disseminators of the 

 tubercle bacilli. 



"4. During the fly season greater at- 

 tention should be paid to the screening of 

 rooms and hospital wards containing pa- 

 tients with tuberculosis and laboratories 

 where tubercular material is examined. 



"5. As these precautions would not 

 eliminate fly infection by patients at 

 large, foodstuffs should be protected 

 from flies which may already have in- 

 gested tubercular material." 



The danger of the typhoid or house fly 

 in the carriage of disease has thus been 

 abundantly demonstrated, and yet it is 

 allowed to breed unrestricted all over the 

 United States ; it is allowed to enter 

 freely the houses of the great majority 

 of our people ; it is allowed to spread bac- 

 teria freely over our food supplies in the 

 markets and in the kitchens and dining- 

 rooms of private houses, and, to use the 

 happy phraseology of Dr. Theobald 

 Smith, "when we go into public restau- 

 rants in midsummer we are compelled to 

 fight for our food with the myriads of 

 house flies which we find there alert, per- 

 sistent, and invincible." 



Even if the typhoid or house fly were 

 a creature difficult to destroy, the general 

 failure on the part of communities to 

 make any efforts whatever to reduce its 

 numbers could properly be termed crim- 

 inal neglect ; but since it is comparatively 

 an easy matter to do away with the 

 plague of flies, this neglect "becomes an 

 evidence of ignorance or of a carelessness 

 in regard to disease-_producing filth which 

 to the informed mind constitutes a 

 serious blot on civilized methods of life. 



HOW TO KEEP THE FUES AWAY 



If we allow the accumulation of filth 

 we will have house flies, and if we do not 



allow it to accumulate we will have no 

 house flies. With the careful collection 

 of garbage in cans and the removal of 

 the contents at more frequent intervals 

 than 10 days, and with the proper regula- 

 tion of abattoirs, and more particularly 

 with the proper regulation of stables in 

 which horses are kept, the typhoid' fly 

 will become a rare species. It will not 

 be necessary to treat horse manure with 

 chloride of lime or with kerosene or with 

 a solution of Paris green or arsenate of 

 lead, if stablemen are required to place 

 the manure daily in a properly covered 

 receptacle and if it is carried away once a 

 week. 



The orders of the Health Department 

 of the District of Columbia, published 

 May 3, 1906, if carried out will be very 

 effective. These orders provide for the 

 keeping of manure in watertight bins or 

 pits or barrels, protected from flies. 



In addition to this excellent ordinance, 

 others have been issued from the Health 

 Department of the District of Columbia 

 which provide against the contamination 

 of exposed food by flies and by dust. 

 The ordinances are excellently worded 

 so as to cover all possible cases. They 

 provide for the registration of all stores, 

 markets, cafes, lunch rooms, or of any 

 other place where food or beverage is 

 manufactured or prepared for sale, stored 

 for sale, offered for sale, or sold, in order 

 to facilitate inspection, and still more re- 

 cent ordinances provide for the registra- 

 tion of stables. An excellent campaign 

 was begun during the summer of 1908 

 against insanitary lunch rooms and res- 

 taurants. A number of cases were pros- 

 ecuted, but conviction was found to be 

 difficult. 



For one reason or another, the chief 

 reason being the lack of a sufficient force 

 of inspectors under the control of the 

 health officers, the ordinance in regard to 

 stables has not been carried out with that 

 perfection which the situation demands. 



Were simple inspection of stables all 

 that is needed, a force of four inspectors, 

 specially detailed for this work, could 

 cover the District of Columbia, examin- 

 ing every stable, after they were once 

 located and mapped, once a week. The 



