December 15, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



843 



for they know that their children will thrive 

 therein; and also that as soon as they have 

 laid their eggs the males are ready to fertilize 

 them again. The eggs exude their larvae into 

 the seal-water of the closet, the latter are 

 washed down into the cesspool where the 

 water is at an even temperature, and where 

 there is plenty of food for them ; so the perpet- 

 uation of the species is assured. As the fe- 

 male lives so much longer than the male, her 

 second and third fecundations are brought 

 about by the males of succeeding generations 

 to her own." With modern improvements an 

 up-to-date female mosquito does not even lose 

 time by going down stairs to dispose of her 

 eggs! Further interesting information is 

 that " the larval metamorphosis includes the 

 pupa stage." Most opportune comes the 

 statement : " Both the larva and the pupa are 

 not fish, but insects." Notonecta is well known 

 as an enemy of mosquito larvae and we here 

 learn that " it can hop from one puddle to 

 another. It is a water-beetle, but is rendered 

 powerless against mosquito larvse when the 

 pond becomes full of green weed, which 

 hampers its movements." 



But the acme is reached in Chapter IX., 

 entitled " Mosquito Reduction." This chapter 

 does not, as one would suppose from the title, 

 give useful instruction in the control of mos- 

 quitoes. Casting aside the fetters of science, 

 the author soars into the boundless realm of 

 pure imagination. He takes an imaginary 

 female mosquito from the time she emerges 

 from the pupa, through a series of hair-raising 

 adventures, to the end of her life. The story 

 is made fascinating by the author's treatment 

 of mosquito psychology. " The room was al- 

 most dark. She settled at once on the mos- 

 quito net, waving her hind-legs in an expect- 

 ant way. The thoughts of a meal made her 

 feel a pleasurable excitement, but she also felt, 

 instinctively, the need for caution." . . . 

 " The wind and disturbance he made with his 

 arms caused the mosquito to fly away to a far 

 corner of the room, and contemplate with 

 quaking thoughts the difficulties of obtaining 

 the necessaries of life." ..." When on the 

 child's net she noticed that there were a score 



or so of mosquitoes like herself, with their 

 bodies distended with blood. But there were 

 only two males among them, and they both be- 

 longed to an alien species, and they had not 

 fed on the child. What had become of the 

 swarms of males that she had left in the cess- 

 pool? She wondered why it was only her sex 

 that required blood. Why had she to risk her 

 life for food while her husband and brothers 

 remained contentedly in their home, the cess- 

 pool ? " After a series of blood-letting and 

 egg-laying adventures, in which our mos- 

 quito shows a considerable capacity for ac- 

 quiring wisdom, we finally get to the point of 

 the story. The mosquito brigade has been 

 busy, the breeding places have been either 

 oiled, drained or screened. 



" Six weeks later she had another brood of 

 eggs to lay. The fountain was now dry. She 

 searched high and low, but there was no water 

 anywhere that was suitable for her eggs; also 

 there were no male mosquitos. All the cess- 

 pools contained petroleum, and even the cis- 

 terns were screened with wire gauze. So she 

 laid her eggs in some clean water in a basin, 

 but the larvffi died for want of food. She 

 searched for a male mosquito of her species to 

 consort with again; he could not be found. 

 There were no mosquitos at all. Then the 

 craving for blood seemed to forsake her. She 

 became a vegetarian, living on the juices of 

 old banana skins and discarded watermelons. 

 But her life, once so full of adventure, was 

 blasted, and she died disappointed, but with 

 the knowledge that she had lived." 



It should be added in closing that several 

 chapters are devoted to directions for ma- 

 king estimates of cost for mosquito-control 

 work, and principally how to wheedle the 

 necessary money out of reluctant authorities, 

 corporations or private individuals. 



The appearance of the present work is the 

 more astounding when one compares it with 

 another work which appeared six years ago, as 

 a byproduct of similar activity to Mr. Ross's 

 and in the same locality (the Isthmus of 

 Suez). The work referred to is Dr. Pressat's 

 " Le paludisme et les moustiques " (Paris, 

 Masson et Cie, 1905) which must stiU be 



