530 PROF. H. MAXWELL LEFROY ON" 



SO well done, manure cannot be so quickly disposed of, and there 

 will be local outbreaks of flies if the weather conditions are 

 suitable. 



The usual vigilance exercised in inspection, and in destroying 

 material capable of breeding flies will be impossible this year ; 

 there will be accumulations of manure and refuse in towns, on 

 farms, on market gardens and where cavalry are quartei'ed, and 

 this will provide breeding-material particularly for house-flies. 



The second reason is that in areas affected by the war, flies are 

 increasing, because sanitation and the disposal of fly-breeding 

 material will not be possible, and this will accumulate to an 

 unusual extent. I have evidence of this already from the Con- 

 tinent: these flies wdll not come over here, but they will lead to a 

 greater spread there of the diseases that they carrj' and we shall 

 be affected ; if cholera breaks out in Serbia. Austria, or other 

 parts of South Europe, it may spread in fly -invested areas and 

 get widely diffused. I do not want to be an alarmist, but I think 

 we must be prepared for such possibilities when a war of this 

 magnitude is in progress. 



If flies are going to be unusually numerous so will the diseases 

 they cai-ry, and one of these is typhoid : we inoculate the men 

 who go to the front, but we here are not inoculated. 



The third consideration is that there is a likelihood of a very 

 terrible plague of flies actually where the fighting is in progress, 

 which will very deeph^ impress those who are there : no one quite 

 knows where the fighting-line will be, but wherever it is the flies 

 are likely to be a feature. This is a good time, then, to do what 

 we can to rub the facts in, to get them known, to arouse interest, 

 and to help those whose business it will be to fight flies : already 

 we have been visited by Arm}' Doctors anxious to get quickly all 

 the facts about flies, and this will become increasingly useful. 



For these reasons we have made all we' can of this little 

 exhibition, and, though it is not nearly complete, it contains useful 

 information and will be open at once. 



It is not necessary for me to go into the details of the life- 

 histor}' and habits of flies to-night : you can see it all in the 

 exhibition to-morrow, and you are probably all aware of the main 

 facts. We are showing the various stages of the House -fly and 

 the Blow-fly, the common flies of houses, where they breed, Avhat 

 they feed on, the diseases they cany, how they carry them, and 

 so on. The facts are condensed on diagrams, posters, pictures, 

 and the methods of fighting flies are described in a short 

 pamphlet. 



What can one do against flies ? There are three lines on which 

 one can work, adjusting one's methods to local cu'cumstances of 

 course : — 



1 . Removal or treatment of breeding-material. 



2. Traps. 



3. Poisons. 



The materials in which house-flies lay eggs and develop are 



