﻿28 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  c 
  Typhoid 
  fever 
  gradually 
  disappeared 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  1898, 
  with 
  

   the 
  approach 
  of 
  cold 
  weather, 
  and 
  the 
  consequent 
  disabling 
  of 
  

   the 
  fly. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  possible 
  for 
  the 
  fly 
  to 
  carry 
  the 
  typhoid 
  bacillus 
  in 
  two 
  

   ways. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  place 
  fecal 
  matter 
  containing 
  the 
  typhoid 
  germ 
  

   may 
  adhere 
  to 
  the 
  fly 
  and 
  be 
  mechanically 
  transported. 
  In 
  the 
  

   second 
  place, 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  the 
  typhoid 
  bacillus 
  may 
  be 
  carried 
  

   in 
  the 
  digestive 
  organs 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  deposited 
  with 
  its 
  

   excrement. 
  

  

  Dr 
  Alice 
  Hamilton 
  in 
  1903, 
  studying 
  the 
  part 
  played 
  by 
  the 
  

   house 
  fly 
  in 
  a 
  recent 
  epidemic 
  of 
  typhoid 
  fever 
  in 
  Chicago 
  which 
  

   could 
  not 
  be 
  explained 
  wholly 
  by 
  the 
  water 
  supply 
  nor 
  on 
  the 
  

   grounds 
  of 
  poverty 
  or 
  ignorance 
  of 
  the 
  inhabitants, 
  captured 
  flies 
  

   in 
  undrained 
  privies, 
  on 
  the 
  fences 
  of 
  yards, 
  on 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  two 
  

   liouses 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  room 
  of 
  a 
  typhoid 
  patient 
  and 
  used 
  them 
  to 
  

   inoculate 
  18 
  tubes, 
  from 
  five 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  typhoid 
  bacillus 
  was 
  

   isolated. 
  She 
  further 
  found 
  that 
  many 
  discharges 
  from 
  typhoid 
  

   patients 
  were 
  left 
  exposed 
  in 
  privies 
  or 
  yards, 
  and 
  concluded 
  that 
  

   flies 
  might 
  be 
  an 
  important 
  adjunct 
  in 
  the 
  dissemination 
  of 
  this 
  

   infection. 
  More 
  recently, 
  Dr 
  Daniel 
  D. 
  Jackson 
  investigating 
  in 
  

   1907 
  the 
  pollution 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  harbor, 
  found 
  that 
  by 
  far 
  the 
  

   S"'eater 
  number 
  of 
  cases 
  occurred 
  within 
  a 
  few 
  blocks 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  

   front, 
  the 
  outbreak 
  being 
  most 
  severe 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  vicinity 
  of 
  

   sewer 
  outlets. 
  He 
  gives 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  charts 
  showing 
  an 
  almost 
  exact 
  

   coincidence 
  between 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  house 
  flies 
  and 
  the 
  occur- 
  

   rence 
  of 
  typhoid 
  fever, 
  when 
  the 
  dates 
  are 
  set 
  back 
  two 
  months 
  to 
  

   correspond 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  at 
  which 
  the 
  disease 
  was 
  contracted. 
  The 
  

   bacilli 
  of 
  typhoid 
  fever 
  were 
  found 
  by 
  Ficker 
  in 
  the 
  dejecta 
  of 
  

   house 
  flies 
  23 
  days 
  after 
  feeding, 
  while 
  Hamer 
  records 
  the 
  presence 
  

   of 
  this 
  bacillus 
  in 
  flies 
  during 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  two 
  weeks. 
  Most 
  sig- 
  

   nificant 
  of 
  all, 
  it 
  should 
  be 
  noted 
  that 
  competent 
  physicians 
  in 
  

   position 
  to 
  make 
  extended 
  observations 
  upon 
  this 
  disease 
  and 
  the 
  

   methods 
  by 
  which 
  it 
  may 
  become 
  disseminated, 
  are 
  most 
  strongly 
  

   of 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  under 
  certain 
  conditions 
  at 
  least, 
  the 
  fly 
  is 
  a 
  

   most 
  important 
  factor. 
  Epidemics 
  spread 
  by 
  flies, 
  according 
  to 
  

   Dr 
  Veeder, 
  tend 
  to 
  follow 
  the 
  directions 
  of 
  prevailing 
  wann 
  winds. 
  

   He 
  considers 
  flies 
  the 
  chief 
  medium 
  of 
  conveyance 
  in 
  villages 
  and 
  

   camps 
  where 
  shallow, 
  open 
  closets 
  are 
  used, 
  thus 
  affording 
  the 
  

   insects 
  free 
  access 
  to 
  infected 
  material, 
  and 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  

   eliminate 
  water 
  and 
  milk 
  as 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  infection. 
  Drs 
  Sedgwick 
  

   and 
  Winslow, 
  writing 
  in 
  1903 
  state 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  three 
  great 
  means 
  

  

  