﻿330 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  edge, 
  he 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  able, 
  in 
  all 
  cases, 
  to 
  assign 
  the 
  purposes 
  for 
  which 
  it 
  

   was 
  made. 
  

  

  Do 
  not 
  misunderstand 
  me. 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  object 
  to 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  

   noxious 
  animals 
  when 
  our 
  lives 
  are 
  endangered 
  by 
  them, 
  nor 
  to 
  a 
  very 
  

   great 
  reduction 
  — 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  extreme 
  extent 
  of 
  our 
  abiUty 
  — 
  of 
  the 
  

   overwhelming 
  numbers 
  in 
  which 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  insect 
  enemies 
  present 
  

   themselves, 
  depriving 
  us 
  of 
  comfort, 
  withholding 
  from 
  us 
  luxuries, 
  and 
  

   robbing 
  us 
  of 
  material 
  wealth 
  and 
  at 
  times 
  of 
  the 
  necessities 
  of 
  life. 
  To 
  

   such 
  a 
  reduction, 
  my 
  studies 
  and 
  labors 
  as 
  you 
  know, 
  are 
  being 
  con- 
  

   stantly 
  directed. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  against 
  excessive 
  numbers 
  that 
  the 
  

   economic 
  entomologist 
  contends 
  — 
  an 
  excess 
  that 
  did 
  not 
  exist 
  when 
  first 
  

   " 
  God 
  saw 
  that 
  all 
  was 
  good" 
  — 
  which 
  could 
  not 
  exist 
  under 
  the 
  opera- 
  

   tions 
  alone 
  of 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  nature, 
  but 
  which 
  do 
  exist 
  as 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  

   the 
  unnatural, 
  excessive, 
  and 
  often 
  improper 
  demands 
  of 
  our 
  present 
  

   form 
  of 
  civilization 
  and 
  society. 
  Briefly, 
  it 
  is 
  right 
  and 
  proper 
  to 
  restrain 
  ; 
  

   it 
  would 
  be 
  wrong, 
  we 
  think, 
  had 
  we 
  the 
  power 
  to 
  utterly 
  exterminate. 
  

  

  But 
  to 
  return 
  to 
  the 
  question. 
  We 
  do 
  know 
  one 
  purpose 
  which 
  the 
  

   mosquito 
  serves, 
  and 
  one 
  of 
  considerable 
  importance 
  in 
  a 
  sanitary 
  point 
  

   of 
  view. 
  It 
  serves 
  to 
  purify 
  standing 
  waters 
  and 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  extent 
  to 
  

   lessen 
  their 
  malarial 
  influences. 
  The 
  natural 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  larval 
  mos- 
  

   quito 
  is 
  the 
  stagnant 
  water 
  of 
  our 
  miasmatic 
  swamps. 
  The 
  entire 
  food 
  

   of 
  the 
  creature 
  from 
  its 
  birth 
  to 
  its 
  maturity 
  is 
  believed 
  to 
  consist 
  of 
  the 
  

   decaying 
  vegetable 
  matter 
  which 
  is 
  here 
  found 
  in 
  abundance, 
  together 
  

   with 
  other 
  impurities 
  which 
  it 
  draws 
  from 
  such 
  waters. 
  Its 
  agency 
  in 
  

   the 
  purification 
  of 
  standing 
  water 
  may 
  be 
  easily 
  shown. 
  If 
  during 
  the 
  

   summer 
  months 
  two 
  barrels 
  of 
  rain-water 
  be 
  placed 
  side 
  by 
  side 
  — 
  the 
  

   one 
  open 
  to 
  the 
  atmosphere 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  thin 
  nettings 
  

   the 
  following 
  result 
  will 
  be 
  obtained 
  : 
  The 
  open 
  one, 
  after 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  has 
  

   elapsed, 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  abound 
  with 
  the 
  larvae 
  and 
  the 
  pupae 
  of 
  the 
  

   mosquito, 
  and 
  its 
  water 
  sweet 
  ; 
  the 
  other, 
  the 
  netting 
  of 
  which 
  prevented 
  

   the 
  visits 
  of 
  the 
  mosquitoes 
  for 
  the 
  deposit 
  of 
  their 
  eggs, 
  and 
  conse- 
  

   quently 
  without 
  larvae, 
  will 
  have 
  become 
  foul 
  and 
  offensive. 
  

  

  We 
  need 
  not 
  refer 
  to 
  an 
  important 
  role 
  which 
  the 
  insect 
  in 
  its 
  super- 
  

   abundance 
  plays, 
  as 
  food 
  for 
  fishes, 
  since 
  that 
  is 
  but 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  

   a 
  seemingly 
  universal 
  rule 
  controlling 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  orders 
  of 
  animated 
  

   nature, 
  viz., 
  "eat 
  and 
  be 
  eaten." 
  

  

  In 
  view 
  of 
  this 
  general 
  law, 
  seemingly 
  fraught 
  with 
  so 
  much 
  suffering, 
  

   how 
  fortunate 
  it 
  is, 
  we 
  may 
  remark 
  incidentally, 
  that 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  

   orders 
  which 
  are 
  doomed 
  to 
  a 
  ])erpetual 
  sacrifice 
  to 
  the 
  Moloch, 
  appe- 
  

   tite 
  — 
  insects, 
  for 
  example 
  — 
  have 
  organisms 
  so 
  constituted 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  

  

  