THE HOUSE FLY AND DISEASE 83 



water. These do not interfere much with the manurial 

 properties of the manure, and the horses will be more fit for 

 work if their stable is not infested with flies. 



A second breeding place that needs attention is the old-fash- 

 ioned insanitary privy, where germs are gathered by flies and then 

 distributed over our food, and on the faces and feeding bottles of 

 infants. Wherever extra sanitary precautions have been taken, 

 a decrease in the death rate of infants due to intestinal diseases 

 has always resulted. Local authorities thus have a serious 

 responsibility in enforcing sanitary measures. 



The third common breeding place of the house fly is in all 

 sorts of refuse, such as in unprotected garbage cans, city dumps, 

 etc. 



It is possible to diminish the number of flies by catching the 

 adults in flytraps or with sticky fly paper, or by poisoning them. 

 An excellent method of killing flies is with a solution of two 

 tablespoonfuls of formalin in a mixture of one half a pint of sweet 

 milk and one-half a pint of water. This should be exposed in 

 shallow dishes with a piece of bread in the center on which the 

 flies may alight. 



Prevention of Distribution of Germs. — The best means of 

 preventing the transference of germs are, first, the protection of 

 infected matter from flies, and, second, the protection of food, both 

 liquid and solid, and the protection of the faces of infants and in- 

 valids from flies. The necessity of preventing flies from gaining 

 access to excreta, infected or non-infected, is too obvious to need 

 insisting upon, nor should flies have access to tubercular sputum 

 or purulent discharges. The screening of food, of hospitals, 

 of the sick room, and of infants is a measure which should 

 be adopted as a matter of course rather than a hygienic 

 necessity. 



It is safe to say that, if measures were taken to prevent flies from 

 breeding by doing away with possible breeding places, and also 

 to prevent their transferring infection from infected material, 

 the house fly would cease to be a serious factor in the carriage 



