CHAPTER X 



ATTACK ON PROPAGATION AREAS BY OILING 



I T NDER unfavorable conditions larvae will prob- 

 *^ ably be found in various bodies of water 

 notwithstanding all that may be done by filling and 

 drainage to reduce to a minimum the areas favor- 

 able for breeding, and if they are to be prevented 

 from maturing into adults some other method of 

 destruction must be adopted. Oil is the most 

 commonly used larvacide, and being generally 

 applicable is the most useful. Kerosene, crude 

 oils of paraffin and of asphaltum base, and the 

 various distillates have been used, and also crude 

 creosote, eucalyptus, and juniper oil. ' 



Just how oil kills mosquito larvse and pupffi, the 

 writers are not prepared to assert. The generally 

 accepted theory is that oil clogs the breathing 

 tubes of the larvse and pupae. Another theory is 

 that by reducing the surface tension, the oil film 

 makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the larvae 



' See Ross on the Prevention of Malaria. 

 151 



