238 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
EDITORIAL GLEANINGS. 
THE Society for the Destruction of Vermin was formed in January, 
1908, to organize a national movement for the extermination of rats 
and other vermin noxious to man. Among the vermin included 
within the scope of the Society’s operations are rats, mice, sparrows, 
ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, and flies. It stands amply proved by the 
testimony and researches of many eminent scientists that rats and 
other vermin constitute a most serious menace to public health. They 
foster and disseminate disease germs, and in many instances are the 
leading factors in disease epidemics. 
Bubonic plague is now known to be conveyed mainly by rats. In 
most recent outbreaks this disease has been noticed to occur first 
amongst the rat population of the invaded areas; from these it passes 
to man by means of fleas, which inoculate him with the germs they 
have imbibed in feeding on infected rats. It is evident that the 
destruction of rats is an essential, if not the most important, preven- 
tive against plague. Malaria is known to be directly conveyed to man 
by infected mosquitoes. The extermination of mosquitoes is being 
carried out very actively in numerous malarial districts with remark- 
able results. Yellow fever: This pestilence has been proved to be 
conveyed from the sick to the healthy by mosquitoes. The steps 
taken by the Americans in Havana afford striking demonstration of 
the part played by these insects in the propagation of disease. After 
various sanitary methods had been tested and found futile, a cam- 
paign was undertaken against the mosquitoes, and the disease dis- 
appeared as if by enchantment. Sleeping sickness: This fatal 
disease is conveyed and inoculated by tsetse-flies. The Huropean 
Powers, alarmed at the rapid extension of the disease and the heavy 
mortality it is causing, have convened an International Conference of 
the leading scientific authorities on tropical diseases to concert 
methods for the destruction of tsetse-flies. 
Among other examples may be mentioned enteric fever and cholera, 
conveyed by the house-fly; various forms of relapsing fever, by ticks 
and bugs; trichinosis, by the rat; and red-water fever and other 
diseases in cattle, by ticks. The striking discovery has recently been 
