152 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



a 'coon taken at McKenzie Bridge this winter, which was said 

 there to be as large as any taken in that region, weighed just 

 thirteen and one-half pounds. A comparison of 'coon skulls from 

 the mountains and from the coast region shows no difference 

 which would indicate any great difference in weight, and I 

 greatly doubt if there is any such extreme difference as that 

 reported. This is but an example of how careful one must be in 

 accepting estimated weights of animals when there is no evidence 

 by standard scales to back up the assertions. 



Bear, cougar, and wolves were taken in the mountains be- 

 yond McKenzie Bridge, this winter, but the trapper who secured 

 them skinned them in the field, and no weights could be secured; 

 and the estimated weights were so unsatisfactory that they are 

 withheld from publication. The writer would appreciate infor- 

 mation on the Aveights of any of these animals from any one who 

 has definite data of weights on standard scales. 



DUCKS VS. MALARIA AND YELLOW FEVER. 



"For some years I have been using ducks to keep down 

 mosquitoes in swamps that would have been difficult and expen- 

 sive to drain," says Dr. Samuel Gr. Dixon, the Pennsylvania 

 Commissioner of Health, in the journal of the American Medical 

 Association, "but I never fully appreciated the high efficiency 

 of the duck as a destroyer of mosquito life until the foregoing 

 test was made." The test he describes was made after several 

 unsuccessful attempts to destroy the larvae by means of fish. 



He divided the swampy place into two equal parts, each about 

 fourteen hundred square feet in area. One he stocked with gold- 

 fish, and the other he left as a feeding ground for ducks — both 

 were ideal breeding places for mosquitoes. 



In the fish division, mosquito larvae flourished, while in the 

 side with the ducks, larvae were entirely absent. 



Then he put ten mallards in the fish pond and within 48 

 hours only a few small larvae were left. 



The Doctor considers that many larvae were drowned owing 

 to the commotion the birds raised in the water. 



For health's sake, let's have more ducks and less fever! 



K. B. H. 



