52 
p. 212) that in the French quarter of New Orleans it has been a com- 
mon practice for many years to place kerosene in the water tanks to 
lessen the numbers of mosquitoes in a given locality, although he knew - 
nothing that had been written to show that such was the case, and he 
says: ‘In this age of advancement we can no longer go by hearsay evi- 
dence.’ Suggestions as to the use of kerosene, and even experiments on 
a water surface 10 inches square, showing that the larve could be killed 
by kerosene, were recorded by Mrs. C. B. Aaron in her Lamborn 
prize essay and published in the work entitled ‘Dragon Flies versus 
Mosquitoes’ (D. Appleton & Co., 1890). Mr. W. Beutenmiiller, also 
in the same work, made the same suggestion. 
‘*The quantity of kerosene to be practically used, as shown by the 
writer’s experiments, is approximately 1 ounce to 15 square feet of 
water surface, and ordinarily the application need not be renewed for 
one month. Since 1892 several demonstrations, on both a large and a 
small scale, have been made. ‘Two localities were rid of the mosquito 
plague under the supervision of the writer by the use of kerosene 
alone. Mr. Weed, in the article above mentioned, states that he rid 
the college campus of the Mississippi Agricultural College of mos- 
quitoes by the treatment with kerosene of eleven large water tanks. 
Dr. John B. Smith has recorded, though without details, success with 
this remedy in two cases on Long Island (Insect Life, Vol. VI, p. 91). 
Prof. J. H. Comstock tells the writer that a similar series of experi- 
ments, with perfectly satisfactory results, was carried out by Mr. Ver- 
non L. Kellogg on the campus of Stanford University, at Palo Alto, 
Cal. In this case post holes filled with surface water were treated, 
with the result that the mosquito plague was almost immediately 
alleviated. 
** Additional experiments on a somewhat larger scale have been made 
by Rey. John D. Long at Oak Island Beach, Long Island Sound, and 
by Mr. W. R. Hopson, near Bridgeport, Conn., also on the shores of 
Long Island Sound, the experiments in both cases indicating the effi- 
cacy of the remedy when applied intelligently. I have not been able 
to learn the details of Mr. Hopson’s operations, but am told that they 
included extensive draining as well as the use of kerosene. 
‘It is not, however, the great sea marshes along the coast, where 
mosquitoes breed in countless numbers, which we can expect to treat 
by this method, but the inland places, where the mosquito supply is 
derived from comparatively small swamps and circumscribed pools. 
In most localities people endure the torment or direct their remedies 
against the adult insect only, without the slightest attempt to investi- 
gate the source of the supply, when the very first step should be the 
undertaking of such an investigation. In ‘Gleanings in Bee Culture’ 
(October 1, 1895) we notice the statement in the California column 
that in some California towns the pit or vault behind water-closets is 
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