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it is undoubtedly true that mosquitoes are very abundant in most parts 
of the State, that fact does not mean to the writer that in the greater 
part of the State there are any more breeding spaces or that mosqui- 
toes are any more prolific within the State borders than elsewhere. 
It does, however, seem to him that there is constant carriage inland 
from the marshy seacoast of very many mosquitoes, but by this he 
does not intend to convey the idea that they are carried by wind or 
that they fly to any great distance inland. There are other means of 
conveyance, and of these railway trains seem to be very important. 
All through the summer evenings many trains are started inland from 
Weehawken, Hoboken, Jersey City, South Amboy, Long Branch, 
Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Cape May, N. J. Many of the cars, as 
the writer knows from experience, contain mosquitoes by the hun- 
dreds. In this way unlimited quantities of mosquitoes are carried 
unlimited distances, and, emerging from the cars, will start to breed 
even in localities where mosquitoes are ordinarily rare, or would be 
rare under ordinary conditions. In this way even mountain resorts 
will get their supply of lowland mosquitoes, and with the improve- 
ment of railway service and the increase in number of through cars 
the danger is constantly increasing. ‘The writer knows of one instance 
in the Catskill Mountains in New York where the infestation of a pre- 
viously uninfested place could have been brought about in no other 
way. Through parlor and through baggage cars now run from Jersey 
City and Weehawken into the heart of the Catskills and through trains 
from Boston into the White Mountains. 
In the same way through cars run from Baltimore into the Blue 
Ridge, and thus a constant source of supply may be, and undoubtedly 
is, kept up. 
How long can the larve lwe out of water?—At the meeting of the 
Association of Economic Entomologists above referred to, Dr. Smith 
asked if it were possible for mosquitoes to breed in mud, and sug- 
gested that there was no reason to believe that the actual presence of 
water was necessary for all mosquito species. The writer has seen a 
statement from some Californian, which he is unable to place at the 
present time, to the effect that there isa prevalent belief in some parts 
of the United States that when a surface pool dries up half-grown 
larve may exist in the drying mud for some time, reviving with a 
fresh rain. Mr. C. A. Sperry, of Chicago, wrote us early in 1899 
and advanced the same theory. He said that experiments made in 
small vessels had always been very unsatisfactory to him, and that he 
abandoned that method and sought the natural breeding places for 
investigation and experiment. Early in July he found a wet-weather 
pond with mosquito larvee in it, the pond being nearly dry. In a few 
days the water was all gone. He examined closely and discovered no 
dead larve. In about a week it rained, and as soon as the rain 
