INSECTS AND DISEASE 
By C.-E. A. Winslow 
and F. E. Lutz 
THE IMPORTANCE OF INSECTS 
The life of man is affected, for good or ill, at a thousand points 
by the activities of the humbler members of the living world of which 
he forms a part. The lower animals and plants supply us with our 
food and clothing and with materials for providing shelter against 
the elements. On the other hand, certain species are our relentless 
foes, waging constant war against our property and even our lives. 
In the case of the insects, for example, as we review the multitudes 
of these creatures within our limited horizon, we not only admire the 
wondrous beauty of this species or the amazing instincts of that; we 
are awestruck at the financial havoc wrought by one and appre- 
ciate with gratitude the way in which another helps to restore the 
balance of Nature and protect us from starvation. Even among the 
microbic forms of life, in the world of the “‘infinitely little,’’ we find, 
on the one hand, the bacteria of the soil fixing the nitrogen of the air 
and making it available for our growing crops — on the other, the 
bacilli of tuberculosis and of a score of other deadly diseases, threaten- 
ing the health and life of hundreds of thousands. 
One of the most interesting and important chapters in the story 
of the interrelationships between mankind and the lower forms of 
life is that which deals with the triple relation between the microbe, 
the insect and the human being in the spread of certain communi- 
cable diseases. The types of insects and their relatives concerned 
are, on the whole, more disgusting than beautiful; their habits are not 
attractive, nor are their instincts extraordinary; but they have pro- 
foundly influenced the history of the human race. You and | may 
lose our lives by reason of their activities; we certainly can aid in 
combating them. It, therefore, behooves us to become well acquainted 
with our foes. 
