DAHLGREN, THE MALARIA MOSQUITO 47 



Mosquitoes do not live in running water, and as a matter of fact, 



the greater number by far, hatch in places where fish could not possibly 



be maintained, hence other measures for extermination must 



The Use 

 be resorted to. The use of crude petroleum spread as a thin of 0il 



film on the surface has long been known to kill the larva* and 



pupa?, but it is applicable only to small bodies of water, and it is not 



lasting in its effect. Poisoning of the water must naturally be restricted 



in its application, but it is effective, and of the agents tried, "phinotas 



oil" which is highly diffusible, is found to give much the best results. 



Cisterns, rain barrels and other receptacles in which mosquitoes are apt 



to breed in large numbers and in which poisoning of the water is not 



permissible, should be kept covered, while other mosquito-breeding 



collections of water in which fish cannot be used, should be treated by 



drainage or filling. 



The saltwater marshes of New Jersey, which give rise to billions of 



insects that spread inland, are at present being drained by machine-dug 



ditches, and at comparatively small cost per square mile. In . 



many cases, the simple introduction of tide-water into the 



low-lying shore districts, will bring about sufficient movement of the 



shallow stagnant water of the marshes to reduce greatly the numbers of 



mosquitoes that hatch. 



LITERATURE ON MOSQUITOES. 



An old work " Micrographia Curiosa" by P. P. Bonnani, published in 

 1691, contains what is perhaps the first account of the mosquito and its lih- 

 history. A "Dissertation de Culice" by Johann Mathews Barth, dates 

 from 1737; the " Bybel der Natuure" (1738) by the Dutch naturalist Swam- 

 merdam who evidently was not acquainted with any previous accounts of 

 the mosquito, contains an excellent description of its metamorphoses, 

 illustrated by plates, which surpass many of the illustrations of the insect 

 published in more recent years. After the time of Linnaeus the literature, 

 of course, becomes more extensive, but no especially great attention was 

 paid to the family Culicidse till after the discovery of its disease-carrying 

 propensities. The number of works dealing witli the insects from a natural 

 history point of view, is somewhat restricted, but papers treating of the 

 medical aspects of the subject are exceedingly numerous. 



Below are enumerated a few of the most important and easily accessible 

 works on mosquitoes and on the subject of insects as carriers of disease. To 



