Mosquitoes and Yellow Fever 121 



hundred deaths occurred. At that time there was 

 waged one of the most remarkable warfares against 

 death in its most terrifying form that the world 

 has ever known. And, thanks to the achievements 

 of science, particularly to the investigations of 

 three men, one of whom gave his life to the cause, 

 the fight was successful and this dreadful outbreak 

 was checked just at the time when according to all 

 precedent it should have been at its height. 



This result which at other times and under other 

 conditions would have been considered miraculous 

 was achieved not by the usual custom of isolation, 

 quarantine, etc., but by a direct, we may almost 

 say hand to hand, conflict with mosquitoes: the 

 mosquitoes belonging to a particular genus and 

 species, Stegomyia calopus Qasciatd). 



Before taking up a discussion of this achieve- 

 ment in New Orleans let us consider first the work 

 of the men that made such results possible. 



For many years the cause and methods of dis- 

 semination of this disease had been a puzzle to 

 physicians and scientists. Very early it was be- 

 lieved that it might be transmitted through the 

 air, and the fact that infection usually occurred in 

 the vicinity of the water and in the tropics or in 

 midsummer led to the belief that the disease was 

 due to fermentation. This theory received strong 



