PrOCKKDINGS 01^ Fli^TH AnNUAI. Ml^ETlNG 65 



malaria in the State of Connecticut against 10 deaths in New 

 Jersey, with a much larger population, and Connecticut had 5 

 more deaths in 19 16 than the year before, whereas we had 3 

 deaths less. In plain words, the seriousness of the problem has 

 not been as clearly recognized in Connecticut as in this state, 

 although much has been done and much is being done along 

 similar lines to those that have been so successfully followed 

 under the wise direction of our state Agricultural Experiment 

 Station. It is quite possible that the time will come when a cause 

 of action will lie against any community where malaria prevails 

 unnecessarily as it does in all of the wealthy suburban towns of 

 the southern shore of Connecticut, which otherwise pride them- 

 selves on their beautiful homes, their fine roads, their good 

 government, etc., but where there is not a realized sense of 

 responsibility for municipal neglect to eradicate malarie by the 

 extermination of the mosquitoes responsible for the transmission 

 of the disease. 



But mosquito extermination is much more difficult than is 

 generally realized. Even one single breeding place may cause a 

 new outbreak and a further dissemination of that marvelous 

 something that we call the malaria parasite, which is transmitted 

 by the mosquitoes to the blood of the helpless thousands and tens 

 of thousands who are entitled to adequate protection on the part 

 of the community. Eradication measures are of small purpose 

 if not undertaken in the most thorough-going and persistent 

 manner. The utmost thoroughness and eternal vigilence was 

 the secret of the wonderful success achieved by Gorgas in Cuba 

 and at Panama. The fundamental principle has been clearly 

 stated by Ross, that ''If there is no stagnant water there will be no 

 Anopheles mosquitoes and in consequence there will be no ma- 

 laria." Success cannot be achieved by underpaid men or by 

 poorly-sustained commissions. The work can be done only under 

 the direction of a thoroughly-organized mosquito extermination 

 agency, such as now exists in the New Jersey Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station. Nothing that Essex County has ever done, 

 and I have lived there for nearly twenty-five years and am 

 thoroughly familiar with the facts, reflects as much credit upon 

 its attainment of a true civilization and the efficiency of its gov- 



5 MOS 



