84 



N. J. Mosquito Extermination Association 



Abstract of Address 

 on the 



Malaria and Mosquito Investigation at Mound, La. 



By Frederick L. Hoffman, LL.D., Third Vice-President 

 and Statistician, The Prudential Insurance Company of 

 America, and read before the New Jersey Mosquito Exter- 

 mination Association at Atlantic City, N. J., April 28, 1921 



The present discussion is largely concerned with the methods of 

 inquiry followed at Mound, La., by the U. S. Bureau of Entomology 

 under Capt. D. L. Van Dine; the International Health Board; 

 and Dr. Louis J. Petritz. The investigation extends over five to six 

 years, having been seriously interfered with by the war, which has 

 made a complete reconsideration of the original plan inevitable. The 

 investigation concerns (i) topography and external conditions 

 affecting the local prevalence of mosquitoes and the local incidence 

 of malaria; (2) the relative prevalence and density of anopheles 

 mosquitoes, differentiated according to species, sex, etc.; (3) the 

 correlated medical aspects of the problem; (4) the population facts 

 and related sociological considerations, particularly housing condi- 

 tions; (5) agricultural economics, including actual data relating 

 to cotton production as affected by malaria occurrence; (6) meteor- 

 ological data correlated to mosquito density, disease frequency, 

 etc.; and (7) preventive measures purposely or incidentally intro- 

 duced as the result of the investigation. 



The technical information secured does not readily lend itself to 

 mechanical or statistical analysis, and the methods are necessarily 

 affected, if not determined, by local conditions as well as by the 

 appropriation available for scientific research. In its final analysis, 

 however, the collective results of such an investigation are chiefly 

 statistical, suggesting qualified consideration of the facts by those 

 who are familiar with standardized methods of statistical procedure. 



Emphasis has been placed throughout upon agricultural produc- 

 tion in relation to malaria occurrence but only in so far as correlated 

 to the biology of the Anopheles and their function in malaria trans- 

 mission. There has been a careful avoidance of duplication of 

 efforts by other governmental departments or associated voluntary 

 health-promoting agencies, for the work fundamentally concerns the 

 biology and bionomics of the Anopheles mosquitoes and the ascertain- 



