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Oriental Sore 
mosquito fauna of Bagdad differs very much from that of Busra, which 
is situated near the mouth of the river. Here auophelines are very 
common, and in consequence there is much malaria. In Bagdad on the 
other hand, I did not see a single specimen of an anopheline or malaria 
carrier, and all the cases of malaria that I met with had come from 
Busra or some other town in which malaria occurred. I was told on 
good authority that auophelines may occur in Bagdad and that cases of 
malaria contracted there are sometimes encountered. 
Before the hot weather had commenced from March to June, 
various species of Gulex were common. Amongst these was the common 
Culex fatigans. With the advent of the hot weather the number of 
Gulex apparently diminished, while another mosquito, which I had not 
met before, began to make its appearance. This was Stegomyia fasciola. 
As the summer advanced the numbers of this voracious insect increased 
till it became a constant nuisance. It lives in the houses and hides in 
any dark corner,especially in the Sirdarbs or semi-underground rooms into 
which one retires during the hottest part of the day. It is most per¬ 
sistent in its attacks so that one is unable to escape from its ravages 
unless one is protected by a mosquito net. Both the male and female 
are fond of alighting on the skin, but though the male apparently makes 
attempts to perforate the epidermis by probing about with its proboscis, 
it is only rarely that it gains any satisfaction in this way. It seems- 
as if the male is attached to the human being for other motives, for 
repeatedly I have watched several males attempting to bite without 
success. The approach of a female has diverted the attention from these 
fruitless efforts, and the males have attacked the female on the wing 
and at least one and sometimes two at one time, have been successful 
in attaching themselves to a single female. The males seem to hover 
around the human being not so much to obtain a feed of blood, as 
because they know that before very long a female will approach. 
The females, on the other hand, feed very readily, and twenty-four 
hours is often sufficient time for the digestion of the large quantity 
of blood taken up at a single feed. The female will readily feed every 
day. 
The breeding places of the mosquitoes are generally the wells with 
which most houses are supplied, the large porous earthenrvare water 
filters known locally as “ hubs,” or the cesspools which are generally 
under the courtyard of each house. The cesspool communicates with 
the exterior through a small hole over which a round stone is rolled. 
Some of the wells in disused houses become very foul, and from them 
