i6 5 
AN AUTOMATIC OILER FOR THE 
DESTRUCTION AND PREVENTION 
OF MOSQUITO LARVAE IN CESSPOOLS 
AND OTHER COLLECTIONS OF WATER 
BY 
E. H. ROSS, and H. C. ROSS, 
LATE SURGEONS R.N. AND MEDICAL OFFICERS’ DEPARTMENT OF 
PUBLIC HEALTH IN EGYPT 
( Received January 16th, 1907) 
In the large towns of Egypt the breeding of mosquitoes is 
practically confined to the cesspools. With the exception of 
Alexandria there are at present no schemes for the disposal of 
sewage on modern lines, and therefore it passes into cesspools under 
or near the houses. These cesspools are practically the only 
collections of water where mosquitoes can breed, and it is to them 
that most attention must be paid in anti-mosquito campaigns. 
Besides mosquitoes, all sorts of vermin live in the cesspools; 
and in plague-infected towns, the knowledge of the fact that rats 
have to depend on these collections of water for drinking purposes, 
is of the utmost importance. 
In Poit Said and Ismailia, where there have been successful 
campaigns, all cesspools are treated with a mixture of crude and 
refined petroleum once a week. This has up to now involved very 
considerable labour, a constant supervision, and a large expenditure 
of oil ; and it was in the endeavour to overcome these difficulties that 
the following automatic oiler was designed. 
Our aim was to produce an apparatus which would give a constant 
supply of oil to the surface of the water in the cesspools; which 
could be easily applied by unskilled labour (native); which could be 
cheaply made in any country; and lastly, one whose application 
would, if possible, reduce the cost of a campaign. We have found by 
experiment that this apparatus has fulfilled the requirements. 
1 he apparatus is made of metal. We use the empty kerosene 
