L. O. Howard

“ The health departments of most of our cities have the authority to abate nuisances dangerous to health, and it is easy for the health authorities of any city to formulate rules concerning the construction and care of stables and the keeping and disposal of manure which, if enforced, will do away with the house-fly nuisance. ”

“ It would appear, from what we know of the life history of the common house fly and from what remedial experimentation has already been carried on, that it is perfectly feasible for cities and towns to reduce the numbers of these annoying and dangerous insects so greatly as to render them of comparatively slight account. ”

“ In farmhouses in small communities and even in the badly cared-for portions of large cities typhoid germs are carried from excrement to food by flies, and the proper supervision and treatment of the breeding places of the house fly become most important elements in the prevention of typhoid. ”

“ The number of eggs laid by an individual fly at one time is undoubtedly large, averaging about 120, and a single female may lay 4 such batches, so that the enormous numbers in which the insects occur is thus plainly accounted for, especially when the abundance and universal occurrence of appropriate larval food is considered. In order to ascertain the numbers in which house-fly larvæ occur in horse-manure piles, a quarter of a pound of rather well-infested horse manure was taken on August 9, and in it were counted 160 larvæ and 146 puparia. ”

“ Every person occupying a building where domestic animals are kept shall maintain, in connection therewith, a bin or pit for the reception of manure, and, pending the removal from the premises of the manure from the animal or animals, shall place such manure in said bin or pit. ”

“ Every person keeping manure in any of the more densely populated parts of the District shall cause all such manure to be removed from the premises at least twice every week between June 1 and October 31, and at least once every week between November 1 and May 31 of the following year. No person shall remove or transport any manure over any public highway in any of the more densely populated parts of the District except in a tight vehicle which, if not inclosed, must be effectually covered with canvas, so as to prevent the manure from being dropped. ”

“ Since that time every morning the manure of the stable is thrown into the closet, and a small shovelful of chlorid of lime is scattered over it. At the expiration of 10 days or 2 weeks the gardeners open the outside door, shovel the manure into a cart, and carry if off to be thrown upon the grounds.
Judging from actual examination of the manure pile, the measure is eminently successful. Very few flies are breeding in the product of the stable which formerly gave birth to many thousands daily. ”

“ A careful screening of windows and doors during the summer months, with the supplementary use of sticky fly papers, is a preventive measure against house flies known to everyone, and there seems to be little hope in the near future of much relief by doing away with the breeding places. A single stable in which a horse is kept will supply house flies for an extended neighborhood. ”

“ The box privy is always a nuisance from many points of view, and is undoubtedly dangerous as a breeder of flies which may carry the germs of intestinal disease. No box privies should be permitted to exist unless they are conducted on the kerosene principle. With a proper vault or other receptacle, closed except from above, and a free use of kerosene and water, the breeding of house flies can be prevented. ”

“ It is perhaps second in point of abundance to the house fly in most portions of the Northeastern States. It breeds in horse manure, cow manure, and in warm decaying vegetation like old straw and grass heaps. ”

“ It was found that 8 quarts of fresh horse manure sprayed with 1 pint of kerosene, which was afterwards washed down with 1 quart of water, was thoroughly rid of Irving maggots. Every individual was killed by the treatment. This experiment and others of a similar nature on a small scale were so satisfactory that it was considered at the close of the season that a practical conclusion had been reached, and that it was perfectly possible to treat any manure pile economically and in such a way as to prevent the breeding of flies. ”

“ On account of the danger of the carriage of typhoid fever, the dropping of human excrement in the open in cities or towns, either on vacant lots or in dark alleyways, should be made a misdemeanor, and the same care should be taken by the sanitary authorities to remove or cover up such depositions as is taken in the removal of the bodies of dead animals. ”

“ No person owning a stable shall « 16 » keep any manure or permit any manure to be kept in or upon any portion of the premises other than the bin or pit described, nor shall he allow any such bin or pit to be overfilled or needlessly uncovered. Horse manure may be kept tightly rammed into well-covered barrels for the purpose of removal in such barrels. ”

“ Nor are the disease-bearing possibilities of the house fly limited to intestinal germ diseases. There is strong circumstantial evidence that tuberculosis, anthrax, yaws, ophthalmia, smallpox, tropical sore, and parasitic worms may be and are so carried. Actual laboratory proof exists in the cases of a number of these diseases, and where lacking is replaced by circumstantial evidence amounting almost to certainty. ”

“ In army camps, in mining camps, and in great public works, bringing together large numbers of men for a longer or shorter time, there is seldom the proper care of excreta, and the carriage of typhoid germs from the latrines and privies to food by flies is common and often results in epidemics of typhoid fever. ”

“ It often happens, however, that this fly is very abundant in localities where there is little or no horse manure, and in such cases it will be found breeding in other manure or in slops or fermenting vegetable material, such as spent hops, or bran, or ensilage. ”

“ The most effective enemy, however, is a fungous disease known as Empusa muscæ, which carries off flies in large numbers, particularly toward the close of the season. The epidemic ceases in December, and although many thousands are killed by it, the remarkable rapidity of development in the early summer months soon more than replaces the thousands thus destroyed. ”

“ The male, which is much commoner than 'the female, has large pale patches at the base of the abdomen, which are translucent when the fly is seen on a window pane. It is this species that is largely responsible for the prevalent idea that flies grow after gaining wings. ”