. In most localities people endure the
torment or direct their remedies against the adult insect only,
without the slightest attempt to investigate the source of the supply,
when the very first step should be the undertaking of such an
investigation.

"The remedy which depends upon draining breeding places needs no
extended discussion. Naturally the draining off of the water of pools
will prevent mosquitoes from breeding there, and the possibility of
such draining and the means by which it may be done will vary with
each individual case. The writer is informed that an elaborate bit of
work which has been done at Virginia Beach bears on this method.
Behind the hotels at this place, the hotels themselves fronting upon
the beach, was a large fresh-water lake, which, with its adjoining
swamps, was a source of mosquito supply, and it was further feared
that it made the neighborhood malarious. Two canals were cut from the
lake to the ocean, and by means of machinery the water of the lake was
changed from a body of fresh to a body of salt water. Water that is
somewhat brackish will support mosquitoes, but water that is purely
salt will destroy them."

_Employing Fish to Destroy Larvae_

"The introduction of fish into fishless breeding places is another
matter. It may be undesirable to treat certain breeding places with
kerosene, as, for instance, water which is intended for drinking,
although this has been done without harm in tanks where, as is
customary, the drinking supply is drawn from the bottom of the tank.
The value of most small fishes for the purpose of destroying mosquito
larvae was well indicated by an experience described to us by Mr. C. H.
Russell, of Bridgeport, Conn. In this case a very high tide broke away
a dike and flooded the salt meadows of Stratford, a small town a few
miles from Bridgeport. The receding tide left two small lakes, nearly
side by side and of the same size. In one lake the tide left a dozen
or more small fishes, while the other was fishless. An examination by
Mr. Russell in the summer of 1891 showed that while the fishless lake
contained tens of thousands of mosquito larvae, that containing the
fish had no larvae. The use of carp for this purpose has been
demonstrated, but most small fish will answer as well. The writer
knows of none that will be better than either of the common little
sticklebacks (_Gasterosteus aculeatus_ or _Pygosteus pungitius_)."

Is mosquito fighting a success?