know no favorite land or clime--unless it be
Jersey. Arctic explorers complain of them. In Alaska, it is recorded
by a scientist that "mosquitoes existed in countless millions, driving
us to the verge of suicide or insanity." A traveler on the north shore
of Lake Superior, when the snow was several feet deep, and the ice on
the lake five feet in thickness, relates that "mosquitoes appeared in
swarms, literally blackening the banks of snow in sheltered places."

_Mosquitoes Responsible for Yellow Fever_

In the temperate zone this evil-breeding insect was, until recent
years, considered more in the light of an exasperating pest. It is now
known, however, that malaria is due entirely to the bites of
mosquitoes. But it is in the tropical countries that their deadliest
work is done. There, it has been proved beyond question, the
mosquitoes are responsible for the carriage of yellow fever. If, in a
yellow-fever ridden region, one were to live entirely in an inclosure,
carefully protected with proper screens--as certain entomologists
did--there practically would be no danger from the dread disease, even
if all other precautions were neglected.

_Effect of a Mosquito Bite_

The crime committed by the mosquito against its innocent victim, man,
is more in the nature of manslaughter than of murder, according to the
authorities. There is no _premeditated malice_. "A mosquito bites
primarily to obtain food," says a leading entomologist; "there is
neither malice nor venom in the intent, whatever there may be in the
act." There isn't great comfort in the intelligence conveyed by the
scientist, nor in his further observation:

"Theoretically, there would seem to be no reason why there should be
any pain from the introduction of the minute lancets of the insects,
and the small amount of bloodletting is usually a benefit rather than
otherwise. Unfortunately, however, in its normal condition the human
blood is too much inclined to clot to be taken unchanged into the
mosquito stomach; hence, when the insect bites, a minute droplet of
poison is introduced, whose function it is to thin out the fluid and
make it more suitable for mosquito digestion. It is this poison that
sets up the inflammation and produces the irritation or swelling....
The pain is caused entirely by the action of the poison in breaking up
the blood, and, as the first act of a biting mosquito is to introduce
the poison into the wound, the pain and inflammation w