Flyswatting
In 1904 an article appeared in the Journal of the Royal African Society praising Ross's work on the ground in clearing areas of mosquitoes in Egypt. The article moved on with lightening speed to conclude belligerently
"The fact is that a time has arrived when an International Congress should be called to consider practical means for the abolition of insects. Insects, as a class, are a source of enormous harm to humanity and to the vertebrates. With the single exception of the bee, there is probably not one species which is not a source of annoyance, disgust or danger to human life."
Or to put it another way, if we can take out the entire insect world when we take out the mosquito, all the better. Knowing what we now know about the crucial role played by insects in the planet's ecosystem, it's probably just as well that the eradication of the mosquito wasn't actually within mankind's grasp in 1904. It still isn't.
My own first encounter with mosquitoes was as a teenager on holiday in Greece. Each night a group of us had mad, excited 'mozzy-hunts' round our hostel bedroom, singling out the suspects one by one, whirling improvised flyswats around and usually ending up collapsed in a giggling heap, (mosquitoes unscathed).
In Africa some years later I learned it paid to take the mosquito-removal business more seriously; bought cans of pyrethrum based insecticide labelled KILL or DEATH with lurid pictures of dying mosquitoes on the label; hung nets; took my chloraquine and fansidar as directed; buttoned up and slapped on the repellent at dusk.
In researching MOSQUITO NIGHT I've found the pattern of the frantic, clumsy, single-minded chase after a small persistent creature appears again and again.
Humanity versus the Mosquito seems like a relentless cycle of hijinx and desperation, methodical determination and apathy, all punctuated by a time of waiting to see if by any chance it's all gone quiet.
Overall in this war Humanity has probably seen more battles lost than decisively won, and it's tempting to think that, of the two species the process has taken less of a toll on the resolve of mosquitoes than of humans.
The mosquito, of course, has numbers on its side. Small things are legion.
Further investigation
For an insight into the struggle to outwit the mosquito in the early years of the twentieth century see Mosquito Brigades and how to organise them Major Sir Ronald Ross 1902
All sites listed in the Links section that deal with Malaria carry information about the ongoing twists and turns in the struggle against the mosquito.
http://www.malariasite.com/index.htm Historical overview
www.wellcome.ac.uk Malaria research figures prominently in the Wellcome Trust's activities and the site carries lots of information. The Trust also produces a CD-ROM on malaria which gives an up-to-date overview of the subject from basic science through to the latest treatment and control guidelines.
www.alertnet.org/ This Reuters site frequently carry the latest stories on, eg, genetically modified mosquitoes.
Christine Watkins Dec 2007
"The fact is that a time has arrived when an International Congress should be called to consider practical means for the abolition of insects. Insects, as a class, are a source of enormous harm to humanity and to the vertebrates. With the single exception of the bee, there is probably not one species which is not a source of annoyance, disgust or danger to human life."
Or to put it another way, if we can take out the entire insect world when we take out the mosquito, all the better. Knowing what we now know about the crucial role played by insects in the planet's ecosystem, it's probably just as well that the eradication of the mosquito wasn't actually within mankind's grasp in 1904. It still isn't.
My own first encounter with mosquitoes was as a teenager on holiday in Greece. Each night a group of us had mad, excited 'mozzy-hunts' round our hostel bedroom, singling out the suspects one by one, whirling improvised flyswats around and usually ending up collapsed in a giggling heap, (mosquitoes unscathed).
In Africa some years later I learned it paid to take the mosquito-removal business more seriously; bought cans of pyrethrum based insecticide labelled KILL or DEATH with lurid pictures of dying mosquitoes on the label; hung nets; took my chloraquine and fansidar as directed; buttoned up and slapped on the repellent at dusk.
In researching MOSQUITO NIGHT I've found the pattern of the frantic, clumsy, single-minded chase after a small persistent creature appears again and again.
Humanity versus the Mosquito seems like a relentless cycle of hijinx and desperation, methodical determination and apathy, all punctuated by a time of waiting to see if by any chance it's all gone quiet.
Overall in this war Humanity has probably seen more battles lost than decisively won, and it's tempting to think that, of the two species the process has taken less of a toll on the resolve of mosquitoes than of humans.
The mosquito, of course, has numbers on its side. Small things are legion.
Further investigation
For an insight into the struggle to outwit the mosquito in the early years of the twentieth century see Mosquito Brigades and how to organise them Major Sir Ronald Ross 1902
All sites listed in the Links section that deal with Malaria carry information about the ongoing twists and turns in the struggle against the mosquito.
http://www.malariasite.com/index.htm Historical overview
www.wellcome.ac.uk Malaria research figures prominently in the Wellcome Trust's activities and the site carries lots of information. The Trust also produces a CD-ROM on malaria which gives an up-to-date overview of the subject from basic science through to the latest treatment and control guidelines.
www.alertnet.org/ This Reuters site frequently carry the latest stories on, eg, genetically modified mosquitoes.
Christine Watkins Dec 2007
