Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/264

256 (3) Four of these specimens, namely, Homaloymia canicularis, Muscina stabulans, Phora femorata and Sarcophaga trivialis, possess some degree of importance, but their comparative scarcity in houses renders them by no means of prime importance.

(4) The common little fruit-fly, Drosophila ampelophila, is a dangerous species.

(5) The house-fly is a constant source of danger, and wherever the least carelessness in the disposal of or the disinfection of dejecta exists, it becomes an imminent source of danger.

When we consider the prevalence of typhoid fever and the fact that virulent typhoid bacilli may occur in the excrement of an individual for some time before the disease is recognized in him, and that virulent germs may be found in the excrement for a long time after the apparent recovery of a patient, the wonder is not that typhoid is so prevalent, but that it does not prevail to a much greater extent Fig. 10. Muscina stabulans—Enlarged.

Box privies should be abolished in every community, or they should be disinfected daily. The depositing of excrement in the open within the town or city limits should be considered a punishable misdemeanor in cities which have not already such regulations, and the law should be enforced more vigorously in towns in which it is already prohibited. Such offenses are generally committed after dark, and it is often difficult, or even impossible, to trace the offender; therefore, the regulations should be carried even further, and should require the first responsible person who notices the deposit to immediately inform the police, so that it may be removed or covered up. Dead animals are so reported, but human excrement is much more dangerous. Boards of health in all communities should look after the proper treatment or disposal of horse manure, primarily in order to reduce the number of houseflies to a minimum, and all regulations regarding the disposal of garbage and foul matter should be made more stringent and should he more stringently enforced.