EGGS OF COMMON HOUSE MOSQUITO

from any dwelling. Keep hydrants tight so that constant dripping of water will not occur. Mosquitoes do not breed in swiftly running or rough water.

To destroy wiggletails and prevent mosquitoes where standing water cannot be drained apply kerosene or coal oil; one quart of kerosene should be sufficient for about five hundred square feet of water surface. The kerosene should be renewed about every third week.

Watering troughs should be emptied at least once a week. Wells, rainwater storage barrels, and cisterns should be kept closely screened. Cheesecloth is cheaper than wire and is efficient as long as it is whole.

To guard against mosquitoes, especially against malarial mosquitoes, sleeping rooms, at least, should be screened, or mosquito bars should be used. Care should be taken to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes between sunset and sunrise, as malarial mosquitoes rarely bite during bright

daylight. A good repellent for all kinds of mosquitoes may be made as follows: Oil of citronella, one ounce; spirits of camphor, one ounce; oil of cedar, one-half ounce. This may be rubbed lightly on the hands and face. A few drops on a towel hung near the head will keep mosquitoes away for hours. Burning a little fresh, dry pyrethrum powder in a closed room will drive flies and mosquitoes to the windows and stupefy them so that they will fall and then may be easily killed.

HELPS TO STUDY

Word Study.

in'fan tile pa ral'y sis an acute disease confined largely to children.

in fec'tion - that which causes or communicates a disease. py ro lig'ne ous acid — an acid produced by distilling wood. trans mit'ted carried from one to another.

How many children and young people die every year from diseases carried by flies? In what kind of places do flies breed? How can the fly pest be prevented? How should we protect our houses? What two diseases are caused by mosquitoes? Describe the yellow fever mosquito. Describe the malarial fever mosquito. How can we prevent the breeding of mosquitoes? How can we protect ourselves from mosquitoes?

TO A WATERFOWL

Whither, midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler's eye

Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.

Seek'st thou the plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
On the chafed ocean side?

There is a Power whose care

Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,
The desert and illimitable air,

Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,
At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere;
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end;

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest, And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend, Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart
Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart.

He who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.

By permission, D. Appleton & Co.

Word Study.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

HELPS TO STUDY

sol'i ta ry

fowl'er

lonely.

one who kills wild birds for sport or food.

mark observe, notice.

zone to zone

from the cold to the warm region.

Notes and Questions. What incident probably suggested this poem to Bryant? What words in the poem would you not find in prose? What words in the poem suggest loneliness? If you were an artist and were making an illustrated edition of this poem, what picture would you paint for each stanza? How does the waterfowl strengthen the faith of the poet? Why does the poet select the evening sky as the setting for his bird of passage?

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS

As a result of scientific research, it is learned that many of our common maladies, no less than the growing burden of weed control, are traceable to our former wholesale slaughter of insectivorous birds. Most insects are at war with man and man's interests. Birds annually destroy thousands of tons of noxious weed seeds and billions of harmful insects; they seem, indeed, designed to hold in check certain forces antagonistic to both the animal and the vegetable kingdoms. The Mexican boll weevil, for instance, which has worked such fearful havoc in the cotton fields of Texas, and which is steadily marching eastward, finds its deadliest enemy in the bird.

A noted French scientist asserts that without birds to check the ravages of insects, human life would vanish from this planet in the short space of nine years. He holds that insects would first destroy the growing cereals, and would next fall upon the grass and foliage, leaving