Handbook of Medical Entomology

Handbook of Medical Entomology

Until very recent years insects and their allies have been considered as of economic importance merely in so far as they are an annoyance or direct menace to man, or his flocks and herds, or are injurious to his crops. It is only within the past fifteen years that there has sprung into prominence the knowledge that in another and much more insiduous manner, they may be the enemy of mankind, that they may be among the most important of the disseminators of disease. In this brief period, such knowledge has completely revolutionized our methods of control of certain diseases, and has become an important weapon in the fight for the conservation of health. It is nowhere truer than in the case under consideration that however abrupt may be their coming into prominence, great movements and great discoveries do not arise suddenly. Centuries ago there was suggested the possibility that insects were concerned with the spread of disease, and from time to time there have appeared keen suggestions and logical hypotheses along this line, that lead us to marvel that the establishment of the truths should have been so long delayed. One of the earliest of these references is by the Italian physician, Mercurialis, who lived from 1530 to 1607, during a period when Europe was being ravaged by the dread "black death", or plague. Concerning its transmission he wrote: "There can be no doubt that flies feed on the internal secretions of the diseased and dying, then, flying away, they deposit their excretions on the food in neighboring dwellings, and persons who eat of it are thus infected." ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 34279
Author: Johannsen, O. A. (Oskar Augustus)
Release Date: Nov 11, 2010
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Contributor (Author): Riley, William A. (William Albert), 1876-