The War on the Mosquito

213

kinds fly and bite only at night. So that especial precautions against them must be taken after nightfall. It is important to know the difference between the ordinary mosquito (called culex) and the dangerous kinds. The former, when at rest, sit, like most insects, parallel to the surface on which they rest; the anopheles sit with their tails pointed upward as if standing on their heads.

There is a wide and growing crusade against the mosquitoes. The results of this war on the mosquito are already showing in many places. The Panama Canal is made possible by protecting the workmen from yellow fever and malaria. In this country a national society has been formed to further the work of exterminating them. A valuable bulletin on the subject has been printed by the Department of Agriculture at Washington, and will be sent free to any one who asks for it.

What are the means of defense against them? First, screen the house carefully. Then remove or cover all stagnant water, in puddles, ditches, tin cans, rain barrels, and other places. Ponds and marshes should be either drained or covered with a thin covering of kerosene. This thin film prevents the adults from laying eggs on the water, and kills the "wrigglers" by keeping them from breathing.

Mosquitoes have some natural enemies that should be taken care of. Tadpoles and small fish, such as goldfish, sunfish, minnows, and the like, feed upon the eggs and the "wrigglers." The full-grown mosquitoes are eaten by dragon flies (sometimes called "devil's darning needles "), bats, and small birds.

Perhaps we shall some time be far enough advanced in civilization to have rid our country of such enemies as flies and mosquitoes. The presence of these and other insect pests means ignorance, laziness, carelessness, and dirt; and these are not the traits of a high civilization.

235. WRITTEN LESSON

LETTERS OF INVITATION

Write an answer to this invitation. Some of the answers are to be copied on the board and corrected by the class.

Dear Arthur:

345 West St., Denver, Col., Tuesday, Dec. 20, 1911.

May we have the pleasure of your company at our house a week from to-day, Tuesday, the twenty-seventh, at four o'clock? My friend, May Lawrence, of Philadelphia, is to be with me for the holidays, and Mamma is giving a little party, that she may meet some of my friends here.

Mr. Arthur Bigelow,

16 Center St., Denver.

Truly yours,

Dorothy Neilson.

236. LANGUAGE LESSON

TRANSITIVE VERBS AND OBJECTS

Select the transitive verbs and objects in the following sen

tences:

1. May wrote a letter.

2. She put the letter in an envelope, and put a stamp on the envelope.

3. She printed the address very carefully.

4. She gave the letter to the postman.

5. He took it to the post office.

6. There he put May's letter and many others into a bag.

7. The postman threw the bag on the train.

8. The train rushed on to Philadelphia.

On Explaining Things

9. The next morning George received the letter. 10. He opened the envelope and read the letter.

215

Select the subject, the verb, and the object, in each of the following sentences:

I struck him.
He struck me.
We chased them.
They chased us.
You caught me.

I caught her.

She brought it.

I hit her.

I found them.

Who found her?

Whom did he chase?

Whom will you choose?
You laid it there.

He set us right.

He raised them.

Most of the personal pronouns and the relative pronoun who have different forms when used as subjects and when used as objects.

SUBJECTS: I we you he she it they who OBJECTS: me us you him her it them whom

Make sentences using one pronoun as subject and another pronoun as object in each sentence.

237. ORAL LESSON

ON EXPLAINING THINGS

In Lessons 231 and 234, and elsewhere, we have had certain things explained. We have to do a good deal of explaining and to listen to a good deal of explaining in our daily life. You explain to your mother how you came to upset your glass of milk on the clean tablecloth, and your mother explains to you the way of avoiding such messy accidents. Some one explains to you how a kite is made, and you make the kite and then explain to your little brother how you did it. Your teacher explains a point in the lesson, and then you explain the same point to make clear to her and to yourself that you understand it. The business man

explains to the office boy what his duties are, and the boy hopes sometime to be an employer himself and explain to a boy what the boy is to do. So, altogether, as you see, there's a good deal of explaining going on in this active world of ours.

Now some of this is good and some of it is bad; some of it is interesting, and some of it is dull; some of it is clear, and some of it is muddled. Here are three good rules: be as brief as possible, as interesting as possible, and as clear as possible.

If it should happen that you find yourself unable to explain a number of things clearly and simply, it probably means that you are not as wide-awake and observant as you ought to be.

Try to explain orally several of these things, or some other things that you know more about. Make each explanation suitable for a single paragraph only.

(1) Feeding a canary. (2) Keeping a bird's cage clean. (3) Damming up a brook. (4) Cutting ice. (5) Storing ice in the icehouse. (6) Spinning a top. (7) A game of marbles. (8) Pitching (9) Planting flower-seeds. (10) Dressing a doll. (11) Boiling an egg. (12) Lighting the street lamps. (13) Keeping the streets clean. (14) Picking apples. (15) Writing a composition.

a curve.

238. WRITTEN LESSON

EXPLANATIONS

Select one of the best subjects for explanation that you can, and write a clear account of it in a single paragraph. Make a plan of your paragraph before you begin to write, making sure that you follow a clear and natural order. Do the writing neatly and accurately.

Perhaps the teacher will have time to hear some of the explanations read aloud, and let you compare them.