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Bats, Mosquitoes
and Dollars

By

Dr. Charles A. R. Campbell

Reproduced by Photo-lithography
1955

by

LEE FOUNDATION FOR NUTRITIONAL RESEARCH
MILWAUKEE 3,
WISCONSIN

1925

THE STRATFORD COMPANY, Publishers
BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS

Copyright, 1925
By DR. CHARLES A. R.
CAMPBELL

DEDICATION

TO THE SWEETHEART OP MY BOYHOOD, THE BRIDE OF MY MANHOOD,

THE UNSWERVING QUEEN-MOTHER OP OUR
LITTLE HOME, THIS VOLUME IS
LOVINGLY
DEDICATED BY THE
AUTHOR

Preface

The newspapers and the popular magazines have
done the world in general, and this country in particular, an inestimable
service in diffusing the knowledge of the danger from mosquitoes, for
which we owe them, indeed, an undying debt of gratitude. But their
warnings have gone unheeded; or, at least, very little attention has been
given to the menace of this most malignant of insects.

The author has made a truly intimate study of
malaria— in fact, he has limited his private practice to that disease and
typhoid fever; and he here presents to the reader the HOW and WHY of this
world-wide malady.

It is not a matter of surprise that someone
long ago has not studied and brought to light the wonderful habits of that
extraordinary little creature, the bat, when we consider the unpopularity
of such an undertaking; for who would undertake the cultivation of bats,
except some individual whose stability of intellect might be
questioned?—besides, the hard and expensive nocturnal work, coupled with
derision and the accusation of being "batty," would alone suffice to
account for the fact that this most valuable creature, who deserves to
occupy such a high pedestal in the domain of preventive medicine, was
passed up by the bearers of me torches of learning.

The value of the bat as a mosquito destroyer
was never doubted nor questioned, as we see men high in scientific circles
extolling their wonderful and valuable habits; but to attempt their
cultivation was a matter that such men left severely alone. In a
three-volume publication by the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
Washington, D. C., entitled "The Mosquitoes of North and Central America
and the West Indies" by Howard,* Dyar, & Knab (1912) on page 179
appears the following:—* (Howard, L. O. Chief of the Bureau
of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture.)

BATS AS MOSQUITO DESTROYERS

"Bats are important mosquito-destroying
animals. Plying at dusk and after dark and capturing all flying insects
upon the wing, they devour large numbers of mosquitoes in times of
mosquito prevalence. Mr. C. Few Seiss at a meeting of the Feldman
Collecting Social in Philadelphia, June 19th, 1901, stated that he had
dissected a specimen of the common brown bat (EPTESICUS FUSCUS) and had
found its stomach full of mosquitoes. The suggestion has been made by
Mr. A. C. Weeks of Brooklyn that an attempt be made to breed bats
artificially on account of their importance as mosquito destroyers, but
no one seems to have taken the matter up.

"Greatly impressed with the value of bats as
mosquito destroyers Dr. Chas. A. R. Campbell, formerly city
bacteriologist of San Antonio, Texas, has erected a novel bat-breeding
house six miles south of that city. His idea is that the bats will
rapidly become so numerous with this admirably-adapted nesting place as
to rid the neighborhood of night-flying mosquitoes; and that, at the
same time, the entire expense will be more than paid for by having the
structure built in such a manner that the bat guano can be readily
collected and taken away.''

The object of this
little volume is to impress the reader with the importance of a
badly-named disease, malaria, with which he has been familiar since
childhood, and which he probably still views in a spirit of levity. It is
sought to impress him with the fact that it is his kind, and his kind
only, that is responsible for its perpetuation, and that it is a scheme of
Nature's to use the red corpuscle of man and the body of one of her lowly
insects, the malarial mosquito, to serve as intermediary hosts for the
continuance and perpetuation of a still lower form of life. This being
true, it is the only human disease that Nature, per se, does not
cure, as she never defeats her own schemes.

It would be of little import to inform the
reader of the untold suffering and the colossal economic loss caused the
world over by malaria, amounting to a hydra, and thus leave him high and
dry; hence the author expounds not merely one of Nature's most wonderful
creatures, but THE most wonderful of Nature's creatures, who will do
battle and prove to be the Hercules that will slay this Hydra of modern
times.

But it is not a battle planned by man, to be
followed by terrible suffering, loss of human lives, and frightful
devastation: it is to be a faunal battle, planned in the long ago by that
infallible strategist, Old Dame Nature, and which has been going on for
ages; but only now has the Old Lady been coaxed in the right direction and
induced to disclose one of the most important of her innumerable secrets.
It is truly a battle royal, marshalled not by that highest of earthly
things, the human brain, but by the matchless faculties given by Nature;
and, instead of the battle being followed by cruel devastation, the fields
of combat have been converted into lands of peace and happiness, and the
warriors, not in the least diminished in number but flushed with victory,
return to their "garrisons" carrying multitudes of their victims, which
later are converted into DOLLARS.

The "garrisons" are the homes of the faunal
army, and are called by the author "Bat-roosts;" but they might very
fittingly be termed "Palladiums." So well does this natural army do its
duty, that, if some individual, from whose soul AVARICE has drained the
last drop of the milk of human kindness, in quest of more money, should
build such a "Garrison," "Palladium," or "Bat-roost," he unconsciously
would be converted into a benefactor.

To this book is added a paper on the "FUNCTIONS
OP THE SPLEEN," a study made possible in the course of investigations
concerning these creatures. Thus we see, at almost every angle, the little
flying mammal exhibiting its nobility, and, in this instance, pointing out
to us one of Nature's secrets, the disclosure of which, perhaps, will
result in untold benefit to mankind.

The introduction of the study on Dragon Flies
and the reason therefor are explained in the work itself.

The motive in adding the work on smallpox and
bedbugs will be explained in the foreword thereto, written by the eminent
American consulting engineer, Dr. J. A. L. Waddell, whom the author has
known for many years, and whose wonderful personality he enjoys the honor
and privilege of addressing in correspondence as "My esteemed friend."

In truth, it is to Dr. Waddell that this book
owes its existence, for it was he who first suggested its preparation;
and, had it not been for his persistent urging and kindly stimulation, the
MS. would never have been either begun or completed.

Nor does Dr. Waddell's connection with this
book end here; because, mainly for friendship's sake but also in the
interest of both science and human welfare, he devoted three full weeks of
his valuable time to checking the entire original MS. and polishing its
diction, as well as to the verification of the re-typed copy. The author
appreciates this aid more deeply than he can express; for he feels that
his engineer-friend's labor and advice have materially improved the
general character of the treatise.

To the medical profession of San Antonio,
Texas, as represented by the Bexar County Medical Society, the author
wishes to express his heartfelt thanks for their kind encouragement in the
beginning of this work, which has taken 24 years to complete, and for
their endorsement of it when finished.

To none of his many staunch laymen supporters
is the author more indebted than to that prince of gentlemen, Mr. Frank G.
Huntress, the General Manager of the San Antonio Express, who years ago
foresaw the vast possibilities in the little bat for good to mankind, and
gladly lent his services in liberally granting space in his great daily
for its exploitation, thus giving the bat-work wide publicity. The author
also feels particularly kindly towards many splendid, amiable, and loyal
fellow-citizens of his for their encouragement and good words, which so
lightened the weight of the burden induced by many disquieting failures,
and made success possible.

Introduction

It is a privilege of the largest moment to
write an Introduction to Dr. Charles A. R. Campbell's notable work.

It is many years now, over thirty, since the
importance of the subject treated in this book, reached me, as a vague
general idea. In an address given before the Canadian Institute of
Toronto, in the late 80's, I said, "If you will explain the immunity of
the seal and the polar bear from rheumatism, or the freedom of the
flamingo and the buffalo from malaria, you are taking the first step
toward conferring a like immunity on man." These explanations, I argued,
could be made only by slow, persistent, natural-history investigation; and
on this fact I founded my claim to the vast ultimate importance of faunal
lists as the best methodic approach to natural history, which, at that
time, was considered a mere fad of the dilettante.

We have marched on since then. We have learned
some of the secrets of malaria; at least its cause, its carriers, and its
fearful burden on the human race.

In 1907 I went by land to the Arctic region,
where the mosquitoes are more numerous and fierce than in any other
country that I have visited. My impressions of those mosquitoes and their
terrors, as a scourge to humanity, are thus set forth in my published
account.

"After considering the vastness of the region
affected—three-quarters of the globe—and the number of diseases that these
insects communicate, one is inclined to believe that it might be a greater
boon to mankind to extirpate the mosquito, than to stamp out tuberculosis.
The latter means death to a considerable portion of our race, the former
means hopeless suffering to all mankind; one takes off, each year, its
toll of the weaklings, the other spares none; and in the far north, at
least, has made a hell on earth of the land that, for six months of each
year, might be a human Paradise."

Larger experience and more information incline
me, not to modify this statement, but to enlarge and intensify it.

Let us take a map of the globe and blacken
those spots where insects have driven man to the wall, robbed him of the
joy of life, kept him on the confines, or cursed him with lingering
disease. "We are shocked, as we realize visually this ruin of our
heritage; for it includes the fairest and most fertile parts of the earth,
those blessed above others with a sunny clime; and these insects, in nine
cases out of ten, are mosquitoes.

If we had a just appreciation of this condition
and its cause, we should have in each town not merely a Health Department,
but a Mosquito Department, to marshall all energies in a determined effort
to overcome this world-wide curse.

In his chapter on "Dragon Flies—One of Man's
Best Friends," Dr. Campbell handles a theme full of present interest and
promise for the future. No one can read it without being deeply
interested, for the Doctor has indeed opened to us a volume of the fairy
tales of science,—fairy tales which have the unusual charm of being
possible and true. I personally have not studied these creatures, so that
I cannot speak as an authority on the accuracy of his detail, but his
broad conclusions are fully demonstrated.

In brief, these facts are outlined for the
guidance of future workers. Mosquitoes are a terrible plague, one of the
worst afflictions known to mankind. We realize that there must be a
remedy, a remedy within the power of mankind to apply successfully. That
remedy is in the line of nature's own adjustments; and we are certainly on
the way to discover it, if we acquire a complete knowledge of the habits
of the mosquitoes and their natural enemies.

Natural history has ever been a delightful and
rewarding subject for study; but surely no higher reward has ever been
held out than this—the possibility of wiping out the world's mosquito
plagues. This surely would rank as one of the highest achievements of
beneficent science.

Any advance toward a solution of the mosquito
problem should be hailed by humanity; any step toward a full understanding
of it is a move toward a solution. And I welcome this contribution by Dr.
Charles A. R. Campbell, as one of the most comprehensive, intelligent, and
revolutionary examinations of the question ever offered to the public.

ERNEST THOMPSON
SETON.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

PART I

Bats,
Mosquitoes and Dollars

Allegation
One

Allegation
Two

Allegation
Three

Allegation
Four

PART II

Dragon
Flies

PART III

Bedbugs
and Smallpox

Foreword

Resume
of Experiments on Variola

My
Observations on Bedbugs

Eradication
of Smallpox By Other Means Than Vaccination

PART IV

Functions
of the Spleen

Glossary
of Technical
Terms

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