Public-domain ebook
by Riley, William A. (William Albert); Johannsen, O. A.
Language: en1,540 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Science - Biology·Health & Medicine
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #34279.
The Handbook of Medical Entomology is a scholarly survey of insects, arachnids, mites and related arthropods that affect human health. Its opening pages explain that the authors, Riley and Johannsen, have compiled a concise bibliography that, while only a fraction of the literature, points readers toward original sources. The work is organized into twelve chapters that move from early ideas about disease transmission through insects, through detailed examinations of poisonous species, parasitic forms, and the various ways arthropods serve as carriers, inoculators or essential hosts of pathogens. The introductory chapter already sets the tone, tracing historical suggestions from Mercurialis and Kircher to 19th‑century pioneers such as Beauperthuy and King, and outlining the three principal categories, direct poison, parasitism, and disease transmission, that structure the rest of the volume.
Written in the formal, didactic style of early‑20th‑century scientific literature, the text reflects the academic tone of a Cornell University publication from 1915. It assumes a reader comfortable with taxonomic terminology and historical references, making it especially suitable for students of entomology, medical historians, and professionals in public‑health or veterinary fields who seek a thorough, period‑appropriate overview of arthropod‑borne diseases.
The opening · free to read
Lengthy as is the bibliography, it covers but a very small fraction of the important contributions to the subject. It will serve only to put those interested in touch with original sources and to open up the field. Of the more general works, special acknowledgment should be made to those of Banks, Brumpt, Castellani and Chalmers, Comstock, Hewitt, Howard, Manson, Mense, Neveau-Lemaire, Nuttall, and Stiles.
To the many who have aided the authors in the years past, by suggestions and by sending specimens and other materials, sincerest thanks is tendered. This is especially due to their colleagues in the Department of Entomology of Cornell University, and to Professor Charles W. Howard, Dr. John Uri Lloyd, Mr. A. H. Ritchie, Dr. I. M. Unger, and Dr. Luzerne Coville.
They wish to express indebtedness to the authors and publishers who have so willingly given permission to use certain illustrations. Especially is this acknowledgment due to Professor John Henry Comstock, Dr. L. O. Howard, Dr. Graham-Smith, and Professor G. H. T. Nuttall. Professor Comstock not only authorized the use of departmental negatives by the late Professor M. V. Slingerland (credited as M. V. S.), but generously put at their disposal the illustrations from the MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS and from the SPIDER BOOK. Figures 5 and 111 are from Peter's "Der Arzt und die Heilkunst in der deutschen Vergangenheit." It should be noted that on examining the original, it is found that Gottfried's figure relates to an event antedating the typical epidemic of dancing mania.
WM. A. RILEY. O. A. JOHANNSEN.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, January, 1915.
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