460 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to fill the room that is under treatment. This smoke kills or so stupe- 

 fies the insects that they will not bite. Pyrethrum powder is a prep- 

 aration of the plant Pyrethrum roseum, and is sometimes sold as Per- 

 sian Insect Powder or Dalmation Powder; it can be bought at any 

 drug store for about thirty-five cents a pound. It is a very fine, light 

 powder; and an ounce of it will go a long way, making a large volume 

 of smoke. A pyrethrum smudge or smoke may be started by covering 

 a live coal, taken from the kitchen stove, with the powder, first placing 

 the coal upon a small shovel, so that it may be moved about conveniently 

 without danger of setting anything on fire. The pyrethrum will 



Fig. 8. Profile ov Anopheles punc.tipennis Fig. 9. Profile of a f'uiex Mosquito (Fe- 

 (Female). Three times larger than life. Show- male). Three times larger than life, 

 ing the characteristic resting position of this 

 mosquito. 



quickly begin to smoulder and give off a dense smoke. All that is now 

 necessary is to add from time to time a pinch of the powder as occa- 

 sion requires, merely keeping the smouldering ashes covered so that 

 they will give off a smoke. People are frequently annoyed and some- 

 times driven into their houses on summer evenings by the persistent 

 attacks of mosquitoes. On such occasions, pyrethrum powder can 

 often be used to advantage; and the smoke from a small quantity of 

 the powder kept smouldering upon the piazza will drive away most, 

 if not all, of the pests, thus making it possible to enjoy an evening 

 out doors in comfort, when otherwise life would be unbearable except 

 behind the protection of screens. 



The Anopheles, or malarial mosquitoes, though not very common 

 (see Figs. 7 and 8), are breeding quite abundantly in many parts of 

 this country; and by referring to the accompanying photographs, par- 

 ticularly the ones in profile, it will be seen that there is quite a differ- 

 ence between the malarial and the common, or Culex, mosquitoes. 



