222 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



has gone through three editions during the past five years, shows concki- 

 sively that men are far greater enemies of books, at least in old England. 

 Mr. Blades describes everything injuring books — fire, water, gas, heat, 

 dust, neglect, and ignorance. Then come two short chapters on the book 

 worm and other vermin, followed by chapters on bookbinders and collec- 

 tors. The small volume contains facts which will be read with virtuous 

 astonishment and disgust. A rich shoemaker, John Bagford, one of the 

 founders of the Antiquarian Society, in the beginning of the last century, 

 went from library to library, tearing away title pages from rare books of 

 all sizes. These he sorted out according to nationalities and towns, and 

 so formed over a hundred folio volumes now preserved in the British 

 Museum. Others collect initials on vellum, all rich in gold and colors, 

 floral decorations ranging from the 12th to the 15th century, all nicely 

 mounted on stout cardboard. A Mr. Proeme collects only title pages, to 

 follow a senseless kind of classification. One of his volumes contains 

 coarse or quaint titles, showing how idiotic or conceited some authors 

 have been : " Bowels Opened in Diverse Sermons," " Die and be 

 Damned," and many others too coarse to be quoted. Certainly it is sure 

 that the poor bugs cannot comioete with such rivals, except some more 

 enterprising ones, apparently bound west, and going straight through 80 

 fohos of patristic works, making them look like a spy-glass, in a fashion 

 never dreamed of by Chrysostomus and his partners. 



Nearly six years ago I was invited to make a communication about 

 library pests, at the meeting of the librarians in Boston. After a review 

 of the literature then at my command, I came to the conclusion that only 

 two insects were to be considered very dangerous and obnoxious in North 

 America, the Anobium and the White Ants. The Anobium is a small 

 beetle, which is also very destructive to old furniture and old picture- 

 frames. All who have the infirmity to indulge in the love for old furni- 

 ture, will have often observed with disgust small round openings in their 

 treasures, out of which a fine mealy dust falls in Httle heaps on the floor. 

 I observed myself such a case long ago, when I was a boy, but I confess 

 that the remembrance of this case is always accompanied by a strong 

 itching of my right ear. A lady cousin of mine who was a lover and 

 lucky owner of such old jewels, had decided to take care of them herself. 

 I had been naughty enough to write the date in these dust heaps with my 

 fingers. When I impudently ventured to show to her about a fortnight 



