Tineidae 
on which it feeds; the Fur-moth makes a small portable case, 
which it carries with it; while the insect which we have called 
the Clothes-moth lives for the most part free until the time of 
pupation, when it constructs for itself a cocoon out of bits of 
fiber. 
All of these three species are equally destructive, and there is 
no question which is more frequently asked of the writer than 
how best to destroy the insects when once they have found lodg¬ 
ment in a house, and how to prevent their attacks. 
All of these creatures “love darkness better than light, their 
deeds being evil.” When it is suspected that furs or garments 
are infected by their presence, the first step which should be 
taken is to expose them to full sunlight, the hotter the better. 
Garments in which moths are known to exist should be hung up 
in the open air. And this airing and exposure to sunlight should 
not be for an hour or two, but, if possible, it should extend over 
a number of days, and should take place in the latter part.of May 
or the .early part of the month of June, at which time the female 
moth is engaged in ovipositing. Where it is impossible to air 
and expose to sunlight the fabrics which have been attacked, as 
is sometimes the case with carpets in dark corners, they should 
be thoroughly saturated with benzine. It is needless to say that 
this operation should never be undertaken in the presence of a 
candle or other exposed light. Furniture in carpeted rooms 
should in the spring of the year be removed from the place where 
it has long stood, and the spot should be thoroughly sponged 
with benzine. A solution of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, so 
weak that it will not leave any white mark upon a black feather 
which has been dipped into it and afterward dried, may be 
applied effectively to carpets and to fabrics which are exhibited 
in museum cases. At the Carnegie Museum we make it a rule to 
spray all substances which might be exposed to the attack of 
moths, when hung in cases, with a solution of corrosive sub¬ 
limate and strychnine in alcohol. 
In carpet warehouses and in establishments where woolet? 
goods are stored in quantity it is well to have on the roof of the 
building an apartment fitted up with large air-tight chests. Into 
these chests, or compartments, fabrics supposed to have been 
attacked by moths may be put and exposed for twenty-four or 
435 
