90 Bureau of Fakmek.s' Institutes. 



specially in the summer months. It is usually more satisfactory 

 to take up badly infested carpets, beat and air them thoroughly 

 and, in cases of a bad infestation, spray them with benzine. The 

 room should be thoroughly cleaned and if there are cracks in the 

 floor, it is advisable to fill them with plaster of paris. As a fur- 

 ther preventive, the carpet may be laid on tarred paper or else 

 replaced with rugs. Clothes or other articles put away for the 

 summer can be protected in the following manner: Brush well so 

 as to be sure no eggs or larvae adhere and then lay away in large 

 pasteboard boxes, such as may be procured at a dry goods store, 

 put in some napthaline balls, camphor or similar substance and 

 then seal the cover with a strip of gummed paper. The boxes 

 cost little and if the work is thoroughly done there is no danger 

 of injury by these pests. This method is one recommended by 

 Dr. Howard. He has also found that these insects are not active 

 at a temperature lower than 42° F, and hence storage of valuable 

 furs, etc., at a lower temperature than this may be considered a 

 safe and practical method of preserving them from insect injury. 



House Ants. — Several species annoy the housekeeper very much 

 at times. The worst of them all, where it occurs, is the little red 

 ant, Monomorium pliaraonis, an insect so small that it can hardly 

 be excluded from any vessel. It is represented much enlarged at 

 figure 4, plate 6. As is well known, ants live in nests in soil and 

 not infrequently they establish themselves in underpinning or 

 walls of houses. Whenever possible, seek out the nest and de- 

 stroy the occupants by a liberal use of boiling water, kerosene 

 emulsion, or strong soapsuds. More effective than these sub- 

 stances is carbon bisulfid, which may be used in the following 

 manner: With a broomstick or bar make some holes in the nest 

 several inches from each other and a few inches deep, pour in 

 each about a teaspoonful of carbon bisulfid, cover the nest with a 

 wet blanket and after a few minutes explode the fumes collected 

 underneath with a match on the end of a short stick. Unfor- 

 tunately, it is not often possible to get at the insects in their nests 

 and J:hen we must resort to the laborious trapping with a sponge 

 moistened with sweetened water and dropping the collected pests 



