§00Klii0rms fcrmxtr in America. 



By a. C. fryer, M.A., Ph.D. 



nriHE bane of the bibliopliile is the bookworm. It is 

 -^ detested because of the havoc it works ; it is, at the 

 same time, longed for by possessors of valuable books. 



The larva of GEcophora pseudospictella, a small brown 

 moth, is sometimes called the bookworm ; but the larva of 

 Anobium, a small coleopterous insect, seems to have a still 

 better claim to the name. The first resembles the Anobium, 

 save that it has six legs, while the latter has none. 



Since many chemical substances have been introduced 

 into the manufacture of paper, the bookworm has become 

 scarce ; however, in Southern Europe the book-eating Ano- 

 hium is still to be met with. It is very like the grub found 

 in hazel nuts. Its body is soft, with a horny brown head and 

 strong jaws. The Anohium attacks the books generally from 

 the boards inwards, but M. Peignot asserts that he found 

 twenty-seven volumes standing in a row, pierced from end 

 to end by a single worm-tunnel. 



So far as has been ascertained, only two of these secret 

 enemies of books have been found in America. There may 

 have been others, but no records of their existence have 

 been kept. 



These two worms were found by Mr. W. E, Benjamin, of 

 New York, in a leather-bound copy of " Seneca," published in 



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