140 Kansas Academy of Science. 



of turpentine, many essentials oils, benzaldehyde, hydrocyanic acid, 

 such p jwdered substances as stramonium, sabadilla, and pyre- 

 thrum, etc. 



Such investigations as the above and such regulations as made 

 by the federal government make it now almost impossible for a 

 manufacturer to delude or deceive the public by foisting upon it 

 any insecticide nostrum whose ingredients are kept secret unless 

 it bears the test which recent investigations have suggested. 



Our own interest has been attracted to this subject by certain 

 insecticides being sent to the drug laboratory to obtain a state- 

 ment as to their efficiency. One such article, in particular, we 

 have recently investigated. The article is sold on the market un- 

 der a trade name, and in the advertisements it is stated that this 

 article is "creating consternation and mortality among the bugs 

 and insects in the jails, penitentiaries and public institutions in 

 this country. It further says that it "kills bugs instantly, and 

 they stay dead." This article is found to contain 6.5 per cent of 

 carbolic acid, with other ingredients which are claimed to enhance 

 the value of this popular insecticide. Applying the test of the 

 above-mentioned investigators in an apparatus corresponding to 

 theirs, which we have installed, we are able to state the following 

 facts: 



Bell-jar experiments were carried out to determine the effect- 

 iveness of a few of the well-known insecticides, as well as the com- 

 mercial articles mentioned. Crickets ( Gryllus) were the insects 

 used in these experiments, their sensitiveness to toxic substances 

 making them particularly valuable for this kind of work. Cimici- 

 fuga (bug bane) has long been considered an effective insecticide. 

 Our experiments with cimicifuga, however, tend to show that this 

 drug has been greatly overestimated in its toxic properties toward 

 insects. Powdered cimicifuga seemed to be devoid of insecticidal 

 properties. Crickets kept in contact with the powdered drug for 

 hours showed no toxic effect. 



As a fumigant cimicifuga proved unsatisfactory, acting more as 

 an aucesthetic than as an insecticide. One hundred times as much 

 powdered cimicifuga as the amount of sulphur that proved effective 

 was used, or the fumes from two grammes of the drug in a space 

 of 9000 cc. The insects were removed after a period of one hour, 

 apparently dead, but recovered after an hour or two hours' time. 



The fluid extract of cimicifuga was tried, employing the contact 

 method in open jar. This preparation of the drug proved more 

 effective, killing the insects almost instantly, but it was also ob- 



