458 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



" Remove from the room to be fumigated all fabric ma- 

 terials after thoroughly shaking. Open all drawers and 

 doors of furniture and closets. 



"The room should be closed and made as tight as possible 

 by stopping all openings in chimney, floor, walls, keyholes, 

 and cracks near windows and doors. 



" Crevices should be closed by pasting strips of paper 

 (old newspapers) over them with a paste made of flour. 



" The sulfur should be placed in an iron pot, flat skillet 

 preferred, and then placed on bricks in a tub or other 

 convenient water receptacle with about an inch of water 

 in the bottom. This is a precaution which must be taken 

 to guard against accidents, as the sulfur is liable to 

 boil over and set fire to the house. 



" The sulfur is readily ignited by sprinkling alcohol 

 over it and lighting it. 



" The apartment should be kept closed for two hours, 

 and then opened up and well ventilated." 



FORMALDEHYDE NOT AN INSECTICIDE 



Formaldehyde is a gas with a very penetrating odor, 

 intensely irritating to the mucous membranes of throat 

 and mouth, but not a poison in the generally accepted 

 use of that term. It is an excellent disinfectant, for it is 

 fatal to those minute plants known as bacteria or loosely 

 as " germs." The gas is sold in the form of an aqueous 

 solution under the name of formalin, which is supposed 

 to contain 40 per cent of formaldehyde. 



Formaldehyde is particularly desirable as a fumigant 

 for disinfection because it does not corrode metallic sub- 

 stances with the exception of unpolished steel and iron 



