193 JOURNAL OP ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 2 



selves in new situations, by preference in soft earth. This spring 

 movement is sufficiently pronounced to be termed a migration, and 

 from its nature it seems best to call it a "divisional migration." In 

 the spring of 1908 it was noticed to occur in the early part of March. 

 The present season this movement began as early as February 13th. 

 This spring division of large colonies into small also explains why 

 large colonies are the rule in autumn and small colonies the rule in 

 spring. 



Scientific Notes 



A Remedy for House Fleas.— In the latter part of last May (1908) I 

 moved into a new house that had not been previously occupied. No carpet 

 was used and being summer only a few rugs were placed on the floors. A 

 part of the household consisted of a collie dog and three Persian cats. Very 

 soon the fleas appeared, the dog and cat flea, Ctetiocephalus canis. I did not 

 count them and I can't say whether they numbered a million or only a hun- 

 dred thousand. On arising in the morning and stepping on the floor one would 

 find from three to a dozen on the ankles. The usual remedies for fleas are 

 either drastic or somewhat unsatisfactory. The drastic one is to send the 

 animals to the institutions, where they are a.sphyxiated, or take the other ad- 

 vice, "Don't keep animals." 



I tried mopping the floors with a rather strong solution of creolin but it 

 did little good. Previous experience with pyrethrum was not very satisfac- 

 tory. Knowing the volatility of naphthaline in warm weather and the irri- 

 tating character of its vapor led me to try it. I took one room at a time, 

 scattered on the floor five pounds of flake naphthaline and closed it for 

 twenty-four hours. On entering such a room the naphthaline vapor will in- 

 stantly bring tears to the eyes and cause coughing and irritation of the air pas- 

 sages. I mention this to show how it acts on the fleas. It proved to be a perfect 

 and effectual remedy and very inexpensive, as the naphthaline could be swept 

 up and transferred to other rooms. So far as I am concerned the flea question 

 is solved and if I have further trouble I know the remedy. I intend to keep 

 the dog and the cats. 



Hexry Skixxer. M. D. 



Kerosene Emulsion for Terrapin Scale. A number of soft maples, lit- 

 erally loaded with Eulecanium nigrofasdatum Perg., were sprayed April 25, 

 1908, with a lime-sulfur wash, using 20 lbs. of lime and 15 lbs. of sulfur. 

 The spray was applied hot and very thoroughly, about 10 gallons being used 

 for each tree having a trunk diameter of 8 to 10 inches. Similar trees were 

 then sprayed with a stock solution of kerosene emulsion, made seven months 

 before and diluted to make a 207o solution. Many of the twigs with a 

 diameter of over % an inch were completely covered with scale. The tem- 

 perature at the time of application was about 60° F. and the leaves were 

 nearly the size of a flfty cent piece. About 45 minutes after the oil appli- 

 cation there was a terrific rain storm, lasting 15 to 20 minutes. The kerosene 

 emulsion killed very few leaves, while the lime-sulfur wash did no injury. 



