October, '09] JOURNAL OF economic entomology 331 



The use of corrosive sublimate for this purpose seems to be men- 

 tioned rarely in entomological writings, but there is ample evidence 

 that it has been used in this manner for at least two generations. 

 Prof. C. AY. Hutson, formerly professor of history in the Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College of Texas, informs the writer that his father, 

 "Wm. F. Hutson, who resided in the vicinity of Beaufort, S. C, was ac- 

 customed to soak cotton strings in corrosive sublimate and use them to 

 protect barrels and other places containing sugar from the native 

 ants as long ago as 1850. Profe'ssor Hutson does not know whether 

 this knowledge originated with his father or whether it had been 

 handed down from preceding generations, but the instance is inter- 

 esting in showing how knowledge of much practical value may escape 

 "official" notice indefinitely. 



Sweetened Arsenical Solutions 



Our experiments have shown that solutions of sugar or molasses 

 containing a small percentage of arsenic can be used to "drive" the 

 ants from a room which the foragers persist in visiting. The best so- 

 lution of this kind is made as follows : White arsenic, 1/2 gram ; cane 

 sugar, 20 grams; water, 100 cc. 



The arsenic is dissolved in a portion of the water by boiling and 

 the sugar dissolved in the remaining portion. The two solutions are 

 then mixed and sufficient water added to compensate for the evapora- 

 tion. Fruit juice or other inert coloring matter may be added to give 

 warning of its dangerous nature. Placed in small dishes beneath 

 cupboards, refrigerators,* etc., the workers attack it vigorously for a 

 few hours, then in decreasing numbers, and after three or four days 

 forsake its vicinity entirely. By placing a small dish of this poison- 

 ous mixture beside a jar of honey, -^nthout other protection, we have 

 forced the ants to entirely abandon the honey after having worked 

 vigorously on it for several days. 



Prof. C. P. Lounsbury, Entomologist of the Department of Agri- 

 culture at Cape Town, South Africa, writes us that considerable suc- 

 cess has been attained in repelling the Argentine ants from residences 

 there by the use of very similar mixtures. Those most frequently used 

 by Professor Lounsbury are Cooper's Dip and Golden Syrup, equal 

 parts, and a mixture of marmalade, sugar and arsenite of soda. 



Various compounds of sugar and arsenic under such suggestive 

 names as " Thunderboldt. " "Great American Ant Poison," etc., are 



*The temperature of the average refrigerator Is not low enough to discourage 

 the ants in the least. Fresh meat, lard, fruits, etc., are as subject to attack 

 as if they were in a temperature of from 70 to 80 degrees. 



