Tineidae 



on which it feeds; the Fur-moth makes a small portable case, 

 which it carries with it; while the insect which we have called 

 the Clothes-moth lives for the most part free until the time of 

 pupation, when it constructs for itself a cocoon out of bits of 

 fiber. 



All of these three species are equally destructive, and there is 

 no question which is more frequently asked of the writer than 

 how best to destroy the insects when once they have found lodg- 

 ment in a house, and how to prevent their attacks. 



All of these creatures "love darkness better than light, their 

 deeds being evil." When it is suspected that furs or garments 

 are infected by their presence, the first step which should be 

 taken is to expose them to full sunlight, the hotter the better. 

 Garments in which moths are known to exist should be hung up 

 in the open air. And this airing and exposure to sunlight should 

 not be for an hour or two, but, if possible, it should extend over 

 a number of days, and should take place in the latter part of May 

 or the early part of the month of June, at which time the female 

 moth is engaged in ovipositing. Where it is impossible to air 

 and expose to sunlight the fobrics which have been attacked, as 

 is sometimes the case with carpets in dark corners, they should 

 be thoroughly saturated with benzine. It is needless to say that 

 this operation should never be undertaken in the presence of a 

 candle or other exposed light. Furniture in carpeted rooms 

 should in the spring of the year be removed from the place where 

 it has long stood, and the spot should be thoroughly sponged 

 with benzine. A solution of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, so 

 weak that it will not leave any white mark upon a black feather 

 which has been dipped into it and afterward dried, may be 

 applied effectively to carpets and to fiibrics which are exhibited 

 in museum cases. At the Carnegie Museum we make it a rule to 

 spray all substances which might be exposed to the attack of 

 moths, when hung in cases, with a solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate and strychnine in alcohol. 



In carpet warehouses and in establishments where woolen 

 goods are stored in quantity it is well to have on the roof of the 

 building an apartment fitted up with large air-tight chests. Into 

 these chests, or compartments, fibrics supposed to have been 

 attacked by moths may be put and exposed for twenty-four or 



435 



