26 



presents little danger in experienced hands. From a number of 

 experiments, it was found that 5 oz. of potassium cyanide per 1,000 

 cubic feet gave as good results as 10 oz. Powdered potassium cyanide 

 was the best, and commercial cyanide and sulphuric acid (66 Be.) 

 were quite as efficient as chemically pure cyanide and sulphuric acid 

 (sp. g. 1"84). It seemed evident that holds of ships would not retain 

 the fumes so as to be dangerous to life 30 minutes after removal of 

 the hatches. At the rate of 5 oz. per 1,000 cubic feet the chemicals 

 alone would cost less than the sulphur fumigation prescribed in the 

 quarantine regulations of the United States Treasury Department. 

 The small cost of equipment materially increases the disparity in 

 expense. 



The following apparatus is described and figured for use in holds 

 of ships. It consists of :• — (1) An ordinary wooden barrel, open at the 

 top, as the container for water and acid solution ; (2) five-gallon tins 

 for the cyanide, \\'ith the tops removed, on pin-hinges placed on one 

 side 2 inches below the top, and made to fit similar hinges on the 

 sides of, (3) a funnel of galvanised iron, 23 inches in diameter at top 

 and 6 inches at the bottom, with a depth of 12 inches, there being a series 

 of 1-inch holes on the sides of this funnel opposite to the hinges. The 

 acid and water mixture should be placed in the barrel before it is 

 lowered into the hold ; the funnel is then placed in the top of the barrel 

 and the tins containing cyanide are attached to the funnel by means 

 of the pin hinges. Eopes are attached to the bottom of the tins and 

 passed over the hatch coamings. By pulling these ropes, the contents 

 of the tins are dumped into the barrel. This arrangement has proved 

 very satisfactory. 



Lamson, Jn. (G. H.). The Poisonous Effects of the Rose Chafer upon 

 Chickens. — Jl. Econ. Eniom., Concord, viii, no. 6, December 1915, 

 pp. 547-548. 



Serious losses occur each year during June and early July among 

 chickens which have fed on Macrodactyhis subsjyinosus (rose chafers). 

 Post mortem examination shows the crop so full of the insects as to 

 give the impression that death has been due to a " crop-bound " 

 condition. Death has also been attributed to a mechanical injury to 

 the crop by the spines on the legs or to the crop having been bitten 

 by the rose chafers. Investigations carried out in Connecticut showed 

 that death occurred in from 9 to 24 hours after feeding. An extract 

 of rose chafers given to chickens caused high mortality. Young birds 

 died a few hours after feeding ; older chickens, when fed ■v\'ith a small 

 ([uantity of extract, lived, but showed signs of poisoning; large doses 

 resulted in their death. Adult hens did not die from the poison. From 

 15 to 20 individuals were sufficient to kill chickens a week old, and 

 from 25 to 45 a chicken 3 weeks old. If death did not occur within 

 24 hours, the birds recovered. In less than 5 per cent, of cases 

 convulsions occurred. Examination failed to reveal the presence of 

 arsenic, which might have been found on the foliage upon which the 

 rose chafers had been feeding. Extracts for intravenous injections 

 were made from 40 grams of rose chafers and 60 cc. of salt solution of 

 0-9 specific gravity. Three cc. of extract injected into a rabbit weighing 

 690 grams caused death in 6 minutes ; 4 cc. caused the death of a 



