EXTIKPATION OF THE B£1>-BUG. 571 



can breathe it and live, so that there is an element of danger 

 and the after effects of sulpliur vapour are anything but agree- 

 able. I once had a room which was suddenly and grievously 

 afflicted with these insects, and managed to clear it entirely 

 from them without doing any damage to the house or furniture, 

 or running the least risk of injuring any human being. There 

 is a very valuable insect-powder, sold by Mr. H. Easter, of 

 Cloudesley Square, Islington, which has the property of killing 

 all insects, while it is quite harmless with regard to vertebrate 

 animals, so that it can be sprinkled over birds, cats, dogs, and 

 other animals without the least dangei My pet cat was once 

 greatly tormented with jaarasites. I put a large teaspoonful of 

 the powder into a bag, introduced pussy into it, much against 

 his will, tied up the mouth, and left the bag on the floor. Of 

 course, the . cat tumbled about inside the bag, and rolled about 

 the floor so as to introduce the powder thoroughly into the fur. 

 In about twenty minutes I let out the cat, and found that 

 every flea that had tormented him lay either dead or dying in 

 the bag. 



Finding this process so effectual I bethought me of trying 

 the vapovu" upon aphides, moth-eaten fur, &c. &c., and, as the 

 vapoiu- w^as quite as destructive as the powder itself, I deter- 

 mined on trying it on a large scale. So I made a number of 

 brown-paper cylinders, just like squib-cases, and filled them 

 with the insect-powder, taking care to ram it down hard. I then 

 pasted paper over every crevice that could let the smoke out of 

 the room, or the air into it, lighted the squibs at the open end, 

 blowing them into a bright red glow, disposed them about the 

 room, and then closed the door, pasting paper from the outside 

 across the junction of the door with the doorway. 



After an hour or so, I took from the keyhole the cotton-wool 

 which I had placed in it, looked into the room, and found that 

 it was thick with smoke-wreaths. The smoke began to settle 

 down in some three or four hours, and when it had nearly sub- 

 sided, I entered the room and opened the window. The sight 

 was an astonishing one. In every direction lay dead or dying- 

 Bugs, from the full-grown veteran to the tiniest larva. In 

 some places where the smoke had not been very thick, the in- 

 sects were still on their feet, but so stupified that they could 

 ^nly just put one leg before another. I am almost afraid to 



