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The insect-destroying property of Buhach consists of a volatile oil 
which, in evaporating, exhales a gas that causes death by asphyxia 
to those insects which breathe it, producing a similar effect upon insects 
that chloroform and ether have upon human beings. But, what is very 
singular, while being so destructive to insect life, Buhach has no injuri- 
ous effect upon humau beings. That such is really the case can easily 
be proved by a visit to the company’s mill at Stockton when in full 
operation. At such times the air in the room where the flowers are 
ground into powder is filled with the fine, dust-like particles of the 
powder; many of the workmen are cbliged to remain in this room con- 
tinuously for several hours at a time, and take no more precautions 
against breathing the powder than a miller takes against inhaling the 
fine particles of flour in his mill; and yet they never suffer from the 
effects of thus inhaling the fine particles of the Buhach powder. 
Neither is the Buhach poisonous to either man or animals who eat 
some of it by chance or otherwise. Mr. Milco writes me that a tea- 
spoonful of the alcoholic extract of Buhach was administered to a cer- 
tain person afflicted with tape-worm; the dose was repeated every hour 
for ten consecutive hours, with the effect of removing the tape-worm 
without in the least degree injuring the patient. 
Neither is Buhach poisonous to insects. I have seen locusts feed 
upon cabbage leaves that had been so thoroughly sprayed with a solu- 
tion of Buhach and water that the leaves were thickly covered with 
Buhach after the water had evaporated ; still the locusts were not at 
all injured by thus feeding upon it. 
At the stables of the Buhach plantation several tons of the dried 
stems of the Pyrethrum cineraricefolium were fed to the horses; the lat- 
ter appeared to relish it very much, and I could not discover that they 
were injured in the least by thus feeding upon these stems. 
It is this perfect immunity from poisonous or other injurious qualities 
to those using it that has given to Buhach a prominent position among 
our insecticides, and makes it a perfectly safe remedy to use about the 
house. 
While in one form or another it is so destructive to insect life, still it 
appears to have little or no effect upon the eggs; it also is not so fatal 
in its effects upon the pup or chrysalids of those insects which pass 
through a quiet pupa state as it is to the larvee and to the adult insects. 
It appears to have the greatest effect upon the higher forms of insect 
lite, while the lower or more or less degraded forms are not so easily 
affected by it. 
Buhach is sometimes applied in a dry state, but for out-door purposes 
this occasions a great loss, since the finer particles of the powder will 
float in the air, and be carried away by the wind. A much more satis- 
factory way of applying it is to mix it in water and spray the insects 
with the solution. 
