SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES 



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To sum up: Every house where a pet dog or cat is kept may be- 

 come seriously infested with fleas if the proper conditions of moisture 

 and freedom from disturbance exist. Infestation, however, is not 

 likely to occur if the (bare) floors can be frequently and thoroughly 

 swept. When an outbreak of fleas comes, however, the easiest remedy 



to apply is a free sprin- 

 kling of pyrethrum pow- 

 der in the infested rooms. 

 This failing, benzine may 

 be tried, a thorough spray- 

 ing of carpets and floors 

 being undertaken, Avith 

 the exercise of due pre- 

 caution in seeing that no 

 lights or fires are in the 

 house at the time of the 

 application, or for some 

 hours afterwards. Final- 

 ly, if the plague is not 

 thus abated, all floor cov- 

 erings must be removed 

 and the floors washed with hot soapsuds. This is a useful precaution 

 in any house which it is proposed to close for the summer, since even 

 a thorough sweeping may leave behind some few flea eggs from which 

 an all-pervading swarm may develop before the house is reopened. 



Approved : 



James Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



Washington, D. C., December 29^ 1908. 



[Clr. 1081 



O 



Fig. 2. — Cat and dog flea (Cienocephalus canis) : <i. 

 Larva ; 6, head of same ; c, anal end of same, a. 

 Much enlarged; b, c, more enlarged. (.Author's 

 illustration, redrawn.) 



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