Mosquito Remedies and Enemies 123 



kills larvae and pupae in a very short time but, as it 

 also kills everything else, it is useful only for lot pools, 

 cesspools, sewers, and the like. It is made by the 

 Phinotas Chemical Co., New York, and costs about 

 forty cents per gallon. It is of no value in salt water. 

 Two ounces suffice for the ordinary sewer catch-basin. 

 It should be sprayed through a fine rose nozzle, with 

 a gardener's syringe, as should the other destructives, 

 or by a sprayer in large areas. This method insures 

 the best distribution and most economical use of the 

 oil. As a very little goes a great way, it is really not 

 particularly expensive. 



Phinotas oil and soluble crude oil are theoretically 

 the best larvicides, but they are dirty and also too de- 

 structive to aquatic life, beside not disinfecting as well 

 as some of the Cresol preparations for gutters, etc. A 

 soluble crude oil, prepared by a Baltimore firm, 

 destroys larvae and pupae, but the infested area in 

 this case soon becomes reinfested, and as the other 

 water insects are killed at the same time, the last 

 condition is worse than the first. 



Kerosene has been used as a larvicide as far back 

 as 1845, by Delboeuf ; and in 1812 it was suggested in 

 a work by Robert Southey (published anonymously) 

 and entitled " Omniana or Horce Otwstores," that 

 pouring oil on water at the seasons when they emerge 

 and when they deposit their eggs might lessen the 

 number of mosquitoes. Kerosene does not harm fish, 

 or aquatic insects that do not breathe at the surface. 

 It acts well in salt water, the chief trouble being that 

 the wind drives off the film. This oil is not disin- 

 fecting, and, after a few days, may impart a slight 



