EErORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 131 



food once Ji week. Professor Verrill says " a wash of carbolic acid soap 

 has beeu recommended to destroy the eggs ou the hairs of the. horse, 

 and that oil or spirits of turpentine is a remedy in common use, but - 

 shouhl be used with caution, if at all. Cases of drugs being used, where 

 the larMe are thereby voided, it i.s possible that those already in the 

 intestines are the only ones affected."' 



Dr. Porcher, in his work on the resources of the South, when speaking 

 of the Pride of India, or China tree, {Melia azcdcrach,) says that trees 

 are " planted around stables in order that the horses by eating the 

 berries might be prevented from having bots." He then adds that 

 '' the leaves and berries packed with dried fruit will preserve them from 

 insects, and will also prevent moths in clothes;'' he likewise recom- 

 mends a solution or decoction made with the berries, (half a bushel of 

 the berries and fifteen gallons of water,) soaked one or two days, 

 sprinkled with a Avatering-pot over the plants. This, he states, will in 

 most cases prevent the depredations of the black grab, or cut-worm, 

 and that planted in peach-orchards it is said to prevent the attacks 

 of insects. If these berries and leaves have proved so useful in the 

 southern states in destroying insects or preventing their depredations, 

 would it not be well to institute a series of experiments to test their real 

 value as an insecticide? 



The family {Tacliinida:) are almost all beneficial, as their larv« de- 

 stroy the caterpillars of noxious moths and other insects. House-flies, 

 being bred in filth and manure, may be prevented from multiplying 

 about houses by keeping the premises clean, and by frequently sprink- 

 ling quick-lime wherever they are likely to breed. Stables, hog-pens, 

 and hen-houses should be i)laced as far as possible from the dwelling. 

 A mixture of quassia and water boiled together, then strained and 

 sweetened with sirup or molasses, benumbs the flies, and strong green 

 tea, well seasonsjd, is said by Harris to poison them. Fly-stone (gray 

 powdered crude arsenic) mixed with sugar and water, or sirup, is deadly 

 poison to flies, and, unfortunately, to mankind also. 



The so-called fly-paper is nothing more than blotting-paper soaked in 

 some similar mixture, and then dried. AVhen used for poisoning flies, it 

 is to be lilaced in a saucer, and a small quantity of water poured upon it. 

 This remedy, however, should never be used when the dying flies are 

 apt to fall into food or driuking-utensils ; and, as it is a deadly poison, 

 care should also be taken not to use it in farm-houses, for if the dead 

 flies are swept or thrown out into the j'ard, the young chickens will be 

 very apt to eat them, jind thereby be poisoned. Paper smeared with 

 some viscid sweet substance, to which they will adhere, is also recom- 

 mended, and in Europe is frequently used to entrap flies. 



Chloride of lime scattered around the house, in the drains, and out- 

 houses, is said to kill the larva^, and prevent flies from multiplying, 

 and at the same time it acts as a disinfectant and deodorizer. In low 

 rooms in country houses, flies may be destroyed at night by thous- 

 ands as they congregate on the ceiling, by merely tilling a tumbler half 

 iull of frothy soap-suds, and suddenly x)lacing it directly under aild over 

 them ; on attempting to fly, they are caught in tlie frothy liquid, and 

 when the tumbler is filled they can be emptied out and destroyed. 

 When flies are very troublesome in shop-windows, a little Persian insect- 

 powder, strewed daily over the lower portion of the wood-work of the 

 window-frames, will destroy multitudes, as these insects almost invaria- 

 bly rest upon the frame before or after attemi^ting to climb up the glass. 



There is a plant growing in the Southern States, which is mentioned 

 by Dr. Porcher as " fly-poison," or "fall poison," (A wifo?tf/j <t<?/i miiscce- 



