422 



Sunday in spring. The maritime flora and fauna are late to awake, 

 and most of the insects peculiar to the seacoast can still be found in 

 their winter quarters by the end of April. That on the naked rolling 

 sand hills there is only a single place fit for insect hibernation must be 

 apparent at the first glance, even to a tyro in entomology ; unless they 

 fly great distances they can hibernate only within or beneath the dense 

 stools of grasses. By pulling out any good-sized stool and beating it 

 out on the smooth surface of the sand or over a cloth, a multitude of 

 various insects are sure to be found, and among them always plenty 

 of chinch bugs. It may be {^dded that these stools not only serve 

 as winter quarters, but the chinch bugs also crawl into them during 

 the day in summer time to i^rotect themselves from the fierce rays of 

 the sun. — E. A. S. 



TRANSMISSION OF INFECTION BY, FLIES. 



At the annual conversazione of the Royal Society held May 1, 1*895, 

 says " Xature" for May 9, Mr. W. T. Burgess showed the results of experi- 

 ments iu connection with the transmission of infection by flies. Flies 

 having been placed in momentary contact with a cultivation of Bacillus 

 prodigiosiis (or other suitable chromogenic organism) were allowed to 

 escape into a large room. After some time they were recaptured and 

 allowed to walk, for a few seconds, over slices of sterile potatoes, which 

 were then incubated for a few days. The experiments showed that the 

 flies' tracks on the potatoes were marked by vigorous growths of the 

 chromogenic organism, even when the flies spent several hours in con- 

 stant activity before they were recaptured. The use of pathogenic 

 organisms in these experiments would be attended with obvious dan- 

 gers, but the results obtained with harmless microbes indicated the 

 constant risks to which flies expose us. 



A REMEDY AGAINST FLEAS. 



All persons who have lived in a house which has become infested 

 with fleas in summer will know how these creatures inhabit the floor 

 by i^reference, and how they will jump upon the legs and ankles of 

 everyone who passes near them. Taking advantage of this fact, some 

 years ago, when the lower floor of JNIcGraw Hall of Cornell ITuiversity 

 was badly infested by fleas, which had come from animals temporarily 

 kept there in confinement, Prof. S. H. Gage invented the following 

 ingenious plan. He had the negro Janitor put on a pair of rubber boots, 

 and then tied sheets of sticky fly i^aper, with the sticky side outward, 

 around the legs of the boots. The janitor was then told to patrol the 

 lower floor for several hours a day. The result was gratifying and 

 rather snri)rising. The sheets of fly paper soon became black with 

 fleas and had to be changed at intervals, but by this means the build- 

 ing was almost completely rid of the j^est, with a minimum of trouble 

 to everyone except the janitor. 



