A? THE FLORIDA BUGGIST 
Smudges of almost any material that give a dense smoke have 
been used and, if the smoke is thick enough, will keep adults away 
should anyone prefer to be suffocated rather than bitten to death. 
Fumigants will quickly rid a house of the pests and are very 
useful in some instances. Sulphur dioxide, made by burning two 
pounds of sulphur per thousand cubic feet, has been the stand- 
ard in the past and is absolutely reliable but it is objectionable 
to use on account of its injurious effect upon household goods. 
Pyrofume, a product obtained from the fractional distillation of 
pine wood, seems to be as effective as sulphur dioxide and less 
objectionable to use (Francis, 1906). Mimms’ culicide, made 
by mixing equal parts by weight of melted carbolic acid crystals 
and camphor gum, used at the rate of four ounces per thousand 
cubic feet is entirely satisfactory but expensive. In experiments 
conducted by the writer, it killed all the Culex quinquefasciatus 
which were confined in the room in a battery jar covered with 
cloth. It is much easier to use and not so injurious as sulphur 
dioxide. Tobacco smoke will quickly kill mosquitoes confined in a 
tight receptacle. As tobacco is so universally distributed and 
cheap, it would be very convenient to use if it would form an 
effective fumigant. In experiments conducted by the writer, the 
great difficulty was in burning it so as to make a smoke. When 
alcohol or saltpeter was mixed in sufficient quantities to burn it, 
it would burn without making much smoke and was not effective 
when burned in a tight room at the rate of two ounces per thou- 
sand cubic feet. It is believed that if some device for burning 
tobacco so as to make a dense smoke can be perfected, it will 
form a cheap and efficient fumigant. Perhaps something like the 
“smoker” used for bees could be used successfully. 
Tobacco decoction (containing about two and two-thirds per 
cent nicotine) was tried in a tight room containing about seven 
hundred cubic feet of space. Twenty-five cubic centimeters were 
evaporated over a gas burner and one hundred and four Culex 
quinquefasciatus exposed to the fumes for thirty minutes. All 
of them were stupefied, but when removed to fresh air, about 
seventy-five per cent revived. Another experiment was made in 
which ninty-five cubic centimeters were evaporated in the same 
room and about fifty Culex quinquefasciatus exposed to the fumes 
for one hour. In this experiment none of them were killed. Some 
trouble was found in evaporating this much of the decoction, as 
it forms a thick syrupy mass and vaporized slowly. It is thought 
that “Black Leaf 40” which contains nicotine sulphate can be 
