﻿SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



pain and nausea very much as other animal poisons do, and Dr. C. 

 Ruden, of Joliet, IlL, who, as quoted by Dr. Hale (loo. cit., p. 103), 

 experimented on himself by taking the saturated tincture internally 

 — increasing the dose daily from two to twenty drops — experienced 

 great disturbance of the bowels, swelling of the extremities, bloated 

 face, protruding eyes, fever, great thirst and desire for something 

 acid. 



From the present state of the case, therefore, while there can be 

 little danger in the cautious killing of the insect in the field, I would 

 not advise recklessness in handling it in large quantities ; and we 

 should especially guard against collecting and destroying it by scald- 

 ing or burning in such quantities. There is no longer any occasion 

 for thus collecting and destroying the insects; and since the custom 

 of tackling the enemy with the Paris Green mixture came into vogue, 

 we have heard much less of potato bug poisoning. 



THE USE OF PARIS GREEX. 



The question as to the safety and advisability of the use of this 

 mineral in counteracting the ravages of the Colorado Potato-beetle 

 and of other noxious insects, was revived during the year by the read- 

 ing of a paper before the National Academy of Science, by Dr. J. L. 

 LeOonte, of Philadelphia, " On the use of mineral poisons for the pro- 

 tection of Agriculture." After some introductory remarks the paper 

 closed with the following passages : 



But ill the interests of tliose to come after us, and for whom, rather than for our- 

 selves, we wish to preserve the results of our labors, I do solemnly protest against the 

 loose manner in which, on the recommendation of persons who have observed only the 

 effects of these poisons upon the insect pests to which their attention has been directed, 

 a most dangerous substance has been placed in the hands of a large mass of uneducated 

 men. You will learn from those who will supplement these remarks the fearful extent 

 to which the manufacture of this poison has increased upon agricultural demand. I 

 can say, on the authority of a friend residing in one of the great agricultural centers of 

 the West, that the druggists of his town order it by the ton. 



The ravages of the Colorado Potato-beetle, which has been the chief agent in intro- 

 ducing Paris Green into agriculture, commenced in the West many years ago, and its 

 extension, at a regular rate, was predicted by entomologists, whose opinion was worthy 

 to be received. 



Tne prediction has been verified almost to a year. 



Now it was within the power of the Government, through a properly organized 

 scientific bureau for the protection of agriculture, to have ordered a commission, who 

 would, after thoroughly investigating the subject, recommend proper measures to be 

 adopted. I am free to say that the use of metallic poisons would not be one of them. 

 But human labor, properly compensated and intelligently employed to avert a national 

 calamity, such as has come upon us from the incursion of the insect, might, perhaps, 

 have been one of the agents suggested. 



In a discourse before the American Association for the advancement of science, at 

 Portland, Maine, in August, 1873, I recommended, among other measures for the pro- 

 motion <)f economic entomologv in the United States, the reorganization of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture on a scientific basis for the proper protection and advancement 

 of agriculture. 



This recommendation was made the basis for several efforts on the part of the 

 farmers of the .Mis-is^ipj)! Valley. But, as is usual in cases where the emoluments of 

 office and the expenditure ol public funds are at stake, the attempt at reform failed. I 

 now appeal — and trust to your influence to give the appeal as wide a circulation as 



