78 



NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



can aid in bringing this about, it should be looked upon as 

 a missionary rather than a pest, a blessing in disguise. 



Fleas, Lice, Bedbugs. — These insects subsist upon the 

 blood of man and all kinds of animals, generally a dif- 

 ferent variety for the different species of animals. No 

 estimate of the time, labor, expense, and distress caused 

 by this class of insect pests can be made. They flourish 

 in the homes of the untidy and careless and spread through- 

 out the community by means of appropriate channels of 

 intercourse, — public schools, churches, libraries, public 

 conveyances, and the shifting of servants. 



A superhuman amount of tact and 



good nature on the part of the teacher 



would be needed to carry 



r?,«a 



Fig. 31. Black Carpet Beetle 

 Larva and adult. (All enlarged. After Howard and Marlatt) 



on the study of these insects along the lines indicated for 

 mosquitoes and the other household pests, but it is not 

 intended to attempt it. A quite distinct method of pro- 

 cedure should be adopted, and this must be varied accord- 

 ing to all sorts of circumstances. But since the school is 

 perhaps the most frequent means of their dissemination, 

 it is no more than right that they should form a serious 

 part of the nature-study course whenever this becomes 

 necessary. Respectable people who are made the fre- 

 quent victims of these mortifying scourges, and especially 

 teachers, should be the first to insist upon this. 



