BOOK-LOUSE AND SILVER-FISH INSECT 321 



Lepisma, while the parts covered by the printing-ink 

 had been left untouched. In India, Government records 

 have been similarly damaged ; for this insect is very 

 generally distributed, and reports of the injuries it has 

 caused come in from all parts of the world. The paste 

 used in bookbinding or in papering walls forms a prime 

 attraction to these starch-loving creatures, and its age 

 is a matter of little importance : the oldest and driest 

 seems as attractive as the newest and freshest. Hence 

 they do damage to the bindings of books and to paper- 

 hangings, often eating holes in the paper, either for its 

 own sake or for the sake of the paste behind. I once 

 had an unpleasant experience in this direction : a large 

 case of transparencies, made of different thicknesses 

 of paper pasted together, had been laid aside for some 

 years, when, on being opened, a colony of Lepisma, 

 that had evidently discovered and been revelling on 

 the store, hurriedly scuttled away into remote and dark 

 corners. On inspection, it was found that while com- 

 paratively little damage had been done to the paper 

 itself, only the thinner parts having been nibbled, yet 

 in many places the paste that united different thick- 

 nesses had completely disappeared, the papers in con- 

 sequence falling apart and hanging in tatters. Muslin 

 curtains, again, have been attacked in consequence of 

 the starchy stiffening in them, and eaten in holes. 

 Similarly, starched collars, cuffs, and other articles of 

 clothing have been damaged. Silk garments and silken 

 tapestry have also suffered, the material in this case 

 being destroyed, apparently not so much for itself as 

 for the stiffening it contained. In 1882, Gustav de 

 Rossi complained that Lepisma had eaten holes in a 

 carpet, in the dust-covers of chairs, and other furniture, 

 in the paper lining of an insect store-box, and lastly 



