Household Pests and Their Treatment. 75 



brown dust settling on furniture and bedding, may be burned 

 over a lamp, being simply strewn on an old tin pan or other 

 piece of metal and held over the flame. Oil of citronella rubbed 

 on face and hands is a deterrent to mosquitoes, but not always 

 the most satisfactory way of dealing with them in the house- 

 hold. 



FLEAS. 



The fleas frequenting dwellings are of several different 

 species, according to the character of animal pets kept by a 

 family. Dogs are notorious as breeding places for these insects 

 and any lover of dogs is likely to suffer more or less from the 

 presence of fleas about his place of abode. Yet it is sometimes 

 a little amusing to hear people who keep such pets much of the 

 time within doors, expressing wonder as to why the fleas "are 

 so bad." If both dogs and cats are kept in stables and other 

 outhouses, a chief source of fleas in dwellings will be removed, 

 tho people who visit the quarters of their pets frequently are 

 likely to bring fleas indoors on their clothing. It becomes 

 necessary, if this is to be avoided, to keep the sleeping places 

 of dogs particularly clean, the bedding being changed fre- 

 quently, the animals themselves to be treated with sprays, dips, 

 or powders, to keep the insects from becoming numerous in their 

 coats. 



The subject has become of more interest to us recently be- 

 cause of the discovery that fleas are carriers of certain human 

 diseases. The readiest means of suppressing such diseases as 

 bubonic plague has, accordingly, been found to be the destruc- 

 tion of rats and other rodents known to harbor fleas about dwell- 

 ings. It is conceivable that other animals harboring fleas are 

 sources of danger to us, also, and it behooves us to exercise all 

 reasonable precautions against the pests, at any rate until we 

 know positively the precise part taken by each one of the house- 

 hold pests and pets in the transmission of ailments to which we 

 are subject. 



Thus in dealing with fleas, as in the case of ants, it is of 

 special importance to control the source, their natural breeding 



