WORM-EATEN FURNITURE. 121 



insects which furnishes unwilling nourishment to the 

 Clerus, which is called Anobium striatnin. This Beetle 

 belongs to the family of the Ptinidae, a group of small 

 and very destructive Beetles. They are cylindrical in 

 shape, covered with very short down, and are able to 

 draw their heads completely under the overhanging 

 thorax. Their legs can be packed closely to the body, 

 and the tarsi have five joints. The genus Anobium, of 

 which there are eleven British species, has the three 

 last joints of the antennae rather longer than the 

 others, and the last joint egg-shaped. 



The various species of this genus work terrible 

 havoc among furniture, in which they produce the 

 defect that is popularly known by the name of * worm- 

 eaten.' They are not in the least particular as to 

 their diet, and will devour almost any kind of food. 



For these troublesome little pests I know of but one 

 remedy, namely, injecting into the holes spirits of 

 wine in which corrosive sublimate has been dissolved. 

 This is not so tedious a business as it may seem to 

 be, as the spirit will often find its way from one hole 

 to another, so that, if half a dozen holes be judiciously 

 selected, the poison will penetrate the whole piece of 

 wood, kill all the insect inhabitants, and render it for 

 ever impervious to their attack. A New Guinea bow 

 in my collection was riddled with the burrows of the 

 Anobium, but was easily cleared of its inmates. Hold- 

 ing the bow perpendicularly, I injected the spirit into 

 several holes at the upper end. The effect was magical. 

 The little Beetles came out of the holes in all direc- 

 tions, and not one survived the touch of the poisoned 

 spirit ; many of them, indeed, dying before they could 



