l895-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 189 



of minor observations, hardly suitable for the Report, or the special Bul- 

 letins, would be wasted without an outlet like "Insect Life," and frequently 

 it becomes very desirable to reach the farming community promptly with 

 information that will be useful and can be copied and reprinted in the 

 agricultural journals of the country at large. In the opinion of the writer 

 it will be a serious mistake to discontinue now, after seven years, the 

 publication of so useful a periodical as " Insect Life." 



Vapors and Gases as Insecticides. — Within the last month three Bulletins 

 have been received speaking of the use of vapors, either of bisulphide 

 of carbon or hydrocyanic acid, for insecticide purposes. Bulletin 27 of 

 the Iowa Station contains records of a series of experiments on melon 

 lice, which do not seem to have been quite as successful or conclusive as 

 those which were carried on by myself and recorded in Bulletin No. 109 

 of the New Jersey Station. I am not able to understand at present, the 

 reasons for the differences in the result, because I have never had any 

 revival of plant lice treated with the bisulphide after they were in my 

 judgment dead. I have used the material since my melon lice experi- 

 ments in a number of instances, on potted plants, and always with abso- 

 lute success. So also I have had reports from growers of vegetables 

 under glass that the material has proved successful in destroying, plant 

 lice on lettuces where the benches were covered with a sash. A few 

 experiments with hydrocyanic acid gas are also recorded; but here also 

 the success was only partial, and in rather strong contrast with the expe- 

 riences recorded by Prof. Garman, in Bulletin No. 53, of the Kentucky 

 Experiment Station. Mr. Garman found that using the gas would ac- 

 complish the desired end of killing plant lice in a*)out four minutes, 

 whereas the bisulphide would require about an hour ; therefore the 

 advantage in some directions certainly seems to be with the hydrocyanic 

 acid gas. But this is such a violent poison that I confess to some hesita- 

 tion in advising its use. After all it will need many more experiments 

 before we can be certain of just what this gas will do. It may have a 

 field larger than we now realize, and almost undoubtedly the introduction 

 of this gas and the vapor of the bisulphide will make a considerable 

 change in insecticide practice. It is another index of the change in the 

 work of the Economic Entomologist, to which reference was made in 

 the last number of the News. 



The vulgar opinion that the ear-wig, Forficula auricularia, seeks to 

 introduce itself into the ear of human beings, and causes much injury to 

 that organ, is .very ancient, but not founded on fact, for they are perfectly 

 harmless. To this opinion the names of this insect in almost all European 

 languages point ; as in English, ear-ivig (from Anglo-Saxon eare, the ear, 

 and wigga, a worm ; hence, also, our word wiggle) ; in French, Perce- 

 oreil/e, and in German, Ohr-ivurm. But, according to some writers, these 

 arose from the shape of the wing when expanded, which then resembles 

 the human ear ; and ear-wig might easily be a corruption of ear-wifig, 

 — Cowan' s Curious Facts. 



6* 



