36 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



They are usually charged with causing the decay with which they are asso- 

 ciated ; but as a matter of fact their presence is a consequence rather than a 

 cause of the condition with which they occur. In manure they are rather 

 beneficial because they assist in decomposing it, and in the field they are at 

 least not harmful In cellars a free use of dry lime will keep them down. 



A common type often seen in houses is the " fish-moth," a species of Lepisma, 

 also called a 'silver-fish," because of the snow-white scales with which it is 

 covered. This is the largest of our species, % of an inch in length, with long 

 antennae and long anal filaments, often seen running rapidly in drawers, among 

 papers or linen, and in closets. It feeds on starchy substances and sometimes 

 gnaws the binding of books or the bosoms of boiled shirts. Camphor or 

 napthaline will serve to keep them off, while pyrethrum kills them if dusted 

 where they run. 



I am, unfortunately, unable to present any list of species in this order, because 

 no collections have been made. There have been very few students of these 

 creatures, interesting as they are, and perhaps the majority of the species are 

 yet undescribed. If all of them were listed that are described from the eastern 

 United States, they would probably be less than 50 in number. 



Fig. 10. — Papirus sp. from the side, to show the spring and the 

 sucker at base of abdomen. 



