4 — 



from time to time have the same object in view. If 

 the paste is the object of attack, why is it that pho- 

 tographs, which are fastened to the cardboard by 

 means of paste, are not eaten ? 



Although some of these writers have stated that 

 the bindings were bored or gnawed, a gallery leading 

 from an opening made on the outside towards the 

 interior of the book; that the glazed surface of the 

 paper was eaten off; that in a few cases that portion 

 of the page Avhich had received the impress of the 

 printer's ink only had been eaten, making the page 

 look as though the letters had been cut out with a 

 punch ; and again, that a cavity had been found in the 

 interior of the book, ^vithout sho^ring by what means 

 the insect was able to obtain access : not one of them, 

 as far as I have been able to find, has reasoned upon 

 the question that there might be other causes for 

 these ravages of the insects upon books besides the 

 hackneyed phrase, ,,that they are after the paste used 

 in the binding, in order to obtain the starch contained 

 in it". 



Having read hundreds of articles and notes upon 

 this subject, and having had the pleasure, from my 

 standpoint — but not that of the librarian, of exami- 

 ning many hundreds of volumes of ancient and recent 

 date of publication, with bindings made of different 

 leathers, paper made of rag, wood, and other materials, 

 my attention was before long attracted by the fact, 

 that in the great majority of books examined no at- 

 tempt was made by the insects to eat the paste used 

 in the binding, and also by the many cases in which 

 a cavity or cavities were found in the interior of the 

 volume without showing the means by which the in- 

 sects obtained access thereto. 



Looking at the various ways in which books were 

 ravaged, and knowing from my OA\'n studies and ob- 

 servations in entomology that the insects have fl'on- 

 derful instinctive powers, wliich in a number of cases 

 could very easely be classed as intelUgence, I have 

 come to the conclusion that there must be other rea- 

 sons besides the desire for paste, to cause these various 

 depredations, and I have asked myself tliis question: 

 ,,As we know that the dog and cat, when sick, look 

 for certain herbs, grasses, and putrid animal matter, 

 being directed by their instinct to that substance 

 which contains the vegetable and mineral matter 

 which is best suited for the j^articular ailment from 

 which they are suffering at that particular time, may 

 ■ not the insect, with an instinct as great if not greater, 

 have use for them for the same purpose ?" It seems 

 to me, that the lo-wer we go in the scale of life, accor- 

 ding to the classification of the systematists, the more 

 wonderful are the instinctive faculties of the small 

 forms of life, and that if a classification was made 

 according to instinctive faculties, it is a question 

 whether the ants would not outrank the animals by 

 many degrees. 



The new school of medicine, in departing from the 

 system of the old, that is, that in which Hahnemann 

 in following Paracelsus claimed that certain symp- 

 toms in human beings required mineral agencies and 

 vegetable compounds in j)otencies equivalent to the 

 complaint, neglected to study the power of drugs, and 



results not anticipated frequently occur, caused by 

 not using judgment in the quantity of the dose given. 

 Those interested in finding means for destroying life 

 that is destructive, should use the means as those ad- 

 vocated by Hahnemami in their researches. 



Starting upon this theory which I contend will be 

 found to be true, when biologists, physicists and en- 

 tomologists have searched more deej^ly into the evo- 

 lution of the lower forms of life, I divided the books 

 into classes- according to that portion which was 

 damaged, and will describe some of the most impor- 

 tant and name a, few of the insects which attack that 

 particular group. 



Paste Eaters. — Science has proved beyond 

 doubt or question that there can be no destruction 

 of matter, only a change of form. If there is no de- 

 struction of matter, then we have a demonstration 

 of the theory of the worm of larva having been attrac- 

 ted to the i^aste used in the binding of the books. In 

 the agricultural kingdom we find that rye, wheat, and 

 the various other varieties of grain are constantly 

 being damaged by the work of different species of in- 

 sects. These insects and other small life upon the exu- 

 dations of plant life, and the human body is also giving 

 off exudations in the form of perspiration wliich is also 

 a source of nourishment to many forms of life. 



We will take rye and wheat, which are principally 

 used in paste making, as an example. The whole 

 grain is taken to the mill, husked and ground, and 

 prepared by various processes for the sustenance of the 

 human family. After all the processes of the miller 

 have been completed, it is barrelled or bagged and is 

 ready for distribution. In the processes we find that 

 alum has been and is still being used as a whitening 

 agency for the different grains. The flour is taken 

 into the factory apparently pure, clean, and free from 

 all forms of animated life; but in a very short time, 

 especially if it is kept in a compartment that is hea- 

 ted, or in a moist atmosphere, and is left standing 

 some time before being used, life is apparently created 

 in it, a i^iizzle to all, as to its origin and nature, and 

 stranger still, the first life noticed is always worm life. 

 In tliis case it is known as the ,, flour-worm". Mr. 

 James Stone, a flour merchant of Philadelphia, in reply 

 to my questions, stated that they always discovered 

 the worms first, that they were only found in the centre 

 of the barrel, never near the sides, and that the loose 

 flour laying around the floors, of which there always 

 was a quantity, was never found to have worms in it. 

 The lower or coarser grades which are used exclusively 

 for paste were first damaged. The finer grades were 

 more seldom found to be affected. Tliis goes to prove 

 my theory that the life was in the flour before grinding, 

 and that it lay dormant until the proper conditions 

 were produced, such as heat and dampness. The 

 grinding of these grains allows the gases in the air to 

 reach the particles which, to a large extent, were be- 

 fore protected by skin or husk. These gases cause a 

 chemical change to take place, which has been little 

 studied, and this will be found to give food for forms 

 which ^^'ere heretofore in a dormant condition. Many 

 eggs of the smaller forms of life can hardly be seen, even 

 with a compound microscope. The following are some 



