10 — 



Omnivorous. — Among the insects which 

 can find food in all portions of the books may be 

 mentioned the beetles, Sitodrepa panicea and Tribo- 

 lium confusum. 



Carnivorous. — The following are some of 

 the forms of life found preying upon insects found in 

 libraries, the centipede, Scutigera forceps, pseudoscor- 

 pions, Bryobia praetensis and Tryoglyphus longior. 

 I believe that investigation will show that the two 

 last species are injurious to books. 



Researches. — Some of the statements here 

 made seem radical, but when it is considered how 

 little is known of the life habits of the lower forms of 

 life, on the one hand, and the facts given by the few 

 life histories that are known, on the other, it does not 

 appear to me unreasonable to place this theory before 

 the public. Especially so, as my own experiments are 

 showing results entirely different from anything 

 hitherto published. 



It is known that the eggs of the insects under ad- 

 verse conditions will stay fertile for long periods of 

 time; that the eggs will also stand a very high ot low 

 temperature; and, on account of the toughness of 

 their skin or shell, are also able to stand a great deal 

 of handling and pressure without being crushed or 

 broken. At an institution with which I was officially 

 connected for a number of years, a lot of mosquito eggs 

 were received from Cuba. These eggs had been at- 

 tached to a piece of rough blotting paper, and sent to us 

 through the mails. Upon receiving them, thinking that 

 they had been ruined by the rough handling and pres- 

 sure that they must have received in transit, the 

 blotting paper was thrown aside and allowed to lay 

 exposed to the dust of the atmosphere and the rays 

 of the sun for many months. One day, in a spirit of 

 fun, some one threw the blotting paper into some 

 water, and, to the surprise of all, in a very short time, 

 the larvae were swimming around as though nothing 

 had ever happened to them. 



All plants, vegetables, trees, etc., have certain 

 combinations of chemical elements which are only 

 found in them, as is known from chemical analyses 

 which have been made of material from them, and 

 each of these have certain forms of life which live 

 upon them, and whenever any of these trees, etc.; 

 are used in the manufacture of paper and preparation 

 of leathers, eggs of the different species are most 

 likely to be found incorporated in the material; hi- 

 bernating, as it were, until the proper conditions 

 through heat or dampness come about, giving life 

 to the germ within, and in a very short time the little 

 worm is enjoying life, although being evoluted per- 

 haps, later than nature intended it to be. 



Again, wandering insects come into the library, 

 and their instinct tells them what books contain the 

 particular food or medicine for which they are see- 

 king. These little insects pass through their various 

 states of evolution, with long periods of life, which 

 are unknown to the finite mind of man as to the 

 exactness of the length of their lives, and are always 

 evoluting up to a point of superior consciousness. 

 We must give credit to the entomologists for their 

 researches as to the laying of the eggs of the winged 



insects, that in time, by the active energies of the phy- 

 sical universe, produce life which becomes expressive, 

 by a process of incubation which has been very little 

 considered. These various illustrations are exhibited 

 to express the nature and character of that which 

 has been infectious to the libraries of the world. While 

 many of them will seek for the paste, it is not always 

 that which attracts them. They are also attracted 

 by the mineral and vegetable substances found in 

 books. 



Disease Carriers. — Just as deseases are 

 carried by flies, the seeds of plants by birds and the 

 winds, so are contagious diseases carried to new loca- 

 tions by books and papers. Flies coming from putrid 

 matter, of from a person suffering from a contagious 

 disease, by depositing disease germs on books provide 

 the means, if given the proper conditions, of sprea- 

 ding these deseases to a locality where they were un- 

 known before, not to mention the possibilities of fleas, 

 germs, and bacteria. From my knowledge of the abi- 

 lity of bacteria to attach themselves to paper, I am 

 positive that future research will show that books 

 and papers have been the means of spreading many 

 cases of disease. The question of doing away with 

 bank notes has been agitated for years, on account 

 of the desease germs and bacteria carried on them, 

 absorbed from the unclean hands which handle them. 

 A letter received by me from the United States Bureau 

 of Animal Industry states that, ., Several years ago, 

 however, at the request of a Representative in Con- 

 gress, an examination was made by this bureau of 

 a one-dollar Treasury note with view ef determining 

 the number of organisms thereon. The note used for 

 the investigation was obtained on February 3, 1904, 

 from the U. S. Treasury, having been withdrawn on 

 that date from circulation. It belonged to Series 1890, 

 and hence had been in circulation thirteen years. 

 While the note looked very old and quite soiled, one 

 often receives notes of even worse appearance in or- 

 dinary business transactions. 



,,The note in question was subjected to the ordi- 

 nary laboratory manipulations for determining the 

 number of micro-organisms upon it which were ca- 

 pable of vegetation and development, and as a result 

 of this examination it was found that there were 

 13,518,000 living micro-organisms present on this 

 note. These consisted principally of the organisms 

 popularly known as bacteria and fungi." Unclean- 

 liness is more to blame than the paste in the books 

 for insects found destroying them. 



The fleas, Pulex serraticeps, and other species, and 

 the Acarina, or pseudoscorpions, are also capable of 

 carrying disease germs. 



Remedies. — As far as the destruction of 

 these insects by poison is concerned, they are practi- 

 cally worthless, because, whenever the poison is used 

 to destroy one it will attract other insects that have 

 need for that poison. Uncleanliness of the human 

 family also helps to supply the needs of the book- 

 \\'orm. Men and wornen do not give the proper con- 

 sideration to their hands, going from the dining-room 

 into the library, either public or private. Nature, by 

 its process under the great infinite power, has supplied 



