ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 61 



the -wing-covers of beetles, but only covering about half the back, the remainder being 

 thin and membranous. The bed-bug, however, is destitute of wings, otherwise it would 

 probably be a far more common pest than it is ; in colour it is reddish brown ; the body is 

 round or oval in shape and very flat, so that it can easily crawl into cracks or crevices in 

 furniture, walls or floors. The writer has on several occasions been compelled to deal with 

 these disgusting creatures, when occupying for the first time some premises that had been 

 previously inhabited by dirty, careless people. Once it was a cottage containing four or 

 five rooms that was intended as a dwelling for a laundress and her family. It was found 

 to be swarming with bugs. The windows, doors, etc., were stopped up and made as air- 

 tight as possible, and then powdered sulphur was set on fire in an iron vessel in each 

 room and lefc till the following day. This was repeated two or three times ; the house 

 was then thoroughly scrubbed and the walls freshly papered. It was a great satisfac- 

 tion to find that the method adopted was perfectly successful and not a single bug was 

 afterwards seen. In the case of furniture, especially wooden bedsteads, the best plan 

 is to apply benzine or coal oil to all joints and crevices which may harbour the insect, 

 and repeat the operation till there is no doubt of its extermination. The beDzine may be 

 forced into the crevices by means of a fine syringe, or with a small paint brush. The 

 liberal use of hot soapsuds to all woodwork is also of very great value. 



Among other household insects one of the worst pests is the Clothes Moth, a full 

 account of which was given by Dr. Fletcher in our Twenty-third Annual Report, 1892, 

 page 53 ; it is unnecessary therefore to deal with it here. The Cheese or Meat Skipper, 

 a serious trouble at times in the larder, has also been recently discussed by Miss Mary 

 E. Murtfeldt in the Twenty-fourth Annual Report, 1893, page 98. 



Library pests are not a serious trouble in Canada so far as I am aware, but in more 

 southern and damper climates they are often very destructive. It was highly gratifying 

 to learn a few months ago that the annual reports of the Entomological Society of 

 Ontario had been the means of saving the public library at Hamilton, Bermuda, from a 

 threatened destruction. During the winters of 1892 and 1893 I had the pleasure of 

 spending a few weeks in those delightful isles, and on each occasion was kindly welcomed 

 by Mr. F. T. Frith, the librarian. He was much distressed by the abundance of a 

 " book worm " which was doing much damage to the bindings and the inside of the backs 

 of many of the volumes in his charge. The insect was evidently a species of Lepisma, 

 commonly called " the silver fish," from its peculiar form and scaly body. At the time 

 T recommended the use of insect powder as a possible preventive, though it could not be 

 very conveniently used without the risk of soiling the books to some extent. As a result 

 of my visits our annual reports have been regularly sent to the Bermuda library, and Mr. 

 Frith now tells me that he has carried out with complete success a method of destroying 

 the insect that he learnt from these pages. In the Twenty -fourth Report, 1893, page 94, 

 there is an article on " Fumigation with bisulphide of carbon for the complete and rapid 

 destruction of the insects which attack herbarium specimens, furs, woollens, etc." and a 

 description is given of a fumigating chest for the purpose. Mr. Frith adopted the plan 

 and had several wooden chests made, lined with zinc, carefully soldered at all joints. 

 Around the upper edge of the box a gutter of zinc was made and filled with water, into 

 this falls a flange of metal from the lid and thus the box is perfectly sealed and no air or 

 vapour can pass through. In these boxes he placed as many books as they would hold 

 and on the top of them an open vessel of bisulphide of carbon. The liquid soon evapor- 

 ates and the vapour, being heavier that atmospheric air, gradually penetrates to the 

 bottom. The books were left in the chests for a day or two, and then they were replaced 

 by others, until the whole of the library was gone over. The operation has proved 

 thoroughly successful and now no obnoxious " book-worms " are to be seen, whereas form- 

 erly scarcely a volume could be opened without finding oae of these creatures. Thus 

 has the Entomological Society of Ontario saved from destruction the public library of 

 Bermuda ! 



