4 Indian Museum Kales. [ Vol. III. 



creosote oil. This substance, which is known as " Huile lourde/' is de- 

 scribeil as a product obtained by distilling coal tar : 20,1 00 kilos, of ifc were 

 obtained from Oran, where the invention originated, for emnlovrnent 

 in places where fuel was scarce, but the destructive effects of the liquid, 

 combined with its antiseptic properties, caused it to be universally pre- 

 ferred in Tunis to the former system of burning or crushing- the locusts, 

 The liquid costs from 11 to 13 francs per 100 kilos. It is mixed with 

 one-and-a-half times its bulk of water, and is used both for sprinkling 

 over small clusters of locusts in the morning- and evening when thev 

 are banded together, and also for pouring over the masses of louusts that 

 are collected in traps. 



The chief reports that have been furnished on the subject of locusts 

 in Northern Africa are as follows : — 



(i) A report by Mr. Drummond Hay, on the methods adopted in 

 Tunis for destroying locusts, originally published in the Miscellaneous 

 Series, 189 1 , of Her Majesty's Foreign OHice in London. This report has 

 been reprinted in Volume II, No. 5 of these Notes. 



(ii) A report on the incursion of locusts in Egypt in 1891, by 

 Mr. Williamson Wallace of the Tewfikieh College of Agriculture at 

 Ghizeh. In Egypt the flights appeared in the middle of April i^91 

 along the western border of Egypt, extending from Minieh in the 

 south to the Mediterranean on the north. They appeared to come from 

 the west, that is, from the direction of the Sahara desert, which haslonir 

 been known as the home of Acridiwm joeregrinum. They coupled as soon 

 as they arrived, and a few days afterwards they began laying their eggs 

 in the ground. The eggs hatched three weeks after they were laid, and 

 by the middle of May the ground was covered with young wingless 

 locusts. These young locusts became full grown and acquired wings in 

 the latter part of June. 



The following extract, taken from Mr. Williamson Wallace's report, 

 shows the measures that were taken in Egypt to cope with the pest : — 



" When the locusts appeared iu Egypt do very decided effort was made to destroy 

 them. Occupied at this period in reproducing their species, the locusts had done com- 

 paratively little damage to the crops. When, however, it was realized that they had 

 actually bred in the country, and that Egypt was face to face with what might soon 

 develope into a national calamity, a most energetic effort was made to get i id of the 

 plague. Orders were issued from the Ministry of the interior to the Moodeers, point- 

 ing out the gravity of the situation and instructing them to use ever}" means in their 

 power for the destruction of the locusts. All available Inspectors were despatched to 

 the provinces to assist the Moodeers, while officials were drawn from other depart- 

 ments and charged with this special work. By this time, namely, the loth of May. 

 the locust 1 ad spread, to every province of Lower E^ypt, except Dakahlieb, Menoufieb, 

 and Gharbieli Ueiny the mrst affected. It was found chat the eyr^s had been principally 

 deposited on the sand islands :iloug the course of the western branch of the Nile, 

 and in the co : ton fields. In the fielJs occupied by the winter crops, principally wheat, 



