INSECT POWDER. 3 



that could apparently be destroyed only by a powder prepared from 

 Pyrethrum roseum, the secret of which was known to the natives. 



As to the discovery and history of the Pyrethrum cinerarisefolium, 

 from which the Dalmatian insect powder is prepared, still less seems 

 to bo known, but it is probable that its history has been very similar 

 to that of the Persian powder. De Visiani (67), in 1854, first men- 

 tioned the use of the plant as an insecticide, and Frontali (88) , wi'iting 

 in 1858, remarked that the powder prepared from the flowers of 

 P. cinerarisefolium had been used for many years in destroying certain 

 insects. Kiley (222), in 1881, stated that it was impossible to obtain 

 definite facts on the cultivation of this plant in its native home, as 

 the inhabitants were unwilling to give information concerning a 

 plant the product of which they wished to monopolize. Similarly, 

 great difficulty was experienced in securing even small quantities 

 of the seed of P. cinerarisefolium that had not been baked or otherwise 

 treated to prevent germination. Jiittner (150) quotes from an article 

 which traces the discovery of the efi'ect of the flowers of this plant on 

 insects back to 1840, when a German woman, Anna Rosauer, who 

 lived in Ragusa, Dalmatia, picked, for decoration, a bunch of wild 

 flowers, which later, as they became withered, she threw into a 

 corner. After several weeks she noticed that many dead insects lay 

 near the flowers. This led to the discovery that the death of the 

 insects was due to some virtue possessed by the flowers, whereupon 

 she undertook the production of insect powder. After her death a 

 pharmacist of Ragusa continued her work. 



According to Linke (173) Persian insect powder was introduced 

 into Europe in 1846, at Vienna, by Zacherl of Tiflis. Willemot (294) 

 states that the first powder of Pyrethrum was introduced into France 

 for the destruction of certain household insects in 1850. The powder 

 came exclusively from provinces of the Caucasus, Persia, and Dal- 

 matia, that from the former being the best, according to the researches 

 of Willemot. 



This powder was introduced into the American drug market 

 shortly before 1860 (1) . Owing to the fact that no figures on the pro- 

 duction in this country are available, and the importation statistics 

 are incomplete, the total amount consumed in the United States can 

 not be accurately- stated, but it is certainly in excess of 500,000 pounds 

 annually. According to the committee on the drug market of the 

 American Pharmaceutical Association (159,160,191), the importa- 

 tion of insect flowers and powder at the port of New York for the 

 fiscal years 1885 to 1887, inclusive, was as foUows: 

 Table 1. — Importations of insect flowers and powder at the port of Neiu York, 18S5 to 1887. 



Product. 



1885 



1886 



1887 





Pounds. 

 165, 505 

 456,609 



Pounds. 

 240, 170 

 302, 817 



Pounds. 

 262, 000 



Tnspft powrlpr 



335, 000 







Total 



622, 114 



542, 987 



597 000 







