86. Indian Museum Notes. [Vol. VI. 



being found in April, those of the second in the rains, i.e., July or 

 August probably. The Manager stated, however, in a subsequent 

 letter that larvae were to be found to a certain extent all the year round. 



The following further interesting note upon the subject was for- 

 warded to us by the Manager : — ' 



" We have been troubled with this insect pest for the past 25 years ; 

 the damage has been progressive in the sense that we have now a 

 very much larger stock of wool than we formerly had and the insects 

 have consequently more extensive growths* Fumigation, I regret, 

 would be impracticable, as all our wool sheds are open to the atmos- 

 phere — some on all four sides, others on three sides. The damage 

 done by these insects is considerable, in that it amounts in value to 

 several thousands of rupees yearly, and you will therefore appreciate 

 our desire to find a practicable remedy. It seems to us that the only 

 chance we have of holding the pest in check is by the liberal use 

 of some insecticide which, whilst not injuring the wool in any way 

 shall prove noxious to the insects. Could you put us in the way of 

 obtaining such an article ? It would have to be used literally by 

 the ton before we could hope to make any headway/' 



The Assistant Entomologist of the Museum, Mr. Peal, visited the 

 Mills and the following short report on the subject is from his pen :— 



"I paid a visit to the Cawnpore Woollen Mills during the 3rd week 

 of June 1902. I first examined the wool sheds which are large, more 

 or less open structures placed not far away from the mill proper. 



" The wool was stacked in piles along the sides and in the centre 

 of the sheds. Wool from all parts of India and from Australia is 

 stacked here ; -the wool being in most cases, I think, in tightly 

 pressed bales, but there was also a quantity which appeared to be 

 merely baled and not pressed. I was informed that it was believed 

 that the pest was first introduced in wool coming from Rajputana. 

 On examining the bales I found them in very many cases badly 

 attacked by the pest. Living grubs and beetles were present in 

 very large numbers. The wool in many cases was reduced almost to 

 rubbish and even where the harm done was less, it appeared to 

 be much damaged and presumably its value depreciated by the staple 

 being shortened and cut up into small lengths. 



iC I was informed that it was the practice to have all damaged wool 

 handpicked, the percentage of serviceable wool recovered beino- vari- 

 able, but in many cases 15, 20, or even 30 per cent, of the wool was 

 utterly ruined. 



<( l found the insect in the grub pupal and adult stages in lar<*e 

 numbers. The beetles were flying about to some extent. I noticed 



