81 



seemed to be tlie source of supply. Tlie measures taken Mere most 

 thorough. The mattress was promptly removed; Avails and tloors were 

 washed with borax and corrosive sublimate solution j carpets were 

 steam cleaned; pyrethrum was freely used; furniture was beateu, 

 cleaned, and varnished, the struggle being kei)t up for a year with all 

 the persistence of an extraordinarily neat housekeeper. The insect 

 continued to have the best of it, however, and persisted, though in 

 diminished numbers. 



The family then removed to a hotel and for days the house was fumi- 

 gated with burning sulphur and the scrubbing was rei)eated. The 

 insect was still not entirely exterminated and the house was vacated 

 again and subjected to the vapor of benzine. The insects, two years 

 after the removal of the mattress, were reported to be still in the house, 

 greatly reduced, but to be found in dark corners. 



An almost exact dui^lication of this experience is reported by Dr. 

 J. A. Lintner (Second Eeport, p. 198) as occurring in a residence in 

 Otsego County, X. Y., the infestation coming originally from straw- 

 filled ticks. 



In aggravated cases of the kind noted nothing but the most thorough 

 steps will be of avail. The source of supply, if in straw or husk ticks, 

 should be promptly removed and the contents of the ticks or nrattresses 

 burned. 



Carpets and bedding should be steam cleaned and floors should be 

 thoroughly washed with soapsuds and the walls washed and repapered 

 or painted. Benzine or gasoline should be applied freely to all possible 

 retreats or to furniture which can not be otherwise cleaned. Thorough 

 fumigation with brimstone, as recommended for the bedbug (see p. 38), 

 or like fumigation with bisulphide of carbon, will destroy many of the 

 psocids if the room can be tightly closed for several hours. 



There is no means of preventing the occasional occurrence of psocids 

 in houses, but unless exceptional opportunities are furnished they will 

 rarely be troublesome, and occasional examinations of book shelves or 

 other locations where they are apt to appear, with a liberal dusting of 

 pyrethrum powder whenever necessary, Avill ordinarily keep them in 

 check. With plenty of air and light and in apartments in daily use 

 they rarely appear in any numbers. The use of straw or husk tilled 

 ticks or mattresses would seem inadvisable or at least should be discon- 

 tinued at the first indication of being at all subject to infestation. 



THE AMERICAN SPRING-TAIL. 



{Lepidocifrtiis ameri<<nii(s Marlatt.) 



This very anomalous little insect, measuring scarcely nu)rc tlian one- 

 tenth of an inch, silvery gray in color, with purple or violet markings, 

 may be frequently observed in houses in situations similar to those fre- 

 quented by the two species last described. In (H)mnion with the silver 

 21470— No. 1 6 



