INSECTS AFFECTING HEALTH OF MAN OR ANIMALS. 19 
per cubic metre. Eggs on the hair may be destroyed by an ointment made from 2 
cc. of the mixture and 8 grams of vaseline well blended. (Legroux, R. Bull. Soc. 
Path. Exot. 8, No. 7, 1915.) 
Perhaps the best method of destroying both lice and their eggs in clothing is to 
subject the garments for 20 minutes to the action of steam under pressure. The 
whole of the clothing must be treated at the same time, and as complete change is not 
possible in the field, the process fails in practice even when the somewhat cumbrous 
apparatus can be set up. The author steeped verminous body linen in solutions of 
| cresyl in water at 10, 5 and 3.3 percent for 10 minutesand hung itin the sun. The 
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result was, in all cases, the death of the lice. Further experiments showed that a 2 per 
cent solution, freshly prepared, was quite sufficient to kill all lice with which it was 
in contact for 10 minutes. A quart of cresyl in 124 gallons of water was enough to kill 
the lice in the body linen of 62 men, each garment being wrung out to recover the 
liquor as far as possible. Careful and vigorous brushing of uniforms with a hand brush 
in the open will rid them of both lice and eggs, which fall on the soiland die. (Legen- 
dre [J]. Bull. Soc. Path. Exot., Paris, 8, No. 5, May 12, 1915, pp. 280-283). 
THE BEDBUG.1 
The bedbug, if not rigorously controlled, is often a serious pest in 
camps and barracks, especially in warm climates, where multiplica- 
tion is very rapid. 
When a camp has become seriously infested, drastic methods must 
be employed. If cots are used, the most effective method of destroy- 
ing the bugs is to dip the cots bodily in a vat or tank containing a 
_ boiling weak solution of caustic soda. This will penetrate the crey- 
ices of the woodwork and folds of the canvas in which the insects 
find lodgment and destroy both bugs and eggs. The strength of the 
solution should be about that usually employed in washing clothes 
s and the cots should remain in the vat about 15 minutes. On removal 
they should be well washed, preferably with a hose, to remove the soda. 
After rinsing, expose to sun and air until thoroughly dry. This 
method has been used successfully in the sanitation of the Canal Zone. 
Where facilities for such dipping can not be provided, resort may 
be had to the liberal application of kerosene or benzine to those parts 
of the cot which might harbor the insects. Folds and seams of tents 
and cracks in wooden flooring must also receive attention. The inter- 
vals between dippings will be suggested by the rapidity with which 
reinfestation occurs. 
For infested houses, fumigation is the only effective method of 
treatment. The fumes of sulphur may be used at the rate of 5 pounds 
per 1,000 cubic feet. 
IRAs Slee F' 
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Ce ae SN IAD ere 
FLEAS. 
As fleas breed in dirt, it is to be expected that the adobe houses of 
the Mexican border will be heavily infested, especially where animals 
have been present. 
Bubonic plague is transmitted by fieas. It has been recorded from 
various ports in Mexico from time to time, and it is possible that the 
1 Cimez lectularius L. 
X 
