18 INSECTS AFFECTING HEALTH OF MAN OR ANIMALS. 
N. CG. I. (napthalene 96 per cent, creosote 2 per cent, iodoform 2 per cent). This 
preparation is aspeedy killing agent and is the best all-round verminicide tested. The 
investigator himself prefers it to any other preparation. (A. D. Peacock, M. Sc., 
Brit. Med. Journal, June 3, 1916, pp. 786-787.) 
For practical purposes it has been found that destruction of lice and their eggs is 
best secured by immersion of verminous garments and bedclothes in a petrol or ben- 
zene bath. Danger from fire and waste of petrol are avoided by using such a bath and 
extractor as are employed in a dry-cleaning apparatus. In such an apparatus 90 
per cent of the petrol or benzene is recovered for future use. A petrol or benzene 
bath is necessary, especially for uniforms and woolen garments generally. Where the 
clothing is such that it is not injured by immersion in water, steeping the garments for 
half an hour at 12° ©. (54° F.) in a soap solution containing 2 per cent of trichlorethy- 
lene or 10 per cent of tetrachlorethane is effective. Steeping for half an hour in a 5 
per cent solution of cyllin in water maintained at 65° C. (149° F.) is also effective on 
woolen articles. For reasons of economy the chlorine derivative of ethane and 
ethylene can not be used at present in a dry-cleaning process, but their soap prepara- 
tions are of value. Petrol has a wide application and is readily obtained. For 
cleansing the body itself, bathing or sponging with soap solutions containing 2 per cent 
of trichlorethylene or 10 per cent tetrachlorethane gives the best results. In view of 
the known insecticidal action of these chlorine derivatives of ethylene and ethane, 
it is probable that good results would be obtained by shampooing verminous heads 
with their soap preparations, and it is also probable that a 25 per cent solution of 
trichlorethylene in vaseline would form an efficient insecticidal ointment. 
It is almost certain that lice would not continue to live on the human body if 
anointed daily with a 25 per cent solution of trichlorethylene in vaseline or on the 
body anointed twice daily with a solution of petrol in vaseline of similar strength. 
The odor of such ointment is not pleasant, but when living under verminous conditions, 
constant precautions would have to be taken and every method of destroying vermin 
would require to be employed. Any attempt to render an army free from vermin in 
war time would require that all men occupying the same quarters at the same time, 
or for alternating short periods of time, should be regarded asa single unit for which a re- 
ceiving station with cleansing apparatus should be provided: Suchan attempt would 
also require that the movements of the men off duty were controlled, and this would 
be limited by military necessities. (Kinloch, J. P., Brit. Med. Journal, June, 1915). 
After examining a number of known remedies, which were all reprepared and tested, 
the following are considered to be the most efficient and the best adapted to the 
circumstances of armies in the field: (a) 35 per cent cresol and 65 per cent naphtha 
soap; (b) 35 per cent xylol and 65 per cent naphtha soap; (c) 5 per cent turpentine, 5 
per cent petrol, 2 per cent oil of cinnamon, and 88 per cent talc. The first named is 
specially useful, as it not only kills the lice and their eggs rapidly, but the odor, which 
is retained for a long time by the clothing, wul keep the lice away for several weeks. 
A 10 per cent solution in water is recommended, body linen to be soaked in it and all 
outer clothing well wetted and the mixture rubbed in with a brush. (Soulima [A] 
and Elbert [B], C. R. Soc. Biol., Paris, LX XVIII, No. 14, June 25, 1915, p. 340.) 
The mixture which was most satisfactory consisted of oils of lemon grass, penny- 
royal, and eucalyptus, 300 c. c. of each, and powdered naphthalene, 100 grams; the oils 
evaporate in the order given. Pieces of cloth or felt carrying from 6 to 8 drops of this | 
mixture and fastened to the underclothing at those spots where lice generally congre- 
gate will prevent breeding. To cleanse the clothing, ironing the seams and doubled 
or lined parts with a very hot iron is effective; linings should be wetted with 5 parts of — 
the mixture in 100 parts of alcohol and ironed at once. Military accoutrements — 
should be put into a barrel or other container which can be closed almost hermeti- — 
cally and exposed to the vapor of the mixture at a temperature of from 105° to 112° 
F.; 5c. c. per cubic metre is sufficient and the exposure should be for 20 minutes” 
PR IES LIB EIG BOD hi A LIPS ERM AE 
| 
