69 



in charge, and the rooms are light and dry. In file-rooms on top floor, 

 where only papers are kept (east wing), there are no roaches either large 

 or small. There are no pasted records of any kind in these file-rooms, 

 and employes are not allowed to take any lunch there. The rooms are 

 dry and light, having sky-lights in the roof, i^o insects of any kind are 

 found there unless brought from other parts of the building, when they 

 soon disappear. The binding room on same floor, and connected with 

 the file-rooms by narrow passages, was visited and U. germanica found 

 there and also in printing room next to it. Numerous live specimens 

 in drawers and under books in office, off printing room, were found. 

 Also specimens were seen in these drawers which from the description 

 given me were probably the imago of the clothes- moth. The printing 

 office was formerly in basement where the eaten records are now stored, 

 and these records were at that time kept in the room now occupied by 

 the printing office, which is on top floor. The present change was made 

 out of humanity to the employes, for whom the basement proved too 

 unhealthy. But the basement seems to be equally unhealthy for the 

 records, though from not exactly the same cause. In a room on top 

 floor where some light-house records are stored, some of the smaller 

 species are found, and a number of small paper- bound reports (bound 

 in blue paper) had the backs partly eaten away, evidently to get at the 

 paste. This work did not resemble that of mice, nor did any that I 

 examined. Steam heater in this room. 



OTHER INSECTS. 



No flights of white ants have been noticed in basement by employes 

 questioned. No other insects which could have any bearing on this 

 question had ever been seen there, and the rooms are not troubled with 

 mice. 



REMARKS. 



Mr. Youmans believes that dampness or dryness affect the insects 

 very little, but that they stay svhere there is food to their liking. The 

 safety of these files before referred to is of very serious importance to 

 the officers of the Department, as the chief clerk is held responsible 

 for them all (whether eaten or otherwise), and is supposed to be able 

 at any time to produce any record called for. He can not say it is not 

 there, because a copy has been filed with him ; nor can he say it has 

 been destroyed, because there is no law for the destruction of any record. 

 The law does not recognize the agency of insects in this regard. In all 

 these cases of injury it was only those parts permeated with paste that 

 had been molested ; therefore as a remedy for the future it would seem 

 advisable to use a poisoned paste in the binding of the Gov^ernment pub- 

 lications. 



On May 24, 18SS, specimens of the roaches and a sample set of books 



