10 
HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 
The small white eggs of this species, about 1-50 of an inch long, are 
laid among the hairs of the dog or cat (according to some authorities in 
the bedding of the animals and not on the hairs) and readily drop of¥. 
Hence they may be distributed in any room to which these animals have 
access, and will be found particularly numerous in places which they espe- 
cially frequent, such as rugs before the fire and the like. The maggots 
which hatch from the eggs in from two’to four days, are white, footless, with 
a pale yellow head. They live in the dirt of undisturbed carpets or rugs, or 
beneath the same in cracks and crevices of the floor, feeding upon minute 
particles of decaying vegetable or animal matter found therein. They 
become full grown in about seven to fourteen days, spin a coccoon, turn 
into pupae, and in from five to eight days come forth as full grown fleas. 
Thus the time elapsing from the laying of the eggs to the perfection of the 
flea is, in round numbers from two to three and a half weeks. 
Remedies. — Houses where rugs are used in place of carpets or straw 
matting, allowing of a frequent thorough shaking and cleaning of the rugs 
and a frequent and thorough sweeping of the bare floors, coupled with a 
scrubbing or other special treatment of 
the latter, are naturally less troubled than 
houses where the floor coverings are fas- 
tened down, thus allowing the insects to 
develop without disturbance. When serious 
infestation of a house occurs, carpets in 
infested rooms should be generously dusted 
with Persian insect powder. If this treat- 
ment is not successful, carpets and floors as 
far as possible should be sprayed with ben- 
zine, or gasoline, proper precautions being taken to prevent the fumes 
coming in contact with lights and fires during the operation and for some 
hours afterward. If necessary, and in addition to the above, carpets or 
matting should be taken up, thoroughly beaten out of doors, and the floors 
throughly washed with hot soapsuds, taking care to reach every crevice. 
Creolin or gasoline may be poured in the cracks. One writer claims that 
spraying a badly infested house, inside, with pennyroyal, a somewhat 
expensive process, will quickly drive them from the building. 
The cat or dog can be made to sleep on a rug provided for the purpose, 
and this rug shaken out of doors away from the house, frequently, or, 
perhaps better than this, shaken into some receptacle, and the dust con- 
taining the eggs and' maggots burned. This of itself would be a decided 
help. 
For ridding a cat or dog of fleas, Creolin, for sale at many drug stores, 
is the best agent known to us. For dogs, use four teaspoonfuls of this 
liquid in a quart of water; for cats, two teaspoonfuls in a quart of water. 
Shake well and apply with the hands or a brush, or make enough to 
submerge the animal. The latter is the best method, holding the animal 
in the liquid until the fur is completely saturated. The animal requires no 
further washing. The fleas upon the fur will all be killed and the fur 
Fig. 6- Egg and Young of a Flea. 
Enlarged . Lugger. 
