INSECT POWDER. 
that could apparently be destroyed only by a powder prepared from 
Pyrethrum roseum, the secret of which was known to the natives. 
As to the discovery and history of the Pyrethrum cinerarisefolium, 
from which the Dalmatian insect powder is prepared, still less seems 
to be known, but it is probable that its history has been very similar 
to that of the Persian powder. De Visiani (67), in 1854, first men- 
tioned the use of the plant as an insecticide, and Frontali (88), writing 
in 1858, remarked that the powder prepared from the flowers of 
P. cinerarisefolium had been used for many years in destroying certain 
insects. Riley (222), in 1881, stated that it was impossible to obtain 
definite facts on the cultivation of this plant in its native home, as 
the inhabitants were unwilling to give information concerning a 
plant the product of which they wished to monopolize. Similarly, 
great difficulty was experienced in securing even small quantities 
of the seed of P. cinerarisefolium that had not been baked or otherwise 
treated to prevent germination. Juttner (150) quotes from an article 
which traces the discovery of the effect of the flowers of this plant on 
insects back to 1840, when a German woman, Anna Rosauer, who 
lived in Ragusa, Dalmatia, picked, for decoration, a bunch of wild 
flowers, which later, as they became withered, she threw into a 
corner. After several weeks she noticed that many dead insects lay 
near the flowers. This led to the discovery that the death of the 
insects was due to some virtue possessed by the flowers, whereupon 
she undertook the production of insect powder. After her death a 
pharmacist of Ragusa continued her work. 
According to Linke (173) Persian insect powder was introduced 
into Europe in 1846, at Vienna, by Zacherl of Tiflis. Willemot (294) 
states that the first powder of Pyrethrum was introduced into France 
for the destruction of certain household insects in 1850. The powder 
came exclusively from provinces of the Caucasus, Persia, and Dal- 
matia, that from the former being the best, according to the researches 
of Willemot. 
This powder was introduced into the American drug market 
shortly before 1860 (1) . Owing to the fact that no figures on the pro- 
duction in this country are available, and the importation statistics 
are incomplete, the total amount consumed in the United States can 
not be accurately stated, but it is certainly in excess of 500,000 pounds 
annually. According to the committee on the drug market of the 
American Pharmaceutical Association (159,160,191), the importa- 
tion of insect flowers and powder at the port of New York for the 
fiscal years 1885 to 1887, inclusive, was as follows: 
Table 1. — Importations of insect flowers and powder at the port of New York, 1885 to 1887. 
Product. 
1885 
1886 
1887 
Pounds. 
165, 505 
456,609 
Pounds. 
240, 170 
302,817 
Pounds. 
262, 000 
335,000 
Total 
622, 114 
542, 987 
597,000 
