INSECT POWDER z 3 
in 1858, remarked that the powder prepared from the flowers of 
P. cinerarizfolium 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, 
oreat difficulty was experienced in getting even small quantities 
of the seed of P. cinerarizfolium that had not been baked or other- 
wise 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. 
A German woman living in Ragusa, Dalmatia, picked for decora- 
tion 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. 
Thereupon she undertook the production of insect powder, which, 
after her death, was continued by a pharmacist of Ragusa. 
According to Linke (173), Persian insect powder was introduced 
into Kurope in 1846, at Vienna, by Zacher! of Tiflis. Willemot (294) 
states that the first powder of Pyrethrum was introduced into France 
for the destruction of household insect pests in 1850. The powder 
came exclusively from provinces of the Caucasus, Persia, and Dal- 
matia, that from the Caucasus being the best. 
Insect powder was introduced into the American drug market 
shortly before 1860 (1). No figures on the production of insect 
flowers in the United States are available, and the total here con- 
sumed can not be accurately stated. Consumption, however, has 
increased tremendously in recent years. According to the com- 
mittee on the drug market of the American Pharmaceutical Associa- 
tion (159, 160, 191), the importation of insect flowers and powder 
at the port of New York for the fiscal years 1885 to 1887, inclusive, 
was as follows: 
TaBLE 1.—Importation of insect flowers and powder at the port of New York, 
1885 to 1887 
Product 1885 1886 1887 
Pounds Pounds Pounds 
THA CIEE G WOES ee eee nets) eins ceceke ss WSR | ees Bese 165, 505 240, 170 262, 000 
VARESE FID Chee ieee el aE et eS ee Pe | Seen ee es eee | 456, 609 302, 817 335, 000 
BN Ohler tet eek ee ae tes Pry a en) ne atey bt) perk 622, 114 542, 987 597, 000 
According to the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter (vol. 107, p. 48), 
the importation of Pyrethrum, or insect flowers, from 1918 to 1924 
was as follows: In 1918, 2,298,476 pounds, valued at $422,751; in 
1919, 3,399,026 pounds, valued at $667,374; in 1920, 6,827,700 
pounds, valued at $2,672,576; in 1921, 3,958,657 pounds, valued at 
$1,749,213; mm 1922, 2,600,093 pounds, valued at $789,988; in 1923, 
3,962,222 pounds, valued at $1,742,108; and in 1924, 2,950,269 
pounds, valued at $1,316,503. Before 1914 most of the insect flowers 
imported came from Europe. During the World War this supply was 
almost completely cut off. Since 1914 Japan has been the principal 
source of the insect flowers shipped into the United States. 
