818 
Annual Report for 1893 of the Zoologist. 
the bolting-reels and elevators are almost always full of the webs, 
and, by rendering the cleansing of these machines more easy and 
convenient, the formation of webs in them will be checked, and the 
rapidity of multiplication diminished.” 
To this end he recommends the abandonment of the old bolting- 
reel of hexagonal section in favour of the more easily cleaned round 
form, in which he recommends that an automatically-working brush 
should be fixed. Similarly, a square brush fixed to the elevator 
band would keep that very favourite breeding-place free from the 
pest. Conveyors fitted with a worm or screw are with difficulty 
cleaned, and should, if possible, be discarded for some other con- 
trivance. 
One side of the various elevator spouts should be readily 
removable to permit of access to the interior. This will entail some 
leakage, and consequent dust in the mill, but it is absolutely 
necessary to be able to get at the moth if it should obtain a foothold 
in so very secure a position. 
M. Danysz rejects the various methods of fumigation to destroy 
the mature moth, and proposes instead the distribution of fine 
clouds of Pyrethrum or Persian insect-powder. He claims that 
whereas sulphur fumes are liable to affect permanently stored corn, 
and necessitate the use of fire, which is always more or less danger- 
ous in mills, the powder can be used with safety, and is effectual in 
quantities so small as not to perceptibly affect the flour or grain 
upon which it may perchance alight, besides being non-poisonous as 
far as man is concerned. His instructions are to close all possible 
apertures of the room, and then, with the aid of a “ soufflet ” or 
bellows to blow into the machinery a fine cloud of the “ compound 
powder” (Pyrethrum powder with nicotine added). The bolting- 
reels should then be put gently in motion, to prevent the dust from 
alighting too rapidly. 
My own experiments have not confirmed the efficacy of this 
treatment — possibly on account of the difficulty of obtaining the 
Pyrethrum in a sufficiently pure state. The moths did not show 
any signs of succumbing so readily. Their tenacity of life is amus- 
ingly illustrated by the fact that a female which a miller had decapi- 
tated was still unconcernedly laying eggs twenty-four hours after 
the operation. 
Measures which will destroy the moth will leave the eggs and 
larva; untouched. These M. Danysz attacks with a wash composed 
of an alcoholic solution of nicotine with quassia and caustic potash 
added. The potash dissolves the egg shells, the nicotine kills the 
lame, and the quassia warns off other larvae from the spot. The 
machineiy is stopped and the wash brushed into all infested 
crannies. Work must not be resumed until the application has 
become dry. 
In view of the remarkably destructive effect of even a small 
trace of carbolic acid upon insect life, I suggested its use, if com- 
patible with safety, in an infested mill. The miller reports : 
“ We finally gave the walls a good dressing with lime and car- 
