January, 1890. 
7 
< 
Up. Between these are fou slender and rig- 
id bristles, or lancets, Fig. 1630, which, when 
not in use, are lo Jged in a groove upon the 
upper surface of the sheath, so as to be con- 
cealed from view. These lancets are, in re- 
aUty, only the mandibles and maxilhe, 
strangely altere 1 in their A 
forms, and excess, rely length- 
ened, so as not merely to he- aJah- 
come efficient piercing instru- 
ments, but so arranged as to 
form by their union, a suck- 
ing tube, through which the 
blood may be drawn. When 
not in use, this beak is folded 
down against the breast, 
reaching as far as the fore 
coxae. Fig. 1630. 
The bed bug is found everywhere, from 
% the 70 degree N. latitude to the 70 degree 
S. latitude in both hemispheres. As its 
name imphes it lives in beds or near them. 
It is often -reported to have been found in 
pigeon houses, chicken coops and swallows’ 
nests, but those living in such situations 
have been found to be other species of 
cimex, differing from the <rue bed bug. 
They are also said to be found under the 
bark of trees and in woods and fields, but, 
as no authentic reports exist of their being 
found in such places, it is probable that 
they were mistaken for a small beetle 
(Prometopia) which inhabits such locali- 
ties and very closely resembles the true bed 
bug in appearances. The food of the bed 
bug consists exclusively of blood. As soon 
as the bugs are hatched they take to blood. If 
they do not get it in two or three days they 
die, but after one feed they will live a con- 
siderable time, without a second meal. That 
bed bugs can live to some length of time 
without food is au undisputed fact, but just 
how long probably depends on the accom- 
^ panving circumstances. De Geer has kept 
full sized individuals in a sealed bottle for 
more than a year. Westwood speaks of 
one which had been kept in a glass bottle, 
which was hermetically sealed, for over a 
year, and yet, when let out, was lively and 
had a good appetite. Leunis mentions an in- 
stance where a female bed bug lived for six 
months in a tightly closed box, which, when 
opened, was found to contain, not only the 
mother, but also her numerous progeny of 
young bugs, both mother and offspring be- 
ing as transparent as glass from want of 
food. Jaeger elates that the German natur- 
alist Goeze has kept them alive six years 
without any nourishment. Another natur- 
alist tells of a case where live bed bugs were 
found in an old bed which had been packed 
away in a storeroom for forty-five years, 
although he does not tell how long the bed 
bugs had been in the bed. 
A fema'e bed bug will lay from forty to 
^ fiftv eggs at a laying, which will occur about 
four times in a season. The eggs Fig. B, 
are bluish white in color, about one-thirty 
second of an inch in length, and of an oval 
form slightly narrowed and bent at one end, 
and terminated by a cap, which breaks off 
when the young bug escapes. The young 
ones hatch direct from the egg, and, like 
young partridges, will often carry the 
broken eggs about, clinging to their backs. 
They get their fore-quarters out, and then 
run about before the other legs are free. 
They are a transparent white in color, differ- 
ing from the perfect insect in having a broad 
triangular head, and short and thick an- 
tennae. At this stage it very closely re- 
sembles the louse, of which it is a near re- 
lation. Its full growth is attained in eleven 
weeks, during which it sheds its skin several 
times. It is probable, however, that temper- 
ature and food have much influence in 
hastening or delaying their final change 
into the full grown imago. Bed bugs are 
gregarious in habits and breed together, re- 
turning constantly to the same hiding places 
morning after morning like birds returning 
to their roosts at night. They hibernate in 
cracks of walls, floor, or furniture. Leunis 
states that the principal months for ovo- 
position in Europe are March, May, July 
and September, but that the September 
brood die, and only the fully matured in- 
sects are able to live over the winter. Some 
times the young ones collect inside of the 
old ones’ cast off skins for warmth. It is a 
dangerous thing for a bug to shed its skin 
which it does about four times in a year. 
When they throw off the old hard skin it 
leaves such a soft coat that the least touch 
will kill them, while at other times they 
will bear a strong pressure. The bed bug is 
very tenacious of life. Old bugs have been 
known to be frozen over in a horse pond, 
when the furniture has been thrown in the 
water, and there remain for about three 
weeks, and yet after they were taken out 
and got warmed up, they returned to life 
again. I have repeatedly seen bugs which 
had been in a moderately strong cyanide 
bottle all day, recover and crawl off when 
taken out. 
Southall, Linnaeus, and many other 
writers, state that cimex lectularia was not 
known in England before 1670, and that it 
was not originally a native of that country, 
but was introduced after the great fire of 
London, having been brought in timber from 
America. Three hundred years before 
Christ, Aristotle mentioned this insect in his 
Historie Animalium, and Pliny, some cen- 
turies later, also mentions it in his 
Natural History. It was also well- 
known to Dioscorides and Aristophanes. 
Mouffett mentions its having been seen 
in Europe in 1503, although it does not 
appear to have been common there un- 
til a century later. Leunis states that 
the bed bug probably originated in the 
East Indies and that it is an historical 
fact that they first appeared in Strasburg in 
the 11th century, and that they were first 
imported into London in the bedsteads of 
the banished Huguenots. This very clearly 
exempts America from the charge of hav- 
ing presented the world with the bed bug. 
W T e often speak of the bed bug.as a t hin g 
of no use whatever, but it appears that it 
did have a use many years ago in medicine. 
Pliny gives the medicinial virtues of the 
cimex as follows : — As a neutralizer of ser- 
pent venom, as a preservative against all 
poisons, crushed with salt and milk they 
form an eye ointment, while in combination 
with honey and oil of roses, they should be 
used as an injection for the ears, as a cure 
for vomiting, quartan fever, and other dis- 
eases, and were to be taken in an egg, some 
wax, or in a bean, and as a cure for 
lethargy, seven to a dose for adults and 
four for children. It is stated on good 
authority that even at the present time the 
bed bug is sometimes given by the country 
people of Ohio as a cure for the fever and 
ague. 
The ancients were quite sensitle about 
most things, but on the subject of extermi- 
nating bed bugs — they had some very queer 
notions. Democritus assures us that the 
feet of a hare or stag hung at the corners 
of the bed near the bottom of the couch 
will not suffer bugs to breed, but in travel- 
ing, Didymus says if you fill a vessel with 
cold water and set it under the bed, the bed 
bugs will not touch you when you are 
asleep. The different preparations used for 
extermininating bed bugs at the present 
time are very numerous. Some of these 
are : — A boiling solution of alum or salt, — 
a mixture of lard and quicksilver, — cor- 
rosive sublimate and alcohol, — Persian In- 
sect Powder, — crude petroleum and water, 
— benzine. Which is the best is hard to tell, 
as all are good. No matter which is used, 
a perfect cleanliness should be preserved by 
frequent scalding and washing. Indeed, 
the greatest remedy may be said to be clean- 
liness, and constant care and vigilance. 
Every few days all the crevices and joints 
should be examined to make sure that none 
of the pests are hidden away. In London 
there was once a firm under the name of 
Tiffin and Son, whose sole business it was to 
keep houses clear of bed bugs. In the same 
city there are also found street venders of 
bed bug poisons. 
The bed bug, like everything else in Na- 
ture. has its natural enemies. There are a 
few P ropteious insects, which feed upon 
bed I .ags, but they are not numerou enough 
to do much good, and, besides that, some of 
them frequently also attack mankind, and 
from their size and strength inflict much 
more severe wounds than the bed bugs 
themselves. Many of the carnivorous 
Heteroptera, Prionotus cristatus and others, 
are able to inflict very severe wounds with 
their beaks or piercers which they thrust 
into the flesh, at the same time ejecting a 
poisonous liquid into the wound. The cock- 
roach is another natural enemy of the bed 
bug, and will destroy large numbers, when 
they are placed within its reach. 
“ / would not give Orchard and Garden 
/ or any fruit book I ever saw. — J. Keever. 
CATARRH CURED. 
A clergyman, after years of suffering from that It ith- 
some disease Catarrh, and vainly trying every ki wn 
remedy, at last found a prescription which completely 
cured and saved him from death, any sufferer irorn 
this dreadful disease sending a self-addressed umped 
envelope to Prof. J. A. Lawrence, 88 Warren Street, 
1 NewYorfc, will receive the recipe ire 3 of charge. — Adv. 
