96 
Taii<rt*rine oraiip:© troes during December, 1S97. Tie found them also 
imiKaiiriii^ rosebuds and blossoms, the seed pods of the Jamaica Indian 
sorrel {Ifibiscus suhduriffd), the pods and blossoms of the oleander, and 
the ripe fruit of the tropical or melon i)apaw {Car lea papaya). It has 
been supposed that thr insect breeds normally upon certain wild 
species of Hibiscus, and it is important from a remedial standi)oint 
that this breeding plant be ascertained. 
COLLECTING LOCUST EGGS IN MOEOCCO. 
Mr. D. N. Burke, United States consul-general at Tangier, informed 
the Department of State, under date of March 19, 181)7, that locusts 
had appeared in great numbers in the southwestern part of the Empire 
of Morocco. The foreign merchants of the coast towns and some of 
the farmers raised a fund by subscription to emph)y the poor of the 
ditt'erent localities to gather the eggs and destroy them, just as in the 
past few years has been done by the French Government in Algiers. 
Up to March 12, Mr. Burke had been informed by the consular agent 
at Satli, about 1,000 hundredweight had been gathered at a cost of 
about 8900. The last price paid at Satii was about 40 cents per hun- 
dredweight. If is estimated that each pound of eggs contains from 
GOO to 700 egg pods, and each of the pods about 00 eggs. Tlie destruc- 
tion of 1,000 hundredweight, therefore, means the destruction of nearly 
6,000,000,000 locusts. In the collecting it is further estimated that 
almost an equal number of egg-pods are injured and destroyed by the 
natives in going over the ground while collecting and digging them uj). 
POISONING GRASSHOPPERS IN NATAL. 
A modification of the bran-arsenic mash method of killing destruc- 
tive lo<!Usts or grasshoppers, first used, we believ^e, in California against 
the '^ devastating locust'^ (Melanoplus devastator) and afterwards in 
Virginia against the '^American locust" (Schistocerca americana), and 
since also used in different parts of the country as a remedy against 
cutworms, has recently been used to very good advantage in Natal 
against the migratory locust which occasionally ravages the cultivated 
plantations and which, during the last few years, have been especially 
numerous and destructive. The report has been published as a Gov- 
ernment notice. The mixture used consists of 4 gallons of water, 
heated to a boiling point, to which 1 pound of caustic soda is added. 
As soon as this is dissolved, 1 pound of arsenic is added, after which 
the li(piid is stirred and boiled for a few minutes, care being taken not 
to inhale the fumes. A half gallon of the resulting liquid is added to 
4 gallons of hot or cold water with 10 jxiundsof brown sugar, or a half 
gallon of the poison is added to ~> gallons of treacle. Cornstalks, grass, 
or other vegetation dipped in this mixture, are placed along the roads 
and in the fields, and the Yu\nn\ can also be splashed with a brush upon 
anything for which the locusts are known to have a liking. They 
will be attracted for a distance of as much as 100 yards and die 
