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carriers of disease, while bed-bugs and cockroaches 
are under suspicion. It is most important that 
information should be obtained concerning these 
insects in Malaya. * 
Other insects may seriously damage the house and 
its contents, the most important of which are 
Termites, (White Ants). 
Termites are universal feeders, but make a 
speciality of wood. They work entirely under cover, 
shunning the light, and hence the damage is usually 
complete before they are discovered. They are 
particularly troublesome in houses, eating into the 
main timbers, floors, and even into the furniture. 
Prevention is better than cure, and houses should 
"be constructed with a view to keeping them out. 
All houses should be built preferably on raised 
masonry piles and, where the main timbers rest on 
these piles, a layer of iron should be placed between 
the masonry and the wood, since the former generally 
cracks and allows the insects to come up from the 
ground. Wood scrap from the building operations 
should not be left in the ground under the house, 
as this attracts Termites, and a periodical inspection 
should be made under the house to ascertain whether 
the runs, which the insect makes, are on the surface 
of the masonry. All timber used in the construction 
of the house should be treated with hot creosote, 
■which preserves it for a long time against Termite 
attack. 
If the runs are observed on the masonry they should 
be traced back to the nest and a sulphur-arsenic 
mixture in a “ White Ant Pump ” should be used. 
It is important that every part of the house should 
