17 
The Californian method employs a dilute solution of 
Arsenite of Soda in a syrup of sugar placed in receptacles in 
such a manner that the ants would get to it and carry it in a 
continuous supply to their nests, where it might he fed to queen 
and larva). 
The receptacles were simply fruit jars with metal screw 
top, entrance being provided hy means of small holes in the 
metal cover. These jars were placed in situations where the 
ants were known to he ahundant. During the experiments 
repeated hy many planters, it was found that the receptahles 
were visited sometimes with the result that the ants were soon 
destroyed or disappeared from the spot under observation. It 
was however found that the number of ants which visited the 
jars was a mere bagatelle in comparison with the myriads of 
insects which passed near the jars without taking any notice of 
them. For this reason the entrance of the jars was not etficient 
enough and a planter found it more convenient to use a small 
bottle containing the poisoned syrup placed over a piece of glass 
upside down with a wire attachment to the neck of the small 
bottle in order to allow only a small quantity of syrup to ooze 
out at a time. It was found however that although this arrange¬ 
ment caused a much larger number of ants to be attracted to the 
syrup, yet it partially failed owing to the fact that part of the 
syrup being exposed to rain soon caused the bottle to be deprived 
of its contents by osmotic action and cappilarity, the rain gradual¬ 
ly diluting and taking the place of the syrup. For this reason 
much of the syrup was wasted, not counting the waste caused by 
accident, the bottles readily toppling over by wind or light shock 
in their inverted position. A good arrangement for inducing 
the ants to eat the poisoned bait still remains to be found but 
there is no doubt that, in spite of these creatures nesting 
in crevices and holes in all sorts of trees and being capable of 
parthenogenetic reproduction, the poison used in the above 
manner was foimd very elfective against them. Bananas are the 
ideal plants for propagation of ants owing to their enormous 
and sheating leaves with so many places of refuge and I have 
seen clumps of these and other bushy plants being rapidly 
cleared of the ants to which the poisoned syrup was distributed. 
The use of paper bands and adhesite was formd very efidca- 
cious and His Excellency the Governor has decided to introduce 
a fairly large quantity of these articles for distribution at cost 
price to planters. The adhesive substance costs only about R. 1 
per kilo and the paper bands about the same price per two 
hmidred trees and during the dry weather the same bands and 
adhesite can serve for a fortnight. In the rainy weather new 
bands must be applied weekly. All fruit trees can be protected 
in this manner and at the Botanic Station various Citrus trees 
which had not borne fruits for a long time, owing to the attack 
of scale insects assisted by the ant, are again producing a crop 
of fruits after 3 months’ constant use of the adhesite. This is 
a well known method in Europe where carterpillars are pre¬ 
vented from crawling up trees by a similar contrivance. 
In connection with mosquito larvae (mostly Stegomyas) an 
experiment was made at Government House with the local small 
fish called goujon {HaplocMlus playfairi) which is little different 
in action from the celebrated “ Million ” fish of Barbados 
{Girardinus poeciloides). In a small basin where mosquito larvae 
were teeming 50 goujons were introduced one afternoon and the 
next morning not a single larva was found and none has ever 
been found since while the small fish after two months started 
to multiply considerably. This experiment may serve to show 
that we are possessed of a powerful enemy to mosquitoes, the 
small fish being able to live in the smallest pond. This is a little 
reassuring in view of the possible introduction of mosquitoes 
from Zanzibar which is four days’ journey from Seychelles. 
