21 
introduced into Europe from America. He calls attention to the 
fact that Halle, Germany, where the pest was first observed in 
1877, is an inland town, as is also the place where the moth was 
first observed in France, and concludes that circumstances will 
not sustain the theory of the original importation of the insect into 
either Germany or France. A practical miller assures Mr. 
Danysz that he has known of the pest in the neighborhood of 
Paris for the last fifty years, and that he remembers a case of 
serious damage as early as 1840. Another miller. asserts that he 
knew of a serious outbreak of this insect in a flouring-mill in Con¬ 
stantinople in 1872; that it was very troublesome for two years, 
and then disappeared. 
Dr. Selmar Schonland, Curator of the Albany Museum, Gra- 
hamstown, Cape Colony, wrote Miss Ormerod in 1890, that in¬ 
quiry had been made regarding a moth, or rather, larva, which 
was doing considerable damage in flouring-mills in King Wil- 
liamstown. I do not know whether this was Ephestia kuehniella 
or not, but judging from the account of the damage done, 1 am 
inclined to think it was. 
Regarding the introduction of the pest into Canada, Mr. Fletcher 
says there is some doubt as to the time when the first specimens 
came, and also concerning their origin; but evidence seems 
to point to a consignment of goods imported from Mediterranean 
ports in 1887. Mr. Geo. P. Hulst, in his monograph of the 
Phycitidse of North America, in speaking of the flour moth, 
says: “I do not know that it has given trouble in California, if 
indeed it exists there (1890). It has, however, developed very 
rapidly in Europe, becoming a very great evil. The ‘Ontario 
Bulletin’ speaks of its having come from Europe, though there is 
no reason why it should not have come from the Pacific coast.” 
With reference to the present Canadian outbreak, so far as I can 
learn, the pest seems to have been in local mills for some time 
past, and as these mills are in an inland town, it would be a 
difficult matter to trace the moth to its original source. 
Notwithstanding the fact that this insect was not noticed in 
North America until 1889, evidence seems to point to its presence 
in this country some years earlier. Mr. Danysz has traced its 
occurence in America as far back as 1880. As stated by Dr. 
Riley aud Mr. Howard, specimens from Alabama, indistinguish¬ 
able from Ephestia kuehniella , were in the Natural Museum col¬ 
lection at the time of the Canadian outbreak. Dr. Riley states 
also that he had seen specimens from North Carolina in Mr. 
Ragonot’s collection in Paris. It is also recorded from Colorado 
and New Mexico, and was found in a Mexican exhibit at the 
World’s Fair in Chicago; and it has been found in Chili and prob¬ 
ably occurs in Australia and South Africa. However long the 
pest may have existed in North America, no record of any dam¬ 
age is recorded prior to 1889; and the California outbreak, first 
observed by me, is positively the first record of any destruction 
by this pest in the United States. 
