THE BED-BUG. 199 
cracks, will kill all insects including the eggs, with which it 
actually comes in contact. This spraying has to be repeated 
from time to time, and if carefully and thoroughly done the 
bed-bugs have no chance to exist in such beds or rooms. If 
we paint the cracks in a bed-stead or the wall, the ends of 
the slats, and all other suspected places, with one ounce cor- 
rosive sublimate dissolved in a half-pint of alcohol and one- 
fourth pint of oil of turpentine, we have an excellent remedy. 


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Fig. 162.—Larva of bed-bug found Fig. 163.—Adult of bed-bug found in 
in nest of swallow. Greatly enlarged. nest of swallow. Greatly enlarged. 
Original. Original. 
All remedies are best applied in early spring, so as to kill all 
the old hibernating females before they have deposited eggs. 
While traveling, it is well to remember that bed-bugs 
are only active during the night and that they abhor light. 
So if forced to sleep in a bed suspected of containing such 
unwelcome inhabitants it is wise to permit the lamp to burn 
all night. 
Bugs, very similar to bed-bugs, attack chickens, pigeons, 
swallows and bats. Those found in the nests of swallows 
not infrequently reach the inside of houses against which 
these beneficial birds have built their clay-nests. Such bugs 
(fig. 161, 162, 163) resemble very closely the genuine bed- 
bug, yet are quite different when studied in detail; they are 
much smaller, darker, and can not exist for any length of 
time away from their proper home, the nest of the swallow, 
