0S aS Sl Oe ee CF ere 
= 5 
Said that the superintendent conceived the idea of Circulating the 
mixture of air. and "carboxide" (held at a 25-inch vacuum) through an 
electric fan heater outside of a vacuum tank. By means of a fan in-— 
stalled in the circulating system the entire charge is drawn from one 
end of the tank, passed through the heater, and returned to the other 
end of the tank every 2 minutes. Complete mortality of test insects 
is reported to have resulted after the new equipment was installed." 
Ant causes short circuit.-D. EB. Reed, while scouting for the Argen— 
Sine ant in Florida, records the following interesting observation on one 
of our native ants, Cremastogaster ashmeadi Mayr, at Deland, Fla.: "This 
Species was taken from beneath bark on telephone poles. It eats out 
the insulation between the wires, which permits water to enter during 
rain, thus causing a short circuit. Entire sections of wire have to 
be replaced very often. According to the reports by the telephone peo- 
ple, I think there is no doubt that this ant is the species causing the 
trouble." 
TOXICOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF INSECTS 
Rotenone promising fly poison.-—Continuing their studies on the 
toxicity of rotenone to house flies, F. L. Campbell and W. N. Sullivan, 
Takoma Park, Md., have found that "Rotenone affects the leg muscles of 
flies before it affects the wing muscles. The hind legs appear to be 
affected first. * * * The hind legs have the appearance of being broken. 
This effect persists and recovery from it has not been observed. * * * 
such flies are likely to die in a short time from starvation if not from 
the direct effects of the poison." 
An experiment by Messrs. Campbell and Sullivan on the comparative 
effects of pyrethrins and rotenone on house flies gave the following re- 
sults: “After 45 minutes 5 out of 50 rotenone—tested flies were on their 
backs, and at 8.15 p. m., about 4 hours later, the same number of flies 
were severely affected, whereas at the same time all the pyrethrin- 
treated flies had recovered. Those affected by the pyrethrins are stimu- 
lated into more violent and unccordinated movements than are those poi- 
soned by rotenone. * * * [It may be concluded that against house flies 
the pyrethrins are more effective than rotenone in causing paralysis, 
and that rotenone is more effective than the pyrethrins in causing death." 
Tests on the relative effect of rotenone and acetyl rotenone showed 
that "rotenone is more effective than acetyl rotenone. It is noteworthy 
that only a relatively small number of flies were moribund 48 hours after 
treatment with acetyl rotenone." 
BEE CULTURE 
Wax envelope improves bee candy.-Jas. I. Hambleton, Somerset, Md., 
reports' "A series of cages have just been completed for the shipment of 
