556 
Insects  Destructive  to  Books. 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
December,  1910. 
Among  this  group  may  be  found  the  following  beetles:  Apate 
capucina,  Xestobium  tessellatnm,  and  Lyctus  unipunctatus. 
Paper  Eaters;  Vegetable  Fibres. — In  the  Aztecan  history 
many  of  the  primitive  documents  were  made  from  banana  skin. 
These  were  made  to  receive  the  imprint.,  just  the  same  as  paper  is 
manufactured  for  printing  to-day.  A  sample  of  this  paper  was 
placed  in  a  perfectly  sealed  case,  and  a  scholar  wishing  to  refer  to 
it  one  day,  upon  going  to  the  case  containing  the  writing,  was  aston- 
ished to  find  that  all  the  paper  had  been  entirely  destroyed,  although 
the  case  was  still  impervious  to  any  attack  made  from  the  outside. 
This  demonstrates  how  long  life  may  be  prolonged,  in  the  sense  of 
the  insects  being  placed  away  from  their  natural  surroundings,  con- 
tinuing the  life  cycle  whenever  the  proper  conditions  are  given. 
Trichophaga  tapetzella,  Tinea  pellionella,  Tineola  biselliella,  and 
Plodia  inter punctella  are  a  few  of  the  moths  that  bore  into  paper  in 
order  to  obtain  access  to  the  fibres. 
Paper  Eaters  ;  Mineral  Fillers. — This  group  includes  papers 
where  quantities  of  clay  and  other  mineral  substances  have  been 
used  as  fillers.  For  an  illustration  we  will  take  the  character  and 
life  habits  of  the  Termites,  or  white  ants,  which  are  in  a  measure 
destructful  to  material  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  paper.  The 
alluvial  deposits  are  natural  to  the  white  ant,  consequently,  when 
clay  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  paper,  the  instinct  in  the  ant 
leads  it  to  feed  upon  that  which  is  natural  to  it,  especially  if  the 
books  have  been  kept  in  a  place  where  it  is  damp.  The  lower 
organic  life  is,  but  in  a  measure,  an  evolution  that  is  manifested  in 
the  higher  and  more  complex  forms  of  life.  In  the  mountainous 
region  of  North  Carolina  is  found  a  collection  of  people  who  eat 
large  quantities  of  clay  which  is  found  there  in  abundance.  These 
creatures,  the  whites  being  designated  as  "  poor  white  trash,"  and 
the  negroes  as  the  "  blue-gummed  negroes,"  are  addicted  to  the  habit 
of  clav  eating,  and  nearly  all  are  veritable  living  skeletons.  The 
eyes  and  gums  of  the  whites  have  a  reddish  hue,  and  their  skins  be- 
come a  dirty  yellow ;  and  the  gums  and  skins  of  the  negroes  take 
on  a  bluish  hue.  This  clay  contains  arsenic,  and,  instead  of  clay 
eaters,  they  might  more  properly  be  called  arsenic  eaters.  The 
supply  of  clay  for  daily  use  is  provided  with  more  energy  and  pre- 
cision than  food.  This  clay  poisons  the  saliva  exuding  from  the 
glands  of  the  mouth,  and  also  from  the  base  of  the  teeth,  and  makes 
their  bite  probably  poisonous. 
