ON  THE  CAUCASSIAN  INSECT  POWDER. 
373 
For  this  purpose  olive  oil  is  employed.  A  few  drops  of  this 
are  poured  into  a  bottle  with  spirit  containing  fusel  oil,  which  is 
then  shaken,  left  to  settle,  and  decanted.  This  process,  not- 
withstanding its  simplicity,  is  not  applicable  to  the  treatment  of 
large  quantities  of  spirit  or  low  wines. 
The  author  first  made  use  of  a  filter  consisting  of  disks  of 
woollen  stuff,  slightly  soaked  in  oil,  and  held  between  two  per- 
forated plates  of  metal.  The  spirit  was  deprived  of  fusel  oil, 
but  only  until  the  woollen  cloth  was  saturated  with  the  volatile 
oil,  when  it  absorbed  no  more.  By  means  of  a  current  of  steam 
at  a  pressure  of  two  or  three  atmospheres,  the  wool  could  be 
readily  freed  from  the  volatile  oil ;  but  the  exposure  to  steam  at 
this  temperature  rendered  the  wool  useless  for  a  repetition  of  the 
process.  The  woollen  stuff  consequently  had  to  be  given  up,  and 
after  many  trials  it  was  replaced  by  a  layer  of  powdered  pumice- 
stone,  which  acts  exactly  in  the  same  way  as  the  woollen  stuff, 
but  without  losing  its  power  of  absorption  when  exposed  to  a 
temperature  necessary  for  the  volatilization  of  the  fusel  oil.— 
London  Ohem.  Craz.,  April  15,  1859,  from  Moniteur  Industrie!. 
Dingier' s  Polytechn. 
ON  THE  CAUCASSIAN  INSECT  POWDER. 
Br  Dr.  Noodt. 
This  insect  or  flea  powder  has  long  been  known  to  the  nations 
of  Transcaucassia  under  the  name  of  "guirila; "  it  is  an  impor- 
tant article  of  commerce  in  this  paradise  of  vermin,  and  large 
quantities  are  exported  to  Russia,  Germany  and  France.  The 
coarse  powder  of  a  greenish  color  and  a  penetrating  odor,  is  the 
ground  flower  of  Pyrethrum  carneum  and  roseum,  growing  on 
the  mountains  of  Caucasus  in  the  neighborhood  of  Zalki,  Karak- 
lis  and  Dshelal-Oglu,9at  a  height  of  5000  to  6000  feet.  It  is  a 
poison  for  lice,  fleas,  bed-bugs,  flies,  ants,  moths,  &c,  and  is  in- 
valuable for  the  military  hospitals  in  hot  countries,  to  keep  the 
maggots  off.  It  is  not  detrimental  to  the  health  of  man,  merely 
producing  like  fresh  hay  or  flowers,  some  dizziness  of  the  head,  if 
kept  in  large  quantities  in  closed  sleeping  apartments.  Insects 
for  collection  are  readily  killed  by  it,  and  also  preserved  against 
