542  National  and  State  Bulletins.        { iugusCr^JS: 
In  this  publication  are  descdbed  the  .use  of  scales,  measures 
of  volume,  measures  of  length,  instruments  for  measuring  heat, 
light,  electricity,  gas,  water,  atmospheric  humidity,  atmospheric 
pressure,  density  of  liquids  and  time. 
Much  scientific  information  of  general  value  is  interestingly 
given  and  this  publication  is  worth  many  times  the  price  of  fifty 
centS;  which  is  charged  for  it. 
"Say  it  with  flowers"  has  been  paraphrased  to  "Say  it  with 
poison  ivy"  in  case  one  wishes  to  put  reverse  English  upon  his  com- 
pliments. How  to  recognize  poison  ivy^  and  twenty-nine  other 
poisonous  plants  of  indigenous  growth  is  made  possible  by  the  pos- 
session of  Farmers'  Bulletin  86  of  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  entitled  "Thirty  Poisonous  Plants  of  the 
United  States,"  by  V.  K.  Chesnut.  This  bulletin  contains  an 
illustration  of  each  of  the  plants,  a  description  of  it  and  the  locality 
where  it  is  likely  to  be  found,  togetner  with  a  description  of  the  symp- 
toms of  the  poisonous  effects  produced. 
If  one  is  interested  in  being  posted  on  house  flies,  and  in  learn- 
ing how  to  get  rid  of  them,  if  they  neglect  to  wipe  ttieir  feet  before 
walking  over  the  food,  there  are  several  government  bulletins  that 
will  afford  the  opportunity.  One  of  these  is  Farmers  Bulletin  459 
on  "House  Flies,"  by  L.  O.  Howard,  which  is  an  amplification  of 
Circular  71  of  the  Bureau  of  Entomology  upon  the  same  subject. 
It  will  surprise  many  readers  of  this  bulletin  to  learn  that  the  familiar 
house  centipede  or  "thousand-legger,"  as  it  is  usually  called,  is 
one  of  the  natural  enemies  of  the  house  fly  and  destroys  large  num- 
bers of  them. 
The  cockroach  and  the  bedbug  have  their  family  history  re- 
vealed and  all  of  the  intimate  details  of  their  lives  exposed  in  Circu- 
lars 57  and  47,  respectively,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Division  of  Entomology.  Both  of  these  pamphlets  are  by  C.  L. 
Marlatt,  who  seems  to  be  better  acquainted  with  these  than  most 
of  us  would  care  to  be,  judging  from  the  thoroughness  with  which 
he  discusses  them.  According  to  Mr.  Marlatt,  cockroaches  are 
among  the  natural  enemies  of  bedbugs  and  rapidly  exterminate 
them  when  given  an  opportunity,  but  as  the  means  of  bringing 
them  together  is  not  suggested  the  statement  loses  some  of  its  value. 
Perhaps  the  remedy  would  be  to  sleep  in  the  kitchen  and  take  one's 
meals  in  the  bedroom  in  a  house  that  happened  to  be  doubly  in- 
fested. 
