Insects  Destructive  to  Books. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\   November,  1911. 
manufacture  as  regards  to  one  sample,  were  eaten  and  the  other 
piece  was  left  undisturbed.  The  remedy  used  by  me  did  not,  to 
my  knowledge,  kill  any  of  the  insects.  From  a  comparison  of  the 
results,  I  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  material  used  for  coating 
the  buckrams,  etc.,  in  a  number  of  cases,  had  neutralized  the  effec- 
tive action  of  the  preparation  used  by  me,  and  that  in  order  to  really 
obtain  a  material  that  would  be  insect-proof,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  use  such  coloring  matters  as  would  not  overcome  the  beneficial 
action  of  the  poisons. 
The  fact  that  insects  seem  to  show  preference  for  certain  colors 
used  in  binding  materials,  has  already  been  noticed  by  a  few  of 
my  correspondents ;  and  also  by  myself  while  making  researches  in 
Florida  last  summer. 
The  Philippine  Bureau  of  Science,  finding  that  the  buckram  used 
as  a  standard  was  not  insect-proof  in  the  Islands,  made  another 
series  of  experiments,  and  have  produced  material  which  they  claim 
is  absolutely  safe,  but  as  I  have  not  received  any  samples  to  test, 
although  I  have  made  request  for  same,  I  am  unable  to  pass  judg- 
ment upon  it. 
Although  scientists  have  been  experimenting  upon  binding 
materials  in  order  to  obtain  one  that  would  be  exempt  from  the 
ravages  of  these  little  insects,  little  has  been  done  towards  preserv- 
ing the  most  important  part,  and  which,  according  to  my  investi- 
gations, receives  the  greatest  injury,  namely,  the  printed  portion  of 
the  book.  Some  experiments  made  by  J.  Rodway,  Esq.,  Secretary 
of  the  Royal  Agricultural  and  Commercial  Society  of  British  Guiana, 
with  papers  impregnated  with  sulphate  of  copper,  turpentine,  kero- 
sene and  corrosive  sublimate,  failed  to  stop  the  borings  of  the 
insects.  I  have  sent  boards  and  books  made  of  different  papers 
which  I  have  treated  with  a  substance  to  Mr.  Rodway,  and  to  other 
parts  of  the  world,  and  the  results  as  to  the  effectiveness  of  the 
remedy  used  should  be  received  during  the  coming  winter. 
Arsenic  in  its  various  forms  is  used  in  large  quantities  in  the 
materials  used  in  book-making,  though,  denied  by  the  manufac- 
turers ;  but  chemical  analysis  will  generally  show  the  presence  of 
this  substance,  which  is  of  use  to  the  insects.  The  elimination  of 
arsenic  in  materials  used  in  book-making  would  not  only  do  away 
with  a  source  of  attraction  to  the  insects,  but  save  people  from 
being  poisoned,  as  anyone  familiar  with  the  literature  of  poisons 
knows. 
