The bedbug : $b Its relation to public health, its habits and life history, and methods of controlUnited States. Public Health Service
Science
The bedbug : $b Its relation to public health, its habits and life history, and methods of control
United States. Public Health Service
Bedbugs
[3] “A remedy for the bedbug has been devised by Mr. R.
H. Pettit (‘Notes on two insecticidal agents,’ 10th Rpt.
Mich. Acad. Sci., p. 159–160, 1908) as a substitute for
hydrocyanic-acid gas and sulphur, and is reported to have
proved very successful. The preparation of this insecticide and
its application are described as follows:
“Alcohol is drawn through pyrethrum in a funnel until the
powder is well washed and a large part of the resinous
principle extracted. To do this, the powder is placed in a
large funnel with filter-plate and a layer of cotton wool at
the bottom. An aspirator is attached and the alcohol is at
first slowly and later rapidly sucked through six or eight
times, during which operation it becomes highly colored.
To this liquid as a basis, are added several oils to give
permanence to the application. Both alcohol and pyrethrum
evaporate so quickly that it was thought best to carry in some
heavier volatile oils whose effects would last several days or
even weeks. The formula when completed stands as follows:
“To the extract made by washing 400 grams of pyrethrum with
2,000 c. c. of strong alcohol, are added――
50 grams gum camphor.
150 c. c. cedar wood oil.
25 grams oil citronella.
25 grams oil lavender.
“The application is best made with a large-sized atomizer, one
holding a pint or more and working with a piston instead of
a rubber bulb. * * * To obtain the best results, repeat the
treatment after about two weeks. We have tried this mixture
repeatedly and with uniformly gratifying results. Usually
one application, if thoroughly made, put a period to the
complaints, about eight to ten ounces being required in an
average sleeping room. The odor remains some little time in a
room, but is not disagreeable to the average person.
“This remedy can be readily prepared by a pharmacist in any
drug store.”
“Various bedbug remedies and mixtures are for sale, most of them
containing one or another of the ingredients mentioned, and these are
frequently of value. The great desideratum, however, in a case of this
kind, is a daily inspection of beds and bedding, particularly the seams
and tufting of mattresses, and of all crevices and locations about the
premises where these vermin may have gone for concealment. A vigorous
campaign should, in the course of a week or so at the outside, result
in the extermination of this very obnoxious and embarrassing pest.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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