The locust plague and its suppression / by Æneas Munro.

  • Munro, Aeneas.
Date:
[1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The locust plague and its suppression / by Æneas Munro. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    6. MacDougall’s Fluid (Sheep) Dip. 7. Millborrow’s Exterminator. S. Coal-tar. 9. Coal-oil. 10. Petroleum. 11. Kerosene. 12. Creosote. 13. Paraffin. 14. Carbolic acid. Various chemical combinations and patents 864. Two divisions.—Among the ways in which these chemical agents act on the insect, it is easy to make two manifest divisions— (1) Those that kill the insect by their partaking of and eating the poison ; (2) Those that kill the insect when it touches them from without. 865. Care to be exercised in placing1 the poison.—It may be expedient, therefore, to pay great attention to this matter, as if the latter is sufficient to kill, it is unnecessary to leave the poison about here and there, and the risk of injuring birds and other animals and insects is completely avoided so far as leaving the poison in bulk is concerned. Of course great care and selection must be used to see that in using the “Contact” preparations (as the latter of the two divisions above mentioned is termed) so that the poisonous substances should not accumulate on the pasture or vegetation or fruit, and so produce injurious effects in that way. It is needless almost to say that the insecticide which also kills the vegetation as well as the insect should be laid aside, and another at least tried. Now, there is another element that ought to be considered, and that is the expense. As a rule chemicals are cheap, but whether or not, it springs from a desire to be speedily rich—patents are procured, or secrets are made of the combination. What then might be, and really is cheap, is made dear, and the country is injured. Public spirit is wanting, and the spirit of selfishness shows its head at every turn of the stile. Not to divulge what is within one’s knowledge, and which makes undoubtedly for the country’s welfare and the public weal, is unworthy of an honourable man. To keep important information as a secret to oneself for the sake of pecuniary gain and aggrandisement by filthy lucre is mean and contemptible in the extreme. “ He who gives jgets, and he who keeps loses.” There is a generosity that enriches and ennobles, while the reverse impoverishes and dwarfs the character. 866. A “ spray producer.”—In the list of chemical poisons for administration to the insects, I have placed references whereby the subjects may be studied directly from the words of those who have