st swept up and burned. In this way many of the eggs or larvae may
be destroyed. Very often the dust under a carpet that has not been taken
up and dusted for some time will be found to be harboring a multitude of
fleas or their larvae. In such cases a thorough cleaning of the carpet
and the floors will bring relief. Houses that are unused for some time
during the summer months are often found to be overrun with fleas in the
fall, for the fleas have had an unmolested opportunity to breed and
multiply. Such rooms of course require a thorough cleaning or it is
sometimes possible to kill the fleas by a liberal use of pyrethrum
powder or benzine or to fumigate. In this connection, Dr. Skinner's note
in the _Journal of Economic Entomology_ is worth repeating.

"In the latter part of last May (1908) I moved into a house that
had not been previously occupied. No carpet was used and being
summer only a few rugs were placed on the floors. A part of the
household consisted of a collie dog and three Persian cats. Very
soon the fleas appeared, the dog and cat flea, _Ctenocephalus
canis_. I did not count them and I can't say whether they numbered
a million or only a hundred thousand. On arising in the morning and
stepping on the floor one would find from three to a dozen on the
ankles. The usual remedies for fleas are either drastic or somewhat
unsatisfactory. The drastic one is to send the animals to the
institutions, where they are asphyxiated, or take the other advice,
'Don't keep animals.'

"I tried mopping the floors with rather a strong solution of
creolin but it did little good. Previous experience with pyrethrum
was not very satisfactory. Knowing the volatility of naphthalene in
warm weather and the irritating character of its vapor led me to
try it. I took one room at a time, scattered on the floor five
pounds of flake naphthalene and closed it for twenty-four hours. On
entering such a room the naphthalene vapor will instantly bring
tears to the eyes and cause coughing and irritation of the air
passages. I mention this to show how it acts on the fleas. It
proved to be a perfect and effectual remedy and very inexpensive,
as the naphthalene could be swept up and transferred to other
rooms. So far as I am concerned the flea question is solved and if
I have further trouble I know the remedy. I intend to ke