BUG, (Encycl.) Early in the spring, even in February, the larva of these creatures begins to burst from the egg; and it is at this season that attention is so very requisite. The bed ought to be stripped of all its furniture; which should be washed, and even boiled, if linen; if stuff, it should be hot-pressed. The bedstead should be taken to pieces, dusted, and washed with spirit of wine in the joints; for in those parts the females lay their eggs. This done, the joints, crevices, cavities, &c. should be well filled with the best soft soap mixed with verdigris and Scots snuff. On this substance the larva, if any escape the cleansing, or
Bursera any, which is common in old houses, creep into the bedstead, will feed at first, and of course be destroyed: this last will effect the purpose in houses where these vermin are not so numerous, by repeating the operation every three months.—Professor Kalm † mentions, that from repeated trials, he has been convinced that sulphur, if it be properly employed, entirely destroys bugs and their eggs in beds or walls, though they were ten times more numerous than the ants on an ant-hill. His translator, Dr. Forster, adds, that a still more effectual remedy is, to wash all the infected furniture with a solution of arsenic. See further the article CIMICIFUGA, below.