s a general term employed to denote any noxious animal, and is applied to such creatures as are noxious to man, or the animals under his charge.

In this extended sense, then, the gamekeeper finds vermin in most of our native quadrupeds, except those which it is his pleasure or business to preserve; as also in such birds as may in any way molest his "preserves." For these he usually employs the corrupted, but yet with him distinctive term, of "varment," whilst the insect pests which annoy him get the title of vermin.

We propose in this article to briefly review the kinds of creatures to which the term is applied, with notices of the nature of their injuries and their remedies; and with this view we shall direct the reader's attention, 1stly, to the quadrupeds; 2dly, the birds; and, 3dly, the insects, which would appear to be his more particular enemies.

The following list will be found to include all the quadrupeds to which the name can apply, with the natural Orders to which they belong.

| Natural Order | Genus and Species | Common Name | |--------------|------------------|-------------| | Chiroptera | Vespertilio species | Rats, sifter mice | | | Talpa vulgaris | Mole, coot, want | | | Erinaceus Europaeus | Mouldiwarp (Scotch) | | Insectivora | Sorex arenarius | Hedgehog | | | fodiens | Shrew | | | remifer | Water shrew | | Carnivora | Meles taxus | Badger, brock | | | Lutra vulgaris | Otter | | | Mustela vulgaris | Weasel | | | ermines | Ermine, stoat | | | putatorius | Polecat, fitchew, foumart | | | furo | Ferret | | | Martes foina | Common martin | | | abennum | Pine martin | | | Felis catus | Wild-cat | | | var domes. | House-cat | | Rodentia | Vulpes vulgaris | Fox | | | Sciurus vulgaris | Squirrel | | | Myoxus avellanarius | Dormouse | | | Mus messorius | Harvest mouse | | | sylvaticus | Wood mouse | | | musculus | Common mouse | | | ratus | Black rat | | | decumanus | Norway, or brown rat | | | Arvicolam amphibilis | Water-rat, vole | | | agrestis | Short-tailed field-mouse | | | pratensis | Bank, vole | | | Lepus timidus | Hare | | | cuniculus | Rabbit, coney | Bats.—If we look at the end of the squire's barn we shall usually see some of the vesperillo there nailed up with outstretched wings; they have, however, no stronger evidence against them of felonious intent than being found in the so-called "keeper's larder," where they have attained their ignominious position through ignorance, as they are perfectly harmless, and still the superstitious fears with regard to them are among the very curiosities of superstition.

Moles—are common in all parts of England especially in the midland counties, and in the south of Scotland, but are absent in Ireland. The mole is seldom or never seen above the surface of the ground, except when forced out of its subterranean abode by excessive drought and heat, by inundations, or by very hard frost. In size it is a little larger than the common mouse, and smaller than the common rat, measuring from five to six inches in length, exclusive of the tail. The male is considerably larger than the female. The body is completely covered with very fine glossy black hair or fur, softer and finer than silk, or the fur of the beaver, inclining to a brownish hue on the abdomen. Its nose is long, and resembles that of the hog; its eyes are very quick and perceptible when the animal is alive. Instead of external ears, it has openings protected by the fur, which are admirably fitted for their purpose, as the hearing of few animals is more acute. Its neck is very short, and its body is thick, round, and muscular, terminated by a tail about an inch long. The fore-legs have more the appearance of hands growing out of the body, turned outwards and backwards, like the hands of a man when swimming. These legs are very strong, and are each furnished with five claws. The hind legs are longer and weaker than the fore ones, being only used in progressive motions; whereas the others are constantly employed in digging and boring the ground, or in scraping and throwing back the earth when forced out by the mole, or when excavating; it is always obliged to draw the loose earth backwards and lifted or shove it above the surface of the ground in the same way. Its teeth are beautifully white, and consist of forty-four in all, viz., six upper and eight under incisors, two upper and two under canines, and seven molars on each side above, and six on each side below. Its food consists almost entirely of earth-worms and a few insects.

The mole and female go together about the end of March or beginning of April, and most of them produce their young in the beginning of June, a few so early as in the last week in May. The female brings forth her young only once a-year, the number varying from one to nine at a birth, and five or six being the average number. She carries her young about nine weeks, that is, from the last week in March or the first in April, till the last week in May or beginning of June. When the season arrives for the male and female going together, if their domiciles are not connected by old workings, the solitary mole will leave his place of abode in the night, and travel a considerable distance above ground to meet with a companion.

The season for trapping moles in Scotland commences on the 20th of August and ends on the 31st of May in each year, or occasionally a week or two later if the winter be a severe one.

About forty years ago, when steps were taken to clear the moles from the estates of his grace, Henry, duke of Buccleuch in Scotland, a man was appointed to each five thousand or six thousand acres of land, for two or three of the first years of a twenty years' lease; and so much success attended the plan, that two men were sufficient to keep fifty thousand Scottish acres of land pretty clear of moles during the remainder of the lease. And had it not been that there were several intervening patches of land, where the moles were not trapped at all, and where their propagation was kept up, one man would probably have sufficed for the purpose.

The most common way of taking moles, is by traps set in their walks or runs; and the best for this purpose are the wooden ones made by the bobbin-turners in the neighbourhood of Kendal and elsewhere, and sold at about twopence each. Sixty of these traps, with as much mole-twine as may be bought for eighteenpence, a few sticks, a small bobbin, and a mole-spatula, equip the mole-catcher, and will serve him for a year without any additional outlay. With these materials, in good ground, where the moles have not before been disturbed, he will capture three hundred dozens the first season. Before commencing operations, the traps should be steeped in water, and left upon the ground for a day or two, to remove any peculiar smell which may belong to them.

In the subterraneous runs of the mole, and among the streets of towns and villages, there are certain walks more frequented than others, and hence entitled to the name of thoroughfares.

The dots in the above diagram represent the molehills, and the lines the walks or streets communicating between them, which serve the double purpose of a dwelling and a trap for worms, upon which the mole feeds. It is probable that all these streets, or at any rate a large proportion of them, are traversed every twenty-four hours, more especially when food is scarce. It is also obvious that certain parts of these walks must be more frequently passed than others.

A may be supposed to be a hedge near which the mole will spend much of its time in wet, cold, or stormy weather; B and D are two ridges adjoining to the hedge, where it is much engaged in fine weather; and C the furrow between those ridges. Let fig. 1 represent the walk conducting from the hedge to the first ridge, and fig. 2 a continuation of the same walk between the first and second ridges. Figs. 3 and 4 are mainwalks on the ridges. Nos. 1 and 2 are the walks that will be most used, and therefore are the places where the mole-catcher would place his traps. Nos. 3 and 4 are the next best, in consequence of there being only a single road or passage in each place, and not, as to the right and left of them, a variety of byways. In many cases the inexperienced may be unable to determine which is a main run, in consequence of the ground being apparently all worked up together. In such a case he should endeavour to find a walk in a hedge-bottom, or in crossing the ditch to the hedge, or where the mole goes to water, or in the crossing of a gapstead or gateway, or in a footpath, or furrow, or sheepwalk, or along the side of a drain. In such places as these, the ground is generally pretty solid, and it may be assumed as a general rule, that the mole never likes to make a great number of walks where the ground is hard, or where it is frequently trodden on. When the mole-catcher has fixed on the ground, he made up his mind where to place his trap, as at Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 he may strike his spade into the ground in a right line between the hillocks, and if he finds the ground hollow, he has discovered the walk, and he places there his hole to lay his trap in. Care must be taken not to make this hole too large, and it ought to be about a quarter of an inch lower than the bottom of the walk, so that the mole may have a gentle descent into it. The earth ought also to be well filled in upon all sides, so as to exclude the light, and at the same time not to interrupt the mole in its passage; for upon discovering any interruption, it will be apt to make a new road by the side of it, and after having its suspicion excited, it will be very difficult to take it afterwards.

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1 The observations on the structure and habits of the mole, and on the mode of trapping it, have been communicated by Thomas Yeadell of Preston, for many years practically engaged in the art of mole-catching.

2 Yeadell comes to this conclusion from his observation of the state of the female about this time, and from frequently having taken the whole litter of young in the nest, which is easily found, from its being made in the centre of an unusually large hillock. Although the mole is here stated to breed only once a-year, it is the recorded belief of some observers that two broods are annually produced, one in spring or early in summer, and another in autumn. The more usual and characteristic period, however, we believe to be the spring, and this accords with the practical observations of continental naturalists on the subject.

3 This is a circumstance which Yeadell conceives to be proved in various ways; first, by his frequently having found the workings entirely abandoned in particular places in the months of March and April; secondly, by finding unusually large numbers of moles together at this time; thirdly, by accidental circumstances, such as taking a mole which had lost its tail, or had been deprived of a hind leg. In 1859 Yeadell took a mole without a tail, and the following year he took one wanting a hind leg, both of which had been twisted off, in traps of his own at the distance of a mile or more from the place where they were at last taken. The most frequent cause of the mole changing its ground arises from inundation. When the rivers rise rapidly and cover his workings, he is obliged to abandon his subterranean abode, and swims for his life, which he can do with the buoyancy of a water-bottle.

4 Sometimes, when Yeadell has met with a mole which had been rendered cunning from the string of a trap having broken, or from its having been caught by the tail or by a hind leg, which it had twisted off, and escaped, he has successfully resorted to the various stratagems. The first of these is to form a cake of softish earth about half an inch thick, to be plastered over both ends of the trap, so as effectually to interrupt the passage. The mole, upon reaching this obstacle, immediately sets to work to remove it, and no sooner has The mole has ever been an object of persecution; but we are far from convinced that the hundreds of these creatures which one frequently finds tied to the branches of a tree, are wholly to be considered as fruits of evil. His common food, the eggs and larvae of wire-worms and other insect pests, deserve no such consideration, and our experience makes us conclude, that while mole-holes in a place these creatures must be there; if they retire, their food has been destroyed, soon, however, to increase if he quits his old hunting-ground for a new one. On this account we have introduced moles to some situations with advantage, and reports are not wanting of several instances of preserving moles for the good they do the farmer. It is true that in pasture the hillocks they make are unsightly, but the advantage of spreading the fine mould of these heaps over the grass well repays the labour; and besides the grass is benefited by the check upon wire-worms and other larvae which they continually destroy.

The Hedgehog is a much abused creature, as the charges upon which he is executed, namely, sucking cows and eggs, have never been proven, but, on the contrary, he is ever active in the destruction of slugs, snails, and various insects, for which he ought more properly to be protected.

The Shrews.—Of these we need only mention the field-shrew, which was formerly held in great dread from the notion that in creeping over cattle, or even man himself, he caused, most extraordinary to relate! paleness, paralysis, &c., and by many afflictions were said to be due to being "mouse crops," the remedy for which was to keep a piece of "shrew sal" in the house, the mode of preparing which is described by Gilbert White as follows:—"Into the body of an ash-tree a deep hole was bored with an auger, and a poor devoted shrew mouse was thrust in alive, and plugged in, no doubt, with several quaint incantations, long since forgotten." The twig of a tree so prepared was applied to the affected part.

These animals do good rather than harm, as they feed entirely on insects; but it was in all probability their external likeness to true mice, which are objects of dread to foolish people, that the horrors related of shrews were invented as a sort of justification of the strange cruelty to which they were subjected.

The Badger, the Otter—are both considered legitimate objects of sport. Happily, however, the delights of badger-baiting and otter-hunting are daily becoming less frequent by the rarity of both species, though it seems sad that the courage of these creatures should result in their extinction, though it is not unnatural, considering that their enemies are much more brutal than the animals themselves.

The Weasel and its congeners, with the Marten, may all be referred to as among the most savage of our quadrupeds. They attack rats, mice, poultry, and game. In fact, the ferret, which is a native of Africa, is kept and even bred with us for use in ratting and rabbit-hunting; whilst the other species are detested by the gamekeeper, and ruthlessly destroyed accordingly, and, whereas it is of paramount importance, not without considerable show of justice.

The Wild Cat is no welcome tenant of a game-preserve, and is indeed a treacherous and dangerous animal, which, fortunately, is daily becoming rarer; but the domestic cat is usually a gentle creature, though not without enough courage to delight a savage nature in hunting it.

The Fox is, inconsistently enough, called a "vermin," to justify the hunting of it, whilst it is most sedulously preserved for the continuance of the sport; and it is a matter no less curious than interesting, that noblemen have kept up establishments at the cost of many thousands per annum (we have heard of as much as L100,000) for the exclusive purpose of fox-hunting. We shall not deny the excitement of the chase; but we do say that fifty couples of hounds, with from two to three hundred mounted horsemen, if they do catch their fox, are hardly worthy of the honours which poets and painters have lavished upon them; and were the fox-hunter by profession at all a thinking animal, he would omit much of the self-abasement in which he so liberally abounds.

The Squirrel and Dormouse are both sufficiently innocent in their actions, and whilst they are seldom visited from a list of vermin. The squirrel is accused of barking young trees, but this must be under extreme cases of scarcity of natural beechmast, their usual food; still he is ruthlessly destroyed by the keeper, which is to be deplored, as he is truly an ornament to our woods.

The Wood Mouse sometimes increases to such an extraordinary extent, that it does considerable damage to young plantations, eating the roots and decorticate the young plants. In such a case these animals are best taken in holes of about 12 to the acre, made as follows:—They are from 18 to 20 inches in depth, about 2 feet long, and 14 feet wide, made broader at the bottom than the top. In these holes are placed a few bits of Valerian root, which will entice many, whilst those will fall in inadvertently. It was calculated, in this way, in the Government Forest, upwards of 30,000 of these creatures were destroyed in a few weeks.

For the Common Mouse, the various traps in use with the aid of the cat (which is especially useful for this purpose), will mostly be found sufficient; but if not, they readily take the phosphorus paste to be presently described; nux vomica or stearacere will be sufficient.

Rats.—Of these, the brown or Norway rat is everywhere, the black or the so-called old English rat daily becoming scarcer. The rat is among the greatest pests we have to inquire into. Being omnivorous in his appetite, he will destroy lard, cheese, grain, and almost anything that is at all edible, besides garbage of all kinds. By his holes and passages he undermines houses and out-buildings, and indeed his whole habits render him a nuisance wherever he is found. On this account various methods have from time to time been extolled for his destruction. He is hunted, trapped, and poisoned. However, as regards trapping, it is usually a slow and uncertain method, on account of the creature's cunning,—a characteristic that has to be met even in poisoning. He is attracted by some essential oils, as well as aniseed or caraway. Oil of rhodium has been much employed for this purpose; but it is now seldom or never to be got generally. Arsenic is commonly used; and to do so with effect, their haunts should be supplied with slices of bread and butter until they eat it unsuspectingly, when finely powdered arsenic may be spread over fresh slices. This method has the disadvantage of leaving their dead bodies to putrefy in their habitations, which is said to be obviated by the following method, which was communicated to the Royal Agricultural Society by Dr Ure:—Melt lard in a bottle plunged in water heated to about 150° Fahrenheit; introduce into it half an ounce of phosphorus to every pound of lard; then add a pint of proof spirit, or whisky; cork the bottle firmly after its contents have been heated to 150°, taking it at the same time out of the water, and agitate sharply until the phosphorus becomes uniformly diffused, forming a milky-looking liquid. This liquid being cooled, will afford a white compound of phosphorus and lard, from which the spirit spontaneously separates. It may be poured off to be used again, for none of it enters into combination, but merely serves to communicate the phosphorus, and diffuse it in very fine particles through the lard. This compound, on being warmed very gently, may be poured out into a mixture of wheat-flour and sugar incorporated therewith, and then flavoured with oil of rhodium or not at pleasure. The flavour may be varied with oil of aniseed, &c. This dough, being made into pellets, is to be laid in rat-holes. By its luminousness in the dark it attracts their notice, and, being agreeable to their palates and noses, it is readily eaten, and certainly proves fatal. They are also often fasting from their lurking-places for water to quench their burning thirst and bowels, and they commonly die near the water." The compound just described is one of the best for the destruction of mice, for which put it in little pellets near their holes and about an infected field, and it commonly destroys the whole of them.

The Pole or water-rat is harmless enough. His food will be the wild plants of the water-side; however he does mischief by boring holes in the clay with which porous canals are stopped. From such places they are readily driven by dog and gun.

The Hare and Rabbit, though so rigidly preserved, and for whose sake the keeper wages such interminable war against all "four-footed beasts," are in reality the most mischievous creatures we possess. What fine crops of wheat and other grain, clover and the like, have we not seen destroyed by these creatures. However, as long as these evils are supposed to be counterbalanced by the sport and food they yield, so long will hares and rabbits be countenanced, and so long too shall we be considered as heretical in placing them in this list at all.

Birds.—Some of these are even objects of greater hatred to the keeper than beasts, many, as the birds of prey, on account of killing young hares, pheasants, and partridges, others, as the magpie, on account of superstitious fears which they inspire in the minds of the vulgar. With regard to the first of these, it is however questionable whether they do not do mankind more good than harm. Their usual food will be the smaller birds, mice, and the like; and though the magpie and jay occasionally aids his repast with a little fruit, yet the slugs, snails, and insects which they destroy is incalculable.

Rooks, again, have a bad character; but, as says Mr Jesse in his "Gleanings of Natural History," "in order to be convinced that these birds are beneficial to the farmer, let him observe the same field in which his ploughman and sower are at work; he will see the former followed by a train of rooks, while the sower will be unmolested, and his grain remain untouched." We have looked most carefully into the actions of rooks, and we consider them a great blessing in an agricultural district. That some of the smaller birds do occasional mischief in our gardens we will not deny, but still we cannot help concluding that there is much misconception as to its kind and extent. As that the owner of a neighbour's own owen put some wheat steeped in decoction of nux vomica (arrow-root) "to kill their mischievous sparrows," as he had occasion, of eating the buds of his gooseberry trees. Well, the sparrows got killed, and the gardener fancies he has caught the right bird; but not all, as it was the bullfinch that ate the gooseberry buds, but only when he had made the groundseed and other weed-seeds scarce. We are then no advocate for the destruction of birds, as none of them do unmixed evil, but many perform the most essential service, and their sweet songs and pretty ways are more than an equivalent for their peccadilloes, so that after all the world at large is in their debt.

Insects.—Many insects, in the different states of existence through which they pass, are exceedingly troublesome and destructive. Sometimes they spread their devastations in the state of larva or grub, and sometimes in that of perfect insect.

Of the coleopterous insects, the grub of the cockchafer, which is a brownish or chestnut-coloured beetle, commits the greatest ravages. This beetle appears during great part of the summer, the most plentiful in May or June, and hence is called the May-bug. It lays its eggs in the ground, and hatches during the fall under the leaves of trees, which it devours, and is sometimes in such numbers as to defoliate whole woods. The beetle deposits its eggs in the earth, and from these are hatched white or bluish grubs, that feed on the roots of grass, corn, and other vegetables during the whole summer. In the winter they lie deep in the earth; but in the spring, as vegetation advances, they rise to the surface, and renew their work of destruction. In this state they continue for four, five, or six years, before they change to the chrysalis state, in which they remain till the month of May, when the perfect insect appears. As these insects require so many years to assume the perfect form, they only appear occasionally in sufficient numbers to be extensively destructive to the crops of grain, or vegetables in general. Their numbers, however, have often produced great alarm, and even excited the attention of governments to offer rewards for an effectual method of destroying them.

In the spring season, if the weather prove warm when the land is ploughed up, these grubs are generally so near the surface as to be turned up with the plough; and being thus exposed, they are picked up and devoured by various birds, which, it is suggested, should not be disturbed or driven away in this salutary labour. When these grubs infest a window-hand, it has been proposed to drown them in their holes by overflooding them; but it is supposed that this plan would not be successful, even where it is practicable, unless there is a bed of clay immediately under the soil, to retain the water for a sufficient length of time. A more effectual way is recommended to prevent the increase of the grubs, by destroying the flies in May or June, before they have deposited their eggs. This may be done by shaking and beating the trees and hedges in the middle of the day; and, as this is a work which may be performed by children, it is a less difficult task than would at first sight be imagined. Domestic fowls are remarkably fond of these beetles, so that a double object is thus gained, the destruction of the beetles and the procuring of food for the poultry.

Some species of the dermestes, and also of the genus ptinus, are exceedingly destructive, in the cabinets of naturalists, and also to furniture. Various methods have been recommended to stop their ravages. We believe the most effectual is spirit of turpentine, when it can be properly applied. A solution of corrosive sublimate is sometimes employed, but it should be recollected that it seldom fails in time to produce some chemical change on animal and vegetable matter. Objects of natural history, as birds, animals, &c., are frequently subjected to the moderate heat of an oven, or before a fire, for several hours; but this method will also be attended with injurious effects, unless practiced with great care. Insects which infest furniture have been destroyed by the application of oil, and allowing it to remain for a day or two, before the furniture is rubbed up. Japaned or varnished furniture may be secured from the effects of these insects, by recoating it, when they are in the larva state, by which they are deprived of air. Railing, and other works out of doors, which are exposed to the weather, are sometimes eaten with insects, and particularly by some of the larvae of the genus curculio. The wood thus attacked may be prevented from further ravages, by a fresh coat of paint.

The earwig is a destructive insect in the flower, kitchen, and fruit garden. To prevent their depredations, it has been recommended to take them with the hand, when they come out during the night in search of food. They may be taken also by rolling up a piece of paper, and hanging it up on the plants which they infest; for in these places they take shelter through the day. Another method of destroying them has been mentioned, and that is to watch them towards morning with the view of discovering the haunt to which they resort during the day. This may perhaps be a wheel-frame, dung-pan, or heap of rubbish; and the removing of it will destroy the greater number of those troublesome insects.

The small insect which commits such depredations among turnips, by eating the seedling leaves as soon as they appear, as frequently to destroy whole crops, is supposed to be a small black beetle, belonging to the genus Atticus. It does not seem to be well ascertained whether this small beetle, which is better known by the name of turnip-fly, commits its ravages in the larva or in the beetle state. It is said to prefer the leaves of the common radish to those of the turnip; and it is therefore recommended to sow radishes along with the turnips, to prevent the destruction of the latter.

Of the insects belonging to the order homoptera, there are some which are exceedingly destructive. The cockroach, a native of the warmer parts of America and the West Indies, is a very troublesome and a very voracious insect. It has been introduced into this country, and particularly into the seaport towns, in consequence of commercial intercourse. It comes out to feed in the night-time, and eats almost everything that comes in its way. Cockroaches are easily taken by the following method. Cover the outside of a deep glass or basin with paper; introduce some bits of bread or sugar into the basin or glass, and set it in a place frequented by the cockroaches. They creep up by means of the paper on the outside, and drop into the vessel; but in consequence of its smooth polished surface, they cannot effect their escape. In the same way crickets and beetles may be taken and destroyed. It is quite unnecessary to speak of the means of destroying the myriads of locusts which not unfrequently infest eastern countries, and particularly Egypt and Syria; for no means are likely to be devised, which promise to resist the effects of such a host of foes, by whose ravages every green thing is consumed; but the insect itself becomes, among the poorer inhabitants of those countries, a partial substitute for the fruits of the earth which it has destroyed. The insects are taken, and reduced to powder, and converted into a kind of meal.

The common or the bed bug is a very troublesome and a very common inmate in the crowded houses of large towns. Its usual haunts are the crevices of wood, and particularly those pieces of furniture which are usually kept in the warmest corners of the apartment. Cleanliness will perhaps be found the best preservative against the introduction and increase of these insects; but sometimes even the greatest care and attention are ineffectual in keeping houses entirely free from them. When it can be conveniently done, they are completely destroyed by immersing the furniture in boiling water, or by baking it in an oven; and by filling up the crevices or holes which were their haunts with glazier's putty, their return and increase will thus be prevented. But a very effectual method of destroying bugs is to wash the places which they frequent with spirit of turpentine, and then to fill up the holes as already mentioned. It is a curious circumstance in the history of these pests, that some persons entirely escape from their attacks, while to others they are exceedingly troublesome and distressing. It is said that lavender-water, sprinkled over the bedclothes, often prevents their approach.

The small moth which, in the caterpillar state, commits ravages on woollen cloths, furs, and other animal substances that remain for any length of time in dark undisturbed places, may be destroyed with the greatest certainty and facility, by exposing the substances on which they are suspected to make their depredations to the vapour of spirit of turpentine, or brushing them with a brush dipped into the same fluid. This should be done about the months of September or October; but their effects may be prevented by placing the cloths, furs, &c., which are likely to become their residence, in an airy situation, about the months of July and August.

The different kinds of lice are very numerous. Every animal has its peculiar species, and even mankind are not free from this pest. It is often the consequence of indolence and listlessness; and it is observed that the lice which infest any animal increase prolifically when that animal becomes languid and sickly. We believe that the application of spirits of turpentine, already so often recommended, would also be effectual in this case; but mercurial preparations afford a certain remedy against these insects. For this Vermont purpose a very small quantity of what is called mercurial ointment may be employed. At the same time it ought to be recollected that cleanliness is the best preservative.

It is perhaps more difficult for mankind to secure themselves and their habitations from the visits of the common flea. Cleanliness may however do much even in effecting this; and, in particular, it appears to us that it would be extremely useful, frequently to rub up with a piece of cloth the more inaccessible parts of furniture or apartments, or perhaps it would answer better to employ a small hard brush. By the less accessible places, we mean the corners and crevices of chairs, the inside of curtains, the dust is apt to accumulate especially the canvass part of a bed. We are convinced that spirits of turpentine might also be found useful for the destruction of these very troublesome insects. The Scottish myrtle (Myrica gale, Linn.), a plant very common in low and moist moorish places in this country, is said to be an excellent remedy, in consequence of its powerful aromatic odor, against the attacks of these animals. For this purpose, the plant is strewed about the apartment or bed which is infested with fleas.

(V.B.—N.)