Insect Powders.—For the benefit of the American housewife I will mention the fact that for the complete annihilation of ants, roaches, water-bugs, and the like, there is nothing that I know of that is so far-reaching and so deadly as a powder produced in California called buhac, costing sixty cents per pound. The price is high, but the powder is well worth it—and this is an absolutely free advertisement.
The Effect of Poisons on the Taxidermist.—Arsenical soap is by all odds the safest poison that can possibly be used. It gives off no poisonous fumes whatsoever, its presence in the mouth, nose, or eyes is always detected instantly, and the worst that it ever does is to get into a cut or under the ends of the finger-nails of the careless taxidermist, and make a festering sore which is well in a few days—a purely local ill.
Dry arsenic is more injurious. It sometimes poisons the fingers of a careless operator, and if it is inhaled in the form of dust the effect may be serious. A few persons are very susceptible to the effects of dry arsenic, others are not. If the blood is in a healthy condition there is little to fear from it, except through gross carelessness. I have used, all told, probably more than a hundred and fifty pounds of arsenic in various forms, and never had an hour's illness in consequence, nor anything more serious than a sore finger.
Corrosive sublimate is much more powerful and more dangerous. It should never be used in the preparation of a skin before it is mounted; after mounting it may, with care, be used quite safely.
Strychnine is far too dangerous to be used by a taxidermist save in poisoning animals he wishes to secure as scientific specimens.
[CHAPTER XLV.]
USEFUL INFORMATION.
Recipe for Making Arsenical Soap.
| White bar soap, soft rather than hard | 2 pounds. |
| Powdered arsenic | 2 " |
| Camphor | 5 ounces. |
| Subcarbonate of potash | 6 " |
| Alcohol | 8 " |