DEATH TO INSECTS

Waikato Times, Volume 123, Issue 20691, 29 December 1938, Page 11

DEATH TO INSECTS

NEW GAS RENTE OTP HARMLESS TO HUMAN BEHMS < (From a Correspondent) LONDON. October tl. 1 A new method of destroying insects in aeroplanes was demonstrated this week when 200 mosquitoes w'ere killed by gas at the Imperial Airways Research Station, London. The gas used to destroy the insects wa % practically odourless and colourless and was distilled from an English wild flower. The mosquitoes, all potentially malignant, were supplied by the London School of Hygiene. The method of destruction has been perfected after more than a year of research. The insecticide was distilled from the pyrethrurn. specially cultivated for the purpose, and the liquid was poured into a light-weight atomiser constructed for use in aircraft and intended to be worked by the engine. The experiment was made m a room twioe the cubic capacity of a cabin of thfc Imperial flying-boats, but In seven minutes, about half the time that the gas would be turned on jn ridding an aircraft of insects. a<ll the mosquitoes had died. This gas, which is harmless to humans, will also kill the

African tsetse fly. the carrier of sleep-ing-sickness, and practically all other forms of insect life.