DESTRUCTION OF FLIES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4512, 8 January 1923, Page 2

DESTRUCTION OF FLIES.

AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. ' What seems to be a revolutionary discovery- is reported to have been made by Mr J. Hertz, principal of a firm of wholesale chemists in LondonFor two years he has been experimenting with various substances for putting an end to insect pests. At last he is said to have discovered a solution, quite harmless to individuals and animals, in the fumes of which no insect, can live for more than a few seconds. *' Putting this assertion to the tesr:, he placed a wasp, and "afterwardssome flies, in a glass bowl with two oi' three drops of the liquid. The wasp struggled on the side of the glass for ten seconds and then fell dead ; the end of the flies came more swiftly still. .A few days ago Mr. Hertz said he visited a department cf the factory of a well known firm of confectioners which was much troubled with wasps and bees, ile sprayed the room with the liquid and hundreds dropped on the floor dead. The manager of the department had been stung by one of the wasps. A drop of the liquid rubbed upon the wound at once removed the sting and reduced the inflammation.. Another trial of the' Solution was made in some stables. No flies touched any horse that was sprayed ; nor did they enter th© stables so long as the odour lasted. At his home in the country Mr Hertz keeps a little of the liquid in a bowl oh the dining table, and the room has been free from insects of every kind throughput the summer. The odour is by no means pungent, but is rathei' like that of burnt rubber. Countries .that are troubled with the mosquito are greats ly interested in the discovery. Mr Hertz is being urged tp place the solution upon the market. It will M some little time, however, before this can be done, for it means getting a' factory where it will be possible ta produce it in meany thousands of gallons daily.