BEDBUGS are Quickly Exterminated by the Fumigation Method

In these days of extensive travel it is scarcely surprising that bedbugs are occasionally encountered and accidentally carried into, many homes. (Fig. 13.) The problem of eradicating them after they have become established is a very vexing one for the housekeeper.

To exterminate them quickly and completely nothing is more effective than a thorough fumigation with either hydrocyanic-acid gas or sulphur fumes. As the fumes of hydrocyanic-acid gas are deadly to human life this gas should be used only by a professional fumigator.  Sulphur fumes can be used with safety by the average housekeeper, but it should be remembered that the fumes tarnish polished metals and have a tendency to bleach highly colored furnishings and wall paper.

Although other remedies are not so quickly effective, complete relief can be obtained by the painstaking use of sprays, such as gasoline, kerosene, benzene, or a mixture of 1 ounce of bichloride of mercury dissolved in 1 pint of denatured alcohol, to which is added one-fourth pint of turpentine.  If desirable the bichloride of mercury can be dissolved in water and used alone in a 1 to 1,000 solution. Since bichloride of mercury is a deadly poison it must be handled with great care.  [Best not to use it at all. Today, we have better bedbug extermination methods, including whole-house heating, which is very effective at their elimination. -ASC]

The sprays should be injected into the cracks and crevices of the bed and woodwork of the room where the bedbugs are concealed.