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 FACSIMILE OF ARISTOTLE S DESCRIPTION OF A BOOKWORM
 
 
 FACTS ABOUT 
 BOOKWORMS 
 
 THEIR HISTORY IN LITERATURE 
 AND WORK IN LIBRARIES 
 
 BY 
 REV. J. F. X. O'CONOR, S. J. 
 
 FORMER LIBRARIAN OF FRANCIS XAVIER'S COLLEGE 
 
 NEW YORK, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY 
 
 WASHINGTON, AUTHOR OF "READING 
 
 AND THE MIND," "CUNEIFORM IN- 
 
 SCRIPTIONS OF NEBUCHADNEZ- 
 
 ZAR," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK : FRANCIS P. HARPER 
 ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUN- 
 DRED AND NINETY-EIGHT : : :
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY FRANCIS P. HARPEI
 
 \\ Us 
 
 2007744
 
 PREFACE 
 
 // 4 * 7 
 
 THE word " bookworm " suggests to 
 most minds a confused idea. It seems 
 to conjure up a notion that partakes of 
 the world of literature, entomology, history, 
 fiction and humor combined. Is it fact or 
 fiction ? Does anyone know ? Can they 
 tell us something definite ? This was the 
 idea in the mind of the writer before these 
 researches were made. It was the idea in 
 the mind of nearly everyone, as he has found 
 out since by actual experience and question- 
 ing on the subject. 
 
 To answer these questions : Is the " book- 
 worm " a fact in nature ? what is it like ? 
 what does it do ? what can be told about it ? 
 was the object of these investigations. They 
 are all answered. The research was a slow
 
 Preface 
 
 and a patient work, accomplished amid other 
 serious studies. 
 
 The interest taken in the question by 
 scholars literary, historical and scientific 
 and the appreciation shown, has fully repaid 
 the labor, with the not ungrounded hope 
 that this pioneer work may be followed by 
 further researches that will be for the good 
 and the advantage of letters which have been 
 a gift from God to man in his journey 
 through life. 
 
 A strange truth it is, that the same material 
 that supplies food for the spiritual intellect 
 of man should also supply food for one of 
 the tiniest creatures in God's creation. 
 
 J. F. X. O'C. 
 
 New York, 
 
 College of St. Francis Xavier, 
 January, 1898.
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAGB 
 
 7. Facsimile of Aristotle s Descrip- 
 tions of a Bookworm . . . Title 
 
 2. A Caxton " Lyfe of our Lady" 
 Eaten by Bookworms. From 
 Blade* s " Enemies of Books" . 20 
 
 j. Acarus Cheyletus order Acaridae 24 
 
 4. A Bookworm y from an Engraving 
 
 of '665 J5 
 
 5. Lepisma Saccharina .... jp 
 
 6. A Bookworm found crushed in 
 
 " Hauys Mineralogy " . . 40 
 
 7. A copy of " Trait e de Miner -al- 
 
 ogie " from library of George- 
 town College, eaten by a Book- 
 worm 57 
 
 8. Sitodrepa Panicea .... 57
 
 List of Illustrations 
 
 9. Attagenus Pellio .... 
 
 10. Ptinus Fur 
 
 n. Dermestes Lardarius . . 
 12. Anthrenus Varius 
 
 63 
 64 
 69
 
 I 
 
 THEIR HISTORY IN LITERATURE
 
 FACTS ABOUT BOOKWORMS 
 
 THEIR HISTORY IN LITERATURE 
 
 'N a summer's day, in the 
 venerable Georgetown Li- 
 brary, where it seemed 
 that the old tomes had 
 kept within them the odor 
 of past ages, as I held in 
 my hands an open folio bound in leather, a 
 little ridge of dust along the inner edge of 
 the binding attracted my attention. On 
 closer examination I found small holes near 
 the edge of the dust heaps. Taking a pen- 
 knife I raised the paper on the inside of 
 the cover. When behold ! there before 
 me lay a little brown insect. It was cov-
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 ered with bristles and looked for all the 
 world like a tiny hedgehog, curling himself 
 in his spikes to insure protection. I con- 
 tinued the investigation, and in the same book 
 soon found another, his counterpart. Here 
 was a discovery in truth ! " This must be 
 a bookworm," I thought. But how can it 
 be? 
 
 The word " bookworm " in my mind was 
 connected with an individual living ever in an 
 atmosphere of letters, dreaming of, and read- 
 ing perennially, the books that came in his 
 omniverous reach. Had it ever, even in my 
 mind, identified itself with the reality with 
 the insect world ? Never in my imagination 
 had it taken to itself a form whether of bug 
 or of beetle, of moth or of worm that was 
 of any definite shape. Rather it was of the 
 land of myths. Here then was a discovery. 
 I had chanced upon the real, living, visible, 
 palpable creature. A true bookworm visible 
 to the naked eye it was, and it was possible 
 that there were others that might be found 
 under similar conditions. There was a thrill 
 
 16
 
 'Their History in Literature 
 
 of satisfaction in the thought that I could 
 verify a word that seemed to have hovered 
 on the borderland of fact and of fiction, 
 and to inquiry about which no satisfactory 
 answer had yet been given in the domain of 
 letters. At once the determination framed 
 itself in my mind : " If there is any definite 
 knowledge to be obtained on this subject, that 
 can be secured by no matter what expendi- 
 ture of patience and time, I am going to take 
 up the question and pursue it to a tangible 
 issue." 
 
 Taking my two prizes and placing them 
 securely in a box, I brought them to the 
 President of the University, 1 who was as sur- 
 prised and interested as myself, and then I 
 began my investigations. With a microscope 
 I studied the movements of my captive 
 strangers. I watched them as, on their 
 backs, they clutched at the empty air with 
 their six small claws, or buried their heads in 
 the paper that I had placed near them to en- 
 tice them to make use of their mandibles. 
 They were evidently in no humor to do much 
 
 The Rev. P. F. Healy, S. J.
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 boring, as very little was effected during their 
 days of captivity. These two specimens were 
 the Dermestes Lardarius, or larvae of the 
 brown beetle. At the suggestion of the Presi- 
 dent of the University I brought them to Mr. 
 Spofford, of the Library of Congress. He sent 
 them to Prof. Baird, of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitute, and Mr. Baird forwarded them to 
 Mr. Riley, Chief of the Entomological Com- 
 mission. In the meantime, I continued my 
 researches in this new field of exploration, 
 with no less energy and earnestness than any 
 prospector in his search for gold. Here was 
 something more precious than gold. It was 
 knowledge, a new bit of knowledge on a 
 small subject, it may be true, but an original 
 addition to the sum total of facts of which 
 the human mind had a firm grasp. No as- 
 tronomer searching the heavens with his 
 lenses, and feeling a throb of joy as the light 
 of a new star breaks on his vision, felt a 
 keener joy than the knowledge of this new 
 fact brought to me. The new star was but 
 a new number added to millions, here was a 
 
 El
 
 I'heir History in Literature 
 
 new, unknown, unstudied factor of creation. 
 Not that it was to upset the established order 
 of the universe any more than the appear- 
 ance of a new constellation, but it was the 
 manifestation of something hitherto imper- 
 fectly and, it may be said, vaguely known 
 even until now. I had ever been fond of 
 books, but never of bugs ; but here was a 
 bug that was fond of books, and for the 
 sake of books I could be a friend to the bug 
 by making his pedigree known to the world 
 of letters. 
 
 But although there was a friendly feeling 
 for the little creature, was he not an enemy ? 
 Had not many a precious volume been 
 made well nigh worthless in supplying him 
 with his needed repast, and might not bet- 
 ter knowledge of him and his trade prevent 
 the future depredations of his posterity ? 
 Books are precious things, for in them lies 
 stored the wisdom of the centuries. The 
 praise of books is as old as the art of book- 
 making. From all thinking men the good 
 book has won not only praise, but venera- 
 
 '9
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 tion. There are, nevertheless, bibliophiles 
 and bibliophiles. The true lover of books 
 loves the writer's thought more than the 
 scriptor's letter, more than the miniatur- 
 ist's picture or the printer's type. To him 
 books are the living treasuries of the real 
 wealth of the centuries. In books he com- 
 munes with the mightier intellects of the 
 past with prophet, philosopher, poet, ora- 
 tor, historian, with dead heroes and with 
 dead or dying peoples. The book is a fellow 
 man, speaking with a voice whose every mod- 
 ulation the true bibliophile hears far more 
 clearly than if the phonograph were winding 
 off the uttered words. The lesser bibliophile 
 admires books for their rarity, or for the 
 perfection of some bookmaker's handiwork. 
 A lover of beauty wholly material, he is 
 moved by a passion less noble, less pure 
 than that which controls him who is devoted 
 -only to the soul of the book ; and yet 
 the lesser feeling is not to be despised. 
 Were it not for its impulses, we should 
 been deprived of the enjoyment of
 
 Their History in Literature 
 
 many a " more than golden treasure " of the 
 past. 
 
 Though affected by such differing motives, 
 both classes of lovers of books have common 
 interests. Beautiful or unseemly, learned or 
 simple, thoughtful or vain, books run risks 
 that threaten their appearance, their value, or 
 their very existence. In acquiring a knowl- 
 edge of these risks, and of the best means of 
 protecting the book that is so well loved, the 
 spiritual and material book lover have worked 
 together. They have not, however, ex- 
 hausted the subject. Therefore it is that 
 one who loves the inside and the outside of 
 good books gladly avails himself of this oc- 
 casion to " add his mite to the sum of hu- 
 man knowledge," and perhaps by centering 
 the attention of scientific men as well as of 
 the guardians of books on a most destructive 
 enemy, the bookworm, to preserve many a 
 valuable tome to the book lovers of the fu- 
 ture. 
 
 It is a curious fact that no less a personage 
 than Aristotle has written of the bookworm.
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 The great philosopher has written: "In old 
 wax, as in wood, there is found an animal 
 which seems to be the smallest of all crea- 
 tures, called the acarus. It is small and 
 white. And in books there are others like 
 those found in cloth, and they are like scor- 
 pions without a tail, the smallest of all." 
 These words I quote from a no less ancient 
 and trustworthy authority than Aristotle. 
 The reader will find the original Greek in 
 chapter 32, book V, of the " History of 
 Animals." (See frontispiece.) 
 
 Evidently Aristotle knew somewhat about 
 a bookworm, and I am led to believe that 
 he had seen one or more of one possible 
 species. For among the varieties of insect s 
 that I have observed in books, there is one, 
 extremely small, hardly visible to the naked 
 eye, pink in color, and corresponding per- 
 fectly to Aristotle's description, " like a scor- 
 pion without a tail, exceedingly small." In 
 the accompanying cut of Acarus cheyletus, the 
 reader will see Aristotle's tailless scorpion, 
 which, by the way, may not be an eater of
 
 ACARCS CHEYLETUS, ORDER ACARID.t 
 Corresponding to the deteription by Aristotle, magnified forty times
 
 'Their History in Literature 
 
 books. For, though I have found him be- 
 tween the pages, I have never seen him at 
 work, nor could any of the damage to the 
 books be reasonably charged to him. 
 
 From the great philosopher's mention of 
 the small creature, " like that found in 
 cloth," it is fair to infer that in Aristotle's 
 day the bookworm was eating fine manu- 
 scripts and making sore even in those days 
 the heart of the Greek bibliophile. And 
 since the early days, all through the 
 Golden Age of Pericles, the worm has been 
 carrying on its work of destruction. Many 
 a copy of Aristotle has he eaten full of 
 holes. The printed book has been spared 
 no more than the manuscript. One would 
 imagine that readers of books, curators, book 
 fanciers, and entomologists, and those who 
 are often makers of handsome and most use- 
 ful books, would have spared neither time 
 nor money in the pursuit of an enemy as 
 persistent as he is secret. And yet, up to the 
 present, neither bookmen nor bookmakers 
 have been able to tell us much more about
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 the bookworm than Aristotle told twenty- 
 three centuries ago. In voluminous ency- 
 clopaedias, English or American, there is 
 scarcely a helpful word. From entomolo- 
 gists one will gather the vaguest and most 
 imperfect information. Of literary men and 
 book lovers we shall sum up their knowledge 
 when we quote Mr. William Blades and Mr. 
 Andrew Lang. And yet learned societies 
 have sought to encourage inquiry. Petz- 
 holdt states that in 1744 the Royal Society 
 of Science at Gottingen offered a prize for an 
 answer to these questions : How many kinds 
 of insects are there inimical to libraries and 
 archives ? What kind of material do these 
 insects like best ? What are the best means 
 of defence against them ? Ninety-eight years 
 later, in 1 842, the Society of Bibliophiles of 
 Mons offered a prize for a solution of the 
 same difficulties. To judge from the later 
 discussions of the subject, these well-meaning 
 societies did not succeed in securing satisfac- 
 tory results from the study of the book- 
 worm. 
 
 28
 
 'Their History in Literature 
 
 In the " Enemies of Books " Mr. Blades 
 gives a chapter to the bookworm, and there 
 he speaks at greater length of this enemy of 
 books than does any other writer whose 
 works have come under my notice. 
 
 " The curious reader," says Mr. Blades, 
 " may wish to be told what this { bestia 
 audax ' is like. A chameleon-like difficulty 
 at once presents itself. The bookworm 
 offers to us as many varieties of size and 
 shape as there are beholders. According to 
 Sylvester, he is a f microscopic creature, wrig- 
 gling on the learned page, which, when dis- 
 covered, stiffened out into the resemblance 
 of a streak of dirt.' The earliest notice of the 
 bookworm is in c Micrographia,' by R. 
 Hooke, folio, London, 1665. He calls it f a 
 small, white, silver shining worm or moth 
 which I found much conversant among 
 books and papers, and is supposed to be that 
 which corrodes and eats holes thro' the 
 leaves and covers. Its head appears big and 
 blunt and its body tapers from it toward the 
 tail smaller and smaller, being shaped almost 
 29
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 like a carrot. . . . The hinder part is ter- 
 minated with three tails, in every particular re- 
 sembling the two longer horns that grow out 
 of the head. The legs are scaled and haired. 
 This animal probably feeds upon paper and 
 covers of books and perforates in them small 
 round holes, finding perhaps a convenient 
 nourishment in the husks of hemp and flax.' 
 Hooke's note is interesting. He is not cer- 
 tain that the insect he has seen really feeds 
 upon books. The f probably ' and f perhaps ' 
 proved that he has not seen the insect at 
 work. However, not satisfied with describ- 
 ing the small silver shining worm,' he prints 
 a drawing or image of the l booke worm.' " 
 Mr. Blades reproduces this image, and I have 
 placed it here that one may the better 
 appreciate the criticism passed by Mr. 
 Blades ; and that they may also compare 
 Hooke's image with a real bookworm, to 
 be noted later, which has been found by me 
 in books. 
 
 " The picture or image," writes Mr. 
 Blades, " which accompanies the description 
 3 o
 
 'Their History in Literature 
 
 is wonderful to behold. Certainly R. Hooke, 
 Fellow of the Royal Society, drew somewhat 
 upon his imagination here, having apparently 
 evolved both engraving and description from 
 his inner consciousness." ' 
 
 Now, if the reader will look carefully at 
 the illustration of the Lepisma saccharina* of 
 which I have found three living specimens in 
 books, he will, I am certain, agree with me 
 that R. Hooke did not " evolve both engrav- 
 ing and description from his inner conscious- 
 ness," but that he made a fairly good draw- 
 ing of the Lepisma. Mr. Blades was hasty 
 in concluding that the drawing given by a 
 member of the Royal Society was altogether 
 a product of his imagination. How slightly 
 entomologists were acquainted with the book- 
 worm Mr. Blades has shown. He quotes 
 Kirby, who identifies it with the larva of 
 Cranbus pinguinalis, and others who call it 
 Aglossapinguinalis and Hypothenemus eruditus. 
 The Rev. F. T. Havergal, of Cathedral 
 Library, Hereford, says it is a kind of" death 
 watch," with a hard outer skin, dark brown 
 
 * See p. 34. 2 See p. 37.
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 in color, or with white bodies and brown 
 spots on their heads. From other sources 
 we hear of it as Anobium paniceum^ Acarus eru- 
 ditus, Anobium pertinax, but we learn little 
 beyond the name and nothing of facts as to 
 its appearance and work. Mr. Blades has 
 seen but three specimens. From what he 
 has been told by librarians and judging by 
 analogy, he " imagined that the following is 
 almost the truth : There are several kinds of 
 caterpillars and grubs which eat into books ; 
 those with legs are the larvae of moths, those 
 without legs are grubs and turn into beetles." 
 Among the paper-eating species he places 
 three varieties of Anobium pertinax, eruditus^ 
 and paniceum, of which he gives no proper 
 description, and ALcophora pseudospretella, 
 which he calls a moth. " It is," he writes, 
 " about half an inch long, with a horny head 
 and strong jaws." 
 
 Mr. Blades' informants were imaginative. 
 A bookworm a half inch long would be a 
 monster. I have seen several, one-twenty- 
 fifth of an inch in length ; several, more than
 
 THE BOOKWORM, FROM AN ENGRAVING OF 1665 
 Frtm Bladu's " Enimits of Booij"
 
 'Their History in Literature 
 
 one-sixteenth of an inch in length. I have 
 not seen one that exceeded one-eighth of an 
 inch. Mr. Blades gives a photographic illus- 
 tration of a page eaten by a bookworm. He 
 thinks it " probable " that the guilty worm 
 is the jfccophora pseudospretella. The reader 
 may see here an illustration facsimiled from a 
 page from Hauy's Mineralogy in the George- 
 town Library. 1 The holes are similar to those 
 shown in the Blades illustration. With my 
 own eyes I have examined the larva of the 
 beetle, the Ptinus fur, that has eaten into the . 
 Georgetown volume, as he lay dead by the 
 furrows he dug at his last repast. The illus- 
 tration presents the crushed insect that did 
 the mischief. He was less than one-twenty- 
 fifth of an inch long. A bookbinder once 
 sent Mr. Blades a fat little worm that was 
 found by a workman in an old book. The 
 worm died before reaching maturity. Mr. 
 Waterhouse, of the Entomological Depart- 
 ment of the British Museum, examined him 
 before death, and "was of opinion that 
 he was jEcophora pseudospretella." Mr. Rye, 
 
 i Seep. 51. 
 
 35
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 keeper of the printed books in the British 
 Museum, reported that two or three weakly 
 creatures were discovered there in his time. 
 Mr. Adam White, of the Natural History 
 Department, pronounced one of them to 
 be Anobium pertinax. In the Bodleian 
 Library Mr. Blades found two worms. One 
 he thoughtlessly threw on the floor and trod 
 under foot. Of the second he was more 
 careful. He boxed it up, intending to study 
 its habits ; but, showing it to Dr. Bandinel, the 
 librarian, the doctor promptly crushed the 
 life out of it with his thumb nail. 
 
 " Oh, yes, they have black heads some- 
 times," he said. This one, Mr. Blades as- 
 sures us, had a white head. 
 
 " I never heard of a black-headed book- 
 worm before or since," writes Mr. Blades, 
 and he jocosely suggests that a black-headed 
 variety " in the Bodleian may be accounted 
 for, in consequence of the large number of 
 black-letter books preserved there." 
 
 The reader will see opposite this page a 
 black-headed bookworm well known to me. 
 3 6
 
 LEPISMA SACCHARINA 
 
 Magnified four and a half time
 
 'Their History in Literature 
 
 He does not feed on black letter, but on 
 any kind of book he can find. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Lang, who has something 
 fresh and bright to say on any and every sub- 
 ject, has a word to say on the black-headed 
 worm in the Library (London, 1881) : " In 
 Byzantium the black sort prevailed. Evenus, 
 the grammarian, wrote an epigram against the 
 black bookworm (Anthol. Pal. ix., 251) : 
 
 1 Pest of the muses, devourer of pages, in 
 
 crannies that lurkest, 
 Fruit of the muses to taint, labor of 
 
 learning to spoil ; 
 
 Wherefore, oh, black-fleshed worm ! Wert 
 thou born for the evil thou workest ? 
 Wherefore thine awn foul form shapest 
 thou, with envious toil? ' ' 
 
 And Mr. Lang quotes from " the learned 
 Mentzelius " a bit of amusing information 
 about the bookworm, as he knew it : " Ment- 
 zelius says he hath heard the bookworm 
 crow like a cock unto his mate, and ' I 
 knew not,' says he, ' whether some local 
 fowl was clamoring or whether there was but 
 
 39
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 a beating in mine ears. Even at that mo- 
 ment, all uncertain as I was, I perceived, on 
 the paper whereon I was writing, a little in- 
 sect that ceased not to carol like very chan- 
 ticleer until, taking a magnifying glass, I as- 
 siduously observed him. He is about the 
 bigness of a mite and carries a gray crest, 
 and the head low-bowed over the bosom ; as 
 to his crowing noise, it comes of his clashing 
 his wings against each other with an incessant 
 din.' What sort of a bird the bookworm 
 of Mentzelius was I cannot positively say, 
 but his story of the wondrous crowing re- 
 minds me of the Rev. F. T. Havergal's 
 ' death watch.' 
 
 " If we consult popular natural histories like 
 that of the Rev. J. S. Wood, we shall find 
 that * among the Ptinidae are placed the little 
 beetles that eat holes in our furniture, books,' 
 etc. And knowledge just as indefinite we 
 may gather from a long line of American, 
 English, French, German and Italian ento- 
 mologists. We need not, therefore, be sur- 
 prised when Mr. Lang tells us that " in our 
 40
 
 A BOOKWORM FOUND CRUSHED IN THE TREATISE 
 ON MINERALOGY OK HAUY, MAGNIFIED 40 TIMES
 
 Their History in Literature 
 
 times the learned Mr. Blades, having a de- 
 sire to exhibit bookworms, in the body, to 
 the Caxtonians at the Caxton celebration, 
 could find few men that had so much as seen 
 a bookworm, much less heard him utter his 
 wood-notes wild." 
 
 The sum of the information, therefore> 
 that may be derived from writers on the sub- 
 ject of the bookworm, beginning with Aris- 
 totle and ending with our contemporaries, is 
 that there is a bookworm, or that there are 
 bookworms, with learned names insects of 
 some sort, which are suspected of eating books, 
 though the charge is not proved against any 
 particular one. Mysteriously they seemed to 
 have evaded those who were led, or who 
 should have been led, to determine the spe- 
 cific nature of bookworms, or to study their 
 habits. And yet I may be allowed to say 
 upon positive knowledge that the bookworm 
 is no rarity, but is a reality, and doing most 
 decided mischief. Of this it is possible for 
 me to give full and clear details. As libra- 
 rian of Georgetown University, of Boston 
 
 43
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 College, of St. Joseph's College, Philadel- 
 phia, and of St. Francis Xavier's College, 
 New York, I have seen and studied a goodly 
 number of bookworms, nor have I confined 
 the inquiries to the libraries under my 
 charge. I have made personal inquiry at 
 Brown University, Providence ; at Harvard, 
 at the Boston Athenaeum, the Boston Pub- 
 lic Library ; the Peabody Library, Baltimore; 
 the Congressional Library ; and at such great 
 New York libraries as the Astor, the Lenox, 
 and the Mercantile. In the West I have 
 not been, but by correspondence have 
 sought for information but obtained none. 
 It may be there are no worms there. How- 
 ever, there are Dante scholars in the West ; 
 and perhaps that true poet, most clever lit- 
 erary man and noted book-lover, the la- 
 mented Mr. Eugene Field, might have 
 helped us in tracing the history of the West- 
 ern worm not the trichina, but the more 
 deadly bookworm. Since the writer directed 
 the attention of librarians to this subject, 
 specimens have been found in the Lenox
 
 Their History in Literature 
 
 and Astor Libraries. And there is but little 
 doubt that examination will prove the disas- 
 trous presence of many more.
 
 II 
 
 THEIR WORK IN LIBRARIES
 
 PAR-LC -. 
 
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 ices erJM(& ConiervtW^ 
 
 LB COgSElljpES MINES. 
 
 . n cm^ volumes., dent urfcnUent 8G piancW t. 
 T H 01 5 IEM E 
 
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 DC SAVOYE, 
 
 A COPY OF " TRAITE DE MINERALOGIE,' ' FROM LIBRA 
 EATEN BY A BOOKWORM
 
 FACTS ABOUT BOOKWORMS 
 
 THEIR WORK. IN LIBRARIES 
 
 ;R. BLADES saw only three 
 specimens of what he un- 
 derstood to be bookworms. 
 No other literary man, 
 bibliophile, entomologist 
 or librarian that I know of, 
 and I have consulted many of the promi- 
 nent librarians of the United States, has 
 claimed to have seen, or has described or 
 pictured a greater number. Mr. Eames, 
 the honored and respected Librarian of 
 Lenox Library, recently found three living 
 insects in a folio on Canon Law, and pre- 
 served them as a rare curiosity for those who 
 visited the library. Through his courtesy I 
 examined them and found them to be gen-
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 uine bookworms with manifest traces of their 
 work, and varying slightly from the larvae I 
 had previously examined. Multitudes of 
 men have doubted their reality. I have not 
 seen so many as I would have desired for a 
 more complete study, but certainly a larger 
 number than any other record has ever given. 
 Seventy-two specimens of various kinds of 
 insects have I found in books, of such a char- 
 [ acter as to be classified under the general 
 name of bookworms. A great number of 
 these I found alive and at work eating good 
 books. In the larvae state I have met them, 
 and in various stages of development, the 
 chief injury being done in the larvae state. 
 Under a microscope I have seen them, ob- 
 served them, drawn them. The illustrations 
 of the larvae that I present are drawn from 
 the actual living, working being. Blades, in 
 the book we have quoted from, appeals to 
 " some patient entomologist to take upon 
 himself to study the habits of this creature, 
 as Sir John Lubbock has those of the ant." 
 Perhaps some men whose calling it is to be 
 
 5*
 
 Their Work in Libraries 
 
 patient entomologists will be encouraged by 
 these not impatient studies and researches to 
 continue this work of patient investigation 
 which the leisure moments of other serious 
 studies have but allowed me to begin. " And 
 any man who furnishes reliable information," 
 says Mr. Blades, " if it be only of the ant, 
 as Sir John Lubbock, will be listened to, as 
 Sir John was listened to, and will receive the 
 gratitude of men for his addition to knowl- 
 edge." 
 
 The number of bookworms that I have 
 examined I specify as an argument in favor 
 of the facts here stated. The proportion of 
 three unstudied, as against seventy-two stud- 
 ied specimens, is considerable. In my reading 
 and I have sought far and wide for facts on 
 the subject I have found no facts brought 
 forward by any previous author substan- 
 tiated by study under the microscope and 
 covering a number of specimens of any class. 
 Guesswork, words, fancy, imperfect observa- 
 tion all these I have found. Perhaps there 
 is no financial result in the pursuit. The
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 United States Government appropriated a 
 few years ago $28,000 for the investigation 
 of the Rocky Mountain locust and other in- 
 sects injurious to vegetation ; and when I read 
 of the high prices that our American biblio- 
 philes pay for fine manuscript and for early 
 printed books, the classics that I love, the 
 Fathers that I love more, the great men of the 
 Renaissance, our own "Jesuit Relations," the 
 early historians of America, my heart warms 
 to them. Like them, I admire binding, a clasp, 
 old or new, if it be artistic. I am proud to 
 see my fellow countrymen leading, encourag- 
 ing good workmanship, artistic workmanship, 
 hand-work. In this country I hope to see 
 all the treasures of the past ; and I hope to 
 see American-born men surpass the best that 
 has been done in the printing and in the dec- 
 oration of good books. Surpass, I say, for 
 I believe that the best in all things is to be 
 done here, in these United States. Here 
 freely, unitedly, intelligently, we can, if we 
 will and we should work to surpass the so- 
 called best of all other countries and times 
 
 54
 
 SITODKEPA PAI 
 
 Lam. Full grown insect, magnified II ticet
 
 ir Work in Libraries 
 
 a best that has heretofore controlled, and that 
 now controls us more than enough, and hin- 
 ders us from doing our best. Still, we cannot 
 do well unless we preserve the past sacredly. 
 Progress, not revolution is our motto. And 
 in books, to make progress, the bookwork- 
 worm must come to a halt. 
 
 The bookworm is not a worm, using the 
 word in the scientific sense. It is, in fact, 
 the larva of certain insects belonging to the 
 order of Coleoptera, or sheath-winged beetles. 
 In books I have found seven different varie- 
 ties of larvae or of full-grown beetles, of 
 which I give the classification as follows : 
 
 1 . Sitodrepa panicea, larva. 
 
 2. Attagenus pellio, larva. 
 
 3. Sitodrepa panicea, full-grown insect. 
 
 4. Lepisma saccharina. 
 
 5. Ptinus fur. 
 
 6. Dermestes lardarius. 
 
 j. Anthrenus varius, larva. 
 
 The most voracious of these beetles is the 
 Sitodrepa panicea, of which I have examined 
 
 57
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 thirty specimens. Here in New York I have 
 found it, as well as in Washington. In the 
 larva state it is a soft, white, six-legged 
 " worm " covered with bristles. It is about 
 one-eighth of an inch long and moves very 
 slowly. The Sitodrepa I have discovered in 
 books ancient and modern, under covers of 
 board, leather and parchment. As a guide 
 to librarians and to bibliophiles, I give a cut 
 of the full-grown beetle as well as of the 
 larva. 
 
 The Attagenus pellio I have met only 
 once. Long, slender, salmon-colored, with 
 a tail of delicate, wavy hair, it is a most in- 
 teresting object under the microscope. Look- 
 ing at it, I could but compare it, in shape, 
 to a miniature whale. In movement the 
 Attagenus is most graceful. 
 
 Of the full-grown beetle, Sitodrepa pani- 
 cea, I have found, alive and dead, in books 
 old and new, twenty specimens. The insect 
 is very small and brown in color. The 
 Lepisma saccharina I have already discussed, 
 when quoting Mr. Hooke and Mr. Blades^
 
 ATTAGENUS PELLIO 
 Larva, magnified I J timei. Fall-grown insect, magnified ibc
 
 PTINUS FUR 
 Larva Full-grown insect
 
 Their Work in Libraries 
 
 It is cone-shaped, of a silver-gray tint. It 
 has three thick tails. Of the Lepisma I have 
 examined four specimens. This insect makes 
 its home in books, but is by no means so 
 destructive as the Sitodrepa. The motion of 
 the Lepisma is very rapid, like a flash of light. 
 
 Ptinus fur This black-headed worm is 
 found in great numbers and seems willing to 
 eat anything, with due apologies to Mr. 
 Blades and the black-letter text. In appear- 
 ance the larva resembles the Sitodrepa, with 
 the exception of the bristles and shape of the 
 head. 
 
 The Dermesfi* are well known as con- 
 sumers of dried animal remains, of plants, 
 and of furs, and many a collector of moths or 
 of butterflies has suffered from the ravages of 
 this little " worm " which will devour any- 
 thing from a live insect to hard sole leather. 
 In appearance the Dermestes lardarius may 
 be compared to a microscopic hedgehog, 
 bristling all over with rough black hairs. 
 Even with a microscope of high power one 
 finds it difficult to determine at which end of
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 the hairy body is the head. Among books 
 this species will be found in great numbers. 
 They leave, especially upon the covers, 
 rougher marks than are made by the other 
 insects here mentioned. 
 
 Anthrenus varius This larva is oval 
 shaped, and varies in form between the al- 
 most round Dermestes and the elongated At- 
 tagenus pellio. Like the Dermestes, it pre- 
 fers the bindings of books, while the Sito- 
 drepa and Ptinus take kindly to the paper. 
 
 I have made this description short, as the 
 reader, with plates of drawings from the in- 
 sects themselves before him, will discern and 
 identify them for himself. 
 
 Mr. Blades and others mention other va- 
 rieties of bookworms. I do not say that the 
 insects they mention are not bookworms, but 
 I have met with none of them. I believe 
 that many of these writers, copying from one 
 another, have adopted names which in some 
 indefinite way have been sanctioned by time. 
 Of the insects referred to by me I have given 
 both description and drawing, with an ac- 
 6 4
 
 DERMESTES LARDARIUS 
 
 Larva, magnified 6 times. Full-grown iniect, magni- 
 fied & times
 
 ANTHRENUS 
 
 VARIUS 
 Pupa, magnified i
 
 Their Work in Libraries 
 
 count of the actual work that has fallen under 
 my personal observation, not once merely, 
 but in many instances. Of the insects re- 
 ferred to by the quoted authors, we have not 
 one illustration, and no definite proof is given 
 of their actual work in books, as usually they 
 were not discovered by the writer who 
 speaks of them, or they have not been care- 
 fully examined, consequently the scientific or 
 historical value of references of that kind are 
 of very little importance. 
 
 The reader who has not had an opportunity 
 of examining at leisure books in old libraries, 
 can have no idea of the havoc done by these 
 little creatures. With a slight pull I have 
 been able to detach all the binding from the 
 books. The bookworm had eaten away the 
 back. Sometimes the holes cut through the 
 pages are round and regular, and extend in a 
 straight line from cover to cover. Mr. Blades 
 tells the story related by Peignot, and by 
 many men since, of twenty-seven volumes 
 that were pierced in a straight line, presumably 
 by one and the same insect. This reads like a 
 6 9
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 bookworm story. However, we have Pieg- 
 not's word for it. Besides, I have five vol- 
 umes of Hauy's Mineralogy, Paris, 1801, 
 before me now, and scarcely a page of the five 
 volumes is intact. Very often there are deep 
 channels cut into the book, irregular in outline, 
 and these channels will be longer or shorter, 
 and across the width or length of the book. 
 Some pages will be slightly perforated ; on 
 others there will be several furrows separated 
 by spaces untouched. Apparently some 
 " worms " have a fanciful appetite. Not 
 infrequently a " worm " burrows deep into a 
 large folio. In a leather-bound folio of Plu- 
 tarch I found a hole piercing through cover 
 and pages, and in another hole, embedded in 
 the cover, the cocoon of an insect which had 
 not pierced entirely through the cover. In 
 another folio, page after page is pierced. 
 Half-way through the book he ceased work. 
 There is no trace of him. What became of 
 him ? Perhaps some vigorous Dr. Baudinel 
 crushed him under a heavy thumb nail ; per- 
 haps the " worm " had reached a new period
 
 Their Work in Libraries 
 
 of development and returned to the tunnel 
 he had so cleverly constructed, and walked 
 out a full-grown beetle ; or perhaps, again, a 
 greedy Dermestes had entered in and made a 
 meal on a " stuffed bookworm," preferring his 
 tender body to the tough vegetable fibre of 
 paper. Even when there is no exterior sign 
 it would be rash to assume that there is not 
 a nest of bookworms in some valued vol- 
 ume. However, the means of detecting the 
 " worm " are simple enough. Inspect closely 
 the back of the bound volume. There you 
 may discover little, smooth, round holes that 
 could have been made with a large needle. 
 Sometimes these holes are at the lower end 
 of the back of the volume ; sometimes they 
 will be found along the edges of the back. 
 Should the back seem to be perfect, then 
 open the book. Between the cover and the 
 fly-leaf you may perceive a little ridge or 
 heap of dust red, gray or white, according 
 to the color of the binding. If you do per- 
 ceive such a ridge or heap, the bookworm 
 has been or is in your book. With the point 
 71
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 of a knife raise the paper pasted to the cover 
 near the dust heap, and there you will find 
 a Sitodrepa, or Ptinus, or Anthrenus. Clear 
 him out at once ; scrape the book until you 
 are sure there are no unhatched eggs left. 
 " As well kill a man as kill a good book," 
 said Bacon. Better kill the " worm " than 
 let him kill a good book. The bookworm 
 fed on Caxton's, feasts more sumptuously 
 than Cleopatra dreamed of when she drank 
 her dissolved pearl. 
 
 No little credit is due to the learned and 
 industrious Mr. Blades for calling attention 
 to this great enemy of our literary treasures. 
 He saw, as others have seen, the great dam- 
 age done by the bookworm, but he assumed 
 that now this enemy of books was compara- 
 tively idle. The worm, Mr. Blades says, 
 will not touch our adulterated modern paper. 
 " His instinct forbids him to eat the China 
 clay, the bleaches, and scores of adulterants 
 now used to mix with the fibre." Thanks, 
 also, " to the general interest taken in old 
 books nowadays, the worm has had hard 
 
 7*
 
 'Their Work in Libraries 
 
 times of it, and but slight chance of that quiet 
 neglect which is necessary to his existence." 
 
 And further on Mr. Blades writes : " Our 
 cousins in the United States, so fortunate 
 in many things, seem very fortunate in 
 this their books are not attacked by the 
 worm ; at any rate, American writers say 
 so." All our black letter has cost many dol- 
 lars, and therefore is well looked after, he is 
 sure ; but he is not so certain about our 
 books of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 centuries, printed in Roman type on whole- 
 some paper. " Probably, therefore," says 
 Mr. Blades, " their custodians of old libra- 
 ries could tell a different tale." And he 
 is rightly amused because Ringwalt, in his 
 " Encyclopaedia of Printing," stated that 
 " there is now in a private library in Phila- 
 delphia a book perforated by the insect." 
 " Oh, lucky Philadelphians ! " exclaims the 
 great Caxtonian, " who can boast of possess- 
 ing the oldest library in the States, but must 
 ask leave of a private collector to see the one 
 worm-hole in the whole city." 
 
 73
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 Mr. Blades was in error when he claimed 
 that the bookworm will not touch our adul- 
 terated modern paper. Not only in Phila- 
 delphia, but in Boston, Providence and New 
 York, the bookworm eats much modern 
 paper every year. I have no desire to make 
 sensational statements, and yet I do not hesi- 
 tate to say that there is not a large library in 
 the country which cannot show at least two 
 wormholes. The Congressional Library has 
 many books in which there are wormholes. 
 I have seen them with my own eyes. Were 
 they eaten before the books came to the 
 Congressional Library or since ? A little in- 
 vestigation could decide the matter, and the 
 decision would depend upon how the books 
 were kept clear of dust and neglect. In the 
 new Library the books will receive better care. 
 I have visited the Astor Library, the Cooper 
 Union, and the Mercantile in New York, and 
 other libraries in other cities, and I have in- 
 quired by letter where I have not been person- 
 ally. There are wormholes in many books in 
 the Astor Library. In the Cooper Union
 
 'Their Work in Libraries 
 
 there are many perforated volumes. From 
 the answers given to my inquiries one would 
 infer that little harm is done by the book- 
 worm. But because it is not known it does 
 not follow that the damage is not being done, 
 and of this I am able to furnish a striking in- 
 stance. There is, very, probably, a greater 
 feeling of security than is justifiable. At one 
 of the libraries I visited, the polite curator 
 informed me that, though he was well ac- 
 quainted with the " biped bookworm," the 
 insect was wholly unknown to him. I asked 
 permission to examine some of the less used 
 volumes, in a duplicate room, and not in old, 
 damp tomes did I look, but into fresh look- 
 ing volumes of the New York World for 
 1868, and I found several insects hard at 
 work. When I carried the volume and two 
 of the " worms " to the curator he was aston- 
 ished, as well he might be. On another 
 occasion I surprised the worm at work on 
 bound volumes of the Scientific American of 
 the years 1873 an< ^ l $75* Prof. Riley, to 
 whom I reported these facts, agreed with me 
 
 75
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 that the claim that only old books were in 
 danger and not recent books of modern 
 paper could not be maintained in face of 
 such testimony. Therefore the theory of 
 Mr. Blades that the bookworm will not eat 
 modern paper vanishes into thin air, but the 
 destructive work continues. It must be ad- 
 mitted as true that the older books run the 
 greater risk, for they are less used. To 
 suppose that insects would injure books in 
 constant use would be absurd. A library of 
 novels is quite safe. No true bookworm 
 would deign to feed on a popular novel. 
 But from the security of new books a libra- 
 rian may unwisely argue that older and more 
 valuable volumes are untouched. Perhaps, 
 when too late, it will be found that the book- 
 worm has been steadily boring holes through 
 the beautiful pages that had so long stood 
 undisturbed on the shelves. The fact that 
 a librarian has never seen a bookworm does 
 not prove that there are no " worms " fatten- 
 ing on the very choicest morsels in his library. 
 The instance given above is sufficient. 
 7 6
 
 Their Work in Libraries 
 
 How shall we protect our books against 
 these pests ? When they have once made a 
 lodgment in a book some experts recom- 
 mend that the book be burned a heroic if 
 not barbarous measure. I have suggested a 
 thorough scraping and brushing. After this 
 the book should be exposed to sunlight and 
 to air or to gentle heat. Thus the book will 
 be saved. Is there any way by which a 
 large public library may be guarded against 
 their intrusion ? We doubt if there be. 
 Prof. Riley commends pure pyrethrum pow- 
 der, scattered on the books or shelves, or in 
 books confined in a closed vessel. 1 Camphor 
 has been recommended, as well as fumigation 
 by tobacco, but these are doubtful and some- 
 what unpractical remedies, as the tightly 
 pressed pages of the book close to the bind- 
 ing, the favorite haunts of the bookworm, 
 are not likely to be reached by fumigation or 
 powder. The bookbinders have been free 
 in suggestion, but if you will consult Mr. 
 Zaehnsdorf, whose book is hardly eleven 
 
 1 See note on p. 87. 
 
 77
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 years old, and compare him with Mr. Pred- 
 iger, who wrote just 1 50 years ago, you will 
 find that bookbinders' remedies have not 
 advanced with the centuries. Choose certain 
 woods for your cases, they say. Poison the 
 paste, say the bookbinders. They have been 
 poisoning the paste, and still the bookworm 
 thrives. 1 Rub the books in March, July and 
 September with a mixture of powdered alum 
 and pepper on a piece of woolen cloth, says 
 Mr. Prediger. Now this rubbing with alum 
 is very much like the cold-water treatment. 
 It is not so much the cold water as the treat- 
 ment that cures. So, it is not the alum that 
 is important, but the rubbing. Let the 
 librarian not confine himself to any particu- 
 lar month, but twice or thrice a year let him 
 overhaul the library, dusting each separate 
 book, not with a duster but with a cloth. 
 Wipe, rather than dust. Expensive ? Very 
 well ; let a worm eat one expensive volume 
 
 1 See note on p. 87. Prof. Riley says : "Use corrosive sub- 
 limate." This has been found to be ineffective as it does not seerr to 
 retard the work of the " Bookworm."
 
 Their Work in Libraries 
 
 and then count the cost. There is no use 
 in trying to hide a patent fact. Some shelves 
 even in the best-managed libraries are per- 
 mitted to receive and retain a layer of dust ; 
 and where there is dust, poor ventilation, and 
 lack of light, sooner or later the bookworm 
 will enter in and devour. The eggs of the 
 insects are deposited with the dust. Under 
 favorable conditions of quiet, heat, bad air, 
 the eggs are hatched, the bookworm is alive 
 and hungry, and the work of ruin begins. 
 Where will it end ? When will it be dis- 
 covered ? Oftentimes only too late, when 
 some great literary treasure of priceless value 
 has been utterly ruined. 
 
 The facts about bookworms are these. 
 There are bookworms, the real living insects. 
 They are not a thing of the past but are 
 doing mischief to-day. They eat not only 
 old books, but all books ; not only vegetable 
 fibre paper but any kind of paper. They 
 are not known. They revel in libraries. 
 They destroy there, where they are not sus- 
 pected, where the suggestion of their presence 
 
 79
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 would be scoffed at. In some cases the mis- 
 chief has been irreparable and will be so in 
 more than one future case. 
 
 Another fact is that more care should be 
 taken of books in public and private libraries. 
 
 In conclusion, it is to be hoped that the 
 present volume may furnish to all readers a 
 solution to the doubt whether there is a real 
 bookworm ; furthermore, that it may give to 
 those who may have so desired a definite idea 
 of the work and habits of this enemy of let- 
 ters. The gathering of these results has 
 taken years of patient toil, and it is with the 
 hope that some patient entomologist or libra- 
 rian may perfect the investigations here set 
 on a footing that these researches are made 
 known to the literary and scientific world.
 
 APPENDIX 
 ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES 
 
 Spencer F. Baird, Commissioner. 
 
 UNITED STATES COMMISSION, 
 FISH AND FISHERIES. 
 
 Washington, D. C., April 4, 1881. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 On receiving specimens referred to by Fr. O' Conor I 
 transmitted it with the accompanying communications to 
 Prof. Riley, and now beg to enclose herewith his reply, to- 
 gether with the letter of Fr. O" Conor. Yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) Spencer F. Baird. 
 A. R. Spofford, Esq., 
 
 Librarian of Congress, 
 
 Washington. 
 Enclosure.
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, 
 
 Washington, April 5, 1881. 
 
 COPYRIGHT OFFICE ^^ f C n S reSS > 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I have received the enclosed from Prof. Baird regarding 
 the insects referred to him. The article in the Entomolo- 
 gist referred to has the same remedies to recommend (with 
 one exception) which Prof. Riley notes in his letter. Very 
 respectfully, (Signed) A. R. Spofford, 
 
 Librarian Congress. 
 Rev. J. F. X. O' Conor, S. J., 
 Georgetown College. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
 DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 
 
 Washington, D. C. , 188 
 
 Reference to descriptions and illustrations of insects in- 
 jurious to libraries : 
 
 Ptinus fur Linn Sometimes very common in old books, 
 the larvae boring galleries through paper covers and often 
 through large volumes. The beetle has often been figured, 
 the best being in Sturm's Insecten Deutschland" s vol. xxi. 
 A very good description of larva aud pupa is given by De 
 Geer, Memoires pour servir a /' histoire des insects, 1753, 
 vol. iv (plate ix). 
 
 Ptinus dubius Dufts Beetle figured, with an account of 
 its injuries to books in American Entomologist, vol. n, pp. 
 32-33. The larva has never been described or figured. 
 
 Sitodrepa panic ea. The most common library pest. An 
 
 84
 
 Entomological Notes 
 
 account, with figure of the beetle, is in American Entomolo- 
 gist, vol. n, pp. 32-33. The larva has been described and 
 figured by Frisch, Beschreibungen i>on allerlei Insecten 
 Dtutschland: s, 1721, vol. n, pp. 36-38, tab. 8, figs. 1-3. 
 Frisch' s description has often been copied by later authors 
 but there is no other figure of the larva. 
 
 Dermestes lardarius Linn This and the two following 
 chiefly feed on dry animal matter, e. g. leather, the larvae 
 being unable to bore galleries through paper. Beetle and 
 larva often described and figured, the most accesible being 
 in C. V. Riley's VI The Report on the Insects of Missouri, 
 fig. 27 and in American Entomologist, vol. n, p. 308. 
 
 Attagenus megatoma Beetle and larva figured in Sturm' & 
 Insecten Deutscbland" s, 1847, vol. xix, tab. 354. 
 
 Attagenus pelleo Larva figured by Chapuis Sc Candeye, 
 Catalogue des lar<ves des Coleopteres (in Memoires de la 
 Societe Royale des Sciences de Liege, 1853.) tab. 3, fig. 3. 
 A good desciption of beetle and larva is by Erichson, 
 Naturgeschichts der Insecten Deutschland's, vol. in, pp. 
 438-439. 
 
 Hypothenemus eruditus Westiuood Larva and beetle bor- 
 ing in wooden covers. Larva never described but common 
 in dry twigs of various trees. Beetle described and figured 
 by Westwood in Transactions London Entomology Soci- 
 ety, vol. i, p. 34, tab. 7, fig. i a-g. Beetle also described 
 under the name of Hypothenemus hispidedus, by Dr. Lelonte 
 in Transactions Amer. Entom.' Society, 1868, p. 156. 
 
 Celetus eruditus, Psocus domesticus, amabilis, geologus 
 I can only refer to American Entomologist, vol. n, p. 324, 
 where Termes is mentioned ; for Lepisma domestica and sac- 
 
 85
 
 Facts about Bookworms 
 
 charlna to Packard's Guide to the Study of Insects, 3d ed., 
 pp. 622-623. 
 
 C. V. RILEY, Chief, HEADQUARTERS, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 A. S. PACKARD, JR., Sec'y. No. 1700 i3th St., N. W., 
 Providence, R. I. 
 
 CYRUS THOMAS, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Disbursing Agent, 
 
 Carbondale, 111. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
 
 OFFICE OF THE 
 
 U. S. ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION, 
 
 Washington, D. C., April ist, 1881. 
 DEAR PROF. BAIRD 
 
 Yours with enclosures from Mr. Spofford and from Mr. 
 J. F. O' Conor, of Georgetown College, are to hand and 
 contents noted. I find in the box only three of the insects 
 specifically referred to by Mr. O' Conor as injuring books, 
 the fourth is missing and may be one of the many insects 
 known to do injuries to libraries. The first which he refers 
 to is an immature larva of a species of Dermestes and prob- 
 ably of the common D. lardarius ; the second insect referred 
 to is the larva of the third, which is also one of the worst 
 and commonest enemies of books, and is known to ento- 
 mologists as Sitodrepa panicea. This beetle not only at- 
 tacks books ^in the larva state, but all other kinds of pre- 
 served material. It is found in almost all kinds of drugs, 
 and is one of the worst enemies the druggist has to contend 
 
 86
 
 Entomological Notes 
 
 with. It infests also wheat and other stored grain, and I 
 have known it to injure seriously show stock by boring 
 through the leather, and have suffered from its work in my 
 own collection of insects. Sheep-bound books seem to be 
 preferred by this insect, cloth-bound books being less often 
 injured. One of the best ways of ridding books of this, as 
 well as other pests, is to subject the volumes to a consider- 
 able heat in the baking oven, being careful, however, not to 
 burn the leather brittle. It would be even better to place 
 them in a water-tight box and then to sink them into hot 
 water. Though it has not been tried yet, I have faith that 
 pure Pyrethrum powder scattered among the books in a 
 closed vessel would also effectually free them. The only 
 way to actually prevent the attack of these pests is to use 
 corrosive sublimate in the binder's paste. I would refer 
 you,* finally, for further particulars as to these and other 
 book pests to an article published in 1870 in the American 
 Entomologist, vol. II, p. 322. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 (Signed) C. V. RILEY. 
 PROF. SPENCER F. BAIRD, 
 
 Secretary Smithsonian Institution, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C.
 
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