Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-10-27
ALTERNATING MosaUITo.BAR.
The Admirable Invention of French
Scientific Gentleman.

A man with house in the country
writes thus to the New York Evening
Sun:
Can you tell me of any really good
kind OF mosquito-bar? Those used in
my house last summer were new and
whole, and yet mosquitoes would man.
age to get inside. | should like to 90
unbitten this year, if could.
Jerseyman."
We never saw mosquito-bar yet
that wouldn't leak, says the editor in
response. The c0stliest sort of nets
often lets in just as many mosquitoes
as the cheapest. In fact, the most per.
feet protection ever gained in our per.
sonal recollection was from dingy
old net with hole in the side. Prob
ably the mosquitoes thought that no
sane person would ever sleep under it,
and that the figure in bed was a
dummy put there with intent to de.
ceive them, and to make them waste
their time.
But however inadequate all ordinary
mosquito-bars may be. word comes
from Paris of the invention of what
may be called the alternating mosquito
bar. This consists of a mosquito-net
made of extremely fine copper wire,
woven into cloth which is strong and
at the same time almost as pliable as a
netting made of vegetable fiber. This
net is made in the usual form of can.
opy. and falls in shining folds about
the bed. In the dome of the CANOPY
hangs a small electric lamp. Wires
connect the netting with a weak pile
battery placed under the bedstead,
and by means of a converter are car
ried into the lamp.
This mosquito-bar is said to work
like a charm. The lighted lamp at
tracts the attention of every mosquito
in the neighborhood. and he comes
sailing over and lights upon the wire
canopy. The battery presses the but
ton and the mosquito does the rest. M.
Scherer, the inventor, says that on The
first morning after his net had been
put in use his servant took up 81
litres. or nearly three quarts of dead
mosquitoes. Their limbs were not con.
tracted. nor was any trace of burning
upon their bodies. SO that all the prob
abilities were in favor of their instan-
famous and painless death. NJ Scherer
took special note of the body of a par.
ticularly large mosquito. of that savage
species which infests Trouville little
later in the season, and observed that
his features were composed and reg.
ular. and that traces of o smile could
be seen on the face.
(thpr aHvunt a nos Ara ol,;,,,J Co.
the alternating mosquito-bar. The
electrical envelope is said to conduce
greatly to invigorating sleep. and the
cat will never make the second attempt
to sleep on bed protected by one of
these nets. A cat in the household of
NJ. Scherer's brother was heard to
howl loudly one day and was discovered
by the servants clinging to the wire
curtain with a starting eyeballs and
every hair erect. When released the
cat bounded swiftly from the room,
and. though coaxed with lobster salad.
steadfastly refused thereafter to enter
the electrical chamber. 1t is also
stated that three days afterward M.
Scherer's brother was reading from an
American newspaper an account of the
kemmler case, when the cat bumped
his back. Kissed savagely and fled
bowling from the house. This is in
teresting as showing the intelligence
of some cats, though without bearing
on the advantages of the alternating
mosquit3-bar.
Arrangements are now making for
the manufacture and sale of this ad-
mirable invention in America. We
should advise "Jerseyman" by all
means to wait and test NJ. Scherer's
continuance before buying any other.