HERPIN Jean-Charles Sur l’Alucite ou Teigne des blés et sur les moyens de la détruire.

Offprint from the Mémoires de la Société du Berry, 1860.

First edition.

The alucite is a devastating insect that attacks cereal grains (wheat, maize, barley, rice, etc.). Formerly known in English as the Angoumois Grain moth in the pre-revolutionary period, its name refers to the province of Angoumois, now the Charente. It was scientifically described by Guillaume-Antoine Olivier in 1789, and is now found in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Jean-Charles Herpin (1798-1872) had previously published other articles on insect pests. This new essay presents the results of his experiments to destroy this insect effectively in three chapters: asphyxiation, heat and mechanical shock. For each method, he gives explanations of the means used, sometimes with apparatus invented by him (for asphyxiation he invented a hermetically sealed box), or by colleagues (mechanical shock apparatus, invented by a certain Amouroux, for which Herpin gives details of operation with an illustration of the machine).

Some foxing, small loss to cover.

Author’s presentation copy inscribed on the cover “A Monsieur Pépin, hommage de l’auteur, Dr Herpin”.