Abstract
LAST autumn we received an inquiry from Mr. L. Macqueen Douglas, of Newpark, Mid Calder, Midlothian, who asked us whether we had any data concerning the action of coloured glass on house flies. In his experience coloured class, especially blue, acted as a deterrent, and he was using it in the construction of abattoirs, etc. At that time we were unable to obtain any further information upon the subject. On the appearance in NATURE of April 5 of the letter from Messrs. Pilkington Bros., who stated that red and yellow are the best deterrents and that blue and green are not nearly so effective, I communicated these facts to Mr. Douglas. He replied stating that he had carried his experiments somewhat further, and that from his experience blue glass is to be preferred to yellow for two reasons. First, he found that the blue glass was completely effective in preventing the development of flies; and secondly, that the blue glass does not give an offensive look to the meat, while yellow glass gives it an unhealthy-looking colour which from a commercial point of view is highly objectionable.
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SMITH, A. Coloured Glass as a Deterrent to House Flies. Nature 125, 780 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/125780a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/125780a0
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