Mosquitoes, other nasties

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Article #231

#231

From: John Purbrick
Date: Mon, 13 May 1985 18:23

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It's the season to be....bitten. What methods exist, apart from the application
of diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) in large quantities, to protect oneself from 
biting insects? In particular, are there any foods one can eat that would repel
them? I have heard that garlic is exuded through the skin (and breath) and that
insects dislike it, but that eating bananas will attract them. And there is a 
company selling a product they call "skeeter tabs" that claim to be an "oral
repellant"--has anyone tried it? And is it safe for humans, apart from its 
effect on bugs? I'm more interested in this subject this year because I'm 
going on a 10-day canoe trip in central Canada in July, and I can't see hauling
a 55-gallon drum of Off along, nor do I want to hear my girlfriend's usual 
remarks about how I have the aroma of a Sunoco station. Itching, of course, is
no fun either.

John Purbrick 
{...decvax!genrad!  ...allegra!mit-vax!} mit-eddie!mit-hermes!jpexg

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From: jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick)
Newsgroups: net.rec,net.rec.nude
Subject: Mosquitoes, other nasties
Message-ID: <2389@mit-hermes.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 13-May-85 14:23:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-herm.2389
Posted: Mon May 13 14:23:18 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 16-May-85 07:21:05 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: The MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA
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