At the bottom of the killing jar was a piece of cotton saturated with carbon tetrachloride.

NPR: Excerpt: 'At Large and At Small'

Thirty years later, a friend of mine dabbed some spot remover on a sofa, and I instantly recognized the smell of the killing jar.

NPR: Excerpt: 'At Large and At Small'

The killing jar was introduced in the 1850s, after the royal physician used chloroform to ease the delivery of Queen Victoria's eighth child, and net-wielding country vicars across Great Britain realized they could amass their collections of marbled whites and Camberwell beauties without overt violence.

NPR: Excerpt: 'At Large and At Small'

But the best means for killing large insects is the cyanide-jar.

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