114 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



says : " The city of Miana, with the surrounding country, 

 is renowned on account of its venomous bugs. They 

 live in the walls of old buildings, and the older the 

 masonry, the more abundant and venomous they are. 

 sveral villages are entirely deserted, because their 

 inhabitants have been driven out by those venomous 

 I nigs." 



Those bitten by them, become crazy, mad, and 

 die with terrible convulsions. 



With regard to the general protection of animals 

 in some parts of Indostan, we find a very curious 

 article in " Forbe's Oriental Memoirs," who says : " The 

 Banian hospital at Surat is a most remarkable insti- 

 tution. At my visit, the hospital contained horses, 

 mules, oxen, sheep, goats, monkeys, poultry, pigeons, 

 and a variety of birds. The most extraordinary ward 

 was that appropriated to rats and mice, lugs, and 

 other noxious vermin. The overseers of the hospital 

 frequently hire beggars from the streets, for a stipu- 

 lated sum, to pass a night amongst the fleas, lice 

 and bugs, on the express condition of suffering them 

 to enjoy their feast without molestation. 



stulta sanclitas, sancta stultitia ! 



