34 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



cases. Investigating, on the evening of June 19th I learned from 

 the hospital physicians that a noticeable number of patients were 

 applying daily for treatment for very red and extensive swellings, 

 usually on the lips, and apparently the result of an insect bite. 

 This led to the writing of the story attached. 



" Very truly yours, 



"James F. McElhone." 



It would be an interesting computation for one to figure 

 out the amount of newspaper space which was filled in the suc- 

 ceeding two months by items and articles about the " kissing 

 .^_________«_____^««,.^_«._ bug." Other Washington 



newspapers took the matter 

 up. The jSTew York, Phila- 

 delphia, and Baltimore pa- 

 pers soon followed suit. 

 The epidemic spread east to 

 Boston and west to Cali- 



Ube Masbtnoton poet. 



TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 1899. 



BITE OF A STRANGE BUG. 



Several Patients Have Appeared at the 

 HospitHls V«ry liadly f'oisoned. 



Lookout for the new bug. It is an in- 

 sidious insect that bite:^ without causing 

 pain and escapes unnoticed. But after- 

 ward the place where it has bitten swells 

 to ten times its normal size. The Emerg- 

 ency Hospital has had several victims 

 of this insect as patients lately and thii 

 number is increasing. Application for 

 treatment by other victims are being 

 made at other hospitals, and the mat- 

 ter threater.s to become something like 

 a plagre. None of thoge who have been 

 bitten saw the msect whose sting proves 

 so disastrous. One old negro went to 

 sleep and woke up to find both his eyes 

 nearly closed by the swelling from his 

 nose and cheeks, where the insect had 

 alighted. The lips seems to be the favor- 

 ite point of attack. 



William Smith, a newspaper agent, of 

 327 Trumbull street, went to the Emerg- 

 ency last night with his upper lip swol- 

 len to many times Its natural size. The 

 symptoms are in every case the same, 

 and there is indication erf pol.sonlng from 

 an insect's bite. The matter is begin- 

 nmg to interest the physicians, and ev- 

 ery patient who comes in with the now 

 weL-kiiown marks is closely questioned 

 as to the description of the Iftsect. No 

 one has yet been found who has seen it. 



fornia. By " epidemic " is 

 meant the newspaper epi- 

 demic, for every insect bite 

 where the biter was not at 

 once recognized was attrib- 

 uted to the popular and 

 somewhat mysterious crea- 

 ture which had been given 

 such an attractive name, and 

 there can be no doubt that 

 some mosquito, flea, and 

 bedbug bites which had by 

 accident resulted in a great- 

 er than the usual severity 

 were attributed to the pre- 

 ^■ailing oscillatory insect. 

 Ill Washington professional 

 beggars seized the opportu- 

 nity, and went around from 

 door to door with bandaged 

 faces and hands, complaining that they were poor men and 

 had been thrown out of work by the results of " kissing-bug " 

 stings! One beggar came' to the writer's door and offered, in sup- 

 port of his plea, a card supposed to be signed by the head surgeon 

 of the Emergency Hospital. In a small town in central New York 

 a man arrested on the charge of swindling entered the plea that 



