90 



HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. 



[TACKkKD. 



several and found that on holding them by the wings tlioy 

 would exude two or three drops of liquid from the proboscis, 

 whicli, examined by the microscope, were found to swarm 

 with the spores of the fungus. The stomach was likewise 

 filled with the same liquid, swarming with spores." 



Among other insects which frequently annoy travellers in 

 the southern states and in the tropics are the ticks (Fig. 

 G7). It is the habit of these beings to climb up bushes 

 and stalks of grass and attach themselves by means of their 

 outstretched legs to whatever animal passes by, whether a 



Fig. G7. 



CatUe Tick, enlarged. 



beast or lizard or snake, as they occur on all creeping ani- 

 mals. Having attached themselves by their jaws to the 

 skin, they burrow beneath it, causing a painful tumor. It is 

 difficult to pull them out as they are anchored in the flesh by 

 their many-barbed tongue. 



We turn again to Anderssen's narrative for an account of 

 the plague this tick ma}' be to the wanderer in Africa. 



" Besides raj-riads of fleas, our encampment swarmed with 

 a species of bush-tick, whose bite was so severe and irrita- 

 ting, as almost to drive us mad. To escape, if possible, the 



26 



