CIMICID^ — BED-BUGS. 271 



from the comer of the room to visit an old ladj. There 

 was only one bug, and he'd been there for a long time. I 

 was sent for to find him out. It took me a long time to 

 catch him. In that instance I had to examine every part 

 of the room, and when I got him I gave him an extra nip 

 to serve him out. The reason why I was so bothered was, 

 the bug had hidden itself near the window, the last place I 

 should have thought of looking for him, for a bug never, by 

 choice, faces the light ; but when I came to inquire about 

 it, I found that this old lady never rose till three o'clock in 

 the day, and the window-curtains were always drawn, so 

 that there was no light like. 



" Lord ! yes, I am often sent for to catch a single bug. 

 I've had to go many, many miles — even 100 or 200 — into 

 the country, and perhaps only catch half a dozen bugs after 

 all; but then that's all that are there, so it answers our em- 

 ployer's purpose as well as if they were swarming. 



"I work for the upper classes only ; that is, for carriage- 

 company and such like approaching it, you know. I have 

 noblemen's names, the first in England, on my books. 



" My work is more method ; and I may call it a scientific 

 treating of the bugs rather than wholesale murder. We 

 don't care about the thousands, it's the last bug we look for, 

 whilst your carpenters and upholsterers leave as many be- 

 hind them, perhaps, as they manage to catch. 



" The bite of the bug is very curious. They bite all per- 

 sons the same (?); but the difference of effect lies in the con- 

 stitutions of the parties. I've never noticed that a diff'erent 

 kind of skin makes any difference in being bitten. Whether 

 the skin is moist or dry, it don't matter. Wherever bugs 

 are, the person sleeping in the bed is sure to be fed on, 

 whether they are marked or not; and as a proof, when no- 

 body has slept in the bed for some time, the bugs become 

 quite flat; and, on the contrary, when the bed is always oc- 

 cupied, they are round as a lady-bird. 



"The flat bug is more ravenous, though even he will al- 

 low you time to go to sleep before he begins with you; or 

 at least till he thinlvs you ought to be asleep. When they 

 find all quiet, not even a light in the room will prevent 

 their biting ; but they are seldom or never found under the 

 bedclothes. They like a clear ground to get off', and gen- 

 erally bite round the edges of the nightcap or the night- 

 dress. When thev are found in the bed, it's because the 



