314 PULICID^ — FLEAS. 



edited the collection, upon a Flea which was found one morn- 

 ing in the bosom of the famous Catherine des Roches.^ 



During the winter of 1762, at Norwich, England, after a 

 chilling storm of snow and wind that had destroyed many 

 lives, myriads of Fleas were found skipping about on the 

 snow,^ 



To the Pulicidse belongs also a native of the West Indies 

 and South America, the Fulex penetrans, variously named 

 in the countries where it is found. Chigoe, Jigger, Nigua, 

 Tungua, and Pique. According to Stedman, this " is a 

 kind of small sand-flea, which gets in between the skin and 

 the flesh without being felt, and generally under the nails of 

 the toes, w^here, while it feeds, it keeps growing till it be- 

 comes o| the size of a pea, causing no further pain than a 

 disagreeable itching. In process of time, its operation ap- 

 pears in the form of a small bladder, in which are deposited 

 thousands of eggs, or nits, and which, if it breaks, produce 

 so many young Chigoes, which, in course of time, create 

 running ulcers, often of very dangerous consequence to the 

 patient ; so much so, indeed, that I knew a soldier the soles 

 of whose feet were obliged to be cut away before he could 

 recover; and some men have lost their limbs by amputa- 

 tion — nay, even their lives — by having neglected in time to 

 root out these abominable vermin. The moment, therefore, 

 that a redness and itching more than usual are perceived, it 

 is time to extract the Chigoe that occasions them. This is 

 done with a sharp-pointed needle, taking care not to occa- 

 sion unnecessary pain, and to prevent the Chigoe from break- 

 ing in the wound. Tobacco ashes are put into the orifice, 

 by which in a little time the sore is perfectly healed."^ The 

 female slaves are generally employed to extract these pests, 

 which they do with uncommon dexterity. Old Ligon tells 

 us he had ten Chigoes taken out of his feet in a morning " by 

 the most unfortunate Yarico,"^ whose tragical story is now 

 so celebrated in prose and verse. Mr. Soutliey says that 

 many of the first settlers of Brazil, before they knew the 

 remedy to extract the Chigoes, lost their feet in the most 

 dreadful manner.^ 



1 D'Israeli, Curios, of Lit., i. 339. 



2 Gent. 3Iaff., xxxii. 208, 



3 Stedman's Siiri/iam, 

 * IJist. of Barbados, p. G5. 

 6 Hist, of Brazil, i. 326. 



