ORDER II.—BUGS. , 79 
erally eaten up alive by these insects. See “‘ Maladies de la 
Peau, par Alibert, 1806.” 
The Bed-bug (Cimex lectularius). 
Bed-bugs are, unfortunately, every where well known. 
They are found throughout the world, from the seventieth 
degree north latitude to the seventieth degree of south lati- 
tude, in both hemispheres, and inhabit principally the 
houses of populous cities. The walls of hen-houses are 
also sometimes entirely covered with them, and, what is 
very singular, the fowls themselves are never attacked by 
them; but as they people rapidly in warm fowl-manure, it 
is conjectured that they feed on them. Hen-houses near a 
dwelling-house are on this account dangerous. 
That Bed-bugs suck the blood of man is very well 
known, but it is not so certain that blood is their only 
nourishment. I found them in abundance in the pine 
woods of Finland, near Wiborg, in Europe, as well as in 
the pine woods of North America, and in newly-construct- 
ed frame houses. It is probable, therefore, that they feed 
on the sap of pine wood. 
In England it is believed that this vermin is a native of 
North America, and was accidentally brought over to Eu- 
rope in the pine timber. But this can hardly be the case, 
as Aristotle, who lived three hundred years before Christ, 
mentions this insect in his ‘‘ Historia Animalium,”’ and so 
does Pliny, some centuries later, in his Natural History. 
They are undoubtedly natives of a warm country, for they 
like a high temperature, and are benumbed in winter, al- 
though experiments have been made in which an exposure 
to a temperature’of five degrees below 0 of Fahrenheit did 
them no harm. Like reptiles, they can also live many 
years without food, as the German naturalist Goeze has 
proved, who kept them alive six years without any nour- 
ishment. 
