ORDER VII.—TWO0O-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 299 
pathic remedy cured him we never heard, as we left the 
island soon after prescribing it, and have never heard from 
him since. 
Formerly, when the negroes of St. Domingo were slaves, 
elephantiasis was more frequent among them than it is now, 
probably because they fed almost exclusively on the salted 
flesh of green turtles. So at one time, many years ago, 
about 40,000 people in the neighborhood of Cairo were 
afflicted with that disease, on account of the immoderate 
use of the flesh of different snakes, which they ate in order 
to please their prophet Mohammed, and to appear as saints 
among their fellow-men. But we do not intend to write a 
treatise on diseases, nor to advocate any particular dogma 
in medicine, and so must confine ourselves as closely as is 
possible to our main subject. 
Among the flies with a fleshy proboscis there is none so 
blood-thirsty as the Horse-rriy (Zabanus), and none have 
so terrible a sting. This instrument consists of six sharp 
needles, concealed under the proboscis, and so very sharp 
and strong is it that it pierces the thickest skin of horses, 
cows, and oxen, inflicting painful and bloody wounds. 
These flies are a real pest to horses and cattle, following 
them wherever they go, with loud humming, and, when 
once reaching them, fastening on to their skin and piercing 
it until often the blood oozes out in drops. Horses are 
sometimes so covered with them that their whole body is 
bloody, and the poor, tormented animals run away in their 
madness, breaking whatever vehicle is attached to them; 
so, also, whole herds have sometimes become furious from 
being stung by these insects, and have precipitated them- 
selves into the first stream of water that they reach. 
This genus horse-fly (Zabanus) must not be confounded 
with the Bor-rry (@strus), which also infests the horse, 
