106 DIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 



which, in several cases, became so bad, that the limb 

 affected was obliged to be taken ofF^. 



I was once collecting insects in Norwood, near Lon- 

 don, when my hands were covered by a number of 

 small hungry ticks, which were so greedy after blood, 

 that they penetrated deep into my flesh, giving me no 

 little pain; and it was not without difficulty that I ex- 

 tracted them. I suspect that this was the dog-tick 

 (A. Ricim(s, L.) which is often found on plants ; but I 

 am not certain, as I neglected to examine it, my atten- 

 tion at that time being- almost wholly given to Coleop- 

 tera. Lyonnet seems to have been attacked, in one of 

 his entomological excursions, by the same or a similar 

 insect, which he broke, so iirmly had it fixed itself, in 

 endeavouring- to extract it ; and he was obliged to lay 

 open the place lest an al)scess should be formed''. But 

 the worst of all the tick tribe is the American {Acarus 

 mnericanus, L.) described by Professor Kalm. This 

 insect, which is related to the preceding-, is found in 

 the woods of North America, and is equally an enemy 

 to man and beast. They are there so infinitely nu- 

 merous, tliat if you sit down upon the ground, or upon 

 the trunk of a tree, or walk Avith naked feet or legs, 

 they will cover you, and, plunging their serrated ro- 

 strum into the bare places of the body, begin to suck 

 your blood, going deeper and deeper till they are half 

 buried in the flesh. Though at first they occasion no 

 uneasiness, when they have thus made good their set- 

 tlement, they produce an intolerable itching, followed 

 by acute pain and large tumours. It is now extremely 



. * I owe this information to Robinson Kittoe, Esq. formerly Clerk of 

 the Cheque in the King's Yard, Woolwich. *" Lesser L. ii. 222, note *. 



