136 DIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS, 



wlio vomited up several, which, he observes, had six- 

 teen legs'*. The eggs perhaps might have been swal- 

 lowed in salad; and, as vegetables make a part of most 

 people's daily diet, enough might have passed into the 

 stomach to support them when hatched. — Linr.e tells 

 us that the caterpillar of a moth, (Crambus pingui- 

 nalis, F.) common in houses, has also been found in a 

 similar situation, and is one of the worst of our insect 

 jnfesters. — In a very old tract, which gives a figure of 

 the insect, a caterpillar of the almost incredible length 

 of the middle finger is said to have been voided from 

 the nostrils of a young- man long afflicted with dreadful 

 pains in his head ''. — But the most extraordinary account 

 with respect to lepidopterous larvae (unless he has 

 mistaken his insects) is given by Azara, the Spanish tra- 

 veller before quoted; who says that in South America 

 there is a large brown moth, which deposits its young 

 in a kind of saliva upon the flesh of persons Avho sleep 

 naked ; these introduce themselves under the skin with- 

 out being perceived, where they occasion swelling at- 

 tended by inflammation and violent pain. When the 

 natives discover it, they squeeze out the larvae, which 

 usually amount to five or six'^. 



But amongst all the orders, none is more fruitful in 

 devourers of man than the Diptera ; and these are 

 chiefly to be found in the numerous tribe of the Mus- 

 cidce. The Gad-fly (Oestrus, L.) you have, doubtless, 

 often heard of, and how sorely it annoys our cattle and 



* PIiHos Trans. uh\ supr. 



•■ Fiilvius Ang liiiuset Vincv-ntiiis Alsarius<fe verme admir undo per nares 

 egresso. Rrvveniue 1 610. 



• Azara, 217. 1 cannot help suppectiiigthis to be synonymous with the 

 (Estrus Ho7>iinis next mentioned. 



