1905] 
GIRAULT^ THE BEDBlAr 
numerous, the generations being considerably mixed, the host would doubtless 
have visitors each night. 
■\s the writer could not conveniently obtain a suitable substitute-host to 
supply the necessary amount of blood upon which to rear these insects, he was 
forced himself to feed them from portions of the forearms, and from the hand 
and tips of the fingers. 
When punctures were made on the upper portion of the forearm near the 
wrist, neither pain nor swelling resulted. But in the case of the adult, and 
nymph V, a distinct itching sensation was felt, somewhat like prickly heat but 
the other symptoms of inflammation did not appear. The itching was hardly 
noticable, even though the cause was certain. As far as the writer is concerned, 
therefore, no indications of attack are present. And this is so with others. 
On the other hand, many persons know at once when these insects are 
present, from the intolerabble itching which ensues from their attack, and from 
the inflamed spots which afterward.s appear. It is evident that this latter class 
forms but a small proportion to the whole, a conclusion drawn from the known 
prevalence of this pest in really respectable places, and from the indifference 
which is shown to its presence. 
5. Length of life in confinement without food. 
Thirty (30) nymphs, hatching on the morning of June 24th, and at 
once confined in a dry glass vial, cork-stoppered, measuring 2.5 cm. long by i 
cm., lived until the 2d of .August, or thirty-nine (39) days. Two (2) nymphs 
hatching during the night of 22nd of June, and confined in a larger glass vial 
(4.5 cm. by i.cm. ) lived until the 26th of .August, or sixty-five (65) days. Both 
lots were confined in the laboratory, where the temperature ranged a few degrees 
lower than natural. 
Adults. 
I. History and oviposition. 
Two fully fed females, taken from an old wooden bedstead, in an apart- 
ment house, were confined at 10 P. M., 17th June, separately, in small pill-boxes. 
One was fed, the other not. The first gave rise to the nymphs in foregoing. The 
other deposited but very few eggs and soon died. 
The record of deposition, and the effect of feeding on the number of eggs 
deposited, is tabulated for convenience, as follows. 
