197 
the Chigoe , or Pulex Penetrans. 
tive uneasiness, and then to pain ; he is now induced to examine 
his toe, and finds it red and swelled — the part affected is most 
commonly near the nail. Upon careful inspection a point is visible 
in the cuticle where the enemy made good its lodgment ; a ser- 
vant is now commonly consulted, who tells him it is a Chigoe , and 
that it can easily be pulled (as the term is) either then, or in a 
day or two, when it will be in a better state to ensure a successful 
operation. The latter is effected by means of a fine needle, the 
point of which is used to dissect the skin back slowly and cau- 
tiously, and thus gradually expose what is called the bag, but which 
in reality is the enlarged abdomen of the female distended with ova, 
and which may be considered in some measure analogous to the 
pregnant female termites. The operator (who is almost always a 
female) then dexterously separates the bag from its slight sur- 
rounding adhesions, and turns it out whole, being of a rounded 
form, and in size of a small tare ; the hollow (which resembles the 
pea-hole of an issue in miniature) is, by the white people, com- 
monly filled with a drop or two of laudanum, and by the negroes, 
either with bruised green tobacco leaves, tobacco ashes, or snuff, 
and usually heals very quickly, without giving any further trouble ; 
but every now and then, either from want of skill in the operator, 
restlessness of the patient, the inaccessible situation of the Chigoe, 
or other cause, the bag (say abdomen) is ruptured, and some of 
the embryo progeny are left behind ; in this case considerable 
mischief frequently ensues, in the shape of inflammation and ulce- 
ration, and we have what the natives call, on account of its seve- 
rity, ‘ a poison Chigoe.’ 
White persons are seldom annoyed by Chigoes, their feet being 
protected by covering ; but occasionally one is picked up when 
stepping upon the bed-room floor without stockings. As regards 
my personal acquaintance with them, although I may truly say of 
a large proportion of the evils and maladies incidental to Euro- 
peans who have been long resident in the West Indies, “ dolor me 
facit experientiam,” — I have but little to lay to the account of the 
Chigoe , as during a twenty years’ sojourn there I did not expe- 
rience more than four or five attacks from it, and having an ex- 
pert Chigoe-picker among my servants, the operation was always 
performed in good time, and never caused me any pain or incon- 
venience whatever. However, in the course of my medical prac- 
tice, I have seen perhaps a dozen cases where white persons either 
from inattention, or an inflammatory habit, have suffered much 
for weeks together from the effects of a Chigoe. 
The negroes, whose feet go naked, are consequently much ex- 
