ANIMAL KINGDOM. 107 



dropped calves, so that the most watchful attendance is required 

 for several days after birth. 



Several applications are used in the extirpatiou of these 

 troublesome insects, such as tobacco, the grated rind of the green 

 bitter orange, and sabadilla ; but this latter is by far the surest 

 and best remedy. After the worms have been killed, the part 

 must be protected by turpentine or carapa oil, which is applied 

 once or twice a day till the wound or sore is perfectly healed. 



Another injurious insect is the oestrus ; it deposits its larvae 

 in the bodies of animals, and even of human beings. It is known 

 here by the name of Ver-maringouin, or Mosquito-worm — the 

 people being under the impression that the larva is that of a 

 large mosquito ; but the fact is, that no one here has ever seen the 

 mother-insect. The larva of the oestrus has its head at a small 

 aperture immediately under the skin, probably for the purpose 

 of breathing, as it dies within an hour or less if the access of 

 air be efficiently checked. This is done by covering the part 

 with a piece of sticking-plaster. 



Of bees, or honey- flies, there are four species : three black, 

 of which one is smaller than the common fly, another larger than 

 the common bee, and the third of an intermediate size. The 

 smaller species build generally in walls, and the other in the 

 hollows of trees. Their honey is very good, and the wax soft 

 and black. The fourth kind, of a light brown colour, and the 

 size of the European bee, has the habits of the two larger black 

 species ; none of them sting. 



Six or seven species of wasps exist in the island, some of 

 them building very ingenious nests, and several stinging very 

 severely, viz., the common brown wasp, locally called " Jack 

 Spaniard," which builds in houses, and the species called here 

 the Tatou wasp (Polistes), from the resemblance of its nest to 

 the barred shell of the armadillo. Of this wasp there are two 

 species ; they build their nests against the trunk or the larger 

 branches of trees, with an entrance-hole at the lower extremity. 

 The smaller species of the tatou wasp is more than half an inch 

 long; the larger above one inch. They are of a bluish colour, 

 and fever is generally brought on by their sting. 



Termites, or wood-lice (Termes devastans). — The wood-lice, 

 or termites, are too well known to require any extended notice ; 

 I will only remark that the nymphs, not the grown insect, are 



