94 THE INSECT WORLD. 



It has been said that the Bug was brought into Europe from 

 America ; but Aristotle, Pliny, and Dioscorides mention its existence. 

 It is certain that it was unknown in England till the beginning of the 

 sixteenth century. A celebrated traveller, a Spanish naturalist, 

 Azara, has remarked that the Bug does not infest man in his savage 

 state, but only when congregated together in a state of civilisation, 

 and in houses, as in Europe. From this he concluded that the Bug 

 was not created till long after man, when, after many centuries had 

 elapsed since his appearance on the globe, men formed themselves 

 into societies, into republics, or little states. 



The bug is not a gluttonous insect, always bloodthirsty ; on the 

 contrary, its sobriety is remarkable. It is only after a prolonged fast 

 that it bites animals ; and Audouin has stated that it can live a year 

 and even two years without food. 



From time immemorial a number of different means have been 

 employed for destroying these insects ; but in spite of all, nothing is 

 more difficult than to get rid of them from wood-work and paper- 

 hangings, when they have once infested them. In general, strong 

 odours cause their death. And so, to rid oneself of these disagreeable 

 guests, it has been recommended to use tobacco smoke, essence of 

 turpentine, the fumes of sulphur, &c. Mercurial ointment and 

 corrosive sublimate are also excellent means for their destruction ; 

 and for the same purpose the merits of a plant belonging to the 

 order Cruciferae, Lepidium ruderale, have been much vaunted ; and 

 more recently still, the root of the Pyrethrum, a species of camomile, 

 reduced to powder, and blown into the furniture or wood-work. 

 This powder is known and employed at Paris under the name of 

 " poudre insecticide." 



There are two other kinds of bugs (Acanthia) which attack men. 

 The one is the Acanthia d/iafa, which has been found in the houses 

 of Kazan, and which differs from the bed bug not only in its form, 

 but also in its habits. It does not live in companies, in the narrow 

 cracks of furniture, but moves about alone, at a slow pace, over 

 walls or the counterpanes of beds. Its beak is very long, and its bite 

 is very painful, and produces obstinate swellings. 



The other species is the Acanthia rotundata, which is found in the 

 Island of La Reunion, and attacks men in the same way as does the 

 European bug. Two species of the same genus live as parasites on 

 swallows and domestic pigeons. There is another species, which is 

 peculiar to the bats of our climates. 



The Reduvius personatus, called also Fly Bug, by Geoffroy, the 

 old historian of the insects of the environs of Paris, is common 



