ANNOYANCE FROM HARVEST MITES 335 



intense itching. Some authors claim that the mites burrow in 

 the skin and produce inflamed spots, but ordinarily they do not 

 go beneath the skin except sometimes to explore their way into 

 the long tubes of the sweat glands. The habit of attacking 

 warm-blooded animals is evidently abnormal, (and the love of 

 blood proves ruinous to those individuals which get an opportu- 

 nity to indulge it, since they soon die victims of their own per- 

 verted appetites. How like some human beingsfN 



The irritation caused by the mites is probably due to a spe- 

 cific poison secreted by the mites rather than to any wounds that 

 they make. The inflammation of the skin may not be felt for 

 12 or even 24 hours after infection by the mites. When the in- 

 flammation does commence there appear large red blotches on 

 the affected parts of the body which itch intensely and are made 

 worse by scratching. After a day or so the red blotches blister 

 and finally scab over. Red-bug rash is most frequent on tender- 

 skinned people and on those parts of the body which are most 

 exposed, though it may spread over the whole body and torment 

 the victim unbearably. Laborers who are continually exposed 

 to these mites seem to develop an immunity to the mite poison, 

 and suffer little or none from them. Herrick states that one of 

 the severest infestations he ever knew was contracted by a 

 delicate-skinned person who sat down on the ground for a few 

 minutes on some golf links which had recently been laid out on 

 an old pasture where there was still much long grass. This 

 person's body became covered with large inflamed spots even to 

 the neck. The torture was intense for a week, and the infection 

 persisted for a still longer period. A Mexican species, known by 

 the Aztec name " tlalsahuate," meaning " grain of earth," shows 

 a decided preference for the eyelids, armpits, groins and other 

 thin-skinned portions of the body, where it induces itching and 

 inflammation, and even ulceration when scratched. The " b6te 

 rouge " or " Colorado " of the West Indies and Central America 

 is a similar if not identical species. 



Sprinkling sulphur on the legs and inside the stockings is a 

 necessary preventive measure for those who are seriously affected 

 by red-bugs, and who have to walk through tall grass or brush 

 where these pests abound. A hot bath shortly after infection, 

 with soap or with soda in it, gives much relief. To allay the itch- 

 ing weak ammonia or baking soda applied to the affected parts is 



