Chap. VII. TICKS. 291 



branches of the trees are coated with dried slime, and 

 disfigured by rounded masses of fresh-water sponges, 

 whose long horny spiculae and dingy colours give them 

 the appearance of hedgehogs. Dense bushes of a harsh, 

 cutting grass, called Tiririca, form almost the only fresh 

 vegetation in the dry season. Perhaps the dense shade, 

 the long period during which the land remains under 

 water, and the excessively rapid desiccation when the 

 waters retire, all contribute to the barrenness of these 

 Ygapos. The higher and drier land is ever3rwhere 

 sandy, and tall coarse gi'asses line the borders of the 

 broad alleys which have been cut through the second- 

 growth woods. These places swarm with carapatos, 

 ugly ticks belonging to the genus Ixodes, which mount 

 to the tips of blades of grass, and attach themselves 

 to the clothes of passers by. They are a great annoy- 

 ance. It occupied me a full hour daily to pick them 

 off my flesh after my diurnal ramble. There are two 

 species ; both are much flattened in shape, have four 

 pairs of legs, a thick short proboscis and a horny inte- 

 gument. Their habit is to attach themselves to the 

 skin by plunging their proboscides into it, and then suck 

 the blood until their flat bodies are distended into a 

 globular form. The whole proceeding, however, is very 

 slow, and it takes them several days to pump their fill. 

 No pain or itching is felt, but serious sores are caused 

 if care is not taken in removing them, as the proboscis 

 is liable to break off and remain in the wound. A little 

 tobacco juice is generally applied to make them loosen 

 their hold. They do not cling firmly to the skin by 

 their legs, although each of these has a pair of sharp 



