92 DIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 



Avalk a . And to close my veteran authorities, Junius thus 

 explains the word Acarus, as I find him quoted in Gould- 

 man's useful dictionary, "A small worm, which eats under 

 the skin, and makes burrows in itching hands b ." 



In more modern times, microscopical figures have been 

 added to descriptions of the insect. Bonomo first fur- 

 nished this valuable species of elucidation. His figures, 

 however, which are copied by Baker in his work on the 

 microscope, are far from accurate . Those of De Geer 

 and Dr. Adams are much more satisfactory, and mutually 

 confirm each other d . From them it is evident that the 

 same insect inhabits the scabies of Sweden and Madeira. 

 Dr. Bateman, in the letter before alluded to, informs his 

 correspondent, that he had seen that from Madeira, and 

 gives it as his opinion, that there cannot be a doubt of 

 the existence of an Acarus Scaliei ; an opinion which 

 he repeats in his late work on Cutaneous Diseases ; and 

 which, according to Hermann e , has been also rendered 

 unquestionable by Wichmann in his Etiologie de la Gale 

 (Hanovre 1786), a work I have not had an opportunity 

 of consulting. From all this we may regard the point 

 as so far settled, that an animal of this kind exists at 

 least as an occasional concomitant of scabies. 



This fact being ascertained, a more complex inquiry 



* Imo ipsi Acari prae exiguitate indivisibiles, ex cuniculis prope 

 aquae lacum quos foderunt in cute, acu extract! et iingne impositi, 

 caput rubrum, et pedes quibus gradiuntur ad solem produnt. p. vi. 



b Teredo sive exiguus vermiculus, qui subter cutim erodit agitque 

 cuniculos in pruriginosis manibus. Gfouldman tells us these Acari 

 were also called Hand-worms. Another English name is given in 

 Mouffet, viz. Wheale- worms. 



c Osservazioni intorno d peUicclIi del corpo umano fatte da I Dottor 

 Gio Cosimo Bonomo, &c./. 1-3. Baker On Microsc. \. t. 13./. 2. 



d De Geer, vii. t t 5.f, 12. 14. e Mem. Aptcrofagiquc, 70. 



