106 DIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 



make him their food. You will here, however, perhaps 

 accuse me of omitting one very prominent annoy er of 

 our comfort and repose, which you think belongs to 

 this tribe the bed-bug (Cimex lectularius). When you 

 are a more practised entomologist, you will see clearly 

 that this, though it has no wings, appertains to another 

 order : nevertheless it may be introduced here without 

 impropriety. Though now too common and well known, 

 in this country it was formerly a rare insect. Had it 

 not, two noble ladies, mentioned by Mouffet, would 

 scarcely have been thrown into such an alarm by the 

 appearance of bug-bites upon them ; which, until their 

 fears were dispelled by their physician, who happened 

 also to be a naturalist, they considered as nothing less 

 than symptoms of the plague. Being shown the living 

 cause of their fright, their fears gave place to mirth and 

 laughter*. Commerce, with many good things, has also 

 introduced amongst us many great evils, of which noxious 

 insects form no small part ; and one of her worst presents 

 were doubtless the disgusting animals now before us. 

 They seem, indeed, as the above fact proves, to have 

 been productive of greater alarm at first than mischief, 

 at least if we may judge from the change of name which 

 took place upon their becoming common. Their ori- 

 ginal English name was Chinche or Wall-louse* ; and 

 the term Bug, which is a Celtic word, signifying a ghost 

 or goblin, was applied to them after Ray's time, most 

 probably because they were considered as " terrors by 



a Theatr. Ins. 270. This happened in 1503; which circumstance 

 refutes Southall's opinion that bugs were not known in England 

 before 1670. 



b Rai. Hist. Ins. 7- Mouffet. 269. They were called also punez, 

 from the French punaise. 



