THE BED-BUG 277 



fact, this order contains amongst its species by far the 

 flattest of all insects ; "B flat" is a sobriquet not more 

 applicable to the bed-bug than to several other kinds 

 that are not parasitic at all. Such flatness is always 

 associated with the habit of hiding in cracks and crevices 

 a habit in which, every one knows, our bedroom pest 

 is a perfect adept. In flatness, however, it does not 

 equal a certain wild British species which lives under 

 the bark of willow-trees, and has a body of almost paper- 

 like thinness. 



The disgusting odour which attends the bed-bug 

 would alone be sufficient to excite repugnance, and to 

 prevent its habits from being much studied. But as 

 this smell completely goes off after death, there is 

 nothing but the natural prejudice against a personal 

 parasite, and one so closely associated with uncleanly 

 conditions, to render a careful examination of the dead 

 insect an unpleasant experience. There are many 

 delicate touches in the portraiture, even of an insect 

 which, when alive, is so repulsive ; it is not all coarse- 

 ness and vulgarity, and the compound microscope, the 

 use of which is necessary to make out the minuter 

 details, reveals many interesting features. 



For examination, the insects may be killed by being 

 plunged into boiling water, or by being exposed for a 

 time to the fumes of chopped laurel leaves. In either 

 case, their sickening smell soon disappears. Even at 

 their largest, they are not more than a quarter of an 

 inch long, and hence are too small and delicate to be 

 touched with the fingers without great risk of damage, 

 and a pair of fine forceps is necessary for handling 

 them. When fully grown, they are of a deep rust-red, 

 tinged with black here and there in the abdomen. The 

 head and foreparts are somewhat lighter than the rest 



