THE CHIGOE. 87 



composing their beds, chips being the best material for them 

 to sleep upon. Flea afflicted dogs should be washed every few 

 days in strong soapsuds, or weak tobacco or petroleum water. 



A writer in "Science-Gossip"*' recommends the "use of the 

 Persian Insect Destroyer, one package of which suffices for a 

 good sized clog. The powder should be well rubbed in all over 

 the skin, or the dog, if small, can be put into a bag previously 

 dusted with the powder : in either case the dog should be washed 

 soon after." 



One of the most serious insect torments of the tropics of 

 America is the Sarcopsylla pen- 

 etrans, called by the natives the 

 Jigger, Chigoe, Bicho, Cinque, 

 or Pique (Fig- 100, enlarged ; a, 

 gravid female, natural size). 

 The female, during the dry sea- 

 son, bores into the feet of the m Chi s c - 

 natives, the operation requiring but a quarter of an hour, usu- 

 ally penetrating under the nails, and lives there until her body 

 becomes distended with eggs, the hind-body swelling out to the 

 size of a pea; her presence often causes distressing sores. The 

 Chigoe lays about sixty eggs, depositing them in a sort of sac 

 on each side of the external opening of the oviduct. The young 

 develop and feed upon the swollen body of the parent flea until 

 they mature, when they leave the body of their host and escape 

 to. the ground. The best preventive is cleanliness and the con- 

 stant wearing of shoes or slippers when in the house, and of 

 boots when out of doors. 



The Willow Gall Fly. 



