HEMIPTEEA. 95 



republics, or little states. Palaeontology (the science of fossils) 

 lias in no way confirmed this opinion. 



The bug is not a gluttonous insect, always blood-thirsty ; on the 

 contrary, its sobriety is remarkable. It is only after a prolonged 

 fast that it bites animals, and Andouin has stated that it can live 

 a year and even two years without food. 



From time immemorial a number of different means have been 

 employed for destroying these insects ; but in spite of all, 

 nothing is more difficult than to get rid of them from wood- work 

 and paper-hangings when they have once infested them. In 

 general, strong odours cause their death. And so, to rid oneself 

 of these disagreeable guests, it has been recommended to use 

 tobacco smoke, essence of turpentine, the fumes of sulphur, &c. 

 Mercurial ointment and corrosive sublimate are also excellent 

 means for their destruction, and for the same purpose the merits 

 of a plant belonging to the order Cruciferaa, Lepidium ruderale, 

 have been much vaunted, and more recently still the root of the 

 Pyrethra, a species of Camomile, reduced to powder, and blown 

 into furniture or wood-work. This powder is known and em- 

 ployed at Paris under the name of " poudre insecticide" 



There are two other -kinds of bugs (Acanthia] which attack men. 

 The one is the Acanthia ciliata, which has been found in the houses 

 of Kazan, and which differs from the bed bug not only in its form, 

 but also in its habits. It does not live in companies, in the narrow 

 cracks of furniture, but moves about alone, at a slow pace, over 

 the walls or counterpanes of beds. Its beak is very long, and its 

 bite is very painful, and produces obstinate swellings. 



The other species is the Acanthia arrondata, which is found in 

 the Island of La Reunion, and attacks men in the same way as 

 does the European bug. Two species of the same genus live as 

 parasites on swallows and domestic pigeons. There is another 

 species which is peculiar to the bats of our climates. 



The Reduvius personatus, called also fly-bug, by Geoffrey, the 

 old historian of the insects of the environs of Paris, is common 

 enough in France. It keeps to the houses, and is found especially 

 near ovens and chimney-pieces. It is about three quarters of an 

 inch in length, oblong, flat on its upper side, brownish, has hori- 

 zontal elytra crossed over each other, and very fully developed 



