44 



CHAPTER I. 



DIRECT INJURIES FROM MOTHS. 



WITH respect to the direct injuries which are 

 caused by moths to mankind, I may mention, that 

 the hairs of several caterpillars of the genus Phaltena 

 are exceedingly troublesome, producing the same 

 effects on the human skin as the hairs which grow on 

 the pods of the cow-hedge, (Dolickos pruriens et 

 urem of Linnaeus,) which occasion a disagreeable, 

 and, to some individuals, a painful itching.* The 

 larvae of several of the family of moths called Bombyx, 

 of which number is the Processionary Moth, have this 

 quality. M. Reaumur has given an interesting and 

 curious account of the effects of these, produced on 

 himself. He had been handling some of these larvae, 



* Messrs Kirby and Spencc say, that " cow-hedge has been 

 administered with success as an aiithc'.niinthic, as has likewise 

 spun glass powdered, the spicula of these substances destroying 

 the worms." The hair of the caterpillars here alluded to, 

 and, perhaps, also of the larva of Hornby x Caja, (the Tiger 

 Moth,) might probably be equally efficacious. 



