ANIMAL KINGDOM. 135 



caused by two or three dozen worms, arising from the above- 

 mentioned fly. They are also invariably deposited on the navel, 

 and not unfrequently on the very lips and gums, of newly- 

 dropped calves, so that the most watchful attendance is required 

 for several days after birth. 



Several applications are used in the extirpation of these 

 troublesome insects, such as tobacco, the grated rind of the 

 green bitter orange, and sapodilla ; but this latter is, by far, the 

 surest and best remedy. After the worms have been killed, the 

 part must be protected by turpentine or carapa oil, which is ap- 

 plied once or twice a day till the wound or sore is perfectly healed. 



Another injurious insect is the oestrus ; it deposits its larvae in the 

 bodies of animals, and even of human beings. It is known here by 

 the name of Ver-muringorin, or Mosquito-worm the people being 

 under the impression that the larva is that of a large mosquito ; 

 but the fact is, that no one here has ever seen the mother-insect. 

 The larva of the oestrus has its head at a small aperture imme- 

 diately under the skin, probably for the purpose of breathing, as it 

 dies within an hour or less, if the access of air be efficiently checked. 

 This is done by covering the part with a piece of sticking plaster. 



Of bees, or honey-flies, there are four species ; three black, of 

 which one is smaller than the common fly, another larger than the 

 common bee, and the third of an intermediate size. The smaller 

 species build generally in walls, and the other in the hollows of 

 trees. Their honey is very good, and the wax soft and black. 

 The fourth kind, of a light brown colour, and the size of the 

 European bee, has the habits of the two larger black species 

 none of them sting. 



Six or seven species of wasps exist in the island, some of them 

 building very ingenious nests, and several stinging very severely, 

 viz., the common brown wasp, locally called the " Jack Spaniard," 

 which builds in houses, and the species called here the Paton 

 wasp (Polistes), from the resemblance of its nest to the barred 

 shell of the armadillo. Of this wasp there are two species ; they 

 build their nests against the trunk or the larger branches of trees, 

 with an entrance hole at the lower extremity. The smaller species 

 of the paton wasp is more than half an inch long ; the larger 

 above one inch. They are of a bluish colour, and fever is gene- 

 rally brought on by their sting. 



Termites, or wood-lice (Termes devastans). The wood-lice, or 



