318 ARTICULATA. INSECTA. 



ORDER IV. SUCTORIA.* 



CONSISTING, like the last Order, of but a single 

 genus, Pulex, the Flea, these agree with them also 

 in deriving their nutrition from the blood of other 

 animals. They differ from them in the anatomical 

 structure of the mouth, and in undergoing a true 

 transformation, which the former do not, changing 

 their skins only, but not their form. From their 

 agile motions, and the clean glossy character of their 

 armour, as well as from their having no particular 

 predilection for filth, the Fleas are not regarded 

 with the same disgust as Lice, though they are by 

 no means general favourites. The form of the Flea 

 (P. Irritans) is oval, much flattened sidewise, with 

 a very small head; the skin forms a hard, highly 

 polished crust ; the legs are strong, the hindmost 

 especially, and formed for leaping ; and its strength 

 is so great as to enable it to perform feats of 

 agility which, when its size is remembered, are truly 

 astonishing. The Jigger (P. Penetrans) of the West 

 Indies is far more mischievous than ours ; entering 

 into the skin of the feet, where it deposits its eggs 

 in a ball as large as a pea. These, if not extracted, 

 soon produce such a colony of young Fleas in the 

 living flesh, as to cause a malignant ulcer, sometimes 

 followed by mortification and death. The Negroes, 

 however, readily extract them, and heal the wound. 



* Sugo, to suck. 



