LXXVIII 



MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24. Evening meeting. 



The President in the chair. 

 Letters were read from the following : 



Rev. E. C. Bolles, of Portland, Me.; Solomon Lincoln Jr., and Charles 

 Babbidge, accepting Membership : A. S. Peabody, of Cape Town, Africa ; 

 C. H. Jones, of Sun Prairie, Wise., relating to the transmission of specimens : 

 A. R. Burton, of Littleton, N. H. ; William Muir, of Fox Creek, Mo., relating 

 to exchanges : Rev. James Hubbert, of Toronto, C. W. : Prof. A. E. Verrill, 

 of Cambridge ; Charles W. Felt ; Robert Hamlin, of Bennington, Vt, on 

 business matters. 



F. W. Putnam read letters from George C. Huntington, 

 of Kelly's Island, Ohio, giving an account of the " Red 

 bug " of that Island, specimens of which were presented 

 to the Institute by Mr. Huntington. Mr. H. stated that 

 the insect was, as far as he could learn, found only on 

 Kelly's Island. It is called the " Red bug" on account 

 of its bright crimson color when living. It is so minute 

 as to be hardly visible to the naked eye, and from its habit 

 of penetrating beneath the skin, at the elbow joint, under 

 the arms and other tender places, is very annoying to per- 

 sons of delicate skin, especially to women and children ; 

 of late years however, it has been discovered that alcohol 

 applied to the part affected will kill the insect and allay 

 the eruption caused by it. Whence this insect comes, 

 or where it goes, is still a mystery. They do not 

 propagate while under the skin. In many of its habits it 

 is similar to the " Jigger " of the Southern States, and it 

 is thought by most persons to be the same insect, but by 

 its size and structure this is at once disproved. Mr Put- 

 nam thought that the insect was allied to the Louse 

 (Pediculus) and, as far as he could ascertain, it was as yet 

 undescribed. 



William P. Upham presented in behalf of Mrs. Martha 

 Lee late of Manchester, an old Journal kept by Benjamin 

 Craft during the siege of Louisburg in 1745, with letters 



