156 CLASS INSECTA. 



Every one knows the common Jlea {piilex irritans), Raes- 

 Ins. II. ii. iv., which lives upon the blood of man, dog and 

 cat. Its larva inhabits in ordure, under the nails of filthy 

 men, in the nests of birds, especially of pigeons, attaching 

 itself to the neck of their young ones, and sucking them to 

 such a degree as to become altogether red. 



The penetrating Jlea (pul. penetrans), Catesby Carol, III. 

 X. 3. and of which M. Dumeril has given an excellent figure 

 in his work entitled " General considerations on the Class of 

 Insects," and in the Dictionary of Natural Sciences, may pro- 

 bably form a peculiar genus. Its bill is of the length of the 

 body. It is known in America, under the name of chigoe. 

 It introduces itself under the nails of the feet, and under the 

 skin of the heel, and there very speedily acquires the volume 

 of a small pea, by the prompt increase of the eggs, which it 

 carries in a membranous sac under the belly. 



The numerous family to which it gives birth, occasion, by 

 their remaining in the wound, a malignant ulcer, difficult to 

 be destroyed and sometimes mortal. People are but little ex- 

 posed to this disagreeable inconvenience, if they are careful 

 to wash frequently, and especially if they rub the feet with 

 the leaves of tobacco bruised with roucou, and other acrid 

 and bitter plants. The negroes are very dexterous in extract- 

 ing the animal from the part in which it has established 

 itself. 



Divers quadrupeds and birds nourish fleas, which seem to 

 diffier specifically from the preceding. 



