THE BEETLE-MITE. 017 



are black. Its body is decidedly convex, and there is a very slight indication of a thorax. 

 Its length is about a quarter of an inch. 



The Rhinoceros-mite has also a convex body, the head and palpi are orange, and the 

 blotches upon the body and the limbs are of the same rich hue. This creature is slightly 

 larger than the preceding. It also belongs to Africa, being found on the Borele, sometimes 

 called the Rhinaster {Rhinoceros bicornis). 



Another species of Ixodes is termed thorddcus. All these creatures are furnished with 

 suckers, through which they can draw the juices of the animals on which they are parasitic, 

 and with a peculiar barbed modification of the parts of the mouth, which enables the parasite 

 to anchor itself, as it were, with living grapnels. There is hardly any animal which is not sub- 

 ject to the attacks of these tiresome mites, and even the hard-shelled tortoise itself is not free 

 from them. They fix themselves so firmly with their barbed grapnels that, if they are roughly 

 torn from their hold, they either leave their heads in the wound, or carry away part of 

 the flesh. Under the microscope the head of any Ixodes forms a beautiful object, and is 

 easily prepared by means of Canada balsam and pressure. 



These creatures often swarm in thick woods, and attach themselves for the nonce to 

 the leaves of shrubs, at no great height, waiting for the time when some animal may wander 

 near and become their victim. Sometimes they swarm upon an animal to such an extent that 

 they have been known to kill even a horse or an ox from sheer exhaustion. The French call 

 the Ixodes of the dog, the Louvette, and in America all the mites belonging to this group are 

 known by the name of Piques. 



These ''ticks," as they are popularly called, are extremely annoying in tropical countries, 

 where they swarm in every forest, and infest every living creature that passes by, provided its 

 skin be sufficiently soft to be penetrated by their beaks. They are small and flat when they 

 first settle themselves on their victim, but they suck the blood with such vehemence and indus- 

 try, that they speedily swell and redden, until at last, when fully gorged, they are as large as 

 broad beans, and as easily crushed as ripe gooseberries. 



In these countries, after a walk in the forest, every one is obliged to undergo a thorough 

 inspection from head to foot in order to rid himself of the ticks. When found, they must by 

 no means be pulled away, as their barbed heads would then remain in the wound, and cause a 

 festering sore. The proper method of detaching them is to touch them with oil, when they 

 immediately begin to work their way out of their holding places, and may then be removed 

 and killed. Sometimes a tick is only to be found by the pain which it causes. A dull aching 

 pang, for example, shoots at intervals up the arm, and the experienced forester at once begins 

 to look for a tick somewhere about the roots of the fingers. The creature in such a case 

 is usually very small, not very much larger than a cheese-mite, but it still has strength enough 

 to make its presence felt. 



Even in the large forests, the ticks are numerous and unpleasant. In some of them, they 

 are far too plentiful to be agreeable ; and after a day's walk in the wood I have often been 

 obliged to serve numbers of ticks with an oily notice of ejectment. 



A creature but too well known to millers and dealers in corn, is called Flour-mite 

 (Acarus farince). Although it is a very tiny creature, it contrives to travel over the loose 

 flour with considerable speed. The well-known cheese-mite is closely allied to the Flour-mite. 

 In these creatures the body is covered with numerous stout hairs, which are capable of move- 

 ment, so that each hair must have at least two muscles, together with their tendons. Despite, 

 therefore, of the minute size of these mites, their structure is not a jot less complicated than 

 that of many larger beings, and possesses a wonderful series of organs of which the higher 

 animals are destitute. 



A little vesicle at the end of the foot is a beautiful object in the microscope, especially if 

 the mite can be kept alive while imprisoned under the held of the instrument. In these 

 creatures the females are larger than their mates. The eggs of this mite are oval, very white, 

 and covered with a sort of brown network. 



The Beetle-mite. This genus is a very large one, containing a great number of species, 



