390 AJNOFLURA, 



<:ase This species confines itself to the hair on other parts of the 

 ^ ' body than the head. It is the only species of Phthirius that has- 

 been described. Other species or varieties may, however, exist, 

 for a parasite is spoken of as infesting the eyelashes of some of 

 the natives of the East Indies, but it has never been described, 

 although it may only be this species, as, from the following 

 account, which we quote from Denny's Anoplura, it also would 

 appear to infest the eyes in persons on whom it has estabHshed 

 itself. — " The accompanying insects were sent to me by a lady 

 whom I attended for some years in Devonshire. The following 

 is a slight sketch of her case : She was about fifty years of age^ 

 spare in person, of a highly susceptible temperament, and long 

 subject to disordered digestion : suffering from severe headaches, 

 attended by biliary vomiting, and often followed by boils on or 

 about the head. After a time, she informed me that she had 

 been for some time troubled by insects coming apparently from 

 the natural orifices of the body and infesting the surface, parti- 

 cularly when warmer than usual. She complained especially of 

 the annoyance caused by their presence in her eyes and ears. 

 She said that they were often numerous in her throat, and that 

 they were more than once discovered adhering to matters ejected 

 from the stomach, after having been for some time troubled 

 by these parasites. They did not make any permanent lodg- 

 ment on the surface, from which they were stated to be at times 

 removed in great numbers : nor did they get among the hair of 

 the head. The lady was a person in whose veracity I had much 

 confidence, very intelligent, well-informed, and religious. Her 

 statement was in all its parts confirmed by a young woman who- 

 lived with her partly as servant, partly as companion. She said 

 that being now and then called upon to sleep with her mistress, 

 she was at such times greatly tormented by these insects, which 

 she caught in numbers on her skin, but which had no tendency 

 to continue or to breed there. The only parts on which I ever 

 saw them myself were the inner angles of the eyes, on the tarsal 



