OF THE HUMAN SKIN'. 33 



it occurs in South America, and where our coun- 

 trymen may more often come in contact with it. 

 It is smaller than the common flea, and has a pro- 

 boscis as long as the body. The male insect does 

 not penetrate the skin. This is done by the fe- 

 male, which swells up extraordinarily after it' has 

 burrowed under the skin of men and animals. 

 Von Humboldt thought it attacked only Euro- 

 peans, and not the aborigines. It is described as 

 an animal so small that it can only be seen by 

 sharp eyes, with a good light, for which reason 

 the seeking for the flea, after its immigration, is 

 generally left to children. It perforates the skin 

 down to the flesh, and, concealed in its little 

 canal, swells up into a white, globular vesicle, 

 which, in a few days, may become as large as a 

 pea, the pain constantly increasing ; this is the 

 abdomen of the female filled with eggs, or, more 

 correctly, with larv^. Neglect of the disorder, 

 or careless rupture of the vesicle, that is, the ab- 

 domen, by which the young are scattered in the 

 wound, where they then mine fresh passages, 

 leads to bad sores, to inflammation of the glands 

 of the groin, to mortification, and, in conse- 

 quence, to amputation or mutilation of the limbs, 



3 



