INSECTS. 



licence of hrrx is very common, and tlic ova appear to be 



.i-inlly depofitfd tliere by the parent infeft. Mr. Bracy 



' -k qiu'ftions the exillcnce of human iotts (xjlrus hominh) ; 



that infoiSs of tliis fpecics fometimcs find « nidus in the 



1 pafT.ig.^s of thl- human fiibjcft, is proved by a cafe, 



(1 by "Dr. Hcyfham, of Carlifle, in which three botts 



.V r:? difcharged from the antrum of Highmore, or Jinus of 



:' • cheek of a woman, after that cavity had been perforated 



! .• a trocar. An intolerable hemicrania was occafioned by 



; ir prefcnce, and ultimately proved fatal. (See Medical 



1, I --niunications, vol i. art. xxx. and plate i. figs. 2 and 3.) 



.; I .^xample of a ceniipt-d lodging in the frontal^fHuj is re- 



' d in the Edin. Medical EHays, vol. v. p. 991. In 



; cal climates, as we learn from Dr. Lempnere, the 



_:ots or larvx of the large blue fly, which are condantly 



( u/./.ing about the fick, are generated in t1ie nofe, mouth, 



and gums, in the lad Itages of fever, when the patients deep 



or doy.e with their mouths open, the nurfes finding great 



difficulty in preventing the depofition of the ova in thofe 



parts. This author mentions one inllance, in the lady of an 



olTicer, who had efcaped from the attack of fever, but in 



whom " tliefe maggots were produced, which burrowed and 



f.jimd their way by the nofc through the os crilnfonnc, into 



the cavity of the cranium, and afterwards into the brain 



itfclf, to which (he owed her death." Lempriere, Obf. 



on the Dif. of the Army in Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 182. 



It is probable that thofe cafes on record, in which worms 

 were faid to be coughed up from llie lungs, were in" reality 

 inltances of the larvcc of I'nfecls, bred in the pofterior ca- 

 vities of the nofe, and removed by the agitation of cough- 

 ing into the throat, and thence expelled. See a cafe of this 

 fort, related by the late Dr. Percival, in his Med. Effays, 

 vol. iii. p. 272, in which two mafTes of grumous blood were 

 brought up by coughing, as large as a nutmeg, one of 

 which, when opened, " was found to contain a comiderablc 

 number of worms, like maggots, in a very lively ilate." 



Befides the larvae oi fhs, of the black beetle, and of the 

 ^Jlrus, above-mentioned, fcarcely any other infects are de- 

 Icribed upon good authority, as being nurtured in the human 

 body, if we except the millepedes, which are mentioned by 

 fome authors. It is inipofiible to fay much on the fubjeci 

 of dedroying thefe larv.e by medicine ; fince their exiftence 

 cannot be afcertained before they are aftually difchargetl 

 and feen. The fymptoms produced by the irritation which 

 they excite, confiil only of fevere pains in the parts where 

 they happen to be, which of courfe cannot be diilinguifhed 

 from pain occafioned by othir caiifes. If the cxillence of 

 the worms was known, or could be furmifed, perhaps the 

 internal exhibition of the oil of turpentine might be reforted 

 to with fuccefs ; for it appe:u's that this liquor is poifonous 

 to all the infeft tribe, as well as to worms. Experience 

 has now decidedly proved its eflicacy in the deflruction of 

 the tape-worm. (See Edin. Med. and Surg. .Tournal, for 

 April and July, i8io.) It has been ufed with fuccefs in 

 the way of glyller in the cafe of afcarides ; and Dr. Lem- 

 priere found it ferviceab'e when injeftcd into the palfages 

 infefted by maggot". 



Is.sECTS, ylnalomical Ufe of. The infeft-world affords us 

 numerous ufes, and thofe many of them fnch as no one 

 would at firft thought imagine, and which no other ope- 

 rations or operators could fo well effeft. In the minutias 

 of anatomy, where knives cannot be introduced, the mag- 

 got or the ant may be employed with great fuccefs. Ske- 

 letons of foctufes have been prepared by burying them in an 

 ant-hill, and that in fo accurate and perfect a manner, that 

 all who have feen them, have admired by wliat means they 

 could be fo nicely fijiifhed ; and the fccret of the great 



Ruyfch, by which he cleared away tiic parenchymatous 

 fubftance from his vafcular preparations, was of this kind. 

 After irijeding the vefTels of any part with wax, all that 

 remained to the completing of thefe preparations, was the tak- 

 ing off the parenchymatous or flelTiy matter from between' 

 and among them. Other anatomills of his tiine did this by 

 the knife, or by maceration in water and other liquors ; but 

 it appeared a fort of magic to them, that his were always 

 not only much iooncr executed, but to a greater nicety and 

 perfec'^ion than their's ever poffibly could be. His method 

 was only to put a number of the common flefh-eating mag- 

 gots ta the fubdance ; and thefe regularly cat away all the" 

 flefh. tlieir heads getting into crevices which no inllrument 

 could reach, and the whole fubilance of the injection re- 

 mained unhurt, as their foft bodies could glide betwen its 

 nicell parts without injuring them ; and the wax being no 

 food for them, was in no danger of being eroded, even in 

 its fmalleil pieces. The fcveral fizesof the worms or mag- 

 gots bred from the eggs of different Hies were of great ul^ 

 in the perfefting of the preparations ; for while the larger fort 

 eat the more flefhy parts, where the vefTels are large ar.d 

 but few in number, the middle-fized maggots got into the 

 interftices of the more vafcular parts, and the moil minute 

 of all, which are ufually alfo the moH: numerous, kept about 

 the furface, and eat away between and among the capillary 

 vefTels. 



The maggots produced from flies are not the only animals 

 fit for this kind of bufinefs. There are feveral fpecies of 

 beetles of the fmailer kinds, whofe eggs hatch iuto a fix- 

 legged worm, which eats as much and as nicely as the fly- 

 maggots. All thefe may be employed very fuccefsfully in 

 the preparations of the parts uf animals. 



Thefe nice anatomifls are not confined to animal fub- 

 flanccs ; they often exert their power alfo on vegetables. 

 Many of them feed on the leaves and fruits of plants ; 

 and fome fpecies of thefe work io nicely, that they eat away 

 all the outer membrane and internal parenchymatous fub- 

 ftance of the leaves, fo as only to leave the net-like plexus 

 of vefTels (landing. Yet thefe being unhurt fliew the true 

 figure of the leaf, and are a fort of vegetable (keletons, but 

 very poorly imitated by art in the common way, by long 

 macerations in water ; this method ufually deftroying and 

 wafl.ing away many of the fmaller vefTels, which the tender 

 mouths of thefe creatures fparc. If they exert their (Itill 

 often upon leaves in this manner, ihey do it alfo fometimes 

 with equal, if not greater, fuccefs upon fruits. As in 

 the leaves, thofe which have the tenderell pnrenciiyma and 

 the (irmeft ribi fuccecd be(l ; it ;ilfo it is in fruits. The 

 leaves of the rufcus or butcher's broom are often found thus' 

 beautifully anatomifcd ; and of all fruits, none fucceeds fo 

 well as that of tjie ftramonium, or thorn-apple. Wherever 

 this plant grows in any plenty, the fruit towai-ds autumn, 

 while it is yet full of juice, is attacked by a fmall worm, 

 which eats away all the parenchyma, and leaves every veflTel 

 (landing in its place ; and this not only in the outer coat of 

 the fruit, but in the very inner cells of the feeds. Thefe 

 veffels remain exactly in the (hape of the fruit, and, grow- 

 ing white with the air, exhibit the mod elegant and beauti- 

 ful (Iceletons imaginable, while yet (landing on the plant. 

 The animal which efTefts this, is a hexapode worm pro- 

 duced from the egg of a fmall beetle : and differs very 

 little from fome of thofe which fo elegantly eat away the 

 flefliy parts from the injected anatomical preparations. 

 Thefe are gregarious animals Lkc fome fpecies of the fmaller 

 caterpillars, and numbers of them arc always at work to- 

 getlier on the fame leaf or fruit, fo that the (kelcton is foon 

 made. They begin by piercing a number of litUc holes 



