144 Expedition to the 



their silent and unseen march; ascending along the feet 

 and legs, they insinuate themselves into every article of 

 dress, and fasten, unperceived, their fangs upon every 

 part of the body. The bite is not felt until the insect has 

 had time to bury the whole of his beak, and in the case of 

 the most minute and most troublesome species, nearly his 

 whole body seems hid under the skin. Where he fastens him- 

 self with such tenacity that he will sooner suffer his head and 

 body to be dragged apart than relinquish his hold. It would, 

 perhaps, be well when they are once thoroughly planted 

 to suffer them to remain unmolested, as the beaks left 

 under the skin produce more irritation than the living ani- 

 mal; but they excite such intolerable itching, that the suf- 

 ferer cannot avoid aggravating the evil by his efforts to re- 

 lieve himself from the offending cause. The wound which 

 was at first almost imperceptible, swells and inflames gradu- 

 ally, and being enlarged by rubbing and scratching, at length 

 discharges a serous fluid, and finally suppurates. If the in- 

 sect is suffered to remain unmolested, he protracts his feast 

 for some weeks, when he is found to have grown of enor- 

 mous size, and to have assumed nearly the colour of the 

 skin on which he has been feeding. His limbs do not enlarge, 

 but are almost buried in the mass accumulated on his neck, 

 which extending forward, bears against the skin, and at last 

 pushes him from his hold. 



Nothing is to be hoped from becoming accustomed to the 

 bite of these wood ticks. On the contrary, by long expo- 

 sure to their venomous attacks the skin acquires a morbid 

 irritability, which increases in proportion to the frequency and 

 continuance of the evil, until at length the bite of a single tick 

 is sufficient to produce a large and painful phlegmon. This 

 may not be the case with every one, but it was so with us. 

 The burning and smarting of the skin prompted us to bathe 

 and wash whenever we met with water: but we had not long 

 continued this practice when we perceived it only to aug- 



