46' 



CHAPTER I. 



DIRECT INJUniES FROM MOTHS. 



With respect to the direct injuries which are 

 caused by moths to mankind, I may mention, that 

 the hairs of several caterpillars of the genus Fhalcnna 

 are exceedingly troublesome, producing the same 

 effects on the human skin as the hairs which grow 

 on the pods of the cow-hedge, {Dol/c/ios prnrie7is et 

 wens of Linnreus,) which occasion a disagreeable, 

 and, to some individuals, a painful itching.* The 

 larvfe of several of the family of moths callcdZ?omAy.r, 

 of which number is the Processioiiary Moth, have this 

 quality. M. Reaumur has given an interesting and 

 curious account of the effects of these, produced on 

 himself. He had been handling some of these larvee, 



• Messrs Kiiby and S])<'ncc say, tliat " cow-hedge has been 

 iidministcred with succeiis as an anthclniinthic, as has likewise 

 spun glass powdered, the spicula of these substances destroying 

 the worms." The hair of the caterpillars hero alluded to, 

 and, pcrlKijis, also of the larva of Bombyx Caja, (the Tiger 

 Moth,) might probably bo equally efficacious. 



