472 



AETICULATA. 



[Chap. XIII. 



plants by the two forelegs, lie in wait to catch at unwary- 

 animals as they pass. A shower of these diminutive 

 vermin will sometimes drop from a branch, if unluckily 

 shaken, and disperse themselves over the body, each 

 fastening on the neck, the ears, and eyelids, and insert- 

 ing a barbed proboscis. They burrow, with their heads 

 pressed as far as practicable under the skin, causing a 

 sensation of smarting, as if particles of red hot sand 

 had been scattered over the flesh. If torn from their 

 hold, the suckers remain behind and form an ulcer. 

 The only safe expedient is to tolerate the agony of their 

 penetration till a drop of coco-nut oil or the juice of a 

 lime can be applied, when these little furies drop off" 

 without further ill consequences. One very large species, 

 dappled with grey, attaches itself to the buffaloes. 



Mites. — The Trombidium tinctorum of Hermann is 

 found about Aripo, and generally over the northern pro- 

 vinces, — where after a shower of rain or heavy night's 

 dew, they appear in countless myriads. It is about half 

 an inch long, like a tuft of crimson velvet, and imparts 

 its colouring matter readily to any fluid in which it may 

 be immersed. It feeds on vegetable juices, and is per- 

 fectly innocuous. Its European representative, similarly 

 tinted, and found in garden mould, is commonly called 

 the " Little red pillion." 



Mybiapods. — The certainty with which an accidental 

 pressure or unguarded touch is resented and retorted by 

 a bite, makes the centipede, when it has taken up its 

 temporary abode within a sleeve or the fold of a dress, 

 by far the most unwelcome of all the Singhalese assail- 

 ants. The great size, too (little short of a foot in length), 



benefactors, and stand quietly, mentors from their flanks." — Mag. 

 while the birds peck their tor- Nat. Hist. p. Ill, 1844. 



