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INSECTS. 
In addition to mankind, fleas (Pulex) live parasitically upon other animals such 
as dogs, cats, badgers, pigeons, fowls, moles, hedgehogs, squirrels, etc. They are, 
moreover, even more abundant in tropical than in temperate countries. Tennent, 
for instance, says that in Ceylon “ they may be seen in myriads in the dust of the 
streets, or skipping in the sunbeams which fall on the clay floors of the cottages. 
The dogs to escape them select as their sleeping-places spots where a wood fire has 
been kindled; and here, prone on the white ashes, their stomachs close to the 
earth, and their hind-legs extended behind, they repose in comparative coolness, 
and bid defiance to their persecutors.” 
COMMON FLEA AND ITS STRUCTURE. 
To the family Sarcopsyllidce 
belongs the dreaded chigoe or jigger 
(Sarco'psyllus penetrans) of tropical 
countries. The adult female burrows 
beneath the skin of the foot, and 
shortly after effecting an entrance 
her body becomes swollen up with 
eggs, and grows to the size of a pea. 
At this stage she may be easily 
extracted, and as the young are not 
parasitic it is seldom that serious 
results ensue. According to Mr. 
W. H. Blanclford, “ the recorded dis- 
1, Egg; 2, Larvae; 3, Pupa; 4, Perfect insect ; a, Labrum ; tribution of the chigoe extends over 
rtf”" 1 c, Labial palpi; <1, Mandible; e. Maxillary America and the Ant iHe s , 
from 30° N. to 30° S., and in late 
years it has been exported in ballast to Africa, and lias established itself in Angola, 
Loango, and the Congo.” It also occurs in British Central Africa, where quite 
recently it occasioned much suffering among the natives, and, by laming the native 
postmen, caused delay in the transmission of mails. As in the case of the Pulicidat, 
the fleas of this family do not confine their attentions to mankind. There is, for 
example, a genus known as Vermipsylla, which occurs in Turkestan, and is said to 
be very injurious to cattle; and Mr. Blandford has recently recorded a species from 
Ningpo in China, found buried in the ears of sewer-rats. Speaking of the occurrence 
of the jigger in Florida, a correspondent writes that “ the wooden houses are built on 
piles, and under them the sand is infested with jigger-fleas. All dogs are attacked 
by them, and fowls and puppies frequently killed; in fact, sitting hens must 
regularly have their combs covered with lard and brimstone, and insect powder 
dusted over their wings, to keep them alive. These jiggers are very tiny 
and black, and do not hop like Old World fleas, but, fixing themselves into the 
flesh, stick there, and are most difficult to remove. An English visitor who has 
once collected eggs in a Florida hen-house, on a hot June day, will for ever 
remember the result.” 
E. I. POCOCIv. 
