502 A DESCRIPTION OF 
remarkable, that in the course of one summer they might 
increase to the amazing number of five or six hundred 
thousands, if Providence had not ordered that they 
should become the prey of birds, who by this means pre- 
vent their multiplying more than they generally do. 
These insects are very annoying from their blood-sucking 
propensities ; and as the sucker is horny at the tip, it in- 
flicts a severe wound, into which the insect emits a small 
quantity of poison, which occasions the pain and inflam- 
mation always felt from a Gnat bite. 
ORDER VII. j&uctom. 
THESE insects are without wings. The mouth is fur- 
nished with a trunk or beak, formed to wound as well as 
suck. 
THE FLEA (Pulex irritans,) 
Is one of those little creatures with which want of 
cleanliness in mankind is punished. It is one of the most 
annoying insects that infest the human race, as, by its 
leapings, it often escapes being caught. It is oviparous, 
and the egg, which is hardly discernible by the naked 
eye, yields a small white worm, beset with hairs. This 
worm soon spins for itself a little silk cocoon, from 
which the perfect insect issues. The Flea is an active, 
troublesome, blood-thirsty insect; it has a small head, 
