the hair of the animal; but there are facts on record, which prove that
the juices of many insects are equally deleterious. Amoreux, from a
work of Turner, an English writer on cutaneous diseases, has given the
following remarkable history of the ill effects produced by those of
_spiders_. When Turner was a young practitioner, he was called to visit
a woman, whose custom it was, every time she went into the cellar with
a candle, to burn the spiders and their webs. She had often observed,
when she thus cruelly amused herself, that the odour of the burning
spiders had so much affected her head, that all objects seemed to turn
round, which was occasionally succeeded by faintings, cold sweats, and
slight vomitings: but, notwithstanding this, she found so much pleasure
in tormenting these poor animals, that nothing could cure her of this
madness, till she met with the following accident: The legs of one
of these unhappy spiders happened to stick in the candle, so that it
could not disengage itself; and, the body at length bursting, the venom
was ejaculated into the eyes and upon the lips of its persecutrix. In
consequence of this, one of the former became inflamed, the latter
swelled excessively, even the tongue and gums were slightly affected,
and a continual vomiting attended these symptoms. In spite of every
remedy the swelling of the lips continued to increase, till at length
an old woman, by the simple application for fifteen days of the leaves
and juice of plantain, together with some spider's web, ran away with
all the glory of the cure[208]. Ulloa gives us a remarkable account of
a species of spider, or perhaps mite, of a fiery red colour, common in
Popayan, called _Coya_ or _Coyba_, and usually found in the corners of
walls and among the herbage, the venom of which is of such malignity,
that on crushing the insect, if any fall on the skin of either man
or beast, it immediately penetrates into the flesh, and causes large
tumours, which are soon succeeded by death. Yet, he further observes,
if it be crushed between the palms of the hands, which are usually
callous, no bad consequence ensues. People who travel along the valleys
of the Neyba, where these insects abound, are warned by their Indian
attendants, if they feel any thing stinging them, or crawling on their
neck or face, not so much as to lift up their hand to the place, the
texture of the Coya being so delicate that the least force causes them
to burst, without which there is no danger, as they seem otherwise
harmless animals. The traveller points out the spot where he feels
the creature to one of his companions, who, if it be a Coya, blows
it away. If this account does not exaggerate the deleterious quality
of the juices of this insect, it is the most venomous animal that is
known; for he describes it as much smaller than a bug. The only remedy
to which the natives have recourse for preventing the ill effects
arising from its venom is, on the first appearance of the swelling, to
swing the patient over the flame of straw or long grass, which they do
with great dexterity: after this operation he is reckoned to be out of
danger[209].--The poisoned arrows which Indians employ against their
enemies have been long celebrated. The Coya may, in the western world,
have furnished the poison for this purpose. An author quoted in Lesser
tells us that an ant as big as a bee is sometimes used, and that the
wound inflicted by weapons tinctured with their venom is incurable.
Patterson also gives a recipe by which the natives of the southern
extremity of Africa prepare what they reckon the most effectual poison
for the point of their arrows. They mix the juice of a species of
Euphorbia, and a caterpillar that feeds on a kind of sumach (_Rhus_,
L.), and when the mixture is dried it is fit for use[210].
And now I think you will allow that I have made out a tolerable
list of insects that attack or annoy man's body externally, and a
sufficiently doleful history of them. That the subject, however, may
be complete, I shall next enumerate those that, not content with
afflicting him with _exterior_ pain or evil, whether on the surface
or under the skin, bore into his flesh, descend even into his stomach
and viscera; derange his whole system, and thus often occasion his
death. The punitive insects here employed are usually larvæ of the
various orders, and they are the cause of that genus of diseases I
before noticed, and proposed to call _Scolechiasis_.
I shall begin my account with the first order of Linné, because people
in general seem not aware that any _beetles_ make their way into the
human _stomach_. Yet there is abundant evidence, which proves beyond
controversy that the meal-worm (_Tenebrio Molitor_), although its usual
food is flour, has often been voided both by male and female patients;
and in one instance is stated to have occasioned death[211]. How these
grubs should get into the stomach it is difficult to say--perhaps the
eggs may have been swallowed in some preparation of flour. But that
the animal should be able to sustain the heat of this organ, so far
exceeding the temperature to which it is usually accustomed, is the
most extraordinary circumstance of all.--Dr. Martin Lister, who to the
skill of the physician added the most profound knowledge of nature,
mentions an instance, communicated to him by Mr. Jessop, of a girl who
voided three hexapod larvæ similar to what are found in the carcases
of birds[212], probably belonging either to the genus _Dermestes_, or
_Anthrenus_: and in the _German Ephemerides_ the case also of a girl
is recorded, from an abscess in the _calf_ of whose _leg_ crept black
worms resembling beetles[213].
The larvæ of some beetle, as appears from the description, seem to
have been ejected even from the _lungs_. Four of these, of which the
largest was nearly three quarters of an inch long, were discovered in
the mucus expelled after a severe fit of coughing by a lady afflicted
with a pulmonary disease; and similar larvæ of a smaller size were
once afterwards discharged in the same way[214].
No one would suppose that _caterpillars_, which feed upon vegetable
substances, could be met with alive in the stomach; yet Dr. Lister
gives an account of a boy who vomited up several, which, he observes,
had sixteen legs[215]. The eggs perhaps might have been swallowed
in salad; and, as vegetables make a part of most people's daily
diet, enough might have passed into the stomach to support them when
hatched.--Linné tells us that the caterpillar of a moth (_Aglossa
pinguinalis_), common in houses, has also been found in a similar
situation, and is one of the worst of our insect infesters.--In a
very old tract, which gives a figure of the insect, a caterpillar
of the almost incredible length of the middle finger is said to
have been voided from the _nostrils_ of a young man long afflicted
with dreadful pains in his head[216].--But the most extraordinary
account with respect to lepidopterous larvæ (unless he has mistaken
his insects) is given by Azara, the Spanish traveller before quoted;
who says that in South America there is a large brown _moth_, which
deposits its young in a kind of saliva upon the flesh of persons who
sleep naked; these introduce themselves under the skin without being
perceived, where they occasion swelling attended by inflammation and
violent pain. When the natives discover it, they squeeze out the
larvæ, which usually amount to five or six[217].
But amongst all the orders, none is more fruitful in devourers
of man than the _Diptera_. The Gad-fly (_Œstrus_, L.) you have,
doubtless, often heard of, and how sorely it annoys our cattle and
other quadrupeds; but I suspect have no notion that there is a
species appropriated to man. The existence, indeed, of this species
seems to have been overlooked by entomologists (though it stands in
Gmelin's edition of the _Systema Naturæ_[218], upon the authority of
the younger Linné,) till Humboldt and Bonpland mentioned it again.
Speaking of the low regions of the torrid zone, where the air is
filled with those myriads of mosquitos which render uninhabitable
a great and beautiful portion of the globe, they observe that to
these may be joined the _Œstrus Hominis_, which deposits its eggs
in the skin of man, causing there painful tumours[219]. Gmelin
says that it remains beneath the skin of the abdomen six months,
penetrating deeper, if it be disturbed, and becoming so dangerous
as sometimes to occasion death. The imago he describes as being of
a brown colour, and about the size of the common house-fly; so that
it is a small species compared with the rest of the genus. Even
the gad-fly of the ox, leaving its proper food, has been known to
oviposit in the jaw of a woman, and the bots produced from the eggs
finally caused her death[220].--Other flies also of various kinds
thus penetrate into us, either preying upon our flesh, or getting
into our intestines. Leeuwenhoek mentions the case of a woman whose
leg had been enlarging with glandular bodies for some years. Her
surgeon gave him one that he had cut from it, in which were many
small maggots: these he fed with flesh till they assumed the pupa,
when they produced a fly as large as the flesh-fly[221].--A patient
of Dr. Reeve of Norwich, after suffering for some time great pain,
was at last relieved by voiding a considerable number of maggots,
which agree precisely with those described by De Geer as the larvæ of
his _Musca domestica minor_, (_Anthomyia canicularis_, Meig.) a fly
which he speaks of as very common in apartments[222].--In Paraguay
the flesh-flies are said to be uncommonly numerous and noxious.
Azara relates[223] that, after a storm, when the heat was excessive,
he was assailed by such an army of them, that in less than half an
hour his clothes were quite white with their eggs, so that he was
forced to scrape them off with a knife; adding, that he has known
instances of persons, who, after having bled at the nose in their
sleep, were attacked by the most violent headaches; when at length
several great maggots, the offspring of these flies, issuing from
their nostrils, gave them relief.--In Jamaica a large blue fly buzzes
about the sick in the last stages of fever; and when they sleep or
doze with their mouths open, the nurses find it very difficult to
prevent these flies from laying their eggs in the nose, mouth, or
gums. An instance is recorded of a lady who, after recovering from
a fever, fell a victim to the maggots of this fly, which from the
nose found their way through the _os cribriforme_ into the cavity
of the skull, and afterwards into the brain[224]. One of the most
shocking cases of _Scolechiasis_ I ever met with is related in Bell's
_Weekly Messenger_ in the following words: "On Thursday, June 25,
died at Asbornby, (_Lincolnshire_) John Page, a pauper belonging
to Silk-Willoughby, under circumstances truly singular. He being
of a restless disposition, and not choosing to stay in the parish
workhouse, was in the habit of strolling about the neighbouring
villages, subsisting on the pittance obtained from door to door: the
support he usually received from the benevolent was bread and meat;
and after satisfying the cravings of nature, it was his custom to
deposit the surplus provision, particularly the meat, betwixt his
shirt and skin. Having a considerable portion of this provision in
store, so deposited, he was taken rather unwell, and laid himself
down in a field in the parish of Scredington--when from the heat of
the season at that time, the meat speedily became putrid, and was
of course struck by the flies: these not only proceeded to devour
the inanimate pieces of flesh, but also literally to prey upon the
living substance; and when the wretched man was accidentally found
by some of the inhabitants, he was so eaten by the maggots that his
death seemed inevitable. After clearing away as well as they were
able these shocking vermin, those who found Page conveyed him to
Asbornby, and a surgeon was immediately procured, who declared that
his body was in such a state that dressing it must be little short of
instantaneous death; and in fact the man did survive the operation
but a few hours. When first found, and again when examined by the
surgeon, he presented a sight loathsome in the extreme; white maggots
of enormous size were crawling in and upon his body, which they
had most shockingly mangled, and the removing of the external ones
served only to render the sight more horrid[225]."--A medical friend
of mine, at Ipswich, gave me this winter an apode larva voided by a
person of that place with his urine, which I now preserve in spirits
and can show you when you visit me. It appears to me to belong to
the _Diptera_ order, yet not to the fly tribes (_Tanystoma_, Latr.),
but rather to the _Tipulariæ_ of that author, with which however it
does not seem to agree so entirely as to take away all doubt. It is
a very singular larva, and I can find none in any author that I have
had an opportunity of consulting which at all resembles it. That you
may know it, should you chance to meet with it, I shall here describe
it. _Body_, three fourths of an inch in length, and about a line in
breadth; opaque, of a pale yellow colour; cylindrical, tapering
somewhat at each extremity; consisting of twenty articulations
without the head: _Head_ reddish brown, heartshaped, much smaller
than the following joint; armed with two unguiform mandibles; with a
biarticulate palpus attached exteriorly to the base of each. These
mandibles appear to be moved by a narrow black central tendon under
the dorsal skin terminating a little beyond the base of the first
segment; besides this, there are four others, two on each side of
it, the outer ones diverging, much slenderer, and very short. The
last or anal joint of the body very minute; exerting two short,
filiform horns, or rather respiratory organs. I could discover, in
this animal, no respiratory plates, such as are found in the larvæ
of _Muscidæ_, _&c._ nor were the tracheæ visible. When given to me,
it was alive and extremely active, writhing itself into various
contortions with great agility. It moved, like other dipterous larvæ,
by means of its mandibles. Upon wetting my fingers more than once, to
take it up when it had fallen from a table upon which it was placed,
the saline taste with which it was imbued was so powerful that it
was some time before it was dissipated from my mouth.--I shall only
mention one more instance, because it is a singular one. The larva
of _Helophilus pendulus_, a fly peculiarly formed by nature for
inhabiting fluids, has been found in the stomach of a woman[226].
You will smile when I tell you that I have met with the prescription
of a famous urine-doctor, in which he recommends to his credulous
patient to take a certain number of _sow bugs_ per diem, by this
name distinguishing, as I suppose, the pill-millepede (_Armadillo
vulgaris_), once a very favourite remedy. What effect they produced
in this case I was not informed; but the learned Bonnet relates that
he had seen a certificate of an English physician, dated July 1763,
stating that, some time before, a young woman who had swallowed these
animals alive, as is usually done, threw up a prodigious number of
them of all sizes, which must have bred in her stomach[227].--Another
apterous species appears to have been detected in a still more
remarkable situation. Hermann, the author of the admirable _Mémoire
Apterologique_, whose untimely death is so much to be lamented, informs
us that an Acarus figured and described in his work (_A. marginatus_),
was observed by his artist running on the _corpus callosum_ of the
_brain_ of a patient in the military hospital at Strasbourg, which
had been opened but a minute before and the two hemispheres and the
_pia mater_ just separated. He adds that this is not the first time
that insects have been found in the brain. Cornelius Gemma, in his
_Cosmocritica_, p. 241, says that on dissecting the brain of a woman
there were found in it abundance of vermicles and _punaises_[228].
It was customary in many countries in ancient times to punish certain
malefactors by exposing them to be devoured by wild beasts: but
to expose them to _insects_ for the same purpose was a refinement
in cruelty, which seems to have been peculiar to the despots of
Persia. We are informed that the most severe punishment amongst the
Persians was that of shutting up the offender between two boats of
equal size; they laid him in one of them upon his back, and covered
him with the other, his hands, feet, and head being left bare. His
face, which was placed full in the sun, they moistened with honey,
thus inviting the flies and wasps, which tormented him no less than
the swarms of maggots that were bred in his excrements and body, and
devoured him to the very entrails. He was compelled to take as much
food as was necessary to support life, and thus existed sometimes for
several days. Plutarch informs us that Mithridates, whom Artaxerxes
Longimanus condemned to this punishment, lived seventeen days in
the utmost agony; and that, the uppermost boat being taken off at
his death, they found his flesh all consumed, and myriads of worms
gnawing his bowels[229]. Could any natural objects be made more
horrible and effectual instruments of torture than _insects_ were in
this most diabolical invention of tyranny?
In this enumeration of evils derived from insects, I must not wholly
pass over the serious and sometimes fatal effects produced upon some
persons by eating honey, or even by drinking mead. I once knew a lady
upon whom these acted like poison, and have heard of instances in
which death was the consequence. Sometimes, when bees extract their
honey from poisonous plants, such results have not been confined to
individuals of a particular habit or constitution. A remarkable proof
of this is given by Dr. Barton in the fifth volume of _The American
Philosophical Transactions_. In the autumn and winter of the year
1790, an extensive mortality was produced amongst those who had
partaken of the honey collected in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia.
The attention of the American Government was excited by the general
distress, a minute inquiry into the cause of the mortality ensued,
and it was satisfactorily ascertained that the honey had been chiefly
extracted from the flowers of _Kalmia latifolia_.
Amongst other _direct_ injuries occasioned by these creatures, perhaps,
out of regard for the ladies, I ought to notice the alarm which many of
them occasion to the loveliest part of the creation. When some females
retire from society to avoid a wasp; others faint at the sight of a
spider; and others, again, die with terror if they hear a death-watch:
these groundless apprehensions and superstitious alarms are as much
real evils to those who feel them, as if they were well founded. But
having already adverted to this subject, I shall here only quote the
observation of a wise man, that "Fear is a betraying of the succours
that reason offereth[230]." The best remedy, therefore, in such cases
is going to reason for succour. In a few instances, indeed, the evil
may take root in a constitutional defect, for there seems to be some
foundation for the doctrine of natural antipathies: but, generally
speaking, in consequence of the increased attention to Natural History,
the reign of imaginary evils is ceasing amongst us, and what used
to shake the stout hearts of our superstitious ancestors with anile
terrors, is become a subject of interesting inquiry to their better
informed descendants, even of the weaker sex.
And now, my friend, I flatter myself you feel disposed to own the
truth of my position, however it might startle you at first, and will
candidly acknowledge that I have proved the empire of these despised
insects over man's person: and that, instead of being a race of
insignificant creatures, which we may safely overlook, as having no
concern with, they may, in the hands of Divine Providence, and even
of man, become to us fearful instruments of evil and of punishment. I
shall next endeavour to give you some idea of the _indirect_ injuries
which they occasion us by attacking our property, or interfering with
our pleasure or comfort--but this must be the subject of another letter.
I am, &c.
FOOTNOTES:
[106] Joel ii. 25.
[107] _On the Blight in Corn_, p. 9.
[108] Leeuw. _Epist._ 98. 1696.
[109] Bingley, _Anim. Biogr._ first edition, iii. 437. St. Pierre's
_Studies_, &c. i. 312.
[110] _Hist. Animal._ l. 5. c. 31.
[111] From the terms employed by Aristotle and Dr. Mead in their
Account of these cases, it appears that the animal they meant could not
be maggots, but something bearing a more general resemblance to lice.
[112] _On Cutaneous Diseases_, 87, 88; and _t._ 7. _f._ 4.
[113] Latreille at first considered this as belonging to a distinct
genus from the common mite (_Acarus domesticus_), which he named
_Sarcoptes_; but upon its being discovered that it also has
mandibles, he has suppressed it. _N. Dict. d'Hist. Nat._ xxi. 221.
[114] _On Morbid Poisons_, 306, 307.
[115] Mouffet, 267.
[116] _Medica Sacra_, 104, 105.
[117] It is to be hoped this new word may be admitted, as the _laying
of eggs_ cannot otherwise be expressed without a periphrasis. For the
same reason its substantive _Oviposition_ will be employed.
[118] _Mém. Apterologique_, 19.
[119] Insecta ejusmodi minutissima, forte _Acaros_ diversæ speciei
causas esse diversorum morborum contagiosorum, ab analogia et
experientia hactenus acquisita, facili credimus negotio. _Amœn. Ac._
v. 94.
[120] _Amœn. Ae._ v. 94-98.
[121] Mouffet, 266.
[122] Acarus sub ipsa pustula minimè quærendus est, sed longius
recessit, sequendo rugam cuticulæ observatur. _Amœn. Ac._ v. 95. not.
**.
[123] _Observations_, &c. 296.
[124] Extractus acu et super ungue positus, movet se si solis etiam
calore adjuvetur. _ubi supr._ Ungui impositus vix movetur: si vero oris
calido halitu affletur, agilis in ungue cursitat. _Fn. Suec._ 1975.
[125] Neque Syrones isti sunt de pediculorum genere, ut Johannes
Langius ex Aristotele videtur asserere: nam illi extra cutem vivunt,
hi vero non. _ubi supr._
[126] Imo ipsi _Acari_ præ exiguitate indivisibiles, ex cuniculis prope
aquæ lacum quos foderunt in cute, acu extracti et ungue impositi, caput
rubrum, et pedes quibus gradiuntur ad solem produnt. p. vi.
[127] Teredo sive exiguus vermiculus, qui subter cutim erodit agitque
cuniculos in pruriginosis manibus. Gouldman tells us these _Acari_
were also called _Hand-worms_. Another English name is given in
Mouffet, viz. _Wheale-worms_.
[128] _Osservazioni intorno à pellicelli del corpo umano fatte dal
Dottor_ Gio Cosimo Bonomo, &c. _f._ 1-3. Baker _On Microsc._ i. _t._
13. _f._ 2.
[129] De Geer, vii. _t._ 5. _f._ 12. 14.
[130] _Mém. Apterologique_, 79.
[131] I am informed by my learned friend Alexander MacLeay, Esq. late
Secretary to the Linnean Society, that, in the north of Scotland, the
insect of the itch is well known, and easily discovered and extracted.
[132] This opinion Dr. Bateman thinks probably the true one. _Cutan.
Dis._ 197.
[133] It may be mentioned here as a remarkable fact, that the _Acarus
Scabiei_ was discovered by M. Latreille upon a New Holland quadruped
(_Phascolomys fusca_, Geoffr.) of the Marsupian tribe. _N. Dict.
d'Hist. Nat._ xxi. 222.
[134] _Amœn. Ac._ ubi supr. 101.
[135] _Traités de Chirurgie_, &c. Leipsig. 1792.
[136] _Mém. Apterolog._ 78.
[137] _In Artaxerx._
[138] _Il._ χ. l. 599. ω l. 414.
[139] Τα δε εντομα παντα σκωληκοτοκει. _De Generat. Animal._ l. 2. c. 1.
[140] _Il._ υ. l. 654-5.
[141] Γης εντερα. _De Animal. Incessu_, c. 9. _De Generat. Animal._
l. 3. c. 11.
[142] Mark ix. 44. 46. 48.
[143] Σκωληκοβρωτος. Acts xii. 23.
[144] Linn. _Lach. Lapp._ ii. 32. note *.
[145] Latreille after De Geer (vii. 153--.) supposes the _Pique_ and
_Nigua_ of Ulloa to be synonymous with _Ixodes americanus_, L. _Hist.
Nat._ vii. 364. but it is evident from _Ulloa's_ description (_Voy._
i. 63. Engl. Trans.) that they are synonymous with the _Chigoe_, or
_Pulex penetrans_.
[146] See above p. 50.
[147] Captain Hancock, late commander of His Majesty's ship the
Foudroyant, to whose friendly exertions I am indebted for one of the
finest collections of Brazil insects ever brought to England, informs
me that they will attack any exposed part of the body. He had them
once in his hand.
[148] Piso and Margr. _Ind._ 289.
[149] p. 65.
[150] _Personal Narrative_, E. T. v. 101.
[151] _Natural. Miscell._, ii. t. 42.
[152] Lindley in the _Royal Military Chronicle_ for March 1815, p. 459.
[153] I owe this information to the late Robinson Kittoe, Esq.
formerly clerk of the Cheque in the King's Yard, Woolwich.
[154] Lesser _L._ ii. 222, note *.
[155] De Geer, vii. 154-60.
[156] _Theatr. Ins._ 270. This happened in 1503; which circumstance
refutes Southall's opinion that bugs were not known in England before
1670.
[157] Rai. _Hist. Ins._ 7. Mouffet. 269. They were called also
_punez_, from the French _punaise_.
[158] Hence our English word _Bug-bear_. In Matthews's _Bible_, Ps.
xci. 5. is rendered, "Thou shalt not nede to be afraid of any _bugs_ by
night." The word in this sense often occurs in Shakespear. _Winter's
Tale_, act iii. sc. 2. 3. _Hen._ VI. act v. sc. 2. _Hamlet_, act v. sc.
2. See Douce's _Illustrations of Shakespear_, i. 329.
[159] The Banian hospital at Surat is a most remarkable institution.
At my visit, the hospital contained horses, mules, oxen, sheep,
goats, monkeys, poultry, pigeons, and a variety of birds. The most
extraordinary ward was that appropriated to rats and mice, _bugs_,
and other noxious vermin. The overseers of the hospital frequently
hire beggars from the streets, for a stipulated sum, to pass a night
amongst the _fleas_, _lice_, and _bugs_, on the express condition of
suffering them to enjoy their feast without molestation. Forbes's
_Oriental Memoirs_.
[160] Nicholson's _Journal_, xvii. 40.
[161] Proboscis in cutem intrusa acerrimum dolorem excitat, qui tamen
brevi cessat. Rai. _Hist. Ins._ 58.
[162] One took eight drops from Reaumur, iv. 230. PLATE VII. FIG. 5.