The hotter parts both of North and South America breed a little worm, the daily cause of many groans, and not a few deaths. In appearance, and in its manner of skipping, it resembles the smallest of all possible fleas, and is hardly visible to the keenest eye, except in a very strong light, but so pungent that it must be felt by every one that is not made of stone or iron. This insect has so sharp a proboscis that it will pierce shoes, boots, gaiters, and every kind of clothing. It adheres a little while to the skin, and then penetrates the flesh, causing an intense itching: concealed there, as under a burrow, it surrounds itself with a round whitish little bladder, which it fills with eggs like the smallest nits. If this bladder remain many days under the skin, it increases to the size of a pea. This is a common sight. The longer the bladder adheres to the body, the more is the sense of pain deadened. Children are much the fittest to rout this enemy from his station, for the strong sight they possess enables them immediately to discover the little red spot which denotes the place where the worm has entered the flesh. The circumference of that spot they prick with a needle, gradually open the skin and flesh, and at length pluck out the whole bladder with the little worm buried amongst its nits. When this is put to a candle, it goes off with a noise like gunpowder. But if the bladder be broken in the operation, the humour effused from thence will occasion further pain, and the nits, by being scattered, will breed fresh worms in the same place. That this gnat teems with poisonous matter is evident from the circumstance that the hollow from which it has been eradicated, not unfrequently inflames, swells, and, unless quickly remedied, becomes gangrenous. The nails of the feet, which they frequently attack, always decay and fall off, and, to preserve life, it is often necessary to amputate the toes. Those who wish to guard against this inconvenience, should study cleanliness in their houses, for the said worms derive their origin from dust, excrement, and urine in a hot climate, and are bred in places which are seldom swept, which have been long uninhabited, and where the cold air has no access to dry the moisture. The stalls of oxen, horses, and mules, though in the open air, and without a roof, swarm with them. In the southern parts of Paraguay, where the air is not so hot, this noxious insect is unknown; indeed it is seen no where but in the territories of Buenos-Ayres, and Cordoba of the Tucumans. After passing six years in Paraguay, I was only acquainted with it by name, and it was not till my removal to the colony of St. Ferdinand, that I began to see, to suffer and to execrate this pest. Persons who live in a place infested by these insects, should have their feet daily examined; for however troublesome this inspection may be, much greater inconvenience will be incurred by the neglect of it. At one sitting a