rax, and elytra remaining.--_Ann. & Mag. Nat.
Hist._ May, 1853.]

_Ticks_.--Ticks are to be classed among the intolerable nuisances to the
Ceylon traveller. They live in immense numbers in the jungle[1], and
attaching themselves to the 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 inserting 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.

[Footnote 1: Dr. HOOKER, in his _Himalayan Journal_, vol. 1. p. 279, in
speaking of the multitude of these creatures in the mountains of Nepal,
wonders what they find to feed on, as in these humid forests in which
they literally swarmed, there was neither pathway nor animal life. In
Ceylon they abound everywhere in the plains on the low brushwood; and in
the very driest seasons they are quite as numerous as at other times. In
the mountain zone, which is more humid, they are less prevalent. Dogs
are tormented by them; and they display something closely allied to
cunning in always fastening on an animal in those parts where they
cannot be torn off by his paws; on his eyebrows, the tips of his ears,
and the back of his neck. With a corresponding instinct I have always
observed in the gambols of the Pariah dogs, that they invariably
commence their attentions by mutually gnawing each other's ears and
necks, as if in pursuit of ticks from places from which each is unable
to expel them for himself. Horses have a similar instinct; and when they
meet, they apply their teeth to the roots of the ears of their
companions, to the neck and the crown of the head. The buffaloes and
oxen are relieved of ticks by the crows which rest on their backs as
they browse, and free them from these pests. In the low country the same
acceptable office is performed by the "cattle-keeper heron" (_Ardea
bubu