intolerable burning sensation, and often causes considerable
inflammation. But more troublesome, and also much more numerous, are the
stinging-flies (_sancudos_). On my first arrival in the Montana, I lay
several days exceedingly ill in consequence of severe swelling of the
head and limbs, caused by the bites of these insects. To the inhabitant
of the forest the sancudos are an incessant torment. In no season of the
year, in no hour of the day or night, is there any respite from their
attacks. Rubbing the body with unctuous substances, together with the
caustic juices of certain plants, and at night enclosing one's self in a
tent made of _tucuyo_ (cotton cloth), or palm-tree bast, are the only
means of protection against their painful stings. The clothes commonly
worn are not sufficient, for they are perforated by the long sting of
the larger species, particularly of the much-dreaded
_huir-pasimi-sancudo_ (Lip-gnat). Regularly every evening at twilight
fresh swarms of these mischievous insects make their appearance.

The ticks (_ixodes_) are a class of insects destined by nature for the
suction of plants; but they often forsake trees, shrubs, and grasses, to
fasten on man and other animals. With their long sharp stings they make
punctures, in which they insert their heads, and thereby occasion very
painful sores. These insects appear to have no preference for any
particular class of animals. They are often found on the hair of dead
mammalia, and among the feathers of birds which have been shot; even the
toad, the frog, and the scaly lizard are not spared by them. Much more
troublesome than these insects are the antanas, which are not visible to
the naked eye. They penetrate the surface of the skin, and introduce
themselves beneath it, where they propagate with incredible rapidity;
and when some thousands of them are collected together, a blackish spot
appears, which quickly spreads. If these insects are not destroyed when
they first introduce themselves into the punctures, they multiply with
incalculable rapidity, destroying the skin, and all the tender parts in
contact with it. Washing with brandy, which is often found to be a
remedy against the less mischievous isancos, is not sufficient for the
removal of the antanas. For their extirpation the only effectual remedy
is frequently bathing the part affected with a mixture of spirits of
wine and corrosive sublimate.

Who can describe the countless myriads of ants which s