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Show • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. 72 .BOOK r. They abound in the hot parts, or where the air is very. dry althou~h ~ the heat is but moderate; and their poifon is fo achve as to ktU children and' occafion terrible pain to adults. It has been remarked, that th~ poifon of the [mall, yellowi!h fcorpio~ is . mor~ powerful than that of the large brown one, and that the1r ftmg IS the moll: dangerous during thofe hours of the day when the fun gives mofi: heat. Among the great variety of fpiders, we cannot pafs ~ver. the Ta .. rantola and Cafampulga (e). The name of Tarantola IS g1ven very improperly, in that country, to a very large fpid~r, the back .and legs of which are covered with a fine, foft, blackl!h down, ltke that upon young chickens. This fpider is peculiar to the hot countries, and is found in houfes as well as in the. fields. It is fuppofed to be poifonous, and it is generally believed that .if a horfe tramples upon one, he very foon loofes his hoof; but I have never known a fingle inftance of this happening, although I was for five years in a very hot country where thofe fpiders we~e in great numbers. The Cafampulga is a fmall fpider of the fize of a chick pea, with lhort l egs, and a red belly. This fpider is venemous, and common in the diocefs of Chiapa, and elfewhere. ~t feems to anfwer to the defcription of what is called the Ragno capullino in other countries, but I do not know whether it is the fame. The moil: common ants of that country are of three kinds : fidl, the finall black ants the fame with thofe of Europe; next, the large red an~s called by the Spaniards bravaJ, or fierce, which give very painful wounds with their ftings: and laftly, th¢ large brown ants, called by the Spaniards harrieras, 1 or carriers, becaufe they are continually employed in carrying grain for their provifion, and for that reafan they are much more hurtful to the country than the common ants. The.fe carrier ants have been fuffered by the carele!fnefs of the inhabitants in fome places to multiply to excefs; and in the province of Xicayan black lines are feen upon the earth for feveral miles, whic~ confift of nothing but of thofe ants going and coming. (r) I ~ufpca that the orir;inal name of this fpider has been Cazapulga or flea-killer, ,::or-ruptcd 10 .a manner commo-11 ~o the vulgar, into Cafal)'lpulga. ~ , · Befides II I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C O. Bcfi~es th.e three fpeci:s already mentioned, there is a fingular kind of ant m Michuacan wh1ch, perhaps, is to be met with in other provinces. It is larger than the common ant, with a greyilh-coloured body and a black head. Upon its hinder parts it carries a little ba ~ull ~f a. v:ry fweet liquor, which the children are very fond of, a!d unagme It IS ~ honey made by the ant like that made by the bee, but I rathe~ tak~ It to be eggs. Mr. de la Barrere, in his Natural Hiftory of Eqmnochal France,. takes notice of fuch ants being found in Cayenne; bu~ thofe are w111ged ants, and ours are without wings. . The N.1gua or Chegoe, called in ·other countries Pique, is an exccedmg fi~all mfeCl:, not very unlike a flea, which, in fome hot countries is bre~ m .the duft. It .fixes upon the feet, and breaking infenfibly the ~ut1cle~ It nefiles betwtxt that and the true !kin, which alfo, unlefs it is Immediately taken out, it breaks, and pierces at laft to the flelh multi~ lyi~g ~ith a rapidity almoft incredible. It is feldom difcov~red un~ tl It p:erces th: true ~dn, when it caufes an intolerable itching. Thefe mfeCl:s wtth thetr afionilhing multiplication would foon difpeo~ le thofe countries, were it kfs eafy to avoid them, or were the inhabitants lefs dextrous in getting them out before they begin to fpread. ~n the othet: hand, nature, in order to leffen the evil, has not only demed them wmgs, but even that conformation of the legs, and thofe !hong mufcles whi~h he has given to the flea for leaping. The po<>r however~ who arc m fome melfure doomed to 1 ive in the duft, and to a habitual negleCt: of their perfon s, fuffer thefe infeCts fometimes to multiply fo far as to make large h.oles in their flelh, and even to occafion dangerous wou.nds. What the Niguas or Chcgoes do in houfes, is <!lone in the .fields by the ticks, of which there are two fpecies or rather claffes. The firfi: a~·e comm.on in the new, as well as the old world, w!1ich .fix in ·the ik.ms of fhe.ep, h.orfes, and other quadrupeds, and get into their ears, and fomet1mes mto -thofe of men . ~he other abounds in .the grafs of the hot countriesJ from which .it ~eadtly ge~s upon the cloaths, and from thefe to the fkin, upon which Jt fixe~ :"1th fuch force from the particular il1ape of its feet, that it is very dlfii~ult to detach it, and if it is not fpee ily removed makes a WGund hke that made by the Nigu1 or Chegoe. A t firft it feems Vor . . I. L nothing 73 HOOK J, ~ |