El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-14
Kissing Bug Again
The Beast Is Not A Stranger
To This Part OF the Coun-
try.

DIR. William Il. ASn mead, Gne emo
mologist of the Smithsonian Iustitu
ton and National Museum, has given
an interview on the kissing bug, says q
Washington dispatch. He calls 1t the
the Melanolestes picipes, and says that
the probable cause for its unusual pre-
valence this year was the continued
cold of the past winter. This he thinks
served to keep the eggs of the insect
from Matching out early In the spring
and being subsequently frozen by the
late cold snaps. The principal food Of
the Melanolestes is the caterpillar.
This creature, as is we'll known, has
appeared in unusually large numbers
during the present season. DR.. Ash
mead has had some experience with
the Melanolestes picipes, having been
bitten by one. The symptoms which
he describes are the same as those re-
ported from the emery ncy and other
hospitals at which the bug bite has
been treated.
s'The Melsnolestes, said he, "be-
longs, along with q great many other
similar tribes of bugs, to the species
Hemiptera-the Greek for half wing
one-half of the wings of the insect be-
ing mem branous and one-half calcar-
eous. The family name for them is
Reduviidse. Normally they feed on
the Juices of plants or on the blood and
juices of other insects. Ihave seen one
of the species suck the body of a cater
pillar as dry of its juices as a bone.
The creatures are also fond of warm
blooded animals.
1.-The Melanolestes is found mostly
In the east aud he differs from his
cousins in the west and southwest in
being less fierce. Down in Arizona
and Texas these creatures are known
as the great big bedbug,' and frequent
complaints come to the Smithsonian
from the parts of the country infested
with them. They have been known
down there to attack memories and to
do great damage among the fowls by
biting and poisoning them.
SIT will be perfectly useless to attempt
to fight the insect, as on account OF
it's habit of travelling and working at
night it has mankind at q peculiar dis
advantage. Nature has q method OF
keeping down the members of this
species by providing millions of para
sites, which prey on it's eggs. New
jersey is the native home OF two fam
lilies of this creature, the Picipes me-
lanolestes and the Picipes abdomin-
alis."
The kissing bug excitement in this
section started about two weeks ago,
when two of his friends drove John
Talbot, colored, of 20l7 Green court,
around to the Emergency hospital.
Talb said that while he was sitting
in his express wagon waiting for q job
he was made drowsy by the heat and
fell asleep. In about half an hour he
awoke TO find his upper lip twice as big
hadn't felt anything bite or sting him,
and he couldn't guess what had hap
pened to him 50 suddenly.
And then Henry Richards, butcher,
and Charles Armstead, laborer, were
brought in for treatment. The symp-
toms in their cases were practically
the same. They we're awakened in the
night to find their faces swelling up.
They felt nothing bite or sting them,
although the swelling became very I'M
comfortable and soon assumed alarming
proportions. Their lips especially felt
as if they were going to burst. No in
dication of q skin puncture could be
found and they were treated for ner-
vous disorder. The treatment along
with the soothing remedies applied,
proved very successful and they we're
soon dismissed.
After that the cases began to come
in with more frequency. Scarcely q
day passed that some one was not driv-
en- up to the Emergency hospital with
hand, lip or some other part of the
physiognomy swollen out of all proper
ton. Talbot was the only patient at
tackled by day.
Wise people began to form theories
as to the cause of the trouble, and COM
munications embodying these were
printed at length in the newspapers.
John s. Blankman headed the party
who believed that over indulgence in
strawberries brought on the trouble.
He said in q communication to an af-
w a
was an epidemic of strawberry poison
ing. Although he gained many adher-
ents, the Emergency hospital physi-
clans knocked his theory cold by a case
which came to them for treatment of q
man who did not eat Strawberries.
They presented other evidence to COM
bat this theory and in favor of their
diagnosis of nervous affection.
A little more than week ago one OF
the assistants in the chronological
bureau of the Agricultural department
was sitting in his study about 10 O'Clock
st night, pursuing his researches into
the nature of bugs and insects. He is
an expert in that line, and when a
little black creature flew upon his
hand auds inflicted severe bite, in
stead of following the course of lang
uage and action that would occur to au
ordinary man, he Immediately institu-
ted q search. He was rewarded by
finding couple of specimens of the
biting insect, and, true to his scient ific
instincts, he pick ed them up carefully
and impaled them on a couple of con-
venient pins before dressing his wound
The next day his hand was swollen
much after the manner of the Emer-
gency cases reported in the papers. But
this did not deter him from identifying
his brace of insects as two members OF
that rare and bloodthirsty family OF
creatures known to the world of ento-
mology by the title of Melanolestes pi-
cipes The case was reported to Prof