d for the
feelings of animals--they appear honestly to think that they have
none--and they delight in forming a chain of scorpions by making them
grip each other, which they do fiercely, and hang on tenaciously. Boys
will also nip off the end of their tail to prevent them from stinging,
and leave them in this maimed condition.

Wherever Indians live, bugs are invariably found. Hence in schools
where many Indian children are gathered together these insects are
sure to find an entrance, in spite of vigilant care and cleanliness.
When the small boys of the Mission moved out from their old quarters
in the city, which like all old native houses was much infested,
immense pains were taken to make sure that no bug was transported to
the new home in the country. But it was not long before these
intruders showed themselves in the new house. Possibly they fulfil
some useful but at present unknown function as destroyers of microbes.

Spiders are much in evidence, and some are very large and fierce. Out
in the country I once fairly ran away from a great spider, which made
for my foot with a courage and ferocity such as one would not expect
to find in an animal of the kind. But they are not altogether
unwelcome in a house, because they help to keep down the population of
the insect world. There is a handsome little spider who spins no web,
and roves about, and springs on its victim like a tiger.

Mosquitoes are the most troublesome insects to be found in the
tropics, although some districts are much more infested than others.
There are several different kinds. The one that causes the most
irritation is smaller than the average English gnat. They are
veritable bloodsuckers, and the amount of blood which a mosquito can
imbibe is astonishing. They may be seen so distended after their
night's work that they can scarcely fly. Newcomers from England are
their special prey, and their bites often cause a good deal of
inflammation. The loud hum with which they approach is almost as
disturbing as their bite. Most English people have nets of fine gauze
surrounding their beds, and some Indians have adopted the same
precaution since the promulgation of the theory that the bite of an
infected mosquito is the cause of malarial fever. Natives when they
sleep, generally roll themselves up completely, head and all, in a
_dhota_, which they use then after the manner of a sheet. The
mosquito-nets cut off a good deal of air, and people are tempted to