John Southall

“ We eat a Biscuit, drank some Beer, and to dressing the Beef with some Yams out of his Plantation, he eagerly went: all Negroes being greedy of Flesh, when they can come at it; some of them not eating any for many Years together, but live altogether on the Produce of the Earth. ”

“ Buggs, tho’ nasty to us, are so cleanly to themselves, that they quit their places of Harbour to come out and dung, and their Excrements leave a Mark or Stain like that of a Fly, but somewhat blacker; and wherever you see such Marks, if on Wood, look for the nearest Crevise, Knot, or Streak; if on Walls, for the nearest Crack or Hole; if on Furniture, for the nearest Seam, Lace, Tape, or Fold, and there assuredly are the Vermin, and there apply the Remedy.
In Winter-time, few, if any, are to be found by day-light in the Furniture of a Bed; but in the Wood-work, Wainscot, or Walls only. ”

“ And as Fevers, and Swellings attending and prolonging the Cure of Fractures, are accounted for the same way; why may it not by the same parity of Reason be admitted, that the Bite or Wound of a Bugg should swell and inflame such only whose Blood is out of order; and tho’ they do bite, cause no Inflammations on any in right order of Blood?
The best Reason which can be given in support of this Error, is, That where two Persons lie in one Bed, one shall be apparently bit, the other not.
Buggs indeed, where there are two Sorts, may feed most on that Blood which best pleases their Palate ”

“ That Liberty having render’d Life more agreeable to him, he then studied all means to preserve it, and having some knowledge of things [13] proper to preserve as well as support him, he had ever since planted, &c. in his Plantation, things proper for Physick as well as Food.
And indeed his Ground might be called a Physick-Garden, rather than a Provision-Plantation; for of the latter he only raised enough to support himself, of the former to supply others as well as himself, and frequently made Medicines for his sick Acquaintance and others with success. ”

“ Builders are more blameable than they: for in Houses built for Sale, old Wainscot-Doors, Chimney-Pieces, &c. are oft put up for Cheapness, painted over, and pass for new; thus the Houses in Hanover and Grosvenor-Squares, &c. were supplied before inhabited.
In taking of Houses, new or old, and in buying Bedsteds, Furniture, &c. examine carefully if you can find Bugg-marks. If you find such, though you see not the Vermin, you may assure yourself they are nevertheless infected. ”

“ Having shewn that they not only live in Winter, but asserted that to be the best Season for their total Destruction, I must further observe, that few People caring to trouble themselves about Buggs but when they themselves are troubled by them, [31] having confin’d the Attempts for their Destruction chiefly to the Breeding-Season, has been the sole Reason why the best Efforts for their Destruction have fail’d. ”

“ The Use of their Horns is in Fight to assail their Enemies, or defend themselves. With the Sting they penetrate and wound our Skins, and then (tho’ the Wound is so small as to be almost imperceptible) they thence by Suction extract their most delicious Food, our Blood. ”

“ In Summer they lie in more open Quarters, and spread, and then are not in any measure to be reduced, but by such Liquors as you may safely touch the Furniture with all over: if none such you have, you may depend that mine will not stain or any way hurt the richest Velvet, Silk, or Stuff, not even Scarlet, which almost every thing else will do. ”

“ Of the Spawn and different Gradations of Buggs, I shall now give you an exact Account.
The Eggs or Nits are white, and having when spawn’d a clammy glutinous Substance, they flick to any thing spawn’d upon, and by Heat come to Maturity and Life. The Eggs are oval, and as small as the smallest Maw-feed. ”

“ Wild Buggs are watchful and cunning, and tho’ timorous of us, yet in fight one with another, are very fierce; I having often seen some (that I brought up from a day old, always inur’d to Light and Company) fight as eagerly as Dogs or Cocks, and sometimes one or both have died on the Spot. From those so brought up tame, I made the greatest Discoveries.
They are hot in Nature, generate often, and shoot their Spawn all at once, and then leave it, as Fish do. ”

“ Whilst we were in discourse, he perceiving me often rub and scratch, where my Face and Eyes were much swelled with Bugg-Bites, asked if Chintses, (so Buggs are by Negroes and some others there called) had bit me? On my answering, yes; he said, he wonder’d white Men should let them bite; they should do something to kill them, as he did. ”

“ Rules for the Thinning of their young-sett Fruits, so as to leave no more than Nature can strongly support, and ripen in the greatest Perfection. 5. For preserving and ordering young Fruits from their Blossoms to the time of their Maturity. ”

“ Press-beds, Chest of Drawers Beds and Bed-steds, without Furniture, 5 s. each.
Wainscot Walls, Hangings, &c. behind and near the Bed-sted are clear’d with the Beds at the above Prices: but if spread all over the Room and Furniture, then an additional Price is expected.
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For Expedition and Safety, and to prevent Trouble to his Customers, or Impositions on them or himself, the Author takes his own Servants with him, to take down and put up such Parts of Beds, Wainscot, Hangings, &c. as he finds necessary; and always puts them up in full as good, if not better Order, than he finds them. ”

“ A Bugg’s Body is shaped and shelled, and the Shell as transparent and finely striped as the most beautiful amphibious Turtle; has six Legs most exactly shaped, jointed and bristled as the Legs of a Crab. ”

“ The many Experiments by me shown at the Hospitals in the hardest Frosts last Winter, and in the Houses of the Nobility and Gentry, and to Sir Hans Sloane the 30th of December 1729, will, I hope, be deem’d a sufficient Refutation of that Error: For in the coldest Seasons the Application of my Liquor with a Feather only, made the Vermin bolt out of their Holes, and die before their faces.
This they will do all the Year round in the coldest or hottest Wea [28] ther. ”

“ Chests and Casks, Linnens, and Paper, being [34] stiffened with Paste, afford them Food, and are consequently most dangerous.
If you have occasion to change Servants, let their Boxes, Trunks, &c. be well examin’d before carried into your Rooms, lest their coming from infected Houses should prove dangerous to yours.
Examine well all Furniture that comes in, before you set it up, Beds especially; which I recommend should be plain, and as free from Wood-work as possible, and made to draw out, that the Wainscot and Walls may be better come at, to clear them from Buggs and Dirt. ”

“ Those that have a mind to have new Beds thus made, or old ones alter’d, are to observe, That the Head-posts of the Bedsted are to be no higher than just to support a Wainscot Head-board, the Tester-lath supports the Rod as usual; in the Rail are to be nine Holes drilled in, but not quite thro’ ”

“ By often nightly watching and daily observing them with the best of Helps, having discover’d Males from Females, I determin’d, and then did put up a Pair in a Glass, as believing that to keep them the Year round, would be the only and best way to find the Nature of their breeding, feeding, &c. ”

“ They generally spawn about fifty at a time, of which Spawn about forty odd in about three Weeks time usually, (but sometimes two or three days more or less, according as the [25] Weather proves more or less hot) come to life; the Residue proving addle, as do often the Eggs of Hens, &c.
Thus they spawn four times in a Season; viz. in March, May, July, and September: by which ’tis apparent to a Demonstration, that from every Pair that lives out the Season, about two hundred Eggs or Nits are produc’d ”