A note in the BMJ, June 25, 1938:

Bed-bug in the Human Ear

Dr. N. VERE-HODGE (St. George’s Hospital) and Mr. A. W. MCKENNY HUGHES (British Museum, Natural History) write: On June 6 a middle-aged woman attended St. George’s Hospital complaining of discomfort and a feeling of fullness and noises in one ear; she was awakened and prevented from sleeping by these symptoms. She did not complain of pain. When examined she was clean in her person and no other external parasites were seen. Both ears were seen to be full of wax and on washing out the affected side much wax appeared followed by a live insect—a male specimen of Cimex lectularius Linn., the bed-bug. This occurrence is so rare—in fact this is thought to be the first record in Great Britain—that it seems worth reporting.

And yet was it worth reporting that she was “clean in her person” too?

These pages may be of related interest:

1. The extravagant optimism of the DDT era
2. No good in an ambush
3. You have been on a Dundee tram, I perceive
4. Strange indicators: bed bug infested electronics in 1968 Finland
5. Johnson’s hut, part 1.5