{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_41625/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_41625","id":"gutenberg_41625","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41625","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Insects"],"text":"CURIOUS FACTS\n  IN THE\n  HISTORY OF INSECTS;\n\n  INCLUDING\n  SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS.\n\n  A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF THE LEGENDS, SUPERSTITIONS, BELIEFS,\n  AND OMINOUS SIGNS CONNECTED WITH INSECTS; TOGETHER\n  WITH THEIR USES IN MEDICINE, ART, AND AS FOOD;\n  AND A SUMMARY OF THEIR REMARKABLE\n  INJURIES AND APPEARANCES.\n\n  BY\n  FRANK COWAN.\n\n\n  PHILADELPHIA:\n  J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.\n  1865.\n\n  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865,\n  by J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,\n  In the Clerk\u2019s Office of the District Court of the United States\n  for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.\n\n\n  TO\n  MISS CATHARINE STOY\n  THE FOLLOWING PAGES\n  ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED\n  BY HER FRIEND,\n  THE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn the early part of the winter of 1863-4, having the free use of the\nCongressional Library at Washington, I began the compilation of the\npresent work. It was my prime intent, and one which I have endeavored to\nfollow most carefully, to attach some fact, whatever might be its\nnature, to as many Insects as possible, to increase the interest, in a\ncommonplace way, of the science of Entomology. I noticed the pleasurable\nsatisfaction I invariably felt when I came accidentally upon any\nextra-scientific fact, and how the association fixed the particular\nInsect, to which it related, ineffaceably upon my memory. To collect and\ngroup, then, all these facts together, to remember many Insects as\neasily as one,--was a natural thought; and as this had never been done,\nbut to a very limited extent, I undertook it myself.\n\nThe facts contained in this volume are supposed to be purely historical,\nor rather not to belong to the natural history of Insects, namely, their\nanatomy, habits, classification, etc. They have been collected mostly\nfrom Chronicles, Histories, Books of Travels, and such like works,\nwhich, at first view, seem to be totally foreign to Insects: and were\nonly discovered by examination of the indexes and tables of contents.\n\nBut are my facts _facts_?--it may be asked. They are; but I do not vouch\nfor each one\u2019s containing more than one truth. It is a fact, or truth if\nyou will, that Pliny, Nat. Hist. xi. 34, says, \u201cFolke use to hang\nBeetles about the neck of young babes, as present remedies against many\nmaladies;\u201d but that this statement is entitled to credit, and that these\nInsects, hung about the necks of young babes, _are_ a present remedy\nagainst many maladies, are two things which may be very true or far\notherwise. I confine myself to the fact that Pliny says so, and only\nwish to be understood in that sense, unless when otherwise stated.\n\nThe classification of Mr. Westwood, in the arrangement of the orders and\nfamilies, I have followed as closely as was possible, except in one or\ntwo instances: and where Insects have common and familiar names, they\nhave been given together with their scientific ones.\n\nTo Dr. J. M. Toner, of Washington, for his suggestions and assistance in\ncollecting material, I tender my thanks; the same also to N. Bushnell,\nEsq., and Hon. O. H. Browning, of Quincy, Ill., for the use of their\nseveral libraries.\n\nI am much indebted, too, to Mrs. A. L. Ruter Dufour, of Washington, for\nmany superstitions and two pieces of poetry contained in this volume. I\nbeg her to accept my thanks.\n\n    GREENSBURG, PENNA.,\n      July 10th, 1865.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  AUTHORS QUOTED                                    9\n\n\n  COLEOPTERA--BEETLES.\n\n  Coccinellid\u00e6--Lady-birds                         17\n\n  Chrysomelid\u00e6--Gold-beetles                       23\n\n  Carabid\u00e6                                         23\n\n  Pausid\u00e6                                          23\n\n  Dermestid\u00e6--Leather-beetles                      24\n\n  Lucanid\u00e6--Stag-beetles                           24\n\n  Scarab\u00e6id\u00e6--Dung-beetles                         27\n\n  Dynastid\u00e6--Hercules-beetles, etc.                45\n\n  Melolonthid\u00e6--Cock-chafers                       47\n\n  Cetoniid\u00e6--Rose-chafers                          49\n\n  Buprestid\u00e6--Burn-cows                            50\n\n  Elaterid\u00e6--Fire-flies, Spring-beetles, etc.      51\n\n  Lampyrid\u00e6--Glow-worms                            55\n\n  Ptinid\u00e6--Death-watch, etc.                       58\n\n  Bostrichid\u00e6--Typographer-beetle, etc.            61\n\n  Cantharid\u00e6--Blister-flies                        62\n\n  Tenebrionid\u00e6--Meal-worms                         65\n\n  Blapsid\u00e6--Church-yard-beetle, etc.               65\n\n  Curculionid\u00e6--Weevils                            68\n\n  Cerambycid\u00e6--Musk-beetles                        72\n\n  Galerucid\u00e6--Turnip-fly, etc.                     74\n\n\n  EUPLEXOPTERA.\n\n  Forficulid\u00e6--Ear-wigs                            76\n\n\n  ORTHOPTERA.\n\n  Blattid\u00e6--Cockroaches                            78\n\n  Mantid\u00e6--Soothsayers, etc.                       82\n\n  Achetid\u00e6--Crickets                               92\n\n  Gryllid\u00e6--Grasshoppers                           98\n\n  Locustid\u00e6--Locusts                              101\n\n\n  NEUROPTERA.\n\n  Termitid\u00e6--White-ants                           132\n\n  Ephemerid\u00e6--Day-flies                           138\n\n  Libellulid\u00e6--Dragon-flies                       138\n\n  Myrmeleonid\u00e6--Ant-lions                         141\n\n\n  HYMENOPTERA.\n\n  Urocerid\u00e6--Sirex                                142\n\n  Cynipid\u00e6--Gall-flies                            143\n\n  Formicid\u00e6--Ants                                 146\n\n  Vespid\u00e6--Wasps, Hornets                         170\n\n  Apid\u00e6--Bees                                     174\n\n\n  LEPIDOPTERA.\n\n  Papilionid\u00e6--Butterflies                        216\n\n  Sphingid\u00e6--Hawk-moths                           232\n\n  Bombicid\u00e6--Silkworm-moths                       234\n\n  Arctiid\u00e6--Woolly-bear-moths                     242\n\n  Psychid\u00e6--Wood-carrying-moth, etc.              245\n\n  Noctuid\u00e6--Antler-moth, Cut-worm, etc.           246\n\n  Geometrid\u00e6--Span-worms                          248\n\n  Tineid\u00e6--Clothes\u2019-moths, Bee-moths, etc.        248\n\n\n  HOMOPTERA.\n\n  Cicadid\u00e6--Harvest-flies                         250\n\n  Fulgorid\u00e6--Lantern-flies                        255\n\n  Aphid\u00e6--Plant-lice                              257\n\n  Coccid\u00e6--Shield-lice                            259\n\n\n  HETEROPTERA.\n\n  Cimicid\u00e6--Bed-bugs                              265\n\n  Notonectid\u00e6--Water-boatmen                      275\n\n\n  DIPTERA.\n\n  Culicid\u00e6--Gnats                                 278\n\n  Tipulid\u00e6--Crane-flies                           286\n\n  Muscid\u00e6--Flies                                  287\n\n  \u0152strid\u00e6--Bot-flies                              302\n\n\n  APHANIPTERA.\n\n  Pulicid\u00e6--Fleas                                 305\n\n\n  ANOPLEURA.\n\n  Pediculid\u00e6--Lice                                316\n\n\n  ARACHNID\u00c6.\n\n  Acarid\u00e6--Mites                                  321\n\n  Phalangid\u00e6--Daddy-Long-legs                     321\n\n  Pedipalpi--Scorpions                            321\n\n  Araneid\u00e6--True-spiders                          332\n\n  MISCELLANEOUS                                   363\n\n  INDEX                                           373\n\n\n\n\nAUTHORS QUOTED.\n\n\nALEXANDER, SIR JAS. EDW. Exped. of Disc. into Interior of Africa. 2 v.\n12mo., London, 1838.\n\nANDERSON, CHAS. ROSS. Lake Ngami; or, Explor. and Disc. during four\nyears wanderings in S. W. Africa. 8vo., New York, 1856.\n\nANDREWS, JAMES PETTIT. Anecdotes, etc., Ancient and Modern. New edit.\n8vo., London, 1790.\n\nASIATICK MISCELLANY. 2 v. 4to., Calcutta, 1785, 1786.\n\nASTLEY, THOMAS. New Gen. Collection of Voyages and Travels in Europe,\nAsia, Africa, and America. 4 v. 4to., London, 1745-1747.\n\nAUBREY, JOHN. Miscellanies upon various subjects. 16mo. 4th edit.,\nLondon, 1857.\n\n\nBACKHOUSE, JAMES. Narrat. of Visit to Mauritius and S. Africa. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1844.\n\nBAIRD, WILLIAM. Cyclop\u00e6dia of Natural Sciences. 8vo., London and\nGlasgow, 1858.\n\nBANCROFT, EDWARD. Essay on the Nat. Hist. of Guiana, in S. America.\n8vo., London, 1769.\n\nBANCROFT, EDWARD. On Permanent Colours. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1813.\n\nBARTER, CHARLES. The Dorp and the Veld. 16mo., London, 1852.\n\nBARTH, HENRY. Travels and Discov. in North and Central Africa, from 1849\nto 1855. 5 v. 8vo., London, 1857-1858.\n\nBIOGRAPHIE UNIVERSELLE, ANCIENNE ET MODERNE. 84 v. 8vo., Paris,\n1811-1857.\n\nBJ\u00d6RNSTJERNA, COUNT M. Theogony of the Hindoos. 8vo., London, 1844.\n\nBOSMAN, WILLIAM. New and Accurate Desc. of Coast of Guinea. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1705.\n\nBOYLE, ROBERT. Works. New edit. 6 v. royal 4to., London, 1772.\n\nBRANDE, JOHN. Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain.\n3 v. 12mo., London, 1853-5.\n\nBRAY, ANNA ELIZA. Tamar and the Tavy. 3 v. 12mo., London, 1836.\n\nBROWNE, SIR THOMAS. Works; including his life and Correspondence. 4 v.\n8vo., London, 1835.\n\nBROWN, THOMAS. Book of Butterflies, Sphinges, and Moths. 2d edit. 3 v.\n16mo., London, 1834.\n\nBURMEISTER, HERMANN. Manual of Entomology. Tr. by W. E. Shuckard. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1836.\n\nBURTON, RICHD. F. The City of the Saints. 8vo., London, 1861.\n\nBUTLER, ALBAN. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal\nSaints. 12 v. 8vo., London, 1854.\n\nBUTLER, CHARLES. Feminine Monarchie. 16mo., Oxford, 1609.\n\n\nCAMPANIUS, THOMAS. Short Desc. of Province of New Sweden; now called by\nthe English Pennsylvania, in America. Tr. by Peter S. Ponceau. 8vo.,\nPhilad., 1834.\n\nCAMPBELL, JOHN. Travels in S. Africa, undertaken at the request of the\nMissionary Society. 3d edit. 8vo., London, 1815.\n\nCARPENTER, WM. BENJ. Zoology. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1847.\n\nCHAMBERS, ROBERT. Book of Days. Royal 8vo., London, 1862-3.\n\n---- ---- Hist. of Scotland. 2 v. 12mo., London, 1830.\n\n---- ---- Domestic Animals of Scotland from the Reformation to the\nRevolution. 2 v. 8vo., Edinb. and London, 1859.\n\n---- ---- Popular Rhymes of Scotland. 16mo., Edinburgh, 1826.\n\n---- ---- Select Writings; Popular Rhymes of Scotland. 16mo.,\nEdinburgh, 1841.\n\nCHAMBERS, WILLIAM AND ROBERT. Edinburgh Journal, Feb. 1832 to Dec. 1843.\n12 v. in 6 v. folio, London, 1833-\u201944.\n\n---- ---- New Series. Jan. 1844 to Dec. 1853. 20 v. in 10 v. royal\n8vo., London, 1844-\u201954.\n\n---- ---- Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art. 10 v. in\n5 v. 8vo., Edinburgh, 1854-\u201958.\n\nCHURCHILL, AWNSHAM AND JOHN. Collection of Voyages and Travels. 6 v.\nfolio, London, 1732.\n\nCOLEMAN, CHARLES. Mythology of the Hindus. 4to., London, 1832.\n\nCOLTON, WALTER. Three Years in California. 12mo., New York, 1850.\n\nCURTIS, JOHN. Farm Insects. Royal 8vo., London, 1860.\n\nCUVIER, G. L. C. F. BARON. Animal Kingdom. By Edwd. Griffeth and others.\n16 v. royal 8vo., London, 1827-\u201935.\n\n\nDARRELL, WILLIAM. History of Dover Castle. 4to., London, 1797.\n\nDARWIN, CHARLES. Journ. of Research into Nat. Hist. and Geol. of\nCountries visited during Voy. of H. M. S. Beagle, round the world. New\nedit. 12mo., London, 1852.\n\nDIAZ DEL CASTILLO, BERNAL. Memoirs and Disc. and Conq. of Mexico and New\nSpain. Tr. by John J. Lockhart. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1844.\n\nDIODORUS THE SICILIAN, Historical Library of, in fifteen books;\nFragments, etc. Tr. by G. Booth. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1814.\n\nDONOVAN, EDWARD. Nat. Hist. of Insects of China. 4to., London, 1842.\n\nDRAYSON, ALFRED W. Sporting Scenes in S. Africa. 8vo., London, 1858.\n\nDU HALDE, J. B. General Hist. of China, etc. 4 v. 8vo., London, 1836.\n\n\nFABYAN, ROBERT. New Chronicles of England and France. 4to., London,\n1811.\n\nFLEMING, FRANCIS. Kaffraria. 12mo., London, 1853.\n\nFORBES, JAMES. Oriental Memoirs. 4 v. 4to., London, 1813.\n\nFOSBROKE, THOS. DUDLEY. Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities. 2 v. 4to., London,\n1825.\n\n\nGASSENDUS, PETRUS. Mirrour of true Nobility and Gentility. Life of\nPeiresc. Tr. by W. Rand. 8vo., London, 1657.\n\nGENTLEMAN\u2019S MAGAZINE. 202 v. 8vo., London, 1731-1859.\n\nGOLDSMITH, OLIVER. Hist. of the Earth, and Animated Nature. 4 v. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1826.\n\nGOOD, JOHN MASON. Study of Medicine. 4th edit. 4 v. 8vo., London, 1840.\n\nGOSSE, PHILIP HENRY. Naturalist\u2019s Sojourn in Jamaica. 12mo., London,\n1851.\n\nGROSIER, ABBE J. B. G. A. Genl. Desc. of China. 2d edit. 2 v. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1795.\n\n\nHARLEIAN MISCELLANY. 12 v. 8vo., London, 1808-1811.\n\nHARRIS, JOHN. Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca; or, a Complete\nCol. of Voy. and Travels. 2 v. folio, London, 1744, 1748.\n\nHAWKINS, SIR JOHN. General Hist. of the Science and Practice of Music.\n5 v. 4to., London, 1776.\n\nHAWKS, FRANCIS L. Monuments of Egypt. 8vo., New York, 1850.\n\nHOLINSHED, RAPHAEL. Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 6 v.\n4to., London, 1807-8.\n\nHOLMAN, JAMES. Travels in Brazil, Cape Colony, etc. 2d edit. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1840.\n\nHONE, WILLIAM. Every-Day Book and Table Book. 3 v. royal 8vo., London,\n1838.\n\nHORNE, THOMAS HARTWELL. Introd. to the Study of Bibliography. 2 v. in 1,\n8vo., London, 1814.\n\nHOUDIN, ROBERT. Autobiograpical Memoirs. 12mo., Philad., 1859.\n\nHUBER, PIERRE. Nat. Hist. of Ants. Tr. by J. R. Johnson. 12mo., London,\n1820.\n\nHUGHES, GRIFFITH. Nat. Hist. of Barbados. Folio, London, 1750.\n\n\nINSECTORUM SIVE MINIMORUM ANIMALIUM THEATRUM. Thos. Moufeti oper\u00e2\nperfectum. Folio, Londoni, 1634.\n\n\nJACKSON, JAMES GREY. Acct. of Empire of Marocco, and Districts of Suse\nand Tafilelt. 2d edit. 4to., London, 1811.\n\nJENKINS, JOHN S. Voy. of U. S. Exploring Squadron, commanded by Capt.\nChas. Wilkes; from 1838 to 1842. 8vo., Auburn, 1852.\n\nJONES, JOHN MATTHEW. Naturalist in Bermuda. 12mo., London, 1859.\n\nJOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS. Genuine Works. Tr. by William Whiston. Folio, London,\n1737.\n\nJOSSELYN, JOHN. Acct. of Two Voyages to New England. 16mo., London,\n1674.\n\n\nKALM, PETER. Travels into North America. Tr. by John R. Foster. 2 v.\n8vo., London, 1859.\n\nKIDDER, DANL. P., and J. C. FLETCHER. Brazil and the Brazilians. Royal\n8vo., Philad., 1857.\n\nKIRBY, R. S. Wonderful and Eccentric Museum; or, Mag. of Remarkable\nCharacters. 6 v. 8vo., London, 1820.\n\nKIRBY, WILLIAM, and WILLIAM SPENCE. Introduction to Entomology. 5th\nedit. 4 v. 8vo., London, 1829.\n\nKNOX, ROBERT. Hist. Relation of the Island of Ceylon. 4to., London,\n1817.\n\nKOLBEN, PETER. Pres. State of Cape of Good Hope. Tr. by Mr. Medley. 2d\nedit. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1731, 1738.\n\nKORAN, THE: commonly called the Alcoran of Mohammed. Tr. by Geo. Sale.\n8vo., Philad., 1850.\n\n\nLATROBE, CHAS. JOS. Journ. of Visit to S. Africa, in 1815 and 1816.\n8vo., New York, 1818.\n\nLANGSTROTH, L. L. Prac. Treatise on the Hive and Honey-Bee. 3d edit.\n12mo., New York, 1860.\n\nLAYARD, AUSTEN H. Disc. among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon; with\nTravels in Armenia, etc. 8vo., New York, 1853.\n\nLEPSIUS, RICHARD. Desc. in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Penins. of Sinai, in\n1842-1845. 2d edit. 8vo., London, 1853.\n\nLINN\u00c6US, CAROLUS. Lachesis Lapponica; or, a Tour in Lapland. Tr. by J.\nE. Smith. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1811.\n\nLIVINGSTONE, DAVID. Missionary Travels and Researches in S. Africa.\n8vo., New York, 1858.\n\nLIVIUS, TITUS. History of Rome. Tr. by George Barker. 2d edit. 6 v.\n8vo., London, 1814.\n\n\nMAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. Cond. by J. C. Loudon. 9 v. 8vo., London,\n1829-1836.\n\nMARTYR, PETER. De Nouo Orbe; or, The Hist. of the West Indies. Tr. by R.\nEden and M. Lok. 4to., London, 1612.\n\nMAYHEW, HENRY. London Labor and the London Poor. 4 v. 8vo., London,\n1861, 1862.\n\nMIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. 40 v. 8vo., London,\n1823-1842.\n\nMOFFAT, ROBT. Missionary Labors and Scenes in S. Africa. 8vo., London,\n1842.\n\nMONTFAUCON, BERNARD DE. L\u2019Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e et Repr\u00e9sent\u00e9e en Figures.\n2e \u00e9dition, revue et corrig\u00e9e. Lat. et Fr. 5 v. en 10, folio, Paris,\n1722.\n\nMONTAIGNE, MICHAEL DE. Works. By William Hazlitt. 8vo., Philad., 1850.\n\nMOUFET, THOMAS. Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum. Londoni,\n1634.\n\n---- ---- The same, translated. See Topsel\u2019s Hist. of Beasts, etc.\n\n\nNATURAL HISTORY OF INSECTS. Vols. 64 and 65 of John Murray\u2019s Fam.\nLibrary. 18mo., London, 1830-1842.\n\nNEWELL, ROBT. HASELL. Zoology of the English Poets. 16mo., London, 1845.\n\n\nOCKLEY, SIMON. History of the Saracens. 3d ed. 2 v. 8vo., Cambridge,\n1757.\n\nOGILBY, JOHN. America. Folio, London, 1671.\n\nOLIN, STEPHEN. Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petr\u00e6a, and the Holy Land. 8th\nedit. 2 v. 8vo., New York, 1846.\n\nOLIPHANT, LAURENCE. Narrat. of Earl of Elgin\u2019s Mission to China and\nJapan, in 1857-9. 8vo., New York, 1860.\n\nOWEN, REV. T. Geoponika; or, Agricultural Pursuits. 2 v. 8vo., London,\n1805.\n\n\nPERCY SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 30 v. 12mo., London, 1840-\u201952.\n\nPETTIGREW, THOS. JOS. History of Egyptian Mummies. 4to., London, 1834.\n\nPHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. Royal Society of London. 1665 to 1858. 147\nv. 4to., London, 1665-1858.\n\nPHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. Royal Society of London, abridged. 1665 to\n1750. 11 v. 4to., London, 1749-1756.\n\nPIERIUS VALERIANUS, IOANNIS. Hieroglyphica. Folio, Lugduni, 1626.\n\nPINKERTON, JOHN. General Collection of Voyages and Travels in all parts\nof the World. 17 v. 4to., London, 1808-1814.\n\nPLINY, by J. Bostock and H. T. Riley. 6 v. Bohn\u2019s Classical Library.\n\nPLINIUS SECUNDUS, CAIUS. Historie of the World; commonly called the Nat.\nHist. of C. Plinius Secundus. Tr. by Philemon Holland. 2 v. in 1, folio,\nLondon, 1657.\n\nPRICHARD, JAMES COWLES. Analysis of the Egyptian Mythology. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1819.\n\nPRINGLE, THOMAS. Narrat. of Resid. in S. Africa. New edit. 8vo., London,\n1851.\n\nPURCHAS, SAMUEL. Hakluytus Posthumus; or, Purchas his Pilgrimes. 5 v.\nfolio, London, 1625, 1626.\n\n\nRHIND, A. HENRY. Thebes; its Tombs and their Tenants, anct. and modern.\n8vo., London, 1862.\n\nRICHARDSON, JAMES. Travels in Great Desert of Sahara, in 1845-6. 2 v.\n8vo., London, 1848.\n\nRILEY, JAMES. Authen. Narrat. of Loss of Amer. Brig Commerce, wrecked on\nwestern coast of Africa, in 1815. 8vo., Hartford, 1850.\n\nRIVERO, MARIANO EDWARD, and JNO. JAS. VON TSCHUDI. Peruvian Antiquities.\nTr. by Francis L. Hawks. 8vo., New York, 1853.\n\nROBBINS, ARCHIBALD. Journ. of Advent. in Africa, in 1815-\u201917. 12mo.,\nHartford, 1851.\n\n\nSAMOUELLE, GEORGE. Entomological Cabinet. 2d edit. 16mo., London, 1841.\n\nSATURDAY MAGAZINE. Folio. From 1833 to 1844, London.\n\nSCHOMBURGK, SIR ROBERT H. Hist. of Barbados. 8vo., London, 1847.\n\nSHAW, GEORGE. General Zoology; or, Syst. Nat. Hist. 14 v. 8vo., London,\n1800-1826.\n\nSILLIMAN, BENJAMIN. Amer. Journ. of Sci. and Art. 78 v. 8vo., New York\nand New Haven, 1819-1859.\n\nSIMMONDS, PETER LUND. Curiosities of Food; or, the Dainties and\nDelicacies of different nations obtained from the Animal Kingdom. 12mo.,\nLondon, 1859.\n\nSLOANE, HANS. Voy. to Islands of Madeira, Barbados, Nieves, S.\nChristophers, and Jamaica; with the Nat. Hist. of Jamaica. 2 v. folio,\nLondon, 1707-1725.\n\nSMITH, THOMAS. Wonders of Nature and Art; or, a Concise Acct. of\nwhatever is most curious and remarkable in the world. 12 v. 16mo.,\nPhilad., 1806-1807.\n\nSPARRMAN, ANDERS. Voy. to C. of G. Hope, towards Antarc. Circle, and\nRound the World. From 1772 to 1776. 2 v. 12mo., Perth, 1789.\n\nSOUTHEY, ROBT. Common-Place Book. 4th series. In 4 v. 8vo., London,\n1849-1851.\n\n---- ---- Hist. of Brazil. 3 v. 4to., London, 1817-1822.\n\nSTANLEY, THOMAS. History of Philosophy. 3d edit. Folio, London, 1701.\n\nSTEDMAN, J. G. Narrat. of five years\u2019 Exped. against revolted Negroes of\nSurinam, in Guiana, in 1772-1777. 2 v. 4to., London, 1796.\n\nSTEEDMAN, ANDREW. Wanderings and Advent. in Interior of S. Africa. 2 v.\n8vo., London, 1835.\n\nST. JOHN, JOHN AUG. Hist. of Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece. 3 v.\n8vo., London, 1842.\n\nSTRABO, by H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer. 3 v. Bohn\u2019s Classical\nLibrary.\n\nSTRONG, A. B. Illustr. Nat. Hist. of the Three Kingdoms. New ser. 2 v.\n8vo., New York, 1853.\n\nSTUART, J. View of Past and Present State of Island of Jamaica. 8vo.,\nEdinburgh, 1823.\n\nSWAMMERDAM, JAN. Book of Nature; or, the Hist. of Insects. Tr. by Thos.\nFloyd. Folio, London, 1758.\n\n\nTAYLOR, FITCH W. Voy. Round the World, and Visits to foreign countries,\nin the U. S. Frigate Columbia. 9th edit. 8vo., 2 v. in 1, New Haven,\n1848.\n\nTENNENT, SIR J. EMERSON. Sketches of the Nat. Hist. of Ceylon. 12mo.,\nLondon, 1861.\n\nTHEODORET AND EVAGRIUS. Hist. of the Church, from A.D. 322 to A.D. 594.\n12mo., London, 1854.\n\nTHEVENOT, MONSIEUR DE. Travels into the Levant. Folio, London, 1687.\n\nTHORPE, BENJ. Northern Mythology. 3 v. post 8vo., London, 1851, 1852.\n\nTHUNBERG, KARL PETER. Travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia, bet. 1770-9.\n4 v. 8vo., London, 1795, 1796.\n\nTOPSEL, EDWARD. The Hist. of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents. Whereunto\nis added The Theater of Insects: by T. Moufet. Folio, London, 1658.\n\nTREASVRIE OF AVNCIENT AND MODERNE TIMES. Tr. from Pedro Mexia, M.\nFrancesco Sansovino, Anthony du Verdier, etc., by Thomas Milles. Folio,\nLondon, 1613.\n\n---- ---- Containing Ten following Bookes to the former. Folio, London,\n1619.\n\nTWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. The People, the Rebels, and the Mandarins. By a\nBritish Resident. 12mo., Edinburgh, 1860.\n\n\nUNIVERSAL HISTORY. Ancient Part. 21 v. 8vo., London, 1747-1754.\n\n\nVOLNEY, COMTE C. F. Chasseb\u0153uf de. Travels through Syria and Egypt, in\n1783-\u201985. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1787.\n\n\nWALTON, WILLIAM, JR. Pres. State of the Spanish Colonies. 2 v. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1810.\n\nWANLEY, NATHANIEL. Wonders of the Little World; or, a General Hist. of\nMan. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1806.\n\nWELD, ISAAC. Travels through States of N. America, and Canadas, in\n1795-\u201997. 3d edit. 2 v. 8vo., London, 1800.\n\nWESTWOOD, JOHN OBAD. Introd. to Mod. Classif. of Insects. 2 v. 8vo.,\nLondon, 1840.\n\nWHITE, GILBERT. Nat. Hist. of Selborne. 8vo., London, 1854.\n\nWILKINSON, SIR J. G. Manners and Customs of the Anct. Egyptians. 6 v.\n8vo., London, 1837-1841.\n\nWILLIAMS, S. WELLS. The Middle Kingdom; or, Survey of Chinese Empire. 3d\nedit. 2 v. 8vo., New York, 1853.\n\nWOOD, WILLIAM. Zoography. 3 v. 8vo., London, 1807.\n\n\n\n\nCURIOUS HISTORY OF INSECTS.\n\n\n\n\nORDER I.\n\nCOLEOPTERA--BEETLES.\n\n\nCoccinellid\u00e6--Lady-birds.\n\nThe Lady-bird, _Coccinella septempunctata_, in Scandinavia was dedicated\nto the Virgin Mary, and is there to this day called _Nyckelpiga_--Our\nLady\u2019s Key-maid,[1] and (in Sweden, more particularly) _Jung-fru Marias\nGullhona_--the Virgin Mary\u2019s Golden-hen.[2] A like reverence was paid to\nthis beautiful insect in other countries: in Germany they have been\ncalled _Frauen_ or _Marien-k\u00e4fer_--Lady-beetles of the Virgin Mary; and\nin France are now known by the names of _Vaches de Dieu_--Cows of the\nLord, and _B\u00eates de la Vierge_--Animals of the Virgin.[3] The names we\nknow them by, _Lady-bird_, _Lady-bug_, _Lady-fly_, _Lady-cow_,[4]\n_Lady-clock_, _Lady-couch_ (a Scottish name),[5] etc., have reference\nalso to this same dedication, or, at least, respect.\n\nThe Lady-bird in Europe, and particularly in Germany, where it probably\nis the greatest favorite, and whence most of the superstitions connected\nwith it are supposed to have originated, is always connected with fine\nweather. At Vienna, the children throw it into the air, crying,--\n\n    K\u00e4ferl\u2019, k\u00e4ferl\u2019, k\u00e4ferl\u2019,\n    Flieg nach Mariabrunn,\n    Und bring uns \u00e4 schone sun.\n\nOr,--\n\n    Little birdie, birdie,\n    Fly to Marybrunn,\n    And bring us a fine sun.\n\nMarybrun being a place about twelve English miles from the Austrian\ncapital, with a miracle-working image of the Virgin (still connected\nwith the Virgin), who often sends good weather to the merry Viennese.[6]\n\nAnd, from the marsh of the Elbe, to this little insect the following\nwords are addressed:\n\n                Maikatt,\n                Flug weg,\n                Stuff weg,\n    Bring me morgen goet wedder med.\n\nOr,--\n\n                May-cat,\n                Fly away,\n                Hasten away,\n    Bring me good weather with you to-morrow.[7]\n\nIn England, the children are wont to be afraid of injuring the Lady-bird\nlest it should rain.\n\nWith the Northmen the Lady-bird--Our Lady\u2019s Key-maid--is believed to\nforetell to the husbandman whether the year shall be a plentiful one or\nthe contrary: if its spots exceed seven, bread-corn will be dear; if\nthey are fewer than seven, there will be an abundant harvest, and low\nprices.[8] And, in the following rhyme from Ploen, this insect is\ninvoked to bring food:\n\n    Marsp\u00e4ert (Markp\u00e4ert) fleeg in Himmel!\n    Bring my\u2019n Sack voll Kringeln, my een, dy een,\n          Alle l\u00fctten Engeln een.\n\nOr,--\n\n              Marsp\u00e4ert, fly to heaven!\n    Bring me a sack full of biscuits, one for me, one for thee,\n              For all the little angels one.[9]\n\nIn the north of Europe it is thought lucky when a young girl in the\ncountry sees the Lady-bird in the spring; she then lets it creep about\nher hand, and says: \u201cShe measures me for wedding gloves.\u201d And when it\nspreads its little wings and flies away, she is particular to notice the\ndirection it takes, for thence her sweetheart shall one day come.[10]\nThe latter part of this notion obtains in England; and it has been\nembodied by Gay in one of his Pastorals, as follows:\n\n    This Lady-fly I take from off the grass,\n    Whose spotted back might scarlet red surpass.\n    Fly, Lady-bird, north, south, or east or west,\n    Fly where the man is found that I love best.\n    He leaves my hand, see to the west he\u2019s flown,\n    To call my true-love from the faithless town.[11]\n\nIn Norfolk, too, where this insect is called the Bishop Barnabee, the\nyoung girls have the following rhyme, which they continue to recite to\nit placed upon the palm of the hand, till it takes wing and flies\naway:[12]\n\n    Bishop, Bishop Barnabee,\n    Tell me when my wedding be:\n    If it be to-morrow day,\n    Take your wings and fly away!\n    Fly to the east, fly to the west,\n    Fly to him that I love best.[13]\n\nWhy the Lady-bird is called Bishop Barnabee, or Burnabee, there is great\ndifference of opinion. Some take it to be from St. Barnabas, whose\nfestival falls in the month of June, when this insect first appears; and\nothers deem it but a corruption of the Bishop-that-burneth, in allusion\nto its fiery color.[14]\n\nThe following metrical jargon is repeated by the children in Scotland to\nthis insect under the name of Lady Lanners, or Landers:[15]\n\n    Lady, Lady Lanners,\n    Lady, Lady Lanners,\n    Tak\u2019 up your clowk about your head,\n    An\u2019 flee awa\u2019 to Flanners (Flanders).\n    Flee ower firth, and flee ower fell,\n    Flee ower pule and rinnan\u2019 well,\n    Flee ower muir, and flee ower mead,\n    Flee ower livan, flee ower dead,\n    Flee ower corn, and flee ower lea,\n    Flee ower river, flee ower sea,\n    Flee ye east, or flee ye west,\n    Flee till him that lo\u2019es me best.\n\nSo it seems that also in Scotland, the Lady-bird, which is still a great\nfavorite with the Scottish peasantry, has been used for divining one\u2019s\nfuture helpmate. This likewise appears from a rhyme from the north of\nScotland, which dignifies the insect with the title of Dr. Ellison:\n\n    Dr. Dr. Ellison, where will I be married?\n    East, or west, or south, or north?\n    Take ye flight and fly away.\n\nIt is sometimes also termed Lady Ellison, or knighted Sir Ellison; while\nother Scottish names of it are Mearns, Aberd, The King, and King Galowa,\nor Calowa. Under this last title of dignity there is another Scottish\nrhyme, which evinces also the general use of this insect for the purpose\nof divination:\n\n    King, King Calowa,\n    Up your wings and flee awa\u2019\n    Over land, and over sea;\n    Tell me where my love can be.[16]\n\nThere is a Netherlandish tradition that to see Lady-birds forebodes good\nluck;[17] and in England it is held extremely unlucky to destroy these\ninsects. Persons killing them, it is thought, will infallibly, within\nthe course of the year, break a bone, or meet with some other dreadful\nmisfortune.[18]\n\nIn England, the children are accustomed to throw the Lady-bird into the\nair, singing at the same time,--\n\n    Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away home;\n    Your house is on fire, your children\u2019s at home,\n    All but one that ligs under the stone,--\n    Ply thee home, lady-bird, ere it be gone.[19]\n\nOr, as in Yorkshire and Lancashire,--\n\n    Lady-bird, lady-bird, eigh thy way home;\n    Thy house is on fire, thy children all roam,\n    Except little Nan, who sits in her pan,\n    Weaving gold laces as fast as she can.[20]\n\nOr, as most commonly with us in America,--\n\n    Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away home,\n    Your house is on fire, and your children all burn.\n\nThe meaning of this familiar, though very curious couplet, seems to be\nthis: the larv\u00e6, or young, of the Lady-bird feed principally upon the\naphides, or plant-lice, of the vines of the hop; and fire is the usual\nmeans employed in destroying the aphides; so that in killing the latter,\nthe former, which had come for the same purpose, are likewise destroyed.\n\nImmense swarms of Lady-birds are sometimes observed in England,\nespecially on the southeastern coast. They have been described as\nextending in dense masses for miles, and consisting of several species\nintermixed.[21] In 1807, these flights in Kent and Sussex caused no\nsmall alarm to the superstitious, who thought them the forerunners of\nsome direful evil. They were, however, but emigrants from the\nneighboring hop-grounds, where, in their larva state, they had been\nfeasting upon the aphides.[22]\n\nThe Lady-bird was formerly considered an efficacious remedy for the\ncolic and measles;[23] and it has been recommended often as a cure for\nthe toothache: being said, when one or two are mashed and put into the\nhollow tooth, to immediately relieve the pain. Jaeger says he has tried\nthis application in two instances with success.[24]\n\nIn the northern part of South America--the Spanish Main--a species of\nLady-bug, Captain Stuart tells me, is extensively worn as jewels and\nornaments. He may, however, refer to some species of the\nGold-beetles--_Chrysomelid\u00e6_, next mentioned.\n\nHurdis, who has frequently, in his Poems, availed himself of the modern\ndiscoveries in Natural History, has drawn the following accurate and\nbeautiful picture of the Lady-bird in his tragedy of Sir Thomas More:\n\n  SIR JOHN.\n\n           What d\u2019ye look at?\n\n  CECILIA.\n\n  A little animal, that round my glove,\n  And up and down to every finger\u2019s tip,\n  Has traveled merrily, and travels still,\n  Tho\u2019 it has wings to fly: what its name is\n  With learned men I know not; simple folk\n  Call it the Lady-bird.\n\n  SIR JOHN.\n\n                         Poor harmless thing!\n  Save it.\n\n  CECILIA.\n\n           I would not hurt it for the world;\n  Its prettiness says, Spare me; and it bears\n  Armor so beautiful upon its back,\n  I could not injure it to be a queen:\n  Look, sir, its coat is scarlet dropp\u2019d with jet,\n  Its eyes pure ivory.\n\n  SIR JOHN.\n\n                       Child, I\u2019m not blind\n  To objects so minute: I know it well;\n  \u2019Tis the companion of the waning year,\n  And lives among the blossoms of the hop;\n  It has fine silken wings enfolded close\n  Under that coat of mail.\n\n  CECILIA.\n\n                           I see them, sir,\n  For it unfurls them now--\u2019tis up and gone.[25]\n\nSouthey, also, in his lines addressed to this insect under the name of\nthe Burnie-Bee, has thus elegantly described it:\n\n    Back o\u2019er thy shoulders throw thy ruby shards,\n      With many a tiny coal-black freckle deck\u2019d;\n    My watchful eye thy loitering saunter guards,\n      My ready hand thy footsteps shall protect.\n\n    So shall the fairy train, by glow-worm light,\n      With rainbow tints thy folding pennons fret,\n    Thy scaly breast in deeper azure dight,\n      Thy burnish\u2019d armor deck\u2019d with glossier jet.[26]\n\n\nChrysomelid\u00e6--Gold-beetles.\n\nIn Chili and Brazil, the ladies form necklaces of the golden\n_Chrysomelid\u00e6_ and brilliant Diamond-beetles, with which their countries\nabound, which are said to be very beautiful.[27] The wing-cases of our\ncommon Gilded-Dandy, _Eumolpus auratus_, the metallic colors of which\nare pre-eminently brilliant and showy, have been recommended as\nornaments for fancy boxes, and such like articles.[28] A closely allied\nspecies, I have seen upon the finest Parisian artificial flowers.\n\n\nCarabid\u00e6.\n\nIn some parts of Africa, a rather curious benefit is derived from a\nlarge beetle belonging to this family, the _Chl\u00e6nius saponarius_, for it\nis manufactured by the natives into a soap.[29]\n\n\nPausid\u00e6.\n\nThe etymology of the word _Pausus_, Dr. Afzelius imagines to be from the\nGreek \u03c0\u03b1\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2, signifying a pause, cessation, or rest; for Linn\u00e6us, now\n(in 1796) old and infirm, and sinking under the weight of age and labor,\nsaw no probability of continuing any longer his career of glory. He\nmight therefore be supposed to say _hic meta laborum_, as it in reality\nproved, at least with regard to insects, for Pausus was the last he ever\ndescribed.[30]\n\n\nDermestid\u00e6--Leather-beetles.\n\nIn one of the stone coffins exhumed from the tumuli in the links of\nSkail, were found several small bags, which seemed to have been made of\nrushes. They all contained bones, with the exception of one, which is\nsaid to have been full of beetles belonging to the genus _Dermestes_.\nBoth the bag and beetles were black and rotten.[31]\n\nFour species of _Dermestes_ were found in the head of one of the mummies\nbrought by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson from Thebes--the _D. vulpinus_ of\nFabricius, and the _pollinctus_, _roei_, and _elongatus_ of Hope.[32]\n\nIt is a remarkable coincidence that two peoples should bury beetles of\nthe same genus with their dead, and much the more so, when they differ\nso widely, as did the ancient Britons and Egyptians. Was it for the same\nreason--the result of any communication?\n\nAt one time the ravages of the _Dermestes vulpinus_ were so great in the\nskin-warehouses of London, that a reward of \u00a320,000 was offered for an\navailable remedy.[33]\n\n\nLucanid\u00e6--Stag-beetles.\n\nThe etymology of the word Lucanus, as well as its application to a\nspecies of insect, it is interesting to notice. The ancients gave the\nname of _Lucas_, _Lucana_, to the _ox_ and elephant. It is said that\nPyrrhus had thus named the elephant the first time that he saw it,\nbecause this word signified ox in his own language, and that he thus\ngave it the name of the largest animal which he had ever before seen.\nAccording to Pliny, who employed the word _Lucani_, in speaking of the\nHorn-beetles, Nigridius was the first who gave the name to these\ninsects; and this he did, most probably, from their large size, and the\nresemblance of their mandibles to horns. Dalechamp, however, thinks that\nthe name _Lucanus_ was given to the Horn-beetle only because this insect\nwas very common among the Lucanians, a people of Italy. But it is\nprobable, after what has been above said, that the Lucanians themselves\nwere thus named, in consequence of the great numbers of oxen which they\nreared. The common name, _Flying-bull_, given to this insect in\ndifferent languages, corresponds very well with that given by\nNigridius.[34]\n\nA popular belief in Germany is, that the Stag-beetle, _Lucanus cervus_,\ncarries burning coals into houses by means of its jaws, and that it has\nthus occasioned many fearful fires.[35]\n\nIn the New Forest of England, the Stag-beetle by the rustics is called\nthe _Devil\u2019s Imp_, and is believed to be sent to do some evil to the\ncorn; and woe be to this unfortunate insect when met by these\nsuperstitious foresters, for it is immediately stoned to death. A\nwriter, in the Notes and Queries,[36] states that he saw one of these\ninsects actually thus destroyed.\n\nProfessor Bradley, of Cambridge, mentions the following remarkable\ninstance of insect strength in a Stag-beetle. He asserts that he saw the\nbeetle carry a wand a foot and a half long, and half an inch thick, and\neven fly with it to the distance of several yards.[37] Linn\u00e6us observes,\nthat if the elephant was as strong in proportion as the Stag-beetle, it\nwould be able to tear up rocks and level mountains.[38]\n\nBingley has the following marvelous story of the supposed rapacity of\nthe Stag-beetle, which, it has been remarked, if not gravely stated by\nthe reverend editor of the Animal Biography, as related to him by one\nof his own intimate and intelligent friends, might have been supposed by\nthe general reader to have been borrowed from the Travels of the\nveracious Munchausen. \u201cAn intimate and intelligent friend of the editor\ninformed him that he had often found several heads of these insects\ntogether, all perfectly alive, while the abdomens were gone, and the\ntrunks and heads were left together. How this circumstance took place he\nnever could discover with any certainty. He supposes, however, that it\nmust have been in consequence of the severe battles that sometimes take\nplace among the fiercest of the insect tribes; but their mouths not\nseeming formed for animal food, he is at a loss to guess what becomes of\ntheir abdomens. They do not fly till most of the birds have retired to\nrest, and indeed if we were to suppose that any of them devoured them,\nit would be difficult to say why the heads or trunks should be\nrejected.\u201d[39]\n\nMoufet says: \u201cWhen the head (of the Stag-beetle) is cut off, the other\nparts of the body live long, but the head (contrary to the usual custom\nof insects) lives longer. This is said to be dedicated to the moon, and\nthe head and horns of it wax with the moon, and do wane with the moon,\nbut it is the opinion of vain astrologers.\u201d[40]\n\nThe mandibles of the Stag-beetle were formerly employed in medicine,\nunder the name of Horns of Scarab\u00e6i. This remedy was administered as an\nabsorbent, in case of pains or convulsions supposed to be produced by\nacidity in the _prim\u00e6 vi\u00e6_.[41] This is the insect most probably alluded\nto by Pliny, when he says, \u201cFolke use to hang Beetles about the neck of\nyoung babes, as present remedies against many maladies.\u201d[42] The\n_Scarab\u00e6us cornutus_ of Schr\u00f6der (v. 345) is also, perhaps, the _Lucanus\ncervus_. We learn from this gentleman that it has been recommended to be\nworn as an amulet for an ague, or pains and contractions of the tendons,\nif applied to the part affected. He tells us also, that if tied about\nthe necks of children, it enables them to retain their urine. An oil,\nprepared by infusion of these insects, is recommended by the same\nauthor, in pains of the ears, if dropped into them.[43]\n\nThe _Cossus_ of the Greeks and Romans, which, at the time of the\ngreatest luxury among the latter, was introduced at the tables of the\nrich, was the larva, or grub, of a large beetle that lives in the stems\nof trees, particularly the oak; and was, most probably, the larva of the\nStag-beetle, _Lucanus cervus_. On this subject, however, entomologists\ndiffer very widely, for it has been supposed the larva of the _Calandra\npalmarum_ by Geoffroy and Keferotein; of the _Prionus damicornis_ by\nDrury; but of the _Lucanus cervus_ by Roesel, Scopoli, and most others.\nThe first two, being neither natives of Italy nor inhabiting the oak,\nare out of the question. But the larva of the _Lucanus cervus_, and\nperhaps also the _Prionus coriarius_, which are found in the oak as well\nas in other trees, may each have been eaten under this name, as their\ndifference could not be discernible either to collectors or cooks.\nLinn\u00e6us, following the opinion of Ray, supposed the caterpillar of the\ngreat Goat-moth to be the cossus.[44]\n\nPliny tells us that the epicures, who looked upon these _cossi_ as\ndelicacies, even fed them with meal, in order to fatten them.[45]\n\nOur children, who call the Stag-beetles and the _Passalus cornutus_,\noxen, are wont to hitch them with threads to chips and small sticks,\nand, for their amusement, make them drag the wood along as if they were\noxen.\n\n\nScarab\u00e6id\u00e6--Dung-beetles.\n\nThe _Coprion_, _Cantharus_, and _Heliocantharus_ of the ancients were\nevidently the _Scarab\u00e6us (Ateuchus) pilurarius_, or, as it is commonly\ncalled, the Tumble-dung, or one nearly related to it, for it is\ndescribed as rolling backward large masses of dung; and in doing this\nit attracted such general attention as to give rise to the proverb\n_Cantharus pipulam_. From the name, derived from a word signifying an\nass, it should seem the Grecian beetle made, or was supposed to make,\nits pills of _asses\u2019_ dung; and this is confirmed by a passage in one of\nthe plays of Aristophanes, the Irene, where a beetle of this kind is\nintroduced, on which one of the characters rides to heaven to petition\nJupiter for peace. The play begins with one domestic desiring another to\nfeed the Cantharus with some bread, and afterward orders his companion\nto give him another kind of bread made of _asses\u2019_ dung.[46]\n\nIllustrative of the great strength of the Tumble-bug, the following\nanecdote may be related: Dr. Brichell was supping one evening in a\nplanter\u2019s house of North Carolina, when two of these beetles were\nplaced, without his knowledge, under the candlestick. A few blows were\nstruck on the table, when, to his great surprise, the candlestick began\nto move about, apparently without any agency, except that of a spiritual\nnature; and his surprise was not lessened when, on taking one of them\nup, he discovered that it was only a chafer that moved.[47]\n\nIn Denmark, the common Dung-beetle, _Geotrupes stercorarius_, is called\n_Skarnbosse_ or _Tor(Thor)bist_, and an augury as to the harvest is\ndrawn by the peasants from the mites which infest it. The notion is,\nthat if there are many of these mites between the fore feet, there will\nbe an early harvest, but a late one if they abound between the hind\nfeet.[48]\n\nIn Gothland, where Thor was worshiped above and more than the other\ngods, the _Scarab\u00e6us (Geotrupes) stercorarius_ was considered sacred\nto him, and bore the name of Thorbagge--Thor\u2019s-bug. \u201cRelative to this\nbeetle,\u201d says Thorpe, \u201ca superstition still exists, which has been\ntransmitted from father to son, that if any one finds in his path a\nThorbagge lying helpless upon its back, and turns it on its feet, he\nexpiates seven sins; because Thor in the time of heathenism was\nregarded as a mediator with a higher power, or All-father. On the\nintroduction of Christianity, the priests strove to terrify the\npeople from the worship of their old divinities, pronouncing both\nthem and their adherents to be evil spirits, and belonging to hell.\nOn the poor Thorbagge the name was now bestowed of Thordjefvul or\nThordyfvel--Thor-devil, by which it is still known in Sweden Proper.\nNo one now thinks of Thor, when he finds the helpless creature lying\non its back, but the good-natured countryman seldom passes it without\nsetting it on its feet, and thinking of his sin\u2019s atonement.\u201d[49]\n\nA common symbol of the Creator among the Hindoos (from whom it passed\ninto Egypt, and thence into Scandinavia, says Bjornstjerna) was the\n_Scarab\u00e6us (Ateuchus) sacer_, commonly called the Sacred-beetle of the\nEgyptians.[50] Of this insect we next treat at length.\n\nOf the many animals worshiped by the ancient Egyptians, one of the most\ncelebrated, perhaps, is the insect commonly known as the\nSacred-scarab--_Scarab\u00e6us sacer_. This name was given it by Linn\u00e6us, but\nlater writers know it as the _Ateuchus sacer_.[51] The insect is found\nthroughout all Egypt, in the southern part of Europe,[52] in China, the\nEast Indies, in Barbary, and at the Cape of Good Hope.[53]\n\nThe _Ateuchus sacer_, however, is not the only insect that was regarded\nas an object of veneration by the Egyptians; but another species of the\nsame genus, lately discovered in the Senn\u00e2ri by M. Caillaud de Nantes,\nappears to have first fixed the attention of this people, in consequence\nof its more brilliant colors, and of the country in which it was found,\nwhich, it is supposed, was their first sojourn.[54] This species, which\nCuvier has named _Ateuchus \u00c6gyptorum_, is green, with a golden tint,\nwhile the first is black.[55] The _Buprestis_ and _Cantharus_, or\n_Copris_, were also held in high repute by the Egyptians, and used as\nsynonymous emblems of the same deities as the Scarab\u00e6us. This is further\nconfirmed by the fact of S. Passalacqua having found a species of\nBuprestis embalmed in a tomb at Thebes.[56] But the _Scarab\u00e6us_, or\n_Ateuchus sacer_, is the beetle most commonly represented, and the type\nof the whole class; and the one referred to in this article under the\ngeneral name of _Scarab\u00e6us_, unless when otherwise particularly\nmentioned.\n\nThe Scarab\u00e6us, according to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, was\nsacred to the Sun and to Pthah, the personification of the creative\npower of the Deity; and it was adopted as an emblem or symbol of--\n\n1. The World.--According to P. Valerianus, the Scarab was symbolical of\nthe world, on account of the globular form of its pellets of dung, and\nfrom an odd notion that they were rolled from sunrise to sunset.[57]\n\n2. The Sun.--P. Valerianus supposes this insect to have been a symbol of\nthe sun, because of the angular projection from its head resembling\nrays, and from the thirty joints of the six tarsi of its feet answering\nto the days of an (ordinary) solar month.[58] According to Plutarch, it\nwas because these insects cast the seed of generation into round balls\nof dung, as a genial nidus, and roll them backward with their feet,\nwhile they themselves look directly forward. And as the sun appears to\nproceed in the heavens in a course contrary to the signs, thus the\nScarab\u00e6i turn their balls toward the west, while they themselves\ncontinue creeping toward the east; by the first of these motions\nexhibiting the diurnal, and by the second the annual, motion of the\nearth and the planets.[59] Porphyry gives the same reason as Plutarch\nwhy the beetle was considered, as he calls it, \u201ca living image of the\nsun.\u201d[60] Horapollo assigns two reasons for the Scarab being taken as\nan emblem of the sun. He tells us there are three species of beetles:\none of which has the form of a cat, and is radiated;[61] and this one\nfrom a supposed analogy the Egyptians have dedicated to the Sun,\nbecause, first, the statue of the Deity of Heliopolis (City of the Sun)\nhas the form of a cat![62] In this, however, Wilkinson asserts, that\nHorapollo is wrong; for the Deity of Heliopolis, under the form of a\ncat, was the emblem of Bubastis, and not of R\u00ea, a type of the sun; and\nthe presence of her statue is explained by the custom of each city\nassigning to the Divinities of neighboring places a conspicuous post in\nits own temples; and Bubastis was one of the principal contemplar\nDeities of Heliopolis.[63] The second reason of Horapollo is, that this\ninsect has thirty fingers, which correspond to the thirty days of a\nsolar month.[64]\n\n3. The Moon.--The second of the three species of beetles, described by\nHorapollo, has, according to this writer, two horns, and the character\nof a bull; and it was consecrated to the moon; whence the Egyptians say,\nthat the bull in the heavens is the elevation of this Goddess. This\nstatement of beetle \u201cwith two horns\u201d (the _Copris Isidis_) consecrated\nto the moon, Wilkinson says is not confirmed by the sculptures where it\nis never introduced.[65]\n\nIt is said the Egyptians believed that the pellet of the Scarab\u00e6us\nremained in the ground for a period of twenty-eight days. May not this\nhave some connection with their choosing the insect as a symbol of the\nmoon which divides the year into months of twenty-eight days each; or,\nof the month itself (of which we shall notice it was also a symbol) for\nthe same reason? I have seen, too, a Scarab\u00e6us engraved upon a seal, the\njoints of whose tarsi numbered but twenty-eight.\n\nConformable to this supposition, the following quotation may be given\nfrom that chapter of the Treasvrie of Auncient and Modern Times devoted\nto the \u201cMany meruailous (marvelous) properties in sundrie things; and to\nwhat Stars and Planets they are subjected naturally,\u201d where we find\nmention of the Scarab as being subject to the moon: \u201cThe _Scarabe_,\nwhich is otherwise commonly called the Beetle-flye, a little old\nCreature, is maruelously subject to the Moon, and thereof is found both\nwritten, and by experience: That she gathereth or little pellets, or\nlittle round bals, and therein encloseth her young Egges, keeping the\nPellets hid in the ground eight and twenty daies; during which time the\nMoone maketh her course, and the nine and twentieth day shee taketh them\nforth, and then hideth them againe vnder the Earth. Then, at such time\nas the Moone is conioyned with the Sunne, which wee vsually tearme the\nNew Moone: they all issue forth aliue, and flye about.\u201d[66]\n\n4. Mercury.--The third of the three species of beetles, described by\nHorapollo, has one horn, and a peculiar form; and it is supposed, like\nthe Ibis, to refer to Mercury.[67]\n\n5. A Courageous Warrior.--As such they forced all the soldiers to wear\nrings, upon each of which a beetle was engraved, _i.e._ an animal\nperpetually in armor, who went his rounds in the night.[68] Plutarch\nthus alludes to this custom: \u201cIn the signet or seal-ring of their\nmartial and military men, there was engraven the portraeture of the\ngreat Fly called the Beettil;\u201d and assigns this curious and ridiculous\nreason, \u201cbecause in that kinde there is no female, but they be all\nmales.\u201d[69] The custom is also mentioned by \u00c6lian;[70] and some Scarabs\nhave been found perfect, set in gold, with the ring attached.[71] The\nRomans adopted this emblem and made it a part of some legionary\nstandards.\n\n6. Pthah, the Creative Power.--Plutarch says, that in consequence of\nthere being no females of this species, but all males, they were\nconsidered fit types of the creative power, self-acting and\nself-sufficient.[72] Some, too, have supposed that its position upon the\nfemale figure of the heavens, which encircles the zodiacs, refers to the\nsame singular idea of its generative influence.[73]\n\n7. Pthah Tore, another character of the creative power.[74]\n\n8. Pthah-Sokari-Osiris.--Of this pigmy Deity of Memphis, it was adopted\nas a distinctive mark, being placed on his head.[75]\n\n9. Regeneration, or reproduction, from the fact of its being the first\nliving animal observed upon the subsidence of the waters of the\nNile.[76]\n\n10. Spring.[77]\n\n11. The Egyptian month anterior to the rising of the Nile, as it appears\nfirst in that month.[78] It also may have been a symbol of a lunar month\nfrom an above-mentioned belief, namely, that its pellets remain\ntwenty-eight days in the ground. It is sometimes found with the joints\nof its tarsi numbering but twenty-eight instead of thirty, hence the\nsupposition is that it was held as a symbol of a lunar, as well as a\nsolar, month.\n\n12. Fecundity.--Dr. Clarke informs us that these beetles are even yet\neaten by the women to render them prolific.[79]\n\n13. With the eyes pierced by a needle, of a man who died from fever.[80]\n\n14. Surrounded by roses, of a voluptuary, because they thought that the\nsmell of that flower enervated, made lethargic, and killed the\nbeetle.[81]\n\n15. An only son; because, says Fosbroke, they believed that every beetle\nwas \u201cboth male and female.\u201d[82] Was it not because they imagined these\ninsects were all males, as above stated upon the authority of Plutarch,\nand hence the analogy in a family of an only son since it could be but\nof the masculine gender?\n\nThe Scarab\u00e6us was also connected with astronomical subjects, occurring\nin some zodiacs in the place of Cancer; and with funereal rites.[83]\n\nTo no place in particular, as the dog at Cynopolis, the ichneumon at\nHeracleopolis, was the worship of the beetle confined; but traces of it\nare found throughout the whole of Egypt. It is probable, however, it\nreceived the greatest honors at Memphis and Heliopolis, of which cities\nPthah and the Sun were the chief Deities.[84] The worship is also of\ngreat antiquity, for in many of the above-mentioned characters, the\nbeetle occurs upon the royal sepulchers of Biban-el-Moluc, which are\nsaid to be more ancient than the Pyramids.[85] Scarab\u00e6i are, in fact, to\nbe retraced in all their monuments and sculptures, and under divers\npositions, and often depicted of gigantic dimensions. Mr. Hamilton tells\nus that in the most conspicuous part of the magnificent temple which\nmarks the site of the ancient Ombite nome, priests are represented\npaying divine honors to this beetle, placed upon an altar; and, that it\nmight have a character of more mysterious sanctity, it was generally\nfigured with two mitered heads--that of the common hawk, and that of the\nram with the horn of Ammon.[86] It may be remarked here, that the\nScarab\u00e6us, when represented with the head of a hawk, or of a ram, is\nmeant to be an emblem of the sun; and as such emblem it is most commonly\nfound. It often occurs in a boat with extended wings, holding the globe\nof the sun in its claws, or elevated in the firmament as a type of that\nluminary in the meridian. Figures too of other Deities are often seen\npraying to it when in this character.[87]\n\nIn the cabinet of Montfaucon, there is a Scarab\u00e6us in the middle of a\nlarge stone, with outspread feet; and two men, or women, who are perhaps\npriests, or priestesses, stand before it with clasped hands as if in\nadoration.[88] This gentleman also has remarked that on the Isiac table,\nthere is the figure of a man in a sitting posture, who holds his hands\ntoward a beetle which has the head of a man with a crescent upon it.[89]\nOn this table there is another Scarab with the head of Isis.[90] Besides\nthese Scarab\u00e6i with the heads of hawks, rams, men, and the goddess Isis,\nMr. Hertz has in his possession a small Scarab\u00e6us in stone with the\nhead of a cow.[91]\n\nThe mode of representing the Scarab\u00e6i on the monuments was frequently\nvery arbitrary. Some are figured with, and some without the scutellum;\nand others are sometimes introduced with two scutella, one on either\nclypeus. An instance of this mode of representation, of which no example\nis to be found in nature, occurs in a large Scarab\u00e6us in the British\nmuseum.[92]\n\nAmong the ideographics of the hieroglyphic writing, the Scarab\u00e6us is\nfound under several forms: seated with closed and spread wings upon the\nhead of a god, it signifies the name of a god--a Creator;[93] and with\nthe head and legs of a man, it is emblematic of the same creative power,\nor of Pthah. Another emblem of Pthah is supported by the arms of a man\nkneeling on the heavens, and surmounted by a winged Scarab supporting a\nglobe or sun.[94]\n\nThe Scarab\u00e6us likewise belongs to the hieroglyphic signs as a syllabic\nphonetic; and with complement a mouth, signifies type, form, and\ntransformation: flying, to mount--a phonetic of the later alphabet, with\nsound of H in the name of Pthah. Another phonetic of the later alphabet,\nbelonging to the XXVI. dynasty, of the time of Domitianus and Trajanus,\nwas a Scarab\u00e6us in repose.[95]\n\nThe Scarab\u00e6us entered also into the royal scutcheons. It first appeared\nin the XI. dynasty, and is found afterward in the XII., XIII., XIV.,\nXVIII., XIX., XX., XXI., XXII., XXIII., and XXX.[96]\n\nThe most important monuments of the great edifice of Amenophis--the\nso-called Palace of Luxon,--in an historical sense, are said to be four\ngreat Scarab\u00e6i. They contain statements as to the frontier of the\nEgyptian empire under Amenophis at the time of his marriage with Taja.\nRosellini has given copies and explanations of two of them. A third, now\nin the Louvre, states that the King, conqueror of the Lybian Shepherds,\nhusband of Taja, made the foreign country of the Karai his southern\nfrontier, the foreign land of Nharina (Mesopotamia) his northern. The\ninscription of the other Scarab\u00e6us, now in the Vatican, states that in\nthe eleventh year and third month of his reign, King Amenhept made a\ngreat tank or lake to celebrate the festival of the waters; on which\noccasion he entered it in a barge of \u201cthe most gracious Disc of the\nSun.\u201d This substitution, by the King, of the barge of the Disc of the\nSun for the usual barge of Amun-Ra, is the _first_ indication of an\nheretical sun-worship.[97]\n\nSuch historical Scarab\u00e6i, Champollion and Rosellini have happily\ncompared to commemorative coins; and, in fact, those which record the\nnames of the kings might perhaps be considered as small Egyptian\ncoins.[98]\n\nBesides being ensculped upon monuments and tablets, Scarab\u00e6i, as images\nin baked earth, are found in great numbers with the mummies of Egypt.\nThese little figures also present an intermingling of several animal\nforms; for some are found with the heads of men, others with those of\ndogs, lions, and cats, and others are figures entirely fantastical.\nFather Kirker says, they were interred with the dead to drive away evil\nspirits; and there is much probability, he continues, that these were\nput here for no other purpose than to protect their relatives.[99] The\nlargest of these rude images of Scarab\u00e6i, thus used for funereal\npurposes, frequently had a prayer, or legend connected with the dead,\nengraved upon them; and a winged Scarab\u00e6us was generally placed on those\nbodies which were embalmed according to the most extensive process.[100]\nThese latter are found in various positions, but generally upon the eye\nand breast of the body.[101] Placed over the stomach, it was deemed a\nnever-failing talisman to shield the \u201csoul\u201d of its wearer against the\nterrific genii of Amenthi.[102]\n\nA small, closely cut, glazed limestone Scarab\u00e6us has been found tied\nlike a ring by a twist of plain cord on the fourth finger of the left\nhand. This has occurred twice. Another has been found fastened around\nthe left wrist.[103]\n\nIt has been remarked before that the Scarab\u00e6us was connected with\nastronomical subjects. Donovan tells us that \u201cwhen sculptured on\nastronomical tables, or on columns, it expressed the divine wisdom which\nregulated the universe and enlightened man.\u201d[104]\n\nFrom another point of view we will look now upon the worship of the\nScarab\u00e6us. When the hieroglyphics of the _ancient_ Egyptians, by reason\nof their antiquity, became unintelligible, and, in consequence, to the\nsuperstitious people, sacred, they were formed into circles and borders,\nafter the manner of cordons, and engraved upon precious stones and gems,\nby way of amulets and trinkets. It is thought this fashion was coeval\nwith the introduction of the worship of Serapis by the Ptolemies.[105]\nIn the second century, that sect of the Egyptians called the\nBasilidians, intermingling the new-born Christianity with their\nheathenism, introduced that particular kind of mysterious hieroglyphics\nand figures called Abraxas, which were supposed to have the singular\nproperty of curing diseases.[106] These abraxas are generally oval, and\nmade of black Egyptian basalt. They are sometimes covered with letters\nand characters, fac-similes of the ancient hieroglyphics, but more\ncommonly with the inscriptions in the more modern letters. Besides these\ninscriptions, figures of animals and scenes were also frequently\nrepresented; and among the animals, one of frequent occurrence was the\nScarab\u00e6us. For this insect the Basilidians had the same great veneration\nas their forefathers; and they paid to it almost the same divine honors.\nThis appears in many abraxas, and particularly in one in the cabinet of\nMontfaucon, where two women are seen standing before a beetle, with\nuplifted hands, as if supplicating it to grant them some favor. Above is\na large star, or, more probably, the sun, of which the beetle was the\nwell-known symbol.[107] On another abraxas, figured by Montfaucon, there\nare two birds with human heads, which stand before a Scarab. These\nfigures are surrounded by a snake the ends of which meet. Upon the other\nside is written in Greek characters the word \u03c6\u03c1\u1f74 (Phre or Phri), which\nin the Coptic or Egyptian language signifies the sun.[108] Chifflet has\nfigured an abraxas which contains a Scarab\u00e6us having the sun for its\nhead, and the arms of a man for legs.[109] Another, in the cabinet of M.\nCapello, is remarkable for having a woman on its reverse, who holds two\ninfants in her arms.[110] Montfaucon has also figured two others, given\nby Fabreti; and Count Caylus has engraved one, which represents a\nwoman\u2019s head upon the body of a Scarab. The head is that of Isis.[111]\nAs these beetles differ much in form, it may be there are several\nspecies. To the abraxas succeeded the talismans, which were of the\nhighest estimation in the East.\n\nCarved Scarab\u00e6i of all sizes and qualities are quite common in the\ncabinets of Europe. They were principally used for sets in rings,\nnecklaces, and other ornamental trinkets, and are now called Scarab\u00e6i\ngems,[112] though some suppose them to have been money. All of these\ngems, Winkleman says, which have a beetle on the convex side, and an\nEgyptian deity on the concave, are of a date posterior to the\nPtolemies; and, moreover, all the ordinary gems, which represent the\nfigures or heads of Serapis, or Anubis, are of the Roman era.[113]\nAccording to C. Caylus, the Egyptians used these gems for amulets, and\nmade them of all substances except metal. They preferred, however, those\nof pottery, covered with green and black enamel. Cylinders, squares, and\npyramids were first used; then came the Scarab\u00e6i, which were the last\nforms. They now began to have the appearance of seals or stamps, and\nmany believe them to have been such. The body of the beetle being a\nconvenient hold for the hand, and the base a place of safety and\nfacility to engrave whatsoever was wished to be stamped or printed. Many\nof these characters are as yet unintelligible. These seals are made of\nthe most durable stones, and their convex part commonly worked without\nmuch art.\n\nThe Egyptian form of the Scarab\u00e6us, which somewhat resembled a\nhalf-walnut, the Etruscans adopted in the manufacture of their gems.\nThese scarcely exceed the natural size of the Scarab\u00e6us which they have\non the convex side. They have also a hole drilled through them\nlengthwise, for suspension from the neck, or annexation to some other\npart of the person. They are generally cornelians. Some are of a style\nvery ancient, and of extremely precious work, although in the Etruscan\nmanner, which is correctness of design in the figures, and hardness in\nthe turn of the muscles.\n\nThe Greeks also made use of the Scarab\u00e6us in their gems; but in the end\nthey suppressed the insect, and preserved alone the oval form which the\nbase presented, for the body of the sculpture. They also mounted them in\ntheir rings.[114]\n\nSeveral Egyptian Scarab\u00e6i were among the relics discovered by Layard at\nArban on the banks of the Khabour; and similar objects have been brought\nfrom Nimroud, and various other ruins in Assyria.[115]\n\nLayard has figured a bronze cup, and two bronze cubes, found among the\nruins of Nimroud, on which occur as ornaments the figures of Scarabs.\nThose on the cubes are with outstretched wings, inlaid with gold. The\ncubes have much the appearance of weights.[116]\n\nThe Scarab\u00e6us was not only venerated when alive, but embalmed after\ndeath. In that state they are found at Thebes. It, however, was not the\nonly insect thus honored, for in one of the heads brought by Mr.\nWilkinson from Thebes, several others were discovered. These were\nsubmitted to Mr. Hope for examination; and the species ascertained by\nthis gentleman, Mr. Pettigrew has enumerated as follows:\n\n1. Corynetes violaceous, _Fab._\n\n2. Necrobia mumiarum, _Hope_.\n\n3. Dermestes vulpinus, _Fab._\n\n4. ---- pollinctus, _Hope_.\n\n5. ---- roei, _Hope_.\n\n6. ---- elongatus, _Hope_.\n\n7. Pimelia spinulosa, _Klug_?\n\n8. Copris sab\u00e6us? \u201cfound by Passalacqua; so named on the testimony of\nLatrielle.\u201d\n\n9. Midas, _Fab._\n\n10. Pithecius, _Fab._\n\n11. A species of Cantharis in Passalacqua\u2019s Collection, No. 442.[117]\nThe House-fly has also been found embalmed at Thebes.[118]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nConcerning the worship in general of the Scarab\u00e6us, many curious\nobservations have been made besides the ones above recorded.\n\nPliny, in the words of his ancient translator, Philemon Holland, tells\nus \u201cThe greater part of \u00c6gypt honour all beetles, and adore them as\ngods, or at leastwise having some divine power in them: which\nceremoniall devotion of theirs, Appion giveth a subtile and curious\nreason of; for he doth collect, that there is some resemblance between\nthe operations and works of the Sun, and this flie; and this he setteth\nabroad, for to colour and excuse his countrymen.\u201d[119]\n\nDr. Molyneux, in the conclusion of his article on the swarms of beetles\nthat appeared in Ireland in 1688, makes the following allusion to the\nworship of the Scarab\u00e6us by the Egyptians: \u201cIt is also more than\nprobable that this same destructive Beetle (Hedge-chafer--_Melontha\nvulgaris_) we are speaking of, was that very kind of _Scarab\u00e6us_ the\nidolatrous _\u00c6gyptians_ of old had in such high veneration, as to pay\ndivine worship to it. For nothing can be supposed more natural, than to\nimagine a Nation addicted to Polytheism, as the _\u00c6gyptians_ were, in a\nCountry frequently suffering great Mischief and Scarcity from Swarms of\ndevouring Insects, should from a strong Sense and Fear of Evil to come\n(the common Principle of Superstition and Idolatry) give sacred worship\nto the visible Authors of these their Sufferings, in hopes to render\nthem more propitious for the future. Thus \u2019tis allowed on all hands,\nthat the same People adored as a God the ravenous Crocodile of the River\nNile; and thus the _Romans_, though more polite and civilized in their\nIdolatry, _Febrem ad minas nocendam venerabantur, eamque variis Templis\nextructis colebant_, says Valerius Maximus, L. 2, c. 5.\u201d[120]\n\nIt is curious to observe how the reason is affected by circumstances.\nThe mind of Dr. Molyneux being long engaged upon the destruction caused\nby insects, worked itself insensibly into certain grooves, out of which\nit was afterward impossible to act. The same may be remarked of Mr.\nHenry Baker, as appears from his article, \u201cOn a _Beetle_ that lived\nthree years without Food.\u201d In conclusion, this gentleman says, \u201cAs the\n_Egyptians_ were a wise and learned people, we cannot imagine they would\nshow so much regard to a creature of such a mean appearance (as the\nBeetle) without some extraordinary reason for so doing. And is it not\npossible they might have discovered its being able to subsist a very\nlong time without any visible sustenance, and therefore made it a symbol\nof the Deity?\u201d[121]\n\nIn parts of Europe the ladies string together for necklaces the\nburnished violet-colored thighs of the _Geotrupes stercorarius_ and such\nlike brilliant species of insects.[122]\n\nUnder _Copris molossus_, in Donovan\u2019s Insects of China, it is mentioned\nthat the larv\u00e6 of the larger kinds of coleopterous insects, abounding in\nunctuous moisture, are much esteemed as food by the Chinese. \u201cUnder the\nroots of the canes is found a large, white grub, which, being fried in\noil, is eaten as a dainty by the Chinese.\u201d Donovan suggests that perhaps\nthis is the larv\u00e6 of the _Scarab\u00e6us (copris) molossus_, the general\ndescription and abundance of which insect in China favors such an\nopinion.[123]\n\nInsects belonging to the family Scarab\u00e6id\u00e6 have been used also in\nmedicine. Pliny says the green Scarab\u00e6us has the property of rendering\nthe sight more piercing of those who gaze upon it, and that hence,\nengravers of precious stones use these insects to steady their\nsight.[124]\n\nAgain, he says: \u201cAnd many there be, who, by the directions of magicians,\ncarrie about them in like manner,\u201d _i.e._ tied up in a linen cloth with\na red string, and attached to the body, \u201cfor the quartan ague, one of\nthese flies or beetles that use to roll up little balls of earth.\u201d[125]\nWe learn from Schroder (v. 345) that the powder of the _Scarab\u00e6us\npilurarius_ \u201csprinkled upon a protuberating eye or prolapsed anus, is\nsaid to afford singular relief;\u201d and that \u201can oil prepared of these\ninsects by boiling in oil till they are consumed, and applied to the\nblind h\u00e6morrhoids, by means of a piece of cotton, is said to mitigate\nthe pains thereof.\u201d[126] Fabricius states that the _Scarab\u00e6us (copris)\nmolossus_ is medicinally employed in China.[127]\n\nWe quote the following from Moufet: \u201cThe Beetle engraven on an emerald\nyeelds a present remedy against all witchcrafts, and no less effectual\nthan that moly which Mercury once gave Ulysses. Nor is it good only\nagainst these, but it is also very useful, if any one be about to go\nbefore the king upon any occasion, so that such a ring ought especially\nto be worn by them that intend to beg of noblemen some jolly preferment\nor some rich province. It keeps away likewise the head-ach, which,\ntruly, is no small mischief, especially to great drinkers....\n\n\u201cThe magicians will scarce finde credit, when foolishly rather than\ntruly, they report and imagine that the precious stone Chelonitis, that\nis adorned with golden spots, put into hot water with a Beetle, raiseth\ntempests.\u201d _Pliny_, _l._ 37, _c._ 10.\n\n\u201cThe eagle, the Beetle\u2019s proud and cruel enemy, does no less make havock\nof and devour this creature of so mean a rank, yet as soon as it gets an\nopportunity, it returneth like for like, and sufficiently punisheth that\nspoiler. For it flyeth up nimbly into her nest with its fellow-soldiers,\nthe Scara-beetles, and in the absence of the old she eagle bringeth out\nof the nest the eagle\u2019s eggs one after another, till there be none left;\nwhich falling, and being broken, the young ones, while they are yet\nunshapen, being dashed miserably against the stones, are deprived of\nlife, before they can have any sense of it. Neither do I see indeed how\nshe should more torment the eagle than in her young ones. For some who\nslight the greatest torments of their own body, cannot endure the least\ntorments of their sons.\u201d[128]\n\nPliny says that in Thrace, near Olynthus, there is a small locality, the\nonly one in which the beetle[129] cannot exist; from which circumstance\nit has received the name of \u201cCantharolethus--Fatal-to-the-Beetle.\u201d[130]\n\n\nDynastid\u00e6--Hercules-beetle, etc.\n\nThe Hercules-beetle, _Dynastes Hercules_, is four, five, or even\nsometimes six inches long, and a native of South America. It is said\ngreat numbers of these immense insects are sometimes seen on the\nMamm\u00e6a-tree, rasping off the rind of the slender branches by working\nnimbly round them with their horns, till they cause the juice to flow,\nwhich they drink to intoxication, and thus fall senseless to the\nground! These stories, however, as the learned Fabricius has well\nobserved, seem not very probable; since the thoracic horn, being bearded\non its lower surface, would undoubtedly be made bare by this\noperation.[131]\n\nCol. St. Clair, though he confesses he never could take one of these\ninsects in the act of sawing off the limbs of trees, or ascertain\nwhat they worked for, gravely repeats the above old story, and says\nthat during the operation they make a noise exactly like that of a\nknife-grinder holding steel against the stone of his wheel; but a\nthousand knife-grinders at work at the same moment, he continues,\ncould not equal their noise! He calls this beetle hence the\nknife-grinder.[132]\n\nThe Goliath-beetle, _Dynastes Goliathus_, is said to be roasted and\neaten by the natives of South America and Africa.[133]\n\nThe enormous prices of \u00a330, \u00a340, and even \u00a350 used to be asked for these\nlatter beetles a piece; fine specimens for cabinets even now bring from\nfive to six pounds.[134]\n\nThe large pulpy larva of a species of Dynastid\u00e6--the _Oryctes\nrhinoceros_, called by the Singhalese _Gascooroominiya_--is,\nnotwithstanding its repulsive aspect, esteemed a luxury by the Malabar\ncoolies.[135]\n\nImmediately after mentioning the above fact, Tennent records the\nfollowing interesting superstition respecting a beetle when found in a\nhouse after sunset:\n\n\u201cAmong the superstitions of the Singhalese arising out of their belief\nin demonology, one remarkable one is connected with the appearance of a\nbeetle when observed on the floor of a dwelling-house after nightfall.\nThe popular belief is that in obedience to a certain form of incantation\n(called _cooroominiya-pilli_) a demon in shape of a beetle is sent to\nthe house of some person or family whose destruction it is intended to\ncompass, and who presently falls sick and dies. The only means of\naverting this catastrophy is, that some one, himself an adept in\nnecromancy, should perform a counter-charm, the effect of which is to\nsend back the disguised beetle to destroy his original employer; for in\nsuch a conjuncture the death of one or the other is essential to\nappease the demon whose intervention has been invoked. Hence the\ndiscomfort of a Singhalese on finding a beetle in his house after\nsunset, and his anxiety to expel but not kill it.\u201d[136]\n\nThe _Dynastes Goliathus_, Moufet says, \u201clike to beetles (_Ateuchus\nsacer_), hath no female, but it shapes its own form itself. It produceth\nits young one from the ground by itself, which Joach. Camerarius did\nelegantly express, when he sent to Pennius the shape of this insect out\nof the storehouse of natural things of the Duke of Saxony; with these\nverses:\n\n    A bee begat me not, nor yet did I proceed\n    From any female, but myself I breed.\n\nFor it dies once in a year,\u201d continues Moufet, \u201cand from its own\ncorruption, like a Ph\u0153nix, it lives again (as Moninus witnesseth) by\nheat of the sun.\n\n    A thousand summers\u2019 heat and winters\u2019 cold\n    When she hath felt, and that she doth grow old,\n    Her life that seems a burden, in a tomb\n    O\u2019 spices laid, comes younger in her room.\u201d[137]\n\n\nMelolonthid\u00e6--Cock-chafers.\n\nThe family of insects, commonly called _Cock-chafers_, _Hedge-chafers_,\n_May-bugs_, and _Dorrs_ (from the Irish _dord_, humming, buzzing, or\nfrom the Anglo-Saxon _dora_, a locust or drone) have been included by\nFabricius in the genus _Melolontha_,--a word which retains an odd notion\nof the Greeks respecting them, viz., that they were produced from or\nwith the flowers of apple-trees. It is a name also by which the Greeks\nthemselves used to distinguish the same kind of insects.\n\nIn Sweden the peasants look upon the grub of the Cock-chafer,\n_Melolontha vulgaris_, as furnishing an unfailing prognostic whether the\nensuing winter will be mild or severe; if the animal have a bluish hue\n(a circumstance which arises from its being replete with food), they\naffirm it will be mild, but on the contrary if it be white, the weather\nwill be severe: and they carry this so far as to foretell, that if the\nanterior be white and the posterior blue, the cold will be most severe\nat the beginning of the winter. Hence they call this grub\n_Bem\u00e4rkelse-mask_--prognostic worm.[138]\n\nAn absurd notion obtains in England that the larv\u00e6 of the May-bugs are\nchanged into briers.[139]\n\nThe following quotation is from the Chronicle of Hollingshed: \u201cThe 24\nday of Februarie (1575), being the feast of Saint Matthie, on which dai\nthe faire was kept at Tewkesburie, a strange thing happened there. For\nafter a floud which was not great, but such as therby the medows neere\nadioning were covered with water, and in the after noone there came\ndowne the river of Seuerne great numbers of flies and beetles\n(_Melolontha vulgaris_?), such as in summer evenings use to strike men\nin the face, in great heapes, a foot thicke above the water, so that to\ncredible mens judgement there were seene within a paire of buts length\nof those flies above a hundred quarters. The mils there abouts were\ndammed up with them for the space of foure daies after, and then were\nclensed by digging them out with shovels: from whence they came is yet\nunknowne but the daie was cold and a hard frost.\u201d[140]\n\nSuch another remarkable phenomenon is recorded to have occurred in\nIreland, in the summer of 1688. The Cock-chafers, in this instance, were\nin such immense numbers, \u201cthat when,\u201d as the chronicler, Dr. Molyneux,\nrelates, \u201ctowards evening or sunset, they would arise, disperse, and fly\nabout, with a strange humming noise, much like the beating of drums at\nsome distance; and in such vast incredible numbers, that they darkened\nthe air for the space of two or three miles square. The grinding of\nleaves,\u201d he continues, \u201cin the mouths of this vast multitude altogether,\nmade a sound very much resembling the sawing of timber.\u201d[141]\n\nIn a short time after the appearance of these beetles in these immense\nnumbers, they had so entirely eaten up and destroyed the leaves of the\ntrees, that the whole country, for miles around, though in the middle of\nsummer, was left as bare as in the depth of winter.\n\nDuring the unfavorable seasons of the weather, which followed this\nplague, the swine and poultry would watch under the trees for the\nfalling of the beetles, and feed and fatten upon them; and even the\npoorer sort of the country people, the country then laboring under a\nscarcity of provision, had a way of dressing them, and _lived upon them\nas food_. In 1695, Ireland was again visited with a plague of this same\nkind.[142]\n\nIn Normandy, according to Mouffet, the Cock-chafers make their\nappearance every third year.[143] In 1785, many provinces of France were\nso ravaged by them, that a premium was offered by the government for the\nbest mode of destroying them.[144] During this year, a farmer, near\nBlois, employed a number of children and the poorer people to destroy\nthe Cock-chafers at the rate of two liards a hundred, and in a few days\nthey collected fourteen thousand.[145]\n\nThe county of Norfolk in England seems occasionally to have suffered\nmuch from the ravages of these insects; and Bingley tells us that \u201cabout\nsixty years ago, a farm near Norwich was so infested with them, that the\nfarmer and his servants affirmed they had gathered eighty bushels of\nthem; and the grubs had done so much injury, that the court of the city,\nin compassion to the poor fellow\u2019s misfortune, allowed him twenty-five\npounds.\u201d[146]\n\nThe seeming blunders and stupidity of these insects have long been\nproverbial, as in the expressions, \u201cblind as a beetle,\u201d and\n\u201cbeetle-headed.\u201d\n\n\nCetoniid\u00e6--Rose-chafers.\n\nA very pretty species of the _Cetoniid\u00e6_, the _Agestrata luconica_, is\nof a fine brilliant metallic green, and found in the Philippine\nIslands. These the ladies of Manilla keep as pets in small bamboo cages,\nand carry them about with them wheresoever they may go.[147]\n\n\nBuprestid\u00e6--Burn-cows.\n\nMany species of the _Buprestid\u00e6_ are decorated with highly brilliant\nmetallic tints, like polished gold upon an emerald ground, or azure upon\na ground of gold; and their elytra, or wing-coverings, are employed by\nthe ladies of China, and also of England, for the purpose of\nembroidering their dresses.[148] The Chinese have also attempted\nimitations of these insects in bronze, in which they succeed so well\nthat the copy may be sometimes mistaken for the reality.[149] In\nCeylon[150] and throughout India,[151] the golden wing-cases of two of\nthis tribe, the _Sternocera chrysis_ and _S. sternicornis_, are used to\nenrich the embroidery of the Indian zenana, while the lustrous joints of\nthe legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces and bracelets\nof singular brilliancy. The _Buprestis attenuata_, _ocellata_ and\n_vittata_ are also wrought into various devices and trinkets by the\nIndians. The _B. vittata_ is much admired among them. This insect is\nfound in great abundance in China, and thence exported into India, where\nit is distributed at a low price.[152]\n\nMr. Osbeck saw in China a _Buprestis maxima_, which had been dried, and\nto which were fastened leaden wings so painted as to make them look like\nthe wings of butterflies. This artificial monster, he adds, was to be\nsold in the vaults among other trifles.[153] The _B. maxima_ is set up\nalong with Butterflies in small boxes, and vended in the streets of\nChinese cities.[154]\n\nSo many species of the _Buprestid\u00e6_ are clothed with such brilliant\ncolors, that Geoffroy has thought proper to designate them all under\nthe generic appellation of _Richard_. The origin of this name is as\nsingular as its application is fantastical. It was originally given to\nthe Jay, in consequence of the facility with which that bird was taught\nto pronounce the word.[155]\n\nModern writers have been much divided in their opinion as to what genus\nthe celebrated _Buprestis_ of the ancients belongs. All indeed have\nregarded it as of the order Coleoptera, but here their agreement ceases.\nLinn\u00e6us seems to have looked upon it as a species of the genus to which\nhe has given its name. Geoffroy thinks it to be a _Carabus_ or\n_Cicindela_; M. Latrielle, to the genus _Mel\u00f6e_; and Kirby and Spence to\n_Mylabris_.[156]\n\nOf this Buprestis, Pliny says: \u201cIncorporat with goat sewer, it taketh\naway the tettars called lichenes that be in the face.\u201d[157] And Dr.\nJames says that insects of this family \u201care all in common, inseptic,\nexulcerating, and (possess) a heating quality; for which reason, they\nare mixed up with medicines adapted to the cure of a Carcinoma, Lepra,\nand the malignant Lichen. Mixed in emollient pessaries, they provoke the\nCatamenial discharges.\u201d[158]\n\nThe Greeks, it is said, commended the Buprestis in food.[159]\n\n\nElaterid\u00e6--Fire-flies, Spring-beetles, etc.\n\nIn an historical sense, the most interesting species of the family\n_Elaterid\u00e6_ is the _Elater noctilucus_, a native of the West Indies, and\ncalled by the inhabitants, _Cucujus_. From an ancient translation of\nPeter Martyr\u2019s History of the West Indies, we make the following\nquotation, which contains many curious facts relative to this insect:\n\n\u201cWhoso wanteth _Cucuji_, goeth out of the house in the first twilight of\nthe night, carrying a burning fier-brande in his hande, and ascendeth\nthe next hillocke, that the _Cucuji_ may see it, and swingeth the\nfier-brande about calling _Cucuji_ aloud, and beating the ayre with\noften calling and crying out _Cucuji, Cucuji_.... Beholde the desired\nnumber of _Cucuji_, at what time, the hunter casteth the fier-brande out\nof his hande. Some _Cucuji_ sometimes followeth the fier-brande, and\nlighteth on the grounde, then is he easily taken.... The hunter havinge\nthe hunting _Cucuius_, returneth home, and shutting the doore of the\nhouse, letteth the praye goe. The _Cucuius_ loosed, swiftly flyeth about\nthe whole house seeking gnatts, under their hanging bedds, and about the\nfaces of them that sleepe, whiche the gnattes used to assayle, they seem\nto execute the office of watchmen, that such as are shut in, may quietly\nrest. Another pleasant and profitable commodity proceedeth from the\n_Cucuji_. As many eyes as every _Cucuius_ openeth, the host enjoyeth the\nlight of so many candles: so that the Inhabitants spinne, sewe, weave,\nand daunce by the light of the flying _Cucuji_. The Inhabitants think\nthat the _Cucuius_ is delighted with the harmony and melodie of their\nsinging, and that he also exerciseth his motion in the ayre according to\nthe action of their dancing.... Our men also read and write by that\nlight, which always continueth untill hee have gotten enough gnatts\nwhereby he may be well fedd.... There is also another wonderfull\ncommodity proceeding from the _Cucuius_: the Islanders, appoynted by our\nmenn, goe with their good will by night with 2 _Cucuji_ tyed to the\ngreat tooes of their feete: (for the travailer[160] goeth better by\ndirection of the lights of the _Cucuji_, then if hee brought so many\ncandels with him, as the _Cucuji_ open eyes) he also carryeth another\n_Cucuius_ in his hande to seeke the Utiae by night (Utiae are a certayne\nkind of Cony, a little exceeding a mouse in bignesse.)... They also go a\nfishing by the lights of the _Cucuji_.... In sport, and merriment, or to\nthe intent to terrifie such as are affrayed of every shaddow, they say\nthat many wanton wild fellowes sometimes rubbed their faces by night\nwith the fleshe of a _Cucuius_ being killed, with purpose to meete their\nneighbors with a flaming countenance ... for the face being annointed\nwith the lumpe or fleshy parte of the _Cucuius_, shineth like a flame of\nfire.\u201d[161]\n\nAt Cumana, the use of the Cucujus is forbidden, as the young Spanish\nladies used to carry on a correspondence at night with their lovers by\nmeans of the light derived from them.[162]\n\nCaptain Stedman tells us, that one of his sentinels, one night, called\nout that he saw a negro, with a lighted tobacco-pipe, cross a creek near\nby in a canoe. At which alarm they lost no time in leaping out of their\nhammocks, and were not a little mortified when they found the pipe was\nnothing more than a Fire-fly on the wing.[163]\n\nAn individual of this species, brought to Paris in some wood, in the\nlarva or nymph state, there underwent its metamorphosis, and by the\nlight which it emitted, excited the greatest surprise among many of the\ninhabitants of the Faubourg St. Antoine, to whom such a phenomenon had\nhitherto been unknown.[164]\n\nWhen Cortes and Narvaez were at war with one another in Mexico, Bernal\nDiaz relates \u201cthat one night in the midst of darkness numbers of shining\nBeetles (_Elater noctilucus_) kept continually flying about, which\nNarvaez\u2019s men mistook for the lighted matches of our fire-arms, and this\ngave them a vast idea of the number of our matchlocks.\u201d[165] Thomas\nCampanius tells us that one night the Cucuji frightened all the soldiers\nat Fort Christina, in New Sweden (Pennsylvania?): they thought they were\nenemies advancing toward them with lighted torches.[166] Another such\nlike story, which is not incredible by any means, is told us by Mouffet.\nHe says that when Sir Thomas Cavendish and Sir Robert Dudley first\nlanded in the West Indies, and saw an infinite number of moving lights\nin the woods, which were merely these Elaters, they supposed that the\nSpaniards were advancing upon them with lighted matches, and immediately\nbetook themselves to their ships.[167]\n\nThe Indians of the Carribbee Islands, Ogleby remarks, \u201canoint their\nbodies all over (at certain solemnities wherein candles are forbidden)\nwith the juice squeezed out of them (Cucuji), which causes them to\nshine like a flame of fire.\u201d[168] And in the Spanish Colonies, on\ncertain festival days in the month of June, these insects are collected\nin great numbers, and tied as decorations all over the garments of the\nyoung people, who gallop through the streets on horses similarly\nornamented, producing on a dark evening the effect of a large moving\nbody of light. On such occasions the lover displays his gallantry by\ndecking his mistress with these living gems.[169]\n\nAt the present day, the poorer classes of Cuba and the other West India\nIslands, make use of these luminous insects for lights in their houses.\nTwenty or thirty of them put into a small wicker-work cage, and dampened\na little with water, will produce quite a brilliant light. Throughout\nthese islands, the Cucujus is worn by the ladies as a most fashionable\nornament. As many as fifty or a hundred are sometimes worn on a single\nball-room dress. Capt. Stuart tells me he once saw one of these insects\nupon a lady\u2019s white collar, which at a little distance rivaled the\nKohinoor in splendor and beauty. The insect is fastened to the dress by\na pin through its body, and only worn so long as it lives, for it loses\nits light when dead.\n\nThe statement of Humboldt is, that at the present day in the habitations\nof the poorer classes of Cuba, a dozen of Cucuji placed in a perforated\ngourd suffice for a light during the night. By shaking the gourd\nquickly, the insect is roused, and lights up its luminous disks. The\ninhabitants employ a truthful and simple expression, in saying that a\ngourd filled with Cucuji is an ever-lighted torch; and in fact it is\nonly extinguished by the death of the insects, which are easily kept\nalive with a little sugar cane. A lady in Trinidad told this great\ntraveler, that during a long and painful passage from Costa Firme, she\nhad availed herself of these phosphorescent insects whenever she wished\nto give the breast to her child at night. The captain of the ship would\nnot permit any other light on board at night, for fear of the\nprivateers.[170]\n\nSouthy has happily introduced the Cucujus in his \u201cMadoc\u201d as furnishing\nthe lamp by which Coatel rescued the British hero from the hands of the\nMexican priests:\n\n    She beckon\u2019d and descended, and drew out\n    From underneath her vest a cage, or net\n    It rather might be called, so fine the twigs\n    Which knit it, where, confined, two fire-flies gave\n    Their lustre. By that light did Madoc first\n    Behold the features of his lovely guide.\n\nDarwin says: \u201cIn Jamaica, at some seasons of the year, the Fire-flies\nare seen in the evening in great abundance. When they settle on the\nground, the bull-frog greedily devours them, which seems to have given\norigin to a curious, though very cruel, method of destroying these\nanimals: if red-hot pieces of charcoal be thrown toward them in the dusk\nof the evening, they leap at them, and hastily swallow them, mistaking\nthem for Fire-flies, and are burnt to death.\u201d(!)[171]\n\nBeetles belonging to the family _Elaterid\u00e6_ have been so called from a\npeculiar power they have of leaping up like a tumbler when placed on\ntheir backs, and for this reason they have received the English\nappellations of _Spring-beetles_ and _Skip-jacks_, and from the noise\nwhich the operation makes when they leap, they are also called _Snap_,\n_Watch_, or _Click-beetle_, and likewise _Blacksmiths_.\n\nIf a Blacksmith beetle enters your house, a quarrel will ensue which may\nend in blows.\n\nThis superstition obtains in Maryland.\n\n\nLampyrid\u00e6.--Glow-worms.\n\nAntonius Thylesius Bonsentinus, following his elegant description of the\nGlow-worm, gives a pretty fable of its origin. As translated in Moufet\u2019s\nTheater of Insects, his words are these:\n\n    This little fly shines in the air alone,\n    Like sparks of fire, which when it was unknown\n    To me a boy, I stood then in great fear,\n    Durst not attempt to touch it, or come near.\n    May be this worm from shining in the night,\n    Borrow\u2019d its name, shining like candle bright.\n    The cause is one, but divers are the names,\n    It shines or not, according as she frames\n    Herself to fly or stand; when she doth fly,\n    You would believe \u2019twere sparkles in the skie,\n    At a great distance you shall ever finde\n    Prepar\u2019d with light and lanthorn all this kinde.\n    Darkness cannot conceal her, round about\n    Her candle shines, no winds can blow it out.\n    Sometimes she flies as though she did desire\n    Those that pass by to observe her fire;\n    Which being nearer, seem to be as great,\n    As sparks that fly when smiths hot iron beat.\n    When Pluto ravish\u2019d Proserpine, that rape,\n    For she was waiting on her, chang\u2019d her shape,\n    And since that time, she flyeth in the night\n    Seeking her out with torch and candle light.[172]\n\nThe following anecdote is related by Sir J. E. Smith, of the effect of\nthe first sight of the Italian Glow-worms upon some Moorish ladies\nignorant of such appearances. These females had been taken prisoners at\nsea, and, until they could be ransomed, lived in a house in the\noutskirts of Genoa, where they were frequently visited by the\nrespectable inhabitants of the city; a party of whom, on going one\nevening, were surprised to find the house closely shut up, and their\nMoorish friends in the greatest consternation. On inquiring into the\ncause, they found that some Glow-worms--_Pygolampis Italica_--had found\ntheir way into the building, and that the ladies within had taken it\ninto their heads that these brilliant guests were no other than the\ntroubled spirits of their relations; of which curious idea it was some\ntime before they could be divested.--The common people of Italy have a\nsuperstition respecting these insects somewhat similar, believing that\nthey are of a spiritual nature, and proceed out of the graves, and hence\ncarefully avoid them.[173]\n\nCardan, Albertus, Gaudentinus, Mizalduo, and many others have asserted\nthat perpetual lights can be produced from the Glow-worm; and that\nwaters distilled from this insect afford a lustre in the night. It is\nneedless to say these assertions are without foundation.[174]\n\nIn India, the ladies have recourse to Fire-flies for ornaments for\ntheir hair, when they take their evening walks. They inclose them in\nnets of gauze.[175] And the beaux of Italy, Sir J. E. Smith tells us,\nare accustomed in the summer evenings to adorn the heads of the ladies\nwith Glow-worms, by sticking them also in their hair.[176]\n\nNever kill a Glow-worm, if you do, the country people say, you will put\n\u201cthe light out of your house,\u201d--_i.e._ happiness, prosperity, or\nwhatever blessing you may be enjoying.\n\nA Glow-worm, in your path, denotes brilliant success in all your\nundertakings. If one enters a house, one of the heads of the family will\nshortly die. These superstitions obtain in Maryland.\n\nOf the Glow-worm--_Noctiluca terrestris_, Col. Ecphr., i. 38--Dr. James\nsays: \u201cThe whole insect is used in medicine, and recommended by some\nagainst the Stone. Cardan ascribes an anodyne virtue to it.\u201d[177]\n\nMr. Ray, in his travels through the State of Venice, says: \u201cA discovery\nmade by a certain gentleman, and communicated to me by Francis Jessop,\nEsq., is, that those reputed meteors, called in Latin _Ignis fatui_, and\nknown in England by the conceited names of _Jack with a Lanthorn_, and\n_Will with a Wisp_, are nothing else but swarms of these flying\nGlow-worms. Which, if true, we may give an easy account of those\nphenomena of these supposed fires, _viz._, their sudden motion from\nplace to place, and leading travelers that follow them into bogs and\nprecipices.\u201d[178] It has been suggested[179] also that the mole-cricket,\n_Gryllotalpa vulgaris_,[180] which in its nocturnal peregrinations was\nsupposed to be luminous, is this notorious \u201cWill-o\u2019-the-wisp.\u201d\n\nPliny says: \u201cWhen Glow-worms appear, it is a common sign of the\nripenesse of barley, and of sowing millet and pannick.... And Mantuan\nsang to the same tune:\n\n    Then is the time your barley for to mow,\n    When Glow-worms with bright wings themselves do show.\u201d[181]\n\n\nPtinid\u00e6--Death-watch, etc.\n\nThe common name of _Death-watch_, given to the _Anobium tesselatum_,\nsufficiently announces the popular prejudice against this insect; and so\ngreat is this prejudice, that, as says an editor of Cuvier\u2019s works, the\nfate of many a nervous and superstitious patient has been accelerated by\nlistening, in the silence and solitude of night, to this imagined knell\nof his approaching dissolution.[182] The learned Sir Thomas Browne\nconsidered the superstition connected with the Death-watch of great\nimportance, and remarks that \u201cthe man who could eradicate this error\nfrom the minds of the people would save from many a cold sweat the\nmeticulous heads of nurses and grandmothers,\u201d[183] for such persons are\nfirm in the belief, that\n\n    The solemn Death-watch clicks the hour of death.\n\nThe witty Dean of St. Patrick endeavored to perform this useful task by\nmeans of ridicule. And his description, suggested, it would appear, by\nthe old song of \u201cA cobbler there was, and he lived in a stall,\u201d runs\nthus:\n\n                              ----A wood worm\n    That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form,\n    With teeth or with claws, it will bite, it will scratch;\n    And chambermaids christen this worm a Death-watch;\n    Because, like a watch, it always cries click.\n    Then woe be to those in the house that are sick!\n    For, sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost,\n    If the maggot cries click when it scratches the post.\n    But a kettle of scalding hot water injected,\n    Infallibly cures the timber affected:\n    The omen is broken, the danger is over,\n    The maggot will die, and the sick will recover.\n\nGrose, in his Antiquities, thus expresses this superstition: \u201cThe\nclicking of a Death-watch is an omen of the death of some one in the\nhouse wherein it is heard.\u201d Watts says: \u201cWe learn to presage approaching\ndeath in a family by ravens and little worms, which we therefore call a\nDeath-watch.\u201d[184] Gay, in one of his Pastorals, thus alludes to it:\n\n    When Blonzelind expired,....\n    The solemn Death-watch click\u2019d the hour she died.[185]\n\nAnd Train,--\n\n    An\u2019 when she heard the Dead-watch tick,\n      She raving wild did say,\n    \u201cI am thy murderer, my child;\n      I see thee, come away.\u201d\n\nAnd Pope,--\n\n    Misers are muck-worms, silkworms beaux,\n    And Death watches physicians.[186]\n\n\u201cIt will take,\u201d says Mrs. Taylor, a writer in Harper\u2019s New Monthly\nMagazine, \u201ca force unknown at the present time to physiological science\nto eradicate the feeling of terror and apprehension felt by almost every\none on hearing this small insect.\u201d She herself, an entomologist,\nconfesses to have been very much annoyed at times by coming in contact\nwith this \u201cstrange nuisance;\u201d but she was cured by an overapplication.\n\u201cI went to pay a visit,\u201d says she, \u201cto a friend in the country. The\nfirst night I fancied I should have gone mad before morning. The walls\nof the bed-room were papered, and from them beat, as it were, a thousand\nwatches--tick, tick, tick! Turn which way I would, cover my head under\nthe bedclothes to suffocation, every pulse in my body had an answering\ntick, tick, tick! But at last the welcome morning dawned, and early I\nwas down in the library; even here every book, on shelf above shelf, was\nriotous with tick, tick, tick! At the breakfast table, beneath the\nplates, cups, and dishes, beat the hateful sound. In the parlor, the\nwithdrawing-room, the kitchen, nothing but tick, tick! The house was a\nhuge clock, with thousands of pendulums ticking from morning till night.\nI was careful not to allow my great discomfort to annoy others. I argued\nwhat they could tolerate, surely I could; and in a few days habit had\nrendered the fearful, dreaded ticking a positive necessity.\u201d[187]\n\nThe Death-watch commences its clicking, which is nothing more than the\ncall or signal by which the male and female are led to each other,\nchiefly when spring is far advanced. The sound is thus produced: Raising\nitself upon its hind legs, with the body somewhat inclined, it beats its\nhead with great force and agility upon the plane of position. The\nprevailing number of distinct strokes which it beats in succession is\nfrom seven to nine or eleven; which circumstance, thinks Mr. Shaw, may\nperhaps still add, in some degree, to the ominous character which it\nbears. These strokes follow each other quickly, and are repeated at\nuncertain intervals. In old houses, where these insects abound, they may\nbe heard in warm weather during the whole day.[188]\n\nBaxter, in his World of Spirits, p. 203, most sensibly observes, that\n\u201cthere are many things that ignorance causeth multitudes to take for\nprodigies. I have had many discreet friends that have been affrighted\nwith the noise called a Death-watch, whereas I have since, near three\nyears ago, oft found by trial that it is a noise made upon paper by a\nlittle, nimble, running worm, just like a louse, but whiter and quicker;\nand it is most usually behind a paper pasted to a wall, especially to\nwainscot; and it is rarely, if ever, heard but in the heat of summer.\u201d\nOur author, however, relapses immediately into his honest credulity,\nadding: \u201cBut he who can deny it to be a prodigy, which is recorded by\nMelchior Adamus, of a great and good man, who had a clock-watch that had\nlayen in a chest many years unused; and when he lay dying, at eleven\no\u2019clock, of itself, in that chest, it struck eleven in the hearing of\nmany.\u201d\n\nIn the British Apollo, 1710, ii. No. 86, is the following query: \u201cWhy\nDeath-watches, crickets, and weasels do come more common against death\nthan at any other time? _A._ We look upon all such things as idle\nsuperstitions, for were any thing in them, bakers, brewers, inhabitants\nof old houses, &c., were in a melancholy condition.\u201d\n\nTo an inquiry, ibid. vol. ii. No. 70, concerning a Death-watch, whether\nyou suppose it to be _a living creature_, answer is given: \u201cIt is\nnothing but a little worm in the wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow many people have I seen in the most terrible palpitations, for\nmonths together, expecting every hour the approach of some calamity,\nonly by a little worm, which breeds in old wainscot, and, endeavoring to\neat its way out, makes a noise like the movement of a watch!\u201d Secret\nMemoirs of the late Mr. Duncan Campbell, 8vo. Lond. 1732, p. 61.[189]\n\nAuthors were formerly not agreed concerning the insect from which this\nsound of terror proceeded, some attributing it to a kind of wood-louse,\nothers to a spider.\n\nM. Peiguot mentions an instance where, in a public library that was but\nlittle frequented, _twenty-seven folio_ volumes were perforated in a\nstraight line by one and the same larva of a small insect (_Anobium\npertinax_ or _A. striatum_?) in such a manner that, on passing a cord\nthrough the perfectly round hole made by the insect, these twenty-seven\nvolumes could be raised at once.[190]\n\n\nBostrichid\u00e6--Typographer-beetles.\n\nThe Typographer-beetle, _Bostrichus typographus_, is so called on\naccount of a fancied resemblance between the paths it erodes and\nletters. This insect bores into the fir, and feeds upon the soft inner\nbark; and in such vast numbers that 80,000 are sometimes found in a\nsingle tree. The ravages of this insect have long been known in Germany\nunder the name of _Wurm tr\u00f6kniss_--decay caused by worms; and in the old\nliturgies of that country the animal itself is formally mentioned under\nits common appellation, _The Turk_. About the year 1665, this pest was\nparticularly prevalent and caused incalculable mischief. In the\nbeginning of the last century it again showed itself in the Hartz\nforests; it reappeared in 1757, redoubled its injuries in 1769, and\narrived at its height in 1783, when the number of trees destroyed by it\nin the above-mentioned forests alone was calculated at a million and a\nhalf, and the whole number of insects at work at once one hundred and\ntwenty thousand millions. The inhabitants were threatened with a total\nsuspension of the working of their mines, for want of fuel. At this\nperiod these _Bostrichi_, when arrived at their perfect state, migrated\nin swarms like bees into Suabia and Franconia. At length a succession of\ncold and moist seasons, between the years 1784 and 1789, very sensibly\ndiminished the numbers of this scourge. In 1790 it again appeared,\nhowever, and so late as 1796 there was great reason to fear for the few\nfir-trees that were left.[191]\n\n\nCantharid\u00e6--Blister-flies.\n\nMany species of this family of insect possess strong vesicating powers,\nand are employed externally in medicine to produce blisters, and\ninternally as a powerful stimulant. Taken internally, Pliny considered\nthem a poison, and mentions the following instance of their causing\ndeath: Cossinus, a Roman of the Equestrian order, well known for his\nintimate friendship with the Emperor Nero, being attacked with lichen,\nthat prince sent to Egypt for a physician to cure him; who recommended a\npotion prepared from Cantharides, and the patient was killed in\nconsequence.[192] But there is no doubt, however, Pliny adds, that\napplied externally they are useful, in combination with juice of\nTaminian grapes, and the suet of a sheep or she-goat. They are extremely\nefficacious, too, continues Pliny, for the cure of leprosy and lichens;\nand act as an emmenagogue and diuretic, for which last reason\nHippocrates used to prescribe them for dropsy.[193]\n\nThe vesicatory principle of the Blister-fly is called _Cantharidine_,\nand has been ascertained by experiment to reside more particularly in\nthe wings than in other parts of the body. Our officinal insect is the\n_Cantharis vesicatoria_; and since the principal supply is from Spain,\nwe call them commonly _Spanish-flies_. In Italy, the _Mylabris\ncichorii_, a native of the south of Europe, is used; and the _M.\npustulata_, a native of China, is used by the Chinese, who also export\nit to Brazil, where it is the only species employed. In India also a\nspecies of _Meloe_ is used,[194] possessing all the properties of the\nSpanish-fly.\n\nAt one time in Germany, the genus Meloe--Oil-beetles (so called from\ntheir emitting from the joints of the legs an oily yellowish liquor,\nwhen alarmed)--were extolled as a specific against hydrophobia; and the\noil which is expressed from them is used in Sweden, with great success,\nin the cure of rheumatism, by anointing the affected part.[195] Dr.\nJames thus enumerates the medicinal virtues of these insects: \u201cThe\nOil-beetle (_Scarab\u00e6us unctuosus_ of Schroder) is much of the nature of\nCantharides, forces urine and blood, and is of extraordinary efficacy\nagainst the bite of a mad dog. Taken in powder, it cures the vari, or\nwandering gout, as we are assured by Wierus. The liquor is, by some,\nesteemed of efficacy in wounds; it is an ingredient also in plaisters\nfor the pestilential bubo and carbuncle, and in antidotes; an oil is\nprepared by infusion of the living animals in common oil, which some\nuse instead of oil of Scorpions.\u201d[196] In some parts of Spain, they are\nmingled with the Cantharides, for the same purposes as these latter\ninsects. Farriers also employed, in some cases, oil in which these\ninsects had been macerated.[197]\n\nPliny tells us that Cato of Utica was one time reproached for selling\npoison, because when disposing of a royal property by auction, he sold a\nquantity of Cantharides, at the price of sixty thousand sesterces.[198]\n\nThe natives of Guiana and Jamaica make ear-rings and other ornaments of\nthe elytra, or wing-coverings, of the _Cantharis maxima_; the brilliant\nmetallic colors of which beetles, says Sloane, sparkle with an\nextraordinary lustre, when worn by the Indians dancing in the sun.[199]\n\nZoroaster says, that \u201cCantharides\u201d will not hurt the vines, if you\nmacerate some in oil, and apply it to the whetstone on which you are\ngoing to set your pruning-knives.[200]\n\nCantharides are comparatively rare in Germany; yet we are told in the\nGerman Ephemerides, says Brookes, that in June, 1667, there were found\nabout the town of Heldeshiem, such a great number of them, that they\ncovered all the willow-trees. Likewise that in May, 1685, when the sky\nwas serene and the weather mild, a great number of Cantharides were seen\nto settle upon a privet-tree, and devour all the leaves; but they did\nnot meddle with the flowers. We are also told that the country people\nexpect the return of these insects every seven years. It is very\ncertain, adds Brookes, that such a number of these insects have been\ntogether in the air, that they appeared like swarms of bees; and that\nthey have so disagreeable smell, that it may be perceived a great way\noff, especially about sunset, though they are not seen at that time.\nThis bad smell is a guide for those who make it their business to catch\nthem.[201]\n\n\nTenebrionid\u00e6--Meal-worms.\n\nThe larv\u00e6 of the _Tenebrio molitor_, commonly called Meal-worms, which\nare found in carious wood, are bred by bird-fanciers, to feed\nnightingales, and constitute the only bait by which these shy birds can\nbe taken: a fact the more curious when it is considered that the\nnightingale, in a state of nature, can seldom or never see these larv\u00e6.\nThey are also used to feed cameleons which are exhibited.[202]\n\n\nBlapsid\u00e6--Church-yard beetle, etc.\n\nWe learn from Linn\u00e6us that in Sweden the appearance of the Church-yard\nbeetle, _Blaps mortisaga_, produces the most violent alarm and\ntrepidation among the people, who, on account of its black hue and\nstrange aspect, regard it as the messenger of pestilence and death.\nHence is this insect called _mortisaga_--the prophesier of death.[203]\n\nA common species in Egypt, the _Blaps sulcata_, is made into a\npreparation which the Egyptian women eat with the view of acquiring what\nthey esteem a proper degree of plumpness! The beetle they broil and mash\nup in clarified butter; then add honey, oil of sesame, and a variety of\naromatics and spices pounded together.[204] Fabricius reports that the\nTurkish women also eat this insect, cooked with butter, to make them\nfat. He also tells us that they use it in Egypt and the Levant, as a\nremedy for pains and maladies in the ears, and against the bite of\nscorpions.[205] Carsten Niebuhr also mentions this curious practice of\nthe women of Turkey, and adds, the women of Arabia likewise make use of\nthese insects for the same purpose, taking three of them, every morning\nand evening, fried in butter.[206]\n\nThe Blatta mentioned by Pliny is evidently, from his description, the\nChurch-yard beetle, _Blaps mortisaga_, instead of the insect we now\ncall by that name--the Cockroach: and may very properly be here\nintroduced. \u201cThere is kind of fattinesse,\u201d says this author in the words\nof his translator, Philemon Holland, \u201cto bee found in the Flie or insect\ncalled Blatta, when the head is plucked off, which, if it be punned and\nmixed with Oile of Roses, is (as they say) wonderful good for the ears:\nbut the wooll wherein this medicine is enwrapped, and which is put into\nthe ears, must not long tarrie there, but within a little while drawne\nforth againe; for the said fat will very soone get life and prove a grub\nor little worme. Some writers there be who affirme, that two or three of\nthese flies called Blatt\u00e6 sodden in oile, make a soveraigne medicine to\ncure the eares, and if they be stamped and spread upon a linen rag and\nso applied, they will heale the eares, if they be hurt by any bruise or\ncontusion: Certes this is but a nastie and ill-favoured vermine, howbeit\nin regard of the manifold and admirable properties which naturally it\nhath, as also of the industrie of our auncestours in searching out the\nnature of it, I am moved to write thereof at large and to the full in\nthis place. For they have described many kinds of them. In the first\nplace, some of them be soft and tender, which being sodden in oile, they\nhave proved by experience to be of great efficacie in fetching off\nwerts, if they be annointed therewith. A second sort there is, which\nthey call Myl\u0153con, because ordinarily it haunteth about mils and\nbake-houses, and there breedeth: these by the report of _Musa_ and\n_Picton_, two famous Physicians, being bruised (after their heads were\ngone) and applied to a bodie infected with the leprosie, cured the same\npersitely. They of a third kind, besides that they bee otherwise\nill-favoured ynough, carrie a loathsome and odious smell with them: they\nare sharp rumped and pin buttockt also; howbeit, being incorporat with\nthe oile of pitch called Pissel\u00e6on, they have healed those ulcers which\nwere thought _nunquam sana_, and incurable. Also within one and twenty\ndaies after this plastre laid too, it hath been knowne to cure the\nswelling wens called the King\u2019s evil: the botches or biles named Pani,\nwounds, contusions, bruises, morimals, scabs, and fellons: but then\ntheir feet and wings were plucked off and cast away. I make no doubt or\nquestion, but that some of us are so daintie and fine-eared, that our\nstomacke riseth at the hearing onely of such medicines: and yet I assure\nyou, Diodorus, a renowned Physician, reporteth, that he has given these\nfoure flies inwardly with rozin and honey, for the jaundise, and to\nthose that were so streight-winded that they could not draw their breath\nbut sitting upright. See what libertie and power over us have these\nPhysicians, who to practise and trie conclusions upon our bodies, may\nexhibit unto their patients, what they list, be it never so homely, so\nit goe under the name of a medicine.\u201d[207]\n\nThe following extraordinary case of insects introduced into the human\nstomach, which is of rare occurrence, has been completely authenticated,\nboth by medical men and competent naturalists. It was first published by\nDr. Pickells, of Cork, in the Dublin Transactions.[208]\n\nMary Riordan, aged 28, had been much affected by the death of her\nmother, and at one of her many visits to the grave seems to have\npartially lost her senses, having been found lying there on the morning\nof a winter\u2019s day, and having been exposed to heavy rain during the\nnight. It appears that when she was about fifteen, two popular Catholic\npriests had died, and she was told by some old woman, that if she would\ndrink daily, for a certain time, a quantity of water, mixed with clay\ntaken from their graves, she would be forever secure from disease and\nsin. So following this absurd and disgusting prescription, she took from\ntime to time large quantities of the draught; and, some time afterward,\nbeing affected with a burning pain in the stomach (_cardialgia_), she\nbegan to eat large pieces of chalk, which she sometimes also mixed with\nwater and drank. In all these draughts, it is most probable, she\nswallowed the eggs of the enormous progenies of apterous, dipterous, and\ncoleopterous insects, which she for several years continued to throw up\nalive and moving. Dr. Pickells asserts that altogether he himself saw\nnearly 2000 of these larv\u00e6, and that there were many he did not see,\nfor, to avoid publicity, she herself destroyed a great number, and many,\ntoo, escaped immediately by running into holes in the floor. Of this\nincredible number, the greatest proportion were larv\u00e6 of the Church-yard\nbeetle, _Blaps mortisaga_, and of a dipterous insect, an _Ascarides_;\nand two were specimens of the Meal-worm--the larv\u00e6 of the\nDarkling--_Tenebrio molitor_. It may be interesting to learn that, by\nmeans of turpentine in large doses, this unfortunate woman was at length\nentirely rid of her pests.[209]\n\n\nCurculionid\u00e6--Weevils.\n\nAt Rio Janeiro, the brilliant Diamond-beetle, _Eutimis nobilis_, is in\ngreat request for brooches for gentlemen, and ten piasters are often\npaid for a single specimen. In this city many owners send their slaves\nout to catch insects, so that now the rarest and most brilliant species\nare to be had at a comparatively trifling sum. Each of these slaves,\nwhen he has attained to some adroitness in this operation, may, on a\nfine day, catch in the vicinity of the city as many as five or six\nhundred beetles. So this trade is considered there very lucrative, since\nsix milresis (four rix dollars, or about fourteen shillings) are paid\nfor the hundred. For these splendid insects there is a general demand;\nand their wing-cases are now sought for the purpose of adorning the\nladies of Europe--a fashion, it is said, which threatens the entire\nextinction of this beautiful tribe.[210]\n\nMessrs. Kidder and Fletcher tell us that in Brazil \u201ca commerce is\ncarried on in artificial flowers made from beetles\u2019 wings, fish-scales,\nsea-shells, and feathers, which attract the attention of every visitor.\nThese are made,\u201d they continue, \u201cby the _mulheres_ (women) of almost\nevery class, and thus they obtain not only pin-money, but some amass\nwealth in the traffic.\u201d[211] Among the beetles referred to by these\ngentlemen may be placed no doubt the _Eutimis nobilis_.\n\nAmong the largest of the species of this family is the Palm-weevil,\n_Calandra palmarum_, which is of an uniform black color, and measures\nmore than two inches in length. Its larva, called the _Grou-grou_,[212]\nor Cabbage-tree worm, which is very large, white, of an oval shape,\nresides in the tenderest part of the smaller palm-trees, and is\nconsidered, fried or broiled, as one of the greatest dainties in the\nWest Indies. \u201cThe tree,\u201d says Madame Merian, \u201cgrows to the height of a\nman, and is cut off when it begins to be tender, is cooked like a\ncauliflower, and tastes better than an artichoke. In the middle of these\ntrees live innumerable quantities of worms, which at first are as small\nas a maggot in a nut, but afterward grow to a very large size, and feed\non the marrow of the tree. These worms are laid on the coals to roast,\nand are considered as a highly agreeable food.\u201d[213] Capt. Stedman tells\nus these larv\u00e6 are a delicious treat to many people, and that they are\nregularly sold at Paramaribo. He mentions, too, the manner of dressing\nthem, which is by frying them in a pan with a very little butter and\nsalt, or spitting them on a wooden skewer; and, that thus prepared, in\ntaste they partake of all the spices of India--mace, cinnamon, cloves,\nnutmegs, etc.[214] This gentleman also says he once found concealed near\nthe trunk of an old tree a \u201ccase-bottle filled with excellent butter,\u201d\nwhich the rangers told him the natives made by melting and clarifying\nthe fat of this larva.[215] Dr. Winterbottom states this grub is served\nup at all the luxurious tables of West Indian epicures, particularly of\nthe French, as the greatest dainty of the western world.[216]\n\nDobrizhoffer doubtless refers to the larva of the _Calandra palmarum_,\nwhen he says: \u201cThe Spaniards of Santiago in Tucuman, when they go\nseeking honey in the woods, cleave certain palm-trees upon their way,\nand on their return find large grubs in the wounded trees, which they\nfry as a delicious food.\u201d[217] The same is said of the Guaraunos of the\nOrinoco--\u201cthat they find these grubs in great numbers in the palms,\nwhich they cut down for the sake of their juice. After all has been\ndrawn out that will flow, these grubs breed in the incisions, and the\ntrunk produces, as it were, a second crop.\u201d[218]\n\nThe Creoles of the Island of Barbados, says Schomburgk, consider the\nGrou-grou worm a great delicacy when roasted, and say it resembles in\ntaste the marrow of beef-bones.[219]\n\nAntonio de Ulloa, in his _Noticias Americanas_, says this grub has the\nsingular property of producing milk in women.[220] The Argentina, the\nhistoric poem of Brazil, adds an assertion which is more certainly\nfabulous, viz., that they first become butterflies, and then mice.[221]\n\nThey have a similar dainty in Java in the larva of some large beetle,\nwhich the natives call _Moutouke_.--\u201cA thick, white maggot which lives\nin wood, and so eats it away, that the backs of chairs, and feet of\ndrawers, although apparently sound, are frequently rotten within, and\nfall into dust when it is least expected. This creature may sometimes be\nheard at work. It is as big as a silk-worm, and very white, ... a mere\nlump of fat. Thirty are roasted together threaded on a little stick, and\nare delicate eating.\u201d[222]\n\n\u00c6lian speaks of an Indian king, who, for a dessert, instead of fruit set\nbefore his Grecian guests a roasted worm taken from a plant, probably\nthe larva of the _Calandra palmarum_, a native of Persia and Mesopotamia\nas well as of the West Indies, which he says the Indians esteemed very\ndelicious--a character that was confirmed by some of the Greeks who\ntasted it.[223]\n\nThe trunk of the grass-tree, or black-boy, _Xanthorea arborea_, when\nbeginning to decay, furnishes large quantities of marrow-like grubs,\nwhich are considered a delicacy by the aborigines of Western Australia.\nThey have a fragrant, aromatic flavor, and form a favorite food among\nthe natives, either raw or roasted. They call them _Bardi_. They are\nalso found in the wattle-tree, or mimosa. The presence of these grubs in\nthe _Xanthorea_ is thus ascertained: if the top of one of these trees is\nobserved to be dead, and it contain any bardi, a few sharp kicks given\nto it with the foot will cause it to crack and shake, when it is pushed\nover and the grubs taken out, by breaking the tree to pieces with a\nhammer. The bardi of the Xanthorea are small, and found together in\ngreat numbers; those of the wattle are cream-colored, as long and thick\nas a man\u2019s finger, and are found singly.[224]\n\nDr. Livingstone states that in the valley of Quango, S. Africa, the\nnatives dig large white larv\u00e6 out of the damp soil adjacent to their\nstreams, and use them as a relish to their vegetable diet.[225]\n\nIn the latter part of the eighteenth century, there was published at\nFlorence, by Prof. Gergi, the history of a remarkable insect which he\nnames _Curculio anti-odontalgicus_. This insect, as he assures us, not\nonly in the name he has given it, but also in an account of the many\ncures effected by it, is endowed with the singular property of curing\nthe toothache. He tells us, that if fourteen or fifteen of the larv\u00e6 be\nrubbed between the thumb and fore-finger, till the fluid is absorbed,\nand if a carious aching tooth be but touched with the thumb or finger\nthus prepared, the pain will be removed; a finger thus prepared, he says\nin conclusion, will, unless it be used for tooth-touching, retain its\nvirtue for a year! This remarkable insect is only found on a nondescript\nplant, the _Carduus spinosis-simus_.[226]\n\nIt is said, also by Prof. Gergi, that the Tuscan peasants have long been\nacquainted with several insects which furnish a charm for the toothache,\nas the _Curculio j\u00e6cac_, _C. Bacchus_, and _Carabus chrysocephalus_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe curious facts contained in the following quotation, from Chambers\u2019\nBook of Days, were among the first that led me to attempt the present\ncompilation. The scientific name of the insect here mentioned is, in the\nopinion of Prof. Gill and other scientists, a misprint for _Rhynchitus\nauratus_, and, following this decision, I have here placed it under the\n_Curculionid\u00e6_.--\u201cA lawsuit between the inhabitants of the Commune of\nSt. Julien and a coleopterous insect, now known to naturalists as the\n_Eynchitus aureus_, lasted for more than forty-two years. At length the\ninhabitants proposed to compromise the matter by giving up, in\nperpetuity, to the insects, a fertile part of the district for their\nsole use and benefit. Of course the advocate of the animals demurred to\nthe proposition, but the court, overruling the demurrer, appointed\nassessors to survey the land, and, it proving to be well wooded and\nwatered, and every way suitable for the insects, ordered the conveyance\nto be engrossed in due form and executed. The unfortunate people then\nthought they had got rid of a trouble imposed upon them by their\nlitigious fathers and grandfathers; but they were sadly mistaken. It was\ndiscovered that there had formerly been a mine or quarry of an ochreous\nearth, used as a pigment, in the land conveyed to the insects, and\nthough the quarry had long since been worked out and exhausted, some one\npossessed an ancient right of way to it, which if exercised would be\ngreatly to the annoyance of the new proprietors. Consequently the\ncontract was vitiated, and the whole process commenced _de novo_. How or\nwhen it ended, the mutilation of the recording documents prevents us\nfrom knowing; but it is certain that the proceedings commenced in the\nyear 1445, and that they had not concluded in 1487. So what with the\ninsects, the lawyers, and the church, the poor inhabitants must have\nbeen pretty well fleeced. During the whole period of a process,\nreligious processions and other expensive ceremonies that had to be well\npaid for, were strictly enjoined. Besides, no district could commence a\nprocess of this kind unless all its arrears of tithes were paid up; and\nthis circumstance gave rise to the well-known French legal maxim--\u2018The\nfirst step toward getting rid of locusts is the payment of tithes?\u2019 an\nadage that in all probability was susceptible of more meanings than\none.\u201d[227]\n\n\nCerambycid\u00e6--Musk-beetles.\n\nMoufet says: \u201cThe Cerambyx, knowing that his legs are weak, twists his\nhorns about the branch of a tree, and so he hangs at ease.... They\nthrust upon us some German fables, as many as say it flies only, and\nwhen it is weary it falls to the earth and presently dies. Those that\nare slaves to tales, render this reason for it: Terambus, a satyrist,\ndid not abstain from quipping of the Muses, whereupon they transformed\nhim into a beetle called Cerambyx, and that deservedly, to endure a\ndouble punishment, for he hath legs weak that he goes lame, and like a\nthief he hangs on a tree. Antonius Libealis, lib. i. of his\nMetamorphosis, relates the matter in these words: The Muses in anger\ntransformed Terambus because he reproached them, and he was made a\nCerambyx that feeds on wood,\u201d etc.[228]\n\nA large species of longicorn beetles, the _Acanthocinus \u00e6dilis_, is the\nwell-known _Timerman_ of Sweden and Lapland; an insect which the natives\nof these countries regard with a kind of superstitious veneration. Its\npresence is thought to be the presage of good fortune, and it is as\ncarefully protected and cherished as storks are by the peasantry of the\nLow Countries.[229]\n\nIt has been found that the common cinnamon-colored Musk-beetle,\n_Cerambyx moschatus_, when dried and reduced to powder, and made use of\nas a vesicatory, in the manner of the officinal Cantharides, produces a\nsimilar effect, and in as short a space of time.[230]\n\nThe _Prionus damicornis_ is a native of many parts of America and the\nWest Indies, where its larva, a grub about three and a half inches in\nlength, and of the thickness of the little finger, is in great request\nas an article of food, being considered by epicures as one of the\ngreatest delicacies of the New World. We are informed by authors of the\nhighest respectability, that some people of fortune in the West Indies\nkeep negroes for the sole purpose of going into the woods in quest of\nthese admired larv\u00e6, who scoop them out of the trees in which they\nreside. Dr. Browne, in his History of Jamaica, informs us that they are\nchiefly found in the plum and silk-cotton trees (_Bombax_). They are\ncommonly called by the name of _Macauco_, or _Macokkos_. The mode of\ndressing them is first to open and wash them, and then carefully broil\nthem over a charcoal fire.[231] Sir Hans Sloane tells us the Indians of\nJamaica boil them in their soups, pottages, olios, and pepper-pots, and\naccount them of delicious flavor, much like, but preferable to, marrow;\nand the negroes of this island roast them slightly at the fire, and eat\nthem with bread.[232]\n\nA similar larva is dressed at Mauritius under the name of _Moutac_,\nwhich the whites as well as the negroes eat greedily.[233] According to\nLinn\u00e6us, the larva of the _Prionus cervicornis_ is held in equal\nestimation; and that of the _Acanthocinus tribulus_ when roasted forms\nan article of food in Africa.[234]\n\nThe _Cossus_ of Pliny belonged most probably to this tribe, or to the\n_Lucanid\u00e6_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWanley knew a nun in the monastery of St. Clare, who at the sight of a\nbeetle was affected in the following strange manner. It happened that\nsome young girls, knowing her disposition, threw a beetle into her\nbosom, which when she perceived, she immediately fell into a swoon,\ndeprived of all sense, and remained four hours in cold sweats. She did\nnot regain her strength for many days after, but continued trembling and\npale.[235]\n\n\nGalerucid\u00e6--Turnip-fly, etc.\n\nThe striped Turnip-beetle, _Haltica nemorum_, commonly called the\n_Turnip-fly_, _Turnip-flea_, _Earth-flea-beetle_, _Black-jack_, etc., is\na well known species from the ravages the perfect insect commits upon\nthe turnip. In Devonshire, England, in the year 1786, the loss caused by\nthese insects alone was valued at \u00a3100,000 sterling. And in the spring\nof 1837, the vines in the neighborhood of Montpellier were attacked to\nso great an extent by another species, _Haltica oleracea_, in the\nperfect state, that fears were entertained for the plants, and religious\nprocessions were instituted for the purpose of exorcising the\ninsects.[236]\n\nAnatolius says that if the seeds of radishes, turnips, and other\nesculents be sown in the hide of a tortoise, the plants when grown will\nnot be eaten by the fly, nor hurt by noxious animals or birds.[237]\nPaladius has also related the method of drying the seeds in the hide of\nthis animal,[238] and of sowing them.[239]\n\n\n\n\nORDER II.\n\nEUPLEXOPTERA.\n\n\nForficulid\u00e6--Ear-wigs.\n\nThe vulgar opinion that the Ear-wig, _Forficula auricularia_, seeks to\nintroduce itself into the ear of human beings, and causes much injury to\nthat organ, is very ancient, but not founded on fact, for they are\nperfectly harmless. To this opinion the names of this insect in almost\nall European languages point: as in English, _Ear-wig_ (from Anglo-Saxon\n_eare_, the ear, and _wigga_, a worm; hence, also, our word _wiggle_),\nin French, _Perce-oreille_, and in the German, _Ohrwurm_. But, according\nto some writers, these names arose from the shape of the wing when\nexpanded, which then resembles the human ear; and _ear-wig_ might easily\nbe a corruption of ear-_wing_.\n\nSwift, in the following lines, introduces an \u201cEar-wig (probably a\n_Curculio_) in a plum,\u201d as though in allusion to some superstition:\n\n    Doll never flies to cut her lace,\n    Or throw cold water in her face,\n    Because she heard a sudden drum,\n    Or found an ear-wig in a plum.\n\n\u201cOil of Ear-wigs,\u201d says Dr. James, \u201cis good to strengthen the nerves\nunder convulsive motions, by rubbing it on the temples, wrists, and\nnostrils. These insects, being dried, pulverized, and mixed with the\nurine of a hare, are esteemed to be good for deafness, being introduced\ninto the ear.\u201d[240]\n\nIn August, 1755, in the parishes adjacent to Stroud, it is said there\nwere such quantities of Ear-wigs, that they destroyed not only the\nfruits and flowers, but the cabbages, though of full growth. The houses,\nespecially the old wooden buildings, were swarming with them: the cracks\nand crevices surprisingly full, so that they dropped out oftentimes in\nsuch multitudes as to literally cover the floor. Linen, of which they\nare fond, was likewise full, as was the furniture; and it was with\ncaution any provisions could be eaten, for the cupboards and safes\nflocked with these little pests.[241]\n\n\n\n\nORDER III.\n\nORTHOPTERA.\n\n\nBlattid\u00e6--Cockroaches.\n\nSloane tells us the Indians of Jamaica drink the ashes of Cockroaches in\nphysic: bruise and mix them with sugar and apply them to ulcers and\ncancers to suppurate; and are said also to give them to kill worms in\nchildren.[242] Dr. James, quoting Dioscorides, Lib. II. cap. 38,\nremarks: \u201cThe inside of the Blatta (_B. foetida_, Monf. 138), which is\nfound in bake-houses, bruised or boiled in oil, and dropped into the\nears, eases the pains thereof.\u201d[243] It is most probable the insect now\ncalled Blatta is not at all meant by either of the above gentlemen. The\nBlatta of Dioscorides is quite likely the Blatta of Pliny, which has\nbeen with good reason conjectured to be the modern _Blaps\nmortisaga_--the common Church-yard beetle.\n\nIn England, the hedge-hog, _Erinaceus Europ\u00e6us_, from its fondness for\ninsects and its nocturnal habits, is often kept domesticated in kitchens\nto destroy the Cockroaches with which they are infested; and the\nhousekeepers of Jamaica, as we are informed by Sir Hans Sloane, for the\nsame reasons and purpose, keep large spiders in their houses.[244] A\nspecies of monkey, _Simia jacchus_, and a species of lemur, _L.\ntardigradus_, are also made use of for destroying these insects,\nespecially on board ships.[245] Mr. Neill, in the Magazine of Natural\nHistory, in his account of the above-mentioned species of monkey, says:\n\u201cBy chance we observed it devouring a large Cockroach, which it had\ncaught running along the deck of the vessel; and, from this time to\nnearly the end of the voyage, a space of four or five weeks, it fed\nalmost exclusively on these insects, and contributed most effectually to\nrid the vessel of them. It frequently ate a score of the largest kind,\nwhich are from two to two and a half inches long, and a very great\nnumber of the smaller ones, three or four times in the course of the\nday. It was quite amusing to see it at its meal. When he had got hold of\none of the largest Cockroaches, he held it in his fore-paws, and then\ninvariably nipped the head off first; he then pulled out the viscera and\ncast them aside, and devoured the rest of the body, rejecting the dry\nelytra and wings, and also the legs of the insect, which are covered\nwith short stiff bristles. The small Cockroaches he ate without such\nfastidious nicety.\u201d[246]\n\nThe common Cockroach, or Black-beetle, as it is sometimes vulgarly\ncalled, the _Blatta orientalis_, is said originally to be a native of\nIndia, and introduced here, as well as in every other part of the\ncivilized globe, through the medium of commerce. In England, another\nspecies, said to be a native of America, _Blatta Americana_, larger than\nthe last, is now also becoming very common, especially in seaport towns\nwhere merchandise is stored.[247]\n\nAn old Swede, Luen Laock, one of the first Swedish clergymen that came\nto Pennsylvania, told the traveler Kalm, that in his younger days, he\nhad once been very much frightened by a Cockroach, which crept into his\near while he was asleep. Waking suddenly, he jumped out of bed, which\ncaused the insect, most probably out of fear, to strive with all its\nstrength to get deeper into his skull, producing such excruciating pain\nthat he imagined his head was bursting, and he almost fell senseless to\nthe floor. Hastening, however, to the well, he drew a bucket of water,\nand threw some in his ear. The Roach then finding itself in danger of\nbeing drowned, quickly pushed out backward, and as quickly delivered the\npoor Swede from his pain and fears.[248]\n\nThe proverbial expression \u201cSound as a Roach\u201d is supposed to have been\nderived from familiarity with the legend and attributes of the Saint\nRoche,--the esteemed saint of all afflicted with the plague, a disease\nof common occurrence in England when the streets were narrow, and\nwithout sewers, houses without boarded floors, and our ancestors without\nlinen. They believed that the miraculous St. Roche could make them as\n\u201csound\u201d as himself.[249]\n\nA quite common superstitious practice, in order to rid a house of\nCockroaches, is in vogue in our country at the present time. It is no\nother than to address these pests a written letter containing the\nfollowing words, or to this effect: \u201cO, Roaches, you have troubled me\nlong enough, go now and trouble my neighbors.\u201d This letter must be put\nwhere they most swarm, after sealing and going through with the other\ncustomary forms of letter writing. It is well, too, to write legibly and\npunctuate according to rule.\n\nAnother receipt for driving away Cockroaches is as follows: Close in an\nenvelope several of these insects, and drop it in the street unseen, and\nthe remaining Roaches will all go to the finder of the parcel.\n\nIt is also said that if a looking-glass be held before Roaches, they\nwill be so frightened as to leave the premises.\n\nA firm, which has been established in London for seven years, and which\nmanufactures exclusively poison known to the trade as the \u201cPhosphor\nPaste for the Destruction of Black-beetles, Cockroaches, rats, mice,\u201d\netc., has given to Mr. Mayhew the following information:\n\n\u201cWe have now sold this vermin poison for seven years, but we have never\nhad an application for our composition from any street-seller. We have\nseen, a year or two since, a man about London who used to sell\nbeetle-wafers; but as we knew that kind of article to be entirely\nuseless, we were not surprised to find that he did not succeed in making\na living. We have not heard of him for some time, and have no doubt he\nis dead, or has taken up some other line of employment.\n\n\u201cIt is a strange fact, perhaps; but we do not know anything, or scarcely\nanything, as to the kind of people and tradesmen who purchase our\npoison--to speak the truth, we do not like to make too many inquiries of\nour customers. Sometimes, when they have used more than their customary\nquantity, we have asked, casually, how it was and to what kind of\nbusiness people they disposed of it, and we have always met with an\nevasive sort of answer. You see tradesmen don\u2019t like to divulge too\nmuch; for it must be a poor kind of profession or calling that there are\nno secrets in; and, again, they fancy we want to know what description\nof trades use the most of our composition, so that we might supply them\ndirect from ourselves. From this cause we have made a rule not to\ninquire curiously into the matters of our customers. We are quite\ncontent to dispose of the quantity we do, for we employ six travelers to\ncall on chemists and oilmen for the town trade, and four for the\ncountry.\n\n\u201cThe other day an elderly lady from High Street, Camden Town, called\nupon us: she stated that she was overrun with black beetles, and wished\nto buy some of our paste from ourselves, for she said she always found\nthings better if you purchased them of the maker, as you were sure to\nget them stronger, and by that means avoided the adulteration of the\nshopkeepers. But as we have said we would not supply a single box to any\none, not wishing to give our agents any cause for complaint, we were\nobliged to refuse to sell to the old lady.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t care to say how many boxes we sell in the year; but we can\ntell you, sir, that we sell more for beetle poisoning in the summer than\nin the winter, as a matter of course. When we find that a particular\ndistrict uses almost an equal quantity all the year round, we make sure\nthat that is a rat district; for where there is not the heat of summer\nto breed beetles, it must follow that the people wish to get rid of\nrats.\n\n\u201cBrixton, Hackney, Ball\u2019s Pond, and Lower Road, Islington, are the\nplaces that use most of our paste, those districts lying low, and being\nconsequently damp. Camden Town, though it is in a high situation, is\nvery much infested with beetles; it is a clayey soil, you understand,\nwhich retains moisture, and will not allow it to filter through like\ngravel. This is why in some very low districts, where the houses are\nbuilt on gravel, we sell scarcely any of our paste.\n\n\u201cAs the farmers say, a good fruit year is a good fly year; so we say, a\ngood dull, wet summer, is a good beetle summer; and this has been a very\nfertile year, and we only hope it will be as good next year.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t believe in rat-destroyers; they profess to kill with weasels\nand a lot of things, and sometimes even say they can charm them away.\nCaptains of vessels, when they arrive in the docks, will employ these\npeople; and, as we say, they generally use our composition, but as long\nas their vessels are cleared of the vermin, they don\u2019t care to know how\nit is done. A man who drives about in a cart, and does a great business\nin this way, we have reason to believe uses a great quantity of our\nPhosphor Paste. He comes from somewhere down the East-end or Whitechapel\nway.\n\n\u201cOur prices are too high for the street-sellers. Your street-seller can\nonly afford to sell an article made by a person in but a very little\nbetter position than himself. Even our small boxes cost at the trade\nprice two shillings a dozen, and when sold will only produce three\nshillings; so you can imagine the profit is not enough for the itinerant\nvendor.\n\n\u201cBakers don\u2019t use much of our paste, for they seem to think it no use to\ndestroy the vermin--beetles and bakers\u2019 shops generally go\ntogether.\u201d[250]\n\nIf a black beetle enters your room, or flies against you, severe illness\nand perhaps death will soon follow. I have never heard this superstition\nbut in Maryland.\n\n\nMantid\u00e6--Soothsayers, etc.\n\nWe now come to a very extraordinary family of insects, the _Mantid\u00e6_.\n\u201cImagination itself,\u201d as Dr. Shaw well observes, \u201ccan hardly conceive\nshapes more strange than those exhibited by some particular\nspecies.\u201d[251] \u201cThey are called _Mantes_; that is, fortune-tellers,\u201d\nsays Mouffet, \u201ceither because by their coming (for they first of all\nappear) they do show the spring to be at hand, as Anacreon, the poet,\nsang; or else they foretell death and famine, as C\u00e6lias, the scholiast\nof Theocritus, writes; or, lastly, because it always holds up its\nfore-feet, like hands, praying, as it were, after the manner of their\ndivines, who in that gesture did pour out their supplications to their\ngods. So divine a creature is this esteemed, that if a childe aske the\nway to such a place, she will stretch out one of her feet and show him\nthe right way, and seldome or never misse. As she resembleth those\ndiviners in the elevation of her hands, so also in likeness of motion,\nfor they do not sport themselves as others do, nor leap, nor play, but\nwalking softly she returns her modesty, and showes forth a kind of\nmature gravity.\u201d[252]\n\nThe name _Mantis_ is of Greek origin, and signifies diviner. In one of\nthe Idylls of Theocritus, however, it is employed to designate a thin,\nyoung girl, with slender and elongated arms. _Pr\u00e6macram ac pertenuem\npuellam \u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd. Corpore pr\u00e6longo, pedibus etiam pr\u00e6longis, locust\u00e6\ngenus._\n\nThese insects, _Mantis oratoria_, _religiosa_, etc., in consequence of\ntheir having, as Mouffet says, their fore-feet extended as if they were\npraying, are called in France, _Devin_, and _Prega-diou_ or\n_Pr\u00eache-dieu_; and with us, _Praying-insects_, _Soothsayers_, and\n_Diviners_. They are also often called from their singular shape\n_Camel-crickets_.\n\nThe Mantis was observed by the Greeks in soothsaying;[253] and the\nHindoos displayed the same reverential consideration of its movements\nand flight.[254]\n\nBut, in modern times, the superstition respecting the sanctity of the\nMantis begins in Southern Europe, and is found in almost every other\nquarter of the globe, at least wherever a characteristic species of the\ninsect is found.\n\nIn the southern provinces of France, where the Mantis is very abundant,\nboth the characters of praying and pointing out the lost way, as above\nmentioned by Mouffet, are still ascribed to it by the peasantry, as is\nevidenced by the above mentioned names they know them by. And here, as\nwherever else this superstition obtains, it is considered a great crime\nto injure the Mantis, and as, at least, a very culpable neglect not to\nplace it out of the way of any danger to which it seems exposed.\n\nThe Turks and other Moslems have been much impressed by the actions of\nthe common Mantis, the _religiosa_,[255] which greatly resemble some of\ntheir own attitudes of prayer. They readily recognize intelligence and\npious intentions in its actions, and accordingly treat it with respect\nand attention, not indeed as in itself an object of reverence or\nsuperstition, but as a fellow-worshiper of God, whom they believe that\nall creatures praise, with more or less consciousness and\nintelligence.[256]\n\nBut it is in Africa, and especially in Southern Africa, that the Mantis\n(here the _Mantis causta_)[257] receives its highest honors. The\nattention of the travelers and missionaries in that quarter was\nnecessarily much drawn to the kind of religious veneration paid to an\ninsect, and from their accounts, though very contradictory, some curious\ninformation may be collected.\n\nThe authority of Peter Kolben, an early German traveler to the Cape of\nGood Hope, is as follows: That the Hottentots regard as a good deity an\ninsect of the \u201cbeetle-kind\u201d peculiar to their country. This \u201cbeetle-god\u201d\nis described by him to be \u201cabout the size of a child\u2019s little finger,\nthe back green, the belly speckled white and red, with two wings and two\nhorns.\u201d He also assures us that whenever the Hottentots meet this\ninsect, they pay it the highest honor and veneration; and that if it\nvisits a kraal they assemble about it as if a divinity had descended\namong them; and even kill a sheep or two as a thank-offering, and esteem\nit an omen of the greatest happiness and prosperity. They believe, also,\nits appearance expiates all their guilt; and if the insect lights upon\none of them, such person is looked upon as a saint, be it man or woman,\nand ever after treated with uncommon respect. The kraal then kills the\nfattest ox for a thank-offering; and the caul, powdered with _bukhu_,\nand twisted like a rope, is put on, like a collar, about the neck, and\nthere must remain till it rots off.[258]\n\nKolben, in another place, describes the Mantis under the name of the\n_Gold-beetle_, saying that its head and wings are of a gold color, the\nback green, etc., as above.[259]\n\nMr. Kolben, again speaking of this singular reverence, remarks that the\nHottentots will run every hazard to secure the safety of this fortunate\ninsect, and are cautious to the last degree of giving it the slightest\nannoyance, and relates the following anecdote:\n\n\u201cA German, who had a country-seat about six miles from the fort, having\ngiven leave to some Hottentots to turn their cattle for awhile upon his\nland there, they removed to the place with their _kraal_. A son of this\nGerman, a brisk young fellow, was amusing himself in the kraal, when the\ndeified insect appeared. The Hottentots, upon sight, ran tumultuously to\nadore it; while the young fellow tried to catch it, in order to see the\neffect such capture would produce among them. But how great was the\ngeneral cry and agony when they saw it in his hands! They stared with\ndistraction in their eyes at him, and at one another. \u2018See, see, see,\u2019\nsaid they. \u2018Ah! what is he going to do? Will he kill it? will he kill\nit?\u2019 Every limb of them shaking through apprehensions for its fate.\n\u2018Why,\u2019 said the young fellow, who very well understood them, \u2018do you\nmake such a hideous noise? and why such agonies for this paltry animal?\u2019\n\u2018Ah! sir,\u2019 they replied, with the utmost concern, \u2018\u2019tis a divinity. \u2019Tis\ncome from heaven; \u2019tis come on a good design. Ah! do not hurt it--do not\noffend it. We are the most miserable wretches upon earth if you do. This\nground will be under a curse, and the crime will never be forgiven.\u2019\nThis was not enough for the young German. He had a mind to carry the\nexperiment a little farther. He seemed not, therefore, to be moved with\ntheir petitions and remonstrances; but made as if he intended to maim or\ndestroy it. On this appearance of cruelty they started, and ran to and\nagain like people frantic; asked him, where and what his conscience was?\nand how he durst think of perpetrating a crime, which would bring upon\nhis head all the curses and thunders of heaven. But this not prevailing,\nthey fell all prostrate on the ground before the young fellow, and with\nstreaming eyes and the loudest cries, besought him to spare the\ncreature and give it its liberty. The young German now yielded, and,\nhaving let the insect fly, the Hottentots jumped and capered and shouted\nin all the transports of joy; and, running after the animal, rendered it\nthe customary divine honors. But the creature settled upon none of them,\nand there was not one sainted upon this occasion.\u201d[260]\n\nAfterward, Mr. Kolben, discoursing with these Hottentots, took occasion\nto ask them concerning the utmost limit they carried the belief of the\nsanctity and avenging spirit of this insect, when they declared to him,\nthat if the German had killed it, all their cattle would certainly have\nbeen destroyed by wild beasts, and they themselves, every man, woman,\nand child of them, brought to a miserable end. That they believed the\nkraal to be of evil destiny where this insect is rarely seen. Mr. Kolben\nasserts that they would sooner give up their lives than renounce the\nslightest item of their belief.[261]\n\nDr. Sparrman, a Swedish traveler into the country of the Hottentots and\nCaffres between the years 1772 and 1779, in speaking of the Mantis,\ncalled in his time the \u201cHottentot\u2019s God,\u201d denies the above statement of\nMr. Kolben, and says the Hottentots are so far from worshiping it, that\nthey several times caught some of them, and gave them to him to put\nneedles through them, by way of preserving them, in the same manner as\nhe did with the other insects. But there is, he adds, a diminutive\nspecies of this insect, which some think would be a crime, as well as\nvery dangerous, to do any harm to, but that it was only a superstitious\nnotion, and not any kind of religious worship.[262]\n\nDr. Thunberg, who traveled in South Africa about the same time as Dr.\nSparrman, corroborates the latter\u2019s statement, and says he could see no\nreason for the supposition that the Hottentots worshiped the Mantis,\nbut, he adds, it certainly was held in some degree of esteem, so that\nthey would not willingly hurt, and deemed that person a creature\nfortunate on which it settled, though without paying it any sort of\nadoration.[263]\n\nDr. Vanderkemp, in his account of Caffraria, after describing the\nMantis, says that the natives call it _oumtoanizoulou_, the _Child of\nHeaven_, and adds that \u201cthe Hottentots regard it as almost a deity, and\noffer their prayers to it, begging that it may not destroy them.\u201d[264]\n\nMr. Kirchener, speaking of the same people, says they reverence a little\ninsect, known by the name of the _Creeping Leaf_, a sight of which they\nconceive indicates something fortunate, and to kill it they suppose will\nbring a curse upon the perpetrator.[265]\n\nMr. Evan Evans, a missionary to the Cape of Good Hope, gives an account\nof a conversation which he had with the Hottentot driver of his wagon,\nwhich seems to make out the claims of the Mantis to be the God of the\nHottentots--as it is even yet called. The driver directed his attention\nto \u201ca small insect,\u201d which he called by its above-mentioned familiar\nname, and alluded to the notions he had in former times connected with\nit. \u201cI asked him, \u2018Did you ever worship this insect then?\u2019 He answered,\n\u2018Oh, yes! a thousand times; always before I came to Bethelsdorf.\nWhenever I saw this little creature, I would fall down on my knees\nbefore him and pray.\u2019 \u2018What did you pray to him for?\u2019 \u2018I asked him to\ngive me a good master, and plenty of thick milk and flesh.\u2019 \u2018Did you\npray for nothing else?\u2019 \u2018No, sir; I did not then know that I wanted\nanything else.... Whenever I used to see this animal (holding the insect\nstill in his hand) I used sometimes to fall down immediately before it;\nbut if it was in the wagon-road, or in a foot-path, I used to push it up\nas gently as I could, to place it behind a bush, for fear a wagon should\ncrush it, or some men or beasts would put it to death. If a Hottentot,\nby some accident, killed or injured this creature, he was sure to be\nunlucky all his lifetime, and could never shoot an elephant or a buffalo\nafterward.\u2019\u201d[266]\n\nNiuhoff, in his account of his travels in Java in 1643, tells us \u201cthe\nJavanese set two of these little creatures (Mantes) a fighting together,\nand lay money on both sides, as we do at a cock-match.\u201d[267] Among the\nChinese also this quarrelsome property in the genus Mantis is turned\ninto an entertainment. They are so fond of gaming and witnessing fights\nbetween animals that, as says Mr. Barrow in his Travels, \u201cthey have\neven extended their inquiries after fighting animals into the insect\ntribe, and have discovered a species of Gryllus or Locust that will\nattack each other with such ferocity as seldom to quit their hold\nwithout bringing away at the same time a limb of their antagonist. These\nlittle creatures are fed and kept apart in bamboo cages, and the custom\nof making them devour each other is so common that, during the summer\nmonths, scarcely a boy is to be seen without his cage of\ngrasshoppers.\u201d[268] The boys in Washington City, who call the Mantis the\n\u201cRear-horse,\u201d are also fond of this amusement.\n\nAmong the legends of St. Francis Xavier, the following is found. Seeing\na Mantis moving along in its solemn way, holding up its two fore-legs,\nas in the act of devotion, the Saint desired it to sing the praises of\nGod, whereupon the insect caroled forth a fine canticle.[269]\n\nThe _Mantis religiosa_ of America is said to make a most interesting pet\nwhen tamed, which can be done in a very short time and with but little\npains. Professor Glover, of the Maryland Agricultural College, tells me\nhe once knew a lady in Washington who kept a Mantis on her window which\nsoon grew so tame as to take readily a fly or other small insect out of\nher hand. But Mrs. Taylor, in her Orthopterian Defense, has given us the\nparticulars in full of a Mantis which she had petted. She speaks of it\nunder the name of \u201cQueen Bess,\u201d and in her most interesting style, as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cQueen Bess, of famous memory, would alight on my shoulder and take all\nher food from me half a dozen times a day. When she omitted her visit I\nknew she had been hunting on her own account. All night long she would\nkeep watch and guard under the mosquito-net. The silk (the thread with\nwhich the insect was bound) was fastened to the post of the bed; and woe\nbetide an unfortunate mosquito who fancied for his supper a drop of\nclaret. It was the drollest, the most laughter-moving sensation, to feel\none of these trumpeters saluting your nose or forehead, and hear Queen\nBess approaching with those long claws, creeping slowly, softly, nearer\nand nearer; to feel the fine prick of the lancet setting in for a\ntipple; then you would suppose a dozen fine needles had been suddenly\ndrawn across the part; then, _presto!_ Bess\u2019s strong, saber-like claws\nhad the jolly trumpeter tucked into her capacious jaws before you could\nopen your eyes to ascertain the state of affairs.\n\n\u201cThese creatures very seldom fly far,\u201d continues Mrs. Taylor, \u201cbut walk\nin a most stately and dignified manner. Queen Bess could not bear to be\noverlooked or slighted(!); and as sure as she saw me bending over the\nmagnifier with an insect, and I thought she was ten yards off, the\ninsect would be incontinently snapped out of my fingers. Many a valuable\nspecimen disappeared in this way. I learned to put her at these times in\nthe sounding-board of an \u00c6olian harp, which was generally placed in the\nwindow. Her majesty liked music of this kind amazingly; as the vibration\nwas _felt_ though not heard. I presume she fancied she was serenaded by\nthe singing leaves of the forest. I knew she would have remained there\nspell-bound until driven forth by hunger, if I did not remove her when I\nwas not afraid of her company.\n\n\u201cAs I have begun my \u2018experiences,\u2019\u201d continues the same writer, \u201cI will\ngo through with them and confess that I was obliged from circumstances\nto attach more than accident to her prophetic capacity--her\nfortune-telling. I have not a grain of superstition to contend against\nin other matters, having so much reverence for the Creator of all things\nthat I certainly have no fear of anything earthly or spiritually\nconveyed to the senses. But I was taught by the saddest teacher,\nExperience, that whenever Queen Bess\u2019s refusal went unheeded I was the\nsufferer. The first time I ever tried it was to determine a vacillating\npresentiment I felt about trying a new horse whose reputation was far\nfrom good. I placed Queen Bess before me, held up my finger:\n\n\u201c\u2018Attention! Queen Bess, would you advise me to try that horse?\u2019\n\n\u201cShe was standing on her hind legs, her antenn\u00e6 erect, wings wide\nspread. I repeated the question. Antenn\u00e6 fell; wings folded; and down\nshe went, gradually, until her head and long thorax were buried beneath\nher front legs. I took her advice, and did not venture. Two days later\nthe horse threw his rider and killed him.\n\n\u201cHere was the turning-point. Was I to allow such folly to master me? If\nFrench girls do take a Mantis at the junction of three roads, and ask\nher on which their lover will come, and watch the insect turning and\nexamining each road with her weird sibyl head,[270]--if French girls\ncommit such follies, should I, a staid American woman, follow their\nexample--putting my faith in the caprices of an insect? Pshaw! I was\nabove such folly. So the next time Queen Bess was consulted a more\ndecided refusal was given; but I disregarded her warning, and most\nsorely did I repent it. Again she would approve, by standing more erect,\nif possible, spreading and closing her wings; then all was sunshine with\nme. So it went for many months. Many others have had the same\nexperience, if they will confess it honestly. I learned to obey the\nhidden head more carefully than any other, I am sorry to say; and I\nnever, in one single instance, knew her to refuse her opinion; and I\nnever knew it to be wrong in whatever way she announced it.\u201d\n\nThis same superstitious woman says that boys and girls try their future\nexpectations by making a mimic chariot, ballasting it with small\npebbles, shot, or any such like thing, and harnessing the Mantis in with\nsilk. Upon being freighted she rises immediately, as if to try the\nweight; if too heavy she will not fly. Lighten the chariot, and she will\nsoar away to a tree or a field; then her owner is to be a lucky boy. If\nshe will not go at all, or only a short distance, and soon come down,\nmisfortune is to be his doom.[271]\n\nOther superstitions among us, with respect to the Mantis are as follows:\n\nWhen the Mantis (Rear-horse) kneels, it sees an angel in the way, or\nhears the rustle of its wings. When it alights on your hand, you are\nabout to make the acquaintance of a distinguished person; if it alights\non your head, a great honor will shortly be conferred upon you. If it\ninjures you in any way, which it does but seldom, you will lose a valued\nfriend by calumny. Never kill a Mantis, as it bears charms against evil.\n\nFrom the great resemblance of many species of Mantis to the leaves of\nthe trees upon which they feed, some travelers, who have observed them,\nhave declared that they saw the leaves of trees become living creatures,\nand take flight. Madame Merian informs us of a similar opinion among\nthe Indians of Surinam, who believed these insects grew like leaves upon\nthe trees, and when they were mature, loosened themselves and crawled,\nor flew away.\n\nWe find also in the works of Piso an account of insects becoming plants.\nSpeaking of the Mantis, that author says: \u201cThose little animals change\ninto a green and tender plant, which is of two hands breadth. The feet\nare fixed into the ground first; from these, when necessary humidity is\nattracted, roots grow out, and strike into the ground; thus they change\nby degrees, and in a short time become a perfect plant. Sometimes only\nthe lower part takes the nature and form of a plant, while the upper\npart remains as before, living and movable; after some time the animal\nis gradually converted into a plant. In this Nature seems to operate in\na circle, by a continual retrograde motion.\u201d[272]\n\nThere may be, however, much truth in this remarkable metamorphosis; for,\nthat an insect may strike root into the earth, and, from the\nco-operation of heat and moisture, congenial to vegetation, produce a\nplant of the cryptogamic kind, cannot be disputed. Westwood states that\nhe has seen a species of _Clavaria_, both of the undivided and branched\nkinds, which had sprung from insects, and were four times larger than\nthe insects themselves. In truth, it cannot then be denied that Piso may\nnot have seen a plant of a proportionate magnitude which had likewise\ngrown out of a Mantis. The pup\u00e6 of bees, wasps, and cicadas, have been\nknown to become the nidus of a plant, to throw up stems from the front\npart of the head, and change in every respect into a vegetable, and\nstill retain the shell and exterior appearance of the parent insect at\nthe root. Specimens of these vegetated animals are frequently brought\nfrom the West Indies. Mr. Drury had a beetle in the perfect state, from\nevery part of which small stalks and fibers sprouted forth; they were\nentirely different from the tufts of hair that are observed in a few\nColeopterous insects, such as the _Buprestis fascicularius_ of the Cape\nof Good Hope, and were certainly a vegetable production.[273] Mr.\nAtwood, in his account of Dominica, describes a \u201cvegetable fly\u201d as\nfollows: \u201cIt is of the appearance and size of a small Cock-chafer, and\nburies itself in the ground, where it dies; and from its body springs up\na small plant, resembling a young coffee tree, only that its leaves are\nsmaller. The plant is often overlooked, from the supposition people have\nof its being no other than a coffee plant, but on examining it properly,\nthe difference is easily distinguished.... The head, body, and feet of\nthe insect appearing at the foot as perfect as when alive.\u201d[274]\n\nDr. Colin, of Philadelphia, has mentioned, also, on the authority of a\nmissionary, a \u201cvegetable fly,\u201d similar to the last mentioned, on the\nOhio River.[275]\n\nThe inhabitants of the Sechell Islands raise the _Mantis siccifolia_, or\nDry-leaf Mantis, as an object of commerce and natural history.\n\n\nAchetid\u00e6--Crickets.\n\nIn the Island of Barbados, the natives look upon the creaking chirp of a\nspecies of Cricket, to which Hughes has given the name of the\n_Ash-colored_ or _Sickly Cricket_, when heard in the house, as an omen\nof death to some one of the family.[277]\n\nIn England, also, is the Cricket\u2019s chirp sometimes looked upon as\nprognosticating death. \u201cWhen Blonzelind expired,\u201d Gay, in his Pastoral\nDirge, says,\n\n    And shrilling Crickets in the chimney cry\u2019d.[278]\n\nSo also in Reed\u2019s Old Plays is the Cricket\u2019s cry ominous of death:\n\n    And the strange Cricket i\u2019 th\u2019 oven sings and hops.\n\nThe same superstition is found in the following line from the \u0152dipus of\nDryden and Lee:\n\n    Owels, ravens, Crickets, seem the watch of death.\n\nGaule mentions, among other vain observations and superstitious\nominations thereupon, \u201cthe Cricket\u2019s chirping behind the chimney stack,\nor creeping on the foot-pace.\u201d[279]\n\nDr. Nathaniel Horne, after saying that \u201cby the flying and crying of\nravens over their houses, especially in the dusk of evening, and when\none is sick, they conclude death,\u201d adds, \u201cthe same they conclude of a\nCricket crying in a house where there was wont to be none.\u201d[280]\n\n\u201cSome sort of people,\u201d says Mr. Ramsay, in his Elminthologia, \u201cat every\nturn, upon every accident, how are they therewith terrified! If but a\nCricket unusually appear, or they hear but the clicking of a\nDeath-watch, as they call it, they, or some one else in the family,\nshall die!\u201d[281]\n\nGilbert White, the accurate naturalist of Selborne, speaking of\nCrickets, says: \u201cThey are the house-wife\u2019s barometer, foretelling her\nwhen it will rain; and are prognostics sometimes, she thinks, of ill or\ngood luck, of the death of a near relation, or the approach of an absent\nlover. By being the constant companions of her solitary hours, they\nnaturally become the objects of her superstition.\u201d[282]\n\nThe voice of the Cricket, says the Spectator, has struck more terror\nthan the roaring of a lion.\n\nMrs. Bray also notices that the Cricket\u2019s chirp in England, which in\nalmost all other countries, and in that too in some families, as will be\nshown hereafter, is considered a cheerful and a welcome note, the\nharbinger of joy,--is deemed by the peasantry ominous of sorrow and\nevil.[283]\n\n\u201cIn Dumfries-shire,\u201d says Sir William Jardine, \u201cit is a common\nsuperstition that if Crickets forsake a house which they have long\ninhabited, some evil will befall the family; generally the death of some\nmember is portended. In like manner the presence or return of this\ncheerful little insect is lucky, and portends some good to the\nfamily.\u201d[284]\n\nMelton also says,--\u201c17. That it is a sign of death to some in that\nhouse where Crickets have been many years, if on a sudden they forsake\nthe chimney.\u201d[285]\n\nThe departure of Crickets from a hearth where they have been heard, is,\nat the present time, in England, considered an omen of misfortune.[286]\n\nFrom the above statements of Mr. White, Mrs. Bray, and Sir William\nJardine, we learn that in England the Cricket\u2019s chirp is not always\nominous of evil, but sometimes also of good luck, of joy, and of the\napproach of an absent lover.\n\nA correspondent of the \u201cNotes and Queries\u201d mentions the Cricket\u2019s cry as\nforeboding good luck.[287] So also a writer for \u201cThe Mirror,\u201d remarking,\nit is singular that the House-cricket should by some persons be\nconsidered an unlucky, by others a lucky, inmate of the mansion. Those\nwho hold the latter opinion, he adds, consider the destruction of these\ninsects the means of bringing misfortunes on their habitations.[288]\nGrose thus expresses this last superstition: Persons killing these\ninsects (including the Lady-bird, before mentioned) will infallibly,\nwithin the course of the year, break a bone, or meet with some other\ndreadful misfortune.[289]\n\nThat the belief that the appearance of Crickets in a house is a good\nomen, and prognosticates cheerfulness and plenty, is pretty generally\nentertained in England, may be inferred also from the manner in which it\nhas been embodied by Cowper, in his address to a Cricket\n\n    Chirping on his kitchen hearth.\n\nHis words are:\n\n    Whereso\u2019er be thine abode,\n    Always harbinger of good.\n\nAnd again in that admirable little tale of Charles Dickens, entitled\n\u201cThe Cricket on the Hearth,\u201d this good and happy superstition is\nembodied. \u201cIt\u2019s sure to bring us good fortune, John! It always has been\nso. To have a Cricket on the hearth is the luckiest thing in the world,\u201d\nsays its heroine.\n\nAll these superstitions are more or less entertained in America,\nbrought here by the English themselves, and retained by their\ndescendants. That the Cricket is the \u201charbinger of good,\u201d it gives me\npleasure to say, is the most common.\n\nAnother superstition obtaining in this country, and particularly in\nMaryland and Virginia, is that Crickets are old folks and ought not\ntherefore to be destroyed. This probably arose from Crickets being found\nabout the kitchen hearth where the old folks were accustomed to sit.\n\nMilton chose for his contemplative pleasures a spot where Crickets\nresorted:\n\n    Where glowing embers through the room\n    Teach light to counterfeit a gloom,\n    Far from all resort of mirth,\n    Save the Cricket on the hearth.[290]\n\nThe learned Scaliger is said to have been particularly delighted with\nthe chirping of these animals, and was accustomed to keep them in a box\nfor his amusement in his study.[291]\n\nMrs. Taylor, the writer of a very interesting series of papers on\ninsects for Harper\u2019s Magazine, relates that in her travels through\nWales, she obtained several House-crickets in the old Castle of\nCaernarvon. These she carried with her, in her journeyings to and fro\nover the Kingdom, for several years, and at last brought them to this\ncountry, where they were liberated in the snuggest corner of a Southern\nhearth. Again a wanderer for many years, she went back to the old house\nto see how her chirping friends were coming on, but, alas! she was told\nby the then residents, with the utmost calmness, \u201cthey had had great\ndifficulty in _scalding_ them out, and they hoped there was not one left\non the premises!\u201d[292]\n\nIn certain countries of Africa, Crickets are reported to constitute an\narticle of commerce. Some persons rear them, feed them in a kind of iron\noven, and sell them to the natives, who are very fond of their music,\nthinking it induces sleep.[293] De Pauw finds some traces of the\nEgyptian worship of the Scarab\u00e6us in this fondness for the music of the\n\u201choly Crickets,\u201d as he calls them, of Madagascar! By the rearing of\nwhich insects, he tells us, the Africans make a living, and the rich\nwould think themselves at enmity with heaven, if they did not preserve\nwhole swarms in ovens constructed expressly for that purpose.[294]\n\nThe youth of Germany, Jaeger says, are extremely fond of Field-crickets,\nso much so, that there is scarcely a boy to be seen who has not several\nsmall boxes made expressly for keeping these insects in. So much\ndelighted are they, too, with their music, that they carry these boxes\nof Crickets into their bed-rooms at night, and are soothed to sleep with\ntheir chirping lullaby.[295]\n\nOn the contrary, others, as has been before mentioned, think there is\nsomething ominous and melancholy in the Cricket\u2019s cry, and use every\nendeavor to banish this insect from their houses. \u201cLidelius tells us,\u201d\nsays Goldsmith, \u201cof a woman who was very much incommoded by Crickets,\nand tried, but in vain, every method of banishing them from her house.\nShe at last accidentally succeeded; for having one day invited several\nguests to her house, where there was a wedding, in order to increase the\nfestivity of the entertainment, she procured drums and trumpets to\nentertain them. The noise of these was so much greater than what the\nlittle animals were accustomed to, that they instantly forsook their\nsituation, and were never heard in that mansion more.\u201d[296] Like many\nother noisy persons, Crickets like to hear nobody louder than\nthemselves.\n\nIn the Island of Sumatra, Capt. Stuart tells me, a black Cricket is\nlooked upon with great respect, amounting almost to adoration. It is\ndeemed a grievous sin to kill it.\n\nBaskets full of Field-crickets, Lopes de Gomara says, were found among\nthe provisions of the Indians of Jamaica when they were first\ndiscovered.[297]\n\n\u201cThe Criquet called Gryllus,\u201d says Pliny in the words of Holland, \u201cdoth\nmitigat catarrhs and all asperities offending the throat, if the same\nbee rubbed therewith: also if a man doe but touch the amygdals or\nalmonds of the throat, with the hand wherewith he hath bruised or\ncrushed the said Criquet, it will appease the inflamation thereof.\u201d[298]\nAgain, \u201cThe Cricket digged up and applied to the plase, earth and all\nwhere it lay, is very good for the ears. Nigridius,\u201d continues Pliny,\n\u201cattributeth many properties to this poore creature, and esteemeth it\nnot a little: but the Magicians much more by a faire deale: and why so?\nForsooth because it goeth, as it were, reculing backward, it pierceth\nand boreth a hole into the ground, and never ceaseth all night long to\ncreake very shrill.\n\n\u201cThe manner of hunting and catching them is this, They take a flie and\ntie it above the middest at the end of a long haire of one\u2019s head, and\nso put the said flie into the mouth of the Cricquet\u2019s hole; but first\nthey blow the dust away with their mouth, for fear lest the flie should\nhide herself therein; the Cricket spies the sillie flie, seaseth upon\nher presently and claspeth her round, and so they are both drawne foorth\ntogether by the said haire.\u201d[299]\n\nAt the present time, children in France practice the same method of\ncapturing Crickets for amusement; substituting, however, an ant for the\n\u201csillie flie,\u201d and a long straw for \u201cthe haire of one\u2019s head.\u201d Hence\ncomes the common proverb in France, _il est sot comme un grillon_. A\nruse for capturing the larva of the Cicindela, now commonly practiced by\nentomologists, is founded on the same principle.\n\nPliny further says: \u201cThe Cricquets above rehearsed, either reduced into\na liniment, or else bound too, whole as they be, cureth the accident of\nthe lap of the eare, wounds, contusions, bruises,\u201d etc.[300]\n\nDr. James, quoting Schroder and Dale, says: \u201cThe ashes of the Cricket\n(_Gryllus domesticus_) exhibited, are said to be diuretic; the expressed\njuice, dropped into the eyes, is a remedy for weakness of the sight, and\nalleviates disorders of the tonsils, if rubbed on them.\u201d[301]\n\nThe English name _Cricket_, the French _Cri-cri_, the Dutch _Krekel_,\nand the Welsh _Cricell_ and _Cricella_, are evidently derived from the\n_creak_-ing sounds of these insects.\n\n\nGryllid\u00e6--Grasshoppers.\n\nMr. Hughes, after describing an ash-colored Grasshopper (which may be\nhis ash-colored cricket before mentioned),[302] remarks that the\nsuperstitious of the inhabitants of Barbados are very apprehensive of\nsome approaching illness to the family, whenever this insect flies into\ntheir houses in the evening or in the night.[303]\n\nAthen\u00e6us tells us the ancient Greeks used to eat the common Grasshopper\nand the Monkey-grasshopper as provocatives of the appetite. Aristophanes\nsays:\n\n    How can you, in God\u2019s name, like Grasshoppers,\n    Catching them with a reed, and Cercopes?[304]\n\nTurpin tells us there is a kind of brown Grasshopper in Siam, which the\nnatives consider a delicate food.[305]\n\n\u201cFernandus Oniedus declareth furthermore,\u201d says Peter Martyr in his\nHistory of the West Indies, \u201cthat in a certain region called Zenu, lying\nfourescore and tenne miles from Darrina Eastwarde, they exercise a\nstrange kinde of marchaundize: For in the houses of the inhabitantes\nthey found great chests and baskets, made of twigges and leaves of\ncertaine trees apt for that purpose, being all ful of Grasshoppers,\nGrilles, Crabbes, Crefishes, Snails also, and Locustes, which destroie\nthe fields of corne, all well dried and salted. Being demanded why they\nreserved such a multitude of these beastes: they answered, that they\nkept them to be sowlde (sold) to the borderors, which dwell further\nwithin the lande, and that for the exchange of these pretious birdes,\nand salted fishes, they received of them certayne straunge thinges,\nwherein partly they take pleasure, and partly use them for the\nnecessarie affaires.\u201d[306]\n\nIn the account of the voyages of J. Huighen Linschoten, it is stated\nthat the inhabitants of Cumana eat \u201chorse-leeches, bats, Grasshoppers,\nspiders, bees, and raw, sodden, and roasted lice. They spare no living\ncreature whatsoever, but they eat it.\u201d[307]\n\n\u201cAmong the choice delicacies with which the California Digger Indians\nregale themselves during the summer season,\u201d says the Empire County\nArgus, \u201cis the Grasshopper roast. Having been an eye-witness to the\npreparation and discussion of one of their feasts of Grasshoppers, we\ncan describe it truthfully. There are districts in California, as well\nas portions of the plains between Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains,\nthat literally swarm with Grasshoppers, and in such astonishing numbers\nthat a man cannot put his foot to the ground, while walking there,\nwithout crushing great numbers. To the Indian they are a delicacy, and\nare caught and cooked in the following manner: A piece of ground is\nsought where they most abound, in the center of which an excavation is\nmade, large and deep enough to prevent the insect from hopping out when\nonce in. The entire party of Diggers, old and young, male and female,\nthen surround as much of the adjoining grounds as they can, and each\nwith a green bough in hand, whipping and thrashing on every side,\ngradually approach the center, driving the insects before them in\ncountless multitudes, till at last all, or nearly all, are secured in\nthe pit. In the mean time smaller excavations are made, answering the\npurpose of ovens, in which fires are kindled and kept up till the\nsurrounding earth, for a short distance, becomes sufficiently heated,\ntogether with a flat stone, large enough to cover the oven. The\nGrasshoppers are now taken in coarse bags, and, after being thoroughly\nsoaked in salt water for a few moments, are emptied into the oven and\nclosed in. Ten or fifteen minutes suffice to roast them, when they are\ntaken out and eaten without further preparation, and with much apparent\nrelish, or, as is sometimes the case, reduced to powder and made into\nsoup. And having from curiosity tasted, not of the soup, but of the\nroast, really, if one could divest himself of the idea of eating an\ninsect as we do an oyster or shrimp, without other preparation than\nsimple roasting, they would not be considered very bad eating, even by\nmore refined epicures than the Digger Indians.\u201d[308]\n\nAn item dated Tuesday, Aug. 21st, 1742, in the Gentleman\u2019s Magazine,\nstates: \u201cGreat damage has been done to the pastures in the country,\nparticularly about Bristol, by swarms of Grasshoppers; the like has\nhappened in Pennsylvania to a surprising degree.\u201d[309]\n\nA common species in Sweden, the _Decticus verrucivorus_, is employed by\nthe native peasants to bite the warts on their hands; the black fluid\nwhich it emits from its mouth being supposed to possess the power of\nmaking these excrescences vanish.[310] This black fluid, from whatever\nGrasshoppers it may be emitted, is called by our boys \u201ctobacco spit,\u201d\nwhich it much resembles; and they attribute to it also a wart-curing\nquality. When they catch one, they hold it between the thumb and\nfore-finger, and cry out,--\n\n    Spit, spit tobacco spit,\n    And then I\u2019ll let you go.\n\nThe exuvi\u00e6 of a Grasshopper called _Semmi_ or _Sebi_, Kempfer tells us,\nare preserved for medicinal uses, and sold publicly in shops both in\nJapan and China.[311]\n\nDr. James, quoting Dioscorides, says: \u201cGrasshoppers (_Locusta Anglica\nminor, vulgatissima_, Raii _Ins._ 60.) in a suffumigation relieve under\na dysury, especially such as is incident to the female sex. The Locusta\nAfricanus is a very good antidote against the poison of the\nScorpion.\u201d[312]\n\nAfter describing the Grasshopper of Italy, Brookes says: \u201cIt is often an\namusement among the children of that country to catch this animal; and,\nby tickling the belly with their finger, it will whistle as long as they\nchuse to make it.\u201d[313]\n\nIn France, Grasshoppers are called _Sauterelles_, Hoppers; and in\nGermany, _Heupferde_, Hay-horses, because they generally feed on\ngrasses, and their head has something of the form of a horse\u2019s head.\n\nIf Grasshoppers appear early in the summer in great numbers, they\nforetell famine and drouth,--a superstition obtaining in Maryland.\n\n\nLocustid\u00e6--Locusts.\n\nMoufet says: \u201cThat Locusts should be generated of the carkasse of a mule\nor asse (as Plutarch reports in the life of Cleonides) by putrefaction,\nI cannot with philosophers determine; first, because it was permitted to\nthe Jewes to feed on them; secondly, because no man ever yet was an\neye-witness of such a putrid and ignoble generation of Locusts.\u201d[314]\n\nThe first record of the ravages of the Locusts, which we find in\nhistory, is the account in the Book of Exodus of the visitation to the\nland of Egypt. \u201cAnd the Locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and\nrested in all the coasts of Egypt--very grievous were they.... For they\ncovered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and\nthey did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees\nwhich the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing in the\ntrees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of\nEgypt.\u201d[315]\n\nIt is to the Bible, too, we go to find the best account, for correctness\nand sublimity, of the appearance and ravages of these terrific insects.\nIt is thus given by the prophet Joel: \u201cA day of darkness and of\ngloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread\nupon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been\never the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of\nmany generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame\nburneth; the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them\na desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. Like the\nnoise of chariots[316] on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like\nthe noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong\npeople set in battle array. Before their faces the people shall be much\npained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty\nmen; they shall climb the wall like men of war, and they shall march\nevery one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks; neither\nshall one thrust another, they shall walk every one in his path; and\nwhen they fall upon the sword they shall not be wounded. They shall run\nto and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb\nup upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The\nearth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble; the sun[317]\nand the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.\u201d\nThe usual way in which they are destroyed is also noticed by the\nprophet. \u201cI will remove far off from you the northern army, and will\ndrive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face towards the\neast sea, and his hinder part towards the utmost sea, and his stink\nshall come up, because he hath done great things.\u201d[318]\n\nPaulus Orosius tells us that in the year of the world 3800, during the\nconsulship of M. Plautius Hyps\u00e6us, and M. Fulvius Flaccus, such infinite\nmyriads of Locusts were blown from the coast of Africa into the sea and\ndrowned, that being cast upon the shore in immense heaps they emitted a\nstench greater than could have been produced by the carcasses of one\nhundred thousand men. A general pestilence of all living creatures\nfollowed. And so great was this plague in Numidia, where Micipsa was\nking, that eighty thousand persons died; and on the sea-coast, near\nCarthage and Utica, about two hundred thousand were reported to have\nperished. Thirty thousand soldiers, appointed as the garrison of Africa,\nand stationed in Utica, were among the number. So violent was the\ndestruction that the bodies of more than fifteen hundred of these\nsoldiers, from one gate of the city, were carried and buried in the same\nday.[319]\n\nSt. Augustine also mentions a plague to have arisen in Africa from the\nsame cause, which destroyed no less than eight hundred thousand persons\n(_octigenta hominum millia_) in the kingdom of Masanissa alone, and many\nmore in the territories bordering upon the sea.[320]\n\nBlown from that quarter of the globe, Locusts have occasionally visited\nboth Italy and Spain. The former country was severely ravaged by myriads\nof these desolating intruders, in the year 591. These were of a larger\nsize than common, as we are informed by Mouffet, who quotes an ancient\nhistorian; and from their stench, when cast into the sea, arose a\npestilence which carried off near a million of men and cattle.[321]\n\nIn A.D. 677, Syria and Mesopotamia were overrun by Locusts.[322]\n\n\u201cAbout the year of our Lord 872,\u201d we read in Wanley\u2019s Wonders, \u201ccame\ninto France such an innumerable company of Locusts, that the number of\nthem darkened the very light of the sun; they were of extraordinary\nbigness, had a sixfold order of wings, six feet, and two teeth, the\nhardness whereof surpassed that of stone. These eat up every green thing\nin all the fields of France. At last, by the force of the winds, they\nwere carried into the sea (the Baltic) and there drowned; after which,\nby the agitation of the waves, the dead bodies of them were cast upon\nthe shores, and from the stench of them (together with the famine they\nhad made with their former devouring) there arose so great a plague,\nthat it is verily thought every third person in France died of it.\u201d[323]\nThese Locusts devoured in France, on an average every day, one hundred\nand forty acres; and their daily marches, or distances of flight, were\ncomputed at twenty miles.[324]\n\nIn 1271, all the cornfields of Milan were destroyed; and in the year\n1339, all those of Lombardy.[325] We read in Bateman\u2019s Doome, that in\n1476, \u201cgrasshoppers and the great rising of the river Isula did spoyle\nal Poland.\u201d A famine took place in the Venetian territory in 1478,\noccasioned by these terrific scourges, in which thirty thousand persons\nare reported to have perished. Mouffet mentions many other instances of\ntheir devastations in Europe,--in France, Spain, Italy, and\nGermany.[326]\n\nA passage of Locusts in France, in 1613, entirely cut up, even to the\nvery roots, more than fifteen thousand acres of corn in the neighborhood\nof Arles, and had even penetrated into the barns and granaries, when, as\nit were by Providence, many hundreds of birds, especially starlings,\ncame to diminish their numbers. Notwithstanding this, nothing could be\nmore astonishing than their multiplication, for the fecundity of the\nLocust is very remarkable. Upon an order issued by government, for the\ncollection of their eggs, more than three thousand measures were\ncollected, from each of which, it was calculated, would have issued\nnearly two millions of young ones.[327] In 1650, they entered Russia, in\nimmense divisions, in three different places; thence passed over into\nPoland and Lithuania, where the air was darkened by their numbers. In\nmany parts they lay dead to the depth of four feet. Sometimes they\ncovered the surface of the earth like a dark cloud, loaded the trees,\nand the destruction which they produced exceeded all calculation.[328]\nIn 1645, immense swarms visited the islands of Formosa and Tayowan, and\ncaused such a famine that eight thousand persons died of hunger.[329]\n\n\u201cIn 1649,\u201d says Sir Hans Sloane, \u201cthe Locusts destroyed all the products\nof the island of Teneriffe. They came from the coast of Barbary, the\nwind being a Levant thence. They flew as far as they could, then one\nalighted in the sea, and another on it, so that one after another they\nmade a heap as big as the greatest ship above water, and were esteemed\nalmost as many under. Those above water, next day, after the sun\u2019s\nrefreshing them, took flight again, and came in clouds to the island,\nwhence the inhabitants had perceived them in the air, and had gathered\nall the soldiers of the island and of Laguna together, being 7 or 8000\nmen, who laying aside their arms, some took bags, some spades, and\nhaving notice by their scouts from the hills when they alighted, they\nwent straight thither, made trenches, and brought their bags full, and\ncovered them with mould.... After two months fruitless management of\nthem in this manner, the ecclesiastics took them in hand by penances,\netc. But all would not do: the Locusts staid their four months; cattle\neat them and died, and so did several men, and others stuck out in\nbotches. The other Canary islands were so troubled, also, that they were\nforced to bury their provisions. They were troubled forty years before\nwith the like calamity.\u201d[330]\n\nBarbot, after mentioning a famine that happened in North Guinea in\n1681, which destroyed many thousands of the inhabitants of the\nContinent, and forced many to sell themselves for slaves, to only get\nsustenance, says these fearful famines are also some years occasioned by\nthe dreadful swarms of Locusts, which come from the eastward and spread\nover the whole country in such prodigious multitudes, that they darken\nthe very air, passing over head like mighty clouds. They leave nothing\nthat is green wheresoever they come, either on the ground or trees, and\nfly so swiftly from place to place, that whole provinces are devastated\nin a very short time. Barbot adds, terrific storms of hail, wind, and\nsuch like judgments from Heaven, are nothing to compare to this, which\nwhen it happens, there is no question to be made but that multitudes of\nthe natives must starve, having no neighboring countries to supply them\nwith corn, because those round about them are no better husbands than\nthemselves, and are no less liable to the same calamities.[331]\n\nOf a swarm, which in the year 1693 covered four square miles of ground,\na German author has made the following estimate. Observing that, when he\ntrod on the ground, at least three were crushed, and that in a square\nGerman measure, less than an English foot, ten were destroyed; and after\ndetermining the number of these square measures in the four miles, he\nconcluded that ninety-two billions, one hundred and sixty millions of\nLocusts were congregated on the surface. This is altogether a very\nmoderate calculation, for not only is their number more compact in\nbreadth, but they are often piled knee-high on the earth.[332]\n\nIn 1724, Dr. Shaw was a witness of the devastations of these insects in\nBarbary. He has given us a description of their habits.[333] For four\nsuccessive years, from 1744 to 1747, Locusts ravaged the southern\nprovinces of Spain and Portugal.[334] In a letter from Transylvania,\ndated August 22d, 1747, a graphic description is given of two vast\ncolumns that overswept that country. \u201cThey form,\u201d says the writer, \u201ca\nclose compact column about fifteen yards deep, in breadth about four\nmusket-shot, and in length about four leagues; they move with such\nforce, or rather precipitation, that the air trembles to such a degree\nas to shake the leaves upon the trees, and they darkened the sky in such\na manner, that when they passed over us I could not see my people at\ntwenty feet distance.\u201d[335] This flight was four hours in passing over\nthe Red Tower. The guards here attempted to stop them, by firing cannon\nat them; and where, indeed, the balls and shot swept through the swarm,\nthey gave way and divided; but, having filled up their ranks in a\nmoment, they proceeded on their journey.[336] In an item dated\nHermanstadt, July 24, 1748, it is stated that on the day before, a\nhussar, coming from the plague committee, saw such a host of these\ninsects near Szanda, that they covered the country for a mile round, and\nwere so thick, that he was obliged to dismount from his horse, and halt\nfor three hours, until the inhabitants of the district, coming with all\nsorts of instruments, beat about and forced with loud cries these pests\nto quit the spot.[337] In another item, dated Warsaw, August 15, 1748,\nit is stated that a certain prince sent out soldiers against the\nLocusts, who fired upon them not only with small arms, but with cannons.\nThey succeeded in dividing the Locusts, but unluckily with the noise\nfrightened away the storks and cranes which daily consume many of these\ninsects.[338] Some stragglers from these swarms which so desolated\nWallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Hungary, and Poland, in the years\n1747 and \u201948, made their way into England, where they caused some\nalarm.[339] During this grand invasion of Europe, they even crossed the\nBaltic, and visited Sweden in 1749. Charles the Twelfth, in Bessarabia,\nimagined himself, it is said, assailed by a hurricane, mingled with\ntremendous hail, when a cloud of these insects suddenly falling, and\ncovering both men and horses, arrested his entire army in its\nmarch.[340]\n\nDuring the devastations committed by the Locusts in Spain in 1754, \u201955,\n\u201956, and \u201957, a body of them entered the church of Almaden, and\ndevoured the silk garments that adorned the images of the saints, not\nsparing even the varnish on the altars.[341]\n\nIn 1750 and \u201953 Poland was again devastated by Locusts.[342] In June,\n1772, there were several swarms of \u201clarge black flies of the Locust\nkind,\u201d that did incredible damage to the fruits of the earth, seen in\nEngland. Salt water, it is said, was found effectual in destroying\nthem.[343]\n\nFrom 1778 to 1780 the empire of Morocco was terribly devastated by\nLocusts: every green thing was eaten up, not even the bitter bark of the\norange and pomegranate escaping--a most dreadful famine ensued. The poor\nwandered over the country, in search of a wretched subsistence from the\nroots of plants. They picked, from the dung of camels, the undigested\ngrains of barley, and devoured them with eagerness. Vast numbers\nperished, and the streets and roads were strewed with the unburied\ncarcasses. On this sad occasion, fathers sold their children, and\nhusbands their wives. When they visit a country, says Mr. Jackson, from\nwhom we have gathered the above facts, speaking of the same empire, it\nbehooves every one to lay in provision for a famine, for they stay from\nthree to seven years. When they have devoured all other vegetables, they\nattack the trees, consuming first the leaves and then the bark.[344]\n\nTo prevent the fatal consequences which would have resulted from a\npassage of Locusts in 1780 near Bontzhida, in Transylvania, fifteen\nhundred persons were ordered each to gather a sack full of the insects,\npart of which were crushed, part burned, and part interred.\nNotwithstanding this, very little diminution was remarked in their\nnumbers, so astonishing was their multiplication, until very cold and\nsharp weather had come on. In the following spring there were millions\nof eggs disinterred and destroyed by the people, who were levied \u201cen\nmasse\u201d for the operation; but notwithstanding all this, many places of\ntolerable extent were still to be found, in which the soil was covered\nwith young Locusts, so that not a single spot was left naked. These\nwere finally, however, swept into ditches, the opposite sides of which\nwere provided with cloths tightly stretched, and crushed.[345]\n\nWhen the provincial governors of Spain are informed in the spring that\nLocusts have been seen, they collect the soldiers and peasants, divide\nthem into companies and surround the district. Every man is furnished\nwith a long broom, with which he strikes the ground, and thus drives the\nyoung Locusts toward a common center, where a vast excavation, with a\nquantity of brushwood, is prepared for their reception, and where the\nflame destroys them. Three thousand men were thus employed, in 1780, for\nthree weeks, at Zamora; and it was reckoned that the quantity collected\nexceeded 10,000 bushels.[346] In 1783, 400 bushels more were collected\nand destroyed in the same way.[347]\n\nMr. Barrow informs us that in South Africa, in 1784 and 1797, two\nthousand square miles were literally covered by Locusts, which, being\ncarried into the sea by a northwest wind, formed, for fifty miles along\nshore, a bank three or four feet high; and when the wind was in the\nopposite point, the horrible odor which they exhaled was perceptible a\nhundred and fifty miles off.[348]\n\nThe immense column of Locusts which ravaged all the Mahratta territory,\nand was thought to have come from Arabia, extended, Mr. Kirby\u2019s friend\ntold him, five hundred miles, and was so dense as thoroughly to hide the\nsun, and prevent any object from casting a shadow. This horde was not\ncomposed of the migratory Locust, but of a red species, which imparted a\nsanguine color to the trees on which they settled.[349]\n\nMr. Forbes describes a flight of Locusts which he saw soon after his\narrival at Baroche in 1779. It was more than a mile in length, and half\nas much in breadth, and appeared, as the sun was in the meridian, like a\nblack cloud at a distance. As it approached, its density obscured the\nsolar rays, causing a gloom like that of an eclipse, over the gardens,\nand causing a noise like the rushing of a torrent. They were almost an\nhour in passing a given point.[350]\n\nIn another place, this traveler states that, in one considerable tract\nnear the confines of the Brodera district, he witnessed a mournful\nscene, occasioned by a scourge of Locusts. They had, some time before he\ncame, alighted in that part of the country, and left behind them, he\nsays, \u201can awful contrast to the general beauty of that earthly\nparadise.\u201d The sad description of Hosea, he adds, was literally\nrealized: \u201cThat which the palmer-worm hath left, hath the caterpillar\neaten. They have laid waste the vine, and barked the fig-tree; they have\nmade it clean bare, and the branches thereof are made white: the\npomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the\ntrees of the field are withered. Howl, O ye husbandmen! for the wheat\nand for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. How do\nthe beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have\nno pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate!\u201d[351]\n\nOn the 16th of May, 1800, Buchanan met with in Mysore a flight of\nLocusts which extended in length about three miles. He compares the\nnoise they made to the sound of a cataract.[352] This swarm was very\ndestructive to the young crops of jola.[353]\n\nIn 1811, at Smyrna, at right angles to a flight of Locusts, a man rode\nforty miles before he got rid of the moving column. This immense flight\ncontinued for three days and nights, apparently without intermission. It\nwas computed that the lowest number of Locusts in this swarm must have\nexceeded 168,608,563,200,200! Captain Beaufort determined that the\nLocusts of this flight, which he himself saw, if framed into a heap,\nwould have exceeded in magnitude more than a thousand and thirty times\nthe largest pyramid of Egypt; or if put on the ground close together, in\na band of a mile and an eighth in width, would have encircled the globe!\nThis immense swarm caused such a famine in the district of Marwar, that\nthe natives fled for subsistence in a living torrent into Guzerat and\nBombay; and out of every hundred of these Marwarees, Captain Carnac\nestimates, ninety-nine died that year! Near the town of Baroda, these\npoor people perished at the rate of five hundred a day; and at\nAhmedabad, a large city of two hundred thousand inhabitants, one hundred\nthousand died from this awful visitation![354]\n\nIn 1816, Captain Riley met with a flight of Locusts in the north of\nAfrica, which extended in length about eight miles, and in breadth\nthree. He tells us, also, he was informed that several years before he\ncame to Mogadore, nearly all the Locusts in the empire, which at that\ntime were very numerous, and had laid waste the country, were carried\noff in one night, and drowned in the Atlantic Ocean: that their dead\ncarcasses a few days afterward were driven by winds and currents on\nshore, all along the western coast, extending from near Cape Spartel to\nbeyond Mogadore, forming in many places immense piles on the beach: that\nthe stench arising from their remains was intolerable, and was supposed\nto have produced the plague which broke out about that time in various\nparts of the Moorish dominions.[355] Before this plague in 1799, Mr.\nJackson tells us, from Mogadore to Tangier the face of the earth was\ncovered by them, and relates the following singular incident which\noccurred at El Araiche: The whole region from the confines of the Sahara\nwas ravaged by the Locusts; but on the other side of the river El Kos\nnot one of them was to be seen, though there was nothing to prevent\ntheir flying over it. Till then they had proceeded northward; but upon\narriving at its banks they turned to the east, so that all the country\nnorth of El Araiche was full of pulse, fruits and grain, exhibiting a\nmost striking contrast to the desolation of the adjoining district. At\nlength they were all carried by a violent hurricane into the Western\nOcean; the shore, as in former instances, was covered by their\ncarcasses, and a pestilence (confirming the statement, and verifying the\nsupposition of Captain Riley) was caused by the horrid stench which they\nemitted: but when this evil ceased, their devastations were followed by\na most abundant crop.[356]\n\nIn 1825 the Russian empire was overrun to a very alarming extent by\nyoung Locusts. About Kiew, as far as the eye could reach, they lay piled\nup one upon another to the height of two feet. Through the government of\nEkatharinoslaw and Cherson to the Black Sea, a distance of about 400\nmiles, they covered the ground so thickly that a horse could not walk\nfast through them. The sight of such an immense number, says an\neye-witness, Mr. Jaeger, of the most destructive and rapacious insects,\njustly occasioned a melancholy foreboding of famine and pestilence, in\ncase they should invade the cultivated and populous countries of Russia\nand Poland. It was at this juncture, however, that the Emperor Alexander\nsent his army of thirty thousand soldiers to destroy them. These forming\na line of several hundred miles, and advancing toward the south,\nattacked them with shovels, and collected them, as far as possible, in\nsacks and burned them. This is the largest army of soldiers sent against\nLocusts we have any record of.[357]\n\nIn 1824, Locusts made their appearance at the Glen-Lynden Colony in\nSouth Africa, being the first time they had been seen there since 1808.\nIn 1825, they continued to advance from the north; in 1826, the corn\ncrops at Glen-Lynden were totally destroyed by them; and in 1827, 1828,\nand 1829, they extended their ravages through the whole of the northern\nand southern districts of the colony. In 1830, they again\ndisappeared.[358]\n\nThe following graphic description of the swarm that visited Glen-Lynden\nin 1825 is from the pen of Mr. Pringle. He says: \u201cIn returning to\nGlen-Lynden, we passed through a flying swarm, which had exactly the\nappearance, as it approached, of a vast snow-cloud hanging on the slope\nof a mountain from which the snow was falling in very large flakes. When\nwe got into the midst of them, the air all around and above was darkened\nas by a thick cloud; and the rushing sound of the wings of the millions\nof these insects was as loud as the dash of a mill-wheel.... The column\nthat we thus passed through was, as nearly as I could calculate, about\nhalf a mile in breadth, and from two to three miles in length.\u201d[359]\n\nIn 1835, a plague of Locusts made their appearance in China, in the\nneighborhood of Quangse, and in the western departments of Quangtung.\nThe military and people were ordered out to exterminate them, as they\nhad done two years before. A more rational mode, however, was adopted by\nthe authorities, of offering a bounty of twelve or fifteen cash per\ncatty of the insects. They were gathered so fast for this price, that it\nwas immediately lowered to five or six cash per catty. A strike\nfollowed, and the Locusts were left in quiet to do as much damage as\nthey could.[360]\n\nNieuhoff tells us, Locusts in the East Indies are so destructive that\nthe inhabitants are oftentimes obliged to change their habitations, for\nwant of sustenance. He adds that this has frequently happened in China\nand the Island of Tojowac.[361]\n\nIn 1828-9, in the provinces lying between the Black and Caspian Seas,\nLocusts appeared in such vast numbers as were never seen in that country\nbefore.[362]\n\nIn 1839, Kaffraria was again visited by Locusts, which, together with\nthe war at that time, caused so great a famine that many persons\nperished for want of subsistence.[363] Again in 1849-50, this country\nwas visited by this dreadful scourge. The whole country, says the Rev.\nFrancis Fleming, was covered with them; and when they arose, the cloud\nwas so dense that this gentleman was obliged to dismount, and wait till\nthey passed over.[364]\n\nMr. Jules Remy says, that at his arrival at Salt Lake, he observed upon\nthe shore, on the top of the salt, a deposit of a foot deep which was\nentirely composed of dead Locusts--_\u0152dipoda corallipes_. These insects,\ndriven by a high wind in prodigiously thick clouds, had been drowned in\nthe lake, after having, during the course of the summer (of 1855),\ndestroyed the rising crops, and even the prairie grass. A famine ensued;\nbut the Mormons, continues Mr. Remy, only saw in this scourge a fresh\nproof of the truth of their religion, because it had happened, as among\nthe Israelites, in the seventh year after their settlement in the\ncountry.[365]\n\nAccording to Lieutenant Warren, whose graphic description is here\nborrowed, these devastating insects of our great western plains are\n\u201cnearly the same as the Locusts of Egypt; and no one,\u201d continues this\nofficer, \u201cwho has not traveled on the prairie, and seen for himself, can\nappreciate the magnitude of the swarms. Often they fill the air for many\nmiles in extent, so that an inexperienced eye can scarcely distinguish\ntheir appearance from that of a shower of rain or the smoke of a prairie\nfire. The height of their flight may be somewhat appreciated, as Mr.\nEvans saw them above his head, as far as their size would render them\nvisible, while standing on the top of a peak of the Rocky Mountains 8500\nfeet above the plain, and an elevation of 14,500 above that of the sea,\nin the region where the snow lies all the year. To a person standing in\none of the swarms as they pass over and around him, the air becomes\nsensibly darkened, and the sound produced by their wings resembles that\nof the passage of a train of cars on a railroad, when standing two or\nthree hundred yards from the track. The Mormon settlements have suffered\nmore from the ravages of these insects than probably all other causes\ncombined. They destroyed nearly all the vegetables cultivated last year\nat Fort Randall, and extended their ravages east as far as Iowa.\u201d[366]\n\nThe Mormons, in their simple and picturesque descriptions, say that\nthese insects (\u201cCrickets\u201d--_\u0152dipoda corallipes_, Haldemars) are the\nproduce of \u201ca cross between the Spider and the Buffalo.\u201d[367]\n\nIn Egypt, in 1843, the popular idea was that the hordes of Locusts,\nwhich were then ravaging the land, were sent by the comet observed about\nthat time for twelve days in the southwest.[368]\n\nPliny, in the words of his translator, Holland, says: \u201cMany a time have\nthe Locusts been knowne to take their flight out of Affricke, and with\nwhole armies to infest Italie: many a time have the people of Rome,\nfearing a great famine and scarcity toward, beene forced to have\nrecourse unto Sybil\u2019s bookes for remedie, and to avert the ire of the\ngods. In the Cyrenaick region within Barbarie, ordained it is by law,\nevery three years to wage warre against them, and so to conquer them....\nYea, and a grievous punishment lieth upon him that is negligent in this\nbehalf, as if hee were a traitour to his prince and countrey. Moreover,\nwithin the Island Lemnos there is a certaine proportion and measure set\ndown, how many and what quantity every man shall kill; and they are to\nexhibit unto the magistrate a just and true account thereof, and namely,\nto shew what measure full of dead Locusts. And for this purpose they\nmake much of Iaies, Dawes, and Choughs, whom they do honour highly,\nbecause they doe flie opposite against the Locusts, and so destroy them.\nMoreover in Syria, they are forced to levie a warlike power of men\nagainst them, and to make ridance by that means.\u201d[369]\n\nDemocritus says, if a cloud of Locusts is coming forward, let all\npersons remain quiet within doors, and they will pass over the place;\nbut if they suddenly arrive before they are observed, they will hurt\nnothing, if you boil bitter lupines, or wild cucumbers, in brine, and\nsprinkle it, for they will immediately die. They will likewise pass over\nthe subjacent spot, continues Democritus, if you catch some bats and tie\nthem on the high trees of the place; and if you take and burn some of\nthe Locusts, they are rendered torpid from the smell, and some indeed\ndie, and some drooping their wings, await their pursuers, and they are\ndestroyed by the sun. You will drive away Locusts, continues this same\nwriter, if you prepare some liquor for them, and dig trenches, and\nbesprinkle them with the liquor; for if you come there afterward, you\nwill find them oppressed with sleep; but how you are to destroy them is\nto be your concern. A Locust will touch nothing, he concludes, if you\npound absinthium, or a leek, or centaury with water, and sprinkle\nit.[370]\n\nDidymus says, to preserve vines from that species of Locusts called by\nthe ancients _Bruchus_, set three grains of mustard around the stem of\nthe vine at the root; for these being thus set, have the power of\ndestroying the Bruchus.[371]\n\nNieuhoff tells us that when a swarm of Locusts is seen in China, the\ninhabitants, to prevent their alighting, \u201cmarch to and again the fields\nwith their colors flying, shouting and hallooing all the while; never\nleaving them till they are driven into the sea, or some river, where\nthey fall down and are drowned.\u201d[372]\n\nVolney says, that when the Locusts first make their appearance on the\nfrontiers of Syria, the inhabitants strive to drive them off by raising\nlarge clouds of smoke; and if, as it too frequently happens, their herbs\nand wet straw fail them, they dig trenches, in which they bury them in\ngreat numbers. The most efficacious destroyers of these insects are,\nhowever, he adds, the south and southeasterly winds, and the bird called\nthe Samarmar.[373]\n\nCapt. Riley tells us, it is said at Mogadore, and believed by the Moors,\nChristians, and Jews, that the Bereberies inhabiting the Atlas Mountains\nhave the power to destroy every flight of Locusts that comes from the\nsouth, and from the east, and thus ward off this scourge from all the\ncountries north and west of this stupendous ridge, merely by building\nlarge fires on the parts of the mountains over which the Locusts are\nknown always to pass, and in the season when they are likely to appear,\nwhich is at a definite period, within a certain number of days in almost\nevery year. The Atlas being high, and the peaks covered with snow, these\ninsects become chilled in passing over them, when, seeing the fires,\nthey are attracted by the glare, and plunge into the flame. What degree\nof credit ought to be attached to this opinion, Capt. Riley says he does\nnot know, but is certain that the Moorish Sultan used to pay a\nconsiderable sum of money yearly to certain inhabitants of the sides of\nthe Atlas, in order to keep the Locusts out of his dominions. He also\nadds, the Moors and Jews affirmed to him, that during the time in which\nthe Sultan paid the said yearly stipend punctually, not a Locust was to\nbe seen in his dominions; but that when the Emperor refused to pay the\nstipulated sum, because no Locusts troubled his country, and thinking he\nhad been imposed upon, that the very same year the Locusts again made\ntheir appearance, and have continued to lay waste the country ever\nsince.[374]\n\nAn impostor, who is believed to have been a French adventurer, at one\ntime, it is said, endeavored to persuade the people of Morocco that he\ncould destroy all the Locusts by a chemical process.[375]\n\nThe superstitious Tartars of the Crimea, in order to rid their country\nof its most destructive enemy, the Locusts, at one time sent over to\nAsia Minor, whence these insects had come, to procure Dervises to drive\nthem away by their incantations, etc. These divines prayed around the\nmosques, and, as a charm, ordered water to be hung out on the minarets,\nwhich, with the prayers, were meant to entice a species of blackbird to\ncome in multitudes and devour the Locusts! The water thus hung out is\nsaid to be still preserved in the mosques. On this occasion, the\nDervises collected eighty thousand rubles, the poorest shepherd giving\nhalf a ruble.[376]\n\nWe read in \u201cPurchas\u2019s Pilgrims,\u201d of Locusts being exorcised and\nexcommunicated, so that they immediately flew away![377] From this\ninteresting collection the following is clipped: \u201cIn the yeere 1603, at\nFremona, great misery happened by Grasse-hoppers, from which Paez freed\nthe Catholikes, by Letanies and sprinkling the Fields with Holy-water;\nwhen as the Fields of Heretikes, seuered only by a Ditch, were spoyled\nby them. Yea, a Heretike vsing this sacred sprinkling, preserued his\ncorne, which, to a Catholike neglecting in one Field, was lost, and\npreserued in another by that couiured aspersion (so neere of kinne are\nthese Locusts to the Deuill, which is said to hate Holy-water).\u201d[378]\n\nIn the south of Europe rewards are offered for the collection both of\nthe Locusts and their eggs; and at Marseilles, it is on record that, in\nthe year 1613, 20,000 francs were paid for this purpose. In 1825, the\nsame city paid a sum of 6200 francs for destroying these pests to\nagriculture.[379] We read in the eighty-first volume of the Gentleman\u2019s\nMagazine, that most of the Agricultural Societies of Italy have offered\npremiums for the best method of destroying Locusts: that in many\ndistricts several thousand persons are employed in searching for the\neggs; that in four days the inhabitants of the district of Ofanto\ncollected at one time 80,000 sacks full, which were thrown into the\nriver.[380]\n\nThe noise Locusts make when engaged in the work of destruction has been\ncompared to the sound of a flame of fire driven by the wind, and the\neffect of their bite to that of fire.[381] Volney says: \u201cThe noise they\nmake, in browsing on the trees and herbage, may be heard at a great\ndistance, and resembles that of an army foraging in secret.\u201d His\nfollowing sentence may also be introduced here: \u201cThe Tartars themselves\nare a less destructive enemy than these little animals.\u201d[382] Robbins\ncompares their noise to that of small pigs when eating corn.[383] The\nnoise produced by their flight and approach, the poet Southey has\nstrikingly described:\n\n    Onward they came a dark continuous cloud\n    Of congregated myriads numberless,\n    The rushing of whose wings was as the sound\n    Of a broad river headlong in its course\n    Plunged from a mountain summit, or the roar\n    Of a wild ocean in the autumn storm,\n    Shattering its billows on a shore of rocks![384]\n\nAnother comparison may be introduced here, to give some idea of the\ninfinite numbers of these insects. Dr. Clarke compares a cloud of them\nto a flight of snow when the flakes are carried obliquely by the wind.\nThey covered his carriage and horses, and the Tartars assert that people\nare sometimes suffocated by them. The whole face of nature might have\nbeen described as covered with a living veil. They consisted of two\nspecies--_Locusta tartarica_ and _L. migratoria_; the first is almost\ntwice the size of the second, and, because it precedes it, is called by\nthe Tartars the herald or messenger.[385]\n\nIn the Account of the admirable Voyage of Domingo Gonsales, the little\nSpaniard, to the World of the Moon, by Help of several Gansa\u2019s, or large\nGeese, we find the following: \u201cOne accident more befel me worth mention,\nthat during my stay, I say, I saw a kind of a reddish cloud coming\ntoward me, and continually approaching nearer, which, at last, I\nperceived, was nothing but a huge swarm of Locusts. He that reads the\ndiscources of learned men concerning them (as John Leo, of Africa, and\nothers, who relate that they are seen for several days in the air before\nthey fall on the earth), and adds thereto this experience of mine, will\neasily conclude that they can come from no other place than the globe of\nthe moon.\u201d[386]\n\nTo accompany this piece of satire, the following suits well:\n\nA Chinese author, quoted by Rev. Thomas Smith, observes, that Locusts\nnever appear in China but when great floods are followed by a very dry\nseason; and that it is his opinion that they are hatched by the sun from\nthe spawn of fish left by the waters on the ground![387]\n\nSo far the history of the Locust has been but a series of the greatest\ncalamities which human nature has suffered--famine, pestilence, and\ndeath. No wonder that, in all ages and times, these insects have so\ndeeply impressed the imagination, that almost all people have looked on\nthem with superstitious horror. We have shown how that their\ndevastations have entered into the history of nations. Their effigies,\ntoo, like those of other conquerors of the earth, have been perpetuated\nin coins.\n\nWe are the army of the great God, and we lay ninety-and-nine eggs; were\nthe hundredth put forth, the world would be ours--such is the speech the\nArabs put into the mouth of the Locust. And such is the feeling the\nArabs entertain of this insect, that they give it a remarkable pedigree,\nand the following description of its person: It has the head of the\nhorse, the horns of the stag, the eye of the elephant, the neck of the\nox, the breast of the lion, the body of the scorpion, the hip of the\ncamel, the legs of the stork, the wings of the eagle, and the tail of\nthe dragon.[388]\n\nThe Mohammedans say, that after God had created man from clay, of that\nwhich was left he made the Locust: and in utter despair, they look upon\nthis devastating scourge as a just chastisement from heaven for their or\ntheir nation\u2019s sins, or as directed by that fatality in which they all\nbelieve.[389]\n\nThe wings of some Locusts being spotted, were thought by many to be\nleaves from the book of fate, in which letters announcing the destiny of\nnations were to be read. Paul Jetzote, professor of Greek literature at\nthe Gymnasium of Stettin, wrote a work on the meaning of three of these\nletters, which were, according to him, to be seen on the wings of those\nLocusts which visited Silesia in 1712. These letters were B. E. S., and\nformed the initials of the Latin words \u201cBella Erunt S\u00e6va,\u201d or \u201cBabel Est\nSolitudo;\u201d also the German words, \u201cBedeutet Erschreckliche Schlacten,\u201d\nportending frightful battles, \u201cBedeutet und Erfreuliche Siege,\u201d\nportending happy victories. There are Greek and Hebrew sentences\nlikewise, in which, no doubt, the professor showed as much learning,\njudgment, and spirit of prophecy as in those already quoted.[390]\n\nA quite common belief in our own country is, that every Locust\u2019s wing is\nmarked with either the letter W, portending War, or the letter P,\nportending Peace.\n\nNot content with the dreadful presence of this plague, the inhabitants\nof most countries took that opportunity of adding to their present\nmisery by prognosticating future evils. The direction of their flight\npointed out the kingdom doomed to bow under the divine wrath. The color\nof the insect designated the national uniform of such armies as were to\ngo forth and conquer.[391]\n\nAldrovandus states, on the authority of Cruntz, that Tamerlane\u2019s army\nbeing infested by Locusts, that chief looked on it as a warning from\nGod, and desisted from his designs on Jerusalem.[392]\n\nMouffet says: \u201cIf any credit may be given to Apomasaris, a man most\nlearned in the learning of the Indians, Persians, and Egyptians, to\ndream of the coming of Locusts is a sign of an army coming against us,\nand so much as they shall seem to hurt or not hurt us, so shall the\nenemy.\u201d[393]\n\nWe now turn to the history of the Locust as an article of food--a\nstriking benefit directly derived from insects. For as they are the\ngreatest destroyers of food, so as some recompense they furnish a\nconsiderable supply of it to numerous nations--as they cause, they are\nfrequently the means of preventing famines. They are recorded to have\ndone this from the remotest antiquity.\n\nIn the curious account given by Alexis of a poor Athenian family\u2019s\nprovisions, mention of this insect is found:\n\n    For our best and daintiest cheer,\n    Through the bright half of the year,\n    Is but acorns, onions, peas,\n    Ochros, lupines, radishes,\n    Vetches, wild pears nine and ten,\n    With a Locust now and then.[394]\n\nDiodorus Siculus, who lived about threescore years before our Saviour\u2019s\nbirth, first, if I mistake not, described the Acridophagi, or\nLocust-eaters, of Ethiopia. He says they are smaller than other men, of\nlean and meager bodies, and exceeding black: that in the spring the\nsouth winds rise high, and drive an infinite number of Locusts out of\nthe desert, of an extraordinary bigness, furnished with most dirty and\nnasty colored wings; and these are plentiful food and provision for them\nall their days. This historian has also given us an account of their\npeculiar mode of catching these insects: In their country there is a\nlarge and deep vale, extending far in length for many furlongs together:\nall over this they lay heaps of wood and other combustible material, and\nwhen the swarms of Locusts are driven thither by the force of the winds,\nthen some of the inhabitants go to one part of the valley, and some to\nanother, and set the grass and other combustible matter on fire, which\nwas before thrown among the piles; whereupon arises a great and\nsuffocating smoke, which so stifles the Locusts as they fly over the\nvale, that they soon fall down dead to the ground. This destruction of\nthem, he continues, is continued for many days together, so that they\nlie in great heaps; and the country being full of salt, they gather\nthese heaps together, and season them sufficiently with this salt, which\ngives them an excellent relish, and preserves them a long time sweet,\nso that they have food from these insects all the year round.\n\nDiodorus concludes his history of this people, with an account of the\nstrange and wonderful death that comes to them at an early age, the\nresult of eating this kind of food: They are exceeding short-lived,\nnever living to be over forty; and when they grow old, winged lice breed\nin their flesh, not only of divers sorts, but of horrid and ugly shapes;\nthat this plague begins first at the abdomen and breast, and in a short\ntime eats and consumes the whole body. (_Phthiriasis._)[395]\n\nStrabo, most probably quoting from the above passage from Diodorus,\nspeaks of a nation bordering on that of the Struthophagi, or\nBird-eaters, whose food consisted entirely of Locusts, and who were\ncarried off by the same most horrible disease.[396]\n\nPliny remarks: \u201cThe people of the East countries make their food of\ngrasshoppers, even the very Parthians, who otherwise abound in\nwealth.\u201d[397]\n\nThe Arabs, who are compelled at the present day to inhabit the desert of\nSahara, welcome the approach of Locusts as the means, oftentimes, of\nsaving them from famishing with hunger. Robbins tells us their manner of\npreparing these insects for food is, by digging a deep hole in the\nground, building a fire at the bottom, and filling it with wood. Then,\nafter the earth is heated as hot as possible, and the coals and embers\ntaken out, they prepare to fill the cavity with the live Locusts,\nconfined in a bag holding about five bushels. Several hold the bag\nperpendicularly over the hole with the mouth near the surface of the\nground, while others stand round with sticks. The bag is then opened,\nand the Locusts shaken with great force into the hot pit, while the\nsurrounding persons immediately throw sand upon them to prevent their\nflying off. The mouth of the hole is now completely covered with sand,\nand another fire built upon the top of it. When the Locusts are\nthoroughly roasted and become cool, they are picked out with the hand,\nthrown upon tent-cloths, or blankets, and placed in the sun to dry.\nDuring this process, which requires two or three days, they must be\nwatched with the utmost care, to prevent the live Locusts from devouring\nthem, if a flight should happen to be passing at the time. When\nperfectly dry, they are pounded slightly, pressed into bags, or skins,\nand are ready for transportation. To prepare them now for present\neating, they are pulverized in mortars, and mixed with water sufficient\nto make a kind of dry pudding. They are, however, sometimes eaten singly\nwithout pulverizing, after breaking off the head, wings, and legs. Mr.\nRobbins considers them nourishing food.[398]\n\nLocusts are sometimes boiled at Wadinoon for food for men and\nbeasts.[399]\n\nThe Arabs of Morocco, we learn from Mr. Jackson, esteem Locusts a great\ndelicacy; and, during the summer of 1799 and the spring of 1800, after\nthe plague had almost depopulated Barbary, dishes of them were served up\nat the principal repasts. Their usual way of dressing these insects, was\nto boil them in water half an hour, then sprinkle them with salt and\npepper, and fry them, adding a little vinegar. The body of the insect is\nonly eaten, and resembles, according to this gentleman, the taste of\nprawns. For their stimulating qualities, the Moors prefer them to\npigeons. A person may eat a plateful of them containing two or three\nhundred without any ill effects.[400] In another place, however, Mr.\nJackson says the poor people, when obliged to live altogether on this\nkind of food, become meager and indolent.[401]\n\nIn Morocco, the price of provisions falls when the Locusts have entered\nthe neighborhood.[402]\n\nThe authority of Capt. Riley is, that Locusts are esteemed very good\nfood by the Moors, Arabs, and Jews of Barbary, who catch large numbers\nof them in their season, and throw them, while alive and jumping, into a\npan of boiling argan oil, where they are allowed to remain, hissing and\nfrying, till their wings are burned off and their bodies sufficiently\ncooked; they are then poured out and eaten. Riley says they resemble,\nin consistence and flavor, the yolks of hard-boiled hens\u2019 eggs.[403]\n\nCapt. Beechey tells us he saw many asses, heavily laden with Locusts for\nfood, driven into the town of Mesurata, in Tripoli.[404]\n\nBarth, in Central Africa, saw whole calabashes filled with roasted\nLocusts, which, he says, occasionally form a considerable part of the\nfood of the natives, particularly if their grain has been destroyed by\nthis plague, as they can then enjoy not only the agreeable flavor of the\ndish, but also take a pleasant revenge for the ravages of their\nfields.[405]\n\nAdanson, after describing an immense swarm of Locusts that covered an\nextent of several leagues which he saw, says the negroes of Gambia eat\nthese insects, and have different ways of dressing them--some pounding\nand boiling them in milk, others only boiling them on coals.[406]\n\nDr. Sparrman says the Hottentots rejoice greatly upon the arrival of the\nLocusts, although they never fail to destroy every particle of verdure\non the ground. But, continues the doctor, they make themselves ample\namends for this loss, for, seizing these marauding animals, they eat\nthem in such numbers as, in the space of a few days, to get visibly\nfatter and in a better condition. The females are principally eaten,\nespecially when about to migrate, before they are able to fly, when\ntheir wings are short and their bodies heavy and distended with eggs.\nThe soup prepared of these is of a brown coffee color, and, when cooled,\nfrom the eggs has a fat and greasy appearance.[407]\n\nDr. Sparrman also relates a curious notion which the Hottentots about\nthe Visch River have with respect to the origin of the Locusts: that\nthey proceed from the good will of a great master-conjurer a long way to\nthe north, who, having removed the stone from the mouth of a certain\ndeep pit, lets loose these insects in order to furnish them with\nfood.[408] This is not unlike the account, given by the author of the\nApocalypse, of the origin of the symbolical Locusts, which are said to\nascend upon an angel\u2019s opening the pit of the abyss.[409]\n\nThe Korannas and Bushmen of the Cape save the Locusts in large\nquantities, and grind them between two stones into a kind of a meal,\nwhich they mix with fat and grease, and bake in cakes. Upon this fare,\nsays Mr. Fleming, they live for months together, and chatter with the\ngreatest joy as soon as the Locusts are seen approaching.[410]\n\nLocusts in Madagascar are greatly esteemed by the natives as food.[411]\n\nThe account of the missionary Moffat differs somewhat from and is much\nmore complete than Mr. Fleming\u2019s and Dr. Sparrman\u2019s. He says the natives\nof S. Africa embrace every opportunity of gathering Locusts, which can\nbe done during the night. Whenever the cloud alights at a place not very\ndistant from a town, the inhabitants turn out with sacks, and often with\npack-oxen, gather loads, and return next day with millions. The Locusts\nare then prepared for eating by simple boiling, or rather steaming, as\nthey are put into a large pot with a little water, and covered closely\nup; after boiling for a short time, they are taken out and spread on\nmats in the sun to dry, when they are winnowed, something like corn, to\nclear them of their legs and wings; and, when perfectly dry, are put\ninto sacks, or laid upon the house floor in a heap. The natives eat them\nwhole, adding a little salt when they can obtain it, or pound them in a\nwooden mortar; and, when they have reduced them to something like meal,\nthey mix them with a little water and make a cold stir-about.\n\nWhen Locusts abound, the natives become quite fat, and would even reward\nany old lady who would say that she had coaxed them to alight within\nreach of the inhabitants.\n\nMr. Moffat thinks the Locust not bad food, and, when well fed, almost as\ngood as shrimps.[412]\n\nThe plan of gathering Locusts by night is occasionally attended with\ndanger. \u201cIt has happened that in gathering them people have been bitten\nby venomous reptiles. On one occasion a woman had been traveling for\nseveral miles with a large bundle of Locusts on her head, when a\nserpent, which had been put into the sack with them, found its way out.\nThe woman, supposing it to be a thong dangling about her shoulders, laid\nhold of it with her hand, and, feeling that it was alive, instantly\nprecipitated the bundle to the ground and fled.\u201d[413]\n\nPringle, in his song of the wild Bushman, has the following lines:\n\n    Yea, even the wasting Locust-swarm,\n      Which mighty nations dread,\n    To me nor terror brings nor harm;\n      I make of them my bread.[414]\n\nFlights of Locusts are considered so much of a blessing in South Africa,\nthat, as Dr. Livingstone states, the _rain_-doctors sometimes promised\nto bring them by their incantations.[415]\n\nCarsten Niebuhr says that all Arabians, whether living in their own\ncountry or in Persia, Syria, and Africa, are accustomed to eat Locusts.\nThey distinguish several species of insect, to which they give\nparticular names. The red Locust, which is esteemed fatter and more\nsucculent than any other, and accordingly the greatest delicacy, they\ncall _Muken_; another is called _Dubbe_, but they abstain from it\nbecause it has a tendency to produce diarrh\u0153a. A light-colored Locust,\nas well as the Muken, is eaten.\n\nIn Arabia, Locusts, when caught, are put in bags, or on strings, to be\ndried; in Barbary, they are boiled, and then dried upon the roofs of the\nhouses. The Bedouins of Egypt roast them alive, and devour them with the\nutmost voracity. Niebuhr says he saw no instance of unwholesomeness in\nthis article of food; but Mr. Forskal was told it had a tendency to\nthicken the blood and bring on melancholy habits. The former gentleman\nalso says the Jews in Arabia are convinced that the fowls, of which the\nIsraelites ate so largely of in the desert, were only clouds of Locusts,\nand laugh at our translators, who have supposed that they found quails\nwhere quails never were.[416]\n\nThe wild Locusts upon which St. John fed have given rise to great\ndiscussion--some authors asserting them to be the fruit of the\ncarob-tree, while others maintain they were the true Locusts, and refer\nto the practice of the Arabs in Syria at the present day. \u201cThey who deny\ninsects to have been the food of this holy man,\u201d says Hasselquist, \u201curge\nthat this insect is an unaccustomary and unnatural food; but they would\nsoon be convinced of the contrary, if they would travel hither, to\nEgypt, Arabia, or Syria, and take a meal with the Arabs. Roasted Locusts\nare at this time eaten by the Arabs, at the proper season, when they can\nprocure them; so that in all probability this dish has been used in the\ntime of St. John. Ancient customs are not here subject to many changes,\nand the victuals of St. John are not believed unnatural here; and I was\nassured by a judicious Greek priest that their church had never taken\nthe word in any other sense, and he even laughed at the idea of its\nbeing a bird or a plant.\u201d[417]\n\nMr. Forbes incidentally remarks that in Persia and Arabia, roasted\nLocusts are sold in the markets, and eaten with rice and dates, and\nsometimes flavored with salt and spices.[418]\n\nThe _Acridites lincola_ (_Gryllus \u00c6gypticus_ of Linn\u00e6us) is the species\ncommonly sold for food in the markets of Bagdad.\n\nIn fact, Locusts have been eaten in Arabia from the remotest antiquity.\nThis is evinced by the sculptured slabs found by Layard at Kouyunjic;\nfor, among other attendants carrying fruit, flowers, and game, to a\nbanquet, are seen several bearing dried Locusts fastened on rods. And\nbeing thus introduced in this bas-relief among the choicest delicacies,\nit is most probable they were also highly prized by the Assyrians.\nLayard has figured one of these Locust bearers, who upon the sculptured\nslab is about four and a half feet in height.[419]\n\nThe Chinese regard the Locust, when deprived of the abdomen, and\nproperly cooked, as passable eating, but do not appear to hold the dish\nin much estimation.[420]\n\nMr. Laurence Oliphant, in Tientsin, China, saw bushels of fried Locusts\nhawked about in baskets by urchins in the streets. Locust-hunting, he\nasserts, was a favorite and profitable occupation among the juvenile\npart of the community. He thought the taste not unlike that of\nperiwinkle.[421]\n\nWilliams says: \u201cThe insect food (of the Chinese) is confined to Locusts\nand Grasshoppers, Ground-grubs and Silk-worms; the latter are fried to a\ncrisp when cooked.\u201d[422]\n\nDampier says in the Bashee (Philippine) Islands, Locusts are eaten as a\nregular food. The natives catch them in small nets, when they come to\ndevour their potato-vines, and parch them over the fire in an earthen\npan. When thus prepared the legs and wings fall off, and the heads and\nbacks, which before were brownish, turn red like boiled shrimps. Dampier\nonce ate of this dish, and says he liked it well enough. When their\nbodies were full they were moist to the palate, but their heads cracked\nin his teeth.[423]\n\nOvalle states that in the pampas of Chili, bread is made of Locusts and\nof Mosquitos.[424]\n\nAccording to Mr. Jules Remy, our Western Indians eat in great quantities\nwhat are generally there called _Crickets_, the _\u0152dipoda\ncorallipes_.[425]\n\nIn the southern parts of France, M. Latrielle informs us, the children\nare very fond of the fleshy thighs of Locusts.[426]\n\nThe Arabs believe the Locusts have a government among themselves similar\nto that of the bees and ants; and when \u201cSultan Jeraad,\u201d King of the\nLocusts, rises, the whole mass follow him, and not a solitary straggler\nis left behind to witness the devastation. Mr. Jackson himself evidently\nbelieved this from the manner he has narrated it.[427] An Arab once\nasserted to this gentleman, that he himself had seen the great \u201cSultan\nJeraad,\u201d and described his lordship as being larger and more beautifully\ncolored than the ordinary Locust.[428]\n\nCapt. Riley also mentions that each flight of Locusts is said to have a\nking which directs its movements with great regularity.[429]\n\nThe Chinese believe the same, and affirm that this leader is the\nlargest individual of the whole swarm.[430]\n\nBenjamin Bullifant, in his observations on the Natural History of New\nEngland, says: \u201cThe Locusts have a kind of regimental discipline, and as\nit were commanders, which show greater and more splendid wings than the\ncommon ones, and arise first when pursued by fowls, or the feet of a\ntraveler, as I have often seriously remarked.\u201d[431]\n\nThe truth, however, is found in the Bible. They have no king.[432]\n\nThe Saharawans, or Arabs of the desert, \u201cwhose hands are against every\nman,\u201d[433] and who rejoice in the evil that befalls other nations, when\nthey behold the clouds of Locusts proceeding toward the north are filled\nwith the greatest gladness, anticipating a general mortality, which they\ncall _El-khere_, the good, or the benediction; for, when Barbary is thus\nlaid waste, they emerge from their arid recesses in the desert and pitch\ntheir tents in the desolated plains.[434]\n\nPausanias tells us, that in the temple of Parthenon there was a brazen\nstatue of Apollo, by the hand of Phidias, which was called Parnopius,\nout of gratitude for that god having once banished from that country the\nLocusts, which greatly injured the land. The same author asserts that he\nhimself has known the Locusts to have been thrice destroyed by Apollo in\nthe Mountain Lipylus, once exterminating them by a violent wind; at\nanother time by vehement heat; and the third time by unexpected\ncold.[435]\n\nAt a time when there were great swarms of Locusts in China, as we learn\nfrom Navarette, the Emperor went out into his gardens, and taking up\nsome of these insects in his hands, thus spoke to them: The people\nmaintain themselves on wheat, rice, etc., you come to devour and destroy\nit, without leaving anything behind; it were better you should devour my\nbowels than the food of my subjects. Having concluded his speech, the\nmonarch was about to put them in a fair way of \u201cdevouring his bowels\u201d by\nswallowing them, when some that stood by telling him they were\nvenomous, he nobly answered, \u201cI value not my life when it is for the\ngood of my subjects and people to lose it,\u201d and immediately swallowed\nthe insects. History tells us the Locusts that very moment took wing,\nand went off without doing any more damage; but whether or not the\nheroic Emperor recovered leaves us in ignorance.[436]\n\nMr. J. M. Jones gives the following ludicrous account of the capture of\na Locust in the Bermudas. While walking one hot day in the vicinity of\nthe barracks at St. George\u2019s, with his lamented friend, the late Col.\nOakly (56th Regt.), on the lookout for insects, a very fine specimen of\nthe Locust sprung up before them. The former chased it for a while\nunavailingly, but determined not to be balked of his prey; the colonel\nthen joined in the pursuit, and after a sharp and hot chase, bagged his\ngame right before a sentry-box; the sentry, as in duty bound, standing\nwith arms presented, in the presence of a field officer, who was,\nhowever, in a rather undignified position to receive the salute. They\nhad gained their prize, however, and had a hearty laugh, in which we\nfancy the sentry could scarcely help joining.[437]\n\nCapt. Drayson, in his South African Sporting, tells the following\nanecdote: A South African, riding through a flock of Locusts, was struck\nin the eye by one of them, and, though blinded momentarily in the\ninjured eye, he still kept the other on the insect, which sought to\nescape by diving among the crowd on the ground. So, dismounting, he\ncaptured it, passed a large pin through its body, and thrust it in his\nwaistcoat pocket; and whenever the damaged eye smarted, he pulled it out\nagain, and stuck the pin through it in a fresh place.[438]\n\nDarwin tells us that when the \u201cBeagle\u201d was to windward of the Cape de\nVerd Islands, and when the nearest point of land, not directly opposed\nto the trade-wind, was Cape Blanco on the coast of Africa, 370 miles\ndistant, a large Grasshopper--_Acrydium_--flew on board![439] But Sir\nHans Sloane mentions a much more remarkable flight in his History of\nJamaica; for when the Assistance frigate was about 300 leagues to\nwindward of Barbados, he says a Locust alighted on the forecastle among\nthe sailors![440]\n\nSeveral species of Locusts are beautifully marked; these were sought\nafter by young Jewish children as playthings.[441]\n\nThe eggs of the _Chargol_ Locust, _Truxalis nasuta_?, the Jewish women\nused to carry in their ears to preserve them from the earache.[442]\n\nThe word _Locust_, Latin _Locusta_, is derived by the old etymologists\nfrom _locus_, a place, and _ustus_, burned,--\u201cquod tactu multa _urit_\nmorsu vero omnia erodat.\u201d True Locusts are the _Acridium_, or\n_Criquets_, of Geoffroy, and the _Gryllus_ of Fabricius. The\nMigratory-locust, _Locusta migratoria_, a rather small insect, is the\nmost celebrated species of the family. To it almost all the devastations\nbefore mentioned have been attributed. It is most probable, however,\nmany species have been confounded under the same name.\n\nIn Spain, as we are told by Osbeck, the people of fashion keep a species\nof Locust--called there _Gryllo_--in cages--_grillaria_,--for the sake\nof its song.[443] De Pauw says that, like Canary birds, they were kept\nin cages to sing during the celebration of mass.[444]\n\nThe song of a Spanish Gryllo on one occasion, if we may credit the\nhistorian, was the means of saving a vessel from shipwreck. The incident\nevinces the perilous situation of Cabeza de Vara, in his voyage toward\nBrazil, and is related by Dr. Southey in his history of that country as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cWhen they had crossed the Line, the state of the water was inquired\ninto, and it was found, that of a hundred casks there remained but\nthree, to supply four hundred men and thirty horses. Upon this, the\nAdelantado gave orders to make for the nearest land. Three days they\nstood toward it. A soldier, who had set out in ill health, had brought a\nGryllo, or ground cricket, with him from Cadiz, thinking to be amused by\nthe insect\u2019s voice; but it had been silent the whole way, to his no\nlittle disappointment. Now, on the fourth morning, the Gryllo began to\nsing its shrill rattle, scenting, as it was immediately supposed, the\nland. Such was the miserable watch which had been kept, that upon\nlooking out at the warning, they perceived high rocks within bowshot;\nagainst which, had it not been for the insect, they must inevitably have\nbeen lost. They had just time to drop anchor. From hence they coasted\nalong, the Gryllo singing every night, as if it had been on shore, till\nthey reached the Island of St. Catalina.\u201d[445]\n\nTo account for the singular sound produced by the _Platyphyllon\nconcavum_, which much resembles the expression _Katy did_, so much so\nthat the insect is now called the Katy-did,--a curious legend is told in\nthis country, and particularly in Virginia and Maryland. Mrs. A. L.\nRuter Dufour has kindly embodied it in the following verses for me:\n\n    Two maiden sisters loved a gallant youth,\n      Once in the far-off days of olden time:\n    With all of woman\u2019s fervency and truth;--\n      So runs a very ancient rustic rhyme.\n\n    Blanche, chaste and beauteous as a Fairy-queen,\n      Brave Oscar\u2019s heart a willing captive led;\n    Lovely in soul as was her form and mien,\n      While guileless love its light around her shed.\n\n    A Juno was the proud and regal Kate,--\n      Her love thus scorn\u2019d, her beauty thus defied,\n    Like Juno\u2019s turn\u2019d her love to vengeful hate:--\n      Mysteriously the gallant Oscar died.\n\n    Bereft of reason, faithful Blanche soon lay;--\n      The mystery of this fearful fate none knew,\n    Save proud, revengeful Kate, who would not say\n      It was her hand had dared the deed to do.\n\n    Justice and pity then to Jove appealed,\n      That the dark secret be no longer hid;\n    Young Oscar\u2019s spirit he at once concealed,\n      That cries, each summer night, _Kate_, _Katy-did_!\n\n    ROSE HILL, D. C., June 24, 1864.\n\nIf a Katy-did enters your house, an unlooked-for visitor will speedily\ncome. If it sings there, some of your family will be noted for fine\nmusical powers. These superstitions obtain in Maryland.\n\n\n\n\nORDER IV.\n\nNEUROPTERA.\n\n\nTermitid\u00e6--White-ants.\n\nThe Termites or White-ants (which are _ants_ only by a misnomer) are\nfound in both the Indies, in Africa, and in South America, where they do\nvast damage, in consequence of their eating and perforating wooden\nbuildings, utensils, furniture, and indeed all kinds of household stuff,\nwhich are utterly destroyed by them if not timely prevented. They are\nfound also in Europe, and, about thirty years ago, from the extent of\ntheir ravages in the West of France, and particularly at Rochelle,\ncaused considerable alarm.[446]\n\nThere is a story commonly told, if not commonly credited throughout\nIndia, of the Termites demolishing a chest of dollars at Bencoolen,\nwhich is in a great degree cleared up by the following anecdote\nintroduced by Mr. Forbes in his Memoirs: A gentleman having charge of a\nchest of money, unfortunately placed it on the floor in a damp\nsituation; and, as a matter of course in that climate, the box was\nspeedily attacked by the Termites, which had their burrow just under the\nplace the treasure stood. Soon annihilating the bottom, these devouring\ninsects were not any more ceremonious in respect to the bags containing\nthe specie; which, being thus let loose, fell piece by piece gradually\ninto the hollows in the Termites\u2019 burrow. When the cash was demanded,\nand not to be found, all were greatly amazed at the wonderful powers,\nboth of teeth and stomachs, of the little marauders, which were supposed\nto have consumed the silver and gold as well as the wood. But, after\nsome years, however, the house requiring repair, the whole sum was found\nseveral feet deep in the earth; and, thanks, the Termites were rescued\nfrom that obloquy which the supposed power of feasting on precious\nmetals had cast on their whole race.[447]\n\nKempfer, during his stay at a Dutch fort on the coast of Malabar, one\nmorning discovered some peculiar marks like arches upon his table, about\nthe size of his little finger. Suspecting they were the work of\nTermites, he made an accurate examination, and, much to his surprise,\nfound not only what he expected to be true, but that these voracious\ninsects had pierced a passage of that thickness up one leg of the table,\nthen across the table, and so down again through the middle of another\nleg into the floor! What made it the more wonderful was that it had all\nbeen done in the few hours that intervened between his retiring to rest\nand his rising.[448]\n\nMr. Forbes, on surveying a room which had been locked up during an\nabsence of a few weeks, observed a number of advanced works in various\ndirections toward some prints and drawings in English frames; the\nglasses appeared to be uncommonly dull, and the frames covered with\ndust. \u201cOn attempting,\u201d says he, \u201cto wipe it off, I was astonished to\nfind the glasses fixed on the wall, not suspended in frames as I left\nthem, but completely surrounded by an incrustation cemented by the\nWhite-ants, who had actually eaten up the deal frames and back-boards,\nand the greater part of the paper, and left the glasses upheld by the\nincrustation, or covered way, which they had formed during their\ndepredation.\u201d[449]\n\nIt is even asserted, says Kirby and Spence, that the superb residence of\nthe Governor-general at Calcutta, which cost the East India Company such\nimmense sums, is now going rapidly to decay in consequence of the\nattacks of these insects. But not content with the dominions they have\nacquired, and the cities they have laid low on Terra Firma, encouraged\nby success, the White-ants have also aimed at the sovereignty of the\nocean, and once had the hardihood to attack even a British ship of the\nline--the Albion; and, in spite of the efforts of her commander and his\nvaliant crew, having boarded they got possession of her, and handled\nher so roughly, that when brought into port, being no longer fit for\nservice, she was obliged to be broken up.[450]\n\nLutfullah, in his Autobiography, relates the following: \u201cI returned the\ncouch kindly sent to me by a friend, with my thanks, and made my bed on\nthe ground, placing my new desk of Morocco leather at the head to serve\nas a pillow, and went to bed. In the morning, when roused by the bugle,\nI found my bed strewed with damp dust, my skin excoriated in some parts,\nand my back irritated in others. I called my servant, who was saddling\nmy horse. \u2018Mahdilli,\u2019 said I angrily, \u2018you have been throwing dust all\nover my bed and self, in shaking the trappings of the horse near my bed\nin the tent.\u2019--\u2018No, sir, I have done no such thing,\u2019 was his reply. When\nI took up my cloak it fell to pieces in my hand; the blanket was in the\nsame state, and the bottom of my desk, with some valuable papers, were\ndestroyed. \u2018What misfortune is this?\u2019 cried I to Mahdilli, who\nimmediately brought a burning stick to examine the cause, and coolly\nobserved, \u2018It is the White-ants, sir, and no misfortune, but a piece of\nbad luck, sir.\u2019 Poor man! in all mishaps, I always found him attaching\nblame to destiny, and never to his own or my imprudence.\u201d[451]\n\nThe Caffres, as we are informed by Mr. Latrobe, when first permitted to\nsettle at Guadenthal, before they could build ovens, according to the\ncustom of their country, availed themselves of the Ant-hills found in\nthat neighborhood; for, having destroyed the inhabitants by fire and\nsmoke, they scooped them out hollow, leaving a crust of a few inches in\nthickness, and used them for baking, putting in three loaves at a\ntime.[452]\n\nMr. Southey says that in Brazil the Spaniards hollow out the nests of\nthe Termites, and use them for ovens.[453] The authority of Messrs.\nKidder and Fletcher is, that in Brazil, \u201cthe Termites\u2019 dwelling is\nsometimes overturned by the slaves, the hollow scooped wider, and is\nthen used as a bake-oven to parch Indian-corn.\u201d[454]\n\nMr. Latrobe also tells us that the clay of which these Ant-hills are\nformed, is so well prepared by the industrious Termites, _Termes\nbellicosus_, that it is used for the floors of rooms in South Africa\nboth by the Hottentots and farmers.[455]\n\nMr. Southey states that in Brazil \u201cthe Spaniards pulverize the nests of\nthe Termites, and with the powder form a flooring for their houses,\nwhich becomes as hard as stone, and on which it is said no fleas or\nother insects will harbor.\u201d[456] The early Spanish settlers built the\nwalls of their houses of the same earth; and some of which, which were\nerected in the seventeenth century, are said to be still in\nexistence.[457]\n\nAnt-hills, or rather the Termites which inhabit them, have also been\nused as an instrument of perhaps the most infernal torture the ingenuity\nof man has ever invented. For, in South Africa, at one time, the\nwretched victim, whether prisoner of war or offending subject, having\nbeen smeared with some oily substance, was partially interred in one of\nthese heaps, and, if not first roasted to death by the burning sun, was\nliterally devoured alive by the myriads of insects which have their\nhabitation there. It has been asserted that even some Englishmen have\nmet this dreadful fate.[458]\n\nAt Unyamwezi, in the lake regions of Central Africa, the natives chew\nthe clay of Ant-hills as a substitute when their tobacco fails. They\ncall this clay \u201csweet earth.\u201d It is said the Arabs have also tried it\nwithout other effects than nausea.[459]\n\nThe goldsmiths of Ceylon employ the powdered clay of Ant-hills in\npreference to all other substances in the preparation of crucibles and\nmoulds for their fine castings, for so delicate is the trituration to\nwhich the Termites subject this material;[460] and Knox says, \u201cthe\npeople use this finer clay to make their earthen gods of, it is so pure\nand fine.\u201d[461]\n\nTermites, as an article of food, are eaten by the inhabitants of many\ncountries. Mr. K\u0153nig, in his essay on the history of these insects, read\nbefore the Society of Naturalists of Berlin, tells us, that to catch\nthe Termites before their emigration, the natives of the East Indies\nmake two holes in the nest, one to windward, and the other to leeward;\nat the latter aperture, they place a pot, rubbed with aromatic herbs. On\nthe windward side they make a fire, the smoke of which drives these\ninsects into the pots. By this method they take a great quantity, of\nwhich they make, with flour, a variety of pastry, which they sell to the\npoorer people. This author adds, that in the season in which this\naliment is abundant, the abuse of it produces an epidemic colic and\ndysentery, which carries off the patient in two or three hours.[462]\n\nThe Africans, says Mr. Smeatham, are less ingenious in catching and\npreparing them. They content themselves in collecting those which fall\ninto the water at the time of emigration. They skim them off the surface\nwith calabashes, filling large caldrons with them, then grill them in\niron pots, over a gentle fire, stirring them as coffee is stirred. They\nthus eat them by handfuls, without sauce, or any other preparation, and\nfind them delicious. This gentleman has several times eaten them cooked\nin this manner, and thinks them delicate, nourishing, and wholesome,\nbeing sweeter than the grub of the palm-tree weevil (_Calandra\npalmarum_), and resembling in taste sugared cream or sweet almond\npaste.[463]\n\nThe Hottentots, Dr. Sparrman informs us, eat them greedily boiled and\nraw, and soon grow fat and plump upon this food.[464]\n\nAn idea may be formed of this dish by what once occurred to Dr.\nLivingstone on the banks of the Zouga, in South Africa. The Bayeiye\nchief Palani visiting this traveler while eating, he gave him a piece of\nbread and preserved apricots; and as the chief seemed to relish it much,\nhe asked him if he had any food equal to that in his country. \u201cAh!\u201d said\nthe chief, \u201cdid you ever taste White-ants?\u201d As the doctor never had, he\nreplied, \u201cWell, if you had, you never could have desired to eat anything\nbetter.\u201d[465]\n\nIn the lake regions of Central Africa, says Burton, man revenges\nhimself upon the White-ant, and satisfies his craving for animal food,\nwhich in those regions oftentimes becomes a principle of action,--a\npassion,--by boiling the largest and fattest species, and eating them as\na relish with his insipid porridge.[466]\n\nBuchanan says the Termes, or White-ant, is a common article of food\namong one of the Hindoo tribes; Mr. Forbes says, of the low castes in\nMysore, and the Carnatic.[467] Captain Green relates that, in the ceded\ndistricts of India, the natives place the branches of trees over the\nnests, and then by means of smoke drive out the insects; which\nattempting to fly, their wings are broken off by the mere touch of the\nbranches.[468]\n\nThe female Termite, in particular, is supposed by the Hindoos to be\nendowed with highly nutritive properties, and, we are told by Mr.\nBroughton, was carefully sought after and preserved for the use of the\ndebilitated Surjee Rao, Prime-minister of Scindia, chief of the\nMahrattas.[469]\n\nThe Hottentots not only eat the Termites in their perfect state, but\nalso, when their corn is consumed and they are reduced to the necessity,\nin their pupa. These pup\u00e6, which they call \u201crice,\u201d on account of their\nresemblance to that grain, they usually wash, and cook with a small\nquantity of water. Prepared in this way they are said to be palatable;\nand if the people find a place where they can obtain them in abundance,\nthey soon become fat upon them, even when previously much reduced by\nhunger. A large nest will sometimes yield a bushel of pup\u00e6.[470]\n\nTermite queens in the East Indies are given alive to old men for\nstrengthening the back.[471]\n\n\nEphemerid\u00e6--Day-flies.\n\nThe name of Ephemerid\u00e6 has been given to the insects, so called, in\nconsequence of the short duration of their lives, when they have\nacquired their final form. There are some of them which never see the\nsun; they are born after it is set, and die before it reappears on the\nhorizon.\n\nThese insects, indifferently called also Day-flies and May-flies,\nusually make their appearance in the districts watered by the Seine and\nthe Marne, in the month of August; and in such countless myriads, that\nthe fishermen of these rivers believe they are showered down from\nheaven, and accordingly call the living cloud of them _manna_--manna for\nfish, not men. Reaumur once saw them descend in this region so fast,\nthat the step on which he stood by the river\u2019s bank was covered by a\nlayer four inches thick in a few minutes. He compares their falling to\nthat of snow with the largest flakes.[472]\n\nScopoli assures us that such swarms are produced every season in the\nneighborhood of some particular spots in the Duchy of Carniola, that the\ncountrymen think they obtain but a small portion, unless every farmer\ncan carry off about twenty cartloads of them into his fields for the\npurpose of a manure.[473]\n\n\nLibellulid\u00e6--Dragon-flies.\n\nOn account of the long and slender body, peculiar to the insects of this\nfamily, they are with us sometimes called _Devil\u2019s Darning-needles_, but\nmore commonly _Dragon-flies_. In Scotland they are known by the name of\n_Flying Adders_, for the same reason. The English, from an erroneous\nbelief that they sting horses, call them _Horse-stingers_. In France,\nfrom their light and airy motions, and brilliant, variegated dress, they\nare called _Demoiselles_; and in Germany, for the same reason, and that\nthey hover over, and lived during their first stages in, water,\n_Wasser-jungfern_--Virgins of the Water. Another German name for them is\n_Florfliegen_--Gauze-flies, in allusion to their net-like wings. Our\nboys also call them _Snake-feeders_ and _Snake-doctors_, in the belief\nthat they wait upon snakes in the capacity of feeders and doctors; and\nso firm are they in this belief, that frequently I have been laughed at\nfor asserting the contrary to them. The belief probably arose from the\nmanner in which the Dragon-fly sometimes falls a prey to the snakes.\nHovering over ponds, they are fond of alighting on little sticks and\ntwigs just out of the water, and mistaking the heads of snakes, which\nprobably swam there for the purpose, for such twigs, they are instantly\ncaught by the snakes.\n\nOn the 30th and 31st of May, 1839, immense cloud-like swarms of\nDragon-flies passed in rapid succession over the German town of Weimar\nand its neighborhood. They were the _Libellula depressa_, a species\nwhich, in general, is rather scarce in that part of Germany. The general\ndirection of this migration was from south by west to north by east. The\ninsects were in a vigorous state, and some of the flocks flew as high as\n150 feet above the level of the River Ilm.\n\nAt Gottingen on June the 1st, at Eisenach on May the 30th and 31st of\nthe same year, swarms of the same species were seen flying from east to\nwest; and at Calais, June 14th, similar clouds, though of a different\nspecies, were noticed on their way toward the Netherlands. At Halle,\nalso, on May 30th, a short time before a thunder-storm, swarms of the\nDragon-fly, _L. quadrimaculata_, were seen by Dr. Buhle, flying very\nrapidly from south to north. The _L. quadrimaculata_ is not generally\nfound in the neighborhood of Halle.\n\nThis wonderful migration, for it is a phenomenon of rare occurrence,\nextended from the 51st to the 52d degree of latitude, and was observed\nwithin 27\u00b0 40\u2032 and 30\u00b0 east of Ferro. But the instance of Calais renders\nit probable that it extended over a great part of Europe.\n\nAnother migration of Dragon-flies was observed at Weimar on the 28th of\nJune, 1816. The insects, in this instance, belonged also to the _L.\ndepressa_. They were taken then, as were they also in 1839, for locusts\nby the common people, and looked upon as the harbingers of famine and\nwar.\n\nIn these migrations they followed the direction of the rivers, with the\ncurrents. They did not, however, always keep close by them, since they\nmust spread over wide districts in order to subsist.\n\nTo account for the great multiplication of these insects, in the year\n1839, is by no means difficult. From the beginning to the 21st of May\n(in the latter part of which month, it will be remembered, they\nappeared), the weather had been exceedingly rainy; rivers and lakes\noverflowed their banks and inundated immense areas of low grounds,\nwhereby myriads of the _larv\u00e6_ and _pup\u00e6_ (which live entirely in water)\nof the _Libellul\u00e6_, which, under other circumstances, would have\nremained in deep water, and become the prey of their many enemies, fish,\netc., were brought into shallow water, and hot weather following, from\nMay 21st to May 29th, converted these shallows and swamps into true\nhotbeds for them. Their development into perfect insects was thus\nrendered rapid, so that, somewhat earlier than usual, they appeared, and\nin far greater, their undiminished, numbers; and, being very voracious\nin their appetite, as well in the imago as the pupa state, they were\nobliged to migrate immediately to satisfy it.[474]\n\nMr. Gosse observed in Jamaica, Oct. 8th, 1845, a swarm of Dragon-flies\nin the air, about twenty feet from the level of the ground. They floated\nand danced about, over the stream of water that runs through\nBlue-fields, much in the manner of gnats, which they resembled also in\ntheir immense numbers.[475] And Rev. T. J. Bowen, on one occasion, in\ndescending the Ogun River (in the Yoruba country, Africa), met millions\nof Dragon-flies, about one-fourth of an inch in length, making their way\nup the country by following the course of the stream.[476]\n\nIt is commonly said among us, that if a Dragon-fly be killed, there will\nsoon be a death in the family of the killer.\n\n\nMyrmeleonid\u00e6--Ant-lions.\n\nWhen children meet with the funnel-shaped pitfalls of the larva of the\nAnt-lion, _Myrmeleon formicales_, they are wont to put their heads close\nto the ground and softly sing _ooloo-ooloo-ooloo_, till the larva,\nmistaking the sound for that of a fly escaping his trap, throws up a\nshower of sand to bring its supposed victim down again.\n\nAnt-lions are held in great esteem in many sections of our country, so\nmuch so that they are not suffered to be in any way injured.\n\n\n\n\nORDER V.\n\nHYMENOPTERA.\n\n\nUrocerid\u00e6--Sirex.\n\nIn a work called \u201c_Ephemerides des curieux de la nature_,\u201d is an\nobservation apparently relative to this family of insects, which, if\ntrue, would be very extraordinary indeed. It is there said, that in the\ntown of Czierck and its environs, there were seen in 1679 some unknown\nwinged insects which, with their stings, mortally wounded both men and\nbeasts. They fell abruptly upon men without provocation, and attached\nthemselves to the naked parts of the body: the sting was immediately\nfollowed by a hard tumor, and if care was not taken of the wound within\nthe first three hours, by hastily extracting the poison from it, the\npatient died in a few days after. These insects killed five and thirty\nmen in this diocese, and a great number of oxen and horses. Toward the\nend of September, the winds brought some of them into a small town on\nthe confines of Silesia and Poland; but they were so feeble on account\nof the cold, that they did but little mischief there. Eight days after,\nthey all disappeared. These animals have all of them four wings, six\nfeet, and carry under the belly a long sting provided with a sheath,\nwhich opens and separates in two. They make a very sharp noise in\nattacking men. Some of them are ornamented with yellow circles (_Sirex\ngigas_, or _S. fusicornis_? M. Latreille), and others are similar to\nthem in all respects, but they have the back altogether black, and their\nstings are more venomous (_S. spectrum_ or _juvencus_?). The author of\nthese observations gives an extended description of the species with the\nyellow circles, which he accompanies with figures, in which the\ncharacter of _Sirex_ may be clearly distinguished.[477]\n\n\nCynipid\u00e6--Gall-flies.\n\nIn the spring of 1694, some Galls hung down like chains upon the oaks in\nGermany, and the common people, who had never observed them before,\nimagined them to be magical knots.[478]\n\nA very old and common superstition is, that every oak-apple contains\neither a maggot, a fly, or a spider: the first foretelling famine, the\nsecond war, and the third, the spider, pestilence. Matthiolus gravely\naffirms this conceit to be true;[479] and the learned Sir Thomas Browne,\nin his Pseudodoxia Epidemica, has thought it worth his while, with much\ngravity, to explode it. He, however, while combating one popular error,\nfalls himself into another, for want of that philosophical knowledge of\ninsects which later times have succeeded in obtaining. We pass this by,\nand hurry to his conclusion: \u201cWe confess the opinion may hold some\nverity in analogy, or emblematical phancy; for pestilence is properly\nsignified by the spider, whereof some kinds are of a very venomous\nnature: famine by maggots, which destroy the fruits of the earth; and\nwar not improperly by the fly, if we rest in the phancy of Homer, who\ncompares the valiant Grecian unto a fly. Some verity it may also have in\nitself, as truly declaring the corruptive constitution in the present\nsap and nutrimental juice of the tree; and may consequently discover the\ndisposition of the year according to the plenty or kinds of those\nproductions; for if the putrefying juices of bodies bring forth plenty\nof flies and maggots, they give forth testimony of common corruption,\nand declare that the elements are full of the seeds of putrefaction, as\nthe great number of caterpillars, gnats, and ordinary insects do also\ndeclare. If they run into spiders, they give signs of higher\nputrefaction, as plenty of vipers and scorpions are confessed to do; the\nputrefying materials producing animals of higher mischief according to\nthe advance and higher strain of corruption.\u201d[480]\n\nMoufet says: \u201cIn oak acorns and spongy apples sometimes worms breed,\nand astrologers presage that year to be likely to produce a great famine\nand dearth.... It is strange that Ringelbergius writes, _lib. de\nexperiment_, that these worms may be fed to be as big as a serpent, with\nsheep\u2019s milk; yet Cardanus confirms the same, and shewes the way to feed\nthem, _Lib. de rer. varietat_.\u201d[481]\n\nThere is a very curious operation performed at the present day in the\nLevant with one of these Gall-flies, which is termed _caprification_.\nThe object of it is to hasten the maturity of figs; and the species\nemployed for that purpose is the _Cynips ficus caric\u00e6_, or _Cynips\npsenes_ of Linn\u00e6us; it consists in placing on a fig-tree, which does not\nproduce flowers or early figs, some of these last strung together with a\nthread. The insects which issue from them, full of fecundating dust,\nintroduce themselves through the eye into the interior of the second\nfigs, fecundate by this means all the grains, and provoke the ripening\nof the fruit.\n\nThis operation, of which some authors have spoken with admiration,\nappeared to Hasselquist and Olivier, both competent observers, who have\nbeen on the spot, to be of no advantage whatsoever in fertilizing the\nfig;[482] and scientific men of the present day generally hold that it\ncannot be of any utility, for each fig contains some small flowers\ntoward the eye, capable of fecundating all the female flowers in the\ninterior, and moreover this fruit will grow, ripen, and become excellent\nto eat even when the grains are not fecundated.[483]\n\nA curious kind of gall, produced on the rose-trees by the _Cynips ros\u00e6_,\nwhich is known by the name of _Bedeguar_, has been placed among the\nremedies which may be successfully employed against diarrh\u0153a and\ndysentery, and useful in cases of scurvy, stone, and worms.[484]\n\nThe galls of commerce, commonly called _Nut-galls_, are found on the\n_Quercus infectoria_, a species of oak growing in the Levant, and are\nproduced by the _Cynips Gall\u00e6 tinctorum_. When gathered before the\ninsects quit them, the nut-galls contain more astringent matter, and are\nthen known as Black, Blue, or Green-galls. When the insects have\nescaped, they are less astringent, and are called White-galls. They are\nof great importance in the arts, being very extensively used in dyeing\nand in the manufacture of ink and leather. They are the most powerful of\nall the vegetable astringents, and are sometimes used, both internally\nand externally, with great effect in medicine. Those imported from Syria\nare the most esteemed, and, of these, those found in the neighborhood of\nMoussoul are considered the best.[485]\n\nThe gall of the field cirsium formerly enjoyed a very great reputation,\nfor it was considered, when carried simply in the pocket, as a sovereign\nremedy against hemorrhages. It, no doubt, owed this virtue to its\nresemblance to the principal sign of this disease, the swelling of the\nvein.[486]\n\nThe galls of the ground-ivy, produced by the _Cynips glecome_, have been\neaten as food in France; they have an agreeable taste, and to a high\ndegree the odor of the plant which bears them. Reaumur, however, is\ndoubtful whether they will ever rank with good fruits.[487]\n\nThe galls of the sage (_Salvia pomifera_, _S. triloba_, and _S.\nofficinalis_), which are very juicy, like apples, and crowned with\nrudiments of leaves resembling the calyx of that fruit, are gathered\nevery year, as an article of food, by the inhabitants of the Island of\nCrete. This is the statement of Poumefort. Olivier confirms it, and\nadds: They are esteemed in the Levant for their aromatic and acid\nflavor, especially when prepared with honey and sugar, and form a\nconsiderable article of commerce from Scio to Constantinople, where they\nare regularly exposed in the market.[488]\n\nThe celebrated \u201cDead Sea Fruits,\u201d often called _Poma insana_, or\nMad-apples, _Mala Sodomitica_, etc., which have given rise to great\ncontroversy among Oriental scholars and Biblical commentators, are\nproduced by the _Cynips insana_ on the low oaks (_Quercus infectoria_)\ngrowing on the borders of the Dead Sea.[489]\n\n\nFormicid\u00e6--Ants.\n\nHerodotus, who wrote in the fifth century before the birth of Christ,\ntells the following fabulous story without the slightest trace of\ndiffidence or disbelief: There are other Indians bordering on the City\nof Caspatyrus and the country of Pactyica, settled northward of the\nother Indians, whose mode of life resembles that of the Bactrians. They\nare the most warlike of the Indians, and these are they who are sent to\nprocure the gold; for near this part is a desert by reason of the sand.\nIn this desert then, and in the sand, there are Ants in size somewhat\nless indeed than dogs, but larger than foxes. Some of them are in the\npossession of the King of the Persians, which were taken there. These\nAnts, forming their habitations under ground, heap up the sand as the\nAnts in Greece do, and in the same manner; and they are very like them\nin shape. The sand that is heaped up is mixed with gold. The Indians,\ntherefore, go to the desert to get this sand, each man having three\ncamels, on either side a male one harnessed to draw by the side, and a\nfemale in the middle; this last the man mounts himself, having taken\ncare to yoke one that has been separated from her young as recently as\npossible; for camels are not inferior to horses in swiftness, and are\nmuch better able to carry burdens.... The Indians then, adopting such a\nplan and such a method of harnessing, set out for the gold, having\nbefore calculated the time, so as to be engaged in their plunder during\nthe hottest part of the day, for during the heat the Ants hide\nthemselves under ground.... When the Indians arrive at the spot, having\nsacks with them, they fill these with the sand, and return with all\npossible expedition; for the Ants, as the Persians say, immediately\ndiscovering them by the smell, pursue them, and they are equaled in\nswiftness by no other animal, so that if the Indians did not get the\nstart of them while the Ants were assembling, not a man of them could be\nsaved. Now the male camels (for they are inferior in speed to the\nfemales) slacken their pace, dragging on, not both equally; but the\nfemales, mindful of the young they have left, do not slacken their pace.\nThus the Indians, as the Persians say, obtain the greatest part of their\ngold.[490]\n\nConcerning these remarkable Ants, Strabo and Arrian have preserved the\nstatement of Megasthenes, who traveled in India about two centuries\nlater than the time of Herodotus. As given by Strabo, who is somewhat\nmore particular in his story than Arrian, it is as follows: Megasthenes,\nspeaking of the Myrmeces (or Ants), says, among the Derd\u00e6, a populous\nnation of the Indians, living toward the East and among the mountains,\nthere was a mountain plain of about 3000 stadia in circumference; that\nbelow this plain were mines containing gold, which the Myrmeces, in size\nnot less than foxes, dig up. They are excessively fleet, and subsist on\nwhat they catch. In winter they dig holes and pile up the earth in\nheaps, like moles, at the mouths of the openings. The gold dust which\nthey obtain requires little preparation by fire. The neighboring people\ngo after it by stealth with beasts of burden; for if it is done openly,\nthe Myrmeces fight furiously, pursuing those that run away, and, if they\nseize them, kill them and the beasts. In order to prevent discovery,\nthey place in various parts pieces of the flesh of wild beasts, and when\nthe Myrmeces are dispersed in various directions, they take away the\ngold dust, and, not being acquainted with the mode of smelting it,\ndispose of it in its rude state at any price to merchants.[491]\n\nNearchus says he has himself seen several of the skins of these Ants,\nwhich were as large as the skins of leopards. They were brought by the\nMacedonian soldiers into Alexander\u2019s camp.[492]\n\nPliny, as a matter of course, believed this marvelous story, and has\ninserted it in brief in his compilation of natural history. He adds,\ntoo, that in his time there were suspended in the temple of Hercules, at\nErythr\u00e6, this Ant\u2019s horns, which were looked upon as quite miraculous\nfor their size. He also informs us it was of the color of a cat.[493]\n\nStrabo and Arrian, from the manner in which they refer to the statements\nof Megasthenes and Nearchus, no doubt disbelieved them;[494] not so,\nhowever, Pomponius Mela.[495]\n\nM. de Veltheim thinks this animal, which, as Pliny says, \u201chas the color\nof a cat, and is in size as large as an Egyptian wolf,\u201d is nothing more\nthan, and really is, the _Canis corsac_, the small fox of India, and\nthat by some mistake it was represented by travelers as an ant. It is\nnot improbable, Cuvier says, that some quadruped, in making holes in the\nground, may have occasionally thrown up some grains of the precious\nmetal. Another interpretation of this story has also been suggested. We\nfind some remarks of Mr. Wilson, in the _Transactions of the Asiatic\nSociety_, on the Mahabharata, a Sanscrit poem, that various tribes on\nthe mountains Meru and Mandara (supposed to lie between Hindostan and\nThibet) used to sell grains of gold, which they called _paippilaka_, or\n_Ant-gold_, which, they said, was thrown up by Ants, in Sanscrit called\n_pippilaka_. In traveling westward, this story (in itself, no doubt,\nuntrue) may very probably have been magnified to its present\ndimensions.[496]\n\nThe laborious life and foresight of the Ant have been celebrated\nthroughout all antiquity, and from the wise Solomon down to the amiable\nLa Fontaine, the sluggard has been referred to this insect to \u201clearn her\nways and be wise.\u201d[497] The Arabians held the wisdom of these animals in\nsuch estimation, that they used to place one of them in the hands of a\nnewly-born infant, repeating these words: \u201cMay the boy turn out clever\nand skillful.\u201d[498] But their wisdom is magnified by all, and in the\npanegyrics of their providence we always find the following curious\nnotion. Plutarch, in his Land and Water Creatures Compared, thus\nmentions it: \u201cBut that which surpasseth all other prudence, policy, and\nwit, is their (the Ants\u2019) caution and prevention which they use, that\ntheir wheat and other corn may not spurt and grow. For this is certain,\nthat dry it cannot continue alwayes, nor sound and uncorrupt, but in\ntime will wax soft, resolve into a milky juice, when it turneth and\nbeginneth to swell and chit; for fear, therefore, that it become not a\ngenerative seed, and so by growing, loose the nature and property of\nfood for their nourishment, _they gnaw that end thereof or head where it\nis wont to spurt and bud forth_.\u201d[499]\n\nThe ancients, observing the Ants carry their pup\u00e6, which in shape,\nsize, and color very much resemble a grain of corn, and the ends of\nwhich they sometimes pull open to let out the inclosed insect, no doubt\nmistook the one for the other, and this action for depriving the grain\nof the embryo of the plant.\n\nSome modern writers, as Addison[500] and Pluche,[501] it is curious to\nobserve, have fallen into this ancient error; so ancient, in fact, it is\nthat some have supposed the Hebrew name of the Ant to be derived from\nit.[502] Among the poets, Prior asks:\n\n                      Tell me, why the _Ant_\n    In _summer\u2019s plenty thinks of winter\u2019s want_?\n    By constant journey _careful to prepare\n    Her stores_, and _bringing home the corny ear_,\n    By what instruction _does she bite the grain_?\n    Lest, hid in earth, and taking root again,\n    It might elude the foresight of her care.[503]\n\nThus Watts, also:\n\n    They don\u2019t wear their time out in sleeping or play;\n    But _gather up corn_ in a sunshiny day,\n        And _for winter they lay up their stores_:\n    They manage their work in such regular forms,\n    One would think they _foresaw_ all the frosts and the storms,\n        And so _brought their food within doors_.[504]\n\nAnd Smart:\n\n    The _sage, industrious Ant_, the _wisest insect_,\n    And _best economist_ of all the field:\n    For when as yet the favorable sun\n    Gives to the genial earth th\u2019 enlivening ray,\n    ----All her subterranean avenues,\n    And storm-proof cells, with management most meet,\n    And unexampled housewif\u2019ry, she frames;\n    Then to the field she hies, and _on her back\n    Burden immense! brings home the cumbrous corn_:\n    Then, many a weary step, and many a strain,\n    And many a grievous groan subdued, at length\n    Up the huge hill she hardly heaves it home;\n    Nor rests she here her providence, but _nips\n    With subtle tooth the grain_, lest from _her garner_,\n    In mischievous fertility, it steal,\n    And back to daylight vegetate its way.[505]\n\nMilton also entertained this erroneous opinion:\n\n                      First crept\n    The _parsimonious Emmet, provident\n    Of future_, in small room large heart inclos\u2019d;\n    Pattern of just equality perhaps\n    Hereafter, join\u2019d in her popular tribes\n    Of commonalty.[506]\n\nAnd also Dr. Johnson:\n\n    Turn on the _prudent Ant_ thy heedless eyes,\n    Observe her labors, sluggard! and be wise.\n    No stern command, no monitory voice,\n    Prescribes her duties or directs her choice;\n    Yet _timely provident_ she hastes away,\n    To snatch the blessings of a plenteous day;\n    When fruitful Summer loads the teeming plain,\n    _She crops the harvest, and she stores the grain_.[507]\n\nThere is an old Eastern proverb, that \u201cwhat the Ant _collects_ in a year\nthe monks eat up in a night,\u201d which seems to be founded on the\nsupposition that the Ants provide themselves with stores of food.\nJuvenal, also, observes, in his Sixth Satire, that \u201cafter the example of\nthe Ant, some have learned to _provide_ against cold and hunger.\u201d[508]\n\n\u201cSince, therefore,\u201d says Moufet, \u201c(to winde up all in a few words) they\n(the Ants) are so exemplary for their great piety, prudence, justice,\nvalour, temperance, modesty, charity, friendship, frugality,\nperseverance, industry and art; it is no wonder that Plato, in Ph\u00e6done,\nhath determined, that they who without the help of philosophy have lead\na civill life by custom or from their own diligence, they had their\nsouls from Ants, and when they die they are turned to Ants again. To\nthis may be added the fable of the Myrmidons, who being a people of\n\u00c6gina, applied themselves to diligent labour in tilling the ground,\ncontinual digging, hard toiling, and constant sparing, joyned with\nvirtue, and they grew thereby so rich, that they passed the common\ncondition and ingenuity of men, and Theogonis knew not how to compare\nthem better than to Pismires, that they were originally descended from\nthem, or were transformed into them, and as Strabo reports they were\ntherefore called Myrmidons. The Greeks relate the history otherwise than\nother men do; namely, that Jupiter was changed into a Pismire, and so\ndeflowered Eurymedusa, the mother of the Graces, as if he could no\notherwise deceive the best woman, then in the shape of the best\ncreature. Hence ever after was he called Pismire Jupiter, or, Jupiter,\nKing of Pismires....\n\n\u201cThey do better, in my opinion, who observe the Pismire, and grow rich\nby following his manners in labor, industry, rest, and study. We read of\nMidas that he was the richest King of all the West, and when he was a\nboy, the Pismires carryed grains of wheat into his mouth while he slept,\nand so foreshowed without doubt that he should be endowed with the\nPismire\u2019s prudence, and should by his labour and frugality, gain so much\nriches, that he should be called the Golden boy of fortune, and the\nDarling of prosperity. _\u00c6lianus._ And when the Ants did devour and eat\nup the live serpent of Tiberius C\u00e6sar, which he so dearly loved, did\nthey not thereby give him sufficient warning that he should take heed to\nhimself for fear of the multitude, by whom he was afterwards cruelly\nmurthered? _Suetonius._\u201d[509]\n\nOf the wars and battles of the Ants, now so familiar from the writings\nof Huber and others, one of the oldest records is that given by \u00c6neas\nSylvius, who afterward became Pope Pius II., of an engagement contested\nwith obstinacy by a great and a small species, on the trunk of a\npear-tree. \u201cThis action,\u201d he states, \u201cwas fought in the pontificate of\nEugenius the Fourth, in the presence of Nicholas Pistoriensis, an\neminent lawyer, who related the whole history of the battle with the\ngreatest fidelity.\u201d Another engagement of the same description is\nrecorded by Olaus Magnus, as having happened previous to the expulsion\nof Christiern the Second, of Sweden, and the smallest species, having\nbeen victorious, are said to have buried the bodies of their own\nsoldiers that had been killed, while they left those of their\nadversaries a prey to the birds.[510]\n\nAlexander Ross, in his Appendix to the Arcana Microcosmi, p. 219, tells\nus: \u201cThat the cruel battels between the Venetians and Insubrians, and\nthat also between the Liegeois and the Burgundians, in which about\nthirty thousand men were slain, were presignified by a great combat\nbetween two swarms of Emmets (Ants).\u201d[511]\n\nAnts were used in divination by the Greeks, and generally foretold\ngood.[512] They were also considered an attribute of Ceres.[513]\n\nThe following extract is from an English North-Country chap-book,\nentitled the Royal Dream Book: \u201cTo dream of Ants or Bees denotes that\nyou will live in a great town or city, or in a large family, and that\nyou will be industrious, happy, well married, and have a large\nfamily.\u201d[514] The Ant and the Bee are common figures to express these\npredictions.\n\nI heard a mother once say to her child, \u201cNever destroy Ants, for they\nare fairies, and will so bewitch our cows that they will give no milk.\u201d\nThis superstition prevails in particular about Washington and in\nVirginia.\n\nMrs. Meer Hassan Ali, in an interesting article on the Ants of India,\nremarks that she has often witnessed the Hindoos, male and female,\ndepositing small portions of sugar near Ants\u2019 nests as acts of charity\nto commence the day with.\n\nWith the natives of India, this lady also tells us, it is a common\nopinion that wherever the Red-ants colonize, prosperity attends the\nowner of that house.[515]\n\nWe read in Purchas\u2019s _Pilgrims_, that \u201cthe natives of Cambaia and\nMalabar will go out of the path if they light on an Ant-hill, lest they\nmight happily treade on some of them.\u201d[516]\n\nOther insects, as will be noticed in the course of this volume, are\nlooked upon by these people with the same respect.\n\nMoufet says: \u201cIn Isthmus the priests sacrificed Pismires to the sun,\neither because they thought the sun the most beautiful, and therefore\nthey would offer unto him the most beautiful creature, or the most wise,\nas seeing all things, and therefore they offered unto him the wisest\ncreature.\u201d[517]\n\nIn the twenty-seventh chapter of the Koran, which was revealed at Mecca,\nand entitled the Ant, we find, among other strange things, an odd story\nof the Ant, which has therefore given name to the chapter. It is as\nfollows: \u201cAnd his armies were gathered together unto Solomon, consisting\nof genii, and men, and birds; and they were led in distant bands, until\nthey came to the valley of Ants.[518] And an Ant, seeing the hosts\napproaching, said, O Ants, enter ye into your habitations, lest Solomon\nand his army tread you under foot, and perceive it not. And Solomon\nsmiled, laughing at her words, and said, O Lord, excite me that I may be\nthankful for thy favour, wherewith thou hast favoured me, and my\nparents; and that I may do that which is right, and well pleasing unto\nthee: and introduce me, through thy mercy, into paradise, among my\nservants, the righteous.\u201d[519]\n\nThevenot mentions \u201cSolomon\u2019s Ant\u201d among the \u201cBeasts that shall enter\ninto Paradise\u201d in the belief of the Turks, and gives the following\nreason: \u201cSolomon was the greatest king that ever was, for all creatures\nobey\u2019d him, and brought him presents, amongst others, an Ant brought him\na Locust, which it had dragged along by main force: Solomon, perceiving\nthat the Ant had brought a thing bigger than itself, accepted the\npresent, and preferred it before all other creatures.\u201d[520]\n\nPlutarch, speaking of the Ant, says: \u201cAratus in his prognostics setteth\nthis down for a rain toward, when they bring forth their seeds and\ngrains (pup\u00e6), and lay them abroad to take the air:\n\n    \u2018When Ants make haste with all their eggs aload,\n    Forth of their holes to carry them abroad.\u2019\u201d[521]\n\nIn the Treasvrie of Avncient and Moderne Times, it is also asserted that\n\u201cwhen Ants walk the thickest, and more than in vsuall numbers, meeting\ntogether confusedly, it is a manifest signe of raine.\u201d[522]\n\nIt is related of the celebrated Timour, that being once forced to take\nshelter from his enemies in a ruined building, he sat alone many hours;\nand, desirous of diverting his mind from his hopeless condition, at\nlength fixed his observation upon an Ant which was carrying a grain of\ncorn (probably a pupa) larger than itself, up a high wall. Numbering the\nefforts it made to accomplish this object, he found that the grain fell\nsixty-nine times to the ground; but the seventieth time it reached the\ntop of the wall. \u201cThis sight,\u201d said Timour, \u201cgave me courage at the\nmoment, and I have never forgotten the lesson it conveyed.\u201d[523]\n\nPlutarch, in his comparison between land and water creatures, narrates\nthe following anecdote: \u201cGleanthus the Philosopher, although he\nmaintaineth not that beasts have any use of reason, made report\nnevertheless that he was present at the sight of such a spectacle and\noccurrent as this. There were (quoth he) a number of Ants which went\ntoward another Ant\u2019s hole, that was not their own, carrying with them\nthe corpse of a dead Ant; out of which hole, there came certain other\nAnts to meet them on the way (as it were) to parl with them, and within\na while returned back and went down again; after this they came forth a\nsecond, yea a third time, and retired accordingly until in the end they\nbrought up from beneath (as it were a ransom for the dead body) a grub\nor little worm; which the others received and took upon their shoulders,\nand after they had delivered in exchange the aforesaid corpse, departed\nhome.\u201d[524]\n\nOf the ingenuity of the Ant in removing obstacles, the following\nanecdote is a very appropriate illustration: A gentleman of Cambridge\none day observed an Ant dragging along what, with respect to the\ncreature\u2019s size, might be denominated a log of wood. Others were\nseverally employed, each in its own way. Presently the Ant in question\ncame to an ascent, where the weight of the wood seemed for a while to\noverpower him: he did not remain long perplexed with it; for three or\nfour others, observing his dilemma, came behind and pushed it up. As\nsoon, however, as he got it on level ground, they left it to his care,\nand went to their own work. The piece he was drawing happened to be\nconsiderably thicker at one end than the other. This soon threw the poor\nfellow into a fresh difficulty; he unluckily dragged it between two bits\nof wood. After several fruitless efforts, finding it would not go\nthrough, he adopted the only mode that even a man in similar\ncircumstances would have taken: he came behind it, pulled it back again,\nand turned it on its edge; when, running again to the other end, it\npassed through without the slightest difficulty.[525]\n\nFranklin was much inclined to believe Ants could communicate their\nthoughts or desires to one another, and confirmed his opinion by several\nexperiments. Observing that when an Ant finds some sugar, it runs\nimmediately under ground to its hole, where, having stayed a little\nwhile, a whole army comes out, unites and marches to the place where the\nsugar is, and carry it off by pieces; and that if an Ant meets with a\ndead fly, which it cannot carry alone, it immediately hastens home, and\nsoon after some more come out, creep to the fly, and carry it away;\nobserving this, he put a little earthen pot, containing some treacle,\ninto a closet, into which a number of Ants collected, and devoured the\ntreacle very quickly. He then shook them out, and tied the pot with a\nthin string to a nail which he had fastened in the ceiling, so that it\nhung down by the string. A single Ant by chance remained in the pot, and\nwhen it had gorged itself upon the treacle, and wanted to get off, it\nwas under great concern to find a way, and kept running about the bottom\nof the pot, but in vain. At last it found, after many attempts, the way\nto the ceiling, by going along the string. After it was come there, it\nran to the wall, and thence to the ground. It had scarcely been away\nhalf an hour, when a great swarm of Ants came out, got up to the\nceiling, and crept along the string into the pot, and began to eat\nagain. This they continued till the treacle was all eaten; in the mean\ntime one swarm running down the string, and the other up.[526]\n\nIt has been suggested, that in such instances as the preceding, the Ants\nmay have been led by the scent or trace of treacle likely to be left by\nthe solitary prisoner; and the following case, related by Bradley, is\nquoted to favor the opinion: \u201cA nest of Ants in a nobleman\u2019s garden\ndiscovered a closet, many yards within the house, in which conserves\nwere kept, which they constantly attended till the nest was destroyed.\nSome, in their rambles, must have first discovered this depot of sweets,\nand informed the rest of it. It is remarkable that they always went to\nit by the same track, scarcely varying an inch from it, though they had\nto pass through two apartments; nor could the sweeping and cleaning of\nthe rooms discomfit them, or cause them to pursue a different\nroute.\u201d[527]\n\nDionisio Carli, of Piacenza, a missionary in Congo, lying sick at that\nplace, was awakened one night by his monkey leaping on his head, and\nalmost at the same time by his Blacks crying out, much to his surprise,\n\u201cOut! Out! Father!\u201d Thoroughly awake now, Carli asked them what was the\nmatter? \u201cThe Ants,\u201d they cried, \u201care broke out, and there is no time to\nbe lost!\u201d Not being able to stir, he bid them carry him into the garden,\nwhich they did, four of them lifting him upon his straw bed; and yet\nthough very quick about it, the Ants had already commenced crawling up\nhis legs. After shaking them off their master, the Blacks took straw and\nfired it on the floor of four rooms, where these insects by this time\nwere over half a foot thick. The pests being thus destroyed, Carli was\nconveyed back to his chamber, where he found the stench so great from\nthe burnt bodies, that he was forced, he says, to hold his _monkey_\nclose to his nose!\n\nThese Ants, Carli relates, ate up every living object within their\nreach; and of one cow, which was accidentally left over night in the\nstable through which they passed, nothing but the bones were found the\nnext morning.[528] We need not wonder at this, if we believe what Bosman\nhas said of the Black-ants of Guinea, which were so surprisingly\nrapacious that no animal could stand before them. He relates an\ninstance where they reduced for him one of his live sheep in one night\nto a perfect skeleton, and that so nicely that it surpassed the skill of\nthe best anatomists.[529] Du Chaillu says the elephant and gorilla fly\nbefore the attack of the Bashikouay-ants, and the black men run for\ntheir lives. Many a time has he himself, he says, been awakened out of a\nsleep, and obliged to rush out of his hut and into the water to save his\nlife![530] The Driver-ants[531] of Western Africa, _A. nomma arcens_,\nhave been known to kill the _Python natalensis_, the largest serpent of\nthat part of the world.[532]\n\nCol. St. Clair, after a visit by a species of small Red-ants, makes\nmention of the following instance, among others, of their singular\ndestructiveness: \u201cI next discovered that a little pet deer, which I had\npurchased from a negro, was extremely ill. I could not discover the\ncause of its malady, until, placing it on its legs, I observed that it\nwould not let one foot touch the ground, and, on examining it, I found,\nto my grief, that the Red-ants had absolutely eaten a hole into the\nbone. The poor little animal pined all that day and died in the\nevening.\u201d[533]\n\nCapt. Stedman relates that the Fire-ants of Surinam caused a whole\ncompany of soldiers to start and jump about as if scalded with boiling\nwater; and its nests were so numerous that it was not easy to avoid\nthem.[534] And Knox, in his account of Ceylon, mentions a black Ant,\ncalled by the natives _Coddia_ or _Kaddiya_,[535] which, he says, \u201cbites\ndesperately, as bad as if a man were burnt by a coal of fire; but they\nare of a noble nature, and will not begin unless you disturb them.\u201d The\nreason the Singhalese assign for the horrible pain occasioned by their\nbite is curious, and is thus related by Knox: \u201cFormerly these Ants went\nto ask a wife of the _Noya_, a venomous and noble kind of snake;[536]\nand because they had such a high spirit to dare to offer to be related\nto such a generous creature, they had this virtue bestowed upon them,\nthat they should sting after this manner. And if they had obtained a\nwife of the Noya, they should have had the privilege to sting full as\nbad as he.\u201d[537] Capt. Stedman has a story of a large Ant that stripped\nthe trees of their leaves, to feed, as was supposed by the natives of\nSurinam, a blind serpent under ground,[538] which is somewhat akin to\nthis: as is also another, related to Kirby and Spence by a friend, of a\nspecies of Mantis, taken in one of the Indian islands, which, according\nto the received opinion among the natives, was the parent of all their\nserpents.[539] But, the reverse: Among the harmless snakes of Mexico is\na beautiful one about a foot in length, and of the thickness of the\nlittle finger, which appears to take pleasure in the society of Ants,\ninsomuch that it will accompany these insects upon their expeditions,\nand return with them to their usual nest. From this peculiarity it is\ncalled by the Spaniards and Mexicans the \u201cMother of the Ants.\u201d[540]\n\nWhen in Africa, Du Chaillu was told by the natives that criminals in\nformer times were exposed to the path of the Bashikouay-ants, as the\nmost cruel way of putting them to death.[541] This dreadful manner of\ntorturing was at one time also practiced by the Singhalese, and I have\nheard that several British soldiers have thus met their fate. The\nTermites have been referred to before as having been employed for a\nsimilar purpose.\n\nTo check the ravages of the Coffee-bug, _Lecanium coffea_, Walker, which\nfor several years was devastating some of the plantations of Ceylon, the\nexperiment was made of introducing the Red-ants, _Formica smaragdina_,\nFab., which feed greedily on the Coccus.[542] But the remedy threatened\nto be attended with some inconvenience, for, says Tennent, the Malabar\ncoolies, with bare and oiled skins, were so frequently and fiercely\nassaulted by the Ants as to endanger their stay on the estates.\n\nThe pup\u00e6 or cocoons of the Ants, during the day, are placed near the\nsurface of the Ant-hills to obtain heat, which is indispensable to the\ngrowth of the inclosed insects. This is taken advantage of in Europe to\ncollect the cocoons in large quantities as food for nightingales and\nlarks. The cocoons of a species of Wood-ant, _Formica rufa_, are the\nonly kind chosen. In most of the towns of Germany, one or more\nindividuals make a living during summer by this business alone. \u201cIn\n1832,\u201d says a contributor to the Penny Encyclopedia, \u201cwe visited an old\nwoman at Dottendorf, near Bern, who had collected for fourteen years.\nShe went to the woods in the morning, and collected in a bag the\nsurfaces of a number of Ant-hills where the cocoons were deposited,\ntaking Ants and all home to her cottage, near which she had a small\ntiled shed covering a circular area, hollowed out in the center, with a\ntrench full of water around it. After covering the hollow in the center\nwith leafy boughs of walnut or hazel, she strewed the contents of her\nbag on the level part of the area within the trench, when the Nurse-ants\nimmediately seized the cocoons, and carried them into a hollow under the\nboughs. The cocoons were thus brought into one place, and after being\nfrom time to time removed, and black ones separated by a boy who spread\nthem out on a table, and swept off what were bad with a strong feather,\nthey were ready for market, being sold for about 4_d._ or 6_d._ a quart.\nConsiderable quantities of these cocoons are dried for winter food of\nbirds, and are sold in the shops.\u201d[543]\n\nAnts not only furnish food to man for his birds, but also food for\nhimself, in both the pupa and imago states. Nicoli Conti, who traveled\nin India in the early part of the fifteenth century, says the Siamese\neat a species of Red-ant, of the size of a small crab, which they\nconsider a great delicacy seasoned with pepper.[544] At the present day,\nthe pup\u00e6 of a species of Ants are a costly luxury with these people.\nThey are not much larger than grains of sand, and are sent to table\ncurried, or rolled in green leaves, mingled with shreds or very fine\nslices of fat pork.[545] And in the province of Michuacan, Mexico, is a\nsingular species of Ant, which carries on its abdomen \u201ca little bagful\nof a sweet substance, of which the children are very fond: the Mexicans\nsuppose this to be a kind of honey collected by the insect; but\nClavigero thinks it rather its eggs.\u201d[546]\n\nPiso, De Laet, Marcgrave, and other writers mention their being an\narticle of food in different parts of South America. Piso speaks of\nyellow Ants called _Cupia_ inhabiting Brazil, the abdomen of which many\nused for food, as well as a large species under the name of\n_Tama-joura_: \u201cAlia pr\u00e6terea datur grandis species _Tama-ioura_ dicta\ndigiti articulum ad\u00e6quans. Quarum etiam clunes dessicantur et friguntur\npro bono alimento.\u201d[547] Says De Laet: \u201cDenique formic\u00e6 hic visuntur\ngrandissim\u00e6, quas indigen\u00e6 vulgo comedunt; et in foris venales\nhabent.\u201d[548] And again: \u201cFormicis vescebantur, easqu\u00e6 studiose ad\nvictum educabant.\u201d[549] Lucas Fernandes Piedrahita, in his Historia\nGeneral de las Conquistas del Nuevo Regno de Granada, states that cakes\nof Cazave and Ants were eaten in that country: \u201cAl tiempo de tostarlas\npara este efecto, dan el mismo olor que los quesillos, que se labran\npara comer asados.\u201d[550] Herrera says, the natives of New Granada made\ntheir main food of Ants, which they kept and reared in their yards.[551]\nSloane confirms this, and says they are publicly sold in the\nmarkets.[552] Abbeville de Noromba tells us these great Ants are\nfricasseed.[553] Schomburgk, in his journey to the sources of the\nEssequibo, one evening saw all the boys of a village out shouting and\nchasing with sticks and palm leaves a large species of winged Ant, which\nthey collected in great numbers in their calabashes for food. When\nroasted or boiled, he says, the natives considered these insects a great\ndelicacy.[554] Humboldt informs us that Ants are eaten by the\nMarivatanos and Margueritares, mixed with resin for sauce.[555]\n\nMr. Consett, in his Travels in Sweden, makes mention of a young Swede\nwho ate live Ants with the greatest relish imaginable.[556] This author\nstates also, that in some parts of Sweden Ants are distilled along with\nrye, to give a flavor to the inferior kinds of brandy.[557]\n\nThe inhabitants of the Tonga Group have a superstitious belief that when\ntheir kings, and matabooles, or inferior chiefs, die, they are wafted to\nBulotu--\u201cthe island of the blessed,\u201d but the spirits of the lower class\nremain in the world, and feed on Ants and lizards.[558]\n\nAnts also furnish us with an acid, called by the chemists _Formic_,\nwhich is said to answer the same purposes as the acetous acid. It is\nobtained in two modes: 1st. By distillation; the insects are introduced\ninto a glass retort, distilled by a gentle heat, and the acid is found\nin the recipient. 2d. By the process called lixiviation; the Ants are\nwashed in cold water, spread out upon a linen cloth, and boiling water\npoured over them, which becomes charged with the acid part.[559]\n\nFormic acid is shed so sensibly by the wood Ant, _Formica rufa_, when an\nAnt-hill is stirred, that it can occasion an inflammation. If a living\nfrog, it is asserted, be fixed upon an Ant-hill which is deranged, the\nanimal will die in less than five minutes, even without having been\nbitten by the Ants.[560]\n\nWe read in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims that the large Ant of the West Indies is\n\u201cso poysonfull that herewith the Indians infect their arrowes so\nremedilesse, that not foure of an hundred which are wounded\nescape.\u201d[561]\n\nThe medicinal virtues of the Ant are as follows: \u201cAnts, _Formica minor_\nof Schroder, heat and dry, and incite to venery; their acid smell\nmightily refreshes the vital spirits. They are said to cure the Flora,\nLepra, and Lentigo. The eggs (pup\u00e6) are effectual against deafness, and\ncorrect the hairiness of the cheeks of children being rubbed thereon.\u201d\n\nThe Horse-ant, _Formica major_, Schrod., \u201cprovokes to venery, and the\noil thereof, by infusion, is good for the gout and palsy.\u201d[562]\n\nSloane tells us the Spaniards in the West Indies have a very highly\nvalued medicated earth called \u201cMakimaki,\u201d which he thinks is made of the\nnests of Ants.[563]\n\nThere is a species of Ant in Cayenne, _Formica bispinosa_, which\ncollects from the bombax and silk-cotton trees a sort of lint which the\nnatives value much as a styptic in cases of hemorrhage.[564]\n\nThe magicians, as mentioned by Pliny, recommended that the parings of\nall the finger-nails should be thrown at the entrance of Ant-holes, and\nthe first Ant to be taken which should attempt to draw one into the\nhole; for if this, they asserted, be attached to the neck of a patient,\nhe will experience a speedy cure.[565]\n\nThe two following remarkable cures effected by Ants of themselves are\nworthy of being noticed: Schuman, a missionary among the negroes of\nSurinam, relates in one of his letters, that after a most dangerous\nattack of the acclimating fever, his body was covered with boils and\npainful sores. He lay in his cot as helpless as a child, and had no one\nto administer any relief or food but a poor old negro woman, who\nsometimes was obliged to follow the rest to the plantations in the\nwoods. One morning while she was absent, after spending a most restless\nand painful night, he observed at sunrise an immense host of Ants\nentering through the roof, and spread themselves over the inside of his\nchamber; and expecting little else than that they would make a meal of\nhim, he commended his soul to God, and hoped thus to be released from\nall suffering. They presently covered his bed, and entering his sores\ncaused him the most tormenting pain. However, they soon quitted him, and\ncontinued their march, and from that time he gradually recovered his\nhealth.[566]\n\nThe second is a case of stiffness in the knee effectually cured: In\n1798, Mrs. Jane Crabley, aged 56 years, began to complain of a most\ntorturing pain, and considerable enlargement of the knee-pan, which she\ndescribed as, and which her neighbors believed to be, a smart paroxysm\nof gout. Early in February, 1799, the inflammation and pain entirely\nceased, but the swelling continued, and rather increased. The joint of\nthe knee, from disuse, became perfectly stiff, and, owing to the\nparticular form and size of her breasts, no relief could be gained by\nthe use of crutches. However, toward the end of May, the Ants became so\nstrangely troublesome to her, that she was sometimes obliged to avail\nherself of the help of travelers to assist her in changing her station.\nStill, however, they followed her, and seemed entirely attracted by her\nnow useless knee. She was at first considerably annoyed by these little\ntorments, but, in a few days, became not only reconciled to their\nintrusion, but was desirous of having her chair placed where she\nimagined them most to abound, even giving them freer access to her knee\nby turning down her stocking; for, she said, \u201cthe cold numbness she\nsuffered just around the patella was eased and relieved by their bite;\nand that it was even pleasurable;\u201d and, strange to say, these insects\nbit her nowhere else. The skin at first was pale and sallow, but began\nnow to assume a lively red color; a clear and subtile liquid oozed from\nevery puncture the Ants had left; the swelling and stiffness of the\njoint gradually abated; and, on the 25th of July, she walked home with\nthe help of a stick, and before winter perfectly recovered the use of\nher limb.[567]\n\nSays Plutarch, as translated by Holland: \u201cThe bear finding herself upon\nfulness given to loth and distaste for food, she goes to find out Ants\u2019\nnests, where she sits her down, lilling out her tongue, which is glib\nand soft with a kind of sweet and slimy humour, until it be full of Ants\nand their egges, then draweth it she in again, swalloweth them down, and\nthereby cureth her lothing stomack.\u201d[568]\n\nAlso, in the Treasurie of Avncient and Moderne Times, we find: \u201cThe\nBear, being poysoned by the Hearbe named _Mandragoras_, or _Mandrake_,\ndoth purge his bodie by the eating of Ants or Pismires.\u201d[569]\n\nM. Huber, initiated in the mysteries of the life of these insects, and\nwhose observations can be most relied on, has made us acquainted with\ntwo of their maladies: one is a species of vertigo, occasioned, as he\nthinks, by a too great heat of the sun, and which transforms them for\ntwo or three minutes into a sort of bacchantes; the other malady, much\nmore severe, causes them to lose the faculty of directing themselves in\na right line. These Ants turn in a very narrow circle, and always in the\nsame direction. A virgin female, inclosed in a sand-box, and attacked by\nthis mania, made a thousand turns by the hour, describing a circle of\nabout an inch in diameter; it continued this operation for seven days,\nand even during the night.[570]\n\nImmense swarms of winged Ants are occasionally met with, and some have\nbeen recorded of such prodigious density and magnitude as to darken the\nair like a thick cloud, and to cover the ground or water for a\nconsiderable extent where they settled. We find in the memoirs of the\nBerlin Academy a description of a remarkable swarm, observed by M.\nGleditch, which from afar produced an effect somewhat similar to that of\nan Aurora Borealis, when, from the edge of the cloud, shoot forth by\njets many columns of flame and vapor, many rays like lightning, but\nwithout its brilliancy. Columns of Ants were coming and going here and\nthere, but always rising upward, with inconceivable rapidity. They\nappeared to raise themselves above the clouds, to thicken there, and\nbecome more and more obscure. Other columns followed the preceding,\nraised themselves in like manner, shooting forth many times with equal\nswiftness, or mounting one after the other. Each column resembled a very\nslender net-work, and exhibited a tremulous, undulating, and serpentine\nmotion. It was composed of an innumerable multitude of little winged\ninsects, altogether black, which were continually ascending and\ndescending in an irregular manner.[571] A similar kind of Ants is spoken\nof by Mr. Accolutte, a clergyman of Breslau, which resembled columns of\nsmoke, and which fell on the churches and tops of the houses, where they\ncould be gathered by handfuls. In the German _Ephemerides_, Dr. Chas.\nRayger gives an account of a large swarm which crossed over the town of\nPosen, and was directing its course toward the Danube. The whole town\nwas strewed with Ants, so that it was impossible to walk without\ncrushing thirty or forty at every step. And more recently, Mr. Dorthes,\nin the _Journal de Physique_ for 1790, relates the appearance of a\nsimilar phenomenon at Montpellier. The shoals moved about in different\ndirections, having a singular intestine motion in each column, and also\na general motion of rotation. About sunset all fell to the ground, and,\non examining them, they were found to belong to the _Formica nigra_ of\nLinn\u00e6us.[572]\n\n\u201cIn September, 1814,\u201d says Dr. Bromley, surgeon of the Clorinde, in a\nletter to Mr. MacLeay, \u201cbeing on the deck of the hulk to the Clorinde\n(then in the river Medway), my attention was drawn to the water by the\nfirst lieutenant observing there was something black floating down the\ntide. On looking with a glass, I discovered they were insects. The boat\nwas sent, and brought a bucketful of them on board; they proved to be a\nlarge species of Ant, and extended from the upper part of Salt-pan Reach\nout toward the Great Nore, a distance of five or six miles. The column\nappeared to be in breadth eight or ten feet, and in height about six\ninches, which I suppose must have been from their resting one upon\nanother.\u201d[573] Purchas seems to have witnessed a similar phenomenon on\nshore. \u201cOther sorts of Ants,\u201d says he, \u201cthere are many, of which some\nbecome winged, and fill the air with swarms, which sometimes happens in\nEngland. On Bartholomew, 1613, I was in the island of Foulness, on our\nEssex shore, where were such clouds of these flying pismires, that we\ncould nowhere flee from them, but they filled our clothes; yea, the\nfloors of some houses where they fell were in a manner covered with a\nblack carpet of creeping Ants, which they say drown themselves about\nthat time of the year in the sea.\u201d[574]\n\nWhen Colonel Sir Augustus Frazer, of the British horse-artillery, was\nsurveying, on the 6th of October, 1813, the scene of the battle of the\nPyrenees from the summit of the mountain called Pena de Aya, or Les\nQuartres Couronnes, he and his friends were enveloped by a swarm of\nAnts, so numerous as entirely to intercept their view, so that they\nwere obliged to remove to another station in order to get rid of\nthem.[575]\n\n\u201cNot long since,\u201d says Josselyn in his Voyage to New England, London,\n1674, \u201cwinged Ants were poured down upon the Lands out of the clouds in\na storm betwixt _Blackpoint_ and _Saco_, where the passenger might have\nwalkt up to the Ancles in them.\u201d[576]\n\nWingless Ants, in swarms or armies, also migrate at particular seasons;\nbut for what purpose is not clear, except to obtain better forage. In\nGuiana, Mr. Waterton says he has met with a colony of a species of small\nAnt marching in order, each having in its mouth a leaf; and the army\nextended three miles in length, and was six feet broad.[577]\n\nIt is recorded by Oviedo and Herrera, that the whole island of\nHispaniola was almost abandoned in consequence of the Sugar-Ant,\n_Formica omnivora_ of Linn\u00e6us, which, in 1518 and the two succeeding\nyears, overran in such countless myriads that island, devouring all\nvegetation, and causing a famine which nearly depopulated the Spanish\ncolony. A tradition, says Schomburgk, prevails in Jamaica that the town\nof Sevilla Nueva, which was founded by Esquivel in the beginning of the\nsixteenth century, was entirely deserted for a similar reason. Herrera\nrelates that, in order to get rid of this fearful scourge in Hispaniola,\nthe priests caused great processions and vows to be made in honor of\ntheir patron saint, St. Saturnin, and that the day of this saint was\ncelebrated with great solemnities, and the Ants in consequence began to\ndisappear. How this saint was chosen, we read in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims:\n\u201cThis miserie (caused by the Ants) so perplexed the _Spaniards_, that\nthey sought as strange a remedie as was the disease, which was to chuse\nsome Saint for their Patron against the Antes. _Alexander Giraldine_,\nthe Bishop, having sung a solemne and Pontifical Masse, after the\nconsecration and Eleuation of the Sacrament, and devout prayers made by\nhim and the people, opened a Booke in which was a Catalogue of the\nSaints, by lot to chuse some he or she Saint, whom God should please to\nappoint their Advocate against the Calamitie. And the Lot fell vpon\nSaint _Saturnine_, whose Feast is on the nine and twentieth of\nNouember; after which the Ant damage became more tolerable, and by\nlittle and little diminished, by God\u2019s mercie and intercession of that\nSaint.\u201d[578]\n\nThese devouring Ants showed themselves about the year 1760 in Barbados,\nand caused such devastations that, in the words of Dr. Coke, \u201cit was\ndeliberated whether that island, formerly so flourishing, should not be\ndeserted.\u201d In 1763, Martinique was visited by these devastating hordes;\nand about the year 1770 they made their appearance in the island of\nGranada. Barbados, Granada, and Martinique suffered more than any other\nislands from this plague. Granada especially was reduced to a state of\nthe most deplorable desolation; for, it is said, their numbers there\nwere so immense that they covered the roads for many miles together; and\nso crowded were they in many places that the impressions made by the\nfeet of horses, which traveled over them, would remain visible but for a\nmoment or two, for they were almost instantly filled up by the\nsurrounding swarms. Mr. Schomburgk assures us that calves, pigs, and\nchickens, when in a helpless state, were attacked by such large numbers\nof these Ants that they perished, and were soon reduced to skeletons\nwhen not timely assisted. It is asserted by Dr. Coke that the greatest\nprecaution was requisite to prevent their attacks on men who were\nafflicted with sores, on women who were confined, and on children that\nwere unable to assist themselves. Mr. Castle, from his own observation,\nstates that even burning coals laid in their way, were extinguished by\nthe amazing numbers which rushed upon them.\n\nNotwithstanding the myriads that were destroyed by fire, water, poison,\nand other means, the devastations continued to such an alarming extent,\nthat in 1776 the government of Martinique offered a reward of a million\nof their currency for a remedy against this plague; and the legislature\nof Granada offered \u00a320,000 for the same object; but all attempts proved\nineffectual until the hurricane in 1780 effected what human power had\nbeen unable to accomplish.\n\nIn 1814, the Ants again made their appearance in the island of Barbados,\ndoing considerable injury; but happily they did not continue long.[579]\n\nMalouet, in visiting the forests of Guiana, of which he has spoken in\nhis travels into that part of the globe, perceived in the midst of a\nlevel savanna, as far as the eye could reach, a hillock which he would\nhave attributed to the hand of man, if M. de Prefontaine, who\naccompanied him, had not informed him that, in spite of its gigantic\nconstruction, it was the work of black Ants of the largest species (most\nprobably of the genus _Ponera_). He proposed to conduct him, not to the\nAnt-hill, where both of them would infallibly have been devoured, but to\nthe road of the workers. M. Malouet did not approach within more than\nforty paces of the habitation of these insects. It had the form of a\npyramid truncated at one-third of its height, and he estimated that its\nelevation might be about fifteen or twenty feet, on a basis of from\nthirty to forty. M. de Prefontaine told him that the cultivators were\nobliged to abandon a new establishment, when they had the misfortune to\nmeet with one of these fortresses, unless they had sufficient strength\nto form a regular siege. This even occurred to M. de Prefontaine himself\non his first encampment at Kourva. He was desirous of forming a second a\nlittle farther on, and perceived upon the soil a mound of earth similar\nto that which we have just described. He caused a circular trench to be\nhollowed, which he filled with a great quantity of dry wood, and, after\nhaving set fire to it in every point of its circumference, he attacked\nthe Ant-hill with a train of artillery. Thus every issue was closed to\nthe hostile army, which, to escape from the invasion of the flames and\nthe shaking and plowing of the ground by the cannon-balls, was obliged\nto traverse, in its retreat, a trench filled with fire, where it was\nentirely cut off.[580]\n\nThe Portuguese found such prodigious numbers of Ants upon their first\nlanding at Brazil, that they called them Rey de Brazil, King of Brazil,\na name which they now there bear.[581]\n\nMr. Southey states, on the authority of Manoel Felix, that the Red-ants\ndevoured the cloths of the altar in the Convent of S. Antonio, or S.\nLuiz (Maranham, Brazil), and also brought up into the church pieces of\nshrouds from the graves; whereupon the friars prosecuted them according\nto due form of ecclesiastical law. What the sentence was in this case,\nwe are unable to learn. A similar case, however, the historian informs\nus, had occurred in the Franciscan Convent at Avignon, where the Ants\ndid so much mischief that a suit was instituted against them, and they\nwere excommunicated, and ordered by the friars, in pursuance of their\nsentence, to remove within three days to a place assigned them in the\ncenter of the earth. The Canonical account gravely adds, that the Ants\nobeyed, and carried away all their young, and all their stores.[582]\n\nAnnius writes, that an ancient city situate near the Volscian Lake, and\ncalled Contenebra, was in times past overthrown by Ants, and that the\nplace was thereupon commonly called to his day, \u201cthe camp of the\nAnts.\u201d[583]\n\nCtesias makes mention \u201cof a horse-pismire (_i.e._ the bigger kind of\nthem in hollow trees) which was fed by the Magi, till hee grew to such a\nvast bulke as to devour two pound of flesh a daye.\u201d[584]\n\nMartial has written the following beautiful epigram on an Ant inclosed\nin amber: \u201cWhile an Ant was wandering under the shade of the tree of\nPhaeton, a drop of amber enveloped the tiny insect; thus she, who in\nlife was disregarded, became precious by death.\n\n    \u201cA drop of amber from the weeping plant,\n    Fell unexpected and embalmed an Ant;\n    The little insect we so much contemn\n    Is, from a worthless Ant, become a gem.\u201d[585]\n\nIt has been said, remarks Mr. Southey, and regarded as a vulgar error,\nthat Ants cannot pass over a line of chalk: the fact, however, is\ncertain. Mr. Coleridge tried the experiment at Malta, he continues, and\nimmediately discovered the cause: The formic acid is so powerful, that\nit acts upon the chalk, and the legs of the insect are burnt by the\ninstantaneous effervescence![586]\n\nPaxamus says, that if you take some Ants and burn them, you will drive\naway the others, as experience has taught us. Ants also, he continues,\nwill not touch a vessel with honey, although the vessel may happen to be\nwithout its cover, if you wrap it in white wool, or if you scatter white\nearth or ruddle round it. If a person, continues Paxamus, takes a grain\nof wheat carried by an Ant with the thumb of his left hand, and lays it\nin a skin of Ph\u0153nician dye, and ties it round the head of his wife, it\nwill prove to be the cause of abortion in a state of gestation.[587]\n\nPliny says the proper remedy for the venom of the _Solipuga_ or\n_Solpuga_ Ant, and for that of all kinds of Ants, is a bat\u2019s heart.[588]\n\nCallicrates used to make Ants, and other such little creatures, out of\nivory, with so much skill and ingenuity that other men could not discern\nthe counterfeits from the originals even with the help of glasses.[589]\n\n\nVespid\u00e6--Wasps, Hornets.\n\nConcerning the generation of the Wasp, Topsel and Moufet have the\nfollowing: \u201cIsidore affirms that Wasps come out of the putrefied\ncarkasses of asses, although he may be mistaken, for all agree that the\nScarabees are procreated from them: rather am I of opinion with Pliny,\n1. ii. c. 20, and the Greek authors, that they are sprung from the dead\nbodies of horses, for the horse is a valiant and warlike creature, hence\nis that verse frequently and commonly used among the Greeks:\n\n    Wasps come from horses, Bees from bulls are bred.\n\nAnd indeed their more than ordinary swiftnesse and their eagernesse in\nfight, are sufficient arguments that they can take their original from\nno other creature (much less from an asse, hart, or oxe) since that\nNature never granted to any creatures else, to excel both in swiftness\nand valour. And surely that I may give another sense of that proverb of\nAristotle,\n\n    Hail the daughters of the wing-footed steed:\n\nthis would I suppose fit to be spoken in way of jest and scorn to\nscolding women, which do imitate the hastiness and froward disposition\nof the Wasp. Other sorts of them are produced out of the putrid corps of\nthe Crocodiles, if Horus and the \u00c6gyptians be to be believed, for which\nreason when they mean a Wasp, they set it forth by an horse or\ncrocodile. Nicander gives them the name _lukosnoadon_, because they\nsometimes come from the dead carkasses of wolves. Bellenacensis and\nVicentius say, that Wasps come out of the putrefaction of an old deer\u2019s\nhead, flying sometimes out of the eyes, sometimes out of the\nnostrils.... There are those also that affirm that Wasps are begotten of\nthe earth and rottenness of some kind of fruits, as Albertus and the\nArabick scholiast.\u201d\n\nOf the Hornet, likewise, these writers tell the following fabulous\nstories: \u201cThe Latins call the Hornets _Crabrones_, perchance from the\nvillage Crabra in the countrey of Tusculum (where there are great store\nof them), or from the word _Caballus_, _i.e._ a horse, who is said to be\ntheir father. According to that of Ovid, _Met._ 15:\n\n    The warlike horse if buried under ground,\n    Shortly a brood of Hornets will be found.\n\nAlbertus calls it a yellow Bee. Cardanus will needs have them to arise\nfrom the dead mule. Plutarch, in the life of Cleomedes, saith they come\nout of horse flesh, as the Bees do out of the oxe his paunch. Virgil\nsaith they are produced of the asse.... I conceive that those are\nproduced of the harder flesh of the horse, and the Wasps of the more\ntender flesh.\u201d[590]\n\nThe Hornet (but whether or not it was the common species, _Vespa\ncrabro_, Linn., is uncertain), we learn from Scriptures was employed by\nProvidence to drive out the impious inhabitants of Canaan, and subdue\nthem under the hand of the Israelites.--\u201cAnd I sent the Hornet before\nyou, which drave them out before you, even the two kings of the\nAmorites.\u201d[591]\n\nIn the second volume of Lieutenant Holman\u2019s Travels, the following\nanecdote is related: \u201cEight miles from Grandie----, the muleteers\nsuddenly called out \u2018Marambundas! Marambundas!\u2019 which indicated the\napproach of Wasps. In a moment all the animals, whether loaded or\notherwise, lay down on their backs, kicking most violently; while the\nblacks, and all persons not already attacked, ran away in different\ndirections, all being careful, by a wide sweep, to avoid the swarms of\ntormentors that came forward like a cloud. I never witnessed a panic so\nsudden and complete, and really believe that the bursting of a\nwater-spout could hardly have produced more commotion. However, it must\nbe confessed that the alarm was not without good reason, for so severe\nis the torture inflicted by these pigmy assailants, that the bravest\ntravelers are not ashamed to fly, the instant they perceive the host\napproaching, which is of common occurrence on the Campos.\u201d[592]\n\nDr. Fairfax, in the Philosophical Transactions, mentions a lady, who had\nsuch a horror of Wasps, that during the season in which they abound in\nhouses, she always confined herself to her apartment.[593]\n\nDr. James tells us: \u201cThe combs (of the Hornet) are recommended in a\ndrench for that disorder in horses, which Vigetius, L. 2, c. 23, calls\nscrofula, meaning, I believe, what we call the strangles.\u201d[594]\n\nHornets\u2019-nest is smoked under horses\u2019 noses for distemper, cold in the\nhead, and such like diseases. It is also given to horses in their feed\nfor thick-windedness.\n\nThe nests of Hornets are gathered by the country people to clean\nspectacles.\n\nTopsel, in his History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, has the\nfollowing prognostications of the weather from the appearances of\nHornets: \u201cThey serve instead of good almanacks to countrey people, to\nforetel tempests and change of weather, as hail, rain, and snow: for if\nthey flie about in greater numbers, and be oftner seen about any place,\nthen usually they are wont, it is a signe of heat and fair weather the\nnext day. But if about twilight they are observed to enter often their\nnests, as though they would hide themselves, you must the next day\nexpect rain, winde, or some stormy, troublesome or boysterous season:\nwhereupon Avienus hath these verses:\n\n    So if the buzzing troups of Hornets hoarse to flie,\n    In spacious air \u2019bout Autumn\u2019s end you see,\n    When Virgil star the evening lamp espie,\n    Then from the sea some stormy tempest sure shall be.\u201d[595]\n\n\u201cIn the year 190, before the birth of Christ,\u201d say Moufet and Topsel,\n\u201cas Julius witnesseth, an infinite multitude of Wasps flew into the\nmarket at Capua, and sate in the temple of Mars, they were with great\ndiligence taken and burnt solemnly, yet they did foreshew the coming of\nthe enemy and the burning of the city.\u201d[596]\n\nThe first Wasp seen in the season should always be killed. By so doing,\nyou secure to yourself good luck and freedom from enemies throughout the\nyear.[597] This is an English superstition, and it prevails in parts of\nAmerica. We have one, also, directly opposed to it, namely, that the\nfirst Wasp seen in the season should not be killed if you wish to secure\nto yourself good luck. Many of our people, too, will kill a Wasp at no\ntime, for, if killed, they say, it will bring upon them bad luck.\n\nIf a Wasp stings you, our superstitious think that your foes will get\nthe advantage of you.\n\nIf the first Wasp seen in the season be seen in your house, it is a sign\nthat you will form an unpleasant acquaintance. If the first Bee seen in\nthe season be seen in your house, it is a sign you will form a pleasant\nand useful acquaintance. This arose doubtless from the apparent\nuselessness of the former, and worth of the latter insect.\n\nWasps building in a house foretell the coming to want of the family\noccupying it. Likewise arose from the unthriftiness of this insect.\n\nIf Hornets build high, the winter will be dry and mild; if low, cold and\nstormy. This is firmly believed in Virginia; and the idea seems to be,\nthat if the nest is built high it will be more exposed to the wind than\nif built low.\n\nThat a person may not be stung by Wasps, Paxamus says: \u201cLet the person\nbe rubbed with the juice of wild-mallow, and he will not be stung.\u201d[598]\n\nThe Creoles of Mauritius eat the larv\u00e6 of Wasps, which they roast in the\ncombs. In taking the nests, they drive off the Wasps by means of a\nburning rag fastened to the end of a stick. The combs are sold at the\nbazaar of Port Louis.[599]\n\nThe following story, of the cunning of the fox in killing the Wasps to\nobtain their combs, is told by \u00c6lian: \u201cThe fox (a subtile creature) is\nsaid to prey upon the Wasp in this manner: he puts his tail into the\nWasps\u2019 nest so long till it be all covered with Wasps, which he espying,\npulls it out and beats them against the next stone or tree he meets\nwithall till they be all dead, this being done again and again till all\nthe Wasps be destroyed, he sets upon their combs and devours them.\u201d[600]\n\nThe Chinese Herbal contains a singular notion, prevalent also in India,\nconcerning the generation of the Sphex, or solitary Wasp. When the\nfemale lays her eggs in the clayey nidus she makes in houses, she\nincloses the dead body of a caterpillar in it for the subsistence of the\nworms when they are hatched. Those who observed her entombing the\ncaterpillar did not look for the eggs, and immediately concluded that\nthe Sphex took the worm for the progeny, and say, that as she plastered\nup the hole of the nest, she hummed a constant song over it, saying,\n\u201c_Class with me! class with me!_\u201d--and the transformation gradually took\nplace, and was perfected in its silent grave by the next spring, when a\nwinged Wasp emerged, to continue its posterity the coming autumn in the\nsame mysterious way.[601]\n\n\nApid\u00e6--Bees.\n\nConcerning the piety of Bees, we find the following legends:\n\n\u201cA certaine simple woman having some stals of Bees which yeelded not\nvnto her hir desired profit, but did consume and die of the murraine;\nmade her mone to another woman more simple than hir selfe: who gave her\ncouncel to get a consecrated host or round Godamighty and put it among\nthem. According to whose advice she went to the priest to receive the\nhost; which when she had done, she kept it in hir month, and being come\nhome againe she tooke it out and put it into one of hir hives. Wherevpon\nthe murraine ceased, and the honey abounded. The woman therefore lifting\nvp the hive at the due time to take out the honie, sawe there (most\nstrange to be seene) a chapel built by the Bees with an altar in it, the\nwals adorned by marvelous skil of architecture with windowes\nconveniently set in their places: also a dore and a steeple with bels.\nAnd the host being laid vpon the altar, the Bees making a sweet noise\nflew round about it.\u201d[602]\n\nMr. Hawker\u2019s legend is to this effect: A Cornish woman, one summer,\nfinding her Bees refused to leave their \u201ccloistered home\u201d and had\n\u201cceased to play around the cottage flowers,\u201d concealed a portion of the\nHoly Eucharist which she obtained at church:\n\n    She bore it to her distant home,\n      She laid it by the hive\n    To lure the wanderers forth to roam,\n      That so her store might thrive;--\n    \u2019Twas a wild wish, a thought unblest,\n    Some evil legend of the west.\n\n    But lo! at morning-tide a sign\n      For wondering eyes to trace,\n    They found above that Bread, a shrine\n      Rear\u2019d by the harmless race!\n    They brought their walls from bud and flower,\n    They built bright roof and beamy tower!\n\n    Was it a dream? or did they hear\n      Float from those golden cells\n    A sound, as of a psaltery near,\n      Or soft and silvery bells?\n    A low sweet psalm, that grieved within\n    In mournful memory of the sin![603]\n\nThe following passage, from Howell\u2019s _Parley of Beasts_, furnishes a\nsimilar legend of the piety of Bees. Bee speaks:\n\n\u201cKnow, sir, that we have also a religion as well as you, and so exact a\ngovernment among us here; our hummings you speak of are as so many hymns\nto the Great God of Nature; and there is a miraculous example in\n_C\u00e6sarius Cisterniensis_, of some of the Holy Eucharist being let fall\nin a meadow by a priest, as he was returning from visiting a sick body;\na swarm of Bees hard-by took It up, and in a solemn kind of procession\ncarried It to their hive, and their erected an altar of the purest wax\nfor it, where it was found in that form, and untouched.\u201d[604]\n\nButler, quoting Thomas Bozius, tells us the following:\n\n\u201cCertaine theeves (thieves) having stolen the silver boxe wherein the\nwafer-Gods vse to lie, and finding one of them there being loath,\nbelike, that he should lie abroad all night, did not cast him away, but\nlaid him under a hive: whom the Bees acknowledging advanced to a high\nroome in the hive, and there insteade of his silver boxe made him\nanother of the whitest wax: and when they had so done, in worshippe of\nhim, and set howres they sang most sweetly beyond all measure about it:\nyea the owner of them took them at it at midnight with a light and al.\nWherewith the bishop being made acquainted, came thither with many\nothers: and lifting vp the hive he sawe there neere the top a most fine\nboxe, wherein the host was laid, and the quires of Bees singing about\nit, and keeping watch in the night, as monkes do in their cloisters. The\nbishop therefore taking the host, carried it with the greater honour\ninto the church: whether many resorting were cured of innumerable\ndiseases.\u201d[605]\n\nAnother legend, from the School of the Eucharist, is as follows:\n\n\u201cA peasant swayed by a covetous mind, being communicated on Easter-Day,\nreceived the Host in his mouth, and afterwards laid it among his bees,\nbelieving that all the Bees of the neighborhood would come thither to\nwork their wax and honey. This covetous, impious wretch was not wholly\ndisappointed of his hopes; for all his neighbors\u2019 Bees came indeed to\nhis hives, but not to make honey, but to render there the honours due to\nthe Creator. The issue of their arrival was that they melodiously sang\nto Him songs of praise as they were able; after that they built a little\nchurch with their wax from the foundations to the roof, divided into\nthree rooms, sustained by pillars, with their bases and chapiters. They\nhad there also an Altar, upon which they had laid the precious Body of\nour Lord, and flew round about it, continuing their musick. The peasant\n... coming nigh that hive where he had put the H. Sacrament, the Bees\nissued out furiously by troops, and surrounding him on all sides,\nrevenged the irreverence done to their Creator, and stung him so\nseverely that they left him in a sad case. This punishment made this\nmiserable wretch come to himself, who, acknowledging his error, went to\nfind out the parish priest to confess his fault to him....\u201d etc.[606]\n\nWe quote also another from the School of the Eucharist:\n\n\u201cA certain peasant of Auvergne, a province in France, perceiving that\nhis Bees were likely to die, to prevent this misfortune, was advised,\nafter he had received the communion, to reserve the Host, and to blow it\ninto one of the hives. As he tried to do it, the Host fell on the\nground. Behold now a wonder! On a sudden all the Bees came forth out of\ntheir hives, and ranging themselves in good order, lifted the Host from\nthe ground, and carrying it in upon their wings, placed it among the\ncombes. After this the man went out about his business, and at his\nreturn found that this advice had succeeded ill, for all his Bees were\ndead....\u201d[607]\n\nWe will close this series of legends with one from the Lives of the\nSaints:\n\n\u201cWhen a thief by night had stolen St. Medard\u2019s Bees, they, in their\nmaster\u2019s quarrel, leaving their hive, set upon the malefactor, and\neagerly pursuing him which way soever he ran, would not cease stinging\nof him until they had made him (whether he would or no) to go back again\nto their master\u2019s house; and there, falling prostrate at his feet,\nsubmissly to cry him mercy for the crime committed. Which being done, so\nsoon as the Saint extended unto him the hand of benediction, the Bees,\nlike obedient servants, did forthwith stay from persecuting him, and\nevidently yielded themselves to the ancient possession and custody of\ntheir master.\u201d[608]\n\nBy the Greeks, Bees were accounted an omen of future eloquence;[609] the\nsoothsayers of the Romans, however, deemed them always of evil\naugury.[610] They afforded also to the Romans presages of public\ninterest, \u201cclustering, as they do, like a bunch of grapes, upon houses\nor temples; presages, in fact, that are often accounted for by great\nevents.\u201d[611] The instances of happy omens afforded by swarms of Bees\nare the following:\n\n\u201cIt is said of Pindar,\u201d we read in Pausanias\u2019 History of Greece, \u201cthat\nwhen he was a young man, as he was going to Thespia, being wearied with\nthe heat, as it was noon, and in the height of summer, he fell asleep at\na small distance from the public road; and that Bees, as he was asleep,\nflew to him and wrought their honey on his lips. This circumstance first\ninduced Pindar to compose verses.\u201d[612]\n\nA similar incident is mentioned in the life of Plato:\n\n\u201cWhilst _Plato_ was yet an infant carried in the arms of his mother\n_Perictione, Aristo_ his father went to _Hymettus_ (a mountain in\n_Attica_ eminent for abundance of Bees and Honey) to sacrifice to the\nMuses or Nymphs, taking his Wife and Child along with him; as they were\nbusied in the Divine Rites, she laid the Child in a Thicket of Myrtles\nhard by; to whom, as he slept (_in cunis dormienti_) came a Swarm of\nBees, Artists of Hymettian Honey, flying and buzzing about him, and (as\nit is reported) made a Honeycomb in his mouth. This was taken for a\npresage of the singular sweetness of his discourse; his future Eloquence\nforeseen in his infancy.\u201d[613]\n\nFrom Butler\u2019s Lives of the Saints we have the following:\n\n\u201cThe birth of St. Ambrose happened about the year 340 B.C., and whilst\nthe child lay asleep in one of the courts of his father\u2019s palace, a\nswarm of Bees flew about his cradle, and some of them even crept in and\nout at his mouth, which was open; and at last mounted up into the air so\nhigh, that they quite vanished out of sight. This,\u201d concludes the\nReverend Alban, \u201cwas esteemed a presage of future greatness and\neloquence.\u201d[614]\n\nAnother instance is mentioned in the Feminine Monarchie, printed at\nOxford in 1634, p. 22.\n\n\u201cWhen _Ludovicus Vives_ was sent by Cardinal Wolsey to Oxford, there to\nbe a public professor of Rhetoric, being placed in the College of Bees,\nhe was welcomed thither by a swarm of Bees; which sweet creatures, to\nsignifie the incomparable sweetnesse of his eloquence, settled\nthemselves over his head, under the leads of his study, where they have\ncontinued to this day.... How sweetly did all things then accord, when\nin this neat \u03bc\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03bd newly consecrated to the Muses, the Muses\u2019\nsweetest favorite was thus honoured by the Muses\u2019 birds.\u201d[615]\n\nMoufet, in his Theater of Insects, and Topsel, in almost the same words\nin his History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, gives the following\nlist of remarkable omens drawn from Bees:\n\n\u201cWhereas the most high God did create all other creatures for our use;\nso especially the Bees, not only that as mistresses they might hold\nforth to us a patern of politick and \u0153conomic vertues, and inform our\nunderstanding; but that they might be able as extraordinary foretellers,\nto foreshew the success and event of things to come; for in the years\n90, 98, 113, 208, before the birth of Christ, when as mighty huge swarms\nof Bees did settle in the chief market-place, and in the beast-market\nupon private citizens\u2019 houses, and on the temple of Mars, there were at\nthat time stratagems of enemies against Rome, wherewith the whole state\nwas like to be surprised and destroyed. In the reign of Severus, the\nBees made combes in his military ensigns, and especially in the camp of\nNiger. Divers wars upon this ensued between both the parties of Severus\nand Niger, and battels of doubtful event, while at length the Severian\nfaction prevailed. The statues also of Antonius Pius placed here and\nthere all over Hetruria, were all covered with swarms of Bees; and after\nthat settled in the camp of Cassius; what great commotions after\nfollowed Julius Capitolinus relates in his history. At what time also,\nthrough the treachery of the Germans in Germany, there was a mighty\nslaughter and overthrow of the Romans. P. Fabius, and Q. Elius being\nconsuls in the camp of Drusus in the tent of Hostilius Rutilus, a swarm\nof Bees is reported to have sate so thick, that they covered the rope\nand the spear that held up the tent. M. Lepidus, and Munat. Plancus\nbeing consuls, as also in the consulship of L. Paulus, and C. Metellus,\nswarms of Bees flying to Rome (as the augurs very well conjectured) did\nforetell the near approach of the enemy. Pompey likewise making war\nagainst C\u00e6sar, when he had called his allies together, he set his army\nin order as he went out of Dyrrachium, Bees met him and sate so thick\nupon his ensigns that they could not be seen what they were. Philistus\nand \u00c6lian relate, that while Dionysius the tyrant did in vain spur his\nhorse that stuck in the mire, and there at length left him, the horse\nquitting himself by his own strength, did follow after his master the\nsame way he went with a swarm of Bees sticking on his mane; intimating\nby that prodigy that tyrannical government which Dionysius affected over\nthe Galeot\u00e6. In the Helvetian History we read, that in the year 1385,\nwhen Leopoldus of Austria began to march towards Sempachum with his\narmy, a swarm of Bees flew to the town and there sate upon the tyles;\nwhereby the common people rightly foretold that some forain force was\nmarching towards them. So Virgil, in 7 \u00c6neid:\n\n    The Bees flew buzzing through the liquid air:\n      And pitcht upon the top o\u2019 th\u2019 laurel tree;\n    When the Soothsayers saw this sight full rare,\n      They did foretell th\u2019 approach of th\u2019 enemie.\n\nThat which Herodotus, Pausanias, Dio Cassius, Plutarch, Julius C\u00e6sar,\nJulius Capitolinus, and other historians with greater observation then\nreason have confirmed. Saon Acrephniensis, when he could by no means\nfinde the oracle Trophonius; Pausanias in his \u0153ticks saith he was lead\nthither by a swarm of Bees. Moreover, Plutarch, Pausanias, \u00c6lian, Alex.\nAlexandrinus, Theocritus and Textor are authors that Jupiter Melit\u00e6us,\nHiero of Syracuse, Plato, Pindar, Apius Comatus, Xenophon, and last of\nall Ambrose, when their nurses were absent, had honey dropt into their\nmouths by Bees, and so were preserved.\u201d[616]\n\nIn East Norfolk, England, if Bees swarm on rotten wood, it is considered\nportentous of a death in the family.[617] This superstition is as old at\nleast as the time of Gay, for, among the signs that foreshadowed the\ndeath of Blonzelind, it is mentioned:\n\n    Swarmed on a rotten stick the Bees I spy\u2019d\n    Which erst I saw when Goody Dobson dy\u2019d.[618]\n\nIn Ireland, the mere swarming of Bees is looked upon as prognosticating\na death in the family of the owner.\n\nIn parts of England it is believed, that if a swarm of Bees come to a\nhouse, and are not claimed by their owner, there will be a death in the\nfamily that hives them.[619]\n\nIt is a very ancient superstition that Bees, by their acute sense of\nsmell, quickly detect an unchaste woman, and strive to make her infamy\nknown by stinging her immediately. In a pastoral of Theocritus, the\nshepherd in a pleasant mood tells Venus to go away to Anchises to be\nwell stung by Bees for her lewd behavior.\n\n    Now go thy way to Ida mount--\n      Go to Anchises now,\n    Where mighty oaks, where banks along\n      Of square Cypirus grow,\n    Where hives and hollow trunks of trees,\n      With honey sweet abound,\n    Where all the place with humming noise\n      Of busie Bees resound.\n\nIncontinence in men, as well as unchastity in women, was thought to be\npunished by these little insects. Thus in the lines of Pindarus:\n\n    Thou painful Bee, thou pretty creature,\n    Who honey-combs six angled, as the be,\n    With feet doest frame, false Ph\u0153cus and impure,\n    With sting has prickt for his lewd villany.[620]\n\nPliny says: \u201cCertain it is, that if a menstruous woman do no more but\ntouch a Bee-hive, all the Bees will be gone and never more come to it\nagain.\u201d[621]\n\nIn Western Pennsylvania, it is believed that Bees will invariably sting\nred-haired persons as soon as they approach the hives.\n\nIt is a common opinion that Bees in rough and boisterous weather, and\nparticularly in a violent storm, carry a stone in their legs, in order\nto preserve themselves by its weight against the power of the wind. Its\nantiquity is also great, for in the writings of Plutarch we find an\ninstance of this remarkable wisdom. \u201cThe Bees of Candi,\u201d says this\nphilosopher, \u201cbeing about to double a point or cape lying into the sea,\nwhich is much exposed to the winds, they ballase (ballast) themselves\nwith small grit or petty stones, for to be able to endure the weather,\nand not be carried away against their wills with the winds through their\nlightness otherwise.\u201d[622]\n\nVirgil, too, about a century earlier, mentions this curious notion in\nthe following lines:\n\n    And as when empty barks on billows float,\n    With sandy ballast sailors trim the boat;\n    So Bees bear gravel stones, whose poising weight\n    Steers through the whistling winds their steady flight.[623]\n\nSwammerdam, who has noticed this belief of the ancients, makes the\nfollowing remarks: \u201cBut this, as Clutius justly observes, has not been\nhitherto remarked by any Bee-keeper, nor indeed have I myself ever seen\nit. Yet I should think that there may be some truth in this matter, and\nprobably a certain observation, which I shall presently mention, has\ngiven rise to the story. There is a species of wild Bees not unlike the\nsmallest kind of the Humble-Bee, which, as they are accustomed to build\ntheir nests near stone walls, and construct their habitations of stone\nand clay, sometimes carry such large stones that it is scarcely credible\nby what means so tender insects can sustain so great a load, and that\neven flying while they are obliged also to support their own body.\nTheir nest by this means is often so heavy as to weigh one or two\npounds.\u201d[624]\n\nIt was the general opinion of antiquity that Bees were produced from the\nputrid bodies of cattle. Varro says they are called \u0392\u03bf\u03c5\u03b3\u03cc\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 by the\nGreeks, because they arise from petrified bullocks. In another place he\nmentions their rising from these putrid animals, and quotes the\nauthority of Archelaus, who says Bees proceed from bullocks, and wasps\nfrom horses.[625] Virgil, however, is much more satisfactory, for he\ngives us the recipe in all its details for producing these insects:\n\n    First, in a place, by nature close, they build\n    A narrow flooring, gutter\u2019d, wall\u2019d, and til\u2019d.\n    In this, four windows are contriv\u2019d, that strike\n    To the four winds oppos\u2019d, their beams oblique.\n    A steer of two years old they take, whose head\n    Now first with burnished horns begins to spread:\n    They stop his nostrils, while he strives in vain\n    To breathe free air, and struggles with his pain.\n    Knock\u2019d down, he dies: his bowels bruis\u2019d within,\n    Betray no wound on his unbroken skin.\n    Extended thus, in his obscene abode,\n    They leave the beast; but first sweet flowers are strow\u2019d\n    Beneath his body, broken boughs and thyme,\n    And pleasing Cassia, just renew\u2019d in prime.\n    This must be done, ere spring makes equal day,\n    When western winds on curling waters play;\n    Ere painted meads produce their flowery crops,\n    Or swallows twitter on the chimney tops.\n    The tainted blood, in this close prison pent,\n    Begins to boil, and thro\u2019 the bones ferment.\n    Then wond\u2019rous to behold, new creatures rise,\n    A moving mass at first, and short of thighs;\n    Till shooting out with legs, and imp\u2019d with wings,\n    The grubs proceed to Bees with pointed stings:\n    And more and more affecting air, they try\n    Their tender pinions and begin to fly.[626]\n\nThis absurd notion was also promulgated by the great English chronicler,\nHollingshed; for, says this author, \u201cHornets, waspes, Bees, and such\nlike, whereof we have great store, and of which an opinion is\nconceived, that the first doo breed of the corruption of dead horses,\nthe second of pears and apples corrupted, and the last of kine and oxen;\nwhich may be true, especiallie the first and latter in some parts of the\nbeast, and not their whole substances, as also in the second, sith we\nnever have waspes but when our fruit beginneth to wax ripe.\u201d[627]\n\nTo conclude the history of this belief, the following remarks of the\nlearned Swammerdam will not be inappropriate. He says: \u201cIt is probable\nthat the not rightly understanding Samson\u2019s adventure of the Lion, gave\nrise to the popular opinion of Bees springing from dead Lions, Oxen, and\nHorses; and this opinion may have been considerably strengthened, and\nindeed in a manner confirmed, by the great number of Worms that are\noften found during the summer months in the carcasses of such animals,\nespecially as these Worms somewhat resemble those produced from the eggs\nof Bees. However ridiculous this opinion must appear, many great men\nhave not been ashamed to adopt and defend it. The industrious Goedaert\nhas ventured to ascribe the origin of Bees to certain dunghill Worms,\nand the learned de Mei joins with him in this opinion; though neither of\nthem had any observation to ground their belief upon, but that of the\nexternal resemblance between the Bee and a certain kind of Fly produced\nfrom these Worms.\u201d[628]\n\nThe opinion that stolen Bees will not thrive, but pine away and die, is\nalmost universal.[629] It is, too, of reverend antiquity, for Pliny\nmentions it: \u201cIt is a common received opinion, that Rue will grow the\nbetter if it be filched out of another man\u2019s garden; and it is as\nordinarie a saying that stolen Bees will thrive worst.\u201d[630]\n\nIn South Northamptonshire, England, there is a superstition that Bees\nwill not thrive in a quarrelsome family.[631] It might be well to\npromulgate this and the next preceding superstition. This prevails among\nus.\n\nIn Hampshire, England, it is a common saying that Bees are idle or\nunfortunate at their work whenever there are wars. A very curious\nobserver and fancier says that this has been the case from the time of\nthe movements in France, Prussia, and Hungary, up to the present\ntime.[632]\n\nIn Bishopsbourne, England, there prevails the singular superstition of\ninforming the Bees of any great public event that takes place, else they\nwill not thrive so well.[633]\n\nIn Monmouthshire, England, the peasantry entertain so great a veneration\nfor their Bees, that, says Bucke, some years since, they were accustomed\nto go to their hives on Christmas eve at twelve o\u2019clock, in order to\nlisten to their humming; which elicited, as they believed, a much more\nagreeable music than at any other period; since, at that time, they\ncelebrated, in the best manner they could, the morning of Christ\u2019s\nnativity.[634]\n\nSampson, in his Statistical Survey of the County of Londonderry, 1802,\np. 436, says that there \u201cBees must not be given away, but sold;\notherwise neither the giver nor the taker will have _luck_.\u201d[635]\n\nA clergyman in Devonshire, England, informs us that when any Devonian\nmakes a purchase of Bees, the payment is never made in money, but in\nthings (corn, for instance) to the value of the sum agreed upon; and the\nBees are never removed but on a Good Friday.[636] In western\nPennsylvania, it is thought by some of the old farmers that the vender\nof the Bees must be away from home when the hive is taken away, else the\nBees will not thrive.\n\nAnother superstition is that if a swarm of Bees be met with in an open\nfield away from any house, it is useless to hive them, for they will\nnever do a bit of good.\n\nIn many parts of England, a popular opinion is that when Bees remove or\ngo away from their hives, the owner of them will die soon after.[637]\n\nIt is commonly believed among us that if Bees come to a house, it\nforebodes good luck and prosperity; and, on the contrary, if they go\naway, bad luck.\n\nA North German custom and superstition is, that if the master of the\nhouse dies, a person must go to the Beehive, knock, and repeat these\nwords: \u201cThe master is dead, the master is dead,\u201d else the Bees will fly\naway.[638] This superstition prevails also in England, Lithuania, and in\nFrance.[639]\n\n[Some years since, observes a correspondent of the Athen\u00e6um, quoted by\nBrande, a gentleman at a dinner table happened to mention that he was\nsurprised, on the death of a relative, by his servant inquiring \u201cwhether\nhis master would inform the Bees of the event, or whether _he_ should do\nso.\u201d On asking the meaning of so strange a question, the servant assured\nhim that Bees ought always to be informed of a death in a family, or\nthey would resent the neglect by deserting the hive. This gentleman\nresides in the Isle of Ely, and the anecdote was told in Suffolk; and\none of the party present, a few days afterward, took the opportunity of\ntesting the prevalence of this strange notion by inquiring of a cottager\nwho had lately lost a relative, and happened to complain of the loss of\nher Bees, \u201cwhether she had told them all she ought to do?\u201d She\nimmediately replied, \u201cOh, yes; when my aunt died I told every skep\n(_i.e._ hive) myself, and put them....\n\n\u201cInto mourning.\u201d I have since ascertained the existence of the same\nsuperstition in Cornwall, Devonshire (where I have seen black crape put\nround the hive, or on a small black stick by its side), and Yorkshire.\nIt probably exists in every part of the kingdom.... The mode of\ncommunicating is by whispering the fact to each hive separately.... In\nOxford I was told that if a man and wife quarreled, the Bees would leave\nthem.][640]\n\n\u201cIn some parts of Suffolk,\u201d says Bucke, \u201cthe peasants believe, when any\nmember of their family dies, that, unless the Bees are put in mourning\nby placing a piece of black cloth, cotton or silk, on the top of the\nhives, the Bees will either die or fly away.\n\n\u201cIn Lithuania, when the master or mistress dies, one of the first duties\nperformed is that of giving notice to the Bees, by rattling the keys of\nthe house at the doors of their hives. Unless this be done, the\nLithuanians imagine the cattle will die; the Bees themselves perish,\nand the trees wither.\u201d[641]\n\nAt Bradfield, if Bees are not invited to funerals, it is believed they\nwill die.[642]\n\nIn the Living Librarie, Englished by John Molle, 1621, p. 283, we read:\n\u201cWho would beleeve without superstition (if experience did not make it\ncredible), that most commonly all the Bees die in their hives, if the\nmaster or mistress of the house chance to die, except the hives be\npresently removed into some other place? And yet I know this hath hapned\nto folke no way stained with superstition.\u201d[643]\n\nA similar superstition is, that Beehives belonging to deceased persons\nshould be turned over the moment when the corpse is taken out of the\nhouse.[644] No consequence is given for the non-performance of this\nrite.\n\nThe following item is clipped from the Argus, a London newspaper,\nprinted Sept. 13, 1790: \u201cA superstitious custom prevails at every\nfuneral in Devonshire, of turning round the Bee-hives that belonged to\nthe deceased, if he had any, and that at the moment the corpse is\ncarrying out of the house. At a funeral some time since, at Columpton,\nof a rich old farmer, a laughable circumstance of this sort occurred:\nfor, just as the corpse was placed in the hearse, and the horsemen, to a\nlarge number, were drawn in order for the procession of the funeral, a\nperson called out, \u2018Turn the Bees,\u2019 when a servant who had no knowledge\nof such a custom, instead of turning the hives about, lifted them up,\nand then laid them down on their sides. The Bees, thus hastily invaded,\ninstantly attacked and fastened on the horses and their riders. It was\nin vain they galloped off, the Bees as precipitately followed, and left\ntheir stings as marks of indignation. A general confusion took place,\nattended with loss of hats, wigs, etc., and the corpse during the\nconflict was left unattended; nor was it till after a considerable time\nthat the funeral attendants could be rallied, in order to proceed to the\ninterment of their deceased friend.\u201d[645]\n\nAfter the death of a member of a family, it has frequently been\nasserted that the Bees sometimes take their loss so much to heart as to\nalight upon the coffin whenever it is exposed. A clergyman told\nLangstroth, that he attended a funeral, where, as soon as the coffin was\nbrought from the house, the Bees gathered upon it so as to excite much\nalarm. Some years after this occurrence, being engaged in varnishing a\ntable, the Bees alighted upon it in such numbers as to convince the\nreverend gentleman that love of varnish, rather than sorrow or respect\nfor the dead, was the occasion of their conduct at the funeral.[646]\n\nThe following is an extract from a _Tour through Brittany_, published in\nthe Cambrian _Quarterly Magazine_, vol. ii. p. 215: \u201cIf there are Bees\nkept at the house where a marriage feast is celebrated, care is always\ntaken to dress up their hives in red, which is done by placing upon them\npieces of scarlet cloth, or one of some such bright color; the Bretons\nimagining that the Bees would forsake their dwellings if they were not\nmade to participate in the rejoicings of their owners: in like manner\nthey are all put into mourning when a death occurs in a family.\u201d[647]\n\nIn the Magazine of Natural History we find the following instance of\nsinging psalms to Bees to make them thrive: \u201cWhen in Bedfordshire\nlately, we were informed of an old man who sang a psalm last year in\nfront of some hives which were not doing well, but which, he said, would\nthrive in consequence of that ceremony. Our informant could not state\nwhether this was a local or individual superstition.\u201d[648]\n\nIt is commonly said that if you sing to your Bees before they swarm, it\nwill prevent their leaving your premises when they do swarm.\n\nPeter Rotharmel, a western Pennsylvanian, had a singular notion that no\nman could have at one time a hundred hives of Bees. He declared he had\noften as many as ninety-nine, but could never add another to them.[649]\nI have since learned that this is not an individual superstition, but\none that pretty generally prevails.\n\nThe Apiarians of Bedfordshire, England, have a custom of, as they call\nit, ringing their swarms with the door-key and the frying-pan; and if a\nswarm settles on another\u2019s premises, it is irrecoverable by the owner,\nunless he can prove the ringing, but it becomes the property of that\nperson upon whose premises it settles.[650]\n\nThe practice of beating pans, and making a great noise to induce a swarm\nof Bees to settle, is, at least, as old as the time of Virgil. He thus\nmentions it:\n\n    But when thou seest a swarming cloud arise,\n    That sweeps aloft, and darkens all the skies:\n    The motions of their hasty flight attend;\n    And know to floods, or woods, their airy march they bend.\n    Then melfoil beat, and honey-suckles pound,\n    With these alluring savors strew the ground,\n    And mix with tinkling brass the cymbal\u2019s drowning sound.[651]\n\nBut concerning this practice, Langstroth says: \u201cIt is probably not a\nwhit more efficacious than the hideous noises of some savage tribes,\nwho, imagining that the sun, in an eclipse, has been swallowed by an\nenormous dragon, resort to such means to compel his snakeship to\ndisgorge their favorite luminary.\u201d[652]\n\nDr. Toner, the author of that very interesting little work, \u201cMaternal\nInstinct or Love,\u201d informs me that when a boy he witnessed a mode of\nalluring a swarm of Bees to settle, performed by a German man and his\nwife, which struck him at the time as being remarkable, and which was as\nfollows: Having first put some pig-manure upon the hive into which they\nwished the Bees to go, they ran to and fro under the swarm, singing a\nmonotonous German hymn; and this they continued till the Bees were\nsettled and hived.\n\nAnother strange mode of alluring Bees into a new hive is practiced near\nGloucester, England, but only when all the usual ways of preparing hives\nfail; it is this: When a swarm is to be hived, instead of moistening the\ninside of the hive with honey, or sugar and water, the Bee-master throws\ninto it, inverted, about a pint of beans, which he causes a sow to\ndevour, and immediately then, it is said, will the Bees take to it.[653]\n\nPliny, as follows, incidentally mentions another curious mode of\npreparing the hives to best suit the Bees: \u201cTouching Baulme, which the\nGreeks call Melittis or Melissophyllon: if Bee-hives be rubbed all over\nand besmeared with the juice thereof, the Bees will never go away; for\nthere is not a flower whereof they be more desirous and faine than of\nit.\u201d[654]\n\nBorlase, in his Antiquities of Cornwall, p. 168, tells us of another\nstrange practice in the hiving of Bees. He says: \u201cThe Cornish, to this\nday, invoke the spirit of Browny, when their Bees swarm; and they think\nthat their crying Browny, Browny, will prevent them from returning into\nthe former hive, and make them pitch and form a new colony.\u201d[655]\n\nThe Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, of Wyoming, Pa., has devised an amusing plan,\nby which he says he can, at all times, prevent a swarm of Bees from\nleaving his premises. Before his stocks swarm, he collects a number of\ndead Bees, and, stringing them with a needle and thread, as worms are\nstrung for catching eels, makes of them a ball about the size of an egg,\nleaving a few strands loose. By carrying--fastened to a pole--this\n\u201c_Bee-bob_\u201d about his Apiary, when the Bees are swarming, or by placing\nit in some central position, he invariably secures every swarm.[656]\n\nThe barbarous practice of killing Bees for their honey, not yet entirely\nabolished, did not exist in the time of Aristotle, Varro, Columella, and\nPliny. The old cultivators took only what their Bees could spare,\nkilling no stocks except such as were feeble or diseased. The following\nepitaph, taken from a German work, might well be placed over every pit\nof these brimstoned insects:\n\n    HERE RESTS,\n    CUT OFF FROM USEFUL LABOR,\n    A COLONY OF\n    INDUSTRIOUS BEES,\n    BASELY MURDERED\n    BY ITS\n    UNGRATEFUL AND IGNORANT\n    OWNER.\n\nTo the epitaph also may be appended Thomson\u2019s verses:\n\n    Ah, see, where robbed and murdered in that pit,\n    Lies the still heaving hive! at evening snatched,\n    Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night,\n    And fixed o\u2019er sulphur! while, not dreaming ill,\n    The happy people, in their waxen cells,\n    Sat tending public cares.\n    Sudden, the dark, oppressive steam ascends,\n    And, used to milder scents, the tender race,\n    By thousands, tumble from their honied dome\n    Into a gulf of blue sulphureous flame![657]\n\nIt is considered very cruel in Africa, as Campbell observes, to kill\nBees in order to obtain their honey, especially as from flowers being\nthere at all seasons, and most in winter, they can live comfortably all\nthe year round. A Hottentot, who was accustomed to kill the Bees, was\noften reasoned with by the humane to give up so cruel a practice, yet he\npersisted in it till a circumstance occurred which determined him to\nrelinquish it. He had a water-mill for grinding his corn, which went\nvery slowly, from the smallness of the stream which turned it;\nconsequently the flour dropped very gently. For some time much less than\nusual came into the sack, the cause of which he could not discover. At\nlength he found that a great part of his flour, as it was ground, was\ncarried off by the Bees to their hives: on examining this, he found it\ncontained only his flour, and no honey. This robbery made him resolve to\ndestroy no more Bees when their honey was taken, considering their\nconduct in robbing him of his property as a just punishment to him for\nhis cruelty. The gentleman who related this story, Mr. Campbell says,\nwas a witness to the Bees robbing the mill.[658]\n\nAn old English proverb, relative to the swarming of Bees, is,--\n\n    A swarm of Bees in May,\n    Is worth a load of hay;\n    A swarm of Bees in June,\n    Is worth a silver spoon;\n    A swarm of Bees in July,\n    Is not worth a fly.[659]\n\nIn Tusser\u2019s Five Hundred Points of Husbandry, under the month of May,\nare these lines:\n\n    Take heed to thy Bees, that are ready to swarme,\n    The losse thereof now is a crown\u2019s worth of harme.\n\nOn which is the following observation in Tusser Redivivus, 1744, p. 62:\n\u201cThe tinkling after them with a warming-pan, frying-pan, kettle, is of\ngood use to let the neighbors know you have a swarm in the air, which\nyou claim wherever it lights; but I believe of very little purpose to\nthe reclaiming of the Bees, who are thought to delight in no noise but\ntheir own.\u201d\n\nIll fortune attends the killing of Bees,--a common saying. This,\ndoubtless, arose from the thrift and usefulness of these insects.\n\nThat swarms of Bees, or fields, houses, stalls of cattle, or workshops,\nmay not be affected by enchantment, Leontinus says: \u201cDig in the hoof of\nthe right side of a sable ass under the threshold of the door, and pour\non some liquid pitchy resin, salt, Heracleotic origanum, cardamonium,\ncumin, some fine bread, squills, a chaplet of white or of crimson wool,\nthe chaste tree, vervain, sulphur, pitchy torches; and lay on some\namaranthus every month, and lay on the mould; and, having scattered\nseeds of different kinds, let them remain.\u201d[660]\n\nTo cure the stings of Bees, we have the following remedies: \u201cRue,\u201d says\nPliny, \u201cis an hearbe as medicinable as the best ... and is available\nagainst the stings of Bees, Hornets, and Wasps, and against the poison\nof the Cantharides and Salamanders.[661]\n\n\u201cYea, and it is an excellent thing for them that be stung, to take the\nvery Bees in drinke; for it is an approved cure.[662]\n\n\u201cBaulme is a most present remedy not only against their stings, but also\nof Wespes, Spiders, and Scorpions.[663]\n\n\u201cThe Laurell, both leafe, barke, and berrie, is by nature hot; and\napplied as a liniment, be singular good for the pricke or sting of\nWasps, Hornets, and Bees.[664]\n\n\u201cFor the sting of Bees, Wasps, and Hornets, the Howlat (owlet) is\ncounted a soveraigne thing, by a certaine antipathie in nature.[665]\n\n\u201cMoreover, as many as have about them the bill of a Woodspeck\n(Woodpecker) when they come to take honey out of the hive, shall not be\nstung by Bees.\u201d[666]\n\nIt is said that if a man suffers himself to be stung by Bees, he will\nfind that the poison will produce less and less effect upon his system,\ntill, finally, like Mithridates of old, he will appear to almost thrive\nupon poison itself. When Langstroth first became interested in Bees,\naccording to his statement, a sting was quite a formidable thing, the\npain being often intense, and the wound swelling so as sometimes to\nobstruct his sight. But, at length, however, the pain was usually\nslight, and, if the sting was quickly extracted, no unpleasant\nconsequences ensued, even if no remedies were used. Huish speaks of\nseeing the bald head of Bonner, a celebrated practical Apiarian, covered\nwith stings, which seemed to produce upon him no unpleasant effects. The\nRev. Mr. Kleine advises beginners to suffer themselves to be stung\nfrequently, assuring them that, in two seasons, their systems will\nbecome accustomed to the poison. An old English Apiarian advises a\nperson who has been stung, to catch as speedily as possible another\nBee, and make it sting on the same spot.[667]\n\nIt is generally believed among our boys that if the part stung by a Bee\nbe rubbed with the leaves of three different plants at the same time,\nthe pain will be relieved.\n\nWillsford, in his Nature\u2019s Secrets, p. 134, says: \u201cBees, in fair\nweather, not wandering far from their hives, presage the approach of\nsome stormy weather.... Wasps, Hornets, and Gnats, biting more eagerly\nthan they used to do, is a sign of rainy weather.\u201d[668]\n\nThe prognostication drawn from a flight of Bees, in which there is\ndoubtless much truth, appears from the following lines to have been\nknown to Virgil:\n\n                    Nor dare they stay,\n    When rain is promised, or a stormy day:\n    But near the city walls their watering take,\n    Nor forage far, but short excursions make.[669]\n\nBees were employed as the symbol of Epeses; they are common also on\ncoins of Elyrus, Julis, and Pr\u00e6sus.[670]\n\nOne of the most remarkable facts in the history of Bees is that passage\nin the Bible[671] about the swarm of these insects and honey in the\ncarcass of the lion slain by Samson. Some look upon it as a paradox,\nothers as altogether incredible; but it admits of easy explanation. The\nlion had been dead some little time before the Bees had taken up their\nabode in the carcass, for it is expressly stated that \u201cafter a time,\u201d\nSamson returned and saw the Bees and honey in the carcass, so that \u201cif,\u201d\nas Oedman has well observed, \u201cany one here represents to himself a\ncorrupt and putrid carcass, the occurrence ceases to have any true\nsimilitude, for it is well known in these countries, at certain seasons\nof the year, the heat will in twenty-four hours so completely dry up the\nmoisture of dead animals, and that without their undergoing\ndecomposition, that their bodies long remain, like mummies, unaltered,\nand entirely free from offensive odor.\u201d To the foregoing quotation we\nmay add that very probably the larv\u00e6 of flies, ants, and other insects,\nwhich at the time when Bees swarm, are to be found in great numbers,\nwould help to consume the carcass, and leave perhaps in a short time\nlittle else than a skeleton.[672]\n\nAn instance of Bees tenanting a dead body is found in the following\npassage from the writings of Herodotus: \u201cNow the Amathusians, having cut\noff the head of Onesilus, because he had besieged them, took it to\nAmatheus, and suspended it over the gates; and when the head was\nsuspended, and had become hollow, a swarm of Bees entered it, and filled\nit with honey-comb. When this happened, the Amathusians consulted the\noracle respecting it, and an answer was given them, \u2018that they should\ntake down the head and bury it, and sacrifice annually to Onesilus, as\nto a hero; and if they did so, it would turn out better for them.\u2019 The\nAmathusians did accordingly, and continued to do so until my time.\u201d[673]\n\nAnother singular instance is mentioned by Napier in his Excursions on\nthe shores of the Mediterranean: \u201cAmong this pretty collection of\nnatural curiosities (in the cemetery of Algesiras), one in particular\nattracted our attention; this was the contents of a small uncovered\ncoffin in which lay a child, the cavity of the chest exposed and\ntenanted by an industrious colony of Bees. The comb was rapidly\nprogressing, and I suppose, according to the adage of the poet, they\nwere adding sweets to the sweet, if not perfume to the violet.\u201d[674]\n\nButler, in his Feminine Monarchie, narrates the following curious story:\n\u201c_Paulus Jovius_ affirmeth that in _Muscovia_, there are found in the\nwoods & wildernesses great lakes of honey, which the Bees have forsaken,\nin the hollow truncks of marvelous huge trees. In so much that hony &\nwaxe are the most certaine commodities of that countrie. Where, by that\noccasion, he setteth down the storie reported by _Demetrius_ a\n_Muscovite_ ambassador sent to Rome. A neighbor of mine (saith he)\nsearching in the woods for hony slipt downe into a great hollow tree,\nand there sunk into a lake of hony vp to his brest: where when he had\nstucke faste two daies calling and crying out in vaine for helpe,\nbecause no bodie in the meane while came nigh that solitarie place; at\nlength when he was out of all hope of life, hee was strangely delivered\nby the means of a great beare: which coming thither about the same\nbusinesse that he did, and smelling the hony stirred with his striving,\nclambered vp to the top of the tree, & thence began to let himselfe\ndowne backward into it. The man bethinking himself, and knowing the\nworst was but death, which in that place he was sure of, beclipt the\nbeare fast with both his hands aboit the loines, and withall made an\noutcry as lowd as he could. The beare being thus sodainely affrighted,\nwhat with the handling, & what with the noise, made vp againe withal\nspeed possible: the man held, & the beare pulled, vntil with main force\nhe had drawne _Dun out of the mire_: & then being let go, away he trots\n_more afeard than hurt_, leaving the smeered swaine in a joyful\nfeare.\u201d[675]\n\nBy the Chinese writers, the composition of the characters for the Bee,\nAnt, and Mosquito, respectively, denote the awl insect, the _righteous_\ninsect, and the _lettered_ insect; referring thereby to the sting of the\nfirst, the orderly marching and subordination of the second, and the\nletter-like markings on the wings of the last.[676]\n\nIn May, 1653, the remains of Childeric, King of the Franks, who died\nA.D. 481, and was buried at Tournay, were discovered; and among the\nmedals, coins, and books, which were found in his tomb, were also found\nabove three hundred figures of, as Chiflet says, Bees, all of gold. Some\nof these figures were toads, crescents, lilies, spear-heads, and such\nlike, but Chiflet, after much labor and research, was fully convinced\nthey were Bees; and, more than that, determines them to be the source\nwhence the _Fleur de lis_ in the Arms of France were afterward derived.\nMontfaucon, however, did not hesitate to say they were nothing more than\nornaments of the horse-furniture.[677]\n\nNapoleon I. and II. are said to have had their imperial robes\nembroidered with golden Bees, as claiming official descent from Carolus\nMagnus, who is said to have worn them on his coat of arms.[678]\n\nOn a Continental forty-five dollar bill, issued on the 14th of January,\n1779, is represented an Apiary in which two Beehives are visible, and\nBees are seen swarming about. The motto is \u201cSic floret Respublica--Thus\nflourishes the Republic.\u201d It conveys the simple lesson that by industry\nand frugality the Republic would prosper.[679]\n\nBees in the heroic ages it appears were not confined in hives; for,\nwhenever Homer describes them, it is either where they are streaming\nforth from a rock,[680] or settling in bands and clusters on the spring\nflowers. Hesiod, however, soon after makes mention of a hive where he is\nuncourteously comparing women to drones:\n\n    As when within their well-roof\u2019d hives the Bees\n    Maintain the mischief-working drones at ease,\n    Their task pursuing till the golden sun\n    Down to the western wave his course hath run,\n    Filling their shining combs, while snug within\n    Their fragrant cells, the drones, with idle din\n    As princes revel o\u2019er their unpaid bowls,\n    On others\u2019 labors cheer their worthless souls.[681]\n\nIt may be surprising to many to know that Bees were not originally\nnatives of this country. But such is the case; the first planters never\nsaw any. The English first introduced them into Boston, and in 1670,\nthey were carried over the Alleghany Mountains by a hurricane.[682]\nSince that time, it has been remarked they betray an invariable tendency\nfor migrating southward.[683]\n\nBees for a long time were known to our Indians by the name of \u201cEnglish\nFlies;\u201d[684] and they consider them, says Irving, as the harbinger of\nthe white man, as the buffalo is of the red man, and say that in\nproportion as the Bee advances, the Indian and the buffalo retire.[685]\n\nLongfellow, in his Song of Hiawatha, in describing the advent of the\nEuropean to the New World, makes his Indian warrior say of the Bee and\nthe white clover:\n\n    Wheresoe\u2019er they move, before them\n    Swarms the stinging fly, the Ahmo,\n    Swarms the Bee, the honey-maker;\n    Wheresoe\u2019er they tread, beneath them\n    Springs a flower unknown among us,\n    Springs the White Man\u2019s Foot in blossom.\n\nMany Apiarians contend that newly-settled countries are most favorable\nto the Bee; and an old German adage runs thus:\n\n    Bells\u2019 ding dong,\n    And choral song,\n    Deter the bee\n    From industry:\n\n    But hoot of owl,\n    And \u201cwolf\u2019s long howl\u201d\n    Incite to moil\n    And steady toil.[686]\n\nHector St. John, in his Letters, gives the following curious account of\nthe method which he employed in discovering Bees in our woods in early\ntimes: Provided with a blanket, some provisions, wax, vermilion, honey,\nand a small pocket compass, he proceeded to such woods as were at a\nconsiderable distance from the settlements. Then examining if they\nabounded with large trees, he kindled a small fire on some flat stones,\nclose by which putting some wax, and, on another stone near by, dropping\ndistinct drops of honey, which he encircled with the vermilion. He then\nretired to carefully watch if any Bees appeared. The smell of the burnt\nwax, if there were any Bees in the neighborhood, would unavoidably\nattract them; and, finding the honey, would necessarily become tinged\nwith the vermilion, in attempting to get at it. Next, fixing his\ncompass, he found out the direction of the hives by the flight of the\nloaded Bees, which is invariably straight when they are returning home.\nThen timing with his watch the absence of the Bee till it would come\nback for a second load, and recognizing it by the vermilion, he could\ngenerally guess pretty closely to the distance traversed by it in the\ngiven time. Knowing then the direction and the probable distance, he\nseldom failed in going directly to the right tree. In this way he\nsometimes found as many as eleven swarms in one season.[687]\n\nThe shepherds of the Alps, as we learn from Sausure quoted in the Insect\nMiscellanies, as soon as the snows are melted on the sides of the\nmountains, transfer their flocks from the valleys below to the fresh\npasture revived by the summer sun, in the natural parterres and patches\nof meadow-land formed at the foot of crumbling rocks, and sheltered by\nthem from mountain storms; and so difficult sometimes is this transfer\nto be accomplished, that the sheep have to be slung by means of ropes\nfrom one cliff to another before they can be stationed on the little\ngrass-plot above.[688] A similar artificial migration (if we may use the\nterm), continues the author of the Miscellanies, is effected in some\ncountries by the proprietors of Beehives, who remove them from one\ndistrict to another, that they may find abundance of flowers, and by\nthis means prolong the summer. Sometimes this transfer is performed by\npersons forming an ambulatory establishment, like that of a gipsy horde,\nand encamping wherever flowers are found plentiful. Bee-caravans of this\nkind are reported to be not uncommon in some districts of Germany;[689]\nand in parts of Greece,[690] Italy, and France,[691] the transportation\nof Bees was practiced from very early times. But a more singular\npractice in such transportation was to set the Beehives afloat in a\ncanal or river, and we are informed that, in France, one Bee-barge was\nbuilt of capacity enough for from sixty to one hundred hives, and by\nfloating gently down the river, the Bees had an opportunity of gathering\nhoney from the flowers along the banks.[692]\n\nAn instance of Bees being kept in this singular manner is found in the\nfollowing quotation from the London Times, 1830: \u201cAs a small vessel was\nproceeding up the Channel from the coast of Cornwall, and running near\nthe land, some of the sailors observed a swarm of Bees on an island;\nthey steered for it, landed, and took the Bees on board; succeeded in\nhiving them immediately, and proceeded on their voyage; as they sailed\nalong shore, the Bees constantly flew from the vessel to the land, to\ncollect honey, and returned again to their moving hive; and this was\ncontinued all the way up the Channel.\u201d[693]\n\nIn Lower Egypt, observes M. Maillet in his Description of Egypt, where\nthe blossoming of flowers is about six weeks later than in the upper\ndistricts, the practice of transporting Beehives is much followed. The\nhives are collected from different villages along the banks, each being\nmarked and numbered by individual proprietors, to prevent future\nmistakes. They are then arranged in pyramidal piles upon the boats\nprepared to receive them, which, floating gradually down the river, and\nstopping at certain stages of their passage, remain there a longer or a\nshorter time, according to the produce afforded by the surrounding\ncountry within two or three leagues. In this manner the Bee-boats sail\nfor three months; the Bees, having culled the honey of the\norange-flowers in the Said, and of the Arabian jasmine and other flowers\nin the more northern parts, are brought back to the places whence they\nhad been carried. This procures for the Egyptians delicious honey and\nabundance of wax. The proprietors in return pay the boatmen a recompense\nproportioned to the number of hives which have been thus carried about\nfrom one extremity of Egypt to the other.[694] The celebrated traveler\nNiebuhr saw upon the Nile, between Cairo and Damietta, a convoy of 4000\nhives in their transit from Upper Egypt to the coast of the Delta.[695]\n\nIn the Bienenzeitung for 1854, p. 83, appears the following statements:\n\u201cMr. Kaden, of Mayence, thinks that the range of the Bee\u2019s flight does\nnot usually extend more than three miles in all directions. Several\nyears ago, a vessel, laden with sugar, anchored off Mayence, and was\nsoon visited by the Bees of the neighborhood, which continued to pass to\nand from the vessel from dawn to dark. One morning, when the Bees were\nin full flight, the vessel sailed up the river. For a short time, the\nBees continued to fly as numerously as before; but gradually the number\ndiminished, and, in course of half an hour, all had ceased to follow the\nvessel, which had, meanwhile, sailed more than four miles.\u201d[696]\n\nAristomachus of Soli, says Pliny, made Bees his exclusive study for a\nperiod of fifty-eight years; and Philiocus, the Thracian, surnamed\nAgrius--\u201cWildman\u201d--passed his life in desert spots tending swarms of\nBees.[697]\n\nSchomburgk says he saw, in his journey to the sources of the Takutu, an\nIndian, who was the conjuror or piaiman of his tribe, merely approach a\nnest of the wild Wampang-bees (_Wampisiana camniba_), and knocking with\nhis fingers against it, drive out all the Bees without a single one\ninjuring him. The piaiman, Schomburgk remarks, drew his fingers under\nthe pits of his arms before he knocked against the hive.[698]\n\nBrue, in his first voyage to Siratic, in Africa, met with what he called\na \u201cphenomenon\u201d in a person entitling himself the \u201cKing of the Bees.\u201d His\nmajesty accordingly came to the boat of the traveler entirely covered\nwith these insects, and followed by thousands, over which he appeared to\nexercise the most absolute authority. These Bees were never known to\ninjure either himself or those whom he took under his protection.[699]\n\nMr. Wildman, the most celebrated Bee-tamer, frequently asserted that\narmed with his friendly Bees he was defensible against the fiercest\nmastiffs; and, it is said, he actually did, at Salisbury, encounter\nthree yard-dogs one after the other. The conditions of the engagement\nwere, that he should have notice of the dog being set at him.\nAccordingly the first mastiff was set loose; and as he approached the\nman, two Bees were detached, which immediately stung him, the one on the\nnose, the other on the flank; upon receiving the wounds, the dog retired\nvery much daunted. After this, the second dog entered the lists, and was\nfoiled with the same expedition as the first. The third dog was at last\nbrought against the champion, but the animal observing the ill success\nof his brethren, would not attempt to sustain a combat; so, in a\ncowardly manner, he retired with his tail between his legs.\n\nMany other remarkable anecdotes are told of this gentleman, illustrating\nhis wonderful control over Bees. He could also, indeed, tame wasps and\nhornets, with almost the same ease as he could Bees, and an instance is\nmentioned of his hiving a nest of hornets which hung at the top of the\ninside of a high barn. He, however, was stung twice in this undertaking.\n\nMr. Wildman frequently exhibited himself with his head and face almost\ncovered with Bees, and with such a swarm of them hanging down from his\nchin as to resemble a venerable beard. In this extraordinary dress he\nwas once brought through the City of London sitting in a chair. Before\nEarl Spencer, Mr. Wildman also made many wonderful performances.[700]\n\nSays Dr. Evans:\n\n    Such was the spell, which round a Wildman\u2019s arm\n    Twined in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm,\n    Bright o\u2019er his breast the glittering legions led,\n    Or with a living garland bound his head.\n    His dexterous hand, with firm but hurtless hold,\n    Could seize the chief, known by her scales of gold,\n    Prune, \u2019mid the wondering throng, her filmy wing,\n    Or o\u2019er her folds the silken fetter fling.[701]\n\n\u201cLong experience has taught me,\u201d says Mr. Wildman himself, \u201cthat as soon\nas I turn up a hive, and give some taps on the sides and bottom, the\nqueen immediately appears. Being accustomed to see her, I readily\nperceive her at the first glance; and long practice has enabled me to\nseize her instantly, with a tenderness that does not in the least\nendanger her person. Being possessed of her, I can, without exciting any\nresentment, slip her into my other hand, and returning the hive to its\nplace, hold her, till the Bees, missing her, are all on the wing and in\nthe utmost confusion.\u201d It was then, by placing the queen in view, he\ncould make them light wherever he pleased, from their great attachment\nto her, and sometimes using a word of command to mystify the spectators,\nhe would cause them to settle on his head, and to hang to his chin like\na beard, from which he would order them to his hand, or to an adjacent\nwindow. But, however easy such feats may appear in theory, Mr. Wildman\ncautions (probably with a view to deter rivals) those who are\ninexperienced not to put themselves in danger of attempting to imitate\nhim. A liberated Roman slave, C. F. Cnesinus, being accused before the\ntribunals of witchcraft, because his crops were more abundant than\nthose of his neighbors, produced as his witnesses some superior\nimplements of husbandry, and well fed oxen, and pointing to them said:\n\u201cThese, Romans! are my instruments of witchcraft; but I cannot show you\nmy toil, my perseverance, and my anxious cares.\u201d \u201cSo,\u201d says Wildman,\n\u201cmay I say, These, Britons! are my instruments of witchcraft; but I\ncannot show you my hours of attention to this subject, my anxiety and\ncare for these useful insects; nor can I communicate to you my\nexperience acquired during a course of years.\u201d[702]\n\nButler mentions two instances where the stings of Bees have been fatal\nto \u201ccattaile\u201d:\n\n\u201cA horse,\u201d he informs us, \u201cin the heate of the day looking over a hedge,\non the other side whereof was a staule of Bees, while hee stood nodding\nwith his head, as his manner is, because of the flies, the Bees fell\nvpon him and killed him. Likewise I heard of a teeme that stretching\nagainst a hedge overthrew a staule on the other side, and so two of the\nhorses were stung to death.\u201d[703]\n\nMungo Park and his party were twice seriously attacked by large swarms\nof Bees. The first attack is mentioned in the account of his first\njourney; the second in the account of his second. The latter singular\naccident befell them in 1805, and is thus narrated in his journal: The\ncoffle had halted at a creek, and the asses had just been unloaded, when\nsome of his guide Isaaca\u2019s people, being in search of honey,\nunfortunately disturbed a large swarm of Bees near their resting-place.\nThe Bees came out in immense numbers, and attacked men and beasts at the\nsame time. Luckily, most of the asses were loose, and galloped up the\nvalley; but the horses and people were very much stung, and obliged to\nscamper off in all directions. The fire which had been kindled for\ncooking, being deserted, spread, and set fire to the bamboos, and the\nbaggage had like to have been burned. In fact, for half an hour the Bees\nseemed to have completely put an end to the journey. In the evening when\nthey became less troublesome, and the cattle could be collected, it was\nfound that many of them were very much stung, and swollen about the\nhead. Three asses were missing; one died in the course of the evening,\nand one next morning, and they were forced to leave one behind the next\nday. Altogether six were lost, besides which, the guide lost his horse,\nand many of the people were much stung about the face and hands.[704]\n\nBut in the Treasvrie of Avncient and Moderne Times, we find the\nfollowing: \u201cAnthenor, writing of the Isle of Crete (with whom also\nioyneth \u00c6lianus) saith, that a great multitude of Bees chased al the\ndwellers out of a City, and vsed their Houses instead of Hives.\u201d[705]\n\nMontaigne mentions the following singular assistance rendered by Bees to\nthe inhabitants of Tamly: The Portuguese having besieged the City of\nTamly, in the territory of Xiatine, the inhabitants of the place brought\na great many hives, of which there are great plenty in that place, upon\nthe wall; and with fire drove the Bees so furiously upon the enemy that\nthey gave over the enterprise, not being able to stand their attacks and\nendure their stings: and so the citizens, by this new sort of relief,\ngained liberty and the victory with so wonderful a fortune, that at the\nreturn of their defenders from the battle they found they had not lost\nso much as one.[706]\n\nLesser tells us that in 1525, during the confusion occasioned by a time\nof war, a mob assembling in Hohnstein (in Thuringia) attempted to\nplunder the house of the minister of Elende; who having spoken to them\nwith no effect, as a last resort ordered his domestics to bring his\nBeehives, and throw them in the midst of the furious mob. The desired\neffect was instantaneous, for the mob dispersed immediately.[707]\n\nBees have also been employed as an article of food. Knox tells us that\nthe natives of Ceylon, when they meet with a swarm of Bees hanging on a\ntree, hold burning torches under them to make them drop; and so catch\nand carry them home, where they boil and eat them, in their estimation,\nas excellent food.[708]\n\nPeter Martyr, speaking of the Caribbean Islands, says: \u201cThe\nInhabitantes willingly eate the young Bees, rawe, roasted, and sometimes\nsodden.\u201d[709]\n\nBancroft tells us that when the negroes of Guiana are stung by Bees,\nthey in revenge eat as many as they can catch.[710]\n\nThe following account of the Bee-eater of Selborne, England, is by the\nReverend, and very accurate naturalist, Gilbert White: \u201cWe had in this\nvillage,\u201d says he, \u201cmore than twenty years ago (about 1765), an idiot\nboy, whom I well remember, who, from a child, showed a strong propensity\nto Bees: they were his food, his amusement, his sole object; and as\npeople of this cast have seldom more than one point in view, so this lad\nexerted all his few faculties on this one pursuit. In the winter he\ndozed away his time, within his father\u2019s house, by the fireside, in a\nkind of torpid state, seldom departing from the chimney corner; but in\nthe summer he was all alert, and in quest of his game in the fields and\non sunny banks. Honey-bees, Humble-bees, and Wasps were his prey,\nwherever he found them: he had no apprehensions from their stings, but\nwould seize _nudis manibus_, and at once disarm them of their weapons,\nand search their bodies for the sake of their honey-bags. Sometimes he\nwould fill his bosom between his shirt and his skin with a number of\nthese captives; and sometimes would confine them in bottles. He was a\nvery _Merops apiaster_, or Bee-bird, and very injurious to men that kept\nBees; for he would slide into their Bee-gardens, and, sitting down\nbefore the stools, would rap with his finger on the hives, and so take\nthe Bees as they came out. He has been known to overturn hives for the\nsake of honey, of which he was passionately fond. Where metheglin was\nmaking, he would linger round the tubs and vessels, begging a draught of\nwhat he called _Bee-wine_. As he ran about he used to make a humming\nnoise with his lips, resembling the buzzing of Bees. This lad was lean\nand sallow, and of a cadaverous complexion; and, except in his favorite\npursuit, in which he was wonderfully adroit, discovered no manner of\nunderstanding.\u201d[711]\n\nThere is a peculiar substance formed by a species of Bee in the Orinoco\ncountry, which, says Captain Stedman, the roosting tribes burn\nincessantly in their habitations, and which effectually protects them\nfrom all winged insects. They call it _Comejou_; Gumilla says it is\nneither earth nor wax.[712]\n\nConcerning the medicinal virtues of Bees, Dr. James says: \u201cTheir salts\nare very volatile, and highly exalted; for this reason, when dry\u2019d,\npowder\u2019d, and taken internally, they are diuretic and diaphoretic. If\nthis powder is mixed in unguents, with which the head is anointed, it is\nsaid to cure the Alopecia, and to contribute to the growth of hair upon\nbald places.\u201d[713]\n\nAnother, an old writer, says: \u201cIf Bees, when dead, are dried to powder,\nand given to either man or beast, this medicine will often give\nimmediate ease in the most excruciating pain, and remove a stoppage in\nthe body when all other means have failed.\u201d A tea made by pouring\nboiling water upon Bees has recently been prescribed, by high medical\nauthority, for violent strangury; while the poison of the Bee, under the\nname of _apis_, is a great hom\u0153opathic remedy.[714]\n\nConcerning wax, Dr. James says: \u201cAll wax is heating, mollifying, and\nmoderately incarning. It is mixed in sorbile liquors as a remedy for\ndysentery; and ten bits, of the size of a grain of millet, swallowed,\nprevent the curdling of milk in the breast of nurses.\u201d[715]\n\n[If we might credit the history of former times, says Jamieson, in his\nScottish Dictionary, sub. _Walx_, iv. 642-3, there must have been a\nconsiderable demand for this article (wax) for the purpose of\nwitchcraft. It was generally found necessary, it would seem, as the\nmedium of inflicting pain on the bodies of men.\n\n\u201cTo some others at these times he teacheth, how to make _pictures of\nwaxe_ or clay, that by the wasting thereof, the persons that they beare\nthe name of, may be continually melted or dried away by continuall\nsickenesse.\u201d K. James\u2019s D\u00e6monologie, B. II. c. 5.\n\nIn order to cause acute pain in the patient, pins, we are told, were\nstuck in that part of the body of the image, in which they wished the\nperson to suffer.\n\nThe same plan was adopted for inspiring another with the ardor of love.\n\n    Then mould her form of fairest _wax_,\n      With adder\u2019s eyes and feet of horn;\n    Place this small scroll within its breast,\n      Which I, your friend, have hither borne.\n\n    Then make a blaze of alder wood,\n      Before your fire make this to stand;\n    And the last night of every moon\n      The bonny May\u2019s at your command.\n\n                _Hogg\u2019s Mountain Bard_, p. 35.\n\nThen it follows:\n\n    With fire and steel to urge her weel,\n      See that you neither stint nor spare;\n    For if the cock be heard to crow,\n      The charm will vanish into air.\n\nThe wounds given to the image were supposed to be productive of similar\n_stounds_ of love in the tender heart of the maiden whom it represented.\n\n    A female form, of melting _wax_,\n      Mess John surveyed with steady eye,\n    Which ever an anon he _pierced_,\n      And forced the lady loud to cry.--P. 84.\n\nThe same horrid rites were observed on the continent. For Grilland (de\nSortilegiis) says: Quidam solent apponere _imaginem cerae_ juxta ignem\nardentem, completis sacrificiis, de quibus supra, & adhibere quasdam\npreces nefarias, & turpia verba, ut quemadmodum imago illa igne\nconsumitur & liquescit, eodem modo cor mulieris amoris calore talis viri\nferuenter ardeat, etc. Malleus Malefic. T. H., p. 232.\n\nIt cannot be doubted that these rites have been transmitted from\nheathenism. Theocritus mentions them as practiced by the Greeks in his\ntime. For he introduces Samoetha as using similar enchantments, partly\nfor punishing, and partly for regaining her faithless lover.\n\n    But strew the _salt_, and say in angry tones,\n    \u201cI scatter Delphid\u2019s, perjured Delphid\u2019s bones.\u201d\n    --First Delphid injured me, he raised my flame,\n    And now I burn this bough in Delphid\u2019s name;\n    As this doth blaze, and break away in fume,\n    How soon it takes, let Delphid\u2019s flesh consume,\n    Iynx, restore my false, my perjured swain,\n    And force him back into my arms again.--\n    As this devoted _wax_ melts o\u2019er the fire,\n    Let Mindian Delphy melt in warm desire!\n\n                            _Idylliums_, p. 12, 13.\n\nSamoetha burns the bough in the name of her false lover, and terms the\nwax _devoted_. With this the more modern ritual of witchcraft\ncorresponded. The name of the person, represented by the image, was\ninvoked. For according to the narrative given concerning the witches of\nPollock-shaws, having bound the image on a spit, they \u201cturned it before\nthe fire,--saying, as they turned it, _Sir George Maxwell, Sir George\nMaxwell_; and that this was expressed by all of them.\u201d Glanvil\u2019s\nSadducismus, p. 391.\n\nAccording to Grilland, the image was baptized in the name of Beelzebub.\nMalleus, ut. sup., p. 229.\n\nThere is nothing analogous to the Grecian rite, mentioned by Theocritus,\nof strewing _salt_. For Grilland asserts that, in the festivals of the\nwitches, salt was never presented. Ibid., p. 215. It was perhaps\nexcluded from their infernal rites as having been so much used as a\nsacred symbol.]\n\nThe following are among the twenty-eight \u201csingular vertues\u201d attributed\nby Butler to Honey: \u201c... It breedeth good blood, it prolongeth old age\n... yea the bodies of the dead being embalmed with honey have been\nthereby preserved from putrefaction. And _Athen\u00e6us_ doth witness it to\nbe as effectual for the living, writing out of Lycus, that the Cyrneans,\nor inhabitants of Corsica, were therefore long-lived, because they did\ndailie vse to feed on honey, whereof they had abundance: and no\nmarvaile: seeing it is so soveraigne a thing, and so many waies\navailable for man\u2019s health, as well being outwardly as inwardly applied.\nIt is drunke against the bite of a serpent or mad dogs: and it is good\nfor them having eaten mushrooms, or drunke popy, etc.\u201d[716]\n\nIn the Treasvrie of Avncient and Moderne Times,[717] there are two\nchapters devoted to the \u201cVertues of Honey.\u201d\n\nThere is a story, that a man once came to Mohammed, and told him that\nhis brother was afflicted with a violent pain in his belly; upon which\nthe prophet bade him give him some honey. The fellow took his advice;\nbut soon after coming again, told him that the medicine had done his\nbrother no manner of service: Mohammed answered, \u201cGo and give him more\nhoney, for God speaks truth, and thy brother\u2019s belly lies.\u201d And the dose\nbeing repeated, the man, by God\u2019s mercy, was immediately cured.[718]\n\nIn the sixteenth chapter of the Koran, Mohammed has likewise mentioned\nhoney as a medicine for men.[719]\n\nAthen\u00e6us tells us that Democritus, the philosopher of Abdera, after he\nhad determined to rid himself of life on account of his extreme old age,\nand when he had begun to diminish his food day by day, when the day of\nthe Thesmophonian festival came round, and the women of his household\nbesought him not to die during the festival, in order that they might\nnot be debarred from their share of the festivities, was persuaded and\nordered a vessel full of honey to be set near him: and in this way he\nlived many days with no other support than honey; and then some days\nafter, when the honey had been taken away, he died. But Democritus,\nAthen\u00e6us adds, had always been fond of honey; and he once answered a\nman, who had asked him how he could live in the enjoyment of the best\nhealth, that he might do so if he constantly moistened his inward parts\nwith honey and his outward man with oil. Bread and honey was the chief\nfood of the Pythagoreans, according to the statement of Aristoxenus, who\nsays that those who ate this for breakfast were free from disease all\ntheir lives.[720]\n\n\u201cThe gall of a vulture,\u201d says Moufet, quoting Galen, in Euporist,\n\u201cmingled with the juice of horehound (twice as much in weight as the\ngall is) and two parts of honey cures the suffusion of the eyes.\nOtherwise he mingles one part of the gall of the sea-tortoise, and four\ntimes as much honey, and anoints the eyes with it. Serenus prescribes\nsuch a receipt to cause one to be quick-sighted:\n\n    Mingle Hybl\u00e6an honey with the gall\n    Of Goats, \u2019tis good to make one see withall.\u201d[721]\n\nWe are told in the German Ephemerides, that a young country girl, having\neaten a great deal of honey, became so inebriated with it, that she\nslept the whole day, and talked foolishly the day following.[722]\n\nBevan, in his work on the Honey-Bee, mentions the following instances of\na curious use to which propolis is sometimes put by the Bees: A snail,\nsays he, having crept into one of Mr. Reaumur\u2019s hives early in the\nmorning, after crawling about for some time, adhered, by means of its\nown slime, to one of the glass panes. The Bees, having discovered the\nsnail, surrounded it, and formed a border of propolis round the verge of\nits shell, and fastened it so securely to the glass that it became\nimmovable.\n\n    Forever closed the impenetrable door;\n    It naught avails that in its torpid veins\n    Year after year, life\u2019s loitering spark remains.\n\n                                              EVANS.\n\nMaraldi, another eminent Apiarian, states that a snail without a shell\nhaving entered one of his hives, the Bees, as soon as they observed it,\nstung it to death; after which, being unable to dislodge it, they\ncovered it all over with an impervious coat of propolis.\n\n    For soon in fearless ire, their wonder lost,\n    Spring fiercely from the comb the indignant host,\n    Lay the pierced monster breathless on the ground,\n    And clap in joy their victor pinions round:\n    While all in vain concurrent numbers strive\n    To heave the slime-girt giant from the hive--\n    Sure not alone by force instinctive swayed,\n    But blest with reason\u2019s soul-directing aid,\n    Alike in man or bee, they haste to pour,\n    Thick, hard\u2019ning as it falls, the flaky shower;\n    Embalmed in shroud of glue the mummy lies,\n    No worms invade, no foul miasmas rise.\n\n                                               EVANS.[723]\n\nXenophon tells us that all the soldiers, who ate of the honey-combs,\nfound in the villages on the mountains of the Colchians, lost their\nsenses, and were seized with such violent vomiting and purging, that\nnone of them were able to stand upon their legs: that those who ate but\nlittle, were like men very drunk, and those who ate much, like madmen,\nand some like dying persons. In this condition, this writer adds, great\nnumbers lay upon the ground, as if there had been a defeat, and a\ngeneral sorrow prevailed. The next day, they all recovered their senses,\nabout the same hour they were seized; and, on the third and fourth days,\nthey got up as if they had taken physic.[724]\n\nPliny accounts for this accident by saying there is found in that\ncountry a kind of honey, called from its effects, Th\u00e6nomenon, that is,\nthat those who eat it are seized with madness. He adds, that the common\nopinion is that this honey is gathered from the flowers of a plant\ncalled _Rhododendros_, which is very common in those parts. Tournefort\nthinks the modern _Laurocerasus_ is the Rhododendros of Pliny, from the\nfact that the people of that country, at the present day, believe the\nhoney that is gathered from its flowers will produce the effects\ndescribed by Xenophon.[725]\n\nThe missionary Moffat in South Africa found some poisonous honey, which\nhe unknowingly ate, but with no serious consequences. It was several\ndays, however, before he got rid of a most unpleasant sensation in his\nhead and throat. The plant from which the honey had been gathered was an\nEuphorbia.[726]\n\n\u201cIn Podolia,\u201d says the chronicler Hollingshed, \u201cwhich is now subject to\nthe King of Poland, their hives (of Bees) and combes are so abundant,\nthat huge bores, overturning and falling into them, are drowned in the\nhonie, before they can recover & find the meanes to come out.\u201d[727]\n\nHoney was offered up to the Sun by the ancient Peruvians.[728]\n\nDr. Sparrman has described a Hottentot dance, which he calls the\nBee-dance. It is in imitation of a swarm of Bees; every performer as he\njumps around making a buzzing noise.[729]\n\n\u201cTo have a Bee in one\u2019s bonnet\u201d is a Scottish proverbial phrase about\nequivalent to the English, \u201cTo have a maggot in one\u2019s head\u201d--to be\nhair-brained. Kelly gives this with an additional word: \u201cThere\u2019s a Bee\nin your bonnet-_case_.\u201d In Scotland, too, it is said of a confused or\nstupefied man, that his \u201chead is in the Bees.\u201d[730] These proverbial\nexpressions were also in vogue in England.[731]\n\nThe following beautiful epigram, on a Bee inclosed in amber, is from the\npen of Martial: \u201cThe Bee is inclosed, and shines preserved, in a tear of\nthe sisters of Pha\u00ebton, so that it seems enshrined in its own nectar. It\nhas obtained a worthy reward for its great toils; we may suppose that\nthe Bee itself would have desired such a death.\n\n    The Bee inclosed, and through the amber shown,\n    Seems buried in the juice that was her own.\n    So honor\u2019d was a life in labor spent:\n    Such might she wish to have her monument.\u201d[732]\n\nThe Septuagint has the following eulogium on the Bee in Prov. vi. 8,\nwhich is not found in the Hebrew Scriptures: \u201cGo to the Bee, and learn\nhow diligent she is, and what a noble work she produces, whose labors\nkings and private men use for their health; she is desired and honored\nby all, and though weak in strength, yet since she values wisdom, she\nprevails.\u201d[733]\n\nIn Spain Bees are in great estimation; and this is evinced by the\nancient proverb:\n\n    Abeja y oveja,\n    Y piedra que traveja,\n    Y pendola trans oreja,\n    Y parte en la Igreja,\n    Desea a su hija, la vieja----\n\nThe best wishes of a Spanish mother to her son are, Bees, sheep,\nmillstones, a pen behind the ear, and a place in the church.[734]\n\nThe following anecdote in the history of the Humble-bee (_Bombus_) is\nfrom the account of Josselyn of his voyages to New England, printed in\n1674: \u201cNear upon twenty years since there lived an old planter near\n_Blackpoint_, who on a Sunshine day about one of the clock lying upon a\ngreen bank not far from his house, charged his Son, a lad of 12 years of\nage, to awaken him when he had slept two hours; the old man falls\nasleep, and lying upon his back gaped with his mouth wide open enough\nfor a Hawke to ---- into it; after a little while the lad sitting by\nspied a Humble-bee creeping out of his Father\u2019s mouth, which taking wing\nflew quite out of sight, the hour as the lad guest being come to awaken\nhis Father, he jagged him and called aloud Father, Father, it is two\no\u2019clock, but all would not rouse him, at last he sees the Humble-bee\nreturning, who lighted upon the sleeper\u2019s lip and walked down as the lad\nconceived into his belly, and presently he awaked.\u201d[735]\n\nThe following, on the different species of Humble-bees, is one of the\npopular rhymes of Scotland:\n\n    The todler-tyke has a very gude byke,\n      And sae has the gairy Bee;\n    But weel\u2019s me on the little red-doup,\n      The best o\u2019 a\u2019 the three.[736]\n\nWhen the Archbishop of St. Andrews was cruelly murdered in 1679, \u201cupon\nthe opening of his tobacco box a living humming bee flew out,\u201d which was\nexplained to be a familiar or devil. A Scottish woman declared that a\nchild was poisoned by its grandmother, who, together with herself, were\n\u201cin the shape of bume-bees,\u201d that the former carried the poison \u201cin her\ncleugh, wings, and mouth.\u201d A great Bee constantly resorted to another\nafter receiving the Satanic mark, and rested on it.[737]\n\nAn anecdote is related by M. Reaumur respecting the thimble-shaped nest,\nformed of leaves, of the Carpenter-bee (_Apis centuncularis_?), which is\na striking instance of the ridiculous superstition which prevails among\nthe uneducated, and which even sometimes has no slight influence on\nthose of better understandings. \u201cIn the beginning of July, 1736, the\nlearned Abb\u00e9 Nollet, then at Paris, was surprised by a visit from an\nauditor of the chamber of accounts, whose estate lay at a distant\nvillage on the borders of the Seine, a few leagues from Rouen. This\ngentleman came accompanied, among other domestics, by a gardener, whose\nface had an air of much concern. He had come to Paris in consequence of\nhaving found in his master\u2019s ground many rows of leaves, unaccountably\ndisposed in a mystical manner, and which he could not but believe were\nthere placed by witchcraft, for the secret destruction of his lord and\nfamily. He had, after recovering from his first consternation, shown\nthem to the curate of the parish, who was inclined to be of a similar\nopinion, and advised him without delay to take a journey to Paris, and\nmake his lord acquainted with the circumstance. This gentleman, though\nnot quite so much alarmed as the honest gardener, could not feel himself\nat perfect ease, and therefore thought it advisable to consult his\nsurgeon upon the business, who, though a man eminent in his profession,\ndeclared himself utterly unacquainted with the nature of what was shown\nhim, but took the liberty of advising that the Abb\u00e9 Nollet, as a\nphilosopher, should be consulted, whose well-known researches in natural\nknowledge might perhaps enable him to elucidate the matter. It was in\nconsequence of this advice that the Abb\u00e9 received the visit above\nmentioned, and had the satisfaction of relieving all parties from their\nembarrassment, by showing them several nests formed on a similar plan by\nother insects, and assuring them that those in their possession were the\nwork of insects also.\u201d[738]\n\nIn an English paper, the Observer, of July 25, 1813, there is an account\nof a \u201cswarm of Bees resting themselves on the inside of a lady\u2019s\nparasol.\u201d They were hived without any serious injury to the lady.\n\nIn the Annual Register, 1767, p. 117, there was published by M. Lippi,\nLicentiate in Physic of the army of Paris, an account of a petrified\nBeehive, discovered on the mountains of Siout, in Upper Egypt. Broken\nopen it disclosed the larv\u00e6 of Bees in the cells, hard and solid, and\nBees themselves dried up like mummies. Honey was also found in the\ncells![739] The account is curious, but not entitled to much credit.\n\nIn the Liverpool Advertiser, and Times, of Nov. 24, 1817, there is a\nlengthy account of three Bees being found in a state of animation in a\nhuge solid rock from the Western Point Quarry. Scientific attention was\nattracted, and as appears from the above-mentioned papers of Dec. 5,\n1817, the mystery was cleared up by discovering in the rock \u201ca sand\nhole\u201d through which the insects had made their way.[740]\n\n\n\n\nORDER VI.\n\nLEPIDOPTERA.\n\n\nPapilionid\u00e6--Butterflies.\n\nThe lepidopterous insects in general, soon after they emerge from the\npupa state, and commonly during their first flight, discharge some drops\nof a red-colored fluid, more or less intense in different species,\nwhich, in some instances, where their numbers have been considerable,\nhave produced the appearance of a \u201cshower of blood,\u201d as this natural\nphenomenon is commonly called.\n\nShowers of blood have been recorded by historians and poets as\npreternatural--have been considered in the light of prodigies, and\nregarded where they have happened as fearful prognostics of impending\nevils.\n\nThere are two passages in Homer, which, however poetical, are applicable\nto a rain of this kind; and among the prodigies which took place after\nthe death of the great dictator, Ovid particularly mentions a shower of\nblood:\n\n    S\u00e6pe faces vis\u00e6 mediis ardere sub astris,\n    S\u00e6pe inter nimbos gutt\u00e6 cecidere cruent\u00e6.\n\n    With threatening signs the lowering skies were fill\u2019d,\n    And sanguine drops from murky clouds distilled.\n\nAmong the numerous prodigies reported by Livy to have happened in the\nyear 214 B.C., it is instanced that, at Mantua, a stagnating piece of\nwater, caused by the overflowing of the River Mincius, appeared as of\nblood; and, in the cattle-market at Rome, a shower of blood fell in the\nIstrian Street. After mentioning several other remarkable phenomena that\nhappened during that year, Livy concludes by saying that these prodigies\nwere expiated, conformably to the answers of the Aruspices, by victims\nof the greater kinds, and supplication was ordered to be performed to\nall the deities who had shrines at Rome.[741] Again it is stated by\nLivy, that many alarming prodigies were seen at Rome in the year 181\nB.C., and others reported from abroad; among which was a shower of\nblood, which fell in the courts of the temples of Vulcan and Concord.\nAfter mentioning that the image of Juno Sospita shed tears, and that a\npestilence broke out in the country, this writer adds, that these\nprodigies, and the mortality which prevailed, alarmed the Senate so\nmuch, that they ordered the consuls to sacrifice to such gods as their\njudgment should direct, victims of the larger kinds, and that the\nDecemvirs should consult their books. Pursuant to their direction, a\nsupplication for one day was proclaimed to be performed at every shrine\nat Rome; and they advised, besides, and the Senate voted, and the consul\nproclaimed, that there should be a supplication and public worship for\nthree days throughout all Italy.[742] In the year 169 B.C., Livy also\nmentions that a shower of blood fell in the middle of the day. The\nDecemvirs were again called upon to consult their books, and again were\nsacrifices offered to the deities.[743] The account, also, of Livy, of\nthe bloody sweat, on some of the statues of the gods, must be referred\nto the same phenomenon; as the predilection of those ages to marvel,\nsays Thomas Brown, and the want of accurate investigation in the cases\nrecorded, as well as the rare occurrence of these atmospherical\ndepositions in our own times, inclines us to include them among the\nblood-red drops deposited by insects.[744]\n\nIn Stow\u2019s Annales of England, we have two accounts of showers of blood;\nand from an edition printed in London in 1592, we make our quotations:\n\u201cRivallus, sonne of Cunedagius, succeeded his father, in whose time (in\nthe year 766 B.C.) it rained bloud 3 dayes: after which tempest ensued a\ngreat multitude of venemous flies, which slew much people, and then a\ngreat mortalitie throughout this lande, caused almost desolation of the\nsame.\u201d[745] The second account is as follows: \u201cIn the time of Brithricus\n(A.D. 786) it rayned blood, which falling on men\u2019s clothes, appeared\nlike crosses.\u201d[746]\n\nHollingshed, Graften, and Fabyan have also recorded these instances in\ntheir respective chronicles of England.[747]\n\nA remarkable instance of bloody rain is introduced into the very\ninteresting Icelandic ghost story of Thorgunna. It appears that in the\nyear of our Lord 1009, a woman called Thorgunna came from the Hebrides\nto Iceland, where she stayed at the house of Thorodd: and during the hay\nseason, a shower of blood fell, but only, singularly, on that portion of\nthe hay she had not piled up as her share, which so appalled her that\nshe betook herself to her bed, and soon afterward died. She left, to\nfinish the story, a remarkable will, which, from not being executed, was\nthe cause of several violent deaths, the appearance of ghosts, and,\nfinally, a legal action of ejectment against the ghosts, which, it need\nhardly be said, drove them effectually away.[748]\n\nIn 1017, a shower of blood fell in Aquitaine;[749] and Sleidan relates\nthat in the year 1553 a vast multitude of Butterflies swarmed through a\ngreat part of Germany, and sprinkled plants, leaves, buildings, clothes,\nand men with bloody drops, as if it had rained blood.[750] We learn also\nfrom Bateman\u2019s Doome, that these \u201cdrops of bloude upon hearbes and\ntrees,\u201d in 1553, were deemed among the forewarnings of the deaths of\nCharles and Philip, dukes of Brunswick.[751]\n\nIn Frankfort, in the year 1296, among other prodigies, some spots of\nblood led to a massacre of the Jews, in which ten thousand of these\nunhappy descendants of Abraham lost their lives.[752]\n\nIn the beginning of July, 1608, an extensive shower of blood took place\nat Aix, in France, which threw the people of that place into the utmost\nconsternation, and, which is a much more important fact, led to the\nfirst satisfactory and philosophical explanation of this phenomenon, but\ntoo late, alas! to save the Jews of Frankfort. This explanation was\ngiven by M. Peiresc, a celebrated philosopher of that place, and is thus\nreferred to by his biographer, Gassendi: \u201cNothing in the whole year 1608\ndid more please him than that he observed and philosophized about, the\n_bloody rain_, which was commonly reported to have fallen about the\nbeginning of July; great drops thereof were plainly to be seen, both in\nthe city itself, upon the walls of the church-yard of the church, which\nis near the city wall, and upon the city walls themselves; also upon the\nwalls of villages, hamlets, and towns, for some miles round about; for\nin the first place, he went himself to see those wherewith the stones\nwere colored, and did what he could to come to speak with those\nhusbandmen, who, beyond Lambesk, were reported to have been affrighted\nat the falling of said rain, that they left their work, and ran as fast\nas their legs could carry them into the adjacent houses. Whereupon, he\nfound that it was a fable that was reported, touching those husbandmen.\nNor was he pleased that naturalists should refer this kind of rain to\nvapours drawn up out of red earth aloft in the air, which congealing\nafterwards into liquor, fall down in this form; because such vapours as\nare drawne aloft by heat, ascend without color, as we may know by the\nalone example of red roses, out of which the vapours that arise by heat\nare congealed into transparent water. He was less pleased with the\ncommon people, and some divines, who judged that it was the work of the\ndevils and witches who had killed innocent young children; for this he\ncounted a mere conjecture, possibly also injurious to the goodness and\nprovidence of God.\n\n\u201cIn the mean while an accident happened, out of which he conceived he\nhad collected the true cause thereof. For, some months before, he shut\nup in a box a certain palmer-worm which he had found, rare for its\nbigness and form; which, when he had forgotten, he heard a buzzing in\nthe box, and when he opened it, found the palmer-worm, having cast its\ncoat, to be turned into a beautiful Butterfly, which presently flew\naway, leaving in the bottom of the box a red drop as broad as an\nordinary sous or shilling; and because this happened about the beginning\nof the same month, and about the same time an incredible multitude of\nButterflies were observed flying in the air, he was therefore of opinion\nthat such kind of Butterflies resting on the walls had there shed such\nlike drops, and of the same bigness. Whereupon, he went the second time,\nand found, by experience, that those drops were not to be found on the\nhouse-tops, nor upon the round sides of the stones which stuck out, as\nit would have happened, if blood had fallen from the sky, but rather\nwhere the stones were somewhat hollowed, and in holes, where such small\ncreatures might shroud and nestle themselves. Moreover, the walls which\nwere so spotted, were not in the middle of towns, but they were such as\nbordered upon the fields, nor were they on the highest parts, but only\nso moderately high as Butterflies are commonly wont to fly.\n\n\u201cThus, therefore, he interpreted that which Gregory of Tours relates,\ntouching a bloody rain seen at Paris in divers places, in the days of\nChildebert, and on a certain house in the territory of Seulis; also that\nwhich is storied, touching raining of blood about the end of June, in\nthe days of King Robert; so that the blood which fell upon flesh,\ngarments, or stones could not be washed out, but that which fell on wood\nmight; for it was the same season of Butterflies, and experience hath\ntaught us, that no water will wash these spots out of the stones, while\nthey are fresh and new. When he had said these and such like things to\nvarious, a great company of auditors being present, it was agreed that\nthey should go together and search out the matter, and as they went up\nand down, here and there, through the fields, they found many drops upon\nstones and rocks; but they were only on the hollow and under parts of\nthe stones, but not upon those which lay most open to the skies.\u201d[753]\n\nThis memorable shower of blood was produced by the _Vanessa urtic\u00e6_, or\n_V. polychloros_, most probably, since these species of Butterflies are\nsaid to have been uncommonly plentiful at the time when, and in the\nparticular district where, the phenomenon was observed.[754][755]\n\nNicoll, in his Diary, p. 8, informs us that on the 28th of May, 1650,\n\u201cthere rained blood the space of three miles in the Earl of Buccleuch\u2019s\nbounds (Scotland), near the English border, which was verefied in\npresence of the Committee of State.\u201d[756]\n\nWe learn from Fountainhall that on Sunday, May 1st, 1687, a young woman\nof noted piety, Janet Fraser by name, the daughter of a weaver in the\nparish of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire, went out to the fields with a young\nfemale companion, and sat down to read the Bible not far from her\nfather\u2019s house. Feeling thirsty, she went to the river-side (the Nith)\nto get a drink, leaving her Bible open at the place where she had been\nreading, which presented the verses of the 34th chapter of Isaiah,\nbeginning--\u201cMy sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come\ndown upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment,\u201d etc. On\nreturning, she found a patch of something like blood covering this very\ntext. In great surprise, she carried the book home, where a young man\ntasted the substance with his tongue, and found it of a saltless or\ninsipid flavor. On the two succeeding Sundays, while the same girl was\nreading the Bible in the open air, similar blotches of matter, like\nblood, fell upon the leaves. She did not perceive it in the act of\nfalling till it was about an inch from the book. \u201cIt is not blood,\u201d our\ninformant adds, \u201cfor it is as tough as glue, and will not be scraped\noff by a knife, as blood will; but it is so like blood, as none can\ndiscern any difference by the colour.\u201d[757]\n\nOn Tuesday, Oct. 9th, 1764, \u201ca kind of rain of a red color, resembling\nblood, fell in many parts of the Duchy of Cleves, which caused great\nconsternation. M. Bouman sent a bottle of it to Dr. Schutte, to know if\nit contained anything pernicious to health. Something of the like kind\nfell also at Rhenen, in the Province of Utrecht.\u201d[758]\n\nDr. Schutte, to whom was submitted a bottle of this red rain, gave it as\nhis opinion that it was caused by particles of red matter, which had\nbeen raised into the atmosphere by a strong wind, and that it was in no\nway hurtful to mankind or beasts![759]\n\nIn 1819, a red shower fell in Carniola, which, being analyzed, says\nBucke, was found to be impregnated with silex, alumine, and oxide of\niron. Red rain fell also at Dixmude, in Flanders, November 2d, 1829; and\non the following day at Schenevingen, the acid obtained from which was\nchloric acid, and the metal cobalt.[760]\n\nIn the year 1780, Rombeag noticed a shower of blood that had excited\nuniversal attention, and which he could satisfactorily show to be\nproduced by the flying forth and casting of bees, as the phenomenon in\nthe place around the beehives themselves was remarkably striking. From\nthis fact it is evident that the appearance is attributable to other\ninsects as well as the lepidoptera.[761]\n\nBloody rain has also been attributed, with much apparent reason, to\nother causes still, as the following accounts from reliable authorities\nshow:\n\nIn 1848, Dr. Eckhard, of Berlin, when attending a case of cholera, found\npotatoes and bread within the house spotted with a red coloring matter,\nwhich, being forwarded to Ehrenberg, was found by him to be due to the\npresence of an animalcule, to which he gave the name of the _Monas\nprodigiosa_. It was found that other pieces of bread could be inoculated\nwith this matter.[762]\n\nSwammerdam relates that, one morning in 1670, great excitement was\ncreated in the Hague by a report that the lakes and ditches about Leyden\nwere turned to blood. Florence Schuyl, the celebrated professor of\nphysic in the University of Leyden, went down to the canals, and taking\nhome a quantity of this blood-colored matter examined it with a\nmicroscope, and found that the water was water still, and had not at all\nchanged its color; but that it was full of small red animals, all alive\nand very nimble in their motions, the color and prodigious numbers of\nwhich gave a reddish tinge to the whole body of the water in which they\nlived. The animals which thus color the water of lakes and ponds are the\n_Pulices arborescentes_ of Swammerdam, or the water fleas with branched\nhorns. These creatures are of a reddish yellow or flame color. They live\nabout the sides of ditches, under weeds, and among the mud; and are\ntherefore the less visible, except at a certain time, which is in the\nmonth of June. It is at this time these little animals leave their\nrecesses to float about the water, and meet for the propagation of their\nspecies; and by this means they become visible in the color which they\ngive to the water. The color in question is visible, more or less, in\none part or other of almost all standing waters at this season; and it\nis always at the same season that the bloody waters have alarmed the\nignorant.[763]\n\nThe prodigy, mentioned by Livy, of a stagnating piece of water at Mantua\nappearing as of blood, was no doubt owing to the appearance of great\nnumbers of the _Pulices arborescentes_ in it.[764]\n\nConcerning the origin of bloody rain, Swammerdam entertained the same\nidea as Peiresc; but he does not appear to have verified it from his\nown observation. He makes the following remarks: \u201cIs it not possible\nthat such red drops might issue from insects, at the time they come\nfresh from the nymphs, which distil a bloody fluid? This seems to happen\nespecially when such insects are more than ordinarily multiplied in any\nparticular year, as we often experience in the butterflies, flies,\ngnats, and others.\u201d[765]\n\nDust is commonly attributed as the cause of this phenomenon, but will\nsatisfactorily explain only a few instances. A writer for Chambers\u2019\nJournal, in an article on showers of red dust, bloody rain, etc., says:\n\u201cIn October, 1846, a fearful and furious hurricane visited Lyon, and the\ndistrict between that city and Grenoble, during which occurred a fall of\nblood-rain. A number of drops were caught and preserved, and when the\nmoisture was evaporated, there was seen the same kind of dust (as fell\nin showers in Genoa in 1846) of a yellowish brown or red color. When\nplaced under the microscope, it exhibited a great proportion of fresh\nwater and marine formations. Phytolytharia were numerous, as also\n\u2018neatly-lobed vegetable scales;\u2019 which, as Ehrenberg observes, is\nsufficient to disprove the assertion that the substance is found in the\natmosphere itself, and is not of European origin. For the first time, a\nliving organism was met with, the \u2018_Eunota amphyoxis_, with its ovaries\ngreen, and therefore capable of life.\u2019 Here was a solution of the\nmystery: the dust, mingling with the drops of water falling from the\nclouds, produced the red rain. Its appearance is that of reddened water,\nand it cannot be called blood-like without exaggeration.\u201d[766]\n\nTo conclude the history of bloody rain, the following is most\nappropriate: In 1841, some negroes, in Wilson County, Tennessee,\nreported that it had rained blood in the tobacco field where they had\nbeen at work; that near noon there was a rattling noise like rain or\nhail, and drops of blood, as they supposed, fell from a red cloud that\nwas flying over. Prof. Troost, of Nashville, was called upon to explain\nthe phenomenon; and, after citing many instances of red rain, red snow,\nand so called showers of blood, he concluded his learned article with\nthis opinion: \u201cA wind might have taken up part of an animal, which was\nin a state of decomposition, and have brought it in contact with an\nelectric cloud, in which it was kept in a state of partial fluidity or\nviscosity. In this case, the cloud which was seen by the negroes, as the\nstate in which the materials were, is accounted for.\u201d\n\nProf. Troost published this profound solution in the forty-first volume\nof Silliman\u2019s Journal; but in the forty-fourth of the same magazine a\nmuch more satisfactory one is given, for it is there stated \u201cthat the\nwhole affair was a hoax devised by the negroes, who pretended to have\nseen the shower for the sake of practicing on the credulity of their\nmasters. They had scattered the decaying flesh of a dead hog over the\ntobacco leaves.\u201d[767]\n\nAnother phenomenon to be particularly noticed in the history of the\nButterflies, is their appearance at certain times in countless numbers\nmigrating from place to place. H. Kapp, a writer in the _Naturforsch_,\nobserved on a calm sunny day a prodigious flight of the\nCabbage-Butterfly, _Pontia brassic\u00e6_, which passed from northeast to\nsouthwest, and lasted two hours.[768] Kalm, the Swedish traveler, saw\nthese last insects midway in the British Channel.[769] Lindley tells us\nthat in Brazil, in the beginning of March, 1803, for many days\nsuccessively there was an immense flight of white and yellow\nButterflies, probably of the same tribe as the _Pontia brassic\u00e6_. They\nwere observed never to settle, but proceeded in a direction from\nnorthwest to southeast. No buildings seemed to stop them from steadily\npursuing their course; which being to the ocean, at only a small\ndistance, they must all have inevitably perished. It is to be remarked\nthat at this time no other kind of Butterfly was to be seen, though the\ncountry usually abounds in such a variety.[770]\n\nA somewhat similar migration of Butterflies was observed in Switzerland\non the 8th or 10th of June, 1828. The facts are as follows: Madame de\nMeuron Wolff and her family, established during the summer in the\ndistrict of Grandson, Canton de Vaud, perceived with surprise an\nimmense flight of Butterflies traversing the garden with great rapidity.\nThey were all of the species called _Belle Dame_ by the French, and by\nthe English the Painted Lady (_Vanessa cardui_, Stephens). They were all\nflying close together in the same direction, from south to north, and\nwere so little afraid when any one approached, that they turned not to\nthe right or to the left. The flight continued for two hours without\ninterruption, and the column was about ten or fifteen feet broad. They\ndid not stop to alight on flowers; but flew onward, low and equally.\nThis fact is the more singular, when it is considered that the larv\u00e6 of\nthe _Vanessa cardui_ are not gregarious, but are solitary from the\nmoment they are hatched; nor are the Butterflies themselves usually\nfound together in numbers. Professor Bonelli, of Turin, however,\nobserved a similar flight of the same species of Butterflies in the end\nof March preceding their appearance at Grandson, when it may be presumed\nthey had just emerged from the pupa state. Their flight, as at Grandson,\nwas from south to north, and their numbers were so immense, that at\nnight the flowers were literally covered with them. As the spring\nadvanced, their numbers diminished; but even in June a few still\ncontinued. A similar flight of Butterflies is recorded about the end of\nthe last century by M. Loche, in the Memoirs of the Turin Academy.\nDuring the whole season, these Butterflies, as well as their larv\u00e6, were\nvery abundant, and more beautiful than usual.[771]\n\nPallas once saw such vast flights of the orange-tipped Butterfly,\n_Pontia cardamines_, in the vicinity of Winofka, that he at first\nmistook them for flakes of snow.[772] At Barbados, some days previous to\nthe hurricane in 1780, the trees and shrubs were entirely covered with a\nspecies of Butterfly of the most beautiful colors, so as to screen from\nthe sight the branches, and even the trunks of the trees. In the\nafternoon before the gale came on, and when it was quite still, they all\nsuddenly disappeared. The gale came on soon after.[773] Darwin tells us\nthat several times, when the \u201cBeagle\u201d had been some miles off the mouth\nof the Plata, and at other times when off the shores of Northern\nPatagonia, the air was filled with insects: that one evening, when the\nship was about ten miles from the Bay of San Blas, vast numbers of\nButterflies, in bands or flocks of countless myriads, extended as far as\nthe eye could range. The seamen cried out \u201cIt was raining Butterflies,\u201d\nand such in fact, continues Darwin, was the appearance. Several species\nwere in this flock, but they were chiefly of a kind very similar to, but\nnot identical with, the common English _Colias edusa_. Some moths and\nhymenopterous insects accompanied the Butterflies; and a fine beetle\n(_Calosoma_) flew on board.[774] Captain Adams mentions an extraordinary\nflight of small Butterflies, with spotted wings, which took place at\nAnnamaboo, on the Guinea coast, after a tornado. The wind veered to the\nnorthward, and blew fresh from the land, with thick mist, which brought\noff from the shore so many of these insects, that for one hour the\natmosphere was so filled with them as to represent a snow-storm driving\npast the vessel at a rapid rate, which was lying at anchor about two\nmiles from the shore.[775]\n\nMr. Charles J. Anderson encountered, in South-western Africa, for two\nconsecutive days, such immense myriads of lemon-colored Butterflies that\nthe sound caused by their wings was such as to resemble \u201cthe distant\nmurmuring of waves on the sea-shore.\u201d They always passed in the same\ndirection as the wind blew, and, as numbers were constantly alighting on\nthe flowers, their appearance at such times was not unlike \u201cthe falling\nof leaves before a gentle autumnal breeze.\u201d[776]\n\nIn Bermuda, October 10, 1847, the Butterfly, _Terias lisa_ of Boisduval,\nsuddenly appeared in great abundance, hundreds being seen in every\ndirection. Previous to that occasion, Mr. Hurdis, the observer of this\nflight, had never met with this Butterfly. In the course of a few days,\nthey had all disappeared.[777]\n\nIn Ceylon, in the months of April and May, migrations of Butterflies\n(mostly the _Callidryas hilari\u00e6_, _C. alcmeone_, and _C. pyranthe_, with\nstraggling individuals of the genus _Eupl\u0153a_, _E. coras_, and _E.\nprothoe_) are quite frequent. Their passage is generally in a\nnortheasterly direction. The flights of these delicate insects appear to\nthe eye of a white or pale yellow hue, and apparently to extend miles in\nbreadth, and of such prodigious length as to occupy hours, and even\ndays, in their uninterrupted passage. A friend of Tennent, traveling\nfrom Kandy to Kornegalle, drove for _nine miles_ through such a cloud of\nwhite Butterflies, which was passing _across_ the road by which he went.\nWhence these immense numbers of Butterflies come no one knows, and\nwhither going no one can tell. But the natives have a superstitious\nbelief that their flight is ultimately directed to Adam\u2019s Peak, and that\ntheir pilgrimage ends on reaching that sacred mountain.[778]\n\nMoufet says: \u201cWert thou as strong as Milo or Hercules, and wert fenced\nor guarded about with an host of giants for force and valour, remember\nthat such an army was put to the worst by an army of Butterflies flying\nin troops in the air, in the year 1104, and they hid the light of the\nsun like a cloud. Licosthenes relates, that on the third day of August,\n1543, that no hearb was left by reason of their multitudes, and they had\ndevoured all the sweet dew and natural moisture, and they had burned up\nthe very grasse that was consumed with their dry dung.\u201d[779]\n\nThe most beautiful as well as pleasing emblem among the Egyptians was\nexhibited under the character of Psyche--the Soul. This was originally\nno other than a Butterfly: but it afterwards was represented as a lovely\nfemale child with the beautiful wings of that insect. The Butterfly,\nafter its first and second stages as an egg and larva, lies for a season\nin a manner dead; and is inclosed in a sort of coffin. In this state it\nremains a shorter or longer period; but at last bursting its bonds, it\ncomes out with new life, and in the most beautiful attire. The Egyptians\nthought this a very proper picture of the soul of man, and of the\nimmortality, to which it aspired. But they made it more particularly an\nemblem of Osiris; who having been confined in an oak or coffin, and in a\nstate of death, at last quitted his prison, and enjoyed a renewal of\nlife.[780] This symbol passed over to the Greeks and Romans, who also\nconsidered the Butterfly as the symbol of Zephyr.[781]\n\nAmong the coats of arms of several of our most celebrated tribes of\nIndians, Baron Lahontan mentions one, that of the \u201cIllinese,\u201d which bore\na beech-leaf with a Butterfly argent.[782]\n\nThe sight of a trio of Butterflies is considered an omen of death.[783]\nAn English superstition.\n\nIf a Butterfly enters a house, a death is sure to follow shortly in the\nfamily occupying it; if it enters through the window, the death will be\nthat of an infant or very young person. As far as I know this\nsuperstition is peculiar to Maryland.\n\nIf a Butterfly alights upon your head, it foretells good news from a\ndistance. This superstition obtains in Pennsylvania and Maryland.\n\nThe first Butterfly seen in the summer brings good luck to him who\ncatches it. This notion prevails in New York.\n\nIn Western Pennsylvania, it is believed that if the chrysalides of\nButterflies be found suspended mostly on the under sides of rails,\nlimbs, etc., as it were to protect them from rain, that there will soon\nbe much rain, or, as it is termed, a \u201crainy spell\u201d; but, on the\ncontrary, if they are found on twigs and slender branches, that the\nweather will be dry and clear.\n\nDu Halde and Grosier tell us that the Butterflies of the mountain of\nLo-few-shan, in the province of Quang-tong, China, are so much esteemed\nfor their size and beauty, that they are sent to court, where they\nbecome a part of certain ornaments in the palaces. The wings of these\nButterflies are very large, and their colors surprisingly diversified\nand lively.[784] Dionysius Kao, a native of China, also remarks, in his\nGeographical Description of that Empire, that the Butterflies of\nQuang-tong are generally sent to the emperor, as they form a part of the\nfurniture of the imperial cabinets.[785]\n\nOsbeck says the Chinese put up insects in boxes made of coarse wood,\nwithout covering, and lined with paper, which they carry round to sell;\neach box bringing half a piastre. Of the Butterflies, which were the\nprincipal insects thus sold, he enumerates twenty-one species.[786]\n\nThe Chinese children make Butterflies of paper, with which \u201cthey play\nafter night by sending them, like kites, into the air.\u201d[787]\n\nWe learn from Captain Stedman, that even in the forests of Guiana, some\npeople make Butterfly-catching their business, and obtain much money by\nit. They collect and arrange them in paper boxes, and send them off to\nthe different cabinets of Europe.[788]\n\nButterflies are now extensively worn by French and American ladies on\ntheir head-dresses.\n\nFrom the relations of Sir Anthony Shirley, quoted in Burton\u2019s Anatomy of\nMelancholy,[789] we learn that the kings of Persia were wont to hawk\nafter Butterflies with sparrows and stares, or starlings, trained for\nthe purpose; and we are also told that M. de Luisnes (afterward Prime\nMinister of France), in the nonage of Louis XIII., gained much upon him\nby making hawks catch little birds, and by making some of those little\nbirds again catch Butterflies.[790]\n\nIn the Zoological Journal, No. 13, it is recorded that at a meeting of\nthe Linn\u00e6an Society, March 11, 1832, Mr. Stevens exhibited a remarkable\nfreak of nature in a specimen of _Vanessa urtica_, which possessed five\nwings, the additional one being formed by a second, but smaller, hinder\nwing on one side.[791]\n\nJ. A. de Mandelsloe, who made a voyage to the East Indies in 1639, tells\nus that not far from the Fort of Ternate grows a certain shrub, called\nby the Indians _Catopa_, from which falls a leaf, which, by degrees, is\nsupposed to be metamorphosed into a Butterfly.[792]\n\nDe Pauw tells us that, not long before his time, the French peasants\nentertained a kind of worship for the chrysalis of the caterpillar found\non the great nettle (the pupa of _Vanessa cardui_?), because they\nfancied that it revealed evident traces of Divinity; and quotes M. Des\nLandes in saying that the curates had even ornamented the altars with\nthese pup\u00e6.[793]\n\nThe Butterfly (Ang. Sax. _Buttor-fleoge_, or _Buter-flege_) is so named\nfrom the common yellow species, or from its appearing in the butter\nseason. Its German names are _Schmetterling_, from _schmetten_, cream;\nand _Molkendieb_, the Whey-thief. The association with milk in its three\nforms, in butter, cream, and whey, is remarkable.\n\nThe African Bushmen eat the caterpillars of Butterflies; and the Natives\nof New Holland eat the caterpillars of a species of Moth, and also a\nkind of Butterfly, which they call _Bugong_, which congregates in\ncertain districts, at particular seasons, in countless myriads. On these\noccasions the native blacks assemble from far and near to collect them;\nand after removing the wings and down by stirring them on the ground,\npreviously heated by a large fire, winnowing them, eat the bodies, or\nstore them up for use, by pounding and smoking them. The bodies of these\nButterflies abound in oil, and taste like nuts. When first eaten, they\nproduce violent vomitings and other debilitating effects; but these go\noff after a few days, and the natives then thrive and fatten exceedingly\non this diet, for which they have to contend with a black crow, which is\nalso attracted by the Butterflies, and which they dispatch with their\nclubs and use also as food.\n\nAnother practice in Australia is to follow up the flight of the\nButterflies, and to light fires at nightfall beneath the trees in which\nthey have settled. The smoke brings the insects down, when their bodies\nare collected and pounded together into a sort of fleshy loaf.[794]\n\nBennet tells us the larva of a Lepidopterous insect (the _Bugong_?)\nthat destroys the green-wattle (_Acacia decurrens_) is much sought\nafter, and considered a delicacy, by the blacks of Australia. These\npeople eat also the pink grubs found in the wattle-trees, either\nroasted or uncooked. Europeans, who have tasted of this dish, say it\nis not disagreeable.[795]\n\nSwammerdam, treating of the metamorphoses of larv\u00e6 into pup\u00e6 and thence\ninto perfect insects, makes the following curious comparison: \u201cThe\nworms, after the manner of the brides in Holland, shut themselves up for\na time, as it were to prepare, and render themselves more amiable, when\nthey are to meet the other sex in the field of Hymen.\u201d[796]\n\n\nSphingid\u00e6--Hawk-moths.\n\nTo the superstitious imaginations of the Europeans, the conspicuous\nmarkings on the back of a large evening moth, the _Sphinx Atropos_,\nrepresent the human skull, with the thigh-bones crossed beneath; hence\nis it called the _Death\u2019s-head Moth_, the _Death\u2019s-head Phantom_, the\n_Wandering Death-bird_, etc. Its cry,[797] which closely resembles the\nnoise caused by the creaking of cork, or the plaintive squeaking of a\nmouse, certainly more than enough to frighten the ignorant and\nsuperstitious, is considered the voice of anguish, the moaning of a\nchild, the signal of grief; and it is regarded \u201cnot as the creation of a\nbenevolent being, but as the device of evil spirits\u201d--spirits, enemies\nto man, conceived and fabricated in the dark; and the very shining of\nits eyes is supposed to represent the fiery element whence it is thought\nto have proceeded. Flying into their apartments in the evening, it at\ntimes extinguishes the light, foretelling war, pestilence, famine, and\ndeath to man. The sudden appearance of these insects, we are informed by\nLatrielle, during a season while the people were suffering from an\nepidemic disease, tended much to confirm the notions of the\nsuperstitious in that district, and the disease was attributed by them\nentirely to their visitation.[798] Jaeger says, at a very recent day,\nthat this large Moth first attracted his \u201cattention during the\nprevalence of a severe and fatal epidemic, and of course nothing more\nwas necessary than its appearance at such a time to induce an ignorant\npeople to believe it the veritable prophet and forerunner of death. A\ncurate in Bretagne, France,\u201d continues this author, \u201cmade a most\nhorrible and fear-exciting description of this animal, describing the\nvery loud and dreadful sound which it emitted as a sort of lamentation\nfor the awful calamity which was coming on the earth.\u201d[799] Reaumur\ninforms us that all the members of a female convent in France were\nthrown into the greatest consternation at the appearance of one of these\ninsects, which happened to fly in during the evening at one of the\nwindows of the dormitory.[800]\n\nIn the Isle of France, the natives believe that the dust (scales) cast\nfrom the wings of the Death\u2019s-head Moth, in flying through an apartment,\nis productive of blindness to the visual organs on which it falls.[801]\n\nThere is a quaint superstition in England that the Death\u2019s-head Moth has\nbeen very common in Whitehall ever since the martyrdom of Charles\nI.[802]\n\nIllustrative of the tough texture of the skin with which many soft larv\u00e6\nare provided for protection, the following may be instanced: Bonnet\nsqueezed under water the caterpillar of the privet Hawk-moth, _Sphinx\nligustris_, till it was as flat and empty as the finger of a glove, yet\nwithin an hour it became plump and lively as if nothing had\nhappened.[803]\n\nThe name Sphinx is applied to this genus of insects from a fancied\nresemblance between the attitude assumed by the larv\u00e6 of several of the\nlarger species, when disturbed, and that of the Egyptian Sphinx.\n\n\nBombicid\u00e6--Silk-worm Moths.\n\nThe notices of the cultivation of the mulberry and the rearing of\nSilk-worms, found in Chinese works, have been industriously collected\nand published by M. Julien, by order of the French government. From his\nwork it appears that credible notices of the culture of the tree and the\nmanufacture of silk are found as far back as B.C. 780; and in referring\nits invention to the Empress Siling, or Yuenfi, wife of the Emperor\nHwangti, B.C. 2602 (Du Halde says 2698), the Chinese have shown their\nbelief of its still higher antiquity. The Shi King contains this\ndistich:\n\n    The legitimate wife of Hwangti, named Siling Shi,\n        began to rear Silk-worms:\n    At this period Hwangti invented the art of making clothing.\n\nDu Halde says this invention raised the Empress to the rank of a\ndivinity, under the title of Spirit of the Silk-worm, and of the\nMulberry-tree.[804]\n\nThe Book of Rites contains a notice of the festival held in honor of\nthis art, which corresponds to that of plowing by the emperor. \u201cIn the\nlast month of spring, the young empress purified herself and offered\nsacrifice to the goddess of Silk-worms. She went into the eastern fields\nand collected mulberry-leaves. She forbade noble dames and the ladies of\nstatesmen adorning themselves, and excused her attendants from their\nsewing and embroidery, in order that they might give all their care to\nthe rearing of Silk-worms.\u201d[805]\n\nThe manufacture of silk has been known in India from time immemorial,\nit being mentioned in the oldest Sanscrit books.[806] It is the opinion\nof modern writers, however, that the culture of the Silk-worm passed\nfrom China into India, thence through Persia, and then, after the lapse\nof several centuries, into Europe. But long before this, wrought silk\nhad been introduced into Greece from Persia. This was effected by the\narmy of Alexander the Great, about the year 323 before Christ.\n\nThe Greeks fabled silk to have first been woven in the Island of Cos by\nPamphila, the daughter of Plateos.[807] Of its true origin they were, in\na great measure, ignorant, but seem to have been positive that it was\nthe work of an insect. Pausanias thus describes the animal and its\nculture: \u201cBut the thread, from which the Ceres (an Ethiopian race) make\ngarments, is not produced from a tree, but is procured by the following\nmethod: A worm is found in their country which the Greeks call _Seer_,\nbut the Ceres themselves, by a different name. This worm is twice as\nlarge as a beetle, and, in other respects, resembles spiders which weave\nunder trees. It has, likewise, eight feet as well as the spider. The\nCeres rear these insects in houses adapted for this purpose both to\nsummer and winter. What these insects produce is a slender thread, which\nis rolled round their feet. They feed them for four years on oatmeal;\nand on the fifth (for they do not live beyond five years) they give them\na green reed to feed on: for this is the sweetest of all food to this\ninsect. It feeds, therefore, on this till it bursts through fullness,\nand dies: after which, they draw from its bowels a great quantity of\nthread.\u201d[808]\n\nAristotle seems to have had a much clearer idea of the origin of silk,\nfor he says it was unwound from the _pupa_ (he does not expressly say\nthe _pupa_, but this we must suppose) of a large horned\ncaterpillar.[809] The _larva_ he means could not, however, be the common\nSilk-worm, since it is rather small and without horns.\n\nPliny, who, most probably, obtained the most of his ideas from Pausanias\nand Aristotle, was of opinion that silk was the produce of a worm which\nbuilt clay-nests and collected wax. At first these worms, he says,\nassume the appearance of small butterflies with naked bodies, but soon\nafter, being unable to endure the cold, they throw out bristly hairs,\nwhich assume quite a thick coat against the winter, by rubbing off the\ndown that covers the leaves, by the aid of the roughness of their feet.\nThis they compress into balls by carding it with their claws, and then\ndraw it out and hang it between the branches of the trees, making it\nfine by combing it out, as it were: last of all, they take and roll it\nround their body, thus forming a nest in which they are enveloped. It is\nin this state that they are taken; after which they are placed in\nearthen vessels in a warm place, and fed upon bran. A peculiar sort of\ndown soon shoots forth upon the body, on being clothed with which they\nare sent to work upon another task.[810]\n\nThe first kinds of silk dresses worn by the Roman ladies were from the\nIsland of Cos, and, as Pliny says, were known by the name of _Co\u00e6\nvestes_.[811] These dresses, of which Pliny says in such high praise,\n\u201cthat while they cover a woman, they at the same time reveal her\ncharms,\u201d were indeed so fine as to be transparent, and were sometimes\ndyed purple, and enriched with stripes of gold. They had their name from\nthe early reputation which Cos acquired by its manufacture of silk. But\nsilk was a very scarce article among the Romans for many ages, and so\nhighly prized as to be valued at its weight in gold. Vospicius informs\nus that the Emperor Aurelian, who died A.D. 125, refused his empress a\nrobe of silk, which she earnestly solicited, merely on account of its\ndearness. Galen, who lived about A.D. 173, speaks of the rarity of silk,\nbeing nowhere then but at Rome, and there only among the rich.\nHeliogabalus is said to have been the first Roman that wore a garment\nentirely of silk.\n\nWe learn from Tacitus, that early in the reign of Tiberius, about A.D.\n17, the Senate enacted \u201cthat men should not defile themselves by wearing\ngarments of silk.\u201d[812] Pliny says, however, that in his time men had\nbecome so degenerate as to not even feel ashamed to wear garments of\nthis material.[813]\n\nThe mode of producing and manufacturing silk was not known to Europe\nuntil long after the Christian era, being first learned about the year\n555 by two Persian monks, who, under the encouragement of the Emperor\nJustinian, procured in India the eggs of the Silk-worm Moth, with which,\nconcealing them in hollow canes, they hastened to Constantinople. They\nalso brought with them instructions for hatching the eggs, rearing and\nfeeding the worms, and drawing, spinning, and working the silk.[814]\n\nFrom Constantinople, the culture of the Silk-worm spread over Greece, so\nthat in less than five centuries that portion of this country, hitherto\ncalled the Peloponnesus, changed its denomination into that of Morea,\nfrom the immense plantations of the _Morus alba_, or white\nmulberry.[815] Large manufactories were set up at Athens, Thebes, and\nCorinth. The Venetians, soon after this, commencing a commerce with the\nGrecians, supplied all the western parts of Europe with silks for many\ncenturies. Several kinds of modern silk manufactures, such as damasks,\nvelvets, satins, etc., were as yet unknown.\n\nAbout the year 1130, Roger II., King of Sicily, having conquered the\nPeloponnesus, transported the Silk-worms and such as cultivated them to\nPalermo and to Calabria. Such was the success of the speculation in\nCalabria, that it is doubtful whether, even at the present moment, it\ndoes not produce more silk than the whole of the rest of Italy.[816]\n\nBy degrees the rest of Italy, as well as Spain, learned from the\nSicilians and Calabrians the management of Silk-worms and the working of\nsilk; and at length, during the wars of Charles VIII., in 1499, the\nFrench acquired it, by right of neighborhood, and soon large plantations\nof the mulberry were raised in Provence. Henry I. is reported to have\nbeen the first French king who wore silk stockings. The invention,\nhowever, originally came from Spain, whence silk stockings were brought\nover to England to Henry VIII. and Edward VI.\n\nIt is stated, that at the celebration of the marriage between Margaret,\ndaughter of Henry III., and Alexander III. of Scotland, in the year\n1251, a most extravagant display of magnificence was made by one\nthousand English knights appearing in suits of silk. It appears also by\nthe 33d of Henry VI., cap. 5, that there was a company of silk-women in\nEngland as early as the year 1455; but these were probably employed\nrather in embroidering and making small haberdasheries, than in the\nbroad manufacture, which was not introduced till the year 1620.\n\nSir Thomas Gresham, in a letter to Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth\u2019s great\nminister, dated Antwerp, April 30th, 1560, says: \u201cI have written into\nSpain for silk hose both for you and my lady, your wife, to whom, it may\nplease you, I may be remembered.\u201d These silk hose, of a black color,\nwere accordingly soon after sent by Gresham to Cecil.[817]\n\nHose were, in England, up to the time of Henry VIII., made out of\nordinary cloth: the King\u2019s own were formed of yard-wide taffata. It was\nonly by chance that he might obtain a pair of silk hose from Spain. His\nson, Edward VI., received as a present from Sir Thomas Gresham--Stow\nspeaks of it as a great present--\u201ca pair of long Spanish silk\nstockings.\u201d For some years longer, silk stockings continued to be a\ngreat rarity. \u201cIn the second year of Queen Elizabeth,\u201d says Stow, \u201cher\nsilk-woman, Mistress Montague, presented her Majesty with a pair of\nblack knit-silk stockings for a New-Year\u2019s gift; the which, after a few\ndays\u2019 wearing, pleased her Highness so well, that she sent for Mistress\nMontague, and asked her where she had them, and if she could help her to\nany more; who answered, saying, \u2018I made them very carefully, of purpose\nonly for your Majesty, and, seeing these please you so well, I will\npresently set more in hand.\u2019 \u2018Do so,\u2019 quoth the Queen, \u2018for indeed I\nlike silk stockings so well, because they are pleasant, fine, and\ndelicate, that henceforth I will wear no more cloth stockings.\u2019 And\nfrom that time to her death the Queen never wore cloth hose, but only\nsilk stockings.\u201d[818]\n\nJames I., while King of Scotland, is said to have once written to the\nEarl of Mar, one of his friends, to borrow a pair of silk stockings, in\norder to appear with becoming dignity before the English Ambassador;\nconcluding his letter with these words: \u201cFor ye would not, sure, that\nyour King should appear like a scrub before strangers.\u201d This shows the\ngreat rarity of silk articles at that period in Scotland.\n\nIn 1629, the manufacture of silk was become so considerable in London,\nthat the silk throwsters of the city and parts adjacent were\nincorporated; and in 1661, this company employed above forty thousand\npersons. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, contributed in\na great degree to promote the manufacture of this article; and the\ninvention of the silk-throwing machine at Derby, in 1719, added so much\nto the reputation of English manufactures, that even in Italy, according\nto Keysler, the English silks bore a higher price than the Italian.[819]\n\nRev. Stephen Olin tells us that the Mohammedans of Arabia will not allow\nstrangers to look into their cocooneries, on account of their\nsuperstitious fear of the evil eye, of the influence of which the\nSilk-worms are thought to be peculiarly susceptible.[820]\n\nThe silk of the nests of the social caterpillar of the _Bombyx Madrona_,\nwas an object of commerce in Mexico in the time of Montecusuma; and the\nancient Mexicans pasted together the interior layers, which may be\nwritten upon without preparation, to form a white, glossy pasteboard.\nHandkerchiefs are still manufactured of it in the Intendency of\nOaxaca.[821]\n\nA complete nest of these Silk-worms, called in Brazil _sustillo_, was\nsent by the Academy of Sciences and Natural History to the King of\nSpain. The naturalist, Don Antonio Pineda, sent also a piece of this\nnatural silk paper, measuring a yard and a half, of an elliptical shape,\nwhich, however, is peculiar to them all.[822]\n\nThe Chinese fix on rings with threads the females of two species of\nwild _Bombyx_, whose caterpillars produce silk, and place these insects\non a tree, or on some body situated in the open air, to allow the males,\nguided by their scent, to visit them.[823]\n\n\u201cThe manner of the Chinese is,\u201d we read in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims, \u201cin the\nSpring time to revive the Silke-worms (that lye dead all the Winter) by\nlaying them in the warme sunne, and (to hasten their quickening, that\nthey may sooner goe to worke) to put them into bagges, and so hang them\nunder their childrens armes.\u201d[824]\n\nIn China, the pup\u00e6 of the Silk-worms after the silk is wound off, and\nthe larv\u00e6 of a species of Sphinx-moth, furnish articles for the table,\nand are considered delicacies.[825] The natives of Madagascar, who eat\nall kinds of insects, consider also Silk-worms a great luxury.[826]\n\nAldrovandus states that the German soldiers sometimes fry and eat\nSilk-worms.[827]\n\nDr. James says: \u201cSilk-worms dried, and reduced to a powder, are, by\nsome, applied to the crown of the head for removing vertigos and\nconvulsions. The silk, and case or coat, are of a due temperament\nbetween heat and cold, and corroborate and recruit the vital, natural,\nand animal spirits.\u201d[828] The cocoons are also the basis of Goddard\u2019s\n_Drops_, and enter into several other compositions, such as the\n_Confectio de Hyacintho_, when made in the best manner.[829]\n\nWith respect to the coloring of silk, we find in \u201cTse\u00ebn Tse Wan,\u201d or\nthousand character classic, a work that has been a school-book in China\nfor the last 1200 years, that an ancient sage by the name of Mih, seeing\nthe white silk colored, wept on account of its original purity being\ndestroyed.[830]\n\nSome of the eggs of a wild species of Silk-worm being sent overland from\nChina to Paris, proved a source of considerable anxiety to different\nparties who received them during the transit, the instructions on the\nbox, instead of simply stating that it contained the eggs of the _wild_\nSilk-worm Moth, was couched in the following manner by the French savant\nwho forwarded them: \u201cMust be kept far from the engines; this box\ncontains _savage_ worms.\u201d[831]\n\nAbout twenty-five years ago, during a mania for rearing Silk-worms, to\nmeet the demand for the eggs of these insects, fish-spawn was\ndistributed throughout the country. The humbug was quite as successful\nas it was curious.\n\nIt has been said that the search after the \u201cGolden Fleece\u201d may be\nascribed to the desire to obtain silk.[832]\n\nAs a protection against rifle-balls, the Chinese, who were engaged in\nthe rebellion of 1853, state that they wore dresses thickly padded with\nfloss silk; they said that while the ball had a twist in it, revolving\nin its course, it caught up the silk and fastened itself in the garment.\nOne man declared that he took out six so caught, in one day, after a\nsevere fight. They said the dress was of more use within a hundred yards\nthan at long range, when the ball had lost its revolving motion.[833]\n\nVaucanson, the inventor of the famous \u201cautomaton duck,\u201d to revenge\nhimself upon the silk-weavers of Lyons, who had stoned him because he\nattempted to simplify the ordinary loom, is said to have invented a loom\non which a donkey worked silken cloth.[834]\n\nThe following curious Welsh epigram on the Silk-worm is composed\nentirely of vowels, and can be recited without closing or moving lips or\nteeth:\n\n            O\u2019i wiw wy i \u00ea \u00e2, a\u2019i weuaw\n            O\u2019i wyau y weua;\n            E\u2019 weua ei w\u00ee aia\u2019,\n            A\u2019i weuau yw ieuau i\u00e2.\n\n    I perish by my art; dig mine own grave;\n    I spin the thread of life; my death I weave.[835]\n\n\nArctiid\u00e6--Wooly-bear Moths.\n\nIn 1783, the larv\u00e6 of the Moth, _Arctia chrysorrh\u0153a_, were so\ndestructive in the neighborhood of London that subscriptions were opened\nto employ the poor in cutting off and collecting the webs; and it is\nasserted that not less than eighty bushels were collected and burnt in\none day in the parish of Clapham. And even in some places prayers were\noffered up in the churches to avert the calamities of which they were\nsupposed by the ignorant to be the forerunner.[836]\n\nIf a caterpillar spins its cocoon in a house, it foretells its\ndesolation by death; if in your clothes, it warns you you will wear a\nshroud before the year is out. This superstition obtains in the Middle\nStates, Virginia, and Maryland.\n\nIf Moths, flying in a candle, put it out, it forebodes a calamity\namounting to almost death. This superstition is pretty general.\n\nWhy Moths fly in a candle: Kempfer tells us, there is found in Japan an\ninsect, which, by reason of its incomparable beauty, is kept by the\nJapanese ladies among the curiosities of their toilets. He calls it a\nNight-fly, and describes it as being \u201cabout a finger long, slender,\nround-bodied, with four wings, two of which are transparent and hid\nunder a pair of others, which are shining as it were polished, and most\ncuriously adorned with blue and golden lines and spots.\u201d The following\nlittle fable, which accounts so beautifully for the flying of Moths in a\ncandle, owes its origin to the unparalleled beauty of this insect, and\nis well worthy of being preserved: The Japanese say that all other\nNight-flies (Moths, etc.) fall in love with this particular one, who, to\nget rid of their importunities, maliciously bids them, under the\npretense of trying their constancy, to go and bring to her fire. And the\nblind lovers, scrupling not to obey her command, fly to the nearest fire\nor candle, in which they never fail to burn themselves to death.[837]\n\nThe following verses, embodying the above fable (except in several minor\nparticulars) are from the pen of Mrs. A. L. Ruter Dufour:\n\n    One summer night, says a legend old,\n      A Moth a Firefly sought to woo:\n    \u201cOh, wed me, I pray, thou bright star-child,\n      To win thee there\u2019s nothing I\u2019d dare not do.\u201d\n\n    \u201cIf thou art sincere,\u201d the Firefly cried,\n      \u201cGo--bring me a light that will equal my own;\n    Not until then will I deign be thy bride;\u201d--\n      Undaunted the Moth heard her mocking tone.\n\n    Afar he beheld a brilliant torch,\n      Forward he dashed, on rapid wing,\n    Into the light to bear it hence;--\n      When he fell a scorched and blighted thing.--\n\n    Still ever the Moths in hope to win,\n      Unheeding the lesson, the gay Firefly,\n    Dash, reckless, the dazzling torch within,\n      And, vainly striving, fall and die!\n\n                  WASHINGTON, D. C., June 24, 1864.\n\nMoufet says: \u201cOur North, as well as our West countrymen, call it (the\nMoth, _Phalaina_) _Saule_, _i.e._ _Psychen, Animam_, the soul; because\nsome silly people in old time did fancy that the souls of the dead did\nfly about in the night seeking light.\u201d[838] \u201cPliny commends a goat\u2019s\nliver to drive them away, yet he shews not the means to use it.\u201d[839]\n\nOne of the most highly prized curiosities in the collection of Horace\nWalpole, was the silver bell with which the popes used to curse the\ncaterpillars. This bell was the work of Benvenuto Cellini, one of the\nmost extraordinary men of his extraordinary age, and the relievos on it\nrepresenting caterpillars, butterflies, and other insects, are said to\nhave been wonderfully executed.[840]\n\nIn Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims, we read of worms being sprinkled with holy water\nto kill them.[841]\n\nApuleius says, that if you take the caterpillars from another garden,\nand boil them in water with anethum, and let them cool, and besprinkle\nthe herbs, you will destroy the existing caterpillars.[842]\n\nPliny says, that \u201cif a woman having a catamenia strips herself naked,\nand walks round a field of wheat, the caterpillars, worms, beetles, and\nother vermin, will fall off the ears of the grain!\u201d This important\ndiscovery, according to Metrodurus of Scepsos, was first made in\nCappadocia; where, in consequence of such multitudes of \u201cCantharides\u201d\nbeing found to breed there, it was the practice for women to walk\nthrough the middle of the fields with their garments tucked up above the\nthighs.[843] Columella[844] has described this practice in verse, and\n\u00c6lian[845] also mentions it. Pliny says further that in other places,\nagain, it is the usage of women to go barefoot, with the hair disheveled\nand the girdle loose: due precaution, however, he seriously observes,\nmust be taken that this is not done at sunrise, for if so the crop will\nwither and dry up.[846] Apuleius,[847] Columella,[848] and\nPalladius[849] relate the same story. Constantinus, likewise, whose\nverses, as translated in Moufet\u2019s Theater of Insects, are as follows:\n\n    But if against this plague no art prevail,\n    The Trojan arts will do\u2019t, when others fail.\n    A woman barefoot with her hair untied,\n    And naked breasts must walk as if she cried,\n    And after Venus\u2019 sports she must surround\n    Ten times, the garden beds and orchard ground.\n    When she hath done, \u2019tis wonderful to see,\n    The caterpillars fall off from the tree,\n    As fast as drops of rain, when with a crook,\n    For acorns or apples the tree is shook.[850]\n\nThis remarkable superstitious remedy for destroying caterpillars was\nfrequently practiced by the Indians of America. Schoolcraft, treating of\nthe peculiar superstitions connected with the menstrual lodge of these\npeople, says:\n\n\u201cThis superstition does not alone exert a malign influence, or spell, on\nthe human species. Its ominous power, or charm, is equally effective on\nthe animate creation, at least on those species which are known to\ndepredate on their little fields and gardens. To cast a protective spell\naround these, and secure the fields against vermin, insects, the\nsciurus, and other species, as well as to protect the crops against\nblight, the mother of the family chooses a suitable hour at night, when\nthe children are at rest and the sky is overcast, and having completely\ndivested herself of her garments, trails her _machecota_ behind her, and\nperforms the circuit of the little field.\u201d[851]\n\nThe fat of bears, says Topsel, \u201csome use superstitiously beaten with\noil, wherewith they anoynt their grape-sickles when they go to vintage,\nperswading themselves that if nobody know thereof, their tender\nvine-branches shall never be consumed by caterpillars. Others attribute\nthis to the vertue of bears\u2019 blood.\u201d[852]\n\nNicander used \u201ca caterpillar to procure sleep: for so he writes; and\nHieremias Martius thus translates him:\n\n    Stamp but with oyl those worms that eat the leaves,\n      Whose backs are painted with a greenish hue,\n    Anoint your body with \u2019t, and whilst that cleaves,\n      You shall with gentle sleep bid cares adieu.\u201d[853]\n\nOf a caterpillar that feeds upon cabbage leaves, the _Eruca officinalis_\nof Schroder, Dr. James says: \u201cBruised, or a powder of them, raise a\nblister like cantharides, and take off the skin. Moufet says, they will\ncause the teeth to fall out of their sockets, and Hippocrates writes,\nthat they are good for a Quinsey.\u201d[854]\n\n\nPsychid\u00e6--Wood-carrying Moth, etc.\n\nThe larv\u00e6 of the Wood-carrying Moth (of the genus _Oiketicus_, or\n_Eumeta_, Wlk.) of Ceylon, surround themselves with cases made of stems\nof leaves, and thorns or pieces of twigs bound together by threads,\ntill the whole resembles a miniature Roman fasces; in fact, an African\nspecies of these insects has obtained the name of \u201cLictor.\u201d The Germans\nhave denominated the group _Sacktr\u00e4ger_, and the Singhalese call them\nDarra-kattea or \u201cbillets of fire-wood,\u201d and regard the inmates, Tennent\nsays, as human beings, who, as a punishment for stealing wood in some\nformer state of existence, have been condemned to undergo a\nmetempsychosis under the form of these insects.[855]\n\n\nNoctuid\u00e6--Antler-moth, Cut-worm, etc.\n\nThe Antler-moth, _Noctua graminis_, Linn., has been particularly\nobserved in Sweden, Norway, Northern Germany, and even in Greenland,\nwhere it does great mischief to grass-plots and meadows. It is recorded\nto have done very great injury in the eastern mountains of Georgenthal,\nas well as at T\u00f6plitz in Bohemia, where larv\u00e6 were in such large numbers\nthat in four days and a half 200 men found 23 bushels of them, or\n4,500,000 in the 60 bushels of mould which they examined. In Germany it\nseems to be confined to high and dry districts, and it never appears\nthere in wet meadows, but its devastations are sometimes most extensive,\nas happened in the Hartz territory in 1816 and \u201917, when whole hills\nthat in the evening were clad in the finest green, were brown and bare\nthe following morning; and such vast numbers of the caterpillars were\nthere that the ruts of the roads leading to the hills were full of them,\nand the roads being covered with them were even rendered slippery and\ndirty by their being crushed in some places.[856]\n\nThe notorious astrologer, William Lilly, alluding to the comet which\nappeared in 1677, says: \u201cAll comets signify wars, terrors, and strange\nevents in the world;\u201d and gives the following curious explanation of the\nprophetic nature of these bodies: \u201cThe spirits, well knowing what\naccidents shall come to pass, do form a star or comet, and give it what\nfigure or shape they please, and cause its motion through the air, that\npeople might behold it, and thence draw a signification of its events.\u201d\nFurther, a comet appearing in the Taurus portends \u201cmortality to the\ngreater part of cattle, as horses, oxen, cows, etc.,\u201d and also\n\u201cprodigious shipwrecks, damage in fisheries, monstrous floods, and\ndestruction of fruit by caterpillars and other vermin.\u201d[857]\n\nJosselyn, in the account of his voyage to New England, printed in London\nin 1674, has the following relation of an insect which is doubtless a\nspecies of _Agrotis_, probably the _Agrotis telifera_: \u201cThere is also\n(in New England) a dark dunnish Worm or Bug of the bigness of an\nOaten-straw, and an inch long, that in the Spring lye at the Root of\nCorn and Garden plants all day, and in the night creep out and devour\nthem; these in some years destroy abundance of _Indian_ Corn and Garden\nplants, and they have but one way to be rid of them, which the _English_\nhave learned of the Indians; And because it is somewhat strange, I shall\ntell you how it is, they go out into a field or garden with a\nBirchen-dish, and spudling the earth about the roots, for they lye not\ndeep, they gather their dish full which may contain a quart or three\npints, then they carrie the dish to the Sea-side when it is ebbing water\nand set it a swimming, the water carrieth the dish into the Sea, and\nwithin a day or two you go into your field you may look your eyes out\nsooner than find any of them.\u201d[858]\n\nThe Army-worm (larva of _Leucania unipunctata_ of Haworth), during this\nour great rebellion, is thought, by many persons in Western\nPennsylvania, to prognosticate the success or defeat of our armies by\nthe direction it travels. If toward the North, the South will be\nvictorious; and if toward the South, the North will conquer. An old\ngentleman, who believes that a frog\u2019s foot drawn in chalk above the door\nwill keep away witches, tells me this worm invariably travels southward.\n\nThis larva was noticed but a few years before the war began, and then\nappearing, as it were, in armies, it was called the Army-worm. The\nsuperstitious omen from it has followed not preceded the name.\n\nLindenbrog, in his Codex Legum Antiquarum, cum Glossario, fol. Francof.\n1613, mentions the following superstition: \u201cThe peasants, in many places\nin Germany, at the feast of St. John, bind a rope around a stake drawn\nfrom a hedge, and drive it hither and thither, till it catches fire.\nThis they carefully feed with stubble and dry wood heaped together, and\nthey spread the collected ashes over their potherbs, confiding in vain\nsuperstition, that by this means they can drive away Canker-worms. They\ntherefore call this Nodfeur, q. _necessary fire_.\u201d\n\nThese fires were condemned as sacrilegious, not as if it had been\nthought that there was anything unlawful in kindling a fire in this\nmanner, but because it was kindled with a superstitious design. They\nare, however, Du Cange says, still kindled in France, on the eve of St.\nJohn\u2019s day.[859]\n\n\nGeometrid\u00e6--Span-worms.\n\nThe Measuring-worm, crawling on your clothes, is thought to foretell a\nnew suit; on your hands, a pair of gloves, etc.\n\n\nTineid\u00e6--Clothes\u2019-moth, Bee-moth, etc.\n\nIn Newton\u2019s Journal of the Arts for December, 1827, there is the\nfollowing mention of a new kind of cloth fabricated by insects: The\nlarv\u00e6 of the Moth, _Tinea punctata_, or _T. padilla_, have been directed\nby M. Habenstreet, of Munich, so as to work on a paper model suspended\nfrom a ceiling of a room. To this model he can give any form and\ndimensions, and he has thus been enabled to obtain square shawls, an air\nballoon four feet high, and a woman\u2019s complete robe, with the sleeves,\nbut without seams. One or two larv\u00e6 can weave a square inch of cloth. A\ngreat number are, of course, employed, and their motions are interdicted\nfrom the parts of the model not to be covered, by oiling them. The cloth\nexceeds in fineness the lightest gauze, and has been worn as a robe\nover her court dress by the Queen of Bavaria.[860]\n\nAuthors are of opinion that the ancients possessed some secret for\npreserving garments from the Moth, _Tinia tapetzella_. We are told the\nrobes of Servius Tullius were found in perfect preservation at the death\nof Sejanus, an interval of more than five hundred years. Pliny gives as\na precaution \u201cto lay garments on a coffin;\u201d others recommend\n\u201ccantharides hung up in a house, or wrapping them in a lion\u2019s\nskin\u201d--\u201cthe poor little insects,\u201d says Reaumur, \u201cbeing probably placed\nin bodily fear of this terrible animal.\u201d[861]\n\nMoufet says: \u201cThey that sell woollen clothes use to wrap up the skin of\na bird called the king\u2019s-fisher among them, or else hang one in the\nshop, as a thing by a secret antipathy that Moths cannot endure.\u201d[862]\n\nAmong the various contrivances resorted to as a safeguard against the\nBee-moth, _Galleria cereana_, Fabricius, perhaps the most ingenious is\nthat, mentioned by Langstroth, of \u201cgoverning the entrances of all the\nhives by a long lever-like _hen-roost_, so that they may be regularly\nclosed by the crowing and cackling tribe when they go to bed at night,\nand opened again when they fly from their perch to greet the merry\nmorn.\u201d[863]\n\nAn intelligent man informed Langstroth that he paid ten dollars to a\n\u201cBee-quack\u201d professing to have an infallible secret for protecting Bees\nagainst the Moth; and, after the quack had departed with his money,\nlearned that the secret consisted in \u201calways keeping strong\nstocks.\u201d[864]\n\n\n\n\nORDER VII.\n\nHOMOPTERA.\n\n\nCicadid\u00e6--Harvest-flies.\n\nThe Cicadas, _C. plebeja_, Linn., called by the ancient Greeks, (by\nwhom, as well as by the Chinese, they were kept in cages for the sake of\ntheir song,) _Tettix_, seem to have been the favorites of every Grecian\nbard, from Homer and Hesiod to Anacreon and Theocritus. Supposed to be\nperfectly harmless, and to live only upon dew, they were addressed by\nthe most endearing epithets, and were regarded as almost divine. Thus\nsings the muse of Anacreon:\n\n    Happy creature! what below\n    Can more happy live than thou?\n    Seated on thy leafy throne,\n    Summer weaves thy verdant crown.\n    Sipping o\u2019er the pearly lawn,\n    The fragrant nectar of the dawn,\n    Little tales thou lov\u2019st to sing,\n    Tales of mirth--an insect king.\n    Thine the treasures of the field,\n    All thy own the seasons yield;\n    Nature paints thee for the year,\n    Songster to the shepherds dear;\n    Innocent, of placid fame,\n    What of man can boast the same?\n    Thine the loudest voice of praise,\n    Harbinger of fruitful days;\n    Darling of the tuneful nine,\n    Ph\u0153bus is thy sire divine;\n    Ph\u0153bus to thy note has given\n    Music from the spheres of heaven;\n    Happy most as first of earth,\n    All thy hours are peace and mirth;\n    Cares nor pains to thee belong,\n    Thou alone art ever young.\n    Thine the pure immortal vein,\n    Blood nor flesh thy life sustain;\n    Rich in spirits--health thy feast,\n    Thou art a demi-god at least.\n\nBut the old witticism, attributed to the incorrigible Rhodian\nsensualist, Xenarchus, gives quite a different reason to account for the\nsupposed happiness of these insects:\n\n    Happy the Cicadas\u2019 lives,\n    Since they all have voiceless wives![865]\n\nPlutarch, reasoning upon that singular Pythagorean precept which forbid\nthe wife to admit swallows in the house, remarks: \u201cConsider, and see\nwhether the swallow be not odious and impious ... because she feedeth\nupon flesh, and, besides, killeth and devoureth especially grasshoppers\n(Cicadas), which are sacred and musical.\u201d[866]\n\nThe Athenians were so attached to the Cicadas, that their elders were\naccustomed to fasten golden images of them in their hair. Thucidides\nincidentally remarks that this custom ceased but a little before his\ntime. He adds, also, that the fashion prevailed, too, for a long time\nwith the elders of the Ionians, from their affinity to the\nAthenians.[867]\n\nThis singular form, for their ornamental combs, seems to have been\nadopted originally from the predilection of the Athenians for whatever\nbore any affinity to themselves, who boasted of being autochthones or\naboriginal. It is sung of the Athenians:\n\n    Blithe race! whose mantles were bedeck\u2019d\n    With golden grasshoppers, in sign that they\n    Had sprung, like those bright creatures, from the soil\n    Whereon their endless generations dwelt.\n\nMr. Michell supposes the Athenians to have imitated in this instance\ntheir prototypes, the Egyptians; for as they, he adds, wore their\nfavorite symbol, the Scarab\u00e6us, in this manner, so Attic pride set up a\nrival in the head-dress thus introduced by Cecrops and his\nfollowers.[868]\n\nFrom a very ancient writer,[869] we have similar ornaments ascribed to\nthe Samians. They also most probably derived this fashion from the early\nAthenians.[870]\n\nIt seems, from the following lines of Asius,[871] that Cicadas were also\nworn as ornaments on dresses:\n\n    Clad in magnificent robes, whose snow-white folds\n    Reach\u2019d to the ground of the extensive earth,\n    And golden knobs on them like grasshoppers.\n\nThe sound of the Cicada and that of the harp were called by the Greeks\nby one and the same name; and a Cicada sitting upon a harp was the usual\nemblem of the science of music. This was accounted for by the following\nvery pleasing and elegant tale: Two rival musicians, Eunomis of Locris\nand Aristo of Rhegium, when alternately playing upon the harp, the\nformer was so unfortunate as to break a string of his instrument, and by\nwhich accident would certainly have lost the prize, when a Cicada,\nflying to him and sitting upon his harp, supplied the place of the\nbroken string with its melodious voice, and so secured to him an easy\nvictory over his antagonist.[872]\n\nTo excel the Cicada in singing was the highest commendation of a singer,\nand the music of Plato\u2019s eloquence was only comparable to the voice of\nthis insect. Homer compared his good orators to the Cicad\u00e6, \u201cwhich, in\nthe woods, sitting on a tree, send forth a delicate voice.\u201d[873] But\nVirgil speaks of them as insects of a disagreeable and stridulous tone,\nand accuses them of bursting the very shrubs with their noise,--\n\n    Et cantu querul\u00e6 rumpent arbusta Cicad\u00e6.[874]\n\nMoufet says: \u201cThe Cicad\u00e6, abounding in the end of spring, do foretel a\nsickly year to come, not that they are the cause of putrefaction in\nthemselves, but only shew plenty of putrid matter to be, when there is\nsuch store of them appear. Oftentimes their coming and singing doth\nportend the happy state of things: so also says Theocritus. Niphus saith\nthat what year but few of them are to be seen, they presage dearness of\nvictuals, and scarcity of all things else....\n\n\u201cThe Egyptians, by a Cicada painted, understood a priest and an holy\nman; the latter makers of hieroglyphics sometimes will have them to\nsignifie musicians, sometimes pratlers or talkative companions, but very\nfondly. How ever the matter be, the Cicada hath sung very well of\nherself, in my judgement, in this following distich:\n\n    Although I am an insect very small,\n    Yet with great virtue am endow\u2019d withall.\u201d[875]\n\nSir G. Staunton, in his account of China, remarks: \u201cThe shops of\nHai-tien, in addition to necessaries, abounded in toys and trifles,\ncalculated to amuse the rich and idle of both sexes, even to cages\ncontaining insects, such as the noisy Cicada, and a large species of the\nGryllus.\u201d[876]\n\nS. Wells Williams tells us that the Chinese boys often capture the male\nCicada of their country, and tie a straw around the abdomen, so as to\nirritate the sounding apparatus, and carry it through the streets in\nthis predicament, to the great annoyance of every one, for the\nstridulous sound of this insect is of deafening loudness.[877]\n\nWhen in Quincy, Illinois, in the summer of 1864, I was shown by a boy a\ntoy, which he called a \u201cLocust,\u201d with which he imitated the loud\nrattling noise of the _Cicada septemdecim_ with great accuracy. It\nconsisted of a horse-hair tied to the end of a short stick, and looped\nin a cap of stiff writing-paper placed over the hole of a spool. To make\nthe sound, then, the toy was whirled rapidly through the air, when the\nstiff paper acted as a sounding-board to the vibrating hair.\n\nAt Surinam, Madame Merian tells us, the noise of the _Cicada tibicen_ is\nstill supposed to resemble the sound of a harp or lyre, and hence called\nthe _Lierman_--the harper.[878] Another species, in Ceylon, which makes\nthe forest re-echo with a long-sustained noise so curiously resembling\nthat of a cutler\u2019s wheel, has acquired the highly appropriate name of\nthe _Knife-grinder_.[879]\n\nIt is said of our _Cicada septemdecim_, the so-called, but very\nimproperly, \u201cSeventeen-year Locust,\u201d that, when they first leave the\nearth, when they are plump and full of juices, they have been made use\nof in the manufacture of soap.\n\nThe larva of a Chinese species of Cicada, the _Flata limbata_, which\nscarcely exceeds the domestic fly in size, forms a sort of grease, which\nadheres to the branches of trees and hardens into wax. In autumn the\nnatives scrape this substance, which they call _Pela_, from off the\ntrees, melt, purify, and form it into cakes. It is white and glossy in\nappearance, and, when mixed with oil, is used to make candles, and is\nsaid to be superior to the common wax for use. The physicians employ it\nin several diseases; and the Chinese, as we are informed by the Abbe\nGrosier, when they are about to speak in public, or when any occasion is\nlikely to occur on which it may be necessary to have assurance and\nresolution, eat an ounce of it to prevent swoonings or palpitations of\nthe heart.[880]\n\nOn the large cheese-like cakes of this wax, hanging in the grocers\u2019 and\ntallow-chandlers\u2019 shops at Hankow, are often seen the inscription\nwritten: \u201cIt mocks at the frost, and rivals the snow.\u201d The price, in\n1858, was forty dollars a picul, or about fifteen pence a pound.[881]\n\nThe Greeks, notwithstanding their veneration for the Cicada, made these\ninsects an article of food, and accounted them delicious. Aristotle\nsays, the larva, when it is grown in the earth, and become a\ntettigometra (pupa), is the sweetest; when changed to the tettix, the\nmales at first have the best flavor, but after impregnation the females\nare preferred, on account of their white ova.[882] Athen\u00e6us and\nAristophanes also mention their being eaten; and \u00c6lian is extremely\nangry with the men of his age that an animal sacred to the Muses should\nbe strung, sold, and greedily devoured.[883] The _Cicada septemdecim_,\nMr. Collinson in 1763 said, was eaten by the Indians of America, who\nplucked off the wings and boiled them.[884]\n\nOsbeck tells us that the _Cicada chinensis_, along with the _Buprestis\nmaxima_, and several species of Butterflies, is made an article of\ncommerce by the Chinese, being sold in their shops.[885]\n\n\nFulgorid\u00e6--Lantern-flies.\n\nThe Lantern-fly, _Fulgora lanternaria_ of Linn\u00e6us, found in many parts\nof South America, is supposed to emit a vivid light from the large hood,\nor lantern, which projects from its body, and to be frequently\nserviceable to benighted travelers; hence the specific name,\n_lanternaria_. This story originated about a century and a half ago,\nfrom the work of the celebrated Madame Merian, who lived several years\nin Surinam. Her account contains the following anecdote: \u201cThe Indians\nonce brought me, before I knew that they shone by night, a number of\nthese Lantern-flies, which I shut up in a wooden box. In the night they\nmade such a noise that I awoke in a fright, and ordered a light to be\nbrought; not knowing whence the noise proceeded. As soon as we found\nthat it came from the box, we opened it; but were still much more\nalarmed, and let it fall to the ground, in a fright at seeing a flame of\nfire come out of it; and as so many animals as came out, so many flames\nof fire appeared. When we found this to be the case, we recovered from\nour fright, and again collected the insects, highly admiring their\nsplendid appearance.\u201d[886]\n\nDr. Darwin, in a note to some lines relative to luminous insects, in his\npoem, the Loves of the Plants, makes Madame Merian affirm that she drew\nand finished her figure of the insect by its own light. This story is\nwithout foundation.\n\nThe Indians of South America say and believe that the Lyerman, _Cicada\ntibicen_, is changed into the Lantern-fly; and that the latter emits a\nlight similar to that of a lantern.[887]\n\nThis story of the Lantern-fly being luminous is the more remarkable\nsince the veracity of its author is unimpeached. She doubtless has\nconfounded it with the _Cucujus_, _Elater noctilucus_. Donovan, however,\nstates that the Chinese Lantern-fly, _Fulgora candelaria_, has an\nilluminated appearance in the night.[888]\n\nFrom the loud noise the Lantern-fly makes at night, which is said to be\nsomewhat between the grating of a razor-grinder and the clang of\ncymbals, it is called by the Dutch, in Guiana, _Scare-sleep_.[889]\nLigon, in his History of Barbados, printed in 1673, probably refers to\nthis insect, when he says: \u201cThey lye all day in holes and hollow trees,\nand as soon as the Sun is down they begin their tunes, which are neither\nsinging nor crying, but the shrillest voyces that ever I heard; nothing\ncan be so nearly resembled to it, as the mouths of a pack of small\nbeagles at a distance.\u201d This author, however, thought this sound by no\nmeans unpleasant. \u201cSo lively and chirping,\u201d he continues, \u201cthe noise is,\nas nothing can be more delightful to the ears, if there were not too\nmuch of it, for the musick hath no intermission till morning, and then\nall is husht.\u201d[890]\n\n\nAphid\u00e6--Plant-lice.\n\nThe Aphides are remarkable for secreting a sweet, viscid fluid, known by\nthe name of Honey-dew, the origin of which has puzzled the world for\nages. Pliny says \u201cit is either a certaine sweat of the skie, or some\nunctuous gellie proceeding from the starres, or rather a liquid purged\nfrom the aire when it purifyeth itself.\u201d[891]\n\nAmyntas, in his Stations of Asia, quoted by Athen\u00e6us, gives a curious\naccount of the manner of collecting this article, which was supposed to\nbe superior to the nectar of the Bee, in various parts of the East,\nparticularly in Syria. In some cases they gathered the leaves of trees,\nchiefly of the linden and oak, for on these the dew was most abundantly\nfound,[892] and pressed them together. Others allowed it to drop from\nthe leaves and harden into globules, which, when desirous of using, they\nbroke, and, having poured water on them in wooden bowls, drank the\nmixture. In the neighborhood of Mount Lebanon, Honey-dew was collected\nplentifully several times in the year, being caught by spreading skins\nunder the trees, and shaking into them the liquid from the leaves. The\nDew was then poured into vessels, and stored away for future use. On\nthese occasions the peasants used to exclaim, \u201cZeus has been raining\nhoney!\u201d[893]\n\nIn the Treasvrie of Avncient and Moderne Times, we read: \u201c_Galen_ saith,\nthat there fell such great quantity of this Dew (in his time) in his\nCountrey of _Pergamus_, that the Countrey people (greatly delighted\ntherein) gave thankes therefor to _Iupiter_. _\u00c6lianus_ writeth also that\nthere fell such plenty thereof in _India_, in the Region which is called\n_Prasia_, and so moistened the Grasse, that the Sheepe, Kine, and Goates\nfeeding thereon, yeelded Milke sweete like Hony, which was very pleasing\nto drinke. And when they used that Milke in any disease, they needed not\nto put any Hony therein, to the end it should not corrupt in the\nstomacke: as it is appointed in Hecticke Feauers, Consumption,\nTisickes, and for others that are ulcered in the intestines, as is\nconfirmed by the Histories of _Portugall_.\u201d[894]\n\nThe Aphides, like many other insects, sometimes migrate in clouds; and\namong other instances on record of these migrations, Mr. White informs\nus that about three o\u2019clock in the afternoon of the first of August,\n1785, the people of the village of Selborne were surprised by a shower\nof Aphides which fell in those parts. Persons who walked in the street\nat this time found themselves covered with them, and they settled in\nsuch numbers in the gardens and on the hedges as to blacken every leaf.\nMr. White\u2019s annuals were thus all discolored with them, and the stalks\nof a bed of onions were quite coated over for six days afterward. These\nswarms, he remarks, were then no doubt in a state of emigration, and\nmight have come from the great hop-plantations of Kent and Sussex, the\nwind being all that day in the east. They were observed at the same time\nin great clouds about Farnham, and all along the vale from Farnham to\nAlton.[895] A similar emigration of these insects Mr. Kirby once\nwitnessed, to his great annoyance, when traveling later in the year in\nthe Isle of Ely. The air was so full of them, that they were incessantly\nflying into his eyes and nostrils, and his clothes were covered by them;\nand in 1814, in the autumn, the Aphides were so abundant for a few days\nin the vicinity of Ipswich, as to be noticed with surprise by the most\nincurious observers.[896] Neither Mr. White nor Mr. Kirby informs us\nwhat particular species formed these immense flights, but it is most\nprobable they belonged to the Hop-fly, _Aphis humuli_.\n\nReaumur tells us that in the Levant, Persia, and China, they use the\ngalls of a particular species of _Aphis_ for dyeing silk crimson.[897]\n\nIn England, the mischief caused by the Hop-fly, _Aphis humuli_, in some\nseasons, as in 1802, has brought the duty of hops down from \u00a3100,000 to\n\u00a314,000.\n\nA quite common, though erroneous, belief in England is, that Aphides are\nproduced, or brought by, a northern or eastern wind. Thomson has fallen\ninto the error; he has also confounded the mischief of caterpillars with\nthat of the Aphis:\n\n    For oft, engendered by the hazy north,\n    Myriads on myriads insect armies warp,\n    Keen in the poison\u2019d breeze, and wasteful eat\n    Through buds and bark into the blackened core\n    Their eager way. A feeble race! Yet oft\n    The sacred sons of vengeance, on whose course\n    Corrosive famine waits, and kills the year.\n\n\nCoccid\u00e6--Shield-lice.\n\nThe Kermes-dye, or scarlet, made from the _Coccus ilicis_ of Linn\u00e6us, an\ninsect found chiefly on a species of oak, the _Quercus ilex_, in the\nLevant, France, Spain, and other parts of the world, was known in the\nEast in the earliest ages, even before the time of Moses, and was a\ndiscovery of the Ph\u0153nicians in Palestine, who also first employed the\nmurex and buccinum for the purpose of dyeing.\n\n_Tola_ or _Thola_ was the ancient Ph\u0153nician name for this insect and\ndye, which was used by the Hebrews, and even by the Syrians; for it is\nemployed by the Syrian translator.[898] Among the Jews, after their\ncaptivity, the Aram\u00e6an _zehori_ was more common. This dye was known also\nto the Egyptians in the time of Moses; and it is most probable that the\ncolor mentioned in Exodus[899] as one of the three which were prescribed\nfor the curtains of the tabernacle, and for the \u201choly garments\u201d of\nAaron, and which the English translators have rendered by the word\n_scarlet_ (not the color now so called, which was not known in James the\nFirst\u2019s reign when the Bible was translated), was no other than the\nblood-red color dyed from the _Coccus ilicis_.\n\nThe Arabs received the name _Kermes_ or _Alkermes_ for the insect and\ndye, from Armenia and Persia, where the insect was indigenous, and had\nlong been known; and that name banished the old name in the East, as the\nname scarlet has in the West. For the first part of this assertion we\nmust believe the Arabs. The Kermes, however, were not indigenous to\nArabia, as the Arabs appear to have no name for them. To the Greeks this\ndye was known under the name of _Coccus_, as appears from Dioscorides,\nand other Greek writers.[900]\n\nFrom the epithets _kermes_ and _coccus_, and that of _vermiculus_ or\n_vermiculum_, given to the Kermes in the middle ages, when they were\nascertained to be insects, have sprung the Latin _coccineus_, the French\n_carmesin_, _carmine_, _cramoisi_ and _vermeil_, the Italian _chermisi_,\n_cremisino_, and _chermesino_, and our _crimson_ and _vermilion_.\n\nThe imperishable reds of the Brussels and other Flemish tapestries were\nderived from the Kermes; and, in short, previous to the discovery of\ncochineal, this was the material universally used for dyeing the most\nbrilliant red then known. At the present time the Kermes are only\ngathered in Europe by the peasantry of the provinces in which they are\nfound, but they still continue to be employed as of old in a great part\nof India and Persia.[901]\n\nBrookes says the women gather the harvest of Kermes insects before\nsunrise, tearing them off with their nails; and, for fear there should\nbe any loss from the hatching of the insects, they sprinkle them with\nvinegar. They then lay them in the sun to dry, where they acquire a red\ncolor.[902]\n\nThe scarlet grain of Poland, _Coccus polonicus_, found on the German\nknot-grass or perennial knawel (_Scleranthus perennis_), was at one time\ncollected in large quantities in the Ukraine and other provinces of\nPoland (here under the name of _Czerwiec_), and also in the great duchy\nof Lithuania. But though much esteemed and still employed by the Turks\nand Armenians for dyeing wool, silk, and hair, as well as for staining\nthe nails of women\u2019s fingers, it is now rarely used in Europe except by\nthe Polish peasantry. A similar neglect has attended the Coccus found on\nthe roots of the Burnet (_Poterium sanguisorba_, Linn.), which was used,\nparticularly by the Moors, for dyeing wool and silk a rose color; and\nthe _Coccus uv\u00e6-ursi_, which with alum affords a crimson dye.[903]\n\nCochineal, the _Coccus cacti_, is doubtless the most valuable product\nfor which the dyer is indebted to insects, and with the exception\nperhaps of indigo, the most important of dyeing materials. It is found\non a kind of fig, called in Mexico, where the insect is produced in any\nquantity, Nopal or Tuna, which generally has been supposed to be the\n_Cactus cochinilifer_, but according to Humboldt is unquestionably a\ndistinct species, which bears fruit internally white.\n\nCochineal was discovered by the Spaniards, on their first arrival in\nMexico, about the year 1518; but who first remarked this valuable\nproduction, and made it known in Europe, Mr. Beckman says, he has been\nunable to discover. Some assert that the native Mexicans, before the\nlanding of Cortes, were acquainted with cochineal, which they employed\nin painting their houses and dyeing their clothes; but others maintain\nthe contrary. Be that as it may, however, the Spanish ministry, as early\nas the year 1523, as Herrera informs us, ordered Cortes to take measures\nfor multiplying this valuable commodity; and soon after it must have\nbegun to be quite an object of commerce, for Guicciardini, who died in\n1589, mentions it among the articles procured then by the merchants of\nAntwerp from Spain.\n\nProfessor Beckman, who has given the subject particular attention,\nthinks that with the first cochineal, a true account of the manner in\nwhich it was procured must have reached Europe, and become publicly\nknown. Acosta in 1530, and Herrera in 1601, as well as Hernandez and\nothers, gave so true and complete a description of it, that the\nEuropeans could entertain no doubt respecting its origin. The\ninformation of these authors, however, continues this gentleman, was\neither overlooked or considered as false, and disputes arose whether\ncochineal was insects or worms, or the berries or seeds of certain\nplants. The Spanish name _grana_, confounded with _granum_, may have\ngiven rise to this contest.\n\nIllustrative of this great difference of opinion, Mr. Beckman narrates\nthe following anecdote: \u201cA Dutchman, named Melchior de Ruusscher,\naffirmed in a society, from oral information he had received in Spain,\nthat cochineal was small animals. Another person, whose name he has not\nmade known, maintained the contrary with so much heat and violence, that\nthe dispute at length ended in a bet. Ruusscher charged a Spaniard, one\nof his friends, who was going to Mexico, to procure for him in that\ncountry authentic proofs of what he had asserted. These proofs, legally\nconfirmed in October, 1725, by the court of justice in the city of\nAntiquera, in the valley of Oaxaca, arrived at Amsterdam in the autumn\nof the year 1726. I have been informed that Ruusscher upon this got\npossession of the sum betted, which amounted to the whole property of\nthe loser; but that, after keeping it a certain time, he again returned\nit, deducting only the expenses he had been at in procuring the\nevidence, and in causing it to be published. It formed a small octavo\nvolume, with the following title printed in red letters: _The History of\nCochineal proved by Authentic documents_. These proofs sent from\nNew-Spain are written in Dutch, French, and Spanish.\u201d[904]\n\nAmong the important discoveries made by accident, the following in the\nhistory of Cochineal may be instanced: \u201cThe well-known Cornelius\nDrebbel, who was born at Alcmaar, and died at London in 1634, having\nplaced in his window an extract of Cochineal, made with boiling water,\nfor the purpose of filling a thermometer, some aqua-regia dropped into\nit from a phial, broken by accident, which stood above it, and converted\nthe purple dye into a most beautiful dark red. After some conjectures\nand experiments, he discovered that the tin by which the window frame\nwas divided into squares had been dissolved by the aqua-regia, and was\nthe cause of this change. He communicated his observation to Kuffelar,\nan ingenious dyer at Leyden. The latter brought the discovery to\nperfection, and employed it some years alone in his dye-house, which\ngave rise to the name of Kuffelar\u2019s color.\u201d[905]\n\nThat innocent cosmetic, so much used by the ladies, and commonly known\nby the French term Rouge, is no other than a preparation of\nCochineal.[906]\n\nKermes-berries, _Coccus ilicis_, and Cochineal, _C. cacti_, Geoffroy\nsays, \u201care esteemed to be greatly cordial and sudorific, being very full\nof volatile salt. They are given also to prevent abortion from any\nstrain or hurt.\u201d[907]\n\n_Lac_ is the produce of an insect supposed by Amatus Lusitanus to be a\nkind of ant, and by others a bee, but now ascertained to be a species\nbelonging to the Coccid\u00e6--the _Coccus ficus_ or _C. lacca_. It is\ncollected from various trees in India, where it is found so abundantly,\nthat, were the consumption ten times greater than it is, it could be\nreadily supplied.\n\nLac is known in Europe by the different appellations of _stick-lac_,\nwhen in its natural state, adhering to, and often completely\nsurrounding, for five or six inches, the twigs on which it is produced\nby the insects contained in its cells; _seed-lac_, when broken into\nsmall pieces, garbled, and the greater part of the coloring matter\nextracted by water; when it appears in a granulated form; _lump-lac_,\nwhen melted and made into cakes; and _shell-lac_, when strained and\nformed into transparent lamin\u00e6.\n\nLac, in its different forms, is made use of in the manufacture of\nvarnishes, japanned ware, sealing-wax, beads, rings, arm-bracelets,\nnecklaces, water-proof hats, etc., etc. Mixed with fine sand it forms\ngrindstones; and added to lamp or ivory black, being first dissolved in\nwater with the addition of a little borax, it composes an ink not easily\nacted upon by dampness or water. It has been applied also to a still\nmore important purpose, originally suggested by Dr. Roxburgh about the\nyear 1790--that of a substitute for Cochineal in dyeing scarlet.[908]\nFrom this suggestion, under the direction of Dr. Bancroft, large\nquantities of a substance termed _lac-lake_, consisting of the coloring\nmatter of stick-lac precipitated from an alkaline lixivium by alum, were\nmanufactured at Calcutta and sent to England, where at first the\nconsumption was so great, that, according to the statement of Dr.\nBancroft, in 1806, and the two following years, the sales of it at the\nIndia House equaled in point of coloring matter half a million of\npounds\u2019 weight of Cochineal. Soon after this, a new preparation of lac\ncolor, under the name of _lac-dye_, was substituted for the lac-lake,\nand with such advantage, that in a few months \u00a314,000 were saved by the\nEast India Company in the purchase of scarlet cloths dyed with this\ncolor and Cochineal conjointly, and without any inferiority in the color\nobtained.[909]\n\nThe Coccid\u00e6, although they furnish an invaluable dye and many articles\nof commerce, are among the most hurtful of insects in gardens and\nhot-houses. In 1843, the orange-trees of the Azores or Western Islands\nwere nearly entirely destroyed by the _Coccus Hesperidum_; and in Fayal,\nan island which had usually exported twelve thousand chests of oranges\nannually, not one was exported.[910]\n\n\n\n\nORDER VIII.\n\nHETEROPTERA.\n\n\nCimicid\u00e6--Bed-bugs.\n\n\u201cIn the year 1503,\u201d says Moufet, \u201cDr. Penny was called in great haste to\na little village, called Mortlake, near the Thames, to visit two noble\nladies (_duas nobiles_), who were much frightened by the appearance of\nbug-bites (_ex cinicum vestigiis_), and were in fear of I know not what\ncontagion; but when the matter was known, and the insects caught, he\nlaughed them out of all fear.\u201d[911]\n\nThis fact disproves the statement of Southall, that the _Cimex\nlectularius_ was not known in England before 1670, and that of Linn\u00e6us,\nand the generality of later writers, that this insect is not originally\na native of Europe, but was introduced into England after the great fire\nof London in 1666, having been brought in timber from America.\n\nThe original English names of the _C. lectularius_, were _Chinche_,\n_Wall-louse_, and _Punaise_ (from the French); and the term _Bug_, which\nis a Celtic word, signifying a ghost or goblin, was applied to them\nafter the time of Ray,[912] most probably because they were considered\nas \u201cterrors of the night.\u201d[913]\n\nIn the Nicholson\u2019s Journal[914] there is mention of a man who, far from\ndisliking Bed-bugs, took them under his protecting care, and would never\nsuffer them to be disturbed, or his bedsteads removed, till in the end\nthey swarmed to an incredible degree, crawling up even the walls of his\ndrawing-room; and after his death millions were found in his bed and\nchamber furniture.\n\nGemelli, in 1695, visited the Banian hospital at Surat, and says that\nwhat amazed him most, though he went there for that express purpose, was\nto see \u201ca poor wretch, naked, bound down hands and feet, to feed the\nBugs or Punaises, brought out of their stinking holes for that\npurpose.\u201d[915]\n\nMr. Forbes, speaking of this remarkable institution for animals, says:\n\u201cAt my visit, the hospital contained horses, mules, oxen, sheep, goats,\nmonkeys, poultry, pigeons, and a variety of birds. The most\nextraordinary ward was that appropriated to rats and mice, Bugs, and\nother noxious vermin. The overseers of the hospital frequently hire\nbeggars from the streets, for a stipulated sum, to pass a night among\nthe Fleas, Lice, and Bugs, on the express condition of suffering them to\nenjoy their feast without molestation.\u201d[916]\n\nNavarette says that a species of Bugs (most probably a _Cimex_), which\nswarm in some parts of China, are a source of great amusement to the\nnatives; for they take particular delight in killing them with their\nfingers, and then clapping them to their noses.[917]\n\nDemocritus says that the feet of a hare, or of a stag, hung round the\nfeet of the bed at the bottom of the couch, does not suffer Bugs to\nbreed; but, in traveling, Didymus adds, if you fill a vessel with cold\nwater and set it under the bed, they will not touch you when you are\nasleep.[918]\n\nA superstition prevails among us that beds, in order to rid them\neffectually of Bugs, must be cleaned during the dark of the moon.\n\nThe medicinal virtues of the Cimex are given by Pliny (doubtless quoting\nDioscorides, ii. 36) as follows: \u201cThe Bug is said to be a neutralizer of\nthe venom of serpents, asps in particular, and to be a preservative\nagainst all kinds of poisons. As a proof of this, they tell us that the\nsting of an asp is never fatal to poultry, if they have eaten Bugs that\nday; and that, if such is the case, their flesh is remarkably\nbeneficial to persons who have been stung by serpents. Of the various\nrecipes given in reference to these insects, the least revolting are the\napplication of them externally to the wound, with the blood of a\ntortoise; the employment of them as a fumigation to make leeches loose\ntheir hold; and the administering of them to animals in drink when a\nleech has been accidentally swallowed. Some persons, however, go so far\nas to crush Bugs with salt and woman\u2019s milk, and anoint the eyes with\nthe mixture; in combination, too, with honey and oil of roses, they use\nthem as an injection for the ears. Field-bugs, again, and those found\nupon the mallow (perhaps the _Cimex pratensis_ is meant here; neither\nthis nor the _Cimex juniperinus_, the _C. brassic\u00e6_, or the _Lyg\u00e6us\nhyoscami_, has the offensive smell of the _C. lectularius_) are burnt,\nand the ashes mixed with oil of roses as an injection for the ears.\n\n\u201cAs to the other remedial virtues attributed to Bugs for the cure of\nvomiting, quartan fevers, and other diseases, although we find\nrecommendations given to swallow them in an egg, some wax, or in a\nbean,[919] I look upon them as utterly unfounded, and not worthy of\nfurther notice. They are employed, however, for the treatment of\nlethargy, and with some fair reason, as they successfully neutralize the\nnarcotic effects of the poison of the asp; for this purpose seven of\nthem are administered in a cyathus of water; but in the case of\nchildren, only four. In cases, too, of strangury they have been injected\ninto the urinary channel.[920] So true it is that nature, that universal\nparent, has engendered nothing without some powerful reason or other. In\naddition to these particulars, a couple of Bugs, it is said, attached to\nthe left arm in some wool that has been stolen from the shepherds, will\neffectually cure nocturnal fevers; while those recurrent in the daytime\nmay be treated with equal success by inclosing the Bugs in a piece of\nrusset-colored cloth.\u201d[921]\n\nGuettard, a French commentator on Pliny, recommends Bugs to be taken\ninternally for hysteria; and Dr. James says \u201cthe smell of them relieves\nunder hysterical suffocations!\u201d[922]\n\nAt the present time the Bed-bug is sometimes given by the country people\nof Ohio as a cure for the fever and ague.\n\nMoufet says: \u201cThe verses of Quintus Serenus show that they are good for\ntertian agues:\n\n    Shame not to drink three Wall-lice mixt with wine,\n      And garlick bruised together at noon-day.\n    Moreover a bruised Wall-louse with an egg, repine\n      Not for to take, \u2019tis loathsome, yet full good I say.\n\n\u201cGesner in his writings confirms this experiment, having made trial of\nit among the common and meaner sort of people in the country. The\nancients gave seven to those that were taken with a lethargy, in a cup\nof water, and four to children. Pliny and Serenus consent to this in\nthese verses:\n\n    Some men prescribe seven Wall-lice for to drink,\n    Mingled with water, and one cup they think\n    Is better than with drowsy death to sink.\u201d[923]\n\nAnatolius says that if an ox, or other quadruped, swallows a leech in\ndrinking, having pounded some Bugs, let the animal smell them, and he\nimmediately throws up the leech.[924]\n\nMr. Mayhew, in his work on the London poor and their labor, has an\ninteresting chapter devoted to the Destroyers of Vermin, from which we\nhave taken the liberty of quoting pretty largely in the course of this\nwork. His statements can be relied on, and we give them as nearly in his\nown words as possible. Concerning Bugs and Fleas, and the trade carried\non in the manufacture and vending of poisons to destroy these pests, we\nlearn from him: The vending of bug-poison in the London streets is\nseldom followed as a regular source of living. He has met with persons\nwho remembered to have seen men selling packets of vermin poison; but to\nfind out the venders themselves was next to an impossibility. The men\nseem to take merely to the business as a living when all other sources\nhave failed. All, however, agree in acknowledging that there is such a\nstreet trade; but that the living it affords is so precarious that few\nmen stop at it longer than two or three weeks.\n\nThe most eminent firm, perhaps, of the bug-destroyers in London now is\nthat of Messrs. Tiffin and Son. They have pursued their calling in the\nstreets, but now rejoice in the title of \u201cBug-Destroyers to Her Majesty\nand the Royal Family.\u201d\n\nMr. Tiffin, the senior party in this house, kindly obliged Mr. Mayhew\nwith the following statement. It may be as well to say that Mr. Tiffin\nappears to have paid much attention to the subject of Bugs, and has\nstudied with much earnestness the natural history of this vermin. He\nsaid:\n\n\u201cWe can trace our business back as far as 1695, when one of our\nancestors first turned his attention to the destruction of bugs. He was\na lady\u2019s stay-maker--men used to make them in those days, though, as far\nback as that is concerned, it was a man that made my mother\u2019s dresses.\nThis ancestor found some bugs in his house--a young colony of them, that\nhad introduced themselves without his permission, and he didn\u2019t like\ntheir company, so he tried to turn them out of doors again, I have heard\nit said, in various ways. It is in history, and it has been handed down\nin my own family as well, that bugs were first introduced into England,\nafter the fire in London, in the timber that was brought for the\nrebuilding of the city, thirty years after the fire, and it was about\nthat time that my ancestor first discovered the colony of bugs in his\nhouse. I can\u2019t say whether he studied the subject of bug-destroying, or\nwhether he found out his stuff by accident, but he certainly _did_\ninvent a compound which completely destroyed the bugs, and, having been\nso successful in his own house, he named it to some of his customers who\nwere similarly plagued, and that was the commencement of the present\nconnection, which has continued up to this time.\n\n\u201cAt the time of the illumination for the Peace, I thought I must have\nsomething over my shop, that would be both suitable for the event and to\nmy business; so I had a transparency done, and stretched on a big frame,\nand lit up by gas, on which was written\n\n    MAY THE\n    DESTROYERS OF PEACE\n    BE DESTROYED BY US.\n    TIFFIN & SON,\n    BUG-DESTROYERS TO HER MAJESTY.\n\n\u201cOur business was formerly carried on in the Strand, where both my\nfather and myself were born; in fact, I may say I was born to the bug\nbusiness.\n\n\u201cI remember my father as well as possible; indeed, I worked with him for\nten or eleven years. He used, when I was a boy, to go out to his work\nkilling bugs at his customers\u2019 houses with a sword by his side and a\ncocked-hat and bag-wig on his head--in fact, dressed up like a regular\ndandy. I remember my grandmother, too, when she was in the business,\ngoing to the different houses, and seating herself in a chair, and\ntelling the men what they were to do, to clean the furniture and wash\nthe woodwork.\n\n\u201cI have customers in our books for whom our house has worked these 150\nyears; that is, my father and self have worked for them and their\nfathers. We do the work by contract, examining the house every year.\nIt\u2019s a precaution to keep the place comfortable. You see, servants are\napt to bring bugs in their boxes; and, though there may be only two or\nthree bugs perhaps hidden in the woodwork and the clothes, yet they soon\nbreed if let alone.\n\n\u201cWe generally go in the spring, before the bugs lay their eggs; or, if\nthat time passes, it ought to be done before June, before their eggs are\nhatched, though it\u2019s never too late to get rid of a nuisance.\n\n\u201cI mostly find the bugs in the bedsteads. But, if they are left\nunmolested, they get numerous and climb to the tops of the rooms, and\nabout the corners of the ceilings. They colonize anywhere they can,\nthough they\u2019re very high-minded and prefer lofty places. Where iron\nbedsteads are used, the bugs are more in the _rooms_, and that\u2019s why\nsuch things are bad. They don\u2019t keep a bug away from a person sleeping.\nBugs\u2019ll come if they\u2019re thirty yards off.\n\n\u201cI knew a case of a bug who used to come every night about thirty or\nforty feet--it was an immense large room--from the corner of the room\nto visit an old lady. There was only one bug, and he\u2019d been there for a\nlong time. I was sent for to find him out. It took me a long time to\ncatch him. In that instance I had to examine every part of the room, and\nwhen I got him I gave him an extra nip to serve him out. The reason why\nI was so bothered was, the bug had hidden itself near the window, the\nlast place I should have thought of looking for him, for a bug never, by\nchoice, faces the light; but when I came to inquire about it, I found\nthat this old lady never rose till three o\u2019clock in the day, and the\nwindow-curtains were always drawn, so that there was no light like.\n\n\u201cLord! yes, I am often sent for to catch a single bug. I\u2019ve had to go\nmany, many miles--even 100 or 200--into the country, and perhaps only\ncatch half a dozen bugs after all; but then that\u2019s all that are there,\nso it answers our employer\u2019s purpose as well as if they were swarming.\n\n\u201cI work for the upper classes only; that is, for carriage-company and\nsuch like approaching it, you know. I have noblemen\u2019s names, the first\nin England, on my books.\n\n\u201cMy work is more method; and I may call it a scientific treating of the\nbugs rather than wholesale murder. We don\u2019t care about the thousands,\nit\u2019s the last bug we look for, whilst your carpenters and upholsterers\nleave as many behind them, perhaps, as they manage to catch.\n\n\u201cThe bite of the bug is very curious. They bite all persons the same\n(?); but the difference of effect lies in the constitutions of the\nparties. I\u2019ve never noticed that a different kind of skin makes any\ndifference in being bitten. Whether the skin is moist or dry, it don\u2019t\nmatter. Wherever bugs are, the person sleeping in the bed is sure to be\nfed on, whether they are marked or not; and as a proof, when nobody has\nslept in the bed for some time, the bugs become quite flat; and, on the\ncontrary, when the bed is always occupied, they are round as a\nlady-bird.\n\n\u201cThe flat bug is more ravenous, though even he will allow you time to go\nto sleep before he begins with you; or at least till he thinks you ought\nto be asleep. When they find all quiet, not even a light in the room\nwill prevent their biting; but they are seldom or never found under the\nbedclothes. They like a clear ground to get off, and generally bite\nround the edges of the nightcap or the nightdress. When they are found\n_in_ the bed, it\u2019s because the parties have been tossing about, and\nhave curled the sheets round the bugs.\n\n\u201cThe finest and fattest bugs I ever saw were those I found in a black\nman\u2019s bed. He was the favorite servant of an Indian general. He didn\u2019t\nwant his bed done by me; he didn\u2019t want it touched. His bed was full of\n\u2019em, no beehive was ever fuller. The walls and all were the same, there\nwasn\u2019t a patch that was not crammed with them. He must have taken them\nall over the house wherever he went.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve known persons to be laid up for months through bug-bites. There\nwas a very handsome fair young lady I knew once, and she was much bitten\nabout the arms, and neck, and face, so that her eyes were so swelled up\nshe couldn\u2019t see. The spots rose up like blisters, the same as if stung\nwith a nettle, only on a very large scale. The bites were very much\ninflamed, and after a time they had the appearance of boils.\n\n\u201cSome people fancy, and it is historically recorded, that the bug smells\nbecause it has no vent; but this is fabulous, for they _have_ a vent. It\nis not the human blood neither that makes them smell, because a young\nbug who has never touched a drop will smell. They breathe, I believe,\nthrough their sides; but I can\u2019t answer for that, though it\u2019s not\nthrough the head. They haven\u2019t got a mouth, but they insert into the\nskin the point of a tube, which is quite as fine as a hair, through\nwhich they draw up the blood. I have many a time put a bug on the back\nof my hand, to see how they bite; though I never felt the bite but once,\nand then I suppose the bug had pitched upon a very tender part, for it\nwas a sharp prick, something like that of a leech-bite.\n\n\u201cI once had a case of lice-killing, for my process will answer as well\nfor them as for bugs, though it\u2019s a thing I never should follow by\nchoice. Lice seem to harbor pretty much the same as bugs do. I find them\nin the furniture. It was a nurse that brought them into the house,\nthough she was as nice and clean a looking woman as ever I saw. I should\nalmost imagine the lice must have been in her, for they say there is a\ndisease of that kind; and if the tics breed in sheep, why should not\nlice breed in us? for we\u2019re but live matter, too. I didn\u2019t like myself\nat all for two or three days after that lice-killing job, I can assure\nyou; it\u2019s the only case of the kind I ever had, and I can promise you it\nshall be the last.\n\n\u201cI was once at work on the Princess Charlotte\u2019s own bedstead. I was in\nthe room, and she asked me if I had found anything, and I told her no;\nbut just at that minute I _did_ happen to catch one, and upon that she\nsprang up on the bed, and put her head on my shoulder, to look at it.\nShe had been tormented by the creature, because I was ordered to come\ndirectly, and that was the only one I found. When the Princess saw it,\nshe said, \u2018Oh, the nasty thing! That\u2019s what tormented me last night;\ndon\u2019t let him escape.\u2019 I think he looked all the better for having\ntasted royal blood.\n\n\u201cI also profess to kill beetles, though you never can destroy them so\neffectually as you can bugs; for, you see, beetles run from one house to\nanother, and you can never perfectly get rid of them; you can only keep\nthem under. Beetles will scrape their way and make their road round a\nfire-place, but how they go from one house to another I can\u2019t say, but\nthey _do_.\n\n\u201cI never had patience enough to try and kill Fleas by my process; it\nwould be too much of a chivey to please me.\n\n\u201cI never heard of any but one man who seriously went to work selling\nbug-poison in the streets. I was told by some persons that he was\nselling a first-rate thing, and I spent several days to find him out.\nBut, after all, his secret proved to be nothing at all. It was\ntrain-oil, linseed and hempseed, crushed up all together, and the bugs\nwere to eat it till they burst.\n\n\u201cAfter all, secrets for bug-poisons ain\u2019t worth much, for all depends\nupon the application of them. For instance, it is often the case that I\nam sent for to find out one bug in a room large enough for a school.\nI\u2019ve discovered it when the creature had been three or four months\nthere, as I could tell by his having changed his jacket so often, for\nbugs shed their skins, you know. No, there was no reason that he should\nhave bred; it might have been a single gentleman or an old maid.\n\n\u201cA married couple of bugs will lay from forty to fifty eggs at one\nlaying. The eggs are oval, and are each as large as the thirty-second\npart of an inch; and when together are in the shape of a caraway comfit,\nand of a bluish-white color. They\u2019ll lay this quantity of eggs three\ntimes in a season. The young ones are hatched direct from the egg, and,\nlike young partridges, will often carry the broken eggs about with\nthem, clinging to their back. They get their fore-quarters out, and then\nthey run about before the other legs are completely cleared.\n\n\u201cAs soon as the bugs are born they are of a cream color, and will take\nto blood directly; indeed, if they don\u2019t get it in two or three days,\nthey die; but after one feed they will live a considerable time without\na second meal. I have known old bugs to be frozen over in a\nhorse-pond--when the furniture had been thrown in the water--and there\nthey have remained for a good three weeks; still, after they have got a\nlittle bit warm in the sun\u2019s rays, they have returned to life again.\n\n\u201cI myself kept bugs for five years and a half without food, and a\nhousekeeper at Lord H----\u2019s informed me that an old bedstead that I was\nthen moving from a store-room was taken down forty-five years ago, and\nhad not been used since, but the bugs in it were still numerous, though\nas thin as living skeletons. They couldn\u2019t have lived upon the sap of\nthe wood, it being worm-eaten and dry as a bone. A bug will live for a\nnumber of years, and we find that when bugs are put away in old\nfurniture without food, they don\u2019t increase in number; so that,\naccording to my belief, the bugs I just mentioned must have existed\nforty-five years: besides, they were large ones, and very dark colored,\nwhich is another proof of age.\n\n\u201cIt is a dangerous thing for bugs when they are shedding their skins,\nwhich they do about four times in the course of a year; when they throw\noff their hard shell and have a soft coat, so that the least touch will\nkill them; whereas at other times they will take a strong pressure. I\nhave plenty of bug-skins, which I keep by me as curiosities, of all\nsizes and colors, and sometimes I have found the young bugs collected\ninside the old ones\u2019 skins for warmth, as if they had put on their\nfather\u2019s great-coat. There are white bugs--albinoes you may call\n\u2019em--freaks of nature like.\u201d[925]\n\n\nNotonectid\u00e6--Water-boatmen.\n\nHumboldt mentions that he saw insects\u2019 eggs sold in the markets of\nMexico, which were collected on the surface of lakes. Under the name of\n_Axayacat_, these eggs, or those of some other species of fly, deposited\non rush mats, are sold as a caviare in Mexico. Rev. Thomas Smith, who\nmakes the same statement, also says the Mexicans likewise eat the flies\nthemselves, ground and made up with saltpetre. Something similar to\nthese eggs, found in the pools of the desert of Fezzan, serves the Arabs\nfor food, having the taste of caviare.\n\nIn the Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Imp\u00e9riale Zoologique d\u2019Acclimation, M.\nGuerin M\u00e9neville has published a paper on a sort of bread which the\nMexicans make of the eggs of three species of heteropterous insects.\n\nAccording to M. Craveri, by whom some of the Mexican bread, and of the\ninsects yielding it, were brought to Europe, these insects and their\neggs are very common in the fresh waters of the lagunes of Mexico. The\nnatives cultivate, in the lagune of Chalco, a sort of carex called\ntout\u00e9, on which the insects readily deposit their eggs. Numerous bundles\nof these plants are made, which are taken to a lagune, the Texcuco,\nwhere they float in great numbers in the water. The insects soon come\nand deposit their eggs on the plants, and in about a month the bundles\nare removed from the water, dried, and then beaten over a large cloth to\nseparate the myriad of eggs with which the insects have covered them.\nThese eggs are then cleaned and sifted, put into sacks like flour, and\nsold to the people for making a sort of cake or biscuit called \u201chautl\u00e9,\u201d\nwhich forms a tolerably good food, but has a fishy taste, and is\nslightly acid. The bundles of carex are replaced in the lake, and afford\na fresh supply of eggs, which process may be repeated for an indefinite\nnumber of times.\n\nIt appears that these insects have been used from an early period, for\nThomas Gage, a religionist, who sailed to Mexico in 1625, says, in\nspeaking of articles sold in the markets, that they had cakes made of a\nsort of scum collected from the lakes of Mexico, and that this was also\nsold in other towns.\n\nBrantz Mayer, in his Mexico as it was and as it is, 1844, says: \u201cOn the\nlake of Texcuco I saw men occupied in collecting the eggs of flies from\nthe surface of plants, and cloths arranged in long rows as places of\nresort for the insects. These eggs, called _agayacath_, formed a\nfavorite food of the Indians long before the conquest; and when made\ninto cakes, resemble the roe of fish, having a similar taste and\nappearance. After the use of frogs in France, and birds\u2019-nests in China,\nI think these eggs may be considered a delicacy, and I found that they\nare not rejected from the tables of the fashionable inhabitants of the\ncapital.\u201d\n\nThe more recent observations of MM. Saussure, Sall\u00e9, Virlet d\u2019Aoust,\netc. have confirmed the facts already stated, at least in the most\nessential particulars.\n\n\u201cThe insects which principally produce this animal farinha of Mexico,\u201d\nsays a writer in the Journal de Pharmacie, \u201care two species of the genus\n_Corixa_ of Geoffroy, hemipterous (heteropterous) insects of the family\nof water-bugs. One of the species has been described by M. Guerin\nM\u00e9neville as new, and has been named by him _Corixa femorata_: the\nother, identified in 1831 by Thomas Say as one of those sold in the\nmarket at Mexico, bears the name of _Corixa mercenaria_. The eggs of\nthese two species are attached in innumerable quantities to the\ntriangular leaves of the carex forming the bundles which are deposited\nin the waters. They are of an oval form with a protuberance at one end\nand a pedicle at the other extremity, by means of which they are fixed\nto a small round disk, which the mother cements to the leaf. Among these\neggs, which are grouped closely together, there are found others, which\nare larger, of a long and cylindrical form, and which are fixed to the\nsame leaves. These belong to another larger insect, a species of\n_Notonecta_, which M. Guerin M\u00e9neville has named _Notonecta\nunifasciata_.\u201d\n\nIt appears from M. Virlet d\u2019Aoust, that in October the lakes of Chalco\nand Texcuco, which border on the City of Mexico, are haunted by millions\nof \u201csmall flies,\u201d which, after dancing in the air, plunge down into the\nwater, to the depth of several feet, and deposit their eggs at the\nbottom.\n\n\u201cThe eggs of these insects are called hautle (haoutle) by the Mexican\nIndians, who collect them in great numbers, and with whom they appear to\nbe a favorite article of food. They are prepared in various ways, but\nusually made into cakes, which are eaten with a sauce flavored with\nchillies.\u201d[926]\n\nRev. Thomas Smith enumerates the following insects as eaten by the\nancient Mexicans: The _Atelepitz_, \u201ca marsh beetle, resembling in shape\nand size the flying beetles, having four (?) feet, and covered with a\nhard shell.\u201d The _Atopinan_, \u201ca marsh grasshopper of a dark color and\ngreat size, being no less than six inches long and two broad.\u201d(!) The\n_Ahuihuitla_, \u201ca worm which inhabits the Mexican lakes, four inches\nlong, and of the thickness of a goose quill, of a tawny color on the\nupper part of the body, and white upon the under part; it stings with\nits tail, which is hard and poisonous.\u201d And the _Ocuiliztac_, \u201ca black\nmarsh worm, which becomes white on being roasted.\u201d[927]\n\n\n\n\nORDER IX.\n\nDIPTERA.\n\n\nCulicid\u00e6--Gnats.[928]\n\nConcerning the generation of Gnats, Moufet says: \u201cCountrey people\nsuppose them, and that not improbably, to be procreated from some\ncorrupt moisture of the earth.\u201d[929]\n\nA battle of Gnats (probably an appearance of Ephemera) is recorded in\nStow\u2019s Chronicles of England, p. 509, to have been fought in the reign\nof King Richard II.: \u201cA fighting among Gnats at the King\u2019s maner of\n_Shine_, where they were so thicke gathered, that the aire was darkened\nwith them: they fought and made a great battaile. Two partes of them\nbeing slayne, fel downe to the grounde; the thirde parte hauing got the\nvictorie, flew away, no man knew whither. The number of the deade was\nsuch that they might be swept uppe with besomes, and bushels filled\nweyth them.\u201d[930]\n\nIn the year 1736 the Gnats, _Culex pipiens_, were so numerous in\nEngland, that, as it is recorded, vast columns of them were seen to rise\nin the air from the steeple of the cathedral at Salisbury, which, at a\nlittle distance resembling columns of smoke, occasioned many people to\nthink the edifice was on fire.[931] At Sagan, in Silesia, in July, 1812,\na similar occurrence gave rise in like manner to an alarm that the\nchurch was on fire.[932] In May of the following year at Norwich, at\nabout six o\u2019clock in the evening, the inhabitants of that city were\nalarmed by the appearance of smoke issuing from the upper window of the\nspire of the cathedral, for which at the time no satisfactory account\ncould be given, but which was most probably produced by the same\ncause.[933] And in the year 1766, in the month of August, they appeared\nin such incredible numbers at Oxford as to resemble a black cloud,\ndarkening the air and almost intercepting the rays of the sun. Mr. John\nSwinton mentions, that in the evening of the 20th, about half an hour\nbefore sunset, he was in the garden of Wadham College, when he saw six\ncolumns of these insects ascending from the tops of six boughs of an\napple-tree, two in a perpendicular, three in an oblique direction, and\none in a pyramidal form, to the height of fifty or sixty feet. Their\nbite was so envenomed, that it was attended by violent and alarming\ninflammation; and one when killed usually contained as much blood as\nwould cover three or four square inches of wall.[934] A similar column,\nof two or three feet in diameter and about twenty feet in height, was\nseen at eight o\u2019clock in the evening of Sunday, July 14th, 1833, in\nKensington Gardens. The upper portion of the column being curved to the\neast, the whole resembled the letter J inverted. The Gnats in every part\nof the column were in the liveliest motion.[935] The author of the\n\u201cFaerie Queene\u201d seems to have witnessed the like curious phenomenon,\nwhich furnished him with the following beautiful simile:\n\n    As when a swarme of gnats at eventide\n    Out of the fennes of Allan doe arise,\n    Their murmuring small trumpets sownden wide,\n    Whiles in the air their clust\u2019ring army flies,\n    That as a cloud doth seem to dim the skies;\n    Ne man nor beast may rest or take repast,\n    For their sharp wounds and noyous injuries,\n    Till the fierce northern wind with blust\u2019ring blast\n    Doth blow them quite away, and in the ocean cast.\n\nLigon, in his History of Barbados, makes the following curious\nobservation relative to a species of insects which he calls \u201cFlyes,\u201d but\nwhich are more probably Gnats or Mosquitoes: \u201cThere is not only a race\nof all these kinds, that go in a generation, but upon new occasions, new\nkinds; as, after a great downfall of rain, when the ground has been\nextremely moistened, and softened with the water, I have walk\u2019d out upon\na dry walk (which I made my self) in an evening, and there came about me\nan army of such Flyes, as I had never seen before, nor after; and they\nrose, as I conceived, out of the earth: They were as big bodied as Bees,\nbut far larger wings, harm they did us none, but only lighted on us;\ntheir colour between ash-colour and purple.\u201d[936]\n\nIf Gnats swarm in the summer in globular masses, it is supposed to\nprognosticate a storm. Moufet says: \u201cIf Gnats near sunset do play up and\ndown in open air, they presage heat; if in the shade, warm and milde\nshowers; but if they altogether sting those that passe by them, then\nexpect cold weather and very much rain.... If any one would finde water\neither in a hill or valley, let him observe (saith Paxanus in Geoponika)\nthe sun rising, and where the Gnats whirle round in form of an obelisk,\nunderneath there is water to be found. Yea, if Apomasaris deceive us\nnot, dreams of Gnats do foretell news of war or a disease, and that so\nmuch the more dangerous as it shall be apprehended to approach the more\nprincipall parts of the body.\u201d[937]\n\n\u201cOn the 14th of December, 1830, at Oremburg, snow fell accompanied by a\nmultitude of small black Gnats, whose motions were similar to those of a\nflea.\u201d This singular phenomenon was described at the session of the\nAcademy of St. Petersburg, held February 21st, 1831.[938]\n\nThe pertinacity of the _Culicid\u00e6_ frequently renders them a most\nformidable pest. Humboldt tells us \u201cthat between the little harbor of\nHiguerote and the mouth of the Rio Unare, the wretched inhabitants are\naccustomed to stretch themselves on the ground, and pass the night\nburied in the sand three or four inches deep, exposing only the head,\nwhich they cover with a handkerchief.\u201d[939] As another proof of the\nterrible state to which man is sometimes reduced by Mosquitoes, Captain\nStedman relates that in one of his dreadful marches, the clouds of them\nwere such, that the soldiers dug holes with their bayonets in the earth,\ninto which they thrust their heads, stopping the entry and covering\ntheir necks with their hammocks, while they lay with their bellies on\nthe ground: to sleep in any other position was absolutely impossible. He\nhimself, by a negro\u2019s advice, climbed to the top of the highest tree he\ncould find, and there slung his hammock among the boughs, and slept\nexalted nearly a hundred feet above his companions, \u201cwhom,\u201d says he, \u201cI\ncould not see for the myriads of mosquitoes below me, nor even hear,\nfrom the incessant buzzing of these troublesome insects.\u201d[940]\n\n\u201cThe Gnats in America,\u201d says Moufet, \u201cdo so plash and cut, that they\nwill pierce through very thick clothing; so that it is excellent sport\nto behold how ridiculously the barbarous people, when they are bitten,\nwill skip and frisk, and slap with their hands their thighs, buttocks,\nshoulders, arms, and sides, even as a carter doth his horses.\u201d[941]\nIsaac Weld tells us that \u201cthese insects were so powerful and\nbloodthirsty that they actually pierced through General Washington\u2019s\nboots.\u201d[942] They probably crept within the boots, but the story is not\nincredible if we believe Moufet. This naturalist says: \u201cIn Italy, near\nthe Po, great store and very great ones are to be seen, terrible for\nbiting, and venomous, piercing through a thrice-doubled stocking, and\nboots likewise (_morsu crudeles et venenati, triplices caligas, imo\nocreas, item perforantes_), sometimes leaving behind them impoysoned,\nhard, blue tumours, sometimes painful bladders, sometimes itching\npimples, such as Hippocrates hath observed in his Epidemics, in the body\nof one Cyrus, a fuller, being frantic.\u201d[943]\n\nThe poet Spenser, in his View of Ireland, says the Irish \u201cgoe all naked\nexcept a mantle, which is a fit house for an outlaw--a meet bed for a\nrebel--and an apt cloak for a thiefe. It coucheth him strongly against\nthe Gnats, which, in that country, doe more to annoy the naked rebels,\nand doe more sharply wound them, than all their enemies\u2019 swords and\nspeares, which can seldom come nigh them.\u201d\n\nStewart says that the negroes of Jamaica, who cannot afford\nmosquito-nets, get into a mechanical habit of driving away these\ntroublesome nocturnal visitors, that even when apparently wrapt in\nprofound sleep, there is a continual movement of the hands.[944]\n\nHerodotus says: \u201cThe means devised by the Egyptians to avoid the Gnats,\nwhich swarm in prodigious numbers, are these: Those who reside at some\nelevation above the marshes, avail themselves of towers which they\nascend to sleep; for the Gnats, to avoid the winds, do not fly high.\nWhile those who dwell on the very margins of the marshes, instead of\ntowers, practise another contrivance. Every man possesses a net, which,\nduring the day, he employs in catching fish, and which at night he uses\nas his bed-chamber, where he places it over his couch, and so sleeps\nwithin it. For if any one,\u201d he concludes, \u201csleeps wrapped in a cloak or\ncloth, the Gnats will bite him through it; but they never attempt to\npenetrate the net.\u201d[945] With regard to the conclusion of Herodotus,\nthat nets with meshes will effectually exclude Gnats, Tennent says he\nhas \u201cbeen satisfied by painful experience that (if the theory be not\naltogether fallacious) at least the modern mosquitoes of Ceylon are\nuninfluenced by the same considerations which restrained those of the\nNile under the successors of Cambyses.\u201d[946]\n\nJackson complains that after a fifty-miles journey in Africa, the Gnats\nwould not suffer him to rest, and that his hands and face appeared, from\ntheir bites, as if he was infected with the small-pox in its worst\nstage.[947] Dr. Clarke relates that in the neighborhood of the Crimea,\nthe Russian soldiers are obliged to sleep in sacks to defend themselves\nfrom the mosquitoes; and even this, he adds, is not a sufficient\nsecurity, for several of them die in consequence of mortification\nproduced by these furious blood-suckers.[948]\n\nWhen we consider these circumstances, it is not incredible that the army\nof Julian the Apostate should be so fiercely attacked by these insects\nas to be driven back; or that the inhabitants of various cities, as\nMouffet has collected from different authors,[949] should, by an\nextraordinary multiplication of this plague, have been compelled to\ndesert them. Also the latter part of the following story, related by\nTheodoret, seems entitled to belief: When Sapor, King of Persia, says\nthis historian, was besieging the Roman City of Nisibis in the year 360,\nJames, Bishop of that city, ascended one of the towers, and \u201cprayed that\nFlies and Gnats might be sent against the Persian hosts, that so they\nmight learn from these small insects the great power of Him who\nprotected the Romans.\u201d Scarcely had the Bishop concluded his prayer,\ncontinues Theodoret, when swarms of Flies and Gnats appeared like\nclouds, so that the trunks of the elephants were filled with them, as\nalso were the ears and nostrils of the horses and of the other beasts of\nburden; and that, not being able to get rid of these insects, the\nelephants and horses threw their riders, broke the ranks, left the army,\nand fled away with the utmost speed; and this, he concludes, compelled\nthe Persians to raise the siege.[950]\n\n\u201cAs the Cossacks of the Black Sea are no agriculturists,\u201d says Jaeger,\n\u201cbut derive their subsistence from their numerous herds of horses, oxen,\nsheep, goats, and hogs, they suffer immensely, at times, from the\nravages of the mosquitoes. Although they are fortunately not seen every\nyear, these blood-suckers may be considered a real Egyptian plague among\nthe herds of these Cossacks; for they soon transform the most delightful\nplains into a mournful, solitary desert, killing all the beasts, and\ncompletely stripping the fields of every animated creature. One thousand\nof these insatiate tormentors enter the nostrils, ears, eyes, and mouth\nof the cattle, who shortly after die in convulsions, or from secondary\ninflammation, or from absolute suffocation. In the small town of\nElizabethpol alone, during the month of June, thirty horses, forty\nfoals, seventy oxen, ninety calves, a hundred and fifty hogs, and four\nhundred sheep were killed by these flies.\u201d[951]\n\nAmmianus Marcellinus, in his Roman History, treating of the wild beasts\nin Mesopotamia, gives us the following curious zoological theory on the\ndestruction of lions by mosquitoes:\n\n\u201cThe lions wander in countless droves among the beds of rushes on the\nbanks of the rivers of Mesopotamia, and in the jungles, and lie quiet\nall the winter, which is very mild in that country. But when the warm\nweather returns, as these regions are exposed to great heat, they are\nforced out by the vapours, and by the size of the Gnats, with swarms of\nwhich every part of that country is filled. And these winged insects\nattack the eyes, as being both moist and sparkling, sitting on and\nbiting the eyelids; the lions, unable to bear the torture, are either\ndrowned in the rivers, to which they flee for refuge, or else, by\nfrequent scratchings, tear their eyes out themselves with their claws,\nand then become mad. And if this did not happen, the whole of the East\nwould be overrun with beasts of this kind.\u201d[952]\n\nI have never heard of mosquitoes being turned to any good account save\nin California; and there, it seems, according to Rev. Walter Colton,\nthey are sometimes made the ministers of justice. A rogue had stolen a\nbag of gold from a digger in the mines, and hid it. Neither threats nor\npersuasions could induce him to reveal the place of its concealment. He\nwas at last sentenced to a hundred lashes, and then informed that he\nwould be let off with thirty, provided he would tell what he had done\nwith the gold; but he refused. The thirty lashes were administered, but\nhe was still stubborn as a mule. He was then stripped naked, and tied to\na tree. The mosquitoes with their long bills went at him, and in less\nthan three hours he was covered with blood. Writhing and trembling from\nhead to foot with exquisite torture, he exclaimed, \u201cUntie me, untie me,\nand I will tell where it is.\u201d \u201cTell first,\u201d was the reply. So he told\nwhere it might be found. Then some of the party with wisps kept off the\nstill hungry mosquitoes, while others went where the culprit directed,\nand recovered the bag of gold. He was then untied, washed with cold\nwater, and helped to his clothes, while he muttered, as if talking to\nhimself, \u201cI couldn\u2019t stand that anyhow.\u201d[953]\n\nThe largest kind of mosquito in the valley of the lower Mississippi is\ncalled the \u201cGallinipper.\u201d It is peculiarly described, by the boatmen, to\nbe as large as a goose, and that it flies about at night with a brickbat\nunder its wings with which it sharpens its \u201csting.\u201d\n\nThey tell a good story to show the superiority of the Gallinipper, over\nthe ordinary Mosquito, in this wise. Some fellow made a bet that, for a\ncertain length of time, he could stand the stings of the mosquitoes\ninflicted upon his bare back while he lay on his face. He stripped\nhimself for the ordeal, and was bearing it manfully, when some\nmischievous spectator threw a live coal of fire on him. He winced, and,\nlooking up by way of protest, exclaimed, \u201cI bar (debar) the\nGallinipper.\u201d\n\nThe Culicid\u00e6, say Kirby and Spence, like other conquerors who have been\nthe torment of the human race, have attained to fame, and have given\ntheir names to bays, towns, and even to considerable territories; and\ninstance Mosquito Bay in St. Christopher\u2019s; Mosquito, a town in the\nIsland of Cuba; and the Mosquito Shore of Central America.[954]\n\nDemocritus says: \u201cHorse-hair, stretched through the door, and through\nthe middle of the house, destroys Gnats.\u201d[955]\n\nSt. Macarius, Alban Butler says, was a confectioner of Alexandria, who,\nin the flower of his age, spent upwards of sixty years in the deserts in\nlabor, penance, and contemplation. \u201cOur Saint,\u201d continues Butler,\n\u201chappened one day to inadvertently kill a Gnat that was biting him in\nhis cell; reflecting that he had lost the opportunity of suffering that\nmortification, he hastened from the cell for the marshes of Scete, which\nabound with great flies, whose stings pierce even wild boars. There he\ncontinued six months, exposed to those ravaging insects; and to such a\ndegree was his whole body disfigured by them with sores and swellings,\nthat when he returned he was only to be known by his voice.\u201d[956]\n\nIn the old English translation of the Bible, the observation of our\nSaviour to the Pharisees, \u201cYe blind guides, which strain _at_ a Gnat,\nand swallow a camel,\u201d is rendered \u201cwhich strain _out_ a Gnat,\u201d and\nBishop Pearce observes that this is conformable to the sense of the\npassage. An allusion is made to the custom which prevailed in Oriental\ncountries of passing their wine and other liquors through a strainer,\nthat no Gnats or flies might get into the cup. In the Fragments to\nCalmet, we are informed that there is a modern Arabic proverb to this\neffect, \u201cHe swallowed an elephant, but was strangled by a fly.\u201d[957]\n\n\nTipulid\u00e6--Crane-flies.\n\nThe larv\u00e6 of a species of Agaric-Gnat (_Mycetophila_) live in society,\nand emigrate in files in a very soldier-like manner. First goes one,\nnext follow two, then three, etc., so as to exhibit a singular\nserpentine appearance. The common people of Germany call this file\n_heerwurm_, and, it is said, view them with great dread, regarding them\nas ominous of war.[958]\n\nMaupertuis, in describing his ascent to Mount Pulinga, in Lapland, says:\n\u201cThey had to fell a whole wood of large trees, and the Flies (most\nprobably _Tipulid\u00e6_) attack\u2019d \u2019em with that fury, that the very\nsoldiers, tho\u2019 harden\u2019d to the greatest fatigues, were obliged to rap up\ntheir faces, or cover them with tar. These insects poison\u2019d their\nvictuals, for no sooner was a dish serv\u2019d, but it was quite covered with\nthem.\u201d[959] Maupertuis, in another place, says: \u201cThese Flies make\nLapland less tolerable in the summer than the cold does in the\nwinter.\u201d[960] The severity with which the Tipulid\u00e6 torment the\nLaplanders is attested also by Acerby,[961] Linn\u00e6us,[962] De Geer,[963]\nand Reaumur.[964]\n\n\nMuscid\u00e6--Flies.\n\nAmong the instances recorded of Flies appearing in immense numbers, the\nfollowing are the most remarkable:\n\n\u201cWhen the Creole frigate was lying in the outer roads of Buenos Ayres,\nin 1819, at a distance of six miles from the land, her decks and rigging\nwere suddenly covered with thousands of Flies and grains of sand. The\nsides of the vessel had just received a fresh coat of paint, to which\nthe insects adhered in such numbers as to spot and disfigure the vessel,\nand to render it necessary partially to renew the paint. Capt. W. H.\nSmyth was obliged to repaint his vessel, the Adventure, in the\nMediterranean, from the same cause. He was on his way from Malta to\nTripoli, when a southern wind blowing from the coast of Africa, then one\nhundred miles distant, drove such myriads of Flies upon the fresh paint\nthat not the smallest point was left unoccupied by the insects.\u201d[965]\n\n\u201cIn May, 1699, at Kerton,\u201d records Mrs. Thoresby, p. 15, \u201cin\nLincolnshire, the sky seemed to darken north-westward at a little\ndistance from the town, as though it had been a shower of hailstones or\nsnow; but when it came near the town, it appeared to be a prodigious\nswarm of Flies, which went with such a force toward the south-east that\npersons were forced to turn their backs of them.\u201d[966]\n\nOn the morning of the 17th of September, 1831, a small dipterous insect,\nbelonging to Meigen\u2019s genus _Chlorops_, and nearly allied to, if not\nidentical with, his _C. l\u00e6ta_, appeared suddenly, and in such immense\nquantities, in one of the upper rooms of the Provost\u2019s Lodge, in King\u2019s\nCollege, Cambridge, that the greater part of the ceiling toward the\nwindow of the room was so thickly covered as not to be visible. They\nentered by a window looking due north, while the wind was blowing\nsteadily N. N. W. So it appears they came from the direction of the\nRiver Cam, or rather came with its current.[967]\n\nIn the summer of 1834, which season was remarkable in England for its\nswarms and shoals of insects, the air was constantly filled, says a\nwriter in The Mirror, with millions of small delicate Flies, and the sea\nin many places, particularly on the Norfolk coasts, was perfectly\nblackened by the amazing shoals. The length of these masses was not\ndetermined; but they were, it is asserted, at least a league broad. It\nis said the oldest fishermen of those seas never remembered having seen\nor heard of such a phenomenon.[968]\n\nCapt. Dampier calls the natives of New Holland the \u201cpoor winking people\nof New Holland,\u201d and concludes his description of them with the\nfollowing observations: \u201cTheir eyelids are always half closed, to keep\nthe Flies out of their eyes, they being so troublesome here that no\nfanning will keep them from coming to one\u2019s face; and without the\nassistance of both hands to keep them off they will creep into one\u2019s\nnostrils, and mouth, too, if the lips are not shut very close. So that\nfrom their infancy, being thus annoyed with these insects, they do never\nopen their eyes as other people, and therefore they cannot see far,\nunless they hold up their heads, as if they were looking at something\nover them.\u201d[969]\n\nIn a house at Zaffraan-craal, Dr. Sparrman suffered so much from the\ncommon House-fly, _Musca domestica_, which, in the south of Africa,\nfrequently appears in such prodigious numbers as to cover almost\nentirely the walls and ceilings, that, as he asserts, it was impossible\nfor him to keep within doors for any length of time. To get rid of these\ntroublesome pests, the natives resort to a very ingenious contrivance.\nIt is thus related by the above-mentioned traveler: \u201cBunches of herbs\nare hung up all over the ceiling, on which the Flies settle in great\nnumbers; a person then takes a linen net or bag, of a considerable\ndepth, fixed to a long handle, and, inclosing in it every bunch, shakes\nit about, so that the Flies fall down to the bottom of the bag: when,\nafter several applications of it in this manner, they are killed by a\npint or a quart at a time, by dipping the bag into scalding hot\nwater.\u201d[970]\n\nRhasis, Avicen, and Albertus say: \u201cBury the tail of a wolf in the house,\nand the Flies will not come into it.\u201d[971]\n\nBerytius says: \u201cFlies will never rest on dumb animals if they are\nrubbed with the fat of a lion.\u201d[972]\n\nPliny says: \u201cAt Rome yee shall not have a Flie or dog that will enter\ninto the chappell of Hercules standing in the beast market.\u201d[973]\n\nPlutarch, in the Eighth Book of his Symposiaques, learnedly discourses\nupon the tamableness of the Fly. His opinion is that it cannot be\ntamed.[974]\n\nMoufet, in his Theater of Insects, says: \u201cMany ways doth nature also by\nFlies play with the fancies of men in dreams, if we may credit\nApomasaris in his Apotelesms. For the Indians, Persians, and \u00c6gyptians\ndo teach, that if Flies appear to us in our sleep, it doth signifie an\nherauld at arms, or an approaching disease. If a general of an army, or\na chief commander, dream that at such or such a place he should see a\ngreat company of Flies, in that very place, wherever it shall be, there\nhe shall be in anguish and grief for his soldiers that are slain, his\narmy routed, and the victory lost. If a mean or ordinary man dream the\nlike, he shall fall into a violent fever, which likely may cost him his\nlife. If a man dream in his sleep that Flies went into his mouth or\nnostrils, he is to expect with great sorrow and grief imminent\ndestruction from his enemies.\u201d[975]\n\nIn an English North country chap-book, entitled the Royal Dream-book, we\nfind: \u201cTo dream of Flies or other vermin, denotes enemies of all\nsorts.\u201d[976]\n\n\u201cWhen we see,\u201d says Hollingshed, \u201ca great number of Flies in a yeare, we\nnaturallie iudge it like to be a great plague.\u201d[977]\n\nAmong the deep-sea fishermen of Greenock (Scotland), there is a most\ncomical idea that if a Fly falls into a glass from which any one has\nbeen drinking, or is about to drink, it is considered a sure omen of\ngood luck to the drinker, and is always noticed as such by the\ncompany.[978] Has this any connection with our saying of \u201ctaking a\nglass with a _fly_ in it?\u201d\n\nIf Flies die in great numbers in a house, it is believed by the common\npeople to be a sure sign of death to some one in the family occupying\nit; if throughout the country, an omen of general pestilence. It is\npositively asserted that Flies always die before the breaking out of the\ncholera, and believed that they die of this disease.\n\nMoufet, in his Theater of Insects, says: \u201cWhen the Flies bite harder\nthan ordinary, making at the face and eyes of men, they foretell rain or\nwet weather, from whence Politian hath it:\n\n    Thirsty for blood the Fly returns,\n    And with his sting the skin he burns.\n\nPerhaps before rain they are most hungry, and therefore, to asswage\ntheir hunger, do more diligently seek after their food. This also is to\nbe observed, that a little before a showre or a storme comes, the Flies\ndescend from the upper region of the air to the lowest, and do fly, as\nit were, on the very surface of the earth. Moreover, if you see them\nvery busie about sweet-meats or unguents, you may know that it will\npresently be a showre. But if they be in all places many and numerous,\nand shall so continue long (if Alexander Benedict and Johannes\nDamascenus say true), they foretell a plague or pestilence, because so\nmany of them could not be bred of a little putrefaction of the\nair.\u201d[979] Elsewhere Moufet states: \u201cNeither are Flies begotten of dung\nonly, but of any other filthy matter putrefied by heat in the summer\ntime, and after the same way spoken of before, as Grapaldus and\nLonicerus have very well noted.\u201d[980]\n\nWillsford, in his Nature\u2019s Secrets, p. 135, says: \u201cFlies in the spring\nor summer season, if they grow busier or blinder than at other times, or\nthat they are observed to shroud themselves in warm places, expect then\nquickly to follow either hail, cold storms of rain, or very much wet\nweather; and if these little creatures are noted early in autumn to\nrepair into their winter quarters, it presages frosty mornings, cold\nstorms, with the approach of hoary winter. Atomes of Flies swarming\ntogether, and sporting themselves in the sunbeams, is a good omen of\nfair weather.\u201d[981]\n\nIn Gayton\u2019s Pleasant Notes upon Don Quixot, 1654, p. 99, speaking of\nSancho Panza\u2019s having converted a cassock into a wallet, our pleasant\nannotator observes: \u201cIt was serviceable, after this greasie use, for\nnothing but to preach at a carnivale or Shrove Tuesday, and to tosse\nPancakes in after the exercise; or else, if it could have been\nconveighed thither, nothing more proper for a man that preaches the\nCook\u2019s sermon at Oxford, when that plump society rides upon their\ngovernour\u2019s horses to fetch in the Enemie, the Flie.\u201d That there was\nsuch a custom at Oxford, let Peshall, in his history of that city, be a\nvoucher, who, speaking of St. Bartholomew\u2019s Hospital, p. 280, says: \u201cTo\nthis Hospital cooks from Oxford flocked, bringing in on Whitsun-week the\nFly.\u201d Aubrey saw this ceremony performed in 1642. He adds: \u201cOn\nMichaelmas-day, they rode thither again to carry the Fly away.\u201d[982]\n\nPlutarch, in his disquisition on the Art of Discerning a Flatterer from\na Friend, makes the following curious comparison: \u201cThe Gad-Flie (as they\nsay) which useth to plague bulles and oxen, setteth about their eares,\nand so doth the tick deal by dogges: after the same manner, flatterers\ntake hold of ambitious mens eares, and possesse them with praises; and\nbeing once set fast there, hardly are they to be removed and chased\naway.\u201d[983]\n\nPlautus twice compares envious and inquisitive persons to Flies.[984]\n\nIn a narrative of unheard-of Popish cruelties toward Protestants beyond\nSeas, printed in 1680, we find the insinuating detectives of the Spanish\nInquisition under the name of Flies.[985]\n\nFlies are mentioned somewhere in Lyndwood as the emblem of unclean\nthoughts.[986]\n\nFlies were driven away when a woman was in labor, for fear she should\nbring forth a daughter.[987]\n\nFlies are found represented in the pottery of the ancient\nEgyptians.[988]\n\nFlies (_Cuspi_) were sacrificed to the Sun by the ancient\nPeruvians.[989]\n\n\u201cTo let a Flee (Fly) stick i\u2019 the wa\u2019\u201d is, in Scotland, not to speak on\nsome particular topic, to pass it over without remark.[990]\n\n\u201cCertes, a strange thing it is of these Flies,\u201d says Pliny, \u201cwhich are\ntaken to be as senselesse and witlesse creatures, yea, and of as little\ncapacity and understanding as any other whatsoever: and yet at the\nsolemne games and plaies holden every fifth yeare at Olympia, no sooner\nis the bull sacrificed there to the Idoll or god of the Flies called\nMyiodes, but a man shall see (a wonderful thing to tell) infinit\nthousand of flies depart out of that territorie by flights, as it were\nthick clouds.\u201d[991]\n\nThis Myiodes or Maagrus, the \u201cFly-catcher,\u201d was the name of a hero,\ninvoked at Aliphera, at the festivals of Athena, as the protector\nagainst Flies. It was also a surname of Hercules.\n\nThe following rendering of the second verse of the first chapter of the\nSecond Book of Kings, by Josephus, contains an allusion to the worship\nof Baalzebub under the form of a Fly: \u201cNow it happened that _Ahaziah_,\nas he was coming down from the top of his house, fell down from it, and\nin his sickness sent to the _Fly_ (Baalzebub), which was the god of\n_Ekron_, for that was this god\u2019s name, to enquire about his\nrecovery.\u201d[992]\n\nWith reference to this worship, we read in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims: \u201cAt\nAccaron was worshipped _Baalzebub_, that is, the Lord of the Flies,\neither of contempt of his idolatrie, so called; or rather of the\nmultitude of Flies, which attended the multitude of his sacrifices, when\nfrom the sacrifices at the Temple of Jerusalem, as some say, they were\nwholly free: or for that hee was their Larder-god (as the Roman\n_Hercules_) to drive away flies: or for that from a forme of a Flie, in\nwhich he was worshipped.... But for Beelzebub, he was their _\u00c6sculapius_\nor Physicke god, as appeareth by Ahaziah who sent to consult with him in\nhis sickness. And perhaps from this cause the blaspheming Pharisies,\nrather applyed the name of this then any other Idoll to our blessed\nSaviour (Math. x. 25) whom they saw indeed to performe miraculous cures,\nwhich superstition had conceived of _Baalzebub_: and if any thing were\ndone by that Idoll, it could by no other cause bee effected but by the\nDevill, as tending (like the popish miracles) to the confirmation of\nIdolatrie.\u201d[993]\n\nThis god of the Flies was so called, thinks Whiston, as was Jove among\nthe Greeks, from his supposed power over Flies, in driving them away\nfrom the flesh of their sacrifices, which otherwise would have been very\ntroublesome to them.[994]\n\nIt has been conjectured that the Fly, under which Baalzebub was\nrepresented, was the Tumble-bug, _Scarab\u00e6us pilluarius_; in which\ncase, says Dr. Smith, Baalzebub and Beelzebub might be used\nindifferently.[995]\n\n\u201cUrspergensis saith that the Devil did very frequently appear in the\nform of a Fly; whence it was that some of the heathens called their\nfamiliar spirit _Musca_ or Fly: perchance alluding to that of Plautus:\n\n    Hic pol musca est, mi pater,\n    Sive profanum, sive publicum, nil clam illum haberi potest:\n    Quin adsit ibi illico, et rem omnem tenet.--\n\nThis man, O my father, is a Fly, nothing can be concealed from him, be\nit secret or publick, he is presently there, and knowes all the\nmatter.\u201d[996]\n\nLoke, the deceiver of the gods, is fabled in the Northern Mythology, to\nhave metamorphosed himself into a Fly: and demons, in the shape of\nFlies, were kept imprisoned by the Finlanders, to be let loose on men\nand beasts.[997]\n\nIn Scotland, a tutelary Fly, believed immortal, presided over a fountain\nin the county of Banff: and here also a large blue Fly, resting on the\nbark of trees, was distinguished as a witch.[998]\n\nAmong the games and plays of the ancient Greeks was the \u03a7\u03b1\u03bb\u03ba\u03b7 \u039c\u03c5\u1fd6\u03b1, or\nBrazen Fly:--a variety of blind-man\u2019s-buff, in which a boy having his\neyes bound with a fillet, went groping round, calling out, \u201cI am seeking\nthe Brazen Fly.\u201d His companions replied, \u201cYou may seek, but you will not\nfind it\u201d--at the same time striking him with cords made of the inner\nbark of the papyros; and thus they proceeded till one of them was\ntaken.[999]\n\nThis is most probably an allusion to some species of Fly of a bronze\ncolor which is most difficult to catch, as, for instance, the little fly\nfound in summer beneath arbors, apparently standing motionless in the\nair.\n\nPetrus Ramus tells us of an iron Fly, made by Regiomontanus, a famous\nmathematician of Nuremberg, which, at a feast, to which he had invited\nhis familiar friends, flew forth from his hand, and taking a round,\nreturned to his hand again, to the great astonishment of the beholders.\nDu Bartas thus expresses this:\n\n    Once as this artist, more with mirth than meat,\n    Feasted some friends whom he esteemed great,\n    Forth from his hand an iron Fly flew out;\n    Which having flown a perfect round-about,\n    With weary wings return\u2019d unto her master:\n    And as judicious on his arm he plac\u2019d her.\n    O! wit divine, that in the narrow womb\n    Of a small fly, could find sufficient room\n    For all those springs, wheels, counterpoise and chains,\n    Which stood instead of life, and blood, and veins![1000]\n\nWe find also in a work bearing the title \u201cApologie pour les Grands\nHomines Accus\u00e9s de Magie,\u201d that \u201cJean de Montroyal presented to the\nEmperor Charles V. an iron Fly, which made a solemn circuit round its\ninventor\u2019s head, and then reposed from its fatigue on his\narm.\u201d--Probably the same automaton, since Regiomontanus and Montroyal\nare the same.\n\nSuch a Fly as the above is rather extraordinary, yet I have something\nbetter to tell--still about a Fly.\n\nGervais, Chancellor to the Emperor Otho III., in his book entitled \u201cOtia\nImperatoris,\u201d informs us that \u201cthe sage Virgilius, Bishop of Naples,\nmade a brass Fly, which he placed on one of the city gates, and that\nthis mechanical Fly, trained like a shepherd\u2019s dog, prevented any other\nfly entering Naples; so much so, that during eight years the meat\nexposed for sale in the market was never once tainted!\u201d[1001]\n\n\u201cVarro affirmeth,\u201d says Pliny, \u201cthat the heads of Flies applied fresh to\nthe bald place, is a convenient medicine for the said infirmity and\ndefect. Some use in this case the bloud of flies: others mingle their\nashes with the ashes of paper used in old time, or els of nuts; with\nthis proportion, that there be a third part only of the ashes of flies\nto the rest, and herewith for ten days together rubb the bare places\nwhere the hair is gone. Some there be againe, who temper and incorporat\ntogither the said ashes of Flies with the juice of colewort and\nbrest-milke: others take nothing thereto but honey.\u201d[1002]\n\nMucianus, who was thrice consul, carried about him a living Fly, says\nPliny, wrapped in a piece of white linen, and strongly asserted that to\nthe use of this expedient he owed his preservation from\nophthalmia.[1003]\n\nFerdinand Mendez Pinto says: \u201cIn our travels with the ambassador of the\nKing of Bramaa to the Calaminham, we saw in a grot men of a sect of one\nof their Saints, named Angemacur: these lived in deep holes, made in the\nmider of the rock, according to the rule of their wretched order, eating\nnothing but Flies, Ants, Scorpions, and Spiders, with the juice of a\ncertain herb, much like to sorrel.\u201d[1004]\n\nSays Moufet, in his Theater of Insects: \u201cPlutarch, in his Artaxerxes,\nrelates that it was a law amongst a certain people, that whosoever\nshould be so bold as to laugh at and deride their lawes and\nconstitutions of state, was bound for twenty daies together in an open\nchest naked, all besmeared with honey and milk, and so became a prey to\nthe Flies and Bees, afterward when the days were expired he was put into\na woman\u2019s habit and thrown headlong down a mountain.... Of which kinde\nof punishment also Suidas makes mention in his Epicurus. There was\nlikewise for greater offenders, a punishment of Boats, so called. For\nthat he that was convict of high treason, was clapt between two boats,\nwith his head, hands, and feet hanging out: for his drink he had milk\nand honey powred down his throat, with which also his head and hands\nwere sprinkled, then being set against the sun, he drew to him abundance\nof stinging Flies, and within being full of their worms, he putrefied by\nlittle and little, and so died. Which kinde of examples of severity as\nthe ancients shewed to the guilty and criminous offenders; so on the\nother side the Spaniards in the Indies, used to drive numbers of the\ninnocents out of their houses, as the custome is among them, naked, all\nbedawbed with honey, and expose them in open air to the biting of most\ncruel Flies.\u201d[1005]\n\nMr. Henry Mayhew, in that part of his interesting work on London Labor\nand London Poor devoted to the London Street-folk, has given us the\nnarratives of several \u201cCatch-\u2019em-Alive\u201d sellers--a set of poor boys who\nsell prepared papers for the purpose of catching Flies. He discovered,\nas he relates, a colony of these \u201cCatch-\u2019em-alive\u201d boys residing in\nPheasant-court, Gray\u2019s-inn-lane. They were playing at \u201cpitch-and-toss\u201d\nin the middle of the paved yard, and all were very willing to give him\ntheir statements; indeed, the only difficulty he had was in making his\nchoice among the youths.\n\n\u201cPlease, sir,\u201d said one with teeth ribbed like celery, to him, \u201cI\u2019ve\nbeen at it longer than him.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, sir, he ain\u2019t been out this year with the papers,\u201d said\nanother, who was hiding a handful of buttons behind his back.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s been at shoe-blacking, sir; I\u2019m the only reg\u2019lar fly-boy,\u201d shouted\na third, eating a piece of bread as dirty as London snow.\n\nA big lad with a dirty face, and hair like hemp, was the first of the\n\u201ccatch-\u2019em-alive\u201d boys who gave him his account of his trade. He was a\nswarthy featured boy, with a broad nose like a negro\u2019s, and on his\ntemple was a big half-healed scar, which he accounted for by saying that\n\u201che had been runned over\u201d by a cab, though, judging from the blackness\nof one eye, it seemed to Mr. Mayhew to have been the result of some\nstreet fight. He said:\n\n\u201cI\u2019m an Irish boy, and nearly turned sixteen, and I\u2019ve been silling\nfly-papers for between eight and nine year. I must have begun to sill\nthem when they first come out. Another boy first tould me of them, and\nhe\u2019d been silling them about three weeks before me. He used to buy them\nof a party as lives in a back-room near Drury-lane, what buys paper and\nmakes the catch \u2019em alive for himself. When they first come out they\nused to charge sixpence a dozen for \u2019em, but now they\u2019ve got \u2019em to\ntwopence ha\u2019penny. When I first took to silling \u2019em, there was a tidy\nlot of boys at the business, but not so many as now, for all the boys\nseem at it. In our court alone I should think there was about twenty\nboys silling the things.\n\n\u201cAt first, when there was a good time, we used to buy three or four\ngross together, but now we don\u2019t no more than half a gross. As we go\nalong the streets we call out different cries. Some of us says,\n\u2018Fly-papers, fly-papers, ketch \u2019em all alive.\u2019 Others make a kind of\nsong of it, singing out, \u2018Fly-paper, ketch \u2019em all alive, the nasty\nflies, tormenting the baby\u2019s eyes. Who\u2019d be fly-blow\u2019d, by all the nasty\nblue-bottles, beetles, and flies?\u2019 People likes to buy of a boy as sings\nout well, \u2019cos it makes \u2019em laugh.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think I sell so many in town as I do in the borders of the\ncountry, about Highbury, Croydon, and Brentford. I\u2019ve got some regular\ncustomers in town about the City-prison and the Caledonian-road; and\nafter I\u2019ve served them and the town custom begins to fall off, then I\ngoes to the country. We goes two of us together, and we takes about\nthree gross. We keep on silling before us all the way, and we comes back\nthe same road. Last year we sould very well in Croydon, and it was the\nbest place for gitting the best price for them; they\u2019d give a penny a\npiece for \u2019em there, for they didn\u2019t know nothing about them. I went off\none day at ten o\u2019clock and didn\u2019t come home till two in the morning. I\nsould eighteen dozen out in that d\u2019rection the other day, and got rid of\nthem before I had got half-way. But flies are very scarce at Croydon\nthis year, and we haven\u2019t done so well. There ain\u2019t half as many flies\nthis summer as last.\n\n\u201cSome people says the papers draws more flies than they ketches, and\nthat when one gets in, there\u2019s twenty others will come to see him. It\u2019s\naccording to the weather as the flies is about. If we have a fine day it\nfetches them out, but a cold day kills more than our papers.\n\n\u201cWe sills the most papers to little cook-shops and sweet-meat shops. We\ndon\u2019t sill so many at private houses. The public-houses is pretty good\ncustomers, \u2019cos the beer draws the flies. I sould nine dozen at one\nhouse--a school--at Highgate, the other day. I sould \u2019em two for\nthree-ha\u2019 pence. That was a good hit, but then t\u2019other days we loses. If\nwe can make a ha\u2019penny each we thinks we does well.\n\n\u201cThose that sills their papers at three a-penny buys them at St.\nGiles\u2019s, and pays only three ha\u2019pence a dozen for them, but they ain\u2019t\nhalf as big and good as those we pays tuppence-ha\u2019penny a dozen for.\n\n\u201cBarnet is a good place for fly-papers; there\u2019s a good lot of flies down\nthere. There used to be a man at Barnet as made \u2019em, but I can\u2019t say if\nhe do now. There\u2019s another at Brentford, so it ain\u2019t much good going\nthat way.\n\n\u201cIn cold weather the papers keep pretty well, and will last for months\nwith just a little warming at the fire; for they tears on opening when\nthey are dry. You see we always carry them with the stickey sides\ndoubled up together like a sheet of writing-paper. In hot weather, if\nyou keep them folded up, they lasts very well; but if you opens them,\nthey dry up. It\u2019s easy opening them in hot weather, for they comes apart\nas easy as peeling a horrange. We generally carries the papers in a\nbundle on our arm, and we ties a paper as is loaded with flies round our\ncap, just to show the people the way to ketch \u2019em. We get a loaded paper\ngiven to us at a shop.\n\n\u201cWhen the papers come out first, we use to do very well with fly-papers;\nbut now it\u2019s hard work to make our own money for \u2019em. Some days we used\nto make six shillings a day regular. But then we usen\u2019t to go out every\nday, but take a rest at home. If we do well one day, then we might stop\nidle another day, resting. You see, we had to do our twenty or thirty\nmiles silling them to get that money, and then the next day we was\ntired.\n\n\u201cThe silling of papers is gradual falling off. I could go out and sill\ntwenty dozen wonst where I couldn\u2019t sill one now. I think I does a very\ngrand day\u2019s work if I yearns a shilling. Perhaps some days I may lose by\nthem. You see, if it\u2019s a very hot day, the papers gets dusty; and\nbesides, the stuff gets melted and oozes out; though that don\u2019t do much\nharm, \u2019cos we gets a bit of whitening and rubs \u2019em over. Four years ago\nwe might make ten shillings a day at the papers, but now, taking from\none end of the fly-season to the other, which is about three months, I\nthink we makes about one shilling a day out of papers, though even that\nain\u2019t quite certain. I never goes out without getting rid of mine,\nsomehow or another, but then I am obleeged to walk quick and look about\nme.\n\n\u201cWhen it\u2019s a bad time for silling the papers, such as a wet, could day,\nthen most of the fly-paper boys goes out with brushes, cleaning boots.\nMost of the boys is now out hopping. They goes reg\u2019lar every year after\nthe season is give over for flies.\n\n\u201cThe stuff as they puts on the paper is made out of boiled oil and\nturpentine and resin. It\u2019s seldom as a fly lives more than five minutes\nafter it gets on the paper, and then it\u2019s as dead as a house. The\nblue-bottles is tougher, but they don\u2019t last long, though they keeps on\nfizzing as if they was trying to make a hole in the paper. The stuff is\nonly p\u2019isonous for flies, though I never heard of anybody as ever eat a\nfly-paper.\u201d\n\nA second lad, in conclusion, said: \u201cThere\u2019s lots of boys going selling\n\u2018ketch-\u2019em-alive oh\u2019s\u2019 from Golden-lane, and White-chapel and the\nBorough. There\u2019s lots, too, comes out of Gray\u2019s-inn-lane and St.\nGiles\u2019s. Near every boy who has nothing to do goes out with fly-papers.\nPerhaps it ain\u2019t that the flies is falled off that we don\u2019t sill so many\npapers now, but because there\u2019s so many boys at it.\u201d\n\nA third, of the lot the most intelligent and gentle in his demeanor,\nthough the smallest in stature, said:\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been longer at it than the last boy, though I\u2019m only getting on\nfor thirteen, and he\u2019s older than I\u2019m; \u2019cos I\u2019m little and he\u2019s big,\ngetting a man. But I can sell them quite as well as he can, and\nsometimes better, for I can holler out just as loud, and I\u2019ve got\nreg\u2019lar places to go to. I was a very little fellow when I first went\nout with them, but I could sell them pretty well then, sometimes three\nor four dozen a day. I\u2019ve got one place, in a stable, where I can sell a\ndozen at a time to country people.\n\n\u201cI calls out in the streets, and I goes into the shops, too, and calls\nout, \u2018Ketch \u2019em alive, ketch \u2019em alive; ketch all the nasty\nblack-beetles, blue-bottles, and flies; ketch \u2019em from teasing the\nbaby\u2019s eyes.\u2019 That\u2019s what most of us boys cries out. Some boys who is\nstupid only says, \u2018Ketch \u2019em alive,\u2019 but people don\u2019t buy so well from\nthem.\n\n\u201cUp in St. Giles\u2019s there is a lot of fly-boys, but they\u2019re a bad set,\nand will fling mud at gentlemen, and some prigs the gentlemen\u2019s pockets.\nSometimes, if I sell more than a big boy, he\u2019ll get mad and hit me.\nHe\u2019ll tell me to give him a halfpenny and he won\u2019t touch me, and that if\nI don\u2019t he\u2019ll kill me. Some of the boys takes an open fly-paper, and\nmakes me look another way, and then they sticks the ketch-\u2019em-alive on\nmy face. The stuff won\u2019t come off without soap and hot water, and it\ngoes black, and looks like mud. One day a boy had a broken fly-paper,\nand I was taking a drink of water, and he come behind me and slapped it\nup in my face. A gentleman as saw him give him a crack with a stick and\nme twopence. It takes your breath away, until a man comes and takes it\noff. It all sticked to my hair, and I couldn\u2019t rack (comb) right for\nsome time....\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like going along with other boys, they take your customers\naway; for perhaps they\u2019ll sell \u2019em at three a penny to \u2019em, and spoil\nthe customers for you. I won\u2019t go with the big boy you saw, \u2019cos he\u2019s\nsuch a blackgeyard; when he\u2019s in the country he\u2019ll go up to a lady and\nsay, \u2018Want a fly-paper, marm?\u2019 and if she says \u2018No,\u2019 he\u2019ll perhaps job\nhis head in her face--butt at her like.\n\n\u201cWhen there\u2019s no flies, and the ketch-\u2019em-alive is out, then I goes\ntumbling. I can turn a cat\u2019enwheel over on one hand. I\u2019m going to-morrow\nto the country, harvesting and hopping--for, as we says, \u2018Go out\nhopping, come in jumping.\u2019 We start at three o\u2019clock to-morrow, and we\nshall get about twelve o\u2019clock at night at Dead Man\u2019s Barn. It was left\nfor poor people to sleep in, and a man was buried there in a corner. The\nman had got six farms of hops; and if his son hadn\u2019t buried him there,\nhe wouldn\u2019t have had none of the riches.\n\n\u201cThe greatest number of fly-papers I\u2019ve sold in a day is about eight\ndozen. I never sells no more than that; I wish I could. People won\u2019t buy\n\u2019em now. When I\u2019m at it I makes, taking one day with another, about ten\nshillings a week. You see, if I sold eight dozen, I\u2019d make four\nshillings. I sell \u2019em at a penny each, at two for three-ha\u2019pence, and\nthree for twopence. When they gets stale I sells \u2019em for three a penny.\nI always begin by asking a penny each, and perhaps they\u2019ll say, \u2018Give me\ntwo for three ha\u2019pence?\u2019 I\u2019ll say, \u2018Can\u2019t, ma\u2019am,\u2019 and then they pulls\nout a purse full of money and gives a penny.\n\n\u201cThe police is very kind to us, and don\u2019t interfere with us. If they see\nanother boy hitting us they\u2019ll take off their belts and hit \u2019em.\nSometimes I\u2019ve sold a ketch-\u2019em-alive to a policeman; he\u2019ll fold it up\nand put it into his pocket to take home with him. Perhaps he\u2019s got a\nkid, and the flies teazes its eyes.\n\n\u201cSome ladies like to buy fly-cages better than ketch-em-alive\u2019s, because\nsometimes when they\u2019re putting \u2019em up they falls in their faces, and\nthen they screams.\u201d\n\nThe history of the manufacture of Fly-papers was thus given to Mr.\nMayhew by a manufacturer, whom he found in a small attic-room near\nDrury-lane: \u201cThe first man as was the inventor of these fly-papers kept\na barber\u2019s shop in St. Andrew-street, Seven Dials, of the name of\nGreenwood or Greenfinch, I forget which. I expect he diskivered it by\naccident, using varnish and stuff, for stale varnish has nearly the same\neffect as our composition. He made \u2019em and sold \u2019em at first at\nthreepence and fourpence a piece. Then it got down to a penny. He sold\nthe receipt to some other parties, and then it got out through their\nhaving to employ men to help \u2019em. I worked for a party as made \u2019em, and\nthen I set to work making \u2019em for myself, and afterwards hawking them.\nThey was a greater novelty then than they are now, and sold pretty well.\nThen men in the streets, who had nothing to do, used to ask me where I\nbought \u2019em, and then I used to give \u2019em my own address, and they\u2019d come\nand find me.\u201d[1006]\n\n\n\u0152strid\u00e6--Bot-flies.\n\nThe larv\u00e6 of Bots, _\u0152stris ovis_, found in the heads of sheep and goats,\nhave been prescribed, and that, from the tripod of Delphos, as a remedy\nfor the epilepsy. We are told so on the authority of Alexander Trailien;\nbut whether Democritus, who consulted the oracle, was cured by this\nremedy, does not appear; the story shows, however, that the ancients\nwere aware that these maggots made their way even into the brain of\nliving animals.[1007] The oracle answered Democritus as follows:\n\n    Take a tame goat that hath the greatest head,\n    Or else a wilde goat in the field that\u2019s bred,\n    And in his forehead a great worm you\u2019l finde,\n    This cures all diseases of that kinde.[1008]\n\nThe common saying that a whimsical person is _maggoty_, or has got\n_maggots in his head_, perhaps arose from the freaks the sheep have been\nobserved to exhibit when infested by their Bots.[1009]\n\nThe following \u201ccharme for the Bots[1010] in a horse\u201d is found in Scots\u2019\nDiscovery of Witchcraft, printed in 1651: \u201cYou must both say and do thus\nupon the diseased horse three days together, before the sun rising: _In\nnomine pa\u2020tris & fi\u2020lii & Spiritus\u2020sancti, Exorcize te vermen per Deum\npa\u2020trem & fi\u2020lium & Spiritum\u2020sanctum_: that is, In the name of God the\nfather, the sonne, and the Holy Ghost, I conjure thee O worm by God, the\nFather, the sonne, and the Holy Ghost; that thou neither eate nor drink\nthe flesh, blood, or bones of this horse; and that thou hereby maiest be\nmade as patient as Job, and as good as S. John Baptist, when he baptized\nChrist in Jordan, _In nomine pa\u2020tris & fi\u2020lii et spiritus\u2020sancti_. And\nthen say three _Pater nosters_, and three _Aves_, in the right eare of\nthe horse, to the glory of the holy trinity. Do\u2020minus fili\u2020us spirit\u2020us\nMari\u2020a.\u201d[1011]\n\nThere is a popular error in England respecting the _\u0152strus\n(Gasterophilus) equi (h\u00e6morrhoidalis)_, which Shakspeare has followed,\nand which has been judiciously explained by Mr. Clark. Shakspeare makes\nthe carrier at Rochester observe: \u201cPeas and oats are as dank here as a\ndog, and that\u2019s the next way to give _poor jades the bots_.\u201d[1012]\n\nThe larv\u00e6 of this insect, says Mr. Clark, are mostly known among the\ncountry people by the name of _wormals_, _wormuls_, _warbles_, or, more\nproperly, _Bots_. And our ancestors erroneously imagined that poverty or\nimproper food engendered them in horses. The truth, however, seems to\nbe, that when the animal is kept without food the Bots are also, and are\nthen, without doubt, most troublesome; whence it was very naturally\nsupposed that poverty or bad food was the parent of them.[1013]\n\nA cow with its hide perforated by Warbles, in England, was said to be\nelf-shot: the holes being made by the arrows of the little malignant\nfairies. In the Northern Antiquities, p. 404, we find the following:\n\n\u201cIf at such a time you were to look through an elf-bore in wood, where a\nthorter knot has been taken out, or through the hole made by an\nelf-arrow (which has probably been made by a Warble) in the skin of a\nbeast that has been elf-shot, you may see the elf-bull naiging (butting)\nwith the strongest bull or ox in the herd; but you will never see with\nthat eye again.\u201d\n\nIn the Scottish history of the trials of witches, we find the following:\nAlexander Smaill offended Jonet Cock, who threatened him, \u201cdeare sail\nyow rewe it! and within half ane howre therafter, going to the\npleugh,--befoir he had gone one about, their came ane great Wasp or Bee,\nso that the foir horses did runne away with the pleugh, and wer liklie\nto have killed themselves, and the said Alexander and the boy that was\nwith him, narrowlie escaped with their lyves.\u201d[1014] Possibly the\nincident is not exaggerated, as a single \u0152strus will turn the oxen of a\nwhole herd, and render them furious.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSpencer, in his Travels in Circassia, speaks of a poisonous Fly, known\nin Hungary under the name of the Golubaeser-fly, which is singularly\ndestructive to cattle. The Hungarian peasants, to account for the\nseverity of the bite of this insect, tell us that in the caverns, near\nthe Castle of Golubaes, the renowned champion, St. George, killed the\ndragon, and that its decomposed remains have continued to generate these\ninsects down to the present day. So firmly did they believe this, that\nthey closed up the mouths of the caverns with stone walls.[1015]\n\n\n\n\nORDER X.\n\nAPHANIPTERA.\n\n\nPulicid\u00e6--Fleas.\n\nThe name _Pulex_, given to the Flea by the Romans, is stated by Isodorus\nto have been derived from _pulvis_, dust, _quasi pulveris filius_. Our\nEnglish name _Flea_, and the German _Flock_, are evidently deduced from\nthe quick motions of this insect.\n\nAs to the origin of Fleas, Moufet had a similar notion to that contained\nin the word Pulex, if we adopt the etymology of Isodorus, for he says\nthey are produced from the dust, especially when moistened with urine,\nthe smallest ones springing from putrid matter. Scaliger relates that\nthey are produced from the moistened humors among the hairs of\ndogs.[1016] Conformable to the curious notion of Moufet, Shakspeare\nsays:\n\n    _2 Car._ I think this be the most villainous house in all London\n    road for fleas: I am stung like a tench.\n\n    _1 Car._ Like a tench? by the mass, there is ne\u2019er a king in\n    Christendom could be better bit than I have been since the first\n    cock.\n\n    _2 Car._ Why, they will allow us ne\u2019er a jorden, and then we leak in\n    your chimney; and your _chamber-ley breeds fleas_ like a\n    loach.[1017]\n\n\u201cMartyr, the author of the Decads of Navigation, writes, that in\nPerienna, a countrey of the Indies, the drops of sweat that fall from\ntheir slaves\u2019 bodies will presently turn to Fleas.\u201d[1018]\n\nEwlin, in his book of Travels in Turkey, has recorded a singular\ntradition of the history of the Flea and its confraternity, as preserved\namong a sect of Kurds, who dwelt in his time at the foot of Mount\nSindshar. \u201cWhen Noah\u2019s Ark,\u201d says the legend, \u201csprung a leak by\nstriking against a rock in the vicinity of Mount Sindshar, and Noah\ndespaired altogether of safety, the serpent promised to help him out of\nhis mishap if he would engage to feed him upon human flesh after the\ndeluge had subsided. Noah pledged himself to do so; and the serpent\ncoiling himself up, drove his body into the fracture and stopped the\nleak. When the pluvious element was appeased, and all were making their\nway out of the ark, the serpent insisted upon the fulfillment of the\npledge he had received; but Noah, by Gabriel\u2019s advice, committed the\npledge to the flames, and scattering its ashes in the air, there arose\nout of them Fleas, Flies, Lice, Bugs, and all such sort of vermin as\nprey upon human blood, and after this fashion was Noah\u2019s pledge\nredeemed.\u201d[1019]\n\nThe Sandwich Islanders have the following tradition in regard to the\nintroduction of Fleas into their country: Many years ago a woman from\nWaimea went out to a ship to see her lover, and as she was about to\nreturn, he gave her a bottle, saying that there was very little valuable\nproperty (_waiwai_) contained in it, but that she must not open it, on\nany account, until she reached the shore. As soon as she gained the\nbeach, she eagerly uncorked the bottle to examine her treasure, but\nnothing was to be discovered,--the Fleas hopped out, and \u201cthey have gone\non hopping and biting ever since.\u201d[1020]\n\nOur pigmy tormentor, _Pulex irritans_, in the opinion of some, seems to\nhave been regarded as an agreeable rather than a repulsive object. \u201cDear\nMiss,\u201d said a lively old lady to a friend of Kirby and Spence (who had\nthe misfortune to be confined to her bed by a broken limb, and was\ncomplaining that the Fleas tormented her), \u201cdon\u2019t you like _Fleas_?\nWell, I think they are the prettiest little merry things in the\nworld.--I never saw a dull Flea in all my life.\u201d[1021] Dr. Townson, as\nmentioned by the above writers, from the encomium which he bestows upon\nthese vigilant little vaulters, as supplying the place of an alarum and\ndriving us from the bed of sloth, should seem to have regarded them with\nthe same happy feelings.[1022]\n\nWhen Ray and Willughby were traveling, they found \u201cat Venice and\nAugsburg Fleas for sale, and at a small price too, decorated with steel\nor silver collars around their necks, of which Willughby purchased one.\nWhen they are kept in a box amongst wool or cloth, in a warm place, and\nfed once a day, they will live a long time. When they begin to suck they\nerect themselves almost perpendicularly, thrusting their sucker, which\noriginates in the middle of the forehead, into the skin. The itching is\nnot felt immediately, but a little afterwards. As soon as they are full\nof blood, they begin to void a portion of it, and thus, if permitted,\nthey will continue for many hours sucking and voiding. After the first\nitching no uneasiness is subsequently felt. Willughby\u2019s Flea lived for\nthree months by sucking in this manner the blood of his hand; it was at\nlength killed by the cold of winter.\u201d[1023]\n\nWe read in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims that a city of the Miantines is said to\nhave been dispeopled by Fleas;[1024] and Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, who\nfound these insects more tormenting than all the other plagues of the\nMissouri country, say they sometimes here compel even the natives to\nshift their quarters.[1025]\n\nDr. Clarke was informed by an Arab Sheikh that \u201cthe king of the Fleas\nheld his court at Tiberias.\u201d[1026]\n\nTo prevent Fleas from breeding, Pliny gives the following curious\nrecipe: \u201cSince I have made mention of the cuckow,\u201d says this writer,\n\u201cthere comes into my mind a strange and miraculous matter that the said\nmagicians report of this bird; namely, that if a man, the first time\nthat he heareth her to sing, presently stay his right foot in the very\nplace where it was when he heard her, and withal mark out the point and\njust proportion of the said foot upon the ground as it stood, and then\ndigg up the earth under it within the said compasse, look what chamber\nor roume of the house is strewed with the said mould, there will no\nFleas bread there.\u201d[1027]\n\nThomas Hill, in his Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions, printed 1650,\nquotes this passage from Pliny, calling it \u201cA very easie and merry\nconceit to keep off fleas from your beds or chambers.\u201d[1028]\n\nThe Hungarian shepherds grease their linen with hogs\u2019 lard, and thus\nrender themselves so disgusting even to the Fleas and Lice, as to put\nthem effectually to flight.[1029]\n\nThere is still shown in the Arsenal at Stockholm a diminutive piece of\nordnance, four or five inches in length, with which, report says, on the\nauthority of Linn\u00e6us, the celebrated Queen Christiana used to cannonade\nFleas.[1030]\n\nBut, seriously, if you wish for an effectual remedy, that prescribed by\nold Tusser, in his Points of Goode Husbandry, in the following lines,\nwill answer your purpose:\n\n    While wormwood hath seed, get a handfull or twaine,\n    To save against March, to make flea to refraine:\n    Where chamber is sweeped and wormwood is strown,\n    No flea for his life dare abide to be known.\n\nThe inhabitants of Dalecarlia place the skins of hares in their\napartments, in which the Fleas willingly take refuge, so that they are\neasily destroyed by the immersion of the skin in scalding water.[1031]\n\nPamphilius among others gives the following remedies against Fleas: If a\nperson, he says, sets a dish in the middle of the house, and draws a\nline around it with an iron sword (it will be better if the sword has\ndone execution), and if he sprinkles the rest of the house, excepting\nthe place circumscribed, with an irrigation of staphisagria, or of\npowdered leaves of the bay-tree, they having been boiled in brine or in\nsea-water, he will bring all the Fleas together into the dish. A jar\nalso being set in the ground with its edge even with the pavement, and\nsmeared with bulls\u2019 fat, will attract all the Fleas, even those that are\nin the wardrobe. If you enter a place where there are Fleas, express the\nusual exclamation of distress, and they will not touch you. Make a small\ntrench under a bed, and pour goats\u2019 blood into it, and it will bring all\nthe Fleas together, and it will allure those from your clothing. Fleas\nmay be removed also, concludes this writer, from the most villous and\nfrom the thickest pieces of tapestry, whither, they betake themselves\nwhen full, if goats\u2019 blood is set in a vessel or in a cork.[1032]\n\nMoufet says: \u201cA Gloeworm, set in the middle of the house, drives away\nFleas.\u201d[1033]\n\nOn the subject of destroying Fleas, the following pleasant piece of\nsatire, by Poor Humphrey, will be read with a smile: \u201cA notable\nprojector became notable by one project only, which was a certain\nspecific for the killing of fleas, and it was in form of a powder, and\nsold in papers, with plain directions for use, as followeth: The flea\nwas to be held conveniently between the thumb and finger of the left\nhand; and to the end of the trunk or proboscis, which protrudeth in the\nflea, somewhat as the elephant\u2019s doth, a very small quantity of the\npowder was to be put from between the thumb and finger of the right\nhand. And the deviser undertook, if any flea to whom his powder was so\nadministered should prove to have afterwards bitten a purchaser who used\nit, then that purchaser should have another paper of the said powder\ngratis. And it chanced that the first paper thereof was bought idly, as\nit were, by an old woman, and she, without meaning to injure the\ninventor, or his remedy, but, of her mere harmlessness, did innocently\nask him, whether, when she had caught the flea, and after she had got\nit, as before described, if she should kill it with her nail it would\nnot be as well. Whereupon the ingenious inventor was so astonished by\nthe question, that, not knowing what to answer on the sudden occasion,\nhe said with truth to this effect, that without doubt her way would do,\ntoo. And according to the belief of Poor Humphrey, there is not as yet\nany device more certain or better for destroying a flea, when thou hast\ncaptured him, than the ancient manner of the old woman\u2019s, or instead\nthereof, the drowning of him in fair water, if thou hast it by thee at\nthe time.\u201d[1034]\n\nThe old English hunters report that foxes are full of Fleas, and they\ntell the following queer story how they get rid of them: \u201cThe fox,\u201d say\nthey, as recorded by Mouffet, \u201cgathers some handfuls of wool from\nthorns and briars, and wrapping it up, he holds it fast in his mouth,\nthen goes by degrees into a cold river, and dipping himself close by\nlittle and little, when he finds that all the Fleas are crept so high as\nhis head for fear of drowning, and so for shelter crept into the wool,\nhe barks and spits out the wool, full of Fleas, and so very froliquely\nbeing delivered from their molestation, he swims to land.\u201d[1035]\n\nRamsay thus alludes to this story:\n\n    Then sure the lasses, and ilk gaping coof,\n    Wad rin about him, and had out their loof.\n    _M._ As fast as fleas skip to the tale of woo,\n    Whilk slee Tod Lowrie (the fox) hads without his mow,\n    When he to drown them, and his hips to cool,\n    In summer days slides backward in a pool.[1036]\n\nPreceding this story, Mouffet makes the following observations: \u201cThe\nlesser, leaner, and younger they are, the sharper they bite, the fat\nones being more inclined to tickle and play; and then are not the least\nplague, especially when in greater numbers, since they molest men that\nare sleeping, and trouble wearied and sick persons; from whom they\nescape by skipping; for as soon as they find they are arraigned to die,\nand feel the finger coming, on a sudden they are gone, and leap here and\nthere, and so escape the danger; but so soon as day breaks, they forsake\nthe bed. They then creep into the rough blankets, or hide themselves in\nrushes and dust, lying in ambush for pigeons, hens, and other birds,\nalso for men and dogs, moles and mice, and vex such as passe by.\u201d[1037]\n\nIt is frequently affirmed that asses are never troubled with Fleas or\nother vermin; and, among the superstitious, it is said that it is all\nowing to the riding of Christ upon one of these animals.[1038]\n\nWillsford, in his Nature\u2019s Secrets, printed 1658, p. 130, says: \u201cThe\nlittle sable beast (called a _Flea_), if much thirsting after blood, it\nargues rain.\u201d[1039]\n\nIt is related that the Devil, teasing St. Domingo in the shape of a\nFlea, skipped upon his book, when the saint fixed him as a mark where\nhe left off, and continued to use him so through the volume.[1040]\n\nFleas infesting beds were attributed to the envy of the Devil.[1041]\n\nGiles Fletcher says that Iwan Yasilowich sent to the City of Moscow to\nprovide for him a measure full of Fleas for a medicine. They answered\nthat it was impossible, and if they could get them, yet they could not\nmeasure them because of their leaping out. Upon which he set a mulct\nupon the city of seven thousand rubles.[1042]\n\nWe read in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims that the Jews were not permitted to burn\nFleas in the flame of their lamps on Sabbath evenings.[1043]\n\nThe muscular power of the Flea is so great that it can leap to the\ndistance of two hundred times its own length, which will appear the more\nsurprising when we consider that a man, were he endowed with equal\nstrength and agility, would be able to leap between three and four\nhundred yards. Aristophanes, in his usual licentious way, ridicules the\ngreat Socrates for his pretended experiments on this great muscular\npower:\n\n    _Disciple._ That were not lawful to reveal to strangers.\n\n    _Strepsiades._ Speak boldly then as to a fellow-student;\n    For therefore am I come.\n\n    _Disc._                  Then I will speak;\n    But set it down among our mysteries.\n    It is a question put to Ch\u00e6rophon\n    By our great master Socrates to answer,\n    How many of his own lengths at a spring\n    A Flea can hop; for one by chance had skipp\u2019d\n    Straight from the brow of Ch\u00e6rophon to th\u2019 head\n    Of Socrates.\n\n    _Streps._    And how did then the sage\n    Contrive to measure this?\n\n    _Disc._                   Most dext\u2019rously.\n    He dipp\u2019d the insect\u2019s feet in melted wax,\n    Which hard\u2019ning into slippers as it cool\u2019d,\n    By these computed he the question\u2019d space.\n\n    _Streps._ O Jupiter, what subtilty of thought![1044]\n\nThe witty Butler has also commemorated the same circumstance in his\njustly celebrated poem of Hudibras:\n\n    How many scores a Flea will jump\n    Of his own length, from head to rump;\n    Which Socrates and Ch\u00e6rophon\n    In vain assay\u2019d so long agon.\n\nAs illustrative of the strength of the Flea, the following facts may\nalso be given: We read in a note to Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims that \u201cone Marke\nScaliot, in London, made a lock and key and chain of forty-three links,\nall which a Flea did draw, and weighed but a grain and a half.\u201d[1045]\nMouffet, who also records this fact, says he had heard of another Flea\nthat was harnessed to a golden chariot, which it drew with the greatest\nease.[1046] Bingley tells us that Mr. Boverick, an ingenious watchmaker\nin the Strand, exhibited some years ago a little ivory chaise with four\nwheels, and all its proper apparatus, and the figure of a man sitting on\nthe box, all of which were drawn by a single Flea. The same mechanic\nafterward constructed a minute landau, which opened and shut by springs,\nwith the figures of six horses harnessed to it, and of a coachman on the\nbox, a dog between his legs, four persons inside, two footmen behind it,\nand a postillion riding on one of the fore horses, which were all easily\ndragged along by a single Flea. He likewise had a chain of brass, about\ntwo inches long, containing two hundred links, with a hook at one end\nand a padlock and key at the other, which a Flea drew nimbly\nalong.[1047] At a fair of Charlton, in Kent, 1830, a man exhibited three\nFleas harnessed to a carriage in form of an omnibus, at least fifty\ntimes their own bulk, which they pulled along with great ease; another\npair drew a chariot, and a single Flea a brass cannon. The exhibitor\nshowed the whole first through a magnifying glass, and then to the naked\neye; so that all were satisfied there was no deception.[1048] Latrielle\nalso mentions a Flea of a moderate size, which dragged a silver cannon,\nmounted on wheels, that was twenty-four times its own weight, and which\nbeing charged with gunpowder was fired off without the Flea appearing in\nthe least alarmed.[1049]\n\nIt is recorded in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims that an Egyptian artisan received a\ngarment of cloth of gold for binding a Flea in a chain.[1050]\n\nThe Flea is twice mentioned in the Bible, and in both cases David, in\nspeaking to Saul, applies it to himself as a term of humility.[1051]\n\nA Prussian poet, quoted by Jaeger,[1052] gives us the song of a young\nFlea who had emigrated to this country from Prussia, and thus expresses\nhis dissatisfaction to his sweetheart:\n\n    Kennst de nunmehr das Land, we Dorngestripp und Disteln bl\u00fch\u2019n,\n    Im frost\u2019gen Wald nur eckelhafte Tannenzapfen gl\u00fch\u2019n,\n    Der Schierling tief, und hoch der Sumach steht,\n    Ein rauher Wind vom schwarzen Himmel weht;\n    Kennst du es wohl? O lass uns eilig zieh\u2019n,\n    Und schnell zur\u00fcck in unsre Hiemath flieh\u2019n!\n\nAn English prose translation of which is: \u201cKnow\u2019st thou now this\ncountry, where only briars and thistles bloom; where ugly fur-nuts only\nglow in the icy forest; where down in the vale the fetid hemlock grows,\nand on the hills the poisonous sumach; where heavy winds blow from black\nclouds over desolate lands? Dost thou not know of this country? Oh,\nthen, let us fly in haste and return to our own fatherland!\u201d\n\n\u201cTo send one away with a Flea in his ear,\u201d is a very old English phrase,\nmeaning to dismiss one with a rebuke.[1053] \u201cFlea-luggit\u201d is the\nScottish--to be unsettled or confused.[1054]\n\nThere is a collection of poems called \u201cLa Puce des grands jours de\nPoitiers\u201d--the Flea of the carnival of Poitiers. The poems were begun by\nthe learned Pasquier, who edited the collection, upon a Flea which was\nfound one morning in the bosom of the famous Catherine des Roches.[1055]\n\nDuring the winter of 1762, at Norwich, England, after a chilling storm\nof snow and wind that had destroyed many lives, myriads of Fleas were\nfound skipping about on the snow.[1056]\n\nTo the Pulicid\u00e6 belongs also a native of the West Indies and South\nAmerica, the _Pulex penetrans_, variously named in the countries where\nit is found, Chigoe, Jigger, Nigua, Tungua, and Pique. According to\nStedman, this \u201cis a kind of small sand-flea, which gets in between the\nskin and the flesh without being felt, and generally under the nails of\nthe toes, where, while it feeds, it keeps growing till it becomes of the\nsize of a pea, causing no further pain than a disagreeable itching. In\nprocess of time, its operation appears in the form of a small bladder,\nin which are deposited thousands of eggs, or nits, and which, if it\nbreaks, produce so many young Chigoes, which, in course of time, create\nrunning ulcers, often of very dangerous consequence to the patient; so\nmuch so, indeed, that I knew a soldier the soles of whose feet were\nobliged to be cut away before he could recover; and some men have lost\ntheir limbs by amputation--nay, even their lives--by having neglected in\ntime to root out these abominable vermin. The moment, therefore, that a\nredness and itching more than usual are perceived, it is time to extract\nthe Chigoe that occasions them. This is done with a sharp-pointed\nneedle, taking care not to occasion unnecessary pain, and to prevent the\nChigoe from breaking in the wound. Tobacco ashes are put into the\norifice, by which in a little time the sore is perfectly healed.\u201d[1057]\nThe female slaves are generally employed to extract these pests, which\nthey do with uncommon dexterity. Old Ligon tells us he had ten Chigoes\ntaken out of his feet in a morning \u201cby the most unfortunate\nYarico,\u201d[1058] whose tragical story is now so celebrated in prose and\nverse. Mr. Southey says that many of the first settlers of Brazil,\nbefore they knew the remedy to extract the Chigoes, lost their feet in\nthe most dreadful manner.[1059]\n\nWalton, in his Present State of the Spanish Colonies, tells us of a\nCapuchin friar, who carried away with him a colony of Chigoes in his\nfoot as a present to the Scientific Colleges in Europe; but,\nunfortunately for himself and for science, the length of the voyage\nproduced mortification in his leg, that it became necessary to cut it\noff to save the zealous missionary\u2019s life, and the leg, with all its\ninhabitants, were tumbled together into the sea.[1060]\n\nHumboldt observes \u201cthat the whites born in the torrid zone walk barefoot\nwith impunity in the same apartment where a European, recently landed,\nis exposed to the attack of this animal. The _Nigua_, therefore,\ndistinguishes what the most delicate chemical analysis could not\ndistinguish, the cellular membrane and blood of an European from those\nof a Creole white.\u201d[1061]\n\n\n\n\nORDER XI.\n\nANOPLEURA.\n\n\nPediculid\u00e6--Lice.\n\nAt Hurdenburg, in Sweden, Mr. Hurst tells us the mode of choosing a\nburgomaster is this: The persons eligible sit around, with their beards\nupon a table; a Louse is then put in the middle of the table, and the\none, in whose beard this insect first takes cover, is the magistrate for\nthe ensuing year.[1062]\n\nRespecting the revenue of Montecusuma, which consisted of the natural\nproducts of the country, and what was produced by the industry of his\nsubjects, we find the following story in Torquemada: \u201cDuring the abode\nof Montecusuma among the Spaniards, in the palace of his father, Alonzo\nde Ojeda one day espied in a certain apartment of the building a number\nof small bags tied up. He imagined at first that they were filled with\ngold dust, but on opening one of them, what was his astonishment to find\nit quite full of Lice? Ojeda, greatly surprised at the discovery he had\nmade, immediately communicated what he had seen to Cortes, who then\nasked Marina and Anguilar for some explanation. They informed him that\nthe Mexicans had such a sense of their duty to pay tribute to their\nmonarch, that the poorest and meanest of the inhabitants, if they\npossessed nothing better to present to their king, daily cleaned their\npersons, and saved all the Lice they caught, and that when they had a\ngood store of these, they laid them in bags at the feet of their\nmonarch.\u201d Torquemada further remarks, that his reader might think these\nbags were filled with small worms (gasanillos), and not with Lice; but\nappeals to Alonzo de Ojeda, and another of Cortes\u2019 soldiers, named\nAlonzo de Mata, who were eye-witnesses of the fact.[1063]\n\nOviedo pretends to have observed that Lice, at the elevation of the\ntropics, abandon the Spanish sailors that are going to the Indies, and\nattack them again at the same point on their return. The same is\nreported in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims.[1064] One of the supplementary writers\nto Cuvier\u2019s History of Insects says: \u201cThis is an observation that has\nneed of being corroborated by more certain testimonies than we are yet\nin possession of. But, if true, there would be nothing in the fact very\nsurprising. A degree of considerable heat, and a more abundant\nperspiration, might prove unfavorable to the propagation of the\n_Pediculi corporis_. As their skin is more tender, the influence of the\nair might prove detrimental to them in those burning climates.\u201d[1065]\n\nWe read in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims, that \u201cif Lice doe much annoy the natives\nof Cambaia and Malabar, they call to them certain Religious and holy\nmen, after their account: and these Observants y will take upon them all\nthose Lice which the other can find, and put them on their head, there\nto nourish them. But yet for all this lousie scruple, they stick not to\ncoozenage by falese weights, measures, and coyne, nor at usury and\nlies.\u201d[1066]\n\nIn a side-note to this curious passage, we find: \u201cThe like lousie trick\nis reported in the Legend of S. _Francis_, and in the life of Ignatius,\nof one of the Jesuitical pillars, by Moff\u00e6us.\u201d\n\nSteedman says of the Caffres, that \u201cexcept an occasional plunge in a\nriver, they never wash themselves, and consequently their bodies are\ncovered with vermin. On a fine day their karosses are spread out in the\nsun, and as their tormentors creep forth they are doomed to destruction.\nIt often happens that one Caffir performs for another the kind office of\ncollecting these insects, in which case he preserves the entomological\nspecimens, carefully delivering them to the person to whom they\noriginally appertained, supposing, according to their theory, that as\nthey derived their support from the blood of the man from whom they were\ntaken, should they be killed by another, the blood of his neighbor would\nbe in his possession, thus placing in his hands the power of some\nsuperhuman influence.\u201d[1067]\n\nKolben says the Hottentots eat the largest of the Lice with which they\nswarm; and that if asked how they can devour such detestable vermin,\nthey plead the law of retaliation, and urge that it is no shame to eat\nthose who would eat them--\u201cThey suck our blood, and we devour \u2019em in\nrevenge.\u201d[1068]\n\nWe are assured in Purchas\u2019s Pilgrims, that Lice and \u201clong wormes\u201d were\nsold for food in Mexico.[1069] From this ancient collection of Travels,\nwe learn that when the Indians of the Province of Cuena are infected\nwith Lice, \u201cthey dresse and cleanse one another; and they that exercise\nthis, are for the most part women, who eate all that they take, and have\nherein (eating?) such dexterity by reason of their exercise, that our\nown men cannot lightly attaine thereunto.\u201d[1070]\n\nThe Budini, a people of Scythia, commonly feed upon Lice and other\nvermin bred upon their bodies.[1071]\n\nMr. Wafer, in his description of the Isthmus of America, says: \u201cThe\nnatives have Lice in their Heads, which they feel out with their\nFingers, and eat as they catch them.\u201d[1072] Dobrizhoffer also mentions\nthat Lice are eaten by the Indian women of South America.[1073]\n\nThe disgusting practice of eating these vermin is not confined to the\nHottentots, the Negroes of Western Africa, the Simi\u00e6, and the American\nIndians, for it has been observed to prevail among the beggars of Spain\nand Portugal.[1074]\n\nSchroder, in his History of Animals that are useful in Physic, says:\n\u201cLice are swallowed by country people against the jaundice.\u201d[1075] As a\nspecific against this disease, Beaumont and Fletcher thus allude to\nthem:\n\n    Die of the jaundice, yet have the cure about you: lice, large lice,\n    begot of your own dust and the heat of the brick kilns.[1076]\n\nLice were also made use of in cases of Atrophy, and Dioscorides says\nthey were employed in suppressions of urine, being introduced into the\ncanal of the urethra.[1077]\n\nIn the Gentleman\u2019s Magazine for 1746, there is a curious letter on \u201ca\ncertain _creature_, of rare and extraordinary qualities\u201d--a Louse,\ncontaining many humorous observations on this \u201c_lover_ of the human\nrace,\u201d and concluding with some queries as to its origin and\npedigree. \u201cWas it,\u201d the writer asks, \u201ccreated within the six days\nassigned by _Moses_ for the formation of all things? If so, where was\nits habitation? We can hardly suppose that it was quartered on _Adam_\nor his lady, the neatest, nicest pair (if we believe _John Milton_)\nthat ever joyned hands. And yet, as it disdained to graze the fields,\nor lick the dust for sustenance, where else could it have had its\nsubsistence?\u201d[1078]\n\nIn a modern account of Scotland, written by an English gentleman, and\nprinted in the year 1670, we find the following: \u201cIn that interval\nbetween Adam and Moses, when the Scottish Chronicle commences, the\ncountry was then baptized (and most think with the sign of the cross) by\nthe venerable name of Scotland, from Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh,\nKing of Egypt. Hence came the rise and name of these present\ninhabitants, as their Chronicle informs us, and is not to be doubted of,\nfrom divers considerable circumstances; the plagues of Egypt being\nentailed upon them, that of Lice (being a judgment unrepealed) is an\nample testimony, these loving animals accompanied them from Egypt, and\nremain with them to this day, never forsaking them (but as rats leave a\nhouse) till they tumble into their graves.\u201d[1079]\n\nLinn\u00e6us, seemingly very anxious to become an apologist for the Lice,\ngravely observes that they probably preserve children who are troubled\nwith them, from a variety of complaints to which they would be\nliable![1080]\n\nAs an attempt toward discovering the intention of Providence in\npermitting the frequency of these tormenting animals, the following\nlines of Serenus may be given:\n\n    See nature, kindly provident ordain\n    Her gentle stimulants to harmless pain;\n    Lest Man, the slave of rest, should waste away\n    In torpid slumber life\u2019s important day!\n\nOf the horrible disease, Phthiriasis, occasioned by myriads of Lice,\n_Pediculi_, and sometimes by Mites, _Acari_, and _Larv\u00e6_ in general, I\nshall but mention that the inhuman Pheretrina, Antiochus Epiphanes, the\nDictator Sylla, the two Herods, the Emperor Maximin, and Philip the\nSecond were among the number carried off by it.\n\nQuintus Serenus speaks thus of the death of Sylla:\n\n    Great Sylla too the fatal scourge hath known;\n    Slain by a host far mightier than his own.\n\nAccording to Pliny, Nits are destroyed by using dog\u2019s fat, eating\nserpents cooked like eels, or else taking their sloughs in drink.[1081]\n\nIn Leyden\u2019s Notes to Complaynt of Scotland are recorded the following\nfew rhymes of the Gyre-carlin--the bug-bear of King James V.\n\n    The Mouse, the Louse, and Little Rede,\n    Were a\u2019 to mak\u2019 a gruel in a lead.\n\nThe two first associates desire Little Rede to go to the door, to \u201csee\nwhat he could see.\u201d He declares that he saw the gyre-carlin coming,\n\n    With spade, and shool, and trowel,\n    To lick up a\u2019 the gruel.\n\nUpon which the party disperse:\n\n    The Louse to the claith,\n      And the Mouse to the wa\u2019,\n    Little Rede behind the door,\n      And licket up a\u2019.[1082]\n\n\n\n\nORDER XII.\n\nARACHNIDA.[1083]\n\n\nAcarid\u00e6--Mites.\n\nThe white spot on the back of a certain species of Wood-tic (_Acarus_)\nis said to be the spot where the pin went through the body when Noah\npinned it in the Ark to keep it from troubling him.\n\n\nPhalangid\u00e6--Daddy-Long-legs.\n\nA superstition obtains among our cow-boys that if a cow be lost, its\nwhereabouts may be learned by inquiring of the Daddy-Long-legs\n(Phalangium), which points out the direction of the lost animal with one\nof its fore legs.\n\nIn England, the Phalangium has been christened the Harvest-man, from a\nsuperstitious belief that if it be killed there will be a bad\nharvest.[1084]\n\n\nPedipalpi--Scorpions.\n\nConcerning the generation of the Scorpion, Topsel, in his History of\nFour-footed Beasts and Serpents, printed in 1658, treats as follows:\n\n\u201cNow, then, it followeth that we inquire about the manner of their\n(Scorpions\u2019) breed or generation, which I find to be double, as divers\nauthors have observed, one way is by putrefaction, and the other by\nlaying of egges, and both these ways are consonant to nature, for\nLacinius writeth that some creatures are generated only by propagation\nof seed--such are men, vipers, whales, and the palm-tree; some again\nonly by putrefaction, as mice, Scorpions, Emmets, Spiders, purslain,\nwhich, first of all, were produced by putrefaction, and since their\ngeneration are conserved by the seed and egges of their own kinde. Now,\ntherefore, we will first of all speak of the generation of Scorpions by\nputrefaction, and afterward by propagation.\n\n\u201cPliny saith[1085] that when Sea-crabs dye, and their bodies are dried\nupon the earth, when the sun entereth into Cancer and Scorpius, out of\nthe putrefaction thereof ariseth a Scorpion; and so out of the putrefied\nbody of the crefish burned arise Scorpions, which caused Ovid thus to\nwrite:\n\n    Concava littoreo si demas brachia cancro,\n    C\u00e6tera supponas terr\u00e6, de parte sepulta\n    Scorpius exibit, caudaque minabitur unca.\n\nAnd again:\n\n    Obrutus exemptis cancer tellure lacertis,\n    Scorpius exiguo tempore factus erit.\n\nIn English thus:\n\n    If that the arms you take from Sea-crab-fish,\n    And put the rest in earth till all consumed be,\n    Out of the buried part a Scorpion will arise,\n    With hooked tayl doth threaten for to hurt thee.\n\n\u201cAnd therefore it is reported by \u00c6lianus that about Estamenus, in India,\nthere are abundance of Scorpions generated only by corrupt rain-water\nstanding in that place. Also out of the Basalisk beaten into pieces and\nso putrefied are Scorpions engendered. And when as one had planted the\nherb basilica on a wall, in the room or place thereof he found two\nScorpions. And some say that if a man chaw in his mouth fasting this\nherb basill before he wash, and afterward lay the same abroad uncovered\nwhere no sun cometh at it for the space of seven nights, taking it in\nall the daytime, he shall at length finde it transmuted into a Scorpion,\nwith a tayl of seven knots.[1086]\n\n\u201cHollerius,[1087] to take away all scruple of this thing, writeth that\nin Italy in his dayes there was a man that had a Scorpion bred in his\nbrain by continuall smelling to this herb basill; and Gesner, by\nrelation of an apothecary in France, writeth likewise a story of a young\nmaid who, by smelling to basill, fell into an exceeding headache,\nwhereof she died without cure, and after death, being opened, there were\nfound little Scorpions in her brain.\n\n\u201cAristotle remembreth an herb which he calleth sissimbria, out of which\nputrefied Scorpions are engendered, as he writeth. And we have shewed\nalready, in the history of the Crocodile, that out of the Crocodile\u2019s\negges do many times come Scorpions, which at their first egression do\nkill their dam that hatched them, which caused Archelaus, which wrote\nepigrams of wonders unto Ptolem\u00e6us, to sing of Scorpions in this manner:\n\n    In vos dissolvit morte, et redigit crocodilum\n    Natura extinctum, Scorpii omnipotens.\n\nWhich may be Englished thus:\n\n    To you by Scorpions death the omnipotent\n    Ruines the crocodil in nature\u2019s life extinct.\u201d[1088]\n\nThe remarks referred to by Topsel in the last paragraph in his history\nof the Crocodile are as follows:\n\n\u201cIt is said by Philes that, after the egge is laid by the crocodile,\nmany times there is a cruel Stinging Scorpion which cometh out thereof,\nand woundeth the crocodile that laid it.[1089]\n\n\u201cThe Scorpion also and the crocodile are enemies one to the other, and\ntherefore when the Egyptians will describe the combat of two notable\nenemies, they paint a crocodile and a Scorpion fighting together, for\never one of them killeth another; but if they will decipher a speedy\noverthrow to one\u2019s enemy, then they picture a crocodile; if a slow and\nslack victory, they picture a Scorpion.\u201d[1090]\n\n\u201cSome maintain,\u201d says Moufet, \u201cthat they (Scorpions) are not bred by\ncopulation, but by exceeding heat of the sun. \u00c6lian, _lib. 6_, _de Anim.\ncap. 22_, among whom Galen must first be blamed, who in his Book _de\nf\u0153t. form._ will not have nature, but chance to be the parent of\nScorpions, Flies, Spiders, Worms of all sorts, and he ascribes their\nbeginning to the uncertain constitutions of the heavens, place, matter,\nheat, etc.\u201d[1091]\n\nTopsel further says: \u201cThe principall of all other subjects of their (the\nScorpions\u2019) hatred are virgins and women, whom they do not only desire\nto harm, but also when they have harmed are never perfectly recovered.\n(Albertus)....\n\n\u201cThe lion is by the Scorpion put to flight wheresoever he seeith it, for\nhe feareth it as the enemy of his life, and therefore writeth S.\nAmbrose, _Exiguo Scorpionis aculeo exagitatur leo_, the lion is much\nmoved at the small sting of a Scorpion.\u201d[1092]\n\nNaude tells us that there is a species of Scorpions in Italy, which are\nso domesticated as to be put between sheets to cool the beds during the\nheat of summer.[1093] Pliny mentions that the Scorpions of Italy are\nharmless.[1094]\n\nAmong the curious things recorded by Pliny concerning the Scorpion, the\nfollowing have been selected: Some writers, he says, are of opinion that\nthe Scorpion devours its offspring, and that the one among the young\nwhich is the most adroit avails itself of its sole mode of escape by\nplacing itself on the back of the mother, and thus finding a place where\nit is in safety from the tail and the sting. The one that thus escapes,\nthey say, becomes the avenger of the rest, and at last, taking\nadvantage of its elevated position, puts its parent to death.[1095]\n\nAccording to Pliny, those who carry the plant \u201ctricoccum,\u201d or, as it is\nalso called, \u201cscorpiuron,\u201d[1096] about their person are never stung by a\nScorpion, and it is said, he continues, that if a circle is traced on\nthe ground around a Scorpion with a sprig of this plant, the animal will\nnever move out of it, and that if a Scorpion is covered with it, or even\nsprinkled with the water in which it has been steeped, it will die that\ninstant.[1097]\n\nAttalus assures us, says Pliny, that if a person, the moment he sees a\nScorpion, says \u201cDuo,\u201d[1098] the reptile will stop short and forbear to\nsting.[1099]\n\nConcerning Scorpions, Diophanes, contemporary with C\u00e6sar and Cicero, has\ncollected the following several opinions of the more ancient writers: If\nyou take a Scorpion, he says, and burn it, the others will betake\nthemselves to flight: and if a person carefully rubs his hands with the\njuice of radish, he may without fear and danger take hold of Scorpions,\nand of other reptiles: and radishes laid on Scorpions instantly destroy\nthem. You will also cure the bite of a Scorpion, by applying a silver\nring to the place. A suffumigation of sandarach[1100] with galbanum, or\ngoat\u2019s fat, will drive away Scorpions and every other reptile. If a\nperson will also boil a Scorpion in oil, and will rub the place bit by a\nScorpion, he will stop the pain.[1101] But Apuleius says, that if a\nperson bit by a Scorpion sits on an ass, turned toward its tail, that\nthe ass suffers the pain, and that it is destroyed.[1102] Democritus\nsays that a person bit by a Scorpion, who instantly says to his ass, \u201cA\nScorpion has bit me,\u201d will suffer no pain, but it passes to the\nass.[1103] The newt has an antipathy to the Scorpion: if a person,\ntherefore, melts a newt in oil, and applies the oil to the person that\nis bitten, he frees him from pain. The same author also says that the\nroot of a rose-tree being applied, cures persons bit by Scorpions.\nPlutarch recommends to fasten small nuts to the feet of the bed, that\nScorpions may not approach it. Zoroaster says that lettuce-seed, being\ndrunk with wine, cures persons bit by Scorpions. Florentinus says, if\none applies the juice of the fig to the wound of a person just bitten,\nthat the poison will proceed no farther; or, if the person bit eat\nsquill, he will not be hurt, but he will say that the squill is pleasant\nto his palate. Tarentinus also says that a person holding the herb\nsideritis may take hold of Scorpions, and not be hurt by them.[1104]\nDioscorides, among many other remedies for the sting of the Scorpion,\nprescribes \u201ca fish called _Lacerta_, salted and cut in pieces; the\nbarbel fish cut in two; the flesh of a fish called _Smaris_; house-mice\ncut asunder; horse or ass dung; the shell of an Indian small nut; ram\u2019s\nflesh burnt; mummie, four grains, with butter and cow\u2019s milk; a broiled\nScorpion eaten; river-crabs raw and bruised, and drank with asses\u2019 milk:\nlocusts broiled and eaten,\u201d etc. Rabby Moyses prescribes pigeon\u2019s dung\ndried; Constantinus, hens\u2019 dung, or the heart applied outwardly;\nAnatolius, crows\u2019 dung; Averrhois, the bezoar-stone; Monus, silver;\nSilvaticus, from Serapis, pewter; and Orpheus, coral.\n\n\u201cQuintus Serenus writes thus, and adviseth:\n\n    These are small things, but yet their wounds are great,\n    And in pure bodies lurking do most harm,\n    For when our senses inward do retreat,\n    And men are fast asleep, they need some charm,\n    The Spider and the cruel Scorpion\n    Are wont to sting, witnesse great Orion,\n    Slayn by a Scorpion, for poysons small\n    Have mighty force, and therefore presently\n    Lay on a Scorpion bruised, to recall\n    The venome, or sea-water to apply\n    Is held full good, such virtue is in brine,\n    And \u2019tis approved to drink your fill of wine.\n\n\u201cAnd Macer writes of houseleek thus:\n\n    Men say that houseleek hath so soveraign a might,\n    Who carries but that, no Scorpion can him bite.\u201d[1105]\n\nThe natives of South Africa, when bitten by a Scorpion, apply, as a\nremedy, a living frog to the wound, into which animal it is supposed the\npoison is transferred from the wound, and it dies; then they apply\nanother, which dies also: the third perhaps only becomes sickly, and the\nfourth no way affected. When this is observed, the poison is considered\nto be extracted, and the patient cured. Another method is to apply a\nkidney, scarlet, or other bean, which swells; then apply another and\nanother, till the bean ceases to be affected, when they consider the\npoison extracted.[1106]\n\nThere is a vast desert tract, says Pliny, on this side of the Ethiopian\nCynamolgi--the \u201cdog-milkers\u201d--the inhabitants of which were exterminated\nby Scorpions and venomous ants.[1107]\n\nNavarette tells us, in the account of his voyage to the Philippine\nIslands, that there was there in practice a good and easy remedy against\nthe Scorpions which abound in that country. This was, when they went to\nbed, to make a commemoration of St. George. He himself, he says, for\nmany years continued this devotion, and, \u201cGod be praised,\u201d he adds, \u201cthe\nSaint always delivered me both there and in other countries from those\nand such like insects.\u201d He confesses, however, they used another remedy\nbesides, which was to rub all about the beds with garlic.[1108]\n\nNavarette[1109] and Barbot[1110] both tell us that a certain remedy\nagainst the sting of a Scorpion, is to rub the wound with a child\u2019s\nprivate member. This, the latter adds, immediately takes away the pain,\nand then the venom exhales. The moisture that comes from a hen\u2019s mouth,\nBarbot says, is also good for the same.\n\nThe Persians believe that Scorpions may be deprived of the power of\nstinging, by means of a certain prayer which they make use of for that\npurpose. The person who has the power of \u201cbinding the Scorpion,\u201d as it\nis called, turns his face toward the sign Scorpio, in the heavens, and\nrepeats this prayer; while every person present, at the conclusion of a\nsentence, claps his hands. After this is done they think that they are\nperfectly safe; nor, if they should chance to see any Scorpions during\nthat night, do they scruple to take hold of them, trusting to the\nefficacy of this fancied all-powerful charm. \u201cI have frequently seen,\u201d\nsays Francklin, \u201cthe man in whose family I lived, repeat the\nabove-mentioned prayer, on being desired by his children to bind the\nScorpions; after which the whole family has gone quietly and contentedly\nto bed, fully persuaded that they could receive no hurt by them.\u201d[1111]\n\nBell says the Persians \u201chave such a dread of these creatures, that, when\nprovoked by any person, they wish a Kashan Scorpion may sting\nhim.\u201d[1112]\n\nAn old story is, that a Scorpion surrounded with live coals, finding no\nmethod of escaping, grows desperate from its situation, and stings\nitself to death. This, though considered a mere fable of antiquity, may\nstill have some truth, if we believe the following from the pen of\nUlloa: \u201cWe more than once,\u201d says this traveler, \u201centertained ourselves\nwith an experiment of putting a Scorpion into a glass vessel, and\ninjecting a little smoke of tobacco, and immediately by stopping it\nfound that its aversion to this smell is such, that it falls into the\nmost furious agitations, till, giving itself several stings on the head,\nit finds relief by destroying itself.\u201d[1113] There is also told a story\nin the East Indies, that \u201cthe Scorpion is sometimes so pestered with the\npismires, that he stings himself to death in the head with his tail, and\nso becomes a prey to the pismires.\u201d[1114]\n\nThe Scorpion was an emblem of the Egyptian goddess Selk; and she is\nusually found represented with this animal bound upon her head.[1115]\n\n\u00c6lian mentions Scorpions of Coptos, which, though inflicting a deadly\nsting, and dreaded by the people, so far respected the Egyptian goddess\nIsis, who was particularly worshiped in that city, that women, in going\nto express their grief before her, walked with bare feet, or lay upon\nthe ground, without receiving any injury from them.[1116]\n\nThe Ethiopians that dwell near the River Hydaspis commonly eat Scorpions\nand serpents without the slightest harm, \u201cwhich certainly proceeds from\nno other thing than a secret and wonderful constitution of the body!\u201d\nsays Mercurialis.[1117]\n\nLutfullah, the learned Mohammedan gentleman, in his Autobiography,\nrelates the following:\n\n\u201cOn the morning of the 11th (April, 1839), I ordered my servant boy to\nshake my bedding and put it in the sun for an hour or so, that the\nmoisture imbibed by the quilt might be dried. As soon as the quilt was\nremoved from its place, what did I behold but an immense Scorpion,\ntapering towards its tail of nine vertebr\u00e6, armed with a sting at the\nend, crawling with impunity at the edge of the carpet. I had never seen\nsuch a large monster before. It was black in the body, with small\nbristles all over, dark green in the tail, and red at the sting. This\nhideous sight rendered me and the servant horror-struck. In the mean\ntime, an Afghan friend of mine, by name Ata Mohamed Khan Kakar, a\nrespectable resident of the town, honoured me with a visit, and, seeing\nthe reptile, observed, \u2018Lutfullah, you are a lucky man, having made a\nnarrow escape this morning. This cursed worm is called Jerrara, and its\nfatal sting puts a period to animal life in a moment; return, therefore,\nyour thanks to the Lord, all merciful, who gave you a new life in having\nsaved you from the mortal sting of this evil bed-companion of yours.\u2019 \u2018I\nhave no fear of the worm,\u2019 replied I, \u2018for it dare not sting me unless\nit is written in the book of fate to be stung by it.\u2019 Saying this, I\nmade the animal crawl into a small earthen vessel, and stopped the mouth\nof it with clay; and then making a large fire, I put the vessel therein\nfor an hour or so, to turn the reptile into ashes, which, administered\nin doses of half a grain to adults, are a specific remedy for violent\ncolicky pains.\u201d[1118]\n\nThe ashes of burnt Scorpions, besides being good for colicky pains, as\nLutfullah says, were often prescribed by the ancient physicians for\nstone in the bladder;[1119] and Topsel, quoting Kiranides, has the\nfollowing: \u201cIf a man take a vulgar Scorpion and drown the same in a\nporringer of oyl in the wane of the moon, and therewithall afterward\nanoynt the back from the shoulders to the hips, and also the head and\nforehead, with the tips of the fingers and toes of one that is a\ndemoniack or a lunatick person, it is reported, that he shall ease and\ncure him in short time. And the like is reported of the Scorpion\u2019s sting\njoyned with the top of basil wherein is seed, and with the heart of a\nswallow, all included in a piece of harts skin.\u201d[1120] The oil of\nScorpions, Brassavolus says, \u201cdrives out worms miraculously;\u201d and oil of\nScorpions\u2019 and vipers\u2019 \u201ctongues is a most excellent remedy against the\nplague, as Crinitus testifies, i. 7.\u201d[1121] Galen prescribes Scorpions\nfor jaundice, and Kiranides the same for the several kinds of ague.\n\u201cPlinius Secundus saith, that a quartan ague, as the magicians report,\nwill be cured in three daies by a Scorpion\u2019s four last joynts of his\ntail, together with the gristle of his ear, so wrapped up in a black\ncloth, that the sick patient may neither perceive the Scorpion that is\napplied, nor him that bound it on.... Samonicus commends Scorpions\nagainst pains in the eyes, in these verses:\n\n    If that some grievous pain perplex thy sight,\n    Wool wet in oyl is good bound on all night.\n    Carry about thee a live Scorpion\u2019s eye,\n    Ashes of coleworts if thou do apply,\n    With bruised frankincense, goat\u2019s milk, and wine,\n    One night will prove this remedy divine.\u201d[1122]\n\nThe following Asiatic fable of the Scorpion and the Tortoise is from the\nBeharistan of Jamy: A Scorpion, armed with pernicious sting and filthy\npoison, undertook a journey. Coming to the bank of a wide river, he\nstopped in great perplexity, wanting height of leg to cross over, yet\nvery unwilling to return. A Tortoise, seeing his situation, and moved\nwith compassion, took him on his back, sprang into the river, and was\nswimming toward the opposite shore, when he heard a noise on his shell\nas of something striking him; he called out to know what it was; the\nungrateful Scorpion answered, \u201cIt is the motion of my sting only, I\nknow it cannot affect you, but it is a habit which I cannot relinquish.\u201d\n\u201cIndeed,\u201d replied the Tortoise, \u201cthen I cannot do better than free so\nevil-minded a creature from his bad disposition, and secure the good\nfrom his malevolence.\u201d Saying which he dived under the water, and the\nwaves soon carried the Scorpion beyond the bourn of existence.\n\n    When, in this banquet house of vice and strife,\n    A knave oft strikes the various stings of fraud,\n    \u2019Tis best the sea of death ingulf him soon,\n    That he be freed from man, and man from him.[1123]\n\nTopsel, in his History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, has the\nfollowing in his chapter on the Scorpion:\n\n\u201cThere is a common adage, _Cornix Scorpium_, a Raven to a Scorpion, and\nit is used against them that perish by their own inventions: when they\nset upon others, they meet with their matches, as a raven did when it\npreyed upon a Scorpion, thus described by Alciatus, under his title\n_Justa ultio_, just revenge, saying as followeth:\n\n    Raptabat volucer captum pede corvus in auras\n      Scorpion, audaci pr\u00e6mia parta gul\u00e6.\n    Ast ille infuso sensim per membra venemo,\n      Raptorem in stygias compulit ultor aquas.\n    O risu res digna! aliis qui fata parabat,\n      Ipse periit, propriis succubuitque dolis.\n\nWhich may be Englished thus:\n\n    The ravening crow for prey a Scorpion took\n      Within her foot, and therewithal aloft did flie,\n    But he empoysoned her by force and stinging stroke,\n      So ravener in the Stygian Lake did die.\n    O sportfull game! that he which other for bellyes sake did kill,\n    By his own deceit should fall into death\u2019s will.\n\n\u201cThere be some learned writers, who have compared a Scorpion to an\nepigram, or rather an epigram to a Scorpion, because as the sting of the\nScorpion lyeth in the tayl, so the force and vertue of an epigram is in\nthe conclusion, for _vel acriter salse mordeat, vel jucunde atque\ndulciter delectet_, that is, either let it bite sharply at the end, or\nelse delight pleasingly.\u201d[1124]\n\n\nAraneid\u00e6--True Spiders.\n\n    A little head and body small,\n    With slender feet and very tall,\n    Belly great, and from thence come all\n    The webs it spins.--MOUFET.[1125]\n\n\u201cDomitian sometime,\u201d says Hollingshed incidentally in his Chronicles of\nEngland, \u201cand an other prince yet living, delited so much to see the\niollie combats betwixt a stout Flie and an old Spider.... Some parasites\nalso in the time of the aforesaid emperour (when they were disposed to\nlaugh at his follie, and yet would seem in appearance to gratifie his\nfantasticall head with some shew of dutiful demenour) could devise to\nset their lorde on worke, by letting a fresh flie privilie into his\nchamber, which he foorthwith would egerlie have hunted (all other\nbusinesse set apart) and never ceased till he had caught him in his\nfingers: whereupon arose the proverbe \u2018ne musca quidem,\u2019 altered first\nby Vitius Priscus, who being asked whether anie bodie was with Domitian,\nanswered \u2018ne musca quidem,\u2019 whereby he noted his follie. There are some\ncockes combs here and there in England, learning it abroad as men\ntransregionate, which make account also of this pastime, as of a notable\nmatter, telling what a fight is seene betweene them, if either of them\nbe lustie and couragious in his kind. One also hath mad a booke of the\nSpider and the Flie, wherein he dealeth so profoundlie, and beyond all\nmeasure of skill, that neither he himself that made it, neither anie one\nthat readeth it can reach unto the meaning thereof.\u201d[1126]\n\nChapelain, the author of Pucelle, was called by the academicians the\nKnight of the Order of the Spider, because he was so avaricious, that\nthough he had an income of 13,000 livres, and more than 240,000 in ready\nmoney, he wore an old coat so patched, pieced, and threadbare, that the\nstitches exhibited no bad resemblance to the fibers produced by that\ninsect. Being one day present at a large party given by the great Cond\u00e9,\na Spider of uncommon size fell from the ceiling upon the floor. The\ncompany thought it could not have come from the roof, and all the\nladies at once agreed that it must have proceeded from Chapelain\u2019s\nwig;--the wig so celebrated by the well-known parody.[1127]\n\nThe often-told anecdote of the Scottish monarch, Robert Bruce, and the\ncottage Spider, is thus related in Chambers\u2019 Miscellany: While wandering\non the wild hills of Carrick, in order to escape the emissaries of\nEdward, Robert the Bruce on one occasion passed the night under the\nshelter of a poor deserted cottage. Throwing himself down on a heap of\nstraw, he lay upon his back, with his hands placed under his head,\nunable to sleep, but gazing vacantly upward at the rafters of the hut,\ndisfigured with cobwebs. From thoughts long and dreary about the\nhopelessness of the enterprise in which he was engaged, and the\nmisfortunes he had already encountered, he was roused to take interest\nin the efforts of a poor industrious Spider, which had begun to ply its\nvocation with the first gray light of morning. The object of the animal\nwas to swing itself, by its thread, from one rafter to another; but in\nthe attempt it repeatedly failed, each time vibrating back to the point\nwhence it had made the effort. Twelve times did the little creature try\nto reach the desired spot, and as many times was it unsuccessful. Not\ndisheartened with its failure, it made the attempt once more, and, lo!\nthe rafter was gained. \u201cThe thirteenth time,\u201d said Bruce, springing to\nhis feet; \u201cI accept it as a lesson not to despond under difficulties,\nand shall once more venture my life in the struggle for the independence\nof my beloved country.\u201d The result is well known.[1128]\n\nIt is related in the life of Mohammed, that when he and Abubeker were\nfleeing for their lives before the Coreishites, they hid themselves for\nthree days in a cave, over the mouth of which a Spider spread its web,\nand a pigeon laid two eggs there, the sight of which made the pursuers\nnot go in to search for them.[1129]\n\nA similar story is told in the Lives of the Saints, of St. Felix of\nNola: \u201cBut the Saint,\u201d says Butler, \u201cin the mean time had slept a little\nout of the way, and crept through a hole in a ruinous old wall, which\nwas instantly closed up by Spiders\u2019 webs. His enemies, never imagining\nanything could have lately passed where they saw so close a Spider\u2019s\nweb, after a fruitless search elsewhere, returned in the evening without\ntheir prey. Felix finding among the ruins, between two houses, an old\nwell half dry, hid himself in it for six months; and received during\nthat time wherewithal to subsist by means of a devout Christian\nwoman.\u201d[1130]\n\nIt is said of Heliogabalus, that, for the purpose of estimating the\nmagnitude of the City of Rome, he commanded a collection of Spiders to\nbe made.[1131]\n\nIllustrative of the singularly pleasurable effect of music upon Spiders,\nin the Historie de la Musique, et de ses Effets, we find the following\nrelation:\n\n\u201cMonsieur de ----, captain of the Regiment of Navarre, was confined six\nmonths in prison for having spoken too freely of M. de Louvois, when he\nbegged leave of the governor to grant him permission to send for his\nlute to soften his confinement. He was greatly astonished after four\ndays to see at the time of his playing the mice come out of their holes,\nand the Spiders descend from their webs, who came and formed in a circle\nround him to hear him with attention. This at first so much surprised\nhim, that he stood still without motion, when having ceased to play, all\nthose Spiders retired quietly into their lodgings; such an assembly made\nthe officer fall into reflections upon what the ancients had told of\nOrpheus, Arion, and Amphion. He assured me he remained six days without\nagain playing, having with difficulty recovered from his astonishment,\nnot to mention a natural aversion he had for this sort of insects,\nnevertheless he began afresh to give a concert to these animals, who\nseemed to come every day in greater numbers, as if they had invited\nothers, so that in process of time he found a hundred of them about him.\nIn order to rid himself of them he desired one of the jailors to give\nhim a cat, which he sometimes shut up in a cage when he wished to have\nthis company and let her loose when he had a mind to dismiss them,\nmaking it thus a kind of comedy that alleviated his imprisonment. I long\ndoubted the truth of this story, but it was confirmed to me six months\nago by M. P----, intendant of the duchy of V----, a man of merit and\nprobity, who played upon several instruments to the utmost excellence.\nHe told me that being at ----, he went into his chamber to refresh\nhimself after a walk, and took up a violin to amuse himself till supper\ntime, setting a light upon the table before him; he had not played a\nquarter of an hour before he saw several spiders descend from the\nceiling, who came and ranged themselves round about the table to hear\nhim play, at which he was greatly surprised, but this did not interrupt\nhim, being willing to see the end of so singular an occurrence. They\nremained on the table very attentively till somebody came to tell him\nthat supper was ready, when having ceased to play, he told me these\ninsects remounted to their webs, to which he would suffer no injury to\nbe done. It was a diversion with which he often entertained himself out\nof curiosity.\u201d[1132]\n\nThe Abb\u00e9 Olivet has described an amusement of Pelisson during his\nconfinement in the Bastile for refusing to betray to the government\ncertain secrets intrusted to him by a friend who was a leading\npolitician at the court of Louis XIV., which consisted in feeding a\nSpider, which he discovered forming its web across the only air-hole of\nhis cell. For some time he placed his flies at the edge of the window,\nwhile a stupid Basque, his sole companion, played on a bagpipe. Little\nby little the Spider used itself to distinguish the sound of the\ninstrument, and issued from its hole to run and catch its prey. Thus\ncalling it always by the same sound, and placing the flies at a still\ngreater distance, he succeeded, after several months, to drill the\nSpider by regular exercise, so that at length it never failed appearing\nat the first sound to seize on the fly provided for it, at the extremity\nof the cell, and even on the knees of the prisoner.[1133]\n\nAt a ladies\u2019 school at Kensington, England, an immense species of\nSpider is said to be uncomfortably common; and that when the young\nladies sing their accustomed hymn or psalm before morning and evening\nprayers, these Spiders make their appearance on the floor, or suspended\noverhead from their webs in the ceiling, obviously attracted by the\n\u201cconcord of sweet sounds.\u201d[1134]\n\nThe following lines \u201cto a Spider which inhabited a cell,\u201d are from the\nAnthologia Borealis et Australis:\n\n    In this wild, groping, dark, and drearie cove,\n      Of wife, of children, and of health bereft,\n    I hailed thee, friendly Spider, who hadst wove\n      Thy mazy net on yonder mouldering raft:\n    Would that the cleanlie housemaid\u2019s foot had left\n      Thee tarrying here, nor took thy life away;\n    For thou, from out this seare old ceiling\u2019s cleft,\n      Came down each morn to hede my plaintive lay;\n    Joying like me to heare sweete musick play,\n    Wherewith I\u2019d fein beguile the dull, dark, lingering day.[1135]\n\n\u201cWhen the great and brilliant Lauzun was held in captivity, his only joy\nand comfort was a friendly Spider: she came at his call; she took her\nfood from his finger, and well understood his word of command. In vain\ndid jailors and soldiers try to deceive his tiny companion; she would\nnot obey their voices, and refused the tempting bait from their hand.\nHere, then, was not only an ear, but a keen power of distinction. The\ndespised little animal listened with sweet affection, and knew how to\ndiscriminate between not unsimilar tones.\u201d[1136]\n\nQuatremer Disjonval, a Frenchman by birth, was an adjutant-general in\nHolland, and took an active part on the side of the Dutch patriots when\nthey revolted against the Stadtholder. On the arrival of the Prussian\narmy under the Duke of Brunswick, he was immediately taken, tried, and,\nhaving been condemned to twenty-five years\u2019 imprisonment, was\nincarcerated in a dungeon at Utrecht, where he remained eight years.\nDuring this long confinement, by many curious observations upon his sole\ncompanions, Spiders, he discovered that they were in the highest degree\nsensitive of approaching changes in the atmosphere, and that their\nretirement and reappearance, their weaving and general habits, were\nintimately connected with the changes of the weather. In the reading of\nthese living barometers he became wonderfully accurate, so much so, that\nhe could prognosticate the approach of severe weather from ten to\nfourteen days before it set in, which is proven by the following\nremarkable fact, which led to his release: \u201cWhen the troops of the\nFrench republic overran Holland in the winter of 1794, and kept pushing\nforward over the ice, a sudden and unexpected thaw, in the early part of\nDecember, threatened the destruction of the whole army unless it was\ninstantly withdrawn. The French generals were thinking seriously of\naccepting a sum offered by the Dutch, and withdrawing their troops, when\nDisjonval, who hoped that the success of the republican army might lead\nto his release, used every exertion, and at length succeeded in getting\na letter conveyed to the French general in 1795, in which he pledged\nhimself, from the peculiar actions of the Spiders, of whose movements he\nwas enabled to judge with perfect accuracy, that within fourteen days\nthere would commence a most severe frost, which would make the French\nmasters of all the rivers, and afford them sufficient time to complete\nand make sure of the conquest they had commenced, before it should be\nfollowed by a thaw. The commander of the French forces believed his\nprognostication, and persevered. The cold weather, which Disjonval had\npredicted, made its appearance in twelve days, and with such intensity,\nthat the ice over the rivers and canals became capable of bearing the\nheaviest artillery. On the 28th of January, 1795, the French army\nentered Utrecht in triumph; and Quatremer Disjonval, who had watched the\nhabits of his Spiders with so much intelligence and success, was, as a\nreward for his ingenuity, released from prison.\u201d[1137]\n\nIn Bartholom\u00e6us, De Proprietatibus Rerum (printed by Th. Berthelet, 27th\nHenry VIII.), lib. xviii. fol. 314, speaking of Pliny, we read: \u201cAlso he\nsaythe, spynners (Spiders) ben tokens of divynation and of knowing what\nwether shal fal, for oft by weders that shal fal, some spin and weve\nhigher or lower. Also he saythe, that multytude of spynners is token of\nmoche reyne.\u201d[1138]\n\nWillsford, in his Nature\u2019s Secrets, p. 131, tells us: \u201cSpiders creep out\nof their holes and narrow receptacles against wind or rain; Minerva\nhaving made them sensible of an approaching storm.\u201d[1139]\n\nHone, in his Every Day Book, also mentions that from Spiders\nprognostications as to the weather may be drawn; and gives the following\ninstructions to read this animal-barometer: \u201cIf the weather is likely to\nbecome rainy, windy, or in other respects disagreeable, they fix the\nterminating filaments, on which the whole web is suspended, unusually\nshort; and in this state they await the influence of a temperature which\nis remarkably variable. On the contrary, if the terminating filaments\nare uncommonly long, we may, in proportion to their length, conclude\nthat the weather will be serene, and continue so at least for ten or\ntwelve days. But if the Spiders be totally indolent, rain generally\nsucceeds; though, on the other hand, their activity during rain is the\nmost certain proof that it will be only of short duration, and followed\nwith fair and constant weather. According to further observations, the\nSpiders regularly make some alterations in their webs or nets every\ntwenty-four hours; if these changes take place between the hours of six\nand seven in the evening, they indicate a clear and pleasant\nnight.\u201d[1140]\n\nPausanias tells us that after the slaughter at Ch\u00e6ronea, the Thebans\nwere obliged to place a guard within the walls of their city; but which,\nhowever, after the death of Philip, and during the reign of Alexander,\nthey drove out. For this action, this historian continues, it was that\nDivinity gave them tokens in the webs of Spiders of the destruction that\nawaited them. For, during the battle at Leuctra, the Spiders in the\ntemple of Ceres Thesmophoros wove white webs about the doors; but when\nAlexander and the Macedonians attacked their dominions, their webs were\nfound to be black.[1141]\n\nIt was thought by the Classical Ancients and the old English unlucky to\nkill Spiders; and prognostications were made from their manner of\nweaving their webs.[1142] It is still thought unlucky to injure these\nanimals.\n\nPark has the following note in his copy of Bourne and Brande\u2019s Popular\nAntiquities, p. 93: \u201cSmall Spiders, termed _money-spinners_, are held by\nmany to prognosticate good luck, if they are not destroyed or injured,\nor removed from the person on whom they are first observed.\u201d\n\nIn Teviotdale, Scotland, \u201cwhen Spiders creep on one\u2019s clothes, it is\nviewed as betokening good luck; and to destroy them is equivalent to\nthrowing stones at one\u2019s own head.\u201d[1143]\n\nIn Maryland, this superstition is thus expressed: If you kill a Spider\nupon your clothing, you destroy the presents they are then weaving for\nyou.\n\nIn the Secret Memoirs of Mr. Duncan Campbell, p. 60, in the chapter of\nomens, we read that \u201cothers have thought themselves secure of receiving\nmoney, if by chance a little Spider fell upon their clothes.\u201d[1144]\n\n\u201cWhen a Spider is found upon your clothes, or about your person,\u201d says a\nwriter in the Notes and Queries,[1145] \u201cit signifies that you will\nshortly receive some money. Old Fuller, who was a native of\nNorthamptonshire, thus quaintly moralizes this superstition: \u2018When a\nSpider is found upon your clothes, we used to say some money is coming\ntoward us. The moral is this: such who imitate the industry of that\ncontemptible creature may, by God\u2019s blessing, weave themselves into\nwealth and procure a plentiful estate.\u2019\u201d[1146]\n\nA South Northamptonshire superstition of the present day is, that, in\norder to propitiate money-spinners, they must be thrown over the left\nshoulder.[1147]\n\nIt is most probable that Euclio, in Plautus\u2019 Aulularia, would not\nsuffer the Spiders to be molested because they were considered to bring\ngood luck.\n\n    _Staphyla._ Here in our house there\u2019s nothing else for thieves to\n    gain, so filled is it with emptiness and cobwebs.\n\n    _Euclio._ You hag of hags, I choose those cobwebs to be watched for\n    me.[1148]\n\nA superstition prevails among us that if a Spider approaches, either by\ncrawling toward or descending from the ceiling to a person, it forebodes\ngood to such person; and, on the contrary, if the Spider runs hurriedly\naway, it is an omen of bad luck. But if the Spider be a poisonous one,\nor a Fly-catcher, and it approaches you, some evil is about to befall\nyou, which to avert you must cross your heart thrice.\n\nIf you kill a Spider crossing your path, you will have bad luck.\n\nA Spider should not be killed in your house, but out of doors; if in the\nhouse, our country people say you are \u201cpulling down your house.\u201d\n\nIf a Spider drops down from its web or from a tree directly in front of\na person, such person will see before night a dear friend.\n\nA variety of this superstition is, that, if the Spider be white, it\nforetells the acquaintance of a friend; and if black, an enemy.\n\nIn the Netherlands, a Spider seen in the morning forebodes good luck; in\nthe afternoon, bad luck.[1149]\n\nThere is a common saying at Winchester, England, that no Spider will\nhang its web on the roof of Irish oak in the chapel or cloisters;[1150]\nand the cicerone, who shows the cathedral church at St. David\u2019s, points\nout to the visitor that the choir is roofed with Irish oak, which does\nnot harbor Spiders, though cobwebs are plentifully seen in other parts\nof the cathedral.[1151] This superstition (for it certainly is nothing\nmore)[1152] probably originated with the old story of St. Patrick\u2019s\nhaving exorcised and banished all kinds of vermin from Ireland.\n\nThe same virtue of repelling Spiders is attributed also to chestnut and\ncedar wood;[1153] and the old roof at Turner\u2019s Court, in\nGloucestershire, four miles from Bath, which is of chestnut, is said to\nbe perfectly free from cobwebs;[1154] hence also are the cloisters of\nNew College, and of Christ\u2019s Church, in England, roofed with\nchestnut.[1155]\n\nA small Spider of a red color, called a Tainct in England, is accounted,\nby the country people, a deadly poison to cows and horses; so when any\nof their cattle die suddenly and swell up, to account for their deaths,\nthey say they have \u201clicked a Tainct.\u201d Browne thinks this is, most\nprobably, but a vulgar error.[1156]\n\nIt is a very ancient and curious belief that there exists a remarkable\nenmity between the Spider and serpents,[1157] and more especially\nbetween the Spider and the toad; and many curious stories are told of\nthe combats between these animals. The following, related by Erasmus,\nwhich he asserts he had directly from one of the spectators, is probably\nthe most remarkable, and we insert it in the words of Dr. James: \u201cA\nperson (a monk)[1158] lying along upon the floor of his chamber in the\nsummer-time to sleep in a supine posture, when a toad, creeping out of\nsome green rushes, brought just before in to adorn the chimney, gets\nupon his face and with his feet sits across his lips. To force off the\ntoad, says the historian, would have been accounted death to the\nsleeper; and to leave her there, very cruel and dangerous; so that upon\nconsultation, it was concluded to find out a Spider, which, together\nwith her web and the window she was fastened to, was brought carefully,\nand so contrived as to be held perpendicularly to the man\u2019s face; which\nwas no sooner done but the Spider, discovering his enemy, let himself\ndown and struck in his dart, afterward betaking himself up again to his\nweb: the toad swelled, but as yet kept his station. The second wound is\ngiven quickly after by the Spider, upon which he swells yet more, but\nremained alive still. The Spider, coming down again by his thread, gives\nthe third blow, and the toad, taking off his feet from over the man\u2019s\nmouth, fell off dead.\u201d[1159]\n\nThe following cosmogony is found in the sacred writings of the Pundits\nof India: A certain immense Spider was the origin, the first cause of\nall things; which, drawing the matter from its own bowels, wove the web\nof this universe, and disposed it with wonderful art; she, in the mean\ntime, sitting in the center of her work, feels and directs the motion of\nevery part, till at length, when she has pleased herself sufficiently in\nordering and contemplating this web, she draws all the threads she had\nspun out again into herself; and, having absorbed them, the universal\nnature of all creatures vanishes into nothing.[1160]\n\nAmong the Chululahs of our western coast, Capt. Stuart informs me there\nis a vague superstition that the Spider is connected with the origin of\nthe world. To what extent this curious notion prevails, or anything more\nconcerning it, I have been unable to learn.\n\nThe natives of Guinea, says Bosman, believe that the first men were\ncreated by the large black Spider, which is so common in their country,\nand called in their jargon \u201cAnanse;\u201d nor is there any reasoning,\ncontinues this traveler, a great number of them out of it.[1161] Barbot\nalso remarks that, in the belief of the Guinea negroes, the black Ananse\ncreated the first man.[1162]\n\nThat the Spider should be connected with the origin of the world and man\nin the several beliefs of the Hindoos, Chululahs, and negroes, races so\nwidely different and separated from one another, is a coincidence most\nremarkable.\n\nA large and hideous species of Spider, said to be only found in the\npalace of Hampton Court, England, is known by the name of the\n\u201cCardinals.\u201d This name has been given them from a superstitious belief\nthat the spirits of Cardinal Wolsey and his retinue still haunt the\npalace in their shape.[1163]\n\nIn running across the carpet in an evening, with the shade cast from\ntheir large bodies by the light of the lamp or candle, these \u201cCardinals\u201d\nhave been mistaken for mice, and have occasioned no little alarm to some\nof the more nervous inhabitants of the palace.[1164]\n\nThe story of the gigantic Spider found in the Church of St. Eustace, at\nParis, in Chambers\u2019 Miscellany, is related as follows: It is told that\nthe sexton of this church was surprised at very often discovering a\ncertain lamp extinguished in the morning, notwithstanding it had been\nduly replenished with oil the preceding evening. Curious to learn the\ncause of this mysterious circumstance, he kept watch several evenings,\nand was at last gratified by the discovery. During the night he observed\na Spider, of enormous dimensions, come down the chain by which the lamp\nwas suspended, drink up the oil, and, when gorged to satiety, slowly\nretrace its steps to a recess in the fretwork above. A similar Spider is\nsaid to have been found, in 1751, in the cathedral church of Milan. It\nwas observed to feed also on oil. When killed, it weighed four pounds!\nand was afterward sent to the imperial museum at Vienna.[1165]\n\nThe following remarkable anecdote is translated from the French: \u201cM.\nF---- de Saint Omer laid on the chimney-piece of his chamber, one\nevening on going to bed, a small shirt-pin of gold, the head of which\nrepresented a fly. Next day, M. F---- would have taken his pin from the\nplace where he had put it, but the trinket had disappeared. A\nservant-maid, who had only been in M. F----\u2019s service a few days, was\nsolely suspected of having carried off the pin, and sent away. But, at\nlength, M. F----\u2019s sister, putting up some curtains, was very much\nsurprised to find the lost pin suspended from the ceiling in a Spider\u2019s\nweb! And thus was the disappearance of the _bijou_ explained: A Spider,\ndeceived by the figure of the fly which the pin presented, had drawn it\ninto his web.\u201d[1166]\n\nIn the Treasvrie of Avncient and Moderne Times, it is stated that\n\u201cSpiders do shun all such wals as run to ruine, or are like to be\nouerthrowne.\u201d[1167]\n\nA Spider hanging from a tree is said to have made both Turenne and\nGustavus Adolphus shudder![1168]\n\nM. Zimmerman relates the following instance of antipathy to Spiders:\n\u201cBeing one day in an English company,\u201d says he, \u201cconsisting of persons\nof distinction, the conversation happened to fall on antipathies. The\ngreater part of the company denied the reality of them, and treated them\nas old women\u2019s tales; but I told them that antipathy was a real disease.\nMr. William Matthew, son of the Governor of Barbados, was of my opinion,\nand, as he added that he himself had an extreme antipathy to Spiders, he\nwas laughed at by the whole company. I showed them, however, that this\nwas a real impression of his mind, resulting from a mechanical effect.\nMr. John Murray, afterward Duke of Athol, took it into his head to make,\nin Mr. Matthew\u2019s presence, a Spider of black wax, to try whether this\nantipathy would appear merely on the sight of the insect. He went out of\nthe room, therefore, and returned with a bit of black wax in his hand,\nwhich he kept shut. Mr. Matthew, who in other respects was a sedate and\namiable man, imagining that his friend really held a Spider, immediately\ndrew his sword in a great fury, retired with precipitation to the wall,\nleaned against it, as if to run him through, and sent forth horrible\ncries. All the muscles of his face were swelled, his eye-balls rolled in\ntheir sockets, and his whole body was as stiff as a post. We immediately\nran to him in great alarm, and took his sword from him, assuring him at\nthe same time that Mr. Murray had nothing in his hand but a bit of wax,\nand that he himself might see it on the table where it was placed. He\nremained some time in this spasmodic state, and I was really afraid of\nthe consequences. He, however, gradually recovered, and deplored the\ndreadful passion into which he had been thrown, and from which he still\nsuffered. His pulse was exceedingly quick and full, and his whole body\nwas covered with a cold sweat. After taking a sedative, he was restored\nto his former tranquillity, and his agitation was attended with no other\nbad consequences.\u201d[1169]\n\nIn Batavia, New York, on the evening of the 13th of September, 1834,\nHon. David E. Evans, agent of the Holland Land Company, discovered in\nhis wine-cellar a live striped snake, about nine inches in length,\nsuspended between two shelves, by the tail, by Spiders\u2019 web. From the\nshelves being two feet apart, and the position of the web, the witnesses\nwere of opinion the snake could not have fallen by accident into it, and\nthus have become inextricably entangled, but that it had been actually\ncaptured, and drawn up so that its head could not reach the shelf below\nby about an inch, by Spiders, and of a species much smaller than the\ncommon fly, three of which at night were seen feeding upon it, while it\nwas yet alive.\n\nHon. S. Cummings, first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in his\ncounty, and also Postmaster of Batavia, and Mr. D. Lyman Beecher have\ndescribed this phenomenon, and given the names of quite a number of\ngentlemen who witnessed it, and will testify to the accuracy of their\naccounts. Says Mr. Cummings: \u201cUpon a critical examination through a\nmagnifying glass, the following curious facts appeared. The mouth of the\nsnake was fast tied up, by a great number of threads, wound around it so\ntight that he could not run out his tongue. His tail was tied in a knot,\nso as to leave a small loop, or ring, through which the cord was\nfastened; and the end of the tail, above this loop, to the length of\nsomething over half an inch, was lashed fast to the cord, to keep it\nfrom slipping. As the snake hung, the length of the cord, from his tail\nto the focus to which it was fastened, was about six inches; and a\nlittle above the tail, there was observed a round ball, about the size\nof a pea. Upon inspection, this appeared to be a green fly, around which\nthe cord had been wound as a windlass, with which the snake had been\nhauled up; and a great number of threads were fastened to the cord\nabove, and to the rolling side of this ball to keep it from unwinding,\nand letting the snake down. The cord, therefore, must have been extended\nfrom the focus of this web to the shelf below where the snake was lying\nwhen first captured; and being made fast to the loop in his tail, the\nfly was carried and fastened about midway to the side of the cord. And\nthen by rolling this fly over and over, it wound the cord around it,\nboth from above and below, until the snake was raised to the proper\nheight, and then was fastened, as before mentioned.\n\n\u201cIn this situation the suffering snake hung, alive, and furnished a\ncontinued feast for several large Spiders, until Saturday forenoon, the\n16th, when some persons, by playing with him, broke the web above the\nfocus, so as to let part of his body rest upon the shelf below. In this\nsituation he lingered, the Spiders taking no notice of him, until\nThursday, eight days after he was discovered, when some large ants were\nfound devouring his body.\u201d[1170]\n\nAt a recent meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,\nMr. Lesley read the following extract from a letter written by Mr. E. A.\nSpring, of Eagleswood, N. J.:\n\n\u201cI was over on the South Amboy shore with a friend, walking in a swampy\nwood, where a dyke was made, some three feet wide, when we discovered in\nthe middle of this ditch a large black Spider making very queer motions\nfor a Spider, and, on examination, it proved that he had _caught a\nfish_.\n\n\u201cHe was biting the fish, just on the forward side of the dorsal fin,\nwith a deadly gripe, and the poor fish was swimming round and round\nslowly, or twisting its body as if in pain. The head of its black enemy\nwas sometimes almost pulled under water, but never entirely, for the\nfish did not seem to have had enough strength, but moved its fins as if\nexhausted, and often rested. At last it swam under a floating leaf at\nthe shore, and appeared to be trying, by going under that, to scrape off\nthe Spider, but without effect. They then got close to the bank, when\nsuddenly the long black legs of the Spider came up out of the water,\nwhere they had possibly been embracing a fish (I have seen Spiders seize\nflies with all their legs at once), reached out behind, and fastened\nupon the irregularities of the side of the ditch. The Spider then\ncommenced tugging to get his prize up the bank. My friend stayed to\nwatch them, while I went to the nearest house for a wide-mouthed bottle.\nDuring the six or eight minutes that I was away, the Spider had drawn\nthe fish entirely out of the water, when they had both fallen in again,\nthe bank being nearly perpendicular. There had been a great struggle;\nand now, on my return, the fish was already hoisted head first more than\nhalf his length out on the land. The fish was very much exhausted,\nhardly making any movement, and the Spider had evidently gained the\nvictory, and was slowly and steadily tugging him up. He had not once\nquitted his hold during the quarter to half an hour that we had watched\nthem. He held, with his head toward the fish\u2019s tail, and pulled him up\nat an angle of forty-five degrees by stepping backward.... The Spider\nwas three-fourths of an inch long, and weighed fourteen grains; the fish\nwas three and one-fourth inches long, and weighed sixty-six\ngrains.\u201d[1171]\n\nThe following interesting account of the rarely-witnessed phenomenon of\na shower of webs of the Gossamer-spider, _Aranea obtextrix_, is given us\nby Mr. White: \u201cOn the 21st of September, 1741, being intent on field\ndiversions, I rose,\u201d says this gentleman, \u201cbefore daybreak; when I came\ninto the enclosures, I found the stubbles and clover grounds matted all\nover with a thick coat of cobweb, in the meshes of which a copious and\nheavy dew hung so plentifully, that the whole face of the country\nseemed, as it were, covered with two or three setting-nets, drawn one\nover another. When the dogs attempted to hunt, their eyes were so\nblinded and hood-winked that they could not proceed, but were obliged to\nlie down and scrape the incumbrances from their faces with their\nfore-feet.... As the morning advanced, the sun became bright and warm,\nand the day turned out one of the most lovely ones which no season but\nthe autumn produces; cloudless, calm, serene, and worthy of the south of\nFrance itself.\n\n\u201cAbout nine an appearance very unusual began to demand our attention, a\nshower of cobwebs falling from very elevated regions, and continuing,\nwithout any interruption, till the close of the day. These webs were not\nsingle filmy threads, floating in the air in all directions, but perfect\nflakes of rags; some near an inch broad, and five or six long. On every\nside, as the observer turned his eyes, might he behold a continual\nsuccession of fresh flakes falling into his sight, and twinkling like\nstars.\u201d[1172]\n\nThe Times of October 9th, 1826, records another shower of gossamer as\nfollows: \u201cOn Sunday, Oct. 1st, 1826, a phenomenon of rare occurrence in\nthe neighborhood of Liverpool was observed in that vicinage, and for\nmany miles distant, especially at Wigan. The fields and roads were\ncovered with a light filmy substance, which, by many persons, was\nmistaken for cotton; although they might have been convinced of their\nerror, as staple cotton does not exceed a few inches in length, while\nthe filaments seen in such incredible quantities extended as many yards.\nIn walking in the fields the shoes were completely covered with it, and\nits floating fibres came in contact with the face in all directions.\nEvery tree, lamp-post, or other projecting body had arrested a portion\nof it. It profusely descended at Wigan like a sleet, and in such\nquantities as to affect the appearance of the atmosphere. On examination\nit was found to contain small flies, some of which were so diminutive as\nto require a magnifying glass to render them perceptible. The substance\nso abundant in quantity, was the gossamer of the garden, or field\nSpider, often met with in fine weather in the country, and of which,\naccording to Buffon, it would take 663,552 Spiders to produce a single\npound.\u201d[1173]\n\n\u201cIn the yeare that L. Paulus and C. Marcellus were Consuls,\u201d says Pliny,\n\u201cit rained wool about the castle Carissa, neare to which a yeare after,\nT. Annius Milo was slaine.\u201d[1174] This rain of wool was doubtless a\nshower of gossamer.\n\nIt was an old and strange notion that the gossamer webs were composed of\ndew burned by the sun. Says Spenser:\n\n    More subtle web Arachne cannot spin;\n    Nor _the fine nets_, which oft we woven see,\n    Of _scorched dew_, do not in th\u2019 ayre more lightly flee.[1175]\n\nThomson also:\n\n    How still the breeze! save what _the filmy threads_\n    Of _dew evaporate_ brushes from the plain.[1176]\n\nAnd Quarles:\n\n    And now _autumnal dews_ were seen\n    To _cobweb_ every green.[1177]\n\nLikewise Blackmore:\n\n    How part is spun in _silken threads_, and clings,\n    Entangled in the grass, in _gluey strings_.[1178]\n\nHenry More also mentions this old belief; but suspected, however, the\ntrue origin and use of the filmy threads:\n\n    As light and thin as _cobwebs_ that do fly\n    In the blue air caused by th\u2019 _autumnal sun_,\n    That _boils the dew_, that on the earth doth lie;\n    May seem this whitish rag then is the scum;\n    Unless that wiser men mak\u2019t the _field-spider\u2019s loom_.[1179]\n\nJamieson, in his Scottish Dictionary, gives _sun-dew webs_ as a name\ngiven in the South of Scotland to the gossamer.\n\nThe Swedes call a cobweb _dwaergsnaet_, from _dwaerg_, a species of\nmalevolent fairy or demon; very ingenious, and supposed often to assume\nthe appearance of a Spider, and to form these nets. The peasants of that\ncountry say, _Jorden naetjar sig_, \u201cthe earth covers itself with a net,\u201d\nwhen the whole surface of the ground is covered with gossamer, which, it\nis commonly believed, indicates the seedtime.[1180]\n\nVoss, in a note on his Luise (iii. 17), says that the popular belief in\nGermany is, that the gossamers are woven by the Dwarfs. Keightley thinks\nthe word gossamer is a corruption of _gorse_, or _goss samyt_, _i.e._\nthe _samyt_, or finely-woven silken web that lies on the _gorse_ or\nfurze.[1181]\n\nA learned man and good natural philosopher, and one of the first Fellows\nof the Royal Society, Robert Hooke, the author of _Micrographia_,\ngravely remarked in his scientific disquisition on the gossamer, that it\n\u201cwas not unlikely, but those great white clouds, that appear all the\nsummer time, may be of the same substance!!\u201d[1182]\n\nThe following well-authenticated incident is told by Turner as having\noccurred when he was a young practitioner: A certain young woman was\naccustomed, when she went into the vault after night, to go\nSpider-hunting, as she called it, setting fire to the webs of Spiders,\nand burning the insects with the flame of the candle. It happened at\nlength, however, after this whimsey had been indulged a long time, one\nof the persecuted Spiders sold its life much dearer than those hundreds\nshe had destroyed, and most effectually cured her of her idle cruel\npractice; for, in the words of Dr. James, \u201clighting upon the melted\ntallow of her candle, near the flame, and his legs becoming entangled\ntherein, so that he could not extricate himself, the flame or heat\ncoming on, he was made a sacrifice to his cruel persecutor, who,\ndelighting her eyes with the spectacle, still waiting for the flame to\ntake hold of him, he presently burst with a great crack, and threw his\nliquor, some into her eyes, but mostly upon her lips; by means of which,\nflinging away her candle, she cried out for help, as fancying herself\nkilled already with the poison.\u201d In the night the woman\u2019s lips swelled\nexcessively, and one of her eyes was much inflamed. Her gums and tongue\nwere also affected, and a continual vomiting attended. For several days\nshe suffered the greatest pain, but was finally cured by an old woman\nwith a preparation of plantain leaves and cobwebs applied to the eyes,\nand taken inwardly two or three times a day.\n\nBefore this accident happened to her, this woman asserted that the smell\nof the Spiders burning oftentimes so affected her head, that objects\nabout her seemed to turn round; she grew faint also with cold sweats,\nand sometimes a light vomiting followed, yet so great was her delight in\ntormenting these creatures, and driving them from their webs, that she\ncould not forbear, till she met with the above narrated accident.[1183]\n\nA similar story is related by Nic. Nicholas of a man he saw at his hotel\nin Florence, who, burning a large black Spider in the flame of a candle,\nand staying for some time in the same room, from the fumes arising, grew\nfeeble, and fell into a fainting fit, suffering all night great\npalpitation at the heart, and afterward a pulse so very low as to be\nscarcely felt.[1184]\n\nSeveral monks, in a monastery in Florence, are said to have died from\nthe effects of drinking wine from a vessel in which there was afterward\nfound a drowned Spider.[1185]\n\nThere are two animals to which the Italians give the name Tarantula: the\none is a species of Lizard, whose bite is reputed mortal, found about\nFondi, Cajeta, and Capua; the other is a large Spider, found in the\nfields in several parts of Italy, and especially at Tarentum--hence the\nname. \u201cSuch as are stung by this creature (the _Aranea Tarantula_),\u201d\nsays Misson, \u201cmake a thousand different gestures in a moment; for they\nweep, dance, tremble, laugh, grow pale, cry, swoon away, and, after a\nfew days of torment, expire, if they be not assisted in time. They find\nsome relief by sweating and antidotes, but _music_ is the great and\nspecific remedy. A learned gentleman of unquestionable credit told me at\nRome, that he had been twice a witness both of the disease and of the\ncure. They are both attended with circumstances that seem very strange;\nbut the matter of fact is well attested, and undeniable.\u201d[1186] Such is\nthe story generally told, believed, and unquestioned, that has found its\nway into the works of many learned travelers and naturalists, but which\nis without the slightest shadow of truth.\n\n\u201cI think I could produce,\u201d continues the deluded Misson, \u201cnatural and\neasy reasons to explain this effect of music; but without engaging\nmyself in a dissertation that would carry me too far, I shall content\nmyself with relating some other instances of the same kind: Every one\nknows the efficacy of David\u2019s harp to restore Saul to the use of his\nreason. I remember Lewis Guyon, in his Lessons, has a story of a lady of\nhis acquaintance, who lived one hundred and six years without ever using\nany other remedy than music; for which purpose she allowed a salary to a\ncertain musician, whom she called her physician; and I might add that I\nwas particularly acquainted with a gentleman, very much subject to the\ngout, who infallibly received ease, and sometimes was wholly freed from\nhis pains by a loud noise. He used to make all his servants come into\nhis chamber, and beat with all their force upon the table and floor; and\nthe noise they made, in conjunction with the sound of the violin, was\nhis sovereign remedy.\u201d[1187]\n\nIn the Treasvrie of Avncient and Moderne Times, printed in London, the\nyear 1619, we find the following: \u201c_Alexander Alexandrinus_ proceedeth\nfarther, affirming that he beheld one wounded by this Spider, to dance\nand leape about incessantly, and the Musitians (finding themselves\nwearied) gave over playing: whereupon, the poore offended dancer, hauing\nvtterly lost all his forces, fell downe on the ground, as if he had bene\ndead. The Musitians no sooner began to playe againe, but hee returned to\nhimselfe, and mounting vp vpon his feet, danced againe as lustily as\nformerly hee had done, and so continued dancing still, til hee found the\nharme asswaged, and himselfe entirely recovered. Heereunto he addeth,\nthat when it hath happened, that a man hath not beene thorowly cured by\nMusique in this manner; within some short while after, hearing the sound\nof Instruments, hee hath recouered footing againe, and bene enforced to\nhold on dancing, and never to ceasse, till his perfect and absolute\nhealing, which (questionlesse) is admirable in nature.\u201d[1188]\n\nRobert Boyle, in his Usefulness of Natural Philosophy, among other\nstories of the power of music upon those bitten by Tarantulas, mentions\nthe following: \u201c_Epiphanius Ferdinandus_ himself not only tells us of a\nman of 94 years of age, and weak, that he could not go, unless supported\nby his staff, who did, upon the hearing of musick after he was bitten,\nimmediately fall a dancing and capering like a kid; and affirms that\nTarantulas themselves may be brought to leap and dance at the sound of\nlutes, small drums, bagpipes, fiddles, etc.; but challenges those, that\nbelieve them not, to come and try, promising them an occular conviction:\nand adds what is very memorable and pleasant, that not only men, in whom\nmuch may be ascribed to fancy, but other animals being bitten, may\nlikewise, by musick, be reduced to leap or dance: for he saith, he saw a\nWasp, which being bitten by a Tarantula, whilst a lutanist chanced to be\nby; the musician, playing upon his instrument gave them the sport of\nseeing both the Wasp and Spider begin to dance: Annexing, that a bitten\nCock did the like.\u201d[1189]\n\nIn an Italian nobleman\u2019s palace, Skippon saw a fellow who was bitten by\na Tarantula; \u201che danced,\u201d says this traveler, \u201cvery antickly, with naked\nswords, to a tune played on an instrument.\u201d The Italians say that if\nthe Spider be immediately killed, no such effects will appear; but as\nlong as it lives, the person bitten is subject to these paroxysms, and\nwhen it dies he is free. Skippon says that usually they are the poorer\nsort of people who say they are bitten, and they beg money while they\nare in these dancing fits.[1190]\n\nBell was informed at Buzabbatt (in Persia) that the celebrated Kashan\nTarantula \u201cneither stings nor bites, but drops its venom upon the skin,\nwhich is of such a nature that it immediately penetrates into the body,\nand causes dreadful symptoms; such as giddiness of the head, a violent\npain in the stomach, and a lethargic stupefaction. The remedy is the\napplication of the same animal when braised to the part affected, by\nwhich the poison is extracted. They also make the patient,\u201d continues\nthis traveler, \u201cdrink abundance of sweet milk, after which he is put in\na kind of tray, suspended by ropes fixed in the four corners; it is\nturned round till the ropes are twisted hard together, and, when let go\nat once, the untwining causes the basket to run round with a quick\nmotion, which forces the patient to vomit.\u201d[1191]\n\nSkippon was shown by Corvino, in his Museum at Rome, \u201ca _Tarantula\nApula_, which he kept some time alive; and the poison of it, he said,\nbroke two glasses.\u201d[1192]\n\nIn the Treasvrie of Avncient and Moderne Times, it is stated of \u201cHarts,\nthat when they are bitten or stung by a venomous kinde of Spiders,\ncalled _phalanges_; they heale themselves by eating _Creuisses_, though\nothers do hold, that it is by an Hearb growing in the water.\u201d[1193]\n\nDiodorus Siculus tells as that there border upon the country of the\nAcridophagi a large tract of land, rich in fair pastures, but desert and\nuninhabited; not that there were never any people there, but that\nformerly, when it was inhabited, an immoderate rain fell, which bred a\nvast host of Spiders and Scorpions: that these implacable enemies of the\ncountry increased so, that though at first the whole nation attempted to\ndestroy them (for he who was bitten or stung by them, immediately fell\ndead), so that, not knowing where to remain, or how to get food, they\nwere forced to fly to some other place for relief.[1194] Strabo has\ninserted also this miraculous story in his Geography.[1195]\n\nMr. Nichols mentions Spiders as having been embroidered on the white\ngowns of ladies in the time of Queen Elizabeth.[1196]\n\nSloane tells us the housekeepers of Jamaica keep large Spiders in their\nhouses to kill cockroaches.[1197]\n\nCaptain Dampier, after minutely describing in his quaint way the \u201cteeth\u201d\nof a \u201csort of Spider, some near as big as a Man\u2019s Fist,\u201d which are found\nin the West Indies, says: \u201cThese Teeth we often preserve. Some wear them\nin their Tobacco-pouches to pick their Pipes. Others preserve them for\ntooth-pickers, especially such as are troubled with the toothache; for\nby report they will expell that Pain.\u201d[1198] These teeth, which are of a\nfinely polished substance, extremely hard, and of a bright shining\nblack, are often, in the Bermudas, for these qualities set in silver or\ngold and used also for tooth-picks.[1199]\n\nDr. Sparrman says that Spiders form an article of the Bushman\u2019s\ndainties;[1200] and Labillardiere tells us that the inhabitants of New\nCaledonia seek for and eat with avidity large quantities of a Spider\nnearly an inch long (which he calls _Aranea edulis_) and which they\nroast over the fire.[1201] Spiders are also eaten by the American\nIndians and Australians.[1202] Molien says: \u201cThe people of Maniana,\nsouth of Gambia and Senegal, are cannibals. They eat Spiders, Beetles,\nand old men.\u201d[1203] In Siam, also, we learn from Turpin, the egg-bags of\nSpiders are considered a delicate food. The bags of certain poisonous\nspecies which make holes in the ground in the woods are preferred.[1204]\n\nAnd Peter Martyr, in his History of the West Indies, makes the following\nstatement: \u201cThe Chiribichenses (Caribbeans) eate Spiders, Frogges, and\nwhatsoever woormes, and lice also without loathing, although in other\nthinges they are so queasie stomaked, that if they see anything that\ndoth not like them, they presently cast upp whatsoever is in their\nstomacke.\u201d[1205]\n\nReaumur tells us of a young lady who when she walked in her grounds\nnever saw a Spider that she did not take and eat upon the spot.[1206]\nAnother female, the celebrated Anna Maria Schurman, used to crack them\nbetween her teeth like nuts, which she affirmed they much resembled in\ntaste, excusing her propensity by saying that she was born under the\nsign Scorpio.[1207] \u201cWhen Alexander reigned, it is reported that there\nwas a very beautiful strumpet in Alexandria, that fed alwayes from her\nchildhood on Spiders, and for that reason the king was admonished that\nhe should be very carefull not to embrace her, lest he should be\npoysoned by venome that might evaporate from her by sweat. Albertus\nMagnus also makes mention of a certain noble mayd of Collen, that was\nfed with Spiders from her childhood. And we in England have a great lady\nyet living, who will not leave off eating of them. And Phaerus, a\nphysician, did often eat them without any hurt at all.\u201d[1208]\n\nLa Lande, the celebrated French astronomer, we are told by Disjonval,\nate as delicacies Spiders and Caterpillars. He boasted of this as a\nphilosophic trait of character, that he could raise himself above\ndislikes and prejudices; and, to cure Madame Lepaute of a very annoying\nfear of, and antipathy to Spiders, it is said he gradually habituated\nher to look upon them, to touch, and finally to swallow them as readily\nas he himself.[1209]\n\nA German, immortalized by R\u00f6sel, used to eat Spiders by handfuls, and\nspread them upon his bread like butter, observing that he found them\nvery useful, \u201c_um sich auszulaxiren_.\u201d[1210]\n\nThe satirist, Peter Pindar, records the same of Sir Joshua Banks:\n\n    How early Genius shows itself at times,\n    Thus Pope, the prince of poets, lisped in rhymes,\n    And our Sir Joshua Banks, most strange to utter,\n      To whom each cockroach-eater is a fool,\n      Did, when a very little boy at school,\n    Eat Spiders, spread upon his bread and butter.\n\nConradus, bishop of Constance, at the sacrament of the Lord\u2019s Supper,\ndrank off a Spider that had fallen into his cup of wine, while he was\nbusied in the consecration of the elements; \u201cyet did he not receive the\nleast hurt or damage thereby.\u201d[1211]\n\nWe learn from Poggio, the Florentine, that Zisca, the great and\nvictorious reformer of Bohemia, was such an epicure, that he only asked\nfor, as his share of the plunder, what he was pleased to call \u201cthe\ncobwebs, which hung from the roofs of the farmers\u2019 houses.\u201d It is said,\nhowever, that this was but one of his witty circumlocutions to express\nthe hams, sausages, and pig-cheeks, for which Bohemia has always been\ncelebrated.[1212]\n\nFor the bite of all Spiders, according to Pliny, the best remedies are\n\u201ca cock\u2019s brains, taken in oxycrate with a little pepper; five ants,\nswallowed in drink; sheep\u2019s dung applied in vinegar; and Spiders of any\nkind, left to putrify in oil.\u201d[1213] Another proper remedy, says this\nwriter, is, \u201cto present before the eyes of a person stung another Spider\nof the same description, a purpose for which they are preserved when\nfound dead. Their husks also,\u201d he continues, \u201cfound in a dry state, are\nbeaten up and taken in drink for a similar purpose. The young of the\nweasel, too, are possessed of a similar property.\u201d[1214]\n\nAmong the remedies given by Pliny for diseases of eyes, is mentioned\n\u201cthe cobweb of the common fly-Spider, that which lines its hole more\nparticularly. This,\u201d he continues, \u201capplied to the forehead across the\ntemples, in a compress of some kind or other, is said to be marvellously\nuseful for the cure of defluxions of the eyes; the web must be taken,\nhowever, and applied by the hands of a boy who has not arrived at the\nyears of puberty; the boy, too, must not show himself to the patient for\nthree days, and during those three days neither of them must touch the\nground with his feet uncovered. The white Spider with very elongated,\nthin legs, beaten up in old oil, forms an ointment which is used for the\ncure of albugo. The Spider, too, whose web, of remarkable thickness, is\ngenerally found adhering to the rafters of houses, applied in a piece of\ncloth, is said to be curative of defluxions of the eyes.\u201d[1215]\n\nAs a remedy for the ears, Pliny says: \u201cThe thick pulp of a Spider\u2019s\nbody, mixed with oil of roses, is used for the ears; or else the pulp\napplied by itself with saffron or in wool.\u201d[1216]\n\nFor fractures of the cranium, Pliny says, cobwebs are applied, with oil\nand vinegar; the application never coming away till a cure has been\neffected. Cobwebs are good, too, he continues, for stopping the bleeding\nof wounds made in shaving.[1217] They are still used for this purpose,\nas also the fur from articles made of beaver.\n\nIn Ben Jonson\u2019s Stable of News, Almanac says of old Penny boy (as a skit\nupon his penuriousness), that he\n\n    Sweeps down no cobwebs here,\n    But sells \u2019em for cut fingers; and the Spiders,\n    As creatures rear\u2019d of dust, and cost him nothing,\n    To fat old ladies\u2019 monkies.[1218]\n\nAnd Shakspeare, in his Midsummer-Night\u2019s Dream, makes Bottom say to the\nfairy Cobweb:\n\n    \u201cI shall desire you of more acquaintance, good master Cobweb. If I\n    cut my finger, I shall make bold with you.\u201d[1219]\n\nPills formed of Spiders\u2019 webs are still considered an infallible cure\nfor the ague.[1220] Dr. Graham, in his Domestic Medicine, prescribes it\nfor ague and intermittent fever. And Spiders themselves, with their legs\npinched off, and then powdered with flour, so as to resemble a pill,\nare also sometimes given for ague.[1221] Dr. Chapman, of Philadelphia,\nstates that in doses of five grains of Spiders\u2019 web, repeated every\nfourth or fifth hour, he has cured some obstinate intermittents,\nsuspended the paroxysms of hectic, overcome morbid vigilance from\nexcessive nervous mobility, and quieted irritation of the system from\nvarious causes, and not less as connected with protracted coughs and\nother chronic pectoral affections.[1222]\n\nMrs. Delany, in a letter dated March 1st, 1743-4, gives two infallible\nrecipes for ague.\n\n1st. Pounded ginger, made into paste with brandy, spread on sheep\u2019s\nleather, and a plaister of it laid over the navel.\n\n2d. A Spider put into a goose-quill, well sealed and secured, and hung\nabout the child\u2019s neck as low as the pit of its stomach.\n\nUpon this Lady Llanover notes: \u201cAlthough the prescription of the Spider\nin the quill will probably create amusement, considered as an old charm,\nyet there is no doubt of the medicinal virtues of Spiders and their\nwebs, which have been long known to the Celtic inhabitants of Great\nBritain and Ireland.\u201d[1223]\n\nThe above mentioned Dr. Graham states that he has known of a Spider\nhaving been sewed up in a rag and worn as a periapt round the neck to\ncharm away the ague.[1224]\n\nIn the Netherlands, it is thought good for an ague, to inclose a Spider\nbetween the two halves of a nut-shell, and wear it about the neck.[1225]\n\n\u201cIn the diary of Elias Ashmole, 11th April, 1681, is preserved the\nfollowing curious incident: \u2018I took early in the morning a good dose of\nelixir, and hung three Spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague\naway. Deo gratias!\u2019 Ashmole was a judicial astrologer, and the patron of\nthe renowned Mr. Lilly. Par nobile fratrum.\u201d[1226]\n\n\u201cAmong the approved Remedies of Sir Matthew Lister, I find,\u201d says Dr.\nJames, \u201cthat the distilled water of black Spiders is an excellent cure\nfor wounds, and that this was one of the choice secrets of Sir Walter\nRaleigh....\n\n\u201cThe Spider is said to avert the paroxisms of fevers, if it be applied\nto the pulse of the wrist, or the temples; but it is peculiarly\nrecommended against a quartan, being enclosed in the shell of a\nhazlenut....\n\n\u201cThe Spider, which some call the catcher, or wolf, being beaten into a\nplaister, then sewed up in linen, and applied to the forehead and\ntemples, prevents the return of the tertian.... There is another kind of\nSpider, which spins a white, fine, and thick web. One of this sort,\nwrapped in leather, and hung about the arm, will, it is said, avert the\nfit of a quartan. Boiled in oil of roses, and distilled into the ears,\nit eases (says Dioscorides, ii. 68) pains in those parts....\n\n\u201cThe country people have a tradition, that a small quantity of Spiders\u2019\nweb, given about an hour before the fit of an ague, and repeated\nimmediately before it, is effectual in curing that troublesome, and\nsometimes obstinate distemper.... The Indians about North Carolina have\ngreat dependence on this remedy for ague, to which they are much\nsubject.\u201d[1227]\n\n\u201cOf the cod or bags of Spiders, M. Bon caused a sort of drops to be\nmade, in imitation of those of Goddard, because they contain a great\nquantity of volatile salt.\u201d[1228]\n\nMoufet, in Theatrum Insectorum, has the following: \u201cAlso that knotty\nwhip of God, and mock of all physicians, the Gowt, which learned men say\ncan be cured by no remedy, findes help and cure by a Spider layed on, if\nit be taken at that time when neither sun nor moon shine, and the hinder\nlegs pulled off, and put into a deer\u2019s skin and bound to the pained\nfoot, and be left on it for some time. Also for the most part we finde\nthose people to be free from the gowt of hands or feet (which few\nmedicaments can doe), in whose houses the Spiders breed much, and doth\nbeautifie them with her tapestry and hangings.... Our chirurgeons cure\nwarts thus: They wrap a Spider\u2019s ordinary web into the fashion of a\nball, and laying it on the wart, they set it on fire, and so let it burn\nto ashes; by this means the wart is rooted out by the roots, and will\nnever grow again.... I cannot but repeat a history that I formerly heard\nfrom our dear friend worthy to be believed, Bruerus. A lustfull nephew\nof his, having spent his estate in rioting and brothel-houses, being\nready to undertake anything for money, to the hazzard of his life; when\nhe heard of a rich matron of London, that was troubled with a timpany,\nand was forsaken of all physicians as past cure, he counterfeited\nhimself to be a physician in practice, giving forth that he would cure\nher and all diseases. But as the custom is, he must have half in hand,\nand the other half under her hand, to be payed when she was cured. Then\nhe gave her a Spider to drink, as supposing her past cure, promising to\nmake her well in three dayes, and so in a coach with four horses he\npresently hastes out of town, lest there being a rumor of the death of\nher (which he supposed to be very neer) he should be apprehended for\nkilling her. But the woman shortly after by the force of the venome was\ncured, and the ignorant physician, who was the author of so great a\nwork, was not known. After some moneths this good man returns, not\nknowing what had happened, and secretly enquiring concerning the state\nof that woman, he heard she was recovered. Then he began to boast\nopenly, and to ask her how she had observed her diet, and he excused his\nlong absence, by reason of the sickenesse of a principal friend, and\nthat he was certain that no harm could proceed from so healthful\nphysick; also he asked confidently for the rest of his reward, and to be\ngiven him freely.\u201d[1229]\n\n\u201cA third kind of Spiders,\u201d says Pliny, \u201calso known as the \u2018phalangium,\u2019\nis a Spider with a hairy body, and a head of enormous size. When opened,\nthere are found in it two small worms, they say: these, attached in a\npiece of deer\u2019s skin, before sunrise, to a woman\u2019s body, will prevent\nconception, according to what C\u00e6cilius, in his Commentaries, says. This\nproperty lasts, however, for a year only; and, indeed, it is the only\none of all the anti-conceptives that I feel myself at liberty to\nmention, in favour of some women whose fecundity, quite teeming with\nchildren (plena liberis), stands in need of some such respite.\u201d[1230]\n\nMr. John Aubrey, in the chapter of his Miscellanies devoted to Magick,\ngives the following: \u201cTo cure a Beast that is sprung, (that is) poisoned\n(It mostly lights upon Sheep): Take the little red Spider, called a\ntentbob (not so big as a great pin\u2019s-head), the first you light upon in\nthe spring of the year, and rub it in the palm of your hand all to\npieces: and having so done, make water on it, and rub it in, and let it\ndry; then come to the beast and make water in your hand, and throw it in\nhis mouth. It cures in a matter of an hour\u2019s time. This rubbing serves\nfor a whole year, and it is no danger to the hand. The chiefest skill is\nto know whether the beast be poisoned or no.\u201d[1231] Mr. Aubrey had this\nreceipt from Mr. Pacy.\n\nIn the year 1709, M. Bon, of Montpellier, communicated to the Royal\nAcademy of that city a discovery which he had made of a new kind of\nsilk, from the very fine threads with which several species of Spiders\n(probably the _Aranea diadema_ and others closely allied to it) inclose\ntheir eggs; which threads were found to be much stronger than those\ncomposing the Spider\u2019s web. They were easily separated, carded, and\nspun, and then afforded a much finer thread than that of the silk-worm,\nbut, according to Reaumur, inferior to this both in luster and strength.\nThey were also found capable of receiving all the different dyes with\nequal facility. M. Bon carried his experiments so far as to obtain two\nor three pairs of stockings and gloves of this silk, which were of an\nelegant gray color, and were presented, as samples, to the Academy. As\nthe Spiders also were much more prolific, and much more hardy than\nsilk-worms, great expectations were formed of benefit of the discovery.\nReaumur accordingly took up and prosecuted the inquiry with zeal. He\ncomputed that 663,522 Spiders would scarcely furnish a single pound of\nsilk; and conceived that it would be impossible to provide the\nnecessarily immense numbers with flies, their natural food. This\nobstacle, however, was soon removed, by his finding that they would\nsubsist very well upon earth-worms chopped, and upon the soft ends or\nroots of feathers. But a new obstacle arose from their unsocial\npropensities, which proved insurmountable; for though at first they\nseemed to feed quietly, and even work together, several of them at the\nsame web, yet they soon began to quarrel, and the strongest devoured the\nweakest, so that of several hundred, placed together in a box, but three\nor four remained alive after a few days; and nobody could propose to\nkeep and feed each separately. The silk was found to be naturally of\ndifferent colors; particularly white, yellow, gray, sky-blue, and\ncoffee-colored brown.[1232]\n\nA Spider raiser in France, more recently, is said to have tamed eight\nhundred Spiders, which he kept in a single apartment for their\nsilk.[1233]\n\nDe Azara states that in Paraguay a Spider forms a spherical cocoon for\nits eggs, an inch in diameter, of a yellow silk, which the inhabitants\nspin on account of the permanency of the color.[1234]\n\nThe ladies of Bermuda make use of the silk of the Silk-Spider, _Epeira\nclavipes_, for sewing purposes.[1235]\n\nThe Spider-web fabric has been carried so nearly to transparency (in\nHindostan) that the Emperor Aurengzebe is said to have reproved his\ndaughter for the indelicacy of her costume, while she wore as many as\nseven thicknesses of it.[1236]\n\nAstronomers employ the strongest thread of Spiders, the one, namely,\nthat supports the web, for the divisions of the micrometer. By its\nductility this thread acquires about a fifth of its ordinary\nlength.[1237]\n\nTopsel, in his History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, has the\nfollowing, which he calls an \u201cold and common verse:\n\n    Nos aper auditu pr\u00e6cellit, Aranea tactu,\n    Vultur odoratu, lynx visu, simia gustu.\n\nWhich may be Englished thus:\n\n    To hear, the boar, to touch, the Spider us excells,\n    The lynx to see, the ape to taste, the vulture for the smells.\u201d\n    [1238]\n\n\u201cIt is manifest,\u201d says Moufet, \u201cthat Spiders are bred of some aereall\nseeds putrefied, from filth and corruption, because that the newest\nhouses the first day they are whited will have both Spiders and cobwebs\nin them.\u201d[1239] This theory of generation from putrefaction was a\nfavorite one among the ancient writers; see the history of the Scorpion.\n\n\n\n\nMISCELLANEOUS.\n\n\nIt may be new to many of our readers, who are familiar with the Elegy in\na Country Church-yard, to be told that its author was at the pains to\nturn the characteristics of the Linn\u00e6an orders of insects into Latin\nhexameters, the manuscript of which is still preserved in his\ninterleaved copy of the \u201cSystema Natur\u00e6.\u201d[1240]\n\nIt is related by Boerhaave, in his Life of Swammerdam, that when the\nGrand Duke of Tuscany was visiting with Mr. Thevenot the curiosities of\nHolland, in 1668, he found nothing more worthy of his admiration than\nthe great naturalist\u2019s account of the structure of caterpillars,--for\nSwammerdam, by the skillful management of instruments of wonderful\ndelicacy and fineness, showed the duke in what manner the future\nbutterfly, with all its parts, lies neatly folded up in the caterpillar,\nlike a rose in the unexpanded bud. He was, indeed, so struck with this\nand other wonders of the insect world, disclosed to him by the great\nnaturalist, that he made him the offer of twelve thousand florins to\ninduce him to reside at his court; but Swammerdam, from feelings of\nindependence, modestly declined to accept it, preferring to continue his\ndelightful studies at home.[1241]\n\nThere is an epitaph in the church of St. Hilary at Poictiers, beginning\n\u201cVermibus hic ponor,\u201d which the people interpreted to mean that a Saint\nwas buried there who undertook to cure children of the worms. Women,\naccordingly used to scrape the tomb and administer the powder; but the\nclergy, to prevent this absurdity (for Luther had arisen), erected a\nbarrier to keep them off. They soon began, however, to carry away for\nthe same purpose pieces of the wooden bars.[1242]\n\nA diseased woman at Patton, drinking of the water in which the bones of\nSt. Milburge were washed, there came from her stomach \u201ca filthie worme,\nugly and horrible to behold, having six feete, two hornes on his head,\nand two on his tayle.\u201d Brother Porter, in his Flowers of the Saints,\ntells this, and adds that the \u201cworme was shutt up in a hollow piece of\nwood, and reserved afterward in the monasterie as a trophy and monument\nof S. Milburg, untill, by the lascivious furie of him that destroyed all\ngoodness in England, that with other religious houses and monasteries,\nwent to ruin.\u201d Hence the \u201cfilthie worme\u201d was lost, and we have nothing\nnow instead but the Reformation.[1243]\n\nCapt. Clarke, in his passage from Dublin to Chester, on the 2d of\nSeptember, 1733, met with a cloud \u201cof flying insects of various sorts,\u201d\nwhich stuck about the rigging of the vessel in a surprising\nmanner.[1244]\n\nDe Geer, chamberlain to the King of Sweden, writes (iv. 63) that in\nJanuary, 1749, at Leufsta, in Sweden, and in three or four neighboring\nparishes, the snow was covered with living worms and insects of various\nkinds. The people assured him they fell with the snow, and he was shown\nseveral that had dropped on people\u2019s hats. He caused the snow to be\nremoved from places where these worms had been seen, and found several\nwhich seemed to be on the surface of the snow which had fallen before,\nand were covered by the succeeding. It was impossible that they could\nhave come there from under the ground, which was then frozen more than\nthree feet deep, and absolutely impervious to such insects. In 1750, he\nagain discovered vast quantities of insects on the snow, which covered a\nlarge frozen lake some leagues from Stockholm. Preceding and\naccompanying both these falls of insects were violent storms that had\ntorn up trees by the roots, and carried away to a great distance the\nsurrounding earth, and at the same time the insects which had taken up\ntheir winter quarters in it.[1245] These insects were chiefly\n_Brachyptera_ L., _Aphodii_, Spiders, caterpillars, and particularly the\nlarv\u00e6 of the _Telephorus fuscus_.[1246] Another shower of insects is\nrecorded to have fallen in Hungary, November 20, 1672;[1247] another,\nalso, in the newspapers of July 2d, 1810, to have fallen in France the\nJanuary preceding, accompanied by a shower of red snow.[1248]\n\nIn the Muses Threnodie, p. 213, we read that \u201cmany are the instances,\neven to this day, of charms practised among the vulgar, especially among\nthe Highlands, attended with forms of prayer. In the Miscellaneous MS.,\nwritten by Baillie Dundee, among several medicinal receipts I find an\nexorcism against all kinds of worms in the body, in the name of the\nFather, Son, and Holy Ghost, to be repeated three mornings, as a certain\nremedy.\u201d[1249]\n\nThe Guahibo, Humboldt says, that \u201ceats everything that exists above, and\neverything under ground,\u201d eats insects, and particularly scolopendras\nand worms.[1250] The same traveler also says he has seen the Indian\nchildren drag out of the earth centipedes eighteen inches long, and more\nthan half an inch broad, and devour them.[1251]\n\n\u201cThe seventeene of March, 1586,\u201d says John Stow in his Annales of\nEngland, \u201ca strange thing happened, the like whereof before hath not\nbeene heard of in our time. Master Dorington, of Spaldwicke, in the\ncountie of Huntington, esquier, one of his maiesties gentlemen\nPensioners, had a horse which died sodainly, and, being ripped to see\nthe cause of his death, there was found in the hole of the hart of the\nsame horse a strange worme, which lay on a round heape in a kall or skin\nof the likeness of a toade, which, being taken out and spread abroad,\nwas in forme and fashion not easie to be described, the length of which\nworme divided into many greines to the number of fiftie (spread from the\nbodie like the branches of a tree), was from the snowte to the ende of\nthe longest greine, seventeene inches, having four issues in the\ngreines, from the which dropped foorth a red water; the body in bignes\nround about was three inches and a halfe, the colour whereof was very\nlike a makerel. This monstrous worme, found in manner aforesaid,\ncrauling to have got away, was stabbed in with a dagger and died, which,\nafter being dried, was shewed to many honorable persons of the\nrealme.\u201d[1252]\n\nDr. Sparrman, in his journey to Paarl, an inland town at the Cape of\nGood Hope, having filled his insect-box with fine specimens, was obliged\nto put a \u201cwhole regiment of flies and other insects\u201d round the brim of\nhis hat. Having entered the house of a rich old widow troubled with the\ngout, for food, he was warned by his servant that if she should happen\nto see the insects he would certainly be turned out of doors for a\nconjuror (hexmeester). Accordingly he was very careful to keep his hat\nalways turned away from her, but all would not do--the old lady\ndiscovered the \u201clittle beasts,\u201d and to her greater astonishment that\nthey were run through their bodies with pins. An immediate explanation\nwas demanded; and had the doctor not been just then lamenting with the\nwidow for her deceased husband, and giving dissertations on the dropsy\nand cough that carried off the poor man, the explanation he gave would\nhardly have been sufficient to quell the rage of this superstitious boor\nat the thought of there being a sorcerer in her house.[1253]\n\nIn several parts of Europe quite a trade is carried on in the way of\nbuying and selling rare insects, chiefly the rare Alpine butterflies and\nmoths. The instant the entomologist steps from his carriage, in the\ncelebrated valley of Chamouni, with net in hand, whence he is known to\nbe a papillionist, he is surrounded by half a dozen Savoyard boys, from\nthe age of fifteen down to eight, each with a large collecting-box full\nof insects in his hands for sale, and with the scientist bargains for\nthe insects that are found only on the mountains, and which these hardy\nchaps alone can obtain. There are again insect dealers on a larger\nscale, who live there, and have many of these boys in their employ; one\nof which wholesale merchants, Michel Bossonney, at Martigni in the\nVallais, in the year 1829, sold 7000 insects, mostly of rare and\nbeautiful species. Another dealer, on a perhaps still larger scale, is\nM. Provost Duval, of Geneva, a highly respectable entomologist. In 1830,\nhe could supply upwards of 600 species of Lepidoptera, and as many\nColeoptera, of the Swiss Alps, the south of France, and Germany, at\nprices varying from one to fifteen francs each, according to their\nrarity.\n\nThe advantage of this new traffic, both to the individuals engaged in it\nand to science, is great. Now the _Sphinx (Deilephila) hippophaes_,\nformerly sold at sixty francs each, and of which one of the first\ndiscovered specimens was sold for two hundred francs, is so plentiful,\nin consequence of the numbers collected and reared through their several\nstages, by the peasants all along the course of the Arve, where the\nplant, _Hippophae rham\u00f6ides_, on which the larv\u00e6 feed, and the imago\ntakes its specific name, grows in profusion, that a specimen costs but\nthree francs. A general taste also for the science, and an appreciation\nfor beauty, is spread by the more striking Alpine species, such as\n_Parnassius apollo_ and _Calichroma alpina_, not only among the\ntravelers who buy them for their beauty, who before would hardly deign\nto look upon an insect, but among the more ignorant Alpine collectors\nthemselves.[1254]\n\nNavarette, under the head of \u201cInsects and Vermin,\u201d speaks of an animal\nwhich the Chinese call Jen Ting, or Wall-dragon, because it runs up and\ndown walls. It is also, says this traveler, called the Guard of the\nPalace, and this for the following reason: The emperors were accustomed\nto make an ointment of this insect, and some other ingredients, with\nwhich they anointed their concubines\u2019 wrists, as the mark of it\ncontinued as long as they had not to do with man; but as soon as they\ndid so, it immediately vanished, by which their honesty or falsehood was\ndiscovered. Hence it came that this insect was called the Guard of the\nCourt, or, of the court ladies. Navarette laments that all men have not\na knowledge of this wonderful ointment.[1255]\n\nNavarette tells us he once caught (in China?) a small insect that was\ninjurious to poultry--\u201ca very deformed insect, and of a strange\nshape\u201d--when, as soon as it was known, several women ran to him to beg\nits _tail_. He gave it to them, and they told him it was of excellent\nuse when dried, and made into powder, \u201cbeing a prodigious help to women\nin labor, to forward their delivery, if they drank it in a little\nwine.\u201d[1256]\n\nThe Irish have a large beetle of which strange tales are believed; they\nterm it the Coffin-cutter, and deem it in some way connected with the\ngrave and purgatory.[1257]\n\nTurpin, in his History of Siam, says: \u201cThere is a very singular animal\nin Siam ... bred in the dung of elephants. It is entirely black, its\nwings are strong, and its head extremely curious: it is furnished on the\ntop with several points, in the form of a trunk, and a small horn in the\nmiddle: it has four large feet, which raise it more than an inch from\nthe ground: its back seems to be one very hard entire shell. It flies to\nthe very top of the cocoa-trees, of which it eats the heart, and often\nkills them, if a remedy is not applied. Children play with them, and\nmake them fight.\u201d[1258]\n\nGeneral Count D\u00e9jeau, Aid-de-camp to Napoleon Bonaparte, was so anxious,\nsays Jaeger, in his Life of North American Insects, to increase the\nnumber of specimens in his entomological cabinet, that he even availed\nhimself of his military campaigns for this purpose, and was continually\noccupied in collecting insects and fastening them with pins on the\noutside of his hat, which was always covered with them. The Emperor, as\nwell as the whole army, were accustomed to see General D\u00e9jeau\u2019s head\nthus singularly ornamented, even when in battle. But the departed\nspirits of those murdered insects once had their revenge on him; for, in\nthe battle of Wagram, in 1809, and while he was at the side of Napoleon,\na shot from the enemy struck D\u00e9jeau\u2019s head, and precipitated him\nsenseless from his horse. Soon, however, recovering from the shock, and\nbeing asked by the Emperor if he was still alive, he answered, \u201cI am not\ndead; but, alas! my insects are all gone!\u201d for his hat was literally\ntorn to pieces.[1259]\n\nProfessor Jaeger tells also the following anecdote of another passionate\nnaturalist: The celebrated Prince Paul of W\u00fcrtemberg, whom Mr. Jaeger\nmet in 1829 at Port-au-Prince, being one day at the latter\u2019s house, shed\ntears of envy when he showed him the gigantic beetle Act\u00e6on, which, only\na short time before, had been presented to him by the Haytien Admiral\nBanajotti, he having found it at the foot of a cocoa-nut tree on his\nplantation.[1260]\n\nWhile traveling in Poland, Professor Jaeger visited the highly\naccomplished Countess Ragowska, at her country residence, when she\nexhibited her fine, scientifically-arranged collection of butterflies\nand other insects, and told him that she had personally instructed her\nchildren in botany, history, and geography by means of her entomological\ncabinet--botany, from the plants on which the various larv\u00e6 feed;\nhistory, from the names, as Menelaus, Berenice, etc., given as specific\nnames to the perfect insects; and geography, from the native countries\nof the several specimens.[1261] From the scientific names of insects,\nand the technical terms employed in their study, quite a knowledge of\nLatin and Greek, and philology in general, might also be gained.\n\nIn R. Brookes\u2019 \u201cNatural History of Insects, with their properties and\nuses in medicine,\u201d we find the following statement: \u201cThere have been the\nsolid shells of a sort of Beetle brought to England, that were found on\nthe eastern coast of Africa, over against part of the Island of\nMadagascar, which the natives hang to their necks, and make use of them\nas whistles to call their cattle together.\u201d[1262] What this \u201csort of\nBeetle\u201d is I have not been able yet to determine.\n\nMr. Fitch W. Taylor, chaplain to the squadron commanded by Commodore\nGeo. C. Read, gives a translation of several Siamese books, and among\nothers the Siamese Dream-book. It was translated by Mrs. Davenport, and\nthe subject is thus introduced:\n\n\u201cIn former times a great prophet and magician, who had much wisdom and\ncould foretell all future events, gave the following interpretation of\nsigns and dreams. Whosoever sees signs and visions, if he wishes to know\nwhether they forebode good or evil, whether happiness or misery, if he\ndream of any animals, insects, birds, or fishes, and wishes to know the\ninterpretation, let him examine this book.\u201d\n\nOf these signs and dreams I make extract of those which refer to\ninsects, as follows:\n\n\u201cIf a person be alone, and an insect or reptile fall before the face,\nbut the individual see it only without touching it, it denotes that some\nheavenly being will bestow great blessings on him. If it fall to the\nright side, it denotes that all his friends, wherever scattered abroad,\nshall again meet him in peace. If it fall behind the person, it denotes\nthat he shall be slandered and maliciously talked of by his friends and\nacquaintances. If in falling it strike the face, it denotes that the\nindividual will soon be married. If it strike the right arm, it denotes\nthat the individual\u2019s wishes, whatever they are, shall be accomplished.\nIf it strike the left hand, it denotes that the individual will lose his\nfriends by death. If it strike the foot, it denotes that whatever\ntrouble the individual may have had, all shall vanish, and he shall\nreach the summit of happiness. If, after touching the foot, it should\ncrawl upward toward the head, it denotes that the individual shall be\nraised to high office by the rulers of his country. If it crawl to the\nright side, it denotes that the person shall hear bad tidings of some\nabsent friend. If the insect or reptile fall without touching the body,\nand immediately flee toward the northeast, it denotes deep but not\nlasting trouble; if toward the northwest, it denotes that the person\nshall receive numerous and valuable presents; if toward the southeast,\nit denotes that he shall receive great riches, and afterwards go to a\ndistant land; or that he shall go to a distant land, and there amass\ngreat wealth.\n\n\u201cIf an animal, insect, bird, or reptile, cross the path of any one as he\nwalks along, the animal coming from the right, let him not proceed--some\ncalamity will surely happen to him in the way. If the animal come from\nthe left, let him proceed--good fortune shall surely happen to him. If\nthe animal proceed before him in the same road in which he intends to\ntravel, it denotes good fortune....\n\n\u201cI now beg to interpret the signs of the night. If at midnight an\nindividual hears the noises of animals in the house where he resides, I\nwill show him whether they indicate good or evil. If any insect cry\n\u2018click, click, click,\u2019 he will possess real treasures while he abides\nthere. If it cry \u2018kek, kek,\u2019 it is an evil omen both to that and the\nneighboring houses. If it cry \u2018chit, chit,\u2019 it denotes that he shall\nalways feed upon the most sumptuous provisions. If it cry \u2018keat, keat,\u2019\nin a loud, shrill voice, it denotes that his residence there shall be\nattended with evil.\n\n\u201cI now beg to interpret with regard to the Spider. If a Spider on the\nceiling utter a low, tremulous moan, it denotes that the individual who\nhears the noise shall either change his residence or that his goods\nshall be stolen. If it utter the same voice on the outside of the house,\nand afterward the Spider crawl to the head of the bed, it denotes\ntroublesome visitors and quarrels to the residents.\u201d[1263]\n\nThevenot, in his Travels into the Levant, relates the following: \u201cBut I\ncannot tell what to say of a Moorish Woman who lives in a corner close\nby the quarter of France, and pulls worms out of Children\u2019s Ears. When a\nChild does nothing but cry, and that they know it is ill, they carry it\nto that Woman, who, laying the Child on its side upon her knee,\nscratches the ear of it, and then Worms, like those which breed in musty\nweevily Flower, seem to fall out of the Child\u2019s Ear; then, turning it on\nthe other side, she scratches the other Ear, out of which the like Worms\ndrop also; and in all there may come out ten or twelve, which she raps\nup in a Linen-Rag, and gives them to those that brought the Child to\nher, who keep them in that Rag at home in their House; and when she has\ndone so she gives them back the Child, which in reality cries no more.\nShe once told me that she performed this by means of some words that she\nspake. There was a French Physician and a Naturalist there, who\nattentively beheld this, and told me that he could not conceive how it\ncould be done; but that he knew very well that if a child had any of\nthese Worms in its head it would quickly die. In so much that the Moors\nand other inhabitants of _Caire_ look upon this as a great Vertue, and\ngive her every time a great many _maidins_ (pieces of money). They say\nthat it is a secret which hath been long in the Family. There are\nchildren every day carried to her, roaring and crying, and as many would\nsee the thing done, need only to follow them, provided they be not\nMusulman Women who carry them, for then it would cost an _Avanie_; but\nwhen they are Christian or Jewish Women, one may easily enter and give a\nfew _maidins_ to that Worm-drawer.\u201d[1264]\n\nThis is most probably but a sleight-of-hand performance, since \u201cworms,\nlike those which breed in musty weevily flower,\u201d could easily be\nobtained and concealed in her hand or sleeve; imagination would then\neffect the cure, as probably it had done the disease.\n\nDr. Livingstone and his party, in traveling in South Africa, sometimes\nsuffered considerably from scarcity of meat, though not from absolute\nwant of food. And the natives, says this traveler, to show their\nsympathy, gave the children, who suffered most, a large kind of\ncaterpillar, which they seemed to relish. He concluded these insects\ncould not be unwholesome, for the natives devoured them in large\nquantities themselves.[1265]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n  Abortion, Ant to cause, 170;\n    from hurt, Cochineal to prevent, 262.\n\n  Abraxas for curing diseases, 37-39.\n\n  _Acanthocinus \u00e6dilis_, 73.\n    _tribulus_, 74.\n\n  _Acarid\u00e6_, 321.\n\n  _Acarus_, 320, 321.\n\n  _Acheta domestica_, 92-97.\n\n  _Achetid\u00e6_, 92-97.\n\n  Acid made from Ants, 161.\n\n  _Acridites lincola_, 126.\n\n  Acridophagi, account of the, 120.\n\n  Adultery, insect to detect, 367.\n\n  Africa, Ants in, 156-7;\n    Bees, 191, 200;\n    Butterflies, 227, 231;\n    Caterpillars, 372;\n    Crickets, 95;\n    Dragon-flies, 140;\n    Flies, 288;\n    Gnats, 282;\n    Goliath-beetle, 46;\n    Larv\u00e6, 71;\n    Lice, 317;\n    Locusts, 101-130;\n    Mantis, 84-88;\n    Soap from beetle, 23;\n    Spiders, 354;\n    Termites, 132-137.\n\n  Agaric-Gnat, 286.\n\n  _Agestrata luconica_, 49.\n\n  _Agrotis telifera_, 247.\n\n  Ague, Bed-bugs as a remedy for, 67;\n    Dung-beetle, 44;\n    Oil of Scorpions, 330;\n    Spiders, 357-360;\n    Stag-beetle, 26.\n\n  Albugo, Cobwebs remedy for, 357.\n\n  Ali Gamooni, forger of Scarab-gems, 38, n.\n\n  Alopecia, Bees remedy for, 206.\n\n  Altars ornamented with Chrysalids, 231.\n\n  Amber, Ant inclosed in, 169;\n    Bee, 212.\n\n  America, Bees in, 197;\n    Crickets, 95;\n    Fleas, 313;\n    Gnats, 281;\n    Lady-birds, 21;\n    Lice, 318;\n    Musk-beetle, 73;\n    Spiders, 354.\n\n  Amputation on account of Chigoes, 315.\n\n  Animals becoming plants, 90-92;\n    Egyptian worship of, theory on, 43, n.\n\n  _Anobium pertinax_, 61.\n    _striatum_, 61.\n    _tesselatum_, 58-61.\n\n  _Anopleura_, 316-320.\n\n  Ant-hills, ovens made of, 134.\n\n  Antipathy to Beetles, 74;\n    Spiders, 344.\n\n  Antler-moth, 246.\n\n  _Ant-lions_, 141.\n\n  _Ants_, 146-170, 196, 295, 322, 327, 356.\n\n  Anus, prolapsed, Scarab remedy for, 44.\n\n  _Aphaniptera_, 305-315.\n\n  _Aphid\u00e6_, 257-259.\n\n  _Aphis humuli_, 258.\n\n  _Apid\u00e6_, 174-215.\n\n  _Apis centuncularis_, 213.\n\n  Apple-blossoms, May-bugs produced with, 47.\n\n  Apocalypse, symbolical Locusts of the, 123.\n\n  Apollo, Locusts destroyed by, 128.\n\n  Aquitaine, bloody-rain in, 218.\n\n  Arabia, beetle eaten by women of, 65;\n    Silk-worms in, 239.\n\n  _Arachnida_, 321-362.\n\n  _Araneid\u00e6_, 332-362.\n\n  _Aranea diadema_, 361.\n\n  _Aranea edulis_, 354.\n    _obtextrix_, 347.\n    _tarantula_, 351.\n\n  _Arctiid\u00e6_, 242-245.\n\n  _Arctia chrysorrh\u0153a_, 242.\n\n  Armies routed by Mosquitoes, 282.\n\n  Armpits, Silk-worms hatched under, 240.\n\n  Arms, Bees on coat of, 196;\n    Butterfly, 229.\n\n  Army-worm, 247.\n\n  Arrows tipped with poison of an Ant, 161.\n\n  Artificial flowers, beetles upon, 23.\n\n  Artillery employed against Ants, 168;\n    Locusts, 106.\n\n  _Ascarides_ in human stomach, 67.\n\n  Asia, Honey-dew in, 257;\n    Locusts, 103-130.\n\n  Ass, dung of, for sting of Scorpions, 326;\n    Fleas do not bite, 310;\n    Hornets generated from carcass of, 171;\n    Locusts, 101;\n    Scarabs, 170;\n    Scarab supposed to make its balls of the dung of, 28;\n    Silk woven by an, 241;\n    sting of Scorpions transferred to, 325;\n    Wasps generated from carcass of, 170.\n\n  Assyria, Egyptian Scarab-gems among ruins of, 39-41.\n\n  Assyrians, Locusts eaten by the, 126.\n\n  Astringent, Galls as an, 145.\n\n  Astronomical subjects, Scarab connected with, 33, 37.\n\n  _Ateuchus \u00c6gyptorum_, 29.\n    _sacer_, 29-43.\n\n  Athenians, golden cicadas worn by, 251;\n    Locusts eaten by, 120.\n\n  Athens, so-called Flies at, 291, n.\n\n  Atrophy, Lice remedy for, 319.\n\n  Auks, snow colored red by, 220, n.\n\n  Australia, Butterflies in, 231;\n    Flies, 288;\n    larv\u00e6 eaten in, 70.\n\n  Automaton Flies, 294.\n\n  Azores, _Coccid\u00e6_ in, 264.\n\n\n  Baalzebub worshiped under form of a Fly, 292.\n\n  Back, Termite queens for strengthening the, 137.\n\n  Baldness, Bees remedy for, 206;\n    Flies, 295.\n\n  Balm, antidote for poisons, 193;\n    Bee-hives prepared with, 190.\n\n  Banian Hospital for animals, 266.\n\n  Banks, Sir Joshua, Spiders eaten by, 356.\n\n  Barbados, Ants in, 167;\n    Ash-colored Cricket, 92;\n    Ash-colored Grasshopper, 98;\n    Gnats, 279;\n    Grou-grou worm, 70;\n    Lantern-flies, 256.\n\n  Barbary, Locusts in, 105-130.\n\n  Barley, Glow-worms indicate ripeness of, 58.\n\n  Bashikouay-ants, 157, 158.\n\n  Basilidians, abraxas invented by the, 37.\n\n  Basill, the herb, Scorpions generated from, 322.\n\n  Basilisks, Scorpions generated from, 322.\n\n  Battles of Ants, 151;\n    Gnats, 278.\n\n  Bats eaten in Cumana, 99;\n    to drive away Locusts, 114.\n\n  Beans for sting of Scorpions, 327.\n\n  Bears, Ants eaten by, to purge, 163;\n    fat and blood of, to kill Caterpillars, 245;\n    man saved by a, 196.\n\n  _Bed-bugs_, 265-274, 306.\n\n  Bedeguar, 144.\n\n  Beds, to rid of Bugs, 266;\n    Scorpions to cool, 324.\n\n  Bee-moth, 248.\n\n  _Bees_, 174-215.\n\n  Beggars hired as food for vermin, 266;\n    Lice eaten by, 318.\n\n  Bell, Caterpillars cursed with a, 243.\n\n  Besiegers routed with Bees, 204;\n    by Mosquitoes, 283.\n\n  Beetle-headed, 49.\n\n  Beetles, 17-75.\n\n  Bermuda, Butterflies in, 227;\n    Spiders, 354, 362.\n\n  Berries, Cochineal supposed to be, 261.\n\n  Bezoar-stone for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  Bible, Ant in the, 148;\n    Bees, 184;\n    Flea, 313;\n    Gnat, 285;\n    Locusts, 101, 128.\n\n  Birds preserved to destroy Locusts, 114.\n\n  Bishop Barnabee, Lady-bird so called, 19.\n\n  Black-beetles, 78-82.\n\n  Blacksmith-beetle, 55.\n\n  _Blapsid\u00e6_, 65-68.\n\n  _Blaps mortisaga_, 65, 68, 78.\n\n  _Blatta Americana_, 79.\n    _f\u0153tida_, 78.\n    _orientalis_, 79.\n    of the ancients, 78.\n\n  _Blattid\u00e6_, 78-82.\n\n  Bleeding of wounds, cobwebs to arrest, 357.\n\n  Blind as a beetle, 49.\n\n  Blindness, Death\u2019s-head Moth supposed to cause, 233.\n\n  _Blister-flies_, 62-64.\n\n  Blood, showers of, 216-225.\n\n  Boars drowned in Honey, 211.\n\n  Boils cured by Ants, 162.\n\n  _Bombicid\u00e6_, 234-241.\n\n  _Bombus_, 213.\n\n  _Bombyx Madroni_, 239.\n    _mori_, 234.\n\n  Books perforated by beetles, 61.\n\n  _Bostrichid\u00e6_, 61.\n\n  _Bostrichus typographus_, 61.\n\n  Botany, study of, from cabinet of insects, 369.\n\n  _Bot-flies_, 302-304.\n\n  Brain, Scorpion in a woman\u2019s, 322.\n\n  Brandy flavored with Ants, 161.\n\n  Brides in Holland, pup\u00e6 compared to, 232.\n\n  Briers, May-bug grubs changed into, 48.\n\n  Brazen Fly, game so called, 294.\n\n  Brazil, Ants in, 160, 168;\n    Blister-flies, 63;\n    Diamond-beetles, 68;\n    Gold-beetles, 23;\n    Termites, 134-5.\n\n  Browny invoked in hiving Bees, 190.\n\n  Bruce and the Spider, 333.\n\n  Bubo, pestilential, Oil-beetles for, 63.\n\n  Buenos Ayres, Flies in, 287.\n\n  Buffalo, Locusts a cross between the and Spider, 113.\n\n  Bug-bear, meaning of, 265.\n\n  Bug-poison, vending of, in London, 268.\n\n  Bull, fat of, in charm to destroy Fleas, 308.\n\n  Bullocks, Bees generated from, 183.\n\n  _Burn-cows_, 50-51.\n\n  Burnie-bee, Lady-bird so called, 22.\n\n  Burning Spiders for amusement, 350.\n\n  _Buprestid\u00e6_, 50-51.\n\n  _Buprestis attenuata_, 50.\n    _fascicularius_, 51.\n    _maxima_, 50.\n    _ocellata_, 50.\n    _vittata_, 50.\n    in Egypt, 29.\n    of the ancients, 51.\n\n  _Butterflies_, 216-232.\n\n  Butter, Grou-grou worm made into, 69.\n\n\n  Cabbage-tree worm, 68-70.\n\n  _Cactus cochinilifer_, 261.\n\n  Caffres make ovens of Ant-hills, 134.\n\n  _Calandra palmarum_, 27, 68-70.\n\n  _Calichroma alpina_, 367.\n\n  California, Mosquitoes in, 284.\n\n  _Callidryas alcmeone_, 227.\n    _hilari\u00e6_, 227.\n    _pyranthe_, 227.\n\n  Cameleons, Meal-worms as food for, 65.\n\n  Camels employed in stealing gold from Ants, 146.\n\n  Canaan subdued with Hornets, 171.\n\n  Canary Islands, Locusts in, 104.\n\n  Cancers, Cockroaches cure for, 78.\n\n  Candle, why Moths fly in a, 242.\n\n  Canker-worms, 248.\n\n  _Canis corsac_ supposed to be the fabled gold-loving Ant\n        of India, 148.\n\n  Cannon employed against Fleas, 308.\n\n  _Cantharid\u00e6_, 62-64.\n\n  _Cantharides_, 62-64, 193.\n\n  Cantharidine, 63.\n\n  _Cantharis vesicatoria_, 62-64.\n\n  _Cantharis_ in head of mummy, 41.\n\n  Cantharus of the ancients, 27.\n\n  Caprification of figs, 144.\n\n  Capua, burning of, foreshown by Ants, 173.\n\n  _Carabid\u00e6_, 23.\n\n  Carbuncle, Oil-beetle remedy for, 63.\n\n  _Carabus chrysocephalus_, 71.\n\n  Carcasses, Bees tenanting, 194.\n\n  Caravans, Bee-, 199.\n\n  Carcinoma, Buprestis remedy for, 51.\n\n  Cardinals, Spiders so called, 342.\n\n  Carli and the Ants, 156.\n\n  Carpenter-bee, 213.\n\n  Carriages drawn by Fleas, 312.\n\n  Caribbean Islands, Bees in, 204;\n    Cucujus in, 53.\n\n  Catamenia, women with, Caterpillars destroyed by, 244;\n    Buprestis for, 51.\n\n  Catarrh, Crickets remedy for, 96.\n\n  Catch-\u2019em-alive papers, sellers of, 296.\n\n  Caterpillars, 158, n., 242-248.\n\n  Cattle, Bees generated from carcasses of, 183;\n    Daddy-Long-legs to find lost, 321;\n    killed by Bees, 203;\n    Mosquitoes, 283;\n    sting of Sirex, 142;\n    Spiders cure for poisoned, 360;\n    warbles of, 303;\n    whistle to call, made of beetle-shards, 369.\n\n  Cats, Scarab-images with heads of, 36.\n\n  Cayenne, Ants in, 162.\n\n  Cedar, Spiders repelled by, 341.\n\n  Centipedes as food, 365.\n\n  _Cerambycid\u00e6_, 72-74.\n\n  _Cerambyx moschatus_, 73.\n\n  Ceres, the Ant an attribute of, 152.\n\n  _Cetoniid\u00e6_, 49.\n\n  Ceylon, Ants in, 158;\n    Bees, 214;\n    Black-ants, 157;\n    British soldiers tortured with Ants, 158;\n    _Buprestid\u00e6_, 50;\n    Butterflies, 227;\n    Gnats, 282;\n    _Oryctes rhinoceros_, 46;\n    superstitions connected with insects, 46;\n    Termites, 135;\n    Wood-carrying Moth, 245.\n\n  Chained Fleas, 312.\n\n  Chalk, Ants cannot pass over a line of, 169.\n\n  Chapelain, anecdote of, 332.\n\n  Charity, sugar given to Ants as an act of, 152.\n\n  Charles XII., army of, impeded by Locusts, 106.\n\n  Charm for Bots in horses, 302.\n\n  Chelonitis used in raising tempests, 45.\n\n  Chemical process to destroy Locusts, 116.\n\n  Chestnut, Spiders repelled by, 341.\n\n  Chickens made to close Bee-hives against the Bee-moth, 249.\n\n  Chigoes, 341.\n\n  Chili, Gold-beetles in, 23.\n\n  China, _Aphis_ for dyeing in, 258;\n    Blister-flies in, 63;\n    _Buprestid\u00e6_, 50;\n    Butterflies, 229;\n    Cicadas, 253;\n    _Copris molossus_, 44;\n    Grasshoppers, 100;\n    insect to discover unchastity, 367;\n    to forward delivery, 368;\n    Lantern-fly, 256;\n    Locusts, 112-130;\n    Mantis, 87;\n    Silk-worms, 234-241;\n    Smelling-bug, 266, 272;\n    Solitary Wasp, 174.\n\n  _Chl\u00e6nius saponarius_, 23.\n\n  _Chlorops l\u00e6ta_, 287.\n\n  Cholera, Flies die before breaking out of, 290.\n\n  Christiana, Queen, Fleas cannonaded by, 308.\n\n  Chrysalids of Butterflies venerated, 230.\n\n  _Chyrsomelid\u00e6_, 23.\n\n  Chululahs, Spider in cosmogony of the, 342.\n\n  _Church-yard Beetles_, 65-68.\n\n  _Cicada chinensis_, 255.\n    _septemdecim_, 253.\n\n  _Cicadid\u00e6_, 250-255.\n\n  Cicindela, larv\u00e6 of, how captured, 97.\n\n  _Cimex brassic\u00e6_, 267.\n    _juniperinus_, 267.\n\n  _Cimex lecturarius_, 265-274.\n    _pratensis_, 267.\n\n  _Cimicid\u00e6_, 265-274.\n\n  City abandoned on account of Ants, 169;\n    depopulated by Bees, 204;\n    of Myas dispeopled by Fleas, 307;\n    of Nisibis, siege of, raised by Mosquitoes, 283;\n    of Tamly saved with Bees, 204.\n\n  Clay, Locusts made from, 118;\n    of Ant-hills, uses of, 134.\n\n  Clothes\u2019-moth, 248.\n\n  Clothes, suit of, foretold by Measuring-worm, 248.\n\n  Clouds, Gossamer supposed to form, 349.\n\n  Cobra-de-Capello and the Ants, 157.\n\n  _Coccid\u00e6_, 259-264.\n\n  _Coccinella septempunctata_, 17-23.\n\n  _Coccinellid\u00e6_, 17-23.\n\n  _Coccus cacti_, 260.\n    _ficus_, 263.\n    _Hesperidum_, 264.\n    _ilicis_, 259.\n    _lacca_, 263.\n    _polonicus_, 260.\n    _uv\u00e6-ursi_, 260.\n\n  Cochineal, 260, 317, n.\n\n  Cock, brains of, for bite of Spider, 356.\n\n  _Cock-chafers_, 47-49.\n\n  _Cockroaches_, 78-82.\n\n  Coffee-bug, 158.\n\n  Coffin, Bees alighting on, 188;\n    clothes laid on, to keep away Moths, 249.\n\n  Coffin-cutter, the, of the Irish, 368.\n\n  Coins, Bees on, 194;\n    Scarab-gems supposed to be, 36.\n\n  Cold in horses, Hornets\u2019 nest for, 172.\n\n  _Coleoptera_, 17-75.\n\n  _Colias edusa_, 227.\n\n  Colic, Lady-birds remedy for, 21;\n    Scorpions, 329.\n\n  Comet, Locusts sent by, 113;\n    omens from, 246.\n\n  Commerce, Crickets as an article of, 95;\n    Mantis, 92.\n\n  Communication between Ants, 155.\n\n  Conception, Spiders to prevent, 360.\n\n  Conjuror of Bees, 201.\n\n  Conradus, Bishop, Spider drank in wine by, 356.\n\n  Consumption, Honey-dew for, 257.\n\n  Continental money, Bees on, 197.\n\n  Convulsions, Silk-worms for, 240.\n\n  Coprion of the ancients, 27.\n\n  _Copris molossus_, 44.\n    _sab\u00e6us_, 41.\n    in Egypt, 29.\n\n  Coral for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  _Corixa femorata_, 276.\n    _mercenaria_, 276.\n\n  Corn, Indian mode of destroying Caterpillars injurious to, 244;\n    Stag-beetle supposed to injure, 25;\n    stored by Ants, 148-150.\n\n  Correspondence by means of Cucuji, 53.\n\n  Cortes, army of, saved from attack by Cucuji, 53.\n\n  Cosmogonies, Spiders in various, 342.\n\n  _Cossus_ of the ancients, 27, 74.\n\n  Counterfeiting Scarab-gems, 38, n.\n\n  Country depopulated by Spiders and Scorpions, 353.\n\n  Courtezans, Cantharides employed by, 62.\n\n  _Corynetes violaceous_, 41.\n\n  Cow, in names of Lady-bird, 17;\n    killed by Ants, 156;\n    bewitched by killing Ants, 152;\n    Scarab figured with head of, 35.\n\n  Crabley, Mrs. Jane, stiffness in knees of, cured by Ants, 162.\n\n  Crabs for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  _Crane-flies_, 286.\n\n  Cray-fish, Scorpions generated from, 322.\n\n  Creator, Scarab sacred to, 30;\n    symbol of, 29.\n\n  Creoles not attacked by Chigoes, 315.\n\n  Crete, Galls eaten in, 145.\n\n  _Crickets_, 92-97.\n\n  Crimea, Gnats in, 282;\n    Locusts, 116.\n\n  Criminals tortured with Ants, 158;\n    Flies, 296;\n    Mosquitoes, 284.\n\n  Crimson, Galls for dyeing, 258;\n    Cochineal, 259.\n\n  Crocodile, Scorpions generated from carcass of, 323;\n    Wasps, 171;\n    Scorpions enemies to, 324;\n    worship of, in Egypt, 43, n.\n\n  Crow, dung of, for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  Cuckoo to prevent breeding of Fleas, 307.\n\n  Cucujus, 51.\n\n  _Culex pipiens_, 278.\n\n  _Culicid\u00e6_, 278-286.\n\n  Cumana, Grasshoppers eaten in, 98.\n\n  _Curculionid\u00e6_, 68-72.\n\n  _Curculio anti-odontalgicus_, 71.\n    _Bacchus_, 71.\n    _j\u00e6cac_, 71.\n    in a plum, 76.\n\n  Cut-worm, 246.\n\n  _Cynipid\u00e6_, 143-145.\n\n  _Cynips ficus caric\u00e6_, 144.\n    _gall\u00e6 tinctorum_, 144.\n    _glecome_, 144.\n    _insana_, 145.\n    _psenes_, 144.\n    _ros\u00e6_, 144.\n\n\n  Daddy-Long-legs, 321.\n\n  Dance, Hottentot Bee-, 211.\n\n  Dank food, Bots generated from, 303.\n\n  _Day-flies_, 138.\n\n  Dead, Leather-beetles buried with the, 24;\n    Scarab-images, 36.\n\n  Dead Sea fruits, 145.\n\n  Deafness, Ants remedy for, 161;\n    Ear-wigs, 76.\n\n  Death, Bees informed of a, 185-188;\n    omens of, from Bees, 181, 185;\n    Black-beetle, 82;\n    Butterflies, 229;\n    Caterpillars, 242;\n    Church-yard beetle, 65;\n    Crickets, 92-95;\n    Death-watch, 58-61;\n    Dragon-fly, 140;\n    Glow-worm, 57;\n    Hawk-moth, 232;\n    Mantis, 83;\n    Spiders, 340.\n\n  Death\u2019s-head Moth, 232.\n\n  _Death-watch_, 58-61, 93.\n\n  Debility, Termites remedy for, 137.\n\n  _Decticus verrucivorus_, 100.\n\n  Deer killed by Ants, 157;\n    their antidote for poisons, 353;\n    Wasps generated from the head of, 171.\n\n  Dejeau, Genl. Count, anecdote of, 368.\n\n  Democritis, fondness of, for Honey, 209.\n\n  Denmark, Dung-beetle in, 28.\n\n  _Dermestes elongatus_, 24, 41.\n    _pollinctus_, 24, 41.\n    _roei_, 24, 41.\n    _vulpinus_, 24, 41.\n\n  _Dermestid\u00e6_, 24.\n\n  Devil, Fleas attributed to the envy of the, 311;\n    in the shape of a Flea, 310;\n    Fly, 293.\n\n  Dew, scorched, Gossamer supposed to be, 348.\n\n  _Diamond-beetles_, 23, 68.\n\n  Diaphoretic, Bees as, 206.\n\n  Diarrh\u0153a, Rose-gall for, 144.\n\n  Digger Indians, Grasshoppers eaten by, 99.\n\n  _Diptera_, 278-304.\n\n  Disease, foretold by Gnats, 280.\n\n  Disjonval and his Spiders, 336.\n\n  Distemper in horses, Hornets\u2019 nest for, 172.\n\n  Diuretic, Bees as, 206.\n\n  Dog, fat of, to destroy Nits, 320;\n    Fleas generated from humors on, 305;\n    foiled with Bees, 201;\n    Scarab-images with heads of, 36.\n\n  Domitian, anecdote of, 332.\n\n  _Dragon-flies_, 138-140.\n\n  Dragon of St. George, Flies generated from, 304.\n\n  Dreams, signification of, of Ants and Bees, 152;\n    Flies, 289;\n    Locusts, 119;\n    insects in general in Siam, 370.\n\n  Dr. Ellison, Lady-bird so called, 20.\n\n  Drink, Honey-dew as a, 257.\n\n  Dropsy, Cantharides for, 63.\n\n  Drouth foretold by Grasshoppers, 100.\n\n  Du Chaillu runs from Ants to save his life, 157.\n\n  Dufour, Mrs. A. L. R., verses by, 131, 243.\n\n  _Dung-beetles_, 27-45.\n\n  \u201cDuo,\u201d the pronouncing of, to prevent Scorpions stinging, 325.\n\n  Dust, Fleas generated from, 305.\n\n  Dwarfs, Gossamer woven by, 349.\n\n  Dyeing, Cochineal used in, 260;\n    Galls used in, 145.\n\n  _Dynastes Goliathus_, 46, 47.\n    _Hercules_, 45-47.\n\n  _Dynastid\u00e6_, 45-47.\n\n  Dysentery, bedeguar for, 144.\n\n  Dysury, Grasshoppers for, 100.\n\n\n  Eagle, Beetle\u2019s revenge upon, 45.\n\n  Ear, Beetle in the, of Capt. Speke, 79, n.;\n    Cockroach in the, of a Swede, 79;\n    _Blatta_ of Pliny for diseases of the, 66;\n    Bugs, 267;\n    Cockroaches, 78;\n    Crickets, 97;\n    Spiders, 357;\n    Stag-beetles, 26;\n    worms extracted from children\u2019s, 371.\n\n  _Ear-wigs_, 76, 77.\n\n  East Indies, Locusts in, 112, 113;\n    Termites, 137.\n\n  Egypt, Beetles eaten by the women in, 65;\n    buried with the dead, 24;\n    bloody-waters, 223, n.;\n    _Buprestis_, 29;\n    _Copris_, 29;\n    Cicadas, 253;\n    frontiers of, made known from inscriptions on Scarab\u00e6i, 35;\n    Gnats in, 282;\n    insects embalmed in, 41;\n    Locusts in, 101, 113;\n    Scarab worshiped, 29-42;\n    Scorpions in, 328.\n\n  Egyptian pottery, Flies on, 292;\n    worship of animals, theory on, 43, n.\n\n  _Elaterid\u00e6_, 51-55.\n\n  _Elater noctilucus_, 51-55, 255.\n\n  Elephant named _Lucas_, 24;\n    put to flight by Ants, 157.\n\n  Elf-shot, cattle said to be, 303.\n\n  Elizabeth, Queen, silk stockings worn by, 238.\n\n  Eloquence foretold by Bees, 178.\n\n  Embalmed, _Buprestis_, 30;\n    House-fly, 41;\n    Scarab, 41.\n\n  Embalming, Honey used for, 208.\n\n  Embroidered, Spiders, on ladies\u2019 dresses, 354.\n\n  Emerald, Beetle engraven on, against witchcraft, 44.\n\n  Emmets, 146-170.\n\n  Emperor of China and the Locusts, 128.\n\n  Enchantment, counter-charm for, 192.\n\n  Encouragement taken from an Ant, 154;\n    Spider, 333.\n\n  Enemies represented by a Scorpion and a Crocodile fighting, 324;\n    sign of, from dreams of Flies, 289.\n\n  England, Aphides in, 258;\n    Bed-bugs, 265, 299;\n    beetles buried with the dead, 24;\n    Bees, 181-184;\n    bloody-rain, 217;\n    _Buprestid\u00e6_, 50;\n    Caterpillars, 242;\n    Crickets, 92-94;\n    Death\u2019s-head Moth, 233;\n    Fleas, 314;\n    Flies, 287;\n    Gnats, 278;\n    hedge-hogs kept to kill roaches, 78;\n    Lady-birds in, 17-23;\n    Locusts, 107;\n    silk and silk-worms, 238;\n    Spiders, 336;\n    Stag-beetles, 25.\n\n  Engravers, Scarab used by, to steady their sight, 44.\n\n  Enormous prices paid for insects, 46, 64.\n\n  Equator, Lice leave sailors when crossing, 317.\n\n  _Epeira clavipes_, 362.\n\n  _Ephemerid\u00e6_, 138.\n\n  Epigram compared to a Scorpion, 331;\n    on an Ant, 169;\n    Bee, 212;\n    Silk-worm, 241.\n\n  Epilepsy, larv\u00e6 of Bots for, 302.\n\n  Epitaph, cure for worms, on account of an, 363.\n\n  _Erinaceus Europ\u00e6us_, 78.\n\n  _Eruca officinalis_, 245.\n\n  Esteem for Ant-lions, 141.\n\n  Etruscans, Egyptian Scarab adopted by, 39.\n\n  Etymology of Cricket, 97;\n    Locust, 130;\n    _Pulex_, 305.\n\n  Eucharist, holy, respect of Bees for, 174-177.\n\n  _Eumeta_, 245.\n\n  _Eumolpus auratus_, 23.\n\n  _Eunota amphyoxis_, 224.\n\n  _Euplexoptera_, 67-77.\n\n  _Eupl\u0153a coras_, 228.\n    _prothoe_, 228.\n\n  Europe, Antler-moth in, 246;\n    Bee-caravans, 199;\n    Deaths\u2019-head moth, 233;\n    Dragon-flies, 139;\n    insect ornaments, 44;\n    Locusts in, 102-130;\n    Mantis, 83;\n    Silk-worms, 235;\n    Termites, 132-137;\n    trade in insects, 366.\n\n  _Eutimis nobilis_, 68.\n\n  Evil eye, silk-worms susceptible to, 239.\n\n  Exorcised, Ants, 169;\n    Locusts, 116;\n    Turnip-fly, 74.\n\n  Eyes, cobwebs for defluxions of, 356;\n    green Scarab for, 44;\n    Honey in preparation for, 209;\n    oil of Scorpions for, 330;\n    Scarab for protuberating, 44.\n\n  _Eynchitus aureus_, 71.\n\n\n  Fairies, Ants supposed to be, 152;\n    Gossamer spun by, 349.\n\n  Famine foretold by Grasshoppers, 100;\n    maggot, 143;\n    Mantis, 83.\n\n  Farriers, Cantharides employed by, 64.\n\n  Fat, beetle eaten by women to become, 65.\n\n  Fecundity, Scarab symbolical of, 33;\n    eaten to cause, 33.\n\n  Fever, Bugs medicine for, 367;\n    Honey-dew, 257;\n    Spiders, 357, 359;\n    sign of, from dreams of Flies, 289.\n\n  Fever, man dead from, Scarab symbol of, 33.\n\n  Figs, caprification of, 144;\n    for sting of scorpions, 326.\n\n  Fighting, beetles kept for, 368;\n    Mantis, 87.\n\n  Fire, alarms of, occasioned by Gnats, 278.\n\n  _Fire-flies_, 51-55.\n\n  Fires occasioned by Stag-beetles, 25;\n    Scorpion surrounded with, 328;\n    to destroy Canker-worms, 248.\n\n  Fish killed by a Spider, 346;\n    Locusts hatched from spawn, 118;\n    for sting of Scorpions, 326;\n    spawn of, sold for eggs of silk-worms, 241.\n\n  _Flata limbata_, 254.\n\n  Flatterers compared to Flies, 291.\n\n  _Fleas_, 266, 273, 135, 305-315.\n\n  Fleur de lis, origin of, on arms of France, 196.\n\n  _Flies_, 287-301, 306, 324.\n\n  Flight, extent of the Bee\u2019s, 200;\n    Locust\u2019s, 129.\n\n  Floors made from clay of Ant-hills, 134.\n\n  Flora, Ants\u2019 remedy for, 161.\n\n  Flour, Bees steal, from a mill, 191.\n\n  Flying-bulls, 25.\n\n  Food, Ants as, 159-161;\n    Bees, 204;\n    _Buprestis_, 51;\n    Butterflies, 231;\n    Caterpillars, 372;\n    Cicadas, 254;\n    Cossi, 27;\n    _Copris molossus_, 44;\n    Field-crickets, 96;\n    Flies, 295;\n    Galls, 145;\n    Goliath-beetle, 46;\n    Grasshoppers, 98, 99;\n    Grou-grou worm, 69, 70;\n    Honey, 208-211;\n    Lice, 99, 317;\n    Locusts, 98, 120-127;\n    May-bug, 49;\n    _Notonectid\u00e6_, 275;\n    _Oryctes rhinoceros_, 46;\n    _Prionus damicornis_, 73;\n    Scolopendras and Centipedes, 365;\n    Scorpions, 329;\n    Silk-worms, 240;\n    Spiders, 354-356;\n    Termites, 135-137.\n\n  _Forficulid\u00e6_, 76, 77.\n\n  Forger of Scarab-gems, 38, n.\n\n  Formic acid, 161.\n\n  _Formica bispinosa_, 162.\n    _major_, 161.\n    _minor_, 161.\n    _omnivora_, 166.\n    _rufa_, 159.\n    _smaragdina_, 157, 158.\n\n  _Formicid\u00e6_, 146-170.\n\n  Fortune, good, presaged by _Acanthocinus \u00e6dilis_, 73.\n\n  Fox, how it rids itself of Fleas, 309;\n    how it kills Wasps for their combs, 174.\n\n  Fractures, cobwebs for, 357.\n\n  France, bloody-rain in, 218;\n    Crickets, 97;\n    _Cynips glecome_, 145;\n    Death\u2019s-head Moth, 233;\n    Lady-bird, 17;\n    Locusts, 103-130;\n    Mantis, 83;\n    shower of insects, 365;\n    Termites in, 132.\n\n  Frankfort, massacre of the Jews at, 218.\n\n  Franklin and the Ants, 155.\n\n  Freak of nature: five-winged Butterfly, 230.\n\n  Frogs killed with hot charcoal, 55;\n    foot in chalk, to keep away witches, 247;\n    for sting of Scorpions, 327.\n\n  Fruit, wasps generated from rotten, 171, 184.\n\n  _Fulgora candelaria_, 256.\n    _lanternaria_, 255.\n\n  _Fulgorid\u00e6_, 255-256.\n\n  Funereal rites, Scarab connected with, 33, 36.\n\n  Funerals, Bees invited to, 187.\n\n\n  Gad-fly, 291.\n\n  _Gallerucid\u00e6_, 74.\n\n  _Galleria cereana_, 249.\n\n  _Gall-flies_, 143-145.\n\n  Galls, 143-145.\n\n  Gambaia, Lice in, 317.\n\n  Garlic, to keep away Scorpions, 327.\n\n  _Gasterophilus h\u00e6morrhoidalis_, 302.\n\n  Generation of Fleas, 305;\n    Flies, 290;\n    Gnats, 278;\n    Scorpions, 321;\n    Spiders, 362;\n    Wasps, 171, 184.\n\n  Geography, study of, from cabinet of insects, 369.\n\n  _Geometrid\u00e6_, 248.\n\n  _Geotrupes stercorarius_, 28, 44.\n\n  Germany, Agaric-Gnat in, 286;\n    Ants, 159;\n    Blister-flies, 63;\n    bloody-rain, 218;\n    Butterflies, 225;\n    Canker-worms, 248;\n    Crickets, 96;\n    Gall-flies, 143;\n    Lady-bird, 17;\n    Stag-beetle, 25;\n    Typographer-beetle, 61.\n\n  Ghosts, Glow-worms supposed to be, 56.\n\n  Gilded-Dandy, 23.\n\n  Gleanthus and the Ants, 154.\n\n  _Glow-worms_, 55-58, 339.\n\n  _Gnats_, 52, 194, 278-286.\n\n  Goat, blood of, to destroy Fleas, 308;\n    fat of, for sting of Scorpions, 325;\n    gall of, in medicine, 210;\n    liver of, to drive away Moths, 243;\n    maggots in the brain of, 302.\n\n  Gods, earthen, made of clay of Ant-hills, 135.\n\n  _Gold-beetles_, 23.\n\n  Golden-Bees in tomb of Childeric, 196.\n    Fleece, search after the, 241.\n\n  Gold obtained from Ants in India, 146.\n\n  Goldsmiths, clay of Ant-hills used by, 135.\n\n  Good foretold by Ants, 152.\n    Friday, Bees removed on, 185.\n\n  Goose-quill, Spider in, for Ague, 358.\n\n  Gorilla put to rout by Ants, 157.\n\n  Gossamer, 347.\n\n  Gout, Ants remedy for, 162;\n    Oil-beetles, 63;\n    Spiders, 359.\n\n  Granada, Ants in, 167.\n\n  _Grasshoppers_, 98-100, 251.\n\n  Gray, characteristics of Linn\u00e6an orders of insects,\n        turned into hexameters by, 363.\n\n  Greece, silk-worms in, 237.\n\n  Greek, study of, from names of insects, 369.\n\n  Greeks, Ants in divination by, 152;\n    Bees, 178;\n    _Buprestis_ as food by, 51;\n    Egyptian Scarab adopted by, 39;\n    estimation of, for Cicadas, 250;\n    Grasshoppers eaten by, 98;\n    knowledge of silk, 235;\n    larv\u00e6 eaten by, 27;\n    Mantis in soothsaying by, 83.\n\n  Grou-grou worm, 68-70.\n\n  _Gryllid\u00e6_, 98-100.\n\n  _Gryllotalpa vulgaris_, 57, n.\n\n  _Gryllus \u00c6gypticus_, 126.\n    _domesticus_, 97.\n\n  Guiana, Ants in, 168;\n    Bees, 205;\n    Black-ants, 156;\n    _Cantharis maxima_, 64;\n    Lantern-flies, 256.\n\n  Guinea, Spiders in, 342.\n\n  Gustavus Adolphus\u2019 aversion for Spiders, 344.\n\n  Gyre-carlin, Louse in rhyme of the, 320.\n\n\n  H\u00e6morrhoids, Dung-beetle for, 44.\n\n  Happiness of Cicadas, 251.\n\n  Hair, Cicadas ornaments for the, 251;\n    insects, 57;\n    on children\u2019s cheeks, Ants to remove, 161.\n\n  _Haltica oleracea_, 74.\n    _nemorum_, 74.\n\n  Hampton Court, Spiders at, 342.\n\n  Harvest, augury as to, from Dung-beetle, 28.\n\n  _Harvest-flies_, 250-255.\n\n  Harvest-man, 321.\n\n  Hare, feet of, to drive away Bugs, 266;\n    urine of, in a prescription, 76.\n\n  Harp, Cicada emblem of, 252.\n\n  Harts, their antidote for poison, 353.\n\n  Hawking with Butterflies, 230.\n\n  Hawk, Scarab figured with head of, 34.\n\n  _Hawk-moths_, 232-234.\n\n  Headache, Scarab on an emerald for, 45.\n\n  Head-dresses, Butterflies on, 230.\n\n  Heart, worm in the, of a horse, 365.\n\n  Hedge-hog kept to kill Roaches, 78.\n\n  _Heliocantharus_ of the ancients, 27.\n\n  Heliogabalus estimates population of Rome\n        from collection of Spiders, 334.\n\n  Hemorrhages, Ants for, 162;\n    Galls, 145.\n\n  Hen, dung of, for sting of Scorpions, 326;\n    moisture from mouth of, for same, 327.\n\n  Hercules-beetle, 45-47.\n\n  Hercules, god of the Flies, 292.\n\n  _Heteroptera_, 265-277.\n\n  Hieroglyphics, Cicadas as, 253;\n    Scarab, 35, 37, 43, n.\n\n  Hispaniola ravaged by Ants, 166.\n\n  History, study of, from cabinet of insects, 369.\n\n  Hiving Bees, curious practice at, 189.\n\n  Hoax: bloody-rain in Tennessee, 224.\n\n  Holy men, Lice nourished by, 317.\n\n  Holy water, Caterpillars destroyed with, 243;\n    Locusts, 116.\n\n  _Homoptera_, 250-264.\n\n  Honey, 208-211.\n\n  Honey-dew, 257.\n\n  Hops, Aphides and Lady-birds killed on, 21;\n    injury to, from Hop-fly, 258.\n\n  _Hornets_, 170-174, 194.\n\n  Horns of Scarab\u00e6i in medicine, 26.\n\n  Horse-hair, Gnats destroyed by, 285.\n\n  Horse-leeches eaten in Cumana, 98.\n\n  Horses, Bots in, 303;\n    dung of, for sting of Scorpions, 326;\n    diseases of, Hornets\u2019 nest for, 172;\n    in descriptions of Locusts, 118;\n    Hornets generated from carcass of, 171, 184;\n    Wasps, 170.\n\n  Hottentots, Bee-dance of, 211;\n    make floors of clay of Ant-hills, 135;\n    origin of Locusts, 123;\n    worship of Mantis, 84-88.\n\n  House-fly, 41, 287-301.\n\n  House-leek for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  _Humble-bees_, 213.\n\n  Hundred hives of Bees, cannot have, 188.\n\n  Hungary, Fleas in, 308;\n    poisonous Fly, 303;\n    shower of insects, 365.\n\n  Hydrophobia, Oil-beetles for, 63.\n\n  _Hymenoptera_, 142-215.\n\n  Hymn, singing of, when hiving Bees, 190.\n\n  Hysteria, Bed-bugs for, 267.\n\n\n  Ibis in Egypt, 43, n.\n\n  Iceland, bloody-rain in, 218.\n\n  Ideographic, Scarab as an, 35.\n\n  Ignatius, Lice nourished by, 317.\n\n  Illness, omen of, from Black-beetle, 82;\n    Grasshopper, 98.\n\n  Incantations, Locusts destroyed by, 116.\n\n  Incontinence detected by Bees, 181.\n\n  India, Ants in, 152;\n    Blister-flies, 63;\n    _Buprestid\u00e6_, 50;\n    Dung-beetle, 29;\n    fabled gold-loving Ants of, 146;\n    Fire-flies in, 57;\n    larva of beetle eaten in, 70;\n    Mantis in, 83;\n    Silk-worms, 235;\n    Spiders, 342;\n    Termites, 132-137.\n\n  Indians, American, Butterfly totem of, 229;\n    Caterpillars destroyed by, 244;\n    Cicadas eaten, 254;\n    Cut-worms destroyed, 247;\n    Grasshoppers eaten, 99;\n    name for Bees, 197.\n\n  Ingenuity of Ants, 154.\n\n  Ink, Galls in manufacture of, 145.\n\n  Inquisitive persons compared to Flies, 291.\n\n  Ireland, Bees in, 181;\n    Coffin-cutter, 368;\n    Gnats, 281;\n    May-bugs, 48;\n    Spiders, 358.\n\n  Irish oak, Spiders repelled by, 340.\n\n  Isis, respect of Scorpions for, 328;\n    Scarab figured with the head of, 34.\n\n  Italy, Blister-flies in, 63;\n    Glow-worms, 57;\n    Gnats, 281;\n    Locusts, 102-130;\n    Scorpions, 324;\n    Silk-worms, 237.\n\n  Ivory, Ants carved out of, 170.\n\n\n  Jack-\u2019o-lanterns, Glow-worms supposed to be, 57;\n    Mole-crickets, 57.\n\n  James I., anecdote of, 239.\n\n  Jamaica, _Cantharis maxima_, in, 64;\n    Cockroaches, 78;\n    Crickets, 96;\n    Dragon-flies, 140;\n    frogs, 55;\n    Gnats, 282.\n\n  Japan, Grasshoppers in, 100;\n    Moths and Night-flies, 242.\n\n  Jaundice, _Blatta_ of Pliny for, 67;\n    Lice, 319;\n    Oil of Scorpions, 330.\n\n  Java, larv\u00e6 of beetle eaten in, 70;\n    Mantis in, 87.\n\n  Jays preserved to kill Locusts, 114.\n\n  Jerusalem saved by Locusts, 119.\n\n  Jews, Locusts eaten by, 101;\n    as playthings for children, 130;\n    massacred on account of bloody-rain, 218;\n    not permitted to burn Fleas, 311.\n\n  Jiggers, 314.\n\n  Julian the Apostate, army of, routed by Mosquitoes, 282.\n\n  July, swarm of Bees in, 192.\n\n  June, swarm of Bees in, 192.\n\n  Jupiter in the form of an Ant, 151.\n\n\n  Katy-did, 131.\n\n  Kermes-dye, 259.\n\n  Killing Bees for their Honey, 190.\n\n  King Calowa, Lady-bird called, 20.\n\n  King-fisher to keep away Clothes\u2019-moth, 249.\n\n  King of the Fleas, 307;\n    Locusts, 127.\n\n  King\u2019s evil, _Blatta_ of Pliny for, 66.\n\n  Knife-grinder, Hercules-beetle called the, 46.\n\n  Koran, the Ant of the, 153.\n\n  Kuffelar\u2019s color, origin of, 262.\n\n\n  Labor, Flies driven away from women in, 292;\n    insect to relieve, 368.\n\n  Lac, -dye, -lake, 262.\n\n  _Lady-birds_, 17-23.\n\n  La Lande, Spiders eaten by, 355.\n\n  Lamp, Cucuji used as, 54.\n\n  _Lampyrid\u00e6_, 55-58.\n\n  _Lantern-flies_, 255-6.\n\n  Laock, Cockroach in the ear of, 79.\n\n  Lapland, _Acanthocinus \u00e6dilis_ in, 73;\n    Crane-flies, 286.\n\n  Lard, Fleas kept away with, 308.\n\n  Latin, study of, from names of insects, 369.\n\n  Lauzun and his pet Spider, 336.\n\n  Law, Mosquitoes to execute the, 284.\n\n  Lawsuit between Commune of St. Julien and an Insect, 71.\n\n  _Leather-beetles_, 24.\n\n  Leather, Galls in manufacture of, 145.\n\n  Leaf becoming a Butterfly, 230.\n\n  Leeches, Bed-bugs to remove or kill, 267.\n\n  _Lecanium coffea_, 158.\n\n  Legends connected with Bees, 174-180;\n    Katy-did, 131.\n\n  Lemurs kept to kill Roaches, 78.\n\n  Lentigo, Ants remedy for, 161.\n\n  Lepaute, Madame, Spiders eaten by, 355.\n\n  _Lepidoptera_, 216-249.\n\n  Leprosy, Ants for, 161;\n    _Buprestis_, 51;\n    Cantharides, 63;\n    _Myl\u0153con_ of Pliny, 66.\n\n  Lethargy, Bed-bugs for, 268.\n\n  Letters on wings of Locusts, 119.\n\n  Lettuce-seed for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  _Leucania unipunctata_, 247.\n\n  Levant, Aphis for dyeing in, 258.\n\n  _Libellula depressa_, 139.\n    _quadrimaculata_, 139.\n\n  _Libellulid\u00e6_, 138-140.\n\n  _Lice_, 266, 306, 308, 316-320.\n\n  Lichen, _Buprestis_ for, 51;\n    Cantharides, 63.\n\n  Lierman, 254.\n\n  Light from Cucuji, 51-3;\n    perpetual, from Glow-worms, 56;\n    of the Lantern-fly, 255.\n\n  Linn\u00e6us and the genus _Pausus_, 23.\n\n  Lion, Bees from carcass of, slain by Samson, 194;\n    driven mad by Mosquitoes, 284;\n    fat of, to drive away Flies, 289;\n    put to flight by Scorpions, 324;\n    Scarab-images with head of, 36;\n    skin of, to destroy Clothes\u2019-moth, 249.\n\n  Lithuania, Bees in, 186.\n\n  Lizard for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  _Locusta migratoria_, 101-131.\n    _tartarica_, 117.\n\n  _Locustid\u00e6_, 101-131.\n\n  _Locusts_, 101-131, 326.\n\n  Loke in the form of a Fly, 294.\n\n  London, vending of Bug-poison in, 268;\n    Fly-papers, 296;\n    Phosphor Paste for killing Roaches, etc., 80-82.\n\n  Love divination, Lady-bird in, 19-20;\n    Mantis, 89.\n\n  Lover, approach of, foretold by Crickets, 93.\n\n  _Lucanid\u00e6_, 24-27.\n\n  _Lucanus cervus_, 24-27.\n    etymology of, 24.\n\n  Luck, omens of, from Bees, 185;\n    Crickets, 93-94;\n    Spiders, 339.\n\n  Lump-lac, 263.\n\n  Lunacy, Scorpion for, 330.\n\n  Lupines to drive away Locusts, 114.\n\n  Lutfullah and the Scorpion, 329;\n    Termites, 134.\n\n  _Lyg\u00e6us hyoscami_, 267.\n\n\n  Madagascar, Silk-worms eaten in, 240.\n\n  Mad-dogs, Honey for bite of, 208;\n    Oil-beetles, 63.\n\n  Magical knots, nests of Carpenter-bee supposed to be, 213.\n\n  Magicians, Ants used by, 162;\n    beetle, 45.\n\n  Magistrate chosen by a Louse, 316.\n\n  Malabar, Ants in, 152;\n    Lice, 317;\n    Termites, 133.\n\n  Maladies of Ants, 164.\n\n  _Mala Sodomitica_, 145.\n\n  Man, first formed by a Spider, 342;\n    Scarab figured with the head of, 34.\n\n  Mandrake, bears poisoned with, how cured, 163.\n\n  Manilla, Rose-chafers kept as pets in, 50.\n\n  _Mantes_, 82-92, 157.\n\n  _Mantid\u00e6_, 82-92.\n\n  _Mantis causta_, 84.\n    _oratoria_, 82-92.\n    _siccifolia_, 92.\n\n  Manure, Day-flies used as, 138.\n\n  Maryland, Black-beetle in, 82;\n    Blacksmith-beetle, 55;\n    Butterfly, 229;\n    Caterpillars, 242;\n    Crickets, 95;\n    Glow-worm, 57;\n    Grasshoppers, 100;\n    Katy-did, 131.\n\n  Marriage-feast, Bees invited to, 188.\n\n  Mass, Locusts in celebration of, 130.\n\n  Matchlocks, Cucuji mistaken for, 53, 54.\n\n  Mauritius, Wasps eaten in, 174.\n\n  _May-bugs_, 47-49.\n\n  May, swarm of Bees in, 192.\n\n  _Meal-worms_, 65.\n\n  Measles, Lady-bird for the, 21.\n\n  Measuring-worms, 248.\n\n  Medicated earth from Ants\u2019-nests, 162.\n\n  Medicine, Ants in, 161-163;\n    Bed-bugs, 266-268;\n    Bees, 206;\n    _Blaps sulcata_, 65;\n    _Blatta_ of Pliny, 65-66;\n    _Buprestid\u00e6_, 51;\n    Cantharides, 62-64;\n    Caterpillars, 245;\n    Cochineal, 262;\n    Crickets, 97;\n    Curculios, 71;\n    Ear-wigs, 76;\n    Fleas, 311;\n    Flies, 295;\n    Gall-flies, 145;\n    Glow-worm, 57;\n    Grasshoppers, 100;\n    Honey, 208;\n    Honey-dew, 257;\n    Hornets\u2019 nest, 172;\n    Lady-bird, 21;\n    Lice, 319;\n    Locusts, 130;\n    Musk-beetles, 73;\n    Oil-beetles, 62;\n    Scarabs, 44;\n    Scorpions, 329;\n    Silk-worms, 240;\n    Spiders, 357-360;\n    Stag-beetle, 26;\n    Wax, 206, 254.\n\n  Mediterranean, Flies in the, 287.\n\n  _Meloe_, 63.\n\n  _Melolontha vulgaris_, 42, 47.\n\n  _Melolonthid\u00e6_, 47-49.\n\n  Men killed by sting of Sirex, 142.\n\n  Menstruous women, Caterpillars destroyed by, 244;\n    stung by Bees, 182.\n\n  Mercury, Scarab emblematical of, 32.\n\n  Merian, Madame, her account of the Lantern-fly, 255.\n\n  Metempsychosis under form of insects, 246.\n\n  Mexico, Ants in, 157, 159;\n    Cochineal, 261;\n    Cucujus, 53-54;\n    Lice, 316, 318;\n    silk from a _Bombyx_, 239;\n    Water-boatmen, 275.\n\n  Mice for sting of Scorpions, 326;\n    generation of, 322.\n\n  Micrometer, Spider\u2019s web for divisions of, 362.\n\n  Midas, riches of, foretold by Ants, 151.\n\n  _Midas_ in head of mummy, 41.\n\n  Migrations of Aphides, 258;\n    Bees, 199;\n    Butterflies, 225;\n    Dragon-flies, 139-140;\n    Lady-birds, 21.\n\n  Milk, association of Butterflies with, 231.\n\n  Millet, time to sow, indicated by Glow-worms, 58.\n\n  Milton\u2019s fondness for Crickets, 95.\n\n  Mississippi, the Gallinipper of the, 285.\n\n  Missouri, Fleas in, 307.\n\n  _Mites_, 320-321.\n\n  Mob dispersed with Bees, 204.\n\n  Mocking-birds, Spiders fed to, 357.\n\n  Mohammed, anecdote of, 209;\n    life of, saved by Spiders, 333.\n\n  Mole-cricket, 57.\n\n  _Monas prodigiosa_, 222.\n\n  Money-spinners, 339.\n\n  Money eaten by Termites, 132.\n\n  Monkeys kept to kill Roaches, 78;\n    singular use of an, 156;\n    Spiders fed to, 357.\n\n  Monk, life of, saved by a Spider, 341;\n    poisoned with a Spider, 351.\n\n  Month, Scarab symbol of an Egyptian, 33.\n\n  Moon, beds to be cleaned in dark of, 266;\n    horns of Stag-beetles dedicated to, 26;\n    Scarab symbol of, 31;\n    subject to, 32;\n    swarms of Locusts from, 118.\n\n  Moorish ladies frightened by Glow-worms, 56.\n\n  Morea, etymology of, 237.\n\n  Mormons, Locusts among the, 112.\n\n  Morocco, Locusts in, 107-130.\n\n  _Morus alba_, 237.\n\n  Moscow, mulct laid upon, for not catching Fleas, 311.\n\n  _Mosquitoes_, 196, 278-286.\n\n  Mourning, Bees put into, 186.\n\n  Mule, Hornets generated from carcass of, 171;\n    Locusts, 101.\n\n  Mummy, insects in head of, 41;\n    for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  _Musca domestica_, 287-301.\n\n  _Musid\u00e6_, 287-301.\n\n  Mushrooms, Honey antidote for poisonous, 208.\n\n  Music, effect of, on persons bitten by Tarantulas, 351;\n    on Spiders, 334;\n    of Cicadas, 252.\n\n  Musicians, Cicadas symbols of, 253.\n\n  _Musk-beetles_, 72-74.\n\n  Mustard to destroy Locusts, 114.\n\n  Myas dispeopled by Fleas, 307.\n\n  _Mycetophila_, 286.\n\n  Myiodes, the god of Flies, 292.\n\n  _Mylabris cichorii_, 63.\n    _pustulata_, 63.\n\n  _Myrmeleonid\u00e6_, 141.\n\n  Myrmidons, the, 150.\n\n\n  Narvaez prevented from attacking Cortes by Cucuji, 53.\n\n  _Necrobia mumiarum_, 41.\n\n  Negroes run for their lives from Ants, 157.\n\n  Nerves, Oil of Ear-wigs for strengthening, 76.\n\n  Netherlands, Lady-bird in, 20;\n    Spiders, 340.\n\n  Nets, Mosquitoes kept away with, 282.\n\n  New England, Cut-worm in, 247;\n    Humble-bees, 213.\n\n  New Granada, Ants in, 160.\n\n  Newt for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  New York, Butterflies in, 229.\n\n  _Neuroptera_, 132-141.\n\n  Night-fly of Japan, 242.\n\n  Nightingales, pup\u00e6 of Ants food for, 159.\n\n  Nile, Bee-hive barges on the, 200.\n\n  Nits, 320.\n\n  Noah and the origin of Vermin, 306;\n    Wood-tic pinned by, 321.\n\n  _Noctiluca terrestris_, 57.\n\n  _Noctua graminis_, 246.\n\n  _Noctuid\u00e6_, 246-248.\n\n  Noise made by flights of Locusts, 117.\n\n  North Carolina, Spiders for ague in, 359.\n\n  _Notonecta unifasciata_, 276.\n\n  _Notonectid\u00e6_, 275-277.\n\n  Nun, antipathy of a, to a beetle, 74;\n    frightened by a Hawk-moth, 233.\n\n  Nut-galls of commerce, 144-145.\n\n  Nut-shell, Spider in, for ague, 358.\n\n  Nuts for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n\n  Oak-balls, superstition connected with, 143.\n\n  _\u0152dipoda corallipes_, 112.\n\n  _\u0152strid\u00e6_, 302-304.\n\n  _\u0152strus equi_, 302.\n    _ovis_, 302.\n\n  Ohio, Bed-bugs for ague in, 268.\n\n  _Oiketicus_, 245.\n\n  Oil-beetles, 63.\n\n  Old folks, Crickets supposed to be, 95.\n\n  Ophthalmia, Fly in linen for, 295.\n\n  Orange-trees injured by _Coccid\u00e6_, 264.\n\n  Orators compared to Cicadas, 252.\n\n  Ornaments, Blister-flies as, 64;\n    Butterflies, 229;\n    _Buprestid\u00e6_, 50;\n    Cicadas, 251;\n    Cucujus, 54;\n    Diamond-beetle, 68;\n    Fire-flies, 57;\n    _Geotrupes stercorarius_, 44;\n    Glow-worms, 57;\n    Gold-beetles, 23;\n    Lady-bird, 21;\n    Scarabs, 38;\n    Spiders, 354.\n\n  _Orthoptera_, 78-131.\n\n  _Oryctes rhinoceros_, 46.\n\n  Ovens, Ant-hills made into, 134;\n    Crickets reared in, 96.\n\n  Owlet antidote for sting of Bees, 193.\n\n  Oxford, bringing in the Fly at, 291.\n\n\n  Painted, Flies on vessels newly, 287.\n\n  Palm-tree, generation of the, 322.\n\n  Palm-weevil, 68-70.\n\n  Palpitations, wax to prevent, 254.\n\n  Palsy, Ants remedy for, 162.\n\n  Pans, beating of, when Bees swarm, 189.\n\n  Paper, manufacture of, from silk, 239.\n\n  _Papilionid\u00e6_, 216-232.\n\n  Paradise, Solomon\u2019s Ant in, 153.\n\n  Paraguay, Spiders in, 362.\n\n  Parasol, swarm of Bees on a lady\u2019s, 214.\n\n  Paris, Cucujus in, 53.\n\n  Park, Mungo, attacked by Bees, 203.\n\n  _Parnassius Apollo_, 367.\n\n  Paroxysms, Spiders for, 358.\n\n  Parthians, Locusts eaten by, 121.\n\n  _Passalus cornutus_, 27.\n\n  Paul, Prince, anecdote of, 369.\n\n  _Pausid\u00e6_, 23-24.\n\n  Peace foretold by Locusts, 119.\n\n  _Pediculid\u00e6_, 316-320.\n\n  _Pediculi corporis_, 317.\n\n  _Pedipalpi_, 321-331.\n\n  Peiresc\u2019s solution of bloody-rain, 218.\n\n  Pelisson and his pet Spider, 335.\n\n  Pennsylvania, Bees in, 182, 188;\n    Butterflies, 229.\n\n  Persia, _Aphis_ in, 258;\n    Scorpions, 328;\n    Silk-worms, 235.\n\n  Peruvians, Flies offered to the Sun by, 292.\n\n  Pestilence foretold by Spiders, 143.\n\n  Petrified Bee-hive, 214.\n\n  Pets, beetles as, 50;\n    Mantis, 88-90;\n    Spiders, 235.\n\n  Pewter for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  Phaerus, Spiders eaten by, 355.\n\n  Phaeton\u2019s sisters, origin of fable of, 91, n.\n\n  _Phalangid\u00e6_, 321.\n\n  _Phalangium_, 321.\n\n  Philology, study of, from names of insects, 369.\n\n  Phonetic, Scarab as a, 35.\n\n  Phosphor Paste for killing Roaches, etc.,\n        manufacture and vending of, 80-82.\n\n  Phthiriasis, 121, 320.\n\n  Phthisic, Honey-dew for, 257.\n\n  Physicians, Pliny\u2019s invective against, 67.\n\n  Piety of Bees, 174-177.\n\n  Pigeon for sting of Scorpions, 326;\n    Mohammed\u2019s life saved by, 333.\n\n  Pig-manure, Bee-hives prepared with, 189.\n\n  _Pimelia spinulosa_, 41.\n\n  Pindar, Bees induce, to write verses, 178.\n\n  Pismires, 146-170.\n\n  _Pithecius_, 41.\n\n  Plague, oil of Scorpions for, 330;\n    occasioned by Locusts, 101-118.\n\n  _Plant-lice_, 257-259.\n\n  Plants, animals becoming, 90-92.\n\n  Plato, eloquence of, foretold by Bees, 178.\n\n  _Platyphyllon concavum_, 131.\n\n  Plenty foretold by Lady-bird, 18.\n\n  Plum, Ear-wig in a, 76.\n\n  Poems on a Flea, 313.\n\n  Poison of Spiders, antidotes for, 356;\n    from ants, 161.\n\n  Poisonous Honey, 210.\n\n  Poland, poisonous Sirex in, 142;\n    scarlet grain of, 260;\n    Locusts in, 103-130.\n\n  _Poma insana_, 145.\n\n  _Pontia brassic\u00e6_, 225.\n    _cardimines_, 226.\n\n  Poor Humphrey\u2019s satire on killing Fleas, 309.\n\n  Popes, Caterpillars cursed by, 243.\n\n  Poppy, Honey antidote for, 208.\n\n  _Poterium sanguisorba_, 260.\n\n  Prayers offered to destroy caterpillars, 242;\n    to prevent stinging of Scorpions, 327.\n\n  Praying-Mantis, 82-92.\n\n  Priest, Cicada symbol of, 253.\n\n  _Prim\u00e6 vi\u00e6_, acidity in, Stag-beetle for, 26.\n\n  _Prionus cervicornis_, 74.\n    _coriarius_, 27.\n    _damicornis_, 27, 73.\n\n  Prognostications from Ants, 152;\n    Army-worm, 243;\n    Bees, 178;\n    Butterflies, 229;\n    Cicadas, 252;\n    comets, 246;\n    Crane-fly, 286;\n    Crickets, 92;\n    Daddy-Long-legs, 321;\n    Death\u2019s-head Moth, 232;\n    Death-watch, 58;\n    Dragon-fly, 140;\n    Dung-beetle, 148;\n    Fleas, 310;\n    Flies, 289;\n    Gall-flies, 143;\n    Glow-worm, 57;\n    Gnats, 280;\n    Grasshoppers, 98;\n    Hornets, 172;\n    Katy-did, 131;\n    Lady-bird, 18;\n    Locusts, 119;\n    Mantis, 82;\n    May-bugs, 47;\n    Moths, 242;\n    Span-worms, 248;\n    Spiders, 336-340;\n    Wasps, 173.\n\n  Propolis, curious uses of, by Bees, 210.\n\n  Prosecution against Ants, 168.\n\n  Prosperity foretold by Ants, 152.\n\n  Proverbial phrases connected with Bees, 212.\n\n  Psalms, singing of, to Bees, 188.\n\n  Psyche, Butterfly symbol of, 228.\n\n  _Psychid\u00e6_, 245-246.\n\n  Pthah, Scarab sacred to, 30;\n    emblematical of, 32.\n\n  Pthah Tore, Scarab emblematical of, 33.\n\n  Pthah-Sokari-Osiris, Scarab emblem of, 33.\n\n  _Ptinid\u00e6_, 58-61.\n\n  Public events, Bees informed of, 185.\n\n  _Pulex irritans_, 305-314.\n    _penetrans_, 314.\n\n  _Pulicid\u00e6_, 305-315.\n\n  _Pulices arborescentes_, 223.\n\n  Pup\u00e6 of Ants as food for birds, 159;\n    of Termites eaten, 137.\n\n  Purgatory, beetle connected with, 368.\n\n  Putrefaction, generation from, 290, 322.\n\n  _Pygolampis Italica_, 56.\n\n  Pythagoreans, Honey eaten by, 209.\n\n  _Python natalensis_ killed by Ants, 157.\n\n\n  Quang-tong, Butterflies of, 229.\n\n  Quarrel prognosticated by Blacksmith-beetle, 55.\n\n  Quarrelsome family, Bees will not thrive for, 184.\n\n  Quartan ague, Bed-bugs for, 267;\n    Spiders, 359.\n\n  _Quercus ilex_, 259.\n\n  Quinsey, Caterpillars for, 245.\n\n\n  Radish to destroy Scorpions, 325.\n\n  Rain: see weather.\n\n  Rain, bloody, 216-225.\n\n  Rain-doctors, Locusts brought by, 125.\n\n  Ram, flesh of, for sting of Scorpions, 326;\n    Scarab figured with head of, 34.\n\n  Ravages of the Antler-moth, 246;\n    Ants, 166-169;\n    _Coccus Hesperidum_, 264;\n    _Dermestes vulpinus_, 24;\n    Ear-wigs, 76;\n    Gnats and Mosquitoes, 281-283;\n    Grasshoppers, 100;\n    Hop-fly, 258;\n    larv\u00e6 of Woolly-bear Moths, 242;\n    Locusts, 101-118;\n    May-bugs, 48, 49;\n    Scorpions, 327;\n    Spiders, 353;\n    Termites, 132-134;\n    Turnip-fly, 74;\n    Typographer-beetle, 61.\n\n  Raven and the Scorpion, a fable, 331.\n\n  Reason of Ants, 154.\n\n  Red-haired persons stung by Bees, 182.\n\n  Red snow, origin of, 220, n.\n\n  Regeneration, Scarab symbol of, 33.\n\n  Rewards offered for killing Ants, 167;\n    Locusts, 116.\n\n  Revenue of \u201cLice\u201d of Montecusuma, 316.\n\n  Rheumatism, Oil-beetle for, 63.\n\n  _Rhynchitus auratus_, 71.\n\n  Richards, _Buprestid\u00e6_ called, 51.\n\n  Rifle-balls, protection against, 241.\n\n  Ringing swarms of Bees, 189.\n\n  Rings, Scarab as signet in, 32, 39.\n\n  Riordan, Mary, insects in stomach of, 67.\n\n  Roach, sound as a, 79.\n\n  Robin, veneration for the, 43, n.\n\n  Rock, solid, living Bees in, 215.\n\n  Romans, Bees in divination by, 215;\n    _Cossi_ eaten, 27;\n    Scarab emblem adopted by, 32;\n    silks used, 236.\n\n  Rome, Flies in, 289;\n    showers of blood in, 216.\n\n  _Rose-chafers_, 49.\n\n  Rotharmel, Peter, 188.\n\n  Rouge, Cochineal made into, 262.\n\n  Rue, antidote for poisons, 193.\n\n  Russia, Honey in, 195;\n    Locusts, 104-130.\n\n\n  Sabbath, Jews not permitted to burn Fleas on the, 311.\n\n  Sacred-Scarab of the Egyptians, 29-44.\n\n  St. Ambrose, eloquence of, foretold by Bees, 178.\n    Domingo and the Flea, 310.\n    Eustace, Spider at church of, 343.\n    Felix, life of, saved by Spiders, 333.\n    Francis, Lice nourished by, 317.\n    George, Flies from the dragon killed by, 304;\n      prayer to, to keep away Scorpions, 327.\n    John, Locusts eaten by, 125.\n      Hector, manner of discovering Bee-trees, 198.\n      \u2019s day, fires to kill Canker-worms on, 248.\n    Julien, lawsuit between Commune of, and an Insect, 71.\n    Macarius, penance of, for killing a Gnat, 285.\n    Milburge, cure effected by the water in which his bones\n        were washed, 364.\n    Roche and \u201cSound as a Roach,\u201d 79.\n    Saturnine, patron saint to destroy Ants, 166.\n    Xavier and the Mantis, 88.\n\n  Salt, use of, in witchcraft, 207.\n\n  Salamander, antidote for poison of, 193.\n\n  Samson, Bees from lion slain by, 184, 194.\n\n  Sandwich Islands, Fleas in, 306.\n\n  Sapor, army of, routed by Mosquitoes, 283.\n\n  Scaliger, his fondness for Crickets, 95.\n\n  Scandinavia, Dung-beetle in, 28-29;\n    Lady-bird in, 17.\n\n  _Scarab\u00e6id\u00e6_, 27-45.\n\n  _Scarab\u00e6us auratus_, 45.\n    _cornutus_, 26.\n    _nasicornis_, 45.\n    _pilurarius_, 27-44, 293.\n    _sacer_, 27-44.\n    _unctuosus_, 63.\n\n  Scarlet, history of dyeing, 259.\n\n  Schurman, Anna Maria, Spiders eaten by, 355.\n    cured of boils by Ants, 162.\n\n  _Scleranthus perennis_, 260.\n\n  Scolopendras as food, 365.\n\n  _Scorpions_, 65, 100, 295, 321-331.\n\n  Scotland, bloody-rain in, 221;\n    Flies, 289;\n    Humble-bees, 213;\n    Lady-birds, 19-20;\n    Lice, 319, 320.\n\n  Scrofula in horses, combs of Hornets\u2019 nest for, 172.\n\n  Scurvy, Bedeguar for, 144.\n\n  Scutcheons, Scarab on Egyptian royal, 35.\n\n  Scythia, Lice in, 318.\n\n  Sea-crabs, Scorpions generated from, 322.\n\n  Sea-water for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  Seals, Scarab-gems as, 39.\n\n  Sechell Islands, Dry-leaf Mantis in, 92.\n\n  Seed-lac, 263.\n\n  Seeds, Cochineal supposed to be, 261;\n    sown in the hide of a tortoise, 75.\n\n  Selborne, the Bee-eater of, 205.\n\n  Selk, Scorpion emblem of, 328.\n\n  Selling of Bees, notions concerning, 185.\n\n  Septuagint, Bee eulogized in the, 212.\n\n  Serpents and Ants, 157;\n    enmity between Spiders and, 341;\n    Honey for bite of, 208;\n    a Mantis the parent of the, 157;\n    of Tiberias C\u00e6sar eaten by Ants, 151;\n    to kill Nits, 320;\n    worship of, in Egypt, 43, n.\n\n  Seventeen-year Locust, 254.\n\n  Sheep, artificial migration of, 198;\n    dung of, for bite of Spider, 356;\n    killed by Ants, 157;\n    maggots in brain of, 302.\n\n  _Shield-lice_, 259-264.\n\n  Shell-lac, 263.\n\n  Ships, monkeys kept on board, to kill Roaches, 78.\n\n  Showers of blood, 216-225;\n    of Gossamer, 347;\n    insects with snow, 364.\n\n  Siam, Ants in, 159;\n    interpretation of signs and dreams of insects in, 370;\n    beetle for fighting in, 368;\n    Grasshoppers in, 98;\n    Spiders, 354.\n\n  Sideritis, the herb, for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  Singing to Bees, 188.\n\n  Signs: see prognostications and superstitions.\n\n  Silesia, poisonous Sirex in, 142.\n\n  Silk of Silk-worms, 234-241, 248.\n    Spiders, 361.\n\n  _Silk-worm Moths_, 234-241.\n\n  Silver for sting of Scorpions, 325, 326.\n\n  Sins expiated by assisting Dung-beetles, 28.\n\n  _Sirex fusicornis_, 142.\n    _gigas_, 142.\n    _juvencus_, 142.\n    _spectrum_, 142.\n\n  Skull, Bees make Honey in a, 195.\n\n  Sleep, Caterpillar to procure, 245;\n    chirping of Crickets to induce, 95-96.\n\n  Sleight-of-hand, supposed performance of, 372.\n\n  Sloth, Fleas to prevent, 306.\n\n  Sluggard referred to the Ant, 148.\n\n  Smoke to drive away Locusts, 115.\n\n  Snails embalmed by Bees, 210;\n    eaten in the West Indies, 98.\n\n  Snake, living, hung by a Spider, 345;\n    danger from, in collecting Locusts, 124;\n    fed by Dragon-flies, 139.\n\n  Snow, Fleas on the, 314;\n    Gnats falling with, 280;\n    insects in numbers on, 364;\n    origin of red, 220, n.\n\n  Soap, beetle made into, 23;\n    Cicadas, 254.\n\n  Socrates measures the jump of a Flea, 311.\n\n  Solomon and the Ant, 148;\n    Ant in Paradise, 153.\n\n  Song, Locusts kept for sake of, 130;\n    vessel saved by song of a Spanish Gryllo, 130.\n\n  Son, Scarab emblematical of an only, 33.\n\n  Soothsayers, 82-92.\n\n  Soul, Butterfly symbol of, 228;\n    Moths supposed to be, 243;\n    of industrious from Ants, 150.\n\n  Sound as a Roach, 79.\n\n  South America, Ants in, 160;\n    Goliath-beetle, 46;\n    Grou-grou worm, 69;\n    Hercules-beetle, 45-46;\n    Termites, 132-137.\n\n  Spain, Bees in, 212;\n    Cantharides, 63;\n    Locusts, 102-130;\n    Silk-worms, 237.\n\n  _Spanish-flies_, 62.\n\n  Spanish Inquisition, detectives of, called Flies, 292.\n\n  _Span-worms_, 248.\n\n  Sparrman, Dr., anecdote of, 366.\n\n  Spawn, fish, Locusts hatched from, 118;\n    sold for eggs of Silk-worms, 241.\n\n  Spectacles, Hornets\u2019 nest to clean, 172.\n\n  Speke, Capt., beetle in the ear of, 79, n.\n\n  _Spiders_, 61, 99, 113, 193, 322, 324, 332-362, 370.\n\n  Spirits, Ants and lizards eaten by, 161.\n\n  Sphex, notion respecting, 174.\n\n  _Sphingid\u00e6_, 232-234.\n\n  _Sphinx Atropos_, 232.\n    _(Deilephila) hippophaes_, 367.\n    _ligustris_, 233.\n\n  _Spring-beetles_, 51-55.\n\n  Spring, Scarab symbolical of, 33.\n\n  Squill for sting of Scorpions, 326.\n\n  _Stag-beetles_, 24-27.\n\n  Stag, feet of, to drive away Bugs, 266.\n\n  _Sternocera chrysis_, 50.\n    _sternicornis_, 50.\n\n  Stick-lac, 263.\n\n  Stiffness in knees cured by Ants, 162.\n\n  Sting of Bees, Hornets, etc., remedies for, 174, 193.\n\n  Stockings, silk, 238.\n\n  Stolen Bees will not thrive, 184.\n\n  Stomach, insects introduced into the human, 67.\n\n  Stone, Bedeguar for, 144;\n    Glow-worm, 57;\n    Scorpions, 329.\n\n  Storm, prognostication of, from Gnats, 280.\n\n  Strangles in horses, combs of Hornets for, 172.\n\n  Strangury, Bed-bugs for, 267;\n    Bees, 206.\n\n  Strength of Dung-beetle, 28;\n    Flea, 311;\n    Stag-beetle, 25.\n\n  Success foretold by Glow-worm, 57.\n\n  Sudorific, Cochineal as a, 262.\n\n  Sumatra, Cricket in, 96.\n\n  Sun, Ants sacrificed to, 153;\n    Flies, 292;\n    Scarab sacred to, 30;\n    the first worship of the, 36.\n\n  Superstitions connected with Agaric-Gnat, 286;\n    Ants, 151;\n    _Acanthocinus \u00e6dilis_, 73;\n    Army-worm, 247;\n    Butterflies, 229;\n    Caterpillars, 242;\n    Cockroaches, 80-82;\n    Crickets, 92-95;\n    Death-watch, 58-61, 91;\n    Death\u2019s-head Moth, 232;\n    Dragon-flies, 138, 140;\n    Dung-beetle, 28;\n    Ear-wig, 76;\n    Flies, 290;\n    Gall-flies, 143;\n    Glow-worm, 57;\n    Grasshoppers, 98, 100;\n    Katy-did, 131;\n    Lady-birds, 17-23;\n    Locusts, 119;\n    Mantis, 82-92;\n    Silk-worms, 239;\n    Stag-beetles, 25;\n    Scorpions, 322-331;\n    Spiders, 339;\n    Wasps and Hornets, 173;\n    Span-worms, 248.\n\n  Surinam, Cicadas in, 254;\n    Fire-ants, 157;\n    Gnats, 280;\n    Lantern-flies, 255.\n\n  Surat, hospital at, for animals, 266.\n\n  Swallow, heart of, for lunacy, 330;\n    odious and impious, 251.\n\n  Swammerdam, anecdote of, 363.\n\n  Swarms of Ants, 164;\n    Aphides, 258;\n    Butterflies, 225;\n    Cantharides, 64;\n    Day-flies, 138;\n    Dragon-flies, 139-140;\n    Flies, 287;\n    Gnats, 278;\n    Lady-birds, 21;\n    May-bugs, 48.\n\n  Swarming of Bees, notions concerning, 185-190.\n\n  Sweat, Fleas generated from, 305.\n\n  Sweden, _Acanthocinus \u00e6dilis_ in, 73;\n    Ants, 161;\n    _Blaps mortisaga_, 65;\n    Fleas, 308;\n    Grasshoppers, 100;\n    Lady-bird, 17;\n    Lice, 316.\n\n  Switzerland, Caterpillars in, 158, n.\n\n  Swoonings, wax to prevent, 254.\n\n  Sword, in charm to destroy Fleas, 308.\n\n  Sybils resorted to, to drive away Locusts, 113.\n\n  Syria, Galls from, 145;\n    Locusts in, 103-130.\n\n\n  Tamableness of the Fly, 289.\n\n  Tarantula, 351.\n\n  Taylor, Mrs., and her Crickets, 95;\n    Mantis, 88-90.\n\n  _Telephorus fuscus_, 364.\n\n  Tempests raised by magicians, 45.\n\n  Tendons, Stag-beetle for contractions of, 26.\n\n  _Tenebrio molitor_, 65, 68.\n\n  _Tenebrionid\u00e6_, 65.\n\n  Teneriffe, Locusts in Island of, 104.\n\n  Tennessee, bloody-rain in, 224.\n\n  Terambus transformed into the Cerambyx, 73.\n\n  _Terias lisa_, 227.\n\n  _Termes bellicosus_, 135.\n\n  _Termites_, 132-137.\n\n  _Termitid\u00e6_, 132-137.\n\n  Tertian ague, Bed-bugs for, 268;\n    Spiders, 359.\n\n  Tettix, 250.\n\n  Thebes, Spiders in, 338.\n\n  Thor, Dung-beetle sacred to, 28.\n\n  Thread, sewing, Spider\u2019s web used for, 362.\n\n  Throat, Crickets for affections of, 96.\n\n  Tiberias C\u00e6sar, death of, foretold by Ants, 151.\n\n  Tiffin and Son, Bug-destroyers in London, 268.\n\n  Timour and the Ant, 154.\n\n  Timpany, Spiders for, 360.\n\n  _Tinea padilla_, 248.\n    _punctata_, 248.\n    _tapetzella_, 249.\n\n  _Tineid\u00e6_, 248, 249.\n\n  _Tipulid\u00e6_, 286.\n\n  Toads, enmity between Spiders and, 341.\n\n  Tobacco, clay of Ant-hills as substitute for, 135.\n\n  Toothache, Curculios for, 71;\n    Lady-bird, 21;\n    tooth-picks of Spiders\u2019 mandibles for, 354.\n\n  Tooth-picks, mandibles of Spiders for, 354.\n\n  Tortoise and the Scorpion, a fable, 330;\n    Bugs administered in the blood of, 267;\n    gall of, in medicine, 209;\n    seeds sown in the hide of, 75.\n\n  Torture, Ants as an instrument of, 158;\n    Flies, 296;\n    Mosquitoes, 284;\n    Termites, 135.\n\n  Tonga Group, Ants in, 161.\n\n  Trade in insects, 229, 255, 307, 366.\n\n  Transylvania, Locusts in, 105-126.\n\n  Tumuli, Leather-beetles buried in, 24.\n\n  Turenne\u2019s aversion for Spiders, 344.\n\n  Turkey, beetle eaten by women in, 65;\n    Mantis in, 84.\n\n  _Turnip-fly_, 74.\n\n  _Typographer-beetles_, 61.\n\n\n  Ulcers, _Blatta_ of Pliny for, 66;\n    Cockroaches, 78;\n    Honey-dew, 258.\n\n  Unchastity, insect to discover, 367;\n    punished by Bees, 181.\n\n  Unclean thoughts, Flies emblem of, 292.\n\n  United States, Ant-lions in, 141;\n    Cicadas, 254;\n    Spiders, 340;\n    see Indians, American; New England; New York; Maryland; Ohio;\n        Mississippi; Pennsylvania; North Carolina; Virginia.\n\n  Urine, Fleas generated from, 305;\n    forced with Cantharides, 63;\n    Lice to suppress, 319;\n    Stag-beetle, 26.\n\n  _Urocerid\u00e6_, 142.\n\n\n  _Vanessa cardui_, 226, 230.\n    _polychloros_, 220.\n    _urtic\u00e6_, 220, 230.\n\n  Vegetable-flies, 90-92.\n\n  Venery, Ants to provoke to, 161.\n\n  Veneration for _Acanthocinus \u00e6dilis_, 73;\n    chrysalids of Butterflies, 308;\n    Mantis, 83-88;\n    Scarab, 28-44.\n\n  Vermin, origin of, 305.\n\n  Vertigo, silk-worms for, 240.\n\n  Vesicatory, Cantharides as, 63;\n    _Cerambyx moschatus_, 73.\n\n  _Vespa crabro_, 171.\n\n  _Vespid\u00e6_, 170-174.\n\n  Vessel attacked by Termites, 133;\n    saved from being wrecked by song of a Spanish Gryllo, 130.\n\n  Vienna, Lady-bird at, 17.\n\n  Vines, to prevent \u201cCantharides\u201d from injuring, 64.\n\n  Vipers, generation of, 322.\n\n  Virginia, Ants in, 152;\n    Caterpillars, 242;\n    Crickets, 95.\n\n  Virgin Mary, Lady-bird dedicated to, 17, 18.\n\n  Virgins, hatred of Scorpions for, 324.\n\n  Virtues of Honey, 208.\n\n  Vives, Ludovicus, eloquence of, foretold by Bees, 178.\n\n  Voluptuary, Scarab emblematical of a, 33.\n\n  Vomiting, Bugs for, 267.\n\n  Vulture, gall of, in medicine, 219.\n\n\n  Wall-lice, 265.\n\n  War, omens of, from Agaric-Gnat, 286;\n    Gall-fly, 143;\n    Gnats, 280;\n    Locusts, 119;\n    Spiders, 338;\n    waged against Locusts, 114;\n    Bees idle during, 184.\n\n  Warbles, 303.\n\n  Wars of Ants, 151.\n\n  Warrior, Scarab emblematical of, 32.\n\n  Warts, Cobwebs to remove, 359;\n    Grasshoppers, 100.\n\n  Washington City, Mantis in, 88.\n\n  Washington, General, Mosquitoes pierce boots of, 281.\n\n  _Wasps_, 170-174, 194, 202.\n\n  Water as a charm to destroy Locusts, 116;\n    found from swarms of Gnats, 280.\n\n  _Water-boatmen_, 275-277.\n\n  Wax, Bees-, 206-208.\n    _Pela_, 254.\n\n  Way, lost, discovered by Mantis, 83.\n\n  Weasel, young of, for bite of Spider, 356.\n\n  Weather, prognostications as to, from Ants, 153;\n    Bees, 182, 194;\n    Butterflies, 229;\n    Fleas, 310;\n    Flies, 290;\n    Hornets, 172;\n    Spiders, 336;\n    Lady-bird connected with fine, 17, 18.\n\n  _Weevils_, 68-72.\n\n  West Indies, Ants in, 162, 167;\n    Cucujus, 51;\n    Grasshoppers, 98;\n    Grou-grou worm, 68-70;\n    Musk-beetle, 73;\n    Spiders, 354;\n    saved from invasion by Cucuji, 53.\n\n  Whales, generation of, 322.\n\n  Wheat, prices of, connected with the ocean tides, 188, n.\n\n  Whistles to call cattle, made of beetle-shards, 369.\n\n  _White ants_, 132-137.\n\n  White-clover, Indian name for, 197.\n\n  Wildman, anecdotes of, 201.\n\n  Wind, Aphides produced by a, 258.\n\n  Winter, prognostication from May-bug as to, 47.\n\n  Wisdom of the Ant exaggerated, 148-151.\n\n  Witchcraft, beetle against, 44;\n    Bot-fly in, 303;\n    Humble-bees, 213;\n    use of wax in, 206.\n\n  Witches in the forms of Flies, 294.\n\n  Wolf, tail of, to drive away Flies, 288;\n    Wasps generated from carcass of, 171.\n\n  Women, hatred of Scorpions for, 324.\n\n  Wood-louse, Death-watch supposed to be, 61.\n\n  Woodpecker to keep Bees from stinging, 193.\n\n  Wood-carrying Moth, 245.\n\n  Wood-tic, 321.\n\n  Wool, rain of, 348;\n    to drive away Ants, 170.\n\n  _Woolly-bear Moths_, 242-245.\n\n  World, Scarab symbolical of, 30.\n\n  Worm in the heart of a horse, 365;\n    from stomach of a woman, 364.\n\n  Wormals, 303.\n\n  Worms extracted from children\u2019s ears, 371;\n    intestinal, Bedeguar for, 144;\n    charm, 365;\n    Cockroaches, 78;\n    oil of Scorpions, 330;\n    powder of a tombstone, 363.\n\n  Worm-wood to destroy Fleas, 308.\n\n  Worship of the Mantis, 83-88;\n    pup\u00e6 of Butterflies, 230;\n    Scarab, 28-44;\n    Egyptian, of animals, 43, n.\n\n  Wounds, _Blatta_ of Pliny for, 66;\n    Crickets, 97;\n    Oil-beetles, 63;\n    Spiders, 359.\n\n\n  Zephyr, Butterfly symbol of, 229.\n\n  Zisca, what he meant by \u201ccobwebs,\u201d 356.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n[1] Thorpe\u2019s Northern Mythol., ii. 104.\n\n[2] Jamieson\u2019s _Scot. Dict._ Another designation, in Sweden, is not so\nhonorable, for it is that of _Laettfaerdig kona_, the Wanton\nQuean.--_Ibid._ The term Lady-bird, in England, has been also applied to\na prostitute.--Wright\u2019s _Provinc. Dict._\n\n[3] Jaeger, _Life of Amer. Ins._, p. 22.\n\n[4] It is curious to notice the association of this insect with the cow\nin the English and French names.\n\n[5] Jamieson\u2019s _Scot. Dict._\n\n[6] Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes_, 1841, p. 170-1.\n\n[7] Thorpe\u2019s _North. Mythol._, iii. 182.\n\n[8] _Ibid._, ii. 104.\n\n[9] _Ibid._, iii. 182.\n\n[10] Thorpe\u2019s _North. Mythol._, ii. 104.\n\n[11] 4th Pastoral, 11. 83-8.\n\n[12] It probably is induced to fly away by the warmth of the hand.\n\n[13] _Notes and Queries_, i. 132.\n\n[14] _Ibid._, i. 28, 55, 73.\n\n[15] Jamieson supposes this word to be derived from the Teutonic\n_Land-heer_, a petty prince.--_Scot. Dict._\n\n[16] Jamieson\u2019s _Scot. Dict._ Cf. Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes_, 1841,\np. 170-1.\n\n[17] Thorpe\u2019s _North. Mythol._, iii. 328.\n\n[18] Grose, _Antiq._ (_Prov. Gloss._) p. 121.\n\n[19] Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes_, 1841, p. 170.\n\n[20] _Notes and Queries_, iv. 53.\n\n[21] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[22] Kirby and Spence, _Introd._, ii. 9.\n\n[23] Newell\u2019s _Zool. of the Poets_, p. 48.\n\n[24] _Life of Amer. Ins._, p. 21.\n\n[25] A. 1, sc. iii.\n\n[26] Quot. with preceding in Newell\u2019s _Zool. of the Poets_, p. 50-2.\n\n[27] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 317.\n\n[28] Jaeger, _Life of Amer. Ins._, p. 61.\n\n[29] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 316.\n\n[30] Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 42.\n\n[31] Gough\u2019s _Sepul. Mon._, vol. i. p. xii.--These sepulchral tumuli, or\nburrows, are of the remotest antiquity, and continued in use till the\ntwelfth century.--_Ibid._\n\n[32] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._ ii. (2d S.) 261; and Pettig. _Hist. of\nMummies_, p. 53-5.\n\n[33] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[34] Cuvier\u2019s _Animal Kingd.--Ins._, i. 530.\n\n[35] _The Mirror_, xix. 180; and _Saturday Mag._, xvi. 144.\n\n[36] N. & Q., 2d S., ii. 83.\n\n[37] Bradley, _Phil. Account_, p. 184.\n\n[38] _N. Dict. d\u2019Hist. Nat._, xxii. 81.\n\n[39] _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, _Lond._, 1838, ii. 156.\n\n[40] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 149. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1006.\n\n[41] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 533.\n\n[42] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 34. Holl. _Trans._, p. 326. K.\n\n[43] James\u2019 _Med. Dict._ Cf. Brookes\u2019 _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 321.\n\n[44] _Amoreux_, p. 154. Burmeister\u2019s _Manl. of Entomol._, p. 561.\nKeferot. _Uber den unmittelbaren Nutzen der Insekten_, Erfurt, 1829,\n4to, p. 8-10. Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 303, note. Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi.\n28, note.\n\n[45] _Nat. Hist._, xvii. 37.\n\n[46] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 255, note.\n\n[47] _Ins. Archit._, p. 252.\n\n[48] Detharding _de Ins. Coleop. Danicis_, 9. Quot. by Kirb. and Sp.\n_Introd._, i. 33.\n\n[49] _Northern Mythol._, ii. 53.\n\n[50] Bjornstj. _Theog. of Hindoos_, p. 108.\n\n[51] Oliv. Col. I. 3, viii. 59. Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 452.\n\n[52] Cuvier, _qua supra_.\n\n[53] Donovan\u2019s _Ins. of China_, p. 4.\n\n[54] Cuvier, _qua supra_.\n\n[55] De Pauw\u2019s Sacred-beetle of the Egyptians was \u201cthe great golden\nScarabee, called by some the Cantharides.\u201d--ii. 104.\n\n[56] Wilkinson, _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 259.\n\n[57] Val. _Hieroglyphica_, p. 93-5.\n\n[58] _Ibid._\n\n[59] Plut. _Of Isis and Osiris_, p. 220. The translation of this passage\nas given by Philemon Holland is as follows: \u201cThe Fly called the Beetill\nthey (the Egyptians) reverence, because they observe in them I wot not\nwhat little slender Images (like as in drops of water we see the\nresemblance of the Sun) of the Divine power.... As for the Beetills,\nthey hold, that throughout all their kinds there is no female, but all\nthe males do blow or cast their seed into a certain globus or round\nmatter in the form of balls, which they drive from them and roll to and\nfro contrariwise, like as the Sun, when he moveth himself from the West\nto the East, seemeth to turn about the Heaven clean contrary.\u201d--p. 1071,\ned. of 1657.\n\n[60] Quot. by Montfaucon, _Antiq._, vol. ii., Part 2, p. 322.\n\n[61] De Pauw tells us that the description of the Scarab\u00e6us as given by\nOrus Apollo (Horapollo) is, that \u201cit resembles the sparkling luster of\nthe eye of a cat in the dark.\u201d(!)--ii. 104.\n\n[62] Horap., i. 10.\n\n[63] _Anct. Egypt._, i. (1st S.) 296.\n\n[64] Horap., _Hierogl._, i. 10.\n\n[65] _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 258.\n\n[66] _Treasvrie_, B. 7. c. 14, p. 662. Printed 1613.\n\n[67] Horap. _Hierog._, i. 10.\n\n[68] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.\n\n[69] _Of Isis, &c._ Holl. _Transl._, p. 1051.\n\n[70] \u00c6lian, x. 15.\n\n[71] Wilkinson, _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.\n\n[72] _Of Isis, &c._, _qua supra_.\n\n[73] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 256.\n\n[74] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 256.\n\n[75] _Ibid._\n\n[76] Pettigrew, _Hist. of Mum._, p. 220.\n\n[77] _Ibid._\n\n[78] _Ibid._\n\n[79] Travels, ii. 306 (?).\n\n[80] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.\n\n[81] _Ibid._ Vide Pierius\u2019 _Hieroglyph._, p. 76-80. Solis operum\nsimilitudo; Mundus; Generatio; Vnigenitus; Deus in humano corpore; Vir,\npaterve; Bellator strenuus; Sol; Luna; Mercurius; Febris lethalis a\nsole; Virtus enervata deliciis.\n\n[82] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.\n\n[83] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.\n\n[84] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.\n\n[85] De Pauw, ii. 104.\n\n[86] Pettig. _Hist. of Mum._, p. 220.\n\n[87] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 256.\n\n[88] Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 322.\n\n[89] _Ibid._, ii. (Pt. II.) 339.\n\n[90] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 259, note.\n\n[91] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 259, note.\n\n[92] _Ibid._\n\n[93] Bunsen, _Egypt\u2019s Place_, i. 504, fig. 116; i. 508, fig. 169.\n\n[94] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, i. (2d S.) 258, fig.\n\n[95] Bunsen, _Ibid._, i. 572, fig. 12; i. 576, fig. 9; i. 582, fig. 3.\n\n[96] Bunsen, _Ibid._, i. 617-632.\n\n[97] Bunsen\u2019s _Egypt\u2019s Place_, iii. 142.\n\n[98] _Ibid._\n\n[99] Quot. by Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 323.\n\n[100] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.\n\n[101] Pettig. _Hist. of Mum._, p. 220.\n\n[102] Maury\u2019s _Indig. Races_, p. 156.\n\n[103] Phind\u2019s _Thebes_, p. 130.\n\n[104] Donovan, _Ins. of China_, p. 3.\n\n[105] Fosbroke, _Encyclop. of Antiq._, i. 208.\n\n[106] _Ibid._\n\n[107] Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 339.\n\n[108] _Ibid._\n\n[109] Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 339.\n\n[110] _Ibid._\n\n[111] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.\n\n[112] There is now at Thebes an arch-forger of Scarab\u00e6i--a certain Ali\nGamooni, whose endeavors, in the manufacture of these much-sought-after\nrelics, have been crowned with the greatest success. For the coarser\ndescription of these, he has, as well as chance European purchasers, an\noutlet in a native market; for they are bought from him to be carried up\nthe river into Nubia, where they are favorite amulets and ornaments, as\nmothers greatly delight to patch one or two to the girdles by short\nthongs, which constitute the only article of dress of their children.\nThrough this very medium, too, it sometimes happens that these spurious\nScarab\u00e6i come into the possession of unsophisticated travelers, who are\nnot likely to suspect their origin in that remote country, and under\nsuch circumstances.\n\nScarab\u00e6i also of the more elegant and well-finished descriptions are not\nbeyond the range of this curious counterfeiter. These he makes of the\nsame material as the ancients themselves used,--a close-grained,\neasily-cut limestone, which, after it is graven into shape and lettered,\nreceives a greenish glaze by being baked on a shovel with brass filings.\n\nAli, not content with closely imitating, has even aspired to the\ncreative; so antiquarians must be on their guard lest they waste their\ntime and learning on antiquities of a very modern date.--_Vide_ Rhind\u2019s\nThebes, p. 253-5. Mr. Gliddon, in an incidental note, _Indig. Races_, p.\n192, takes credit for having furnished this same Ali, some twenty-four\nyears ago (as it would appear), with broken penknives and other\nappliances to aid his already-manifested talent, in the somewhat\nfantastic hope of flooding the local market with such curiosities, and\nso saving the monuments from being laid under contribution!\n\n[113] Winkleman, _Art._ 2, c. 1.\n\n[114] Paraph. from Fosbroke\u2019s _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.\n\n[115] Of those deposited in the British Museum, Mr. Birch has made the\nfollowing report:\n\n1. A Scarab\u00e6us having on the base _Ra-men-Chepr_, a prenomen of Thothmes\nIII. Beneath is a Scarab between two feathers, placed on the basket\n_sub._\n\n2. A Scarab\u00e6us in dark steaschist, with the figure of the sphinx (the\nsun), and an emblem between the fore paws of the monster. The sphinx\nconstantly appears on the Scarab\u00e6i of Thothmes III., and it is probably\nto this monarch that the one here described belongs. (On many Scarab\u00e6i\nin the British Museum, and on those figured by Klaproth from the Palin\nCollection, in Leeman\u2019s Monuments, and in the \u201cDescription de l\u2019Egypt,\u201d\nThothmes is represented as a sphinx treading foreign prisoners under\nhim.--_Layard._) After the Sphinx on this Scarab are the titles of the\nking, \u201cThe sun-placer of creation,\u201d of Thothmes III.\n\n3. Small Scarab\u00e6us of white steaschist, with a brownish hue; reads\n_Neter nefer nebta Ra-neb-ma_, \u201cThe good God, the Lord of the Earth, the\nSun, the Lord of truth, rising in all lands.\u201d This is Amenophis III.,\none of the last kings of the XVIII. dynasty, who flourished about the\nfifteenth century B.C.\n\n4. Scarab\u00e6us in white steaschist, with an abridged form of the prenomen\nof Thothmes III., _Ra-men-cheper at en Amen_, \u201cThe sun-placer of\ncreation, the type of Ammon.\u201d This monarch was the greatest monarch of\nthe XVIII. dynasty, and conquered Naharaina and the Saenkar, besides\nreceiving tribute from Babel or Babylon and Assyria.\n\n5. Scarab\u00e6us in pale white steaschist, with three emblems that cannot\nwell be explained. They are the sun\u2019s disk, the ostrich feather, the\nur\u00e6us, and the guitar nablium. They may mean \u201cTruth the good goddess,\u201d\nor \u201clady,\u201d or _ma-nefer_, \u201cgood and true.\u201d\n\n6. Scarab\u00e6us in the same substance, with a motto of doubtful meaning.\n\n7. Scarab\u00e6us, with a hawk, and God holding the emblem of life, and the\nwords _ma nefer_, \u201cgood and true.\u201d The meaning very doubtful.\n\n8. A Scarab\u00e6us with a hawk-headed gryphon, emblem of _Menta-Ra_, or\nMars. Behind the monster is the goddess Sati, or Nuben. The hawk-headed\nlion is one of the shapes into which the sun turns himself in the hours\nof the day. It is a common emblem of the Aram\u00e6an religion.\n\n9. Scarab\u00e6us with hawk-headed gryphon, having before in the ur\u00e6us and\nthe _nabla_ or guitar, hieroglyphic of good. Above it are the\nhieroglyphics \u201cLord of the earth.\u201d\n\n10. Small Scarab\u00e6us in dark steaschist, with a man in adoration to a\nking or deity, wearing a crown of the upper country, and holding in the\nleft hand a lotus flower. Between this is the emblem of life.\n\n11. Scarab\u00e6us, with the hawk-headed Scarab\u00e6us, emblem of _Ra-cheper_,\n\u201cthe creator Sun,\u201d flying with expanded wings, four in number, which do\nnot appear in Egyptian mythology till after the time of the Persians,\nwhen the gods assume a more Pantheistic form. Such a representation of\nthe sun, for instance, is found in the Torso Borghese.\n\nIt will be observed, adds Layard, that most of the Egyptian relics\ndiscovered in the Assyrian ruins are of the time of the XVIII. Egyptian\ndynasty, or of the fifteenth century before Christ; a period when, as we\nlearn from Egyptian monuments, there was a close connection between\nAssyria and Egypt.--Layard\u2019s _Babylon and Nineveh_, p. 239-240.\n\n[116] Layard\u2019s _Babylon and Nineveh_, p. 157, 166.\n\n[117] _Hist. of Mum._, 53-5; Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 261,\nnote.\n\n[118] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 156.\n\n[119] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxx. 11; Holland, ii. 395. K.\n\n[120] _Phil. Trans. Abridg._, ii. 785; _Gent. Mag._, xix. 264-5.\n\n[121] _Phil. Trans. Abridg._, ix. 11. Concerning the worship of animals\nin general by the Egyptians, the following remarks in a note may not be\ninappropriate, as they embrace the worship of the Scarab\u00e6us.\n\n1. A class of animals, to which may be referred the cow, dog, sheep, and\nibis, were _at first_ naturally protected and respected out of gratitude\nfor the benefits derived from them. But in time, it is supposed, this\nrespect, by unthoughtful descendants believing too implicitly the\nteachings of their fathers, was gradually enlarged to so great extent\nthat it became reverence, and at last, perhaps after centuries, worship.\nFor example, at A time, the ibis is respected on account of its\ndestroying noxious serpents; at B, reverenced; and at C, worshiped.\n\n2. When at C time, the ibis is worshiped, suppose the masses have lost\nthe reason (which in the case of the Egyptians is an allowable\nsupposition, since it is an historical fact that but the initiated knew\nthe reasons for their manner of worship), and serpents are its food, is\nit not plain then that if the food be taken away the sacred bird cannot\nlive? Hence at C time are serpents preserved and protected as food for\nthe ibis; and as this protecting care increases as above, till at D they\nare reverenced, and at E worshiped. To this second class may be referred\nthe crocodile, which was preserved, etc. as food for the ichneumon, a\nsacred animal of the first class.\n\n3. Analogies between animals, and even plants, and certain sources of\ngoodness, or objects of wonder, as the sun, and motion of the stars,\nwere at A time, noticed; at B, respected or reverenced; and at C,\nworshiped. Thus, among plants, became the onion sacred, from the\nresemblance of the lamin\u00e6 which compose it, in a transverse section, to\ncircles--to the orbits of the planets. And thus the Scarab\u00e6us from the\nanalogies between its movements and shape and the motions of the sun,\ntraced, as we have before remarked on the authority of several ancient\nwriters, became also an object of adoration.\n\n4. A fourth reason may also be given, which follows as a consequence of\nthe latter. If such analogy, as, for example, that between the beetle\nand the sun, had been observed in the time of picture and hieroglyphic\nwriting, to represent the sun, the beetle would have been taken. Now, it\nis a well-authenticated fact, that these hieroglyphics in time became\nsacred, and, if the beetle was found among them, it for this, if for no\nother reason, would have been looked upon with the same veneration.\n\n5. Good men, too, to preserve the lives of animals oftentimes wantonly\ntaken, introduce them into fables and poetry, and connect pleasing tales\nwith them. The \u201cBabes in the Wood\u201d have so fixed the respect for the\ntameness of the robin, that it is even now deemed a sacrilege with our\nboys to stone this bird. And may there not have been such good men, and\nsuch tender stories, among the Egyptians, and the remembrance of whom\nand which long lost by the lapse of time?\n\n[122] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 33.\n\n[123] _Ins. of China_, p. 6.\n\n[124] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 6 (38).\n\n[125] _Nat. Hist._, xxx. 11 (30). Holland, _Trans._, ii. 390.\n\n[126] James\u2019 _Med. Dict._\n\n[127] Donovan\u2019s _Ins. of China_, p. 6.\n\n[128] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 160. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1012.\n\n[129] Cuvier suggests that the _Scarab\u00e6us nasicornis_ of Linn\u00e6us, which\nhaunts dead bark, or the _S. auratus_, may be the insect here referred\nto.\n\n[130] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 28 (34).\n\n[131] Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 20. Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[132] St. Clair, _West Indies, etc._, i. 152.\n\n[133] Simmond, _Curiosities of Food_, p. 295.\n\n[134] _Ibid._\n\n[135] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 407.\n\n[136] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 407.\n\n[137] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 152. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1009.\n\n[138] De Geer, iv. 275-6. Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 33.\n\n[139] _Hist. of Ins._ (Murray, 1830) ii. 296.\n\n[140] _Chronicles_, iv. 326.--The water overflowing the low grounds\nbrought the beetles for air to the surface, whence they were swept away\nby the current.\n\n[141] _Phil. Trans. Abridg._, ii. 781-3.\n\n[142] _Phil. Trans. Abridg._, ii. 782.\n\n[143] Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 25.\n\n[144] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 179.\n\n[145] Anderson\u2019s _Recr. in Agric._, iii. 420.\n\n[146] _Anim. Biog._, iii. 233.\n\n[147] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[148] _Ibid._\n\n[149] Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 88.\n\n[150] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 405.\n\n[151] Donovan, _Ins. of India_, p. 5.\n\n[152] Donovan, _Ins. of China_, p. 13.\n\n[153] Travels, i. 384.\n\n[154] _Ibid._, i. 331.\n\n[155] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 356.\n\n[156] _Introd._, i. 156.\n\n[157] Pliny, xxx. 4; Holland, ii. 377. E.\n\n[158] _Med. Dict._\n\n[159] _Ibid._\n\n[160] Peruvians travel by the light of the _Cucujus Peruvianus_.--See\nKirby\u2019s _Wond. Museum_, ii. 151.\n\n[161] _Hist. of West Indies_, p. 274.\n\n[162] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[163] Stedm. _Surinam_, i. 140.\n\n[164] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 321.\n\n[165] _Conq. of Mex._, i. 327.\n\n[166] _Hist. of New Swed._, p. 162.\n\n[167] _Theatr. Insect._, p. 112.\n\n[168] _Hist. of Amer._, p. 378.\n\n[169] Walton, _Pres. St. of Span. Col._, i. 128.\n\n[170] Humboldt\u2019s _Cuba_, p. 395.\n\n[171] _Saturday Mag._, ix. 229.\n\n[172] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 111. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 977.\n\n[173] _Tour on the Continent_, 2d. Edit., iii. 85.\n\n[174] Browne\u2019s _Vulg. Err._, B. iii. c. 17. _Works_, ii. 531.\n\n[175] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 317.\n\n[176] _Tour on Continent_, iii. 85. 2d Edit.\n\n[177] _Med. Dict._\n\n[178] Harris\u2019 _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 688.\n\n[179] Harris, _Farm Insects_, p. 372.\n\n[180] This insect has received its English names, of _Mole-cricket_ and\n_Earth-crab_, from its burrowing like a mole, and some species of W.\nIndian crabs; and, from its supposed jarring song at night, it is also\ncalled _Eve-churr_, _Churr-worm_, and _Jarr-worm_.--_Ibid._\n\n[181] Moufet, _Theatr. Ins._, p. 110. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p.\n977.\n\n[182] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 382.\n\n[183] Cf. _Works_, ii. 375.\n\n[184] Johnson\u2019s _Eng. Dict._\n\n[185] 4th Past., 1. 101.\n\n[186] In Kirby\u2019s _Wonderful Museum_, ii. 309, there is an article on the\nDeath-watch, headed \u201cA curious Description and Explanation of the\nDeath-watch, so commonly listened to with such dread.\u201d\n\n[187] Harper\u2019s _Mag._, xxiii. 775.\n\n[188] Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 34. _Nat. Misc._, iii. 104.\n\n[189] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 226-7.\n\n[190] Horne\u2019s _Introd. to Bibliog._, i. 311.\n\n[191] Wilhelm\u2019s _Recr. from Nat. Hist._, quot. by Latrielle, _Hist.\nNat._, ix. 194. Quot. by Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 213. Carpenter,\n_Zool._, ii. 133.\n\n[192] Brookes informs us that Dr. Greenfield, a practitioner in London,\nwas sent to Newgate, by the college, for having given Cantharides\ninwardly. This happened in the year 1698; but he was soon after\nreleased, by a superior authority, when he published a work upon the\ngood effects of these insects taken inwardly for strangury, and other\ndisorders of the kidneys and bladder. We are also told by Ambrose Parry,\nthat a courtezan, having invited a young man to supper, had seasoned\nsome of the dishes with the powder of Cantharides, which the very next\nday produced such an effect, that he died with an evacuation of blood,\nwhich the physicians were not able to stop. Many other instances might\nbe brought, continues Brookes, of persons that have been either killed,\nor brought to death\u2019s door, by a wanton use of these Flies, which had\nbeen given them privately, with a design to cause love. Some go so far\nas to affirm, that people have been thrown into a fever, only by\nsleeping under trees on which were a great number of Cantharides; and\nMr. Boyle informs us, after authors worthy of credit, that some persons\nhave felt considerable pains about the neck of the bladder, only by\nholding Cantharides in their hands.--_Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 50-1.\n\n[193] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 30.\n\n[194] _Asiatic Res._, v. 213.\n\n[195] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[196] _Med. Dict._\n\n[197] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 569.\n\n[198] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 30.\n\n[199] Sloane, _Hist. of Jamaica_, ii. 206.\n\n[200] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 156.\n\n[201] _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 49.\n\n[202] Cuvier, _An. Kingd.--Ins._, i. 569.\n\n[203] Linn. _Faun. Suec._, p. 822.\n\n[204] Lane\u2019s _Mod. Egypt._, i. 237, ii. 275.\n\n[205] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 568.\n\n[206] Pinkerton\u2019s _Voy. and Trav._, x. 190.\n\n[207] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 6. Holl., p. 370.\n\n[208] _Trans. of Assoc. Phys. in Ireland_, iv., vii., and v., p. 177,\n8vo., Dublin, 1824-8.\n\n[209] In Kirby\u2019s _Wonderful Museum_, iv. 360, there are several\ninstances of living insects being found in the human stomach, quite as\nextraordinary as the above.\n\n[210] _The Mirror_, xxviii. 304.\n\n[211] _Hist. of Brazil_, p. 346.\n\n[212] Jamieson gives Grou-grou as a Scottish name for the\nCorn-grub.--_Scot. Dict._, iii. 516.\n\n[213] Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 62. Cuvier, _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 80.\n\n[214] Stedm. _Surinam_, ii. 23.\n\n[215] _Ibid._, ii. 115.\n\n[216] _Acct. of the Sierra Leone Africans_, i. 314, note.\n\n[217] Travels, i. 410.\n\n[218] _Gummila_, i. 9. See also Southey\u2019s _Hist. of Brazil_, i. 110.\n\n[219] _Hist. of Barbados_, p. 646.\n\n[220] _Entretenimiento_, vi. \u00a7 11.\n\n[221] Canto iii.\n\n[222] _Sketches of Java_, 310.\n\n[223] \u00c6lian, _Hist._ L. xiv. c. 13.\n\n[224] Simmond\u2019s _Curiosities of Food_, p. 313.\n\n[225] _Travels and Researches in S. Africa_, p. 389.\n\n[226] _Monthly Mag._ ii. (Pt. II.) 792, for 1796.\n\n[227] _Book of Days_, i.\n\n[228] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 151. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1007.\n\n[229] _The Mirror_, xxxiii. 202, note.\n\n[230] Drury, Ins., i. 9 (Pref.). Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 73.\n\n[231] Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 71-2. Merian, _Ins. Sur._, 24.\n\n[232] _Hist. of Jamaica_, ii. 193-4.\n\n[233] _St. Pierre_, _Voy._, 72.\n\n[234] Smeatham, 32. Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 303.\n\n[235] _Wonders_, i. 18.\n\n[236] Curtis, _Farm Ins._, p. 22. Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[237] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 98.\n\n[238] Probably the coriaceous tortoise, which is covered with a strong\nhide.\n\n[239] Paladius, B. i. c. 35.\n\n[240] _Med. Dict._\n\n[241] _Gent. Mag._, xxv. 376.--Some authors assert that Ear-wigs are not\nin the least injurious to vegetation.\n\n[242] _Hist. of Jam._, ii. 204.\n\n[243] _Med. Dict._\n\n[244] _Hist. of Jam._, ii. 204.\n\n[245] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[246] Quot. by Samouffle, _Ent. Cab._, 1-3.\n\n[247] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[248] Pinkerton\u2019s _Voy. and Trav._, xiii. 108. A beetle, insinuating\nitself in the ear of Captain Speke when in Central Africa, caused him\nthe greatest pain imaginable. It was six or seven months before all the\npieces of it were extracted.--_Blackwood\u2019s Mag._, Sept. 1859. Barth\u2019s\n_Central Africa_, ii. 91, note.\n\n[249] Hone\u2019s _Every Day Book_, i. 1121.\n\n[250] _London Labor and London Poor_, iii. 40-1.\n\n[251] _Zool._, vi. 118.\n\n[252] _Theat. Ins._, p. 983.\n\n[253] Harwood, _Grec. Antiq._, p. 200.\n\n[254] Chamb. _Journ._, xi. 362, 2d S.\n\n[255] Carpenter\u2019s _Zool._, ii. 142.\n\n[256] _Penny Mag._, 1841, 2d S. p. 436.\n\n[257] Cuvier, _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 190.\n\n[258] _Present St. of the C. of Good Hope_, i. 99-100. Astley\u2019s _Collec.\nof Voy. and Trav._, iii. 366.\n\n[259] Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, iii. 381.\n\n[260] _Pres. St. of the C. of Good Hope_, i. 101-2.\n\n[261] _Ibid._\n\n[262] _Trav._, i. 150.\n\n[263] _Ibid._, ii. 65.\n\n[264] Quot. by _Penny Mag._, 1841, 2d S. p. 436.\n\n[265] _Ibid._\n\n[266] _Ibid._\n\n[267] Churchill\u2019s _Coll. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 23, and Pinkerton\u2019s\n_Voy. and Trav._, xiv. 720.\n\n[268] _Trav. in China_, p. 159. Cf. Williams\u2019 _Middle Kingdom_, i. 273.\n\n[269] Ins. Arch., 63.\n\n[270] This superstition I have found in no other place.\n\n[271] Harper\u2019s _New Monthly Mag._, xxiv. 491, 2.\n\n[272] Donovan seems to think that Ovid\u2019s account of the Transformation\nof Phaeton\u2019s Sisters into trees, had its origin in some such idea as\nthis.--_Insects of China_, p. 18, note. See also Chamb. _Journal_, xi.\n367, 2d Ser.\n\n[273] Donovan\u2019s _Ins. of China_, p. 19.\n\n[274] Smith\u2019s _Nature and Art_, x. 240.\n\n[275] _Amer. Phil. Trans._, vol. iii. _Introd._\n\n[276] Cuvier, _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 173.\n\n[277] _Nat. Hist. of Barbados_, p. 90.\n\n[278] 4th Pastoral, line 102.\n\n[279] _Mag-astromancers Posed and Puzzel\u2019d_, p. 181.\n\n[280] _D\u00e6monologia_, 1650, p. 59.\n\n[281] _Elminth._, 8vo. Lond., 1668, p. 271.\n\n[282] _Nat. Hist. of Selborne_, p. 255.\n\n[283] _Tamar and Tavy_, i. 321.\n\n[284] _The Mirror_, xix. 180.\n\n[285] _Astrologaster_, p. 45.\n\n[286] _Notes and Queries_, iii. 3.\n\n[287] _Ibid._\n\n[288] _The Mirror_, xix. 180.\n\n[289] Grose, _Antiq. Prov. Gloss._, p. 121.\n\n[290] _Il Penserosa._\n\n[291] Mouffet, _Theat. Insect._, p. 136.\n\n[292] Harper\u2019s _Mag._, xxvi. 497.\n\n[293] Mouff. _Theat. Ins._, p. 136.\n\n[294] De Pauw, ii. 106.\n\n[295] _Life of Amer. Ins._, p. 114.\n\n[296] _Earth and Animat. Nat._, iv. 216.\n\n[297] Sloane\u2019s _Nat. Hist. of Jamaica_, ii. 204.\n\n[298] _Nat. Hist._, xxx. 4. Holland, p. 378. H.\n\n[299] _Ibid._, xxix. 6. Holland, p. 370. K.\n\n[300] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 6. Holl., p. 371. A.\n\n[301] _Med. Dict._\n\n[302] The Grasshopper, however, according to Mr. Hughes\u2019 description, is\ntwice as large as the cricket; it being two inches, the cricket but one\ninch, in length.--P. 85 and 90.\n\n[303] _Nat. Hist. of Barb._, p. 85.\n\n[304] Athen. _Deipnos_, L. 4, c. 12. The Cercope, or Monkey-grasshopper,\nwas so called from having a long tail like a monkey, _cercops_.\n\n[305] Pinkert. _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ix. 612.\n\n[306] _Hist. of West Indies_, p. 121-2.\n\n[307] Voy., ii. 239. Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 373.\n\n[308] Quoted in Simmond\u2019s _Curios. of Food_, p. 304.\n\n[309] _Gent. Mag._, xii. 442.\n\n[310] Good, _Study of Med._, iv. 515.\n\n[311] Pinkerton\u2019s _Voy. and Trav._, vii. 705.\n\n[312] _Med. Dict._\n\n[313] _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 67.\n\n[314] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 120. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 984.\n\n[315] Exod., chap. x.\n\n[316] Of the symbolical Locusts in the Apocalypse it is said--\u201cAnd the\nsounds of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses\nrunning to battle.\u201d--ix. 9.\n\n[317] Cf. Ex. x. 15; Jer. xlvi. 23; Judg. vi. 5, viii. 12; Nah. iii. 15.\n\n[318] Joel, ii. 2-10, 20.\n\n[319] Oros., _Contra Pag._, l. 5, c. 2.\n\n[320] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 217; Cuv. _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 206.\n\n[321] Mouff., _Theat. Ins._, p. 123.\n\n[322] Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 137.\n\n[323] _Wonders_, ii. 507.\n\n[324] Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 137.\n\n[325] _Ibid._\n\n[326] _Theatr. Insect._, p. 123.\n\n[327] Cuvier, _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 212.\n\n[328] Bingley, _Anim. Biog._, iii. 258.\n\n[329] _Hist. of Ins._ (Murray, 1838), ii. 188.\n\n[330] _Nat. Hist. of Jam._, quot. in _Gent. Mag._, xviii. 362.\n\n[331] Churchill\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, v. 33.\n\n[332] _Ins._ (Murray, 1838), ii. 188.\n\n[333] _Ibid._, ii. 197.\n\n[334] _Gent. Mag._, lxx. 989.\n\n[335] _Phil. Trans._, vol. xlvi., and _Gent. Mag._, xvii. 435.\n\n[336] _Ibid._\n\n[337] _Ins._ (Murray, 1838), ii. 190.\n\n[338] _Ibid._, 191. Dr. Shaw says, Governors of particular provinces of\nthe East oftentimes command a certain number of the military to take the\nfield against armies of Locusts, with a train of artillery.--_Zool._,\nvi. 131, note.\n\n[339] _Phil. Trans._, vol. xlvi.\n\n[340] Cuv. _An. King.--Ins._, ii. 211.\n\n[341] Dillon\u2019s _Trav. in Spain_, quot. in _Ins._ (Murray, 1838), ii.\n205.\n\n[342] _Gent. Mag._, xx. 382; xxiii. 387.\n\n[343] _Ibid._, xlii. 293.\n\n[344] Jackson\u2019s _Trav. in Morocco_, p. 105. Cf. Lempriere, Pinkerton\u2019s\n_Col. of Voy. and Trav._, xv. 709.\n\n[345] Cuv. _An. King.--Ins._, ii. 212.\n\n[346] _Gent. Mag._, lxii. 543.\n\n[347] _Ibid._, liii. 526, Pt. I.\n\n[348] _Trav., etc._, 257.\n\n[349] K. and S. _Introd._, i. 219.\n\n[350] _Orient. Mem._, ii. 273.\n\n[351] _Ibid._, iii. 338.\n\n[352] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, viii. 595.\n\n[353] _Ibid._, viii. 613.\n\n[354] _Penny Mag._, 1843, p. 231.\n\n[355] _Narrative_, p. 234, and p. 238.\n\n[356] _Trav. in Morocco_, p. 105.\n\n[357] Jaeg. _on Ins._, p. 103.\n\n[358] Pringle\u2019s _S. Africa_, p. 54. The Missionary Moffat has written\nthe history of the scourge of 1826.--_Miss. Lab._, p. 447-9.\n\n[359] _Ibid._\n\n[360] _Chinese Repository._\n\n[361] Churchill\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 317.\n\n[362] _Penny Mag._ 1843.\n\n[363] Backhouse, p. 264.\n\n[364] _Kaffraria_, p. 79.\n\n[365] Remy & Brenchley\u2019s _Voy. to G. Salt Lake City_, iv. 440, note;\nBurton\u2019s _City of the Saints_, p. 345.\n\n[366] Quot. by Burton, _City of the Saints_, p. 86. Cf. Long\u2019s _Exped._,\nii. 31.\n\n[367] Remy and Brenchley\u2019s _Voy. to G. S. Lake City_, i. 440, note;\nBurton\u2019s _City of the Saints_, p. 345.\n\n[368] Lepsius, _Disc. in Egypt_, p. 50.\n\n[369] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 29; Holland, Pt. I. p. 327, F-H.\n\n[370] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 137-8.\n\n[371] _Ibid._, 138.\n\n[372] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, vii. 257.\n\n[373] Volney\u2019s _Trav._, i. 387.\n\n[374] Riley\u2019s _Narrative_, p. 236-7.\n\n[375] Richardson\u2019s _Sahara_, i. 338.\n\n[376] _The Mirror_, xv. 429.\n\n[377] _Pilgr._, ii. 1047.\n\n[378] _Ibid._, ii. 1186.\n\n[379] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[380] _Gent. Mag._, lxxxi. (Pt. II.) 273.\n\n[381] Vide Bochart, _Hierozoic_, L. IV. c. 5, 474-5.\n\n[382] Volney, _Trav._, i. 304.\n\n[383] Robbins\u2019 _Journal_, p. 228.\n\n[384] Southey\u2019s _Thalaba_, i. 171.\n\n[385] Clarke\u2019s _Travels_, i. 348.\n\n[386] _Harleian Miscel._, ii. 523.\n\n[387] _Nature and Art_, vi. 109.\n\n[388] Bochart, _Hierozoic_, Pt. II. L. iv. c. 5, 475.--Much of this\ndescription is quite oriental, but such is the general resemblance to\nsome of the animals mentioned, that in Italy it still bears the name of\n\u201cCavalletta.\u201d A German name for this Locust, as well as the Grasshopper\n(before mentioned), is the \u201cHay-horse.\u201d About the Locust\u2019s neck, too,\nthe integuments have some resemblance to the trappings of a horse; some\nspecies, however, have the appearance of being hooded. In the Bible,\nLocusts are compared to horses.--Joel, ii. 4; Rev. ix. 7. Ray says,\n\u201c_Caput oblongum, equi instar prona spectans_.\u201d\n\n[389] Riley\u2019s _Narrative_, p. 234.\n\n[390] _Ins._ (Murray, 1838), ii. 186.\n\n[391] _Ibid._, 187.\n\n[392] _Ibid._\n\n[393] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 125. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 988.\n\n[394] St. John\u2019s _Man. and Cust. of Anct. Greeks_, iii. 95.\n\n[395] Diod. Sic. _Hist._, L. III. c. 2. Booth\u2019s Trans., 170-1.\n\n[396] Strabo. _Geog._, L. XVI. c. 4, \u00a7 13.\n\n[397] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 26. Holl. Pt. I. p. 325. E. Cf. Pliny, _Nat.\nHist._, xi. 29.\n\n[398] Rob. _Journal_, p. 172.\n\n[399] _Ibid._, p. 228.\n\n[400] Jackson\u2019s _Morocco_, p. 104.\n\n[401] _Ibid._, p. 106.\n\n[402] _Wand. and Adv. in S. Afr._, i. 137.\n\n[403] Riley\u2019s _Narrat._, p. 237.\n\n[404] _Exped. to Africa_, p. 107.\n\n[405] _Cent. Africa_, ii. 30.\n\n[406] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, xvi. 634.\n\n[407] _Travels to C. of Good Hope_, i. 263.\n\n[408] _Ibid._\n\n[409] _Revel._ ix. 2, 3.\n\n[410] Fleming\u2019s _Kaffraria_, p. 80.\n\n[411] Holman\u2019s _Travels_, p. 487.\n\n[412] _Miss. Lab._, p. 448-9.\n\n[413] Quot. in Anderson\u2019s _L. Ngami_, p. 284.\n\n[414] _Ibid._, p. 283.\n\n[415] _Trav. and Res. in S. Africa_, p. 48.\n\n[416] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, x. 189.\n\n[417] Hasselq. _Trav._, p. 419.\n\n[418] _Orient. Mem._, i. 46.\n\n[419] Layard\u2019s _Nin. and Bab._, p. 289.\n\n[420] _Chinese Repository._\n\n[421] _Lord Elgin\u2019s Miss. to China and Japan_, p. 273.\n\n[422] _Middle Kingdom_, ii. 50.\n\n[423] _Voy._, i. 430. Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, xi. 49.\n\n[424] _Ibid._, xiv. 128.\n\n[425] Vol. ii. p. 525.\n\n[426] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, ii. 205.\n\n[427] Jackson\u2019s _Morocco_, p. 103.\n\n[428] _Ibid._, p. 106.\n\n[429] _Narrative_, p. 235.\n\n[430] _Chinese Repository._\n\n[431] _Phil. Trans._ for 1698.\n\n[432] _Prov._ xxx. 27.\n\n[433] _Genes._ xvi. 12.\n\n[434] Jackson\u2019s _Travels in Morocco_, p. 105-6.\n\n[435] _Hist. of Greece_, b. i. c. 24.\n\n[436] _Hist. Acct. of China_, b. ii. c. 15, and Church _Col. of Voy. and\nTrav._, i. 95.\n\n[437] _Naturalist in Bermuda_, p. 112.\n\n[438] _S. African Sport._, p. 220.\n\n[439] Darwin\u2019s _Res._, p. 159.\n\n[440] _Hist. of Jam._, ii. 261.\n\n[441] Smith\u2019s _Bib. Dict._\n\n[442] _Ibid._\n\n[443] _Travels_, i. 71.\n\n[444] _Egypt and China_, ii. 106.\n\n[445] _Hist. of Brazil_, i. 105.\n\n[446] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._ The species here referred to was\nthe _Termes lucifuga_.\n\n[447] _Orient. Mem._, i. 363-4.\n\n[448] Kempf. _Japan_, ii. 127; also Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and\nTrav._, vii. 701.\n\n[449] _Orient. Mem._, i. 362.\n\n[450] _Introd._, i. 247.\n\n[451] _Autobiog._, Lond., 1858, p. 222-3.\n\n[452] _Latr. S. Africa_, p. 315.\n\n[453] _Hist. of Brazil_, i. 319.\n\n[454] Kid. and Fletch., _Brazil_, p. 443.\n\n[455] _S. Africa_, p. 315.\n\n[456] _Hist. of Brazil_, i. 319.\n\n[457] Kidder and Fletcher, _Brazil_, p. 442.\n\n[458] Barter\u2019s _Dorp and Veld_, p. 81.\n\n[459] Burton\u2019s _Central Africa_, i. 202.\n\n[460] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 412.\n\n[461] Knox, _Ceylon_, Pt. I. ch. vi. p. 24.\n\n[462] _Phil. Trans._, lxxi. 167-8, note.\n\n[463] _Ibid._\n\n[464] _Voy. to Cape of Good Hope_, i. 261; Cf. Alexander\u2019s _Exped. into\nAfrica_, i. 52.\n\n[465] _Trav. in S. Africa_, p. 501.\n\n[466] Burton\u2019s _Cent. Africa_, i. 202.\n\n[467] Buchanan, i. 7; Forbes, _Orient. Mem._, i. 305.\n\n[468] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 308, note.\n\n[469] _Letters written in a Mahratta Camp in 1809._\n\n[470] Backhouse, p. 584.\n\n[471] _Phil. Trans._, lxxi. 167-8, note.\n\n[472] _Memoirs_, vi. 485. Quot. by K. and S. _Introd._, i. 284. Cuv.\n_An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 315. _Ins. Trans._, p. 373.\n\n[473] Quot. by Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 250.\n\n[474] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, iii. 516-8.\n\n[475] Gosse\u2019s _Jamaica_, p. 251.\n\n[476] _Gram. and Dict. of the Yoruba Language._ Smithson. Public., p.\nxiii.\n\n[477] Cuv. _An. King.--Ins._, ii. 404.\n\n[478] They were produced by that species of Gall-fly, _Cynips_,\ndelineated by Reaumur in his _Hist. of Ins._, vol. iii. tabl. 40. _The\nMirror_, xxx. 234.\n\n[479] K. and S. _Introd._, i. 33.\n\n[480] Browne\u2019s _Works_, ii. 376.\n\n[481] _Theatr. Ins._, 252. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1085.\n\n[482] Hasselquist\u2019s _Travels_, p. 253.\n\n[483] Cuv. _An. King.--Ins._, ii. 424.\n\n[484] _Ibid._, p. 427.\n\n[485] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._ Cf. Cuv.--_Ins._, ii. 428; K. and\nS. _Introd._, i. 318. Medict. Virt. Cf. Geoffroy\u2019s _Treatise on Subs.\nused in Physic_, p. 369.\n\n[486] Cuv. _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 428. Cf. Geoffroy\u2019s _Subs. used in\nPhys._, p. 369.\n\n[487] Reaum. iii. 416. Cf. Cuv. _Ibid._ ii. 429. K. and S. _Introd._, i.\n310.\n\n[488] Smith\u2019s _Introd. to Bot._, p. 346. Olivier\u2019s _Trav._, i. 139. Cf.\n_Ibid._\n\n[489] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[490] Herod., B. 3, 102-5. Cary\u2019s _Trans._, p. 214.\n\n[491] Strabo, _Geog._, B. xv. c. 1, \u00a7 44. Hamilton\u2019s _Trans._, iii. 101.\nCf. Arrian\u2019s _Ind. Hist._, c. 15. Rooke\u2019s _Trans._, ii. 211.\n\n[492] _Ibid._\n\n[493] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, B. xi. c. 31. Bost. and Riley\u2019s _Trans._,\niii. 39.\n\n[494] _Ubi supra_, and Strabo, B. xv. c. 1, \u00a7 37.\n\n[495] Pomp., _Vita Apollon. Tyan._, B. vi. c. 1.\n\n[496] Bostick and Riley\u2019s _Trans. of Pliny_, iii. 39, note.\n\n[497] Prov. vi. 6. Cf. Prov. xxx. 23.\n\n[498] Smith\u2019s _Bib. Dict._\n\n[499] Holland\u2019s _Trans._, p. 787.\n\n[500] _Guardian_, No. 156-7.\n\n[501] _Nat. Displ._, i. 128.\n\n[502] _Namahl a Namal Circumcidit._--Browne\u2019s _Pseud. Epid.--Works_, ii.\n531.\n\n[503] _Poems: Solomon._\n\n[504] _Hymns: The Emmet._\n\n[505] _On the Omnis. of God._\n\n[506] _Par. Lost_, B. vii. l. 484.\n\n[507] _Saturday Mag._, xix. 190.\n\n[508] Lawson\u2019s _Bible Cyclop._, ii. 505.\n\n[509] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 245-6. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1078.\nVide Pierius\u2019 _Hieroglyph._, p. 73-6.\n\n[510] Mouf. _Theatr. Ins._, p. 242.\n\n[511] Quot. in Brande\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 224.\n\n[512] Harwood\u2019s Grec. _Antiq._, p. 200.\n\n[513] Stosch. Cl., ii. 227-8. Fosbr. _Encycl. of Antiq._, ii. 738.\n\n[514] Quot. in Brande\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 134.\n\n[515] _The Mirror_, xxx. 216.\n\n[516] _Pilgrims_, v. 542.\n\n[517] _Theatr. Ins._, 246. Topsel\u2019s _Hist of Beasts_, p. 1079.\n\n[518] The valley seems to be so called from the great number of Ants\nwhich are found there. Some place it in Syria, and others in Tayeb.--_Al\nBeidawi, Jallalo\u2019ddin._\n\n[519] _The Koran_, p. 310. Translated by Geo. Sale.\n\n[520] _Trav. in the Levant_, Pt. I. p. 41.\n\n[521] _Land and Water Creatures Compared_, Holland, p. 787.\n\n[522] B. 7, c. 16, p. 665; printed 1613.\n\n[523] Strong\u2019s _Nat. Hist._, iii. 163.\n\n[524] Holland\u2019s _Trans._, p. 787.\n\n[525] Chamb. _Misc._, x. 17.\n\n[526] Kalm in Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, xiii. 474.\n\n[527] Chamb. _Misc._, x. 22.\n\n[528] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, xvi. 174.\n\n[529] _Guinea_, p. 276; Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 727.\n\n[530] Du Chaillu, p. 312 and 108.\n\n[531] Allied to the Stinger (_ota_) of Yoruba, and _Idzalco_, \u201cthe\nfighter which makes one go.\u201d--_T. J. Bowen._\n\n[532] Livingstone\u2019s _Travels_, p. 468.\n\n[533] St. Clair\u2019s _W. Indies_, i. 167-8.\n\n[534] Stedm. _Surinam_, ii. 94.\n\n[535] Of similar size and ferocity as the great Red-ant of Ceylon, the\n_Dimiya_, _Formica smaragdina_.--Tennent, _N. H. of Ceyl._, p. 424.\n\n[536] The Cobra de Capello, _Naja tripudians_, Merr.\n\n[537] Knox, _Hist. Rel. of Ceylon_, Pt. I. ch. vi. p. 24.\n\n[538] Stedm. _Surinam_, ii. 142.\n\n[539] K. and S. _Introd._, i. 123.\n\n[540] Smith\u2019s _Nature and Art_, xii. 195. Clavigero supposes that all\nthe attachment which the snake shows to the Ant-hills proceeds from its\nliving on the Ants themselves.\n\n[541] _Du Chaillu_, p. 312.\n\n[542] The Swiss farmers, in order to rid their trees of caterpillars,\nallure the Ants to climb the trees, where, being confined by a circle of\npitch round the holes, hunger soon causes them to attack the noxious\nlarv\u00e6.\n\n[543] _Penny Encycl._, _sub._ Ant.\n\n[544] _Hakluyt Society_, ii. 13.\n\n[545] _The Mirror_, xxxi. 342.\n\n[546] Smith\u2019s _Nature and Art_, xii. 197.\n\n[547] _Hist. Nat._, i. 9, and v. 291. Cf. Sloane, _Hist. of Jam._, ii.\n221.\n\n[548] _Amer. Utriusq. Desc._, p. 333.\n\n[549] _Ibid._, p. 379.\n\n[550] Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Book_, 3d S. p. 346-7.\n\n[551] Herrera, vi. 5, 6.\n\n[552] _Hist. of Jam._, ii. 221.\n\n[553] Quoted, _Ibid._\n\n[554] _Journ. of Geog. Soc._, 1841, x. 175.\n\n[555] Quot. by K. and S. _Introd._, i. 309.\n\n[556] _Trav. in Swed._, p. 118, Lond. 1789, 4to.\n\n[557] _Ibid._\n\n[558] Jenkin\u2019s _Voy. of U. S. Explor. Exped. Com. by Wilkes_, 8vo.\nAuburn, 1852, p. 319.\n\n[559] Cuv. _An. Kingd.--Insects_, ii. 489.\n\n[560] _Ibid._\n\n[561] _Pilgrims_, iii. 996.\n\n[562] James\u2019s _Med. Dict._\n\n[563] _Hist. of Jam._, ii. 221.\n\n[564] Brande\u2019s _Encycl. of Sci. Lit., etc._\n\n[565] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxviii. 7 (23).\n\n[566] Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Book_, 3d S. p. 419.\n\n[567] _Gent. Mag._, Pt. II. lxxiii. 704-5, and Kirby\u2019s _Wond. Museum_,\ni. 353-5.\n\n[568] _Land and Water Creatures Compared_, Holl. _Trans._, p. 793.\n\n[569] B. 7, c. xv. p. 664. Printed 1613.\n\n[570] Cuv. _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 472.\n\n[571] _Mem. Berlin Acad._ for 1749.\n\n[572] _Penny Encycl._, _sub._ Ant.\n\n[573] K. and S. _Introd._, ii. 54.\n\n[574] _Pilgrimage_, p. 1090.\n\n[575] K. and S. _Intro._, ii. 54.\n\n[576] Joss. _Voy._, p. 118.\n\n[577] Baird\u2019s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[578] Purchas\u2019s _Pilgrims_, iii. 998.\n\n[579] Schomburgk\u2019s _Hist. of Barbados_, 640-3; and Coke\u2019s _West Indies_,\nii. 313.\n\n[580] Cuv. _An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 471.\n\n[581] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, xiv. 716.\n\n[582] Southey\u2019s _Hist. of Brazil_, iii. 334, note.\n\n[583] Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 507.\n\n[584] Thom Browne\u2019s _Works_, ii. 337, note.\n\n[585] Martial, B. iv. 15.\n\n[586] Southey, _Hist. of Brazil_, i. 645.\n\n[587] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 148-9.\n\n[588] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 29.\n\n[589] Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, i. 378.\n\n[590] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 40-50. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 921-7.\nVide Pierius\u2019 _Hieroglyph._, p. 267-8; Pernicies summota; Pugnacitas;\nImperfecti mores civiles; Perturbator.\n\n[591] _Josh._ xxiv. 12; _Deut._ vii. 20.\n\n[592] Kirby\u2019s _Bridgewater Treatise.--Saturday Mag._, ix. 239.\n\n[593] _Phil. Trans._, i. 201.\n\n[594] _Med. Dict._\n\n[595] _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 660.\n\n[596] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 49. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 657, 927.\n\n[597] _Notes and Queries_, ii. 165.\n\n[598] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 211.\n\n[599] Backhouse\u2019s _Mauritius_, p. 32.\n\n[600] Moufet, _Theatr. Insect._, p. 47. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Four-footed\nBeasts and Serpents_, p. 925, 655.\n\n[601] William\u2019s _Middle Kingdom_; or _Chinese Empire_, i. 274.\n\n[602] Thom. Bozius _de signis Eccles._, B. 14, c. iii. Quot. by Butler,\n_Fem. Monarchie_, c. i. 48.\n\n[603] Quot. in _Notes and Queries_, ix. 167.\n\n[604] _Parley of Beasts_, p. 144. London, 1660.\n\n[605] Bozius, _ubi supra_. Butler, _ubi supra_.\n\n[606] Vicentius in _Spec. Moral._, B. 2, D. 21, p. 3. _N. and Q._, x.\n499.\n\n[607] Pet. Cluniac, B. 1, c. i. _N. and Q._, x. 499.\n\n[608] Quot. in _Notes and Queries_, x. 499.\n\n[609] Harwood, _Grec. Antiq._, p. 200.\n\n[610] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, ix. 18\n\n[611] _Ibid._\n\n[612] Paus. _Hist. of Greece_, B. ix. c. xxiii. 3.\n\n[613] Stanley\u2019s _Hist. of Philos._, Pt. V. c. ii. p. 157, Lond. 1701.\nCf. Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xi. 18.\n\nVide Pierius, _Hieroglyph._, p. 261-5. Populus regi suo obseques; Rex;\nRegnum; Grata eloquentia; Poetic\u00e6 am\u0153nitas; Futuri seculi beatitudo;\nDulcium appetitus; Diuturn\u00e6 valetudinis prosperitas; Meretrix; Exotic\u00e6\ndisciplin\u00e6; Prophetarum oracula, etc.\n\n[614] _Lives of the Saints_, xii. 106.\n\n[615] Quot. in _N. and Q._, x. 500. This story is not in the _Fem.\nMonarchie_ of 1609, printed for Jos. Barnes.\n\n[616] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 21-2. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts and Serpents_,\np. 645, 905.\n\n[617] _N. and Q._, vi. 480.\n\n[618] Gay\u2019s _Pastorals_, v. 107-8.\n\n[619] Chambers\u2019 _Book of Days_, i. 752.\n\n[620] Plutarch, _Nat. Quest._, 36. Holl. Trans., p. 831.\n\n[621] _Nat. Hist._, xxviii. 7. Holl. Trans., p. 308.\n\n[622] Plutarch, _Land and Water Creatures Compared_. Holl. Trans., p.\n786.\n\n[623] _Georg._ iv. 283-7. Dryden\u2019s Trans.\n\n[624] Swam. _Hist. of Ins._, Pt. I. p. 226.\n\n[625] Martin\u2019s _Georg. of Virgil_, iv. 295, note.\n\n[626] Dryden\u2019s _Virgil, Georg._ iv. 417-442. Democritus, said to have\nbeen contemporary with Socrates and Hippocrates, the learned Varro,\nColumella, and Plorentinus, have severally given this same receipt. Vide\nOwen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 199.\n\n[627] Hollings. _Chron._, i. 384.\n\n[628] Swam. _Hist. of Ins._, Pt. I. p. 228.\n\n[629] _N. and Q._, ii. 356.\n\n[630] _Nat. Hist._, xix. 7. Holl. _Trans._, p. 23. E.\n\n[631] _N. and Q._, ii. 165. Chamb. _Bk. of Days_, i. 752.\n\n[632] _N. & Q._, xii. 200.\n\n[633] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, ii. 405.\n\n[634] Bucke _on Nature_, i. 419.\n\n[635] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, ii. 300.\n\n[636] _Ibid._\n\n[637] _Ibid._\n\n[638] Thorpe\u2019s _North. Mythol._, iii. 161.\n\n[639] Vide _N. and Q._ in Devon, v. 148; Essex, v. 437; Lincolnshire,\niv. 270; Surrey, iv. 291; a Cornish superstition, too, xii. 38; in\nBuckinghamshire, Sussex, Lithuania, and France, iv. 308.\n\n[640] Brande\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, ii. 300.\n\n[641] Bucke _on Nature_, i. 413, note.\n\n[642] _N. and Q._, iv. 309.\n\n[643] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, ii. 300.\n\n[644] Fosbr. _Encycl. of Antiq._, ii. 738.\n\n[645] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, ii. 300.\n\n[646] Langstroth _on Honey-Bee_, p. 80.\n\n[647] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, iii. 211, note.\n\n[648] _Ibid._, i. 303. London, 1829.\n\n[649] Peter Rotharmel had three specialties: Bees, Wheat, and Bonaparte.\nConcerning Bees, he had many strange notions, but the above recorded is\nthe only one of which I have any positive information. Concerning wheat,\nat one time in his life he purchased an almanac, which indicated, among\nother things, the high and low tides, and, from studying this, he got it\ninto his head that the fluctuations in the price of wheat were\nintimately connected with the rise and fall of the tides. So impressed\nwas he with this idea, that he ever afterward yearly bought that\nparticular almanac, and prophesied from it to his neighbors the probable\nvalue of their coming crops of wheat. On Sunday, he would walk fifteen\nand twenty miles through the country, to examine the different\nwheat-fields, and to afford him a topic of conversation for the ensuing\nweek. But Napoleon was his principal study and his greatest mania. On\nhim he would talk for hours, on the slightest provocation. The history\nof Bonaparte and his campaigns, which he only read, was an old German\none.\n\n[650] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, ii. 209.\n\n[651] _Geog._, Dryden\u2019s _Trans._, iv. 82-9.\n\n[652] _On the Honey-Bee_, p. 113.\n\n[653] _N. and Q._, 2d Ser., ix. 443.\n\n[654] _Nat. Hist._, xxi. 20, Holl. _Trans._, p. 106. K.\n\n[655] Quot. in Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 225.\n\n[656] Langstroth _on the Honey-Bee_, p. 132.\n\n[657] Quot. by Langstroth _on the Honey-Bee_, p. 231.\n\n[658] Campbell\u2019s _Travels in S. Africa_, p. 339.\n\n[659] _Percy Soc. Public._, iv. 99.\n\n[660] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 109-10.\n\n[661] _Nat. Hist._, xx. 13. Holl., p. 56. M.\n\n[662] _Ibid._, Holl., p. 95. A.\n\n[663] _Ibid._, xxi. 20. Holl., p. 106. K.\n\n[664] _Ibid._, xxiii. 18. Holl., p. 173. A.\n\n[665] _Ibid._, xxix. 4. Holl., p. 361. D.\n\n[666] _Ibid._, xxx. 16. Holl., p. 399. F.\n\n[667] Langstroth _on the Honey-Bee_, p. 316, note.\n\n[668] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 225.\n\n[669] _Georg._, iv. 280-4; Dryden\u2019s _Trans._\n\n[670] Fosb. _Encycl. of Antiq._, ii. 738.\n\n[671] _Judg._ xiv. 8.\n\n[672] Cf. Swammerdam, _Hist. of Ins._, Pt. I. p. 227, and Smith\u2019s _Dict.\nof the Bible_.\n\n[673] Herod., v. 114-5.\n\n[674] _Excursions_, i. 127.\n\n[675] _Fem. Monarchie_, c. vi. 49.\n\n[676] Williams\u2019 _Chinese Empire_, i. 275.\n\n[677] Chiflet, 164-181; Montf. _Monarch. Franc._, i. 12; Gough\u2019s _Sepul.\nMon._, vol. i. p. lxii.\n\n[678] Cf. _N. & Q._, vii. 478, 553; viii. 30.\n\n[679] Harper\u2019s _New Monthly Mag._, xxvi. 441.\n\n[680] _Il._ \u03b2. 87; \u03bc. 67; _Odyss._, \u03bd. 106.\n\n[681] Hesiod, Theog., 594, seq.\n\n[682] Bucke _on Nature_, ii. 75.\n\n[683] Cf. Kalm, ii. 427; Schneider, Observ. sur Ulloa, ii. 198.\n\n[684] _Ibid._\n\n[685] _Tour in the Prairies_, ch. ix.\n\n[686] Langstroth _on the Honey-Bee_, p. 236.\n\n[687] _Letters._\n\n[688] _Voyages dans les Alpes._ _Ins. Misc._, p. 262.\n\n[689] Brookes mentions the Duchy of Juliers, a district of Westphalia,\nGermany.--_Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 160.\n\n[690] Columella says the Greeks were accustomed, every year, to remove\nthe hives from Achaia into Attica.--_Ibid._\n\n[691] One person in particular, in the territory called Gatonois, has\nbeen at the pains of removing his hives, after the harvest of Sainfoin,\ninto the plains of Beauce, where the melilot abounds, and thence into\nSologne, where it is well known the Bees may enjoy the advantage of\nbuckwheat, till toward the end of September, for so long that plant\nretains its flowers.--_Ibid._\n\n[692] _Ins. Misc._, p. 262.\n\n[693] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, iii. 652.\n\n[694] Wood\u2019s _Zoog._, ii. 429.\n\n[695] _Ins. Misc._, p. 263.\n\n[696] Quot. by Langstroth--_On Honey-Bee_, p. 305, note.\n\n[697] _Nat. Hist._, x. 9.\n\n[698] _Journ. of Geog. Soc._, 1843, xiii. 40.\n\n[699] Murray\u2019s _Africa_, i. 168.\n\n[700] Scot\u2019s _Mag._, Nov. 1766. Chamb. _Journ._, 1st S. xi. 184.\n\n[701] _The Bees._\n\n[702] _Treatise on Bees_, 1769. _Ins. Misc._, p. 320-1.\n\n[703] _Fem. Monarchie_, ch. i. 39.\n\n[704] _Travels_, p. 178, Harper\u2019s ed.\n\n[705] B. VII. c. xvi. p. 667. Printed, 1613.\n\n[706] Montaigne\u2019s _Works_, p. 243.\n\n[707] Lesser, ii. 171. K. & S. _Introd._, ii. 247.\n\n[708] Knox, Pt. I. c. vi. p. 48.\n\n[709] Martyr, p. 274.\n\n[710] Banc. _Guiana_, p. 230.\n\n[711] _Nat. Hist. of Selborne_, p. 293.\n\n[712] _Trav._, i. 9.\n\n[713] _Med. Dict._\n\n[714] Langstroth _on Honey-Bee_, p. 315, note.\n\n[715] _Med. Dict._\n\n[716] _Fem. Monarchie_, c. x. 1.\n\n[717] B. 3, c. xv. xvi. p. 274-9. See also extract from Works of Sir J.\nMore, London, 1707, given by Langstroth--_on the Honey-Bee_, p. 287,\nnote.\n\n[718] _The Koran_, p. 219, note, Sale\u2019s.\n\n[719] _Ibid._, p. 219.\n\n[720] Athen. _Deipn._, B. 2, c. 26.\n\n[721] Moufet, _Theatr. Ins._, p. 29. Topsel\u2019s _Trans._, p. 911.\n\n[722] Brooke\u2019s _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 168.\n\n[723] Quot. by Langstroth _on the Honey-Bee_, p. 78-9.\n\n[724] _Anab._, B. 4.\n\n[725] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxi. 13. Tournefort, _Letters_, 17.\n\n[726] _Mission. Lab._, p. 121.\n\n[727] Hollingsh. _Chron._, i. 384.\n\n[728] Hawk\u2019s _Peruvian Antiq._, p. 198.\n\n[729] _Voyage to C. of G. Hope_, i. 255.\n\n[730] Jamieson\u2019s _Scot. Dict._\n\n[731] Wright\u2019s _Prov. Dict._\n\n[732] _Epigrams_, B. iv. epigr. 32.\n\n[733] Smith\u2019s _Dict. of the Bible_.\n\n[734] Osbeck\u2019s _Travels_, i. 32-3.\n\n[735] Josselyn\u2019s _Voy._, p. 121.\n\n[736] Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes of Scot._, p. 292. Edit. of 1841, p. 172.\n\n[737] Dalyell\u2019s _Superst. of Scotland_, p. 563.\n\n[738] Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 346-7. Wood\u2019s _Zoog._, ii. 436-7.\n\n[739] Kirby\u2019s _Wonderful Museum_, v. 390-1, given at length.\n\n[740] Kirby\u2019s _Wond. Museum_, vi. 260-2, at length.\n\n[741] Livy, B. 34, c. 10.\n\n[742] _Ibid._, B. 40, c. 19.\n\n[743] _Ibid._, B. 43, c. 13.\n\n[744] Brown\u2019s _Book of Butterflies_, i. 126.\n\n[745] _Annales_, p. 15.\n\n[746] _Ibid._\n\n[747] Holling., i. 449. Graft., i. 37. Fabyan, p. 17.\n\n[748] Howitt\u2019s _North. Literat._, i. 187.\n\n[749] Bucke _on Nature_, i. 277.\n\n[750] Moufet, p. 107.\n\n[751] Hone\u2019s _Ev. Day Book_, p. 1127.\n\n[752] Chambers\u2019 _Domest. Annals of Scotland_, ii. 489.\n\n[753] Gassendi\u2019s _Life of Peireskius_, p. 123-5; and Reaumur, i. 638,\n667.\n\n[754] Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 206.\n\n[755] The origin of red snow has likewise been a puzzle and query for\nages, and many theories have been advanced by philosophers and\nnaturalists to account for it. To those interested in the solution of\nthis phenomenon, the following extract from the _Mag. of Nat. Hist._,\nvol. ii. p. 322, may be curious, if not satisfactory. Mr. Thomas\nNicholson, accompanied with two other gentlemen, made an excursion the\n24th July, 1821, to Sowallick Point, near Bushman\u2019s Island, in Prince\nRegent\u2019s Bay, in quest of meteoric iron. \u201cThe summit of the hill,\u201d he\nsays, \u201cforming the point, is covered with huge masses of granite, whilst\nthe side, which forms a gentle declivity to the bay, was covered with\ncrimson snow. It was evident, at first view, that this colour was\nimparted to the snow by a substance lying on the surface. This substance\nlay scattered here and there in small masses, bearing some resemblance\nto powdered cochineal, surrounded by a lighter shade, which was produced\nby the colouring matter being partly dissolved and diffused by the\ndeliquescent snow. During this examination our hats and upper garments\nwere observed to be daubed with a substance of a similar red colour, and\na moment\u2019s reflection convinced us that this was the excrement of the\nlittle Auk (_Uria alle_, Temmink), myriads of which were continually\nflying over our heads, having their nests among the loose masses of\ngranite. A ready explanation of the origin of the red snow was now\npresented to us, and not a doubt remained in the mind of any that this\nwas the correct one. The snow on the mountains of higher elevation than\nthe nests of these birds was perfectly white, and a ravine at a short\ndistance, which was filled with snow from top to bottom, but which\nafforded no hiding-place for these birds to form their nests, presented\nan appearance uniformly white.\u201d\n\nThis testimony seems to be as clear and indisputable as the explanation\ngiven by Peiresc of the ejecta of the Butterflies at Aix. But though it\nwill account, perhaps, for the red snow of the polar regions, it will\nnot explain that of the Alps, the Apennines, and the Pyrenees, which are\nnot, so far as is known, visited by the little Auk.--Vide _Ins.\nTransf._, p. 352-5.\n\n[756] Chamb. _Domes. Annals of Scotl._, ii. 199.\n\n[757] Chamb. _Domes. Annals of Scotl._, ii. 447-8.\n\n[758] _Gent. Mag._, xxxiv. 496.\n\n[759] _Ibid._, xxxiv. 542.\n\n[760] Bucke _on Nature_, i. 277.\n\n[761] Brown\u2019s _Bk. of Butterflies_, i. 129.\n\n[762] Chamb. _Domes. Annals of Scotl._, ii. 448.\n\n[763] Swam. _Hist. of Ins._, Pt. I. p. 40.\n\n[764] Cf. the following verses from Ex. vii. 19: \u201cAnd the LORD spake\nunto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand\nupon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and\nupon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may\nbecome blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of\nEgypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.\n\n\u201c20. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up\nthe rod, and smote the waters that were in the river in the sight of\nPharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were\nin the river were turned to blood.\u201d\n\n[765] Swam. _Hist. of Ins._, Pt. I. p. 40.\n\n[766] Chamb. _Journ._, 2d S. xvii. 231.\n\n[767] _Sil. Journ._, xli. 403-4, and xliv. 216.\n\n[768] _Naturforsch_, xi. 94.\n\n[769] _Travels_, i. 13.\n\n[770] _Royal Milit. Chron._ for March, 1815, p. 452. K. and S.\n_Introd._, ii. 11.\n\n[771] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, i. 387, and _Mem. de la Soc. de Phys. et\nd\u2019Hist. Nat. de Gen\u00e8ve_.\n\n[772] _Penny Mag._, 1844, p. 3.\n\n[773] _Gent. Mag._, liv. 744.\n\n[774] _Researches_, ch. viii. p. 158.\n\n[775] Brown\u2019s _Bk. of Butterf._, p. 101.\n\n[776] _Lake Ngami_, p. 267.\n\n[777] _Naturalist in Bermuda_, p. 120.\n\n[778] Tennent\u2019s _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, ch. xii. p. 407.\n\n[779] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 107. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 974.\n\n[780] Bryant\u2019s _Anct. Mythol._, ii. 386.\n\n[781] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, ii. 738.\n\n[782] _Travels._ He doubtless refers to an Indian _totem_.\n\n[783] _N. and Q._, iii. 4.\n\n[784] Du Halde, _China_, p. 21-2; Grosier\u2019s _China_, i. 570; Williams\u2019\n_Mid. Kingd._, i. 273; Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, iv. 512.\n\n[785] Harris\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 987.\n\n[786] Osbeck, _Travels_, i. 331.\n\n[787] _Ibid._, i. 324.\n\n[788] Stedman, _Surinam_, i. 279. Cf. Bancroft, _Guiana_, p. 229.\n\n[789] _Anat. of Melanch._, 1651, p. 268.\n\n[790] _Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury_, p. 134.\n\n[791] _The Mirror_, xxv. 160.\n\n[792] Harris\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, i. 790.\n\n[793] _Egypt. and Chinese_, ii. 106.\n\n[794] Simmond\u2019s _Curios. of Food_, p. 312.\n\n[795] _Gatherings of a Nat. in Austral._, p. 288.\n\n[796] _Hist. of Ins._, p. 3.\n\n[797] Reaumur considers this cry to be produced by the friction of the\npalpi against the proboscis (_Memoires_, ii. 293). Huber, but without\nmentioning the particulars, says he has ascertained that Reaumur was\nquite mistaken (_On Bees_, p. 313, note). Schroeter ascribes the sound\nto the rubbing of the tongue against the head; and R\u00f6sel to the friction\nof the chest upon the abdomen. M. de Johet thinks it is produced by the\nair being suddenly propelled against these scales by the action of the\nwings. M. Lorry states that the sound arises from the air escaping\nrapidly through peculiar cavities communicating with the spiracles, and\nfurnished with a fine tuft of hairs on the sides of the abdomen (Cuv.\n_An. Kingd.--Ins._, ii. 678). Mr. E. L. Layard seems to be of the same\nopinion (Tennent\u2019s _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 427). But M. Passerini,\ncurator of the Museum of Nat. Hist. at Florence, has lately investigated\nthe subject more minutely. He traced the origin of the sound to the\ninterior of the head, in which he discovered a cavity at the passage\nwhere muscles are placed for impelling and expelling the air. M. Dumeril\nhas since discovered a sort of membrane stretched over this cavity,\nlike, as he says, to the head of a drum. M. Duponchel has also confirmed\nby experiment the opinions of Passerini and Dumeril, and confutes Lorry,\nwhose notion was generally adopted, by stating that the noise is\nproduced from the head when the body of the insect is removed (_Annales\ndes Sci. Nat._, Mars., 1828).\n\n[798] Cf. _Penny Encycl._, _sub._ Sphinx, and _The Mirror_, xix. 212.\n\n[799] _Hist. of Ins._, p. 191.\n\n[800] Reaumur, ii. 289. Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 217.\n\n[801] _Saturday Mag._, xix. 102.\n\n[802] _Notes and Queries_, xii. 200.\n\n[803] Bonnet, _\u0152vres_, ii. 124.\n\n[804] _China_, p. 253. Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, iv. 138.\n\n[805] Williams\u2019 _Middle Kingdom_, ii. 121-2.\n\n[806] Colebrook, _Asiat. Research._, v. 61.\n\n[807] Aristotle, v. 17-9. Pliny, ix. 20.\n\n[808] Paus. _Hist. of Greece_, B. 6, c. 26.\n\n[809] Aristot. _Hist. An._, v. 19.\n\n[810] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xi. 23.\n\n[811] _Ibid._, xi. 22.\n\n[812] Tacitus, _Ann._, B. 2, c. 33.\n\n[813] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 22.\n\n[814] Cf. Gibbon\u2019s _Decl. and Fall of Rom. Em._, c. 40.\n\n[815] Some authors, however, assert that the name was suggested by the\nresemblance of the Morea to the shape of the mulberry-leaf, a less\nplausible opinion by far than the former.\n\n[816] Thuanus, in contradiction to most other writers, makes the\nmanufacture of silk to be introduced into Sicily two hundred years\nlater, by Robert the Wise, King of Sicily and Count of Provence.\n\n[817] Burgon\u2019s _Life of Sir Thomas Gresham_, 1839, i. 110, 302.\n\n[818] Stow\u2019s _Chronicle_, edit. 1631, p. 887.\n\n[819] Keysler, _Trav._, i. 289.\n\n[820] Olin, _Travels_.\n\n[821] _Polit. Essay on N. Spain_, iii. 59.\n\n[822] Skinner\u2019s _Pres. State of Peru_, p. 346, note. Southey\u2019s _Hist. of\nBrazil_, iii. 644. Calancha\u2019s _Augustine Hist. of Peru_, i. 66.\n\n[823] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, ii. 634.\n\n[824] _Pilgrims_, iii. 442.\n\n[825] Darwin, _Phytolog._, p. 364. Donovan\u2019s _Ins. of China_, p. 6.\n\n[826] Hollman, _Travels_, p. 473.\n\n[827] Donovan\u2019s _Ins. of China_, p. 6.\n\n[828] _Med. Dict._\n\n[829] Geoffroy, _Treat. on Subst. used in Physic_, p. 383.\n\n[830] _Twelve Years in China_, p. 14.\n\n[831] _Twelve Years in China_, p. 14.\n\n[832] _Ibid._\n\n[833] _Ibid._, p. 194.\n\n[834] _Memoires of Robt. Houdin_, p. 161.\n\n[835] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, vi. 9.\n\n[836] Baird\u2019s _Encycl. of Nat. Sci._ Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 229.\n\n[837] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, vii. 705.\n\n[838] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 88. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 958.\n\n[839] Moufet, p. 108. Topsel, p. 975.\n\n[840] _Monthly Mag._, 7 (Pt. I.) xxxix. 1799.\n\n[841] _Pilgrims_, ii. 1034.\n\n[842] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 99.\n\n[843] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxviii. 7 (23).\n\n[844] Col. B. x.\n\n[845] \u00c6lian, B. xi. c. 3.\n\n[846] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxviii. 7 (23).\n\n[847] Vide Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 99.\n\n[848] Col. _In Hort._, v. 357.\n\n[849] Pallad. B. i. c. 35.\n\n[850] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 193. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1041 and\n670.\n\n[851] _Hist. of Indians of U. S._, v. p. 70.\n\n[852] _Hist, of Beasts_, p. 30.\n\n[853] Moufet, _Theatr. Ins._, p. 194. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, pp.\n670, 1041.\n\n[854] _Med. Dict._\n\n[855] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 431.\n\n[856] K\u00f6llar\u2019s _Treat. on Ins._, Lond. Trans., p. 105-36. Curtis\u2019s _Farm\nInsects_, p. 507.\n\n[857] Lilly\u2019s _Prophetical Merlin_, pub. in 1644.\n\n[858] Josselyn\u2019s _Voy._, p. 116.\n\n[859] Jamieson\u2019s _Scot. Dict._, ii. 144.\n\n[860] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, i. 66.\n\n[861] Harper\u2019s _New Monthly Mag._, xxii. 41.\n\n[862] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 274. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1100.\n\n[863] _On the Honey-Bee_, p. 248.\n\n[864] _Ibid._, p. 238, note.\n\n[865] It is a philosophical fact that the female Cicadas are not capable\nof making any noise--the above distich evinces its early discovery.\n\n[866] _Symposiaques._ B. 8. Holl. _Trans._, p. 630.\n\n[867] Thuc. B. 1, vi. (Bohn\u2019s ed.).\n\n[868] On Aristoph., _Vesp._ 230.\n\n[869] Cited by Athen., 525.\n\n[870] Cicada-combs are alluded to in Aristoph., Eq. 1331. Cf. also\nPhilostr. _Imag._, p. 837. Heracl. Pont., cited by Athen., p. 512.\nBloomfield\u2019s _Thucid._, i. 14.\n\n[871] Cited by Athen., p. 842 (Bohn\u2019s ed.).\n\n[872] Strabo, _Geog._ B. 6.\n\n[873] _Iliad_, iii. 152. Buckley\u2019s translation, p. 53.\n\n[874] _Georg._ iii. 328. Cf. Bucol. ii. Sir J. E. Smith, Tour., iii. 95,\nsays also that the common Italian species makes a most disagreeable and\ndull chirping. The Cicadas of Africa, it is said, may be heard half a\nmile off; and the sound of one in a room will put a whole company to\nsilence. Thunberg asserts that those of Java utter a sound as shrill and\npiercing as that of a trumpet. Captain Hancock informed Messrs. Kirby\nand Spence that the Brazilian Cicadas sing as loud as to be heard at the\ndistance of a mile. _Introd._, ii. 400. The sound of our American\nspecies, _C. septemdecim_, has been compared to the ringing of\nhorse-bells. The tettix of the Greeks, says Dr. Shaw, _Travels_, 2d\nedit., p. 186, must have had quite a different voice, more soft surely\nand more melodious; otherwise the fine orators of Homer, who are\ncompared to it, can be looked upon as no better than loud, loquacious\nscolds.\n\n[875] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 134. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 994. Vide\nPierius\u2019 _Hieroglyph._, p. 270-1. Initiatus sacris; Dicacitatis\ncastigatio; Vana garrulitas; Nobilitas generis; Musica.\n\n[876] V. 2, c. 4, Donovan\u2019s _Ins. of China_, p. 32.\n\n[877] _Middle Kingd._\n\n[878] _Surinam_, 49.\n\n[879] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 432.\n\n[880] _Desc. of China_, i. 442.\n\n[881] Oliphant\u2019s _Lord Elgin\u2019s Miss. to China_, p. 565.\n\n[882] _Hist. An._, B. 5, c. 24, \u00a7 3, 4. Bohn\u2019s edit.\n\n[883] Cf. Bochart, _Hieroz._, ii. 491.\n\n[884] _Phil. Trans._, 1763, n. 10.\n\n[885] _Travels_, i. 331.\n\nBaird says, but on what authority he does not state, that Cicadas are\nfrequently to be seen represented on the Egyptian monuments, and are\nsaid to be emblems of the ministers of religion.--_Encycl. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[886] _Insects of Surinam_, p. 49.\n\n[887] Jaeger, _Life of N. A. Ins._, p. 73.\n\n[888] _Ins. of China_, p. 30. That the Lantern-fly emits no light, see\n_Dict. d\u2019Hist. Nat._; M. Richards\u2019 statement in _Encyclop._, art.\n_Fulgora_; _Berlin Mag._, i. 153; Kirby and Spence, _Introd._, ii. 414,\nnote; Jaeger, _qua supra_.\n\n[889] Stedman, _Surinam_, ii. 37.\n\n[890] _Hist. of Barbados_, p. 65.\n\n[891] Nat. Hist., xi. 12. Holl. _Trans._, i. 315. E.\n\n[892] Theoph. _Hist. Plant._, iii. 7, 6. Cf. Hes. _Opp. et Dies_, 232,\nseq. and Bacon, _Syl. Sylvarum_, 496.\n\n[893] St. John\u2019s _Anct. Greeks_, ii. 299.\n\n[894] B. 3, c. xvi. p. 278. Printed 1613.\n\n[895] _Nat. Hist. of Selborne_, p. 366.\n\n[896] K. and S. _Introd._, ii. 9.\n\n[897] Reaumur, iii. xxxi. Pref.\n\n[898] Isaiah, ch. i. v. 18.\n\n[899] Ex. ch. xxvi. xxviii. xxix.\n\n[900] Diosc. iv. 48, p. 260. Pausan. B. x. p. 890.\n\n[901] Beckman\u2019s _Hist. of Inventions_, ii. 163-195. Bancroft _on Perm.\nColors_, i. 393-408.\n\n[902] _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 77.\n\n[903] Bancroft _on Permanent Colors_, i. 408-9.\n\n[904] _Hist. of Inventions_, ii. 184.\n\n[905] _Ibid._, 192.\n\n[906] Shaw\u2019s _Zool._, vi. 192.\n\n[907] _Subst. used in Physic_, p. 370.\n\n[908] _Phil. Trans._ for 1791.\n\n[909] Bancroft _on Permanent Colors_, ii. 1-59.\n\n[910] _Baird\u2019s Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._\n\n[911] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 270.\n\n[912] Ray, _Hist. Ins._, 7.\n\n[913] Hence the English word _Bug-bear_. In Matthew\u2019s Bible, the passage\nof the Psalms (xci. 5), \u201cThou shalt not be afraid of _the terror_ by\nnight,\u201d is rendered, \u201cThou shalt not nede to be afraid of any _bugs_ by\nnight.\u201d _Bug_ in this sense often occurs in Shakspeare. _Winter\u2019s Tale_,\nA. iii. Sc. 2, 3; _Henry VI._, A. v. Sc. 2; _Hamlet_, A. v. Sc. 2.\n\n[914] _Journal_, xvii. 40.\n\n[915] Churchill\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, iv. 190.\n\n[916] _Oriental Memoirs_, i. 256.\n\n[917] Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, iv. 513. Churchill\u2019s _same_, i.\n34.\n\n[918] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 160.\n\n[919] Dr. James says: \u201cGiven to the number of seven, as food with beans,\nthey help those who are afflicted with a quartan ague, if they be eaten\nbefore the accession of the fit.\u201d--_Med. Dict._\n\n[920] An excellent method, Ajasson remarks, of adding to the tortures of\nthe patient.\n\n[921] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 17. Bostock and Riley\u2019s _Trans._, v.\n393.\n\n[922] _Med. Dict._\n\n[923] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 270-1. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1098.\n\n[924] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 157.\n\n[925] _London Labor and the London Poor_, iii. 36-9.\n\n[926] _Annals of Nat. Hist._ Simmond\u2019s _Curiosities of Food_, p.\n308-311.\n\n[927] _Nature and Art_, xii. 198.\n\n[928] The numerous family of _Culicid\u00e6_ are confounded under the common\nnames of Gnat and Mosquito; hence many mistakes will necessarily arise.\n\n[929] _Theat. Ins._, p. 81. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 952.\n\n[930] Quot. in N. & Q., ix. 303.\n\n[931] _Phil. Trans._, lvii. 113; Bingley\u2019s _Anim. Biog._, iv. 205.\n\n[932] Germar\u2019s _Mag. der Entomol._, i. 137.\n\n[933] K. & S. _Introd._, i. 114.\n\n[934] _Phil. Trans._, lvii. 112-3.\n\n[935] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, vi. 545.\n\n[936] _Hist. of Barbados_, p. 63.\n\n[937] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 86. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 956.\n\n[938] Silliman\u2019s _Journal_, xxii. 375.\n\n[939] _Personal Narrative_, E. T. v. 87. Humboldt has given a detailed\naccount of these insect plagues, by which it appears that among them\nthere are diurnal and crepuscular, as well as nocturnal species, or\ngenera: the Mosquitoes, signifying _little flies_ (_Simulia_), flying in\nthe day; the _Temporaneros_, flying during twilight; and the Zancudos,\nmeaning _long-legs_ (_Culices_), in the night.\n\n[940] Stedm. _Surinam_, ii. 93.\n\n[941] _Ins. Theatr._, p. 82.\n\n[942] _Travels_, 8vo. edit. p. 205.\n\n[943] _Ins. Theatr._, p. 81.\n\n[944] _View of Jamaica_, p. 91.\n\n[945] Herod. Taylor\u2019s _Trans._, p. 141.\n\n[946] Nat. _Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 435.\n\n[947] Jackson\u2019s _Morocco_, p. 57.\n\n[948] _Travels_, i. 388.\n\n[949] _Ins. Theatr._, p. 85.\n\n[950] Theod. _Eccles. Hist._, B. ii. ch. xxx.\n\n[951] _N. A. Ins._, p. 317.\n\n[952] _Roman History_, B. xviii. c. 7, \u00a7 5.\n\n[953] _Three Years in California_, p. 250.\n\n[954] _Introd._, i. 119.\n\n[955] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 150.\n\n[956] _Lives of the Saints_, i. 50.\n\n[957] Lawson\u2019s _Bible Cyclop._, ii. 558, 3 v. 8vo.\n\n[958] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, ii. 8.\n\n[959] _Gent. Mag._, 1738, viii. 577.\n\n[960] _Ibid._, xxiv. 274.\n\n[961] _Travels_, ii. 5; 34-5; 51. Lond. 1802. 4to.\n\n[962] _Lach. Lapp._, ii. 108. _Flor. Lapp._, 380.\n\n[963] V. vi. p. 603-4.\n\n[964] V. ix. p. 573.\n\n[965] Lyell\u2019s _Princ. of Geol._, p. 656.\n\n[966] Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 1st S. p. 567.\n\n[967] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, v. 302.\n\n[968] _The Mirror_, xxvii. 68.\n\n[969] Damp. _Voy._ O (vol. i.), 464.\n\n[970] _Travels_, i. 211.\n\n[971] Moufet\u2019s _Theat. Ins._, p. 78.\n\n[972] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 152.\n\n[973] _Nat. Hist._, x. 29. Holland, p. 285. D.\n\n[974] Holl. _Trans._, p. 631.\n\nVide Pierius\u2019 _Hieroglyph._, p. 268-9. Importunitas ac impudentia;\nPertinacia; Res gesta cominus; Indocilitas; Cynici.\n\n[975] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 70. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 945.\n\n[976] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 134.\n\n[977] _Chron. of Eng._, iii. 1002.\n\n[978] _N. and Q._, xii. 488.\n\n[979] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 70. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 944.\n\n[980] _Ibid._, p. 55. Topsel, p. 933.\n\n[981] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 191.\n\n[982] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, i. 84.\n\n[983] Holl. _Trans._, p. 76. There was one time a law at Athens, which a\ngood deal nonplussed these sponging gentlemen so appropriately called\nFlies. \u201cIt was decreed that not more than thirty persons should meet at\na marriage feast; and a wealthy citizen, desirous of going as far as the\nlaw would allow him, had invited the full complement. An honest Fly,\nhowever, who respected no law that interfered with his stomach;\ncontrived to introduce himself, and took his station at the lower end of\nthe table. Presently the magistrate appointed for the purpose entered,\nand espying his man at a glance, began counting the guests, commencing\non the other side and ending with the parasite. \u2018Friend,\u2019 said he, \u2018you\nmust retire. I find there is one more than the law allows.\u2019 \u2018It is quite\na mistake, sir,\u2019 replied the Fly, \u2018as you will find if you will have the\ngoodness to count again, beginning _on this side_.\u2019\u201d--St. John\u2019s _Man.\nand Cust. of Anct. Grec._, ii. 172.\n\n[984] Vide _Mercator_, A. ii. Sc. 4, and the _Young Carthag._, A. iii.\nSc. 3.\n\n[985] _Harleian Miscel._, viii. 423.\n\n[986] Fosbr. _Encycl. of Antiq._, ii. 738.\n\n[987] _Ibid._\n\n[988] Wilkinson\u2019s _Anct. Egypt._, 2d S. ii. 126, 260.\n\n[989] Hawk\u2019s _Peruvian Antiq._, p. 197.\n\n[990] Jamieson\u2019s _Scottish Dict._\n\n[991] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 6. Holl. _Trans._, p. 364. K.\n\n[992] _Antiq. of the Jews_, B. ix. c. 2. Whiston\u2019s _Trans._, p. 274.\n\n[993] _Pilg._, v. 81. Fol. 1626.\n\n[994] Whiston\u2019s _Trans. of Josephus_, p. 274, note.\n\n[995] _Dict. of Bible._\n\n[996] Moufet, _Theatr. Ins._, p. 79. Topsel\u2019s _Transl._, p. 951.\n\n[997] Dalyell\u2019s _Darker Superst. of Scotland_, p. 562. Edinbgh. 1834.\n\n[998] _Ibid._\n\n[999] _St. John\u2019s Man. and Cust. of Anct. Grec._, i. 150.\n\n[1000] Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, i. 377.\n\n[1001] _Mem. of Robt. Houdin_, p. 156. Philad. 1859.\n\n[1002] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 6. Holland\u2019s _Trans._, p. 364. I.\n\n[1003] _Ibid._, xxviii. 2 (5).\n\n[1004] _Voy._, C. 56, p. 222. Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 373.\n\n[1005] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 79. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 951.\n\n[1006] _London Lab. and London Poor_, iii. 28-33.\n\n[1007] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 158.\n\n[1008] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 284. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1107,\n1122.\n\n[1009] Kirby and Spence, _Introd._, i. 158.\n\n[1010] _Gasterophilus equi._\n\n[1011] Reg. Scot\u2019s _Disc. of Witchcraft_, p. 179.\n\n[1012] Henry IV., Pt. I. Act ii. Sc. 1.\n\n[1013] Newell\u2019s _Zool. of the Poets_, p. 29.\n\n[1014] Dalyell\u2019s _Superstitions of Scotland_, p. 564.\n\n[1015] _Saturday Mag._, xviii. 153.\n\n[1016] _Hist. of Ins._ (Murray, 1838), ii. 313.\n\n[1017] Henry IV. Pt. I., Act ii. Sc. 1.\n\n[1018] Moufet, _Theatr. Ins._, p. 276. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p.\n1102.\n\n[1019] _Hist. of Ins._ (Murray, 1838), ii. 312.\n\n[1020] Jenkin\u2019s _Voy. of the U. S. Explor. Exped._, p. 385.\n\n[1021] _Introd._, i. 100.\n\n[1022] _Ibid._\n\n[1023] Ray, _Hist. of Ins._, p. 8.\n\n[1024] _Pilgr._, iii. 997.\n\nMyas, a principal city of Ionia, was abandoned on account of\nFleas.--_Wanley\u2019s Wonders_, ii. 507.\n\n[1025] K. and S. _Introd._, i. 100.\n\n[1026] _Travels_, vol. ii.\n\n[1027] _Nat. Hist._, xxx. 10. Holl. _Trans._, p. 387.\n\n[1028] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, ii. 198.\n\n[1029] K. and S. _Introd._, i. 101.\n\n[1030] _Lach. Lapp._, ii. 32, note.\n\n[1031] _Hist. of Ins._, iii. 319, Murray, 1838.\n\n[1032] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 155-6.\n\n[1033] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 277. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1103.\n\n[1034] _Hist. of Ins._, ii. 318. Murray, 1838.\n\n[1035] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 102.\n\n[1036] Ramsay\u2019s _Poems_, ii. 143.\n\n[1037] _Theatre of Insects_, p. 102.\n\n[1038] Brookes\u2019 _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 284.\n\n[1039] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 204.\n\n[1040] Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 2d S. p. 406.\n\n[1041] Fosbr. _Encycl. of Antiq._, ii. 539.\n\n[1042] Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 4th S. p. 470.\n\n[1043] _Pilgr._, x. 192.\n\n[1044] Aristoph. _Clouds_, A. i. Sc. 2.\n\n[1045] _Pilg._, ii. 840, note.\n\n[1046] _Ins. Theatr._, p. 275.\n\n[1047] _Anim. Biog._, iii. 462.\n\nThe hand-bill, published by Mr. Boverick, in the Strand, in the year\n1745, and another nearly of the same date, ran thus: \u201cTo be seen at MR.\nBOVERICK\u2019S, Watchmaker, at the DIAL, facing Old Round Court, near the\nNew Exchange, in the Strand, at One Shilling each person.\u201d Then follows\na descriptive list of the articles to be seen, among which are mentioned\nthe above.--Kirby\u2019s _Wonderful Museum_, i. 101.\n\n[1048] _Ins. Misc._, p. 188.\n\n[1049] _Nouv. Dict. d\u2019Hist. Nat._, xxviii. 249.\n\n[1050] _Pilg._, ii. 840.\n\n[1051] 1 Saml. xxiv. 14; xxvi. 20.\n\n[1052] _Hist. of Ins._, p. 310.\n\n[1053] Wright\u2019s _Provincial Dict._\n\n[1054] Jamieson\u2019s _Scottish Dict._\n\n[1055] D\u2019Israeli, _Curios, of Lit._, i. 339.\n\n[1056] _Gent. Mag._, xxxii. 208.\n\n[1057] Stedman\u2019s _Surinam_.\n\n[1058] _Hist. of Barbados_, p. 65.\n\n[1059] _Hist. of Brazil_, i. 326.\n\n[1060] Vol. i. p. 128.\n\n[1061] _Pers. Narrative_, E. T. v. 101.\n\n[1062] Bayle, iii. 484. Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 4th S. p. 439.\n\n[1063] Bernal Diaz\u2019 _Conquest of Mexico_, i. 394, note 54. This story,\nno doubt, is founded on something like truth, and most probably these\nbags were filled with the _Coccus cacti_, the Cochineal insect, then\nunknown to the Spaniards, who might have easily mistaken them in a dried\nstate for Lice.\n\n[1064] _Pilg._, iii. 975.\n\n[1065] Cuv. _An. King.--Ins._, i. 163.\n\n[1066] _Pilg._, v. 542.\n\n[1067] _Wand. and Adv. in S. Africa_, i. 266.\n\n[1068] Kolb. _Trav._, ii. 179. Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, iii.\n352.\n\n[1069] _Pilg._, iii. 1133.\n\n[1070] _Ibid._, iii. 975.\n\n[1071] Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 373.\n\n[1072] Dampier\u2019s _Voy._, iii. 331. Lond. 1729.\n\n[1073] Dobriz., ii. 396. Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 2d S. p. 527.\n\n[1074] Cuvier, _An. Kingd.--Ins._, i. 163.\n\n[1075] Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 4th S. p. 439.\n\n[1076] _Thierry and Theod._, A. v. Sc. 1.\n\n[1077] James\u2019s _Med. Dict._\n\n[1078] _Gent. Mag._, xvi. 534.\n\n[1079] _Harleian Miscel._, vii. 435.\n\n[1080] Shaw, _Zool._, vi. 454.\n\n[1081] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 6 (75).\n\n[1082] Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes of Scotl._, p. 282-3. Edit. of 1841, p.\n243.\n\n[1083] Properly the second _Class_ of the sub-kingdom _Articulata_.\n\n[1084] Chambers\u2019 _Book of Days_, i. 687.\n\n[1085] _Nat. Hist._, xx. 12.\n\n[1086] Cf. Pliny, x. 12; and Moufet\u2019s _Theatr. Ins._, p. 205.\n\n[1087] B. i. ch. 1.\n\n[1088] _Hist. of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents_, p. 753.--Scorpions\nare bred \u201cfrom the carkass of the crocodile, as Antigonus affirms, _lib.\nde mirab. hist. cong._ 24. For in Archelaus there is an epigram of a\ncertain Egyptian in these words:\n\n    In vos dissolvit morte, et redigit crocodilum,\n    Natura extinctum (Scorpioli) omniparens.\n\nIn English:\n\n    The carkass of dead crocodiles is made the feed,\n    By common nature, whence Scorpions breed.\u201d\n\nMoufet\u2019s _Theatr. Ins._, p. 208. Topsel\u2019s _Trans._, p. 1052.\n\n[1089] _Qua supra_, p. 685.\n\n[1090] _Qua supra_, p. 689.\n\n[1091] _Ibid._, p. 207. Topsel\u2019s _Trans._, p. 1051.\n\n[1092] _Ibid._, p. 754.\n\n[1093] Andrew\u2019s _Anecdotes_, p. 427.\n\n[1094] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 25. Pliny here probably alludes to the\nPanorpis, or Scorpion-fly, the abdomen of which terminates in a forceps,\nwhich resembles the tail of the Scorpion.\n\n[1095] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 25.\n\n[1096] \u201cScorpion\u2019s tail.\u201d Dioscorides gives this name to the\nHelioscopium, or great Heliotropium.\n\n[1097] _Nat. Hist._, xxii. 29.\n\n[1098] \u201cTwo.\u201d\n\n[1099] _Nat. Hist._, xxviii. 5.\n\n[1100] The red arsenic of the Greeks was called by this\nname.--_Matthiol_, vi. 81.\n\n[1101] This prescription is given at the present day in Italy and the\nLevant.\n\n[1102] Zoroaster also mentions this. Vide Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 194.\n\n[1103] Pliny relates the same story, _Nat. Hist._, xxviii. 10 (42); also\nZoroaster, _qua supra_.\n\n[1104] Owen\u2019s _Geoponika_, ii. 146-8.\n\n[1105] Moufet\u2019s _Theatr. Ins._, 210-215. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts and\nSerpents_, p. 1053-7.\n\n[1106] Campbell\u2019s _Travels in S. Africa_, p. 325.\n\n[1107] _Nat. Hist._, viii. 29 (43).\n\n[1108] Churchill\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, i. 212.\n\n[1109] _Ibid._\n\n[1110] _Ibid._, v. 221.\n\n[1111] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ix. 261.\n\n[1112] _Ibid._, vii. 298.\n\n[1113] _Ibid._, xiv. 348.\n\n[1114] Churchill\u2019s _Coll. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 316.\n\n[1115] Wilkinson\u2019s _Anct. Egypt._, v. 52, 254.\n\n[1116] \u00c6lian, xvi. 41, and xii. 38. Wilkinson\u2019s _Anct. Egypt._, v. 254.\n\n[1117] Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 459.\n\n[1118] _Autobiog._, Lond. 1858, p. 304-5.\n\n[1119] Prescribed by Galen, Pliny, Lanfrankus, etc.\n\n[1120] _Hist. of Beasts and Serpents_, p. 757.\n\n[1121] So also Manardus.--Moufet, p. 210. Topsel\u2019s _Trans._, p. 1053.\n\n[1122] _Ibid._\n\n[1123] _Asiatic Miscellany_, ii. 451.\n\n[1124] Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts and Serpents_, p. 755-6.\n\n[1125] Topsel\u2019s _Trans.--Hist. of Beasts and Serpents_, p. 1058.\n\n[1126] _Chronicles_, i. 385.\n\n[1127] Keddie\u2019s _Cyclop. of Anecd._, p. 288.\n\n[1128] _Chamb. Misc._, vol. xi. No. 100. Compare this story with that of\nTimour and the Ant.\n\n[1129] Ockley\u2019s _Hist. of the Saracens_, i. 36.\n\n[1130] _Lives of the Saints_, i. 177-8. Cf. Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 402.\n\n[1131] Bucke _on Nature_, ii. 103.\n\n[1132] _Hist. de la Mus._, i. 321. Hawkins\u2019 _Hist. of Music_, iii. 117,\nnote.\n\n[1133] _Biogr. Univers._, tome xxxiii. See also Arvine\u2019s _Anecdotes_, p.\n402.\n\nTo this account, in the Hist. of Insects printed by John Murray, 1830,\ni. 269, is added: \u201cThe governor of the Bastile hearing that this\nunfortunate prisoner had found a solace in the society of a Spider, paid\nPelisson a visit, desiring to see the man\u0153uvres of the insect. The\nBasque struck up his notes, the Spider instantly came to be fed by his\nfriend; but the moment it appeared on the floor of the cell, the\ngovernor placed his foot on its body, and crushed it to death.\u201d\n\n[1134] _The Mirror_, xxvii. 69.\n\n[1135] Hone\u2019s _Ev. Day Book_, i. 334.\n\n[1136] _Stray Leaves from the Book of Nature._\n\n[1137] _Quart. Rev._ for Jan. 1844.\n\n[1138] This passage from Pliny is thus translated by Bostock and Riley:\n\u201cPresages are also drawn from the Spider, for when a river is about to\nswell, it will suspend its web higher than usual. In calm weather these\ninsects do not spin, but when it is cloudy they do, and hence it is,\nthat a great number of cobwebs is a sure sign of showery\nweather.\u201d--_Nat. Hist._, xi. 24 (28). _Trans._, iii. 28.\n\n[1139] Brande\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 223.\n\n[1140] _Ev. Day Bk._, i. 931. Quot. also in Chamb. _Journ._, 1st Ser.,\nvi. 95.\n\n[1141] Paus. _Hist. of Greece_, B. 9, c. 6.\n\n[1142] Fosbr. _Encycl. of Antiq._\n\n[1143] Jamieson\u2019s _Scottish Dict._\n\n[1144] Brande\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 223.\n\n[1145] _N. and Q._, iii. 3.\n\n[1146] _Worthies_, p. 58. Pt. II. Ed. 1662.\n\n[1147] _N. and Q._, ii. 165.\n\n[1148] _Aulul._, A. i. Sc. 3.\n\n[1149] Thorpe\u2019s _North. Antiq._, iii. 329.\n\n[1150] _N. and Q._, 2d ed. iv. 298.\n\n[1151] _Ibid._, iv. 377.\n\n[1152] _Gent. Mag._, June, 1771, xli. 251.\n\n[1153] _N. and Q._, 2d ed. iv. 523.\n\n[1154] _Ibid._, iv. 421.\n\n[1155] _Ibid._, iv. 298.\n\n[1156] _Vulg. Err._, B. iii. c. 277. _Works_, ii. 527.\n\n[1157] Pliny says the Spider, poised in its web, will throw itself upon\nthe head of a serpent as it lies stretched beneath the shade of the tree\nwhere it has built, and with its bite pierce its brain; such is the\nshock, he continues, that the creature will hiss from time to time, and\nthen, seized with vertigo, coil round and round, while it finds itself\nunable to take to flight, or so much as to break the web of the Spider,\nas it hangs suspended above; this scene, he concludes, only ends with\nits death.--_Nat. Hist._, x. 95.\n\n[1158] Browne\u2019s _Works_, ii. 524, note.\n\n[1159] _Med. Dict._, sub _Araneus_.\n\n[1160] _Univers. Hist._, i. 48, also _Gent. Mag._, xli. 400.\n\n[1161] _Trav._, p. 322, and Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 726.\nBosman says this \u201cwas the greatest piece of ignorance and stupidity he\nobserved in the negroes.\u201d\n\n[1162] Churchill\u2019s _Col. of V. and T._, v. 222.\n\n[1163] _N. and Q._, vii. 431.\n\n[1164] Chamb. _Misc._, vol. xi. No. 100.\n\n[1165] _Ibid._\n\n[1166] _The Mirror_, xxvii. 69.\n\n[1167] B. 7, c. xv. p. 665. Printed 1613.\n\n[1168] Eliz. Cook\u2019s _Journ._, vii. 378.\n\n[1169] Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, i. 20.\n\n[1170] Silliman\u2019s _Journal_, xxvii. 307-10.\n\n[1171] _Annual of Sci. Disc._, 1862, p. 335.\n\n[1172] _Nat. Hist. of Selborne_, p. 285.\n\n[1173] Hone\u2019s _Ev. Day Bk._, p. 1332.\n\n[1174] _Nat. Hist._, ii. 54. Holl. _Trans._, p. 27. F.\n\n[1175] _Faerie Queene_, B. 2, c. xii. s. 77.\n\n[1176] _Seasons: Summer_, 1. 1209.\n\n[1177] _Emblems_, p. 375.\n\n[1178] Blackmore, _Prince Arthur_.\n\n[1179] Quot. in the _Athen\u00e6um_, v. 126.\n\n[1180] Jamieson\u2019s _Scot. Dict._, iv. 138.\n\n[1181] Keightley\u2019s _Fairy Mythol._, p. 514.\n\n[1182] _Microgr._, p. 202. It has been objected, say Kirby and Spence,\nto the excellent primitive writer, Clemens Romanus, that he believed the\nabsurd fable of the ph\u0153nix. But surely this may be allowed for in him,\nwho was no naturalist, when a scientific natural philosopher could\nbelieve that the clouds are made of Spiders\u2019 web!--_Introd._, ii. 331,\nnote.\n\n[1183] James\u2019s _Med. Dict._\n\n[1184] _Ibid._\n\n[1185] James\u2019s _Med. Dict._\n\n[1186] Harris\u2019s _Coll. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 586-7.\n\n[1187] _Ibid._\n\n[1188] _Treasvrie of Anct. and Mod. Times_, p. 393.\n\n[1189] Boyle\u2019s _Works_, ii. 181-2.\n\n[1190] Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, vi. 607.\n\n[1191] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, vii. 299.\n\n[1192] Astley\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, vi. 656.\n\n[1193] B. 7, c. 15, p. 664. Printed 1613.\n\n[1194] Diod., B. 3, c. 2.\n\n[1195] Strabo, B. 16, c. 6, \u00a7 13.\n\n[1196] Fosbr. _Encyc. of Antiq._, ii. 738.\n\n[1197] Sloane\u2019s _Hist. of Jamaica_, ii. 195.\n\n[1198] Damp. _Voy._ Camp., p. 64.\n\n[1199] Harris\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ii. 242. Cf. Smith\u2019s _Nature\nand Art_, x. 257.\n\n[1200] _Travels_, i. 201.\n\n[1201] _Voyage \u00e0 la recherche de la Perouse_, ii. 240. K. & S.\n_Introd._, i. 311.\n\n[1202] _New Amer. Cyclop._\n\n[1203] _Trav. in Africa._ Bucke _on Nature_, ii. 297.\n\n[1204] Pinkerton\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ix. 612.\n\n[1205] _Hist. of West Indies_, p. 301.\n\n[1206] Reaum., ii. 342. K. & S. _Introd._, i. 311.\n\n[1207] _Phil. Trans._ Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 3d S. p. 731. Shaw,\n_Nat. Misc._\n\n[1208] Moufet, _Theatr. Ins._, p. 220. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts and\nSerpents_, p. 789, 1067. Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 459.\n\n[1209] _Biogr. Univers._, tome xxiii. p. 230, note.\n\n[1210] R\u00f6sel, iv. 257. K. & S. _Introd._, i. 311.\n\n[1211] Wanley\u2019s _Wonders_, ii. 459.\n\n[1212] Andrew\u2019s _Anecd.,_ p. 37. App.\n\n[1213] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 27. Bost. & Riley.\n\n[1214] _Ibid._\n\n[1215] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 38.\n\n[1216] _Ibid._, xxix. 39.\n\n[1217] _Ibid._, xxix. 36.\n\n[1218] _Staple of News_, A. ii. Sc. 1, vol. v. p. 219. Lond. 1816. \u201cA\nSpider is usually given to monkeys, and is esteemed a sovereign remedy\nfor the disorders those animals are principally subject to.\u201d--_James\u2019s\nMed. Dict._ Spiders are also fed to mocking-birds, not only as food, but\nalso as an aperient.\n\n[1219] _Mid. Night\u2019s Dream_, Act iii. Sc. 1.\n\n[1220] Vide _Eventful Life of a Soldier_. Edinbg. 1852.\n\n[1221] _N. and Q._, 2d ed. x. 138.\n\n[1222] _Elements of Mat. Med. and Therap._, Philad. 1825.\n\n[1223] Chamb. _Bk. of Days_, i. 732.\n\n[1224] Grah. _Domest. Med._\n\n[1225] Thorpe\u2019s _North. Mythol._, iii. 329.\n\n[1226] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 287.\n\n[1227] James\u2019s _Med. Dict._\n\n[1228] Geoffroy\u2019s _Substances used in Med._, p. 383.\n\n[1229] Moufet, _Theatr. Insect._, p. 237. Topsel\u2019s _Hist. of Beasts and\nSerpents_, p. 1073.\n\n[1230] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 27.\n\n[1231] _Miscellanies_, p. 138.\n\n[1232] Vide _Hist. and Mem. de l\u2019Acad. Royale des Sciences_, ann. 1710;\nDissert. by M. Bon, _Sur l\u2019utilit\u00e9 de la soye des Arraign\u00e9es_, 8vo.\nAlso, Bancroft _on Permanent Colors_, i. 101; and Shaw\u2019s _Nat. Hist._,\nvi. 481.\n\n[1233] _New Amer. Cyclop._\n\n[1234] _Voy. dans l\u2019Amer. Merid._, i. 212. K. and S. _Introd._, i. 337.\n\n[1235] _Naturalist in Bermuda_, p. 126.\n\n[1236] _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1858, p. 92.\n\n[1237] _Nouv. Dict. d\u2019Hist. Nat._, ii. 280. K. and S. _Introd._, i. 337,\nnote.\n\n[1238] _Hist. of Beasts and Serpents_, p. 778.\n\n[1239] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 235. Topsel\u2019s _Trans._, p. 1072.\n\n[1240] _Ins. Archit._, p. 7.\n\n[1241] Swammerdam, _Hist. of Ins._, p. 5.\n\n[1242] Garasse, _Recherches des Recherches de M. Estiene Pasquier_, p.\n357. Southey\u2019s _Com. Place Bk._, 3d S. p. 282.\n\n[1243] Hone\u2019s _Ev. Day Bk._, i. 294.\n\n[1244] _Gent. Mag._, iii. 492.\n\n[1245] _Ibid._, xxiv. 293.\n\n[1246] K. and S. _Introd._, ii. 415.\n\n[1247] _Ephem. Nat. Curios._, 1673. 80.\n\n[1248] K. and S. _Introd._, ii. 415, note.\n\n[1249] Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, iii. 273.\n\n[1250] _Pers. Nar._, iv. 571.\n\n[1251] _Ibid._, ii. 205.\n\n[1252] _Ann. of Eng._, p. 1219.\n\n[1253] _Voy. to C. of Good Hope_, i. 45.\n\n[1254] _Mag. of Nat. Hist._, iv. 148-9.\n\n[1255] _Hist. of China_, B. I. c. 18, and Churchill\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and\nTrav._, i. 39.\n\n[1256] Churchill\u2019s _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, i. 212.\n\n[1257] _The Mirror_, xix. 180.\n\n[1258] Pinkertons _Col. of Voy. and Trav._, ix. 632.\n\n[1259] _Hist. of Ins._, p. 53-4.\n\n[1260] _Ibid._\n\n[1261] _Hist. of Ins._, p. 197.\n\n[1262] _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 35.\n\n[1263] _Voy. round the World_, ii. 35-7.\n\n[1264] Thevenot\u2019s _Travels_, Pt. I. p. 249.\n\n[1265] _Trav. and Res. in S. Africa_, p. 48.\n\n\n\n\nERRATA.\n\n\nPage 43, line 19 from the top, between the words \u201cis it\u201d and \u201cplain\u201d\ninsert the word \u201cnot.\u201d\n\nPage 71, line 29, for \u201c_Carabus chrysocephaluo_\u201d read \u201c_Carabus\nchrysocephalus_.\u201d\n\nPage 131, line 12, for \u201cMrs. A. L. Ruyter Dufour\u201d read \u201cMrs. A. L. Ruter\nDufour.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes.\n\n\nPunctuation has been standardised, and obvious typographical errors\nhave been repaired. Variations in hyphenation and obsolete or variant\nspelling have all been preserved.\n\nFootnote 276 does not have a marker in the original text, and has\nbeen left unmarked.\n\nThe changes noted in the author's errata list have been applied\nto the text.\n\nThe following changes have also been made:\n\nPage 83, Prech\u00ea => Pr\u00eache\n\nPage 98, Grasshopers => Grasshoppers\n\nPage 171, \u00c6gytians => \u00c6gyptians\n\nPage 225, vicosity => viscosity\n\nPage 327, tranferred => transferred\n\nPage 330, fankincense => frankincense\n\nPage 239, trowsters => throwsters\n\nPage 380, fondess => fondness\n\nPage 389, Paplionid\u00e6 => Papilionid\u00e6","title":"Curious Facts in the History of Insects; Including Spiders and Scorpions.: A Complete Collection of the Legends, Superstitions, Beliefs, and Ominous Signs Connected with Insects; Together with Their Uses in Medicine, Art, and as Food; and a Summary of Their Remarkable Injuries and Appearances.","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":143534}