biigar At; Hiltarme.

ANIMAL
BIOGRAPHY;

OR,

AUTHENTIC ANECDOTES

OF THE

LIVES, MANNERS, AND ECONOMY

Or THE

ANIMAL CREATION,

ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE SYSTEM OF LINNAZUS.

BY THE REV. W. BINGLEY, A. M.
FELLOW OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY,
AND LATE OF PETERHOUSE, CAMBRIDGE.
ee
IN THREE VOLUMES.

ee errs

SECOND EDITION,
WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS. “WEARNS

oad C@LLECTION
VOL. III.
AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS,—FISHES,
INSECTS,— WORMS. ZAN4A\O

AE ASE ETD PE ES OT EOE OT

London,

PRINTED FOR R. PHILLIPS, no. 71, st. pauL’s caurcH-yarb,
AND SOLD BY T. HURST, PATERNOSTER-ROW}; E. BALFOUR,
EDINBURGH; AND J. ARCHER, DUBLIN.

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1804, |
C. Mercier and Co. printers, Northumberland-court, Strand.

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AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS.

‘Tue title of Amphibia is given by Linneus to the
Reptile and Serpent tribes; or to such animals as
have cold blood, and live occasionally both on land
and in water. It is true that this may be considered
exceptionable on account of some individuals being
confined to only one of those elements: these are,
however, so very few as not, with any propriety, to

affect their general denomination. None of the

animals can exist exclusively in water, since they
all breathe the air of our atmosphere.

Their abode is usually in retired, watery, and
shady places, where they are, most probably, sta-
tioned to prevent the excessive multiplication of
water animals and insects; and themselves, in many
instances, to serve as food for fishes and birds.
They do not chew their food, but swallow it whole,
the throat and stomach being capable of great dis-
tention, sometimes receiving animals of greater
thickness than themselves in a natural state. Some,
but not many of them, live on plants or flesh. They
have a power of enduring abstinence that would

WOE W1IT B

4 AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS.

infallibly prove fatal to most other orders of animals.
Several of the species have been known to exisf,
and in apparent health and vivacity, for many months
without food.

They are able, from the peculiar structure of their
organs, to suspend respiration at pleasure; and thus
to support a change of element uninjured.

It is generally asserted, and believed, that the
hearts of the Amphibia are furnished with only one
ventricle : more accurate physiologists are, however,
of opinion that we ought rather to say that they
have two ventricles, with an immediate communi-
cation between them. The blood is red, but cold,
and in small quantity.

The lungs consist, for the most part, of a pair
of large bladders or membranaceous receptacles,
parted into cancelli or small subdivisions, among
which are beautifully distributed their few pulmo-
nary blood-vessels.

Many of the animals possess a high degree of
reproductive power, and when their feet, tail, &c.
are by any accident destroyed, others will grow in
their place—Their bodies are sometimes defended
by a hard horny shield or covering ; and sometimes
by a coriaceous integument. Some species have
scales ; and others soft pustular warts, or protube-
rances.—Their bones are more cartilaginous than
those either of quadrupeds or birds. Several of the
species are destitute of ribs.\—Some are furnished
with formidable teeth, whilst others are entirely
without: some again are fierce and predacious ; and
others perfectly inoffensive. In general, however,

AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS. 3

they are of a mild and peaceful disposition.—The bo-
dies of the amphibious animals are cold to the touch.
This circumstance, and their usually squalid and
ugly form, have excited so great a disgust as partly
to have founded the notion of all of them being ve-
nomous. Very few, however, except among the
Serpent tribes, and even of these not more than one
sixth of the species, possess this dreadful quality. —
They are all extremely tenacious of life, and some of
them will continue to move and exert animal func-
tions, even destitute of their head or heart.—Their
colours are often livid and disgusting ; though some
aré decorated with most splendid skins. Many of
them exhale a loathsome odour, owing perhaps to
the foulness of their abode, or the substances on
which they feed.—Their voices are either harsh and
unmusical, or else the animals are entirely dumb.

Most of the Amphibia are oviparous. The
Reptiles, therefore, or those that have four legs,
are denominated oviparous quadrupeds, to distin-
guish them from the Mammalia, or viviparous .
quadrupeds. ‘They are usually very prolific. The
eggs of some species are covered with a hard cal-
careous shell; whilst those of others have a soft
tough skin or covering, somewhat resembling parch-
ment: the eggs of several are perfectly gelatinous.
_ As soon as the parent animals have deposited their
eggs in a proper place, they take no further care of
them, but leave them to be hatched by the sun. In
those few species that are viviparous, the eggs are
regularly formed, but hatched internally: this is the
case with the Viper and some others.

Ba

4 AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS.

In cold and temperate climates, nearly all the Am-
phibia pass the winter in a torpid state. During
this season they are often found perfectly stiff, in
holes under ice, or in water. They continue thus
till revived by the returning warmth of spring.
They then become reanimated, change their skin,
and appear abroad in anew coat. Many of them
cast their skins frequently in the year: those Rep-
tiles, however, that have an osseous covering, as the
Tortoises, never change It.

The Amphibia, though they are sometimes found
in great numbers together, cannot be said to con-
gregate, since they do nothing in common, and in
fact do not live ina state of society.—The flesh and
eggs of some of the species form. a palatable and
nutritious food.

The Amphibia are divided by Linnzus into two
orders: viz. Reptiles and Serpents.—The Repéiles
are furnished with legs. They have flat naked ears
without auricles. The principal tribes are the tor-
toises, lizards, and frogs.—Serpents are destitute of
feet, but move by the assistance of scales, and their
general powers of contortion. Their jaws are di-
latable, and not articulated. They have neither
fins nor ears,

See

THE TORTOISE TRIBE*.

Tus is one of the dullest and most sluggish of
all the animated tribes. Those species that live
on land subsist on worms and snails; the others,
that inhabit the ocean, feed principally on sea-
weeds.

Their body is defended by a bony covering,
coated with a horny, scaly, or a cartilaginous integu-
ment. This consists of two plates; the one above,
and the other below, joined together at the edges,
The upper one is convex, and, in general, is made
up of thirteen plates in the middle, surrounded by
a margin containing twenty-four. The ribs and
back-bone are ossified into this, and the other, the
breast-plate, contains the breast-bones or sternum.
At each end of the two united shells is a hole;
the one for the head, neck, and fore-feet to pass
through, and the other, at the opposite end, for
the hind-feet and tail. From these shells the ani-
mal is never disengaged, and they defend it sufh-
ciently from every enemy but man.

The head is small, and, in the place of teeth,
has hard and bony ridges. The upper jaw closes

* This tribe commences the Linnean order of REPTILES,

B 3

6 AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS.

over the lower, like the lid of a box, and their
strength is said to be so great that it is impossible
to open them when once they have fastened. Even
when the head is cut off the muscles retain a sur-
prising degree of rigidity.

The legs are short, but inconceivably strong:
one of the larger species has been known to carry
five men, all at the same time, on his back, with
great apparent ease and unconcern.

However clumsy and awkward these animals may
appear in their manners, they are, for the most
part, extremely gentle and peaceable; and few,
except the Loggerhead and Fierce Turtles, make
any resistance when taken. No animals whatever
are more tenacious of life: even if their head be
cut off, and their chest opened, they will continue to
live for several days.—They pass the cold season in
a torpid state.

The Marine Tortoises, or Turtles, are distinguish-
ed from the others by their large and long fin-
shaped feet, in which are inclesed the bones of the
toes ; the first and second only of each foot having
visible or projecting claws. The shield, as in the
others, consists of a strong bony covering, in which
are embedded the ribs: in one or two species this
is much thicker and more strong than that of Land
Tortoises.

Of these animals, there are in the whole about
thirty-six species: four marine, eighteen inhabiting
the fresh waters, and the rest residing on land.

fe gow

THE COMMON TORTOISE*.

The Common Tortoise is found in most of the
countries near the Mediterranean sea, in Corsica,
Sardinia, and some of the islands of the Archipe-
lago, as well as in many parts of the North of
Africa.

The length of its shell is seldom more than eight
or nine inches, nor does its weight often exceed
three pounds. The shell, which, as in most of the
other species, is composed of thirteen middle pieces,
and about twenty-five marginal ones, is of an oval
form, extremely convex, and broader behind than
before. The middle part is blackish brown varied
with yellow. The under part or belly of the shell
is of a pale yellow, with a broad dark line down
each side, leaving the middle part plain. The
head is not large, nor does the opening of the mouth
extend beyond the eyes: the upper part is covered
with somewhat irregular scales. The legs are short,
and the feet moderately broad and covered with
strong ovate scales. ‘The tail 1s somewhat shorter
than the legs: it is also covered with scales, but ter-
minates in a horny tip.

This species resides principally in burrows that it
forms in the ground, where it sleeps the greatest
part of its time, appearing abroad only a few hours
in the middle of the day. In the autumn it hides

* SYNoNYyMs.—Testudo Greca. Linn. Common Land Tor-
toise. Greek Tortoise. ——Shaw’s Gen. Zoal. vol.3. tab. 1.

B 4

3 THE COMMON TORTOISE.

itself for the winter, remaining torpid for four or
five months, and not again making its appearance
till the spring. About the beginning of June, the
female scratches a hole insome warm situation, in
which she deposits her four or five eggs. These are
hatched in September, at which time the young are
not Jarger than a walnut*.

The Common Tortoise is an animal that, for the
extreme slowness of its motions, has been ever notoe
rious, both in ancient and modern times. This
seems principally occasioned by the position of the
legs, which are thrown very much to the sides of the
body, and are considerably spread out from each
other. It may likewise be in some degree caused
by the great weight of the shell pressing on this un-
favourable position of the legs.—In walking, the
claws of the fore-feet are rubbed separately, and
one after another against the ground: when one of
the feet is placed on the ground, the inner claw
first bears the weight of the body, and so 6n along
the claws in succession to the outermost. The foot
in this manner acts somewhat like a wheel, as if the
animal wished scarcely to raise its feet from the
earth, and endeavoured to advance by means of a
succession of partial steps of its toes or claws, for
the purpose of more firmly supporting the great
weight of its body and shell.

These animals have often been brought into Eng-
Jand. The Rev. Mr. White, of Selborne, attended
accurately to the manners of one that was in posses-

* La Cepede, i. 193. + Ib. i. 184. 186.

THE COMMON TORTOISE. 9

sion of a lady of his acquaintance upwards of thirty
years. It regularly retired under ground about the
middle of November, from whence it did not
emerge till the middle of April. Its appetite was
always most voracious in the height of summer, eat-
ing very little either in spring or autumn. Milky
plants, such as lettuces, dandelions and sowthistles,
were its principal food. In scraping the ground to
form its winter retreat, it used its fore-feet,and threw
up the earth with its hinder ones over its back ;
but the motion of its legs was so slow as scarcely to
exceed the hour hand of aclock. It worked with
the utmost assiduity, both night and day, in scoop-
ing out the earth, and forcing its great body into the
cavity ; notwithstanding which the operation occu-
pied more than a fortnight before it was completed.
It was always extremely alarmed when surprised by
a sudden shower of rain during its peregrinations for
food. ‘Though its shell would have secured it from
injury, even if runover by the wheel of a loaded
cart, yet it discovered as much solicitude about rain
as a lady dressed in her most elegant attire, shuf-
fling away on the first sprinklings, and always, if
possible, running its head up into a corner.— When
. the Tortoise is attended to, it becomes an excellent
barometer: when it walks elate, and, as it were, on
tiptoe, feeding with great earnestness, in a morning,
it will, almost invariably, be found to rain before
night —Mr. White was much pleased with the sa-
gacity of the above animal, in distinguishing those
from whom it was accustomed to receive attention :
whenever the good old lady came in sight, who had
I

iO THE COMMON TORTOISE.

waited’on it for more than thirty years, it always
hobbled, with awkward alacrity, towards its benefac-
tress, whilst to strangers it was entirely inattentive.
Thus did the most abject of torpid creatures distin-
guish the hand that fed it, and exhibit marks of gra-
titude not always to be found in superior orders of
animal being. It was a diurnal animal, never stir-
ring out after dark, and very frequently appearing
abroad even a few hours only in the middle of the
day. It always retired to rest for every shower, and
in wet days never came at all from its retreat. Al-.
though he loved warm weather, yet he carefully
avoided the hot sun, since his thick shell, when once
heated, must have become extremely painful and
probably dangerous to him. He therefore spent
the more sultry hours under the umbrella of a large
cabbage leaf, or amidst the waving forests of an as-
paragus bed. But, as he endeavoured to avoid the
heat in the summer, he improved the faint autumnal
beams by getting within the reflection of a fruit-iree
wall; and though he had certainly never read that
planes inclining to the horizon receive a greater
share of warmth, he frequently inclined his shell,
by tilting it against the wall, to collect and admit
every feeble ray*.

Very ample evidence has been produced of this
animal’s living to a most extraordinary age, fre-
quently exceeding even the period of a century.
One that was introduced into the garden at Lam-
‘beth, in the time of archbishop Laud, was living in

* White's Selborne.

THE COMMON TORTOISE. if

the year 1753, a hundred and twenty years after-
wards; and at last it perished, from an unfortunate
neglect of the gardener*.—In the year 1765, a Tor-
toise was living in the garden of Samuel Simmons,
Esq. at Sandwich in Kent, which was known to
have been there from about the year 1679, but
how long before that period no one could say with
certainty. There is, however, good reason for sup-
posing it to have been brought thither from the
West Indies by a gentleman of the name of Boys,
who was owner of the premises several years before
the first period. ‘This animal died in the winter of
1767. It appeared that it had endeavoured (ac-
cording to its annual custom) to burrow into the
ground ; but having selected for this purpose a spot
near an old vine, its progress was obstructed by the
roots, and it probably had not strength enough to
change its situation, as it was found dead with only
half its body covered. About thirty years before
its death, it got out of the garden, and was much
injured by the wheel of a loaded waggon, which
went over it, and cracked its upper shell f.

The horrid experiments of Rhedi, to prove the
extreme vital tenacity of the Tortoise, are a disgrace
to the philosophic page. In one instance he made
a large opening in the skull, and drew out all the
brain, washing the cavity, so as not to leave the
smallest part remaining, and then, with the hole
open, set the animal at liberty. It marched off, as
a a A ee eee te ONT Ae TL

* Bib. Topog. Brit. No. xxvii.
$ Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. lv. ps 253.

FZ THE SNAKE TORTOISE.

he says, without seeming to have received the
slightest injury, save from the closing of its eyes,
which it never afterwards opened. Ina short time
the hole was observed to close, and in about three
days a complete skin covered the wound: in this
manner the animal lived, without the brain, for six
months, walking about, and still moving its limbs
as it did previously to the operation™.

The males of this species are said to fight very
oiten. ‘This is done by butting at each other, and
with such force that the blows may be heard at a
considerable distance ft.

In Greece these Tortoises form an article of
food. The inhabitants also swallow the blood
without any culinary preparation, and are very par-
tial te. the eggs, when made palatable by boiling.
In the gardens of some parts of Italy, there are
formed for the purpose wells, in which the inhabi-
tants bury the eggs of the Tortoise. ‘These remain
till the ensuing spring, when, by the natural warmth
of the climate, they are hatched, and the young
ones come forth. The Tortoises are kept in banks

of earth {.

THE SNAKE TORTOISE §,

This animal inhabits the stagnant waters of North

* La Cepede, 1. 189. + Shaw’s Gen. Zool. ili. 9.

{ Skippon’s Travels, Churchill’s Coll. vi. sor. |

§ SyNoNyMS.—Testudo serpentina. Linn. Serrated Tortoise.
Penn. Snapping Tortoise, in some parts of America, Snake Tor-
toise. Shaw.——Shaw’s Gen. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 19.

THE SNAKE TORTOISE. 13

America, and when full grown weighs from fifteen
to twenty pounds.

The shield is oval, and somewhat depressed: the
middle pieces, which are thirteen in number, each
rise into a kind of obtuse point. The margin, near
the tail, is deeply serrated. The head is large, flat,
triangular, and covered with a warty skin. The
mouth is wide, and the mandibles are sharp. The
neck, though it appears short and thick when the
animal is at rest, is capable of being stretched out
to a third of the length of the shell. The toes are
connected by a web, and the claws are long and
stout. The tail is straight, and about two-thirds of
the length of the shell. In its general colour this
species is of a dull chesnut brown, paler beneath
than above.

It preys on fish, young vater-fowl, &c. which
it seizes with great force, at the same time stretch-
ing out its neck and hissing. Whatever it once
seizes in its mouth it holds so tenaciously, that
it will suffer itself to be raised up-rather than quit
its hold. It lies concealed in muddy waters in
such a manner as to leave out only a part of its back,
appearing like a stone, or rough piece of wood;
by which means it is enabled the more easily to
Jay hold of such animals as unguardedly venture
near it,

ie ee

The two following Species are Marine Tortoises, or,
as they are usually denominated, Turtles.

THE GREEN TURTLE”.

This species is found in great quantities on the
coasts of all the islands and continents on the Yorrid
Zone, both in the old and new worlds. The shoals
which surround these islands, and border the whole
coasts of these continents, produce vast quantities of
algae, and other marine plants, which, though co-
vered by the water, are near enough to the surface to
be readily seen by the naked eye, during calm wea-
ther. Amid these submarine pastures, a number
of marine animals are found ; and, among them,
prodigious multitudes of Turtles. In these mea-
dows, as they may be called, the Green Turtle is
often seen, in vast numbers, feeding quietly on the
plants which they produce f.

As the Turtles find a constant abundance of
food, on the coasts which they frequent, they have
no occasion to quarrel with animals of their own
kind for that which is afforded in such plenty to
them all. Being able, like the other species of
Amphibia, to live even for many months without

* Synonyms. Testudo Mydas. Linn. Common Green Turtle.
Common Turtle. Esculent Turtle. Green Turtle. Shaw.——<
Shaw's Gen. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 22.

+ La Cepede, i. 80.

THE GREEN TURTLE. 5

food, they flock peaceably together. They do not
however appear, like many other herding animals,
to have any kind of association together: they
merely collect,.as if by accident, and they remain
without disturbance.

Their length is often five feet or upwards; and
they sometimes exceed five or six hundred pounds
in weight. Their shell is broader before than be-
hind, where it is somewhat pointed. It consists of
thirteen brownish divisions, surrounded by twenty-
five marginal ones. The mouth is so large as to
open beyond the ears on each side. This is not
armed with teeth, but the bones of which the jaws
are composed are very hard and strong, and fur-
nished with points or asperities that serve in some
degree the same purpose. . With these powerful
jaws they brouse on the grass, sea-weed, and other
plants which grow on the shoals and sand-banks,
and with them they are likewise able to crush the
shell-fish on which they sometimes feed.

After having satisfied their appetites with ma-
rine plants, they often retire to the fresh water, at
the mouth of the great rivers, where they float on
the surface, holding their heads above water, appa-
rently for the purpose of breathing the fresh air.
But as they are surrounded with many dangers,
both from their natural enemies, and from mankind,
they are necessitated to use great precaution, in
thus indulging themselves with cool air, and with
the refreshing streams of river water. The instant
they perceive even the shadow of any object, from

16 THE GREEN TURTLE.

which they suspect danger, they dive to the bot-
tom for security *.

The strength of this animal is so great as to
allow it to move along with as many men on its
back as can stand there. It sleeps upon its back
on the surface of the water.—The legs are so far
fin-shaped as to be of little other use than to swim
with.

The inhabitants of the Bahama islands are pecu-
liarly dexterous in catching the Turtles. In the
month of April, they go in their boats to the coasts
of Cuba, and some of the neighbouring islands,
where, in the evenings and moonlight nights, they
watch the going and returning of the animals to
and from the shore, where they lay their eggs.
They turn them on their backs on the land, and
then leave them to perform the same operation on
as many others as they can meet; for, when once
turned, they are unable again to get on their feet.
Many are taken in the sea, at some distance from
’ the shore: these are struck with a kind of spear,
whose shaft is about four yards in length. For this
work two men usually set out in a small light boat
or canoe, one to paddle it gently along and steer,
and the other to stand at the head with his weapon.
Sometimes the Turtles are discovered swimming
with their head and back out of water, but most
commonly lying at the bottom where it is a fathom

* La Cepede, 87. 88.

THE GREEN TURTLE. | 17
er more deep. If the animal sees that he is dis-
covered, he immediately attempts to escape: the
men pursue and endeavour to keep him in sight ;
and, in the chase, generally so far tire him, that in
the course of half an hour, he sinks to the bottom,
which affords an opportunity to strike him with the
spear through the shell. ‘The head of the spear,
which now slips off and is left in his body, is fast-
ened with a string to the pole; and, by means of
this apparatus, they are enabled to pursue him, if
he should not be sufficiently spent without: if,
however, that is the case, he tamely submits to be
taken into the boat, or hauled ashore.—There are
men who, by diving to the bottom, will get on the
backs of the animals; and then, by pressing them
down behind, and raising their fore part, bring
them by force to the surface of the water, where
some person is in waiting to slip a noose round
their neck.

They very seldom go ashore, except for the pur-
pose of depositing their eggs, in the sand: this is
done in April. They dig a hole, at high-water
mark, about two feet deep, and drop into it above
a hundred eggs; and at this time they are so intent
on the operation that they do not notice any one
that approaches them, and they will even drop the
eggs into a hat if held under them. If, however,
they are disturbed before the commencement of
their business, they always forsake the place. They
lay their eggs at three, and sometimes four different
times, fourteen days asunder, so that the young are
hatched and come forth also at different times.

VOL. UIT, C

18 THE LOGGERHEAD TURTLE.

After having deposited the eggs they scratch the
hole up with sand, and leave them to be hatched
by the heat of the sun, which is generally done in
about three weeks. The eggs are each about the
size of a tennis-ball, round, white, and covered with
a parchment-like skin *.

Sir Hans Sloane has informed us that the inha-
bitants of Port Royal in Jamaica had formerly no
fewer than forty vessels employed in catching these
animals; their markets being supplied with Turtle,
as ours are with butchers meat.

The introduction of the Turtle, as an article of
luxury, into England, appears to have taken place
within the Jast seventy years. We import them
principally, if not entirely, from the West India
islands.

THE LOGGERHEAD TURTLET.

This is one of the largest species, and in its ge-
neral appearance has a great resemblance to the
Jast: the head however is larger, the shell broader,
and the number of segments of the disk is fifteen, of
which the middle range is gibbous or protuberant
towards their tips. The fore-legs are large and
strong, and the hind ones broad and shorter. These
‘Turtles inhabit the seas about the West India
islands, and they are found in the Mediterranean,

* Catesby, ii. 38.
+ Testudo caretta. Lintn———=Shaw’'s Gen, Zool. vel. 3. tab. 22>

THE LOGGERHEAY TURTLE. 19

but particularly about the coasts of Italy and
Sicily.

They are very strong and fierce, defending
themselves with great vigour with their legs, and
being able to divide very strong substances with
their mouth. Aldrovandus assures us that, on
offering a thick walking-stick to the gripe of one
that he saw publicly exhibited at Bologna, the
animal bit it in two in an instant*.—Their prin-
cipal food is shell-fish, which their strong beak
enables them to break from the rocks. But their
yoracity, it is said, even leads them to attack young
Crocodiles, which they often mutilate of their limbs
or tail. We are informed that, for this purpose,
they frequently lurk in the bottom of creeks along
the shore, into which the Crocodiles sometimes retire
backwards, because the length of their body pre-
vents them from turning readily : and, taking advan-
tage of this posture, the Loggerhead seizes them
by the tail, having then nothing to fear from their
formidable teethf.

They range very far over the ocean. One of
them was seen in latitude 3o° north, sleeping on
the surface of the water, apparently about midway
between the Azores and the Bahama islands, and
these were the nearest possible land. ‘This circum-
stance was the more remarkable as it happened in
the month of April, just at their breeding timet.

* Shaw's Gen. Zool. iii, 87. + La Cepede, i. 132.
‘Y Catesby, ii, 40.

Cz

20 THE LOGGERHEAD TURTLE.

Rondeletius, who was a native of Languedoc,
informs us that he kept one of this species, which
had been caught on the coast of Provence, for a
considerable time. It emitted a confused kind of
noise, and frequently sighed*.

Like the last species, they lay their eggs in the
sand. ‘Their flesh is course and rank ; but their bo-
dies afford a considerable quantity of oil, which may
be used for various purposes, particularly for burn-
ing, or for dressing leather. ‘The plates of the shell
are not sufficiently thick to be of great use.

ct ———

The substance that we call Tortoise-shell is the
production of the Imbricated Turtle, a species
considerably allied to the present, that is found in
the Asiatic and American seas, and sometimes in
the Mediterranean. The plates of this species are
far more strong, thick, and clear, than in any other,
and these constitute the sole value of the animal.
They are semi-transparent, beautifully variegated
with different colours, and, when properly prepared
and polished, are used for a variety of ornamental
purposes. They are first softened by steeping in
boiling water, after which they may be moulded
into almost any formf.

* La Cepede, i. 131. = + Testudo imbricata of Linneus.
{ Shaw’s Gen. Zool. iii. 89.

[and

THE FROG TRIBE.

THE animals that compose this tribe feed on in-
sects and worms, residing principally on the ground,
or partly in water, in dark and unfrequented places,
from whence they crawl forth only in the night.
Many of them have an aspect very disgusting and
unpleasant. Some, however, less unpleasant to the
sight, are furnished with slender limbs, and have
their toes terminated by flat circularly expanded
tips, which enable them to adhere at pleasure to the
surfaces of even the smoothest bodies: these reside
generally in the trees, where they adhere to the
lower sides of the leaves or branches.—None of
them drink, but all the species absorb moisture
through the skin.

They are all oviparous, and the eggs are perfectly
gelatinous. From the egg proceeds a Tadpole
without feet, but furnished with a tail to aid its mo-
tion in the water: this drops off as the legs become
protruded. In this imperfect state, the animals
have also a sort of gills or subsidiary lungs; and
several of them a small tube on the lower lip, by
means of which they can fix themselves to bodies
to eat, or perform other functions. They all arrive
at maturity about their fourth year, and very few
outlive the age of ten or twelve.

The full-grown animals have four feet, and their
body is not covered with either plates or scales, but.

C 3

22 THE COMMON FROG.

is entirely naked. ‘They have a sternum or breast-
plate, but no ribs. They are destitute of tails, and
their hind legs are longer than the others.

The number of species hitherto described is about
Jifty. These are divided into three sections : namely,

Frogs, which have smooth bodies, longish legs,
and discharge their eggs in a mass.

Hyle, or Tree-Frogs, that have their hind legs very
long, and the toes unconnected ; and

Toads, which have their bodies puffed up and
covered with warts. These have short legs, and
do not leap. They discharge their eggs in a yery
Jong necklace-like string.

THE COMMON FROG*.

The Common Frog is found in great quantities
in moist situations throughout Europe. Its colour is
olive brown, variegated above with irregular blackish
spots. Beneath each eye there is a patch or mark
that reaches to the setting-on of the fore-legs.

Its appearance is lively, and its form on the whole
by no means inelegant. The limbs are well calcu-
lated for aiding the peculiar motions of the animal,
and its webbed hind-feet assist its progress in the
water, to which it occasionally retires during the
heats of summer, and again in the frosts of winter.
During the latter period, and till the return of
warmer weather, it lics in a state of torpor,
either deeply plunged in the soft mud at the bot~

*SYNONYMS.—Rana temporaria. Lian. La Rousse, la Mu-
ette. La Cepede——Shaw's Gen, Zool. vol. 4. tab.39-

THE COMMON FROG. 23

tom of stagnant waters, or in the hollows beneath
their banks.

Its spawn, which is cast generally in the month
of March, consists of a clustered mass of gelatinous
transparent and spherical eggs, from six hundred
to a thousand in’ number, in the-middle of each
of which is contained the embryo or tadpole, in the
form of a-black globule. The spawn lies a month
or five weeks, according to the heat of the weather,
before the larvze or tadpoles are hatched.

The tadpole, as in several other species, is fur-
nished with a kind of small tubular sucker beneath
the lower jaw, by means of which it hangs at plea-
sure to the under surface of aquatic plants. The
interior organs, when closely examined, are found
to differ in many respects from those of the future
Frog. ‘The intestines, in particular, are coiled into
a flat spiral form, somewhat resembling a cable in
miniature. When:the animal is about six weeks old,
the hind-legs appear, and in about a fortnight these
are succeeded by the fore-legs: in this state it
seems to have alliance both to the Frog and Lizard.
Not long afterwards the form is completed, and it,
for the first time, ventures upon land. Frogs are
at this period often seen wandering about the brinks
of the water, in such multitudes as to astonish
mankind, and induce a belief, among the vulgar, of
their having descended in showers from the clouds.

They now surrender their vegetable food for the
smaller species of snails, worms, and insects ; and
the structure of ‘their tongue is admirably adapted
to seize and secure this prey: the root is at-

C4 .

24. THE COMMON FROG.

tached to the fore-part of the mouth, so that, when
unemployed, it lies with the tip towards the throat.
The animal by this singular contrivance is enabled
to bend it to a considerable distance out of its
mouth. When it is about to seize on any object,
it darts it out with great agility, and the prey is
secured on its broad and jagged glutinous extre-
mity. This it swallows with so instantaneous a
motion that the eye can scarcely follow it*.

Nothing can appear more awkward and ludi-
crous than a Frog engaged with a large Worm or a
small Snake; for nature seems to have put a re-
straint upon the voracity of these animals, by form-
ing them very inaptly for seizing and holding their
larger prey. Dr. Townson had a large Frog that
ene day swallowed in his presence a Blind-wormy
near a span long, which in its struggles frequently
got half its body out again: when completely swal-
lowed, its contortions were very visible in the
flaccid sides of its victor{.

With respect to the popular superstition that
Frogs frequently descend from the clouds, Mr. Ray
informs us that, as he was riding one afternoon in
Berkshire, he was much surprised at seeing an im-
mense multitude of Frogs crossing the road. On
further examination he found two or three acres of
ground nearly covered with them; they were all
proceeding in the same direction, towards some
woods and ditches that were before them, He

* Shaw’s Gen. Zool. iii. 97.
Anguis fregilis of Linneus. } Townson’s Tracts,

.

THE COMMON FROG. 25

however traced them back to the side of a very ©
large pond, which in spawning-time he was inform-
ed always abounded so much with Frogs that
their croaking was frequently heard toa great dis-
tance; and he therefore naturally concluded that
instead of being precipitated from the clouds, they
had been bred there, and had been invited by a
refreshing shower, which had just before fallen, to
go out either in pursuit of food or of a more con-
venient habitation*,

Frogs are numerous in the parts of America, about
Hudson’s Bay, as far north as latitude 61°. They
frequent there the margins of lakes, ponds, rivers,
and swamps; and, as the winter approaches, they
burrow under the moss, at a considerable distance
from the water, where they remain in a frozen state
till spring. Mr. Hearne says, he has frequently seen
them dug up with the moss frozen as hard as ice.
In this state their legs are as easily broken off as the
stem of a tobacco-pipe, without giving them the least
sensation: but by wrapping them up in warm skins,
and exposing them to a slow fire, they soon come to
life, and the mutilated animals gain their usual acti-
vity: if, however, they are permitted to freeze
again, they are past all recovery f. >

The mode of respiration in these animals, in
common with many of the other reptiles, is exceed-
ingly curious. The organs adapted to this use are
not placed in the belJy, nor in the lungs themselves,

» BETES t5 0h
* Rag’s Wonders of the Creation, 165. + Hearne, 397.

26 THE COMMON FROG.

but in the mouth. Behind the root of the tongue is
the slit-like opening of the trachea : and at the front
of the upper part of the head are two nostrils,
through which the animal always draws the air,
never opening its mouth for this purpose. Indeed
the jaws during this action are kept closely locked
into each other by grooves ; for if the mouth ts kept
open it cannot respire at all, and the animal will
presently be seen struggling for breath. When we.
observe it carefully, we perceive a frequent dilata-
tion and contraction in the skinny bag-like part of
the mouth which covers the under jaw. From this
it would appear, at first sight, as if the creature lived
all the while on one mouthful of air, which it seems
to be playing backwards and forwards betwixt its
mouth and lungs. But for each movement in the
jaw a corresponding twirling movement may be
observed in the nostrils. ‘The mouth seems there-
fore to form a sort of bellows, of which the nos-
trils are the air-holes, and the muscles of the jaws
by their contraction and dilatation make the draught.
The nostrils are so situated that the least motion on
them enables them to perform the office of a valve.
By the twirl of the nostril the air is let into the
mouth, when a dilatation of the bag takes place: it
is then emptied from the mouth, through the slit
behind the tongue, into the lungs, when there is a
slight motion in the sides of the animal, and the
muscles of the abdomen again expel it; and soon
afterwards a second twirl in the nostrils takes place,
and the like motions follow. Thus it appears that

fad
a

THE EDIBLE FROG. 29

the lungs are filled by the working of the jaws, or,
in other words, that Frogs swallow air much in the
same manner that we swallow food,

Frogs cast their skins at certain periods.—They
arrive at full age in about five years, and are sup-
posed to live to twelve or fifteen.—Their voice is
hoarse and unpleasant.—They are so tenacious of
life as to survive even the loss of their head for se-
veral hours,

This species is not so much in request for food as
the following, not being so white, nor altogether so
palatable. The hind-legs, however, are eaten, and
-the fore-legs and livers often form an ingredient in
the continental soups.

THE EDIBLE FROG*.

The Edible Frog is considerably larger than the
common species; and, though somewhat rare in
England, is found in plenty in Italy, France, and
Germany.

Its colour is an olive green, distinctly marked
with black patches on the back, and on its limbs
with transverse bars of the same. From the tip of
the nose, three distinct stripes of pale yellow ex-
tend to the extremity of the body, the middle one
slightly depressed, and the lateral ones consider-

——————— eee

2 Synonyms. Ranaesculenta. Liva. Le Grenouille commune,
ou mangeable. La Cepede. Esculent Frog, Green Frog, Shaw.
Edible Frog. PennmmShaw’s Gen, Zool. val. 3. tab. 31.

2 THE EDIBLE FROG.

ably elevated. ‘The under parts are of a pale
whitish colour tinged with green, and marked with
irregular brown spots.

The spawn of the present species is not often de-
posited before the month of June. During thissea-
son the male is said to croak so loud as to be heard
to a great distance. In some particular places, where
these animals are numerous, their croaking is very
oppressive to persons unaccustomed to it.—The
globules of spawn are smaller than those of the
Common Frog, and the young are considerably
longer in attaining their complete state, this seldom
taking place till November. ‘They arrive at their
full growth in about four years, and live to the age
of sixteen or seventeen.— They are excessively vo-
racious, frequently seizing young birds, and even
mice, which, like the rest of their prey of snails,
worms, &c. they swallow whole*.

These creatures are brought from the country,
thirty or forty thousand at atime, to Vienna, and
sold to the great dealers, who have conservatories
for them, which are large holes, four or five feet
deep, dug in the ground, the mouth covered with
a board, and in severe weather with straw. In
these conservatories, even during a hard frost, the
frogs never become quite torpid. When taken out
and placed on their backs, they are always sensible
of the change, and have strength enough to turn
themselves. ‘They get together in heaps, one upon

* Shaw’s Gen. Zool, iii. 103.

THE BULL FROG. 29

another, instinctively, and thereby prevent the eva-
poration of their humidity ; for no water is ever put
tothem. In Vienna, inthe year 1793, there were
only three great dealers; by whom most of those
persons were supplied who brought them to the
market ready for the cook*.

From their spawning-time being very late in the
year, it is supposed that those animals that are
brought to market before the month of June for the
Edible Frog, are either Common Frogs, or some-
times that they are even Toads.

THE BULL FROGT.

This is an animal that frequently measures from
the nose to the hind-feet a foot and a half, or up-
wards. The colour of its body is a dusky olive or
brown, marked with numerous dark spots, lighter
beneath than above. The external membranes of
the ears are large, round, and of a brownish red,
surrounded by a yellowish margin.

The interior parts of America are the principal
residence of this species, where, at the springs or
small rills, they are said to sit in pairs. In Virginia
they are in such abundance that there is scarcely a

* Townson’s Travels, 14.

+ SYNONYMS. Rana Catesbeiana. Shaw.—Rana ocellata, Linn. 2? ?
La mugissante, ou Grenouille Taureau. La Cepede. Bull Frog.
Catesby —=Shaw’s Gen. Zool. wol. 3. tab. 33.

Dr. Shaw is of opinion that Linnzus has described the Argus Frog
of General Zoology under the name of Rana ocellata.

30 THE BULL FROG.

single spring that has not a pair of them. When
suddenly surprised, by a long leap or two they enter
the hole, at the bottom of which they lie perfectly
secure. The inhabitants fancy that they purify the
water, and respect them as genii of the fountains*.
—Kalm informs us that they frequent only ponds
and marshes.

Their croaking is said somewhat to resemble the
hoarse lowing of a bull; and when, in a calm
night, many of them are making a noise toge_
ther, they may be heard to the distance of a
mile and a half. The night is the time when they
croak, and they are said to do it at intervals. In
this act they are either hidden among the grass or
rushes, or they are in the water, with their heads
above the surfacet. Kalm informs us that, as he
was one day riding out, he heard one of them
roaring before him, and supposed it to be a bull
hidden in the bushes at a little distance. The
voice was indeed more hoarse than that of a bull,
yet it was much too loud for him to conceive that
it could be emitted by so small an animal as a
Frog, and he was in considerable alarm for his
safety. He was undeceived a few hours afterwards,
by a party of Swedes, to whom he had communt-
cated his fearst.

When alarmed they leap to a most surprising
distance at each exertion. A full-grown Bull Frog
will sometimes leap three yards. ‘The following

® Catesby,ii.72, + LaHontan. tf Kaln, ii. 170.

THE BULL FROG. 31

story respecting one of them is well authenticated.
The American Indians are known to be excellent
runners, being almost able to equal the best horse
in its swiftest course. In order, therefore, to try
how well the Bull Frogs could leap, some Swedes
Jaid a wager with a young Indian that he could not
overtake one of them, provided it had two leaps
beforehand. They carried a Bull Frog, which they
had caught in a pond, into a field, and burnt its
tail. ‘The fire, and the Indian who endeavoured to
get up to the frog, had together such an effect upon
the animal, that it made its long leaps across the
field as fast as it could. The Indian pursued it
with all his might. The notse he made in running
frightened the poor frog: probably it was afraid of
being tortured with fire again, and therefore it re-
doubled its leaps, and by that means reached the
pond, which was fixed on as their goal, before the
§ndian could overtake it *.

The women are no friends to these frogs, because
they kill and eat young ducks and goslings; and
sometimes they carry off chickens that venture too
near the ponds.—During winter they remain in a
torpid state under the mud: and in spring they
commence their bellowings.

They are edible, and have frequently as much meat
on them as ayoung fowl.—A few years ago some of
them were brought alive into this country.

® Kalm,

fi: g2eaae

THE TREE FROG*.

The Tree Frog is a native of America, of France,
Germany, Italy, and many other European regions,
but is not found in Britain.—It is small,and of a slen-
der and very elegant shape. Its upper parts are green,
and the abdomen is whitish, marked by numerous
granules. The under surface of the limbs are red-
‘dish; and on each side of the bodv there is a lon-
gitudinal blackish or violet-coloured streak. The
body is smooth above, and the hind legs are very
long and slender. At ithe end of each toe is a round,
fleshy, concave apparatus, not unlike the mouth of
a leech, by means of which the animal is enabled
to adhere even to the most polished surfaces f.

During the summer months it resides principally
on the upper branches of the trees, where it wan-
ders among the foliage in quest of insects. These
it catches with great dexterity, stealing softly to-
wards them as a cat does towards a mouse, till at a
proper distance, when it makes a sudden spring
upon them, of frequently more than a foot in
height.—It often suspends itself by its feet, or abdo-
men, to the under parts of leaves, remaining thus
concealed among the foliage.

The skin of the abdomen is covered with small

er aes Re
* Synonyms. Ranaarborea. Linn. Rana bilineata. Shaw.—
La Reine vert, ou commune. La Cepede. Green Tree Frog. Catesby
——Shaw’'s Gen. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 38.
+ Catesby, ii. 71. Shaw’s Gen, Zool. ili, 130.
I

THE TREE FROG. 23

glandular granules of such a nature as to allow the
animal to adhere as well by these as by the toes.
It will even stick to a glass by pressing its belly
against it.

Although during summer it inhabits the woods,
yet, about the end of autumn, it retires to the |
waters, and lies concealed in a torpid state in the
mud or under the banks, till the spring ; when, on
the return of warm weather, it emerges, like the rest
of the genus, to deposit its spawn in the water. At
this period the male inflates its throat in a surprising
manner, forming a large sphere beneath itshead. It
also exerts a very loud and sharp croak, that may be
heard to a vast distance. The tadpoles become per-
fected about the beginning of August, and they soon
afterwards begin to ascend the adjacent trees.

During their residence in the trees, these frogs are
particularly noisy in the evenings on the approach
of rain. They are indeed so excellent as barome-
ters, that, if kept in glasses in a rcom, and supplied
with proper food, they afford sure presage of changes
of the weather *.

In order to make some observations on the respi-
ration of the Reptile tribe, Dr. Townson had among
others some Tree Frogs. He kept them in a win-

- dow, and appropriated to their use a bowl of water,
in which they lived. ‘They soon grew quite tame ;
and to two that he had for a considerable length of
time, and were particular favourites, he gave the

* Shaw’s Gen. Zool, ili. 130.

VOL. £21: D

34 THE TREE FROG.

names of Damon and Musidora. In the hot weather,
whenever they descended to the floor, they soon be-
came lank and emaciated. In the evening they sel-
dom failed to go into the water, unless the weather
was cold and damp; in which case they would some-
times remain out a couple of days. When they were
out of the water, if afew drops were thrown upon
the board, they always applied their bodies. as close
toit asthey could; and from this absorption through
the skin, though they were flaccid before, they soon
again appeared plump. A Tree Frog that had not
been in the water during the night was weighed, and
then immersed: after it had remained about half
an hour in the bow] it came out, and was found to
have absorbed nearly half its own weight of water.
From other experiments on the Tree Frogs, it was
discovered that they frequently absorbed nearly their
whole weight of water; and that, as was clearly
proved, and is very remarkable, by the under sur-
face only of the body. They will even absorb
moisture from wetted blotting-paper. Sometimes
they eject water with a considerable force from their
bodies, to the quantity of a fourth part or more of
their own weight *.

Both Frogs and Toads will frequently suffer their
natural food to remain before them untouched, yet
on the smallest motion it makes they instantly seize
it. A knowledge of this circumstance enabled Dr.
‘Townson to feed his favourite Tree Frog, Musidora,

* Townson’s Tracts, 51.

THE TREE FROG. 35

through the winter. Before the flies, which were
her usual food, had disappeared in autumn, he col-
lected for her a great quantity, as winter provision.
When he laid any of them before her, she took no
notice of them, but the moment he moved them
with his breath she sprung upon and ate them.
Once, when flies were scarce, the Doctor cut some
flesh of a tortoise into small pieces, and moved
them by the same means. She seized them, but the
instant aferwards rejected them from her tongue.
After he had obtained her confidence, she ate, from
his fingers, dead as well as living flies.—Frogs will
leap at a moving shadow of any small object ; and
both Frogs and Toads will soon become sufficiently
familiar to sit on the hand, and be carried from one
side of a room to the other, to catch flies as they
settle on the wall—At Gottingen Dr. Townson
made them his guards for keeping these troublesome
creatures from his desert of fruit, and they acquitted
themselves fully to his satisfaction—He has even
seen the small Tree Frogs eat humble bees, but this
was never done without some contest: they are in
general obliged to reject them, being incommoded
by their stings and hairy roughness; but in each
attempt the bee is further covered with the viscid
matter from the frog’s tongue, and when pretty
well coated with this it is easily swallowed *.

A Tree Frog was kept by a surgeon in Germany
for nearly eight years. He had it in a glass vessel co-

* Townson’s Tracts, 113, 114.

D2

36 THE TREE FROG,

vered with a net, and during the summer he fed if
with flies ; but in winter it probably did not eat at
all, as only a few insects, with grass and moistened
hay, were put to it. During this season it was
very lean and emaciated; but in summer, when its
favourite food could be had in plenty, it soon again
became fat. In the eighth winter it pined away by
degrees, as was supposed, on account of no insects
whatever being to be had.

As Captain Stedman was sailing up one of the
rivers of Surinam in a canoe, one of the officers who
-was with him observed, in the top of a mangrove
tree, a battle between a Snake and a Tree Frog.
When the captain first perceived them, the head
and shoulders of the frog were in the jaws of the
snake, which was about the size of a large kitchen
poker. ‘This creature had its tail twisted round a
tough limb of the mangrove; while the frog, which
appeared about the size of a man’s fist, had Jaid
hold of a twig with his hiad-feet. In this position
they were contending, the one for life, the other
for his dinner, forming one straight line between
the. two branches; and thus they continued for
some time, apparently stationary, and without a
struggle. Still it was hoped that the poor frog
might extricate himself by his exertions: but the
reverse was the case. The jaws of the snake gra-
dually relaxing, and by their elasticity forming an
incredible orifice, the body and fore-legs of the frog
by little and little disappeared, till finally nothing
more was seen than the hinder feet and claws,
which were at last disengaged from the twig, and

THE COMMON TOAD, 37

the poor creature was swallowed whole by suction
down the throat of his formidable adversary. He
passed soine inches further down the alimentary
canal, and at last stuck, forming a knob or knot at
least six times as thick as the snake, whose jaws
and throat immediately contracted, and reassumed
their former natural shape. The snake being out
of reach of musket shot, they could not kill him
to make any further examination, but left him,
continuing in the same attitude, motionless, and
twisted round the branch*.

THE COMMON TOADT.

The Toad is an animal known to every one:
and by his livid appearance, and sluggish and dis-
gusting movements, is easily recognized.

In some countries, as at Carthagena, and Porto
Bello in America, Toads are so extremely numer-
ous that, in rainy weather, not only all the marshy
grounds, but the gardens, courts, and streets, are
almost covered with them; so much so that many
of the inhabitants believe that every drop of rain is
converted into a Toad In these countries this ani-
mal is of a considerable size, the smallest individuals
measuring at least six inches in length. If it hap-
pen to rain during the wight, all the Toads quit their

* Stedman’s Surinam.
+ Synonyms.—Rana Bufo. Lian. Le Crapaud commun, £4
Cepede. Shaw's Gen, Zool. vol. 3. tab. 40.

D 3

38 THE COMMON TOAD.

hiding places, and then crawl about in such incon-
ceivable numbers as almost literally to touch each
other, and to hide the surface of the earth: on such
occasions it is impossible to stir out of doors with-
out trampling them underfoot at every step*.

The female Toads deposit their spawn early in
the spring, in the form of necklace-like chains or
strings of beautifully transparent gluten, three or
four feet in length, inclosing the ova in a double
series throughout. ‘These have the appearance of
so many jet-black globules: they are, however, no-
thing more than the larve or tadpoles lying in a glo-
‘“bular form. These break from their confinement in
about a fortnight, and afterwards undergo changes
very similar to the tadpoles of the frog. They
become complete about the beginning of autumn,
when the young animals are frequently to be seen
in immense multitudes.

When it is irritated, the Toad emits from various
parts of its skin a kind of frothy fluid that, in our
climate, produces no further unpleasant symptoms
than slight inflammation, from its weakly acrimo-
nious nature. Dogs, on seizing these animals, ap-
pear to be affected with a slight swelling in their
mouth, accompanied by an increased evacuation of
saliva. The limpid fluid which the Toad sud-
denly ejects from his body, when disturbed, has
been ascertained to be perfectly free from any
noxious qualities whatever: it 1s merely a watery

* La Cepede ii. 280.

THE COMMON TOAD. 39

liquor, the contents of a peculiar reservoir, that, in
case of alarm, appears to be emptied in order to
lighten the body, that the animal may the more rea-
dily escape*. It is its extremely forbidding aspect
only that has obtained for the Toad its present unjust
character of being a dangerously poisonous animal.
He is persecuted and murdered wherever he ap-
pears, on the supposition merely that because he
is ugly he must in consequence be venomous. _ Its
_ eyes are, however, proverbially beautiful, having a
brilliant reddish gold-coloured iris surrounding the
dark pupil, and forming a striking contrast with
the remainder of its body+. Hence Shakespere, in
Romeo and Juliet, remarks :

Some say the Lark and loathed Toad change eyes.

Its reputation as a poisonous animal obtained
for it, among the superstitious, many preternatural
powers; and the reputed dealers in magic art are
reported to have made much use of it in their com-
pounds, This circumstance caused it to be inserted
among the ingredients adopted by the witches in
Macbeth, to raise the spirits of the dead:

Toad that under the cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter’d venom, sleeping got,
Boil thou first ” th’? charmed pot.

It is no difficult task, singular as it may appear
to those who have never attended to this animal,

* Townson’s Tracts. + Shaw’s Gen, Zool, iii. 138.

D 4

40 THE COMMON TOAD.

to render it quite tame, so that it may be taken in
the hand, and carried about a room to catch the.
flies that alight on the walls. A correspondent of
Mr. Pennant gave him some curious particulars of
a domestic Toad, which was remarked to continue
in the same place for upwards of thirty-six years.
It frequented the steps before the hall-door of a
gentleman’s house in Devonshire. By being con-
stantly fed, it was rendered so tame as always to
come out of its hole in an evening when a candle
was brought, and look up, as if expecting to be
carried into the house, where it was frequently fed
with insects. An animal that is so generally de-
tested, being so much noticed and befriended, ex-
cited the curiosity of all who came to the house ;
and even females so far conquered the horrors in-
stilled into them, by their nurses, as generally to
request to see it fed. It appeared most partial to
flesh maggots, which were kept for it in bran. It
would follow them on the table, and, when within
a proper distance, would fix its eyes and remain —
motionless for a little while, apparently to prepare
for the stroke, which was instantaneous. It threw
out its tongue to a great distance, and the insect
stuck by the glutinous matter to its tip, and was
swallowed by a motion quicker than the eye could
follow. This it was enabled to do from the root
of the tongue (as in the Frog) being attached to
the fore-part of the mouth, and lying, when ‘at rest,
with the tip towards the throat. After being kept
above thirty-six years, it was at length destroyed
by a tame raven, which one day, seeing it at the

THE COMMON TOAD, 4!

mouth of its hole, pulled it out, and so wounded
it that it died not a great while afterwards*,.

The Spider. was formerly considered an inve-
terate enemy to the Toad ; and it has been said that,
whenever these animals met, a contest always took
place, in which, from its superior dexterity and ad-
dress, the former often proved victorious. If this
relates to the European Spiders and Toads, it is,
most surely, altogether devoid of foundation.

In the conclusion of this article it may be ex-
pected that I should not leave entirely unnoticed
the observations that have been made respecting
living Toads being found inclosed in solid sub-
stances.—Though it is necessary that some allow-
ances should be made for that natural love of the
marvellous which pervades the great mass of man-
kind, yet we have too many respectable authorities
to vouch for the fact, and too frequent instances of
its recurrence, to allow us to doubt that these ani-
mals have been discovered alive in blocks of stone,
and in the solid trunks of trees.

To account for so extraordinary a phenomenon,
a French writer, M. Lecat, says that some philoso-
phers have been of opinion that the eggs of these
animals, created at the beginning of the world, and
“floating about on the watery expanse, have since
that time continued inclosed in the interior parts of
rocks. But he contradicts this opinion by remark-
ing that the creation of an egg is not sufficient ;

rn ne een a

* Penn. Brit. Zool. App. vol. iii. p, 930. 388.

45 THE COMMON TOAD.

and that it must be hatched in order to produce a
living creature. He considers it also as impossible
that such animals can be as old as the stones or sub-
stances in which they are found ; and rather thinks
that a hatched egg, in all the cases mentioned, may
have fallen by chance into some small cavity where
it was secured from petrifaction. He remarks that
eggs, when rubbed over with varnish, so as to be
deferdled from the effects of the air, may be pre-
served fruitful for years; and, therefore, believes
that an egg, so secured in the centre of a rock,
might retain its activity for thousands of years :
hence he concludes that the egg is of great anti-
quity, but not the animal*.

At a period like the present, when so many
things are made the subject of experiment, and
nature is compelled as it were to discover her most
hidden secrets, it is somewhat surprising that she
has not been put to the proof in this respect. Such
experiments would require little or no expense: it
would only be necessary to make a deep hole in a
stone, inclose some animal in it, and prevent the air
from penetrating it ; or eggs only might be put into
the stone. As most of the animals found in stones
are of the amphibious kind, it would be proper to
study the habits, nature, and mode of living pecu-
liar to that class ;-and it would be attended with
most advantage if several experiments were made
at the same time, in order that the state of the ani-

* Mélanges d'Histoire Naturelle, vol. iv.

THE PIPA, 43

mals at different periods might be examined. By
these means alone some certain conclusions might
be drawn respecting a circumstance which, at pre-
sent, seems to surpass the powers of comprehen-
sion.

THE PIPA*,

The Pipa is a native of Surinam, and at first view
appears an extremely hideous and deformed ani-
mal. It is considerably larger than our Toad, has
a flattish body, and a somewhat triangular head.
The mouth is very wide, and furnished at the edges
er corners with a kind of cutaneous appendage.
The fore-feet have four long and thin toes, each
divided at the tip into four distinct parts, which,
when inspected with a magnifier, are found to be
each again obscurely subdivided almost in a similar
manner. The hind-feet have five toes united by a
web. |

This creature, in the production of its young,
affords a very singular deviation from the usual
course of nature. On the back of the female are
formed certain cavities, opening outward, and
somewhat resembling the cells of a bee-hive.
They are of a circular form, about half an inch
deep, and each nearly a quarter of an inch in dia~
meter. They are at a little distance from each

* SyNonyMs.—Rana Pipa. Linn.—Le Pipa, ou Cururu. La
Cepede—-Surinam Toad.———Shaw’s Gen. Zool vol. iii. tab. 50> 516

44 THE PIPA,

other, and somewhat irregularly ranged. At a cer-
tain period of incubation, if it may be so called, in
each of these shells is found a little live Toad, an
exact miniature in all respects of its parent; but
how it finds subsistence there (for the creature has
no adhesion to the parent, but may be easily taken
out, as from a case, and again replaced without in-
jury) does not seem as yet to be fully ascertained,
Mr, Ferman, who has described this animal, de-
clares himself to have been an eye-witness to the
procedure. ‘The eggs are generated within the fe-
male, who, when they have attained the proper
degree of maturity, deposits them on the ground.
The male amasses together the heap, and deposits
them, with great care, on the back of the female,
where after impregnation they are pressed into the
cellules, which are at that period open for their re-
ception, and afterwards close over them. The ova
remain in the cellules till the second birth, which
takes place in somewhat less than three months,
when the young emerge from the back of the pa-
rent, completely formed. During the time of con-
cealment they undergo the usual change of the
rest of the genus, into the tadpole state, which
they entirely put off befoye their final extrusion.

In this singular production of young, the Pipa
seems to bear considerable analogy to the different
species of Opossum.

Ferman says that the Pipa is only calculated for
having one breed. The number of young produced
by a female that he observed was seventy-five ; and

THE LIZARD TRIBE. 45

they were all perfected in the space of five days

after the first appeared*.

It would seem that the flesh of this Toad is not
unwholesome, as, according to Madame Merian,

the negroes of Surinam eat of it with pleasure, and

suffer no inconvenience from its usef.

THE LIZARD TRIBE.

THE Lizards, from in many instances an un-
pleasant appearance, have, like the Toad, obtained
the repute of being venomous. The whole tribe
however is perfectly destitute of poison ; and, except
in three or four of the enormously large 2 eats al-

together inoffensive to mankind.

They are chiefly inhabitants of the warmer re-
gions, and in general possess considerable agility.
The larger ones live on animals, which they seize by
stratagem, and the smaller ones on insects. Many
of them serve mankind for food. The aquatic spe-
cies undergo a metamorphosis, being first in a larva
state. Most of them are produced from eggs ex-
ternally, but some are brought forth alive. In this
genus are found nearly the largest and the smallest
animals in the creation.

Anderson’s Recreations, ii. 32,.——-Shaw’s Gen. Zool. iii. 167.
+ Dissert. de Generat. et Metamorph, Insect, Surinam. Quoted
in La Cepede, ii, 335.

4.6 THE CROCODILE.

The body is elongated, naked, and furnished’
with a tail and four equal legs.

THE CROCODILE ™.

The Crocodile is an animal perhaps too com-
monly found near the large rivers in various parts,
both of Asia and Africa, where it attains the amaz-
ing length of twenty-five feet and upwards. The
armour, with which the upper part of the body is
coated, may be accounted among the most ela-
borate pieces of Nature’s mechanism. In the full-
grown animal it is so strong as easily to repel a mus-
quet ball: on the lower part it is much thinner and
more pliable. The whole animal appears as if co-
vered with the most regular and curious carved
work. The colour of the full-grown Crocodile is
blackish-brown above, and yellowish-white beneath.
The upper parts of the legs and sides are varied
with deep. yellow, and in some parts tinged with
green. The eyes are provided with a winking
membrane, as in the bird tribes. ‘The mouth is of
vast width, and furnished with numerous sharp-
pointed teeth, thirty or more on each side of the
jaws ; and these are so disposed as, when the mouth
is closed, to fit alternately above and below.

The Crocodile and Alligator have the largest

* SYNONYMS.—Lacerta Crocodilus. Lina.—-Le Crocodile propre-.
ment dit. La Cepede.—Cayman. Bosman. Nilotic Crocodile. Com-
mon Crocedile. Shaw me Shaw's Gen. Zool, vol. 3. tab. 55, 56>
57»

THE CROCODILE. 4

mouths of almost any animals. It has been as-
serted, by various writers, that both their jaws are
moveable. A single glance, however, at their ske-
Jeton will afford sufficient proof that the upper jaw
is fixed, and that the motion is altogether confined
to the under jaw. They are also generally believed
to have no tongue: this again is an error, for the
tongue in both species is larger than even that of
the Ox ; but it is so connected with the sides of the
Jower jaw as to be incapable of being stretched
far forwards, as in other animals.

Except when pressed by hunger, or with a view
of depositing its eggs, this enormous creature sel-
dom leaves the water. Its usual method is to float
along upon the surface, and seize whatever ani-
mals come within its reach; but, when this me-
thod fails, it then goes closer to the bank. There
it waits in patient expectation of some land animal
- that may come to drink; the dog, the bull, the ti-
ger, or man himself. Nothing is to be seen on the
approach, nor is its retreat discovered till it is too
late for safety. It seizes the victim with a spring,
and goes at a bound much farther than such an un-
wieldy animal could be supposed to do. Then
having secured the prey, it drags it into the water,
instantly sinks with it to the bottom, and in this
manner quickly drowns it. Sometimes it happens
that the creature wounded by the Crocodile makes
its escape ; in which case, the latter pursues with
some celerity, and often takes it a second time.
He seldom moves far from rivers, except in covert
and marshy places; so that, in many parts of the

48 THE CROCODILE.

East, it is very dangerous to walk carelessly on the
banks of unknown rivers, or among sedgy grounds ;
and still more so to bathe, without the utmost cir-
cumspection, in unfrequented places. The Croco-
dile seldom pursues his prey far on shore; and al-
though his pace is tolerably rapid in a direct line,
yet he is not sufficiently swift to overtake an active
man who preserves his presence of mind.

All the rivers of Guinea are pestered with vast
shoals of Crocodiles. On very hot days, great
numbers of them lie basking on the banks of rivers,
and as soon as they observe any one approach their
place they plunge into the water with great violence.

Bosman says, very quaintly, “ As for their cry-
“* ing and subtleties to catch men, I believe them as
« much as the Jews do the Gospel *.”

They are excessively voracious, and swallow all
their food whole; for their mouth is neither fur-
nished with grinding teeth, nor have the jaws any
lateral motion. They are said to swallow stones to
aid digestion, in the manner of the seed-eating
birds ; and they are able to sustain abstinence for
many weeks together.

The young are produced from eggs deposited in
the sand, and hatched by the heat of the sun, near
the bank of some river or lake. The female is said
to be extremely cautious in depositing them unob-
served. The general number is from eighty to a
hundred. They are not larger than those of a
Goose, and are covered with a tough white skin.

~

pte ote

* Bosman’s Guinea, 239.

THE CROCODILE. 49

She fills up the hole carefully before she leaves
them. In each of the two succeeding days she lays
as many more, which she hides in the same manner.
The eggs are hatched generally in about thirty days,
when the young immediately run into the water.
These young are devoured by various kinds of fish,
and their numbers are also lessened by supplying
food to their own species. It is however in the de-
struction of their eggs that the most material ser-
vice is effected. The Ichneuinon* and the Vul-
tures, which in the hot climates collect in immense
numbers, seem peculiarly appointed by Providence
to abridge their enormous fecundity, and in this ca-
pacity devour and destroy millions of the eggs.
Crocodiles are frequently seen about the rivers in
Java in great numbers. The Javanese sometimes
catch them with a hook and line; a circumstance
that at first would seem almost incredible, since
they are able, with great ease, to bite asunder the
strongest rope. ‘These people therefore use a very
loosely twisted cord of cotton, at the end of which
a hook is fastened, baited with raw flesh. When
the Crocodile, after having swallowed the hook,
endeavours to bite the cord asunder, his teeth only
separate the fibres, and all his attempts are of no
avail. When he is found to be fastened, his anta-
gonists come upon him in great numbers, and, with
the weapons they have for the purpose, soon de-
stroy himt.—In other parts of the world, these ani-

* ‘Viverra Iehneumon of Linneus. + Thunberg, fi. 299.

VOL. III. E

50 THE CROCODILE,

mals are hunted by means of strong dogs properly
trained, and armed with spiked collars.

The natives of Siam take Crocodiles by placing
three or four strong nets across a river, at proper
distances from each other; so that, if the animal
breaks through the first, he may be caught in some
of the others. When he finds himself fastened, he
lashes every thing around him with great violence
with his enormous tail. After he has struggled
some time, and is become exhausted, the men ap-
proach in boats, and pierce him in the most tender
parts of his body with spears.

Labat assures us, (but whether his assertion is to
be trusted or not I cannot say,) that a negro
armed only with a knife in his right hand, and
having his left wrapped round with thick leather,
will venture boldly to attack the Crocodile in his
own element. As soon as he observes his enemy
near, the man puts out his left arm, which the
beast immediately setzes in its mouth. He then
gives it several stabs below the chin, where the skin
is very tender; and the water coming in at the
mouth, thus involuntarily held open, the creature
is soon destroyed.

The Crocodile, from its immense size and yora-
cious habits, is certainly an objeet of fear ;. and,
by no very uncommon transition of sentiment, has
also gradually become an object of veneration ; and
offerings are in some countries made to it as toa
deity. The inhabitants of Java, when attacked by
disease, will sometimes build a kind of coop, and
fill it with such eatables as they think most agree-

THE CROCODILE, / Br

able to the Crocodiles. They place the coop upon
the bank of a river or canal, in perfect confidence
that, by the means of such offerings, they shall get
rid of their complaints; and persuaded that, if any
person could be so wicked as to take away those
viands, such person would draw upon himself the
malady, for the cure of which the offering was
made. ‘The worship of Crocodiles was indeed a
folly among men of ancient date; as Herodotus
expressly savs that “among some of the Egyptian
“ tribes the Crocodiles are sacred, but that they
** are regarded as enemies among others. The in-
* habitants in the environs of Thebes, and the lake
“ Merris, are firmly persuaded of their sanctity ;
** and both these tribes bring up and tame a Croco-
© dile, adorning his ears* with rings of precious
** stones and gold, and putting ornamental chains
* about his fore-feet. They also regularly give
‘ him victuals, offer victims to him, and treat him
€ in the most respectful manner while living, and,
* when dead, embalm, and bury him in a conse-
* crated coffin.”

It is said that even at this day Crocodiles are oc-
casionally tamed in many parts of Africa, where
they are kept in large ponds or Jakes, as an article
of magnificence with the monarchs of those re-
gions. The Romans frequently exhibited these ani-
mals in their public spectacles and triumphs.

The eggs of the Crocodile are numbered among

e

* None of the Amphibia have external ears.
’

E 2

52 THE ALLIGATOR.

the delicacies of some of the African tribes, and
are said to form one of their most favourite re-
pasts.

One of the greatest curiosities in the fossil world,
which the late ages have produced, is the skeleton of
a large Crocodile, almost entire, that was found at
a great depth under ground, bedded in stone. This
was in the possession of Linkius, who wrote many
tracts on natural history, and particularly an accu-
rate description of this curious fossil. It was found
in the side of a large mountain in the midland part
of Germany, in a stratum of black fossil stone,
somewhat like our common slate, but of a coarser
texture, the same with that in which the fossil fish
in many parts of the world are found. This skele-
ton had the back and ribs very plain, and was of a
much deeper black than the rest of the stone. The
part of the stone where the head lay was not found :
it was irregularly broken off just at the shoulder, so
as, however, in one place, to leave part of the
back of the head in its natural form. ‘The two
shoulder-bones were very perfect, and three of the
feet well preserved ; the legs were of their natural
shape and size, and the feet preserved, even to the
extremities of the five toes of each.

THE ALLIGATOR*™.

The principal distinction betwixt the Alligator

* SyNONYMS. Lacerta Alligator. Linn. Jacare. Marcegrave.
Crocodile. La@ Houtan. Lacertus maximus. Catesby. Americar
CrocodilemmmShaw’'s Gen. Zool. vol, 4. tab. 59.

THE ALLIGATOR. 53

and the Crocodile, is that it has its head and part
of the neck more smooth than the other, and that
- the snout is considerably more wide and flat, as well
as more rounded at the extremity. The length of
the full-grown Alligator is seventeen or eighteen
feet

The Alligators are natives of the warmer parts of
America; and had it not been for an accident, these
inhabitants of the New World would never have
been known by any other name than that of Croco-
dile : for, had the first navigators seen any thing that
more resembled their form than a Lizard, they would
have adopted that by which the Indians call them,
the Cayman; but the Spanish sailors remarking their
great resemblanee to that little reptile, they called
the first of them which they saw Lagarto, or Lizard.
When our countrymen arrived, and heard that name,
they called the creature a-Lagarto, whence was
afterwards derived the word A/ligazo or Alligator.

They are often seen floating on the surface of the
water like logs of wood, and are mistaken for such
by various animals, which by this means they sur-
prise, and draw down to devour at leisure. They
are said also sometimes to form a hole in the bank
of a river, below the surface of the water, and there
to wait till the fish, that are fatigued with the strong
current, come into the smooth water near to rest
themselves, when they immediately seize and devour
them*, But since they are not able to obtain a re-
gular supply of food, from the fear in which they are

= i t a

* Du Pratz, 268.

E 3

54 THE ALLIGATOR.

held by ali animals, and the care with which these, in
general, avoid their haunts, they are able to sustaina
privation of it for a great length of time. When
killed and opened, stones and other hard substances
are generally found in their stomach. In many that
Mr. Catesby examined there was nothing but muci-
lage and large pieces of wood, some of which weigh-
ed seven or eight pounds each: the angles were so.
worn down that he fancied they must have lain there
for several months*. T wo Alligators, that Dr. Brickell
saw killed in North Carolina, had in their bellies se-
veral sorts of snakes, and some pieces of wood ; and
in one of them was found a stone that weighed about
four pounds +.

The voracity of these animals is so great that they
do not spare even mankind when opportunity offers.
A short time before M. Navarette was at the Manil-
las, he wastold that, as a young woman was washing
her feet in one of the rivers, an Alligator seized and
carried her off. Her husband, to whom she had been
but that morning married, hearing her screams,threw
himself headlong into the water, and with a dag-
ger in his hand, pursued the robber. He overtook,
and fought him with such success as_to recover his
wife: but she, unfortunately for her brave rescuer,
was found to be dead f.

The Alligators deposit their eggs, like the Croco-
dile andthe Turtles, at two or three different periods,

* Catesby, ii.63. Browne's Jamaica, 461. + Brickell, 134.
} Navarette’s Travels, Churchill’s Coll. ii. 263.

THE ALLIGATOR. §5

Jaying from twenty to about twenty-four at each
time. It is said that those of Cayenne and Surinam
raise a little hillock on the bank of the river they
frequent, and, hollowing this out in the middle,
amass together a heap of leaves and other vege-
table refuse, in which they deposit their eggs. These
being also covered up with leaves, a fermentation
ensues, by the heat of which, in addition to that of
the atmosphere, the eggs are hatched.—They ge-
nerally lay their eggs in the month of April*.
Multitudes of these are destroyed by the Vultures,
and immense numbers of the young animals are de-
voured, as soon as they reach the water, by the va-
rious species of fish.

it appears that the Alligator, when caught very
young, may be in some measure domesticated. Dr.
Brickell saw one that was caught not long after being
hatched, and put into a large pond before a planter’s
house. It remained near half a year, during which
time it was regularly fed with the entrails of fowls,
and raw meat. It frequently came into the house,
where it would remain for a short time, and then
return again to its shelter in the pond. It was sup-
posed at last to steal away to a creek near the plan-
tation ; for it was one day missing, and from that
time was never afterwards seen 7

The voice of these animals is very loud and dread-
ful, being stronger than the roar of a bull. They have
an unpleasant and very powerful musky scent: M.

* M. dela Borde, quoted in Shaw’s Gen, Zool. iii. 196,

+ Brickell, 34.
E * 4

56 THE COMMON GUANA.

Pagés says that, near one of the rivers in America,
where the Alligators were very numerous, the efflu-
via was so strong as to impregnate his provisions,
and even to give them the nauseous taste of rotten
musk *,

The teeth are as white as ivory ; and snuff-boxes,
charges for guns, and several kinds of toys, are made
with them. Those persons, who have eaten of their
flesh,say that it is white and very delicious; many of
the American tribes are in a great measure sup-
ported by it. |

THE COMMON GUANAT.

This is an animal that frequently occurs in Ame-
rica, and both the West and East Indies, where it
grows to four or five feet in length. The tail is
Jong and round ; the back serrated; and the crest
denticulated. The individuals vary greatly in co-
lour, but their prevailing tinge is a brownish green.
Under the chin they have a pouch capable of great
inflation.

The Guana inhabits the rocks, and hides itself
in cliffs or hollow trees, Its food is almost entirely
confined to vegetables and insects, which it swal-
lows whole ; and the fat of the abdomen assumes
the colour of whatever the animal has last eaten.
Its appearance is disgusting, and its motions very

* Pagés, i. 48.
+ SYNONYMS.——Lacerta iguana. Linn.—L'Iguane La Cepede.
Leguana. Seba—Great American Guana. Common Guana. Shaw.
——Shaw's Gen. Zool. vol, 3. tab. 61,

THE COMMON GUANA. sf

slow ; “ their holes,” says Catesby, “ being a greater
security than their heels.” Though not naturally
amphibious, it will on necessity continue long under
water ; in swimming, it keeps its legs close pressed
to its body, and urges itself forward by means of
the tail.

The females usually quit the woods or mountains
about two months after the end of winter, for
the purpose of depositing their eggs in the sand of
the sea shore. These eggs are always unequal in
number, from thirteen to twenty-five. They are
longer, but not thicker than pigeons eggs. The
outer covering is white and flexible. Most travellers
say that these eggs give an excellent relish to sauces,
and that their taste is preferable to that of poultry
. eggs *,

The flesh of the animals constitutes a principal
support of the natives of the Bahamas, who go out
in their sloops to other islands to take them, which
they do by means of dogs trained for the purpose.
As soon as caught their mouths are sewed up, to
preyent them from biting, and some are carried alive
from hence to Carolina for sale; others are salted
and barrelled for home consumption f.

Father Labat speaks highly of their delicacy and
fine flavor, and describes the mode in which he,
and some others that were along with him, saw
one of them taken. ‘“ We are attended (he says)
by a negro who carried a long rod, at one end of

* La Cepede, i. 342. + Catesby, ii, 64.

<8 THE COMMON GUANA.

which was fastened a piece of whipcord, with a
running knot. After beating the bushes for some
time, the negro discovered our game, basking
in the sun, on the dry limb of atree. On this he
began whistling with all his might; to which the
Guana was wonderfully attentive, stretching out
his neck, and turning his head, as if to enjoy it
more fully. The negro now approached, still whistl-
ing: and, advancing his rod gently, began tickling
with the end of it the sides and throat of the Guana,
which seemed mightily pleased with the operation 5
for he turned on his back, and stretched himself out
like a cat before the fire, and at length fairly fell
asleep. The negro perceiving this, dexterously slip-
ped the noose overhis head, and with a jerk brought
him to the ground.”

The flesh is sometimes roasted, but more usually
boiled, the fat being first taken out, which the na-
tives melt and clarify.

The Guana is an animal easily tamed if taken
young. Dr. Browne kept a full-grown one about
his house for more thantwo months. At first it was
very fierce and ill-natured ; but after some days it
grew more tame, and would, at length, pass the
greatest part of the day on the bed or couch: but it
always went out at night. As it walked along it
frequently threw out its forked tongue; but Dr.
Browne says that, during all the time he had it, he
never observed that it ate any thing *.

* Browne’s Jamaica, 462.

[ s9™]

THE NIMBLE LIZARD*,

The nimble Lizard is one of the British species.
Its general length, from the nose to the end of the
tail, is about six inches and a half. The upper
part of the head is light brown, and the back and
tail are variously striped and spotted with light
brown, black, white, and dark brown. The under
parts of the body are of a dirty white.

This elegant little creature, which is known to
almost every one in the temperate regions of Eu-
rope, seems to be the most gentle and inoffensive,
and, at the same time, the most useful of all the
Lizard tribe. Its motions are so nimble, and it
runs with such swiftness as, when disturbed, to
disappear in a moment. It is fond of basking in
the sun; yet, unable to bear excessive heat, in the
hottest weather it seeks shelter. In spring, during
fine weather, it is often seen luxuriously extended
on a sloping green bank, or on a wall exposed to
the sun. In these situations, it enjoys the full
effects of the reviving heat; expressing its delight
by gently agitating its slender tail; and its lively
and brilliant eyes are animated with pleasure,
Should any of the minute animals appear on
which it feeds, it springs upon them with the
quickness of thought; and if any danger occurs, it

Ce a

* SYNONYMs.—Lacerta agilis.—Le Lezard gris. La Cepede.
Linn. — Little brown Lizard. Edwards. —Scaly Lizard. Penn.—
Wimble Lizard, Kerr's La Cepede—Penn.s Brit. Zool, vol, 3, tab. 2.

60 THE NIMBLE LIZARD.

seeks a more secure retreat with equal rapidity.
On the least noise it turns suddenly round, falls
down, and seems, for some moments, perfectly stu-
pified by its fall: or else it suddenly shoots away
among the bushes or thick grass, and disappears.
Its wonderful rapidity of motion is chiefly to be
observed in warm countries, for in the temperate
Tegions its evolutions are much more languid,

This gentle and peaceful animal excites no sen-
sations of terror; and, when taken into the hand,
makes not the smallest attempt to bite or offend.
In some countries children use it as a play-thing;
and, in consequence of its natural gentleness of
disposition, it becomes, in a great measure, tame
and familiar.

The tail is nearly twice the length of the body,
and tapers from the root to the extremity, where it
ends ina sharp point. This, from the weakness of
the vertebra, is so brittle as often to snap off on
the least roughness in handling. In this case it 1s
sometimes reproduced. When the tail has been
split or divided lengthways, it has been known that
each of the portions, in healing, has rounded itself,
and thus the animal has had a double tail. One of
these has contained the vertebrae, and the other
only a kind of tendon in the centre.

For the purpose of seizing the insects on which
it feeds, this Lizard darts out, with astonishing
velocity, its large forked tongue. This is of a red-
dish colour, and beset wiih asperities that are
scarcely sensible to the sight, but which assist very

materially in catching its winged prey.—Like most

THE NIMBLE LIZARD. 645

other oviparous quadrupeds, it is capable of exist-
ing a long time without food. Some of them have
been kept in bottles, without any nourishment, for
upwards of six months.

In the southern-countries of Europe, the Nimble
Lizard revives, very early in the spring, from the
torpid state in which it had passed the cold wea-
ther of the winter; and, recovering its activity,
begins its sportive evolutions, which increase in
agility in proportion to the heat of the atmosphere.
In the beginning of May, the female deposits her
eggs, which are nearly spherial, and about five
lines in diameter, in some warm situation; as, for
instance, at the foot of a wall fronting the south,
Here they are hatched by the heat of the sun.

Previously to laying the eggs, both male and fe-
male change their skins, which they again do about
the beginning of winter.—They pass that season in
a state of torpor, more or less complete, according
to the rigour of the season, either in holes of trees,
or walls, or subterraneous places. They quit these
retreats on the first appearance of spring *.

This little animal seems occasionally to lay aside
the gentleness and: innocence of disposition which
is attributed to it; still, however, no further than
for the purpose of obtaining food. Mr. Edwards
once surprised one of them in the act of fighting
with a small bird, as she sate on her nest in a vine
against the wall, with newly-hatched young. He

* La Cepede,i.. 370.

62 THE CHAMELEON.

supposed the Lizard would have made them a prey,
could he but have driven the old bird from her
nest: He watched the contest for some time; but,
on his near approach, the Lizard dropped to the
ground, and the bird flew off*.

THE CHAMALEONT.

The Chameleon is a native of India, Africa, and
some of the warmer parts of Spain and Portugal.
The usual length of its body is about ten inches,
and that of the tail nearly the same.

Though an animal extremely ugly and disgusting
in its appearance, it is perfectly harmless, feeding
only on insects, for which the structure of its
tongue is peculiarly adapted, being long and missile,
and furnished with a dilated, glutinous, and some-
what tubular tip. By means of this it seizes in-
sects with the greatest ease, darting it out, and
instantaneously retracting it, with the prey secured
on its tip, which it swallows whole. The skin 1s
covered with small warts or granulations, and down
the middle of the back it is serrated. The feet have
five toes united three and two, to enable it to lay
firmly hold of the branches of trees, in which it
principally resides; and to this end also its tail is
prehensile, and is always coiled round the branch
till the animal has secured a firns footing. Its mo-

* Edwards i. 34.
+ Lacerta Chameleon. Linn, Le Caméleon, La Cepede——
Shaw's Gen. Zool. vol. 3, tab. 76.

THE CHAMALEON. 63

tions are very slow. The lungs are so large as to
allow it to inflate the body to a vast size. ‘The
structure and motions of its eyes are singular: these
are large and globular, and so formed that at the
same instant it can look in different directions.
One of them may frequently be seen to move when
the other is at rest; or one will often be directed
forwards, while the other is attending to some ob-
ject behind, or in the same manner upwards and
downwards.

The Chameleon fs principally celebrated for the
singular property that it has of occasionally chang-
ing its colour. Not having myself witnessed this
operation, I shall present the reader with the ac-
counts of three persons who have: there appears
a considerable difference in the relations; this;
however, he must reconcile as well as he is able,
The writers I allude to are D’Obsonville, Hassel-
quist, and Dr. Russel.

The colour of the Chameleon, says D’Obson-
ville, is naturally green, but it is susceptible of
many shades, and particularly of three very distinct
ones; Saxon green, deep green, and a shade bor-
dering on blue and yellow green. When free, in
health, and at ease, it is a beautiful green, some
parts excepted, where the skin, being thicker and
more rough, produces gradations of brown, red, or
light grey. When the animal is provoked, in open
air, and well fed, it becomes blue-green ; but when
feeble, or deprived of free air, the prevailing. tint
is the yellow-green. Under other circumstances,
and especially at the approach of one of its own

1

64 THE CHAMALEON.

species, no matter of which sex, or when sur-
rounded and teased by a number of insects thrown
upon him, he then, almost in a moment, takes
alternately the three different tints of green. If he
is dying, particularly of hunger, the yellow is at
first predominant; but in the first stage of putre-
faction this changes to the colour of dead leaves.

It seems that the causes of these different varie-
ties are several: and first, the blood of the Chame-
leon is of a violet blue, which colour it will preserve
for some minutes on linen or paper, especially on
such as have been steeped in alum-water. In the
second place, the different tunicles of the vessels are
yellow, as well in their trunks as in their ramifica-
tions. The epidermis, or exterior skin, when sepa-
rated from the other, is transparent, without any
colour; and the second skin is yellow, as well as
all the little vessels that touch it. Hence it is pro-
bable that the change of colour depends upon the
mixtures of blue and yellow, from which result
different shades of green. Thus, when the animal,
healthy, and well fed, is provoked, its blood is car-
ried in greater abundance from the heart towards
the extremities; and, swelling the vessels that are
spread over the skin, its blue colour subsides the
yellow of the vessels, and produces a blue green
that is seen through the epidermis. When, on the
contrary, the animal is impoverished and deprived
of free air, the exterior vessels being more empty,
their colour prevails, and the animal becomes a
yellow-green till it recovers its liberty, is well nou-
rished, and without: pain, when it regains the co-

THE CHAMELEON. 65

lour ; this being the consequence of an equilibrium
in the liquids, and of a due proportion of them in
the vessels *.

Hasselquist says, that he never observed the Cha-
meleon assume the colour of an external object
presented to its view, although he made several
experiments for the purpose. He says its natural
colour is an iron grey, or black, mixed with a little
grey. This it sometimes changes, and becomes
entirely of a brimstone yellow, which, except the
former, is the colour it most frequently assumes.
It sometimes takes a darker or greenish yellow, and
sometimes a lighter. He did not observe it assume
any other colours; such as blue, red, purple, &c.
When changing from black to yellow, the soles of
its feet, its head, and the bag under its throat, were
thé first tinged; and then, by degrees, that colour
spread over the rest of the body. He several times
saw it marked with large spots of both colours all
over its body, which gave it an elegant appearance.
When it became of an iron grey it dilated its skin,
and became plump and handsome; but as soon as
it turned yellow, it contracted itself, and appeared
empty, lean, and ugly: and the nearer it approached
in colour to white, the more empty and ugly it ap-
peared ; but its shape was always the most unplea-
sant when it was speckled.—Mr. Hasselquist kept
a Chameleon for near a month; it was, during the
whole time, very nimble and lively, climbing up and

sane eye er

* D’Obsonville, 35.
VOL: 121: F

66 THE CHAMELEON.

down its cage, fond of being near the light, and
constantly rolling about its large eyes. It took no
food during the whole of this time; so that, at last,
it became Jean, and evidently suffered from hunger.
It could no longer hold fast by the grating of the
eage, but fell through weakness, when a turtle, that
was in the same room, bit it and hastened its death.
From this animal’s being able to support long ab-
stinence has arisen the vulgar notion of the Chame-
leon’s living only on air*,

When the Chameleon is removed from its place,
Dr. Russel also informs us that it does not imme-
diately change colour, nor does it constantly, in
changing, assume that of the ground upon which it
is laid. Thus, if put into a box lined with white,
or with black, it will sometimes in the black be-
come of a lighter colour than before, and vice
versa; and sometimes will assume a_ brimstone
colour. When the experiment was made upon a
cloth of various colours, but where the animal had
a larger field to move about, the event was the
same.—it frequently gees through a succession of
colours before taking that of the body nearest to it.
When laid on the grass it will, perhaps, from a
light earthy colour, first become darker, then black,
yellow, again darkish, and, last of all, green. At
other times it becomes green at once; and so of
other colours when laid on other grounds: whence
it has been hastily conjectured that the transition was

Se

* Hasselquist, 217.
1

THE SALAMANDER. 67

always sudden. But, notwithstanding this irregu-
Jarity in its change, especially when hurried or dis-
turbed, its most permanent colour, in repose, was
that of the ground on which it lay; provided the
ground was not of one of the colours that it never
does assume, of red or blue. Little material difference
was observable, whether the experiments were
made in the shade or in the sun; but the animal
appears duller at some times than others, and cap-
tivity seems to abate its alacrity in changing*.

Mr. Barrow says that “ previously to the Cha-
mzleon’s assuming a change of colour it makes a
long inspiration, the body swelling out to twice its
usual size; and, as this inflation subsides, the
change of colour gradually takes place. ‘The only
permanent marks are two small dark lines passing
‘along the sides f.

THE SALAMANDER {.

No animal of the present tribe, except the Cro-
codile, has been more frequently spoken of than
the Salamander. It is found in shady woods in
many parts of Germany, Italy, and France, and is
easily distinguished by its short cylindrical tail, and
deep shining black colour, variegated with large
oblong and somewhat irregular patches of bright

* Russel’s Natural History of Aleppo.
+ Barrow’s Travels in Africa.
} Lacerta Salamandra. Linz,

Shaw's Gen. Zeal, vol: 3. tab. 82»

F 2

68 THE SALAMANDER.

orange-yellow. Its general length is seven or eight
inches, though sometimes it becomes much larger.

Whilst the hardest bodies are unable to resist the
action of fire, the generality of mankind have given
full credit to the ridiculous stories that have for ages
been circulated of this little Lizard, not only being
able to withstand its effects, but even to extinguish
it, So small an animal, possessing such very supe-
rior privileges, that furnished so.many objects of
comparison to poetry, so many pretty emblems to
love, and so many brilliant devices to valour, seems
to have agreeably laid hold on the imaginations of
men in such a manner that they were unwilling to
retract their belief, and therefore contented them-
selves with the traditions, without having their
curiosity sufficiently roused to satisfy themselves by
immediate experiment. The ancients, pretending
that it owed its existence to the purest of elements,
called it the Daughter of Fire, giving it, at the
same time, a body of ice. The moderns adopted
the ridiculous tales of the ancients; and, as it is
difficult to stop when once the bounds of probabi-
lity have been passed, some writers have gone so
far as to assert that the most violent fire could be
extinguished by the Salamander: in the most raging
conflagration, it has been said, if one of these small
Lizards was but thrown in, its progress would be
immediately checked. It was not till after the
light of science was diffused abroad that the world
began to discredit this wonderful property. Expe-
riment then proved what reason alone might, long
before, have demonstrated.

THE SALAMANDER. 69

In addition to this, the Salamander was esteemed
a poisonous reptile;and has been generally held in
terror; but this opinion has been refuted by numer-
ous experiments. M. de Maupertuis, who minutely
studied the nature of this Lizard, in order to dis-
cover what might be its pretended poison, demon-
strated also experimentally that fire acted upon it
in the same manner as upon all other animals. He
remarked that it was scarcely upon the fire before
it appeared to be covered with drops of a kind of
milky fluid, which oozed through all the pores of
the skin, and immediately became hard. It is
needless to say that this fluid is not sufficiently abun-
dant to extinguish even the smallest fire: it pos-
sesses some degree of acridity, for when put upon
the end of the tongue, it causes an unpleasant burn-
ing sensation *.

Shadv woods, high mountains, or the banks of
unfrequented rivulets, are the usual retreats of these
animals; and they are not often seen except during
wet weather. In the winter, they lie concealed in
hollows about the roots of old trees, in subterrane-
ous recesses, or the cavities of old walls, where
several of them have been sometimes discovered,
collected, and twisted together. They are often to
be seen in the water, where they are able to live
as well as on land. Their principal food is insects,
snails, &c. Their pace is slow, and in manners
they are very sluggish. |

* La Cepede, 11. 138.

a)
F 2

2

70 _ THE WARTY, LIZARD,

Their young are brought into the world alive, ©
having been first hatched from eggs within the
parent animal. The females are said to retire to
the water to deposit them: at their first exclusion
from the body, these are furnished with fins on
each side of the neck, which, on the animal’s be-
coming perfect, drop off. The number of young
produced by one Salamander is said sometimes to
amount to thirty or forty.

THE WARTY LIZARD*.

This Lizard, which is very common in stagnant
and muddy waters in this country, is six or seven
inches in length, and entirely covered, except on
the belly, with small warts. The under parts are
of a bright yellow colour, and the upper mostly
black brown, spotted with black. It resides alto-
gether either in the water, or in very damp places,
and its tail, being flattened perpendicularly, serves
it as a rudder in swimming. It is usually seen
crawling along the bottom, but it now and then
rises, with a wriggling motion, to the surface.

At certain periods these animals, like many other
reptiles, change their skins. Mr. Baker kept some
of them in a large jar of water for many months, and
found that they generally performed this operation
at the end of every fortnight or three wecks.

* SYNONYMS.—Lacerta palustris. Liva,.—La Salamandre a queu
plate. La Cepede.—~Ask in Scotland.

THE WARTY LIZARD. 71

A day or two before the change, the animal al-
ways appeared more sluggish than usual, taking no
notice of the worms that were given to it, which at
other times it greedily devoured. The skin in some
parts of the bedy appeared loose, and its colour not
so lively as before. It began the operation of cast-
ing the skin, by loosening that part about the jaws;
it then pushed it backward gently and gradually,
both above and below the head, till it was able to
slip out first one leg and then theother. With these
Jegs it proceeded to thrust the skin as far backwards
as they could reach. This done, it was under the
necessity of rubbing its body against the gravel, till
it was more than half freed from the skin, which ap-
peared doubled back, covering the hinder part of the
body and the tail. The animal now bent back its
head, taking the skin in its mouth, and setting its
feet upon it, for firmer hold, by degrees drew it en-
tirely off, the hind-legs being dragged out in the
same manner that the fore ones were before.

On examining the skin it was, in every instance,
found to be turned with its inside outwards, but
without any breach except at the jaws. These crea-
tures do not, however, like some of the snakes, put
off the coverings of the eyes along with the skin ;
for two round holes always appear where the eyes
have been.

This operation sometimes occupies near half an
hour ; and after it is finished the Lizard appears full
of life and vigour. If the skin is not taken away
very shortly after it is cast the animal usually swal-
lows it whole, as it does other food. Sometimes it

F 4

72 THE WARTY LIZARD.

begins with the head part first; and the tail being
filled with air and water becomes like a blown blad-
der, and proves so unmanageable that it 1s very di-
verting to sce the pains it costs to discharge these,
and to reduce it to a condition to be got down the
throat *,

Dr. Townson, who had several of these Lizards
ina jar for the purpose of trying experiments on
their respiration, says that he fed them with worms,
and that if they were in the greatest stillness, and a
worm was dropped ever so gently among them, they
all immediately began to fight, each attacking his
neighbour, and seizing it by the head, foot, or tail. This
he remarked to be not a contention immediately for
the worm, for that often lay for a short time unno-
ticed, but it seemed to originate in a great acuteness
of smell (which in a moment informed them of the
presence of their food), and in a singular dullness of
their discriminating powers f.

Being never seen in winter, these Lizards are sup-
posed to retire into holes or mud, and become tor-
pid. ‘They deposit their spawn towards the end of
May or beginning of June, in small clusters, consist-
ing of several palish yellow-brown globules included
in surrounding gluten. The larva are furnished with
fins on each side of the breast, which fall off when
the animals attain a perfect state.

* Paper of Mr. Baker in Phil. Tran. vol. xliv. p. 529.
+ Townson’s Tracts, p. 113.

[. 79

THE SERPENTS *.

THERE is much geometrical elegance in the si-
nuous motions of the Serpent tribe. Their back-
bone consists of moveable articulations, and runs
through the whole length of their body. The breast
and abdomen are surrounded with ribs. Some of
the species can make their bodies stiff, and by this
means are enabled to spring with great force and vee
locity on their prey.

The bodies of most of the tribes are covered with
scales ; and Linnzus has endeavoured to mark the
species by the number of scaly plates on the abdo-
men and beneath the tail, the former he denomi-
nates scuta, and the latter subcaudal sguame: but
every day’s experience tends to prove that these are
too uncertain and variable to be depended on.

The head is connected to the trunk without the
intervention of aneck. The jaws are so formed
that the animals are able to swallow bodies as thick
and frequently even thicker than themselves. The
tongue is slender and cleft.

The porsonous Serpents differ from the others in
having leng tubular fangs on each side of the head,
calculated to convey the venom from the bag or re-
ceptacle at the base into the wound made by their

* This is the second Linnean Order of the AmMruigra,

74 THE RATTLE-SNAKE TRIBE.

bite. The principal distinguishing rule in these
tribes is, that the venomous Serpents have only two
rows of true or proper teeth (that is, such as are
not fangs) in the upper jaw, whilst all others have
four.

A head entirely covered with small scales is also
in some degree a character, but by no means an uni-
versal one, of poisonous species ; as are also scales on
the head and body furnished with a ridge or promi-
nent middle line. The number of poisonous Ser-
pents is very few when compared with the whole
number of the species. Out of about 230 species
described in Systema Nature there are not 40 that
have been discovered to possess the poisonous
fangs.

All the species cast their skins at certain periods ;
and those of cold and temperate climates lie con-
¢ealed in atorpid state during winter. ‘The flesh of
several of the Serpents is innoxious, and even eaten
by the natives of many countries. Some of them
deposit eggs, which are connected in a kind of chains
and others produce their young perfectly formed
from eggs hatched within their bodies.

THE RATTLE-SNAKE TRIBE.

THE animals of this tribe, which are verv few, are
all furnished with poisonous fangs, but their bite is
not fatal unless they happen to be much irritated.—

THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE. 75

‘They are confined to the warmer parts of America,
where they prey on the smaller birds, lizards, and in-
sects. They give notice of their approach, by the
rattle at the end of their tail, which is composed of
hollow membranaceous articulations, that annually
increase in number till they amount to about forty.
The head is broad, and covered with large carinated
scales, or such as have a prominent middle line : the
snout is rounded and obtuse.

Their Linnean generic character is that they have
scuta on the abdomen ; scuta and squame beneath
the tail, and the tail terminated with a rattle.

THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE™.

This, the most dreaded of all the Serpents, is found
both in North and South America, where it usually
grows to about five or six feet in length. Its colour
is yellowish-brown above, marked with broad trans-
verse bars of black. Both the jaws are furnished with
small sharp teeth, and the upper one has four large
incurvated and pointed fangs. At the base of each is
a round orifice, opening into a hollow, that appears
again near the end of the tooth in the form of a small
channel: these teeth may be raised or compressed.
When the animals are in the act of biting, they force
out of a giand near the roots of the teeth the fatal
juice: this is received into the round orifice of the -
teeth, conveyed through the tube into the channel,

* Synonyms.—Crotalus horridus. Linw.—Boiquira. La Cepede.
Rattle snake. Var,

76 THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE.

and from thence with unerring direction into the
wound. The tail is furnised:with a rattle, consist-
ing of joints loosely connected : the number of these
is uncertain, depending in some measure on the age
of the animal, being supposed to increase annually
by an additional joint.

Providence has kindly given to mankind a security
against the bite of this dreadful reptile ; for it gene-
rally warns the passenger of its vicinity by the rat-
tling of its tail. In fine weather the notice is always
given, but not always in rainy weather: this inspires
the Indians with a dread of travellmg among the woods
in wet seasons. In addition to this circumstance, the |
edour of the Rattle-snake is so extremely fetid, that
when it basks in the sun, or is irritated, it is often
discovered by the scent, before it ts either seen or
heard. Horses and cattle frequently discover it by
the sceni, and escape at a distance; but when the
serpent happens to be to leeward of their course,
they sometimes run into great danger *.

The Rattle-snake usually moves with its head on
the ground ; but, if alarmed, throws its body into a
circle, coiling itself with its head m the centre erect,
and with its eyes flaming in a most terrific manner.
Happily it may be easily avoided ; it is slow in pur-
suit, and has not the power of springing at its assail-
ants fT.

The tongue, as in many other serpents, is com-
posed of two long and round bodies oined together

* La Cepede, iy. 246. + Penn. Arct. Zool. it. 336.
I

THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE. 7%

from the root to about half its length. This is fre-
quently darted out and retracted with great agility.
There is, besides the fangs with which the Rattle-
snakes kill their prey, another kind of teeth, much
smaller, and situated in both jaws, which serve for
catching and retaining it. ‘There are no grinders:
for they do not chew their food, but always swallow
it whole.

It is not very uncommon for this creature to come
into houses ; but the moment any of the. domestic
animals see or hear it they take alarm, and unite in
giving notice of its presence. Hogs, dogs, and
poultry, all exhibit the utmost consternation and
terror, erecting their bristles and feathers, and ex-
pressing by their different notes of alarm that a dan-
gerous enemy is near. Mr. Catesby says that, in a
gentleman’s house of Carolina, as the servant was
making the bed, on the ground floor, that he had
himself left but a few minutes before, he disco-
vered a Rattle-snake lying coiled between the sheets
in the middle of the bed *. .

When the Rattle-snake has been irritated, or the
weather is exceedingly hot, its poison, on being in-
serted into a wound, often proves fatal in a very short
time. In the Philosophical Transactions we have an
account of several experiments that were made by
Captain Hall, in South Carolina. A snake was tied
down to a grass-plot, and made to bite a healthy
cur-dog : immediately afterwards the poor animal’s

* Catesby, ii. 41.

78 THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE.

eyes were fixed, his teeth closed upon his tongue,
which was hanging out, his lips were drawn up so
as to leave his teeth and gums bare, and in a quar-
ter of a minute he died. The hair was then
taken off by means of hot water, and only one small
puncture appeared, between his fore-legs, with a
bluish-green colour round it—A second dog was
brought about half an hour afterwards, and the
snake bit his ear: he exhibited signs of violent sick-
ness, staggered about for some time, then fell down
convulsed, and two or three times got up again: he
lived near two hours.—Four days after this two
dogs, as large as common bull-dogs, were bitten by
him: the one in the inside of his left thigh, which
died exactly in half a minute; and the other on the
outside of the thigh, which died in four minutes.—
Captain Hall, after some other experiments, wished
at last to try whether its poison would prove mortal
toitself. He therefore hung it up in such a manner
that it had about half its length on the ground, and
irritated it by two needles fastened to the end of a
stick. The creature made several attempts to seize
the stick, and then bit itself. It was let down, and
in eight or ten minutes was found to be lifeless. The
snake was afterwards cut into five pieces, which
were successively devoured by a hog, but without
receiving any injury in consequence.

We are told, by an intelligent American writer,
that a farmer was one day mowing with his negroes,
when he by chance trod on a Rattle-snake, that im-
mediately turned upon him, and bit his boot. At
night, when he went to bed, he was attacked with

THE BANDED RATTLE SNAKE. 79

asickness: he swelled, and before a physician could
be called in, he died. All his neighbours were sur-
prised at this sudden death, but the corps was in-
¢erred without examination. A few days after one
of the sons put on his father’s boots, and at night
when he pulled them off he was seized with
the same symptoms, and died on the following
morning. The doctor arrived, but, unable to di-
vine the cause of so singular a disorder, seriously
pronounced both the father and the son to have been
bewitched. At the sale of the effects, a neighbour
purchased the boots, and on putting them on expe-
rienced the like dreadful symptoms with the father
and son: a skilful physician, however, being sent
for, who had heard of the preceding affair, sus-
pected the cause, and, by applying proper reme-
dies, recovered his patient. he fatal boots were
now carefully examined, and the two fangs of the
snake were discovered to have been left in the lea-
ther with the poison-bladders adhering to them.—
They had penetrated entirely through, and beth the
father and son had imperceptibly scratched them-
selves with their points in pulling off the boots *.
Dr. Brickell says he was a witness to an encoun-
ter between a Dog, and a Rattle-snake which was
fastened to the ground by a tolerably long string.
The snake coiled up, and rattled its tail; and the
dog beinglet loose seized, and attempted to shake it
out at full length, but from the weight was pre-

a Nn me eo

ae

* Hectos St. John, 238.

80 THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE.

vented from doing it, and in consequence it bit him
in the ear. He seemed somewhat stunned, and left
the place, but returned on being encouraged by the
company. In the second encounter he received a
bite in his lip, after which the snake bit himseif.
The dog from that moment appeared senseless of
every thing around him, even the caresses of his
brutal master had now no effect, and in less
than half an hour both the animals were found
dead *,

A Rattle-snake which had been highly irritated
by an Indian Dog, that had both cunning and agi-
lity enough always to keep out of his reach, was
observed at the time to contract the muscles that
moved his scales, in such a manner as to make his
body appear extremely bright: but immediately
after he had bitten himself all his splendour was
gone f.

If they are not provoked, these animals are per-
fectly inoffensive to mankind, being so much alarm-
ed at the sight of a man as always, if possible, to
avoid them, and never commencing an attack.
Their anger is said to be easily known from the noise
of their rattle, which in this state is always loud
and distinct ; but when they are pleased it is said
to sound like a distant trepidation, in which no-
thing distinct can be heard. Negroes and others,
who have been bitten by them, have also frequently
recovered without any assistance ; and indeed the
Indian medicines are mostly so fanciful that na-

* Brickell, 146, + Bartram’s Obs. on Pennsylvania, 117-

THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE. St

ture recovers many whose cure is attributed only
to these.

Mr. St. John once saw a tamed Rattle-snake as
gentle as it is possible to conceive a reptile to be-
It went to the water and swam whenever it pleased ;
and when the boys, to whom it belonged, called
it back, their summons was readily obeyed. It had
been deprived of its fangs. They often stroked
it with a soft brush: and this friction seemed to
cause the most pleasing sensations; for it would turn
on its back to enjoy it, asa cat does before the fire *.

Rattle-snakes are viviparous, producing their
' young, generally about twelve in number, in the
month of June ; and by September these acquire
the length of twelve inches. It has been well
attested that they adopt the same mode of pre-
serving their young from danger as that attributed
to the European Viper, receiving them into their
mouth and swallowing them.—M. de Beauvois de-
clares that he was an eye-witness to the process.
He saw a large Rattle-snake, which he had dis-
turbed in his walks: it immediately coiled itself
up, opened its jaws, and in an instant five small ones
that were lying by it rushed into its mouth. He
retired in order to watch the snake, and in a quar-
ter of an hour saw her again discharge them. He
then approached a second time, when the young
rushed into its mouth more quickly than before, and
the animal immediately moved off and escaped +.

_ ——

,

* Hector St. John, 239. * Phil. Tran. vol. iv.

VOL. TIL: G

$2 THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKEs

The Rattle-snake is known to devour several of
the smaller animals, and it has generally been be-
lieved that it is endowed with the power of fasci-
nating or charming its prey till they even run into
itsjaws. Mr. Pennant, from Kalm, says that the
snake will frequently lie at the bottom of a tree
on which a squirrel is seated. He fixes his eyes
upon the little animal, and from that moment it
cannot escape: it begins a doleful outcry, which is
so well known that a person passing by, on hearing
it, immediately knows that a snake is present. The
squirrel runs up the tree a little way, comes down-
wards again, then goes up, and afterwards comes

still lower. The snake continues at the bottom of
the tree with his eyes fixed on the squirrel ; with
which his attention is so entirely taken up, that a
person accidentally approaching may make a consi-
derable noise without so much as the snake’s turne
ing about. The squirrel comes lower, and at last
leaps down to the snake, whose mouth is already
wide open for its reception. The poor little animal
then, with a piteous cry, runs into his jaws, and is
swallowed *.

Some colour is given to this by M. Le Vaillant,
who says that he saw, on the branch of a tree, a
bird trembling as if in convulsions, and at the dis-
tance of about four feet, on another branch, a large
species of snake, that was lying with out-stretched
neck, and fiery eyes, gazing steadily at the poor

a LLL CL LOL LN

* Penn. Arct. Zool, ii. 338.

THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE. 83

animal. The agony of the bird was so great that it
was deprived of the power of moving away ; and
when one of the party killed the snake, it was found
dead upon the spot—and that entirely from fear—
for on examination it appeared not to have received
the slightest wound.

The same gentleman informs us that a short time
afterwards he observed a small mouse, in similar
agonizing convulsions, about two yards distant from
a snake, whose eyes were intently fixed upon it;
and on frightening away the reptile, and taking up
the mouse, it expired in his hand.

The Hottentots who were with him said that
this was very common ; and the fact was confirmed
by the assertions of all to whom he mentioned these
instances *,

Dr. Barton of Philadelphia, however, after having
examined with some care into the subject, is of opi-
nion that the report of this fascinating property has
had its rise in nothing more than the fears and cries
of birds and other animals in the protection of their
nests and young. He saysthat “ the result of not
a little attention has taught him that there is but
one wonder in the business ;—the wonder that
the story should ever have been believed by any man
of understanding and observation }.””. But the above
facts, if they are such, and, till they are proved
otherwise, we must esteem them such, apply so ill
to Dr. Barton’s conclusion as to induce a suUpposi-

* Le Vaillant’s New Travels, i. 33-37.
+ Amer. Phi!. Tran. iv. 74114.

G 2

34 THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE.

tion that his opinion is not so well founded as it
might appear to be from the perusal of his pa-
per only, and without comparing it with other ac-
counts.

In summer the Rattle-Snakes are generally found
in pairs: in winter they collect in multitudes, and
retire into the ground, beyond the reach of the
frost. Tempted by the warmth of a spring day,
they are often observed to creep out in a weak and
languid state. Mr. Pennant mentions that a per-
son has seen a piece of ground covered with them,
and that he killed, with a rod, between sixty and
seventy; till, overpowered with the stench, he was
obliged to retire*.

The American Indians often regale on the Rattle-
Snake.—When they find them asleep, they put a
small forked stick over their necks, which they keep
immoveably fixed to the ground, giving the snake a
piece of leather to bite; and this they pull back
several times with great force until they observe
that the poisonous fangs are torn out. They then
cut off the head, skin the body, and cook it as we
do eels; and the flesh is said to be extremely
white and good f.

* Penn, Arct. Zool. + Hector St. John.—Brickell, 145.

PFCs [earn

THE BOA TRIBE.

THIS is a noble tribe of animals, the largest and
strongest of the serpent race. They are altoge-
ther destitute of venom, never attack but from
necessity, always engage with open courage, and
conquer only by superior strength.

Three of the species are found in Asia; the rest
are confined to the warmer parts of the new con-
tinent.

The Boas are readily distinguished from other
serpents in the under surface of the tail being co-
vered with scuta or undivided plates, like those on
the belly, and in their body not being terminated
by a rattle.

THE GREAT BOA*,

This is a most immense animal, the largest of all
the Serpent tribe, being frequently from thirty to
forty feet in length, and of a proportionate thick-
ness. ‘The ground colour of the body is yellowish-
grey, on which is distributed, along the back, a
series of large chain-like, reddish-brown, and some-
times perfectly red variegations, with other smaller
and more irregular marks and spots. It is a native
of Africa, India, the larger Indian islands, and South

* S¥NONYMS.—Boa Constrictor. Lixa.—Le Devin. La Cepede.—
Constrictor Boa. Shaw. ——Shaw’s Gen, Zool vol. 3. tab. 925 93»

G 3

86 THE GREAT BOA.

America, where it chiefly resides in most retired
situations in woods and marshy retreats*,

A gentleman, who had some large concerns in
America, assures us of the enormous length of
these animals, and informs that he one day sent
out a soldier, with an Indian, to kill some wild
fowl; and, in pursuing their game, the Indian, who
generally went before, beginning to tire, sat down
upon what he supposed to be the fallen trunk of a
tree. But the monster beginning to move, the poor
fellow perceived what it was that he had thus ap-
proached, and dropped down in an agony. The
soldier, who, at some distance, saw what had hap-
pened, levelled his piece at the serpent’s head, and,
by a lucky aim, shot it dead; and, going up to the
relief of his companion, found that he was also
dead from his fright. On his return, he related
what had happened: the animal was ordered to be
brought, and it was found to be thirty-six feet long.
The skin was stuffed, and sent to the cabinet of
the Prince of Orange.

In the island of Java we are assured that one of
these monsters has been known to kill and devour
a buffalo. In a letter, printed in the German.
Ephemerides; we have an account of a combat be-
tween an enormous serpent and a buffalo, by a per-
son who assures us that he was himself a spectator.
The serpent had, for some time, been waiting near
the brink of a pool, im® expectation of its prey;

* Shaw’s Gen, Zool, vol. iii.

THE GREAT BOA. 87

when a buffalo was the first animal that appeared.
Having darted upon the affrighted beast, it instantly
began to wrap him round with its voluminous twist-
ings; and at every twist the bones of the buffalo
were heard to crack almost as loud as the report of
a gun. It was in vain that the animal struggled
and bellowed; its enormous enemy entwined it
so closely that at length all its bones were crushed
to pieces, like those of a malefactor on the wheel,
and the whole body reduced to one uniform mass:
the serpent then untwined its folds, to swallow its
prey at leisure. To prepare for this, and also to
make it slip down the throat the more smoothly, it
was seen to lick the whole body over, and thus
cover it with a mucilaginous substance. It then
began to swallow it at the end that afforded the
least resistance; and in the act the throat suffered
so great a dilation, that it took in at once substance
that was thrice its own thickness.

According to the Bombay Courier of August 31,
1799, a Malay prow was making for the port of
Armboyna; but the pilot, finding she could not en-
ter it before dark, brought her to anchor for the
night close under the island of Celebes. One of
the crew went on shore in quest of betel nut in the
woods, and on his return laid down, as it is supposed,
.to sleep on the beach. In the course of the night
he was heard, by his comrades, to scream out tor
assistance. They immediately went on shore, but
it was too late; for an immense snake of this spe-
cies had crushed him to death. The attention of
the monster being entirely occupied by his prey,

G 4

B8 THE GREAT BOA.

the people went boldly up to it, cut off its head,
and took both it and the body of the man on board
their boat. The snake had seized the poor fellow
by the right wrist, where the marks of the fangs
were very distinct; and the mangled corpse bore
evident {signs of being crushed by the monster’s
twisting itself round the head, neck, breast, and
thigh. The length of the snake was about thirty
feet; its thickness equal to that of a moderate-.
sized man; and, on extending its jaws, they were
found wide enough to admit at once a body of the
size of a man’s head.

We have been assured by travellers that these
animals are sometimes found with the body of a
stag in their gullet; while the horns, which they
are unable to swallow, are seen sticking out at
their mouths.

It is happy for mankind that their rapacity is
often their own punishment; for, whenever they
have gorged themselves in this manner, they be-
come torpid, and may be approached and destroyed
with safety. Patient of hunger to a surprising
degree, whenever they seize and swallow their
prey, they seem, like surfeited gluttons, unwieldy,
stupid, helpless, and sleepy. They at that time
seek for some retreat, where they may lurk for
several days together, and digest their meal in
safety. ‘The smallest effort then will destroy them;
they scarcely can make any resistance ; and equally
unqualified for flight or opposition, even the naked
Indians do not fear to assailthem. But it is other-
wise when this sleeping interyal of digestion ‘is

THE GREAT BOA. 89

over; they then issue, with famished appetites,
from their retreats, and with accumulated terrors,
while every animal of the forest flies from their
presence. }

When captain Stedman was on board one of his
boats on the river Cottica in Surinam, he was in-
formed, by one of his slaves, that a large snake was
lying among the brush-wood on the beach, not far
distant ; and, after some persuasion, he was induced
to land, in order to shoot it. On the first shot the
ball, missing the head, went through the body;
when the animal struck round, and with such asto-
nishing force as to cut away all the underwood
around him with the facility of a scythe mowing
grass; and, by flouncing his tail, caused the mud
and dirt, in which he lay, to fy over the men’s
heads that were with him, to a considerable dis-
tance. They started back some way, but the snake
was quiet again ina few minutes. Captain Sted-
man again fired, but with no better success than
before; and the animal sent up such a cloud of
dust and dirt as he had never seen but in a whirl-
wind; which caused them once more suddenly to
retreat. After some persuasions he was induced,
though much against his inclination, being exeeed-
ingly weak from illness, to make a third attempt.
Having, therefore, once more discovered the snake,
they discharged their pieces at once, and shot him
through the head. ‘The negro brought a boat-rope
to drag him to the canoe which was lying on the
bank of the river. This proved no easy undertak-
ing, since the huge creature, notwithstanding his

6° THE GREAT BOA.

being mortally wounded, still continued to writhe
and twist about in such a manner as to render it
dangerous for any person to approach him. ‘The
negro made a running noose on the rope, and, after
some fruitless attempts to make an approach, threw
it over his head with much dexterity ; and now, all
taking hold of the rope, they dragged him to the
beach, and tied him to the stern of the canoe to
take him in tow. Being, however, still alive, he there
kept swimming like an ecl.

The length of this animal, which the negroes
declared to be only a young one, and but arrived at
half its growth, was upwards of twenty-two feet ;
and its thickness about that of a boy near twelve
years old, as was proved by measuring the crea-
ture’s skin round the body of the boy that was
with them.

When they came to one of their stations, they
hauled him on shore, to skin him, and take out the
oil. To effect this purpose, one of the negroes,
having climbed up a tree with the end of a
rope, let it down over a strong forked branch, and
the others hoisted up the snake and suspended him
from the tree. This done, the former negro, with
a sharp knife between his teeth, left the branch,
and clung fast upon the monster, which was still
writhing, and began his operations by ripping it
up, and stripping down the skin as he descended.
** ‘Though I perceived (says the captain) that the
“animal was no longer able to do him any in-
“« jury, I confess I could not, without emotion, see
“a man stark naked, black and bloody, clinging

3

THE SNAKE TRIBE. or

«© with his arms and legs round the slimy and yet
“< living monster.” This labour, however, was not
without its use; since he not only dexterously
finished the operation, but saved from the animal
above four gallons of fine clarified fat, or rather
oil, which proved of much use to the surgeons at
the hospital. As much again as this was also
supposed to have been wasted. The negroes cut
the animal in pieces, and would have eaten it, had
they not been refused the use of the kettle to boil
it in.—The bite of this snake is not venomous; nor
is it believed to bite at all from any other impulse
than that of hunger*.

THE SNAKE TRIBE.

‘THIS tribe contains a great number of species,
(near two hundred) which differ from each other
very greatly, both in size and habit. About one-
fifth of the whole have been discovered to be poi-
sonous: these are, in general, to be distinguished
from the rest by their large, flattish, and somewhat
heart-shaped heads, and rather short than Jong bo-
dies and tails. The harmless species have, for the

most part, small heads, with more extended bo-
dies.

* Stedman’s Account of Surinam,

g2 THE COMMON VIPER.

All the species have scuta, or undivided plates,
under the abdomen; and broad alternate squame»
er scales, beneath the tail.

In the investigation of this tribe, it is to be re-
marked that the subcaudat scales, although alter-
nate, are reckoned by pairs; so that the number
marked by Linneus for the respective species al-
ways means the number of pairs*.

THE COMMON VIPER f.

Vipers are pretty generally dispersed over the
old Continent, and are by no means uncommon in
our own island, particularly in the dry, stony, and
chalky counties.

They do not often exceed the length of two feet,
though they are sometimes found above three. The
ground colour of their bodies is a dirty yellow,
deeper in the female than in the male. The back
is marked throughout with a series of rhomboidal
black spots joining each other at the points; and
the sides have triangular ones. The belly is entirely
black {.—They are chiefly distinguished from the
Common Snake by their darker belly; their head
much thicker than the body, and in particular by
the tail; which, though it ends in a point, does

* Shaw’s Gen. Zool. vol. iil.

+ Synonyms.-——Coluber berus. Linn.—Vipére. La Cepede.—Vi-
per. -Pexn,—English Viper, Adder. Ray.—Shaw’s Gen, Zool. vol. 3
tab. 101.— Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 4.

t Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 27.

THE COMMON VIPER. 93

not run tapering to so great a length as in the
Snake. When, therefore, other distinctions fail, the
difference of the tail may be distinguished at a
single glance.

The apparatus of poison in the Viper is very
similar to that of the Rattle-Snake, and all the
other poisonous serpents. ‘The symptoms that fol-
low the bite are an acute pain in the wounded part,
with a swelling, at first red, but afterwards livid,
which, by degrees, spreads to the adjoining parts ;
with a great faintness, and a quick, though low,
and sometimes interrupted pulse; great sickness at
the stomach, with bilious, convulsive vomitings,
cold sweats, and sometimes pain about the navel.
The most esteemed remedy is common sallad-oil
thoroughly rubbed on the wounded part. This is
always used by the viper-catchers, and seems far
more efficacious than any volatile alkali, as formerly
recommended. ‘The bite of the viper in this coun-
try, although it produces a painful and troublesome
swelling, is rarely attended with any other bad con-
sequence.

The poison, according to Dr. Mead, when diluted
with a little warm water, and applied to the tip of
the tongue, is very sharp and fiery, a sensation taking
place as if the tongue had been struck through with
something scalding or burning. ‘This, he says, goes
off in two or three hours. One person, mentioned
by Dr. Mead, tried a large drop of it undiluted; in
consequence of which his tongue swelled, with a
little inflammation; and the soreness lasted two
days. Other persons, on the contrary, assert it to

94. THE COMMON VIPER.

have no particular acrimony of taste, but that, in
this respect, it rather resembles oil or gum. Con-
tradictions nearly equal have taken place relative
to. the effect of viperine poison taken into the sto-
mach. Boerhaave affirms it to produce no ill effect
whatever; and the abbé Fontana, that it is not to
be swallowed with impunity—although he is one of
those who assert tts being devoid of any thing un-
pleasant to the taste. We are told, however, that
in the presence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
while the philosophers were making elaborate dis-
sertations on the danger of the poison taken in-
wardly, a viper-catcher, who happened to be pre-
sent, requested that a quantity of it might be put
into a vessel, and then, with the utmost confidence,
and to the astonishment of the whole company, he
drank it off in their presence. Every one expected
the man instantly to drop down dead; but they
soon perceived their mistake, says the relater of the
‘story, and found that, taken inwardly, the poison
was as harmless as water.

In ancient times, the poison of the Viper was
collected by many of the European nations as a
poison for their arrows, as that of other serpents is
used, by the inhabitants of savage nations, at the
present day.

The Viper is the only one, either of the Reptile or
Serpent tribes, in Great Britain, from whose bite
we have any thing to fear. All the others are either
entirely destitute of poison; or, if they possess any,
it is not injurious to man.

These animals are viviparous, and produce their

THE COMMON VIPER. 95

young towards the close of summer. The eggs,
which are hatched in the womb, are usually ten or
twelve only in number, and chained together some-
what like a string of beads. When the young have
burst the shell, they are said to creep, by their own
efforts, from their confinement into the open air,
where they continue for several days without taking
any food. The Rev. Mr. White, of Selborne, in
company with a friend, surprised a large female
viper, which seemed very heavy and bloated, as she
lay on the grass, basking in the sun. They killed
and cut her up, and found in the abdomen: fifteen
young ones about the size of full-grown earth-
worms. This little fry issued into the world with
the true viper spirit about them, showing great
alertness as soon as disengaged from the belly of
the dam. They twisted and riggled about, set
themselves up, and gaped very wide when touched

_ with a stick; exhibiting manifest tokens of menace

and defiance, though as yet no fangs were to be
discovered even with the help of glasses *.

That the young, for some time after their birth,
retreat, when suddenly alarmed, into the mouth of
the female, in the same manner as the young of the
Opossum do into the abdominal pouch of their
parent, seems to be a fact satisfactorily ascertained.
—Vipers arrive at their full growth in about seven
years, and produce at the end of their second or
third.—Their food consists of reptiles, worms, or

* White’s Natural History of Selborne.

96 THE COMMON SNAKE.

young birds, which they swallow whole, though
it sometimes happens that the morsel is thrice the
thickness of their own body.

They are capable of supporting long abstinence,
one of them having been kept above six months in
a box without food; during which time its vivacity
was not lessened.—When at liberty they remain
torpid throughout the winter; yet, when confined,
they have never been observed to take their annual
repose.

They are usually caught with wooden tongs by
the end of the tail. This is done without danger ;
for, while they are held in that position, they cannot
wind themselves up to injure their enemy.

Their flesh was formerly in high esteem as a
remedy for various diseases, but particularly as a
restorative. It has, however, of late years lost
much of its ancient credit, and is very rarely pre-
scribed by modern practitioners.

THE COMMON SNAKE*%.

The Common or Ringed Snakes are well-known
inhabitants of moist and warm woods, on the dry
banks of which they are often seen during the sum-
mer, either sleeping or basking themselves. They
are harmless and inoffensive animals, being totally
destitute of every means of injuring mankind.

* Synonyms. Coluber natrix. Linz.— Ringed Snake. Penn.
—Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 4.

THE COMMON SNAKE. 97

The female deposits her eggs in holes fronting the
south, near stagnant waters; but more frequently
in dunghills, in the form of a continued chain of
ova, to the number of from twelve to twenty.
These are about the size of the eggs of the black-
bird, of a whitish colour, and covered with a parch-
ment-like membrane. The young ones are rolled
up spirally within the middle of the fluid, which
greatly resembles the white of a fowl’s egg. They
are not hatched till the spring following the time
when they are laid*.

In winter these Snakes conceal themselves, and
become nearly torpid ; re-appearing in spring, when
they uniformly cast their skins. This is a process
that they also seem to undergo in the autumn. Mr.
White says, “ About the middle of this month
(September) we found in a field, near a hedge, the
slough of a large snake, which seemed to have
been newly cast. From circumstances it appeared
as if turned wrong side outward, and as if it had
been drawn off backward like a stocking or wo-
man’s glove. Not only the whole skin, but the ~
scales, from the very eyes, were peeled off, and
appeared in the head of the slough like a pair of
spectacles. The reptile, at the time of changing
his coat, had entangled himself intricately in the
grass and weeds; so that the friction of the stalks
and blades might promote this curious shifting of
his exuvie.

a

* Shaw’s Gen. Zool. iii,

WOL: ETT. H

98 THE COMMON SNAKE.

‘ Lubrica serpens
* Exuit in spinis vestem.’ Lucrei.

*‘ It would be a most entertaining sight could a
person be an eye-witness to such a feat, and see the
snake in the act of changing his garment. As the
convexity of the eyes in the slough is now inwards
that circumstance alone is a proof that the skin has
been turned; not to mention that now the present
inside is much darker than the outer. If you look
through the scales of the snake’s eyes from the con-
cave side, viz. as the reptile used them, they lessen
objects much.—Thus it appears, from what has been
said, that snakes crawl out of the mouth of their
own sloughs, and quit the tail part last, just as eels
are skinned by a cook-maid.—While the scales
of the eyes are growing loose, and a new skin is
forming, the creature, in appearance, must be blind,
and feel itself in a very awkward and uneasy situa-
tion*.”’ :

The earliest time of the snakes making their
appearance is in the month of March, from which
period till the middle of May they are to be found
in vast numbers on warm banks, in moist and shady
places. From this time, probably on account of
ihe great heat of summer, they are not so often
seen.

Several instances have occurred of the Common
Snake being in a great degree domesticated. Mr.
White says that he knew a gentleman who had one

* White's Naturalist’s Calendar.

THE COMMON SNAKE, 99

in his house quite tarne. Though this was usually
as sweet in its person as any other animal, yet
whenever a stranger, or a dog or cat entered, it
would begin to hiss, and soon filled the room with
an efHuvia so nauseous as to render it almost in-
supportable *. ,
_ An intimate friend of mine + had a Common
Snake in his rooms at Cambridge near three months.
He kept it ina box of bran; and, during all that
time, he never could discover that it ate any thing,
although he frequently put both eggs and frogs,
the favourite food of this species, into the box.
Whenever he was in the room he used to let the
animal out of its prison: it would first craw] several
times round the floor, apparently with a desire to
escape ; and, when it found its attempts fruitless, it
would climb up the tables and chairs, and not un-
frequently even up the chair of its owner as he sate
at his table. At length it became so familiar as to
lie in a serpentine form on the upper bar of his
chair: it would craw] through his fingers if held at
a little distance before its head, or lie at full length
upon his table, while he was writing or reading, for
an hour or more at atime. When first brought into
the room, it used to hiss and dart out its forked
tongue; but it in no -instance emitted any un-
pleasant vapour. It was .in all its actions remark-
ably cleanly. Sometimes it was indulged with a

* White's Natural History of Selborne. ;
+ Mr. Revett Sheppard, F.L.S. of Gonvil and Caius College,
Cambridge.
H 2

106 THE COMMON SNAKE,

run upon the grass, in the court of the college ; and
sometimes with a swim in a large bason of water,
which it seemed to enjoy very much. When this
gentleman left the University, he gave his bedmaker
orders to turn it out into the fields; which, he be-
lieves, was done.

These animals prey on frogs, insects, worms, and
mice ; for the former of which they often go into the
water, where they swim with great elegance. After
a snake has devoured a tolerably large frog, or a
small bird, its prey will be seen to form a knot in its
body ; and it then becomes so stupid and inactive as
easily to be caught.—The gentleman who favoured
me with the preceding account of a tame snake was
witness to one of these animals seizing a frog. — It
laid hold of it by surprise, by one of the legs, and
immediately began to swallow it. He watched
them for near a quarter of an hour; when the poor
frog cried out so piteously that he determined to
release it; but in the struggle the leg and thigh
had been torn off and devoured.—The Common
Snakes are said to be particularly fond of milk, so
much so that they will occasionally creep into
dairies to drink the milk from the vessels. It is
even said that they will twine themselves round the
legs of cows to reach their udders, and that they
will sometimes suck them till the blood follows*.

It is supposed to be of a species nearly allied to
this, called the French Snake, that an interesting

an

* La Cepede, ilies 354»

THE HOODED SNAKE. 1of.

anecdote is related by Bomare. He says that one
of these had been so completely tamed by a lady
as to come to her whenever she called it, to follow
her in her walks, writhe itself round her arms, and
sleep in her bosom. One day, when she went in a
boat to some distance up a large river, she threw
the snake into the water, imagining that its fidelity
would lead it to follow her, and that, by swimming,
it would readily overtake the boat. The poor ani-
mal exerted all its efforts; but the current proving
at that juncture unusually strong, owing to the
advance of the tide, in spite of all its strug¢ling to
effect its purpose, it was borne down the stream,
and was unfortunately drowned*,

THE HOODED SNAKE f.

This dreadful serpent is very common in many
parts of India. Its general length is three or four
feet, and thickness somewhat more than an inch.
The head is rather small; and a little beyond it
there is a lateral dilation of the skin, which is con-
tinued to the length of about four inches down-
wards, where it gradually sinks into the cylin-
drical form of the rest of the body.

This part is capable of being extended by the
animal at pleasure. It is usually marked on the

* Dictionnaire Raisonné Universe! d’ Histoire Naturelle.
+ Synonyms. Coluber Naja. Linn.—Cobra di Capello. Var.
Spectacle Snake. Shaw.——Shaw’s Gen. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 107.

He

102 THE HOODED SNAKE.

top by a very large and conspicuous patch resem-
bling a pair of spectacles. The usual colour of
the Hooded Snake is a pale rusty brown above;
and beneath a blueish white, tinged with yellow.
The tail tapers to a slender and sharply-pointed
extremity.

When it is irritated or preparing to bite, this animal
raises up the fore part of its body, bends down its
head, and seems, as it were, hooded by the expand-
ed skin of the neck: hence its name ot Cobra di Ca-
pello, or Hooded Serpent *.

From its frequently moving along with great part
of its body erect, and with: its head in continual
action, as if looking around-with great circumspec-
tion, this species is: in India esteemed the emblem
of prudence. It is also an object of superstitious
veneration among the Gentoo Indians, founded on
some traits of legendary mythology: they seldom
name it without adding some epithet, such as the
‘royal, the good, the holy. Some of them are
happy when they see it running about their houses ;
from whence many have received irreparable in-
juriés ; for it is very possible to hurt it unintention-
ally, either without seeing it, or during sleep, and
it immediately revenges itself with fury. Its bite is
sometimes mortal in two or three hours, especially
if the poison has penetrated the larger vessels, or
muscles.—A dog bitten by one of them died in
twenty-seven minutes; and another, larger, sur-

* Shaw’s Gen, Zool. iii.

THE BLACK SNAKE, 103

vived fifty-six minutes. A chicken died in less than
half a minute, though others survived a couple of
hours, depending probably on the heat of the wea-
ther, and the condition of the serpent at the time,
In India the Hooded Snake is carried about in a
basket to be publicly exhibited as a show, being first
deprived of its fangs to secure the men from the
danger of its bite. At the sound of a flageolet it
is taught to assume a kind of dancing attitude and
motions, which it continues as long as its master
continues his music.

THE BBACK SNAKE™.

The Black Snake is a North American serpent,
that grows to agreat length, but possesses no poi-
sonous qualities. It is very smooth and slender,
black on the upper parts, and of a pale blue beneath,
except the throat, which is white.

Its activity is astonishing ; and in speed it will
sometimes equal a horse. ‘Lhe different motions of
these creatures are very diverting : they willat times
climb the trees in quest of the Tree Frogs ; or, for
other prey, glide at full length along the ground. On
some occasions they present themselves half erect,
and in this posture their eyes and their heads appear
to great advantage. The former display a fiery
brightness, by means of which we are told they are
able to fascinate birds, and the smaller quadrupeds,

* SYNONYMS, Coluber Constrictor. Linn.—Knot. Kerr's La
Gepede.———Le Lin. La Cepede. Black Snake, in America.

Hig

104 THE BLACK SNAKE,

in amanner similar to the Rattle-Snake. Their body
is said to be so brittle that if, when pursued, they
get their head into a hole, and a person seizes hold
of the tail, this will often twist itself to pieces *.

The Black Snake is sometimes bold enough to
attack a man, but may be driven off by a smart
stroke from a stick, or whatever other weapon he
may chance-to have in his hand. When it over-
takes a person who has endeavoured to escape (not
having had courage enough to oppose it), it is
said to wind itself round his legs in such a man-
ner as to throw him down, and then to bite him
several times in the leg, or wherever it can lay
hold of, and run off again.

During professor Kalm’s residence at New York,
Doctor Colden told him that, in the spring of 1748,
he had several workmen at his country-seat, and
among them one just arrived from Europe, who, of
course, knew but little of the qualities of the Black
Snake. ‘The other workmen, who observed a male
and female lying together, engaged their new com-
panion to kill one of them. He accordingly ap-
proached them with a stick in his hand: this the
male observed, and made towards him. The man
little expected to find such courage in the reptile,
and flinging away his stick, ran off as fast as he
was able. The Snake pursued, overtook him, and,
twisting several times round his legs, threw him
down, and almost frightened the poor fellow out of

* Brickell, 153.

THE BLACK SNAKE. Go5§

his senses. He could not rid himself of the animal
without cutting it through in two or three places
with aknife. The other workmen laughed heartily
at the incident without ever offering to help their
companion, looking upon the whole affair only as a
scene of the highest amusement.

This Snake, which is altogether harmless, ex-
cept in the spring, is very greedy of milk, and it is
difficult to keep it out when once it is accustomed
to get into a cellar where milk is kept. It has been
seen eating milk out of the same dish with children,
without biting them, though they often gave it
blows with their spoons upon the head, when it
was too greedy,

It is said to be found extremely useful in America
in clearing houses of rats, which it pursues with
wonderful agility,even to the very roofs of barns and
out-houses ; for which good services it is cherished
by the generality of the Americans, who are at great
pains to preserve and multiply the breed. It is
also said to destroy the rattle-snakes by twisting
round their bodies, and suffocating them by the
violence of its contractile force. It is so swift
that there is no escaping its pursuit, but its bite
has no more effect than a scratch with a pin. All
the mischief this species does is to the farmers
wives, in skimming the milk-pans of the cream, and
robbing the hen-roosts of their eggs. It is not very
uncommon to find it coiled up in a nest under a
sitting hen *,

a a a ae i a es Pee See ee

* Catesby, ii. 48. Brickell, 153. , Penn. Arct. Zool. ii. 342.

106 THE BLACK SNAKE.

The following description of a contest between
the Black Snake, and another species, is extracted
from the Letters of an American Farmer: ‘“ One of
my constant walks when I am at leisure (says this
gentleman) is in my lowlands, where I have the
pleasure of seeing my cattle, horses, and colts.
{‘xuberant grass replenishes all my fields, the best
representative of our wealth. Inthe middle of that
tract, I have cut a ditch eight feet wide. On each
side of this I carefully sow every year some grains
of hemp, which rise to the height of fifteen feet, so
strong and full of limbs as to resemble young trees :
I once ascended one of them four feet above the
ground. These produce natural arbours, rendered
often still more compact by the assistance of an an-
nual creeping plant, which we call a vine, that
never fails to entwine itself among the branches,
and always produces a very desirable shade. As.
I was one day sitting, solitary and pensive, in this
primitive arbour, my attention was engaged by
a strange sort of rustling noise, at some paces
distance. I looked all around without distin-
guishing any thing, until I climbed up one of
my great hemp-stalks; when, to. my astonish-
ment, I beheld two snakes of considerable length,
the one pursuing the other with great celerity
through a hemp stubble field. ‘The aggressor
was of the black kind, six feet long; the fugi-
tive was a Water Snake, nearly of equal dimensions |
They soon met, and, in the fury of their first en-
counter, appeared in an instant firmly twisted toge-
ther; and, whilst their united tails beat the ground,

THE BLACK SNAKE. ) BOF

they mutually tried with open jaws to Jacerate each
other. What a fell aspect did they present! Their
heads were compressed to a very small size, their
eyes flashed fire ; and, after this conflict had lasted
about five minutes, the second found means to dis-
engage itself from the first, and hurried toward the
ditch. Its antagonist mstantly assumed a new pos-
ture, and half creeping, half erect, with a majes-
tic mien, overtook and attacked the other again,
which placed itself in a similar attitude, and pre-
pared to resist. The scene was uncommon, and
beautiful, for thus opposed they fought with their
jaws, biting each other with the utmost rage; but,
notwithstanding this appearance of mutual courage
and fury, the water snake still seemed desirous of
retreating towards the ditch, its natural element.
This was no sooner perceived by the keen-eyed
black one than, twisting its tail twice round a stalk
of hemp, and seizing its adversary by the throat,
not by means of its jaws, but by twisting its own
neck twice round that of the water snake, he pulled.
it back from the ditch. To prevent a defeat, the
latter took hold likewise of a stalk on the bank, and,
by the acquisition of that point of resistance, be-
came a match for his fierce antagonist. Strange was
this to behold: two great snakes strongly adherin,g
to the ground, mutually fastened together by mean s
of the writhings which lashed them to each other,
and stretched at their full length, they pulled, but
pulled in vain; and, in the moments of greatest ex -
ertion, that part of their bodies which was entwinec¢ |
seemed extremely small, while the rest appeare;!

‘

108 THE BLACK SNAKE.

inflated, and now and then convulsed with strong
undulations rapidly following each other. Their
eyes appeared on fire, and ready to start out of their
heads. At one time the conflict seemed decided ;
the water-snake bent itself into great folds, and by
that operation rendered the other more than com-
monly outstretched ; the next minute the new strug-
gles of the black one gained an unexpected supe-
riority, it acquired two great folds likewise, which
necessarily extended the body of its adversary in
proportion as it had contracted its own. ‘These ef-
forts were alternate, victory seemed doubtiul, in-
clining sometimes to one side, sometimes to the
other; until at last the stalk to which the black
snake was fastened, suddenly gave way, and, in
consequence of this accident, they both plunged
into the ditch. The water did not extinguish their
vindictive rage, for by their agitations I could still
trace, though I could not distinguish, their attacks.
They soon re-appeared on the surface, twisted toge-
ther, as in their first onset: but the black snake
seemed to retain its wonted superiority ; for its head
was exactly fixed above that of the other, which it
incessantly pressed down under the water, until it
was stifled, and sunk, The victor no sooner per-
ceived its enemy incapable of further resistance
than, abandoning it to the current, it returned to
the shore and disappeared *.”

———— re _ = ~:~ —SS OC

* Hector St. John, 244.

FISHES.

Were we ‘acquainted with no other animals
than those that inhabit the land, and breathe the air
of our atmosphere, it would appear absurd to be
told that any race of beings could exist only in the
waters; we should naturally conclude from the ef-
fect produced on our own bodies, when plunged
into that element, that the powers of life could not
there be sustained. But we find from experience
that the very depths of the ocean are crowded with
inhabitants, that in their construction, modes of
life, and general design, are as truly wonderful as
those of the-land. Their history, however, must
always remain very imperfect, since the element in
which they live is beyond human access, and of
such vast dimensions as to throw by far the greater
part of them altogether out of the reach of man.
That they are in every respect, both of exterior
and interior conformation, well adapted to their
element and modes of life, we are not permitted to
doubt. Their shape is not unlike that of the lower
part of a vessel. The body is in general slender,
flattened on the sides, and always somewhat pointed
at the head. This enables them with great ease to

r@ Ge) FISHES.

cut through the resisting medium which they in-
habit. Some of them are endowed with such ex-
traordinary powers of progressive motion, that they
are able not only to overtake the fastest sailing ves-
sels, but, during their swiftest course, to play round
them without any apparently extraordinary éf-
forts.

Their bodies are in general covered with a kind of
horny scales, to keep them from being injured by
the. pressure of the water. Several are enveloped
with a fat and oily substance, to preserve them
from putrefaction, and to guard them from extreme
cold. 3

They reathe by means of those comb-like organs
placed on each side of the neck, called gills. In
doing this they fill their mouth with water, then
drive it backwards with so much foree as to lift open
the great flap, and force it out behind. And in the
passage of this, among the feather-like processes of
the gills, all, or at least the greatest part, of the air
contained in it, is left behind, and carried into the
body to perform its part in the animal economy.
In proof of this fact, it has been ascertained that,
if the air is by any means extracted from the wa-
ter into which fish are put, they immediately come
to the surface and gasp for air.—Distilled water is
to fish what the vacuum formed by an air-pump is
to most other animals.—This is the reason why in
winter, when a fish-pond is entirely frozen over, it
is necessary to break holes in the ice, not that the
fish may come to feed, but that they may come to
breathe. Without this precaution, if the pond is

Y FISHES. Tit

small and they are numerous, they will die from the
corruption of the water.—If a string be tied round
a fish in such manner that the free play of his gills
is obstructed, the anjmal will become immediately
conyulsed, and will not survive more than a few
minutes.

Fishes are nearly of the same specific gravity with
water, and swim by means of their fins and tail.
The muscular force of the latter is very great.
Their direct motion is obtained by moving the tail
from one side to the other, with a vibrating motion.
When about to move itself, the fish turns the end
obliquely to the water, and moves it through it in
that position. The water re-acts obliquely against
the tail, and moves him partly forward, and partly
laterally. The lateral motion is corrected by the
next stroke the contrary way, while the progressive
motion is continued. Assisted by their tail, they
turn sideways: striking strongly with it on that
side, and keeping it bent, it acts like the rudder of
aship. The fins ofa fish keep it upright, especially
the belly fins, which act like two feet: without
these he would swim with his belly upwards, as the
centre of gravity lies near the back. By contract-
ing or expanding the fins, these also assist him in
ascending and descending : by inclining his tail ob-
liquely, and turning it a little from an erect position
to one side, it helps him to rise and fall.

In addition to the fins and tail the air-dladder is
of material assistance to the fish in swimming, as it is
by means of this that they increase or diminish the

i

LEZ FISHES:

specific gravity of their bodies. When by their abz
dominai muscles they press the air contained in it,
the bulk of their body is diminished, their weight,
compared with that of the water, is increased, and’
they consequently sink. If they want to rise, they
relax the pressure of the muscles, the air-bladder
again acquires its natural size, the body is rendered
more bulky, and they ascend towards the surface.
This bladder lies in the abdomen, along the course
of the back-bone: in some fish it is single, and in
others double; but in the latter case the two parts
communicate by a small canal. ‘The air appears to
be conveyed into it from the blood, by means of ves-
sels appropriated to the purpose, and it can be dis-
charged thence either into the stomach or the mouth.
+ Those fish that are without air-bladders have much
less facility in elevating themselves in the water.
The greater part of them remain at the bottom, un-
less the form of their body enables them to strike the
water downwards with great force. This the Rays
do with their large pectoral fins, which are some-
times, and not improperly called wings, since the
means which these fishes use in elevating themselves
are precisely the same as those employed by birds in
flying.—When the bladder of a fish is burst it is
never afterwards able to rise. From a knowledge
of this fact, the fishermen, after taking a quantity
of Cod-fish, are able to keep them alive for a con-
siderable time in their well-boats. They perforate
the sound or air-bladder with a needle, disengage
the enclosed air, and then throw them into the well,
where they immediately sink to the bottom. With-

FISHES. 113

out this operation, they would not be able to keep
them under water.

The feeth of fishes are usually situated in their
jaws: sometimes, however, they are found on the
tongue or palate, and even in the throat. They are
generally sharp-pointed and immoveable ; but in the
Carp they are obtuse, and in the Pike so moveable
as to appear fixed only to the skin. —The fongwe is in
general motionless, obtuse and fleshy ; and in the
Herring, and some other species, this is set with
teeth, to enable them the better to retain their
food.—Being furnished with zostrils and olfactory
nerves, there can be little doubt of fishes possess-
ing the sense of smelling. |

The Zones are formed of a kind of intermediate
substance, between true bones and cartilages. ‘The
back-bone extends through the whole length of the
body, and consists of vertebra, strong and thick to-
wards the head, but weaker and more slender as
they approach the tail. Each species has a deter-
minate number of vertebra, which increase in size
with the body. The ribs are attached to the pro-
cesses of the vertebra, and inclose the breast and
abdomen. Several fish, as the Rays, have no ribs;
and others, as the Eel and Sturgeon, have very short
ones. Between the pointed processes of the ver-
tebra lie the bones that support the anal and dorsal
fins, which are connected with the processes by a
ligament. At the breast lie the sternum, the clavi-
cles, and the scapule, on which the pectoral fins
are placed; the bones that support the ventral fins

are called the ossa pelvis. Besides these there are
VOL, IIT, me

114. FISHES.

often other small bones between the muscles to
assist their motion.

The sight of fishes is perhaps the most perfect
of all their senses. The eye, in the greater part-
of them, is covered with the same transparent skin
that covers the restyof the head. The use of this
is, probably, to defend it in the water, since there
are no eyelids. The globe is somewhat depressed
in front, and it is furnished behind with a muscle,
which serves to lengthen or flatten it, according to
the animal’s necessities. The chrystalline humour,
which in quadrupeds is flattened, is in fishes nearly
globular. The eyes are usually thought to be im-
moveable, but gold fish have been observed appa-
rently to turn their eyes in their sockets, as their
occasions require.—These fish take little notice of
a lighted candle, though applied close to their
heads; but on any sudden stroke against the stand,
on which the bowl containing them is placed, they
flounce about, and seem much frightened. ‘This is
more particularly the case when they have been
motionless, and are perhaps asleep; from their eyes
being always open it is not, however, easy to dis-.
cern when they are sleeping and when not.

In fishes the organ of hearing is placed on the
sides of the skull, or the cavity that contains the
brain; but, differing in this respect from that in
quadrupeds and birds, it is entirely distinct and
detached from tke skull. In some fishes, as those
of the Ray kind, the organ of hearing is wholly
surrounded by the ‘parts containing the cavity of
the skull: in others, as the Salmon and Cod, it is

FISHES. 115

in part within the skull. In structure it is by no
means so complicated as in the quadrupeds and
other animals that live in the air. Some genera, as
the Rays, have the external orifice very small, and
placed on the upper surface of the head; but in
others there is no external opening whatever.

The food of these animals is almost universal in
their own element. Insects, worms, or the spawn
of other fish, sustain the smaller tribes; which, in
their turn, are pursued by larger foes. Some feed
on mud and aquatic plants, but by far the greater
part subsist on animal food alone; and they are so
ravenous as often not to spare those of their own
kind. Those that have the most capacious mouths
pursue nearly every thing that falls in their way,
and frequently meet in fierce opposition. ‘The fish
with the widest mouth is usually victorious, and he
has no sooner conquered than he devours his anta-
gonist. Innumerable shoals of some species pur-
sue those of another through vast tracts of the
ocean; from the vicinity of the pole sometimes
even to the equator. In these conflicts, and in this
scene of universal rapine, many species must have
become extinct had not nature accurately propor-
tioned their means of escape, their production, and
their numbers, to the extent and variety of the
dangers to which they are exposed. The smaller
Species are consequently not only more numerous
and prolific than the larger, but their instinct im-
pels them to seck food and protection near the
shore, where, from the shallowness of the water,
many of their foes are unable to pursue them.

be

116 FISHES.

Fishes are in general oviparous: some few, how-
ever, as the Eel, and one of the species of Blenny,
produce their young alive. The males have the
milt, and the females the roe, but some individuals
of the Cod and Sturgeon tribes are said to contain
both. The spawn of the greater number is depo-
sited in the sand or gravel: many of the fish, how-
ever, which reside in the ocean, attach their ova to
sea-weeds. ‘Lhe fecundity of these tribes far sur-
passes that of any other race of animals. In the
spawn of a single Cod upwards of nine millions of
eggs have been ascertained, and near a million and
a half have been taken from the belly of a Floun-
der. Many other fish are endowed with a fertility
but little inferior. Such an astonishing progeny,
were it to arrive at maturity; would soon overstock
the waters. But the numbers are so lessened that
perhaps not one in a thousand survives the host of
foes by which they are beset.

The /ongevity of fish is far superior to that of
other creatures; and there is reason to suppose that
they are, in a great measure, exempted from dis-
eases. Instead of suffering from the rigidity of
age, which is the cause of natural decay in land
animals, their bodies still continue increasing with
fresh supplies; and, as the body grows, the con-
duits of life furnish their stores in greater abun-
dance. How long they continue to live has not
yet been ascertained. The age of man seems not
equal to the life of the most minute species. In
the royal ponds at Matli, in France, there are
some fishes that have been preserved tame since’

FISHES. 117

the time, it is said, of Francis the First, and which
have been individually known to the persons who
have succeeded to the charge of them ever since
that period.

The Rey. Mr. White, of Selborne, observed the
mode in which fishes die. As soon as a fish sickens,
the head sinks lower and lower, and the animal
stands, as it were, upon it; till, becoming weaker,
and losing all poise, the tail turns over, and at last
it swims on the surface of the water with its beily
upwards, ‘The reason why fishes, when dead, float
in that manner is obvious, because, when the body
is no longer balanced by the fins of the belly, the
broad muscular back preponderates by its own
gravity, and turns the belly uppermost, as lighter,
from its being a cavity.

Fish, like the land animals, are either solitary or
gregarious, Some, as Trout, Salmon, &c. migrate
to deposit their spawn. Of the sea-fish, the Cod,
the Herring, and many others, assemble in immense
shoals, and migrate in these shoals through vast
tracks of the ocean.

In the Gmelinian edition of the Systema Nature
the fishes are divided into six orders:

1. Apodal; with bony gills, and no ventral fins,

2. Fugular; with bony gills, and ventral fins
before the pectoral ones.

3. Thoracic; with bony gills, and ventral fins
placed directly under the thorax.

4. Abdominal; with bony gills, and ventral fins
placed behind the thorax.

13

118 FISHES.

5. Branchiostegous; with gills destitute of bony

rays.
6. Chondropterigious*, with cartilaginous gills.

THE EEL TRIBE.
‘THE Apodal fish, of which the Eel forms the first

Linnean tribe, in their appearance and manners,
approach, in some instances, very nearly to the
Serpents. They have a smooth and slippery skin,
in general naked, or covered only with small, soft,
and distant scales. ‘Their bodies are long and slen-
der, and they are supposed to live entirely on ani-

mal substances.

The Eels have a smooth head, and tubular nos-
trils. Their gill-membrane has ten rays. The body
is nearly cylindrical, smooth, and slippery. * The
tail, and the back and anal fins, are united. The
spiracle is behind the head or the pectoral fins,

There are about nine species, most of which are
found only in the seas. One of these frequents our
fresh waters, and three others occasionally visit our

shores.

* Apodes, Jugulares, Thoracici, Abdominales, Branchiostegi, and
Chondropterygil.

[ 219)

THE COMMON EEL*®.,

The Common Eel forms evidently a connecting
_ link, in the chain of nature, between the Serpents
and the Fishes possessing not only, in a great mea-
sure, the serpent form, but also many of their ha-
bits, |
It is frequently known to quit its elements, and
to wander, in the evening or night, over meadows
in search of snails and other prey, or to other ponds
for change of habitation. ‘This will account for
eels being found in waters that have not been in the
least suspected to contain them. An instance of
this rambling spirit of the eels is mentioned in
Plott’s Natural History of Staffordshire ; and, from
the following lines of Oppian, it appears to have
been known to the ancients.

Thus the mail’d Tortoise, and the wand’ring Eel,
Oft to the neighbouring beach will silent steal.

Mr. Arderon, in the Philosophical Transactions,
says that, in June 1746, while he was viewing the
flood-gates belonging to the water-works of Nor-
wich, he observed a great number of eels sliding up
them, and up the adjacent. posts, to the height of
five or six feet above the surface of the water.
They ascended with the utmost facility, though
many of the posts were perfectly dry, and quite
smooth. They first thrust their heads and about

NI

* Murena Anguilla, Lina,

14

120 THE COMMON EEL.

half their bodies out of the water, and held them
against the wood-work for some time; Mr. Ar-
deron imagines till they found the viscidity of their
bodies sufficiently thick, by exposure to the air, to
support their weight. ‘They then began to ascend
directly upwards, and with as much apparent ease
as if they had been sliding on level ground: this
they continued till they had got into the dam
above*.

Of the migration of young eels, from one part of
a river to another, a single instance 1s related by
Dr. Anderson in his publication called the Bee.
‘* Having occasion (says this gentleman) to be once
on a visit at a friend’s house on Dee-side, in Aber-
deenshire, I often delighted to walk by the banks of
the river. J one day observed something like a
black string moving along the edge of the river in
shoal water. Upon closer inspection I discovered
that this was a shoal of young eels, so closely joined
together as to appear, on a superficial view, one
continued. body moving briskly up against the
stream. To avoid the retardment they experienced
from the force of the current, they kept close along
the water’s edge the whole of the way, following
all the bendings and sinuosities of the river. Where
they were embayed, and in still water, the shoal
dilated in breadth, so as to be sometimes near a
foot broad; but when they turned a cape, where
the current was strong, they were forced to occupy

* Arderon on the Perpendicular Ascent of Eels, in Phil. Tran.
vol. xliv. p. 395.

THE COMMON EEL. 12%

jess space, and press close to the shore, struggling
very hard till they passed it.

“This shoal continued to move on night and day,
without interruption, for several weeks. ‘Their
progress might be at the rate of about a mile an
hour. It was easy to catch the animals, though
they were very active and nimble. ‘They were eels
perfectly formed in every respect, but not exceed-
ing two inches in length. I conceive that the shoal
did not contain, on an average, less than from
twelve to twenty in breadth; so that the number
that passed on the whole, during their progress,
must have been very great. Whence they came,
or whither they went, I know not. The place I
remarked them at was six miles from the sea, and
J am told that the same phenomenon takes place
every year about the same season *.”

The usual haunts of eels are in mud, among
weeds, under roots or stumps of trees, or in holes
in the banks or the bottom of rivers. They are par-
tial to still water, and particularly to such as is
muddy at the bottom. Here they often grow to
an enormous size, sometimes weighing fifteen or
sixteen pounds.—One that was caught near Peter-
borough, in the year 1667, measured a yard and
three quarters in Jengtht.

When kept in ponds they have been known to
destroy young ducks. Sir John Hawkins, froma
canal near his house at Twickenham, missed many
of the young ducks ; and, on draining, in order to

® Anderson's Bee, xi. p. 10. + Walton, 185.

122 THE COMMON EEL.

clean it, great numbers of large eels were found in
the mud. In the stomachs of many of them were
found, undigested, the heads and part of the bodies
of the victims *.

Eels seldom come out of their hiding-places but
in the night, during which time they are taken with
lines that have several baited hooks.—In winter
they bury themselves deep in the mud, and, like the
Serpent tribe, remain in a state of torpor; and they
are so impatient of cold as eagerly to take shelter in
a whisp of straw flung into a pond in severe wea-
ther. This has sometimes been practised as a mode
of catching them +.

Eels are viviparous—They are so tenacious of
life that their parts will continue to move for a
considerable time after they are skinned and cut
into pieces; and no other fish whatever will live so
long out of the water as these. They are best in
season from May to July; but may be caught with
a line till September. When the water is thick
with rains, they may be fished for during the whole
day ; but the largest and best are caught by night-
lines. The baits are wasp-grubs, or dew-worms,
minnows, or gudgeons,

* Note to Walton, 181. + Penn. Brit. Zool. iil, 143.

THE GYMNOTUS TRIBE.

SOME of the species of Gymnotus inhabit the
fresh waters, and others live in the ocean. They
are all, except three, confined to the regions of the
New Continent. The head is furnished with la-
teral opercula ; and there are two tentacula on th
upper lip. The gill-membrane has five rays. The
body is compressed, and has a fin running along the
under parts.

THE ELECTRICAL GYMNOTUS, OR EEL’ '

This most singular fish is peculiar to South Ame-
rica, where it is found only in the rocky parts of
rivers at a great distance from the sea.

On a transient view it bears a great resemblance
both in shape and colour to the Common Eel. it
is from three to four feet in length, and in the
thickest part of its body ten or twelve inches in
circumference. ‘The head is flat, and the mout
wide, and destitute of teeth. A fin about two
inches deep extends from the point of its tail to
within six inches of the head; and, where it joins
the body, this fin is almost an inch thick. Across

* SYNONYMS.—Gymnotus electricus. Lizz. —Cold Eel. Syvith.
—Cramp-fish, Numbing Eel, by the English.—eBeave Aal, by the
Dutch.—Electric Eel. Phil. Trans.

24 THE ELECTRICAL GYMNGTUS, OR EEL.

the body are several annular divisions, or rather
ruge of the skin, from which the fish should seem
to partake of a vermicular nature, and to have the
power of contracting or dilating itself at pleasure.
It is able to swim backwards as well as forwards.

These fishes possess the singular property of
giving a shock, similar in its effects to that produced
from a charged jar, to any body, or any number of
bodies connected together. In different publica-
tions, domestic and foreign, we have numerous
accounts of experiments on the Electric Eel: the
best of them seem those inserted in the Philoso-
phical Transactions, by Dr. Williamson and Dr.
Garden.

The former of these gentlemen says that, on
touching an Electrical Eel with one hand, a sensa-
tion is experienced similar to that arising from
touching the conductor of an electrical machine:
with a short iron rod the same was felt, but less
powerfully. While another person provoked the
fish, Dr. W. put his hand into the water, at the dis-
tance of three feet from it, and felt an unpleasant
sensation in the joints of his fingers. Some small
fish were thrown into the water, and the animal
immediately stunned and swallowed them. A larger
fish was thrown in, which he stunned likewise, and
attempted to swallow; but, from its size, he could
not do it. Dr. W. put his hand into the water,
and had another fish thrown in at some distance.
The Eel swam up to it, and at first turned away
without offering it any violence: after a little time
he returned, and, looking stedfastly at it a few

THE ELECTRICAL GYMNOTUS, OR EEL. i235

seconds, gave it a shock, by which it instantly
turned upon its back, and became motionless. Dr.
W. at that very instant felt the same sensation in
his fingers as when he put his hand into the water
before. A fish was afterwards struck, but not
quite killed: when the Electric Eel perceived this
he returned, and at a second shock, evidently more
severe than the former, rendered it motionless. On
touching it with one hand so as to provoke it, and
holding the other in the water at a little distance, a
severe shock was felt through both the arms, and
across the breast, similar to that from a charged jar.
Fight or ten persons, with their hands joined, expe-
rienced the same, on the first touching the head,
and the last the tail of the fish. A dog being made
a link in this chain, at the instant of contact uttered
a loud yell*. When the Eel was touched with
silk, glass, of any other non-conductor, no shock.
vhatever was felt. From a long series of experi-
ments, it appeared to Dr. Williamson that these
properties partook so nearly of ihe nature of elec-
tricity, that whatever would convey the electrical
fluid would also convey the fluid discharged by the
“el; and vice versa. He, however, was never abie
to observe that any spark was produced on contact.
This mode of defence the fish never adopted ex-
cept it was irritated; and Dr. W. has passed his
hand along the back and sides from head to tail,
and even lifted part of its body out of the water,
without tempting it to injure himf.

ss

* Le Vaillant’s New Travels, i. 80. + Phil. Tran. vol. Ixv. p. 94

126 THE ELECTRICAL GYMNOTUS, OR EEL.

Mr. Bryant mentions an instance of the shock
being felt through a considerable thickness of wood.
—One morning, while he was standing by, as a ser=
vant was emptying a tub, in which one of these fish
was contained, he had lifted it entirely from the
ground, and was pouring off the water to renew it,
when he received a shock so violent as occasioned
him to let the tub fall. Mr. B.then called another
person to his assistance, and caused them together
to lift up the tub, each laying hold only on the out-
side. When they were pouring off the remainder of
the water, they each received a shock so smart that
they were compelled to desist *.

Persons have been knocked down with the stroke.
One of these fish being shacken from a net upon
grass, an English sailor, notwithstanding all the per-
suasions that were used to prevent him, would insist
on taking it up; but the moment he grasped it he
dropped down in a fit, his eyes were fixed, his face
became livid, and it was not without difficulty that
his senses were restored. He said that the instant
he touched it, “the cold ran swiftly up his arm
into his body, and pierced him to the heart +.”

A negro, who attempted to grasp a large fish,
firmly with his hands, had, in consequence, a con-
firmed paralysis in both his arms f.

Dr. Garden says that, for a person to receive a
shock from the Electrical Eel, it is necessary to take

* Bryant in Amer. Phil. Tran. ii. 167.
+ Smith’s Nevis, roo, where this animal is called Cold Eel.

t My. Flagg in Amer, Phil. Tran. ii, 270.

THE ELECTRICAL GYMNOTUS, OREEL. 127

hold of the fish with both hands at some consider-
able distance from each other, so as to form a com"
munication betwixt them. He held a large one
several times by one hand without receiving a shock,
but he never touched any of them with both his hands
without feeling a smart shock. The remainder of
his experiments, though not so numerous, tend to
confirm the truth of those that were made by Dr.
Williamson *.

The account of Captain Stedman differs from the
above in one material point: he says that it is by no
means necessary to grasp the animal with both hands
toreceive the shock, having himself experienced
the contrary effect. For asmall wager he attempted
several times to seize an Electrical Eel with one
hand, and at every trial he had a severe shock,
which extended to the top of his shoulder ; and after
about twenty different attempts, to no purpose, he
was compelled to desist f.

This property seems principally of use to the Elec-
trical Eels in securing their food; for, being des-
titute of teeth, they would otherwise be scarcely
able to seize it. The force of the shock has been
satisfactorily proved to depend entirely on the will,
and to be exerted as circumstances require. Their
prey are generally so stunned by the shock as to ap-
pear dead ; but when these have been taken into
another vessel they have been always found to re-
cover. When the Electrical Eels are hungry they

\

* Phil. Tran. vol. lxv. Pp. 102, + Stedman's Account ef Surinam,

128 THE ELECTRICAL GYMNOTUS, OR EEL.

are tolerably keen after their food; but they are
soon satisfied, not being able to contain much at
one time. One of them, three feet and upwards in
length, could not swallow a smali fish above three,
or at most three inches and a half jong.

The organs that produce this wonderful accumu-
lation of electric matter constitute nearly one half
of that part of the flesh.in which they are placed,
and, perhaps, compose more than one third of the
whole animal. ‘There are two pairs of these organs,
one on each side. ‘Their structure is very simple
and reguiar, consisting only of flat partitions, with
cross divisions between them. The partitions are thin
membranes placed nearly parallel to one another,
and of different lengths and breadths. Their dis-
tances from each other differ with the size of the
fish: in one of two feet four inches in length they
were found to be ‘5th of an inch asunder. ‘They
appear to answer the same purpose with the columns
of the Torpedo, making walls or butments for the
subdivisions, and are to be considered as forming so
many distinct organs; they are very tender, and
easily lacerated. These are furnished with ‘many
pairs of nerves appropriated to their management * ;
but how these surprising effects are produced by
means of such organs, in a fluid also extremely ill-
adapted to the purpose, has not yet been satis-
factorily explained.

It has been said that specimens of the Electric

* Hunter in Phil, Trang, vol, Ixv. p. 395.
L

THE SWORD-FISH. 129

Fel have been seen that were upwards of twenty feet
in length, and whose shock would be instant death
to any man that unluckily received it. This asser-
tion is however contradicted by Captain Stedman,
whose long residence in those parts of South Ame-
rica, where the Gymnotus is principally found,
enabled him to make accurate enquiries on the
subject.

These Eels are sometimes caught in Guiana when
very young, and preserved in large troughs filled
with water, for amusement. ‘They are usually fed
with small fish, earth-worms, or cock-roaches, the
latter of which are the most agreeable of all food to
them: when one of these is thrown into the trough,
the fish opens his mouth and sucks it in with great
avidity and apparent pleasure.—From the skin is
excretedaslimy substance, which renders itnecessary
to have the water often changed.—When the water
is out of the troughthey will lie motionless for several
hours ; but, if touched in this condition, they never
fail to communicate a violent shock*,

THE SWORD-FISH TRIBE.

THE head of ‘ip Sword-fish is furnished witha
long, hard, sword-shaped upper jaw. The mouth

* Bancroft, 200.

VOL. ill. K

130 THE BROAD-FINNED SWORD-FISH.

has no teeth. ‘The gill membrane is eight-rayed ;
and the body is rounded, and has no apparent
scales.

These are very large and powerful animals, often
growing to the length of twenty feet and upwards.
Their voracity is unbounded, for they attack and
destroy almost every thing living that comes in their
way. ‘The larger fish they penetrate with their long
snout, few of which, when within sight of them, can
either withstand or avoid its shock. There are only
two species, one of which only is found in the Eu.
ropean seas.

THE BROAD-FINNED SWORD-FISH *.

This species of Sword-fish inhabits the Brasilia
and East Indian Seas, and also the Northern Ocean.
The body is of a silvery bluish white, except the
upper parts of the back, and the head and tail,
which are of a deep brown. ‘The skin is smooth,
and without any appearance of scales. From the
long sharp-pointed process in front of the head, it
would seem, on a cursory view, to be allied to the
European species ; but it differs from this in having
an extremely broad back-fin, and two long sharp-
pointed appendages proceeding from the thorax. It
frequently grows to the length of twenty feet and up-
wards, and is a very powerful fish.

* SYNONYMS.—kXiphias platypterus. Shaw—IJndian Sword-fish.
Sword-fish. Yar.—Broad-finned Sword-fish.—Shaw’s Nat. Mis.

THE BROAD-FINNED SWORD-FISH. 131

When his majesty’s ship Leopard, after her re-
turn from the coast of Guinea and the West Indies,
was ordered, in 1725, to be cleaned and refitted for
the Channel service, in stripping off her sheathing
the ship-wrights found in her bottom, pointing in a
direction from the stern towards the head, part of the
sword or snout of one of these fishes. On the out-
side this was rough, not unlike seal-skin, and the
end, where it was broken off, appeared like a coarse
kind of ivory. The fish from the direction in which
the sword lay, is supposed to have followed the ship
when under sail. It had penetrated through the
sheathing, which was an inch thick, passed through
three inches of plank, and beyond that four inches
and a half into the timber. The force requisite to
effect this (since the vessel sailed in a direction from
the fish) must have been excessively great, especi-
ally as no shock was felt by the persons on board.
The workmen on the spot declared it impossible,
with a hammer of a quarter of a hundred weight,
to drive an iron pin of the same form and size into
that wood, and to the same depth, in less than
eight or nine strokes, whilst this had been effected
by only one *.

And about sixteen years ago a letter was written
to Sir Josoph Banks, as president of the Royal So-
ciety, from the captain of an East-Indiaman, accom-
panied with an account of another instance of the
amazing strength which this fish occasionally exerts

i
* Mortimer in Phil. Tran. vol. xli. p. 862.

K 2

132 THE BROAD-FINNED SWORD-FISH.

—the bottom of his ship being pierced through is
such a manner that the sword was completely em-
bedded, or driven through its whole length, and the
fish killed by the violence of the effort. A part of
the bottom of the vessel, with the sword embedded
in it, is now lodged in the British Museum *.

The Sword-fish and the Whale are said never to
meet without coming to battle; and the former has
the repute of being always the aggressor. Some-
times two of them join against one Whale, in which
case the combat is by no means equal. ‘The whale
uses his tail only in his defence: he dives down inte

the water, head foremost, and makes such a blow
with this, that, if it takes effect, finishes the Sword-
fish at a stroke: but the other, who in general is
sufficiently adroit to avoid it, immediately falls upon
the Whale, and buries his weapon in his sides.
When the Whale discovers the Sword-fish darting
upon him, he dives to the bottom, but is closely
pursued by his antagonist, who compels him again to
rise to the surface. The battle then begins afresh,
and lasts till the Sword-fish loses sight of the Whale,
who is at length compelled to swim off, which his
superior agility allows him todo. In the Sword-
fish piercing the Whale’s body with the tremendous.
weapon at his snout, he seldom does any great
damage to the animal, from not being able to pe-
netrate much beyond the blubber.

* Shaw's Nat. Mis. iii. t. 88..

{ 2oyery

THE COD TRIBE*.

THIS is a numerous tribe, inhabiting only the
depths of the ocean, and seldom visiting the
frefh waters. ‘They are in general gregarious, and
feed on the smaller fish and other marine animals.
The flesh of most of them is white, firm, and good
eating.

The head in the Cod-fish is smooth; and the
gill-membrane has sevenrays. The body is oblong,
and covered with deciduous scales. The fins are all
covered with the common skin. The rays of the
fins are unarmed ; and the ventral fins are slender,
and terminate in a point.

THE COMMOQN COD f.

These fish are found only in the seas of the north-
ern parts of the world; and the great rendezvous for
them are the sand-banks of Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia, and New England. These shallows are their
favourite situations ; for here they are able to obtain
great quantities of worms, a food that is peculiarly
grateful to them. Another cause of their attach-

ee eee ee

* This tribe commences the second of the Linnean orders of fishes,
the JUGULAR FISH,

+ SYNONYMS.—-Gadus morhua. Liza.—Cod-fish or Keeling.
Ray,

K 3

1a), THE COMMON COD.

ment to these places is their vicinity to the polar
seas, where they return to spawn. There they de-
posit their roes in full security, and afterwards re-
pair, as soon as the first more southern seas are open,
to the banks for subsistence.—Few are taken north
of Iceland, and the shoals never reach so far south
as the straits of Gibraltar.

Prior to the discovery of Newfoundland, the prin-
cipal fisheries for Cod were in the seas off Iceland,
and off the western islands of Scotland. ‘To the for-
mer of these the English resorted near four hundred
years ago. In the reign of James the first, we had
no fewer than 150 vessels employed in the Iceland
fishery.

The chief fisheries now are in the Bay of Canada;
on the great bank of Newfoundland, and off the isle
of St. Peter, and the isle of Sable. The vessels fre-
quenting these fisheries are of from a hundred to two
hundred tons burthen, and will catch 30,000 Cod
or upwards each. The hook and line are the only
implements used to take the fifh ; and this in a depth
of water of from sixteen to sixty fathoms.—The
great bank of Newfoundland is represented to be
like a vast mountain, above five hundred miles long,
and near three hundred broad ; and the number of
British seamen employed upon it is supposed to be
about fifteen thousand.

The best season for fishing is from the beginning
of February to the end of April: and though each
fisherman takes no more than one fish at a time, an
expert hand will sometimes catch four hundred in a
day. The employment is excessively fatiguing, fre +

THE COMMON COD. 135

the weight of the fish, and the great coldness of the
climate.

As soon as the Cod are caught, the heads are cut
eff; they are opened, gutted and salted: they are
then stowed in the hold of the vessel, in beds five or
six yards square, head to tail, with a layer of salt to
each layer of fish. When they have lain here three
or four days to drain off the water, they are shifted
into a different part of the vessel, and again salted.
Here they remain till the vessel is loaded. Some-
times they are cut into thick pieces, and packed in
barrels, for the greater convenience of carriage.

Cod are taken by the natives of Norway, off their
own coast, in strong pack-thread nets. ‘These have
meshes four inches square, and are about a fathom
or fifteen meshes deep, and twenty fathom long.
They use, according to the weather, from eighteen
to twenty-four of these nets joined, so that they have
sometimes upwards of four hundred fathom of net
out at atime. They fish in from fifty to seventy fa-
thom water, and mark the places of the nets by
means of buoys. The afternoon is the time when
the nets are generally set ; and, on taking them in
on the following morning, it is no uncommon thing
to obtain three or four hundred fine Cod *.

In the Newfoundland fishery, the sounds or air-
bladders are taken out previously to incipient putec-
faction, washed from their slime, and salted for ex-
portation. The tongues are also cured, and brought
in barrels containing four or five hundred pounds

* Pontoppidan, part li, p. 158.

K4

136 THE COMMON Cop.

weight each. From the livers a great quantity of oil
is extracted.

In Lapland and some of the districts of Norway,
the Cod and Torsk *, which are taken in the winter,
are carefully piled up, as they are caught, in buildings
constructed for the purpose, having their sides open,
and exposed to the air. Here they remain frozen
until the following spring, when the weather becom-
ing more mild, they are removed to another building
of a like construction, in which they are prepared
for drying. The heads are cut off, and the entrails
taken out, and the remainder of the body is hung up
in the air. Fish caught in the spring are immediately
conveyed to the second house, and dried in the
above manner. ‘Those that are caught during the
summer season, on account of the heat of the wea-
ther, can only be preserved by the common methods
of curing with salt f.

These fish feed principally on the smaller species
of the scaly tribes, on worms, shell-fish and crabs:
and their digestion is sufficiently powerful to dissolve
the greatest part even of the shells which they swal-
low. ‘They are very voracious, and catch at any
small body they observe moved by the water, even
stones and pebbles, which are often found in their
stomachs. ,

They are so extremely prolific that Leeuwenhoek
counted above nine millions of eggs in the roe of a
middling-sized Cod-fish. The production of so great

* Another species,’ Gadus Callarias of Linneus,
+ Acerbi ii. 240.

THE HADDOCK. 137

a number will surely baffle all the efforts of man, or
the voracity of the inhabitants of the ocean, to dimi-
nish the species so greatly as to prevent its affording
an inexhaustible supply of grateful provision in all
ages.

In the European seas the Cod begin to spawn in
January, and they deposit their eggs in rough ground
among rocks. Some continue in roe till the begin-
ning of April. They recover very quickly after
spawning, and good fish are to be taken all the sum-
mer. When they are out of season, they are thin-
tailed and lousy. Cod-fish are chosen for the table,
by their plumpness and roundness near the tail; by
the depth of the hollow behind the head, and by the
regular undulated appearance of the sides, as if they
were ribbed. The glutinous parts about the head
lose their delicate flavour after the fish has been
twenty-four hours out of the water.

The Cod frequently grow to a very great size.
The largest that is known to have been taken in
this kingdom was at Scarborough, in the vear
1775: it measured five feet eight inches in length,
and five feet in circumference, and weighed se-
venty-eight pounds. The usual weight of these
fish is from fourteen to forty pounds*.

THE HADDOCK.

The Haddock, a fish that every one is acquainted
with, migrates in immense shoals, that arrive on the

* Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 172. + Gadus #@clesinus, Ltxa.

133 THE HADDOCK.

Yorkshire coasts about the middle of winter. These
are sometimes known to extend from the shore, near
three miles in breadth, and in length from Flambo-
rough head to Tinmouth castle, near fifty miles, and
perhaps even much farther northwards. An idea of
their numbers may be had from the following cir-
cumstance: Three fishermen, within a mile of the
harbour of Scarborough, frequently loaded their boat
with them twice a day, taking each time about a ton
of fish. The large ones quit the coast as soon as they
are out of season, and leave behind them great plenty
of small ones: the former are supposed to visit the
coasts of Hamburgh and Jutland during the sum-
mer.

The larger ones begin to be in roe in November,
and continue so for somewhat more than two months:
from this time till May they are reckoned out of sea-
son, and are not good. They then begin to recover.
The small ones are extremely good from May till
February; and those that are not old enough to
breed, for even two months afterwards.

Haddocks seldom grow to any great size; they
very rarely become so large as to weigh twelve or
fourteen pounds ; and they are esteemed more deli-
cate eating when they do not exceed three pounds
in weight.

During stormy weather, these fish are said to take
shelter in the sand or mud, or among the sea-weeds,
They feed on various smal] marine animals, and fre-
quenily become fat on herrings. The females de-
posit their spawn on the sea-weeds near the shore.

On each side of the body, just beyond the gills,

THE COMMON SUCKING-FISH. 139

there isa dark spot. Superstition asserts that when
St. Peter took the tribute money out of the mouth
of a fish of this species, he left the impression of his
finger and thumb, which has ever since been conti-
nued to the whole race of Haddocks *.

THE SUCKING-FISH TRIBE.

THE Sucking-fishes have a naked, flat, and oily
head, surrounded by a narrow margin, and marked
with several transverse streaks or grooves. They
have also ten rays in their gill-membrane ; and their
body is destitute of scales.

There are only three known species: these are
occasionally seen in the Mediterranean Sea, and the
Pacific Ocean,

THE COMMON SUCKING-FISH |.

This singular animal is usually about a foot in
Jength, and has sixteen or more furrows on the top
of the head. The back is convex and black, and
the belly white. The tail is forked.

It inhabits most parts of the ocean, and is often

* Penn. Brit. Zool, iii. 179.

t The third of the Linnzan orders of fishes, the Tuoracic Fis
¢eommence with this tribe.

I Echeneis remora. Linn,

140 THE COMMON SUCKING-FISH.

found so strongly adhering to the sides of sharks
and other fish, by means of the structure of its
head, as not to be got off without great difficulty.
Five of them have been taken from the body of a
single shark *. St. Pierre says he has put some of
them on an even surface of glass, from which he
could not afterwards remove them +.

The ancients believed that the Sucking-fish,
small as it is, had the power of arresting the pro-
gress of a ship in its fastest sailing, by adhering ta
its bottom. '

The sucking-fish beneath, with secret chains,

Clung to the keel, the swiftest ship detains.

The seamen run confused, no labour spar’d,

Let fly the sheets, and hoist the top-mast yard.

The master bids them give her all the sails,

To court the winds, and catch the coming gales,

But, though the canvas bellies with the blast,

And boisterous winds bend down the cracking mast,

The bark stands firmly rooted in the sea,

And will, unmov’d, nor winds nor waves obey ;

Still, as when calms have flatted all the plain,

And infant waves scarce wrinkle on the main.

No ship in harbour moor’d so careless rides,

When ruffling waters tell the flowing tides.

Appall’d, the sailors stare, through strange surprise,

Believe they dream, and rub their waking eyes.

As when, unerring from the huntsman’s bow,

The feather’d death arrests the flying doe,

Struck through, the dying beast falls sudden down,

The parts grow stiff, and all the motion’s gone ;

Such sudden force the floating captive binds,

Though beat by waves, and urged by driving winds f.
ee Na

* Catesby, il. 26. + Voyage to the Isle of France, 30.

} Jones’s translation of Oppian.

THE COMMON SUCKING-FISH. 14t

Turning its powers in a very different way, the |
ancients also fancied that, in what manner soever it
“was administered, it was fatal in affairs of love,
deadening the warmest affections of both sexes*.

The Indians of .Jamaica and Cuba formerly used
the Sucking-fish in the catching of others, some-
what in the same manner as hawks are employed
by a falconer in seizing birds. They kept them
for the purpose, and had them regularly fed. The
owner, on a calm morning, would carry one of them
out to sea, secured to his canoe by a small but
strong line, many fathoms in length; and the mo-
ment the creature saw a fish in the water, though at
a great distance, it would dart away with the swift-
ness of an arrow, and soon fasten upon it. The
Indian, in the mean time, loosened and let go the
line, which was provided with a buoy that kept on
the surface of the sea, and marked the course the
Sucking-fish had taken; and he pursued it in his
canoe, until he perceived his game to be nearly
exhausted and run down.—He then, taking up the
buoy, gradually drew the line towards the shore;
the Sucking-fish still adhering with so inflexible a
tenacity to his prey as not easily to be remoyed.
Oviedo says he has known turtle taken by this mode
of a bulk and weight that no single man could
support.

These fish are often eaten, and in taste they are
said very greatly to resemble fried artichokes t.

a

* Pliny, lib. ix. c. 25. + St. Pierre’s Isle of France, 30.

[reat

THE FLAT-FISH.

THE present tribe comprehends those fish that
are usually denominated Flat-fish; as the Plaise,
Flounder, Sole, &c. These are generally confined
to the muddy or sandy banks of the sea, where they
have the power of burying themselves, as far as
the head, to escape the devastations of the more
rapacious tribes. They seldom rise far from the
bottom, since, from the want of an air-bladder to
buoy them up, which most of the other fishes pos-
sess, they are compelled to use their pectoral fins
for this purpose, in somewhat the same manner as
birds use their wings to rise in the air; and this is
not done without considerable exertion: here, there-
fore, they generally swim with their bodies in an
oblique position,*and feed on such aquatic worms,
&c. as come in their way.

Many of them, as the Holibut, Turbot, and some
others, grow to a great size. The eyes of the whole
tribe are situated on one side of the head. It isa
curious circumstance that, while the under parts of
their body are of a brilliant white, the upper parts
are so coloured and speckled as, when they are half
immersed in the sand or mud, to render them im-
perceptible. Of this resemblance they are so con-
scious that, whenever they find themselves in dan-
ger, they sink into the mud, and continue perfectly
motionless. ‘This is a circumstance so well known
to fishermen, that within their palings on the strand

|THE TURBOT. 143

they are often under the necessity of tracing fur-
rows with a kind of iron sickle, to detect by the
touch what they are not otherwise able to distin-
guish. Not being rapacious, or furnished with any
weapons of defence, these fishes owe their security
to this stratagem; while the Thornback and Rays,
that are carnivorous and armed with strong spines,
although flat-fish of a different class, are marbled
with lighter colours, that they may be perceived
and avoided by less powerful fish.

THE .TURBOT,*.

The northern parts of the English coast, and
some places off the coast of Holland, afford Turbots
in greater abundance and in greater excellence than
any other parts of the world. Lying here, how-
ever, in deep waters, they are seldom to be caught
but by lines.

In fishing for Turbot off the Yorkshire coast,
three men go out in each of the boats, each man
provided with three lines; every one of which is
furnished with two hundred and eighty hooks,
placed exactly six feet two inches asunder. These
are coiled on an oblong piece of wicker-work, with
the hooks baited and placed very regularly in the
centre of the coil. When they are used, the nine
are generally fastened together so as to form one
line with above two thousand hooks, and extending

sa a era il ae) aa

+ Pleuronectes maximus. Linz,

144 THE TURBOT.

near three miles in length. This is always laid
across the current. An anchor and buoy are fixed
at the end of each man’s line. The tides run here
so rapidly that the fishermen can only shoot and
haul their lines in the still water at the turn of the
tide; and therefore, as it is flood and ebb about
every alternate six hours, this is the longest time
the lines can remain on the ground. When the
lines are laid, two of the men usually wrap them-
selves in the sail and sleep, whilst the third is on
watch to prevent their being run down by ships,
and to observe the weather ; for sometimes storms
come on so suddenly that they find it difficult to
gain the shore even without their lines.

The boats used in this work are each about a
ton burthen; somewhat more than twenty feet in
length, and about five in width. They are well
constructed for encountering a boisterous sea, and
have three pairs of oars, and a sail, to be used as
occasion requires. Sometimes larger boats than
these are used, which carry six men and a boy.
When the latter come to the fishing-ground, they
put out two of the smaller boats that they have on
board, which fish in the same manner as the three
manned boats do, save that each man is provided
with a double quantity of lines ; and instead of
waiting in these the return of the tide, they return
to the Jarge boat and bait their other lines: thus
haulicg one set and shooting another at every turn
of the tide. The fishermen commonly run into
harbour twice a week to deliver their fish.

The bait that the Turbots take most readily is

3

THE SOLE. - 145

fresh herring cut into proper-sized pieces: they are
also partial to the smaller lampreys, pieces of had-
dock, sand-worms, muscles, and limpets; and when
none of these are to be had, the fishermen use bul-
lock’s liver. ‘The hooks are two inches and a half
long in the shank, and near an inch wide betwixt
the shank and the point. They are fastened to the
lines upon sneads of twisted horse-hair, twenty-
seven inches in length. The line is made of small
cording, and is always tanned before it is used*.—
The Turbots are so extremely delicate in their
choice of baits as not to touch a piece of herring
or haddock that has been twelve hours out of the
sea.

The greatest weight of these fish is about thirty
pounds. |

In many parts of this country Turbot and Holibut
are sold indiscriminately for each other. They are,
however, perfectly distinct, the upper parts of the
former being marked with large, unequal, and ob-
tuse tubercles: while those of the other are quite
smooth, and covered with oblong soft scales that
adhere firmly to the body f.

THE soLef.

In the economy of the Soles we have one circum-
stance that is very remarkable: among various other

Sr A Ct

* For the tanning of nets and lines see the ensuing account of the
Herring.
+ Penn. Brit. Zool. iii, 233, t Pleuronectes Solea, Linm,

VOL. ITI. L

146 THE CHATODON TRIBE.

marine productions, they have been known to feed
on shell-fish, although they are furnished with no
apparatus whatever in their mouth for reducing them
to a state calculated for digestion. Some that were
purchased by Mr. Collinson had their beilies hard
and prominent, appearing to be filled with rows of
some hard substance, which, on being opened,
were found to be shell-fish. These, from the bulg-
ing of the shells and the intervening interstices,
gave the intestines somewhat the appearance of
strings of beads. On further examination, some of
them were found nearly dissolved, others partly so,
but many of them whole*. The most usual food
of the Soles is the spawn and young of other fish.

* Soles are found on all the British coasts: but
those of the western shores are much superior in
size to what are taken in the north, since they are
sometimes found of the weight of six or seven
pounds. The principal fishery for them is in Tor-
bay.

THE CHETODON TRIBE.

- IN this tribe, although the species are very nu-

merous, there is only one of which I have met

with any account in the least degree interesting.
The head and mouth of the Chztodons are small,

* Collinson on the Food of Soles, Phil. Tran, vol. xliiie p. 37:

THE BEAKED CHAETODON. 147

and they have the power of pushing out and _re-
tracting the lips so as to make a tubular orifice.
The teeth are mostly bristle-shaped, flexile, move-
able, closely set, and very numerous. The gill-
membrane has from three to six rays. ‘The body
is scaly, broad, and compressed ; and the dorsal and
anal fins are generally terminated with prickles.

THE BEAKED CHETODON™.

The Beaked Chetodon or Shooting-fish frequents _
the shores and mouths of rivers in India, and about
the Indian islands. It is somewhat more than six
inches in length, and is of a whitish or very pale
brown colour, with commonly four or five blackish
bands running across the body, which is ovate and
compressed. ‘The snout is lengthened and cylin-
drical. The dorsal and anal fins are very large,
and on the former is a large eye-like spot.

This fish feeds principally on flies and other small
winged insects that hover about the waters it ine
habits ; and the mode of taking its prey is very re-
markable. When it sees a fly at a distance
alighted on any of the plants in the shallow water,
it approaches very slowly, and with the utmost cau-
tion, coming as much as possible perpendicularly

f= S¥YNONY Ms.—Chatodon rostratus. Lina.—Chztodon enceladus,
Shaw.——Jaculator or Shooting-fish. Pil. Tran—Beaked Che-
tedon, Shaw, :

| ie

148 THE BEAKED CH#TODON.

sacle the object. Then putting its body in an
oblique direction, with the mouth and eyes near the
surface, it remains a moment immoveable. Hav-
ing fixed its eyes directly on the insect, it shoots at
ita drop of water from its tubular snout, but with-
out showing its mouth above the surface, from
whence only the drop seems to rise. This is done
with so much dexterity that, though at the distance
of four, five, or six feet, it very seldom fails to
bring the fly into the water. With the closest at-
tention the meuth could never be discovered above
the surface, although the fish has been seen to eject
several drops, one after another, without leaving the
place, or in the smallest apparent degree moving its
body.

This very singular action was reported to M.
Hommel, the governor of the hospital at Batavia,
near which place the species is sometimes found ;
and so far raised his curiosity that he was deter-
mined, if possible, to convince himself of its truth by
ocular demonstration.

For this purpose he ordered a Jarge wide tub to
be filled with sea-water ; he then had some of these
fish caught and put into it, and the water was
changed every other day. After a while they seem-
ed reconciled to their confinement ; and he then
tried the experiment. A slender stick, witha fly
fastened at the end, was placed in such a manner
on the side of the vessel, as to enable the fish to
strike it: and it was not without expressible de-
light that he daily saw them exercising their skill in

THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACKS. 149

shooting at it, with amazing force, and seldom
missing their mark *.
The flesh of this species is white and well tasted.

THE STICKLEBACKS.

IN the Sticklebacks the head is somewhat oblong
and smooth, having the jaws armed with minute
teeth. The gill-membrane has either three, six,
or seven rays. The body is keel-shaped towards the
tail, and covered with bony plates. On the back,
betwixt the dorsal fin and the head, are several sharp
spines.

The species, which are not very numerous, are
dispersed over various parts of the world, some in-
habiting the fresh waters, and others being confined
to the ocean. The manners of the former may in
a great measure be collected from those of the fol-
lowing species :

THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACKT.

These little fish, which seldom exceed two inches
in length, are very common in many of our rivers.
They have three sharp spines on their back, which

* Phil. Tran. vol. liii. p. 89, and vol. lvi. p. 186.

+ Synonyms. —Gasterosteus aculeatus. Linn. — Stickle- back,
Bansticle, Sharpling. Willughby’s Ich.—Prickle-back, Prickle-bag<
Phil. Tran.—Penn, Brit. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 50.

L 3

150 THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK

are their instruments both of offence and defence,
and are always erected on the least appearance of
-danger, or whenever they are about to attack other
‘fish. The body near the tail is somewhat square,
and the sides are covered with transverse bony
plates. ‘Their usual colours are olive green above,
and white on the under parts; but in some indivi-
duals the lower jaw and the belly are of a bright
crimson.

By feeding with great voracity on the fry and
spawn of other fish, they are, notwithstanding the
smallness of their size, greatly detrimental to the
increase of «almost all the species among which they
inhabit. One that Mr. Arderon of Norwich had
in a glass devoured in five hours no fewer than se-
_ venty-four young dace, each about an inch and a
half long, and of the thickness of a horse-hair, and
would have done the same every day, had they been
given to it.

The fish was put by Mr. Arderon into a glass
jar of water, with some sand at the bottom for the
purpose of trying some experiments on it, as well
as for the. purpose of ascertaining its manners, as
far as possible in a confined state. For a few days
it refused to eat ; but by frequently giving it fresh
water, and by coming often to it, it began to eat
the small worms that were now and then thrown
into the jar; soon afterwards it became so familiar
as to take them from the hand; and at last it even
became so bold, as, when it was satiated, or did not
like what was offered to it, to set up its prickles and
strike with its utmost strength at the fingers, if put

THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK. Ist

into the water to it. It would suffer no other fish
to live in the same jar, attacking whatever were
put in, though ten times its own size. One day, by
way of diversion, a small fish was put to it. The
Prickleback immediately assaulted and put it to
flight, tearing off part of its tail in the conflict ; and
had they not been then separated, he would un-
doubtedly have killed it*.

Small as these animals are, they are sometimes so
numerous as to be obliged to colonize, and leave
their native places in search of new habitations.
Once in every seven or eight years they appear in
the river Welland, near Spalding in Lincolnshire, in .
such amazing shoals, as, during their progress up
the stream, to appear in a vast body occupying the
whole width of the river. These are supposed to
be the overplus of multitudes collected in some of
the fens. When this happens they are taken as
manure for the land; and an idea may be formed
of their numbers, from the circumstance that a man,
employed by a farmer to catch them, got, for some
time, four shillings a day by selling them at a half-
penny a bushel f.

The great exertions they use, in getting from one
place to another, where obstacles intervene, are
very extraordinary ; for, though the largest among
them is seldom known to be more than two inches
in length, they have been seen to spring a foot and a

* Phil. Tran. vol. xliv. p. 124.
+ Pen. Brit. Zool. iii, 261,

L4

152 THE COMMON MACKREL.

half (nine times their own length) in perpendicular
height from the surface of the water, and in an
oblique direction much farther.

They spawn in April and June on the aquatic
plants; and are very short-lived, scarcely ever at-
taining the third year. They are too small, and
perhaps too boney, to be of any essential service as
food to mankind ; but in some parts of the Conti-
nent they are of considerable use in fattening ducks
and pigs.

THE MACKREL TRIBE.’

Tuts tribe have a smooth body, and seven rays
in their gill-membrane. Between the dorsal finand
the tail there are several small or spurious fins.

THE COMMON MACKRELT.

The Mackrel, when alive, from the elegance of
its shape, and the extreme brilliancy of its colours,
is by far the most beautiful fish that frequents our
coasts. Death in some measure impairs the co-
Jours, but it by no means obliterates them.

It visits our shores in vast shoals; but, from
being very tender and unfit for long carriage, is
found less useful than other gregarious fish, In

AE

* SYNONYMS.—Scomberscomber, Lin2.—Mackrell or Mackarel.
Will. Ich.mm—Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 51.

THF COMMON MACKREL. 153

some places it is taken by lines from boats, as du-
ring a fresh gale of wind it readily seizes a bait. It
is necessary that the boat should be in motion in
order to drag the bait along (a bit of red cloth, or
a piece of the tail of a Mackrel) near the surface of
the water. The great fishery for Mackrel is on
some parts of the west coast of England. ‘This is
of such an extent as to employ in the whole a ca-
pital of near 200,000]. The fishermen go out to
the distance of several leagues from the shore, and
stretch their nets, which are sometimes several
miles in extent, across the tide, during the night.
‘The meshes of these nets is just large enough to ad-
mit the heads of tolerably large fish, and catch them
by the gills, A single boat has’ been known to
bring in after one night’s fishing, a cargo that has
sold for near seventy pounds.—Besides these, there
is another mode of fishing for Mackrel in the west
of England, with a ground seine. A roll of rope of
about two hundred fathoms in length, with the net
fastened to the end, is tied at the other to a post or
rock, onthe shore. The boatis then rowed to the
extremity of this coil, when a pole fixed there,
leaded heavily at the bottom, is thrown overboard.
The rowers from hence make as nearly as possible
a semicircle, two men now continually and regu-
larly putting the net into the water. When they
come to the other end of the net, where there is
another leaded pole, they throw that overboard,
Another coil of rope, similar to the first, is by de-
grees thrown into the water, as the boatmen make
for the shore. The boat’s crew now land, and with

~

154 THE COMMON MACKREL. :

the assistance of persons stationed there, haul in each
end of the net till they come to the two poles.
The boat is then again pushed off towards the cen-
tre of the net, in order to prevent the more vigorous
fish from leaping over the corks. By these means,
three or four hundred fish are often caught at one
haul *.

Mackrel are said to be fond of human flesh,
Pontoppidan informs us that a sailor, belonging toa
ship lying in one of the harbours on the coast of
Norway, went into the water to wash himself;
when he was suddenly missed by his companions.
In the course of a few minutes, however, he was
seen on the surface with vast numbers of these fish
fastened on him. ‘The people went in a boat to his
assistance : and though, when they got him up, they
forced with some difficulty the fishes from him,
they found it was too late ; for the poor fellow, very
shortly afterwards, expired ft.

The roes of the Mackrel are used in the Medi-
terranean for Cavier. The blood and slime are first
washed off with vinegar, and the sinews and skinny
parts taken away. They are then spread out for a
short time to dry, and afterwards salted and hung
up ina net, to drain some of the remaining moisture
from them. When this is finished they are laid in
a kind of sieve till thoroughly dry and fit for use.
In Cornwall, and on several parts of the Continent,

* For this communication I am indebted to the kind attentions of
John Stackhouse, Esq. F. L. S. of Hendarvis in Cornwall.

+ Pontoppidan, part ii. 135.

o

THE THUNNY, 158
the Mackrel are preserved by means of pickling
and salting.

Their greatest weight seldom exceeds two
pounds, though some have been seen that weighed
more than five. Their voracity has scarcely any
bounds ; and when they get among a shoal of her-
rings they make such havoc as frequently to drive it
away. ‘They are very prolific, and deposit their
spawn among the rocks near the shore, about the
month of June. They die almost immediately after
they are taken out of the water, and fora short time
exhibit a phosphoric light.

In spring their eyes are covered with a white
film, that grows in the winter, and is regularly cast
at the beginning of summer. During this time
they are said to be nearly blind.

The celebrated Garam of the Romans was a pic-
kle prepared from this fish.

THE THUNNY *.

The Thunny was a fish so well known to the
ancients as to form one of the great articles of their
commerce. It is found in most seas, and is from
two to ten feet long. The body is round and thick,
and tapers nearly to a point both at the head and
tail. ‘The skin of the back is very thick and black,
and that of the sides and belly silvery, tinged with

* SYNON¥MsS.—Scomber thynnus. Linz.—Albicore. Var.—Mack -
rel-sture, or Great Mackrel, in Scotland. Tunny Fish, or Spanish
Mackrel, W4il, Ich.———e-Penn, Brit, Zool. vol, 30 tabs 52.

156 THE THUNNY.

light blue and pale purple. The tail is crescent-
shaped, with the tips far asunder; and the spurious
fins between the dorsal fin and the tail (which
mark the species) are from eight to eleven in
number.

On the coasts of Sicily, as well as in several
other parts of the Mediterranean, there are now
very considerable Thunny fisheries. The nets are
spread over a large space of sea by means of cables
fastened to anchors, and are divided into several
compartments. A man, placed upon the summit
of a rock high above the water, gives the signal of
the fish being arrived ; for he can discern from that
elevation what passes under the water much better
than any person nearer the surface. As soon as no-
tice is given that a shoal of fish has penetrated as far
as the inner compartment of the net, the passage is
drawn close, and the slaughter begins.

The Thunny enters the Mediterranean about the
vernal equinox, travelling in a triangular phalanx,
so as to cut the waters with its point, and to present
an extensive base for the tides and currents to act
against, and impel forwards.

They repair to the warm seas of Greece to spawn,
steering their course thither along the European
shores; but as they return they approach the
African coast: the young fry is placed in the van
of the squadron as they travel. “They come back
from the east in May, and abound about that time
on the coasts of Sicily and Calabria. In autumn
they steer northward, and frequent the neighbour-
hood of Amalphi and Naples. They are not un-

THE THUNNY. 167

common on the western coasts of Scotland, where
they come in pursuit of the herrings, and often
during the night strike into the nets and do consi-
derable damage. When the fishermen draw these
up in the morning, the Thunny rises at the same
time towards the surface, ready to catch the fish that
drop out. On its being observed, a line is thrown
into the water having a strong hook baited with a
herring, which it seldom fails to seize. As soon as
the fish finds itself ensnared it seems to lose all its
active powers, and, after very little resistance, sub-
mits to its fate.

The quantity of these fish that is annually con-
sumed in the two Sicilies almost exceeds the bounds
of calculation. When taken in May they are full
of spawn, and are then esteemed unwholesome, as
being apt to occasion headachs and vapours : to pre-
vent in some measure these bad effects, the natives
fry them in oil, and afterwards salt them. The
pieces, when fresh, appear exactly like raw beef:
but when boiled they turn pale, and have somewhat
the flavour of salmon. The most delicate parts are
those about the muzzle. What the inhabitants are
not able to use immediately are cut into slices,
salted, and preserved in large tubs, either for sale or
winter provisions.

The Romans held them in great estimation.

2
2

f 158 ]

THE PERCH TRIBE.

ALL the species of Perch have jaws that are un-
equal in length, armed with sharp-pointed and in-
curved teeth, ‘The gill-membrane has seven rays ;
and its cover consists of three plates, the uppermost
of which is serrated. ‘The scales that cover the
body are hard and rough. The 4rst dorsal fin is
spinous, and the second (except in a single species)
is soft. |

THE COMMON PERCH ™*.

These Perch are gregarious ; and, contrary to the
nature of nearly all fresh water fish that swim in
shoals, they are so voracious as to attack and devour
even their own species.—They grow slowly, and aré
seldom caught of extraordinary size. The largest
that was ever heard of in this country was caught
some years ago in the Serpentine River in Hyde
Park : it weighed nine pounds. The usual weight
is not, however, more than from half a pound to
two pounds.

They are found in clear swift rivers with pebbly
or gravelly bottoms, and in those of a sandy or
clayey soil. They seem to prefer moderately deep

* SynonyMs.—Perca fluviatilis. Linn.—Perch. Will=Penn. Brit.
Zool. vol. 3. tab. 43.

I

THE COMMON PERCH. 159

water, and holes by the sides of or near to gentle
streams, where there is an eddy ; the hollows under
banks, among weeds, and roots of trees; the piles of
bridges, or ditches and back streams that have a
communication with some river. They will also
thrive fast in ponds that are fed by a brook or ri-
vulet.

Perch are very tenacious of life. They have been
known to survive a journey of near sixty miles, al-
though packed in dry straw.

It is generally believed that the Pike will not at-
tack a full-grown Perch, on account of the spiny
fins on its back, which this fish always erects on the
approach of an enemy. The smaller Perch, how-
ever, are frequently used as bait for the Pike.

The season of angling for Perch is from April to
January: and the time from sunrise till ten o’clock,
and from two o'clock till sunset ; except in cloudy
weather, with a ruffling south wind, when they will
bite all day.. The baits are various kinds of worms,
a minnow, or grasshopper.—So voracious are these
fish that, it is said, if an expert angler finds a shoal
of them, he is sure of taking every one. If, however,
a single fish escapes that has felt the hook, all is
over ; this fish becomes so restless as soon to occa-
sion the whole shoal to leave the place.

In winter the Perch is exceedingly abstemious,
and during that season scarcely ever bites, except
in the middle of a warm sun-shiny day.—In clear
weather in the spring, sometimes a dozen or more of
these fish may be observed in a deep hole, sheltered
by trees and bushes, The angler may then observe

260 THE COMMON PERCH.

them striving which shall first seize his bait, till the
whole shoal are caught.

The females deposit their spawn, sometimes to
the amount of 280,000 ova, betwixt thegnonths of
February and May. This is usually done during
the act of rubbing themselves against some sharp
body.

Perch are much admired as firm and delicate
fish. They were in high esteem among the Ro-
mans.

In one of the pools of Merionethshire there is a
singular variety of the Perch, the back of which is
hunched, and the lower part of the back-bone next
the tail is strangely distorted. The common kind
are as numerous in this pool as the deformed fish.
Some of the crooked Perch have likewise been
found in the small Alpine lakes of Sweden **

* Daniel ii, 246, Penn. Brit. Zool, tii. 254.

[ vor

- THE SALMON TRIBE*.

RAPID and stony rivers, where the water is free
from mud, are the favourite places of most of the
Salmon tribe. Some of them do indeed inhabit the
sea, but they come up the rivers for the purpose of
depositing their spawn in the beds of gravel ; and in
this instinctive pursuit they will surmount wonder-
ful obstacles that oppose their course. After spawn-
ing, they return to the sea lean and emaciated. The
whole tribe is supposed to afford wholesome food
for mankind.

They are distinguished from other fishes by having
iwo dorsal fins, of which the hindermost is fleshy
and without rays) ‘They have teeth both in the
jaws and on the tongue ; and the body is covered
with round and minutely striated scales.

THE COMMON SALMON f.

This fish seems confined in a great measure to
the northern seas, being unknown in the Mediterra-
nean; and in the waters of other warm climates. It
lives in fresh as well as in salt waters, forcing itself
in autumn up the rivers, sometimes for hundreds of
niles, for the purpose of depositing its spawn. In

* This tribe commences the fourth of the Linnzan orders of fishes,
the ABDOMINAL FISH,

+ Salmo Salar. Linz,
VOR. LIP: M

162 THE COMMON SALMON,

these peregrinations it is that salmon are caught in
the great numbers that supply our markets and
tables. Intent only on the object of their journey,
they spring up cataracts and over other obstacles of
a very great height. This extraordinary power
seems to be owing to a sudden jerk that the fish
gives to its body from a bent into a straight position.
When they are unexpectedly obstructed in their
progress, it is said they swim a few paces back,
survey the object for some minutes motionless, re-
treat, and return again to the charge; then, collect-
ing all their force, with one astonishing spring over-
leap every obstacle. Where the water is low, or
sand-banks intervene, they throw themselves on one
side, and in that position soon work themselves over
into the deep water beyond. On the river Liffey
in Ireland there is a cataract about nineteen feet
high: here, in the salmon season, many of the in-
habitants amuse themselves in observing the fish
leap up the torrent. They frequently fall back
many times before they surmount it, and baskets
made of twigs are placed near the edge of the
stream to catch them in their fall—At the falls of
Kilmorack in Scotland, where the salmon are very
numerous, it is a common practice with the country
people to lay branches of trees on the edges of the
rocks, and by this means they often take such of the
fish as miss their leap, which the foaming of the
torrent not unfrequently causes them to do. And
the late Lord Lovat, who often visited these falls,
taking the hint from this circumstance, formed a
determination to try a whimsical experiment on

THE COMMON SALMON. 163

the same principle. Alongside one of the falls he
ordered a kettle full of water to be placed over a
fire, and many minutes had not elapsed before a
large Salmon made a false leap, and fell into it.
This may seem incredible to those who never
saw one of these rude salmon-leaps; but surely
there is as great a chance of a Salmon falling into a
kettle as on any given part of the adjacent rock,
and it isa thing that would take place many times
in the course of the season, were but the experiment
tried.

When the Salmon have arrived at a proper place
for spawning in, the male and female unite in form-
ing in the sand or gravel a proper receptacle for
their ova, about eighteen inches deep, which they
are also supposed afterwards to cover up. In this
hole the ova lie till the ensuing spring, (if not dis-
placed by the floods,) before they are hatched. The
parents, however, immediately after their spawning,
hasten to the salt water, now extremely emaciated.
Toward the end of March the young fry begin to
appear ; and, gradually increasing in size, become in
the beginning of May five or six inches in length,
when they are called Salmon-smelts. They now
swarm in the rivers in myriads; but the first flood
sweeps them down into the sea, scarcely leaving any
behind. About the middle of June the largest of
these begin to return into the rivers: they are now
become of the length of twelve or sixteen inches.
Toward the end of July they are called Gi/se, and
weigh from six to nine pounds each.

When the Salmon enter the fresh water, they are

M 2

164 THE COMMON SALMON.

always more or less infested with a kind of insect,
called the salmon-louse * ; when these are numerous
the fish are esteemed in high season. Very soon after
the Salmon have left the sea the insects die and
drop off.

After the fish have become lean at the spawning
time, on their return to the sea they acquire their
proper bulk in avery little while; having been
known to be considerably more than double their
weight in about six weeks.—Their food consists of
the smaller fishes, insects, and worms ; for all these
are used with success as baits, by the anglers for
Salmon.

The principal fisheries in Europe are in the rivers ;
or on the sea-coasts adjoining to the large rivers of
England, Scotland, and Ireland. The chief English
rivers for them are the Tyne, the Trent, the Severn,
and the Thames. They are sometimes taken in nets ;
and sometimes by means of locks or weirs with iron
or wooden grates, so placed in an angle that, being
impelled by any force in a direction contrary to that
of the stream, they open, let the fish (or whatever
else pushes against them) through, and again by the
force of the water or their own weight close and pre-
vent their return. Salmon are also killed in still wa-
ter, by means of a spear wiih several prongs, which
the fishermen use with surprising dexterity. When
this is used in the night, a candle and lantern, or a
Wisp of straw set on fire, is carried along, to the hight
of which the fish collect.

a

* Lernea Salmonea of Linneus,

THE COMMON SALMON. 165

In the river Tweed, about the month of July, the
capture of Salmon isastonishing: often a boat-load,
and sometimes near two, may be taken ata tide ,
and fi one instance above seven hundred fish were
caught at a single haul of the net. From fifty toa
hundred at a haul is very common. Most of those
that are taken from before the setting-in of the warm
weather are sent fresh to London, if the weather
will permit. The others are salted, pickled, or dried,
‘and are sent off in barrels, in quantities sufficient,
not only to stock the London markets, but, alse
some of the markets of the continent; for the
former are by no means able to take all the fish that
are caught here

The season for fishing commences in the Tweed
on the thirtieth of November, and ends about old
Michaelmas day. On this river there are above forty
considerable fisheries, which extend upwards about
fourteen miles from the mouth; besides many others
of less consequence. ‘These, several years ago, were
rented at above the annual sum of ten thousand
pounds; and to defray this expence it has been cal-
culated that more than 200,0e¢0 Salmon must be
caught there one year with another.

The Scotch fisheries are very productive ; as are
also several of those in Ireland, particularly that at
Cranna on the river Ban, about a mile and a half
from Coleraine. At this place, in the year 1760,
as many as three hundred and twenty tons were
taken.

A person of the name of Graham, who farms the
sea-coast fishery at Whitehaven, has adopted a suc-

M 3

166 THE COMMON SALMON.

cessful mode of taking Salmon, which he has ap-
propriately denominated Sa/mon-hunting. When the
tide is out, and the fish are left in shallow waters,
intercepted by sand-banks, near the mouth of the
river, or when they are found in any inlets up the
shore, where the water is not more than from one
foot to four feet in any depth, the place where they
lie is to be discovered by their agitation of the pool.
This man, armed with a three-pointed barbed spear,
with a shaft of fifteen feet in length, mounts his
horse, and plunges, at a swift trot, or moderate
gallop, belly deep, intothe water, He makes ready
his spear with both hands ; when he overtakes the
Salmon, he lets go one hand, and with the other
strikes the spear, with almost unerring aim, into the
fish. This done, by a turn of the hand, he raises the
Salmon to the surface of the water, turns his horse’s
head to the shore, and runs the Salmon on dry land
without dismounting. This man says that, by the
present mode, he can kill from forty to fifty ina day :
ten are however no despicable day’s work for a man
and horse. His father was probably the first mar
that ever adopted this method of killing Salmon on
horseback.

Salmon are cured by being split, rubbed with
salt, and put in pickle in tubs provided for the pur-
pose, where they are kept about six weeks: they
are then taken out, pressed, and packed in casks,
with layers of salt *,

* Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 284,

THE TROUT. . | ORR

Different species of Salmon come in so great
abundance up the rivers of Kamtschatka as to force
the water before them, and even to dam up the
streams in such a manner as sometimes to make them
overflow their banks. In this case, when the water
finds a passage, such multitudes are left on the dry
ground as would, were it not for the violent winds
so prevalent in that country, assisted by the bears
and dogs, soon produce a stench sufficiently great
to cause a pestilence *.

Salmon are said to have an aversion to any thing
red, so that the fishermen are generally careful not
to wear Jackets or caps of that colour. Pontoppi-
dan says also that they have so great a dislike to
carrion that, if any happens to be thrown into
the places where they are, they immediately for-
sake them: the Norwegian remedy for this, and it
is looked upon by the inhabitants as an effectual
one, is to throw into the water a lighted torch f.

Pit, TROUT.

THE Trout, although a very delicate, and at pre-
sent well known fish, was in no esteem among the
ancients. It abounded in most of the lakes of the
Roman empire, yet is only mentioned by writers on
account of its beautiful colours.

{n some rivers Trouts begin to spawn in October;

* Penn. Introd. to Arct. Zool. p. cxxiii.
+ Pontoppidan, part ii. 133.
t SYNONYMS,———Salmo fario. Linn, Salar of the ancient writers,

M 4

168 THE TROUT.

but November is the chief month of spawning.
About the end of September they quit the deep
water, to which they had retired during the hot
weather, and make great efforts to gain the course
of the currents, seeking out a proper place for
spawning. ‘This is always on a gravelly bottom,
or where gravel and sand are mixed among stones,
towards the end and sides of streams. At this
period they turn black about the head and body,
and become soft and unwholesome. They are never
good when they are big with roe, which is contrary
to the nature of most other fish. After spawning
they become feeble, their bodies are wasted, and
these beautiful spots, which before adorned them,
are imperceptible. Their heads appear swelled,
and thei eyes are dull. In this state they seek
still waters, and continue there sick, as it is sup-
posed, all the winter. There are in all Trout n-
vers some barren female fish, which continue good
through the winter.

In March, or sometimes earlier, if the weather
be mild, the Trouts begin to leave their winter
quarters, and approach the shallows and tails of
streams, where they cleanse and restore themselves.
As they require strength they advance still higher
up the rivers, till they fix on their summer resi-
dence, for which they generally chuse an eddy be-
hind a stone, a log, or bank, that projects into the
water, and against which the current drives. They
also frequently get into the holes under roots of
trees, or into deeps that are shaded by boughs and
bushes.

THE TROUT. 169

These fish are said to be in season from March
toSeptember. ‘They are, however, fatter from the
middle to the end of August than at any other
time.

Trouts in a good pond will grow faster than ia
some rivers. And a gentleman who kept them in
ponds, to ascertain the progress and duration of
their lives, asserts that at four or five years old they
were at their full growth. For three years subse-
quent to this they continued with little alteration in
size; two years after, the head seemed to be en-
Jarged, and the body wasted, and in the following
winter they died. According to this computation,
nine or ten years seem to be the term of their exist-
ence.

In several of the northern rivers, Trouts are taken
as red and as well tasted as Charr; and their bones,
when potted, like those of Charr, have dissolved.
These are often very large: one of them was caught
some time ago that measured twenty-eight inches
in length—A Trout was taken in the river Stour,
in December 1797, which weighed twenty-six
pounds, and another, some years ago, in Lough
Neagh, in Ireland, that weighed thirty pounds.

This fish is not easily caught with a line, being at
all times excedingly circumspect. The baits used
are worms of artificial flies. The season for fishing
is from March till Michaelmas. The angler prefers
cloudy weather, but he jis not particular as to the
time of day.

In two or three of the pools of North Wales,

17° THE PIKE TRIBE.

there is found a variety of the Trout which are
naturally deformed, having a singular crookedness
near the tail. Some of the Perch in the same coun-
try have a similar deformity.—In two or three of
the Jakes of Ireland there is another variety called
the Gillaroo Trout. The stomachs of these Trouts
are so excessively thick and muscular asto bear some
resemblance to the organs in birds called gizzards.
These stomachs are sometimes served up to table
as Trouts gizzards. In the Common Trout the sto-
mach is uncommonly strong and muscular ; for, as
well as small fish and aquatic insects, the animals
live on the shell-fish of the fresh waters; and even
take into their stomachs gravel or small stones, to
assist in comminuting the testaceous part of their
iood,

THE PIKE TRIBE.

IN the whole of the Pike tribe the head is some-
what flat, and the upper jaw shorter than the other.
The gill-membrane has from seven to twelve rays.
The body is long, slender, compressed at the sides,
and covered with hard scales. The dorsal fin is
situated near the tail, and generally opposite to the.
anal fin.

LTR

THE COMMON PIKE*.

These fish are found in considerable plenty in
most of the lakes in Europe, Lapland, and the
northern parts of Persia, where they sometimes
measure upwards of eight feet in length.

There is scarcely any fish of its size in the world
that in voracity can equal the Pike. One of theth
has been known to choak itself in attempting to
swallow another of its own species that proved too
large a morsel: and it has been well authenticated
that, in Lord Gower’s canal at Trentham, a Pike
seized the head of a swan as she was feeding under
water, and gorged so much of it as killed them
both ft.

“ I have been assured (says Walton) by my friend
Mr. Seagrave, who keeps tame otters, that he has
known a Pike, in extreme hunger, fight with one of
his Otters for a Carp that the otter had caught, and
was then bringing out of the water.”

Boulker, in his Art of Angling, says that his
father caught a Pike that was an ell jong, and
weighed thirty-five pounds, which he presented to
Lord Cholmondeley. His lordship directed it to
be put into a canal in his garden, which at that
time contained a great quantity of fish. Twelve
months afterwards the water was drawn off, and it

* SyNONYMS.—Esox lucius. Lina.—Pike or Pickerell. Will. Ich.
-—Penn. Brit. Zool. val. 3. tab. 63.
+ Penn. Brit. Zool, vol. iii. p. 321.

£72 THE COMMON PIKE.

was discovered that the Pike had devoured all the
fish except a single large carp, that weighed be-
tween nine and ten pounds; and even this had
been bitten in several places. The Pike was again
put in, and an entire fresh stock of fish for him to
feed on; all these he devoured in less than a year.
Several times he was observed by workmen, who
were standing near, to draw ducks and other water-
fowl under water. Crows were shot and thrown
in, which he took in the presence of the men.
From this time the slaughtermen had orders to
feed him with the garbage of the slaughter-house ;
but being afterwards neglected he died, as it is
supposed, from want of food.

In December, 1765, a Pike was caught in the
river Ouse that weighed upwards of twenty-eight
pounds, and was sold for a guinea. When it was
opened, a watch, with a black ribband and two
seals were found in its body. ‘These, it was after-
wards discovered, had belonged to a gentleman's
servant, who had been drowned in the river about
a month before*.

Gesner relates that a famished Pike in the Rhone
seized on the lips of a mule, and was, in conse-
quence, dragged out of the water; and that people,
while washing their legs, had often been bitten by
these voracious creatures.

The smaller fish exhibit the same fear of this
tyrant as some of the feathered tribe do of the

* Walton, note, p. 135, from a London paper of the second of Ja-

nuary, 1765.

THE COMMON PIKE. 173

rapacious birds, sometimes swimming round him,
while lying dormant near the surface, in vast num-
bers, and with great anxiety *.

The largest Pike that is supposed to have been
ever seen in this country, was one caught on the
draining of a pool at Lillishall lime-works, near
Newport, that had not been fished in the memory
of man: it weighed above 170 poundsf.

If the accounts of different writers on the subject
are to be credited, the longevity of the Pike is very
remarkable. Gesner goes so far as to mention a
Pike whose age was ascertained to be 267 years.

Pikes spawn in March or April. When they are
in high season, their colours are very fine, being
green, spotted with bright yellow, and having the
gills of a most vivid red. When out of season, the
green changes to grey, and the yellow spots become
pale. The teeth are very sharp, and are disposed
in the upper jaw, on both sides of the Jower, on the
roof of the mouth, and often on the tongue. They
are altogether solitary fish, never congregating like
some of the other tribes.

‘Though somewhat bony fish, they are in general
esteem as food ; and on the Continent, where they
are caught in great abundance, they are dried, and
exported to other countries for sale.

They are often taken while lying asleep near the
surface of the water, by means of a snare, at the

—

* Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. 322.
+ Walton, note, p. 136, from a London paper of the 25th of Ja-
nuary, 1765.

174 THE WINGED FLYING=-FISH.

end of a pole, gently passed over their head; which,
by a sudden jerk, draws close, and brings them to
Jand.

THE FLYING-FISH TRIBE.

THE head is covered with scales, and the mouth
is destitute of teeth. The belly is angular, and the
pectoral fins are almost as long as the body.

THE WINGED. FLYING-FISH*.

The Flying-fish, if we except its head and flat
back, has, in the form of its body, a great resem-
blance to the Herring. The scales are large and
silvery. The pectoral fins are very long; and the
dorsal fin is small, and placed near the tail, which is
forked.—It inhabits the European, the American,
and the Red seas; but is chiefly found between the
Tropics.

The wings, with which these fish have the power
of raising themselves into the air, are nothing more
than large pectoral fins, composed of seven or eight
ribs or rays, connected by a flexible, transparent,
and glutinous membrane. They have their origin
near the gills, and are capable of considerable mo-

* SyNoNyMS. Exoccetus volitans. Linn,.—Hirundo, of the an-

cients. Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 67.

THE WINGED FLYING-FISH 75

tion backwards and forwards. These fins are used
also to aid the motion of the fish in the water; and
if we are to judge from the great length and surface
of the oars, comparatively with the size of the body,
the fish should be able to cut their way through the
water with great velocity.

The Flying-fish has numerous enemies in its own
element ; the Dorado, Thunny, and many others
pursue and devour it. To aid its escape, it is fur-
nished with these long pectoral fins, by which it is
able to raise itself into the air, where it is often
seized by the Albatross or Tropic birds. Its flight
is short, seldom more than sixty or seventy yards at
one stretch ; but, by touching the surface at inter-
vals to moisten its fins, it is able to double or treble
this distance. ‘The whole flight, however, is of so
short a duration that, even in the hottest weather, its
fins do not become dry. By touching the water it
not only wets its fins, but seems to take fresh force
and vigour in another spring into an element, where
it is not long able to support its weight by the
clumsy motion of its fins. Ifthe Flying-fishes were
solitary animals they would not be worth the pur-
suit of some of their larger enemies: they are very
seldom seen to rise singly from the water, but they
generally appear in large shoals.

It has been inconsiderately remarked that “ all
animated nature seems combined against this little
fish, which possesses the double powers of swim-
ming and flying only to subject it to greater dan-
gers. Ifit escape its enemies of the deep, it is on-
ly to be devoured by the sea-fowl, which are waiting

a
2

176 THE WINGED FLYING-FISH.

its appearance in the air.” Its destiny is, however,
by no means peculiarly severe : we should consider
that, as a fish, it often escapes the attack of birds;
and, in its winged character, the individuals fre-
quently throw themselves out of the power of
fishes.

The eyes of these fish are so prominent at to ad-
mit of their seeing danger from whatever quarter it
may come; but, on emergency, they are able, in
addition, to push them somewhat beyond the sock-
ets, so as considerably to enlarge their sphere of
vision *. |

They are frequently either unable to direct their
flight out of a straight line, or else they become
exhausted on a sudden ; for sometimes whole shoals
of them fall on board the ships that navigate the
seas of warm climates.

In the water they have somewhat the manner of
the swallow in the air, except that they always
swim in straight lines; and the blackness of their
backs, the whiteness of their bellies, and their forked
and expanded tails, give them much the same ap-
pearance.

They were known to the ancients; for Pliny
mentions them under the name of Hirundo, and re-
lates their faculty of flying.

* Brown in Phil, Tran, vol. Ixvili. p. 791.

fos: 27

THE HERRING TRIBE.

THE body of the Herring is compressed, and
covered with scales; and the belly is extremely
sharp, sometimes forming a serrated ridge. In the
gill-membrane there are eight rays. The jaws are
unequal, and the upper one is furnished with ser-
rated mystaces or connecting bones. The tail is

forked.

THE COMMON HERRING*.

Herrings are found in the greatest abundance in
the highest northern latitudes. In those inacces-
sible seas that are covered with ice for a great part
of the year, they find a quiet and sure retreat from
all their numerous enemies. The quantity of in-
sects which those seas supply is immensely great.
Thus remotely situated, and defended by the icy
rigour of the climate, they live at ease, and multiply
beyond expression, coming out from thence in such
shoals that, were all the men in the world to be
Joaded with herrings, they could not carry off the
thousandth part of them. Their enemies are, how-
ever, extremely numerous: all the monsters of the
deep find them an easy prey; and, in addition to

* Clupea harengus. Linn. ———Penn. Brit. Zool. tab. 68.

VOL. III. N

178 THE COMMON HERRING.

these, the immense flocks of sea-fowl that inhabit
the polar regions watch their outset, and spread
devastation on all sides.

In their ouset, this immense swarm of living crea-
tures is divided into distinct columns of five or six
miles in length, and three or four in breadth, and in
their progress they make even the water ripple be-
fore them.

They are found about Shetland in June, from
whence they proceed down tothe Orkneys, and then,
dividing, surround the islands of Great Britain and
Treland, and unite again off the Land’s-end in the
British Channel in September; from whence the
great united body steers south-west, and is not found
any more on that side, or in the Atlantic, until the
same time in the ensuing year, but next appear on
the American coasts. They arrive in Georgia and
Carolina about the latter end of January, and in
Virginia in February. From hence they coast east-
ward to New England. They then divide, and go
into all the bays, rivers, creeks, and even small
streams of water, in amazing quantities, and con-

tinue spawning in the fresh water till the latter end

of April, when the old fish return into the sea, where

they change theirlatitudes by a northward direction,

and arrive at Newfoundland in May. After this
they are no more seen in America till the following
spring. ‘Their passing sooner or later up the Ame-
rican rivers depends on the warmth of the season ;
and even if a few warm days invite them up, and
cool weather succeeds, their passage is immediately

checked till the heat becomes more powerful, Thus.

THE COMMON HERRING. 179

they arefound in the British Channel in September,
but leave it when the sun is at too great a distance
from them, and push for a more agreeable climate.
And when the weather in America becomes too
warm in May; (after having deposited their eggs.)
they steer the course which leads to the cooler
northern seas, and, by this careful change of place,
| perpetually enjoy the temperature of the climate
best suited to their nature.

The young do not follow the old ones in their first
migrations; for they are to be seen in great shoals in
all the American bays till the autumn, when they
disappear. Since it appears that the Herrings
have a natural propensity to keep at acertain distance
from the sun, we may conclude that, at this season
of the year, the young are led in a direction contrary
to that of the old ones, which they meet about lati-
tude 23° north, and 70° west longitude. Here they
are supposed to tack about, and follow the others.
These, being larger and stronger, come first into the
American harbours; their numbers, however, are
then considerably diminished by the devastations
committed among them during their absence*.

The fecundity of the Herring is astonishing : it
has been calculated that, if the offspring of a sin-
gle Herring could be suffered to multiply unmo-
lested and undiminished for twenty years, they
would exhibit a bulk of. ten times the size
of the earth. But happily Providence has so ex-

* Gilpin on Herrings, in Amer. Phil. Tran. ii, 236.

N 2

180 THE COMMON HERRING.

actly contrived the balance of nature, by giving
them innumerable enemies, as always to keep them
within proper bounds.

In the year 1773, the Herrings were in such im-
mense shoals on the Scotch coasts for two months,
that it appears from tolerably accurate computations,
no less than 1650 boat-loads were taken in Loch
Terridon every night. These would amount to nearly
20,000 barrels.

They once swarmed so greatly, on the west side
of the isle of Skye, that the numbers caught were
more than could possibly be carried away. After
the boats were all Joaded, and the country round
was served, the neighbouring farmers made them
up into composts, and manured their ground with
them in the ensuing season. ‘This shoal continued
to frequent the coast for many years, but not always
in numbers equal to these *.

Somewhat more than thirty years ago, the Her-
rings came into Loch Urn in such amazing quanti-
ties that, from the narrows to the very head, about
two miles, it was quite full. So many of them
were pushed on shore that the beach for four miles
round the head was covered with them, from six to
eighteen inches deep: and the ground under water,
as far as could be seen when the tide was out, was
equally so. So thick and so forcible was the shoal
as to carry before it every other kind of fish; even
ground-fish, skate, flounder, &c. were driven on the

ere ee er ce

* Anderson’s Hebrices, 175.

THE COMMON HERRING. 181

shore with the first of the Herrings, and perished
there.

The principal of the British Herring fisheries are
off the Scotch and Norfolk coasts ; and in our seas
the fishing is always carried on by nets stretched in
the water, one side of which is kept from sinking,
by means of buoys fixed to them at proper distances;
and, as the weight of the net makes the side sink to
which no buoys are fixed, it is suffered to hang in a
perpendicular position like a screen; and the fish,
when they endeavour to pass through it, are entan-
gled in its meshes, from which they cannot disen-
gage themselves. There they remain till the net is
hauled in, and they are shaken or picked out.

The nets are never stretched to catch Herrings
but during the night, for in the dark they are to be
taken in much the greatest abundance. When the
night 1s dark, and the surface of the water consider-
ably ruffed by the wind, the fishermen always as-
sure themselves of the greatest success. Nets
stretched in the day-time are supposed to frighten
the fish away.

In order to strengthen the nets, and render the
threads more compact, they are all tanned. For
this purpose a quantity of oak-bark is boiled: the
liquor is then strained offand further boiled, till it
has attained such a consistence that, when a little
is dropped on the thumb-nail, it will become thick
as it cools. The netsare then put into a large ves-
sel, and this liquor is poured, while hot, upon them.
They are suffered to lie four-and-twenty hours,
when they are taken out and dried. The same pro-

N3

182 THE COMMON HERRING.

cess is repeated three times. Nets that have under-
gone this operation are supposed to last thrice as
as long they would do without it.

Herrings die almost the moment after they are
taken out of the water; whence originated the adage,
in common use, a5 dead as a Herring. They also be-
come very soon tainted after they are killed. In sum-
mer, they are sensibly worse for being out of the
water only a few hours: and, if exposed but a few
minutes to the rays of the sun, they are perfectly
useless, and will not take the salt.

When the fishermen on the Scotch coast have
plenty of salt, Herrings sell for about six shillings a
barrel. As their salt is expended, the price falls to
five, four, three, two, and one shilling per barrel,
sometimes even to six-pence or eight-pence; below
which prices the men will seldom shoot their nets,
as a less price is not sufficient to indemnify them for
the trouble of catching them. But it sometimes
happens that a barrel of fine fresh Herrings may be
purchased for a single chew of tobacco. A barrel
contains from six hundred to sixteen hundred fish,
according to their size *.

After the nets are hauled, the fish are thrown
upon the deck of the vessel, and each of the crew
has a certain task assigned to him. One part is em-
ployed in opening and gutting them; another in
salting, and a third in packing them in the barrels
in layers of salt. The red Herrings lie twenty-four

~

~ * Anderson.

THE PILCHARD. 183

hours in the brine; they are then taken out, strung
by the head on little wooden spits, and hung in a
chimney formed to receive them ; after which a fire
of brush-wood, which yields much smoke, but no
flame, is kindled under them, and they remain there
till sufficiently smoked and dried ; when they are
put into barrels for carriage.

The Herrings are supposed to feed on a crusta-
ceous sea insect, called by Linnaeus Oniseus marinus.
They may be even caught with an artificial fly: an
indication of their also sometimes seizing the winged
insects,

THE PILCHARD*.

About the middle-of July, the Pilchards, which
are a smaller species of Herring, appear in vast
shoals off the coasts of Cornwall. These shoals re-
main till the latter end of October, when it is proba-
ble they retire to some undisturbed deep, at a little
distance, for the winter. It has been supposed, but
improperly, that, like the Herring, they migrated
into the Arctic regions. If Pilchards performed
any migration northwards, we should certainly have
heard of their being occasionally seen and caught on
their passage ; but of this we have no one authen-
ticated instance. The utmost range of the Pil-
chards seems to be the Isle of Wight in the British,
and Ilfracomb in the Bristol Channel. Forty years

* Clupea pilcardus. Turton's Linn.——Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. qe

tah, 68.
N 4

184 THE PILCHARD.

back, Christmas was the time of their departure ;
this alteration in time is a very singular fact *.

We have the following account of the fishery
from Dr. Borlase :—‘ It employs (he says) a great
number of men on the sea, training them thereby
to naval affairs; employs men, women, and chil-
dren, at land, in salting, pressing, washing, and
cleaning ; in making boats, nets, ropes, casks; and
in all the trades depending on their construction
and sale. ‘The poor are fed with the offals of the
captures, the land with the refuse of the fish and
salt, the merchant finds the gains of commission
and honest commerce, the fisherman the gains of the
fish. Ships are often freighted hither with salt, and
into foreign countries with the fish, carrying off, at
the same time, part of our tin. The usual produce
of the number of hogsheads exported each year, for
ten years, from 1747 to 1756 inclusive, from the four
ports of Tawy, Falmouth, Penzance, and St. Ives,
it appears that Tawy has exported yearly 1732 hogs-
heads ; Falmouth, 14,631 hogsheads and two thirds ;
Penzance and Mounts-bay, 12,149 hogsheads and
one-third ; St. Ives, 1282 hogsheads: in all amount-
ing to 29,795 hogsheads. Every hogshead, for ten
years last past, together with the bounty allowed for
each hogshead exported, and the oil made out of
each hogshead, has amounted, one year with an-
other, at an average, to the price of one pound thir-
teen shillings and three-pence; so that the cash paid

* Maton’s Observations on the Western Counties, vol. i, p. 140.

THE PILCHARD. 195

for Pilchards exported has, at a medium, annually
amounted to the sum of 49,5321. 10s *.”

When Dr. Maton made the tour of the western
counties, he and a friend hired a boat to go out and
see the pilchard-fishing at Fowy, near Looe, in
Cornwall. He says that the fishing-boats, which
are pretty numerous, are usually stationed in ten
fathoms water, and clear of all breakers. Light
sail-boats keep out at a little distance before them,
to give notice to the fishermen of the approach of a
shoal. Persons are also frequently stationed on the
neighbouring rocks to watch the course of the fish :
these are called huers, from the circumstance of their
setting up a Awe to the fishermen.

The nets, which are seines, are sometimes two
hundred fathoms or more in circumference, and
about eighteen deep. Some of them are said to hold
upwards of two hundred hogsheads of fish, each
containing about three thousand. About thirty thou-
sand hogsheads are here looked upon as a tolerably
good produce for one season. But it happens now
and then that the fishery almost entirely fails. About
ten years before Dr. Maton was at this place, the
fishermen and their families had been compelled to
live for some time solely on limpets and other shell-
fish, which they cannot in any other circumstances
be prevailed on to eat f.

The Dog-fish { are great enemies to the Pil-
chards, often devouring them in amazing numbers.

* Borlase, 272. + Maton, i. 140.
t Squalus catulus of Linneus.

186 THE CARP TRIBE.

The chief difference between the Pilchard and
the Herring is that the body of the former.is more
round and thick; the nose shorter in proportion,
turning up; andthe under jaw shorter. The back
is more elevated, and the belly not so sharp. The
scales adhere very closely, whilst those of the Her-
ring easily drop off. It is also in general of a consi-
derably smaller size. But perhaps the situation of
the dorsal fin is as good a criterion as any. This in:
the Pilchard is so backward that the fish, when held
up by it, dips from an horizontal line forward:
when the Herring is held by its dorsal fin it remains
in equilibrio.

THE CARP TRIBE.

MOST of the Carp tribe inhabit the fresh waters,
where they feed on worms, insects, aquatic plants,
fish, and clay or mould. Some of them are migra-
tory. They have very small mouths and no teeth,
and the gill-membrane has three rays. The body is
smooth, and generally whitish. On the back there
is only one fin.

THE COMMON CARP *.

These fish are found inthe slow rivers andstagnant
waters of Europe and Persia; and here principally

* Cyprinus carpio. Linneme—Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 3. tab. 706

THE COMMON CARP. _ 187

in deep holes, under the roots of trees, hollow banks,
or great beds of flags, &c. They do not often exceed
four feet in length, and twenty pounds in weight ;
but Jovius mentions some, caught in the Lago di
Como in Italy, that weighed two hundred pounds
each ; and others have been taken in the Dneister
five feet in length.

Their form is somewhat thick, and their colour
blue-green above, greenish-yellow mixed with black
on the upper part of their sides, whitish beneath,
and the tail yellow or violet. The .scales are
large. On each side of the mouth there is a single
beard, and above this another shorter. The dorsal
fin is long, extending far towards the tail, which is
forked.

Carp, from their quick growth and vast increase,
(for the roe when taken out has frequently been
found to weigh more than the fish,) are the most va-
luable of all fish for the stocking of ponds; and if
the breeding and feeding of them were better un-
derstood, and more practised, the advantages result-
ing from them would be very great. A pond stocked
with these fish would become as valuable to its
owner as agarden. In many parts of Prussia Carp
are bred in great quantities, and are thus made to
form a considerable part of the revenue of the prin-
cipal personages of the country, being sent from
thence, in well-boats, into Sweden and Russia,
where they are very scarce *.

By being constantly fed they may be rendered so

* Albin on Esculent Fish, 7.

183 THE COMMON CARP.

familiar as always to come to the side of the pond
where they are kept for food. Dr. Smith, speaking
of the Prince of Condé’s seat at Chantilly, says,
« The most pleasing things about it were the im-
mense shoals of very large Carp, silvered over with
age, like silver fish, and perfectly tame, so that, when
any passengers approached their watery habitation,
they used to come to the shore in suchnumbers as to
heave each other out of the water, begging for
bread, of which a quantity was always kept at hand
on purpose to feed them. ‘They would even allow
themselves to be handled *.”—Sir John Hawkins
was assured by a clergyman, a friend of his, that at
the abbey of St. Bernard, near Antwerp, he saw a
Carp come to the edge of its pond at the whistling
of the person who fed it.

Carp are very long-lived: the pond in the garden
of Emanuel College, Cambridge, contained a Carp
that had been an inhabitant more than seventy
years ; and Gesner has mentioned an instance of
one that was a hundred years old. They are also
extremely tenacious of life, and will live for a great
length of time out of water. An experiment has
been made by placing a Carp in a net, well wrap-
ped up in wet moss, (the mouth only remaining
out,) and then hanging it up in a cellar or some cool
place.—The fish in this situation is to be frequently
fed with white bread and milk, and is besides to be
often plunged in water. Carp thus managed have
been known, not only to live above a fortnight,

* Sketch of a Tour to the Continent.

TNE TENCH. 189

but, to have grown exceedingly fat, and become far
superior in taste to those immediately taken from the
pond *.

In their general manners, Carp exhibit so great a
degree of cunning as to be sometimes called by the
country people Kiver Fox. When attempted to be
taken by a net, they will often leap over it; or im-
merse themselves so deep in the mud as to suffer the
net to pass over without touching them. They are
also very shy of taking a bait; but, during spawning-
time, so intent are they on the business of depositing
their spawn, that they will suffer themselves to be
handled by any one who attempts it. They breed
three or four times in the year, but their first spawn-
ing isin the beginning of May +.

These fish were first introduced into this country
about three hundred years ago. Of their sound or
air-bladder a kind of fish glue is made ; and a green
paint of their gall.

THE TENCH f.

The Tench is one of those fish that prefer foul
and weedy waters; and its haunts in rivers are
chiefly among weeds, and in places well shaded
with rushes. These fish thrive best in standing wa-
ters, where they lie under weeds near sluices and
pond heads. They are much more numerous in

* Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 355.
+ Walton, 160.—Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 356.
t S¥NONYMS.—eCyprinus tinca, Linn.—-Tinca. Aysonius,

190 THE TENCH.

pools and pits than in rivers; but those taken in the
latter are far preferable for the table—They begin
to spawn in June, and may be found spawning in
some waters till September. The best season is
from that time till the end of May.

They do not often exceed four or five pounds in
weight. Mr. Pennant, however, mentions one that
weighed ten pounds.—The Tench is in great res
pute with us as a delicious and wholesome food;
but in Guernsey it is considered bad fish, and in
contempt is called Schoemaker.

Jt is singular enough that the slime of the Tench
is supposed to possess such healing properties
among the fish that, it is said, the Pike, on this ac-
count, never attempts to devour it, though he seizes
without exception on all the other species that he is
able to overcome.

The Pike, fell tyrant of the hquid plain,
With ravenous waste devours his fellow train :
Yet, howsoe’er with raging famine pin’d,

The Tench he spares, a medicinal kind ;
For when by wounds distrest, or sore disease,
He courts the salutary fish for ease ;

Close to his scales the kind physician glides,
And sweats a healing balsam from his sides.

This self-denial of the Pike may, however, be
attributed to a more natural cause: the Tench are
so fond of mud as to be constantly at the bottom of
the water, where probably they are secure from the
voracious attacks of their neighbour.

Agach are sometimes found in waters where the

I

THE TENCH. ‘Igt

mud is excessively fetid, and the weeds so thick that
a hand-net can scarcely be thrust down. In these
situations they grow to a large size, and their exte-
rior becomes completely tinged by the mud. Their
flavour from this, if cooked immediately on being
taken out, is often very unpleasant ; but, if they are
transferred into clear water, they soon recover from
the obnoxious taint.

In Nov. 1801, a Tench was taken at Thornville
Royal, in Yorkshire, of such an enormous size, and
SO singular in its shape, as to be accounted rather a
lusus nature than a regular product. A piece of
water which had been ordered to be filled up, and
into which wood and rubbish had been thrown for
some years, was directed to be cleared out. So little
water remained, and in such quantity were the
weeds and mud, that it was expected no fish would
be found except perhaps a few eels; but, greatly to
the surprise of the persons employed, nearly two
hundred brace of Tench, and as many of Perch
were discovered. After the pond was supposed to
be quite cleared, an animal was observed to be under
some roots, which was conjectured to be an Otter.
The place was surrounded, and, on making an open-
ing, a Tench was found of most singular form, hav-
ing literally taken the shape of the hole in which
he had of course been many years confined. His
length was two feet nine inches, his circumference
two feet three inches, and his weight near twelve
pounds. The colour was also singular, his belly
being tinged with vermillion. This extraordinary
fish, after having been examined by many gentle-

192 THE TENCH.

men, was carefully put into a pond. At first it
merely floated, and after a while it swam gently,
but with difficulty, away. It is probably yet
alive.

Among the various satyrical witticisms which ap-
peared respecting this fish was a song, of which the
following is the conclusion :

The scullion wench
Did catch a Tench,
Fatter than Berkshire hogs, Sir,
Which, pretty soul,
Had made his hole,
Snug shelter’d by some logs, Sir! ase

Sans water he *
Had liv’d d’ye see,
Beneath those roots of wood, Sir!
And there, alack, a:
Flat on his back,
Tlad lain since Noah’s flood, Sir

Now he’s in stew
For public godt,
And fed with lettuce-coss, Sir,
In hopes the town
Will gulp him down,
With good humbugging sauce, Sir !

Tench are foolish fish, and are usually caught with
a line without difficulty. The baits generally adopted
are the small red worms taken out of rotten tan,
wasp maggots, or marsh worms. ‘The season for
angling is from September to June. The fish will
bite during the greater part of the day, but the ex-

3

THE CHUB. 193

‘pert angler generally attends as early and late as
possible *.

THE CHUB Tf.

The Chub is altogether a handsome fish; but
not in esteem for the table, being very coarse, and,
when out of season, full of small hairy bones.—Its
name is derived from the shape of its head; and the
French and Italians know it by a name synony-
mous with ours.

Its haunts are rivers whose bottoms are of sand or
clay, or which are bounded by clayey banks; in
deep holes, under hollow banks, shaded by trees
or weeds. ‘These fish often float on the surface,
and are sometimes found in deep waters, where the
currents are strong. In ponds fed by a rivulet they
srow toa great size. They seldom, however, exceed
the weight of four or five pounds.

They deposit their spawn in April; and are in
greatest perfection during the months of December
and January.

When the Chub seizes a bait, he bites so eagerly
that his jaws are often heard to chop like those of
adog. He, however, seldom breaks his hold, and
when once he is struck, is soon tired.—The time
of angling is from August to March, but best in
the winter months. In mild cloudy weather the

* Daniel ii. 259. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii.°359.
+ SyNONYMs.—Cyprinus cephalus. Lzzn.—Chub or Chevin. idl,
~~Nob or Botling. Dauiel— Penn, Brit. Zoo]. vol. 3. tab. 73

VOL. TIT. O

194 THE DACE.

Chub will bite all day: in hot weather from sun-
rise till nine o’clock ; and from three in the after-
noon till sunset. In cold weather the best time is
the middle of the day. The baits are various kinds
of worms and flies *.

THE DACE 7.

The Dace is a gregarious and very lively fish ;
and during summer is fond of playing near the sur-
face of the water. It is generally found where the
water is deep, and the stream gentle, near the piles
of bridges. It also frequents deep holes that are
shaded by the leaves of the water-lily ; and under the
focem on the shallows of streams. ’

These fish seldom weigh more than a pound and a
half; but they are exceedingly prolific. “Fhey spawn
in March; and are in season about three weeks
afterwards. They improve, and are good about
Michaelmas, but are best in February. In this
month, if, when just taken out of the water, they are
scotched and broiled, they are said to be even more
palatable than a Herring. ‘Their flesh, however, is
generally insipid and full of bones.

Dace afford great amusement to the angler. The
baits are various kinds of worms, and the common
flesh-flies. The season of angling is from April to
February, but best in the winter. In hot weather,

* Daniel ii. 215. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 368. Walton 54.
+ SYNONYMs.———Cyprinus leuciscus, Liaz.——Dace or Dare. Will.

3

THE ROACH. 195

the time is early and late in the day: in cold wea-
ther, during the middle; and in mild cloudy weather,
the whole of the day *.

THE ROACHT.

This fish is found chiefly in deep still rivers,
where it is often seen in large shoals. In summer,
it frequents shallows near the tails of fords; or les
under banks among weeds, and shaded by trees or
herbage, especially where the water is thick. As
the winter approaches, these haunts are changed for
deep and still waters.

The Roach is so silly a fish that it has acquired
the name of the Water-sheep, in contradistinction to
Carp, which, from its subtlety is termed the
River-fox.—Sound as a Roach is a proverb that
appears but indifferently founded. It is, however,
used by the French as well as by us.

This is a handsome fish, either in the water, or
when immediately taker out of it. The flesh, al-
though reckoned very wholesome, is in little esteem,
from the great quantity of bones. When Roach
are in season, which is from Michaelmas to March,
their scales are very smooth; but, when they are out
of season, these feel like the rough side of an oyster-
shell. Their fins also are generally red when the
animals are in perfection. They spawn towards

BR Le RSP re a Seer ee ee eC Nee SenPVOD oo

* Daniel ii. 237. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 366.
+ S¥YNONYMS.—Cyprinus rutilus. Linz.——Roche. Will.——
Penn. Brit, Zool. Frontis, vol. 4.

O 2

#96 THE GOLD Fis.

the latter end of May, and for three weeks after
are unwholesome. ‘They begin to recover in July,
but it is Michaelmas before they are eatable. They
are saidto be best in February or March.—The roe is
green, but boils red, and is peculiarly good.—These
fish differ greatly in goodness, according to the rivers
in which they are caught. None are good that are
Kept in ponds.

Roach feed on aquatic plants and vermes. ‘Their
usual weight is from half a pound to two pounds.
Some, however, have been known to weigh as much
as five pounds.

The baits used in catching Roach are various
kinds of worms, flies, and pastes. The time for
angling is, in mild cloudy weather, all the day: in
hot weather only in the mornings and evenings ; and
m cold weather, during the middle of the day *.

THE GOED FISHf.

These extremely elegant fish are natives of
China; and the most beautiful kinds are caught in
a small lake in the province of Che-kyang, at the
foot of a mountain called Isyen-king. ‘They were
first introduced mto England about the year 1691,
but were not generally known till near thirty years
afterwards.

In China they are kept in ponds, or large porce-
Jain vessels, by almost every person of distinction.

* Daniel. ii. 240. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 365.
+ SYNONYMS,=———Cyprinus auratus, Lin#.—Kin-yu, in China,
Gold Fish. Pens,

THE GOLD FISH. 197

¥n these they are very lively and active, sporting
about the surface of the water with great vivacity ;
but they are so very delicate that, if great guns are
fired, or any substances giving out a powerful smell,
as pitch or tar, are burned near them, numbers of
them will be killed—In each of the ponds or ba-
sins where they are kept, there is an earthen pan,
with holes in it, turned upside down. Under this
they retire when, at any time, they find the rays of
the sun too powerful. The water is changed three or
four times a week. Whilst this is done, it is neces-
sary to remove the fish into another vessel; but they
are always taken out by means of a net, for the
Jeast handling would destroy them.

When Gold-fish are kept in ponds, they are often
taught to rise to the surface of the water at the
sound of a bell, to be fed. At Pekin, for three or
four months of the winter, or whilst the cold wea-
ther lasts, the fish in the ponds are not fed at all.
They are able, during that time, to get the small
quantity of food they require in the water. In
order to prevent their being frozen, they are often
taken into the houses, and kept in china vessels,
till the warm weather of spring allows their being
returned to their ponds with safety.

In hot countries, Gold-fish multiply very fast, if
care be taken to remove the spawn, which swims
on the surface of the water, into other ponds, for
otherwise the animals would devour the greater
part of it. The young fry, when first produced,
are perfectly black; but they afterwards change to

Os

198 THE GOLD FISH.

white, and then to gold colour. The latter colours
appear first about the tail, and extend upwards.

‘he smallest fish are preferred, not only from
iheir being fnore beautiful than the larger ones,
but because a greater number of them can be
kept. These are of a fine orange red, appearing
as if sprinkled over with gold dust. Some, how-
ever, are white, like silver, and others white, spot-
ted with red. When dead they lose all their lustre.
The females are known from the males by several
white spots that they have near the gills, and the
pectoral fins: the males. have these parts very
bright and shining *.

In China the Gold-fish are fed with balls of paste,
and the yolks of eggs boiled very hard. In Eng-
Jand many persons are of opinion that they need ne
aliment. It is true that they will subsist for a long
while without any other food than what they can
collect from water frequently changed ; yet they
must draw. some support from animalcules and
other nourishment supplied by the water. That they
are best pleased with such slender diet may easily
be confuted, since they will readily, if not greedily,
seize crumbs that are thrown to them. Bread
ought, however, to be given sparingly, lest, turning
sour, it corrupt the water. They will also feed on
the water-plant called duck’s-meat, and on smali

fry f.

* Le Comte. + White's Selborne.

THE GOLD FISH. 199

Gold fish do not often multiply in very close con-
finement. If it is desired to have them bred, they
must be put into a tolerably large reservoir, through
which a stream of water runs, and in which there
are some deep places *.

* Du Halde,1.27. Le Comte.

L 200%]

THE SETURGEONS*.

THE fish of this tribe are all inhabitants of
the sea, though some of them occasionally go up
the wider rivers. All the species are large, seldom
measuring, when full grown, less than three or four
feet in length. ‘The flesh of the whole is reckoned
extremely delicious; and to the inhabitants on the
banks of the Caspian Sea, and indeed of many
other parts both of Europe and America, these fish
are very useful as an article of commerce. Their
usual food is worms and other fish. —

The head is obtuse; and the mouth, which is
placed quite under the head, is tubular, and with-
out teeth. Between the end of the snout and the
mouth are four cirri, or tendrils ; and on each side
there is a narrow aperture of the gills. The body
is long in proportion to its thickness, and usually
angular, from several rows of large bony plates.

THE COMMON STURGEONT.

The body of this fish, which is often found from
six to sixteen feet in length, is pentagonal, being

* This tribe commences the sixth Linnzan order, the CHONDROP-
TERYGIOUS FisH.

+ Synonyms.—Accipenser strurio. Liaz.—Accipenser ? Plizy.
er—Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 3, tab. 19.

THE COMMON STURGEON. 201

armed from head to tail with five rows of large bony
tubercles, each of which ends in a strong recurved
tip: one of these is on the back, one on each side,
and two on the margin of the belly. The snout is
Jong, and obtuse at the end, and has the tendrils
near the tip. The mouth, which is beneath the
head, is somewhat like the opening of a purse, and
is so formed as to be pushed suddenly out, or re-
tracted. The upper part of the body is of a dirty
olive colour; the lower part silvery ; and the tuber-
cles are white in the middle. Sturgeons are tound
both in the European and American seas.

The tendrils on the snout, which are some inches
in length, have so great a resemblance in form to
earth-wornss that, at first sight, they might be mis-
taken for them. This clumsy toothless fish is sup-
posed, by this contrivance, to keep himself in good
condition, the solidity of his flesh evidently showing
him to be a fish of prey. He is said to hide his
large body among the weeds near the sea-coast, or
at the mouths of large rivers, only exposing his
tendrils, which small fish or sea-insects, mistaking
for real worms, approach for plunder, and are
sucked into the jaws of their enemy. He has been
supposed by some to root into the soil at the bottom
of the sea or rivers; but the tendrils above mention-
ed, which hang from his snout over his mouth, must
themselves be very inconvenient for this purpose ;
and, as he has no jaws, he evidently lives by suc-
tion, and, during his residence in the sea, marine
insects are generally found in his stomach*,

* Note to Darwin’s Botanic Garden.

202 THE COMMON STURGEON:

_At the approach of spring, Sturgeons leave the
deep recesses of the sea, and enter the rivers to
spawn ; and from May to July the American rivers
abound with them. Here they are often observed
to leap to the height of several yards out of the
water, which they do in an erect position, falling
back again on their sides with such noise as to be
heard in the still evenings to a great distance. They
have often been known, at these times, to fall into
~ the small boats or canoes of the Indians, and sink
them. On this account it is often dangerous to
pass the places that are much frequented by them;
many instances have occurred of people losing
their lives by this means. Some of the Indians
take. advantage of this propensity to leaping to
catch them, by stationing themselves in tolerably
large boats in the places where they are seen, and
receiving them as they fall*.

In some rivers of Virginia, the Sturgeons are
found in such numbers that six hundred have been
taken in two days, with no more trouble than put-
ting down a pole, with a hook at the end, to the
bottom, and drawing it up again, on feeling it rub
against a fish+. They are, however, chiefly killed
in the night with harpoons, attracted by the light
of torches made of the wood of the black pine.
On the shores are frequently seen the bodies of
Sturgeons that have been wounded with the spears,
and have afterwards died.

*- Catesby, vol. lis p. Xxxiil, + Burnaby, 15.

THE COMMON STURGEON. 203

The Indians often fish for them in the lakes in
the day-time. For this purpose there are usually
two men to a canoe, one at the stern to work it for-
ward, and the other at the head, with a pointed
spear about fourteen feet long, tied to a long cord
that is fastened to one of the cross timbers of the
canoe. The moment a Sturgeon is seen within
reach, the man at the head darts his spear into the
tenderest part of the body that he can reach; and,
if it penetrate, the fish swims off with astonishing
velocity, dragging the canoe along the water after
it. If, however, the blow has been pretty well
aimed, the fish does not go more than two or three
hundred yards before he dies; when the men draw
up the Jine and take him*. Sometimes, when Stur-
geons are seen to lie at the bottom of the still water
near the cataracts, they are struck with a spear
without a rope, their place being marked, on their
rising, by the appearance of the shaft above the
water tf. .

The Sturgeon annually ascends our rivers, in the
summer, particularly those of the Eden and Esk,
but in no great numbers. It is-so spritless a fish
that, when caught by accident, as it sometimes is,
in the Salmon nets, it scarcely makes any resist-
ance, but is drawn out of the water apparently
lifeless. One of the largest ever caught in our
rivers was taken in the Esk, about twenty-six years
ago; it weighed four hundred and sixty poundsf.

—_—

* Charlevoix, i. 236. + Catesby.
t Penn. Brit. Zool. ili. 126.

204 THE COMMON STURGEON.

The flesh of the Sturgeon is well known to be
extremely delicious; and it was so much valued, in
the time of the Emperor Severus, that it was brought
to table by servants with coronets on their heads,
and preceded by music. ‘This might give rise to its
being, in our country, presented by the Lord Mayor
to the King. At present, the Sturgeons are caught
in the Danube, the Volga, the Don, and other large
rivers, for various purposes. The skin makes a
good covering for carriages; caviar is prepared
from the spawn; and the flesh is pickled, or salted,
and sent all over Europe*.

To make the caviar, the spawn is freed from the
little fibres by which it is connected, washed in
white wine or vinegar, and afterwards spread out
to dry. It is then put into a vessel and salted
(crushing it down with the hands) and afterwards
inclosed in a canvas bag to drain off the moisture.
It is, last of all, put into a tub with a hole in the
bottom, that any remaining moisture may run off,
pressed down, and closed for use.

It has been said that of the skin of the Sturgeon
isinglass is made: “but this is a mistake; for the
Sturgeon is altogether of so cartilaginous a nature
that no part of it will produce isinglass, except the
inner coat of the air-bladder. The isinglass most
common in our shops is made from a species of
Dolphin, called the Beluga t.

The bones are reported to be so hard as to

#* Note to Darwin's Botanic Garden,
+ Delphinus leucas of Linneus.

THE SHARK TRIBE, 205

serve the American Indians for rasps and nutmeg-
graters *.

The fecundity of these fish is exceedingly great.
Catesby says that the females frequently contain a
bushel of spawn each ; and Leeuwenhoek found in the
roe of one of them no fewer than 150,000,000,000

eggs.

THE SHARK TRIBE.

THE animals that compose this dreadfully rapa-
cious tribe are entirely marine, and more frequent
in the hot than the temperate climates. They are
in general solitary, and often wander to vast dis-
tances, devouring almost every thing that comes in
their way, that they are able to swallow. Some of
them will follow vessels several hundred leagues, for
the carcasses and filth that are thrown overboard.
The size to which they grow is enormous, as they
often weigh from one to four thousand pounds each,
Some few species are gregarious, and live on the
mollusc and other marine worms. They are all vivi-
parous ; their young, when first protruded, being
inclosed (alive) in a square pellucid horny case,
terminated at the four corners by very long slen-
der filaments, which are generally found twisted
round corallines, sea-weed, and other fixed sub-
stances. |

a

* Brickell, 237.

206 THE WHITE SHARK.

Their flesh is altogether so tough, coarse, and
of such a disagreeable smell, that even the young
are scarcely eatable. Their bodies emit a phos-
phoric light in the dark. The skin is rough, and
is in general use for polishing ivory, wood, and
other substances; thongs and carriage traces are
also occasionally made of it. The liver 1s generally
found to yield a considerable quantity of oil. There
are upwards of thirty species, of which eleven are
found in the British seas.

The body is compressed, long in proportion to
the thickness, and tapers towards the tail. The
head is obtuse, and on the side of the neck there are
from four to seven breathing apertures. The
mouth, which is situated in the under part of the
head, is armed with several rows of serrated sharp-
pointed teeth of different forms, some of which are
fixed, and others moveable. The skin is covered
with very slender prickles; and the upper part of
the tail is generally longer than the lower.

THE WHITE SHARK >.

This Shark has six rows of teeth, hard, sharply-
pointed, and of a wedge-like figure. These he has
the power of erecting and depressing at pleasure.
When at rest, they are quite flat in his mouth ; but,
when his prey is to be seized, they are instantly
erected by a set of muscles that join them to the

Ce ce EEE!

* SyNONYMS.—-Squalus ° carcharias. Linn,—=_ Lamia? of the

ancients.

THE WHITE SHARK. 207

jaw. Thus, with open jaws, gogeling eyes, and
large and bristly fins, agitated like the mane of a
lion, his whole aspect is an emphatical picture of

the fiercest, deepest, and most savage malignity.

It is a fortunate circumstance, for those who
would avoid its attacks, that its mouth is so situated,
under the head, that it has to throw itself on one side
in order to seize its prey; for its velocity in the wa-
ter is so great that nothing, which it was once in
pursuit of, would otherwise be able to escape its vo-
racity.

These creatures are the dread of sailors in all the
hot climates, where they constantly attend the ships,
in expectation of what may drop overboard ; and if,
in this case, any of the men have that misfortune,
they must inevitably perish.

Tncreasing still the terrors of the storms,

His jaws horrific arm’d with threefold fate,

Here dwells the direful Shark. Lured by the scent
Of streaming crowds, of rank disease, and death,
Behold! he rushing cuts the briny flood,

Swift as the gale can bear the ship along ;

And, from the partners of that crucl trade *
Which spoils unhappy Guinea of her sons,
Demands his share of prey, demands themselves.
The stormy fates descend, one death involves
Tyrants and slaves; when straight, their mangled limbs
Crashing at once, he dyes the purple seas

With gore, and riots in the vengeful meal.

The master of a Guinea ship informed Mr. Pen-
nant that a rage for suicide prevailed among his
slaves, from anopinion entertained by the unfortunate
wretches that, after death, they should be restored to

‘

208 THE WHITE SHARK.

their families, friends,and country. Toconvince them
that their bodies could never be re-animated, he or:
dered the corspe of one that was just dead to be
tied by the heels toa rope, and lowered into the
sea. It was drawn up again a’ quickly as the
united force of the crew could do it; yet, in that
very short time, the Sharks had devoured every part
but the feet, which were secured by the end of the
cord *. ;

Persons, while swimming, have often been seized
and devoured by the Sharks. A gentleman now:
living, and well known, in this country, was some
years ago swimming at a little distance from a ship,
when he saw a Shark making towards him. Struck
with terror at its approach, he immediately cried out
for assistance, A rope was instantly thrown; and
even while the-men were in the act of drawing him
up the ship’s side, the monster darted after him, and,
at a single snap, tore off his leg. :

In the pearl-fisheries of South America; every ne-
gro, to defend himself against these animals, car-
ries with him into the water; a sharp knife; which, if
the fish offers to assault him, he endeavours to strike
into its belly; on which it generally swims off.
The officers who are in the vessels keep a watchful
eye on these voracious creatures ; and, when they ob-
serve them approach, shake the ropes fastened to
the negroes to put them on their guard. Many,
when the divers have been in danger, have thrown

eer erences tt A LC ET

* Penn. Brit, Zool, ili. 106.

THE WHITE SHARK. 209

themselves into the water, with knives in their hands,
and hastened to their defence : but too often all their
dexterity and precaution have been of no avail.
Weare told that, in the reign of queen Anne, a
merchant ship arrived at Barbadoes from England,
some of the men of which were one day bathing in
the sea, when a large Shark appeared, and sprung
forwards directly at them. A person from the ship
called out to warn them of their danger; on which
they all immediately swam to the vessel, and arrived
in perfect safety, except one poor fellow who was
cut in two by the Shark aimost within reach of the
oars. A comrade and most intimate friend of the
unfortunaté victim, when he observed the severed
trunk of his companion, was seized with a degree
of horror that words cannot describe. ‘The insa-
tiable Shark was seen traversing the bloody surface
in search of the remainder of his prey, when the
brave youth plunged into the water, determining
either to make the Shark disgorge, or to be buried
himself in the same grave. He held in his hand a
long and sharp-pointed knife, and the rapacious
animal pushed furiously towards him: he had turned
on his side, and opened his enormous jaws, in order
to seize him, when the youth, diving dexterously
under, seized him with his left hand somewhere be-
Jow the upper fins, and stabbed him several times in
the belly. The Shark, enraged with pain and
streaming with blood, plunged in all directions in
order to disengage himself from his enemy. ‘the
crews of the surrounding vessels saw that the com-
bat was decided; but they were ignorant which
VOL, 111. P

210 THE WHITE SHARK,

was slain, till the Shark, weakened at length by
Toss of blood, made towards the shore, and along
with him his conqueror; who, flushed with vic-
tory, pushed his foe with redoubled ardour, and,
with the aid of an ebbing tide, dragged him on shore.
Here he ripped up the bowels of the animal, ob-
tained the severed remainder of his friend’s body,
and buried it with the trunk in the same grave.—
This story, however incredible it may appear, is re-
lated in the history of Barbadoes, on the most satis-
factory authority *.

The West Indian negroes often venture to con-
tend with the Shark in close combat. They know
his power to be limited by the position of his mouth
underneath; and, as soon as they discover him,
they dive beneath, and, in rising, stab him before he
has an opportunity of putting himself into a state of
defence. Thus do boldness and address unite in
triumph over strength and ferocity +.

The South Sea islanders are not in the least afraid
of the Sharks, but will swim among them without
exhibiting the least signs of fear. ‘1 have seen,”
says capiain Portlock, “five or six large Sharks
swimming about the ship, when there have been
upwards of a huadred Indians in the water, both
men and women: they seemed quite indifferent
about, them, and the Sharks never offered to make
an attack on any of them, and yet at the same time
would seize our bait greedily ; whence it is manifest

* Hughes’s Natural History of Barbadoes.
+ Marchand, i, 93.

id

THE WHITE SHARK. 211

that they derive their confidence of safety from their
experience, that they are able to repel the attacks of
those devouring monsters *.”

An Indian, on the coast of California, on plunging
into the sea, was seized by a Shark ; but, by a most
extraordinary feat of activity; cleared himself, and;
though considerably wounded, threw blood and
water at the animal to show his bravery and con-
tempt. But the voracious monster seized him with
horrid violence a second time, and in a moment
dragged him to the bottom: His companions,
though not far from him, and much affected by the
Joss, were not able to render him any assistance
whatever f. .

Weare told that, notwithstanding the voracity of
these creatures, they will not devour any feathered
animal that is thrown overboard ; but that they will
readily take a bait of a piece of flesh fastened on an
iron crook. ‘They areso tenacious of life as to move
about long after their head is cut off f.

Their flesh is sometimes eaten by sailors on long
voyages ; and, though exceedingly coarse and rank,
it is generally thought better than that of any others
of the tribe. The skin is rough, hard, and prickly ;
and, when properly manufactured, is used in co-
vering instrument cases, under the name of sha-
green,

* Portlock’s Voyage, 300. + Venegas, ll. 115.
t St. Pierre’s Voyage to the Isle of France, 28.

P 2

f 2924]

THE BASKING SHARK*™,

This species has derived its name from its pro-
pensity to lic on the surface of the water, as if to
bask itself in the sun. It possesses, (though a very
large fish,) none of the voracity and ferociousness
that mark the generality of the Shark tribe. It will
frequently lie motionless on the surface of the wa-
ter, generally on its belly, but sometimes on its back;
and it seems so little afraid of mankind as often to
suffer itself to be patted and stroked.

Its body is slender, and from three to twelve
yards in length, of a deep lead colour above, and
white below. ‘The upper jaw is blunt at the end,
and much longer than the lower. ‘The mouth is
placed beneath, and furnished with small teeth;
those before much bent, and the remote ones co-
nical and sharp-pointed. On each side of the neck
are five breathing apertures. There are two dorsal,
two pectoral, two ventral fins, and’ one small anal
fin. Within the mouth, near the throat, is a short
kind of whalebone.

The Basking Sharks frequent our seas during the
warm summer months, and are not uncommon on
the Welsh and Scottish coasts, coming in shoals }
usually after intervals of a certain number of years.
In the intervening summers, those that are scen on
the Welsh coast are generally single fish, that have

* SYNONYMS,—Squalus maximus. Linn—-Sun-fish, Smith's Hist.
Cork.—e—Penn. Brit. Zoal. vol. 3. tab. 13.

“

THE BASKING- SHARK. _ 213

probably strayed from the rest. They appear in the
Firth of Clyde, and among the Hebrides about mid-
summer, in small droves of seven or eight, or more
commonly in pairs. Here they continue till the lat-
ter end of July, when they disappear.

Their food seems to consist entirely of marine
plants and some of the species of Meduse. They
swim very deliberately, and generally with their
upper fins above water. Sometimes they may be
seen sporting about among the waves, and leaping
several feet above the surface. |

The liver is of such immense size as frequently to
weigh near a thousand pounds. From this a great
quantity of good oil is extracted ; which renders this
Shark an animal of considerable importance to the
Scotch fishermen: for, according to Anderson, the
oil of a single fish will sometimes sell for twenty or
thirty pounds sterling.

The natives of our northern coasts are very alert
in the pursuit, and very dexterous in the killing, of
these fish, When pursued, they do not accelerate
their motion till the boat comes almost in contact
with them, when the harpooner strikes his weapon
into the body as near the gills as he can. They
seem not very susceptible of pain ; for they often re-
main in the same place till the united strength of two
men is exerted to force the harpoon deeper. As
soon as they perceive themselves wounded they
plunge headlong to the bottom; and frequently coil
the rope round their bodies in agony, attempting to
disengage themselves from the fatal instrument by
rolling on the ground, Discovering that these ef-

P3

214 THE RAY TRIBE.

forts are in vain, they swim off with such amazing
rapidity, that one instance has occurred of a Basking
Shark towing toa some distance a vessel of seventy
tons burthen against a fresh gale. They some-
times run off with two hundred fathoms of line, and
two harpoons in them ; and will employ the men
from twelve to twenty-four hours before they are
subdued.

As soon as they are killed, the fishermen haul
them on shore ; or, if at a distance from Jand, to the
vessel’s side, to cut them up and take out the liver,
which is the only useful part of their bodies. This
is melted into oil in kettles provided for the purpose ;
and, if the fish is a large one, it will yield eight bar-
rels or upwards.

THE RAY TRIBE.

THE Rays are entirely confined to the sea; and,
from being destitute of an air-bladder to buoy them,
they live altogether at the bottom, chiefly in deep
water, covering themselves in winter in sand or mud.
They live on shell-fish, or any animal substances
whatever that come in their way. Some of them
become of a size so Jarge as to weigh two hundred
pounds and upwards ; in which case they are some-
times dangerous enemies to man, whom they are
said ta destroy by getting him down, lying upon,
and devouring him. ‘They seldom produce more

I

THE ELECTRIC RAY. 215

¢han one young at a time, which, as in the Sharks, is
enclosed in a four-cornered bag or shell, ending in
slender points ; but not (as in those) extending into
long filaments.

In their fresh state most of the species have a fe-
tid and unpleasant smell, but nearly the whole are
eatable. There are about fwenty species. ‘Those
with which we are best acquainted are the Skate,
the Thornback, and the Torpedo or Electric Ray.

Their bodies are broad, thin, and flat. The mouth
is situated beneath, and the eyes above the body.
The breathing apertures are five on each side, a lit-
tle below the mouth. The head is in general small
and pointed, and not distinct from the body.

The liver is large, and often produces a great
quantity of oil.

THE ELECTRIC RAY™.

{ have selected the Torpedo or Electric Ray from
the rest of the tribe, since no aceounts of the other
species have been preserved that are worth much at-
tention.—The present species, however, is altoge-
ther so remarkable as to merit very particular no-
tice. It is found in many of the European seas,
and the fishermen often discover it in Torbay; and
sometimes of such a size as to weigh near eighty
pounds.

* SYNONyMs.—Raia Torpedo, Linz.—Torpedo, Cramp-fish. Will.
Iche—Electrical Ray. Pens. Penn. Brit. Zool. vol, 3. tab. 10.

P4

216 THE ELECTRiIc RAY.

The head and body are indistinct from each
other, and nearly of a circular form, two or three
inches thick in the middle, attenuating to extreme
thinness on the edges. The skin is smooth, of a
dusky brown colour above, and white underneath.
The ventral fins form on each side, at the end of the
body, nearly a quarter of a circle. The tail is short,
and the two dorsal fins are placed near its origin.
The mouth is small, and, as in the other species,
there are on each side below it five breathing aper-
tures.

The Electric Rays are partial to sandy bottoms,
in about forty fathoms of water, where they often
bury themselves by flinging the sand over them, by
a quick flapping of all the extremities. In Torbay
they are generally taken, like other flat-fish, with
the trawl-net ; and instances have occurred of their
seizing a bait.

This fish possesses the same property of benumb-
ing its prey as that which I have before described
in the Electric Eel ; and, when it is in health and
vigour, the shock that it communicates is often very
severe: but its powers always decline as the animal
declines in strength, and when it expires they en-
tirely cease. In winter these are also much less for-
midable than during warm weather.

Dr. Ingenhouz had a Torpedo for some time in a
tub of sea-water, which, from its being during win-
ter, seemed to be feeble. On taking it into his
hands, and pressing it on each side of the head, a
sudden tremor, which lasted for two or three se-.
conds, passed into his fingers, but extended no fur-

THE ELECTRIC RAY. 207

ther. -After a few seconds the same trembling was
felt again ; and again several times, after different
intervals. ‘The sensation was, he says, the same
that he should have felt by the discharge of several
very small electrical bottles, one after another,
into his hand. The shocks sometimes followed
each other very quickly, and increased in strength
towards the last. - Probably, from the weakness of
the fish, the shock could not be communicated
through a brass chain, though the usual contortion
was evidently made. A coated vial was applied to
it, but could not be charged *.

From some experiments that were made by Mr.
Walsh on a very stout and healthy fish, it appears
that, although it seemed to possess many electric pro-
perties, yet, no spark whatever could be discovered
to proceed from it, nor were pith-balls ever found to
be affected by it. When it was insulated, it gave a
shock to persons likewise insulated, and even to
several that took hold of each others hands: this it
did forty or fifty times successively, and with very
little diminution of force. If touched only with one
finger, the shock was so great as to be felt in both
hands. Each effort was accompanied by a depres-
sion of the eyes, which plainly indicated the at-
tempts that were made upon non-conductors. Al-
though the animal was in full vigour, it was not able
to force the torpedinal fluid across the minutest tract
of air, not even from one link of a small chain freely

| ee te ago nS at eS ee ee

* Phil. Tran. vol. Ixv. p. 1.

2458 THE ELECTRIC RAY.

suspended to another, nor through an almost invi-
sible separation made by a penknife in a slip of tin-
foil pasted on sealing-wax *.

The properties of this fish have been described by
Oppian ; but, with that liberty which poets always
think themselves entitled to, he has endowed it with
the power of benumbing the fisherman through the
whole length of his line and rod,

The hook’d Torpedo ne’er forgets his art,

But soon as struck begins to play its part ;

And to the line applies his magic sides :

Without delay the subtile power glides

Along the pliant rod and slender hairs,

‘Then to the fisher’s hand as swift repairs :
Amaz’d he stands, his arms of sense bereft,
Down drops the idle rod, his prey is left :

Not less benumbed than had he felt the whole

Of frost’s severest rage beneath the Arctic pole +.

In the general structure of its body, the Torpedo
has not been found to differ materially from the rest
of the Rays. The electric organs are placed one on
each side of the cranium and gills, reaching from
thence to the semicircular cartilages of each great
fin, and extending longitudinally from the anterior
extremity of the animal to the transverse cartilage
which divides the thorax from the abdomen: and
within these limits they occupy the whole space be-
tween the skin of the upper and under surfaces.
Each organ is attached to the surrounding parts by

* Walsh in Phil. Tran. vol. Ixiil. p. 461.
+ Jones’s translation of Oppian.

THE ELECTRIC RAY. 219

a close cellular membrane, and also by short and
strong tendinous fibres, which pass directly across
from its outer edge to the semicircular cartilages.
They are covered above and below with the com-
mon skin of the animal, under which are longitu-
dinal fibres spread entirely over them. Each organ
is about five inches in length, and at the anterior end
about three in breadth. They are composed of per-
pendicular columns, reaching from the upper to the
under surface, varying in length according to the
thickness of the parts of the body, from an inch and
a half to half an inch; and their diameters are from
a fourth to a fifth of an inch.

The coats of the columns are very thin, and al-
most transparent. “The number of columns in each
organ varies considerably in different animals. That
of one that Mr. Hunter presented to the Royal So-
ciety was about 470; but in a very large Torpedo
the number of columns in one organ was 1182,
These columns were composed of films parallel to
the base of each, and the distance between each of
the columns was rsoth part of an inch. If we
suppose these films to be charged with electricity,
and to be the zooth part of an inch thick, and a mid-
dling-sized Torpedo to contain in both organs, on
the whole, 1600 columns each an inch long, and
9.03 square inches area at the base, then 1000 x
150X0.3—=4500 square inches. Now it has been
clearly proved that the capacity of stout glass is
thirty-six times less than that of these organs;
therefore both the organs of a middling-sized Tor-
pedo will be equivalent to 4500X36=162,000

220 THE ELECTRIC RAY.

square inches, or 1125 square feet of glass.—
-The nerves inserted into each organ arise by three
very large trunks from the lateral and posterior part
of the brain. These, having entered the organs,
ramify in every direction between the columns.
The number and magnitude are extremely great;
and it 1s supposed that they are subservient to the
formation, collection, and management of the tor-
pedinal fluid *.

The Torpedo brings forth its young in the au-
tumn.

* Hunter in Phil. Tran. vol. Ixvii. p. 481.—Nicholson’s Philoso«
phical Journal.

tn INSECTS.

Each moss,
Each shell, each crawling insect, holds a ranks
Important in the plan of Him who fram’d
This scale of beings; holds a rank, which lost
Would break the chain, and leave a gap
That nature’s self would rue !

=

ab HE Insect division of the animal world received
its name from the individuals of which it is com-
posed having a separation in the middle of their
bodies, by which they are cut into two parts.
These parts are in general connected by a slender
ligament or hollow thread.
Insects breathe through pores arranged along their
sides * ; and have a head or bony skin, and many
feet. The greater part of them are furnished with
wings. They are destitute of brain, nostrids, ears,
and eyelids. Not only the liver, but all the secret-
ory glands are, in them, replaced by long vessels
that foat in the abdomen. The mouth.isin general
situated under the head; and is furnished with

(te ee ee eee

* The Crab and Lobster tribes form an exception to this rule, for
they respire by means of gills. ;

222 INSECTS:

transverse jaws, with lips, a kind of teeth, a tongue,
and palate: it has also, in most instances, four or
six palpi, or feelers: Insects have also moveable
antenne, proceeding generally from the front part of
the head, which are endowed with a very nice sense
of feeling.

In a minute examination that has lately been
made in this class by Cuvier, one of the most accu-
rate observers of nature now living, neither a heart
nor arteries have been detected; and this gentle-

man says that the whole organization of insects is

such as one would expect to find, if they had been
actually known not to be provided with such organs.
Their nutrition, therefore, would seem to be carried
on by immediate absorption, as is evidently the case
with the polypes, and other zoophytes, which are
considerably below insects in the perfection of their
organization *,

Nearly all insects (except Spiders, and a few
others of the apterous tribe, which proceed nearly
in a perfect state from the egg) undergo a META-
MORPHOSIS, or change, at three different periods
of their existence.

The lives of these minute creatures, in their per-
fect state, are in general so short that the parents
have but seldom an opportunity of seeing their
living offspring. Consequently, they are neither
provided with milk, like viviparous animals, nor
are they, like birds, impelled to sit upon their eggs

* He excepts the Crabs and Lobsters, which he arranges in a class
by themselves, and denominates Crustaceous animals.

iNSECTSs 223

in order to bring their young to perfection. In
place of these, the all-directing Power has endowed
each species with the astonishing faculty of being
able to discover what substance is fitted to afford
the most proper food for its young; though such
food is, for the most part, so totally different from
that which the parent itself could eat as that, in
many cases, it would prove a deadly poison to it.
Some of them attach their eggs to the bark, or
insert them into the leaves of trees and other vege-
table substances ; others form nests, which they store
with insects or caterpillars that will attain the exact
state in which they are proper food for their young
when they shall awaken into life; others bury them
in the bodies of other insects ; and others fall upon
astonishing contrivances to convey their eggs into
the body, or the internal viscera of larger animals.
Some drop their eggs into the water, in which they
themselves would soon be destroyed, as if they
foresaw that their progeny, in its first state of exist-
ence, could only subsist in that element. In short,
the variety of contrivances that are adopted by
insects to insure the subsistence of their young,
when they shall come into life, are beyond enume-
ration. It may, however, with great truth, be said
that all the means they adopt are so perfectly
adapted to answer the purpose intended as to dis-
cover a degree of knowledge that leaves the boast-
ed wisdom of man at an infinite distance behind.
From the eggs of all insects proceed what are
called /arve, grubs, or caterpillars. These consist
of a long body, covered with a soft tender skin,

224 “INSECTS,

divided into segments or rings, which are capable
of being moved towards each other by muscular
bands situated within the body. The motions of
many of the larva are performed on these rings only,
either in the manner of serpents, or by resting alter-
nately each segment of the body on the plane which
supports it. Such is the motion of the larve of the
Flies, emphatically so called, and of the wasps and
bees. Sometimes the surfaces of the rings are co-
vered by spines, stiff bristles, or hooks: this is the
case in Gad-flies, Crane-fiies, and some others.
The bodies of the larva, in some orders of insects,
have inferiorly, and towards the head, six feet, each
formed of three small joints; the last of which is
scaly, and terminates in a hook: this is usual in the
larvie of Beetles and Dragon-flies. The larve of
Butterflies and Moths, besides six scaly articulated
feet, have a variable number of other false feet,
which are not jointed, but terminate in hooks, dis-
posed in circles and semicircles. These hooks,
which are attached to the skin by a kind of retractile
tubercles, serve as cramps to assist their motion on
other bodies. The larve of those insects that un-
dergo only a semi-metamorphosis, as the Crickets,
Cock-roaches, and others of the order Hemiptera,
and the larve of the insects that have no trans-
formation, as in the Aptera (the Flea excepted),
differ in no respect, as to their feet, from the per-
fect insects.—In this larvae state many insects re-

xain for months, and others for a year, or some-
times even for two or three years; increasing some-
what in size as they grow older, and occasionally

3

INSECTS. 225

changing their skins. They are, in general, ex-
tremely voracious, often devouring more than their
own weight in the course of twenty-four hours.

As soon as all their parts become perfected, and
they are prepared to appear under a new form, in
‘a pupa or chrysalis*, they fix upon some convenient
place, where they are least exposed to danger, for
the performance of the arduous operation. This is
essentially necessary, since, in their transformation,
they have neither strength to resist, nor swiftness
to avoid, the attack of an enemy. That power,
which instructed the parents to deposit their eggs
in a proper receptacle, at this critical period directs
the offspring in the most secure and appropriate
situation for their future defenceless state. Some
of them, as in many of the Moths, spin webs or
cones, in which they inclose themselves; others
undergo their change in decayed wood ; and others
conceal themselves under the surface of the earth.
The larve of Butterflies spin a little web, just suffi-
cient to suspend themselves by to the substance
they fix upon.—Preparatory to the transformation,
the larve cease to take any food, and, for some
days, continue in a state of inactivity. During this
time the internal organs are gradually unfolding
themselves. When the completion is at hand, many
of them may be observed alternately to extend and
contract their bodies, to disengage themselves from
the caterpillar skin. ‘The hinder parts are those
first liberated: when this is done, the animals con-

ear ne chrysalis is occasionally called Aurelia, Bean, Cod, Cope de
Nymph.
VOL, i1I, Q

826 INSECTS.

tract, and draw the skin up towards their head;
and, by strong efforts, soon afterwards push it en-
tirely off. In their chrysalid state they remain for
some time, to all appearance, perfectly inanimate ;
but this is only in appearance, for, on being taken
into the hand, they will always be found to exhibit
signs of life. It is singular that, in the changes of
insects, the intestinal canal is frequently very dif-
ferent in the same individuals, as they pass through
their three states. In the larva this is composed of
two principal tubes, the one inserted into the
other: the external tube is compact and fleshy,
and the internal one thin and transparent. ‘The
latter is always thrown out of the body previously
to the transformation.

As soon as the parts of the animal, within the
shell of the chrysalis, have acquired strength suffi-
cient to break the bonds that surround it, the little
creature exerts its powers, and appears to the world
in its perfect state. For a little while it continues hu-
mid and weak ; but, as the humidity evaporates, its
wings and shell become hardened, and it soon after-
wards commits itself in safety to its new element.

From the metamorphosis of insects I shall pro-
ceed to the examination of some of their more
important members, as observed in the perfect
state of the animals.

Some writers have conjectured that the antenna
or horns of insects were their organs of hearing ;
for it is evident, from various experiments, that
insects are possessed of this sense in a degrce as

INSECTS, 229

@xquisite as most other animals, although, from
their minuteness, we perhaps may never discover
by what means. The antenne, however, seem
little likely to answer the purpose of ears. These
instruments of apparently exquisite sensibility seem
adapted to very different purposes, but to purposes
with which we may remain long unacquainted.

The eyes are formed of a transparent crustaceous
set of lenses, so sufficiently hard as to require no
coverings to protect them. ‘These, like multiplying
glasses, have innumerable surfaces, on every one of
which the objects are distinctly formed; so that, if
a candle is held opposite to them, it appears multi-
plied almost to infinity on their surfaces. Other
creatures are obliged to turn their eyes; but insects
have always some or other of these lenses directed
towards objects, from what quarter soever they
present themselves. All these minute hemispheres
are real eyes, through which every thing appears
topsyturvy.

Mr. Leeuwenhoek looked through the eye of a
Dragon-fly (with the help of a microscope) as a te-
lescope ; and viewed the steeple of a church, which
was 299 feet high, and 750 from. the place; he
could plainly see the steeple, though not apparently
larger than the point of a fine needle. He also
viewed a house; and could discern the front, dis-
tinguish the doors and windows, and perceive whe-
ther the windows were open or shut. . Mr. Hook
computed 14,000 hemispheres in the two eyes of a
drone. Mr. Leeuwenhoek reckons in each eye
of the Dragon-fly 12,544 lense. The pictures of ob-

Q 2

228 INSECTS.

jects, therefore, that are delineated on these, must
be millions of times less than those formed on the
human eye. Many insects still smaller have eyes,
no doubt, contrived so as to discern objects some
thousands of times less than themselves, for such
the minute particles on which they feed must cer-
tainly be. How astonishing, therefore, must be the
magnifying power of such eyes! And what extra-
ordinary discoveries might be made, were it possi-
ble to obtain glasses through which we could see
as these little creatures do!

With respect to the wings of insects, the two
first orders of Linneus have theirs defended by a
pair of crustaceous cases called elytra. The three
subsequent orders have four membranaceous wings,
without elytra. All the insects of the sixth order
have but two wings, and under each of these, at its
base, there is a poise or balancer like’a little knob.
These poises are commonly little balls, placed on
the top of a slender stalk, and moveable every way
at pleasure. In some they stand alone, but in others,
as in the whole Flesh-fly tribe, they have little co-
vers or hollow membranaceous scales, each of which
somewhat resembles a spoon without a handle:
every time the insect strikes the air with its wings,
a very quick motion may be perceived in the ba-
Jancer ; and in the flesh-flies, when this moves, it
strikes against the little scale, and thus assists in pro-
ducing the well-known buzzing sound that is made
by flies when on the wing. The use of the balancers
to an insect seems to be precisely the same as that
of a long pole, loaded at each end with lead, is to a

INSECTS. 229

a rope-dancer: they render the body steady, and
obviate all its vacillations in flight. If one of them
be cut off, the insect will immediately fly ill, one
side evidently overbalancing the other, till it falls to
the ground : if both be cut off, it will fly very
awkwardly and unsteadily, exhibiting an evident
defect of some necessary part.

The structure of the fee¢of these diminutive crea-
tures are truly admirable. ‘Those insects that live
altogether in water have their feet long, flat, and
somewhat hairy at the edges, well adapted to aid
their motions in that element. Such as have occa-
sion to burrow into the earth have their legs broad,
sharp edged, and serrated. Those that use their
feet only in walking have them long, and _cylindri-
cal; some of the feet are furnished with sharp
hooked claws, and skinny palms, by which, from
the pressure of the atmosphere upon them, the in-
sects are enabled to walk on glass and other
smooth surfaces, even with their backs downwards,
as in various species of flies: others have somewhat
like spunges that answer the same end: and the
spider has each foot armed with a kind of comb,
propably for the purpose of separating the six
threads that issue from so many orifices of its body,
and prevent them from tangling. In the hind legs
of insects which have occasionally to pass over
“Spaces by leaping, the thigh is very large and thick,
and the shank long and frequently arched. 7

From the different formations of these, it is not
difficult to recognize the habits and modes of life
of insects, even where the specimens exhibited »

Q 3

230 INSECTS.

happen to be dead. The relative proportions of the
feet determine, in a certain degree, the manner of
each insect*s motion in walking. ‘Those species
that have long legs (generaily speaking) run very
quickly, as the Spiders, the Long-legged Spiders,
and several kinds of Beetles. On the contray, the
insects that have short legs, as the Julus, Ticks,
and Gall Insects, are generally remarkable for the
slowness of their pace. When the anterior feet are
the longest, thev retard the motion: this takes
place in the Ephemera, Mantis, and some others:
the feet of these insects are of little other use to
them than in enabling them to lay hold of any
body on which they wish to alight. The posterior
legs, being longest, give to the insects the faculty of
leaping. Some insects however leap, whose poste-
rior jegs are not longer than the others; but they have
this faculty in consequence of the thighs being very
thick, and furnished with particular muscles.

The ¢ongue of insects is a taperand compact instru-
ment, by which they suck their food. Some of the
animals can contract or expand it ; and others, as
the Batterflies, rol] it up under their head, somewhat
like the spring ofa watch. In many it is enclosed
within a sheath; and in several, as the flies, it is
fleshy and tubular,

The mouth is generally placed somewhat under-
neath the front part of the head; but in a few of
the tribes it is situated below the breast. Some
insects have it furnished with.a kind of forceps, for
the purpose of seizing and cutting their prey ; and
in others it is pointed, to pierce animal or veget=

INSECTS, 231

able substances, and suck their juices. In several it
is strongly ridged with jaws and teeth, to gnaw and
scrape their food, carry burthens, perforate the
earth, nay, the hardest wood, and even stones, for
habitations and nests for their young. In a few the
tongue is so short as to appear to us incapable of
answering the purpose for which it is formed ; and
the Gad-flies appear to have no mouth.

Near the mouth are situated the pa/pi, or feelers :
these are generally four, but sometimes six in num-
ber. They area kind of thread-shaped articulated
antenne. ‘Their situation, under and at the sides
of the mouth, renders them, however, sufficiently
distinct from the proper antenna. ‘They are in con-
tinual motion, the little animals thrusting them into
every thing likely to afford them food. Some wri-
ters have considered them as serving the place of a
hand, in holding food to the mouth, whilst the in-
sects are eating.

Linnzus has divided the animals of this class into
seven orders*, viz.

1. Coleopterous insects (derived from the Greek
words xoAcog a sheath, and z7<poy a wing,) are the
Beetles, or such as have crustaceous elytra or shells,
which shut together, and form a longitudinal suture
down the back. Ofthis order are the Chater tribe,
and several others.

2. Hemipterous insects (from juiovs half, and wrepov
a wing) have their upper wings half crustaceous,
and half membranaceous, not divided by a longitu-

* Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Hymenopteray
Diptera and Aptera,
Q4

239 INSECTS,

dinal suture, but incumbent on or crossed over
each other; as the Cock-roach, Locust, &c,

3. Lepidopterous insects (from azmig a scale, and
oTepov a wing) are those having four wings covered
with fine scales in the form of powder or meal; as
in the Butterflies and Moths.

4. Neuropterous insects (from yevpey a nerve, and
mtepoy a wing) have four membranaccous, transpa-
rent, naked wings, in which the membranes cross
each other so as to appear like net-work. The tail
has no sting, but is frequently furnished with appen-
dices like pincers, by which the males are distin-
guished. The common Dragon-fly is the best ex-
ample that can be brought to illustrate this order;
and the genus Phryganea forms an exception with
respect to the net-work appearance of the wings.

5. Hymenopterous insects (from vjyy a membrane,
and xzzepoy a wing). ‘The insects belonging to this
order have generally four membranaceous naked
wings : the neuters, however, in some of the genera,
and in others the males or females, want wings.
The wings do not so much resemble net-work as
those of the last order. The tail, except in the male,
is armed with a sting. The Bee, the Wasp, and the
Ant, are of this tribe.

6. Dipterous insects (from Siracos double, and
mtspy a wing) are those having only two wings,
each furnished at its base with a poise or balancer,
The common House-flies and the Gnat are familiar
examples of this order,

7. Apterous insects (from « without, and qrepoy a
wing). This order contains all such insects as want
wings in both sexes; as the Spider, Flea, and Louse.

[° 2aaret
a — —— —

THE CHAFER TRIBE *,

THE antennz of the Chafers have a clavate or
enlarged extremity, which is divided into lamellz or
leaves. To the mouth there are four feelers. The
feet have five joints ; and the shanks of the fore-legs
are generally toothed. |

The /arve or grubs have six feet. In their gene-
ral external appearance these creatures are not much
unlike the caterpillars of some of the butterflies,
having their bodies composed of rings, and being
somewhat hairy. Most of them live entirely under
the surface of the ground, feeding on the roots of
plants, &c. Their ehrysalis generally lies dormant
in the earth tillthe perfect insect bursts out.

Chafers inhabit and feed in various situations.
Some are found in the dung of animals, or in the
earth immediately under the dung. Others live on
the leaves of trees ; and others on flowers.

THE COCK-CHAFER f.

The larve or grubs of this species of Beetle, so

* The Linnzan order of COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS or BEETLES
commences with this tribe.

+ SYNONYMs.—Scarabeus Melolontha. Lixz.—Melolontha vul-
gavis. Fabricius:—Brown Tree Beetle, Blind Beetle, Chafer, Cock-
chafer, Jack-horner, Jeffry-cock, May-bug, Tree Beetle, Brown
Clock, Dor, in various parts of England. Millers, from their powdery
white colour.-The Grub is called the Connaught worm in Ireland.

3

234 THE. COCK-CHAFER.

well known in England by the name of Cock-
chafer, are more voracious, and more destructive to
vegetation, than those of almost any of the insect
tribes.

The eggs are deposited in the ground by the
winged insect, whose fore-legs are very short, and
well calculated for burrowing. From each of these
proceeds, after a short time, a whitish worm with
six legs, a red head, and strong claws, and about an
inch anda half long, which is destined to live in the
earth under that form for four years, and there un-
dergo various changes of its skin, until it assumes
its chrysalid form. It subsists, during its subterra-
neous abode, on the roots of trees and plants, com-
mitting ravages often of the most deplorable nature.
These creatures, sometimes in immense numbers,
work between the turf and the soil in the richest
meadows, devouring the roots of the grass to that
degree that the turf rises, and will roll up with al-
most as much ease as if it had been cut with a turf-
ing-spade: and underneath the soil appears turned
into a soft mould for about an inch in depth, like the
bed of a garden. In this the grubs lie, in a curved
position, on their backs, the head and tail up-
permost, and the rest of the body buried in the
mould, Mr. Arderon, of Norwich, mentions his
having seen a whole field of fine flourishing grass,
in the summer time, become in a few weeks
withered, dry, and as brittle as hay, by these
grubs devouring the reots, and gnawing away
all those fibres that fastened -it to the ground,

THE COCK-CHAFER. 236

and through which alone it could receive nourish-
ment *, |

The larve, as I have said, continue four years in
the ground; and when, at the end of this periods
they are about to undergo their change, they dig
deep into the earth, sometimes five or six feet, and
there spin a smooth case, in which they change into
a chrysalis. They remain under this form all winter
till the month of February, when they become per-
fect beetles, but with their boaies quite soft and
white. In May the parts are hardened, and they
then come forth out of the earth. This accounts for
our often finding the perfect insects in the ground.

Cock-chafers fly in the evening towards sunset,
and particularly about places where there are trees.
They eat the leaves of the sycamore, the lime, the
beech, the willow, and those of all kinds of fruit-
trees. In its winged state this insect exhibits not
less voracity on the leaves of trees than it before did
in its grubs tate in the earth; for, such is the avidity
with which it devours its food, and so immense are
sometimes the numbers, thai, in particular districts,
they have become an oppressive scourge, which
has produced much calamity, among the people.

In the year 1688, the Cock-chafers appeared on
the hedges and trees of the south-west coast of the
county of Galway, in clusters of thousands, clinging
to each other’s backs in the manner of bees when
theyswarm. During the day they continued quiet,
but towards sun-set the whole were in motion ; and

te Phil, Tran, vol. xliv. Pe 5798

236 THE COCK-CHAFER,

the humming noise of their wings sounded like
distant drums. Their numbers were so great that,
for the space of two or three square miles, they en-
tirely darkened the air. Persons travelling on the
roads, or who were abroad in the fields, found
it difficult to make their way home, as the insects
were continually beating against their faces, and
eaused great pain. In a very short time the leaves
of all the trees for some miles round were destroyed,
Jeaving the whole country, though it was near mid-
summer, as naked and desolate as it would have
been in the middle of winter. ‘The noise that these
enormous swarms made in seizing and devouring
the leaves, was so loud as to have been compared to
the distant sawing of timber. Swine and poultry
destroyed them in vast numbers. These waited un-
der the trees for the clusters dropping, and devoured
such swarms as to become fat from them alone.
Even the native Irish, from the insects having eaten
up the whole of the produce of the ground, adopted
a mode of dressing them, and used them as food.
Towards the end of summer they disappeared so
suddenly that in a few days there was not a single
one left *. ‘

About sixty years ago a farm near Norwich was
so infested with Cock-chafers that the farmer and
his servants affirmed that they gathered eighty bush-
els of them ; and the grubs had done so much in-
jury that the court of that city, in compassion to the
poor fellow’s misfortune, allowed him 251.

* Phil. Tran. xix. p. 741.

THE COCK-CHAFER, 237

Mouffet informs us that, inthe month of February,
1574, there were such multitudes of them in the
western parts of England, that those which fell inte
the river Severn completely clogged the water-
wheels of the mills *.

The rooks and gulls devour immense numbers of
the grubs of this destructive insect, by which they
render a most essential service to mankind, and
great care ought to be taken to cherish and protect
them. The sole employment of rooks, for nearly
three months in the spring of the year, is to search
for insects of this sort for food, and the havoc that a
numerous flock makes among them must be very
great.

A cautious observer, having found a nest of five
young jays, remarked that each of these birds,
while yet very young, consumed at least fifteen of
these full-sized grubs in a day ; and averaging their
sizes, it may be said that they each consumed
twenty: this for the five makes a hundred: and, if
we suppose the two parents to devour between
them the same number, it appears that the whole
family consumed about two hundred every day.
This in three months amounts to twenty thousand.
But as the grub continues in the same state for four
years, this single pair, with their family alone, with-
out reckoning their descendants after the first year,
would destroy as many as eighty thousand grubs.
Now, supposing that forty thousand of these may
be females, and that each female lays, as is the case.

* Phil. Tran. 9), xliv.

238 THE COCK-CHAFER,

about two hundred eggs, it will appear that no less
than eight millions of grubs have been destroyed, or
at least prevented from being hatched by this single
family of jays.

It is true that in these labours of the rooks, jays,
and some other birds, they sometimes do mischief
to man ; yet there can be little doubt that the da-
mage they thus commit is amply repaid by the be-
nefit that results from these their unceasing exer-
tions.

Some farmers plough the ground in order to ex-
pose the grubs to the birds; and others take the
pains to dig deeper wherever the rooks point them
out by their attempts to reach them.—When the
insects are in their winged state, to shake the trees
at noon, when they are all either asleep or in a state
of inactive stupor, and gather or sweep them up
from the ground, seems the most eligible method.
One person has been known to kill in a day, by this
method, above a thousand ; by which, though in so
short a space of time, at a fair calculation, he pre-
vented no fewer than a hundred thousand eggs from
being laid.

The dead bodies of these insects afford a very ac-
ceptable food to ducks, turkies, and other poultry.
Swine, as I have before observed, will likewise gree-
dily devour them, particularly when bruised and
mixed with their other food * ; and cats catch and
eat them with great avidity.

* Tt is, however, said that, when swine have once been fully satiated
with them, they never care for them afterwards.

THE ROSE-CHAFER. 239

A person near Blois, in France, employed in the
year 1785 a number of children and poor persons to
destroy the Cock-chafers, at the rate of two liards a
hundred. In a few days fourteen thousand were
brought to him. ‘Thus, for the moderate sum of
about seven shillings and eightpence sterling, he de-
stroyed, according to his calculation, near a zillion
and a half of the grubs ; which, had they been al-
lowed to be hatched, might, in the course of four
years, have done damage to the amount of many
thousand pounds *.

THE ROSE-CHAFER f.

There are scarcely any of the English Chafers
more beautiful than this. The upper parts of the
female are of a shining green colour, varying ac=
cording to the light in which it is held, and marked
transversely on the wing cases with a few short
white or yellowish lines. ‘The male is of a burnished
copper colour with a greenish cast. These insects
are somewhat more than an inch in length. They
are to be found on flowers, particularly on those of
the rose and peony ; and sometimes in ant’s nests.

The grubs that produce this beetle feed under-
ground, most commonly at the roots of trees,
and never appear on the surface unless disturbed by
digging, or some other accident. They are thought

* Anderson’s Recreations of Agriculture, ili. 420.
+ SYNONYMS.—Scarabzus auratus. Linn.—Cetoniaaurata. Fabri-

cius. Rose May Chafer, Green Beetle, and Brass Beetle, in some pasts
of England.

240 THE ROSE-CHAFER:

to be injurious to the gardener from their devouring
the roots of his plants and trees. The female depo-
sits her eggs in the middle of June. For this pur-
pose she burrows into soft light ground, hoNowing
out and forming for them a proper receptacle.
When the operation is over she returns to the sur-
face, and flies off, but seldom lives more than two
months afterwards. The grubs are produced in
about fourteen days, and immediately seek out for
food, which the parent always takes care to have
near the place where she Jays her eggs. As soon as
they have attained sufficient strength, the young
grubs separate, each burrowing a different way in
search of roots. They remain four years in this state,
annually changing their skin till they become of full
growth, when they are of a cream colour, with
brown head and feet. During winter they eat but -
little, if at all, and retire so. deep into the ground as
to avoid the effects of the frost.

About the month of March, at the end of the
fourth year, the grub forms a case of earth, about the
size of a walnut, somewhere near the surface, within
which it changes into a chrysalis. In this state it re-
mains till the beginning of May, when it bursts out
a perfect Chafer. Thisis at first of a light green co-
lour, and very tender; but it soon acquires its pro-
per hardness and strength.

When the insect is touched it emits a-fetid mois-
ture. This is, no doubt, a mode of defence against
the attacks of its enemies *,

* Harris’s Aurelian, 37.

[ale

THE BURYING BEETLE*

This insect is an inhabitant of the deserts of Tar-
tary, and several other parts of the continent, where
it is generally found under carcases that are dried
in the sun. Its shells are of an opake black colour,
striated, punctured, and somewhat rough.

The best account that I have met with of the
manners of thisinteresting insect, is from M. Gleditch,
a well known writer on natural history. ‘This gen-
tleman had, at different times, observed that moles
which had been left upon the ground after they had
been. killed, very unaccountably disappeared. He
therefore was determined to ascertain by experi-
ment, if possible, what could be the cause of this
singular occurrence.

On the twenty-fifth of May, he accordingly ob-
tained a dead mole, which he placed on the moist
soft earth of his garden, and in two days he found it
sunk to the depth of four fingers’ breadth into the
earth: it was in the same position in which he had
placed it, and its grave corresponded exactly with
the length and breadth of its body. The day follow-
ing, this grave was half filled up ; and he drew out
the mole cautiously, which exhaled a_ horrible
stench, and found, directly under it, little holes in
which were four beetles of the present species. Dis-
covering at this time nothing but these beetles, he

S¥NONYMS.—Scarabdus morticini. Linn. Gmel.—Scarabdus si!
phoides? Pallas Ic, ins. Ross.i. p.11. t. A. fig. 11.

VOL. Ill. R

242 THE BURYING BEETLE.

put them into the hollow, and they quickly hid
themselves among the earth. He then replaced the
mole as he found it, and having spread a little soft
earth over it, left it without looking at it again for
the space of six days. On the twelfth of June he
again took up the same carcase, which he found in
the highest state of corruption, swarming with small,
thick, whitish worms, that appeared to be the family
of the beetles. These circumstances induced him
to suppose that it was the beetles that had thus bu-
ried the mole, and that they had done this for the
sake of lodging in it their offspring.

Mr. G. then took a glass cucurbit, and half filled
it with moist earth ; into this he put the four beetles
with their young, and they immediately concealed
themselves. This cucurbit, covered with a cloth,
was placed on the open ground, and in the course
of fifty days the four beetles interred the bodies of
four frogs, three small birds, two grasshoppers, and
one mole, besides the entrails of a fish, and two smali
pieces of the Jungs of an ox.

Of the mode in which they performed this very
singular operation, the following isan account: A
Jinnet that had been dead six hours was placed in
the middle of the. cucurbit ; in a few moments the
beetles quitted their holes, and traversed the body.
After a few hours, one pair of the beetles only was
seen about the bird, the largest of which was sus-
pected to be the female. They began their work
by hollowihg out the earth from under the bird.
They arranged a cavity the size of the bird, by
pushing all around the body the earth which they

THE BURYING BEETLE. 243

removed. To succeed in these efforts, they leaned
themselves strongly upon their collars, and, bend-
ing down their heads, forced out the earth around
the bird like a kind of rampart. The work being
finished, and the bird having fallen into the hollow,
they covered it, and thus closed the graye.

It appeared as if the bird moved alternately its
head, its tail, its wings, or feet. Every time that
any of these movements were observed, the efforts
that the beetles made to draw the body into the
grave, which was now nearly completed, might be
remarked: in effecting this, they jointly drew it by
its feathers below. This operation lasted full two
hours, when the smallest or male beetle drove away
the female from the grave, and would not allow her
to return, forcing her to enter the hole as often as
she attempted to come out of it.

This beetle continued the work alone for at least
five hours; and it was truly astonishing to observe
the great quantity of earth that he removed in that
time: but the surprise of Mr. G. was much aug-
mented when he saw the little animal stiffening its
collar, and exerting all its strength, lift up the bird,
make it change its place, turn, and, in some mea-
sure, arrange it in the grave that it had prepared;
which was so spacious, and so far cleared, that he

-could perceive exactly under the bird all the move-
ments and all the actions of the beetle.

From time to time the beetle, coming out of its
hole, mounted upon the bird, and appeared to tread

it down ; then, returning to the charge, it drew the
K 2

244 THE BURYING BEETLE.

bird more and more into the earth, till it was sunk
to a considerable depth. The beetle, in conse-
quence of this uninterrupted labour, appeared to
be tired: leaning its head upon the earth, it con-
tinued in that position near an hour, without mo-
tion; and it then retired completely under ground.

Early in the morning the body was drawn entirely
under ground, to the depth of two fingers breadth,
in the same position that it had when laid on the
earth; so that this little corpse seemed as if it were
laid out ona bier, with a small mount or rampart all
round for the purpose of covering it. In the even-
ing the bird was sunk about half a finger’s breadth
deeper in the earth; and the operation was con-
tinued for near two days more, when the work ob-
tained its final completion.

A single beetle was put into the glass cucurbit
with the body of a mole, and covered as before,
with a fine linen cloth. About seven o’clock in the
morning, the bettle had drawn the head of the mole
below; and, in pushing the earth backward, had
formed a tolerably high rampart around it. The
interment was completed in this instance by four
o’clock in the afternoon, a space of time so short
that one could scarcely have imagined possible by
so small a creature, without any assistance, consider-
tag that the body of the mole must have exceeded
it in bulk and weight at least thirty times.

_ While engaged in these experiments, a friend who
wished to dry a toad in the shade, fixed it toa stick
which he stuck into the ground. When it began te

THE PILL CHAFER. 245

putrefy, the beetles, allured by the smell, having
loosened the end of the stick that was fixed in
the earth, brought it to the ground, and they then
interred both the toad and the stick,

The interment of these animals, which generally
takes place from about the middle of April to the
end of October, has been sufficiently proved to be,
not merely for food, but, as a proper nidus for the
eggs of the insects, and to nourish the young
family of grubs that proceeds from them. — If. they
wanted them for food only, they would no doubt
consume them above ground ; but in the continua-
tion of the species it is necessary to have them be-
low, since otherwise foxes, ravens, kites, and other
carnivorous animals, would seize on the bodies, and
along with them would swallow the grubs of the
beetles, and the whole species might thus be under
the risk of extirpation.

THE, PILL. CHAFER*™.

The Pill Chafer is somewhat more than an inch
in length, and of a dusky black colour, sometimes
with a greenish hue above, and underneath of a very
brilliant blue or green. The wing cases and thorax
are very smooth ; the former marked with several
longitudinal streaks, and the latter round, and mar.
gined, having a slight groove in the middle.

It is found both in Kurope and America, and in

* SYNONYMS.—Scarabxus pilularius. Ziva.—Ateuchus pilularius+
Fabricius.—Tumble-dung Beetle.. Brickell.

R 3

246 THE PILL CHAFER.

its manners is one of the most remarkable of the
beetle tribe. It comes forth in April, and is to be
seen till about September, when it disappears. Its
almost constant employment, in which indeed it is
indefaticable, 1s in the different operations neces-
sary to continue its species. It provides a proper
nidus for its eggs by forming round pellets of
dung, in the middle of each of which it deposits an
ege. These, in September, the insects convey
to the depth of about three feet into the ground,
Here they remain till the approach of spring, when
the grubs burst their shell, and find their way to the
surface of the earth.

“« | have attentively admired their industry, and
mutual assisting of each other (says Catesby) in rol- »
ling these globular balls from the place where they
made them to that of their interment, which is usu-
ally the distance of some yards, more or Jess. _ This
they perform breech foremost, by raising their hind
parts, and forcing along the ball with their hind feet.
‘Two or three of them are sometimes engaged in
trundling one ball, which, from meeting with impe-
diments, on account of the unevenness of the ground,
is sometimes deserted by them. It is, however, at-
tempted by others with success, unless it happen to
roll into some deep hollow or chink, where they are
constrained to leave it; but they continue their work
by rolling off the next ball that comes in their way.
None of them seem to know their own balls, but
an equal care for the whole appears to effect all the
community. They form these pellets while the dung
remains moist, and leave them to harden in the sun

THE PILL CHAFER. 247

before they attempt to roll them. In their moving
of them from place to place, both they and the bal!!s
may frequently be seen tumbling about over the lit-
tle eminences that are in their way. They are not,
however, easily discouraged ; and, by repeating their
attempts, usually surmount the difhculties.”

Catesby says also that “they find out their sub-
sistence by the excellency of their moses,” which
direct them in their flight to newly fallen dung, on
which they immediately go to work, tempering it
with a proper mixture of earth. So intent are they
always upon their employment that, though hand-
Jed or otherwise interrupted, they are not to be de-
terred, but immediately, on being freed, persist in
their work without any apprehension of danger *.

They are said to be so exceedingly strong and
active as to move about, with the greatest ease,
things that are many times their own weight. Dr.
Brickell was supping one evening in a planter’s
house of North Carolina, when two of them were
conveyed, without his knowledge, under the candle-
sticks. A few blows were struck on the table,
and to his great surprise the candlesticks began to
move about, apparently without any agency; and
his surprise was not much lessened when, on taking
one of them up, he discovered that it was only a
chafer that moved f.

Professor Thunberg and Mr. Browne both men-
tion the operations of a species of chafer in the dif-

is Catesby, Appendix, 11. + Brickell 161.

R 4

248 THE DEATH-WATCH PTINUS.

ferent parts of Africa that they visited, which agree
in every respect with those of the present species.
We have also one in our own country, Scarabcus
lJunaris, whose manners are very nearly the same.
Aristophanes, in his Eypyyy, has introduced one
of the Dung-Chafers, on which a character in the
play mounts up to Jupiter, to petition for peace.

THE PTINI.

THeEsE insects have antenne that are nearly of an
equal thickness throughout; the last joints, however,
in most of the species are somewhat larger than
the rest. The thorax is nearly round, unmargined,
and contains the head.

Their Jarve are found in the trunks of decayed
trees; among hay, dried leaves, &c. and in collec-
tions of dried plants those of one of the species are
sometimes known to do great mischief. A few of
them inhabit different species of fungi.

THE DEATH-WATCH PTINUs™*,

The Death-watch is a dusky and somewhat hairy
Insect, with irregular brownish spots, about a quar-
ter of an inch in length. Notwithstanding its small-
ness, this creature is often the cause of serious alarm

* SyNoNYMS.—Ptinus tesselatus.—Lin2.— —Anobium tesselatum.
Fabricius. Ptinus fatidicus. Shaw's Nat. Mis.

THE DEATH-WATCH PTINUS. 249

among the lower class of people, from the noise
that it makes, at a certain time of the year, re-
sembling the ticking of a watch. From this it has
its name, for, whenever this faculty is exerted, it
is esteemed portentive of death to some one of the
family in the house where it is heard. ‘The philo-
sopher and the naturalist may smile at a superstition
thus absurd; yet Sir Thomas Brown has remarked,
with great earnestness, that the man ‘ who could
eradicate this error from the minds of the people,
would save from many a cold sweat the meticulous
heads of nurses and grand-mothers *.”

The wether’s bell
Before the drooping flock told forth her knell,»
The solemn Death-watch click’d the hour she died.

It is chiefly in the advanced state of spring that
these insects commence their noise, which is no
more than a call or signal by which they are mu-
tually attracted to each other ; and it may be con-
sidered as analogous to the call of birds. This
noise does not arise from the voice, but from the
insects beating on any hard substance with the shield
or forepart of the head. The general number of
successive distinct strokes is from seven to nine, or
eleven, These are given in pretty quick succes-
sion, and are repeated at uncertain intervals; and
in old houses, where the insects are numerous,-.
they may be heard, if the weather be warm, almost

TR pata ao oe Ee Lee Le Ce eS

* Vulgar Errors.

250 THE DEATH-WATCH PTINUS.

every hour in the day. The noise exactly resembles
that made by beating with the nail on a table*.

The insect being difficult to discover, from its ob-
scure greyish brown colour, nearly resembling that
of decayed wood, it is not always easy to say from
what exact spot the sound proceeds. Mr. Stack-
house observed carefully the manner of its beating.
He says the insect raises itself on its hinder legs,
and, with the body somewhat inclined, beats its
head with great force and agility against the place on
which it stands. One of them, on a sedge-bottomed
chair, exerted so much force that its strokes were
impressed and visible in the exterior coat of the
sedge, for a space equal to that of a silver penny.
Mr, S. took this insect and putit into a box. On
the following day he opened the box, and set it in
the sun. It seemed very brisk, and crept about
with great activity on the bits of sedge and rotten
wood, till at last, getting to the end of the pieces, it
extended its wings, and was about to take leave ;
he shut down the lid, when it withdrew them and
remained quiet. He kept it by him about a fort-
night ft.

The idea of taming this little animal may appear
absurd: it has, however, been so much familiarized
as to be made to beat occasionally, by taking tt out
of its confinement, and beating with the nail or the
point ofa pen ona table or board. It will answer

* Shaw’s Nat. Mis. iii. 804.
+ Phil. Tran. vol. xxxili. p. 159.

THE WEEVIL TRIBE, 251

the beats very readily, and will even continue to re-
peat its efforts as long as it is required.

Dr. Derham kept a male and female together in
a box for about three weeks; and, by imitating
their noise, he made them beat whenever he pleased.
At the end of this time one of them died, soon af-
ter which the other gnawed its way out and
escaped *.

This insect, which is the real Death-watch of the

fs vulgar, emphatically so called, must not be con-

founded with a wingless insect, not much-unlike a
louse, that makes a ticking noise like a watch, but,
instead of beating at intervals, continues its noise
for a considerable length of time without intermis-
sion. The latter belongs to a tribe very different
from this; it is the Termes Pulsatorium of Linnzus,
and will be described in its proper place in the pre-
sent work.

THE WEEVIL TRIBE.

The Jarve of the Weevils have, like those of the
other coleopterous insects, six legs and a scaly
head. They bear a resemblance to oblong soft
worms. Some of them infest granaries, where,
from their numbers and voracity, they often commit
great ravages among the corn: some live in fruits,

* Phil. Tyan. vol. xxii. p. $32.—See also a paper of Mr. Allen, in
vol. 20. p. 376.

be THE CORN WEEVIL.

the insides of artichokes, thistles, and other plants ;
and others devour the leaves of trees and vegetables.

The perfect insects have clavate antenna, seated
on the snout, which is horny and prominent. They
have also four thread-shaped feelers.

One division of the Weevils feed on trees and
shrubs, inserting their beak into the tender branches,
and by this means extracting their juices. The
Curculis alliarue has been observed with its beak
plunged into the twig of a crab-tree, as far as the
place from whence the antennz arise. Another
division feed solely on plants. Others live on grain,
wood, and on some of the species of fungi; and a
few under the surface of the earth.

THE CORN WEEVIL*

Is well known to most farmers from the devasta-
tions that it often makes in their granaries. It is of
a black-brown-colour,-and scarcely: more than a
tenth of aninch in length. Its snout is long and
small; and the thorax is punctured, and nearly as
long as the abdomen.

The parent insect lays its eggs in grains of corn,
probably onein each grain. Here the larve, on being
hatched, continue for some time to live, and it is
very difficult to discover them, as they lie concealed
within. hey increase their size, and with it their
dwelling, at the expense of the interior or farinace-

* SYNONYMS.
Fabricius.

Curculio granarius, Lizna.—Calendra granaria.

Weevil in many parts of the country.

THE CORN WEBVIL. 1 Sq

aa

ous parts of the grain on which they feed. Corn-
lofts are often laid waste by these grubs, whose
numbers are sometimes so great as to devour nearly
the whole of their contents. When the grub has
attained its full size, it still remains within the grain,
hidden under the empty husk. There, being trans-
formed, it becomes a chrysalis; and, when it has
attained its perfect state, it forces its way out.

It is no easy matter to discover by the eye even
the grains that are thus attacked, for in exterior ap-
pearance they are still large and full. If, however,
they are thrown into water, their lightness soon de-
-tects them. x

To rid a granary of these destructive insects,
it has been recommended to farmers to spread their
corn in the sun, when they will creep out of their
holes; and, by often stirring the corn while in this
situation, it is supposed they may be completely ex-
pelled. It is also said that they may be destroyed
by strewing boughs of elder, or branches of hen-
bane among the corn. In a late Paris paper, a
gentleman says that, about the month of June,
when his granaries and barns, that had been much

infested by Weevils, were all empty, he caused a
number of the hills of the large ants to be collected
in bags, and placed in different parts about them.
The ants immediately attacked the Weevils that
were on the walls and other parts, and destroyed
them so completely that, in a very short time, not a
single one was to be seen; and since that period,
he says, they have never appeared on his premises.

[ < 2ppag

THE NUT WEEVIL *.

[his insect is produced from the white grub that
we often find living in the interior of the hazel nut.
The history of its changes and growth is singular and
interesting ; and exhibits a striking instance of the
eare that has been taken to promote the comfort
and convenience of even these diminitive tribes.

The caterpillar or grub proceeds from a very
small brown egg that the parent deposits in the out-
side of the nut, at a time when it is very soft and
tender. When the heat of the season has perfected
the little grub, it eats its way out of the egg, and
through the shell into the nut, without in the least
injuring the external appearance of the nut. His
chief food now is the coat of the nut, or that part
which afterwards hardens into the shell; and he
continues to feed on this, and the interior pulp,
till such time as the one becomes too hard, and
the other too dry for his sustenance. He then be-
gins on the kernel, which is now grown so large
as to afford him support: and it is to be remarked
that this seems a most providencial instinct, for had
he commenced his attacks on the kernel when it
was small, he would have destroyed that on which
all his future welfare depended, and that which
is the principal food allotted to him by nature
while in a larva state. While feeding, he con-
stantly attends to the hole by which he entered,

* Syxnonyms.——Curculio nucum. Linz.———Phynchdnus nucunt.
Nut Beetle. Harris.

Fabricius.

“~HE CAPRICORN BEETLES. a

gnawing away the sides, so as to make them very
round and smooth ; for this not only allows him suf+
ficient air, and a place through which he can expel
the particles of his dung, but it is also the passage
through which, when he is full fed, and ready to un-
dergo his change, he makes his way out. About the
month of September, or perhaps somewhat later,
the nut becomes ripe and falls to the ground. At
this time he is generally prepared for the change,
and works himself through the hole, which he is
some time in doing, as it is much less in circum-
ference than his body. He then buries himself in
the earth, and, shortly after, changes into a chrysa-
lis, in which state he remains till the following
spring, and about the beginning of May assumes
his beetle form.

In this state the insect is about a quarter of an
inch in length, and of a grey-brown colour. The
body is somewhat of an oval shape, having the pos-
terior extremity not rounded off, but ending in a
point. The beak, or rostrum, is red; and as long as
the body.

THE CAPRICORN BEETLES.

THE insects of the present tribe are among the
most beautiful*that are produced, Their antenne
are frequently longer than the body. Many of the
species diffuse a strong, but scldom an unpleasant

a

5

256 THE TIMBER CAPRICORN.

smell, perceptible at a great distance; and some of
them, when seized, emit a sort of cry produced by
the friction of the thorax on the upper part of the
abdomen and wing-cases.

The antenne are tapering and articulated. The
thorax has several prominences ; and the wing-cases
are long and narrow. ‘To the mouth there ase four
palpi, or feelers. |

Their Jarve are found in the inner parts of trees,
through which they bore, feeding on and pulveri-
zing the substance of the wood- They are trans-
‘formed into perfect insects in the cavities they thus
make, and never issue from their retreats till they
have attained their perfect state.

THE TIMBER CAPRICORN*,

The body of this insect is of a dark violet, some-
what hairy and punctured. The thorax is rounded
and downy; and the antenna are nearly as long
as the body. The wing cases are narrow, rounded
at the tip, and bulging towards the base. The head
and thorax are sometimes greenish. The body is
from four lines and a half to seven anda half in
length.

This insect, both in a perfect and larva state,
feeds principally on fir timber which has been felled
some time, without having had the bark stripped off;
but it is often found on other wood. ‘Though now

————— —~

* SynonymMs.—Cerambyx violaceus. Lixa.——Callidium viola-
ceum. Fabricius.

THE TIMBER CAPRICORN. 255

too common in this kingdom, it is supposed not to
have been originally a native.

The circumstance of this destructive little animal
attacking only such timber as has not been stripped of
its bark, ought to be attended to by all persons who
have any concern in this article ; for the bark is a
temptation not only to this but to various other in-
sects ; and much of the injury done in timber might
be prevented, if the trees were all barked as soon as
they were felled,

The female is furnished at the posterior extremity
of her body with a flat retractile tube. This she
jnserts between the bark and the wood, to the
depth of about a quarter of an inch, and there de-
posits a single egg.

By stripping off the bark, it is easy to trace the
whole progress of the larva, from the spot where it
is hatched to that where it attains its full size. It
first proceeds in a serpentine direction, filling the
space which it leaves with its excrement, resem-
bling saw-dust, and so stopping all ingress to ene-
mies from without. When it has arrived at its ut-
most dimensions, it does not confine itself to one di-
rection, but works in a kind of labyrinth, eating
backwards and forwards, which gives the wood un-
der the bark a very irregular surface : by this means
its paths are rendered of considerable width. The
bed of its paths exhibits, when closely examined, a
curious appearance, occasioned by the erosions of
its jaws, which excavate an infinity of little ramified
canals. When the insect is about to assume its
chrysalis state, it bores down obliquely into the

VOL. 311. <a

258 THE TIMBER CAPRICORN.

solid wood, to the depth sometimes of three inches,
and seldom if ever less than two. These holes are
nearly semi-cylindrical, expressing exactly the form
of the grub. .

At first sight, one would wonder how so small and
seemingly so weak an animal could have strength
to excavate so deep a mine; but when we ex-
amine its jaws our wonder ceases: these are large,
thick, and solid sections of a cone divided longi-
tudinally, which, in the act of mastication, apply to
each other the whole of their interior plane surface,
so that they grind the insect’s food like a pair of
millstones.

Some of the larve are hatched in October; and
it is supposed that about the beginning of March
they assume their chrysalis state. At the place in
the bark, opposite to the hole from whence they
descended into the wood, the perfect insects gnaw
their way out, which generally takes place betwixt
the middle of May and the middle of June.

These insects are supposed to fly only in the
night, but during the day they may generally be
found resting on the wood from whence they were
disclosed.

The larve are destitute of feet, pale, folded, some-
what hairy, convex above, and divided into thirteen
segments. ‘Their head is large and convex *.

* Kirby in Linn, Tran, v. 246. tab. 12.

[299% J

THE FIRE-FLIES.

THE antennz are thread-shaped. The thorax is
plain, somewhat orbicular, and conceals the head.
The segments of the abdomen terminate in folded
papilla. |

The female in most of the species is destitute of
wings; and the larve, which feed chiefly on leaves,
perfectly resemble her in appearance.

THE GLOW-WORM *.,

The male Glow-worm is smaller than the female :
their heads are of the same shape, and equally con-
cealed by the plate of the thorax. The principal
difference between the sexes is that the abdomen of
the male is covered with brown wing-cases, sha-
greened, and marked longitudinally with two lines:
these are longer than the abdomen. The female is
wingless.

Each sex is luminous, but in the male the light is
less brilliant, and confined to four points, two of
which are situated on each of the two last rings of
the abdomen. Among the crooked lanes, in every
hedge, the Glow-worm lights his gem, and, through
the dark, a moving radiance twinkles.

Glow-worms are frequently met with towards
eyening in the month of June, in woods and mea~

* Lampyris noctiluca. Lian,

$2

260 THE GEOW-WORM.

dows, and the bottoms of hedges. The utility of the
bright light of the females is supposed to consist in
attracting the attention of the males during the
dark, when, alone, they are able to render them-
selves conspicuous. They always become much
more lucid when they put themselves in motion.
This would seem to indicate that their light is ow-
ing to their respiration ; in which process,,it is pro-
bable, phosphoric acid is produced by the combina-
tion of oxygen gas with some part of the blood, and
that a light is given out through their transparent
bodies by this slow internal combustion. By con-
tracting themselves, the insects have a power of en-
tirely withdrawing it: when they are at rest very
little light is to be seen. Mr. Templer, who made
many observations on these insects, says that he ne-
ver saw a Glow-worm exhibit its light at all, with-
out some sensible motion either in its body or legs.
This gentlemen, when the light was most brilliant,
fancied it emitted a sensible heat *.

If the insect is crushed, and the hands or face are
rubbed with it, they contract a Juminous appearance
similar to that produced from phosphorus. When a
Glow-worm is put into 2 phial, and the phial is im-
mersed in water, a very beautiful irradiation will be
found to take place.

* Phil. Tran. vol. 6.

E2688 7

THE GROUND BEETLES.

THESE insects are very active and voracious,
devouring the larve of the other tribes, and in-
deed all the smaller animals they can overcome.
Their larvae are found under ground, or in decayed
wood. i

The antennz are thread-shaped ; and the feelers
mostly six, the last joint of each of which is obtuse.
The thorax is flat, and both this and the shells are
margined.

THE BOMBARDIER *.

This insect keeps itself concealed among stones,
and seems to make little use of its wings. When it
moves it is by a sort of jump; and, when it is
touched, we are surprised with a noise resembling
the discharge of a musket in miniature, during
which a blue smoke may be perceived to proceed
from itsextremity. The insect may at any time be
made to play off its artillery by scratching its back
with a needle. If we may believe Rolander, who
first made these observations, it can give twenty
discharges successively. A bladder, placed near
its posterior extremity, is the arsenal that contains
its store. This is its chief defence against its
enemies; and the vapour or liquid that proceeds
from it is of so pungent a nature that, if it happens
to be discharged into the eyes, it makes them smart

—

* Carabbus crepitans. Linx,

S 3

262 THE EAR-WIGS,

as though brandy had been thrown into them. The
principal enemy of the Bombardier is another insect
of the same tribe, but three or four times its size.
When pursued and fatigued, the Bombardier has re-
course to this stratagem: he lies down in the path
of his enemy, who advances with open mouth ta
seize him; but, on the discharge of the artillery, this
suddenly draws back, and remains for a while con-
fused, during which the Bombardier conceals him-
self in some neighbouring crevice; but, if not lucky
enough to find one, the other returns to the attack,
takes the insect by the head, and tears it off.

The head, antenne, thorax, and feet, are of a
brownish red colour. The eyes are black, and the
abdomen and wing-cases blue, bordering on black :
the latter are marked with broad but shallow striz.
This insect is sometimes found in England.

THE EARWIGS.

IN this tribe the antenne are bristle-shaped ;
and the feelers unequal and thread-shaped. The
wing-cases are half the length of the abdomen, and
have the wings folded up under them, somewhat in
the manner of a fan. The tail is armed with a for-
ceps.

The Earwigs undergo only a semi-metamorpho-
sis, differing in external appearance very little in
the three states.

[ 26gna)

THE COMMON EARWIG *

is a well-known insect, and easily distinguishable
from all the beetles by the forceps or pincers at the
end of its tail. It is produced from an egg, and the -
larva differs very litile in its external appearance
from the complete insect, except that it has neither
wings nor elytra, and that the breast and thorax are
not distinguishable. In this state it is a very lively
little animal, running about with great agility, even
from the instant it leaves the egg. On its metamor-
phosis to a perfect insect, a part of its body bursts
behind, and gives full play to the wings,

It may not perhaps be known, to the generality
of observers, that the Earwig is possessed of wings
which are both large and elegant, and that one of
these, when extended, will nearly cover the whole
insect. The elytra, or wing-cases, are short, and ex-
tend not along the whole body but only over the
breast. The wings are concealed bencath these ;
they are somewhat of an oval shape, and, when ex-
tended, are nine or ten times as large as the elytra.
There is a great degree of elegance in the manner in
which the insect folds them beneath. They are first
closed up lengthways from a centre close to the
body, like a fan, and afterwards refolded across in
two different places, one about the middle of the
membrane, and the other at the centre, from

* SYNONYMS.—Forficula auricularia. Lizme—T witch, or Twitch-
ball, in some parts of the north of England, —

54

264 ' THE COMMON EARWIG.

whence the first folds proceeded. By this means the
- wing is reduced into a small compass, and propor-
tioned to the size of the case under which it js to lie.

It isa circumstance extremely singular that, un-
like’those of most others of the insect tribe, the
eggs are hatched, and the young earwigs fostered
by the parent. At the beginning of the month of
June, M. de Geer found under a stone.a female
Earwig, accompanied by many little insects, which
evidently appeared to be her own young. They con-
tinued close to her, and often placed themselves un-
der her belly as chickens do under a hen. He put
the whole into a box of fresh earth: they did not
enter the earth, but it was pleasing to observe how
they thrust themselves under the belly, and between
the legs of the mother, who remained very quiet,
and suffered them to continue there sometimes for
an hour or two together. To feed them, this gen-
tleman gave them a piece of a very ripe apple; in
an instant the old one ran uponit, and ate with a
good appetite ; the young ones also seemed to eat
a little, but apparently with much less relish. On
the eighth of June he remarked that the young
KEarwigs had changed their skins, and he found
also the sloughs that they had quitted. This moult-
ing produced only a slight change in their figure,
yet it evidently brought them nearer to the perfect
insect.

At another time, about the beginning of April, he
found a female Earwig under some stones, placed
over a heap of eggs, of which she took all the care
imaginable without ever forsaking them. He took

THE COMMON EARWIG. 265

both the female and her eggs, placed her in a box
half filled with fresh earth, and dispersed the eggs
up and down init. She, however, soon removed
them, one after another, carrying them between her
jaws, and, at the end of afew days, he saw that she
had collected them all into one place upon the sur-
face of the earth, and remained constantly on the
heap, without quitting it for a moment, so that she
seemed truly to sit for the purpose of hatching her
eggs. ‘The young were produced about the thir-
teenth of May: in figure they were similar to those
before mentioned, but at their birth they were all
white except towards the tail, where a yellow mat-
ter was observable through the skin, and the eyes
and teeth, which were reddish. He kept them in
the box with their mother, feeding them from time
to time with bits of apple, and saw them grow
every day, and change their skins more than once.
_ The mother died, and her progeny devoured nearly
the whole of her body. The little ones that died
underwent also the same fate: M.de Geer, how-
ever, conjectures that this took place only from
want of other food, as he had neglected to supply
them regularly with nutriment On the twenty-
third of July one only remained alive ; it was full
grown, and then in the nymph or pupa state.

This insect, though in its nature extremely harm-
less, except in our gardens to our fruits and vegeta-
bles, has fallen, in a very particular manner, a victim
to human cruelty and caprice, originating in the
idea that it introduces itself into the ears, and from
thence penetrates to the brain, and occasions death.

266 THE COMMON EARWIG, r

I must be permitted to express a wish that females,
whe but too commonly Jay aside all ideas of tender-
ness at the very sight of it, would be convinced that
the wax and membranes of the ears are a sufficient
defence against all its pretended attacks upon this
organ. :

Our gardeners have, it is true, some reom for
complaint. It lives among flowers, and frequently
destroys them ; and, when fruit has been wounded
by flies, the Earwigs also generally come in for a
share. In the night they may often be seen in ama-
zing numbers upon lettuces and other esculent ve-
getables, committing those depredations that are of-
ten ascribed to snails or slugs. The best mode,
therefore, of destroying them seems to be to attend
the garden now and then in the night, and to seize
them while they are feeding.

The bowl of a tebacco-pipe, and. the claws of
Jobsters stuck upon sticks that support flowers, are
the usual methods-by which they are caught, as, in
the day-time, they creep into holes and dark places.
Placing hollow reeds behind the twigs of wall-trees
is also a good mode, if they be examined and cleared
every morning. But at a midnight visit more may
be done in an hour than by any of the other means
ina week,

[ 2670]
ee”

THE MANTIS TRIBE *,

THE insects composing the present tribe have, in
general, at a little distance, so much the appearance
of leaves of trees that, in countries where they are
very common, travellers have been struck with the
singular phenomenon of what seemed to them ant-
mated vegetable substances. Their most prevailing
colour is a fine green, but many of the insects be-
come brown after they are dead: some of them are,
however, decorated with a variety of lively hues,
The thorax in most of them is very long and nar-
row, and has the appearance of a footstalk to their
Jarge and rounded abdomen. ‘Their manners also,
in addition to their structure, are very likely to im-
pose on the senses of the uninformed: they often
remain on the trees for hours without motion; then,
suddenly rising, spring into the air, and, when they
settle, again appear lifeless. These seem to be
stratagems to deceive the cautious insects which
they feed upon. Some travellers, who have observed
them have, however, declared that they saw the
leaves of trees become living creatures. Many of
the Indians of South America, who have these in-
sects very common among them, believe that they
grow like the leaves on the trees, and that when

* The Linnean order HEMIPTERA commences here.

265 THE MANTIS TRIBE.

they have arrived at maturity they loosen themselves,
and crawl or fly away.

The Africans consider the whole tribe, according
to some writers, as sacred ; but, according to others,
only as animals of good omen. One of the species
(Mantis fausta) has obtained the name of the Hotten-
tot’s God, and is supposed to be worshipped by this
people. Professor Thunberg could not, however,
observe any reason for this supposition: He says it
is held by them in such esteem that they would not
willingly injure it ; and that they account any per-
son or creature fortunate on whom it alights ; but
all this appeared to him to be done without paying
it any sort of worship *.

None of the species have ever been found in this
country.

The head in the whole tribe is unsteady, and ap-
pears but slightly attached to the thorax. The
mouth is armed with jaws, and has its feelers fili-
form. The wings are four, membranaceous, and
convolute, the under ones plaited. The fore-legs
are compressed, serrated or toothed beneath, and
armed with asingle claw, and a lateral jointed pro-
cess. The four hind legs are smooth, and formed
for walking, and not for leaping, as in the next
tribe.

THE ORATOR MANTIS Tf.

This is a very widely diffused species, being

* Thunberg, ii. 66. + Mantis oratoria, Linn.

THE ORATOR MANTIS. 269

found in Africa and Asia, as well as in all the
warmer parts of Europe. Its thorax is smooth, and
wing-cases of a bright and unspotted green.

The Mantis religiosa is supposed to be merely a
variety of this species, differing from the rest in
having a somewhat keel-shaped thorax. This, how-
ever, seems to be the insect most generally known
of the two. It has its name of over-religious, or su-
perstitious, from its perpetually resting on its hind-
legs, and erecting thé fore-paws close together, with
a quick motion, as if in the action of praying. The
country people, in various parts of the continent, con-
sider it almost as sacred, and would not on any ac-
count injure it. “ Ht is so divine a creature, (says.
the translator of Mouffet) “ that if a child has lost
its way, and enquires of the Mantis, it will point
out the right path with its paw.”” Dr. Smith, how-
ever, informs us, in his Tour on the Continent, that
he received an account of this Mantis that seemed
to savour little of divinity. A gentleman caught a
male and female, and put them together in a glass
vessel. The female, which in this, as in most other
insects, is the largest, after a while devoured first the
head and upper parts of her companion, and after-
wards all the remainder of the body.

The young of this Mantis are preserved in the
egg-state in a kind of oblong bag, of a thick spungy
substance ; this bag is imbricated on the outside, and
fastened lengthwise to the branch of some plant. As
the eggs ripen they are protruded through the thick
substance of the bag, and the larve, which are
about half an inch in length, burst from them.

I

270 THE ORATOR MANTIS.

Roesel, wishing to observe the gradual progress
of these creatures to the winged state, placed the
bag containing the eggs in a large glass, which he
closed, to prevent their escape. From the time they
were first hatched they exhibited marks of a savage
disposition. He put different sorts of plants into
the glass, but they refused them to prey on one
_another. ‘This determined him to supply them
with insect food. He put several ants into the glass
to them, but they then betrayed as much cowardice
as they had before done of barbarity ; for the instant
the Mantes saw the ants they attempted to escape
in every direction. ‘This was evidently an instinctive
fear of a natural enemy. He next gave them some
of the common house-flies, which they seized with
eagerness in their fore-claws, and tore in pieces.
But, notwithstanding their apparent fondness of
flies, they continued to destrov each other through
savage wantonness. Despairing at last, from their
daily decrease, of rearing any to the winged state,
he separated them into small parcels in different
glasses; but here, as before, the sitio of each
community destroyed the rest.

fie afterwards received several pair of Mantes in
the winged state: profiting by his former observa-
tions, he now separated them, a male and a female
together into different glasses, but they still exhibited
signs of a rooted enmity to each other, which neither
age nor sex could soften. The instant they were in
sight of each other they threw up their heads, bran-
dished their fore legs, and each waited an attack.
They did not long remain in this posture, for the

FHE ORATOR MANTfS. - OFF

boldest, throwing open his wings with the velocity
of lightning, rushed at the other, and often tore it
in pieces. Roesel compares the attack of these
creatures to that of two hussars: for they dex-
terously guard and cut with the edge of the fore
claws as those soldiers do with sabres, and some-
times at a stroke one of them cleaves the other
through, or severs its head from the thorax. After
this the conqueror always devours his vanquished
antagonist. |

‘The patience of the Mantis in waiting for -his
prey, is remarkable, and the posture to which super+
stition has attributed devotion is no other than the
means it uses to catch it. When it has fixed its
eyes on an insect, it very rarely loses sight of it,
though it may cost some hours to take it. If it sees
an insect a little beyond its reach, over its head,
it slowly erects its long thorax, by means of the
moveable membranes that connect it to the body;
then, resting on the posterior legs, it gradually
raises the anterior part also. If this brings it near
enough to the insect, it throws open the last joint of
its fore paws, and snaps it between the spines that
are set in rows on the second joint. If it is unsuc-
cessful it does not retract its paws, but holds them
stretched out, and waits again till the insect is within
its reach, when it springs up and seizes it. Should
the insect go far from the spot, it flies or crawls after
it slowly on the ground like a cat ; and, when the
insect stops, erects itself as before.

These Mantes have a small-black pupil or sight,
which moyes in all directions within the parts that

272 THE LOCUST TRIBE..

we usually term the eyes, so that they can see their
prey in any direction, without having occasion to
disturb it by turning their head.

The males die in October, and the females do not
Jong survive them *.

THE DRY-LEAF MANTIs f.

This insect in its shape and colour is so exceed-
ingly remarkable as to have uniformly suggested
the idea of a dry or withered leaf; and the animal,
when its wings are closed, bears so great a resem-
blance to such that, on a cursory view, it might
easily be mistaken for it.

The specimens that are brought to Europe are
generally of a yellowish brown colour. The wings,
when closed, form the oval body of the leaf, and the
narrow thorax and head resemble the stalk. It is a
native of India {.

THE LOCUST TRIBE.

THE insects of this tribe feed chiefly on vege-
table substances. The /arve and chrysalids very
much resembie the present insects ; they have six

* Donovan’s Chinese Insects.—Roesel Insecten Belustigung.
+ Mantis siccifolia. Linas
ft Shaw’s Nat, Mis, iv. t. 119.

THE MOLE CRICKET. 273

legs, are voracious and active, and reside princi-
pally in the ground.

Their heads are inflected, and armed with j jaws
that are furnished with filiform palpi, or feelers. The
antenne in some species are taper, in others thread-
shaped. The wings are four, deflected and con-
volute ; the lower ones plaited.. The hind legs are
formed for leaping; and on each of the feet are
two claws.

THE MOLE CRICKET*.

This little creature is a complete representative
of the mole, among the insect tribes. Its fore-feet
are broad, and strong; and in their formation and
position bear a great resemblance to the fore-feet
of that animal. They are used for precisely the
same purpose of burrowing under the surface of the
ground, where the insect commonly resides; and
so expertly does it use them that it can penetrate
the earth with even greater expedition than the
mole.

The female forms a cell of clammy earth, about
the size of a hen’s egg, closed up on every side, and
within as large as two hazel nuts. The eggs,
‘amounting to nearly a hundred and fifty, are white,
and about the size of caraway comfits: they are
carefully covered, as well to defend them from the

* SyonyMs.—Gryllus Gryllo-talpa Lina.——Acheta gryllotalpa.
Fabricius.—Fen Cricket? Chur-worm, Eve-churr, in different
parts of the kingdom,

VOL. 1ITI, T

274 THE MOLE CRICKET.

injuries of the weather as from the attacks of one of
the species of black beetles, which often destroysthem.
The female places herself near the entrance of the
nest, and, whenever the beetle attempts to seize its
prey, the guardian insect catches it behind, and bites
itasunder. Nothing can exceed the care of these
animals in the preservation of their young. Where-
ever a nest is situated, fortifications, avenues, and
entrenchments surround it: there are also numerous
meanders which lead to it, and a ditch encompasses
the whole, which few other insects are capable of
passing.

About the middle of April, if the weather be
fine, and just at the close of day, the Mole Crickets
utter a low, dull, jarring note, not much unlike the
chattering of the Goat-sucker. In the beginning of
May they Jay their eggs. Mr. White says that a
gardener, at a house where he was on a visit, hap-
pening to be mowing by the side of a canal, on the
sixth of May, his scythe struck too deep, pared off
a large piece of turf, and laid open to view a cu-
rious scene of domestic ceconomy. There were
many caverns and winding passages leading to a
kind of chamber, neatly smoothed and rounded,
and about the size of a moderate snuff-box. With-
in this secret nursery were deposited near a hund-
red eggs of a dirty yellow colour, and enveloped
in a tough skin, but too lately excluded to contain
any rudiments of young, being full of a viscous
substance. The eggs lay but shallow, and within
the influence of the sun, just under a little heap of
fresh mould, like that which is raised by ants.

3

THE HOUSE CRICKET. a7

At the approach of winter; the Mole Crickets
remove their nest to so great a depth in the earth as
to have it always lower than the frost can penetrate.
When the mild season comes on; they raise it in
proportion to the advances of that favourable time,
and at last elevate it so near to the surface as to
render it suseeptible both of air and sun-shine: and
if the frost returns, they again sink it to its proper
depth. A method very similar is practised by the
ants with their nests.

The Mole Crickets are troublesome insects in hot-
beds, where they make great havoc by hacking and
gnawing the roots of plants with their fore-feet, the
ends of which are armed with teeth like a saw *.

The Rev. Mr. Gould kept a Mole Cricket alive
during several of the summer months. He fed it
on the larva and chrysalids of ants, which it seized
with great voracity.

THE HOUSE CRICKET T.

These busy little insects reside altogether in our
dwellings and intrude themselves on our notice,
whether we wish it ornot. They are partial to houses
newly built ; for the softness of the mortar enables
them to form their retreats, without much difficulty,
between the joints of the masonry, and immedi-
ately to open communications with the different
rooms. They are particulaly attached to kitchens

* White’s Natural History of Selborne.
* SYNONYMS,——Gryllus domesticus. Lina. Acheta domestica,
Fabricius,

"kh 2

276 THE HOUSE CRICKET.

and bakehouses, as affording them a constant
warmth.

“Tender insects that live abroad (says Mr.
White) either enjoy only the short period of one
summer, or else doze away the cold uncomfortable
months in profound slumbers; but these, residing
as it were in a torrid zone, are always alert and
merry: a good Christmas fire is to them what the
heats of the dog-days are to others.—Though
they are frequently heard by day, yet their natural
time of motion is only in the night. As soon as it
becomes dusk, the chirping increases, and they
come running forth, and are to be seen often in
great numbers from the size of a flea to that of
their full stature.

Around in sympathetic mirth
Its tricks the kitten tries,

The Cricket chirrups in the hearth,
The crackling faggot flies.

«« As one would suppose from the burning atmos-
phere which they inhabit, they are a thirsty race,
and show a great propensity for liquids, being found
frequently drowned in pans of water, milk, broth,
or the like. Whatever is moist they are fond of,
and therefore often gnaw holes in wet woollen
stockings and aprons that are hung to the fire.
‘These Crickets are not only very thirsty but very
voracious ; for they will eat the scummings of pots,
yeast, salt, and crumbs of bread ; and any. kitchen
olfal. or sweepings.

«In the summer they have been observed to fly,

THE HOUSE CRICKET. Dy 9

when it became dusk, out of the windows, and
over the neighbouring roofs. This feat of acti-
vity accounts for the sudden manner in which they

often leave their haunts, as it does also for the me-
thod by which they come to houses where they were

not known before. It is remarkable that many
sorts of insects seem never to use their wings but

when they wish to shift their quarters and settle

new colonies.—-When in the air they move in waves

or curves, like wood-peckers, opening and shutting

their wings at every stroke, and thus are always

rising or sinking.—When they increase to a great.
degree, they become pests, flying into the candles,

and dashing into people’s faces; but they may be

blasted by gun-powder discharged into their crevices

and crannies. In families, at such times they are,

like Pharaoh’s plague of frogs,—-“ in their bed-cham-

*« bers, and upon their beds, and in their ovens,

«« and in their kneading troughs.”

“ Cats catch hearth-crickets, and, playing with
them, as they do with mice, devour them. Crickets
may be destroyed like wasps, by phials half filled
with beer, or any liquid, and set in their haunts ; for,
being always eager to drink, they will crowd in till
the bottles are full.*” A popular prejudice, how-
ever, frequently prevefts any attempts at their de-
struction, many people imagining that their presence
is attended with good luck, and that to kill or drive
them away will surely bring some unfortunate oc-
currence on the family. i

* White's Natural History of Selborne,
a3

278 THE FIELD CRICKET.

When these insects are running about a room in
the dark, if they are surprized by a candle, they
give two or three shrill notes. These seem a signal
to their fellows, that they may escape totheir crannies
and lurking holes to avoid danger.

It is said that, insome parts of Africa, persons
make a trade of these Crickets. They feed them
in a kind of iron oven, and sell them to the natives,
among whom the noise they make is thought plea-
sing. ‘These people imagine that it assists in lulling
them to sleep.

The organ that produces this noise is a mem-
brane, which, in contracting, by means of a muscle
and tendon placed under the wings of the insect,
folds down somewhat like a fan. This, as it is al-
ways dry yields that sharp piercing sound that we
so often hear from these animals. The noise may
also be heard after the insect is dead, if the tendon
be made to move.—We are told that Crickets will
live and even continue their accustomed noise for
some time after their heads are cut off.

THE FIELD CRICKET".

Towards sun-set is the time when the Field-
crickets begin to appear out of their subterraneous
habitations. They are, however, so shy and cauti-
ous that it is no easy matter to get a sight of them;
for, feeling a person’s footsteps as he advances,

#,

* SYNONYMS.———-Gryllus campestris. Linn.—Acheta campestrié.
Fabricius.

THE FIELD CRICKET. 279

they stop short in the midst of their song, and retire
backward nimbly into their burrows, where they
lurk till all suspicion of danger is over. ‘The Rey.
Mr. White, of Selborne, who attentively studied their
habits and manners, at first made an attempt to dig
them out with a spade, but without any great suc-
cess; for either the bottom of the hole was inacces-
sible, from its terminating under a Jarge stone, or
else in breaking up the ground the poor creature
was inadvertently squeezed to death. Out of one
thus bruised, a great number of eggs were taken,
which were long and narrow, of a yellow colour,
and covered with a very tough skin. More gentle
means were then used, and these proved successful.
A pliant stalk of grass, gently insinuated into the
caverns, will probe their windings to the bottom,
and bring out the inhabitant ; and thus the humane
enquirer may gratify his curiosity without injuring
the object of it.

It is remarkable that, though these insects are fur-
nished with long legs behind, and brawny thighs
adapted for leaping, yet, when driven from their
holes, they shew no activity, but crawl along in so
lifeless a manner as easily to be caught. And though
they are provided with a curious apparatus of
wings, yet they never exert them, even when there
seems to be the greatest occasion. ‘The males only
make their shrill noise, perhaps out of rivalry and
emulation ; as is the case with many animals, which
exert some sprightly note during their breeding-
time.

When the males meet, they sometimes fight very

T 4

280 THE FIELD CRICKET. »

fiercely, as Mr. White found by some that he put
into the crevices of a dry stone-wall, where he
wished to have them settle. For though they
seemed distressed by being taken out of their know-
ledge, yet the first that got possession of the chinks
seized on all that were obtruded upon them, witha
vast row of serrated fangs. With their strong jaws,
toothed like the shears of a lobster’s claws, they
perforate and round their curious regular cells, hay-
ing no fore claws to dig with, like the mole cricket.
When taken into the hand, they never attempt to
defend themselves, though armed with such formid-
able weapons. Of such herbs as grow about the
mouths of their burrows, they eat indiscriminately ;
and never in the day-time seem to stir more than
two or three inches from home. Sitting in the en-
trance of their caverns, they chirp all night as well
as day, from the middle of the monthof May to the
middle of July. In hot weather, when they are
most vigorous, they make the hills echo; and, in the
more still hours of darkness, may be heard to a very
considerable distance.

“Not many summers ago (says Mr. White) I
endeavoured to transplant a colony of these insects
to the terrace in my garden, by boring deep holes
in the sloping turf. The new inhabitants staid
some time, and fed and sang; but they wandered
away by degrees, and were heard at a greater dis-
tance every morning: so it appears that on this
emergency they made use of their wings in attempt-
ing to return to the spot from which they were
taken. pit

THE MIGRATORY LOCUST. 28%

** One of these crickets, when confined in a pa-
per cage, set in the sun, and supphed with plants
moistened with water, will feed and thrive ; and
become so merry and loud as to render it irksome
to be in the same room with it. If the plants are
not wetted it will die *.”

THE MIGRATORY LOCUST f.

Syria, Egypt, Persia, and almost all the south of
Asia, are subject to a calamity as dreadful as vol-
canoes and earthquakes are to other countries, in
being ravaged by those clouds of locusts, so often
mentioned by travellers. “The quantity of these in-
sects is incredible to all who have not themselves
witnessed their astonishing numbers: the whole
earth is covered with them for the space of several
leagues. The noise they make in browzing on the
trees and herbage may be heard at a great distance,
and resembles that of an army foraging in secret.
The Tartars themselves are a less destructive enemy
than these animals. One would imagine, where-
ever they have been seen, that fire had followed
their progress. Wherever their myriads spread, the
verdure of the country disappears, as if a curtain
had been removed : trees and plants are stripped of
their leaves, and reduced to their naked boughs
and stems; so that the dreary image of winter

* Natural History of Selborne.

+ SYNONYMS.—Gryllus migratorius, Liza.——Locust, var.

252 THE MIGRATORY LOCUST.

succeeds in an instant to the rich scenery of the
spring.—When these clouds of locusts take their
flight, to surmount any obstacle, or to traverse more
rapidly a desert soil, the heavens may literally be said
to be obscured by them. Happily this calamity is not
frequently repeated, for it is the inevitable forerun-
ner of famine, and all the maladies it occasions.
The inhabitants of Syria have remarked that locusts
are always increased by too mild winters, and that
they constantly come from the desert of Arabia.
From this observation it is easy to conceive that the
cold, not having been rigorous enough to destroy
their eggs, they multiply suddenly ; and, the herbage
failing them in the immense plains of the desert,
innumerable legions issue forth. When they make
their first appearance on the frontiers of the culti-
vated country, the inhabitants attempt to drive them
off, by raising large clouds of smokes but frequently
their herbs and wet straw fail them. They then
dig trenches, where numbers of the insects are bu-
ried: but the most efficacious destroyers are the
south and south-easterly winds, and the Locust-
eating thrushes*. These birds follow them in nu-
merous flocks like starlings, and not only greedily
devour them, but kill as many as they can: acord-
ingly they are much respected by the peasants, and
nobody is ever allowed to shoot them. As to the
southerly and south-easterly winds, they drive with

* Turdus gryllivorus of Barrow.

THE MIGRATORY LOCUST. 283

violence these clouds of locusts over the Mediterra-
nean, where such quantities of them are some-
times drowned that, when their carcases are thrown
on the shore, they infect the air for several days,
even to a great distance.

The annals of most hot countries are filled with
accounts of the devastations produced by the lo-
custs. They seldom now visit Europe in such
swarms as formerly ; yet in the warmer parts they
are still formidable. Those that have at uncertain
intervals visited Europe, within the memory of man,
are supposed to have come from Africa—Some of
them have at different times been seen in Britain,
and great mischiefs have been apprehended ; but,
happily for us, the coldness of our climate, and the
humidity of our soil, are very unfavourable to their
production: they therefore all perish, without leay-
ing a young generation to succeed them.

Locusts, when they take to flight, seem atadistance
like a dark cloud, which, as it approaches, almost ex-
cludes the light of day. It often happens that the
husbandman sees them pass over without doing him
any injury; but in this case they only proceed to
settle on some less fortunate country. Wherever
they alight, they make dreadful havoc among the
vegetation. In the tropical climates their presence
is not attended with such destructive consequences
as in the southern parts of Europe; for in those the
vegetative power is so strong and active that an in-
terval of only a few days will sometimes repair all
the damage: but in Europe their ravages cannot be

284 THE MIGRATORY LOCUST.

obliterated till the succeeding year *. In their long
flights to this part of the world, from the extent of
their journey, they are also nearly famished, and
therefore more voracious wherever they happen to
alight.

We are told that nearly as much damage 1s occa-
sioned by what they touch as by what they devour.
Their bite is thought te contaminate the plants, and
either to destroy or greatly to weaken their vegeta-
tion. To use the expression of the husbandmen,
« They burn wherever they touch, and in some
countries leave the marks of their devastation for
three or four, vears afterwards.” When dead, they
infect the air in such a manner that the stench is
frequently insupportable. Orosius tells us that, in
the year of the world 3800, Africa was infested
with a multitude of Locusts. After having eaten
up every thing that was green, they flew off and
were drowned in the sea ; where they caused such
a stench as could not have been equalled by the
putrefying carcases of a hundred thousand men.

In the year 1650 a cloud of locusts were seen to
enter Russia in three different places; and from

* «© One thing which always surprized me,” says Mr, Adanson in
his Voyage to Senegal, * is the amazing rapidity with which the sap
of trees in this country repairs any loss they happen to sustain; and I
was never more astonished than when, four days after a terrible invasion
by the Locusts, in which every green thing was devoured, I saw the
trees covered with new leaves, and not appear to have suffered very
greatly. The herbaceous plants bore marks of the devastation some=
what longer; but a few days were sufficient to repair every mischief.”

THE MIGRATORY LOCUST. 285

thence they spread themselves over Poland, and
Lithuania, in such astonishing multitudes that the
air was darkened, and the earth covered with their
numbers. In some places, they were seen lying
dead, heaped upon each other to the depth of four
feet; in others they covered the surface of the
ground like a black cloth: the trees bent with their
weight ; and the damage that the country sustained
exceeded computation.

In Barbary their numbers are often formidable ;
and Dr. Shaw was a witness of their devastations
there in 1724. Their first appearance was in the
latter end of March, when the wind had been
southerly for some time. In the beginning of April
their numbers were so increased that, in the heat of
the day, large swarms appeared like clouds, and
darkened the sun. In the middle of May they be-
gan to disappear, retiring into the plains to deposit
their eggs. In June the young brood came forth,
forming many compact bodies of several hundred
yards square ; which, afterwards marching forward,
climbed the trees, walls, and houses, devouring every
vegetable that was in their way. The inhabitants,
to stop their progress, formed trenches all over their
fields and gardens, which they filled with water.
Some placed large quantities of heath, stubble, and
other combustible matter in rows, and set them on
fire on the approach of the Locusts. This, how-
ever, was all to no purpose, for the trenches were
quickly filled up, and the fires put out by the im-
mense swarms that succeeded each other.

A day or two after one of these was in motion.

I

286 THE MIGRATORY LOCUST.

others that were just hatched came to glean aftet
them, gnawing off the young branches, and the very
bark of the trees. Having lived near a month in this
manner, they arrived at their full growth, and threw
off their larva state by casting their skins. To pre-
pare themselves for this change they fixed their
hinder parts to some bush or twig, or corner of a
stone ; when immediately, by an undulating mo-
tion, their heads would first appear, and soon after
the rest of their bodies. The whole transformation
was performed in seven or eight minutes time ; after
which they remained for a little while in a weak
state ; but as soon as the sun and air had hardened
their wings, and dried up the moisture that remained
after casting their sloughs, they returned to their
former greediness, with an addition both of strength
and agility. But they did not long continue in this
state before they were entirely dispersed. After
laying their eggs, they directed their course north-
ward, and probably perished in the sea*.

Of the innumerable multitudes that infested the
interior of Southern Africa, in the year 1797,
scarcely any adequate conception can be formed.
Mr. Barrow says that in the part of the country
where he then was, for an area of nearly 2000 square
miles, the whole surface of the ground might lite-
rally be said to be covered with them. The water
of a very wide river was ‘scarcely visible on account
of the dead carcases that floated on the surface,
drowned in the attempt to come at the reeds that

* Shaw’s Travels, 257.

THE MIGRATORY LOCUST, 287

grew init. They had devoured every blade of grass,
and every green herb except the reeds.—They are
not, however, without a choice in their food. When
they attack a field of corn just come into ear, this
gentleman says they first mount to the summit, and
pick out every grain before they touch the leaves
and stem. ‘The insect seems to be constantly in
motion, and always to have some object in view.
When the larva, for these are much more vora-
cious than the perfect insects, are on a march du-
ring the day, it is utterly impossible to turn the di-
rection of the troop which is generally with the
wind. ~Towards the setting of the sun the march
is discontinued, when the troop divides into com-
panies that surround the small shrubs or tufts of
grass, or ant-hills, and in such thick patches that
they appear like so many swarms of bees; and in
this manner they rest till day-light. At these times
it is that the farmers have any chance of destroying
them, which they are sometimes able in a great
measure to effect, by driving among them a flock of
two or three thousand sheep: by the restlessness of
these, great quantities of them are trampled to
death.

The year 1797 was the third of their continu-
ance in Sneuwberg ; and their increase, according
to Mr. Barrow’s account, had far exceeded that of
a geometrical progression whose ratio is a million.

For ten years preceding their present visit this
district was entirely free from them. Their former
exit was somewhat singular. All the full-grown in-
sects were driven into the sea by a tempestuous

288 ‘THE MIGRATORY LocUST.

north-west wind, and were afterwards cast upon the
beach, where, it is said, they formed a bank of three
or four feet high that extended a distance of nearly
fifty English miles; and it is asserted that, when
this mass became putrid, and the wind was at
south-east, the stench was sensibly felt in several
parts of Sneuwberg, distant at Jeast a hundred and
fifty miles *.

The female Locust, when she lays her eggs,
which are generally about forty in number, retires
to some solitary place under ground ; where, by her
sagacity, she secures them from the intemperance of
the air, as well as from the more immediate danger
of the plough or spade, one fatal blow of which
would destroy all the hopes of a rising generation.

One would imagine that so horrid an insect as the
Locust would never have been thought of as food
for man; and yet it is an undoubted fact that, in
several parts of Africa, the people eat them. They
are dressed in different ways: some pound and boil
them with milk; others only broil them on the
coals, and think them excellent food. “ There is
no disputing about tastes (says Mr. Adanson): for
my part I would willingly resign whole clouds of
Locusts to the negroes of Gambia for the meanest
of their fishes +.”

* Barrow’s Travels, p. 257.
* Adanson’s Voyage to Senegal.

THE LANTERN-FLIES.

IN this tribe, the head is extended forward, and
is hollow and inflated. ‘The antennz, consisting of
two joints, the outer one of which is globular, are
seated below the eyes. ‘The rostrum or beak * is
four-jointed, and inflected or bent inwards under
the body. ‘The legs are not formed for leaping.

THE GREAT LANTERN-FLY f.

This is the most vivid of all the luminous insects.
It affords a light so great that travellers, walking by
night, are said to be enabled to pursue their journey
with sufficient certainty if they tie one or two of |
them to a stick, and carry this before them in the
manner of a torch. It is common in many parts of
South America, and is described by Madam Merian
in her superb work on the insects of Surinam. She
gives an entertaining account of the alarm into
which she was thrown, by the flashing which pro-
ceeded from them inthe dark, before she had been
apprized of their shining nature.

“ The Indians once brought me (says she) before
I knew that they shone by night, a nuinber of these
Lantern-fiies, which I shut up in a large wooden

eee

* This is a jointed sheath, situated in the mouth, and containing
setz, or bristles, used in extracting the juices from plants, and for some
other purposes.

+ Fulgora lanternaria. Linz,

VOL. 1If, 3)

290 THE GREAT LANTERN-FLY.

box. Inthe night they made such a noise that F
awoke ina fright, and ordered a light to be brought,
not being able to guess from whence the noise pro-
ceeded. As soon as I found that it came from the
box I opened it, but was still more alarmed, and
let it fall to the ground in my fright, at seeing a fame’
of fire come out of it ; and as many animals as came
out so many different flames appeared. When I}
found this to be the case, I recovered from my
‘alarm, and again collected the insects, much ad-
miring their splendid appearance.” ‘The light, she
adds, of one of these insects is so bright that a per-
son may see to read a news-paper by it *,

The light emitted by this fly proceeds entirely
from the hollow part, or lantern, of the head; no
other part of the animal being luminous ft. Dr.
Darwin conjectures that the use of this light is
merely to prevent the insects from flying against ob-
jects in the night, and to enable them to procure
their sustenance in the dark. He seems, however,
not to have considered that very few of the nume-
rous train of night-insects possess this luminous pro-
perty, and yet all the functions of these are per-
formed with perfect regularity. Its most essential
use is, no doubt, as in the other luminous tribes, to-
point out the sexes to each other, serving in them
the same purpose, in this respect, as the voice in:
Jarger animals.

The head in this species is large, and somewhat

at ne

* Merian’s Surinam, tab. 49. + Shaw’s Nat, Mis, i. tab, 37-

THE CICADA. 201

oval. The wings are variegated; and the lower
pair is marked each with a large ocellated or eye-
like spot. Sometimes the insect is seen of three or
four inches in length.

THE CICAD#:

THESE insects are found in various parts both of
the new and old continent, where they subsist almost
wholly on the leaves of trees and other vegetable
substances. They are furnished with a hard and
horny proboscis or tube, in which is contained a
very slender sucking pipe. The former is not much
unlike a gimlet m form, and is used by them in
boring through the bark of trees, for the purpose of
extracting their juices. With this proboscis they
also bore holes in the small and tender twigs of the
exterior branches, in which they deposit their eggs,
sometimes to the amount of six or seven hundred.
Each cell does not contain more than from twelve
to twenty, so that by this means they often do much
damage to the trees which they frequent.

The chrysalids of these insects are not torpid, as
in many others, but have six legs, and differ from
the parent in having only the rudiments of wings.
They are exceedingly active, and in general run
and leap about upon the trees with great sprightli-
ness.

The males of the perfect insects make a chirping

Ue2

282 THE CICADA.

noise, of use in alluring the females. Some natu~
ralists suppose that this noise is caused by the flap-
‘ping of the lamella against the abdomen : others by
the rustling of the segments of the body in the con-
tractile motion of that part ; and Beckmann, that it
is caused by the beating of the body and legs against
the wings. The lamelle, on examination, do not
appear to have sufficient freedom of motion to pro-
duce such a sound. /

Those of the hottest climates make the loudest
noise. From the papers of Mr. Smeathman, who
resided a considerable time in Africa, it appears that
some are so loud as to be heard to the distance of
half a mile; and that the singing of one of them in
a room will immediately silence a whole company.
Professor Thunberg says that one of the Javanese
species makes a noise as shrill and piercing as if it
proceeded from a trumpet.

Several of the species were known to the ancients,
who made them the emblems of eternal youth.
They deemed them creatures beloved both by Gods
and men ; and indulged many poetical fictions con-
cerning them, but particularly that they subsisted
only ondew. The Athenians wore golden Cicade
in their hair to denote their national antiquity, or
that, like these creatures, they were the first-born of
the earth. Anacreon, addressing one of them, de-
picts, in glowing colours, the felicity that they were
universally supposed to enjoy.

Happy creature! What below
Can more happy live than thou?

THE WAX-FORMING CICADA. 293

Seated on thy leafy throne,
(Summer weaves the verdant crown)
Sipping o’er the pearly lawn,
The fragrant nectar of the dawn ;
Little tales thou lov’st to sing,
Tales of mirth—an insect king.
Thine the treasures of the field,
All thy own the seasons yield ;
Nature paints thee for the year,
Songster to the shepherds dear :
Innocent of placid fame,
W hat of man can boast the same ?
Thine the lavish’d voice of praise,
Harbinger of fruitful days ;
Darling of the tuneful Nine,
Pheebus is thy sire divine ;
Phoebus to thy notes has giv’n .
Music from the spheres of heay’n ;
Happy most, as first of earth,
All thy hours are peace and mirth ;
Cares nor pains to thee belong,
Thou alone art ever young ;
Thine the pure immortal vein,
Blood nor flesh thy life sustain ;

_ Rich in spirits, health thy feast,
Thou’rt a demi-god at least,

The Cicade have an inflected rostrum, and bris-
tle-shaped antenna. The wing-cases are membra-
naceous, and decline along the sides of the body.
Their legs are in general formed for leaping,

THE WAX-FORMING CICADA*,

This is a singular insect, and deserving of some

1 SYNONYMS.—Tettigonia limbata. Fabricias,—Cicada limbata.

U 3

294 . THE WAX-FORMING CICADA.

attention, both as an object of curiosity and from its

- importance in domestic economy. It is found both

in the eastern countries and in America. Its wing-
cases are green, margined with red, and deflexed ;
and the interior ones are spotted with black. In
the variety figured and’ described by Sir George
Staunton these are whitish, margined with black, and
have a row of black spots on the posterior edge.

The lJarve are elegant and beautiful creatures,
and to their labours the Chinese are indebted for
the fine white wax that is so much esteemed in the
Fast-Indies. They form a sort of white grease
which attaches to the branches of trees, hardens
there, and becomes wax. It is scraped off in the
autumn, melted on the fire, and strained: it is then
poured into cold water, where it coagulates and »
forms into cakes. In appearance it is white and
glossy, and, mixed with oil, is used to make can-
dles, for which purpose it is thought greatly superior
to bees-wax.

The insects are white when young, and it is then
that they make their wax. When old, they are of
a blackish chesnut colour, and form little pelotons
on the branches of trees. These at first are each of
the size of a grain of millet; towards the beginning
of the spring they increase in bulk and spread ;
they are attached to the branches like grapes, and,
at first sight, the trees that bear them appear loaded
with fruit. About the beginning of May the inha-
bitants gather them, and, having enveloped them in
the leaves of a species of broad-leaved grass, suspend
them to the trees. At the end of June, and in July,

I

THE AMERICAN LOCUST. 29%

the pelotons open, and the insects come forth, crawl
about the leaves, and form their wax. ~

Sir George Staunton says of these insects that he
saw them busily employed upon the small branches
of a shrub that, in its general habit, had a consider-
able resemblance to privet. They did not much ex-
ceed the size of the domestic fly, and were of a very
singular structure. ‘They were in every part co-
vered with a kind of white powder: and the
branches they most frequented were entirely whiten-
ed by this substance strewed upon them.

THE AMERICAN LOCUST *.

This species of Cicada is at all times very com-
mon in Pennsylvania, but at certain periods (gene-
rally of fourteen or fifteen years) the numbers are so
immense that it has obtained the general appella-
tion of Locust.

Towards the end of April these insects emerge
from the ground; and their appearance is always
to be predicted by the swine searching for them.
The swarms are sometimes so great that, in the
places from whence they have arisen, the earth ap-
pears nearly as full of holes as a honey-comb. They
always leave the ground during the night. On their
first coming out they are in their chrysalid state; but
very soon afterwards the back bursts, and the flying
insects disengage themselves from their case. For a

* SYNONYMs.—Cicada septendecim. Lianz.—-Teitigonia septende-
' eim. Fabricius.

U4

296 THE AMERICAN LOCUST.

little while they are entirely white, with red eyes,
and seem very weak and tender; but, by the next
day, they attain their full strength and perfection,
being of a dark brown colour, with four finely va-
ried transparent wings.

They are very active, flying about from tree to
tree with great agility. The female is directed to
the male by the loud chirping noise that he makes.
She lays her eggs about the latter end of May,
piercing for this purpose the tender twigs of trees
with the dart from her tail. With this she is able
to penetrate the wood in a surprisingly expeditious
manner, crowding it for the length of two or three
inches full of eggs, ranged in close lines, with from
twelve to eighteen in each. She always darts to the
pith of the branch, in order that the larve, when
they proceed from the eggs, may find food proper
for their tender state. When these are full grown
they drop off, and make their way into the ground
to prepare fora change. Here they are sometimes
found at the depth of two feet or upwards.

For the sake of experiment, some of the eggs of
this species, about the usual time of hatching, were
taken out, and spread upon a table. In about an
hour they cracked ; and it was very entertaining to
observe how the little insects contrived to disengage
themselves from the shell. When they had got clear
from all incumbrances, they ran about very briskly,
evidently searching for a repository in the earth *.

* Phil. Tran. vol. liv. p. 65. tab. 8.

THE AMERICAN LOCUST. 297

Very shortly, after attaining their perfect state,
these insects always spread over the country for
many milesround. ‘They are excessively voracious,
and do infinite damage, in their periodical swarm-
ings, to both orchard and forest trees ; and were it
not for the number and variety of their enemies, and
the naturally short duration of their lives, the inha-
bitants would often suffer from them all the horrors
of famine. It seems to have been of these insects
that Mr. Hughes says such vast swarms were bred,
or came into the island of Barbadoes, in the year
1734-5, that they destroyed almost every green
and tender plant. So great was the destruction that

they caused, especially among the potatoe vines, on -

whose roots the poor people chiefly subsisted, and
such the scarcity of food occasioned by them, par-
ticularly in the parish of St. Philip, that a collection
was made for these sufferers through the rest of the
island *.

Domestic fowls are fond of them; and even some
of the American squirrels become fat with them at
the times when they are very abundant. The In-
dians also pluck off their wings, and boil the bodies
for food.—It is said that they may be kept from the
trees by suspending on the branches pieces of tow
impregnated with a mixture of brimstone and train
oil.

* Natural History of Barbadoes.

ee B=

de 8 [ 298 9

THE BLACK-HEADED FROGHOPPER *.

ieee

The larve or grubs of this insect are well known
as discharging from their bodies, upon the branches
and leaves of plants, a kind of frothy matter, called
by the country people in many parts of England
Cuckoo- “Spit. In the midst of this they constantly re-
side, probably for shelter against the rapacity of
such stronger insects as would otherwise prey upon
them. Nafure seems to have afforded this kind of
defence to the insects, as their naked and soft bodies
might otherwise very easily be injured; perhaps also

the moisture of this foam may serve to screen them
‘from the sultry beams of the sun. On removing the

foam the grub is discovered underneath ; but it will
not remain long uncovered. It soon emits fresh foam
that again hides it from the eye of observation.

It is in the midst of its foam that the larva goes
through its metamorphosis to a chrysalis, and a
winged insect. ‘This may be observed by any person
who is careful enough to watch when the froth be-
ginsa little to subside. At this time he must put the
insect with its leaf under a glass. The froth, dege-
nerating to a white film, fixes the creature to the
leaf: soon after this the fly may be seen first put-
ting out its head, and afterwards by degrees its
body. As soon as the fore-part is out, a small pro-
tuberance will be perceived on each side, which,

+ SyNoNyMS.~Cicada spumaria. Lixn.—-Cercropis spumaria. Fa-
bricivs.———-Cuckoo spit or Froth-worm.

_

THE BUGS. a 299%

every moment growing larger, will soon appear to
be the wings of the fly unfolding by degrees. In
about a quarter of an hour the whole change is
completed, the fly is liberated, its wings are ex-

tended over its body, and the fine silver-like case of
the larva, with all its legs and other apparatus, will :

be seen left behind. a

The perfect insect is of a brown colour, and has
on the upper wings two lateral whitish spots. Itis
very common in meadows and pastures, and is so
agile that, when attempted to be caught, it will
sometimes spring to the distance of two or three
feet.

THE BUGS.

THE rostrum of the Cimices or Bugs is inflected 5
and the antenne are longer than the thorax. They
have four wings folded cross-wise, the upper ones
coriaceous on the upper part. The back is flat, and
ihe legs are formed for running.

The /arve differ from the perfect insects in little
else than the want of wings. Many of them infest
plants on which they live, and in which they lay
their eggs. Several of the species are voracious, and
spare scarcely any other insects that they can con-
quer. They glut themselves with the blood of ani-
mals ; destroy caterpillars, flies, and even beetles,
the hardness of whose elytra would seem to be
proof against all their attacks ; the incautious natu-

py
A
*

“360 > THE BED BUG.

ralist may also himself sometimes experience the
severity of their nature.

THE BED BUG*.

The Bed Bug, which is a nauseous and trouble-
some inhabitant of most houses in large towns, is
singular in having neither wings nor wing-cases.
Jt runs about with considerable activity in the
night, to suck the blood of persons that are asleep,
hiding itself by day in crevices and other retired
places.

It is supposed to have been first introduced to
this country in the fir timber that was brought over
to rebuild London after it had suffered by the great
fire ; for it is generally said that Bugs were not
known in England before that time ; and many of
them were found almost immediately afterwards in
the new-built houses.

Their most favourite food is blood, dried paste,
size, deal, beech, osier, and some other kinds of tim-
ber, the sap of which they suck ; and on any of these
they are able to exist. They will not feed on oak,
walnut, cedar, or mahogany ; for several pairs that,
for the sake of experiment, were confined with
these kinds of wood soon died, whilst those kept
with the others continued to thrive through the
whole year.

The female generally Jays about fifty eggs at a

* SyNonyMms.——Cimex lectularius. Lizz.—Acanthia lectularia.
Fabricius.

THE BED BUG, yale 30%

time, which are white, and, when protruded, are
covered with a viscous matter, which, afterwards
hardening, sticks them firmly to the place where
they are deposited. “These are usually hatched in
about three weeks. The general times of laying are
March, May, July, and September: so that from
every female Bug that outlives the season, as many

as two hundred young may be produced. Thus is —

the excessive increase of these nauseous animals to
be accounted for, where proper care is not itcsaeia to
destroy them.

The young, for some time after they first escape
from the egg, are perfectly white, but they generally
become brown in the course of about three weeks.
In eleven weeks they are at fullgrowth. They are
then very watchful and cunning creatures ; and so
fierce, among their own species, that they will some-
times contend with the utmost fury ; and in their
combats they seldom leave off till either one or both

of the animals are killed. Spiders are very fond of

them, and often seize them for food.

In order to clear a house of Bugs the leading point
is cleanliness in every respect, for this is their
greatest annoyance ; and by this alone their increase
is to be materially checked. ‘The first young begin
to burst from the eggs early in spring, frequently
even in February: At this season it is that the
greatest attention is required. The bed infested by

them ought to be stripped of all its furniture, which

should be washed, and, if linen, even boiled, or if

stuff hot-pressed. ‘The bedstead should be taken

in pieces, and dusted, and washed with spirits of

ee =

302 THE BED BUG.

Wine in all the joints and crevices, for it is in these
parts principally that the females deposit their eggs.
This done, all the cavities should be well filled withthe
best soft soap, mixed up with verdigrease and Scotch
snuff. On this composition the young will imme-
diately feed, after leaving the egg (if any escape the
cleansing) and will be destroyed, as will also such of
the old ones as happen to be left.

Bugs abound in all the hot climates, from whence
most of our merchant-vessels are over-run with them.
This accounts for their extreme numbers in all the
seaport towns of this country, and particularly in
the metropolis, being conveyed thither in clothes,
packages, &c. Hence appears the great necessity
of examining carefully every thing brought from
such vessels into the houses.

Deal and beech boards should by all means be re-
moved, as should also every thing that is fixed to
a bed by means of paste, as these afford them both
shelter and food. Oak and mahogany are probably
the best kinds of wood to use, as the closeness of
their texture allows the animals but an uncomforta-
ble situation.

It is supposed that Bugs do not altogether lie
torpid during the winter, but that in the cold wea-
ther they require less nutriment, and therefore that
they are not tempted to come so often out of their
retreats as they do in the warmer seasons of the
year.

, [ 303 J

THE PARADOXICAL BUG*. 2158:

« That singular insect, the Cimex Paradoxus,
which, (says Dr. Sparman,) I have described, and
of which I have given a drawing in the Swedish
Transactions, I discovered at this place (the Cape of
Good Hope) as at noon tide I sought for shelter
among the branches of a shrub from the intolerable
heat of the sun. Though the air was now extremely
still and calm, so as scarcely to have shaken an aspen
leaf, yet I thought I saw a little withered, pale,
crumpled leaf, eaten as it were by caterpillars, flitting
from the tree. This appeared to me so very extra-
ordinary, that I thought it worth while suddenly to
quit my verdant bower in order to contemplate it;
and I could scarcely believe my eyes, when I saw a
living insect, in shapeand colour resembling the frag-
ment of a withered leaf, with the edges turned up
and eaten away, as it were, by caterpillars, and at
the same time all over beset with prickles. Nature,
by this peculiar form, has cértainly extremely well
defended, and concealed, as it were in a mask, this
insect from birds and its other diminutive foes ; in
all probability with a view to its preservation, and
to employ it for some important office in the system
of her economy; a system with which we are too
httle acquainted, in general too little investigate,
and, in every part of it, can never sufficiently ad-

* SYNONYMS.==Cimex paradoxus, Linn, Gmel.~-Acanthia para-
doxa. Fabricius.

$04 THE APHIDES.

mire with that respect and adoration which we owe
to the great author of nature and ruler of the uni-
verse *.”

THE minute animals that compose this singular
tribe live entirely on vegetables, and the loftiest
tree is as liable to their attacks as the most humble
plant. ‘Their numbers are often incalculably great.
They prefer the young shoots on account of their
tenderness, and frequently insinuate themselves into
the very hearts of the plants, doing irreparable mis-
chief even before they are discovered. But for the
most part they beset the foliage, and are always
found on the under side of the leaf. This they pre-
fer, not only on account of its being the most tender,
but because it affords them protection from the
weather, and from various injuries to which they
would be otherwise exposed. Sometimes, though
very rarely, the root is the object of their choice ;
and the roots of lettuces have been observed so
thickly beset with one of the species that the whole
crop has been rendered sickly, and of little value.
They are rarely, except one species (aphis salicis,
which is larger and much stronger than the others)
to be found on the bark of trees.

nr aed

* Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope.

THE ROSE APHIS. 305

Some of the species are constantly and unaltera-
bly attached to one or more particular species of
plants; but others feed indiscriminately on most
sorts of herbage.

These insects are sometimes winged, and some-
times destitute of wings, without any distinction of
sex. In the spring they are viviparous, producing
the young alive ; and in the autumn they are ovipa-
rous, depositing their eggs, like most other insects,
in places where they remain secured through the
winter till the ensuing spring, when they are
hatched. The Aphides afford also another surpri+
sing deviation from the general laws of nature ;
one impregnation of the female is sufficient for
nine generations. |

Their beak, the’ sheath of which is composed of
five joints, is inflected. The antenna are tapering,
and longer than the thorax. They have either four
wings, or are entirely destitute of them, At the ab-
domen there are two obtuse erect horns; and the tail
is sometimes terminated by a small style.

The larve, chrysalids, and perfect insects, kave so
little difference, in external appearance, that they
cannot be distinguished from each other.

THE ROSE APHIS *.

@

This insect, which is well known by the name of
Rose-louse, is generally of a green colour ; with the

——————

* SYNONYMS.—Aphis Rose: Linn. Gmel.—Rose-louse-

VOL. III. xX

306 THE ROSE APHIS.

tip of the antenne, and horns black. The tail is
pointed, and without a style,

Towards the beginning of February, if the wea-
ther be sufficiently warm to make the buds of the
rose-tree swell and appear green, these species of
Aphis will be found on them in considerable abun-
dance. They are now produced from small black
oval eggs, which were deposited in autumn on the
last year’s shoots. If after their appearance the
weather become cold, almost the whole of them
suffer, and the trees are, for that year, in a great
measure, freed from them.

Those that withstand the severity of the weather
seldom arrive at their full growth before April,
when, after twice casting their skins, they usually
begin to breed. ft then appears that they are ail
females, and each of them produces a very numerous
progeny, and that without any intercourse with a
male insect.—These, though themselves produced
from eggs, are viviparous. Their young, when
they first come from the parent insects, are each
enveloped in a thin membrane that has the appear-
ance of an oval egg. This apparent egg adheres
by one extremity to the mother, while the young
Aphis proceeding from it extends the .other,
by this means gradually drawing the ruptured
membrane over the head and body to the hind feet.
uring the operation, and for some time afterwards,
the forepart of the head adheres, by the viscous mat-
ter about it, to the tail of the parent. Thus sus-
pended, it soon entirely frees itself from its former
envelopment ; ‘and when its limbs become a little

THE ROSE APHIS. 307

strengthened, it is set down on some tender shoot,
and there left to provide for itself. |

In the spring months there appear but these two
generations of the Aphis: the warmth of summer;
however, produces no less than five. One of these
comes forth in May, and the months of June and
July supply each two more. The insects of the
May breed cast their skins twice, and the others
three or four times, according to the warmth of
the season, When the heat has been sufficiently
great, and the food in tolerable plenty, the first
change has been observed to take place in about
ten days after their production. |

Early in June some of the third generation, which
were produced about the middle of May, after cast
ing their last covering, discover four erect wings
much longer than their bodies; The formation of
the wings seems to depend not on sexual! distinction,
nor even on the original structure of the insects, so
much as on the quantity and quality of the nourish-
ment with which they are supplied. Few of those
on succulent shoots have wings, while those of the
same generation on the less tender branches are
most of them winged. Some time before they
come to their full growth, it is easy to discern which
of them will have wings, from a remarkable fullness
of the breast. When the last covering is rejected,
the wings, which were before folded in a very nar-
row compass, gradually extend in a most beautiful
manner to their proper size and dimensions. All
the following breeds are winged.

In the autumn the eighth, ninth, and tenth gene-

xs

2.03 THE ROSE AFHIS,

vy

rations are produced; two in August, and the ladt
about the middle of September. The two first re:
semble the summer breeds, but the third differs very
greatly from all the rest. ‘Though all the Aphides
which have hitherto appeared have been females,
in this tenth generation several male insects are found.
The females have at first the appearance of the sum-
mer insects ; but in a few days their colour changes
from green to yellow, and gradually, before their
full growth, to orange. ‘These yellow females are
destitute of wings. The males, when they first ap-
pear, are of a reddish brown, but have afterwards,
when they begin to thicken about the breast, a dark
line along the middle of the back. They come to
their full growth in about three weeks, and then
casting their last skin appear in every part, except
the wings, ofa bright yellow. They soon, however,
become dark brown. The wings become trans-
parent, and at length are in appearance not unlike
very fine black gauze. The females soon begin to
deposit their eggs, which, if possible, is always done
near the buds of the branches, that the future young
may be the more easily supplied with nourishment.
Some of them continue laying their eggs till the be-
ginning of November: these are oval, and when first
protruded are green, but they soon become perfectly
black. They adhere to the branches on which they
are deposited, by the viscous matter that at first
surrounds them. These eggs remain through the
winter till the ensuing sping before they are
hatched.

If the Aphides had not many enemies, their in-

THE COCHINEAL INSECTS. 309

erease in summer would be so great as, by wounding
and exhausting the tender shoots of the trees, some-
times to suppress their vegetation. Among their
enemies one of the principal is a small black species
of Ichneumon fly *, which darts its pointed tail in-
to the bedies of the Aphides, and at the same time
deposits ineach an egg. This egg afterwards pro-
duces a grub, which feeds on the body of the insect
till it has acquired its full growth, when it undergoes
its change, and entirely destroys its living nidus.
After a mild spring most of the species of Aphis
becomes so numerous as to do considerable injury to
the trees on which they are found. The best mode
of remedying this evil is to lop off the infected
shoots before the insects are greatly multiplied, re-
peating the same operation before the time that the
eggs are deposited. By the first pruning a very nu-
merous present increase will be prevented, and by

the second, the following year’s supply may in a
great measure be cut off t.

THE COCHINEAL INSECTS.

THESE are an extremely fertile race, and many
of them are very troublesome in stoves and green-
houses. The females fix themselves and adhere

* The Ichneumon Apbidum of Linneus.
} Richardson on Aphides. Phil. Tyan, Ixi. p. 182.

X 3

319 THE LAC COCHINEAL.

almost immoveably to the roots, and sometimes to
the branches of plants. Some of them, having thus
fixed themselves, lose entirely the form and appear-
ance of insects: their bodies swell, their skin stretches
and becomes smooth, and they so much resemble
some of the galls or excrecences, found on plants,
as by inexperienced persons to be mistaken for such:
_ After this change the abdomen serves only as a kind
of shell or covering under which the eggs are con-
cealed, Others, though they are likewise thus fixed,
preserve the form of insects till they have laid their
eggs and perish.

A kind of down or cotton grows out of their belly,
which serves to make the nest in which they deposit
their eggs.—Most of the species found in our hots
houses have been brought over with exotic plants
from other climates.

The beak is seated on the breast ; and the antenne
are thread-shaped, or of equal thickness throughout,
The abdomen is terminated by four or six light-
coloured bristles. The male has two erect wings,
but the females have none.

THE LAC COCHINEAL ”*.

The head and trunk of this insect seem to form
one uniform, oval, compressed red body, somewhat
of the shape and size of a very small louse, con-
sisting of twelve transverse rings. ‘The back is

+ SYNONYMS, ——=Coccus ficus. Lina.—-Gum lac, in the East
Indies. ; ‘

THE LAC COCHINEAL. 31i

keel-shaped, and the belly flat. The antenne are
half the length of the body, filiform, and diverging,
sending off two and sometimes three diverging
hairs. the tail is a little white point, from whence
proceed two horizontal hairs‘as long as the body.

Mr. Kerr, who has given a minute account of
these insects in the Philosophical Transactions, says
that he has often observed their birth, but could
never see any of them with wings; nor was he ever
able to remark any distinction in the sexes : owing,
he confesses, most probably to the minuteness of
“the objects, and the want of proper glasses.

They are produced from the womb of the parent
in the months of November and December. For
some time they traverse the branches of the trees
upon which they are produced, and then fix them-
selves on the succulent extremities of the young
shoots. By the middle of January they are all fixed
in their proper situations, and, though they now ex-
hibit no marks of life, appear as plump as before.
The limbs, antenne and bristles of the tail are no
longer to be seen. Around the edges of their body
they are environed with a sub-pellucid gelatinous
liquid, which seems to glue them to the branch.
The gradual accumulation of this liquid at length
forms a complete cell for the insect, which takes
place about the middle of March. The insect is
now, in appearance, an oval smooth red bag, with-
out life, about the size of a small American Cochi-
neal insect, emarginated at the obtuse end, and full
of a beautiful red liquid.

In October and November twenty or thirty small

X 4

312 THE LAC COCHINEAL.

oyal eggs, or rather young grubs, are to be found
within the red fluid of the mother. When this fluid
is all consumed the young insects pierce a hole
through the external covering, and walk off one by
one, leaving their nidus behind. This nidus is that
white membranaceous substance found in the empty
shells.of the Stick Lac.

‘These insects are found on only four different kinds
of trees, the principal of which are the Ficus religi-
osa and Ficus Indica of Linneus.

‘They generality fix themselves in such numhers,
and so close to each other, that scarcely more than
one female in six has room to complete her cell: the
others die, and become the food of various insects.
The extreme branches of the above trees appear as
if they were covered with a red dust, and their sap
is frequently so much exhausted that the adjoining
paris wither away.— Line sap of the trees seem much
allied to the cell of the Coccus, so that it appears to
have undergone very little change by its formation
into these shells.

‘these insects, which inthe East Indies have the
name of Gum Lac, are principally found on the
trees of the uncultivated mountains on both sides
of the Ganges, where nature has been so bountiful
that, were the consumption many times greater than
it now is, the markets would be fully supplied. The
only trouble is in breaking down the branches and
carrying them to market.

The price in the year 1781 of Gum Lac in Dacca
was only twelve shillings for the hundred pounds
weight, notwithstanding its being brought from 4

THE AMERICAN COCHINEAL. 313

very great distance, as the greatest part of it is col-
lected in Assam ‘The best Lac is of a deep red
colour. If it be pale, and pierced at the top, the va-
lue diminishes, because the insects have left their
cells, and consequently it can be of no use as a dye;
though probably it may be of more value as a varnish.

Stick Lac is the natural state of this production.
When the cells are separated from the sticks,
broken into small pieces, and appear in a granulated
form, they are called Seed Lac. This, liquified by fire
and. formed into cakes, is Lump Lac. When the
cells are liquified, strained, and formed into thin
transparent laminae, the substance has the name of
Shell Lac.

Of the Shell Lac the natives of the Eastern coun-
tries make ornamental rings, to decorate the arms of
the females. ‘They also form it into beads, neck-
laces, and other female ornaments. This substance
was formerly used in medicine, but it is now con-
fined principally to the making of sealing-wax, and
to japanning, painting, and dyeing *.

THE AMERICAN COQCHINEAL f

This Cochineal, so useful, when properly pre-
pared, to painters and dyers, is a native of South
America, where it is found on several species of Cac-
tus, particularly the Cacrus Opuntia, or prickly Pear-
tree. In jamaica these insects are also now pretty
common, but they are generally understood to have

been introduced from America. The heavy rains,

* Phil. Tran. vol. Ixxi. p. 374. + Coccus Cacti. Lint,

314 THE AMERICAN COCHINEAL.

however, that the West India islands are subject to
often render the industry of the natives in breeding
and rearing them entirely fruitless.

The Cochineal made at the Brazils was observed
by Mr. Barrow, one of the gentlemen who attended
the late Embassy to China, to be produced from an
insect somewhat differing from the Coceus Cacti of
Linneus. ‘“ The insect of Rio (says this gentle-
man) is convex, with legs of a clear bright red, in
both male and female, and the antennz moniliform
or bead-like. The male is a delicate and beautiful
jnsect, the colour of the whole body a bright red,
nearly resembling the pigment, usually called red
lake ; the breast is elliptical, and slightly attached
to the head. The antenna are above halt the
length of the body. The legs are of a more brilhant
red than that of the other parts. ‘Iwo fine white
filaments, about three times the length of the insect,
project from its belly or abdomen. ‘The wings are
two, erect, of a faint straw colour, and of a very
delicate texture. The female has no wings, is ellip-
tic in its form, and convex on both sides, but
chiefly so on the back, which is covered with a
white downy substance, resembling the finest cotton.
The abdomen is marked with transverse ruge or
furrows. The mouth is situated in the breast, hav-
a brown beak, inclining to a purple tint, that pene-
trates the plant on which the insects feeds. Its
six legs are of a clear bright red.”

When the young insects are arrived at their full
growth, they adhere to the leaf of the Cactus in a
torpid state; and it is at this period that they are

~>

THE AMERICAN COCHINEAL, 315

taken from the plant for use. Twice or thrice a
week, the slaves appropriated to this employment
go among the Cactus plants, and pick off carefully,
with a bamboo twig, shaped somewhat into the form
of a pen, every full-grown insect they can find, with
many not yet arrived to their perfect state ; the con-
sequence of which is, that the plants are never half
stocked with insects, many of the females being de-
stroyed before they had deposited their young. The
natives of Mexico pursue a method very different.
As -oon as the periodical rains are over, and the
weather is warmer, as well as drier, they fix on the
prickles of the Cactus leaves, small parcels of the
finest moss, serving as nests to contain, each, ten or
a dozen full-grown female insects. These, in the
course of a few days, bring forth an innumerable tribe
of young, spreading themselves over the leaves and
branches of the plant, till they become attached to
those spots which they find most favourable for
supplying nutritious juice; where, soon acquiring
their full growth, they remain motionless, and then
are gathered off for use; a sufficient number being
always left for the production of new broods.

The insects are soon converted into Cochineal, by
a very simple process ;—but if, in corporeal sufferance,
the poor beetle feels a pang as great as when a giant
dies, this process is not more simple than it is cruel.
The insects, which were coliected in a wooden
bowl, are thickly spread from thence upon a flat
dish of earthenware, and placed alive over a char-
coal fire, where they are slowly roasted until the
downy covering disappears, and the aqueous juices

316 THE AMERICAN COCHINEAL.

of the animal are totally evaporated. During this
operation, the insects are continually stirred about
with a tin ladle, and sometimes water is springled
upon them, to prevent absolute torrefaction, which
would destroy the colour, and reduce the insect to
a coal; but a little habit teaches when to remove
them from the fire. They then appear like so many
dark, round, reddish grains, and take the name of
Cochineal, preserving so little the original form of
the insect, that this precious dye was long known
and sought in Europe before naturalists had deter-
mined whether it was animal, vegetable, or mineral
substance *. |

It seems by no meansimprobable that a Cochineal,
more pure than what is produced from the insect,
might be prepared from some of the plants on
which it feeds. There is also no reason for sup-
posing, that we might not also prepare it from
some of our English species, which bear a great re-
semblance to those of America, if only a proper and
judicious management was adopted.

It has been computed that there are imported —
into Europe, in the course of trade, no less than
eight hundred and eighty thousand pounds weight
of Cochineal annually.

RN

* Staunton’s Embassy to China.

L game)

LEPIDOPTEROUS INSECTS *.

THE present order contains only three tribes,
the Butterflies, Moths, and Hawk-Moths. These
are all produced from Caterpillars, by a change that
is common to all the insect species. The Cater-
pillars proceed from eggs ; and those of the Butter-
flies in particular, are so numerous that, in the spring
of the year, the leaves and tenderest stems of plants
are sometimes perfectly crowded with them.

Their bodies are composed in general of twelve
membranaceous rings, which sufficiently distinguish
them from all such reptiles as bear the least resem-
blance to them. Their head is scarcely to be dis-
tinguished from the body but by its containing an
opening, in which are two jaws, each armed with
a large and thick tooth. The number of their feet
varies with their size and form. Along the sides
are arranged holes or trachew, through which they
breathe.

Caterpillars are in general extremely voracious,
some of them eating more than double their own
weight in a day, without suffering any inconye-
nience from it; for the digestive powers of all ani-
mals are proportioned not so much to their size, as
to the duration of their lives.

They often change their skin without materially

* This is the third of the Linnean orders of insects.

318 LEPIDOPTEROUS INSECTS.

altering their shape, till at last they put on one very
different from all the rest. In this state they have
the name of Aurelia or Chrysalis ; and in it all the
parts of their future form are visible, but so very soft
and delicate that the least touch discomposes them:
Though dormant and entirely helpless, all their
members are now completely formed, and they only
wait the acquisition of a shell to defend them from
external injuries, and suffer them to commence
their flight.

The production and manners of these, in this
state, imperfect animals afford much matter both
for amusement and instruction. I cannot, there-
fore, dismiss the subject, without descending some-
what further into the history of the manners of some
of the species.

About the middle of summer a butterfly depo-
sits from three to four hundred eggs on the leaf of
a tree, from each of which, in a few days, a young
caterpillar proceeds. The eggs are no sooner
hatched than the young begin to form a common
habitation. They spin silken threads, which they
attach to one edge of the leaf, and extend to the
other. By this operation, they make the two edges
of the leaf approach each other, and form a cavity
resembling a hammock. In a short time the con-
cave leaf is completely roofed with a covering of
silk. Under this tent the animals live together in
mutual friendship and harmony. When not disposed
to eat or to spin, they retire into their tent. It re-
quires several of these habitations to contain the
whole. As the animals increase in size, the num-

I

LEPIDOPTEROUS INSECTS. 319

ber of their tents is augmented. But these are only
temporary and partial lodgments, constructed for
mutual convenience, till the caterpillars are in a
condition to build one more spacious, which will be
sufficient to contain the whole. After gnawing one-
half of the substance of such leaves as happen to be
near the end of some twig or small branch, they be-
gin their great work. In constructing this new edi-
fice, or net, the caterpillars encrust a considerable
part of the twig with white silk. In the same man-
ner they cover two or three of such leaves as are
nearest to the termination of the twig. They ther.
spin silken coverings of greater dimensions, in which
they inclose the two or three leaves together with
the twig. The nest is now so spacious that it is
able to contain the whole community, every indivi-
dual of which is employed in the common labour.
These nests are too frequently seen in autumn upon
the fruit-trees of our gardens. They are still mere
exposed to observation in winter, when the leaves
which formerly concealed many of them are fallen.
‘They consist of large bundles of white silk and wi-
thered leaves, without any regular or constant form.
Some of them are flat, others roundish ; but none of
them are destitute of angles. By different plain co-
verings, extended from the opposite sides of leaves,
and of the twig, the internal part of the nest is di-
vided into a number of different apartments. To
each of these, which seem to be very irregular, there
are passages by which the caterpillars can either go
out in quest of food, or retire in the evening, or dur-
ing rainy weather. The silken coverings, by re-

320 LEFIDOPTEROUS INSECTS.

peated layers, become at last so thick and strong
that they resist all the attacks of the wind, and
all the injuries of the air, during eight or nine
months.

About the beginning of October, or when the
frost commences, the whole community shut them-
selves up in the nest. During the winter they re-
main immoveable, and seemingly dead; but, when
exposed to heat, they soon discover symptoms of
life, and begin to creep. In this country they
seldom go out of the nest till the middle or end of
April. When they shut themselves up for the
winter they are very small; but, after they have fed
for some days in spring upon the young and tender
leaves, they find the nest itself, and all the entrances
to it, too small for the increased size of their bodies.
To remedy this inconvenience, these creatures know
how to enlarge both the nest and its passages, by
additional operations accommodated to their pre-
sent state. Into these new lodgings they retire when
they want to repose, to screen themselves from the.
injuries of the weather, or to cast their skins. In
fine, after casting their skins several times, the time
of their dispersion arrives. From the beginning to
near the end of June they lead a solitary life. Their
‘ social disposition is no longer felt. Each of them
spins a pod of coarse brownish silk. In a few days
they are changed into chrysalids, and, in eighteen
or twenty days more, are transformed into butter-
flies.

The modes adopted by caterpillars to sereen
themselves from observation are as various as they

THE BUTTERFLY TRIBE. 321

are interesting. Many of them feed enclosed
within the stems of herbaceous plants ; others in the
branches or trunks of trees ; a few within fruits and
the buds of flowers; some on the roots of plants ;
others again float on the surface of the water, be-
tween the leaves of aquatic vegetables, woven
around them with inimitable art; and a very great
number escape.our notice, by taking their nourish-
ment only inthe night. And though many feed on
the leaves of plants and trees in the day-time, yet
some, as if conscious of the similarity of their colour
to that of the undersides of the leaves, and of the
safety they derive from attaching themselves thereto,
are seldom to be seen but in that situation. Many of
the moths, whose colours bear resemblance to those
of the trunks or branches of trees, frequently fix
themselves there, and remain motionless for several
hours together. In these situations, a person unac-
customed to them would not hesitate to pronounce
them, from a little distance, the mere rugosities of
the bark.

These various modes of eluding our sight, added
to the uncertainty of breeding many species when
procured, have prevented our being acquainted with
the larve of the far greater part of the lepidopterous
insects.

THE BUTTERFLY TRIBE.

|
| THESE elegant insects feed on the nectar of
| flowers, and the moisture exuding from the plants
| ‘
wich es, DOT. YY

|

322 THE LARGE GARDEN WHITE BUTTERFLY.

and trees, which they extract by means of their long
proboscis or tongue. ‘Their caterpillars are some-
times smooth, and sometimes thickly covered with
hair; and their chrysalids are naked, and attached,
apparently in a lifeless state, to trees or other sub-
stances, by filaments proceeding either from the tip
or the middle of their bodies.

Their antennz are thicker towards the tip than in
any other part, and generally end ina knob. ‘The
wings, when at rest, are erect, the upper edges
meeting together over the body. ‘They are entirely
diurnal animals.

THE LARGE GARDEN WHITE BUTTERFLY *.

This is a common species, and often, in its ca-
terpillar state, very destructive to our cabbage and
cauliflower plants. The caterpillars seem almost
confined to these vegetables, on which they are ge-
nerally to be found in great numbers from June to
October. The Butterflies first appear on wing in
the middle of May, and, about the end of the same
month, lay their eggs in clusters on the under sides
of cabbage leaves. Ina few days after the caterpil-
lars come forth, and continue to feed together till the
end of June, when they are at their full growth,
They then traverse about in search of convenient
places to fix themselves, where, after their change;
the chrysalis may be sheltered. When such are

LT NS

* Papilio Brassice, Lita

THE MARSH FRITTILLARY. 323

found, they each fasten their tail by a web, and
carry a strong thread of the same round their body
near the head ; and, thus firmly secured, hang afew
hours, when the chrysalis becomes perfectly formed,
and divested of the caterpillar’s skin. In fourteen
days after this the fly is on the wing. The cater-
pillars of this latter brood arrive at full growth, and
change to chrysalids in September, in which state
they remain through the winter till the beginning of
the following May. During this time we often see
them hanging under the copings of garden walls,
under pales, and in other places where they can
have tolerable shelter from the inclemency of the
weather.

The general colour of this Butterfly is white, but
the male differs from the female in having a few
dark spots on his wings *.—The most effectual way
of clearing the cabbage and cauliflower plants of
caterpillars is to send children into the gardens, as
soon as they appear in any numbers, to pick them
off, and destroy them. This may seem a trouble-
some and expensive mode, but it has been found to
answer, even to the extent of clearing many acres of

field cabbages.

THE MARSH FRITTILLARY i

The Marsh Frittillary is a small butterfly, not

* Lewin, p. lvi. tab. 25.
+ SYNONYMS.—Papilio artemis. Fabricivs.—Greasy Frittillary,
or Dishclout. Harris—Marsh Frittillary. Lewin,

Y 2

324 THE MARSH FRITTILLARY.

more than an inch and a half across the broadest
part of its expanded wings. Its colour is a brownish
orange, variegated with yellow and biack, in a small
pattern. The under sides of the wings are lighter,
and chiefly orange and yellow. It is sometimes
called Greasy or Dishclout Frittillary, from these
under sides having always a greasy appearance.

The caterpillars are to be seen, in some particular
situations, in September, in great abundance. They
keep together under the cover of a fine web, which
they spin to defend themselves from the inclemency
of the weather; and in the protection of this they
pass the winter months. During this time they are
so nearly reduced toa torpid state as to require no
food, nor do they venture out of their general cover-
ing till invited by the warmth of the spring. As
they afterwards increase in size they spread abroad
in search of food; but their local attachment is
very remarkable, for neither the caterpillar nor even
the butterfly will stray far from the place where it
was bred. Numbers of the latter may sometimes
be observed on wing in a small spot of swampy or
marsh land, when not one of them is to be met with
in any of the adjacent places. As they fly very low,
and frequently settle, the naturalist has no difficulty
in catching them. ‘The caterpillars are generally at
their full growth about the last week in April:
when this takes place they suspend themselves by
the tail to change into chrysalids, in which state
they remain about fourteen days. Their mode of
suspension is a singular instance of the extraordi-
nary power of instinct. They first draw two or

THE NETTLETORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY. 325

three small blades of grass across towards their top,
and fasten them together by means of their silk:
then hang themselves beneath the centre of these,
each having his own little canopy. By this means
they are not only hidden from the sight of birds, but
defended in a great measure from the damage they
might otherwise sustain from windy and boisterous
weather. They feed on the Devil’s-bit Scabious
(Scabiosa succisa), and on various kinds of the marsh
grasses; eating only the opening leaves as they come
up, which renders them sometimes difficult to find.
This they do also only while the sun shines ; for if,
in the very act, the sun becomes hidden by a cloud,
they immediately cease, but, on the return of the
sun-beams, they recommence their operations with
great voracity.

If any person wishes to observe the operations and
change of these caterpillars at his own home, he has
nothing more to do than to cut a turf from the
place where they are found, and they will feed as
readily there as in their former residence *.

THE NETTLE TORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY sit

The upper wings of this well-known insect, one
of the most beautiful and common of the British
Butterflies, are red, and marked with alternate bands
of black and pale orange; below these are three

* Harris’s Aurelian, p. lvii. tab. 28.—Lewin, p. xxxiv. tab. 15,
+ SYNONYMsS.—Papilio Urtice, Linn.—Nettle Tortoise-shell.
Lewiu.—Tortoise-shell Fly. Aarris,

Y 3

326 THENETTLE TORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY.

black spots, the inner one of which is square ; and
near the extremity of their upper parts is a white
stripe. The lower wings are also red, marked with
a large black patch at the base. ‘The margins of all
of them are black, with blue spots.

These Butterflies are produced from their chry-
salids, and first make their appearance in a winged
state about the month of April. They are short-
lived, laying their eggs in the beginning of the fol-
lowing month, in great numbers, on the uppermost
stalks of the nettles, and dying very shortly after-
wards.

The eggs adhere by means of the glutinous mois-
ture with which they are covered when first pro-
truded, About the middle of the month, the young
caterpillars may be seen of a light green colour on
the nettle-tops, enclosed in a web that covers the
whole upper part of the plant; and in this they all
herd together. They soon cast their first skin, when
they always remove to a fresh place, leaving their
old coverings hanging tothe web. Here, ata Iittle
distance from their former habitation, they form a_
new colony. In their third skin they make another
remove, but still keep together in a web. On
changing this they also change their colour and be-
come black; and as they have now increased too
much in size to live in one society, they separate
into companies. Jn their sixth or last skin they
entirely separate ; and in this state they often make
such ravages among the nettles as to leave nothing
but the stalks and fibres. Sometimes they are seen
so numerous as to cover all the tops, and six or se-

THE NETTLE TORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY. 327

ven inches of the stalks, giving them the appearance
of being enveloped in black cloth.

About the beginning of June they are arrived at
their full growth ; when, fastening their tails by a
web under the nettle-leaves, or to the stalks, they
change into chrysalids. These are at first green,
but, in a day or two, they change to a bright gold, or
else toa greenish brown colour. They remain thus
for about twenty days, when they become Butter-
flies. Some few of this second brood live through
the winter, being frequently found in a state nearly
torpid in that season *.

‘These insects, in common with some others of the
same family +, soon after their enlargement from the
chrysalis state, discharge a few drops of reddish
fluid, which, in places where they have been in
great numbers, has had the appearance of a shower
of blood, and been recorded by writers as the fore-
runner of some extraordinary event. ‘The first dis-
covery of this circumstance that has been recorded
is related by M.de Reaumur. He says that, in the
beginning of July, 1608, the people of the town of
Aix were in the utmost alarm from what they
thought a shower of blood, that had just fallen in
the suburbs, and for some miles round the place.
M. de Peiresc, a philosopher, who, among other
kinds of knowledge, had not neglected that of the

* Harris’s Aurelian .p- iv. tab. 2.——Lewin, p. x. tab. 3.
+ Papilio Atalanta, P. Io, P. Polychloris, &c.

Y4

328 THE NETTLE TORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY.

operations and economy of insects, was consulted
on the subject. He found the walls of a church-
yard near the place, and the walls of several small
villages in the neighbourhood, to be spotted with
large drops of a blood-coloured liquid. A little time
before this he had happened to pick up a large and
beautiful chrysalis, which he had carefully laid in a
box. Immediately after its transformation into the
butterfly state, he remarked that it had left a drop of
blood-coloured liquor on the bottom of the box,
and that this drop, or stain, was as large as a French
sol. The red stains on the walls, on stones near
the highways, and in the fields, were found to be
perfectly similar to that left on the bottom of the
box. M. de Peiresc now no longer hesitated to
pronounce that all those blood-coloured _ stains,
wherever they appeared, proceeded from the same
cause. The prodigious number of butterflies which
he, at the same time, saw flying in the air, confirmed
his original idea. He likewise observed that the
drops of the miraculous rain were never found in the
middle of the town; that they appeared only in
places bordering upon the country ; and that they
never fell upon the tops of houses, or upon walls
more elevated than the height to which butterflies
generally rise. What M. de Peiresc saw himself he
showed to many persons of knowledge, or of curio-
sity, and established, as an incontestable fact, that
the pretended drops of blood were in reality but
drops of a red liquid deposited there by butterflies.
Tt is also deserving of remark that all the showers
I

4

THE SILKWORM. 329

of blood that have been recorded to have happened
took place in the warm seasons of the year, when
the butterflies are most numerous.

THE MOTHS.

THE Moths are only to be seen flying abroad in
the evening and during the night, which are their
times of feeding. The larve or caterpillars are
mostly smooth, and more or less cylindrical: they
are very active creatures, and prey with great vora-
city on the leaves of various plants. Their chrysalids
are either concealed in the ground, or protected from
the inclemency of the weather by a silky covering,
spun by the larve, round their bodies. In this state
they are either simple, or have a kind of hook at
their extremity.

The antenne gradually taper from the base to the
tip. The tongue is spiral, and the wings, when the
animals are at rest, are generally deflected.

THE SILKWORM *.

The Silkworm is found in a native state on mul-
berry-trees in China, and some others of the eastern
countries, from whence it was originally introduced

* SyNONYMS.—Phalena mori. Lina.—Bombye mori. Fabri-
its.

330 THE SILKWORM.

into Europe in the reign of the emperor Justinian.
It is, however, at this time become, in a commercial
view, one of the most valuable of all insects ; affurd-
ing those delicate and beautitul threads that are af-
terwards woven into silk, and used in garments in
almost all parts of the world.

In the warmer climates of the East the Silkworms
are left at liberty upon the trees, where they are
hatched, and on which they form their coccoons ;
but in cooler countries, where these animals have
been introduced, they are kept in a room with a
south aspect, built for the purpose, and fed every
day with fresh leaves.

The eggs are of a straw-colour, and each about
the size of a pin’s head. At its birth the larva or
worm is entirely black, and about as long as a small
ant; and it retains this colour eight or nine days.
The worms are put on wicker shelves, covered first
with paper, and on this with a bed of the most ten-
der of the mulberry-leaves. Several ranges are
placed, one above another, in the same chamber,
about afoot and a half apart. The scaffolding for
these ranges should, however, be in the middle of the
room, and the shelves not too deep. The worm
continues feeding during eight days after its birth,
when it becomes about a fourth of an inch in
Jength: it then experiences akind of lethargic sleep
for three days, during which it casts its skin. It
now feeds for about five days, and is considerably in-
creased in size,, when a second sickness comes:on.
In the next ten days it experiences two other attacks,
by which time it has attained its full growth, and is

THE SILKWORM. 331

somewhat more than an inch in length, and two lines
in thickness. It then feeds, during five days, witha
most voracious appetite, after which it refuses food,
becomes transparent, with a tinge of yellow, and
leaves its silky traces on the leaves that it passes
over. These signs denote that it is ready to begin
its coccoon, in which it is to undergo its change into
a chrysalis.—The animals are then furnished with
little bushes of heath or broom stuck upright be-
tween the shelves: they climb up the twigs, where,
after a little while, they begin the foundation of
their lodge, and are five days in spinning the coc-
coon. ‘They generally remain in this state about
forty-seven days. ;

The retreat that they thus form is a cone or ball
of silk, spun from two longish bags that lie above
the intestines, and are filled with a gummy fluid of
a marigold colour. ‘The apparatus with which the
animal is furnished for spinning the silky threads
that principally compose this bag resembles, in some
measure, a wire-drawer’s machine, in which gold or
silver threads are drawn to any degree of fineness ;
and through this the animal draws its thread with
great assiduity. As every thread proceeds from two
gum-bags, it is probable that each supplies its own;
which, however, are united as they proceed from
the animal’s body. If we examine the thread with
a microscope, it will be found flattened on one side,
and grooved along its whole length. Hence we may
infer that it is doubled just upon its leaving the
body, and that the two threads stick to each other

. by the gummy quality they possess.

892 THE SILKWORM.

In a state of nature, the Silkworm, previous to the
spinning of its web, seeks out some convenient
place to erect its cell without any obstruction.
When it has found a leaf, or a chink fitted to its pur-
pose, it begins to writhe its head in every direction,
and fastens its threads on every side to the walls of
its retreat. These, being continued, form at length
the little oval ball in which it is to undergo its
change.

The exterior of the coccoon is composed of a
kind of rough cotton-like substance, which is called
floss ; within the thread is more distinet and even ;
and next the body of the aurelia the apartment seems
lined with a substance of the hardness of paper, but
of a much stronger consistence. The thread which
composes the coccoon is not rolled regularly round,
but lies upon it ina very irregular manner, and winds
off first from one side, and then from the other.

In the course of six or seven days all the coccoons
are generally formed: they are then taken off the
branches of heath, and divided into classes. The

best are strong, and of a pure unspotted colour.

o,
Some are white, and others yellow. The good ones
are firm and sound, of a fine grain, and have both
ends round and strong. ‘Those of a bright yellow
yield more silk than the others. But the pale ones
are preferred because they take certain colours bet-
ter, and because, since they contain less gum than
the others, they lose less than those in boiling.

Five or six days after the coccoon has been de-
tached from the branches, the birth of the moth is
prevented, as this would otherwise pierce the shell, -

THE SILKWORM. 893

and thereby render the coccoon useless. To prevent
this the coccoons are put into long shallow baskets,
covered up, and baked, for about an hour, in an heat
equal to that of an oven from which the bread is
just drawn after being baked.

After the baking they are disposed in a proper
manner on ozier shelves, distributed into stories, two
or three feet distant from each other.

The whole thread, if measured, will be found
about three hundred yards long; and it is so very
fine that eight or ten threads are generally rolled off
into one by the manufacturers. For this purpose the
coccoons afte put into small coppers or basons of
water, each over a small fire. The ends of the
threads are found by brushing them over gently
with a whisk made for the purpose; and in wind-
ing they are each passed through a hole, in an hort-
zontal bar of iron placed at the edge of the bason,
which prevents them from becoming entangled.

It is generally a fortnight or three weeks before
the insect within the coccoon is changed into a
moth; but, nosooner is it completely formed than,
having divested itself of its aurelia skin, it prepares
to burst through its prison. For this purpose it ex-
tends its head towards the point of the coccoon,
and gnaws a passage through its cell, small at first,
but enlarging as the animal increases its efforts for
emancipation. The tattered remnants of its aurelia
skin are Jeft in confusion within the coccoon, like a
little bundle of dirty linen.

The animal, thus set free, appears exhausted with
fatigue, and seems produced for no other purpose

334 THE CLOTHES MOTH.

than to transmit a future brood. The male dies im-
mediately after its conjunction with the female ;
and she only survives him till she has laid her eggs,
which are to be hatched into worms in the ensuing
spring. 3

In many parts of Italy the inhabitants contrive to
have two silk harvests in the year. They keep the
eggs in very cool places; and, when the mulberry
trees (after having been stripped entirely of their
leaves for former worms) begin to bud a second
time, they expose the eggs to be hatched.

During the whole time, in which the animals con-
tinue in a worm state, the utmost care and attention
is necessary, as they are extremely susceptible of
cold, dampness, and unpleasant smells*.

THE CLOTHES MOTH f.

The larva of this little Moth is well known from
the damage it commits on woollen cloth and furs.
These substances constitute the principal support
of the caterpillar, and therefore the parent is, by its
natural instinct, directed to deposit its eggs in them.
The caterpillar, as soon as it quits the egg, begins to
form for itself a nest: for this purpose, after having
spun a fine coating of silk immediately around its
body, it cuts the filaments of the wool or fur close by

* Hare and Skinner on the Progress of the Silkworm from the Egg.
Amer. Phil. Tran. ii. 347.

+ S¥NONYMs.—Phalena sarcitella. Z77%,.6Sinea sarcitella. Fa-
bricius,

THE CLOTHES MOTH. S95

the thread of the cloth, or by the skin, with its teeth,
which act in the manner of scissars, into convenient
lengths, and applies the bits, one by one, with great
dexterity to the outside of its silken case, to which it
fastens them by means of its silk. Its covering
being thus formed, it never quits it but in cases of
the most urgent necessity. When it wants to feed it
puts out its head at either end of its case, as best
suits its conveniency. When it wishes to change
its place it puts out its head, and its six fore legs, by
means of which it moves forward, taking care first
to fix its hind legs into the inside of the case so as
to drag it along.

It lives in this manner till, by the augmentation of
its size, its case becomes too small for the body :
when this is felt it begins by making a small addition
to one end; then, turning itself within the case,
which is always wide enough in the middle for that
purpose, it makes alike addition to the other end,
so as still to preserve the widest part exactly in the
middle; and in the same manner it makes every
successive addition.

The progress of its operations may be easily re-
marked, by transferring it from cloth of one colour
to that of another. In this case every fresh addi-
tion will become conspicuous, by forming a small
ring of the respective colours at each end as they are
used.

When the case wants widening, the insect, with
its scissar-like teeth, begins by making a slit length-
ways, from the centre to one of the extremities.
This opening it instantly fills up with a thin stripe

3

336 rHt CLOTHES mMoTH.

of wool externally, and silk internally, in the same
manner asin the other parts. It afterwards, at a lit-
tle distance from this, makes another slit at the
same end, which it also fills up ; then, turning itself
within, it repeats the same process from the centre
to the other end.

‘After changing within its case into a chrysalis, in
about three weeks it issues a small-winged noctur-
nal Moth, of a silvery-erey colour, well known to al-
most every mistress of a family.

Jt may be found useful to point out the best
modes of preventing the havoc which these insects
commit in our wardrobes and furniture-—The smell
of oil of turpentine is instantaneous death to them :
if, therefore, the goods affected by them be put into
a close place, along with a saucer or other open ves-
sel containing oil of turpentine, the warm air raising
the vapour will immediately destroy them. Some-
times, if the caterpillars be old and strong, it may be
necessary to brush the clothes with a brush, the
points of which have been dipped in the turpentine.
The smoke of tobacco also kills them; and ‘cloth
that has been steeped in a decoction of tobacco-
Jeaves will never be affected by them.

‘Geert

THE DRAGON-FLIES*.

THE Dyagon-flies are an extremely ravenous
tribe, hovering over stagnant pools, as the hawks
do over the land, in search of prey. Their larve
are active inhabitants of the water; and, furnished
with forcipated jaws, they prey with the most rapa
cious ferocity on aquatic insects. The chrysalis re,
sembles the larva in every respect except in having
the rudiments cf wings.

In both these primary states the animals respire
water by receiving and ejecting it at an aperture
at the termination of their bodies. They are occa-
sionally observed to throw out water from thence
with such force that the stream is perceptible to the
distance of two or three inches from their bodies. If
they be kept some time out of water, the desire or
necessity of respiration is augmented: and, accord-
ingly, when replaced in a vessel filled with water,
inspirations and respirations are repeated with un-
usual force and frequency. If one of them is held in
the hand, and drops of water are applied to the pos-
terior end of its body, it instantly, by an apparatus

* The Linnean order of NEUROPTEROUSINSECTS commences with
this tribe. —

TOL: BUT: Z

338 THE GREAT DRAGON-FLY.

somewhat similar to the piston of a pump, sucks in
the water, and the dimensions of its body are visi-
bly augmented. This water is again quickly thrown
out by the same instrument. But, though this in-
sect thus respires water, air seems to be not the less
necessary to its existence: for, like other insects,
the whole interior part of its body is amply provided
with large and convoluted breathing pipes: and,
externally, there are several small openings destined
for the introduction of air.

The mouth of the Dragon-fly is armed with jaws,
generally more than two in number. ‘The antenna
are very thin, of equal thickness throughout, and
shorter than the thorax. The wings are expanded,
and the tail of the male insect is furnished with a
forked process.

THE GREAT DRAGON-FLY™®.

The length of this insect is about four inches,
and it is of proportionate thickness. The eyes are
blue and large. The thorax is variegated with
green, yellow, and black; and the abdomen ge-
nerally with blue and black ; but the colours vary
considerably.

This is, in its perfect state, one of the most bril-
liant of the British species, and affords a singular
instance of the wonderful diversity of form and man-
ners between the larva and complete states of the
same animal.

* SYNONYMS.=——Libellula grandis. Linn.———ZEshna grandis
Fabricius. Great Libellula, variegated Libellula,

THE GREAT DRAGON-=FLY. 339

The parent insect, towards the end of May,
when ready to deposit her eggs, seeks the warm
and sheltered sides of ponds or ditches. She drops
them on the surface, hovering at the same time up
and down just above. They immediately sink to the
bottom, and, after a little while, are hatched into
larve of a dirty brown colour with six legs, and
bearing no resemblance whatever to the parent.
These are excessively voracious, and destroy with
their forcipated jaws multitudes of the weaker water
insects. This formidable apparatus is so constructed
as to fold over the face when at rest, and to be sud-
denly thrown forwards, when in action, to a con-
siderable extent. The chrysalis differs from the
larva only in exhibiting the rudiments of future
wings, which are enveloped in short cases or pro-
cesses on the back of the animal. After remaining
in this state about two years, the animal ascends
the stem of some water-plant, and, sitting some time
in the sun-shine, gives birth to the insect in its per-
fect or ultimate form. This generally so disengages
itself from the skin of the chrysalis that it leaves
it in exactly its former appearance on the stem.
«© About the beginning of May,” says Mr. Bartram,
in the Philosophical Transactions, “ I observed
many deformed water insects called Hexapodes creep
out of the water and fix on shrubs and rushes. In
this situation they continued but a few hours before
their backs split open, and from the deformed crea-
tures sprung out beautiful flies with bright shining
wings, all of which in less than an hour afterwarcs
attained their complete dimensions.” At the first

Lig

340 THE GREAT DRAGON-FLY.

exclusion of the insect the wings are weak and
tender, and folded into a very narrow compass.
During their unfolding, and till they become per-
fectly dry, it continues almost motionless; but they
are no sooner completed than the little animal com-
mences an inhabitant of the air, and would now be
as effectually destroyed by continual submersion
under water, as the larva would before have been
by exposure to the air *.

In their complete state, the Dragon-flies, as I
have already remarked, feed on the smaller insects ;
and they are also remarkable for the vigour and ce-
lerity of their fight. Mr. Revett Sheppard informed
me that, in the summer of 1801, he sate for some
time by the side of a pond, to observe a large Dragon-
fly as it was hawking backwards and forwards in
search of prey, when suddenly a large white But-
terfly, Papilio Brassica, flew past. The Dragon-fly in-
stantly attacked and caught it in the air, then settled
on a twig, close at hand, to eat it at leisure. It bit
off all the wings, and then, in less than a minute,
devoured the whole body.

These insects, which are very common in England,
delight in sunshine, and are seldom to be seen abroad
in cloudy weather, hiding themselves, during the
absence of the sun, under the leaves and branches

of trees.

* Phil. Tran. vol. xlvie pe 323.mmm—Shaw’s Nat, Mis. vol. 12.

tab. 459.

{ 9480

THE EPHEMERZ OR DAY-FLIES.

THE Ephemere differ in many respects from all
other insects. Their /arve live in water (where earth
and clay seem to be their only nourishment) for three

years, the time they consume in preparing for their

change, which is performed in a few moments. The
larva, when ready to quit that state, arises to the
surface of the water, and, getting instantaneously
rid of the skin, becomesa chrysalis. This chrysalis is
furnished with wings, which it makes use of to fly
to the nearest tree or wall ; and, there settling, it in
the same moment quits a second skin and becomes
a perfect Ephemera. In this state all the species
live but a very short time, some of them scarcely
half an hour, having no other business to perform
than that of continuing the race. ‘They are called
the insects of a day ; but very few of them ever see
the light of the sun, being produced after sunset,
during the short nights of summer, and dying long
before the dawn. All their enjoyments therefore
seem confined entirely to their larva state.

The Ephemere are very frequent near waters, and
in some places multiply enormously. About Laz, in
Carniola, a province in Germany, we are informed,
by Scopoli, that they are so numerous in the month
of June that they are used as manure, and if each
farmer cannot obtain more than twenty cart loads,
the harvest is considered a bad one.

The larve scoop out dwellings in the banks of ri-
vers, which consist of small tubes made like syphons,

Z 3

342 THE COMMON EPHEMERA OR DAY-FLY-+

with two holes, the one serving for an entrance, and
the other as an outlet; and these are so numerous
that the banks of some rivers are observed to be full
of them. When the waters decrease, they dig fresh
holes lower down. ‘The flies are hatched nearly all
at the same instant, in such numbers as even to
darken the air.

The females, by the help of the threads of their
tails, and the flapping of their wings, support them-
selves on the surface of the water, and, in an almost
upright position, drop their eggs in little clusters
into the water *. A single insect will lay some-
times seven or eight hundred.

The mouth of the perfect insect has no jaws, but
is furnished with four very short thread-shaped feel-
ers, The antenne are short and thread-shaped ;
and, above the eyes, there are two or three large
stemmata. ‘The wings are erect (the lower ones
much the shortest) and the tail is terminated by
long hairs or bristles.

THE COMMON EPHEMERA OR DAY-FLY Te

M. de Reaumur has described very accurately the
metamorphosis of one species, which, except in the
time of the year when it is produced, and the dura-
‘ion of its fly state, seems very much to resemble the
present species, and is most probably only a variety.

On the nineteenth of August, 1738, he waited for

‘ime aiter sut-set on the bank of the Seine, to

sen. Insect. 213. t Ephemera vulgata. Linn.

THE COMMON EPHEMERA OR DAY-FLY. 343

see, as he had been informed he might, millions of
Ephemerz come out of the water, and rise into the
air, and was returning disappointed along with his
servants, who were carrying a tub containing several
lumps of earth full of their holes and nympha,
when scarcely had it been set on one of the steps of
the stairs than those who had the charge of it ex-
claimed, “ What a vast quantity of Ephemera are
here !” M. de Reaumur seized one of the lights, and
ran to the tub. Every part of the earth that was
above the water was covered with Ephemera, some
of which had just begun to put off their coverings,

others had almost effected it, and others entirely
completed it, and were about to take wing. A
storm of lightning and rain, which had nee: some
time coming on, now drove him into the house ;
but, to prevent the Ephemera trom flying away en-
tirely in his absence, he had the precaution to cover
the tub with a cloth. The violence of the rain con-
tinued for about half an hour, and on its ceasing he
returned to the garden. On taking off the covering
he found the number of Ephemera very considera-
bly augmented, and they continued to multiply
for some time as he stood watching them. The
number already transformed from the earth, that
they had conveyed from the river, would have been
sufficient to have filled the tub; but this number
was prodigiously augmented by the accession of
strangers, which were attracted by the light from
all quarters... He again spread the cloth over the
tub, and the light was held,above it: imme-
diately the cloth was almost concealed by the

Z 4

344 THE COMMON EPHEMERA OR DAY-FLY.

vast multitudes which alighted upon it. But what
he had seen about the tub was nothing to what he
saw when he went again to the side of the river.
“The quantity of Ephemere,” says he, “ which filled
the air, can neither be expressed nor conceived.
When snow falls thickest, and in the largest flakes,
the air is never so completely filled with them as
that which surrounded us was with Ephemere.
Scarcely had I remained a few minutes in one
place, when the step on which I stood was covered
in every part with their bodies, to the depth of two
or three, and in some places even of more than four
inches. The whole surface of the water, for six
feet at least from the bank, was entirely covered
with a coat of Ephemere ; those which the cur-
rent carried off were more than replaced by those
which fell continually in that place. I was several
times compelled to abandon my station, by retreat-
ing to the top of the stair, not being able to sustain
the shower of Ephemere which, not falling so per-
pendicularly as an ordinary shower, or with an obli-
quity equally constant, struck me uninterruptedly,
and in a very troublesome manner, on all parts of
the’ face: my eyes, nose, and mouth, were filled
with Ephemera. It was an unpleasant post to
hold the candle on this occasion: the man who
held it had his whole body covered with these flies
in an instant; they rushed to him from all parts in
such quantities as to oppress him. The light of the
candle occasicned a spectacle altogether different
from any thing that can be observed in any kind of
meteorological shower: it was enchanting when

THE COMMON EPHEMERA OR DAY-FLY, 345

once observed. The most unobserving of my do-
mestics could scarcely ever have been-tired of ad-
miring it. No astronomic sphere was ever formed
so complicated as it was, nor furnished with so
many’circular zones in every possible direction, hay-
ing the flame of the candle for their common cen-
tre. Their number appeared to be infinite, having
all possible degrees of obliquity with respect to—
each other. Each zone was formed by an uninter-
rupted string of Ephemere, which, as if tied toge-
ther, followed each other close in the same line;
they seemed to form a circular ribbon of silver,
deeply indented on its edges ; a ribbon formed of
equal triangles put end to end, so that the angles of
those that followed were supported by the base of
that which preceded, the whole moving round with
great quickness. Ephemere, whose wings only
were then distinguishable, and which circulated
around the light, formed this appearance. Each of
‘these flies, after having described one or two orbits,
fell to the earth, or into the water, but without hay-
ing been burned by the candle.” At the end of
about half an hour from its commencement, the
great shower began to abate, and in little more
than an hour scarcely any Ephemerz could be seen
above the river, and no more came near the candle.
This phenomenon M. de Reaumur found, upon
examination, took place every evening, commenc-
ing usually about the same hour, during most of the
summer months.

In this short period of existence, the female ap-
pears to have no other business than to lay her eggs.

346 THE MYRMELEON TRIBE.

These are contained in two large packets, each con-
taining from 300 to 400, which are both extruded
from the body at the same time, through two open-
ings formed for the purpose, and they fall together,
in one accumulated mass, upon the water. ‘TO ena-
ble the creature to extrude these, and at the same
time to fill up the great vacuum in the abdomen,
that must instantaneously take place, the fly is pro-
vided with a couple of small bladders, which it has
the power of filling with air.

The singular quickness and ease with which
these little creatures strip themselves of the slough
of the nymph, in order to become flies, is very sur-
prising. We do not draw our arm more quickly |
from the sleeve of a coat, than the Ephemerz draws
its body, its wings, its legs, and the long filaments
of its tail, from that complicated vestment which
forms a kind of sheath for all these parts. No
sooner is a rent effected in the corcelet, and the
body seen through that rent, than the rest of the
operation is finished in an instant. Sometimes, in-
deed, it happens that the filaments of the tail can-
not be so quickly disengaged as the rest of the body.’
In this case, the insects fly away with their slough
appended: and sometimes also these slender fila-
ments are broken off.

THE MYRMELEON TRIBE.

THE antennz of these insects are about the
length of the thorax, and thickest at the tip, The

THE ANT-LION. 347

mouth is armed with jaws, teeth, and six feelers.
The wings are deflected ; and the abdomen of the
male terminates in a forceps composed of two
straight filaments.

The Jarve are hairy, with six feet, and strong
exserted toothed jaws. They prey with most sa-
vage ferocity on ants, and some of the other smaller
insects ; and, for the purpose of ensnaring the prey,
form a kind of funnel or pit in light earth, at the
bottom of which they lie buried. The manners of
most of the tribe greatly resemble those of the fol-
lowing species. |

The chrysalis is inclosed in a little ball of sand or
earth, the particles of which are agglutinated toge-
ther by a viscid matter, which the larva mixes with
It previously to its change.

THE ANT LION *.

The name of this insect is received from its living
principally on ants. It is the caterpillar of a fly
somewhat resembling the dragon-fly. In the mode
of taking its prey, and in the figure of its body, it
is not much unlike the spider. Its body is com-
posed of several rings, and its colour is a dirty grey,
marked with black spots. The head is small and
flat, and from this proceed two horns, each about
the sixth of an inch long, hard, hollow, and hooked
- at the end.

* Myrmeleon formicarius. Lian.

348 THE ANT-LION.

In its larva state, this creature obtains its food only
by stratagem. His usual situation is in a dry sandy
soil, under some old wall or other protection from
the wind. Here he forms a pit of the shape of a
funnel. If this is only to be small, he thrusts him-
self backward pretty deep, and artfully throws out
the loose sand, which has fallen in upon him, be-
yond the edges of the hollow, and at the bottom
he then lies concealed, © If it is to be of greater ex-
tent, he begins by first tracing in the surface of the
sand a tolerably large circle, which is to form its
base. He then gets under the sand near the edge,
and, proceeding backwards in a spiral direction,
carefully throws up all the particles that fall upon
his body beyond the circumference of the circle:
this he continues till he arrives at the apex of the
cone he has thus formed. His long neck, and flat
head, he uses as a spade; and the strength of these
parts is so great that he is able to throw off at
once a considerable quantity of sand to even six
inches distance.

His pit being finished, he buries himself among
the sand at the bottom, leaving only his horns visi-
ble.. Here he patiently waits for his prey. When
an ant or any other small insect happens to walk
over the edges of the hollow, its steps force down
some of the particles, which gives the Ant-lion no-
tice of its presence. He immediately throws up
the sand which covers his head, to overwhelm the
ant, and, with its returning force, bring it to the bot-
tom: this he continues to do till the insect is over-
come, and falls between his horns... Every endea-

THE ANT-LION. 349

vour to escape, when once the incautious ant has
stepped within the verge of the pit, is vain; for in
all its attempts to climb the side, the deceptious
sand slips from under its feet, and every struggle
precipitates it still lower. When within reach, its
enemy plunges the points of his jaws into its body,
and, having sucked out all its juices, throws out the
empty skin to some distance, that the den may not
become frightful to others by seeing their fellow
carcases strewed about. This done, the insect
mounts the edges of his pit, and repairs whatever
injury it may have sustained ; and then, descending,
again conceals himself at the bottom.

The jaws of this creature are hollow, and serve as
pumps to draw into its stomach the juices of those
insects on which it feeds; for in the head there is
no mouth, nor any other organ which can answer
the same purpose. The horns being therefore so
necessary to its life, nature has provided for the re-
storing of them in case of accident ; for, if cut off,
they are found to grow again.

The food this creature procures by its pit can be
but little ; and as it has no power of catching its
‘prey in any other way, its motions being very slow,
some persons have believed that its catching now
and then an ant by this means, was rather an act of
diversion than hunger. But though the Ant-lion.
will live a long time without food, and even pass
through all its changes when shut up in a box, yet
it is always ready to eat when food is offered to it.
It always appears starved and small when kept
thus; and if a fly is given to it in that hungry state,

I

350 THE ANT-LION.

it will suck out all its juices so perfectly that the |
remaining shell may be rubbed to powder between
the fingers, whilst the body of the creature that has
sucked it appears remarkably swelled and distended.
For the sake of experiment, M. Poupart put one of
them into a wooden box with some sand, and co-
vered it witha glass, so as to exclude every other in-
sect. Here it formed its cone, and watched as
usual for prey, though in vain. Thus he kept it for
several months, while in an adjoining box he kept
another of the same species, which he supplied with
food by giving it ants and flies pretty regularly.
He could perceive no difference between the move-
ments or actions of the two; but, when he took
them from their holes, he found the abdomen of
that which had received no food was shrunk to a
very diminutive size, whilst the other retained its
proper shape,

When the Ant-lion has lived its usual time in the
Jarva state, it leaves its pit, and buries itself under
the surface of the sand. Here it incloses itself in a
fine web, in which it is to pass its transformation
into a winged state. This web is made of a sort of
silk, which the creature spins in the manner of the
spider, and of a quantity of the grains of sand ce-
mented together by a glutinous humour which flows
from its pores. This case, however, would be too
harsh and coarse for the body of the creature, and
therefore it serves only for the covering, to defend
it from external injuries; the animal spinning one
of pure and incomparably fine silk, of a beautiful

THE ANT-LION. 351

pearl colour, within it, which covers its whole
body.

When it has Jain some time in this case, it throws
off its outer skin, and becomes an oblong nymph or
chrysalis, in which a careful eye may trace the form
of the fly into which it is to be transformed. This
nymph makes its way about half out of the shell,
and remains in this condition, but without further
life or motion, till the perfect fy comes out at a slit
in the back. In this last state, as I have before
observed, it much resembles the dragon flies.

When this insect forms its pit in a bed of pure |
sand, it is made and repaired with great ease; but,
where it meets with other substances among the
sand, the labour becomes much more embarrassing.
If, for instance, when the creature has half formed
it, it comes to a stone of some moderate size,
it does not desert the work on this account, but
goes on, intending to remove that impediment the
last. When the pit is finished, it crawls backward
up the side of the place where the stone is; and,
getting its tail under it, takes great pains and time
to get it on a true poise, and then begins to crawl
backward with it up the edge to the top of the pit
to get it out of the way. It is a very common thing
to see the Ant-lion labouring in this manner at a
stone four times as big as its own body; and as it
can only move backward, and the poise is difficult
to keep, especially up a slope of such crumbling
matter as sand, which moulders away from under
its feet, and necessarily alters the position of its
body, the stone very frequently rolls down, when

ta]
~
a

wa

352 THE ANT-LION.

near the verge, quite to the bottom. In this casé
the animal attacks it again in the same way, and
is not often discouraged by five or six miscarriages ;
but continues its struggles so long that it at length
gets it over the verge of the place. When it has
done this, it does not leave it there, lest it should roll
in again; but is always at the pains of pushing it
farther on, till it has removed it to a necessary dis«
tance from the edge of the pit.

The insect, in a perfect state, is but seldom
found: it is, however, sometimes to be met with in
sandy places and near rivulets. It is marked in
Dr. Turton’s translation of the Systema Natura, asa
native of this country, but I have never yet heard of
any one’s discovering it.

THE ICHNEUMON TRIBE*:

ALL the Ichneumons are parasitical; their larve
deriving support from other insects. The female,
when about to lay her eggs, perforates with her sting
either the body or the nidus of some other insect or
caterpillar, and deposits them there. The sting of
one of the species, though extremely fine, is so strong
as to penetrate through mortar and plaster. The
food of the family to be produced from the eggs of
this fly is the larvae of wasps or mason-bees; for
it no sooner discovers one of those nests than it
fixes on it, and in a moment bores through the
mortar of which it is built.

Some species agglutinate their eggs upon cater-
pillars; others penetrate their bodies, and deposit
the eggs in their inside. When the Jarve are
hatched, the head is so situated that they pierce
the caterpillars, and penetrate to their very entrails.
These larve suck the nutritious juices of the crea-
tures without attacking their vitals; for they seem
to be all the time perfectly healthy, and even some-
times are enabled to transform themselves into chry-
salids. * A friend of mine,” says Dr. Derham,
** put about forty large caterpillars, collected from
cabbages, on some bran and a few leaves, into a
box, and covered it with gauze to prevent escape.

* The Linnean order of HYMENOPTEROUS INSECTS commences
here.

OME oT El. Aa

354 ICHNEUMON MANIFESTATOR.

After a few days we saw, from more than three
fourths of them, about eight or ten Iittle caterpillars
of the Ichneumon fly come out of their backs, and
spin each a small coccoon of silk, and in a few days
the large caterpillars died.’”—The Ichneumons per-
formed singular service, in the years 1731 and 1732,
by multiplying in the same proportion as the cater-
pillars: their larvee destroyed infinitely more of
these voracious creatures than could possibly have
been done by all the efforts of human industry *.—
Aphides or Plant lice, and the larvz of various other
insects, are also made the nidus of the Ichneumon. ©

The antenne of the Ichneumon flies taper to-.
wards their extremity, and consist of more than
thirty joints or articulations. “The mouth is armed
with jaws, and has four unequal thread-shaped
feelers. At the extremity of the abdomen there is
a long sting, having, however, no pungent pro-
perty, inclosed in a cylindrical sheath composed of
two valves.

ICHNEUMON MANIFESTATOR.

The present species is about an inch in length
from the head to the extremity of the abdomen:
the tail measures near an inch and a half, and the
antenne somewhat more than half an inch. The
body is black, and the legs are dusky. ‘The abdo-
men is cylindrical and sessile, not being connected

* Barbut’s Gen. Insect. 245,

ICHNEUMON MANIFESTATOR. 358

with the thorax, as in several of the species, by a
pedicle.

The care and attention paid by the whole of the
animal creation to the preservation of their offspring,
is a subject that has employed the attention and ex-
cited the admiration of all ages; yet there are few
creatures in which these properties are more mani-
fest than in this diminutive animal.

Thomas Marsham, esq. an accurate observer of
nature, seems to have been the first who has re-
corded this part of the economy of the Ichneumon
Manifestator. In the month of June 1787, he
observed one of these insects on the top of a post
in Kensington Gardens. It moved rapidly along,
having its antenne bent in the form of an arch;
and, with a strong vibratory motion in them, felt
about until it came to a hole made ‘by some insect,
into which it thrust them quite to the head. It re-
‘mained about a minute in this situation apparently
very busy, and then, drawing its antenne out, came
round to the opposite side of the hole, and again
thrust them in, and remained nearly the same time.
It next proceeded to one side of the hole, and re=
peated the same operation there. Having now
again drawn out its antenne, it turned about;
and, dexterously measuring a proper distance,
threw back its abdomen over its head and
thorax, and projected the long and. delicate tube
at its tale into the hole. “After remaining near two
minutes in this position, it drew out the tube, turned
round, and again applied its antenna to the hole
- for nearly the same time as before;

Zt Cal
A a2

and then again

356 ICHNEUMON MANIFESTATOR.

inserted its tube. This operation was repeated
three times; but Mr. Marsham approaching too
near, in order, if possible, to observe with a glass
what was passing in the tube, he frightened the
insect entirely away.

About a week afterwards Mr. M. was in Ken-
sington Gardens, and saw several of these Ichneu-
mons at work. ‘They appeared to pierce the solid
wood with their tubes, which they forced in even
to half their length, constantly passing them be-
tween the hinder thighs, which they closed in or-
der to keep the tubes straight, when over resistance
would otherwise have forcedthemto bend. It ap-
peared truly surprising to see an instrument, appa-
rently weak and slender, able, with the strength of
so small an animal, to pierce solid wood half or
three quarters of an inch deep ; but, on particular
attention, it was discovered, that all those that ap-
peared to pierce the solid wood, did it through the
centre of a small white spot resembling mold or
mildew, which, on minute examination, was found
to be fine white sand, delicately closing up a hole
made by the pis maxillosa, and where, no doubt,
there were young bees deposited.

In deep holes that were not closed the insect not
only thrust in the whole tube, but in some cases the
whole of the abdomen and posterior legs, leaving
out only the two fore feet and wings, which it
placed in contrary directions like arms. ‘The two
cases of the tube were also projected up the back,
with the ends appearing above the head out of the
hole. 3

—.

YCHNEUMON MANIFESTATOR. 357

From Mr. Marsham’s account it appears that
these insects do not adopt any hole indiscriminately
as a situation for their eggs; for, in many instances,
he saw them thrust their antenne into holes and
crevices from which they almost immediately with-
drew them, and proceeded in search of others.
As the whole of the [chneumons deposit their eggs
in the body of some other creature as a nidus, it
appears probable that in these instances they found
the holes empty, and that they went on in search
of those in which the young of the pis maxillosa
were deposited.

A particular instance of sagacity in one of these
little animals is deserving of remark. While it had
its tube inserted, the cases were, as usual, pro-
jected upwards out of the hole; and the wind being ~
very powerful rendered it difficult for this deli-
cate animal to maintain its situation, as these long
cases were so strongly acted upon by the wind as
to endanger its being overset several times. ‘To
remedy this inconvenience, with a wonderful dex-
terity, it brought the cases down between its legs,
and projected them forwards under its body to-
ward the head ; by which means it retained its situ-
ation securely *.

* Linn; rans. 24

A. 3"

THE SPHEGES.

MANY species of the Sphex are common in
England. hey are chicfly found in woods and
hedges ; and their /arve feed on dead insects, in the
bodies of which the parent Spheges lay their eggs.

Some of the species dig holes in the earth, like
dogs, with their fore feet, in each of whith they
bury a dead insect, after depositing their eggs in its
body, and then carefully close them up again with
earth. |
No creatures whatever display greater affection
for their offspring than these ; nor are any more ra-
pacious. They are excessively fierce, and, without
hesitation, attack insects much larger than them-
selves. Their strength is very great, their jaws are
hard and sharp, and their stings armed with a poison,
which suddenly proves fatal to most of the creatures
with which they engage. The Sphex seizes with
the greatest boldness on the creature it attacks, giv-
ing a stroke with amazing force, then falling off to
rest from the fatigue of the exertion, and to enjoy
the victory. It keeps, however, a steady eye on the
object it has struck till it dies, and then drags it to
its nest for the use of the young. The number of
insects that this creature destroys is almost beyond
conception, fifty scarcely serving for a meal: the
mangled remains about the mouth of its retreat
sufficiently betray the sanguinary inhabitant. The
eyes, the filament that serves as a brain, and a small
part of the contents of the body, are all that the
Sphex eats. ins |

THE TURNER SAVAGE. 359

‘The antennz in this tribe consist of ten joints or
articulations ; ana the mouth is armed with jaws.
The wings in both sexes are extended, and do not
fold together. The sting is pungent, and concealed
within the abdomen.

THE TURNER SAVAGE ™.,

This insect lives in the haunts of men, whom it
never willingly offends ; but it is the terror of all
the smaller insects. It inhabits holes in the earth
on the sides of hills and cliffs, and recesses that it
forms for itself in the mud-walls of cottages and
outhouses. The mud-wall of a coftage in Peterbo-
rough, in Northamptonshire, was observed to be >
frequented by these creatures; and, on examination,
it was found to have been wrought into the appear-
ance of honey-comb by their operations.

The eggs, as in all the other species, are deposited
by the female in the back part of the cells. ‘These
are stored with insects, for food te the larvae, as
soon as they come into life, and then filled up.

Dr. Derham observes that a species of Savage
built its nest in a little hole of his study window.
The cell was coated over with an odoriferous and re-
sinous gum, collected, as he supposed, from some
neighbouring fir-trees. The insect laid two eggs,
and he soon afterwards observed it several times to
carry in maggots, some of which were even larger

* Sphex spirifex. Linz.

Aa4

360 THE COMMON SAND-WASP.

thar itself. These it very sagaciously sealed up
with great carefulness in the nest, and then altoge-
ther left it.

THE SAND-WASP TRIBE.

THE Sand-wasps were separated from the last
tribe by the Rev. Mr. Kirby ; though, in their man-
ners and economy, the insects of each bear a near
resemblance. In their external appearance there
are, however, characteristics sufficient to admit,
with great propriety, of two genera.

In these the beak is conical, inflected, and con-
tains a retractile tubular tongue that is cleft at the
end. The jaws form a kind of forceps, and are
three-toothed at the tip ; and the antenna, in each
sex, are thread-shaped, with about fourteen joints,
or articulations. .The eyes are oval, and the wings
plane. ‘The sting is pungent, and concealed in the
abdomen.

THE COMMON SAND-WASP ™.

In this species the antennz have thirteen articu-
lations, and are inserted ina hollow on the front of
the head The abdomen is club-shaped, and joined
to the thorax by a long two-jointed pedicle. ‘The

* SyNONYMS.—Sphex sabulosa. Liz2.—Ammophila vulgaris. Kir-
By in Linn, Tran.

THE COMMON SAND-WASP. 361

wings are equal, and the colours of the body black
and ferruginous alternately.

It is very common about sandy banks exposed
to the sun, in Norfolk and Suffolk, but rare in the
neighbourhood of London. It is easily distinguished
from other insects by the elongated pedicle of its ab-
domen, and very short wings. When it flies it al-
ways carries its abdomen pointing upwards, so as to
be nearly at right angles with that part of the tho-
rax to which it is attached *.

Its history is interesting, and, in its manners, it 1s
greatly allied to the species of the preceding genus.
The most pleasing fact is that related by Mr. Ray:
“ T observed one of them (says he) dragging a green
caterpillar thrice its own size ; it laid this down near
the mouth of a burrow that it had made in the
ground; then, removing a little ball of earth with
which it had covered the orifice, it first went down
itself, and, atter staying a short time, returned, and,
seizing the caterpillar again, drew it down with
him. Then leaving it there, it came up, and, taking
some little globules of earth, rolled them one by one
into the burrow, scraping the dust in by intervals
with its fore-feet, in the manner of a dog, thus alter-
nately rolling in pieces of earth, and scraping in
dust till the hole was full; sometimes going down
(as it seemed to me) to press down the earth; and
once or twice flying to a fir-tree which grew near,
perhaps to get turpentine to glue it down, and make

a

* Kirby in Linn. Tran. iv. 185.

302 THE BLUE SAND-WAs?.

it firm. The hole being filled, and equalled with
the superficies of the earth, that. its entrance might
not be discovered, it took two fir-leaves that were
near, and laid them by the mouth, most probably to
mark the place *.”

THE BLUE SAND-WASP f.

These little creatures form for their cells eylindri-
cal pipes of clay, each about the thickness and
length of the little finger, against the timber under
the roofs of houses, or under pales where they may
be sheliered from the weather. ‘They form eight or
ten of them by the side of and joining to each other,
Fach of these tubes is divided by several partitions,
betwixt every one of which the female Jays an egg 5
and as they are formed they are stopped up; but
none of them without an egg, and the bodies of
several insects to support the future young before it
can come tolight. When one is stopped up another
is begun at its end, and so on till the whole work
is completed. These insects are silent at all times,
except during the plastering and forming of their
cells ; and they no sooner set about their work than
they always emit an odd but pleasing sound, which
is audible at the distance of ten or twelve yards,
and seems to render their Jabour cheerful. It is ex-
ceedingly diverting to observe the surprising dex-
terity and the whimsical. gesticulations that they

* Ray’s Hist. Insects, p. 254.
+ SYNONYMS.—Sphex cyanea. Linn—Vespa Ichneumon carula,
Catesby.

Ammophila cyanea, Kirby.

THE BLUE SAND-WASP. 363

adopt in performing this important business. They
first moisten the clay, then temper it into a little Jump
of the size and shape of a swan-shot, and apply it
to the walls of their nest. They commence their
operations at the upper part, and work downwards,
till the cell is long enough to contain the chrysalis.
After having spread out this httle lump in a pro-
per manner, they return for fresh materials.
They cease their humming noise the moment they
depart from their cell, but always commence it im-
mediately on putting together the materials they
have been out tor. When a cell is finished, they are |
always very careful to render it perfectly smooth on
the inside. | |
The insects that this fly secures for its young are
principally spiders, which will in some measure ac-
count for its generally forming its cell under roofs of
buildings, and other places where spiders are usually
found. It does not kill them, but only in some
manner so disables them that they cannot escape; by
which means they are preserved alive and uncor-
rupted till the young larva is produced, which is not
long after the egg is deposited. They sometimes
seize and fly off with spiders that are equal in size
to themselves ; and when one of them proves too
weighty to be carried off, if if is not at a great distance,
the insect drags it to her nest. Mr. Catesby once
saw an exceedingly large spider dragged up a wall
by one of these flies to its nest; and- both of them
being caught and weighed, it was found that the
spider was eight times the weight of the fly.
By the time the larva has devoured all its provi-
; , ee. |

364 THE PENNSYLVANNIA SAND-WASP.

sion it is ready to undergo its change, and for this
purpose spins itself up in a fine soft silken case about
the end of September, and remains in a chrysalis
state till the spring ; when it gnaws its way out of
the clayey dwelling, and becomes an inhabitant of
the air.

The insect is then about threé quarters of an inch
Jong, and of a dark blue colour. The pedicle con-
necting the abdomen and thorax is about a quarter
of an inch in Jength. The antenne are black, and
the wings tinted blue, and tipped with black.—It is
fouud in Carolina, and various other parts of North
America *.

THE PENNSYLVANIA-SAND-WASP f.

The nest of this species, as well as that of the last,
;s formed with considerable art and ingenuity. The
insect scratches in the steep side of some bank of
Joamy earth an horizontal hole, about an inch in
diameter, and near a foot long, making it smooth
within, and pressing the earth so strongly as to se-
cure it from giving way. She then flies off and
seizes one of the large green grashoppers, and lodges
it safely at the farther end ; and, after laying an egg,
she again goes off and catches two others, which she
deposits with the former, and then closes up the
hole. The larva when produced feeds on the bodies

* Phit. Tran. n. 476. p. 363.—Vol. xliii. p. 363.—Catesby App.
P- 5:

+ SynonymMs,——Sphex Pennsylvanica. Linn. ? Ammophila Penn-
sylvanica. Kirby.—Great Black Wasp from Pennsylvania. Bartram.

THE WASP TRIBE. 65

Qo

of the grashoppers till its change into a chrysalis,
It remains in this state for some time ; but when it
becomes perfected it eats its way out, and flies off.

The grashoppers caught for the young are often
much larger and more strong than the parent insect,
so that considerable care is necessary in attacking
them. She is said to seize them suddenly, and to
plunge her sting into their body in such a manner
asnot to kill, but merely to render them inactive :
for, as in the last species, it is necessary that they
should be kept alive for some time in the nest, or
they would otherwise putrefy, and become unfit for
the purpose they were designed to answer *.

The Sand-wasp is above an inch long, and of a
black colour, with the wings inclining to violet. It
is an inhabitant of North America, where it feeds
on grashoppers and other insects, as well as on va-
rious kinds of fruit.

THE WASP TRIBE.

THE Wasps are in general found in large socie-
ties like the bees, constructing curious combs or
nests, in which they deposit their eggs. Some,
however, are solitary, and form for each young a se-
parate nest. Their /arve are soft, without feet, and
are fed with the nectar of flowers and honey, but of

* Phil, Tran, vol, xlvi. p. 126.

366 THE COMMON WASP.

-akind very inferior to that collected by the bees:
The chrysalis is without motion, and has the rudi-
ments of wings.

A distinguishing popular character of this tribe
is their having smooth bodies, apparently without
hairs, and their upper wings, when at rest, folded
through their whole length. At the base of each
of these there is a scaly process, that performs the
office of a spring, in preventing them from rising too
high ; a caution of some importance to these carni-
vorous insects, which pursue their prey on full
streteh of wing.

The mouth is horny, and furnished with a com-
pressive jaw, and four unequal thread-shaped feel-
ers. “The antenne are also filiform, the first joint
longer than the rest, and cylindrical. The sting is
pungent, and concealed within the abdomen.

THE COMMON WASP *.

‘The Common Wasp always forms its nest under
the surface of the earth, in a dry soil, and not un-
frequently occupies with it a forsaken dwelling of
the mole. The hole that Jeads to it is about an
inch in diameter, from half a foot to two feet deep,
and generally in a zigzag direction.

When exposed to the view, the whole nest ap-
pears to be of a roundish form, and is usually twelve
or fourteen inches in diameter. It is strongly for-
tified all round with walls, in layers, formed of a

ee SY CE ER LPN SE I GS Ee

* Vespavulgarise Linn,

THE COMMON WASP. 367

substance somewhat like paper, the surface of
which is rough and irregular. In these walls, or ra-
ther in this external covering, two holes are left for
passages to the combs, one of which is uniformly
adopted for entrance, and the other as a passage
out. The interior of the nest consists of several,
stories or floors of combs, which are parallel to each
other, and nearly in an horizontal position. Every
story is composed of a numerous assemblage of hex-
agonal cells, very regularly constructed, of a matter
resembling a kind of ash-coloured paper. These
cells contain neither wax nor honey, but are solely
destined for containing the eggs, the worms which
are hatched from them, the chrysalids, and the
young wasps till they are able to fly. The combs
are from eleven to fifteen in number. Reaumur
computed the number of cells in the combs of a
middle-sized nest to be at least ten thousand; and,
as every cell serves for no less than three genera-
tions, a nest of this description would annually give
birth to thirty thousand young Wasps.

The different stories of combs are always about
half an inch high, which leaves free passages to the
Wasps from one part of the nest to another. Each
of the larger combs is supported by about fifty pil-
lars, which, at the same time that they give solidity
to the fabric, greatly ornament the whole nest. The
lesser combs are supported by the same contrivance.
The Wasps begin at the top and work downward,
the uppermost comb being first constructed, and at-
tached to the superior part of the external covering.
The second comb is affixed to the bottom of the first,

368 THE COMMON WaspP,

and in this manner the animals proceed till the
whole is completed.

M. de Reaumur, in order to examine some parts
of the internal economy of these insects, contrived
to make them lodge and work in glass hives like the
Honey-bees. Their extreme affection for their off-
spring, aided him greatly in this; for he found that,
although their nests were cut in various directions,
and even exposed to the light, they never deserted
it, nor relaxed in their attentions to the young.

Immediately after a wasp’s nest had been trans-
ported from its natural situation, and covered witha
glass hive, the first operation of the insects was to
repair the injuries it had suffered. With wonderful
activity they carried off all the earth and foreign
bodies that had accidently been conveyed ito the
hive. Some of them occupied themselves in fixing
the nest to the top and sides of the hive by pillars
of paper, similar to those that support the different
stories or strata of combs; others repaired the
breaches it had sustained ; and others fortified it, by
augmenting considerably the thickness of its ex-
ternal cover.

In the formation of their nests, Wasps differ great-
ly from the Bees. Instead of collecting the farina
of flowers, and digesting it into wax, they gnaw
small fibres of wood from the sashes of windows,
the posts and doors of gardens, &c. which their
strong and serrated jaws enable them to do with
great ease. These fibres, though very slender, are
often a tenth of an inch in length. After cutting a
certain number, they collect them into small bun-

THE COMMON WASP: 369

dies, transport them to their nest; and, by means
of a glutinous substance furnished from their own
bodies, the labouring wasps, which are employed in
the nest, form them into a moist and ductile paste.
Of this substance they construct the external cover,
the partitions of the nest, the hexagonal cells, and
the solid columns that support the several stories of
the comb.

In the republic of Wasps, like that of the Bees,
there are three different kinds of flies, males, fe-
males, and neuters. The greatest share of labour
devolves upon the neuters: but they are not, like
the neuter bees, the only workers ; for there is no
part of the different operattons which the females
at certain times do not execute, Nor do the males
remain entirely idle. The neuters, however, build
the nest, feed the males, the females, and even the
young. But, while these are occupied in different
employments at home, the others are abroad in
hunting parties. Some of them attack with intre-
pidity live insects, which they sometimes carry en-
tire to the nest; but if these are at all large, they
transport only the abdomen. Others make war on
the bees, killing them for the honey they have in
their bodies, or plundering their hives of the fruits
of their Jabour, Some resort to the gardens, and
suck the juices of fruit ; and others pillage butcher’s
stalls, from which they often arrive with a piece of
meat, larger even than the half of their bodies.
Butchers, however, frequently turn these operations °
of the Wasps to advantage, by hanging up before
their shops a calf’s liver, or any tender meat. The

VOL. 1ET. Bb

S70 THE COMMON WASP.

‘Wasps come in quest of this delicate food, and pur
‘sue the blue-bottle flies, from whose eggs are pro-
‘duced the maggots that spoil meat. When they
return to the nest they distribute a part of their
plunder to the females, to the males, and to such
neuters as have been usefully occupied at home.
As soon as a neuter enters the nest, it is surrounded
by several Wasps, to each of which it freely gives a
_portion of the food it has brought. Those that have
‘not. been hunting for prey, but have been. sucking
‘the Juices of fruits, though they seem :to return
empty, fail not to regale their: companions ; for,
after their arrival, they station themselves »on:the
“upper. part of the nest, and discharge from their
mouths two or three drops of-clear liquid, which are
immediately swallowed by the domestics.

The neuter Wasps are the smallest, the females
much larger and heavier, and the males areof an
‘intermediate size between. the two. - In ‘the hive
of the Honey-bee, the number of females is ex-
tremely small; but in a Wasp’s nest they often
amount to more than three hundred.

The eggs are white, transparent, and of an ob-
‘ong shape ; but they differ in size, according tothe
kind of Wasps that are to proceed from them.
Eight days after they are deposited in the cells, the
“worms are hatched, and are considerably ‘larger
than the eggs from which they are produced. The
worms demand the principal care of those. Wasps
that continue always in the nest. They feed them
as birds feed their young, by giving them from
time to time a mouthful of food. It is astonishing

THE COMMON WASP. 37%

to see with what industry and rapidity a female
runs along the cells of a comb, and distributes to
each worm a portion of nutriment. In proportion
to the ages and conditions of the worms, they are
fed with solid food, such as the bellies of insects, or
with a liquid substance disgorged by their foster pa-
rent. When a worm is so large as to occupy its
whole cell, it is ready to be metamorphosed into
a chrysalis. It then refuses all nourishment, and
ceases to have any connexion with the Wasps in
the next. It shuts up the mouth of its cell with a
fine silken cover, in the same manner as the silk-
worm and other caterpillars spin their coccoons.
This operation is completed in three or four hours,
and the animal remains a chrysalis nine or ten davs $5
when, with its teeth, it destroys the external cover
of the cell, and comes forth a winged insect, which
is either male, female, or neuter, according to the
nature of the egg from which it was hatched. © In
a short time the Wasps, newly transformed, receive
the food brought into the nest by the foragers from
the fields. What is still more wonderful is that, in
the course of even the first day after their trans-
formation, the young Wasps have been observed
going to the fields bringing in provisions, and distri-
buting them to the worms in the cells—A_ cell is
no sooner abandoned by a young Wasp, than it is
cleaned, trimmed, and repaired by the old ones, and
rendered, in every respect, proper for the reception
of another egg.

Cells are constructed of different dimensions for
the neuters, males, and females ; and it is very re-

Bb 2.

322 THE COMMON WASP.

markable that those of the neuters are never inter-
mixed with the cells destined for the others.

This wonderful edifice, that requires the labour of
the animals for several months, serves them only for
a year; and notwithstanding its population during
the summer, it is almost deserted in winter, and is
abandoned entirely in the spring; for, in this last
season, not a single Wasp is to be found in a nest of
the preceding year. It is worthy of remark that
the first combs of a nest are always accomodated for
the reception of the neuter or working Wasps,
whose care and attention. are first required ; so that
it uniformly happens that, before the males and
females are capable of taking flight, every Wasp’s
nest is peopled with several thousands of neuters or
workers. But the neuters, which are first produced,
are likewise the first that perish; for not one of
them survives the termination even of a mild winter.

The female Wasps are stronger, and support the
rigours of winter better than either the males or
neuters. Before the end of winter, however, seve-
ral hundred females die, and not above ten or a
dozen in each nest survive that season. ‘These few
females are destined for the continuation of the
species. Each of them becomes the founder of a
new republic. With regard to the male Wasps, it
is uncertain whether any of them survive. But,
though not so indolent as the males of the honey-
bee, they can be of but little assistance to the fe-
male; for they never engage in any work of im-
portance, such as constructing cells, or fortifying
the external cover of the nest. They are never

THE COMMON WASP. 373

brought forth till towards the end of August ; and
their sole occupation seems to be that of keeping
the nest clean: they carry out every kind of filth,
and the bodies of such of their companions as_hap-
pen to die. In performing this operation, two of
them often join; and when the load is too heavy,
they cut off the head, and transport the dead animal
at twice. ; |

Every nest about the beginning of October pre-
sents a strange scene of cruelty. At this season,
the Wasps not only cease to bring nourishment to
their young, but drag the grubs from their cells, and
carry them out of the nest, where, exposed to the
weather, and deprived of food, they all unavoidably
perish, if the Wasps neglect, which they seldom do,
to kill them with their fangs. ‘This mode of pro-
cedure would at first seem a strange violation of
parental affection; but the intentions of nature,
though they often elude our researches, are never
wrong. What appears to us cruel and unnatural
in this instinctive devastation, committed annually
by the Wasps, is perhaps an act of the greatest
mercy and compassion that could possibly have
taken place. Waspsare not, like the Honey-bees,
endowed with the instinct of laying up a store of
provisions for winter subsistence. If not prema-
turely destroyed by their parents, the young must
necessarily die a cruel and Jingering death, occa-
sioned by hunger. Hence this seemingly harsh
conduct in the economy of Wasps, instead of afford-
ing an exception to the universal benevolence and

Bb 3

a54 THE COMMON WASP.

wisdom of nature, is, in reality, a most merciful
effort of instinet*. e

Like the male Honey-bees, the male Wasps are
destitute of stings; but the females and neuters
have stings, the poisonous liquor of which, when
introduced into any part of the human body, excites.
‘inflammation, and creates a considerable degree of
pain. This sting consists of a hollow and very
sharp-pointed tube, having at its root a bag of
pungent juice, which, in the act of stinging, is
pressed out, and conveyed through the tube into our
fiesh.—There are also two small, sharp, and bearded
spears lying, as in a sheath, within the tube. Dr.
Derham counted eight beards on the side of each
spear, which, he says, were formed somewhat like
the beards of fish-hooks. These spears lie one with
its points a little before the other in the sheath, to
be ready, in all probability, to be first darted into
the flesh; where being once fixed, by means of its
foremost beard, the other then strikes in also; and
they in this manner alternately pierce deeper and
deeper, their beards taking more and more hold in
the flesh; after which the sting or sheath follows,
in order to convey the poison into the wound. The
hole in the tube is not exactly at the end, forin
that case the instrument would not be so well able
to wound: the sting is drawn to a hard and sharp
point, and the incision through which the spears

* Reaum. Mem. pour servir a l’Histoire des Insectes, tom. vi.

THE BEE ‘TRIBE; 375

and poison are ejected is alittle below it. By means
of this mechanism it is that the sting, even when
parted from the body, jis able to pierce and make-us
smart, and by means of the beards being lodged
deep in the flesh, itis also that these insects leave
their stings behind them, when they are disturbed;
before they have had time to withdraw their ti
completely into the tube.

THE BEE TRIBE.

THE Bees, according to the generic character
given of them by Linneus, have a horny mouth,
with the jaws and the lip membranaceous at the
end. The tongue is inflected; and they have’ four
unequal thread-shaped feelers. Their antenne are
short and filiform, but those of the female somewhat
club-shaped. The wings are flat; and the females
and neuters have pungent stings concealed in the
abdomen.

The English Bees have undergone an’ accurate
- invéstigation by the Rev. Mr. Kirby, whohas dis
covered no fewer than two hundred and twenty-one
distinct species, though fifteen years ago none’ of
our books mentioned so many asa dozen. He di-
vides the Linnean genus into Melitta and Apis, dis-
tinguishing them by their tongues: the insects of
the former having short, flattish, uninflected tongues;
and those of the other long, cylindrical, and. ing

Bb4

376 THE POPPY BEE.

flected tongues, easily examined by raising them
with a pin from the sheath in which they are con-
cealed.

These insects are very numerous, and differ con-
siderably in their habits. Some are found in ex-
tensive communities, constructing, with the utmost
art, cells for their young, and repositories for their
food ; while others both dwell and work in solitude.
The whole tribe live on the nectar of flowers and
on ripe fruit.

Their larve are soft and without feet, and the
chrysalis resembles the perfect insect.

THE POPPY BEE*®.,

The Poppy Bee forms her nest in the ground,
burrowing to the depth of about three inches. At
the bottom she makes a large and somewhat hemt-
spherical cavity, which, after being rendered per-
fectly smooth on all sides, she carefully lines with
a splendid tapestry, selected from the scarlet flowers
of the wild poppy. From these, with great dexterity,
she cuts pieces of proper size and form, which she
conveys to her cell; and, beginning at the bottom,
covers with it the whole interior of this habitation
of her future progeny. The covering is even some-
times extended a little way round the orifice. The
bottom is rendered warm by three or four coats,
and the sides have never less than two. When the

* SynonymMs.—Apis Papaveris. Latreille Kirby, i, 142. 2140—
Abeille tapissiere. Reaumur.

THE LEAF-CUTTING BEE. 377

little animal has completed her apartment, she fills
it with paste, made of pollen and honey, to the
height of seven or eight lines; and, after deposit-
ing an egg, she pushes down the poppy-lining till it
completely covers the cell, and then closes up its
mouth with earth so nicely as to render it not dis-
tinguishable from the adjoining soil *.

This is a little black Bee, about the third of an
inch in length. Its head and trunk are thickly
covered with hairs of a dirty grey-colour; and the
under part of its body are clad with greyish hairs,
The abdomen is somewhat conical, black, and shin-
ing; but its segments are fringed with white hairs.
—The male is nearly of the same length as the fe-
male, but rather narrower, and somewhat more
hairy. Its abdomen is inflexed, and not so hairy
underneath as above. ‘The last segment terminates
in a fork with blunt teeth, and has on each side of
its base a sharp spine or point.

THE LEAF-CUTTING BEET.

These Bees construct cylindrical nests, of the
leaves of the rose and other trees, which are some-
times of the length of six inches, and generally con-
sist of six or seven cells, each shaped like a thimble.
They.are formed with the convex end of one fitting
into the open end of another. ‘The portions of leaf

* Kirby, i. 143.—Reaum. Mem, tom. vi. p. 93-96:
+ Apis centuncularis. Lina.

378 THE LEAF-CUTTING BEE:

of which they aré made are not glued together, nor
are they any otherwise fastened than in the nicety
of their adjustment:to each other; and yet'they do
not admit the liquid honey to drain through them,
The interior surface of each ceil consists of three
pieces of ‘leaf, of equal size, narrow at one end, but
eradually widening to the other, where the width
equals half the length: One side of each of these
pieces is the serrated margin of the leaf from which
it was cut. In forming the cell, the pieces of leaf
are made to lap one over the other (the serrated
side always outermost) till a tube is thus formed
coated with three, four, or more layers. in coating
these tubes, the provident little animal is careful to
lay the middle of each. piece of leaf over the mar-
gins of othefs,'so'as by this means both to cover
and strengthen the junctions. At the closed or
narrow end of the cell, the leaves are bent down so
as to form a convex termination. When a cell is
formed, the next care of the Bee is to fill it with
_ honey and pollen, which, being. collected chiefly
from the thistles, form a rose-coloured paste. With
these it: is filled to within about half a line of the
orifice ; and she then’ deposits in it an egg, and
closes it with three perfectly circular pieces of leaf,
which coincide so exactly with the’ walls’ of the
cylindrical cell, as to be retained in their ‘situation
without any gluten. After this covering is fitted
in, there still remains a hollow which receives the
convex end of the succeeding cell. In this manner
the patient and indefatigable animal proceeds till
her whole cylinder of six or seven cells is completed.
1

THE LEAF-CUTTING BEE. 379

This is said to be generally formed under the sur-
face of the ground * in a fistular passage, which it
entirely fills except at the entrance. If, by any
accident, the labour of these insects is interrupted,
or the edifice is deranged, they exhibit astonishing
perseverance in setting it again to rights.

Their mode of cutting pieces out of the leaves;
for their work, deserves particular notice. When
one of these Bees selects a rose-bush with this view,
she flies round, or hovers over it for some seconds,
as if examining for the leaves best suited to her
purpose. When she has chosen one, she alights
upon it, sometimes on the upper, and sometimes
on the under surface, or not unfrequently on its
edge, so that the margin passes between her legs.
Her first attack, which is generally made the mo-
ment she alights, is usually near the footstalk, with
her head turned towards the point. As soon as she
begins to cut, she is entirely intent on her labour ;
nor does she cease till her work is completed: this
is done with her strong jaws, with as much expedi-
dition as we could exert with a pair of scissars.
As she proceeds, she keeps the margin of the de-
tached part between her legs, in such a manner that
the section keeps giving way to her, and does not
interrupt her progress. She makes her incision in
a curve line approaching the midrib of the leaf at
first; but, when she has reached a certain point,
she recedes from this towards the margin, still cut-

* In cavities of walls and in decayed wood. Kirby.

380 APIS MANICATA. »

ting in a curve. When she has nearly detached
the portion she has been employed upon from the
leaf, she balances her little wings for flight, lest its
weight should carry her to the ground; and the
very moment it parts she flies off with it in tri-
umph, in a bent position between her legs, and
perpendicular to her body.

The larve of the Leaf-cutting Bees do not differ
in appearance from those of the Hive-bees. When
arrived at their full size, they spin a coccoon of silk,
thick and solid, which they attach to the sides of
their cell. Those produced first are from the first-
laid eggs; so that, when ready to emerge into the
air, in passing through the bottom of their cells, they
do not interrupt each other’s progress. “These larve
are exposed to the attacks of other insects, that
make their way into the cells and deposit there
their eggs.

This mode of forming a nest is not confined to
the present species, as several others perform si-
milar operations; but they adopt the leaves of
different trees for this purpose ; such as the horse~
chesnut, the elm, &c. &c*.

APIS MANICATA fT.

This singular little animal is very common about
gardens in or near towns. It is from half an inch
to three quarters in length; of a dark colour, and

* Kirby, 1. 162.—Reaumur, vi. 97. 324. + Linn.

APIS MANICATA. 38%

hairy. On each side of the abdomen are several
yellow spots.

It forms its nest in hollow places in trees, &c.
applying to this work the down of the Garden
Campion*, and some other woolly plants. The
Rey. Mr. White, of Selborne, seems to have been
the first naturalist who discovered this. He says
that “it is very pleasant to see with what address”
this insect strips off the down, running from the
top to the bottom of a branch, and shaving it bare
with all the dexterity of a hoop-shaver. When it
has got a vast bundle, almost as large as itself, it
flies away, holding it secure between its chin and
fore legs t.” |

Sir Thomas Cullum, in a letter to Mr. Marsham,
says, “I observed in a lock to one of my garden-
gates, that the key did not turn easily round, and,
upon looking into the key-hole, I saw something
white. JI had the lock taken off, and it was com-
pletely full of a downy substance, containing the
pupa of some bee. On examining this, I am cer-
tain it is the fine pappus or down from the Anemone
sylvestris, of which I have two plants in my garden.
I have preserved the whole as I found it, but the bee
has not yet made its appearance in a perfect state.”
This nidus was afterwards sent to the Rev. Mr.
Kirby, and five of the chrysalids produced perfect
insects; namely, three males, and two females.

“* Agrostemma coronari of Linneus.
+ Whites Naturalist’s Calendar, 109,

382 THE MASON BEE.

On comparing the down, of which it was composed,
with that of the Campion, Mr. K. was of opinion
that Sir Phomas Cullum had mistaken its composi-
tion, as the down of the Anemone is of a more
silky texture than that used in this nest. This gen-
tleman informs us that there were several cells or
eases in the lock, unconnected with each other
except by the wool, which wes their common cos
vering. These cells were of an oval form, and had
an exterior coat of wool, under which there was a
membranaceous cell, covered with a number of
small vermiform masses of a brown substance, ap-
parently formed of pollen and honey. These were
jaid, without any regular order, over the cell; and,
by means of them, the wool which formed its ex-
terior coat was made.to adhere. At the summit
of this membranaceous case there was a small ori-
fice, and within it another cell, somewhat strong
and coriaceous, of a brown colour, and shinmg in
the inside as much as if covered with tinfoil. . This
was supposed to be the coccoon of the larva pre-
viously to its assuming the pupa state.

THE MASON BEE™®.

The Mason Bee, which is also one of the solitary
species, derives its name from the circumstance of

* Abeille Maconne. Reaumur.—It is not known to which of the
Linnean species this bee is to be referred. Fabricius calls it Apis Mu-
varia, but he has described the male for the female; and, vice versas
the female for the male.

THE MASON BEE. 383

constructing a nest of mud or mortar. This, on its
exterior, has so little of a regular appearance, that
it is generally regarded as a piece of dirt acciden-
tally adhering to a wall. Within, however, it is
furnished with regular cells, each of .which affords
convenient lodgement to a white larva much resem-
bling that of the Hive-bee. In constructing. this
nest, which is.a work of great-labour and art, the
female is the sole operater, receiving no assistance
whatever from the male.

After fixing upon an angle, sheltered by any pro-
Jection, on the south side of a’stone wall, or upon
some rough, part of its surface, she goes in quest of
the necessary materials. Her nest.is. to be. con-
structed of a kind of mortar, of which sand is to be
the basis. She is very curious in her choice of this,
selecting it with her jaws grain, by grain. To
shorten her labour, before she transports it for use,
she glues together, by means of a viscid saliva from
her body, as many grains as she can carry: these
form a little mass, about the size of a small shet.
Taking this up in her jaws, she conveys ‘it to the
place she has fixed upon for the site of her house.
She labours incessantly till her whole work is ¢com-
pleted, which usually occupies five or six days. The
number of cells in one nest are from three to fié
teen: these are all similar, and nearly sequal in di-
mensions, each being about an inch high, half an
inch in diameter; and, before its orifice is closed,
resembling a thimble in shape.) When a cell is
raised to somewhat more than halfsits height, our
little mason lays up in it a store of pollen, seasoned

354 THE MASON BEE.

with honey, for the sustenance of its future inha-
bitant. This being done, she deposits her egg,
finishes and covers her cell, and then proceeds to
the erection of a second, which she furnishes and
finishes in the same manner; and so on till the
work is completed. These cells are not placed
in any regular order: some are parallel with the
wall, others perpendicular to it, and others are in-
clined to it at different angles. This occasions
many empty spaces between the cells, which the
Jaborious architect fills up with the same kind of
cement, and then bestows on the whole group a
common covering, made with coarser grains of
sand; so that at length the nest becomes a mass of
mortar, so hard as not easily to be penetrated even
by the blade of a knife.

These nests, which sometimes last for several sea-
sons, are often the cause of desperate conflicts.
When one insect has taken possesion of a nest, and
is gone abroad in quest of materials to repair it, ano-
ther will frequently come to seize it. When these
two meet, a battle invariably ensues. This is al-
ways fought in the air. Sometimes the two bees
fly with such rapidity and force against each other,
that both fall to the ground. But, in general, like
birds of prey, the one endeavours to rise above
the other, and to give a downward blow. To avoid
the stroke, the undermost, instead of flying forward,
or laterally, is frequently observed to fly backward.
This retrograde flight is likewise performed occasi-
onally by the common house-fly, and some other in-
sects, though we are unable to perceive what sti-

2
ro]

THE MASON BEE. 385

mulates them .to employ so uncommon a move-
ment.

From the hardness of the materials with which
the Mason Bee constructs her nest, and from the in-
dustry and dexterity she employs to protect her
progeny from enemies of every kind, one should na-
turally imagine that the young would be in perfect
safety, and that their castle would be impregnable.
But, notwithstanding all these precautions, they are
often devoured by the larve of a peculiar species of
ichneumon fly, the eggs of which are deposited in
the cells before the bee has completed them. But
they have an enemy even still more formidable than
the ichneumons. A species of Beetle* insinuates
its ege into an unfinished cell: from this proceeds
a strong and rapacious grub, armed with prodigious
fangs, which often pierces through every cell in the
nest, and successively devours all the inhabitants f.

The Mason Bee is about nine lines, or three
quarters of an inch in length. Its body is black,
and thickly clad with black hairs. The jaws are
very large and prominent, and terminate in two
blunt teeth. The wings are black with a tinge of
violet. The abdomen is somewhat conical, and
has underneath a patch of orange-coloured hairs.
The terminating joints of the legs are reddish.—
The male is covered with red hairs.

* Attelabus gpiarius of Linneus.
+ Kirby, i. 179.—Reaumur, vol, vi. p. 57. 88;

"TOL. Ile Cc

THE WOOD-PIERCER*™.

‘The operations of the Wood-Piercers merit atten,
tion. ‘These bees are larger than the queens of the
Honey-bee. : Their bodies are smooth, except the
sides, which are covered with hair. In the spring
they frequent gardens, and search for rotten or at
least for dead wood, in order to make an habitation
for their young. They usually choose the decaying
uprights of arbours, espaliers, or the props of vines;
but will sometimes attack garden seats, thick doors,
and window shutters, :

When the female of this species, for she receives
no assistance from the male, has selected a piece of
wood suited to her purpose, which is most com-
monly such as is perpendicular to the horizon, she
begins her work by boring perpendicularly into it :
when she has advanced about half an inch, she
changes her direction, and then proceeds nearly pa-
ralle] with its sides for twelve or fifteen inches, mak-
ing the hollow about half an inch in diameter. If
the wood be sufficiently thick, she sometimes forms
three or four of these long holes in its interior: a Ja-
bour which for a single insect seems prodigious, but
in executing it some weeks are often employed. On
the ground, for about a foot from the place in which
one of these bees is working, little heaps of timber
dust are to be seen. ‘These heaps daily increase in
size, and the particles that compose them are almost

~

* Apis violgcea. Linn. 17 e5

THE WOOD PIERCER. 387

as large as those produced by a hand-saw. The
strong jaws of this insect are the only instruments
she employs in these perforations. After the holes
are prepared, they are divided into ten or twelve
separate apartments, each about an inch deep, the
roof of one serving for the bottom of another. The
divisions are composed of particles of wood, ce-
mented together by a glutinous substance from the
animal’s body. In making one of these, she com-
mences with glueing an annular plate of wood-dust,
about the thickness of half-a-crown, round the in-
ternal circumference of the cavity: to this plate she
attaches a second, to the second a third, and so on
till the whole floor is completed. Before each cell is
closed, it is filled with a paste composed of the farina
of flowers mixed with honey, and an egg is depo-
sited in it. When the larva is hatched, it has
scarcely room sufficient to turn itself in the cell;
but as the paste is devoured, the space is enlarged
so as to allow it to perform every necessary opera-
tion towards changing its state.

We are informed by M. de Reaumur that M.
Pitot furnished him with a piece of wood, about an
inch and a half in diameter, that contained the
cells of one of these bees. He cut off as much of
the wood as was sufficient to expose two of the
cells to view, in each of which was a larva. To
prevent the injuries of the air, he closed the aper-
ture that he had made by pasting it on a bit of glass.
The cells were at that time almost entirely filled
with paste. The two worms were exceedingly
small, and, of course, occupied but little space be-

Ces

388 THE WOOD-PIERCER.

tween the walls of the cells and the mass of paste.

As the animals increased in size, the paste daily di-

minished, He began to observe them on the 12th

of June; and, on the 27th of the same month, the

paste in each cell was nearly consumed, and the

worm, folded in two, occupied the greater part of

its habitation. On the 2d of July, the provisions of.
both worms were entirely exhausted. The five or

six following days they fasted, which seemed to be

a necessary abstinence, during which they were

greatly agitated. They often bent their bodies,

and elevated and depressed their heads. These

movements were preparatory to the great change

that the animals were about to undergo. Between

the 7th and 8th of the same month they threw off
their skins, and were metamorphosed into nymphs ;

and, on the goth of July, they became perfect

insects. .

In a range of cells, the worms are necessarily of
different ages, and of course of different sizes.
Those in the lower ones are older than those in the
superior ; because, after the bee has filled with
paste and inclosed the first cell, a considerable time —
is requisite to collect provisions, and to ferm parti-
tions for every successive and superior cell. The
former, therefore, must be transformed into nymphs
and flies before the latter. These circumstances
would almost appear to be foreseen by the common
mother ; for, if the undermost worm, which is the
oldest, and soonest transformed, was to force its
way upward, which it could easily do, it would not
only disturb, but infallibly destroy all those. lodged

THE HIVE BEE» 389

in the superior cells. But Nature has wisely pre-
vented this devastation ; for the head of the nymph,
and consequently of the fly, is always placed in a
downward direction. Its first instinctive move-
ments must therefore be in the same direction.
That the young flies may escape from their respec-
tive cells, the mother digs a hole.at the bottom of
the long tube, which makes a communication be-
tween the undermost cell and the open air. Some-
times a similar passage is made near the middle of
the tube. _ By this contrivance, as all the flies in-
stinctively endeavour to cut their way downwards,
they find an easy and convenient passage ; for they
have only to pierce the floor of their cells to make
their escape, and this they do with their teeth very
readily *.

THE HIVE BEET.

In the formation of their combs, the present in-
sects seem to resolve a problem which would not be
a little puzzling to some geometricians, namely,
«‘ A quantity of wax being given, to make of it
“equal and similar cells of a determined capacity,
“but of the largest size in proportion to the quan-
“tity of matter employed, and disposed in such a
“ manner as to occupy in the hive the least possible
“space” Every part of this problem is completely

* Reaumur, tom. vi.
$ SYNONYMs.——Apis mellifica. Linn.
ous parts of the country. The males are called Drones, and the fe-
malg the Queen-bee. The neuters are called Working bees.

C:e%

Honey-bee, in varie

290 THE HIVE BEE.

executed by the bees. By applying hexagonal
cells to each others’ sides, no void spaces are left
between them; and, though the same end might
be accomplished by other figures, yet such would
necessarily require a greater quantity of wax. Be-
sides, hexagonal cells are better fitted to receive the
cylindrical bodies of these insects—A comb con-
sists of two strata of cells applied to each other’s
ends, This arrangement both saves room in the
hive, and gives a double entry into the cells of which
the comb is composed. As a further saving of
wax, and for preventing void spaces, the bases of
the cells in one stratum of a comb serve also for
bases to the opposite stratum. In short, the more
minutely the construction is examined, the more
will the admiration of the observer be excited.
The walls of the cells are so extremely thin that
their mouths might be thought in danger of suffer-
ing by the frequent entering and issuing of the bees.
To prevent this disaster, however, they make a
kind of rim round the margin of each cell, and this
rim is three or four times thicker than the walls.

It is dificult to perceive, even with the assistance
of glass hives, the manner in which bees operate
when constructing their cells. They are so eager
to afford mutual assistance ; and for this purpose
so many of them crowd together, and are perpetu-
ally succeeding each other, that their individual
operations can seldom be distinctly observed. It has,
however, been plainly discovered that their two
jaws are the only instruments they employ in mo-
delling and polishing the wax. With a little pati-

THE HIVE BEE. 391

ence and attention, we perceive cells just begun:
we likewise remark the quickness with which a
bee moves its teeth against a small portion of the
cell. This portion the animal, by repeated strokes
en each side, smooths, renders compact; and re-
duces to a proper thinness. While some of the
hive are lengthening their hexagonal tubes, others
are laying the foundations of new ones. In certain
circumstances, when extremely hurried, they do not
complete their new cells, but leave them imperfect
till they have begun a number sufficient for their
present exigencies. When a bee puts its head a
little way into a cell, we easily perceive it scraping
the walls with the points of its teeth, in order to
detach such useless and irregular fragments as may
have been left in the work. Of these fragments
the bee forms a ball about the size of a pin’s head,
comes out of the cell, and carries this wax to ano-
ther part of the work, where it is wanted: it no
sooner leaves the cell, than it is succeeded by ano-
ther bee, which performs the same office; and in
this manner the work is successively carried on till
the cell is completely polished.

Their mode of working, and the disposition and
division of their labour, when put into an empty
hive, do much honour to the sagacity of bees. They
immediately begin to lay the foundations of their
combs, which they execute with surprising quick-
ness and alacrity. Soon after they begin to con-
struct one comb ; they divide into two or three com-
panies, each of which in different parts of the hive
is occupied in the same operations, By this divi-

| C4

392 } THE HIVE | BEE. »

sion of Jabour, a great number of bees have an op-
portunity of being employed at the same time, and,
consequently, the common work is sooner finished.
The combs are generally arranged in a direction
parallel to each other. An interval or street. be-
tween them is always left, that the bees may have
a free passage, and an easy communication with the
different combs in the hive. | These streets are just
wide enough to allow two bees to pass one another.
Beside these parallel streets, to shorten their journey
when working, they leave, several cross. passages,
which are a covered,

They are extremely solicitous to wl ee insects
of any kind from getting admittance intotheir hives.
To accomplish this purpose, and in order toshut out
the cold, when they take possession of anew hive,
they carefully examine every part of it; and if they
discover any small holes or chinks, they immediately
paste them firmly up with aresinous substance which
differs considerably from wax. This substance was
known to the antients by the name of propolis or bee-
glue. Bees use the propolis for rendering their hives
more close and perfect, in preference to wax, be-
Cause it is more durable, and more powerfully resists
the vicissitudes of weather... This glue is.not, like
the wax, procured by an animal process. ‘The bees
collect it from different trees, as the poplars, the
birches, and the willows. It is a complete pro-
duction of nature, and requires no additional
manufacture from the animals by which it is
employed. After a bee has procured a quantity
suflicient to fill the cavities of its two hind-legs, it

THE HIVE BRE. 303

repairs to the hive. Two of its companionsinstantly —
draw out the propolis, and apply it to fill up such
chinks, holes, or other deficiences as they find in
their babitation.. But this is not the only use to
which bees apply the propolis. They arc extremely
solicitous to remove such insects or foreign bodies as
happen to get’ admission into the hives. When so
light as not to exceed their powers, they first kill
the imsect with their stings, and then drag it out
with their teeth.. But it sometimes happens that an
ill-fated snail creeps into the hive. This is no'sooner.
perceived than it is attacked on all sides and stung
to death. But how are the bees to carry out so
heavy a burthen? Such a Jabour would be in vain.
To prevent the noxious odours consequent on its
putrefaction, they immediately embalm it, by cover-
ing every part of its, body with. propolis, through
which no effluvia can escape. When a snail with
a shell gets entrance, to dispose of it gives much
less trouble and expence to the bees. As soon as
it receives the first wound from a sting, it natu-
rally retires within its shell. In this. case, the bees,
instead of pasting it all over with propolis, content
themselves with glueing all round the margin of the
shell ; which is sufficient to render the aninial for
eyer immoveably fixed.

But propolis, and the materials for making wax,
are. not the only substances that these industrious
animals have to collect. As, besides the whole: win-
ter, there are many days in summer in which the
bees are prevented by, the weather from going
abroad in quest of provisions: they are, therefore,

2
»

394 THE HIVE BEE.

under the necessity of collecting and amassing in
cells destined for that purpose large quantities of
honey: This they extract by means of their trunk,
from the nectariferous glands of flowers. ‘The trunk
of the bee is a kind of rough cartalaginous tongue.
After collecting afew small drops of honey with
this, the animal carries them to its mouth, and swal-
lows them. From the gullet they pass into the first
stomach, which is more or less swelled in proportion
to the quantity of honey it contains. When empty,
it has the appearance of a fine white thread: but,
when filled with honey, it assumes the figure of an
' oblong bladder, the membrane of which is so thin
and transparent that it allows the colour of the li-
quid it contains to be distinetly seen: This blad-
der is well known to children who live in the coun-
try: they cruelly amuse themselves with catching
bees, and tearing them asunder in order to suck the
honey. ‘The bees are obliged to fly from one flower
to another till they fill their first stomachs. When
they have accomplished this, they return directly
to the hive, and disgorge in a cell the whole honey
they have collected. It not unfrequently happens,
however, that on its way to the hive the bee is ac-
costed by a hungry companion. How the one ma-
nages to communicate its wants to the other it is per-
haps impossible to discover. But the fact is certain
that, when two bees meet in this situation, they mu-
tually stop, and the one whose stomach is full of
honey extends its trunk, opens its mouth, and, like
a ruminating animal, forces up the honey into that
cavity. The hungry bee, with the point of its trunk,

THE HIVE. BEE: © 395

sucks the honey from the other’s mouth. When not
stopped on the road, the bee proceeds to the hive,
andin the same manner offers its honey to those
who are at work, as if it meant to prevent the’ ne-
cessity of quitting their labour in order to go in quest
of food. In bad weather, the bees feed on the
honey laid up in open cells; but they never touch
their reservoirs. while their companions are enabled
to supply them with fresh honey from the fields.
But the mouths of those cells which are destined
for preserving honey during the winter they always
cover with a lid or thin plate of wax *.

How numerous soever the bees in one swarm may
appear to be, they all originate from a single parent.
It is indeed surprising, that one small insect should in
a few months give birth to so many young; but,
on opening her body at a certain time of the year,
eggs to the number of many thousands are to be
found contained in it.

The queen is easily distinguished from the rest by
the size and shape of her body. Onher depends the
welfare of the whole community ; and, by the atten-
tion that is paid to all her movements, it is evident
how much they depend on her security. She is seen
at times with a numerous retinue, marching from
cell to cell, plunging the extremity of her body into
each of them, and leaving in each an egg. |

A day or two after this egg is deposited, the grub
is excluded from the shell, having the shape of a
maggot rolled up ina ring, and lying softly on a

* Reaumur.

396. THE’ HIVE BEE.

bed of a whitish-coloured jelly, on which it begins
to feed. The common bees then attend with asto-
nishing tenderness and anxiety: they furnish it with
food, and watch over it with unremitting assiduity.
In about six days the grub arrives at its full growth,
when its affectionate attendants shut up the mouth
of its apartment with wax, to secure it from injury.
Thus inclosed, it soon begins to line the walls of
its cell with a silken tapestry, in which it undergoes
its last transformation.

When it first crawls forth a winged insect, it is
very weak and inactive, but in the course of a few
hours it acquires strength enough to fly off to its
labour. On its emerging from the cell, the officious
bees flock round it, and lick up its moisture with
their tongues. One party bring honey for it to feed
upon ; and another is employed in cleansing the cell,
and carrying out the filth to prepare this for a new
inhabitant.

The neuter bees ina hive amount to the number
of 16,000 or 18,000. ‘These are armed with stings,
and form the only labouring part of the community.
It is pleasant to see them in the act of collecting the
farina of flowers for the basis of their wax. They
roll themselves over the stamina, the dust of which
adheres to their hairs; then, bringing their feet over
their bodies, they fill with it two small baskets
or cavities edged with hairs, appended to their hind-
legs. Assoon as a bee thus Jaden appears near the
hive, others go out to meet it, and, taking the fa-
rina from its legs, swallow it; their stomachs be-
ing the laboratory where it is converted into genu-

THE HIVE BEE. 397

ine wax. This operation being over, each indivi-
dual disgorges it in the consistency of dough, and
then moulds it into proper form *.

The males are called Drones: they are unarmed,
and are always killed by the neuters about the
month of September.

Heat is the life of these insects. The least degree
of cold benumbs them; and in winter, unless they
are all crowded together, they perish. Their ene-
mies are the Wasp and the Hornet, who with their
teeth rip them open to suck out the honey contained
in their bladder. Sparrows have also been seen
with one in their bill, and another in each claw.

There is so great a degree of attachment subsist-
ing between the working bees and their queen _that,
if by any accident she is destroyed, the labours of
the community are at an end, and the rest of the
animals leave their hive and disperse. If, however,
another queen be given them, joy springs up, and
they crowd around her, and soon again apply to
their operations. Even the prospect of seeing a
queen will support them: this has been proved by
giving toahive that had lost its own queen the
chrysalis of another. If a queen be taken from a
hive and kept apart from the working bees, she
will refuse to eat, and in the course of four or five
days, will die of hunger.

Mr. Wildman, whose remarks on the manage-
ment of bees are weil known, possessed a secret

* Barbut’s Genera Insectorum.

298 CARDING BEE.

by which he could at any time cause a hive of bees
to swarm upon his head, shoulders, or body, in a
most surprising manner. He has been seen to
drink a glass of wine with the bees all over his head
and face more than an inch deep—several fell into
glass, but they knew him too well to sting him.
He could even act the part of a general with them,
by marshalling them in battle array upon a large
table. There he divided them into regiments, bat-
talions, and companies, according to military dis-
cipline, waiting only for his word of command.
The moment he uttered the word march! they be-
gan to march in a very regular manner in rank and
file, in the manner of soldiers. To these, his
Lilliputians, he also taught so much politeness that
they never attempted to sting any of the numerous
company which, at different times, resorted to ad-
mire this singular spectacle.

CARDING BEE”.

The Carding Bees nearly all perish in the winter;
a few of the females only survive. These usually
make their appearance early in the spring, as soon
as the catkins of the willows are in blossom; upon
which, at this time, they may commonly be seen
collecting honey from the female, and pollen from
the male catkins.

The neuters do not appear till the spring is some-

* Apis muscorum. Linn.

CARDING -BEE. 399

what advanced; and the males are most common in
autumn, when the thistles are in blossom, upon the
flowers of which they are abundant, sometimes
seemingly asleep, or torpid, and, at other times,
acting as if intoxicated with the sweets they have
been imbibing.

When these animals, of any sex, are walking on
the ground, if a finger be moved to them, they lift
up three legs on one side, by way of defence ;
which gives them a very grotesque appearance.

Their nests are usually formed in meadows and
pastures, sometimes in groves and hedge-rows,
where the soil is entangled with roots; but now and
then these are found in heaps of stones. When they
do not meet with an accidental cavity ready made,
they excavate one themselves with great labour.
This they cover with a thick convex vault of moss,
sometimes casing the interior surface with a kind of
coarse wax to keep out the wet. At the lower part
of the nest there is an opening for the inhabitants
to go in and out at. This entrance is often through
a long gallery, or covered way, a foot or upwards
in length, by which the nest is more effectually
concealed from observation.

The mode in which they transport the moss they
use to their nest is singular. When they have dis-
covered a parcel fitted to their purpose, and conve-
niently situated, they place themselves in a line,
with their back turned towards the nest. The fore-
most lays hold of some with her jaws, and clears it
bit by bit with her fore feet: when this is sufficient-
ly disentangled, she drives with her feet under

I

400 CARDING BEE.

her belly, and as far as possible beyond, to the |
second. ‘The second, in like manner, pushes it on
to the third, and soon. Thus small heaps of pre-
pared moss are conveyed to the nest by a file of
four or five insects, where they are wrought and
interwoven with the greatest dexterity by those
that remain within.

The nests are often six or seven inches in diame-
ter, and elevated to the height of four or five inches
above the surface of the ground. When the cover-
ing of moss is taken up, an irregular comb presents
itself, composed of an assemblage of oval bodies
disposed one against another. Sometimes there are
two or three combs, placed on one another, but not
united. These combs vary in size: they consist of
a number of oblong or oval cells or coccoons, of a
silky substance, fastened together, and spun by the
Jarvee when they are about to undergo their first
change; for the Carding Bees do not form waxen
cells for their young. The cells are of three di-
mensions, answering to the three sexes. The void
spaces between the cells are filled with masses of
brown paste, made of gross wax, or pollen much
wrought, and honey. Besides the masses they at-
tach to every comb, particularly the uppermost,
three, or four cells of the same coarse wax, in the
shape of goblets, open at the top, which they fill
with liquid and very sweet honey.—The first step
towards furnishing a nest is to make a mass of the
brown paste, and one of these honey-pots. The
masses of paste are intended for the food of the
larve; and in them the eggs are deposited. These

CARDING BEE. 401

vary in number, from three to thirty being to
be found in one mass, but not all in the same
cavity.

The larve are similar to those of the Hive Bee,
but their sides are marked by irregular transverse
black spots. These, after they are hatched, sepa-
rate from each other, eating the paste that surrounds
them. The honey-pots may be intended to supply
honey for the occasional moistening of the paste in
making repairs, &c. The pupa in each cell is
placed with its head downwards, and makes its
way out at the bottom of its coccoon.

The nests seldom contain more than fifty or + sixty
inhabitants. Of these the females (of which there
is more than one in a nest) are the largest. The
males are of a middle size, as is also one description
of working-bees or neuters: the other neuters are
the smallest, and not bigger than the Hive Bee.
These two sorts of neuters, it is most probable, are
appropriated to different kinds of work ; the largest
being the strongest, and the others the most lively,
active, and expert. In this community, both the
females and males act in concert with the neuters
in fitting up or repairing their habitations—The
nests of the Carding-bees are exposed to various
depredators ; but field-mice and pole-cats are their
most formidable enemies*.

* Kirby, i. p. 201.——-Reaumur, tom. vi.

WOL. 111: Dd

[ 402 ]

CRANGE-TAILED BEE *,

This is one of the largest of the British bees ; but
it varies in size, being sometimes half an inch, and
sometimes an inch in Jength, Its body is black or
dark brown, and hairy; and the extremity of the
abdomen of a bright orange colour. The wings
are light brown,

The nest constructed by this insect is of a very
elegant appearance, being of an oval form, and
composed of bits of the larger mosses, closely and
neatly compacted together. A small round hole
or entrance’ is left on one side, ‘These nests are
about four inches in diameter on the exterior, and
are generally formed on dry shady banks, in woods,
lanes, or meadows, ‘The food Jaid up for the larve
consists of a kind of honey of a brownish colour,
disposed in somewhat irregular masses or heaps 5
for these bees do not form any regular cells or
combs, like some of the others +,

THE ANTS.

ALL the species of Ants known in this country
are gregarious; and, like the bees, consist of males,

* SyNonyMms.—Apis lapidaria. Lizn.—Red-tailed Bee. Great
Orange-tailed Garden Bee. Shaw's Nat. Mis.
+ Shaw’s Nat. Mis. vol. xii. tab. 454.

THE ANTS. 403

females, and: neuters, of which the latter are alone
the labourers. These build in the ground an oblong
nest, in which there are various passages and apart-
ments. In the formation of this nest every individual
is occupied: some are employed in securing a firm
and durable ground-work, by mixing the earth with
a sort of glue produced in their bodies :. others col-
lect little bits of twigs to serve as rafters, which
they place over their passages, to support the co-
vering: others again lay pieces across these, and
place on them rushes, weeds, and dried grass. ‘The
latter they secure so firmly as completely to turn
off the water from their magazines.

A gentleman of Cambridge one day observed an
Ant dragging along what, with respect to its
strength, might be denominated a piece of timber.
Others were severally employed, each in its own
way. Presently this little creature came to an as-
cent, where the weight of the wood seemed for a
while to overpower him: he did not remain long
perplexed with it; for three or four others, observ-
ing his dilemma, came behind and pushed it up.
As soon, however, as he had got it on level ground,
they left it to his care, and went to their own work,
The piece he was drawing happened to be consi-
derably thicker at one end than the other. This
soon threw the poor fellow into a fresh difficulty :
he unluckily dragged it between two bits of wood.
After several fruitless efforts, finding it would not
go through, he adopted the only mode that even a
man in similar circumstances could have taken; he
came behind it, pulled it back again, and turned it

Dda

404, THE ANTS.

on its edge; when, running again to the other end,
it passed through without the least difficulty.

The same gentleman says that, sitting one day
after dinner in the garden of his college, he was
surprised by remarking a single Ant busily em-
ployed in some work that caused him to make many
journeys to and from the same place. This gentle-
man traced him to the entrance of the habitation of
a community, from whence he observed him to take
the dead body of an Ant in his fangs, and run away
with it. He carried it to a certain distance, drop-
ped it, and returned for another, which by the
time of his arrival was brought to the same hole.
This work was continued so long as the gentleman
had time to remain near them*.

In collecting their stores, these creatures may
often be observed in full employment; one of them
loaded with a grain of wheat, another with a dead
fly, and several together hawling along the body of
some larger insects. Whenever they meet with any
food too large to admit of being dragged away, they
devour so much of it upon the spot as to reduce it
to a bulk sufficiently small for them to carry.

In all their excursions they have some object in
view; and they very seldom return to the nest
without either themselves bearing something, or
without news that something of use has been dis-
covered, in which joint assistance is necessary. If
information is brought that a piece of sugar, or

AE ESI EE DS CEE EE PRES ROT ES ATE SE SE SE

* Brit, Mus. MSS, Rev. Mr, Ascough’s Catalogue, No. 4436¢
ee

THE ANTS. 405

bread, or any kind of fruit, has been discovered,
even in the highest story of a house, they range
themselves in a line, and follow their leader to the
spot. Of this the following is a remarkable in-
stance related by Dr. Franklin: Believing that these
little creatures had some means of communicating
their thoughts or desires to one another, he tried
several experiments with them, all of which tended
to confirm his opinion; but one seemed more con-
clusive than the rest. He put a little earthen pot,
containing some treacle, into a closet, into which
a number of Ants collected, and devoured the trea-
cle very quietly. But, on observing this, he shook
them out, and tied the pot with a thin string to a
nail which he had fastened into the cieling ; so that
it hung down by the string. A single Ant, by
chance, remained in the pot: this Ant ate till it
was satisfied; but, when it wanted to get off, it
could not, for some time, find a way out. It ran
about the bottom of the pot, but in vain; at last it
found, after many attempts, the way to the cieling,
by going along the string. After it was come
there, it ran to the wall, and from thence to the
ground. It had scarcely been away half an hour
when a great swarm of Ants came out, got up to
the cieling, and crept along the string into the pot,
and began to eat again. ‘This they continued til!
the treacle was all eaten; in the mean time one
swarm running down the string, and the other up.
The Ants generally lay up a considerable quan-
tity of different kinds of grain; but, to prevent this
from taking root. from the moisture of their cells,
Dd *

406 THE ANTS.

they instinctively bite off that end from which the
blade is produced.

From their eggs, the larva, a small kind of mag-
gots without legs, are hatched, which soon transform
into white chrysalids. The latter are generally
called Aut’s eggs, and are ftequently used for the
feeding of young pheasants, partridges and night-
ingales. When a nest is disturbed, the Ants, with
great care, collect all the young that are unhurt,
and form a nest for them again. In their confusion
they carry off the eggs and larve indiscriminately ;
but, as soon as quietness is restored among them,
these are carefully separated, and each kind lodged
in its own appropriate place.

During the warm season of the year they bring
up the maggots nearly to the surface every morn-
ing: so that, from ten in the morning to about five
in the afternoon, these may always be found lodged
just under the surface of the ground. And if their
hills be examined towards eight in the evening they
will be found to have carried them all down; but,
if rainy weather be coming on, it will even be neces-
sary to dig a foot or two deeper than usual to find
them.

In the last change, the little creature tears its’
transparent veil, and then bursts into life a perfect
insect——destitute of wings if a neuter, and winged
if male or female. The winged insects are also
known by a small erect scale placed on the thread.
which connects the body and thorax.

The males are much smaller than the females,
and seldom frequent the common habitation. All

THE ANTS, 407

the labour the females undergo is in the laying of
eggs; and the cold of the winter season always de-
troys them. The neuters, or labouring Ants,
which alone are able to struggle through the cold
months, pass these in a torpid state, in which they
remain till spring restores to them their wonted ac-
tivity. They, therefore, having no consumption for
provisions, lay up no stores for winter.

The labouring Ants pay the utmost attention to
the females. Mr. Gould, the author of a small
treatise on English Ants, placed a female that he
calls a Queen, of the small Black Ants, ina box, in
the sliding cover of which there was an opening
sufficient for the labourers to pass backwards and
forwards, but so narrow as to confine the Queen.
One part of them was constantly in waiting and
surrounded her, whilst others went out in search of
provisions. By some misfortune she died. The
Ants, as if not apprised of her death, continued
their obedience. They even removed her from one
part of the box to another, and treated her with the
same formality as if she had been alive. This lasted
about two months; at the end of which the cover
being opened, they forsook the box, and carried her
off. :

Ants frequently swarm on trees, where they have
been supposed to do much injury. But this seems
avery unjust charge against them: for in Switzer-
land they are even compelled to remain in the trees,
in order to destroy the caterpillars. This is done
by hanging a pouch full of Ants upon a tree, the
root of which is smeared with wet clay or pitch to

Dd4a

406 THE ANTS.

prevent their escape: in consequence of this, they
are soon compelled by hunger to seize upon the ca+
terpillars and devour them.

The females and neuters are armed with a sting.
The males, besides being smaller than the females,
are to be distinguished from these by the largeness
of their eyes.

We are told that a very grateful acid is to ns ob+
tained from Ants by distillation: and we have one
instance of a person being fond of eating them alive.
As Mr. Consett was walking with a young gentle-
man in a wood near Gottenburg in Sweden, he
says he observed him sit down on an ant-hill, and
with a great degree of pleasure devour these in-
sects, first nipping off their heads and wings. The
flavour, according to his account, was an acid
somewhat resembling, though much more agree-
able than that of a Jemon*.

Tt is said that the Ants of the tropical climates are
never torpid; that they build their nests with a
dexterity, lay up provisions, and submit to regula-
tions entirely unknown among those of Europe.
‘They are in every respect a much more formidable
race. Their stings produce insupportable pain, and
their depredations do infinite mischief. Sheep,
hens, and even rats, by loitering too near their ha-
bitations, are often destroyed by them. Bosman

renege reel cera rE

* Consetts 1130

THE ANTS. 409

informs us that, while he was in Guinea, they have
often attacked one of his sheep in the night; in
which case ‘the poor animal was invariably de-
stroyed: and, so expeditious were they in their ope-
rations, that in the morning the skeleton only would
be Jeft. It sometimes happens that they quit their
retreat in a body, and go altogether in search of
prey.

« During my stay (says Smith) at Cape Coast
Castle, a body of Ants came to pay us a visit in our
fortification. It was about day-break when the
advanced guard of this famished crew entered the
chapel, where some negro servants were asleep on
the floor. They were quickly alarmed at the inva-
sion of this unexpected army, and prepared as well
as they could for a defence. While the foremost
battalion had already taken possession of the place,
the rear guard was more than a quarter of a mile
distant. The whole ground seemed alive, and
crawling with immediate destruction. After deli-
berating a few minutes on what was to be done, it
was resolved to lay a large train of gunpowder along
the path they had taken. By these means millions
were blown to pieces, and the rest, seeing the de«
struction of their leaders, thought proper instantly
to return to their original habitation.”

Dampier, speaking of the natural productions in
the Spanish settlements of South America, says that
there were swarms of different species of Ants.
“ The great black Ant stings or bites almost as bad
as a scorpion; and next to this the small yellow
Ants’ bite is most painful: for their sting is lke a

I

4lo THE ANTS.

spark of fire; and they are so thick among the
boughs in some places that one shall be covered
with them before he is aware. These creatures
have nests on great trees, placed on the body be-
tween the limbs: some of their nests are as big as a
hogshead. This is their winter habitation ; for in
the wet season they all repair to these their cities,
where they preserve their eggs.

“In the dry season, when they leave their nests,
they swarm all over the woodlands; for they never
trouble the savannahs: great paths, three or four
inches broad, made by them, may be seen in the
woods. ‘They go out light, but bring home heavy
loads on their backs, all of the same substance, and
equal in size. I never observed any thing besides
pieces of green leaves, so big that I could scarcely
see the insect for his burthen; yet, they would
march stoutly, and so many were pressing forward
that it wasa very pretty sight, for the path looked
perfectly green with them.

“« There was one sort of Ants of a black colour,
tolerably large, with long legs. These would march
in troops, as if they were busy in seeking some~
what; they were always in haste, and always fol-
lowed their leaders, let them go where they would.
They had no beaten paths to walk in, but rambled
about like hunters. Sometimes a band of these
Ants would happen to march through our huts, over
our beds, or into our pavilions, nay sometimes into
our chests, and there ransack every parts and
wherever the foremost went the rest all came after.
We never disturbed them, but gave them free li-

THE ANTS. 4li

berty to search where they pleased; and they
would all march off before night. They were so
very numerous that they would sometimes be two
or three hours im passing, though they went very
fast.””

The following is an account of three different
kinds of Ants that were observed in New South
Wales by the gentlemen in the expedition under
captain Cook.

« Some are (says the writer) as green as a leaf,
and live upon trees, where they build their nests of
various 'sizes, between that of a man’s head and his
fist. These nests are of a very curious structure:
they are formed by bending down ‘several of the
leaves, ‘each of which is as broad as a man’s hand,
and glueing the points of them together, so as to
form a purse. ‘The viscous matter used for this pur-
pose is an animal juice which nature has enabled
them to elaborate. Their method of first bending
down the leaves we had no opportunity to observe ;
but we saw thousands uniting all their strength
to hold them in this position, while other busy
multitudes were employed within, in applying this
gluten that was to prevent their returning back.
To satisfy ourselves that the leaves were bent and
held down by the effort of these diminutive artifi-
cers, we disturbed them in their work ; and as soon
as they were driven from their station, the leaves on
which they were employed sprang up with a force
mueh greater than we could have thought them
able to conquer by any combination of their
strengh. But, though we gratified our curiosity at

4.

412 THE ANTSs« >

their expence, the injury did not go uarevenged ;
for thousands immediately threw themselves upor
us, and gave us intolerable pain with their stings,
especially those which took possession of our necks
and hair, from whence they were not easily driven.
Their sting was scarcely less painful than that of a
bee; but, except it was repeated, the pain did not
last more than a minute.

«« Another sort are quite black, and their opera-
fions and manner of life are not Jess extraordinary.
Their habitations are the inside of the branches of a
tree, which they contrive to excavate by working
eut the pith almost to the extremity of the slen-
derest twig; the tree at the same time flourishing
as if it had no such inmate. When we first found
the tree, we gathered some of the branches, and
were scarcely less astonished than we should have
been to find that we had profaned a consecrated
grove, where every tree upon being wounded gave
signs of life ; for we were instantly covered with le-
gions of these animals, swarming from every broken
bough, and inflicting their stings with incessant vio-
fence.

«< A third kind we found nested in the, root of a
plant, which grows on the bark of trees in the
manner of misletoe, and which they had perforated
for that use. This root is commonly as big as a
large turnip, and sometimes much bigger: when we
cut it, we found it intersected by innumerable wind-
ing passages, all filled with these animals, by which,
however, the vegetation of the plant did not appear
to have suffered any injury. We never cut one of

THE SUGAR-ANT. 413

these roots that was not inhabited, though some
were not bigger than an hazel nut. The animals
themselves are very smal], not more than half as big
as the common red Ant in England. They had
stings, but scarcely force enough to make them felt :
they had, however, a power of tormenting us in an
equal if not ina greater degree; for the moment
we handled the root theyswarmed from innumerable
holes, and, running about those parts of the body
that were uncovered, produced a titillation more in-
tolerable than pain, except it is increased to great
violence *”’. |

THE SUGAR-ANTT.

These Ants, which took their name from their
ruinous effects on the sugar-cane, first made their
appearance in Grenada about thirty years ago, ona
sugar plantation at Petit Havre, a bay five or six
miles from the town of St. George. From thence
they continued to extend themselves on all sides,
for several years; destroying in succession every
sugar-plantation between St. George’s and St.
John’s, a space of about twelve miles.- At the
same time colonies of them began to be observed in
other parts of the island.

All attempts of the planters to put a stop to the
ravages of these insects having been found ineffec-
tual, an act was passed by the legislature, by which

* Hawkesworth’s Account of Cook's first Voyage.
¢ Formica saccharivora. Linx,

414 THE SUGAR-ANT.

the discoverer of any practicable method of destroy-
ing them, so as to permit the cultivation of the
sugar-cane as formerly, was entitled to twenty thou-
sand pounds, to be paid from the public treasury of
the island.

Many were the candidates on this occasion, but
very far were any of them from having any just
claim. Considerable sums of money were, however,
granted in consideration of trouble and expences in
making experiments.

These ants, which were also injurious to several
sorts of trees, as the lime, lemon, orange, &c.
were of a middle size, and of a dark red colour.—
Their numbers were incredible. The roads have been
covered with them for miles together ; and so seen
crowded were they in many places that the print of
the horses’ feet would appear for a moment or two,
till filled up by the surrounding multitudes. All
the other species of ants, although numerous, were
circumscribed, ,and confined to a small spot, in pro-
portion to the space occupied by the sugar-ants, as
a mole-hill to a mountain.

Their destruction was attempted chiefly by poison,
and the application of fire.

Corrosive sublimate and arsenic, mixed with ani-
mal substances, was greedily devoured by them.
Myriads were thus destroyed, and the more, as they
were by these applications rendered so furious as
to destroy each other: yet it was found that these
poisons could not be laid in sufficient quantities
even to give the hundred-thousandth part of them
@ taste.

THE SUGAR-ANT. 415

The use of fire afforded a greater probabilty of
success. When wood was burnt to the state of
charcoal, without flame, and immediately taken
from the fire, and laid in their way, they crowded
to it in such astonishing numbers as soon to extin-
guish it, although with the destruction of thousands.
Holes were therefore dug at proper distances, and
a fire made in each of them. Prodigious quantities
perished in this way; for the places of those fires,
when extinguished, appeared in the shape of mole-
hills, from the numbers of the dead bodies heaped
on them. Nevertheless the ants appeared again as
numerous as ever.

This calamity, which resisted so long the efforts
of the planters, was at lenth removed by anothers
which, however ruinous to the other islands in the
West Indies, and in other respects, was to Grenada
a very great blessing, namely, the hurricane in 1780.
Without this it is probable that the cultivation of
the sugar-cane in the most valuable parts of that
island must have, in a great measure, been thrown
aside, at least for some time.

These ants make their nests only under the roots
of particular plants and trees, such as the sugar-
cane, the lime, lemon, and orange trees, where they
are protected from the winds and rain ; and the mis-
chief done by them does not arise from their de-
vouring those plants, but from these lodgments at
their roots. Thus the roots of the sugar-cane are
somehow or other so injured by them as to be inca-
pable of suppling due nourishment to the plants,
which therefore become sickly and stunted, and con-

416 THE SUGAR-ANT:

sequently do not afford juices fit for making sugar,
either in any quantity or of any tolerable quality.
By the violence of the tempest, trees and plants
(which commonly resist the ordinary winds) were
torn out by the roots. ‘The canes were universally
twisted about as if by a whirlwind, or torn out of
the ground altogether. In the latter case, both the

breeding ants and their progeny must have been

exposed to inevitable destruction from the deluge
of rain which fell at the same time. The number
of canes, however, thus torn out of the ground,
could not have been adequate to the sudden dimi-
nution of the sugar-ants; but it is easy to conceive
that the roots of canes which remained on the
ground, and the earth about them, were so agitated
and shaken, and at the same time the nests were so
broken open, or injured by the violence of the wind,
as to admit the torrents of rain accompanying it.
The principal destruction of the ants is supposed
therefore to have been thus effected *.

* Phil. Tran. vol. xxx. p. 346.

eb arp J

THE OESTRI, on GAD-FLIES*.

THE mouth in the Oestri is merely a simple aper-
ture. They have two feelers, but no beak. ‘The
antenne are short, and consist of three articulations,
the last of which is nearly globular, and furnished
with a bristle on the fore part: they are placed in
two hollows on the front of the head. The face is
broad, depressed, vesicular and giaucous, and has
been thought to bear some distant resemblance to
that of the Ape tribe.

The /arve are without feet, short,-thick, soft and
annulate, and are often furnished with small hooks.
These lie hid in the bodies of cattle, where they are
nourished the whole winter. The perfect insects
are to be met with in the summer in most places 3
where horses, cows, or sheep are grazing. Some of
them lay their eggs under the skin of cows or oxen,
which they pierce for that purpose ; others, for the
same end, are conveyed into the intestines of horses:
and others again deposit them in the nostrils of sheep.
In these different habitations the respective larye
reside till full grown, when they let themselves fall

r

* The Linnean order DipreRa commences here.

Wale Til. Ee

418 THE OX GAD-FLY.

to the earth; and generally pass the chrysalid state
under cover of the first stone they meet with.

From the posterior part of the body of the perfect
insect issues a wimble of wonderful structure. It
is a scaly cylinder, composed of four tubes, which
draw out like the pieces of a spying-glass: the last
of these is armed with three hooks, and is the gim-
let with which the insect bores through the tough
hide of horned cattle. When the egg is hatched,
the. grub feeds on the matter issuing from the
wound. ‘The nidus forms upon the body of cattle
a lump, sometimes above an inch high. When the
larva is full grown, it breaks through the tumour,
and slides down to the ground in the cool of the
morning. It then digs itself a burrow, into which
it retires. Its skin hardens to a very solid shell,
where it is transformed to a chrysalis, and after-
ward to a winged insect. This shell has a small
valve at one end, fastened by a very slight liga-
ment; without which, so careful is nature in the
preservation of her offspring, the insect would not
be able to escape from its confinement *.

THE OX GAD-FLY T

Has brown unspotted wings; and the abdomen
is marked with a black band in the middle, and
has dusky yellow hairs at the tip. The front }s

eine nnaiadaheamentl

* Barbut’s Gen. Insect. 296.
+ SyNoNYMS.—Oestrus bovis. LinneeLarve called Bots, Wor-
muls, Wornuls, or Warbles.

THE OX GAD-FLY, 419

white, and covered with down; and the thorax is
yellowish before, black in the middle, and cinereous
behind. The female differs from the male, in hav-
ing a black style at the end of the abdomen.

This insect deposits its eggs in the back of the
ox ; and the larva lives beneath the skin, between
this and the cellular membrane. Its sac or abscess
is somewhat larger than the insect, and, by narrow-
ing upwards, it opens externally to the air by a
small apperture.

The larva is smooth, white, and transparent when
young, but, when full grown, is of a deep brown.
It is also supplied in this state with innumerable
minute hooks, ranged in contrary directions on its
body; with which, by occasionally erecting or de-
pressing them, it is moved about in the abscess ;
and from this motion, and the consequent irritation,
a more or less copious secretion of pus takes place
for its sustenance.

When the larva is full grown, it effects its escape
from the abscess by pressing against the external
opening. When this becomes of sufficient size, it
writhes itself through, and falls from the back’ of
the animal to the ground; and, seeking a conve-
nient retreat, becomes a chrysalis, After the exit
of the larva, the wound in the skin is generally
closed up and healed in a few days.

The Ox Gad-fly is the largest of the European
species, and is very beautiful. ‘When the perfect
insect leaves the chrysalis, it forees open a very
‘remarkable marginated triangular lid, which is
situated on one side of the small end.

Ee2

420 THE OX GAD-FLY.

The pain it inflicts in depositing its ‘egg is mucht
more severe than in any of the other species. When
one of the cattle is attacked by this fly, it is easily
known by the extreme terror and agitation of the
whole herd. The unfortunate object of the attack
runs bellowing from among them to some distant
part of the heath, or the nearest water, while the
tail, from the severity of the pain, is held with a
tremulous motion straight from the body, in the
direction of the spine, and the head and neck are
also stretched out to their utmost length. The rest,
from fear, generally follow to the water, or disperse
to different parts of the field.

Such is the dread that cattle have of these flies
that, when one of them has met a herd, in their
way home from the labour of the day, they have
been known to turn back in the utmost affright,
regardless entirely of the stones, sticks, and noise
of their drivers; and to proceed, without stopping,
to some retreat in the water, where they could be
secure from its attacks. All flies of this tribe
have such a dishke to water as never to follow
them there.

When the oxen are yoked to the plough, the
attack of this fly is attended with real danger, as
they become perfectly uncontrollable, and will often
run with the plough directly forwards, even through
the hedges of the field. * To many ploughs there is,
on this account, a contrivance to set them at liberty
the moment they are alarmed.

The female fly is very quick in her operation of

depositing the egg: she does not remain ‘on the
1

THE HORSE GAD-FLY. 421

back of the animal more than a few seconds.—The
Jarvee of this insect are known among the common
people by the name of Wornuls, Wormuls, Warbles,
or Bots *.

THE HORSE GAD-FLY fT.

The larve of this fly are those odd-looking grubs
which are commonly found in the stomach of horses,
and sometimes, though much less frequently, in
the intestines. Here they hang in clusters of from
half a dozen to more than a hundred, adhering to
the inner membrane of the stomach, by means of
two small hooks or tentacula at their heads, whose
points turn outward. |

When they are removed from the stomach, they
will attach themselves to any loose membrane, even
to the skin of the hand. To do this they draw back
their hooks, which have a joint near their base, al-
most entirely within their skin, till the two points
come close to each other; then, keeping them
parallel, they pierce through the membrane, and
immediately afterwards expand in a lateral direc-
tion, and by these means they become perfecly
fixed.

Their food is probably the chyle, that white juice
which is formed in the stomach by the digestion of
the food, and which is afterwards converted into

: _* Lin, Tran. iii. 291. tab. 23.
t+ SYNONYMS.—=Oestrus equi. Linn.—Forest-fly, in Hampshiree

Ee3

4.22 THE HORSE GAD-FLY.

blood. This they suck in at a small longitudinal
aperture, situated between the hooks.

From their slowness of growth, and the very small
quantity of food they require, it has been found
extremely difficult to destroy them by any medicine
or poison that could be thrown inte the stomach,
They are, however, not now considered so injurious
to horses as they formerly were, and therefore the
difficulty of their extirpation seems not a matter of
so much consequence as people have imagined.

The mode pursued by the parent fly to obtain
for its young a situation in the stomach of the horse
is very singular:—The female, when the time for
Jaying her eggs is at hand, approaches on wing
that part of the horse where she intends to deposit
the egg, with her body nearly upright ; and her tail,
which is lengthened out for the purpose, bent in;
wards: she scarcely appears to settle, but merely
touches the hair, with the egg held out on the pro-
jected point of the abdomen. ‘The egg adheres by
means of a glutinous liquor secreted with it. She
then leaves the horse, goes to a small distance, and
prepares a second egg ; then, poising herself before
the part, deposits this in the same way. The liquor
dries, and the egg becomes firmly glued to the
hair: this is repeated by various flies, till 400 or
500 eggs are sometimes laid on one horse.

The inside of the knee is the part on which these
flies principally deposit their eggs ; and next to this
they fix them on the sides, and the back part of the
shoulder: but alwavs.in places that are liable to be

licked by the tongue. When these eggs have re-

THE HORSE GAD-FLY, 423

mained on the hairs four or five days they become
ripe, after which the slightest application of warmth
and moisture is sufhcient to bring them into life.
If at this time the tongue of the horse touches the
egg, its lid is thrown open, and a small active worm
is produced, which readily adheres to the surface of
the tongue, and is from. thence conveyed with the
food to the stomach.

It is however fortunate for the horses that this
insect is exposed to so many hazards that scarcely
one in a hundred arrives at the perfect state of a fly.
The eggs, when ripe, often hatch of themselves, and
the larve crawl about till they die; others are wash-
ed off by the water. When in the mouth of the
animal, they have to undergo the ordeal of the
teeth and mastication; and many pass entirely
through the intestines with the food. When the
larve arrive at full” growth, and are voided along
with the dung, many are either dropped into mud
or water, others are crushed to death by being trod
upon, and others are picked up by the birds. The
perflect fly is very tender, and but ill sustains the
changes of weather; and cold and moisture, in any
considerable degree, are probably often fatal to it.

This Gad-fly is distinguished from the rest of its
tribe by having a black band in the middle, and two
dots at the tip of its whitish wings. The abdomen
is yellow brown, with black spots at the divisions of
the segments. The female is more brown than the
male, and has her abdomen elongated with a cleft
terminal style*.

* Linn, Tran. iii. 298, tab. 23.

[°° 42¢ ]

THE SHEEP GAD-FLY *.

The manner in which the Gad-fly of the Sheep
deposits its egg has been seldom noticed ; nor is it
easy, from the obscure and rapid motion of the in-
sect, to discern the exact manner in which this is
accomplished. The moment the flies touch the
noses of the sheep, they shake their heads, and
strike the ground violently with their fore feet: at
the same time, holding their noses to the earth, they
run away, looking about them on every side to see
if the flies pursue. They also smell the grass as
they go, lest one should be lying in wait for them.
If they observe one, they gallop back, or take some
other direction. As they cannot, like the horses,
take refuge in the water, they have recourse to a
rut, or dry dusty road, where’ they crowd together
during the heat of the day, with their noses held
close to the ground. This renders it difficult for
the fly conveniently to get at the nostril. It is most
probably from repeated attacks, and the consequent
rubbing against the ground, that the nostril becomes
highly inflamed and sore, and occasions their touch
to be so much dreaded by the sheep f.

ae ET A A

* Ocstrus Ovis. Lina + Linn. Tran, iii. 313. tab. 23.

[ 425 ]

THE TIPULZ or CRANE-FLIES,.

’ THE Tipule, in their general form, have a great
resemblance to the Gnat. They have a very short
membranaceous proboscis, the back of which is
grooved, and receives a bristle. The feelers are
two, incurved, thread-shaped, and longer than the
head; and the antennz are, for the most part, fili-
form. :

The Jarve are without feet, soft, and cylindrical,
and those of the larger species feed on the roots of
plants, or in the hollows of decayed trees. Both the
larvee and chrysalids of the smaller Tipule are found
in water, and are very various both in size and co-
Jour. Some, like the polypus, are furnished with a
pair of arms; and others are inclosed in cylindrical
tubes open at the ends. ‘The latter swim nimbly,
but the others always remain in the holes they have
formed in the banks of rivulets. Some of the spe-
cies spin a silken case round part of their body.
Their whole frame is, in general, so very tender
that a touch alone is often sufficient to crush them.

THE WHEAT-FLY *.

In July 1795, Mr. Marsham had been informed
that an insect had made its app¢arance among the
wheat of a gentleman, a friend of his, in Hertford-

* Tipula Tritici. Linn. Tran.

426 THE WHEAT-FLY.

shire, which threatened much mischief. Some of
the ears were brought to him for examination ;
and, on opening those that scemed diseased, he
found in many an orange-coloured powder, and in
several one or two very minute larve of a yellow
colour. On applying a magnifier, for they were
too minute for examination with the naked eye, he
supposed them at that time to be the larve of a
small species of Musca; but they have since been
discovered to belong to this tribe. They were
thicker at one end than the other; extended and
contracted themselves at pleasure ; and had, in ad-
dition, a leaping motion, frequently springing full
half an inch from the paper on which he examined
them. ‘The ears were put into water, with gauze
tied round them; but, notwithstanding this care, the
flies, escaped, after their developement, without
being seen. Mr. Marsham wrote to several friends,
requesting their attention to this subject; in con-
sequence of which, an accurate investigation was
immediately set on foot.

It appears that these larve take their station in
the longitudinal furrow of the grain, to the bottom
of which they seem attached. Here probably suck-
ing the milky juice which swells the grain, and thus
depriving it of part, and in some cases, perhaps, of
the whole of its moisture, they occasion it to shrink
up, and become what the farmers call pungled.
They infect several grains in the same ear, and some
ears have been observed in which even a fourth of
the grain was either destroyed, or very materially
injured by them. The late sown wheat always

THE WHEAT-FLY. 429

appeared the most infected, arising, no doubt, from
the seed of that sown earlier obtaining too great a
degree of hardness, before the insects come out, to
be liable to be much hurt by them.

The Rev. Mr. Kirby attended very closely to
these insects; but it was some time before he was
able to discover the parent flies, and still longer
before he could find them in sufficient numbers to
allow him to make the necessary observations as to
their habits and economy.

In the beginning of June 1798, however, he
chanced to walk through a corn-field in the evening,
and, to his great surprise, observed an innumerable
multitude of them flying about in every direction ;
and, for near a month afterwards, found them in
the greatest abundance. ‘They were seldom seen
before seven o’clock ; at eight the fields appeared
to swarm with them, at which hour they were all
busily engaged in laying their eggs; and about nine
they generally disappeared. They were so ex-
tremely numerous that, if each of them were to
Jay its eggs in a different floret, and these eggs
were permitted to produce larve, more than half
the grain of the adjacent country would infallibly
be destroyed. Twelve have been observed at the
same moment laying their eggs in the same ear:
but among all these myriads not one male could be
discovered. ‘During the day-time none of these
insects are to be seen, as they then continue lodged
in a state of repose upon the lower part of the
culm. Upon shaking the stalks, however, they will
fly about.

428 THE WHEAT-FLY.

The female lays her eggs by means of a long re-
tractile tube, which unsheaths an aculeus as fine as
a hair, and very long.

These insects would soon become of serious in-
jury to mankind, were not their race kept within
due bounds by several natural enemies, some of
which devour them, and others (Ichneumon Tipule )
deposit their eggs in the larve, the young of which,
when hatched there, find a proper nourishment in
the bodies of their hosts.

This Ichneumon is about the size of the Wheat-
fly: and in order to observe the manner of the fe-
male’s depositing her eggs in the caterpillars-of the
Wheat-fly, Mr. Kirby placed a number of the latter
on a sheet of white paper, and then set an Ichneu-
mon down in the midst of them. She soon disco-
vered one of the larve; when vibrating her an-
tenn in an intense degree she fixed herself upon it,
and, bending her abdomen obliquely under her
breast, inserted her aculeus into the body of her vic-
tim, (which seemed by its motion to experience a
momentary pain,) and there deposited a single egg.
This being done, she went to a second, which was
constrained to undergo the like operation, and so
on to all the rest. She never deposited more than
one egg in each larva; and when she was remarked
to mount one that had been pricked before, she
soon discovered her mistake and left it,

The size of the two insects is so nearly alike that
one young only can be nourished by a single larva ;
and therefore instinct teaches the parent Ichneumons
to deposit oniy this number in each.

THE FLIES. 429

Mr. Kirby proposes, as an additional remedy for
this evil, that, when the wind is in a favourable
quarter, the fumes of tobacco or sulphur should be
thrown upon the corn. But, if this is done, it
should be as soon as the ears begin to appear from
the unsheathing leaf of the stalk.

The Wheat-fly is about the twelfth of an inch in
length. Its body and legs are of a dull yellow co-
lour, . and the wings are whitish, with a fringed
margin *.

THE: FLIES.

THE mouth of the insects of this tribe has a soft
fleshy proboscis with two equal lips; and the suck-
er is furnished with bristles. The antenne are ge-
nerally very short.

The appellation of Fly has been given almost.
exclusively to these insects, probably from their be-
ing so much more common than any others. The
larve of some of the species Jive in the water;
others are found on trees, where they devour the
plant-lice ; and others in putrid flesh, cheese, &c.
Most of the Flies sleep during the winter, and
therefore lay up no provision for their nourishment
in the cold season.—At the decline of the year,
when the mornings and evenings become chilly

oe

* Linn, Tran. iii, p, 243.—iv. p. 224. 240.——v. p. 96.

430 THE FLIES.

many of the species come for warmth into houses,
and swarm in the windows. At first they appear
very brisk and alert ; but as they grow torpid they
are seen to move with difficulty, and at last are
scarcely able to lift their legs, which seem as if
glued to the glass ; and by degrees many do actu-
ally stick on till they die in the place. It has been
observed that some of the Flies, besides their sharp
hooked nails, have also skinny palms or flaps to
their feet, whereby they are enabled to stick on glass
and other smooth bodies, and to walk on ceilings
with their backs downward, by means of the pres-
sure of the atmosphere on those flaps; the weight
of which they easily overcome in warm weather,
when they are brisk and alert. But towards the
end of the year this resistance becomes too mighty
for their diminished strength ; and we see Flies la-
bouring along, and lugging their feet in windows as
if they stuck ‘that to the glass; and it is with the ut-
must difficulty they can draw one foot after another,
and disengage their hollow caps from the slippery
surface. Ona principle exactly similar to this it
is that boys, by way of amusement, carry heavy
weights, by only a piece of wet leather at the end
of a string, clapped close to the surface of a stone.
It is a very extraordinary fact that Flies have
been known to remain immersed in strong liquors,
even for several months, and afterward, on being
taken out, and exposed to the air, have again re-
vived. Some, we are told by Dr. Franklin, were
drowned in Madeira wine, when bottled in Virginia
to besent to England. At the opening of a bottle

\

r w
THE COMMON FLESH-FLY. 431

of this wine at a friend’s house in London many
months afterwards, three drowned flies fell into the
first glass that was filled. The Doctor says that,
having heard it remarked that drowned Flies were
capable of being revived by the rays of the sun, he
now proposed making the experiment. ‘They were
therefore exposed to the sun, upon the sieve which
had been employed to strain them from the wine.
In less than three hours two of them began by de-
grees to have life. They commenced this by some
convulsive motions in the thighs; and, at length,
they raised themselves upon their legs, wiped their
eyes with their fore-feet, and, very soon afterwards,
flew away.—The Rey. Mr. Kirby informs me that
he has made the same observation on flies taken out
of home-made wines. He says that many have
recovered after being twelve months immersed.

THE COMMON FLESH-FLY *.

This insect is, in appearance, much allied to the
Jarge Blue-bottle flesh-fly +. It is, however, some-
what more slender, and is besides of a greyish tint,
occasioned by some irregular rather long stripes on
the corcelet running lengthwise, and some still more
irregular marks of the same kind on the body; all
of them of a cinereous grey, separated by a shining
brown, which, under certain points of view, appear
of a blueish tint. Its legs are black, the halteres or

* Musca carnaria. Ligz. + Musca vomitoria. Lites,

432 #HE HESSIAN FLY?

balancers under its wings are whitish, and its retis-
cular eyes somewat red.

It is a fact not generally known that this is a vivi-
parous insect, depositing its young in a living state on
the meat in our shambles and larders. These young
appear under the same worm-like form as the grubs
produced from the Blue flesh-fly: they feed as those
do, increase in size, undergo all their transformations
in the same manner, and even in the fly state appear
very little different. It appears that the eggs of this
fly are extruded from the uterus into the cavity of
the abdomen, and there undergo their first change,
differing in this respect from most others of the in-
sect tribes.

When the worms have attained their full size
(which is generally in seven or eight days) they quit
their food, and go in search of some loose earth, in
which they bury themselves and undergo their me-
tamorphosis.

Some others of the flies are also viviparous.

THE HESSIAN FLY *?

Among the various causes of alarm experienced
by the farmer in the course of his rural labours, few
are more powerful, though many more justly so,
than the larve or grubs of this little fly. These are
lodged and nourished in the very heart of the stems
of wheat and rye, just above the root, which by
their voracity they entirely destroy.

* Musca Pumilionis. Zinz.

THE HESSIAN-FLY ?~ 433

The fly producing this destructive grub is not quite
the fourth part of an inch in length. Its thorax
is dark-coloured, but marked longitudinally with
two yellow lines. The grubs are white, about’ two
lines in length, composed of ten rings, with the
head pointed atthe end. The chrysalis is yellows
shining, rather more than one line long, and com-
posed of rings.

In order to determine the species of this animal,
Mr. Markwick planted some diseased roots of wheat
in a small flower-pot filled with bran: this pot he co-
vered over with gauze, in such a manner that no in-
sect could get in from the outside, nor could any
escape from within. Not very long afterward he
discovered three small flies, which he found to be
of this species, sitting on the inside of the gauze,
and a few days after three more. There were in
the pot six roots of diseased wheat, which thus pro-
duced six flies. On examining the roots, he now
found an empty chrysalis in each.

The principal stems of the corn being entirely
destroyed by this grub, gave the crop of wheat be-
longing to a friend of Mr. Markwick so disastrous
an appearance that scarcely a hope was entertained
of any produce: but after the grub had changed into
its chrysalis state the mischief ceased, and none of
the roots were so materially injured as to prevent
them throwing out shoots on each side. At harvest-
time it was a matter of most agreeable surprise that
this should prove a good crop of wheat, with the
_ ears throughout the field large and well filled. ‘The
owner even thought it the best crop on his farm,

MOE, SEIT. 2 Ff

4.34 THE CHEESE-FLY.

and conjectured that it would produce about three
quarters and a half of threshed corn from each
acre.

The wheat that was sown early, about the be-
ginning of October, was alone affected by this in-
sect. ‘Fhe reason was, probably, that the cold at
the approach of winter had destroyed all the flies
before the late sown wheat had time to spring out
of the ground: consequently their eggs could not
be laid in this. The fly appears to be perfected in
May, or the beginning of June.

It was conjectured that this might be the Hessiaxz
fly, whose depradations in America have been so
notorious. If this is the case, Mr. M. is of opinion
that a little good English husbandry, by keeping the
ground in heart, and thus enabling the wounded
shoots to repair themselves by strong lateral ones,
will prevent any serious alarms *.

THE CHEESE-FLY ¥.

The larve of these flies are the troublesome mag-
gots found in cheese, so well known to housewives
under the name of Hoppers. They proceed from the.
eggs deposited in the crevices or holes of the cheese
by a very common fly, about the tenth of an inch
long, and of a dark colour, with whitish wings, each
marked with a black rib.

This maggot is surprisingly strong and vigorous,

* Linn. Tran. ii. p. 76. tab. rs.

+ SYNONYMS.—-Mausca purtis, “Linny,--—-Larve called Hoppers,

THE CHAMELEON FLY. 435

and leaps to a considerable distance when disturbed.
To do this it erects itself on its tail, and, bending
its head into a circle, fixes two black claws at the
end of the tail into two cavities formed for their
reception at the back of the head. It then exerts
its muscular powers, and, in suddenly extending its
body, throws itself, for its size, to a vast distance:
One of these, not a fourth of an inch long, has been
known to leap thus out of a box six inches deep, or
to twenty-four times its own length.

The rottenness of cheese is in a great measure oc-
casioned by these little maggots ; for they crumble
the substance of it into small particles, and the
smallest tainted spot immediately spreads when any
ef them get upon it.

When they are about to change into chrysalids,
they desert the cheese, and in three or four days
afterward grow stiff and lifeless. The fly bursts
through an opening in the skin just at the head,
which there divides into two parts. At its first ap-
pearance the wings are not fully formed, but it is able
to run about with great activity: the wings expand
by degrees, and in the course of a quarter of an hour
they are perfected.

In the ovary of a single female no fewer than
two hundred and fifty-six eggs have been found.

THE CHAMELEON FLY *,

This is one of our most common two-winged in-

* Musca Chameleon. Linn.

F f 2

456. THE CHAMELEON FLY¥.

sects. The egg from which it is produced is de
posited by the female in the hollow stalks of reeds
and other aquatic plants. From this proceeds a
larva of singular structure, which is often to be seen
crawling on grass and plants near shallow standing
waters, or floating near the surface.

The general colour of the larve is a greenish
brown. ‘Their bodies consist of eleven rings, and
their skin somewhat resembles parchment. ‘Though
these animals, before their transformation into flies,
live in water, air is necessary to support their prin-
ciple of life ; and the apparatus with which nature
has furnished them for that important purpose de-
serves our particular notice. The last ring or ter-
mination of their bodies is open, and serves as a
conductor of air. From this ring proceed a number
of hairs, which, when examined by the microscope,
are found to be real feathers with regular vanes. In
particular situations the larve bend the last ring in
such a manner as to reach the surface of the wa-
ter or mud in which they are placed. The feathers
prevent the water from entering the tube or organ
of respiration ; and, when the animal raises the ter-
mination of its body to its surface, in order to re-
ceive air, it erects and spreads the feathers, and by
these means exposes the end of the tube to the at-
mosphere. When it wishes to descend, it contracts
the filaments into the form of a ball, and the bubble
of air contained within it serves to keep the body in
a vertical position.

If this insect be cautiously cut open, two large
vessels, or trachez, will be seen on each side to oc-

THE CHAMELEON FLY. . 437

cupy almost one half of the body. Both of these
terminate in the open tube, or last ring. Though
these larvae are furnished with powers of respiration,
and actually respire air, yet some of them are able
to live more than twenty-four hours. without re-
spiration.

The head of this creature exhibits not less matter
of curiosity than its tail. In the middle part of its
mouth is piaced a hard, pointed, horny substance,
immoveable, and somewhat resembling the upper
mendible in the beak of a bird. On each side of
this there is a small and very singular kind of pro-
cess. These have lately been discovered to be the
feet, or, perhaps more properly, the arms, by which
the animal performs many of its movements in the
water, and by whose aid alone it can move itself
forward on dry land. Another principal use of these
members seems to be to loosen the mud for the pur-
pose of allowing the mouth to find easier access into
it than it otherwise might do; performing in some
measure the same functions in this respect as the
gristle in the nose of a hog. The animal has the
power of drawing these organs inward at pleasure,
so as to hide them as it were within the cheeks; and
from this peculiar position some persons have said
that this larva carries its feet in its mouth.

It is a calm inoffensive animal; discovers no
symptoms of fear when man approaches, and per-
forms in his presence all its usual operations with
great tranquillity. It never attempts to injure
or annoy any other creature in this state of its
existence.

Ff 3

438 THE RAT-TAILED WORM FBY.

When the time of its metamorphosis approaches,
the Jarva leaves the water, and, climbing up the side
of the bank, chooses a place where it can lie only
in part immerged in water. Here it remains at rest,
until it finally attains its chrysalid state. From five
to ten days are occupied in attaining its complete
form, and becoming a fly. This change always takes
place about the middle of July.

THE@RAT-TAILED WORM FLY™*,

The larve of the present species are usually found in
moist places, such as are frequented by the common
black lizard, and they never appear ondry ground till
about to undergo their first transformation. In this
state they somewhat resemble a tadpole, in form, the
fore-part being soft, thick, and rounded, and the tail
smal] and tapering. ‘They are covered with a vis-
-cous fluid, and on that account are generally found
encrusted with a coat of dirt. This seems to be
their colour, till they are washed, when they are found
of a transparent white.

The parent fly always lays her eggs in a place
near the vicinity of water, that 1s, where it is be-
twixt moist and dry. M. Reaumur watched the
motions of one of these insects, which he saw flying
about a bucket of water that stood in his garden.
After crossing it often, she at length descended
within its mouth, and, then flying round and round
it several times, stopped about an inch above the

* Musea pendula. Linz.

THE RAT-TAILED WORM FLY. 439

surface of the water, and laid, in several places, a
little cluster of eggs. These were all deposited
where the wood was just damp from the influence
of the water below, and invariably in cavities be-
tween two adjoining staves, where the water was
less likely to be dried up than elsewhere. In this
situation, the young insect was no sooner ‘extruded
from the egg than it found itself within the reach of
the element where it was destined to pass the most
considerable part of its life.

The young are no sooner dropped into the water
than, like all other animals in their natural element,
they find themselves endowed with the instinct of
searching for their own food, and of employing, in
an appropriate mannner, all the members of their
body to the proper uses for which they are naturally
adapted. .

The tail of this insect, like that of the last, is its
organ of respiration ; and though, like the whale, it
is an inhabitant of the water, yet, like that, it is a
breathing animal, and would be entirely suffocated,
were it to be continued under water and excluded
from access to the air.

Reaumur, in order to observe the economy of
these little creatures, which he denominated Raf-
tailed Worms, collected a number of them, which he
put into a glass vessel filled two inches high with
water. At first they were considerably agitated,
each seemingly searching for a proper place of re-
pose. Some of them swam across, others attached
themselves to the sides, and others rested at the

_ bottom of the vessel. In a quarter of an hour they
| Ff 4

|

440 THE RAT-TAILED WORM FLY,

were almost all entirely tranquil, and Reamur soon
discovered the real use of their long tails. On ex-
amining the vessel, he found that each of the ani-
mals, in whatever situation they were placed, ex-
tended its tail exactly to the surface ; that, like
other aquatic insects, the respiration of air was ne-
cessary to their existence ; and that the tail, which
is tubular, and open at the extremity, was the organ
by which this operation was performed. In this
experiment, the distance from the bottom to the
surface was two inches, and, of course, the tails
were of an equal lengh. To discover how far
the animals could extend their tails, this most in-
genious and indefatigable philosopher gradually aug-
mented the height of the water, and the tails uni_
formly rose to the surface till it was between five
and six inches high. When the water was raised
higher the animals immediately guitted their sta-
tion at the bottom, and either mounted higher in
the water, or fixed themselves upon the sides of the
vessel, in situations which rendered it convenient
for them to reach the surface with the points of
their tails—These tails consist of two tubes, both
of which are capable of extension and contraction,
The-first tube is always visible; but the second,
which is the proper organ of respiration, is exerted
only when the water is raised beyond a certain
height. Through this tube the air is conveyed
into two large trachee or wind-pipes within the
body of the animal, and thus maintains the prin-
ciple of life. When the tails are below the sur-
face, the animals occasionally emit small bubbles of

THE RAT-TAILED WORM FLY. 441

air, which are visible to the naked eye, and imme-
diately repair to the surface for fresh supplies.

So anxious is nature to provide animals in every
state of their existence with air that, after the trans-
formation of many insects into crysalids, she creates
instruments for that purpose, which did not exist
previous to their transformation. These Rat-tailed
Worms, soon after they are transformed into chry-
salids, instead of a soft pliable skin, are covered
with a hard crustaceous substance, seemingly im-
pervious to the air; and the tail, which was the
wind-pipe of the animal in its first state, gradually
vanishes. In a few hours, however, four hollow
horns shoot out, two from the fore and two from
the under part of what was the head of the animal.
These horns, which are hard and tubular, M. de
Reaumur discovered to be real wind-pipes, destined
for the introduction of air into the chrysalis; a state
in which many animals have the appearance of
being dead, and, of course, should seem to have
little use for respiration. He likewise discovered
that these horns, which had pierced the hard exte-
rior covering, terminated in as many trachee in the
body of the animal. This fact affords a strong
example of the necessity of air for sustaining
the principle of life, even in its lowest condition.
After these animals pass from the chrysalis state to
that of flies, they are deprived both of their tails
and horns. But nature, in this last stage of their
existence, has not left them without proper re-
sources for the introduction of air into their bodies.
Instead of protuberant trachew in the form of tails

442 THE GNATS.

or horns, they now, like other flies, receive air by
means of stigmata, or holes, variously disposed over
different parts of the body.

These Rat-tailed Worms pass the first and longest
part of their lives, which is supposed to be several
months, under water. When near the time of their
transformation, they leave that element, retire into
the ground, and there become chrysalids, From
this state they are changed into flies, and spend the
remainder of their short existence in the air.

THE GNATS.

THE mouth of the Gnats has a long slender
trunk, or flexile sheath, inclosing five pointed bristles;
it has also two feelers. The antenne are generally
thread-shaped, but those of some of the males are
feathered.

These insects principally frequent woods and
watery places, and are generally known to the coun-
try people by the name of Midges. ‘They live by
sucking the blood and juices of the larger animals.

Their /arve are very common in stagnant waters.
The bodies of these are composed of nine segments,
the last of which is furnished with a small cylin-
drical tube through which they breathe, frequently
rising to the surface of the water for that purpose.—
The head of the chrysalis is bent down towards the
breast, so as to throw the thorax in front: in this
the respiratory tubes are situated near the head.

J

THE COMMON GNAT. 443

‘The last segment of the abdomen terminates in a
kind of flat fin, by means of which the creature
obtains its motion in the water.

THE COMMON GNAT*.

Few insects are better known than this species
of Gnat, and there are not many that afford a more
interesting history.

From the beginning of May their larve may be
seen in the stagnant waters, with their heads down-
ward, and the extremity of their abdomen at the
surface; from the side of which arises the hollow
tube through which they respire. Their heads are
armed with hooks, that serve to seize on insects and
bits of grass on which they feed; and on their sides
are four small fins, by the help of which they swim
-and crawl along. These larve retain their form
during a fortnight or three weeks, after which they
turn into chrysalids ; and all the parts of the winged
Insect are now distinguishable through their thin
exterior covering. The situation and shape of their
respiratory tube is also altered: this is now divided
into two parts, and is placed near the head. The
chrysalids abstain from eating, and reside almost
constantly at the surface of the water; but, on the
least motion, they may be seen to unroll themselves
from their spiral position, and, by means of little
paddles on their hinder part, to plunge to the bot-
tom. Inthe course of a few days they are trans-

eee eee

* Culex pipiens. Linn,

444 THE COMMON GNAT.

formed into perfect Gnats. The chrysalids swell
at the head, and the flies burst from their inclosure.
If at the instant of the change a breeze springs up,
it proves to them a dreadful hurricane, as the water
gets into their case, from which they are not yet
perfectly loosened; this immediately sinks, and
they are drowned *.

The female deposits her eggs on the surface of
the water, and surrounds them with a kind of unc-
tuous matter, which prevents them from sinking ;
and she at the same time fastens them with athread
to the bottom, to prevent them from floating away,
at the mercy of every breeze, from a place the
warmth of which is proper for their production, to
any other where the water may be too cold, or the
animals, their enemies, too numerous. In this state
they therefore resemble a buoy that is fixed by an
anchor. As they come to maturity they sink deeper ;
and at last, when they leave the egg, they creep in
the form of grubs at the bottom.

If the Gnats were not devoured by fish, water-
fowl, swallows, and other animals, the air would
often, fram their immense multitudes, become
darkened: afew instances have occurred in which
this has been the case. In July, August, and Sep-
tember 1776, at Oxford, they were sometimes seen
towards the evenings in such myriads as literally to
darken the rays of the sun; and their repeated bites
often swelled the exposed parts of the body to an
enormous size, and caused the most troublesome

* Barbut’s Gen. Insect. 306.

THE COMMON GNAT. 44

and unpleasant sensations. Mr. Swinton, who has
given an account of them in the Philosophical
Transactions, has stated that he was one evening
in the garden of Wadham College, about half an
hour before sun-set, in company with another gen-
tleman, when they were observed in numbers almost
unexampled. Six distinct columns were observed
to ascend from the tops of six branches of an apple-
tree in an adjoining garden, separated from that in
which they were stationed by a wall at least fifty or
sixty feet in height. Two of these columns seemed
perfectly erect, three of them were oblique, and
one approached somewhat towards a pyramidal
form. The bodies of some of the Gnats were
greatly distended with blood; one, considerably
larger than the rest, that was killed, had as much
blood expressed from as besmeared part of a wall
three inches square.—About thirty years before this
many columns of Gnats were observed to rise from
the top of the cathedral church at Salisbury... At a
little distance they had so great a resemblance to
smoke as, at first, to occasion considerable. alarm
Jest the church was on fire*. |
It is impossible to behold and not admire the
beautiful structure of the proboscis of the Gnat,
through which it draws the juices that afford it nou-
rishment. The naked eye is only able to discover
a long and slender tube, containing five or six
spicula of exquisite fineness. These spiculz, in-
troduced into the veins of animals, act like the

* Swinten in Phil, Tran. vol. lvii. p. 111.

446 THE COMMON GNAT:

suckers of a pump, and cause the blood to ascend.
The insect injects a small quantity of liquid into
the wound, by which the blood is made more fluid.
The animal swells, grows red, and does not quit its
hold till it has gorged itself. The liquor it has in-
jected causes, by its fermenting, a disagreeable
itching, which may be removed by volatile alkali,
or by immediately rubbing and washing the place
with cold water*.—We are also told that at night
to rub the part affected with fuller’s earth and wa-
ter will lessen the inflammation.
Gnats are said sometimes to shine in the dark.

ee

The Musqueto-fly is nothing more than a large va-
riety of the Common Gnat, which is very common
in the woody and marshy parts of all hot climates,
It also abounds, during their short summer, through-
out Lapland, Norway, and Finland, and other coun-
tries equally near the Pole.

It is the female only that bites and sucks the
blood; and this is so severe as to swell and blister
the skin in a most violent manner, and sometimes
even to leave obstinate sores. The Musquetoes
are found in such swarms, in the woods, that who-
ever enters them is sure to have his face covered,
and he is scarcely able to see his way before him.
A swelling and disagreeable itching immediately
follows the puncture, and these are succeeded by
small white ulcers; so that the face of a person

* Barbut’s Gen. Insect. 306,

THE COMMON GNAT. 447

coming from the country is scarcely to be recog-
nized, and it appears full of blotches. Even gloves
are not always found a protection against these
troublesome insects, as they often pass their stings
through the seams.

Whilst the Laplanders are employed in the
woods, on the necessary business of cutting timber,
they are unable to take the refreshment of their
meals; for their mouths, as soon as opened, would
be filled with Musquetoes. If the wind happen
to blow briskly, the animals disappear for the time ;
but no sooner is it again calm than they return, and
crowd every place.—They also dreadfully infest the
cattle and rein-deer. When these return from the
woods, they are found covered with Musquetoes ;
and, on the insects being swept from their backs
and sides, their skins are red with blood.

The lowest class of people, in all the climates
where Musquetoes abound, keep them out of their
huts, during the day, by burning there a continual
fire: the Laplander has a better contrivance to
defend himself from their stings while in bed. He
fixes a leather thong to the poles of his tent, over
his bed, which raises his canvas quilt to a proper
height, so that its sides or edges touch the ground.
Under this he creeps and passes the night in secu-
rity—-When Mr. Acerbi and his friends arrived in
a cottage in the village of Kollare, in Lapland, the
first favour the women conferred on them was to
light a fire, and fill the room so full of smoke that
it brought tears from their eyes. This was done
‘ to deliver them from the molestation of the Mus-

448 THE COMMON GNAT.

quetoes; and, as a means of effectual prevention,
they made a second fire near the entrance of the
apartment, to stop the fresh myriads which, after
the death of these, would otherwise have rushed in
upon them from without.

Smoke being found to keep Musquetoes at a
distance, the Laplanders generally contrive that,
while one man is milking the Rein-deer, another
shall hold a firebrand over him. By this contri-
vance the animals are kept quiet*.

The buzzing of the Musquetoes is so very loud
as to disturb the rest of persons in the night al-
most as much as would be done by their bite. The
more opulent inhabitants of chmates where they
abound usually sleep under nets of thin gauze.

* Acerbi, ii. 63 °¥7.95

[ 449 |

THE TERMES TRIBE*.

THE present tribe is arranged by Linneus among
the apterous insects: but it might with equal pro-
priety have been inserted with the Neuroptera or
Hymenoptera ;. for the males of most of the species,
in a perfect state, have either two or four wings.

The mouth is furnished with two horny jaws, and
has a horny four-cleft lip. The feelers are four in
number, thread-shaped, and equal. The antenne
in some of the species are beaded, and in others
tapering.

THE DEATH-WATCH TERMES f

This insect is about a tenth of an inch long. At
first sight it has greatly the appearance of a Louse :
its mouth, however, with a glass is seen to be red-
dish, and its eyes are yellow. The antennz are
sharply pointed and somewhat long. It is some-
times, though very rarely, observed to have wings.

It is usually found in old wood, decayed furniture,
museums and neglected books; and both the male
and female have the power of making a ticking
noise, not unlike that of a watch, to attract each
other. These little animals are in considerable

-_——~-

* The Linnean genus of ApTerus INsecTs commences with this
tribe.

+ SyNONYMs.———Termes pulsatorium. Lina. Procus pulsato-
rius. Fabricius.

” =
eS
Gg

450 THE DEATH-WATCH TERMES.

numbers during the summer months; but, when
disturbed, they run so nimbly into a hiding-place as
not often to be remarked. When they are dis-
turbed, they are: very shy in making their noise ;
but if they can be viewed without being alarmed
by noise, or moving the place where they are, they
will not only beat freely but even answer any per-
son’s beating with his nail. At every stroke their
body shakes, or seems affected as by a sudden jerk;
and these jerks succeed each other so quickly that
it requires great steadiness to perceive with the
naked eye that the body has any motion. ‘They are
scarcely ever heard to beat before July, and never
later than the sixteenth of August. It appears
strange that so small an animal should be able to
make a noise so loud as is frequently to be heard
from this ; sometimes equal to that of the strongest
beating watch. Dr. Derham seems to have been
the first naturalist who examined and des¢ribed this
species. He had often heard the noise, and in pur-
suing it had found nothing but these insects, which
he supposed incapable of producing it; but one day,
by finding that the noise proceeded from a piece of
paper loosely folded, and lying in a good light in his
study window, he viewed it through, and with a
microscope observed, to his great astonishment, one
of them in the very act of beating. In some years
they are more numerous than in others, and their
ticking is of course more frequently heard: Dr.
Derham says that, during the month of July, in one
particular summer, they scarcely ever ceased, either
in the day or night.

THE WHITE ANTS. 4.51

The female lays her eggs in dry and dusty places,
where they are likely to meet with the least disturb-
ance: these are exceedingly small, and are not un-
like the nits or eggs of lice. They are generally
hatched about the beginning of March, or a little
sooner or later according to the weather. After
leaving the egg, the animals are so small as scarcely
to be discerned without the assistance of a glass,
They continue in this larva state, somewhat resem-
bling in appearance the mites in cheese, about two
months ; after which they undergo their change.

They feed on dead flies and other insects; and,
from their numbers and voracity, often very much
deface cabinets of natural history. They also live
on various other substances, and may frequently be
observed hunting for nutritious particles with great
care and attention, among the dust in which they are
found: turning it over with their heads, and search-
ing among it somewhat in the manner of swine.
Many of them live through the winter; but during
that time, in order to avoid the inconveniences of |
frost, they bury themselves deep in dust *.

The Death-watch Termes seems to bear very
little relation to the following species.

THE WHITE ANTS f.

The animals of this extraordinary community are
found in the East Indies, and in many parts of Africa

* Phil. Tran. vol. xxvi. p. 231. + Termes fatale,

Gvg2

o

452 THE WHITE ANTS,

and South America, where their depredations are
greatly dreaded by the inhabitants. Mr. Smeath-
man, whose account of them occupies above fifty
pages in the seventy-first volume of the Philosophi-
cal ‘Transactions, says that they are naturally divided
into three orders: 1. The working insects, which
he distinguishes by the name of /abourers; 2. The
fichters or soldiers, which perform no other labour
than such as is necessary in defence of the nests ;
and, 3. The winged or perfect insects, which are
male and female, and capable of multiplying the
species. These last he calls the nobzdity or gentry ;
because they neither labour nor fight.

In their nest or hill, for they build on the surface
of the ground, the labourers are always the most nu-
merous. There are at least a hundred labourers to
one of the fighting insects or soldiers. When in this
state, they are about a fourth of an inch im length ;
which is rather smaller than some of our ants.

The second order, or soldiers, differ in figure from
the labourers. These appear to be such insects as
have undergone one change toward their perfect
state. They are now near half an inch in length,
and equal in size to about fifteen of the labourers.
The form of the head is likewise greatly changed.
In the labourer state, the mouth is evidently formed
for gnawing, or for holding bodies ; but, in the
soldier state, the jaws, being shaped like two sharp
awls a little jagged, are destined solely for piercing
or wounding. » For these purposes they are well cal-
culated; being as hard as a crab’s claw, and placed

ie)

THE WHITE ANTS. 453

in a strong horny head, which is larger than all the
rest of the body.

The insect of the third order, or in its perfect
state, is still more remarkable. The head, the tho-
rax, and the abdomen, differ almost entirely from
the same parts in the labourers and soldiers. The
animals are besides now furnished with four large
brownish transparent wings, by which they are en-
abled, at the proper season, to emigrate, and to
establish new settlements. They are now also
greatly altered in their size as well as figure, and
have acquired the powers of propagating the
species. Their bodies now measure near three
quarters of an inch in length, their wings, from tip
to tip, above two inches and a half, and their bulk
is equal to that of thirty labourers, or two soldiers.
Instead of active, industrious, and rapacious. little
animals, when they arrive at their perfect state, they
become innocent, helpless, and dastardly. Their
numbers are great, but their enemies are still more
numerous: they are devoured by birds, by every
species of ants, by carnivoreus reptiles, and even by
the inhabitants of many parts of Africa. After such
devastation it seems surprising that even a single
pair should escape. ‘* Some, however,” says Mr.
Smeathman, “ are so fortunate; and being found by
some of the labouring insects, that are continually
running about the surface of the ground under their
covered galleries, are elected Kings and Queens of
new States; all those, which are not so elected and
preserved, certainly perish. The manner in which
these labourers protect the happy pair from their in-

Gg 3

ey! _ THE WHITE ANTs.

numerable enemies, not only on the day of the
massacre of almost all their race, but fora long time
after, will, I hope, justify me in the use of the term
election. ‘The little industrious creatures immedi-
ately inclose them in a small chamber of clay suit-
able to their size, into which at first they leave but
one entrance, laree enough for themselves and the
soldiers to goin and out at, but much too little for
either of the royal pair to use ; and, when necessity
obliges them to make more entrances, they are never
larger ; so that, of course, the voluntary subjects
charge themselves with the task of providing for the
offspring of their sovereigns, as well as of working
and fighting for them, until they have raised a pro-
geny capable at least of dividing the task withthem.”

About this time a most extraordinary change
takes place in the queen. The abdomen begins to
extend and enlarge to such an enormous size, that
an old queen will sometimes have it so much in-
creased as to be near two thousand times the bulk of
the rest of her body. The skin between the seg-
ments of the abdomen extends in every direction ;
and at last the segments are removed to the distance _
of half an inch from each other, though at first the
whole length of the abdomen was not half an inch.
When the insect is upward of two years old, the
abdomen is increased to three inches in length, and
it is sometimes seen near twice that size. It is now
of an irregular oblong shape, and is become one
vast matrix full of eggs, which make long circum-
volutions through an innumerable quantity of very
minute vessels, that circulate round the inside in a

THE WHITE ANTS. ; 455

serpentine manner. When the eggs are perfectly
formed, they begin to be protruded, and they come
forth so quickly that. about sixty ina minute, or
upward of eighty thousand in twenty-four hours,
are deposited.

These eggs are immediately taken away by the
attendants, and carried to the nurseries. Here they
are hatched. The young are attended and provided

with every thing necessary, until they are able to
~ shift for themselves, and take their share in the la-
bours of the community.

The nests, or rather A7//s, of these Ants, for they
are often elevated ten or twelve feet above the sur-
face of the ground, are nearly of a conical shape ;
and sometimes so numerous as at alittle distance to
appear like villages of the negroes. Jobson, in his
History ef Gambia, says that some of them are
twenty feet high, and that he and his companions
have often hidden themselves behind them, to shoot
deer and other wild animals. Each hill is composed
of an exterior and an interior part. The exterior
cover is a large clay shell, shaped like a dome, of:
strength and magnitude sufficient to inclose and
protect the interior building from the injuries of the
weather, and to defend its numerous inhabitants
from the attacks of natural or accidental enemies.

These hills make their first appearance in the
form of conical turrets about a foot high. Ina short
time the insects erect, at a little distance, other tur-
rets, and go on increasing their number and widening
their bases, till their underworks are entirely co-
vered with these turrets, which the animals always

Ge4

4.56 THE WHITE ANTS.

raise highest in the middle of the hill; and, by fill-
ing up the intervals between each, they collect
them, at last, into one great dome.

The royal chamber is always situated as near the
centre of the building as possible, and is generally
on a level with the common surface of the ground.
It is nearly in the shape of half an egg, or an
obtuse. oval, within, and may be supposed to re-
present alongoven. In the infant state of the co-
lony, it is not above an inch in length ; but in time
it becomes increased to six or eight inches,’or more,
being always in proportion to the size of the queen,
who, increasing in bulk as in age, at length requires
a chamber of such dimensions.

The entrances into the royal chamber not admit-
iting any animal larger than the labourers or soldiers,
it follows that the king and queen can never possi-
bly get out. This chamber is surrounded by an
innumerable quantity of others, of different sizes,
figures, and dimensions; all of them arched either
in a circular or an elliptical form. These cham-
bers either open into each other, or have communi-
cating passages ; which, being always clear, are evi-
dently intended for the convenience of the soldiers
and attendants, of whom great numbers are neces-
sary. The latter apartments are joined by the maga-
zines and nurseries. The magazines are chambers of
clay, and are at all times well stored with provisions,
which, to the naked eye, seem to consist of the
raspings of wood and plants; but, when examined
by the microscope, they are found to consist chiefly —
of the gums or inspissated juices of plants, thrown

THE WHITE ANTS. 457

together in small irregular masses. Of these
masses, some are finer than others, and resemble
the sugar about preserved fruits ; others resemble
the tears of gum, one being quite transparent, ano-
ther like amber, a third brown, and a fourth per-
tectly opaque.

The magazines are always intermixed with the
nurseries, buildings totally different from the rest of
the apartments. These are composed entirely of
wooden materials, which seem to be cemented with
gums. They are invariably occupied by the eggs,
and the young which first appear in the shape of la-
bourers. These buildings are exceedingly compact,
and are divided into a number of small irregular-
shaped chambers, not one of which is half an inch
wide. ‘They are placed all round, and as near as
possible to the royal apartments.

When a nest is in an infant state, the nurseries
are close to the royal apartment. But, as in pro-
cess of time the body of the queen enlarges, it be-
comes necessary, for her accommodation, to aug-
ment the dimensions of her chamber. She then,
likewise, lays a greater number of eggs, and requires
more attendants: of course, it is necessary that both
the number and dimensions of the adjacent apart-
ments should be augmented. For this purpose, the
small first built nurseries are taken to pieces, rebuilt
a little farther off, and made a size larger, and their
number, at the same time, is increased. Thus the
animals are continually employed in pulling down,
repairing, or rebuilding their apartments; and these

458 THE WHITE ANTS.

operations they perform with wonderful sagacity,
regularity, and foresight.

The nurseries are inclosed in chambers of clay,
like those which contain the provisions; but they
are much larger. In the early state of the nest,
they are not bigger than a hazel nut; but, in great
hills, they are often four or five inches across.

The royal chamber, as we have observed, is si-
tuated as nearly under the apex of the hill as _pos-
sible, and is surrounded on all sides, both above and
below, by what Mr. Smeathman calls the royal
apartments, which contain only labourers and _ sol-
diers, that can be intended for no other purpose
than to continue in the nest either to guard or
serve their common parents, on whose safety the
happiness, and probably the existence, of the whole
community depend. ‘These apartments compose
an intricate labyrinth, which extends a foot or more
in diameter from the royal chamber on every side.
Here the nurseries and magazines of provisions
begin; and, being separated by small empry cham-
bers and galleries, which surround them, and com-
municate with each other, are continued on all
sides to the outward shell, and reach up within two
thirds or three fourths of its height, leaving an open
area in the middle under the dome, which resem-
bles the nave of an old gothic cathedral. This
area is surrounded by large gothic arches, which are
sometimes two or three feet high next to the front
of the area, but diminish rapidly as they recede,
like the arches of aisles in perspectives, and are

THE WHITE ANTS. 459

soon lost among the innumerable chambers and
nurseries behind them. All these chambers and
passages are arched, and contribute naturally to
support one another. The inferior building, or as-
semblage of nurseries, chambers, and passages, has a
flattish roof without any perforation. By this con-
trivance, if, by accident, water should penetrate
the external dome, the apartments below are pre-
served from injury. The area has also a flattish
floor, which is situated above the royal chamber.
It is likewise water-proof, and so constructed that,
if water gets admittance, it runs off by subterra-
neous passages, which are cylindrical, and some of
them so much as even thirteen inches in diameter.
These subterraneous passages are thickly lined with
the same kind of clay of which the hill is com-
posed: they ascend the internal part of the exter-
nal shell ina spiral form, and, winding round the
whole building up to the top, intersect and commu-
nicate with each other at different heights. From
every part of these large galleries a number of
pipes, or smaller galleries, leading to different apart-
ments of the building, proceed.- There are like-
wise a great many which lead downward, by slop-
ing descents, three and four feet perpendicular
under ground, among the gravel, from which the
labouring Ants select the finer parts ; which, after
being worked up in their mouths to the consistence
of mortar, become that solid clay or stone, of which
their hills, and every apartment of their buildings,
except the nurseries, are composed. Other galle-
ries ascend and lead out horizontally on every side,

460 THE WHITE ANTS.

and are carried under ground, but near the surface,
to great distances, for the purpose of foraging.
When a breach is made in one of the walls by
an ax, or other instrument, the first object that
attracts attention is the behaviour of the soldiers or
fighting insects. Immediately after the blow is
given, a soldier comes out, walks about the breach,
and seems to examine the nature of the enemy, or
the cause of the attack. He then goes into the
hill, gives the alarm, and, in a short time, large bo-
dies rush out as fast as the breach will permit. It
is not easy to describe the fury that actuates these
fighting insects. In their eagerness to repel the
enemy, they frequently tumble down the sides of
the hill, but recover themselves very quickly, and
bite every thing they encounter. ‘This biting, join-
ed to the striking of their forceps upon the build-
ing, makes a crackling or vibrating noise, which is
somewhat shriller and quicker than the ticking of
a watch, and may be heard at the distance of several
feet. While the attack proceeds, they are in the
most violent bustle and agitation. If they get hold
of any part of a man’s body, they instantly make a
wound which gives some pain. When they attack
the leg, the stain of blood upon the stocking ex-
tends more than an inch in width. They make
their hooked jaws meet at the first stroke, and never
quit their hold, but will suffer themselves to be
pulled away piece after piece, without any attempt
to escape. On the other hand, if a person keeps
out of their reach, and gives them no farther dis-
turbance, in less than half an hour they retire into

THE WHITE ANTS. 461

the nest, as if they supposed the monster that da-
maged their cattle had fled. Before the whole of
the soldiers have got in, the labouring insects are
all in motion, and hasten toward the breach, each
of them having a quantity of tempered mortar in
his mouth. This mortar they stick upon the breach
as fast as they arrive, and perform the operation
with so much dispatch and facility that, notwith-
standing the immensity of their numbers, they never
stop or embarrass one another. During this scene
of apparent hurry and confusion, the spectator is
agreeably surprised when he perceives a regular
wall gradually rising and filling up the chasm.
While the labourers are thus employed, almost all
the soldiers remain within, except here and there
one, who saunters about among six hundred or a
thousand labourers, but never touches the mortar.
One soldier, however, always takes his station close
to the wall that the labourers are building. This
soldier turns himself leisurely on all sides, and, at
intervals of a minute or two, raises his head, beats
upon the building with his forceps, and makes the
vibrating noise formerly mentioned. A loud hiss
instantly issues from the inside of the dome, and
all the subterraneous caverns and passages. That
this hiss proceeds from the labourers is apparent ;
for, at every signal of this kind, they work with
redoubled quickness and alacrity. A renewal of
the attack, however, instantly changes the scene.
* On the first stroke,” Mr. Smeathman remarks,
“ the Jabourers run into the many pipes and galle-
ries with which the building is perforated, whi¢h

462 THE WHITE ANTS.

they do so quickly that they seem to vanish; for,
in a few seconds, all are gone, and the soldiers rush
out as numerous and as vindictive as before. On
finding no enemy, they return again leisurely into
the hill; and, very soon after, the Jabourers appear
loaded as at first, as active, and as sedulous, with
soldiers here and there among them, who act just in
the same manner, one or other of them giving the
signal to hasten the business. ‘Thus the pleasure of
seeing them come out to fight or to work alternate-
ly, may be obtained as often as curiosity excites,
or time permits; and it will certainly be found that
the one order never attempts to fight, nor the other
to work, let the emergency be ever so great.”

It is exceedingly difficult to explore the interior
parts of a nest or hill. The apartments which sur-
round the royal chamber and the nurseries, and,
indeed, the whole fabric, have such a dependence
on each other, that the breaking of one arch gene-
rally pulls down two or three. Another great
obstacle is the obstinacy of the soldiers, who, says
our author, “fight to the very last, disputing every
inch of ground so well as often to drive away the
negroes who are without shoes, and make white
people bleed plentifully through their stockings.
Neither can we let a building stand so as to get a
view of the interior parts without interruption ;
for, while the soldiers are defending the outworks,
the labourers keep barricading all the way against
us, stopping up the different galleries and passages
which lead to the various apartments, particularly
the royal chamber, all the entrances to which they

THE WHITE ANTS, 463

fill up so artfully as not to let it be distinguishable
while it remains moist; and, externally, it has no
other appearance than that of a shapeless lump of
clay. It is however easily found, from its situation
with respect to the other parts of the building, and
by the crowds of labourers and soldiers which
surround it, who shew their Joyalty and fidelity by
dying under its walls. The royal chamber, ina
large nest, is Capacious enough to hold many hun-
dreds of the attendants, besides the royal pair; and
it is always found as full of them as it can hold.
These faithful subjects never abandon their charge
even in the last distress; for, whenever I took out
the royal chamber, as I often did, and preserved it,
for some time in a large glass bowl, all the attend-
ants continued running in one direction round the
king and queen with the utmost solicitude, some of
them stopping at the head of the latter, as if to give
her something. When they came to the extremity
of the abdomen, they took the eggs from her, car-
ried them away, and piled them carefully together
in some part of the chamber, or in the bowl under,
or behind any broken pieces of clay which lay most
conveniently for the purpose *.

THE LOUSE TRIBE.

THE mouth in these animals is formed by a re-
tractile recurved sucker, without a proboscis. There

* Phil. Tran. vol, Ixxi, p, 139-192.

464 _ THE COMMON Louse.

are no feelers, and the antenne are about the
length of the thorax. The abdomen is somewhat
flattened ; and the legs, which are six in number,
are formed not for leaping, but running.

Lice live on animal juices, which they extract
from living bodies by means of their sucker. The
larva and pupa resemble the perfect insect.

THE COMMON LEOUSE*.

When we examine the human Louse with the
microscope, its external deformity strikes us with
disgust. The fore part of its head is somewhat
oblong, while the hind part is rounded. The skin
is hard and transparent, with here and there a few
bristly hairs. On cach side of its head are two
antenne or horns, jointed, and covered with bristly
hair; and behind these are the eyes, which are
Jarge and black. The neck js short, and the breast
divided into three parts; on each side of which are
placed three legs, armed at the end with small
claws, by which the animal lays hold of different
objects. The trunk, or proboscis, is generally con-.
cealed in its tube: this is very sharp, and furnished,
toward its upper part, with a few reversed prickles.
By means of this the Louse feeds; and, when it is
engaged in sucking any animal, the blood may be
scen, through the transparency of its external co-
vering, to rush like a torrent into the stomach.
Through this its stomach and intestines are also-

* Pediculus humanus Linz.

“THE COMMON LOUSE, 465

visible, as well as the ramifications of the trachez
or respiratory tubes, which appear dispersed in a
most beautiful manner throughout various parts of
the animal.

Scarcely any creature multiplies so quickly as
this unwelcome intruder. It has been pleasantly
said that a Louse becomes a grandfather in the space
of twenty-four hours. ‘This fact cannot be ascer-
tained; but nothing is more true than that the mo-
ment the nit, which is no other than the egg of the
Louse, gets rid of its superfluous moisture, and
throws off its shell, it begins to breed in its turn.
Nothing so much prevents the increase of this
nauseous animal as cold, and want of humidity.
The nits, unless they are laid in a place that is
warm, do not produce any thing; and from this it
is that many of the nits laid on the hairs in the
night-time are destroyed by the cold of the succeed-
ing day.

In Mexico these animals were so numerous that
the ancient kings found no other means of ridding
their subjects of them than by the imposition of
an annual tribute of a certain quantity. Ferdinand
Cortes found bags fuil of them in the palace of
Montezuma.

‘“« This is a creature (says Albin) so officious that
it will be Known to every one at one time or other,
so busy, and so impudent, that it will be intruding
itself into every one’s company; and withal, so
proud and aspiring, that it fears not to trample on
the best, and affects nothing so much as a crown.
It. feeds and lives very high; and that makes it so

MO, PUI. Hh

406 THE COMMON FLEA,

saucy as to pull any one by the ears that comes in
its way, and it will never be quiet till it has drawn
blood. It is troubled at nothing so much as that a
man scratches his head, as knowing that a man is
plotting and contriving some mischief against it :
this makes it oftentimes skulk into some meaner
and lower place, and run behind a man’s back,
though it go very much against the hair, which ill
conditions it, having made it better known than
trusted *.”’

THE FLEAS.

THE mouth in the Fleas is without either jaws or
feelers, having only a long inflected proboscis con-
cealing a single bristle. “The antenne are beaded ;
the abdomen is compressed sideways; and the legs
are six, and formed for leaping.

The /arve are white cylindrical, and without feet,
but are very active little creatures. Under the tail
there are two small spines. ‘The chrysalis is motion-
less, but in appearance very like the perfect insect.
The two following species are all that have been
yet discovered.

THE COMMON FLEA f.

Notwithstanding the general disapprobation of
this insect, it has certainly something very pleasing

* Albin’s Spiders, p. 70. + Pulex irritans. Lina.

THE COMMON FLEA. 467

in its appearance. When examined with a micro-
scope, it will be observed to have a small head,
large eyes, and two short four-jointed antenne, be-
tween which is the trunk, or proboscis. The body
appears enveloped in a shelly armour that is always
clean and bright: this is beset at the segments with
many sharp bristles, All its motions indicate agility
and elegance; and its muscular power is so extraor-
dinary as justly to excite our wonder. We know
no other animal whatever whose muscular strength
can be put in competition with that of a Flea; for
on a moderate computation, it is known to leap to
a distance of at least two hundred times its own
length.

There is no kind of proportion between the force
and size of all the insect tribe. Had man an equal
degree of strength, bulk for bulk, with a louse or
flea, the history of Samson would be no longer mi-
raculous. A Flea will drag after it a chain a hun-
dred times heavier than itself: and, to compensate
for this force, will eat ten times its own weight of
provisions ina day. Mr. Boverich, an ingenious
watchmaker who some years ago lived in the Strand,
London, exhibited to the public a little ivory chaise,
with four wheels, and all its proper apparatus, and
a man sitting on the box, all of which were drawn
by a single Flea. He made a small landau, which
opened and shut by springs, with six horses harness-
ed to it, a coachman sitting on the box, and a dog
between his legs: four persons in the carriage, two
footmen behind it, and a postillion riding on one
of the fore-horses, which was also easily drawn along

Hh 2

i

468 THE COMMON FLEA:

byaFlea. He likewise had a chain of brass, about
two inches long, containing two hundred links, with
a hook at one end, and a padlock and key at the
other, which the Flea drew very nimbly along.

This little animal is produced from eggs which
the females stick fast, by a kind of glutinous matter,
to the roots of the hairs of cats, dogs, and other ani-
mals; or to the woo} in blankets, rugs, or other
similar furniture. Of these eggs the female lays
ten or twelve a day, for several days successively ;
and they are hatched in the same order five or six
days after being laid.

From the eggs come forth, not perfeet fleas, but
little whitish worms, or maggots, whose bodies
have annular divisions, and are thinly covered with —
long hairs. ‘They adhere closely to the body of the
animal, &c. on which they were produced ; and feed
on the scurfy excretion of the skin, the downy sub-
stance of linen, &c. They are about a fourth of
an inch in length, and without feet ; but they are,
notwithstanding, very lively and active. When
alarmed they suddenly roll themselves up into the
shape of a little ball. They may be kept in a little
box, and brought up with dead flies, which they
eat with greediness.

In eleven days from their being hatched, they
leave off eating, and lie as though they were dying;
but, if viewed in this state with a microscope, they
will be found weaving a silken covering around
them, in which they are to change into their chry-
salis form. “They continue nine days in this shape,
at first white, and afterwards by degrees darkening,

THE CHIGOE. 469

their colour as they acquire firmness of strength.
As soon as they issue from their bag they become
perfect fleas, and are able to leap away.

THE CHIGOE*

Is a troublesome insect, too well known in many
parts of America. It is so small as to be almost im-
perceptible. Its legs have not the elasticity of those
of fleas ; for, if the Chigoes had as great powers of
leaping as fleas, there is not a living creature of
the climates where they abound that would not be
full of them; and this lurking race would destroy
three fourths of mankind by the evils they would
produce. ‘They are always found among the dust,
and particularly in filthy places ; they fix themselves
on the legs, to the soles of the feet, and even to the
fingers.

This creature pierces the skin so subtilely that at
the time the person is not sensible of it; nor is it
to be perceived till it begins to extend itself. At
first, it is not difficult to extract it; but, although
it may only have introduced its head, it makes so
firm a lodgment that a part of the skin must be.
sacrificed before it will quit its hold. If it is not
soon perceived, the insect completes its lodgment,
sucks the blood, and forms a nest of a white thin
tunicle, in the shape of a flat pearl. It extends itself
in this.space in such a manner that its head and

* SYNONYMS. Pulex penetrans. Linn.—Jigger, Nigua, and
Pique, in various parts of America.

Fibs

470 THE CHIGOE,

feet are toward the exterior side, for the convenis
ence of nourishment ; and the other part of the
body answers to the inner side of the tunicle, in or-
der to lay itseggs there. In proportion as these are
laid, the little pearl is enlarged ; and in four or five
days it is at least two lines in diameter. It is then
of the utmost consequence to have it extracted; for
if this is neglected it bursts of itself, and spreads an
infinity of nits, which, when hatched, fill the whole
part, and produce excessive anguish ; and the dif-
ficulty of dislodging them becomes very great. These
penetrate to the very bones ; and, even when the
sufferer has got rid of them, the pain will last till the
flesh and skin are entirely healed.

The operation of extracting them 1s long and
painful. It consists in separating, with the point of
a needle, the flesh next to the membrane where the
eggs are lodged ; which is not easily done without
bursting the tunicle. After having separated even
the most minute ligaments, the nest is to be ex-
tracted. If unfortunately it burst, particular care
must be taken to extract every root of it, and espe-
cially not to leave behind the principal insect. This
would begin to lay its eggs again before the wound
could be healed; and, penetrating much farther into
the flesh, would increase the difficulty of extracting
it. During the great heats extreme care must be taken
not to wet the part affected. Without this precau-
tion, experience has proved that the patient is subject
to consequences that frequently prove fatal.

“The Chigoe, says Stedman, is a kind of small
sand-flea, common in Surinam, which getsin between

4

THE TICKS. 471

the skin and the flesh without its being felt, and ge-
nerally under the nails of the toes; where, while it
feeds, it keeps growing till it becomes of the size of a
large pea, causing no further pain than a disagree-
able itching. In process of time it appears in the
form of a small bladder, in which are deposited
thousands of eggs or nits, and which, if it breaks,
produce so many young Chigoes, that in course of
time create running ulcers, which are often of very
dangerous consequence to the patient: so much so,
indeed, that he knew a soldier, the soles of whose feet
were obliged to be cut away before he could re-
cover ; and some men have lost their limbs by am-
putation—nay, even their lives, by having neglected
in time to root out these abominable vermin. The
moment, therefore, that a redness and itching, more
than usual, is perceived, it is time to extract the
Chigoe that occasions them. ‘This is done witha
sharp-pointed needle, at which the black girls are ex-
tremely dexterous, taking care not to occasion un-
necessary pain, and to prevent the chigoe or blad-
der from breaking in the wound. Tobacco ashes
are put into the orifice, by which, in a little time, the
sore is perfectly healed.”

THE TICKS.

THESE troublesome insects live chiefly on other
animals; some of them, however, inhabit the water,
Hh4

472 THE CHEESE-MITE.

and others subsist on various vegetable substances,
They are to be found every where, and in immense
numbers. The /arve and chrysalids have each six
feet.

Their mouth is not furnished with a proboscis,
but the sucker has a two-valved cylindrical sheath.
They have two compressed feelers as long as the
sucker ; two eyes, one on each side of the head, and

eight legs.
THE CHEESE-MITE %,

To the naked eye, these minute creatures appear
little more than moving particles of dust ; but on
the application of the microscope they are found to
be perfect animals, performing all the regular func-
tions. The head is small in proportion to the rest
of the body. ‘Their legs are furnished at the extre-
mities with little claws, by which they are enabled
to lay firm hold of the substances they inhabit. The
body is furnished with long hairs, which they have
the power of depressing ; and by this means they
are enabled to creep through crevices that would not
otherwise admit them.

The females, which are easily distinguished from
the males, are oviparous. The eggs are so minute
that, on a tolerably accurate calculation, it appeared
that ninety millions of them would not fill the shell of
a pigeon’segg. These are hatched in warm weather
in about twelve days ; but during the winter season

eit) hh CaP LE) ON) ORE Ce Pe ee aoe nee

* Acarus Siro. Linn,

THE HARVEST-BUG. 473

the time of hatching is-much longer. When the
young ones first come forth they are extremely mi-
nute, and before they attain their full size they cast
their skin several times.

The mites are very quick-sighted ; and when once
they have been touched with a pin, it is easy to per-
ceive a great degree of cunning exerted to avoid a
second touch. They are extremely voracious animals,
and are often observed even to devour each other :
and so very tenacious are they of life that they have
been kept alive many months between two concave
glasses, by which they were applied to a microscope.
Leeuwenhoek placed a female mite on the point of
a pin for examination : she remained there ten days,
and during the time laid two eggs; which, for
want of other food she devoured.

THE HARVEST-BUG*™.

The Harvest-bug is of a somewhat globular shape,
andof a bright red colour, with the abdomen bristly
behind. It is smaller than the common mite, and
by its colour but just to be perceived when on the
skin. In the months of August and September it is
very troublesome, adhering to the skin by means of
two short arms situated above the upper legs, so
firmly as not easily to be disengaged. Wherever it
fixes it causes a tumour about the size of a pea, or
larger, accompanied by a most unpleasant itching.

* SYNONYMS.—Acarus autumnalis. Autumnal Acarus, or Harvest-
Bug.—Shaw’s Nat. Mis.

474 @HE SPIDERS,

—Its tubular snout, by which it takes its food, is ge-
nerally concealed.

These insects abound in vegetables, and are ge-
nerally caught from walking in gardens, among
long grass, or in corn-fields.

Mr. White says, they abound so greatly on the
chalky downs of Hampshire, that the warreners’ nets
are frequently discoloured from the immense num-
bers that get upon them ; whilst the men are some-
times so bitten as to be thrown into fevers *.

THE: SPIDERS.

THESE insects, which are so remarkable on ac-
count of their industry and manners of life, are ge-
nerally viewed with a degree of aversion only to be
accounted for by the unpleasing impressions made
upon us inyouth. These impressions are in general
communicated by persons ill qualified to give the
mind that direction necessary for the purposes of
life. Many naturalists even have complained that
this aversion has deterred them from observing, and
accurately examining, these insects ; and those wha
have undertaken to do so have generally been at
much trouble to overcome their antipathy. Roesel
accustomed himself to view the insects first at a dis-
tance: he then considered their webs; and at last
looked at the insects themselves, through a micro-
scope. Gd6ze viewed individual parts of Spiders,
till he was able to look, without any sentiment of

* Shaw's Nat. Mis. ii, tab. 42.—-White’s Selborne.

THE HOUSE-SPIDER. 475

aversion, at the entire insect. Both these natural-
ists so far conquered their antipathy that they could
afterwards handie and examine Spiders with the
same indifference as others can flies.

Spiders prey on other insects, and do not, in all
cases, spare even their own species. ‘There is little
doubt but their bite is venomous; and it is said
that a fly which has once felt it can never be reco-
vered, but soon dies in convulsions. Many of the
species have been swallowed, without any subse-
quent inconvenience.

Some of the Spiders spin webs for the purpose of
catching their prey ; but others seize it by surprise.
They are all able to sustain an abstinence from
food for a great length of time ; some for even six
months, or upwards.

They frequently change their skins.—The Jarve
and pupe have each eight legs, and differ in no re-
spect from the perfect insect.

Spiders have short horny jaws, and two incurved,
jointed, and very sharp feelers. They are without
antenna ; and have eight or sometimes only six
eyes, and eight legs. Their abdomen is hairy, and
furnished with papillz, from which they spin their
webs.

THE HOUSE-SPIDER *.

This species is very common in houses, and _par-
ticularly about windows. ‘The abdomen is nearly

* Aranea domestica. Lian.

4.76 THE HOUSE SPIDER.

eval, of a brown colour, and marked with five black
and almost contiguous spots.

The House-spiders feed principally on flies; and
the web by which they are enabled to entangle these
insects is a surprising part of the animal economy.—
For the purpose of forming this web, they are sup-
plied with a quantity of glutinous matter contained
in a receptacle near the extremity of their bodies ;
and they have five teats for spinning it into thread,
the orifices of which the insects have the power of
contracting and dilating at pleasure. When they.
enter on the construction of this curious fabric, they
fix on a spot of apparent plunder and security.—
The animal then distils one little drep of glutinous
Hguor, which ts very tenacious ; and creeping along
the wall, and joining its thread as it proceeds, darts
itself to the opposite side, where the other end is to
be fastened. ‘The first thread thus formed, being
drawn tight and fixed at each end, the Spider runs
on it backwards and forwards, still doubling and
strengthening it, as on this depends the stability of
the whole. The scaffolding thus completed, it
makes a number of threads parallel to the first, and
then crosses them with others, the clammy substance
of which they are formed serving, when first made,
to bind them to each other. At the bottom of the
web a kind of funnel is constructed, in which the
little creature lies concealed. In this den of destruc-
tion it watches with unremitted assiduity tillits prey
is entangled, on which it instantly darts with inevit-
able ruin.

The web of the Spider differs from those woyen

THE HOUSE-SPIDER. _ 477

by any human artist in this circumstance, that, in our
work, the threads extended in length are interlaced
‘with those that are carried on transversely ; whereas
the threads of a Spider’s woof only cross the threads
of the warp, and are glued to them in the points
where they mutually touch, and are not either in-
serted or interwoven.

The threads along the border of the work are
doubled or trebled, by the Spider’s opening all her
teats at once, and glueing several threads one over
another; sensible that the extremity of the web
ought to be hemmed and fortified to preserve it
from being torn: she likewise further secures and
supports it with strong loops, or double threads,
which she fixes all around it, and which hinder it
from being the sport of the winds.

From time to time she finds it necessary to clear
away the dust, which would otherwise incommode
her web, and she sweeps the whole by giving it a
shake with her paw ; but in doing this she so nicely
proportions the force of the blow to the strength of
the work that nothing is ever broken.

From all parts of the web are drawn several
threads, which terminate lke rays in a centre at
the place of her concealment. The vibration of
any of these threads is communicated to her, and
gives her notice whenever there is game in the net,
and accordingly she springs upon it in an instant.
She derives another advantage from this retreat un-
der her web, and that is the opportunity it affords
of feasting on her prey in full security ; and besides
this it gives her the power of concealing the carcas;

1

478 THE HOUSE-SPIDERs

ses, and not leaving in the purlieus any traces of her
barbarity capable of intimating the place of her re-
sort, and inspiring other insects with the dread of ap
proaching it.

But chief to the heedless flies the window proves
A constant death ; where, gloomily retir’d,

The villain Spider lives: cunning, and fierce,
Mixture abhorr’d! Amid a mangled heap

Of carcasses, in eager watch he sits,
O’erlooking all his waving snares around.

Near the dire cell the heediess wanderer oft
Passes, as oft the ruffian shows his front.

The prey at last ensnar’d, he dreadful darts
With rapid glide along the leaning line:

And, fixing in the wretch his cruel fangs,
Strikes backward, grimly pleas’d : the fluttering wing
And shriller sound declare extreme distress,
And ask the helping hospitable hand.

This Spider is furnished with a pair of very sharp
hooked fangs, inclosed, when at rest, in cases it the
fore part of his head. With this weapon (which a
good glass will discover to have a small slit or ori-
fice in each point) he seizes and pierces such insects
as entangle themselves in his web; and by infusing
a‘poisonous liquid into the wound. ‘This poison
must be very active and deleterious ; for flies, and
many other insects, may be mutilated by depriving
them of their legs, wings, and even cutting their
bodies through the very middle of the abdomen,
and in that condition will survive several days, but
this liquid in a moment kills them.

When two spiders of the same size meet in com-
bat, neither of them will yield: they hold each

THE HOUSE-SPIDER. 475

other by their fangs so fast that one of the two
must die before they are separated.—M. Leeuwen-
hoek says he saw one spider that was, however,
only wounded in the leg by his antagonist. A
drop of blood as large as a grain of sand issued from
the sore ; and, not being able to use this wounded
leg in running away from his enemy, he held it up,
and presently afterward the whole limb dropped
from his body. When spiders are wounded in the
breast or upper parts of their body, they always die*.

The spider, the ptinus, and many insects of the
beetle kind, exhibit an instinct of a very extraor-
dinary nature. When put in terror by a touch of
the finger, the spider runs off with great swiftness ;
but if he finds that, whatever direction he takes, he
is opposed by another finger, he then seems to de-
spair of being able to esgape, contracts his limbs
and body, lies perfectly motionless, and counter-
feits every symptom of death. “ In this situation,”
says Mr. Smellie, “ I have pierced spiders with pins,
and torn them to pieces, without their discovering
the smallest marks of pain. This simulation of
death has been ascribed to a strong convulsion, or
stupor, occasioned by terror. But this solution of
the phenomenon is erroneous. I have repeatedly
tried the experiment, and uniformly found that, if
the object of terror be removed, in a few seconds
the animal runs off with great rapidity. Some
beetles, when counterfeiting death, will suffer them-

--

* Phil, Tran, vol. xxii. p. $70.

450 THE GARDEN SPIDER:

selves to be gradually roasted without. moving a
single joint *.”

When this animal changes its skin, which it does
at certain seasons, an opening may be seen, if care-
fully watched, in the belly. Through this it draws
all its limbs, and leaves the old covering hanging to
the cord that sustained it during the operation.

The eyes of all the spiders are placed on the up-
per part of the head, but in various positions.
They have no muscles belonging to them, and they
are therefore altogether immoveable. ‘They also
consist only of one lens each, and do not as in other
insects possess the faculty of multiplying objects ;
but their number and situation enable the animals
to see perfectly well in all necessary directions.

THE GARDEN SPIDER.

The labour of the Garden Spider is very differ-
ent from that of the former species ; yet it is not per-
formed with less art. When desirous of flitting
from one place to another, this animal fixes one end
of a thread to the place where she stands, and then
with her hind paws draws out several other threads
from the nipples, which, being lengthened out, and
driven by the wind to some neighbouring tree or
other object, are by their natural clamminess fixed
to it. When she finds that these are fastened, she
makes of them a bridge on which she can pass or
repass at pleasure. This done, she renders the

* Smellie’s Philosophy of Natural History. -

THE GARDEN SPIDER. 481

thread still thicker by spinning others to it. From
this thread she often descends by spinning down-
ward to the ground. The thread formed by the
Jatter operation she fixes to some stone, plant, or
other substance. She re-ascends to the first thread,
and at alittle distance from the second begins a
third, which she fixes in the same manner. She
now strengthens all the three threads, and, be-
ginning at one of the corners, weaves across, and at
last forms a strong and durable net, in the centre of
which she places herself with her head downward
to wait for her prey.

From having frequently remarked that spiders
spread their webs in solitary and confined places,
to which it is sometimes difficult for flies to pene-
trate, M. Le Vaillant naturally concluded that these
creatures must frequently remain long without food,
and that consequently they were capable of enduring
considerable abstinence.

To ascertain the truth of this circumstance, he
took a large Garden Spider, whose belly was about
the size of a nut, and inclosed it under a glass bell,
which he secured with cement round its bottom,
and left in this situation for ten months. Notwith-
standing this deprivation of food, it appeared during
the whole time equally vigorous and alert ; but its
belly decreased, till at last it was scarcely larger
than the head of a pin.

He then put under the bell to it another spider of
the same species. For a little while they kept ata
respectful distance from each other, and remained
motionless ; but presently the meagre one, pressed

VOL. 111. Li

482 THE GARDEN SPIDER.

by hunger, approached and attacked the stranget.
It returned several times to the charge ; and in
these different conflicts its enemy became deprived
of almost all its claws: it carried these away, and re-
tired to its: former situation to devour them. ~The
meagre one had likewise lost three of its own
claws, on which also it fed; and M. Le Vaillant
perceived that by this repast its plumpness was in
some measure restored. The day following, the
new comer, deprived of all its means of defence,
fell a complete sacrifice. It was speedily devoured ;
and in less than twenty-four hours the old inhabi-
tant of the bell became as plump as it was at the
first moment of its confinement *.

From the bags in which the young of the Garden
Spider are produced, an attempt has been made to -
manufacture a kind of silk, which has in some de-
gree proved successful. With some trouble thir-
teen ounces of these bags were collected. They
were beaten for some time witha stick to free them
from dust, and then washed in warm water till
they were perfectly clean. After this they were
steeped in a pot with soap, nitre, and gum
arabic, and then boiled in the same mixture over
a gentle fire for two or three hours. Clean warm
water was again used to free them from the soap,
&c.; and, after having being laid for some days to
dry, they were loosened with the fingers previously
to being carded by the common silk-carders. A
beautiful ash-coloured silk was thus obtained, easy

™ Le Vaillant’s New Travels, Introd. p. xxxix,

THE GARDEN SPIDER. 483

to be spun, and much stronger in the thread than
that of the silkworm. This was woven in a stock-
ing weaver’s loom, and there can be no doubt but
it would bear any other loom. The thirteen ounces
of bags yielded near four ounces of silk, three of
which made a pair of stockings large enough for a
man.—It would be a difficult task to obtain bags
sufficient to render the manufacture of the silk of
any Importance, since to obtain one pound: of silk
no fewer than 28,0006 bags would be wanted; and
for this quantity a greater number of spiders than
this must be bred, as none but the females spin
them. But a still greater difficulty arises from their
carnivorous disposition in devouring each other.
Had this not been the case, a very nutritious food
might have been adopted for them in the soft sub-
stance of fresh quills. If the silk had answered, we
should have had from the different species of spiders
several genuine colours in silk ; such as grey, white,
sky-blue, and coffee colour: whereas silkworms
yield only white and orange colour. |

The females lay six or seven hundred eggs in the
same bag. This is generally done in August or
September, and about sixteen days afterward the
young are hatched. If the weather continue cold,
the young remain in their nidus for several months
without eating or increasing in bulk; but make
their appearance abroad on the commencement of
the warm weather. ‘The old ones live but a short
time after the eggs are laid *.

ee

$$

* Phil. Tran. vol. xxvii, p. 2.

baa

[ 484 ]

THE WANDERING SPIDER *,

‘This spider does not lie in wait for its prey, like
several others; it is a lively, active hunter. Its
head is furnished, as in the rest, with immovyeable
eyes. Without any motion of the head, it perceives
all the flies that hover around; it does not alarm,
but stretches over them its arms, furnished with fea-
thers, which prove nets that entangle their wings.
The spider seizes them with its merciless claws,
and sucks their blood.

THE JUMPING SPIDER f.

The manners of the Jumping Spider are very sin-
gular. It does not, like many others, take its prey
by means of a net, but is constrained to seize them
only by its own activity. It is extremely nimble, at
times leaping like a grasshopper, then standing still,
and raising itself on its hind legs to look around for
its prey. If it see a fly at the distance of three or
four yards, it does not run directly to it, but endea-
vours, as much as possible, to conceal itself till it
ean arrive near; and then creeping slowly up, and
but seldom missing its aim, it springs upon the
insect’s back, and it is then almost impossible for
the fly to effect an escape. But if, before the spider
gets to it, the fly take wing and fix upon another
place, the little animal whirls nimbly about, and

a ee ee a a ee

* Aranea viatica. Linn. + Aranea scenica, Linn.

THE WATER SPIDER. 485

still keeps its eyes upon it, in order to commence a
fresh attack. Dr. Brookes says it has been some-
times seen in the act of instructing its young
ones how to hunt; and also that, whenever an old
one missed its leap, it would run from the place,
and hide itself in some crevice, as if ashamed of
its mismanagement !

THE WATER-SPIDER*®.

This singular little creature is a very common ‘in-
habitant of our fresh waters. When in the water
its belly appears as if covered with a silver varnish.
This is, however, nothing more than a bubble of
air attached to the abdomen by the oily humours
which transpire from the body, and prevent the
immediate contact of the water. By means of this
kind of bubble the insect forms its dwelling under
the water. It fixes several silky threads to the
stalks of the water-plants, and then, ascending to
the surface, thrusts the hinder part of its body
above the water, drawing it back with so much
rapidity as to attach beneath a bubble of air, which
it has the art of detaining below, by placing it under
the threads above mentioned, and which it bends,
like a covering, almost round it. It then again
ascends for another air bubble, and thus proceeds
till it has constructed a large aérial apartment under
the water, which it enters into or quits at pleasure.

rt re a a ne ee

* Aranea aquatica. Linn,

Bigg

456 THE GOSSAMER SPIDER.

The male constructs for himself one near that of
the female, and afterward breaks through the
thread walls of the female’s dwelling ; and the two
bubbles, attached to the bellies of both, unite into
one, forming one large chamber.

The female takes care of the young, and con-
structs similar apartments for them.

The figure of this spider has in it nothing remark-
able, and will be overlooked among a crowd of
curiosities, if the spectator be unacquainted with
its singular art of constructing an aérial habitation
under water, and thus availing itself of the proper-
ties of both elements. It lodges, during the win-
ter, in empty shells, which it dexterously closes up
with a web. |

THE GOSSAMER SPIDER*.

The following observations on the origin of the
Gossamer, by M. Bechstein, a German naturalist,
are curious, and convey a more accurate account of
it than I have been able to meet with in any other
writer.

“« Some naturalists (savs this gentleman) have
considered this phenomenon as the evaporation of
plants condensed, during the cool days of harvest,
by the air, and converted into threads like those
which can be drawn from resinous juices; others,
as the production of a kind of spider, on account
of its similarity to the threads of common spiders :

* Aranea Obtextrix ?

THE GOSSAMER SPIDER, 487

and M. Pereboon has discovered a kind of beetle,
furnished with a vesicle on its back; from. the
hinder parts of which, on both sides, proceed two
threads that extend oyer the extremity of the body,
and end in a double thread, sometimes ten or more
inches in length, which thread he supposes to form
the Gossamer.

« Having made, for many years, the closest ob-
servations on this phenomenon, I am of opinion
it is caused by a species of field spider, so small
and active as to be imperceptible, unless the ob-
server possess a very acute sight. This spider, if
it have no name already, I propose to call the Gos-
samer Spider, Aranea Obtextrix. It is about the
size of the head of a small pin. Its head is some-
what long, and has in the fore-part eight grey eyes,
placed in acircular form. The body is of a shining
dark brown colour, with the abdomen shaped like
anegg. ‘The legs are yellowish.

“« These spiders first appear in the beginning of
October, in woods, gardens, and meadows, where
their eggs are hatched in safety: thence they spread
themselves over whole districts, and, during the
rest of October, and till the middle of November,
may be found in dry fields throughout Europe.
Extensive tracts of land are sometimes seen swarm-
ing with them. In the beginning of October, when
but very few are hatched, some single threads of
their webs, extending from twig to twig, are seen
only in the sunshine; about the middle of the
month their threads are more perceptible ; and
toward the end, if a person stand in such a posi-

li4

488 THE GOSSAMER SPIDER.

tion as to see the sun-beams play on the slender
threads, hedges, meadows, corn-fields, stubble land,
and even whole districts, appear covered as with a
sort of fine white gauze.

“ The Gossamer Spider does not weave a web,
but only extends its threads from one place to ano-
ther, These are so delicate that a single thread
cannot be seen unless the sun shines on it. One
of them, to be visible at other times, must be com-
posed of at least six common threads twisted to-
gether. In serene calm days these spiders work
with great diligence, especially after the disappear-
ance of the morning fogs. Between twelve and two,
however, their industry excites the greatest admira-
tion. A person with a pretty quick eye, or by the
help of a glass, may sometimes perceive among the
barley-stubble such a multitude of these insects,
extending their threads, that the fields appear as if
covered with swarms of gnats.

«Several of the single threads become twisted
together by the gentlest breath of wind, and form
perceptible threads, which, being broken by stronger
winds, unite into thick threads, or even into balls,
and float through the atmosphere. ‘These are then
called, in Germany, the flying summer, because the
summer seems to fly away at the same time. The
spiders are conveyed in them: but it 1s not uncom-
mon to find spiders of other species in them, which
have been entangled and dragged away; and even
the webs of other spiders, and the dried husks of
insects that have been caught by them, are often
found in ‘the Gossamer.

THE GOSSAMER SPIDER. 489

*¢ The Gossamer Spiders appear in swarms only
during the harvest, but single spiders are to be
-found through the whole summer.”

We have a very curious account of the Gossamer,

‘inserted by Mr. White, in the Natural History of
Selborne. ‘“ On September the 21st, 1741, being
then on a visit, and intent on field diversions, I rose
before day-break. When I came into the inclosures,
I found the stubbles and clover-grounds matted all
over with a thick coat of cobweb, in the meshes of
which a copious and heavy dew hung so plentifully
that the whole face of the country seemed, as it
were, covered with two or three setting-nets drawn
one over another, When the dogs attempted to
hunt, their eyes were so blinded and hoodwinked
that they could not proceed, but were compelled to
Jie down and scrape the incumbrances from their
faces with their fore-feet ; so that, finding my sport
interrupted, I returned home, musing in my mind
on the oddness of the occurrence.

“ As. the morning advanced the sun became
bright and warm, and the day turned out one of
those most lovely ones which no season but the
autumn produces; cloudless, calm, serene, and
worthy of the south of France itself.

* About nine an appearance very unusual began
to demand our attention; a shower of cobwebs
falling from very elevated regions, and continuing,
without any interruption, till the close of the day.
These webs were not single filmy threads, floating
in the air in all directions, but perfect flakes or rags,
some nearly an inch broad, and five orsix long, which

490 THE GOSSAMER SPIDER.

fell with a degree of velocity that showed they were
considerably heavier than the atmosphere.

“ On every side, as the observer turned his eyes,
he might behold a continual succession of fresh
flakes falling into his sight, and twinkling like stars,
as they turned their sides toward the sun.

“ How far this wonderful shower extended weuld
be difficult to say; but we know that it reached
Bradley, Selborne, and Alresford, three places which
lie in a sort of triangle ; the shortest of whose sides
is about eight miles in extent.

«© At the second of those places there was a gene
«leman (for whose veracity and intelligent turn of
mind I have the greatest veneration) who observed
it the moment he got abroad; but concluded that,
as soon as he came upon the ‘hill above his house,
where he took his morning rides, he should be
higher than this meteor; which, he imagined,
might have been blown, like ¢histle-down, from the
the common above. But, to his great astonish-
ment, when he rode to the most elevated part of
the down, 300 feet above the level of his fields, he
found the webs, in appearance, as much above him
as before; still descending into sight in a constant
succession, and twinkling in the sun, so as to draw
the attention of the most incurious.

“* Neither before nor after this was any such fall
observed; but on this day the flakes hung in the
trees and hedges so thick that a diligent person
sent out might have gathered baskets full.

« The remark that I shall make on these cobweb-
like appearances, called gossamer, is that, strange

THE GOSSAMER SPIDER. 491

and superstitious as the notions about them were
formerly, nobody in these days doubts but that they
are the real production of small spiders, which
swarm in the fields in fine weather in autumn, and
have a power of shooting out webs from their tails
so as to render themselves buoyant, and lighter than
air. But why these apterous insects should that day
take such a wonderful aérial excursion, and why
their webs should at once become so gross and
material as to be considerably more weighty than
air, and to descend with precipitation, is a matter
beyond my skill. If I might be allowed to hazard
a supposition, I should imagine that those filmy
threads, when first shot, might be entangled in the
rising dew, and so drawn up, spiders and all, by a
brisk evaporation, into the regions where clouds
are formed: and if the spiders have a power of
coiling and thickening their webs in the air, as Dr.
Lister says they have*, then, when they become
heavier than the air, they must fall.

“‘ Every day in fine weather, in autumn chiefly,
do I see these spiders shooting out their webs and
mounting aloft: they will go off from your finger,
if you take them into your hand. Last summer
one alighted on my book as I was reading in the
parlour ; and, running to the top of a page, and
shooting out a web, took its departure from thence.
But what I most wondered at was that it went off
with considerable velocity in a place where no air

—_—,..

* Letters to Mr, Ray.»

492 THE TARANTULA.

was stirring; and I am sure I did not assist it with
my breath. So that these little crawlers seem to
have, while mounting, some locomotive power with-
out the use of wings, and to move in the air faster
than the air itself.”

THE TARANTULA*®.

The Tarantula is somewhat more than an inch in
Jength, and has its breast and belly of an ash-colour :
its legs are likewise ash-coloured, with blackish rings
on the under part. Its fangs are red within. It isa
native of Italy, Cyprus, Barbary, and the East In-
dies. ‘This animal lives in fields, and its dwelling
is about four inches deep, half an inch wide, and
closed at the mouth with anet. At the bottom.
this 1s curved; and there the insect sits in wet wea-
ther, and from thence cuts its way out, if water
gain upon it. These spiders do not live quite a
year. They lay about 730 eggs, which are hatched
in the spring. The parents never survive the
winter.

Inflammation, difficulty of breathing, and sick-
ness, are said to be the invariable consequents to the
bite of this creature. Dr. Mead, and other medical
men, have countenanced the ridiculous story of
these effects being counteracted by the power of
music. It is, however, now well known that this
singular mode of cure was nothing more than a
trick frequently practised on credulous travellers,

* Aranea Tarantula. Linn.

THE TARANTULA. 493

who were desirous of witnessing it. Mr. Swin-
burne, when he was in Italy, minutely investigated
every particular relative to this insect. The season
was not far enough advanced, and it was pretended.
that no persons had that year been yet bitten: he,
however, prevailed upon a woman, who had for-
merly been bitten, to dance the part before him.
Several musicians were summoned, and she per-
formed the dance, as every one present assured
him, to perfection. At first she lolled stupidly on
a chair, while the instruments played a dull strain.
They toucltd at length the chord supposed to
vibrate to her heart ; and up she sprang with a most
hideous yell, staggered about the room like a
drunken person, holding a handkerchief in both
hands, raising them alternately, and moving in very
true time. As the music grew brisker, her motions
quickened, and she skipped about with great vigour,
and in a variety of steps, every now and then
shrieking very loud. The scene was unpleasant,
and, at his request, an end was put to it before the
woman was tired.

He informs us that, wherever they are to dance,
a place is prepared for them, hung round with
bunches of grapes and ribbons. ‘The patients are
dressed in white, with red, green, or yellow ribbons ;
on their shoulders they have a white scarf; they let
their hair fall loose about their ears, and throw the
head quite back. He says that they are exact
copies of the ancient priestesses of Bacchus. The
introduction of Christianity abolished all public ex-
hibitions of heatheaish rites; but the women, un-

3

494 THE BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER.

willing to give up their darling amusement in per-
forming the frantic character of Bacchantes, devised
other pretences; and he supposes that accident led
them to the discovery of the Tarantula, on the
strength of whose poison the Puglian dames still
enjoy their old dance, though time has effaced the
memory of its ancient name and institution.

If these dancers are at any time really and invo-
luntarily affected, Mr. Swinburne supposes it must
be from some attack upon the nerves, a kind of
St. Vitus’s dance*.

THE BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER f.

If the spiders that are found in Europe are looked
upon with aversion and alarm by those who are in
the habits of constantly seeing them, surely this
American species, whose gigantic size and great
muscular power render it a terror even to the fea-
thered tribes, cannot be beholden without the most
violent sensations of horror.

This enormous creature will extend with its fect
a space of near ten inches. From the head to the
extremity of the abdomen it often measures above
three inches. The legs are as thick as a goose’s
quill, and closely covered with hair. The body is
brown, and the fangs are as strong and sharp as in
some of the rapacious species of birds. It is not
uncommon in many parts of America, but is princi-
pally found in the southern division of that conti-
nent, and particularly in Guiana.

* Swinburne’s Travels, i, 391——395- Aranca avicularia. Linn.

THE BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER. 495

Captain Stedman, while residing in Surinam, had
one of them given to him, which he put into a
case-bottle above eight inches high; and, when this
was filled with spirits, the animal reached the surface
with some of its claws, while others rested on the
bottom. On the whole, he says, this spider is so
hideous a creature that the very sight of it is suffici-
ent to occasion a tremor of aborrence, even in per-
sons most accustomed to inspect the deformities
of nature *. |

It resides in the trees, and frequently seizes on
small birds, which it destroys by sucking their
blood, after having first wounded them by its fangs,
which distil a poisonous liquid into the wound.
The slit or orifice near the tip of the fangs, through
which this poison is emitted, is so visible as to be
distinctly perceived without a glass +.

The eight eyes of this terrible insect are placed
somewhat in the form of an oblong square in the
front of the thorax. Of these the two middle ones
are so large as to be capable of being set in the man-
ner of glasses, and used as microscopes: the rest
are smaller and of an oval shape. ‘The thorax is
orbicular, and has a transverse central excavation.

In Jamaica there is a species of Spidert, the fe-
male of which digs a hole in the earth obliquely
downward, about three inches in length, and one
inch in diameter ; this cavity she lines with a tough

* Stedman’s Surinam. + Shaw's Nat. Mis. i. tab. 12.
t Aranea nidulans, Gmel, Syst. Nat, Linn,

496 THE BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER.

thick web, which, when taken out, resembles a
leathern purse: but, what is most curious, this
house has a door with hinges, like the operculum of
some sea shells; and herself and family, who tenant
this nest, open and shut the door whenever they
pass of’ repass *.

{In some places in the forests of Java the webs of
Spiders have been found, woven with threads of so
strong a texture as not easily to be divided without
a knife +.

Dampier informs us that, at Campeachy in New
Spain, there “is a sort of Spiders of a prodigious
size, some nearly as big as a man’s fist, with long
small legs, like the Spiders in England. They have
two fangs, each an inch and a half Jong, and of a pro-
portionable thickness, which are black as jet, smooth
as glass,and at their small end as sharp as a thorn ;
these are not straight, but bending. Some persons
wear them in their tobacco-pouches to pick their
pipes with; others preserve them for tooth-picks,
especially such as are troubled with the tooth-ach ;
for, if report may be trusted, they will expel that
pain. The backs of these Spiders are covered with
a dark yellowish down as soft as velvet. Some say
they are venomous, and others that they are not ;
but which of these accounts is to be credited I can-
not determine.”

once eee

* Darwin’s Zoonomia Staunton.

[ 497 J
THE SCORPION TRIBE.

Tue Scorpions have eight legs besides two claws,
not unlike those of a crab situated on the fore-parf
of the head that serve the purposes of hands. They
have also eight eyes, three of which are placed on
each side of the thorax, and two in the middle.
On the anterior part of the head they have two short
claw-like feelers; but no antenne. And on the
under side, between the breast and the abdomen, are
two instruments that have somewhat the resem-
blance of a comb. ‘The tail is long, jointed, and
terminated by a sharp crooked sting, from whence
is emitted a pungent liquid, not dangerous, except
in the very hot climates. Scorpions may, howevers
be considered as the most malignant and poisonous
of all known insects. The poison is emitted through
three very small foramina or holes neaf the top of
the sting, one on each side of the tip, and the other
on the upper part. In California there is a spe-
cies, the Scorpio Americanus, which is eaten by the
inhabitants.

These animals prey on worms and insects, and
frequently even on one another. The young are
produced from eggs, of which one female lays a
considerable number. After their appearance, these
seem to undetgo no further change than perhaps
casting their skin from time to time,-in the same
manner as the Spiders,

VOL. I1¥% Wy KB ks

[ 498 J]
THE COMMON SCORPION *,

Most of the Scorpions have a distant resemblance
in shape to the lobster, but they are infinitely more
ugly. The head appears, as it were, jointed to the
breast ; and the mouth is furnished with two jaws,
the under one of which is divided into two, and the
parts, notched into each other, answer the purpose
of teeth, in breaking the food. On each side of
the head is a four-jointed arm terminated by a claw;
somewhat like that of a lobster. ‘The belly is di-
vided into seven segments, from the lowest of which
the tail commences: this in the present species is
armed with a hard, pointed, and crooked sting, the
poison of which is very powerful.—Scorpions are
most common about old houses, and in dry or de-
cayed walls.

in some parts of Italy and France these animals
are among the greatest pests that can plague man-
kind ; but in those countries of the East where they
grow toa foot in length, there is no removing a
piece of furniture without danger of being stung
by them. There, we are told, they are full as
bulky as a small lobster.

Many experiments have been made at different
times to ascertain the strength of the poison, and in
the warm climates it has uniformly been found fatal
to the smaller animals. To man the wound is ex-
tremely painful. The place becomes inflamed, and
the surrounding parts often turn livid, and require
to be carefully dressed to prevent mortification.

* Scorpio Afer. Linz.

THE COMMON SCORPION. 499

We are informed that when a Scorpion is sur-
rounded by burning coals or wood, so as not to be
able to escape their effects, it will strike its sting into
its own body and destroy itself: but this seems to be
merely a legend undeserving of belief.

M. Navarette says that, when he was in the Phi-
lippine islands, he was instructed in an infallible pre-
servative against the sting of the Scorpions. ‘The
reader will smile when he is told that this was,
when he went to bed, simply to make a commemo-
ration of St.George. ‘I continued,” says he, ‘* this
devotion many years ; and, God be praised, the saint
always delivered me, both there and in other coun-
tries, from those and such like insects.” He says,
however, afterward, that he used another preventa-
tive, that of rubbing his bed all round with garlic,
to keep them at adistance. The same credulity
that dictated to him the commemoration of. St.
George taught him that the moisture from a hen’s
mouth was an excellent remedy *.

This creature, which is but too common in all hot
countries, is extremely bold and watchful. When-
ever any thing approaches, it seldom exhibits signs
of fear, but, with its tail erect, and sting in readi-
ness, as if fully confident of the force of its poison, it
waits an attack with courage and intrepidity, and
‘seldom desists till either it is killed or its enemy is

put to flight.

* Navarette’s Voyage to China, in Churchill's Coll. i. 235.

Kk 2

[ goo ]

‘

THE CRAB TRIBE.

All the animals of this tribe have their bodies
covered with a hard and strong shell. The head is
united to the thorax.or breast without any joint.—
Those enrphatically denominated crabs have a short
flat tail, bent close to the body in a hollow betwixt
the legs. The Hermit-crabs, however, have a soft
tail, without any crustaceous covering, which the
animals fit into empty shells, or hollow stones. In
the Lodsters the tail is the principal part of the body,
being a very strong member, employed with great
_ advantage both in swimming and leaping. This is
formed of six convex segments, lying over each other
somewhat like the tiles of a house, and terminated
by five lamine, or thin plates. The former are united
by loose membranes, which admit of much motion.
At the angle, where the upper and lower parts join,
these segments are furnished with a kind of crusta-
ceous fins bordered with hair, and consisting of se-
veral articulations, called by naturalists pedes nata-
torii. The fins are moved, backward and forward,
and a little outward and inward, by small muscles,
contained within each articulation, which do not
differ very greatly from the real feet. By means of
these it is that the animals have their progressive mo-
tion at different depths in the water.

Most of the Crabs have eight legs, (a few, how-
ever, have six or ten) besides two large claws, which
serve the purposes of hands. They have two eyes,
situated on tubercles, projecting from the head, and

THE LAND CRAB. 50%

moveable in any direction. When the extremities
of these are viewed with a glass, they are found to
be composed of a multitude of lenses, like the eyes
of insects. For a sense of touch they are furnished
with antenne, and palpi, or feelers. They have
likewise a heart, with arterial and veinous vessels,
and branchiz or gills for respiration. Their jaws
are transverse, strong and numerous; and the sto-
mach is furnished with internal teeth.

~ Crabs regularly cast their shells once a year.—
This is a process that occupies some time, and seems
to be attended with much pain. During the opera-
tion, and fora little while afterward, their skins are
soft, in consequence of which multitudes of them
are devoured by aquatic animals, now stronger than
themselves. At this time those calcareous concre-
tions, vulgarly called ¢rad’s eyes, are found in their
stomachs.—-When any of the claws are broken off
they are reproduced.

They live chiefly in the sea; some, however, in-
habit the fresh waters, and a few live in a great mea-
sure on land. They feed variously, on aquatic or
marine plants, small fish, molluscz, or dead bodies,
The females carry their ova under their tail, which,
for that purpose, in many of the species, is much
broader than that of the males.

THE LAND CRAB",

The Land Crabs are natives of the Bahamas, and
ef most of the other islands between the tropics.—

* SynonyMs.~—Cancer Ruricola. Lizz,—-—Violet Crab.

Kk 3

502 YTHE LAND CRAB.

They live in the clefts of rocks, the hollows of trees,
or in holes which they dig for themselves in the
nountains. About the months of April and May
in every year, they descend in a body of some mil-
lions at a time to the sea-coast, in order to deposit
their spawn, and at this season the whole ground
seems alive with them. They march in a direct
line to their place of destination, and are said seldom
to turn out of their way on account of intervening
obstacles. Even if they meet witha lofty wall or a
house, they will attempt to scale it. If they arrive
at a river, they wind along the course of the stream.
They are as regular in their procession as an army
under the direction of an experienced commander,
bemg generally divided into three battalions. The
first of these consists of the strongest males, which
march forward to clear the route and face the great-
est dangers. ‘The main body is composed of females,
which ‘are sometimes formed into columns fifty or
sixty yards broad and three miles deep. ‘The first
division is often cbliged to halt from want. of rain;
and the females never come from the mountains til]
the rains have set in forsometime. Three or four
days after these, the rear-guard follows, a straggling
undisciplined tribe, consisting of males and females,
but neither so robust nor so vigorous as the former.
They proceed chiefly in the night; but if it rain
during the day they always profit by it. When the
sun is hot they invariably halt till the evening. When
terrified they run back in a confused and disorderly
manner, holding up and clattering their nippers,
with a threatening attitude; and if they are suffered

THE LAND CRAB; 503

to catch hold of the hand they will sometimes tear
off a piece of the skin. If in their journey any one of
their body is so maimed as to be incapable of pro-
ceeding, some of them always fall upon and devour
it. They march very slowly, being sometimes three
months or upward in gaining the shore.

When arrived at the coast they prepare to cast
their spawn; for this purpose they go to the edge
of the water, and suffer the waves to wash twice or
thrice over their bodies. They then withdraw to seek
a lodging upon land. In the mean time the spawn is
excluded in a bunch from the body, and adheres to
the under parts of the tail. This bunch becomes as
large as a hen’s egg, and exactly. resembles the roe
of a herring. In this state they again, for the last
time, seek the shore, and shaking off the spawn into
the water, leave it to the waters, and the heat of the
sun, to be brought to maturity. About two thirds
of the eggs are devoured by the shoals of fish which
annually frequent the shores in expectation of this
prey. Those that escape are hatched under the
sand ; and, not long after this, millions of the little
crabs may be seen quitting the shore, and slowly tra-
velling up to the mountains.

The old ones in their return are feeble, lean, and
so inactive that they are scarcely able to craw] along,
and their flesh at this time changes its colour. Many
of them are obliged to continue in the level parts of
the country till they recover, making holes in the
earth which they block up with leaves and dirt. In
these they cast their old shells, and continue after-
ward nearly motionless for six or seven days, when

eR Ka.

504 THE LAND CRAB.

they become so fat as to be delicious food. After
this they march slowly back to the montains.

They subsist on vegetables, and, except when im-
pelled by the desire of bringing forth their young,
seldom venture out from their mountainous retreats.
At this season the inhabitants of the islands where
they are found wait in eager expectation for their
descent, and destroy some thousands of them: they
disregard the bodies, and take only the spawn that
lies on each side of the stomach within the shell,
about the thickness of aman’s thumb. The animals
are much more valuable for eating on their return,
after they have cast their shells. They are taken
in the holes ; and also sought for by night, when on
their journey, by flambeaux. The instant the crabs
perceive themselves attacked, they throw themselves
on their back, and with their claws pinch most dread~
fully whatever they happen to fasten on. But the
crab-catcher seizes them by the hinder legs in such
a manner that the nippers cannot touch him. ‘They
are caught in their holes by the sea-side, by so fixing
a stick as to prevent their escaping : and soon after-
ward the tide enters the holes, and the animals are
drowned. Wafer says that the inhabitants of some
of the Caribbee islands, when they have caught
them, put them for three or four days into a piece of
potatoe ground, in order to render them more firm,
and better eating*. |

In general shape these animals are not much un-

* See Browne's Jamaica, p. 423.—Sloane, ii. 269,—Catesby, ii. 32,
Smith’s Nevis, p. 16.--—-Wafer’s Voyage, p. rx.

THE BLACK-CLAWED CRAB. 5°05

like the common Black-clawed Crab’, and the larg-
est of them measure about six inches across the body.
They vary in colour, but are commonly of a blackish
violet: some are entirely black, others yellow, or
red, and others variegated. They are distinguished
from other species of Crabs by having the first joint
of the legsspinous, and the second and third furnished
with tufts of hair.

THE BLACK-CLAWED CRAB *.

This species of Crab is found on the rocky coasts
both of Europe and India ; and is the same that is
introduced to our tables, being in greater esteem as
food than many others of the tribe.

_ The most remarkable circumstance in the history
of these animals is the changing of their shells and
broken claws. ‘The former is done once a year, and
that usually between Christmas and Easter. During
the operation they retire among the cavities of rocks
and under great stones ; and Dr. Darwin says (from
the authority of a friend who had been engaged in
surveying the sea-coasts) that a hard-shelled Crab
always stands sentinel to prevent the sea insects
from injuring the rest in their defenceless state ; and
that, from his appearance, the fishermen know
where to find the soft ones, which they use for baits
in catching fish: adding that, though the hard-
shelled Crab, when he is on his duty, advances
boldly to meet the foe, and will with difficulty quit

Ce ee

* SynonyMs,e=Cancer pagurus. Lian———Eatable Crab.

506 THE BLACK-CLAWED CRAB.

the field, yet at other times he shews great timidity,
and is very expeditious in effecting his escape ; if,
however, he be often interrupted, he will pretend
death, like the spider, and watch an opportunity to
sink himself into the sand, keeping only his eyes
above.

In the under part of the shell a crescent-formed
suture may be observed, which opens at the cast-
ing of the shell, and leaves a space sufficient for
drawing out the whole body : the thorax soon after
drops its breast-plate, and then the legs quit their
crustaceous coverings. The body is now only en-
veloped in a soft skin, not unlike wet parchment ;
and the animal is so helpless as for a while to be in-
capable of motion, but lies between the rocks till
it has acquired sufficient strength and hardness to
bear. the weight of its body, and convey itself
from place to place to perform its usual functions.
The old shell is left, in two divisions, one that co-
vered the body, and the other that inclosed the
legs. Dr. Darwin asserts that the stomach and 1n-
testines are also cast with the skin ; and that the first
food the animal takes after recovering its strength is
the old stomach. It sometimes happens that the
shell hardens prematurely, and fixes the animal a
prisoner in his crevice; for fishermen have often
found them thus immured. When Crabs are
out of health they do not change their shells regu-
larly, the old shells always remaining till they have
recovered their proper strength and vigour.

When the fishermen take a crab that is not in
good condition they return it into the sea, and some-

THE BLACK-CLAWED CRAB, 507

times mark it on the back with a sharp-pointed in-
strument, or the end of a knife; and it is very
surprising that this mark may not only be seen to
remain on the old shell, but that it is also found im-
pressed on the subsequent new one. These men
also say that, when Crabs have had their shells
marked, and been carried out to the distance of two
or three miles, and thrown among others, they will
always find their way back again: this the men have
often observed by afterward catching them in their
former haunts.

When the claw of a Crab is bruised it bleeds,
and the animal seems by its motions to experience
much pain. Fora while it moves it from side to
side; then, holding it perfectly steady in a direct
position, the claw ona sudden gives a gentle crack,
and the wounded part drops off, not at the joint, as
hath been generally said, but in the smoothest part of
the limb ;“ just (says Mr. Collinson) as one sees the
neck of a retort separate when it has been heated
by a red-hot iron ring, on the application of cold
water.” If, however, the wound happen to be at
the extremity of the claw, the animal is said gene-
rally to bleed to death, or to pine away in conse-
quence of the slow and almost insensible leaking of
the vital moisture. .

Crabs are naturally very quarrelsome, and fre-
quently have serious contests by means of those for-
midable weapons, their great claws. With these
they lay hold of their adversary’s legs, and wherever
they seize it is not easy to make them forego their
hold. The animal seized has, therefore, no alter-

308 THE HERMIT CRAB.

native but to leave part of the leg behind in token
of victory.

Mr. Collinson was shown an experiment to prove
the extremely tenacious disposition of the Crab. A
fisherman, by irritation, made a Crab seize one of
its own small claws with a large one. The foolish
creature did not distinguish that it was itself the
aggressor, but exerted its strength, and soon cracked
the shell of the small claw. Feeling itself wounded,
it cast off the piece in the usual place, but conti-
nued to retain the hold with the great claw for a
long time afterward.

Fishermen say that the Crab will live confined in
a pot or basket for several months, without any
other food than what is collected from the sea-
water, and that even in this situation it will not
decrease in weight*.

THE HERMIT CRABT.

The Hermit Crab is usually about four inches
long. It has no shell behind, but is covered down
to the tail with a rough skin, terminating in a point.
It is armed with two strong hard nippers before,
one of which is as thick as a man’s thumb, and so
strong as to be capable of inflicting a very severe
wound.

Having no shell to any part but its nippers, the
Hermit Crab supplies by art what is denied to it

* Collinson in Phil. Tran, vol. xliv. p. 70.—Vol. xlvii. ps 446
+ Cancer Bernhardus. Lina.

THE HERMIT CRAB. 509

by nature: for, taking possession of the deserted
shell of some other animal, it occupies that till, by
becoming too large for its habitation, it is under the
necessity of changing it. :

It is curious enough in some countries to observe
this animal busily parading the sea-shore, along
that line of pebbles and shells which is formed by
the farthest wave; still, however, dragging its old
incommodious habitation at its tail, unwilling to
part with one shell, even though a troublesome
appendage, till it can meet with another more con-
venient. It stops first at one shell, turns it, passes
by; then goes to another, contemplates that for a
while, and, slipping its tail from the old habitation,
tries on the new. ‘This also is found inconvenient,
and it quickly resumes the old one. In this manner
it frequently changes, till at length it finds one
light, roomy, and commedious. To this it adheres,
though the shell be sometimes so large as to hide
both the body and claws of the animal.

But many trials and many combats are some-
times to be sustained by the Hermit Crab, before
he is thus completely equipped: for there is often
a contest between two of them for some favourite
shell, to which they are rivals. They both endea-
vour to take possession. They strike with their
claw, and bite each other, till the weakest is coms
pelled to yield. The victor then takes possession,
and in his new acquisition parades backward and
forward on the strand before his enyious antago-
nist, se

£10 THE HERMIT CRAB;

oe

That the ancients were well acquainted with the’
manners of the Hermit Crab is evident from the
following lines, translated from Oppian.

The Hermit-fish, unarm’d by Nature, left
Helpless, and weak, grow strong by harmless theft.
Fearful they stroll, and look with panting wish
For the cast crust of some new-covered fish ;

Or such as empty lie, and deck the shore,

Whose first and rightful owners are no more.
‘They make glad seizure of the vacant room,

And count the berrow’d shell their native home ;
Screw their soft limbs to fit the winding case,
And boldly herd with the crustaceous race.
Careless they enter the first empty cell;

Oft find the plaited whelk’s indented shell ;

And oft the deep dy’d purple fore’d by death

To stranger-fish the painted home bequeath.

The whelk’s etch’d coat is most with pleasure worn,
Wide in extent, and yet but lightly born.

But when they growing more than fill the place,
And find themselves hard-pinch’d in scanty space,
Compell’d they quit the roof they lov’d before,
And busy search around the pebbly shore,

‘Till a commodious roomy seat be found,

Such as the larger shell-fish living own’d.

Oft cruel wars contending Hermits wage,

And long for the disputed shell engage.

The strongest here the doubtful prize possess,
Power gives the right, and all the claim possess.

When this animal is caught, it emits a faint cry;
but pinches forcibly with its claws; nor is there any
mode of getting disengaged from these but by either
breaking them off or heating the shell. It feeds on
fish and insects. ‘satel

[eget of :

THE LOBSTER ™*.

Lobsters are found on most of the rocky coasts of
Great Britain. Some are caught with the hand,
but the greater quantity in pots ; a sort of trap form-
ed of twigs, and baited with garbage. These are
formed like a wire mouse-trap, so that when the
lobster gets in there is no return. They are fasten-
“ed to a cord sunk into the sea, and their place
is marked by a buoy.

These animals are extremely prolific; Dr. Baster
says he counted 12,444 eggs under the tail of a
female lobster, besides those that remained in the
body unprotruded. They deposit these eggs in
the sand, where they are soon hatched.

Like the rest of their tribe, they annually cast
their shells. Previously to their putting off the old
one, they appear sick, languid, and restless. They
acquire .an entirely new covering in a few days;
but during the time that they remain defenceless
they seek some lonely place, lest they should be
attacked and devoured by such of their brethren as
are not in the same weak situation.

At the same time that they cast their shell they
change also their stomach and intestines. The
animal, while it is moulting, is said to feed upon its
former stomach, which wastes by degrees, and is at
length replaced with a new one.

———————

* Cancer Gammarus. Lin.

512 THE LOBSTER.

Like some of the Crabs, these animals dre said
to be attached to particular parts of the sea.

In shelly armour wrapt, the Lobsters seek

Safe shelter in some bay, or winding creek ;

Fo rocky chasms the dusky natives cleave,
Tenacious hold, nor will the dwelling leave.
Nought like their home the constant Lobsters prize,
And foreign shores and seas unknown despise.
Though cruel hand the banish’d wretch expel,
And force the captive from his native cell,

He will, if freed, return, with anxious care,

Find the known rock, and to his home repair :

No novel customs learns in different seas,

But wonted food and home-taught manners please.

The pincers of one of the lobster’s large claws are
furnished with nobs, and those of the other: aré
always serrated, With the former it keeps firm hold
of the stalks of submarine plants, and with the latter
it cuts and minces its food very dexterously. The
knobbed or numb claw, as the fishermen eall it, is
sometimes on the right, and sometimes on the left,
indifferently. It is more dangerous to be seized by
the cutting claw than the other ; but, in either case,
the quickest way of getting disengaged from the
creature is to pluck off its claw.

In casting their shells, it is difficult to conceive
how the lobsters are able to draw the fish of their
large claws out, leaving the shells of these entire
and attached to the shell of their body; in which
state they are constantly found. The fishermen sap
that previously to the operation the Lobster pines

I

THE LOBSTER. 513

away, till the fish, in its large claw, is no thicker
than the quill of a goose, which enables it to draw
its parts through the joints and narrow passage
near the trunk. The new shell is membranaceous
at first, but it hardens by degrees. Lobsters only
grow in size while their shells are in their soft state.

In the water these animals are able to run nimbly
upon their legs or small claws, and if alarmed they
can spring, tail foremost, to a surprising distance,
almost as swiftly as a bird can fly. The fishermen
can see them pass about thirty feet, and, by the
swiftness of their motion, it is supposed that they
may go much farther. When frightened, they will
spring from a considerable distance to their hold in
the rock ; and, what is not less surprising than true,
will throw themselves into their hold in that man-
ner, through an entrance barely sufficient for their
bodies to pass; as is frequently seen by the people
who endeavour to catch them at Filey Bridge, near
Scarborough.

The circumstance of Lobsters losing their claws
at thunder-claps, or on the sound of cannon, is well
authenticated ; and the fishermen are often jestingly
threatened with a salute by the sailors. The resto-
ration of claws thus lost may always be observed;
for these never again grow to their former size.
When the claws of Lobsters become inconvenient,
from being by any means injured, they always break
them off *, ‘

Lobsters are caught in such plenty on the coast

* Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iv. p. 9.
VOw: ITT. | Pa

514 THE CRAW-FIsSH.

of Northumberland that, about the year 1769, the
sum paid for the annual exports from Newbiggin
and Newton by the sea (exclusive of those from
Holy Island, which produce annually a very consi-
derable sum) amounted to near £1500. This cir-
cumstance was stated by John Creswell, Esq. of
Creswell, who for many years had made the pay-
ments for them from one fishmonger in London,
on whose account all the most valuable fish from
the coast of Northumberland were shipped*.

THE CRAW-FiSH fT.

In the breaking of the claw of the common Craw-
fish, it has been observed that, in about a day or
two after the piece is cast off, a red membrane, not
unlike a bit of red cloth, closes up the aperture. This
is at first plain; but, in the course of four or five
days, it assumes a convexity, which gradually aug-
ments till it takes the appearance of a small cone,
of about a line in height. It continues, however,
to stretch out, and, in ten days, it is sometimes
more than three lines, or about a quarter of an inch
high. It is not hollow, but filled with flesh, and
this flesh is the basis or rudiment of a new claw.
The membrane that covers the flesh performs the
same office to the young claw as the membranes do
to the foetus of the larger animals. It extends in
proportion as the animal grows; and, as it is tole-
rably thick, we can perceive nothing but a length-

* Wallisy i. 392. + Cancer astacus. Linn.

THE CRAW-FISH. 518

ened cone. When fifteen days are elapsed this
cone inclines toward the head of the animal. Ina
few days more its curvature increases, and it begins
to assume the appearance of a dead claw, ‘This
claw, though at the end of a month or five weeks
it has acquired the length of six or seven lines,
which is more than half an inch, is still incapable
of action. The membrane in which it is inclosed,
becoming gradually thinner in proportion as it ex-
tends, gives an opportunity of observing the parts
of the claw, and we now perceive that this conical
substance is not a simple congeries of flesh. The
moment is now arrived when the claw begins to be
brought forth. The membrane at last bursts, and
the new claw, though still soft, appears without
incumbrance or investment. In afew days more it
is covered with a shell; and, though still delicate,
and not the half of its former length, it is able to
perform all the natural functions. It has likewise
been discovered that, whether the claw has been
lopped off at the fourth articulation, or any where
else, the animal, in a short time, recovers all that
it had lost. The same reproduction takes place
also in the horns; but, if the tail is cut off, the
animal survives a few days only.

The Craw-fish are found in many of our rivers,
lodged in holes which they form in the clayey banks.;
and their presence is generally esteemed an evidence
of the goodness of the water. They are frequently
taken by means of sticks split at the end, with a
bait inserted in the cleft, and: stuck in the mud at
the distance of a few feet from each other. These

Lila

516 THE CENTIPEDE

sticks after remaining some time are taken up, ge-
nerally with an animal adhering to each. They are
gently drawn out of the mud, and a basket is put
under them to receive the animals, which always’
drop off when brought to the surface of the water.

THE SCOLOPENDRA*.

THE Scolopendra have tapering antenne, and
two thread-shaped feelers united between the jaws.
The body is long, depressed, and consists of nu-
merous transverse segments; and there are as many
legs on each side as there are segments of the body.

They live chiefly on other insects; and inhabit
decayed wood, or hollows under stones. The spe-
cies that frequent the hot climates are large, and
many of them very venomous,

THE CENTIPEDE.

None of the Insect tribe, the Scorpions excepted,
are so formidable in appearance as the Centipede.
It is found in the East and West Indies, and in va-
rious parts of Africa, inhabiting chiefly the woods,
where it is preyed upon by the different species of
snakes. It is, however, sometimes found in houses,
and is said to be so common in particular districts
that the inhabitants are obliged to have the feet of
their beds placed in vessels of water, to prevent

* Shaw’s Nat. Mis, tab. 9.

THE CENTIPEDE. - 517

their being annoyed during the night. by these hor-
rible reptiles *. ,

They vary greatly both in size and colour. Some
of them are of a deep reddish brown, others of a yel-
low ochre colour, livid yellow, or tinged with red ;
and they are sometimes seen above a foot in length:
they are, however, generally much less. Their legs
terminate in very sharp hooks or nails of a shining
black colour; and all the other legs are furnished
with smaller ones of the same kind.

Gronovius says that all the feet are venomous;
but the most formidable weapons of this creature
are the two sharp hooked instruments, that are
placed under the mouth, with which it destroys its
prey. At the extremity of each of these there is a
small opening, and from thence extends a tube,
through which it is supposed the Centipede emits
the poisonous fluid into the wound inflicted by these
fangs.

Leuwenhoek, desirous of ascertaining the influ-
ence of the poison, placed a large fly within the
reach of a Centipede. He seized it between a pair
of the middle feet, then passed it from one pair to
the next, till it was brought under the fangs; which
were plunged into its body, and it died instantly.
St. Pierre says that, in the Isle of France his dog
was bitten by one of them that was upwards of six
inches in length, and that the wound turned toa
kind of ulcer, which was three weeks in healing. He

* SYNONYMS. Scolopendra morsitans. Linn.——Great Sco-

lopendra. Shaw’s Nat, Mis.——Centipee, in the West Indies.

L 1 3

518 THE CENTIPEDE.

was highly diverted in observing one of them overs
come by a vast number of ants, that attacked it in
conjunction, and, after seizing it by all its legs, bore
it along as workmen would have done a large piece
of timber *. , Its poison is not more injurious than
that of the scorpion, and very seldom proves fatal to
the Jarger animals.

Sir George Staunton says that such was the
horror excited in the minds of some of lord Ma-
cartney’s train by the sight of these creatures in
China, that many thought them alone a sufficient
objection to the coyntry.

They have eight very small eyes, four on each
side of the head, near the antennz. ‘The number of
segments of the body increase with their age, so
that from this circumstance it 1s sometimes difficult
to ascertain the species f.

* St. Pierre’s Voyage to the Isle of France.
+ Donaevan’s Insects of China,

WORMS.

Nearry all the animals of this, the lowest class
of animal being, have but slow locomotive powers.
Their bodies are soft, fleshy, and destitute of arti-
culated members: some of them have hard internal
parts, and others have crustaceous coverings. Many
of them have arterial and veinous vessels, in which
the blood undergoes a real circulation; but these
are by no means common to the whole class. In
some of them eyes and ears are very perceptible,
while others seem to enjoy only the senses of taste
and touch, which are never wanting. Many have
no distinct head, and most of them are without feet.
The whole of these creatures are very tenacious of
life. In most of them parts that have been de-
stroyed will afterward be reproduced.

They are divided into five orders:

1. Intestinal Worms*. These are simple naked
animals, without limbs, that live some of them
within other animals, some in water, and a few in

* Intestina, Mollusca, Testacea, Zoophyta, and Infusoria of
Linneus.

L1l4

520 THE TAPE-WORMS, OR TANIZ.

earth. The Ascarides, Tape-worms, Leeches, and
Common Worms, are illustrations of this order.

2. Molluscous Worms. These are simple animals
without shells, and furnished with tentacula or
arms: most of them are inhabitants of the sea, and
many possess a phosphorescent quality. The Sea
Anemones, Cuttle-fish, Medusa, Star-fish, and Sea-
urchins, belong to the Mulluscz.

3. Testaceous Worms: are Molluscz covered with
calcareous shells, which they carry about with them ;
as the Muscles, Cockles, Oysters, Snails, &c.

4. Zoophytes: hold a rank between animals and
vegetables, most of them taking root and growing
up into stems and branches. Some of them are
soft and naked, and others are covered with a hard
snell.

5. <Animalcules: are extremely minute, destitute
of tentacula or feelers, and generally invisible tothe
naked eye. They are chiefly found in infusions of
animal and vegetable substances of various kinds.

THE TAPE-WORMS, or TANIZE*.

T/ENL are worms that inhabit the bodies of
different animals, where they are destined to feed
upon juices already animalized. ‘They are generally
found in the alimentary canal, and usually about the

* The Linnean order of INTESTINAL WoRMs commences with

this tribe.

THE TAPE-WORMS,) OR TAENIZ. 521

upper part of it, where there is the greatest abund-
ance of chyle, which seems to be their natural food.

In structure they are very simple; for, being in-
tended to be nourished by already digested food,
they are not provided with complicated organs of
digestion.

Their body is flat, and composed of numerous
articulations; and the head has four orifices for
suction a little below the mouth, which is terminal,
and continued by a short tube into two ventral
canals. The mouth is generally crowned with a
double series of retractile hooks or holders.

We are hot to suppose that these worms are
created for the purpose of producing disease in the
animals they inhabit, but rather that nature has di-
rected that no situation should be vacant, where the
work of multiplying the species of living beings
could be carried on. By thus allowing them to
exist within each other the sphere of increase is
considerably enlarged. There is, however, little
doubt that worms, and more especially those of the
present tribe, do sometimes produce diseases in the
bodies they inhabit: but we are at the same time
very certain that worms do exist abundantly in
many animals without at all disturbing their func-
tions, or annoying them in the slightest degree:
and we ought to consider all these creatures rather
as the concomitants than the causes of disease.

The species of Tzniz are not confined singly to
particular animals: men are subject to several dif-
ferent species, and even the people of particular
countries and climates are subject to particular

§22 TAPE-WORMS, OR TANIZ.

species of them. The people of England have the
Tenia Solium, or Common Tape-worm, and rarely
any other: the inhabitants of Switzerland the Tema
data, 8zc. ,

These creatures are apparently possessed of few
senses. Nothing resembling brain or nerves has
been discovered ; but, as they are highly sensible,to
stimuli, it is most reasonable to conclude that they
have a considerable portion of nervous matter in the
composition of their bodies; that is, of such matter
as is susceptibie of stimuli. Indeed, we can scarcely
conceive how any animal can even exist without
such matter in its composition. Having no par-
ticular organs of sense, the touch is therefore the
only evident source of intelligence which they
possess.

The mode of increase or propagation of Tenia
appears to be principally by ova; and there is rea-
son to believe that these ova, as well as those of
other intestinal worms, are so constructed as not to
be easily destroyed. From this circumstance we
may suppose them to pass along the circulating
vessels of other animals. We cannot easily explain.
the phenomena of worms being found in the eggs
of fowls, and in the intestines of a foetus before
birth, except by supposing their ova to have passed
through the circulating vessels of the mother, and
been by this means conveyed to the offspring *.

* Carlisle on the Teniz, Linn, Tran. ii. 247. tab. 25.

E 2g
THE COMMON TAPE-WORM*,

The head of this animal is furnished with a mouth,
and with an apparatus for giving it a fixed situation,
The body is composed of a great number of distinct
pieces articulated together, each joint having an
organ by means of which it attaches itself to the
inner coat of the intestine; and as these joints are
sometimes exceedingly numerous, so of course will
be the different points of attachment. The joints
nearest the head are always small, and they become
gradually enlarged as they are farther removed from
it, except towards the tail, where a few of the last
joints become again diminished. The body is ter-
minated by a small semicircular joint, which has no
opening.

The external parts are clothed with a fine mem-
brane-like cuticle, immediately under which is a thin
Jayer of fibres, lying parallel to each other, and
running in the direction of the length of the animal’s
body. In this direction all its motions are perform-
ed ; from whence we may conclude that these fibres
perform the office of muscles.

The head has a rounded opening at its extremity,
which is considered to be the mouth. This opening
is continued by a short duct into two canals, which
pass round every joint of the animal’s body, and con-
vey the aliment. The head is fixed to its place by
means of two small tubercles, concave in the middle,
that seem to serve the purpose of suckers. The

* SYNONYMS.——-Tenia soliunm. Lian. Tape-worm.

1

¢
524 THE COMMON TAPE-WORM.

alimentary canal passes along each side of the animal,
sending a cross canal over the bottom of each joint,
which connects the two lateral canals together. The
internal structure of the joints is partly cellular and
partly vascular: the substance itself is white, and in
its texture somewhat resembles the coagulated lymph
of the human blood.

The food of the Tzniz, requiring probably very
little change before it becomes a part of their body,
is taken in at the mouth, and, being thrown into the
alimentary canal, is made to visit, in a general way,
every part. The central structure of the vessels
placed in each joint seems calculated to absorb the
fluid from the alimentary canal, for the purpose of
sustaining and repairing the immediately adjacent
parts: but there is in their bodies much cellular
substance, into which no vessels enter. Such parts
of the bodies of these animals are possibly nourished
by transudation of the alimentary fluid into their
cells; or this may be effected by the capillary at-
traction of their fibres. As they have no excretory
ducts, the decayed parts of their bodies are most
probably dissolved into a fluid which transudes
through the skin like perspiration, and with this
view the skin 1s extremely porous.

The length of the present Tenia is generally from
three to thirty feet ; but it has been known to reach
sixty feet, and to be composed of several hundred
joints.

When these worms produce a diseased state of
bedy, those remedies (as drastic purges) are sup-
posed to be the most. effectual that operate partly

4

THE THREAD-WORMS. 525

by irritating the external surface of their bodies, so
as to make them quit their hold, and partly by vio-
Jent contractions in the intestines, which may some-
times divide their bodies, or even destroy them by
bruising *. Electrical shocks, passed frequently
through the abdomen, it is supposed might be
beneficial, as the lower orders of animals are in
general easily destroyed by electrical shocks.

In injecting these Teenie with coloured size in
order to preserve them, three feet in length from
the head downwards has been filled by a single push
with a small syringe; but the injection would not
pass from below upward beyond the joint, owing,
as it is supposed, to a valvular aparatus situated in
the lateral canals immediately below the places
where the cross canals are sent off t.

THE THREAD-WORMS.

Tues troublesome animals are found in the
bodies of some species of quadrupeds, birds, and
insects. Most of the species perforate the skin im-
mediately under which they lodge themselves; a
few, however, have been discovered in the intes-

* There is however reason to suppose that merely breaking them,
unless the detached part comes immediately away, will not be alto-
gether effectual, as this is generally understood to be capable of pre-
ducing a new head, and thus becoming an independent animal.

+ Linn, Tran. ii, 250,

626 THE INDIAN THREAD-WORM,

tines. None of them have yet been found to infest
the bodies ofRept iles or Fish.

Their body is round, thread-shaped, and very
smooth. The mouth is dilated; and has a roundisk
concave lip.

THE INDIAN THREAD-WORM,OR GUINEA WORM".

This species is too commonly found both in the
East and West Indies. It enters the naked feet of
the slaves, and occasions very troublesome itchings,
and sometimes excites even fever and inflammations
It particularly attacks the muscles of the arms and
legs, from whence it is only to be extracted by means
of a piece of silk or thread tied round its head.
But the greatest caution is necessary in this simple
operation, lest the animal, by being strained too
much, should break; for, if any part remains un-
der the skin, it grows with redoubled vigour, and
becomes a cruel and sometimes a fatal enemy.

Dampier tells us that these worms are no thicker
than a large brown thread, but, as he had been in- |
formed, five or six yards long. “If they break im
drawing out, that part which remains in the flesh
will putrefy, be very painful, and endanger the
patient’s life, or at least the use of the limb; and
have known some that have been scarified and
cut strangely to take out the worm.” He was un-
fortunate enough tohave one of these creatures in

* SYNONYMS.—Filaria medinensise Lian. Gwmel. Gorditis medi
nensis. Lina. Syst. Nat.

THE GUINEA-WORM. 527

his own ankle. “I was (he says) in great torments
before it came out: my leg and ankle swelled, and
looked very red and angry, and I kept a plaster to
bring it to ahead. At last, drawing off my plaster,
out came about three inches of the worm, and my
pain abated presently. Till then I was ignorant
of my malady, and the gentlewoman at whose house
I was took it fer anerve; but I knew enough what
it was, and presently rolled it up on a small stick.
After that I opened the place every morning and
evening, and strained it out gently about two
inches at a time, not without some pain, till at
length I had got out about two feet.” He after-
wards had it entirely destroyed by one of the negroes,
who applied to it a kind of rough powder, not un-
like tobacco-leaves dried and crumbled very small.

M. D’Obsonville received in hisright leg the germ
of one of these worms. He observed that its head
was of a chesnut colour, and that to the naked eye
it appeared to terminate in a small black point. On
pressing it a little with a pin, and examining it with
a common magnifying glass, he fancied he perceived
something like a little trunk or tongue, capable of
being pushed out or contracted. The body was not
thicker than a strong thread; but, when the animal
was extracted, it was found to be of the length of
two or three ells. It appeared to be formed of a
series of smal] rings, united to each other by an ex-
eeedingly fine membrane, and a single intestine ex-
tended through the body. It was extracted in the
usual way ; and the reason he gives for the injury done
by breaking these animals is that they are full of a

-

528 FURIA.

whitish acrimonious lymph, which immediately ex-
cites inflammation, and not unfrequently produces
afterward an abscess or gangrene. ‘The worm in his
leg was twice broken, and twice occasioned an ab-
scess. At last, at hisownrequest, the part affected was
rubbed with a preparation of mercury: and in eight
or ten days the effect surpassed his hopes; for not
only the body of the insect came away in suppura-
tion, but the wound also, which was then more than
three inches long, and considerably inflamed, was
in this time almost entirely healed *.

FURIA.

Tue bedy of the Furia is linear, and of equal
thickness throughout. It has on each side a single
row of close-pressed reflected prickles.

Of this tribe only one species, the Furia infernalis,
has been hitherto discovered. In Finland, Bothnia,
and the northern provinces of Sweden, the people
were often seized with an acute pain, confined to a
mere point, in the face, or other exposed part of the
body, which afterwards increased to a most excruci-
ating degree, and sometimes, even within a few
hours after its commencement, proved fatal. This
disorder was more particularly observed in Finland,
especially about marshy places, and always in au-

* D’Obsonville, p. 41.

THE FURIA. 529

tumn. At length it was discovered that the pain
instantly succeeded something that dropped out of
the air, and almost in a moment penetrated and bu-
ried itself in the flesh. On more accurate attention,
the Furia was detected as the cause. It is about *
half an inch in length, and of a carnation colour,
often black at the apex. Itcreeps up the stalks of ~
sedge-grass, and shrubs in the marshes; whence it is
often carried off by the wind ; and if the naked parts
of the skin of any person happen to be directly in its
course it immediately adheres, and buries itself
within. The first sensation is said to be like that
arising from the prick of a needle, this is succeeded
by a violent itching of the part, soon after acute
pain, a red spot and gangrene, at last an inflamma-
tory fever, accompanied with swoonings. In the
course of two days, at the farthest, death follows, un-
less the worm be extracted immediately, which is
very difficult to be done. The Finlanders say,
however, that a poultice of curds, or cheese, will al-
lay the pain, and entice the animal out. Perhaps
the most effectual method is carefully to dissect be-
tween the muscles where it had entered, and thus
extract it with the knife.

Linnzus, as he was once collecting insects, was
stung by the Furia in so dreadful a manner that
there was great doubt whether he would recover.

VOL. III. Mm

fo ygot

THE HAIR-WORMS.

Tuese animals are inhabitants’ chiefly of stagnant
waters. ‘Their bodies are round, thread-shaped,
equal throughout, and smooth.

THE COMMON HAIR-WORM™.

This worm is about the thickness of a horse’s
hair, and; when full grown, is ten or twelve inches
in length. Its skin is somewhat glossy, and of a pale
yellowish white, except the head and tail, which are
black. It is common in our fresh waters, and par-
ticularly in such where the bottom is composed of
soft clay, through which it passes as a fish does
through water fT.

Its popular name arose from the idea that it was
produced from the hair of horses and other animals
that were accidentally dropped into the water; an
idea that is even yet prevalent among the lower class
of the people. Its Linnean name of Gordius origi-
nated in the habit that it has of twisting itself into
such peculiar contortions.as to resemble a compli-
cated gordian knot. In this state it often continues
for a considerable time, and then slowly disengaging
itself extends its body to the full length.

Sometimes it moves in the water with a tolerably
quick undulating motion, like that of a leech ; and

-
* SyNONYMs.—Gordius aquaticus. Liaz.——W ater Hair-worm.
—Barbut.
+ Barbut’s Genera Vermium, p. 7. tab. 3.

THE COMMON HAIR-WORM. 63t

at other times its motions are the most slow and lan.
guid imaginable. When the waterin which it swims
happens to be dried up, it soon loses every appear-
ance of life ; the slender body shrivels, and it may be
kept in this state for a great length of time. But
‘whenever it is put into water its body soon re-
assumes its former appearance ; in less than half an
hour it begins to move, and in afew minutes more it
is as brisk and active asever it was. The Abbé Fon-
tana kept a Hair-worm in a drawer for three years, at
the expiration of which it was perfectly dry and hard,
and exhibited no signs of life; but, on putting it
into water, it very soon recovered its former vigour,
When kept in a vessel of water, it will sometimes
appear motionless, and as if dead, for several hours,
and afterward will resume its former vigour, and
seem as healthy as before.

It isa very remarkable circumstance that its bite,
which it sometimes inflicts on being taken out of the
water, has been known to produce the complaint
called a whitlow. .This is mentioned by Linneus as
a popular opinion in Sweden, and it has since ‘his
time been confirmed by various other persons.

This Gordius is sometimes found in the earth as
well as in water, and particularly in gardens of a
clayey soil, after rain*.

* Shaw’s Nat. Mis. iv. tab. r21.—Anderson’s Recreations, li. 255.

Mmz

[$3204

THE EARTH-WORMS.

Tue Earth-worms have a round annulated body,
with generally an elevated fleshy belt near the head.
Most of the species are rough, with minute concealed
prickles placed longitudinally, and have in the body
a lateral aperture or pore.

THE DEW-WoRM *.

The most insignificant insects and reptiles are of
much more consequence, and have much more in-
fluence in the economy of nature, than the incurious
are aware of; and are mighty in their effect from
their minuteness, which renders them less an object
of attention, and from their numbers and fecundity.
Dew-worms, though in appearance a small and de-
spicable link in the chain of nature, yet, if lost, might
make a lamentable chasm. For, to say nothing of
half the birds and some quadrupeds that are sup-
ported by them, worms seem to be the great pro-
moters of vegetation, which would proceed but ill
without them, by boring, perforating, and loosening
the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the
fibresof plants, by drawing strawsand stalks of leaves
and twigs into it: and, most of all, by throwing up
such infinite numbers of lumps called worm-casts,
which form a fine manure for grain and grass.—
Worms probably provide new soil for hills and

“ee

* SyNONYMs.—Lumbricus terrestris. Linn.—Lob-worm, Garden-
worm, or. Fwatchel,

THE DEW-WORM. 533

slopes where the rain washes the earth away; and
they affect slopes, probably to avoid being flooded.

Gardeners and farmers express their detestation
of worms; the former, because they render their
walks unsightly, and make them much work; and
the latter, because they think worms eat their green
corn. But these men would find that the earth
without worms would soon become cold, hard-
bound, and void of fermentation ; and consequently
sterile; and besides, in favour of worms, it should be
hinted that green corn, plants, and flowers, are not
so much injured by them as by many species of in-
sects in their Jarva or grub state; and by unnoticed
myriads of those small shel!-less snails, called slugs,
which silently and imperceptibly make amazing
havoc in the field and garden.

Lands that are subject to frequent inundations
are always poor: one great reason of this may pro-
bably be because all the worms are drowned.
~The Dew-worm is without bones, without brain,
eyes, and feet. It has a number of breathing-holes
along its back, adjoining to each ring. Near its
head ig placed the heart, which may be observed to
beat with a very distinct motion. The body is
formed of small rings furnished with a set of muscles
that act in a spiral direction, and which enable it in
the most complete manner possible to penetrate into
or creep upon the earth. The motion of these crea-
tures may be explained by a wire wound on a cy-
linder; where, when one end is drawn on and held
fast, the other, upon being loosed, will immediately
follow. These muscles enable them with great

Mm 3

534 THE DEW-WORM.

strength to dilate or contract their bodies. ‘The
annuli or rings are also each armed with small, stiff,
and sharp beards, or prickles; which they have the
power of opening out or closing to their body. And
under the skin is secreted a slimy matter, whichthey
emit at the perforations between the annuli to lubri-
cate the body, and facilitate their passage into the
ground. By all which means they are enabled with
great ease to perforate the earth ; which, had their
bodies been otherwise constructed, they could not so
well have done.

Dew-worms make their casts principally about
the months of March or April, in mild weather.—
In rainy nights they travel about, as appears from
their sinuous tracks, on a soft muddy soil, perhaps in
search of food. When they appear at night on the
turf, although they considerably extend their bodies,
they do not quite leave their holes, but keep their.
tails firmly fixed, so that, on the least alarm, theycan
precipitately retire under the earth. Whatever food
falls within their reach, when thus extended, such as
blades of grass, or fallen leaves, they seem content
with it.

Helpless as they may seem, these creatures are
very vigilant in avoiding such animals as prey upon
them. The mole, in particular, they avoid by dart-
ing to the surface of the earth the instant they feel
the ground move. Fishermen, who are acquainted
with this circumstance, can take them in great num-
bers, by moving the earth in places where they ex-
pect to find them, with a dung fork. When, how-
ever, they are wanted for fishing, they are perhaps

THE MEDICINAL LEECH. 535

meost easily caught by the light of a lantern in the
night, after heavy showers, on grass walks and sheep
pastures, where the herbage is short.

In winter these worms retire very deep into the
earth, to secure themselves from being frozen. They
do not become torpid during this season, for in the
intervals of mild weather they are often observed to
throw up their casts, as usual at other times of the
year. i

THE LEECHES.

Tue body of the Lecch is oblong and truncate,
or as if cut off at both ends. These animals are
cartilaginous, and move by dilating the head and
tail, and contracting themselves into the form of an
arch.

Some species are viviparous, others lay their
eggs on aquatic plants, and others carry them under
their belly. Each egg contains many young ones.
Several of the smaller species may be multiplied by
cutting. | .

THE MEDICINAL LEECH*

Is usually found in stagnant ponds and ditches,
and is of an olive black colour, with six yellowish
lines above, and spotted with yellow beneath. It

eh;

* SyNONYMS.—Hirudo medicinalis. Linz,—Common leech.

Mm 4

536 THE MEDICINAL LEECH.

is generally two or three inches in length. The
body is formed with numerous annular wrinkles,
which the animal has the power of expanding or
contracting at-pleasure. The tail ends in a circular
muscle or sucker, which, when applied to any sub-
stance, readily adheres, by the animal’s drawing up
the middle, so as to have it pressed firmly down by
the external air. By this it fastens itself with ease
and security, while it extends the other part of the
body in any direction; and it is so firmly fixed that
it can move its head about to seek for nourishment,
without any danger of being carried away by the
strength of the current. When the Leech is de-
sirous of moving onward, it extends its body for-
ward, fixes its head in the same manner that it did
its tail, and then loosens and draws that up, and
again fastens it near its head as a fresh point to
proceed from.

The head of the Leech is armed with three teeth
of a slightly cartilaginous substance, which are sa
situated as to converge when the animal bites, and
leave a somewhat triangular mark on the skin,
These are sufficiently strong to pierce the skin of
an ox or a horse. Through the holes it forms with
them it sucks the blood: this is done by contract-
ing the muscles of the throat so as to make the
blood rush through the vacuum above the wound
into the stomach, which is a kind of membrana-
ceous receptacle divided into twenty-four small cells.
Here it sometimes remains for several months almost _
without coagulating, and affords support to the ani-
mal during the whole time. It passes off by trans-

THE SLUG TRIBE. ~~ 537

piration, the matter fixing on the surface of the
body, and afterward coming off in small threads.
In proof of this, if a leech be immersed in oil
(where it will keep alive for several days) and
afterward put into water, a kind of slough will be
seen to loosen from its skin, exactly of the shape
of the body.

The Leech is a viviparous animal, producing one
young at a time, and this about the month of July.
If it be confined in a glass, and kept in a room, it
js said to shew itself very restless before a change of
weather.

When it is applied in surgery, and is found to
adhere too long, it is easily removed by putting
upon it salt, pepper, or acids.

THE SLUG TRIBE*.

THE body of the Slug, or naked Snail, is oblong,
and has on its upper part a kind of fleshy shield ;
and below a flat longitudinal disk, by means of
which the animal has its progressive motion. On
the right side of the body there is an aperture.
Above the mouth are situated four feelers, at the
apex of each of the two larger of which there is
an eye.

Few animals, for their size, are more voracious
than these. T hey would do serious injury to our

* The Linnean order of MoLtuscous Worms commences here.

538 THE SPINNING SLUG.

fields and gardens were not their numbers abridged
by several of the smaller quadrupeds, and by va-
rigus species of birds.

They have so strong a tendency to reproduction
that, if the head or tail be cut off, these parts will
grow again. Most of the species can exist for a
great length of time, several months, without food.

THE SPINNING SLUG*.

About the year 1789, Mr. Hoy observed, in a
plantation of Scotch firs, something hanging from
one of the branches, which, as it seemed uncommon,
he approached, and found to be this animal. It was
hanging by a single line or thread attached to its
tail. This was, upward, very fine; but near the
animal it became thicker and more broad, till at
length it exactly corresponded with the tail. The
slug was about four feet below the branch, and
nearly at the same distance from the ground;
which it gradually approached at the rate of an
inch in about three minutest. This rate, though
slow, is not so much so as might be expected, consi-
dering that the animal is not furnished with any
peculiar receptacle, as in some insects, for the glu-
tinous liquid from which its silken lines are formed.
The line by which it descended was drawn from
the slimy exudation gradually secreted from the

* SynonyMs.—Limax agrestis. Lina. Spinning Limax. Linn. 3
Tran.

+ It has been observed by Dr. Latham to descend about three inches
and a half in a minute.

THE SPINNING SLUG. §39

pores that covered its whole body. A great degree
of exertion seemed necessary to produce a sufficient
supply of the liquid, and to force this toward the
tail. It alternately pushed out and drew back its
head; and turned it as far as possible, first to one
side and then to the other, as if thereby to press its
sides, and thus promote secretion This motion of
the head in an horizontal direction made the whole
body turn round; by which the line, which would
have otherwise remained somewhat flat, became
round. This motion also, no doubt, in addition te
the weight of the animal, tended materially toward
lengthening the line*.

‘This is the subtance of Mr. Hoy’s account. Dr.
Latham says that the secretion from which the
thread is formed is wholly from the under parts of
the animal, and not from the back or sides, both of
which, during the operation, appear nearly dry.
That it did not proceed from any orifice in the tail
was evident; for in some experiments the animal
was suspended by the tip, and at other times from
the side, a full eighth of an inch from the tip. The
flow of the viscous secretion toward the tail ap-
peared to be excited by means of an undulating
notion of the belly, similar to that of crawling.

After having spun for some time, the power of
spinning seems for a while to be lust: but in those
slugs on which experiments have been made it has
always been recovered, after their being kept some
hours among wet mossf.

* * Mr. Hoy in Linn, Tran. i. 113,
+ Latham in Linn. Tran. iv. 85.

549 THE NIGHT-SPINNING NEREIS.

This slug is of a greyish white colour, with a yel-
lowish shield, and is generally about three fourths
of an inch in length. It is supposed not to be very
uncommon in woods and other shady piaces.

THE NEREIS TRIBE.

THE animals of this tribe are long and slender.
Their feet are very numerous, and arranged on each
side of the body. They have, in general, two or
four eyes, but some of the species have none.
Their feelers are simple, and placed above the
mouth,

THE NIGHT-SHINING NEREIS *.

The body of this little creature is oblong, linear,
and so minute as to elude examination by the naked
eye. It inhabits every sea, and is one of the causes
of the luminous shining of the water in the night,
which is sometimes so great as to make that ele-
ment appear as if on fire. The body, composed of
about twenty-three segments or joints, is altogether
scarcely two lines long, quite pellucid, and its co-
lour that of, water green,

These animals are found on all kinds of marine
plants ; but they often leave them, and swim on the

surface of the water. They are frequent at all sca

rr

s
* Nereis noctiluca. Linn.

“if a

THE NIGHT-SPINNING NEREIS. 54t

sons, but particularly in summer before stormy wea-
ther, when they are more agitated and more lumi-
nous than at other times. Their numbers, and
wonderful agility, added to their pellucid and shin-
ing quality, do not a little contribute to their illumi
nating the sea; for myriads of these animalcules
may be contairted in a small cup of sea-water. In-
numerable quantities of them lodge in the cavities
of the scales of fishes, and to them probably the fish
may in some measure become luminous. “If have
observed with great attention (says Barbut) a fish
just caught out of the sea, whose body was almost
covered with them, and have examined them in the
dark: they twist and curl themselves with amazing

agility, but soon retire out of our contracted sight; .”

probably on account of their glittering numbers
dazzling the eye, and their extreme minuteness
eluding our reseatches. It is to be observed ‘that,
when the unctuous moisture which covets ‘the
scales of fishes is exhausted by the air, these animals
are not to be seen; ‘nor are the fishes then nocti-
jucous, that matter being perhaps their nourishment
when living, as they themselves afford food to many
marine animals. They do not shine in the day-
time, because the solar ‘rays are too powerful for
their light, however aggregate, or however immense
their number*.”
Their appearance is particularly brilliant when
the wind is in the east and south-east points, and in
mS winter nights preceded by a warm day. If water

* Barbut's Genera Vermium.

542 THE ACTINIZ, OR SEA ANEMONES.

containing these animaleules be kept warm, they
will retain their light two whole days after they are
dead; but in cold weather they Jose it in the course
of seven or eight hours. Motion and warmth, which
increase their vivacity and strength, increase also
their light.

THE ACTINI®, OR SEA ANEMONES.

THese animals are somewhat oblong, and when
closed resemble a truncated cone. ‘They are fixed
by the base, and from their top occasionally extend
several tentacula, which are disposed in regular cir-
cles. The mouth, which is the only opening in the
body, is situated at the top, in the centre of the
tentacula, and is furnished with crooked teeth.

They are all capable of varying their figure : but,
when their tentacula are fully expanded, they have
the appearance of full-blown flowers. Many of
them are of very beautiful and brilliant colours.
They feed on shell-fish and other marine animals,
which they draw into their mouth with their arms;
and they eject the shells and other indigestible parts
through the same opening. It sometimes happens,
however, that a shell presents itself in a wrong posi-
tion, and the animal is not able to discharge it in
the usual manner: in this case we are told that it ne
forced through the body, making a wound, as if wit
a knife, near the base. The arms seem to lay holid™
of objects by making a vacuum; for, on touching

THE COMMON SEA ANEMONE. 543

them with the fingers, they readily adhere, but no
viscous matter is deposited by them. Their mouth
is capable of great extension, so as_to allow them
to swallow very large shells without injury. The
whole interior part of their body is one cavity or sto=
mach, They have the power of progressive motion ;
but this is extremely slow, and is said to be per-
formed by loosing their base from the rock, revers-
ing their body, and employing their tentacula as so
many legs.

Nearly all the animals of this tribe may be se-
parated from their native rocks by means of a card
carefully introduced beneath, so as not materially to
injure them; and, being put into glass vessels with
sea-water, which must be changed about once a
week, they will there fix themselves, and may be
kept alive and in full vigour for a great length of
time, in places far distant from the sea-coasts.

All the species are viviparous.

THE COMMON SEA ANEMONE”™®.

The present species is extremely common on se-
veral of the European coasts, and on the sea rocks of
this island in particular. It adheres by its base
firmly to the rocks, so as frequently to be left above
water at the ebbing of the sea: but it is generally
found adhering at some little depth below the sur-

_ face of the water. Its usual colour is a deep red,
p more or less vivid in different specimens; and it is
ee.

* Actinia anemonoides. Lina,

544 THE PURPLE SEA ANEMONE,

of nearly the same height when closed. Its form
is that of a very obtuse cone, with an orifice at the
top, which it can at pleasure either close entirely
or extend very wide, to admit its tentacula to spread
out, and to receive such food as they draw into it.
These tentacula are varied with red in such manner
as, when fully expanded, to bear a very consider-
able resemblance to the flower of some of the gar-
den Anemones. If any extraneous substance is
introduced into the cavity of the mouth, or even if
any of the tentacula are but slightly touched,
the animal instantly contracts itself into a conoid
shape. :

THE PURPLE SEA ANEMONE™*.

On this species the abbé Dicquemaire made se-
veral experiments to prove its powers of reproduc-
tion, &c. He first cut off all its tentacula, which
grew again in less than a month; and, on repeating
this a second and third time, he had equal success.
One of the animals had its upper part cut off: the
base was found, a few days afterward, to have
fallen from its place, but it soon entirely recovered
its limbs. After cutting one of them in two, the
abbe offered a piece of a muscle to the detached
part, and the limbs seemed eager to take it. They
drew it into the mouth, and it was swallowed ;' but,
as the body was wanting to receive it, the piece
came out at the opposite end, “ just (says the abbe) 2

* Actinia rufa. Lia,

— —

THE PURPLE ANEMONE. $45

as a man’s head, being cut off, would let out at the
neck the bit taken in at the mouth.” It was offer-
ed ‘a second time and again received, and retained
till the following day, when it was thrown up. In
this manner it was fed for some time, the bits,
when they did not pass through, appearing con-
siderably altered on their re-appearance at the
mouth.—If the base of any of the Anemones be

_ injured by the incision, the wound generally proves
mortal.

On being put under the receiver of an air pump,
and having the air exhausted, these animals did not
seem to experience any ill effects, or to perceive
any difference betwixt this and their being in the
open air: if their tentacula happened to be ex-
panded they remained so, and not the Jeast shrink-
ing could be perceived.

Some of them lived upwards of twelve months
without any other food than what the sea-watér af-
forded them.

When shell-fish, or pieces of other fish, or bits
of raw meat, were offered, if not too large, they
always took them. ‘The shells, even if closed, they
ejected in the course of a day or two, but perfectly
cleared of their contents.

They bring forth their young alive at the mouth ;
and the abbé had these produced several times in
his hands: they were generally from eight to twelve

ae number. ‘Though some-of them are at this time
_ * almost imperceptible, yet they immediately fix them-

VOL. III. Non

546 THE PURPLE ANEMONE.

selves, and expand their tentacula in order to catch

their prey.

These animals are destitute of eyes, yet they
were always very evidently affected bv light. Ifa
candle was held over the glasses in which they were
kept, and at such a d stance as not to communicate
any heat, they regularly closed, and did not again
expand till the light was removed. When, however,
they had been plentifully fed, they closed much
slower, or sometimes even remained open. .

When the Sea Anemones are boiled in water they
acquire a firm consistence, and become a very
palatable food. Cats are remarkably fond of them
when thus cooked. Their smell is not unlike that
of a warm crab or lobster.

Among other experiments of the abbé Dicque-
maire, he gave to two Actinie of different species
(a grey and a yellow one) a narrow slice of fish, so
Jaid that each had hold of an end. The yellow one,
however, happened to seize the larger share. Each
swallowed on by its respective end, till at length
their mouths came in contact. The grey one seem-
ed at first to get the better; but the other soon re-
covered its share, lost it again, and again recovered
it. These alternate victories lasted about three hours,
till at last, the grey one losing its hold, the other ob-
tained the prize. This sucked it in but slowly, and the
grey one again ventured its mouth upon a last tug

at the end still within reach: but the effort proved

fruitless ; the yellow companion gave a final pull,
and swallowed the whole. During this contention,
both the creatures seemed animated by consider-

THE SEA-MARIGOLD. 547

able passion ; but, though they remained neighbours
for a great while afterward, they lived together very
peaceably *.

THE SEA-MARIGOLD fT.

Mr. Hughes, in his Natural History of Barbadoes,
has given us a very minute account of this species,
several individuals of which were discovered in that
island some years ago. He cails it an animal flower,
and seems to consider it as a sensitive plant, having
many animal properties.

«« The cave that contained these animals was (he
says) near the bottom of a rocky cliff facing the sea,
in the north part of the island, in the parish of St.
Lucy. ‘The descent to it was steep and dangerous,
being in some places almost perpendicular. The
cave contained a natural bason of water, about six-
teen feet long and twelve broad, in the middle of
‘which was a rock almost covered with them.

‘¢ Round the sides of this, at different depths
under the water, seldom however more than
eighteen inches, were seen at all times of the year
seemingly fine radiated flowers of a pale yellow, or
a bright straw-colour, slightly tinged with green.—
These had the appearance of a circular border
of thick-set petals, about the size of and much re-
sembling those of the single garden marigold.

© I often attempted to pluck one of them
from the rock to which they are fixed, but could

* Dicquemaire, in Phil. Tran. vol. Ixiit, p. 361. tab. 16.
+ Actinia Calendula. Lina.
Nn2

348 THE SEA MARIGOLD.

never effect it. For as soon as my fingers came
within two or three inches of it, it would immedi-
ately contract and close together its yellow border,
and shrink back into the hole in the rock; but, if
left undisturbed for three or four minutes, it would
come again gradually into sight, expanding, though
at first very cautiously, what seemed its leaves, till
at last it appeared in its former bloom: it would,
however, again contract, with surprising quickness,
when my hand approached within a little distance
of it.” This gentleman also attempted to touch it
with his cane, and then with a slender rod ; but the
effect was the same. The motion of the water,
caused by the immersion of the hand or stick, was
no doubt the cause of its invariably retreating when
any attempt was made to touch it.

From the centre of the apparent flower proceeded
four dark-coloured threads, somewhat resembling,
says’Mr. H. the legs of a spider. These, which

were its arms or feelers, had a quick spontaneous.

motion from side to side. ,

Its body seemed to be a small dark coloured tube,
about as thick as a raven’s quill, one end of which
was affixed to the rock, and the other, which ex-
tended a little way from it, was encircled with the
vellow border above mentioned.

Soon after the discovery of these surprising ani-
mals, great numbers of people came to see them.
This was attended with some inconvenience tothe per-
son through whose grounds they were obliged to pass
and he resolved to destroy the objects of their curi-
osity. That this might be done effectually, he caused

THE CUTTLE-FISH TRIBE. $49

all the holes, out of which the animals appeared, to
be carefully drilled with an iron instrument. He
could not, however, even by this means destroy
them; for in the course of afew weeks they again
appeared in the very same places, and in a short
time became as numerous as before,

THE CUTTLE-FISH TRIBE.

Tue Cuttle-fish, though comparatively large ani-
mals, some of them being two feet longand upward,
are ranked by Linnzus under the class of Worms.—
Their structure is very remarkable. The body is cy-
lindrical, and, in some of the species, entirely covered
with a fleshy sheath ; in others, the sheath reaches
only to the middle of the body. ‘They have eight
tentacula, or arms, besides two feelers, as they are
called, which are much longer than the arms. Both
the feelers and arms are furnished with strong cir-
cular cups or suckers, by means of which the animal
seizes its prey, and firmly attaches itself to rocks or
other hard substances. To do this it applies their sur-
face, extended and plain, to the surface of the body,
and then drawing them up in the centre by muscles
contrived for the purpose, a vacuum is formed, and
they adhere by the pressure of the external air.—
The adhesive power is so great that it is generally
more easy to tear off the arms than separate them
from the substance to which they are fixed. If these

: Nn 3

550 “THE CUTTLE-FISH TRIBE.

arms happen byanychance to be broken off they are
soon afterward reproduced. The animals are also
furnished with a hard strong and horny mouth, re-
sembling, both in texture and substance, the beak
of a parrot. With this they are enabled to break
the shells of Limpets, and other shelled animals, on
which they feed. In the back, under the skin, there
is a kind of bone composed of thin parallel plates,
one above another, and separated by little columns
arranged in quincunx order. This bone is oval, thick
toward the middle, and thin at the circumference.
It is extremely light, and generally elastic, and in
the living animal transparent lke glass : the surface,
in some species, is marked with longitudinal furrows.
When dried and pulverised, the bone of the Officinal
Cuttlefish is employed by silversmiths for moulds,
in which they cast their small work, as spoons, rings,
&c, It is also converted into that useful article of
stationary called pounce. This bone, on account
of its lightness, is sometimes called sea-foam, or sea-
biscuit.

In the belly of the Cuttle-fish there is a vessel that
contains a quantity of dark or inky fluid, which the
animal emits, on contraction, when alarmed. This
not only tinges the water so as to conceal its retreat,
but is at the same time so bitter as immediately to

drive off its enemies.

Th’ endanger’d Cuttle thus evades his fears,
And native hoards of fluid safely bears.

A pitchy ink peculiar glands supply,

Whose shades the sharpest beain of light defy.

THE CUTTLE-FISH TRIBE. 55%

Pursu’d he bids the sable fountain flow,

And, wrapt in clouds, eludes th’ impending foe.
The fish retreats unseen, while self-born night,
With pious shade, befriends her pareut’s flight *.

Swammerdam was of opinion that Indian ink 1s no-
thing more than this black fluid in an inspissated
state, with the addition of perfumes. If Indian ink
be dissolved in water in any considerable quantity,
in the space of a few days it acquires a very high de-
eree of putridity, clearly indicating its being formed
of some animal substance; and no other seems so
well calculated to compose it as this.

The male always accompanies the female, and
when she is attacked will brave every danger, and
attempt her rescue even at the hazard of his own
life. As soon as she observes her partner to be
wounded she immediately escapes, her timidity not
suffering her to afford him any assistance. When
these animals are dragged out of the water, they
make a noise somewhat like the grunting of a hog.

The young are produced from eggs deposited on
the sea-weed, in parcels exactly resembling a bunch
of grapes. These are at first white, but after their
impregnation by the male they become black: they
are round, with a little point at the end, and in each
of them is contained a Cuttle-fish surrounded by a
gelatinous fluid.

The Officinal Cuttlejish+ was in great esteem by

* Jones’s Oppian. + Sepia officinalis of Linneus.

Nn 4

552 THE STAR-FISH, OR SEA STAR,

the ancients as food, and it is even yet used as such
by the Italians.

The, Eight-armed Cuttlefish* in the hot climates
sometimes becomes of such a size as to measure
twelve feet across its centre, and to have each of its
arms between forty and fifty feet long. When the
Indians go out in their canoes, in places frequented
by these Sepia, they are always in dread of their
flinging their arms over and sinking them; on which
account they are careful to take with them an ax
to cut them off.

THE STAR-FISH, or SEA-STAR,

THESE are inhabitants of the sea, and are usually
found on the sand or among the rocks on the sea-
shore, considerably below high-water mark. Their
covering is a coriaceous crust, which defends them
from the attacks of thesmaller animals; and they have
five or more rays proceeding froma centre in which
their mouth is situated. Every ray is furnished with
a prodigious number of tentacula, or shart soft and
fleshy tubes, which appear to be of use not only in
taking prey, and in aiding the motion of the animal,
but also in enabling it to adhere to rocks and other
substances, by which it withstands the force of the
waves, In a single animal these tentacula have

a

* Sepia octepedia of Linneus.

THE ARBORESCENT STAR-FISH. 553

been found above 1500 in number: and, when the
Star-fish are thrown on their backs, these may be
observed to be pushed out and withdrawn in the
same manner as snails do their horns. The progres-
sive motion of the Star-fish, which is with their rays,
is very slow: and by the undulation of these they
are enabled to swim. ‘They possess considerable
powers of reproduction: for if, by any violence, a
ray is broken off, for most of them are very brittle,
in the course of a short time a new one will appear.
The mouth is armed with bony teeth, that are used
in seizing and breaking the shells on which the ani-
mals feed: from hence a canal extends to each of
the rays, runs through the whole length, and becomes
gradually narrower as it approaches the extremity.

If the Star-fish are drowned in brandy or spirits of
wine, and the rays be kept flat and expanded during
the time, it is easy afterward to extract, by means
of a pair of forceps, the stomach and intestines entire
through the mouth. This information may be of
use to those who wish to preserve specimens of them,
and were not previously possessed of it.

THE ARBORESCENT STAR-FISH*.

This extremely singular species is occasionally
found in most seas, but never in any great number.
it has five equi-distant, thickly jointed processes pro-
ceeding from its centre, each of which is divided into
two other small ones, and each of these into two

———__-__——

* S¥nonyms.s—Asterias Meduse., Lixa. Magellanic Sta
fish. Basket-fish. Branched Asterias. Medusa Star-fish.

554 THE ARBORESCENT STAR*=FISH.

others still smaller; and this mode of regular subdi-
vision is continued to a vast extent, and in the most
beautiful gradation of minuteness, till at length the
number of extreme ramifications sometimes amount
toseveral thousands. One specimen, that measured
three feet across, had five hundred and twelve ex-
tremities to each ray ; so that, in this, the whole num-
ber was 2560. By this most curious structure the
animal becomes as it were a living net, and is capa-
ble of catching such creatures as are by nature des-
tined for its prey, by the sudden contraction of its
“innumerable ramifications ; and the unfortunate ob-
ject is secured by these beyond all possibility of
eseare™.

In order to preserve this curious animal whole and
‘undamaged for cabinets, it should be taken far out
in the sea; and the fishermen ought to be careful
not to break off any of the limbs, and to prevent the
animal from contracting and entangling its outer and
most slender branches. “The fishermen of the Cape
of Good Hope get six, and sometimes even ten, rix-
dollars for one of these Star-fish.

When it is alive, or but just dead, its colour is a
reddish or deep carnation; but on being dried it be-
comes somewhat grey. It should be dried in the
shade, in some open place, where the wind has free
access to it; for in the sun it is apt to dissolve, and
if placed too much in the shade it frequently be-
comes putrid ft.

* Shaw’s Nat. Mis. vol. iii. tab. 103. + Thunberg, i. 240,

bang Sane]

THE SEA-URCHINS*,

Tue Sea-urchins are generally round, and shaped
like a somewhat flattened ball. Their exterior isa
bony crust, usually furnished with moveable spines,
by which they are defended from injury, and by
means of which they have their progressive motion:
these are often very numerous, amounting in some
species to upwards of two thousand. ‘The mouth is
placed beneath, and in most of the species has five
valves or teeth.

They are all inhabitants of the sea, and, in their
general character, have so great an alliance to each
other that it will not be necessary to bring for-
ward more than one species, to illustrate the whole
tribe,

THE COMMON SEA-URCHIN fT.

This animal, which lodges in cavities of rocks just
within low-water mark, on most of the British coasts,
is nearly of a globular shape, having its shell marked
into ten partitions or divisions, not muchunlike those
of an orange. The mouth is situated in the lower or
under part, and armed with five strongand sharpened
teeth. The stomach and intestines, which are of
considerable length, are disposed in a somewhat cir-

* Sea Hedge-hogs or Sea Eggs.

+ SyNonyms.—Echinus esculentus. Linn,—Eatable Echinus,
Penn.——-Common Echinus, or Esculent Echinus.———Shaw’s Nat.
Mis.

556 THE COMMON SEA-URCHIN.

cular form; and the whole body is supported entirely
by aset of upright bones or columns. On the out-
side of the shell is a prodigious number of sharp
moveable spines, of a dull violet and greenish colour,
curiously articulated, hke ball or socket, with tuber-
cles om the surface, and connected by strong liga-
ments to the skin or epidermis with which the shell
is covered. The spines are the instruments by which
the animal conveys itself at pleasure from one place
to another; and by means of these it is enabled to
move at the bottom of the water with great swiftness.
It generally employs those about the mouth for this
purpose, keeping that opening downward; but it is
also asserted to have the power of moving forward by
turning on itself like a wheel*. © When any thing
alarms these animals, they immediately move all
their spines toward it, and wait an attack, as anarmy
of pikemen would with their weapons. The num-
ber of muscles, fibres, and other apparatus necessary
to the proper management of these must be very
ereat, and are exceedingly wonderful. So tenacious
are the Sea-urchins of the vital principle that, on
opening one of them, it is no uncommon circumstance
to observe the several parts of the broken shell move
off in different directions. The ancients, according
to Oppian, gave credence to a circumstance much
more wonderful than this.

Sea urchins, who their native armour boast,
All stuck with spikes, prefer the sandy coast.

nn een EnaInEn Inn inane sammie naten tate asiemesenene aie eae iain aaa!

* Wallis, i. 393.

~

THE COMMON SEA-URCHIN. 557

Should you with knives their prickly bodies wound,
Till the crude morsels pant upon the ground ;

You may e’en then, when motion seems no more,
Departing sense and fleeting life restore.

If in the sea the mangled parts you cast,

The conscious pieces to their fellows haste ;

Again they aptly join, their whole compose,

Move as before, nor life, nor vigour lose.

Between the spines, and disposed in a continued
Jongitudinal series on the several divisions or regions
of the shell, are an infinite number of very small fo-
ramina, communicating with an equal number of
~tentacula placed above them. ‘These are the in-
struments by which the creature affixes itself to any
object, and stops its motions. They are possessed of
a very high degree of contractile power, and are fur-
nished at the extremities with an expansile part,
which may be supposed to operate as a sphincter, or
as the tail of a leech, in fastening the animals se-
curely to rocks and other substances to which they
chuse to adhere. ?

The shell of this animal, when deprived of the
spines, which often fall off after its death, is of a pale
reddish tinge, and the tubercles on which the spines
are fixed appear like so many pearly protuberances
on the surface.

At Marseilles, and in some other towns on the.
continent, this species is exposed for sale in the mar-
kets as oysters are with us, and is eaten boiled like
anegg. It forms an article of food among the lower
class of people on the sea-coasts of many parts of

3

558 THE COMMON SEA-URCHIN

this country, but does not seem to have made its
way tothe tables of the opulent. The Romans
adopted it, and dressed it with vinegar, mead, pars-
ley, and mint *.

* Shaw’s Nat. Mis. vii. tab. 223. Barbut’sGen. Verm. p. 90.———«
Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. p. 68,

Sloans, il. 267.

[ $59 ]

THE BERNACLES*.

THESE shells are fixed at the base, and consist of
more than two unequal and erect valves. ‘The ani-
mal that inhabits them is similar to one inhabiting
submarine recks, that Linneus has placed in the
last order, under the name of Triton.

The two shells of this tribe that are best known
are the Common Beruacle +, which is found adhering
in vast numbers to rocks, and to oysters and other
shell-fish ; and the Goose-Bernaclet, so well known
from the fables of its producing the Bernacle Goose.

The animals contained in these shells as well as
in those of all the other species, have twenty-four
claws or tentacula, all jommed in pairs near the bot-
tom, and inserted in one common base. The twelve
longest stand somewhat erect and arched, arising
from the back part of the animal; they appear like
so many yellow curled feathers, clear, horny and ar-
ticulated: every joint is furnished with two rows of
hairs on the concave side. They are of use in catch-
ing prey, and the animals are continually extending
and contracting these arched hairy claws, which
serve as a net.

The twelve smallest are placed, six on each side,
in the front of these. They are more pliable and

———

® The Linnean order of TesTaceous or SHELL-FISH commences
here.

+ Lepus Balanus of Linnzus. } Lepas anatifera of Linneeus.

560 THE PHOLAS TRIBE.

more thickly set with hairs thanthe others, and seem
to perform the office of hands.

The trunk or proboscis rises from the middle of
the base of the larger claws, and is longer than any
of them. This the animal moves with great agility
in any direction; it is tubular, transparent, andcom-
posed of rings lessening gradually to the extremity,
where it is surrounded with a circle of small bristles,
which are likewise moveable. Along the inside of
this transparent proboscis appears the spiral dark-
coloured tongue, which is extended and contracted
at pleasure.

The mouth, formed not unlike a contracted purse,
is placed in front between the smaller claws, within
the folds of which are six or eight horny lamine or
erect teeth. Under this lie the stomach, intestines,
and tendons, by which the animal adheres to the
shell*.

The Goose Bernacles consist each of five shells.
They adhere in clusters to the bottoms of vessels and
old timber, by means of tubes that in appearance are
like some of the Corallines f.

THE PHOLAS TRIBE,

THE Pholas has a shell of two valves, that open
widely at each end, with several lesser ones at the

* Ellison Bernacles, Phil. Tran. vol. 1. p. 845.
+ See the account of the Beraacle Goose, in vol. ii.

THE DACTYLE PHOLAS. 561i.

é

hinge. The hinges are folded back, and united by
a cartilage; and in the inside, beneath the hinge,
there is an incurved tooth. The animal contained
in this shell is called an Asctdia.

The animals of this tribe perforate clay, spongy
stones, and wood, while very young; and, as they
increase in size, they enlarge their habitation within,
and thus become imprisoned. They are always
found below high water-mark, and a mass of rock
may sometimes be seen wholly perforated by them.
They have two orifices or openings capable of elon-
gation in the manner of a proboscis: one of these
is supposed to be the mouth, and has the faculty
of spouting water. Most of them contain a phos-
phorescent liquor, of great brilliancy in the darks
which also illuminates whatever it touches or hap-
pens to fall upon.

From the following species the character of near
ly the whole tribe may be colleeted.

THE DACTYLE PHOLAS*.

This is an oblong shell, marked with somewhat
spinous stripes. When full grown, it is about an
inch and a quarter long, and near five inches broads
It is of a whitish colour, and, in external appear
ance, has a distant resemblance to a Muscle.

The great powers of penetration of these animals,
compared with their apparent imbecility, have justly
excited the astonishment of philosophers and natu-

* Pholas dactylus. Linn.
VOL. III. Qo

562 THE DACTYLE PHOLAS.

ralists in all ages. When divested of their shell
they are roundish and soft, with no instrument that
seems in the least fitted for boring into stones, which
they are known to do, or even for penetrating the
softest substance. They are, indeed, each furnished
with two teeth; but these are placed in such a
situation as to be incapable of touching the hollow
surface of their stony dwellings. They have also
two corners to their shells, that open and shut at
either end; but these are totally unserviceable to
them as miners. The instrument with which they
perform all their operations, and by means of which
they bury themselves in the hardest rocks, is only
a broad fleshy substance, somewhat resembling
a tongue, that is seen issuing from the bottom
of the shell. With this soft yielding instrument,
while yet young and small, they work their way
into the substance of the stone, and they enlarge
their apartment as their increasing size renders it
necessary.

The seeming unfitness, however, of this animal
for penetrating into rocks, and there forming a
habitation, has induced many philosophers to sup-
pose that they entered the rock while it was yet in
a soft state, and, from the petrifying quality of the
water, that the whole rock afterward hardened
round them by degrees. This opinion, however,
has been confuted, in a very satisfactory manner, by
Dr. Bohads, who observed that many of the pillars
of the temple of Serapis at Puteolt were penetrated
by these animals, Whence he justly concludes
that the Pholades must have pierced into them after

THE DACTYLE PHOLAS. 563

they were erected; for no workman would have
Jaboured a pillar into form, if it had been honey-
combed by worms in the quarry. In short, there
can be no doubt but that the pillars were perfectly
sound when erected, and that these animals attacked
them during the time in which they continued buried
under water, from the earthquake that swallowed up
the citye/f we

From hence it appears that, in all nature, there
is not a greater instance of perseverance and pa-
tience than what this animal is seen to exhibit.
Furnished with the bluntest and softest augre, by
slow successive applications, it effects what other
animals are incapable of performing by force, pene-
trating the hardest bodies only with its tongue.
When, while yet very small, it has effected an
entrance and buried its body in the stone, it there
continues for life at its ease; the sea-water that
enters at the little aperture supplying it with luxu-
rious plenty. Upon this seemingly thin diet it by
degrees grows larger and larger, and soon finds
itself under the necessity of increasing the dimen-
sions of its habitation and its shell.

The motion of the Pholas is slow beyond concep-
tion; its progress keeps pace with the growth of
its body ; and, in proportion as it becomes larger, it
makes its way farther into the rock. When it has
got a certain way in, it then turns from its former
direction and hollows downward; till, at last, when
its habitation is completed, the whole apartment
resembles the bow] of a tobacco-pipe; the hole in
the shank being that by which the animal entered.

O02

504 THE DACTYLE PHOLAS.

Thus immured, the Pholas lives in darkness, in-
dolence, and plenty; it never removes from the
narrow mansion into which it has penetrated ; and
seems perfectly content with being inclosed in its
own sepulchre. The influx of the sea-water that
enters by its little gallery satisfies all its wants;
and, without any other food, it is found to grow
from five to eight inches long, and thick in pro-
portion.

Yet the Pholas, thus shut up, is not so solitary an
animal as would at first appear; for though it is im-
mured in its hole, without egress, though it is im-
possible for the animal, grown to a great size, to get
out by the way it made to get in, yet many of this
kind often meet in the heart of the rock ; and, like
miners in a siege (who sometimes cross each other’s
galleries), they frequently break in upon each other’s
retreats. “They are commonly found in great num-
bers in the same rock, and sometimes above twenty
are discovered within a few inches of each other.

This animal is found in the greatest quantity at
Ancona, in Italy; it is found also along the shores
of Normandy and Poitou, in France, and upon
some of the coasts of Scotland. It is in general

considered as a very great delicacy at the tables of
the luxurious*.

a a a a nN ons Se ener oe nl

* Goldsmith,

Tepe sy ae

THE RAZOR-SHELLS*.

Tuese shells are bivalve, oblong, in shape
somewhat resembling the handle of a razor, and
open at both ends. The hinge has a small and
sharp reflected tooth, sometimes double, not in-
serted into the opposite valve. ‘The animal is simi-
Jar to that of the last tribe.

Many of the bivalved shell-fishes have the power
of performing a progressive or retrograde motion,
by an instrument that has some resemblance to a
leg or foot, and called the #ovgue. But the present
animals can, at pleasure, make this assume almost
every kind of form, as their exigences require.
By this tongue they are not only enabled to creep,
to sink into the mud, or disengage themselves
from it, but to perform a motion whieh no one
could suppose shell-fishes were capable of per-
forming.

All the species of Razor-shells are incapable of
progressive motion on the surface; but they dig a
hole or cell in the sand, sometimes two feet in
depth, in which they can ascend or descend at plea-
sure. The instrument or tongue, by which they
perform all their motions, is situated at the centre.
It is fleshy, cylindrical, and tolerably long. When
necessary, the animals can make the termination of

* Solen. Linz.

003

566 THE RAZOR-SHELLS.

the tongue assume the form of a ball. The Razor-
fish, when lying on the surface of the sand, and
about to sink into it, extends its tongue from the
inferior end of the shell, and makes the extremity
of it take the form of a shovel, sharp on each side,
and terminating in a point. With this instrument
the animal cuts a hole in the sand. After the hole
is made, it advances the tongue still farther into
ihe sand, makes it assume the form of a hook, and
with this hook, as a fulcrum, it obliges the shell to
descend into the hole. In this manner the animal
operates till the shell totally disappears. When it
chuses to regain the surface, it puts the termination
of the tongue into the shape of a ball, and makes
an effort to extend the whole tongue: but the ball
prevents any farther descent, and the muscular effort
necessarily pushes the shell upward till it reaches
the surface, or top of the hole. It is amazing with
what dexterity and quickness these seemingly awk-
ward motions are performed.

It is remarkable that the razor-fish, though it lives
in salt water, abhors salt. When a little salt is
thrown into the hole, the animal instantly quits his
habitation. But it is still more remarkable that, if
the animal is once seized with the hand, and after-
wards allowed to retire into its cell, salt will then
be strewed in vain, for the fish will never again
make its appearance. If it be not handled, by ap-
plying salt, the animal may be made to come to the
surface as often as a person pleases; and fishermen
often make use of this stratagem. This conduct

THE OYSTER TRIBE. 567

indicates more recollection than one would have
been inclined to expect from an animal so low
in the order of nature as a Kazor-fish.

THE OYSTER TRIBE.

THE Oysters are bivalve shell-fish, having the
valves generally unequal. ‘The hinge is without
teeth, but furnished with a somewhat oval cavity,
and mostly with lateral transverse grooves.

From a similarity in the structure of the hinge,
the Oysters and Scallops have been united into one
tribe. But they differ very essentially, both in their
-habits, and in their external appearance. The
Oysters adhere to rocks, or, as in two or three spe-
cies, to roots of trees on the shore ; while the Scal-
lops are always detached, and usually lurk in the
sand. |

THE EDIBLE OYSTER’.

These Oysters inhabit the European and Indian
seas, and are well known as a palatable and nutri-
tious food. Most of our coasts produce them in
great abundance, but the coasts chiefly celebrated
are those of Essex and Suffolk. Here they are
dredged up by means of a net, with an iron scraper
at the mouth, that is dragged by a rope from a boat,

_

® Ostrea edulis. Linz.

O04

568 THE EDIBLE OYSTER.

over the beds. As soon as taken from their native
beds they are stored in pits formed for the purpose,
furnished with sluices; through which, at the spring
tides, the water is suffered to flow. ‘This water,
being stagnant, soon becomes green in warm wea-
ther, and, in a few days afterward, the Oysters
acquire the same tinge,’ which renders them of
greater value in the market: but they do not ac-
quire their full quality, and become fit for sale, till
the end of six or eight weeks.

The principal breeding-time of Oysters is in
April and May, when they cast their spawn, or.
spats, as the fishermen call them, upon rocks, stones,
shells, or any other hard substance that happens to
be near the place where they lie, to which the spats
immediately adhere. ‘These, till they obtain their
film or crust are somewhat like a drop of a candle,
but are of a greenish hue. The substances to which
they adhere, of whatever nature, are called cultch.
From the spawning-time till about the end of July
the Oysters are said to be sick, but by the end of
August they become perfectly recovered. During
these months they are out of season, and are bad
eating. This is known, on inspection, by the male
having a black and the female a milky substance in
the gill.

The Oyster fishery of our principal coasts is regu-
lated by a court of admiralty. In the month of May
the fishermen are allowed to take the Oysters, in or-
der to separate the spawn from the cultch, the lat-
ter of which is thrown in again to preserve the bed
for the future. After this month it is felony to carry

THE EDIBLE OYSTER. 569

away the cultch, and otherwise punishable to take
any Oyster, between whose shells, when closed, a
shilling will rattle. The reason of the heavy penalty
on destroying the cultch is that, when this is taken
away, the ouse will increase,and muscles and cockles
will breed on the bed and destroy the Oysters, from
gradually occupying all the places on which the
spawn should be cast. ‘There is likewise some pe-
nalty for not treading on, and killing, or throwing
on shore any Star-jish (Asterias of Linnezus) that
happen to be seen. These, when collected in any
numbers, are very destructive to the Oyster-beds,
inserting their rays, as the shells lie open, and de-
youring the animals within.

The prickly Star creeps on with full deceit,
To force the Oyster from his close retreat.
When gaping lids their widened void display,
The watchful Star thrusts in a pointed ray,
Of all its treasures spoils the rifled case,

And empty shells the sandy hillocks grace *.

Oysters are not reckoned proper for the table till
they are about a year and half old; so that the
brood of one spring are not to be taken for sale till.
at least the September twelve-months afterward. _
When younger than these happen to be caught in
the dredge, they are always thrown into the sea
again. The fishermen know the age of Oysters by
the broader distances or interstices among the rounds
or rings of the convex shell.

* Jones’s Oppian. The ancients seem to have been ignorant that
Oysters are usually found adherent, and to rocks.
T

570 THE EDIBLE OYSTER.

The Oysters in the pits of course always lie loose,
but on their native beds they are in general fixed
(from the time they are cast) by their under shell ;
and their goodness is said to be materially affected
by their being laid in the pits with the flat shell
downward, not being able in this position to retain
sufficient water in the shell for their support *.

The French assert, but apparently without proof,
that the English Oysters, which are esteemed the best
in Europe, were originally procured from Concalle
Bay near St Malo.

With regard to the locomotive faculty of the
Oyster, when detached from its native rocks or ha-
bitation (which is a subject of curious investigation)
every one must have observed that this cannot take
place in the usual way of other bivalves, by means
of a foot, for such an appendage is in it altogether
wanting. The abbe Dicquemaire, who attended
minutely the manners of these as well as of se-
veral other marine animals, assures us that they have
2 power of moving themselves, and this by the sin-
gular effort of ejecting water with considerable force
from their shells. They thus are able either to throw
themselves backward or to start aside in a lateral
direction. He says that any person may amuse
himself with the squirting and motions of Oysters,
by putting them in a plate placed in a horizontal

* Haak on the Breeding of Colchester Oysters, MSS. in Brit.
Mus. Ays. Cat. No. 243. 49.—-Tuke onthe Generation and Order-
ing of Colchester Oysters, Sprat’s History of the Royal Society,

p: 307.

°
oa

THE SCALLOP. 57t

position, which contains as much sea-water as is
sufficient to cover them.

The Oyster has been represented by many au-
thors as an animal destitute not only of motion but
of every species of sensation. The abbé Dicque-
maire, however, has shown that it can perform
movements perfectly consonant to its wants, to the
dangers it apprehends, and to the enemies by which
it is attacked. Instead of being destitute of sensa-
tion, Oysters are even capable of deriving some
knowledge from experience. When removed from
situations that are constantly covered with the sea,
from want of experience, they open their shells,
lose their water, and die in afew days. But, when
taken from similar situations, and laid down in places
from which the sea occasionally retires, they feel the
effect of the sun’s rays, or of the cold air, or perhaps
apprehend the attacks of enemies, and accordingly
learn to keep their shells close till the tide returns *.

Oysters breathe by means of gills. They draw
the water in at their mouth, a small opening in the
upper part of the body, drive it down a long canal
that constitutes the base of the gills, and so out
again, retaining the air for the necessary functions
of the body. Thus their ejecting of water seems
to serve the double purpose of aiding the motion
of such as are loose, and of supplying the animals
with air.

THE SCALLOP f.

The Scallop has the power of progressive motion

* Journal de Physique.
+ SYNONYMS. -Ostera maxima. Lizn.——Pecten maximns.
Great Scallop. Pena.

S72 THE MUSCLES.

upon land, and likewise of swimming on the surface
of the water. When this animal happens to be
deserted by the tide, it opens its shell to the full ex-
tent, then shuts it with a sudden jerk, by which it
often rises five or six inches from the ground. In
this manner it tumbles forward till it regains the
water. When the sea is calm, troops or little fleets
of Scallops are often observed swimming on the
surface. They raise one valve of their shell above
the surface, which becomes a kind of sail, while the
other remains on the water, and answers the pur-
pose of a keel, by steadying the animal, and thus
preventing its being overset. When an enemy ap-
proaches, they instantly shut their shells, plunge to
the bottom, and the whole fleet disappears By
what means they are enabled to regain the surface
we are still ignorant.

THE MUSCLES.

Tue Muscle tribe is distinguished by the shell
being bivalve, without any tooth in the hinge, but
in having the hinge marked with a longitudinal hol-
low line; and by the animal’s being generally fixed
to some substance by a byssus or silky beard.

Some of the Muscles penetrate into the interior of
calcareous rocks, where they reside out of the reach
of danger. Others adhere by their beard to the exte-
rior of rocks or stones; and so very tenacious is their
hold that, in the larger species, they cannot be ,

THE EDIBLE MUSCLE. $73

separated without considerable exertion. One spe-
cies is gathered, from the depths of the sea, by
divers trained for the purpose, on account of the
pearls that are found within the shells. Of these
the ancient Romans were extravagantly fond. “ It
is not enough (says Pliny) to despoil the sea of its
riches, in order to gorge our appetites; we must
likewise, both men and women, carry them about
on our hands, in our ears, upon our heads, and on
our whole body.”

THE EDIBLE MUSE€LE*.,

This species is found adhering to rocks both in
the European and Indian seas; but it grows to a
much greater size between the Tropics than north-
ward. It abounds on the British shores, being one
of the commonest of all our shells.

All the muscles have, for an instrument of mo-
tion, a tongue or foot capable of considerable elon-
gation, and also of being shortened into the form of
a heart. ‘This is marked with a longitudinal furrow,
and completely enveloped in a sheath formed of
transverse and circular fibres of an obscure purple
colour. When the animal feels inclined to change
its place, it thrusts the foot out of the shell, and
raises itself on its edge; then, by reaching this to as
great a distance as it will extend, it uses it asa kind
of arm, drawing the bedy up to it, and thus it pro-
eceds till it has found a convenient situation. If the

* SYNONYMS.—Mytilus edulis. Lian-—Common Muscle,

574 THE EDIBLE MUSCLE.

Muscle be inclined to make this its residence, the 1n-
strument of its motion is now put to a very different
employment, in spinning those silky threads that
fix it firmly to the spot; and, like a ship at anchor,
enable it to brave all the agitations of the water.
This it accomplishes by seizing with its point the
gluten supplied by a gland situated under its base,
and drawing it out, through the furrow, into threads.
When the muscle is thus fixed it lives upon the
little earthy particles, or upon the bodies of such
smaller animals as the water transports to its shells.

The present Muscle is generally esteemed a rich
and wholesome food; but to some constitutions it
often occasions disorders, the symptoms of which
are great swellings, eruptions of blotches or pimples,
shortness of breath, convulsive motions, and some-
times even delirium. A remedy that has been re-
commended is two spoons-full of oil, and one of
lemon juice (or, in want of this, about two of vine-
gar) shaken well together, and swallowed as soon
as any of the symptoms take place. This unwhole-
some quality has been attributed to a small species
of crab, the Cancer pisum of Linneus, that some-
times is found in the shells of the muscle. It seems,
however, not to have its seat in any thing essential
to the muscle; for, when accidents of this kind
have happened, some persons have been affected,
and others have not, who have eaten at the same
time, and at Jeast in equal quantity.

[ 575 ]

THE PEARL MUSCLE*.

The Pearl Muscle has a flattened and nearly or-
bicular shell, about eight inches long, and somewhat
more in breadth. The colour of the exterior is very
various, being in some individuals sea-green, in
others chesnut, or even bloom colour, with white
rays, and sometimes whitish, with green rays. “The
young shells resemble Scallops, having ears as long
as the shell. |

The Pearl is a calculus or morbid concretion,
which is produced not only in this but sometimes
even in the Common Oysters and Muscles; but
in these it is generally very small, and of litt!e value.
It’ is found both in the body of the animal and in
the shells on the outside of the body.

The principal fishery for pearls is on the coast of
Tinevelly, in Eastern Hindostan, where the natives
find them of such commercial importance as to em-
ploy in the fishery several hundreds of small vessels.
The pearls are taken at two seasons of the year, in
March and April, and again in August and Septem-
ber. They do not, however, fish every year; for
if, upon trial, they do not find the pearls sufficiently
valuable, they abstain till the ensuing season to
allow them time to increase their size.

A cord is fastened under the arms of the divers,
and held by the persons in the boat; and, to acce-
lerate their descent, the divers have a perforated

* Mytilus margaritiferens. Linn.

576 THE ARGONAUTS

stone of eighteen or twenty pounds weight tied
with a cord to their great toe. Each of them
is also furnished with a sack, that has the mouth
distended by a hoop. They then descend, and, on
reaching the bottom, slip off the stone, which is
drawn up, and fill their sack with shells. When
this is full they give a signal by pulling the rope,
and they are then drawn up by the men in the
boats.

The depth of the water is twenty or thirty yards,
and the distance from shore four or five leagues.
When drawn up they rest eight or ten minutes, to
recover their breath, and then plunge in again; and
a succession of men continue this slavish employ-
ment for ten or twelve hours every day. The shells
are left in vast heaps to putrefy till the season is
over. The gains of the adventurers are often small, .
as the success is very precarious. Great pearls are but
seldom found, and the generality of what are taken
are of the smaller kind, called Seed Pearls, which
are sold by the ounce to be converted into powder.

The shells are found adhering to the coral banks.
Numbers of sharks lurk about the diving-places;
which often devour the poor adventurers”.

THE ARGONAUTS.

In this tribe the shell is univalve, spiral, involute,
and membranaceous, with only a single cell.

ns

* Penn, Outl, ii, p. 2.

iT ey:

THE PAPER NAUTILUS, OR ARGONAUT*,

which is six or eight inches in length, and but little
either thicker or stronger than paper, is found in the
Mediterranean Sea, and in the Indian Ocean. It is
the famous Nautilus of the ancients, and is sup-
posed, in the early ages of society, to have furnished
the original idea of navigation:

Learn of the little Nautilus to sail,
Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale.

When it means to sail, it discharges a quantity
of water from its shell, by which it is rendered
lighter than the surrounding medium, and of course
rises to the surface. Here it extends two of its
arms upward, which are each furnished at their
extremity with an oval membrane that serves as a
sail, The other six arms hang over the sides of the
shell, and supply the place either of oars or rudder.

Two feet they upward raise, and steady keep ;
These are the masts, and rigging of the ship.

A membrane stretch’d between supplies the sail,
Bends from the masts, and swells before the gale.
The other feet hang paddling on each side,

And serve for oars to row, and helm to guide.
*Tis thus they sail, pleas’d with the wanton game,
The fish, the sailor, and the ship the same.

But, when the swimmers dread some danger near,
The sportive pleasure yields to stronger fear :

eee

* Argonauta Argo. Linn.

VOL, III. Pp

578 THE PAPER NAUTILUS.

No more they wanton drive before the blasts,
But strike the sails, and bring down all the masts.
The rolling waves their sinking shells o’erflow,
And dash them down again to sands below.

In some places, when the sea is not agitated by
winds, great numbers of these singular creatures
may sometimes be seen diverting themselves by
sailing about in this manner; but as soon asa storm
rises, or any thing gives them disturbance, they
retract their arms, take in as much water as renders
them somewhat heavier than that in which they
swim, and then sink to the bottom. Several of
them were observed by M. Le Vaillant on the sea
near the Cape of Good Hope; and, as he was de-
sirous of obtaining perfect specimens of the shells,
he sent some of his people into the water to catch
them: but, when the men had got their hands within
a certain distance, they always instantly sank, and,
with all the art that could be employed, they were
not able to lay hold of a single one. The instinct
of the animal showed itself superior to all their
subtilty; and, when their disappointed master called
them away from their attempts, they expressed
themselves not a little chagrined at being out-
witted by a shell-fish*.

This species, which is tle real Nautilus of the
ancients, is not to be confounded with the Cham-
bered or Pearly Nautilus, which belongs to a diffe-
rent tribe, and bears very little resemblance to the
present, cither in its construction or habits.—The

* Le Vaillant’s New Trayels, i. 129.

SNAILS. 579

animal, if seen detached from its shell, might be
mistaken for a Sepia, bearing so great a resemblance
to the Sepia Octopus, or light-armed Cuttle-fish,
that its principal difference consists only in the
shape of those arms that are used as sails,

SNAILS.

Tue Snails have a spiral and somewhat pellucid
shell, the aperture of which is roundish. Their bo-
dies, in general construction, are similar to those of
the Slugs.

The wise Author of Nature has denied to these
animals the use of feet and claws to enable them to
move from place to place, but he has made them
ample amends in a way more commodious to their
habits and mode of life, by the broad skin along
each side of the belly, and the power of motion that
this possesses. By this motion they are enabled to
creep, and by the skin, assisted with the glutinous
slime emitted from their body, they adhere firmly
and securely even to the smoothest surfaces.

When the Snail is in motion, four horns are dis-
tinctly seen proceeding from it head ; but the two
uppermost and longest of these deserve peculiar
consideration, both on account of the various mo-
tions with which they are endued, and also from
their having eyes fixed at the extreme ends of
them. ‘These appear like two blackish points, and
when taken from the body are of a bulbous figure.

Epa

§80 SNAILS»:

They have but one coat ; and the vitreous, the aque-
ous, and the crystalline humours are (though not
very distinctly) to be seen. These eyes the animal
can direct to different objects at pleasure, by a regu-
lar motion out of the body; and sometimes it hides
them, by a very swift contraction into the belly. Un-
der the smaller horns is the animal’s mouth ; and
though its substance may appear too soft to be fur-
nished with teeth, yet it has no. fewer than eight.—
With these it chews leaves and other substances,
seemingly harder than any part of its own body ;
and with these it even sometimes bites off pieces of
its own shell.

The snail, when its shell is broken, has a power of
mending it. Sometimes the animals are seemingly
crushed to pieces; and, to all appearance, utterly
destroyed ; yet still they set themselves to work, and
with the slimy substance that they force from their
bodies, which soon hardens, they in a few days mend
all theit numerous breaches. All the junctures,
however, are very easily seen; for these have a
fresher colour than the rest, and the whole shell in
some measure resembles an old coat patched with
new pieces. They are sometimes seen with eight
or ten of these patches. Still, however, though the
animal has the power of mending its shell, it cannot,
when éome to its full growth, make a new one.—
Swammerdam tried the experiment. He stripped
a snail of its shell, without injuring any of the blood-
vessels, retaining that part of the shell wheré the
muscles were inserted: but it died in three days af~
ter it lost its covering; not, however, without ma-

SNAILS. got

king efforts to build up a new shell; for, before its
death, it pressed out acertain membrane round the
whole surface of its body. This membrane was en-
tirely of the shelly nature, and was intended, no
doubt, as a supply toward a new one.

The following instances of tenacity of life in snails
are well authenticated, and probably without paral-
Jel in any other division of the animal creation.

Mr. Stuckey Simon, a merchant of Dublin, whose
father, a fellow of the Royai Society and a lover of
natural history, left te him a small collection of
fossils and other curiosities, had among them the
shells of some snails. About fifteen years after his
father’s death (in whose possession they continued
many years) he by chance gave to his son, a child
about ten years old, some of these snail-shells to
play with. The boy put them into a flower-pot,
which he filled with water, and the next day into a
bason. Having occasion to use this, Mr. 8. observed
that the animals had come out of their shells. He
examined the child, who assured him that they were
the same he had given him, and said he had also a few
‘more, which he brought. Mr. S. put one of these
into water, and in an hour and a half after observed
that it had put out its horns and body, which it moved
but slowly, probably from weakness. Major Val-
Jancy and Dr. Span were afterward present, and
saw one of the snails crawl out, the others being
dead, most probably from their having remained
some days in the water. Dr. Quin and Dy. Rutty
also examined the living snail several different times,
and were greatly pleased to see him come out of his

Pps

582 SNAILS.

solitary habitation after so many years confinement.
Dr. Macbride, and a party of gentlemen at his house,
were also witnesses of this surprising phenomenon.
Dr. Macbride has thus mentioned the circumstance:
“« After the shell had Jain about ten minutes in a glass
of water that had the cold barely taken off, the snail
began to appear ; and in five minutes more we per-
ceived half the body pushed out from the cavity of
the shell. We then removed it into a basin, that the
snail might have more scope than it had in the glass;
and here, in a very short time, we saw it get above
the surface of the water, and crawl up toward the
edge of the basin. While it was thus moving about,
with its horns erect, a fly chanced to be hovering
near, and, perceiving the snail, darted down upon
it, The little animal instantly withdrew itself into
the shell, but as quickly came forth again when it
found the enemy was gone off. We allowed it to
wander about the basin for upward of an hour,
when we returned it into a wide-mouthed phial,
wherein Mr. Simon had lately been used to keep it.
He was so obliging as to present me with this re-
markable shell; and I observed, at twelve o’clock,
as I was going to bed, that the snail was still in mo-
tion; but next morning I| found it in a torpid state,
sticking to the side of the glass.”

A few weeks afterward this shell was sent to Sir
John Pringle, who shewed it at a meeting of the
Royal Society; but some of the members imagining
that Mr. Simon must have been imposed upon by
his son having substituted fresh shells for those that
had been given to him, the boy was re-examined

4.

SNAILS. 583

by Dr. Macbride on the subject, who declared that
he could find no reason to believe that the child
either did or could impose upon his father. Mr.
Simon’s living in the heart of the city rendered it
almost impossible for the boy (if he had been so dis-
posed) to collect fresh shells, being at that time
confined to the house witha cold. Mr. Simon has
also declared that he is positive those were the shells
he gave to him, having in his cabinet many more
of the same sort, and nearly of the same size *.

In consequence of the account, trom which the
above was extracted, appearing in some periodical
publication, the following letter, bearing every mark
of authenticity, was sent by a Mr. Rowe to the
editors of the Annual Register; he states it to have
been written by a lady, but her name he was not at
liberty to mention.

«« There is, in the last magazine, an account of
the reviving of some snails which had lain in Mr.
Simon’s cabinet fifteen years. Is it not a most ex-
traordinary story ? And yet I am not faithless in that
point, as many a reader probably is ; for I once saw
a very remarkable property in snails which gave me
such uneasiness as fixed the remembrance strongly
in my mind tothis minute, though it happened many
years ago.

«© Twas at Wrotham, at Mr. Haddock’s in Kent,
and was making a little shell-work tower, to stand
on a cabinet in a long gallery. After having re-

* Philosophical Transactions,

Pp4

504 _. SNAILS,

paired two small amber temples to grace the corners,
I was desirous of having some odd pretty ornament
in front; and sea-shells running short before | had
finished, I recollected having seen some pretty little
snails on the chalk hills there ; and we all went one
evening to pick up some, and found variety of forms,
and colours, and sizes. We returned home weary
enough, and longed for tea, though it was some-
what late, and a large boiler was brought in, as we
were a round company. I was contriving how to
kill the snails in the easiest and most merciful man-
ner, when a wag said, ‘ Stick them on alive;’ at
which I shuddered, and called him brute. At
length I got a large china basin and, putting a hand-
ful or two of snails into it, I filled it up with boiling
water ; and though my heart recoiled at the deed,
yet my eagerness to finish my work next morning
conquered my compassion. To make sure of giv-
ing my snails the coup-de-grace, | poured off the first
water, and then filled the bow] again with more out
of the hot-boiling kettle. I carried the basin into a
summer-house in the garden, where I loved to go to
work early ina morning, before my friends were
stirring, and the next morning I arose sooner than
common, and went into the summer-house : but how
creat was my surprise to find my poor snails crawling
about, some on the edge of the basin, some tumbling
over, some on the table, and one or two actually
eating the paste that was to stick them on! f
was perfectly shocked, and burst into tears, and,
picking up every snail carefully, carried them into
a field beyond the garden, where I make no doubt,

.THE GARDEN SNAIL. 585

but they perfectly recovered their scaldings in boil-
ing water. ti

“| had an abundance of empty shells of the same
kind, but they had not the beauty of those which
had snails in them. However, I used those only
which | could apply without cruelty and compunc-
tion. This I then thought a very surprising event,
but Mr. Simon’s snails, I must confess, are far supe-
rior to mine*.” )

From various experiments that have been made on
Snails, it appears that they are possessed of consider-
able powers of reproduction. Spallanzani found that
the whole head might be cut off, end that ina cer-
iain time another would be formed.

THE GARDEN SNAIL}.

See to the fight the gentle warriors move,
And dart, with harmless force, the shafts of love!

The mode of breeding, in this and a few other,
species of snails, is extremely curious, and too well
authenticated to be doubted. At a certain time of
the year they meet in pairs, and, stationing them-
selves an inch or two apart, launch several little
darts, not quite half an inch long, at each other.—
These are of a horny substance, and sharply pointed
atone end. ‘The animals, during the breeding sea-
son, are provided with a little reservoir for them,
situated within the neck, and opening on the right

* Ann. Reg. vol. xvii. p. 86. + Helix hortensis. Linz.

586 THE GARDEN SNAIL.

side. On the discharge of the first dart the wound-
ed Snail immediately retaliates on its aggressor by
ejecting at it a similar one: the other renews the
battle, and in turn is again wounded. ‘Thus are the
darts of Cupid, metaphorical with all the rest of the
creation, here completely realized in Snails. After
the combat they come together. Each of them lays
its eggs in some sheltered and moist situation, gene-
rally under a little clod of earth, or in some cool ca-
vity. The eggs are about the size of small peas, semi-
transparent, vind of a soft substance. From these
the young are hatched completely formed, with
shells on their backs ; and they undergo no further
change than what necessarily takes place in the gra-
dual increase of their size.

The depredations that these animals commit in
gardens and orchards are very considerable ; and it is
remarkable that in defect of moist and succulent
food, as fruit and tender leaves, they will even at-
tack substances of a dry and hard nature. The
common Garden Snail has been known, when con-
fined for a single night under glass of more than
four inches in diameter placed on a sheet of com-
mon blue paper, entirely to devour the whole paper
contained in the included space, to the. very edge
of the glass, so that a circular piece seemed almost
as neatly taken out as if it had been marked by a
pair of compasses *.

* Shaw’s Nat. Mis, i. tab. 30.

-

[: 58% dhe hy

THE ESCULENT SNAIL *.

This is the largest of all the Land Snails pro-
duced in this country. It is found in the woods
and under hedges in Northamptonshire and some
others of the southern counties.

‘At the commencement of winter it carefully
closes up its shell with a thick white cover, or oper-
culum, attached to its body, that just fills up the
opening, and in this inclosed state remains till the
commencement of warm weather, seldom appear-
ing abroad till about the beginning of April.

It is large and fleshy, and, when properly cooked,
not unpleasant to the taste. Among the Romans
}t constituted a favourite dish; but, if the account
of Varro is to be credited, they had it of a size in-
finitely larger than any now known, for this writer
assures us that the shells of some of them would
hold ten quarts. They kept these animals in what
were called the Cochlearia or Snail Stews. These
were generally made under rocks or eminences,
whose bottoms were watered by lakes or rivers ;
and if a natural dew or moisture was not found,
they formed an artificial one by bringing a pipe into
the place bored full of holes like a watering-pot,
through which it was continually sprinkled. They
required little attendance or food, supplying them-
selves, in a great measure, as they crawled about
the sides or floor of their habitation. To fatten

* Helix pomatia. Linz,

588 THE ESCULENT SNAIL.

them, however, they were fed with bran and sodden
lees of wine™.

They are even yet much admired in some parts of
the Continent, and not always used from economi-
cal motives ; for at Vienna, but a few years ago, seven
of them were charged the same at an inn as a plate
of veal or beef. The usual modes of preparing
them for the table are either boiling, frying them in
butter, or sometimes stufhng them with farce meat:
but, in what manner soever they are dressed, their
sliminess always in a great measure remains. The
greatest quantities and the finest Snails are brought
from Suabia. Dr. Browne, who travelled to Vi-
enna above a century ago, remarks that, since the
-markets were so well supplied with other provi-
sions, “ he was surprised to meet with some odd
«dishes at their tables, as Guinea-pigs, and divers
« sorts of Snails and Tortoises.”

Dr. Townson was shewn at Erlau a snailery,
which the proprietor informed him was constructed
on an improved plan. In our island, he says, this
“might have had the denomination of a Patent
Snailery, or Philosophical Snail-sty. It consisted only
of a large hole, two or three feet deep, dug in the
ground, having a wooden house asa cover. The
ape in this place were fed on the refuse of the
gatden, which was thrown into them 7.

There seems some doubt as to the original intro-
duction of these snails into England: Pennant says

Deeeee eee ea aT ETT PET RET TNT LOTS

* Da Costa, p. 676 + Townson’s Travels, p. 15 and 222+]

THE ESCULENT SNAIL. 589

it was by sir Kenelm Digby ; and Da Costa that a
Charles Howard, esq., of the Arundel family;
brought some of them, in the last century, from
Italy, in the hopes of rendering them an article of
food in this country, and for this purpose dispersed
them about the woods and downs of Albury, an an-
cient seat of that family near Boxhill in Surry. They
are now to be found in considerable plenty, not only
there, but in parts of the confines of Sussex.

[ 590 |]

ZOOPHY TES *,

THE creatures that are ranked under this order
seem to hold a middle station between animals
and vegetables. Most of them, deprived altogether
of loco-motion, are fixed by stems that take root in
crevices of rocks, among sand, or in such other situa-
tions as nature has destined for their abode: these
by degrees send off branches, till at length some of
them attain the size and extent of large shrubs.
The Zoophytes are usually considered under two
divisions. ‘The stony branches of the first division,
which has the general appellation of Coral, are hol-
low, and fullof celis, the habitations of animals resem
bling Polypes, Meduszx, &c. according to their re-
spective genera. They consist of the TusrPpoREs,
MaAprepores, MILLEporeEs, and CELLEPORES ;
and are nearly all confined to the ocean. The ani-
mals appear at the ends of the branches, where
they have somewhat the resemblance of animated
blossoms endowed with considerable spontaneous
motion. The stems of some of the Millepores are
almost solid, the cells being so extremely small as to
be scarcely visible without high magnifying powers.
Among these is the Millepora Polymorpha, or Offici-
nal Coral of the shops.

*® This ts the fourth of the Linnean orders of Worms.

THE ZOOPHYTES. 59%

The next division of the present order consists of
such animals as have softer stems, and are in generak
not merely inhabitants of a stem or branches, but
are themselves in the form ofa plant. Those best
known are the Corallines, the Sponges, and the
Polypes.

The CoraLLines are composed of capillary
tubes whose extremities pass through a calcareous
crust, and open into pores on the surface. ‘They
are entirely submarine, and from their branches be-
ing finely divided and jointed, resembling some
species of Lichen, they have, till late years, been ar-
ranged by botanists with the cryptogamous plants,
In appearance they certainly approach very nearly
to some of the vegetables; but their calcareous co-
vering alone is sufficient demonstration of their be-
ing allied, in however humble a station, to a more
elevated order of beings. |

The SponGes consist of an entirely ramified mass
of capillary tubes, supposed by many to be the pro-
duction of a species of worms which are often found
straying about their cavities. This idea is now,
however, nearly exploded. Others have imagined
them mere vegetables. But that they are possessed
of a living principle seems evident from the cir-
cumstance of their alternately contracting and dela-
ting their pores, and shrinking in some degree from
the touch whenever examined in their native wa-
ters. From their structure they are capable of ab-
sorbing nutriment from: the fluid in which they
are by nature immersed. ‘They are the most tor-
pid of all the Zoophytes. The species differ very

592 THE ZOOPHYTES.

greatly from each other both in shape and structute.
Some are composed of reticulated fibres or masses
of small spines: some, as the Common or Offcinal
Sponge, are of no regular shape; others are cup-
shaped, others tubular, &c.

The Officinal Sponge is elastic, and very full of.
holes: it grows into irregular lobes of a woolly
consistence, and generally adheres, bya very broad
base, to the rocks. It is chiefly found about the
islands in the Mediterranean,sea, where it forms a
considerable article of commerce. A variety of
small marine animals pierce and gnaw into its irre-
gular winding cavities. ‘These appear on the out-
side, by large holes raised higher than the rest.
When it is cut perpendicularly, the interior parts
are seen to consist of small tubes, which divide into -
branches as they appear on the surface. These
tubes, which are composed of reticulated fibres, ex-
tend themselves every way, by this means increasing
the surface of the sponge, and ending at the outside
in an infinite number of small circular holes, which
are the proper mouths ofthe animal. Each of these
holes is surrounded by a few erect pointed fibres,
that appear as if woven in the form of little spines.
These tubes, with their ramifications, in the living
state of the sponge, are clothed with a gelatinous
substance, properly called the flesh of the animal.
When the sponge is first taken it has a strong fishy
smell, and the fishermen take great care to wash
it perfectly clean, in order to prevent its growing

putrid.

THE ZOOPHYTES. 593

The Potypes* are gelatinous animals, consisting
of a long tubular body, fixed at the base, and sur-
rounded at the mouth by arms or tenacula. They
are chiefly inhabitants of fresh waters, and are among
the most wonderful productions of nature. The
particulars of their life, their mode of propagation,
and powers, of reproduction, after being cut to
pieces, are truly astonishing to a reflecting mind.
Long after experiments had been made did scepti-
cism involve the philosophic world ; and the history
of the animals did not obtain complete credit till
these had not only been often repeated but varied
in every possible manner: they at length, however,
incontestably proved the truth of the surprising and
apparently impossible properties.

See with new life the wend’rous worm abound,
Rich from its loss, and fruitful from its wound !

The Green Polype, a species that will fully illus-
trate the nature of the whole tribe, is found in
clear waters, and may generally be seen in great
plenty in small ditches and trenches of fields, espe-
cially in the months of April and May. It affixes
itself to the under parts of leaves, and to the stalks of
such vegetables as happen to grow immersed in the
same water. The animal consists of along tubular
body, the head of which is furnished with eight
and sometimes ten long arms or tenacula that sur-
round the mouth. It is capable of contracting its

* Hydra of Linnzus,
VOL. III, Qq

$94 THE ZOOPHYTES.

body in a very sudden manner when disturbed, se
as to appear only like a roundish green spot; and,
when the danger is over, it again extends itself as
before.

It is of an extremely predacious nature, and feeds
on the various species of smali worms, and other
water animals that happen to approach. When any
animal of this kind passes near the Polype, it
suddenly catches it with its arms, and, dragging it to
its mouth, swallows it by degrees, much in the same
manner as a snake swallows a frog. Two of them
may sometimes be seen in the act of seizing the
samme worm at different ends, and dragging it in op-
posite directions with great force. It often happens
that, while one is swallowing its respective end;
the other is also employed in the same manner; and
thus they continue swallowing each his part, until
their mouths meet together: they then rest each
for some time in this situation, till the worm breaks
between them, and each goes off with his share.
But it often happens that a seemingly more danger-
ous combat ensues, when the mouth of both are
thus joined together upon one common prey: the
largest Polype then gapes and swallows his antago-
nist; but, what is most wonderful, the animal thus
swallowed seems to be rather a gainer by the mis-
fortune. After it has lain in the conqueror’s body
for about an hour it issues unhurt, and often in
possession of the prey that had been the original
cause of contention. ‘The remains of the animals
on which the Polype feeds, are evacuated at the
mouth, the only opening inthe body. It is capable

THE ZOOPHYTES. 595

of swallowing a worm of thrice its own size: this
circumstance, though it may appear incredible, is
easily understood when we consider that the body
of the Polype is extremely extensile, and is dilated
on such occasions to a surprising degree.

The species are multiplied for the most part by

vegetation, one or two, or even more young ones
emerging gradually from the sides of the parent
animal ; and these young are frequently again pro-
lific before they drop off: so that it isno uncommon
thing to see two or three generations at once on the
same Polype.

But the most astonishing particular respecting this
animal is that if the Polype be cut 1n pieces it is not
destroyed, but is multiplied by dissection: it is
literally

Rich from its loss, and fruitful from its wound.

It may be cut in every direction that fancy may
suggest, and even into very minute divisions, and
not only the parent stock will remain uninjured
but every section will become a perfect animal.
Even when turned inside-out it suffers no material
injury; for, in this state, it will soon begin to take
food, and to perform all its other natural functions.

Leuwenhoek was the first who discovered this
animal, toward the end of the seventeenth century;
but M. Trembley, of Geneva, made, in the year
1740, the first experiments that proved decisively
its properties. In the course of his experiments, he
found that different portions of one Polype could be
engrafted on another. Two transverse sections

Qq2

596 THE ZOOPHYTES.

brought into contact will quickly unite, and form
one animal, though each section belong to a differ-
ent species. The head of one species may be en-
grafted on the body of another. When one Polype
is introduced by the tail into another’s body, the two
heads unite, and form one individual. Pursuing
these strange operations, M. ‘Trembley gave scope
to his fancy, and, by repeatedly splitting the head
and part of the body, formed hydras more compli-
cated than ever struck the imagination of the most
romantic fabulists.

These creatures continue active during the greatest
part of the year, and it is only when the cold is most
intense that they feel the general torpor of nature.
All their faculties are then for two or three months
suspended ; but if they abstain at one time they
have ample amends in their voracity at another ;
and, like all those animals that become torpid in
winter, the meal of one day suffices for several
months.

7 b> s97 J

ee atin

ANIMALCULES*.

THESE animals are very simple in their form, and
generally invisible without a magnifying power.—
They are chiefly found in infusions of animal and
vegetable substances.

Their multiplication long occupied the attention
and eluded the researches of philosophers. The dis-
covery, however, a few years back, that some of the
larger animals increased by a spontaneous division,
gave rise to the conjecture that these microscopic
animalcules might multiply their numbers in a si
milar manner. This conjecture was communicated
to M. de Saussure in a letter from Bonnet, who re-
ceived an answer from Genoa in September 1769, to
the following purport:

“ What you propose as.a doubt (says M. de
Saussure) I have verified by incontestable experi-
ments, namely, that infusion animalcules multiply
by continued divisions and subdivisions. Those
roundish or oval animalcules that have no beak or
hook on the fore-part of their bodies, divide trans-
versely. A kind of stricture or strangulation begins
about the middle of the body, which gradually in-
creases, till the two parts adhere by a small thread
only. Then both parts make repeated efforts, till

* The ANIMALCULES, or INFUSORIA, constitute the last of the

Q q 3

Linnean Orders of Worms,

598 ANIMALEULES.

the division is completed. For some time subse-
quent to the separation the two animals remain in 4
seemingly torpid state; but they afterward begin to
swim about briskly. Each part is only one half the
size of the whole: but they soon acquire the magni-
tude peculiar to the species, and multiply by similar
divisions. To obviate every doubt, I put a single
animalcule into a drop of water, which split before
my eyes. Next day I had five, the day after sixty,
and on the third day their number was so great that
it was impossible to count them.

«« Another species, with a beak or horn on the
fore-part of its body, which I obtained from an in-
fusion of hemp-seed, multiplied likewise by division,
but ina manner still more singular than the former.
This animalcule, when about to divide, attaches it-
self to the bottom of the infusion, contracts its body,
which ‘is naturally oblong, into a spherical form, so
that the beak entirely disappears. It then begins to
move briskly round, sometimes from right to left, and
sometimes from left to right, the centre of motion
being always fixed. ‘Towards the end, its motion
accelerates, and, instead of an uniform sphere, two
cross-like divisions begin to appear. Soon after,
the creature is greatly agitated, and splits into four
animalcules, perfectly similar to, though smaller
than, that from which they were produced. ‘These
four increase to the usual size, and each in ifs turn
subdivides into other four*.”

* La Palengenesie Philosophique, par C. Bonnet, tom. i. p. 4.28.

~,
~

ANIMALCULES. 599

The different kinds of ariimalcules are very
numerous; on which account I shall confine my
observations to a few of the most curious genera,
namely Vorticella, Vibrio, and Volvox.

Of these the Vorticella, or wheel animals, are
the most remarkable both in their structure, their
habits; and production. In general form they bear
a great affinity to the Polypes, having a contractile
naked body, furnished with rotatory organs round
the mouth; and indeed many microscopical writers
have denominated them Cluster-polypes. They are
very small, and generally found in clear stagnant
waters, during the summer months, attached to the
stalks of the lesser water plants, where they feed on
animalcules still smaller than themselves. | Many of
the species are found in groupes, sometimes formed
by the mere approximation of several individuals,
and at other times by the ramified or aggregate
manner in which they grow. ‘Their various mo-
tions, like those of the Polypes, are generally exerted
only for the purpose of obtaining prey, the rotatory
motion of their tentacula causing an eddy in the
water around each individual sufficient to attract
into its vortex such animalcules as happen to swim
near: these the little creature seizes by suddenly
contracting its tentacula and inclosing them in the
midst. The stems of several of the species, into
which they occasionally withdraw themselves, are
somewhat rigid orscaly. .The young are carried in
oval integuments on the outside of the lower part of
these; and, when ready to come forth, the parents
aid their extrusion, where such is necessary, by

Qq 4

600 ANIMALCULES.

writhing their bodies, or striking the little vesicle.
As soon as the young one is liberated from its prison:
it fixes itself, and commences the necessary opera-
tions to procure its food. |

The animals of the genus Visrio are very
simple, round, and elongated worms, nearly all in-
visible to the naked eye. ‘The species best known
is the Eel Vibrio*, which is found in sour paste, and
in most sediments from an infusion of grain. Its
body is pellucid, and tapers toward bothends. The
general resemblance that it bears to an Eel has
almost universally led microscopical writers to dis-
tinguish it by that title, though its most gigantic in-
dividuals are seldom a tenth of an inch in length.
When paste becomes sour, if examined with a
glass it will be seen to contain multitudes of these
animalcules, moving about with great strength and
rapidity in every direction. And animals very
similar in appearance are also frequently to be ob-
served in vinegar. ‘[hey are viviparous, and pro-
duce, at intervals, a numerous progeny. If one of
them be cut through the middle, several young ones,
coiled up and inclosed each in a membrane, will be
seen to issue from the wound. Upwards of a hun-
dred young have been remarked to proceed from a
single parent; which readily accounts for their
sudden and prodigious increase.—-The Proteus Vi-
brio is a species that has its name from its very sin-
gular power of assuming different shapes, so as some-

* Vibrio anguillula of Linneus.

ANIMALCULES. 6a0i.

times with difficulty to be distinguished for the same
animal. When water, in which any vegetable has
been infused, or in which any animal substance is
preserved, has stood undisturbed for some days, a
slimy substance will be found on the sides of the
vessel, some of which, if viewed in a microscope,
will be found to contain, among several other ani-
malcules, the Proteus. It is pellucid and gela-
tinous, and swims about, most commonly, with a
Jong neck and bulbous body, with great vivacity.
Sometimes it makes a stop for a minute or two, and
stretches itself out apparently in search of prey.—
When alarmed it immediately draws in its neck,
becomes more opake, and moves very sluggishly. It
will then, perhaps, instead of its former long neck,
push out a kind of wheel machinery, the motions of
which draw a current of water, and, along with this,
probably its prey. Withdrawing this it will some-
times remain almost motionless for some seconds, as
if weary ; then protruding its long neck will often
resume its former agility, or instead adopt in suc-
cession a multitude of different appearances. The
eyes of this creature have not hitherto been disco-
vered ; 4t however swims with great rapidity among
the multitudes of animalcules that inhabit the same
water, without striking against them.

I shall conclude this account of the Animal
Creation with La Martiniere’s description of Volvox
bulla, a species of animals nearly the most simple of
any that have yet come to our knowledge. “ They

consist (he says) only of oval bodies, similar in ap-
Z

602 ANIMACULBES.

pearance to soap bubbles,arranged in parties ofthree,
five, six, and nine: among them are alsosome solitary
ones. ‘These collections of globules, being put into
a glass filled with sea-water, described. a rapid
circle round the glass by a common movement, to
which each individual contributed by the simple
compression of the sides of its body, probably the
effect of the reaction of the air with which they
were filled. It is not, however, easy to conceive
how these distinct animals (for they may be readily
separated without deranging their economy) are
capable of concurring ina common motion. These
considerations, together with the form of the ani-
mal; recalled to my mind, with much satisfaction,
the ingenious system of M. de Buffon; and I en-
deavoured to persuade myself that I was about to
witness one of the most wonderful phenomena of
nature, supposing that these molecules, which were
now employed in increasing or diminishing their
number, or performing their revolutions in the
glass, would soon assume the form of a new animal>
of which they were the living materials. My im-
patience led me to detach two from the most nu-
merous group, imagining that this number might
perhaps be more favourable to the expected meta-
morphosis. I was, however, mistaken. These I
examined with more attention than the rest, and
the following account is of their proceedings alone.
Like two strong and active wrestlers, they imme-
diately rushed together, and attacked each other on
every side: sometimes one would dive, leaving its
adversary at the surface of the water; one would

ANIMACULES. 603

describe a circular movement, while the other re-
mained at rest in the centre: their motions at
length became so rapid as no longer to allow me
to distinguish the one from the other. Having
quitted them for a short time, on my return I found
them reunited as before, and amicably moving round
the edge of the glass by their common exertions.”

\

Tow wondrous is this scene! where all is form’d
With number, weight and measure! all design’d
For some great end! where not alone the plant
Ofstately growth; the herb of glorious hue,

Or food-full substance ; not the labouring steed ;
The herd aud flock that feed us; not the mine
That yields us stores for elegance and use ;

The sea that loads our table, and conveys

The wanderer man from clime to clime, with all
Those rolling spheres, that from on high shed down
Their kindly influence; not these alone,
Which strike e’en eyes incurious; but each moss,
Each shell, each crawling insect, holds a rank
linportant in the plan of Him, who fram/’d

This scale of beings ; holds a rank, which ost
Would break the chain, and leave behind a gap
That nature’s self would rue.——Almighty Being,
Cause and support of all things, can I view
These objects of my wonder ; can I feel

These fine sensations, and not think of thee?
Thou who dost through th’ eternal round of time,
Dost through th’ immensity of space, exist
Alone, shalt thou alone excluded be

From this thy universe? Shall feeble man
Think it beneath his proud philosophy

To call for thy assistance, and pretend

604 ANIMACULES.

To frame a world, who cannot frame a clod ?

* Not to know thee, is not to know ourselves—
Ts to know nothing—nothing worth the care
Of man’s exalted spirit—All becomes,

Without thy ray divine, one dreary gloom ;
Where lurk the monsters of fantastic brains,
Order bereft of thought, uncaus’d effects,

Fate freely acting, and unerrring chance.
Where meanless matter to a chaos sinks,

Or something lower still ; for without thee

It crumbles into atoms void of force,

Void of resistance—it eludes our thought.
Where laws eternal to the varying code

Of self-love dwindle. Interest, passion, whim,
Take place of right and wrong; the golden chair
Of beings melts away, and the mind’s eye
Sees nothing but the present. All beyond

Is visionary guess—is dream—is death.

FINIS.

INDEX

TO THE

=

ENGLISH NAMES AND SYNONYMS,

Sa

Page. Page.

oAl BEILLE MACONNE 382) Boa constrictor . . . 85
ei tapissiere 376 Hae etsin 3535 3 Se i age
Acarus.autumnal .°. « AUS Boqumra | wg kk
Actiniy TRIBE ~ 04 64): V S42) Bombardregyr yt. 264
Sea Anemone . 543] Bots Per tees): | ATS
Purple Anemone 544) Brown clock . . . . 9233
Sea Marigold . 547|)Buc Trmpze. . . . . 299
Adder ati My Re 92 DECREE A Re OI Vt he la
PHNBICORE 0a ey ae cast ide paradoxical. . . 303
Ampuisious ANIMALS. 1{Burterrty Trine . . . 32)
Anemone,Sea . . . 542)————__large garden white329
purple . . . 544)—— Marsh-frittilary 323

ANIMALCULES . . . » 597/————— nettle tortoise-
Ant Lion . , Sy SS She: ie yids nds GOS
Ant TrisE. . . = . 402|————— Greasy Srittilary $23
sugar... . . 413|————— Dishclout.. . ib.
Apuis Trine . . . . 304/Capricorn-BEETLE Trips 255
rose. . . , 305{|——_——_—_—_~——— timber 256

ARGONAUT TRIBE ._. . 576|Care TriBE ERE ny Ren | S16
Paper Nautilus 577 COMMPROM, | 92 ico) iiss Te.
SAE Sie WON” MRE ena coi Weneh™) Fo So) aa

aMstEChe OS) ts) ec: ate 149 ———" Chua) 203. ods, Os
BUSKGEYIS ee ey hak BOS | ——— Wace hey 0. oy o> SO

eave Aa RE NA eke es Rodehy ihe sch hanes
Bee URIBE “Oe. i aaa wna Gold-fish ho) teal TOG
poppy . - . . 376)|Cayman olen Sharh hits ©) Arata
leaf-cutting . ....977)Centipede. . . . . 516
Apis manicata . . 380|CHzTopon Tris—E . . . 146

mason . ... . 382|—_———beaked . . 147
—— Wood-piercer . . 386|—————Jaculator . . ib.
hive. . . . « 384/————— Shooting-fish . ib.
carding: » .\) 009) Ge ICHAFER "Tring". dc. aes

orange-tailed . . 402!-
—- Abeille magonne . 382 Rose Chafer . 239
—— Abceille tapissiere . 376 burying fe.) 947
greatorange-tail garden402|———~ pill . . . .) 245
ReGTaeee |. SIN lind beetle . . 233
Bernacce Trine * . . 559 Brass beetle. . . 239

Cock-chafer . . ib.

COMMA...) ts. , ibi Brownclock . . 233
————- goose . , . ib.|—— Brown tree beetle ib.
1532 a Uo 2 UR ee Connaugh: worm ib,
Ro STEAL at te aap) whe, Aa BOOT 8 es ae

606

Chafer Green beetle . .
Jack-horner .
= Jefiry-cock |...
May-bug . . .
VICKS r
——— Rose May- Chak

INDEX.

Page. Page,
239|Dew-worm' =... 532
233'| Disheloué “Varn. 323

io paks B Yopaiveen ance a 233
ib. | DraGon-FLY THe. Li Se
ib. STEAY Aw te 33S
239 Great Libellula ib.
233 Variegated Li-

——- Tree beetle

——— Tumble-dung beetle 245} bellula ib.
Chameleon - : 6§2| EartH-wormM Tone O38
heese mite 472 Dew-worm ib,
Chigoe’ \ gener. 469 | Ear-wic Trier 262
Chub 193|————-. common 263
Churn worn ey 273|Echinus common . . . 555
Cicapa. TREE OMe 20 eGEUble hs, ib,
- wax-fornminey, (i) 298) Hera nrme. Cee it 118
American locust 295 common . : 119
Black -headed Frog- electrieal ho tee tos

hopper oss : DOD COLE ew. ve ta! co ae
—-—— Cuckoo- spit te allie numbing . ib.
Froth-worm . ib,| HeHemera TriBe 34]
Cobra di capello ® yy... 101 common 342
CocuinEAL TRIBE . 309 | Eve-churr Q7«
lac ST OIeE Cte CT1eREE so ty) et eee
American . 313) Pire-Fry Trigg . 2. 25%
Cockechafer! 0.2%. 233 Glow-worm ib.
Cop 'TrBe. 133] Fisues : 109
COMMMORG Cee obs Foar-risn Trane 142
Haddock . 137 Tuersot 143
Connaught worm 233 Sole Twi 145
Coralines st. hee AOT(BLEA DR B RO they te 4.66
Cras Tree > ae 500 common . 3 ib.
fang.) 4) us , 501 Chisoe nviu oe a. 469
——pblack-clawed . . 505}Fiyine-rish True . 174
hermity He (eu. cane... OOohtaea rae 7 Wingsed! i.) | 2p.
TLobstenty eS Be Ee ae te 197g . 429
Craw-fishy wl eae wee Common flesh- fly . 431
DUOLEE:* SI ene are NONE OO Phessiemnye ss 4392
Cramphish 80. ae T2502 cheese? eo or 434
Le Crapaud commun . 37|-—— chameleon 435
Cora wealistin ie, valine 514 rat tailed worm 43
Cricket, mole . . . DTSREOTESC JET eon te <n 4, eee
wet houses. aS 275| Fritilary greasy . 328
Sa CLE eS oe 278|Frog-hopper black- headed 298
Crocodile sire. ‘46. 52\Froc ‘Trip—E- . . 21
American . ib. COMMONMAC 22
Crcroo spit Yeh eu |S 298 COMB Te Mr. © SS ae nee
MOTTE rs ERIBEY fh. 3.) oad DUN ee 1 a eo
‘Dace *. s 194 tree’. . AWE fe" 2D
Day-fly, common 342 Common toad 37
Death-watch Ptinus . 248}——- Pipa. . . 43
: termes 44.9 La Crapaud commun — 37
We! Devin Matias. : 85 ESCHICTEL A SHUT Mere ait

INDEX. 607
Page. Page.
Frog, green. . . . + 27{Leprpoprerous Insects . 317
BIRCER ECE | Ve 2 wi DEN aLOCLIL GUT E RE Ctra ss OOS
La Grenouille com- variegated . . ib.
mune, ou mangeable . 27|\Limax spinnng + . . 538
La Mugissante, ou Gre- = |Lizarp Trine. . . . 45
nouille, Taureau'. © 0 ees 3.29 Crocodile rags AS
La Reine vert, ou com- Al Saton ne est ute oe
MUNE . . « » «> 32)-——— Common Guana .° "56
Le_Pipa; au Cununge 43 |-=— nimble o's. 2 a8
Surinam-Toad . . ib.|-———- Chameleon . . 69
PURIAY |.) Gey em 58 Salamander . 67
Glow-worny 2g 259 SWE E Y(t hac rane Oi an
GAT TRTBR Ee ve.) on AAO American Crocodile 52
common, . . 2: 443 Caner: veri, 8. AB
Musquito fly . . 446 Le Caméleon. . 62
Gold-fish . . >. . . 196|——— Le Crocodile propre-
Gossammerh) 252 tay.) od oa BOOT Ce Gne Oy he auaiame, The clay
La Grenouille commune, ou ACURA erat ee nD
mangeable . . . OB en LGU ane a east OG
GROUND BEETLE TRIBE 261 Lervand, Joe, ab.
Bombardier ib.j———~ Le Lezard gris , 59
Guana,common .. . 56 little brown Phila il
great American. . ib.|———— Nilotic Crocodile 46
Guinea worm ©. .6 aioe SOG SCULPLIE Marya ne ae
GyMNotus TRige 27). Logi obster! Yo ee as
electrical...;,. ib) }Locust Tring ©, >. 3". 272
pen Behan). ae Mole-cricket . 273
Old Bel es abe House-cricket . 275
—— Cramp fish . ib | ———— Field-cricket . 278
— Electrical Kel . . ib. inisratory” |. %. | 28y
———— Numbing-fish ib.|~——— American . . 205
AOL NO Or Ga gine Cher porm. vt) ee aT
Ham-worm Tripe «wg 530 Higecharr’.) |. boa aes
Cqmmon. A... ab: Ben-criéket =>. ab.
Wier. sue ae Mabe OUSE TRIBES oe. AGS
Rlarvest bug.) sani orca common... . . 464
BAERRING TRIBE: 4) cue. V1 Pat WIACKRER URIBE. >. oh), oe
COMMON. gee: sei common ~~...” 3b,
Pilehagdiy 05>. 188 Thingy, eva tee
Jacare . . . 6: « 5¢|-—————- Albicore. .. > ‘ib;
Jack-horner’.” . vas 23:.|—————. grvat . . ~~ ib.
Jaculator. . .) . « » 14;|-——— Spanish . . ‘ib.
Icunevmon Tripp. . . 35% Mackrel-sture .- ib.
-—-maniiestator . 35-] lantis TRE. . . . 267
sepmyccock oe es. = 293 OF ALOT ons soa a OS
EMT. oo aA eee oe dry-leaf . 5. 272
TNSECTSP Oh RES 0). ks fe BOM relistosa. . . . 268
LANTERN-FLY TRIBE . . 280] Marigoldsea . . . . 238
—- (2) 2) I | {22 Ce 5
he Deoin 5 Peart... Sede llere te SPS > OS,
Lecce Tpit” et ee. 585iMoTa Trike... oo 989
medicinal . . ib.}——Silkworm . . .~ ib.

635

Moth, clothes . . - .

Ea Mugissanie, ou Grenouille

Taureau LS a Sicasnam
MMIOSCLE DRIBEWcn lenin.
edible Pate ib
earl hes <n
* Musquito-fly . . .-
MyrmMeLeon TRipe . .
Ant-Lion .
Nautilus, paper. . .
INginers CRIBE Mas ey ei os
night-shining —.
INH UCETES Ie snow eet es
Ocstrrus or Gav-FLY TRIBE
GX. Gee ceo ease
foOnSewatre ws castles
SHEED joist ule
Oyster [RIBE . . . -
eee OCI E cue by tes

Seallop.. ° .
Percu TRBe

COMMON hei. 3

VR OVASHERIBEN/ sto chee aM ©
GAGEV Es ay) ou te
IP CHETE ace n er as ee de
Pin TRIBE 5 epi ame
COMPIMNO fone nui (e
Pickerel
Pulchardws yes oa
PS. ch aig ven ii = eum
ROLY Pee) a, ~ aheaate ayn
green |. Nee
Pracktlebdg 0 in Was
PINUS ERIBE) 3) YoU fe ee
death-watch 2
RatTrLe-sNAKE TRIBE :
banded.
Boiquira
BIACY: CAUIUTIS AN Weed re tate ote
PlECHICH Sy oe ruhlaes «
LOPPEDO ch jay) = 9
Cramp-fish . . -
La Reine veit, ou com-
URE! Neen, wits
Beech.” \". ah ipuee isa. <2"
La Rousse, la Muette ;
Razor-SHELL TRIBE . .
Salamantler . .. .
SaLMon TRiBE . .
Contmon -. °..
GOED Rinite el ts
Sanp-w Asp TripE .

INDEX

Page. Page.
334|/Sand-wasp, common . . 360
biueSaiines .. 362
Q9\ScoLoPpENDRA TRIBE . . 516
‘see Centepede ._ ib,
Leng PTET ON ve ely Th,
575)Scorpion TRiBE . . « 479
A446 commen . . 498
SAGIS9ea StATs') vo le ales eee
34.7)5EA-URCHIN TRIBE BSUS
Ari common . ._ ib,
540 Common Echinus ib.
ib. Eatable Echinus ib.
DE MSPRPEMTS hb yf ee a ee Cian MR
AP FIATARK YL BIBER CU eis t0 2) BOS
Ae) —— = wiht] Psy. 206
4.2} |-— basking ~(. hes 22
424\Sharpling . ¢ © .. .> 149
567|Shooting fish . - . « 47
ib.|SLuG TRwBe OO ecient ethene
571 spinning Sony uae PB
139}SoNare Tree. oss ae ORS
ib. garden. 's| + 989
566 esculent:2) 3 “wie seosde
S6ISNAKE TRIBE . . | - Ot
171 Common Viper’ . 92
170 common cate forages 96
17 1J=>— hooded: 4% Se, 208
ib. black’ Os) “SRE aoe
183 Adder its Dy cme 92
43 Cobra di capetlo , 101
593|-——— English Viper . . 92
ib.|—— Knot . pean | 077
1agi—— Le Lien . . - ~ ib
248\—— ringed . . « + 96
ib,|—— spectacle . . - » Ol
7A Wipere yas Uy Oe
BAMOhe a) Ty nes hw Jee ea
ib.|SpHex Tripe . ate
214)— Turner savage . 3099
QISISPIDER TRIBE. es « . ae
ib. housey se hiss eee
ibd garden.) ". * fae
= wandering . . 484
39 jumping . . - ib.
195 water sfcr. . *82
29|——.. Gossamer . 486
565|- Tarantula . » 4938
67 — bird-catching < 495
L6liSpunge <7. 7. 591
ib. efficinal . ¢) 4s 392
167\SvAn-FisHh TRIBE . . - 992
360 arborescent . 9593

INDEX.

Page.
553 Tortoise Loggerhead Turtle 18
ib, |—————_ Tanned Turtle 20

Star Fish Magellanic
— Basket-fish

——~—— branched asterias

——— Medusaun v.
Strurceon TRIBE
common

STICKLEBACK TRIBE . .
three spined .
Banstikle .
Pricklebag j
Sharpling
SUCKING-FISH TRIBE

common
Sworp-FisH TRIBE .

broad- foned
————— Indian
‘Tape-worm TRIBE

common
Tarantula .
BPM eh au aah ean
Tench“... 2

Termes Tripe .

death-watch

— White ants

TuHreAD-wormM TRIBE. .

Indian or
Guinea-worm :

MERE, ERIBEY icy 2 oes

Cheese mite

Harvest bug

Autumnal acarus

‘Tiputa oR CRANE-FLY
TRIBE 2

Wheat-fly.

Toad, common

Surinam .

monpedo. sev? ve

Torroise TRIBE.

common

snake’ dir.

Green Turtle

ib. ]|————— common Green

ib. Turtle .

200

ib. common
14.9 | ———————— esculent
ib. | ————-—— Greek .
ib. serrated
ib, |—————— snappin
ib. | Tree beetle 5 a

139 |—————- brown
ib, | Trout .

129| Tumble-dung Peele
130]Turbot

ib.| Turtle, green

520 — loggerhead .
523 imbricated
4.992 common

520 common green .
189 — esculent

44.9 | Vibrio

ib. 1S) eine a
45] proteus

5251 Viper .

English ar huss
526| Volvox balla

471] Vorticella
472\Warbles .
451{Wasp Tripe

ib. COMMON. 444
Weevit Tripe .

424, corn.

ib. nut 2 3

37 Nut beetle

43|}White Ants . . ,
115} Worms. =.) 3/28);
5|Wormuls be
TtWornuls:. MRS
12|ZoopHYTES . . .
14.

common Land.

577

Page.

14

LINNEAN

OR
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
Page. _ Page.
AMPHIBIA. .. . j{Xteuras Genus =, 129
REPTILIA 4 — platypterus . . 130
Trestupo Genus . . 5 JUGULARES.
See ‘ 7\Gapus Genus 133
pte’ a ake ‘ By morhua : iW:
ae a eglesinus . . . 137
imbricata 20 THORACIC!.
Rana Genus 21
temporaria Be Eee oe i
esculenta . ena ee eee eis
Catasheiapa au PLEURONECTES Genus 142
AEAneA 39 maximus. 143
ara a7 - solea °.4. =. 40
pipa fe eh 43 Cumropon GENUS . 146
Ocalan? 2 20) =| TOStratUs wien seco
ae 30 enceladus ib.
icons. Cance 45 G Sepenostiigs Genus. . 149
ereeadiins PA og aculeatus. 1b,
CERRY ee 52 ScomBEer Genus Tee,
eS a 56 - scowber . ib.
age a) ate 59 - thynnus . 155
do . a :
a-——. chameleon 62 Penca eee i ae
=——_— salamandra 67 =, day cat iss ire
ghana 70 ABDOMINALES.
SERPENTES. 73 g as
Crotatus GENUS 74: sis ee Le we ny
horndug .° psig Wane. Pile 167
Boa GEnus UREN pene 82 cox Genus «0s. Seqraao
constrictor * 67 ee tarane 171
CoLuser ee 2 Se ke a Exocatus Gents . .. 874
i : - yolitans ib.
3 oe eH CiupreaA GENUS . 177
suas harengus ib.
- constrictor 103 pileardus . « 183
PISCES 109 |Cyprinus GENUS 186
=n CAarplO . + ib.
APODES. Ln DCT CA), Ne 189
Morena Genus 118;—-——-- cephalus. 193
- anguilla . 119 -- leucisecus ” . 194
Gy MNOKUS GENUS ¢ Co". (12S == TUtiUS yas 195
electricus . ib. wo AQUPACUG cen «UO

INDEX. 579
Page. _ Page.
CHONDROPTERYGII. |Cimex paradoxus 303
An AeHis GENUS). .> Vanes: 308
ACCIPENSER GENUS 200
strurio . ib. Re san ites. 305
OP és Garces» 3 905|Coccus Genus . . . - 309
——_-——carcharias . 206 oe aed ia Sor oa
maximus 212 Cactl | c) awh
Rata Genus. ss oa LEPIDOPTERA 317
torpedo . is Papitio Genus . » « 32)
INSECTA. . 221 brassice . . 322
abe MS ae 323
COLEOPTERA. ae NE 405
ScaraBzus GENUS . 233|PHatana Genus 5 $29
melolontha ib. mori SOE ei es OTD
auratus 209 sarcitella . . 334
morticini . 94] |Lipettuta Genus . = . 347
pilularius . 245 grandis... .. 338
PrinusGenus . . . 243| EPHEMERA GENUS - SAl
pulsator. ib. vulgata. . 542
fatidicus ib.| MyrmeLeon Genus aa
CurcuLio GENUS 251 — formicarius . 947
yy “| D259 i
seis Ds A HYMENOPTERA.
CrRAMBYX GENUS . 255\IcHNEUMON GENUS. sv °SB3
— violaceus 256 manifestator . 354

Lampyris GENUS
noctiluca .
Carasus GENUS . -
crepitans .
ForFicuta Genus .
auricularia

HEMIPTERA.

Mantis Genus ..
oratonia,, see
siccifolia ¢ .
religiosa . «
GrytLus Genus.
gryllotalpa
domesticus
campestris
migratorius
Furcora Genus ‘
lanternaria .
CICADA GEnus

limbata :
septendecim .
spumaria .
CimeEx GENus Mar.
lectularius =.

SpHex GeEnus
spirifex
sabulosa
.| AMMOPHILA GENUS
vulgaris.
cyanea . .
Pensylvannica,
Vespa Genus
vulgaris .
Apis GENUS .

° .

272 papaveris . .
267 centuncularis

272 manicata . 3
Q74 violacea sige - 3
275 mellifica , 4%
278|—-——- muscorum , . .
281 lapidaria ers
289 | Formica Genus 5
ib. - saccharivora .
oa DIPTERA.
295|Orstrus GENvs

298 bovis :
299 equi . :
300 yas). seteawk

580

Tipuca Genus

ese tRItIC] “a 7
Musca Genus . .
carnaria
pumilionis
———- puris . .
chameleon .
pendula .
Cuvrex Genus : 4 4
pipiens ye i,

APTERA.

Termes Genus
pulsatorium ,
fatale é ‘ ‘
Pepicutus Genus .
—__+_—_—— humanus
Putex Genus . .
irritans .
penetrans . ,
Acarus GENUs .

Se eS) eee :
— aubamnalis ;
AraneA GENUS . i

— domestica .

a Waatica
we GeeniCare sore
———— aquatica
a obtextrix ?
ee taralluder 4
avicularia .

— nidulans
Scorpio Genus .

ph ir ae A
Cancer GeENnus aie
ruricola
pagurus
bernhardws :
gammarus.
astacus *
ScoLopenpRa GENUS
morsitans

VERMES

INTESTINA.

Tenia.-Genus .. 0.

INDEX.

Pare

Page.
fas Tenia solium . . . . 523
ib.|Firart1a GENUS sg. 525
429 |-- medinensis . . 526
431|Furra Genus . . . 528
492\—.s— infernalis?.( 4a GaaDa
4.34.|Gorp1us GENUS Ne
435 aquaticus . x, , 1p
438|LumBricusGENus . 332
442 terrestris ib.
443\|Hirupo Genus. . . 535
medicinalis . . ib.

449 MOLLUSCA.
‘ib. Limax Genus 2. 537
451 apresti$., 4. 538
463) Nereis Genus. 540
ib. NOCHINEA yo. iy) de! Te
466) 4 orwta GENUS « 3042
ib. anemonoides , 543
469 rufa 544
; a ° a 2
Bue —calendula . . 547
bile Serra Genus - « 049
coll AstertasGENUS . . 552
ne medusze , dos
Wee Ecuinus Grnus 555
ee esculentus. . ib.

ie TESTACEA.
486|\Lepas.Genus .° 4 4 « 559
492|PHotas Genus. . . . 560
4) 4. CAG INS gigs BOF
495|Soten Genus °. . 1.) «565
497|Ostrea GENUS ., 567
498 — edulis . i ib.
500 maxima: 7; 571
501|Myritus Genus . . . 572
505 edulis . oS
508 — margaritiferens . 575
S5y1}ARGonautTa Genus. 576
Oe) ee
516|Hetrx Genus eras ef!)
ib, —hortensis . . 585
pomatia . 587

519

ZOOPHYTA. . 590
520 ANIMALCULA . 597

———— SL
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