THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID THE HISTORY REMARKABLE INSECTS, TIJEIR HABITS 4Np INSTINCTS DUBLIN: BY A. O'NEIL, 17, CHANCERY f { Go to the Ant, ihou Sluggard; consider 'her ways, and be wise; which, having no guide j overseer 9 or ruler, providetk her meat in the siimme 9 $nd gathereth her food in the CONTENTS. Page Remarks .. ... 1 On the Beauty of Insects ... .... 5 The Beetle ... ... 8 The Cockchaffw ... ... 10 The Bombardier ... ... 14 The Glowworm ... .. 15 The Death-watch ... ... 18 The Earwig ... ... 20 The Locust ... ... 22 The Grasshopper ... ... SS The Cricket ,. .., SC The Peruvian Lantern Fly ... ... 41 The Cochineal ... ... 43 The Cuckoo-Spit ... ... 45 The Caterpillar ... ... 46 The Silk- worm ..,. .... *>3 The Ichneumon Fly ... , t 66 The Libella^ or Dragon FJy 69 The Ephemera ... v , 7* The Lion Ant ... 7 The Sawyer Fly ... ... 83 The See ... ... SS CONtENTSf. The Ant The Terraes, or White Ant The Zimb The Gnat The Lous* The Flea The Spider The Walking Leaf The Bug The Leech The Snail On Cruelty to Inct$ PHEFACM, There is no 'branch of Natural letter calculated to instruct than that which treats of Insects. It will shew ws, that in the smallest^ as well as in the largest vf animated beings^ each is adapted in the mos& wonderful manner to its peculiar state, and performs a distinct part in the economy of Nature* Delightful, however* as the study may be 9 amusement is not its sole, nor even its prin- cipal object : as we become better acquainted ivith the various inhabitants of this world, and observe the wisdom, poWer t and benevo- lence of the Almighty^ apparent in these which are the lowest of his works, it cannot Jail to call forth our adoration ofthatPw&ff ly -whom att things arejbrmd. Vill PREFACE. This little Work is also intended to convey another important lesson to the young or ihoughtless ; thdi since Provid'ence has afford- ed even to Insects the means of comfort and enjoyment) furnished them with such admi- rable instincts 9 and given them such a wonder- Jill structure j we read to little purpose > unless we learn humanity towards every thing that '"breathes and to admire rather than tormtfti & destroy what GOD has created* INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, AS Insects are endowed with the various powers of creeping, flying, and swimming, there is scarcely any place where they are not to be found: earth, air, water, and even the bodies *>f the larger animals, teem with them. Insects are very short-lived ; few of them sur- vive a year, many do not live half that time, and the existence of some does not extend be- yond a day. This law of their nature is not without exceptions : bees, some butterflies, and spiders, are said to live a considerable time. Insects, like other animals, are generally of two sexes, male and female ; but amongst such as live in communities, as ants, bees, &c. the greater munber are of neither *x These A ii&iters, as they are called, are the labourers of the family; they build the cells, collect provisions, and perform the whole interior economy. The most surprising circumstance in the his- tory of insects, remains yet to be related. The game insect, at different periods of its existence, frequently undergoes several changes, and as- sumes forms so various, that it is impassible to be recognised by any person unacquainted with its transformations. These transformations are common to all in sects, except those of the class without wings, and afford in the different kinds, a curious variety in colour, form, and circumstances. The egg is called the first state, and the insect that is hatched from it, whether caterpillar, worm, maggot, or grub, is denominated the larva^ which signifies a mask, because in that, which is its second state, the perfect insect is concealed in another form. The third state is most properly expressed by tibe term yupa, from it* fancied resemblance to a bling the sawing of timber. They also came into the gardens, and destroyed the buds, blossoms, and leaves of all the fruit-trees, so that they were left perfectly naked ; nay, many that were more delicate than the rest, lost their sap as well as leaves, and quite withered away, so that they never recovered again. Their multitudes spread so exceedingly, that they infested houses, and became extremely offensive and troublesome. < Their numerous young, hatched from the eggs which they lodged under ground, near the sur- face of the earth, did still more harm in that close retirement, than all the flying swarms of their parents had done abroad ; for this destruc- tive brood, lying under ground, eat up the corn. and grass, and thus consumed the support 'both of man and beast. This plague was happily checked several ways. High winds, and wet ng weather, destroyed many millions ojf 13 them in a day; and when this constitution of air prevailed, they were so enfeebled, that they Avould let go their hold, and drop to the ground from the branches ; and so little a fall as this was sufficient quite to disable, and sometimes per- fectly kill them. Nay, it was observable, (hat even when they were most vigorous, a slight blow would for some time stun them, if not de- prive them of life. In a little time, it was found that smoke was another thing very offensive to them ; and by burning heaih, fern, &e. the gar- dens were secured, or if the insects had already entered, they were thus driven out a^ain. To- wards the latter end of summer they retired of themselves, and so totally disappeared, that in a few days there was not one left." We have mentioned, that the larva, or cater- pillar of this insect is said to be two, and some^ times three years, in passing from its first form into that of the perfect insect. The eggs are laid in small detached heaps beneath the surface if the clod, and the young, when first hatched, are scarcely more than the eighth of an inch in length, gradually advancing in their growth, and occa- sionally shifting their skins, till they arrive at the length of nearly two inches. At this period, they begin to prepare for their change into a chrysalis, selecting for the purpose some small clod of earth, in which they form an o\&al cavity, and, after a certain time, divest themselves of their last skin, and immediately appear in tl*e M fhrysalis form, in which they 'continue till the succeeding summer. The change the animal afterwards undergoes, and the shortness of it$ life, after attaining a perfect form ? have already been described. THE BOMBARDIER. THIS is another species of those insects whos* wings are inclosed in a kind of case, to cover and wrap them up. It keeps itself concealed among the stones, and seems to make little use ef its wings ; when it moves, it is by a' sort of jump ; and, whenever it is touched, one is sur- prised to hear a noise resembling tho discharge of a musket in. miniature ; during which, a blue smoke may be seen to proceed from the body of the animal. This insect may be made at any time to play off its little artillery by scratching its back with a needle. This operation it has the power of repeating ten, twelve, or even twenty times in succession ; thus frequently es- caping, by terrifying its pursuers, although th smoke emitted seems to be altogether inoffensive. Its chief enemy is a great carabus : when pur- sued, and fatigued,, it has recourse to this stra- tagem, planting itself in the path of the carabus, which advances with open mouth and claws to Deceive it; but, oq the discharge of this artillery, 1 9 suddenly draws back, and remains awhile eon- fused; during which, the bombardier conceals himself in gome neighbouring crevice ; if, how- ever, it is not happy enough to find one. the ca- rabus returns to the attack, takes the insect by the head, and tears it off. THE GLOW- WORM. THE Glow-worm is a highly curious and in- teresting animal, on account of its luminous ap- pearance. It is seen in England, though not in,' -tliis country, sparkling in the dusk of the even- ing, like a bright diamond, on some mossy bank or hedge-nay. The animal itself, which is the female insect, measures about three quarters of an inch long, and is of a dull, earthy, brown co- lour on the upper parts, with the two or three last joints of the body of a pale, or whitish sul- phur colour. 1 1 is from these parts that the phos- phoric light above-mentioned proceeds, which is ef a yellow colour, with a very slight cast of green. The Glow-worm is a slow moving insect, and in its manner of walking seems to drag itself on by starts, or slight efforts, as it were. The male is smaller than the iemale, and is pro- vided both with wings and wing-sheaths, but is. not luminous. 16 This curious property of shining by night, is given to the female, as a means of attracting the notice of the male, which, without the help of so bright a torch, would be at a loss to discover its piate in the dark. When evening closes Nature's eye, The Glow-worm lights her little spark, To capdvate her favorite fly, And guide her lover thro* the dark. Tn Italy, the flying Glow-worm is extremely plentiful; and we are informed by Dr. Smith, and other travellers, that it i a very common practice (and surely it is a very inhuman one) for ladies to stick them, by way of ornament, in different parts of their head-dress, during the evening hours. The common, or wingless Glowworm, may be very successfully kept, if properly supplied with moist turf, grass, moss, &c. for a consider- able length of time ; and as soon as the evening commences, will regularly exhibit its beautiful effulgence, illuminating every object within a small space around it ; and sometimes the light is so vivid, as to be perceived through the box in which it is kept. This inseet deposits its eggs, which are small and yellowish, on the leaves of grass, &c. 17 THE GLOW-WORM, l BENEATH the hedge, or near the streanij A worm is known to stray, That shows by night a lucid beam, Which disappears by day. 2 Disputes have been, and still prevail, From whence his rays proceed ; Same give that honour to his tail, And others to his head. 3 But this is sure the hand of might. That kindles up the skies, Gives him a modicum of light, Proportion^ to his size. 4 Perhaps indulgent Nature meant, By such a lamp bestow'd, To bid the traveller, as he went. Be careful where he trod. 5 Nor crush a worm, whose useful lighi Might serve, however small, To show a stumbling stone by night, And save him from a fyll. 9 .WhStc'er she meant, this truth Is legible and plain, .^Tis power Almighty bids him shine, Nor bids him shine in vain. 7 Ye proud and wealthy, let this thence Teach humbler thoughts to you ; Since such a reptile has its gem, And boasts its spleadour too, THE DEATH-WATCH, THIS insect has obtained its name from a groundless and absurd idea which formerly pre- vailed amongst the ignorant, that the beating noise made by the animal, was an omen of ap- proaching death. This idle terror, which so often alarmed the peasant's family, is now fast wearing away ; but it is a very singular circum- stance, that an animal so common should not be more known, and its peculiar noise be iriore uni- versally understood. Towards the latter end of spring, this harmless little animal commences its noise, which is only a call to its mate, and which may be considered as like the call of birds ; though not owing to the voice of the insects, but to its beating 0*1 any hard substance with th shield, or fore part of its head. The prevailing number of distinct strokes which it beats, is from i;even to nine, or eleven ; which very circum- stance may perhaps add. in some degree, to the eurious character which it bears among the vul- gar. These sounds or beats, are given in pretty quick succession, and are repeated at uncertain intervals; and in old houses, where the insects are numerous, may be heard at almost every hour of the day, especially if the weather be warm. The sound exactly resembles that which maybe made by beating moderately hard With a nail on a table. The insect is of a colour so nearly resembling that of decayed wood, viz. an obscure grayish brown, that it may, for a considerable time, elude the search of the inquirer. It is about a quar- ter of an inch in length, and moderately thick in proportion, and the wing shells are marked with numerous irregular variegations of a lighter or grayer cast than the ground colour. Incre- dible as it may appear, it is an animal that may in some measure be tamed; at least it may be so far familiarized, as to be made to beat occasion- ' filly, by taking it out of its confinement, and beating on a table or board, whenit will readily answer the noise, and will continue to beat as often as required. Dr. Derham had two Death* -watches, a male- and a female, which h kept alive in a box, for several months; and could bring one of them to beat whenever he pleased^ fry imitating its beating. 20 We must be careful not to confound this arii* inal, which is the real Death-watch of the vul- gar, emphatically s* called, with a ranch smaller insect, ot a very different genus, which makes a sound like the ticking of a watch, and continues if for a -long time without intermission. It be- longs to a totally different order, and is the Pu'sutorium of Linnaeus, THE EARWIG. THK common Earwig is an insect familiarly known; its structure, however, is highly curious, *md its natural history well worthy of particular observation. The wings of this insect are re- markably elegant, and are rolled i-p in BO many folds beneath their small sheaths, that they can- not be viewed without admiration : they are very large and transparent in proportion to the animal, though probably few careless observers know that they have any. The Earwig flies only by night, and it is not without great difficulty that it can be made to expand its wings by day ; it is even probable that they would receive injury by any long exposure to the diurnal air ; the animal, thprefore, keeps them completely covered. Instinct has taught the female to lay her eggt jn damp situations, secure from heat or drought, JiTor Joes her parental care stop here, as in most 2J atlier insects : when they are hatched, she over them, nearly in the same manner as a hen over her chickens, the little ones clinging to her sides for several hours in the day. The usual food of the Earwig consists of de- cayed fruits and other vegetable substances: and it does not seem to be naturally carnivorous; though, if kept without proper nourishment, it will, like many other animals, occasionally at- tack, and devour even its own species. For a long time it was supposed that the Ear- 5 \vig was always on the watch to enter the ears of people sleeping, causing intolerable pain, and sometimes even death; but this is now 7 known t* be a vulgar error, arising only from ignorance ; the ear is already fitted with a substance which must prevent any insect from entering, even though the ear wax were away. There have been, indeed, a few instances of insects, and among the number, the earwig, taking shelter in the ears of people asleep, but they were easily expelled by dropping into it a small quantity 01 ipirits, or sweet oil. THE LOCUST^ , THIS insect is about three inches long, and has two horns or feelers, an inch in length. The bead and horns are of a brownish colour; it is blue about the mouth, as also, on the inside of the larger legs. The shield that covers the back is greenish, and the upper sides of the body brown, spotted with black, and the under side purple. The upper wings are brown, with small dusky spots, with one larger at the tips; the un- der wings are more transparent, and of a light brown, tinctured with green, but there is a dark cloud of spots near the tips. There is no animal in the creation that multiplies so fast as these, if the sun be warm, and the soil in which their eggs are deposited, be dry. Happily for us, the cold- ness of our climate, and the humidity of our soil, are no way favourable to their production ; nor have we been able to Learn tlmt Ireland has ever been afflicted with so destructive a visitant. When the Locusts take the field, as we are as- ured, they have a leader at their head, whose flight they observe, and pay a strict attention to all his motions. They appear, at a distance, like a black cloud, which, as it approaches, gathers upon the horizon, and almost hides the Jfght of day. It often happens that the husbandman seW 24 this imminent calamity pass away without doing him any mischief; and the whole swarm pas enward, to settle upon the labours of some less fortunate country ; but wretched is the district upon which they settle J They ravage the meadow fcnd the pasture ground, strip the trees of their leaves, and the garden of its beauty ; the visitation of a few minutes destroys the expectation of a year, and a famine but too frequently ensues. Some of these prodigious swarms have been driven by high winds into rivers, where the of- fensive smell from their dead bodies has caused a plague. It would be impossible to conjecture where this calamity would cease, were it not that the benevolent Author of Nature has mixed merer with his chastisements, and provided remedies for the evil. Sometimes they are destroyed by storms, at others carried to distant regions by violent winds, and generally accompanied by the locust-eater, a bird whose vast numbers seem proportioned to the insects, which, by tKe wise adjustment of Providence, they are appointed to feed on and destroy. In their native tropical climate, they are not s* dreadful as in the more southern parts of Europe. There, though the plain and the forest be strip- ped of their verdure, the power of vegetation is so great, that an interval of three or four days repairs the calamity ; but our verdure is the livery of a season, and if once consumed by a swarm *f these, we m*t w*it till the ensuing spring 25 hall repair the damage. But it is not by what they devour that they do so njuch damage, as by vvhat they destroy. To use the expression of the husbandman, they burn whatever they touch, and leave the marks of their devastation for two or three years ensuing. What an insignificant being is proud man in the hands of his Creator ! with whom a small insect is as powerful an instrument of destruction as the most terrific convulsions of nature. If he tends forth an army of Locusts, famine and pes- silence follow in their train. The depredations of this formidable insect, in warm weather, are truly terrible. Nor has this visitation been con- fined fo the other quarters of the globe ; Europe has occasionally felt its effects ; and in the year 17J8, a swarm of locusts made their appearance in England, but, happily, the damps and chilli of the climate thinned their numbers and checked their progress. The swarm which visited England in 1748, was but a part of an immense army that made its appearance at the same time in Transylvania, Hungary, and Poland, and committed the most melancholy ravages. The following account wa* given by a person who was an eye-witness of their destructive progress : <; The first swarms entered Transylvania iit August, 1748 ; these were succeeded by others, which were so surprisingly numerous, that whea they reached the Red Tower, they were full four ' flours in their passage over that, place ; and Uiey flew so close, that they made a sort of noise in. the air, by the beating of their wings against one Another. The width of the, swarm was som* hundreds of fathoms, and its height or density may be easily imagined to be more considerable, inasmuch as they hid the sun, and darkened the sky, even to that degree, when they flew low, that people could not know one another at the distance of twenty paces ; but,, whereas they were to fly over .a river that runs into the valleys of the Red Tower, and could find neither resting place nor food, being at length tired with their flight, one part of them alighted on the unripe corn on this side of the Red Tower, such as millet, Turk- ish wheat, &c. Another pitched on a low wood, where, having miserably wasted the produce of the land, they continued their journey, as if a sjgnal had actually been given for a march. The guards of the Red Tower attempted to stop their irruption into Transylvania, by firing at them ;* and indeed, where the balls and shot swept through the swarm, they gave way, and divided ; but having filled up their ranks in a moment, they proceeded on their journey. In the month of September, soeae troops of them being thrown * In the eastern parts of the world, it h often found necessary for the governors of particular provinces to command a certain number of the military to take the Sld ?sainst armies f locusts, with a train ef artilltrt- t the ground by great rains, and other .in uiency of the weather, and, thoroughly soaeo with wet, they crept along; in quest of holes in the earth, dung, and straw ; where, being shel- tered from the rains, they laid a vast number of eggs, which stuck together by a gummy juice, and were longer and smaller than what is com- 'HionFy called an ant's egg, very like grains of oats. The females having laid their eggs, died', like the silk-worm ; and we Transylvanians found., 'by experience, that the swarms which entered our fields by the Red Tower, did not seem to intend remaining there, but v/ere thrown to the ground by the force of the wind, and there laid fhejr eggs; a vast number of which being turned up and crushed 'by the plough, in the beginning of the ensuing spring, yielded a yellowish juice. In the spring of 1748, certain little blackish worms were seen lying in the fields, and among the bushes, sticking together, and collected in clusters, not unlike the hillocks of moles or antsi 'As nobody knew what they w r ere, so there was little or no notice taken of them, and in I/Jay they were covered by the shooting of the corn aowii in winter; but the subsequent June disco- vered what those worms were ; for then, as the corn sown in spring was pretty high, these crea- tures began to spread over the iields, and be- came destructive to the vegetables by their num- bers. Then, at length, the country people, wli6 bad slighted the warning given then, began to 28 repent of their negligence ; for as these insects were now dispersed all over the fields, they could not be extirpated without injuring the corn. At that time they differed little or nothing from our common grasshopper, having their heads, sides, and back of a dark colour, with a yellow belly, and the rest of a reddish hue. About the middle of June, according as they were hatched sooner or later, they were generally a finger's length, or somewhat longer, but their shape and colour still continued. Towards the end of June, they cast off their outward covering, and then it plainly appeared they had wings, very like the w-ings of bees, but as yet unripe, and un- cxpanded ; and then their body was very tender, and of a yellowish green ; , then, in ojder to render themselves lit for flying, they gradually enfolded their wings with their hinder feet, as flies do ; and as soon as any of them found themselves able to use theic wings, they soared up, and by flying round the others, enticed them to join them; and thus their numbers in- creased daily : they took circular flights of twenty or thirty yards square, until they w T ere joined by the rest ; and after miserably laying; waste their native field's, they proceeded else- where in large troops. Wheresoever those troops happened to pitch, they spared no sort of vegetable ; they eat up the young corn and the very grass ; but nothing was more dismal than to behold the lands in which they were haltlud j sq tor tjiey so greedily devoured every thing greet thereon, before they could fly, that thet left the ground quite bare." There is nothing to-be feared in those places to which this plague does not reach before the .autumn ; for the Locusts have not strength to fly to any considerable distance, except in the months 6f July, August, and the beginning of September, and even then, in changing their places of residenoe 5 they seem to bend to warm climates. What can have induced them to take such distant flights when they come into Europe, is not so easy to be accounted for. It seems most probable, that by means of a very dry season in the heart of Africa, they are propagated in such numbers, that the vegetables of the spot where they are produced are not sufficient to sustain them. Thus being obliged to find out other countries, they traverse the sandy deserts, where they can find no sustenance; still meeting with nothing to allure them from their height, they proceed forward across th^ sea, and thus come into Europe, where they alight upon the first green pastures that occur. In some parts of the world the inhabitants turn what seems a plague, to their own advan- tage. Locusts are eaten by the natives in many kingdoms of the East; and are caught in small nets provided for the purpose. They parch them over the fire in an earthen pan, and when th^ir 30 wings and legs are fallen off, they turn reddish, of (he colour of boiled shrimps. Dampier has eat them, thus prepared, and thinks them a tolerable dish. The natives of Barbary also eat them fried with salt ; and they are said to taste like cray-fish. The Sacred Scriptures, which were written in a country where the locust made a distin- guished feature in the picture of nature, have given us several very striking images of this animal's numbers and rapacity. They compare an army, where the numbers are almost infi- nite, to a swarm of Locusts : they describe them as rising out of the earth, where they are pro- duced, and pursuing a settled march to destroy the fruits of the earth, and co-operate with di- vine indignation. We shall conclude this description of the Locust with a short account of a flight which was recently seen in tjie East Indies. ** About the 20th of June, 1812, an immense swarm of Locusts was observed hovering about Elawah, a town in Hindostan, which at length Fettled in the fields east of that place, where they remained for some time ; they then took their departure, but continued to hover about the place for a month afterwards. On the 18th July, an extraordinary swarm of very small dark- coloured insects was discovered in the vicinity of a pool of stagnant water; they were collected in heap?, and covered the ground to a consid&r* 31 able distance. These, on minute inspection, proved to be y oung locusts, whose wings were not yet grown. In this place they remained, hourly increasing in numbers, for some days, when the great body moved off in the direction of Etawah. They crept and hopped along at a slow rate, until they reached the town, where they divided into different bodies, still keeping nearly the same direction, covering and destroy- ing every thing green in their progress, and dis- tributing themselves all over the neighbour- hood. The devastation daily committed by them, being almost incalculable, the farmers were under the necessity of collecting as many people as they could, in the vain hope that they mi^ht preserve the crop, by sweeping the swarm backwards: but as often as they succeeded in repelling the/p in one quarter, they approached them in another: fires were then, lighted all around the fields, with the same view. This had the effect of keeping them off for a short time ; but sufficient fuel could not be supplied, and the moment the fires became extinguished, the insects rushed in like a torrent : multitudes were destroyed by the birds, and many more by branches of trees, as well as by being swept into large heaps, and consumed by fire ; yet their numbers seemed undiminished. So com- pletely did they cover some raangoe trees, and the hedges surrounding the gardens, that the colour of the leave* could not be distinguished- 32 They had no wings, and were about the size of small bees. On the 27th, they had increased in size, and had overspread the country in every direction. From the want of rain, and the inroad of these insects, the hopes of the fanners were nearly at an end. Nothing impeded their progress ; they climbed the highest trees, and scrambled over walls ; and notwithstanding the exertions of several people with brooms, the balcony and outer walls of the hospital were completely covered with them. : They no longer continued to move in one particular direction but paraded backward and forward wherever they could find food. On the 28th, the rains set in with considerable violence; the Locusts took shelter on trees and bushes, ' devouring every leaf within their reach; none seemed to suffer from the rain. On the 2&th, it did not rain, and the young 1 swarm were again on the inove, continuing their depredations ; they were fast increasing in size, and as lively as before the, rain. On the 30th, ; their wings began to appear, and, on the day following, were an inch in length 1- It now began to rain, without ceas- Xng, and a strong wind blowing at the same time, carried them to the southward, beyond observation; what became of them afterwards, is unknown; most probably they were driven* feefpr'e the gale into the sea, and perished/" THE GRASSHOPPER. THE Grasshopper is an animal so generally known, that a minute description of its form would be needless ; it is of the colour of green leaves, except a line of brown which streaks the back, and two pale lines under the belly. It has four wings ; the hinder of which are much finer, and more expansive than the fore- most, and are the principal instruments of its .flight. A short time after the Grasshopper assumes its wings, it fills the meadow with its note; which, like tliat among birds, is a call to court- ship. Towards the letter end of autumn, the female prepares to deposit her burden; and her body is then seen greatly distended with her eggs, which she carries, to the number of an hundred and fifty. In order to make a proper lodgment in the earth for them, Nature has fur- nished her with an instrument at her tail, some- what resembling a two-edged sword, which she can sheathe and unsheath at pleasure': with this she pierces the earth as deep as she is able, and into the hole which this instrument has made, she deposits her eggs, one after the other. Having thus provided for the continuation of posterity, the animal herself does not long 34 iurvive; but, as the \vinter approaches, sh -dries up, seems to feel the effect of age, and die% from a total decay. In the mean time, the eggs which have been deposited, continue unaltered., either by the severity of the season, tor the re- tardation of the spring. At length, the sun, with its warmth, beginning to animate all nature, the insect feels its benign influence ; arid generally about the beginning of May v every e^g produces an insect, about the size of a flea. These at first are of a whitish colour; at the end of two or three days they tnrn black; and soon after, they become of a reddish brown. They appear, from the beginning; like grasshoppers wanting wings, and hop among the grass, as soon as excluded^ with great agility. The grasshopper, that, for above twenty days from its exclusion, has continued without the iise of its wings, which were folded up to it* body, at length prepares for its emancipation, and for a life of greater liberty and pleasure. - To make the proper dispositions for the ap- proaching change, it ceases from its grassy food, and seeks about for a convenient place, beneath gome thorn or thistle, that may protect it from an accidental shower. The same laborious \vrithings and workings, heavings and palpita- tions, which we have remarked in every oiher insect upon an approaching change, are exhibited in this. It swells up its head and neck ; it ther* seems to draw them in a^ain; and thus if alternately, for some time, it exerts its povtcr to get free. At length, the skin, covering the head and breast, is seen dividing above th neck ; the head is seen issuing out first from the bursting skin, arid the efforts still continuing, the other parts follow successively : thus the little animal, with its Jong feelers, legs and ail, works its way from the old skin, that re- mains lixed to the thistle or the thorn. It is, indeed, inconceivable how the insect can thus extricate itself from so exact a sheath as that which covered every part 9f its body. The grasshopper, thus d isengaged from its outer skin, appears in its perfect form ; but then ip feeble, and its body so soft and tender, that it may be moulded like wax, . It is no longer of that, obscure colour which it exhibited before, but a greenish white, which becomes more vivid as the moisture on the surface is dried away. Still, however, the animal continues to shew no signs of life, but appears quite spent and fatigued with its labour, for more than an hour together. During this time, the body is drying, and the wings unfolding to their greatest expansion, and the curious observer will perceive them, fold af- ter fold, opening to the sun, till at last they be- come longer than the two hinder legs. The insect's body also is lengthened during this ope- ration, and it becomes much mor* beautiful thai before, TO THE GRASSHOPPER 1 Insect! blithe and gay, Seated on the sunny spray, And drunk with dew, the leaves Singing sweet thy chirping song 2 All th'e various season's treasures, All the products of the plains, Thus lie open to thy pleasures, Fav'rite of the rural swains. Thy cheerful note in wood and vale Fills every heart with glee ; And summer smiles in double charm s While thus proclaim'd by thee. THE CRICKET. THE Cricket very much resembles the Grass- hopper in its shape, voice, and habits; it dif- fers in its colour, which is uniformly of a ru^tj 37 brown: in its food, which is more various; and in its place of residence, which is most usually jn the warmest chittks behind a country heartho They are, in some measure^ obliged to the bad masonry employed in making peasants' houses for their retreats. Th6 smallest chink serves to give them shelter; and where they once make their abfcde, they are sure to propagate. They are of a moat chilly nature, seldom leav- ing the fire-side ; and, if undisturbed, are seen to hop from their retreats, to chirp at the blaze in the chimney. The wood-cricket is the most timorous animal in nature ; but the chimney- Cricket, being used to noises, disregards not only those, but the appearance of people near it. As the cricket lives chiefly in the dark, so its eyes seem formed for the gloominess of its abode ; arid those who would surprize it, have only to light a candle unexpectedly ; by which it is dazzled, and cannot find the way back U> its retreat. It is a very voracious little animal, and will eat bread, flour, and meat. They never drink, but kee'p for months together at the back f the chimney, where they could not possibly have- had any moisture. The warmth of their situation only serves to encrease their mirth and loquacity. Except in the Very coldest wea- ther, they never cease their chirping, but con- tinue that little piercing note, 10 pleashig tcf s'ome eari, s THE CRICKETV i jLfttle Inmate, full of mirth, Chirping on my kitchen hearth ? Wheresoever be thine abode, Always harbinger of good. Pay me for thy warm retreat With a song more soft and sweets' In return thou shah receive Such a strain a i I can give. 2 Thus thy praise shall be expmt. Inoffensive, welcome guest ! While tne rat is on the scout, And the mouse with curious snout, With what vermin else infest Bvery dish, and spoil the best* Frisking thus before the fire, Thou hast all thine heart's desire. 3 Though in voice and shape tfcey be' Formed as if akin to tfcee, Thou surpasses!, happier far, 3'jf Thelr's is but a Summer's song, Thine endures the Winter long, Unimpair'd, and shrill, and clear, Melody throughout the year. Neither night, nor dawn of day, Puts a period to thy play : Sing then -arid extend thy span Far beyond the date of man. Wretched man, whose years are spent. In repining discontent, Lives not, aged though he be, Half a span, compared with th'ee. But of all the Cricket kind, that which is ialled the Mole-Cricket, is the mosl extraordi- nary. This animal is the largest of all the in- sects with which we arc acquainted in this country, being -two inches and a half in length, and three quarters of an inch in breadth. Its general appearance is the same as that of the Grasshopper. We shall remark, however, one peculiarity in the aniiimU which (its it admira- bly for the life it i^ to lead; the fore-feet, which are its principal instruments pf burrowing into the earth, are strong webbed, and hairy s k generally, however, runs backward ; but it is t&amonly under ground, $h'er<* it burrows event 40 faster than a mole. It is thought also to be am* })hibious, and capable of living under water, as well as under ground. Of all insects this is the most detested by gardeners, as it chiefly resides in that ground \vhioh lies light, and where it finds sufficient plenty under the surface. Thus, in a single flight's time, it will run along a furrow which has been newly sown* and rob it of all its con- tents. Its legs are formed in such a manner, that it can penetrate the earth in every direc- tion; before, behind, and above it. At night, it ventures from its underground habitation* and, like the Cricket, has its chirping calL The female makes a cell of clammy earth, the inside of which is large enough to hold tvro hazel-nuts ; and in this she lays her eggs. The \vhole tiest is about the size of a common hen's egg, closed up on every side* and well defended from the smallest breath of air* The eggs ge- rurally amount to the number of an hundred and fifty, being white, and about the size of a caraway comfit. They are thus carefully co- vered, as well to defend them from the injuries of the weather, as from the attacks of the black-beetle; which, being itself an under- ground inhabitant, would, but for this precau- tion, devour or destroy them. To prevent this, the female Mole-Cricket is often posted as a centinel near the nest, and when t|ie black in- plunges in to seize its prey, the guardian insect seizes him behind, and instantly bites fmu iu two, Nothing can exceed the care and assiduity which these animals exhibit in the preservation of their young. Wherever the ne.^t is placed, there is a ditch drawn about it, which few of its insect enemies are able to p$ss. But their care is not confined to this only ; for, at the ap- proach of winter, they carry their nest entirely away, and sank it deeper in the ground, so that the frost can have no influence in retarding the young brood from coming to maturity As the weather grows milder, they raise their maga- zine in proportion ; till, at last, they bring it as near the surface as they can, to receive the genial influence of the sun, without wholly ex- posing it to view ; yet, should the frost unex- pectedly return, they sink it again 3$ before* THE PERUVIAN LANTERN FI,Y. THK Lantern Fly i$ undoubtedly one of the most curious insects, It is of a very consider*, flble size, measuring nearly three inches and a halt from wing's end to wing's end, when ex- panded. This beautiful insect is a native of Surinam, and many other parts of South 42 pen, and during the night diffuses so strong a phosphoric splendour from itr, head, or lantern, jUat it may be employed tor the purpose of a f andle or torch ; and it is said, that three or four of the insects, fiex! to the top of a stick, are frequently used by travellers for that pur- pose. The celebrated Madame Merian, in her \voijc on the insects of Surinam, gives a very agreeable acpount of the surprise into which she was thrown by the first view pf the flashes of light proceeding from these insects. 4C The Indians once brought me,"" says she, * c before, J knew that they shone by night, a number of fhese Lantern plies, which I shut up in a large wooden bo\. Jn the u ; 'ght they made such a noise, that J awoke in a fright, and ordered a liglit to be brought, not knowing from whence the noise proceeded. As we found that it came from fhe box, we opened it, but were still much more alarmed, and let it fall to the ground in a fright, at seeing a flame of fife come out of it; and as many animals as came out. so many flames of fire appeared. When we found this to be the case, we recovered from our fright, Qitfl again collected the insecls, highly admiring their splendid appearance." THE COCHINEAL. THIS insect is celebrated for the beauty of (the colour which it yields, when properly pre- pared. It j$ a native of South Amenta, and is peculiarly cultivated in the country of Mexico. The female Cochineal insect, in its fuller own, pregnapt, or torpid state, swells or grows to such a size, in proportion to its former magni- tude, that the legs, antennae, and proboscis, become almpst imperceptible without the assist- ance of a glass ; so that on a general view, jt bears as great a resemblance to a seed, or a berry, as to an animal. This was the cause of that differenpe in ooinion.. which lon subsisted between several authors ; some maintaining that Cochineal was a berry, while others contended that jt was an insect. When the female Cochineal insect is arrived at its full size, it fixes itself to the surface of the leaf, and envelopes itself in a white, cottony matter, which it is supposed to spin or draw through its proboscis in a continued double fila- ment ; it being observed, that two filaments are frequently seen proceeding from the tip of the proboscis in the full-grown insects. The male is a small and rather slender fly, about the size of a flea, with jointed antennae, and large white wings in proportion to the body, which is i>f a red colour, with two long filaments proceeding from the tail. .It is an ae- tive and lively animaK and is dispersed in small numbers among the females, in the proportion of about one male to a hundred and fifty, or even two hundred females. When the female insect has discharged alt its eggs, it becomes a ir-; re lirisjc, and dies; so that the proprietors ar* careful to kill the insects before that time, lest they should be disappoint d of the beautiful colour, These insects, when picked or brushed off the plants, are killed either by the fumes of Jieated vin.; ir% or by smoke, and then dried, in which state they are imported :,.to Europe ; and it is said, that the Spanish government is annu- ally more enriched by th^ profit of the Cochineal trade, than by the produce of all its gold mines. It may be necessary to add, that exclusive of the general, or large scale, in which Cochineal is used by the dyers, the fine colour, so much esteemed in painting, and known by the name of carmine, is no other than a preparation from :he same substance, and is unquestionably the most beautiful of all the reds. THE CUCKOO- SPIT. 4 THE Cuckoo-Spit insect is so named from th circumstance of its. producing, during its im- mature state, the white froth so common on various plants in the Summer season, anf pale or whitish bands across the wings. In, $hi& state it is often called by the name of the frog-hopper, from a fancied resemblance to the s-bape of that animal,, in miniature. These iin sects breed in the month of September, and, deposit their eggs towards the beginning oS;' October, which, however, do not hatch till ths following spring. II THE CATERPILLAR. \r we take a cursory view of insects in gene- ^al, Caterpillars alone, and the butterflies an4 jpioths they give birth to, will make a third part of the number. Wherever we move. Wherever we turn, these insects, in one shape or another, present themselves to our view. Some, in every state, offer the most entertaining spectacie ; while others are beautiful only in their winged form. There is no insect so beautiful, or splendid, 'as the Butterfly. But we are -till more strongly attached ;othis tribe, from the usefulness of one of the number The silkworm is, perhaps, the most serviceable of all ot her aiiimals ; since, from its labours, and the manufactn re attend- ing it, many thousands in the civilized world are clothed, adorned, or supported. Caterpillars may be easily distinguished from worms, or maggots, by the number of their feet; and by their producing' butterflies o$ Hioths. They have feet both before and be- hind ; which not only enable them to move forward by a sort of steps made by their fore and hinder parts, but also to climb up vege- tables, and to stretch themselves out from the boughs and italks, to reach their food at a distance. All of this class have from eight feet, at the least, to sixteen ; and this may 47 serve to distinguish them from the worm tribe, that never have so many. The animal into which they a,re converted, is always a butter- fly or a moth, and these are always distin- guished from other Hies, by having their wmgf covered over with a painted dust, which gives them such various beauty. The wings of flies are transparent, as we see in the common flesh fly ; while those of beetles are hard, like horn : and from such, the wing of a butterfly may be easily distinguished. The changes they undergo, are also more numerous than those of an insect. When the animal, in the catterpi'Jar state, has come to a certain magnitude, it discontinues eating, makes i^elf a covering or husk, in which it re- mains wrapped up, seemingly without life c r motion ; arid after having for ^ouie time con- tinued in this state, it once more bui^id itb con- fmetnent, and comrs forth a beautiful butterfly, Tnii?, we see 1 IMS animal, pat on no less than three Hiiferent appearances, frop:: ine time it is n'r-c excluded from the egg. It appears a crawling caterpillar 3 then an insensible aure- lia, as it is called, without life or motion ; and lastly, a b jtrrrfly, variously painted, according to its different :ind. Changes so extraordinary, however, and so well calculated to excite our admiration, re- quire a more particular description. When winter has stripped the trees of their leave?. Nature then seems to have lost her in- sects. There are thousands nf different kinds, with and without wings, which, though swarm- ing at other seasons, then entirely disappear. Our fields are re-peopled, when the leaves be- gin to bud, by the genial influence of spring > and caterpillars, of various sorts, are seen feed- ing upon the promise of the year, even before the leaves are completely unfolded. All these animals are hatched from the eggs of butter- flies ; and those who observe them closely, will find the fly very careful in depositing its eggs ia places where they are likely to be hatched with the greatest safety and success. During winter, therefore, the greatest number of caterpillars are in an egg state; and in this lifeless situa- tion, brave all the rigours and the humidity of the climate ; and though often exposed to all its changes, still preserve the latent principle of life, which is more fully exerted at the ap- proach of spring. That same power that pushes forth the budding leaf, and the opening flower, impels the insect into animation; and Nature, at the same time, calls the animal into life, and provides for its support. Whilst these caterpillars are sent off from the egg in the beginning of spring, others in a more advanced stage of their existence, have subsisted during winter in their aurelia state ;. in which, as we have briefly observed above, tthe animal is seemingly deprived of life and Motion. In this state of insensibility they con- tinue during; the rigours of winter; some en- closed in a kind of shell, which they ha,ve spun, for themselves at the end of aummn ; some concealed under the bark of trees ; others \r\ the chinks of old walls ; and many buried un- der ground. From all these, a variety of butter, flies are seen to issue, in the spring ; and adorn, the earlier p^rt of the year with their painted fluttering?* In general, however, whether the animal has subsisted in an egg state, during the winter, or as a butterfly, tha,t lays its eggs as soon as the leaves of the plants are shot forward, the whole swarm of caterpillars are in motion to. share the banquet that Nature has provided. There is scarcely a plant that has not its own peculiar insects; and some are known to support several of different kinds. Of these, many are hatched from the etrg, at the foot of the tree, and climb up to its leaves for subsist- ence : the eggs of others have been glued by the parent butterfly to the leaves j and they are no sponer excluded from the shell, but they find themselves in the midst of plenty. When the caterpillar first bursts from the egg, it is small and feeble ; its appetites are in proportion to its size, and it seems to make no. great consumption : but as it encreases in mag- nitude, it improves in its appetites: so that in its adult caterpillar, state, it is the most ra afti +u$ of all. animals whatsoever. A single ca^er- pillar will eat double its own weight t)f leaves in a day, and yet seem no way disordered by his meal, What would mankind do, if their oxen or their horses were so voracious? The life of a caterpillar seems one coatinued succession of changes ; and U is seen to throw off- one skin only to assume another ; which also is divested in its turn: and thus, for eight or ten times successively. We must not, how- ever, confound this changing of the skin with the great change which it. is afterward^ to undergo. The throwing oft' one skin, and assuming another, seems, in comparison, but a slight operation among these animals : this is but the work of a day; the other is the great adventure of their lives. Indeed, this faculty of changing the skin, is not peculiar to cater- pillars only, but is common to all the insect kind ; and even to some animals that claim a higher rank in nature. The lobster and the ^rab, for instance, out- grow, thei- first shells, and theu burst from their confinement, in order to assume a covering more roomy and conve- nient. It is probable that the louse, the liea, and the spider, change their covering from the same necessity; and growing too large for the crust in which they have been for some time enclosed, burst it for another. With respect to caterpillars, many of them change their skins five or six times in a season ; and this covering, whan cast off, often seema so complete, that yrsTiy mrght mistake the empty skin for th$ real insect. Among the hairy caterpillars, for instance, the cast skin is covered with hair ; the feet remain fixed to it; even the parts which Slothing but a. microscope can discover, are visible in it ; in short, all the parts of the head, iw>f only the skull, but the teeth. In proportion as the time approaches in which the caterpillar is to cast its old skin, its colour becomes more feeble, the skin seems to either and g?0w dry, and in some measure re- sembles a leaf, when it is no longer supplied with moi-ture from the stock. At that time, the ineect begins to find itself under the neces- sity of a chaaige - 7 and it i* not effected without ^intent labour, and perhaps pain. A day of two- before the critical hour approaches, the in- sure* ceases to eat, and seems to rest immove- sfole. It seeks some place to remain in secu- siity ; and n*> lonerer timorous, seems regardless r*en of the touch, it is now and then seen f bend itself, and elevate its back ; again it Uretehe's to its vitmost extent : it sometimes liifte rap nhe head, and then lets it fall again; it sometimes waves it three or four times from side, and then remains hi quiet. At ffgth r some of the rings of its body, )>articu- twriv the first and second, are seen to swell con- *wie r ably + the old skin distends and bursts, iifl, b-y repeated swellings and contractions in. every ring, the animal disengages itself', froia its inconvenient covering. The caterpillar having in this manner ?0fN tinued for several day;- feeding, and at intervals casting Us skin, begins at last to prepare for its chance into an aurelia. For th* purpose, some spin themselves a cone or web, in which they ]le secure till they have arrived at maturity: others, that cannot spin so copious a covering, suspend themselves by the tail, in some retreat where they are not likely to meet disturbance^ Some mix sand vith their gvnnmy and moit webs, and thus make themselves a secure in- crustation ; while others, before their change, bury themselves in the ground, and thus avoid the numerous dangers that might attend them. One would imagine that they were conscious of the precise time of their continuance in their aurelia state, since their little sepulchres, with respect to the solidity of the building, are pro- portioned to such duration. Those that are to lie in that, stale of existence but a few days, make choice of some tender leaf, which they render still more pliant by diffusing a kind of glue upon it: the leaf thus gradually curls up, and withering as it enfolds, the insect wraps itself within, as in n mantle, till the genial warmth of the sun enables it to struggle for new life, and burst from its confinement. Others, whose time of tiansformation is also near at hand, fasten their tails to a tree, or to the first worm-hole they meet in a beam, and wait in that defenceless situation. Such cater- pillars., oil the other hand, as are seen to lie 5S several months in their aurelia state, act nit a much Create? circumspection. Most of them mix their wb with sand, and thus make them- selves a strong covering: others build in wood, which serves them in the nature of a coffin. Such aa have ma:Je the leaves of willows their favourite food, break the tender twigs of them first into small pieces, then pound them, as it were, to powder: and, by means of their gluti- nous silk, make a kind of paste, in which they wrap themselveg up. Many ^re the forms which these animals assume in this helpless state ; and it often happens, that ti e most, de- formed butterflies issue from the most beautiful aurelias. The butterfly, however, does not continue so iontr under the form of an aurelia, as one would be apt to imagine. In general, thore caterpillars that provide themselves with cones, continue within them but a few days after the cone is completely finished. Some, however, remain buried in this artificial covering for eight or nine months, without taking the small- est sustenance during the whole time : and though in the caterpillar state no animals were so voracious, when thus transformed, they ap- pear a miracle of abstinence In all, sooner or later, the butterfly bursts from its prison ,- not pnly that natural prison which is formed by the skin of the Aurelia, but also from that artificial one of silk, or any other substance in which if ha& enclosed itself. The eflfy-f? which the butterfly makes to get free from its anrelia state, are by no means sq -violent as those which the insect had in chang- ing from the caterpillar into the aurelia. The quantity of moisture surrounding the buttei fly, is by no means so great as thaf attending its former change; and the shell of the aurelia is so dry, that it may be cracked between th* fingers. If the animal be shut up within a cone, the butterfly always gets rid of the natural inter- nal skin of the aurelia, before it eats its way through the external covering "which its own, industry has formed round it. In order to ob- serve the manner in which it thus gets rid of the aurelia covering, we must cut open the cone, and then we shall have an op| prtunity of discovering the insect'* efforts to emancipate itself from its natural shell. When this opera- tion begins, there, seems to be a violent agita- tion in the humours contained within the little animal's body. Us fluids eeem driven with great rapidity, through all the vessels ; while it labours violently with, its legs, and makes several other violent struggles to get free, Ag all these motions concur with the growth of the insect's wings and body, it is impossible that the brittle skin which covers it, shou!4 longer resist : it at. length gives way, by burst- ing: into four distinct regular pieces. The skin, of the head and legs first separates ; then the, skin at the back flies open, and dividing ityU| two ?Tgu?ar portion*, disengages the Ijge'k ar,f the b'rick of the anrelia. After this, the butterfly, as jf fatigued with its struggles je~ mains very quiet for sonic time, with its wings pointed downwards, and its legs fixed in the &km which it had just thrown ofip. At first S'ght the animal, just set free, and permitted the future use of it's wings, seems to want them entirely: tjiey take up such little room, that rme would wopder where they were hidden. But soon after, they expand so rapidly* that the eye can scarce attend their unfolding. From reaching scarcely half the length of th horfy, they acquire, in -4 most wonderful man- ner, their fnll^xtent and bigness, so as to be rich five times larger than they were before. NJF is it the wings alone that are thus en- ci eased: all their spots and paintings, befoie *o minute as to he scarce (iiscernahlc, are pro- portionahly extended; so that, what a few minutes before seemed only a number of con- fused, unmeaning points, now become distinct and most beautiful ornaments. Nor are the wh>g$, when they are thus expanded, unfolded I - the manner in which earwigs and grass- Jnppers display thir f who? unfurl them like a 1 t'iy^ fa-n': on the contrary, those of butterflies a'tuaily grow to liieir natural size in $his very j>h y ' fvpjce The wing, at the instant it from its late conHnement, is thicker than afterwards : so that it spreads in all its dimensions, growing 1 thinner as it becomes broader As the wings extend themselves so suddenly, they have not yet. hat| time to dry ; and accordingly appear like pieces of wet paper, gol't, and full of -wrinkles. la about halt' an hour they are perfectly dry, their wrinkles en- tirely disappear, and the little animal assumes all its splendour. The transmutation being; thus perfectly finished, the butterfly discharges three or four drops of a blood- colon red liquid, which are the last remains of its superfluous moisture. Those aurelias which are enclosed within a cone, find their exit, still more diffi- cult, as they still have another prison to break through: this, however, they perform in a short time; for the butterfly, frted from its aurclia skin, butts with its head violently against the walls of its artificial prison, and probably with its eyes, that are rough and like a file, it rubs the internal surfa.ce away; till it is at last seen bursting its way into light; and, in les.s than a quarter of an hour, the animal acquire its full perfection. The wings of Butterflies fully distinguish them from flies of every other kind. Tbey are four in number; and though two of them were separated from, the body by any accident, the animal can fly with the two others rema.inine 1 . Nothing can exceed the beautiful and regular arrangement of tho^e little substances* which fo paint t}ie butterfly's Their ft'ings, all glorious to behold, Bedropt with azure, jet, and gold, Wide they display : the spangled dew Reflects their eyes and various hue. but leaving the other parts of the Butterfly; let us turn our attention particularly to the head. The eyes of Buttei flies have not all the same form; for, in some they are large, in others small; in some they are the larger portion of a fcpheie, in others they are but a small part of it, aftd just appealing from the head. In all of them, however, the outward coat has a lustre, in which may be discovered the various colours Of the rainbow. When examined a little closely, it will be found to have the appearance of a multiplying glass ; having a great number of tides, or facets, in the manner of a brilliant cut Diamond. In this particular, the eye of the Butterfly, and of most, other insects, entirely t firrespoiid; andLeuelihock has found, that there sire above six thousand facets on the cornea of a flea. These animals, therefore, see not only \vith great clearness, but view every object multiplied in a surprising manner. Puget adapted the cornea of a tly in such a position, as to see objects through u by the means of a' microscope; and nothing could exceed the rUangeness of its representations ; a soldier, vho was seen through it, appeared like an army of pigmies; for, while it multiplied, it also d the object. The such of u bridge m exhibited a spectacle more magnificent human skill could produce; ihe flame of a candle seemed a beautiful illumination. It, stiH, however, remains a doubt, whether the inject sees objects singly t as with one eve ; or, whe- ther every facet is itself a complete eye, ex- hibiting its own object distinct from all the test. Butterflies, as well as most other flying in- sects, have two instruments, like horns on their heads, which are commonly called feelers. They differ from the horns of greater animate, in being moveable at their base; and ia having a great jmmber of joints, by which means the insect is enabled to turn them in every direction. Those of Butterflies are placed at the top of' the head, pretty near t he external edge of each eye. What the use of these instruments may be, which are thus formed with so much art, and by an Al- mighty and wise Creator, who does nothing without reason, is as yet unknown to man, We are not so ignorant of the uses of the trunk, which few insects of the Butterfly kind are without. This instrument is placed exactly between the yes; and \\hen the animal is not employed in seeking its nourishment, it is rolled vip like a curl. A Butterfly, when it is feeding, flies round some dower, and settles upon it. The trunk is then uncurled, and thrust out either wholly or in part ; and is employed in searching the flower to its very bottom, let it be deep. Thii search btiny; repeated serea 59 6r eight times, the Butterfly then passes to Another ; and continues to hover over those agreeable to its taste, like a bird over its prey. This trunk consists of two equal hollow tubes, nicely joined to each other, like the pipes of an organ. Such is the figure and conformation of thee beautiful insects, that cheer our walks, and give us the earliest intimations of Summer. But it is not by day alone that they are seen fluttering wantonly from flower to flower, as the greatest number of them fly by night, and expand the most beautiful colouring, at those hours when there is no spectator. This tribe of insects has therefore been divided into Diurnal and Noctur- nal Flies; or, more properly speaking; into But- terflies and Moths j the one only flying by day, the other most usually being on the wing- in the night. They may be easily distinguished from each other, by their horns of feelers; those of the Butterfly being clubbed, or knobbed at the end ; those of the Moth, tapering finer antf finer to a point. The Butterflies, as welUb the Moths, employ the short life assigned them, in a variety of eri- joymnts. Their whole time is spent either in quest of food, which every flower offers ; or in preparing to continue thir race. Their sagacity in discovering each other, though at two rhiles distance, is astonishing, since it is difficult to ascertain by what sense they are directed. The favt, however, is certain, fliat the male, aft once the curiosity to draw out and measure the whole of one, arid found it to be considerably more than 300 yards, though the weight was only Uvo grains and a half. 1 Poor insect! what a little day Of sunny bliss is thine; And. yet thou spreadst thy light wings gay, And bid'st them spreading shine. Thou humm'st thy short and busy tune. Unmindful of tbe blast; And careless, while 'tis burning noqn. How soon that noon be past. Then spread thy little shjning wing, Hum on thy busy lay; For Man^ like thee, has but hi Like thine it fades away. THE ICHNEUMON FLY. THIS Fly receives its name from the little quadruped, which is found to be so destructive to the crocodile, as it bears a strong similitude in its courage and rapapity. Though there are many different kinds of this insect, yet the most formidable, and that best known, is called the common Ichneumon, with four wings, like the bee, a long, .slender black body, and a three forked tail, consisting of bristles?; the two outermost black, and the middlemost red. Though this instrument, like a. tail, is, to all appearance, blender and teeble, yet- it is found to be a weapon of great force' arid efficacy.- There is scarcely any substance which it will not pierce; and, indeed, it is^eldpra seen but em- ployed in penetration. This is the weapon of defence; this is employed in destroying its prey; and still more, by this tb.e animal deposits her eggs wherever she. thinks fit to lay them. As it is an instrument chiefly intended and employed lor this latter purpose, the male is unprovided with such a sting, while the female uses it with great force and dexteriiy, brandishing it, when caught, from side to side, and very often wound- ing those who thought they held her with tbt greatest security. 67 i ' All tfye flies of this tribe are pipduced in the fame manner, and owe their birth to the de- struction of some other insect, within whose body they have been deposited, and on whose yitals they have preyed, till they came to matu- rity. There is no insect whatever, which they will not attack, in order to leave their fatal pre- Kent in its body ; the caterpillar, the gnat, and even the spider himself, so formidable to others,, is often made the uw/yilling fosterer of this de- structive progeny, About the m.iddle of Summer, when other insects are found in great abundance, the Ich- neumun is seeo flying busily about, and seeking proper objects upon whom to deposit its progeny. As there are various kinds of this fly, so they seem to have various appetites. Some are found to place .their eggs within the.aurelia of some nascent insect, others place them within the nest which the wasp had curiously contrived for its own young ; and as both are produced at the same time, the young of the ichneumon, not only devours the young wasp, but the whole supply of worms, which the parent had carefully provided (or its support. But the greatest number of the ichneumon tribe are seen settling upon the back of the caterpillar, and darting, at different in- tervals, their stings into its body. At every dart, they depose an egg, while the wounded animal seems scarcely sensible of the injury it sustain^ In this manner they leave from six to a doz^si of tlifrir eggs, within the fat substance o the reptile's body, and then fly off to commit further depredationst In the mean time the caterpillar thus irreparably injured, feeds as voraciously as before, and to all appearance, seems no way af- iected by the internal enemies that are preparing its destruction. B.iit they soon burst from their gg state, and begin to prey upon the substance of their prison. As they grow larger, they re- quire a greater supply, till at last the animal, by whose vitals they are' supported, is ho longer able to sustain them, but dies ; w its whole inside ?>eing almost eaten away. It often happens, how;- ever, that it survives their worm state, and creeps into some corner in order to undergo its own change into a chrysalis: you will then perceive a number of small maggoty emerging from its body, and proceeding immediately to envelope themselves in distinct yellow cases, forming one group round the' caterpillar. The caterpillar, Jiowever, is irreparably destroyed, it never changes into a chrysalis, but dies shortly after, Irom the injuries it had sustained. Such is the history of this fly, which, though very terrible to the insect tribe, fails not to be of infinite service to mankind. The' millions which it kills in a single summer, are inconceivable; thus preventing the excessive multiplication of a race which, without such checks, would destroy 3,11 the fruits of the eartL THE LIBELLA, OR DUAGON-FLY. OF all the flies that adorn or diversify the face of Nature, these are the most various and Jhe most beautiful ; they are of all colours ; green, blue, crimson, scarlet, white ; some unite a variety of the most vivid tints, and exhibit in one animal, more different shades than are to be found in the rainbow. They are distinguished from all other flies by the length of their bodies, by the largeness of their eyes, and the beautiful transparency of their wings, which are four in number. They ;are seen in Summer, flying with great rapidity near every hedge, and by every running brook ; they sometimes settle on the leaves of plants, and sometimes keep for hours together on the ' .he largest sort are generally found from twe to three inches long; their tail is forked ; their kody divided into eleven rings; their eyes are large, horny, and transparent, divided by a pumber of intersections ; and their wings, that always lie flat when they are at rest, are of a beautiful glossy transparency; sometimes shining like silver, and sometimes glistening like gold. Within the mouth are to be seen two teeth co- vered with a beautiful lip ; with these the crea- tures bite fiercely when they are taken ; but their fyitt is perfectly harmless, 78 These insects, beautiful as they are, are pr- duced from eggs, which are deposited in the "Water, where they remain for some time without seeming life or motion. The form in which they jfirst shew life, is that of a worm with legs, bear- ing a strong resemblance to the dragon-fly in it winged state, except that the wings are yet con- cealed within a sheath peculiar to this animal, The rudiments of these appear in bunches on the tack, within which the wings are folded up into each other, wjiiie all the colours and varieties of painting appear transparent through the skin. These animals, upon quitting the egg, still con- tinue in the water, where they creep and swim, but do not move swiftly. They have likewise a sharp sight, and immediately sink to the bot- tom, if any one comes to the place wherein they live, or whenever they perceive the least uncom- inon object. They are exceedingly voracious^ and commit great havoc among the smaller \iater insects in general. When these animate prepare to change from their reptile to their flying state, they creep up the stem of some water-plant, by which means they rise above the surface of the water. They there firmly fix their sharp claws; and, for a short time, continue quite immoveable, as if meditating on the change they are to undergo. Jt is then observed, that the skin first opens cm the head and back; and out of this opening, they exhibit their real head .and eyes, and at lengtfe tl tfieir si If gs ; whilst, in this meaii time ? the hollow or empty skin, or slough of their legs, remains firmly fixed in its place. After this, the enclosed creature creeps forward by degrees, and by this means draws first its wings and then its body out of the skin ; and proceeding a little farther, sits at rest for some time, as if immove- able. During this time, the wings, which wers moist and folded^ begin by degrees to expand themselves, and to make smooth and even, all those plaits which were laid against each other* like a closed fan. The body is likewise insen- sibly extended, until all the limbs have obtained their proper site arid dimensions. The creature cannot it first make use of its new wings, and therefore is forced to stay in the same place until ail its limbs are dried by the air. It soon, how- eVer, begins to enter upon a more noble life tha& it had hitherto led in the bottom of the brook ; and from creeping slowly and living acciden- tally, it now wings the air, and makes choice from amidst the variety of its provisions. It is impossible not to be struck with admira- tion at the changes of this insect into such op- posite state? ; while an inhabitant of the water, it would perish by any long exposure to the air, but now that it is become a winged animal, it would as effectually be destroyed by that ele- ment which, not an hour before, was natural to it Indeed, no animal is more amply fitted for motion,, subsistence and enjoyment. At it haunts and seeks after its food flying in (lie air, N'a^ ture has provided it with two large eyes, whicir make almost the whole head, and which re- semble glittering mother of pearl* Jt has also four expansive silver-coloured wings, with which, as with oars, it can turn itself with pro- digious velocity ; and to assist these, it is fur- nished with a very long body, which, like a rud- der, directs its motions. As the wings are long and the legs short, they seldom walk, but are ever seen either resting or flying. For this rea- son, they always chuse dry branches of trees or hrubs to remain on ; smd when they have re- freshed themselves a little, they renew their flight. Thus they are seea adorning the Sum- mer with a profusion of beauty, lightly travers- ing the air in a thousand directions, and expand- ing the most beautiful colours to the sun. The garden, the forest, the hedges, and the rivulets, are animated by their sports : and there are few who have been brought up in the country, who have not employed a part of their childhood in observing them. But while these beautiful flies' appear 'to us so idly and innocently employed, they are, in fact, the greatest tyrants of the ijjsect tribe ; and, Jike the hawk among birds, are only hovering up and down to seize their prey. They are the strongest and most courageous of all winged iatfects*, nor is there on'e, how large soever ? they will not attack and devour. The blue fly, the bee, the wasp, and the hornet, make their constant prey; and even the butterfly, that spreads so large a wing, is often caught and treated without mercy. Their appetite seems to know no bounds : they spend the whole day in the pursuit, and have been seen to devour three times their own size in the capture of a single hour. They seize their prey flying with their six claws, and tear it easily to pieces with their teeth, which are capable of inflicting trouble- some wounds. THE EPHEMERA. THAT there should be a tribe of flies whose duration extends but to a day, seems at first surprizing ; but the wonder will encrease, when we are told, that some of this kind seem to be born and to die in the space of a single hour. The larva, however, from which they are bred, is by no means so short lived ; bujt is sometimes seen to live in the water two years, and many times, three years together, where earth and clay appear to be their only nourish- ment, E 74 The larva when ready to quit that state rises to the surface of the water, and getting: rid in- stantaneously of its skin becomes an aurejia \vith wings, which convey it to the nearest tree ; upon this it settles, and in the same moment, undergoes its last change to a perfect ephemera. The ephemera, in its fly state, is a very beauti- ful winged insect, and has a strong similitude to the butterfly, both from its shape and its wings. It is about the size of a middling butterfly ; )mt its wings djfter, in not being covered with the painted dust with which those of the brU- terrlies are adorned and rendered opake, for they are very transparent and very thins These insects have four wings, the uppermost of which are much the largest, and are fur- nished with three long black bristles at the ex- tremity of the body : when the insect is at rest, si ';Cuera}Sy lays its wings one over the other, on the bark. To acquire this beautiful appear- ance, the insect has been obliged, as \ve have seen, to undergo several changes of form: b ;l iJs gl'ory is very short lived, for the hour of its perfection is the hour of its de,ath ; and it, seems scarcely introduced to pleasure, when it is obliged to part 'frith life. As there are several kinds of this animal, their aurelias are consequently of different co- lon js : some yellow, some brown, and some eiea Hi-coloured. Some of these al* bre their?- 75 selves cells at the bottom of the water, from which they never stir out ; in case, however, that the waters decrease, instinct teaches them to nig fresh holes lower down for their security. OUK.TS on the contrary, rise from the bottom to tiie surface, swim about in all directions, quit that element entirely, to feed upon plants by the river side, and then return to their favourite element for safety and protection. As these insects are not natives of England, or Ireland, he who would see them in the greatest abundance, must walk, about sun-set, aio !.!> the banks of the Rhine, or the Seine near Paris: where for about three days, in the midst of the summer, he will be astonished at numbers and assiduity. The thickest de- scent of the flakes of snow in winter does not equal their number; the whole air seems alive with the new-born race ; and the earth itself is all over covered with their remains. The aurelias, or reptile insects, that are as yet beneath the surface of the water, wait only for the approach of evening to begin their trans- formation. The most industrious shake oft' their old garments about eight o'clock ; and those that are most tardy, are transformed before We have already seen that the operation of change in other insects is laborious and pain- lui : but with these, nothing seem* shorter, or E 2 performed with greater ease. The aurelias are scarce lifted above the surface of the water, than their old sheathing skin bursts ; and through the cavity which is thus formed, a fly issues, whose wings, at the same instant, are unfolded, and at the same time lift it into the air. Millions and millions of aurelias, rise hi this manner to the surface; and at onee be- come flies, and fill every quarter with their flutterings. But all these sports are shortly to have an end ; for as the little strangers live but an hour or two, the whole swarm soon falls to the ground, and covers the earth for several hundred yards on each side of the river. Their numbers are then incredible, and every object they touch becomes fatal to them ; for they ia- stantly die, if they hit even against each other, At this time the males and females are very differently employed. The males, unlike the males of other insects, neither follow the op- posite sex, nor bear any enmity to each other- after fluttering for an hour or two, they drop on land and die. It is otherwise with the fe- males ; they are scarce risen from the surface of the water, and have dried their wings, but they hasten to drop their eggs back again. As they flutter upon the surface, two clusters are seen issuing from the extremity of their body, each containing about three hundred and fcfly eggs, which make seven hundred in. alL Thus of all insects, Ibis appears to be the most prolific ; and it would seem that there was a necessity for such a supply, as, in its reptile state, it is the favourite food of every kind of fresh-water fish. It is in vain that these little animals form galleries at the bottom of the river, from whence they seldom remove ; many kinds of fish break in upon their retreats, and thin their numbers. For this reason, fishermen are careful to provide themslves with these in- sects, as the most grateful bait ; and thus turn the fish's rapacity to its own destruction. But though the usual date of those flies is two or three hours at farthest, there are some kinds that live several days; and one kind in particular, after quitting the water, has another case or skin to get rid of. These are often seen in fields and woods, distant from the water ; but they are more frequently found in its vi- cinity. They are often found sticking upon avails and trees ; and frequently with the head downwards, without changing place, or having any sensible motion. They are then waiting for the moment, when they shall be divested of their last incommodious garment, which some- times does not happen for two or three days together. E THE LION-ANT. THE Lion-Ant is an insect that undergoes the same changes as the butter-fly ; a larva or \vorm being first produced from the egg, \\hicii at the proper time, spins a web in which it en- doses itself, till, at last, it bursts its way as # Winged animal not unlike a small dragon- fly. In the worm state, its appearance is unpleas- ing; the body is of a grey colour composed of rings that slip one upon another. It has six feet, and t\vo small horns crooked at the ends. At the basis of the feelers there are two small black lively tyes, by \\hieh it can see the smallest, object, as is easily discovered by its starting from every thing that approaches. At first view there is no insect appears so little adapted for attacking others ; other ani- mals have wings or feet to enable them to ad- vance towards their prey ; but the lion-ant is unprovided with such assistance from either. It has legs indeed ; but these only enable it to run backward, so that it could as soon die as make the smallest progressive motion. Provi- dence must therefore furnish it v/ith other means of supplying its wants, and we shall find the instincts given to it for this purpose such as Infinite Wisdom alone could implant. It sur- vives the first winter in its larva state without taking any nourishment, but in the spring it chuses a dry sandy place, at the foot of a wall, or under some shelter, in order to prt erve it* works from the rain. The driest aud most sandy spot is the most proper for it; because a heavy clogged earth would defeat its i.'.bour. When it goes about to dig the hole where it takes it pre>, it begins to bend the hinder part ofi : s body, which is pointed, and thus work* backward, making, after & s, a circular furrow, which serves to mark out the size of the hole it intends to make-. Within this tirst furrow, it digs a second, then a thii'd, and afterwards othcis, whicli are always less than the preceding. r l hen il begins to deepen its hole, sinking- lower and lower into the sand, which it throws with its horns, or feelers, to- wards the ed^-t see men throw up sand in a gravel-pit. Thus, by repeating its labours all round, the sand is thrown up in a circle about the edge of the pit, until the whole is com pleated. This hol-a is always formed in a perfect circle, and the pit itself resembles the inside of an inverted funnel. When this insect first leaves the egu arid is newly hatched, the- first pit it 'makes is very small ; but as it grows biuger, it makes a larger hole, which is des- tined, like a pit-rfail, to entrap its prey. It is generally abcmt two inches deep, and as mucii m. diameter, E 4 sa The work being thus with great labour fi- nished, the insidious insect places ilself in am- bush, hiding itself at the bottom under the sand in such a manner, that its two horns encircle the bottom of the pit. All the sides of this pit-fall arc made of the most loose and crumbling ma- terials ;so that scarcely any insect can clirnb up that has once got down to the bottom. Con- scious of this, the lion-ant remains in patient expectation, ready to profit by that accident which throws some heedless little animal into its den. If an ant, a woodlouse, or a small ca- terpillar walks too near the edge of the precipice, the sand gives way beneath them, and they fall to the bottom of the pit, where they meet inevitable distruction, The fail of a single grain of sand gives the lion-ant notice at the bottom of its cave ; and it never fails to sally forth to seize upon its prey. Jt happens sometimes, however, that the ant or the wood- louse is too nimble, and runs up the sides of the pit-fall, before the other can make ready to seize it. The 'lion-ant has then another con- trivance, still more wonderful than the former ; foi% by means of its broad head and feelers, it has a method of throwing up a shower of sand, which falls upon the struggling captive with tremendous weight, and once more crushes it down to the bottom. When the insect is once fallen thus low, no effort can retrieve or release it : the lion-ant seizes it with its feelers, which are hollow, and darting them both into its body, sucks out all the little animal's juices with the utmost voracity. The next care of the little animal, is to re- move the body from its cell, lest any other crea- ture should be rendered aware of its danger ; the insect, therefore, takes up the wasted trunk with its feelers, and throws it with won- derful strength, at least six inches from the edge- of its hole, and then patiently sets about mending the breaches which its fortifications bad received in the last engagement. No- thing can abate ils industry, vigilance and patience, It will work for a week together to make its pit-fall; it will continue upon the \vatch for more than a month, patiently expect- ing the approach of its prey ; and if it comes in greater quantities than is needful, yet still the little voracious creature will quit the in- s eet it has newly killed, and leave it half eaten, to kill and attack any other that hap- pens to fall into its hole: yet, though so voracious, it is surprisingly patient of hun- ger; some of them having been kept in a box with sand for six months and upwards, without feeding at alL When the lion-ant is full grown, it spins a thread, in the manner of the spider: which being made of a glutinous substance, and being humid from the moisture of its body* E 5 S3 sticks to the little particles of sand among which it is spun ; and in proportion as it is thus excluded, the insect rolls up its web, sand and all, into a ball, of which itself is the center. This ball is about half * an inch in diameter; and within it the insect re- sides, in an apartment sufficiently spacious for all its motions. The outside is composed of sand and silk; the inside is lined with silk only, of a fine pearl colour, extremely delicate, and perfectly beautiful. But though the work is so curious within, it exhibits nothing to ex- ternal appearance, but a lump of sand ; and thus escapes the search of birds, that might otherwise disturb the inhabitant within. The insect continues thus shut up for six weeks or two months ; and gradually parts with its eyes, its feelers, its feet and its skin, all of which are thrust into a corner of the inner apartment, like a rag. The insect then appears almost in its winged state, except that there is a thin skin which wraps up the wings, and that appears to be nothing else but a liquor dried on their outside. Still, however, the little animal is too delicate and tender to venture from its retreat; but continues enclosed for some time longer : at length, when the members of this new insect hav*^ acquired the necessary consistence and vigour, it tears open its lodging, and breaks through its wall. For this purpose it has two teetli, like those of a grasshopper, with which it eats through, ancl enlarges the opening-, till it gets out. ' Its body, which is turned like a screw,, takes up no more than the space of a quarter of an inch; but when it is unfolded, it becomes half an inch m length ; while its wings, that seemed to occu- py the smallest space, in two minutes time un- fold, and become longer than the body. In short, it becomes a large and beautiful fly with a long-, slender body, of a brown colour ; a small head, with large bright eyes, long blen- der legs, and tour large transparent wings, The rest of its habits resemble that insect whose form it bears; except that instead of dropping its eggs in the water, it deposits them in sand, where they are soon ha,< into that rapacious insect so justly admired foe jts method of catching its pa-v. . THE SAWYER FLY. THE Sawyer Fly, so called from its faculty of sawing asunder the branches of trees, whose substance is its food, is about three inches in length, when full grown, am! is a very singular insect. Its head has somewhat tie appea of that of an elephant, having a horny bill like the snout of that anhmal, bending upwards from 84 the Under part, with another pointing down- wards from the upper-part of the head, both of a jet black, and of a fine polish. On the inner surface of the upper bill are raised points, like the teeth of a saw, which are used by the insect in the same manner. Its body is like that of a beetle, but considerably larger, with double wings, the inner of which is like coarse gauze; and its legs are armed at each joint with crooked sharp nails, with the same on each toe, like a bird. The process of this insect in sawing down branches of trees, is really admirable, but it is hardly possible to form an idea of the manner of doing it without a description. This work it performs by encircling the branch with its bills, the points of which it fastens well into the wood, and turning round it briskly by the strength of its wings, which make a loud buzzing noise, it in a short time saws the branch asunder. They are by many called Elephant Flies, from the great resemblance of their heads to that animal. They are perfectly harmless, and are Caught only to be kept as curiosities. BEEF. THESE insects are very numerous, and differ considerable in their habits. Some are found in extensive communities, constructing, with the utmost art, ceils 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. We shall, how- ever, more particularly confine ourselves to the description of the Hive Bee. In the history of Bees, their habitation is the first thing that deserves to be mentioned : as most people, however, are acquainted with its ap- pearance, we shall confine ourselves to those par- ticulars which are not so well known. The walls of the cells are so extremely thin that their mouths might be thought in danger of suffering 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 difficult to perceive, even with the assist- ance of glass hives, the manner in which Bees 86 operate when constructing their ceils. They are &> eager to afford mutual assistance; and for this puipo.se so many of them crowd together, and art perpetually succeeding each other, that their individual operations can seldom be distinctly observed. It has, however, been discovered, that their two jaws are the only instruments they employ in modelling and polishing- the wax. V itli a, little patience and attention, we perceive ctijsjust begun; v,e likewise remark the quick-' ness wilii v.h-ch a l>ee moves its teeth against a small portion of the cell. This portion the ani- iiiat by repented strokes on each side, smooths, renders compact, and reduces to a proper thin- ness. While some oi the hive are lengthening their six-sided tubes, others are lading th foundations of new r ones. In certain circum- stances, when extremely hurried, they do not complete their new cells, but leave them im- perfect 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 per- ceive it scraping the walls with the points of its teeth, in order to detach such useless and irre- gulnr fragments as may have been left in the work. Of these fragments, the bee forms a ba!( about the size of a pin's head, comes out of the cell, and carries this wax to another part pf the work, where it is wanted ; it no sooner jwes the cell than it is succeeded by any' 87 h*?, \v!iich performs the same oflScf ; and iw this manner, the work is successively carried on till the cell is completely polished. Their mode of working, and the disposition of their labour, when put into an empty hive, exhibit, in the strongrst light, the sagacity of bees. They immediately begin to lay the foundations of their combs, which they exe-r cute with surprising quickness and alacrity. 8:orj after they begin to construct one comb, they divide into two or three companies, each 'f which in different parts of the hive is occu-r pied in the same operations. By this division of labour, 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 'in- terval or street between 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 Does to pass one another. Besides these parallel streets, to shorten the journey when working, Lhey leave several cross passage They are extremely solicitous to prevent in- a?oU; of any kmees in a hive amount to the num- ber 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 mealy dust of flowers for the basis of their wax. They roll themselves in the flower-cup, the dust of which adheres to their 92 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. As soon as a bee thus laden appears near the hive, others go out to meet it, and taking the dust from its legs, swallow it ; their stomachs being the place where it is converted into genuine wax. This operation being over, each individual disgorges it in the consistency of dough, and then moulds it into proper form. The males are called drones : they are unarm- ed ; 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 enemies are the wasp and die 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 one in each claw. There is so great a degree of attachment sub- sisting 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 the 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 c^ueen will support them: 93 this has been proved by giving- to a hive that k>st 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 f hunger. THE WASP. Though the Wasp can gather no honey of ifg own, there is no animal more fond of sweets. It will pursue the bee, destroy it with its stingy and then plunder it of the honey bag, which it bears home to its nest. The bees, howevc r, are not always unresisting sufferers ; fierce battles are sometimes seen to ensue, in which the bees make up by their numbers and courage what they want in strength. When no honey is to be had, they seek for the sweetest fruits of the garden, and wherever they are found, all other iiies are seen to desert the place immediately. In this manner, the summer is passed in plun- dering the neighbourhood, and rearing up their young every day adds to their numbers, and were they as long-lived as the bee, they would soon swarm upon the face of nature, and be- come a noxious plague to man ; but, providen- tially, their power of doing mischief is limited, for with the exception of a few females which survive the cold of winter, they live but a single season. While the summer heats continue they are bold and voracious ; but as the cold increases, they lose their courage and activity, and be- come unable to provide a supply for their growing progeny, which, a little before, they had fed with so much assiduity. In a short time, therefore, the worms die, and may be seen car- ried out by the wasps, who are probably directed by instinct to remove what would so soon putrify and render their nests unwholesome; still -however their own sufferings continue, they have laid up no store for winter use, and are without defence against the cold, which at last becoming insup- portable, they wither and die : the working wasps first, the males soon following, and many of the females suffering in the general calamity. In every nest however, one or two females survive tlie winter, and begin, in spring, to lay their eggs in a little hole of their own contrivance. This bundle of eggs which is clustered together like grapes, pro- duces two worms, which the female takes proper precaution to defend and supply, and these, when, hatched, soon give assistance to their parent, who is employed in hatching two more. Thus is the community every day encreasing, till, from a single female, ten thousand wasps are seen produced before the month of June, After tie female has thus produced 95 which are distributed in different districts, they assemble from all parts, in the middle of summer, and provide for themselves the large and commodious habitation which will be de- scribed below. Such is the history of the social wasp: there are various tribes, however, that live in solitude ; these lay their eggs in a hole for the purpose, and the parent dies long before the birth of its ffspring. From the end of May to the beginning of July, the solitary wasp or hornet is seen most diligently employed. The whole purpose of its life seems to be in contriving and fitting tip a commodious apartment for its young one, which is not to succeed it till the year ensuing. For this end it is employed, with unwearied assi- duity, in boring a hole into the finest earth, some inches deep, but not much wider than the diameter of its own body. This is but a gallery leading to a wider apartment destined for the convenient lodgment of its young. As it al- ways chuses a gravelly soil to work in, the dig- ging and hollowing this apartment is an enter- prize of no small labour : for effecting its ope- rations, this insect is furnished with two teeth, which are strong and firn, but not sulici- ently hard to penetrate the substance through which it is resolved to make its way. In order, therefore, to soften the earth, it is fur* with a gummy liquor which it drop* upon 96 llic place, and which renders it more easily sepa- rable from the rest, and the whole becoming a kind of soft paste is removed to the mouth of the habitation. The animal's provision of liquor in these operations is however soon exhausted ; and it is then seen either taking up water from some neighbouring flower or stream in order to supply the deficiency. At length, after much toil, a hole some inches deep is formed, at the bottom of which is a large cavity ; and to this, no other hostile insect would venture to find its way, from the length and the narrowness of the defile through which it would be obliged to pass. In this, the solitary wasp lays its egg, which is destined to continue the spe- cies ; there the future animal is to continue for above nine months, unattended and immured, and at first appearance the most hdpless insect of the creation. But when we come to examine, new wonders offer, no other insect can boast so copious a supply of provision, or such confirmed security. As soon as the mother-wasp has deposited fhe egg at the bottom of the hole, her next care is to furnish it with a supply of provisions, which may be offered to the young insect as soon as it leaves the egg. To this end, she procures a num- ber of little green worms, generally from eight to twelve, and these are to serve as food for the young one the instant it awakens into life. When this supply is laid in* the old one then, with 97 as much assiduity as it before worked out its hole, now closes the mouth of the passage, and thus leaving its young one immured in perfect security, and with a copious supply of animal food, she dies satisfied with having provided for a future progeny. When the young one leaves the egg it is scarcely visible, and is seen immured among a number of insects, infinitely larger than itself, ranged in proper order around it, which, how- ever, give it no manner of apprehension. Its food lies at its hand, and it devours one after the other, as the calls qf appetite incite it ; after which, as the time of its transformation begins to approach ; it spins a silken web, and continues fixed in its cell till the sun calls it from its dark abode, the ensuing summer. The shape of the nest is that of an upright oval, often measuring ten or twelve inches at least in diameter: it consists of several horizon- tal stages or stories of six-sided cells, the inter- stices of each stoiy being connected at intervals by upright pillars : and the exterior surface of the nest consists of a great many layers or pieces disposed over each other in such a manner as best to secure the interior cavity from the effects of cold and moisture ; the whole nest, comprising both walls and cells, is composed of a substance very much resembling the coarse kinds of whitish brown paper, and consists of the fibres of various dry vegetable substances cemented by a gummy F 98 fluid discharged from the mouth of the insects during their operations.* The female wasps de- posit their eggs in the cells one in each, which serves as a cradle for the young larva or maggot : this bears when hatched a near resem- blance to that of bees : they are fed by the la- bouring wasps with a coarse kind of honey, and when arrived at their full size, close up their respective cells with a fine tissue of silken fila- ments, and after a certain period emerge in their complete or perfect form. The male insect, like the bee, is destitute of a sting ; the society, or swarm of the common wasp, consists of a vast number of neutral or labouring insects, a much smaller number of males, and still fewer females. Wasps in general feed both upon fruits and flesh. A highly elegant wasp's nest is sometimes seen in the West Indies, attached or hanging by its base to some straw, or other projecting substance from the upper part of buildings or out-houses. It does not much exceed the size of an egg, but is of a more globular form, and consists of se- veral cells, one within the other, with conside- rable intervals between each, the interior alone being entire, and furnished with a small round orifice: in the centre of this, is situated the col- lection of cells, built round a small central pillar attached to the base: they are not very numerous. * The honey comb of the bee is built edgeways with respect, to the hive, that of the wasp is flat, and the moutik f every cell opens downwards. 99 To this account of the wasp Vie shall add an instance of the sagacity of this insect, which was observed by Dr. Darwin. " A wasp on a gra\el walk had caught a fly, nearly as large as himself; kneeling on the ground, I observed him," says the -doctor, " separate the tail and the head from the body part, to which the wings are attached. lie then took the body part in his paws, and : se about two feet from the ground with it; but a gentle breeze waft- ing the wings of the iiy, turned him round in the air, and he settled atain with it r.pon the gravel. 1 then distinctly observed him cutoff, with his mouth, first, one of the wings, and then the other, after which he ilew away with it pn molested by the wind." A wasp carrying out a dead companion from the nest, if she rinds it too heavy, cuts off the head, and carries out the load in two portions. Mr. Ray, who was a great admirer of the wonderful works of creation, relates the follow- ing interesting story of a wasp: " I observed/' says he, " one of them drag- ging 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 after .slaving a short time, returned, and seizing the caterpillar again, drew it down with him. Then leaving it there, it came up, and taking F 2 100 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 alternately 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, per- haps to get turpentine to glew it down, ; nd make it firm. The hole being filled, and equalled with the surface 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." ANTS LIVE in large societies, somewhat in the manner of bees or wasps, and are, like them, divided into males, females, and neutrals. This latter class appears to conduct the business of the nest, which is usually at a small distance from the surface, in some slight elevation, either prepared by the insects themselves, or previ- ously formed by some other animals, as moles, &c. They feed on both animal and vegetable substances., devouring the smallest kinds of in- lOi sects, caterpillars, &c. as well as fruits of .dif- ferent kinds. The fondness of ants for animal food is often turned to good account by ana- tomists. When they wish to obtain the skele- ton of any animal, too small or delicate to admit of being prepared in the usual way, the animal is disposed iu a proper position, in a small box, with perforations in the lid, and deposited in a large ant-hill; in consequence the softer parts are eaten away, and the skeleton remains. Thus, very elegant skeletons of frogs, snakes, c. may be obtained. The common or black ant is a well known in- habitant of our fields and gardens, residing in great numbers between molehills and other elevated spots. It is of a brownish black colour, and of a glossy or polished surface. The eggs of this species are deposited early in the spring, and are extremely small, and of a white colour. From these are hatched the larvae, which are of a thickish form, destitute of legs, and somewhat resemble, in miniature, the maggots of wasps and bees. They are carefully nourished by tho neutrals or labouring ants, till they are arrived at their full growth, when they inclose themselves in smooth, oval, pale yellow silken W 7 ebs, or cases, in which state they are known by the, mistaken title of ant eggs ; the real eggs, as before observed, being white, and extremely small. It is generally in the months of June aud July, that the larvse thus inclose them- F a 102 selves. The chrysalis, if taken out of its silken case, is of a white colour, and exhibits all the limbs of the future animal in an imperfect or contracted state. During the time of their remaining in chrysalis, the neutral ants attend them with the same care as when in their larvae state, frequently shifting their situation, and placing them at greater or smaller elevations, according to the different state of the atmos- phere. About the latter end of July, or the begin- ning of August, the males and females may be observed in the nests: these differ from the neutrals in being furnished with wings, and the female is far larger than the male; the body equalling in size that of the common window- fly, and the upper wings being very long and large. At this time of the year, the males and females emigrate in vast numbers, sometimes flying at a considerable height, and sometimes creeping along the surface. It is not uncommon to see them enter houses at this period, at- tracted by sweets in particular, either moist or dry. During the winter, this species, like the rest of the European Ants, remain in a state of torpor, and in the spring emerge from their concealment, and recommence their labours. The most perfect specimens of architecture are generally exhibited by the smaller ants. The brown ant is particularly remarkable among the masonic tribes. Their nests are 103 formed of parallel or concentric stories, each four or five lines in height ; the partitions be- ing about half a line in thickness, and built of such fine materials, that the interior appear* perfectly smooth. On examining' each of these stories, We discover chambers of different sizes, having long galleries of communication. The cielings of the larger spaces are supported by small pillars, sometimes by slender walls, and in other cases by arches. Some cells have but a single entrance ; others have passages, which open from the story underneath. In other parts, still larger central spaces, or halls, are met with, in which, a great number of passages terminate, like the streets and avenues to a market place. The whole nest often contains twenty of these stories, above the level of the ground, and at least as many b'jlow it. The use of this numerous series of rooms will appear in the sequel. The surface of the next is covered with a thicker wall, and has several doors, admitting, in the day-time, free ingress and egress. This species of ant is unable to bear much heat. During the day, arid parti- cularly when the sun shines, their doors are closed, and they either keep at home, or ven- ture out only through the subterraneous pas- sages. When the dew has given freshness to the nest, and softened the earthy materials on its surface, they begin to make their appearance above ground. On the first shower of rain that 104 occurs, the whole swarm are apprized of it, and immediately resumes their architectural labours. While some are epgaged in removing the earth below, others are employed in building- an ad- ditional stcry on the top ; the masons making use of the materials furnished by the miners. The plan of the cells and partitions is first traced in relief on the walls, which are seen gradually to arise, leaving empty spaces be- tween them. The beginnings of piihirs indicate the situation of the future hails; and the rising partitions show the form of the intended pas- sages. Upon the plan thus traced they continue building, till they have arrived at a sufficient elevation. Masses of moistened earth are then applied at right angles to the tops of the walls, on each side, and continued in a horizontal direction, till they meet in the middle. The cielings of the larger chambers are completed in the.sarne manner ; the workers beginning from ihe angles of the \\alis, and from the tops of the rs which have been raised in the centre, largest of these chambers, which might mpared to the town-hall, and which is fre- quently more than tu'o inches in diamf ter, is completed with apparently as much ease as the it st. This busy crowd of masons, arriving in every direction, laden with materials for the building, hastening to avail themselves of the raia to carry on their work, and yet observing :.iiost perfect order in their operations, pre- 105 scut the most interesting and amusing 1 spec- tacle. They raise a single story, in about seven or eight hours, forming a general roof as a co- vering to the whole; and they goon, adding other stories, so long as the rain affords them the facility of moulding the materials. When .the rain ceases, and is succeeded by a drying", wind, before they have completed their work, the earth ceasing to adhere together and crum- bling into powder, frustrates all their labours : as soon as they find this to be the case, they, with one accord, set about destroying the cells which they had begun, but had not been able to cover in, and distribute the materials over the upper story of what they had completed. In tracing the design of the cells and galle- ries, each ant appears to follow its own fancy. A want of accordance must therefore frequently take place at the points where their works join; but they never appear to be embarrassed by any difficulties of this kind. An instance is related by M. Hubor, in which two opposite walls were made of such diiFerent elevations, that the ceiling of the one, if continued, would not have reached above half way of the height of the other. An experienced ant arriving at the spoi, seemed struck with the defect, and immediately destroyed the lower ceiling, built up the wall to the proper height, and formed, a new ceiling with the materials of the former. .. 106 The following is an interesting description of the economy,, and good management of ants, in their subterraneous dwellings, prepared by a gentleman, who, for a long time, made them the particular object of his study. " In a room next to mine," says he, " which had been empty for a long time, there was upon a window a box full of earth, two feet deep, and fit to keep flowers in. That kind of parterre had been long uncultivated ; and therefore it was covered with old plaster, and a great deal of rubbish, that fell from the top of the house, j*nd from the walls, which together with the earth formerly imbibed with waler, made a kind of dry barren soil. The place lying to the south, and out of the reach of the wind and rain, also in the neighbourhood of a granary, v,;\s a most delightful spot of ground for ants, and therefore they had made three nests there, doubtless for the same reason that men build ciiies in fruitful and convenient places, near springs and rivers. I made it my business to procure them all sorts of conveniencies. I took out of the box 0( ry thing that might be troublesome to them ; and frequently visit-, i \ ants, and studied their actions. Being used to go to bed very late, I went to see them work in a moon-light night : and I frequently got up in the niuht, to t ike a view of their labours. I always found fcuiue &oing up and down, and very busy: one 107 \vould think that they never sleep. Every body knows that ants come out of their holes in the day time, and expose to the sun, the corn, which they keep under ground in the night. Those who have seen ant-hillocks, have easily perceived those small heaps of corn about their nests. What surprised me at first was, that the ants never brought out their corn, but in the niyht when the moon shone, and kept it under ground in the day time; which was contrary to what I had seen, and saw still practised, by those insects in other places. 1 quickly found out the reason of it. There waw a pigeon-house not far from thence : pigeons and birds would have eaten their corn, if they had brought it out in the day time. It i* highly probable they knew it by experience * and I frequently found pigeons and birds in. that place, when I went to it in a morning. I quickly delivered them from those robbers. "What is most admirable (and what I could hardly believe, if I did not know it by experi- ence), is, that those ants knew some clays after that they had nothing to fear, and began to lay out their corn in the sun. However, I per- ceived they were not fully convinced of being out of all danger; for they durst not bring out their provisions ail at once, but by degrees, first in a small quantity, and without any great order, that they might quickly carry iliem away in caai of any raUfortunej watching 168 and looking every "way. At last, being per- suaded that they had nothing to fear, they brought out all their corn, almost every day, and in good order, and carried it in at night. The corn, that is laid up by ants, would shoot under ground, if those insects did not take care to prevent it. They bite off all the buds before they lay it up ; and therefore the corn that has lain in their nests will produce nothing. Any one may easily make this expe- riment, and even plainly see that there is no bud in their corn. But though the bud be bitten off. there remains another inconveni- ence, that corn must naturally swell and rot under ground; and therefore it could be of no use to the nourishment of ants. Those insects prevent that inconvenience by their labour and industry, and contrive the matter so, that corn will keep as dry in their nests, as in our gra- naries. They gather many small particles of dry earth, which they bring every day out of their holes, and place them round, to heat them in the sun. Every ant brings a small particle of the earth in her pincers, lays it by the hole, and then goes and fetches another. Thus, in less than a quarter of an hour, one may see a vast number of such small particles of dry earth heaped up round the hole. They lay their corn under ground upon that earth, and cover it with the same. They perform this m 4 ! . trork almost every day, during the heat tf th iun ; and though the sun went from the window about three or four of the clook in the afternoon, they did not remove their corn and the particles of earth, because the ground was very hot, until the heat was over. Being; willing to be more particularly in- formed of their forecast and industry, I put a mall heap of wheat in a corner of the room, where they stationed themselves; and to pre- vent their fetching corn out of the garret, I ihut up the window, and atopt all the holes. Though ants are very knowing, I do not tak* them to be conjurers; and therefore they could rot guess that I had put some corn in that room. I perceived (i for several days, that they were very much perplexed, and went a great way to fetch their provisions. I was not will- ing, for some time, to make them more easy ; for I had a mimf to know whether they would, at last, find out the treasure, and see it at a great distance; or, whether smelling enabled them to know what is good for their nourishment. That they were sometime in great trouble, and took much pains: they went up. and down a great way, looking out for some grains of corn. They fyere sometimes disappointed, and sometjme* they did not like their corn, after many long and painful excursions. What appeared to me wonderful, was> that none of them crime home without bringing something? eu* brought f their appetite, or prodigious avarice ; for> I make no doubt but they lay up provisions against the winter. We read it in Holy Scripture; a thousand experiments teach us the same ; anil I do not believe that any experiment has been mad* 1jhat shows the contrary. As the small ant (for she instructs the man, And preaches labour) gathers all she can. And brings it to increase her heap at home, .Against the winter, -which she knows will corns: But when that comes, she creeps abroad no mort, But lies at home, and feasts upon her store. Though the box full of earth, where the antg tad made their settlement, was generally ire* 113 from rain ,; yet it rained sometimes upn k ? \viien a certain wind blew. It was a great in- convenience lor those insect?; Ants are afraid of water ; arid when they go a great way in' quest of provisions, and are surprised by the rain, they shelter themselves under some tile, ,or something else, and do not omne out until the rain is over. The ants of the principal nest found out a wonderful expedient to k?ep out the rain : there was a small piece of flat lute, which they laid over the hole of their nest in the daytime, when they foresaw it jvould rain, and almost every night. Above fifly of those iittie animals, especially the strongest, surrounded that piece pf slate, antj drew it equally in wonderful order ; they re- xnoved it in the coining, and nothing could be more curious, than to soe those little animals about such a \vcs\k. They had made the ground uneven abopt th if nest, insomuch that the slate did not lie tin upon it, but left a free passage underneath. The ants of the olher jUvo fieslp did not go well succeed in .keeping out the rain. They laid over their holes several pieces of old dry plaster one upon the other; but thry were t iH troubled with the rain; and the n r they took much pain* to repair tha dair.ge. Hence it is, that those iusocts are 'so Irequently to be- found- under, ti.fes, where thev fettle themselves to avoid ife|t OS rain. Their nests are at all times covered witty those tiles, without any incumbrance, and they Jay out their corn and tjieir dry earth, in the sun. about the tiles, as one may see every day. J took care to coyer the two ants 1 nests that \\ ere troubled with the rain: as for the capital nest, there was no need of exercising my charity towards it. An ant never goes into any other nest but her own ; and if she should venture to do it, she >vould be turned out, and severely punished. 1 have often taken an ant out of one nest, to put her into another ; but she quickly came out, be- ing warmly pursued by two or three other ants. J tried the same experiment several times with the same ant; but at last the other ants grevr impatient, and tore her to pieces. I have often, frighted some ants with my fingers, and pursued them as far as another hole; stopping all the passages to prevent their going to their own nest. It was very natural for them to fly info the next hole: many a man would not be so cautious*, and would throw himself out of the windows, or into a well, if he were pursued DV assassins. But, the ants J am speaking of avoided going into any other hole but their own, and rather tried all other ways of making their escape. They never fled into another nest, but a't the last extremity ; and sometimes chose rather to ts taken, ag I have often experienced. It it Ahe.re&re an inviolable custom atnong those iiu jiects, not to go into any other hole bat their own. They do not exercise hospitality; but they are very ready to help one another out of their holes. They put down their loads at the entrance of a neighbouring nest ; and those that live in it, carry them in. They keep up a sort of trade among jthera- jifclves; and it ig not true that those insects ar* not fond of lending: I know the contrary: they lend .their corn; they make exchanges; they are always ready ;o serve one another ; and I can assure you, that more time and patience \yould have (toatyed me to observe a thousand thingf more curiqus ajid wonderful than what J have mentioned. For instance, ho\y they lend and recover their loans; whether it be m the eam.a quantity, or with usury ; whether they pay the strangers that work foi them, &c. I do not think it impossible to examine all those things ; and it would be a great curiosity to know by what maxims they govern themselves ; perhapu fcueh a knowledge might be of some use to us. They are never attacked by any enemies in a body; as is reported of bees. Their only fear proceeds fro,m birds, which sometimes eat their corn when they lay it put in the sun ; but they jceep it unjder ground, when they are afraid of thieves. It is said that some birds eat them ; but I never saw an instance of it. They are A!| infected by small worniij but they turn (hem out, and kill them. I observed that they punished those anls which probably had been Wanting to their duty ; nay, sometimes they killed them, which they did in the following manner : Three or four ants fell upon one, and pulled her several vvays,anitil she was torn to pieces. Generally speaking, they live very quietly; from whence I infer that they have a Very severe discipline among themselves, to fceep so good an order; or that they are great lovers of peace, if they have no occasion for any discipline. ' ; Whatever misfortune happens to them, their eare and industry find out a remedy for it; nothing discourages them. If you destroy their usftt, they will be repaired in two days. Any bcdy insv easily see how difficult it is to drive them out' of their habitations without destroying the inhabitants ; for, as long as there are any left, 'they will "maintain their ground. We shall conclude this account with one more instance of ibis little animai'g extraordinary sagacity : A gentleman of Cambridge one day remarked an ant dragging along, what, with respect to i's strength,' might be denominated a piece of timber. Others were severally em- ployed, each in its own way. Presently this licile creature came to an ascent, where the weight of the wood seemed for a while to overpower him : he did not reraajn long JJ7 perpfcxct! with it; for three or four others observing 'his dilemma, came behind, and pushed it AH soon, however, as lie had iiot it on ; the level ground, they left it to his care, and ivent to their own work. The piece he was drawing happened to be considerably thicker at one end than the other. This soon threw the poor fellow into a fresh difficulty : he un- luckily dragged it between two bits of wood. After several fruitless efforts, finding it would not g'o through, he adopted the only mode that a reasonable being, in similar circuniHtances, could have taken; he came behind, pulled it back tgaifli and turned it on its edge; when, running again lo the other end, it passed through without the least difficulty. THE ANTS OR EMMETS. Emmets, bow little they are in our eyes! tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies, Without our regard or concern: Yet, as v/iae as we are, if we went to their school, e'* many a sluggard, and many a fool, SQtfie lessons df wisdom might letrn. 05 118 n't W ear their time out in sleeping or play* Jhit gather up corn in a sun-shiny day. And for winter they lay up their stores: They manage their work in such regular forms, the Whitt Ant is the most wonderful, whether we regard the extent of the mischief *o smajl a creature it able to produce, or the instincts with which Pio- vidence has endued it. They have obtained th name of Ants from the similarity in their mode* of living to the common ant, though they sur- pass them in the arts of building, as much at Europeans excel the most ignorant savages. Thejr industry also in providing for future want affords even man $n example which he, would ind it his advantage to imitate. These insects abound in warp climates, and their nests or hills, are of such magnitude, and o numerous., as in some places to give the ap pearance of a group of huts belonging to the natives. In Africa, and in certain parts of tht West Indies, they resemble a sugar-loaf in ihapje, and rise from ten to twelve feet ahove the ground. The height of these hills is great, compared with the size of the architect, and their structure is so firm, that the wild bulls vvhich stand as ccntinels to the rest of the herd rumi nating-on the plain, generally take their place on one of them. The commencement of this huge cone is a small turret are followed by a large body, whiqh rush out at fast as the breach will permit them, their quick motions express rage and fury ; in their ' Dhurry they sometimes miss their hold, and turn ble down the sides of the hill, but recover ihemselwes as soon as possible, and run about jfj all directions, biting evciry thinj they rw* 127 and if they get bold of the 'assailant, they will, in a moment, let out as much blood as \vould outweigh their whole body : -on the other hand, give >em no further interruption, and iho fighters will retire into the nest as if they sup- posed the enemy to be gone beyond their reach. Before they are aU in, the labourers appear, has- tening to the breach, each with a load of mortar jn his mouth, ready tempered. This they stjck upon the breach, as fast as they come up, and do it with o ,nucb 'dispatch, that, although there are my- riads of t hen ? they never embarrass each other : while they are thus employed, the, soldiers have disappeared, except here and there one in the mirist of several hundred labourers who seems to r/eriook the work, and hasten their operations Jby making a ricking r-oise wiisi his forceps, which the others always answer by a loud and general hiss. Of variety or beauty, nothing in the creation if jmore contemptible and insignificant. Yet pas* aing fr&m these to his history, and to the ac- oount of his powers, we must confess the verj great injustice we do him, from want of consi- deration. We are obliged with the greatest surprise to acknowledge, that those huge ani- mals, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the lion, and the tiger, inhabiting the same wood*, ar still vastly his inferiors; and that the appear- fcrrce of t&w *mmU >fitt ; Ray, k* vry ^ ' . < fnmigh he is not seen, occasions mort trepida- tion, movement, and disorder, both in the hu- man and brute creation, than would whole herds of these monstrous animals collected together, though their number was in a tenfold proportion greater than it really is. 44 This insect is called Zimb ; it has not bean described by any naturalist. It is in sizt very little larger than a bee; and has wings, which are broader than those of a bee, placed separata like those of a fly. As soon as this plagut appears, and their buzzing is heard, all the cat- tle forsake their food, and run wildly about tht plain till they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. No remedy remains for the resi- dents on such spots, but to leave the black earth and hasten down to the sands of Atbara, and {here they remain while the rains last, this cruel enemy never daring to pursue them farther. " What enables the shepherd to perform the long and toilsome journey across Africa, is tht camel, emphatically called the Ship of tht Desert. Though his size is immense, as is hi strength, and his body covered with a thick skin, defended with strong hair, yet still he is not able to sustain the violent punctures thia fly makes with his proboscis. He must lost- no time in removing to the sands of Atbara; for when once attacked by this fly, his body, and legs, brtak o\it into large 133 tftiieh well, break, and putrefy $ to the certain destruction of the creature. Even the elephant and rhinoceros, who, by reason of their enor- mous bulk, and the vast quantity of food and water they daily need, cannot shift to desert and dry places, as the season requires, art! obliged to roll themselves in \rnud and mire, which, when dry, coats them over like armour, and enables them to stand their ground against this winded assassin ; yet have I found some of these tubercles upon almost every elephant and rhinoceros that I have seen$ and attribute them to this cause." There are twelve species of this insect. All the inhabitants of the country are oblige^ k> put themselves in motion, and remove to tht riext sand in the beginning of the rainy season, to preserve their stock of cattle from being de- stroyed. This is not a partial emigration ; all the inhabitants, round about for a great extent, are, once a year, obliged to change their abode, and seek protection in the sands; ner is thert any alternative, or means of avoiding this, even though an armed enemy was in their wotrom, by means of little paddlei situated at their hinder part. After three or ftur day* ef strict fasting, they pass to the state ojf .Gnats. A moment before, water was the ele- ment of the, little creature, but now become a 'winged insect, he can no longer subsist in it. He swells his head, and bursts bis enclosure. The robe he lately wore, turns to a ship, of which the insect is the mast and sail. If at the instant when the Gnat displays his wings, there arises a breeze, it 'proves tp him a dread- ful hurricane; the water gets into the ship, and the insect, who is not yet loosened from it, sinks, and is lost. But in calm weather, the Gnat forsakes his slough, dries himself, flies into the air, and seeks to puufp the alimentary juice of leaves, or the blood of men and beasis; It is impossible to behold, and not to admire, the amazing structure of its sting : what, the baked eye iliscbvers, is but a tube containing five or six stings of exquisite minuteness, some marked at their extremity, like the head of an arrow, and sharp-edged like razors. Thesa tings introduced into the veins, act as pump- suckers, into which the blood ascends, by reason of the smallness of the tubes. The insect injecM a small quantity of liquor into the wound, by which the blood becomes more fluid, and is seen through the microscope, passing through thes itings. The animal swells, grows red, and does hot quit its hold, till it has gorged itself. The liquor it has injected, causes, by its irritation, that diiagreeable itthing which we experience j 136 Jtfkl which my be removed by volatile tlkaff^ or by scratching the part newly stung, and wash- ing it with vinegar. At night to rub it with fuller's earth and water, lessens the pain and inflammation. The female deposits her eggs in the wafer, placing them in the form of a Tittle boat. Thii vessel, composed of two or three hundred eggi, wims on the water for fwo or three days, alter which they are hatred. If a storm arise*, ths boats are sunfc. J&very month, there is a fresh progeny of these insects. Were they not de voured by swallows, otfyer bird*, figh, and se- veral carnivorous insects, th air would bt darkened by them. The little Gnat, IB beauties, may compare, With all its rival brothers of the air ; Transparent fathers? purple, green, and gold, His wings, small feet, and fringed tail cfold ; Four sharpen 'd spears, his head with weapon* arrn, jytrd his pe^rFd eyes, with liveliest grace THE LOUSE. antipathies of mankind ome considering the toad, some the serpent^ some the spider, some the beetle, with a strong degree of detestation : but while all wonder at the strangeness of each other's aversions, they all seeoi to unite in their dislike to the Louse, and regard it as their natural and most nauseous enemy. Indeed, it seems the enemy of mari in the most bdio'us degree ; for, wherever wretch- edness, disease, or hunger seize upon him, the louse seldom fails to add itself to the tribe, and to erierease in proportion to the number of his calamities. It is needless, (lowever, to go through the minute description of its form, the engraving of the animal, as seen through the microscope, af- fording a better idea of it than language could convey. The louse has neither beak, teeth, nor any kind of mouth, for the entrance into the gullet is absolutely closed. In the place of all these, it has a proboscis, or trunk $ or, as it may be otherwise called, a hollow sucker, with which it pierces the skin, and sucks the human blood, taking that for food only. When it IB empty, it is colourless; but when filled, , it is plainly discernible, and iti motion' H 3 138 teems very extraordinary. It then appeari working with very strong agitations, and some- what /esembles an anjmal within an animal, Superficial observers are apt to take this for the pulsation t)f the heart ;" but, if (he animal be ob- served when it is sucking, it will then be found that the food takes a direct passage from the truiik to the stomach, where the remainder of the eid aliment will bo seen mixing with the new f $nd agitated up and down on every Hide. If this animal be kept from food two or thre* days, and then placed upon the back of th* hand, or any soft part of the body, it will im- mediately seek for food; which it will th mort readily find, if the hand be rubbed till it grows red. The animal then turns its head, which lies between the two fore legs, to the skin, and fliligently searches for some pore; when found, it fixes the trunk therein ; and soon the micro- scope discovers the blood ascending through tht head, in a very rapid, and even frightful strea^m. The Louse has, at that time, sufficient appetitt to feed in any posture ; it is then seen sucking with its head downward, and its tail elevatecU If, during this operation, the skin be drawn tight, the trunk is bound fast, and the animal is incapable of disengaging itself but it more fre- quently suffers from its gluttony, since it gorges to such a degree, that it is crushed to piece* by tfce slightest imprcgsion. 130 There is scarcely any animal that multiplier 10 fast as this unwelcome intruder. It has been pleasantly said, that a louse becomes a grand father in the space of twenty-four hours. Ill fact, it has been found, that in twelve days A female will lay one hundred eggs, and these tggs, hatching in six days, which is found to bt> iheir natural time, will, in about thirty days more, produce a younger brood of five thousand; so that in eight weeks a louse might see fiv thousand of its descendants. This fecundity is fearful to those who are not sufficiently cleanly in their habits, and should induce them (if th Comfort and health resulting from cleanliness cau not) to do all in their power to keep down a race, which is armed with such means of punishing their filthy and digusU)g carelesness.: it being well ascertained, that in our climate they sel- dom attack any but fuch as hivite their .Company. uch is the history of the human louse ; which, from its connection with mankind, de- serves first notice: but it would be endlesi |o describe the various tribes that go under ihis name, and swarm upon every part of nature. There is scarcely an animal, or even * vegetable, that does not suffer under its own peculiar louse. The sheep, the horse, the hog ? and the elephant, are all teized by them; th* whale, the shark, the salmon, and the lobster, jstjre aqt without their company j white every, 141 e, and every garden is infested witR ome peculiarly destructive. Linnaeus tells us, that he once found a vegetable?louse upon som* plants ntwly arrived from America ; and willing to trace the little animal through its various itages, he brought it with him from London to Leyden, where he aarefully preserved it during the winter, until it bred in the spring: but the louse it seems did not treat him with all the gra,- titude he expected ; for it became the parent of so numerous a progeny, that it soon overran all the Botanic-garden of that beautiful city ; and to thia day, causes many a gardener to blaine thf jjidulgent puriosity, THE FLEA, THIS insect, which is not only the enemy o| jnankind, but of the dog, c4t, and several other animals, is found in every part of the world, but bites with greater severity in some countries than in others. Its numbers in Italy and France are much greater than in Ireland, and yet its bite is much more severe here than in othtr place. Jt would seem that its 14? increased with the coldness of the climate : and though less prolific, that it became more trouble- ; some. Perhaps, also, the slovenly and dirty jiabits of some classes may encourage its growth, In fact, mischievous as it is, we may almost always blame ourselves if exposed to its 'attacks; cleanliness of person, being always found an effectual mea ! ns of banishing the little pest, If the flea be examined with a microscope, it will be observed to have a small head, large eyes and ai roundish bocjy. It has two feelers or horns; whicfi* are short, ami composed of four joints ; and between these, lies its truiik, which it buries in the skin; and through which it sucks the 1 - blood in large quantities. The "body appears to be all over curiously adorned with a suit of 'polished 1 ^gabte armour, neatfy jointed, and beset with multitudes of sharp pins, almost like the quills of a porcupine. l lias six legs, the joints? of wMch are so adapted* that it can, as it were, fold them up one within another; and when it leaps, they all spring out at once, whereby its whole strength is exerted, and the body raised above two hundred times its own diameter. The young fleas are at first a sort of nits or eggs, which are round and smooth : and from these proceed white worms, of a shining pead colour; in a fortnight's time, they come to a tolerable size, and are very lively and active; 143 fiuf if tfiey are touched at this time, they roll themselves up in a ball : at this period, they cast their skins, and change into a chrysalis, which is of an oval shape, and exhibits through the outside covering, the limbs of the insect tvithin. They then seek a place to hide in, where they spin a silken thread from their inouth, and with this, tliey enclose themselves fn a small round bag, or ca-*e, as white within as writing, paper, but dirty without : in this, they continue for a fortnight .longer ; after which they burst, from their confinement perfectly form- ;d, and armed with powers to disturb the peace of an emperor. : There, is no kind, of proportion between th 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 np longer , miraculous. A flea will drag after it a chain an hundred times heavier than itself; and to . compensate for this force, will eat ten times its own weight of provisions in a day. . .. . 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 horsey harnessed to it, a ccaghaiaa sitting on the box,' 1*4 and a dog betvreen his &gs: foui*personf were In the carriage, two footmen behind it, and a postillion riding on one of the fore horses, which were all easily drawn along by a flea. He like- wise had a chain f brass, aboyt two inches long, containing two huiidfcjd links, with fc hook at one end, arid a padlock and key at tht other, which the flea drew very nimbly along. In the rign of Queen Elizabeth, a black- smith, made a lock consisting of eleven pieces of iron, steel, and brass, with a hollow key to it, that altogether weighed but one grain of gold. He likewise made a goJd chain, com- posed of forty-three links; which he fastened to the lock and key, and having put it about the neck of a fiea, that little creature drew them with all ease; which being done in her Majesty's presence, he put the lock and key, fiea and chain, into a pair of scales, and thty Altogether weighed but one grain and a half. THE SPIDER. THE animal that next deserves our notice & the spider, whose manners are, of all ethers, the most subtle, arid whose instincts are most va- rious. Formed for a life of rapacity, and inca- pable of living upon any other than insect food> Jill its habits are calculated to deceive and sur- prize ; it spreads toils to entangle its prey : it is endued with patience to expect its coming; and is possessed of arms and strength to de- stroy it when fallen into the snare. In this country, where human industry, as- sisted by the goodness of Providence, keeps down the insect tribes, the spiders are but small and harmless. But they form a much more terrible tribe in Africa and America, la, those regions, where all the insect species ac- quhe their greatest growth, where the butter- fly is seen to expand a wing as broad as our sparrow, and the ant to l*iild an habitation as tall as a man, it is not to be wondered at that the spiders are seen bearing a proportionable magnitude. In fact, the bottom of the. Mar- ti nico spider's body is as large as- a hen's egg, and covered all over with hair. Its web is strong, and its bite dangerous. It resrdeg among trees, frequently seizing on small birds, which it destroys, by wounding them with its fangs, and afterwards sucking their blood* It 146 ii happy for Us, however, that we are placed at a distance from these formidable creature*, and that we can examine their history without feel- ing their resentment. Spiders have several eyes all round the head, Brilliant and acute ; these are sometimes eight in number, sometimes but six ; two behind, two before, and the rest on each side. Like all other insects, their eyes are immoveable ; and they want eye lids ; but this punuti ihuiu, il i* ob\ iwus they mi'trt for I ever escape so impotent an adversary; but the spider b a most experienced hunter, and .spreads its nets to catch those animals it is unable to pursue. The spider's web is generally laid in those places where Mies are more apt to come and shelter; in the corners oi 7 rooms, round the edges of windows; and in the open air among the branches of trees. For the purpose of leaking this web, Na- ture has supplied this animal with a large quantity of glutinous matter within its body, and the means of spinning it into thread. This substance is contained in a little bag, and at first sight, it. resembles soft glue; but, when examined more accurately, it will be found twisted into many coils ol an agatfc colour, and upon breaking it, the contents may be easily drawn out into strings, from the tenacity of the substance, not from those threads being already formed. Those who have seen the machine by which wire is spun, will have an idea of the manner in which this animal forms the thread of its little net, the orifices through which the thread is drawn, contracting, or di- lating at pleasure. The threads which we see, and which appear so fine, are, notwithstanding, composed of five joined together, and these are many times doubled when the web is in formation. When a house-spider proposes to begin a web, it first makes a choice of some commodious fpot, where there is an appearance of plunder M9 **i the work away. The edges being thus for- tified, the retreat is next to be attended to; and this is formed like a funnel at the bottom of the web, where the little creature lies con- cealed, 'Jo this are two passages, or outlets, one above, the other below, very artfully con- trived, to give the animal an opportunity of nuking excursions at proper seasons, of prying into every corner, and cleaning those pans ^.'hich are observed to be clogged or encnm- Still attentive to its web, the I *2 4 time to !; r,c. clean* n'.vp.y tlie tlu^t ttiul it, \\hicrt might otherwise and intommode it- for ti-i.s purpose, it A *hake with it* paws ; pi op"? tu >w ** a^ not to endanger the fabric. Jt often happen* al-o, that fiom r web aio several thfeails evtendetl at some dis- ,on evM-y fide : lhe^e are, in some mea- sure, the o itwoiks r)f the fortification, which H^vrr tonrheii from without, the spidtr lies t\^j attack or self-defence. It' the ii^eit Mrikinir ajr^inst it he d Hy f it springs forwaid with great ability; if, on tin- c^ntiary, it l>e the assault of an enemy stronger than itself, >t teens wiihin its fortress, and never venture* out till the danger is over. Anotu-r advantage .1 the .cpicier reaps from the contrivhr.ee of a rell or retreat behind the web, is that it serves place wheie thecicjture can feast u|>on i' gnmuith safety, and conceal the fra^Ujnt of those carcass which it has picked, without exposing to view any thing that might create a suspicion in any inbtcts that their enemy vvat It often hap|*ns, however, that the wimY, or the niiitrmg of the branches, or tlie ap- |)rOKchof some large tnima! d in i hi* case, the spider - : to ten^ain t, patient ftpeclator' of the ruin; an-i when the ilan^er is over, it ets about repairing the cala- mity, For thii purpose, it is RvnidM with ttore of (he glutinon* $ubitauce of the web i ruade ; and with this, it either makes A new wto, ' r j .a* fries up ?' If: ge- :, tht aniiuai is much jondei uf uuii'. a- it i fu.T.i-.r.ed origi- nally uith but a certain quantity , and the old one reniaii.s in quiet poseetsion j if, however, the spicier i unable to : ;es anv othc r f; f ir- \^eb, it then endea- vours for a while to feubit upon accidental depredation; but, in two or three months, it inevitably lUtt ';r' hunerer. ien jpidcr seems to work in a diffe- 'Miinnci. The method with this insect if n a gieat quantity of thread, wi.ich tioat- i the air in various directions, happens, tioin its glutinous q.Miity. at la-' : on m '- object near it, a lofty plant or the branch of a tiee. The 5pideror.lv v/ ants to have one a*l of tbt Ur.e fast, ia order to secure and tighten the other. It accordingly draws ths line, when thus fixed, and then making use of it as a bridge, passes and repasses upon it, itrengthening the thread in such a manner as to answer all its intentions. The first cord be- ing thus stretched, the spider walks along a jpart of it, and there fastens another, and drop- ping from thence, Fastens the thread to som* solid body below, then climbs up again, and "begins a third, which it fastens by the game con- trivance ; when three threads are thus fixed, it forms a square, or something that very nearly resembles one: and in this the animal is gene- rally seen to reside. The spider's web being thus completed, and fixed in a proper place, its next care is to seize and secure whatever insect, happens to be caught 3n the toil. For this purpose, it remains weeks aiid even months u pott the watch, without ever catching a single fl> ; for the spider, like mott other injects, is s.urpf Singly \ ahent of hunger. It sometimes happen- that too strong a fly strikes itself against the \\tb ; and thus, instead of Jjeing caught, tears the not 'to pieces. In gene- ral, however, t'he butterfly or hornet, when they touch the ueb, 11 v off again, and the spider seems no way disposed to inn-mtpt their retreat. The lar*!-e blue-bv t tie- fly, thp ?chnenmon-r]y, and the cominon meat-fly, stern to be its favou- rite game. When me of thes-e strike into the toils^ ll:P sjiidcr walks leienrfly forward, seizet ^ristaiitly kills it, bj instiliin|j; a vfe* juice into the wound it malces. If, how* ever, the fly be not entirely irnmesl>ed, the spi- tier patiently waits, without appearing until its prey has fatigued itself by its struggles to obtairi its liberty. Jf the spider has fasted for a long time, it then drags the flv immediately into it$ hole, and devours it ; but if there has been plenty of game, and the animal be no way pies&ed by hunger, it then gives the fly two or three turn? in its web, so as completely to immesh it, and there leaves it until it comes to its appetite^ Why the spider should at one time kill its prey, and, at another, suffer ii to struggle in the foils for several hours together, it is difficult to say : perhaps it only likes its prey newly killed, and therefore dehys to put ihe captive to death until it is to be eaten. The female generally lavs from nine hundred to. a thousand egs^s in a season ; they are of a bluish colour, speckled vvith black, and serw- rated from each other by a glutinous substance, mot unlike frog-spawn water. These eggs ave &?' to bSfr-e formed them in every respect for 155 a life of hostility. No other insect is possessed of such various powers of assault and defence; and they are able to destroy animals ten times bigger than themselves. Even after a severe defeat, they quickly recover of their woun:i; and as for their legs, the loes of them is but a small misfortune, as they grow again very spee- dily to their former magnitude. Thus there h no insect to which they are not Jin enemy: but. what is more strange still, spiders are the enemies of each other. Mr. Reaumur, who was fond of making experiments upon in- sects, tried to turn the labour of the spider to human advantage, and for this purpose, h* col- lected a large number of thoe insects togethe, and took care to have them constantly PI jppl led with such food as *pider are particularly fond of. But notwithstanding all his car, it was fonnd impossible to rear them, on account of the malignant Disposition of these animals, which will not pern) it their living peaotably together. Reaumur computed thai it would re- quire nearly 700,000 spiders to furnish a pound of silk. However, two or three pair of Block- ings, and gloves, were made from ihe tills that lines their egg-bags, and ia *tmnger ihan that, which forms their web. It is> easily spun into a fine and strong thread, the only difficulty l>ein< to collect the silk -bags in sufficient quantities. Another particularity in the i.i-tory v.i air, which is principally in autumn, the ^pklef climtjs to the 'op of a wall, or the branch a trve, aut burning, this formidable insect will not issut from its hiding-place. But when dark nets pro- mises security, it then issues from every corner ff the bed, and travels with meat assiduity to the unhappy patient, who vainly wishes for rest and refreshment. Nor are these insects less disagreeable from their nauseous stench, than their unceasing ap- ]>etiies When t^ey begin to crawl, the whole bed is infected with the smell; but if they arc accidentally killed, then it is ins.tippoi table. Happily, however, for Great Britain and Ire- Innd, they multiply less in thete islands than in any part of the continent 1 . In France and Jia'ly, the beds, paiticularly in their inns, sv;arm with them 5 and every piece of fmniture seems to afford then: a retreat. They now linger al?o \vith tlicin tlian with us, and bite wr>h animal, if examined minutely, -af-p to consist of three principal parts ; the head, the corslet, and the belly. It has two brown e^es, that are very small, and a little prominent, be- aides two feelers, with three joints; underneath these, there is a crooked trunk, which is its in- sttfufmnt of torture, and which, when not in motion, lies close upon the breast. The breast 5s a kind of ring, in which are placed the two ISr-st pair of legs. The belly consists of nine rings ; under which are placed two pair of leg more, makingsix pair in all. Each leg has three joints, which form the thigh, the leg, and the foot, which last is armed with a crooked claw, }5ke on ho->k. The lx>rly is smooth, except a few *hort hairs, that may be seen by the microscope, about the vent, and on the two last rings. Its motion is sk>w and unwieldy ; yet its sijht is so fxqiiisite, that the instant it perceives the light, >t generally makes good its retreat ; and they ar< el'lom c'anghf, though the bed swarms with them. ? he male and female of these animals are plainly distinguishable from each other; the fe- male has an ovary filled with eggs, joined toge- ther like a bunch of grapes; each egg being- oblong, almost cylindrical, inclining to white, &nd pretty transparent. In about two days, she deposits her ejrgs, to the number of about one hundred and tifry, in some convenient place .where they are likely to receive no disturbance. There th? y ^fcfinue for some months ; ,d>ur4n i*hich time, neither cold nor beat, neither mois- ture nor fumigation, can in the least retard their exclusion ; hut they eonie forth active, and ready for mischief. It is this hardiness in the shell that seems to continue the breed ; as the old ones die every winter, or are easily de?troy- d by any fumigation that is used for that pur* pose. But. the egg seems incapable of destruc- tion ; even those men who make a livelihood by killing these nauseous insects, though they can anevyer for the parent, can never be sure of the egg. For this reason they usually pay those houses to which they are called, a second or a -third visit, and at last exterminate them hyper- severance. Cleanliness seems to be the best antidote t& remove them; and wherever that is waritingv their increase seems but a ju*t punishment. Indeed, they are sometimes found in such num. bers among old furniture, and neglected cham- bers, exposed to the south, that, wanting otru*r sustenance, they devour each other- They a 'hop of the East Indie*, are about six inches long, jand as thick as a man's finger : they consist of many joints ; and frcoi each joint is a Je on each side ; they are covered with hair, and seem to have no eyes; but there are two feelers n the head, by which they find out the way they are to pass : the heaid is very round, with two sharp teeth, with which they inflict wounds that are very dangerous. A sailor that was jbit by one, felt an excessive pain, and his life was supposed to be in danger ; however, he recovered, by the application of roasted onions to the part. Of this animal there are different kinds; some Jiving, like worms, in holes in the earth ; others tinder stones, and among rotten wood ; so that nothing is more dangerous than removing tlioije in the places where they breed, THE LEECH. THE next that we shall mention is the I>*elj, Vvhich undergoes no transformations ; but when once excluded from the body of me parent, pre- serve? its first figure to the end. The leech, from its uses in medicine, is one of those inflect* that man has taken care to provide for ; bur of a great variety, one kind only is considered as serviceable. The horse-leech, which i tlia largest of all, and grows to four inches in length, with a glossy black surface, is of no use, as it will nt stick to the skin. The gnaii- leech is but an incb in length, and though it will stiok, is not large enough to extract a suf- ficient quantity of blood from the patient ; the broad-tailed leech, which grows to an iuch and a half in length, with the back raised into a w>rt of a ridcre, will stick but on very few occasions; it is the large brown leech, with a whitish belly, that is made use of in medicine, and whose his- tory best merits curiosity. The leech has the general figure of a *rori, and is about as long as one's middle finger. Jtt skin is composed of rinrs, by means of which it is possessed of its agility, and swimt |n water. It contracts itself, when out of water, in such a manner, Jhat when touched it u not abort? an inch long. It hn a mail head. and a black skin, edged with a yellow line oft *ach sidp, with some yellowish spots on the back. The belly also, which is of a reddish colour, is marked with whitish yellow spots. But the most retparkable part of thfs animal i the mouth, which is composed of two lips, that t ike whatever form the insect finals convenient. When at rest, the opening is nearly triangular ; and withi/i it are placed three very sharp teeth, capable of piercing not only the human gkin, but also that of an horte or an ox; stj.ll deeper in the head, is discovered the tongue, which }s composed of a strong fleshy substance, and which serves to assist the animal in sucking, when it has inflicted its triple wound ; for no sooner is the voracious creature applied to the $kin than it buriea its teeth therein, then close* itn lips round the wounds which jt has made ; and thus, in the manner of a cupping-glass, extracts the blood a* it flows to the different rifice*. But it u not in this instance alone that the leech differs from all other insects. It was re- marked in a former chapter, that the whole in- *eet tribe had tije opening into their lungs placed ,in their sides, and that ihey breathed through thoe apertures as other annuals dt through th^ir mouth. A drop of oil poured ou the sides of a wasp, a bee, or a worm, would quickly suffocate them, by stopping up the through whieh they breal*e - 9 but it 15 164 Mh^rwisft with the leech, for jhis animal may hf)ourrng marsh, among some bushes ; but the number of leeches was soerreat in this placp,- and they stuck to her so close, that the poor crea- ture expired from the cn.mntiry of blood which the lost by their united efforts. Nor is thi much to be wondered at, since one of those in- sects that, when empty, general! v weighs but a scruple, will, when gorged, weigh more than two drachms. Wh^n leeches are to be applied, the best way is to take them from -the' water in which they are contained about an hour before, for they thus become more voracious, and fasten mora readily. When full With bhuxl, they general iy fall off of themselves; but if it be thought n- eessary to take them from the wound, care should be used to pull them very gonlly, or even o sprinkle them with salt, if they continue to alhere; for, if they be plucked rudely away, it frequently happens I hat they leave their teeth in the wound, which makes a very troublesome inflammation, and is often attended with dangeiv re* if fhey be slott in fixing to a part, they are often enticed by rubbing it with milk or blood, or Water mixed with sugar. As salt is a poison to most insects, many people throw it upon the leech when it has dropped from the wound, by which means it disgorge* the blood it has swal- lowed, and is then kept for repeated application. They seldom, however, stick after this operation; and as the price is but tmall, fresh leeches should always be applied whenever such an application U thought necessary. THE SNAIL. eyes of the Garden Snail are placed i* \fy horns, one at the end of each hdrn, which he can draw if! at plea-sure. The microscope not only discover* the heart beating just against the round hole near the neck, which seems the place of respiration, but also the liver, spleen, stomach, and intestines, with the veins, arteries, mouth, and teeth, are plainly observable. The intestines of this creature are green, from ita eating herbs, and are branched all over with fine capillary whitish veins; the mouth is like a hare's or rabbit'*, with four or six needle teeth, resembling; those ?f leeches, and of a substance like horn* Covvper pives the following pretty description t)f this animal; WITHIN his house secure he hides, When danger imminent betides Of storm, or other harm besides Of weathafc, Give but his horns the slightest to'uch, His self-collecting power is such, He shrink* into his house with much Where'er he dwells, he dwells alone, Except himself has chattels none, Well satisfied to be his own Whole treastllP Thus, Hermit-like, his life he leads, Nor partner of his banquet needs, And, if he meets one, onlf feeds The faster; ON CRUELTY TO INSECTS I WOULD not enter on my list of friends ublic path ; But he that has humanity, forewarned, Will tr^fc aside, and let the reptile live. , The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight, And charged perhaps with venom, that intrudt*,' A visiter unwelcome, into scenes Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove, The chamber, of refectory, may die: A necessary act incurs no blame. Not so when, held within their proper bounds/ And guiltless of offence, they range the air, Or take their pastime in the spacious field : There they are privileged ; and he that hunti Or harms thenv there, is guilty of a wrong, Disturbs th' economy of Nature's realm, Who, when she formed, designed them an abode* Tfce m is this ; if man's convenience, kea.1U, in I)* afety interfere, hl rights and claims ,4re paramount, and must extinguish theirs, JJJEe they are all the meanest things that ait* AS free to live, and to enjoy that life, ^M God was free to form them at the first, \Vho in his sovereign wisdom made them aJL Ve therefore, who low mewy, T8Aetj vos* Sfigl A>