-ri 
 
 
 
 PBti 
 
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 CIOL06Y 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 G 
 
 Vo. 
 
 Division 
 
 Range 
 Shelf... 
 
 Received 
 
 climate. When he feels the chill blasts he quirls 
 down on a leaf and before it is passed he is pa- 
 He keeps unsuitable hours and never 
 - the hive. In this way multitudes 
 
 res accustomed to a northern 
 feeling the co 1 ' 1 nt 
 
 Yau ^rcum- 
 
 '8, bulk . ^craordinary 
 
 size, and rearic- .eat columns of golden 
 
 v ax. That honey was another pleasing evidence 
 
 of the superior capacity of California to produce 
 
 lies and luxuries of all climes. . 
 
 The Grasshopper Plague. 
 
 EDITORS CALIFORNIA CHRONICLK : The ap- 
 pearance and ravages of this insect are indeed of 
 the most serious character, and it is of moment 
 [that every means that human forethought can dc 
 prise, or careful observation can note that will 
 fcend to check or destroy the inarch of this deso- 
 lating plague, should be as widely disseminated 
 as possible. The evil is upon us not upon a 
 small garden-plat, a single orchard or grain field, 
 
 ror even an entire county but it is becoming 
 universal. 
 The last few days brings us accounts from many 
 aew sections where this evil, or calamity, more 
 properly speaking, is now spreading disappoint- 
 ment and ruin throughout the Sacramento valley, 
 ur and near ; few if any escape some lose all 
 aii bear some loss. 
 
 We have received letters from Colusi, Shasta, 
 lone Valley, and they are consuming all before 
 them, marking their path way by desolation. From 
 the Putah Creek one of the brothers Wolfskill 
 has just called on us, and informs us that their loss 
 in crops will be near $10,000. 
 
 From every source we learn that irrigation at 
 night, and showering the trees and vines, have 
 in many instances driven them away. Heavy 
 ihades and awnings serve to protect and save. 
 Grounds that are low and damp, and such a?, by 
 constant cultivation, give forth a dew at night, 
 this insect avoids. 
 
 Shade and moisture they avoid ; a hot and dry 
 location they select, and the hotter the day the 
 more terrible their ravages ; the hottest days they 
 move with more rapidity. 
 
 No one not familiar with their progress can 
 have any conception of the immense quantities 
 now in this vicinity. For the last three days the 
 very air has been full of them over this city, re- 
 sembling a dense snow storm the myriads 8,3 
 they fly shining in the sun like snow flakes. So 
 numerous are they, it is believed that were all 
 which are floating in the heavens above to drop 
 upon this city for even twenty-four hours, every- 
 thing animal or vegetable would cease to exist, 
 unless sheltered in close rooms. 
 
 Instances of animals being alarmed by the 
 masses that light upon and bite them, and men 
 traveling upon stages and otherwise have felt 
 their sting and inconvenience. They seem to be 
 on the increase, and extending their ravages 
 large fields of wheat and oats have suffered in 
 the vicinity of lone and other upper valleys. 
 
 We most earnestly urge all to the frequent and 
 free use of water, under and upon the vegetable 
 only let it be remembered " do this by night," 
 so that the foliage shall be dry by day again. 
 
 It is important that all who obtain any fact that 
 goes to help in this new trial to this important in- 
 terest should make it known, and we know the 
 press will cheerfully lend its aid. 
 
 With respect, yours, WARREN, 
 
 California Farmer., 
 
 Sacramento, July 2d, 185jjp 
 
 A TUSK. A few days since there was 
 taken out of Table Mountain, Tuolurape 
 count}', according to the Columbian, a large 
 Tusk, .measuring 4 feet 9 inches in 1 
 and 12 inches iu circumference. It was soj 
 much decayed that upon exposure tolbe air| 
 it crumbled to pieces. The same gnvvel io 
 which it was found has paid as'high us twen- 
 ty-four ounces to the hand per day, and 
 is now doing well. 
 

 I 
 
THE EI.KPTI.INT ON A STEAMBOAT. When the i 
 elephant went up the lake on the steamer Lady 
 Elgin, a short Mine since, we remarked the huge 
 traveller might be a somewhat ugly customer on 
 board a boat. It appears that on the passage the 
 wheelsman suddenly found difficulty in changing 
 the boat's course. For, tug and jerk, and bear on 
 as much as he would, the wheel would not budge 
 an inch. 
 
 "Port helm," cried the captain. 
 
 "Aye, aye, sir," responded the wheelsman. 
 
 But still the helm was "hard a starboard," and 
 the boat was taking a turn into the middle of the 
 lake. The captain swore, and the mate made 
 for the wheel-house. Pushing the man aside, he 
 'took hold himself. It was of no use the mate 
 was no more successful than the wheelsman. 
 
 " Port helm ! for God's sake ! Can't you see 
 where the boat is going ?" shouted out the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 The mate declared that something was the mat- 
 ter with the wheel, as he could not stir it. The 
 thing was perfectly inexplicable. The engine 
 was- stopped, and master, mate and all hands 
 went below to see what could be the matter. Af- 
 ter a search of some minutes, it was discovered 
 that Mr. Siam, the " elephant" of the menagerie, 
 not liking the noisy rattling of^ the chains over- 
 head, had taken upon himself the responsibility 
 of giving a new " turn" to affairs. With his 
 trunk wound around the chain he was holding 
 on with the grasp of a vice, and it was with 
 some difficulty that the keeper persuaded him 
 that such liberties could, nqt be allowed. It is 
 said that he behaved well during the rest of 
 ;he voyage. Buffalo paper. 
 
 FISH IN THE ARTESIAN CREEKS. Mr. Dabney 
 showed us last week three beautiful little fish taken 
 from his Artesian creek. 
 
 In shape these fish resemble the bass, and are 
 very red under the mouth and belly, and have 
 shaded . .lark brown color on the sides. 
 
 They have been kept for a week or more iu a turn- 
 blur of water, where we noticed them feeding on 
 the crumbs of Invad. Mr. Dabney says that they 
 have gi'd . -t sin co they were first taken. 
 
 There is no doubt that these fish came from the 
 subterranean stream through the Artesian pipes to 
 upper earth. Mr. Dabney "says that one of them 
 was found iu a bucket which was set under the 
 spout of the Artesian well. 
 
 In many of the Artesian creeks at San Jose these 
 fish have been found; but in Distillery creek, which 
 flows past our domicil, none have been discovered 
 the "Native American" element from that manu- 
 factory j '. being congenial to the life of 
 fishes.- '/. 3 S <5~* ' 
 
 A DOG'S AFFECTION FOR HIS MASTER. Mr. 0. 
 M. Hopkins, late of Scottsburg, who died in Jan* 
 uary last, had a small and sprightly terrier, named 
 
 Nig," of which he wa% very fond. After tha 
 death of his master, Nig grewrmelancholy. Noth- 
 ing the family could do seemed to anluse him. He 
 could not be enticed from the" side of his raistreas 
 but would follow her about everywhere, grave 
 and sedate, as though actually thinking of his 
 dead master. One day a closet containing his 
 master's clothing was opened. No sooner did 
 Nig discover the garments than he frisked about 
 almost frantic with delight, evidently expecting 
 hii master to appear. When the poor animal 
 discovered his error, he testified hia disappoint- 
 ment by piteous and mournful bowlings. In May 
 laat, poor Nig grew more melancholy than ever. 
 All attempts to induce him to leave the house 
 were unavailing, until one day hfo mistress went 
 to visit the grave of her husband. Then he fol- 
 lowed, and on arriving at the mound commenced 
 digging and moaning, testifying his grief iu thd 
 most affecting manner. From that time he could 
 not be enticed" to leave the grave, but stayed daj 
 and night, till he starved to death. He wa 
 found there, stretched on the earth, cold and stiff. 
 
 WILLIAM BUTTS & JOHN O. WHEEL^ 
 EDITORS. 
 
 LOS ANGELES, JULY 11, 1855. 
 
 \ 
 
 Tremendous Shock of an Earth- 
 quake. 
 
 Last eveniug at about half-past seven was ex- 
 perienced the heaviest and most tremcnduous 
 shock of an earthquake ever known in this coun- 
 try and one that will be long remembered in this 
 section, such was its force that large numbers of 
 our one story buildings were cracked from top to 
 bottom, glass and crockery were thrown from the 
 shelves, windows broken, etc., etc. Nearly every 
 merchant in this city suffered quite severely in 
 this manner. Lamps were upset, families seated 
 at the tea-table were dismayed to witness the sud- 
 den overturn of tea-urns and dishes and fled af- 
 frighted to the open 'air. Clocks were thrown 
 down. Indeed, hardly a building escaped without 
 damage to its walls, or destruction of some por- 
 tion of its contents. The shock lasted several 
 seconds and appeared to lift up and twist the 
 ground about, accompanied by a roaring noise 
 like the approach of a hurricane. 
 
 The weather during the day had been some- 
 what cloudy and very unusual for this season. 
 There was a slight fall of rain about 11 A. M. 
 The movements appeared to come from the east, 
 although its suddenness rendered it impossible to 
 determine with any accuracy its direction. Los 
 Angeles never took as thorough a purge before, 
 every house was deserted in a trice. There 
 can be no doubt that had our city been composed 
 of three and four story buildings, it would have 
 been levelled with the ground. Our buildings 
 are geuerally but one story, however, and to this 
 fact are we indebted for our escape from what 
 might have been a fearful catastrophe. As it was 
 walls of two and a half and three feet in thickness, 
 were rent asunder, and a general ripping and 
 crackling took place that created universal con- 
 sternation and brought Miller's prophecies vivid- 
 ly to mind. Our citizens are busily engaged to- 
 day in repairing damages in readiness for another 
 shake. 
 
 1ST Such immense swarms of locusts have latterly 
 visited Odessa, that the city is described as being 
 completely darkened with them. Great damage has 
 been occasioned by them this year throughout the 
 whole of southern Russia^ 
 
 THE KAISER AND THE POPE. A concordat has 
 been signed between Austria and Rome. Judas has 
 kissed Barabbas. . 
 
 GF* Envy is defined as punishing one's self for 
 being inferior to one's neighbor. \ 
 
 /. ^->^,-. $ /r~ 
 
 e ani- 
 We 
 
 e ladies 
 
 clever- 
 
 mself as 
 
 ly com- 
 
 )f which 
 
 . Jack 
 
 and on 
 
 was ee- 
 
 ' Jour. 
 
 "WHERE DO THK SPONGES Go ?" They are too large 
 to be sonceale-:'., ai<d too remarkable to be overlook- 
 ed and yet, year after year, we are shipping 
 from twenty to thirty tons of sponges or about 
 twenty-five millions of separate sponges to the New 
 York market without any knowledge of what be- 
 comes of them. We have seen cloth, hats and shoes 
 
 all S aid to be made of the sponge but we don t 
 
 believe a word of it. The demand and the price for 
 this article have steadily increased with the supply. 
 Twelve and a half cents per pound were given for 
 them but five years ago, and now, though the quan- 
 tity shipped has steadily increased, forty cents per 
 par pound are readily obtained, and the demand 
 increases. The value of the last year's shipme 
 has been $15,000. Key West (Florida) Key of 
 Gutf. jS-e^, /' 
 
THE SUN. 
 
 . 130 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 ATURDAY, DECEMBElTis. 1855. 
 
 WORM EATEX. Several piles have been removed 
 
 . iu the vicinity of Mt-igg's wharf, 
 
 ' tnd were foniid to be thoroughly honey-combed 
 
 he effect of worms. The destructiveness of these 
 
 vorms has already rendered useless many thousand* 
 
 if piles in this harbor, and in many instances, a 
 
 oraplete set of new piles have been driven, or a re- 
 
 Hort had to filling in the water lota with earth. In 
 
 aany of the South American ports, and we oelieve, 
 
 n one or two instances in San Francisco, the pile* 
 
 ire specially prepared, either by covering them 
 
 , vith copper, or some kind of coating, to resist the 
 
 ' vorm which bores into the hardest timber and speed;- 
 
 "y render the wood unfit for the purpose intended. 
 
 jAn old hulk lying off Rincon Point, was recently 
 
 , Broken up and iu places where the copper had been 
 
 ; Torn off, the wood is perforated in every direction 
 
 py the worms. There is no apparent remedy against 
 
 che evil except the one mentioned. 
 
 REMAINS OP A MASTODON. Messrs. 
 Stearns & Stevens, of Chaw's Flat, have 
 sbown the editor of the Sonera Demo- 
 crat an immense tusk, taken from the 
 mining claim of the first named gentle- 
 man, on the 3d instant, about five or 
 six feet below the surface. The tusk 
 was supposed to be, when perfect, 
 i about nine feet in length, the portion 
 I exhibited being three or four feet from 
 I the point, and in a very good state of 
 i preservation. A great many fragments 
 of the animal had been found from 
 time to time in the same vicinity, but 
 not enough sufficiently preserved to 
 form a conception of its character and 
 vast proportions. ^^.^ /&. {f& 
 
 ^!!III|:r:-l 
 
 
 
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 2 a" 
 
 
 H- ?, '9- 2 
 
 '5 .* S " 
 
 
 50 ceijts at a f 1 per pair It wouU 
 compute the number brought to 
 dealer inFul on Market hae bought 
 
 NEW-YORK AS A GAME MARKET. We queet'oa 
 wbetber there is a market in the world supplied with 
 aa great a variety Of wUd game as the City of New- 
 York. Not oly do the va*t regions of the West and 
 the Ca&adas afford their contributions, but wherein 
 they fail Europe is drawn upon to make up the defi- 
 ciency. All descriptions of good game brought to 
 market are retkdily bought up. / /..fiftf /frf5^~ 
 
 VENISON may be placed at the' head of the list of 
 choice game. The carcasses are generally fir warded 
 from different points at the West, in a frozen state, 
 and aaeet with iea<3y sale 
 
 WOODCOCK brings the highest price of any bird 
 bror.gbt to market, and ia to be had from the 1st of 
 July to about the 1st of December. It is estimated 
 that abo*t 40,000 are wrought to the Citv during the 
 season of which 15,000 are received at Faiton Mar- 
 ket. Prices range from 40 cents to $1 per brace, and 
 avf ra^ e eaj 75 cen's. 
 
 PARTRIDGES or PHEASANTS are seen from September 
 to the 5th of January, w^en their sale is prohibited 
 by law. Like the woodcock this choice bird is to be 
 found in all the surrounding country, but especially in 
 the Eastern States At least 300 are brought to the 
 Cry per day, or say 36,000 during the four months 
 average price 75 ce-;te. 
 
 QUAILS bring from f 1 50 to $2 50 per dozen during 
 the Fall months, bu'. during the Winter, when they 
 may be tracked on rhe BOOW, they are taken in im- 
 mei f e quantities in the Wetter n States, and brought 
 to the City b> tune; average price, $1 per dozen. 
 
 GtousEfend PRAIRIE HENS come exclusively from 
 the West. In Wmter tnej are very abuudant, when 
 they/ ate trapped in great number*, aud ee 1 as low as 
 would be impose ble to 
 the Oity, but one 
 bought at one transaction, 
 to the aniMU't of $1,100. 
 
 HARES are to be foui d in Canada, and some few io 
 tbis State; also in Rhode Island. In Wiuter toeir 
 skin is peiftc Jy w; it*. The ai.imal is not so highly 
 es'temed bere as it> Eogland. Price, about 50 cents 
 per pair. Abou", 3,000 are actually brought to the 
 City, mostly from tne Briish Provinces. The soaall 
 gray rabbit is quite plentiful all around us, and prob- 
 ably eome 10,000 are brought to market in the season. 
 Average pr ce 37| cents pir< 
 
 PLOVER AND SNIPE Of this tribe there are some 
 ix or eight kinds, and tbere are probably 10,000 dozen 
 eold here during thn year. 
 
 At least 10 to 15 per cent of all the game attempted 
 to be brought >o thus market is lost on its way. either 
 from charges in the weather or ignorance on the part 
 
 $U&$&Jw**^^ 
 
 pair. Wild Geese f re verj abuudaut. Sone seasons 
 probably 3 000 to 5,000 ae kil'ed for this market, and 
 bring, on a , averse, $1 per head. Brant are proba- 
 bly ibe best ea't water Duck. We have them ia the 
 Sprk-g ai d Pall from Long Island, and sometiuaes dar- 
 irg the Wiater from the South They are of a delicate 
 construction, and ere un*ble to eodure the cold of a 
 Northern climate. About 5,000 are sold here at from 
 75 cents to f 3 a pair. In May they are very fat, and 
 tbe best duct at that eeaeoo. Tfce Mal'ardjs another 
 very fine duck, found on our lakes aud rivers-. Aoout 
 2,000 are brought to this market. Tue Black Dujk, 
 Widgeon aiid Broad-bill, abundant in our waters, 
 es^ ecmJly on tbe eeft shore, are acarctly ioferior in 
 quality. They are to be found in ibe market from 
 Fall till late in the Spring. About 30 000 are annually 
 sold bere, at an average of 50 cents to 62 cents per 
 pair We also receive from Virginia ouring tne Vv^utor 
 months, an immense quantify of Virginia or Gray 
 Duck whicb are veiy fioe. About 20,000 come to tbis 
 market. The Blue and Green Tail ia toother duct ia 
 nuch tf enrmiid, and of wbicb. about 5.000 are received. 
 WILD PIGEONS are very abuiidaut ttsome s^asoas. 
 Tin re bave arrived here iu one d&y 2>QQO nozen, aid 
 the> will sell from 50 centa to $1 50 per dozen. Tae 
 average number sold neve each year is estimated to 
 be 25,000 dozen, tboughthe' quantity varies widely in 
 d)ff(-rtit jears. One dealer hi Pulton Market h-s re- 
 ceived sixty barrels, or 1,500 dozen, iu a single day, 
 which had oeen caught in ibis S ate aod Peonsylvaaia, 
 and were forwarded over the Erie Railroad. 
 
 The European tratfe in Americaa game is extensive, 
 as the steamers afford a rapid and prompt meaos of 
 transpcrtitioE. Luge quantities of cauvi8-bck 
 duckf are sent out, as nothing like it are to be had 
 abroad On the Other hand, we import English 
 pheasants, Scotch grouse, and occasionally a few 
 cares. [Journal of Commerce. 
 
HYDROPHOBIA. It is no pleasure to a dog to 
 go mad. Quite the reverse. Dreadful as hydro- 
 phobia may be to the human being, rabies ia 
 worse to the dog. It makes its approach more 
 gradually. It lasts longer, and it is more intense 
 while it endures. The dog that is going mad 
 feels unwell for a long time prior to the full de- 
 velopment of the disease. He is very ill, but he 
 does not know what ails him. He feels dissatis- 
 fied with everything ; vexed without a reason ; 
 and, greatly against his better nature, very snap- 
 pish. Feeling thus, he longs to avoid all annoy- 
 ance by being alone. This makes him seem 
 strange to those who are most accustomed to him. 
 The sensation induces him to seek solitude. But 
 there is another reason which decides his choice 
 of a resting place. The light inflicts upon him 
 intense agony. The sun is to him an instrument 
 of torture, which he therefore studies to avoid 
 for his brain aches, and feels as if it were a tremb- 
 ling jelly. 
 
 This induces the poor brute to find out the 
 holes and corners where he is least likely to be 
 noticed, and into which the light is unable to en- 
 ter. In solitude and darkness he passes his day. 
 If his retreat be discovered, and the master's 
 voice bid him to come forth, the affectionate 
 creature's countenance brightens, his tail beats 
 the ground, and he leaves his hiding place, 
 anxious to obey the loved authority ; but before 
 he has gone half the distance, a kind of sensation 
 comes over him which produces an instantaneous 
 change in his whole appearance. He seems to 
 say to himself: " Why cannot you let me alone ? 
 Go away ! Do go away ! You trouble me 
 oain me ! " And thereupon he suddenly turns 
 tan ^d darts back into his dark corner. If let 
 alone, thtro he will remain ; perhaps frothing a 
 little at the mouth, and drinking a great deal of 
 wfter, but not issuing from his hiding-place to 
 seek after food. His appetites are altered ; hair, 
 straw, dirt, filth, excrement, ra g q f tin shavings, 
 stones, the most noisome and unnatural sub- 
 stances, are then the delicacies for which the 
 poor dog, changed by disease, longs and s-vallows, 
 in hope to ease a burning stomach. He is *.-ost 
 anxious for liquids. He is now altogether change/! 
 .,avuj,fv-, iivi 10 ma one, simpiy considered, terri- 
 ble. He cannot pause to-tear the creature he 
 has caught. He snaps and then rushes onward, 
 till, fairly exhausted, and unable longer to follow, 
 he sinks down and the sheep pass forward, to be 
 no more molested. He may have bitten twenty 
 or thirty in his mad onslaught ; and would have 
 worried more, had his strength lasted for the 
 furore of madness then had possession of him. 
 He may be slain while on these excursions ; but 
 if he escapes, he returns home and seeks the 
 darkness and quiet of his former abode. His 
 thirst increases, but with it conies the swelling of 
 the throat. 
 
 He will plunge his head into water, BO raven- 
 ous is his desire ; but not a drop of the liquid can 
 he swallow, though its surface is coveredfcfcith 
 bubbles in consequence of the efforts he makes to 
 gulp the smallest quantity. The throat ia en- 
 larged to that extent which will permit nothing 
 to pass. He is the victim of the most horrible 
 inflammation of the stomach, and the most in- 
 tense inflammation of the bowels. His state of 
 suffering is most pitiable. He has lost all self- 
 reliance ; even feeling is gone. He flies at and 
 pulls to pieces anything that is within his reach. 
 One animal in this condition being confined near 
 a fire, flew at the burning mass, pulled out the 
 live coals, and in his fury scrunched them. He 
 i emits the most hideous cries. The noise he makes 
 | is incessant and peculiar. It begins as a bark, 
 ; which sound, being too torturing to be continued, 
 ' is quickly changed to a howl, which is suddenly 
 cut short in the middle ; and so the poor wretch 
 at last falk, fairly worn but by a terrible disease. 
 I AfayhcvJs Dons. 
 
 e ilIan-;*Bonltej of Brazil. 
 
 The captain of the Fivm-h schooner Adrienne, \ 
 who last summer was stationed at Pernambuco, i 
 Brazil, gives the following sketch of a tame 
 monkey t 
 
 A short time ao I dined at a Brazillian mer- 
 chant's. The conversation turned upon the well 
 tutored chimpanze of Mr. Vanneck's, a creele 
 gentleman, whose slave had brought him ihe mon- 
 *ey, which he had caught in the woods. Every 
 one praised the accomplished animal giving 
 accounts of its talents so wonderful that I could 
 not help expressing some incredulity. My host 
 smiled saying I was not the first who would nut 
 believe in these results of animal education until 
 he had seen it wuh his owto eye**-. He therefore 
 proposed to me to call on Mr. Vanneck. 
 
 I gladly consented, arid on the following morn- 
 ing we set out. The house of the Creole lies on. 
 .he road to Olinda, about an hour's ride from 
 town. We proceeded along splendid hedges of 
 cactus shaded by the bananas and palm trees, and 
 at lengih observed his chamiing villa. A negro 
 received us at the entrance and took us to ihe 
 p ar l or _hastening to tell his master of our visit. 
 The first object which caught our attention was 
 the monkey seated on a stool and sewing with 
 great industry. Much struck, I watched him at- 
 tentively, while he, not paying any attention to 
 us, proceeded with his work. The door opened; 
 Mr. Vanueck, reclining on an easy chair, was 
 wheeled in. Though his legs are paralyzed he 
 seeios bright and cheerful ; he welcomed us most 
 kindly. The monkey went on sewing with great 
 zeal. I could not retrain from exclaiming " How 
 vvouderful !" for the manner and process of the 
 animal were those of a practical tailor. He was 
 sewing a pair of striped pantaloons, the narrow 
 shape of which showed that they were intended 
 or himself. 
 
 A negro new appeared announcing madame 
 Jasmin, whom Mr. Vanneck introduced as his 
 neighbor. Madame Jasmin was accompanied by 
 uer little daughter, a girl of twelve years, who 
 immediately ran to the monkey greeting him aa 
 as an old friend, beginning to prattle with him. 
 Jack furtively peeped at his master ; but as Mr. 
 Varmeck's glance was stern, the tail- a* went on 
 sewing. Suddenly his thread broke ; and he put 
 he end to his mou.h, smoo hed ir, \\itli his left 
 paw, and threaded the need o again. Mr. Van- 
 ,ieek then turned to him, and, speaking ia the 
 monkey drew it from my pocket and handed it to 
 me. " Now show your room to my guests," con- 
 tinued his master; and he opened a door at which 
 he stopped to let us pass, and then followed him 
 self. Everything was extremely tidy in the small 
 room. There was a bed with a mattress ; a table, 
 soma chairs, drawers, and various toys; a gun 
 hung on the wall. The hell was wrung ; Jack 
 went and reappeared -^iih his master, wheeling in 
 the chair. Meanwhih I had taken the gun from 
 the wall ; Mr. Vanneck handed it to the monkey, 
 who fetched the powder-flask and shot-bag, and in 
 the whole process of loading acquitted himself 
 like a rifleman. I had already seen so much that 
 was astonishing, that I hardly felt surprised at 
 his feat. Jack now placed himself in an open 
 window, took aim and discharged the gun without 
 being the least startled by the report. He then 
 went through sword exercise with the same skill./ 
 It would be too long to jot .down all Mr. Van-j 
 neck told us about his method of education and\ 
 training; the above facts, witnessed by myself,' 
 bear sufficient evidence of the abilities of the ani- 
 mal, and its master's talents for tuition. We 
 stayed to supper, to which there came more ladies 
 and gentlemen. Jack again exhibited his clever- 
 ness in waiting, at which he acquitted himself as 
 well as any man-servant. Going home my com- 
 panion missed a small box of sweets, out of which 
 he had regaled the monkey with almonds. Jack 
 had managed to steal it from his pocket; and on 
 being . afterwards convicted of the theft was se- 
 verely punished by his master. Chambers' Jour. 
 
THOS. K. DOWNING-, City Inspector. 
 CITY INSPECTOR' 8 OFFICE, New- York, Nov. 17, 1855. 
 
 Wild Beasts at Auction Great Sale at the \ 
 Hippodrome. 
 
 The sale of the remainder of wild beasts of the 
 American Menagerie at the Hippodrome on Monday, 
 was not so well attended nor so spirited as was ex- 
 pected. The attendance was doubtless affected 
 somewhat by the advertised requirenfent of one shil- 
 ling for admittance ; and bidders were probably in 
 some fear that a purchase would place them in the 
 unenviable position of the indiscreet gentleman who 
 bought an elephant and had no place, with the ex- 
 ception of a small carpeted back parlor, to keep him 
 in. 
 
 When the hour arrived at which the sale was ad- 
 vertised to commence, Mr. A. C. TBTTLE, the auc- 
 tioneer, proceeded to dispose of the animals in as 
 cool and every-day business-like as if he were knock- 
 ing down second-hand furniture, or retired om- 
 nibus horses. The first animal offered for sale was 
 a large white bear said to be the only one living 
 in America ; and if the price at which he was sold 
 is a fair criterion by which to judge of the general 
 estimation in which these Polar gentlemen are held, 
 it is not probable that another will voluntarily leave 
 his dear native ice.^o become a wandering exile in 
 America, for man^^ars to come. Mr. E. M. SHIELDS 
 was the only bidder present who evinced anything 
 approaching to an adequate appreciation of the val- 
 ue of his society ; and to him the only living white 
 bear was knocked down for the sum of $475, cage 
 and all. His bearship heard himself disposed of 
 with as little apparent concern as hardened criminals 
 " exhibit on hearing a sentence that they be hanged 
 by the neck. His only expression was.that he had a 
 feverish desire for a nice clean piece of ice. 
 
 Royalty went at a still lower price. A Bengal 
 tiger with a royal title, fierce expression of coun- 
 tenance, huge paws, and a powerful inclination to 
 lie down, was sold to Mr. HENEY BUTLEK for $225. 
 
 The next lot was two performing lions and a 
 lioness, with their den. The lions were noble fel- 
 lows; but, notwithstanding they shook their manes, 
 wagged their tails, and roared majestically, they 
 were knocked down, in their den, to Mr. H BUTLBTI, 
 lor the insignificant sum of $375. The same gentle- 
 man purchased a zebra, a beautiful little leopard, 
 and a cage, for $285. 
 
 The greatest insult ever offered to the race of 
 iorest kings was now given by a Republican Auc- 
 tioneer. He put a lion and a hyena up for sale to- 
 gether. His majesty was sorely mortified so much 
 FO that he lost his hair at the bare thought. Both 
 were sold to Mr. BCTLEE for $75 less than the cage 
 cost when new. Mr. E. G. JABVIS purchased a 
 mzly bear and cage, for $150. The bear did 
 when Mr. JOSEPH CUSHINO gaTefSW forarhS^roI 
 
 le man who is generally known as He who bought 
 the elephant, turned up again near the close of the 
 le, and what is remarkable, had another man with 
 him of alike propensity. As with all evil practices 
 t-o is it with elephant-buying 
 
 " It grows by what it feeds upon. " 
 ntleman, who did not know what 
 
 
 For elephant Canada. . 
 For elephant Fanny. 
 For elephant Mogul 
 Tor etephant Mickey. 
 
 ' 
 1>10 ' J 
 
 en, tut that of b^partners-MeSnf E T 
 t 
 
 !, but duty compels us to do it 
 The sale of a camel, now in Ohio, on condition that 
 J,U purrhagpr pay for hi keeping from Au* 30 to 
 
 the p*. !icluded 
 
 Earthquake Waves on tlie Coast of Califor- 
 iiitt. * // / { 
 
 At the American Association for the Advancement 
 of Seu'iu-i', which met last month at Providence, R. I., 
 P re lessor A. D. Bache read a paper on the Earth- 
 quake Waves which'took place on the Western Coast 
 of the United States 6u the 23d and 28th of Decem- 
 ber, 1S-'H. The following report on the subject ap- 
 pears in the X. Y. Tribune of August 20th : 
 
 Oa the 23d of December, 1854, at 9 A. M., an 
 earthquake occurred at Simoda, on the island of Ni- 
 phon, Japan, that resulted in the wreck of the Rus- 
 sian frigate Diana. The harbor was first emptied of 
 water ; then came in an enormous wave, which again 
 receded. (It appeared from the Rev. Mr. Jones that 
 the whole character of the harbor of Simoda, pre- 
 viously surveyed by the Poichattan, has been changed 
 by the earthquake.) A report from the Bonin Isl- 
 ands is not sufficiently exact to use for our main 
 purpose, but points to Simoda as the centre oi 
 disturbance. (Simoda, according to Mr. Jones, is 
 volcanic; Bonin appears not to be.) Now the Coast 
 Survey has three self-acting tide-guages, at Astoria, 
 ori Columbia River, San Francisco, and San Diego. 
 They record the rise of the tide on a cylinder turned 
 by a clock. The apparatus is protected more or less 
 from the oscillations that wind-waves would cause, 
 which only cause a trembling of the index or stylus. 
 The guage at Astoria was but slightly arfected by the 
 earthquake wave, owing to the bar on the river and 
 the distance it had to ascend. At San Francisco, 
 4,800 miles from Simoda, the wave arrived 12 hours 
 16 minutes after the beginning of the earthquake. A 
 series of seven waves, each about half an hour in du- 
 ration, or 35 minutes, each series successively smaller, 
 and separated by a quiet time of an hour from the 
 preceding, was recorder at San Francisco. At San 
 Diego the wave had traversed 5,200 miles in 12 hours 
 38 minutes, and produced likewise a series of sever 
 waves, each nearly corresponding to those at San 
 Francisco, but the second series stronger than the 
 first and third. In height they were less, the high- 
 est at San Francisco being .7 of a foot, at San Diegc 
 The waves at San Diego could not have com* 
 
 jm San Francisco, as they would have arrived 
 much later. The velocity with which a wave travels 
 depends on the depth of the ocean. The second anc 
 third series were but repetitions of the first wave thai 
 had reached the same points, traveling through shal- 
 lower water. The calculations based on these date 
 give for the Pacific Ocean a depth of from 14,000 tc 
 18,000 fathoms. It is remarkable how the estimates 
 of the ocean's depth have grown less. La Place as- 
 sumed it at 10 miles, Whewell at 3.o, while this esti- 
 mate brings it down to about 2 miles. 
 
 OfVj- The Pacific Ittantodon. 
 
 We have now lying upon" our table a fossilized 
 mammoth grinder of the- Mastodon Maximum 
 which was found in a small branch at Canemah 
 by Mr. Saml. K. Barlow. The grinder was pn- 
 tect when discovered and weighed three pounds. 
 Ao less than seven species of the Maatodon have 
 been discovered in different parts of the world 
 three in Europe, two in South America, one 
 in India, and one in the United States. 
 
 That which has been found in the United 
 Mates is the largest specimen the world has ever 
 produced and has consequently received the name 
 01 Mastodon Af axioms. In the Museum of Mr. 
 ? u* of X hllad elphia, there IB a skeleton put up 
 which measures fifteen feet in length, and eleven 
 
 it in height. The bones of the Mastodon have 
 'ever been discovered further east than Burling- 
 ton, Conn, whilst vast numbers of them have been 
 Kentuck nei g hborh od of Big Bone Lick of 
 
 We have now the pleasure of announcing the 
 nt discovery of the kind on the Pacific coast by 
 
 over ]h T- d S ' K ' Barlow ' who is known all 
 the Lmon as the old pioneer who cut the 
 first wagon road through the Cascade Mountains, 
 Urcgon Argus. 
 
A TUOIT FISH LIVING IN A WEI.I, TWENTV- 
 FIVK YEARS. Mr. F. Hoyt, a correspondent of 
 the Country Gentleman, writing from South 
 East, New York, November 19th. says : / 
 
 Can any one tell how lo-g a trout fish will live .'. 
 Twenty-five years the past summer I came on 
 the farm where I now am. Almost the first 
 that I did after getting in my spring crops was tot 
 drain a bog swamp, the outlet of which ieads iutd 
 fche Croton river. I had an old Scotchman to d# 
 the ditchiug. One day he brought up a trout fish.' 
 about the size of a man's little finger in his whis- 
 key jug, (by ihe by we used a little on the farm 
 then, and not since then.) I put 't in the well 
 near the house, and it is there ROW, grown to a 
 goodly size say about a foot long and large in 
 proportion. It has been fed but very little ; once 
 in a while some one throws in a grasshopper or 
 cricket, lo see him catch it. The well is thirty 
 .'.*p and water harJ,and settles down n' arly 
 t the !'o;.t-m, and ihen again rises to near the 
 en taken out a few times to clean 
 the wel; for the Tnst five years. 
 
 Friday last I got a grasshopper, the last one I 
 expect to see iliis fall, and irave it to him. The 
 water is now twenty-five feet deep, but it hardly 
 touched the suriace before he had ;tt. If any 
 one has a fis older than mine, I would like to 
 know it. 
 
 STRANGE ANIMALTHE GORILLE. A gentle- 
 man has furnished us with a translation of an ar- 
 ticle from a recent number of the Echo du Pa- 
 cifique, giving the description of a most singular 
 animal. That paper says : / &*^ 
 
 " Our French scientific newspapers, by last mail, 
 brought us accounts exceedingly interesting, of a 
 new kind of animal heretofore unknown, which 
 was sent by a French literate to the Historical Mu- 
 is, It bears the name of the Gorille, 
 ppro eg very near the human species. 
 one of the European menageries ever posses- 
 sed a living Gorille, and .the French museumjisthe 
 first to possess a dead one. The animal curiosity 
 was brought by Dr. Franquet from the coast of 
 Gabon. The Gorille absolutely resembles the 
 man, of which it has the proportions but on a 
 gigantic scale. It is as large as a giant. The legs 
 are short, thick, and of enormous size. The bust 
 long and herculean. The breast and shoulders are 
 sixty inches in circumference. Its face is black, 
 long and naked, with the exception of some gray 
 hairs upon its lip and chin. Its head is covered 
 with long stiff' hair, which, from the forehead, rises 
 directly on the skull, and reaching the nape of the 
 neck, at which point it divides, and in short, re- 
 sembling two branches of a crown. This movea- 
 ble mane stands upright at will, and gives to the 
 animal a ferocious look. Add to this two long 
 arms which may suffocate a man without the least 
 effort and hands Sufficiently large to grasp the 
 most voluminous hand of a man twice over. The 
 Gorilles are of such strength, that ten men could 
 not subdue a single one. Their principal force lies 
 in the vigorous pressing of their hands, by means 
 of which they quickly choke their enemy. Like 
 those negroes who swallow their tongues that tuey 
 may die free, the Gorille will not know slavery 
 
 A 
 
 it must be killed to be taken." 
 
 Curious Plants. 
 
 Almost every body has heard of the wonderful 
 walking leaves of Australia. For a long, time 
 after the discovery of that island, many people re- 
 ally believed that the loaves of a certain tree 
 tvhich flourishes there, could walk upon the 
 ground. The story arose in this way : 
 
 Some English sailors lauded upon the coast one 
 day, and after roaming about until they were 
 tired, they sat down under a tree to rest thein- 
 eelves. " A puff <>f wind came along, and blew off 
 a shower of leaves, which, after turning over and j 
 over |n the air, as leaves generally do, finally rest- 
 ed upon the ground. As it was midsumwer, ar.d 
 everything appeared quite green, the circumstan- 
 ces puzzled the sailors considerably. But their 
 surprise was much greater, as you may well sup- 
 pose, when, after a short time, they saw the leaves 
 crawling along the jground towards the trunks ot 
 the tree. They ran at once for the vessel without 
 stopping to examine into the matter at all, and set 
 sail away from the laad where every thing seemed 
 I to be bewitched. One of the men said thnt "he 
 expected every moment to see the trees set to 
 dance a jig." Subsequent explorations of Austra- 
 lia have taught us that these walking leaves are 
 insects. They live upon the trees. Their bodies 
 are very thin and flat, their wings forming leaf- 
 like organs. When they are disturbed, their legs 
 are folded away under ther bodies, leaving tne 
 shape exactly like a leaf, with its stem and all 
 complete. They are of a bright green colr in 
 the summer, but they gradually change iu the fall 
 with leaves, to the brown of i'rost-bittea vegeta 
 tion. When shaken from the tree, they lie for a 
 few mimics upon the ground, as though they were 
 dead, but presently they begin to crawl along 
 towards the tree, which they ascend again. They 
 rarely use their wings, although they are pretty 
 
 * well supplied in this respect, r 
 
 Another eccentric production of nature, .which 
 we find mentioned in Milner's Crimea, is the 
 "Steppe Witch." /fj 3~~ 
 
 This curious plant, which grows in the Cnm*a, 
 is in that country the theme of many a tale and 
 ballad of childhood. The plant rises to the height 
 of three feet, and ramifies considerably upwards, 
 so as to form a thick round bush, bearing pretty 
 little flowers. When sapless and withered in au- 
 tumn, the main stock is broken close to the ground 
 by the first high wind that rises; and the rounded 
 top is carried rolling, hopping and skipping over 
 the plain under the conlrol of the breeze. Other 
 small withered plants become attached to the mass, 
 and it gradually forms a huge mishappen ball; 
 while several being drifted together, adhere like 
 enormous burrs, and have some witchery in their 
 appearance, as they go advancing and bounding 
 before the gale. Hundreds of these objects may 
 be seen scouring the steppes at the same time, 
 and may easily be mistaken at a distance for hun- 
 ters and wild herds. Heavy rains put an end tc 
 the career of the witches; or the Black Sea, in- 
 to which they are blown, summarily arrests their 
 course. 
 
 
 Is IT so ? It is a popular belief that the age 
 of trees can be determined by the " rings" or 
 grains that overlie each other in their trunks. 
 Mr. Joshua Howard, of Maryland, disputes the 
 fact. He says that these rings counted on the 
 section of the tree are not of annual growth 
 are formed one at every full moon in the grow- 
 ing season, and at the latitude of Maryland five a 
 year. This he has frequently proved by felling 
 trees, the age of which he knew. The extraor- 
 dinary age given to trees by the popular rule has 
 made many persons doubt whether it is true. 
 
 LIFE WITHOUT WATER. The day before we 
 reached the Orange river we fell in with a kraal 
 of Hottentots, whom, to our great surprise, we 
 found living in a locality altogether destitute of 
 water. The milk of their cows and goats sup- 
 plied its place. Their cattle, moreover, never 
 obtained water, but found a substitute in a kind 
 of ice-plant, (mesembry-aritkemwn,) of an ex- 
 ceedingly succulent nature, which abounds in 
 those regions. But our own oxen, not accus- 
 tomed to such diet, would rarely or never touch 
 it. Until 'I had actually convinced myself as I 
 had often the opportunity of dping at an after 
 period that the men and beasts could live en- 
 tirely without water, I should perhaps have had 
 some difficulty in realizing this singular fact. 
 Anderson's Wanderings in Southwestern Africa. 
 
THE DAILY UNION. 
 
 rThe Sperm Whale and its Food. 
 The full-grown male Sperm Whale ia from six- 
 ty to seventy feet long, aad not far from 30 feet 
 in circumference in the largest part. The head 
 in front is nearly square, or has the corners 
 rounded off, and is much thinner next the lower 
 jaw, becoming thicker towards the back, where 
 it ia almost as broad as the back, increasing a 
 little in size up to the eyes, which are located 
 abuut one-third of the whole length of the fish 
 from the extreme end of the nose. The eyes 
 are about twice as large as those of an ox, and 
 have lids to shut over the ball. From this fact 
 we may suppose it sometimes sleeps, although I 
 never caught one so : the lid may serve to pro- 
 tect the eye from injury. Be this as it may, 
 none but this species of whale, or such as breathe 
 the atmosphere, have eves with lids that can be 
 hut. 
 
 From the eye, the body enlarges a little, until 
 
 we come to the middle of the fish, and from 
 
 here it tapers down to the tail or flukes, as whale- 
 
 )-, men call them. The flukes are about ten feet 
 
 across, and lie horizontal when hi natural posi- 
 
 | lion. 
 
 There Is a large hump on the lower part of the 
 back, and several small ones near the tail. There 
 are two small fins, one on each side, just behind 
 and below the eye ; these fins are about three 
 feet long, and one and a half wide. I think their 
 j only use is to steer with. The upper jaw is about 
 fifteen feet long from the socket to the extreme 
 end or point ; the lower jaw is armed with large 
 teeth, which stand apart separately ; there are 
 from twenty to twenty-five on each 'side. There 
 are no teeth on the upper jaw; instead of them, 
 cavities are provided, into which the lower teeth 
 fit. The tongue is small, about two and a half 
 feet long by one wide. The throat is small, and 
 the fish could not swallow a man : therefore it 
 was not a sperm whale that, swallowed Jonah. 
 When feeding and not disturbed, the fish will 
 stay down under water from one hour to one and 
 a quarter. It then has to come up to the sur- 
 face to breathe or spout, and it will stay up from 
 1 ten to fifteen minutes. In this time it will spout 
 . or breathe from fifty to sixty times. It throws 
 out no water when it spouts, as has been re- 
 1 presented by some. At the end of this time it 
 " turns flukes," or pitches and dives down. 
 
 This whale feeds entirely on the " squid," or 
 cuttle-fish, as I believe they are sometimes called. 
 The "squid," I think, lives by suction; it has 
 no bones in its body, strictly so called ; it has a 
 kind of bill, short and thick in form, something 
 like horn or turtle shell in texture and color. It 
 has two thin pieces of skin on each side, one at 
 each end, or nearly BO, and when small can fly a 
 short distance, on the same principle as the flying- 
 fish or squirrel, by impetus, always rising against 
 the wind. It has long arms or fibres that extend 
 forward from the fore part of the body, with 
 which it embraces and holds whatever is intended 
 as food. They grow to a very large size, and so 
 strong as to drown a man by embracing him. 
 This I was told did actually happen to a native of 
 ,4 the Sandwich Islands while I was there. I have 
 , frequently seen large pieces of ^quK floating on 
 the water, perhaps killed by the sperm whale. 
 I saw a piece once, while sailing, which I judged 
 I to be ten feet Jn diameter. I have taken them 
 from the whale's stomach, whole, from two to 
 J. 
 
 SPERM WHALES. The Nantucket Inquirer pub- 
 ; lishes the following extract from a letter recently 
 received from Callao : "The bark Eliza, Captain 
 Phillips, of Baltimore, reports that while in sight 
 of Staten Land, to the northward, he sailed an en- 
 tire day through large bodies of sperm whales, 
 and as far as he could see, for miics around, the 
 whole ocean was covered -with them. Through 
 the whole day he felt that his ship was in danger, 
 as his deck was wet with the spray from their 
 spouts, BO near were they to his vessel. Captain 
 Phillips is an old llio trader, and having often 
 seen sperm whales off the RWer La Platte, knows 
 them well. He says the number was beyond con r 
 ception." J8& 
 
 A CURIOUS STRUCTURE. --Dr. Hope has in his possession 
 the n esj*tar?i|jula, taken out of the earth at the Mala- 
 ga Rancho/T3ris3t>out three inches in length by two in 
 diameter, built of adobes, the walls being nearly half an 
 inch thick. Inside is a projection, which nearly divides it 
 into two apartments, about, an inch in diameter. The in- 
 side is lined with a white downy substance, not unlike vel- 
 vet, and presents one of the cleanest and most tidv little 
 households imaginable. But the most curious part of it is 
 a door, which (its into an aperture and closes it hermetical- 
 ly. Tae door is secured by a hinjre, formed of the same 
 fibrous substance as the lining of the house, and upon which 
 it swings with freedom. The near is occupied by a dozen 
 little tarantulas, which scorn to subsist upon a yellow se- 
 creted substance that appears upon the walls of "the front 
 apartment. It is a most interesting structure and the -u- 
 ragdment of the door for the protection of the little inmate- 
 indicates great instinctive architectural knowledge It is 
 the intention of the owner to. forward this curiosity to thr 
 Smithsonian Institute, at Washington./,*^ X*-jL4i 
 
 ALLIGATORS. The Sonera Herald says that the 
 workmen engaged on the Columbia and Stanis- 
 laus River Water Company's Tunnel, some few 
 months ago came across the under jaw-bone of an 
 alligator, imbedded at, a depth or three hundred 
 and fifty feet from the surface. 
 
 [The writer of the foregoing article is a well 
 known sea captain, and moreover, an inventor 
 of much ingenuity. He relates his account of the 
 sperm whale from his own observation while 
 among them in" the Pacific Ocean. His state,- 
 ,ment, therefore, may be looked upon as correct, 
 besides being of much interest to the reader. 
 ED.] Scientific American. 
 
 ' Jenyus, the English naturalist, states that 
 he knew a tame owl so fond of music that he 
 would enter the drawing rooms of an evening 
 and perched on the shoulder of the children, 
 listen with great attention to the tones of the 
 piano forte, holding his head first on one side, 
 and then on the other, after the manner of 
 connoisseurs. One night, after spreading his - 
 wings, as if it were unable to endure bis rap. ' 
 ture aoy longer, be alighted on the keys, driv- 
 ing away the fingers of the performer with : 
 his beak, began to hop about on the keys j 
 himself, apparently in great delight with his 
 own execution. 
 
 A GRIZZLY THIEF KiLLED.-^About a week 
 since, Jacob L Popart, of Bear Valley, Nevada 
 county, was aroused by a noise during the night. 
 According to the Democrat^ a piece of meat had 
 been hung to the limb of a tree, near a cabin oc- 
 cupied by Mr. Keopart and several other?, and 
 about the middle of the night they heard some- 
 thing trying to pull it down. On going to the 
 door, they saw the grizzly standing on his hind 
 legs eating the meat. Keopart took an ax, slip- 
 ped up behind him, and struck him on the head 
 with the edge, splitting hid skull and scattering 
 his brains on the ground. The grizzly turned and 
 showed fight, but the others coming up, armed 
 with axes and clubs, he was soon overpowered 
 and killed. He weighed about five hundred 
 pounds. 
 
A Prolific Pair. 
 
 In the church of St. Nicholas at Ghent, 
 t|iere is a tabjet to the memory of Oliver 
 Minjau and Amalberga Slaugeuf, his wife, 
 who were the parents of 31 children, 21 boys 
 and JO girls. Qld Oljver appeared at the 
 heac}ofbi821 sons, all in uniform, when 
 Charles Y. made his entry into Ghent as 
 Count of Flanders. Charles was so pleased 
 at the fact of a simple artisan bringing up 
 and educating such a family, that he confer- 
 red on Oliver a modest pension. The renown- 
 ed Count of Abensburg, when the Emperor 
 Henry II. visited his German provinces, pre- 
 sented his 32 children as the most accepta- 
 ble ottering he could make to his sovereign. 
 The Count was happier with them than poor 
 Minjan and his wife Amalberga with theirs. 
 The' 31 children of this Ghent couple were 
 carried off together in 1626, by the suette, 
 which we have no difficulty (as it is called 
 the newly-imported disease) in recognising 
 as the black sweat of England. Minjau and 
 his wife died within a few weeks after the 
 loss of all their children, among whom they 
 lie interre^. Their monument is tbo niqst 
 affecting of the m,any memorials of the dead 
 raised in populous Ghent. 
 
 AN OSSIFIED MAN. In a quiet little village on 
 the Western Reserve in Ohio, says the Prescott 
 Transcript, there lives a man who, physiologically 
 considered, is certainly one of the wonders of the 
 world. His joints are completely ossified turned 
 to bone and he is not capaHe of making the 
 slightest movement, except alteiuutely opening and 
 shutting two fingers of his right hand. His body 
 is as rigid as iron, and could not be bent forward 
 or backward without breaking some of his bones. 
 This singular process of ossification has been going 
 on in his system for more than twenty years. He 
 is now about forty-six years old, and has not had 
 the use of his limbs, so that he could walk, since 
 he was nineteen. Ossification commenced first in 
 his ancle joints gradually extending itself through 
 his system until he was entirely helpless. Since 
 that time h has been entirely under his mother's 
 care, and she watches over him with an anxiety 
 which none but a mother can feel. When about 
 twenty-six years old, he became entirely blind from 
 some unknown cause, and has remained so ever 
 since. At about thirty he suffered greatlj from the 
 toothache, and finally he had his teeth all extract- 
 ed. A year or two afterward, his finger and toe- 
 nails all came off, and were supplied by others 
 growing out from his fingers and toes at right an- 
 gles, and presenting the appearance of horns. 
 What is still more singular with regard to his 
 nails, if the end of the nail be cut off, it will bleed 
 freely. 
 
 Such is the condition of this remarkabie man at 
 the present time. He has been visited by a great 
 number of scientific men from all parts of the world, 
 but all have failed to give any plausible reason of 
 the cause of his transformation from flesh to bone. 
 Singular as it may appear, although his jaw-bone 
 is firmly set in his head he not only talus freely, 
 but fluently converses with his friends and those 
 who visit him, on all ordinary topics of the day, 
 and he shows himself well informed and of good 
 mind. He is always cheerful, appears contented 
 and happy, and it seems probable jhat he will live 
 many years to come. / & f> ^ 
 
 THE LITTLE MONSTER IN YOUR SUGAR. 
 
 The sugar Acarus approaches somewhtit r 
 in organization and habits, to the louse and 
 the itch insect itself, which are also included 
 in the genus Acarus. The sugar mite is 
 in size so considerable that it is plainly visi- 
 ble to the unaided sight. When present in. 
 sugar it may be detected by the following 
 proceedings: 
 
 Two or three teaspoonfuls of sugar should 
 be dissolved in a large wine glass of tepid 
 water, and the solution allowed to remain at 
 ret for an hour or so; at the end of that time 
 the animalcules will be found, some on the 
 surface of the liquid, some adhering to the 
 sides of the glass and others to the bottom, 
 mixed up with the dark and copious sedi- 
 ment. The body is oval, or rather somewhat 
 ovate, being broader behind than before. 
 From its posterior part proceed four long 
 and stiff bristles, two together on each side, 
 and some eight or ten pmaller ones are ar- 
 ranged nearly at equal distances around the 
 circumference of the body; from its interior 
 part a probosis of complex organization pro- 
 ceeds and from its inferior surface of eight 
 legs, joined or furnished with* spines or hairs 
 at each articulation; the spine whioh issues 
 from the last joint but one of each leg, is 
 very long, and extends much beyond the ter- 
 mination of the leg itself. Lastly, each leg ! 
 is armed at the extremity with a formidable 
 hook. The Acarus Sacchari clings to life 
 with great tenacity, for warm water does not 
 always kill it. Hence, those who sweeten 
 their drinks with brown sugar must swallow i 
 several of these disgusting insects in a living ; 
 state, for the heat of the beverage is rot suf- j 
 fieient to destroy them. For the consolation 
 of our readers, we are happy to announce 
 that this inpect is never found in purified, 
 i. e. lump sugar. It owes its existence and 
 nutriment to the albumen, which, as we have 
 said before, is always present in inferior su- 
 gars. It is well known that grocers are sub- 
 ject to an infection of the skin, denominated j 
 * 4 grocer8' itch," of which one of the symp- 
 toms is extreme irritation and itching. To 
 this disease all grocers are not equally liable, 
 but those particularly who are engaged in 
 the "handling of the sugars," as the ware- 
 houseman. Now the Acarus Sacchari actu- 
 ally belongs to the same genus as the Aca- 
 rus Scabiei, or itch insect, than which it is 
 larger, and possessed of an organization still 
 more formidable and forbidding. News of 
 the World English paper. 
 
 A GREAT HAUL OF GRIZZLIES. Daniel Linda, 
 says the Pacific Sentinel, who resides on the Cerralitos 
 creek, about fourteen miles from Santa Cruz, and seven 
 from Watsonville, caught, last week, four grizzly bears 
 in one trap, inside of thirty-six hours. They were a 
 family consisting of two old ones and two cubs. The 
 first night the old she-bear was entrapped, and the oth- 
 ers made their escape. The next morning Mr. Linda 
 managed to get the old bear into a cage in which he 
 had kept a bear last year, and placed it in or near the 
 trap. The other three coming the second night after to 
 look for the old one, entered the trap and were all nicely 
 corraled. This beats anything in the bear-catching 
 line we have seen recorded. 
 


 
 
 
 
THE MARINE WORM. -Probably much the 
 greater proportion of our wharves are by this 
 time quite unsound, and by no means safe places 
 for making fast heavy ships during a gale. The 
 immense pressure of a line of clippers against the 
 weather side of a wharf, and the tugging, strain- 
 ing and plunging of those on the lee side, re- 
 quire some substantial support, greater than we 
 think the majority of our wharves will offer, in 
 their present condition. On Wednesday last, we 
 were shown a small portion of a pile, taken from 
 Cunningham's wharf, which was constructed in 
 the latter part of the year 1851, or the first part 
 of 1852, and is consequently about five years old. 
 The sample shown HS was literally perforated in 
 all parts by the marine worm, and several of their 
 bores resembled those made by a half-inch auger. 
 When the worm first enters the wood, it is very 
 diminutive, and its hole can scarcely be detected. 
 After effecting a lodgment, it increases rapidly ; n 
 size, and its destructiveness is proportionably 
 augmented. Its progress is protected by a soft 
 white shell, performing the duty of a sheath for 
 its body, which is soft and tender, and protecting 
 it from contact with the wood, except in the re- 
 gion of the head. This shell also serves as a per- 
 fect lining to the perforation made, and continues 
 throughout its length. Squared piles are more 
 rapidly destroyed than round ones on which the 
 bark has been allowed to remain, because the bark 
 being soft and fibrous, clogs the auger of the 
 worm, and greatly retards its progress ; and this 
 is wanting in square piles. For the same reason, 
 these worms prefer moderately hard wood to that 
 which is soft. Eastern vessels engaged in the 
 lumber trade with the West Indies, instead of be- 
 ing coppered, are generally "sheathed" with thin 
 boards, not over half an inch in thickness, laid 
 over a sort of prepared paper. The worms in the 
 Caribbean. sea quickly perforate this sheathing, 
 which rarely lasts over two years, but their further 
 progress is effectually barred by the paper, which 
 their augers cannot penetrate on account of being 
 clogged. The bottom of the vessel is thus pre- 
 served from their attacks, and at the same time 
 she is rendered somewhat more buoyant by the 
 addition of her sheathing, which necessarily en- 
 larges her bottom surface. Should we be visited 
 * this winter by any very heavy gale, it is altogeth- 
 er probable that considerable damage may ensue 
 from the rotten and worm-eaten condition of our 
 wharves, most of which have been constructed 
 Ing enough to, by this time, have become effec- 
 tually perforated by the worm, which abounds in 
 
 Dur waters. 
 
 Tne Great eTTc^riosity of the A ge. 
 
 Without question the greatest natural living 
 curiosity in the United States, is now on exhi- 
 bition in Charleston, S. C. The Mercury de- 
 scribes it as a living negro child with two heads, 
 four arms and tour legs. It is six years old, 
 very intS ligentf S peak3 With both youths sings 
 weU waltzes and keeps time. This much the 
 bi savs but the beholder cannot dismiss from 
 * that he has before him two children 
 
 IV. JL . is.fi uiu. 
 
 Tnu TRUTH OP THB FLORAL LEG STORY, Sometime 
 ago the Bulletin republished from an Eastern paper, an 
 extraordinary story of a natural flower growing out of a 
 boy's leg. It appears that Samuel J. Parker, of Ithaca 
 Tompkins county, N. Y., did not feel particularly pleased 
 with the Atlantic papers circulating the curious floral tale, 
 and, on the 19th November last, addressed to the N. Y. 
 Tribune a note on the subject, in which he says : 
 
 I notice in your paper, an article quoted from an " ex- 
 change paper," making some disparaging remarks on the 
 singular growth out of a leg of a child in this place. It is 
 time that, when this article is running the rounds of the/ 
 stress, the truth should be known. It is unjust to Pro*' 
 H iwley, (late of the medical college of Geneva,) anr\ A 
 the medical profession in this part of the country, to i \ 
 resent that either the Professor or we, any of us, are \ 
 very silly as to believe that any actual vegetable grew ot . 
 of the leg of this boy. The pr^s does us great injustices 
 to speak of " oranure flowers," or " aster flowers," as a 
 reality. I may say that the diseased leg is like a carrot or 
 tuaip in shape, and if any one should say that I paid dis- 
 ease nude a man's leg a carrot or turnip, he would mis- 
 re present my langnfige grossly. 
 
 The facts are, that out of a preternaturally large leg 
 <"-py a fungoid stem ; and when partly grown the end of 
 ic wre a slight resemblance to a single orange hud just 
 ib wit o open. When at full growth it had some slight re- 
 .-ujmblance to a China-aster flower or dahlia when open. 
 But the growth was animal blood circulated in the abnor- 
 mal growth. This animal growth is now preserved in 
 alcohol, und will be submitted to several medical societies. 
 It is like, to use my language, sea-weed. A stem a few 
 inches loner ; where it expands like a mushroom, or end of 
 a se*-weed, is a smooth circnlar space. Then outside of 
 this circular space ran fibres like sea- weed, with the minute-' 
 blood vessels giving cale through the thin animal tissue. 
 
 Now call it what yon please, sea-weed, mushroom, China- 
 aeter, orange bud. it is a rare form of a very common dis- 
 ease, " the bloody funcrus," known for centuries to the 
 medical world. I believe It a rare species, however, and 
 well worth figuring and describing in our medical journals. 
 Please disabuse the public of the contemptible rumor, and 
 let a matter of fact stand as it is, a rare form of animal 
 malignant growth. j j- Jf* *-? 
 __ _ / 
 
 "o Europe and this 
 i nounced it one individual child. 
 
 have pro 
 
 Our Carson Valley Correspondence. 
 
 GENOA, CARSON VALLEY, Jan. 5th, 1858. 
 EDITOR OF THE SAN FRANCISCO HERALD :- 
 Although it i. quite cold enough for me here no 
 I am informed by some of the oldest inhabitant. 
 that the winter is remarkably mild ; we have had 
 three slight falls of snow, all of which disappeared 
 in a day or two-the morning3 are frosty, but tc 
 wards noon it gets very pleasant. No rain having 
 fallen, the miners at Gold Canon are doing no 
 
 A party of men from this-place started to- 
 day to explore the head of Carson river, expecting 
 to finarich diggings. I am my self going for a da> 
 or two into this region, and will in my next g ve 
 you an account of my explorations/'Among tt 
 Lost remarkable natural curiosities I have seen 
 in this country is a petrified egg, which I found 
 about the middle of the Valley-it is about the 
 size of .a goose egg, of a bluish color, and a. har< 
 as a rock. I will send it to you by the 1 
 
 Washoes remainng 
 
 ever, returned with frozen feet. 
 
A STORY 
 
 EARTH AND ANIMTED NATURE, 
 
 fti 
 
 BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH 
 
 WITH NUMEEOUS NOTES, 
 
 BRITISH AND FOREIGN NATURALISTS, 
 
 EMBODYING THE MOST RECENT DISCOVERIES IN NATURAL HISTORY, t 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LY NEARLY TWO THOUSAND FIGURES, 
 
 BLACKIE AND SON, QUEEN STREET, GLASGOW; 
 
 SOUTH COLLEGE STREET, EDINBURGH; 
 
 AND WARWICK SQUARE, LONDON. 
 
An Unparralleled Phenomenon. 
 
 Dr. J. E. Hawler, of Ithica, N. Y., formerly 
 Professor of Surgery in the Geneva (N. Y.) 
 Medical College, publishes a statement in the 
 ( Ithica)^ merican Citizen, which will equally as- 
 tonish the world at large and the medical pro- 
 fession, for, we presume, a like case was never 
 known in the world. It will puzzle the skill of 
 the wisest of them to account for this strange 
 phenomenon. We give Dr. Hawler's whole 
 statement of the case, in his own word?^ ^ond 
 leave others to judge of the remarkable occur- 
 rence : 
 
 " The subject of this remarkable phenomenon 
 is between thirteen and fourteen years of age. 
 His name is Oliver Els worth Northrop. I have 
 known him from his birth to the present period. 
 His mother died when he was a few months old, 
 of Tubercular phthisis pultuonodis, (or consump- 
 tion,) and his father followed her within a 
 twelvemonth after, with the same disease. He 
 was a feeble infant, and in about two months 
 after he was born, a great tenderness was percei- 
 ved about his right hip joint. At two years, 
 there was considerable tumefaction over the joint; 
 this was alternately relieved and it reappeared, 
 j until, at about five years old, an abcess formed 
 i on the same side between the spine and the hip, 
 ! this was opened and continued to discharge for 
 : six months. In his eighth year, an abcess wag 
 j formed at the point of the first tumefaction, sub- 
 '' sequently a number of abcesses have formed on 
 the same side. The hip joint has been dislocated 
 by the intense action of strumous disease ; the 
 limb is drawn towards the body with a perfect 
 anchylosis of the hip and knee joints. The left 
 fore-arm is drawn up to the shoulder, and the 
 elbow joint is completely anchylosed ; the con- 
 dyles are as distinct as if they were not covered 
 by skin ; and, indeed, all the parts of the body 
 that are not affected by the tumefaction are in a 
 similar condition, so that one might almost study 
 
 This is but a faint description of this very re- 
 
 |markable case. Yesterday morning as I wae 
 coming out of the Drug Store of B. S. Halsey, 
 
 1 1 was hailed by P. I. Partenheiner, Esq., with 
 a request to call at Mrs. Munger's, where the 
 
 f lad resided with his grandmother, Mrs. Ellen 
 Curtis. I immediately lepaired there, and on 
 
 j entering the sick room, Mrs. Curtis threw off 
 the sheet that covered the right limb, which 
 
 r had been for a long time immensely swollen ; 
 there was presented to my view a stem, on the 
 inner side, at the edge of the Gastrocnemiue 
 muscle, rising at right angles with it more than 
 seven inches in height, with a flower squarely 
 set upon it, to my own apprehension resembling 
 the Passion Flower, but which Mrs. Munger 
 thought resembled the China Aster. Mrs. Mun- 
 ger stated, that on Wednesday, Ellsworth said 
 that he felt an oozing from what had been expec- 
 ted to be an abcess, and expressed great relief. 
 He did not permit any examination until Satur- 
 day afternoon, when she and Mrs. Curtis beheld 
 a stem arising at right angles with the limb, at 
 about the height of three inches, crowned with 
 three white buds, in the language of Mrs. Mun- 
 ger, resembling the ' white buds of tJie .Orange ,' 
 on being exposed to the light, the flower had ex- 
 panded, and assumed the color of a beautiful 
 greyish purple. 
 
 The phenomenon was so strange, that I could 
 scarcely trust my own senses, and immediately 
 j called upon my friend and esteemed counsellor, 
 Dr. John Stevens, and Dr. J. O. M. Ingersoll, 
 formerly a highly respected member of the facul- 
 ty, but now devoting himself with much' repu- 
 | tation to dental surgery, together with the Rev. 
 W. 8. Walker, of the Episcopal Church, whose 
 acquirements in literature and as a minister of 
 ! the Gospel, are well known ; they saw the case 
 j and can abundantly testify to the truth of the 
 above statement." 
 
 Death of n l>i*thiyui*hrd IVatire California!!. 
 
 Ken Franklin, the grizzly i K -ur. tin- favorite of the M us 
 man Attains, the companion for the last three or four years 
 his various expeditions in the mountains anil his sojourns in 
 cities uiitl towns of California, departed from thin mortal existence 
 onSunday evening, at 10 o'clock. The noble brim-, -which was 
 captured nt the head waters of the Merced river in i<i4, had 
 lii-eii raised by his muster from a cub, and during his life in 
 itested the most indubitable indications of remarkable sagacity 
 and affection. He wan ever tame and gi-ntle. and although pos- 
 sessed of the size and strength of n giant among brutes, was in 
 disposition peaceful; rough, it is true, in his playfulness, but 
 ahvnys well-disposed. He accompanied his master on him ting 
 expeditions to the Rocky Mountains and through various por- 
 tions of California, and on two occasions saved his life in long 
 and desperate struggles with savage animals in the wilds. H* 
 frequently carried his master's pack, provisions and weapons; 
 frequently shored his blanket and fed from the same lof. 
 During the last two years Ben was the "star" animal In 
 Adams' wonderful collection in this city and has spent his time 
 in exhibiting his frame, rearing upon his colossal legs and 
 shaking his immense ehuins, for the amusement and edification 
 of spectators and the profit of his master. Many of our readers 
 have often seen him tramping at the length of his chain in the 
 midst of the other animals of the Pacific Museum. One of his 
 eyes was observed to lie injured and several sear? were to be 
 seen about his head and neck ; but they were honorable wounds 
 and reflected as much credit upon poor Ben s the scan* of a 
 brave soldier. They were all received in the service of his 
 human friend, protector and master. As might be supposed, hU 
 loss has been severely felt by Adam*. The old hunter would 
 willingly have lost all the balance of his collection to have saved 
 15en. AVe recollect that Mich were Adams' feelings towards 
 lien, when the Museum was flrst established in the city, and 
 during frequent visits to observe, over and over again, and study 
 the habits and characters of his wonderful animals, we rn-ve'r 
 once heard Adams express any other but sentiments of prefer- 
 ence for this faithful creature. / & ~ * 
 
 J'.en's sickness was some internal diso/dcr, which could not 
 well be understood, and for which no reined v was known. Had 
 any cure been possible, no cost would have been spared to pro- 
 cure it. After an indisposition, however, of about a week's 
 duration, during which time the animal refused to eat or drink, 
 lie sank on Sunday evening under his malady and died without a 
 struggle. His shaggy skin was cut oil" yesterday, and all that can 
 be kept of him, his form and outward appearance, will be pre- 
 (xerved. His sagacious expression, however.Jand his great affec- 
 tionate spirit are gone forever. Alas, poor brute ! 
 
 Capt. ft. .nui,v,i 
 
 CRATER MOUNTAIN. A correspondent of the 
 Yreka Union thus describes Crater Mountain, in 
 Siskiyou county : Near the summit the trees be- 
 come somewhat sparse, and of a stunted growth, 
 and dreary-looking ridges lowered above us. One 
 of these seemed to have been harrowed up in a 
 solid into angular blocks, fitting beautifully to- 
 gether. Half a mile above this, greatly to the 
 relief of our tired feet, we reached the sand, the 
 outer rim of the basin which crowns the summit. 
 Dead trees, chiefly pines, blown out of root, dry 
 and hard, were strewn about in every direction, 
 and young pines were again growing in their 
 stead. These dead trees, some of them pretty 
 large, give us a record of many departed ages. 
 Meeting on the eastern summit, which is the top 
 of the mountain, we had a fine view of this sand 
 pan of nature. Itg mouth cants towards the 
 West, is about one mile in circumference, and, as 
 we afterwards found, upon careful inspection, is 
 about three hundred feet deep on the east side, 
 one hundred feet on the west, sloping gradually 
 down all around to the bottom of the basin ; while 
 on the summit we became sleepy, the same as one 
 does on Shasta Butte; but the grandeur of the 
 scene was too exciting to yield to slumbers. 
 
 SHOWER OK WORMS. During a recent shower 
 in San Francisco/ an immense quantity of red 
 earth worms fell in the vicinity of Union, Green- 
 wich, Powell and Green streets. _The roofs and 
 streets Were alive with them. 
 
 h them. ''***-*-' y-^f/y-r 
 
VALUE or CALIFORNIA WILD BEASTS. A me- 
 nagerie, called "'The Mountain Museum," for some 
 time back exhibiting at J street, Sacramento, -vvas sold 
 out by the Sheriff on the 20th January. The State 
 Journal gives the following schedule of prices, in order 
 that the curious may see what value is put upon live 
 animals and other curious things which go to make a 
 show : 
 
 1 2 sea lions and cage 40 00 
 
 1 stuffed fox and case $ 2 50 
 1 stuffed two-legged pig. . 1 00 
 1 stuffed Meal ,. 3 00 
 1 bird cape 75 
 
 1 black boar ]' 00 
 
 1 wild gri/zlv 15 50 
 
 1 tame rri/x.lv 20 50 
 
 1 double-Steaded calf 5 25 
 1 bird of Paradise, and 
 other feathery sneciui'?. 17 50 
 1 case birds 10 50 
 
 1 tame grizzly 1900 
 1 ciunamon bear 20 SO 
 
 1 small black bear. .... 10 50 
 1 small black bear '_>0 50 
 1 cage, containing hadccr, 
 wildcat and covotc.. 5 00 
 1 rase of butterflies', etc.. 12 50 
 1 case of stuffed birds, etc. 10 50 
 Total 
 
 .stalled fox, bear and pan- 
 thers 3 oo 
 
 Lot of stuffed birds. 2 25 
 
 Sundry fixtures, etc ''ij '>5 
 
 
 &)(it nn 
 
 
 CONTENTS OF VOLUME SECOND. 
 
 Page 
 A HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 SAP. I. Introduction, . 1 
 
 II. Of the Generation, Nestling, 
 
 and Incubation of Birds, 7 
 
 III. Of the Division of Birds, 17 
 
 IV. The Ostrich, ... 19 
 V. The Emu, . ... 23 
 VI. The Cassowary, . 25 
 
 VII. The Dodo, . . ". .27 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 
 
 CHAP. I. Of Rapacious Birds in General, 29 
 II. The Eagle and its affinities, 31 
 III. The Condor of America, . 37 
 IV. Of the Vulture and its affinities, 40 
 V. Of the Falcon kind, and its af- 
 finities, . . . .44 
 VI. The Butcher-bird, . . 50 
 VII. Of Rapacious Birds of the Owl 
 
 kind, that prey by night, . 52 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 t)F BIRDS OF THE POULTRY KIND IN GENERAL. 
 
 IHAP. I. Introduction, 
 
 II. The Cock, 
 III. The Peacock, 
 
 59 
 61 
 64 
 
 CH. IV. The Turkey, . . .66 
 
 V. The Pheasant, . . .71 
 
 VI. The Pintado, or Guinea-hen, 75 
 
 VII. The Bustard, . . .76 
 
 VIII. The Grouse, and its affinities, 77 
 
 IX. The Partridge, and its affinities, 82 
 
 X. The Quail, . . . 84 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE PIE KIND. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, ... 86 
 
 II. Of the Raven, the Crow, and 
 
 their affinities, . . .87 
 
 III. Of the Magpie, and its affini- 
 
 ties, .... 96 
 IV. Of the Woodpecker, and its 
 
 affinities, . . . .101 
 V. Of the Bird of Paradise, and 
 
 its varieties, . . 10S 
 
 VI. Of the Cuckoo, and its varie- 
 ties, -HO 
 VII. Of the Parrot, and its affinities, 113 
 VIII. Of the Pigeon, and its varie- 
 ties, .... 120 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE SPARROW KIND. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . . 130 
 
 II. Of the Thrush, and its affinities, 137 
 III. Of the Nightingale and other 
 
 soft-billed song-birds, . 1 46 
 IV. Of the Canary-bird, and other 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 kinds of hard billed Sing- 
 ir^birds, . . .155 
 
 CHAP. V. Of the Swallow and its affini- 
 ties, . . . .160 
 VI. Of the Humming-bird, and its 
 
 varieties, . . . .165 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE CRANE KIND. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . . 171 
 II. The Crane, . . .172 
 
 III. The Stork, ... 175 
 
 IV. Of the Balearic and other For- 
 
 eign Cranes, . . .178 
 
 V. Of the Heron and its varieties, 180 
 
 VI. Of the Bittern, or Mire-drum, 184 
 
 VII. Of the Spoonbill or Shoveller, 185 
 
 VIII. The Flamingo, . .187 
 
 IX. The Avosetta, or Scooper; and 
 
 the Corrira, or Runner, . 189 
 X. Small birds of the Crane kind, 
 with the thighs partly bare 
 of Feathers, 
 
 190 
 
 XL Of the Water-hen, and the Coot, 197 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 OF WATEE-FOWL. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . . 200 
 II. The Pelican, . . .201 
 
 III. The Albatross, the first of the 
 
 Gull kind, . . . 204 
 
 IV. The Cormorant, . . .206 
 V. The Gannet, or Solan Goose, 208 
 
 VI. Of the smaller Gulls and Petrels, 210 
 VII. Of the Penguin kind: and first, 
 of the great Magellanic Pen- 
 
 guin, .... 215 
 VIII. Of the Auk, Puffin, and other 
 
 birds of the Penguin kind, 219 
 IX. Of Birds of the Goose kind, 
 
 properly so called, . . 222 
 
 X. Of the Swan, tame and wild, 224 
 
 XI. Of the Goose, and its varieties, 227 
 
 XII. Of the Duck, and its varieties. 231 
 
 XIII. Of the King-fisher, . . 237 
 
 A HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . .240 
 II. Of Cetaceous fishes in general, 249 
 
 Page 
 CH. III. Of the Whale, properly so 
 
 called, and its varieties, . 250 
 
 IV. Of the Narwhal, . . 260 
 V. Of the Cachalot, and its varie- 
 ties, . . . .262 
 
 VI. Of the Dolphin, the Grampus 
 and the Porpoise with their 
 varieties, . . . 264 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . .268 
 II. Of Cartilaginous fishes of the 
 
 Shark kind, . . .269 
 
 III. Of Cartilaginous Flat-fish, or 
 
 the Ray kind, . .273 
 
 IV. Of the Lamprey, and its affini- 
 
 ties, . . . .280 
 
 V. Of the Sturgeon, and its varie- 
 
 ties, .... 283 
 VI, Of Anomalous Cartilaginous 
 
 fishes, . . . .286 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 OF SPINOUS FISHES. 
 
 CHAP. I. The Division of Spinous fishes, 293 
 
 SECT. i. Prickly-finned Fishes, 294 
 
 n. Soft-finned Fishes, 299 
 
 II. Of Spinous Fishes in general, 308 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 OF CRUSTACEOUS AND TESTACEOUS FISHES. 
 
 CHAP. I. The Division of shell-fish, . 326 
 II. Crustaceous Animals of the 
 
 Lobster kind, . . .326 
 
 III. Of the Tortoise and its kinds, 337 
 
 IV. Of the shelf of Testaceous 
 
 Fishes, ... 347 
 
 V. Of Turbinated shell-fish, or the 
 
 Snail kind, . . .359 
 VI. Of bivalved shell-fish, or shells 
 
 of the Oyster kind, . 365 
 
 VII. Of multivalve shell-fish, . 373 
 
 A HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS 
 AND SERPENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF FROGS AND TOADS. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . . 377 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 CH. II. Of the Frog, and its varieties, 377 
 III. Of the Toad, and its varieties, 384 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF LIZARDS. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . .391 
 II. Of the Crocodile, and its affini- 
 ties, . . . .392 
 
 III. Of the Salamander, . . 399 
 
 IV. Of the Cameleon, the Iguana, 
 
 and Lizards of different 
 kinds, .... 402 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 OF SERPENTS, &C. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . . 407 
 II. Of venomous serpents in ge- 
 neral, . . * .416 
 III. Of serpents without venom, 427 
 Supplemental Note on Rep- 
 tiles, . . . .431 
 
 A HISTORY OF INSECTS, &c. 
 BOOK I. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE FIRST ORDER. 
 
 IAP. I. Introduction, . . . 436 
 II. Of Insects without wings, . 447 
 
 III. Of the Spider, and its varie- 
 
 ties, . . . .448 
 
 IV. Of the Flea, ... 455 
 V. Of the Louse, and its varie- 
 ties, .... 456 
 
 VI. Of the Bug, and its varieties, 461 
 VII. Of the Wood-louse, and its va- 
 rieties, . . . .463 
 VIII. Of the Monoculus ; or Arbores- 
 
 tcent Water-flea, . . ib. 
 IX. Of the Scorpion and its varie- 
 ties, . . . .464 
 X. Of the Scolopendra and Gally- 
 worm, .... 466 
 XI. Of the Leech, . . 467 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE SECOND ORDER. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, 
 
 470 
 
 Page 
 CH. II. Of the Libella, or Dragon. 
 
 Fly, .... ib. 
 
 III. Of the Formica Leo, or Lion. 
 
 Ant, . . . .472 
 
 IV. Of the Grasshopper, the Lo- 
 
 cust, the Cicada, the Crick- 
 et, and the Mole-cricket, 475 
 V. Of the Earwig, the Froth In- 
 sect, and some others belong- 
 ing to the second order of 
 Insects, . . . 483 
 
 VI. Of the Ephemera, ' . .485 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE THIRD ORDER. 
 
 CHAP. I. Of Caterpillars, in general, 490 
 II. Of the transformation of the 
 Caterpillar into its correspon- 
 ding butterfly or moth, . 491 
 
 III. Of Butterflies and Moths . 499 
 
 IV. Of the enemies of the Cater- 
 
 pillar, .... 505 
 
 V. Of the Silkworm, . .506 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE FOURTH ORDER. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . . 512 
 
 II. Of the Bee, . . . . ib. 
 
 III. Of the Wasp, ... 528 
 
 IV. Of the Ichneumon fly. . . 534 
 V. Of the Ant, ... 535 
 
 VI. Of the Beetle, and its varie- 
 ties, . . . .541 
 VII. Of the Gnat Tipula, . .553 
 
 A HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 BOOK V. 
 
 OF THE ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 CHAP. I. Introduction, . . . 557 
 II. Of worms, . . . .558 
 
 III. Of the Star-fish, . .561 
 
 IV. Of the Polypus, . . .562 
 V. Of Lithophytes and Sponges, 570 
 
Vlll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Supplement on Crustacea and Mol- 
 
 lusca, .... 575 
 Supplement on Microscopic discovery, 587 
 CHAP. I. The results of Microscopical 
 
 Inquiry concerning the mi- 
 
 Page 
 
 nute formations and pheno- 
 mena of the natural world, 588 
 CHAP. II. Infusorial Animalcules, 623 
 INDEX, ... . 641 
 
 Letter from Melbourne. 
 
 Australian News. /%f 5 
 
 [tfKOM OUB OWN OOBKE8PONDENT.]" 
 
 MELBOURNE, 31st October, IfeST 
 The Flour Market at Melbourne-ProspecETof 
 the Harvest in Australia. 
 
 Exploration of the Interior of Australia Charac- 
 ter of the Discovered Country. 
 Australia is not only a political phenomenon, but a 
 scientific one. M. Blandowski and a party of Ger- 
 mans have been making some explorations in the inte- 
 rior of this anomalous region, and have published a 
 very interesting account of their investigations. The 
 party did not proceed further than eight hundred milea 
 n the interior. Referring to the geological peculiari- 
 ties of the country, he describes an unusual stratifica- 
 tion of pale yellow sandstone, succeeded by brown- 
 colored ferruginous sandstone, which is again followed 
 ay a dirty-yellow limestone-like sandstone. He found 
 targe numbers of beautiful fossils, the hard outside of 
 which had resisted the action of the atmosphere and 
 water to a surprising degree, displaying the most ele- 
 gant forms in a state of perfect preservation. As to 
 the general aspect of the country, he confirms in every 
 respect the statements of the natives made some years 
 since, and generally esteemed fabulous, viz : " That the 
 sharply pointed stones and great rocks would fall down 
 upon and crush visitors; and that, even if they escaped 
 from this danger, they would be killed by the heat. 
 That neither grass, water nor wood are to be met with; 
 that the wells are very deep, and the cattle unable to 
 drink therefrom; that the water is salt, and that the 
 natiyes drop down bundles of rushes to soak it up;" 
 etc. etc. 
 
 Discoveries in the Animal and Vegetable King- 
 domsThe Aborigines. 
 
 Blandowski next proceeds to describe the animal and 
 other productions of this remarkable region. In the rivers 
 he found sweet water sponges ia great quantities a cir- 
 cumstance he believes to be quite new to the scientific 
 world. He also describes the discovery of a great variety of 
 spiders, a beautiful species of sperical lobster, two varieties 
 of cray fish, and three kinds of new shrimps, also eight dif- 
 ferent species of the muse 1 e, hitherto unknown, six bivalves 
 belonging to the family Unis, seven univalves to Lymnea 
 Suceinea and Physa, of which three prove viviparous. He 
 also describes twenty distinct forms of fish and five new 
 frogs. He has also gathered twenty-four distinct species 
 of snake, of which sixteen are entirely new. Among these, 
 the most remarkable is a reptile exactly cognate to the boa 
 of Bouto America, with the exception that it ia much 
 
 SIZEABLE EGG. We were shown, yesterday, 
 an egg, the circumferences of which measured, 
 respectively, 7f and 5| inches. It was the pro- 
 duct of a email common barnyard fowl, that has 
 never cackled anywhere but in this city. Sacra- 
 mento Union. 
 
 That's a pretty good sixe ; but, as strange as 
 the coincidence may seem, we were yesterday 
 shown two eggs, produced on the ranch of Mr. 
 Meeker, on the Mokelumne river, in this county, 
 each measuring in circumference, respectively, 
 7| and 6 inches. The two eggs weighed, col- 
 lectively, 5^ ounces. They were the product of 
 two hens, ,of the mixture of Shanghae and I 
 Poland breeds. San Joaquin Democrat, March 
 31*<. I 
 
 smaller. This Australian boa is harmless, it climbs trees 
 and waits for its prey in the top-most branches of tne gun 
 tree, from which it pounces upon, ana" crushes and devours 
 its prey. Of lizards he has added eleven remarkable fo 
 to the six already known. He has also discovered three 
 varieties of turtle. 
 
 With respect to birds, M. Blandowski baa added two new 
 forms, viz': the brown capped pomat^kmas, the r 
 tailed cuckoo, and the brown coated dumhiza. I 
 north he found the bee-eater and red-tailed parrot, al 
 the cos or rose-bellied cockatoo, and crested pigeon ; still 
 , iirther north he met with the ground dove, the porphyry- 
 crowned parroquet, and a peculiar kind of grass pa 
 
 ! Altogether, he discovered eleven distinct kinds ot 
 ution of birds. He was informed by the natives thatl 
 further in the ulterior the red-breasted cockatoo was to bf j 
 86 Of qoadrnprds, he has met with twenty-six well mrke</ 
 species, of which eleven are not marsupial, and five are er 
 firely np-v i ! i the creation. Among his new species, I 
 
 j mentions a small animal called by the natives the yak* 
 which digs up and devours the dead bodies of the natives, 
 
 ; He next toneh.es on the aborigines, whom he descnl 
 
 j as an athletic race, some of whom were of gigantic propoi 
 tions. They live principally on typha or cajamitez roots 
 
 ! which they bake. Sham fights are their principal amuse 
 ments, and the various tribes frequently engage in actus 
 war. The Craves are huts covered with the manur nets 
 the dead, in which the curriuetes have to sleep &t eight 
 The female relatives enter the tombs every morning befo 
 daybreak to give expression to their grief. Among som< 
 tribos they make a funeral pile in front of the grave an 
 cry bitterly. On leaving, the widow plants a green bong] 
 on the prave. Tn other tribes they burn tne body aftei 
 
 ! death on a scaffold. These customs bear a strong reacm 
 blance to those of India, and of some of the nations of an 
 Equity. M. Blandowski is now in Melbourne and inform 
 me that it is bis intention to prosecute his researches infr 
 the heart of the interior. 
 Artesian Wells-A Chance for California 
 
 There is somethirg of a mania prevalent for bori 
 Artesian wells in the colony, which I think would aff 
 chance for California speculators in this line. 
 
 RUNNING DOWN WILD HORSES. The 
 Mexicans sometimes reserve an old steed 
 in native wildness, for the purpose of tir- 
 ing down a band of mustangs. They 
 stuff a suit of cloths with t-iles, and then 
 tie it in an erect position tin his back, and 
 when a band of mustangs is discovered 
 b.3 is turned loose. The stud with strain- 
 ing flight, seeks the band ; they see him 
 coming, apparently with a rider on his 
 back, and away they go, he after them 
 wondering why they fly away so rapidly 
 from his presence. His native signals are 
 all useless, they heed them not they see 
 the figure on his back anxious fears lends 
 swiftness to their speed : straining his sin- 
 ews for a determined effort, he rushes af- 
 ter them with the pace sf the wind, urged 
 on by all the fury of revenge. The Mex- 
 icans are keenly watching the race, and 
 when they think the band is nearly used 
 up by running away from imaginary dan- 
 ger, thoy rush in ou fresh horses, and t' '' 
 tho sweeping lareat descends over the 1: 
 of the tired niustangs.~Mirip0$a " ! 
 \9trat. 
 
ORNITHOLOGY 
 
 LXYlt 
 
 . 
 
 
 
THE SNAKE THAT SWALLOWED THE HORSE. In 
 the province of Gozar, Dr. Gardner came to the 
 fazendo of Sape, situated at the foot of the Serra 
 de Santa Brida, near the entrance to a small 
 valley. Dr. Gardner remarked, that in this val- 
 ley, and thi'oughout this province, the anaconda 
 attains an enormous size, sometimes reaching 
 forty feet in length; the "largest which he saw 
 measured thirty-seven feet, but was not alive. 
 It had been taken under the following circum- 
 stances : Some weeks before our arrival at Sape, 
 writes Dr. Gardner, the favorite riding horse of 
 Senhor Logoeira, which had been put out to pas- 
 ture not far from the house, could not be found, 
 although strict search had been made for it all 
 over the fazenda. Shortly after this, one of his 
 vaqueiros (herdsmen), in going through the 
 wood by the side of a small stream, saw an enor- 
 mous sucuruju suspended in the fork of a tree 
 which hung over the water. It was dead, but 
 had evidently been floated down alive by a recent 
 flood, and being in an inert state, it had not been 
 able to extricate itself from the fork before the 
 waters fell. It was dragged out to the open 
 country by two horses, and was found to meas- 
 ure thirty-seven feet in length. On opening it, 
 the bones of a horse in a somewhat broken con- 
 dition, and the flesh in a half digested state, 
 were found with it ; the bones of the head were 
 uninjured. From these circumstances, we con- 
 cluded that the boa had swallowed the horse 
 entire. In all kinds of snakes, the capacity for 
 swallowing is prodigious. I have often seen one 
 not thicker than my thumb swallow a frog as 
 large as my fist ; and I once killed a rattlesnake 
 four feet long, and of no great thickness, which 
 had swallowed no less than three large frogs. I 
 have also seen a very slender snake that fre- 
 quents the roofs of houses, swallow an entire bat 
 three times its own thickness. If such be the 
 case with these smaller kinds, it is not to be 
 wondered at that one thirty-seven feet long 
 should be able to swallow a horse, particularly 
 when it is known that previously to doing so, it 
 breaks the bones of the animal by coiling itself 
 around it, and afterwards lubricates it with a 
 slimy matter, which it has the power of secreting 
 in its mouth. Brazil and the Brazilians. 
 
 . WHAT nvF. MAT* HAS DONE. 
 
 WALLED LAKE IN IOWA. A correspondent of The ^ 
 Cincinnati Gazette gives an account of a walled lake 
 in Wright County, Iowa. He says: 
 
 " To me it was one of the greatest curiosities I had 
 ever seen enveloped as its history is with a mantle 
 that will probably never be withdrawn. This lake 
 lies in the midst of a vast plain the rich, gently un- 
 dulating prairie extending for many miles in every di- 
 rection. The lake covers an area of 'about 1,900 
 acres. The water is clear and cold, with a hard, 
 sandy bottom, from two to twenty-five feet deep. 
 There is a strip of timber about half way round it, 
 probably ten rods wide, being the only timber in many 
 miles. There is a wall of heavy stone all rouitd it. 
 
 " It is no accidental matter. It has been built with 
 human hands. In some places the land is higher tha* ^ 
 the lake, in which case the wall only amounts to 
 something like a rip-rap protection. This, I believe, 
 is what engineers call it. But in other places the 
 water is higner in the lake thaii the prairie outside of 
 the wall. The wall in some places is ten feet high; it 
 is thirteen feet wide at the base, sloping up both sides 
 to five feet wide on the top. The wall is built entirely 
 of boulders, from three tuns in size down to fifty 
 pounds. They a$e all what are called lost rock. I 
 am no geologist, aad consequently can give no learned 
 description of t^em. They are not, however, natives, 
 ' to the manor born.' Nor has the wall been made by 
 the washing away of the earth, and leaving the rocks. 
 There is no native rock in this region. Besides, this 
 continuous wall, two miles of which, at leagt, is 
 er than the land. The top of the wall is level, 
 while the land is undulating eo the wall is in some 
 places two feet, and in others ten feet high. These 
 rocks, many of them at least, must have been brought 
 a long distance probably five or ten miles. In Wright 
 County the best rocks are scattered pretty freely, but 
 as you approach this lake they disappear, showing 
 that they nave been gathered by some agency when 
 or by whom history w ill never unfold. Some of the 
 largest oaks in the grove are growing up through the 
 wall, pushing the rocke in, in some cases, outside in 
 others, accommodating their shape to the rocks. The 
 lake abounds with excellent fish. The land in that 
 township yet belongs ta the Government. 
 
 IOWA. The following comparison of the taxable 
 property of Iowa for the laet seven years is given as 
 an indication of the progress she is making in wealth : 
 
 InlSSlit wa $28,464,550 1 In 1855 it was $106,895,390 
 
 In 1852 it wa*. 38, 427.376 Jin 1656 it wan 164,394,413 
 
 In IMG it WB 49,540,3041 In J8S7 5t wae 210,044,533 
 
 In 1M4 it wan. 72,327,204 J 
 
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 lit 
 
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 sSfti^s-frilsf^tiifs. 
 
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 5-0^2, .-Sfera;?2 *?.*?! 
 
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ORMTHOLOCY 
 
 I. AT/// 
 
WHAT I SAW IN INDIA. 
 
 
 
 The Mungoos and Cobra. 
 
 A short time anterior to the recent mutiny in 
 India, I commanded a little detachment of 
 native infantry at Condapilly in the Northern 
 Cicars. From once haying been a town of con- 
 siderable importance, it has dwindled to a very 
 inferior rank ; and the hill-fort, at one period of 
 considerable strength, now presents nothing but 
 ^ast celebrity T , 
 
 bum i 
 
 they are most ferocious brutes, and armed as 
 they were, and in such' numbers, they could 
 have annihilated us with the greatest ease. 
 There was no help for us, therefore, but tc let 
 the mare proceed at a walk in the rear of the 
 tribe, the members of which, now that we were 
 nearing Deobund, began to chatter frightfully. 
 Just before we.came to the bungalow, they left 
 the road and took the direction of the temple. 
 Fa ! n Avr ; xld we ^have folio wed them, but to do 
 so in tb " uggy Vould have been impossible, for 
 Mie very rough ground aHL 
 d therefore request^ -? 
 ' J report all the^ ? 
 j-\ Meanwhile w, tf 
 -mving at wh' 
 (L ^ very old $: 
 
 i 
 
 the 
 
 . in 
 
 jb'u'nd, from 
 distant. We 
 ^native horsemen, 
 aving a swift mare, 
 ,a at a rapid pace. When 
 >m the bungalow, we over- 
 arge monkeys. I should say 
 there were as many as four hundred ; and each 
 carried a stick of uniform length and shape. 
 They moved along in ranks or companies, just 
 as though they were imitating a wing of a regi- 
 ment of infantry. At the head of this tribe was 
 an old and very powerful monkey, who was no 
 doubt the chief. It was a very odd sight, and I 
 became greatly intWfffced i n the movements of 
 the creatures/^^^Mbttld be no question that 
 they Lad either -ness or some pleasure 
 
 on hand ; and the fact of each carrying a stick 
 H^is to conclude that it was the former upon 
 ^^ they v, ere ben|;.' Their destination wa?, 
 Deobund, where there are 
 ' of nfonkeys fed by a number oi 
 
 ho live near a Hindoo temple, and 
 remonies. They (the mon- 
 out of the road on our ac 
 disturb themselves in any way ; and 
 iend was afraid to drive through their 
 i. or over anv of them ; for, when assailed, 
 
 gont ' J 
 
 ileanly at 
 emove a ch< 
 ire a very or 
 nas; wondr 
 selves ; li 
 capable ' 
 >bedient 
 awnin. 
 man. 
 their ' 
 tide 
 ban 
 
 de- n-> ... + . . 
 
 k( ' 
 
 iB 
 
 _,, and sla 
 
 posed) gallt 
 A frequent 4 
 hough it dc , f v en now and then. % 
 the Goorkha women are as virtuous 
 able as their husbands are honest and V 
 
 AT a surprise party, February 2n:l. 
 following toast was given : "Here's ! 
 who swears, steals arid lies swours of,' 1 ; 
 ing, steals away from bad eonipany, ;ui 
 honest 
 
 QUOTH Smith to Jones, it r 
 You do not get your pretty 
 Quoth Jones, you're wrong ; the pJ 
 
 confound it, 
 My wife is all the time a railing round it. 
 
ORXITHOLOCY 
 
A Visit to the German Philosopher Hnmboldt. 
 
 Bayard Taylor, having finished his travels in the 
 northern countries of Europe, revisited Germany. 
 Writing from Gotha, on 24th October last, to the X. Y. 
 Tribune, he describes a ; sit which he had just pre- 
 
 viously paid to the ce 1 
 losopher Hunibol- 1 
 ace of the Kinp- 
 Alexander T r 
 sian m 
 year 
 
 uuin of science and phi- 
 hen residing in the pal- 
 1 -im. This was when 
 1 visit to the Prus- 
 ihe eighty-ninth 
 
 fc 
 
 ..ry, on the threshold of 
 jii, [this was about noon,J 
 .ily paler than before, a little 
 .-juld see that his step was not 
 ,iue eye beamed as clear an intel- 
 lig ulie voice had as steady and cheery 
 
 a to. .JL hands with the cordiality of a friend, 
 
 and, i .irst greetings were over, questioned me 
 
 minute. .corning my travels in the North. 
 
 But OLO topic soon suggested a hundred others, and 
 he was ere long roaming at large over the whole field 
 of geography and climatology, touching the farthest 
 and darkest regions of the earth with the light of his 
 stupendous knowledge. The sheets of the new volume 
 of Cosmos lay upon the table. 
 
 " Here is what I have been doing, since you were here 
 before," said he, taking it up : " the work will be pub- 
 lished in two or three weeks." 
 
 " You find yourself, then, still capable of such la- 
 bor?" I ventured to ask. 
 
 "Work is now a part of my life," said he; "I sleep 
 so little, and much rest would be irksome. Day before 
 yesterday, I worked for sixteen hours, reviewing these 
 sheets." 
 
 " Are you not greatly fatigued," I asked, " after such 
 an exertion?" 
 
 " On the contrary," he replied, " I feel refreshed, but 
 the performance of it depends greatly on my state of 
 bodily health. I am unconscious of any mental fa- 
 tigue." 
 
 As I saw in the face, and heard in the voice, of the 
 splendid old man, all the signs of a sound, unfailing 
 intellect, I could well believe it. I had prided myself 
 a little on having worked with the brain fifteen hours a 
 day for six months, yet here was Humboldt in his 
 eighty-ninth year, capable of an equal exertion. 
 
 The manner in which he spoke of his bodily health 
 was exceedingly interesting to me. His mind, full of 
 rigor and overflowing with active life, seemed to con- 
 sider the body as something independent of itself, and 
 to watch, with a curious eye, its gradual decay, as he 
 
 iger days. 
 * said he, 
 have seen in the 
 newspapers concerning my illness. They stated that I 
 was attacked with apoplexy, but it was only a vertigo, 
 which soon left me, and has not been followed by any 
 of the usual effects of apoplexy. One result, however, 
 shows that my body is beginning to give way. I have 
 not the same power of controlling ray limbs as for- 
 merly : the will does not seem to act upon the muscles ; 
 
 fcu wtuuu, VTILU a curious cyu, us gradual ueca 
 might have watched that of a tree in his youmj 
 " 1 have been unwell through the summer, 
 "but you must not believe all you may have set 
 
 " You will pass through Berlin on your way to Mos- 
 cow ?" said he. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Well I must be polite enough to live until then. 
 You must bring your wife with you. Oh, I know all 
 about it; and you must not tkink, because I have never 
 been married myself, that I do not congratulate you." 
 
 After these cordial words, and ft clasp of the hand, in 
 which there was nothing weak or tremulous, I parted 
 from the immortal old man. 
 
 I was glad to learn from Seifert, [Humboldt's body- 
 nervantj, that Mildebrand's admirable water-color draw- 
 ing of Humboldt iu his library, is soon to be printed in 
 chromotint, so that very accurate copies of it can be 
 obtained tit a moderate price. As I have not only seen 
 the original, but the room and man it represents, I can 
 testify to its entire fidelity, and would suggest to Hum- 
 boldt 9 admirer* in America that they cannot procure 
 a better illustration of him. I suppose copies of it will 
 be sent to America for sale. Ilerr Mollhauswi, Seifert's 
 son-in-law, who is now attached, as artist, to the expe- 
 dition for the survey of a wagon-road to the Pacific, 
 prepared for the press, before leaving Berlin, a splend- 
 didly illustrated work on the Gila country, which is now 
 being published under the patronage of the King. It 
 will cost about $28 a copy. Humboldt himself wrote 
 the preface, a copy of which he gave me. He was 
 greatly gratified at the readiness with which our present 
 Secretary of War gave Mr. Mollhausen a second np- 
 noin tin fin t. 
 
ORNITHOLOGY 
 
A HE HONKY BEE IN CALIFORNIA. F. G. 
 Appleton, of San Jose, has furnished the Alia 
 with some interesting particulars connected with 
 the introduction of the honey bee in this State 
 and the adaptation of our climate and products 
 to their success : P^p^y^iLf /_^m^K 
 
 The amount of honey and beeswax produced 
 in the United States, as returned by the Census 
 Agents, for the year 1850, was 14,662,500 
 pounds, which estimated at fifteen cents per 
 pound, gives the sum of $2,199,375, as the 
 value of this production for that year. 
 
 One Shelton (in connection with Commodore 
 Stockton and G. W. Aspinwall) imported, in 
 March, 1853, the first bees into California. He 
 left New York with twelve stands or hives, and 
 arrived with but one ; from this one there are 
 now about one' hundred and fifty swarms. 
 
 Buck, Appleton, Early, Daniels, Lathrop, and 
 Gates, of San Jose ; T. G. Baxter, of JSapa ; 
 Capt. Hoag and Harbison, of Sacramento, and 
 Xeyman, of Mokelumne Hill, are each interested 
 in the business to the extent of 10 to 100 
 swarms ; many others have from one to ten. 
 
 About 3,000 pounds of honey was produced.* 
 last year ; it being more profitable to increase t 
 swarms at present, but little attention has been 
 given to induce bees to store surplus honey ; the 
 object has been to force bees to throw off 
 swarms. From some of my swarms I have taken 
 from each sixty pounds of pure honey in top 
 boxes. In each colony there are in the swarm- 
 ing season three kinds of bees a queen, con- 
 siderable number of drones, and thousands of 
 workers. The queen is the only fully devel- 
 oped female ; the drones are males, and the 
 workers are undeveloped females. The honey 
 bee is not a native of California ; those swarmed 
 here do r.ot differ from the original imported ; 
 both thrive equally well. Some bees have been 
 brought hither from Mexico, but they are the 
 same in all respects as our bee. The Italian 
 honey bee has not been imported into the United 
 States. Aristotle, who flourished 2,200 years 
 ago, speaks of three different kinds of honey 
 bees, as well known in his time. Virgil in his 
 fourth book of Georgics, speaks of two kinds as 
 flourishing in his time. The better variety he 
 characterizes as spotted or variegated, and "of a 
 beautiful golden color. Strange to say, within 
 a few years, the attention of bee keepers has 
 been called to the very variety described bv 
 Aristotle and Virgil, and after a lapse of 2,2CO 
 years, it is still found to exist, distinct and pure 
 from the common kind, and to be as superior to- 
 il as a Durham ox to one of the poorest breeds. 
 The California honey, made from mustard 
 blossom, the flower from which most of the 
 honey is gathered in this valley, is equal to anv \ 
 I have ever tasted. It has sold in San Francisco \ 
 at from *1 25 to $1 50 per pound. New swarms 
 issue as early as the 15th of April and the 
 swarming season continues to 16th of June. 
 The swarms usually cluster upon a branch of a 
 tree or bush. The operator should have his 
 hive ready ; take a blanket, or sheet, and spread 
 it upon the ground, under the cluster, place the 
 upon it, raised an inch to permit the bees 
 J to enter freely; give the branch a smart shake 
 they will fall in front of the hive, and as 
 I soon as they perceive it, will enter. If the 
 branch be of no value it can be cut oft', placod 
 under the hive, and the bees will ascend in a 
 few minutes. As soon as all are in, the hive 
 should be placed in the position, or upon the 
 stand it is to occupy, and protected from the 
 beat of the sun. Second swarms issue in about 
 Hen days from the first, and the third in two or 
 three days after the second. The hive should 
 De left unplained on the inside, and before put- 
 ting a swarm into it, washed out with salt and 
 
 , That California is admirably adapted to the 
 honey bee, the experience of five years fully 
 demonstrates. Not only in San Jose Valley, but 
 at Sacramento, Shasta, Bid weirs, Stockton, Co- 
 lumbia and Xapa, they multiply rapidly and store 
 abundance of honey. The willow affords the 
 first material for pollen. The bees commence 
 gathering it by the 1st of January ; about the 
 15th of January it is in bloom and affords con- 
 siderable honey", though slightly bitter ; the bees 
 gather pollen and honey from the willow till 
 Mar^' The wild mustard'affords an inexhausti- 
 b' 'y of honey from the last of April to the 
 
 i- Tune. La ; ; n the season, honey is 
 
 t -0 l) 11 nd lioney dew. 
 
 immigrant b rough 
 arm of bees ev 
 had two sw; 
 Wm. 
 
 ter to L. S. Lango., v _ . 
 
 " The Russia and Hungary A 
 ing from 2,000 to 5,000 colonies, are J 
 be unfrequent ; and we know tha 
 4,000 hives are oftentimes conp-<>' 
 point on the heaths of Germany.^ 
 we need not fear that any district 
 try, so distinguished for abundant na^,, \ 
 tation and diversified culture, will ver\\ 5^\ 
 be overstocked. ^ i 
 
 " According to the statistical tables c 
 kingdom of Hanover, the annual productio^ 
 bees' wax in the province is 300,000 poundS 
 assuming one pound of wax to each hive, we" 
 must suppose 3000,000 hives are annually ' brim- 
 stoned ;' and assuming one-half of the whole 
 colonies produce a swarm each year, it would 
 require 600,000 colonies (141 to each square 
 mile), to secure the result given in the tables. 
 
 " In the province of Attica, Greece, containing 
 forty-five square miles, and 20,000 inhabitants, 
 20,000 hives of bees are kept ; yielding thirty 
 pounds of honey, and two of wax : one hive to 
 each man, woman and child." Lang$troth,p. 398. 
 
 "East Friesland, a province of 'Holland, con- 
 taining 1,200 square miles, maintained 2,000 
 colonies per square mile." Henbel, Bcmen zei- 
 1864,j. 11. 
 
N ITIIOLOGY 
 
bulletin. 
 
 THOMAS S. KING, EDITOR. 
 
 MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 29, 1858. 
 
 The Fossil Formations of California. 
 
 EDITOR OP THE SAN FRANCISCO EVENING BUL- 
 LETIN : Probably no country in the world abounds 
 with such an infinite variety of the extinct animals of 
 creation as the State of California; certainly in no dis- 
 trict of country on the glebe are they to be met with in 
 such extraordinary abundance as on our hill-tops, moun- 
 tain-sides and valleys. Nor is it confined to one king- 
 dom of nature, but includes molluscous shells, fish, land 
 animals, such as mastodons, wolves, whales, deer, and 
 some say even man. Fossil vegetation is often found 
 by the miners in their claims as well as animal remains. 
 In the section of country lying between the Tulare 
 plains, west to the ocean, and including a radius of 
 severity miles in diameter from the Mission of Soledad, 
 in Monterey county, to the town of San Luis Obispo, 
 whole mountains are found of immense oysters and of 
 a multitudinous variety of the extinct mollusca, in the 
 most extraordinary state of preservation, as perfect as 
 if washed ashore yesterday, excepting in the matter of 
 color, flesh and weight. 
 
 In the fifth volume of Railroad Surveys, may be 
 found the report on the topography of that section of 
 California inland via the Tulare plain from Benicia 
 to Fort Yuma, written by the commanding officer, Lt. 
 R. S. Williamson a work in itself of great merit, full of 
 views and illustrations, and in a high degree creditable 
 to that officer and his assistants. The scientific report 
 on the geology, fossiliferai, mineralogy, etc., of Wil- 
 liamson's Survey is written by Professor William P. 
 Blake, who accompanied the expedition as geologist. 
 In this work may be found splendid illustrations of the 
 fossils and plants, and many of the living mollusca, etc., 
 of California, collected by the expedition, and described 
 scientifically by Messrs. Conrad, Durand, Torrey, and 
 others. 
 
 The report on geology, mineralogy, etc., by Blake, is 
 a lasting monument to the industry, ability and inge- 
 nuity of this eminent Californian one who is well 
 known, not only in the scientific literature of California, 
 but of the Atlantic States and Europe. The copious 
 notes and observations on the physical aspects and 
 penetralia of California, at once fix 'Mr. Blake as an 
 observer and student of sterling capacities. He has 
 also the merit of writing in a style to suit both popular 
 and scientific tastes. Mr. Blake is also the author of a 
 chapter on the geology of the coast of California, in the 
 Coast Survey Report of 1855, which is not only deep 
 and thorough, but eminently practical ; being easily 
 understood by amateurs of the science. Of all the 
 writers on the physical nature of California, I conceive 
 Mr. Blake is entitled to be classed as number one. 
 
 In reference to the fossil mollusca of our State, I am 
 indebted to Dr. C. A. Cantield, of Monterey, for the 
 following list of shells, found by him, while traveling in 
 the Sierras of that county, and which will be found of 
 great use in fixing the locality of species not mentioned 
 in Blake's report. A. S. T., of Monterev. 
 
 CATALOGUE OF FOSSIL MOLLUSCA FOUND IN THE 
 MOUNTAINS OF SAK BENITO CREEK, MONTEREY 
 COTTKTY. 
 
 In the yellow limestone, of the Canada del Topo and 
 vicinity, the following bpecies occur : 
 
 1. Bucania, species undetermined. 
 
 2. Murchisonia Bellicinta. 
 
 3. Macrocheilus, species undetermined. 
 
 4. Terebratula Chactavensis. 
 
 5. Pectin Quclricrustatis. 
 0. Janira Qudricastata. 
 
 7. Spirifer Fasciger. 
 
 8. Ostrea, several species, 
 li. Faviphyllum Rugosum. 
 
 10. Faphrentis Multilamella. 
 
 11. Faph. Stansburii. 
 
 In the sandy limestone formations, cut through 
 he San Benito creek, occur the folloAving species : 
 
 12. Holaster. Simplex. 
 
 13. Lucina, several species. 
 
 14. Cuculloe Nebrascensis. 
 
 15. Allorisma Regularis. 
 
 10. Spirifer Octoplicata. 
 
 17. Gryphoea Pitcheri. 
 
 18. Gryphoe, 2 other species undetermined. 
 lit. Productus Cora. 
 
 20. Tarebratula, undetermined. 
 
 21. Holopca, undetermined. 
 
 22. Bacculitis Compressis. 
 
 23. Ancella Crassicollis. 
 
 24. Murex, undetermined. 
 
 25. Melanea, undetermined. 
 
 26. Trochus, undetermined. 
 
 27. Pteroccrus, undetermined. 
 
 28. Isocardia, undetermined. 
 20. Natica, undetermined. 
 
 30. Ostrea, several species. 
 
 31. Turritella, undetermined. 
 
 32. Donax, undetermined. 
 
 33. Trygonia, undetermined. 
 31. Pholadomia, undetermined. 
 3- r ). Exogyra, undetermined. 
 :>;. Rostcllaria, undetermined. 
 
 37. Solen Vajjina. 
 
 38. Anotina Cbnvexa. 
 3:1. Halistis Tuberculata. 
 40. Tellina Congesta. 
 
 11. Lutraria Compressa. 
 
 42. Pertunculus Castatus. 
 
 43. Buccinum Vrisi- 
 
 
OlfNITITOLOGY 
 
\.1J.-JI 
 
 ICHTHYOLOGY 
 
 .vi. *T 
 
 ****M 
 
ICHTHYOLOGY 
 

CUT STAC KA 
 
 
 it 
 
 
MO~L LV S (' A 
 

RKPTILES 
 
AK ACH MDE S . MYRIAPODA 
 
 
E XTOMOLOGY 
 
ENTOMOLOGY 
 
POLYPI. 
 
coxnio LOGY 
 
 
XVIII 
 
\ 
 
XH.5J-. 
 
 MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS 
 
 i |J - 
 
 i 
 
 Eng?iyJ. Scott. 
 
 Published byBlackte & SonGlaseow: 
 
.v //.;.;. 
 
 MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS 
 
 [from, ol) s ervatioi 
 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 WE are now come to a beautiful and loqua- 
 cious race of animals, that embellish our for- 
 ests, amuse our walks, and exclude solitude 
 from our most shady retirements. From these 
 man has nothing to fear; their pleasures, their 
 desires, and even their animosities, only serve 
 to enliven the general picture of nature, and 
 give harmony to meditation. 
 
 No part of nature appears destitute of inha- 
 bitants. The woods, the waters, the depths 
 of the earth, have their respective tenants ; 
 while the yielding air, and those tracts of 
 seeming space where man never can ascend, 
 are also passed through by multitudes of the 
 most beautiful beings of the creation. 
 
 Every order and rank of animals seems fit- 
 ted for its situation in life ; but none more ap- 
 parently than birds: they share, in common 
 with the stronger race of quadrupeds, the ve- 
 getable spoils of the earth ; are supplied with 
 swiftness, to compensate for their want of 
 force ; and have a faculty of ascending into 
 the air, to avoid that power which they can- 
 not oppose. 
 
 The birds seem formed entirely for a life 
 of escape ; and every part of the anatomy of 
 the animal seems calculated for swiftness. As 
 it is designed to rise upon air, all its parts are 
 proportionably light, and expand a large sur- 
 face without solidity. 
 
 In a comparative view with man, their for- 
 mation seems much ruder and more imper- 
 fect ; and they are in general found incapable 
 of the docility even of quadrupeds. Indeed, 
 what degree of sagacity can be expected 
 in animals whose eyes are almost as large 
 as their brain? However, though they fall 
 below quadrupeds in the scale of nature, and 
 
 VOL. n. 
 
 are less imitative of human endowments ; 
 yet they hold the next rank, and far surpass 
 fishes and insects, both in the structure of their 
 bodies and in their sagacity. 
 
 As in mechanics the most curious instru- 
 ments are generally the most complicated, so 
 it is in anatomy. The body of man presents 
 the greatest variety upon dissection ; quadru- 
 peds, less perfectly formed, discover their de- 
 fects in the simplicity of their conformation ; 
 the mechanism of birds is still less complex ; 
 fishes are furnished with fewer organs still ; 
 whilst insects, more imperfect than all, seem 
 to fill up the chasm that separates animal from 
 vegetable nature. Of man, the most perfect 
 animal, there are but three or four species; of 
 quadrupeds, the kinds are more numerous; 
 birds are more various still ; fishes yet more ; 
 but insects afford so very great a variety, that 
 they elude the search of the most inquisitive 
 pursuer. 
 
 Quadrupeds, as was said, have some distant 
 resemblance in their internal structure with 
 man ; but that of birds is entirely dissimilar. 
 As they seem chiefly formed to inhabit the 
 empty regions of air, all their parts are 
 adapted to their destined situation. It will 
 be proper, therefore, before I give a general 
 history of birds, to enter into a slight detail of 
 their anatomy and conformation. 
 
 As to their external parts, they seem sur- 
 prisingly adapted for swiftness of motion. 
 The shape of their body is sharp before, to 
 pierce and make way through the air; it then 
 rises by a gentle swelling to its bulk, and falls 
 off in an expansive tail, that helps to keep it 
 buoyant, while the fore-parts are cleaving the 
 air by their sharpness. From this conforma- 
 tion, they have often been compared to a ship 
 making its way through water ; the trunk of 
 the body answers to the hold, the head to the 
 prow, the tail to the rudder, and the wings to the 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 oars ; from whence the poets have adopted 
 the metaphor of remigium alarum, when they 
 described the wavy motion of a bird in flight. 
 What we are called upon next to admire 
 in the external formation of birds is, the neat 
 position of the feathers, lying all one way, 
 answering at once the purposes of warmth, 
 speed, and security. They mostly tend back- 
 ward, and are laid over one another in an ex- 
 act and regular order, armed with warm and 
 soft down next the body, and more strongly 
 fortified, and curiously closed externally, to 
 fence off the injuries of the weather. But, 
 lest the feathers should spoil by their violent 
 attrition against the air, or imbibe the mois- 
 ture of the atmosphere, the animal is fur- 
 nished with a gland behind, containing a pro- 
 per quantity of oil, which can be pressed out 
 by the bird's bill, and laid smoothly over 
 every feather that wants to be dressed for the 
 occasion. This gland is situated on the rump, 
 and furnished with an opening or excretory 
 duct ; about which grows a small tuft of lea- 
 thers somewhat like a painter's pencil. When, 
 therefore, the feathers are shattered or rum- 
 pled, the bird, turning its head backwards, 
 with the bill catches hold of the gland, and, 
 pressing it, forces out the oily substance, with 
 which it anoints the disjoined parts of the fea- 
 thers ; and drawing them out with great assi- 
 duity, recomposes and places them in due 
 order ; by which they unite more closely to- 
 gether. Such poultry, however, as live lor 
 the most part under cover, are not furnished 
 with so large a stock of this fluid, as those 
 birds that reside in the open air. The fea- 
 thers of a hen, for instance, are pervious to 
 every shower ; on the contrary, swans, geese, 
 ducks, and all such as Nature has directed 
 to live upon the water, have their feathers 
 dressed with oil from the very first day of 
 their leaving the shell. Thus their stock of 
 fluid is equal to the necessity of its consump- 
 tion. Their very flesh contracts a flavour 
 from it, which renders it in some so very ran- 
 cid, as to make it utterly unfit for food ; how- 
 ever, though it injures the flesh, it improves 
 the feathers for all the domestic purposes to 
 which they are usually converted. 
 
 Nor are the feathers with which birds are 
 covered less an object of admiration. The 
 shaft of every feather is made proportionably 
 strong ; but hollow below for strength and 
 lightness, and above filled with a pith to feed 
 the growth of the vane or beard that springs 
 from the shaft of the feather on either side. 
 All the feathers are placed generally ac- 
 cording to their length and strength, so that 
 the largest and strongest feathers in flight 
 have the greatest share of duty. The vane 
 or beard of the feather is formed with equal 
 contrivance and care. It consists not of one 
 
 continued membrane ; because, if this were 
 broken, it could not easily be repaired; but it 
 is composed of many layers, each somewhat 
 in itself resembling a feather, and lying 
 against each other in close conjunction. To- 
 wards the shaft of the feather, these layers 
 are broad, and of a semicircular form, to serve 
 for strength, and for the closer grafting them 
 one against the other when in action. To- 
 wards the outer part of the vane, these layers 
 grow slender and taper, to be more light. 
 On their under-side they are thin and smooth, 
 but their upper outer-edge is parted into two 
 hairy edges, each side having a different sort 
 of hairs, broad at bottom, and slender and 
 bearded above. By this mechanism, the 
 hooked beards of one layer always lie next 
 the straight beards of the next, and by that 
 means lock and hold each other. 1 
 
 1 All birds are covered with feathers, and they are 
 the only animals which, properly speaking, are so. 
 These feathers are of two sorts feathers for clothing, to 
 protect the animal from the vicissitudes of the weather, 
 and feathers for flight. Both of these are beautifully 
 modified, so as to suit the different habits of the several 
 species, and adapt them to the climates and the ele- 
 ments in which they find their food. 
 
 Some other animals, as for instance the lepidopterous 
 insects the butterflies and the moths have a coat of 
 feathers, or rather of fringed or feathery scales; but 
 these have few or none of the characters of true feathers, 
 and in no case, except that of birds, are feathers the in- 
 struments of flight. But still we nan, in the imperfect 
 feathers of the lepidoptera, discover one of the uses of 
 feathers in birds better than we can perhaps do in the 
 feathers of birds themselves, as in them it is conjoined 
 with other uses. The study of one animal often assists 
 us in acquiring a knowledge of another, especially when 
 the one contains a single part of that which is a com- 
 pound organ in another ; because by this means we get 
 an analysis of the living animal, which is far more satis- 
 factory than any that we could obtain by the dissection 
 of a dead one ; for we can, in the one case, actually see 
 the part of the organ in action, whereas in the other we 
 can only infer or guess at the way in which it acts. 
 
 Now, every one must have noticed, that bees, flies, 
 and all insects which have membranous or naked wings, 
 must keep those wings constantly in rapid motion while 
 they fly. The motion is often so rapid that the wings 
 cannot be seen, any further than by a sort of tremulous 
 motion in the air; and the action of the wings produces 
 all that humming and buzzing among flying insects 
 which makes the summer air so lively ; for insects do 
 not breathe by the mouth, and have no organ of voice of 
 any description. The action of those naked wings upon 
 the air must be very considerable ; because, when a 
 common bluebottle-fly (Musca vomitoria) alights on the 
 window, and marches along one of the dusty bars of the 
 frame, winnowing the air with its wings, in a vain at- 
 tempt to escape through the glass, it stirs the dust more 
 in proportion than a coach and six driving rapidly along 
 a dry road on a hot summer's day. Insects with wings 
 of this description cannot hover, or lean on the air with 
 still and expanded wing. 
 
 But the lepidoptera, especially the butterflies, do ho- 
 ver about, and rest on the air, and wheel in various di- 
 rections, with very little apparent motion of the wings; 
 and when they do move them, it is done much more 
 slowly than the motion of the naked wing, in proportion 
 to the rate of progressive motion. These lepidopteroua 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 3 
 
 The next object that comes under consider- 
 ation, in contemplating an animal that flies, 
 is the wing, the instrument by which this 
 wonderful progression is performed. In such 
 
 wings also move in silence, or when they are brought 
 into such rapid action as to produce a sort of noise, it is 
 a low and muffled rustle, and does not ring out, so that 
 the largest butterfly or moth gets along much more si- 
 lently than the gnat. We may add, as a further in- 
 stance of the same kind, that the bats when they fly are 
 always obliged to winnow the air with their flying mem- 
 branes, something in the same way as naked winged in- 
 sects do, though the flight of bats, unless when they are 
 agitated, is comparatively noiseless. So also those rep- 
 tiles which fly by means of membranous appendages are 
 obliged to flutter these very much in proportion to the 
 rate of their progressive motion. 
 
 Now, the difference of action in these two textures of 
 wings in the other classes of animals, shows us the ad- 
 vantages which birds derive from their feathery cover- 
 ing and feathery organs of flight. These feathers, even 
 to the minutest fibre on the plumes or webs, are tubular, 
 consisting of only a thin film of solid matter, filled with 
 air within, though strengthened by partitions of cellular 
 substance, more or less close together, recording to the 
 strain which the feathers have to bear. From the mode 
 in which the feathers and all their parts are laid upon 
 the bird, it presents a smooth surface upwards and for- 
 wards, so that the animal can move in either of these di- 
 rections with very little resistance from the friction of 
 the air. When it moves in either of them, the resis- 
 tance of friction does not increase so rapidly as the rate 
 of motion ; because the pressure smooths the feathers, 
 and causes the air to take less hold of them. This pro- 
 perty, which arises in part from the texture of the up- 
 per surface of the feathers, but chiefly from the way in 
 which they are formed and placed, is of equal service to 
 birds when they must perch or otherwise remain at rest 
 so as to abide the blast, as when they fly exposed to it. 
 Perching or flying, when a bird is in the wind it always 
 faces the current, and thus offers the least resistance 
 both by its form and its feathers. 
 
 When, however, the feathers are taken in the oppo- 
 site directions, they offer as much increase of resistance 
 as they offer diminution when they are taken above or 
 in front. The wings are always more or less hollow on 
 the under sides, and they take hold of the air by millions 
 of fibres, so that a bird with its flying feathers on the 
 stretch, would fall much more slowly than one would 
 suppose from the difference between its specific gravity 
 and that of the air. 
 
 The resistance which all the feathers on the body of 
 the bird offer to motion backwards is still greater ; and it 
 increases with the force which tends to move the ani- 
 mal in that direction. The instant that it begins to be 
 driven backwards, so that a current against its body is 
 produced, the points of the feathers rise and take the 
 wind with so many fibres, that the resistance is very si- 
 milar to that made by a scaly fish, when one attempts to 
 draw one of these by the tail ; and every one who has 
 angled, and accidentally caught even a common trout in 
 that way, knows that an ounce weight is as difficult to 
 land when so hooked as a pound weight is when hooked 
 by the head. But the feathers of birds rise much more 
 in proportion than the free edges of the scales upon any 
 fish, and they are every way as well formed for " hold- 
 ing on" in the air, as those are for holding on in the 
 water. Thus the bird may be said to resist motion 
 backwards in the air, by throwing out the point of each 
 feather like the " fluke" of an anchor. 
 
 The bird, when its habit is to be much on the wing, 
 is all over adapted for flight; and the system of its me- 
 chanics, if we could fully comprehend it, would certain- 
 
 birds that fly, they are usually placed at that 
 part of the body which serves to poise the 
 whole, and support it in a fluid that at first 
 seems so much lighter than itself. They an- 
 
 ly be the most curious, and far from the least instruc- 
 tive, in the whole of the animal kingdom. 
 
 The buoyancy, as well as the upward motion, is not 
 very difficult to understand, because the wing, from its 
 general form, and the structure of the feathers, rises* 
 with much less effort than it descends. Thus the con- 
 stant tendency of the powerfully winged bird is to mount 
 upwards; and on this account the firmest bird, that 
 which with the same volume of body and extent of 
 wings has the greatest specific gravity, is the best flyer, 
 flies more steadily, and apparently with less effort. 
 This must of course have a limit ; because, leaving the 
 incapacity of breathing out of the question, no bird could 
 fly in a vacuum, and thus there must be a certain den- 
 sity of air which is the best adapted for the flight of any 
 given species of bird. This appears, even in the case of 
 heavy birds, to be considerably less than the density of 
 the mean level of the earth's surface. Eagles are heavy 
 birds, even for their powerful wings, and yet they are 
 high fliers, even when their abodes are at great eleva- 
 tions in the mountains. All birds which take long 
 flights fly high, whatever may be their other habits. 
 Wild geese, herons, all birds indiscriminately " take the 
 sky" when they set out upon long journeys. In some, 
 this may be in part done to avoid enemies or obstacles, 
 but the habit is too general for being accounted for upon 
 any principle, save that the high flight is the less fatigu- 
 ing. Even rooks may be observed to adjust the height 
 of their daily excursions from the rookeries to the dis- 
 tance at which the pasture upon which they are to feed 
 lies ; and the swallow tribe wheel about far more rapidly 
 and gracefully when they hawk high before rain, than 
 when they skim the surfaces of the pools in fine weather. 
 If we may judge from their appearance when we see 
 them on the wing (the only means we have of judging), 
 it appears that birds, when they are not in search of any 
 thing upon the ground near them, mount up till they 
 come to that density of atmosphere which is best suited 
 to their weight and wings, and then continue onwards. 
 There may be another reason : those upper regions to 
 which the birds ascend on their long nights are in a 
 great measure exempted from the momentary gusts and 
 squalls which war upon the surface under them. 
 
 The circulation of blood is, as has been hinted already, 
 more rapid in birds than in the mammalia, which agrees 
 with the greater violence and longer continuance of some 
 of their actions. But though these more violent actions 
 such as coursing on two feet, as fleetly as antelopes do on 
 four, and with the aid of the flexible spine and its mus- 
 cles, as in the ostrich plunging into the water like the 
 gannet or the cormorant dashing through that element 
 like the divers cleaving the air beyond comparison 
 with all terrestrial speed, as in the falcon, the swift, or 
 the pratincole, or breasting the tempest with the majesty 
 of the eagle require, and are furnished with, a supply 
 of blood proportional to the waste which their great 
 energy must occasion; yet they are by no means so well 
 suited to an equally rapid breathing by means of lungs. 
 But the application of renovating air to the blood must, 
 in all animals, be proportional to the circulation, and, 
 among vertebrated animals, it is only the reptiles and 
 fishes which have the temperature low and the circula- 
 tion lagging, and which spend much of their time in a 
 state of comparative inaction, that can carry on their 
 systems in a healthy state with only a partial aeration of 
 the blood. 
 
 If the subject is considered according to our plans in 
 contriving and executing, there is thus a difficulty to be 
 overcome in the case of the birds, similar to which no- 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 swer to the fore-legs in quadrupeds, and at 
 the extremity of this they have a certain fin- 
 ger-like appendix, which is usually called the 
 bastard-wing. This instrument of flight is 
 furnished with quills, which differ from the 
 common feathers only in their size being lar- 
 ger, and also from their springing from the 
 deeper part of the skin, their shafts lying al- 
 most close to the bone. The beards of these 
 quills are broad on one side and more narrow 
 on the other, both which contribute to the pro- 
 gressive motion of the bird, and the closeness 
 of the wing. The manner in which most 
 birds avail themselves of these, is first thus : 
 they quit the earth with a bound, in order to 
 have room for flapping with the wing ; when 
 they have room for this, they strike the body 
 of air beneath the wing with a violent motion, 
 and with the whole under surface of the same ; 
 but then to avoid striking the air with equal 
 violence on the upper side as they rise, the 
 wing is instantly contracted ; so that the ani- 
 mal rises by the impulse, till it spreads the 
 wing for a second blow. For this reason, we 
 always see the birds choose to rise against the 
 wind, because they have thus a greater body 
 of air on the under than the upper side of the 
 wing. For this reason also large fowls do 
 not rise easily; both because they have not 
 sufficient room at first for the motion of their 
 wings, and because the body of air does not 
 lie so directly under the wing as they rise. 
 
 In order to move the wings, all birds are 
 furnish I with two very strong pectoral mus- 
 
 thing occurs in that of any of the other vertebrated ani- 
 mals. They stand more in need of the action of the air 
 than any other animals ; and their habits are such, that 
 they are less able to bear even the same action, by 
 means of the ordinary apparatus of lungs. 
 
 The means by which the action of the air on the blood 
 of birds is rendered equal to the rapidity in circulation, 
 and consequent necessity of vital repair in that fluid, 
 without the painful fatigue of ever-panting lungs, is 
 made, like all other contrivances in nature, to answer 
 other important purposes at the same time. The lungs 
 of birds are ample in their dimensions, and have the cells 
 into which air is admitted larger than in the mammalia; 
 and they are kept in their places by being fastened to 
 the bones. Ramifications extend from them in tubes 
 and cells through the whole cavity of the body, into the 
 hollows of the bones, and, in short, along the course of 
 every artery which is not immediately embedded in 
 those muscles which are in action during the violent ex- 
 ertions of the bird. The blood-vessels in these muscles 
 are fewer than those in the muscles of the mammalia, as 
 any one may infer from the greater rigidity of their tex- 
 ture, and the whiteness of their colour. Thus, there is 
 not a blood-vessel of any considerable size in the whole 
 body of a bird, to the coats of which the air has not ac- 
 cess during the greater part of their course; and thus 
 the real action of breathing in birds is not concentrated 
 into one organ, to be toiling and panting there, as it 
 would be in the lungs of the mammalia, but distributed 
 over the whole circulation, and consequently diminished 
 in local intensity in proportion as it extended over a 
 greater surface. Mudiis Natural History of Birds. 
 
 cles, which lie on each side of the breast-bone. 
 The pectoral muscles of quadrupeds, are trifl- 
 ing in comparison to those of birds. In quad- 
 rupeds, as well as in man, the muscles which 
 move the thighs and hinder parts of the body 
 are by far the strongest, while those of the 
 arms are feeble; but in birds, which make 
 use of their wings, the contrary obtains ; the 
 pectoral muscles, that move the wings or 
 arms, are of enormous strength, while those of 
 the thighs are weak and slender. By means 
 of these, a bird can mo^e its wings with a de- 
 gree of strength which, when compared to the 
 animal's size, is almost incredible. The flap 
 of a swan's wing would break a man's leg ; 
 and a similar blow from an eagle has been 
 known to lay a man dead in an instant. Such, 
 consequently, is the force of the wing, and 
 such its lightness, as to be inimitable by art. 
 No machines, that human skill can contrive, 
 are capable of giving such force to so light an 
 apparatus. The art of flying, therefore, that 
 has so often and so fruitlessly been sought 
 after, must, it is feared, for ever be unattain- 
 able ; since as man increases the force of his 
 flying machine, he must be obliged to in- 
 crease its weight also. 
 
 In all birds, except nocturnal ones, the 
 head is smaller, and bears less proportion to 
 the body than in quadrupeds, that it may more 
 readily divide the air in flying, and make 
 way for the body, so as to render its passage 
 more easy. Their eyes also are more flat and 
 depressed than in quadrupeds ; a circle of 
 small plates of bone, placed scalewise, under 
 the outer coat of the organ, encompasses the 
 pupil on each, to strengthen and defend it 
 from injuries. Besides this, birds have a kind 
 of skin, called the nictitating membrane, with 
 which, like a vail, they can at pleasure cover 
 their eyes, though their eye-lids continue 
 open. This membrane takes its rise from the 
 greater or more obtuse corner of the eye, and 
 serves to wipe, cleanse, and probably to mois- 
 ten its surface. The eyes, though they out 
 wardly appear but small, yet, separately, each 
 almost equals the brain ; whereas in man the 
 brain is more than twenty times- larger than 
 the orbit of the eye. Nor is this organ in 
 birds less adapted for vision by a particular 
 expansion of the optic nerve, which renders 
 the impressions of external objects more vivid 
 and distinct. 
 
 From this conformation of the eye it fol- 
 lows, that the sense of seeing in birds is infi- 
 nitely superior to that of other animals. In- 
 deed this piercing sight seems necessary to 
 the creature's support and safety. Were this 
 organ blunter, from the rapidity of the bird's 
 motion, it would be apt to strike against every 
 object in its way ; and it could scarcely find 
 subsistence, unless possessed of a power to 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 discern its food from above with astonishing 
 sagacity. A hawk, for instance, perceives 
 a lark at a distance which neither men nor 
 dogs could spy ; a kite, from an almost im- 
 perceptible height in the clouds, darts down 
 on its prey with the most unerring aim. The 
 sight of birds, therefore, exceeds what we 
 know in most other animals, and excels them 
 both in strength and precision. 
 
 All birds want the external ear standing 
 out from the head ; they are only furnished 
 with holes that convey sounds to the auditory 
 canal. It is true, indeed, that the horned 
 owl, and one or two more birds, seem to have 
 external ears ; but what bears that resem- 
 blance are only feathers sticking out on each 
 side of the head, but no way necessary to the 
 sense of hearing. It is probable, however, 
 that the feathers encompassing the ear-hole" 
 in birds, supply the defect of the exterior ear, 
 and collect sounds to be transmitted to the in- 
 ternal sensory. The extreme delicacy of this 
 organ is easily proved by the readiness with 
 which birds learn tunes, or repeat words, and 
 the great exactness of their pronunciation. 
 
 The sense of smelling seems not less vivid 
 in* the generality of birds. Many of them 
 wind their prey at an immense distance, while 
 others are equally protected by this sense 
 against their insidious pursuers. In decoys, 
 where ducks are caught, the men who attend 
 them universally keep a piece of turf burning 
 near their mouths, upon which they breathe, 
 lest the fowl should smell them, and conse- 
 quently fly away. The universality of this 
 practice puts the necessity of it beyond a 
 doubt, and proves the extreme delicacy of the 
 sense of smelling, at least in this species of 
 the feathered creation. 
 
 Next to the parts for flight, let us view the 
 legs and feet ministering to motion. They 
 are both made light, for the easier transporta- 
 tion through the air. The toes in some are 
 webbed, to fit them for the waters ; in others 
 they are separate, for the better holding ob- 
 jects, or clinging to trees for safety. Such as 
 have long legs have also long necks, as other- 
 wise they would be incapable of gathering up 
 their food either by land or water. But it does 
 not hold, however', that those who have long 
 necks should have long legs, since we see that 
 swans and geese, whose necks are extremely 
 long, have very short legs, and these chiefly 
 employed in swimming. 
 
 Thus every external part, hitherto noticed, 
 appears adapted to the life and situation of the 
 animal ; nor are the inward parts, though less 
 immediately appropriated to flight, less ne- 
 cessary to safety. The bones of every part 
 of the body are extremely light and thin ; and 
 all the muscles, except that immediately mov- 
 ing the wings, extremely slight and feeble. 
 
 The tail, which is composed of quill feathers, 
 serves to counterbalance the head and neck ; 
 it guides the animal's flight, like a rudder, 
 and greatly assists it either in its ascent or 
 when descending. 
 
 If we go on to examine birds internally, 
 we shall find the same wonderful conformation 
 fitting them for a life in air, and increasing 
 the surface by diminishing the solidity. In 
 the first place their lungs, which are common- 
 ly called the sole, stick fast to the sides of the 
 ribs and back, and can be very little dilated 
 or contracted. But to make up for this, 
 which might impede their breathing, the ends 
 of the branches of the wind-pipe open into 
 them, while these have openings into the ca- 
 vity of the belly, and convey the air drawn 
 in by breathing into certain receptacles like 
 bladders, running along the length of the 
 whole body. Nor are these openings obscure, 
 or difficult to be discerned : for a probe thrust 
 into the lungs of a fowl will easily find a pas- 
 sage into the belly ; and air blown into the 
 wind-pipe will be seen to distend the animal's 
 body like a bladder. In quadrupeds this pas- 
 sage is stopped by the midriff; but in fowls 
 the communication is obvious ; and, conse- 
 quently, they have a much greater facility of 
 taking a long and large inspiration. It is 
 sometimes also seen that the wind-pipe makes 
 many convolutions within the body of a bird, 
 and it is then called the labyrinth ; but of 
 what use these convolutions are, or why the 
 wind-pipe should -make so many turnings 
 within the body of some birds, is a difficulty 
 for which no naturalist has been able to ac- 
 count. 
 
 This difference of the wind-pipe often ob- 
 tains in animals that, to all appearance, are of 
 the same species. Thus in the tame swan, 
 the wind-pipe makes but a straight passage 
 into the lungs ; while in the wild swan, which 
 to all external appearance seems the same 
 animal, the wind-pipe pierces through the 
 breast-bone, and there has several turnings 
 before it comes out again, and goes to enter 
 the lungs. It is not to form the voice that 
 these turnings are found, since the fowls that 
 are without them are vocal; and those, parti- 
 cularly the bird just now mentioned, that have 
 them, are silent. Whence, therefore, some 
 birds derive that loud and various modulation 
 in their warblings, is not easily to be account- 
 ed for ; at least the knife of the anatomist 
 goes but a short way in the investigation. 
 All we are certain of is, that birds have much 
 louder voices, in respect to their bulk, than 
 animals of any other kind ; for the bellowing 
 of an ox is not louder than the scream of a 
 peacock. 
 
 In these particulars, birds pretty much re- 
 semble each other in their internal confbrma- 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 tion : but there are some varieties which we 
 should more attentively observe. All birds 
 have, properly speaking, but one stomach ; 
 but this is very different in different kinds. 
 In all the rapacious kinds that live upon ani- 
 mal food, as well as in some of the fish-feed- 
 ing tribe, the stomach is peculiarly formed. 
 The oesophagus, or gullet, in them, is found 
 replete with glandulous bodies, which serve 
 to dilate and macerate the food, as it passes 
 into the stomach, which is always very large 
 in proportion to the size of the bird, and ge- 
 nerally wrapped round with fat, in order to 
 increase its warmth and powers of digestion. 
 
 Granivorous birds, or such as live upon 
 fruits, corn, and other vegetables, have their 
 intestines differently formed from those of the 
 rapacious kind. Their gullet dilates just 
 above the breast-bone, and forms itself into a 
 pouch or bag, called the crop. This is re- 
 plete with salivary glands, which serve to 
 moisten and soften the grain and other food 
 which it contains. These glands are very 
 numerous, with longitudinal openings, which 
 omit a whitish and a viscous substance. Af- 
 ter the dry food of the bird has been macera- 
 ted for a convenient time, it then passes into 
 the belly, where, instead of a soft, moist sto- 
 mach, as in the rapacious kinds, it is ground 
 between two pair of muscles, commonly called 
 the gizzard, covered on the inside with a 
 stony, ridgy coat, and almost cartilaginous. 
 These coats rubbing against each other, are 
 capable of bruising and attenuating the hard- 
 est substances, their action being often com- 
 pared to that of the grinding teeth in man and 
 other animals. Thus the organs of digestion 
 are in a manner reversed in birds. Beasts 
 grind their food with their teeth, and then it 
 passes into the stomach, where it is softened 
 and digested. On the contrary, birds of this 
 sort first macerate and soften it in the crop, 
 and then it is ground and comminuted in the 
 stomach and gizzard. Birds are also careful 
 to pick up sand, gravel, and other hard sub- 
 stances, not to grind their food as has been 
 supposed, but to prevent the too violent action 
 of the coats of the stomach against each other. 
 
 Most birds have two appendices, or blind- 
 guts, which, in quadrupeds, are always found 
 single. Among such birds as are thus sup- 
 plied, all carnivorous fowl, and all birds of 
 the sparrow kind, have very small and short 
 ones ; water-fowl and birds of the poultry 
 kind, the longest of all. There is still another 
 appendix observable in the intestines of birds, 
 resembling a little worm, which is nothing 
 more than the remainder of that passage by 
 which the yolk was conveyed into the guts of 
 the young chicken, while yet in the egg and 
 under incubation. 
 
 The outlet of that duct which conveys the 
 
 bile into the intestines is, in most birds, a 
 great way distant from the stomach ; which 
 may arise from the danger there would be of 
 the bile regurgitating into the stomach in 
 their various rapid motions, as we see in men 
 at sea ; wherefore their biliary duct is so 
 contrived, that this regurgitation cannot take 
 place. 
 
 All birds, though they want a bladder for 
 urine, have large kidneys and ureters, by 
 which this secretion is made, and carried 
 away by one common canal. " Birds," says 
 Harvey, " as well as serpents, which have 
 spongy lungs, make but little water, because 
 they drink but little. They therefore have 
 no need of a bladder ; but their urine distils 
 down into the common canal, designed for re- 
 ceiving the other excrements of the body. 
 The urine of birds differs from that of other 
 animals : for, as there is usually in urine two 
 parts, one more serous and liquid, the other 
 more thick and gross, which subsides to the 
 bottom ; in birds, the last part is most abun- 
 dant, and is distinguished from the rest by its 
 white or silver colour. This part is found not 
 only in the whole intestinal canal, but is seen 
 also in the whole channel of the ureters, which 
 may be distinguished from the coats of the 
 kidneys by their whiteness. This milky sub- 
 stance they have in greater plenty than the 
 more thin and serous part; and it is of a 
 middle consistence, between limpid urine and 
 the grosser parts of the faeces. In passing 
 through the ureters, it resembles milk curdled 
 or lightly condensed ; and, being cast forth, 
 easily congeals into a chalky crust." 
 
 From this simple conformation of the ani- 
 mal, it should seem that birds are subject to 
 few diseases ; and, in fact, they have but few. 
 There is one, however, which they are subject 
 to, from which quadrupeds are, in a great 
 measure, exempt ; this is the annual moulting 
 which they suffer ; for all birds whatsoever 
 obtain a new covering of feathers once a year, 
 and cast the old. During the moulting sea- 
 son they ever appear disordered ; those most 
 remarkable for their courage, then lose all 
 their fierceness ; and such as a>e of a weakly 
 constitution, often expire under this natural 
 operation. No feeding can maintain their 
 strength ; they all cease to breed at this sea- 
 son ; that nourishment which goes to the pro- 
 duction of the young is wholly absorbed by 
 the demand required for supplying the nas- 
 cent plumage. 
 
 This moulting-time, however, may be arti- 
 ficially accelerated ; and those who have the 
 management of singing-birds frequently put 
 their secret in practice. They inclose the 
 bird in a dark cage, where they keep it ex- 
 cessively warm, and throw the poor little ani- 
 mal into an artificial fever ; this produces the 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 moult; his old feathers fall before their time, 
 and a new set take place, more brilliant and 
 beautiful than the former. They add, that it 
 mends the bird's singing, and increases its 
 vivacity; but it must not be concealed, that 
 scarcely one bird in three survives the opera- 
 tiun. 
 
 The manner in which nature performs this 
 operation of moulting is thus : the quill, or 
 feather, when first protruded from the skin, 
 and come to its full size, grows harder as it 
 grows older, and receives a kind of periosteum 
 or skin round the shaft, by which it seems 
 attached to the animal. In proportion as 
 the quill grows older, its sides, or the bony 
 part, thicken ; but its whole diameter shrinks 
 and decreases. Thus, by the thickening of 
 its sides, all nourishment from the body be- 
 comes more sparing ; and, by the decrease of 
 its diameter, it becomes more loosely fixed in 
 its socket, till at length it falls out In the 
 mean time, the rudiments of an incipient quill 
 are beginning below. The skin forms itself 
 into a little bag, which is fed from the body 
 by a small vein and artery, and which every 
 day increases in size till it is protruded. 
 While the one end vegetates into the beard 
 or vane of the feather, that part attached to 
 the skin is still soft, and receives a constant 
 supply of nourishment, which is diffused 
 through the body of the quill by that little light 
 substance which we always find within when 
 we make a pen. This substance, which as 
 yet has received no name that I know of, 
 serves the growing quill as the umbilical ar- 
 tery does an infant in the womb, by supply- 
 ing it with nourishment, and diffusing that 
 nourishment over the whole frame. When, 
 however, the quill is come to its full growth, 
 and requires no further nourishment, the vein 
 and artery become less and less, till at last 
 the little opening by which they communica- 
 ted with the quill becomes wholly obliterated ; 
 and the quill, thus deprived, continues in its 
 socket for some months, till in the end it 
 shrinks, and leaves room for a repetition of the 
 same process of nature as before. 
 
 The moulting season commonly obtains 
 from the end of summer to the middle of au- 
 tumn. The bird continues to struggle with 
 this malady during the winter ; and Nature 
 has kindly provided, that when there are the 
 fewest provisions, that then the animal's ap- 
 petite shall be least craving. At the begin- 
 ning of spring, when food begins again to be 
 plentiful, the animal's strength and vigour re- 
 turn. It is then that the abundance of provi- 
 sions, aided by the mildness of the season, in- 
 cite it to love, and all Nature seems teeming 
 with life, and disposed to continue it. 1 
 
 1 Professor Blumenbach of Gottingen, in his admir- 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE GENERATION, NESTLING, AND 
 INCUBATION OF BIRDS. 
 
 THE return of spring is the beginning of 
 pleasure. Those vital spirits, which seemed 
 
 able Manual of the Elements of Natural History, gives 
 the following description of the characteristic qualities of 
 birds. As a summary of all that can be said on the 
 subject, we consider it to stand unrivalled. With re- 
 gard to form, he says, all birds coincide in having two 
 feet, two wings, a bill, either partly or entirely horny, and 
 a body covered with feathers. They are distinguished 
 by these four characters from all other animals, and con- 
 stitute as it were an isolated class of beings, which does 
 not pass into any other, and which cannot, therefore, be 
 introduced without violence into the supposed chain or 
 gradation of natural bodies. 
 
 Of these characters, one is peculiar to birds, viz. fea- 
 thers placed in regular order (in quincunx,) in the skin, 
 passing through a considerable quantity of fat, and thrown 
 oft' and again renewed at certain seasons of the year, 
 generally in autumn. Many, such as most water-fowl, 
 the ptarmigan, &c., moult twice in the year, in autumn 
 and in spring. In many species, the young birds, par- 
 ticularly before the first moulting, have different marks 
 or colours of the feathers, from those which the older 
 ones present. In many instances too, there are con- 
 siderable differences depending on the sex. The fea- 
 thers differ from hair in this respect, that when once 
 cut or otherwise injured, they never, as far as is known, 
 are restored. 
 
 The strongest feathers are in the pinions and tail: 
 the former are called Remiges, the latter Rectrices. 
 The pinion-feathers form, when the wing is expanded, 
 as it were, broad fans, by which the bird is enabled to 
 raise itself in the air and fly. Some few birds (aves 
 impennes), as the penguin, &c., have scarcely any pinion- 
 feathers, and are therefore unfit for flight. Some others 
 also, as the cassowary, diver, &c., have not any tail- 
 feathers. 
 
 In their internal structure, birds are distinguished by 
 the remarkable receptacles for air dispersed through 
 their body, and of the utmost importance in assisting 
 their flight. They are mostly connected with the lungs, 
 sometimes, however, only with the throat, and can be 
 filled or emptied at pleasure. To these receptacles be- 
 long, in particular, large but delicate membranous cells, 
 situated partly in the abdomen, partly under the wings, 
 and elsewhere beneath the skin, and which can be filled 
 with air through the lungs. The cavities in some of 
 the bones, as of the shoulder, and in many cases even of 
 the head, contribute to the same objects, to which, also, 
 the enormous bills of the toucan and rhinoceros bird are 
 accessary. 
 
 By these notable dispositions, birds are adapted for 
 flight, of which the rapidity, as well as the continuance 
 are alike remarkable. A few only, as the ostrich, the 
 cassowary, penguin, and other aves impennes, are incap- 
 able of flying. 
 
 The abode of birds is nearly as various as that of 
 mammifera. Most live in trees: others in water; very 
 few wholly on the ground: and not a single bird under 
 ground. The form of the foot in birds, as in mammifera, 
 is adapted to the difference of their abodes. 
 
 Many birds change their residence at certain seasons ; 
 the greater number only in so far as that they remove a 
 few leagues into neighbouring districts, and speedily 
 return to their former situation : others, on the contrary, 
 
8 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 locked up during the winter, then begin to 
 expand ; vegetables and insects supply abun- 
 dance of food ; and the bird, having more 
 than a sufficiency for its own subsistence, is 
 
 as swallows, the crane, the stork, &c., make long jour- 
 neys in autumn over seas, and a considerable portion of 
 the earth, and remain in warmer regions during winter, 
 until their return in the following spring. 
 
 There is not any bird provided with teeth, but they 
 either tear their food with the beak, or swallow it whole. 
 In birds that live on seeds, and swallow the grains un- 
 broken, they do not pass at once into the stomach, but 
 are previously softened in a crop ( ingluvies, prolobus) 
 abounding with glands, and thence are gradually pro- 
 pelled into the stomach. The latter is in these animals 
 extremely muscular, and so powerful, that, according to 
 the remarkable experiments of Reaumur and others, it 
 is able to break nuts and olive kernels, and to wear the 
 impressions on pieces of money as smooth as paper. In 
 addition, many birds swallow little pebbles, which also 
 contribute to the division and subsequent digestion of 
 their food.* Various carnivorous birds, as falcons, owls, 
 the king-fisher, &c., are unable to digest the bones, hair, 
 &c., of their prey, but vomit them up after each meal, 
 in the form of a round ball.*j* 
 
 Among the peculiarities of the organs of sense in 
 birds, as compared with mammifera, are the want of an 
 external cartilaginous ear, for the purpose of collecting 
 sounds, a deficiency, however, which is compensated 
 for, especially in nocturnal birds of prey, by the ex- 
 tremely regular circular disposition of the feathers in 
 the situation of the ear, and in many, by the super-addi- 
 tion of a movable valve on the external auditory passage. 
 
 Only a very few birds, viz. ducks, and some similar 
 species, appear to possess a real sense of taste : in them 
 the organ is the soft covering of the bill, which is sup- 
 plied with exceedingly large cutaneous nerves, and is 
 very sensible in the Jiving animal. Accordingly it is 
 easy to remark the manner in which ducks prole, as it 
 were, the puddles in search of their food, where they 
 cannot be guided by their sight or smell. 
 
 The voice of birds, particularly the small singing 
 birds, is varied and agreeable ; but they cannot be so 
 correctly said to sing as to whistle, for natural singing 
 is an exclusive privilege of man. Besides the recep- 
 tacles of air already mentioned, their song is accom- 
 plished particularly by the disposition of the larynx, 
 which in birds is not, as in mammifera and amphibia, 
 placed wholly at the upper end of the wind-pipe, but, as 
 it were, separated into two parts, one placed at each 
 extremity. Parrots, ravens, starlings, bull-finches, &c. 
 have been taught to imitate the human voice, and to 
 speak some words ; singing birds also, in captivity, 
 readily adopt the song of others, learn tunes, and can 
 even be made to sing in company, so that it has been 
 possible actually to give a little concert by several 
 bullfinches. In general, however, the song of birds in 
 the wild state appears to be formed by practice and imi- 
 tation. 
 
 Most birds pair in spring ; many, however, as the 
 cross-bill, at the coldest season of the year, after Christ- 
 mas. Our domestic poultry are not confined to any 
 particular time in this respect, but are always capable of 
 
 * Physiologists have differed as to the ohject and use for 
 which stones are thus swallowed. Many have even supposed 
 that it proceeds from stupidity. According to my own inves- 
 tigation, it is an indispensible measure of assistance to diges- 
 tion, by depriving the seeds swallowed of their vitality, with- 
 out which they would not yield to the digestive powers. 
 
 t From a similar source arise the star-shoots, as they are 
 called, viz. the greyish-white, gelatinous lumps, commonly 
 with the convoluted form of intestines, found in meadows, and 
 consisting of half-digested viscera of frogs, which have been 
 rejected by crows, marsh and water birds. See Dr Persoon, 
 in Void's Neuft Magazin, Vol. I. Part 2. p. 56. et seq. 
 
 impelled to transfuse life, as well as to main 
 tain it. Those warblings, which had been 
 hushed during the colder seasons, now begin 
 to animate the fields ; every grove and bush 
 
 breeding. Some birds remain in company only during 
 the time of pairing; others, as the dove, and house 
 swallow, constantly; others again, as the domestic fow!, 
 and of wild birds, the ostrich, are polygamous. 
 
 The female, when impregnated, is impelled by in- 
 stinct to provide for the future, and to build a nest, to 
 which perhaps, besides the cuckoo, there are very few 
 exceptions, such as the goatsucker. Among polygamous 
 birds, such as the various kinds of poultry, the male hag 
 no share in this business; in those, on the contrary, 
 which live together, as among the singing birds in par- 
 ticular, he also brings materials for constructing the 
 nest, and feeds his mate during her employment. 
 
 The selection of the place in which each species forms 
 its nest, corresponds with its wants and mode of life. 
 Equal care is shown by each in the choice of materials 
 for the composition of the nest. 
 
 The form of the nest is, in different instances, more 
 or less artificial. Many birds, as snipes, the bustard, 
 and lapwing, make merely a dry layer of brushwood, 
 straw, &c., on the surface of the ground; others make a 
 soft but unartificial bed in the holes of walls, rocks, or 
 trees, as the woodpecker, jay, jackdaw, and sparrow. 
 Many, particularly among the gallinse, doves, and sing- 
 ing birds, give their nests the form of a hemisphere, or 
 of a plate ; others, as the wren, the shape of an oven ; 
 others again, as many titmice, the hawfinch, &c., that of 
 a bag, and so forth. 
 
 When the formation of the nest is completed the 
 mother lays her eggs, the number of which varies much 
 in different species. Many water-birds, for instance, 
 lay each time but one egg; most doves, two; gulls, 
 three; ravens, four; finches, five; swallows, six to 
 eight; partridges and quails, fourteen; and the do- 
 mestic fowl, particularly when its eggs are taken away, 
 filty and more.$ Many birds often lay eggs without 
 previous impregnation, which cannot produce young, and 
 are called wind-eggs (ova subventanea, cynosura^ zephy- 
 ria, hypenemia.} 
 
 The formation of the young animal, which in mam- 
 mifera is carried on in the womb, in birds, on the 
 contrary, is completed by the incubation of the egg 
 after it has been deposited. The cuckoo alone does not 
 hatch its eggs, but leaves them to the hedge-sparrow, or 
 water-wagtail, in whose nests it lays them. On the 
 other hand, it is known that capons, dogs, and even 
 men, have hatched eggs. Chickens too, can be easily 
 hatched by artificial rm.ans merely, from heated dung, 
 the lamps of hatching machines, or ovens. Birds are 
 fatigued by long continued incubation; and it is only 
 among those which li\e in pairs, as^doves, swallows, 
 &c., that the male takes any part in the business. The 
 cocks of the canary bird, linnet, goldfinch, &c., though 
 they leave the hatching altogether to the females, supply 
 them during its continuance with food, and in part from 
 their owu crop. 
 
 During incubation, a remarkable process is going 
 forwards, the chick being progressively formed in the 
 egg, and brought daily nearer and nearer to maturity. 
 For this purpose, not only is the yolk specifically lighter 
 than the white, but also that spot on its upper surface 
 the so called cicatricula,} in which the future chick is 
 
 t In this case too, the laying of egs[s appears to be a volun- 
 iary function, in which respect it differs remarkably from the 
 ;otally involuntary parturition of mammifera. 
 
 Plin. L. 10. Cap. 55. " Livia Augustti, prima sua juventa 
 Tiberio Csesare ex Nerone gravida, cum parere virilem sexum 
 admodum cuperet, hoc usa est puellari augurio, ovum in sinu 
 "overulo, atque cum deponendutn haberet, nutrici per sinum 
 tradendo, ne intermitteretur tepor." 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 resounds with the challenge of anger, or the 
 call of allurement. This delightful concer 
 of the grove, which is so much admired by 
 man, is no way studied for his amusement : i 
 is usually the call of the male to the female 
 his efforts to soothe her during the times o 
 
 placed, is lighter than the opposite side; so that in 
 whatever position the egg is placed, the same part is 
 always opposed to the belly of the incubating bird. The 
 first trace of the chick is not perceptible until some time 
 after the commencement of incubation; in the hen's 
 egg, for instance, scarcely before the end of the first 
 day ; arid at the end of the second, the remarkable spec- 
 tacle of the first motions of the incomplete hear! 
 (punctum saliens) presents itself. At the end of the 
 fifth day, the whole jelly-like creature may be seen to 
 move. On the fourteenth, the feathers appear ; at the 
 commencement of the fifteenth the chick attempts to 
 breathe ; and on the nineteenth it is able to chirp. 
 
 The first form which the bird assumes in the egg 
 differs more from that which it possesses after being 
 hatched, than mammit'era do in their first and subsequent 
 form ; we might say that the chick in the egg arrives at 
 its more perfect form by a real metamorphosis, and this 
 as well with respect to individual organs, (the heart for 
 example,) as the whole form. 
 
 Among the many organs subservient to the remarkable 
 economy of the chick during incubation, the two most 
 important are the vascular membranes, which are most 
 conspicuous and beautiful about the middle of the pro- 
 cess. These are the chorion, which is then expanded 
 under the shell ; and the membrane of the yolk (mem- 
 brana valvulosa vitelli,) which communicates with the 
 intestinal canal of the young animal. The first serves 
 instead of lungs, for the phlogistic process already men- 
 tioned ; and the second for nutrition by means of the 
 yolk, which is gradually diluted by mixing with the 
 white. 
 
 Every species of bird has a fixed time of incubation, 
 of different length in different cases, and capable of 
 being accelerated or retarded according to the difference 
 of climate, and the warmth or coldness of the weather. 
 In the common fowl, the chick is usually able to creep 
 out of the shell about the end of the twenty-first day. 
 
 The young birds are fed for some time by the mother 
 with great care; and among those which live in mono- 
 gamy, also by the father, principally, in the granivorous 
 birds, with the regurgitated contents of the crop, until 
 such time as they are feathered, and capable of provid- 
 ing for themselves. 
 
 Birds, in proportion to their size, and as compared 
 with mammifera, attain a very advanced age : it is 
 known that, even in captivity, eagles and parrots will 
 live more than a hundred, chaffinches and goldfinches 
 more than twenty-four years. 
 
 Birds are extremely important creatures for the eco- 
 nomy of nature in general, although their immediate 
 utility to mankind is infinitely less than that of mammi- 
 fera. Tney destroy innumerable insects, and the 
 thoughtless extirpation of some birds, supposed to be 
 noxious, as sparrows, crows, &c., in many districts, has 
 generally given rise to an infinitely more prejudicial 
 multiplication of vermin. Other birds destroy larger 
 animals, as field mice, snakes, frogs, lizards, or consume 
 carrion. Many extirpate weeds. On the other hand, 
 they assist the increase and propagation of animals, as 
 well as plants. For instance, it is known that wild 
 ducks, in their emigrations, carry impregnated spawn 
 into remote ponds, &c., and thus stock them with fish. 
 Many birds swallow seeds, which are subsequently 
 expelled whole, and thus extensively dispersed, as the 
 doves of Banda with the nutmeg. The excrement of 
 
 VOL. It. 
 
 incubation ; or it is a challenge between two 
 males, for the affections of some common fa- 
 vourite. 
 
 It is by this call that birds begin to pair at 
 the approach of spring, and provide for the 
 support of a future progeny. The loudest 
 
 sea-birds manures bare cliffs and coasts, so as to render 
 them capable of producing useful plants. Many species 
 of falcons may be taught for the chace, as well as the 
 cormorant for taking fish. Many birds, together with 
 their eggs, fat, &c., serve for food ; the entire skins of 
 sea-birds for the clothing of many northern nations; the 
 feathers for stuffing beds, for writing, for various and 
 often costly ornaments, in which respect also they form 
 an important article of trade among many savage people, 
 particularly the islanders of the Pacific ocean. 
 
 The injury which birds give rise to, is almost wholly 
 confined to the destruction of useful animals and plants. 
 The condor, the vulture, and other birds of prey, kill 
 calves, goats, sheep, &c. The osprey, and many water- 
 birds, are as injurious to fish and their young, as the 
 hawk, sparrow-hawk, and magpie, to common poultry. 
 Sparrows, and many small singing birds destroy corn, 
 grapes, and fruit. And lastly, they assist in propagat- 
 ing weeds as well as serviceable plants. Among birds, 
 no actually venomous animals are to be found. 
 
 As the general form of birds' is tolerably uniform, and 
 certain parts of their body, as the bill and feet, which 
 are connected with their mode of life, food, &c., influ- 
 ence their total habit very materially, most ornithologists 
 have grounded their classification on the differences of 
 one or other of those parts : Kleine, for instance, oa 
 the form of the toes; Mohring, on the coverings of the 
 legs; Brisson, on both, in combination with the nature 
 of the bill, &c. Linnaeus, in the plan of his System of 
 Birds, also adopts several parts, in combination with, in 
 general, a reference to the total habit ; although in its 
 practical application, he appears at times to have been 
 forgetful ; at least it is impossible to understand how 
 parrots, humming-birds, and crows, should be placed in 
 the same order ; or why he should have placed doves 
 and the common fowl in two separate ones, with other 
 approximations and divisions of the same nature. 
 
 I have, therefore, allowed myself to make some devia- 
 tions from the Linnean system, and endeavoured to 
 divide the whole class among the following nine orders. 
 
 LAND BIRDS. 
 
 I. ACCIPITRES. Birds of prey; with strong hooked 
 beaks, mostly with short, strong, knotty feet, and 
 large crooked sharp claws. 
 
 II. LEVIROSTRES. With short feet, and very large, 
 thick, but mostly hollow, and therefore light, 
 bills. -Parrots, toucans, &c. 
 
 III. PICI. With short feet ; moderately long and small 
 
 bills, and the tongue sometimes worm-shaped, 
 sometimes thread-like. The wry-neck, wood- 
 pecker, creeper, humming-bird, &c. 
 
 IV. CORACES. With short feet, and the bill moder- 
 
 ately long, tolerably strong, and convex above. 
 
 Ravens, crows, &c. 
 
 V. PASSERES. The singing birds, with swallows, &c. 
 The feet short, the bill more or less conical, 
 pointed, and of various length and thickness. 
 VI. GALLING. Birds with short feet, the bill some- 
 what convex above, and having a fleshy mem- 
 brane at the base. I have placed the doves in 
 this order, as they are far more closely connected 
 with the Gallinae than the Passeres, among which 
 Linnaeus had placed them. 
 
 VII. STRUTHIONES. Large land birds, unsuited for 
 flying The ostrich, cassowary, and dodo. 
 
10 
 
 A HISTORY OF 
 
 notes are usually from the male, while the 
 hen seldom expresses her consent, but in a 
 short interrupted twittering. This compact, 
 at least for the season, holds with unbroken 
 faith ; many birds live with inviolable fidelity 
 together for a constancy ; and when one dies, 
 the other is always seen to share the same fate 
 oon after. We must not take our idea of the 
 conjugal fidelity of birds from observing the 
 poultry in our yards, whose freedom is abridg- 
 ed, and whose manners are totally corrupted 
 by slavery. We must look for it in our fields 
 and our forests, where nature continues in 
 unadulterated simplicity; where the number 
 of males is generally equal to that of females ; 
 and where every little animal seems prouder 
 of his progeny, than pleased with his mate. 
 Were it possible to compare sensations, the 
 male of all wild birds seems as happy in the 
 young brood as the female ; and all his for- 
 mer caresses, all his soothing melodies, seem 
 only aimed at that important occasion, when 
 they are both to become parents, and to edu- 
 cate a progeny of their own producing. The 
 pleasures of love appear dull in their effects, 
 when compared to the interval immediately 
 after the exclusion of their young. They 
 both seem at that season transported with 
 pleasure; every action testifies their pride, 
 their importance, and tender solicitude. 
 
 When the business of fecundation is per- 
 formed, the female then begins to lay. Such 
 eggs as have been impregnated by the cock 
 are prolific : and such as have not, for she 
 lays often without any congress whatsoever, 
 continue barren, and are only addled by in- 
 cubation. Previous, however, to laying, the 
 work of nestling becomes the common care ; 
 and this is performed with no small degree of 
 assiduity and apparent design. It has been 
 asserted, that birds of one kind always make 
 their nests in the same manner, and of the 
 same materials ; but the truth is that they vary 
 this as the materials, places, or climates, happen 
 to differ. The red-breast, in some parts of Eng- 
 land, makes its nest with oak leaves, where 
 they are in greatest plenty; in other parts, 
 with moss and hair. Some birds, that with 
 us make a very warm nest, are less solicitous 
 in the tropical climates, where the heat of the 
 weather promotes the business of incubation. 
 In general, however, every species of birds 
 has a peculiar architecture of its own ; and 
 this is adapted to the number of eggs, the tern- 
 
 WATER BIRDS. 
 
 VIII. GRALLJE. Birds found in marshes, with long feet; 
 long, and almost cylindrical, bills, and generally 
 a long neck. 
 
 IX. ANSERES. Swimming birds with oar-like feet, a 
 short bill covered with skin, generally serrated 
 at the edge, and terminated at the extremity of 
 the upper jaw by a little hook. 
 
 perature of the climate, or the respective heat 
 of the little animal's own body. Where the 
 eggs are numerous, it is then incumbent to 
 make the nest warm, that the animal heat 
 may be equally diffused to them all. Thus 
 the wren, and all the small birds, make the 
 nest very warm ; for having many eggs, it is 
 requisite to distribute warmth to them in 
 common : on the contrary, the plover that has 
 but two eggs, the eagle, and the crow, are 
 not so solicitous in this respect, as their bodies 
 are capable of being applied to the small 
 number upon which they sit. With regard 
 to climate, water fowl, that with us make but 
 a very slovenly nest, are much more exact in 
 this particular in the colder regions of the 
 north. They there take every precaution to 
 make it warm; and some kinds strip the 
 down from their breasts, to line it with greater 
 security. 
 
 1 The construction and selected situations of the nests 
 of birds, are as remarkable as the variety of materials 
 employed in them ; the same forms, places and articles, 
 being rarely, perhaps never, found united by the differ- 
 ent species, which we should suppose similar necessities 
 would direct to a uniform provision. Birds that build 
 early in the spring seem to require warmth and shelter 
 for their young; and the blackbird and the thrush line 
 their nests with a plaster of loam, perfectly excluding, 
 by these cottage-like walls, the keen icy gales of our 
 opening year j yet should accident bereave the parents 
 of their first hopes, they will construct another, even 
 when summer is far advanced, upon the model of their 
 first erection, and with the same precautions against 
 revere weather, when all necessity for such provision has 
 ceased, and the usual temperature of the season rather 
 requires coolness and a free circulation of air. The 
 house sparrow will commonly build four or five times in 
 the year, and in a variety of situations, under the warm 
 eaves of our houses and our sheds, the branch of the 
 clustered fir, or the thick tall hedge that bounds our 
 garden, &c. ; in all which places, and without the least 
 consideration of site or season, it will collect a great mass 
 of straw and hay, and gather a profusion of feathers from 
 the poultry-yard to line its nest This cradle for its 
 young, whether under our tiles in March or in July, 
 when the parent bird is panting in the common heat of 
 the atmosphere, has the same provisions made to afford 
 warmth to the brood ; yet this is a bird that is little af- 
 fected by any of the extremes of our climate. The 
 wood pigeon and the jay, though they erect their fabrics 
 on the tall underwood in the open air, will construct 
 them so slightly, and with such a scanty provision of 
 materials, that they seem scarcely adequate to support 
 their broods, and even their eggs may almost be seen 
 through the loosely connected materials: but the gold- 
 finch, that inimitable spinner, the Arachne of the grove, 
 forms its cradle of fine mosses and lichens, collected 
 from the apple or the pear-tree, compact as a felt, lining 
 it with the down of thistles besides, till it is as warm as 
 any texture of the kind can be, and it becomes a model 
 for beautiful construction. The golden-crested wren, a 
 minute creature perfectly unmindful of any severity in 
 our winter, and which hatches its young in June, the 
 warmer portion of our year, yet builds its most beautiful 
 nest with the utmost attention to warmth; and inweav- 
 ing small branches of moss with the web of the spider, 
 forms a closely compacted texture nearly an inch in 
 thickness, lining it with such a profusion ot feathers, 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 11 
 
 In general, however, every bird resorts to 
 hatch in those climates and places where its 
 food is found in greatest plenty ; and always at 
 that season whea provisions are in the greatest 
 
 that, sinking deep into this downy accumulation, it 
 seems almost lost itself when sitting, and the young 
 when hatched, appear stifled with the warmth of their 
 bedding and the heat of their apartment; while the 
 white-throat, the blackcap, and others, which will hatch 
 their young nearly at the same period, or in July, require 
 nothing of the kind. A few loose bents and goose-grass, 
 rudely entwined, with perhaps the luxury of some scat- 
 tered hairs, are perfectly sufficient for all the wants of 
 these; yet they are birds that live only in genial tem- 
 peratures, feel nothing of the icy gales that are natural 
 to our pretty indigenous artists, but flit from sun to sun, 
 and we might suppose would require much warmth in 
 our climate during the season of incubation ; but it is 
 not so. The greenfinch places its nest in the hedge with 
 little regard to concealment ; its fabric is slovenly and 
 rude, and the materials of the coarsest kinds ; while the 
 chaffinch, just above it in the elm, hides its nest with 
 cautious care, arid moulds it with the utmost attention 
 to order, neatness, and form. One bird must have a 
 hole in the ground; to another a crevice in the wall, or 
 a chink in a tree, is indispensable. The bullfinch re- 
 quires fine roots for its nest ; the grey fly-catcher will 
 have cobwebs for the outworks of its shed. All the 
 parus tribe, except the individual above mentioned, select 
 some hollow in a tree or cranny in a wall ; and, shelter- 
 ed as such places must be, yet will they collect abun- 
 dance of feathers and warm materials for their infants' 
 lied. Endless examples might be found of the dissimi- 
 larity of requirements in these constructions among the 
 several associates of our groves, our hedges, and our 
 houses ; and yet the supposition cannot be entertained 
 for a moment that they are superfluous, or not essential 
 for some purpose with which we are unacquainted. By 
 how many of the ordinations of Supreme Intelligence is 
 our ignorance made manifest ? Even the fabrication of 
 the nests of these little animals exceeds our comprehen- 
 sion we know none of the causes or motives of that 
 unembodied mind that willed them thus. Journal of a 
 Naturalist. 
 
 Professor Rennie, in his volume on the Architecture 
 of Birds, classes them according to their different styles 
 of workmanship. He makes twelve kinds. The first 
 division includes " mining-birds," such as the sand- 
 martin, which scoops out its nest in the escarpment of a 
 sand-pit or quarry: the burrowing-owl, the bee-eater, 
 and several others belong to this class. Next come the 
 " ground-builders," which construct a rude nest on the 
 surface, and select a spot possessing a temperature or 
 moisture favourable to the process of incubation. The 
 swallow furnishes the most striking example of the 
 operations of individuals which may appropriately be 
 termed " mason-birds." The thrush, and some others 
 which plaster the inside of their nests with clay, are 
 partially connected with this class. Afterwards come 
 birds which employs their bills as a tool for cutting out 
 or excavating their nests. The practice of the wood- 
 peckers in boring and chiselling a hole in which to shel- 
 ter the young brood, using means analogous to those 
 which the carpenter employs, obviously suggests the 
 idea of classing them, with some others of similar ha- 
 bits, as "carpenter-birds." Those birds, the natural 
 heat of whose body is veiy great, and who seldom have 
 more than a couple of eggs each sitting, take little trou- 
 ble in the construction of their nests. They are of the 
 simplest and rudest form, and consist only of a few 
 sticks loosely laid .together. They are termed "plat- 
 form-builders," this term being really descriptive oi 
 their breeding-places. The ring-clove, stock dove, and 
 
 abundance. The large birds, and those of 
 the aquatic kinds, choose places as remote 
 from man as possible, as their food is in gene- 
 ral different from that which is cultivated by 
 
 pigeons generally, with the golden eagle, the osprey, 
 he heron, the stork and the crane are platform-builders. 
 Among the ruins of Persepolis the stork frequently 
 juilds its nest on the top of a perfectly flat column. 
 The birds whose nests resemble basket-work are a large 
 class ; and the materials made use of vary from dried 
 twigs, which form the outwork and are without flexibi- 
 ity, to carpenter's shavings, delicate fibrous roots, grass 
 joth coarse and fine, and horse-hair. The degree of art 
 ,vith which the " basket-making birds " employ their 
 materials is not less various. Other birds weave the 
 materials of their nests together in the neatest man- 
 ner: the nests of the hedge-sparrow and wagtail afford 
 the most familiar examples of the art of the " weaver- 
 )irds." 
 
 The art of the tailor seems more unlikely to be prac- 
 tised by a bird than that of the weaver. There are, 
 low-ever, several varieties included amongst the " tailor- 
 jirds." The orchard-starling of the United States 
 "orms the external part of its nest of a particular species 
 of long, tough, and flexible grass, "knit or sewed," 
 says Wilson in his ' American Ornithology,' " through 
 and through in a thousand directions, as if actually done 
 with a needle." He relates that an old lady of his ac- 
 quaintance, to whom he was once showing this curious 
 'abrication, asked him, in a tone between joke and earn- 
 est, whether he did not think it possible to learn these 
 birds to dam stockings ? The nest of the orchard-star- 
 ling is hemispherical, three inches deep by four in 
 breadth ; the concavity scarcely two inches deep by two 
 in diameter. The enthusiastic ornithologist whom we 
 have quoted says, " I had the curiosity to detach one of 
 the fibres, or stalks, of dried grass from the nest, and 
 found it to measure thirteen inches in length ; and in 
 that distance it was thirty-four times hooked through 
 and returned, winding round and round the nest." 
 The tailor-bird of India is described by some naturalists 
 as actually picking up a dead leaf, and forming a nest by 
 sewing it with some fine fibres to the side of a living 
 leaf. Three nests so formed are to be seen in the Brit- 
 ish Museum.' Forbes has described in his 'Oriental 
 Memoirs,' from personal observation, the ingenuity of 
 the tailor-bird. " It first," he says, "selects a plant 
 with large leaves, and then gathers cotton from the 
 shrub, spins it to a thread by means of its long bill and 
 slender feet, and then, as with a needle, sews the leaves 
 neatly together to conceal its nest." 
 
 The idea that man learned some of the useful arts 
 from observation of the habits of other animate beings 
 is not true in any extensive sense. Instinct pointed out 
 to the class termed " felt-making birds " the suitability 
 of the materials which they select for weaving or uniting 
 into a continuous mass. The nest of the capocier, an 
 American bird, which was examined by Wilson, is de- 
 scribed by him as so " neatly worked and felted together, 
 that it might have been taken for a piece of fine cloth a 
 little worn." Man was long before he employed the 
 same materials in the manufacture of cloth, and it is 
 only by the aid of the microscope that he has been able 
 to discover the cause which adapts them for this purpose, 
 and the true character of their felting properties. The 
 " felt-making birds " availed themselves of these pro- 
 perties from the creation. 
 
 The nests of the esculent swallow of Java are an arti- 
 cle of commercial importance, the nests themselves being 
 edible, and considered as a luxury and restorative. These 
 nests are supposed to be composed of oceanic vegetables, 
 whose principle being highly gelatinous, and cemented 
 with the salivary gluten of the bird, form a sort of edi- 
 
12 
 
 A HISTORY OF 
 
 human labour. Some birds, which have only 
 the serpent to fear, build their nests depend- 
 ing- from the end of a small bough, and form 
 the entrance from below ; being thus secured 
 either from the serpent or the monkey tribes. 
 But all the little birds which live upon fruits 
 and corn, and that are too often unwelcome 
 intruders upon the fruits of human industry, 
 in making their nests, use every precaution 
 to conceal them from man. On the other 
 hand, the great birds remote from human so- 
 ciety, use every precaution to render theirs 
 inaccessible to wild beasts or vermin. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the patience of birds 
 while hatching ; neither the calls of hunger, 
 nor the near approach of danger, can drive 
 them from the nest. They are often fat upon 
 beginning to sit, yet before incubation is over, 
 the female is usually wasted to skin and bone. 
 Ravens and crows, while the females are sit- 
 ting, take care to provide them with food ; 
 and this in great abundance. But it is differ- 
 ent with most of the smaller kinds ; during 
 the whole time, the male sits near his mate 
 upon some tree, and soothes her by his sing- 
 ing ; and often when she is tired takes her 
 place and patiently continues upon the nest 
 till she returns. Sometimes, however, the 
 eggs acquire a degree of heat too much for the 
 purposes of hatching ; in such cases, the hen 
 leaves them to cool a little, and then returns 
 to sit with her usual perseverance and plea- 
 sure. 
 
 So great is the power of instinct, in animals 
 of this class, that they seem driven from one 
 appetite to another, and continue almost pas- 
 sive under its influence. Reason we cannot 
 call it, since the first dictates of that principle 
 would be self-preservation : " Take a brute," 
 says Addison, " out of his instinct, and you 
 find him wholly deprived of understanding. 
 With what caution," continues he, "does the 
 hen provide herself with a nest in places unfre- 
 quented, and free from noise and disturbance! 
 When she has laid her eggs in such a man- 
 ner that she can cover them, what care does 
 she take in turning them frequently, that all 
 parts may partake of the vital warmth ! When 
 she leaves them, to provide for her necessary 
 sustenance, how punctually does she return 
 before they have time to cool, and become in- 
 capable of producing an animal ! In the sum- 
 mer you see her giving herself greater free- 
 doms, and quitting her care for above two 
 
 ble paste. Other birds whose nests are tempered by 
 cement produced by a glutinous matter which the bird 
 secretes and mixes with saliva, are, with the Java swal- 
 low, classed as "cementers." The "dome-builders" 
 include several of our most familiar birds- as the 
 magpie, the wren, the sparrow. Lastly come birds 
 which build no nest at all, but deposit their eggs in the 
 oest of some other bird. 
 
 hours together : but in winter, when the ri- 
 gour of the season would chill the principles 
 of life, and destroy the young one, she grows 
 more assiduous in her attendance, and stays 
 away but half the time. When the birth ap- 
 proaches, with how much nicety and attention 
 does she help the chick to break the prison ! 
 not to take notice of her covering it from the 
 injuries of the weather, providing it with pro- 
 per nourishment, and teaching it to help it- 
 self; nor to mention her forsaking the nest, if, 
 after the usual time of reckoning, the young 
 one does not make its appearance. A chemi- 
 cal operation could not be followed with great- 
 er art or diligence than is seen in the hatching 
 a chick, though there are many birds that 
 show an infinitely greater sagacity : yet at the 
 same time the hen, that has all this seeming 
 ingenuity, (which is indeed absolutely neces- 
 sary for the propagation of the species,) con- 
 sidered in other respects, is without the least 
 glimmerings of thought or common sense : she 
 mistakes a piece of chalk for an egg, and sits 
 upon it in the same manner ; she is insensible 
 of any increase or diminution in the number 
 of those she lays ; she does not distinguish 
 between her own, and those of another spe- 
 cies ; and when the birth appears of never so 
 different a bird, will cherish it for her own. 
 A hen, followed by a brood of ducks, shall 
 stand affrighted at the edge of the poud trem- 
 bling for the fate of her young, which she 
 sees venturing into so dangerous an element. 
 As the different principle which acts in these 
 different animals cannot be termed reason, so 
 when we call it instinct, we mean something 
 we have no knowledge of. It appears to me 
 the immediate direction of Providence ; and 
 such an operation of the Supreme Being, aa 
 that which determines all the portions of mat- 
 ter to their proper centres." 
 
 The production of the young, as was said, 
 seems to be the great era of a bird's hap- 
 piness. Nothing can at that time exceed its 
 spirit and industry : the most timid becomes 
 courageous in the defence of its young. Birds 
 of the rapacious kind, at this season, become 
 more than usually fierce and active. They 
 carry their prey, yet throbbing with life, to 
 the nest, and early accustom their young to 
 habits of slaughter and cruelty. Nor are 
 those of milder natures less busily employed ; 
 the little birds then discontinue their singing, 
 taken up with more important pursuits of com- 
 mon subsistence. 1 
 
 1 There cannot be any question of the immense number 
 of insects required by birds during the breeding season. 
 It is stated by Bingly, that a pair of small American 
 birds, conjectured to be the house-wren, were observed to 
 leave the nest and return with insects from forty to sixty 
 times in an hour, and that in one particular hour, they 
 carried food no fywer than seventy-one times. In this 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 13 
 
 While the young are yet unfledged, and 
 continue in the nest, the old ones take care to 
 provide them with a regular supply ; and, lest 
 one should take all nourishment from the rest, 
 they feed each of the young in their turn. If 
 they perceive that man has been busy with 
 their nest, or has handled the little ones, they 
 abandon the place by night, and provide their 
 brood a more secure, though less commodious 
 retreat. When the whole family is com- 
 pletely plumed, and capable of avoiding dan- 
 ger by flight ; they are then led forth when 
 the weather is fine, and taught the paternal 
 art of providing for their subsistence. They 
 are led to the places where their food lies ; 
 they are shown the method of discovering or 
 carrying it away ; and then led back to the 
 nest, for a day or two longer. At length, 
 when they are completely qualified to shift for 
 themselves, the old ones take them abroad, 
 and leading them to the accustomed places, 
 forsake them for the last time ; and all future 
 connection is ever at an end. 
 
 Those birds which are hatched and sent 
 out earliest in the season are the most strong- 
 business they were engaged during the greatest part of 
 the day. Allowing twelve hours to be thus occupied, a 
 single pair of these birds would destroy at least six hun- 
 dred insects in the course of one day; on the supposition 
 that the two birds took only a single insect each time. 
 But it is highly probable that they often took more. 
 
 Looking at the matter in this point of view, the des- 
 truction of insectivorous birds has in some cases been 
 considered as productive of serious mischief. One strik- 
 ing instance we distinctly recollect, though we cannot 
 at this moment turn to the book in which it is recorded. 
 The numbers of the crows or rooks of North America 
 were in consequence of state rewards for their destruc- 
 tion, so much diminished, and the increase of insects so 
 great, as to induce the state to announce a counter re- 
 ward for the protection of the crows. Such rewards are 
 common in America; and from a document given by 
 Wilson, respecting a proposal made in Delaware " for 
 banishing or destroying the crows," it appears that the 
 money thus expended sometimes amounts to no incon- 
 siderable sum. The document concludes by saying, 
 " the sum of five hundred dollars being thus required, 
 the committee beg leave to address the farmers and 
 others of Newcastle county and elsewhere on the sub- 
 ject." 
 
 From its sometimes eating grain and other seeds, 
 " the rook," says Selby, " has erroneously been viewed 
 in the light of an enemy by most husbandmen ; and in 
 several districts attempts have been made either to banish 
 it, or to extirpate the breed. But wherever this mea- 
 sure has been carried into effect, the most serious injury 
 to the com and other crops has invariably followed, from 
 the unchecked devastations of the grub and caterpillar. 
 As experience is the sure test of utility, a change of con- 
 duct has in consequence been partially adopted ; and 
 some farmers now find the encouragement of the breed 
 of rooks to be greatly to their interest, in freeing their 
 lands from the grub of the cockchafer, an insect very 
 abundant in many of the southern counties. In Nor- 
 thumberland I have witnessed its usefulness in feeding 
 on the larvse of the insect commonly known by the name 
 of Harry Long-legs, which is particularly destructive to 
 the roots of grain and young clovers." 
 
 It has on similar grounds been contended, that the 
 
 and vigorous ; those, on the other hand, that 
 have been delayed till the midst of summer, 
 are more feeble and tender, and sometimes in- 
 capable of sustaining the rigours of the ensu- 
 ing winter. Birds themselves seem sensible 
 of this difference, and endeavour to produce 
 early in the spring. If, however, their efforts 
 are obstructed by having their nests robbed, 
 or some similar accident, they still perse- 
 vere in their efforts for a progeny ; and it 
 often happens that some are thus retarded till 
 the midst of winter. What number of eggs 
 any bird can lay in the course of a season is 
 not ascertained ; but this is true, that such as 
 would have laid but two or three at the most, 
 if their nests be robbed, or their eggs stolen, 
 will lay above ten or twelve. A common 
 hen, if moderately fed, will lay above a hundred 
 from the beginning of spring to the latter end 
 of autumn. In general, however, it obtains, 
 that the smallest and weakest animals are the 
 most prolific, while the strong and rapacious 
 are abridged by sterility. Thus, such kinds 
 as are easily destroyed, are as readily repair 
 ed ; and Nature, where she has denied the 
 
 great number of birds caught by bird catchers, particu- 
 larly in the vicinity of London, has been productive of 
 much injury to gardens and orchards. So serious has 
 this evil appeared to some, that it has even been pro- 
 posed to have an act of parliament prohibiting bird- 
 catchers from exercising their art within twenty miles 
 of the metropolis; and also prohibiting wild birds of any 
 kind from being shot or otherwise caught or destroyed 
 within this distance, under certain penalties. It is very 
 clear, however, that such an act could never be carried ; 
 and though it might be advantageous to gardens, orchards, 
 and farms, yet the attacks which the same birds make 
 on fruit would probably be an equivalent counterbalance. 
 In the case of swallows, on the other hand, it has 
 been well remarked by an excellent naturalist (the Rev. 
 W. T. Bree,) that they are to us quite inoffensive, while 
 " the beneficial services they perform for us, by clearing 
 the air of innumerable insects, ought to render them 
 sacred and secure them from our molestation. Without 
 their friendly aid the atmosphere we live in, would 
 scarcely be habitable by man : they feed entirely on in- 
 sects, which if not kept under by their means, would 
 swarm and torment us like another Egyptian plague. 
 The immense quantity of flies destroyed in a short space 
 of time by one individual bird is scarcely to be credited 
 by those who have not had actual experience of the fact." 
 He goes en to illustrate this from a swift, which was 
 shot. " It was in the breeding season when the young 
 were hatched ; at which time the parent birds, it is well 
 known, are in the habit of making little excursions into 
 the country to a considerable distance from their breed- 
 ing places, for the purpose of collecting flies which they 
 bring home to their infant progeny. On picking up my 
 hapless and ill-gotten prey, I observed a number of flies, 
 some mutilated, others scarcely injured, crawling out of 
 the bird's mouth ; the throat and pouch seemed absolutely 
 stuffed with them, and an incredible number was a't 
 length disgorged. I am sure I speak within compass 
 when I state that there was a mass of flies, just caught 
 by this single swift, larger than when pressed close, 
 could conveniently be contained in the bowl of an ordin- 
 ary table-spoon." Habits of Birds. Library of En- 
 tertaining Knowledge. 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 power of resistance, has compensated by the 
 fertility attending procreation. 
 
 Birds in general, though they have so much 
 to fear from man and each other, are seldom 
 scared away from their usual haunts. Al- 
 though they be so perfectly formed for a wan- 
 dering life, and are supplied with powers to 
 satisfy all their appetites, though ever so re- 
 mote from the object, though they are so well 
 fitted for changing place with ease and rapi- 
 dity, yet the greatest number remain content- 
 ed in the districts where they have been bred, 
 and ]jy no means exert their desires in pro- 
 portion to their endowments. The rook, if 
 undisturbed, never desires to leave his native 
 grove ; the black-bird still frequents its ac- 
 customed hedge ; and the red-breast, though 
 seemingly mild, claims a certain district, 
 from which he seldom moves, but drives out 
 every one of the same species from thence 
 without pity. They are excited to migration 
 by no other motives but those of fear, climate, 
 or hunger. It must be from one of these 
 powerful motives that the birds, which are 
 called birds of passage, every year forsake us 
 for some time, and make their regular and 
 expected returns. 
 
 Nothing has more employed the curiosity 
 of mankind than these annual emigrations ; 
 and yet few subjects continue so much involved 
 in darkness. It is generally believed, that the 
 cause of their retreat from these parts of Eu- 
 rope, is either a scarcity of food at certain sea- 
 sons, or the want of a secure asylum from the 
 persecution of man, during the time of court- 
 ship and bringing up their young. Thus 
 the starling, in Sweden, at the approach of 
 winter, finding subsistence no longer in that 
 kingdom, descends every year into Germany; 
 and the hen chaffinches of the same country 
 are seen every year to fly through Holland in 
 large flocks, to pass their winter in a milder 
 climate. Others, with a more daring spirit, 
 prepare for journeys that might intimidate 
 even human perseverance. Thus the quails, 
 in spring, forsake the burning heats of Africa 
 for the milder sun of Europe ; and, when they 
 have past the summer with us, steer their 
 flight back to enjoy in Egypt the temperate 
 air, which then begins to be delightful. This, 
 with them, seems a preconcerted undertaking. 
 They unite together in some open place, forsome 
 days before their departure, and, by an odd 
 kind of chattering, seem to debate on the me- 
 thod to proceed. When their plan is resolved 
 upon, they all take flight together, and often 
 appear in such numbers, that to mariners at 
 sea they seem like a cloud that rests upon the 
 horizon. The boldest, strongest, and by far 
 the greatest number, make good their inten- 
 tion ; but many there are, who, not well ap- 
 prised of their own force for the undertaking, 
 
 grow weary on the way, and, quite spent by 
 the fatigues of their flight, drop down into 
 the sea, and sometimes upon deck, thus be- 
 coming an easy prey to the mariner. 
 
 Of the vast quantity of water-fowl, that fre- 
 quent our shores, it is amazing to reflect how 
 few are known to breed here. The cause that 
 principally urges them to leave this country, 
 seems to be not merely the want of food, but 
 the desire of a secure retreat. Our country is 
 too populous for birds so shy and timid as the 
 greatest number of these are. When great 
 part of our island was a mere waste, an un- 
 cultivated tract of woods and marshes, many 
 species of birds which now migrate remained 
 with us throughout the year. The great he- 
 ron and the crane, that have now forsaken 
 this country, in former times bred familiarly 
 in our marshes, and seemed to animate our 
 fens. Their nests, like those of most cloven- 
 footed water-fowl, were built on the ground, 
 and exposed to every invader. But as rural 
 economy increased, these animals were more 
 and more disturbed. Before they had little to 
 fear, as the surrounding marsh defended them 
 from all the carnivorous quadrupeds, and their 
 own strength from birds of prey ; but upon the 
 intrusion of man, and by a long series of 
 alarms, they have at length been obliged to 
 seek, during the summer, some lonely habita- 
 tion, at a safe distance from every destroyer. 
 
 Of the numerous tribes of the duck kind x 
 we know of no more than five that breed 
 here; the tame swan, the tame goose, the 
 sheldrake, the eider duck, and a few of the 
 wild ducks. The rest contribute to form that 
 amazing multitude of water fowl which annu- 
 ally repair to the dreary lakes and deserts of 
 Lapland from the more southern countries of 
 Europe. In those extensive and solitary re- 
 treats, they perform the duties of incubation 
 and nutrition in full security. There are few 
 of this kind that may not be traced to the nor- 
 thern deserts, to countries of lakes, rivers, 
 swamps, and mountains, covered with thick 
 and gloomy forests, that afford shelter during 
 summer to the timid animals, who live there 
 in undisturbed security. In ^those regions, 
 from the thickness of the forests, the ground 
 remains moist and penetrable during the sum- 
 mer season ; the woodcock, the snipe, and 
 other slender-billed birds, can there feed at 
 ease ; while the web-footed birds find more 
 than sufficient plenty of food from the number 
 of insects, which swarm there to an incredible 
 degree. The days there are long ; and the 
 beautiful meteorous nights afford them every 
 opportunity of collecting so minute a food, 
 which is probably of all others the most grate- 
 ful. We are not to be astonished, therefore, 
 at the amazing numbers of fowl that descend 
 from these regions at the approach of winter ; 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 15 
 
 numbers to which the army of Xerxes was 
 but trifling in comparison ; and which Linnaeus 
 has observed for eight whole days and nights 
 to cover the surface of the river Calix. 
 
 This migration from the north usually be- 
 gins in September, when they quit their re- 
 treats, and disperse themselves over all the 
 southern parts of Europe. It is not unplea- 
 sing to observe the order of their flight ; they 
 generally range themselves in a long line, or 
 they sometimes make their march angularly, 
 two lines uniting in the centre like the letter 
 V reversed. The bird which leads at the 
 point seems to cleave the air, to facilitate the 
 passage for those which are to follow. When 
 fatigued with this laborious station, it falls 
 back into one of the wings of the file, while 
 another takes its place. With us they make 
 their appearance about the beginning of Oc- 
 tober, circulate first round our shores, and, 
 when compelled by severe frost, betake them- 
 selves to our lakes and rivers. Some, indeed, 
 of the web-footed fowl, of hardier constitutions 
 than the rest, abide the rigours of their nor- 
 thern climate the whole winter ; but when the 
 cold reigns there with more than usual sever- 
 ity, they are obliged to seek for more south- 
 ern skies. They then repair with the rest for 
 shelter to these kingdoms ; so that the diver, 
 the wild swan, and the swallow-tailed sheld- 
 rake, visit our coasts but seldom, and that only 
 when compelled by the severity of their win- 
 ters at home. 1 
 
 1 The facts which are known relative to the migration 
 of birds are very curious, and yet leave a vast field for 
 interesting observation. Some birds regularly return, after 
 a certain absence, not only to the same country, but to the 
 same spot where they built their nests before, or where 
 they were bred. Many storks, which become half tame 
 in Germany, have been marked, and found to re- 
 turn regularly to their old nests, built on a wheel, which 
 the peasants of that country, particularly in the north, 
 place, for that purpose, on the corner of the roofs of their 
 houses. The same is related of swallows, and other 
 birds of passage. Other birds do not return to a particu- 
 lar country, but travel, according to circumstances, from 
 one to another. Among the former are some which re- 
 main in the country of their nativity only as long as is 
 necessary to breed and bring up their young; others are 
 absent but for a very short time. The loriot remains 
 but three months in the middle regions of Europe, whilst 
 the lark is absent but for a very short time. Mr Brehm, 
 a German, has collected many interesting facts respect- 
 ing the birds of passage. Generally speaking, they are 
 determined as to the place where they build their nests, 
 by the means of subsistence which they find, as, for in- 
 stance, the grosbeak, goldfinch, pigeons, cranes, land- 
 rails, several species of herons, woodcock, geese, ducks. 
 In 1819, the fruit of the pine-tree being scarce in the 
 north of Europe, whilst it was very abundant in the cen- 
 tral parts, large numbers of the crossbill, which chiefly 
 lives upon this food, were found in the latter regions. 
 
 Hunters, and other people living much in the open 
 air, know that certain birds do not migrate, except on 
 the approach of a severe winter. How are these birds 
 led to migrate at such seasons ? The general and easy 
 answer is, by instinct. But what is instinct? Cer- 
 
 It has been often a subject of astonishment, 
 how animals, to all appearance so dull and 
 irrational, should perform such long journeys, 
 should know whither to steer, and when to 
 
 tainly we cannot mean, by this term, a constant direct 
 interposition of Providence, which drives the birds away 
 because a severe winter is coming on. Instinct, what- 
 ever it may be, must be guided by general laws. In 
 what way, however, the birds are led to guard against 
 the severity of the approaching season, whether by pecu- 
 liar sensibility to the causes from which its severity will 
 proceed, or in other ways, we know not. It has been 
 maintained that much of the conduct of animals neces- 
 sarily implies reflection. The vicissitudes of the atmos- 
 phere, on the arrival of the migrating time, have also a 
 great influence upon them. Most birds perform their 
 migration during the night; some species, however, by 
 day. Others stop not, either by day or night. To the 
 class which fly by day belong the birds of prey which ob- 
 tain their food by day. the crow, pie, titmouse, wren, 
 woodpecker, chaffinch, goldfinch, lark, swallow, and 
 some others. Those which travel by night are the owl, 
 blackbird, &c., and a great number of aquatic birds. 
 Those which stop not, day or night, are the heron, wag- 
 tail, yellow-hammer, plover, stork, crane, wildgoose, 
 swan. It is very remarkable, that individuals of those 
 species which travel day and night, and which, by some 
 cause, are prevented from migrating, remain, during all 
 the time of the migration of their species, awake, and 
 only occupy themselves with taking food. These birds 
 like particularly to travel in bright moonlight. 
 
 Many birds obtain their food on the wing. The 
 swallows, traversing the sea, catch insects, and fishing 
 birds catch fish, whilst they continue their journey. If 
 the titmouse, wren, woodpecker, and pie, rest for some 
 time on the branches of trees, they soon resume their 
 flight, after having fed. Those birds which habitually 
 alight on spots where they find nourishment in abun- 
 dance, never remain longer than two days in succession, 
 if nothing opposes the continuance of their flight. It is 
 a curious fact that at these times many birds utter cries 
 such as they are never heard to make at any other time. 
 Unless obliged by fogs to keep near the ground, birds 
 generally fly very high during their migration. Of all 
 migrating birds, the cranes are perhaps the most remark- 
 able. They seem to be most endowed with foresight. 
 They call each other by certain cries, several days be- 
 fore they depart, assemble, and make a great noise, as if 
 consulting; after which, they range themselves in two 
 lines, forming an angle, at the vertex of which is the 
 leader, who appears to exercise authority and give or- 
 ders, for instance, to form a circle in a tempest, or to 
 be watchful if eagles approach, &c. ; he also gives the 
 sign to descend and take food. If he is tired, he places 
 himself at the end of the line, and the bird next behind 
 him takes his place. They utter, during the night, 
 more piercing cries than during the day, and it seems as 
 if orders and answers were given. Wild geese and 
 ducks travel in a similar way. To enable birds to fly 
 with ease, and to continue long on the wing, they must 
 fly against the wind, in which respect flying is directly 
 opposite to sailing. Sportsmen are well acquainted 
 with this fact. If the wind is unfavourable for a time, 
 the migration is retarded, yet never entirely given up, 
 only the birds arrive much leaner, being fatigued by 
 their efforts. It is astonishing how tender birds, as the 
 linget, for instance, set out from the extremity of Nor- 
 way, and brave a long journey even over the ocean. 
 The quails, which are heavy in their flight, wait on the 
 shores of the Mediterranean, often a long time, for a fa- 
 vourable wind, of which they immediately avail them- 
 selves, halting on all the islands. If the wind suddenly 
 changes, many are drowned in the sea. 
 
16 
 
 A HISTORY OF 
 
 set out upon sucli a great undertaking. It is 
 probable that the same instinct which governs 
 ail their other actions operates also here. 
 They rather follow the weather than the coun- 
 try; they steer only from colder or warmer 
 climates into those of an opposite nature ; and 
 finding the variations of the air as they pro- 
 ceed in their favour, go on till they find land 
 to repose on. It cannot be supposed that 
 they have any memory of the country where 
 they might have spent a former winter ; it 
 cannot be supposed that they see the country to 
 which they travel, from their height in the 
 air ; since, though they mounted for miles, 
 the convexity of the globe would intercept 
 their view ; it must therefore only be, that 
 they go on as they continue to perceive the 
 atmosphere more suitable to their present 
 wants and dispositions. 
 
 All this seems to be pretty plain : but 
 there is a circumstance attending the migra- 
 tion of swallows which wraps this subject in 
 great obscurity. It is agreed on all hands, 
 that they are seen in migrating into warmer 
 climates, and that in amazing numbers, at the 
 approach of the European winter. Their re- 
 turn into Europe is also as well attested about 
 the beginning of summer; but we have ano- 
 ther account, which serves to prove that num- 
 bers of them continue torpid here during the 
 winter, and like bats, make their retreat into 
 old walls, the hollow of trees, or even sink into 
 the deepest lakes, and find security for the 
 winter season by remaining there in clusters 
 
 White has remarked, in his Natural History of Sel- 
 horne, that little stress may be laid on the difficulty and 
 hazard that birds must run in their migrations, by rea- 
 son of vast oceans, cross winds, &c., because, says he, if 
 we reflect, a bird may travel from England to the equ- 
 ator without launching out or exposing itself to bound- 
 less seas, and that by crossing the British Channel at 
 Dover and the Mediterranean at Gibraltar; thus select- 
 ing the narrowest points of passage. It is, however, 
 certain that migrating birds in their flight are often sub- 
 ject both to disasters and considerable fatigue. This in. 
 deed has been instanced by the settling of birds in an 
 exhausted state on the rigging and decks of vessels at 
 sea. Certain birds, as the moorhen, rail, &c., being 
 unable to fly for any considerable distance, travel partly 
 on foot. Some even (as the great auk or penguin, diver, 
 and guillemot) migrate by water. Ornithologists have 
 observed, that, in Europe, birds migrate in autumn to 
 the south-west, and in spring towards the north-east; 
 yet the courses of rivers and chains of mountains exer- 
 cise considerable influence on the direction of their 
 flight. It is remarkable, also, that the young of certain 
 species do not make the same journey as the old birds; 
 they go^more to the south, so that it is very common to 
 find, in the south of Europe, only the young birds of a 
 certain species, whilst the older ones remain more to the 
 north. In other species, the females go farther south. 
 It was formerly believed that the birds of the tropical 
 regions never migrate, arid that they never pass the line 
 but Humboldt has shown that this is not the case. He 
 observed, moreover, that the migration there took place 
 with the periodical rise of rivers. 
 
 at the bottom. However this latter circum- 
 stance may be, their retreat into old wahs is 
 too well authenticated to remain a doubt at 
 present. The difficulty, therefore, is to ac- 
 count for this difference in these animals thus 
 variously preparing to encounter the winter. 
 It was supposed that in some of them the 
 blood might lose its motion by the cold, and 
 that thus they were rendered torpid by the se- 
 verity of the season; but Mr Button having 
 placed many of this tribe in an ice-house, 
 found that the same cold by which their blood 
 was congealed was fatal to the animal \ it re- 
 mains, therefore, a doubt to this hour, whether 
 there may not be a species of swallows to all 
 external appearance like the rest, but differ- 
 ently formed within, so as to fit them for a 
 state of insensibility during the winter here. 
 It was suggested, indeed, that the swallows 
 found thus torpid, were such only as were too 
 weak to undertake the migration, or were 
 hatched too late to join the general convoy ; 
 but it was upon these that Mr Buffon tried 
 his experiment; it was these that died under 
 the operation. 
 
 Thus there are some birds which by mi- 
 grating make an habitation of every part of 
 the earth ; but in general every climate has 
 birds peculiar to itself. The feathered inha- 
 bitants of the temperate zone are but little re- 
 markable for the beauty of their plumage; 
 but then the smaller kinds make up for this 
 defect by the melody of their voices. The 
 birds of the torrid zone are very bright and 
 vivid in their colours ; but they have scream- 
 ing voices, or are totally silent. The frigid 
 zone, on the other hand, where the seas 
 abound with fish, are stocked with birds of the 
 aquatic kind, in much greater plenty than in 
 Europe ; and these are generally clothed with 
 a warmer coat of feathers ; or they have large 
 quantities of fat lying underneath the skin, 
 which serves to defend them from the rigours 
 of the climate. 
 
 In all countries, however, birds are a more 
 long-lived class of animals than the quadru- 
 peds or insects of the same climate. The life 
 of man himself is but short, whh compared to 
 what some of them enjoy. It is said that 
 swans have been known to live three hundred 
 years ; geese are often seen to live fourscore ; 
 while linnets and other little birds, though 
 imprisoned in cages, are often found to reach 
 fourteen or fifteen. How birds, whose age of 
 perfection is much more early than that ot 
 quadrupeds, should yet live comparatively so 
 much longer, is not easily to be accounted for: 
 perhaps, as their bones are lighter, and more 
 porous, than those of quadrupeds, there are 
 fewer obstructions in the animal machine; and 
 Nature, thus finding more room for the opera- 
 tions of life, is carried on to e greater extent. 
 
BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 17 
 
 All birds in general are less than quadru- 
 peds; that is, the greatest of one class far sur- 
 pass the greatest of the other in magnitude. 
 The ostrich, which is the greatest of birds, 
 bears no proportion to the elephant ; and the 
 smallest humming-bird, which is the least of 
 the class, is still far more minute than the 
 mouse. In these the extremities of nature are 
 plainly discernible ; and in forming them she 
 appears to have been doubtful in her opera- 
 tions: the ostrich, seemingly covered with 
 hair, and incapable of flight, making near ap- 
 proaches to the quadruped class; while the 
 humming bird, of the size of an humble-bee, 
 and with a fluttering motion, seems nearly 
 allied to the insect. 
 
 These extremities of this class are rather 
 objects of human curiosity than utility : it is 
 the middle order of birds which man has 
 taken care to propagate and maintain. Of 
 those which he has taken under his protection, 
 and which administer to his pleasures or ne- 
 cessities, the greatest number seem creatures 
 of his formation. The variety of climate to 
 which he consigns them, the food with which 
 he supplies them, and the purposes for which 
 he employs them, produce amazing varieties, 
 both in their colours, shape, magnitude, and 
 the taste of their flesh. Wild birds are, for 
 the most part, of the same magnitude and 
 shape ; they still keep the prints of primeval 
 nature strong upon them, except in a few ; 
 they generally maintain their very colour: 
 but it is otherwise with domestic animals; 
 they change at the will of man of the tame 
 pigeon, for instance, it is said they can be 
 bred to a feather. 
 
 As we are thus capable of influencing their 
 form and colour, so also is it frequent to see 
 equal instances of our influencing their habi- 
 tudes, appetites, and passions. The cock, for 
 instance, is artificially formed into that cour- 
 age and activity which he is seen to possess ; 
 and many birds testify a strong attachment to 
 the hand that feeds them ; how far they are 
 capable of instruction, is manifest to those that 
 have the care of hawks. But a still more 
 surprising instance of this was seen some time 
 ago in London : a canary bird was taught to 
 pick up the letters of the alphabet, at the 
 word of command, so as to spell any person's 
 name in company ; and this the little animal 
 did by motions from its master, which were 
 imperceptible to every other spectator. Upon 
 the whole, however, they are inferior to quad- 
 rupeds in docility ; and seem more mechani- 
 cally impelled by all the power of instinct. 
 
 VOL. II 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE DIVISION OP BIRDS. 
 
 THOUGH birds are fitted for sporting in the air, 
 yet as they find their food upon the surface of 
 the earth, there seems a variety equal to the 
 different aliments with which it tends to sup- 
 ply them. The flat and burning desert, the 
 rocky cliff, the extensive fen, the stormy ocean, 
 as well as the pleasing landscape, have all 
 their peculiar inhabitants. The most obvious 
 distinction therefore of birds, is into those that 
 live by land and those that live by water ; 
 or, in other words, into land birds, and water 
 fowl. 
 
 It is no difficult matter to distinguish land 
 from water fowl, by the legs and toes. All 
 land birds have their toes divided without any 
 membrane or web between them ; and their 
 legs and feet serve them for the purposes of 
 running, grasping, or climbing. On the 
 other hand, water fowl have their legs and 
 feet formed for the purposes of wading in 
 water, or swimming on its surface. In those 
 that wade, the legs are usually long and 
 naked; in those that swim, the toes are web- 
 bed together, as we see in the feet of a goose, 
 which serve, like oars, to drive them forward 
 with greater velocity. The formation there- 
 fore, of land and water fowl, is as distinct as 
 their habits ; and Nature herself seems to of- 
 fer us this obvious distribution, in methodizing 
 animals of the feathered creation. 
 
 However, a distinction so comprehensive 
 goes but a short way in illustrating the differ- 
 ent tribes of so numerous a class. The num- 
 ber of birds already known, amounts to above 
 eight hundred ;* and every person who turns 
 his mind to these kinds of pursuits, is every 
 day adding to the catalogue. It is not 
 enough, therefore, to be able to distinguish a 
 land from a water fowl ; much more is still 
 required to be able to distinguish the differ- 
 ent kinds of birds from each other; and even 
 the varieties in the same kind, when they 
 happen to offer. This certainly is a work of 
 great difficulty ; and perhaps the attainment 
 will not repay the labour. The sensible part 
 of mankind will not withdraw all their atten- 
 tion from more important pursuits, to give it 
 entirely up to what promises to repay them 
 only with a very confined species of amuse- 
 ment. In my distribution of birds, therefore, 
 I will follow Linnaeus in she first sketch of 
 his system ; and then leave him, to follow the 
 most natural distinctions, in enumerating the 
 
 1 Since Goldsmith's time, nearly three thousand spe- 
 cies of birds have been ascertained, and many of tlie 
 species have several varieties. 
 c 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 different kinds that admit of a history, or re- 
 quire a description. 
 
 Linnaeus divides all birds into six classes ; 
 namely, into birds of the rapacious kind, birds 
 of the pie kind, birds of the poultry kind, birds 
 of the spar?'oiv kind, birds of the duck kind, and 
 birds of the crane kind. The four first com- 
 prehend the various kinds of land birds ; the 
 two last, those that belong to the water. 
 
 Birds of the rapacious kind constitute that 
 class of carnivorous fowl that live by rapine. 
 He distinguishes them by their beak, which 
 is hooked, strong, and notched at the point; 
 by their legs, which are short and muscular, 
 and made for the purposes of tearing ; by their 
 toes, which are strong and knobbed ; and their 
 talons, which are sharp and crooked; by the 
 make of their body, which is muscular; and 
 their flesh, which is impure: nor are they 
 less known by their food, which consists en- 
 tirely of flesh; their stomach, which is mem- 
 branous; and their manners, which are fierce 
 and cruel. 
 
 Birds of the pie kind have the bill differing 
 from the former: as in those it resembles a 
 hook, destined for tearing to pieces; in these 
 it resembles a wedge, fitted for the purpose of 
 cleaving. Their legs are formed short and 
 strong, for walking; their body is slender and 
 impure, and their food miscellaneous. They 
 nestle in trees ; and the male feeds the female 
 during the time of incubation. 
 
 Birds of the poultry kind have the bill a 
 little convex, for the purposes of gathering 
 their food. The upper chap hangs over the 
 lower; their bodies are fat and muscular, and 
 their flesh white and pure. They live upon 
 grain, which is moistened in the crop. They 
 make their nest on the ground, without art; 
 they lay many eggs, and use promiscuous 
 venery. 
 
 Birds of the sparrow kind comprehend all 
 that beautiful and vocal class that adorn our 
 fields and groves, and gratify every sense in 
 its turn. Their bills may be compared to a 
 forceps that catches hold; their legs are formed 
 for hopping along ; their bodies are tender ; 
 pure in such as feed upon grain, impure in 
 such as live upon insects. They live chiefly 
 in trees; their nests are artificially made, and 
 their amours are observed with connubial 
 fidelity. 
 
 Birds of the duck kind use their bill as a 
 kind of strainer to their food; it is smooth, 
 covered with a skin, and nervous at the point. 
 Their legs are short, and their feet formed for 
 swimming, the toes being webbed together. 
 Their body is fat, inclined to rancidity. They 
 live in waters, and chiefly build their nests 
 upon land. 
 
 With respect to the order of birds that be- 
 long to the waters, those of the crane kind have 
 
 the bill formed for the purposes of searching 
 and examining the bottom of pools ; their legs 
 are long, and formed for wading ; their toes 
 are not webbed ; their thighs are half naked ; 
 their body is slender, and covered with a very 
 thin skin ; their tail is short, and their flesh 
 savoury. They live in lakes upon animals, 
 and they chiefly build their nests upon the 
 ground. 
 
 Such is the division of Linnasus with res- 
 pect to this class of animals ; and, at first 
 sight, it appears natural and comprehensive. 
 But we must not be deceived by appearances : 
 the student, who should imagine he was mak- 
 ing a progress in the history of Nature, while 
 he was only thus making arbitrary distribu- 
 tions, would be very much mistaken. Should 
 he come to enter deeper into this naturalist's 
 plan, he would find birds the most unlike in 
 nature thrown together into the same class ; 
 and find animals joined, that entirely differ in 
 climate, in habitudes, in manners, in shape, 
 colouring, and size. In such a distribution, 
 for instance, he would find the humming bird 
 and the raven, the rail and the ostrich, joined 
 in the same family. If, when he asked what 
 sort of a creature was the humming-bird, he 
 were told that it was in the same class with 
 the carrion-crow, would he not think himself 
 imposed upon? In such a case the only way 
 to form any idea of the animal whose history 
 he is desirous to know, is to see it; and that 
 curiosity very few have an opportunity of gra- 
 tifying. The number of birds is so great, 
 that it might exhaust the patience not only of 
 the writer, but the reader, to examine them 
 all : in the present confined undertaking it 
 would certainly be impossible. I will, there- 
 fore, now attach myself to a more natural me- 
 thod ; and still keeping the general division 
 of Linnasus before me, enter into some des- 
 cription of the most noted, or the most worth 
 knowing. 
 
 Under one or other class, as I shall treat 
 them, the reader will probably find all the 
 species, and all the varieties that demand his 
 curiosity. When the leader of any tribe is 
 described, and its history known", it will give a 
 very tolerable idea of all the species contained 
 under it. It is true, the reader will not thus 
 have his knowledge ranged under such pre- 
 cise distinctions ; nor can he be able to say 
 with such fluency, that the rail is of the os- 
 trich class ; but what is much more material, 
 he will have a tolerable history of the bird he 
 desires to know, or at least of that which most 
 resembles it in nature. 
 
 However, it may be proper to apprize the 
 reader, that he will not here find his curiosity 
 satisfied, as in the former volumes, where we 
 often took Mr Button for our guide. Those 
 who have hitherto written the natural history 
 
THE OSTRICH. 
 
 19 
 
 of birds, have in general been contented with 
 telling their names, or describing their toes 
 or their plumage. It must often, therefore, 
 happen, that instead of giving the history of a 
 bird, we must be content to entertain the reader 
 with merely its description. I will, there- 
 fore, divide the following history of birds, 
 with Linnaeus, into six parts ; in the first of 
 which I will give such as Brisson has ranged 
 among the rapacious birds ; next those of the 
 pie kind ; and thus go on through the suc- 
 ceeding classes, till I finish with those of the 
 duck kind. But before I enter upon a syste- 
 matic detail, I will beg leave to give the his- 
 tory of three or four birds, that do not well 
 range in any system. These, from their great 
 size, are sufficiently distinguishable from the 
 rest; and from their incapacity of flying, lead 
 a life a good deal differing from the rest of the 
 feathered creation. The birds I mean are 
 the Ostrich, the Cassowary, the Emu, the 
 Dodo, and the Solitaire. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 (See Plate XT. fig. 38.) 
 
 IN beginning with the feathered tribe, the 
 first animal that offers seems to unite the class 
 of quadrupeds and of birds in itself. While 
 it has the general outline and properties of a 
 bird, yet it retains many of the marks of the 
 quadruped. In appearance the ostrich resem- 
 bles the camel, and is almost as tall; it 'is 
 covered with a plumage that resembles hair 
 much more nearly than feathers, and its in- 
 ternal parts bear as near a similitude to those 
 of the quadruped, as of the bird creation. It 
 may be considered, therefore, as an animal 
 made to fill up that chasm in nature which se- 
 parates one class of beings from another. 
 
 The ostrich is the largest of all birds. Tra- 
 vellers affirm, that they are seen as tall as a 
 man on horseback ; and even some of those 
 that have been brought into England were 
 above seven feet high. The head and bill 
 somewhat resemble those of a duck ; and the 
 neck may be likened to that of a swan, but 
 that it is much longer ; the legs and thighs 
 resemble those of a hen ; though the whole 
 appearance bears a strong resemblance to that 
 of a camel. But to be more particular : it is 
 usually seven feet high from the top of the 
 head to the ground ; but from the back it is 
 only four; so that the head and neck are 
 above three feet long. From the top of the 
 head to the rump, when the neck is stretched 
 out in a right line, it is six feet long, and the 
 
 tail is about a foot more. One of the wings, 
 without the feathers, is a foot and a half; and 
 being stretched out, with the feathers, is three 
 feet. 
 
 The plumage is much alike in all ; that is, 
 generally black and white ; though some of 
 them are said to be gray. The greatest fea- 
 thers are at the extremities of the wings arid 
 tail, and the largest are generally white. The 
 next row is black and white ; and of the small 
 feathers, on the back and belly, some are 
 white and others black. There are no fea- 
 thers on the sides, nor yet on the thighs, nor 
 under the wings. The lower part of the 
 neck, about half way, is covered with still 
 smaller feathers than those on the belly and 
 back ; and those, like the former, also are of 
 different colours. 
 
 All these feathers are of the same kind, 
 and peculiar to the ostrich; for other birds 
 have several sorts, some of which are soft and 
 downy, and others hard and strong. Ostrich 
 feathers are almost all as soft as down, being 
 utterly unfit to serve the animal for flying, 
 and still less adapted to be a proper defence 
 against external injury. The feathers of other 
 birds have the webs broader on one side than 
 the other, but. those of the ostrich have their 
 shaft exactly in the middle. The upper part 
 of the head and neck is covered with a very 
 fine, clear, white hair, that shines like the 
 bristles of a hog ; and in some places there are 
 small tufts of it, consisting of about twelve 
 hairs, which grow from a single shaft about 
 the thickness of a pin. 
 
 At the end of each wing there is a kind of 
 spur, almost like the quill of a porcupine. It 
 is an inch long, being hollow, and of a horny 
 substance. There are two of these on each 
 wing, the largest of which is at the extremity 
 of the bone of the wing, and the other a foot 
 lower. The neck seems to be more slender 
 in proportion to that of other birds, from its 
 not being furnished with feathers. The skin 
 in this part is of a livid flesh-colour, which 
 some improperly would have to be blue. The 
 bill is short and pointed, and two inches and 
 a half at the beginning. The external form 
 of the eye is like that of man, the upper eye- 
 lid being adorned with eye-lashes, which are 
 longer than those on the lid below. The 
 tongue is small, very short, and composed of 
 cartilages, ligaments, and membranes, inter- 
 mixed with fleshy fibres. In some it is about 
 an inch long, and very thick at the bottom. 
 In others it is but half an inch, being a little 
 forked at the end. 
 
 The thighs are very fleshy and large, being 
 covered with a white skin, inclining to red- 
 ness, and wrinkled in the manner of a net, 
 whose meshes will admit the end of a finger. 
 Some have very small feathers here and there 
 
20 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 on the thighs ; and others again have neither 
 feathers nor wrinkles. What are called the 
 legs of birds, in this are covered before with 
 large scales. The end of the foot is cloven, 
 and has two very large toes, which, like the 
 leg. are covered with scales. These toes are 
 of unequal sizes. The largest, which is on 
 the inside, is seven inches long, including the 
 claw, which is near three-fourths of an inch 
 in length, and almost as broad. The other 
 toe is but four inches long, and is without a 
 claw. 
 
 The internal parts of this animal are formed 
 with no less surprising peculiarity. At the 
 top of the breast, under the skin, the fat is 
 two inches thick ; and on the fore part of the 
 belly it is as hard as suet, and about two 
 inches and a half thick in some places. It 
 has two distinct stomachs. The first, which 
 is lowermost, in its natural situation somewhat 
 resembles the crop in other birds; but it is 
 considerably larger than the other stomach, 
 and is furnished with strong muscular fibres, 
 as well circular as longitudinal. The second 
 stomach, or gizzard, has outwardly the shape 
 of the stomach of a man ; and, upon opening, 
 is always found filled with a variety of dis- 
 cordant substances ; hay, grass, barley, beans, 
 bones, and stones, some of which exceed in 
 size a pullet's egg. The kidneys are eight 
 inches long and two broad, and differ from 
 those of other birds in not being divided into 
 lobes. The heart and lungs are separated by 
 a midriff, as in quadrupeds, and the parts of 
 generation also bear a very strong resemblance 
 and analogy. 
 
 Such is the structure of this animal, form- 
 ing the shade that unites birds and quadru- 
 peds ; and from this structure its habits and 
 manners are entirely peculiar. It is a native 
 only of the torrid regions of Africa, and has 
 long been celebrated by those who have had 
 occasion to mention the animals of that region. 
 Its flesh is proscribed in scripture as unfit to 
 be eaten; and most of the ancient writers de- 
 scribe it as well known in their times. Like 
 the race of the elephant, it is transmitted 
 down without mixture ; and has never been 
 known to breed out of that country which 
 first produced it. It seems formed to live 
 among the sandy and burning deserts of the 
 torrid zone; and, as in some measure it owes 
 its birth to their genial influence, so it seldom 
 migrates into tracts more mild or more fertile. 
 As that is the peculiar country of the elephant, 
 the rhinoceros, and camel, so it may readily 
 be supposed capable of affording a retreat to 
 the ostrich. They inhabit, from preference, 
 the most solitary and horrid deserts, where 
 there are few vegetables to clothe the surface 
 of the earth, and where the rain never comes 
 to refresh it. The Arabians assert that the 
 
 ostrich never drinks; and the place of its ha- 
 bitation seems to confirm the assertion. In 
 these formidable regions, ostriches are seen in 
 large flocks, which to the distant spectator 
 appear like a regiment of cavalry, and have 
 often alarmed a whole caravan. There is no 
 desert, how barren soever, but what is capable 
 of supplying these animals with provision ; 
 they eat almost every thing ; and these barren 
 tracts are thus doubly grateful, as they afford 
 both food and security. The ostrich is, of all 
 other animals, the most voracious. It will 
 devour leather, glass, hair, iron, stones, or any 
 thing that is given. Nor are its powers of 
 digestion less in such things as are digestible. 
 Those substances which the coats of the sto- 
 mach cannot soften, pass whole ; so that glass, 
 stones, or iron, are excluded in the form in 
 which they were devoured. All metals, in- 
 deed, which are swallowed by any animal, 
 lose a part of their weight, and often the ex- 
 tremities of their figure, from the action of 
 the juices of the stomach upon their surface. 
 A quarter pistole, which was swallowed by a 
 duck, lost seven grains of its weight in the 
 gizzard before it was voided ; and it is proba- 
 ble that a still greater diminution of weight 
 would happen in the stomach of an ostrich. 
 Considered in this light, therefore, this ani- 
 mal may be said to digest iron ; but such sub- 
 stances seldom remain long enough in the sto- 
 mach of any animal to undergo so tedious a 
 dissolution. However this be, the ostrich 
 swallows almost every thing presented to it. 
 Whether this be from the necessity which 
 smaller birds are under of picking up gravel 
 to keep the coats of their stomach asunder, or 
 whether it be from a want of distinguishing 
 by the taste what substances are fit and what 
 incapable of digestion ; certain it is, that in 
 the ostrich dissected by Ranby there appeared 
 such a quantity of heterogeneous substances, 
 that it was wonderful how any animal could 
 digest such an overcharge of nourishment. 
 Valisnieri also found the first stomach filled 
 with a quantity of incongruous substances ; 
 grass, nuts, cords, stones, glass, brass, copper, 
 iron, tin, lead, and wood ; a p&ce of stone 
 was found among the rest that weighed more 
 than a pound. He saw one of these animals 
 that was killed by devouring a quantity of 
 quick-lime. It would seem that the ostrich is 
 obliged to fill up the great capacity of its sto- 
 mach in order to be at ease ; but that nutri- 
 tious substances not occurring, it pours in 
 whatever offers to supply the void. 
 
 In their native deserts, however, it is pro- 
 bable they live chiefly upon vegetables, where 
 they lead an inoffensive and social life ; the 
 male, as Thevenot assures us, assorting with 
 the female with connubial fidelity. They 
 are said to be very much inclined to venery ; 
 
THE OSTRICH. 
 
 and the make of the parts in both sexes seems 
 to confirm the report. It is probable also they 
 copulate, like other birds, by compression; 
 and they lay very large eggs, some of them 
 being above five inches in diameter, and weigh- 
 ing above fifteen pounds. These eggs have a 
 very hard shell, somewhat resembling those of 
 the crocodile, except that those of the latter 
 are less and rounder. 1 
 
 The season for laying depends on the climate 
 where the animal is bred. In the northern 
 parts of Africa, this season is about the begin- 
 ning of July : in the south, it is about the latter 
 end of December. These birds are very pro- 
 lific, and lay generally from forty to fifty eggs 
 at one clutch. It has been commonly reported 
 that the female deposits them in the sand; 
 and, covering them up, leaves them to be 
 hatched by the heat of the climate, and then 
 permits the young to shift for themselves. 
 Very little of this, however, is true : no bird 
 has a stronger affection for her young than the 
 ostrich, and none watches her eggs with greater 
 assiduity. It happens, indeed, in those hot 
 climates, that there is less necessity for the 
 continual incubation of the female ; and she 
 more frequently leaves her eggs, which are 
 in no fear of being chilled by the weather ; 
 but though she sometimes forsakes them by 
 
 1 The male ostrich of South Africa (says the late Mr 
 Thomas Pringle) at the time of breeding usually associ- 
 ates to himself from two to six females. The hens lay 
 all their eggs together in one nest; the nest being merely 
 a shallow cavity scraped in the ground, of such dimen- 
 sions as to be conveniently covered by one of these gi- 
 gantic birds in incubation. A most ingenious device is 
 employed to save space, and give at the same time to all 
 the eggs their due share of warmth. The eggs are made 
 to stand each with the narrow end on the bottom of the 
 nest and the broad end upwards ; and the earth which 
 has been scraped out to form the cavity is employed to 
 confine the outer circle, and keep the whole in the proper 
 position. The hens relieve each other in the office of 
 incubation during the day, and the male takes his turn 
 at night, when his superior strength is required to pro- 
 tect the eggs or the new-fledged young from the jackalls, 
 tiger-cats, and other enemies. Some of these animals, it is 
 said, are not unfrequently found lying dead near the nest, 
 destroyed by a stroke from the foot of this powerful bird. 
 
 As many as sixty eggs are sometimes found in and 
 around an ostrich nest ; but a smaller number is more 
 common ; and incubation is occasionally performed by a 
 single pair of ostriches. Each female lays from twelve 
 to sixteen eggs. They continue to lay during incuba- 
 tion, and even after the young brood are hatched, the 
 supernumerary eggs are not placed in the nest, but around 
 it, being designed to assist in the nourishment of the 
 young birds, which, though as large as a pullet when 
 first hatched, are probably unable at once to digest the 
 hard and acrid food on which the old ones subsist. The 
 period of incubation is from thirty-six to forty days. In 
 the middle of the day the nest is occasionally left by all 
 the birds, the heat of the sun being then sufficient to 
 keep the eggs at the proper temperature. 
 
 An ostrich egg is. considered as equal in its contents 
 to twenty-four of the domestic hen. When taken fresh 
 Irom the nest, as those were which we found near Rhin- 
 oceros Fountain, they are very palatable, and are whole- 
 
 day, she always carefully broods over them 
 by night ; and Kolben, who has seen great 
 numbers of them at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 affirms that they sit on their eggs like other 
 birds, and that the male and female take this 
 office by turns, as he had frequent opportuni- 
 ties of observing. Nor is it more true what 
 is said of their forsaking their young after 
 they are excluded the shell. On the contrary, 
 the young ones are not even able to walk for 
 several days after they are hatched. During 
 this time, the old ones are very assiduous in 
 supplying them with grass, and very careful 
 to defend them from danger ; nay, they en- 
 counter every danger in their defence. It 
 was a way of taking them among the ancients, 
 to plant a number of sharp stakes round the 
 ostrich's nest in her absence, upon which she 
 pierced herself at her return. The young, 
 when brought forth, are of an ash-colour the 
 first year, and are covered with feathers all 
 over. But in time these feathers drop ; and 
 those parts which are covered assume a differ- 
 ent and more becoming plumage. 
 
 The beauty of a part of this plumage, par- 
 ticularly the long feathers that compose the 
 wings and tail, 2 is the chief reason that man 
 has been so active in pursuing this harmless 
 bird to its deserts, and hunting it with no 
 
 some though somewhat heavy food. The best mode of 
 cooking them is that practised by the Hottentots, and 
 which we adopted under their tuition, namely, to place one 
 end of the egg in the hot ashes, and making a small ori- 
 fice in the other, keep stirring the contents with a bit of 
 stick till they are sufficiently roasted ; and then with a 
 seasoning of salt and pepper you have a very nice ome- 
 lade. 
 
 The ostrich of South Africa is a prudent and wary 
 animal, and displays little of that stupidity ascribed to 
 this bird by some naturalists. On the borders of the 
 Cape Colony, at least, where it is eagerly pursued for 
 the sake of its valuable plumage, the ostrich displays no 
 want of sagacity in providing for its own safety or the 
 security of its offspring. It adopts every possible pre- 
 caution to conceal the place of its nest; and uniformly 
 abandons it, after destroying the eggs, if it perceives that 
 the eggs have been disturbed or the footsteps of man are 
 discovered near it. In relieving each other in hatching, 
 the birds are said to be careful not to be seen together at 
 the nest, and are never observed to approach it in a 
 direct line. 
 
 The food of the ostrich consists of the tops of the vari- 
 ous shrubby plants which even the most arid parts of 
 South Africa produce in abundance. This bird is so 
 easily satisfied in regard to water that he is constantly 
 to be found in the most parched and desolate tracts which 
 even the antelopes and the beasts of prey have deserted. 
 His cry at a distance so much resembles that of the lion, 
 that even th* Hottentots are said to be sometimes de- 
 ceived by it. 
 
 When not hatching they are frequently seen in troops 
 of thirty or forty together, or amicably associated with 
 herds of zebras or quaggas, their fellow-tenants of the 
 wilderness. If caught young the ostrich is easily tamed ; 
 but it does not appear that any attempt has been made 
 to apply his great strength and swiftness to any purpose 
 of practical utility. 
 
 8 It is generally believed that the fine feathers of the 
 
22 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 small degree of expense and labour. The 
 ancients used those plumes in their helmets; 
 the ladies of the East make them an orna- 
 ment in their dress; and, among us, our 
 undertakers and our fine gentlemen still make 
 use of them to decorate their hearses and their 
 hats. Those feathers which are plucked from 
 the animal while alive, are much more valued 
 than those taken when dead ; the latter being 
 dry, light, and subject to be worm eaten. 
 
 Beside the value of their plumage, some of 
 the savage nations of Africa hunt them also 
 for their flesh, which they consider as a dainty. 
 They sometimes also breed these birds tame, 
 to eat the young ones, of which the female is 
 said to be the greatest delicacy. Some na- 
 tions have obtained the name of Struthophagi, 
 or ostrich-eaters, from their peculiar fondness 
 for this food ; and even the Romans themselves 
 were not averse to it. Apicius gives a receipt 
 for making sauce for the ostrich ; and Helio- 
 gabalus is noted for having dressed the brains 
 of six hundred ostriches in one dish ; for it 
 was his custom never to eat but of one dish 
 in a day, but that was an expensive one. 
 Even among the Europeans now, the eggs of 
 the ostrich are said to be well tasted, and ex- 
 tremely nourishing ; but they are too scarce 
 to be fed upon, although a single egg be a 
 sufficient entertainment for eight men. 
 
 As the spoils of the ostrich are thus valu- 
 able, it is not to be wondered at that man has 
 become their most assiduous pursuer. For 
 this purpose, the Arabians train up their best 
 and fleetest horses, and hunt the ostrich still 
 in view. Perhaps of all other varieties of 
 the chase, this though the most laborious, is 
 yet the most entertaining. As soon as the 
 hunter comes within sight of his prey, he 
 puts on his horse with a gentle gallop, so as 
 to keep the ostrich still in sight; yet not so as 
 to terrify him from the plain into the moun- 
 tains. Of all known animals that make use 
 of their legs in running, the ostrich is by far 
 the swiftest ; upon observing himself there- 
 fore pursued at a distance, he begins to run at 
 first but gently ; either insensible of his dan- 
 ger, or sure of escaping. In this situation he 
 somewhat resembles a man at full speed ; his 
 wings, like two arms, keep working with a 
 motion correspondent to that of his legs : and 
 iris speed would very soon snatch him from 
 the view of his pursuers; but, unfortunately 
 for the silly creature, instead of going off in 
 a direct line, he takes his course in circles; 
 while the hunters still make a small course 
 within, relieve each other, meet him at unex- 
 pected turns, and keep him thus still employ- 
 
 ostrich are from the tail of the bird, which is not the 
 fact. They are from the wings. The tail feathers are 
 short, and of little value. 
 
 ed, still followed for two or three days toge- 
 ther. At last, spent with fatigue and famine, 
 and finding all power of escape impossible, 
 he endeavours to hide himself from those ene- 
 mies he cannot avoid, and covers his head in 
 the sand, or the first, thicket he meets. Some- 
 times, however, he attempts to face his pur- 
 suers ; and though in general the most gentle 
 animal in nature, when driven to desperation, 
 he defends himself with his beak, his wings, 
 and his feet. Such is the force of his motion, 
 that a man would be utterly unable to with- 
 stand him in the shock. 
 
 The Struthophagi have another method of 
 taking this bird ; they cover themselves with 
 an ostrich's skin, and passing up an arm 
 through the neck, thus counterfeit all the mo- 
 tions of this animal. By this artifice they 
 approach the ostrich, which becomes an easy 
 prey. He is sometimes also taken by dogs 
 and nets, but the most usual way is that men- 
 tioned above. 
 
 When the Arabians have thus taken an 
 ostrich, they cut its throat, and making a liga- 
 ture below the opening, they shake the bird, 
 as one would rince a barrel ; then taking off 
 the ligature, there runs out from the wound in 
 the throat a considerable quantity of blood, 
 mixed with the fat of the animal ; and this is 
 considered one of their greatest dainties. They 
 next flay the bird ; and of the skin, which is 
 strong and thick, sometimes make a kind of 
 vest, which answers the purposes of a cuirass 
 and a buckler. 
 
 There are others who, more compassionate 
 or more provident, do not kill their captive, 
 but endeavour to tame it, for the purposes of 
 supplying those feathers which are in so great 
 request. The inhabitants of Dara and Lybia 
 breed up whole flocks of them, and they are 
 tamed with very little trouble. But it is not 
 for their feathers alone that they are prized 
 in this domestic state ; they are often ridden 
 upon, and used as horses. Moore assures us, 
 that at Joar he saw a man travelling upon an 
 ostrich ; and Adanson asserts, that, at the 
 factory of Podore, he had two ostriches, which 
 were then young, the strongest of which ran 
 swifter than the best English racer, although 
 he carried two negroes on his back. As soon 
 as the animal perceived that it was loaded, it 
 set off running with all its force, and made 
 several circuits round the village ; till at 
 length the people were obliged to stop it, by 
 barring up the way. How far this strength 
 and swiftness may be useful to mankind, even 
 in a polished state, is a matter that perhaps 
 deserves inquiry. Posterity may avail them, 
 selves of this creature's abilities ; and riding 
 upon an ostrich may one day become the fa- 
 vourite, as it most certainly is the swiftest, 
 mode of conveyance. 
 
THE EMU. 
 
 23 
 
 The parts of this animal are said to be con- 
 vertible to many salutary purposes in medi- 
 cine. The i'at is said to be emollient and 
 relaxing; that while it relaxes the tendons, it 
 fortifies the nervous system ; and being ap- 
 plied to the region of the loins, it abates the 
 pains of the stone in the kidneys. The shell 
 of the egg powdered, and given in proper 
 quantities, is said to be useful in promoting 
 urine, and dissolving the stone in the bladder. 
 The substance of the egg itself is thought to 
 be peculiarly nourishing: however, Galen, in 
 mentioning this, asserts, that the eggs of hens 
 and pheasants are good to be eaten ; those of 
 geese and ostriches are the worst of all. 
 
 CHAP. V, 
 
 THE EMU. 1 
 
 OF this bird, which many call the Ameri- 
 can Ostrich, (see Plate XVIII. fig. 25.) but 
 
 1 The term Emu is now applied to the ostrich of New 
 Holland (see Plate XV. fig. 37.) This bird differs in 
 many respects from the African ostrich. It has a 
 straight bill, very much depressed towards the sides, 
 slightly keeled along its middle, and rounded at the 
 point ; large nostrils, covered by a membrane and open- 
 ing above on the middle of the bill; a head unsur- 
 mounted by a bony crest, and covered with feathers 
 up to a certain age ; a naked throat without wattles ; 
 powerful legs of considerable length, fleshy and fea- 
 thered down to the joint, naked and reticulated below 
 it ; three toes directed forwards, the two lateral ones 
 equal in length, and the posterior wholly wanting ; the 
 claws of all the toes nearly equal ; and no true quill- 
 feathers either to the wings or tail. It is consequently 
 distinguished from the African ostrich by the number 
 of its toes ; from it and the rhea by the trifling de- 
 velopement of its wings, and the total want of plumage 
 to the wings and tail ; and from the cassowary by the 
 absence of crest, wattles, and quills, the depression of 
 its bill, the position of its nostrils, and the equality of 
 its cla\vs. 
 
 In size and bulk the emu is exceeded by the African 
 ostrich alone. It is stated by travellers to attain a 
 height of more than seven feet, and its average mea- 
 suiement in captivity may be estimated at between five 
 and six. In form it closely resembles the ostrich, but 
 is lower on the legs, shorter in the neck, and of a more 
 thickset and clumsy make. At a distance its feathers 
 have more of the appearance of hair than of plumage, 
 their barbs being all loose and separate. As in the 
 other ostriches, they take their origin by pairs from 
 the same shaft. Their general colour is a dull brown 
 mottled with dirty gray, the latter prevailing more par- 
 ticularly on the under surface of the bird. On the 
 head and neck they become gradually shorter, assume 
 still more completely the appearance of hairs, and are 
 so thinly scattered over the fore part of the throat and 
 around the ears, that the skin, which is of a purplish 
 hue, is distinctly visible. This appearance is most 
 remarkable in the older birds, in which these parts 
 are left nearly bare. 'The wings are so extremely small 
 as to be quite invisible when applied to the surface 
 of the body. They are clothed with feathers exactly 
 
 little is certainly known. It is an inhabitant 
 of the New Continent; and the travellers 
 who have mentioned it, seem to have been 
 more solicitous in proving its affinity to the 
 ostrich, than in describing those peculiarities 
 
 similar to those of the back, which, it should be ob- 
 served, divide as it were from a middle line, and fall 
 gracefully over on either side. The colour of the bill 
 and legs is of a dusky black ; and that of the iris dull 
 brown. 
 
 There appears to be but little difference in colour 
 between the two sexes; but the young on first quitting 
 the shell have a much more elegant livery. A brood of 
 these has lately been hatched at the society's garden, in 
 which the ground colour is grayish white, marked with 
 two longitudinal broad black stripes along the back, and 
 two similar ones on either side, each subdivided by a 
 narrow middle line of white. These stripes are con- 
 tinued along the neck without subdivision, and are 
 broken on the head into irregular spots. Two other 
 broken stripes pass down the fore part of the neck and 
 breast, and terminate in a broad band passing on either 
 side across the thighs. As in the fully grown bird the 
 bill and legs are of a dusky hue. 
 
 These birds appear to be widely spread over the 
 southern part of the continent of New Holland and the 
 neighbouring islands; but we are not aware that they 
 have been hitherto discovered in its tropical regions. 
 They were formerly very abundant in the neighbour- 
 hood of Botany Bay and Port Jackson, but have been 
 of late years compelled by the increasing numbers of 
 the settlers to seek shelter in the interior. On the 
 south coast they have been met with in great plenty, at 
 Port Phillip by Captain Flinders, and at King George's 
 Sound by the same officer and the naturalists of the ex- 
 pedition under D'Entrecasteaux. They seem also to be 
 extremely numerous in the adjacent islands, especially 
 in Kanguroo island, where they were found in the great- 
 est abundance by both Flinders and Peron; and In 
 King's island, where the distinguished naturalist last 
 named and his companions were fortunately enabled by 
 the kindness of some English seal-hunters to subsist, 
 chiefly upon emu's flesh, for several days while tem- 
 porarily deserted by their captain. According to the 
 late accounts from Swan river, they have also been ob- 
 served on that part of the west coast on which the new 
 settlement is situated. 
 
 The emu was first described and figured, under the 
 name of the New Holland cassowary, in Governor 
 Phillip's Voyage to Botany Bay, published in 1789. 
 To this work Dr Latham contributed very considerably 
 in the ornithological department, and it is therefore 
 probable that the description of this remarkable bird 
 was furnished by him. The figure, taken from a draw- 
 ing made on the spot by lieutenant Watts, is extremely 
 defective. In the ensuing year a second figure, taken 
 from the same specimen as the former, but very different 
 in appearance and equally inaccurate, was given in 
 White's Voyage to New South Wales, the zoological 
 part of which work appears to have been superintended 
 by Dr Shaw, whose Miscellany likewise contains a copy 
 of the same figure. A much better representation, al- 
 though somewhat too highly coloured, occurs in the Atlas 
 to Peron's Voyage aux Terres Australes. 
 
 In its manners the emu bears a close resemblance to 
 the ostrich, as might be expected from their near rela- 
 tionship. Its food appears to be wholly vegetable, con- 
 sisting chiefly of fruits, roots, and herbage; and it is 
 consequently, notwithstanding its great strength, per- 
 fectly inoffensive. The length of its legs, and the mus- 
 cularity of its thighs, enable it to run with great swift- 
 ness ; and, as it is exceedingly shy, it is not easily over 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 which distinguish it from all others of the 
 feathered creation. 
 
 It is chiefly found in Guiana, along the 
 banks of the Oroonoko, in the inland pro- 
 vinces of Bra/il and Chili, and the vast forests 
 that border on the mouth of the river Plata. 
 Many other parts of South America were 
 known to have them ; but as men multiplied, 
 these large and timorous birds either fell be- 
 neath their superior power, or fled from their 
 vicinity. 
 
 The Emu, though not so large as the 
 ostrich, is only second to it in magnitude. It 
 is by much the largest bird in the New Con- 
 tinent ; and is generally found to be six feet 
 high, measuring from its head to the ground. 
 Its legs are three feet long ; and its thigh is 
 near as thick as that of a man, The toes dif- 
 fer from those of the ostrich; as there are 
 three in the American bird, and but two in 
 ihe former. Its neck is long, its head small, 
 and the bill flatted, like that of the ostrich ; 
 but in all other respects it more resembles the 
 cassowary, a large bird to be described here- 
 after. The form of the body appears round ; 
 the wings are short, and entirely unfitted for 
 flying, and it wants a tail. It is covered 
 from the back and rump with long feathers, 
 
 taken, or brought within gun-shot. Captain Currie, in 
 Mr Barren Field's Memoirs ou New South Wales, 
 states that it affords "excellent coursing, equalling, if 
 not surpassing, the same sport with the hare in Eng- 
 land." And Mr Cunningham, in his amusing work 
 entitled Two Years in New South Wales, gives a curious 
 account of the manner in which it is usually coursed by 
 the dogs. The latter gentleman states that dogs will 
 seldom attack it, both on account of some peculiar 
 odour in its flesh which they dislike, and because the 
 injuries which it inflicts upon them by striking out with 
 its feet are frequently very severe. " The settlers even 
 assert," he says, "that they [the emus] will break the 
 small bone of a man's leg by this sort of kick ; which to 
 avoid, the well-trained dogs run up abreast, and make a 
 sudden spring at their neck, whereby they are quickly 
 dispatched." 
 
 But although dogs in general may be reluctant to 
 attack the emu, this is by no means the case with those 
 which are specially trained for the purpose. M. Peron 
 assures us that the English seal-fishers on King's island 
 in Bass's strait had with them dogs which were taught 
 to go alone into the woods in quest of kanguroos and 
 emus, and rarely failed to destroy several of these ani- 
 mals every day. When the chase was at an end, they 
 returned to their masters' dwelling, made known by 
 signs the success of their expedition, and conducted the 
 hunters to the spot where the quarry was deposited. It 
 was thus that these adventurous traders were enabled to 
 supply themselves with provisions, even while they de- 
 voted nearly the whole of their time to the commercial 
 pursuits in which they were engaged. This statement, 
 M. Peron assures us, does not depend on the mere 
 assertions of the fishermen themselves, for he had him- 
 self witnessed the fact. From his account of the dogs 
 it does not appear whether they were of the native Aus- 
 tralian breed. It is more probable that they were 
 English hounds ; and the name of one of them, Spot, 
 adds some confirmation to this conjecture, for we are 
 not aware that the pure New Holland dog has ever 
 
 which fall backward, and cover the anus; 
 these feathers are gray upon the back, and 
 white on the belly. It goes very swiftly, and 
 seems assisted in its motion by a kind of 
 tubercle behind, like a heel, upon which, on 
 plain ground, it treads very securely ; in its 
 course it uses a very odd kind of action, lift- 
 ing up one wing, which it keeps elevated for 
 a time; till letting it drop, it lifts up the 
 other. What the bird's intention may be in 
 thus keeping only one wing up, is not easy 
 to discover ; whether it makes use of this 
 as a sail to catch the wind, or whether as 
 a rudder to turn its course, in order to avoid 
 the arrows of the Indians, yet remains to be 
 ascertained: however this be, the emu runs 
 with such swiftness, that the fleetest dogs are 
 thrown out in the pursuit. One of them, 
 finding itself surrounded by the hunters, 
 darted among the dogs with such fury, that 
 they made way to avoid its rage ; and it 
 escaped, by its amazing velocity, in safety to 
 the mountains. 
 
 As this bird is but little known, so travel- 
 lers have given a loose to their imaginations 
 in describing some of its actions, which they 
 were conscious could not be easily contradic- 
 ted. This animal, says Nierenberg, is very 
 
 been found spotted. In either case the account may 
 be quoted as a surprising instance of animal docility, 
 which would be only the more striking if exhibited by 
 the less sagacious breed. 
 
 If we are to credit the report of the same author, the 
 flesh of the emu is " truly exquisite, and intermediate, 
 as it were, between that of a turkey and a sucking-pig." 
 But some allowances must be made for the circumstances 
 in which he first partook of it, when he and his com- 
 panions, abandoned by their captain, and without any 
 means of procuring subsistence, had no other prospect 
 than that of perishing by starvation, until relieved by 
 the generosity of the fishermen. The English colonists 
 do not appear to have quite so high an opinion of its 
 merits; they compare it to beef, which it resembles, 
 according to Mr Cunningham, " both in appearance 
 and taste, and is good and sweet eating : nothing in- 
 deed can be more delicate than the flesh of the young 
 ones." " There is but little," he says, " fit for culinary 
 use upon any part of the emu except the hind-quarter?, 
 which are of such dimensions that the shouldering of 
 the two hind-legs homewards for a mile distance, once 
 proved to me as tiresome a task as ! ever recollect to 
 have encountered in the colony." Their eggs are held 
 in much estimation, and, according to the same author- 
 ity, the natives almost live upon them during the hatch- 
 ing season. They are as large as those of an ostrich, 
 with equally thick shells coloured of a beautiful dark 
 green, and are usually six or seven in number; but we 
 have no information as to the manner in which the 
 wild birds form their nest. It probably consists, like 
 that of other ostriches, of a mere cavity scooped in the 
 earth. They seem to pair together with tolerable con- 
 stancy, and the male bird, as in some other monogamous 
 races, sits and hatches the young. In captivity the 
 emus are perfectly tame, and speedily become domesti- 
 cated. They are easily acclimated in this country, and 
 have been bred without difficulty in various collections. 
 Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society 
 Delineated. Vol. IT 
 
THE CASSOWARY. 
 
 25 
 
 peculiar in hatching of its young. The male 
 compels twenty or thirty of the females to lay 
 their eggs in one nest; he then, when they 
 have done laying, chases them away, and 
 places himself upon the eggs ; however, he 
 takes the singular precaution of laying two of 
 the number aside, which he does not sit upon. 
 When the young ones come forth, these two 
 eggs are addled ; which the male having fore- 
 seen, breaks one, and then the other, upon 
 which multitudes of flies are found to settle ; 
 and these supply the young brood with a 
 sufficiency of provision, till they are able to 
 shift for themselves. 
 
 On the other hand, Wafer asserts, that he 
 has seen great quantities of this animal's eggs 
 on the desert shores, north of the river Plata ; 
 where they were buried in the sand, in order 
 to be hatched by the heat of the climate. 
 Both this, as well as the preceding account, 
 may be doubted ; and it is more probable that 
 it was the crocodile's eggs which Wafer had 
 seen, which are undoubtedly hatched in that 
 manner. 
 
 When the young ones are hatched, they 
 are familiar, and follow the first person they 
 meet. I have been followed myself, says 
 Wafer, by many of these young ostriches; 
 which, at first, are extremely harmless and 
 simple ; but as they grow older, they become 
 more cunning and distrustful ; and run so 
 swift, that a greyhound can scarcely overtake 
 them. Their flesh, in general, is good to be 
 eaten ; especially if they be young. It would 
 be no difficult matter to rear up flocks of 
 these animals tame, particularly as they are 
 naturally so familiar: and they might be 
 found to answer domestic purposes, like the 
 hen or the turkey. Their maintenance could 
 not be expensive, if, as Narborough says, 
 they live entirely upon grass. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE CASSOWARY. 1 
 (See Plate XV I II. jig. 23.) 
 
 THE Cassowary is a bird which was first 
 brought into Europe by the Dutch, from Java, 
 
 1 This scarce and remarkable bird (the Struthio Casu- 
 arius of Linnaeus) is found in India, and the most east- 
 ern part of the old continent. Even in its native re- 
 gions it is uncommon; and few are domesticated. The 
 habitual dulness of these birds, their disagreeable voice, 
 and their hard, black flesh, offer no compensation for the 
 cost of rearing arid supporting them. The wild casso- 
 wary feeds on fruits, tender roots, and occasionally on 
 the young of small animals. The tame are fed not only 
 on fruits, but on bread, of which they consume about 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 in the East Indies, in which part of the world 
 it is only to be found. Next to the preceding, 
 it is the largest and the heaviest of the fea- 
 thered species. 
 
 The cassowary, though not so large as the 
 former, yet appears more bulky to the eye ; 
 its body being nearly equal, and its neck and 
 legs much thicker and stronger in proportion ; 
 this conformation gives it an air of strength 
 and force, which the fierceness and singularity 
 of its countenance conspire to render formida- 
 ble. It is five feet and a half long, from the 
 point of the bill to the extremity of the claws. 
 The legs are two feet and a half high, from 
 the belly to the end of the claws. The head 
 and neck together are a foot and a half ; and 
 the largest toe, including the claw, is five 
 inches long. The claw alone of the least toe, 
 is three inches and a half in length. The 
 wing is so small, that it does not appear ; it 
 being hid under the feathers of the back. In 
 other birds, a part of the feathers serve for 
 flight, and are different from those that serve 
 for merely covering ; but in the cassowary, all 
 the feathers are of the same kind, and out- 
 wardly of the same colour. They are gene- 
 rally double ; having two long shafts, which 
 grow out of a short one, which is fixed in the 
 skin. Those that are double, are always of 
 an unequal length ; for some are fourteen 
 inches long, particularly on the rump; while 
 others are not above three. The beards that 
 adorn the stem or shaft, are, from about half 
 way to the end, very long, and as thick as a 
 horse hair, without being subdivided into 
 fibres. The stem or shaft is flat, shining, 
 black, and knotted below ; and from -each 
 knot there proceeds a beard: likewise the 
 
 four pounds a-day. They run very swiftly, and often 
 outstrip the fleetest horses. They resist dogs by dealing 
 them severe blows with their feet. The male bird ge- 
 nerally leaves his mate to the cares of incubation, which 
 are required only at night; for during the day, their 
 three greyish eggs spotted with green, are exposed to 
 the vivifying effects of the sun, being slightly covered 
 with sand in the hole where they have been laid. In 
 captivity, their incubation lasts eight and twenty days. 
 The first cassowary ever seen iu Europe was brought by 
 the Dutch in 1597. 
 
 The head of the cassowary is almost bare, covered 
 with a bluish skin, out of which grow a few scattered 
 hairs. It is crowned with a conical helmet, brown in 
 front and yellow in other parts ; this helmet is formed 
 by the swelling of the skull-bones. The throat is over- 
 spread with spongy glandular membranes, of a red and 
 violet colour, which hang down in front. The body is 
 covered with feathers of a bluish-black, of a particular 
 character, somewhat similar to long thin hair. The fea- 
 ther of the wing, or what represents the wing, for it is 
 not made for flight, consists of five hollow pipes, free 
 from hair, and red towards the bottom. 
 
 The whole length, from the beak to the rump, of the 
 full-grown bird, is rather more than five feet. The 
 young bird has no helmet, and his plumes are of a light 
 red colour, mixed with gray. 
 D 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 beards at the end of the large feathers are 
 perfectly black ; and towards the root of a 
 gray tawny colour ; shorter, more soft, and 
 throwing out fine fibres like down ; so that 
 nothing appears except the ends, which are 
 hard and black ; because the other part, com- 
 posed of down, is quite covered. There are 
 leathers on the head and neck ; but they are 
 so short and thinly sown, that the bird's skin 
 appears naked, except towards the hinder part 
 of the head, where they are a little longer. 
 The feathers which adorn the rump are ex- 
 tremely thick; but do not differ, in other re- 
 spects, from the rest, excepting their being 
 longer. The wings, when they are deprived 
 of their feathers, are but three inches long ; 
 and the feathers are like those on other parts 
 of the body. The ends of the wings are 
 adorned with five prickles, of different lengths 
 and thickness, which bend like a bow ; these 
 are hollow from the roots to the very points, 
 having only that slight substance within, 
 which all quills are known to have. The 
 longest of these prickles is eleven inches ; 
 and it is a quarter of an inch in diameter at 
 the root, being thicker there than towards the 
 extremity ; the point seems broken off. 
 
 The part, however, which most distin- 
 guishes this animal is the head : this, though 
 small, like that of an ostrich, does not fail to 
 inspire some degree of terror. It is bare of 
 feathers, and is in a manner armed with a 
 helmet of horny substance, that covers it from 
 the root of the bill to near half the head back- 
 wards. This helmet is black before and yel- 
 low behind. Its substance is very hard, being 
 forme.d by the elevation of the bone of the 
 skull ; and it consists of several plates, one 
 over another, like the horn of an ox. Some 
 have supposed that this was shed every year 
 with the feathers ; but the most probable 
 opinion is, that it only exfoliates slowly like 
 the beak. To the peculiar oddity of this na- 
 tural armour may be added the colour of the eye 
 in this animal, which is a bright yellow, and the 
 globe being above an inch and a half in diame- 
 ter, gives it an air equally fierce and extraordi- 
 nary. At the bottom of the upper eye-lid, there 
 is a row of small hairs, over which there is 
 another row of black hair, which look pretty 
 much like an eye-brow. The lower eyelid, 
 which is the largest of the two, is furnished 
 also with plenty of black hair. The hole of 
 the ear is very large and open, being only 
 covered with small black feathers. The sides 
 of the head, about the eye and ear, being des- 
 titute of any covering, are blue, except the 
 middle of the lower eye-lid, which is white. 
 The part of the bill which answers to the upper 
 jaw in other animals, is very hard at the edges 
 above, and the extremity of it like that of a 
 turkey-cock. The end of the lower mandible 
 
 is slightly notched, and the whole is of a gray, 
 ish brown, except a green spot on each side. 
 As the beak admits a very wide opening, this 
 contributes not a little to the bird's menacing 
 appearance. The neck is of a violet colour, 
 inclining to that of slate ; and it is red behind 
 in several places, but chiefly in the middle. 
 About the middle of the neck before, at the 
 rise of the large feathers, there are two pro- 
 cesses formed by the skin, which resemble 
 somewhat the gills of a cock, but that they 
 are blue as well as red. The skin which 
 covers the fore-part of the breast, on which 
 this bird leans and rests, is hard, callous, and 
 without feathers. The thighs and legs are 
 covered with feathers, and are extremely thick, 
 strong, straight, and covered with scales of 
 several shapes ; but the legs are thicker a 
 little above the foot than in any other place. 
 The toes are likewise covered with scales, and 
 are but three in number ; for that which should 
 be behind is wanting. The claws are of a 
 hard solid substance, black without, and white 
 within. 
 
 The internal parts are equally remarkable. 
 The cassowary unites with the double stomach 
 of animals that live upon vegetables, the short 
 intestines of these that live upon flesh. The 
 intestines of the cassowary are thirteen times 
 shorter than those of the ostrich. The heart is 
 very small, being but an inch and a half long, 
 and an inch-broad at the base. Upon the whole, 
 it has the head of a warrior, the eye of a lion, 
 the defence of a porcupine, and the swiftness 
 of a courser. 
 
 Thus formed for a life of hostility, for terri- 
 fying others, and for its own defence, it might 
 be expected that the cassowary was one oi the 
 most fierce and terrible animals of the creation. 
 But nothing is so opposite to its natural char- 
 acter, nothing so different from the life it is 
 contented to lead. It never attacks others ; 
 and instead of the bill, when attacked, it rather 
 makes use of its legs, and kicks like a horse, 
 or runs against its pursuer, beats him down, 
 and treads him to the ground. 
 
 The mariner of going of this animal is not 
 less extraordinary than its appearance. In- 
 stead of going directly forward, it seems to 
 kick up behind with one leg, and then making 
 a bound onward with the other, it goes with 
 such prodigious velocity, that the swiftest 
 racer would be left far behind. 
 
 The same degree of voraciousness which we 
 perceive in the ostrich, obtains as strongly here. 
 The cassowary swallows every thing that comes 
 within the capacity of its gullet. The Dutch 
 assert, that it can devour not only glass, iron, 
 and stones, but even live on burning coals, 
 without testifying the smallest fear, or feeling 
 the least injury. It is said, that the passage 
 of the food through its gullet is performed so 
 
THE DODO. 
 
 97 
 
 r.peedily, that even the very eggs which it has 
 swallowed whole, pass through it unbroken, 
 in the same form they went down. In fact, 
 the alimentary canal of this animal, as was 
 observed above, is extremely short; and it may 
 happen that many kinds of food are indiges- 
 tible in its stomach, as wheat or currants are 
 to a man when swallowed whole. 
 
 The cassowary's eggs are of a giay ash 
 colour, inclining to green. They are not so 
 large nor so round as those of the ostrich. 
 They are marked with a number of little tu- 
 bercles of a deep green, and the shell is not 
 very thick. The largest of these is found 
 to be fifteen inches round one way, and about 
 twelve the other. 
 
 The southern parts of the most eastern Indies 
 seems to be the natural climate of the cassow- 
 ary. His domain, if we may so call it, begins 
 where that of the ostrich terminates. The 
 latter has never been found beyond the Gan- 
 ges; while the cassowary is never seen nearer 
 than the islands of Banda, Sumatra, Java, the 
 Molucca Islands, and the corresponding parts 
 of the continent. Yet even here this animal 
 seems not to have multiplied in any consider- 
 able degree, as we find one of the kings of 
 Java making a present of one of these birds 
 to the captain of a Dutch ship, considering it 
 as a very great rarity. The ostrich, that has 
 kept in the desert and unpeopled regions of 
 Africa, is still numerous, and the unrivalled 
 tenant of its own inhospitable climate. But 
 the cassowary, that is the inhabitant of a more 
 peopled and polished region, is growing scar- 
 cer every day. It is thus that in proportion 
 as man multiplies, all the savage and noxious 
 animals fly before him: at his approach they 
 quit their ancient habitations, how adapted 
 soever they may be to their natures, and seek a 
 more peaceable, though barren, retreat; where 
 they willingly exchange plenty for freedom ; 
 and encounter all thedangersof famine, to avoid 
 the oppressions of an unrelenting destroyer. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 THE DODO. 
 
 (See Plate XX. fig. 28.) 
 
 MANKIND have generally made swiftness the 
 attribute of birds ; but the dodo has no title 
 to this distinction. Instead of exciting the 
 idea of swiftness by its appearance, it seems 
 to strike the imagination as a thing the most 
 unwieldy and inactive of all nature. Its body 
 is massive, almost round, and covered with 
 gray feathers ; it is just barely supported 
 upon two short thick legs, like pillars, while 
 
 its head and neck rise from it in a mannei 
 truly grotesque. The neck, thick and pursy, 
 is joined to the head, which consists of two 
 great chaps, that open far behind the eyes, 
 which are large, black and prominent ; so that 
 the animal, when it gapes, seems to be all 
 mouth. The bill, therefore, is of an extraor- 
 dinary length, not flat and broad, but thick, 
 and of a bluish white, sharp at the end, and 
 each chap crooked in opposite directions. They 
 resemble two pointed spoons that are laid to- 
 gether by the -backs. From all this results a 
 stupid and voracious physiognomy ; which is 
 still more increased by a bordering of feathers 
 round the root of the beak, and which gives 
 the appearance of a hood or cowl, and finishes 
 this picture of stupid deformity. Bulk, which 
 in other animals implies strength, in this only 
 contributes to inactivity. The ostrich, or the 
 cassowary, are no more able to fly than the 
 animal before us ; but then they supply that 
 defect by their speed in running. The dodo 
 seems weighed down by its own heaviness, 
 and has scarcely strength to urge itself for- 
 ward. It seems among birds what the sloth 
 is among quadrupeds, an unresisting thing, 
 equally incapable of flight or defence. It is 
 furnished with wings, covered with soft ash- 
 coloured feathers, but they are too short to 
 assist it in flying. It is furnished with a tail, 
 with a few small curled feathers; but this tail 
 is disproportioned and displaced. Its legs are 
 too short for running, and its body too fat to 
 be strong. One would take it for a tortoise 
 that had supplied itself with the feathers of a 
 bird ; and that thus dressed out with the in- 
 struments of flight, it was only still the more 
 unwieldy. 
 
 This bird is a native of the Isle of France ; 
 and the Dutch, who first discovered it there, 
 called it, in their language, the nauseous bird, 
 as well from its disgusting figure as from the 
 bad taste of its flesh. However, succeeding 
 observers contradict the first report, and assert 
 that its flesh is good and wholesome eating. 
 It is a silly simple bird, as may very well be 
 supposed from its figure, and is very easily 
 taken. Three or four dodos are enough to 
 dine a hundred men. 
 
 Whether the dodo be the same bird with 
 that which some travellers have described 
 under the bird of Nazareth, yet remains un- 
 certain. The country from whence they both 
 come is the same ; their incapacity of flying 
 is the same ; the form of the wings and body 
 in both are similar ; but the chief difference 
 given is in the colour of the feathers, which 
 in the female of the bird of Nazareth are said 
 to be extremely beautiful ; and in the length 
 of their legs, which in the dodo are short ; in 
 the other, are described as long. Time and 
 future observation must clear up these doubts ; 
 
28 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 and the testimony of a single witness, who 
 shall have seen both, will throw more lighten 
 the subject than the reasonings of a hundred 
 philosophers. 1 
 
 i The dodo, described above, is now supposed to have 
 become extinct, and its former existence has even been 
 
 called in question by some writers. Instead of entering 
 upon this subject, which has been very largely discussed 
 by naturalists, and which could not be treated of without 
 occupying much room, we refer to a paper by Mr Dun- 
 can, in the 12th No. of the Zoological Journal, where 
 the most complete view of the evidence as to the recent 
 existence and present extinction of the dodo is given. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF RAPACIOUS BIRDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 THERE seems to obtain a general resem- 
 blance in all the classes of nature. As among 
 quadrupeds, a part were seen to live upon the 
 vegetable productions of the earth, and another 
 part upon the flesh of each other ; so among 
 birds, some live upon vegetable food, and 
 others by rapine, destroying all such as want 
 force or swiftness to procure their safety. By 
 thus peopling the woods with animals of differ- 
 ent dispositions, nature has wisely provided 
 for the multiplication, of life ; since, could we 
 suppose that there were as many animals pro- 
 duced as there were vegetables supplied to 
 sustain them, yet there might still be another 
 class of animals formed, which could find a 
 sufficient sustenance by feeding upon such of 
 the vegetable feeders as happened to fall by 
 the course of nature. By this contrivance, a 
 greater number will be sustained upon the 
 whole ; for the numbers would be but very 
 thin were every creature a candidate for the 
 same food. Thus, by supplying a variety of 
 appetites, nature has also multiplied life in 
 her productions. 
 
 In thus varying their appetites, nature has 
 also varied the form of the animal ; and while 
 she has given some an instinctive passion for 
 animal food, she has also furnished them with 
 powers to obtain it. All land birds of the ra- 
 pacious kinds are furnished with a large head, 
 and a strong crooked beak, notched at the end, 
 for the purpose of tearing their prey. They 
 have strong short legs, and sharp crooked 
 
 1 The animals of this order are all carnivorous: they 
 associate in pairs, build their nests in the most lofty 
 situations, and produce generally four young ones at a 
 brood: and the female is mostly larger than the male. 
 They consist of vultures, eagles, hawks, and owls. 
 
 talons, for the purpose of seizing it. Their 
 bodies are formed for war, being fibrous and 
 muscular ; and their wings for swiftness of 
 flight, being well feathered and expansive. 
 The sight of such as prey by day is astonish- 
 ingly quick ; and such as ravage by night, 
 have their sight so fitted as to see objects in 
 darkness with extreme precision. 
 
 Their internal parts are equally formed for 
 the food they seek for. Their stomach is simple 
 and membranous, and wrapt in fat to increase 
 the powers of digestion ; and their intestines 
 are short and glandular. As their food is 
 succulent and juicy, they want no length of 
 intestinal tube to form it into a proper nour- 
 ishment. Their food is flesh ; which does 
 not require a slow digestion to be converted 
 into a similitude of substance to their own. 
 
 Thus formed for war, they lead a life of 
 solitude and rapacity. They inhabit by choice 
 the most lonely places, and the most desert 
 mountains. They make their nests in the 
 clifts of rocks, and on the highest and most 
 inaccessible trees of the forest. Whenever 
 they appear in the cultivated plain or the 
 warbling grove, it is only for the purposes of 
 depredation ; arid are gloomy intruders on the 
 general joy of the landscape. , They spread 
 terror wherever they approach : all that var- 
 iety of music which but a moment before en- 
 livened the grove, at their appearing is in- 
 stantly at an end : every order of lesser birds 
 seek for safety, either by concealment or flight; 
 and some are even driven to take protection 
 with man, to avoid their less merciful pursuers. 
 
 It would indeed be fatal to all the smaller 
 race of birds, if, as they are weaker than all, 
 they were also pursued by all ; but it is con- 
 trived wisely for their safety, that every order 
 of carnivorous birds seek only for such as are 
 of the size most approaching their own. The 
 eagle flies at the bustard or the pheasant ; the 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 sparrow-hawk pursues the thrush and linnet. 
 Nature has provided that each species should 
 make war only on such as are furnished with 
 adequate means of escape. The smallest birds 
 avoid their pursuers by the extreme agility, 
 rather than the swiftness of their flight ; for 
 every order would soon be at an end, if the 
 eagle, to its own swiftness of wing, added the 
 versatility of the sparrow. 
 
 Another circumstance which tends to render 
 the tyranny of these animals more support- 
 able, is, that they are less fruitful than other 
 birds ; breeding but few at a time. Those of 
 the larger kind seldom produce above four 
 eggs, often but two ; those of the smaller 
 kinds, never above six or seven. The pigeon, 
 it. is true, which is their prey, never breeds 
 above two at a time ; but then she breeds 
 every month in the year. The carnivorous 
 kinds only breed annually, and, of conse- 
 quence, their fecundity is small in compari- 
 son. 
 
 As they are fierce by nature, and are diffi- 
 cult to be tamed, so this fierceness extends 
 even to their young, which they force from 
 the nest sooner than birds of the gentler kind. 
 Other birds seldom forsake their young till 
 able, completely, to provide for themselves: 
 the rapacious kinds expel them from the nest 
 at a time when they still should protect and 
 support them. This severity to their young 
 proceeds from the necessity of providing for 
 themselves. All animals that, by the con- 
 formation of their stomach and intestines, are 
 obliged to live upon flesh, and support them- 
 selves by prey, though they may be mild 
 when young, soon become fierce and mischiev- 
 ous, by the very habit of using those arms 
 with which they are supplied by nature. As 
 it is only by the destruction of other animals 
 that they can subsist, they become more furi- 
 ous every day ; and even the parental feelings 
 are overpowered in their general habits of 
 cruelty. If the power of obtaining a supply 
 be difficult, the old ones soon drive their brood 
 from the nest to shift for themselves, and often 
 destroy them in a fit of fury caused by hun- 
 ger. 
 
 Another effect of this natural and acquired 
 severity is, that almost all birds of prey are 
 unsociable. It has long been observed by 
 Aristotle, that all birds with crooked beaks 
 and talons are solitary: like quadrupeds of 
 the cat kind, they lead a lonely wandering 
 life, and are united only in pairs, by that in- 
 stinct which overpowers their rapacious habits 
 of enmity with all other animals. As the 
 male and female are often necessary to each 
 other in their pursuits, so they sometimes live 
 together ; but except at certain seasons, they 
 most usually prowl alone ; and, like robbers, 
 enjoy in solitude the fruits of their plunder. 
 
 All birds of prey are remarkable for one 
 singularity, for which it is not easy to account. 
 All the males of these birds are about a third 
 less, and weaker than the females, contrary 
 to what obtains among quadrupeds, among 
 which the males are always the largest and 
 the boldest : from thence the male is called by 
 falconers a tarcel; that is, a tierce or third 
 less than the other. The reason of this dif- 
 ference cannot proceed from the necessity of 
 a larger body in the female for the purpose of 
 breeding, and that her volume is thus in- 
 creased by the quantity of her eggs; for in 
 other birds, that breed much faster, and that 
 lay in much greater proportion, such as the 
 hen, the duck, or the pheasant, the male is by 
 much the largest of the two. 
 
 Whatever be the cause, certain it is, that 
 the females, as Willoughby expresses it, are 
 of greater size, more beautiful and lovely for 
 shape and colours, stronger, more fierce and 
 generous, than the males; whether it may be 
 that it is necessary for the female to be thus 
 superior, as it is incumbent upon her to pro- 
 vide, not only for herself, but her young ones 
 also. 
 
 These birds, like quadrupeds of the carni- 
 vorous kind, are all lean and meagre. Their 
 flesh is stringy and ill-tasted, soon corrupting, 
 and tinctured with the flavour of that animal 
 food upon which they subsist. Nevertheless, 
 Belonius asserts, that many people admire the 
 flesh of the vulture and falcon, and dress them 
 for eating, when they meet with any accident 
 that unfits them for the chase. He asserts, 
 that the osprey, a species of the eagle, when 
 young, is excellent food ; but he contents him- 
 self with advising us to breed these birds up 
 for our pleasure rather in the field, than for 
 the table. 
 
 Of land birds of a rapacious nature, there 
 are five kinds. The eagle kind, the hawk 
 kind, the vulture kind, the horned and the 
 screech owl kind. The distinctive marks of 
 this class are taken from their claws and beak : 
 their toes are separated : their legs are feath- 
 ered to the heel : their toes are four in num. 
 ber ; three before, one behind < their beak is 
 short, thick, and crooked. 
 
 The eagle kind is distinguished from the 
 rest by his beak, which is straight till towards 
 the end, when it begins to hook downwards. 
 
 The vulture kind is distinguished by the 
 head and neck ; which are without feathers. 
 
 The hawk kind by the beak ; being hooked 
 from the very root. 
 
 The horned owl by the feathers at the base 
 of the bill standing forwards ; and by some 
 feathers on the head that stand out, resem- 
 bling horns. 
 
 The screech-owl by the feathers at the base- 
 of the bill standing forward, and being with- 
 
THE EAGLE. 
 
 out horns. A description of one in each kind, 
 will serve for all the rest. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THE EAGLE AND ITS AFFINITIES. 
 
 THE Golden Eagle is the largest and the 
 noblest of all those birds that have received 
 the name of eagle. It weighs above twelve 
 
 pounds. Its length is three feet ; the extent 
 of its wings, seven feet four inches ; the bill 
 is three inches long, and of a deep blue colour ; 
 and the eye of a hazel colour. The sight and 
 sense of smelling, are very acute. The head 
 and neck are clothed with narrow sharp-pointed 
 feathers, and of a deep brown colour, bordered 
 with tawny ; but those on the crown of the 
 head, in very old birds, turn gray. The whole 
 body, above as well as beneath, is of a dark 
 brown ; and the feathers of the back are finely 
 clouded with a deeper shade of the same. The 
 wings, when clothed, reach to the end of the 
 tail. The quill-feathers are of a chocolate 
 colour, the shafts white. The tail is of a deep 
 brown, irregularly barred and blotched with 
 an obscure ash-colour, and usually white at 
 the roots of the feathers. The legs are yel- 
 low, short, and very strong, being three inches 
 in circumference, and feathered to the very 
 feet. The toes are covered with large scales, 
 and armed with the most formidable claws, 
 the middle of which are two inches long. 
 
 In the rear of this terrible bird follow the 
 ring-tailed eagle? the common eagle, the bald 
 eagle, the white eagle, the hough- footed eagle, 
 the erne, the black eagle, the osprey, the sea 
 eagle, and the crowned eagle. These, and others 
 that might be added, form different shades in 
 this fierce family ; but have all the same ra- 
 pacity, the same general form, the same habits, 
 and the same manner of bringing up their 
 young. 
 
 In general, these birds are found in moun- 
 tainous and ill-peopled countries, and breed 
 
 1 The ring-tailed eagle is now generally believed to be 
 the young of the golden eagle, 
 
 among the loftiest cliffs. They choose those 
 places which are remotest from man, upon 
 whose possessions they but seldom make their 
 depredations, being contented rather to follow 
 the wild game in the forest, than to risk their 
 safety, to satisfy their hunger. 
 
 This fierce animal may be considered among 
 birds, as the lion among quadrupeds ; and in 
 many respects they have a strong similitude 
 to each other. They are both possessed of 
 force, and an empire over their fellows of the 
 forest. Equally magnanimous, they disdain 
 smaller plunder ; and only pursue animals 
 worthy the conquest. It is not till after having 
 been long provoked, by the cries of the rook 
 or the magpie, that this generous bird thinks 
 fit to punish them with death : the eagle also 
 disdains to share the plunder of another bird ; 
 and will take up with no other prey but that 
 which he has acquired by his own pursuits. 
 How hungry soever he may be, he never stoops 
 to carrion ; and when satiated, he never re- 
 turns to the same carcase, but leaves it for 
 other animals, more rapacious and less delicate 
 than he. Solitary, like the lion, he keeps the 
 desert to himself alone ; it is as extraordinary 
 to see two pair of eagles in the same moun- 
 tain, as two lions in the same forest. They 
 keep separate, to find a more ample supply ; 
 and consider the quantity of their game as the 
 best proof of their dominion. Nor does the 
 similitude of these animals stop here : they 
 have both sparkling eyes, and nearly of the 
 same colour ; their claws are of the same form, 
 their breath equally strong, and their cry 
 equally loud and terrifying. Bred both for 
 war, they are enemies of all society : alike 
 fierce, proud, and incapable of being easily 
 tamed. It requires great patience and much 
 art to tame an eagle ; and even though taken 
 young, and brought under by long assiduity, 
 yet still it is a dangerous domestic, and often 
 turns its force against its master. 
 
 When brought into the field for the pur- 
 poses of fowling, the falconer is never sure of 
 its attachment : that innate pride, arid love 
 of liberty, still prompt it to regain its native 
 solitudes ; and the moment the falconer sees 
 it, when let loose, first stoop towards the 
 ground, and then rise perpendicularly into the 
 clouds, he gives up all his former labour for 
 lost ; quite sure of never beholding his late 
 prisoner more. Sometimes, however, they 
 are brought to have an attachment for their 
 feeder ; they are then highly serviceable, and 
 liberally provide for his pleasures and support. 
 When the falconer lets them go from his hand, 
 they play about and hover round him till their 
 game presents, which they see at an immense 
 distance, and pursue with certain destruction. 
 
 Of all animals the eagle flies highest; and 
 from thence the ancients have given him the 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 epithet of the bird of heaven. Of all others 
 also, he has the quickest eye ; but his sense 
 of smelling is far inferior to that of the vul- 
 ture. He never pursues, therefore, but in 
 sight ; and when he has seized his prey, he 
 stoops from his height, as if to examine its 
 weight, always laying it on the ground before 
 he carries it off. As his wing is very power- 
 ful, yet, as he has but little suppleness in the 
 joints of the leg, he finds it difficult to rise 
 when down ; however, if not instantly pur- 
 sued, he finds no difficulty in carrying off 
 geese and cranes. He also carries away 
 hares, lambs, and kids; and often destroys 
 fawns and calves, to drink their blood, and 
 carries a part of their flesh to his retreat. In- 
 fants themselves, when left unattended, have 
 been destroyed by these rapacious creatures ; 
 which probably gave rise to the fable of Gany- 
 mede's being snatched up by an eagle to hea- 
 ven. 
 
 An instance is recorded in Scotland of two 
 children being carried off by eagles ; but for- 
 tunately they received no hurt by the way; 
 and, the eagles being pursued, the children 
 were restored unhurt out of the nests to the 
 affrighted parents. 
 
 The eagle is thus at all times a formidable 
 neighbour ; but peculiarly when bringing up 
 its young. It is then that the female, as well 
 as the male, exert all their force and industry 
 to supply their young. Smith, in his history 
 of Kerry, relates, that a poor man in that 
 country got a comfortable subsistence for his 
 family, during a summer of famine, out of an 
 eagle's nest, by robbing the eaglets of food, 
 which was plentifully supplied by the old 
 ones. He protracted their assiduity beyond 
 the usual time, by clipping their wings, and 
 retarding the flight of the young ; and very 
 probably also, as I have known myself, by so 
 tying them as to increase their cries, which is 
 always found to increase the parent's despatch 
 to procure them provision. It was lucky, 
 however, that the old eagles did not surprise 
 the country-man as he was thus employed, 
 as their resentment might have been danger- 
 ous. 
 
 It happened some time ago, in the same 
 country, that a peasant resolved to rob the nest 
 of an eagle, that had built in a small island in 
 the beautiful lake of Killarney. He accord- 
 ingly stripped, and swam in upon the island 
 \vhile the old ones were away ; and, robbing 
 the nest of its young, he was preparing to swim 
 back, with the eaglets tied in a string ; but 
 while he was yet up to his chin in the water, 
 the old eagles r.eturned, and, missing their 
 young, quickly fell upon the plunderer, and, 
 in spite of all his resistance, despatched him 
 with their beaks and talons. 
 
 In order to extirpate these pernicious birds, 
 
 there is a law in the Orkney Islands, which 
 entitles any person that kills an eagle to a hen 
 out of every house in the parish in which the 
 plunderer is killed. 1 
 
 1 In England and the south of Scotland the golden 
 eagle may be accounted rare, very few districts of the 
 former being adapted to its disposition, or suitable for 
 breeding places. Some parts of Derbyshire are recorded 
 as having possessed eyries ; in the mountainous parts of 
 Wales there are others, and the precipices of Cumber- 
 land and Westmoreland also boasted of them. Upon 
 the wild ranges of the Scottish Border, one or two pairs 
 used to breed, but their nest has not been known for 
 twenty years, though a straggler in winter sometimes is 
 yet seen amidst their defiles. It is not until we really 
 enter the Highlands of Scotland by one of the grand 
 and romantic passes, that this noble bird can be said oc- 
 casionally to occur, and it is not until we reach the very 
 centre of their "wildness," that he can be frequently 
 seen. But the species must be gradually, though surely 
 decreasing, for such is the depredation committed among 
 the flocks during the season of lambing, and which is 
 the time when a large supply of food is required by the 
 parent birds for their young, that every device is em- 
 ployed, and expense incurred by rewards, for their de- 
 struction. From March, 1831, to March, 1834, in the 
 county of Sutherland alone, one hundred and seventy- 
 one old birds, with fifty-three young and eggs, were de- 
 stroyed, which, while it shows that the bird is not of 
 that extreme rarity which is sometimes supposed, it, at 
 the same time, tells us that if the war of extermination 
 be continued, we shall ere lung look in vain for this ap- 
 propriate ornament of our northern landscape. In Ire- 
 land it is generally distributed where the situations are 
 favourable, but at the same time is much more uncom- 
 mon than the sea eagle. The Horn Head, the moun- 
 tain of Rosheen, near Dunfanaghy, Achill Island, and 
 Crowpatric, are mentioned by Mr Thompson as now or 
 formerly containing eyries on their precipices; from 
 Rosheen they have been now driven off, on account of 
 the destruction done to the flocks. The nest, placed on 
 a ledge perfectly inaccessible, was set on fire by burning 
 a lighted brand, and was consumed with its tenants ; 
 the parents have since forsaken a station where they had 
 been attacked in a manner so unusual. 
 
 The eyry of the golden eagle is placed on the face of 
 some stupendous cliff situated inland; the nest is built 
 on a projecting shelve, or on some stumped tree that 
 grows from the rock, generally in a situation perfectly 
 inaccessible without some artificial means, and often out 
 of the reach of shot either from below or from the top of 
 the precipice. It is composed of dead branches, roots 
 of heather, &c., entangled strongly together, and in 
 considerable quantity, but without any lining in the in- 
 side ; the eggs are two in number, white, with pale 
 brown or purplish blotches, most numerous and largest 
 at the thicker end. During the season of incubation, 
 the quantity of food that is procured and brought hither 
 is almost incredible ; it is composed of nearly all the 
 inhabitants, or their young, of those wild districts called 
 forests, which, though indicating a wooded region, are 
 often tracts where for miles around a tree is not seen. 
 Hares, lambs, and the young of deer and roebuck, grouse, 
 black game, ptarmigan, curlews, and plovers, all contri- 
 bute to the feast. 
 
 The manner in which the eagles hunt or survey the 
 ground is by soaring above, often to an immense height; 
 the ascent is performed by circles, a beautiful appearance 
 in flight. When the prey is perceived, it is rushed upon 
 by a rapid and instantaneous sweep ; and surprised ere 
 it can escape, or paralyzed by terror, the object is gene- 
 rally at once seized. The weight of the birds and the 
 great resistance presented to the air by their large bodies 
 
THE EAGLE. 
 
 The nest of the eagle is usually built in 
 the most inaccessible cliff of the rock, and 
 often shielded from the weather by some jut- 
 ting crag that hangs over it. Sometimes, how- 
 ever, it Is wholly exposed to the winds, as well 
 sideways as above ; for the nest is flat, though 
 built with great labour. It is said that the 
 same nest serves the eagle during life ; and in- 
 deed the pains bestowed in forming it seems to 
 argue as much. One of these was found in 
 the Peak of Derbyshire ; which Willoughby 
 thus describes. " It was made of great sticks, 
 resting one end on the edge of a rock, the 
 other on two birch trees. Upon these was a 
 layer of rushes, and over them a layer of 
 heath, and upon the heath rushes again : upon 
 which lay one young one, and an addle egg ; 
 and by them a lamb, a hare, and three heath- 
 poults. The nest was about two yards square, 
 and had no hollow in it. The young eagle 
 was of the shape of a goshawk, of almost the 
 weight of a goose, rough footed, or feathered 
 down to the foot, having a white ring about 
 the tail." Such is the place where the female 
 eagle deposits her eggs ; which seldom exceed 
 two at a time in the largest species, and not 
 above three in the smallest. It is said that 
 she hatches them for thirty days: but fre- 
 quently, even of this small number of eggs, a 
 part is addled ; and it is extremely rare to 
 find three eaglets in the same nest It is 
 asserted, that as soon as the young ones are 
 
 and expansive wings, prevent pursuit being often tried, 
 though we have instances mentioned. Montague re- 
 lates one where a wounded grouse was seized before the 
 guns could be reloaded, and another, where a black cock 
 was sprung and instantly pursued ; " the eagle made 
 several pounces in our view, but without success." 
 
 Mr Thompson has given us the following information 
 of the manner of hunting. An eagle was seen by Mr 
 Adams, lately gamekeeper at Glencairn, in pursuit of a 
 hare. The poor animal took refuge under every bush 
 that presented itself, which, as often as she did, the 
 eagle approached the bush, so near apparently to beat the 
 top of it with his wings, and thereby forced the hare to 
 leave her place of refuge. In this way she was event- 
 ually driven to open ground, which did not long avail, as 
 the eagle soon came up with and bore her off. Another 
 anecdote is related on the authority of a sporting friend. 
 " When out hunting among the Belfast mountains, an 
 eagle appeared above his hounds as they came to fault 
 on the ascent to Devis, the highest of the chain. As 
 they came on the scent again, and were at full cry, the 
 eagle for a short time kept above them, but at length 
 advanced and carried off the hare, when at the distance 
 of from three to four hundred paces before the hounds." 
 
 The distribution of this species extends over the 
 northern parts of Europe ; but towards the south the 
 birds become less frequent. It also inhabits North 
 America, but appears to be there generally rare, although 
 in the United States, according to Audubon, it is fre- 
 quently seen. In the fur countries it again becomes 
 rare ; and the above mentioned naturalist saw a single 
 specimen only on the coast of Labrador, " sailing at the 
 height of a few yards above the moss-covered surface of 
 the dreary rocks." Naturalist's Library, vol. IX. by 
 Sir IPilliam Jardine, Dart. Edin. 1838. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 somewhat grown, the mother kills the most 
 feeble or the most voracious. If this happens, 
 it must proceed only from the necessities of 
 the parent, who is incapable of providing for 
 their support ; and is content to sacrifice a part 
 to the welfare of all. 
 
 The plumage of the eaglets is not so 
 strongly marked as when they come to be 
 adult. They are at first white ; then inclin- 
 ing to yellow ; and at last of a light brown. 
 Age, hunger, long captivity, and diseases, 
 make them whiter. It is said they live above 
 a hundred years ; and that they at last die, 
 not of old age, but from the beaks turning 
 inward upon the under mandible, and thus 
 preventing their taking any food. They are 
 equally remarkable, says Mr Pennant, for 
 their longevity, and for their power of sustain- 
 ing a long abstinence from food. One of 
 this species, which has now been nine years 
 in the possession of Mr Owen Holland, of 
 Conway, lived thirty-two years with the gen- 
 tleman who made him a present of it ; but 
 what its age was when the latter received it 
 from Ireland is unknown. The same bird 
 also furnishes a proof of the truth of the other 
 remark ; having once, through the neglect of 
 servants, endured hunger for twenty-one days, 
 without any sustenance whatever. 
 
 Those eagles which are kept tame, are fed 
 with every kind of flesh, whether fresh or 
 corrupting ; and when there is a deficiency of 
 that, bread, or other provision, will suffice. 
 It is very dangerous approaching them if not 
 quite tame ; and they sometimes send forth a 
 loud piercing lamentable cry, which renders 
 them still more formidable. The eagle drinks 
 but seldom ; and perhaps, when at liberty, 
 not at all, as the blood of its prey serves to 
 quench its thirst. The eagle's excrements are 
 always soft and moist, and tinged with that 
 whitish substance which, as was said before, 
 mixes in birds with the urine. 
 
 Such are the general characteristics and 
 habitudes of the eagle; however, in some these 
 habitudes differ, as the sea eagle and the 
 osprey live chiefly upon fish, and consequently 
 build their nests on the shore, and by the 
 sides of rivers on the ground among reeds ; 
 and often lay three or lour eggs, rather less 
 than those of a hen, of a white elliptical form. 
 They catch their prey, which is chiefly fish, 
 by darting down upon them from above. The 
 Italians compare the violent descent of these 
 birds on their prey to the fall of lead into 
 water ; and call them aquila piombina, or the 
 leaden eagle. 
 
 Nor is the bald eagle, (see Plate XV. fig. 
 2.) which is an inhabitant of North Carolina, 
 less remarkable for habits peculiar to itself. 
 These birds breed in that country all the year 
 round. When the eaglets are just covered 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 with down, and a sort of white woolly fea- 
 thers, the female eagle lays again. These 
 eggs are left to be hatched by the warmth of 
 the young ones that continue in the nest ; so 
 that the flight of one brood makes room for 
 the next that are but just hatched. These 
 birds fly very heavily; so that they cannot 
 overtake their prey, like others of the same 
 denomination. To remedy this, they often 
 attend a sort of fishing-hawk, which they 
 pursue, arid strip the plunderer of its prey. 
 This is the more remarkable, as this hawk 
 flies swifter than they. These eagles also 
 generally attend upon fowlers in the winter; 
 and when any birds are wounded, they are 
 sure to be seized by the eagle, though they 
 may fly from the fowler. This bird will often 
 also steal young pigs, and carry them alive to 
 the nest, which is composed of twigs, sticks, 
 and rubbish ; it is large enough to fill the 
 body of a cart; and is commonly full of bones 
 half eaten, and putrid flesh, the stench of 
 which is intolerable. 1 
 
 The distinctive marks of each species are 
 as follow : 
 
 1 Wilson, in liis. American Ornithology, gives the 
 following spirited description of the bald or white-headed 
 eagle. 
 
 The celebrated cataract of Niagara, he says, is a 
 noted place of resort for those birds, as Avell on account 
 of the fish procured there, as for the numerous carcasses 
 of squirrels, deer, bears, and various other animals, that 
 in their attempts to cross the river above the falls have 
 been dragged into the current, and precipitated down 
 that tremendous gulf, where, among the rocks that 
 bound the rapids below, they furnish a rich repast for the 
 vulture, the raven, and the bald eagle, the subject of the 
 present account. 
 
 This bird has been long known to naturalists, being 
 common to both continents, and occasionally met with 
 from a very high northern latitude, to the borders of the 
 torrid zone, but chiefly in the vicinity of the sea, and 
 along the shores and cliffs of our lakes and large rivers. 
 Formed by nature for braving the severest cold ; feeding 
 equally on the produce of the sea and of the land: pos- 
 sessing powers of flight capable of outstripping even the 
 tempests themselves ; unawed by anything but man ; and 
 from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking 
 abroad, at one glance, on an immeasurable expanse of 
 forests, fields, lakes, and ocean, deep below him, he ap- 
 pears indifferent to the little localities of change of sea- 
 sons; as in a few minutes he can pass from summer to 
 winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the at- 
 mosphere, the abode of eternal cold, and from thence 
 descend at will to the torrid or the arctic regions of the 
 earth. He is therefore found at all seasons in the 
 countries he inhabits, but prefers all such places as have 
 been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for 
 fish. In procuring these, he displays, in a very singular 
 manner, the genius and energy of his character, which 
 is fierce, contemplative, daring, and tyrannical ; attri- 
 butes not exerted but on particular occasions ; but when 
 put forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated on the 
 high dead limb of some gigantic tree that commands a 
 wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, he seems 
 calmly to contemplate the motions of the various fea- 
 thered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below : 
 the snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air; the busy 
 
 The golden eagle : of a tawny iron colour ; 
 the head and neck of a reddish iron ; the tail 
 feathers of a dirty white, marked with cross 
 bands of tawny iron ; the legs covered with 
 tawny iron feathers. 
 
 The common eagle : of a brown colour ; the 
 head and upper part of the neck inclining to 
 red ; the tail feathers white, blackening at the 
 ends ; the outer ones, on each side, of an ash 
 colour ; the legs covered with feathers of a 
 reddish brown. 
 
 The bald eagle; brown ; the head, neck, and 
 tail feathers, white ; the feathers of the upper 
 part of the leg brown. 
 
 The white eagle : the whole white. 
 
 The rough-footed eagle : of a dirty brown ; 
 spotted under the wings, and on the legs, with 
 white ; the feathers of the tail white at the be- 
 ginning and the point ; the leg-feathers dirty 
 brown, spotted with white. 
 
 The white-tailed eagle : dirty brown ; head 
 white ; the stems of the feathers black ; the 
 rump inclining to black : the tail feathers, the 
 first half black, the end half white ; legs 
 naked. 2 
 
 tringae (sandpipers) coursing along the sands ; trains of 
 ducks streaming over the surface ; silent and watchful 
 cranes, intent and wading ; clamorous crows, and all 
 the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this 
 vast liquid magazine of nature. High over all these 
 hovers one whose action instantly arrests all his atten- 
 tion. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden sus- 
 pension in the air, he knows him to be the fish-hawk 
 (Pandion Halicetus. Savigny,) settling over some de- 
 voted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, 
 and balancing himself, with half-opened wings, on the 
 branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow 
 from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, 
 the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in 
 the deep, making the surge foam around. At this mo- 
 ment the eager looks of the eagle are all ardour; and 
 levelling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once 
 more emerge, struggling with his prey, and mounting 
 in the air with screams of exultation. These are the 
 signal for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly 
 gives chace, and soon gains on the fish-hawk; each ex- 
 erts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in 
 the rencontre the most elegant and sublime aerial evolu- 
 tions. The unincumbered eagle rapidly advances, and 
 is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when with 
 a sudden scream, probably of despair au,d honest execra- 
 tion, the latter drops his fish; the eagle, poising him- 
 self for a moment as if to take a more certain aim, des- 
 cends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it 
 reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently 
 away to the woods. 
 
 These predatory attacks and defensive manoeuvres of 
 the eagle and fish-hawk are matters of daily observation 
 along the whole of our sea-board, from Georgia to New 
 England, and frequently excite great interest in the 
 spectators. Sympathy, however, on this as on most 
 other occasions, generally sides with the honest and la- 
 borious sufferer, in opposition to the attacks of power, in- 
 justice, and rapacity, qualities for which our hero is so 
 generally notorious, and which, in his superior, man, 
 are equally detestable. As for the feelings of the poor fish, 
 they seem altogether out of the question. Amcr. Ornith, 
 
 * This bird often presents a fine feature in the wild 
 
THE EAGLE. 
 
 The erne : a dirty iron colour above, an iron 
 mixed with black below ; the head and neck 
 ash, mixed with chestnut ; the points of the 
 wings blackish ; the tail feathers white ; the 
 legs naked. 
 
 The black eagle : blackish ; the head and 
 upper neck mixed with red ; the tail feathers, 
 the first half white, speckled with black ; the 
 
 and desolate landscape. Its most favourite haunts in 
 Britain are the northern coasts of Scotland, where the 
 headlands reach a stupendous height, are perpendicular 
 on the face, and where the shelves and ledges selected 
 for a breeding or roosting place, can be tenanted secure 
 from the inroads of an aggressor, either from above or 
 beneath. Here he resides constantly at one season, or 
 he finds a safe shelter during the night, after his more 
 extended hunting excursions ; his screams scarcely 
 sound above the noise of the surge below, or the storm 
 which may rage around the rocky pinnacles ; but the 
 occasional shriek heard in a moment of quiet, tells forci- 
 bly on the imagination while viewing such scenes, and 
 the noble bird himself alone attracts the eye amidst the 
 numerous sea-fowl his companions, his pale gray tinted 
 plumage and pure outspread tail, being marked /objects, 
 when opposed to the dark green sea, or the deep and 
 rich shades of many of these splendid precipices. In 
 such situations the eyries are most frequently found, 
 and the nest is there reared, and the young are hatched 
 in safety, notwithstanding the bribes offered for their 
 destruction. The nest is also sometimes placed in more 
 inland sites. The precipitous crags overhanging some 
 alpine loch are often chosen, and such is " Eagles' 
 Craig," among the lakes of the English border, and the 
 " Eagle's nest," at Killarney. Trees are also selected, 
 though much less frequently. We visited a nest placed on 
 an aged larch, growing on one of the romantic islands in 
 Loch Awe. It was a large fabric of sticks placed about half 
 way up the tree, (the nest of a sparrowhawk was a model 
 of it in miniature,) built close to the stem, very flat, but 
 strongly composed of sticks and roots, and lined in a 
 very miscellaneous manner; wool formed the greatest 
 part, moss also, and a child's bonnet, and a part of a 
 bridle were in its structure. The eggs are generally 
 two in number, larger than those of the golden eagle, 
 round in form, and pure white, or with very pale indis- 
 tinct blotches. In England the breeding places of the 
 sea eagle are now very rare, perhaps not more than one 
 or two. The birds themselves are, however, not unfre- 
 quently met with and shot, both in the south and in the 
 border counties of Scotland, which are also beyond their 
 breeding range ; but the greater part of the birds thus 
 killed are in immature plumage. 
 
 From its occurrence in greatest numbers near the sea, 
 or in the vicinity of some extensive piece of water, the 
 commonly used name has been gained for this bird; but 
 though delighting in fish, and often procuring this kind 
 of food, we have no record by an eye-witness how the 
 scaly prey is seized ; it is not a true fisher like the 
 osprey, its structure is very different, and we have no 
 authority for believing that it plunges. Its congener 
 in America, we know, depends entirely on the prowess 
 of another bird for the fish it procures, and is, moreover, 
 very awkward in the attempts which it has been seen to 
 make upon fish in their native element. But though 
 fish is certainly the most favourite food, nothing seems 
 to come far amiss; dead animals are sometimes even 
 eaten, and he can be easily trapped by a bait of raw or 
 newly killed meat. In confinement we have observed 
 no nicety whatever, xcept in discriminating a fish from 
 any other kind of food ; and a female which has been long 
 in our possession, comes much more eagerly to the front 
 
 other half blackish ; the leg feathers dirtj 
 white. 
 
 The sea eagle : inclining to white, mixed 
 with iron brown ; belly white with iron col- 
 oured spots ; the covert feathers of the tail 
 whitish ; the tail feathers black at the extrem- 
 ity; the upper part of the leg feathers of an 
 iron brown. 1 
 
 of her cage, and appears more alert than usual when a 
 trout is presented to her view. 
 
 The general colour of the plumage of the adult sea 
 eagle is a chaste hair brown, of a peculiar dull or opaque 
 tint; on the head and upper parts it is palest, the centre 
 of the back and under parts being considerably darker; 
 the head and upper part of the neck are covered with 
 lanceolate shaped feathers, which are raised on excite- 
 ment or irritation, and the tint here is remarkably clear, 
 appearing at a distance, when shone on by the sun, 
 almost white ; the quills are blackish brown, with a 
 purplish tinge, and have the shafts pale; the upper tail 
 coverts and tail are pure white, and in all the attitudes 
 of the bird are conspicuously seen. This mark of per- 
 fect plumage is considered to be completed about the 
 third moult, but the female above alluded to had not 
 a perfectly pure tail at the age of five years, the outer 
 feathers retaining a considerable portion of the brown 
 mottling, which is seen in the second year's plumage. 
 Now, at the age of seven years, the tail is unsullied ; the 
 bill and cere are straw yellow, the latter of a darker, 
 rather greener tint: the iris is remarkably beautiful, of a 
 pale grayish honey yellow, very brilliant and expressive. 
 
 The plumage of the young bird, or cinereous eagle of 
 authors, is generally of an umber brown, of a grayer tint 
 beneath, the feathers tipped with a paler shade, and often 
 white at the base ; the tail is mottled with pale brownish 
 white and clove brown, and with the successive moults 
 the proportion of pale colour increases, prevailing most 
 at the base and centre of the tail ; the colour of the bill 
 is less clear, more mixed with green, and the iris is pale 
 chestnut brown, but of a clear expression. The form of 
 this species is less compact and firm than that of the 
 golden eagle, and when at rest it appears more sluggish, 
 from the greater coverts being brought forward and kept 
 in a hanging position over the quills, covering the thighs 
 and a portion of the side of the bird. Naturalist's lib- 
 rary, by Sir W, Jardine. 
 
 1 The sea-eagles form a less noble as well as a less 
 typical group than the true eagles, from which they re- 
 cede considerably both in organization and habits. The 
 ridge of their beak, instead of being somewhat angular, 
 is convex and compressed ; and their legs, instead of 
 being plumed down to the very toes, are naked in their 
 lower parts, the upper half of the tarsi alone being 
 covered with short close-set feathers. The cere 
 in which the nostrils are perforated is slightly hispid : 
 the wings are long and powerful ; the anterior surface 
 of the tarsi is scutellated ; the toes are free throughout 
 their whole extent; the outer one is capable of taking a 
 retroverted direction ; and the claws are of unequal size, 
 strongly curved, and furnished with a deep internal 
 groove. They have all a greater or less tendency to 
 change in a remarkable degree the colour of their plum- 
 age on the head and neck as they advance in age, evin- 
 cing in this, as in several other respects, an approxima- 
 tion to certain South American groups, in which those 
 parts are feathered in the young state and partially de- 
 nuded in maturity, and through them to the vultures, in 
 which the head and neck are in all stages of their growth 
 covered only with a silky down. 
 
 In the choice of their food the sea-eagles are far less 
 scrupulous than their brethren of the land- Inhabiting 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 The osprcy : brown above, white below, the 
 back of the head white, the outward tai] 
 feathers, on the inner side, streaked with 
 white ; legs naked. 1 
 
 most commonly the sea-coasts, or the banks of the large 
 rivers and inlets, they make their prey chiefly of fishes 
 and aquatic birds. These they usually carry off to de- 
 vour at their leisure either on the rocks or in their nests. 
 But occasionally, when all other resources fail, they 
 fix themselves upon the dead carcasses of animals which 
 are thrown upon the shore, and their manner of feed- 
 ing under such circumstances closely resembles the 
 disgusting voracity of the vultures. For hours and 
 sometimes for days together they remain stationary 
 upon the putrid carrion, and quit it only when it no 
 longer aflbrds the means of satiating the cravings of 
 their appetite. 
 
 Much confusion has existed in the synonymy of the 
 great sea-eagle, the difference of the colours of the plu- 
 mage in the various stages of its growth, having misled 
 authors so far as to induce them to record it under 
 several distinct specific names. Three of these were 
 almost universally admitted until about twenty years 
 ago, when M. Frederic Cuvier published in the Annals 
 of the French museum the result of his observations 
 on the individuals confined, in the Jardin des Plantes, 
 which had convinced him of the propriety of uniting the 
 falco ossifragus, albicaudus, and albicilla of Gmelin 
 under one common name. The differences which were 
 formerly supposed to exist between these birds have 
 been recognised by almost every subsequent writer as 
 those of age alone. In its earlier stages its beak is of 
 a bluish horn-colour ; its head and neck deep brown ; 
 the plumage of its upper surface brownish black, with 
 a mixture of whitish or ash-coloured spots on the back 
 and tail. In this state it is the falco ossifragus of syste- 
 matic writers. As it advances in age, about the third 
 or fourth year, the head and neck become of an ashy 
 brown; the beak gradually loses its bluish tinge and 
 changes to a pale yellow; the white spots on the back 
 disappear; and the tail is of a uniform grayish white: 
 this is the falco albicaudus of Gmelin, the petit 
 pygargue of Buffon, and the lesser white-tailed eagle 
 of Latham. When it has attained its fifth year the 
 change may be regarded as complete : the head and 
 neck have little of the brown tinge remaining; the 
 back is throughout of a dusky brown intermixed with 
 ashy gray; and the tail is perfectly white. It has 
 now arrived at its mature state, in which it has been 
 described and figured as the falco albicilla, the grand 
 pygargue, and the white-tailed or cinereous eagle. 
 In all its stages the cere and naked parts of the legs 
 are yellow ; the under part of the body is of a lighter 
 hue than the upper, and more thickly interspersed 
 with pale cinereous spots ; and the claws are completely 
 black. 
 
 The great sea-eagle is an inhabitant of nearly the 
 whole of Europe and of Northern Asia. It sometimes 
 builds its nests in the clefts of rocks, but more fre- 
 quently on the summit of some lofty tree. The female 
 lays two eggs, about the same size and shape as those of 
 a goose. The young are fed with fish or flesh until they 
 are able to quit the nest, when they sally forth with 
 their parents in quest of their own prey, and speedily 
 assume an independent mode of life. 
 
 With the sea-eagles of Europe and of the northern 
 parts of America, are associated several other species 
 of the eagle tribe, whose essential characters are nearly 
 similar, and whose natural habits may therefore be pre- 
 sumed to be the same. Of these three are Asiatic, 
 three African, two or three natives of Australia and the 
 islands of the Polynesia, and two of South America; so 
 that the group appears to bo universally spread over ail 
 
 The jean le blanc : above, brownish grey; 
 below, white, spotted with tawny brown ; the 
 tail feathers, on the outside and at the extrem- 
 ity, brown ; on the inside, white, streaked 
 with brown; legs naked. 
 
 The eagle of Brazil: blackish brown; ash 
 colour, mixed in the wings ; tail feathers 
 white; legs naked. (See Plate XVI. iig. 
 6.) 
 
 The Oroonoko eagle : with a topping; above, 
 blackish brown ; below, white, spotted with 
 black; upper neck yellow; tail feathers brown, 
 with white circles; leg feathers white, spotted 
 with black. 
 
 The crowned African eagle: with a topping; 
 the tail of an ash colour, streaked on the upper 
 side with black. 
 
 The eagle of Pondicherry ; chestnut colour: 
 the six outward tail feathers black one half. 2 
 
 the grand divisions of the globe. The birds of which it 
 is composed may be regarded as of almost equal utility 
 in the economy of nature with the vultures, between 
 which and the true eagles they hold an intermediate 
 station. While the former are occupied in purifying 
 the land from the putrid carcasses of beasts, the latter 
 are busied in the performance of the same important 
 office on the coasts and on the borders of lakes. They 
 add moreover to these services the removal of the still 
 more offensive remains of the fishes thrown upon the 
 shore, which the vultures themselves, unless when hard 
 pressed by hunger, would disdain to touch. Gardens 
 and Menageries of the Zoological Society Delineated. 
 Vol. II. 
 
 1 The Osprey, or Ossifrage, is so named, because frag- 
 ments of bones of considerable magnitude have been 
 found in its stomach. From its usual habitat on the 
 
 sea-shore, on the banks of great rivers and lakes over 
 which it is continually hovering, it has received tne 
 denomination of the great sea-eagle ; of which an account 
 is given in the previous note. 
 
 2 To these may be added, a species of sea-eagle, which 
 M. Audubon has called the Bird of Washington, as 
 being the noblest of the genus known to naturalists. 
 
 " It was on a winter's evening," he says, " in the 
 month of February, 1814, that, for the first time in my 
 life, I had an opportunity of seeing this rare and noble 
 hird, and never shall I forget the delight it gave me. 
 We were on a trading voyage, ascending the Upper 
 Mississippi, the keen winter blasts whistled over our 
 heads, and the cold from which I suffered had, in a 
 great degree, extinguished the deep interest which, at 
 
TTTE CONDOR. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 THE CONDOR OF AMERICA. 
 
 WE might now come to speak of the vul- 
 ture kind, as they hold the next rank to the 
 
 other seasons, this river has been wont to awake in me. 
 I lay stretched beside our patroon ; the safety of the 
 cargo was forgotten, and the only thing that called forth 
 my attention was the multitude of ducks, of different 
 species, accompanied by vast flocks of swans, which 
 from time to time would pass us. My patroon, a Can- 
 adian, had been engaged many years in the fur trade : 
 he was a man of much intelligence, who, perceiving 
 that these birds had engaged my curiosity, seemed only 
 anxious to find some new object to divert me. The 
 sea-eagle flew over us. ' How fortunate! ' he exclaimed ! 
 ' this is what I could have wished. Look, sir ! the 
 great eagle, and the only one I have seen since I left 
 the lakes.' I was instantly on my feet, and, having 
 observed it attentively, concluded, as I lost it in the 
 distance, that it was a species quite new to me. 
 
 " The sea-eagle of America is full one-fourth larger 
 in size than any female specimen of the other kind I 
 ever met with, old or young. In the United States, 
 from Massachusetts to Louisiana on the seaboard, or as 
 high as the mouth of the Missouri to the north-west, (I 
 speak only of the extent of country I have visited, and 
 where I have seen them,) these birds are very rare. 
 This will appear to all, when I say that during my many 
 long peregrinations more than eight or nine I neverfound, 
 and only one nest. Two years had gone by since the 
 discovery of the nest, in fruitless excursions; but my 
 wishes were no longer to remain ungratified. In re- 
 turning from the little village of Henderson, to the house 
 
 of Dr R , about a mile distant, I saw one rise 
 
 from a small inclosure not a hundred yards before me, 
 where the doctor had a few days before slaughtered 
 some hogs, and alight upon a low tree branching over 
 the road. I prepared my double-barrelled piece, which 
 I constantly carry, and went slowly and cautiously to- 
 wards him; quite fearless, he awaited my approach, 
 looking upon me with an undaunted eye. I fired, and 
 he fell ; before I reached him he was dead. With 
 what delight I surveyed this magnificent bird ! Had 
 the finest salmon ever pleased him as he did me ? 
 Never. I ran and presented him to my friend. The 
 doctor, who was an experienced hunter, examined the 
 bird with much satisfaction, and frankly acknowledged 
 he had never before seen or heard of it. 
 
 " The name I chose for this new species of eagle, 
 ' The Bird of Washington,' may, by some, be con- 
 sidered as preposterous and unfit; but, being indisput- 
 ably the noblest of the genus known to naturalists, I 
 trust it will be allowed to retain it. To those, how- 
 ever, who may be curious to know my reasons, I can 
 only say, that as the New World gave me birth and 
 liberty, the great man who insured its independence is 
 
 eagle; but we are interrupted in our method, 
 by the consideration of an enormous bird, 
 whose place is not yet ascertained ; as natu- 
 ralists are in doubt whether to refer it to 
 the eagle tribe, or to that of the vulture. Its 
 great strength, force and vivacity, might 
 plead for its place among the former; the 
 baldness of its head and neck might be thought 
 to degrade it among the latter. In this un- 
 certainty, it will be enough to describe the 
 bird by the lights we have, and leave future 
 historians to settle its rank in the feathered 
 creation. Indeed, if size and strength, com- 
 bined with rapidity of flight and rapacity, de- 
 serve pre-eminence, no bird can be put in 
 competition with it. 
 
 The condor possesses, in a higher degree 
 
 next to my heart : he had such true nobility of mind, 
 and honest, generous feeling, as is seldom possessed. 
 He was brave so is the eagle; and his name, extend- 
 ing from pole to pole, resembles the majestic soarings of 
 the mightiest of the feathered tribe. 
 
 " The flight of this bird is very different from that of 
 the white-headed eagle, encircling more diameter than 
 the latter; whilst sailing, keeping nearer to the land 
 and the surface of the water;- and when about to dive 
 for fish, falling in a circuitous spiral manner, as if with 
 an intention of checking all retreating movement which 
 its prey might attempt, and only when within a few 
 yards darting upon it. The fish-hawk often does the 
 same. When rising with a fish, they fly to a consider- 
 able distance, forming, in their line of course and that 
 of the water, a very acute angle, something not exceed- 
 ing thirty degrees, when several hundred yards distant 
 from the spot emerged from. 
 
 "The glands containing the oil used for the purpose 
 of lubricating the surface of the plumage were, in the 
 specimen here represented, extremely large ; the con- 
 tents had the appearance of hog's fat which had been 
 melted and become rancid. This bird makes more 
 copious use of that substance than the white-headed 
 eagle, or any of the falco genus, except the fish-hawk ; 
 the whole plumage looking, upon close examination, 
 as if it had received a general coating of a thin, clear 
 dilution of gum-arabic, and presenting less of the downy 
 gloss exhibited on the upper part of the bald-headed 
 eagle's plumage. The male bird weighs 14| Ibs. 
 avoirdupois; measures 3 ft. 7 in. in length, and 10 ft. 
 2 in. in extent. The upper mandible 3f in., dark 
 bluish black : it is, however, the same colour for half its 
 length, turning into yellow towards the mouth, which is 
 surrounded with a thick yellow skin. Mouth, blue; 
 tongue, the same ; cere, greenish yellow; eye, large, of 
 a fine chestnut colour ; iris, black, the whole protected 
 above by a broad, strong, bony, cartilaginous substance, 
 giving the eye the appearance of being much sunk. 
 Lores, lightish blue, with much strong recumbent hair; 
 upper part of the head, neck, back, scapulars, rump, 
 tail coverts, femorals, and tail feathers, dark, coppery, 
 glossy brown ; throat, front of the neck, breast, and 
 belly, rich bright cinnamon colour ; the feathers of 
 the whole of which are long, narrow, sharp-pointed, of a 
 hairy texture, each dashed along the centre with the 
 brown of the back ; the wings, when closed, reach with- 
 in an inch and a half of the end of the tail leathers, 
 which are very broad next the body. Lesser coverts, 
 rusty iron gray, forming with that colour an elongated 
 oval, reaching from the shoulders to the lower end of 
 the secondaries, gradually changing to the brown of the 
 
38 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 than the eagle, all the qualities that render it 
 formidable, not only to the feathered kind, 
 but to beasts, and even to man himself. Acos- 
 ta, Garcilasso, and Desmarchais, assert, that 
 it is eighteen feet across, the wings extended. 
 T^e beak is so strong as to pierce the body of 
 a cow ; and two of them are able to devour it. 
 They do not even abstain* from man himself: 
 but fortunately there are but few of the spe- 
 cies ; for if they had been plenty, every order 
 of animals must have carried on an unsu*ccess- 
 ful war against them. The Indians assert, 
 (hat they will carry off a deer, or a young 
 calf, in their talons, as eagles would a hare or 
 a rabbit; that their sight is piercing, and their 
 air terrible ; that they seldom frequent the 
 forests, as they require a large space for the dis- 
 play of their wings ; but that they are found on 
 the sea-shore, and the banks of rivers, whither 
 they descend from the heights of the mountains. 
 
 back as it meets the scapulars. The secondaries of the 
 last middle tint. Primaries, brown, darkest in their 
 inner veins, very broad and firm ; the outer one two and 
 a half inches shorter than the second ; the longest twenty- 
 four inches to its roots, and about half an inch in diame- 
 ter at the barrel. The under wing coverts, iron gray, 
 very broad, and forming the same cavity that is apparent 
 in all this genus with the scapulars, which also are very 
 broad. Legs and feet strong and muscular: the former 
 one and a half inches in diameter; the latter measuring, 
 from the base of the hind claw to that of the middle toe, 
 six and a half inches. Claws strong, much hooked ; 
 the hind one two inches long, the inner rather less, all 
 blue, black, and glossy. Toes warty, with rasp-like ad- 
 vancing hard particles, covered with large scales appear- 
 ing again on the front of the leg, all of dirty strong 
 yellow. Leg feathers brown cinnamon, pointed back- 
 wards. 
 
 " From the above account, it will be seen that the 
 bird here described and faithfully figured from a fresh- 
 killed specimen, is a very scarce species, even in those 
 parts where it is a native ; and, that it is rarely met 
 with, the few opportunities I have had of seeing it, the 
 dates of which I have generally given, are a sufficient 
 proof." 
 
 The Martial eagle, sometimes called the griffard, is 
 a large species discovered in Africa by Le Vaillant. It 
 inhabits the country of the great Namaquois, between 
 the twenty-eighth degree of south latitude and the tropic, 
 and probably exists in the other parts of Africa. When 
 perched, it emits sharp and piercing cries, mixed with 
 hoarse and lugubrious tones, which are heard at a great 
 distance. It flies, with the legs pendant, and, like the 
 common eagle, rises so high that it is lost sight of, 
 tliough its cry is still audible. Highly courageous, it 
 never suffers any great bird of rapine to approach with- 
 in its domain. It hunts gazelles and hares. 
 
 The grillards, like the other eagles, are usually ob- 
 served in couples, but during the hatching time the 
 male alone provides for the subsistence of the family. 
 The nest is formed between precipitous rocks, or on the 
 summits of lofty trees. Its basis is constituted like that 
 of the other eagles' nests, but it is covered with a large 
 quantity of small wood, moss, and roots, which give it 
 a thickness of about two feet. This bed is again covered 
 with small bits of dry wood, on which the female lays 
 two eggs almost round, entirely white, and more than 
 three inches in diameter. 
 
 The Balbuzzard is pretty generally spread through 
 
 By later accounts we learn, that they come 
 down to the sea-shore only at certain seasons, 
 when their prey happens to fail them upon 
 land ; that they then feed upon dead fish, and 
 such other nutritious substances as the sea 
 throws upon the shore. We are assured, 
 however, that their countenance is not so ter- 
 ri&e as the old writers have represented it ; 
 but that they appear of a milder nature than 
 either the eagle or the vulture. 
 
 Condamine has frequently seen them in 
 several parts of the mountains of Quito, arid 
 observed them hovering over a flock of sheep ; 
 and he thinks they would, at a certain time, 
 have attempted to carry one off, had they not 
 been scared away by the shepherds. Labat 
 acquaints us, that those who have seen this 
 animal, declare that the body is as large as 
 that of a sheep ; and that the flesh is tough, 
 and as disagreeable as carrion. The Span- 
 
 France, Germany, and most of the countries of Europe 
 from north to south. It is also found in Barbary, Egypt, 
 Louisiana, and even in the island of Pins in the South 
 Sea. The balbuzzards of the reeds in Carolina and 
 Cayenne, appear to be only varieties of the same spe- 
 cies, which equally inhabits Pennsylvania, and is some- 
 times called piravera. The places which the balbuzzard 
 prefers to frequent, are not the shores of the sea, but 
 low lands bordering on ponds and rivers, from which 
 habit it might be termed the fresh-water eagle. Perched 
 on a lofty tree, or hovering at a considerable elevation in 
 the air, it watches the fish from afar, descends upon it 
 with the rapidity of lightning, seizes it at the moment 
 it appears on the surface of the water, or even plunges 
 in completely after it, and carries it oft' in its talons. 
 But this prey, the weight of which renders the flight of 
 the bird slow and laborious, does not always remain the 
 portion of the balbuzzard. On the banks of the Ohio, 
 where it goes to fish, when the perca ocellata quits the 
 ocean to enter the river, dwells also tlie formidable py- 
 gargus. When he sees the balbuzzard arrived to the 
 height of his eyrie, he quits his own, pursues him close- 
 ly, until the fisher, convinced of his inferiority, aban- 
 dons the prey ; then this fierce antagonist with folded 
 wings shoots down like an arrow, and with the most in- 
 conceivable address, seizes the fish again before it reaches 
 the river. The right of the strongest is the .sovereign 
 arbiter of small and great events, and governs through- 
 out the universe with resistless sway, in the air, on the 
 earth, and under the waters. 
 
 The Great Harpy (see Plate XVI. fig. 7.) is a bird 
 which has been described under various synonyms, in 
 consequence of the variations which result from age and 
 sex, in its magnitude and plumage. It is found in Bra- 
 zil, New Granada, and Guyana, where it particularly 
 inhabits the forests of the interior. It is also found in 
 other countries of America, and is peculiar to that con- 
 tinent. It is said to be the most robust and powerful of 
 the feathered race. If the stories told of it be true, the 
 benefits of nature seem, in this way, to be pretty equally 
 distributed to both worlds. While the old can boast of 
 the most terrible of quadrupeds, the fiercest and strong- 
 est of birds has fallen to the inheritance of the new. 
 Travellers have assured Mauduyt, that the harpy makes 
 its usual prey on the ai and the unau, and that it often 
 carries off fawns and other young quadrupeds. It also 
 attacks the arras, and the larger parrots. 
 
 The Wedge-tailed eagle (see Plate XVI. fig. 2.) may 
 be regarded as the type of a distinct form in the impor- 
 
THE CONDOR. 
 
 39 
 
 iards themselves seem to dread its depreda- 
 tions ; and there have been many instances of 
 its carrying off their children. 
 
 Mr Strong, the master of a ship, as he was 
 sailing along the coasts of Chili, in the thirty- 
 third degree of south latitude, observed a bird 
 sitting upon a high cliff near the shore, which 
 some of the ship's company shot with a leaden 
 bullet and killed. They were greatly sur- 
 prised when they beheld its magnitude ; for 
 when the wings were extended, they measured 
 thirteen feet from one tip to the other. One 
 of the quills was two feet four inches long ; 
 and the barrel or hollow part, was six inches 
 and three quarters, and an inch and a half in 
 circumference. 
 
 We have a still more circumstantial account 
 of this amazing bird, by P. Feuille, the only 
 traveller who has accurately described it: " In 
 the valley of Ilo, in Peru, I discovered a con- 
 dor perched on a high rock be lore me : I ap- 
 proached within gun-shot, and rired ; but as 
 my piece was only charged with swan-shot, 
 the lead was not able sufficiently to pierce the 
 bird's feathers. I perceived however, by its 
 manner of flying, that it was wounded ; and 
 it was with a good deal of difficulty that it 
 flew to another rock, about five hundred yards 
 distant on the sea- shore. I therefore charged 
 again with ball, and hit the bird under the 
 throat, which made it mine. I accordingly 
 ran up to seize it ; but even in death it was 
 terrible, and defended itself upon its back with 
 its claws extended against me, so that I 
 scarcely knew how to lay hold of it. Had it 
 not been mortally wounded, I should have 
 found it no easy matter to take it ; but I at 
 last dragged it down from the rock, and with 
 the assistance of one of the seamen, I carried 
 it to my tent to make a coloured drawing. 
 
 "The wings of this bird, which I measured 
 very exactly, were twelve feet three inches 
 (English) from tip to tip. The great feathers, 
 that were of a beautiful shining black, were 
 two feet four inches long. The thickness of 
 the beak was proportionable to the rest of the 
 body ; the length about four inches ; the point 
 hooked downwards, and white at its extrem. 
 ity ; the other part was of a jet black. A short 
 down of a brown colour, covered the head ; the 
 eyes were black, and surrounded with a circle 
 of reddish brown. The feathers on the breast, 
 neck, and wings, were of a light brown ; 
 
 tant family to which it belongs, agreeing with the 
 genuine eagles of the old world in most points of its 
 general structure, and more particularly in its length- 
 ened wings and feathered legs, but differing from them 
 in the character from which it derives its name. This 
 form is peculiar to the continent of New Holland, where 
 it appears exclusively to occupy the place of the even- 
 tailed species of the European and Asiatic group, none 
 of which have hitherto been detected on any part of the 
 Australia ri coast. 
 
 those on the back were rather darker. Its 
 thighs were covered with brown feathers to 
 the knee. The thigh-bone was ten inches 
 long ; the leg five inches ; the toes were three 
 before, and one behind : that behind was an 
 inch and a half : and the claw with which it 
 was armed was black, and three quarters of an 
 inch. The other claws were in the same pro- 
 portion ; and the legs were covered with black 
 scales, as also the toes ; but in these the scales 
 were larger. 
 
 " These birds usually keep in the moun- 
 tains, where they find their prey : they never 
 descend to the sea-shore, but in the rainy sea- 
 son ; for, as they are very sensible of cold, 
 they go there for greater warmth. Though 
 these mountains are situated in the torrid zone, 
 the cold is often very severe ; for a great part 
 of the year, they are covered with snow, but 
 particularly in winter. 
 
 " The little nourishment which these birds 
 find on the sea-coast, except when the tempest 
 drives in some great fish, obliges the condor 
 to continue there but a short time. They 
 usually come to the coast at the approach of 
 evening ; stay there all night, and fly back in 
 the morning." 
 
 It is doubted whether this animal be proper 
 to America only, or whether it may not have 
 been described by the naturalists of other 
 countries. It is supposed that the great bird 
 called the Rock, described by Arabian writers, 
 and so much exaggerated by fable, is but a 
 species of the condor. The great bird of Tar- 
 riassar, in the East Indies, that is larger than 
 the eagle, as well as the vulture of Senegal, 
 that carries off children, are probably no other 
 than the bird we havebeen describing. Russia, 
 Lapland, and even Switzerland and Germany, 
 are said to have known this animal. A bird 
 of this kind was shot in France, that weighed 
 eighteen pounds, and was said to be eighteen 
 feet across the wings ; however, one of the 
 quills was described only as being larger than 
 that of a swan ; so that, probably, the breadth 
 of the wings may have been exaggerated, 
 since a bird so large would have the quills 
 more than twice as big as those of a swan. 
 However this be, we are not to regret that it 
 is scarcely ever seen in Europe, as it appears 
 to be one of the most formidable enemies of 
 mankind. In the deserts of Pachomac, where 
 it is chiefly seen, men seldom venture to travel. 
 Those wild regions are very sufficient of them- 
 selves to inspire a secret horror : broken pre- 
 cipices prowling panthers forests only 
 vocal with the hissing of serpents and 
 mountains rendered still more terrible by the 
 condor, the only bird that ventures to make 
 its residence in those deserted situations. 1 
 
 1 I'lm preceding chapter shows how much ignorance 
 
40 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 OF THE VULTURE AND ITS AFFINITIES. 
 
 THE first rank in the description of birds 
 has been given to the eagle ; not because it 
 is stronger or larger than the vulture, but 
 because it is more generous and bold. The 
 eagle, unless pressed by famine, will not stoop 
 to carrion ; and never devours but what he 
 has earned by his own pursuit. The vulture, 
 on the contrary, is indelicately voracious ; and 
 seldom attacks living animals when it can be 
 supplied with the dead. The eagle meets 
 and singly opposes his enemy; the vulture, if 
 it expects resistance, calls in the aid of its 
 kind, and basely overpowers its prey by a 
 cowardly combination. Putrefaction and 
 stench, instead of deterring, only serves to 
 allure them. The vulture seems among birds 
 what the jackal and hyaena are among quad- 
 rupeds, who prey upon carcasses, and root up 
 the dead. 
 
 Vultures may be easily distinguished from 
 
 prevailed regarding the condor up to a late period, and 
 how much fable was interwoven with its history. Baron 
 von Humboldt, the celebrated South American traveller, 
 was the first to set before the world its true character. 
 He passed seventeen months in the Andes, the native 
 mountains of the condor; he saw the bird daily; he shot 
 many specimens ; and he is satisfied that in general 
 their average size does not exceed that of the largest 
 European vultures. The authentic history of the condor 
 is, however, still full of interest. The eagle builds " his 
 aery on the mountain top ; " but the elevation at which 
 the eagle lives is far inferior to the snowy peaks of the 
 Andes, where the condor has his abiding place. At 
 the extreme limit of vegetation, where all other ani- 
 mals perish, the condor prefers to dwell, inhaling an 
 atmosphere so highly rarefied that almost every other 
 creature would perish in it. From these immense ele- 
 vations this wonderful bird soars still higher up, far 
 above the clouds ; and thence, with an almost unlimited 
 range of sight, he surveys the earth. Scenting some 
 carcase upon which he may banquet, he descends into 
 the plains ; and there he gorges himself with a voracity 
 almost without example. Captain Head, in his ' Rough 
 Notes,' has given an example of this habit of the condor: 
 " In riding along the plain I passed a dead horse, 
 about which were forty or fifty condors : many of them 
 were gorged and unable to fly ; several were standing 
 on the ground devouring the carcase the rest hovering 
 above it. I rode within twenty yards of them : one of 
 the largest of the birds was standing with one foot on 
 the ground and the other on the horse's body." He 
 adds that one of his party had also ridden up to the dead 
 horse ; and as one of these enormous birds flew about 
 fifty yards off, and was unable to go any farther, he rode 
 up to him, and then, jumping oft' his horse, seized him 
 by the neck. The man, who was a Cornish miner, said 
 he had never had such a battle in his life, although he 
 was at last the conqueror. 
 
 The condor does not exclusively feed upon dead or 
 putrefying flesh ; he attacks and destroys deer, vicunas, 
 and other middling-sized or small quadrupeds. It is 
 said, also, to be very common to see the cattle of the 
 
 all those of the eagle kind, by the nakedness 
 of their heads and necks, which are without 
 feathers, and only covered with a very slight 
 down, or a few scattered hairs. Their eyes 
 are more prominent; those of the eagle being 
 buried more in the socket. Their claws are 
 shorter, and less hooked. The inside of the 
 wing is covered with a thick down, which is 
 different in them from all other birds of prey. 
 Their attitude is not so upright as that of the 
 eagle ; and their flight is more difficult and 
 heavy. 
 
 In this tribe we may range the golden, the 
 ash-coloured, and the brown vulture, which 
 are inhabitants of Europe ; the spotted and 
 the black vulture of Egypt ; the bearded vul- 
 ture ; the Brazilian vulture, and the king of 
 the vultures, of South America. They all 
 
 Indians, on the Andes, suffering from the severe wounds 
 inflicted by these rapacious birds. It does not appear 
 that they have ever attacked the human race. When 
 Humboldt, accompanied by his friend Bonpland, was 
 collecting plants near the limits of perpetual snow, 
 they were daily in company with several condors which 
 would suffer themselves to be quite closely approached 
 without exhibiting signs of alarm, though they never 
 showed any disposition to act offensively. They were 
 not accused by the Indians of ever carrying off children, 
 though frequent opportunities were presented, had they 
 been so disposed. Humboldt believes that no authenti- 
 cated case can be produced, in which the lammergeyer 
 (or bearded vulture) of the Alps ever carried off a child, 
 though so currently accused of such theft ; but that the 
 possibility of the evil has led to the belief of its actual 
 existence. 
 
 The condor is not known to build a nest, but is said 
 to deposit its eggs on the naked rocks. When hatched, 
 the female is said to remain with the young for a whole 
 year in order to provide them with food, and to teach 
 them to supply themselves. In relation to all these 
 points, satisfactory information still remains to be pro- 
 cured . 
 
 Humboldt saw the condor only in new Grenada, 
 Quito, and Peru; but was informed that it follows the 
 chain of the Andes, from the equator to the seventh 
 degree of north latitude, into the province of Antioquia. 
 There is now no doubt, says the Encyclopaedia Ameri- 
 cana, of its appearing even in Mexico, and the south- 
 western territory of the United States. 
 
 The habits of the condor partake of the bold ferocity 
 of the eagle, and of the disgusting filthiness of the vul- 
 ture. Although, like the latter, it appears to prefer the 
 dead carcass, it frequently makes war<upon a living 
 prey ; but the gripe of its talons is not sufficiently firm 
 to enable it to cany off' its victim through the air. Two 
 of these birds, acting in concert, will frequently attack a 
 puma, a llama, a calf, or even a full grown cow. They 
 will pursue the poor animal with unwearied pertinacity, 
 lacerating it incessantly with their beaks and talons, 
 until it falls exhausted with fatigue and loss of blood. 
 Then, having first seized upon its tongue, they proceed 
 to tear out its eyes, and commence their feast with these 
 favourite morsels. The intestines form the second 
 course of their banquet, which is usually continued until 
 the birds have gorged themselves so fully as to render 
 them incapable of using their wings in flight. The 
 Indians, who are well acquainted with this eflect ot 
 their voracity, are in the habit of turning it to account 
 fur their amusement in the chase. For this purpose 
 
THE VULTURE 
 
 41 
 
 agree in their nature ; being equally indolent, 
 ^et rapacious and unclean. 1 
 
 The GOLDEN VULTURE seems to be the fore- 
 most of the kind ; and is, in many things, like 
 
 they expose the dead body of a horse or a cow, by which 
 some of the condors, which are generally hovering in 
 the air in search of food, are speedily attracted. As 
 soon as the birds have glutted themselves on the carcass, 
 the Indians make their appearance, armed with the 
 lasso, and the condors, being unable to escape by flight, 
 are pursued and caught by means of these singular 
 weapons with the greatest certainty. This sport is a 
 peculiar favourite in the country, where it is held in 
 a degree of estimation second to that of a bull-fight 
 alone. 
 
 1 The great family of vultures is extensively spread 
 throughout the globe, but especially abounds in the hotter 
 latitudes, where their utility in removing carrion and 
 all putrid animal substances, from the fields, the villages, 
 and even the towns, has been universally acknowledged. 
 As we recede from the hotter climes to the more 
 temperate regions, we gradually lose the presence of the 
 vultures, till at length the boundaries of the race are 
 passed. Their extreme boundaries, however, are more 
 northerly, or rather are carried out more nearly to the 
 higher latitudes of the globe than might at first be sus- 
 pected. In America the turkey vulture (cathartes aura) 
 ranges from Terra del Fuego to Nova Scotia, and the 
 black vulture (cathartes atratatus) is common in Caro- 
 lina. Species are found in southern and central Europe, 
 without reckoning the lammer-geyer (gypactos berbatus) 
 which forms a connecting link between the timid, in- 
 dolent, and gluttonous vultures on the one hand, and the 
 fierce, rapacious eagles on the other, we may enumerate 
 the vultur cinereus and the griffon, or vultur fulvus, 
 both of which occur in the mountain chains of even cen- 
 tral Europe, and are tolerably common in the southern 
 districts, being spread over most parts of the old world. 
 To these we may add the Egyptian vulture, or Pharaoh's 
 chicken (neophron percnopterus.) 
 
 The genus neophron may be regarded as equivalent 
 in the old world to cathartes in the new, the Egyptian 
 vulture closely approximating in form, habits, and re- 
 latively in the range of its habitat to the turkey vulture. 
 Of the vulture of the old world the Egyptian vulture 
 is the smallest; it is however one of the most numerous, 
 and especially abounds in Egypt and the adjacent pro- 
 vinces of Europe, Asia, and Africa ; it has even been 
 seen in Italy and Switzerland, and on one occasion in 
 England. In temperate climates, birds that prey on 
 carrion are less necessary as scavengers than in tropical 
 countries, where flocks of vultures collect together from 
 distances that have astonished all observers by whom the 
 circumstance is recorded. This is well exemplified in 
 two species, which have been frequently confounded, the 
 turkey buzzard and the black vulture, both, of which are 
 looked upon as so useful in several of the States both of 
 North and South America, that there is a considerable 
 penalty for killing them. The former bird, indeed, as 
 we learn from M. Descourtilz, is, at Charleston, com 
 monly called by the name oifive pounds, from the amount 
 of this penalty. "These birds," he adds, "are thus 
 respected for the actual services which they render in 
 removing from the city and its vicinity all dead animals 
 and other garbage upon which they exclusively feed. 
 Hence, if even a chicken die, it is not long before its 
 bones are picked clean. The vultures are occupied the 
 whole day in making their rounds to discover carrion 
 and offal, and coming down in legions, they mutually 
 contend for the prey, which instantly disappears. They 
 are so familiar that they may easily be knocked down 
 with a stick. I had a great desire to procure a specimen 
 in this way ; but I was not disposed to pay five louis-d f or 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 he golden eagle, but larger in every propor- 
 ion. From the end of the beak to that of tin* 
 ;ail, it is four feet and a half ; and to the 
 claws' end, forty-five inches. The length of 
 
 f penalty." " The great number of these birds" (the 
 )lack vulture,') says Ulloa, " found in such hot climates, 
 s an excellent provision of nature; as otherwise the 
 Hltrifaction caused by the constant and excessive heat 
 ,vould render the air insupportable to human life. These 
 jirds are familiar in Carthagena; the tops of the houses 
 are covered with them: it is they who cleanse the city 
 f all its animal impurities. There are few animals 
 tilled whereof they do not obtain the offals ; and when 
 this food is wanting, they have recourse to other gar- 
 )age. Their sense of smelling is so acute, that it en- 
 ables them to trace carrion at the distance of three 01 
 "our leagues ; which they do not abandon till there re- \ 
 mains nothing but the skeleton." The following ac- 
 count of the same bird is by Wilson. 
 
 ' A horse had dropped down in the street in convul- 
 sions, and dying, it was dragged out to Hampstead and 
 skinned. The ground for a hundred yards around it was 
 black with carrion crows ; many sat on the tops of sheds, 
 fences, and houses within sight; sixty or eighty on the 
 opposite side of a small run. I counted at one time two 
 hundred and thirty-seven, but I believe there were 
 more, besides several in the air over my head and at a 
 distance. I ventured cautiously within thirty yards of 
 the carcass, where three or four dogs and twenty or thirty 
 vultures were busily tearing and devouring. Seeing 
 them take no notice I ventured nearer, till I was within 
 ten yards, and sat down on the bank. Still they paid 
 little attention to me. The dogs being sometimes acci- 
 dentally flapped with the wings of the vultures, would 
 growl and snap at them, which would occasion them to 
 spring up for a moment, but they immediately gathered 
 in again. I remarked that the vultures frequently at- 
 tack each other, fighting with their claws or heels, 
 striking like a cock, with open wings, and fixing their 
 claws in each other's head. The females, and I believe 
 the males likewise, made a hissing sound, with open 
 mouth, exactly resembling that produced by thrusting a 
 red-hot poker into water; and frequently a snuffling, 
 like a dog clearing his nostrils, as, I suppose, they were 
 theirs. On observing that they did not heed me, I stole 
 so close that my feet were within one yard of the horse's 
 legs, and again sat down. They all slid aloof a few 
 feet ; but seeing me quiet, they soon returned as before. 
 As they were often disturbed by the dogs, I ordered the 
 latter home: my voice gave no alarm to the vultures. 
 As soon as the dogs departed, the vultures crowded in 
 such numbers, that I counted at one time thirty-seven 
 on and around the carcass, with several within ; so that 
 scarcely an inch of it was visible. Sometimes one would 
 come out with a large piece of the entrails, which in * 
 moment was surrounded by several others, who tore it 
 in fragments, and it soon disappeared. They kept up the 
 hissing occasionally. Some of them having their whole 
 legs and heads covered with blood presented a most savage 
 aspect. Still, as the dogs advanced, I would order them 
 away, which seemed to gratify the vultures; and one 
 would pursue another to within a foot or two of the spot 
 where I was sitting. Sometimes I observed them 
 stretching their necks along the ground, as if to press 
 the food downwards." The black vulture appears to be 
 the same bird which is described by Acosta, under the 
 name of paullazes. As he tells us, " they have a stir, 
 prising agility and a piercing eye, arid are very useful 
 for clearing cities, not suffering the least vestige of car- 
 rion or putrid matter to remain. They spend the night 
 upon trees and rocks, and resort to the towns in the 
 morning, perching upon the tops of the highest build* 
 ings, whence they look out for their plunder." 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 the upper mandible is almost seven inches ; 
 and the tail twenty-seven in length. The 
 lower part of the neck, breast, and belly, are 
 of a red colour ; but on the tail it is more 
 faint, and deeper near the head. The feathers 
 are black on the back ; and on the wings and 
 tail of a yellowish brown. Others of the kind 
 differ from this in colour and dimensions ; but 
 they are all strongly marked by their naked 
 heads, and beak, straight in the beginning, 
 but hooking at the point. 
 
 They are still more strongly marked by 
 their nature, which, as has been observed, is 
 cruel, unclean, and indolent. Their sense of 
 smelling, however, is amazingly great ; and 
 Nature, for this purpose, has given them two 
 large apertures or nostrils without, and an ex- 
 tensive olfactory membrane within. 1 Their 
 
 In the plates we have given representations of several 
 vultures. Fig. 1. plate XV. represents the Griffon Vul- 
 ture, one of the largest birds of prey of the old contin- 
 ent, measuring from 3| to 4 feet in length. It inhabits 
 the mountain chains of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Fig. 1. 
 plate XVI. represents the King of the vultures, described 
 in the text. Fig. 9. represents the Bearded Vulture, a 
 bird which seems to form a link between the vulture and 
 the eagle, as it seeks living prey as well as carrion. It 
 is the Lemmergeyer of the Swiss and German Alps, and 
 the largest European bird of prey, measuring upwards 
 of four feet from beak to tail, and nine or ten in the ex- 
 panse of its wings. Fig. 3. same plate, represents the 
 Secretary Vulture, so called from the pen-like appendage 
 behind the ear. 
 
 1 Is it by the powers of sight cr of smell that these 
 birds, afar off in the air above, or on the very verge of the 
 horizon, are thus led to their booty? This is a question 
 not yet settled. The ancient classic writers teem with 
 passages attributing to the vulture a keen and discrimi- 
 nating scent; and certainly the development of the or- 
 gans of this sense would seem to favour the opinion, 
 which is supported by Mr Waterton and others, but 
 which Mr Audubon considers to be erroneous. This 
 latter observer of Nature maintains that it is by the ex- 
 traordinary powers of sight that the vulture perceives his 
 prey, and Le Vaillant explains the circumstance upon 
 the same theory. " Desirous," he says, " of observing 
 how so great a number of vultures could congregate to- 
 gether in so short a space of time, I concealed myself 
 one day in a thicket, after having killed a large gazelle, 
 which I left upon the spot. In an instant a number of 
 ravens made their appearance, fluttering about the ani- 
 mal, and making a great croaking. In less than a quar- 
 ter of an hour these birds were reinforced by the arrival 
 of kites and buzzards; and immediately afterwards I 
 perceived, on raising my head, a flight of birds at a pro- 
 digious height, wheeling round and round in their des- 
 cent. These I soon recognised to be vultures, which 
 seemed, if I may so express myself, to escape from a ca- 
 vern in the sky. The first comers fell immediately upon 
 the gazelle, but I did not allow them time to tear it in 
 pieces. I left my concealment, and they betook them- 
 selves slowly and heavily to flight, rejoining their com- 
 rades, whose numbers seemed to increase. They seemed 
 almost to precipitate themselves from the clouds to share 
 the spoil, but my presence caused them speedily to dis- 
 appear. Thus it is then, that the vultures are called 
 upon to participate in their prey: the first carnivorous 
 birds that discover a carcase rouse the others which may 
 happen to be in the environs by their cries and by their 
 
 intestines are formed differently from those of 
 the eagle kind ; for they partake more of the 
 formation of such birds as live upon grain. 
 They have both a crop and a stomach ; which 
 may be regarded as a kind of gizzard, from 
 the extreme thickness of the muscles of which 
 it is composed. In fact, they seem adapted 
 inwardly, not only for being carnivorous, but 
 to eat corn or whatsoever of that kind comes 
 in the way. 
 
 This bird, which is common in many parts 
 of Europe, and but too well known on the 
 western continent, is totally unknown in Eng- 
 land. In Egypt, Arabia, and many other 
 kingdoms of Africa and Asia, vultures are 
 found in great abundance. The inside down 
 of their wing is converted into a very warm 
 and comfortable kind of fur, and is commonly 
 sold in the Asiatic markets. 
 
 Indeed, in Egypt, this bird seems to be of 
 singular service. There are great flocks of 
 them in the neighbourhood of Grand Cairo, 
 which no person is permitted to destroy. The 
 service they render the inhabitants is the de- 
 vouring of all the carrion and filth of that 
 great city ; which might otherwise tend to 
 corrupt and putrefy the air. They are com- 
 monly seen in company with the wild dogs of 
 the country, tearing a carcase very deliberate- 
 ly together. This old association produced 
 no quarrels ; the birds and quadrupeds seem 
 to live amicably, and nothing but harmony 
 subsists between them. The wonder is still 
 the greater, as both are extremely rapacious, 
 and both lean and bony to a very great de- 
 gree ; probably having no great plenty even 
 of the wretched food on which they subsist. 
 
 In America they lead a life somewhat si- 
 milar. Wherever the hunters, who there 
 only pursue beasts for the skins, are found to 
 go, these birds are seen to pursue them. They 
 still keep hovering at a little distance ; and 
 
 motions. If the nearest vulture does not spy his prey 
 from the lofty region of the air in which he swims by 
 means of his wide-spread wings, he perceives at least the 
 subaltern and more terrestrial birds of prey preparing to 
 take possession of it; but perhaps he has himself a suffi- 
 cient power of vision to enable him to Discover it. He 
 descends hastily and with a wheeling flight, and his fall 
 directs the other vultures who witness his evolutions, 
 and who no doubt have their instinct sharpened with re- 
 gard to everything that concerns their food. A con- 
 course of carnivorous birds speedily takes place in the 
 neighbourhood of the carcass sufficient to attract the 
 vultures of the whole district, nearly in the same man- 
 ner as the disturbance created by a number of men run- 
 ning along the streets of a crowded town attracts the 
 whole population to follow in their train." Notwith- 
 standing all this, and the experiments of Mr Audubor,, 
 we do not think the conclusion by any means demon- 
 strated, that the vulture is not guided by his scent, as 
 well as by his powers of vision, according as the c:fu>3 
 may be. 
 
THE VULTURE. 
 
 when they see the beast flayed and abandoned, 
 they call out to each other, pour down upon 
 the carcase, and, in an instant, pick its bones 
 as bare and clean as if they had been scraped 
 by a knife. 
 
 At the Cape of Good Hope, in Africa, they 
 seem to discover a still greater share of dexte- 
 rity in their methods of carving. " I have," 
 says Kolben, " been often a spectator of the 
 manner in which they have anatomized a dead 
 body : I say anatomized ; for no artist in the 
 world could have done it more cleanly. They 
 have a wonderful method of separating the 
 flesh from the bones, and yet leaving the skin 
 quite entire. Upon coming near the carcass, 
 one would not suppose it thus deprived of its 
 internal substance, till he began to examine it 
 more closely ; he then finds it, literally speak- 
 ing, nothing but skin and bone. Their man- 
 ner of performing the operation is this : they 
 first make an opening in the belly of the ani- 
 mal, from whence they pluck out, and gree- 
 dily devour, the entrails : then entering into 
 the hollow which they have made, they sepa- 
 rate the flesh from the bones, without ever 
 touching the skin. It often happens that an 
 ox returning home alone to its stall from the 
 plough, lies down by the way ; it is then, if 
 the vultures perceive it, that they fall with 
 fury down, and inevitably devour the unfortu- 
 nate animal. They sometimes attack them 
 grazing in the fields ; and then to the number 
 of a hundred or more, make their attack all at 
 once and together." 
 
 ; ' They are attracted by carrion," says Ca- 
 tesby, " from a very great distance. It is 
 pleasant to behold them, when they are thus 
 eating and disputing for their prey. An 
 eagle generally presides at these entertain- 
 ments, and makes them all keep their distance 
 till he has done. They then fall to with an 
 excellent appetite ; and their sense of smell- 
 ing is so exquisite, that the instant a carcass 
 drops, we may see the vultures floating in the 
 air from all quarters, and come sousing on 
 their prey." It is supposed by some, that 
 they eat nothing that has life ; but this is only 
 when they are not able ; for when they come 
 at lambs, they show no mercy ; and serpents 
 are their ordinary food. The manner of those 
 birds is to perch themselves, several together, 
 on the old pine and cypress-trees ; where they 
 continue all the morning, for several hours, 
 with their wings unfolded ; nor are they fear- 
 ful of danger, but suffer people to approach 
 them very near, particularly when they are 
 eating. 
 
 The sloth, the filth, and the voraciousness, 
 of these birds, almost exceeds credibility. In 
 the Brazils, where they are found in great 
 abundance, when they light upon a carcass, 
 which they have liberty to tear at their ease, 
 
 they so gorge themselves that they are unable 
 to fly ; but keep hopping along when they are 
 pursued. At all times, they are a bird of 
 slow flight, and unable readily to raise them- 
 selves from the ground ; but when they have 
 over-fed, they are then utterly helpless ; but 
 they soon get rid of their burden ; for they 
 have a method of vomiting up what they have 
 eaten, and then they fly off with greater faci- 
 lity. 
 
 It is pleasant, however, to be a spectator of 
 the hostilities between animals that are thus 
 hateful or noxious. Of all creatures, the two 
 most at enmity is the vulture of Brazil and 
 the crocodile. The female of this terrible am- 
 phibious creature, which in the rivers of that 
 part of the world grows to the size of twenty- 
 seven feet, lays its eggs, to the number of one 
 or two hundred, in the sands, on the side of 
 the river, where they are hatched by the heat 
 of the climate. For this purpose, she takes 
 every precaution to hide from all other ani- 
 mals the place where she deposits her burden : 
 in the mean time a number of vultures, or gali- 
 nassos, as the Spaniards call them, sit silent 
 and unseen in the branches of some neighbour- 
 ing forest, and view the crocodile's operations, 
 with the pleasing expectation of succeeding 
 plunder. They patiently wait till the croco- 
 dile has laid the whole number of her eggs, till 
 she has covered them carefully under the sand, 
 and until she is retired from them to a conve- 
 nient distance. Then, all together encoura- 
 ging each other with cries, they pour down 
 upon the nest, hook up the sand in a moment, 
 lay the eggs bare, and devour the whole 
 brood without remorse. Wretched as is the 
 flesh of these animals, yet men, perhaps when 
 pressed by hunger, have been tempted to taste 
 it. Nothing can be more lean, stringy, nau- 
 seous, and unsavoury. It is in vain that, 
 when killed, the rump has been cut off ; in 
 vain the body has been washed, and spices 
 used to overpower its prevailing odour ; it 
 still smells and tastes of the carrion by which 
 it was nourished, and sends forth a stench that 
 is insupportable. 
 
 These birds, at least those of Europe, usu- 
 ally lay two eggs at a time, and produce but 
 once a year. They make their nests in inac- 
 cessible cliffs, and in places so remote, that it 
 is rare to find them. Those in our part of the 
 world chiefly reside in the places where they 
 breed, and seldom come down into the plains, 
 except when the snow and ice, in the native 
 retreats, has banished all living animals but 
 themselves: they then come from their heights, 
 and brave the perils they must encounter in a 
 more cultivated region. As carrion is not 
 found, at those seasons, in sufficient quantity, 
 or sufficiently remote from man to sustain 
 them, they prey upon rabbits, hares, serpents, 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 and whatever small game they can overtake 
 or overpower. 
 
 Such are the manners of this bird in gene- 
 ral; but there is one of the kind, called the 
 king of the vultures, (See Plate XVI. fig. 1.) 
 which from its extraordinary figure, deserves 
 a separate description. This bird is a native 
 of America, and not of the East Indies, as 
 those who make a trade of showing birds 
 would induce us to believe. This bird is 
 larger than a turkey-cock ; but is chiefly re- 
 markable for the odd formation of the skin of 
 the head and neck, which is bare. This skin 
 arises from the base of the bill, and is of an 
 orange colour ; from jyhence it stretches on 
 each side to the head ; from thence it proceeds, 
 like an indented comb, and falls on either 
 side, according to the motion of the head. 
 The eyes are surrounded by a red skin, of a 
 scarlet colour ; and the iris has the colour and 
 lustre of pearl."~~ The head and neck are with- 
 out feathers, covered with a flesh-coloured 
 skin on the upper part, a fine scarlet behind 
 the head, and a duskier coloured skin before : 
 farther down, behind the head, arises a little 
 tuft of black down, from whence issues and 
 extends beneath the throat, on each side, a 
 wrinkled skin, of a brownish colour, mixed 
 with blue, and reddish behind /below, upon 
 the naked part of the neck, is a collar formed 
 by soft longish feathers, of a deep ash-colour, 
 which surround the neck, and cover the breast 
 before. Into this collar the bird sometimes 
 withdraws its whole neck, and sometimes a 
 part of its head, so that it looks as if it had 
 withdrawn the neck into the body. Those 
 marks are sufficient to distinguish this bird 
 from all others of the vulture kind ; and it 
 cannot be doubted, but that it is the most 
 beautiful of all this deformed family ; how- 
 ever, neither its habits nor instincts vary from 
 the rest of the tribe ; being, like them, a slow 
 cowardly bird, living chiefly upon rats, liz- 
 ards, and serpents ; and upon carrion or ex- 
 crement, when it happens to be in the way. 
 The flesh is so bad, that even savages them- 
 selves cannot abide it. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE FALCON KIND, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 
 
 EVERY creature becomes more important in 
 the history of nature in proportion as it is 
 connected with man. In this view, the 
 smallest vegetable, or the most seemingly 
 Contemptible insect, is a subject more deserv- 
 ing attention than the most flourishing tree, 
 or the most beautiful of the feathered creation. 
 In tiiis view, the falcon is a more important 
 
 animal than the eagle or the vulture ; and 
 though so very diminutive in the comparison, 
 is notwithstanding, from its connection with 
 our pleasures, a much more interesting object 
 of curiosity. 
 
 The amusement of hawking, indeed, is now 
 pretty much given over in this kingdom ; for 
 as every country refines, as its enclosures be- 
 come higher and closer, those rural sports must 
 consequently decline, in which the game is to 
 be pursued over a long extent of country ; and 
 where, while every thing retards the pursuer 
 below, nothing can stop the object of his pur- 
 suit above. 1 
 
 Falconry, that is now so much disused 
 among us, was the principal amusement of 
 our ancestors. A person of rank scarcely 
 stirred out without his hawk on his hand ; 
 which, in old paintings, is the criterion of no- 
 bility. Harold, afterwards king of England, 
 when he went on a most important embassy 
 into Normandy, is drawn in an old bas-relief, 
 as embarking with a bird on his fist, and a 
 dog under his arm. 2 In those days it was 
 thought sufficient for noblemen's sons to wind 
 the horn, and to carry their hawk fair, and 
 leave study and learning to the children of 
 meaner people. Indeed, this diversion was 
 in such high esteem among the great all over 
 Europe, that, Frederic, one of the emperors of 
 Germany, thought it not beneath him to write 
 a treatise upon hawking. 
 
 The expense which attended this sport was 
 very great : among the old Welch princes, 
 the king's falconer was the fourth officer in 
 the state ; but notwithstanding all his honours, 
 he was forbid to take more than three draughts 
 of beer from his horn, lest he should get drunk 
 and neglect his duty. In the reign of James 
 
 1 The introduction of fire-arms was the main cause of 
 the decline of falconry. We still think, however, that, 
 as a field sport, hawking must have been much more in- 
 teresting than any at present in practice. 
 
 2 The ancient books of hawking assign to the different 
 ranks of persons the sort of hawk proper to be used by 
 them; and they are placed in the following order: 
 
 The eagle, the vulture, and the merloun, for an em- 
 peror. 
 
 The gyr-fa!con, and the tercel of the gyr-falcon for a 
 king. 
 
 The falcon gentle and the tercel gentle, for a prince. 
 
 The falcon of the rock, for a duke. 
 
 The falcon peregrine, for an earl. 
 
 The bastard, for a baron. 
 
 The sacre, and the sacret, for a knight. 
 
 The lanere, and the laneret, for an esquire. 
 
 The marlyon, for a lady. 
 
 The hobby, for a young man. 
 
 The goshawk, for a yeoman. 
 
 The tercel, for a poor man. 
 
 The sparrow-hawk, for a priest. 
 
 The musket for a holy water clerk. 
 
 The kesterel, for a knave or servant. 
 
 And this list includes, I presume, the greater part, 
 if not all, of the names appertaining to the birds used 
 in hawking. Strutt's Sports and Pastimes. 
 
THE FALCON. 
 
 45 
 
 f. Sir Thomas Monson is said to have given 
 a thousand pounds for a cast of hawks ; and 
 such was their value in general, that it was 
 made felony in the reign of Edward III. to 
 steal a hawk. To take its eggs, even in a 
 person's own ground, was punishable with 
 imprisonment for a year and a day, together 
 with a fine at the king's pleasure. In the 
 reign of Elizabeth the imprisonment was re- 
 duced to three months; but the offender was 
 to lie in prison till he got security for his good 
 behaviour for seven years farther. In the 
 earlier times the art of gunning was but little 
 practised, and the hawk was then valuable, 
 not only for its affording diversion, but for its 
 procuring delicacies for the table, that could 
 seldom be obtained any other way. 
 
 Of many of the ancient falcons used for 
 this purpose, we at this time know only the 
 names, as the exact species are so ill described, 
 that one may be very easily mistaken for ano- 
 ther. Of those in use, at present, both here 
 and in other countries, are the gyr-falcon, the 
 falcon, the lanner, the sacre, the hobby, the 
 kestrel, and the merlin. These are called 
 the long-winged hawks, to distinguish them 
 from the goshawk, the sparrow-hawk, the 
 kite, and the buzzard, that are of shorter 
 wing, and either too slow, too cowardly, too 
 indolent, or too obstinate, to be serviceable in 
 contributing to the pleasures of the field. 1 
 
 'The Jer Falcon (see Plate XV. fig. 3.) is of very 
 rare occurrence in England. It is known in the northern 
 parts of Scotland, particularly in the Orkney and Shet- 
 land Isles. Iceland is the native country of this species, 
 from whence arises its name of Islandicus. It was from 
 this island that the royal falconries of Denmark and 
 other northern kingdoms were supplied with their choic- 
 est casts of hawks. It breeds in the highest and most 
 inaccessible rocks ; but the number and colour of the eggs 
 remain as yet undescribed. It preys upon the larger 
 species of game and wild-fowl, also on hares and other 
 quadrupeds, upon which it precipitates itself with amaz- 
 ing rapidity and force. Its usual mode of hawking is, 
 if possible, to out-soar its prey, and thence to d?.rt per- 
 pendicularly upon it. 
 
 The uncertainty in which the history of the Peregrine 
 Falcon was long involved, appears to have arisen from 
 the error of earlier writers, in considering the Falco 
 Peregrinus and Falco Communis, with its enumerated 
 varieties, as two distinct species. Deficiency of obser- 
 vation, and consequent want of an accurate knowledge 
 of the various changes of plumage the bird undergoes in 
 its progress to maturity, naturally led to this effect; arid 
 we accordingly find, that the bird hitherto described as 
 the Falco Communis, the type of the supposed species 
 and its varieties, must have been originally figured from 
 an immature specimen of the Falco Peregrinus. In 
 England and Wales the peregrine falcon is rare, and is 
 only found indigenous in rocky or mountainous districts. 
 The Highlands and northern isles of Scotland appear to 
 be the situations most favourable to it, and in that part 
 of the kingdom it is numerous and widely diffused. 
 The most inaccessible situations are always selected for 
 its eyry, and its nest is placed upon the shelf of a rock. 
 It lays four or five eggs, in colour very similar to those 
 of the kestrel, but considerably larger. The flight of 
 
 The generous tribe of hawks, as was said, 
 are distinguished from the rest by the peculiar 
 length of their wings, which reach nearly as 
 low as the tail. In these, the first quill of 
 the wing is nearly as long as the second ; it 
 
 this species, when pursuing its quarry, is astonishingly 
 rapid, almost beyond credibility. By Montagu it has 
 been reckoned at 150 miles in an hour. Colonel Thorn- 
 ton, an expert falconer, estimated the flight of a falcon, 
 in pursuit of a snipe, to have been nine miles in eleven 
 minutes, without including the frequent turns. This 
 sort was formerly much used in falconry, and was flown 
 at the larger kinds of game, wild ducks and herons. In 
 its unreclaimed state it preys upon the different sorts oi 
 game, wild geese, wild ducks and pigeons. 
 
 In England, the Hobby is among the number of those 
 birds that are named polar migrants or summer periodi- 
 cal visitants. It arrives in April, and after performing 
 the office of incubation, and of rearing its young, leaves 
 us, for warmer latitudes, in October. Wooded and in- 
 closed districts appear to be its usual haunts. It builds 
 in lofty trees, but will sometimes save itself the task of 
 constructing a nest, by taking possession of the deserted 
 one of a magpie or crow. The number of its eggs is 
 commonly four, of a bluish-white, with olive-green or 
 yellowish-brown blotches. Its favourite game is the 
 lark, but it preys upon all small birds. Partridges and 
 quails also become frequent victims to its courage and 
 rapacity, in which qualities, diminutive as it is, it yields 
 to none of its tribe. Possessing a great length and 
 power of wing, the flight of the hobby is wonderfully 
 rapid, and can be supported with undiminished vigour 
 for a considerable time. When hawking was keenly 
 followed, the hobby was trained to the pursuit of young 
 partridges, snipes, and larks. It is of elegant form, and 
 resembles, in miniature, the peregrine falcon. The 
 wings, when closed, generally reach beyond the end of 
 the tail. According to Temminck, it is common 
 throughout Europe, during the summer months; but 
 retires to warmer regions at the approach of winter. 
 
 Kestrel. This well known species is distinguished, 
 not only by the symmetry of its form and its elegant 
 
 plumage, but by the peculiar gracefulness of its flight, 
 and the manner in which it frequently remains suspen- 
 ded in the air, fixed, as it were, to one spot by a quiver- 
 ing play of the wings, scarcely perceptible. It is one of 
 our commonest indigenous species, and is widely spread 
 through the kingdom. Upon the approach of spring (or 
 the period of incubation), it resorts to rocks and high 
 cliffs. The nest consists of a few sticks loosely put 
 together, and sometimes lined with a little hay or wool, 
 and is placed in some crevice, or on a projecting shelf. 
 The eggs are from four to six in number, of a reddish- 
 brown colour, with darker blotches and variegations. It 
 preys upon the different species of mice, which it hunts 
 for from the elevated station at which it usually soars, 
 and upon which it pounces with the rapidity of an arrow. 
 The kestrel is easily reclaimed, and was formerly 
 trained to the pursuit of larks, snipes, and young par- 
 tridges. It is a species, in point of geographical distri 
 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 terminates in a point, which begins to dimin- 
 ish from about an inch of its extremity. This 
 sufficiently distinguishes the generous breed 
 from that of the baser race of kites, sparrow- 
 hawks and buzzards, in which the tail is 
 longer than the wings, and the first feather 
 of the wing is rounded at the extremity. They 
 differ also in the latter having the fourth fea- 
 ther of the wing the longest ; in the generous 
 race it is always the second. 
 
 This generous race, which have been taken 
 into the service of man, are endowed with 
 natural powers that the other kinds are not 
 possessed of. From the length of their wings, 
 they are swifter to pursue their game; from a 
 confidence in this swiftness, they are bolder 
 to attack it ; and from an innate generosity, 
 they have an attachment to their feeder, and, 
 consequently, a docility which the baser kinds 
 are strangers to. 
 
 The gyr-falcon leads in this bold train. 
 He exceeds all other falcons in the largeness 
 of his size, for he approaches nearly to the 
 
 bution, very widely spread, being found in all parts of 
 Europe, and in America. 
 
 The Merlin has generally been considered a winter 
 or equatorial visitant, and to leave Great Britain at the 
 
 
 approach of spring, for other and more northern cli- 
 mates. Its migration is however confined to the southern 
 parts of the island. Inferior as this species is in size, 
 it fully supports the character of its tribe ; frequently 
 attacking birds superior to itself in magnitude and 
 weight, and has been known to kill a partridge at a 
 single blow. Like others, before enumerated, it became 
 subjected to the purposes of pastime, and was trained to 
 pursue partridges, snipes, and woodcocks. Its flight is 
 low and rapid, and it is generally seen skimming along 
 the sides of hedges in search of its prey. 
 
 The Goshawk. (See Plate XVI. fig. 13 : for swallow- 
 tailed hawk, see fig. 12.) This powerful species of falcon 
 is very rarely met with in England. In the wild and 
 mountainous districts of Scotland it is more common, 
 and is known to breed in the forest of Rothiemurchus, 
 and on the wooded banks of the Dee; and, according to 
 Low, in his Fauna Orcadensis, is rather numerous in 
 those islands (Orkneys), where it breeds in the rocks 
 and sea-cliffs. Its flight is very rapid, but generally 
 low, and it strikes its prey upon the wing. Different 
 kinds of feathered game, wild ducks, hares and rabbits 
 form its principal food. According to Meyer, it will 
 even prey upon the young of its own species. It gener- 
 ally builds in lofty fir trees, and lays from two to four 
 eggs, of a skim-milk white, marked with streaks and 
 spots of reddish-brown. By falconers, it was considered 
 to be the best and most courageous of the short-winged 
 hawks, and was accordingly trained to the pursuit of 
 grouse, pheasants, wild geese, herons, &c. Although it 
 
 magnitude of the eagle. The top of the head 
 is flat and of an ash-colour, with a strong, 
 thick, short, and blue beak. The feathers of 
 the back and wings are marked with black 
 spots, in the shape of a heart ; he is a coura- 
 geous and fierce bird, nor fears even the eagle 
 himself; but he chiefly flies at the stork, the 
 heron, and the crane. He is mostly found in 
 the colder regions of the north, but loses nei- 
 ther his strength nor his courage when brought 
 into the milder climates. 
 
 The falcon, properly so called, is the second 
 in magnitude and fame. There are some va- 
 rieties in this bird ; but there seem to be only 
 two that claim distinction ; the falcon-gentil 
 and the peregrine-falcon ; both are much less 
 than the gyr, and somewhat about the size of 
 a raven. They differ but slightly, and per- 
 haps only from the different states they were, 
 in when brought into captivity. Those dif- 
 ferences are easier known by experience 
 than taught by description. The falcon-gen- 
 til 1 moults in March, and often sooner; the 
 
 is nearly equal in size to the jer falcon, yet the short- 
 ness of its wings, and its general contour, readily dis- 
 tinguish it from that species, in all its stages of plum- 
 age. The goshawk is very common in France, as well 
 as in Germany, Switzerland, and Russia. In Holland 
 it is rare. The "falcon gentil," from its description, 
 must be referred to this species. 
 
 The Sparrow-hawk. This destructive and well-known 
 species is remarkable for the great difference in size 
 between the male and female, the former seldom measur- 
 
 ing twelve inches in length, whilst the latter often ex- 
 ceeds fifteen inches. It is one of the boldest of its 
 genus, and the female, from her superior size, is a fatal 
 enemy to partridges and other game, as well as pigeons. 
 It flies low, skimming over the ground with great 
 swiftness, and pounces its prey upon the wing with un- 
 erring aim. The force of its stroke is such as generally 
 to kill, and sometimes even to force out the entrails of 
 its victim. It is common in most parts of the kingdom, 
 but particularly frequents the lower grounds, and well- 
 wooded inclosures. It builds in low trees, or thorn 
 bushes, forming a shallow and flat nest, composed of 
 slender twigs, and very similar to that of the ring dove, 
 but rather larger. It will occasionally occupy the de- 
 serted nest of a crow. The sparrow-hawk is very widely 
 diffused and found in all parts of Europe. In the days 
 of falconry it was trained, and much approved in the 
 pursuit of partridges, quails, and many other birds. 
 Abridged from Selby's Illustrations of British Orni- 
 thology. 
 
 1 The falcons gentil are now ascertained to be merely 
 the young of the goshawk. 
 
THE HAWK. 
 
 47 
 
 peregrine-falcon does not moult till the middle 
 of August. The peregrine is stronger in the 
 shoulder, has a larger eye, and yet more sunk 
 in the head ; his beak is stronger, his legs 
 longer, and the toes better divided. 
 
 Next in size to these is the lanner, a bird 
 now very little known in Europe ; then fol- 
 lows the sacre, the legs of which are of a blu- 
 ish colour, and serve to distinguish that bird ; 
 to them succeeds the hobby, used for smaller 
 game, for daring larks, and stooping at quails. 
 The kestril was trained for the same purpo- 
 ses ; and lastly the merlin; which, though 
 the smallest of all the hawk or falcon kind, 
 and not much larger than a thrush, yet dis- 
 plays a degree of courage that renders him 
 formidable even to birds ten times his size. 
 He has often been known to kill a partridge or 
 a quail at a single pounce from above. 
 
 Some of the other species of sluggish birds 
 were now and then trained to this sport, but 
 it was when no better could be obtained ; but 
 these just described were only considered as 
 birds of the nobler races. Their courage in 
 general was such, that no bird, not very much 
 above their own size, could terrify them ; their 
 swiftness so great, that scarcely any bird 
 could escape them ; and their docility so re- 
 markable, that they obeyed not only the com- 
 mands, but the signs of their master. They 
 remained quietly perched upon his hand till 
 their game was flushed, or else kept hovering 
 round his head, without ever leaving him but 
 when he gave permission. The common fal- 
 con is a bird of such spirit, that, like a con- 
 queror in a country, he keeps all birds in awe 
 and subjection to his prowess. Where he is 
 seen flying wild, as I often had an opportu- 
 nity of observing, the birds of every kind, 
 that seemed entirely to disregard the kite or 
 the sparrow-hawk, fly with screams at his 
 most distant appearance. Long before I could 
 see the falcon, I have seen them with the ut- 
 most signs of terror endeavouring to avoid 
 him ; and, like the peasants of a country be- 
 fore a victorious army, every one of them at- 
 tempting to shift for himself. Even the young 
 falcons, though their spirit be depressed by 
 captivity, will, when brought out into the 
 field, venture to fly at barnacles and wild 
 geese, till, being soundly brushed and beaten 
 by those strong birds, they learn their error, 
 and desist from meddling with such unwieldly 
 game for the future. 
 
 To train up the hawk to this kind of obe- 
 dience, so as to hunt for his master, and bring 
 him the game he shall kill, requires no small 
 degree of skill and assiduity. Numberless 
 treatises have been written upon this subject 
 which are now, with the sport itself, almost 
 utterly forgotten : indeed, except to a few, 
 they seem utterly unintelligible ; for the fal- 
 
 coners had a language peculiar to themselves, 
 in which they conversed and wrote, and took 
 a kind of professional pride in using no other. 
 A modern reader, I suppose, would be little 
 edified by one of the instructions, for instance, 
 which we find in Willoughby, when he bids 
 us " draw our falcon out of the mew twenty 
 days before we enseam her. If she truss and 
 carry, the remedy is, to cosse her talons, her 
 powse, and petty single." 
 
 But, as it certainly makes a part of natural 
 history, to show how much the nature of birds 
 can be wrought upon by harsh or kind treat- 
 ment, I will just take leave to give a short 
 account of the manner of training a hawk, 
 divested of those cant words with which men 
 of art have thought proper to obscure their 
 profession. 
 
 In order to train up a falcon, the master 
 begins by clapping straps upon his legs, which 
 are called jesses, to which there is fastened a 
 ring with the owner's name, by which, in case 
 he should be lost, the finder may know where 
 to bring him back. To these also are added 
 little bells, which serve to mark the place 
 where he is, if lost in the chase. He is al- 
 ways carried on the fist, and is obliged to keep 
 without sleeping. If he be stubborn, and at- 
 tempts to bite, his head is plunged into water. 
 Thus, by hunger, watching, and fatigue, he 
 is constrained to submit to having his head 
 covered by a hood or cowl, which covers his 
 eyes. This troublesome employment con- 
 tinues often for three days and nights without 
 ceasing. It rarely happens but at the end of 
 this his necessities and the privation of light 
 make him lose all idea of liberty, and bring 
 down his natural wildness. His master judges 
 of his being tamed when he permits his head 
 to be covered without resistance, and when 
 uncovered he seizes the meat before him con- 
 tentedly. The repetition of these lessons by 
 degrees ensures success. His wants being 
 the chief principle of his dependence, it is 
 endeavoured to increase his appetite by giving 
 him little balls of flannel, which he greedily 
 swallows. Having thus excited the appetite, 
 care is taken to satisfy it ; and thus gratitude 
 attaches the bird to the man who but just be- 
 fore had been his tormentor. 
 
 When the first lessons have succeeded, and 
 the bird shows signs of docility, he is carried 
 out upon some green, the head is uncovered, 
 and, by flattering him with food at different 
 times, he is taught to jump on the fist, and to 
 continue there. When confirmed in this 
 habit, it is then thought time to make him ac- 
 quainted with the lure. This lure is only a 
 thing stuffed like the bird the falcon is de- 
 signed to pursue, such as a heron, a pigeon, 
 or a quail, and on this lure they always take 
 care to give him his food. It is quite neces- 
 
48 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS 
 
 sary that the bird should not only be make ac- 
 quainted with this, but fond of it, and deli- 
 cate in his food when shown it. When the 
 falcon has flown upon this, and tasted the first 
 morsel, some falconers then take it away; but 
 by this there is a danger of daunting the bird ; 
 and the surest method is, when he flies to seize 
 it, to let him feed at large, and this serves as 
 a recompense for his docility. The use of this 
 lure is to flatter him back when he has flown 
 in the air; wbich it sometimes fails to do; and 
 it is always requisite to assist it by the voice 
 and the signs o'f the master. When these 
 lessons have been long repeated, it is then ne- 
 cessary to study the character of the bird ; to 
 soeak frequently to him, if he be inattentive 
 to-tbe votpe*f to stint in his food such as do 
 not come- kindly or readily to the lure ; to keep 
 waking him, if he be not sufficiently familiar; 
 and to cover him frequently with the hood, if 
 he fears darkness. When the familiarity and 
 the docility of the bird are sufficiently con- 
 firmed on the green, he is then carried into 
 the open fields, but still kept fast by a string, 
 which is about twenty yards long. He is then 
 uncovered as before ; and the falconer, calling 
 him at some paces distance, shows him the 
 lure. When he flies upon it, he is permitted 
 to take a large morsel of the food which is 
 tied to it. The next day the lure is shown 
 him at a greater distance, till he comes at last 
 to fly to it at the utmost length of his string. 
 He is then to be shown the game itself alive, 
 but disabled or tame, which he is designed to 
 pursue. After having seized this several 
 times with his string, he is then left entirely 
 at liberty, and carried into the field for the 
 purpose of pursuing that which is wild. At 
 that he flies with avidity ; and when he has 
 seized it, or killed it, he is brought back by 
 the voice and the lure. 
 
 By this method of instruction, a hawk may 
 be taught to fly at any game whatsoever ; but 
 falconers have chiefly confined their pursuit 
 only to such animals as yield them profit by 
 the capture, or pleasure in the pursuit. The 
 hare, the partridge, and the quail, repay the 
 trouble of taking them ; but the most delight- 
 ful sport is the falcon's pursuit of the heron, 
 the kite, or the wood-lark. Instead of flying 
 directly forward, as some other birds do, these, 
 when they see themselves threatened by the 
 approach of the hawk, immediately take to 
 the skies. They fly almost perpendicularly 
 upward, while their ardent pursuer keeps 
 pace with their flight, and tries to rise above 
 them. Thus both diminish by degrees from 
 the gazing spectator below, till they are quite 
 lost in the clouds; but they are soon seen 
 descending, struggling together, and using 
 every effort on both sides ; the one of rapa- 
 cious insult, the other of desperate defence. 
 
 The unequal combat is soon at an end ; the 
 falcon comes off victorious, and the other, killed 
 or disabled, is made a prey either to the bird 
 or the sportsman. 
 
 As for other birds they are not so much 
 pursued, as they generally fly straight for- 
 ward, by which the sportsman loses sight of 
 the chase, and what is still worse, runs a 
 chance of losing his falcon also. The pur- 
 suit of the lark, by a couple of merlins, is 
 considered to him only who regards the saga- 
 city of the chase, as one of the most delightful 
 spectacles this exercise can afford. The amuse- 
 ment is to see one of the merlins climbing to 
 get the ascendant of the lark, while the other 
 lying low for the best advantage, waits the 
 success of its companion's efforts ; thus while 
 the one stoops to strike its prey, the other 
 seizes it at its coming down. 
 
 Such are the natural and acquired habits of 
 these birds, which, of all others, have the 
 greatest strength and courage relative to their 
 size. While the kite or the goshawk approach 
 their prey sideways, these dart perpendicu- 
 larly, in their wild state, upon their game, 
 and devour it on the spot, or carry it off, if 
 not too large for their power of flying. They 
 are sometimes seen descending perpendicu- 
 larly from the clouds, from an amazing height, 
 and darting down on their prey with inevit- 
 able swiftness and destruction. 
 
 The more ignoble race of birds make up 
 by cunning and assiduity what these claim by 
 force and celerity. Being less courageous, 
 they are more patient; and having less swift- 
 ness, they are better skilled at taking their 
 prey by surprise. The kite, that may be dis- 
 tinguished from all the rest of this tribe by 
 his forky tail and his slow floating motion, 
 seems almost for ever upon the wing. 1 He 
 
 1 The kite is variously diffused throughout England, 
 being a common bird in many parts of the country, and 
 rare in others. In all the wooded districts of the eastern 
 
 and midland counties it is abundant : it is also met with 
 in Westmoreland ; but is seldom seen in the northern 
 parts of Yorkshire, in Durham, or Northumberland. In 
 Scotland, it occurs plentifully in Aberdeenshire, and is 
 found also in the immediate vicinity of Loch Katerine, 
 
THE HAWK. 
 
 49 
 
 appears to rest himself upon the bosom of the 
 air, and not to make the smallest effort in fly- 
 ing. He lives only upon accidental carnage, 
 almost every bird in the air is able to make 
 good its retreat against him. He may be, 
 therefore, considered as an insidious thief, 
 who only prowls about, and when he finds a 
 small bird wounded or a young chicken stray- 
 ed too far from the mother, instantly seizes 
 the hour of calamity, and, like a famished 
 glutton, is sure to show no mercy. His 
 hunger, indeed, often urges him to acts of 
 seeming desperation. I have seen one of them 
 fly round and round for a while to mark a 
 clutch of chickens, and then on a sudden dart 
 like lightning upon the unresisting little ani- 
 mal, and carry it off, the hen in vain crying 
 out, and the boys hooting and casting stones 
 to scare it from its plunder. For this reason, 
 of all birds, the kite is the good housewife's 
 greatest tormentor and aversion. 
 
 Of all obscene birds, the kite is the best 
 known ; but the buzzard among us is the most 
 plenty. 1 He is a sluggish, inactive bird, and 
 
 and of Ben Lomond. It is proverbial for the ease and 
 gracefulness of its flight/ which generally consists of large 
 and sweeping circles, performed with a motionless wing, 
 or at least with a slight aud almost imperceptible stroke 
 of its pinions, and at very distant intervals. In this 
 manner, and directing its course by aid of the tail, 
 which acts as a rudder, and whose slightest motion pro- 
 duces effect, it frequently soars to such a height as to 
 become almost invisible to the human eye. The prey 
 of the kite consists of young game, leverets, rats, mice, 
 lizards, &c. which it takes by pouncing upon the ground. 
 It'is a great depredator in farm-yards after chickens, 
 young ducks, and goslings ; and is in consequence 
 bitterly retaliated upon as a common enemy in those 
 districts where it abounds. It will also, under the pres- 
 sure of hunger, devour offal and carrion, and has been 
 known to prey upon dead fish. It breeds early in the 
 spring, in extensive woods, generally making its nest 
 in the fork of a large tree. The nest is composed of 
 sticks, lined with wool, hair, and other soft materials. 
 The eggs are rather larger than those of a hen, and rarely 
 exceed three in number. They are of a grayish-white, 
 speckled with brownish- orange, principally at the larger 
 
 end; but sometimes they are found quite plain. 
 
 Abridged from Selby. 
 
 1 The common buzzard preys upon leverets, rabbits, 
 gHme, and small birds, all of which it pounces on the 
 VOL. II. 
 
 often remains perched whole days together 
 upon the same bough. He is rather an as- 
 sassin than a pursuer ; and lives more upon 
 frogs, mice, and insects, which he can easily 
 seize, than upon birds, which he is obliged to 
 follow. He lives in summer by robbing the 
 nests of other birds, and sucking their eggs, 
 and more resembles the owl kind in his coun- 
 tenance than any other rapacious bird of day. 
 His figure implies the stupidity of his disposi- 
 tion ; and so little is he capable of instruction 
 from man, that it is common to a proverb, to 
 call one who cannot be taught, or continues ' 
 obstinately ignorant, a buzzard. The honey- 
 buzzard, the moor-buzzard,; and the hen-har- 
 rier, are all of this stupid tribe, and differ"" 
 chiefly in their size, growing less^iifijl^jri^r 
 I have named them. The gosKawKand 
 sparrow-hawk are what Mr Willoughby calls 
 short-winged birds, and consequently unfit for 
 training, however injurious they may be to 
 the pigeon-house or the sportsman. They 
 have been indeed taught to fly at game ; but 
 little is to be obtained from their efforts, being 
 
 ground. It also devours moles and mice, and, when 
 pressed by hunger, will feed on reptiles and insects. It 
 breeds in woods, and forms its nest of sticks, lined with 
 wool, hay, and other materials, and will sometimes 
 occupy the deserted nest of a crow. The eggs are two 
 or three in number, larger than those of a hen, and are 
 white, either plain or spotted with reddish-brown. The 
 young, according to Pennant, remain in company with 
 the parent birds for some time after having quitted the 
 nest, a circumstance at variance with the usual habits 
 of birds of prey. It is common in all the wooded parts 
 of Europe, and according to Temminck, very abundant 
 in Holland. In France this bird is killed during the 
 winter for the sake of its flesh, which is esteemed deli- 
 cious eating. 
 
 The Rough-legged Buzzard is a rare British species, 
 and can only be considered as an occasional visitant. 
 Montagu mentions two or three instances of its having 
 been taken in the South of England. It is a native ol 
 Norway, and other northern countries of Europe, where 
 it frequents marshy districts, preying upon leverets, 
 hamsters, water-rats, moles, and frequently lizards and 
 frogs. According to Temminck, it builds in lofty trees, 
 and lays four white eggs, spotted with reddish-brown. 
 
 The Honey. Buzzard preys upon moles, mice, and 
 small birds, and on lizards and insects, particularly, 
 wasps, bees, witl their larvae, which should appear to be 
 their favourite food. Its flight is easy and graceful, and 
 it is frequently seen near pieces of water, on account of 
 the Libellulse, and other aquatic insects. It breeds in 
 lofty trees, forming a nest of twigs lined with wool, and 
 other soft materials. The eggs are small, in proportion 
 to the size of the bird, of a yellowish-white, marked with 
 numerous spots and stains of reddish-brown, sometime 
 so confluent as to make them appear almost entirely 
 brown. It is a native of eastern climes/ and according 
 to Temminck, is as rare in Holland as in England. In 
 the south of France it is more abundant, but migratory. 
 
 Allied to the Buzzards are the Harriers. They are 
 bolder and more active than the buzzards. They strike 
 their prey upon the ground, and generally fly very low. 
 
 The Marsh- Harriers abound in all the marshy dis- 
 tricts of England and Scotland, and, according to Mon- 
 tagu, are very numerous in Wales, where they prey upon 
 the rabbits that inhabit the sand-banks of the shores of 
 
 
50 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 difficult of instruction, and capricious in their 
 obedience. It has been lately asserted, how- 
 ever, by one whose authority is respectable, 
 that the sparrow-hawk is the boldest and the 
 best of all others for the pleasure of the chase. 1 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE BUTCHER-BIRD. 
 
 BEFORE I conclude this short history of rapa- 
 cious birds that prey by day, I must take 
 leave to describe a tribe of smaller .birds, that 
 seem from their size rather to be classed with 
 the harmless order of the sparrow kind ; but 
 that from their crooked beak, courage, and 
 
 appetites for slaughter, certainly deserve a 
 place here. 2 The lesser butcher-bird is not 
 much above the size of a lark ; that of the 
 smallest species is not so big as a sparrow ; 
 yet, diminutive as these little animals are, 
 they make themselves formidable to birds of 
 four times their dimensions. 
 
 The greater butcher-bird is about as large 
 as a thrush ; its bill is black, an inch long 
 and hooked at the end. This mark, together 
 with its carnivorous appetites, ranks it among 
 the rapacious birds ; at the same time that its legs 
 and feet, which are slender, and its toes, form- 
 ed somewhat differently from the former, would 
 seem to make it the shade between such birds 
 as live wholly upon flesh, and such as live 
 chiefly upon insects and grain. 
 
 Indeed, its habits seem entirely to corres- 
 
 Caermarthenshire. In Holland they are of course nu- 
 merous, from the nature of the country, arid rare in 
 Switzerland. 
 
 The Hen Harrier, though not very numerous, is 
 pretty generally found throughout Britain, frequenting 
 low marshy situations, or wide moors. The flight of the 
 hen-harrier is always low, but at the same time smooth 
 and buoyant. It is very destructive to game, which it 
 pounces upon the ground ; it also feeds upon small birds 
 and animals, lizards and frogs. It breeds on the open 
 wastes, and frequently in thick furze covers; the nest is 
 placed on the ground, and the eggs are four or five in 
 number, of a skim-milk white, round at each end, and 
 nearly as large as the marsh harrier's. The young males, 
 for the first year, are similar in appearance to the 
 females, after which they gradually assume the gray 
 plumage that distinguishes the adult. It is common in 
 France, Germany, and Holland, inhabiting the low and 
 flat districts; but in Switzerland, and all mountainous 
 countries, it is of rare occurrence. (For the American 
 Hen Harrier, see plate XVI. fig. 10.) 
 
 The Ash coloured Harrier The British Fauna is 
 indebted to the researches of Montagu for the discovery 
 of this new species of falcon. The resemblance it bears 
 to the hen harrier was without doubt the cause of its 
 remaining so long unnoticed as a separate species, having, 
 in all probability, when previously met with, been con- 
 sidered only as a variety of that bird. 
 
 The Ash-coloured harrier, is far from being numerous 
 in England. It skims along the surface of the ground 
 like the hen harrier, but with more rapid flight, and 
 more strikingly buoyant. Lives upon small birds^ liz- 
 ards, frogs, &c. Its nest is placed upon the ground, 
 amongst furze or low brushwood. The eggs are gen- 
 erally four, and of a pure white. According to Tem- 
 minck, it is found throughout Hungary, in Poland, Sil- 
 esia, and Austria. It is common also in Dalmatia and 
 the Illyrian provinces, but is of rare occurrence in Italy. 
 -Selby. 
 
 1 The Secretary Falcon, (see plate XVI. fig. 3.) an 
 inhabitant of the south of Africa, is a singular bird, for 
 whose natural history we are chiefly indebted to the 
 labours of M. le Vaillant. Its body, when standing erect, 
 is not much unlike the crane ; but its head, bill, and 
 claws, are precisely those of the falcon. The general 
 colour of the plumage is a bluish-ash. On the back of 
 the head are several long dark-coloured feathers, hanging 
 down behind, and which it can erect at pleasure. This 
 crest has induced the Dutch at the Cape to give it the 
 name of the secretary, from the resemblance they fancy 
 it has to the pen of a writer, when in the time of leisure 
 
 it is stuck behind the ear. The food to which this bird 
 is particularly attached consists of snakes and other rep- 
 tiles, for the destruction of which it is admirably fitted 
 by its organization. 
 
 2 The tribe of birds here noticed under the name of 
 butcher-birds are otherwise called shrikes. Shrikes are 
 spread 'over the entire globe, and everywhere exhibit 
 similar dispositions, habits, and modes of existence. Of 
 small size, but armed with a strong and crooked beak, of 
 a fierce and courageous disposition, and of a sanguinary 
 appetite, they bear much affinity to the birds of prey. 
 Naturally intrepid, they defend themselves vigorously, 
 and do not hesitate to attack birds much stronger and 
 larger than themselves. The European shrikes can 
 combat with advantage, pies, crows, and even kestrels. 
 They attack and pursue these birds with great ferocity, 
 if they dare to approach their nests. It is even suffi- 
 cient if any of them should pass within reach. The 
 male and female shrikes unite, fly forth, attack them 
 with loud cries, and pursue them with such fury, that 
 they often take to flight without daring to return. Even 
 kites, buzzards, and ravens will not willingly attack the 
 shrike. They are habitually insectivorous, and also pur- 
 sue small birds. They will cast themselves on thrushes, 
 blackbirds, &c., when these last are taken in a snare. 
 When they have seized a bird they open the cranium, 
 devour the brain, deplume the body, and tear it piece- 
 meal. The prudence to foresee and provide for the 
 wants of the future, is another of their qualities. That 
 they may not fail of those insects which form their sub- 
 sistence, and which only make their appearance at a de- 
 terminate epoch, some shrikes form kinds of magazines, 
 not in the hollows of trees, nor in the earth, but in the 
 open air. They stick their superabundant prey on 
 thorns, where they may find it again in the hour of need. 
 
 Falconers have taken the advantage ot the character 
 of these birds, and occasionally trained them to the 
 chase. Francis the First of France, according to the 
 account of Turner, was accustomed to hunt with a tame 
 shrike, which used to speak, and return upon the hand. 
 The Swedish hunters, availing themselves of the habit 
 of the gray shrike of uttering a peculiar sort of cry at the 
 approach of a hawk, make use of it to discover the birds 
 of prey which this kind of cry announces. 
 
 Though we have said that the shrike genus is exten- 
 ded over the entire globe, we believe South America 
 must be excepted. The South American birds which 
 have been called shrikes belong to other divisions, and 
 it would appear that this genus does not pass beyond the 
 Floridas, Louisiana, and the north of Mexico. 
 
THE BUTCHER BIRD. 
 
 51 
 
 pond with its conformation, as it is found to i 
 live as well upon flesh as upon insects, and 
 thus to partake, in some measure, of a double 
 nature. However, its appetite for flesh is the 
 most prevalent ; and it never takes up with 
 the former when it can obtain the latter. 
 This bird, therefore, leads a life of continual 
 combat and opposition. As from its size it 
 does not much terrify the smaller birds of the 
 forest, so it very frequently meets birds will- 
 ing to try its strength, and it never declines 
 the engagement. 
 
 It is wonderful to see with what intrepidity 
 this little creature goes to war with a pie, the 
 crow, and the kestrel, all above four times 
 bigger than itself, and that sometimes prey 
 upon flesh in the same manner. It not only 
 fights upon the defensive, but often comes to 
 the attack, and always with advantage, par- 
 ticularly when the male and female unite to 
 protect their young, and to drive away the 
 more powerful birds of rapine. At that sea- 
 son, they do not wait the approach of their in- 
 vader ; it is sufficient that they see him pre- 
 paring for the assault at a distance. It is 
 then that they sally forth with loud cries, 
 wound him on every side, and drive him off 
 with such fury, that he seldom ventures to re- 
 turn to the charge. In these kinds of dis- 
 putes, they generally come off with the vic- 
 tory ; though it sometimes happens that they 
 fall to the ground with the bird they have so 
 fiercely fixed upon, and the combat ends with 
 the destruction of the assailant as well as the 
 defender. 
 
 For this reason, the most redoubtable birds 
 of prey respect them ; while the kite, the buz- 
 zard, and the crow, seem rather to fear than 
 seek the engagement. Nothing in nature 
 better displays the respect paid to the claims 
 of courage than to see this little bird, appa- 
 rently so contemptible, fly in company with 
 the lanner, the falcon, and all the tyrants of 
 the air, without fearing their power, or avoid- 
 ing their resentment. 
 
 As for small birds, they are its usual food. 
 It seizes them by the throat and strangles them 
 in an instant. When it has thus killed the 
 bird or insect, it is asserted by the best autho- 
 rity, that it fixes them upon some neighbour 
 ing thorn, and, when thus spitted, pulls them 
 to pieces with its bill. It is supposed, that 
 as Nature has not given this bird strength 
 sufficient to tear its prey to pieces with its 
 feet, as the hawks do, it is obliged to have re- 
 course to this extraordinary, expedient. 1 
 
 1 The red-backed shrike or lesser butcher-bird is 
 about seven inches long. Its bill is black ; the head anc 
 lower part of the back, and coverts of the wings, are o: 
 a bright rusty red ; the breast, belly, and sides, are of a 
 fine pale rose or bloom-colour; the throat is white; a 
 stroke of black passes from the bill through each eye 
 
 During summer, such of them as constantly 
 reside here, for the smaller red butcher-bird 
 migrates, remain among the mountainous parts 
 of the country : but in winter they descend 
 nto the plains, and nearer human habitations. 
 The larger kind make their nests on the 
 lighest trees, while the lesser build in bushes 
 in the fields and hedge-rows. They both lay 
 about six eggs, of a white colour, but encircled 
 at the bigger end with a ring of brownish 
 red. The nest on the outside is composed of 
 white moss, interwoven with long grass ; with- 
 in it is well lined with wool, and is usually 
 fixed among the forking branches of a tree. 
 The female feeds her young with caterpillars 
 and other insects while very young ; but soon 
 after accustoms them to flesh, which the male 
 procures with surprising industry. Their 
 nature also is very different from other birds 
 of prey in their parental care ; for, so far from 
 driving out their young from the nest to shift 
 for themselves, they keep them with care ; 
 and even when adult they do not forsake 
 them, but the whole brood live in one family 
 together. Each family lives apart, and is 
 generally composed of the male, female, and 
 five or six young ones ; these all maintain 
 peace and subordination among each other, 
 and hunt in concert. Upon the returning 
 season of courtship, this union is at an end, 
 the family parts for ever, each to establish a 
 little household of its own. It is easy to dis- 
 tinguish these birds at a distance, not only 
 from their going in companies, but also from 
 their manner of flying, which is always up 
 and down, seldom direct or side-ways. 
 
 Of these birds there are three or four 
 different kinds ; but the greater ash-coloured 
 butcher-bird is the least known among us. 
 The red-backed butcher-bird migrates in 
 autumn, and does not return till spring. The 
 wood-chat resembles the former, except in the 
 colour of the back, which is brown, and not 
 red as in the other. There is still another, 
 less than either of the former, found in the 
 marshes near London. This too is a bird of 
 prey, although not much bigger than a tit- 
 mouse ; an evident proof that an animal's 
 courage or rapacity does not depend upon its 
 size. Of foreign birds of this kind there are 
 several ; but as we know little of their man- 
 ner of living we will not, instead of history, 
 
 the two middle feathers of the tail are black, the others 
 are white at the base ; the quills are of a brown colour ; 
 and the legs are black. The female, like all other birds 
 of prey, is larger than the male ; it builds its nest in 
 hedges or low bushes, and lays six white eggs, marked 
 with a reddish-brown circle towards the larger end. 
 This bird preys on young birds, which it takes in the 
 nest; it likewise feeds on grasshoppers and beetles. It 
 inhabits Great Britain, and various other temperate 
 countries of Europe. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 substitute mere description. In fact, the 
 colours of a bird, which is all we know of 
 them, would afford a reader but small enter- 
 tainment in the enumeration. Nothing can 
 be more easy than to fill volumes with the 
 different shades of a bird's plumage ; but 
 these accounts are written with more pleasure 
 than they are read ; and a single glance of a 
 good plate or a picture imprints a juster idea 
 than a volume could convey. 1 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF RAPACIOUS BIRDS OF THE OWL KIND, 
 THAT PREY BY NIGHT. 
 
 HITHERTO we have been describing a tribe 
 of animals who, though plunderers among 
 their fellows of the air, yet wage war boldly 
 in the face of day. We now come to a race 
 equally cruel and rapacious ; but who add to 
 their savage disposition, the further reproach 
 of treachery, and carry on all their depreda- 
 tions by night. 
 
 All birds of the owl kind may be con- 
 sidered as nocturnal robbers, who, unfitted for 
 taking their prey while it is light, surprise it 
 at those hours of rest, when the tribes of nature 
 are in the least expectation of an enemy. 
 Thus there seems no link in Nature's chain 
 broken : no where a dead inactive repose : but 
 every place, every season, every hour of the 
 day and night, is bustling with life, and fur- 
 nishing instances of industry, self-defence, and 
 invasion. 2 
 
 1 The great butcher-bird of America is said to stick 
 grasshoppers upon sharp thorns for the purpose, as is 
 supposed, of tempting the smaller birds into a situation 
 where it can easily dart out upon them and seize them. 
 
 2 The eye and ear of the owl are both admirably 
 adapted to its mode of life; in the former the pupil 
 being capable of great dilatation, and formed, by its 
 particular prominence, for collecting the horizontal and 
 
 'dim rays of twilight; and being also furnished with a 
 strong nictitating membrane, that serves, upon occasion, 
 to defend it from the glare of day, at the same time that 
 it allows the bird to see with sufficient distinctness for 
 avoiding any sudden danger or surprise. The external 
 orifices of the ears are very large and complex, gener- 
 ally furnished with a valve, and situated immediately 
 behind the eyes. In conseque'nce of this formation and 
 disposition, they are alive to the slightest noise, and 
 not even the rustling of a mouse can escape their notice. 
 The flight of the owl, when disturbed during the day, 
 is abrupt and unsteady, but, at night, it skims along in 
 search of its prey with great facility ; the delicate and 
 downy texture of its plumage, producing the peculiar 
 buoyancy which must have been generally remarked in 
 the flight of these birds. 
 
 The genus is usually divided into two sections; 
 horned or eared owls, such as have a tuft of elongated 
 feathers on each side of the forehead, and smooth headed 
 owls, or those destitute of the lengthened feathers. This 
 second section has been subdivided by some authors into 
 
 All birds of the owl kind have one corn- 
 mon mark by which they are distinguished 
 from others ; their eyes are formed for seeing 
 better in the dusk than in the broad glare of 
 
 a third, called accipitrine ; but as the gradation from 
 one to another is almost imperceptible, and the charac- 
 ters upon which they have attempted to establish this 
 subdivision are far from being distinct, it is quite suffi- 
 cient for the general purposes of science to adhere to the 
 two-fold division. 
 
 The British Fauna enumerates four species in each 
 section, of which two in the eared owls, and three in 
 the smooth-headed, are indigenous ; the others are but 
 occasional visitants. 
 
 Horned Owls. 
 
 Great-homed or Eagle Owl, 
 Long-eared Owl, 
 Short-eared Owl, 
 Little-horned Owl, 
 
 Snowy Owl, 
 Barn Owl, 
 Tawny Owl, 
 Little Owl, 
 
 Strix Bubo. 
 S Otus 
 S. Brachyotot. 
 S. Scops. 
 
 Smooth-headed Owls. 
 
 Strfx Nyctea. 
 S. Flammea. 
 S. Stridula. 
 S. Passerina. 
 
 Great-horned, or Eagle Owl. This species, which is 
 equal in size to some of the largest eagles, is of very 
 rare occurrence in Great Britain; and, in the few in- 
 
 
 
 stances on record, the birds can only be regarded as 
 wanderers, or compelled by tempest to cross the North- 
 ern ocean. It preys upon fauns, rabbits, the different 
 species of grouse, rats, &c. It builds amid rocks, or on 
 lofty trees, and lays two or three eggs, larger than those 
 of a hen, round at each end, and of a bluish-white col- 
 our. According to Temminck, it is common in Rus- 
 sia, Hungary, Germany, and Switzerland. It is also a 
 native of Africa, and the northern parts of the new 
 world. 
 
 Long-eared Owl The excellent mixture of colours 
 
 in this bird, and the imposing appearance of its long 
 tufts or ears, render it one of the most interesting of its 
 genus. Though not so numerous as the barn, or the 
 
THE OWL. 
 
 sun-shine. As in the eyes of tigers and cats, 
 that are formed for a life of nocturnal depre- 
 dation, there is a quality in the retina that 
 takes in the rays of light so copiously as to 
 
 tawny owl, it is found in most of the wooded districts of 
 England and Scotland. Plantations of fir, particularly 
 of the spruce kind, are its favourite haunts, as in these 
 it finds a secure and sheltered retreat during the day. It 
 also frequently inhabits thick holly or ivy bushes, whose 
 evergreen foliage ensures a similar retirement. It is 
 an indigenous species, and breeds early in spring ; not 
 making any nest of its own, but taking possession of that 
 of a magpie or crow. The eggs are generally four or 
 five in number, white, and rather larger and rounder 
 than those of the ring-dove. When first excluded, the 
 young birds are covered with a fine and closely set white 
 down ; they remain in the nest for more than a month 
 before they are able to fly. If disturbed and handled, 
 they hiss violently, strike with their talons, and, at the 
 same time, make a snapping noise with their bills. 
 When they quit the nest, they take up their abode in 
 some adjoining tree, and, for many subsequent days, 
 may be heard, after sunset, uttering a plaintive but loud 
 call for food ; during which time the parent birds may 
 be seen diligently employed in hawking for prey. Mice 
 and moles form the principal part of their provender ; 
 though Montagu says, that they sometimes take small 
 birds on the roost. It is pretty generally diffused 
 throughout Europe ; and in North America is found to 
 inhabit the woods at a distance from the sea. It has 
 been observed as far northward as Hudson's Bay. 
 
 Short-eared Owl. The birds of this species are only 
 to be met with in England, between the months of Octo- 
 ber and April, as they migrate on the approach of spring, 
 to the northern islands of Scotland, where they breed. 
 Mr Low, in his Fauna, Orcadensis, mentions this owl as 
 being very frequent in the hills of Hoy, where it builds 
 its nest amongst the heath. It is there of great bold- 
 ness, and has been seen to chase pigeons in the open 
 day. In a nest, which contained two full-fledged young 
 ones, he found the remains of a moor-fowl, and two 
 plovers, besides the feet of several others. In this 
 country they generally remain concealed in long grass, 
 or in rushy places, upon waste ground, or moors. In 
 autumn, they are often met with in turnip fields, but are 
 seldom seen in plantations ; nor do they ever attempt to 
 perch upon a tree. Five or six of these birds are fre- 
 quently found roosting together ; from which circum- 
 stance it is probable that they migrate in families. 
 Montagu thinks that this may arise from the abundance 
 of food they meet with in the places where they are thus 
 collected, but the truth of this supposition may be doubt- 
 ed, from the fact of their being seldom met with during 
 two days together in the same place. The head of this 
 owl being smaller than the generality of its fellow spe- 
 cies, has procured it, in some parts, the name of hawk 
 owl, or mouse hawk. Many ornithologists have been in 
 doubt respecting it, and the synonymes are consequently 
 in some confusion and obscurity. This owl is of wide 
 locality, being met with in Siberia, and in many parts of 
 North America; and specimens are also mentioned as 
 having been brought from the Sandwich Islands. 
 
 The Scops-eared Owl. It is very common in the 
 warmer parts of Europe during the summer months, but 
 regularly leaves them on the approach of autumn, for 
 regions itear to the equator. In France, it arrives and 
 departs with the swallow. Its favourite residence in 
 italy, according to Spallanzani, is in the lower wooded 
 regions. Field and shrew mice, insects, and earth- 
 worms, are its food, in quest of which it sallies forth at 
 night-fall, uttering at the same time its cry, which re- 
 sembles the word chivi, and whence, in some districts, 
 
 permit their seeing in places almost quite 
 dark ; so in these birds there is the same con- 
 formation of that organ, and though, like us, 
 they cannot see in a total exclusion of light, 
 
 it has acquired the name of Chevini. It constructs no 
 nest, but deposits five or six eggs in the hollow of a tree. 
 Snowy Owl. It is only within these few years past, 
 that this noble and beautiful owl has been established as 
 indigenous in Great Britain. In a^^ir^ made to the 
 Orkney and Shetland Isles, in the "y^fcsiS, Mr Bul- 
 lock, the late proprietor of the Lond^ Iv useum, met 
 with it in both groups of islands ; and it is now ascer- 
 tained that the species is resident, and breeds there. It 
 
 is common in the regions of the arctic circle even inha- 
 biting the frozen coasts of Greenland. Is very numer- 
 ous on the shores of Hudson's Bay, in Norway, Sweden, 
 and Lapland ; but of very rare occurrence in the tem- 
 perate parts ot 1 Europe and America. 
 
 Barn or White Owl. This is the most common of 
 the British species, and is found in every part of the 
 kingdom. It is an inhabitant of ruins, church-towers, 
 
 barns and other buildings, where it is not liable to con- ' 
 tinual interruption ; and is of essential service in check- 
 ing the breed of the common and shrew mouse, upon 
 which it subsists. On the approach of twilight it may 
 frequently be seen issuing from its retreat to the adjoin- 
 ing meadows and hedge-banks in search of food, hunt- 
 ing with great regularity*, and precipitating itself upon 
 its prey with rapidity and unerring aim. This it swal- 
 lows whole, and without any attempt to tear it in pieces 
 with its claws. It breeds in old towers, under the 
 eaves of churches, or in similar quiet places, and some- 
 times in the hollows of trees, laying from three to five 
 eggs, of a bluish-white colour. The young, when first 
 from the shell, are covered with white down, and are a 
 long time in becoming fully fledged, or in being able to 
 quit the nest. Like the other species of owls, it ejects 
 the hair, bones, and other indigestible parts of its food, in 
 oval pellets, by the mouth. These castings are often found 
 in great quantities in places where these birds have long 
 resorted. In its flight it occasionally utters loud screams. 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 yet they are sufficiently quick-sighted, at 
 times when we remain in total obscurity. In 
 the eyes of all animals, Nature hath made a 
 complete provision, either to shut out too 
 much light, or to admit a sufficiency, by the 
 contraction and dilatation of the pupil. In 
 these birds the pupil is capable of opening 
 very wide, or shutting very close ; by con- 
 tracting the pupil, the brighter light of the 
 day, which would act too powerfully upon the 
 sensibility of the retina, is excluded ; by 
 dilating the pupil, the animal takes in the 
 more faint rays of the night, and thereby is 
 enabled to spy its prey, and catch it with 
 greater facility in the dark. Besides this, 
 there is an irradiation on the back of the eye, 
 and the very iris itself has a faculty of reflect- 
 ing the rays of light, so as to assist vision in 
 the gloomy places where these birds are found 
 to frequent. 
 
 and when perched, hisses and snores considerably. It 
 is an abundant species throughout Europe and Asia, and 
 Temminck says it is the same throughout North Ameri- 
 ca. It is easily domesticated, and will become very 
 tame when taken young. Montagu reared a white owl, 
 a sparrow-hawk, and a ring-dove together, who lived in 
 great harmony for six months. They were then set at 
 liberty ; and the owl was the only one of the three that 
 returned. 
 
 Next to the white or barn owl, the Tawny Owl is the 
 most abundant of the British species,* and is, like the 
 former, generally dispersed throughout the kingdom ; 
 liut is most readily to be met with in well-wooded dis- 
 tricts, as it takes up its abode in woods and thick planta- 
 tions, preferring those which abound in firs and holly, 
 or ity bushes. In such situations it remains concealed 
 till night-fall, as it is very impatient of the glare of day, 
 and sees, indeed, imperfectly during that time. It 
 builds in the cavities of old trees, or will occupy the 
 deserted nest of a crow, and produces four or five white 
 eggs, of an elliptical shape. The young, on their ex- 
 clusion, are covered with a grayish down, and are easily 
 tamed, when fed by the hand; but Montagu observes, 
 that if placed out of doors within hearing of their parents, 
 they retain their native shyness, as the old birds visit 
 them at night, and supply them with abundance of food. 
 They prey upon rats, mice, moles, rabbits, and young 
 leverets, and are sometimes destructive to pigeons, 
 entering the dovecots, and committing great havock. 
 At night this species is very clamorous, and is easily to 
 be known from the others by its hooting, in the utter- 
 ance of which sounds its throat is largely inflated. 
 
 Little Owl. This diminutive species is only an 
 occasional visitant in England, and that but very rarely. 
 According to Temminck, it is never found in Europe 
 beyond the 55th degree of north latitude ; but in the 
 warmer regions of this quarter of the globe it is very 
 common. It inhabits ruins, church-towers, and similar 
 old Imildings, and in such it also breeds. The eggs 
 are four or five in number, of a round shape, and white, 
 like those of most of the other species. It is of a wild 
 arid fierce disposition, and not capable of being tamed 
 like the little horned or scops eared owl. It sometimes 
 preys by day, and, from having been seen to pursue 
 swallows, must be strong and rapid on the wing. Its 
 
 prey consists of mice, small birds, and insects. Selbys 
 
 Ornithology. 
 
 * Sir William Jiirdine considers the long-eared owl to be 
 more frequently met with thfln the tawny owl, especially in 
 the south of Scotland. The long enred owl is more common 
 m America than even the barn owl. 
 
 But though owls are dazzled by too bright 
 a day-light, yet they do not see best in the 
 darkest nights, as some have been apt to 
 imagine. It is in the dusk of the evening, 
 or the gray of the morning, that they are best 
 fitted for seeing, at those seasons when there 
 is neither too much light, nor too little. It is 
 then that they issue from their retreats, to 
 hunt or to surprise their prey, which is usually 
 attended with great success : it is then that 
 they find all other birds asleep, or preparing 
 for repose, and they have only to seize the 
 most unguarded. 
 
 The nights when the moon shines are the 
 times of their most successful plunder ; for 
 when it is wholly dark, they are less qualified 
 for seeing and pursuing their prey : except, 
 therefore, by moonlight, they contract the 
 hours of their chase ; a.nd if they come out at 
 the approach of dusk in the evening, they re- 
 turn before it is totally dark, and then rise 
 by twilight the next morning to pursue their 
 game, and to return in like manner, before 
 the broad day-light begins to dazzle them with 
 its splendour. 
 
 Yet the faculty of seeing in the night, or of 
 being entirely dazzled by the day, is not 
 alike in every species of these nocturnal birds : 
 some see by night better than others ; and 
 some are so little dazzled by day-light, that 
 they perceive their enemies, and avoid them. 
 The common white or barn owl, for instance, 
 sees with such exquisite acuteness in the 
 dark, that though the barn has been shut at 
 night, and the light thus totally excluded, yet 
 it perceives the smallest mouse that peeps 
 from its hole : on the contrary, the brown 
 horned owl is often seen to prowl along the 
 hedges by day, like the sparroiv-hawk ; and 
 sometimes with good success. 
 
 A 11 birds of the owl kind may be divided 
 into two sorts ; those that have horns, and 
 those without. These horns are nothing more 
 than two or three feathers that stand upon each 
 side of the head over the ear, and give this 
 animal a kind of horned appearance. Of the 
 horned kind is, the Great Horned Owl, which 
 at first view appears as large as an eagle. 
 When he comes to be observed more closely, 
 however, he will be found much less. His 
 legs, body, wings, and tail, are shorter ; his 
 head much larger and thicker ; his horns are 
 composed of feathers that rise above two inches 
 and a half high, and which he can erect or 
 depress at pleasure: his eyes are large and 
 transparent, encircled with an orange-coloured 
 iris : his ears are large and deep, and it would 
 appear that no animal was possessed with a 
 more exquisite sense of hearing ; his plumage 
 is of a reddish brown, marked on the back 
 with black and yellow spots, and yellow only 
 upon the belly. 
 
THE OWL. 
 
 55 
 
 Next to this is the Common Horned Owl, 
 of a much smaller size than the former, and 
 with horns much shorter. As the great owl 
 was five feet from the tip of one wing to the 
 other, this is but three. The horns are but 
 about an inch long, and consist of six feathers, 
 variegated with black and yellow. 
 
 There is still a smaller kind of the horned 
 owl, which is not much larger than a black- 
 bird ; and whose horns are remarkably short, 
 being composed but of one feather, and that 
 not above half an inch high. 
 
 To these succeeds the tribe without horns. 
 The HOWLET, which is the largest of this kind, 
 with dusky plumes and black eyes ; the 
 SCREECH OWL, of a smaller size, with blue eyes, 
 and plumage of an iron gray ; the WHITE OWL, 
 about as large as the former, with yellow eyes 
 and whitish plumage ; the GREAT BROWN OWL, 
 less than the former, with brown plumage and 
 a brown beak ; and lastly, the LITTLE BROWN 
 OWL, with yellowish coloured eyes, and an 
 orange-coloured bill. To this catalogue might 
 be added others of foreign denominations, which 
 differ but little from our own, if we except the 
 
 HARFANG,Or GREAT HUDSON'S BAY OWL of Edwards, 
 
 which is the largest of all the nocturnal tribe, 
 and as white as the snows of the country of 
 which he is a native. 1 
 
 All this tribe of animals, however they may 
 differ in their size and plumage, agree in their 
 general characteristics of preying by night, 
 and having their eyes formed for nocturnal 
 vision. Their bodies are strong and muscu- 
 lar ; their feet and claws made for tearing 
 their prey ; and their stomachs for digesting 
 it. It must be remarked, however, that the 
 digestion of all birds that live upon mice, liz- 
 ards, or such like food, is not very perfect ; for 
 though they swallow them whole, yet they 
 are always seen some time after to disgorge 
 the skin and bones, rolled up in a pellet, as 
 being indigestible. 
 
 In proportion as each of these animals bears 
 the daylight best, he sets forward earlier in 
 the evening in pursuit of his prey. The great 
 horned owl is the foremost in leaving his re- 
 treat ; and ventures into the woods and thickets 
 very soon in the evening. The horned, and 
 the brown owl, are later in their excursions : 
 but the barn-owl seems to see best in profound 
 darkness, and seldom leaves his hiding-place 
 till midnight. 
 
 As they are incapable of supporting the 
 light of the day, or at least of then seeing and 
 readily avoiding their danger, they keep all 
 this time concealed in some obscure retreat, 
 suited to their gloomy appetites, and there 
 
 1 For the mottled owl, see plate XVI. fig. 11 ; for 
 Dalhousie's owl, see plate XV. fig. 4. Wilson has des- 
 cribed the former of these, and other owls common to 
 America, with his usual animation. 
 
 continue in solitude and silence. The cavern 
 of a rock, the darkest part of a hollow tree, 
 the battlements of a ruined and unfrequented 
 castle, some obscure hole in a farmer's out- 
 house, are the places where they are usually 
 found : if they be seen out of these retreats 
 in the da,y-time, they may be considered as 
 having lost their way ; as having by s'ome 
 accident been thrown into the midst of their 
 enemies and surrounded with danger. 
 
 Having spent the day in their retreat, at 
 the approach of evening they sally forth, and 
 skim rapidly up and down along the hedges. 
 The barn-owl, indeed, who lives chiefly upon 
 mice, is contented to be more stationary : he 
 takes his residence upon some shock of corn, 
 or the point of some old house ; and there 
 watches in the dark, with the utmost perspi 
 cacity and perseverance. 
 
 Nor are these birds by any means silent ; 
 they all have a hideous note ; which, while 
 pursuing their prey, is seldom heard ; but may 
 be considered rather as a call to courtship. 
 There is something always terrifying in this 
 call, which is often heard in the silence of 
 midnight, and breaks the general pause with 
 a horrid variation. It is different in all ; 
 but in each it is alarming and disagreeable. 
 Father Kircher, who has set the voices of birds 
 to music, has given all the tones of the owl 
 note, which make a most tremendous melody. 
 Indeed, the prejudices of mankind are united 
 with their sensations to make the cry of the 
 owl disagreeable. The screech-owl's voice 
 was always considered among the people as a 
 presage of some sad calamity that was soon 
 to ensue. 2 
 
 2 " Up to the year 1813, the barn owl had a sad time 
 of it at Walton Hall. Its supposed mournful notes 
 alarmed the aged housekeeper. She knew full well what 
 sorrow it had brought into other houses when she was 
 a young woman ; and there was enough of mischief in 
 the midnight wintry blast, without having it increased 
 by the dismal screams of something which people knew 
 very little about, and which every body said was far too 
 busy in the church-yard at night time. Nay, it was a 
 well-known fact, that, if any person were sick in the 
 neighbourhood, it would be tor ever looking in at the 
 window, and holding a conversation outside with some- 
 body, they did not know whom. The gamekeeper agreed 
 with her in everything she said on this important sub- 
 ject; and he always stood better in her books when he 
 had managed to shoot a bird of this bad and mischievous 
 family. However, in 1813, on my return from the wilds 
 of Guiana, having suffered myself, and learned mercy, 
 I broke in pieces the code of penal laws which the knavery 
 of the gamekeeper arid the lamentable ignorance of the 
 other servants had hitherto put in force, far too success- 
 fully, to thin the numbers of this poor, harmless, unsus- 
 pecting tribe. On the ruin of the old gateway, against 
 which tradition says the waves of the lake have dashed 
 for the better part of a thousand years, I made a place 
 with stone and mortar, about four feet square, and fixed 
 a thick oaken stick firmly into it. Huge masses of ivy 
 now quite cover it. In about a month or so after it was 
 finished, a pair of barn owls came and took up their abode 
 in it. I threatened to strangle the keeper if ever after 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS 
 
 They seldom, however, are heard while 
 they are preying ; that important pursuit is 
 always attended with silence, as it is by no 
 means their intention to disturb or forewarn 
 
 this he molested either the old birds or their young ones; 
 and I assured the housekeeper that I would take upon 
 myself the whole responsibility of all the sickness, woe, 
 and sorrow that the new tenants might bring into the 
 hall. She made a low courtesy; as much as to say," Sir, 
 I fall into your will and pleasure:" but I saw in her eye 
 that she had made up her mind to have to do with things 
 of fearful and portentous shape, and to hear many a mid- 
 night wailing in the surrounding woods. I do not think 
 that up to the day of this old lady's death, which took 
 place in her eighty-fourth year, she ever looked with 
 pleasure or contentment on the barn owl, as it flew round 
 the large sycamore trees which grow near the old ruined 
 gateway. 
 
 " When I found that this first settlement on the gate- 
 way had succeeded so well, I set about forming other 
 establishments. This year I have had four broods, and 
 I trust that next season I can calculate on having nine. 
 This will be a pretty increase, and it will help to supply 
 the place of those which in this neighbourhood are still 
 unfortunately doomed to death by the hand of cruelty or 
 superstition. We can now always have a peep at the 
 owls, in their habitation on the old ruined gateway, 
 whenever we choose. Confident of protection, these 
 pretty birds betray no fear when the stranger mounts up 
 to their place of abode. I would here venture a surmise, 
 that the barn owl sleeps standing. Whenever we go to 
 look at it, we invariably see it upon the perch bolt up- 
 right, and often with its eyes closed, apparently fast 
 asleep. Buflbn and Bewick err (no doubt unintention- 
 ally) when they say that the barn owl snores during its 
 repose. What they took for snoring was the cry of the 
 young birds for food. I had fully satisfied myself on this 
 score some years ago. However, in December, 1823, 
 I was much astonished to hear this same snoring kind of 
 noise, which had been so common in the month of July. 
 On ascending the ruin, I found a brood of young owls 
 in the apartment. 
 
 Upon this ruin is placed a perch, about afoot from the 
 hole at which the owls enter. Sometimes, at mid-day, 
 when the weather is gloomy, you may see an owl upon 
 it, apparently enjoying the refreshing diurnal breeze. 
 This year (1831) a pair of barn owls hatched their young 
 on the 17th of September, in a sycamore tree near the 
 old ruined gateway. 
 
 " If this useful bird caught its food by day, instead of 
 hunting for it by night, mankind would have ocular de- 
 monstration of its utility in thinning the country of 
 mice, and it would be protected and encouraged every- 
 where. It would be with us what the ibis was with the 
 Egyptians. When it has young, it will bring a mouse 
 to the nest about every twelve or fifteen minutes. But, 
 in order to have a proper idea of the enormous quantity 
 of mice which this bird destroys, we must examine the 
 pellets which it ejects from its stomach in the place of 
 its retreat. Every pellet contains from four to seven 
 skeletons of mice. In sixteen months from the time 
 that the apartment of the owl .on the old gateway was 
 cleaned out, there has been a deposit of a bushel of pellets. 
 
 " The barn owl sometimes carries ofi'rats. One even- 
 ing I was sitting under a shed, and killed a very large 
 rat as it was coming out of a hole, about ten yards from 
 where I was watching it. I did not go to take it up, 
 hoping to get another shot. As it lay there, a barn owl 
 pounced upon it, and flew away with it. 
 
 "This bird has been known to catch fish. Some years 
 ago, on a fine evening in the month of July, long before 
 it was dark, as I was standing on the middle of the 
 bridge, and minuting the owl by my watch, as she 
 
 those little animals they wish to surprise. 
 When their pursuit has been successful, they 
 soon return to their solitude, or to their young, 
 if that be the season. If, however, they find 
 
 brought mice into her nest, all on a sudden she dropped 
 perpendicular into the water. Thinking that she had 
 fallen down in epilepsy, my first thoughts were to go and 
 fetch the boat ; but before I had well got to the end of 
 the bridge, I saw the owl rise out of the water with a 
 fish in her claws, and take it to the nest. This fact is 
 mentioned by the late much revered and lamented Mr. 
 Atkinson of Leeds, in his compendium, in a note, under 
 the signature of W., a friend of his, to whom I had com- 
 municated it in a few days after I had witnessed it. 
 
 " I cannot make up my mind to pay any attention to 
 the description of the amours of the owl by a modern 
 writer ; at least the barn owl plays off* no buffooneries 
 here, such as those which he describes. An owl is an 
 owl all the world over, whether under the influence of 
 Momus, Venus, or Diana. 
 
 " When farmers complain that the barn owl destroys 
 the eggs of their pigeons, they lay the saddle on the. 
 wrong horse. They ought to put it on the rat. Formerly 
 I could get very few young pigeons till the rats were 
 excluded effectually from the dovecot. Since that took 
 place, it has produced a great abundance every year, 
 though the barn owls frequent it, and are encouraged all 
 around it. The barn owl merely resorts to it for repose 
 and concealment. If it were really an enemy to the 
 dovecot, we should see the pigeons in commotion as soon 
 as it begins its evening flight; but the pigeons heed it 
 not: whereas if the sparrow hawk or windhover should 
 make their appearance, the whole community would be 
 up at once, proof sufficient that the barn owl is not looked 
 upon as a bad, or even a suspicious character, by the in- 
 habitants of the dovecot. 
 
 " Till lately, a great and well-known distinction has 
 always been made betwixt the screeching and the hooting 
 of owls. The tawny owl is the only owl which hoots ; 
 and when I am in the woods after poachers, about an 
 hour before daybreak, I hear with extreme delight its 
 loud, clear, and sonorous notes, resounding far and near 
 through hill and dale. Very different from these notes 
 is the screech of the barn owl. But Sir William Jar- 
 dine informs us that this owl hcots ; and that he has shot 
 it in the act of hooting. This is stiff authority; and I 
 believe it because it comes from the pen of Sir William 
 Jardine. Still, however, methinks that it ought to be 
 taken in a somewhat diluted state ; we know full well 
 that most extraordinary examples of splendid talent do, 
 from time to time, make their appearance on the world's 
 wide stage. Thus, Franklin brought down fire from the 
 skies: " En'puit fulmen coelo, sceptrumque tyrannis." 
 Paganini has led all London captive, by a piece of twisted 
 catgut : " Tu potes reges comitesque stultos ducere." 
 Leibnitz tells us of a dog in Germany Jhat could pro- 
 nounce distinctly thirty words ; Goldsmith informs us 
 that he once heard a raven whistle the tune of the " Sham- 
 rock," with great distinctness, truth, and humour. With 
 these splendid examples before our eyes, may we not be 
 inclined to suppose that the barn owl which Sir William 
 shot in the absolute act of hooting may have been a gifted 
 bird, of superior parts and knowledge (una de multis, as 
 Horace said of Miss Danaus,) endowed, perhaps, from 
 its early days with the faculty of hooting, or else skilled 
 in the art by having been taught it by its neighbour, the 
 tawny owl ? I beg to remark that, though I unhesitat- 
 ingly grant the faculty of hooting to this one particular 
 individual owl, still I flatly refuse to believe that hooting 
 is common to barn owls in general. Ovid, in his sixth 
 book Fastorum, pointedly says that it screeched in his 
 days 
 
THE OWL. 
 
 57 
 
 but little game, they continue their quest still 
 longer ; and it sometimes happens that, obey- 
 ing the dictates of appetite rather than of pru- 
 dence, they pursue so long, that broad day 
 breaks in upon them, and leaves them dazzled, 
 bewildered, and at a distance from home. 
 
 In this distress they are obliged to take 
 shelter in the first tree or hedge that offers, 
 there to continue concealed all day, till the 
 returning darkness once more supplies them 
 with a better plan of die country. But it too 
 often happens that, with all their precaution 
 to conceal themselves, they are spied out by 
 the other birds of the place, and are sure to 
 receive no mercy. The blackbird, the thrush, 
 the jay, the bunting, and the red-breast, all 
 come in file, and employ their little arts of in- 
 sult and abuse. The smallest, the feeblest, 
 and the most contemptible of this unfortunate 
 bird's enemies, are then the foremost to injure 
 and torment him. They increase their cries 
 and turbulence round him, flap him with their 
 wings, and are ready to show their courage to 
 be great, as they are sensible that their danger 
 is but small. The unfortunate owl, not know- 
 ing where to attack or where to fly, patiently 
 sits and suffers all their insults. Astonished 
 and dizzy, he only replies to their mockeries 
 by awkward and ridiculous gestures, by turn- 
 ing his head and rolling his eyes with an air 
 of stupidity. It is enough that an owl appears 
 by day to set the whole grove into a kin of 
 uproar. Either the aversion all the small birds 
 have to this animal, or the consciousness of 
 their own security, makes them pursue him 
 without ceasing, while they encourage each 
 other by their mutual cries to lend assistance 
 in this laudable undertaking. 
 
 " Est illis strigibus nomen : sod nominis hujus 
 Causa, quod liorrenda stridere nocte solent." 
 
 The barn owl may be heard shrieking here perpetually 
 on the portico, and in the large sycamore trees near the 
 house. It shrieks equally when the moon shines, and 
 when the night is rough and cloudy ; and he who takes 
 an interest in it may here see the barn owl the night 
 through when there is a moon ; and he may hear it 
 shriek when perching on the trees, or when it is on wing. 
 He may see it and hear it shriek, within a few yards of 
 him, long before dark; and again, often after daybreak, 
 before it takes its final departure to its wonted resting- 
 place. I am amply repaid for the pains I have taken to 
 protect and encourage the barn o\vl ; it pays me a hun- 
 dredfold by the enormous quantity of mice which it des- 
 troys throughout the year. The servants now no longer 
 wish to persecute it. Often, on a fine summer's even- 
 ing, with delight I see the villagers loitering under the 
 sycamore trees longer than they would otherwise do, to 
 have a peep at the bam owl, as it leaves the ivy-mantled 
 tower: fortunate for it, if, in lien of exposing itself to 
 danger, by mixing with the world at large, it only knew 
 the advantage of passing its nights at home; for here 
 
 " No birds that-haunt my valley free 
 
 To slaughter I condemn ; 
 Taught by the Power that pities me, 
 
 I learn to pity them," 
 VOL. II. 
 
 It sometimes happens, however, that the 
 little birds pursue their insults with the same 
 imprudent zeal with which the owl himself 
 had pursued his depredations. They hunt 
 him the whole day until evening returns ; 
 which restoring him his faculties of sight once 
 more, he makes the foremost of his pursuers 
 pay dear for their former sport. Nor is man 
 always an unconcerned spectator here. The 
 bird-catchers have got on an art of counterfeit- 
 ing the cry of the owl exactly ; and having 
 before limed the branches of a hedge, they sit 
 unseen, and give the call. At this, all" the 
 little birds flock to the place where they expect 
 to find their well-known enemy ; but instead of 
 finding their stupid antagonist they are stuck 
 fast to the hedge themselves. This sport must 
 be put in practice an hour before night-fall, in 
 order to be successful ; for if it is put off till 
 later, those birds which but a few minutes 
 sooner came to provoke their enemy, will then 
 fly from him with as much terror as they just 
 before showed insolence. 
 
 It is not unpleasant to see one stupid bird 
 made, in some sort, a decoy to deceive another. 
 The great horned owl is sometimes made use 
 of for this purpose to lure the kite, when fal- 
 coners desire to catch him for the purposes of 
 training the falcon. Upon this occasion they 
 clap the tail of a fox to the great owl, to render 
 his figure extraordinary ; in which trim he 
 sails slowly along, flying low, which is his 
 usual manner. The kite, either curious to 
 observe this odd kind of animal, or perhaps in- 
 quisitive to see whether it may not be proper 
 for food, flies after, and comes nearer and 
 nearer. In this manner he continues to hover, 
 and sometimes to descend, till the falconer 
 setting a strong-winged hawk against him, 
 seizes him for the purpose of training his young 
 ones at home. 
 
 The usual place where the great horned owl 
 breeds is in the cavern of a rock, the hollow 
 of a tree, or the turret of some ruined castle. 
 Its nest is near three feet in diameter, and 
 composed of sticks, bound together by the 
 fibrous roots of trees, and lined with leaves on 
 the inside. It lays about three eggs, which 
 are larger than those of a hen, and of a colour 
 somewhat resembling the bird itself. The 
 young ones are very voracious, and the parents 
 not less expert at satisfying the call of hunger. 
 The lesser owl of this kind never makes a nest 
 for itself, but always takes up with the old 
 nest of some other bird, which it has often 
 been forced to abandon. It lays four or five 
 eggs ; and the young are all white at first, but 
 change colour in about a fortnight. The other 
 owls in general build near the place where 
 they chiefly prey ; that which feeds upon birds, 
 in some neighbouring grove ; that which preys 
 chiefly upon mice, near some farmer's yard, 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 where the proprietor of the place takes care to 
 give it perfect security. In fact, whatever 
 mischief one species of owl may do in the 
 woods, the barn owl makes a sufficient recom- 
 pense for, by being equally active in destroy- 
 ing mice nearer home ; so that a single owl is 
 said to be more serviceable than half a dozen 
 cats, in ridding the barn of its domestic ver- 
 min. " In the year 1580," says an old writer, 
 " at Hallontide, an army of mice so over- 
 run the marshes near Southminster, that they 
 eat up the grass to the very roots. But at 
 length a great number of strange painted owls 
 came and devoured all the mice." The like 
 happened again in Essex about sixty years 
 after. 
 
 To conclude our account of these birds, 
 they are all very shy of man, and extremely 
 
 indocile and difficult to be tamed. The white 
 owl in particular, as Mr Buffon asserts, can- 
 not be made to live in captivity ; I suppose 
 he means, if it be taken when old. " They 
 live," says he, " ten or twelve days in the 
 aviary where they are shut up ; but they re- 
 fuse all kind of nourishment, and at last die 
 of hunger. By day they remain without 
 moving upon the floor of the aviary ; in the 
 evening they mount on the highest perch, 
 where they continue to make a noise like a 
 man snoring with his mouth open. This 
 seems designed as a call for their old compa- 
 nions without ; and, in fact, I have seen seve- 
 ral others come to the call, and perch upon the 
 roof of the aviary, where they made the same 
 kind of hissing, and soon after permitted them- 
 selves to be taken in a net." 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE POULTRY KIND IN GENERAL. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE POULTRY KIND 
 IN GENERAL. 
 
 FROM the most rapacious and noxious tribe 
 of birds, we make a transition to those which 
 of all others are most harmless, and the most 
 serviceable to man. He may force the rapa- 
 cious tribes to assist his pleasures in the field, 
 or induce the smaller warblers to delight him 
 with their singing ; but it is from the poultry 
 kind that he derives the most solid advanta- 
 ges, as they not only make a considerable ad- 
 dition to the necessaries of life, but furnish out 
 the greatest delicacies to every entertainment. 
 Almost, if not all, the domestic birds of the 
 poultry kind that we maintain in our yards, 
 are of foreign extraction ; but there are others 
 to be ranked in this class that are as yet in a 
 state of nature ; and perhaps only wait till 
 they become sufficiently scarce to be taken 
 under the care of man, to multiply their pro- 
 pagation. It will appear remarkable enough, 
 if we consider how much the tame poultry 
 which we have imported from distant climates 
 has increased, and how much those wild bird.' 
 of the poultry kind that have never yet been 
 taken into keeping have been diminished and 
 destroyed. They are all thinned ; and many 
 of the species, especially in the more cultiva- 
 ted and populous parts of the kingdom, are 
 utterly unseen. 
 
 Under birds of the poultry kind I rank al 
 those that have white flesh, and, comparatively 
 to their head and limbs, have bulky bodies 
 They are furnished with short strong bills for 
 picking up grain, which is their chief anc 
 often their only sustenance. Their wings are 
 short and concave ; for which reason they are 
 not able to fly far. They lay a great manj 
 eggs ; and, as they lead their young abroac 
 
 ( 
 
 : 
 
 he very day they are hatched, in quest of food, 
 vhich they are shown by the mother, and 
 A'hich they pick up for themselves, they gene- 
 rally make their nests on the ground. The 
 oes of all these are united by a membrane 
 is far as the first articulation, and then are 
 divided as in those of the former class. 
 
 Under this class we may therefore rank 
 he common cock, the peacock, the turkey, 
 he pintada or Guinea-hen, the pheasant, the 
 mustard, the grous, the partridge, and the quail. 
 These all bear a strong similitude to each 
 other, being equally granivorous, fleshy, and 
 delicate to the palate. These are among birds 
 what beasts of pasture are among quadrupeds, 
 peaceable tenants of the field, and shunning 
 the thicker parts of the forest, that abound 
 with numerous animals, who carry on unceas- 
 ing hostilities against them. 
 
 As Nature has formed the rapacious class 
 for war, so she seems equally to have fitted 
 these for peace, rest, and society. Their 
 wings are but short, so that they are ill formed 
 for wandering from one region to another; 
 their bills are also short, and incapable of an- 
 noying their opposers ; their legs are strong, 
 indeed, but their toes are made for scratching 
 up their food, and not for holding or tearing 
 it. These are sufficient indications of their 
 harmless nature ; while their bodies, which 
 are fat and fleshy, render them unwieldy tra- 
 vellers, and incapable of straying far from 
 each other. 
 
 Accordingly we find them chiefly in society ; 
 they live together ; and though they may 
 have their disputes, like all other animals, 
 upon some occasions, yet when kept in the 
 same district, or fed in the same yard, they 
 learn the arts of subordination ; and, in pro- 
 portion as each knows his strength, he seldom 
 tries a second time the combat where he has 
 once been worsted. 
 
b'O 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 In tliis manner, all of this kind seem to 
 lead an indolent voluptuous life ; as they are 
 furnished internally \vith a very strong sto- 
 mach, commonly called a gizzard, so their vo- 
 raciousness scarcely knows any bounds. If 
 kept in close captivity, and separated from all 
 their former companions, they still have the 
 pleasure of eating left; and they soon grow 
 fat and unwieldy in their prison. To say 
 this more simply, many of the wilder species 
 of birds, when cooped or caged, pine away, 
 grow gloomy, and some refuse all sustenance 
 whatever; none, except those of the poultry 
 kind, grow fat, who seem to lose all remem- 
 brance of their former liberty, satisfied with 
 indolence and plenty. 
 
 The poultry kind may be considered as 
 sensual epicures, solely governed by their ap- 
 petites. The indulgence of these seems to in- 
 fluence their other habits, and destroys among 
 them that connubial fidelity for which most 
 other kinds are remarkable. The eagle and 
 the falcon, how fierce soever to other animals, 
 are yet gentle and true to each other ; their 
 connections, when once formed, continue till 
 death; and the male and female, in every 
 exigence, and every duty, lend faithful assis- 
 tance to each other. They assist each other 
 in the production of their young, in providing 
 for them when produced; and even then, 
 though they drive them forth to fight their 
 own battles, yet the old ones still retain their 
 former affection to each other, and seldom part 
 far asunder. 
 
 But it is very different with this luxurious 
 class I am now describing. Their courtship 
 is but short and their congress fortuitous. The 
 male takes no heed of his offspring, and satis- 
 fied with the pleasure of getting, leaves to the 
 female all the care of providing for posterity. 
 Wild and irregular in his appetites, he ranges 
 from one to another ; and claims every fe- 
 male which he is strong enough to keep from 
 his fellows. Though timorous when opposed 
 to birds of prey, yet he is incredibly bold 
 among those of his own kind ; and but to see 
 a male of his own species is sufficient to pro- 
 duce a combat. As his desires extend to all, 
 every creature becomes his enemy that pre- 
 tends to be his rival. 
 
 The female, equally without fidelity or at- 
 tachment, yields to the most powerful. She 
 stands by a quiet meretricious spectator of 
 their fury, ready to reward the conqueror with 
 every compliance. She takes upon herself all 
 the labour of hatching and bringing up her 
 young, and chooses a place for hatching as re- 
 mote as possible from the cock. Indeed she 
 gives herself very little trouble in making her 
 nest, as her young ones are to leave it the in- 
 stant they part from the shell. 
 
 She is equally unassisted in providing for 
 
 her young, that are not fed with meat put into 
 their mouths, as in other classes of the fea- 
 thered kind, but peck their food, and forsaking 
 their nests, run here and there, following the 
 parent wherever it is to be found. She leads 
 them forward where they are likely to have 
 the greatest quantity of grain, and takes care 
 to show, by pecking, the sort proper for them 
 to seek for. Though at other times voracious, 
 she is then abstemious to an extreme degree ; 
 and intent only on providing for, and showing 
 her young clutch their food, she scarcely takes 
 any nourishment herself. Her parental pride 
 seems to overpower every other appetite : but 
 that decreases in proportion as her young ones 
 are more able to provide for themselves, and 
 then all her voracious habits return. 1 
 
 Among the other habits peculiar to this 
 
 1 I take great delight in observing the habits of the 
 animals in my farm-yard. The old gander watches the 
 sitting goose with great care, and will sometimes take 
 his place on her nest. He is always forward to protect 
 the goslings, and hisses at and runs after any thing from 
 which he apprehends danger. The cock struts before 
 the hens, and never seems so happy as when he collects 
 them about him to feast upon a grain of corn or an in- 
 sect which he has found. This gallantry is, I believe, 
 peculiar to our domestic cock, and does him no little! 
 credit. He fights to the last extremity with any intru- 
 der, and if he is beaten, appears to consider himself un- 
 worthy of the society of his former mates, and mopes in 
 a corner, the very picture of wretchedness. 
 
 Hen turkies are dull, and seem, less capable of enjoy- 
 ment than any birds I know. I have watched them 
 stretching out their necks, and stupidly looking for a 
 quarter of an hour together at a small tuft of grass, 
 making short, low cries all the time. On going up to 
 examine what occasioned this unusual movement, I have 
 found a toad or frog concealed in the grass. Curiosity, 
 more than fear, appeared to have attracted the turkies to 
 the spot. They are bad mothers, and frequently tram- 
 ple on their young, appearing to disregard their cries. 
 Unlike the hen, they do not take any trouble in procur- 
 ing food for their young. Ducks are in a prodigious 
 bustle when they quit their nests for food, and make a 
 great outcry when the drake comes up to greet their ar- 
 rival again in the poultry -yard. They run into the 
 pond, flap their wings, and then come out, and are very 
 clamorous till food is brought them. The young ducks, 
 as soon as they are hatched, take to the water, and dart 
 after flies with the greatest activity. I am always sorry 
 to see the anxiety and misery of a hen who has hatched 
 ducks, instead of her natural progeny. When they take 
 to the water she is in a perfect agony, running round the 
 brink of the pond, and sometimes flying into it, in hopes 
 of rescuing her brood from the danger she apprehends 
 them to be in. A friend of mine observed a remarkable 
 instance of the degree to which this natural apprehension 
 for her brood may be overcome in the hen by the habit ot 
 nursing ducks. A hen, who had reared three broods of 
 ducks in three successive years, became habituated to 
 their taking to the water, and would fly to a large stone 
 in the middle of the pond, and patiently and quietly 
 watch her brood as they swam about it. The fourth 
 year she hatched her own eggs, and finding that her 
 chickens did not take to the water as the ducklings had 
 done, she flew to the stone in the pond, and called them 
 to her with the utmost eagerness. This recollection of 
 the habits of her former charge, though it had taken place 
 a year before, is not a little curious. Jesse's Gleanings. 
 
THE COCK. 
 
 61 
 
 class of birds is that of dusting themselves. 
 They lie Hat in some dusty place, and with 
 their wings and feet raise and scatter the dust 
 over their whole body. What may be their 
 reason for thus doing, it is not easy to explain. 
 Perhaps the heat of their bodies is such, that 
 they require this powder to be interposed be 
 tween their feathers, to keep them from lying 
 too close together, and thus increasing that 
 heat with which they are incommoded. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE COCK. 
 
 ALL birds taken under the protection of man 
 lose a part of their natural figure, and are al- 
 tered, not only in their habits, but their very 
 form. Climate, food, and captivity, are three 
 very powerful agents in producing these altera- 
 tions ; and those birds that have longest felt 
 their influence under human direction are the 
 most likely to have the greatest variety in 
 their figures, their plumage, and their dispo- 
 sitions. 
 
 Of all other birds, the cock seems to be the 
 oldest companion of mankind, to have been 
 first reclaimed from the forest, and taken !o 
 -supply the accidental failure of the luxuries or 
 necessities of life. As he is thus longest un- 
 der the care of man, so of all others perhaps 
 he exhibits the greatest number of varieties, 
 there being scarce two birds of this species 
 that exactly resemble each other in plumage 
 and form. The tail, which makes such a 
 beautiful figure in the generality of these 
 birds, is yet found entirely wanting in others; 
 and not only the tail, but the rump also. The 
 toes, which are usually four in all animals of 
 the poultry kind, yet in a species of the cock 
 are found to amount to five. The feathers, 
 which lie so sleek and in such beautiful order, 
 in most of those we are acquainted with, are, 
 in a peculiar breed, all inverted, and stand 
 staring the wrong way. Nay, there is a spe- 
 cies that comes from Japan, which instead of 
 feathers seems to be covered all -over with 
 hair. These, and many other varieties, are to 
 be found in this animal, which seem to be the 
 
 marks this early prisoner bears of his long 
 captivity. 
 
 It is not well ascertained when the cock 
 was first made domestic in Europe, but it is 
 generally agreed that we first had him in our 
 western world from the kingdom of Persia. 
 Aristophanes calls the cock the Persian bird, 
 and tells us, he enjoyed that kingdom before 
 some of its earliest monarchs. This animal 
 was in fact known so early, even in the most 
 savage parts of Europe, that we are told the 
 cock was one of the forbidden foods among the 
 ancient Britons. Indeed, the domestic fowl 
 seems to have banished the wild one. Persia 
 itself, that first introduced it to our acquain- 
 tance, seems no longer to know it in its natu- 
 ral form ; and if we did not find it wild in 
 some of the woods of India, as well as those 
 of the islands in the Indian ocean, we might 
 begin to doubt, as we do with regard to the 
 sheep, in what form it first existed in a state 
 of nature. 1 
 
 But those doubts no longer exist ; the cock 
 is found in the island of Tinian, in many 
 others of the Indian ocean, and in the woods 
 on the coast of Malabar, in his ancient state 
 of independence. In his wild condition, his 
 plumage is black and yellow, and his comb 
 and wattles yellow and purple. There is an- 
 other peculiarity also in those of the Indian 
 woods ; their bones, which when boiled with 
 us are white, as every body knows, in those 
 
 1 The bird known in India by the name of the " Jun- 
 gle Fowl" is the " Wild Cock" of Sonnerat, who was the 
 first to describe it in his " Voyage aux Indes Orientales." 
 This naturalist maintained with considerable zeal that 
 this bird formed the stock whence most of our races of 
 domestic fowl have proceeded. He concurred in the 
 opinion of Buflbn, that most of our varieties of domestic 
 fowl have proceeded from a single type, and that the dif- 
 ferences which we perceive among them have resulted 
 from accidents of climate, domestication, and crossings 
 of varieties. Sonnerat, who did riot or would not know 
 of any other species of wild cock than this for he speaks 
 slightingly of the authority of Dampier, who mentions 
 that he saw wild cocks in the Indian Archipelago na- 
 turally enough concluded that in this jungle-fowl he had 
 found the primitive stock. Subsequent inquiries have, 
 however, confirmed the statements of Dampier, not only 
 as to the existence of species of wild fowl in the Indian 
 Archipelago ; but it is also admitted that the Bankiva 
 species in Java, and the Jago species in Sumatra, more 
 nearly approximate to our common fowl than that now 
 under consideration, and to which Sonnerat's statements 
 refer. Upon the whole, it seems that our varieties of 
 domestic fowl proceed from mixtures of original species. 
 Practical observers arrive at much the same conclusions 
 on this point with scientific naturalists. It is thus, for 
 'nstance, considered in India that our game cock origi- 
 nated from a mixture of the jungle cock with wild spe- 
 cies in Malaya and Chittagong. Altogether, however, it 
 must be admitted that, on this disputed point, very little 
 is actually known ; and the domestication of the bird as- 
 cends to such remote antiquity, that it seems hopeless to 
 determine the era, and still more hopeless to ascertain 
 the original species with precision. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 are as black as ebony. Whether this tincture 
 proceeds from their food, as the bones are 
 tinctured red by feeding upon madder, I leave 
 to the discussion of others : satisfied with the I 
 fact, let us decline speculation. 
 
 In their first propagation in Europe, there 
 were distinctions then that now subsist no 
 longer. The ancients esteemed those fowls 
 whose plumage was reddish as invaluable ; 
 but as for the white, it was considered as ut- 
 terly unfit for domestic purposes. These they 
 regarded as subject to become a prey to rapa- 
 cious birds ; and Aristotle thinks them less 
 fruitful than the former. Indeed his division 
 of those birds seems to be taken from their cu- 
 linary uses; the one sort he calls generous and 
 noble, being remarkable for fecundity: the 
 other sort, ignoble and useless, from their ste- 
 rility. These distinctions differ widely from 
 our modern notions of generosity in this ani- 
 mal ; that which we call the game-cock being 
 by no means so fruitful as the ungenerous 
 dung-hill cock > which we treat with contempt. 
 The Athenians had their cock matches as well 
 as we; but it is probable that they did not 
 enter into that refinement of choosing out the 
 most barren of the species for the purposes of 
 combat. 
 
 However this be, no animal in the world 
 has greater courage than the cock, when op- 
 posed to one of his own species ; and in every 
 part of the world, where refinement and po- 
 lished manners have not entirely taken place, 
 cock-fighting is a principal diversion. In 
 China, India, the Philippine islands, and all 
 over the East, cock-fighting is the sport and 
 amusement even of kings and princes. With 
 us it is declining every day, and it is to be 
 hoped that it will in time become only the 
 pastime of the lowest vulgar. It is the opin- 
 ion of many, that we have a bolder and more 
 valiant breed than is to be found elsewhere ; 
 and some, indeed, have entered into a serious 
 discussion upon the cause of so flattering a sin- 
 gularity. But the truth is, they have cocks 
 in China as bold, if not bolder, than ours ; and 
 what would still be considered as valuable 
 among cockers here, they have more strength 
 with less weight. Indeed, I have often won- 
 dered why men who lay two or three hundred 
 pounds upon the prowess of a single cock, 
 have not taken every method to improve the 
 breed. Nothing, it is probable, could do this 
 more effectually than by crossing the strain, 
 as it is called, by a foreign mixture ; and whe- 
 ther having recourse even to the wild cock in 
 the forests of India would not be useful, I 
 leave to their consideration. However, it is 
 a mean and ungenerous amusement, nor would 
 I wish much to promote it. The truth is, I 
 could give such instructions with regard to 
 cock-fighting, and could so arm one of these 
 
 animals against the other that it would be al- 
 most impossible for the adversary's cock to 
 survive the first or second blow ; but as Boer- 
 haave has said upon a former occasion, when 
 he was treating upon poisons, " to teach the 
 arts of cruelty is equivalent to committing 
 them." 
 
 This extraordinary courage in the cock is 
 thought to proceed from his being the most sa- 
 lacious of all other birds whatsoever. A sin- 
 gle cock suffices for ten or a dozen hens ; and 
 it is said of him, that he is the only animal 
 whose spirits are not abated by indulgence. 
 But then he soon grows old ; the radical mois- 
 ture is exhausted ; and in three or four years 
 he becomes utterly unfit for the purposes of 
 impregnation. " Hens also," to use the words 
 of Willoughby, " as they for the greatest part 
 of the year daily lay eggs, cannot suffice for 
 so many births, but for the most part, after 
 three years, become effete and barren : for 
 when they have exhausted all their seed-eggs, 
 of which they had but a certain quantity from 
 the beginning, they must necessarily cease to 
 lay, there being no new ones generated with- 
 in. 
 
 The hen seldom clutches a brood of chickens 
 above once a season, though instances have 
 been known in which they produced two. 
 The number of eggs a domestic hen will lay 
 in the year are above two hundred, provided 
 she be well fed, and supplied with water and 
 liberty. It matters not much whether she be 
 trodden by the cock or no ; she will continue 
 to lay, although all the eggs of this kind can 
 never, by hatching, be brought to produce a 
 living animal. Her nest is made without any 
 care, if left to herself; a hole scratched into 
 the ground, among a few bushes, is the only 
 preparation she makes for this season of pa- 
 tient expectation. Nature, almost exhausted 
 by its own fecundity, seems to inform her of 
 the proper time for hatching, which she her- 
 self testifies by a clucking note, and by dis- 
 continuing to lay. The good housewives, 
 who often get more by their hens laying than 
 by their chickens, artificially protract this 
 clucking season, and sometimes entirely re- 
 move it. As soon as their hen begins to 
 cluck, they stint her in her provisions ; and if 
 that fails, they plunge her into cold water : 
 this, for the time, effectually puts back her 
 hatching : but then it often kills the poor bird, 
 who takes cold, and dies under the opera- 
 tion. 1 
 
 1 In the hatching of poultry, as in most other things, 
 Nature is the best guide. The hen and duck, if left to 
 themselves, find some dry, warm, sandy hedge or bank, 
 in which to deposit their eggs, forming their nests of 
 leaves, mos or dry grass. In this way the warmth is 
 retained when the bird quits the nest for the moments 
 she devotes to her scanty and hurried meal. The good 
 
THE COCK. 
 
 63 
 
 If left entirely to herself, the hen would 
 seldom lay above twenty eggs in the same 
 nest, without attempting to hatch them : but 
 in proportion as she lays her eggs are removed ; 
 and she continues to lay, vainly hoping to in- 
 crease the number. In the wild state the hen 
 seldom lays above fifteen eggs ; but then her 
 provision is more difficultly obtained, and she 
 is perhaps sensible of the difficulty of main- 
 taining too numerous a family. 
 
 When the hen begins to sit, nothing can 
 exceed her perseverance and patience ; she 
 continues for some days immovable ; and 
 when forced away by the importunities of 
 hunger, she quickly returns. Sometimes, 
 also, her eggs become too hot for her to bear, 
 especially if she be furnished with too warm a 
 nest within doors, for then she is obliged to 
 leave them to cool a little : thus the warmth 
 of the nest only retards incubation, and often 
 puts the brood a day or two back in the shell. 
 While the hen sits she carefully turns her 
 eggs, and even removes them to different si- 
 tuations ; till at length, in about three weeks, 
 the young brood begin to give signs of a de- 
 sire to burst their confinement When, by 
 the repeated efforts of their bill, which serves 
 like a pioneer on this occasion, they have 
 broke themselves a passage through the shell, 
 the hen still continues to sit till all are exclu- 
 ded. The strongest and best chickens gene- 
 rally are the first candidates for liberty ; the 
 weakest come behind, and some even die in 
 the shell. When all are produced, she then 
 leads them forth to provide for themselves. 
 Her affection and her pride seem then to al- 
 ter her very nature, and correct her imperfec- 
 tions. No longer voracious or cowardly, she 
 abstains from all food that her young can 
 swallow, and flies boldly at every creature 
 that she thinks is likely to do them mischief. 
 Whatever the invading animal be, she boldly 
 attacks him ; the horse, the hog, or the mas- 
 tiff. When marching at the head of her little 
 troop, she acts the commander, and has a va- 
 
 housewife's mode is the reverse of this. She makes a 
 nest, or box, of stone, brick, or wood, and fills it with 
 clean long straw. By these means, less heat is genera- 
 ted by the hen, and that which is produced quickly, es- 
 capes in her occasional absences; the eggs are chilled 
 and addled, and frequent failures ensue in the expected 
 brood. To obviate this, the best mode is to put at the 
 bottom and sides of the boxes of the henhouse, a suffi- 
 cient quantity of fine, dry sand, or of coal or wood ashes, 
 lining them with a little well-broken dry grass, or 
 untwisted haybands, or moss, or bruised straw. Wood- 
 ashes have been found to be the best, as they produce the 
 effect of destroying the fleas by which poultry are so 
 much infested ; and that this will not be disagreeable to 
 them is evident from the propensity which they have to 
 roll in heaps of dust, or of ashes of any kind. An ex- 
 perienced rearer of poultry adopted the method above 
 described during a long course of years, and scarcely 
 ever met with a disappointment. 
 
 
 riety of notes to call her numerous train to 
 their food, or to warn them of approaching 
 danger. Upon one of these occasions I have 
 seen the whole brood run for security into the 
 thickest part of a hedge, when the hen herself 
 ventured boldly forth, and faced a fox that 
 came for plunder. With a good mastiff, how- 
 ever, we soon sent the invader back to his re- 
 treat ; but not before he had wounded the her 
 in several places. 
 
 Ten or twelve chickens are the greatest 
 number that a good hen can rear and clutch 
 at a time ; but as this bears no proportion to 
 the number of her eggs, schemes have been 
 imagined to clutch all the eggs of a hen, and 
 thus turn her produce to the greatest advan- 
 tage. By these contrivances it has been ob- 
 tained that a hen, that ordinarily produces but 
 twelve chickens in the year, is found to pro- 
 duce as many chickens as eggs, and conse- 
 qently often above two hundred. The con- 
 trivance I mean is the artificial method of 
 hatching chickens in stoves, as is practised at 
 Grand Cairo; 1 or in a chemical elaboratory 
 properly graduated, as has been effected by 
 Mr Reaumur. At Grand Cairo they thus 
 produce six or seven thousand chickens at a 
 time ; where, as they are brought forth in their 
 mild spring, which is warmer than our sum- 
 mer, the young ones thrive without clutching. 
 But it is otherwise in our colder and unequal 
 climate ; the little animal may, without much 
 difficulty, be hatched from the shell ; but they 
 almost all perish when excluded. To remedy 
 this, Reaumur has made use of a wollen hen, 
 as he calls it ; which was nothing more than 
 putting the young ones in a warm basket, and 
 clapping over them a thick-woollen canopy. 
 I should think a much better substitute might 
 be found ; and this from among the species 
 themselves. Capons may very easily be 
 taught to clutch a fresh brood of chickens 
 throughout the year ; so that when one little 
 colony is thus reared, another may be brought 
 to succeed it. Nothing is more common than 
 to see capons thus employed ; and the manner 
 of teaching them is this: first the capon is 
 made very tame, so as to feed from one's 
 hand; then, about evening, they pluck the 
 feathers off his breast, and rub the bare skin 
 with nettles ; they then put the chickens to 
 him, which presently run under his breast and 
 belly, and probably rubbing his bare skin 
 gently with their heads allay the stinging pain 
 which the nettles had just produced. This is 
 repeated for two or three nights, till the ani- 
 mal takes an affection to the chickens that 
 have thus given him relief, and continues to 
 give them the protection they seek for: per- 
 
 1 See a note on this subject in the chapter " On the 
 Incubation of Animals," vol. i. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 haps also the querulous voice of the chickens 
 may be pleasant to him in misery, and invite 
 him to succour the distressed. He from that 
 time brings up a brood of chickens like a hen, 
 clutching them, feeding them, clucking, and 
 performing all the functions of the tenderest 
 parent. A capon once accustomed to this ser- 
 vice, will not give over ; but when one brood 
 is grown up he may have another nearly 
 hatched put under him, which he will treat 
 with the same tenderness he did the former. 
 
 The cock, from his salaciousness, is allowed 
 to be a short-lived animal ; but how long these 
 birds live, if left to themselves, is not yet well 
 ascertained by any historian. As they are 
 kept only for profit, and in a few years be- 
 come unfit for generation, there are few that, 
 from mere motives of curiosity, will make 
 this tedious experiment of maintaining a pro- 
 per number till they die. Aldrovandus hints 
 their age to be ten years ; and it is probable 
 that this may be its extent. They are sub- 
 ject to some disorders, which it is not our busi- 
 ness to describe ; and as for poisons, besides 
 nux vomica, which is fatal to most animals 
 except man, they are injured, as Linnaeus 
 asserts, by elder-berries, of which they are 
 not a little fond. 1 
 
 1 The varieties of our domestic cock and hen most 
 esteemed at present in Britain, are the following: 
 
 The common dunghill cock and hen, middle size, of 
 every colour, and variety 
 
 The game cock and hen, rather small in size, delicate 
 in limb, colour generally red or brown; flesh white, arid 
 superior to that of any other variety for richness and de- 
 licacy of flavour ; eggs small, fine shaped, and extremely 
 delicate: the chickens are difficult to rear from their 
 pugnacity of disposition. The game cock has long been 
 a bird both of cruel and curious sport in this as well as 
 other countries ; but the taste for these amusements, like 
 that for others suited to times of comparative leisure 
 and ignorance, is now happily on the decline in Britain. 
 
 The Dorking cock and hen, so called from the town 
 in Surrey of that name, is the largest variety; shape 
 handsome; body long and capacious; legs short, five 
 claws on each foot; eggs large, and lays abundantly; 
 colour of the flesh inclining to yellowish or ivory. Both 
 hens and cocks often made into capons. 
 
 The Poland cock and hen were originally imported 
 from Holland. The colour shining black, with white 
 tops on the head of both cock and hen ; head flat, sur- 
 mounted by a fleshy protuberance, out of which spring 
 the crown feathers, or top, white or black, with the fleshy 
 king David's crown (the celestial in heraldry), consisting 
 of four or five spikes; their form plump and deep; legs 
 short, feet with five claws; lay abundantly; are less in- 
 clined to set than any other breed; they fatten quickly, 
 and are more juicy and rich than the Dorking. On 
 the whole, this is one of the most useful varieties. 
 There is an ornamental subvariety known as the golden 
 Poland, with yellow and black plumage. 
 
 The every-day cock and hen is a subvariety of the 
 above, of Dutch origin; they are of smaller size, and 
 said to be everlasting layers. Their tops are large, and 
 should be periodically clipped near the eyes; otherwise, 
 according to Mowbray, they will grow into the eyes of 
 the fowls and render them very subject to alarm. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE PEACOCK. 
 
 THE Peacock, by the common people of 
 Italy, is said to have the plumage of an 
 angel, the voice of the devil, and the guts of 
 a thief. In fact, each of these qualities mark 
 pretty well the nature of this extraordinary 
 bird. When it appears with its tail expanded, 
 there is none of the feathered creation can vie 
 
 The bantam cock and hen is a small Indian breed, 
 valued chiefly for its grotesque figure and delicate flesh. 
 Mowbray mentions a subvariety, extremely small, and 
 as smooth-legged as a game fowl. From their size and 
 delicacy they are very convenient, as they may always 
 be used as substitutes for chickens, when small ones are 
 not otherwise to be had. They are also particularly 
 useful for sitting upon the eggs of partridges and phea- 
 sants, being good nurses as well as good layers. There 
 are two varieties of this breed, of which the more com- 
 mon is remarkable for having the legs and feet furnished 
 with feathers. The other, and more scarce, variety is 
 even smaller; and is most elegantly formed, as well as 
 most delicately limbed. There is a society of fanciers 
 of this breed, who rear them for prizes. 
 
 The Chittagong or Malay hen is an Indian breed, and 
 the largest variety of the species. They are in colour 
 striated, yellow, and dark brown ; long necked, serpent- 
 headed, and high upon the leg their flesh dark, coarse, 
 and chiefly adapted to soup. They are good layers ; 
 and being well fed produce large, substantial, and nutri- 
 tive eggs: but these birds are too long-legged to be 
 steady sitters. 
 
 The Shack-bag, or duke of Leeds' breed, was formerly 
 in great repute, but is now nearly lost. It is sometimes 
 to be met with at Wokingham (Oakingham), in Berk- 
 shire, and is so large, and the flesh so white, firm, and 
 fine, as to aflbrd a convenient substitute for the turkey. 
 
 The improved Spanish cock and hen is a cross between 
 the Dorking and Spanish breed, also to be found in and 
 around Wokingham. It is a large bird with black 
 plumage, white and delicate flesh, the largest eggs of 
 any British variety, and well adapted for capons. 
 
 The common variety is easily procurable; but the 
 others must either be procured from those parts of the 
 country where they are usually bred, or from the poul- 
 terers and bird fanciers in large towns, and especially 
 in London. It should be a general rule to breed from 
 young stock ; a two-year-old cock, or stag, and pullets 
 
THE PEACOCK. 
 
 65 
 
 with it for beauty ; yet the horrid scream of 
 its voice serves to abate the pleasure we find 
 I'rom viewing it ; and still more its insatiable 
 gluttony, and spirit of depredation, make it 
 one of the most noxious domestics that man 
 has taken under his protection. 
 
 Our first peacocks were brought from the 
 East Indies; and we are assured, that they 
 are still found in vast flocks, in a wild state, 
 in the islands of Java and Ceylon. So beau- 
 tiful a bird, and one esteemed such a delicacy 
 at the tables of the luxurious, could not be 
 permitted to continue long at liberty in its 
 distant retreats. So early as the days of Solo- 
 mon, we find in his navies, among the articles 
 imported from the east, apes and peacocks. 
 ^Elian relates, that they were brought into 
 Greece from some barbarous country, and were 
 held in such high esteem among them, that a 
 male and female were valued at above thirty 
 pounds of our money. We are told also, that 
 when Alexander was in India, he found them 
 flying wild in vast numbers, on the banks of 
 the river Hyarotis, and was so struck with their 
 beauty, that he laid a severe fine and punish- 
 ment on all who should kill or disturb them. 
 Nor are we to be surprised at this, as the 
 Greeks were so much struck with the beauty 
 of this bird, when first brought among them, 
 that every person paid a fixed price for seeing 
 it ; and several people came to Athens, from 
 Lacedeemon and Thessaly, purely to satisfy 
 their curiosity. 
 
 in their second year. Pullets in their first year, if early 
 birds, will, indeed, probably lay as many eggs as ever 
 after; but the eggs are small, and such young hens are 
 unsteady sitters. Hens are in their prime at three years 
 of age, and decline after five, whence, generally, it is 
 riot advantageous to keep them beyond that period, with 
 the exception of those of capital qualifications. Hens 
 with a large comb, or which crow like the cock, are ge- 
 nerally deemed inferior. Yellow-legged fowls are often 
 of a tender constitution, and always inferior in the qua- 
 lity of their flesh, which is of a loose flabby texture, and 
 ordinary flavour. 
 
 The health of fowls is observable in the fresh and 
 florid colour of the comb, and the brightness and dry- 
 ness of the eyes; the nostrils being freed from any dis- 
 charge, and the healthy gloss of the plumage. The most 
 useful cock is generally a bold, active, and savage bird, 
 sometimes cruel, and destructive in his fits of passion, if 
 not well watched, to his hens, and even to his offspring. 
 Hens above the common size of their respective varie- 
 ties are by no means preferable either as layers or set- 
 ters. The indications of old age are paleness of the 
 comb and gills, dullness of colour, and a sort of downy 
 stillness in the feathers, and length and size of talons, 
 the scales upon the legs becoming large and prominent. 
 
 The number of hens to one cock should be from four 
 to six, the latter being the extreme number, with a view 
 of making the utmost advantage. Ten and even twelve 
 hens have been formerly allowed to one cock, but the 
 produce of eggs and chickens under such an arrange- 
 ment will seldom equal that to be obtained from the 
 smaller number of hens. Every one is aware that the 
 spring is the best season to commence breeding with 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 It was probably first introduced into the 
 West merely on account of its beauty; but 
 mankind, from contemplating its figure, soon 
 came to think of serving it up for a dif- 
 ferent entertainment. Aufidius Hurco stands 
 charged by Pliny with being the first who 
 fatted up the peacock for the least of the lux- 
 urious. Whatever there may be of delicacy 
 in the flesh of a young peacock, it is certain 
 an old one is very indifferent eating ; never- 
 theless, there is no mention made of choosing 
 the youngest; it is probable they were killed 
 indiscriminately, the beauty of the feathers in 
 some measure stimulating the appetite. Hor- 
 tensius the orator, was the first who served 
 them up at an entertainment at Rome ; and 
 from that time they were considered as one of 
 the greatest ornaments of every feast. Whe- 
 ther the Roman method of cookery, which 
 was much higher than ours, might not have 
 rendered them more palatable than we find 
 them at present, I cannot tell ; but certain it 
 is, they talk of the peacock as being the first 
 of viands. 
 
 Its fame for delicacy, however, did not con- 
 tinue very long : for we find in the times of 
 Francis the First, that it was a custom to 
 serve up peacocks at the tables of the great, 
 with an intention not to be eaten, but only to 
 be seen. Their manner was to strip off the 
 skin ; and then preparing the body with the 
 warmest spices, they covered it up again in its 
 former skin ; with all its plumage in full dis- 
 
 poultry, and in truth it scarcely matters how early, pre- 
 supposing the best food, accommodation, and attendance, 
 under which hens may be suffered to sit in January. 
 
 The conduct of the cock towards his hens is generally 
 of the kindest description, arid sometimes, as in the 
 Polish breed, so remarkably so, as to be quite incredible 
 to those who have not witnessed it. It is not an un- 
 common occurrence, however, for the cock to take an 
 antipathy to some individual hen ; when it continues for 
 any length of time it is best to remove her, and supply 
 her place by another, taking care that the stranger be 
 not worried by the hens. Spare coops or houses will be 
 found useful on such occasions. 
 
 The change of a cock, from death or accident, is al- 
 ways attended with interruption and delay, as it may be 
 some considerable time before the hens will associate 
 kindly with their new partner; and further, a new cock 
 may prove dull and inactive from the change, however 
 good in nature. This freqxiently happens with cocks of 
 the superior breeds, purchased from the London dealers, 
 in whose coops they have been kept in such a high state 
 of temperatuTe, that they are unable to endure the open 
 air of the country, unless in the summer season. Such 
 being removed in autumn, winter, or early in spring, if 
 immediately turned abroad with hens, are liable to be- 
 come aguish, torpid, and totally useless ; perhaps, in the 
 end, turning roupy or glandered. The only method of 
 safety in this case is to keep such a cock in the house, 
 upon the best and most nourishing food, turning the 
 hens to him several times in the day, and permitting 
 him to be abroad an hour or so, the weather being fine, 
 until, in a few weeks, he shall be accustomed to the 
 
66 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 play, and no way injured by the preparation. 
 The bird thus prepared was of\en preserved 
 lor many years without corrupting ; and it is 
 asserted of the peacock's flesh, that it keeps 
 longer unputrified than that of any other ani- 
 mal. To give a higher zest to these enter- 
 tainments, on weddings particularly, they 
 filled the bird's beak and throat with cotton 
 and camphire, which they set on fire, to amuse 
 and delight the company. I do. not know that 
 the peacock is much used at our entertain- 
 ments at present, except now and then at an 
 alderman's dinner, or common-council feast, 
 when our citizens resolve to be splendid ; and 
 even then it is never served with its cotton 
 and camphire. 
 
 Like other birds of the poultry kind the 
 peacock feeds upon corn, but its chief predi- 
 lection is for barley. But as it is a very 
 proud and fickle bird, there is scarcely any 
 food that it will not at times covet and pur- 
 sue. Insects and tender plants are often 
 eagerly sought at a time that it has a suffi- 
 ciency of its natural food provided more near- 
 ly. In the indulgence of these capricious 
 pursuits walls cannot easily confine it ; it strips 
 the tops of houses of their tiles or thatch, it 
 lays waste the labours of the gardener, roots 
 up his choicest seeds, and nips his favourite 
 flowers in the bud. Thus its beauty but ill 
 recompenses for the mischief it occasions ; and 
 many of the more homely looking fowls are 
 very deservedly preferred before it. 
 
 Nor is the peacock less a debauchee in its 
 affections, than a glutton in its appetites. He 
 is still more salacious than even the cock ; and 
 though not. possessed of the same vigour, yet 
 burns with more immoderate desire. He re- 
 quires five females at least to attend him ; and 
 if there be not a sufficient number, he will 
 even run upon and tread the sitting hen. For 
 this reason, the peahen endeavours as much as 
 she can, to hide her nest from the male, as he 
 would otherwise disturb her sitting, and break 
 her eggs. 
 
 The peahen seldom lays above five or six 
 eggs in this climate before she sits. Aristotle 
 describes her as laying twelve ; and it is pro- 
 bable in her native climate she may be thus 
 prolific; for it is certain, that in the forests 
 where they breed naturally, they are numer- 
 ous beyond expression. This bird lives about 
 twenty years ; and riot till its third year has it 
 that beautiful variegated plumage that adorns 
 its tail. 
 
 " In the kingdom of Cambaya," says Ta- 
 vernier, " near the city of Baroch, whole 
 flocks of them are seen in the fields. They 
 are very shy, however, and it is impossible to 
 come near them. They run off swifter than 
 the partridge ; and hide themselves in the 
 thickets, where it is impossible to find them. 
 
 They perch by night upon trees ; and the 
 fowler often approaches them at that season 
 with a kind of banner, on which a peacock is 
 painted to the life on either side. A lighted 
 torch is fixed on the top of this decoy ; and the 
 peacock when disturbed flies to what it takes 
 for another, and is thus caught in a noose pre- 
 pared for that purpose." 
 
 There are varieties of this bird, some of 
 which are white, others crested : that which is 
 called the Peacock of Thibet is the most beau- 
 tiful of the feathered creation, containing in 
 its plumage all the most vivid colours, red, 
 blue, yellow, and green, disposed in an almost 
 artificial order, as if merely to please the eye 
 of the beholder. 1 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 THE TURKEY. 
 
 THE natal place of the cock and the peacock 
 is pretty well ascertained, but there are strong- 
 er doubts concerning the turkey ; 2 some con- 
 tending that it has been brought into Europe 
 from the East Indies many centuries ago ; 
 while others assert that it is wholly unknown 
 in that part of the world, that it is a native of 
 
 1 The Japan Peacock (See Plate XVIII. fig. 5.) is 
 about the size of the crested peacock; but the bill is lar- 
 ger, and ash-coloured ; the iris yellow, and round the eye 
 is red. On the top of the head is an upright crest four 
 inches long, and shaped somewhat like an ear of corn. 
 The colour is green mixed with blue. 
 
 The Chinese peacock (See Plate XVIII. fig. 3.) is 
 larger than the common peacock: the bill is black, but 
 from the nostrils to the tip of the upper mandible red: 
 the iris is yellow. The feathers on the crown of the 
 head are sufficiently long to forma crest of a dull brown 
 colour. 
 
 The Thibet peacock is about two feet and two inches 
 long. The bill is above an inch and a half long, and 
 cinereous ; the iris yellow ; the head, neck, and under 
 parts are ash-coloured, marked with blackish lines; the 
 wing-coverts, back, and rump are gray, with small white 
 dots : besides which, on the wing-coverts and back are 
 large round spots, of a fine blue, changing in different 
 lights to violet and green gold. 
 
 The variety of White Peacocks is not very common, 
 and these birds always bring a high price. 
 
 2 It is now indubitably ascertained that the Turkey 
 comes originally from America. See the following note. 
 
THE TURKEY. 
 
 67 
 
 the new continent, and that it was not 
 brought into Europe till the discovery of that 
 part of the world. 
 
 Those who contend for the latter opinion 
 very truly observe, that among all the descrip- 
 tions we have of eastern birds, that of the tur- 
 key is not to be found ; while on the contrary, 
 it is very well known in the new continent, 
 where it runs wild about the woods. It is said 
 by them to have been first seen in France in 
 the reign of Francis I. and in England in that 
 of Henry VIII. which is about the time when 
 Mexico was first conquered by Spain. On 
 the other hand it is asserted, that the turkey, 
 so far from being unknown in Europe before 
 that time, was known even to the ancients ; 
 and that JElian has given a pretty just de- 
 scription of it. They allege, that its very 
 name implies its having been brought from 
 some part of the east ; and that it is found 
 among other dainties served up to the tables 
 of the great, before that time among ourselves. 
 But what they pretend to be the strongest 
 proof is, that though the wild turkey be so nu- 
 merous in America, yet the natives cannot 
 contrive to tame it ; and though hatched in 
 the ordinary manner, nothing can render it 
 domestic. In this diversity of opinions, per- 
 haps it is best to suspend assent till more 
 lights are thrown on the subject: however, 
 I am inclined to concur with the former 
 opinion. 
 
 With us, when young, it is one of the 
 tenderest of all birds ; yet, in its wild state, it 
 is found in great plenty in the forests of Ca- 
 nada, that are covered with snow above three 
 parts of the year. In the natural woods they 
 are found much larger than in their state of 
 domestic captivity. They are much more 
 beautiful also, their feathers being of a dark 
 gray, bordered at the edges with a bright gold 
 colour. 1 These the savages of the country 
 
 1 Prince Charles Lucian Bonaparte, in his American 
 Ornithology, has give a very full and interesting ac- 
 count of the wild turkey: We extract it here with 
 some abridgment. 
 
 The native country of the wild turkey extends from 
 the north-western territory of the United States to the 
 Isthmus of Panama, south of which it is not to be found, 
 notwithstanding the statements of authors, who have 
 mistaken the curassovv for it. In Canada, and the now 
 densely peopled parts of the United States, wild turkeys 
 were formerly very abundant ; but, like the Indian and 
 buffalo, they have been compelled to yield to the destruc- 
 tive ingenuity of the white settlers, often wantonly exer- 
 cised, and seek refuge in the remotest parts of the in- 
 terior. Although they relinquish their native soil with 
 slow and reluctant steps, yet such is the rapidity with 
 which settlements are extended and condensed over the 
 surface of this country, that we may anticipate a day, 
 at no distant period, when the hunter will seek the wild 
 turkey in vain. 
 
 The wild turkeys do not confine themselves to any 
 particular food; they eat maize, all sorts of berries, 
 
 weave into cloaks to adorn their persons, and 
 fashion into fans and umbrellas, but never 
 once think of taking into keeping animals 
 that the woods furnish them with in sufficient 
 
 fruits, grasses, beetles; and even tadpoles, young frogs, 
 and lizards, are occasionally found in their crops; but 
 where the pecan nut is plenty, they prefer that fruit to 
 any other nourishment ; their more general predilection 
 is, however, for the acorn, on which they rapidly fatten. 
 When an unusually profuse crop of acorns is produced 
 in a particular section of country, great numbers of tur- 
 keys are enticed from their ordinary haunts in the sur- 
 rounding districts. About the beginning of October, 
 while the mast still remains on the trees, they assemble 
 in flocks, and direct their course to the rich bottom 
 lands. At this season they are observed in great num- 
 bers on the Ohio and Mississippi. The time of this 
 irruption is known to the Indians by the name of the 
 turkey month. 
 
 The males, usually termed gobblers, associate in par- 
 ties, numbering from ten to a hundred, and seek their 
 food apart from the females; whilst the latter either 
 move about singly with their young, then nearly two- 
 thirds grown, or, in company with other females and 
 their families, form troops, sometimes consisting of 
 seventy or eighty individuals, all of whom are intent on 
 avoiding the old males, who, whenever opportunity 
 offers, attack and destroy the young, by repeated blows 
 on the skull. All parties, however, travel in the same 
 direction, and on foot, unless they are compelled to seek 
 their individual safety by flying from the hunter's dog, 
 or their march is impeded by a large river. When 
 about to cross a river, they select the highest eminences, 
 that their flight may be the more certain; and here they 
 sometimes remain for a day or more, as if for the pur- 
 pose of consultation, or to be duly prepared for so hazard- 
 ous a voyage. During this time the males gobble obstre- 
 perously, and strut with extraordinary importance, as if 
 they would animate their companions, and inspire them 
 with the utmost degree of hardihood ; the females and 
 young also assume much of the pompous air of the 
 males, the former spreading their tails, and moving 
 silently around. At length the assembled multitude 
 mount to the tops of the highest trees, whence, at a 
 signal note from a leader, the whole together wing their 
 way towards the opposite shore. All the old and fat 
 ones cross without difficulty, even when the river ex- 
 ceeds a mile in width ; but the young, meagre, and 
 weak, frequently fall short of the desired landing, and 
 are forced to swim for their lives; this they do dexter- 
 ously enough, spreading their tails for a support, closing 
 their wings to the body, stretching the neck forwards, 
 and striking out quickly and forcibly with their legs. If, 
 in thus endeavouring to regain the land, they approach 
 an elevated or inaccessible bank, their exertions are re- 
 mitted, they resign themselves to the stream for a short 
 time, in order to gain strength, and then, with one vio- 
 lent eflbrt, escape from the water. But in this attempt 
 all are not successful ; some of the weaker, as they can- 
 not rise sufficiently high in air to clear the bank, fall 
 again and again into the water, and thus miserably 
 perish. Immediately after the turkeys have succeeded 
 in crossing a river, they for some time ramble about 
 without any apparent unanimity of purpose, and a great 
 many are destroyed by the hunters, although they are 
 then least valuable. 
 
 When the turkeys have arrived in their land of abun- 
 dance, they disperse in small flocks, composed of indi- 
 viduals of all sexes and ages intermingled, who devour 
 all the mast as they advance: this occurs about the 
 middle of November. It has been observed, that, after 
 these long journeys, the turkeys become so familiar as 
 to venture on the plantations, and even approach so near 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 abundance. Savage man seems to find a de- 
 light in precarious possession. A great part 
 of the pleasures of the chase lies in the un- 
 certainty of the pursuit, and he is unwilling 
 
 the farmhouses as to enter the stables and corn-cribs, in 
 search of food ; in this way they pass the autumn, and 
 part of the winter. During this season great numbers 
 are killed by the inhabitants, who preserve them in a 
 frozen state, in order to transport them to a distant 
 market. 
 
 Early in March they begin to pair; and, for a short 
 time previous, the females separate from, and shun their 
 mates, though the latter pertinaciously follow them, ut- 
 tering their gobbling note. The sexes roost apart, but 
 at no great distance, so that, when the female utters a 
 call, every male within hearing responds, rolling note 
 after note, in the most rapid succession ; not as when 
 spreading the tail and strutting near the hen, but in a 
 voice resembling that of the tame turkey, when he hears 
 any unusual or frequently repeated noise. Where the 
 turkeys are numerous, the woods from one end to the 
 other, sometimes for hundreds of miles, resound with 
 this remarkable voice of their wooing, uttered respon- 
 sively from their roosting places. This is continued for 
 about an hour; and, on the rising of the sun, they 
 silently descend from their perches, and the males begin 
 to strut, for the purpose of winning the admiration of 
 their mates. 
 
 If the call be given from the ground, the males in 
 the vicinity fly towards the individual, and, whether 
 they perceive her or not, erect and spread their tails, 
 throw the head backwards, distend the comb and wattles, 
 strut pompously, and rustle their wings and body fea- 
 thers, at the same moment ejecting a pufl' of air from 
 the lungs. Whilst thus occupied, they occasionally halt 
 to look out for the female, and then resume their strut- 
 ting and puffing, moving with as much rapidity as the 
 nature of their gait will admit. During this ceremoni- 
 ous approach, the males often encounter each other, and 
 desperate battles ensue, when the conflict is only termi- 
 nated by the flight or death of the vanquished. 
 
 This pugnacious disposition is not to be regarded as 
 accidental, but as resulting from a wise and excellent 
 law of nature, who always studies the good of the spe- 
 cies, without regard to the individuals. Did not females 
 prefer the most perfect of their species, and were not 
 the favours of beauty most willingly dispensed to the 
 victorious, feebleness and degeneracy would soon mark 
 the animal creation ; but, in consequence of this general 
 rule, the various races of animals are propagated by 
 those individuals who are not only most to be admired 
 for external appearance, but most to be valued for their 
 intrinsic spirit and energy. 
 
 When the object of his pursuit is discovered, if the 
 female be more than one year old, she also struts, and 
 even gobbles, evincing much desire ; she turns proudly 
 round the strutting male, and suddenly opening her 
 wings, throws herself towards him, as if to terminate 
 his procrastination, and, laying herself on the earth, re- 
 ceives his dilatory caresses. But should he meet a 
 young hen, his strut becomes different, and his move- 
 ments are violently rapid ; sometimes rising in air, he 
 takes a short circular flight, and on alighting drags his 
 wings for a distance of eight or ten paces, running 
 at full speed, occasionally approaching the timorous 
 hen, and pressing her, until she yields to his solicita- 
 tions. Thus are they mated for the season, though 
 the male does not confine himself exclusively to one 
 female, nor does he hesitate to bestow his attentions 
 and endearments on several, whenever an opportunity 
 offers. 
 
 One or more females, thus associated, follow their 
 favourite, and roost in his immediate neighbourhood, if 
 
 to abridge himself in any accidental success 
 that may attend his fatigues. The hunting 
 the turkey, therefore, makes one of his prin- 
 cipal diversions ; as its flesh contributes chiefly 
 
 not on the same tree, until they begin to lay, when they 
 change their mode of life, in order to save their eggs, 
 which the male uniformly breaks if in his power, that 
 the female may not be withdrawn from the gratification 
 of his desires. At this time the females shun the males 
 during the greater part of the day ; the latter become 
 clumsy and careless, meet each other peacefully, and so 
 entirely cease to gobble, that the hens are obliged to 
 court their advances, calling loudly and almost continu- 
 ally for them. The female may then be observed caress- 
 ing the male, and imitating his peculiar gestures, in 
 order to excite his amorousness. 
 
 The cocks, even when on the roost, sometimes strut 
 and gobble, but more generally merely elevate the tail, 
 and utter the puff, on which the tail and other fea- 
 thers suddenly subside. On light or moonshirn'ng 
 nights, near the termination of the breeding season, 
 they repeat this action, at intervals of a few minutes, 
 for several hours together, without rising from their 
 perches. 
 
 The sexes then separate ; the males, being much ema- 
 ciated, cease entirely to gobble, retire and conceal them- 
 selves by prostrate trees, in secluded parts of the forest, 
 or in the almost impenetrable privacy of a cane-brake. 
 Rather than leave their hiding places, they suffer them- 
 selves to be approached within a short distance, when 
 they seek safety in their speed of foot ; at this season, 
 however, they are of no value to the hunter, being 
 meagre and covered with ticks. By thus retiring, using 
 very little exercise, and feeding on peculiar grasses, they 
 recover their flesh and strength, and when this object 
 is attained, again congregate, and recommence their 
 rambles. 
 
 About the middle of April, when the weather is dry, 
 the female selects a proper place in which to deposit her 
 eggs, secured from the encroachment of water, and, as 
 far as possible, concealed from the watchful eye of the 
 crow: this crafty bird espies the hen going to her nest, 
 and having discovered the precious deposit, waits for 
 the absence of the parent, and removes every one of the 
 eggs from the spot, that he may devour them at leisure. 
 The nest is placed on the ground, either on a dry ridge, 
 in the fallen top of a dead leafy tree, under a thicket of 
 sumach or briars, or by the side of a log: it is of a very 
 simple structure, being composed of a few dried leaves. 
 In this receptacle the eggs are deposited, sometimes to 
 the number of twenty, but more usually from nine to 
 fifteen ; they are whitish, spotted with reddish brown, 
 like those of the domestic bird. 
 
 The female always approaches her nest with great 
 caution, varying her course so as rarely to reach it 
 twice by the same route ; and, on leaving her charge, 
 she is very careful to cover the whole with dry leaves, 
 with which she conceals it so artfully, as to mak" it ex- 
 tremely difficult, even for one who has watched her 
 movements, to indicate the exact spot: hence few nests 
 are found, and these are generally discovered by fortuit- 
 ously starting the female from them, or by the appear- 
 ance of broken shells, scattered around by some cunning 
 lynx, fox, or crow. When laying or sitting, the turkey 
 hen is not readily driven from her post by the approach 
 of apparent danger; but, if an enemy appears, she 
 crouches as low as possible, and suffers it to pass. A 
 circumstance related by Mr Audubon will show how 
 much intelligence they display on such occasions: hav- 
 ing discovered a sitting hen, he remarked that, by as- 
 suming a careless air, whistling, or talking to himself, 
 he was permitted to pass within five or six feet of her ; 
 but, if he advanced cautiously, she would not sutler him 
 
THE TURKEY. 
 
 69 
 
 to the support of his family. When he has 
 discovered the place of their retreat, which, 
 in general, is near fields of nettles, or where 
 there is plenty of any kind of grain, he takes 
 
 to come within twenty paces, but ran off twenty or 
 thirty yards with her tail expanded, when, assuming a 
 stately gait, she paused on every step, occasionally ut- 
 tering a chuck. They seldom abandon their nests on 
 account of being discovered by man, but should a snake, 
 or any other animal, suck one of the eggs, the parent 
 leaves them altogether. If the eggs be removed, she 
 again seeks the male and recommences laying, though 
 otherwise she lays but one nest of eggs during the sea- 
 son. Several turkey hens sometimes associate, perhaps 
 for mutual safety, deposit their eggs in the same nest, 
 and rear their broods together. Mr Audubon once 
 found three females sitting on forty-two eggs. In such 
 cases, the nest is constantly guarded by one of the par- 
 ties, so that no crow, raven, nor even polecat, dares ap- 
 proach it. 
 
 When the process of incubation is ended, and the 
 mother is about to retire from the nest with her young 
 brood, she shakes herself violently, picks and adjusts 
 the feathers about the belly, and assumes a different 
 aspect ; her eyes are alternately inclined obliquely up- 
 wards and sidewise; she stretches forth her neck, in 
 every direction, to discover birds of prey or other ene- 
 mies ; her wings are partially spread, and she softly 
 clucks to keep her tender offspring close to her side. 
 They proceed slowly, and, as the hatching generally 
 occurs in the afternoon, they sometimes return to pass 
 the first night in the nest. While very young the 
 mother leads them to elevated dry places, as if aware 
 that humidity, during the first few days of their life, 
 would be very dangerous to them, they having then 
 no other protection than a delicate, soft, hairy down. 
 In very rainy seasons wild turkeys are scarce, be- 
 cause, when completely wetted, the young rarely sur- 
 vive. 
 
 At the expiration of about two weeks, the young 
 leave the ground on which they had previously reposed 
 at night under the female, and follow her to some low, 
 large branch of a tree, where they nestle under the 
 broadly curved wings of their vigilant and fostering 
 parent. The time then approaches in which they seek 
 the open ground or prairie land during the day, in search 
 of strawberries, and subsequently of dewberries, black- 
 berries, and grasshoppers; thus securing a plentiful food, 
 and enjoying the influence of the genial sun. They fre- 
 quently dust themselves in shallow cavities of the soil, 
 or on anthills, in order to clean off the loose skin of their 
 growing feathers, and rid themselves of ticks and other 
 vermin. 
 
 The young turkeys now grow rapidly, and in the 
 month of August, when several broods flock together, 
 and are led by their mothers to the forest, they are stout 
 and quite able to secure themselves from the unexpected 
 attacks of wolves, foxes, lynxes, and even cougars, by 
 rising quickly from the ground, aided by their strong 
 legs, and reaching with ease the upper limbs of the 
 tallest tree. Amongst the numerous enemies of the 
 wild turkey, the most dreaded are the large diurnal and 
 nocturnal birds of prey, and the lynx (Felix rufa,) who 
 sucks their eggs, and is extremely expert at seizing both 
 parent and young; he follows them for some distance, 
 in order to ascertain their course, and then, making a 
 rapid circular movement, places himself in ambush be- 
 fore them, and waits until, by a single bound, he can 
 fasten on his victim. 
 
 These birds are guardians of each other, and the first 
 who sees a hawk or eagle gives a note of alarm, on 
 which all within hearing lie close to tne ground. As 
 they usually roost in flocks, perched on the naked branches 
 
 his dog with him, which is trained to the 
 sport, (a faithful rough creature, supposed to 
 be originally reclaimed from the wolf,) and 
 he sends him into the midst of, the flock. The 
 
 of trees, they are easily discovered by the large owls, 
 and, when attacked by these prowling birds, often escape 
 by a somewhat remarkable manuoeuvre. The owl sails 
 around the spot to select his prey; but, notwithstanding 
 the almost inaudible action of his pinions, the quick ear 
 of one of the slumberers perceives the danger, which is 
 immediately announced to the whole party by a chuck f 
 thus alarmed, they rise on their legs, and watch the mo- 
 tions of the owl, .who, darting like an arrow, would in- 
 evitably secure the individual at which he aimed, did not 
 the latter suddenly drop his head,' squat, and spread his 
 tail over his back; the owl then glances over without 
 inflicting any injury, at the very instant that the turkey 
 suffers himself to fall headlong towards the earth, where 
 he is secure from his dreaded enemy. 
 
 On hearing the slightest noise, wild turkeys conceal 
 themselves in the grass, or among shrubs, and thus fre- 
 quently escape the hunter, or the sharp-sighted birds of 
 prey. The sportsman is unable to find them during the 
 day, unless he has a dog trained for the purpose; it is 
 necessary to shoot them at a very short distance, since, 
 when only wounded, they quickly disappear, and, acce- 
 lerating their motion by a sort of half flight, run with 
 so much speed, that the swiftest hunter cannot overtake 
 them. The traveller, driving rapidly down the decli- 
 vity of one of the Alleghanies, may sometimes see 
 several of them before him, that evince no urgent desire 
 to get out of the road; but, on alighting, in hopes of 
 shooting them, he soon finds that all pursuit is vain. 
 
 The most common mode of taking turkeys is by 
 means of pens, constructed with logs, covered in at top, 
 and with a passage in the earth under one side of it, 
 just large enough to admit an individual when stooping. 
 The ground chosen for this purpose is generally sloping, 
 and the passage is cut on the lower side, widening out- 
 wards. These preparations being completed, Indian 
 corn is strewed for some distance around the pen, to en- 
 tice the flock, which, picking up the grain, is gradually 
 led towards the passage, and thence into the enclosure, 
 where a sufficient quantity of com is spread to occupy 
 the leader until the greater part of the turkeys have en- 
 tered. When they raise their heads and discover that 
 they are prisoners, all their exertions to escape are di- 
 rected upwards and against the sides of the pen, not 
 having sagacity enough to stoop sufficiently low to pass 
 out by the Avay they entered, and thus they become an 
 easy prey, not only to the experienced hunter, but even 
 to the boys on the frontier settlements. 
 
 In proportion to the abundance or scarcity of food, 
 and its good or bad quality, they are small or large, 
 meagre or fat, and of an excellent or indifferent flavour: 
 in general, however, their flesh is more delicate, more 
 succulent, and better tasted than that of the tame tur- 
 key: they are in the best order late in the autumn, or 
 in the beginning of winter. The Indians value this 
 food so highly, when roasted, that they call it " the 
 white man's dish," and present it to strangers as the 
 best they can offer. They make much use of their tails 
 as fans; the women weave their feathers with much art 
 on a loose web made of the rind of the birch tree, ar- 
 ranging them so as to keep the down on the inside, and 
 exhibit the brilliant surface to the eye. 
 
 Among the benefits conferred by America on the rest 
 of the world, the gift of this noble bird should occupy a 
 distinguished place, as unquestionably one of the most 
 useful of the feathered tribe, being capable of minister- 
 ing largely to the sustenance and comfort of the human 
 race. Though the turkey is surpassed in external beauty 
 by the magnificent peacock, its flesh is greatly superior 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 turkeys no sooner perceive their enemy, than 
 they set off running at full speed, and with 
 such swiftness, that they leave the dog far be- 
 hind them ; he follows, nevertheless, and sen- 
 sible they must soon be tired, as they cannot 
 go full speed for any length of time, he at 
 last forces them to take shelter in a tree, 
 where they sit quite spent and fatigued till 
 the hunter comes up, and, with a long pole, 
 knocks them down, one after the other. 
 
 This manner of suffering themselves to be 
 destroyed, argues no great instinct in the ani- 
 mal ; and, indeed, in their captive state they 
 do not appear to be possessed of much. They 
 seem a stupid, vain, querulous tribe, apt 
 enough to quarrel among themselves, yet 
 without any weapons to do each other an in- 
 jury. Every body knows the strange anti- 
 pathy the turkey-cock has to a red colour; 
 how he bristles, and, with his peculiar gob- 
 bling sound, flies to attack it. But there is 
 another method of increasing the animosity of 
 these birds against each other, which is often 
 practised by boys, when they have a mind for 
 a battle. This is no more than to smear over 
 the head of one of the turkeys with dirt, and 
 the rest run to attack it with all the speed 
 of impotent animosity ; nay, two of them, 
 thus disguised, will fight each other till 
 
 in excellence, standing almost unrivalled for delicacy of 
 texture and agreeable sapidity. On this account it has 
 been eagerly sought by almost all nations, and has been 
 naturalized with astonishing rapidity throughout the 
 world, almost universally constituting a favourite ban- 
 quet dish. 
 
 The turkey, belonging originally to the American con- 
 tinent, was necessarily unknown to the ancients, who, in 
 this as in a thousand other instances, were deficient in our 
 most common and essential articles of food. Readers 
 unacquainted with the fact may well be surprised to 
 learn, that, although the introduction of this bird into 
 Europe is comparatively modern, its origin has already 
 been lost sight of, and that eminent naturalists of the 
 last century, who lived so much nearer to the time of 
 its first appearance, have expressed great uncertainty 
 concerning its native country. Thus Belon, Aldrovan- 
 di, Gessner, Ray, &c. thought that it came originally 
 from Africa and the East Indies, and endeavoured to 
 recognise it in some of the domestic birds of the an- 
 cients. Belon and Aldrovandi supposed it to have been 
 mentioned by ancient authors, but they mistook for it 
 the Numida meleagris of Linne, which is actually an 
 African bird, now almost naturalized in America, even 
 in a wild state, so that it would be apparently more rea- 
 sonable for America to regard that bird as indigenous, 
 than that the old continent should lay claim to the tur- 
 key. In so soon losing sight of the origin of this bird, 
 we see a strong exemplification of the ungrateful dis- 
 position of man, who can durably treasure up the me- 
 mory of wrongs and injuries, but fails to recollect the 
 greatest benefits he has received. It would be loss of 
 time to combat the arguments advanced by authors, who 
 have deceived themselves in attempting to deprive 
 America of her just title to this bird, since they have 
 been fully refuted by the eloquent Buflbn ; but we may 
 here introduce a sketch of its progress from America 
 throughout Europe. 
 
 they are almost suffocated with fatigue and 
 anger. 
 
 But though so furious among themselves, 
 they are weak and cowardly against other 
 animals, though far less powerful than they. 
 The cock often makes the turkey keep at a 
 distance ; and they seldom venture to attack 
 him but with united force, when they rather 
 oppress him by their weight, than annoy him 
 by their arms. There is no animal, how con- 
 temptible soever, that will venture boldly to 
 face the turkey-cock, that he will not fly from. 
 On the contrary, with the insolence of a bully, 
 he pursues any thing that seems to fear him, 
 particularly lap-dogs and children, against 
 both which he seems to have a peculiar aver- 
 sion. On such occasions, after he has made 
 them scamper, he returns to his female train, 
 displays his plumage around, struts about the 
 yard, and gobbles out a note of self-approba- 
 tion. 
 
 The female seems of a milder, gentler dis- 
 position. Rather querulous than bold, she 
 hunts about in quest of grain, and pursuit of 
 insects, being particularly delighted with the 
 eggs of ants and caterpillars. She lays 
 eighteen or twenty eggs, larger than those of 
 a hen, whitish, but marked with spots resem- 
 bling the freckles of the face. Her young are 
 
 The first unquestionable description of the turkey was 
 written by Oviedo, in 1525, in the summary of his His- 
 tory of the Indies. This bird was sent from Mexico to 
 Spain early in the sixteenth century; from Spain it was 
 introduced into England in 1524. Turkeys were taken 
 to France in the reign of Francis the First, whence 
 they spread into Germany, Italy, &c. ; a few, however, 
 had been carried to the latter country by the Spaniards, 
 some years previously. The first turkey eaten in France 
 appears to have been served up at the wedding banquet 
 of Charles the Ninth, in the year 1570. Since that 
 period they have been bred with so much care, that, in 
 England, as we read in ancient chronicles, their rapid 
 increase rendered them attainable at country feasts, 
 where they were a much esteemed dish as early as 1585. 
 Europeans conveyed them to all their colonies, and thus 
 were they gradually introduced into Asia, Africa, and 
 even Oceanica. 
 
 The French distinguished them by the name of Cog et 
 Poule d' Inde, (cock and hen from India,) because they 
 were natives of the West Indies. Subsequently, for the 
 sake of brevity, they called them Dindon, an appellation 
 which is yet retained. The English name is still worse, 
 as it conveys the false idea that the turkey originrte.d in 
 Asia, owing to the ridiculous habit, formerly prevalent, 
 of calling every foreign object by the name of Turk, 
 Indian, &c. 
 
 Those who have not observed the turkey in its wild 
 state, have only seen its deteriorated progeny, which 
 are greatly inferior in size and beauty. So far from 
 having gained by the care of man, and the abundance of 
 food accessible in its state of domestication, this bird has 
 degenerated not only in Europe and Asia, but, what is 
 certainly extraordinary, even in its native country. 
 The domesticated turkey of America, accustomed as it 
 is to roam in the woods and open fields almost without 
 restraint, is in no respect superior to that of the Euro- 
 pean poultry yard. 
 
THE PHEASANT. 
 
 71 
 
 extremely tender at first, and must be carefully 
 fed with curd chopped with dock-leaves; but 
 as they grow older, they become more hardy, 
 and folloAV the mother to considerable distan- 
 ces, in pursuit of insect food, which they pre- 
 fer to any other. On these occasions, how- 
 ever, the female, though so large, and, as it 
 would seem, so powerful a bird, gives them 
 but very little protection against the attacks of 
 any rapacious animal that comes in her way. 
 She rather warns her young to shift for them- 
 selves, than prepares to defend them. " I 
 have heard," says the Abbe' la Pluche, " a 
 turkey-hen, when at the head of her brood, 
 send forth the most hideous screams, without 
 knowing as yet the cause : however, her 
 young, immediately when the warning was 
 given, skulked under the bushes, the grass, or 
 whatever else offered for shelter, or protection. 
 They even stretched themselves at their full 
 length upon the ground, and continued lying 
 as motionless as if they were dead. In the 
 meantime the mother, with her eyes directed 
 upwards, continued her cries and screaming 
 as before. Upon looking up to where she 
 seemed to gaze, 1 discovered a black spot just 
 under the clouds, but was unable, at first, to 
 determine what it was ; however, it soon ap- 
 peared to be a bird of prey, though, at first, 
 at too great a distance to be distinguished. I 
 have seen one of these animals continue in this 
 violent agitated state, and her whole brood 
 pinned down as it were to the ground for 
 four hours together ; whilst their formidable 
 foe has taken his circuits, has mounted, and 
 hovered directly over their heads : at last, 
 upon disappearing, the parent began to change 
 her note, and sent forth another cry, which, 
 in an instant, gave life to the whole trembling 
 tribe, and they all flocked round her with ex- 
 pressions of pleasure, as if conscious of their 
 happy escape from danger." 
 
 When once grown up, turkeys are very 
 hardy birds, and feed themselves at very little 
 expense to the farmer. Those of Norfolk are 
 said to be the largest of this kingdom, weigh- 
 ing from twenty to thirty pounds. There are 
 places, however, in the East Indies, where 
 they are known only in their domestic state, 
 in which they grow to the weight of sixty 
 pounds. 1 
 
 1 A great variety of gallinaceous birds, which might 
 easily be added to our domestic poultry, are peculiar to 
 America. Such are especially the Curassows. In 
 many parts of South America these birds have long been 
 reclaimed; and it is really surprising, considering the 
 extreme familiarity of their manners, and the facility 
 with which they appear to pass from a state of nature to 
 the tameness of domestic fowls, that they have not yet 
 been introduced to the poultry-yards of Europe. That, 
 with proper treatment, they would speedily become ha- 
 bituated to the climate we have no reason to doubt; on 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 THE PHEASANT. 
 
 IT would surprise a sportsman to be told, 
 that the pheasant which he finds wild in the 
 
 the contrary, numerous examples have shown that they 
 thrive well even in its northern parts; and M. Tem- 
 minck informs us that they have once at least been tho- 
 roughly acclimated in Holland, where they were as pro- 
 lific, in their domesticated state, as any of our common 
 poultry. The establishment, however, in which this 
 had been effected, was broken up by the civil commo- 
 tions which followed in the train of the French revolu- 
 tion, and all the pains which had been bestowed upon the 
 education of these birds were lost to the world by their 
 sudden and complete dispersion. 
 
 The plumage of the Crested Curassow (See Plate 
 XVIII. fig. 12.) is of a deep black with a slight gloss of 
 green upon the head, crest, neck, back, wings and upper 
 part of the tail ; and dull white beneath and on the lower 
 tail-coverts. Its crest is from two to three inches in 
 length, and occupies the whole upper surface of the head: 
 it is curled and velvety in its appearance, and capable of 
 being raised or depressed at will, in accordance with the 
 temporary feelings by which the bird is actuated. The 
 eyes are surrounded by a naked skin, which extends into 
 the cere and there assumes a bright yellow colour. In 
 size the bird is almost equal to a turkey. This species 
 is a native of Mexico, Guiana, and Brasil, and probably 
 extends itself over a large portion of the southern divi- 
 sion of the American continent. In the woods of 
 Guiana it appears to be so extremely common that M. 
 Sonnini regards it as the most certain resource of a 
 hungry traveller, whose stock of provisions is exhausted, 
 and who has consequently to trust to his gun for furnish- 
 ing him with a fresh supply. They congregate together 
 in numerous flocks, and appear to be under little or no 
 uneasiness from the intrusion of men into their haunts. 
 Even when a considerable number of them have been 
 shot, the rest remain quietly perched upon the trees, 
 apparently unconscious of the havoc that has been com- 
 mitted among them. This conduct is by no means the 
 result of stupidity, but proceeds rather from the natural 
 tameness and unsuspiciousness of their character. Those, 
 however, which frequent the neighbourhood of inhabited 
 places are said to be much wilder and more mistrustful, 
 being kept constantly on the alert to avoid the pursuit 
 of the hunters, who destroy them in great numbers. 
 They build their nests on the trees, forming them ex- 
 ternally of branches interlaced with the stalks of herba- 
 ceous plants, and lining them internally with leaves. 
 They generally lay but once a-year, during the rainy 
 season; the number of their egs being, according to 
 Sonnini, five or six, and to D'Azara as many as eight. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 woods, in the remotest parts of the kingdom, 
 and in forests which can scarcely be said to 
 have an owner, is a foreign bird, and was 
 at first artificially propagated amongst us. 
 They were brought into Europe from the 
 banks of the Phasis, a river of Colchis, in 
 Asia Minor; and from whence they still re- 
 tain their name. 
 
 Next to the peacock, they are the most 
 beautiful of birds, as well for the vivid colour 
 of their plumes, as for their happy mixtures 
 and variety. It is far beyond the power of 
 the pencil to draw any thing so glossy, so 
 bright, or points so finely blended into each 
 other. We are told that when Croesus, king 
 of Lydia, was seated on his throne, adorned 
 with royal magnificence, and all the barbar- 
 ous pomp of eastern splendour, he asked Solon 
 if he had ever beheld any thing so fine ? The 
 Greek philosopher, no way moved by the 
 objects before him, or taking a pride in his 
 native simplicity, replied, that after having 
 seen the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, 
 he could be astonished at no other finery. 
 
 In fact, nothing can satisfy the eye with a 
 greater variety and richness of ornament than 
 this beautiful creature. The iris of the eye is 
 yellow ; and the eyes themselves are sur- 
 
 They are nearly as large as those of a turkey, but are 
 white like a hen's, and with a thicker shell. 
 
 The Galeated Curassow (see Plate XVIII. fig. 1.) 
 is in size about equal to the crested curassow. Its head 
 and neck are covered with short black velvety feathers; 
 and all the rest of the plumage, with the exception of 
 the white abdomen, and under tail-coverts, is of a bril- 
 liant black, exhibiting, in certain positions, a slight 
 tinge of green. The tail-feathers are tipped with white. 
 The legs are red; the claws yellow j the iris brown. 
 The bill is of a bright red ; and the protuberance by 
 which it is surmounted (which is rounded in the young 
 birds, arid pear-shaped with the narrow end directed 
 forwards in adult males), is of a livid slate-colour. This 
 remarkable projection is more than two inches in length 
 when fully developed ; it is hard and bony externally, 
 and internally cellular, the cells communicating with 
 the cavity of the mouth. It is not visible until after the 
 first moulting, when it begins to make its appearance in 
 the form of a small tubercle, and attains a much larger 
 size in the male than in the female. In other respects 
 there is little difference between the sexes; and the 
 young are only distinguished by a browner tinge. The 
 windpipe descends for a considerable distance in front of 
 the sternum, immediately beneath the skin, and makes 
 no less than three distinct convolutions before passing 
 into the cavity of the chest. These birds are natives 
 of Mexico, and live in large bands, perching upon the 
 trees, but more commonly building their nests upon the 
 ground. 
 
 The Razor-billed Curassow's most distinctive charac- 
 ter consists in the form of the homy process that sur- 
 mounts its bill, which rises above the level of the head, 
 is flattened on the sides, runs anteriorly into a sharp 
 edge, spreads out at the base where it is continuous 
 with the bill, and is, like it, of a bright red. The whole 
 of the upper parts, the fore part of the neck, the breast, 
 and the legs, are black, with a violet or purple gloss. 
 The tail is of the same colour for the greater part of its 
 length, but terminates in a white band ; and the extreme 
 
 rounded with a scarlet colour, sprinkled with 
 small specks of black. On the forepart of 
 the head there are blackish feathers mixed 
 with a shining purple. The top of the head 
 and the upper part of the neck are tinged 
 with a darkish green, that shines like silk. 
 In some, the top of the head is of a shining 
 blue, and the head itself, as well as the upper 
 part of the neck, appears sometimes blue and 
 sometimes green, as it is differently placed to 
 the eye of the spectator. The feathers of the 
 breast, the shoulders, the middle of the back, 
 and the sides under the wings, have a black- 
 ish ground, with edges tinged of an exquisite 
 colour, which appears sometimes black and 
 sometimes purple, according to the different 
 lights it is placed in ; under the purple there 
 is a transverse streak of gold colour. The 
 tail, from the middle feathers to the root, is 
 about eighteen inches long ; the legs, the feet, 
 and the toes, are of the colour of horn. There 
 are black spurs on the legs, shorter than those 
 of a cock ; there is a membrane that connects 
 two of the toes together ; and the male is 
 much more beautiful than the female. 
 
 This bird, though so beautiful to the eye, 
 is not less delicate when served up to the 
 table. Its flesh is considered as the greatest 
 
 part of the belly is of a chestnut brown. Above the base 
 of the bill, which is covered with short velvety feathers 
 concealing the nostrils, is a tuft of straight feathers ; the 
 iris is dusky, and the naked legs are reddish brown. In 
 the young bird the horny process of the bill is smaller, 
 and less intensely red. Ifr has not yet been attempted 
 to naturalize the present species in this quarter of the 
 globe; but its fleshy according to Marcgrave, in what- 
 ever mode prepared, but especially when roasted, yields 
 to that of no bird either of Europe or America. He 
 adds that it is domesticated and cultivated by the gentry 
 of Brazil, on account both of its dignity and elegance. 
 
 The Guan is of the same family with the curassows, 
 and closely allied to those birds both in structure and 
 general appearance. It is nevertheless distinguished by 
 several remarkable peculiarities. The bill is much 
 shallower, its transverse diameter exceeding its depth, 
 somewhat elongated, and naked at the base ; the nostrils 
 are placed about the middle of the bill, and are not at 
 all concealed by the advancement of the feathers of the 
 head ; a naked space surrounds the eyes ; the skin of 
 the throat is destitute of feathers and capable of con- 
 siderable distension ; the claws are strong, curved, and 
 pointed ; and the hinder toe is articulated on the same 
 level with the anterior ones, and consequently applies 
 its whole length to the surface of the ground. ''As in 
 the other genera of the family, the bill is convex above 
 and curved at the point ; the legs are of moderate length 
 and without spurs ; the wings short, with the sixth 
 quill-feather longest ; and the tail flat, rounded at the 
 extremity, and formed of twelve broad feathers. From 
 its long domestication in the poultry yards of South 
 America, it is subject to very extensive variations. It 
 is the largest bird of the genus that has yet been dis- 
 covered, measuring when fully grown about thirty inches 
 in total length, of which the tail constitutes thirteen or 
 fourteen. The whole upper surface of the body is of a 
 dusky black or bronze colour with a gloss of green, which 
 becomes olive in certain positions with regard to light. 
 Supplement to the English edition of Cuvier. 
 
THE PHEASANT. 
 
 73 
 
 dainty ; and when the old physicians spoke 
 of the wholesomeness of any viands, they 
 made their comparison with the flesh of the 
 pheasant. However, notwithstanding all these 
 perfections to tempt the curiosity or the palate, 
 the pheasant has multiplied in its wild state ; 
 and, as if disdaining the protection of man, 
 has left him, to take shelter in the thickest 
 .woods and the remotest forests. All others of 
 the domestic kind, the cock, the turkey, or 
 the pintado, when once reclaimed, have still 
 continued in their domestic state, and per- 
 severed in the habits and appetites of willing 
 slavery. But the pheasant, though taken 
 from its native warm retreats, where the woods 
 supply variety of food, and the warm sun suits 
 its tender constitution, has still continued its 
 attachment to native freedom ; and now wild 
 among us, makes the most envied ornament 
 of our parks and forests, where he feeds upon 
 acorns and berries, and the scanty produce of 
 our chilling climate. 
 
 This spirit of independence seems to attend 
 the pheasant even in captivity. In the woods, 
 the hen pheasant lays from eighteen to twenty 
 eggs in a season ; but in a domestic state she 
 seldom lays above ten. In the same manner 
 when wild she hatches and leads up her brood 
 with patience, vigilance, and courage ; but 
 when kept tame, she never sits well; so that 
 a hen is generally her substitute upon such 
 such occasions ; and as for leading her young 
 to their food, she is utterly ignorant of where 
 it is to be found : and the young birds starve, 
 if left solely to her protection. The pheasant 
 therefore, on every account, seems better left 
 at large in the woods, than reclaimed to pris- 
 tine captivity. Its fecundity when wild is 
 sufficient to stock the forest ; its beautiful 
 plumage adorns it ; and its flesh retains a 
 higher flavour from its unlimited freedom. 1 
 
 1 The pheasants (phasianidce) form one of the most 
 interesting groups of the feathered race, whatever be the 
 point of view in which we contemplate them. Their 
 beauty of form and the splendour of their hues, have 
 attracted universal admiration. Many dazzle by the 
 metallic lustre of their plumage, which gleams with 
 green, and blue, and gold. Such, for exam.tle, is the 
 case with that gorgeous bird the Impeyan pheasant 
 (Lophophorus Impeyanus) of the Himalayan moun- 
 tains, which it has several times been attempted to bring 
 alive into this country, but hitherto without success. 
 Others, as the golden pheasant of China (phasianus 
 
 pictus\ delight us with the richness and multiplicity of. 
 their tints, which contrast admirably with each other. 
 
 VOl. II. 
 
 However, it has been the aim of late to 
 take these birds once more from the woods, 
 and to keep them in places fitted for their 
 reception. Like all others of the poultry 
 
 The common pheasant, now naturalized over the greater 
 portion of Europe, is exceedingly beautiful, but it is far 
 surpassed by many of its congeners, of which we may 
 mention that elegant Chinese species the Phasianus 
 Reevesii (P. venesatus, Temm.), of which a fine speci- 
 men adorns the Gardens of the Zoological Society. It 
 is to be observed, however, that this beauty of plumage 
 is confined to the males; the females are universally 
 attired in a sober dress of brown, often indeed exquisitely 
 pencilled with spots and zigzag lines, but totally desti- 
 tute of the brilliant hues which glisten in their mates. 
 Independently, however, of the beauty of the pheasant 
 tribe, there is another point of interest which cannot be 
 overlooked we allude to their value as it respects the 
 table. The flesh of all the gallinaceous birds affords to 
 man a wholesome and nutritious food, and that of the 
 pheasants is deservedly in high estimation. Hence the 
 introduction and naturalization of the common pheasant 
 in western Europe is a positive good, and it is desirable 
 therefore to add other species to the list of those which 
 are acclimated with us. 
 
 The pheasants (family Pkasianidae} are all natives 
 of Asia. The common pheasant was originally brought 
 from the river Phasis by the Greeks in some of their 
 earlier expeditions ; that of the Argonauts under Jason 
 has the popular credit of having introduced it. How- 
 ever this may be, the name given to the bird by the 
 Greeks (Qao-ictvos, in Latin Phasianus) of which all our 
 modem European names for it are merely corruptions, 
 points to the banks of the Phasis as the place from which 
 it was derived ; and to the present day the pheasants of 
 Mingrelia (the Colchis of the ancients) are celebrated 
 for their beauty and size. Extreme brilliancy of plum- 
 age is in general the characteristic of birds dwelling in 
 torrid regions beneath a glowing sky ; such is not the 
 case as it regards the most gorgeous and beautiful of the 
 pheasant tribe. On the contrary, the high mountains 
 of the Himalaya, bordering upon the limits of perpetual 
 snow, are tenanted by the most splendid of this family. 
 The Impeyan pheasant is an example in point : adapted 
 for regions where the temperature is at the most only 
 moderate, and often at a low degree, this noble bird soon 
 dies when taken from its alpine home into the burning 
 lowlands of India ; and hence arises one of the difficul- 
 ties in the way of our obtaining living specimens in 
 Europe. But besides the Impeyan pheasant, the Hima- 
 laya chain of mountains presents us with a group or 
 genus of this family, containing a very limited number 
 of species remarkable both for their great beauty and 
 their characters, which indicate an affinity to the tur- 
 keys, between which group and that of the genuine 
 pheasants, they constitute an intermediate link. The 
 genus to which we allude is that termed Tragopan, 
 (Cuvier,) of which three species only are known. They 
 are easily distinguishable from all the rest of the 
 Phasianidce (at least as far as regards the male birds) 
 by the presence of large throat-wattles, or naked carun- 
 culated flaps of skin, (resembling those of the turkey), 
 which extend from the naked cheeks, spread over the 
 throat, and proceed down each side of the neck, while 
 from behind each eye rises a soft fleshy horn. The 
 whole of these appendages are capable of being con- 
 tracted and dilated at pleasure, or at least in accordance 
 with the emotions of anger, fear, &c., as we see in the 
 male turkey : the tints of the horns and wattles are 
 rich purple, mingled with scarlet, and are most proba- 
 bly changeable from one hue to another. The tail is 
 broad and rounded, and the plumage is dotted with 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 kind, they have no great sagacity, and suffer 
 themselves easily to be taken. At night 
 they roost upon the highest trees of the wood; 
 and by day they come down into the lower 
 brakes and bushes, where their food is chiefly 
 found. They generally make a kind of flap- 
 ping noise when they are with the females; 
 and this often apprises the sportsman of their 
 retreats. At other times he tracts them in 
 the snow, and frequently takes them in springs. 
 But. of all birds they are shot most easily, as 
 they always make a whirring noise when 
 they rise, by which they alarm the gunner, 
 and being a large mark, and flying very slow, 
 there is scarcely any missing them. 
 
 round spots of white on a brown or red ground, the 
 effect of which is very pleasing. 
 
 Of the three species that are known at present, two 
 have been but recently introduced to science, nor, in- 
 deed, is our acquaintance with the one first described 
 of distant date. The first species is the horned phea- 
 sant of Nepal (Tragopan satyrus), (see Plate XVIII. 
 fig. 24. ; for Argus Pheasant, see fig. 8. ; and Diard's 
 Pheasant, fig. 10.) It was first described and figured 
 by Edwards, in the third volume of his " Natural His- 
 tory of Birds," p. 116, partly from a drawing sent 
 from India to Dr Mead, and partly from a head of the 
 bird preserved in spirits which accompanied the draw- 
 ing. Edwards's third volume is dated 1750, and his 
 plate was etched in 1749, as appears by the date in- 
 scribed in the corner. The alliance of this bird to the 
 turkey was not unobserved by this writer, who in his 
 catalogue places it among that group, while in his ac- 
 count of it he observes that it is, " for shape of body 
 and proportion of parts, pretty much like a turkey, and 
 may be ranged with fowls of the poultry kind." Dr 
 Latham, in his " General History of Birds," states that 
 these birds, though by no means common, "are not 
 unfrequent in drawings done in India; and are par- 
 ticularly well figured in those of Mr Middleton and 
 Lady Impey." * * * " In the drawings of Sir 
 J. Anstruther it is said to inhabit the snowy regions 
 of Thibet." Its size is between that of a fowl and 
 turkey. It is beautifully figured in Gould's " Century 
 of Birds." 
 
 The second species is from Thibet and the Chinese 
 borders, and was first described and figured in the 
 " Indian Zoology," by Mr Gray, under the title of 
 Tragopan Temminckii. Of this species, as rare as 
 it is beautiful, a living specimen, presented by J. R. 
 Iteeves, Esq., is now in the Gardens of the Zoological 
 Society, and constitutes, as far as we are aware, the 
 first example of one of the present group having reached 
 our shores alive and in health. It was procured in 
 China. 
 
 The third species is from the northern range of the 
 Himalaya, and was first illustrated in Mr Gould's 
 ' Century," under the name of Tragopan Hasting sii ; 
 the figures are those of an adult arid young male, and 
 adult female. la size this species rather exceeds the 
 Tragopan satyrus, its total length being twenty-three 
 inches. The head of the adult male is covered with 
 a pendent crest of feathers, which, together with the 
 ear-coverts and the throat, are black j the neck and 
 shoulders are rich maroon ; the chest, fine orange red ; 
 the naked skin round the eyes is scarlet; the wattles 
 and horns, purple, tinted here and there with scarlet. 
 The upper parts exhibit a mixture of zigzag lines, and 
 marks of dark and light brown, forming a ground on 
 which are scattered numerous distinct spots of white. 
 
 Ah ! what avail his glossy, varying dyes, 
 His purpled crest, and scarlet circled eyes. 
 The vivid preen his shining plumes unfold, 
 His painted wings, and breast that flames witli go 
 
 POPE. 
 
 When these birds are taken young into 
 keeping, they become as familiar as chickens ; 
 and when they are designed for breeding, 
 they are put together in a yard, five hens to 
 a cock ; for this bird, like all of the poultry 
 kind, is very salacious. In her natural state 
 the female makes her nest of dry grass and 
 leaves ; the same must be laid for her in the 
 pheasantry, and she herself will sometimes 
 
 The feathers of the under surface are maroon, bordered 
 with black, and having each a large central spot of white. 
 The young male is less brilliant, and the wattles are 
 but little developed. 
 
 The plumage of the female consists of an uniform 
 brown, mottled, barred, and dashed irregularly with 
 dark brown and dull fawn colour; the cheeks are clothed 
 with feathers, and the head is slightly crested: there 
 are neither horns nor pendent wattles. 
 
 Of the habits and manners of these noble birds in a 
 state of nature little is accurately known. The strength 
 of their legs (tarsi), which are clothed with large scales, 
 and in the males armed with a short sharp spur, to- 
 gether with the rounded form of the wings, indicate 
 them to be chiefly terrestrial. The bill is strong and 
 large, but wants that spoonlike form of the tip of the 
 upper mandible, so conspicuous in the Impeyan phea- 
 sant (Lophophorus Impeyanus), by which it is adapted 
 for the scooping up of bulbous roots, on which that 
 bird is known to feed. Most probably the diet of the 
 present group consists, as in others of the rasorial order, 
 of grains, roots, and the larvae of ants and various 
 insects. 
 
 Could the horned pheasants, or the refulgent Im- 
 peyan pheasant, be imported in sufficient numbers into 
 our island (and we trust this will be soon accomplished), 
 there is little doubt but that they might, with proper 
 management, become naturalized. There is nothing to 
 fear with regard to cold. They are the natives of a 
 cold or temperate region ; they verge upon the line of 
 perpetual snow ; so that the wooded hills of our por- 
 tion of the globe would not be very uncongenial to their 
 constitution. Nor would there be much difficulty in 
 providing them with suitable food. Grain forms the 
 staple diet of all the gallinaceous tribe; hence the 
 peacock of India, the guinea-fowl of Africa, the com- 
 mon pheasant of Asia, the turkey of America, have 
 equally become naturalized and have multiplied in our 
 western regions to say nothing of the common fowl, 
 the origin of which is from India, but which, from time 
 immemorial, has been reclaimed or domesticated, and 
 has long since spread in this condition over the greatest 
 portion of the globe. Thus the food of the gallinaceous 
 tribe, and the hardiness of their constitution, fit most of 
 them, at least, for a very extensive diffusion throughout 
 the globe ; and in this we may discern a wise arrange- 
 ment of nature, inasmuch, as of all the feathered race, 
 they are the most valuable to man, and are at once 
 ornaments around his dwelling and wholesome delicacies 
 on his table. If to our poultry-yard could be added the 
 horned pheasants, so closely allied to them in form, 
 habits, and general manners, they would constitute a 
 most important acquisition, and produce a full reward 
 for the trouble bestowed in their naturalization. Penny 
 Magazine. 
 
THE PINTADO. 
 
 75 
 
 properly dispose them. If she refuses to 
 hatch her eggs, then a common hen must be 
 got to supply her place, which task she will 
 perform with perseverance and success. The 
 young ones are very difficult to be reared ; 
 and they must be supplied with ants' eggs, 
 which is the food the old one leads them to 
 gather when wild in the woods. To make 
 these go the farther, they are chopped up 
 with curds, or other meat; and the young 
 ones are to be fed with great exactness, both 
 as to the quantity and the time of their sup- 
 ply. This food is sometimes also to be 
 varied, and woodlice, earwigs, and other in- 
 sects, are to make a variety. The place 
 where they are reared must be kept extremely 
 clean ; their water must be changed twice or 
 thrice a day; they must not be exposed till 
 the dew is off the ground in the morning ; 
 and they should always be taken in before 
 sunset. When they become adult, they very 
 well can shift for themselves, but they are 
 particularly fond of oats and barley. 
 
 In order to increase the breed, and make 
 it still more valuable, Longolius teaches us a 
 method that appears very peculiar. The 
 pheasant is a very bold bird, when first 
 brought into the yard among other poultry, 
 not sparing the peacock, nor even such young 
 cocks and hens as it can master ; but after a 
 time it will live tamely among them, and 
 will at last be brought to couple with a com- 
 mon hen. The breed thus produced take 
 much stronger after the pheasant than the 
 hen ; and in a few successions, if they be left 
 to breed with a cock pheasant, (for the mix- 
 ture is not barren,) there will be produced a 
 species more tame, stronger, and more pro- 
 lific; so that he adds, that it is strange why 
 most of our pheasantries are not stocked with 
 birds produced in this manner. 
 
 The pheasant, when full grown, seems to 
 feed indifferently upon every thing that offers. 
 It is said by a French writer, that one of the 
 king's sportsmen shooting at a parcel of crows, 
 that were gathered round a dead carcase, to 
 his great surprise, upon coming up, found that 
 he had killed as many pheasants as crows. 1 
 It is even asserted by some, that such is the 
 carnivorous disposition of this bird, that when 
 several of them are put together in the same 
 yard, if one of them happens to fall sick, or 
 seems to be pining, that all the rest will fall 
 upon, kill, and devour it. Such is the lan- 
 guage of books ; those who have frequent op- 
 portunities of examining the manners of the 
 bird itself, know what credit ought to be given 
 to such an account. 
 
 1 When pheasants are observed pecking at carrion, it 
 is not the can-ion they are eating, but the maggots upon 
 
 it, of which they are fond. 
 
 Of the pheasant, as of all other domestic 
 fowl, there are many varieties. There are 
 white pheasants, crested pheasants, spotted 
 pheasants ; but of all others, the golden phea- 
 sant of China is the most beautiful. It is a 
 doubt whether the peacock itself can bear the 
 comparison. However, the natives of China 
 would not have us consider it as their most 
 beautiful bird, though covered all over with 
 eyes, resembling in miniature those of the 
 peacock. By their accounts, it is far exceed- 
 ed by the fongwang, an imaginary bird, of 
 which they give a most fantastic description. 
 It is thus that the people of every country, 
 though possessed of the greatest advantages, 
 have still others that they would persuade 
 strangers they enjoy, which have existence 
 only in the imagination. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE PINTADO, OR GUINEA-HEN. 
 
 THIS is a very remarkable bird, and in 
 some measure unites the characteristics of the 
 pheasant and the turkey. It has the fine de- 
 licate shape of the one, and the bare head of 
 the other. To be more particular, it is about 
 the size of a common hen, but as it is support- 
 ed on longer legs, it looks much larger. It 
 has a round back, with a tail turned down- 
 wards like a partridge. The head is covered 
 with a kind of casque ; and the whole plum- 
 age is black or dark gray, speckled with 
 white spots. It has wattles under the bill, 
 which do not proceed from the lower chap as 
 in cocks, but from the upper, which gives it a 
 very peculiar air ; while its restless gait and 
 odd chuckling sound distinguish it sufficiently 
 from all other birds whatever. 
 
 It is well known all over Europe, and even 
 better than with us, as the nations that border 
 on the Mediterranean probably had it before 
 us from those parts of Africa which lay near 
 est. Accordingly we find it in different coun- 
 tries called by different names, from the place 
 whence they had it. They are by some called 
 the Barbary-hen; by others, the Tamis bird; 
 and by others, the bird of Numidia. 1 We 
 
 1 The pintado is the bird formerly known to the an 
 
76 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 have given it the name of that part of Africa 
 from whence, probably, it was first brought. 
 
 In many parts of their native country, they 
 are seen in vast flocks together, feeding their 
 young, and leading them in quest of food. 
 All their habits are like those of the poultry 
 kind, and they agree in every other respect, 
 except that the male and female are so much 
 alike, that they can hardly be distinguished 
 asunder. The only difference lies in the wat- 
 tles described above ; which in the cock are of 
 a bluish cast; in the hen they are more in- 
 clining to a red. Their eggs, like their bodies, 
 are speckled; in our climate, they lay but five 
 or six in a season ; but they are far more pro- 
 lific in their sultry regions at home. They 
 are kept among us rather for show than use, 
 as their flesh is not much esteemed, and as 
 they give a good deal of trouble in rearing. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 THE BUSTARD. 
 
 THE Bustard is the largest land bird that is 
 a native of Britain. It was once much more 
 numerous than at present; but the increased 
 cultivation of the country, and the extreme de- 
 licacy of its flesh, has greatly thinned the spe- 
 cies ; so that a time may come when it may 
 be doubted whether ever so large a bird was 
 bred among us. It is probable that long be- 
 fore this the bustard would have been extir- 
 pated, but for its peculiar manner of feeding. 
 Had it continued to seek shelter among our 
 woods, in proportion as they were cut down, 
 it must have been destroyed. If in the forest, 
 the fowler might approach it without being 
 seen ; and the bird, from its size, would be too 
 great a mark to be easily missed. But it in- 
 habits only the open and extensive plain, 
 where its food lies in abundance, and where 
 every invader may be seen at a distance. 
 
 The bustard is much larger than the tur- 
 key, the male generally weighing from twenty- 
 five to twenty-seven pounds. The neck is a 
 foot long, and the legs a foot and a half. The 
 wings are not proportionable to the rest of the 
 body, being but four feet from the tip of the 
 one to the other ; for which reason the bird 
 flies with great difficulty. The head and 
 neck of the male are ash-coloured ; the back 
 is barred transversely with black, bright, and 
 rust colour. The greater quill-feathers are 
 black ; the belly white ; and the tail, which 
 
 cients under the name of Meleagris or Numidian Fowl. 
 Its flesh was much esteemed by the Romans. Among 
 the varieties of this bird are the Crested Pintado (See 
 Plate XVIII. fig. 11.) and the Mitred Pintado. 
 
 consists of twenty feathers, is marked with 
 broad black bars. 
 
 It would seem odd, as was hinted before, 
 how so large a land bird as this could find 
 shelter in so cultivated a country as England ; 
 but the wonder will cease when we find it 
 only in the most open countries, where there 
 is scarce any approaching it without being 
 discovered. They are frequently seen in 
 flocks of fifty or more, in the extensive downs 
 of Salisbury Plain, in the heaths of Sussex 
 and Cambridgeshire, the Dorsetshire uplands, 
 and so on as far as East Lothian in Scotland 1 
 In those extensive plains, where there are no 
 woods to screen the sportsman, nor hedges to 
 creep along, the bustards enjoy an indolent se- 
 curity. Their food is composed of the berries 
 that grow among the heath, and the large 
 earth-worms that appear in great quantities on 
 the downs before sun-rising in summer. It is 
 in vain that the fowler creeps forward to ap- 
 proach them, they have always sentinels 
 placed at proper eminences, which are ever 
 on the watch, and warn the flock of the small- 
 est appearance of danger. All therefore that 
 is left the sportsman, is the comfortless view 
 of their distant security. He may wish ; but 
 they are in safety. 
 
 It sometimes happens that these birds, 
 though they are seldom shot by the gun, are 
 often run down by the greyhounds. As they 
 are voracious and greedy, they often sacrifice 
 their safety to their appetite, and feed them- 
 selves so very fat, that they are unable to fly 
 without great preparation. When the grey- 
 hound, therefore, comes within a certain dis- 
 tance, the bustard runs off flapping its wings, 
 and endeavouring to gather air enough under 
 them to rise ; in the meantime, the enemy ap- 
 proaches nearer and nearer, till it is too late 
 for the bird even to think of obtaining safety 
 by flight ; for just at the rise there is always 
 time lost, and of this the bird is sensible ; it 
 continues, therefore, on the foot, until it has 
 got a sufficient way before the dog for flight, 
 or until it is taken. 
 
 As there are few places where they can at 
 once find proper food and security, so they 
 generally continue near their old haunts, sel- 
 dom wandering above twenty or thirty miles 
 from home. As their food is replete with 
 moisture, it enables them to live upon these 
 dry plains, where there are scarcely any 
 springs of water, a long time without drink- 
 ing. Besides this, Nature has given the 
 males an admirable magazine for their secu- 
 rity against thirst. This is a pouch, the en- 
 tra'nce of which lies immediately under the 
 
 1 The Great Bustard is now extremely scarce in Bri- 
 tain. Indeed, Selby is inclined to believe that the breed 
 in this country is extinct. 
 
THE GROUSE. 
 
 77 
 
 tongue, and capable of holding near seven 
 quarts of water. 1 This is probably filled upon 
 proper occasions, to supply the hen when sit- 
 ting, or the young before they can fly. 
 
 Like all other birds of the poultry kind, 
 they change their mates at the season of incu- 
 bation, which is about the latter end of sum- 
 mer. They separate in pairs, if there be a 
 sufficiency of females for the males : but when 
 this happens to be otherwise, the males fight 
 until one of them falls. In France, they often 
 find some of those victims to gallantry dead in 
 the fields, and no doubt are not displeased at 
 the occasion. 
 
 They make their nests upon the ground, 
 only just scraping a hole in the earth, 
 and sometimes lining it with a little long 
 grass or straw. There they lay two eggs 
 only, almost of the size of a goose egg, of a 
 pale olive brown, marked with spots of a 
 darker colour. They hatch in about five 
 weeks, and the young ones run about as soon 
 as they are out of the shell. 
 
 The bustards assemble in flocks in the 
 month of October, and keep together till April. 
 In winter, as their food becomes more scarce, 
 they support themselves indiscriminately, by 
 feeding on moles, mice, and even little birds, 
 when they can seize them. For want ol 
 other food, they are contented to live upon 
 turnip-leaves, and such like succulent ve- 
 getables. In some parts of Switzerland, they 
 are found frozen in the fields in severe wea- 
 
 1 The reservoir is capable of holding only about half 
 the above quantity. 
 
 The female bustard is not much more than half the 
 size of the male. The top of her head is of a deep or- 
 ange, and the rest of the head brown. Her colours are 
 not so bright as those of the male, and she wants the 
 tuft ou each side of the head. She also wants the reser- 
 voir. 
 
 There are eleven species of this bird; viz. the Arabian 
 Passurrage, Ruffed, Indian, White-eared, White-chin- 
 ned, Thick-kneed, Chilese, Great arid Little Bustard. 
 The two latter are natives of our island. 
 
 The LAtlle Bustard (See Plate XVIII. fig. 34.) 
 Length seventeen inches. The female is smaller, and 
 has not the black collar on the neck ; in otiier respects 
 she nearly resembles the male. This bird is very un- 
 common in this country but is common in France, where 
 it is taken in nets, like the partridge. It is a very shy 
 and cunning bird; if disturbed, it flies two or three 
 hundred paces, not far from the ground, and then runs 
 away much faster than one can follow on foot. The fe- 
 male lays her egss in June, to the number of three or 
 four, of a glossy green colour : as soon as the young are 
 hatched, she leads them about, as the hen does her 
 chickens. They begin to fly about the middle of Au- 
 gust. Both this and the great bustard are excellent 
 eating, and, we should imagine, would well repay th 
 trouble of domestication; indeed, it seems surprising 
 that we should sufler these fine birds to run wild, and be 
 in danger of total extinction, which, if properly cul- 
 tivated, might afford as excellent a repast as our owi 
 domestic poultry, or even as the turkey, for which we 
 are indebted to distant countries. 
 
 ther; but when taken to a warm place, they 
 again recover. They usually live fifteen 
 years, and are incapable of being propa- 
 gated in a domestic state, as they probably 
 want that food which best agrees with their 
 appetite. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE GROUSE, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 8 
 
 THE cock of the wood, the black cock, the 
 grouse, and the ptarmigan these are all birds 
 
 2 The high latitudes of North America produce nu- 
 merous species of grouse, most of which are peculiar to 
 that continent ; two or three of these are also found in 
 the parallel latitudes of Europe: while, on the other 
 hand, there are in Europe several species peculiar to our 
 portion of the globe, and of these one at least is very 
 limited in the extent of its habitat. Thus the lagopus 
 saliceti, or willow-grouse, (see Plate XVIII. fig. 17.) 
 which inhabits the fur-countries from the fiftieth to the 
 seventieth parallels of latitude, is also abundant in Scan- 
 dinavia, Kamtschatka, Greenland and Iceland. The te- 
 trao rupestris, or rock-grous'e, which abounds in Melville 
 Island and the Barren Grounds, is common in Sweden 
 and Norway: while on the contrary the black grouse 
 (tetrao tetriji) is peculiar to Europe, as is also the caper- 
 cailzie (tetrao urogallus) ; and the red grouse (lagopus 
 Scoticus) is even more circumscribed, being exclusively 
 a native of the British islands. 
 
 We shall proceed to offer a few observations respec- 
 tively on the two groups into which the tribe of Euro- 
 pean grouse naturally divide themselves: these we may 
 characterize as forest-grouse, comprehended in the genus 
 tetrao, and as moorland or ptarmigan grouse, compre- 
 hended in the genus lagopus. It is in the genus tetrao 
 that the largest of the tribe are found ; but this genus is 
 by no means so numerous in species as that of lagopus. 
 The pine and birch forests which clothe the mountains 
 and hills of the colder latitudes are their abode ; they 
 seldom visit the open country, but prefer the densest re- 
 cesses of the wood, where they perch with ease upon 
 the branches. Shy, recluse, and wary, they retire from 
 the presence of the intruder, and seek refuge in the deep 
 wooded glens which intervene between the mountains, 
 where vast morasses teem with a luxuriant growth of 
 willow, alder, birch, and trees of a similar nature. 
 Hence it requires much address and caution to approach 
 within range of gun-shot. Their food consists of the 
 tender shoots of pines, the seeds of plants, the berries of 
 various species of vaccinium and arbutus, the buds of 
 the birch and alder, leaves arid grain. In their habits 
 they are polygamous. As the breeding season draws on, 
 the male birds choose each for themselves a certain ter- 
 ritory, from which the possessor drives every intruding 
 rival. Desperate combats are then continually taking 
 place, the weaker or less fortunate being obliged to quit 
 the precincts of the station ; and it not unfrequently 
 happens that the contest terminates only with the death 
 of the defeated. Secure in his temporary dominion, the 
 proud victor raises a call of invitation morning and even- 
 ing, which resounds through the wood, and brings his 
 bevy of mates to the selected spot. The nest is very 
 simply constructed, consisting of dried grasses, and 
 placed upon the ground, sheltered among the herbage. 
 
 The genus tetrao is characterized, among other points, 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 
 of a similar nature, and chiefly found in heathy 
 mountains and piny forests, at a distance from 
 mankind. They might once indeed have been 
 common enough all over England, when a 
 great part of the country was covered with 
 heath ; but at present their numbers are thin- 
 ned ; the two first of this kind are utterly un- 
 known in the south, and have taken refuge in 
 the northern parts of Scotland, where the ex- 
 tensive heaths afford them security, and the 
 forest shelter. 
 
 The cock of the wood is sometimes of the 
 size of a turkey, and often weighs near four- 
 teen pounds; the black cock, of which the 
 male is all over black, though the female is of 
 the colour of a partridge, is about the size of 
 a hen, and, like the former, is only found with 
 us in the highlands of Scotland ; * the grouse 
 
 by a peculiarity in the structure of the toes, which de- 
 serves especial attention. The tarsi are covered with 
 hairlike feathers, but the toes are bare, having their 
 edges strongly pectinated, or fringed with an array of 
 rough prominences ; for this remarkable fact it is diffi- 
 cult to assign a reason perfectly satisfactory to inquirers; 
 our own opinion is, that it is a provision for enabling the 
 birds to grasp securely the smooth branches of the trees 
 on which they perch, but more especially when they are 
 covered with frozen snow, or a coat of glassy ice, which 
 in the forests of the north is a common winter occur- 
 rence. 
 
 In their flight the forest grou?e are rapid for short dis- 
 tances, but the motion of their wings is accompanied by 
 a whirring noise, like that of the pheasant. The scar- 
 let-fringed skin above the eye, so peculiar an ornament 
 in the grouse-tribe, they possess in great perfection ; the 
 beak is stout, short, and convex ; the nostrils are hidden 
 beneath a tuft of close small feathers, enveloping the 
 base of the upper mandible. 
 
 Two species of this genus are indigenous in the Bri- 
 tish islands ; one is the black grouse, common in the 
 pine woods of Scotland, and of the northern counties of 
 England, and elsewhere ; the other, we regret to say, is 
 no longer a sojourner among us, it is the capercailzie 
 or cock of the wood. Sec the following note. 
 
 1 The cock of the woods, which was once plentiful in 
 Scotland, where it was called the capercailzie, is now no 
 longer to be found there. This bird is by far the most 
 
 
 magnificent of the tribe to which it belongs, and must 
 have been a truly worthy tenant of those splendid prime- 
 val forests which once overspread our country. The 
 male is nearly three fc;et in length, and attains a weight 
 of about fifteen pounds; black, brown, green, and white, 
 are his predominating colours ; and from the hook of his 
 bill, the strength of his limbs, and majesty of deport- 
 ment, he might rather be supposed to be a bird of prey 
 
 is about half as large again as a partridge, 
 and its colour much like that of a wood-cock, 
 but redder; the ptarmigan is still somewhat 
 less, and is of a pale brown or ash colour. 
 
 than even the chief of the grouse family of gallinse. 
 The numbers of the capercailzie naturally decreased in 
 Scotland with the woods that gave them shelter, and it 
 is now about sixty years since the last native individual 
 of the species ever seen in the country was shot in the 
 neighbourhood of Inverness. They are now most plen- 
 tiful in the forests of Northern Europe, and some parts 
 of Northern Asia, where they feed on the young shoots 
 and cones of the pine, the catkins of the birch, and ber- 
 ries of the juniper which form the underwood. They 
 are exceedingly shy, and in Germany, where they do 
 not abound so much as in Norway and Sweden, he is 
 considered an excellent hunter who has in a whole life- 
 time killed thirty. It is indeed only at the period of 
 incubation, when the male bird comes from his retire- 
 ment, and calls the females around him, that he is easily 
 approachable. Nevertheless, in Sweden they are some- 
 times domesticated in aviaries, and feed tamely from 
 the hand, and will even breed in confinement, though 
 it is remarked that in this state they still retain so 
 much of their natural wildness as to fly at and peck 
 strangers. 
 
 Nilsson, a Norwegian naturalist, used to hunt the 
 capercailzie in autumn, in company with a cocker dog 
 called Brunette, by whose assistance he would flush them 
 from the ground, and cause them to perch in the trees. 
 " Here," he says, " as Brunette had the eye of an eagle 
 and the foot of an antelope, she was not long in follow- 
 ing them. Sometimes, however, those birds were in 
 the pines in the first instance; but as my dog was pos- 
 sessed of an extraordinarily fine sense of smelling, she 
 would often wind, or, in other words, scent them from a 
 long distance. When she found the capercailzie, she 
 would station herself under the tree where they were 
 sitting, and, by keeping up an incessant barking, direct 
 my steps towards the spot. I now advanced with silence 
 and caution ; and as it frequently happened that the at- 
 tention of the bird was much taken up with observing 
 the dog, I was enabled to approach until it was within 
 the range of my rifle, or even of my common gun. In 
 the forest, the capercailzie does not always present an 
 easy mark ; for, dipping down from the pines nearly 
 to the ground, as is frequently the case, they are often 
 almost out of distance before one can properly take aim/' 
 
 Towards the commencement and during the continu- 
 ance of winter, the capercailzies are generally in packs ; 
 these, which are usually of cocks (the hens keeping 
 apart), do not separate until the approach of spring. 
 These packs, which are sometimes said to contain fifty 
 or a hundred birds, usually hold to the sides of the nu- 
 merous lakes and morasses with which the northern 
 forests abound; and to stalk the same in the winter- 
 time, with a good rifle, is no ignoble amusement. 
 
 Among other expedients resorted to in the northern 
 forests for the destruction of the capercailzie, is the fol- 
 lowing: During the autumnal months, after flushing 
 and dispersing the brood, people place themselves, in 
 ambush, and imitate the cry of the old or young birds, 
 as circumstances may require. By thus attracting them 
 to the spot, they are often enabled to shoot the whole 
 brood in succession. The manner in which this is prac- 
 tised may be better understood from what Mr Grieff 
 says on the subject: 
 
 "After the brood has been dispersed, and you see the 
 growth they have acquired, the dogs are to be bound up, 
 and a hut formed precisely on the spot where the birds 
 were driven from, in which you place yourself to call ; 
 and you adapt your call according to the greater or less 
 size of your young birds. When they are as large as 
 
THE GROUSE. 
 
 79 
 
 They are all distinguishable from other birds 
 of the poultry kind by a naked skin of a scar- 
 let colour, above the eyes, in the place and of 
 
 the figure of eye-brows. 
 
 the hen, you ought not to begin to call until an hour 
 after they have been flushed ; should you wish to take 
 them alive, the common net is placed round him who 
 calls. Towards the quarter the hen flies, there are sel- 
 dom to be found any of the young birds, for she tries 
 by her cackling to draw the dogs after her, and from her 
 young ones. As long as you wish to shoot, you must 
 not go out of your hut to collect the birds you have shot. 
 When the hen answers the call, or lows like a cow, she 
 has either got a young one with her, or the calling is in- 
 correct; or else she has been frightened, and will not 
 then quit her place. A young hen answers more 
 readily to the call than an old one." 
 
 Mr Lloyd, in his amusing work, the Field Sports of 
 the North of Europe, describes a still more remarkable 
 mode of hunting the capercailzie namely, by torchlight 
 which he says is chiefly practised in the southern pro- 
 vinces of Sweden. " In Smaland and Ostergothland," 
 says he, "it is effected in the following manner: To- 
 wards nightfall, people watch the last flight of the caper- 
 cailzie before they go to roost. The direction they have 
 taken into the forest is then carefully marked, by means 
 of a prostrate tree, or by one which is felled especially 
 for the purpose. After dark, two men start in pursuit of 
 Ihe birds ; one of them is provided with a gun, the other 
 with a long pole, to either end of which a flambeau is 
 attached. The man with the flambeau now goes in ad- 
 Vance, the other remaining at the prostrate tree, to keep 
 it and the two lights in an exact line with each other; 
 by this curious contrivance they cannot well go astray 
 in the forest. Thus they proceed, occasionally halting, 
 and taking a fresh mark, until they come near to the 
 spot where they may have reason to suppose the birds are 
 roosting. They now carefully examine the trees ; and 
 vvheu they discover the objects of their pursuit, which 
 are said stupidly to remain gazing at the fire blazing be- 
 neath, they shoot them at their leisure. Should there 
 be several capercailzies in the same tree, however, it is 
 always necessary to shoot those in the lower branches on 
 the first instance ; for unless one of these birds falls on 
 its companions, it is said the rest will never move, and, 
 in consequence, the whole of them may be readily 
 killed." 
 
 An attempt is now in the course of being made tore- 
 store to the pine forests of Aberdeenshire a bird which 
 once formed the object of a stately sport among our na- 
 tional nobility, and adorned the grandest of their feasts. 
 In the year 1828, a male and female were imported for 
 this purpose from Sweden by the earl of Fife, but as the 
 hen died before landing, the experiment was on that oc- 
 casion frustrated. Another pair was brought over in 
 1829, and placed in a proper aviary at Mar Lodge, 
 where an incubation took place, but without producing 
 a live bird. Another incubation of the same hen in 
 1830 was equally unsuccessful, and it was not till 1831, 
 and till particular pains had been taken for the preserva- 
 tion and proper hatching of the eggs, by the seclusion of 
 the female, that a brood was obtained. According to 
 the latest intelligence from the scene of this experi- 
 ment, it is designed, as soon as a few healthy broods 
 have been reared in confinement, to liberate a few in the 
 old pine woods of Braemar, and thus eventually to stock 
 with the finest of feathered game the noblest of Scottish 
 forests. 
 
 Inferior though it be to the capercailzie, there still 
 remains in Scotland a very fine species of grouse the 
 black-grouse or black-cock. This bird, though not larger 
 than the common hen, weighs nearly four pounds ; its 
 length is about one foot tsn inches, breadth two feet nine. 
 
 It seems to be something extraordinary, 
 that all the larger wild animals of every spe- 
 cies choose the darkest and the inmost recesses 
 of the woods for their residence, while the 
 
 The bill is black ; the eyes dark blue ; below each 
 
 tye 
 
 there is a spot of a dark white colour, and above, a large 
 one, of a bright scarlet, which extends almost to the top 
 of the head ; the general colour of the plumage is a 
 deep black, richly glossed with blue on the neck and 
 rump; the lesser wing-coverts are dusky brown; the 
 greater are white, which extends to the ridge of the 
 wing, forming a spot of that colour on the shoulder, 
 when the wing is closed: the quills are brown, the lower 
 parts and tips of the secondaries are white, forming a 
 bar of white across the wing; there is likewise a spot of 
 white on the bastard w-ing; the feathers of the tail are 
 almost square at the ends, and, when spread out, form a 
 curve on each side ; the under tail coverts are of a pure 
 white; the legs and thighs are of a dark brown colour, 
 mottled with white; the toes are toothed on the edges, 
 like those of the former species. In some of our speci- 
 mens the nostrils are thickly covered with feathers, 
 whilst in others they are quite bare, probably owing to 
 the different ages of the birds. These birds, like the 
 former, are found chiefly in high and woody situations in 
 the northern parts of our island ; they are common in 
 Russia, Siberia, and other northern countries: they feed 
 on various kinds of berries and other fruits, the produce 
 of wild and mountainous places. In summer they fre- 
 quently come down from their lofty situations, for the 
 sake of feeding upon corn. They do not pair; but, on 
 the return of spring, the males assemble in great num- 
 bers, at their accustomed resorts, on the tops of high 
 and heathy mountains, when the contest for superiority 
 commences, and continues with great bitterness till the 
 vanquished are put to flight. The victors, being left in 
 possession of the field, place themselves on an eminence, 
 clap their wings, and with loud cries give notice to their 
 females, who immediately resort to the spot. It is said, 
 that each cock has two or three hens, which seem parti- 
 cularly attached to him. The female is about one-third 
 less than the male, and differs from him considerably in 
 colour; her tail is likewise much less forked. She makes 
 an artless nest on the ground, where she lays six or eight 
 eggs of a yellowish colour, with freckles and spots of a 
 rusty brown. The young cocks at first resemble the 
 mother, and do not acquire their male garb till towards 
 the end of autumn, when the plumage gradually changes 
 to a deeper colour, and assumes that of a bluish black, 
 which it afterwards retains. 
 
 The Red Grouse, or Muirfowl. The weight of the 
 male is about nineteen, and of the female fifteen ounces. 
 The bill is black; and at the base of the lower mandi- 
 ble there is on each side a white spot. Each eye is 
 arched with a large, naked, scarlet spot. The throat is 
 red. The plumage of the upper part of the body is 
 mottled with dusky red and black. The breast and belly 
 are purplish, crossed with small dusky lines. The 
 heathy and mountainous parts of the northern counties 
 of England are in general well stocked with red grouse. 
 
so 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 smaller kinds come more into the open arid 
 cultivated parts, where there is more food and 
 more danger. It is thus with the birds I am 
 describing : while the cock of the wood is 
 
 These birds are likewise very common in Wales, and 
 the highlands of Scotland ; but they have not yet been 
 observed in any of the countries of the continent. In 
 winter they are usually found in flocks of sometimes 
 forty or fifty in number, which are termed, by sports- 
 men, packs, and become remarkably shy and wild. 
 They keep near the summits of the heathy hills, seldom 
 descending to the lower grounds ; here they feed on the 
 mountain-berries, and on the tender tops of the heath. 
 They pair in spring ; and the females lay from six to 
 ten eggs, in a rude nest formed on the ground. The 
 young brood (which during the first year are called 
 poults] follow the hen till th^'approach df winter, when 
 they unite with several others into packs. Red grouse 
 have been known to breed in confinement;, in the mena- 
 gerie of the late Duchess Dowager of Portland. This 
 was, in some measure, effected by her grace causing 
 fresh pots of heath to be placed in the menagerie almost 
 every day. The flesh, as in all others of this tribe, is an 
 excellent food ; but it soon corrupts. To prevent this, 
 the bird should be drawn immediately after they are 
 shot. 
 
 White Grouse, or Ptarmigan. This bird is nearly 
 the same size as the red grouse. Its bill is black ; the 
 
 upper parts of its body are of a pale brown or ash-colour, 
 mottled with small dusky spots and bars : the bars on 
 the head and neck are somewhat broader, and are mixed 
 with white ; the under parts are white, as are also the 
 wings, excepting the shafts of the quills, which are 
 black. This is its summer dress, which in winter is 
 changed to a pure white, excepting that in the male 
 there is a black line between the bill and the eye. The 
 tail consists of sixteen feathers; the two middle ones 
 are ash-coloured in summer, and white in winter; the 
 next two are slightly marked with white near the ends; 
 the rest are wholly black: the upper tail coverts are 
 long, and almost cover the tail. The white grouse is 
 fond of lofty situations, where it braves the severest 
 cold. It is found in most of the northern parts of 
 Europe, even as far as Greenland ; in this country it is 
 only to he met with on the summits of some of our 
 highest hills, chiefly in the highlands of Scotland, in the 
 Hebrides and Orkneys, and sometimes, but rarely, on 
 the lofty hills of Cumberland and Wales. Buffon, 
 speaking of this bird, says, that it avoids the solar heat, 
 and prefers the biting frost on the tops of mountains; 
 for as the snow melts on the sides of mountains, it con- 
 stantly ascends, till it gains the summit, where it forms 
 holes and burrows in the snow. They pair at the same 
 time as the red grouse. The female lays eight or ten 
 eggs, which are white, spotted with brown: she makes 
 no nest, but deposits them on the ground. In winter 
 they fly in flocks ; and are so little accustomed to the 
 sight of man, that they are easily shot, or taken in a 
 snare. They feed on the wild productions of the hills, 
 which sometimes gives the flesh a bitter, but not unpa- 
 latable taste ; it is dark-coloured, and, according to M. 
 Button, has somewhat the flavour of the hare. 
 
 seldom seen, except on the inaccessible parts 
 of heathy mountains, or in the midst of piny 
 forests, the grouse is found in great numbers 
 the neighbourhood of corn-fields, where 
 
 Rock Grouse. Orange, with black bands and 
 blotches ; the toes are downy ; the tail feathers 
 blacit, tipt with white ; the middle ones are entirely 
 white. The rock grouse inhabits Hudson's Bay ; is less 
 than the last; it does not frequent woods, but sits on the 
 tops of rocks, and makes a cry like a man calling with 
 a loud voice. 
 
 The Sand Grouse. Its collar, belly, -and vent are 
 black; the tail feathers are barred with brown and gray, 
 and tipt with white ; the two middle ones are tawnyish: 
 the head is ashy; the chin, pale yellow, with a black 
 semi-circle on the throat, the feathers truncate and shin- 
 ing ; the tail is barred, the two middle feathers subulate 
 at the tip; the legs behind are naked, having a small 
 spur. The female of this species is yellowish, having 
 the head and neck spotted with black, and the back Vs 
 barred with black. For banded sand grouse, see Plate 
 XVIII. fig. 19; for Pallas's sand grouse, see fig. 27; 
 for spotted grouse, see fig. 18. 
 
 The Heteroclitous Grouse. The feet are three-toed; 
 the toes are downy, and connected nearly to the tips. 
 The heteroclitous grouse inhabits the southern deserts of 
 Tartary ; it is an ambiguous bird, between the bustard 
 and the grouse. The bill is more slender than in others 
 of the tribe ; the upper mandible neither arched, nor re- 
 ceiving the lower one. Its head and neck are hoary; 
 the chin tawnyish, with an orange spot on each side of 
 the neck; the back is waved with gray and black ; the 
 breast is of a pale reddish ash-colour; the belly, flanks, 
 and vent are black; the wings long and pointed, white 
 beneath, and dotted with black above. 
 
 Among the other varieties of grouse, are the Ruffed 
 Grouse the Pinnated Grouse the Hazel Grouse, pretty 
 generally spread throughout the central countries of 
 Europe the Pintado Grouse, a native of the cold re- 
 gions of North America and the Willow Grouse, which 
 inhabits the north of Europe and America, as far as the 
 ices of the pole. 
 
 The Cock of the plain. This splendid bird is the 
 
 largest of the American grouse ; and, as far as beauty, 
 size, and rarity are concerned, bears the same rank in 
 the American fauna with the wood-grouse, or cock of 
 the wood of Europe. He is equally sought after by the 
 mntsman, and is even now as difficult to procure as that 
 we have just compared him to. But the form and habits 
 are quite distinct. In our once native bird the form is 
 remarkably powerful, the tail rounded and very ample, 
 the habitation, the most extensive forests, delighting to 
 3erch on the highest trees. The bird of America in- 
 labits only the uncovered plains, never perches, and the 
 'orm of the tail is lengthened, the feathers narrowing to 
 a point. This acquisition to the grouse was first noticed 
 n the expedition of Lewis and Clark, who met with it 
 near the fountain of the Missouri, in the heart of the 
 Rocky mountains, and also on the Columbia river. A 
 i^ure was first given of it by Bonaparte, from a speci- 
 men in the possession of Mr Leadbetter. Both sexes 
 were again figured in Mr Wilson's Illustrations of Zoo- 
 
THE GROUSE. 
 
 
 81 
 
 there is heath to afford retreat and shelter. 
 Their food too somewhat differs; while the 
 smaller kind lives upon heath blossoms, cran- 
 berries, and corn, the larger feed's upon the 
 cones of the pine-tree ; and will sometimes 
 entirely strip one tree before it offers to touch 
 those of another, though just beside him. In 
 other respects, the manners of these birds are 
 the same ; being both equally simple in their 
 diet, and licentious in their amours. 
 
 3P he cock of the wood, for it is from him we 
 will take our description, is, as was said, 
 chiefly fond of a mountainous and woody si- 
 tuation. In winter he resides in the darkest 
 and inmost parts of the woods ; in summer, 
 he ventures down from his retreats, to make 
 short depredations on the farmer's corn^ The 
 delicacy of his flesh, in some measure, sets' a 
 high price upon his head ; and as he is greatly 
 sought after, so he continues, when he comes 
 down from the hills, always on his guard. 
 Upon these occasions, he is seldom surprised; 
 and those who would take him, must venture 
 up to find him in his native retreats. 
 
 The cock of the wood, when in the forests, 
 attaches himself principally to the oak and 
 the pine-tree ; the cones of the latter serving 
 for his food, and the thick boughs for a habi- 
 tation. He even makes a choice of what 
 cones he shall feed upon; for he sometimes 
 will strip one tree bare before he will deign 
 to touch the cones of another. He feeds also 
 upon ants' eggs, which seem a high delicacy 
 to all birds of the poultry kind : cranberries 
 
 logy, and an excellent representation of the male is given 
 in the Northern Zoology. 
 
 The total length of the male is thirty-one and a half 
 inches, that of the female twenty-two. The colour of 
 the plumage is a beautiful mixture of yellowish-brown, 
 mottled and varied with deeper tints, the under parts 
 nearly white, with longitudinal streaks of brown, and 
 the centre of the belly'dotted with large black patches. 
 On each side of the breast are two round naked protu- 
 berances, placed farther forward than those of T. cupido, 
 or pinnated grouse. Above each there is a tuft of fea- 
 thers, having their shafts considerably elongated, naked, 
 and tipped with black radii. On the sides of the neck 
 and across the breast, below the protuberances, the fea- 
 thers are short, rigid, and sharp-pointed, but lie over 
 each other with the same regularity as the scales of a 
 fish. The tail is eleven inches long, each feather lan- 
 ceolate, and is gradually attenuated to a fine point. The 
 female has the whole of the upper plumage umber-brown 
 and yellowish-white, barred or mottled in equal propor- 
 tions. Under part nearly as in the male, but without 
 the projecting stiff feathers. 
 
 The description of the manners of this species by Mr 
 Douglass, is the best account we yet have. " The flight 
 of these birds is slow, unsteady, and affords but little 
 amusement to the sportsman. From the disproportion- 
 ately small, convex, thin-quilled wins, so thin, that a 
 vacant space half as broad as a quill appears between 
 each, the flight may be said to be a sort of fluttering, 
 more than any thing else: the bird giving two or three 
 claps of the wings in quick succession, at the same time 
 hurriedly rising; then shooting or floating, swinging 
 from side to side, gradually falling, and thus producing 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 are likewise often found in his crop ; and his 
 gizzard, like that of domestic fowls, contains 
 a quantity of gravel, for the purpose of as- 
 sisting his powers of digestion. 
 
 At the earliest return of spring^ this bird 
 begins to feel the genial influence of the sea- 
 son. During the month of March, the ap- 
 proaches of courtship are continued, and do 
 not desist till the trees have all their leaves 
 and the forest is in full bloom. During this 
 whole season, the cock of the wood is seen at 
 sunrise and setting, extremely active, upon 
 one of the largest branches of the pine-tree. 
 With his tail raised and expanded like a fan, 
 and the wings drooping, he is seen walking 
 backward and forward, his neck stretched out, 
 his head swollen and red, and making a thou- 
 sand ridiculous postures : his cry upon that 
 occasion is a kind of loud explosion, which is 
 instantly followed by a noise like the whetting 
 of a scythe, which ceases and commences al- 
 ternately for about an hour, and is then ter- 
 minated by the same explosion. 
 
 During the time this singular cry continues, 
 the bird seems entirely deaf and insensible of 
 every danger ; whatever noise may be made 
 near him, or even though fired at, he still 
 continues his call ; and this is the time that 
 sportsmen generally take to shoot him. Upon 
 all other occasions, he is the most timorous 
 and watchful bird in nature ; but now he 
 seems entirely absorbed by his instincts ; and 
 seldom leaves the place where he first begins 
 to feel the accesses of desire. This extraor- 
 
 a clapping, whirring sound. When started the yeiee is 
 cuck, cuck, cuck, like the common pheasant. They 
 pair in March and April. Small eminences on the banks 
 of streams are the places usually selected for celebrating 
 the weddings, the time generally about sunrise. The 
 wings of the male are lowered, buzzing on the ground, 
 the tail spread like a fan, somewhat erect, the bare yel- 
 low oesophagus inflated to a prodigious size, fully half as 
 large as his body, and, from its soft membranous sub- 
 stance, being well contrasted with the scale-like feathers 
 below it on the breast, and the flexile silky feathers 
 on the neck, which on these occasions stand erect. In 
 this grotesque form he displays, in the presence of his 
 intended mate, a variety of attitudes. His love-song is 
 a confused grating, but not offensively disagreeable tone 
 something that we can imitate, but have a difficulty 
 of expressing ' Hwr-kur-hur-r-r-r-hooJ ending in a 
 deep hollow tone, not unlike the sound produced by 
 blowing into a large reed. Nest on the ground under 
 the shade of Purshia and Artemisia, or near streams, 
 among Phalaris arundinacea, carefully constructed of 
 dry grass and slender twigs. Eggs from thirteen to 
 seventeen, about the size of a common fowl, of a wood- 
 brown colour, with irregular chocolate blotches on the 
 thick end. Period of incubation from twenty-one to 
 twenty-two days. The young leave the nest a few hours 
 after they are hatched." " In summer and autumn 
 months these birds are seen in small troops, and in win- 
 ter and spring in flocks of several hundreds. Plentiful 
 throughout the barren, arid plains of the river Columbia; 
 also in the interior of North California. They do not 
 exist on the hanks of the river Missouri; nor have the} 
 been seen in any place east of the Rucky Mountains." 
 L 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 dinary cry, which is accompanied by a clap- 
 ping of the wings, is no sooner finished, than 
 ihe female, hearing it, replies, approaches, 
 and places herself under the tree, from whence 
 the cock descends to impregnate her. The 
 number of females that, on this occasion, re- 
 sort to his call is uncertain ; but one male ge- 
 nerally suffices for all. 
 
 The female is much less than her mate, 
 and entirely unlike him in plumage, so that 
 she might be mistaken for a bird of another 
 species : she seldom lays more than six or 
 seven eggs, which are white, and marked 
 with yellow, of the size of a common hen's 
 egg ; she generally lays them in a dry place, 
 and a mossy ground, and hatches them with- 
 out the company of the cock. When she is 
 obliged, during the time of incubation, to 
 leave her eggs in quest of food, she covers 
 them up so artfully, with moss or dry leaves, 
 that it is extremely difficult to discover them. 
 On this occasion, she is extremely tame and 
 tranquil, however wild and timorous in ordin- 
 ary. She often keeps to her nest, though 
 strangers attempt to drag her away. 
 
 As soon as the young ones are hatched, 
 they are seen running with extreme agility 
 after the mother, though sometimes they are 
 not entirely disengaged from the shell. The 
 hen leads them forward, for the first time, into 
 the woods, shows them ants' eggs, and the 
 wild mountain-berries, which, while young, 
 are their only food. As they grow older, 
 their appetites grow stronger, and they then 
 feed upon the tops of heather, and the cones 
 of the pine-tree. In this manner they soon 
 come to perfection ; they are a hardy bird, 
 their food lies everywhere before them, and it 
 would seem that they should increase in great 
 abundance. But this is not the case ; their 
 numbers are thinned by rapacious birds and 
 beasts of every kind ; and still more by their 
 own salacious contests. 
 
 As soon as the clutching is over, which the 
 female performs in the manner of a hen, the 
 whole follow the mother for about a month 
 or two, at the end of which the young males 
 entirely forsake her, and keep in great har- 
 mony together till the beginning of spring. 
 At this season, they begin, for the first time, 
 to feel the genial access ; and then adieu to 
 all their former friendship ! They begin to 
 consider each other as rivals ; and the rage of 
 concupiscence quite extinguishes the spirit of 
 society. They fight each other like game- 
 cocks ; and at that time are so inattentive to 
 their own safety, that it often happens that 
 two or three of them are killed at a shot. It 
 is probable that in these contests, the bird 
 which comes off victorious takes possession of 
 the female seraglio, as it is certain they have 
 no faithful attachments. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 OF THE PARTRIDGE, AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 The Partridge may be particularly con- 
 sidered as belonging to the sportsman. It is 
 a bird which even our laws have taken 
 under protection ; and, like a peacock or a 
 hen, maybe ranked as private property. The 
 only difference now is, that we feed one in 
 our farms, the other in our yards ; that these 
 are contented captives ; those, servants that 
 have it in their power to change their master, 
 by changing their habitation. 1 
 
 " These birds," says Willoughby," hold the 
 principal place in the feasts and entertain- 
 ments of princes; without which their feasts 
 are esteemed ignoble, vulgar, and of no ac- 
 count. The Frenchmen do so highly value, 
 and are so fond of, the partridge, that if they 
 be wanting, they utterly slight and despise 
 the best-spread tables ; as if there could be 
 no feast without them." But however this 
 might be in the times of our historian, the 
 partridge is now too common in France to be 
 considered as a delicacy; and this, as well as 
 every other simple dish, is exploded for luxuries 
 of a more compound invention. 
 
 In England, where the partridge is much 
 scarcer, and a great deal dearer, it is still a 
 favourite delicacy at the tables of the rich ; 
 and the desire of keeping it to themselves, 
 has induced them to make laws for its preser- 
 vation, no way harmonizing with the general 
 spirit of English legislation. What can be 
 more arbitrary than to talk of preserving the 
 game ; which, when defined, means no more 
 than that the poor shall abstain from what the 
 rich have taken a fancy to keep for themselves ? 
 If these birds could, like a cock or a hen, be 
 made legal property, could they be taught to 
 keep within certain districts, and only feed 
 on those grounds that belong to the man 
 whose entertainments they improve, it then 
 might, with some show of justice, be admit- 
 ted, that as a man fed them, so he might 
 claim them. But this is not the case ; nor is 
 it in any man's power to lay a restraint upon 
 the liberty of these birds, that, when let loose, 
 put no limits to their excursions. They feed 
 every where ; upon every man's ground ; and 
 no man can say these birds are fed only by 
 me. Those birds which are nourished by all, 
 belong to all ; nor can any one man, or any 
 set of men, lay claim to them, when still con- 
 tinuing in a state of nature. 
 
 I never walked out about the environs of 
 Paris, that I did not consider the immense 
 quantity of game that was running almost 
 
 1 This account is from the Journal Oiconomiciue, and 
 may be relied on. Goldsmith. 
 
THE PARTRIDGE. 
 
 83 
 
 tame on every side of me, as a badge of the 
 slavery of the people ; and what they wished 
 me to observe as an object of triumph, I 
 always regarded with a kind of secret compas- 
 sion ; yet this people have no game-laws for 
 the remoter parts of the kingdom ; the game 
 is only preserved in a few places for the king, 
 and is free in most places else. In England, 
 the prohibition is general; and the peasant 
 has not a right to what even slaves, as he is 
 taught to call them, are found to possess. 
 
 Of partridges there are two kinds; the gray 
 and the red. 1 The red partridge is the largest 
 of the two, and often perches upon trees ; the 
 gray, with which we are best acquainted in 
 England, is most prolific, and always keeps on 
 the ground. 
 
 The partridge seems to be a bird well 
 known all over the world, as it is found in 
 every country, and in every climate ; as well 
 in the frozen regions about the pole, as the 
 torrid tracts under the equator. It even 
 seems to adapt itself to the nature of the 
 climate where it resides. In Greenland, the 
 partridge, which is brown in summer, as soon 
 as the icy winter sets in, begins to take 
 a covering suited to the season ; it is then 
 clothed with a warm down beneath ; and its 
 outward plumage assumes the colour of the 
 snows amongst which it seeks its food. Thus 
 it is doubly fitted ior the place by the warmth 
 and the colour of its plumage ; the one to de- 
 fend it from the cold, the other to prevent its 
 being noticed by the enemy. Those of Bara- 
 conda, on the other hand, are longer legged, 
 much swifter of foot, and choose the highest 
 precipices and rocks to reside in. 
 
 They all, however, agree in one character, 
 of being immoderately addicted to venery ; 
 and, as some writers affirm, often to an un- 
 natural degree. It is certain the male will 
 pursue the hen even to her nest ; and will 
 break her eggs, rather than not indulge his 
 inclinations. Though the young ones have 
 kept together in flocks during the winter, 
 when they begin to pair in spring, their society 
 disperses, and combats, very terrible with re- 
 spect to each other, ensue. Their manners, 
 in other circumstances, resemble all those of 
 poultry in general : but their cunning and in- 
 stincts seem superior to those of the larger 
 kinds. Perhaps, as they live in the very 
 neighbourhood of their enemies, they have 
 more frequent occasion to put their little arts 
 in practice ; and learn, by habit, the means 
 of evasion or safety. Whenever, therefore, a 
 dog, or other formidable animal, approaches 
 
 1 Modern ornithologists have ascertained many more 
 varieties of partridges. The Greek Partridge is more 
 bulky than the red, with which it has frequently been 
 confounded. The Painted Partridge is a beautiful 
 species belonging to India. See Plate XVIII. fig. 20. 
 
 their nest, the female uses every means to draw 
 him away. She keeps just before him, pre- 
 tends to be incapable of flying, just hops up, 
 and then falls down before him, but never 
 goes off so far as to discourage her pursuer. 
 At length, when she has drawn him entirely 
 away from her secret treasure, she at once 
 takes wing, and fairly leaves him to gaze 
 after her in despair. 
 
 After the danger is over, and the dog with- 
 drawn, she then calls her young, who as- 
 semble at once at her cry, and follow where 
 she leads them. There are generally from 
 ten to fifteen in a covey ; and, if unmolested, 
 they live from fifteen to seventeen years. 
 
 There are several methods of taking them, 
 as is well known ; that by which they are taken 
 in a net with a setting dog, is the most plea- 
 sant, as well as the most secure. The dog, as 
 every body knows, is trained to this exercise 
 by a long course of education : by blows and 
 caresses he is taught to lie down at the word 
 of command ; a partridge is shown him, and 
 he is then ordered to lie down ; he is brought 
 into the field, and when the sportsman per- 
 ceives where the covey lies, he orders his dog 
 to crouch; at length the dog, from habit, 
 crouches wherever he approaches a covey ; 
 and this is the signal which the sportsman re- 
 ceives for unfolding, and covering the birds 
 with his net. A covey thus caught, is some- 
 times fed in a place proper for their reception ; 
 but they can never be thoroughly tamed, like 
 the rest of our domestic poultry. 2 
 
 2 Partridge shooting is one of the most esteemed sports 
 of the British fowler ; and when pursued in a sportsman- 
 like manner, with finely bred dogs, is of considerable 
 interest. The county of Norfolk has been long cele- 
 brated for the number of its partridges, as well as for her 
 zealous agriculturist, Mr Coke, one of the first shots in 
 the kingdom. The following account from Pierce Egan's 
 anecdotes, will give some idea both of the abundance of 
 the partridge, and the excess to which the sport may be 
 carried. 
 
 "The bet between Mr William Coke and Lord 
 Kennedy, was for 200 sovereigns a-side, play or pay, 
 who shot and bagged the greatest number of partridges 
 n two days sporting ; both parties to shoot on the same 
 days, the 26th of September 1823, and the 4th of Oc- 
 tober in the same season. Mr William Coke to sport 
 upon his uncle's manors in Norfolk ; and Lord Kennedy 
 n any part of Scotland he pleased. The result of Mr 
 Coke's first day's shooting was eighty and a half brace 
 of birds bagged. On Saturday, October 4, Mr W. Coke 
 took the field soon after six o'clock in the morning : he 
 was accompanied by his uncle, T. W. Coke, Esq, M. P., 
 and by two umpires : Colonel Dixon for Mr Coke, and 
 F. S. Blunt, Esq. for Lord Kennedy ; also by two of 
 his friends, Sir. H. Goodrich, Bart., and F. Hollyhoeke, 
 Esq. He was attended by several gamekeepers, and by 
 one dog only to pick up the game. Several respect- 
 ,ble neighbouring yeomen volunteered their services in 
 assisting to beat for game, and rendered essential service 
 throughout the day. Mr Coke sported over part of the 
 Wigton and Egmere manors. The morning was foggy, 
 ,nd the turnips were so wet that the birds would not lie 
 among them. Very little execution was done, in con- 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 THE QUAIL- 
 
 THE last of the poultry kind that I shall 
 mention, is the quail; a bird much smaller 
 than any of the former, being not above half 
 the size of a partridge. The feathers of the 
 
 sequence, in the early part of the day; in the two first 
 hours only six brace of birds were bagged. The day 
 deared up after eight o'clock, and the sportsman amply 
 made up for his lost time. He found birds plentiful 
 among Mr Denny's fine crop of turnips on the Egmere 
 farm, and in one and twenty acre breck of Swedes, he 
 bagged thirty-five and a half brace of birds. He con- 
 cluded his day's sport soon after six in the evening, and 
 had then bagged eighty-eight brace of birds, and five 
 pheasants ; but a dispute having arisen among the umpires 
 about one bird, Colonel Dixon gave the point up, and 
 the number was ultimately declared to be eighty-seven 
 and a half brace of birds bagged ; pheasants and other 
 game not counted in the match : so that Mr VV. 
 Coke's number of birds bagged in the two days shooting, 
 stands 173 brace. He had much fewer shots in the 
 second than in the first day, but he shot better, as will be 
 seen from the comparative number of birds bagged. On 
 Saturday he bagged ISO birds from 327 shots, which was 
 considered good shooting in a match of this nature, when 
 a chance, however desperate it may appear, is not to be 
 thrown away. His uncle, T. W. Coke, Esq. loaded a 
 great part of the gun on Saturday, and as a finale to the 
 day's sport, shot at and killed the last bird, which his 
 nephew had previously missed. Lady Ann Coke was in 
 the field a great part of the day; her ladyship carried re- 
 freshments for the sportsmen in her pony gig. Lord 
 Kennedy chose for the scene of his exploits Montreith, 
 in Scotland, a manor belonging to Sir William Maxwell, 
 considered equal to any lands in Scotland for rearing 
 partridges. On the first day of trial his lordship bagged 
 fifty, and on the second, eighty-two brace, being in all 
 132 brace of partridges in two days." 
 
 Varieties of the partridge frequently occur; the most 
 common are those varied with white, which sometimes 
 prevails through a whole covey. Specimens entirely of 
 a cream-colour are also not unfrequent, and here, although 
 the tint may be said to be uniform, the various markings 
 of the plumage appear conspicuous in different lights, as 
 if from a variation of the structure of the feathers. 
 
 The Mountain Partridge has been said to be more 
 frequently found in alpine districts than in lowlands, 
 but they are known to mingle occasionally with those of 
 common plumage. The colour is remarkable to be as- 
 sumed as a variety, though it is often, we may say, 
 generally mingled with whitish or reddish-white. The 
 whole plumage is of deep sienna-brown, and this colour, 
 somewhat like that of the common grouse, prevails in 
 many species entirely upon the breast, lower parts, and 
 shoulders. The specimens are generally less than those 
 of ordinary plumage. 
 
 The partridge, therefore, seems to have a more exten- 
 sive range of variation than almost any bird we are ac- 
 quainted with, and according to Temminck and some 
 other authors, is somewhat influenced by almost every 
 change of climate. Those broods which frequent and 
 are bred on the marshy grounds of the Zuyder Zee and 
 mouth of Meuse are less in size and of a duller tint than 
 those found in the drier lands of Belgium. Dry or parch- 
 ed districts, abundance of food and water, will always 
 influence their condition, and it is to the same causes, 
 with variation of climate that Temminck attributes the 
 
 head are black, edged with rusty brown; the 
 breast is of a pale yellowish red, spotted with 
 black ; the feathers on the back are marked 
 with lines of a pale yellow, and the legs are 
 of a pale hue. Except in the colours thus 
 described, and the size, it every way resembles 
 a partridge in shape ; and, except that it is a 
 bird of passage, all others of the poultry kind, 
 in its habits and nature. 1 
 
 migrations of the partridge on some parts of the continent, 
 and which are also said to be of a smaller size than those 
 which do not migrate. This migratory bird has by some 
 been also raised to the rank of a species, and named the 
 Damascus partridge. By the modern ornithologists of 
 this country, it is very little known, or its claims upon 
 which even the variety rests ascertained, beyond the fact 
 of its migration. And our latest, or indeed only au- 
 thority from actual examination, is that of Temminck, 
 who says that among many individuals he has been able 
 to discover no good distinctions. Naturalist's Library, 
 by Sir fT. Jardine. Vol. IV. 
 
 1 The quails, forming the genus Coturnix of moderns, 
 are at first sight so similar to the partridges, that they 
 are not to be distinguished without a knowledge of their 
 habits, and examination of their forms. In the bill and 
 legs there are slight modifications, but the form of the 
 wing is quite different, the first three quills being long- 
 est, while in the partridges the third is the longest, and 
 a rounded wing of less power is the consequence. It 
 may be recollected that, though the partridges were said 
 to migrate in some countries, the migration is compara- 
 tively very partial, and often only from one part of a 
 continent to another; on the other hand, almost all the 
 quails migrate to a certain distance, and hence perform 
 lengthened journeys often across the seas. In their habits 
 they also show considerable difference, as they never 
 perch. They often assemble in large flocks after the 
 breeding season: and although they pair regularly, so 
 soon as the female commences to sit, she is left alone, 
 and the male attends no longer, nor afterwards assists in 
 protecting the brood. They delight in cultivated coun- 
 tries, and never frequent woods. They are found in 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Holland. 
 
 The common quail seems to be generally distributed 
 over the old world, though, in the south of Europe, it is 
 perhaps as abundant as elsewhere. In Britain they may 
 now be termed only an occasional visitant, the numbers 
 of those which arrive to breed having considerably de- 
 creased, and they are to be met with certainty only in 
 some of the warmer southern or midland counties of 
 England. Thirty years since they were tolerably com- 
 mon and regular in their returns ; and even in the south 
 of Scotland a few broods were occasionally to be found. 
 In these same districts they are now very uncertain. 
 We have known of broods twice, and occasionally have 
 shot a straggler apparently on its way to the south. 
 They are extremely difficult to flush after the first time. 
 The nest is made by the female, but, like the partridges, 
 the eggs are deposited almost on the bare ground ; these, 
 also, unlike the uniform tint which we find prevailing 
 in those of the true partridges, are deeply blotched with 
 oil-green, and, except in form, are somewhat similar to 
 those of the snipe. In France they are very abundant; 
 and besides supplying the markets' of that country, thou- 
 sands are imported alive by the London poulterers, and 
 fattened for the luxury of the metropolis. 
 
 They are taken by nets, into which they are decoyed 
 by imitating their call. On the coast of Italy and Si- 
 cily, and all the Greek islands, they arrive at certain 
 seasons in immense numbers. An hundred thousand 
 are said to have been taken in one day. They are run 
 
THE QUAIL. 
 
 85 
 
 The quail is by all known to be a bird of 
 passage; and yet if we consider its heavy 
 manner of flying, and its dearth of plumage, 
 with respect to its corpulence, we shall be 
 surprised how a bird so apparently ill quali- 
 fied for migration, should take such extensive 
 journeys. Nothing, however, is more cer- 
 tain : " When we sailed from Rhodes to 
 Alexandria," say Bellonius, " about autumn, 
 many quails, flying from the north to the 
 south, were taken in our ship ; and sailing at 
 spring-time, the contrary way, from the south 
 to the north, I observed them on their return, 
 when many of them were taken in the same 
 manner." This account is confirmed by 
 many others ; who aver, that they choose a 
 north wind for these adventures ; the south 
 wind being very unfavourable, as it retards 
 their flight, by moistening their plumage. 
 They then fly two by two ; continuing, when 
 
 after during the flight like the passenger pigeons of 
 America, and a harvest is gathered when the numbers 
 are greatest. In Sicily, crowds of all ages and degrees 
 assemble on the shore. The number of boats is even 
 greater; and enviable is the lot of the idle apprentice, 
 who, with a borrowed musket or pistol, no matter how 
 unsafe, lias gained possession of the farthest rock, where 
 there is but room for himself and his dog, which he has 
 fed with bread only, all the year round, for these delight- 
 ful days, arid which sits in as happy expectation as him- 
 self for the arrival of the quails. Ortygia was named 
 from them ; and so abundant were they on Capri, an 
 island at the entrance of the Gulf of Naples, that they 
 formed the principal revenue of the bishop of the island. 
 From twelve to sixty thousand were annually taken ; 
 and one year the capture amounted to one hundred and 
 sixty thousand. In China, and in many of the eastern 
 islands, and Malacca, they are also very abundant, per- 
 forming regular migrations from the interior to the coast. 
 Here they are domesticated along with a small species 
 of Ortygis, and trained to fight. Large stakes are 
 risked upon the result, as in the cockpit. They are 
 also used by the Chinese to warm their hands in cold 
 weather, their bodies being thought to contain a large 
 proportion of animal heat, from the pugnacious disposi- 
 tion of their tempers. 
 
 The common quail has the crown of the head and 
 back of the neck black, each feather margined with 
 chestnut ; and down the centre of the head and neck 
 there is a cream-yellow streak. Over each eye, and 
 proceeding down the neck, is a white streak: chin and 
 throat chestnut-brown, mixed with blackish-brown. 
 Back scapulars and wing-coverts black, the feathers 
 margined and varied with brown, and each having its 
 shaft and central parts sienna-yellow. The breast and 
 belly are pale buff or orange, the shafts and margins of 
 the feathers yellowish-white. Tail blackish-brown, 
 with the shafts, tips, arid base cream-yellow. In the 
 female there is no black or brown on the neck and throat. 
 Her breast is spotted with blackish-brown, and the 
 general tints of her plumage are paler. Pure white on 
 spotted varieties sometimes occur. Naturalist's Lib. 
 
 roi. ir. 
 
 their way lies over land, to go faster by night 
 than by day; and to fly very high, to avoid 
 being surprised or set upon by birds of prey. 
 However, it still remains a doubt whether 
 quails take such long journeys as Bellonius 
 has made them perform. It is now asserted 
 by some, that the quail only migrates from 
 one province of a country to another. For 
 instance, in England, they fly from the in- 
 land counties, to those bordering on the sea, 
 and continue there all the winter. If frost 
 or snow drive them out of the stubble-fields or 
 marshes, they then retreat to the sea-side, 
 shelter themselves among the weeds, and live 
 upon what is thrown up from the sea upon 
 shore. Particularly in Essex, the time of 
 their appearance upon the coasts of that coun- 
 try exactly coincides with their disappearance 
 from the more internal parts of the kingdom ; 
 so that what has been said of their long 
 flights, is probably not so well founded, as is 
 generally supposed. 
 
 These birds are much less prolific than the 
 partridge ; seldom laying more than six or 
 seven whitish eggs, marked with ragged rush- 
 coloured spots. But their ardour in courtship 
 yields scarcely toanyotherbird, as they are fierce 
 and cruel at the season to each other, fighting 
 most desperately, and (a punishment they 
 richly deserve) being at that time very easily 
 taken. Quail-fighting was a favourite amuse- 
 ment among the Athenians : they abstained 
 from the flesh of this bird, deeming it un- 
 wholesome, as supposing that it fed upon the 
 white hellebore ; but they reared great num- 
 bers of them, for the pleasure of seeing them 
 fight ; and staked sums of money, as we do 
 with regard to cocks, upon the success of the 
 combat. Fashion, however, has at present 
 changed with regard to this bird ; we take no 
 pleasure in its courage, but its flesh is con- 
 sidered as a very great delicacy. 
 
 Quails are easily caught by a call ; the 
 fowler, early in the morning, having spread his 
 net, hides himself under it among the corn ; 
 he then imitates the voice of the female with 
 his quail-pipe, which the cock hearing, ap- 
 proaches with the utmost assiduity; when he 
 has got under the net, the fowler then dis- 
 covers himself, and terrifies the quail, who 
 attempting to get away, entangles himself the 
 more in the net, and is taken. The quail 
 may thus very well serve to illustrate the old 
 adage, that every passion, carried to an inor- 
 dinate excess, will at last lead to ruin. (For 
 Welcome Quail, see Plate XVIII. fig. 16.) 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE PIE KIND. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE PIE KIND. 
 
 IN marshalling our army of the feathered 
 creation, we have placed in the van a race of 
 birds long bred to war, and whose passion is 
 slaughter; in the centre we have placed the 
 slow and heavy laden, that are usually brought 
 into the field to be destroyed ; we now come 
 to a kind of light infantry, that partake some- 
 thing of the spirit of the two former, and yet 
 belonging to neither. In this class we must 
 be content to marshal a numerous irregular 
 tribe, variously armed, with different pursuits, 
 appetites, and manners ; not formidably formed 
 for war, and yet generally delighting in mis- 
 chief, not slowly and usefully obedient, and 
 yet without any professed enmity to the rest 
 of their fellow tenants of air. 
 
 To speak without metaphor; under this 
 class of birds we may arrange all that noisy, 
 restless, chattering, teazing tribe, that lies be- 
 tween the hen and the thrush, that, from the 
 size of the raven down to that of the wood- 
 pecker, flutter round our habitations, and 
 rather with the spirit of pilferers than of rob- 
 bers, make free with the fruits of human in- 
 dustry. 
 
 Of all the other classes, this seems to be 
 that which the least contributes to furnish out 
 the pleasures, or supply the necessities of 
 man. The falcon hunts for him ; the poultry 
 tribe supplies him with luxurious food; and 
 the little sparrow race delight him with the 
 melody of their warblings. The crane kind 
 make a studied variety in his entertainments ; 
 and the class of ducks are not only many of 
 them delicate in their flesh, but extremely 
 useful for their feathers. But in the class of 
 the pie kind, there are few, except the pigeon, 
 that are any way useful. They serve rather 
 
 to teaze man, than to assist or amuse him. 
 Like faithless servants, they are fond of his 
 neighbourhood, because they mostly live by his 
 labour; but their chief study is what they can 
 plunder in his absence, while their deaths 
 make no atonement for their depredation. 
 
 But though, with respect to man, this whole 
 class is rather noxious than beneficial ; though 
 he may consider them in this light, as false, 
 noisy, troublesome neighbours, yet, with res- 
 pect to each other, no class of birds are so in- 
 genious, so active, or so well fitted for society. 
 Could we suppose a kind of morality among 
 birds, we should find that these are by far the 
 most industrious, the most faithful, the most 
 constant, and the most connubial. The rapa- 
 cious kinds drive out their young before they 
 are fit to struggle with adversity ; but the pie 
 kind cherish their young to the last. The 
 poultry class are faithless and promiscuous in 
 their courtship ; but these live in pairs, and 
 their attachments are wholly confined to each 
 other. The sparrow kind frequently overleap 
 the bounds of nature, and make illicit varie- 
 ties ; but these never. They live in harmony 
 with each other ; every species is true to its 
 kind, and transmits an unpolluted race to pos- 
 terity. 
 
 As other kinds build in rocks or upon the 
 ground, the chief place where these buiM is 
 in trees or bushes ; the male takes his share 
 in the labours of building the nest, and often 
 relieves his mate in the duties of incubation. 
 Both take this office by turns ; and when the 
 young are excluded, both are equally active 
 in making them an ample provision. 
 
 They sometimes live in societies ; and in 
 these there are general laws observed, and a 
 kind of republican form of government esta- 
 blished among them. They watch not only 
 for the general safety, but for that of every 
 other bird of the grove. How often have we 
 
THE RAVEN. 
 
 87 
 
 seen a fowler, stealing in upon a flock of ducks 
 or wild geese, disturbed by the alarming note 
 of a crow or a magpie : its single voice gave 
 the whole thoughtless tribe warning, and 
 taught them in good time to look to their 
 safety. 
 
 Nor are these birds less remarkable for 
 their instincts than their capacity for instruc- 
 tion. There is an apparent cunning or arch- 
 ness in the look of the whole tribe; and I 
 have seen crows and ravens taught to fetch 
 and carry with the docility of a spaniel. In- 
 deed, it is often an exercise that, without teach- 
 ing, all this tribe are but too fond of. Every 
 body k nows what a passion they have for shining 
 substances, and such toys as some of us put a 
 value upon. A whole family has been alarmed 
 at the loss of a ring ; every servant has been 
 accused, and every creature in the house, con- 
 scious of their own innocence, suspected each 
 other; when, to the utter surprise of all, it has 
 been found in the nest of a tame magpie or a 
 jackdaw, that nobody had ever thought of. 
 
 However, as this class is very numerous, it 
 is not to be supposed that the manners are 
 alike in all. Some, such as the pigeon, are 
 gentle and serviceable to man; others are 
 noxious, capricious, and noisy. In a few 
 general characters they all agree ; namely, in 
 having hoarse voices, slight active bodies, and 
 a facility of flight, that baffles even the bold- 
 est of the rapacious kinds in the pursuit. I 
 will begin with those birds which most pro- 
 perly may be said to belong to this class, and 
 go on till I finish with the pigeon, a harmless 
 bird, that resembles this tribe in little else 
 except their size, and that seems to be the 
 shade uniting the pie and the sparrow kind 
 into one general picture. 
 
 It is not to be expected that in this sketch 
 of the great magazine of nature, we can stop 
 singly to contemplate every object. To des- 
 cribe the number that offers would be tedious, 
 and the similitude that one bears to another 
 would make the history disgusting. As a 
 historian in relating the action of some noble 
 people does not stop to give the character of 
 every private man in the army, but only of 
 such as have been distinguished by their con- 
 duct, courage, or treachery; so should the 
 historian of nature only seize upon the most 
 striking object before him ; and having given 
 one common account of the most remarkable, 
 refer the peculiarities of the rest to their 
 general description. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE RAVEN, THE CROW, AND THEIR 
 
 AFFINITIES. 
 
 THE Raven , the C arrion-crow , and the R ook, 
 are birds so well known, that a long descrip- 
 
 1 Five species of the genus Corvus ocmr in Britain: 
 the raven, the carrion-crow, the hooded- crow, the 
 rook, and the jackdaw. They are all permanently re- 
 sident. The magpie differs so much from the rest in 
 the elongation of the tail, the comparative shortness of 
 the wings, and some other circumstances, that several 
 writers have referred it to a separate genus; but the bill, 
 the feet, and the organs in general, are so similar, that 
 there would be little reason for setting it apart, were 
 there not other species having more dissimilar features. 
 Each species differs greatly in many of its habits, so 
 that I am unable, from my own observation, to arrive at 
 more general conclusions than those given above. In 
 fact, every species in existence has peculiarities both in 
 habits and structure, which render extended generic 
 characters, applicable to all the beings in an assumed 
 group, impossible. 
 
 The raven, (see Plate XV. fig. 7.) which is the largest 
 species of the crow family, is one of the most remark- 
 able of our native birds, both on account of its habits, 
 and its historical, superstitious, and economical relations. 
 With a grave and dignified air it combines great saga- 
 city, and in courage is not much inferior even to some 
 of the rapacious birds. 
 
 It is crafty, vigilant, and shy, so as to be with great 
 difficulty approached, unless in the breeding season, 
 when its affectionate concern for its young in a great 
 measure overcomes its habitual dislike to the proximity 
 of man, a dislike which is the result of prudence more 
 than of mere timidity, for under particular circumstances 
 it will not hesitate to make advances which a timorous 
 bird would no doubt deem extremely hazardous. Either 
 from natural instinct, or from observation and reflection, 
 it appears to know in some measure the power of its arch 
 enemy; and finding that its own faculties are insufficient 
 to enable it to counteract his destructive propensities, 
 carefully avoids coming within his reach. On the other 
 hand it eats from oft' the same carcase as a dog, and 
 takes its station close to an otter devouring its prey, 
 doubtless because its vigilance and activity suffice to 
 enable it to elude their efforts to inflict injury upon it; 
 and while it yields to the eagle, it drives away the 
 hooded crow and the gull. It knows the distance too at 
 which it is safe from a man armed with a gun, and al- 
 lows the shepherd and his dogs to come much nearer 
 than the sportsman. 
 
 When searching for food on the ground, it generally 
 walks with a steady and measured pace, like the carrion- 
 crow, the hooded-crow, and the rook; but under excite- 
 ment it occasionally leaps, using its wings at the same 
 time, as when driven from carrion by a dog, or when 
 escaping from its fellows with a fragment of flesh or in- 
 testine. Its flight is commonly steady and rather slow, 
 and is performed by regularly-timed beats of its extended 
 wings, the neck and feet being retracted ; but it can 
 urge its speed to a great degree of rapidity, so as to 
 overtake an eagle or even a hawk, when passing near its 
 nest. In fine weather it often soars to a vast height, in 
 the manner of the birds just mentioned, and floats as it 
 were at ease high over the mountain tops. Some na- 
 turalists observing birds thus engaged, have imagined 
 them to be searching for food, and have consequently 
 amused their readers with marvellous accounts of the 
 distances at which the eagle can spy its prey ; but had 
 
88 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 tion would but obscure our ideas of them. The 
 raven is the largest of the three, and distin- 
 guished from the rest not only by his size, but 
 by his bill being somewhat more hooked than 
 
 they patiently watched, they might have found that the 
 quiet soarings of the raven and the rapacious species 
 have no reference to prey. On the other hand, it may 
 sometimes be observed gliding along, and every now and 
 then shifting its course, in the heaviest gales, when 
 scarcely another bird can be seen abroad. Although 
 there is not much reason for calling it "the tempest- 
 loving raven," it would be a severe storm indeed that 
 would keep it at home when a carcase was in view. 
 
 Having enjoyed ample opportunities of cultivating an 
 acquaintance with this species in the outer Hebrides, I 
 shall describe its manners as observed by me in those 
 dreary, but to the naturalist, highly interesting islands. 
 There the raven, in search of food, may be seen, either 
 singly or in pairs, in all sorts of situations, along the 
 rocky shores, on the sand fords, the sides of the hills, 
 the inland moors, and the mountain tops. It flies at a 
 moderate height, proceeding rather slowly, deviating to 
 either, sailing at intervals, and seldom uttering any 
 sound. When it has discovered a dead sheep, it alights 
 on a stone, a peat bank, or other eminence, folds up its 
 wings, looks around, and croaks. It then advances 
 nearer, eyes its prey with attention, leaps upon it, and 
 in a half-crouching attitude examines it. Finding mat- 
 ters as it wished, it croaks aloud, picks out an eye, de- 
 vours part of the tongue if that organ be protruded, and 
 lastly attacks the subcaudal region. By this time ano- 
 ther raven has usually come up. They perforate the ab- 
 domen, drag out and swallow portions of the intestines, 
 and continue to feast until satiated or disturbed. Some- 
 times, especially should it be winter, they are joined by 
 a great black-backed gull, or even a herring gull, which, 
 although at first shy, are allowed to come in for a share 
 of the plunder; but should an eagle arrive, both they 
 and the gulls retire to a short distance, the former wait- 
 ing patiently, the latter walking backwards and forwards 
 uttering plaintive cries, until the intruder departs. When 
 the carcase is that of a larger animal than a sheep, they 
 do not however fly off, although an eagle or even a dog 
 should arrive. " Feris convivialis," observes Linnaeus, 
 and the fact is proverbial in the Hebrides, where this 
 bird is named Biadhtach, and where biadhtachd, Avhich 
 etymologically is analogous to ravening, signifies asso- 
 ciating for the purpose of eating and making merry. 
 These observations I have made while lying in wait in 
 little huts constructed for the purpose of shooting eagles 
 and ravens from them. The latter I have allowed to 
 remain unmolested for hours, that they might attract the 
 former to the carrion ; and in this manner I have been 
 enabled to watch their actions when they were perfectly 
 unrestrained. 
 
 Although the raven is omnivorous, its chief food is 
 carrion, by which is here meant the carcases of sheep, 
 horses, cattle, deer, and other quadrupeds, dolphins and 
 cetaceous animals in general, as well as fishes that have 
 been cast ashore. In autumn it sometimes commits 
 great havock among the barley, and in spring it occa- 
 sionally destroys young lambs. It has also been accused 
 of killing diseased sheep by picking out their eyes; but 
 of this I have obtained no satisfactory evidence. It an- 
 noys the housewives by sometimes flying off with young 
 poultry, and especially by breaking and sucking eggs 
 whit-h the ducks or hens may have deposited, as they 
 frequently do, among the herbage. 
 
 In these islands, should a horse or a cow die, as in my 
 younger days was very frequently the case iu the begin- 
 ning of summer, after a severe winter or spring, or 
 should a grampus or other large cetaceous animal be cast 
 on the shore, the ravens speedily assemble, and remain 
 
 that of the rest. As for the carrion-crow and 
 the rook, they so strongly resemble each other, 
 both in make and size, that they are not easily 
 distinguished asunder. The chief difference 
 
 in the neighbourhood until they have devoured it. A 
 large herd of grampuses, delphinus orca, having been 
 driven by the inhabitants of Pabbay on the sand beach 
 of that island, which is one of those in the Sound of 
 Harris, an amazing number of ravens soon collected 
 from all quarters, and continued for several weeks to 
 feast upon the carcases. By the time when this supply 
 of food was exhausted, autumn was advancing, and the 
 inhabitants became alarmed lest, should the ravens pro- 
 long their stay, they should attack their barley, which 
 was their main stay, as they depended chiefly upon it 
 for the means of paying their rents, a regular system of 
 illicit distillation having, for reasons not difficult to be 
 guessed, been permitted for many years. Various expe- 
 dients were tried in vain, until at length a scheme was 
 devised by one Finlay Morison which produced the de- 
 sired effect. The ravens retired at night to a low cliff 
 on the east side of the island, where they slept crowded 
 together on the shelves. Finlay and a few chosen com- 
 panions, intimately acquainted with the principal fissures 
 and projections of the rock, made their way after mid- 
 night to the roosts of the ravens, caught a considerable 
 number of them, and carried them off alive. They 
 then plucked off all their feathers excepting those of the 
 wings and tail, and in the morning when their com- 
 panions were leaving their places of repose, let loose 
 among them these live scare-crows. Tiie ravens, terri- 
 fied by the appearance of those strange- looking creatures, 
 which it seems they failed to recognize as their own 
 kinsfolk, betook themselves to flight in a body, and did 
 not return to the island. It was in this numerous con- 
 gregation of ravens that the white individual of which 
 I have already made mention occurred, and which the 
 people, considering it as the royal bird, regarded with a 
 kind of superstitious reverence. On another occasion, 
 when a whale had been cast ashore on the farm of Big 
 Scarista, I have seen these birds impatiently waiting on 
 the rocks around, until the people who were flencing it 
 went home, carrying creels full of the flesh with them 
 for domestic consumption, when the ravens descended 
 to the carcase, and gorged themselves with all haste. 
 
 The voice of the raven is a hoarse croak, resembling 
 the syllable Crock or Cruck j but it also emits a note not 
 unlike the sound of a sudden gulp, or the syllable Cluck, 
 which it seems to utter when in a sportive mood; for 
 although ordinarily grave, the raven sometimes indulges 
 in a frolic, performing somersets and various evolutions 
 in the air, much in the manner of the rook. 
 
 Taken from the nest when nearly able to fly, the raven 
 is easily reared, very soon learns to feed by itself, and 
 becomes an amusing, although occasionally mischievous 
 pet. It defends itself against dogs and cats with great 
 courage and success, and may be taught to pronounce 
 words with considerable accuracy. Numerous stories 
 are told of its thieving propensities; but let one suffice: 
 " We have been assured,''' says Montagu, " by a gentle- 
 man of veracity, that his butler having missed a great 
 many silver spoons and other articles, without being able 
 to detect the thief for some time, at last observed a tame 
 raven with one in his mouth, and watched him to his 
 hiding-place, where he found more than a dozen." 
 
 I know no British bird possessed of more estimable 
 qualities than the raven. His constitution is such as to 
 enable him to brave the fury of the most violent tem- 
 pests, and to subsist amidst the most intense cold; he 
 is strong enough to repel any bird of his own size, and 
 his spirij is such as to induce him to attack even the 
 eagle ; his affection towards his mate and young is great, 
 although not superior to that manifested by many other 
 
THE CROW. 
 
 89 
 
 to be found between them lies in the bill of 
 the rook ; which, by being frequently thrust 
 into the ground to fetch out grubs and earth- 
 worms, is bare of feathers as far as the eyes, 
 
 birds; in sagacity he is not excelled by any other spe- 
 cies ; and his power of vision is at least equal to that of 
 most others, not excepting the birds of prey, for he is 
 generally the first to discover a carcase. To man, how- 
 ever, he seems to be more injurious than useful, as he is 
 accused of killing sickly sheep, sometimes destroys 
 lambs, and frequently carries off the young and eggs of 
 domestic poultry. For this reason he is generally pro- 
 scribed, and in many districts a price is put upon his 
 head ; but his instinct and reason suffice to keep the race 
 from materially diminishing. As his flesh is not pala- 
 table, it is not probable that he could be useful in the do- 
 mestic state. He seems to have fewer feathered ene- 
 mies than most other birds ; for although he may often 
 be seen pursuing gulls, hawks, and eagles, I have never 
 observed any species attacking him, with the exception 
 of the domestic cock, which I have seen give battle to 
 him, and even drive him off. It has been alleged, how- 
 ever, that rooks assail him in defence of their young, 
 and there is nothing incredible in this, for the weakest 
 bird will often in such a case attack the most powerful 
 and rapacious. 
 
 The carrion-crow is so intimately allied to the raven, 
 
 that, without considering its inferior size, and some dif- 
 ferences in the forms of the feathers, one might be apt 
 to confound the two species. Its proportions are almost 
 the same as those of the raven, the body being ovate, 
 rather full and compact; the neck short and strong; the 
 head large, oblong, and somewhat convex above. 
 
 The carrion-crow is very uncommon in the northern 
 and middle parts of Scotland; but in the southern divi- 
 sion of that country, and in England, is much more nu- 
 merous than the raven or the hooded-crow. It roosts in 
 trees and on rocks, betakes itself in search of food to the 
 open moors, hilly pastures, fields, and shores, and preys 
 on small quadrupeds, young hares and rabbits, young- 
 birds, eggs, crustacea, mollusca, worms, grubs, and 
 grain. Its principal food however is carrion of all kinds ; 
 and it not unfrequently destroys young lambs and sickly 
 sheep. Montagu states that he has seen it pursue a 
 pigeon, and strike one dead from the top of a barn. As 
 a proof of its being occasionally granivorous, like the 
 raven, I may mention that I found the stomach of one 
 that had been trapped in Linlithgowshire in November 
 1834, filled with oat seeds. 
 
 The crow is in general a solitary bird, or rather keeps 
 in pairs, although, when there is an abundant supply of 
 food, several individuals may occasionally be seen toge- 
 ther. Its flight is similar to that of the raven, being 
 generally sedate and direct, performed by regularly-timed 
 flaps, the wings stretched out to their full extent, so that 
 the outer primaries are separated for nearly half their 
 length. Its mode of walking is also similar, and its cry 
 is a croak, clearer and less sonorous than that of the 
 raven. At a distance it is not easily distinguishable 
 from the rook; but one who attends to small differences 
 of form and habits may readily distinguish the two spe- 
 cies. The rook is less compact, and the feathers of its 
 abdominal region project more, while its mode of walk- 
 ing is quicker, and it keeps its bill more inclined 
 towards the ground. At hand, the species are very 
 easily distinguished, the rook having a bill of a different 
 form, and the feathers at its base being abraded. Al- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 and appears of a whitish colour. It differs 
 also in the purple splendour or gloss of its fea- 
 thers, which in the carrion-crow are of a dirty 
 black. Nor is it amiss to make those distinc- 
 
 though it is said by several ornithologists to breed with 
 the carrion-crow, and has even been considered by some 
 to be of the same species, I have never seen it consort- 
 ing with that bird, even casually. 
 
 It nestles in rocks and tall trees, beginning as early as 
 February to construct or repair its nest, which is bulky, 
 composed of twigs, and lined with moss, straws, wool, 
 hair, and other soft materials. The eggs are from four 
 to six, of a rather elongated ovate form, pale bluish-green, 
 spotted and blotched with dark umber or clove-brown and 
 purplish-grey. Sometimes the eggs are nearly destitute 
 of spots, and occasionally they are closely freckled all 
 over with light brown. 
 
 This species is easily distinguished from the raven, by 
 its inferior size, and the shortness of the anterior cervi- 
 cal feathers. From the rook it is still more easily dis- 
 tinguished, the bristly feathers over the bill remaining 
 entire in it, while in that bird they are abraded; the 
 texture and tints of the plumage are also different, as 
 will be seen on comparing the descriptions. The car- 
 rion-crow is much more nearly allied to the American 
 crow, Corvus Americanus, with which it had been con- 
 sidered identical, until the differences were pointed out 
 by Mr Audubon; (see Ornith. Biogr. vol. ii. p. 323.) I 
 have carefully compared skins of the two species, and 
 am convinced that they are different. 
 
 It is easily tamed, and in a state of domestication 
 shows the same thieving propensities as the raven and 
 jackdaw, carrying off to some hiding-place whatever 
 articles strike its fancy. In activity and liveliness he 
 is intermediate between the birds just mentioned ; like 
 them he may be taught to imitate the human voice ; 
 and his actions afford amusement to those who are fond 
 of feathered pets, as he becomes very familiar with his 
 friends, repels his canine foes, and contrives to console 
 himself for the loss of liberty in the best way he can, 
 although if his wings are left uncut he generally endea- 
 vours to regain his freedom. 
 
 According to Temminck, the carrion-crow is dispersed 
 over the whole extent of Western Europe, but is rare iu 
 the eastern parts. It has not been found in America. 
 
 The hooded-crow is so closely allied to the carrion- 
 
 crow, that, were the colours the same in both, it would 
 be almost impossible to distinguish them. Some per- 
 sons indeed have considered the two as probably forming 
 only a single species ; but in this opinion I do not agree 
 with them, for reasons to be presently stated. The ge- 
 neral form and size are about the same as those of the 
 species just mentioned. The bill is almost precisely 
 similar, or, if different at all, it is perhaps not quite so 
 robust. 
 
 The hooded-crow is very abundant in the Hebrides, 
 the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and most parts of the 
 northern and middle divisions of Scotland ; but is rare 
 in the southern division, and gradually diminishes as we 
 proceed southward. It is not confined to the coast, but 
 is met with in the very centre of the Grampians, and 
 other inland districts; but in winter few individuals are 
 found in the interior. Although somewhat more social 
 than the carrion-crow or the raven, it is not gregarious, 
 for although four or five individuals may often be seen 
 together, more than that number seldom convene unless 
 when attracted by an abundant supply of food. It de- 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 tions, as the rook has but too frequently suffer- 
 ed for its similitude to the carrion-crow ; and 
 thus a harmless bird, that feeds only upon in- 
 sects and corn, has been destroyed for another 
 
 rives its subsistence from carrion, dead fish, crabs, 
 echini, mollusca, larvae, grain, and other matters, it 
 being fully as promiscuous a feeder as the carrion-crow 
 or the raven, although it certainly prefers fish and mol- 
 lusca to large carcases, and very rarely feeds upon a 
 stranded whale, or even a domestic animal. Young 
 lambs are favourite delicacies, and in severe seasons, 
 when summer in vain struggles with winter, sometimes 
 afford an abundant temporary supply. I am not, how- 
 ever, inclined to believe that the hooded-crow often de- 
 stroys these animals, nor that it ventures to attack sickly 
 sheep. It never disputes a prize with the raven, much 
 less the eagle, nor will it advance so near to a dog as the 
 former of these birds, which it resembles in vigilance 
 and cunning, but without showing equal boldness. 
 
 Perhaps the most remarkable habit of the hooded- 
 crow is one which most persons who have observed it 
 consider as indicative of the approach of rain, but which 
 I have not found to have any connection with that phe- 
 nomenon. In quiet, and more especially in dull close 
 weather, one of them, perched on a stone or crag, con- 
 tinues to croak for a long time, being responded to at 
 intervals by another that has taken a station at some dis- 
 tance. Its voice is not so loud or clear as that of the 
 carrion-crow, but resolves itself into a rather harsh sound 
 resembling the syllable CrUtt, pronounced by a genuine 
 Aberdonian. On ordinary occasions, its flight is pecu- 
 liarly sedate, being performed by regularly-timed slow 
 beats ; but when necessary, it can be greatly accelerated, 
 although it never equals in rapidity that of the raven. 
 It also walks in the same staid manner as the carrion- 
 crow and the rook, and in general wears a grave aspect, 
 demeaning itself so as if it were not disposed to indulge 
 in unbecoming levity. It rarely molests other birds, 
 nor is it often attacked by any. 
 
 In districts frequented by it, you commonly find it 
 along the shore, sometimes among the rocks, searching 
 for crabs and shell-fish, which it has sagacity enough, 
 when it cannot otherwise open them, to raise in the air 
 and drop to the ground; sometimes on the sandy beach, 
 especially if fish or echini have been cast up. The lat- 
 ter are so frequently devoured by them in the Hebrides 
 that they have obtained the name of hooded-crow's cups 
 cragan-feannaig. Gulls, even the strongest, rarely 
 dispute with them on such occasions, but impatiently 
 walk about until they choose to fly off. 
 
 Although familiar enough with this species, I have 
 never observed it mount high into the air like the raven, 
 for the purpose of sailing. Nor does it scour the hill 
 tops and sides in the same free and bold manner, but 
 rather has a skulking habit, and prefers remaining on 
 the lower grounds, especially in the vicinity of water, 
 whether fresh or salt. It searches the moors, however, 
 for eggs and young birds, and commits considerable de- 
 predations upon those of the golden plover and red 
 grouse. The eggs of gulls and terns it does not venture 
 to seize upon, knowing that these birds would join in at- 
 tacking any intruder. 
 
 It is said by some to assemble at times in very large 
 flocks, apparently for the purpose of settling some im- 
 portant matter referring to their mutual benefit: but I 
 have not observed any such conventions, and am dis- 
 posed to consider them as merely imaginary. Nor is it 
 necessary that they should have assemblies for the pur- 
 pose of choosing partners, for, according to my observa- 
 tion, they remain paired all the year, and the young in- 
 dividuals can easily meet without having a general con- 
 vocation. Several authors talk of their building in trees ; 
 but I have never seen a hooded-crow's nest elsewhere 
 
 that feeds upon carrion, and is often destruc- 
 tive among young poultry. 
 
 The manners of the raven and the carrion- 
 crow are exactly similar ; they both feed upon 
 
 than on a rock, and generally by the sea. It is large, 
 composed of twigs, sea-weeds, heath, feathers, and straws, 
 being similar to that of the carrion-crow and raven. The 
 eggs, from four to six or seven in number, but generally 
 five, are of a regular ovate form, from an inch and a 
 half to an inch and eight twelfths long, and about one 
 and a twelfth across ; of a pale bluish-green tint, marked 
 all over, but more thickly at the large end, with oblong 
 and roundish spots of greenish-brown and pale purplish, 
 gray. They vary considerably in colour, as is the case 
 with the other species, and in a cabinet cannot be dis- 
 tinguished from those of the carrion-crow. The young 
 are at first covered with blackish-gray down. 
 
 According to authors, this species occurs in all parts 
 of Europe, remaining stationary in the eastern and moun- 
 tainous districts, but, as M. Temminck alleges, appear- 
 ing only in September and October in the western coun- 
 tries. In the whole of Scotland it is stationary all the 
 year, although many individuals may probably migrate 
 southward; but in most parts of England it appears in 
 October, chiefly along the coast, and on the extensive 
 maritime downs, and departs in March. 
 
 The rook is more slender and generally somewhat 
 
 smaller than the carrion-crow, which it greatly resembles 
 when viewed at a distance. The general form, however, 
 is moderately full. 
 
 All day long you may find the rook in the fields or 
 pastures, diligently searching for worms and grubs, 
 breaking up and turning over the dry cow-dung with 
 its bill, thrusting it deep into the loose soil, or digging 
 among tufts of grass and clover to extract the larvae that 
 find harbour amidst their roots. At this season, you 
 often observe these birds scattered over the moorland 
 haunts of the curlew arid plover, and not unfrequently 
 on the sandy or muddy beaches exposed by the tide. 
 Towards evening, collecting into large straggling flocks, 
 and uttering their loud and not unpleasant cries, they 
 return to their roosts on the tall trees of some antique 
 mansion, where for ages, perhaps, their race has fixed 
 its abode. During long droughts they experience great 
 difficulty in procuring subsistence, at least in districts 
 where there is not a diversity of soil and a varvety of 
 scenery, although in most parts of Scotland they have a 
 choice of ground which renders them less liable to be 
 seriously incommoded by extremes of weather. 
 
 In their distant flights they commonly proceed at a 
 considerable height, moving with moderate speed, in a 
 straggling disorderly band, often, especially at the out- 
 set, with much noise. Their flight is of that kind which 
 I call sedate, being performed by regularly-timed rather 
 slow beats of the expanded wings, direct, without un- 
 dulations, and capable of being greatly protracted. Some- 
 times on one of their excursions, when passing over a 
 field or meadow at a great height, something in it ap- 
 pears suddenly to attract their attention, and they de- 
 scend headlong, performing singular evolutions as they 
 
THE JACKDAW. 
 
 91 
 
 cairion ; they fly only in pairs ; and will des- 
 troy other birds, if they can take them by 
 surprise. But it is very different with the rook, 
 the daw, and the Cornish chough, which may 
 
 turn from side to side and wind among each other. In 
 general, however, they settle with more caution, some- 
 times flying repeatedly over the ground, often dropping 
 down one by one, and occasionally perching for a while 
 in the neighbouring trees before venturing to alight. 
 
 The cry of the rook resembles the syllable Khraa, 
 more or less harsh or soft according to occasion. There 
 is great diversity in the voice of individuals, some hav- 
 ing much louder and clearer notes than others. Al- 
 though separately their cries are monotonous and dis- 
 agreeable, yet from a large flock, and at some distance, 
 they are by no means unpleasant; and those who have 
 become habituated to the noise of a rookery, do riot ge- 
 nerally find it annoying. 
 
 Although the staple food of the rook is larvae and 
 worms, it also eats shell-fish, Crustacea, coleopterous in- 
 sects, lizards, seeds, especially of cereal plants, acorns, 
 beech-nuts, portions of roots of grasses, and in winter 
 even turnips. I have seen rooks picking at a fish on 
 the beach, but I believe they never devour carrion, al- 
 though they may be seen about a dead horse or cow 
 searching for larvae. While feeding, they freely asso- 
 ciate with jackdaws, and even gulls; and I have seen 
 starlings, red-wings, fieldfares and missel thrushes ming- 
 ling with them without much apprehension of danger. 
 
 Rooks are not easily shot in the fields unless one come 
 accidentally upon some that have straggled to the edge, 
 for they are commonly shy and vigilant. At the same 
 time they seem to calculate upon the protection which 
 they usually receive in the neighbourhood of their breed- 
 ing places, and are less shy on the lawn and in the park 
 than on the distant pastures and in the ploughed fields. 
 In the neighbourhood of towns they are always more 
 wary than in the country, so that holding out a gun or a 
 stick, or even the arm, or standing stock still, is sure to 
 make them fly off, unless they be several hundred yards 
 distant. 
 
 In form the jackdaw is more compact, and in action 
 
 more lively, than any other British bird of the genus. 
 It is about the size of the domestic pigeon, with the body 
 ovate, the neck rather short, the head large, the feet, 
 wings, and tail of moderate length. 
 
 The jackdaw is a remarkably active, pert, and loqua- 
 cious little fellow, ever cheerful, always on the alert, and 
 ready either for business or frolic. If not so respectable 
 as the grave and sagacious raven, he is at least the most 
 pleasant of the family, and withal extremely fond of so- 
 ciety, for not content with having a flock of his own folk 
 about him, he often thrusts himself into the midst of a 
 gang of rooks, and in winter sometimes takes up his 
 abode entirely with them. 
 
 The flight of this species is similar to that of the rook, 
 somewhat more rapid, generally extremely wavering, 
 the bird frequently shifting its direction, now dashing 
 downwards, then curving up again, shooting obliquely to 
 either side, and performing as many evolutions as if it 
 could not follow a direct line, which, however, it some- 
 
 be all ranked in this order. They are sociable 
 and harmless ; they live only upon insects and 
 grain ; and wherever they are, instead of injur- 
 ing other birds, they seem sentinels for the whole 
 
 times does when in great haste. It is also extremely 
 clamorous, and its note being loud arid clear, resembling 
 the syllable Kae or Caw, variously modulated, the noise 
 emitted by a large flock, although in no degree musical, 
 is far from being unpleasant. 
 
 Jackdaws inhabit deserted buildings, steeples, towers, 
 and high rocks, especially those along the coast. Sally- 
 ing from thence at early dawn, they betake themselves 
 to the pastures, meadows, or ploughed fields, to search 
 for larvae, worms, insects, and in general the same sort 
 of food as the rooks, with which they often associate on 
 their excursions. They walk gracefully, and much more 
 smartly than the rooks, often running under excitement, 
 and frequently quarrelling together, although without 
 any serious results. They do not despise carrion, and 
 on the shore will occasionally feed on shell-fish, crusta- 
 cea and fishes, being nearly as omnivorous as the hooded- 
 crows, although giving a decided preference to larvte. 
 They are scarcely less vigilant than the rooks, at least 
 while in the fields, so that it is not always easy to get 
 within shot of them; but in the breeding season one 
 may readily procure specimens by concealing himself in 
 the midst of their haunts. 
 
 This is one of the few birds that habitually or occa- 
 sionally reside in the heart of cities, where it selects a 
 steeple, a church tower, or any other high building, in 
 which it can find a sufficient number of secure retreats. 
 In Edinburgh, for example, it frequents Heriot's and 
 Watson's Hospitals, the University, the Infirmary, the 
 Chapel of Holyroodhouse, and the Castle, although in 
 the latter it is chiefly in the rock that it takes up its 
 abode. In the country, ruinous castles are its favourite 
 places of resort, and it is found, for example, at Dunot- 
 tar, Rosslyn, and Tantallon Castles, and the buildings 
 on the Bass. It also not unfrequently finds refuge in 
 high rocks, as at the Cove near Aberdeen, and in other 
 places along the coast; and in defect of more agreeable 
 lodgings, will sometimes settle in a wood. 
 
 In these places also it nestles, as well as not unfre- 
 quently in the interior of chimneys in which fire is not 
 kept. The nest is fixed in any convenient recess, on a 
 cornice or other projecting part of a building, in the 
 hole of a spout, or, in short, in any place that seems 
 suitable. It has a base-work of sticks, on which is laid 
 a quantity of straw, wool, feathers, and other soft ma- 
 terials. The eggs are from four to seven, generally five, 
 of a regular oval form, broader in proportion to their 
 length than those of the other species, much lighter also, 
 being of a very pale greenish-blue, or rather bluish- 
 white, covered, more profusely at the larger end, 
 with small, round, separated spots of dark brown and 
 pale purplish. They vaiy in length from an inch and 
 four twelfths to an inch and six twelfths, in diameter 
 from eleven and a half twelfths to a twelfth more. The 
 eggs are generally deposited in May, and the young are 
 abroad by the end of June. 
 
 Jackdaws often obtain a large proportion of their food 
 in the streets, which they frequent more especially in 
 the mornings, along with pigeons, and sometimes rooks. 
 On these occasions they pick up the refuse of whatever 
 serves as food to man. Like the starling and the mag- 
 pie, they sometimes alight on sheep and cattle, appa- 
 rently for the purpose of searching for the sticks and 
 other animals among their hair. They are not so shy as 
 rooks when in privileged places, enter a garden with 
 little fear, and are easily enticed to a particular spot by 
 placing food for them. Thus in towns, persons, for 
 amusement, draw them to their windows, along with 
 pigeons and sparrows; but they are always more suspi- 
 
HISTORY OP BIRDS. 
 
 feathered creation. It will be proper, there- 
 fore, to describe these two sorts according to their 
 respective appetites, as they have nothing in 
 common but the very strong similitude they 
 bear to each other in their colour and forma- 
 tion. 
 
 The raven is a bird found in every region 
 of the world ; strong and hardy, he is unin- 
 fluenced by the changes of the weather ; and 
 when other birds seem numbed with cold, or 
 pining with famine, the raven is active and 
 healthy, busily employed in prowling for prey, 
 or sporting in the coldest atmosphere. As the 
 heats at the line do not oppress him, so he 
 bears the cold of the polar countries with equal 
 indifference. He is sometimes indeed seen 
 milk white ; and this may probably be the 
 effect of the rigorous climates of the north. It 
 is most likely that this change is wrought 
 upon him as upon most other animals in that 
 part of the world, where their robes, particu- 
 larly in winter, assume the colour of the 
 country they inhabit. As in old age, when 
 the natural heat decays, the hair grows gray, 
 and at last white ; so among these animals the 
 cold of the climate may produce a similar 
 languishment of colour, and may shut up those 
 pores that conveyed the tincturing fluids to 
 the extremest parts of the body. 
 
 However this may be, white ravens are 
 often shown among us, which I have heard 
 some say, are rendered thus by art ; and this 
 we could readily suppose, if they were as easily 
 changed in their colour, as they are altered in 
 their habits and dispositions. A raven may 
 be reclaimed to almost every purpose to which 
 birds can be converted. He may be trained 
 up for fowling like a hawk ; he maybe taught 
 to fetch and carry like a spaniel ; he may be 
 taught to speak like a parrot ; but the most 
 extraordinary of all is, that he can be taught 
 to sing like a man. I have heard a raven 
 sing the Black Joke with great distinctness, 
 truth, and humour. 
 
 Indeed, when the raven is taken as a do- 
 mestic, he has many qualities that render him 
 extremely amusing. Busy, inquisitive, and 
 impudent, he goes every where ; affronts and 
 drives off the dogs, plays his pranks on the 
 poultry, and is particularly assiduous in cul- 
 
 cious than these birds, and on obtaining a morsel, rather 
 than eat it at once, usually fly off with it to some more 
 secure place. 
 
 The jackdaw is generally distributed in England and 
 Scotland, although there are large tracts, the outer He- 
 brides for example, in which it does not occur. It is 
 represented as inhabiting most parts of the continent, 
 but has not been found in America. 
 
 Several species of the genus are very nearly allied to 
 it, particularly Corvus bengalensis. Taking European 
 birds only into consideration, it forms the transition to 
 the magpie. Abridged from Macgillivray's History of 
 British Birds. 
 
 tivating the good will of the cook-maid, who 
 seems to be the favourite of the family. But 
 then, with the amusing qualities of a favourite, 
 he often also has the vices and defects. He is 
 a glutton by nature, and a thief by habit. He 
 does not confine himself to petty depredations 
 on the pantry or the larder ; he soars at more 
 magnificent plunder ; at spoils that he can 
 neither exhibit nor enjoy ; but which, like a 
 miser, he rests satisfied with having the satis- 
 faction of sometimes visiting and contemplat- 
 ing in secret. A piece of money, a tea-spoon, 
 or a ring, are always tempting baits to his 
 avarice ; these he will slily seize upon, and, if 
 not watched, will carry to his favourite hole. 
 
 In his wild state, the raven is an active and 
 greedy plunderer. Nothing comes amiss to 
 him ; whether his prey be living or long dead 
 it is all the same, he falls to with a voracious 
 appetite ; and, when he has gorged himself, flies 
 to acquaint his fellows, that they may par- 
 ticipate of the spoil. If the carcase be already 
 in the possession of some more powerful ani- 
 mal, a wolf, a fox, or a dog, the raven sits at a 
 little distance, content to continue an humble 
 spectator till they have done. If in his flights 
 he perceives no hopes of carrion, and his scent 
 is so exquisite that he can smell it at a vast 
 distance, he then contents himself with more 
 unsavoury food, fruits, insects, and the acci- 
 dental dessert of a dunghill. 
 
 This bird chiefly builds its nests in trees, 
 and lays five or six eggs, of a pale green colour, 
 marked with small brownish spots. They 
 live sometimes in pairs, and sometimes they 
 frequent, in great numbers, the neighbourhood 
 of populous cities, where they are useful in 
 devouring those carcases that would otherwise 
 putrefy and infect the air. They build in 
 high trees or old towers, in the beginning of 
 March with us in England, and sometimes 
 sooner, as the spring is more or less advanced 
 for the season. But it is not always near 
 towns that they fix their retreats; they often 
 build in unfrequented places, and drive all 
 other birds from their vicinity. They will 
 not permit even their young to keep in the 
 same district, but drive them off when they 
 are sufficiently able to shift for themselves. 
 Martin, in his description of the Western 
 Isles, avers, that there are three little islands 
 among the number, which are occupied by a 
 pair of ravens each, that drive off all other 
 birds with great cries and impetuosity. 
 
 Notwithstanding the injury these birds do 
 in picking out the eyes of sheep and lambs, 
 when they find them sick and helpless, a vulgar 
 respect is paid them, as being the birds that 
 fed the prophet Elijah in the wilderness. This 
 prepossession in favour of the raven is of 
 very ancient date, as the Romans themselves, 
 who thought the bird ominous, paid it, from 
 
THE ROOK. 
 
 motives of fear, the most profound veneration. 1 
 One of these that had been kept in the 
 temple of Castor, as Pliny informs us, flew 
 down into the shop of a tailor, who took much 
 delight in the visits of his new acquaintance. 
 He taught the bird several tricks; but par- 
 ticularly to pronounce the names of the em- 
 peror Tiberius, and the whole royal family. 
 The tailor was beginning to grow rich by those 
 who came to see this wonderful raven, till an 
 envious neighbour, displeased at the tailor's 
 success, killed the bird, and deprived the tailor 
 of his future hopes of fortune. The Romans, 
 however, took the poor tailor's part ; they 
 punished the man who offered the injury, and 
 gave the raven all the honours of a magni- 
 ticent interment. 
 
 Birds in general live longer than quadrupeds ; 
 and the raven is said to be one of the most 
 long-lived of the number. Hesiod asserts, 
 that a raven will live nine times as long as a 
 man ; but though this is fabulous, it is certain 
 that some of them have been known to live 
 near a hundred years. This animal seems 
 possessed of those qualities that generally pro- 
 duce longevity, a good appetite, and great ex- 
 ercise. In clear weather, the ravens fly in 
 pairs to a great height, making a deep loud 
 noise, different from that of their usual croak- 
 ing. 
 
 The carrion-crow resembles the raven in 
 its appetites, its laying, and manner of bring, 
 ing up its young. It only differs in being 
 less bold, less docile, and less favoured by 
 mankind. 
 
 The rook leads the way in another, but a 
 more harmless train, that have no carnivorous 
 appetites, but only feed upon insects and corn. 
 The Royston (or hooded) crow is about the 
 size of the two former. The breast, belly, 
 back, and upper part of the neck, being of a 
 pale ash colour; the head and wings glossed 
 over with a fine blue. He is a bird of pas- 
 sage, visiting this kingdom in the beginning 
 of winter, and leaving it in the spring. He 
 breeds, however, in different parts of the 
 British dominions; and his nest is common 
 enough in trees in Ireland. The jackdaw 
 is black, like all the former, but ash-coloured 
 
 1 In several passages, Shakspeare alludes to the ominous 
 character of the raven. 
 
 " The raven himself is hoarse 
 That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan 
 Under my battlements." 
 
 Macbeth, Act i. Scene 5. 
 
 "It comes o'er my memory, 
 As doth the raven o'er the infected house, 
 Boding to all." 
 
 Othello, Act i. Scene 4. 
 
 See also The Tempest, Act i. Scene 2. 
 
 on the breast and belly. He is not above the 
 size of a pigeon. He is docile and loquacious. 
 His head is large for the size of his body, 
 which, as has been remarked, argues him in- 
 genious and crafty. He builds in steeples, 
 old castles, and high rocks, laying five or 
 six eggs in a season. The Cornish chough 
 is like a jackdaw, but bigger, and almost the 
 size of a crow. The bill, feet, and legs, are 
 long like those of a jackdaw, but of a red 
 colour; and the plumage is black all over. 
 It frequents rocks, old castles, and churches 
 by the sea side, like the daw ; and with the 
 same noisy assiduity. It is only seen along 
 the western coasts of England. These are 
 birds very similar in their manners, feeding 
 on grain and insects, living in society, and 
 often suffering general castigation from the 
 flock for the good of the community. 
 
 The rook, as is well known, builds in woods 
 and forests in the neighbourhood of man, and 
 sometimes makes choice of groves in the very 
 midst of cities for the place of its retreat and 
 security. In these it establishes a kind of 
 legal constitution, by which all intruders are 
 excluded from coming to live among them, 
 and none suffered to build but acknowledged 
 natives of the place. I have often amused 
 myself with observing their plan of policy 
 from my window in the Temple, that looks 
 upon a grove where they have made a colony 
 in the midst of the city. At the commence- 
 ment of spring, the rookery, which during 
 the continuance of winter seemed to have 
 been deserted, or only guarded by about five 
 or six, like old soldiers in a garrison, now 
 begins to be once more frequented ; and in a 
 short time all the bustle and hurry of busi- 
 ness is fairly commenced. Where these 
 numbers resided during the winter is not 
 easy to guess ; perhaps in the trees of hedge- 
 rows, to be nearer their food. In spring, how- 
 ever, they cultivate their native trees ; and, 
 in the places where they were themselves 
 hatched, they prepare to propagate a future 
 progeny. 2 
 
 2 Country people suppose that when rooks return from 
 pasture making a more than usual noise with their 
 wings, and with a quick flight, it is a sign of rain ; and 
 that, if part of them stay at the rookery, and sport about 
 the trees, making their cawing note in a softer tone than 
 usual, three or four times successively, it is a sign of 
 fine weather. 
 
 Rooks appear to have a language amongst themselves, 
 which is understood by the whole community ; and a 
 peculiar note from a bird set to watch and to warn them 
 of approaching danger, is quite sufficient to make them 
 take flight, and always in an opposite direction to that 
 from which the danger is apprehended. 
 
 " Their danger well the wary plunderers know, 
 And place a watch on some conspicuous bough." 
 
 As the rook is a favourite, I am always sorry to see 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 They keep together in pairs; and when 
 the offices of courtship are over, they prepare 
 for making their nests and laying. The old 
 inhabitants of the place are already provided ; 
 
 it during a hard frost. Instead of being that active, 
 happy bird which he appears to be in summer, strut- 
 ting over a meadow, and either flirting with his mate, 
 or feeding one of his young ones who has had strength 
 enough to follow him, and who receives the food with 
 fluttering wings and tremulous note, he is now, on the 
 contrary, a moping, melancholy bird, appearing to avoid 
 his old companions, and to be without sufficient energy 
 even to seek for food, often remaining in one position 
 for a considerable length of time. 
 
 There is one trait in the character of the rook which 
 is, I believe, peculiar to that bird, and which does him 
 no little credit, it is the distress which is exhibited 
 when one of them has been killed or wounded by a gun 
 while they have been feeding in a field or flying over it. 
 Instead of being scared away by the report of the gun, 
 leaving their wounded or dead companion to his fate, 
 they show the greatest anxiety and sympathy for him, 
 uttering cries of distress, and plainly proving that they 
 wish to render him assistance, by hovering over him, 
 or sometimes making a dart from the air close up to 
 him, apparently to try and find out the reason why he 
 did not follow them, 
 
 " While circling round and round, 
 They call their lifeless comrade from the ground." 
 
 If he is wounded, and can flutter along the ground, 
 the rooks appear to animate him to make fresh exer- 
 tions by incessant cries, flying a little distance before 
 him, and calling to him to follow them. I have seen 
 one of my labourers pick up a rook so wounded, which 
 he had shot at for the purpose of putting him up as 
 a scare-crow in a field of wheat, and while the poor 
 wounded bird was still fluttering in his hand, I have 
 observed one of his companions make a wheel round in 
 the air, and suddenly dart past him so as almost to 
 touch him, perhaps with a last hope that he might still 
 afford assistance to his unfortunate mate or companion. 
 Even when the dead bird has been hung, in terrorem, 
 to a stake in the field, he has been visited by some of 
 his former friends, but, as soon as they found that the 
 case was hopeless, they have generally abandoned that 
 field altogether. 
 
 When one considers the instinctive care with which 
 rooks avoid any one carrying a gun, and which is so 
 evident, that I have often heard country people remark 
 that they can smell gunpowder, one can more justly 
 estimate the force of their love or friendship in thus 
 continuing to hover round a person, who has just de- 
 stroyed one of their companions with an instrument, the 
 dai ^erous natui;e of which they seem fully capable of 
 HP; leciating. 
 
 That it is the instrument, and not the man, which 
 they avoid, is evident from their following the heels of 
 the peaceable ploughman along the furrow, sometimes 
 taking short flights after him, and each rook showing 
 some degree of eagerness to be nearest the ploughman, 
 and to have the best chance of being the first to pick up 
 the newly turned up worm, or the grub of the cock- 
 chafer, of which they are very fond. 
 
 Hooks are not easily induced to forsake the trees on 
 which they have been bred, and which they frequently 
 revisit after the breeding season is over. This is shown 
 in Hampton Court Park, where there is an extensive 
 rookery amongst the fine lime-trees, and where a bar- 
 barous and unnecessary custom prevails of shooting the 
 young rooks. As many as a hundred dozen of them 
 have been killed in one season, and yet the rooks build 
 
 the nest which served them for years before, 
 with a little trimming and dressing, will 
 serve very well again ; the difficulty of nest- 
 ling lies only upon the young ones, who have 
 
 in the avenue, though there is a corresponding avenue 
 close by, in Bushy Park, which they never frequent, 
 notwithstanding the trees are equally high and equally 
 secure. I never hear the guns go off during this annual 
 slaughter without execrating the practice, and pitying 
 the poor rooks, whose melancholy cries may be heard to 
 a great distance, and some of whom may be seen, ex- 
 hausted by their fruitless exertions, sitting melancholy 
 on a solitary tree waiting till the sport is over, that they 
 may return and see whether any of the offspring which 
 they have reared with so much care and anxiety are 
 left to them ; or, what is more probable, the call for 
 assistance of their young having ceased, they are aware 
 of their fate, and are sitting in mournful contemplation 
 of their loss. This may appear romantic, but it is 
 nevertheless true : and whoever, like myself, has ob- 
 served the habits and manners of the rook, and wit- 
 nessed their attachment to each other and to their 
 young, and is convinced, as I am, that they have the 
 power of communication by means of a language known 
 to themselves, and are endowed with a knowledge and 
 foresight most extraordinary, will take as much interest 
 in them as I have confessed that I do. 
 
 Some farmers have a very mistaken notion that 
 rooks are injurious to them. They certainly now and 
 then feed on grain, but the damage they may do in this 
 respect is much more than counterbalanced by the good 
 they do in destroying the grubs of the cockchafer and 
 beetles, and other insects which are injurious to the 
 farmer. 
 
 Rooks are known to bury acorns, and I believe wal- 
 nuts also, as I have observed them taking ripe walnuts 
 from a tree and returning to it before they could have 
 had time to break them and eat the contents. Indeed, 
 when we consider how hard the shell of a walnut is, it 
 is not easy to guess how the rook contrives to break them. 
 May they not, by first burying them, soften the shells, 
 and afterwards return to feed upon them ? 
 
 The Reverend W. Bingley, an amiable naturalist, 
 has observed, " that as soon as rooks have finished their 
 nests, and before they lay, the cocks begin to feed the 
 hens, who receive their bounty with a fondling, tremu- 
 lous voice and fluttering wiijgs, and all the little blan- 
 dishments that are expressed by the young while in a 
 helpless state, and that this gallant deportment of the 
 male is continued through the whole season of incuba- 
 tion." 
 
 I must, however, add that my friends the rooks are 
 somewhat given to thieving, and I am afraid that if 
 both the birds left the nest at the same time, some of 
 the other members of the community would soon deprive 
 them of those sticks which they had collected with so 
 much trouble. One of the birds is, therefore, always 
 left to protect their property. 
 
 Rooks feed on various kinds of food, as well as worms. 
 They are sad depredators on my cherry trees, attacking 
 them early in the morning, and carrying oft' great quan- 
 tities. They will also eat potatoes and pears, taking 
 them away in their beaks. The grub of the cockchafer, 
 however, seems to be their favourite food, and their 
 search for it, especially in old mossy grass fields, may 
 be seen by the little tufts of moss which are pulled up 
 by them and scattered about. Their power of discover- 
 ing this caterpillar by the scent is very extraordinary. 
 A gentleman once showed me a field which had all the 
 appearance of having been scorched, as if by a burning 
 sun in dry hot weather. The turf peeled from the 
 ground as if it had been cut with a turfing spade, and 
 we then discovered that the roots of the grass had been 
 
THE ROOK. 
 
 95 
 
 no nest, and must therefore get up one as 
 well as they can. But not only the materials 
 are wanting, but also the place in which to 
 fix it. Every part of a tree will not do for 
 this purpose, as some branches may not be 
 sufficiently forked ; others may not be suffi- 
 ciently strong; and still others may be too 
 
 eaten away by the larvse of the cockchafer, which were 
 found in countless numbers at various depths in the soil. 
 This field was visited by a great quantity of rooks, though 
 there was no rookery within many miles of the neigh- 
 bourhood, who turned up and appeared to devour the 
 grubs with great satisfaction. 
 
 Rooks are fond of company, the jackdaw and even 
 the starling being allowed to associate with them, and a 
 mutual good understanding seems to exist amongst them. 
 Even the sparrow is sometimes allowed to build its nest 
 under the protection of that of a rook. 
 
 Wilson, in his American Ornithology, says that 
 crows have been employed to catch crows by the follow- 
 ing stratagem : A live crow is pinned by the wings 
 down to the ground on his back, by means of two sharp 
 forked sticks. Thus situated, his cries are loud and 
 incessant, particularly if any other crows are within 
 view. These sweeping down about him, are instantly 
 grappled and held fast by the prostrate prisoner, with 
 the same instinctive impulse that urges a drowning per- 
 son to gra?p at every thing within his reach. The 
 game being disengaged from his clutches, the trap is 
 again ready for another experiment; and by pinning 
 down each captive successively, as soon as taken, iri a 
 short time you will probably have a large flock scream- 
 ing above you, in concert with the outrageous prisoners 
 below.* 
 
 The same author mentions an agreeable instance of 
 attachment in a crow. " A gentleman, who resided on 
 the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had raised 
 (reared) a crow, with whose tricks and society he used 
 frequently to amuse himself. This crow lived long in 
 the family, but at length disappeared, having, as was 
 then supposed, been shot by some vagrant gunner, or 
 destroyed by accident. About eleven months after this, 
 as the gentleman, one morning, in company "with 
 several others, was standing on the river shore, a num- 
 ber of crows happening to pass by, one of them left the 
 flock, and flying directly towards the company, alighted 
 on the gentleman's shoulder, and began to gabble away 
 with great volubility, as one long absent friend naturally 
 enough does on meeting with another. Recovering from 
 his surprise, the gentleman instantly recognised his old 
 acquaintance, and endeavoured, by several civil, but sly 
 manoeuvres, to lay hold of him: but the crow, not alto- 
 gether relishing quite so much familiarity, having now 
 had a taste of the sweets of liberty, cautiously eluded all 
 his attempts ; and suddenly glancing his eye on his dis- 
 tant companions, mounted in the air after them, soon 
 overtook and mingled with them, and was never after- 
 wards seen to return." 
 
 The rook seems to be even more unpopular in America 
 than he is in this country. Mr Wilson says, that he is 
 there branded as a thief and a plunderer ; a kind of 
 black-coated vagabond, who hovers over the fields of the 
 industrious, fattening on their labours, and, by his vo- 
 racity, often blasting their expectations. Hated as he 
 is by the farmer, watched and persecuted by almost 
 every bearer of a gun, who all triumph in his destruc- 
 tion, had not heaven bestowed on him intelligence and 
 sagacity, far beyond what is common in other birds, 
 there is reason to believe that the whole tribe would 
 long ago have ceased to exist. 
 
 * This method of catching- crows is, I believe, practised in 
 some parts of Enghmd to catch jays, who make a most violent 
 outcry when piuued to the ground. 
 
 much exposed to the rockings of the wind. 
 The male and female upon this occasion are, 
 for some days, seen, examining all the trees 
 of the grove very attentively ; and when they 
 have fixed upon a branch that seems fit for 
 their purpose, they continue to sit upon and 
 observe it very sedulously for two or three 
 
 The average number of rooks' nests, during the last 
 four years, in the avenue of Hampton Court Park, has 
 been about 750. Allowing three young birds and a 
 pair of old ones to each nest, the number would amount 
 to 3750. They are very particular that none of their 
 society build away from the usual line of trees. A pair 
 of rooks did so this spring, and when their nest was 
 nearly finished, at least fifty others came and demolished 
 it in a few minutes. Rooks may be seen teaching their 
 young to fly as soon as they leave the nest, advancing a 
 little way before, and calling upon them to follow. These 
 short flights are incessantly repeated, till the young ones 
 have acquired sufficient strength and skill to follow the 
 old birds. 
 
 Rooks sometimes choose odd places to build in, and 
 where AVC should have hardly expected to find the riest 
 of a bird of such social habits". Dr Mitchell says that a 
 few years ago a pair of rooks built their nest between the 
 wings of the dragon of Bow Church in London. They 
 remained there till the steeple required repairs. He 
 adds, that the same or another pair have this spring 
 built their nest on the top of a large plane tree in Wood 
 Street, close to Cheapside. Last season a hawk built 
 its nest under the dome of St Paul's, and a similar oc- 
 currence took place about forty years ago. Another of 
 the falcon tribe had its nest, a few years ago, in the top 
 of the steeple of Spitalfields Church. 
 
 Colonel Montague mentions an instance of great 
 sagacity in crows. He observed two of them by the 
 sea-shore, busy in removing small fish beyond the flux 
 of the flowing tide, and depositing them just above high- 
 water mark, under the broken rocks, after having satis- 
 fied the calls of hunger. 
 
 Mr Hone, in his " Every Day Book," has intro- 
 duced an agreeable anecdote respecting a rookery on 
 some high trees behind the Ecclesiastical Court, in 
 Doctor's Commons. "Some years ago there were 
 several large elm trees in the college garden behind the 
 Ecclesiastical Court, in Doctor's Commons, in which a 
 number of rooks had taken up their abode, forming, in 
 appearance, a sort of convocation of aerial ecclesiastics. 
 A young gentleman, who lodged in an attic, and was 
 their close neighbour, frequently entertained himself 
 with thinning this covey of black game, by means of a 
 cross-bow. On the opposite side lived a curious old 
 civilian, who observing from his study that the rooks 
 often dropped senseless from their perch, or, as it may 
 be said, without using a figure, hopp'd the twig, making 
 no sign, nor any sign being made to his vision to ac- 
 count for the phenomenon, set his wits to work to dis- 
 cover the cause. It was probably during a profitless 
 time of peace, and the doctor having plenty of leisure, 
 weighed the matter over and over, till he was at length 
 fully satisfied that he had made a great ornithological 
 discovery, that its promulgation would give wings to his 
 fame, and that he was fated by means of these rooks to 
 say 
 
 Volito vivus per ora virum. 
 
 His goose-quill and foolscap were quickly in requi- 
 sition, and he actually wrote a treatise, stating circum- 
 stantially what he himself had seen, and in conclusion, 
 giving it as the settled conviction of his mind, that rooks 
 were subject to the falling sickness I " Jesse's Glean- 
 ings, Vol. /. 
 
96 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 days longer. The place being thus deter- 
 mined upon, they begin to gather the materi- 
 als for their nest ; such as sticks and fibrous 
 roots, which they regularly dispose in the 
 most substantial manner. But here a new 
 and unexpected obstacle arises. It often 
 happens that the young couple have made 
 choice of a place too near the mansion of an 
 older pair, who do not choose to be incom- 
 moded by such troublesome neighbours. A 
 quarrel therefore instantly ensues, in which 
 the- old ones are always victorious. 
 
 The young couple, thus expelled, are ob- 
 liged again to go through the fatigues of de- 
 liberating, examining and choosing; and 
 having taken care to keep their due distance, 
 the nest begins again, and their industry 
 deserves commendation. But their alacrity 
 is often too great in the beginning ; they soon 
 grow weary of bringing the materials of their 
 nest from distant places ; and they very easily 
 perceive that sticks may be provided nearer 
 home, with less honesty, indeed, but some 
 degree of address. Away they go, therefore, 
 to pilfer, as fast as they can ; and whenever 
 they see a nest unguarded, they take care to 
 rob it of the very choicest sticks of which it 
 is composed. But these thefts never go un- 
 punished ; and probably upon complaint being 
 made there is a general punishment inflicted. 
 I have seen eight or ten rooks come upon 
 such occasions, and, setting upon the new 
 nest of the young couple all at once, tear it 
 in pieces in a moment. 
 
 At length, therefore, the young pair find 
 the necessity of going more regularly and 
 honestly to work. While one flies to fetch 
 the materials, the other sits upon the tree to 
 guard it ; and thus in the space of three or 
 four days, with a skirmish now and then be- 
 tween, the pair have fitted up a commodious 
 nest, composed of sticks without, and of fibrous 
 roots and long grass within. From the instant 
 the female begins \z lay, all hostilities are at 
 an end; not .-.one of the whole grove, that a 
 little before ^treated her so rudely, will now 
 venture to m'dlest her : so that she brings forth 
 her brood with patient tranquillity. Such is 
 the severity with which even native rooks are 
 treated by each other ; but if a foreign rook 
 should attempt to make himself a denizen of 
 their society, he would meet with no favour; 
 the whole grove would at once be up in arms 
 against him, and expel him without mercy. 
 
 In some countries these birds are considered 
 as a benefit, in others as a nuisance : their 
 chief food is the worm of the door-beetle, and 
 corn; thus they may be said to do as much 
 service by destroying that noxious insect, as 
 they do injury by consuming the produce of 
 the husbandman's industry. 
 
 To this tribe of the crow-kind, some foreign 
 
 sorts might be added : I will take notice only 
 of one, which, from the extraordinary size and 
 fashion of its bill, must not be passed in 
 silence. 1 This is the Calao, or horned Indian 
 raven, which exceeds the common raven in 
 size, and habits of depredation. But what 
 he differs in from all other birds is the beak, 
 which by its length and curvature at the end, 
 appears designed for rapine ; but then it has 
 a kind of horn standing out from the top, 
 which looks somewhat like a second bill, and 
 gives this bird, otherwise fierce and ugly, a 
 very formidable appearance. The horn springs 
 out of the forehead, and grows to the upper 
 part of the bill, being of great bulk; so that 
 near the forehead it is four inches broad, not 
 unlike the horn of a rhinoceros, but more 
 crooked at the tip. Were the body of the 
 bird answerable in size to the head, the calao 
 would exceed in magnitude even the vulture or 
 the eagle. But the head and beak are out of all 
 proportion, the body being not much larger 
 than that of a hen. Yet even here there are 
 varieties ; for in such of those birds as come 
 from different parts of Africa, the body is pro- 
 portionable to the beak ; in such as come from 
 the Molucca islands, the beak bears no pro- 
 portion to the body. Of what use this extra- 
 ordinary excrescence is to the bird, is not easy 
 to determine; it lives, like others of its kind, 
 upon carrion, and seldom has a living enemy 
 to cope with. Nature seems to sport in the 
 production of many animals, as if she were 
 willing to exhibit instances as well of variety 
 as economy in their formation. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE MAGPIE, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 
 
 THERE are such a variety of birds that may 
 be distributed under this head, that we must 
 not expect very precise ideas of any. To 
 have a straight strong bill, legs formed for 
 hopping, a body of about the size of a mag- 
 pie, and party-coloured plumage, are the only 
 marks by which I must be contented to dis- 
 tinguish this numerous fantastic tribe, that add 
 to the beauty, though not to the harmony, of 
 our landscapes. In fact, their chattering every 
 where disturbs the melody of the lesser warb- 
 lers; and their noisy courtship not a little damps 
 the song of the linnet and the nightingale. 
 
 However, we have very few of this kind in 
 our woods compared to those in the neighbour. 
 
 1 There are also the Fish Crow, which lives on dead 
 fish and other garbage by the river and sea shore, and 
 Clark's Crow, which resembles somewhat the jackdaw, 
 both described by Wilson in his Ornithology. 
 
THE MAGPIE. 
 
 97 
 
 hood of the line. There they not only paint 
 the scene with the beauty and the variety of 
 their plumage, but stun the ear with their vo- 
 ciferation. In those luxurious forests, the 
 singing-birds are scarcely ever heard, but a 
 hundred varieties of the pie, the jay, the rol- 
 ler, the chatterer, and the toucan, are contin- 
 ually in motion, and with their illusive mock- 
 cries disturb or divert the spectator, as he hap- 
 pens to be disposed. 
 
 The Magpie is the chief of this kind with 
 us, and is too well known to need a description. 
 
 Indeed, were its other accomplishments equal 
 to its beauty, few birds could be put in com- 
 petition. Its black, its white, its green, and 
 purple, with the rich and gilded combination 
 of the glosses on its tail, are as fine as any 
 that adorn the most beautiful of the feathered 
 tribe. But it has too many of the qualities of 
 a beau to depreciate these natural perfections : 
 vain, restless, loud, and quarrelsome, it is an 
 unwelcome intruder every where ; and never 
 misses an opportunity, when it finds one, of 
 doing mischief. 
 
 The magpie bears a great resemblance to 
 the butcher-bird in its bill, which has a sharp 
 process near the end of the upper chap, as well 
 as in the shortness of its wings, and the form 
 of the tail ; each feather shortening from the 
 two middlemost. But it agrees still more in 
 its food, living not only upon worms and in- 
 sects, but also upon small birds when they 
 can be seized. A wounded lark, or a young 
 chicken separated from the hen, are sure plun- 
 der ; and the magpie will even sometimes set 
 upon and strike a blackbird. 
 
 The same insolence prompts it to tease the 
 largest animals, when its insults can be offered 
 with security. They often are seen perched 
 upon the back of an ox or a sheep, pecking up 
 the insects to be found there, chattering, and 
 tormenting the poor animal at the same time, 
 and stretching out their necks for combat, if 
 the beast turns its head backward to repre- 
 hend him. They seek out also the nests of 
 birds : and, if the parent escapes, the eggs 
 make up for the deficiency: the thrush and 
 the blackbird are but too frequently robbed by 
 this assassin, and this, in some measure, causes 
 their scarcity. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 No food seems to come amiss to this bird ; 
 t shares with ravens in their carrion, with 
 rooks in their grain, and with the cuckoo in 
 airds' eggs : but it seems possessed of a pro- 
 vidence seldom usual with gluttons ; for when 
 it is satisfied for the present, it lays up the re- 
 mainder of the feast for another occasion. It 
 will even in a tame state hide its food when it 
 has done eating, and after a time return to the 
 secret hoard with renewed appetite and voci- 
 feration. 
 
 In all its habits it discovers a degree of in- 
 stinct unusual to other birds. Its nest is not 
 less remarkable for the manner in which it is 
 composed, than for the place the magpie takes 
 to build it in. The nest is usually placed 
 conspicuous enough, either in the middle of 
 some hawthorn bush, or on the top of some 
 high tree. The place, however, is always 
 found difficult of access ; for the tree pitched 
 upon usually grows in some thick hedge-row 
 fenced by brambles at the root ; or sometimes 
 one of the higher bushes is fixed upon for the 
 purpose. When the place is thus chosen as 
 inaccessible as possible to men, the next care 
 is to fence the nest above so as to defend it 
 from all the various enemies of air. The kite, 
 the crow, and the sparrow-hawk, are to be 
 guarded against; as their nests have been 
 sometimes plundered by the magpie, so it is 
 reasonably feared that they will take the first 
 opportunity to retaliate. To prevent this, the 
 magpie's nest is built with surprising labour 
 and ingenuity. 
 
 The body of the nest is composed of haw- 
 thorn branches, the thorns sticking outward, 
 but well united together by their mutual in- 
 sertions. Within it is lined with fibrous 
 roots, wool, and long grass, and then nicely 
 plastered all round with mud and clay. The 
 body of the nest being thus made firm arid 
 commodious, the next work is to make the 
 canopy which is to defend it above. This is 
 composed of the sharpest thorns, wove together 
 in such a manner as to deny all entrance ex- 
 cept at the door, which is just large enough to 
 permit egress and regress to the owners. In 
 this fortress the male and female hatch and 
 bring up their brood with security, sheltered 
 from all attacks but those of the climbing 
 school-boy, who often finds his torn and bloody 
 hands too dear a price for the eggs or the 
 young ones. The magpie lays six or seven eggs, 
 of a pale green colour, spotted with brown. 
 
 This bird, in its domestic state, preserves 
 its natural character with strict propriety. 
 The same noisy mischievous habits attend it 
 to the cage that marked it in the woods ; and 
 being more cunning, so it is also a more do- 
 cile bird than any other taken into keeping. 
 Those who are desirous of teaching it to speak 
 have a foolish custom of cutting its tongue, 
 
98 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 which only puts the poor animal to pain, with- 
 out improving its speech in the smallest de- 
 gree. Its speaking is sometimes very dis- 
 tinct ; but its sounds are too thin and sharp to 
 be an exact imitation of the human voice 
 which the hoarse raven and parrot can coun- 
 terfeit more exactly. 
 
 To this tribe we may refer the jay, which 
 is one of the most beautiful of the British 
 birds. The forehead is white, streaked with 
 
 black ; the head is covered with very long 
 feathers, which it can erect into a crest at 
 pleasure ; the whole neck, back, breast, and 
 belly, are of a faint purple, dashed with gray ; 
 the wings are most beautifully barred with a 
 lovely blue, black, and white ; the tail is 
 black, and the feet of a pale brown. Like 
 the magpie, it feeds upon fruits, will kill 
 small birds, and is extremely docile. 1 
 
 1 The Jays differ from the pies principally in the bill, 
 which is more hooked, and in having some long loose 
 feathers on the crown of the head, which are erected 
 when the birds are excited; the tail, moreover, in these 
 birds, is longer and more graduated. They may almost 
 be said to be omnivorous, living in general in the woods, 
 but occasionally resorting to gardens and cultivated 
 lands, to both of which they are injurious and destruc- 
 tive, as well by what they eat at the time, as by what 
 they carry off to increase their hidden stores. In sum- 
 mer they live in pairs, but in the opposite season assem- 
 ble in small groups. They advance on the ground al- 
 ways by leaps, and seldom or never walk. In disposi- 
 tion they are very irascible, petulant, and inquisitive, 
 and take their scientific generic name, garrulus, from 
 their constant loquacity. The nest is built in trees, ge- 
 nerally at about half-way from the bottom, of sticks, in- 
 terlaced together on the outside, cased within with mud, 
 and lined with dry grass and fibres: the entrance to it is 
 at the side. The eggs are white, spotted with brown 
 and gray, and are from six to eight in number. 
 
 The common jay does not seem to be very generally 
 or exclusively located, and is partially migratory from 
 the west and northern parts of Europe to the south-east, 
 as the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, and also 
 Egypt, Syria, &c. Though many are thus said to mi- 
 grate, it is nevertheless clear that some continue in our 
 own country and in France the whole year. 
 
 The Red-Billed Jay is a very splendid bird. The 
 bill and feet are red ; the neck and breast are black; the 
 crown of the head dotted black and white ; body, above 
 and beneath, ashen; of the tail feathers, the two interme- 
 diate are much the longest, and the lateral feathers are 
 graduated ; they are blue, tipt with white, and a black 
 bar between that colour and the blue. Inhabits China, 
 and is frequently rendered very tame and amusing. Of 
 
 The Chatterer also, which is a native of 
 Germany, may be placed in this rank ; and is 
 somewhat less than the former. It is varie- 
 gated with a beautiful mixture of colours ; red, 
 
 the Blue Jay, an inhabitant of North America, (See 
 Plate XV. fig. 8.) Wilson has given the following inter- 
 esting account. 
 
 " The blue jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the 
 woods, frequenting the thickest settlements as well as 
 the deepest recesses of the forest, where his squalling voice 
 often alarms the deer, to the disappointment and morti- 
 fication of the hunter, one of whom informed me that 
 he made it a point, in summer, to kill every jay he 
 could meet with. In the charming season of spring, 
 when every thicket pours forth harmony, the part per- 
 formed by the jay always catches the ear. He appears 
 to be among his fellow musicians what the trumpeter is 
 in a band, some of his notes having no distant resem- 
 blance to the tones of that instrument. These he 
 has the faculty of changing through a great variety of 
 modulations, according to the particular humour he hap- 
 pens to be in. When disposed for ridicule, there is 
 scarce a bird whose peculiarities of song he cannot tune 
 his notes to. When engaged in the blandishments of 
 love, they resemble the soft chatterings of a duck, and, 
 while he nestles among the thick branches of the cedar, 
 are scarce heard at a few paces distance: but he no sooner 
 discovers your approach than he sets up a vehement 
 outcry, flying off, and screaming with all his might, as 
 if he called the whole feathered tribe of the neighbour- 
 hood to witness some outrageous usage he had received. 
 When he hops undisturbed among the high branches of 
 the oak and hickory, they become soft and musical; and 
 his calls for the female a stranger would mistake for the 
 repeated screakings of an ungreased wheel-barrow. All 
 these he accompanies with various nods, and jerks, and 
 other gesticulations, for which the whole tribe of jays are 
 so remarkable, that, with some other peculiarities, they 
 might have very well justified the great Swedish natu- 
 ralist in forming them into a separate genus by them - 
 selves. 
 
 "The blue jay builds a large nest, frequently in the 
 cedar, sometimes 011 an apple-tree, lines it with dry fib- 
 rous roots, and lays five eggs, of a dull olive, spotted 
 with brown. The male is particularly careful of not 
 being heard near the place, making his visits as silently 
 and secretly as possible. His favourite food is chestnuts, 
 acorns, and Indian corn. He occasionally feeds on 
 bugs and caterpillars, and sometimes pays a plundering 
 visit to the orchard, cherry rows, and potato patch; and 
 has been known, in times of scarcity, to venture into the 
 barn, through openings between the weather boards. In 
 these cases he is extremely active and silent, and, if sur- 
 prised in the act, makes his escape with precipitation, 
 but without noise, as if conscious of his criminality. 
 
 " Of all birds he is the most bitter enemy to the owl. 
 No sooner has he discovered the retreat of one of these, 
 than he summons the whole feathered fraternity to his 
 assistance, who surround the glimmering solitaire, and 
 attack him from all sides, raising such a shout as may 
 t>e heard, in a still day, more than half a mile off. 
 When, in my hunting excursions, I have passed near 
 ibis scene of tumult, I have imagined to myself that I 
 heard the insulting party venting their respective 
 charges with all the virulence of a Billingsgate mob; the 
 owl, meanwhile, returning every compliment with a 
 )road oggling stare. The war becomes louder and louder, 
 and the owl at length, forced to betake himself to flight, 
 s followed by his whole train of persecutors, until driven 
 )eyond the boundaries of their jurisdiction. 
 
 ' But the blue jay himself is not guiltless of similar 
 depredations with the owl, and becomes in his turn the 
 
THE TOUCAN. 
 
 99 
 
 ash-colour, chestnut, and yellow ; but what 
 distinguishes it from all other birds, are the 
 horny appendages from the tips of seven of 
 the lesser quill feathers, which stand bare of 
 beards, and have the colour and gloss of the 
 best red sealing wax. 
 
 The Roller is not less beautiful than any of 
 the former. (For Noisy Roller, see Plate XV. 
 fig. 11 ; for Green Roller, see Plate XVII. 
 fig. 5.) The breast and belly are blue ; the 
 head green ; and the wings variegated with 
 blue, black, and white. But it may be dis- 
 tinguished from all others by a sort of naked 
 tubercles or warts near the eyes, which still 
 farther contribute to increase its beauty. 
 
 To this class may be added a numerous list 
 from all the tropical forests of the east and 
 west ; where the birds are remarkable for dis- 
 cordant voices and brilliant plumage. I will 
 fix only upon one, which is the most singu- 
 lar of all the feathered creation. This is the 
 Toucan, a bird of the pie kind, whose bill 
 
 very tyrant he detested, when he sneaks through the 
 wood?, as he frequently does, and among the thickets 
 and hedge-rows, plundering every nest he can find of its 
 eggs, tearing up the callow young by piecemeal, and 
 spreading alarm and sorrow around him. The cries of the 
 distressed parents soon bring together a number of in- 
 terested spectators (for birds in such circumstances seem 
 truly to sympathise with each other,) and he is sometimes 
 attacked with such spirit as to be under the necessity 
 of making a speedy retreat. 
 
 " He will sometimes assault small birds, with the in- 
 tention of killing and devouring them; an instance of 
 which I myself once witnessed, over a piece of woods 
 near the borders of Schuylkill ; where I saw him en- 
 gaged for more then five minutes pursuing what I took 
 to be a species of motacilla (TO. maculosa, yellow rump,) 
 wheeling, darting, and doubling in the air, and, at last, 
 to my great satisfaction, got disappointed in the escape 
 of his intended prey. In times of great extremity, 
 when his hoard or magazine is frozen up, buried in snow, 
 or perhaps exhausted, he becomes very voracious, and 
 will make a meal of whatever carrion or other animal 
 substance comes in the way, and has been found regal- 
 ing himself on the bowels of a robin (turdus migratorius) 
 in less than five minutes after it was shot. 
 
 " There are, however, individual exceptions to this 
 general character for plunder and outrage, a proneness 
 for which is probably often occasioned by the wants and 
 irritations of necessity. A blue jay, which I have kept 
 for some time, and with which I am on terms of famili- 
 arity, is in reality a very notable example of mildness of 
 disposition and sociability of manners. An accident in 
 the woods first put me in possession of this bird, while 
 in full plumage, and in high health and spirits; I carried 
 him home with me, and put him into a cage already oc- 
 
 is nearly as large as the rest of its whole 
 body. 1 
 
 Of this extraordinary bird there are four 
 or five varieties. I will only describe the 
 red-beaked toucan ; and as the figure of this 
 bird makes the principal part of its history, I 
 
 cupied by a golden-winged woodpecker (picus auratus,) 
 where he was saluted with such rudeness, and received 
 such a drubbing from the lord of the manor, for entering 
 his premises, that, to save his life, I was obliged to take 
 him out again. I then put him into another cage, where 
 the only tenant was a female oriolus spurius (bastard 
 baltimore.) She also put on airs of alarm, as if she con- 
 sidered herself endangered and insulted by the intrusion; 
 the jay, meanwhile, sat mute and motionless on the 
 bottom of the cage, either dubious of his own situation, 
 or willing to allow time for the fears of his neighbour to 
 subside. Accordingly, in a few minutes, after displaying 
 various threatening gestures (like some of those Indians 
 we read of in their first interviews with the whites,) she 
 began to make her approaches, but with great circum- 
 spection, and readiness for retreat. Seeing, however, 
 the jay begin to pick up some crumbs of broken chest- 
 nuts, in an humble and peaceable way, she also descended, 
 and began to do the same ; but, at the slightest motion 
 of her new guest, wheeled round and put herself on the 
 defensive. All this ceremonious jealousy vanished before 
 evening; and they now roost together, feed, and play 
 together, in perfect harmony and good humour. When 
 the jay goes to drink, his mess-mate very impudently 
 jumps into the saucer to wash herself, throwing the water 
 in showers over her companion, who bears it all pa- 
 tiently ; venturing now and then to take a sip between 
 every splash, without betraying the smallest token of 
 irritation. On the contrary, he seems to take pleasure 
 in his little fellow-prisoner, allowing her to pick (which 
 she does very gently) about his whiskers, and to clean his 
 claws from the minute fragments of chestnuts which 
 happen to adhere to them. This attachment on the one 
 part, and mild condescension on the other, may, perhaps, 
 be partly the effect of mutual misfortunes, which are 
 found not only to knit mankind, but many species of in- 
 ferior animals, more closely together: and shows that 
 the disposition of the blue jay may be humanized, and 
 rendered susceptible of affectionate impressions, even for 
 those birds which, in a state of nature, he would have 
 no hesitation in making a meal of. 
 
 "He is not only bold and vociferous, but possesses a 
 considerable talent for mimicry, and seems to enjoy great 
 satisfaction in mocking and teasing other birds, particu- 
 larly the little hawk (f. Sparverius,) imitating his cry 
 wherever he sees him, and squealing out as if caught : 
 this soon brings a number of his own tribe around him, 
 who all join in the frolic, darting about the hawk, and 
 feigning the cries of a bird sorely wounded, and already 
 under the clutches of its devourer ; while others lie con- 
 cealed in bushes, ready to second their associates in the 
 attack. But this ludicrous farce often terminates tragi- 
 cally. The hawk, singling out one of the most insolent 
 and provoking, sweeps upon him in the unguarded 
 moment, and offers him up a sacrifice to his hunger and 
 resentment. In an instant the tune is changed ; all their 
 buffoonery vanishes, and loud and incessant screams pro- 
 claim their disaster." 
 
 1 The enormous beak is nearly as long as the body ; 
 and this circumstance has given rise to the belief that 
 the toucan is greatly embarrassed by this extraordinary 
 provision of nature, and rendered incapable of those active 
 movements which so peculiarly distinguish the feathered 
 race. If the beak, indeed, were constructed in that solid 
 manner which we ordinarily observe in birds of prey, and 
 in those who live upon hard substances, we should not be 
 surprised to find so considerable an appendage weighing 
 
100 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 will follow Edwards through all the minutiae 
 of its singular conformation. It is about the 
 size of, and shaped like, a jackdaw, with a 
 large head to support its monstrous bill ; this 
 bill, from the angles of the mouth to its point, 
 is six inches and a half ; and its breadth, in 
 the thickest part, is a little more than two. 
 Its thickness near the head, is one inch and 
 a quarter ; and it is a little rounded along the 
 top of the upper chap, the under side being 
 round also ; the whole of the bill is extremely 
 slight, and a little thicker than parchment. 
 The upper chap is of a bright yellow, except 
 on each side, which is of a tine scarlet colour ; 
 as is also the lower chap, except at the base, 
 which is purple. Between the head and the 
 
 down the unfortunate bird's head, and unfitting it for up- 
 ward flight, or even for ordinary vision, excepting in one 
 direction. In that case the toucan must have been 
 doomed to a grovelling life upon the earth, perpetually 
 striving to use its brilliant wings, and longing to search 
 for food amongst the high branches of fruit-bearing trees, 
 but striving and longing in vain. This would not 
 have been in conformity with the usual harmony of nature ; 
 and, therefore, in spite of its enormous beak, we find the 
 toucans flying as nimbly as any other bird from tree to 
 tree perching on the summits of the very highest 
 searching for fruit with restless activity pursuing small 
 birds which, it is now ascertained, form part of their food 
 and defending their young with unremitting vigilance 
 against serpents, monkeys, and other enemies. All 
 these functions of their existence could not have been 
 performed if the specific gravity of the beak were equal 
 to its dimensions. But it is not so. As compared, in 
 specific gravity, with the beak of a hawk, for instance, the 
 beak of the toucan may be said to stand in the same rela- 
 tion to it as a piece of pumice-stone to a piece of granite. 
 The exterior of the beak is a spongy tissue, presenting a 
 number of cavities, formed by extremely thin plates, and 
 covered with a hard coat scarcely thicker. This remark- 
 able beak forms almost as curious and wonderful an ex- 
 ample of peculiar organization as the trunk of the ele- 
 phant. We are not so intimately acquainted with its 
 uses ; but there can be no doubt that the instrument is 
 admirably adapted to the necessities of the toucan's exis- 
 tence. 
 
 The toucans, as well as the aracaris, (for aracari tou- 
 can, see Plate XVII. fig. 15.) which they greatly resemble, 
 are found in the warmest parts of South America. Their 
 plumage is brilliant ; and their feathers have been em- 
 ployed as ornaments of dress by the ladies of Brazil and 
 Peru. Several specimens have been kept alive in this 
 country. Mr Broderip, in the Zoological Journal for 
 January 1825, has given an interesting account of a 
 specimen in a small menagerie, whose habits he watched 
 with great care. By this examination the fact was es- 
 tablished that the toucan ordinarily feeds on small birds. 
 The toucan in question, upon a goldfinch being put into 
 his cage, would instantly kill it by a squeeze of his bill, 
 and then deliberately pull his prey to pieces, swallow- 
 ing every portion, not excepting the beak and the legs. 
 Mr Broderip states that the toucan appeared to derive 
 the greatest satisfaction from the act of eating, which he as- 
 cribes to the peculiar sensibility of the internal part of 
 the beak. He never used his foot except to confine his 
 prey on the perch: the beak was the only instrument em- 
 ployed in tearing it to pieces. It appears, also, that this 
 bird subjects some of its food to a second mastication by 
 its beak, in a manner somewhat resembling the similar 
 action in ruminating animals. 
 
 bill there is a black line of separation all 
 round the base of the bill ; in the upper part 
 of which the nostrils are placed, and are al- 
 most covered with feathers ; which has occa- 
 sioned some writers to say, that the toucan ha? 
 no nostrils. Round the eyes, on each side of 
 the head, is a space of bluish skin, void of 
 feathers, above which the head is black, ex- 
 cept a white spot on each side joining to the 
 base of the upper chap. The hinder part of 
 the neck, the back, wings, tail, belly, and 
 thighs, are black. The under side of the 
 head, throat, and the beginning of the breast, 
 are white. Between the white on the breast, 
 and the black on the belly, is a space of red 
 feathers, in the form of a new moon, with its 
 horns upwards. The legs, feet, and claws, 
 are of an ash-colour; and the toes stand like 
 those of the parrot, two before, and two be- 
 hind. 
 
 It is reported, by travellers, that this bird, 
 though furnished with so formidable a beak, 
 is harmless and gentle, being so easily made 
 tame, as to sit and hatch its young in houses. 
 It feeds chiefly upon pepper, which it devours 
 very greedily, gorging itself in such a man- 
 ner that it voids it crude and unconcocted. 
 This, however, is no objection to the natives 
 from using it again ; they even prefer it be- 
 fore that pepper which is fresh gathered from 
 the tree : and seem persuaded that the strength 
 and heat of the pepper is qualified by the bird, 
 and that all its noxious qualities are thus ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 Whatever be the truth of this report, no- 
 thing is more certain than that the toucan 
 lives only upon a vegetable diet ; and in a 
 domestic state, to which it is frequently 
 brought in the warm countries where it is 
 bred, it is seen to prefer such food to all other. 
 Pozzo, who bred one tame, asserts, that it 
 leaped up and down, wagged the tail, and 
 cried with a voice resembling that of a mag- 
 pie. It fed upon the same things that parrots 
 do; but was most greedy of grapes, which, 
 being plucked off one by one, and thrown into 
 the air, it would most dexterously catch be- 
 fore they fell to the ground. Its bill, he adds, 
 was hollow, and upon that account very light, 
 so that it had but little strength in so appar- 
 ently formidable a weapon ; nor could it peck 
 or strike smartly therewith. But its tongue 
 seemed to assist the efforts of this unwieldy 
 machine ; it was long, thin, and flat, not un- 
 like one of the feathers on the neck of a dung- 
 hill-cock ; this it moved up and down, and 
 often extended five or six inches from the bill. 
 It was of a flesh colour, and very remarkably 
 fringed on each side with very small filaments, 
 exactly resembling a feather. 
 
 It is probable that this long tongue has 
 greater strength than the thin hollow beak 
 
THE WOODPECKER. 
 
 101 
 
 that contains it It is likely that the beak is 
 only a kind of sheath for this peculiar instru- 
 ment, used by the toucan, not only in making 
 itself a nest, but also in obtaining its provision. 
 Nothing is more certain, than that this bird 
 builds its nest in holes of trees, which have 
 been previously scooped out for this purpose ; 
 and it is not very likely that so feeble a bill 
 could be very serviceable in working upon 
 such hard materials. 
 
 Be this as it will, there is no bird secures 
 its young better from external injury than the 
 toucan. It has not only birds, men, and ser- 
 pents, to guard against, but a numerous tribe 
 of monkeys, still more prying, mischievous, 
 and hungry, than all the rest. The toucan, 
 however, scoops out its nest in the hollow of 
 some trees, leaving only a hole large enough 
 to go in and out at. There it sits, with its 
 great beak, guarding the entrance, and if the 
 monkey venture to offer a visit of curiosity, 
 the toucan gives him such a welcome, that he 
 presently thinks proper to pack off, and is 
 glad to escape with safety. 
 
 This bird is only found in the warm clim- 
 ates of South America, where it is in great 
 request, both for the delicacy of its flesh, 
 which is tender and nourishing, and for the 
 beauty of its plumage, particularly the fea- 
 thers of the breast. The skin of this part the 
 Indians pluck off, and, when dry, glue to their 
 cheeks ; and this they consider as an irresisti- 
 ble addition to their beauty. 1 
 
 i The Rhinoceros Bird is of the order Pica; or Pies, 
 and of the genus, Buceros, consisting of birds of rather 
 large size, and distinguished by the disproportionate 
 forms of their beaks, which are often still further re- 
 markable for some kind of large prominence on the up- 
 per mandible. The most conspicuous species is the 
 Buceros Rhinoceros of Linnaeus, commonly called the 
 rhinoceros bird. 
 
 Its general size is that of a turkey, but with a much 
 more slenderly proportioned body. Its colour is black, 
 with the tail white, crossed by a black bar : the beak is 
 of enormous size, of a lengthened, slightly curved, and 
 pointed shape, and on the upper mandible, towards the 
 base, is an extremely large process, equal in thickness 
 to the bill itself, and turning upwards and backwards in 
 the form of a thick, sharp-pointed horn, somewhat re- 
 sembling the horn of the rhinoceros. The use of this 
 strange proboscis is by some supposed to be that of en- 
 abling the bird more easily to tear out the entrails of its 
 prey ; but others affirm that it is not of a predaceous na- 
 ture, feeding only on vegetable substances. This bird is 
 principally found in the East Indian Islands. 
 
 The Trogons constitute a family of birds, the members 
 of which are peculiar to the hotter regions of America, 
 and of India, and its adjacent islands, Ceylon, Java, 
 Sumatra, &c., one species only having as yet been dis- 
 covered in Africa. Among the most conspicuous of the 
 feathered tribes for beauty and brilliancy of plumage, the 
 trogons stand confessedly pre-eminent. The metallic 
 golden green of some species is of dazzling effulgence; 
 in others less gorgeous: the delicate pencillings of the 
 plumage, and the contrasted hues of deep scarlet, black, 
 green, and brown, produce a rich and beautiful effect. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE WOODPECKER, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 
 
 WE now come to the numerous tribe of 
 Woodpeckers : a class easily distinguished 
 
 Nor is their shape and contour unworthy of their dress; 
 were they far less elegantly arrayed they would still be 
 pleasing birds. 
 
 The trogons are zygodactyle, that is, they have their 
 toes in pairs, two before and two behind, like parrots 
 and woodpeckers ; the tarsi are short and feeble, the 
 beak is stout, and the gape wide ; the general contour 
 of the body is full and round, and the head large; the 
 plumage is dense, soft, and deep; the wings are short 
 but pointed, the quill feathers being rigid ; the tail is 
 long, ample, and graduated, its outer feathers decreasing 
 in length ; in some species, and especially in that brilliant 
 bird the resplendent trogon (trogon resplendens, Gould,) 
 the tail-coverts are greatly elongated, so as to form a 
 beautiful pendent plumage of loose wavy feathers. 
 
 Of solitary habits, the trogons (or coroucui) frequent 
 the most secluded portions of dense forests, remote from 
 the abodes of man. For hours together they sit motion- 
 less on some branch, uttering occasionally a plaintive 
 melancholy cry, especially while the female is brooding 
 on her eggs. Indifferent during the day to every object, 
 listless or slumbering on their perch, they take no notice 
 of the presence of an intruder, and may indeed be often 
 so closely approached as to be knocked down by a stick ; 
 the bright glare of the sun obscures their sight, and 
 they wait for evening, the dusk of twilight being their 
 season of activity. 
 
 Fruits, insects and their larvae, constitute their food. 
 Formed, most of them at least, for rapid but not pro- 
 tracted flight, they watch from their perch the insects 
 flitting by, and dart after them with surprising velocity, 
 returning after their short chase to the same point of 
 observation. Some, however, are almost exclusively 
 frugivorous; we allude more especially to those whose 
 flowing plumes impede the freedom of their flight; such 
 seek for fruits and berries. Many species are certainly 
 migratory. M. Natterer observes, respecting the pavo- 
 nine trogon, which, in great numbers, inhabits, 
 during a certain season of the year, the high woods 
 along the upper part of the Amazon and Rio Negro, 
 that he found the contents of its stomach to consist 
 principally of the fruit of a certain species of palm, and 
 that it arrives in those districts when its favourite food 
 is ripe, but that when the trees no longer yield an ade- 
 quate supply, it retires to other districts. 
 
 Like the parrots and woodpeckers, the trogons breed 
 in the hollows of decayed trees, the eggs being deposited 
 on a bed of wood-dust, the work of insects; they are 
 three or four in number, and white. The young, when 
 first hatched, are totally destitute of feathers, which do 
 not begin to make their appearance for two or three 
 days; and their head and beak appear to be dispro- 
 portionately large. They are said to rear two broods in 
 :he year. 
 
 The American trogons have their beak of moderate 
 size, with serrated (or saw-like) edges, and furnished 
 at its base with bristles ; the upper surface (of the 
 males at least) is of a rich metallic green, the under 
 mrts being more or less universally scarlet or rich 
 ellow. The outer tail-feathers in the majority of the 
 species are more or less barred with black and white. 
 
 In the Indian trogons the beak is larger and stouter, 
 with smooth edges, having a tooth near the tip of the 
 ipper mandible. The eyes are encircled by a large 
 bare space of richly-coloured skin; the upper surface 
 
102 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 from all others, both for their peculiar forma- 
 tion, their method of procuring food, and their 
 manner of providing a place of safety for their 
 young. Indeed, no other class of birds seems 
 more immediately formed for the method of 
 life they pursue, being fitted by nature, at all 
 points, for the peculiarity of their condition. 
 They live chiefly upon the insects contained 
 in the body of trees ; and for this purpose are 
 furnished with a straight, hard, strong, angu- 
 lar, and sharp bill, made for piercing and bor- 
 ing. They have a tongue of a very great 
 length ; round, ending in a sharp, stiff, bony 
 thorn, dentated on each side, to strike ants 
 and insects when dislodged from their cells. 
 Their legs are short and strong, for the pur- 
 poses of climbing. Their toes stand two for- 
 ward, and two backward ; which is particu- 
 larly serviceable in holding by the branches 
 of the trees. They have hard stiff tails to 
 lean upon when climbing. They feed only 
 upon insects, and want that intestine which 
 anatomists call the ccecum; a circumstance 
 peculiar to this tribe only. 
 
 Of this bird there are many kinds, and 
 many varieties in each kind. They form 
 large colonies in the forests of every part of 
 the world. They differ in size, colour, and 
 appearance; and agree only in the marks 
 above mentioned, or in those habits which re- 
 sult from so peculiar a conformation. Instead, 
 therefore, of descending into a minute discri- 
 mination of every species, let us take one for 
 a pattern, to which all the rest will be found 
 to bear the strongest affinity. Words can 
 but feebly describe the plumage of a bird ; 
 but it is the province of history to enter into 
 
 is brown, the lower more or less scarlet, and the outer 
 tail-feathers exhibit no tendency towards a barred style 
 of marking, excepting in one species, Diard's trogon, 
 in which the three outer tail-feathers are finely pow- 
 dered with black. 
 
 The African species (trogon narina, Levaill.) closely 
 approximates to its American relatives; but its three 
 outer tail-feathers are unbarred. This species inhabits 
 the dense forests of Caffraria; during the day it sits 
 motionless on a low dead branch, and it is only in the 
 morning and evening that it displays activity. Locusts 
 and other insects are its principal food. 
 
 Of all the trogons none are so magnificent as the 
 trnyon resplendens, lately introduced to the knowledge 
 o; ihe scientific world, as a distinct species by Mr Gould, 
 and admirably figured in his splendid " Monograph " 
 of the family trogonidce. This bird, as stated by Mr 
 Gould, " is to be found only in the dense and gloomy 
 forests of the Southern States of Mexico." Little known 
 to Europeans, except within the last few years, the 
 brilliant plumes which fall over the tail (and which, 
 as is the whole of the upper surface of the body of 
 this bird, are of the richest metallic golden green;) 
 were made use of by the ancient Mexicans, as orna- 
 ments on their head-dresses ; and gorgeous must a head- 
 dress be, composed of such feathers soft, flowing, of 
 dazzling lustre, and three feet in length. In later times 
 they have occasionally been transmitted as curiosities 
 to Europe. 
 
 a detail of every animal's pursuits and occu- 
 pations. 
 
 The Green Woodspite, or Woodpecker, is 
 called the rainfowl in some parts of the coun- 
 try ; because, when it makes a greater noise 
 than ordinary, it is supposed to foretell rain. 
 It is about the size of a jay ; the throat, breast, 
 and belly, are of a pale greenish colour ; and 
 the back, neck, and covert feathers of the 
 wings, are green. But the tongue of this 
 little animal makes its most distinguished 
 characteristic, as it serves for its support and 
 defence. As was said above, the woodpecker 
 feeds upon insects ; and particularly on those 
 which are lodged in the body of hollow or of 
 rotting trees. The tongue is its instrument 
 for killing and procuring this food ; which 
 cannot be found in great plenty. This is 
 round, ending in a stiff, sharp, bony tip, den- 
 tated on both sides, like the beard of an arrow, 
 and this it can dart out three or four inches 
 from the bill, and draw in again at pleasure. 
 Its prey is thus transfixed, and drawn into the 
 bill, which, when swallowed, the dart is again 
 launched at fresh game. Nothing has em- 
 ployed the attention of the curious in this part 
 of anatomy, more than the contrivance by 
 which the tongue of this bird performs its 
 functions with such great celerity. The 
 tongue is drawn back into the bill by the help 
 of two small round cartilages, fastened into 
 the forementioned bony tip, and running along 
 the length of the tongue. These cartilages, 
 from the root of the tongue, take a circuit be- 
 yond the ears ; and being reflected backwards 
 to the crown of the head, make a large bow. 
 The muscular spongy flesh of the tongue in- 
 closes these cartilages, like a sheath ; and is 
 so made that it may be extended or contracted 
 like a worm. The cartilages indeed have 
 muscles accompanying them along their whole 
 length backwards. But there is still another 
 contrivance ; for there is a broad muscle join- 
 ing the cartilages to the bones of the skull, 
 which, by contracting or dilating, forces the 
 cartilages forward through the tongue, and 
 then forces the tongue and all through the bill, 
 to be employed for the animal's preservation 
 in piercing its prey. 
 
 Such is the instrument with which this bird 
 is provided ; and this the manner in which 
 this instrument is employed. When a wood- 
 pecker, by its natural sagacity, finds out a 
 rotten hollow tree, where there are worms, 
 ant's eggs, or insects, it immediately prepares 
 for its operations. Resting by its strong 
 claws, and leaning on the thick feathers of its 
 tail, it begins to bore with its sharp strong 
 beak, until it discloses the whole internal ha- 
 bitation. Upon this, either through pleasure 
 at the sight of its prey, or with a desire to 
 alarm the insect colony, it sends forth a loud 
 
THE WOODPECKER. 
 
 103 
 
 cry, which throws terror and confusion into the 
 whole insect tribe. They creep hither and 
 thither, seeking for safety ; while the bird 
 luxuriously feasts upon them at leisure, dart- 
 ing its tongue with unerring certainty, and 
 devouring the whole brood. 
 
 The woodpecker, however, does not confine 
 its depredations solely to trees, but sometimes 
 lights upon the ground, to try its fortune at an 
 ant-hill. It is not so secure of prey there as 
 in the former case, although the numbers are 
 much greater. They lie generally too deep 
 for the bird to come at them ; and- it is 
 obliged to make up by stratagem the defect 
 of power. The woodpecker first goes to their 
 hills, which it pecks, in order to call them 
 abroad ; it then thrusts out its long red tongue, 
 which being like a worm, and resembling 
 their usual prey, the ants come out to settle 
 upon, in great numbers ; however, the bird 
 watching the properest opportunity, withdraws 
 its tongue at a jerk, and devours the devour- 
 ers. This stratagem it continues till it has 
 alarmed their fears ; or till it is quite satisfied. 1 
 
 As the woodpecker is obliged to make 
 holes in trees to procure food, so is it also to 
 make cavities still larger to form its nest, and 
 to lay in. This is performed, as usual, with 
 the bill; although some have affirmed that the 
 animal uses its tongue as a gimblet to bore 
 with. But this is a mistake; and those that 
 are curious, may often hear the noise of the 
 bill making its way in large woods and for- 
 ests. The woodpecker chooses, however, for 
 this purpose, trees that are decayed, or wood 
 that is soft, like beech, elm, and poplar. In 
 these, with very little trouble, it can make 
 holes as exactly round as a mathematician 
 could with compasses. One of these holes the 
 bird generally chooses for its own use, to nestle 
 and bring up its young in ; but as they are 
 easily made, it is delicate in its choice, and 
 often makes twenty before one is found fit to 
 give entire satisfaction. Of those which it has 
 made and deserted, other birds, not so good 
 borers, and less delicate in their choice, take 
 possession. The jay and the starling lay 
 their eggs in these holes ; and bats are now 
 and then found in peaceable possession. Boys 
 sometimes have thrust in their hands with 
 certain hopes of plucking out a bird's egg 
 but to their great mortification, have had their 
 fingers bitten by a bat at the bottom. 
 
 The woodpecker takes no care to line its 
 nest with feathers or straw : its eggs are depo- 
 sited in the hole, without any thing to keep 
 
 1 The Wryneck, (See Plate XV. fig. 9.) so called 
 from a habit of turning the neck, bears a close analogy 
 to the woodpeckers, in the extensibility of the tongue 
 and the position of the toes. This bird darts its long 
 tongue into an ant hill, and draws it out loaded with ants 
 which are retained by the viscous liquid which covers it 
 
 hem warm, except the heat of the parent's 
 aody. Their number is generally five or six ; 
 always white, oblong, and of a middle size. 
 When the young are excluded, and before 
 they leave the nest, they are adorned with a 
 scarlet plumage under the throat, which adds 
 to their beauty. 2 
 
 2 Ivory billed Woodpecker. " This majestic, and for- 
 midable species, (says Wilson, in his American Ornithu- 
 ogy) in strength and magnitude stands at the head 
 of the whole class of woodpeckers hitherto discovered. 
 
 He may be called the king or chief of his tribe; 
 and nature seems to have designed him a dis- 
 tinguished characteristic in the superb carmine crest 
 and bill of polished ivory with which she has or- 
 namented him. His eye is brilliant and daring; 
 and his whole frame so admirably adapted for his mode 
 of life, and method of procuring subsistence, as to im- 
 press on the mind of the examiner the most reverential 
 ideas of the Creator. His manners have also a dignity 
 in them superior to the common herd of woodpeckers. 
 Trees, shrubbery, orchards, rails, fence posts, and old 
 prostrate logs, are alike interesting to those, in their 
 humble and indefatigable search for prey; but the royal 
 hunter now before us, scorns the humility of such situa- 
 tions, and seeks the most towering trees of the forest ; 
 seeming particularly attached to those prodigious cypress 
 swamps, whose crowded giant sons stretch their bare and 
 blasted, or moss-hung arms midway to the skies. In 
 these almost inaccessible recesses, amid ruinous piles of 
 impending timber, his trumpet-like note and loud strokes 
 resound through the solitary savage wilds, of which lie 
 seems the sole lord and inhabitant. Wherever he fre- 
 quents, he leaves numerous monuments of his industry 
 behind him. We there see enormous pine trees with 
 cart-loads of bark lying around their roots, and chips of 
 the trunk itself in such quantities as to suggest the idea 
 that half a dozen of axe-men had been at work there for 
 the whole morning. The body of the tree is also dis- 
 figured with such numerous and so large excavations, 
 that one can hardly conceive it possible for the whole to 
 be the work of a woodpecker. With such strength, and 
 an apparatus so powerful, what havoc might he not com- 
 mit, if numerous, on the most useful of our forest trees ! 
 and yet with all these appearances, and much of vulgar 
 prejudice against him, it may fairly be questioned whe- 
 ther he is at all injurious; or, at least, whether his ex- 
 ertions do not contribute most powerfully to the protec- 
 tion of our timber. Examine closely the tree where he 
 has been at work, and you will soon perceive, that it is 
 neither from motives of mischief nor amusement that he 
 slices ofi'the bark, or digs his way into the trunk. For 
 
104 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 In our climate, this bird is contented with 
 such a wainscot habitation as has been des- 
 cribed for its young ; but in the warmer re- 
 gions of Guinea and Brazil, they take a very 
 different method to protect and hatch their 
 nascent progeny. (For Megellannic Wood- 
 
 the sound and healthy tree is the least object of his atten- 
 tion. The diseased, infested with insects, and hastening 
 to putrefaction, are his favourites; there the deadly 
 crawling enemy have formed a lodgement between the 
 bark and tender wood, to drink up the very vital part of 
 the tree. It is the ravages of these vermin which the 
 intelligent proprietor of the forest deplores, as the sole 
 perpetrators of the destruction of his timber. Would 
 it be believed that the larvae of an insect, or fly, no 
 larger than a grain of rice, should silently, and in one 
 season, destroy some thousand acres of pine trees, many 
 of them from two to three feet in diameter, and a hun- 
 dred and fifty feet high ! Yet whoever passes along the 
 high road from Georgetown to Charleston, in South Ca- 
 rolina, about twenty miles from the former place, can 
 have striking and melancholy proofs of this fact. In 
 some places the whole woods, as i'ar as you can see around 
 you, are dead, stripped of the bark, their wintry-looking 
 arms and bare trunks bleaching in the sun, and tumbling 
 in ruins before every blast, presenting a frightful picture 
 of desolation. And yet ignorance and prejudice stub- 
 bornly persist in directing their indignation against the 
 bird now before us, the constant and mortal enemy of 
 these very vermin, as if the hand that probed the wound 
 to extract its cause, should be equally detested with that 
 which inflicted it; or as if the thief-catcher should be 
 confounded with the thief. Until some effectual preven- 
 tive or more complete mode of destruction can be de- 
 vised against these insects, and their larvae, I would 
 humbly suggest the propriety of protecting, and receiving 
 with proper feelings of gratitude, the services of this and 
 the whole tribe of woodpeckers, letting the odium of 
 guilt fall to its proper owners. 
 
 " In looking over the accounts given of the ivory- 
 billed woodpecker by the naturalists of Europe, I find it 
 asserted, that it inhabits from New Jersey to Mexico. 
 I believe, however, that few of them are ever seen to 
 the north of Virginia, and very few of them even in that 
 state. The first place I observed this bird at, when on 
 my way to the south, was about twelve miles north of 
 Wilmington in North Carolina. Having wounded it 
 slightly in the wing, on being caught, it uttered a loudly 
 reiterated and most piteous note, exactly resembling the 
 violent crying of a young child ; which terrified my horse 
 so, as nearly to have cost me my life. It was distressing 
 to hear it. I carried it with me in the chair, under 
 cover, to Wilmington. In passing through the streets, 
 its affecting cries surprised every one within hearing, 
 particularly the females, who hurried to the doors and 
 windows with looks of alarm and anxiety. I drove on, 
 and, on arriving at the piazza of the hotel, where I in- 
 tended to put up, the landlord came forward, and a num- 
 ber of other persons who happened to be there, all equally 
 alarmed at what they heard; this was greatly increased 
 by my asking, whether he could furnish me with accom- 
 modations for myself and my baby. The man looked 
 blank and foolish, while the others stared with still great- 
 er astonishment. After diverting myself for a minute 
 or two at their expense, I drew my woodpecker from 
 under the cover, and a general laugh took place. I took 
 him up stairs and locked him up in my room, while I 
 went to see my horse taken care of. In Jess than an hour 
 I returned, and, on opening the door, he set up the same 
 distressing shout, which now appeared to proceed from grief 
 that he had been discovered in his attempts at escape. 
 He had mounted along the side of the window, nearly 
 
 pecker, see Plate XVI. fig. 36.) A traveller 
 who walks into the forests of these countries, 
 among the first strange objects that excite 
 curiosity, is struck with the multitude of birds' 
 nests hanging at the extremity of almost 
 every branch. Many other kinds of birds 
 
 as high as the ceiling, a little below which he had be- 
 gun to break through. The bed was covered with large 
 pieces of plaster ; the lath was exposed for at least fifteen 
 inches square, and a hole large enough to admit the fist, 
 opened to the weather-boards ; so that in less than 
 another hour he would certainly have succeeded in mak- 
 ing his way through. I now tied a string round his 
 leg, and, fastening it to the table, again left him. I 
 wished to preserve his life, and had gone off in search 
 of suitable food for him. As I re-ascended the stairs I 
 heard him again hard at work, and on entering had the 
 mortification to perceive that he had almost entirely 
 ruined the mahogany table to which he was fastened, and 
 on which he had wreaked his whole vengeance. While 
 engaged in taking a drawing, he cut me severely in 
 several places, and, on the whole, displayed such a noble 
 and unconquerable spirit, that I was frequently tempted 
 to restore him to his native woods. He lived with me 
 nearly three days, but refused all sustenance, and I wit- 
 nessed his death with regret." 
 
 Gold-winged Woodpecker. " In rambling through 
 the woods one day," continues Wilson, "I happened to 
 shoot one of these birds, and wounded him slightly on 
 the wing. Finding him in full feather, and seemingly 
 but little hurt, I took him home, and put him into a 
 large cage, made of willows, intending to keep him in 
 my own room, that we might become better acquainted. 
 As soon as he found himself inclosed on all sides, he lost 
 no time in idle fluttering, but, throwing himself against 
 the bars of the cage, began instantly to demolish the wil- 
 lows, battering them with great vehemence, and uttering 
 a loud piteous kind of cackling, similar to that of a hen 
 Avhen she is alarmed, and takes to wing. Poor Baron 
 Trenck never laboured with more eager diligence at the 
 walls of his prison, than this son of the forest in his ex- 
 ertions for liberty ; and he exercised his powerful bill 
 with such force, digging into the sticks, seizing and 
 shaking them so from side to side, that he soon opened 
 for himself a passage ; and though I repeatedly repaired 
 the breach, and barricaded every opening, in the best 
 manner I could, yet on my return into the room, I 
 always found him at large, climbing up the chairs, or 
 running about the floor, where, from the dexterity of his 
 motions, moving backward, forward, and sidewise, with 
 the same facility, it became difficult to get hold of him 
 again. Having placed him in a strong wire cage, he 
 seemed to give up all hopes of making his escape, and 
 soon became very tame; fed on young ears of Indian 
 corn ; refused apples, but ate the berries of the sour gum 
 greedily, small winter grapes, and several other kinds of 
 berries; exercised himself frequently in climbing, or 
 rather hopping perpendicularly along the sides of the 
 cage; and, as evening drew on, fixed himself in a high 
 hanging, or perpendicular position, and slept with his 
 head in his wing. As soon as dawn appeared, even 
 before it was light enough to perceive him distinctly 
 across the room, he descended to the bottom of the cage, 
 and began his attack on the ears of Indian corn, rapping 
 so loud, as to be heard from every room in the house. 
 After this he would sometimes resume his former posi- 
 tion, and take another nap. He was beginning to be- 
 come very amusing, and even sociable, when, after a 
 lapse of several weeks, he became drooping, and died, 
 as I conceived, from the effects of his wound." 
 
 Red-headed Woodpecker. "There is perhaps no 
 bird in North America more universally known than 
 
THE WOODPECKER. 
 
 105 
 
 build in this manner, but the chief of them 
 are of the woodpecker kind ; and indeed there 
 is not, in the whole history of nature, a more 
 singular instance of the sagacity of those little 
 
 'this. His tri-toloured plumage, red, white, and black, 
 glossed with steel blue, is so striking, aud characteristic; 
 
 and his predatory habits in the orchards and cornfields, 
 added to his numbers, and fondness for hovering along 
 the fences, so very notorious, that almost every child is 
 acquainted with the red-headed woodpecker. In the 
 immediate neighbourhood of our large cities, where the 
 old timber is chiefly cut down, he is not so frequently 
 found ; and yet at this present time, June, 1808, 1 know 
 of several of their nests within the boundaries of the 
 city of Philadelphia. Two of these are in button-wood 
 trees (platanus occidentalism and another in the decayed 
 limb of a large elm. The old ones, I observe, make 
 their excursions regularly to the woods beyond the 
 Schuylkill, about a mile distant; preserving great silence 
 and circumspection in visiting their nests, precautions 
 not much attended to by them in the depth of the woods, 
 because there the prying eye of man is less to be dread- 
 ed. Towards the mountains, particularly in the vicinity 
 of creeks and rivers, these birds are extremely abundant, 
 especially in the latter end of summer. Wherever you 
 travel in the interior at that season, you hear them 
 screaming from the adjoining woods, rattling on the 
 dead limbs of trees, or on the fences, where they are 
 perpetually seen flitting from stake to stake, on the road- 
 side, before you. Wherever there is a tre.e, or trees, of 
 the wild cherry, covered with ripe fruit, there you see 
 them busy among the branches ; and, in passing orchards, 
 you may easily know where to find the earliest, sweet- 
 est apples, by observing those trees, on or near which 
 the red-headed woodpecker is skulking; for he is so 
 excellent a connoisseur in fruit, that wherever an apple 
 or pear tree is found broached by him, it is sure to be 
 among the ripest and best flavoured: when alarmed, he 
 seizes a capital one by striking his open bill deep into 
 it, arid bears it off to the woods. When the Indian corn 
 is in its rich, succulent, milky state, he attacks it with 
 great eagerness, opening a passage through the numerous 
 folds of the husk, and feeding on it with voracity. The 
 girdled, or deadened timber, so common among corn- 
 fields in the back settlements, are his favourite retreats, 
 whence he sallies out to make his depredations. He is 
 fond of the ripe berries of the sour gum, and pays pretty 
 regular visits to the cherry trees, when loaded with fruit. 
 Towards fall he often approaches the barn or farm house, 
 and raps on the shingles and weather boards: he is of a 
 gay and frolicsome disposition ; and half a dozen of the 
 fraternity are frequently seen diving and vociferating 
 around the high dead limbs of some large tree, pursuing 
 and playing with oach other, and amusing the passenger 
 with their gambols. Their note or cry is shrill and 
 lively, and so much resembles that of a species of tree- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 animals in protecting themselves against such 
 enemies as they have most occasion to fear. 
 In cultivated countries, a great part of the 
 caution of the feathered tribe is to hide or de- 
 
 frog, which frequents the same tree, that it is some- 
 times difficult to distinguish the one from the other. 
 
 " Such are the vicious traits, if I may so speak, in the 
 character of the red-headed woodpecker; and I doubt 
 not but, from what has been said on this subject, that 
 some readers would consider it meritorious to exter- 
 minate the whole of this tribe as a nuisance: and, in 
 fact, the legislature of some of our provinces, in former 
 times, offered premiums to the amount of twopence per 
 head for their destruction. But let us not condemn the 
 species unheard: they exist; they must therefore be 
 necessary. If their merits and usefulness be found, on 
 examination, to preponderate against their vices, let us 
 avail ourselves of the former, while we guard as well as 
 we can against the latter. 
 
 "Though this bird occasionally regales himself on 
 fruit, yet his natural and most usual food is insects, par- 
 ticularly those numerous and destructive species that 
 penetrate the bark and body of the tree to deposite their 
 eggs and larvae, the latter of which are well known to 
 make immense havoc. That insects are his natural 
 food is evident from the construction of his wedge-formed 
 bill, the length, elasticity, and figure of his tongue, and 
 the strength and position of his claws ; as well as from 
 his usual habits. In fact, insects form at least two- 
 thirds of his subsistence ; and his stomach is scarcely 
 ever found without them. He searches for them with 
 a dexterity and intelligence, I may safely say, more than 
 human ; he perceives, by the exterior appearance of 
 the bark, where the) lurk below ; when he is dubious, 
 he rattles vehemently on the outside with his bill, and 
 his acute ear distinguishes the terrified vermin shrink- 
 ing within to their inmost retreats, where his pointed 
 and barbed tongue soon reaches them. The masses of 
 bugs, caterpillars, and other larvse, which I have taken 
 from the stomachs of these birds, have often surprised 
 me. These larvae, it should be remembered, feed not 
 only on the buds, leaves, and blossoms, but on the very 
 vegetable life of the tree, the alburnum, or newly form- 
 ing bark and wood; the consequence is, that whole 
 branches and whole trees decay under the silent ravages 
 of these destructive vermin ; witness the late destruc- 
 tion of many hundred acres of pine trees, in the north- 
 eastern parts of South Carolina; and the thousands of 
 peach trees that yearly decay from the same cause. 
 Will any one say, that, taking half a dozen, or half a 
 hundred, apples from a tree is equally ruinous with cut 
 ting it down? or, that the services of a useful animaJ 
 should not be rewarded with a small portion of that 
 which it has contributed to preserve ? We are told, in 
 the benevolent language of the scriptures, not to muzzle 
 the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn ; and 
 why should not the same generous liberality be extended 
 to this useful family of birds, which forms so powerful 
 a phalanx against the inroads of many millions of des- 
 tructive vermin ? 
 
 " Notwithstanding the care which this bird, in com- 
 mon with the rest of its genus, takes to place its young 
 beyond the reach of enemies, within the hollows of trees, 
 yet there is one deadly foe, against whose depredations 
 neither the height of the tree, nor the depth of the cavity, 
 is the least security. This is the black snake (coluber 
 constrictor}, who frequently glides up the trunk of the 
 tree, and, like asculking savage, enters the woodpecker's 
 peaceful apartment, devours the eggs or helpless young, 
 in spite of the cries and flutterings of the parents; and 
 if the place be large enough, coils himself up in the spot 
 they occupied, where he will sometimes remain for 
 several days. The eager school-boy, after hazarding his 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 fend their nests from the invasions of man ; 
 as he is their most dreaded enemy. But in 
 the depth of those remote and solitary forests, 
 where man is but seldom seen, the little bird 
 
 neck to reach the woodpecker's hole, at the triumphant 
 moment when he thinks the nestlings his own, and 
 strips his arm, launching it down into the cavity, and 
 grasping what he conceives to be the callow young, starts 
 with horror at the sight of a hideous snake, and almost 
 drops from his giddy pinnacle, retreating down the tree 
 with terror and precipitation. Several adventures of 
 this kind have come to my knowledge ; and one of them 
 that was attended with serious consequences, where both 
 snake and boy fell to the ground ; and a broken thigh, 
 and long confinement, cured the adventurer completely 
 of his ambition for robbing woodpeckers' nests." 
 
 Downy Woodpecker. " This is the smallest of our 
 woodpeckers, and so exactly resembles the former (the 
 
 ha!ry woodpecker) in its tints and markings, and in 
 almost every thing except its diminutive size, that I 
 wonder how it passed through the Count de Buffon's 
 hands without being branded as a " spurious race, de- 
 generated by the influence of food, climate, or some un- 
 known cause." But, though it has escaped this infamy, 
 charges of a much mere heinous nature have been 
 brought against it, not only by the writer above men- 
 tioned, but by the whole venerable body of zoologists in 
 Europe, who have treated of its history, viz. that it is 
 almost constantly boring and digging into apple-trees ; 
 and that it is the most destructive of its whole genus to 
 the orchards. The first part of this charge I shall not pre- 
 tend to deny; how far the other is founded in truth will 
 appear in the sequel. Like the two former species, it re- 
 mains with us the whole year. About the middle of May, 
 the male and female look out for a suitable place for the re- 
 ception of their eggs and young. An apple, pear, or cherry 
 tree, often in the near neighbourhood of the farm-house, 
 is generally pitched upon for this purpose. The tree is 
 minutely reconnoitred for several days previous to the 
 operation, and the work is first begun by the male, who 
 cuts out a hole in the solid wood, as circular as if described 
 with a pair of compasses. He is occasionally relieved by 
 the female, both parties working with the most indefatig- 
 able diligence. The direction of the hole, if made in 
 the body of the tree, is generally downwards, by an 
 angle of thirty or forty degrees, for the distance of six or 
 eight inches, and then straight down for ten or twelve 
 more; within roomy, capacious, and as smooth as if po- 
 lished by the cabinet-maker ; but the entrance is judi- 
 ciously left just so large as to admit the bodies of the 
 owners. During this labour, they regularly carry out 
 the chips, often strewing them at a distance to prevent 
 suspicion. This operation sometimes occupies the chief 
 part of a week. Before she begins to lay, the female 
 often visits the place, passes out and in, examines every 
 
 has nothing to apprehend from man. The 
 parent is careless how much the nest is expos- 
 ed to general notice ; satisfied if it be out of 
 the reach of those rapacious creatures that live 
 
 part both of the exterior and interior, with great atten- 
 tion, as every prudent tenant of a new house ought to do, 
 and at length takes complete possession. The eggs are 
 generally six, pure white, and laid on the smooth bottom 
 of the cavity. The male occasionally supplies the female 
 with food while she is sitting ; and about the last week 
 in June the young are perceived making their way up 
 the tree, climbing with considerable dexterity. All this 
 goes on with great regularity where no interruption is 
 met with ; but the house wren, who also builds in the 
 hollow of a tree, but who is neither furnished with the 
 necessary tools nor strength for excavating such an apart- 
 ment for himself, allows the woodpeckers to go on, till 
 he thinks it will answer his purpose, then attacks them 
 with violence, and generally succeeds in driving them 
 off. I saw some weeks ago a striking example of this, 
 where the woodpeckers we are now describing, after 
 commencing in a cherry-tree within a few yards of the 
 house, and having made considerable progress, were 
 turned out by the wren ; the former began again on a 
 pear tree in the garden, fifteen or twenty yards off, 
 whence, after digging out a most complete apartment, 
 and one egg being laid, they were once more assaulted 
 by the same impertinent intruder, and finally forced to 
 abandon the place. 
 
 "The principal characteristics of this little bird are 
 diligence, familiarity, perseverance, and a strength and 
 energy in the head and muscles of the neck, which are 
 truly astonishing. Mounted on the infected branch of 
 an old apple-tree, where insects have lodged their cor- 
 roding and destructive brood in crevices between the 
 bark and wood, he labours sometimes for half an hour 
 incessantly at the same spot, before he has succeeded in 
 dislodging and destroying them. At these times you 
 may walk up pretty close to the tree and even stand im- 
 mediately below it, within five or six feet of the bird, 
 without in the least embarrassing him ; the strokes of 
 his bill are distinctly heard several hundred yards off; 
 and I have known him to be at work for two hours to- 
 gether on the same tree. Buflbn calls this " incessant 
 toil and slavery," their attitude "a painful posture," 
 and their life "a dull and insipid existence;" expres- 
 sions improper, because untrue ; and absurd, because 
 contradictory. The posture is that for which the whole 
 organization of his frame is particularly adapted; and 
 though, to a wren or a humming-bird, the labour would 
 be both toil and slavery, yet to him it is, I am convinced, 
 as pleasant and as amusing, as the sports of the chase 
 to the hunter, or the sucking of flowers to the humming- 
 bird. The eagerness with which he traverses the upper 
 and lower sides of the branches ; the cheerfulness of his 
 cry, and the liveliness of his motions while digging into 
 the tree and dislodging the vermin, justify this belief. 
 He has a single note, or chinch, which, like the former 
 species, he frequently repeats. And when he flies off, 
 or alights on another tree, he utters a rather shriller cry, 
 composed of nearly the same kind of note, quickly reiter- 
 ated. In fall and winter, he associates with the titmouse, 
 creeper, &c. both in their wood and orchard excursions ; 
 and usually leads the van. Of all our woodpeckers, 
 none rid the apple-trees of so many vermin as this, dig- 
 ging off the moss which the negligence of the proprietor 
 had suffered to accumulate, and probing every crevice. 
 In fact, the orchard is his favourite resort in all seasons ; 
 and his industry is unequalled, and almost incessant, 
 which is more than can be said of any other species we 
 have. In fall, he is particularly fond of boring the apple- 
 trees for insects, digging a circular hole through the hark 
 just sufficient to admit his bill, after that a second, third, 
 
THE WOODPECKER. 
 
 107 
 
 by robbery and surprise. If the monkey or 
 the snake can be guarded against, the bird has 
 no other enemies to fear ; for this purpose its 
 nest is built upon the depending points of the 
 most outward branches of a tall tree, such as 
 the banana, or the plantain. On one of those 
 immense trees, is seen the most various and 
 the most inimical assemblage of creatures thai 
 can be imagined. The top is inhabited by 
 
 &c., in pretty regular horizontal circles round the body 
 of the tree ; these parallel circles of holes are often 
 not more than an inch or an inch and a half apart, and 
 sometimes so close together, that I have covered eight 
 or ten of them at once with a dollar. From nearly the 
 surface of the ground up to the first fork, and sometimes 
 far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple-trees is per- 
 forated in this manner, so as to appear as if made by 
 successive discharges of buck-shot; and our little wood- 
 pecker, the subject of the present account, is the principal 
 perpetrator of this supposed mischief. I say supposed, 
 for so far from these perforations of the bark being 
 ruinous, they are not only harmless, but, I have good 
 reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fer- 
 tility of the tree. I leave it to the philosophical botanist 
 to account for this ; but the fact I am confident of. In 
 more than fifty orchards which I 'have myself carefully 
 examined, those trees which were marked by the wood- 
 pecker (for some trees they never touch, perhaps because 
 not penetrated by insects,) were uniformly the most 
 thriving, and seemingly the most productive ; many of 
 these were upwards of sixty years old, their trunks com- 
 pletely covered with holes, while the branches were 
 broad, luxuriant, and loaded with fruit. Of decayed 
 trees, more than three-fourths were untouched by the 
 woodpecker. Several intelligent farmers, with whom I 
 have conversed, candidly acknowledge the truth of these 
 observations, and with justice look upon these birds as 
 beneficial ; but the most common opinion is, that they 
 bore the trees to suck the sap, and so destroy its vegeta- 
 tion ; though pine and other resinous trees, on the juices 
 of which it is not pretended they feed, are often found 
 equally perforated. Were the sap of the tree their object, 
 the saccharine juice of the birch, the sugar maple, and 
 several others, would be much more inviting, because 
 more sweet and nourishing than that of either the pear 
 or apple-tree ; but I have not observed one mark on the 
 former for ten thousand that may be seen on the latter ; 
 besides, the early part of spring is the season when the 
 sap flows most abundantly ; whereas it is only during 
 the months of September, October, and November, that 
 woodpeckers are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, 
 probing every crack and crevice, boring through the 
 bark, and what is worth remarking, chiefly on the south 
 and southwest sides of the tree, for the eggs and larvae 
 deposited there by the countless swarms of summer 
 insects. These, if suffered to remain, would prey upon 
 the very vitals, if I may so express it, of the tree, and in 
 the succeeding summer give birth to myriads more of 
 their race, equally destructive. 
 
 " Here, then, is a whole species, I may say, genus, 
 of birds, which Providence seems to have formed for the 
 protection of our fruit and forest trees from the ravages 
 of vermin, which every day destroy millions of those 
 noxious insects that would otherwise blast the hopes of 
 the husbandman ; and which even promote the fertility 
 of the tree; and, in return, are proscribed by those who 
 ought to have been their protectors; and incitements 
 and rewards held out for their destruction ! Let us 
 examine better into the operations of nature, and many 
 of our mistaken opinions and groundless prejudices will 
 be abandoned for more just, enlarged, and humane 
 modes of thinking." Wilson's American Ornithology. 
 
 monkeys of some particular tribe, that drive 
 off all others; lower down twine about the 
 great trunk numbers of the larger snakes, 
 patiently waiting till some unwary animal 
 comes within the sphere of their activity, and 
 at the edges of the tree hang these artificial 
 nests, in great abundance, inhabited by birds 
 of the most delightful plumage. 
 
 The nest is usually formed in this manner: 
 when the time of incubation approaches, they 
 fly busily about, in quest of a kind of moss, 
 called by the English inhabitants of those 
 countries, old man's beard. It is a fibrous 
 substance, and not very unlike hair, which 
 bears being moulded into any form, and suf- 
 fers being glued together. This therefore 
 the little woodpecker, called by the natives 
 of Brazil, the guiratemga, first glues, by some 
 viscous substance gathered in the forest, to 
 the extremest branch of a tree ; then building 
 downward, and still adding fresh materials to 
 those already procured, a nest is formed, that 
 depends, like a pouch, from the point of the 
 branch : the hole to enter at, is on the side ; 
 and all the interior parts are lined with the 
 finer fibres of the same substance, which com- 
 pose the whole. 
 
 Such is the general contrivance of these 
 hanging nests ; which are made, by some 
 other birds, with still superior art. A little 
 bird of the Grosbeak kind, in the Philippine 
 islands, makes its nest in such a manner that 
 there is no opening but from the bottom. At 
 the bottom the bird enters, and goes up 
 through a funnel like a chimney, till it comes 
 to the real door of the nest, which lies on one 
 side, and only opens into this funnel. 
 
 Some birds glue their nest to the leaf of 
 the banana tree, which makes two sides of 
 their little habitation ; while the other two 
 are artificially composed by their own indus- 
 try. But these, and all of the kind, are 
 built with the same precautions to guard the 
 young against the depredations of monkeys 
 and serpents, which abound in every tree. 
 The nest hangs there before the spoilers, a 
 tempting object, which they can only gaze 
 upon, while the bird flies in and out, without 
 danger or molestation from so formidable a 
 vicinity. 1 
 
 1 The characters of the Nut-hatch tribe are, a bill for 
 he most part straight, having on the lower mandible a 
 
 small angle: small nostrils, covered with bristles: a 
 ihort tongue, horny at the end, and jagged : toes placed 
 ,hree forwards, and one backwards; the middle toe 
 oined closely at the base to both the outer, and the back 
 oe as large as the middle one. In the habits and man- 
 lers of the different species of the nut-hatch, we observe 
 
 a very close alliance to the woodpeckers. Most of them 
 
 leed upon insects ; and some on nuts, whence their 
 English appellation has been acquired. For Slender 
 
 Nut-hatch, see Plate XV. fig. 17. 
 
 The European Nut-hatch. The length of this bird 
 s five inches and three quarters. The bill is strong 
 
108 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE BIRD OF PARADISE AND ITS 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 THERE are few birds that have more de 
 ceived and puzzled the learned than this 
 Some have described it as an inhabitant of the 
 air, living only upon the dew of heaven, anc 
 
 and straight, about three quarters of an inch long ; the 
 upper mandible is black, and the lower white. All the 
 
 upper parts of the body are of a bluish gray : the cheeks 
 and chin are white: the breast and belly pale orange 
 colour; and the quills dusky: the tail is short, and con- 
 sists of twelve feathers ; the two middle ones of which 
 are gray, the two outer spotted with white, and the rest 
 dusky. The legs are pale yellow ; the claws are large, 
 and the back one very strong. The nut-hatch, the 
 squirrel, and the field-mouse, which all live much 
 on hazel nuts, have each a curious way of getting at the 
 kernel. Of the two latter, the squirrel, after rasping 
 off the small end, splits the shell in two with his long 
 fore-teeth, as a man does with his knife; the field- 
 mouse nibbles a hole with his teeth, as regular as if 
 drilled with a wimble, and yet so small that one would 
 wonder how the kernel could be extracted through it ; 
 while the nut-hatch picks an irregular ragged hole with 
 his bill. But as this last artist has no paws to hold the 
 nut firm while he pierces it, he, like an adroit work- 
 man, fixes it as it were in a vice, in some cleft of a 
 tree, or in some crevice, when standing over it he per- 
 forates the stubborn shell. On placing nuts in the 
 chink of a gate-post, where nut-hatches have been 
 known to haunt, it has always been found that these 
 birds have readily penetrated them. While at work 
 they make a rapping noise, which may be heard a con- 
 siderable distance. Dr Plott informs us, that this bird, 
 by putting his bill into a crack in the bough of a tree, 
 sometimes makes a violent sound, as if the branch was 
 rending asunder. Besides nuts it feeds also on cater- 
 pillars, beetles, and various other insects. The female 
 deposits her eggs, six or seven in number, in some hole 
 of a tree, frequently in one that has been deserted by 
 the woodpecker, on rotten wood mixed with moss. If 
 the entrance be too large, she nicely stops up part of it 
 with clay, leaving only a small hole for herself to pass 
 in and out. When the hen is sitting, if a stick be put 
 in the hole, she hisses like a snake ; and she is so much 
 attached to her eggs, that she will sooner sutler any one 
 to pluck off her feathers than fly away. During the 
 time of incubation, she is assiduously attended by the 
 male, who supplies her with food. If the barrier of 
 plaster at the entrance of the hole be destroyed, while 
 these birds have eggs, it is speedily replaced ; a peculiar 
 instinct, to prevent their nest from being destroyed by 
 woodpeckers, and other birds of superior size and strength, 
 which build in similar situations. The nut-hatch is not 
 supposed to sleep perched, like most other birds, on a 
 
 never resting below ; others have acquiesced in 
 the latter part of its history, but have given 
 it flying insects to feed on. Some have as- 
 serted that it was without feet, and others have 
 ranked it among the birds of prey. 
 
 The great beauty of this bird's plumage, 
 and the deformity of its legs, seem to have 
 given rise to most of these erroneous reports. 
 The native savages of the Molucca Islands, of 
 which it is an inhabitant, were very little 
 
 twig ; for it has been observed, that when kept in a cage, 
 notwithstanding it would perch now and then, yet at 
 night it generally crept into some hole or corner to 
 sleep. And it is remarkable, when perched, or other- 
 wise at rest, it had mostly the head downwards, or at 
 least even with the body, and not elevated like other 
 birds. 
 
 Allied to the Nut-hatch are the Creepers and Hoopoes. 
 (For Black and White Creeper, see Plate XV. fig. 18; 
 Azure Creeper, Plate XVI. fig. 16; Wall Creeper, 
 ib. fig. 43. For Hoopoe, see Plate XV. fig. 31.) 
 Creepers scale trees in the same manner as woodpeck- 
 ers, and, like them, are supported behind by their stiff 
 deflected tail. They feed entirely on insects. The 
 loopoe is widely spread over Europe in the summer 
 months, and is abundant in the South. Sweden is men- 
 tioned by some as its northern limit, where the country 
 people are said to consider its appearance as ominous; 
 and in Great Britain it was formerly looked upon by the 
 same class as the harbinger of some calamity. Montagu 
 elates that it is plentiful in the Russian and Tartarian 
 deserts ; and Sonnini saw it on the banks of the Nile : 
 Africa indeed and Asia are supposed to be its winter 
 quarters. In a state of nature moist localities are the 
 chosen haunts of the hoopoe. There it may be seen on 
 he ground, busily searching with its long bill for its 
 avourite insects, (chiefly coleopterous) which it often 
 inds in cow-dung, and in the droppings of other animals; 
 nd sometimes it may be observed hanging from the 
 ranches of trees, examining the under side of the leaves 
 or those which there lie hid. The hole of a decayed 
 ree is the locality generally preferred for the nest, which 
 s made of dried grass lined with feathers, wool or other 
 oft materials, and is generally very fetid from the re- 
 mains of the insects, &c., with which the parent-birds 
 ave supplied their young. This offensive odour most 
 robably gave rise to the story adopted by Aristotle, that 
 he nest of the hoopos was formed of the most disgusting 
 materials. When a hollow tree is not to be found, the 
 laces selected are sometimes the fissures of rocks, and 
 he crevices of old buildings. The eggs are generally 
 our or five in number, of a grayish- white spotted with 
 eep gray or hair-brown. 
 
 Few birds are more entertaining in captivity : its 
 eautiful plumage, droll gesticulations and familiar ha- 
 its, soon make it a favourite. When it perceives that 
 t is observed it begins to tap with its bill against .he 
 round, (which, as Bechstein observes, gives it the ap- 
 earance of walking with a stick,) at the same time often 
 haking its wings and tail, and elevating its crest. This 
 alter feat, which is performed very frequently and es- 
 ecially when the bird is surprised or angry, is effected 
 y a muscle situated on the upper part of the head for 
 .ie purpose. Its note of anger or fear is harsh and 
 rating, something like the noise made by a small saw 
 hen employed in sawing, or the note of a jay, but not 
 o loud. It gives utterance to a soft note of complacency 
 ccasionally, and is not without other intonations. The 
 grating note is not always indicative of anger or fear, for 
 ie bird generally exerts it when it flies up, and settles 
 n its perch. 
 
THE BIRD OF PARADISE. 
 
 109 
 
 studious of natural history; and, perceiving 
 the inclination the Europeans had for this 
 beautiful bird, carefully cut off its legs before 
 they brought it to market; thus concealing its 
 greatest deformity, they considered themselves 
 entitled to rise in their demands when they 
 offered it for sale. One deceit led on to 
 another ; the buyer finding the bird without 
 legs, naturally inquired after them ; and the 
 seller as naturally began to assert that it had 
 none. Thus far the European was imposed 
 upon by others ; in all the rest he imposed 
 upon himself. Seeing so beautiful a bird 
 without legs, he concluded that it could live 
 only in air, where legs were unnecessary. 
 The extraordinary splendour of its plumage 
 assisted this deception ; and, as it had heavenly 
 beauty, so it was asserted to have a heavenly 
 residence. From thence its name, and all the 
 false reports that have been propagated con- 
 cerning it. 1 
 
 Error, however, is short lived ; and time has 
 discovered that this bird not only has legs, but 
 very large strong ones for its size. Credulity, 
 when undeceived, runs into the opposite ex- 
 treme ; and soon after this harmless bird was 
 branded with the character of being rapacious, 
 of destroying all those of smaller size, and 
 from the amazing rapidity of its flight, as 
 qualified peculiarly for extensive rapine. The 
 real history of this pretty animal is at present 
 tolerably well known ; and it is found to be 
 as harmless as it is beautiful. 
 
 There are two kinds of the bird of Para- 
 dise, 2 one about the size of a pigeon, which is 
 more common ; the other not much larger than 
 a lark, which has been described more imper- 
 fectly. They are both sufficiently distin- 
 guished from all other birds, not only by the 
 superior vivacity of their tints, but by the fea- 
 thers of the tail, there being two long slender 
 filaments growing from the upper part of the 
 rump ; these are longer than the bird's body, 
 and bearded only at the end. By this mark 
 the bird of Paradise may be easily known, 
 but still more easily by its gaudy livery, which, 
 being so very brilliant, demands to be min- 
 utely described. 
 
 This bird appears to the eye as large as a 
 pigeon, though in reality the body is not much 
 greater than that of a thrush. The tail, which 
 is about six inches, is as long as the body ; 
 the wings are large, compared with the bird's 
 
 1 The natives of the New Guinea islands, in prepar- 
 ing the skins of the birds of paradise, removed the true 
 wings, which are not so brilliant as the other feathers, 
 and cut off' the legs. Hence, the absence of feet in all 
 the specimens brought to Europe, gave rise to the fable 
 that these birds had no power of alighting, and were al- 
 ways on the wing. 
 
 2 Nearly a dozen species have been discovered. See 
 a succeeding note. 
 
 other dimensions. The head, the throat, and 
 the neck, are of a pale gold colour. The base 
 of the bill is surrounded by black feathers, as 
 also the side of the head and throat, as soft as 
 velvet, and changeable like those on the neck 
 of a mallard. The hinder part of the head 
 is of a shining green, mixed with gold. The 
 body and wings are chiefly covered with 
 beautiful brown, purple, and gold feathers. 
 The uppermost part of the tail-feathers are of 
 a pale yellow, and those under them white, 
 and longer than the former ; for which reason 
 the hinder part of the tail appears to be all 
 white. But what chiefly excites curiosity are, 
 the two long naked feathers above mentioned, 
 which spring from the upper part of the rump 
 above the tail, and which are usually about 
 three feet long. These are bearded only at 
 the beginning and the end; the whole shaft, 
 for about two feet nine inches, being of a deep 
 black, while the feathered extremity is of a 
 changeable colour, like the mallard's neck. 
 
 This bird, which for beauty exceeds all 
 others of the pie kind, is a native of the Mo- 
 lucca islands, but found in greatest numbers 
 in that of Aro. There, in the delightful and 
 spicy woods of the country, do these beautiful 
 creatures fly in large flocks ; so that the groves 
 which produce the richest spices produce the 
 finest birds also. The inhabitants themselves 
 are not insensible of the pleasure these afford, 
 and give them the name of God's birds, as 
 being superior to all others that he has made. 
 They live in large flocks, and at night gene- 
 rally perch upon the same tree. They are 
 called by some, the swallows of Ternate, from 
 their rapid flight, and from their being con- 
 tinually on the wing in pursuit of insects, 
 their usual prey. 
 
 As the country where they are bred has its 
 tempestuous season, when rains and thunders 
 continually disturb the atmosphere, these birds 
 are then but seldom seen. It is thought that 
 they then fly to other countries, where their 
 food appears in greater abundance; for, like 
 swallows, they have their stated times of re- 
 turn. In the beginning of the month of 
 August, they are seen in great numbers fly- 
 ing together; and as the inhabitants would 
 have us believe, following their king, who is 
 distinguished from the rest by the lustre ol 
 his plumage, and that respect and veneration 
 which is paid him. 3 In the evening they 
 
 * They always migrate in flocks of thirty or forty, and 
 have a leader, which the inhabitants of Aro call the king. 
 He is said to be black, to have red spots, and to fly far 
 above the flock, which never desert him, but always 
 settle in the same place that he does. They never fly 
 with the wind, as in that case their loose plumage would 
 be ruffled, and blown over their heads; and a change of 
 wind often compels them to alight on the ground, from 
 which they cannot rise without great difficulty. When 
 
110 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 perch upon the highest trees of the forest, par- 
 ticularly one which bears a red berry, upon 
 which they sometimes feed, when other food 
 fails them. In what manner they breed, or 
 what may be the number of their young, as 
 yet remains for discovery. 
 
 The natives, who make a trade of killing 
 and selling these birds to the European, ge- 
 nerally conceal themselves in the trees where 
 they resort, and having covered themselves up 
 from sight in a bower made of the branches, 
 they shoot at birds with reedy arrows ; and, 
 as they assert, if they happen to kill the king, 
 they then have a good chance for killing the 
 greatest part of the flock. The chief marks 
 by which they know the king is by the ends 
 to the feathers in his tail, which have eyes 
 
 they are surprised by a heavy gale, they instantly soar to 
 a higher region, beyond the reach of the tempest. There, 
 in a serene sky, they float at ease on their light flowing 
 feathers, or pursue their journey in security. During 
 their flight they cry like starlings ; but when a storm 
 blows in their rear, they express their distressed situa- 
 tion by a note somewhat resembling the croaking of a 
 raven. In calm weather, great numbers of these birds 
 may be seen flying, both in companies and singly, in pur- 
 suit of the large butterflies and other insects on which 
 they feed. The general colour of these birds is chest- 
 nut, with a neck of a golden green, beneath. The fea- 
 thers of the back and sides are considerably longer than 
 those of the body. They have two long tail feathers, 
 which are straight, and taper at the tip. 
 
 There have been ten species of this bird lately dis- 
 covered. (For the red-tailed bird of Paradise, see Plate 
 
 XV. fig. 16; for the gorget bird of Paradise, see Plate 
 
 XVI. fig. 4.) 
 
 The Grakle bird of Paradise. It has a triangular 
 naked space behind the eyes; the head and neck are 
 brown; the bill and legs are yellow; the body brownish ; 
 the first quill feathers white, from the base to the middle; 
 the tail feathers, except the middle one, are tipt with 
 white. It inhabits the Philippine islands ; is nine and 
 a half inches long; feeds on fruit, insects, mice, and 
 every kind of grain. It builds twice a year, in the 
 forked branches of trees, and lays four eggs. When 
 young it is easily tamed, and becomes docile and imita- 
 tive. This bird has a great affinity in all its habits to 
 the grakle genus ; yet, on account of the downy feathers 
 at the base of the bill, it is placed here. 
 
 The magnificent Bird of Paradise. This elegant spe- 
 cies, so remarkable for the splendour and variety of its 
 colours, is principally found in the Molucca islands, and 
 is somewhat smaller than the common bird of paradise. 
 The bill is surrounded at the base with velvet- like fea- 
 thers; the chin is green, with golden lunules; crown 
 wi'h a tuft of yellow feathers; the first quill feathers 
 are brown, and the secondary of a deep yellow; the mid- 
 dle tail feathers are very long, with a very short fringe ; 
 its legs and bill are yellow, the latter black at the tip. 
 This beautiful bird inhabits New Holland, and is nine 
 inches long. 
 
 The Lyre bird, or Superb Menura.New Holland, 
 which affords so rich a harvest to the student of nature, 
 and which produces the most singular and anomalous 
 beings with which we are at present acquainted, is the 
 native country of this rare and beautiful bird, the habits 
 and manners of which are yet but little known. (See 
 Plate XVII. fig. 3.) Considered by many naturalists as 
 allied to the paradisese, or birds of Paradise, it exhibits 
 in its general form, and especially in the figure of its 
 
 like those of a peacock. When they have 
 taken a number of these birds, their usual 
 method is to gut them, and cut off their legs ; 
 they then run a hot iron into the body, which 
 dries up the internal moisture; and filling the 
 cavity with salts and spices, they sell them to 
 the Europeans for a perfect trifle. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE CUCKOO, AND ITS VARIETIES. 1 
 
 FROM a bird of which many fables have 
 been reported, we pass to another that has not 
 
 large elongated nails, which are evidently adapted for 
 scratching up the soil, a certain degree of approximation 
 to the gallinaceous tribe, to which others are inclined to 
 refer it ; but there is, however, a group of ground thrushes 
 as they are expressively called, to which, in the charac- 
 ters of the plumage and in habits, it would appear, we 
 think, to be still nearer related. 
 
 In size, the menura is about equal to a pheasant. Its 
 general plumage is of a dull brown, inclining to rufous 
 on the quill-feathers ; the tail, which is much longer 
 than the body, consists of feathers so arranged, and of 
 such different sorts, as to form, when elevated, a figure 
 bearing no unapt resemblance to an ancient lyre ; the 
 position of these feathers will be better conveyed by 
 the figure in the plate than by description: the bill is com- 
 pressed, the nostrils forming a longitudinal slit, covered 
 with bristle-like feathers ; the legs are strong, the toes 
 completely divided, and armed with powerful blunted 
 nails, those of the hind claws being especially developed. 
 
 1 Perhaps few birds have excited more curiosity amongst 
 naturalists than the Cuckoo, and some rather contradic- 
 tory accounts have from time to time been published re- 
 specting it. Dr Jenner was the first who threw any 
 light on the natural history of this extraordinary bird : 
 and his account is most interesting and satisfactory. 
 The fact of the young cuckoo turning out its weaker 
 companions, the natural inmates of the nest, is now un-< 
 disputed. This operation is, I believe, generally per- 
 formed on the second day after the birds are hatched, 
 at least, I have found it to be so in the cases which have 
 come under my own observation. The young intruder 
 seems to confine his dislike to his nestling companions 
 to the act of discharging them from the nest. In one 
 instance, which I had an opportunity of observing, the 
 young birds, which had only been hatched two days, 
 were so little hurt by a fall of four feet from the nest to 
 the ground, that two of them contrived to crawl a dis- 
 tance of eight or nine feet from the place on which they 
 had fallen. Sometimes the young cuckoo is hatched be- 
 fore the other birds: in which case he proceeds to dis- 
 card the eggs, which he is enabled to do by means of a 
 depression in the middle of his back. It seems, how- 
 
THE CUCKOO. 
 
 Ill 
 
 given less scope to fabulous invention. The 
 note of the cuckoo is known to all the world; 
 the history and nature of the bird itself still 
 remains in great obscurity. That it devours 
 its parent, that it changes its nature with the 
 season, and becomes a sparrow-hawk, were 
 fables invented of this bird, and are now suf- 
 ficiently refuted. But where it resides in 
 winter, or how it provides for its supply dur- 
 
 ever, to have escaped the notice of those to whom we 
 are most indebted for the agreeable information we al- 
 ready possess of the habits of the cuckoo, that the parent 
 bird, in depositing her egg, will sometimes undertake 
 the task of removing the eggs of those birds in whose 
 nest she is pleased to place her own.* I say sometimes, 
 because I am aware that it is not always the case ; and 
 indeed I have only one fact to bring forward in support 
 of the assertion ; it is, however, connected with another 
 relating to the cuckoo, not a little curious. The circum- 
 stance occurred at Arbury, in Warwickshire, the seat 
 of Francis Newdigate, Esq., and was witnessed by se- 
 veral persons residing in his house. The particulars 
 were written down at the time by a lady, who bestowed 
 much time in watching the young cuckoo, and I now 
 give them in her own words : "In the early part of 
 the summer of 1828, a cuckoo, having previously turned 
 out the eggs from a water- wagtail's nest, which was 
 built in a small hole in a garden-wall at Arbury, depo- 
 sited her own egg in their place. When the egg was 
 hatched, the young intruder was fed by the water-wag- 
 tails, till he became too bulky for his confined and nar- 
 row quarters, and in a fidgetty fit he fell to the ground. 
 In this predicament he was found by the gardener, who 
 picked him up, and put him into a wire-cage, which 
 was placed on the top of a wall, not far from the place 
 of its birth. Here it was expected that the wagtails 
 would have followed their supposititious offspring with 
 food, to support it in its imprisonment a mode of pro- 
 ceeding which would have had nothing very uncommon 
 to recommend it to notice. But the odd part of the 
 story is, that the bird which hatched the cuckoo never 
 came near it ; but her place was supplied by a hedge- 
 sparrow, who performed her part diligently and punc- 
 tually, by bringing food at very short intervals from 
 morning till evening, till its uncouth foster-child grew 
 large, and became full feathered, when it was suffered 
 to escape, and was seen no more: gone, perhaps, to the 
 country to which he migrates, to tell his kindred cuckoos 
 (if he was as ungrateful as he was ugly when I saw him 
 in the nest) what fools hedge-sparrows and water-wag- 
 tails are in England. It may possibly be suggested, 
 that a mistake has been made with regard to the sort of 
 bird which hatched the cuckoo, and that the same bird 
 which fed it, namely, the hedge-sparrow, f hatched the 
 egg. If this had been the case, there would have been 
 nothing extraordinary in the circumstance ; but the wag- 
 tail was too often seen on her nest, both before the egg 
 was hatched, and afterwards feeding the young bird, to 
 leave room for any scepticism on that point ; and the 
 sparrow was seen feeding it in the cage afterwards by 
 many members of the family daily." 
 
 This account (the accuracy of which no one can doubt, 
 
 * May she not do this in consequence of not being- able to 
 find a nest ht for her purpose, and therefore, from some extra- 
 ordinary and powerful instinct, she removes eggs which would 
 be hatched before her own, and the young birds from which 
 might become too strong- and heavy to be ejected from the nest 
 by the young cuckoo ? It requires all the exertions and ac- 
 tivity of a pair of water-wagtails or hedge-sparrows to provide 
 for a young cuckoo. If there were other birds in the nest, some 
 rents S } t! ^ rve ' ' lhe female cuckoo, by ejecting- the egg-s, pre- 
 
 t H could not have been the hedge-sparrow, as those birds 
 are never known to build in a hole iu a wall. 
 
 ing that season, still continues undiscovered. 
 This singular bird, which is somewhat less 
 than a pigeon, shaped like a magpie, and of 
 a grayish colour, is distinguished from all 
 other birds by its round prominent nostrils. 
 Having disappeared all the winter, it discovers 
 itself in our country early in the spring, by 
 its well-known call. Its note is heard earlier 
 or later, as the season seems to be more or less 
 
 who is acquainted with the party from whom it comes) 
 seems to prove the assertion which some persons have 
 made, of cuckoos having introduced their eggs into the 
 nest of the wren, or into nests built in holes in the wall ; 
 or, as Dr Jenner asserts, in a wagtail's nest in a hole 
 under the eaves of a cottage. Some doubt has been 
 thrown on the accuracy of this statement of Dr Jenner's, 
 in a new and very agreeable edition of Colonel Monta- 
 gue's Ornithological Dictionary : at least, a hint is given 
 that it was rather a singular place for a wagtail to build 
 in. I have, however, found them in similar situations ; 
 and one wagtail built amongst the rough bricks which 
 formed some rock-work in my garden. If the fact, 
 therefore, is undoubted, that the egg of the cuckoo is 
 found in the nest of a bird built in so small a hole in a 
 wall that a young cuckoo could no longer remain in it, 
 by what means could she contrive to introduce her egg 
 into the nest ? It appears quite impossible that she 
 could have sat on the nest while she deposited her egg; 
 and it is not easy, therefore, to form a probable conjecture 
 how the operation was performed. Spurzheim, however, 
 asserts in his lectures, that he actually saw an instance 
 of a cuckoo having dropped her egg near a nest so placed 
 that she could not possibly gain admittance to it: and 
 that after removing the eggs which were already in the 
 nest, she took up her own egg in one of her feet, arid in 
 that way placed it in it. 
 
 The following communication from a gentleman in 
 Sussex will throw some new and interesting light on the 
 natural history of the cuckoo. He says, that on firing 
 at a bird sitting on a fir tree in his garden, and which 
 he took for a hawk, it fell with a broken wing. On 
 picking it up, it proved to be a cuckoo, and being in 
 beautiful plumage, and very lively, he tied up the wing, 
 and sent it to a friend at Chichester, who being captiv- 
 ated by the bird's quiet demeanour, determined on try- 
 ing to keep it alive. On being put into a cage, the bird 
 soon fed, and appeared perfectly reconciled to its loss of 
 freedom. It eat fresh meat of any sort, cut small and 
 mixed with bread scalded and broken, and a raw egg. 
 On this diet the bird did well for three months. At 
 this time a lad brought some yellow-hammer's eggs, in- 
 tending them as a treat, one of which the bird unex- 
 pectedly seized, and attempted to swallow. It stuck, 
 however, in its throat, and killed it in a short time. 
 This would seem to prove that these birds feed some- 
 times on eggs. A cuckoo was kept at Goodwood-house 
 for nearly two years. The persons who had the care of 
 it never heard its natural note of "Cuckoo." It is not 
 unfrequent soon after the arrival of these birds, to see 
 four or five, or more of them in animated sportiveness 
 on the branches of an oak. If the spectator is attentive, 
 he will soon hear the notes repeated thus, Hoo-hoo 
 hoo- ~ 1 ^ ~\~ hooho-hoo which, proba- 
 bly, are ."_^_lj_F ~ notes of exultation from the 
 
 favour- __i 1 0_L_^j_ ed suitor. When a cuc- 
 koo is I 1^ 1^ seen in a straight flight, it 
 
 will often give utterance to a beautiful sound, more like 
 a delicate and lengthened shake on the flute than any- 
 thing else it can be compared to. As the bird is 
 always alone when this note is heard, we may con- 
 clude that it is a call for its mate. Jesse's Gleanings, 
 Vol I. 
 
112 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 forward, and the weather more or less inviting. 
 From the cheerful voice of this bird the farmer 
 may be instructed in the real advancement of 
 the year. The fallibility of human calendars 
 is but too well known ; but from this bird's 
 note, the husbandman may be taught when to 
 sow his most useful seeds, and to do such work 
 as depends upon a certain temperature of the 
 air. These feathered guides come to us hea- 
 ven-taught, and point out the true commence- 
 ment of the season. 
 
 The cuckoo, that was silent some time after 
 its appearance, begins and at first feebly, at 
 very distant intervals, to give its call, which 
 as the summer advances, improves both in its 
 frequency and loudness. This is an invitation 
 to courtship, and used only by the male, who 
 sits generally perched upon some dead tree, or 
 bare bough, and repeats his song, which he 
 loses as soon as the genial season is over. His 
 note is pleasant, though uniform; and, from 
 an association of ideas, seldom occurs to the 
 memory without reminding us of the sweets of 
 summer. Custom too has affixed a more ludi- 
 crous association to this note ; which, however, 
 we that are bachelors need be in no pain about. 
 This reproach seems to arise from this bird's 
 making use of the bed or nest of another to 
 deposit its own brood in. 
 
 However this may be, nothing is more cer- 
 tain than that the female makes no nest of her 
 own. She repairs for that purpose to the 
 nest of some other bird, generally the water- 
 wagtail or hedge-sparrow, and having de- 
 voured the eggs of the owner, lays her own 
 in their place. She usually lays but one, 
 which is speckled, and of the size of a black- 
 bird's. This the fond foolish bird hatches 
 with great assiduity, and, when excluded, 
 finds no difference in the great ill-looking 
 changeling from her own. To supply this vo- 
 racious creature, the credulous nurse toils with 
 unusual labour, no way sensible that she is 
 feeding up an enemy to her race, and one of 
 the most destructive robbers of her future pro- 
 geny. 
 
 It was once doubted whether these birds 
 were carnivorous; but Reaumur was at the 
 pains of breeding up several, and found that 
 they would not feed upon bread or corn ; but 
 flesh and insects were their favourite nourish- 
 ment. He found it a very difficult task to 
 teach them to peck; for he was obliged to feed 
 them a full month after they were grown as 
 big as the mother. Insects, however, seemed 
 to be their peculiar food when young ; for they 
 devoured flesh by a kind of constraint, as it 
 was always put into their mouths ; but meal- 
 worm insects they flew to, and swallowed of 
 their own accord most greedily. Indeed, their 
 gluttony is not be wondered at, when we con- 
 sitler the capacity of their stomach, which is 
 
 enormous, and reaches from the breast-bone 
 to the vent. It is partly membranous, partly 
 muscular, and of a prodigious capacity ; yet 
 still they are not to be supposed as birds of 
 prey, for they have neither the strength nor 
 the courage. On the contrary, they are natu- 
 rally weak and fearful, as appears by their 
 flying from small birds, which every where 
 pursue them. The young birds are brown, 
 mixed with black ; and in that state they have 
 been described by some authors as old ones. 
 
 The cuckoo, when fledged and fitted for 
 flight, follows its supposed parent but for a 
 little time ; its appetite for insect food increas- 
 ing, as it finds no great chance for a supply 
 in imitating its little instructor, it parts good 
 friends, the step-child seldom offering any 
 violence to its nurse. Nevertheless, all the 
 little birds of the grove seem to consider the 
 young cuckoo as an enemy, and revenge the 
 cause of their kind by their repeated insults. 
 They pursue it wherever it flies, and oblige it 
 to take shelter in the thickest branches of some 
 neighbouring tree. All the smaller birds form 
 the train of its pursuers; but the wryneck, in 
 particular, is found the most active in the 
 chase ; and from thence it has been called by 
 many, the cuckoo's attendant and provider. 
 But it is very far from following with a 
 friendly intention ; it only pursues as an in- 
 sulter, or a spy, to warn all its little compan- 
 ions of the cuckoo's depredations. 
 
 Such are the manners of this bird while it 
 continues to reside, or to be seen amongst us. 
 But early, at the approach of winter, it totally 
 disappears, and its passage can be traced to no 
 other country. Some suppose that it lies hid 
 in hollow trees ; and others that it passes into 
 warmer climates. Which of these opinions is 
 true is very uncertain, as there are no facts re- 
 lated on either side that can be totally relied 
 
 1 To support the opinion that they remain 
 
 on. 
 
 torpid during the winter at home, Willoughby 
 introduces the following story, which he deli- 
 vers upon the credit of another. " The ser- 
 vants of a gentleman, in the country, having 
 stocked up in one of their meadows some old, 
 dry, rotten willows thought proper, on a cer- 
 tain occasion, to carry them home. In heat- 
 ing a stove, two logs of this timber were put 
 into the furnace beneath, and fire applied as 
 usual. But soon, to the great surprise of the 
 family, was heard the voice of a cuckoo, sing- 
 ing three times from under the stove. Won- 
 dering at so extraordinary a cry in the winter 
 time, the servants ran and drew the willow 
 logs from the furnace, and in the midst of one 
 of them saw something move; wherefore, 
 
 i It is now perfectly ascertained that the cuckoo is a 
 migratory bird. It comes to us late in spring from 
 Northern Africa or Asia Minor, and returns in July or 
 early in autumn. 
 
THE PARROT. 
 
 113 
 
 taking an axe, they opened the hole, and 
 thrusting' in their hands, first they plucked 
 uut nothing but leathers ; afterwards they got 
 hold of a living animal; and this was the 
 cuckoo that had waked so very opportunely 
 for its own safety. It was indeed," continues 
 our historian, "' brisk and lively, but wholly 
 naked and bare of feathers, and without any 
 winter provision in its hole. This cuckoo the 
 boys kept two years afterwards alive in the 
 stove ; but whether it repaid them with a se- 
 cond song, the author of the tale has not 
 thought fit to inform us." 
 
 The most probable opinion on this subject 
 is, that as quails and woodcocks shift their 
 habitations in winter, so also does the cuckoo; 
 but to what country it retires, or whether it 
 has ever been seen on its journey, are ques- 
 tions that I am wholly incapable of resolving. 
 
 Of this bird there are many kinds in 
 various parts of the world, not only differing 
 in their colours, but their size. Brisson 
 makes not less than twenty-eight sorts of 
 them ; but what analogy they bear to our 
 English cuckoo, I will not take upon me to 
 determine. He talks of one, particularly of 
 Brazil, as making a most horrible noise in 
 the forests; which, as it should seem, must 
 be a very different note from that by which 
 our bird is distinguished at home . l 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF THE PARROT, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 
 
 THE Parrot is the best known among us of 
 all foreign birds, as it unites the greatest 
 beauty with the greatest docility. Its voice 
 
 1 In Europe we possess but one species of the Cuckoo. 
 In Africa there are several species, not the least remark- 
 able of which is called the Honey-guide Cuckoo, or In- 
 dicator. Its colour is rusty gray, and white beneath; 
 the eyelids are naked, black ; shoulders with a yellow 
 spot; the tail is wedged, rusty; the bill is brown at the 
 base, and surrounded with bristles, yellow at the tip ; 
 feathers of the thighs white, with a longitudinal black 
 streak; the quill feathers above brown, beneath gray 
 brown; first tail feathers very narrow, and rusty; the 
 next sooty, the inner edge whitish ; the rest brown at 
 the tip on the inner web. The honey-guide cuckoo in- 
 habits the interior parts of Africa ; is six inches long ; 
 is fond of honey ; and not being able to procure it from 
 the hollows of trees, by its note it is said to point it out 
 to the inhabitants, who leave it a part for its services, 
 and so highly value it on this account, that it is criminal 
 to destroy it. The accuracy of this statement has been 
 called in question both by Bruce arid Le Vaillant, but 
 it is now fully confirmed. There are several varieties 
 of indicators. (For the Great Honey-guide, see Plate 
 XVI. fig. 23; Cupreous Cuckoo, ib. fig. 28; Blue 
 Cuckoo, ib. fig. 29; Senegal Coucal, ib. fig. 20; Mal- 
 coho, ib. fig. 31; African Cuckoo, ib. fig. 32; Long- 
 bellied Cuckoo, ib. fig. 19.) 
 
 also is more like a man's than that of any 
 other ; the raven is too hoarse, and the jay 
 and magpie too shrill, to resemble the truth ; 
 the parrot's note is of the true pitch, and 
 capable of a number of modulations that even 
 some of our orators might wish in vain to 
 imitate. 
 
 The ease with which this bird is taught to 
 speak, and the great number of words which 
 it is capable of repeating, are no less surpris- 
 ing. We are assured by a grave writer, 
 that one of these was taught to repeat a whole 
 sonnet from Petrarch; and that I may not 
 be wanting in my instance, I have seen a 
 parrot belonging to a distiller who had suf- 
 fered pretty largely in his circumstances from 
 an informer who lived opposite him, very 
 ridiculously employed. This bird was taught 
 to pronounce the ninth commandment, Thou 
 shalt not bear false witness against thy neigh- 
 bour, with a very clear, loud, articulate voice. 
 The bird was generally placed in its cage 
 over against the informer's house, and de- 
 lighted the whole neighbourhood with its per- 
 severing exhortations. 
 
 Willoughby tells a story of a parrot, which 
 is not so dull as those usually brought up 
 when this bird's facility of talking happens 
 to be the subject. " A parrot belonging to 
 King Henry V II. who then resided at West- 
 minster, in his palace by the river Thames, 
 had learned to talk many words from the 
 passengers as they happened to take the 
 water. One day, sporting on its perch, the 
 poor bird fell into the water, at the same time 
 crying out, as loud as he could, A boat ! 
 twenty pounds for a boat! A waterman, who 
 happened to be near, hearing the cry, made 
 to the place where the parrot was floating, 
 and taking him up, restored him to the king. 
 As it seems the bird was a favourite, the man 
 insisted that he ought to have a reward rather 
 equal to his services than his trouble : and, as 
 the parrot had cried twenty pounds, he said the 
 king was bound in honour to grant it. The 
 king at last agreed to leave it to the parrot's 
 own determination, which the bird hearing, 
 cried out, Give the knave a groat" 
 
 The parrot, which is so common as a 
 foreign bird with us, is equally so as an in- 
 digenous bird in the climates where it is pro- 
 duced. The forests swarm with them ; and 
 the rook is not better known with us than 
 the parrot in almost every part of the East 
 and West Indies. It is in vain that our 
 naturalists have attempted to arrange the 
 various species of this bird; new varieties 
 daily offer to puzzle the system-maker, or to 
 demonstrate the narrowness of his catalogues. 
 Linneeus makes the number of its varieties 
 amount to forty-seven ; while Brisson doubles 
 the number, and extends his catalogue to 
 
114 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 ninety-five. 1 Perhaps even this list might be 
 increased, were every accidental change of 
 colour to be considered as constituting a new 
 species. But, in fact, natural history gains 
 
 1 The parrot genus includes about one hundred and 
 seventy known species. All the species are confined to 
 warm climates, but their range is wider than Bnflbn 
 considered, when he limited them to within 23 on 
 each side of the equator ; for they are known to extend 
 as far south as the Straits of Magellan, and are found 
 on the shores of Van Dieman's Land ; and the Carolina 
 parrot of the United States is resident as far to the 
 north as 42. Wilson saw them, in the month of 
 February, along the banks of the Ohio, in a snow-storm, 
 flying about like pigeons, and in full cry. And another 
 time he saw them, about thirty miles above the mouth 
 of the Kentucky river, as they came in great numbers, 
 screaming through the wood, about an hour after sun- 
 rise, to drink the salt water, of which they are remark- 
 ably fond. 
 
 Parrots live together in families, and seldom wander 
 to any considerable distance ; these societies admit with 
 difficulty a stranger among them, though they live in 
 great harmony with each other. They are fond of 
 scratching each other's heads and necks; and, when 
 they roost, nestle as closely as possible together, some- 
 times as many as thirty or forty sleeping in the hollow 
 of the same tree. There they sleep in a perpendicular 
 posture, clinging to the sides by their claws and bills. 
 They are fond of sleep, and seem to retire into their 
 holes several times in the day as if to enjoy a regular 
 siesta. 
 
 The young shoots of various plants, tender buds, 
 fruits, grains, and nuts, which they open with much 
 adroitness to obtain the kernel, are the chief aliments 
 which the parrots use when in a state of liberty. We 
 know that, in a state of domestication, they eat almost 
 everything that is offered to them ; but it has been re- 
 marked that certain substances, such as parsley for in- 
 stance, which have no sensible effect on other creatures, 
 are to parrots mortal poisons. In the forests, which are 
 their favourite retreats, the parrots assemble in troops, 
 and cause much devastation by the vast quantity of food 
 which they consume, not merely for their subsistence, 
 but to gratify that mania for destruction for which, 
 even in their domestic state, they are noted. The 
 lo'ud cries of these bands are heard a great way off, 
 when they seek their last repast before the setting of 
 the sun. By these cries the planter has timely warn- 
 ing to employ some means of preventing those hosts 
 of destroyers from alighting on his newly-sown fields, 
 where, in a short time, they would not leave a vestige 
 of grain. 
 
 The description which Wilson gives of the flight of 
 the Carolina parrot is probably applicable to many other 
 species which have not, in their wild state, been noticed 
 by an equally intelligent observer. "There is a re- 
 markable contrast between their elegant manner of 
 flight and their lame and crawling gait among the 
 branches. They fly very much like the wild pigeon, 
 in close compact bodies, and with great rapidity, mak- 
 ing a loud and outrageous screaming. Their flight is 
 sometimes in a direct line, but most usually circuitous, 
 making a great variety of elegant and serpentine mean- 
 ders, as if for pleasure." 
 
 The Carolina parrot seems to have been a favourite 
 with Wilson. He carried one with him in one of his 
 most laborious journeys in the Western States; by day 
 it rode in his pocket, and at night it rested on the 
 baggage, dosing and gazing into the fire. Happening 
 to catch another, which he had slightly wounded, he 
 plac.cd it in the cage with this, who was delighted to 
 gain the accession to her society; she crept up to the 
 
 little by these discoveries ; and as its do 
 minions are extended it becomes more barren. 
 It is asserted, by sensible travellers, that the 
 natives of Brazil can change the colour of a 
 parrot's plumage by art. If this be true, and 
 I am apt to believe the information, they can 
 make new species at pleasure, and thus cut 
 out endless work for our nomenclators at home. 
 
 Those who usually bring these birds over 
 are content to make three or four distinctions, 
 to which they give names; and with these 
 distinctions I will content myself also. The 
 large kind, which are of the size ol a raven, 
 are called maccaws ; the next size are simply 
 called parrots; those which are entirely white, 
 are called lories ; and the lesser size of all are 
 called parrakeets. The difference between 
 even these is rather in size than any other 
 peculiar conformation, as they are all formed 
 alike, having toes, two before and two be- 
 hind, for climbing and holding; strong hooked 
 bills for breaking open nuts, and other hard 
 substances, on which they feed; and loud 
 harsh voices, by which they fill their native 
 woods with clamour. 
 
 But there are further peculiarities in their 
 conformation; and first, their toes are con- 
 trived in a singular manner, which appears 
 when they walk or climb, and when they are 
 eating. For the first purpose they stretch 
 two of their toes forward, and two backward; 
 but when they take their meat, and bring it 
 to their mouths with their foot, they dexter- 
 ously and nimbly turn the greater hind toe 
 forward, so as to take a firmer grasp of the 
 nut or the fruit they are going to feed on, 
 standing all the while upon the other leg. 
 Nor even do they present their food in the 
 usual manner ; for other animals turn their 
 meat inwards to the mouth ; but these, in a 
 seemingly awkward position, turn their meat 
 outwards, and thus hold the hardest nuts, as 
 if in one hand, till with their bills they break 
 the shell, and extract the kernel. 
 
 The bill is fashioned with still greater pe- 
 culiarities ; for the upper chap, as well as the 
 lower, are both movable. In most other 
 birds the upper chap is connected, and makes 
 but one piece with the skull ; but in these, 
 and in one or two species of the feathered. 
 
 stranger, chattering in a melancholy tone, as if express- 
 ing sympathy for its misfortunes, stroked its head and 
 neck with her bill, and at night they nestled as close as 
 possible to each other. On the death of her companion, 
 she appeared inconsolable, till he placed a looking-glass 
 near her, by which she was completely deceived. She 
 seemed delighted with the return of her companion, and 
 often during the day, and always at night, she lay close 
 to the image in the glass, and began to dose with great 
 composure and satisfaction. He was so unlucky as to 
 | lose this interesting bird in the Gulf of Mexico, where 
 j she made her way through the cage, left the vessel, and 
 j perished in the waves. 
 
THE PARROT. 
 
 115 
 
 tribe more, the upper cha.p is connected to the 
 bone of the head by a strong membrane, 
 placed on each side, that lifts and depresses it 
 at pleasure. By this contrivance they can 
 open their bills the wider; which is not a 
 little useful, as the upper chap is so hooked 
 and so over-hanging, that, if the lower chap 
 only had motion, they could scarcely gape 
 sufficiently to take any thing in for their 
 nourishment. 
 
 Such are the uses of the beak and the toes, 
 when used separately ; but they are often em- 
 ployed both together, when the bird is exer- 
 cised in climbing. As these birds cannot 
 readily hop from bough to bough, their legs 
 not being adapted for that purpose, they use 
 both the beak and the feet ; first catching 
 hold vsith the beak, as if with a hook, then 
 drawing up the legs and fastening them, then 
 advancing the head and beak again, and so 
 putting forward the body and feet alternate- 
 ly, till they attain the height they aspire to. 
 
 The tongue of this bird somewhat resem- 
 bles that of a man ; for which reason some 
 pretend that it is so well qualified to imitate 
 the human speech ; but the organs by which 
 these sounds are articulated lie farther down 
 in the throat, being performed by the great 
 motion which the as Jiy aides has in these birds 
 above others. 
 
 The parrot, though common enough in 
 Europe, will not, however, breed here. The 
 climate is too cold for its warm constitution ; 
 and though it bears our winter when arrived 
 at maturity, yet it always seems sensible of 
 its rigour, and loses both its spirit and appe- 
 tiie during the colder part of the season. It 
 then becomes torpid and inactive, and seems 
 quite changed from that bustling loquacious 
 animal which it appeared in its native forest, 
 where it is almost ever upon the wing. Not- 
 withstanding, the parrot lives even with us a 
 considerable time, if it be properly attended 
 to ; and indeed, it must be owned, that it em- 
 ploys but too great a part of some people's 
 attention. 
 
 The extreme sagacity and docility of the 
 bird may plead as the best excuse for those 
 who spend whole hours in teaching their par- 
 rots to speak; and, indeed, the bird, on those 
 occasions, seems the wisest animal of the two. 
 It at first obstinately resists all instruction ; but 
 seems to be won by perseverance, makes a 
 few attempts to imitate the first sounds, and 
 when it has got one word distinct, all the suc- 
 ceeding come with greater facility. The bird 
 generally learns most in those families where 
 the master or mistress have the least to do ; 
 and becomes more expert, in proportion as its 
 instructors are idly assiduous. In going 
 through the towns of France some time since, 
 I could not help observing how much plainer 
 
 their parrots spoke than ours, and how very 
 distinctly I understood their parrots speak 
 French, when I could not understand our 
 own, though they spoke my native language. 
 I was at first for ascribing it to the different 
 qualities of the two languages, and was for 
 entering into an elaborate discussion on the 
 vowels and consonants: but a friend that was 
 with me solved the difficulty at once, by as- 
 suring me that the French women scarcely 
 did any thing else the whole day than sit and 
 instruct their feathered pupils ; and that the 
 birds were thus distinct in their lessons in, con- 
 sequence of continual schooling. 
 
 The parrots of France are certainly very 
 expert, but nothing to those of the Brazils, 
 where the education of a parrot is considered 
 as a very serious aifair. The history of Prince 
 Maurice's parrot, given us by Mr Locke, is 
 too well known to be repeated here ; but 
 Clusius assures us that the parrots of that 
 country are the most sensible and cunning of 
 all animals not endued with reason. The 
 great parrot, called the aicuroits, the head of 
 which is adorned with yellow, red, and violet, 
 the body green, the ends of the wings red, the 
 feathers of the tail long and yellow; this bird, 
 he asserts, which is seldom brought into Eu- 
 rope, is a prodigy of understanding. " A 
 certain Brazilian woman, that lived in a vil- 
 lage two miles distant from the island on 
 which we resided, had a parrot of this kind 
 which was the wonder of the place. It seemed 
 endued with such understanding as to discern 
 and comprehend whatever she said to it. As 
 we sometimes used to pass by that woman's 
 house, she used to call upon us to stop, promis- 
 ing, if we gave her a comb, or a looking-glass, 
 that she would make her parrot sing and dance 
 to entertain us. If we agreed to her request, 
 as soon as she had pronounced some words to 
 the bird, it began not only to leap and skip on 
 the perch on which it stood, but also to talk 
 and to whistle, and imitate the shoutings and 
 exclamations of the Brazilians when they pre- 
 pare for battle. In brief, when it came into 
 the woman's head to bid it sing, it sang; to 
 dance, it danced. But if, contrary to our pro. 
 mise, we refused to give the woman the little 
 present agreed on, the parrot seemed to sym- 
 pathize in her resentment, and was silent and 
 immovable ; neither could we, by any means, 
 provoke it to move either foot or tongue." 
 
 This sagacity, which parrots show in a do- 
 mestic state, seems also natural to them in 
 their native residence among the woods. Thev 
 live together in flocks, and naturally assist 
 each other against other animals, either by 
 their courage or their notes of warning. They 
 generally breed in hollow trees, where they 
 make a round hole, and do not line their nests 
 within. If they find any part of a tree be- 
 
iiU 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 ginning to rot from tlie breaking off of a 
 branch, or any such accident, this they take 
 care to scoop, and to make the hole sufficiently 
 wide and convenient; but it sometimes hap- 
 pens that they are content with the hole which 
 a woodpecker has wrought out with greater 
 ease before them ; and in this they prepare to 
 hatch and bring up their young. 
 
 They lay two or three eggs ; and probably 
 the smaller kind may lay more ; for it is a 
 rule that universally holds through nature, 
 that the smallest animals are always the most 
 prolific ; lor being, from their natural weak- 
 ness, more subject to devastation, Nature finds 
 it necessary to replenish the species by supe- 
 rior fecundity. In general, however, the 
 number of their eggs is stinted to two, like 
 those of the pigeon, and they are about the 
 same size. They are always marked with 
 little specks, like those of a partridge; and 
 some travellers assure us, that they are always 
 found in the trunks of the tallest, straightest, 
 and the largest trees. The natives of those 
 countries, who have little else to do, are very 
 assiduous in spying out the places where the 
 parrot is seen to nestle, and generally come 
 with great joy to inform the Europeans, if 
 there be any, of the discovery. As those birds 
 have always the greatest docility that are 
 taken young, such a nest is often considered 
 as worth taking some trouble to be possessed 
 of; and, for this purpose, the usual method of 
 coming at the young is, by cutting down the 
 tree. In the fall of the tree it often happens 
 that the young parrots are killed ; but if one 
 of them survives the shock, it is considered as 
 a sufficient recompence. 
 
 Such is the avidity with which these birds 
 are sought when young ; for it is known they 
 always speak best when their ear has not been 
 anticipated by the harsh notes of the wild ones. 
 But as the natives are not able upon all occa- 
 sions to supply the demand for young ones, 
 they are contented to take the old; and for 
 that purpose shoot them in the woods with 
 heavy arrows, headed with cotton, which 
 knock down the bird without killing it. The 
 parrots thus stunned are carried home : some 
 die, but others recover, and, by kind usage 
 and plentiful food, become talkative and noisy. 
 
 But it is not for the sake of their conversa- 
 tion alone that the parrot is sought after among 
 the savages ; for though some of them are but 
 tough and ill-tasted, yet there are other sorts, 
 particularly of the small parakeet tribe, that 
 are very delicate food. In general it obtains, 
 that whatever fruit or grain these birds mostly 
 feed upon, their flesh partakes of the flavour, 
 and becomes good or ill-tasted, according to 
 the quality of their particular diet. When 
 the guava is ripe, they are at that season fat 
 and tender ; if they feed upon the seed of the 
 
 acajou, their flesh contracts an agreeable fla 
 vour of garlic ; if they feed upon the seed of 
 the spicy trees, their flesh then tastes of cloves 
 and cinnamon ; while, on the contrary, it is 
 insupportably bitter if the berries they feed 
 on are of that quality. The seed of the cot- 
 ton-tree intoxicates them in the same manner 
 as wine does man ; and even wine itself is 
 drunk by parrots, as Aristotle assures us, by 
 which they are thus rendered more talkative 
 and amusing. But of all food, they are fond- 
 est of the carthamus, or bastard saffron; which, 
 though strongly purgative to man, agrees per- 
 fectly with their constitution, and fattens them 
 in a very short time. 
 
 Of the parakeet kind in Brazil, Labat as- 
 sures us, that they are the most beautiful in 
 their plumage, and the most talkative birds in 
 nature. They are very tame, and appear 
 fond of mankind ; they seem pleased with 
 holding parley with him ; they never have 
 done ; but while he continues to talk, answer 
 him, and appear resolved to have the last 
 word : but they are possessed of another qua- 
 lity, which is sufficient to put an end to this 
 association ; their flesh is the most delicate 
 imaginable, and highly esteemed by those who 
 are fonder of indulging their appetites than 
 their ears. The fowler walks into the woods, 
 where they keep in abundance, but as they 
 are green, and exactly the colour of the leaves 
 among which they sit, he only hears their 
 prattle, without being able to see a single 
 bird ; he looks round him, sensible that his 
 game is within gun-shot in abundance, but is 
 mortified to the last degree that it is impossi- 
 ble to see them. Unfortunately for these little 
 animals, they are restless, and ever on the 
 wing, so that in flying from one tree to an- 
 other, he has but too frequent opportunities of 
 destroying them ; for as soon as they have 
 stripped the tree on which they sat of all its 
 berries, some one of them flies off to another ; 
 and if that be found fit for the purpose, it 
 gives a loud call, which all the rest resort to. 
 That is the opportunity the fowler has long 
 been waiting for ; he fires in among the flock, 
 while they are yet on the wing ; and he sel- 
 dom fails of bringing down a part of them. 
 But it is singular enough to see them whim 
 they find their companions fallen. They set 
 up a loud outcry, as if they were chiding their 
 destroyer, and do not cease till they see him 
 preparing for a second charge. 
 
 But though there are so many motives for 
 destroying these beautiful birds, they are in 
 very gre#t plenty ; and in some countries on 
 the coast of Guinea, they are considered by 
 the negroes as their greatest tormentors. The 
 flocks of parrots persecute them with their un- 
 ceasing screaming, and devour whatever fruits 
 they attempt to produce by art in their little 
 
THE PARROT. 
 
 117 
 
 gardens. In other places they are not so des- 
 tructive, but sufficiently common ; and, indeed, 
 there is scarce a country of the tropical cli- 
 mates that has not many of the common kinds, 
 as well as some peculiarly its own. Travel- 
 lers have counted more than a hundred differ- 
 ent kinds on the continent of Africa only : 
 there is one country in particular, north of the 
 Cape of Good Hope, which takes its name 
 from the multitude of parrots which are seen 
 in its woods. There are white parrots seen 
 in the burning regions of Ethiopia : in the 
 East Indies they are of the largest size ; in 
 South America they are docile and talkative ; 
 in all the islands of the Pacific sea and the 
 Indian ocean, they swarm in great variety 
 and abundance, and add to the splendour of 
 those woods which Nature has dressed in eter- 
 nal green. 1 
 
 1 The family of parrots are divided by some modern 
 naturalists into six different groups. 
 
 I. The Macaws. Tail long and pointed ; cheeks 
 naked. 
 
 II. The Parrakeets. Tail long and graduated ; cheeks 
 feathered. 
 
 III. The Psittacules. Tail very short, and rounded 
 at its termination; cheeks feathered. 
 
 IV. The Parrots proper. Tail equal and squared ; 
 head destitute of movable crest. 
 
 V. The Cockatoos. Tail equal and squared; head 
 with a movable crest. 
 
 VI. Probosciger. Tail equal and squared; naked 
 cheeks, and tuft on head. 
 
 In the cuts which follow, representations are given of 
 some of the more interesting individuals of these differ- 
 ent groups. 
 
 The Great Green Macaw. This species is now ascer- 
 
 tained to be a native of Mexico and Peru, inhabiting the 
 warmer districts of the Andean chain, which attain an 
 elevation of about 3000 feet. According to Wagler, 
 its habits differ considerably from those of its congeners, 
 as it does not confine itself to the recesses of the forests, 
 or its food to the fruits there produced, but attacks in 
 congregated flocks the fields of maize, and other cultiva- 
 ted grain and fruits. Upon these it frequently commits 
 serious depredations, to such an extent, indeed, as to re- 
 
 So generally are these birds known at pre- 
 sent, and so great is their variety, that no- 
 thing seems more extraordinary than that 
 there was but one sort of them known among 
 
 quire the constant attention and watching of the inhabi- 
 tants during the period of maturation. When engaged in 
 their predatory excursions, a guard is constantly left by 
 the flock in some elevated station, generally the summit 
 of a tree, from whence, should danger be apprehended, 
 an alarm is given by a loud and peculiar cry, which is 
 responded to by the immediate flight of the wary depre- 
 dators. They are also said to feed upon the flowers of 
 the Erythinse, and some species of Thibaudse, before the 
 ripening of the grains, but whether this is merely to 
 obtain the nectarious juice, as practised by the Asiatic 
 Lories and Australian Trichoglossi, or for the thick and 
 fleshy substance of the flower and embryo pod or seed- 
 vessel, does not appear from Wagler's account. During 
 the period of the rains, which commence in October, the 
 great body of these birds migrate to other districts, and 
 do not return till the maize begins to ripen, which takes 
 place in January and February. It is easily tamed, and 
 of a docile disposition, but can rarely be taught to articu- 
 late more than a few words. It appears to have been a 
 favourite among the ancient Peruvians, as we are told it 
 was frequently presented to the Incas, by their subjects, 
 as an acceptable gift. In size, it is inferior to several of 
 the Macaws, its extreme length being about twenty- 
 nine inches. The bill is strong, typical in form, its co- 
 lour blackish-brown. The orbits and cheeks are naked, 
 and of a flesh colour, with striae of small blackish-brown 
 feathers ; the irides are composed of two rings, the outer 
 of a rich yellow, the inner grayish-green. The forehead 
 is of a rich crimson, the chin feathers reddish-brown, and 
 passing rapidly into the green of the neck. The rest of 
 the head, the neck, lesser wing-coverts, the mantle, and 
 all the under parts of the body, are of a fine and lively 
 gjreen, in some lights showing tints of azure blue on the 
 back of the neck and head. The lower back and upper 
 tail coverts, as well as the greater wing-coverts and 
 quills, are of a fine blue. The tail feathers on the upper 
 surface are scarlet, with blue tips, the under surface and 
 that of the wings orange-yellow. The legs and toes are 
 red, tinged with gray. The claws are strong, hooked, 
 and black. 
 
 The Alexandrine Ring-Parakeet. This parrot is ge- 
 
 nerally supposed to have been the firat, and by many the 
 only one known to the ancient Greeks, having been dis- 
 covered during the expeditions of the Macedonian con- 
 queror, by whose followers it was brought to Europe from 
 the ancient Taprobane, now the Island of Ceylon. At 
 all events, it is evident, from the concurrent testimony of 
 various ancient authors, that whatever parrots were 
 known, either to the Greeks or Romans, previous 
 
 
118 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 the ancients, and that at a time when they 
 pretended to be masters of the world. If no- 
 thing else could serve to show the vanity of a 
 Roman's boast, the parrot-tribe might be an 
 
 to the time of Nero, were exclusively brought from In- 
 dia or its islands, and that the species, if more than one 
 had been introduced, also belonged to the genus now 
 under consideration, the description they have given, 
 of the plumage of these birds pointing distinctly to this, 
 and possibly one or two other nearly allied species, as not 
 only the prevailing colour of the body, but that of the 
 bill, and the distinguishing characteristic, the neck-col- 
 lar, are particularly mentioned. The Alexandrine, as 
 well as its congener the Rose-ring Parakeet, are still 
 highly prized, and frequently brought from the East In- 
 dies, as, in age, they possess great docility, and a facility 
 of pronunciation inferior to none of the race. Of their 
 habits in a state of nature we remain comparatively ig- 
 norant. 
 
 The Ash-coloured or Grey Parrot. The Grey Par- 
 
 rot is a native of western Africa, whence it appears to 
 have been imported from a very early period ; but com- 
 mon and well known as it is in a state of captivity, its 
 peculiar habits and economy in a state of nature are still 
 but little and imperfectly known. Like most of its kind, 
 it is said to breed in the hollows of decayed trees ; and 
 the instinctive propensity for such situations does not ap 
 pear to desert it even in a state of captivity ; for Buffbn 
 mentions a pair in France, that, for five or six years suc- 
 cessively, produced and brought up their young, and 
 the place they selected for this purpose was a cask partly 
 filled with saw-dust. Its eggs are stated to be generally 
 four in number, their colour white, and in size equal to 
 those of a pigeon. In its native state, the food of the 
 Parrot consists of the kernels of various fruits, and the 
 seeds of other vegetables; but when domesticated, or 
 kept caged, its principal diet is generally bread and 
 milk, varied with nuts, almonds, &c., and even pieces of 
 dressed meat. When feeding, it often holds its food 
 clasped in the foot, and, before swallowing, masticates or 
 reduces it to small pieces by its powerful bill and palatial 
 cutters. This member, so unlike that of other frugivo- 
 rous birds, is admirably calculated for the principal offi- 
 ces it has to perform, viz. breaking the shells of the 
 hardest fruits and seeds, and as a strong and powerful 
 or;an of prehension and support ; for few of our readers 
 but must have observed that the bill is always first used, 
 am! chiefly depended upon when a Parrot is caged, in 
 climbing or moving from one position to another. The 
 longevity of the feathered race, we believe, in general 
 far exceeds what is commonly supposed, at least if we 
 may judge from the age attained by various birds, even 
 when subjected to captivity and confinement. Thus, we 
 have instances of eagles living for half a century : the 
 same of ravens, geese, and other large birds, as well as 
 among the smaller kinds usually kept caged. The Par- 
 rot appears to yield to none of these, and several instan- 
 ces are upon record of their having reached the remark- 
 able age of sixty or seventy years. Among these, none 
 is more interesting than that of an individual mentioned 
 by M. Le Vaillant, which had lived in a state of domes- 
 
 instance, of which there are a hundred kinds 
 now known ; not one of which naturally breeds 
 in the countries that acknowledged the Roman 
 power. The green parakeet, with a red neck, 
 
 ticity for no less than ninety-three years. At the time 
 that eminent naturalist saw it, it was in a state of entire 
 decrepitude, and in a kind of lethargic condition, its sight 
 and memory being both gone, and was fed at intervals 
 with biscuit soaked in Madeira wine. In the time of its 
 youth and vigour it had been distinguished for its collo- 
 quial powers, and distinct enunciation, and was of so 
 docile and obedient a disposition, as to fetch its master's 
 slippers when required, as well as to call the servants, 
 &c. At the age of sixty, its memory began to fail, and, 
 instead of acquiring any new phrase, it began to lose 
 those it had before attained, and to intermix, in a dis- 
 cordant manner, the words of its former language. It 
 moulted regularly every year till the age of sixty-five, 
 when this process grew irregular, and the tail became 
 yellow, after which, no farther change of plumage took 
 place. The Gray Parrot is subject to variety, some- 
 times the ground colour being mixed with red. In 
 size it measures about twelve inches in length. The 
 bill is black, strong, and much hooked, and the orbits, 
 and space between them and the eyes, covered with a 
 naked and white skin. The whole of the plumage, with 
 the exception of the tail, which is of a bright deep scar- 
 let, is of an ash-gray colour, deepest upon the back, and 
 the feathers finely relieved and margined with paler 
 gray. The irides are of a pale yellowish-white, the feet 
 and toes gray, tinged with flesh-red. 
 
 The Tricoloured crested Cockatoo. This Cockatoo is 
 
 a native of Australia. The bill is of a pale grayish- 
 white ; the upper mandible strongly sinuated and toothed; 
 the irides of a deep brown ; the naked orbits whitish. 
 The feathers at the immediate base of the bill are crim- 
 son, forming a narrow band or fillet; those of the fore- 
 head are white, tinged with red. The feathers forming 
 the proper crest are long and acuminate, the tips bend- 
 ing forwards, their basal half crimson, divided by a bar 
 of rich yellow, the remainder pure white. The whole of 
 the body is white, tinged deeply with crimson upon the 
 neck, breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts. The under 
 surface of the wings is rich crimson-red. Its legs and 
 toes are deep gray, the scales distinctly marked by lighter 
 lines. Of its peculiar habits and economy we are un- 
 able to give any detailed account. Another Australian 
 species is the Helmeted Cockatoo, Plyctolophus galeri- 
 tus, enumerated by Mr Vigors and Dr Horsfield in their 
 description of the Australian birds in the collection of the 
 Linnsfcin Society; and as its habits are presumed to re- 
 semble In many respects those of the other species, wo 
 
THE PARROT. 
 
 119 
 
 was the first of this kind that was brought into 
 Europe, and the only one that was known to 
 the ancients, from the time of Alexander the 
 Great to the age of Nero : this was brought 
 from India ; and when afterwards the Romans 
 began to seek and rummage through all their 
 dominions, for new and unheard-of luxuries, 
 
 quote their observations, as extracted from M. Caley's 
 Notes. " This bird is called by the natives Car-away 
 and Cur-iang. I have often met with it in large flocks 
 at the influx of the Grose and the Hawkesbury rivers, 
 below Mulgo'ey on the former river, and in the long 
 meadow near the Nepean river. They are shy, and 
 not easily approached. The flesh of the young ones is 
 accounted good eating. I have heard from the natives 
 that it makes its nest in the rotten limbs of trees, of no- 
 thing more than the vegetable mould formed by the de- 
 cayed parts of the bough ; that it has no more than two 
 young ones at a time ; and that the eggs are white, with- 
 out spots. The natives first find where the nests are, 
 by the bird making co'tora in an adjoining tree, which 
 lies in conspicuous heaps on the ground. Co'tora is the 
 bark stripped off the smaller branches, and cut into small 
 pieces. When the young ones are nearly fledged, the 
 old birds cut a quantity of small branches from the ad- 
 joining trees, but never from that in which the nest is 
 situated. They are sometimes found to enter the hollow 
 limb as far as two yards. The nests are generally found 
 in a black-butted gum-tree, and also in Coroy'bo, Cajim- 
 bora, and Yarrowar'ry trees (species of Eucalyptus)." 
 Goliah Aratoo. This is one of the largest of the 
 
 Psittacules. It is a native of the eastern Australasian 
 islands. The whole of the plumage is black. Little is 
 known of its habits. 
 
 Purple Capped Lory. This bird is a native of the 
 
 Moluccas, and other Eastern islands, from whence we 
 occasionally receive it, being held in high estimation, not 
 only on account of its elegant plumage, but for the doci- 
 lity it evinces, and its distinct utterance of words and 
 sentences. It is also lively and active in its disposition, 
 and fond of being caressed. In size it is amongst^the 
 largest of the group, measuring upwards of eleven inches 
 
 they at last found out others in Gaganda, an 
 island of Ethiopia, which they considered as 
 an extraordinary discovery. 
 
 Parrots have usually the same disorders 
 with other birds ; and they have one or two 
 peculiar to their kind. They are sometimes 
 struck by a kind of apoplectic blow, by which 
 
 in length. The general or ground colour of the plu- 
 mage is rich scarlet, this tint occupying all the lower 
 parts of the body, with the exception of a collar of yellow 
 upon the upper part of the breast. The neck, back, up- 
 per tail-coverts, and basal part of the tail, are also of the 
 same colour. The crown of the head is blackish-purple 
 in front, passing into violet-purple on the hinder part. 
 The wings on the upper surface are green, the flexure 
 and margins violet blue, as are also the under wing-co- 
 verts. The feathers of the thighs are azure-coloured ex- 
 teriorly, their basal parts being greenish. The bill is 
 orange yellow; the under inaudible conic, and narrow to- 
 wards the tip. 
 
 Blue-bellied Lorikeet. This species is a native of 
 
 New Holland, where it is found in large flocks, wher- 
 ever the various species of Eucalypti abound, the flowers 
 of those trees affording an abundant supply of food to 
 this as well as to other species of the Nectivorous Par- 
 rots. According to the observations of Mr Caley, as 
 quoted by Messrs Vigors and Horsfield in their descrip- 
 tion of the Australian birds in the collection of the Lin- 
 naean Society, " Flocks of these birds maybe seen in the 
 eucalypti-trees, when in flower, in different parts of the 
 country, but in the greatest number near their breeding 
 places." They do not, he adds, eat any kind of grain, 
 even in a domesticated state; a fact curiously illustrative 
 of their peculiar habits, and the situation they hold iu 
 the family of the Psittacules. It appears that they sel- 
 dom live long in confinement, and that when caged they 
 are very subject to fits. This in all probability arises 
 from a deficiency of their natural food ; and the instinc- 
 tive feeling or appetite for its favourite diet is strongly 
 exemplified In the fact, that one kept by Mr Caley 
 being shown a figure of a coloured plant, used to put its 
 tongue to the flowers, as if with the intent of sucking 
 them, and this it even did when shown a figured piece 
 of cotton furniture. By the natives it is called War- 
 rin ; the settlers call it by the name of the Blue Moun- 
 tain Parrot, though the term seems to be misapplied, as 
 it is a frequenter of the plains, and not of the hilly dis- 
 tricts. Its flesh is excellent, and highly esteemed. 
 
 The Ground Parrot. The Ground Parrot is also a 
 native of New Holland and Van Dieman's Land, where 
 it inhabits the scrubs or ground partially covered with 
 
120 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 they fall from their perches, and for a while 
 seem ready to expire. 1 The other is the grow, 
 ing of the beak, which becomes so very much 
 hooked as to deprive them of the power of eat- 
 ing. These infirmities, however, do not hin- 
 der them from being long-lived ; for a parrot, 
 well kept, will live five or six and twenty 
 years. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE PIGEON, AND ITS VARIETIES. 2 
 
 THIS is one of the birds which, from its 
 great fecundity, we have, in some measure, 
 
 low underwood. It is very rarely seen perched, and 
 when flushed, Mr Caley observes, takes a short flight, 
 
 
 and then alights among the bushes, but never upon them. 
 Of its mode of nidification, and other matters connected 
 with its history, we are unable to give any further ac- 
 count. (For the materials of this note we are mainly in- 
 debted to a volume on Parrots, by Mr Selby, in the Na- 
 turalist's Library.) 
 
 1 Bleeding in the foot is recommended as a remedy 
 for this. 
 
 2 The birds of this genus, which contains more than 
 one hundred species, inhabit all the warm and temperate 
 regions of the globe. The species with short and robust 
 bill are found throughout the whole extent of Africa, in 
 the islands of the Indian archipelago, in New Holland, 
 and in the islands of the South sea. The common 
 pigeons, with moderate bill, are the most generally ex- 
 tended through both continents. Those with slender 
 bill and long legs are proper to the climates of the new 
 world, of Africa, and of Asia, but are not found in 
 Europe. Only four species of the common pigeons are 
 found wild in this last part of the globe ; from one of 
 them, the biset or wild rock pigeon, as is supposed, are 
 descended all the various races which we find in a state 
 of domestication. Whether under the name of pigeons 
 or doves, these birds are uniformly quiet and harmless 
 in their nature. They live almost exclusively on fruits, 
 berries, seeds, and grains, and very seldom consume 
 insects or snails, or other animal food. In their mode 
 of living together, they are understood to be strict mono- 
 gamists, each attaching itself to a single mate, and ad- 
 hering to it alone ; but to this there are exceptions, as 
 we happen to have witnessed amongst the domesticated 
 species, in all of whom the bond of attachment is very 
 slight. The female seldom lays more than two eggs, 
 and it is remarkable that they almost invariably produce 
 a male and a female. Nat.ure has assigned to pigeons 
 fin important office in the economy of creation. Their 
 
 reclaimed from a state of nature, and taught 
 to live in habits of dependence. Indeed, its 
 fecundity seems to be increased by human 
 cultivation ; since those pigeons that live in a 
 
 stomachs do not digest the seeds of certain fruits, and 
 these seeds being voided in the course of the animal's 
 flight, trees are thus disseminated and planted in situa- 
 tions which could never otherwise be reached by the 
 parent vegetables. The power of flight which pigeons 
 generally possess, seems to be only a feature in the ani- 
 mal's character subordinate to this beautiful and provi- 
 dential design. 
 
 With a general resemblance of character, pigeons dif- 
 fer very materially in external appearance, both in re- 
 spect of shape and colour of plumage. In all countries 
 of the temperate zones they resemble the common house 
 pigeons of Britain, and are of a grayish or bluish tinge 
 of feather. In the warm countries within the tropics, 
 they shine forth with all the brilliancy of plumage of 
 parrots and other gay-feathered animals. The vinago 
 aromatico, (see Plate XV. fig. 29.) as one of the Indian 
 varieties of pigeons is called, is a beautiful creature with 
 bright light-green feathers from the breast to the tail, 
 with a darkish-coloured back, and wings striped with 
 yellow and brown. The ptilinopus purpuratus, a 
 variety found in India and Australia, is still more of a 
 bright green all over, here and there patched with bits 
 of a golden hue, and having a light purple crest. Green, 
 light blue, white, and cream colour, seem to be the pre- 
 dominating tints of the other varieties. The turtur 
 risorius, which is the pigeon referred to in the scrip- 
 tures, under the name of the turtle dove, is of a cream 
 colour, lighter on the breast than on the back, with a 
 stripe of green round the neck, and eyes of a red hue. 
 The most beautiful and handsome shaped pigeon is the 
 turtur lophotes, a native of Australia. This elegant 
 bird is of a very light gray colour on the head and 
 breast, brown along the back, wings with green, red, 
 brown, and cream-coloured feathers, and tail black, ex- 
 cept round the edges, which are white ; from the back 
 of the head grows a long slender tuft pointed gracefully 
 upward, and giving the animal an appearance somewhat 
 like the tufted cockatoo. 
 
 The American continent is famed for the prodigious 
 number of its pigeons, the vast extent of forest affording 
 them at once a place of safe resort and an abundance of 
 food for their subsistence. Audubon describes the habits 
 and geographical distribution of six varieties of pigeons 
 which frequent the United States: the Passenger pigeon, 
 the Carolina dove, the Ground dove, the White-headed 
 pigeon, the Zenaida dove, and the Key West pigeon. 
 
 The Passenger pigeon possesses, as is well known, an 
 
 extraordinary power of flight, and this is seconded by as 
 great a power of vision. Though flying high and swiftly, 
 
THE PIGEON. 
 
 121 
 
 wild state, in the woods, are by no means so 
 fruitful as those in our pigeon- houses nearer 
 home. The power of increase in most birds 
 depends upon the quantity of their food ; and 
 it is seen, in more than one instance, that 
 man, by supplying food in plenty, and allow- 
 ing the animal at the same time a proper 
 share of freedom, has brought some of those 
 kinds which are known to lay but once a year, 
 to become much more prolific. 
 
 The tame pigeon, and all its beautiful 
 varieties, derive their orgin from one species, 
 
 they can inspect the country below them with facility, 
 and easily perceive the food they are in quest of. In 
 Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, the largest flocks of these 
 wild pigeons are seen. Wilson's description of the my- 
 riad flocks of these pigeons has often been quoted. His 
 successor, Audubon, in a paper read before the Royal 
 Society of Edinburgh, gives the following description 
 of them. 
 
 The most important facts, he says, connected with the 
 habits of these birds relate to their extraordinary associa- 
 tions and migrations. No other species known to natur- 
 alists is more calculated to attract the attention of either 
 the citizen or the stranger, as he has opportunities of 
 viewing both of these characteristic habits while they 
 are passing from north to south, east and west, and vice 
 versa, over and across the whole extent of the United 
 States of America. 
 
 Their great power of flight enables them when in 
 need, to survey and pass over an astonishing extent of 
 country in a very short time. This is proved by facts 
 known to the greater number of observers in America. 
 Pigeons, for example, have been killed in the neigh- 
 bourhood of New York, with their crops still filled with 
 rice, collected by them in the fields of Georgia and 
 Carolina, the nearest point at which this supply could 
 possibly have been obtained ; and as it is well ascer- 
 tained that, owing to their great power of digestion, 
 they will decompose food entirely in twelve hours, they 
 must have travelled between three hundred and four 
 hundred miles in six hours, making their speed at an 
 average of about one mile in a minute, and this would 
 enable one of these birds, if so inclined, to visit the 
 European continent, as swallows undoubtedly are able to 
 do, in a couple of days. 
 
 Their multitudes in our woods are astonishing; and, 
 indeed, after having viewed them so often, and under so 
 many circumstances, for years, and, I may add, in many 
 different climates, I even now feel inclined to pause, 
 and assure myself afresh that what I am going to relate 
 is fact. That I have seen it is most certain ; and I 
 have seen it all in the company of hundreds of ether 
 persons looking on, like myself, amazed, and wondering 
 if what we saw was really true. 
 
 In the autumn of 1813, I left my house at Hender- 
 son, on the banks of the Ohio, on my way to Louisville. 
 Having met the pigeons flying from north-east to south- 
 vest, in the barrens or natural wastes a few miles be- 
 yond Hardensburgh, in greater apparent numbers than I 
 thought I had ever seen them before, I felt an inclina- 
 tion to enumerate the flocks that would pass within the 
 reach of my eye in one hour. I dismounted, and, seat- 
 ing myself on a tolerable eminence, took my pencil to 
 mark down what I saw going by and over me, and made 
 a dot for every flock which passed. Finding, however 
 that this was next to impossible, and feeling unable to 
 record the flocks, as they multiplied constantly, I rose 
 and counting the dots then put down, discovered that a 
 hundred and sixty-three had been made in twenty-one 
 minutes. I travelled on, and still met more the farthe 
 
 the stock-dove only; the English name, imply- 
 ng its being the stock or stem from whence 
 the other domestic kinds have been propa- 
 gated. 1 This bird, in its natural state, is of a 
 deep bluish ash-colour ; the breast dashed with 
 a fine changeable green and purple ; its wings 
 marked with two black bars; the back white, 
 and the tail barred near the end with black. 
 These are the colours of the pigeon in a state 
 of nature ; and from these simple tints has 
 man by art propagated a variety that words 
 cannot describe, nor even fancy suggest. How- 
 
 I went. The air was literally filled with pigeons; the 
 light of noon-day became dim, as during an eclipse ; the 
 pigeons' dung fell in spots, not unlike melting flakes 
 of snow; and the continued buzz of their wings over 
 me had a tendency to incline my senses to repose. 
 Whilst waiting for my dinner at Young's Inn, at the 
 confluence of Salt river with the Ohio, I saw, at my 
 leisure, immense legions still going by, with a front 
 reaching far beyond the Ohio on the west, and the beech 
 wood forests directly on the east of me. Yet not a single 
 bird would alight ; for not a nut or acorn was that year 
 to be seen in the neighbourhood. They consequently flew 
 so high, that different trials to reach them with a capital 
 rifle proved ineffectual, and not even the report disturbed 
 them in the least. But I cannot describe how beautiful 
 their aerial evolutions were if a black hawk appeared in 
 their rear. At once, like a torrent, and with a thunder- 
 like noise, they formed themselves into almost a solid 
 compact mass, pressing each on each towards the centre ; 
 and when in such solid bodies they zig-zagged to escape 
 the murderous falcon, now down close over the earth, 
 sweeping with inconceivable velocity, then ascending 
 perpendicularly, like a vast monument ; and when high 
 were seen wheeling and twisting within their continued 
 lines, resembling the coils of a gigantic serpent. Before 
 sunset I reached Louisville, distance from Hardensburgh 
 fifty-five miles, where the pigeons were still passing; 
 and this continued for three days in succession. The 
 people were indeed all up in arms, and shooting on all 
 sides at the passing flocks. The banks of the river were 
 crowded with men and children, for here the pigeons flew 
 rather low as they passed the Ohio. This gave a fair 
 opportunity to destroy them in great number. For a 
 week or more the population spoke of nothing but pigeons, 
 and fed on no other flesh but that of pigeons. The 
 whole atmosphere during this time was strongly impreg- 
 nated with the smell appertaining to their species. 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be out of place to attempt an 
 estimate of the number of pigeons contained in one of 
 those mighty flocks, and the quantity of food daily con- 
 sumed by its members. The inquiry will show the asto- 
 nishing bounty of the Creator in his works, and how 
 universally this bounty has been granted to every living 
 thing on that vast continent of America. 
 
 We shall take, for example, a column of one mile in 
 breadth, which is far below the average size, and suppose 
 it passing over us without interruption for three hours, at 
 the rate mentioned above, of one mile per minute. This 
 will give us a parallelogram of one hundred and eighty 
 miles by one, covering one hundred and eighty square 
 miles, and allowing two pigeons to the square yard, we 
 have one billion one hundred and fifteen millions one 
 hundred and thirty-six thousand pigeons in one flock; 
 and as every pigeon consumes fully half a pint of food 
 per day, the quantity must be eight millions seven hun- 
 dred and twelve thousand bushels per day which is re- 
 quired to feed such a flock. 
 
 1 The British domestic pigeons are now supposed to 
 have their origin in the wild rock-pigeon. See Note, ante. 
 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
122 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 ever, Nature still perseveres in her great out- 
 line ; and though the form, colour, and even 
 the fecundity, of these birds, may be altered 
 by art, yet their natural manners and inclina- 
 tions continue still the same. 1 
 
 1 The Ring Pigeon or Cushat is a bird widely dis- 
 
 seminated throughout Europe, either as a permanent 
 resident, or as a periodical visitant; in the first state, in 
 all those countries where the climate and temperature 
 are such as to ensure a constant supply of food, and in 
 the latter, in those higher latitudes where the 3'igour 
 of winter is severely felt, and the ground for a long period 
 remains covered with snow. Of its geographical distri- 
 bution in other quarters of the globe, we can only speak 
 with uncertainty, as it is evident, that species, bearing a 
 resemblance in form and colour, have been mistaken for 
 it, and as such recorded in the relations of various tra- 
 vellers. Temminck mentions it in his History of the 
 pigeons, as inhabiting parts of northern Asia and Africa, 
 and it is known to be a native of Madeira, as well as 
 another nearly allied species, lately described in the 
 " Illustrations of Ornithology," under the title of the 
 Columba Trocaz. In America it has not yet been re- 
 cognized, neither does it appear among the species which 
 abound within the tropical latitudes of the ancient world. 
 In Britain it is distributed from one extremity of the 
 kingdom to the other, residing permanently with us ; for, 
 though subject to a partial movement upon the approach 
 of winter, when the various individuals scattered over 
 the country collect together, and form extensive flocks, 
 no actual migration takes place, but these congregated 
 masses still keep within their respective districts. The 
 magnitude of these winter flocks has no doubt suggested 
 the idea, that a migration from distant climes to this 
 country annually takes place at this season of the year, 
 and that the numbers of our native stock are thus aug- 
 mented. We see no necessity, however, for supposing 
 this to be the case, nor is it authorised by any observed 
 or established fact. The species in districts favourable 
 to its increase appears to be sufficiently numerous to ac- 
 count for the largest bodies ever seen assembled toge- 
 ther. 
 
 This congregating of the Ring pigeons takes place to- 
 wards the end of October or beginning of November, at 
 which time all the autumnal broods have become fully 
 fledged, and they remain thus united till the beginning 
 of February, when the first mild days and the genial 
 influence of the ascending sun again call forth those in- 
 stinctive feelings which urge them to separate and pair, 
 and each to seek an appropriate retreat for the rearing 
 of a future brood. At first when thus congregated, they 
 haunt the stubbles, or, in districts producing an abun- 
 dance of beech-mast or acorns, the woods and trees ; but 
 as these resources become exhausted, they resort to the 
 turnip fields, the leaves and tops of which root they 
 greedily devour. This food now constitutes their prin- 
 cipal support during the winter and early spring months, 
 or until the clover begins to sprout, and the seed-corn is 
 committed to the earth, and it has been observed that the 
 
 The stock-dove, in its native woods, differs 
 from the ring-dove, a bird that has never been 
 reclaimed, by its breeding in the holes of rocks 
 and the hollows of trees. All other birds of 
 the pigeon kind build, like rooks, in the top- 
 increase of the species has been progressive with that of 
 the culture of this valuable root. The numerous and 
 extensive plantations that of late years have been so gen- 
 erally made throughout the island, and which, in a young 
 and close growing state, are peculiarly favourable to its 
 habits, must also be taken into account, and perhaps 
 these tend, in an equal degree to the cause above assigned, 
 to the rapid increase of its numbers. When thus 
 united, they repair to their feeding-ground early in the 
 morning, and again in the afternoon before they retire 
 to roost, the middle of the day being passed in repose or 
 digesting their first meal, upon the nearest trees. When 
 thus perched, some are always upon the watch, and so 
 great is their vigilance, that it is almost impossible, by 
 any device, to get within gun-shot. In the evening 
 they retire to the woods to roost, preferring those of the 
 fir tribe and the ash to any other, and in those nocturnal 
 retreats great slaughter is sometimes committed, by wait- 
 ing in concealment their arrival, which regularly takes 
 place immediately after sunset. 
 
 The first mild weather in February produces an im- 
 mediate effect upon these congregated pigeons, and we 
 may almost calculate to a day when their cooing and 
 plaintive murmurs will again be heard in their wonted 
 summer haunts. The flocks are now seen daily to de- 
 crease in magnitude, and in a short time every wood 
 and copse becomes peopled with the numerous pairs of 
 this lovely bird. The male soon after commences a 
 flight peculiar to the season of courtship and love, this 
 is a rising and falling in the air, by alternate move- 
 ments, in which flight, and when at the greatest eleva- 
 tion, the upper surfaces of the wings are brought sc 
 forcibly into contract, as to be heard at a considerable 
 distance. Nidification soon follows this well-known 
 signal, and by the end of April the young in many in- 
 stances are fully fledged, and ready to quit the nest. 
 Few, however, of the early brood, comparatively speak- 
 ing, attain maturity, as the eggs at this season, from the 
 naked state of the woods, are easily discovered by the 
 prying eye and inquisitive habits of the cunning magpie 
 and predacious carrion-crow. 
 
 The nest of the cushat is a flimsy fabric, being a mere 
 platform of twigs loosely interwoven, so open, indeed, 
 that the eggs, in one newly built, and before it becomes 
 thickened by the droppings of a previous brood, may be 
 seen through it from beneath; and so slight is the cen- 
 tral depression, that it frequently happens, where the 
 incubating bird is suddenly disturbed, the eggs, in the 
 hurry to escape, are tumbled from the nest, and perish 
 upon the ground. The site selected for nidification is 
 various, and no tree or bush seems to come amiss at 
 certain periods of the year. In early spring, however, 
 and before the deciduous trees acquire their umbrageous 
 and leafy covering, firs, and other evergreens, are pre- 
 ferred, on account of the better concealment and protec- 
 tion they afford. From this diversity of site, the nest 
 is necessarily placed at various elevations, at one time 
 being far removed from the ground, as when it is built 
 near the summit of a lofty spruce, or in the thick foliage 
 of a beech or sycamore, at another scarcely out of reach, 
 and but a few feet from the earth, as we find it in the 
 holly, the young fir, the thorn, or other bushy trees. 
 The eggs, always two in number, are white, of an oblong 
 form, and rounded nearly equally at both ends. Incuba- 
 tion lasts from eighteen to twenty days, and both sexes 
 sit alternately, the male taking the place of his mat> 
 when hunger compels her to quit the nest, and so vice 
 
THE PIGEON. 
 
 123 
 
 most branches of the forest, and choose their 
 habitation as remote as possible from man. 
 But this species soon takes to build in artificial 
 cavities ; and, from the temptation of a ready 
 
 versa. When first excluded, the young are blind, their 
 skin of a blue or livid colour, thinly covered with a harsh 
 yellow down. In this tender state they are long and as- 
 siduously brooded over by the parent birds, and are fed 
 with a milky pulp, ejected from the crop, where the food 
 undergoes a partial digestion, preparatory to its being 
 given to them. As they gain strength and become 
 fledged, food is more frequently supplied, and, con- 
 sequently, from its not remaining so long in the craw of 
 the old bird, in a less and less comminuted form, till at 
 length, previous to their finally quitting the nest, it is 
 administered in a state but little altered from that in 
 which it is first swallowed by the old birds. 
 
 The Ring Pigeon breeds twice in the year, viz. in 
 spring, and again in autumn, a cessation taking place 
 during the greater part of June and July, being a period of 
 comparative scarcity, the seeds of such plants as they 
 principally subsist on not having then ripened or attained 
 perfection. The autumnal brood, on account of the more 
 effectual concealment of the nests by the now matured 
 and thick foliage of the woods, is always more abundant 
 than that of spring, and, in favourable districts, great num- 
 bers annually escape. In certain seasons, the young pro- 
 duce in autumn are subject to a peculiar disease, which des- 
 troys many of them even after they have quitted the nest. 
 It appears in the form of large swellings or impostumes, 
 upon the feet and head, which, rapidly increasing, at 
 length deprives them of sight and the power of perching, 
 and they perish upon the ground, emaciated by hunger 
 and disease. This complaint, for many years past, has 
 been observed in the northern districts of the kingdom, 
 but whether it prevails to an equal extent in other parts, 
 we have had no opportunity of ascertaining. The flesh 
 of both young and old is of good flavour, that of the latter 
 being little inferior to the moor-game or grouse, which it 
 is thought by many to resemble in taste. This, however, 
 can only be said of it, so long as the bird derives its sup- 
 port from the stubbles, or the produce of the forest ; for 
 as soon as a deficiency of their food compels it to resort 
 to the turnip field, the flesh becomes imbued so thorough- 
 ly with the strong flavour of the plant, as no longer to be 
 fit for the table. Though the Ring Pigeon frequently 
 approaches our habitations during the breeding season 
 in search of a site for its nest, and almost seems to court 
 the vicinity of man, it always evinces a timorous disposi- 
 tion, and is startled arid alarmed by the slightest motion 
 or noise. In the winter, and when congregated, it be- 
 comes still more impatient of approach, and is then one 
 of the most wary and watchful of the feathered race. 
 
 Various attempts have been made to domesticate the 
 Ring Pigeon, but hitherto without success, for although 
 they may be rendered very tame when in confinement, 
 they show no disposition to breed even by themselves, 
 much less with the common pigeon, and upon being set 
 at liberty, soon lose any little attachment they may have 
 shown to the place in which they were reared, and betake 
 themselves to their natural haunts to return no more. 
 
 The Wood Pigeon till of late years, by most of our 
 writers, was confounded with the rock pigeon, the 
 original stock of our common pigeon, or at least had its 
 history so mixed up with the descriptions of that bird, 
 as to render its individuality and specific distinction a 
 matter of considerable doubt. Brisson appears to have 
 been the first who accurately pointed out the distinctions 
 between the two, and he has since been followed by 
 Temminck, who, in his general history of the pigeons, 
 and his excellent and useful Manual of Ornithology, had 
 so clearly marked its distinctive characters, and des- 
 oibed its habits, as to render it almost impossible 
 
 provision and numerous society, easily submits 
 to the tyranny of man. Still, however, it 
 preserves its native colour for several genera- 
 tions, and becomes more variegated only in 
 
 even for a very tyro to confound or mistake the one with 
 
 ill<l .lilluf 
 
 the other 
 
 Like the previously described species, it is indigenous, 
 but its distribution is much more limited in extent, 
 being confined to the southern and midland counties of 
 England, and to such districts only as are well clothed 
 with wood ; for, possessing arboreal habits, it is never 
 found inhabiting those localities affected by the Columba 
 livia (rock pigeon,) such as the caverns of rocks, ruin- 
 ous edifices, &c. During the spring and summer, it is 
 distributed in pairs throughout the woods, where it breeds, 
 sometimes in the decayed hollows of the ivy-mantled 
 trunks, at others on the forks or amidst the higher bran- 
 ches of the trees. The nest is similar to that of the ring 
 pigeon, and its two white eggs, though inferior in size, 
 present the same oblong form. Two broods are annually 
 produced, the first in spring, the second after midsum- 
 mer, a period of rest or recruiting of the vital forces tak- 
 ing place between the end of May and the middle of 
 July. As autumn advances, the various broods begin 
 to congregate, and soon form flocks of great magnitude, 
 which continue assembled during the winter, and are 
 sometimes seen commingled with bodies of their larger 
 congener, the cushat. In parts of France, Germany, 
 and the northern kingdoms of Europe, it is a migratory 
 species, and a summer or polar visitant, the late autumnal 
 and winter months being passed in warmer latitudes, 
 where a due supply of food can then be found. In dis- 
 position it shows a timidity and watchfulness equal to 
 that of any other species, particularly during the winter 
 months, when associated in troops. Its food consists of 
 grain of all kinds, pulse, acorns, beechmast, &c., and 
 like the cushat, when pressed by hunger, it frequently 
 resorts to the turnip fields to devour the tender leaves 
 and tops of that plant. Its flesh by Temminck is said 
 to be of exquisite flavour, and far superior to that of the 
 ring pigeon, but this perhaps may only be at certain pe- 
 riods, and when feeding upon some peculiar food. 
 
 Near as it approaches the common pigeon in size and 
 form, no mixed breed that we are aware of has ever been 
 obtained between them, although repeated attempts to 
 effect an intercourse have been made. This in our 
 mind appears a strong and convincing proof, that all the 
 varieties, generally known by the name of Fancy Pigeons, 
 have originated from one and the same stock, and not 
 from crosses with other species, as some have supposed, 
 the produce of which, even could it be occasionally obtained 
 we have no doubt would prove to be barren, or what are 
 generally termed mules. 
 
 The Biset or Wild Rock-Pigeon. Rocky and precipi- 
 tous cliffs, particularly those of the sea-coast perforated by 
 caverns, either originating in the nature of the rock itself, 
 or worn and hollowed out by the action of the waves, are tho 
 appropriate retreats of the pigeon in its wild or natural 
 state. In this condition it possesses a very extensive 
 geographical distribution throughout the maritime tik* 
 
124 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 proportion as it removes from the original 
 simplicity of its colouring in the wood. 
 
 The dove-house pigeon, as is well known, 
 breeds every month ; but then it is necessary 
 
 tricts of the world, being abundant in most of the Rocky 
 islands belonging to Africa and Asia, and in those of the 
 Mediterranean, where it swarms in incredible numbers. 
 
 Upon our own coasts it is found wherever the nature of 
 the barrier suits its habits, extending as far as the 
 Orkneys, where Low describes it as the inhabitant of 
 all their numerous and extensive caves, retiring to their 
 inmost recesses, and generally beyond the situations se- 
 lected for nidification by the auks, gulls, and other aquatic 
 fowl. It is also met with upon the northern and west- 
 ern coasts of Sutherland, the perforated and cavernous 
 rocks which gird the eastern side of Loch Eriboll, 
 and those of the limestone districts of Durness, furnish- 
 ing suitable places of retreat, and again upon the eastern 
 coasts of Scotland, it is seen about the rocky steeps of 
 the Isle of Bass, and the bold promontory of St Abb's 
 Head. 
 
 The supposition of many of our ornithologists that this 
 and the preceding species were identical, has led to con- 
 siderable confusion in their writings, and produced a 
 mixed sort of description strictly applicable to neither. 
 The distinctions, however, between the species, even in 
 regard to plumage, are such, that, if attended to, no mistake 
 can well arise, and if accompanied by. a corresponding 
 attention to their respective habits, the difference be- 
 comes still more apparent and convincing. In one we 
 have a bird the frequenter and inhabitant of the woods, 
 where it roosts, breeds, and perches with security and 
 ease upon the trees, like the ring pigeon and other arbo- 
 real species ; in the other, an inhabitant of caves and the 
 holes of rocks, and which is never known, under any cir- 
 cumstance, to affect the forest or perch upon a tree. 
 
 But the rock or wild pigeon is better known to our 
 readers as the inhabitant of the pigeon-house, or, as it is 
 frequently called, the dove-cot, buildings erected ex- 
 pressly for the purpose of containing colonies of these 
 birds. In this state, where they enjoy a perfect freedom 
 of action, and are nearly dependent upon their own exer- 
 tions for support, they can scarcely be called reclaimed, 
 much less domesticated. Man, indeed, has only taken 
 advantage of certain habits natural to the species, and by 
 the substitution of an artificial for a real cavern, to which 
 the pigeon-house may be compared, has, without violat- 
 ing or at least greatly infringing upon its natural condi- 
 tion, brought it into a kind of voluntary subjection, and 
 rendered it subservient to his benefit and use. Vast 
 numbers of young pigeons in various parts of the world 
 are by this system annually produced and rendered avail- 
 able as a wholesome and nutritious food, as well as a 
 soun:<; of considerable profit to the proprietors of these 
 edifices. 
 
 to supply it with food when the weather is 
 severe, or the fields are covered with snow. 
 Upon other occasions, it may be left to provide 
 for itself, and it generally repays the owner 
 
 Various practical treatises upon the management of 
 the dove-cot, and ether details connected with it, are 
 already before the public, and to them we must refer our 
 readers for further information, as the limited nature of 
 the present work will not admit of such copious extracts 
 as would be necessary to embrace all the respective de- 
 tails. It may not, however, be out of place to advert 
 to a few of the principal objects to be considered, by 
 those who contemplate the erection of a pigeon-house; 
 and first in regard to the form of the building. The 
 most approved is that of a circular tower, as it affords 
 advantages not possessed by the square, giving an easier 
 access to the breeding birds to their nests, and a 
 greater facility of taking the young, and inspecting and 
 clearing out the holes, by means of a ladder turning upon 
 an axis. Around the interior of the tower, about three or 
 four feet from the bottom, a horizontal ledge of eight or 
 ten inches in width ought to project, in order to prevent 
 rats, weasels, and other vermin, destructive to the eggs 
 and young, from scaling the walls and entering the 
 pigeon-holes, and if this ledge be covered on its under 
 surface with tin or sheet-iron, it will the more effectually 
 prevent the entrance of such intruders. A second ledge 
 of less width, and about midway up in a pigeon-house of 
 considerable height, may also be of advantage, not only 
 for additional security against enemies, but as a resting- 
 place for the pigeons when they enter the house. The 
 holes or nests are best built in quincunx order, and not 
 directly over one another, and they ought to be suffi- 
 ciently large to allow the old birds to move in them with 
 freedom, and to stand upright, in which position they 
 always feed their young. 
 
 Frequent attention to the state of the holes is neces- 
 sary, and they ought regularly to be inspected and cleansed 
 after each great flight, that is, towards the end of May, 
 and again before winter. The dung accumulated at 
 the bottom of the house should also be removed every 
 three or four months, as the effluvium which arises from 
 it when in a large mass, and in a state of fermentation, 
 is injurious to the health of the birds, and also prevents 
 them making use of the lower tiers of nest-holes. In 
 point of situation, a gentle acclivity, exposed to the south, 
 and open to the rays of the sun, in which the pigeon de- 
 lights to bask and repose, is the most favourable. It 
 ought not to be too far removed from a plentiful supply 
 of water, as the pigeon is a great and frequent drinker; 
 neither too closely surrounded by trees, as, when near, 
 hey interfere with the free egress and ingress of the 
 birds, and are supposed to be disagreeable to them, from 
 the noise they make in winds and storms. The pigeon 
 being a bird of a timid nature, and easily alarmed, the 
 house should stand at such a distance from all the other 
 offices, as not to be incommoded by any noise or move- 
 ments about them. From a pigeon-house of tolerable 
 dimensions, a produce of many dozens of young may annup- 
 ally be procured, and that for nearly eight months out of 
 the twelve, as they are in full breeding from March till 
 the end of May, and again from August till the close of 
 November ; and all that is required to keep up the breed- 
 ing stock, is to permit a limited portion of the latter 
 hatchings to escape. 
 
 In its natural state, the plumage of the pigeon is as 
 
 follows: Bill blackish-brown: the nostril membrane 
 
 red, sprinkled, as it were, with a white powder. The 
 irides pale reddish-orange. The head and throat are 
 bluish-gray. The sides of the neck and upper part of 
 the breast are dark lavender-purple, glossed with shades 
 of green and purplish-rod. The lower part of the breast 
 and abdomen are bluish-gray. The upper mandible and 
 
THE PIGEON. 
 
 125 
 
 for its protection. The pigeon lays two white 
 eggs, which most usually produce young ones 
 of different sexes. For the laying of each 
 egg, it is necessary to have a particular con- 
 wing-coverts are blue-gray. The greater coverts and 
 secondaries are barred with black, and form two broad 
 and distinct bars across the closed wings. The lower 
 part of the back is white; the rump and tail-coverts 
 bluish-gray. The tail is of a deep gray, with a broad 
 black bar at the end. The legs and feet are pale purplish- 
 red. When closed, the wings reach within half an inch 
 of the end of the tail. 
 
 It is under this species that we include not only the 
 common pigeon, or inhabitant of the dove-cot, but all 
 those numerous varieties, or, as they are frequently 
 termed, races of domesticated pigeons, so highly prized, 
 and fostered with such care and attention by the amateur 
 breeder or pigeon fancier ; for, however diversified their 
 forms, colour, or peculiarity of habit may be, we con- 
 sider them all as having originated from a few accidental 
 varieties of the common pigeon, and not from any cross 
 of that bird with other species, no signs or marks what- 
 ever of such being apparent in any of the numerous 
 varieties known to us. 
 
 The Jacobine Pigeon. This curious variety, which, 
 
 ;ress with the male ; and the egg is usually 
 deposited in the afternoon. When the eggs 
 are thus laid, the female, in the space of fif- 
 teen days, not including the three days dur- 
 
 as transmitting to its posterity a form precisely similar, 
 with all the peculiar characters undiminished, comes 
 under the designation, among pigeon fanciers, of a pure 
 or permanent race, is distinguished by a remarkable rurT 
 or frill of raised feathers, which, commencing behind the 
 head, and proceeding down the neck and breast, form a 
 kind of hood, not unlike that worn by a monk ; and from 
 its resemblance to which it has obtained its Gallic trivial 
 name of Nonnain capucin. In size it is one of the 
 smallest of the domestic pigeons, but its form is light 
 and elegant. The bill is very short; the eyes surrounded 
 with a moderate circle of naked red skin. The legs 
 are unplumed. The head, the wings, and the tail, are 
 always white. The usual colour of the hood is reddish- 
 brown, with iridescent tints. The mantle, the wing- 
 coverts, and the breast, are reddish-brown. It is also 
 sometimes seen with the mantle and wing-coverts of a 
 very deep red, spotted with black. Another variety, of 
 a uniform pale fawn-colour, is not unfrequent ; but that 
 most highly prized is entirely of a pure and glossy white. 
 It is a very productive species, and, having its flight 
 considerably impeded by the size and form of its hooded 
 pile, keeps much at home, and is well adapted for the 
 aviary or other buildings where pigeons are kept con- 
 fined. 
 
 The Collared Turtle. From a very remote period this 
 species appears to have been domesticated, or rather 
 kept in that state of captivity in which it is retained at 
 the present day; for there is every reason to suppose 
 that the turtle dove adverted to in Holy Writ may be 
 referred to the same bird, as it is still abundant in Egypt 
 and other parts of the East, where it is fostered and cul- 
 tivated with care, and it is certain that many of the re- 
 presentations in the works of ancient art, where the dove 
 figures as the emblem of tenderness and affection, or 
 where it is depicted as the appropriate attendant ol 
 
 Venus, are accurate delineations of the Collared or domes- 
 tic Turtle. This bird does not appear to be susceptible 
 
 of that attachment to its home or place of birth, for 
 which the common or Dove-cot Pigeon is remarkable, 
 and which peculiar quality renders that species so service- 
 able to man. On the contrary, like its congener the 
 common or wild European turtle ( Turtur communis,} it 
 cannot be left to range at perfect liberty, without the 
 danger of its flying away to return no more, arid must 
 therefore be kept constantly confined either in cages or 
 in aviaries adapted for the purpose. In this state of 
 captivity, if properly attended to, it breeds with facility, 
 sometimes producing as many as eight broods within the 
 year ; but, being a native of warm climates, and very 
 impatient of cold, it is seldom cultivated to the same 
 extent in this country as it is in those where the tem- 
 perature is better adapted to its constitution. The male 
 shows great tenderness and affection to his mate, and is 
 constantly by her side, soothing her with caresses, or 
 paying his court by soft cooing notes, and that peculiar 
 cry so expressive of laughter, and from which it takes its 
 specific name. In its wild or natural state, it is found 
 in various parts of Africa, and we have by us specimens 
 from the southern part of that continent, a description 
 of which, as varying in depth and intensity of colour 
 from the domestic variety, is here subjoined. The length 
 is about ten inches. The chin is whitish ; from the cor- 
 ners of the mouth to the eyes, is a narrow streak of black. 
 The forehead is pale bluish-gray ; the crown darker ; the 
 cheeks, neck, breast, and belly gray, tinged with vina- 
 ceous or pale purplish-red ; the hind neck with a demi- 
 collar of black, some of the side feathers composing it 
 being tipped with white. The back scapulars and rump 
 are of a pale clove-brown, with a greenish tinge. The 
 margins of the wings, the greater coverts, and other wing- 
 coverts, are blue-gray. The greater quills are hair-brown, 
 delicately edged with grayish-white. The tail is slightly 
 rounded, the two middle feathers entirely clove-brown, 
 the remainder on each side with the basal half black, the 
 tips bluish-gray, except those of the two outermost, which 
 are white. The vent and under tail-coverts are white; 
 the legs and feet gray; the inner toe a little longer thau 
 the outer. In its natural state, it inhabits the woods, 
 where it breeds, making a nest similar to that of the 
 common turtle, and lays two white eggs. It seeks its 
 food in the open grounds, and subsists upon grain, grass- 
 seeds, pulse, &c. It is easily distinguished, and the 
 place of its retreat soon discovered by its cooing-notes, 
 one of which we have already stated to resemble the 
 human laugh. 
 
 A mixed breed is sometimes obtained between this 
 species and the common wild turtle, but the progeny are 
 invariably mules, and incapable of further increase, a 
 fact that has been established by many careful and oft- 
 repeated experiments, and one which pflhnts a strong 
 
126 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 ing which she is employed in laying, continues 
 to hatch, relieved at intervals by the male. 
 The turns are usually regulated with great 
 exactness. From three or four o'clock in the 
 evening till nine the next day, the female 
 continues to sit ; she is then relieved by the 
 male, who takes his place from ten till three, 
 while his mate is feeding abroad. In this 
 manner they sit alternately till the young are 
 excluded. If, during this term, the female 
 delays to return at the expected time, the 
 male follows, arid drives her to the nest; and 
 should he in his turn be dilatory, she retaliates 
 with equal severity. 
 
 The young ones, when hatched, require no 
 food for the three first days, only wanting to 
 be kept warm, which is an employment the 
 female takes entirely upon herself. During 
 this period, she never stirs out, except for a 
 few minutes to take a little food. From this 
 they are fed for eight or ten days with corn 
 or grain of different kinds, which the old ones 
 gather in the fields, and keep treasured up in 
 their crops, from whence they throw it up 
 again into the mouths of their young ones, who 
 very greedily demand it. 
 
 As this method of feeding the young from 
 the crop is different in birds of the pigeon- 
 kind from all others, it demands a more de- 
 tailed explanation. Of all birds, for its size, 
 the pigeon has the largest crop, which is also 
 made in a manner quite peculiar to the kind. 
 In two of these that were dissected by a 
 member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, 
 
 argument against the supposition, that many of the varie- 
 ties of the common pigeon, or of the domestic fowl, are 
 the result of a mixture of different species. 
 
 The Ferruginous Ground Dove. This diminutive 
 
 species, which only measures about six inches and a 
 quarter in length, is pretty widely distributed throughout 
 Brazil, Paraguay, and other districts of South America. 
 It lives in the open grounds, but generally near to the 
 confines of woods, as it roosts and breeds upon the lower 
 bushes or underwood, but never upon the larger trees, or 
 far from the ground. It is generally observed in pairs, 
 sometimes in families of four or six, but never associated 
 in large flocks. It appears to be of a tame disposition, 
 as it is seen constantly about the confines of the houses 
 or in the farm-yards, and readily admits of a near ap- 
 proach. Wagler observes, that, in Europe, it is easily 
 kept and propagated in the aviary. It is active upon 
 the ground, and feeds upon the smaller cerealia, berries, 
 c. (For the materials of this Note, we are indebted to 
 Mr Selby's volume on Pigeous, in the Naturalist's 
 Library, Edinburgh, 1830.) 
 
 it was found that if the anatomist blew air 
 into the wind-pipe, it distended the crop or 
 gullet to a prodigious size. This was the 
 more extraordinary, as there seemed to be no 
 communication whatever between these two 
 receptacles; as the conduit by which we 
 breathe, as every one knows, leads to a very 
 different receptacle from that where we put 
 our food. By what apertures the air blown 
 into the lungs of the pigeon makes its way 
 into the crop, is unknown; but nothing is 
 more certain than that these birds have a 
 power of filling the crop with air ; and some 
 of them, which are called croppers, distend it 
 in such a manner, that the bird's breast seems 
 bigger than its body. The peculiar mechan- 
 ism of this part is not well known ; but the 
 necessity for it in these animals is pretty ob- 
 vious. The pigeon, as we all know, lives 
 entirely upon grain and water : these are 
 mixed together in the crop ; and in the ordi- 
 nary way are digested in proportion as the 
 birds lays in its provision. But to feed its 
 young, which are very voracious, it is neces- 
 sary to lay in a store greater than ordinary 
 and to give the food a kind of half macera- 
 tion, to suit their tender appetites. The heat 
 of the bird's body, assisted by air, and nume- 
 rous glands separating a milky fluid, are the 
 most necessary instruments for this operation : 
 but, in proportion as the food macerates, it 
 begins to swell also ; and the crop must, of 
 consequence, be considerably dilated. Still, 
 however, the air which is contained in it 
 gives the bird a power of contracting it at 
 pleasure ; for if it were filled with more solid 
 substances, the bird could have no power to 
 compress it. But this is not the case, the 
 bird can compress its crop at pleasure ; and 
 driving out the air, can thus drive out the 
 food also, which is forced up the gullet, like 
 a pellet from a pop-gun. The young ones, 
 open-mouthed, receive this tribute of affection, 
 and are thus fed three times a-day. In feed- 
 ing, the male usually supplies the young 
 female, while the old female supplies the 
 young of the opposite sex. The food with 
 which they are supplied, is more macerated 
 at the beginning ; but as they grow older, 
 the parents give it less preparation, and at 
 last drive them out to shift for themselves. 
 When well fed, however, the old ones do not 
 wait for the total dismission of their young ; 
 but in the same nest are to be found young 
 ones almost fit for flight, and eggs hatching 
 at the same time. 
 
 The fidelity of the turtle-dove is proverbial, 
 and makes the usual comparison of such poets 
 as are content to repeat what others have said 
 before them ; but the pigeon of the dove- 
 house is not so faithful ; and having been 
 subjected to man, it puts on licentiousness 
 
THE PIGEON. 
 
 J27 
 
 among its other domestic habits. Two males 
 are ol'ten seen quarrelling for the same mis- 
 tress ; and when the female admits the ad- 
 dresses of a new gallant, her old companion 
 seems to bear the contempt with some marks 
 of displeasure, abstaining from her company; 
 or if he approaches, it is only to chastise her. 
 There have been instances when two males, 
 being displeased with their respective mates, 
 have thought proper to make an exchange, 
 and have lived in great harmony with their 
 new companions, 
 
 So great is the produce of this bird in its 
 domestic state, that near fifteen thousand may, 
 in the space of four years, be produced from 
 a single pair. But the stock-dove seldom 
 breeds above twice a year ; for when the 
 winter months come, the whole employment 
 of the fond couple is rather for self-preserva- 
 tion, than transmitting a posterity. They 
 seem, however, to have a stronger attachment 
 to their young than those who are found to 
 breed so often ; whether it be that instinct 
 acts more powerfully upon them in their state 
 of nature, or that their affections are less di- 
 vided by the multiplicity of claims. 
 
 It is from a species of these, therefore, that 
 those pigeons which are called Carriers, and 
 are used to convey letters, are produced. These 
 are easily distinguished from all others by 
 their eyes, which are compassed about with 
 a broad circle of naked white skin, and by 
 being of a dark blue or blackish colour. It 
 is from their attachment to their native place, 
 and particularly where they have brought up 
 their young, that these birds are employed in 
 several countries as the most expeditious car- 
 riers. They are first brought from the place 
 where they were bred, and whither it is in- 
 tended to send them back with information. 
 The letter is tied under the bird's wing, and 
 it is then let loose to return. The little ani- 
 mal no sooner finds itself at liberty, than its 
 passion for its native spot directs all its mo- 
 tions. It is seen, upon these occasions, fly- 
 ing directly into the clouds to an amazing 
 height; and then, with the greatest certainty 
 and exactness, directing itself, by some sur- 
 prising instinct, towards home, which lies 
 sometimes at many miles distance, bringing 
 its message to those to whom it is directed. 
 By what marks they discover the place, by 
 what chart they are guided in the right way, 
 is to us utterly unknown ; certain it is, that 
 in the space of an hour and a half they per- 
 form a journey of forty miles ; which is a 
 degree of despatch three times greater than 
 the fleetest quadruped can perform. These 
 birds are not brought up at present with as 
 much care as formerly, when they were sent 
 from governors in a besieged city to generals 
 that were coming to relieve it without ; when 
 
 they were sent from princes to their subjects 
 with the tidings of some fortunate event ; or 
 from lovers to their mistresses with expres- 
 sions of their passion. The only use we now 
 see made of them is to be let fly at Tyburn, 
 when the cart is drawn away ; pretty much 
 as when some ancient hero was to be interred, 
 an eagle was let off from the funeral pile, to 
 complete his apotheosis. 1 
 
 1 The Carrier Pigeon is larger than the ordinary 
 pigeon, being fifteen inches in length from the bill to 
 the tail, and weighing about twenty ounces. It is gener- 
 ally black or dun, and occasionally blue or blue piebald, 
 and has a very large cere hanging down by the sides of 
 its bill, like the male turkey. The species is supposed 
 to have been indigenous to Persia, though it is now t 
 be found in many other countries. The instinct which 
 has rendered the carrier pigeon so serviceable, is one 
 manifested, under various modifications, by many other 
 animals an instinct by which the creature, if it be- 
 comes attached to any place as a home, as a scene of 
 habitual gratification, or as the place where it has re- 
 cently brought forth young, is able to find its way thither 
 from any distance to which it may have been removed, 
 if no physical obstructions of an absolutely insurmount- 
 able character should intervene. Though the carrier 
 pigeon is naturally prompted to revert to the place of its 
 ordinary residence, man has adopted various precau- 
 tionary measures in order to make its return on particular 
 occasions more certain. A male and female are usually 
 kept together and treated well ; and one of these, when 
 taken elsewhere, is supposed to have the greater induce- 
 ment to come back. It is even considered necessary by 
 some that the bird should have left eggs in the process 
 of incubation, or unfledged young ones, at home, in order 
 to make the return certain ; but probably these are 
 superfluous precautions. It is obvious that the carrier 
 pigeon can only be put to use in conformity with some 
 contemplated plan, for which the proper preparations 
 have been made. It must have been taken from a place 
 to which it is wished that it should return, and it must, 
 at the moment when its services are wanted, be tem- 
 porarily at the place from which the intelligence is to 
 be conveyed. It is usually taken to that place hood- 
 winked, or in a covered basket: the instinct by which 
 it finds its way back upon its own wings, must of course 
 be independent of all knowledge of the intermediate loca- 
 lities. When the moment for employing it has arrived, 
 the individual requiring its services writes a small billet 
 upon thin paper, which is placed lengthwise under the 
 wing, and fastened by a pin to one of the feathers, with 
 some precautions to prevent the pin from pricking, and 
 the paper from filling with air, so as to retard and weary 
 the bird. On being released, the carrier ascends to a 
 great height, takes one or two turns in the air, and then 
 commences its forward career. According to one ac- 
 count, it can fly a thousand parasangs, or about 2700 
 English miles, in a day; but several experiments of re- 
 cent date seem to concur in establishing forty miles in 
 the hour, or about a thousand a-day, as the average 
 flight. This last computation, we may remark, gives 
 inferior results to some which have been ascertained in 
 reference to other birds. The common swift has been 
 known to fly sixty, and the wild duck ninety, miles in 
 an hour. A swallow was once found to traverse twenty 
 miles in thirteen minutes. 
 
 Allusions to carrier pigeons are very frequent in the 
 ancient classic writers, and in the Arabic poets. Ana- 
 creon informs us that he held a correspondence with his 
 lovely Bathillus by means of a dove. It is related by 
 ^Elian, that Taurosthenes, a victor in the Olympic 
 games, dispatched a pigeon stained with purple, to an- 
 
128 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 The varieties of the tame pigeon are so 
 numerous, that it would be a vain attempt to 
 mention them : so much is the figure and 
 colour of this bird under human control, that 
 pigeon- fanciers, by coupling a male and fe- 
 male of different sorts, can breed them, as 
 they express it, to a feather. From hence 
 
 nonnce his triumph to his father, then residing in the 
 island of ^Egina. Pliny also narrates that a correspond- 
 ence by means of pigeons was carried on, during the 
 siege ot Modena, between Decimus Brutus and Hirtius. 
 " Of what avail," says he, "were sentinels, circumval- 
 lations, or nets obstructing the rivers, when intelligence 
 could be conveyed by aerial messengers ?" In the 
 crusades, the practice was tried by the besieged inhabi- 
 tants of Tyre, but with less success. The besiegers 
 had observed pigeons frequently hovering over the city, 
 and began to suspect that these birds were messengers. 
 Having contrived to seize one, they loaded it with false 
 intelligence, in consequence of which they obtained pos- 
 session of the place. A regular system of posting by 
 means of carrier pigeons was established in the twelfth 
 century by the Sultan Noureddiri Mahmoud. It was 
 afterwards improved and extended, and continued till 
 Bagdad fell into the hands of the Mongols in 1258. Sir 
 John Mandeville, who travelled in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, alludes to such a system as practised by the Turkish 
 government. It was described at a somewhat later 
 period as being carried on by means of lofty towers, 
 erected at the distance of about thirty miles asunder, and 
 provided with a proper number of pigeons. Sentinels 
 kept watch in these towers, to receive the birds, and 
 transmit the intelligence which they had brought by 
 others. The notice was inscribed on a thin slip of paper, 
 enclosed in a gold box of small dimensions, and as thin 
 as the paper itself, suspended to the neck of the bird ; 
 the hour of arrival and departure was marked at each 
 successive tower, and, for greater security, a duplicate 
 was always dispatched two hours after the first. No 
 such regular system now exists in the Turkish do- 
 minions, but carrier pigeons are still much used there. 
 In Aleppo, during the last century, carrier pigeons 
 were in constant employment for the purpose of ac- 
 quainting the merchants with the arrival of their vessels 
 at Scandaroou. The impatience of the animal to see 
 its young was here taken advantage of, as an additional 
 stimulus to procure its quick return. They would travel 
 from Alexandretta in ten hours, and from Bagdad 
 (thirty days' journey) in two days. From Scandaroon, 
 which was distant forty leagues, they required only from 
 two hours and a half to four hours. An anecdote is 
 related of an Aleppo merchant, who, having acciden- 
 tally killed one of these feathered messengers, was the 
 first to learn that a scarcity of galls prevailed in Eng- 
 land, and, profiting by the intelligence, made a speedy 
 transaction, by which he gained ten thousand crowns. 
 Towards the end of the last century, the employment of 
 pigeons from Alexandretta and Bagdad was laid aside, 
 on account of the frequent destruction of them by the 
 Curd robbers. The practice was more recently in 
 vogue among the Dutch merchants, for the purpose of 
 anticipating the ordinary means of conveyance in the 
 receipt of stock intelligence, by which they often real- 
 ised considerable sums. For this reason, there is no 
 European country, besides Turkey, in which carrier 
 pigeons are so numerous as in Holland and Belgium. 
 Two inferior varieties, called the dragoon and the horse- 
 man, have also been cultivated to a considerable extent 
 in England, but chiefly for the gratification of the 
 national propensity to betting, or as a department of 
 sport. 
 
 On the llth of July 1819, a great experiment was 
 
 we have the various names of croppers, car- 
 ters, jacobines, powters, runts, turbits : all birds 
 that at first might have accidentally varied 
 from the stock-dove; and then, by having 
 these varieties still heightened by food, cli- 
 mate, and pairing, different species have been 
 produced. 1 But there are many species of 
 
 performed with these animals between London and 
 Antwerp. Thirty-two pigeons, with the word Ant- 
 erp marked on their wings, and which had been 
 reared in that city, were let loose in London at seven 
 o'clock in the morning, after having their wings counter- 
 marked with the name of the British metropolis. The 
 same day, towards noon, one arrived at home, and ob- 
 tained the first prize; a quarter of an hour after, 
 another arrived, and gained the second prize. The fol- 
 lowing day, twelve others arrived, making fourteen in 
 all. Of the fate of the rest no record has come under 
 our notice. In July 1829, another experiment was 
 made, in consequence of wagers laid at Maestricht be- 
 tween some merchants there, that pigeons taken to 
 London would, when let loose, return in six hours. 
 Forty-two pigeons were brought to London, and after 
 being properly marked, were thrown up at twenty-six 
 minutes past eight in the morning. If any one of the 
 number had arrived at Maestricht within six hours, the 
 principal wager, which was for ten thousand guilders, 
 would have been gained ; but, in consequence, it was 
 supposed, of a heavy rain, the first did not arrive till six 
 hours and a quarter from the time when it left London, 
 having, nevertheless, travelled at the rate of forty-five 
 miles an hour, assuming that the journey was performed 
 in a straight line. The second arrived in seven hours, 
 the third in seven hours and ten minutes, the fourth in 
 seven hours and a half, and, in four days, more than 
 twenty had reached Maestricht. 
 
 1 Of the common domesticated pigeon there are now 
 innumerable breeds, all less or more differing from each 
 other, and known by the name of fancy pigeons. The 
 eastern suburbs of London, we believe, is the chief seat 
 of this extravagant fancy-pigeon cultivation, which has 
 been reduced to as regular a branch of science as that 
 of crossing the breeds of horses, sheep, or oxen. The 
 individuals who there carry on the trade of pigeon rear- 
 ing and dealing, are able, by their skill and experience, 
 to produce an animal coloured exactly to a feather. 
 Certain forms, qualities, and colours of birds, are ac- 
 cordingly esteemed, while the smallest departure from 
 the established fashion in any of these points renders the 
 pigeons valueless to the fancier. Inasmuch as a single 
 streak of yellow, though only ths thickness of a hair, in 
 a certain kind of tulip, will reduce its price from twenty 
 guineas to half-a-crown, so will a single improperly 
 coloured feather in the tail of a particular kind of 
 pigeon lower its value in the same proportion. The 
 leading varieties of fancy pigeons are known by the 
 names of the English pouter, the Dutch cropper, the 
 horseman, the unloper, the dragoon, the tumbler, ths>. 
 Leghorn and Spanish runt, the trumpeter, the nun, the 
 fan-tail, and the capuchin. The peculiarities of some 
 of these breeds are very odd. The tumbler, for instance, 
 derives its name from a practice of tumbling in the air 
 while on the wing. Instead of pursuing a steady 
 straightforward flight, it turns over, or casts somersets 
 backward, whirling round heels over head as expertly 
 as a first-rate rope-dancer does when he makes the back 
 spring. The fan-tail derives its name from the circum- 
 stance of its having a remarkably broad tail, which it 
 has the power of spreading out like the tail of a turkey- 
 cock. The prime quality of the bird consists in its 
 ability to make its tail touch its head, and surround it 
 with a wide glory of feathers. If it cannot do this, it is 
 
THE PIGEON. 
 
 129 
 
 the wild pigeon, which, though bearing a 
 strong affinity to the stock-dove, are, never- 
 theless, sufficiently different from it to deserve 
 a distinct description. The ring-dove is of 
 this number; a good deal larger than the 
 former ; and building its nest with a few dry 
 sticks, in the boughs of trees. This seems a 
 bird much fonder of its native freedom than 
 the former; and attempts have been fre- 
 quently made to render it domestic ; but they 
 have hitherto proved fruitless, for though their 
 eggs have been hatched by the tame pigeon 
 in a dove-house, yet, as soon as they could 
 fly, they always betook themselves to the 
 woods where they were first produced. In 
 the beginning of winter these assemble in 
 great flocks in the woods, and leave off coo- 
 ing ; nor do they resume this note of court- 
 ship till the beginning of March, when the 
 
 valueless to the fancier, no matter how excellent are its 
 other properties. The English pouter, which is a cross 
 between a horseman and a cropper, possesses the re- 
 markable property of blowing out its breast or crop to 
 such an extent that it rises to a level with its beak, and 
 the bird appears to look over the top of an inflated 
 bladder. This monstrosity is highly esteemed, and, 
 according to the rules laid down by the fancy, it ought 
 to be large and circular, rising behind the neck, so as to 
 cover and run off at the shoulders. There is a pre- 
 cise point beyond which the pouting must not be car- 
 ried ; for if the inflation goes too far, it upsets the bird, 
 and causes it to tumble backward ; and, therefore, to 
 bring the pouting to the utmost pitch to which equili- 
 brium will be preserved, is reckoned a matter of first 
 importance. 
 
 genial season, by supplying them with food, 
 renews their desires. 
 
 The turtle-dove is a smaller, but a much 
 shyer bird, than any of the former. It may 
 easily be distinguished from the rest by the 
 iris of the eye, which is of a fine yellow, and 
 by a beautiful crimson circle that encompasses 
 the eye-lids. The fidelity of these birds is 
 noted; and a pair being put in a cage, if one 
 dies the other will not survive it. The tur- 
 tle-dove is a bird of passage, and few, or none, 
 remain in our northern climates in winter. 
 They fly in flocks when they come to breed 
 here in summer, and delight in open, moun- 
 tainous, sandy countries. But they build 
 their nests in the midst of woods, and choose 
 the most retired situations for incubation. 
 They feed upon all sorts of grain, but are 
 fondest of millet seed. 
 
 To this short list might be added a long 
 catalogue of foreign pigeons, of which we 
 know little more than the plumage and the 
 names. Indeed, the variety of their plumage 
 is as beautiful, as the names by which they 
 are known are harsh and dissonant. The 
 ocotzimtzcan, for instance, is one of the most 
 splendid tenants of the Mexican forests ; but 
 few, I believe, would desire to learn the 
 name, only to be informed that it is covered 
 with purple, green, and yellow plumage. To 
 describe such birds, the historian's pen is not 
 half such a useful implement as the painter's 
 pencil. 
 
 VOL. n. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 BOOK V. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE SPARROW KIND. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE SPARROW KIND. 
 
 STU.L descending from the larger to the smaller, 
 we come to birds of the sparrow kind ; or that 
 class of beautiful little animals that, being 
 less than the pigeon, go on diminishing till 
 we arrive at the humming-bird, the smallest 
 of the feathered creation. 
 
 The birds which compose this class chiefly 
 live in the neighbourhood of man, and are his 
 greatest favourites. The falcon may be more 
 esteemed, and the turkey more useful ; but 
 these he considers as servants, not as friends; 
 as animals reclaimed merely to supply him 
 with some of the conveniences of life : but 
 these little painted songsters have his affec- 
 tions, as well from their beauty as their me- 
 lody; it is this delightful class that fill his 
 groves with harmony, and lift his heart to 
 sympathize with their raptures. All the 
 other classes are either mute or screaming ; it 
 is this diminutive tribe only that have voices 
 equal to the beauty of their figures ; equally 
 adapted to rejoice man, and delight each 
 other. 
 
 As they are the favourites of man, so they 
 are chiefly seen near him. All the great 
 birds dread his vicinity, and keep to the thick- 
 est darkness of the forest, or the brow of the 
 most craggy precipice : but these seldom re- 
 sort to the thicker parts of the wood ; they 
 keep near its edges, in the neighbourhood of 
 cultivated fields, in the hedge-rows of farm- 
 grounds, and even in the yard, mixing with 
 the poultry. 
 
 It must be owned, indeed, that their living 
 near man is not a society of affection on their 
 part, as they approach inhabited grounds 
 merely because their chief provision is to be 
 found there. In the depth of the desert, or 
 
 the gloom of the forest, there is no grain to be 
 picked up ; none of those tender buds that are 
 so grateful to their appetites: insects them, 
 selves, that make so great a part of their food, 
 are not found there in abundance ; their na- 
 tures being unsuited to the moisture of the 
 place. As we enter, therefore, deeper into 
 uncultivated woods, the silence becomes more 
 profound; every thing carries the look of 
 awful stillness ; there are none of those war- 
 blings, none of those murmurs, that awaken 
 attention, as near the habitations of men ; 
 there is nothing of that confused buzz, formed 
 by the united, though distant voices of quad- 
 rupeds and birds ; but all is profoundly dead 
 and solemn. Now and then, indeed, the tra- 
 veller may be roused from this lethargy of 
 life, by the voice of a heron, or the scream of 
 an eagle ; but his sweet little friends and 
 warblers have totally forsaken him. 
 
 There is still another reason for these little 
 birds avoiding the depths of the forests ; which 
 is, that their most formidable enemies usually 
 reside there. The greater birds, like robbers, 
 choose the most dreary solitudes for their re- 
 treats ; and if they do not find, they make a 
 desert all around them. The small birds fly 
 from their tyranny, and take protection in the 
 vicinity of man, where they know their more 
 unmerciful foes will not venture to pursue 
 them. 
 
 All birds, even those of passage, seem con- 
 tent with a certain district to provide food and 
 centre in. The red-breast or the wren seldom 
 leaves the field where it has been brou 
 or where its young have been exclude 
 though hunted it flies along the hedge, and 
 seems fond of the place with an imprudent 
 perseverance. The fact is, all these small 
 birds mark out a territory to themselves, 
 which they will permit none of their own 
 species to remain in ; they guard their domi- 
 
 , 
 even 
 
OF THE SPARROW KIND. 
 
 131 
 
 nions with the most watchful resentment ; and 
 we seldom find two male tenants in the same 
 hedge together. 
 
 Thus, though fitted by Nature for the most 
 wandering lii'e, these little animals do not 
 make such distant excursions, during the sea- 
 son of their stay, as the stag or the leveret. 
 Food seems to be the only object that puts 
 them in motion, and when that is provided for 
 them in sufficient plenty, they never wander. 
 But as that is seldom permanent through the 
 year, almost every bird is then obliged to 
 change its abode. Some are called birds of 
 passage, because they are obliged to take long 
 journeys for this purpose ; but, strictly speak- 
 ing, almost every other kind are birds of pas- 
 sage, though their migration may not be to 
 places so remote. At some particular season 
 of the year all small birds migrate either from 
 one country to another, or from the more in- 
 land provinces towards the shore. 
 
 There are several persons who get a liveli- 
 hood by watching the seasons when our small 
 birds begin to migrate from one country to 
 another, and by taking them with nets in 
 their passage. The birds are found to fly, as 
 the bird-catchers term it, chiefly during the 
 month of October, and part of September and 
 November. There is also another flight in 
 March, which is much less considerable than 
 that in autumn. Nor is it less remarkable, 
 that several of these species of flight-birds 
 make their appearance in regular succession. 
 The pippet, for instance, begins his flight 
 every year about Michaelmas, when they are 
 caught in greatest number. To this the wood- 
 lark succeeds, and continues its flight till to- 
 wards the middle of October ; other birds fol- 
 low, but are not so punctually periodical ; the 
 greenfinch does not begin till the frost obliges 
 it to seek for a change. These birds, during 
 those months, fly from day-break till twelve 
 noon ; and there is afterwards a small flight 
 from two till night. Such are the seasons of 
 the migration of the birds, which have been 
 usually considered as stationary, and on these 
 occasions they are caught in great abundance, 
 as they are on their journey. But the same 
 arts used to allure them upon other occasions 
 would be utterly fruitless, as they avoid the 
 nets with the most prudent circumspection. 
 The autumnal flight probably consists of the 
 parents conducting their new-fledged young to 
 those places where there is sufficient provision, 
 and a proper temperament of the air during 
 the winter season ; and their return in spring 
 is obviously from an attachment to the place 
 which was found so convenient before for the 
 mrposes of nestling and incubation. 
 
 Autumn is the principal season when the 
 bird-catcher employs his art to catch these 
 wanderers. His nets are a most ingenious 
 
 piece of mechanism, being generally twelve 
 yards and a half long, and two yards and a 
 half wide, and so contrived as from a flat po- 
 sition to rise on each side, and clap over the 
 birds that are decoyed to come between them. 
 The birds in their passage are always ob- 
 served to fly against the wind ; hence there is 
 a great contention among the bird-catchers 
 which shall gain the wind ; for example, if it is 
 westerly, the bird-catcher who lays his nets to 
 the east is sure of the most plentiful sport, if 
 his call-birds are good. For this purpose he 
 generally carries five or six linnets, two gold- 
 finches, two green-finches, one wood-lark, one 
 red-poll, and perhaps a bull-finch, a yellow- 
 hammer, a tit-lark, and an aberdavine : these 
 are placed at small distances from the nets in 
 little cages. He has besides what he calls his 
 flur-birds , which are placed upon a movable 
 perch, which the bird-catcher can raise at 
 pleasure by means of a string ; and these he 
 always lifts gently up and down as the wild 
 bird approaches. But this is not enough to 
 allure the wild bird down ; it must be called 
 by one of the call-birds in the cages ; and 
 these, by being made to moult prematurely in 
 a warm cage, call louder and better than those 
 that are wild and at freedom. There even ap- 
 pears a malicious joy in these call-birds to 
 bring the wild ones into the same state of 
 captivity, while at the same time their call is 
 louder, and their plumage brighter, than in a 
 state of nature. Nor is their sight or hearing 
 less exquisite, far exceeding that of the bird- 
 catcher; for the instant the wild birds are 
 perceived, notice is given by one to the rest of 
 the call birds, who all unite in the same tu- 
 multuous ecstacy of pleasure. The call-birds 
 do not sing upon these occasions as a bird 
 does in a chamber, but incite the wild ones by 
 short jerks, which, when the birds are good, 
 may be heard at a great distance. The al- 
 lurement of this call is so great that the wild 
 bird hearing it, is stopped in its most rapid 
 flight ; and, if not already acquainted with the 
 nets, lights boldly within twenty yards per- 
 haps of the bird-catcher, and on a spot which 
 it would otherwise have quite disregarded. 
 This is the opportunity wished for, and the 
 bird-catcher pulling a string, the nets on each 
 side rise in an instant, and clap directly down 
 on the poor little unsuspecting visitant. Nay, 
 it frequently happens, that it half a flock only 
 are caught, the remaining half will immedi- 
 ately afterwards light between the nets, and 
 share the fate of their companions. Should 
 only one bird escape, this unhappy survivor 
 will also venture into danger till it is caught; 
 such a fascinating power have the call-birds. 
 
 Indeed, it is not easy to account for the na- 
 ture of this call, whether it be a challenge to 
 combat, an invitation to food, or a prelude to 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 courtship. As the call-birds are all males, 
 and as the wild birds that attend to their voice 
 are most frequently males also, it does not 
 seem that love can have any influence in their 
 assiduity. Perhaps the wild females, in these 
 flights, attend to and obey the call below, and 
 their male companions of the flight come down 
 to bear them company. If this be the case, 
 and that the females have unfaithfully led 
 their mates into the nets, they are the first 
 that are punished for their infidelity: the 
 males are only made captives for singing ; 
 while the females are indiscriminately killed, 
 and sold to be served up to the tables of the 
 delicate. 
 
 Whatever be the motives that thus arrest 
 a flock of birds in their flight, whether they 
 be of gallantry or of war, it is certain that the 
 small birds are equally remarkable for both. 
 It is, perhaps, the genial desire that inspires 
 the courage of most animals ; and that being 
 greatest in the males, gives them a greater 
 degree of valour than the females. Small 
 birds being extremely amorous, are remark- 
 ably brave. However contemptible these 
 little warriors are to large creatures, they are 
 often but too formidable to each other ; and 
 sometimes fight till one of them yields up his 
 life with the victory. But their contentions 
 are sometimes of a gentler nature. Two male 
 birds shall strive in song till, after a long 
 struggle, the loudest shall entirely silence the 
 other. During these contentions, the female 
 sits an attentive silent auditor, and often re- 
 wards the loudest songster with her company 
 during the season. 
 
 Singing among birds is almost universally 
 the prerogative of the male. 1 With them it is 
 the reverse of what occurs in the human kind. 
 
 1 White, in his charming Natural History of Selborne, 
 gives the following list of the time of song of British 
 soft-billed birds. 
 
 Woodlark, (Alauda arborea). In January, and con- 
 tinues to sing through all the summer and autumn. 
 
 Song-thrush, (Turdus simpliciter dictus). In Febru- 
 ary, and on to August; resume their song in Autumn. 
 
 Wren, (Passer troglodytes'). All the year, hard frost 
 excepted. 
 
 Red-breast, (Rubecula). Ditto. 
 
 Hedge-sparrow, (Curuca). Early in February, to 
 July the 10th. 
 
 Yellow-hammer, (Emberiza flava) . Early in Febru- 
 ary, and on through July to August the 2 1st. 
 
 Skylark, (Alauda vulgaris). In February, and on to 
 October. 
 
 Swallow, (Hirundo domestica). From April to Sep- 
 tember. 
 
 Black-cap, (Atricapilla). Beginning of April, to 
 July 1 3th. 
 
 Titlark, (Alauda pratorum). From middle of April, 
 to July 16th. 
 
 Blackbird, (Merula vulgaris). Sometimes in Febru- 
 ary and March, and so on to July the 23rd ; re-assumes 
 in autumn. 
 
 White-throat, (Ficcdula affinis). In April, and to 
 July 23. 
 
 Among the feathered tribe, the heaviest cares 
 of life fall to the lot of the female. Hers is 
 the fatigue of incubation, and to her devolves 
 the principal fatigue of nursing the helpless 
 brood. To alleviate these fatigues, and to 
 support her under them, Nature has given the 
 
 Goldfinch, (Carduelis). April, and through to Sep- 
 tember 16. 
 
 Greenfinch, (Chloris). On to July and August 2nd. 
 
 Less reed-sparrow, (Passer arundinaceus 'minor.) 
 May, on to beginning of July. 
 
 Common linnet, (Linaria vulgaris). Breeds and 
 whistles on till August ; re-assumes its note when they 
 begin to congregate, in October, and again early before 
 the flocks separate. 
 
 Birds that cease to be in full song, and are usually 
 silent at or before Midsummer : 
 
 Middle willow-wren, (Regulusnon cristatus). Middle 
 of June ; begins in April. 
 
 Redstart, (Rutidlla). Ditto ; begins in May. 
 
 Chaffinch, (Fringilla). Beginning of June, sings 
 first in February. 
 
 Nightingale, (Luscinia). Middle of June; sings 
 first in April. 
 
 Birds that sing for a short time, and very early in 
 the spring : 
 
 Missel-bird, (Turdus viscivorus). January the 2nd, 
 1770, in February. Is called in Hampshire and Sussex 
 the storm-cock, because its song is supposed to forebode 
 windy, wet weather. Is the largest singing bird we have. 
 
 Great titmouse, or ox-eye, (Fringillago). In Febru- 
 ary, March, and April; re-assumes for a short time in 
 September. 
 
 Birds that have somewhat of a note or song, and yet 
 are hardly to be called singing birds : 
 
 Golden-crowned wren, (Regulus cristatus). Its note 
 as minute as its person: frequents tops of high oaks and 
 firs: the smallest British bird. 
 
 Marsh titmouse, (Parus Palustris). Haunts great 
 woods; two harsh, sharp notes. 
 
 Small willow-wren, (Regulus non cristatus). Sings 
 in March, and on to September. 
 
 Largest willow-wren. Cantat voce stridula locustcc ; 
 from end of April to August. 
 
 Grasshopper lark, (Alauda minima voce locustae). 
 Chirps all night, from the middle of April to the end of 
 July. 
 
 Marten, (Hirundo agrestis). All the breeding time ; 
 from May to September. 
 
 Bullfinch, (Pyrrhula). 
 
 Bunting, (Emberiza alba}. From the end of Janu- 
 ary to July. 
 
 Birds that sing as they fly are but few : 
 
 Skylark, (Alauda vulgaris). Rising, suspended, and 
 falling. 
 
 Titlark, (Alauda pratorum). In its descent; also 
 sitting on trees, and walking on the ground. 
 
 Woodlark, (Alauda arborea). Suspended ; in hot 
 summer nights all night long 
 
 Blackbird, (Merula). Sometimes from bush to bush. 
 
 White-throat, (Ficedulcc affinis). Uses, when sing- 
 ing on the wing, odd jerks and gesticulations. 
 
 Swallow, (Hirundo domestica). In soft, sunny wea- 
 ther. 
 
 Wren, (Passer troglodytes). Sometimes from hush 
 to bush. 
 
 Birds that breed most early in these parts :< 
 
 Raven, (Corvus). Hatches in February and March. 
 
 Song-thrush, (Ttirdus). In March. 
 
 Blackbird, (Merula). In March. 
 
 Rook, (Cornix frugilega). Builds in the beginning 
 of March. 
 
 Woodlark, (Alauda arburea). Hatches iu April. 
 
OF THE SPARROW KIND. 
 
 133 
 
 song to the male. This serves as a note of 
 blandishment at first to attract her affections ; 
 it serves as a note to delight her during the 
 time of her incubation ; but it serves still 
 farther as a note of security, to assure her that 
 
 Ringdove, (Palumbus torquatus]. Lays in the be- 
 ginning of April. 
 
 To this list we may add the following beautiful pas- 
 sage on the voices of birds, by a brother naturalist, Mr 
 Knapp. 
 
 We note birds in general more from their voices than 
 their plumage ; for the carols of spring may be heard 
 involuntarily, but to observe the form and decoration of 
 these creatures requires an attention not always given. 
 Yet we have some native birds beautifully and con- 
 spicuously feathered; the goldfinch, the chaffinch, the 
 wagtails, are all eminently adorned, and the fine grada- 
 tions of sober browns in several others are very pleasing. 
 Those sweet sounds, called the song of birds, proceed 
 only from the male ; and with a few exceptions, only 
 during the season of incubation. Hence the compara- 
 tive quietness of our summer months, when this care is 
 over, except from accidental causes, where a second 
 nest is formed ; few of our birds bringing up more than 
 one brood in the season. The red-breast, blackbird, 
 and thrush, in mild winters, may continually be heard, 
 and form exceptions to the general procedure of our 
 British birds; and we have one little bird, the woodlark 
 (alauda arborea), that, in the early parts of the autum- 
 nal months, delights us with its harmony, and its carols 
 may be heard in the air commonly during the calm 
 sunny mornings of this season. They have a softness 
 and quietness, perfectly in unison with the sober, almost 
 melancholy stillness of the hour. The skylark also sings 
 now, and its song is very sweet, full of harmony, cheer- 
 ful as the blue sky and gladdening beam in which it 
 circles and sports, and known and admired by all ; but 
 the voice of the woodlark is local not so generally 
 heard from its softness, must almost be listened for, to 
 be distinguished, and has not any pretensions to the 
 hilarity of the former. This little bird sings likewise in 
 the spring; but at that season, the contending songsters 
 of the grove, and the variety of sound proceeding from 
 everything that has utterance, confuse and almost render 
 inaudible the placid voice of the woodlark. It delights 
 to fix its residence near little groves and copses, or quiet 
 pastures, and is a very unobtrusive bird, not uniting in 
 companies, but associating in its own little family-parties 
 only, feeding in the woodlands on seeds and insects. 
 Upon the approach of man, it crouches close to the 
 ground, then suddenly darts away, as if for a distant 
 flight, but settles again almost immediately. This lark 
 will often continue its song, circle in the air, a scarcely 
 visible speck, by the hour together ; and the vast dis- 
 tance from which its voice reaches us in a calm day is 
 almost incredible. In the scale of comparison, it stands 
 immediately below the nightingale in melody and plain- 
 tiveness ; but compass of voice is given to the linnet, a 
 bird of very inferior powers. The strength of the larynx 
 arid of the muscles of the throat in birds is infinitely 
 greater than in the human race. The loudest shout of 
 the peasant is but a feeble cry, compared with that of 
 the golden-eyed duck, the wild goose, or even this lark. 
 The sweet song of this poor little bird, with a fate like 
 that of the nightingale, renders it an object of capture 
 and confinement, which few of them comparatively sur- 
 vive. I have known our country bird-catchers take 
 them by a very simple but effectual method. Watching 
 them to the ground, the wings of a hawk, or of the 
 brown owl stretched out, are drawn against the current 
 of air by a string, as a paper kite, and made to flutter 
 and vibrate like a kestrel over the place where the wood- 
 lark has lodgtd ; which so intimidates the bird, that it 
 
 no danger threatens to molest her. The male, 
 while his mate is hatching, sits upon some 
 neighbouring tree, continuing at once to 
 watch and to sing. While his voice is heard, 
 the female rests in confident security; and, as 
 
 remains crouching and motionless as a stone on the 
 ground; a hand net is brought over it, and it is caught. 
 From various little scraps of intelligence scattered 
 through the sacred and ancient writings, it appears cer- 
 tain, as it was reasonable to conclude, that the notes now 
 used by birds, and the voices of animals, are the same 
 as uttered by their earliest progenitors. The language 
 of man, without any reference to the confusion accom- 
 plished at Babel, has been broken into innumerable 
 dialects, created or compounded as his wants occurred, 
 or his ideas prompted ; or obtained by intercourse with 
 others, as mental enlargement or novelty necessitated 
 new words to express new sentiments. Could we find 
 a people from Japan or the Pole, whose progress in mind 
 has been stationary, without increase of idea, from 
 national prejudice or impossibility of communication 
 with others, we probably should find little or no altera- 
 tion in the original language of that people ; so, by 
 analogy of reasoning, the animal having no idea to 
 prompt, no new want to express, no converse with 
 others, (for a note caught and uttered merely is like a 
 boy mocking the cuckoo,) so no new language is ac- 
 quired. With civilized man, every thing is progres- 
 sive ; with animals, where there is no mind, all is 
 stationary. Even the voice of one species of birds, 
 except in particular cases, seems not to be attended to 
 by another species. That peculiar call of the female 
 cuckoo, which assembles so many contending lovers, and 
 all the various amatorial and caressing language of 
 others, excites no influence generally, that I am aware 
 of; with all but the individual species it is a dialect 
 unknown. I know but one note which animals make 
 use of, that seems of universal comprehension, and this 
 is the signal of danger. The instant that it is uttered, 
 we hear the whole flock, though composed of various 
 species, repeat a separate moan, and away they all 
 scuttle into the bushes for safety. The reiterated 
 " twink twink" of the chaffinch is known by every 
 little bird as information of some prowling cat or weasel. 
 Some give the maternal hush to their young, and mount 
 to inquire into the jeopardy announced. The wren, 
 that tells of perils from the hedge, soon collects about 
 her all the various inquisitive species within hearing, to 
 survey and ascertain the object, and add their separate 
 fears. The swallow, that shrieking darts in devious 
 flight through the air when a hawk appears, not only 
 calls up all the hirundines of the village, but is instantly 
 understood by every finch and sparrow, and its warning 
 attended to. As nature, in all her ordinations, had a 
 fixed design and foreknowledge, it may be that each 
 species had a separate voice assigned it, that each might 
 continue as created, distinct and unmixed: and the very 
 few deviations and admixtures that have taken place, 
 considering the lapse of time, association, and oppor- 
 tunity, united with the prohibition of continuing acci- 
 dental deviations, are very remarkable, and indicate a 
 cause and original motive. That some of the notes of 
 birds are as language designed to convey a meaning, is 
 obvious from the very different sounds uttered by these 
 creatures at particular periods: the spring voices become 
 changed as summer advances, and the requirements of 
 the early season have ceased ; the summer excitements, 
 monitions, informations, are not needed in autumn, and 
 the notes conveying such intelligences are no longer 
 heard. The periodical calls of animals, croaking of 
 frogs, &c. afford the same reasons for concluding that 
 the sound of their voices by elevation, depression, or 
 modulation, conveys intelligence equivalent to an uttered 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 the poet expresses it, appears most blessd when 
 most unseen : but if any appearance of danger 
 offers to intrude, the male, that a moment 
 before was so loud and sportive, stops all of a 
 sudden ; and this is a most certain signal to 
 his mate to provide for her own security. 
 
 The nest of little birds seems to be of a more 
 delicate contrivance than that of the larger 
 
 sentence. The voices of birds seem applicable, in most 
 instances, to the immediate necessities of their con- 
 dition: such as the sexual call, the invitation to unite 
 when dispersed, the moan of danger, the shriek of alarm, 
 the notice of food. But there are other notes, the de- 
 signs and motives of which are not so obvious. One sex 
 only is gifted with the power of singing, for the purpose, 
 as Buffbn supposed, of cheering his mate during the 
 period of incubation ; but this idea, gallant as it is, has 
 such slight foundation in probability, that it needs no 
 confutation : and after all, perhaps, we must conclude, 
 that listened to, admired, and pleasing, as the voices of 
 many birds are, either for their intrinsic melody, or 
 from association, we are uncertain what they express, or 
 the object of their song. The singing of most birds 
 seems entirely a spontaneous effusion produced by no 
 exertion, or occasioning no lassitude in muscle, or re- 
 laxation of the parts of action. In certain seasons and 
 weather, the nightingale sings all day, and most part of 
 the night; and we never observe that the powers of song 
 are weaker, or that the notes become harsh and untun- 
 able, after all these hours of practice. The song-thrush, 
 in a mild, moist April, will commence his tune early 
 in the morning, pipe unceasingly through the day, yet, 
 at the close of eve, when he retires to rest, there is no 
 obvious decay of his musical powers, or any sensible 
 effort required to continue his harmony to the last. 
 Birds of one species sing in general very like each other, 
 with different degrees of execution. Some countries 
 may produce finer songsters, but without great varia- 
 tion in the notes. In the thrush, however, it is remark- 
 able, that there seems to be no regular notes, each in- 
 dividual piping a voluntary of his own. Their voices 
 may always be distinguished amid the choristers of the 
 copse, yet some one performer will more particularly 
 engage attention by a peculiar modulation or tune ; and 
 should several stations of these birds be visited in the 
 same morning, few or none probably will be found to 
 preserve the same round of notes ; whatever is uttered 
 seeming the effusion of the moment. At times a strain 
 will break out perfectly unlike any preceding utterance, 
 and we may wait a long time without noticing any re- 
 petition of it. During one spring, an individual song- 
 thrush frequenting a favourite copse, after a certain 
 round of tune, trilled out most regularly some notes that , 
 conveyed so clearly the words, lady-bird ! lady-bird ! 
 that every one remarked the resemblance. He survived 
 the winter, and in the ensuing season, the lady-bird ! 
 lady-bird ! was still the burden of our evening song ; it 
 then ceased, and we never heard this pretty modulation 
 more. Though merely an occasional strain, yet I have 
 noticed it elsewhere it thus appearing to be a favourite 
 utterance. Harsh, strained, arid tense, as the notes of 
 this bird are, yet they are pleasing from their variety. 
 The voice of the blackbird is infinitely more mellow, 
 but has much less variety, compass or execution ; and 
 he too commences his carols with the morning light, 
 persevering from hour to hour without effort, or any 
 sensible faltering of voice. The cuckoo wearies us 
 throughout some long May morning with the unceasing 
 monotony of its song, and though there are others as 
 vociferous, yet it is the only bird I know that seems to 
 suffer from the use of the organs of voice. Little exer- 
 tion as the few notes it makes use of seem to require, 
 
 kinds. 1 As the volume of their bodies is 
 smaller, the materials of which their nests are 
 composed are generally warmer. It is easy 
 to conceive that small things keep heat a 
 shorter time than those that are large. The 
 eggs, therefore, of small birds require a place 
 of more constant warmth than those of great 
 ones, as being liable to cool more quickly ; 
 and accordingly their nests are built warmer 
 and deeper, lined on the inside with softer 
 substances, and guarded above with a better 
 covering. But it sometimes happens that the 
 little architects are disturbed in their opera- 
 tions, and then they are obliged to make a 
 nest, not such as they wish, but such as they 
 can. The bird whose nest has been robbed 
 several times, builds up her last in a very 
 slovenly manner, conscious that, from the near 
 approach of winter, she must not take time to 
 give her habitation every possible advantage 
 it is capable of receiving. When the nest 
 is finished, nothing can exceed the cunning 
 which the male and female employ to conceal 
 it. If it is built in bushes, the pliant branches 
 are so disposed as to hide it entirely from the 
 view ; if it be built among moss, nothing out- 
 wardly appears to show that there is a habi- 
 tation within. It is always built near those 
 places where food is found in greatest abun- 
 dance ; and they take care never to go in or 
 out while there is any one in sight. The 
 greater birds continue from their nest for some 
 time, as their eggs take no damage in their 
 absence; but the little birds are assiduous 
 while they sit, and the nest is always occu- 
 pied by the male when the female is obliged 
 to seek for sustenance. 
 
 The first food of all birds of the sparrow 
 kind is worms and insects. Even the sparrow 
 and the goldfinch, that when adult feed only 
 upon grain, have both been fed upon insects 
 while in the nest. The young ones, for some 
 time after their exclusion from the shell, re- 
 quire no food; but the parent soon finds, by 
 their chirping and gaping, that they begin to 
 feel the approaches of hunger, and flies to 
 provide them a plentiful supply. In her 
 absence they continue to lie close together, 
 and cherish each other by their mutual warmth. 
 
 yet, by the middle or end of June, it loses its utterance, 
 )ecomes hoarse, and ceases from any further essay of it. 
 The croaking of the nightingale in June, or the end of 
 May, is not apparently occasioned by the loss of voice, 
 but a change of note, a change of object ; his song ceases 
 vhen his mate has hatched her brood ; vigilance, anxiety, 
 aution, now succeed to harmony, and his croak is the 
 iush, the warning of danger or suspicion to the infant 
 charge and the mother bird. 
 
 1 Nests. On this subject we may refer here gener- 
 ally to Professor Rennie's work on the Architecture of 
 Birds, published in the Library of Entertaining Know, 
 edge, to which we have been already indebted in tht 
 course of our notes. 
 
OF THE SPARROW KIND. 
 
 135 
 
 During this interval also they preserve a per- 
 fect silence, uttering not the slightest note, 
 till the parent returns. Her arrival is always 
 announced by a chirrup, which they perfectly 
 understand, and which they answer all to- 
 gether, each petitioning for its portion. The 
 parent distributes a supply to each by turns, 
 cautiously avoiding to gorge them, but to give 
 them often, though little at a time. The 
 wren will in this manner feed seventeen or 
 eighteen young ones without passing over one 
 of them. 
 
 Such is the manner in which these birds 
 bring forth and hatch their young ; but it re- 
 mains to usher them from the nest into life, 
 and this they very assiduously perform. When 
 they are fully fledged, and fitted for short 
 flights, the old ones, if the weather be fair, 
 lead them a few yards from the nest, and then 
 compel them to return. For two or three 
 succeeding days they are led out in the same 
 manner, but each day to seek more distant 
 adventures. When it is perceived that they 
 can fly, and shift for themselves, then the 
 parents forsake them for ever, and pay them 
 no more attention than they do to other birds 
 in the same flock. Indeed, it would seem 
 among these little animals that, from the 
 moment their young are set out, all future 
 connection ceases between the male and female ; 
 they go separate ways, each to provide for 
 itself during the rigours of winter; and, at 
 the approach of spring, each seeks for a new 
 associate. 
 
 In general, birds, when they come to pair 
 in the spring, associate with those of their 
 own age and place of abode. Their strength 
 or courage is generally in proportion to their 
 a<p : the oldest females first feel the accesses 
 of desire, and the oldest males are the boldest 
 to drive off all younger pretenders. Those 
 next in courage and desire become pretenders, 
 till they are almost all provided in turn. The 
 youngest come last ; as, in fact, they are the 
 latest in their inclinations. But still there are 
 several, both males and females, that remain 
 unprovided for ; either not happening to meet 
 with each other, or at least not during the 
 genial interval. Whether these mix with 
 small birds of a different species, is a doubt 
 which naturalists have not been able thorough- 
 
 Zto resolve. Addison, in some beautiful 
 atin lines, inserted in the Spectator, is en- 
 tirely of opinion that birds observe a strict 
 chastity of manners, and never admit the 
 caresses of a different tribe. 
 
 Chaste are their instincts, faithful is their f.ro, 
 No foreign beauty tempts to false desire : 
 The snow-white vesture, and the glittering crown, 
 The simple plumage, or the glossy down, 
 Prompt not their love. The patriot bird pursues 
 His well acquainted tints, and kindred hues : 
 
 Hence thro' their tribes no mix'd polluted fl;ime, 
 No monster -breed to mark the groves with shame : 
 But the chaste blackbird, to its partner true, 
 Think's black alone is Beauty's fav'rite hue : 
 The nightingale, with mutual passion bless d, 
 Sings to its mate, and nightly charms the nest . 
 While the dark owl, to court his partner flies, 
 And owns his offspring in their yellow eyes." 
 
 But whatever maybe the poet's opinion, 
 the probability is against this fidelity among 
 the smaller tenants of the grove. The great 
 birds are much more true to their species than 
 these ; and, of consequence, the varieties among 
 them are more few. Of the ostrich, the casso- 
 wary, and the eagle, there are but few species ; 
 and no arts that man can use could probably 
 induce them to mix with each other. 
 
 But it is otherwise with the small birds we 
 are describing ; it requires very little trouble 
 to make a species between a goldfinch and a 
 canary-bird, between a linnet and a lark. 
 They breed frequently together ; and produce 
 a race, not like the mules among quadrupeds, 
 incapable of breeding again ; for this motley 
 mixture are as fruitful as their parents. What 
 is so easily done by art, very probably hap- 
 pens in a state of nature ; and when the male 
 cannot find a mate of his own species he flies 
 to one of another, that, like him, has been left 
 out in pairing. This, some historians think, 
 may have given rise to the great variety of 
 small birds that are seen among us ; some un- 
 common mixture might first have formed a 
 new species, and this might have been con- 
 tinued down, by birds of this species choosing 
 to breed together. 
 
 Whether the great variety of our small 
 birds may have arisen from this source cannot 
 now be ascertained ; but certain it is that they 
 resemble each other very strongly, not only in 
 their form and plumage, but also in their 
 appetites and manner of living. The gold- 
 finch, the linnet, and the yellow-hammer, 
 though obviously of different species, yet lead 
 a very similar life ; being equally an active, 
 lively, salacious tribe, that subsist by petty 
 thefts upon the labours of mankind, and repay 
 them with a song. Their nests bear a 
 similitude ; and they are all about the same 
 time in hatching their young, which is usually 
 fifteen days. Were I, therefore, to describe 
 the manners of these with the same minute- 
 ness that I have done the greater birds, I 
 should only present the reader with a repeti- 
 tion of the same accounts ; animated neither 
 by novelty nor information. Instead, there- 
 fore, of specifying each sort, I will throw them 
 into groups ; uniting those together that prac- 
 tise the same manners, or that are remarkable 
 for similar qualifications. 
 
 Willoughby has divided all the smaller 
 birds into those that have slender bills, and 
 those that have short and thick bills. Those 
 
136 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 with slender bills, chiefly live upon insects ; 
 those with short strong bills, live mostly upon 
 fruits and grain. Among slender-billed birds 
 he enumerates the thrush, the blackbird, the 
 field-fare, the starling, the lark, the titmouse, 
 the water- wagtail, the nightingale, the red 
 start, the robin-redbreast, the beccafigo, the 
 stone-chatter, the whin-chat, the gold-finch, 
 the white-throat, the hedge-sparrow, the petti- 
 chaps, the golden-crowned wren, the wren, 
 the humming-bird, and several other small 
 birds of the sparrow-kind, unknown in this 
 part of the world. 
 
 All these, as was said, live for the most part 
 upon insects ; and are consequently of parti- 
 cular benefit to man. By these are his 
 grounds cleared of the pernicious swarms of 
 vermin that devour the budding leaves and 
 flowers ; and that even attack the root itself, 
 before ever the vegetable can come to maturi- 
 ty. These seek for and destroy the eggs of 
 insects that would otherwise propagate in 
 numbers beyond the arts of man to extirpate ; 
 they know better than man where to seek for 
 them ; and thus at once satisfy their own ap- 
 petites, and render him the most essential 
 services. 1 
 
 1 The Sparrow. We have no bird more generally 
 known, thought of, or mentioned with greater indiffer- 
 ence, perhaps contempt, than the common sparrow (frin- 
 
 gilla domestica), " that sittetii alone on the house-top;" 
 yet it is an animal that Nature seems to have endowed 
 with peculiar characteristics, having ordained for it a 
 very marked provision, manifested in its increase and 
 maintenance, notwithstanding the hostile attacks to 
 which it is exposed. A dispensation that exists through- 
 out creation is brought more immediately to our notice 
 by the domestic habits of this bird. The natural ten- 
 dency that the sparrow has to increase, will often enable 
 one pair of birds to bring up fourteen or more young 
 ones in the season. They build in places of perfect 
 security from the plunder of larger birds and vermin. 
 Their art and ingenuity in commonly attaching their 
 nests beneath that of the rook, high in the elm, a bird 
 whose habits are perfectly dissimilar, and with which 
 they have no association whatever, making use of their 
 structure only for a defence to which no other bird re- 
 sorts, manifest their anxiety and contrivance for the 
 safety of their broods. With peculiar perseverance and 
 boldness, they forage and provide for themselves and 
 their offspring; will filch grain from the trough of the 
 pig, or contend for its food with the gigantic turkey; and, 
 if scared away, their fears are those of a moment, as 
 they quickly return to their plunder; and they roost pro- 
 tected from all the injuries of weather. These circum- 
 
 But this is not the only merit of this tribe : 
 in it we have the sweetest songsters of the 
 grove ; their notes are softer, and their man- 
 ner more musically soothing, than those of 
 hard-billed birds. The foremost in musical 
 fame are the nightingale, the thrush, the 
 blackbird, the lark, the red-breast, the black- 
 cap, and the wren. 
 
 Birds of the sparrow-kind, with thick and 
 short bills, are the gross-beak, the green- 
 finch, the bull-finch, the crossbill, the house- 
 sparrow, the chaffinch, the brambling, the 
 gold- finch, the linnet, the siskin, the bunting, 
 the yellow-hammer, the ortlan, the wheat ear, 
 and several other foreign birds, of which we 
 know rather the names than the history. 
 These chiefly feed upon fruits, grain, and 
 corn. They are often troublesome to man, as 
 
 stances tend greatly to increase the race, and in some 
 seasons their numbers in our corn-fields towards autumn 
 are prodigious; and did not events counteract the in- 
 crease of this army of plunderers, the larger portion of our 
 bread-corn would be consumed by them. But their re- 
 duction is as rapidly accomplished as their increase, their 
 love of association bringing upon them a destruction which 
 a contrary habit would not tempt. They roost in troops in 
 our ricks, in the ivy on the wall, &c., and are captured by 
 the net : they cluster on the bush, or crowd on the chaff 
 by the bam door, and are shot by dozens at a time, or will 
 rush in numbers, one following another, into the trap. 
 These and various other engines of destruction so reduce 
 them in the winter season, that the swarms of autumn 
 gradually diminish, till their numbers in spring are in 
 no way remarkable. I have called them plunderers, and 
 they are so ; they are benefactors likewise, seeming to 
 be appointed by Nature as one of the agents for keeping 
 from undue increase another race of creatures, and by 
 their prolificacy they accomplish it. In spring and the 
 early part of the summer, before the corn becomes ripe, 
 they are insectivorous, and their constantly-increasing 
 families require an unceasing supply of food. We see 
 them every minute of the day in continual progress, fly- 
 ing from the nest for a supply, and returning on rapid 
 wing with a grub, a caterpillar, or some reptile j and 
 the numbers captured by them in the course of these 
 travels are incredibly numerous, keeping under the in- 
 crease of these races, and making ample restitution for 
 their plunderings and thefts. When the insect race be- 
 comes scarce, the com and seeds of various kinds are 
 ready ; their appetite changes, and they feed on these 
 with undiminished enjoyment. 
 
 We have scarcely another bird, the appetite of which 
 is so accommodating in all respects as that of the house 
 sparrow. It is, I believe, the only bird that is a volun- 
 tary inhabitant with man lives in his society, and^is 
 his constant attendant, following him wherever he fix^es 
 his residence. It becomes immediately an inhabitant of 
 the new farm-house, in a lonely place or recent inclo- 
 sure, or even in an island ; will accompany him into the 
 crowded city, and build and feed there in content, un- 
 mindful of the noise, the smoke of the furnace, or the 
 steam-engine, where even the swallow and the martin, 
 that flock around him in the country, are scared by the 
 tumult, and leave him: but the sparrow, though be- 
 grimed with soot, does not forsake him; feeds on his 
 food, rice, potatoes, or almost any other extraneous sub- 
 stance he may find in the street ; looks to him for his 
 support, and is maintained almost entirely by the indus- 
 try and providence of man. It is not known in a soli- 
 tary and independent state. Journal of a Naturalist. 
 
THE THRUSH. 
 
 137 
 
 they are a numerous tribe ; the harvest often 
 sutlers from their depredations; and while 
 they are driven off from one end of the field, they 
 fly round, and come in at the other. But 
 these also have their uses: they are frequently 
 the distributors of seeds into different districts ; 
 those grains which they swallow are some- 
 times not wholly digested ; and these, laid 
 upon a soil congenial to them, embellish the 
 face of nature with that agreeable variety, 
 which art but vainly attempts to imitate. The 
 mistletoe plant, which we often see growing 
 on the tops of elm and other trees, has been 
 thought to be propagated in this manner; yet, 
 as it is often seen growing on the under side 
 of the branch, and sometimes on a perpendi- 
 cular shoot, it seems extraordinary how a seed 
 could be deposited in that situation. How- 
 ever this be, there are many plants propaga- 
 ted from the depositions of birds; and some 
 seeds are thought to thrive the better for first 
 having undergone a kind of maceration in the 
 stomach of the little animal, before it is voided 
 on the ground. 
 
 There are some agreeable songsters in this 
 tribe also ; and those who like a loud piercing 
 pipe, endued with great variety and perseve- 
 rance, will be pleased most with their sing- 
 ing. The songsters of this class are the ca- 
 nary-bird, the linnet, the chaffinch, the gold- 
 finch, the green-finch, the bull-finch, the 
 brambling, the siskin, and the yellow-ham- 
 mer. The note of these is not so generally 
 pleasing as that of the soft-billed birds, but it 
 usually holds longer; and, in a cage, these 
 birds are more easily fed, and more hardy. 
 
 This class of small birds, like all the greater, 
 has its wanderers, that leave us for a season, 
 and then return, to propagate, to sing, or 
 to embellish the landscape here. Some of 
 this smaller kind, indeed, are called birds of 
 passage, that do not properly come under that 
 denomination ; for though they disappear in 
 one place they never leave the kingdom, but 
 are seen somewhere else. But there are 
 many among them that take longer flights, 
 and go to a region colder or warmer, as it 
 suits their constitutions. The fieldfare and 
 the red-wing breed pass their summers in 
 Norway, and other cold countries, and are 
 tempted hither to our mild winters, and to 
 those various berries which then abound with 
 us, and make their principal food. The haw- 
 finch and the crossbill are uncertain visitants, 
 and have no stated times of migration. Swal- 
 lows of every species disappear at the ap- 
 proach of winter. The nightingale, the black- 
 cap, the fly-catcher, the willow-wren, the 
 wheat-ear, the whin-chat, and the stone-chat- 
 ter leave us long before the approach of win- 
 ter : while the siskin and the linnet only for- 
 sake us when our winters are more than usu- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 ally severe. All the rest of the smaller tribe 
 never quit this country : but support the se- 
 verest rigours of the climate. 
 
 Yet it must not be supposed that the man- 
 ners of our little birds prevail in all other 
 countries ; and that such kinds as are station- 
 ary with us never wander in other parts of 
 Europe ; on the contrary, it happens that 
 many of those kinds which are birds of pas- 
 sage in England are seen, in other places, 
 never to depart, but to make one country their 
 fixed residence the whole year round. It is 
 frequent, that some birds, which with us are 
 faithful residents, in other kingdoms put on 
 the nature of birds of passage, and disappear 
 for a season. 
 
 The swallow, that with us is particularly 
 remarked for being a bird of passage, in Upper 
 Egypt, and in the island of Java, breeds and 
 continues the whole year, without ever disap- 
 pearing. Larks, that remain with us the 
 year throughout, are birds of passage in Swe- 
 den ; and forsake that climate in winter to re- 
 turn again with the returning spring. The 
 chaffinch, that with us is stationary, appears 
 during the winter in Carolina and Virginia ; 
 but disappears totally in summer to breed in 
 the northern regions. In Sweden, also, these 
 little birds are seen returning, at the approach 
 of spring, from the warmer climates, to pro- 
 pagate; which being accomplished by the 
 latter end of autumn, the males and females 
 separate ; the males to continue among their 
 native snows, the females ,,to seek a warmer 
 and gentler winter. On this occasion, they 
 are seen in flocks, that darken all the air, 
 without a single male among them, making 
 their way into the more southern regions of 
 Denmark, Germany, and Holland. In this 
 Amazon-like retreat thousands fall by the 
 way; some by fatigue, some by want ; but the 
 greatest number by the nets of the fowler ; the 
 taking them being one of the chief amuse- 
 ments among the gentry where they pass. In 
 short, the change of country with all this 
 little tribe, is rather a pilgrimage than a jour- 
 ney ; a migration rather of necessity than of 
 choice. 
 
 Having thus given a general idea of the 
 birds of this class, it will be proper to give 
 some account of the most remarkable among 
 them. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE THRUSH, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 1 
 
 WITH the Thrush we may rank the red- 
 wing, the field-fare, the blackbird, the ring- 
 
 Thrushes proper. 
 
 In all systems of ornithology the 
 s 
 
138 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 ousel, and the water-ouzel. These are th 
 largest of the sparrow-kind, and may be dis- 
 tinguished from all others of this class, as wel 
 by their size, which is well known, as by their 
 
 thrushes and blackbirds have been united in the sam 
 genus, according to the generic characters common t( 
 both. 
 
 Four species of the thrush live in our climates : th 
 thrush properly so called, the missel, the redwing, am 
 the fieldfare. The two former pass the entire year ii 
 France, and also in the southern parts of this country, 
 They have a very agreeable song, especially the thrush 
 proper, which is also called the song-thrush and mavis 
 Dr Latham seems to think that this bird shifts its 
 quarters in winter, in the north of England and Scot- 
 land. It probably leaves the country, or retires to the 
 thick and solitary woods. Both these species are distin- 
 guished by never uniting in flocks for the purposes ol 
 migration. Their plumage has many traits of conformity 
 in colour and distribution. 
 
 The redwings and fieldfares seldom appear among us 
 until autumn, remain during the winter, and live in 
 large flocks. They scarcely ever nestle here, and de- 
 part in spring, as they arrived in autumn, in numerou 
 assemblages. As they quit us at the epoch of pairing, 
 we are not acquainted with their love-notes. Often, 
 previously to their departure, they are heard chirping all 
 together, but in this loud noisy concert it would be vain 
 to seek for harmony. 
 
 In all the species the males and females are of the 
 same size, and their livery is pretty similar. The co- 
 lours, however, are more lively and better defined in the 
 males. Berries, fruit, and insects constitute the food of 
 all. To these aliments they join earth-worms, in the 
 pursuit of which they are observed to be very eager after 
 rain. They also f$ed on snails, which, during winter, 
 they seek in those places most exposed to the sun. 
 
 Their flesh is excellent for eating, especially that of 
 the thrush, and the redwing when fat. In the vintage 
 time, in the southern countries, it especially acquires 
 that delicacy and .exquisite flavour which occasion this 
 small game to be, much sought after by gourmands. 
 Among the Romany it was in high esteem. It is said 
 to possess qualities which, if real, should render it still 
 more estimable. It, excites, says its eulogizers, the ap- 
 petite, fortifies the stomach, improves the juices, and is 
 easy of digestion. It is, therefore, considered as pecu- 
 liarly wholesome for convalescent subjects. It never 
 produces any bad effect, provided it be not eaten to ex- 
 cess. It has been also thought in medicine to be an ex- 
 cellent anti-epileptic; this quality it is said to derive 
 from the bird feeding on mistletoe, to which the same 
 virtue has been .attributed. 
 
 It may not be unamusing to our readers to notice the 
 manner in which the Romans, with whom thrushes held 
 4he first rank among the feathered game, preserved these 
 birds throughout the entire year, and fattened them in 
 their extensive aviaries. 
 
 Each of these contained many thousands of thrushes, 
 blackbirds, and other birds good for eating. They were 
 so numerous in the neighbourhood of Rome, that thrush's 
 dung was employed as manure to fertilize the land. It 
 was also employed to fatten oxen and pigs. The thrushes 
 were kept very closely confined, and considerably crowded. 
 But their food was abundant and well chosen, and they 
 grew fat rapidly. These aviaries were vaulted pavilions, 
 furnished within with a great quantity of roosts. The 
 doors were very low, there were but few windows, and 
 always so turned, that the prisoners could see neither the 
 woods nor country, nor even the birds which hovered 
 outside, so that nothing might hinder them from growing 
 fat. They were only left as much light as was necessary 
 lo enable them to distinguish what they chiefly wanted. 
 
 bills, which are a little bending at the point , 
 a small notch near the end of the upper chap ; 
 and the outmost toe adhering as far as the first 
 joint of the middle toe. To this tribe may be 
 
 They were fed with millet, which was peeled and pounded 
 and formed into a kind of paste with bruised fies 
 and flour; besides which they received berries of the 
 mastic-tree, of myrtle, and of ivy, and every thing 
 which could render their flesh succulent and high fla- 
 voured. A small rivulet of running water traversed the 
 aviary, for them to drink from. Those which were in- 
 tended to be eaten in succession, received for twenty 
 days before they were taken for that purpose an augmen- 
 tation of the best nutriment. Particular care was taken 
 to make such as seemed fit for the table pass very quietly 
 into a particular place which communicated with the 
 aviary, and they were not taken until the communication 
 had been closely shut, to prevent the others from being 
 disturbed. To make them support their captivity with 
 greater patience, the aviary was carpeted with green 
 branches, and fresh turf, often renewed, and in fact, the 
 better the proprietor understood his own interests the 
 better the birds were treated. This method succeeded 
 almost invariably in taming birds, however recently they 
 might have been imprisoned. Those, however, which 
 had been newly taken were kept for some time in small 
 separate aviaries ; and the better to accustom them to 
 captivity, they were given as companions those who had 
 been already habituated to their prison. 
 
 On the approach of vintage time innumerable flocks of 
 thrushes quit the northern regions of Lapland and Sibe- 
 ria, and their abundance is so great on the southern coast 
 of the Baltic, that Klein assures us that the city ol 
 Dantzic alone consumes every year eighty thousand pairs 
 of them. The different species do not all arrive at the 
 same time. The thrushes proper, or the song-thrushes, 
 make their appearance first, then come the redwings, and 
 inally the fieldfares and missels. They stop in various 
 slaces, especially where they find the most abundant food, 
 nd the most easily obtained. They thus continue their 
 route southward, arrive in certain countries sooner or 
 ater, in greater or less numbers according to the direc- 
 :ion of the winds and the changes of temperature. Tin's 
 s universally the case with all the birds which are driven 
 rom the north, by the severity of the weather. Of the 
 migratory thrushes, some nestle in the islands of the 
 VIediterranean, and others continue their course even 
 nto Africa. They arrive, Sonnini tells us, in Egypt in 
 he month of October, and do not leave that country 
 until March. They remain at no great distance from 
 abitations, and seek the shades of the orange and citron 
 proves which adorn some districts of Lower Egypt. 
 They dp not all, however, proceed so far south. Many 
 emain during the winter in our more northern climates, 
 vhere tolerably numerous flocks of redwings and field- 
 ares are to be seen during this season. They frequent 
 he meadows, and the green borders of woods, of which 
 hey quit the interior. 
 
 There are more snares laid, perhaps, for thrushes thaij 
 or any other birds, and the pursuit of them is very pro- 
 itable. Those which are most easily taken in snares 
 n- nooses are the song-thrush and the redwing. These 
 nares are, as every body knows, composed of a few 
 orsehairs twisted together and forming a running knot. 
 They are set around juniper trees, &c., in the neigh- 
 )ourhood of some fountain or pond. If the snares are 
 roperly set, in a well-chosen place, many hundreds of 
 brushes may be caught in a day, while they are on their 
 assage. Snares are also employed baited with different 
 :inds of berries, and placed along the hedges. Thrushes 
 re also caught in nets. The net should always be 
 laced as nearly as possible on the side on which the 
 vind blows upon the hedges and bushes ; for it is ob- 
 
THE THRUSH. 
 
 139 
 
 also added the stare or starling, which, though 
 with a flat bill, too much resembles these 
 birds to be placed any where else. 
 
 The missel-thrush is distinguished from all 
 
 served, that birds never sleep but with their heads with 
 the wind. Autumn and spring, when the thrushes and 
 blackbirds are on their passage, are the proper periods for 
 catching them in great quantities, because they then re- 
 pose in large flocks, in the hedges sheltered from the 
 wind. Fowlers in France also make use of movable 
 huts, which are very convenient for killing numbers of 
 thrushes during the vintage time. These birds never 
 repose in the vineyards, but retire into the neighbouring 
 woods and thickets ; and generally rest once or twice on 
 the most exposed trees. The hunters have each a hut, 
 which they place near the tree which they judge most 
 advantageous, and there each awaits his game, which he 
 kills easily. It is remarked that the riper the grapes 
 are, the more frequently the birds repose themselves: 
 they appear, as it were, intoxicated ; and every kind of 
 snare succeeds in taking them at this time. 
 
 The Song-Thrush or Mavis. This bird is well 
 
 known among us, and is one of the commonest species 
 in the wine-countries in France ; its flesh is the most 
 delicate of any. It frequents the vineyards when the 
 grapes are ripe, disappears after the vintage, and makes 
 its appearance again in March or April. All the birds 
 of this species, however, do not migrate ; they are some- 
 times seen in winter in our climates, but few in num- 
 ber. They approach habitations and sojourn in hedges ; 
 but as soon as the spring expands its genial influence, 
 they retire into the woods, and announce the return of 
 this delightful season by their varied song. Accord- 
 ingly, both here and in many other countries, they are 
 called song-thrushes, or some equivalent name. The 
 male usually perches on the summit of some lofty tree, 
 on a thick branch, and remains singing there for hours. 
 It continues its notes from the early days of spring to 
 the month of August and sometimes later; it is often 
 heard with us as early as February. At other times 
 these thrushes have only a little whistling note, which 
 may be expressed by the syllables ipp, zipp. In fly- 
 ing away, they particularly utter this cry, which may be 
 perfectly imitated by placing the end of the finger in 
 the mouth, pressing it strongly with the lips, and draw- 
 ing it quickly away. In this manner they are driven 
 into snares, and attracted within reach of gun-shot. 
 This thrush makes its nest in bushes, and sometimes on 
 a branch of a tree against the trunk, about ten or a dozen 
 feet high: the exterior is composed of dry herbs and 
 moss, and the interior of straw, cemented with clay and 
 rotten wood. The eggs are five or six in number, of a 
 pale blue, with a slight greenish cast, and some reddish 
 and black spots. The male and female share the incu- 
 bation. Alter the first brood is hatched, the latter re- 
 commences a second, and sometimes even a third, 
 
 of the kind by its superior size, being much 
 larger than any of them. It differs scarcely 
 in any other respect from the throstle, except 
 that the spots on the breast are larger. Il 
 
 especially when the first has not thriven. Each brood 
 goes separately, and the little ones disperse when they 
 are strong enough to take care of themselves. These 
 thrushes do not fly in flocks ; still many are found to- 
 gether, or at no great distance from each other. The 
 species is extended through all Europe, is fonder of 
 woods than other places, especially of such as abound in 
 maple trees. These thrushes possess no great degree 
 of cunning, and suffer themselves easily to be taken 
 with smres and bird-calls. When they cannot find 
 fruits and berries, they subsist on snails, insects, and 
 worms. This is the reason that they are found on the 
 ground so frequently in the woods, and at the foot of 
 hedges and bushes, especially those which border sub~ 
 merged meadows. When they are looked at, they 
 manifest their displeasure by a gnashing of the bill. To 
 bring up this bird in a cage, it must be taken young, sc 
 that it will sing all the better. It is fed with a sort ol 
 paste such as is made for nightingales, or it may be 
 made with crumbs of bread, rape-seed, or hemp-seed 
 bruised, and meat cut small. This aliment is varied 
 with grapes or other fruits of which the bird is fond. 
 This thrush is susceptible of education, learns even to 
 speak, and whistles very agreeably many airs of the 
 bird-organ and flageolet. It will live in captivity 
 generally from seven to eight years. There are many 
 varieties of this thrush, but all of them accidental. 
 Among these may be remarked the white thrush, whose 
 plumage, however, is not in general of a pure white. 
 On some parts of the body spots of a feeble shade and 
 undefined form are observable. In other individuals 
 the plumes of the back are mixed with brown, and some 
 red is observable on the breast. Sometimes the top of 
 the head alone is white, and at others there is only seeo 
 a demi-collar of this hue. 
 
 The Chochi, or thrush of Paraguay, utters a singular 
 sound towards, the setting of the sun during the hatch- 
 ing season: it cries in a melancholy tone like the mew- 
 ling of a cat, yet during the day, at the same epoch, its 
 song is varied, frequent, and agreeable. It preludes 
 with the syllables chochi-chochi-toropi, repeated three or 
 four times, from which M. Vieillot has given it its 
 name. The chochi composes its nest of small and very 
 flexible branches, furnished with slips of roots, and 
 covered with an extremely thick coating of cow-dung, 
 mixed with sand. 
 
 The Missel is the largest of all the European thrushes. 
 It is like many other birds that people our woods and 
 orchards, paytly migratory, and partly sedentary. In 
 Lorraine, according to Dr Lottinger, the missels quit 
 the mountains at the approach of winter, always fly in 
 flocks in spring and autumn, return in March, and ^ 
 nestle in the forests with which these mountains are 
 covered. In Brie, according to Hebert, the correspon- 
 dent of Bufion, they do not unite in flocks at any sea- 
 son of the year. If those two observers speak of the 
 same species of thrush, it would appear that its habits 
 are not the same in all countries. The greater number 
 of the missels quit our northern climates on the approach 
 of winter, but some remain. Those certainly do not 
 live in flocks like the fieldfares, but in families. They 
 pair in the month of January, and once coupled, each 
 pair lives separately. 
 
 The missel is one of the first of our sedentary birds 
 which announce the return of spring ; for even so early 
 as the fine days of February the male perches on the top 
 of a very lofty tree, and puts forth a varied song, which, 
 though remarkably loud, is not destitute of harmony. 
 The female makes her nest even previously to Uw 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 builds its nest in bushes, or on the side of 
 some tree, as all of this kind are found to do, 
 and lays four or five eggs in the season. Its 
 song is very fine, which it begins in spring, 
 
 setting in of spring, and places it on large trees, but 
 more generally on those of a middling height. She 
 constructs it in the bifurcations of the principal branches, 
 employs moss, leaves, and large weeds outside, cemented 
 with earth, and carpets the nest with fine plants within, 
 horsehair, and wool, and covers the exterior very art- 
 fully with moss like that which grows on the tree itself. 
 She seldom lays more than four eggs, of obscure white, 
 spotted with brown, and the male partakes the incuba- 
 tion. They feed the young ones with caterpillars, 
 small worms, slugs, aud snails, whose shells they break. 
 A second brood is generally hatched after the first, and 
 when both are ended the families unite, and add to the 
 aliments just mentioned various kinds of berries, 
 cherries, grapes, and other fruits. In winter they feed 
 on flax-seed, hops, ivyberries, buckthorn, and particu- 
 larly mistletoe ; from which our name of missel-thrush 
 is given to them. In Burgundy they are called Draines, 
 from a peculiar cry which they continually repeat, either 
 as a rallying or a warning signal, and which has some 
 fancied resemblance to this word. Montbeillard tells us 
 that the missel-thrushes are very pacific in their man- 
 ners; but Le Vaillant, with more appearance of truth, 
 declares that his observation is without foundation. 
 They are, in fact, of a quarrelsome nature, and often 
 fight either for food or the choice of a companion. The 
 males are more numerous than the females, and it is not 
 rare to see two or three of them disputing so bitterly, 
 ttmt they forget their natural distrust, and suffer them- 
 selves to be approached very closely. The combat does 
 not cease until the most feeble have abandoned both the 
 object of their quarrel, and the district which she in- 
 habits. Those which establish themselves in orchards 
 prove very vigilant sentinels for our poultry, which they 
 always warn of the approach of birds of prey. They 
 seek to take under their protection all the little birds 
 which nestle in the same quarter with themselves. If 
 a kestrel, a hawk, a crow, or a jay should appear ia the 
 neighbourhood, the male directly announces its presence 
 by a cry of uneasiness; the female joins him, and on 
 their united cries, repeated with every tone and accent 
 of anger, an entire cohort of little birds, especially 
 finches, join with them in pursuit of the common enemy, 
 and succeed in terrifying him, and obliging him to take 
 to flight before his feeble adversaries. 
 
 The missels are very distrustful, much more so than 
 the blackbirds. It is very difficult to surprise them, 
 except at hatching time ; then they can be approached 
 more easily: they are so much absorbed in the care of 
 incubation, that they will allow themselves sometimes 
 to be taken on the nest. They generally escape all 
 kinds of snares, and can never be caught with the bird- 
 call. They are sometimes observed to join with the 
 finches in insulting the howlers, which daylight has 
 surprised out of their retreat. The missel may be some- 
 times taken by the noose, but not so frequently as the 
 song-thrush and the redwing. Their flesh is not so 
 much in estimation as that of other thrushes, at least 
 in our more northern climates, which is attributable 
 to the sort of aliment on which they subsist. When 
 they live on grapes, olives, and other succulent fruits, its 
 flavour must be equal to that of the flesh of the others ; 
 but hips, flax-seed, and berries in general, which are 
 deficient in nutritive qualities, impart to it a disagree- 
 able taste, and cannot produce the delicate fat which 
 renders the other thrushes so highly esteemed in some 
 places as an article of game. These birds must be taken 
 in the nest, when they are first covered with feathers, 
 if they are meant to be tamed. Crumbs of bread steeped 
 
 sitting on the summit of a high tree. It is 
 the largest bird of all the feathered tribe that 
 has music in its voice ; the note of all greater 
 birds being either screaming, chattering, or 
 
 in water, and the yolks of eggs, constitute a proper food 
 for them at this season ; when they will eat of their own 
 accord they may have worms, snails, berries of various 
 kinds, and minced apples. 
 
 The Fieldfare of Canada is a well-tempered and 
 familiar bird. Its song is more varied and melodious 
 
 than that of the missel, and has equal compass; its 
 throat is more flexible; it is heard to utter the short 
 interrupted cry of our blackbird, which it accompanies 
 with a gnashing of the beak, a vertical motion of the 
 tail, and slight tremor of the wings. It generally places 
 its nest on trees of middling size, and composes it of 
 small roots and dried herbs, bound together with a 
 cement of clay. This nest perfectly resembles that of 
 our song-thrush ; the eggs are four or five in number, 
 of a clear blue, varied with obscure spots. 
 
 The fieldfares come among us from the north of 
 Europe, in November and December. They delight in 
 fallow-lands, in places where flax-seed is found. To- 
 wards the end of winter they prefer humid meadows, 
 and do not frequent woods, except to pass the night 
 there. During this entire season they live in society, 
 travel together, and remain all the winter without 
 separating, perch all on the same or the most neighbour- 
 ing trees ; it is not rare to see them assembled to the 
 number of two or three thousand, in places where the 
 lotus grows, the fruit of which they eat with avidity. 
 The fieldfares also subsist on slugs and worms, which 
 they are observed to pursue eagerly after rain in humid 
 soils, or grounds newly ploughed. When these aliments 
 are wanting, they eat mistletoe, and various berries, 
 among which are those of the whitethorn. They dis- 
 appear in spring, but a few remain to the end of April. 
 Then they are found in pairs, as this is the coupling 
 time. The male is easily^distinguished at this epoch 
 from the female; the gray of his head and neck assumes 
 a bluish tint, tolerably brilliant; the beak is of a fine 
 yellow, and its extremity of a decided black. These 
 couples may be sometimes observed, after a long winter, 
 on the borders of thickets, far remote from habitations, 
 but they are seen no longer when May sets in. Those 
 fieldfares which are late go then to rejoin their com- 
 panions, and pass the summer in the north, where they 
 hatch their young. We can affirm nothing respecting 
 the song of these birds, as we do not see them during 
 the love season. The male and female with us utter 
 the same cries, whether for warning or rallying. It is 
 said that in Poland and Lower Austria, and Linnjeus 
 and Meyer add in Sweden, they nestle on high trees, 
 and lay four or six eggs, of a sea-green, pointed with 
 reddish-brown. M. Vieillot says they never nestle in 
 our climates. This may be true of France, but Dr 
 Latham mentions an instance or two of the fieldfare's 
 nest being found in this country. Their flesh is not so 
 
THE THRUSH. 
 
 141 
 
 croaking. It feeds on insects, holly, and 
 mistletoe-berries; and sometimes sends forth 
 a very disagreeable scream when frighted or 
 disturbed. 
 
 The blackbird, which in cold countries, 
 
 much esteemed as that of other thrushes j some say it 
 acquires a good flavour when the birds feed on flax-seed, 
 others that it is never better or more succulent than 
 when they live on worms or insects. In general, how- 
 ever, it is insipid enough. The fieldfares may be taken 
 by net, bird-call, or snares of any kind ; shooting them 
 is an easy sport. There are many accidental varieties 
 of this species, in which white predominates more or 
 less. 
 
 The Redwing has been sometimes confounded with 
 the song-thrush ; but besides that its plumage is some- 
 what different, its habits and mode of life are analogous 
 to those of the fieldfare. Like the latter, it only ap- 
 pears among us twice a year, unites in numerous flocks 
 at certain hours of the day, to chirrup all together. The 
 redwing has some conformity with the song-thrush in 
 the delicacy of its flesh, and fondness for grapes, and 
 they sometimes travel in company, especially in spring. 
 The redwing generally arrives after the song-thrush, 
 and before the fieldfare, from the north. They are seen 
 in considerable flocks in November, which usually dis- 
 appear before Christmas. It re-appears towards spring, 
 in the month of March, and is not seen after April. Its 
 cry is tan, tan, kan, ban. In constantly repeating this 
 cry it leads the fox, its natural enemy, to a considerable 
 distance after it. It has been remarked that it does not 
 sing in our climate, and lias only a chirrup very analo- 
 gous to that of the linnet; it is said, however, that in its 
 native country its song is very agreeable in the spring 
 season, especially when it perches on the summit of 
 lofty trees. It makes its nest in the woods in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Dantzic ; it nestles also, according to Noze- 
 mann, in some parts of Holland, and chooses those 
 which are covered with elder and service-trees, of the 
 berries of which it is very fond. It has two broods 
 every year, in the months of April, May and June: each 
 consists of from four to six eggs, of a greenish-blue, and 
 spotted with blackish. It nestles also in Sweden, and 
 places its nest on the small shrubs and in the hedges. 
 While the female hatches, the male hunts, and brings 
 her her food. From the analogy between this bird and 
 the song- thrush, it would seem probable that the male 
 also partakes the care of incubation. Nozemann says 
 that the male and female of this species swallow the 
 excrement of the young while they remain in the nest. 
 This habit is common to them with many other birds, 
 but the excrements remain at the entrance of their 
 oesophagus, and they eject them in some spot away from 
 the nest, so as to remove all suspicion of the place where 
 their young family is concealed. The usual aliment of 
 these birds consists of the small worms, which they pro- 
 cure by scraping up the earth, of berries, of turnips, and 
 caterpillars. When these are wanting, they have re- 
 course to cherries, grapes, and other kinds of tender 
 fruits. Then it is that their flesh acquires the delicacy 
 which renders it in equal estimation with that of the 
 song-thrush. They are not mistrustful, and are more 
 easily ensnared than almost any bird. 
 
 The Punctated Thrush is a native of New Holland, 
 and has been well described by Mr Vigors and Dr 
 Horsefield, in the fifteenth volume of the Linraean 
 Transactions. The general colour of the plumage is 
 brown, inclining to olive; breast ash-colour, and belly 
 rufous-buft'; a white streak over the eye, and chin 
 and throat white ; tail greatly wedged, and legs pale- 
 yellow. 
 
 We shall now speak of the Blackbirds. 
 
 Some naturalists distinguish the blackbirds generally 
 
 and particularly upon the Alps, is sometimes 
 seen all over white, is a beautiful and canor- 
 ous bird, whistling all the spring and summer 
 time with a note, at a distance, the most 
 pleasing of all the grove. It is the deepest 
 
 from the thrushes by the vertical motion of the tail ; 
 but this is found among some species of the latter. 
 
 The Blackbird is solitary, living either alone or in 
 company with its female. Though naturally wild, it is 
 
 more easily tamed than the thrushes. It sojourns and 
 nestles near inhabited places ; it is more distrustful and 
 subtle, and is said to have a more piercing sight, which 
 enables it to discover the fowler at a great distance ; it 
 is therefore approached with much more difficulty. The 
 male has a powerful voice, but hardly supportable, ex- 
 cept in the woods, or champaign country. It commences 
 its notes from the first fine days in the month of Febru- 
 ary, and continues to sing until the fine season is pretty 
 well advanced; it sings one of the longest of any of our 
 birds. The love season begins early with the blackbird, 
 and it is not rare to see young ones at the commence- 
 ment of May. This species has two or three broods 
 every year; it builds its nest in thick bushes, at a 
 moderate height, or in the old trunks of headless trees, 
 covered with ivy; it is composed of moss, small roots, 
 and dried herbs, bound together with clay, and the 
 interior is furnished with the softest materials. The 
 male and female work together at its construction with 
 so much assiduity, that we are assured that eight days 
 are sufficient for the finishing of the work. When it is 
 finished, the female deposits in it from four to five eggs, 
 of a bluish-green, with rusty-coloured spots, frequent, 
 and not very distinct. She hatches them with so much 
 ardour, that she sometimes suffers herself to be caught 
 with the hand on the nest. 
 
 These birds are sought after, and brought up in cap- 
 tivity for their song, and more especially for their power 
 of improving it, of retaining the airs which they are 
 taught, and imitating those which they hear. Those 
 who are desirous of bringing them up should take them 
 in the nest, when they are feathered, and feed them at 
 first with a liquid paste, composed of steeped bread, 
 yolk of egg, and bruised hempseed, and afterwards with 
 sheep's-heart, minced meat, crumbs of bread, and dif- 
 ferent fruits and berries. They must not be shut up 
 with other birds, for, naturally uneasy and petulant, 
 they will pursue and torment them continually, unless in 
 very large aviaries, filled with shrubs arid bushes. In 
 this way, indeed, they may have the pleasure of making 
 their own nests, and bringing up their young, if they 
 are provided with a sufficient quantity of the proper 
 aliment. To succeed completely, it is necessary to 
 abstain from approaching the brood while the little ones 
 are not entirely fledged, for otherwise the old ones will 
 either abandon or devour them. The blackbirds are 
 very fond of bathing themselves; they must, therefore, 
 
142 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 toned warbler of the woods; but it is rather 
 unpleasant in a cage, being loud and deafen- 
 ing. It lays four or five bluish eggs, in a 
 nest usually built at the stump of some old 
 
 have plenty of water, which contributes uot a little to 
 their gaiety. Their moulting commences at the end of 
 summer, and is so complete, that some are frequently 
 seen at that period with the head entirely divested of 
 feathers. At this epoch they cease to sing, and, gener- 
 ally, near its termination they proceed to migrate. Some 
 few, however, are observed to remain the winter: they 
 then inhabit hedges and the thickest woods, seeking 
 those where there are warm springs and evergreen 
 trees, as much for a shelter from the cold, as for the 
 purpose of procuring sustenance. They come at this 
 season into gardens, and feed on snails ; they even seek 
 them in the holes of walls, and know very well how to 
 break the shell and extract the animal. Their flesh is 
 considered very delicate during the vintage time in wine 
 countries, and is as much in request as that of thrushes; 
 but it grows bitter when they feed only on juniper- 
 berries, ivy-berries, and other such fruits. It is said to 
 have some medicinal properties, and to be good in fluxes 
 and dysenteries. Nevertheless, ulcerated and hemorr- 
 hoidal patients should abstain from it ; the oil in which 
 blackbirds are cooked is much recommended by foreign 
 physicians, in cases of sciatica; and the dung of these 
 birds, dissolved in vinegar, is said to clear the skin, and 
 disperse redness and blotches, if constantly used. 
 
 Though these birds are very distrustful and subtle, 
 they give easily into the snares that are laid for them, 
 provided the fowler be invisible. A method of taking 
 them, well known to shepherds and the inhabitants of 
 the country, consists in making a little hole in the 
 ground, about five inches broad, eight long, and nine 
 deep. In the bottom are placed various berries, or 
 earth-worms, attached to a little stick with a thread, or 
 transfixed through the body with long horns. If other 
 birds are wanted to be taken, grains and other aliments 
 are cast into the bottom of the hole, especially those of 
 which they eat in preference. They then take a piece 
 of turf, a tile, or a stone of the size of the hole, and 
 place them on a sort of figure of 4, so arranged on the 
 hole that the bird cannot come to the bait without touch- 
 ing the stick, and making the coverlet fall, which shuts 
 them up in the hole. To draw the blackbirds more 
 effectually, a tame one is sometimes fixed at the side of 
 the snare, either on a stick, or otherwise. This method 
 succeeds well in winter, when the birds are pressed for 
 food, and will go any where in search of it. 
 
 Nothing so opposite as white and black ; yet we see 
 the first colour pass abruptly into the second, without 
 going through the intermediate shades. Blackbirds, 
 crows, and other birds of the same hue, present examples 
 of this every day. Among the accidental varieties of 
 this species, we find some completely white, including 
 even the bill and feet. Some have these parts yellow, 
 others have the bill red. Individuals have been ob- 
 served, whose entire plumage was of a yellowish-rose 
 colour, with the bill and feet yellow. On some speci- 
 mens the head alone is white, with three oblong black 
 spots placed behind the eyes; the iris, the beak, and the 
 feet are yellow. Others are varied with black and 
 white, in transversal spots on the upper parts, and 
 longitudinal underneath; some have the wings and tail 
 only as white as snow: all the rest of the plumage is a 
 fine black. Finally, young ones are sometimes seen 
 which have the alar and caudal quills white from their 
 origin, and for half their length. 
 
 The Ring, Ouzel is decidedly a different, species from 
 the last. To say nothing of the plumage, &c., its habits 
 and mariners are different; its usual cry is cr, cr, cr. 
 In spring its song is less loud than that of the common 
 
 hawthorn, well plastered on the inside with 
 clay, straw, and hair. 
 
 Pleasing, however, as this bird may be, 
 the blue-bird, described by Bellonius, is in 
 
 blackbird, and varied with sweet and melodious sounds. 
 It is a bird of passage with us, and is never seen but in 
 spring and autumn. It does not always pursue in its 
 migrations a regular route ; it usually follows the chains 
 of mountains, and particularly seeks hedges, where ivy 
 is abundant, of the berries of which it is especially fond. 
 It is seen regularly enough iu the months of April and 
 October, on the mountains in the neighbourhood of 
 Rouen. It sometimes remains there during the entire 
 summer, but very rarely. These blackbirds appear to 
 travel in families only, for seldom more than eight or 
 twelve are seen together. They do not quit the hedges, 
 and prefer those which are on the summit of mountains, 
 and on the borders of woods. In both seasons, their 
 passage does not continue for more than from fifteen to 
 twenty days ; for all this time they are excessively fat, 
 and their flesh is very delicate eating. These birds have 
 this peculiarity, that they are as fat in spring as in 
 autumn, while the reverse is altogether the case with the 
 other blackbirds and thrushes, and indeed with all other 
 small birds, which are very fat in autumn, and quite 
 lean in spring. Less distrustful than the common 
 blackbirds, the ouzels suffer themselves to be approached 
 without difficulty. It is said, however, that they are 
 not very easily caught in snares. Still it would appear 
 that they might be taken without much trouble in the 
 spider-nets that we have described ; as whenever they 
 are pursued they stick constantly to the hedges, prefer- 
 ring those which are in a right line, and quitting one 
 only, cast themselves into the succeeding. 
 
 This species is common in all the high mountains of 
 England and Scotland, of Sweden, Auvergne, Savoy, 
 Switzerland, and Greece. It also inhabits the moun- 
 tain chain of the Vosges, where it nestles on the fir- 
 trees. It also places its nest at times, at a small dis- 
 tance from the ground, either on a rock covered with 
 bushes and large briars, or at the foot of a very thick 
 bush ; branches, roots of heath, and moss heaped to- 
 gether without order form the basis of the nest, the out- 
 side of which is furnished with thick weeds, and the 
 inside with clay mixed with filaments of roots and dried 
 leaves: fine and soft plants form the bed, on which the 
 female lays four eggs, of the same size and colour with 
 those of the common blackbird, but very remarkable for 
 the large reddish spots with which they are marked. 
 
 The Rock-thrushes (as their name indicates) are in- 
 habitants of the rocks and mountains, and must be sought 
 for in the wildest and most solitary retreats: continually 
 on their guard, they do not hestitate to stand in exposed 
 places. They are frequently seen at some distance from 
 their haunts, perched on large stones ; but they are very 
 difficult to approach, and very rarely stop within range 
 of gun-shot. When they are advanced upon a little too 
 much, they are off to another stone, and always choose 
 one where they can have a full, commanding view of all 
 that surrounds them. These birds are not a bad eat- 
 able, but they are still more in estimation for their voice, 
 which is sweet and varied, approaching the tones of the 
 black-headed warbler. Their throat is so flexible, that 
 they quickly appropriate the song of other birds, and the 
 airs of music. A little before sunrise, and at sunset, 
 they utter the loudest sounds. During the day their 
 song amounts to little more than chirping; but in the 
 middle of the night, if their cage be approached with a 
 light, they begin to sing directly. The extreme dis- 
 trustfulness of these birds naturally leads them to choose 
 the most inaccessible places for the security of their 
 young family. They make their nests in the holes of 
 rocks and attach them also to the roofs of caverns. It is 
 
THE THRUSH, 
 
 143 
 
 every respect far superior. This beautiful 
 animal entirely resembles a blackbird in all 
 but its blue colour. It lives in the highest 
 parts of the Alps, and even there chooses the 
 
 not without much risk and labour that their young brood 
 can be got at ; and even when the robber arrives at the 
 place, a sure danger awaits him of having his eyes 
 plucked out by these birds, which are not less courage- 
 ous than distrustful, and will defend their young with 
 desperate obstinacy. Their eggs are four or five in num- 
 ber, of a greenish-blue. 
 
 The rose-coloured Blackbird pleases the eye by the 
 beauty and brilliancy of its plumage, but it also possesses 
 other qualities far more valuable. It is a great destroyer 
 of grasshoppers, locusts, &c. of which it devours an in- 
 credible number every day in the various parts of the 
 east. It was regarded by the ancients, who called it 
 Seleucida, as a favour of the gods, when these scourges, 
 more destructive to the productions of the earth than 
 hail and tempest, devastated the country. Even at 
 present, the Arabs, the Indians, and the inhabitants of 
 Aleppo are accustomed by superstitious practices to 
 invoke this bird, which they call the Samarmar, to 
 come to the succour of the crops, which are attacked by 
 myriads of locusts. The Turks esteem it a sacred bird, 
 and will not suffer it to be killed in their presence. It 
 would be well if their example was more generally 
 imitated with respect to all birds that render similar 
 services to mankind. It would appear that this black- 
 bird has no song, at least ornithologists and travellers 
 make no mention of it. According to Forskel, its cry 
 is heard at a great distance, and may be expressed thus: 
 tr, tr, tr. This species appeal's spread through the 
 hottest and coldest parts of the old continent. Forskel 
 has seen it on the burning sands of Arabia, and in the 
 plains of Aleppo, in July and August. Le Vaillant has 
 met with it in Africa, as high as 24 south latitude. 
 It has been sent into this country from Bengal. Pallas 
 has found it in the north of Siberia, in the mountainous 
 vicinity of the Irtish, where it nestles. Very nume- 
 rous flocks of these birds traversed Provence and Pied- 
 mont, in the autumn of 1817. They are found in the 
 mountains of Lapland, are common on the shores of the 
 Caspian, near Astracan, and along the entire extent of 
 the Volga. They pass every year in large flocks into 
 the southern part of Russia. The rose-coloured black- 
 birds, which are seen on the continent, come only dur- 
 ing the passage time of other birds ; at this period many 
 are observed in Burgundy. Klein assures us, that they 
 have a name in Spanish, which indicates that they are 
 known in Spain. Aldrovandus, the first naturalist who 
 has mentioned these birds, informs us, that they some- 
 times appear in the plains of Bologna, where the fowlers 
 call them sea-starlings. They perch on dunghills, 
 grow very fat, and their flesh is good eating. They 
 have been sometimes seen in this country. 
 
 The Mocking -thrush, properly so called, or Mocking - 
 lird, derives its name from the peculiar talent which it 
 
 possesses of imitating the cries and a part of the song of 
 
 most craggy rocks and the most frightful 
 precipices for its residence. As it is rarely 
 caught, it is in high estimation even in the 
 countries where it breeds, but still more valu- 
 
 other birds; but it does not give a caricatured imita- 
 tion of those foreign sounds its denomination would 
 appear to indicate ; on the contrary, if it imitates it is 
 only to embellish. The cries and half-phrases with which 
 it enriches its own naturally varied song, have occa- 
 sioned the aborigines of Mexico to give it a name far 
 more appropriate and more justly applicable, that of 
 Cencontlatolli, which means four hundred languages. 
 This bird not only sings with taste, and without mono- 
 tony, but also with action and animation. It is, perhaps, 
 one of the first of singing birds ; but to place it above 
 the nightingale, with Fernandez, Nieremberg, and 
 others, can only be done by those who have never heard, 
 or who have entirely forgotten the song of that delight- 
 ful bird. The voice of the mocking-thrush is more loud 
 and powerful, but by no means so agreeable within a 
 certain distance. Its song has little of the softness, 
 delicacy, and plaintive tenderness that so peculiarly 
 characterize the nightingale during the season of love. 
 As there is no bird among the Americans at all to be 
 compared to the mocking-bird, it is not astonishing that 
 they should have exalted it into so extraordinary a 
 character, and raised it above all other birds. They 
 have, however, exaggerated its talents, in stating that it 
 can imitate completely, and in all their parts, the song 
 of other birds, the cries of different quadrupeds, the 
 crying of infants, the laughter of a young girl, and in 
 being able to repeat entire airs on the same key in 
 which it has heard them. It does not possess the 
 imitative talent to this degree, even in captivity. The 
 mewing of the cat, however, it takes off so completely 
 as to deceive any ear. (See note at page 146.) 
 
 This bird is very common in St Domingo, where 
 it is called the nightingale; but there it possesses none 
 of those qualities so much vaunted in North America. 
 Its song, however, is the same. It frequents the 
 savannahs, delights to be near habitations, and seems to 
 love the society of man, the sight of whom is alone suffi- 
 cient to excite it to sing. This bird moves the tail up 
 and down, and often carries it in a raised position: at 
 such times its wings are pendant. Bold and courage- 
 ous, the mocking-thrush is frequently at war with the 
 pipiris, and forces the little birds of prey to quit the 
 places which it has adopted for its own abode, especially 
 during the hatching-time. It places its nest on trees 
 of middle size, or in thick bushes, gives it a similar 
 form to that of the missel, and furnishes the base with- 
 out with thorny branches. It lays four or five eggs, 
 spotted with red points on a white ground, which points 
 are larger towards towards the thick end than elsewhere. 
 It feeds on insects and different berries. It is brought 
 up in cages, but to preserve it, it must be taken in the 
 nest, and its tastes and wants be carefully studied and 
 administered to. When this is done, it will continue 
 to sing many years. It is about the size of the redwing, 
 and the female is of the same dimensions with the male. 
 
 We pass on to the LORIOTS or ORIOLES. 
 
 The Oriole, properly so called, and golden Oriole of 
 Latham, comes into France about the middle of spring, 
 and quits in autumn to pass the winter in Africa. It 
 migrates at uncertain periods into England and Sweden. 
 On their arrival, the male and female soon couple, and 
 place their nest at the extremity of the branches of very 
 elevated trees. This nest is constructed with much art 
 and industry: it is attached to the bifurcation of two 
 small branches ; the birds enlace around the two branches, 
 which form this bifurcation, long threads of straw, flax, 
 or wool, some of which going right from one branch to 
 another, form the edge of the nest in front, and the 
 
144 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 able when carried from home. It not only 
 whistles in the most delightful manner, but 
 speaks with an articulate distinct voice. It 
 is so docile, and observes all things with such 
 liligence, that though waked at midnight by 
 any of the family, it will speak, and whistle at 
 the word of command. Its colour, about the 
 beginning of winter, from blue becomes black, 
 which changes to its original hue on the first 
 approaches of spring. It makes its nest in 
 deep holes, in very high and inaccessible 
 solitudes, and removes it not only from the 
 accesses of man, but also hides it with sur- 
 prising cunning from the shammoy and other 
 wild beasts that might annoy its young. 
 
 The manner of taking this beautiful bird 
 is said to be this. The fowlers, either by 
 chance or by lying in wait, having found out 
 the place where it builds, take with them a 
 strong stilt or stake, such as the climbers of 
 rocks make use of to assist them in their 
 ascent. With the assistance of this, they 
 mount where an indifferent spectator would 
 think it impossible to ascend, covering their 
 heads at the same time to ward off any 
 danger of the falling of pebbles or stones from 
 above. At length, with extreme toil and 
 danger, having arrived at the nest, they draw 
 
 others penetrating into the tissue of the nest, or passing 
 underneath and rolling over the opposite branch, give 
 solidity to the work. Between the exterior and interior, 
 there are moss, lichens, and other similar matters. The 
 interior is furnished with wool, spiders'- webs, the silky 
 nests of caterpillars, and feathers, the whole united and 
 tissued most intimately and ingeniously together. The 
 eggs are four or five in number, of a dirty white, 
 sprinkled with little spots of a blackish-brown, and more 
 numerous towards the thick end. Incubation lasts about 
 one-and-twenty days. 
 
 The song of the oriole is tolerably well known, and 
 has given rise to the different names imposed upon the 
 bird, according as the hearers have thought proper to 
 express it, or as they believed that they heard it. Some 
 believe that it always cries Yo, ya, yo, syllables which 
 are always preceded or followed by a sort of mewing, 
 like that of a cat. Others that it pronounces Oriot or 
 Loriot. 
 
 The oriole is not easily reared in captivity: this, 
 however, may be achieved, and even the old ones taken 
 with the young may be preserved for some time, if they 
 receive plenty of those fruits of which they are particu- 
 larly fond. As to the young taken from the nest, they 
 are fed at first with the same paste which is given to 
 nightingales, and afterwards with fruits. These birds 
 seldom live more than two years in captivity ; they most 
 generally perish, from a species of gout which attacks 
 them in the feet. The oriole is extremely distrustful, 
 and very difficult of approach. Precaution must be 
 used when it is intended to shoot them, as they fly from 
 tree to tree for a long time, without suffering themselves 
 to remain to be aimed at. They can be attracted by 
 whistling like them, but it must be well done, and ex- 
 actly like their voice, as, otherwise, they will fly off 
 immediately. In the fruit season they may be caught 
 with various kinds of snares. All that we have said of 
 the habits of this oriole is applicable to the other species 
 of the genus as far as they are known. Supplement to 
 the English Edition of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom. 
 
 it up from the hole in which it is usually 
 buried, and cherish the young with an assi- 
 duity equal to the pains they took to obtain 
 them. It produces for the most part five 
 young, and never more ; it seldom descends 
 into the plain country, flies swifter than a 
 blackbird, and uses the same food. 
 
 The fieldfare and the redwing make but a 
 short stay in this country. With us they are 
 insipid tuneless birds, flying in flocks, and 
 excessively watchful to preserve the general 
 safety. All their season of music and plea- 
 sure is employed in the more northern cli- 
 mates, where they sing most delightfully, 
 perched among the forests of 'maples, with 
 which those countries abound. They build 
 their nests in hedges; and lay six bluish-green 
 eggs spotted with black. 
 
 The stare, distinguishable from the rest of 
 this tribe by the glossy green of its feathers in 
 some lights, and the purple in others, breeds in 
 hollow trees, eaves of houses, towers, ruins, 
 cliffs, and often in high rocks over the sea. It 
 la^ys four or five eggs of a pale greenish ash- 
 olour, and makes its nest of straw, small fibres 
 of roots, and such like. Its voice is rougher than-' 
 the rest of this kind : but what it wants in the 
 melody of its note, it compensates by the faci- 
 lity with which it is taught to speak. In 
 winter these birds assemble in vast flocks, and 
 feed upon worms and insects. At the approach 
 of spring they assemble in the fields as if in 
 consultation together, and for three or four 
 days seem to take no nourishment : the greater 
 part leave the country ; the rest breed here, 
 and bring up their young. 1 
 
 1 The Starling is widely dispersed through Great 
 Britain, occurring as numerously in the Orkney and 
 
 Shetland isles as in the southern parts of the kingdom. 
 In the autumnal and hyemal months, these birds gather 
 in immense flocks, and are particularly abundant in the 
 fenny parts of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, where 
 they roost among the reeds. Before they retire to rest, 
 they perform various manoeuvres in the air, the whole 
 frequently describing rapid revolutions round a common 
 centre. This peculiar flight will sometimes continue 
 for nearly half an hour, before they become finally settled 
 for the night. Upon the approach of spring they pair, 
 and spread themselves over the country. They build in 
 the holes of trees, or in ruinous buildings, making an 
 
THE THRUSH. 
 
 145 
 
 To this tribe might be added above a hun- 
 dred other birds of nearly the thrush size, and 
 living like them upon fruits and berries. 
 Words could not afford variety enough to des- 
 cribe all the beautiful tints that adorn the 
 foreign birds of the thrush kind. The bril- 
 liant green of the emerald, the flaming red of 
 
 artless nest of dry grass or hay, on which four or five 
 eggs of a bluish-green colour, are deposited. Their food 
 principally consists of worms and other insects; but they 
 also eat grain and various seeds. The starling is a very 
 imitative bird, and, when tamed, may he taught to arti- 
 culate very distinctly, and to whistle tunes with much 
 precision. In its wild state even, it may frequently be 
 heard endeavouring to imitate the cries of different birds 
 and animals. Its own peculiar notes are a shrill whistle, 
 and chattering kind of noise. It is found throughout 
 Europe ; and the same species appears to be common 
 also in Asia, as I have seen specimens from Nepaul that 
 are precisely similar. Starlings are often seen in com- 
 pany with rooks, pigeons, and jackdaws. 
 
 The red-winged Starlings of America, though gener- 
 ally migratory in the States north of Maryland, are found 
 during winter in immense flocks, sometimes associated 
 with the purple grakles, and often by themselves, along 
 the whole lower parts of Virginia, both Carolinas, 
 Georgia, and Louisiana, particularly near the sea coas,t, 
 and in the vicinity of large rice and corn fields. -Ijfoj 
 months of January and February, (says Wilson,; 
 hile passing through the former of these countries, I 
 was frequently entertained with the aerial evolutions of 
 these great bodies of starlings. Sometimes they appeared 
 driving about like an enormous black cloud carried 
 before the wind, varying its shape every moment. Some- 
 times suddenly rising from the fields around me with a 
 noise like thunder ; while the glittering of innumerable 
 wings of the brightest vermilion amid the black cloud 
 they formed, produced on these occasions a very striking 
 and splendid effect. Then descending like a torrent, and 
 covering the branches of some detached grove, or clump 
 of trees, the whole congregated multitude commenced 
 one general concert or chorus, that I have plainly dis- 
 tinguished at the distance of more than two miles; and, 
 when listened to at the intermediate space of about a 
 quarter of a mile, with a slight breeze of wind to swell 
 and soften the flow of its cadences, was to me grand, 
 and even sublime. The whole season of winter, that, 
 with most birds, is past in struggling to sustain life in 
 silent melancholy, is, with the red-wings, one continued 
 carnival. The profuse gleanings of the old rice, corn, 
 and buckwheat fields, supply them with abundant food, 
 at once ready and nutritious; and the intermediate time 
 is spent either in aerial manoeuvres, or in grand vocal 
 performances, as if solicitous to supply the absence of 
 all the tuneful summer tribes, and to cheer the dejected 
 face of nature with their whole combined powers of har- 
 mony. Before the beginning of September, these flocks 
 have become numerous and formidable ; and the young 
 ears of maize, or Indian corn, being then in their soft 
 succulent, milky state, present a temptation that cannot 
 be resisted. Reinforced by numerous and daily flocks 
 from all parts of the interior, they pour down on the low 
 countries in prodigious multitudes. Here they are seen, 
 like vast clouds, wheeling and driving over the mea- 
 dows and devoted corn fields, darkening the air with 
 their numbers. Then commences the work of destruc- 
 tion on the corn, the husks of which, though composed 
 of numerous envelopements of closely wrapt leaves, are 
 soon completely or partially torn off"; while from all 
 quarters myriads continue to^pour down like a tempest, 
 blackening half an acre at a Time; and, if not disturbed, 
 repeat their depredations till little remains but the cob 
 and the shrivelled skins of the grain; what little is left 
 vor,. n. 
 
 the ruby, the purple of the amethyst, or the 
 bright blue of the sapphire, could not, by the 
 most artful combination, show any thing so 
 truly lively or delightful to the sight, as the 
 feathers of the chilcoqui or the tautotal. 
 Passing, therefore, over these beautiful, but 
 little known, birds, I will only mention the 
 
 of the tender ear, being exposed to the rains and wea- 
 ther, is generally much injured. All the attacks and 
 havoc made at this time among them with the gun, 
 and by the hawks, several species of which are their 
 constant attendants, has little effect on the remainder. 
 When the hawks make a sweep among them, they sud- 
 denly open on all sides, but rarely in time to disappoint 
 them of their victims; and, though repeatedly fired at, 
 with mortal effect, they only remove from one field to 
 an adjoining one, or to another quarter of the same in- 
 closure. From dawn to nearly sunset, this open and 
 daring devastation is carried on, under the eye of the 
 proprietor; and a farmer, who has any considerable ex- 
 tent of corn, would require half-a-dozen men at least, 
 with guns, to guard it ; and even then, all their vigi- 
 lance and activity would not prevent a good tithe of it 
 from becoming the prey of the blackbirds. The Indians, 
 who usually plant their corn in one general field, keep 
 the whole young boys of the village all clay patrolling 
 round and among it ; and each being furnished with bow 
 and arrows, with which they are very expert, they gener- 
 ally contrive to destroy great numbers of them. To 
 compensate their consumption of corn in autumn, their 
 general food in spring, as well as during the early part 
 of summer, consists of grub-worms, caterpillars, and 
 various other larvse, the silent, but deadly enemies of 
 all vegetation, and whose secret and insidious attacks are 
 more to be dreaded by the husbandman than the com- 
 bined forces of the whole feathered tribes together. For 
 these vermin, the starlings search with great diligence; 
 in the ground, at the roots of plants, in orchards, and 
 meadows, as well as among buds, leaves, and blossoms ; 
 and, from their known voracity, the multitudes of these 
 insects which they destroy must be immense. Let me 
 illustrate this (continues Wilson) by a short computation ; 
 If we suppose each bird, on an average, to devour fifty 
 of these larvae in a day (a very moderate allowance), a 
 single pair, in four months, the usual time such food is 
 sought after, will consume upwards of twelve thousand. 
 It is believed, that not less than a million pair of these 
 birds are distributed over the whole extent of the United 
 States in summer ; whose food being nearly the same, 
 would swell the amount of vermin destroyed to twelve 
 thousand millions. But the number of young birds 
 may be fairly estimated at double that of their parents ; 
 and, as these are constantly fed on larva; for at least three 
 weeks, making only the same allowance for them as for 
 the old ones, their share would amount to four thousand 
 two hundred millions ; making a grand total of sixteen 
 thousand two hundred millions of noxious insects de- 
 stroyed in the space of four months by this single species ! 
 The combined ravages of such a hideous host of vermin 
 would be sufficient to spread famine and desolation over 
 a wide extent of the richest and best cultivated country 
 on earth. All this, it may be said, is mere supposition. 
 It is, however, supposition, founded on known and ac- 
 knowledged facts. I have never dissected any of these 
 birds in spring without receiving the most striking and 
 satisfactory proofs of these facts ; and though, in a mat- 
 ter of this kind, it is impossible to ascertain precisely 
 the amount of the benefits derived by agriculture from 
 this, and many other species of our birds, yet in the 
 present case, I cannot resist the belief, that the services 
 of this species, in spring, are far more important and 
 beneficial than the value of all that portion of corn which 
 a careful and active farmer permits himself to lose by it. 
 
146 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 American mock-bird, the favourite songster 
 of a region, where the birds excel rather in 
 tiie beauty of their plumage than the sweet- 
 ness of their notes. 
 
 This valuable bird does not seem to vie 
 with the feathered inhabitants of that country 
 in the beauty of its plumage, content with 
 qualifications that endear it to mankind much 
 more. It is but a plain bird to the eye, about 
 the size of a thrush , of a white and gray colour, 
 and a reddish bill. It is possessed not only 
 of its own natural notes, which are musical 
 and solemn, but it can assume the tone of 
 every other animal in the wood, from the wolf 
 to the raven. It seems even to sport itself in 
 leading them astray. It will, at one time, 
 allure the lesser birds with the call of their 
 males, and then terrify them, when they have 
 come near, with the screams of the eagle. 
 There is no bird in the forest but it can 
 mimick ; and there is none that it has not, at 
 times, deceived by its call. But, not like 
 such as we usually see famed for mimicking 
 with us, and which have no particular merit 
 of their own, the mock-bird is ever surest to 
 please when it is most itself. At those times 
 it usually frequents the houses of the Ameri- 
 can planters; and, sitting all night on the 
 chimney-top, pours forth the sweetest and the 
 most various notes of any bird whatever. It 
 would seem, if accounts be true, that the 
 deficiency of most other song-birds in that 
 country, is made up by this bird alone. They 
 often build their nests in the fruit-trees about 
 houses, feed upon berries and other fruits, and 
 are easily rendered domestic. 1 
 
 1 Wilson's description of the American mocking-bird 
 is extremely animated ; but, in his enthusiasm, he is 
 supposed to have somewhat exaggerated the qualities of 
 the little mimic. (See page 143, ante, Note.) "The 
 voice of the mocking-bird," says the great American 
 ornithologist, " is full, strong, and musical, and capable 
 of almost every modulation, from the clear mellow tones 
 of the wood-thrush to the savage scream of the bald 
 eagle. In measure and accents he faithfully follows his 
 originals, while in force and sweetness of expression he 
 greatly improves upon them. In his native woods, on a 
 dewy morning, his song rises above every competitor, 
 for the others seem merely as inferior accompaniments. 
 His own notes are bold and full, and varied seemingly 
 beyond all limits. They consist of short expressions of 
 two, three, or at most five or six syllables, generally ex- 
 pressed with great emphasis and rapidity, and continued 
 with undiminished ardour, for half an hour or an hour 
 at a time. While singing, he expands his wings and 
 his tail, glistening with white, keeping time to his own 
 music, and the buoyant gaiety of his action is no less 
 fascinating than his song. He sweeps round with 
 enthusiastic ecstasy, he mounts and descends as his song 
 swells or dies away ; he bounds aloft, as Bartram says, 
 with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover or recal 
 his very soul, expired in the last elevated strain. A 
 bystander might suppose that the whole feathered tribes 
 had assembled together on a trial of skill ; each striving 
 to produce his utmost effect, so perfect are his imitations. 
 He often deceives the sportsman, and even birds them- 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE NIGHTINGALE, AND OTHER SOFT- 
 BILLED SONG- BIRDS. 
 
 THE Nightingale is not only famous among 
 the moderns for its singing, but almost every 
 one of the ancients, who undertook to de- 
 scribe beautiful nature, has contributed to 
 raise its reputation. " The nightingale," says 
 Pliny, " that, for fifteen days and nights, hid 
 in the thickest shades, continues her note 
 without intermission, deserves our attention 
 arid wonder. How surprising that so great a 
 voice can reside in so small a body ! such per- 
 severance in so minute an animal ! With 
 what a musical propriety are the sounds it 
 produces modulated! The note at one time 
 drawn out with a long breath, now stealing 
 off into a different cadence, now interrupted 
 by a break, then changing into a new note by 
 an unexpected transition; now seeming to 
 renew the same strain, then deceiving expec- 
 tation! She sometimes seems to murmur 
 within herself; full, deep, sharp, swift, draw- 
 ling, trembling; now at the top, the middle, 
 and the bottom of the scale ! In short, in 
 that little bill seems to reside all the melody 
 which man has vainly laboured to bring from 
 a variety of musical instruments. Some even 
 seem to be possessed of a different song from 
 the rest, and contend with each other with 
 great ardour. The bird overcome is then seen 
 only to discontinue its song with its life." 
 
 This most famous of the feathered tribe 
 visits England in the beginning of April, and 
 leaves us in August. It is found but in some 
 of the southern parts of the country, being 
 
 selves are sometimes imposed upon by this admirable 
 mimic. In confinement he loses little of the power or 
 energy of his song. He whistles for the dog ; CsDsar 
 starts up, wags his tail, and runs to meet his master. 
 He cries like a hurt chicken, and the hen hurries about, 
 with feathers on end, to protect her injured brood. He 
 repeats the tune taught him, though it be of considerable 
 length, with great accuracy. He runs over the notes of 
 the canary, and of the red bird, with such superior exe- 
 cution and effect, that the mortified songsters confess 
 his triumph by their silence. His fondness for variety, 
 some suppose to injure his song. His imitations of the 
 brown thrush are often interrupted by the crowing of 
 cocks; and his exquisite warblings after the blue bird, 
 are mingled with the screaming of swallows, or the 
 cackling of hens. During moonlight, both in the wild 
 and tame state, he sings the whole night long. The 
 hunters, in their night excursions, know that the moon 
 is rising the instant they begin to hear his delightful 
 solo. Alter Shakspeare, Harrington attributes in part 
 the exquisiteness of the nightingale's song to the silence 
 of the night; but if so, what are we to think of the bird 
 which, in the open glare of day, overpowers and often 
 silences all competition ? 9 His natural notes partake 
 of a character similar to those of the brown thrush, but 
 they are more sweet, more expressive, more varied, and 
 uttered with greater rapidity.'' 
 
THE NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 147 
 
 totally unknown in Scotland, Ireland, or 
 North Wales. They frequent thick hedges 
 and low coppices, and generally keep in the 
 middle of the bush, so that they are rarely 
 seen. They begin their song in the evening, 
 and generally continue it for the whole night. 
 For weeks together, if undisturbed, they sit 
 upon the same tree; and Shakspeare rightly 
 describes the nightingale sitting nightly in the 
 same place, which I have frequently ob- 
 served she seldom departs from. 1 
 
 1 The Nightingale. "The nightingale, whose plum- 
 age is very ordinary, is scarcely five inches long, two 
 
 and a half of which belong to the tail. But in confine- 
 ment, when it is well fed, and especially when it has 
 been bred from the nest, it is commonly larger, reach- 
 ing sometimes the size of a lark. When wild, nightin- 
 gales are found throughout Europe, as far as the north of 
 England, and the middle of Sweden ; in all Asia, as far 
 as the temperate regions of Siberia; and in Africa, on 
 the banks of the Nile. r l ney every where choose for 
 their residence places which are shady, cool, but not 
 cold, snch as woods, thickets, and even mere hedges in 
 the fields* Groves, thick brambles, tufted bushes near 
 fields and meadows, are their favourite abodes. They 
 also like gardens planted with un trimmed elm-hedges, 
 which are consequently thick and bushy down to the 
 ground. Their principal food is insects, especially 
 green caterpillars, of which they* clear the bushes and 
 trees, butterflies, flies, and beetles, and the grubs of 
 insects hid among moss or in ,the earth. At their de- 
 parture, towards the end of summer, they also eat elder- 
 berries and currants. They build their nests in a grave 
 or orchard, among a heap of branches, or in a thorn 
 bush, or the trunk of a tree surrounded by briars. They 
 are easily caught with limed twigs, or nooses and 
 springs. When allowed to fly freely in rooms, they do 
 not sing so well as in cages, which should be of an ordi- 
 nary size, and formed of osiers. 
 
 The first good quality of a nightingale is undoubtedly 
 its fine voice, and notes which I shall endeavour to de- 
 scribe. The nightingale expresses his different emo- 
 tions by suitable and particular tones. The most un- 
 meaning cry when he is alone appears to be a simple 
 whistle ./&*, but if the, syllable err is added, it is then the 
 call of the male to the female. The sign of displeasure 
 or fear is fitt repeated rapidly and loudly before adding 
 the terminating err; whilst that of satisfaction and 
 pleasure, such, for example, as conjugal endearments, 
 or, on the occasion' of finding a delicate morsel, is a 
 deep tack) which may be imitated by smacking the 
 tongue. In anger, jealousy, rivalry, or any extra- 
 ordinary event, he utters hoarse disagreeable sounds, 
 somewhat like a jay or a cat. Lastly, in the season of 
 p.-uring, when the male and female entice arid pursue 
 
 From Pliny's description, we should be led 
 to believe this bird possessed of a persevering 
 strain ; but though it is in fact so with the 
 nightingale in Italy, yet, in our hedges in 
 England, the little songstress is by no means 
 so liberal of her music. Her note is soft, 
 various, and interrupted ; she seldom holds it 
 without a pause above the time that one can 
 count twenty. The nightingale's pausing 
 song would be the proper epithet for thisjjird's 
 music with us, which is more pleasing than 
 
 each other, from the top of a tree to its base, and thence 
 again to the top, a gentle subdued warbling is all that 
 is heard. 
 
 Nature has granted these tones to both sexes; but the 
 male is particularly endowed with so very striking a 
 musical talent, that in this respect he surpasses all birds, 
 and has acquired the name of the king of songsters. The 
 strength of his vocal organ is indeed wonderful ; and it 
 has been found that the muscles of his larynx are much 
 more powerful than those of any other bird. But it is 
 less the strength than the compass, flexibility, pro- 
 digious variety, and harmony of his voice, which make 
 it so admired by all lovers of the beautiful. Sometimes 
 dwelling for minutes on a strain composed of only two 
 or three melancholy tones, he begins in an under voice, 
 and swelling it gradually by the most superb crescendo 
 to the highest point of strength, he ends it by a dying 
 cadence; or it consists of a rapid succession of more 
 brilliant sounds, terminated, like many other strains of 
 his song, by some detached ascending notes. Twenty- 
 four diflerent strains or couplets may be reckoned in 
 the song of a fine nightingale, without including its 
 delicate little variations; for among these, as among 
 other musicians, there are some great performers and 
 many middling ones. This song is so articulate, so 
 speaking, that it may be very well written. The fol- 
 lowing is a trial which I have made on that of a night- 
 ingale in my neighbourhood, which passes for a very 
 capital singer:- 
 
 Tiou, tiou, tiou, tiou. 
 
 Spe, tiou, smut. 
 
 Tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tix. 
 
 Coutio, coutio, coutio, coutio. 
 
 Squo, squo, squo, squo. 
 
 Tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzi. 
 
 Corror, tiou, squct pipiqui. 
 
 Zozozozozozozozozozozozo, zirrhading I 
 
 Tsissisi, tsissisisisisisisis. 
 
 Dzorre, dzorre, dzorre, dzorre, hi. 
 
 Tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu } tzatu, dxi. 
 
 Dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo. 
 
 Quio tr rrrrrrrr itz. 
 
 Zzt, lu, lu, lu, ly, ly, ly, ly, lie, lie, lie, Ifa 
 
 Quio, didl li lulylie. 
 
 Hagurr, gurr quipio ! 
 
 Coui, coui, coui, coui, qui, qui, qui, qui, gai, gui, gui, gui. 
 
 Goll goll goll goll guia Jtadadoi. 
 
 Couigui, horr, ha diadia dill si ! 
 
 Hezezezezezezezezezezezezezezezeze couar ho dze hoi. 
 
 Quia, quia } quia, quia, quia, quia, quia, quia, ti. 
 
 Ki, ki, Hi, io, 'io, io, ioioioio M. 
 
 Lu ly li le lai la leu Io, didl 'io quia. 
 
 Kigaiyaigaigaigaigaigaigaigaigaigaa, couior dzio dzio pi. 
 
 If we could understand the sense of these words, we 
 should doubtless discover the expression of the sensa- 
 tions of this delightful songster. It is true that the 
 nightingales of all countries, the south as well as the 
 north, appear to sing in the same manner; there is, 
 however, as has been already observed, so great a dif- 
 ference in the degree of perfection, that we cannot help 
 acknowledging that one has a great superiority over 
 another. On points of beauty, however, where the 
 
148 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 the warbling of any other bird, because it is 
 heard at a time when all the rest are silent. 
 
 In the beginning of May, the nightingale 
 prepares to make its nest, which is formed of 
 the leaves of trees, straw and moss. The nest 
 being very eagerly sought after, is as cun- 
 ningly secreted; so that but very few of them 
 are found by the boys when they go upon 
 these pursuits. It is built at the bottom of 
 hedges, where the bushes are thickest and 
 best covered. While the female continues 
 sitting, the male at a good distance, but al- 
 ways within hearing, cheers the patient hour 
 with his voice, and, by the short interruption 
 of his song, often gives her warning of ap- 
 proaching danger. She lays four or five eggs; 
 of which but a part in our cold climate come 
 to maturity. 
 
 The delicacy, or rather the fame, of this 
 bird's music, has induced many to abridge its 
 liberty, to be secured of its song. Indeed, 
 the greatest part of what has been written 
 concerning it in our country consists in direc- 
 tions how to manage it for domestic singing ; 
 while the history of the bird is confined to 
 dry receipts for fitting it for the cage. Its 
 song, however, in captivity, is not so very 
 alluring; and the tyranny of taking it from 
 those hedges where only it is most pleasing, 
 
 senses are the judges, each has his peculiar taste. If 
 one nightingale has the talent of dwelling agreeably on 
 his notes, another utters his with peculiar brilliancy, a 
 third lengthens out his strain in a particular manner, 
 and a fourth excels in the silveriness of his voice. All 
 four may excel in their style, and each will find his 
 admirer; and, truly, it is very difficult to decide which 
 merits the palm of victory. There are, however, in- 
 dividuals so very superior as to unite all the beauties of 
 power and melody ; these are generally birds of the first 
 breed, which, having been hatched with the necessary 
 powers, in a district well peopled with nightingales, 
 appropriate what is most striking in the song of each, 
 whence results this perfect compound, so worthy of our 
 admiration. As the return of the males in spring al- 
 ways precedes that of the females by seven or eight days, 
 they are constantly heard to sing before and after mid- 
 night, in order to attract their companions on their 
 journey during the fine nights. If their wishes are 
 accomplished, they then keep silence during the night, 
 and salute the dawn with their first accents, which are 
 continued through the day. Sonle persist in their first 
 season in singing before and after midnight, whence 
 they have obtained the name of nocturnal nightingales ; 
 hut they cannot be distinguished till after some time, 
 when they are established in their district, and have the 
 society of their females. After repeated experiments 
 for many successive years, I think I am authorised in 
 affirming that the nocturnal and diurnal nightingales 
 form distinct varieties, which propagate regularly: for 
 if a young bird is taken from the nest of a night singer, 
 he in his turn will sing at the same hours as his father, 
 not the first year, but certainly in the following; while, 
 on the other hand, the young of a day nightingale will 
 never sing in the night, even when it is surrounded by 
 nocturnal nightingales. 
 
 ft is a pity that the time for this delightful bird's 
 song should be so short, that is to say, when wild. It 
 eiKkires hardly three mouths; and during this short 
 
 still more depreciates its imprisoned efforts. 
 Gesner assures us, that it is not only the most 
 agreeable songster in a cage, but that it is 
 possessed of a most admirable faculty of talk- 
 ing. He tells the following story in proof of 
 his assertion, which he says was communi- 
 cated to him by a friend. " Whilst I was at 
 Ratisbon," says his correspondent, " I put up 
 at an inn, the sign of the Golden Crown, 
 where my host had three nightingales. What 
 I am going to repeat is wonderful, almost 
 incredible, and yet is true. The nightingales 
 were placed separately, so that each was shut 
 up by itself in a dark cage. It happened at 
 that time, being the spring of the year, when 
 those birds are wont to sing indefatigably, 
 that I was so afflicted with the stone, that I 
 could sleep but very little all night. It was 
 usual then about midnight, when there was 
 no noise in the house, but all still, to hear the 
 two nightingales jangling and talking with 
 each other, and plainly imitating men's dis- 
 courses. For my part I was almost astonished 
 with wonder; for at this time, when all was 
 quiet else, they held conference together, and 
 repeated whatever they had heard among the 
 guests by day. Those two of them that were 
 most notable, and masters of this art, were 
 scarcely ten feet distant from one another. 
 
 interval it is not maintained with equal power. At its 
 first arrival it is the most beautiful, continued, and im- 
 passioned 5 when the young are hatched, it becomes 
 more rare ; the attentions which they require occupying 
 considerable time. If from time to time the nightin- 
 gale's song is heard, it is evident that the fire which 
 animated it is much weakened. After midsummer all 
 is ended, nothing is heard but the warbling of the young, 
 which seem to study their father's song, and try to 
 imitate it. The nightingale sings much longer in con- 
 finement : birds which are caught full grown sometimes 
 sing from November to Easter; those which are bred 
 from the nest sing much longer, sometimes as long as 
 seven months; but in order that they may sing well, 
 they must be put under the instruction of an old night- 
 ingale which is a good singer, otherwise they will be 
 only stammerers, mutilating their natural song, and 
 inserting in a confused manner tones and passages 
 which they have caught from other birds. If, however, 
 they have a good instructor, and a good memory, they 
 imitate perfectly, and often add to their instructor's song 
 some beauties of their own> as is usual among young 
 birds. 
 
 Independent of these talents, the nightingale pos- 
 sesses a quality very likely to augment the number of 
 his friends; he is capable, after some time, of forming 
 attachments. When once he has made acquaintance 
 with the person who takes care of him, he distinguishes 
 his step before seeing him; he welcomes him by a cry of 
 joy; and, during the moulting season, he is seen making 
 vain efforts to sing, and supplying, by the gaiety of his 
 movements, and the expression of his looks, the demon- 
 strations of joy which his throat refuses to utter. When 
 he loses his benefactor, he somt times pines to death; if 
 he survives, it is long before he is accustomed to 
 another. His attachments are long, because they are 
 ot hasty, as is the case with all wild and timid disposi- 
 tions." Bechstein on Cage Birds. 
 
THE NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 149 
 
 The third hung more remote, so that I could 
 not so well hear it as I lay a-bed. But it is 
 wonderful to tell how those two provoked 
 each other; and by answering, invited and 
 drew one another to speak. Yet did they 
 not confound their words, or talk both together, 
 but rather utter them alternately and of 
 course. Besides the daily discourse of the 
 guests, they chaunted out two stones, which 
 generally held them from midnight till morn- 
 ing; and that with such modulations and in- 
 flections, that no man could have taken to 
 come from such little creatures. When I 
 asked the host if they had been taught, or 
 whether he observed their talking in the 
 night, he answered, no: the same said the 
 whole family. But I, who could not sleep 
 for nights together, was perfectly sensible of 
 their discourse. One of iheir stories was 
 concerning the tapster and his wife, who re- 
 fused to follow him to the wars, as he desired 
 her : for the husband endeavoured to persuade 
 his wife, as far as I understood by the birds, 
 that he would leave his service in that inn, 
 and go to the wars in hopes of plunder. But 
 she refused to follow him, resolving to stay 
 either at Ratisbon, or go to Nuremberg. 
 There was a long and earnest contention be- 
 tween them ; and all this dialogue the birds 
 repeated. They even repeated the unseemly 
 words which were cast out between them, 
 and which ought rather to have been sup- 
 pressed and kept a secret. But the birds, 
 not knowing the difference between modest, 
 immodest, honest, and filthy words, did out 
 with them. The other story was concerning 
 the war which the emperor was then threaten- 
 ing against the Protestants ; which the birds 
 probably heard from some of the generals that 
 had conferences in the house. These things 
 did they repeat in the night after twelve 
 o'clock, when there was a deep silence. But 
 in the day-time, for the most part they were 
 silent, and seemed to do nothing but meditate 
 and revolve with themselves upon what the 
 guests conferred together as they sat at table, 
 or in their walks. I verily had never be- 
 lieved our Pliny writing so many wonderful 
 things concerning these little creatures, had I 
 not myself seen with my eyes, and heard 
 them with my ears uttering such things as I 
 have related. Neither yet can I of a sudden 
 write all, or call to remembrance every parti- 
 cular that I have heard." 
 
 Such is the sagacity ascribed to the night- 
 ingale ; it is but to have high reputation for 
 any one quality, and the world is ready 
 enough to give us fame for others to which 
 we have very small pretensions. But there 
 is a little bird, rather celebrated for its affec- 
 tion to mankind than its singing, which, 
 however, in our climate, has the sweetest note 
 
 of all others. The reader already perceives 
 that I mean the RED BREAST, the well known 
 
 friend of man, that is found in every hedge, 
 arid makes it vocal. The note of other birds 
 is louder, and their inflexions more capricious, 
 but this bird's voice is soft, tender, and well 
 supported; and the more to be valued, as we 
 enjoy it the greatest part of the winter. If 
 the nightingale's song has been -compared to 
 the fiddle, the red-breast's voice has all the 
 delicacy of the flute. 
 
 The red-breast, during the spring, haunts 
 the wood, the grove, and the garden; it re- 
 tires to the thickest and shadiest hedge-rows 
 to breed in. 1 But in winter it seems to be- 
 
 1 The Red-breast. The statement given in rrost 
 books of natural history, that the red-breast, during 
 summer, flies from the habitation of man, which he has 
 haunted during the winter, to nestle in wild and solitary 
 places, is far from being strictly correct, I readily 
 admit that many of these birds may be found in woods 
 and forests; but I am equally certain that a greater 
 number do not go farther from their winter haunts than 
 the nearest hedge-rows. Even in the near vicinity of 
 London, in Copenhagen fields, Chelsea, Battersea fields, 
 Peckham, wherever, indeed, there is a field and a few 
 trees, I have heard red-breasts singing the whole sum- 
 mer. One has been in song all the summer, not a gun- 
 shot from my house at Lee, where this paragraph was 
 written ; and I have remarked another singing for 
 several months among some elms at Lewisham Bridge, 
 though there are houses all round, and the bustle of the 
 public road just below. The red-breast does not come, 
 indeed, usually to the cottage for crumbs during summer, 
 because then insects are plentiful ; and this may have 
 given rise to the common opinion. I once saw an in- 
 stance, however, at Compton Basset, in Wiltshire, in 
 which a red-breast made a daily visit, in summer, within 
 a cottage door, to pick up what he could find. It is 
 worthy of remark, that Graham's poetical sketch of the 
 red-breast is much more true to nature than the state- 
 ments of our professed naturalists: 
 
 " High is his perch, but humble is his home, 
 And well conceal'd, sometimes within the sound 
 Of heartsome mill-clack, where the spacious door, 
 White-dusted, tells him plenty reigns around ; 
 Close at the root of brier-bush that o'erhangs 
 The narrow stream, with shealings bedded white, 
 He fixes his abode and lives at will. 
 Oft near some single cottage he prefers 
 To rear his little home ; there, pert and spruce, 
 He shares the refuse of the good wife's churn ; 
 Nor seldom does he neighbour the low roof 
 Where tiny elves are taught." 
 
 Birds o/ Scotland. 
 
 It is a constant inhabitant of the greater, part of the 
 European continent. About Barnholm, it is called 
 Tomue-Leden ; iu Norway, Peter Ronsmad ; in Get- 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OF BhlDS. 
 
 come more domestic, and often to claim pro- 
 tection from man. Most of the soft-billed 
 birds, the nightingale, the swallow, and the tit- 
 mouse, leave us in the winter, when their insect 
 food is no longer offered in plenty ; but the red- 
 breast continues with us the year round, and 
 endeavours to support the famine of winter by 
 chirping round the warm habitations of man- 
 kind ; by coming into those shelters where 
 the rigour of the season is artificially expelled, 
 and where insects themselves are found in 
 greater numbers, attracted by the same cause. 
 
 This bird breeds differently in different 
 places : in some countries its nest is usually 
 found in the crevice of some mossy bank, or 
 at the foot of a hawthorn in hedge rows ; in 
 others it chooses the thickest coverts, and hides 
 its nest with oak leaves. The eggs are from 
 four to five, of a dull white, with reddish 
 streaks. 
 
 The Lark, whether the sky-lark, the wood, 
 or the tit-lark, 1 being all distinguishable from 
 
 many, Thomas Gierdet ; with us, Robin Red-breast and 
 Ruddock. Rennie. 
 
 1 The song of the Lark is cheerful, and imparts a gaiety 
 to the mind of even the most serious. His joyous matins 
 and heavenward flight have been aptly compared to 
 hymns and acts of adoration and praise. No bird sings 
 with more method: there is an overture performed vivace 
 crescendo, while the singer ascends ; when at the full 
 height, the song becomes moderate, and distinctly divided 
 into short passages, each repeated three or four times over, 
 like a fantasia, in the same key and time. If there be 
 any wind, he rises perpendicularly by bounds, and after- 
 wards poises himself with breast opposed to it. If calm, 
 he ascends in spiral circles ; in horizontal circles during 
 the principal part of his song, and zigzagly downwards 
 during the performance of thejinale. Sometimes, after 
 descending about half way, he ceases to sing, and drops 
 with the velocity of an arrow to the ground. Those ac- 
 quainted with the song of the sky-lark can tell without 
 looking at them whether the birds be ascending or station- 
 ary in the air, or on their descent ; so different is the 
 style of the song in each case. In the first, there is an 
 expression of ardent impatience ; in the second, an an- 
 dante composure, in which rests of a bar at a time fre- 
 quently occur ; and, in the last, a graduated sinking of 
 the strain?, often touching the subdominant before the 
 final close. The time and number of the notes often 
 correspond with the vibrations of the wings ; and though 
 they sometimes sing while on the ground, as they are 
 seen to do in cages, their whole frame seems to be agi- 
 tated by their musical efforts. 
 
 The Crested- Lark (so called from the tuft on its head) 
 is pretty well spread throughout Europe/from Russia to 
 Greece. It seems very doubtful, whether it is ever 
 found in this country. It neither flies in flocks like the 
 common lark, nor rises so high ; and it continues in 
 flight a longer time without alighting. It is by no means 
 wild, nor does it dread th appearance of man, but com- 
 mences to sing at his approach. The males sing infin- 
 itely better than the females, and their voice is very 
 sweet and agreeable. During fine weather there is no 
 cessation to their strains ; but they become silent when 
 the sky is overcast, and rain descends ; they forget their 
 gaiety and their music until the re-appearance of a bril- 
 liant sun re-animates their vivacity. They usually sing 
 until the month of September. In captivity they also 
 ing, and retain more readily the airs which are taught 
 
 other little birds by the length of their heel, 
 are louder in their song than either of the 
 former, but not so pleasing. Indeed the music 
 of every bird in captivity produces no very 
 
 them from the bird-organ, than almost any other bird. 
 But they seldom survive the loss of their liberty, and it 
 requires much care and difficulty to preserve them any 
 time in cages. The female places her nest on the 
 ground, like the common species. She lays twice a year, 
 about four or five eggs of a clear ash-colour, thick set 
 with brown and blackish spots. 
 
 The ff r ood-Lark is smaller than the crested-lark, and 
 
 its tuft can hardly be considered as a genuine one, being 
 only a little greater elongation of the feathers of the head 
 than in the common lark. The male is more frequently 
 observed to elevate these than this female. This lark is 
 found in Germany, France, Holland, Siberia, Poland, 
 and Italy. When these birds perch they sing agreeably. 
 They are heard to warble in great numbers together, in 
 the commencement of spring ; but when these assem- 
 blages disperse in amorous couples, the male then dis- 
 plays all his vocal powers, and produces very melodious 
 sounds, especially after sunset. In many respects, both 
 of habit and appearance, these birds diiler from the sky- 
 lark. They perch as well in trees as on the ground ; 
 but this they do only on the largest branches, where they 
 are able to secure their hold with positively embracing 
 the stems with their toes. The sky- lark forms its nest 
 amongst grass or corn ; and the wood lark usually at the 
 foot of a bush, near the bottom of a hedge, or it lays where 
 thegrass is rank and dry. The fabric is of loose texture, 
 and constructed of withered herbs and fibrous root?, \>ith 
 a few horse hairs in the inside. 
 
 The Short-toed Lark is met with in the Canaries, in 
 the southern provinces of France, and especially in 
 Champagne, where the species is remarkably numerous. 
 This lark can run with the rapidity of a field mouse, 
 especially when disturbed, and on the point of taking to 
 flight. All the larks are pulverating birds ; but this 
 one is so particularly attached to powdering itself with 
 dust, that, on being supplied with some in a state of cap- 
 tivity, it will immediately testify its joy by a little soft 
 cry, frequently repeated, and by precipitate movements 
 of the wings, and bristlings of all the feathers. It will 
 plunge instantly into sand or ashes, as other birds do into 
 water, remains there a long time, wallowing in all 
 sorts of ways, and does not come out of it until it is so 
 covered with it, that its plumage is scarcely to be dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 The Clapper Lark is of South Africa. It usually 
 makes its nest in some small grass, and lays from four 
 to five eggs, of a greenish gray. It seldom rises more 
 than from fifteen to twenty feet above the ground, and 
 makes a particular noise, occasioned by the precipitate 
 motion of its wings, which is heard at a great distance. 
 
 The Red backed Lark chiefly delights in plains 
 abounding with bushes. It perches readily on these, 
 
THE LARK. 
 
 151 
 
 pleasing sensations ; it is but the mirtli of a 
 little animal, insensible of its misfortunate 
 situation : it is the landscape, the grove, the 
 golden break of day, the contest upon the 
 
 and even on the trees which are at the edges of woods. 
 Its song is agreeable. 
 
 The Alpine Lark inhabits the most northern portions 
 of the two continents. In both quarters of the globe 
 these larks, whose flesh is wholesome food, though with- 
 out flavour, like that of most American birds, quit their 
 winter retreat in the early days of spring, to withdraw 
 into the countries which are nearest to the pule, where 
 in perfect security from the aggressions of man, they 
 may deliver themselves without disturbance to the edu- 
 cation of their young families. 
 
 The Calandre is larger than the common lark, hut 
 yet has many points of resemblance to it, not only in 
 conformation and colour, but also in habits and manners. 
 It is found in the south of France, in Italy and the 
 island of Sardinia, where it passes the entire year. The 
 calandres are not observed to congregate in flocks, but 
 usually remain single; in autumn they grow very fat, 
 and are then good eating; they are taken in nets, laid 
 near the waters where they are accustomed to drink. 
 
 The Sirli, a species of lark, is remarkable for its long 
 and arched beak. It is found in the southern parts of 
 Africa, and even in Barbary, usually inhabiting the 
 sandy downs; from its peculiar song, which it gener- 
 ally puts forth from some little eminence, its name is 
 derived. 
 
 The Double-crested Lark is distinguished chiefly by 
 the double crest, from which its name is derived. 
 
 TITMICE. The majority of the Titmice, particularly 
 those which frequent wood?, thickets, and orchards, are 
 courageous, and even ferocious ; they will attack the 
 owl with greater boldness than any other bird, being 
 always foremost in darting on him, and trying to pick 
 out his eyes. They express their little rage and fury 
 by the swelling of their plumes, by violent attitudes, 
 and precipitate motions; they peck sharply the hand 
 which holds them, strike it repeatedly with the bill, and 
 seem by their cries to call others to their assistance, 
 which usually attracts them in crowds, and produces 
 ibundant sport to the fowler, for a single individual can 
 take them all. There are many traits of conformity in 
 their manners and disposition with those of the crows, 
 shrikes, and pies; they have the same appetite for flesh, 
 and the same custom of tearing their food in pieces to 
 ;at it. These birds being of a lively and active charac- 
 ter, are incessantly in motion ; they are continually 
 fluttering from tree to tree, hopping from branch to 
 branch, climbing up the trunk, crooking themselves to 
 walls, and suspending themselves in all fashions, some- 
 times with the head downwards. Though fierce, they 
 are social, seek out the company of their own species, 
 and form little flocks, more or less numerous ; and if 
 any accident should separate them, they recall each 
 other mutually, and are soon reunited. They then seek 
 their food in common, visit the clefts of rocks and walls, 
 and tear with their bills the lichens and the moss of 
 trees, to find insects or their eggs. They also feed on 
 seeds; but though in many species the bill is strong 
 enough, they do not break them, like the bullfinches 
 and linnets; they place them under their claws, and 
 pierce them with their bills, like the nuthatches, with 
 which they sometimes seem to associate during the 
 winter. If a nut be suspended at the end of a string, 
 they will hook themselves to it, and follow all its oscilla- 
 tions without letting go, and keep incessantly picking 
 at it. Such manoeuvres indicate much strength in the 
 muscles; it has accordingly been observed that the bill 
 is moved by very robust and vigorous muscles and liga- 
 ments, as well as the neck, and that the cranium is re- 
 
 hawthorn, the flutter ing from branch to branch, 
 the soaring in the air, and the answering of 
 its young, that gives the bird's song its true 
 relish. These, united, improve each other, 
 
 markably thick. They will eat not only grains, hut- 
 insects, as above hinted, and butterfly- eggs, and peck 
 the growing buds. The largest species (the great tit- 
 mouse) joins to its other aliments bees, and even little 
 birds, if it finds them enfeebled by illness, or entangled 
 in snares, but it usually eats only the head. Almost all 
 the species of titmice are very productive, even more so 
 than any other birds, in proportion to their size ; their 
 brood is said sometimes to consist of eighteen or twenty 
 eggs. Some make their nests in the trunks of trees, 
 others on shrubs, and give it the form of a ball, of a 
 volume greatly disproportioned to their size; some sus- 
 pend it at the end of a branch, in reeds or rushes. The 
 materials which they employ are small plants, little roots, 
 moss, flax, cattle hair, wool, the down of plants, cotton, 
 and feathers; they tend their numerous family with the 
 most indefatigable zeal and activity, are very much 
 attached to it, and defend it with courage against the 
 birds which attack it. They rush on the enemy with 
 such intrepidity as to force him to respect their weak- 
 ness. The titmice are extended over the old continent, 
 from the north to the south of Europe, through Africa, 
 India, and China: they are also found in North America, 
 but are as yet unknown in the southern part of that 
 continent. Within these few years, several have been 
 discovered in New Holland. Among the titmice, those 
 which are most easily caught in snares, &c. are the 
 great, the black, and blue-headed species ; the crested, 
 the long-tailed, the bearded, and the penduline are not 
 so easily managed. 
 
 BUNTINGS. The Buntings are distinguished princi- 
 pally by their conical, short, and straight bill, and by 
 the addition of a knob in the roof of the upper mandible, 
 which is made use of by the bird as an anvil on which 
 to break and comminute its food. This apparatus is 
 sufficient to lead the observing naturalist per saltum, as 
 it were, to the conclusion that this genus of birds must 
 be granivorous. It is true, indeed, that very many 
 birds are enabled to crack and open nuts and hard seeds, 
 without the aid of that extra provision with which the 
 buntings are furnished : and this is one of the countless 
 instances which might be adduced to display the various 
 means employed by Nature to attain one and the same 
 end. How different, for instance, are the means by 
 which the several classes of animals attain the common 
 object of locomotion, and how various are the modifica- 
 tions of those means in the respective genera. The 
 huntings, however, do not feed exclusively on vegetable 
 matter; like most of their order, they subsist also par- 
 tially on insects and worms. 
 
 The Yellow Bunting is known in England under the 
 
 name of 
 
 hammer; in Scotland under that of 
 
152 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 and raise the mind to a state of the highest, 
 yet most harmless, exultation. Nothing can, 
 in this situation of mind, be more pleasing 
 than to see the lark warbling upon the wing; 
 raising its note as it soars, until it seems lost 
 in the immense heights above us; the note 
 continuing, the bird itself unseen; to see it 
 then descending with a swell as it comes from 
 the clouds, yet sinking by degrees as it ap- 
 proaches its nest, the spot where all its affec- 
 tions are centred, the spot that has prompted 
 all this joy. 
 
 The lark builds its nest upon the ground, 
 beneath some turf that serves to hide and 
 shelter it. The female lays four or five eggs, 
 of a dusky hue in colour, somewhat like those 
 of a plover. It is while she is sitting that 
 the male thus usually entertains her with his 
 singing ; and while he is risen to an imper- 
 ceptible height, yet he still has his loved 
 partner in his eye, nor once loses sight of the 
 nest, either while he ascends or is descending. 
 This harmony continues several months, be. 
 
 yellow-yeldring. The yellow on the crown of the head 
 is sometimes replaced by olive-green: and this, as well 
 as other occasional deviations from the ordinary gam- 
 boge yellow of this bird, would in all probability have 
 induced the erroneous multiplication of species, had the 
 yellow bunting and its incidents been less universally 
 known. This bird builds in a careless manner, on the 
 ground, or towards the bottom of a small bush. The 
 exterior of the nest consists of straw, moss, dried leaves, 
 and stalks; and within is a little wool. Notwithstand- 
 ing the carelessness of its nidification, however, few birds 
 display stronger attachment to the young and to their 
 eggs, than this ; so much so, as to be not unfrequently 
 taken by the hand, on the nest, rather than abandon its 
 offspring in time to save itself. The eggs are in 
 general about five in number, and are whitish, with red 
 streaks. 
 
 The Foolish Bunting frequents the warmer situations 
 of Europe, and lives solitary in mountainous districts. 
 It is said to have gained deservedly its epithet, from 
 the ease with which it falls into every kind of snare. 
 
 The Ctrl Bunting may be considered a British 
 species, as it is not uncommon in company with the 
 yellow bunting and the chaffinch on the southern coast 
 of Devonshire. A straggler has been killed in Scotland. 
 
 The Reed Bunting is about the size of the yellow 
 bunting, and is common in this country. It constructs 
 its nest in grass or furze, near the ground, and has been 
 said to attach it to three or four reeds above the water, 
 whence its name. The eggs are four or five in num- 
 ber, bluish-white, spotted, and varied with brown. 
 
 The Common Bunting is rather larger than the 
 yellow bunting, and is much less common here. While 
 iu France, they are merely occasional residents, and 
 arrive there in the spring, from the south, shortly after 
 .the swallows, and quit that country again in the begin- 
 ning of autumn, they are found here during the whole 
 year, and congregate in winter in large flocks, when 
 they are frequently caught in numbers, and sold under 
 the name of bunting lark, ebbs, or corn bunting. They 
 nestle on or near the ground, have four dirty-white eggs, 
 spotted and streaked with brown ; and the young have a 
 reddish tinge. During incubation, the male is gener- 
 ally found perched on a branch not far distant from his 
 mate, constantly uttering a tremulous kind of shriek, 
 several times repeated with short intervals. Their un- 
 
 ginning early in the spring on pairing. In 
 winter, they assemble in flocks, when their 
 song forsakes them, and the bird-catchers de- 
 stroy them in great numbers for the tables of 
 the luxurious. 
 
 The black-cap and the wren, though so 
 very diminutive, are yet prized by some for 
 their singing. The former is called by some 
 the mock nightingale ; and the latter is ad- 
 mired for the loudness of its note, compared 
 to the little body from whence it issues. It 
 must be confessed, that this disproportion be- 
 tween the voice of a bird and its size, in some 
 measure demands our wonder. Quadrupeds 
 in this respect may be considered as mutes to 
 them. The peacock is louder than the lion, 
 and the rabbit is not so loud as the wren. 
 But. it must be considered, that birds are very 
 differently formed ; their lungs in some mea- 
 sure are extended through their whole body, 
 while in quadrupeds they lie only in the 
 breast. In birds there are a variety of cells 
 which take in the air, and thus pour forth 
 
 availing anxiety to protect their eggs and young, fre- 
 quently leads to the spot where they are deposited, which 
 the simple birds are so unwilling to forsake, and, in 
 their anxiety, so easily betray. 
 
 The Ortolan Bunting is never known to visit this 
 country. This bird, whose flesh is very highly esteemed, 
 and which is consequently much sought after, appears 
 to be confined to the southern parts of Europe, where it 
 is found at all seasons. When these birds first arrive 
 in France, they are far from fat ; but human ingenuity 
 soon makes them fit for the table: they are fatted by 
 inclosing a number of them in a dark chamber, in which 
 is placed a lanthorn, surrounded plentifully with oats 
 and millet. The darkness seems to have the effect of 
 confining the whole attention of the birds to their favour- 
 ite food, thus placed within view ; and it is said they will 
 thus die of suffocation from their own fat, if left entirely 
 to themselves. Another mode is, by confining them in 
 cages, which admit a little light only to the box con- 
 taining the food. In this state, the ortolan bunting is 
 said to be one of the most exquisite morsels known for 
 the table. 
 
 Among the buntings, distinguished by an elongated 
 claw to the thumb, is the Snow Bunting, as it is found 
 in the northern parts of Great Britain, and is called in 
 Scotland the snow flake. These birds appear there in 
 large flocks, at the commencement of frost, and are 
 feared by many as the harbingers of hard weather; they 
 are about the size of the chaffinch, black above, with a 
 white rump, crown, and forehead. They nestle in holes 
 in rocks, and produce five white eggs, with dusky spots. 
 They are found in all the northern latitudes, as high as 
 navigators have penetrated ; nor is it at all apparent by 
 what means they find food in these inhospitable regions. 
 The higher the degree of latitude in which they are 
 found, the whiter, as it appears, becomes their plumage ; 
 this tendency, which we have had frequent occasion to 
 notice, among the mammalia, as well as in the present 
 class, has led to the conclusion that there are many 
 varieties of this species. It breeds in Greenland, visits 
 this country in harvest, and retires in spring. As the 
 winter advances, it approaches the corn-yards, and feeds 
 with the sparrows and finches. In Zetland it is called 
 oat-fowl, from the preference which it gives to that kind 
 of grain. 
 
THE NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 ]53 
 
 their contents at the little animal's command. 
 The black-cap and the wren, therefore, are as 
 respectable for their voices as they might be 
 deemed inconsiderable for their size. 1 
 
 1 The Black-cap is somewhat above five inches in 
 length. It visits us about the middle of April, and 
 retires in September; it frequents gardens, and builds 
 its nest near the ground. The female lays five eggs, of 
 a pale reddish brown, sprinkled with sputs of a darker 
 colour. During the time of incubation the male attends 
 the female, and sits by turns; he likewise procures her 
 food, such as flies, worms, and insects. The black-cap 
 sings sweetly, and so like the nightingale, that in Nor- 
 folk it is called the mock nightingale. Black-caps feed 
 chiefly on fiies and insects, and not unfrequently on ivy 
 and other berries. 
 
 The Wren is found throughout Europe. Its nest is 
 
 curiously constructed, being composed chiefly of moss, 
 and lined with feathers ; and in shape almost oval, with 
 only one small entrance. This is generally found in 
 some corner of an out-house, stack of wood, or hole in a 
 wall, near our habitations; but when the wren builds in 
 the woods, it is often in a bush near the ground, on the 
 stump of a tree, or even with the ground. The female 
 lays from ten to eighteen eggs. 
 
 The Golden- Crested Wren is said to be the smallest 
 bird found in this kingdom, not weighing more than 
 three drachms. It has an exceedingly beautiful small 
 row of feathers on the top of the head, of a gold or orange 
 colour, which it has a power of drawing together, in such 
 a manner as entirely to conceal the little crest, by laying 
 the feathers all flat upon the head ; and likewise to raise 
 them at pleasure. This is a beautiful, but rather rare 
 bird ; it is found in some of the woods near Oxford, also 
 in Warwickshire, and several places in Wales : it has 
 sometimes been seen in the southern parts of Scotland. 
 The female lays six or seven very small eggs, not larger 
 than peas, and feeds upon small insects. 
 
 The Willow -Wren. This bird is little bigger than the 
 common wren. It is migratory, visiting us annually about 
 the middle of April, and taking its departure towards the 
 end of September. The female constructs her nest in 
 holes at the roots of trees, in hollows of dry lianks, and 
 other similar places. This is round, and not unlike 
 that of the wren. The eggs are dusky white, and marked 
 with reddish spots, and are five in number. 
 
 The Wood- Wren is a distinct species from the willow- 
 wren, with which it has been often confounded. It is 
 distinguished by a more vivid plumage, and by frequent- 
 ing natural woods and plantations. Among other birds 
 belonging to this class may be mentioned the White- 
 throat, the Redtail, and the Greater and Lesser Petty- 
 chaps. 
 
 WARBLERS. The Pensile Warbler is nearly five 
 inches long. The bill is dusky; the head grayish black; 
 and the back deep gray. The sagacity displayed by this 
 bird, in building and placing its nest, is truly remark- 
 able. She does not fix it at the forking of the branches, 
 as is usual with most other birds, but suspends it to 
 binders hanging from the netting which she forms from 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 All these soft-billed birds, thus prized for 
 their singing, are rendered domestic, and 
 brought up with assiduity by such as are fond 
 of their voices in a cage. The same method 
 
 tree to tree, especially those which fall from branches tliat 
 hangover rivers and deep ravines. The nest consists of 
 dry blades of grass, the ribs of leaves, and exceedingly small 
 roots, interwoven with the greatest art ; it is fastened on, 
 or rather is worked into, the pendant strings. It is, in 
 fact, a small bed rolled into a ball, so thick and com- 
 pacted as to exclude the rain ; and it rocks in the wind 
 without receiving any harm. But the elements are riot 
 the only enemies against which this bird has to struggle ; 
 with wonderful sagacity it provides for the protection of 
 its nest from other accidents. The opening is neither 
 made on the top nor side of the nest, but at the bottom: 
 nor is the entrance direct. After the bird has made its 
 way into the vestibule, it must pass over a kind of par- 
 tition, and through another aperture, before it descends 
 to the abode of its family. This lodgment is round and 
 soft, being lined with a species of lichen, which grows on 
 the trees, or with the silky down of plants. The birds 
 of this species have a very delicate song, which is con. 
 tinued throughout the year. They are natives of St 
 Domingo, and some other of the West Indian islands, 
 where they feed chiefly upon insects and fruit. 
 
 The Superb Warbler. The general shape of this bird 
 is very elegant ; and though it has no variety of colours 
 it is possessed of considerable beauty. The upper part 
 of the body is blackish-blue, and white beneath. It is 
 five inches and a half long, and inhabits New Holland. 
 
 CHATS The Chat genus (which embraces the White 
 
 Ear, the Stone Chat, and the Whin Chaf) are all com- 
 mon in Europe, and frequent moors and other open wastes. 
 They live solitary, or in pairs, and are wild in disposition. 
 They run with much celerity, and their food consists of 
 insects and worms, which they take chiefly upon the 
 ground. 
 
 The Winter Fauvette is somewhat more than five 
 inches. It is frequently seen in hedges, from which 
 circumstance it has been called the hedge sparrow, but 
 it has no other relation to the sparrow than in the dingi- 
 ness of its colours ; in every other respect it differs en- 
 tirely. It remains with us the whole year, and builds 
 its nest near the ground ; it is composed of moss and 
 wool, and lined with hair. The female generally lays 
 four or five eggs, of a uniform pale blue, without any 
 spots ; the young are hatched about the beginning of 
 May. During the time of sitting, if a cat or other vor- 
 acious animal come near the nest, the mother endea- 
 vours to divert it from the spot by a stratagem similar 
 to that by which the partridge misleads the dog : she 
 springs up, and flutters from spot to spot, by which means 
 allures her enemy to a safe distance. In France the 
 hedge sparrow is rarely seen but in winter ; it arrives 
 generally in October, and departs in the spring for more 
 northern regions where it breeds. It is supposed to brave 
 the rigours of winter in Sweden, and that it assumes the 
 white plumage common in these severe climates in that 
 season. Its song is little varied, but pleasant, especially 
 in a season when all other warblers are silent : its usual 
 strain is a sort of quivering, frequently repeated some- 
 thing like the following tit-tit tititit ; from which, in 
 some places, it is called the titling. 
 
 Wagtails and Pipits. All these birds frequent mea- 
 dows, and humid and marshy places, delighting in the 
 borders of rivulets and rivers. Most of them have an 
 undulating flight. They all run rather than walk ; sel- 
 dom perch, sing, or cry, during the flight ; and construct 
 their nest on the ground. That of the white wagtail is, 
 however, sometimes found in a pile of wood, alongside of 
 the banks, or in the hole of some wall whose base is washed 
 by waters. Insects and small worms are their only ali- 
 D 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 of treatment serves for all, as their food and 
 their habits are nearly the same. The man- 
 ner of taking and treating them, particularly 
 the nightingale, is this : A nightingale's nest 
 may be found by observing the place where 
 the male sings, and then by sticking two or 
 three meal-worms (a kind of maggot found 
 in flour) on some neighbouring thorn, which 
 when he sees he will infallibly bear away to 
 his young. By listening, he then may be 
 heard with the female chirping to the young 
 ones while they are feeding. When the nest 
 is found, if the young ones are not fledged 
 enough to be taken, they must not be touched 
 with the hands, for then the old ones will per- 
 ceive it, and entice them away. They should 
 not be taken till they are almost as full fea- 
 thers as the old ones ; and, though they refuse 
 their meat, yet, by opening their bills, you 
 may give them two or three small bits at a 
 time, which will make them soon grow tame, 
 
 nient. These insectivora, as useful as the fly-catchers and 
 swallows, sometimes in the flight, but more frequently 
 on the ground, amidst the herbage, seize upon the flies 
 and gnats which have escaped the murderous bills of 
 their other pursuers in the air. All the insect population of 
 ponds and marshes constitute the nutriment of these 
 volatiles. Their slight forms, little head, delicate feet, and 
 long tails, perpetually balanced, cause them to be at once 
 distinguishable from all other birds with slender bills. 
 
 The wagtails are not distrustful, and are less fearful 
 of man than of the birds of prey. They are not even 
 much frightened by fire-arms, for, on being aimed at, 
 they do not fly far, and frequently return and place them- 
 selves within a short distance 'of the fowler. They give 
 into all kinds of snares which are laid for them, quite 
 easily ; but if taken when adult, they cannot be preserv- 
 ed in cages, but will die in four-and-twenty hours. For 
 this purpose, they must be taken from the nest, and 
 reared like the nightingales. Of the species which fre- 
 quent Britain are the Pied Wagtail, the Gray or Water 
 Wagtail, and the Yellow Wagtail. 
 
 The Pipits, or Field Larks, have much analogy with 
 those of the larks proper, though they differ in certain 
 details of conformation. Like the larks, they sing in 
 flying, and elevate themselves to a certain height in the 
 air. They seek their nutriment, nestle, and sleep on the 
 ground. Some frequent cultivated fields and meadows; 
 others delight, during the summer season, in the borders 
 of woods, in glades, in furze, and brushwood, thinly scat- 
 tered ; many prefer mountains, steep shores, rocks, and 
 maritime pastures. Some few, in fine, inhabit, during 
 summer, the little hills in sandy and stony situations, 
 and during the after season, sojourn on the banks of rivers, 
 and seek their food upon the strand. A very small num- 
 ber have the power of perching constantly upon trees. 
 There is a considerable trouble in distinguishing them 
 specifically. Of those common to Britain are the Rock 
 or Shore Pipit, the Meadow Pipit, or Tit, and the Tree 
 Pipit. 
 
 Bottle Tit or Long Tailed Titmouse. This elegant 
 little animal is about five inches and a half in length. 
 The bill is very short, the head round and covered 
 with rough erect feathers ; it has a very long tail, whence 
 its specific name. It is of a brownish colour, with black 
 feathers, in the tail edged with white. It is most com- 
 monly found in low moist situations that are covered 
 with underwood and interspersed with lofty oaks or elms. 
 Its nest is generally placed in the forked branch of a large 
 
 when they will feed themselves. They should 
 be put, nest and all, into a little basket, which 
 should be covered up warm ; and they should 
 be fed every two hours. Their food should 
 be sheep's hearts, or other raw flesh-meat, 
 chopped very fine, and all the strings, skins, 
 and fat, taken away. But it should always 
 be mixed with hard hen's eggs, upon which 
 they will feed and thrive abundantly. 
 
 They should then be put in cages like the 
 nightingale's back cage, with a little straw or 
 dry moss at the bottom ; but when they are 
 grown large, they should have ant's mould. 
 They should be kept very clean, as indeed 
 should all singing-birds whatsoever; for other- 
 wise they will have the cramp, and perhaps the 
 claws will drop off. In autumn they will 
 sometimes abstain from their food for a fort- 
 night, unless two or three meal-worms be 
 given them twice or thrice a-week, or two or 
 three spiders in a day ; they must likewise 
 
 tree overhanging the water, and it lays from twelve to 
 eighteen white eggs, spotted with rust colour at the 
 larger end, which are smaller than those of any other 
 British bird, with the exception of the golden-crested 
 wren. 
 
 This bird, says Graves, " is almost incessantly in mo- 
 tion, running up and down the branches of trees in search 
 of food, which consists of the smaller species of insects, 
 also the larvae and eggs of those that deposit them in the 
 crevices of the bark. In the winter they associate in 
 small flocks of from eight to twelve, and sometimes 
 more, and are kept together by their continual chirping. 
 Like the nest, their colours assimilate so nearly with the 
 white moss, abundant on trees at that season of the year, 
 that, were it not for their note, it would be difficult to 
 find them. Owing to the length of its tail, its flight is 
 undulating and irregular, but most usually veiy quick, 
 seeming to pass through the air like an arrow." Jesse 
 remarks that the bill becomes harder in the winter than 
 in the summer, as it is then more worn in the act of 
 obtaining food from the frozen ground and hard wood. 
 The sight of this bird is remarkably acute. It flits with 
 the greatest quickness among the branches of trees, and 
 its food consists in a great measure of small insects only 
 to be discerned with a microscope. 
 
 Its nest is one of the most delicate and curiously con- 
 structed of all those of our British birds. It is much in 
 the form of a bottle (whence the provincial name of the 
 bird has been derived), with an opening at the side near 
 the top. The outer portion is composed of white and 
 gray tree lichens, in minute pieces, intermixed with the 
 egg-nests of spiders, which are composed of a kind of 
 gossamer or down-like envelope, of a small size, but 
 somewhat resembling the cocoon of a silk-worm, and are 
 found attached to the branches of trees, &c., enclosing 
 the eggs ot the insect. A very interesting description 
 is given of them in the volume on Insect Transforma- 
 tion in the " Library of Entertaining Knowledge." With 
 these gossamer envelopes it joins and binds the diilerent 
 leaves and mosses forming the exterior of the nest ; and 
 when the filaments become loosened it has very much 
 the appearance of having been worked with spiders'- 
 webs, an opinion entertained by the early naturalists. 
 The greater portion of the interior is formed of green 
 mosses nicely felted together with fine wool, lined with 
 a number of soft feathers, the upper part being composed 
 of strong broad moss, so closely woven together as to be 
 impervious to the wet. 
 
THE CANARY. 
 
 155 
 
 have a little saffron in their water. Figs 
 chopped small among their meat will help 
 them to recover their flesh. When their legs 
 are cramped, they should be anointed with 
 fresh butter, or capon's fat, three or four days 
 together. If they grow melancholy, put white 
 sugar-candy into their water, and feed them 
 with sheep's hearts, giving them three or four 
 meal-worms in a day, and a few ants with 
 their eggs. 
 
 With regard to adult birds, those that are 
 taken before the twenty-third of April are 
 counted the best, because after that they begin 
 to pair. They usually haunt woods, coppices, 
 and quickset hedges, where they may be taken 
 in trap-cages baited with meal-worms. They 
 should be placed as near the spot where the 
 bird sings as possible ; and before you fix the 
 trap, turn up the earth twice the breadth of the 
 cage, because they will there look for food. 
 They are also taken with lime twigs, placing 
 them upon the hedge where they usually sing ; 
 and there should be meal-worms stuck at pro- 
 per places to draw them into the snare. After 
 they are taken, their wings should be gently 
 tied with thread, to prevent their beating them- 
 selves against the cage. This should be first 
 hung in a private place, that the bird may 
 not be disturbed ; and it should be fed every 
 two hours, at farthest, with sheep's hearts and 
 eggs minced very fine, mixing it with meal- 
 worms. However, the first food must be 
 worms, ants, caterpillars, and flies. You must, 
 to feed the bird, take it in your hand, and 
 open the bill with a stick made thick at one 
 end, giving it the insects, or four or five bits 
 of food as big as peas, to entice it to eat. Its 
 common food should be mixed with ants, so 
 that when the bird goes to pick up the ants, 
 it may pick up some of that also. The night- 
 ingale, when caged, begins to sing about the 
 latter end of November, and continues its song 
 till June. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF THE CANARY-BIRD, AND OTHEK HARD- 
 BILLED SINGIXG BIRDS. 1 
 
 THE Canary bird is now become so common, 
 and has. continued so long in a domestic state, 
 that its native habits, as well as its native coun- 
 try, seem almost forgotten. Though by the 
 name it appears that these birds came origin- 
 ally from the Canary islands, yet we have it 
 originally from Germany, where they are bred 
 up in great numbers, and sold into different 
 parts of Europe. At what period they were 
 
 1 The Canary is a delightful cage-bird, and is, unques- 
 tionably, one of the sweetest of singtrs. Its form is 
 
 brought into Europe is not well known ; but 
 it is certain that about a century ago they 
 were sold at very high prices, and kept only 
 for the amusement of the great. They have 
 since been multiplied in great abundance : 
 and their price is diminished in proportion to 
 their plenty. 
 
 perfect in symmetry, and its hue " beautiful exceed- 
 ingly," through all the varieties of yellow, white, black- 
 
 ish, and chestnut. The primitive race, as it came from 
 the Canary isles, is supposed to have had the upper parl 
 of the body of a linnet brown, and the under part of a 
 yellowish green, with dark-brown eyes. The little 
 foreigner takes kindly to mates of another race, and hence 
 the various species now in existence. With the gold- 
 finch, the linnet, and the green-bird, iu particular, the 
 canary readily enters into the ties of wedlock. The 
 nest which the canary builds is remarkable for its neat- 
 ness: and when different materials are supplied to it for 
 this end, it evinces great discrimination in selecting the 
 best. The eggs are of a sea-green colour, spotted at one 
 end more or less with maroon or violet. What the pro- 
 per food for the canary is, has been the subject of much 
 dispute. Dr Bechstein, in his work on cage-birds, has 
 some excellent observations upon the head. Summer 
 rapeseed he has found to answer best, mixing with it 
 now and then, for the sake of variety, a little hempseed 
 or canary. Green food, such as chickweed, is given in 
 spring, and fresh water daily, both for drinking and bath- 
 ing. All complicated mixtures of food are noxious, 
 though too often used. Canaries not only have fine 
 notes of their own, but are possessed of excellent memor- 
 ies, and repeat musical sounds which they hear, with 
 ease and precision. Among the novelties exhibiting this 
 season (1839) in London is a canary, which is said to 
 articulate words as distinctly as a parrot. The manner 
 of training them to the imitation of instruments, or the 
 whistling of tunes, is thus described by Bechstein : 
 " No sooner have the young canaries reached the thir- 
 teenth or fourteenth day, than they begin to warble ; 
 and as these pretty birds are so docile as to neglect en- 
 tirely their natural song, and imitate the harmony of our 
 instruments, it is necessary immediately to separate from 
 his companions, and from every other bird, the young 
 one which is to be instructed, by putting him aside in a 
 cage which is at first covered with a piece of linen, and 
 afterwards with a darker cover. The air which is to 
 be taught should be performed five or six times a-day, 
 especially in the evening and morning, either by whistl- 
 ing or on a flageolet or bird-organ : he will acquire it 
 more or less readily in from two to six months, accord- 
 ing to his abilities and memory; if his separation from 
 the other birds is delayed beyond the fourteenth day, lie 
 will retain some part of his father's song, which he will 
 always intermingle with his acquired air, and conse- 
 quently never perform it perfectly." 
 
156 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 In its native islands, a region equally noted 
 for the beauty of its landscapes and the har- 
 mony of its groves, the canary bird is of a 
 dusky gray colour, and so different from those 
 
 The Bullfinch is another of our finest cage-birds. His 
 beautiful velvet black head and chin, his deep vermillion 
 
 \ 
 
 neck and breast, and his dark gray back and shoulders, 
 conjoined with the strength of his make, and full rounded 
 appearance, render the bullfinch a favourite with all bird- 
 fanciers. It is besides a bird of a peculiarly strong affec- 
 tion, and can hardly endure life when absent from its 
 mate. Unfortunately, they do not breed well in confine- 
 ment. In the wild state, the female, twice a-year, lays 
 from three to six eggs, of a bluish-white colour, and spotted 
 with violet and brown at the large end. In feeding bull- 
 finches, it has been found that they thrive particularly 
 well when the rapeseed is given to them soaked in water. 
 This bird, which can be trained to a high degree of per- 
 fection in singing, is fortunately one of the most easy to 
 be procured. A decoy, or any of the common modes of 
 snaring, effects his capture at once, when his haunt is 
 discovered. Regarding his vocal powers, Bechstein 
 remarks: " Although the song of the male and female 
 bullfinch, in their wild state, is very harsh and disagree- 
 able, yet, if well taught while young, as they are in 
 Hesse and Fulda, where there are schools of these little 
 musicians, for all Germany, Holland, and England, they 
 learn to whistle all kinds of airs and melodies with so 
 soft and flute-like tone, that they are great favourites 
 with amateurs, and particularly with the ladies. There 
 are some of these little birds which can whistle distinctly 
 three different airs, without spoiling or confusing them in 
 the least. Added to this attraction, the bullfinch becomes 
 exceedingly tame, sings whenever it is told to do so, and 
 is susceptible of a most tender and lasting attachment, 
 which it shows by its endearing actions; it balances its 
 body, moves its tail from right to left, and spreads it 
 like a fan. It will even repeat words, with an accent 
 and tone which indicates sensibility, if one could believe 
 that it understood them ; but its memory must not be 
 overloaded. A single air, with a prelude or a short 
 flourish to begin with, is as much as the bird can learn 
 and remember, and this it will execute to the greatest 
 perfection. These little prodigies would be more inter- 
 esting and agreeable, if their Hessian instructors possessed 
 a little musical taste, but these are generally trades- 
 people, employed about the house with their different 
 occupations and trades ; and hymns, airs, minuets of a 
 hundred years old, and public-house songs, in general 
 compose the whole of their music. This, however, is 
 not the little bird's fault. The bullfinch can also imi- 
 tate the songs of other birds: but in general it is not 
 permitted to do so, that it may only learn to repeat the 
 airs which are taught it. Different degrees of capacity 
 are shown here, as well as in other animals. One young 
 bullfinch learns with ease and quickness, another with 
 difficulty and slowly ; the former will repeat, without 
 hesitation, several parts of a song ; the latter will be 
 hardly able to whistle one, after nine months nninter-. 
 
 usually seen in Europe, that some have even 
 doubted whether it be of the same species. 
 With us, they have that variety of colouring 
 usual in all domestic fowls ; some white, some 
 
 rupted teaching. But it has been remarked that those 
 birds which learn with most difficulty, remember the 
 songs which have once been well learnt, better and longer, 
 and rarely forget them, even when moulting. Tame bull- 
 finches have been known (says Buflbn) to escape from the 
 aviary, and live at liberty in the woods for a whole year, 
 and then to recollect the voice of the person who had 
 reared them, return to her, never more to leave her. 
 Others have been known, which, when forced to leave 
 their first master, have died of grief. These birds remem- 
 ber very well, and often too well, any one who has injured 
 them. One of them having been thrown down, with its 
 cage, by some of the lowest order of people, did not seem 
 at first much disturbed by it, but afterwards it would fall 
 into convulsions as soon as it saw any shabbily dressed 
 person, and it died in one of these fits eight months after 
 the first accident. A bullfinch, belonging to a lady 
 being subject to very frightful dreams, which made it fall 
 from its perch, and beat itself in the cage, no sooner heard 
 the affectionate voice of its mistress, than notwithstand- 
 ing the darkness of the night, it became immediately 
 tranquil, and re-ascended its perch, to sleep again. It 
 was very fond of chickweed, and as soon as it perceived 
 one bringing it to him, however much care was taken to 
 prevent its finding it easily, it would show its joy by its 
 actions and cries." 
 
 The Chaffinch is one of the sprightliest warblers of 
 spring. It is black in the forehead, grayish-blue on the 
 
 top of the head and nape of the neck ; the back is cf a 
 linnet-green, and the whole under part of the body of 
 reddish chestnut brown ; the quill feathers are black, 
 edged with white on the outer side, while the tail is 
 almost pure black. Such is the chaffinch ; that is to 
 say, the male bird; for the male being always preferred 
 for singing qualities, it is that sex which we have preferred 
 throughout to describe. The nest of the chaffinch is a 
 model of ingenuity. The female deposits in it, twice a- 
 year, from three to five eggs, of a pale bluish-gray, spotted 
 and streaked with brown. Young chaffinches are ex- 
 ceedingly quick in the ear; and if it is intended to train 
 them to artificial song, they must be removed from the 
 nest as soon as the tail-feathers begin to appear. As to 
 their food, they should be treated much in the same way 
 as the birds already noticed, with the addition of insects 
 to their diet, in accordance with their diet in the wild 
 state. Rapeseed soaked in water, and the crumbs of 
 white bread, will be the proper food for young birds 
 taken early from the nest for the purpose of training. 
 In Germany, the song of the chaffinch is admired almost 
 to idolatry, and, in truth, its clear and trilling tones ap- 
 proach much more closely to articulate sounds than the 
 notes of any other bird. The Germans have distin- 
 guished the most admired variations of the chaffinch's 
 strains by 'different name?, expressive of a fanciful mean 
 
THE CANARY. 
 
 157 
 
 mottled, some beautifully shaded with green ; 
 but they are more esteemed for their note than 
 their beauty, having a high piercing pipe, as 
 indeed all those of the finch tribe have, con- 
 ing attached to the sounds. Dr Bechstein mentions the 
 Wine song, the Bridegroom's song, the Rider's song, 
 and several others, which are, no doubt, in a great mea- 
 sure, the result of the art employed in the education of 
 the bird, being perfect as pieces of music. That the 
 chaffinch should be able to execute such things, how- 
 ever, indicates the possession of very superior capabili- 
 ties. " Indeed," says Dr Bechstein, " the chaffinch has 
 so great a facility in learning, that it not only imitates 
 perfectly the song of another chaffinch near which it has 
 been placed from youth, but being hung near a nightin- 
 gale or canary, it learns several parts of their songs, and 
 would no doubt give them completely, if its larynx were 
 so formed that it could render notes so long and sus- 
 tained ; in fine, a great difference in memory is observed 
 in these birds, as well as in all others of the singing spe- 
 cies. Some require six months to learn an air that 
 others catch on first hearing, and can repeat almost im- 
 mediately ; these can scarcely retain one of the songs 
 given above; those can imitate three, four, and, should 
 you wish it, five different ones. There are also some 
 that cannot give one song without a fault, and we find 
 others that will add to it, perfect it and embellish it. 
 One thing peculiar to chaffinches, is the necessity of 
 teaching them their song every year, and this in the 
 manner proper for them, during the four or five weeks 
 this exercise lasts. They first utter a murmur, or weak 
 warbling, J.o which they add, at first in an under voice, 
 one or two, and afterwards several syllables of their song ; 
 they are then said to record. A chaffinch that takes 
 only a week or a fortnight to repeat this lesson for fully 
 bringing out its vojce, is reckoned among the geniuses 
 of its species. It is known that other birds whose 
 power of singing is confined to a particular season, also 
 warble feebly, and mingle with their warbling some 
 foreign notes, especially harsh and confused sounds ; but 
 none produce sounds so peculiar, and that have so little 
 relation to their own song. If we pay a little attention, 
 however, we shall find that this exercise is intended less 
 to awaken the memory than to render the throat, stif- 
 fened by a tolerable long state of inaction, more pliant, 
 and to bring. back its natural flexibility." 
 
 The Goldfinch is one of the best known, and most 
 
 
 beautiful of our native birds. The seed of the thistle is 
 its favourite food, hence its French name (Chardonncrct] 
 is derived. It is also sometimes called, in our language, 
 the Thistle. finch. The fowlers, accordingly, who lay 
 various snares for these birds, make use of thistle-seed 
 as their bait. Though the goldfinches do not construct 
 their nests until the middle of spring, they have yet 
 three broods, the last of which takes place in August. 
 The young cannot suffice for themselves for some time, 
 even after quitting the nest ; accordingly there is much 
 patience requisite to rear them artificially. The best 
 are said to be those which are born in thorny bushes and 
 
 tinuing for some time in one breath without 
 intermission, then raising it higher and higher 
 by degrees, with great variety. 
 
 It is this that has rendered the canary bird, 
 
 belong to the last brood. They are, it is said, more 
 gay, and sing better than the others. The goldfinch is 
 very easily reconciled to captivity, arid even becomes* 
 quite familiar. From its activity and docility it may 
 be taught a wonderful degree of precision in its move- 
 ments; it will counterfeit death, and perform a great 
 
 ariety of other movements with the greatest dexterity; 
 it can be taught to fire a cracker, and draw up small 
 cups, containing its food and drink. Some years ago, 
 the Sieur Roman exhibited in this country the wonder- 
 ful performances of his birds. These were goldfinches, 
 linnets, and canary birds. One appeared dead, and was 
 held up by the tail, or claw, without exhibiting any signs 
 of life. A second stood on its head, with its claws in 
 the air. A third imitated a Dutch milkmaid going to 
 market, with pails on her shoulders. A fourth mimicked 
 a Venetian girl, looking out at a window. A fifth ap- 
 peared as a soldier, and mounted guard as a centinel. 
 The sixth was a cannon'er, with a cap on its head, a 
 firelock on its shoulder, and a firelock in its claw, and 
 discharged a small cannon. The same bird also acted 
 as if it had been wounded ; it was wheeled in a little 
 barrow, to convey it (as it were) to the hospital, after 
 which it flew away, before the company. The seventh 
 turned a kind of wind mill ; and the last bird stood in 
 the midst of some fire-works, which were discharged all 
 around it, and this without exhibiting the least sign of 
 fear. The goldfinch, naturally active and laborious, is 
 fond of occupation in its prison, and if it has not some 
 poppy-heads, hemp-stalks, and those of lettuce, to peck, 
 for the purpose of keeping it in action, it will remove 
 every thing that it finds. A single goldfinch, in an 
 aviary where canaries are hatching, if he be without a 
 female, is sufficient to make all the broods fail ; he will 
 fight with the males, disturb the females, destroy the nests, 
 and break the eggs. These birds, however, though so 
 lively and petulant, live in peace with each other, ex- 
 cepting a few quarrels about the perch and their food ; all 
 of them try to get possession of the highest perch in the 
 aviary, for the purpose of sleeping, and the first who ob- 
 tains it will not suffer the others to approach. It is neces- 
 sary to place all the perches at a similar height, to isolate 
 each from the other, and make every one only of length 
 sufficient for a single bird. The mules from the goldfinch 
 and canary are more robust than the latter, and live longer. 
 Their song is also more brilliant ; but Buffon says, that 
 they imitate airs with difficulty. Others, on the contrary, 
 pretend that they can very easily be taught by the bird- 
 organ arid flageolet. These mules resemble the male in 
 the form of the bill, and the colours of the head and 
 wings, and the female in the rest of the body. Some 
 beautiful varieties result from this alliance. In autumn 
 the goldfinches assemble together, live, during winter, 
 in numerous flocks, and frequent those places where 
 thistles and wild endive grow. During the severe cold, 
 they shelter themselves in thick bushes; but they sel- 
 dom recede far from the place where their food is found. 
 Sometimes they mingle with other granivorous birds. 
 Hempseed is the grain given to familiarize them with 
 the cage ; but it would be better to mingle millet and 
 rape-seed with it, and to vary their aliment ; thus the 
 maladies might be avoided which attack them in cap- 
 tivity. The species of the goldfinch is extended 
 throughout the whole of Europe nearly, and through 
 some parts of Asia and Africa. Few species present 
 more varieties than this; besides those which proceed 
 from forced alliances, there are others attributable to 
 aliment, to age, and to domestication. There is one 
 
 which is white where the others are red, namely, on the 
 
158 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 next to the' nightingale, the most celebrated 
 songster ; and as it is more easily reared than 
 any of the soft-billed birds, and continues its 
 song throughout the year, it is rather the most 
 
 forehead and eyebrows, which colour also prevails on the 
 top of the head, instead of black. On some the red is 
 shaded with yellow, and the black appears through these 
 colours. A goldfinch, with the head striped with red 
 and yellow, has been found in America. One with the 
 rap altogether black has but a few red spots on the fore- 
 head ; the back and chest are of a yellowish brown ; the 
 iris yellowish, and the bill and feet flesh-colour. The 
 whitish goldfinch has the tail and wings of an ashen 
 brown, the upper and under parts of the body whitish, 
 and the yellow of the wings pale. Some varieties are 
 totally white, and others, among which are the hand- 
 somest races, have the head red and the wings bordered 
 with yellow. On the bodies of many the tints are more 
 or less mingled with white. Among the black gold- 
 finches some are entirely black; others more or less 
 varied with this colour. These last varieties are chiefly 
 attributable to food, especially to the exclusive use of 
 hempseed. 
 
 The Linnet. Several naturalists have made two 
 species of the linnet, properly so called, under the de- 
 nominations of gray and red ; others have no doubt of 
 the identity of the red and gray linnet; and this opinion 
 is confirmed by repeatedly multiplied and indefatigable 
 observations. Both kinds, young and old male and 
 
 female, are gray in the back season, and resemble each 
 other so much, that the sexes cannot be distinguished, 
 except by the white border on the primary alar quills, 
 which is more broad and brilliant in the male than in 
 the female. The red colour, which characterizes the 
 male during summer, commences to appear towards the 
 end of autumn ; but at this time it is tarnished, and 
 occupies only the middle portion of the feathers, the 
 extremity of which is of a reddish gray, so that it can 
 only be perceived by raising them up. In proportion as 
 the spring approaches, this colour extends and grows 
 brighter, and towards the month of May becomes very 
 brilliant in the male of two years old ; less pure and less 
 extended in the bird of the first year ; and among the 
 old ones it sometimes assumes an orange shade. Of 
 course, the linnets which remain gray must be only 
 females ; and it does not appear that any well-authenti- 
 cated instance of a male of this hue at such periods has 
 been found. There is a great analogy between the 
 linnet and the canary. Their habits and nature are 
 extremely similar, and of all birds the linnet is that 
 which most readily couples with the canary. Although 
 the linnet is one of the commonest of our small granivo- 
 rons birds, and though it preserves no brilliant colours 
 in captivity to render its possession desirable, it is not 
 !e,s in request than the brilliant goldfinch and charming 
 bullfinch. Its natural disposition is docile, and suscep- 
 
 common in our houses. Rules, therefore, have 
 been laid down, and copious instructions given, 
 for breeding these birds in a domestic state ; 
 which, as a part of them may conduce towards 
 
 tible of attachment ; its song is agreeable, and the flexl 
 bility of its throat enables it to imitate with facility the 
 different airs which it is attempted to be taught. It 
 can even be taught to repeat many words distinctly, in 
 different languages, and it pronounces them with an 
 accent that would actually lead one to suppose that it 
 understood their meaning. The tender attachment of 
 which these birds are susceptible is astonishing; so 
 much so, that they often become troublesome in their 
 caresses. They can perfectly well distinguish the per- 
 sons who take care of them. They will come and 
 perch upon them, overwhelm them with caresses, and 
 even seem to express their affection by their looks. 
 They can also imitate and unite to the varied modula- 
 tions of their own voice, the strains of other birds, which 
 they are in the habit of hearing. If a very young linnet 
 be brought up with a chaffinch, a lark, or a nightingale, 
 it will learn to sing like them. But it will in most 
 cases totally lose its native song, and preserve nothing 
 but its little cry of appeal. The linnets intended to be 
 instructed in foreign strains, should be taken from the 
 nest when the feathers begin to shoot. If taken adult, 
 they Avill seldom profit by their lessons, though they will 
 become both familiar and caressing. Different modes 
 of instruction have been pointed out for them such as 
 whistling to them in the evening by candle light, taking 
 care to articulate the notes distinctly. Sometimes, to 
 put them in train, they are taken on the finger, a mirror 
 is presented to them in which they think that they see 
 another bird of their own species, which illusion is said 
 to produce a sort of emulation, making them sing with 
 more animation, and expediting their progress ; but 
 these precautions are not absolutely necessary, for the 
 best instructed linnets are often brought up by cobblers, 
 who whistle to them without interrupting their work. 
 It has been remarked of the linnets, and it is true of 
 many other singing birds, that they sing more in a small 
 cage than a large one. This bird lives a long time in 
 captivity, if well taken care of. Sonnini quotes an 
 instance of one that lived forty years, and might have 
 lived longer had it not perished by accident. This was 
 a bird of the most extraordinary amiableness and docility. 
 It was in the habit of calling many persons of the house 
 by their name, and very distinctly. It whistled five 
 airs perfectly, from the bird-organ. The linnets have 
 the advantage of singing all the year round, and they 
 may be taught a variety of tricks, like the siskin, and 
 the goldfinch. The nest of the linnet is generally built 
 in furze, or some other low bush, and is formed of moss 
 and stalks of grass interwoven with wool, and lined with 
 hair and feathers. In winter linnets assemble in large 
 flocks, and descend to the sea-coasts, where they con- 
 tinue to reside, till spring again urges them to pair and 
 seek their upland haunt*. They feed upon the seeds of 
 flax, thistle, dandelion, &c. 
 
 The Siskins are birds of passage, and fly so high that 
 they may be heard before they are seen. They are very 
 numerous in the southern provinces of Russia, and com- 
 mon enough in this country during the winter; they 
 are fond of places where the alder-tree abounds. They 
 arrive in France about the time of the vintage, then 
 proceed farther south, and re-appear when the trees are 
 in flower ; but in summer they are not seen. In all 
 probability they then voyage northwards, or return into 
 thick forests on the lofty mountains. The siskins, in 
 their habits, have very considerable relations with tho 
 linnet: they give a preference to the seeds of the alder- 
 tree : they often dispute with the goldfinches for the seed 
 of the thistle. Heinnseed is for them an aliment ol 
 
THE CANARY. 
 
 159 
 
 the natural history of the bird, I will take 
 leave to transcribe. 
 
 In choosing the canary bird, those are best 
 that appear with life and boldness, standing 
 upright upon the perch like a sparrow-hawk, 
 and not apt to be frighted at every thing that 
 stirs. If its eyes look cheerful, and not drowsy, 
 it is a sign of health ; but, on the contrary, if 
 it hides its head under the wing, and gathers 
 its body up, these are symptoms of its being 
 out of order. In choosing them, the melody 
 of the song should also be minded ; some will 
 
 choice; but they appear, especially in captivity, to be 
 greater consumers of it than they really are, from a 
 habit which they have got of breaking more grains than 
 they eat. In their passage in Germany, in October, 
 they considerably damage the hop-grounds, by eating 
 the seeds. In France, also, they do considerable pre- 
 judice to the apple-trees, by picking at the flowers. The 
 song of the siskin is by no means disagreeable, but very 
 inferior to that of the goldfinch: it is said to possess the 
 faculty of imitating the song of the canary, linnet, &c. 
 if taken very young, and placed within hearing of these 
 birds, it has, moreover, a note of appeal peculiar to it- 
 self. Even when taken adult, it is easily tamed, and 
 becomes almost as mild as a canary. 
 
 The Citril Finch is found in all Italy, Greece, Tur- 
 key, Austria, Provence, Languedoc, Spain, Portugal, 
 and sometimes in Lorraine. The male has an agree- 
 able and varied song, but not so fine and clear as that of 
 the canary. In Italy this species makes its nest not 
 only in the country, but oftentimes in gardens on tufted 
 trees, particularly on the cypress, and constructs it of 
 wool, horse hair, and feathers. The eggs are four or 
 five: the male easily pairs with the female canary, and 
 the mules have been found productive. The Count de 
 Riocourt had for many years several of these mules, 
 which coupled with female canaries, and the young pro- 
 duced new generations. The siskin, the goldfinch, and 
 the linnet, are those respecting which the production of 
 the female with the male canary is best authenticated. 
 If mules are desired from these birds, they must be 
 taken on the nest, brought up by hand with the canaries, 
 fed on the same aliment, and kept in the same aviary. 
 The goldfinch, for example, which is generally chosen 
 in preference, should be kept from hempseed, and ac- 
 customed, as soon as he is able to eat alone, to millet 
 and rape-seed, the ordinary food of the canaries. With- 
 out this, a risk is run of losing one or the other, in chang- 
 ing their diet. If hempseed be suddenly taken from a 
 goldfinch accustomed to it, to give him the ordinary food 
 of canaries, the change will make him ill, and may 
 cause his death. If, on the contrary, you leave him the 
 hempseed, the female canary will eat so much of it, that 
 she will get a fever, and probably die. What is said ot 
 the goldfinch is applicable to all other birds destined for 
 the same purpose. It is also recommended, in the case 
 of the goldfinch, to cut the extremity of his bill dexter- 
 ously, for about the thickness of a halfpenny, or not 
 quite so much. If some drops of blood should follow, 
 there is no occasion for apprehension. It may be 
 stanched with a little saliva, mixed with pulverized 
 sugar. This operation, however, should only be per- 
 formed on those goldfinches whose bill is very pointed, 
 which often happens in captivity. This is absolutely 
 necessary, because this bird, pursuing the female, may 
 wound her with his sharp bill, and prick the little ones 
 in disgorging to them their food, whi-h will destroy 
 them. This inconvenience never takes place with gold- 
 finches at liberty, for their bills are never so pointed, as 
 the bills of the caged birds. If a female goldfinch is 
 paired with a mate canary, he should be two years old, 
 
 open with the notes of the nightingale, and, 
 running through a variety of modulation, end 
 like the tit-lark. Others will begin like the 
 sky-lark, and, by a soft melodious turn, fall 
 into the notes of the nightingale. These are 
 lessons taught this bird in its domestic state, 
 and generally taught it by others ; but its 
 native note is loud, shrill, piercing, and enough 
 to deafen the hearers. There are persons who 
 admire each of these songs, but the second is 
 in the most general estimation. 
 
 Canary birds sometimes breed all the year 
 
 for it is seldom that she lays in the first year. These 
 birds, naturally wild, should be rendered as tame and 
 familiar as the canaries, which may be accomplished by 
 putting them in a low place, where there is plenty of 
 company. It must not be imagined that all the mules 
 which result from this alliance will be handsome. Of 
 some, the plumage is of a very common kind, and the 
 song very inferior. It would be useless to give any de- 
 scription of them, for they vary, ad injinitum, and no 
 description would suit any but the individual described. 
 It is sufficient to say, that it is constantly observed that 
 the mules resulting from these mixtures resemble the 
 father in the head, tail, and limbs, and the mother in 
 the rest of the body; and that the mules which come 
 from the male linnet and female canary, have neither 
 the white colour of the mother, nor the red of the lather, 
 as some have pretended. The union of canaries with 
 siskins, whether males or females, requires less atten- 
 tion. It is enough to let loose one or many of these 
 birds, but always of the same sex, in a chamber, or large 
 aviary, with canaries, and they will soon be seen to 
 couple. We have said, of the same sex, because when 
 the sexes are different the birds will naturally prefer 
 their own species. The goldfinch, on the contrary, will 
 only pair with the canary in a cage; to the linnet, green- 
 finch, and bullfinch, the cage and the aviary are indif- 
 ferent. The commonest mules are produced from the 
 linnet, the greenfinch, and the siskin, and the most 
 esteemed of these, for song and beauty, are those from 
 the male canary and a strange female. The mules from 
 the greenfinch are in general of a bluish colour, and the 
 males sing very badly, especially if the father be a green- 
 finch. Tne male mules from a linnet sing much better, 
 but their plumage is very ordinary. Those of the siskin 
 are small, and sing badly. Those from the bullfinch are 
 susceptible of a perfect education, and their plumage is 
 singular; but this alliance rarely thrives. The male 
 feeds, it is true, like the canary, and pays much atten- 
 tion to the female. But she dislikes and flies from him. 
 His cry, and the opening of his wide bill, frightens her. 
 It is necessary to choose a vigorous female or male, 
 which has been brought up with bullfinches, and has 
 never coupled with a bird of its own species. 
 
 The Mountain-finch or Brambling is a native of 
 northern climates, where it spreads into various parts of 
 Europe: it arrives in this country in the latter end of 
 summer, and is the most common in the mountainous 
 parts of our island. Vast flocks of them sometimes come 
 together ; they fly very close, and on that account great 
 numbers of them are frequently killed at one shot. The 
 length of this bird is somewhat above six inches. Bill 
 yellow at the tip ; eyes hazel ; the feathers on the head, 
 neck, and back, are black, edged with rusty brown ; 
 sides of the neck, just above the wings, blue ash ; rump 
 white ; the throat, fore-part of the neck, and breast, are 
 of a pale orange ; belly white ; lesser wing-coverts black, 
 tipped with pale yellow; quills dusky, with pale yellow- 
 ish edges; the tail is forked, the outermost feathers 
 edged with white, the rest black, with whitish edges; 
 legs pale brown. 
 
160 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 round ; but they most usually begin to pair 
 in April, and to breed in June and August. 
 Those are said to be the best breeders that 
 are produced between the English and the 
 French. 
 
 Towards the latter end of March, a cock 
 and a hen should be put together in a small 
 cage where they will peck at each other in 
 the beginning, but will soon become thoroughly 
 reconciled. The room where they are kept to 
 breed should be sjo^ituated as to let the birds 
 have the benefit of the morning sun, and the 
 windows should be of wire, not glass, that they 
 may enjoy the benefit of the air. The floor 
 of the room should be kept clean, and some- 
 times there should be dry gravel or sand sifted 
 upon it. There should also be two windows, 
 one at each end, and several perches at proper 
 distances for the birds to settle on, as they fly 
 backwards and forwards. A tree in the middle 
 of the room would be the most convenient to 
 divert the birds, and sometimes to serve for 
 building their nests upon. 
 
 In Germany they prepare a large room, 
 and build it in the manner of a barn, being 
 much longer than broad, with a square place 
 at each end, and several holes to go into those 
 square places. In those outlets they plant 
 several sorts of trees, in which the birds take 
 great delight to sing and breed. The bottom 
 of the place they strew with sand, and upon 
 it cast rape-seed, chick-weed, and groundsel, 
 which the old birds feed upon while breeding. 
 In the body of the house they put all sorts of 
 stuff for building the nest, and brooms, one 
 under the other, in all the corners, for the 
 birds to build in. These they separate by 
 partitions from each other, to prevent those 
 above flying down upon, or otherwise incom- 
 moding, such as breed below. The light also 
 is excluded, for no bird is fond of having light 
 pome to its nest. 
 
 With ua the apparatus for breeding is less 
 expensive ; a little breeding-cage sometimes 
 suffices, but seldom any thing more exten- 
 sive than a small room. While the birds are 
 pairing, it is usual to feed them with soft 
 meat; that is, with bread, maw-seed, a little 
 scalded rape-seed, and near a third part of 
 an egg. The room should be furnished with 
 stuff for making their nests ; such as fine hay, 
 wool, cotton, and hair. These materials 
 should be thoroughly dry, and then mixed 
 and tied together in such a manner that the 
 birds may readily pull out what they want 
 This should be hung in a proper part of the 
 room, and the male will take his turn in 
 building the nest, sitting upon the eggs, and 
 feeding the young. They are generally two 
 or three days in building their nests; the hen 
 commonly lays five eggs: and in the space of 
 fourteen days the young will be excluded. 
 
 So prolific are these birds somertimes, that the 
 female will be ready to hatch a second brood 
 before the first are able to quit the nest. On 
 these occasions she leaves the nest and the 
 young, to provide herself with another to lay 
 her new brood in. In the mean time the 
 male, more faithful to the duties of his trust, 
 breeds up the young left behind, and fits them 
 for a state of independence. 
 
 When the young ones are excluded, the 
 old ones should be supplied with a sufficiency 
 of soft food every day, likewise with fresh 
 greens, such as cabbage, lettuce, and chick- 
 weed ; in June, shepherd's purse ; and in 
 July and August, plantain. They are never 
 to have groundsel after the young are ex- 
 cluded. With these different delicacies the 
 old ones will take particular care to feed and 
 bring up their young ; but it is usual when 
 they can feed themselves, to be taken from 
 the nest and put into cages. Their meat then 
 is the yolk of an egg boiled hard, with an 
 equal quantity of fine bread, and a little 
 scalded rape-seed : this must be bruised till 
 it becomes fine, and then it may be mixed 
 with a little maw-seed ; after which blend all 
 together ; which is to be supplied them fresh 
 every day. 
 
 The canary bird, by being kept in com- 
 pany with the linnet or the gold-finch, pairs 
 and produces a mixed breed more like the 
 canary bird, and resembling it chiefly in its 
 song. Indeed, all this tribe with strong bills 
 and piercing notes, and feeding upon grain, 
 have the most strong similitude to each other, 
 and may justly be supposed, as Mr Buffon 
 imagines, to come from the same original. 
 They all breed about the same time ; they 
 frequent the same vegetables ; they build in 
 the same hedges and trees ; and are brought 
 up for the cage with the same food and 
 precautions. The linnet, the bullfinch, and 
 the goldfinch, when we know the history 
 of the canary bird, have scarcely any peculi- 
 arities that can attract our curiosity or re- 
 quire our care. The only art necessary with 
 all those that have no very fine note, is to 
 breed them up under some more pleasing 
 harmonist. The goldfinch learns a fine song 
 from the nightingale ; and the linnet and 
 bullfinch may be taught, forgetting the wild 
 notes of nature, to whistle a long and regular 
 tune. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE SWALLOW, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 
 
 AN idea of any one bird in the formci 
 classes will give us some tolerable conception 
 
THE SWALLOW. 
 
 16) 
 
 of the rest. By knowing the linnet or the 
 canary bird, we have some notion of the man- 
 ners of the goldfinch ; by exhibiting the history 
 of the nightingale, we see also that of the 
 black-cap or the tit-mouse^ But the swallow 
 tribe seems to be entirely different from all 
 the former; different in their form, different in 
 their habits, and unlike in all the particulars 
 of their history. 
 
 In this tribe is to be found the goat-sucker, 
 which may be styled a nocturnal swallow ; it 
 is the largest of this kind, and is known by 
 its tail, which is not forked, like that of the 
 common swallow. It begins its flight at 
 evening, and makes a loud singular noise, 
 like the whur of a spinning-wheel. To this 
 also belongs the house-swallow, which is too 
 well known to need a description : the mar. 
 tin, inferior in size to the former, and the tail 
 much less forked; it differs also in its nest, 
 which is covered at top, while that of the 
 house-swallow is open : and the swift, rather 
 larger than the house-swallow, with all the 
 toes standing forward; in which it differs 
 from the rest of its kind. All these resemble 
 each other so strongly; that it is not with- 
 out difficulty the smaller kinds are known 
 asunder. 
 
 These are all well known by their very 
 large mouths, which, when they fly, are al- 
 ways kept open ; they are not less remarkable 
 for their short slender feet, which scarcely are 
 able to support the weight of their bodies ; 
 their wings are of immoderate extent for their 
 bulk ; their plumage is glossed with a rich 
 purple ; and their note is a slight twittering, 
 which they seldom exert but upon the wing. 
 This peculiar conformation seems attended 
 with a similar peculiarity of manners. Their 
 food is insects, which they always pursue fly- 
 ing. For this reason, during fine weather, 
 when the insects are most likely to be abroad, 
 the swallows are for ever upon the wing, and 
 seem pursuing their prey with amazing swift- 
 ness and agility. All smaller animals, in 
 some measure, find safety by winding and 
 turning, when they endeavour to avoid the 
 greater, the lark thus evades the pursuit of 
 the hawk, and man the crocodile. In this 
 manner, insects upon the wing endeavour to 
 avoid the swallow; but this bird is admirably 
 
 shortest turnings. Besides a great length of 
 wing, it is also provided with a long tail, 
 which like a rudder, turns it in its most rapid 
 motions; and thus, while it is possessed of the 
 greatest swiftness, it is also possessed of the 
 most extreme agility. 
 
 Early, therefore, in the spring when . the 
 returning sun begins to rouse the insect tribe 
 from their annual state of torpidity; when the 
 gnat and the beetle put off their earthly robes, 
 and venture into air; the swallow then is seen 
 returning from its long migration beyond the 
 ocean, and making its way feebly to the shore. 
 At first, with the timidity of a stranger, ifc ap- 
 pears but seldom, and flies but slowly and 
 heavily along. As the weather grows warm- 
 er, and its insect supply increases, it then 
 gathers greater strength and activity. But it 
 sometimes happens that a rainy season, by re- 
 pelling the insects, stints the swallow in its 
 food ; the poor bird is then seen slowly skim- 
 ming along the surface of the ground, and 
 often resting after a flight of a few minutes. 
 In general, however, it keeps on the wing, 
 and moving with a rapidity that nothing can 
 escape. When the weather promises to be 
 fair, the insect tribe feel the genial influence, 
 and make bolder flights ; at which time the 
 swallow follows them in their aerial journeys, 
 and often rises to imperceptible heights in the 
 pursuit. When the weather is likely to be 
 foul, the insects feel the first notices of it; and 
 from the swallow's following low we are often 
 apprized of the approaching change. 
 
 When summer is fairly begun, and more 
 than a sufficient supply for sustaining the 
 wants of nature every where offers, the swal- 
 low then begins to think of forming a progeny. 
 The nest is built with great industry and art, 
 particularly by the common swallow, which 
 builds it on the tops of chimneys. The mar- 
 tin sticks it to the eaves of houses. The 
 goatsucker, as we are told, builds it on the 
 bare ground. This nest is built with mud 
 from some neighbouring brook, well tempered 
 with the bill, moistened with water, for the 
 better adhesion ; and still farther kept firm, 
 by long grass and fibres ; within it is lined 
 with goose-feathers, which are ever the warm- 
 est and the neatest. The martin covers its 
 nest at top, and has a door to enter at ; the 
 swallow leaves hers quite open. 1 But our 
 
 fitted by nalure to pursue tliem through their 
 
 1 The chimney-swallow differs from the window-swal- 
 low, according to Montbeillard, in not occupying the 
 same nest more than one season, building annually a 
 new nest, and, if the spot admits, it, fixing it above that 
 occupied the preceding year. "I have found them," 
 says he, " in the shaft of a chimney, thus ranged in tiers, 
 and have counted four, one above another, and all of 
 equal size, plastered with mud mixed with straw and 
 hair. There were some of two different sizes and 
 shapes, the largest resembled a shallow half-cylinder, 
 open above, a foot in height, and attached to the sides of 
 
162 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 European nests are nothing to be compared 
 with those .the swallow builds on the coasts 
 of China and Coromandel ; the description of 
 which I will give in the plain honest phrase 
 of Willoughby. "On the sea-coast of the 
 kingdom of China," says he, " a sort of party- 
 coloured birds, of the shape of swallows, at a 
 certain season of the year, which is their 
 breeding time, come out of the midland coun- 
 try to the rocks, and from the foam or froth 
 of the sea- water, dashing against the bottom 
 of the rocks, gather a certain clammy glutin- 
 ous matter, perchance the spawn of whales 
 
 the chimney j the smallest were stuck in the corners of 
 the chimney, forming only a fourth of a cylinder, or al- 
 most an inverted cone. The first nest, which was the 
 lowest, had the same texture at the bottom as at the 
 skies ; hut the two upper tiers \yere separated from the 
 lower by their lining only, which -consisted of straw, dry 
 herbs, and feathers. Of the small nests, built in the 
 corners, I could find only two in tiers, and I inferred 
 that they were the property of young pairs, as they were 
 not so compactly built as the larger ones. In habits, in- 
 stincts, appearance, and migration, the Swift resembles 
 the swallow. The .common swift is seldom seen in the 
 northern parts of .England before the end of May, or the 
 beginning of June ; in ; the south it arrives a week or 
 two earlier. It leaves us again for warmer climates in 
 August, a month or six weeks previous to the departure 
 of the swallows. In this country it hannts cathedrals, 
 towers,, churches, and other buildings not constantly in- 
 habited, jn the holes, and under the eaves of which it 
 finds a safe rtreat, and proper situation to build in. 
 The nest is formed of straw and other suitable materials, 
 which it collects with great dexterity in its flight. It 
 never alights on the ground, as it is unable to rise from 
 a flat surface.. 
 
 The Goatsuckers are so named from an absurd notion, 
 that they suck the mammae of goats, a notion which may 
 perhaps have originated in the enormous depth and aper- 
 ture of the gape. This vulgarism is by no means mo- 
 dern, for it appears, by the Greek appellative, to have 
 existed in the time of Aristotle, though it seems pro- 
 bable, that the first application of the name might have 
 had rather a figurative than a literal meaning. Many of 
 the insectivorous birds, it is true, are found frequently 
 near the persons of cattle and sheep while grazing for 
 the purpose, doubtless, of preying on the numerous in- 
 sects which feed on .the excretions from these animals: 
 but this habit is common to many genera of birds, and 
 gives no reasonable support to the notion in question, 
 which is incompatible with the organization of the whole 
 class. These birds are inhabitants of Europe, and, in- 
 deed, are found in almost all parts of the world; but 
 they are rare here, and more so in appearance than 
 reality, from their crepusoulous habits. It is in the 
 pew world, especially South America, that they most 
 abound, and are divisible into many species. Asia, and 
 New Holland, moreover, are not without them. Un- 
 fitted, like the owls, for full day-light, the goatsuckers 
 hide themselves in some obscure retreat. Twilight is 
 their short period of activity, but the rapidity of their 
 flight, and the size of the mouth, enable them to make 
 the most of this limited time in procuring food. They 
 devote no time to nidification, but deposit their eggs in 
 simple qoncavities on the ground, and thus the time 
 necessary for the two great objects of animal existence, 
 self-support and propagation, are proportioned to the 
 comparative short periods of their activity. In the day, 
 they sometimes utter a plaintive cry, repeated rapidly 
 three'or four times, and indicative of the then negative 
 
 and other young fishes, of which they build 
 their nests, wherein they lay their eggs and 
 hatch their young. These nests the Chinese 
 pluck from the rocks, and bring them in great 
 numbers into the East Indies to sell. They 
 are esteemed, by gluttons, as great delicacies; 
 who, dissolving them in chicken or mutton 
 broth, are very fond of Ihem ; far before 
 oysters, mushrooms, or other dainty and 
 liquorish morsels." 1 What a pity this luxury 
 hath not been introduced among us, and then 
 our great feasters might be enabled to eat a 
 little more ! 
 
 character of their desires, for they seem to want nothing 
 but retirement and repose. 
 
 The European Goatsucker is the only species known 
 here. This bird has received a variety of popular 
 names, which have been, many of them, adopted by 
 naturalists; such as flying-toad, square-tailed swallow, 
 night-raven, night-hawk, door-hawk^ churn and fern 
 owl, &c. Its food, mode of taking it, and style of 
 flying caused it to receive the name of square-tailed 
 swallow. 
 
 1 The substance of these nests, according to some, is 
 a sort of froth of the sea, or of the spawn of fish, which 
 is strongly aromatic, though others assert that it lias no 
 taste at all; some pretend that it is a kind of gum, col- 
 lected by the bird on the tree called Cafambone,; others, 
 a viscous humour, which they discharge through the 
 bill at the season of reproduction. The commercial 
 history of these singular nests is much better understood 
 than their composition. " The best nests.," says Mi- 
 Crawford, " are those obtained in deep, damp caves, and 
 such as are taken before the birds have laid their eggs. 
 The coarsest are those obtained after the young have 
 been fledged. The finest nests are the whitest; that 
 is, those taken before the nest has been rendered im- 
 pure by the food and faeces of the young birds. The 
 best are white, and the inferior dark-coloured, streaked 
 with blood, or intermixed with feathers. It may be 
 remarked, however, that some of the natives describe 
 the purer nests as the dwelling of the cock-bird, and 
 always so designate them in commerce. Birds' nests 
 are collected twice a-year; and, if regularly collected, 
 and no unusual injury be oifered to the caverns, will pro- 
 duce very equally, the quantity being very little, if at 
 all, improved by the caves being left altogether unmo- 
 lested for a year or two. Some of the caverns are ex- 
 tremely difficult of access, and the nests can only be 
 collected by persons accustomed from their youth to the 
 office. The most remarkable and productive caves in 
 Java, of which I superintended a moiety of the collec- 
 tion for several years, are those of Karang-bolang, in the 
 province of Baglen, on the south coast of the island. 
 There the caves are only to be approached by a per- 
 pendicular descent of many hundred feet, by ladders of 
 bamboo and ratan, over a sea rolling violently against 
 the rocks. When the mouth of the cavern is attained, 
 the perilous office of taking the nests must often be per- 
 formed with torch-light, by penetrating into recesses of 
 the rock, when the slightest trip would be instantly 
 fatal to the adventurers, who see nothing below them 
 but the turbulent surf making its way into the chasms of 
 the rock. The only preparation which the birds' nests 
 undergo is that of simple drying, without direct exposure 
 to the sun, after which they are packed in small boxes, 
 usually of a picul, (about 135 pounds.) They are 
 assorted for the Chinese market into three kinds, ac- 
 cording to their qualities, distinguished into first or best, 
 second, and third qualities. Caverns that are regularly 
 managed will afford, in 100 parts, 53 3-1 Oth parts ol 
 
THE SWALLOW. 
 
 163 
 
 The swallow usually lays from five to six 
 eggs, of a white colour, speckled with red 
 and sometimes breeds twice a year. When 
 the young brood are excluded, the swallow 
 supplies them very plentifully, the first brood 
 particularly, when she finds herself capable of 
 producing two broods in a year. This hap- 
 pens when the parents come early, when the 
 season is peculiarly mild, and when they be- 
 
 fin to pair soon. Sometimes they find a dif- 
 culty in rearing even a single nest, particu- 
 larly when the weather has been severe, or 
 their nests have been robbed in the beginning 
 of the season. By these accidents, this im- 
 portant task is sometimes deferred to the mid- 
 dle of September. 
 
 At the latter end of September they leave 
 us; and for a few days previous to their de- 
 parture assemble in vast flocks, on house-tops, 
 as if deliberating on the fatiguing journey 
 that lay before them. This is no slight un- 
 dertaking, as their flight is directed to Congo, 
 Senegal, and along the whole Morocco shore. 
 There are som r however, left behind in this 
 general expedition, that do not depart till 
 eight or ten days after the rest. These are 
 chiefly the latter weakly broods, which are 
 not yet in a condition to set out. They are 
 sometimes even too feeble to venture till the 
 
 those of the first quality, 35 parts of those of the second, 
 11 7- 10th parts of those of the third. The common 
 prices for birds' nests at Canton are, for the first sort, 
 3,500 Spanish dollars the picul, or 5. 18s. l.fd. per 
 pound ; for the second, 2,800 Spanish dollars per picul ; 
 and, for the third, no more than 1,600 Spanish dollars. 
 In the Chinese markets a still nicer classification of the 
 edible nests is often made than in the island. The 
 whole are frequently divided into three great classes, 
 under the commercial appellation of Paskat, Chikat, and 
 Tung-tung, each of which, according to quality, is sub- 
 divided into three inferior orders,, and we have, conse- 
 quently, prices varying from 1,200 Spanish dollars per 
 picul to 4,200. These last,, therefore, are more valu- 
 able than their weight of silver. Of the quantity of 
 birds' nests exported from the Indian islands, although 
 we cannot state the exact amount, we have data for 
 hazarding some probable conjectures respecting it. From 
 Java there are exported about 200 piculs, or 27,000 
 Ibs., the greater part of which is of the first quality. 
 Thfc greatest quantity is from the Suluk archipelagos, 
 and consists of 530 piculs. From Macassar there are 
 sent about 30 piculs of the fine kind. These data will 
 enable us to offer some conjectures respecting the whole 
 quantity; for the edible swallows' nests being univer- 
 sally and almost equally diffused from Junk, Ceylon, to 
 New Guinea, and the whole produce going to one mar- 
 ket, and only by one conveyance, the junks, it is proba- 
 ble that the average quantity taken by each vessel is not 
 less than the sum taken from the ports just mentioned. 
 Taking the quantity sent from Batavia as the estimate, 
 we know that this is conveyed by 5,300 tons of ship- 
 ping, and, therefore, the whole quantity will be 1,818 
 piculs, or 242,400 Ibs., as the whole quantity of Chinese 
 shipping is 30,000 tons. In the archipelago, at the 
 prices already quoted, this property is worth 1,263,519 
 Spanish dollars, or 284,290. The value of this im- 
 mense property to the country which produces it, rests 
 upon the capricious wants of a single l>eoj>le. From its 
 
 setting in of winter ; while their parents vainly 
 exhort them to efforts which instinct assures 
 them they are incapable of performing. Thus 
 it often happens that the wretched little fami- 
 lies, being compelled to stay, perish the first 
 cold weather that comes ; while the tender 
 parents share the fate of their offspring, and 
 die with the new-fledged brood. 
 
 Those that migrate are first observed to ar- 
 rive in Africa, as Adanson assures us, about 
 the beginning of October. They are thought 
 to have performed their fatiguing journey in 
 the space of seven days. They are sometimes 
 seen, when interrupted by contrary winds, 
 wavering in their course far off at sea, and 
 lighting upon whatever ship they find in their 
 passage. They then seem spent with famine 
 and fatigue ; yet still they boldly venture, 
 when refreshed by a few hours* rest, to renew 
 their flight, and continue the course which 
 they had been steering before. 
 
 These are facts proved by incontestable au- 
 thority ; yet it is a doubt whether all swallows 
 migrate in this manner, or whether there may 
 not be some species of this animal that, though 
 externally alike, are so internally different as 
 to be very differently affected by the approach 
 of winter. We are assured from many, and 
 these not contemptible witnesses, that swal- 
 
 nature, it necessarily follows that it is claimed as the 
 exclusive property of the sovereign, and everywhere 
 forms a valuable branch of his income, or of the revenue 
 of the state. This value, however, is, of course, not 
 equal ; and depends upon the situation and the circum- 
 stances connected with the caverns in which the nests 
 are found. Being often in remote and sequestered 
 situations, in a country so lawless, a property so valuable 
 and exposed is subject to the perpetual depredations of 
 freebooters; and it not unfrequently happens that an 
 attack upon them is the principal object of the warfare 
 committed by one petty state against another. In such 
 situations, the expense of affording them protection is so 
 heavy, that they are necessarily of little value. In si- 
 tuations where the caverns are difficult of access to stran- 
 
 ers, and where there reigns enough of order and tran- 
 quillity to secure them from internal depredation, and to 
 admit of the nests being obtained without other expense 
 :han the simple labour of collecting them, the value of 
 ;he property is very great. The caverns cf Karang-bo- 
 ang, in Java, are of this description. These annually 
 afford 6,810 Ibs. of nests, which are worth, at the Ba- 
 tavia prices of 3,200, 2,500, and 1,200 Spanish dollars 
 ,he picul, for the respective kinds, nearly 139,000 
 Spanish dollars; and the whole expense of collecting^ 
 curing, and packing, amounts to no more than 11 per. 
 cent, on this account. The price of birds' nests is of 
 :ourse a monopoly price, the quantity produced being by 
 
 ature limited and incapable of being augmented. The 
 value of the labour expended in bringing birds' nests te 
 market is but a trifling portion of their price, which 
 consists of the highest price which the luxurious Chinese 
 vill afford to pay for them, and which is a ta^ paid by 
 hat nation to the inhabitants of the Indian islands. 
 There is, perhaps, no production upon which human in- 
 dustry is exerted, of which the cost of production bears 
 o small a proportion to the market price." Crauford'i 
 r ndian Archipelago. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 lows hide themselves in holes under ground, 
 joined close together, bill against bill, and feet 
 against feet Some inform us, that they have 
 seen them taken out of the water, and even 
 from under the ice, in bunches, where they 
 are asserted to pass the winter, without mo- 
 tion. Reaumur, who particularly interested 
 himself in this inquiry, received several ac- 
 counts of bundles of swallows being thus found 
 in quarries, and under the water. 1 These 
 
 1 In the 51st vol. of the " Philosophical Transactions" 
 (for 1760), there is a letter addressed by Mr Collinson 
 in answer to the German naturalist Klein, who had ad- 
 vocated the opinion that swallows and other birds do not 
 migrate, but remain torpid during the winter. Subse- 
 quent naturalists have added little to the arguments and 
 facts which this letter brings against the opinion; though 
 they have since been supported by collateral and nega- 
 tive testimony. 
 
 The opinion that swallows at the time of their disap- 
 pearance retire under the water and remain there, says 
 this writer, is contrary to nature and reason; for as 
 they cannot live in that state without some degree of 
 breathing, this requires the circulation of the blood 
 however weak and languid. Now as to respiration, is 
 it possible that it should be carried on for so many 
 months under the water without the risk of suffocation ? 
 If it were really the case, there must be some particular 
 contrivance in the structure of the organs of the heart to 
 enable it to undergo so remarkable a change of element; 
 but Klein had not even attempted to show that such a 
 peculiar organization existed. This remark of Collinson 
 probably led John Hunter to interest himself on the 
 subject. He states " that he had dissected several 
 swallows, but found nothing in them different from 
 other birds as to the organs of respiration ;" and he 
 consequently concludes '* that they could not remain 
 for any time under water without being drowned. 
 Collinson then asks why the opinion is never tested by 
 taking a swallow at a time when the species usually dis- 
 appear, and observing the result of confining it under 
 water in a tub for a week or two. Still proceeding with 
 his negative evidence, he states that towards the end of 
 September the swallows assemble among the reeds in 
 the islands of the Thames, and have done so for ages 
 past ; yet he had never heard or read of any fishermen 
 or other person who had ever found a swallow under 
 water in a torpid state ; and if so strange a thing had 
 ever happened, it would doubtless have been communi- 
 cated to the .public. 'Besides, the reeds and willows on 
 those islands are annually cut down for several uses, and 
 yet no swallow has been discovered in his aquatic abode; 
 and considering the multitudes which might be seen oil 
 these reeds and willows in the autumn, is it credible 
 that some should not have been found in so frequented 
 a river, during the course of so many years, if the swal- 
 lows really look up their residence under the water. He 
 adds that in great towns remote from water, where 
 rivers and reeds are not near, he had frequently observed, 
 a little before the swallows disappeared, that they assem- 
 bled every morning early on the roofs of large houses 
 exposed to the morning sun : this was doubtless in order 
 to collect their numbers before taking their flight. 
 
 In the way of positive testimony for the migration of 
 swallows, he says he had often heard Sir Charles Wager, 
 first lord* -of the Admiralty, relate, that in one of his 
 voyages home, in the spring of the year, as he came 
 into sounding in the channel, a great flock of swallows 
 came and settled on all his rigging ; every rope was 
 covered ; they hung on one another like a swarm of 
 bres j the deck was filled with them : they seemed almost 
 
 men, therefore, have a right to some degree 
 of assent, and are not to lose all credit from 
 our ignorance of what they aver. 
 
 All, however, that we have hitherto dis- 
 
 spent and famished, and were only feathers and bones ; 
 but being recruited with a night's rest, they took their 
 flight hi the morning. Collinson adds that a similar 
 circumstance had been related to him by the captain of 
 a merchant vessel, on whose statements he could entirely 
 depend. Pennant remarks, on this incident, that the ex- 
 treme fatigue of the swallows proves that the journey 
 must have been very great, considering the amazing 
 swiftness of these birds. In all probability they had 
 crossed the Atlantic, and were returning from the shores 
 of Senegal or other parts of Africa ; so that this account, 
 from that most able and honest seaman, confirms the 
 following later information of M. Adarison, as adduced 
 by Collinson himself, who considers the testimony the 
 more valuable, as coming from a professed naturalist, 
 who went to Africa for the express purpose of collecting 
 information. Adanson says, " On the sixth of the 
 same month (October), at half-past six in the evening, 
 being about fifty leagues from the coast (between the 
 island of Goree and Senegal) four swallows came to take 
 up their night's lodging on the ship, and alighted on the 
 shrouds. This lucky accident confirmed me in the 
 opinion I had formed, that these birds pass the seas to 
 get into the countries of the torrid zone at the approach 
 of whiter in Europe ; and accordingly I have since 
 remarked that they do not appear in Senegal but in that 
 season. A circumstance no less worthy of note is that 
 the swallows do not build nests as in Europe, but lie 
 every night by pairs, or single, in the sand upon the sea- 
 shore, where they rather choose to fix their habitation 
 than up in the country." To this quotation from Adan- 
 son, we may add another, relating to an observation 
 which he made on the subject at Sei>egal, in the month 
 of February: " The hut where I lodged was large and 
 commodious, but as dark as a subterraneous cavern, even 
 at noon day, because it had no other opening than a door 
 pierced at each end. Here I may observe that a great 
 number of our European swallows resort hither every 
 evening, and pass the night upon the rafters j for, as I 
 have elsewhere mentioned, they do not build their nests 
 in this country, but only come to spend the winter." 
 
 Collinson also informs us that he was anxious to test 
 the position of Klein that the sand-martins retire at the 
 approach of winter into the holes in which they had re- 
 sided during the summer, and there remain in a dormant 
 state. But the sandy precipices in which these birds 
 build are generally so inaccessible, that some years had 
 passed before he could find a situation in which the ex- 
 periment might be made without difficulty or danger. 
 At last such a situation was found at Byfleet, in Surrey, 
 and the clergyman of the parish, being his friend, and 
 well qualified to assist in the experiment, under- 
 took it at his request. This clergyman in his communi- 
 cation states, that he took a square of about twelve feet, 
 over that part of the clifl' where the holes were the thick- 
 est, which, in going down from the surface, would, as he 
 judged, take in about forty holes. He set to work, and 
 came to the holes, but found no martins- nothing but 
 old nests at the inner extremity of the holes, which was 
 from a foot and a half to two feet from the entrance. 
 Forty holes were carefully searched without finding any 
 birds ; but thirty of them had nests, which were com- 
 posed of straws and grasses rudely put together, and 
 were sunk almost an inch and a half below the level of 
 the passage. 
 
 That the migrations of swallows and other birds should 
 ever have been doubted, can only be accounted for by 
 the fact that these migrations generally take place by 
 night, and in the higher regions of the atmosphere. An 
 
THE HUMMING-BIRD. 
 
 165 
 
 sected, are formed within like other birds ; 
 and seem to offer no observable variety. In- 
 deed, that they do not hide themselves under 
 water, has been pretty well proved by the 
 noted experiment of Frisch, who tied several 
 threads, dyed in water colours, round the legs 
 of a great number of swallows that were pre- 
 paring for their departure ; these, upon their 
 return the ensuing summer, brought their 
 threads back with them, no way damaged in 
 their colour ; which they most certainly would, 
 if, during the winter, they had been steeped 
 in water : yet still this is a subject on which 
 we mast suspend our assent, as Klein, the 
 naturalist, has brought such a number of 
 proofs in defence of his opinion, that swallows 
 are torpid in winter, as even the most credu- 
 lous must allow to have some degree of pro- 
 bability. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE HUMMING-BIRD, AND ITS VARIETIES. 1 
 
 HAVING given some history of the manners 
 of the most remarkable birds of which ac- 
 
 observant naturalist, however, may sometimes hear them 
 when he cannot see them. Their departures may also 
 occasionally be witnessed, and their preparations for de- 
 parture still more frequently. In a note to his " Sacred 
 History of the World,' Mr Sharon Turner, some other 
 of whose quotations in illustration of the general subject 
 we have adopted, quotes the following from the " Berks 
 Chronicle," descriptive of the migratory movement 
 which took place in October, 1829: 
 
 " We have had sharp frosts during the week, and 
 large flights of plovers and teams of wild ducks and 
 geese have passed hence in a northern direction. On 
 Wednesday morning last the roofs of all the higher 
 ranges of houses in Prospect Street in this town (Read- 
 ing) were covered with thousands of the swallow tribe, 
 which had there assembled preparatory to their annual 
 migration to a warmer climate. From this chirping 
 and fluttering about, they seemed to be in grand debate; 
 and about nine o'clock the larger division departed in a 
 south-west direction, and was afterwards followed by the 
 others. The morning was remarkably fine and cheer- 
 ing, and the little emigrants were pluming th< ir wings 
 soon after sunrise, preparing, as it were, for their long 
 voyage and still dubious destination." 
 
 1 Birds of South America. Though least in size, the 
 glittering mantle of the humming-bird entitles it to the 
 first place in the list of the new world. It may truly be 
 called the bird of Paradise; and had it existed in the 
 old world, would have claimed the title, instead of the 
 bird which has now the honour to bear it. See it dart- 
 ing through the air, almost as quick as thought ! now 
 it is within a yard of your fire ! in an instant it is 
 gone ! now it flutters from flower to flower to sip the 
 silver dew it is now a ruby now a topaz now an 
 emerald now all burnished gold, Cayenne and Deme- 
 rara produce the same humming-birds. Perhaps you 
 would wish to know something of their haunts. Chiefly 
 in the months of July and August the tree called Bois 
 Immortel, very common in Demerara, bears abundance 
 
 counts can be obtained, I might now go to a 
 very extensive tribe, remarkable for the splen- 
 dour and the variety of their plumage : but 
 the description of the colours of a beautiful 
 
 of red blossoms, which stays on the trees some weeks: 
 then it is that most of the humming-birds are very 
 plentiful. The wild red sage is also their favourite 
 shrub, and they buzz like bees round the blossom of the 
 Wallaba tree. Indeed, there is scarce a flower in the 
 interior or on the sea-coast, but what receives frequent 
 visits from one or other of the species. On entering the 
 forest on the rising land in the interior, the blue and 
 green, the smallest brown, no bigger than the humble 
 bee, with two long feathers in the tail, are to be seen. 
 As you advance towards the mountains of Demerara, 
 other species of humming-birds present themselves. It 
 seems to be an erroneous opinion that the humming- 
 bird lives entirely on the honey-dew. Almost every 
 flower of the tropical climates contains insects of one 
 kind or other; now the humming-bird is most busy 
 about the flowers an hour or two before sunrise, and 
 after a shower of rain ; and it is just at this time that 
 the insects come out to the edge of the flower, in order 
 that the sun's rays may dry the nocturnal dew and rain 
 which they have received. On opening the stomach of 
 the humming-bird, dead insects are found there. 
 
 Next to the humming-birds, the cotingas display the 
 gayest plumage. They are of five species. Perhaps 
 the scarlet cotinga is the richest of the five, and is one 
 of those birds which are found in the deepest recesses 
 of the forest. His crown is flaming red ; to this ab- 
 ruptly succeeds a dark shining brown, reaching half way 
 down the back ; the remainder of the back, the rump, 
 and tail, the extremity of which is edged with black, 
 are a lovely red ; the belly is somewhat lighter red; the 
 breast reddish black ; the wings brown. He has no 
 song, is solitary, and utters a monotonous whistle which 
 sounds like " quet." He is fond of the seeds of the 
 hitia tree, and those of the siloaboli trees. The purple- 
 throated cotinga has black wings, and every other part 
 a light and glossy blue, save the throat, which is purple. 
 The pompadour cotinga is entirely purple, except his 
 wings, which are white, their first five feathers tipped 
 with brown. The fifth species is the celebrated cam- 
 panero of the Spaniards, called dara by the Indians, and 
 bell-bird by the English. He is about the size of the 
 jay. His plumage is white as snow. On his forehead 
 rises a spiral tube nearly three inches long. It is jet 
 black, dotted all over with small white feathers. It has 
 a communication with the palate, and, when filled with 
 air, looks like a spire; when empty, it becomes pen- 
 dulous. His note is loud and clear, like the sound of a 
 bell, and may be heard at the distance of three miles. 
 In the midst of these extensive wilds, generally on the 
 dried top of an aged mora, almost out of gun reach, you 
 will see the campaneros. No sound or song from any 
 of the winged inhabitants of the forest, not even the 
 clearly pronounced "whip-poor-wills" from the goat- 
 sucker, cause such astonishment as the toll of the cam- 
 panero. With many of the feathered race, he pays the 
 tribute of a morning and evening song, and even when 
 the meridian sun has shut in silence the mouth of almost 
 the whole of animated nature, the campanero still cheers 
 the forest. You hear his toll, and then a pause again, 
 and then a toll again, and again a pause. Then he is 
 silent for six or eight minutes, and then another toll, 
 and so on. He is never seen to feed with the other 
 cotingas, nor is it known in what part of Guiana he 
 makes his nest. 
 
 Whilst the cotingas attract your attention by their 
 superior plumage, the singular form of the toucan makes 
 a lasting impression on your memory. There are three 
 species of toucans in Demerara, and three diminutives, 
 
166 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 bird, has nothing in it that can inform or 
 entertain; it rather excites a longing, which 
 it is impossible for words to satisfy. Natural- 
 ists, indeed, have endeavoured to satisfy this 
 
 which may be called toucanets. The largest of the first 
 species frequents the mangrove trees on the sea-coast. 
 He is never seen in the interior till yon reach Macou- 
 shia, where he is found in the neighbourhood of tlie 
 river Tacatore. The other two species are very com- 
 mon. They feed entirely on the fruits of the forest, and, 
 though of the pie kind, never kill the young of other 
 birds, or touch carrion. They are very noisy in rainy 
 weather. The sound which the bouradi or the larger 
 makes, is like the clear yelping of a puppy dog, arid you 
 fancy he says " pia-po-o-co," and thus the South Ameri- 
 can Spaniards call him piapoco. All the toucanets feed 
 on the same trees on which the toucan feeds, and every 
 species of this family, of enormous bill, lays its eggs in 
 the hollow trees. They are social, but not gregarious. 
 You may sometimes see eight or ten in company, and 
 from this you may suppose they are gregarious; but 
 upon closer examination, you will find it has oily been 
 a dinner party, which breaks up and disperses towards 
 roosting time. The flight of the toucan is by jerks; in 
 the action of flying it seems incommoded by its huge 
 disproportioned bill ; if the extraordinary form and size 
 of the bill expose the toucan to ridicule, its colours make 
 it amends. 
 
 The houtou ranks high in beauty amongst the birds of 
 Demerara; his whole body is green, with a bluish cast 
 in the wings and tail; his crane, which he erects at 
 pleasure, consists of black in the centre, surrounded with 
 lovely blue of two different shades; he has a triangular 
 black spot, edged with blue, behind the eye, extending 
 to the ear; and on his breast a sable tuft, consisting of 
 nine feathers edged also with blue. This bird seems to 
 suppose that its beauty can be increased by trimming the 
 tail, which undergoes the same operation as our hair in 
 a barber's shop, only with tin's difference, that it uses its 
 own beak, which is serrated, in lieu of a pair of scissors ; 
 as soon as his tail is full grown, he begins about an inch 
 from the extremity of the two largest feathers in it, and 
 cuts away the web on both sides of the shaft, making a gap 
 about an inch long. Both male and female Adonise their 
 tails in this manner, which gives them a remarkable 
 appearance amongst other birds. The thick and gloomy 
 forests are the places preferred by the houtou. In those 
 far-extending wilds, about day-break, you hear him 
 articulate, in a distinct and mournful tone, " houtou, 
 houtou." Move cautiously on w;here the sound proceeds 
 from, and you will see him sitting in the underwood, 
 and very rarely is he seen in the lofty trees, except the 
 bastard siloaboli tree, the fruit of which is grateful to 
 him. He makes no nest, but rears his young in a hole 
 in the sand, generally on the side of a hill. 
 
 Th6 cassique, in size, is larger than the starling; he 
 covets th society of man, but disdains to live by his 
 labours. When nature calls for support, he repairs to 
 the neighbouring forest, and there partakes of the store 
 of fruits and seeds which she has produced for her aerial 
 tribes. When his repast is over, he returns to man, 
 and pays the little tribute which he owes him for his 
 protection; he takes his station on a tree close to his 
 house, and there for hours together pours forth a succes- 
 sion of imitative notes. His own song is sweet, hut very 
 short. If a toucan be yelping in the neighbourhood, he 
 drops it, and imitates him. Then he will amuse his 
 protector with the cries of different species of the wood- 
 pecker; and when the sheep bleat, he will distinctly 
 imitate them. Then comes his own song again, and if 
 a puppy dog or a guinea-fowl interrupt him, he takes 
 them off admirably; and by his different gestures during 
 thu time, you would conclude that he enjoys the sport. 
 
 desire by coloured prints ; but, beside that 
 these at best give only a faint resemblance ot 
 nature, and are a very indiilerent kind of 
 painting, the bird itself has a thousand beau- 
 
 The cassique is gregarious, and imitates any sound he 
 hears with such exactness, that he goes by no other name 
 than that of mocking-bird amongst the colonists. At 
 breeding time, a number of these pretty choristers re- 
 sort to a tree near the planter's house, and from its out- 
 side branches weave their pendulous nests. So conscious 
 do they seem that they never give oflence, and so little 
 suspicious are they of receiving any injury from man, 
 that they will choose a tree within forty yards from his 
 house, arid occupy the branches so low down that he 
 may peep into the nests. The proportions of the cas- 
 sique are so fine, that he may be said to be a model of 
 symmetry in ornithology. On each wing he has a 
 bright yellow spot, and his rump, belly, and half the tail, 
 are of the same colour. All the rust of the body is 
 black. His beak is the colour of sulphur, but it fades in 
 death, and requires the same operation as the bill of the 
 toucan to make it keep its colours. 
 
 You would not be long in the forests of Demerara 
 without noticing the woodpeckers. You may meet 
 with them feeding at all hours of the day. Well may 
 they do so. Were they to follow the example of most 
 of the other birds, and only feed in the morning and 
 evening, they would be often on short allowance, for 
 they sometimes have to labour three or four hours at the 
 tree before they get at the food. The sound which the 
 largest kind makes in hammering against the bark of 
 the tree, is so loud, that you would never suppose it to 
 proceed from the efforts of a bird. You would take it 
 to be the woodman, with his axe, trying, by a sturdy 
 blow often repeated, whether the tree was sound or not. 
 There are fourteen species here ; the largest the size of 
 a magpie, the smallest not bigger than the wren. They 
 are all beautiful, and the greater part of them have their 
 heads ornamented with a fine crest, movable at pleasure. 
 It is said if you once give a dog a bad name, whether 
 innocent or guilty, he never loses it. It sticks close to 
 him wherever he goes. He has many a kick and many 
 a blow to bear on account of it, and there is nobody to 
 stand up for him. The woodpecker is little better off. 
 The proprietors of woods in Europe have long accused 
 him of injuring their timber, by boring holes in it, and 
 letting in the water, which soon rots it. The colonists 
 in America have the same complaints against him. 
 Had he the power of speech, he could soon make a de- 
 fence. " Mighty lords of the woods," he would say to 
 man, " why do you wrongfully accuse me ? Why do you 
 hunt me up and down to death for an imaginary oflence? 
 I have never spoiled a leaf of your property, much less 
 your wood. Your merciless shot strikes me at the very 
 time I am doing you a service. But your shortsighted- 
 ness will not let you see it, or your pride is above 
 examining closely the actions of so insignificant a little 
 bird as I am. If there be that spark of feeling in your 
 breast, which they say man possesses, or ought to possess, 
 above all other animals, do a poor injured creature a 
 little kindness, and watch me in your woods only for 
 one day. I never wormed your healthy trees. I should 
 perish for want in the attempt. The sound bark would 
 easily resist the force of my bill; and were 1 even to 
 pierce through it, there would be nothing inside that I 
 could fancy, or my stomach digest. I oi'ten visit them, 
 it is true, but a knock or two convinces me that I must 
 go elsewhere for support ; and were you to listen atten- 
 tively to the sound which my bill causes, you would 
 know whether 1 am upon a healthy or an unhealthy tree. 
 Wood and bark are not my food. 1 live entirely upuii 
 the insects which have already formed a lodgement in 
 the distempered true. When the sound informs me thai 
 
THE HUMMING-BIRD. 
 
 167 
 
 ties that the most exquisite artist is incapable 
 of imitating. They, for instance, who imagine 
 they have a complete idea of the beauty of 
 the little tribe of manikin birds, from the pic- 
 tures we have of them, will find themselves 
 deceived, when they compare their draughts 
 with nature. The shining greens, the change- 
 able purples, and the glossy reds, are beyond 
 the reach of the pencil ; and very far beyond 
 the coloured print, which is but a poor sub- 
 stitute to painting. I have therefore de- 
 clined entering into a minute description of 
 foreign birds of the sparrow kind ; as sounds 
 would never convey an adequate idea of 
 colours. 
 
 There is one species, however, that I will 
 conclude the history of this class with ; as, 
 though the least, it will certainly be allowed 
 the most beautiful of all others. In quadru- 
 peds, the smallest animals are noxious, ugly, 
 and lothesome ; the smallest of birds are the 
 most beautiful, innocent, and sportive. Of 
 all those that flutter in the garden, or paint 
 the landscape, the humming-bird is the most 
 delightful to look upon, and the most inoffen- 
 sive. 
 
 Of this charming little animal there are 
 six or seven varieties, 1 from the size of a small 
 
 my prey is there, I labour for hours together till I get 
 at it; arid, by consuming it, for my own support, I pre- 
 vent its further depredations in that part. Thus I dis. 
 cover for you a hidden and unsuspected foe, which has 
 been devouring your wood in such secrecy, that you had 
 not the least suspicion it was there. The hole which I 
 make, in order to get at the pernicious vermin, will be 
 seen by you as you pass under the tree. I leave it as a 
 signal to tell you, that your tree has already stood too 
 long. It is past its prime. Millions of insects, engen- 
 dered by disease, are preying upon its vitals: ere long 
 it will fall a log in useless ruins. Warned by this loss, 
 cut down the rest in time, and spare, O spare, the un- 
 oflending woodpecker." Wanderings of Charles Water- 
 ton in South America. 
 
 1 The family of humming-birds (Trochilid<g) is divid- 
 ed into numerous genera. Upwards of 100 species are 
 now known to naturalists. Recent discoveries have 
 proved that their range of habitation is more extended 
 than was once imagined; for though they chiefly abound 
 in the intertropical latitudes of America, many visit the 
 temperate and colder portions of that continent. The 
 ruby-throated humming-bird (Trochilus Colubris), passes 
 north as far as the interior of Canada, migrating like the 
 swallow. Nor is this the only species which extends 
 into a colder climate. Captain King, while on his sur- 
 vey of the southern coasts, met with numerous species 
 flying about in a snow-storm near the Straits of Magel- 
 len, and discovered two species (Trochilus Fernandensis, 
 and T. Stokesii) in the island of Juan Fernandez. Still, 
 however, the central regions of the continent, and the 
 islands adjacent, are their chief resort. There they 
 people the woods and the gardens, glancing in the sun 
 like meteors as they flit by with inconceivable rapidity, 
 or, suspended on their burnished and quivering wings, 
 explore the nectary of some scented blossom. These 
 birds may be almost said to live upon the wing. There 
 is no bird that equals them in power of flight, and they 
 are quick as lightning in their motions. Their wings 
 are of extraordinary length, and this, with their shape 
 
 wren down to that of an humble-bee. A 
 European could never have supposed a bird 
 existing so very small, and yet completely 
 furnished out with a bill, feathers, wings, 
 
 and the character of the feathers composing them, con- 
 tributes to their efficiency. The feet and legs, on the 
 contrary, are small and feeble ; they are, in fact, of 
 merely second-rate importance in the economy of the 
 humming-bird. The ground and the trees are not its 
 element. It sometimes, indeed, settles on a twig, while 
 it preens its plumage of glittering scale-like feathers, or 
 arranges the moss and down of its nest ; but the air is 
 its abiding place, where it feeds and passes the whole of 
 its active existence. Wilson observes that " the hum- 
 ming-bird is extremely fond of tubular flowers, and I have 
 often stopped with pleasure to observe his manoeuvres 
 among the blossoms of the trumpet flower. When 
 arrived before a thicket of those that are full blown, he 
 poises or suspends himself on the wing, for the space of 
 two or three seconds, so steadily, that his wings became 
 invisible, or only like a mist, and you can plainly dis- 
 tinguish the pupil of his eye looking round with great 
 quickness and circumspection." With respect, then, to 
 the shape of these powerful organs of flight, we may 
 notice that they are narrow-pointed, and more or less 
 curved inwards, a good deal resembling those of the 
 swift, and are mainly composed of the primary quill 
 feathers, beautifully graduated, the first or outer one 
 being the longest. The secondary quill feathers are 
 very short, and occupy the inner edge at the base of the 
 primaries, taking up little room, and adding nothing to 
 the breadth of the wing as in birds in general. The 
 structure of these feathers must not be overlooked ; they 
 consist of a strong and peculiarly elastic shaft, which in 
 many species is very thick at its commencement. On 
 each side of this shaft is a vane, composed of narrow, 
 closely set, springy plumets, so compacted together, as 
 to give the idea of a thin metallic or horny web, and 
 which, cutting the air at every stroke, produces that 
 humming noise which is heard while the bird hovers 
 over the flower, or darts arrow-like along. Of the im- 
 mense strength of the pectoral muscles by whose actions 
 these long pointed wings are thus rapidly agitated, we 
 can scarcely form an adequate conception. 
 
 Next to the wings, the tail is the most important 
 agent as an organ of aerial progression. It is not only 
 the rudder by which a bird directs its course, or turns 
 and wheels, but it adds to the superficies of the body 
 without increasing its weight. In this group the tail is 
 ample, but varies extremely in shape ; in some species 
 it is square, in others forked, in some pointed, but in all 
 it is composed of feathers closely resembling those of the 
 wing in texture. Thus is the humming-bird consti- 
 tuted for flight ; nor is this extremely rapid merely, 
 but it is capable of long continuance. The flitting pro- 
 gress of the humming-bird from flower to flower resem- 
 bles that of a bee, but is infinitely more quick. When, 
 however, the bird is journeying, it sweeps through the. 
 air in long undulations, rising and sinking alternately;. 
 
 It has been supposed by many that the- aectar of 
 flowers constitutes the sole food of this charming race, 
 but such is not the fact. Nectar is no doubt a part of 
 their diet, but by no means the whole: they feed on the 
 small insects which lurk in the nectary, or wander over 
 the petals, nay, they even take insects on the wing 
 as was observed by Wilson, who also found their frag- 
 ments in the stomach of such as he examined ; and 
 Andubon states, in confirmation, that insects, especially 
 those of the coleopterous order, are the principal food of 
 the humming-bird. The bill, fitted for penetrating into 
 the recesses of flowers, is long and slender, but varies in 
 shape. According to Brisson and others, the tongue 
 consists of two muscular tubes. This organ, >yhjch i 
 
168 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 and intestines, exactly resembling those of the 
 largest kind. A bird not so big as the end of 
 one's little finger would probably be supposed 
 but a creature of imagination, were it not 
 seen in infinite numbers, and as frequent as 
 
 the humming-bird is mainly instrumental in procuring 
 food, is capable of being protruded to a considerable 
 distance, as we see in the wryneck, woodpecker, &c. 
 Audubon says, that the double-tubed tongue of the 
 humming-bird is covered with a glutinous saliva, so 
 that the insect adheres to it when touched ; hence the 
 bird has only to dart its tongue at its prey, and retract 
 it into its mouth. 
 
 Diminutive as they are. these beautiful creatures are 
 bold and intrepid, and defend their nests against intru- 
 ders with the greatest spirit. Their powers of flight 
 give them every advantage in these aerial combats over 
 birds much larger than themselves, at whose eyes they 
 tilt with their sharp-pointed beak, uttering, at the same 
 time, a shrill piercing shriek. Two males seldom meet 
 without a battle: and while the female is sitting her 
 mate attacks indiscriminately every bird that approaches, 
 exhibiting the utmost fury. The nest of the humming- 
 bird varies in different species. We have seen some 
 built on the branch of a tree, others attached to the ex- 
 treme twigs, so as to wave in the breeze. The mate- 
 rials with which they are constructed are for the most 
 part, the cotton or down of various plants, beautifully 
 interwoven ; some species add an outside layer of moss 
 or lichen. It appears that the number of eggs laid by 
 the female is usually two, and their colour pure white. 
 
 That these beautiful and elegant birds should not be 
 kept in captivity will not surprise those who know the 
 difficulty of preserving them, even in their own regions, 
 for any length of time, in imprisonment. Several at- 
 tempts have, however, been made; and, on one occa- 
 sion, two nestlings of a species termed the Mango hum- 
 ming-bird were actually brought alive to England, and 
 lived for a short time in the possession of Lady Ham- 
 mond ; they were very docile, and fed on honey, but we 
 do not know whether insects were offered them or not. 
 Audubon states that he has seen many humming-birds 
 in partial confinement ; and that, when fed with honey 
 or syrup exclusively, they soon died in a state of emacia- 
 tion, but that, when duly supplied with fresh flowers 
 (abounding with insects), and surrounded with gauze- 
 netting, through which insects could enter, they lived 
 in health and were active. Indeed, he mentions an in- 
 stance in which several were thus kept for the space of 
 twelve months, when they were restored to liberty, the 
 person who attended to them having a long voyage to 
 perform. 
 
 " I remember," says a correspondent of the Maga- 
 zine of Natural History, " a pair of these beautiful little 
 creatures busily building a nest in the branch of an 
 orange-tree, which was close to the outer side of the 
 open piazza of a house in Spanish Town, Jamaica : in 
 this apartment, situated on the north side of the house, 
 the family breakfasted and lunched. I spent three days 
 there ; and, while taking my meals, had at least an 
 equal treat, in seeing these smallest of the feathered 
 tribes gaily and actively employed in their building 
 process. I have now in my possession a nest of the bee 
 humming bird, which I removed from the end of a 
 mango-tree (Mangiferia indica), which was not a foot 
 above my head, and close to the door of a dwelling- 
 house. I cannot quit this article without speaking of the 
 delight that was afforded me, in Jamaica, by seeing 
 humming-birds feeding on honey, in the florets of the 
 great aloe (Agave americana, L.) On the side of a 
 hill upon Sutton's estate were a considerable number of 
 aloe plants, of which about a dozen were in full blossom. 
 They were spread over a space of about twenty yards 
 
 butterflies in a summer's day, sporting in 
 the fields of America, from flower to flower, 
 and extracting their sweets with its little 
 bill. 
 
 The smallest humming-bird is about the 
 
 square. The spikes bearing bunches of flowers in a 
 thyrsus, were from twelve to fifteen feet high ; on each 
 spike were many hundred flowers, of a bright yellow 
 colour, each floret of a tubular shape, and containing a 
 good-sized drop of honey. Such an assemblage of floral 
 splendour was in itself most magnificent and striking; 
 but it may be imagined how much the interest caused 
 by this beautiful exhibition was increased, by vast num- 
 bers of humming-birds, of various species, fluttering at 
 the opening of the flowers, and dipping their bills, first 
 into one floret, and then into another the sun, as 
 usual, shining bright upon their varied and beautiful 
 plumage." 
 
 The following cut represents the Bar-tailed Hum- 
 ming-bird. 
 
 This splendid species seems to have been first noticed 
 by Dr Shaw, in his General Zoology, and figured from 
 a specimen in Bullock's museum. It is most remark- 
 able for the splendid colouring and development of its 
 tail, which Lesson compares to that of the New Holland 
 menura. It is composed of ten broad feathers, gradually 
 exceeding each other by about half an inch, three quar- 
 ters, &c., and the last by above one inch and a half 
 longer than the others. The colour may be said to be a 
 brilliant reddish orange, with a brazen or metallic lustre 
 of the greatest clearness, according to the various lights 
 in which it is placed assuming a greater tinge of red or 
 yellow. The tip of .each feather has a broad black bar, 
 and the lower part of the web of the outer feather is of 
 the same colour. When the tail is closed, the appear- 
 ance is as if regularly barred with black. The upper 
 parts of the plumage are of a golden green, except the 
 ump, which is of a fine madder tint, but without any 
 metallic lustre. The feathers upon this part are more 
 tufted, and thicker than usual. The whole of the under 
 surface, as far as the upper part of the belly, is of a 
 bright emerald green, brightest on the fore part of the 
 throat. The lower belly is dull brownish green, the 
 vent whitish. Lesson has represented another state of 
 this bird, which he thinks is that of the female. All the 
 upper parts are of a uniform green. The throat and 
 breast, instead of the emerald-coloured scaly gorget, are 
 of a dull yellowish gray, which colour occupies also the 
 
THE HUMMING-BIRD. 
 
 1G9 
 
 size of a hazel-nut. The feathers on its wings 
 and tail are black ; bu( those on its body, and 
 under its wings, are of a greenish brown, 
 with a fin red cast, or gloss, which no silk or 
 velvet can imitate. It has a small crest on 
 its head, green at the bottom, and, as it were, 
 gilded at the top ; and which sparkles in the 
 sun like a little star in the middle of its fore- 
 head. The bill is black, straight, sle-nder, 
 and of the length of a small pin. The larger 
 humming-bird is nearly half as big as the com- 
 mon wren, and without a crest on its head; 
 but, to make amends, it is covered, from the 
 throat half way down the belly, with change- 
 able crimson-coloured feathers, that, in dif- 
 ferent lights, change to a variety of beautiful 
 colours, much like an opal. The heads of 
 both are small, with very little round eyes, as 
 black as jet. 
 
 It is inconceivable how much these add to 
 the high finishing and beauty of a rich luxu- 
 rious western landscape. As soon as the sun 
 is risen, the humming-birds, of different kinds, 
 
 rest of the under parts. The tail is about only half the 
 length, the feathers of the same broad form; the outer 
 one of a yellowish, the others of a reddish coppery 
 lustre, with a slight indication of a darker shade at the 
 tips, but without any distinct bar. 
 
 There seems a little uncertainty regarding the native 
 country of this bird. Shaw's specimens were said to 
 come from Peru; and Lesson mentions the interior of 
 Brazil for those from which he took his drawings and 
 descriptions. 
 
 The following represents the Topaz -throated Hum- 
 iring-bird. 
 
 This species is without any exception one of tho most 
 splendid of the whole race; the plumage in every part 
 is composed of the scaly formed feathers, which are al- 
 ways present when a metallic lustre prevails ; and in 
 every position, its brilliant colours receive a variation of 
 tint differing from that last seen, and superior in splen- 
 dour to any thing with which we could compare it. It 
 is a large species also, and in many ways is a most 
 interesting bird. The African form is naturally called 
 to our remembrance by the general appearance of it to 
 the CynSridae, in which the shape of the gorget and tail 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 are seen fluttering about the flowers, without 
 ever lighting upon them. Their wings are 
 in such rapid motion, that it is impossible to 
 discern their colours, except by their glitter- 
 ing. They are never still but continually in 
 motion, visiting flower after flower, and ex- 
 tracting its honey as if with a kiss. For this 
 purpose they are furnished with a forky 
 tongue, that enters the oup of the flowers, 
 and extracts its nectared tribute. Upon this 
 alone they subsist. The rapid motion of 
 their wings brings out a humming sound, 
 from whence they have their name; for what- 
 ever divides the air swiftly, must thus produce 
 a murmur. 
 
 The nests of these birds are not less curious 
 than the rest ; they are suspended in the air, 
 at the point of the twigs of an orange, a 
 pomegranate, or a citron-tree ; sometimes even 
 in houses, if they find a small and convenient 
 twig for the purpose. The female is the 
 architect, while the male goes in quest of 
 materials; such as cotton, fine moss, and the 
 
 leads still nearer. In its habits it is also curious, being 
 said to frequent the banks of rivers, skimming along 
 their surface after insects, and often perching on dried 
 twigs along their margins : in this there is an approxi- 
 mation to several groups. The length of this bird, not 
 including the long centre tail feathers, is five inches and 
 a half, these exceed the others by nearly three inches ; 
 the colours of the whole plumage of the body may be said 
 to be a rich brownish orange, in some lights appearing of 
 the deepest lake, and in others of a brilliant ruby colour, 
 tinted with golden ; on the lower surface the golden 
 lustre is most prevalent, above, the deep shade and ruby 
 tint; the gorget is alternately of a topaz-yellow or 
 emerald green, and it is surrounded by a shade of nearly 
 velvet black, which gradually assumes a purple tint, and 
 shades into the colour of the body; the wings are very 
 long and powerful; the tail is above of a golden green 
 shaded with red, below of a bright chestnut; in form it 
 is rather rounded, and the two centre feathers make it 
 appear sometimes very lengthened, sometimes forked, 
 according to their position ; the tarsi are feathered to the 
 division of the toes. The young differ in wanting the 
 long feathers in the tail, the two centre plumes of which 
 exceed the others by about one-eighth of an inch ; the 
 plumage of the upper parts is of a bright green, with the 
 ruby tints appearing at intervals; the under part has 
 more of the red colour, and is shaded with green and 
 bright orange ; the gorget has not appeared, though the 
 space for it is clearly seen. The female is somewhat 
 less than the young males; the centre tail feathers are 
 slightly longer; the prevailing colour of the plumage is 
 brilliant emerald green, with metallic lustre, but which 
 is somewhat diminished by a gray tint which pervades 
 the whole; the gorget is marked by brown feathers, 
 which have a golden lustre when placed in the light, 
 but is not very distinctly defined; the vent is gray: the 
 outer tail feathers are of a dull green, the next pair are 
 of a brilliant violet, the others of a bright chestnut. 
 These beautiful birds are found in Cayenne and Guiana. 
 For works on humming-birds, the reader is referred 
 t.o three beautiful volumes by Lesson, containing 219 
 plates, and to the Naturalist's Library, by Sir William 
 Jardine, vols. I. and II. Edinburgh, 1833. Both 
 Wilson and Audubon have written well on the northern 
 humming-bird. 
 
170 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 fibres of vegetables. Of these materials a 
 nest is composed, of about the size of a hen's 
 egg cut in two, admirably contrived, and 
 warmly lined with cotton. They lay two 
 eggs at a time, and never more, about the 
 size of small peas, and as white as snow, with 
 here and there a yellow speck. The male 
 and the female sit upon the nest by turns; 
 but the female takes to herself the greatest 
 share. She seldom quits the nest, except a 
 few minutes in the morning and evening, 
 when the dew is upon the flowers, and their 
 honey in perfection. During this short in- 
 terval, the male takes her place ; for, as the 
 egg is so small, the exposing it ever so short 
 a time to the weather would be apt to injure 
 its contents, the surface exposed being so great 
 in comparison to the bulk. The time of in- 
 cubation continues twelve days ; at the end 
 of which the young ones appear, much about 
 the size of a blue-bottle fly. They are at 
 first bare ; by degrees they are covered with 
 down ; and at last feathers succeed, but less 
 beautiful at first than those of the old ones. 
 
 " Father Labat's companion in the mission 
 to America, found the nest of a humming- 
 bird in a shed that was near the dwelling, 
 house, and took it in at a time when the 
 young ones were about fifteen or twenty days 
 old ; he then placed them in a cage at his 
 chamber-window, to be amused by their spor- 
 tive fluttermgs ; but he was soon surprised to 
 see the old ones, that came and fed their 
 brood regularly every hour in the day. By 
 these means they themselves soon grew so 
 tame that they seldom quitted the chamber ; 
 but without any constraint came to live with 
 their young ones. All four have frequently 
 come to perch upon their master's hand, 
 chirruping as if they had been at liberty 
 abroad. He fed them with a very fine clear 
 paste, made of wine, biscuit, and sugar ; they 
 thrust their tongues into this paste, till they 
 were satisfied, and then fluttered and chir- 
 ruped about the room. I never beheld any 
 thing more agreeable," continues he, " than 
 this lovely little family that had taken posses- 
 sion of my companion's chamber, and that flew 
 out and in just as they thought proper; but 
 were ever attentive to the voice of their 
 master, when he called them. In this man- 
 ner they lived with him for above six months; 
 but at a time when he expected to see a new 
 colony formed, he unfortunately forgot to tie 
 up their cage to the ceiling at night to pre- 
 
 serve them from the rats, and he found they 
 were devoured in the morning." 
 
 These birds on the continent of America, 
 continue to flutter the year round ; as their 
 food, which is the honey of flowers, never for- 
 sakes them in those warm latitudes where 
 they are found. But it is otherwise in the 
 islands of the Antilles, where, when the 
 winter season approaches, they retire, and, as 
 some say, continue in a torpid state during 
 the severity of that season. At Surinam and 
 Jamaica, where they constantly have flowers, 
 these beautiful birds are never known to dis- 
 appear. 
 
 It is a doubt whether or not these birds 
 have a continued note of singing. All travel, 
 lers agree, that, beside the humming noise 
 produced by their wings, they have a little 
 interrupted chirrup; but Labat asserts, that 
 they have a most pleasing melancholy melody 
 in their voices, though small, and proportioned 
 to the organs which produce it. It is very 
 probable that, in different places, their notes 
 are also different ; and as there are some that 
 continue torpid all the winter, there may like- 
 wise be some with agreeable voices, though 
 the rest may in general be silent. 
 
 The Indians formerly made great use of 
 this bird's plumage, in adorning their belts 
 and head-dress. The children take them in 
 the fields upon rings smeared with bird-lime: 
 they approach the place where the birds are 
 flying, and twirling their rings in the air, to 
 allure them, either by the colour or the sound, 
 that the simple little creature comes to rest 
 upon the ring, and is seized. They are then 
 instantly killed and gutted, and hung up in 
 the chimney to dry. Those who take greater 
 care, dry them in a stove, which is not so 
 likely to injure the plumage as the foregoing 
 method. Their beautiful feathers were once 
 the ornament of the highest rank of savage 
 nobility ; but at present they take the bird 
 rather for the purpose of selling it as a curio- 
 sity to the Europeans, than that of ornament 
 for themselves. All the taste for savage finery 
 is wearing out fast, even among the Ameri- 
 cans. They now begin to adopt, if not the 
 dresses of Europe, at least the materials of 
 which they are composed. The wandering 
 warrior is far from thinking himself fine at 
 present with his bow and his feathered crown: 
 his ambition reaches to higher ornaments ; a 
 gun, a blue shirt, and a blanket. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE CRANE KIND. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE CRANE KIND IN GENERAL,. 
 
 THE progressions of Nature from one class of 
 beings to another, are always by slow and al- 
 most imperceptible degrees. She has peopled 
 the woods and the fields with a variety of the 
 most beautiful birds ; and, to leave no part of 
 her extensive territories untenanted, she has 
 stocked the waters with its feathered inhabi- 
 tants also : she has taken the same care in 
 providing for the wants of her animals in this 
 element, as she has done with respect to those 
 of the other; she has used as much precaution 
 to render water-fowl fit for swimming, as she 
 did in forming land-fowl for flight ; she has 
 defended their feathers with a natural oil, and 
 united their toes by a webbed membrane : by 
 which contrivances they have at once security 
 and motion. But between the classes of land- 
 birds that shun the water, and of water fowl 
 that are made for swimming and living on it, 
 she has formed a very numerous tribe of birds, 
 that seem to partake of a middle nature: that, 
 with divided toes, seemingly fitted to live upon 
 land, are at the same time furnished with ap- 
 petites that chiefly attach them to the waters. 
 These can properly be called neither land- 
 birds nor water-fowl, as they provide all their 
 sustenance from watery places, and yet are 
 unqualified to seek it in those depths where it 
 is often found in greatest plenty. 1 
 
 This class of birds, of the crane kind, are 
 to be distinguished from others rather by their 
 appetites than their conformation. Yet even 
 in this respect they seem to be sufficiently dis- 
 criminated by nature : as they are to live 
 among the waters, yet are incapable of swim- 
 
 1 The term waders h jiuw ai.plicd to this description 
 of birds. 
 
 ming in them, most of them have long legs, 
 fitted for wading in shallow waters, or long 
 bills proper for grouping in them. 
 
 Every bird of this kind, habituated to mar- 
 shy places, may be known, if not by the length 
 of its legs, at least by the scaly surface of 
 them. Those who have observed the legs of 
 a snipe or a woodcock, will easily perceive 
 my meaning ; and how different the surface 
 of the skin that covers them is from that of the 
 pigeon or the partridge. Most, birds of this 
 kind also, are bare of feathers half way up the 
 thigh ; at least, in all of them, above the knee. 
 Their long habits of wading in the waters, 
 and having their legs continually in moisture, 
 prevents the growth of feathers on those parts ; 
 so that there is a surprising difference between 
 the legs of a crane, naked of feathers almost 
 up to the body, and the falcon, booted almost 
 to the very toes. 
 
 The bill is also very distinguishable in most 
 of this class. It is, in general, longer than 
 that of other birds, and in some finely fluted 
 on every side ; while at the point it is posses, 
 sed of extreme sensibility, and furnished with 
 nerves, for the better feeling their food at the 
 bottom of marshes, where it cannot be seen. 
 Some birds of this class are thus fitted with 
 every convenience ; they have long legs, for 
 wading ; long necks, for stooping ; long bills, 
 for searching ; and nervous points, for feeling. 
 Others are not so amply provided for ; as some 
 have long bills, but legs of no great length ; 
 and others have long necks, but very short 
 legs. It is a rule which universally holds, 
 that where the bird's legs are long, the neck 
 is also long in proportion. It would indeed 
 be an incura.ble defect in the bird's conforma. 
 tion, to be lifted upon stilts above its food, 
 without being furnished with an instrument to 
 reach it. 
 
 If we consider the natural power of this 
 
172 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 class, in a comparative view, they will seem | 
 rather inferior to those of every other tribe. | 
 Their nests are more simple than those of the 
 sparrow ; and their methods of obtaining food 
 less ingenious than those of the falcon ; the 
 pie exceeds them in cunning ; and though 
 they have all the voraciousness of the poultry 
 tribe, they want their fecundity. None of 
 this kind, therefore, have been taken into 
 man's society, or tinder his protection ; they 
 are neither caged, like the nightingale ; nor 
 kept tame, like the turkey ; but lead a life of 
 precarious liberty, in fens and marshes, at the 
 edges of lakes, and along the sea-shore. They 
 all live upon fish or insects, one or two only 
 excepted ; even those that are called mud- 
 suckers, such as the snipe and the woodcock, 
 it is more than probable, grope the bottom of 
 marshy places only for such insects as are de- 
 posited there by their kind, and live in a ver- 
 micular state, in pools and plashes, till they 
 take wing, and become flying insects. 
 
 All this class, therefore, that are fed upon 
 insects, their food being easily digestible, are 
 good to be eaten ; while those who live en. 
 tirely upon fish, abounding in oil, acquire in 
 their flesh the rancidity of their diet, and are, 
 in general, unfit for our tables. To savages, 
 indeed, and sailors on a long voyage, every 
 thing that has life seems good to be eaten ; 
 and we often find them recommending 
 those animals as dainties, which they them- 
 selves would spurn at after a course of good 
 living. Nothing is more common in their 
 
 journals than such accounts as these 
 
 " This day we shot a fox pretty good eating : 
 this day we shot a heron pretty good eating : 
 
 and this day we killed a turtle" which 
 
 they rank with the heron and the fox, as 
 ' pretty good eating." Their accounts, there- 
 fore, of the flesh of these birds, are not to be 
 depended upon ; and when they cry up the 
 heron or the stork of 'other countries as luxuri- 
 ous food, we must always attend to the state 
 of their appetites who give the character. 
 
 In treating of this class of birds, it will be 
 best to observe the simplest method possible ; 
 neither to load the memory with numerous 
 distinctions, nor yet confuse the imagination 
 by a total want of arrangement. I will, 
 therefore, describe some of the larger sorts 
 separately; as, in a history of birds, each of 
 these demands peculiar distinction. The 
 crane, the stork, the Balearic crane, the he- 
 ron, the bittern, with some others, may require 
 a separate history. Some particular tribes 
 may next offer, that may very naturally be 
 classed together ; and as for all the smaller 
 and least remarkable sorts, they may be 
 grouped into one general description. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THE CRANE. 1 
 
 THERE is something extraordinary in the 
 different accounts we have of this bird's size 
 and dimensions. Willoughby and Pennant 
 make the crane from five to six feet long, from 
 the tip to the tail. Other accounts say that it 
 is above five feet high ; and others, that it is 
 as tall as a man. From the many which I 
 myself had seen, I own this imputed magni- 
 tude surprised me ; as from memory I was 
 convinced they could neither be so long nor 
 
 1 The above Cut represents the Common Crane. 
 For Numidian Crane, see Plate XX. fi. 1. and for 
 Collared Crane, fig. 6. same Plate. The Gigantic 
 Crane, or, as it is called in India, the Adjutant (see 
 Plate XX. fig. 12.) is a very large species, which 
 belongs to the stork genus, measuring, from tip to tip of 
 the wings, nearly fifteen feet. The bill is of vast size, 
 nearly triangular, and sixteen inches round at the base. 
 The legs and half the thighs are naked, and the naked 
 parts are full three feet in length. This bird is an in- 
 habitant of Bengal and Calcutta, and is sometimes found 
 on the coast of Guinea. It arrives in the internal parts 
 of Bengal before the period of the rains, and retires as 
 soon as the dry season commences. Its aspect is filthy 
 and disgusting ; yet it is one of the most useful birds of 
 these countries, in clearing them of snakes ,nd noxious 
 reptiles and inserts. It seems to finish the work began 
 by the jackal and vulture the clearing away the flesh 
 of animals, and these birds removing the bones, and 
 swallowing them entire. They sometimes feed on fish; 
 and one of them will generally devour as much as would 
 serve four men. On opening the body of a gigantic 
 crane, a land -tortoise, ten inches long, and a large black 
 male cat, were found entire within it ; the former in the 
 craw, and the latter in the stomach. Being altogether 
 undaunted at the sight of mankind, they are soon ren- 
 dered familiar,' and when fish or other food are thrown 
 to them, they catch them very nimbly, and immediately 
 swallow them whole. The gigantic cranes are believed 
 by the Indians to be animated by the souls of the Brah- 
 mins, and consequently to be invulnerable. Mr Ives, 
 in attempting to kill some of them with his gun, missed 
 his shot several times, which the by-standers observed 
 with the greatest satisfaction, telling him triumphantly 
 that he might shoot at them as long as he pleased, but 
 he tuiver would be able to kill them 
 
THE CRANE. 
 
 173 
 
 so tall. Indeed, a bird, the body of which is 
 not larger than that of a turkey-hen, and ac- 
 knowledged on all hands not to weigh above 
 ten pounds, cannot easily be supposed to be 
 almost as long as an ostrich. Brisson, how- 
 ever, seems to give this bird its real dimen- 
 sions, when he describes it as something less 
 than the brown stork, about three feet high, 
 and about four from the tip to the tail. Still, 
 however, the numerous testimonies of its su- 
 perior size are not to be totally rejected ; and, 
 perhaps, that from which Erisson took his di- 
 mensions, was one of the smallest of the kind. 
 
 The crane, taking its dimensions from him, 
 is exactly three feet four inches from the tip 
 to the tail, and four feet from the head to the 
 toe. It is a tall slender bird, with a long 
 neck and long legs. The top of the head is 
 covered with black bristles, and the back of 
 it is bald and red, which sufficiently distin- 
 guishes this bird from the stork, to which it 
 is very nearly allied in size and figure. The 
 plumage in general, is ash-coloured ; and 
 there are two large tufts of feathers, that 
 spring from the pinion of each wing. These 
 bear a resemblance to hair, and are finely 
 curled at the ends, which the bird has a power 
 of erecting and depressing at pleasure. Ges- 
 ner says, that these feathers, in his time, used 
 to be set in gold, and worn as ornaments in 
 caps. 
 
 Such are the dimensions of a bird, concern- 
 ing which, not to mention modern times, there 
 have been more fables propagated than of any 
 other. It is a bird with which all the ancient 
 writers are familiar; and, in describing it, 
 they have not failed to mix imagination with 
 history. From the policy of the cranes, they 
 say, we are to look for an idea of the most 
 perfect republic amongst ourselves ; from their 
 tenderness to their decrepit parents, which 
 they take care to nourish, to cherish, and sup- 
 port when flying, we are to learn lessons of 
 filial piety ; but particularly from their con- 
 duct in fighting with the pigmies of Ethiopia, 
 we are to receive our maxims in the art of 
 war. In early times, the history of Nature 
 fell to the lot of poets only, and certainly none 
 could describe it so well ; but it is a part of 
 their province to embellish also ; and when 
 this agreeable science was claimed by a more 
 sober class of people, they were obliged to 
 take the accounts of things as they found 
 them; and, in the present instance, fable ran 
 down blended with truth to posterity. 
 
 In these accounts, therefore, there is some 
 foundation of truth ; yet much more has been 
 added by fancy. The crane is certainly a 
 very social bird, and they are seldom seen 
 alone. Their usual method of flying or sit- 
 ting is in flocks of fifty or sixty together; and 
 while a part feed, the rest stand like sentinels 
 
 upon duty. The fable of their supporting 
 their aged parents, may have arisen from their 
 strict connubial affection ; and as for their 
 fighting with the pigmies, it may not be im- 
 probable but that they have boldly withstood 
 the invasions of monkeys coming to rob their 
 nests ; for in this case, as the crane lives upon 
 vegetables, it is not probable that it would be 
 the first aggressor. 
 
 However this be, the crane is a wandering, 
 sociable bird, that for the most part, subsists 
 upon vegetables; and is known in every coun- 
 try of Europe, except our own. There is no 
 part of the world, says Bellonius, where the 
 fields are cultivated, that the crane does not 
 come in with the husbandman for a share in 
 the harvest. As they are birds of passage, 
 they are seen to depart, and return regularly 
 at those seasons when their provision invites 
 or repels them. They generally leave Eu- 
 rope about the latter end of autumn, and re- 
 turn in the beginning of summer. In the in- 
 land parts of the continent, they are seen 
 crossing the country in flocks of fifty or a 
 hundred, making from the northern regions 
 towards the south. In these migrations, how- 
 ever, they are not so resolutely bent upon 
 going forward, but that if a field of corn offers 
 in their way, they will stop awhile to regale 
 upon it : on such occasions they do incredible 
 damage, chiefly in the night; and the hus- 
 bandman, who lies down in joyful expectation, 
 rises in the morning to see his fields laid en- 
 tirely waste by an enemy, whose march is too 
 swift for his vengeance to overtake. 
 
 Our own country is free from their visits ; 
 not but that they were formerly known in this 
 island, and held in great estimation for the 
 delicacy of their flesh ; there was even a pe- 
 nalty upon such as destroyed their eggs ; but, 
 at present, they never go so far out of their 
 way. 1 Cultivation and populousness go hand 
 in hand; and though our fields may offer 
 them a greater plenty, yet it is so guarded 
 that the birds find the venture greater than 
 the enjoyment ; and probably we are much 
 better off by their absence than their company. 
 Whatever their flesh might once have been, 
 when, as Plutarch tells us, cranes were blinded 
 and kept in coops, to be fattened for the tables 
 of the great in Rome ; or, as they were 
 brought up, stuffed with mint and rue, to the 
 tables of our nobles at home ; at present, they 
 are considered all over Europe as wretched 
 eating. The flesh is fibrous and dry, requir- 
 ing much preparation to make it palatable; 
 and even alter every art, it is fit only for the 
 stomachs of strong and labouring people. 
 
 1 They are still, though very rarely, to be seen in this 
 country. A crane was killed in Oxfordshire, in De- 
 cember, 1830. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 The cold Arctic region seems to be this 
 bird's favourite abode. They come down in 
 the more southern parts of Europe, rather as 
 visitants than inhabitants : yet it is not well 
 known in what manner they portion out their 
 time, to the different parts of the world. The 
 migrations of the fieldfare or thrush, are ob- 
 vious and well known ; they go northward or 
 southward, in one simple track ; when their 
 food fails them here, they have but one region 
 to go to. But it is otherwise with the crane ; 
 he changes place, like a wanderer : he spends 
 the autumn in Europe; he then flies oft, pro- 
 bably to some more southern climate, to en- 
 joy a part of the winter ; returns to Europe 
 in the spring ; crosses up to the north in sum- 
 mer ; visits those lakes that are never dry ; 
 and then comes down again, to make depre- 
 dations upon our cultivated grounds, in au- 
 tumn. Thus, Gesner assures us, that the 
 cranes usually begin to quit Germany, from 
 about the eleventh of September to the seven- 
 teenth of October ; from thence they are seen 
 flying southward by thousands ; and Redi 
 tells us, they arrive in Tuscany a short time 
 after. There they tear up the fields, newly 
 sown, for the grain just committed to the 
 ground, and do great mischief. It is to be 
 supposed, that, in the severity of winter, they 
 go southward, still nearer the line. They 
 again appear in the fields of Pisa, regularly 
 about the twentieth of February, to anticipate 
 the spring. 
 
 In these journeys, it is amazing to conceive 
 the heights to which they ascend when they 
 fly. Their note is the loudest of all other 
 birds ; and that is often heard in the clouds, 
 when the bird itself is entirely unseen. As it 
 is light for its size, and spreads a large ex- 
 panse of wing, it is capable of floating at the 
 greatest height, where the air is lightest ; and 
 as it secures its safety, and is entirely cut of 
 the reach of man, it flies in tracts which 
 would be too fatiguing for any other birds to 
 move forward in. 
 
 In these aerial journeys, though unseen 
 themselves, they have the distinctest vision of 
 every object below. They govern and direct 
 their flight by their cries ; and exhort each 
 other to proceed or to descend, when a fit op- 
 portunity offers for depredation. Their voice, 
 as was observed, is the loudest of all the lea- 
 thered tribe ; and its peculiar clangour arises 
 from the very extraordinary length and con- 
 tortion of the windpipe. In quadrupeds, the 
 windpipe is short, and the glottis, or cartilages 
 that form the voice, are at that end of it which 
 is next the mouth ; in water- fowl, the wind- 
 pipe is longer, but the cartilages that form the 
 vuice are at the other end, which lies down in 
 their belly. By this means they have much 
 louder voices, in proportion to their size, than 
 
 any other animal whatever ; for the note when 
 formed below, is reverberated through all the 
 rings of the windpipe, till it reaches the air. 
 But the voice of the duck or the goose, is no- 
 thing to be compared to that of the crane, 
 whose windpipe is not only made in the same 
 manner with theirs, but is above twenty times 
 as long. Nature seems to have bestowed 
 much pains in lengthening out this organ. 
 From the outside, it enters through the flesh 
 into the breast-bone, which hath a great ca- 
 vity within to receive it. There being thrice 
 reflected, it goes out again at the same hole, 
 and so turns down to the lungs, and thus en- 
 ters the body a second time. The loud clan- 
 gorous sound which the bird is thus enabled 
 to produce, is, when near, almost deafening : 
 however, it is particularly serviceaole to the 
 animal itself, either during its migrations, or 
 its stay ; by it the flock is encouraged in their 
 journeys ; and if, while they are feeding, 
 which is usually performed in profound silence, 
 they are invaded on any side, the bird that 
 first perceives the danger is sure to sound the 
 alarm, and all are speedily upon the wing. 
 
 As they rise but heavily, they are very shy 
 birds, and seldom let the fowler approach 
 them. Their depredations are usually made 
 in the darkest nights ; at which time they 
 enter a field of corn, and trample it down, as if 
 it had been crossed over by a regiment of sol- 
 diers. On other occasions, they choose some 
 extensive solitary marsh, where they range 
 themselves all day, as if they were in delibe- 
 ration; and not having that grain which is 
 most to their appetites, wade the marshes for 
 insects and other food, which they can procure 
 with less danger. 
 
 Corn is their favourite food ; but there is 
 scarcely any other that comes amiss to them. 
 Redi, who opened several, found the stomach 
 of one full of the herb called dandelion; that 
 of another was filled with beans ; a third had 
 a great quantity of clover in its stomach : 
 while that of two others was filled with earth- 
 worms and beetles ; in some he found lizards 
 and sea-fish ; in others, snails, grass, and peb- 
 bles, swallowed perhaps for medicinal pur- 
 poses. It seems, therefore, that these birds 
 are easily supplied ; and that they are noxious 
 to corn-fields but on some particular occasions. 
 
 In general it is a peaceful bird, both in its 
 own society, and with respect to those of the 
 forest. Though so large in appearance, a little 
 falcon pursues, and often disables it. The 
 method is, with those who are fond of hawk- 
 ing, to fly several hawks together against it; 
 which the crane endeavours to avoid, by fly- 
 ing up perpendicularly, till the air becomes too 
 thin to support it any higher. The hawk, 
 however, still bears it company ; and though 
 less fitted for floating in so thin a medium, 
 
THE STORK. 
 
 175 
 
 yrr, possessed of greater rapidity, it still gains 
 the ascendancy. They both often rise out of 
 sight ; but soon the spectator, who keeps his 
 eye fixed above, perceives them, like two 
 i specks, beginning to appear: they gather on 
 his eye for a little space, and shortly after 
 come tumbling perpendicularly together, with 
 great animosity on the side of the hawk, and 
 a loud screaming on that of the crane. Thus 
 driven to extremity, and unable to fly, the 
 poor animal throws itself upon its back, and, 
 in that situation, makes a most desperate de- 
 fence, till the sportsman coming up, generally 
 puts an end to the contest with its life. 
 
 It was once the barbarous custom to breed 
 up cranes to be thus baited ; and young ones 
 were taken from the nest, to be trained up for 
 this cruel diversion. It is an animal easily 
 tamed ; and, if we can believe Albertus Mag- 
 nus, has a particular affection for man. This 
 quality, however, was not sufficient to guard 
 it from being made the victim of his tierce 
 amusements. The female, which is easily 
 distinguished from the male, by not being 
 bald behind as he is, never lays above two 
 eggs at a time ; being like those of a goose, 
 but of a bluish colour. The young ones are 
 soon fit to fly, and then the parents forsake 
 them to shift for themselves; but, before this 
 time, they are led forth to the places where 
 their food is most easily found. Though yet 
 unfledged, they run with such swiftness that 
 a man cannot easily overtake them. We are 
 told, that as they grow old, their plumage be- 
 comes darker; and as a proof of their lon- 
 gevity, Aldrovandus assures us, that a friend 
 of his kept one tame for above forty years. 
 
 Whatever may have been the disposition of 
 the great, the vulgar of every country, to this 
 day, bear the crane a compassionate regard. 
 It is possible the ancient prejudices in its fa- 
 vour, which once having been planted are 
 eradicated but slowly, may still continue to 
 operate. In some countries, it is considered 
 as a heinous offence to kill a crane ; and though 
 the legislature declines to punish, yet the 
 people do not fail to resent the injury. The 
 crane, they, in some measure, consider as the 
 prophet of the season : upon its approach or 
 delay they regulate the periods of their rural 
 economy. If their favourite bird comes early 
 in the season, they expect a plentiful summer; 
 if he is slow in his visits, they then prepare 
 for an unfavourable spring. Whatever wis- 
 dom there may be in despising the prejudices 
 of the vulgar, there is but little in condemning 
 them. They have generally had their origin 
 in good motives ; and it should never be our 
 endeavours to suppress any tender emotions of 
 friendship or pity in those hard breasts that 
 are, in general, unsusceptible of either. 
 
 CHAP. 111. 
 
 THE STORK. 
 
 IF we regard the Stork externally only, we 
 shall be very apt to confound it with the crane. 
 
 1 In the methodical arrangements of Ray and Brisson 
 the Storks formed a distinct genus from the herons and 
 the cranes, with which, and with various other less 
 closely allied groups, they were united in the Linnean 
 system of classification. Later naturalists have, how- 
 ever, seen the necessity of reverting to the older method, 
 and of again separating these groups, which form in the 
 arrangement proposed by Mr Vigors two families, dis- 
 tinguished by well marked characters, and each compre- 
 hending several genera of considerable numerical ex- 
 tent. The first of these families is the Grudae, which 
 comprise the cranes, the trumpeter, and other nearly re- 
 lated genera, distinguished by the comparative shortness 
 and obtusen;ss of their bill, and the slight degree of pal- 
 mation exhibited by their feet, which are smaller in pro- 
 portion and consequently better adapted to the terrestrial 
 habits of these birds, as the bill is to their vegetable food. 
 The second is the Ardeidce, whose produced and gene- 
 rally pointed bill, and long, slender and more deeply 
 webbed toes, are equally well suited to their aquatic 
 habits, and to the nature of the food, chiefly fishes and 
 reptiles, on which they subsist. In the latter family are 
 comprehended not only the Storks and the Herons, but 
 also the spoonbills, the Ibis, and several other groups re- 
 markable as well for the singularity of their forms, as for 
 the peculiarity of their manners, and the interesting na- 
 ture of many of the facts connected with their history, 
 both as regards themselves and with reference to the 
 services which they actually render, or have been sup- 
 posed to render to mankind. 
 
 The distinguishing characters of the genus which at 
 present engages our attention consist in a long straight 
 beak, broad at the base, regularly narrowing to the point, 
 opening to a moderate extent, and unimpressed on its 
 upper surface either with lateral furrows or with a nasal 
 pit; nostrils in the form of a longitudinal fissure, situ- 
 ated near the base of the bill and directed upwards; 
 tongue extremely short; eyes surrounded by a naked 
 skin ; wings broad, expanding to a great extent, and 
 prolonged posteriorly beyond the extremity of the tail; 
 legs reticulated with hexagonal scales, of which the up- 
 permost are the largest ; web between the two outer of 
 the anterior toes much more developed than that which 
 is found at the base of the inner ; posterior toe on the 
 same level with the anterior ones ; and claws broad, flat, 
 and obtuse, approaching in form to the nails of man, and 
 scarcely overlapping the extremities of the toes. 
 
 The species thus characterised are especially remark- 
 able for the extent and regularity of their migrations, 
 which are chiefly determined by the nature of their food. 
 Tin's consists of various kinds of garbage, of worms and 
 insects, fishes and reptiles, and among the latter more 
 particularly of frogs. At the approach of the colder sea- 
 son, when these animals begin to conceal themselves in 
 holes, in order to pass the winter in a state of torpor, the 
 storks are driven by the failure of their usual means of 
 subsistence to seek a more temperate climate, in which 
 the same scarcity of food is not likely to be felt; but 
 they constantly return northwards with the return of 
 spring. The most common and the most celebrated 
 among them is the White Stork, (see Plate XIX. fig. 7.) 
 which generally passes its winters in the north of Africa, 
 and more particularly in Egypt, and migrates during the 
 summer season to France and Holland, Sweden, Ger. 
 many, Poland, and sometimes even Russia, but is ver 
 
176 
 
 It is of the same size ; it lias the same forma- 
 tion as to the bill, neck, legs, and body, ex- 
 cept that it is something more corpulent. Its 
 differences are but very slight ; such as the 
 colour, which, in the crane, is ash and black, 
 
 rarely met with in England. It is rather larger than 
 the black stork, measuring more than three feet from 
 the extremity of the bill to the tip of the tail, and stand- 
 ing about the same height from the ground to the top of 
 its head. Its bill, which is usually of an orange red, 
 measures from seven to eight inches in length ; the 
 naked and wrinkled skin surrounding its eyes is nearly 
 of the same colour, but generally of a duskier hue ; and 
 its legs are also red. The greater part of its plumage is 
 of a clear white, which is however relieved by the strik- 
 ing contrast of the feathers covering the lower part of 
 the shoulders, the larger wing-coverts, and the quill-fea- 
 thers, thirty in number, all of which are of a glossy black, 
 with a slight metallic reflection. When fully expanded 
 the extent of the wings exceeds six feet, and in this 
 state the eight or nine primary quill-feathers offer a very 
 singular and indeed unique disposition, being separated 
 from each other so as to leave a vacant space between. 
 The feathers of the lower part of the neck are long, pen- 
 dulous, and pointed. There is little distinction in any 
 of these particulars between the male and the female ; 
 but the young have a browner tinge in their wings, and 
 their bills are of a duskier red. 
 
 These birds have in all ages been regarded with pe- 
 culiar favour, amounting, in some countries, almost to 
 veneration, partly on account of the services which they 
 perform in the destruction of noxious animals, and in 
 removing impurities from the surface of the earth, and 
 partly on account of the mildness of their temper, the 
 harmlessness of their habits, and the moral virtues with 
 which imagination has delighted to invest them. Among 
 the ancient Egyptians the stork was regarded with a 
 reverence inferior only to that which, for similar causes, 
 was paid to the sacred Ibis, considered, and with some 
 show of reason, as one of the tutelary divinities of the 
 land. The same feeling is still prevalent in many parts 
 of Africa and the East ; and even in Switzerland and in 
 Holland something like superstition seems to mingle, in 
 the minds of the common people, with the hospitable 
 kindness which a strong conviction of its utility disposes 
 them to evince towards this favourite bird. In the latter 
 country more particularly, the protection which is ac- 
 corded to it is no more than it fairly deserves as the un- 
 conscious instrument by which the dikes and marshes 
 are relieved from a large portion of the enormous quan- 
 tity of reptiles engendered by the humidity and fertility 
 of the soil. 
 
 On the other hand, the white stork appears to be in- 
 fluenced by the same friendly feelings towards man. 
 Undismayed by his presence, it builds its nest upon the 
 house-top, or on the summits of the loftiest trees in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the most frequented places. 
 It stalks perfectly at its ease along the busy streets of the 
 most crowded town, and seeks its food on the banks of 
 rivers or in fens in close vicinity to his abode. In 
 numerous parts of Holland its nest, built on the chimney- 
 top, remains undisturbed for many succeeding years, and 
 the owners constantly return with unerring sagacity to 
 the well known spot. The joy which they manifest on 
 again taking possession of their deserted dwelling, and 
 the attachment which they testify towards their bene- 
 volent hosts, are familiar in the mouths of every one. 
 Their affection for their young is one of the most remark- 
 able traits in their character. It is almost superfluous to 
 repeat the history of the female which, at the conflagra- 
 tion of Delft, after repeated and unsuccessful attempts to 
 rarryoffher young, chose rather to perish with them in 
 the general ruin than to leave them to their fate: and 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 but in the stork is white and brown. The 
 nails of the toes of the stork also are very pe- 
 culiar, not being clawed like those of other 
 birds, but flat like the nails of a man. 
 
 These, however, are but very slight differ- 
 
 there are many other and well authenticated proofs of a 
 similar disposition. They generally lay from two to 
 four eggs, of a dingy yellowish white, rather longer than 
 those of the goose, but not so broad. The incubation 
 lasts for a month, the male sharing in the task during 
 the absence of the female in search of food. When the 
 young birds are hatched, they are carefully fed by their 
 parents, who watch over them with the closest anxiety. 
 As soon as they become capable of flying, the parents 
 exercise them in it by degrees, carrying them at first 
 upon their own wings, and then conducting them in 
 short circular flights around their nest. When in search 
 of food, the stork is commonly seen in its usual attitude 
 of repose, standing upon one leg, with its long neck bent 
 backwards, its head resting on its shoulder, and its eye 
 steadily fixed. Its motions are slow and measured, the 
 length of its steps corresponding with that of its legs. In 
 flight its head and neck are directed straight forwards, 
 and its legs extended backwards j an awkward and ap- 
 parently constrained position, but that which is best cal- 
 culated for enabling it to cleave the air with rapidi'ty. 
 The large extent of its wings and the comparative light- 
 ness of its body are also admirably adapted to the lofty 
 pitch at which it flies, and to its long continuance upon 
 the wing. The storks generally migrate about the be- 
 ginning of August, and the preparations for their de- 
 parture usually occupy several weeks. They appear 
 gradually to assemble in one spot from the whole of the 
 surrounding district to the number of many hundreds, 
 making when they meet that peculiar clattering with 
 their beaks, which appears to serve them in the place of 
 voice. As soon as their number is completed, the entire 
 body mount at once into the air, without noise or con- 
 fusion, and are speedily lost sight of in the loftiness of 
 their flight. Their departure has rarely been witnessed 
 by scientific observers ; and many incredible stories have 
 consequently been told respecting it. They return to 
 Europe in smaller bands in March and April. 
 
 The Black Stork resembles the White in form and 
 proportions, but is somewhat smaller in size j and the hue 
 
 of its plumage, as might be gathered from the epithets 
 applied to the two birds, is very different. But these 
 epithets, if taken strictly, are far from being correct : 
 the White Stork having, as we have seen, a portion of 
 its plumage black ; and the Black exhibiting a variety 
 of shades, of which, however, that from which it derives 
 its name is the most predominant. Its bill, like that of 
 the former bird, is full seven inches in length, and of a 
 dusky red, approaching to orange ; as are also the legs 
 and toes. The colour of the naked skin surrounding 
 the eyes is dull red, and that of the irides hazel. On 
 the head, neck, upper surface of the body and wings, 
 
THE STORK. 
 
 177 
 
 ences ; and its true distinctions are to be taken 
 rather from its manners than its form. The 
 crane has a loud piercing voice ; the stork is 
 silent, and produces no other noise than the 
 clacking of its under-chap against the upper: 
 the crane has a strange convolution ot the 
 wind-pipe through the breast-bone; the stork's 
 is formed in the usual manner : the crane feeds 
 mostly upon vegetables and grain ; the stork 
 preys entirely upon frogs, fishes, birds, and 
 serpents : the crane avoids towns and popu- 
 lous places ; the stork lives always in or near 
 them : the crane lays but two eggs ; and the 
 stork generally four. These are distinctions 
 fully sufficient to mark the species, notwith- 
 standing the similitude of their form. 
 
 Storks are birds of passage, like the former; 
 but it is hard to say whence they come, or 
 whither they go. When they withdraw from 
 Europe, they all assemble on a particular day, 
 and never leave one of their company behind 
 them. They take their flight in the night ; 
 which is the reason the way they go has never 
 been observed. They generally return into 
 Europe in the middle of March, and make 
 their nests on the tops of chimneys and houses, 
 as well as of high trees. The females lay 
 from two to four eggs, of the size and colour 
 of those of geese ; and the male and female 
 
 the feathers are of a deep glossy black, intermingled 
 with varying shades and reflections of violet and green, 
 which becomes more strongly marked on the back and 
 wings. Those of the whole under surface from the bot- 
 tom of the neck to the base of the tail are white. The 
 tail itself is black. The wings are extremely long, and 
 so powerful as to raise the bird, in its flights and migra- 
 tions, to such a height in the air as to be almost invisi- 
 ble to the human eye. Like the foregoing species, the 
 black stork is a migratory bird, seeking the more southern 
 parts of Europe during the inclemency of winter. In the 
 spring it advances to a much higher latitude than the 
 white, visiting even Russia and Siberia, and passing 
 over Sweden towards the north in considerable num- 
 bers. But it seldom comes so far westward as the 
 other, being almost unknown in Holland, although 
 common in the eastern departments of France and 
 throughout the whole of Germany. A solitary instance 
 of its occurrence in Great Britain fell under the 
 notice of the late Colonel Montagu, and forms the 
 subject of an interesting paper in the twelfth volume 
 of the Linnean Transactions. The character of the 
 black stork is in one respect diametrically opposed to 
 that of the white. Instead of domesticating itself as it 
 were with man, it shuns his society and makes its tem- 
 porary dwelling in the most secluded spots, frequenting 
 impenetrable morasses or the banks of such rivers and 
 lakes as are seldom disturbed by the presence of in- 
 truders, and building its nest on the summits of the 
 loftiest pines. Its food is exactly similar to that of its 
 more social fellow; and their manners, except in this 
 peculiar sullenness on the part of the black stork, closely 
 correspond. It submits itself with perfect resignation 
 to captivity, never using its powerful bill as a weapon 
 of offence against its companions. It appears to have no 
 other voice than the clattering sound which it produces 
 by the snapping of its mandibles. Zoological Society 
 Gardens. 
 
 sit upon them by turns. They are a month 
 in hatching ; and when their young are ex- 
 cluded, they are particularly solicitous for 
 their safety. 
 
 As the food of these birds consists, in a 
 great measure, of frogs and serpents, it is not 
 to be wondered at that different nations have 
 paid them a particular veneration. The Dutch 
 are very solicitous for the preservation of the 
 stork in every part of their republic. This 
 bird seems to have taken refuge among their 
 towns ; and builds on the tops of their houses 
 without any molestation. There it is seen 
 resting familiarly in the streets, and protected 
 as well by the laws as the prejudices of the 
 people. They have even got an opinion that 
 it will only live in a republic ; and that story 
 of its filial piety, first falsely propagated of 
 the crane, has, in part, been ascribed to the 
 stork. But it is not in republics alone that the 
 stork is seen to reside, as there are few towns 
 on the continent, in low marshy situations, 
 but have the stork as an inmate among them; 
 as well the despotic princes of Germany, as 
 the little republics of Italy. 1 
 
 The stork seems a general favourite even 
 among the moderns ; but with the ancient 
 Egyptians their regard was carried even to 
 adoration. This enlightened people, who wor- 
 shipped the Deity in his creatures, paid di- 
 vine honours to the ibis, as is universally 
 known. It has been usually supposed that 
 the ancient ibis is the same with that which 
 
 1 In Bagdad, and some other of the more remote cities 
 of Asiatic Turkey, the nests of storks present a very re- 
 markable appearance. The minors, or towers of the 
 mosques, at Constantinople, and most other parts of Tur- 
 key, are tall, round pillars, surmounted by a very pointed 
 cone; but at Bagdad, the absence of this cone enables 
 these birds to build their nests upon the summit ; and as 
 the diameter of the nest generally corresponds with that 
 of the minar, it appears as a part of it, and a regular ter- 
 mination to it. The curious effect is not a little in- 
 creased by the appearance of the bird itself in the nest, 
 which thus, as part of the body and its long neck are 
 seen above the edge, appears the crowning object of the 
 pillar. The Turks hold the bird in more than even the 
 usual esteem, which may be partly attributed to its ges- 
 ticulations, which they suppose to resemble some of their 
 own attitudes of devotion. Their name for the stork is 
 Hadji Lug -lug : the former word, which is the honorary title 
 of a pilgrim, it owes to its annual migrations, and its ap- 
 parent attachment to their sacred edifices. The latter 
 portion of the denomination, "lug-lug," is an attempt 
 to imitate the noise which the bird makes. The regard 
 of the Turks is so far understood and returned by the in- 
 telligent stork, that, in cities of mixed population, it 
 rarely or never builds its nest on any other than a Tur- 
 kish house. The Rev. J. Hartley, in his " Researches 
 in Greece and the Levant," remarks : "The Greeks 
 have carried their antipathy to the Turks to such a pitch, 
 that they have destroyed all the storks in the country. 
 On inquiring the reason, I was informed ' The stork is 
 a Turkish bird : it never used to build its nest on the 
 house of a Greek, but always on that of a Turk !' The 
 tenderness which the Turks display towards the feathered 
 tribe is indeed a pleasing trait in their character." 
 
178 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 goes at present by the same name ; a bird of 
 the stork kind, of about the size of a curlew, 
 all over black, with a bill very thick in the 
 beginning, but ending in a point, for the better 
 seizing its prey, which is caterpillars, locusts, 
 and serpents. But however useful the mo- 
 dern ibis may be in ridding Egypt, where it 
 resides, of the vermin and venomous ani- 
 mals that infest it; yet it is much doubted 
 whether this be the same ibis to which 
 the ancients paid their adoration. Mail- 
 let, the French consul at Cairo, observes, 
 that it is very hard to determine what bird 
 the ancient ibis certainly was, because there 
 are cranes, storks, hawks, kites, and falcons, 
 that are all equally enemies to serpents, and 
 devour a vast number. He farther adds, that 
 in the month of May, when the winds begin 
 to blow from the internal parts of Africa, 
 there are several sorts of birds that come down 
 from Upper Egypt, from whence they are 
 driven by the rains, in search of a better 
 habitation, and that it is then they do this 
 country such signal services. Nor does the 
 figure of this bird, hieroglyphically repre- 
 sented on their pillars, mark it sufficiently to 
 make the distinction. Besides, the modern 
 ibis is not peculiar to Egypt, as it is to be 
 seen but at certain seasons of the year ; 
 whereas we are informed by Pliny, that this 
 bird was seen no where else. It is thought, 
 therefore, that the true ibis is a bird of the 
 vulture kind, described above, and called by 
 some the capon of Pharaoh, which not only is 
 a devourer of serpents, but will follow the 
 caravans that go to Mecca, to feed upon the 
 offal of the animals that are killed on the 
 journey. 1 
 
 1 Perrault first introduced the erroneous notion that 
 the ibis of antiquity was a species of Tantalus, in which 
 he was followed implicitly by naturalists throughout the 
 whole of the last century. Brisson, Buflbn, Linnaeus, 
 and Latham, all united to give it currency ; and the 
 Tantalus ibis of the two latter authors was universally 
 regarded as the sacred bird. Our adventurous country- 
 man Bruce was the first to throw a doubt upon the 
 authenticity of this determination, and to point out the 
 identity between the figures represented on the ancient 
 monuments, the mummies preserved in the Egyptian 
 tombs, and a living bird common on the banks of the 
 Nile and known to the Arabs by the name of Abou 
 Hannes. But it was not until after the return of the 
 French expedition from Egypt that the question was 
 definitely settled by a careful anatomical comparison of 
 the ancient mummies and recent specimens then brought 
 home by Geoflroy-Saint-Hilaire and Savigny. From 
 the examination of these materials, M. Cuvier was 
 enabled to verify Bruce's assertion, and to restore to 
 science a bird which after having formed for centuries 
 the object of a nation's adoration, had fallen into obli- 
 vion, and was wholly unknown to modern naturalists. 
 At the same time he pointed out those distinctive 
 characters on which M. Lacepcde founded the genus 
 ibis, formally established by M. Cuvier himself in the 
 first edition of his Ilegne Animal. 
 
 The ibis genus is characterized by a long and slender 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE BALEARIC AND OTHER FOREIGN 
 CRANES. 
 
 HAVING ended the last chapter with doubts 
 concerning the ibis, we shall begin this with 
 
 bill, nearly square at its base, where it is of less breadth 
 than the head, almost straight for about one half of its 
 length, and having the remaining part gradually curved 
 downwards, blunt at its point and without any notch ; 
 nostrils situated near the base of the bill at the com- 
 mencement of a groove which is continued along each 
 side of its upper surface as far as to its point; the head, 
 and sometimes the neck, devoid of feathers to an extent 
 varying in the different races; wings of moderate 
 length; tarsi slender; and toes webbed at the base, tlie 
 hinder one placed somewhat above the level of the 
 others but being of sufficient length to rest upon tlie 
 earth. In many of these characters we observe a con- 
 siderable deviation from those of the storks and other 
 typical examples of the family with which the ibis is 
 associated, and a marked approach to the curlews. 
 From the natural habits and organization of the ibis, 
 confirmed by analogy, and further corroborated by the 
 testimony of the modern Egyptians, it does not appear 
 that it feeds upon reptiles. We must, then, look for 
 other reasons than the destruction of serpents, for the 
 veneration paid to the ibis by the ancient Egyptians, 
 who admitted it even into their temples, and prohibited 
 the killing of it, under pain of death. In a country, 
 where the people, very ignorant, were governed only 
 by superstitious idea?, it was natural that fictions should 
 have been imagined, to express with energy the happy 
 influences of that phenomenon which every year at- 
 tracts the ibis into Egypt, and retains it there. Its 
 constant presence at the epoch of that inundation, which 
 annually triumphs over all the sources of decay, and 
 assures the fertility of the soil, must have appeared to 
 the priests and the persons at the head of government 
 admirably calculated to make a lively impression on the 
 minds of the people, to lead them to suppose super- 
 natural and secret relations between the movements of 
 the Nile and the sojourn of these inoffensive birds, and 
 to consider the latter as the cause of effects exclusively 
 owing to the overflow of the river. Besides the white 
 and black ibis, another ibis, entirely black, was equally 
 reverenced in Egypt, and embalmed in a similar man- 
 ner. This one is more elegant and slender than the 
 other in its external form, and its internal organs are 
 also more contracted. M. Savigny has opened about 
 twenty individuals of this species, and has found nothing 
 in their very narrow gizzard, but small fluviatile shells, 
 with some debris of vegetables, which probably enveloped 
 the shells at the moment in which they were swallowed, 
 and cannot be considered as properly constituting any 
 part of the aliment of these birds. The two species 
 have a powerful and elevated flight. In this action 
 the neck and feet are extended horizontally, and from 
 time to time, the birds, all together, send forth deep and 
 hoarse cries, more powerful in the white ibis than in the 
 black. When these birds alight on lands which they 
 have newly discovered, they remain crowded against 
 each other, and may be seen for entire hours, occupied 
 in searching the mud with their bills, advancing slowly, 
 step by step, and never springing with rapidity like the 
 curlews. The ibis does not nestle in Egypt. 
 
 The Scarlet Ibis (see Plate XIX. fig. 21.) is a native 
 of America. These birds live almost always in flocks, 
 and tlie old ones most frequently form distinct and sepa- 
 
THE CRANE. 
 
 179 
 
 doubts concerning the Balearic Crane. Pliny 
 lias described a bird of the crane kind with a 
 topping resembling that of the green wood- 
 pecker. This bird for a long time continued 
 unknown, till we became acquainted with 
 the birds of tropical climates, when one of the 
 crane kind with a topping was brought into 
 Europe, and described by Aldrovandus as 
 Pliny's Balearic crane. Hence these birds, 
 which have since been brought from Africa 
 and the east in numbers, have received the 
 name of Balearic cranes, but without any just 
 foundation. The real Balearic crane of Pliny 
 seems to be the lesser ash-coloured heron, 
 with a topping of narrow white feathers ; or 
 perhaps the egret, with two long feathers that 
 fall back from the sides of the head. The 
 bird that we are about to describe under the 
 name of the Balearic crane, was unknown 
 to the ancients, and the heron or egret ought 
 to be reinstated in their just title to that 
 name. 
 
 When we see a very extraordinary ani- 
 mal, we are naturally led to suppose that 
 there must be something also remarkable in 
 its history, to correspond with the singularity 
 of its figure. But it often happens that his- 
 tory fails on those occasions where we most 
 desire information. In the present instance, 
 in particular, no bird presents to the eye a 
 more whimsical figure than this, which we 
 must be content to call the Balearic Crane. 
 It is pretty nearly of the shape and size of 
 the ordinary crane, with long legs and a long 
 
 rate bands. Their flight is rapid and sustained, but 
 they do not put themselves in motion, except in the 
 morning and evening, for the purpose of seeking their 
 food, which consists of insects, shell animals, and small 
 fishes, collected in the slime along the sea-coast, or at 
 the mouths of rivers. During the greatest heat of the 
 day and at night, they remain in sheltered places. The 
 broods commence in January, and are concluded in 
 May. They deposit, their eggs, which are greenish, in 
 large tufts of grass, or on little piles collected in the 
 brush-wood. These i bides are spread throughout the 
 warmest countries of America, and being not at all wild 
 they are easily accustomed to live in houses. M. de la 
 Borde mentions his having kept one for more than two 
 years. It was fed with bread, raw or cooked meat, and 
 fish ; but it gave the preference to the entrails of fish 
 and fowl. It would frequently occupy itself in seeking 
 for earth-worms around the house, or following the 
 labours of a negro gardener. In the evening, this bird 
 would retire of itself into a poultry-house, where it re- 
 posed in the midst of a hundred fowl. It would perch 
 on the highest bar, awake very early in the morning, fly 
 round the house, and sometimes proceed to the sea-shore. 
 It would attack cats with great intrepidity. It would 
 have lived longer, had it not been accidentally killed, 
 by a fowler, who mistook it for a wild curlew, when it 
 was on a pond. All this shows the possibility of rear- 
 ing in the warmer climates of Europe a bird which, 
 according to the testimony of Laet, has already pro- 
 duced in a domestic state, and may, perhaps, one day 
 be turned to good account. (For Wood Ibis, see Plate 
 XIX. fig. 12.) 
 
 neck, like others of the kind ; but the bill is 
 shorter, and the colour of the feathers of a 
 dark greenish gray. The head and throat 
 form the most striking part of this bird's 
 figure. On the head is seen, standing up., a 
 thick round crest, made of bristles, spreading 
 every way, and resembling rays standing out 
 in different directions. The longest of these 
 rays are about three inches and a half, and 
 they are all topped with a kind of black 
 tassels, which give them a beautiful appear- 
 ance. The sides of the head and cheeks are 
 bare, whitish, and edged with red ; while 
 underneath the throat hangs a kind of bag or 
 wattle, like that of a cock, but not divided 
 into two, to give this odd composition a higher 
 finishing, the eye is large and staring; the 
 pupil black and big, surrounded with a gold- 
 coloured iris, that completes the bird's very 
 singular appearance. 
 
 From such a peculiar figure, we might be 
 led to wish for a minute history of its man- 
 ners ; but of these we can give but slight 
 information. This bird comes from the coast 
 of Africa and the Cape de Verd islands. As 
 it runs, it stretches out its wings, arid goes 
 very swiftly, otherwise its usual motion is 
 very slow. In their domestic state, they walk 
 very deliberately among other poultry, and 
 suffer themselves to be approached (at least 
 it was so with that I saw) by every spectator. 
 They never roost in houses; but about night, 
 when they are disposed to go to rest, they 
 search out some high wall, on which they 
 perch in the manner of a peacock. Indeed, 
 they so much resemble that bird in manners 
 and disposition, that some have described 
 them by the name of the sea peacock: and 
 Ray has been inclined to rank them in the 
 same family. But though their voice and 
 roosting be similar, their food, which is en- 
 tirely upon greens, vegetables, and barley, 
 seems to make some difference. 
 
 In this chapter of foreign birds of the 
 crane kind, it will be proper to mention the 
 Jabiru and the Jabiru Guacu, both natives of 
 Brazil. Of these great birds of the crane 
 kind we know but little, except "the general 
 outline of their figure, and the enormous bills 
 which we often see preserved in the cabinefs 
 of the curious. The bill of the latter is red, 
 ind thirteen inches long; the bill of the for- 
 mer is black, and is found to be eleven. 
 Neither of them, however, are of a size pro- 
 portioned to their immoderate length of bill. 
 The jabiru guacu is not above the size of a 
 common stork, while the jabiru with the 
 smallest bill exceeds the size of a swan. 
 They are both covered with white feathers, 
 except the head and neck, that are naked; 
 and their principal difference is in the size of 
 the body and the make of the bill ; the lower 
 
180 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 chap of the jabiru guacu being broad, and 
 bending upwards. 1 
 
 A bird still more extraordinary may be 
 added to this class, call the anhima, and, like 
 the two former, a native of Brazil. This is 
 a water-fowl of the rapacious kind, and bigger 
 than a swan. The head, which is small for 
 the size of the body, bears a black bill, which 
 is not above two inches long ; but what dis- 
 tinguishes it in particular is a horn growing 
 from the forehead as long as the bill, and 
 bending forward like that of the fabulous uni- 
 corn of the ancients. This horn is not much 
 thicker than a crow-quill, as round as if it 
 were turned in a lathe, and of an ivory-colour. 
 But this is not the only instrument of battle 
 this formidable bird carries; it seems to be 
 armed at all points; for at the fore-part of 
 each wing, at the second joint, spring two 
 straight triangular spurs, about as thick as 
 one's little finger : the foremost of these goads 
 or spurs is above an inch long ; the hinder is 
 shorter, and both of a dusky colour. The 
 claws also are long and sharp ; the colour is 
 black and white ; and they cry terribly loud, 
 sounding something like Vyhoo, Vyhoo. They 
 are never found alone, but always in pairs ; 
 the cock and hen prowl together ; and their 
 fidelity is said to be such, that when one dies, 
 the other never departs from the carcase, but 
 dies with its companion. It makes its nest of 
 clay, near the bodies of trees, upon the ground, 
 of the shape of an oven. 
 
 1 The American Jabiru is described by Azara under 
 the name of Collier Rouge, and is called in Paraguay 
 ^iaiai. It also inhabits Brazil, where it is named 
 Jabiru Guacu, and is found in some other parts of 
 South America. It is the Negro of the Hollanders, and 
 the Touyouyou of the native tribes of French Guiana. 
 It is one of the largest and strongest of shore-birds. It 
 is mounted on very high stilts, and its body is as bulky 
 and more elongated than that of the swan. The skin 
 of the neck is wrinkled, and so flaccid that it depends 
 like the dew-lap of a cow. This circumstance has given 
 rise to the name of Jabiru, which in the language of the 
 Guaranis signifies any thing inflated by the wind. The 
 legs, very robust, are covered with large scales, and de- 
 nuded of feathers for about the space of six inches. The 
 jabirus constantly inhabit the humid grounds of South 
 America, and are found in considerable abundance in 
 the inundated savannahs of Guiana. They never quit 
 their sojourn but to rise slowly into the heights of the 
 atmosphere, where they support themselves for a very 
 long time. These birds are voracious, and live only on 
 fish and reptiles. They construct, on lofty trees, with 
 long branches carefully interlaced, a spacious nest, in 
 which the female deposits but one or two eggs. The 
 young are fed with fish until they are strong enough to 
 descend from the nest, and are defended by the parents 
 with great courage. This nest is said to serve for seve- 
 ral broods. The jabirus appear to be less wild in Guiana 
 than in Paraguay. Bajon tells us that in 1773 a little 
 negro contrived, by merely concealing his face with the 
 branch of a tree, to approach a young one that had al- 
 most acquired its full growth, sufficiently near to seize 
 it by the legs and catch it. The flesh of the old is hard 
 and oily; but that of the young is tender, and tolerably 
 good eating. (For Senegal Jabirus, see Plate XX. fig. 2.) 
 
 One bird more may be subjoined to this 
 class, not for the oddity of its figure, but the 
 peculiarity of its manners. It is vulgarly 
 called by our sailors the buffoon bird, and by 
 the French the demoiselle, or lady. The same 
 qualities have procured it these different ap- 
 pellations from two nations, who, on more oc- 
 casions than this, look upon the same objects 
 in very different lights. The peculiar ges- 
 tures and contortions of this bird, the proper 
 name of which is the Numidian Crane, (see 
 Plate XX. fig. 1.) are extremely singular ; and 
 the French, who are skilled in the arts of ele- 
 gant gesticulation, consider all its motions as 
 lady-like and graceful. Our English sail- 
 ors, however, who have not entered so deeply 
 into the dancing art, think, that while thus in 
 motion, the bird cuts but a very ridiculous 
 figure. It stoops, rises, lifts one wing, then 
 another, turns round, sails forward, then back 
 again ; all which highly diverts our seamen ; 
 not imagining, perhaps, that all these contor- 
 tions are but the awkward expression, not of 
 the poor animal's pleasures, but its fears. 
 
 It is a very scarce bird ; the plumage is of 
 a leaden gray ; but it is distinguished by fine 
 white feathers, consisting of long fibres, which 
 fall from the back of the head, about four 
 inches long ; while the fore-part of the neck is 
 adorned with black feathers, composed of very 
 fine, soft, and long fibres, that hang down 
 upon the stomach, and give the bird a very 
 graceful appearance. The ancients have des- 
 cribed a buffoon bird ; but there are many 
 reasons to believe that theirs is not the Numi- 
 dian crane. It comes from that country from 
 whence it has taken its name. 2 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE HERON AND ITS VARIETIES. 3 
 
 BIRDS of the Crane, the Stork, and the He- 
 ron kind, bear a very strong affinity to each 
 
 2 M. de Savigny, in his observations on the system of 
 the birds of Egypt and Syria, demonstrates, with much 
 acumen, that the bird in question here is the Crcx of 
 the Greeks; and he also mentions that it is the liihio, or 
 Grus, or Balearica, and Grus Minor, of the Latins, 
 though ornithologists place these denominations in the 
 synonymy of the preceding species. These birds are 
 found in various parts of Africa and Asia, in the inte- 
 rior of the countries of the Cape of Good Hope, but more 
 particularly in the ancient Numidia; and they are ob- 
 served to arrive in Egypt at the epoch of the inundation 
 of the Nile. Some are also found on the southern coasts 
 of the Black Sea, and the Caspian; but it is invariably 
 marshy places which they frequent. They feed indiffer- 
 ently on grains, insects, worms, shell-mollusca, and even 
 small fishes, which they catch with great dexterity. 
 Their cry resembles the clamorous tones of the crane, 
 but is much more feeble, and sharper. 
 
 3 Cranes are distinguished by having the head bald ; 
 
THE HERON. 
 
 181 
 
 other: and their differences are not easily dis- 
 cernible. As for the crane and the stork, they 
 differ rather in their nature and internal confor- 
 mation, than in their external figure ; but still 
 
 Storks have the orbits round the eyes naked ; and Herons 
 have the middle claw serrated internally. Herons com- 
 prehend the species known under the names of Egrets. 
 Bitterns, Crab-eaters, &c. In the genus Ardea, now 
 limited to the Herons and Bitterns, the bill is consider- 
 ably longer than the head, sharp at the point, straight or 
 very slightly curved, compressed laterally, cleft to the 
 very base, and frequently armed at the edges with sharp 
 denticulations ; the upper mandible is marked on either 
 side by a longitudinal groove, in which the linear nostrils 
 are perforated near the base of the bill ; from the bill to 
 the eyes extends a space destitute of feathers ; the tarsi 
 are long and covered with large scales ; the legs naked 
 for some distance above the knee-joints ; the toes long 
 and slender, the outer one united to the middle by a 
 membranous expansion, and the posterior attached so low 
 down as to allow of its resting its whole length upon the 
 ground ; the anterior claws of moderate length, slightly 
 curved and pointed, with a denticulated dilatation on the 
 inner side of that of the middle toe ; the posterior claw 
 very long, arched, and pointed ; and the wings long, 
 with the first quill-feathers shorter than the two succeed- 
 ing ones, which are the longest of the series. Thus 
 restricted, the genus is extremely numerous ; for M. 
 Vieillot states it to be composed of no fewer than eighty 
 species. These are distributed by M. Cuvier into six 
 sections or subdivisions, among which the true herons 
 are principally distinguished by the great length of their 
 legs and neck, the long pendant plumes of the lower 
 part of the neck, and the perfectly straight direction of 
 the bill. 
 
 The Common Heron is, as its name implies, one of 
 the most frequent and best known species of the group. 
 
 It is about three feet four inches in length, measuring 
 from the end of the anterior toes to the extremity of the 
 bill ; from the bill to the tail it measures nearly three 
 feet, of which the tail forms about eight inches ; and 
 the expanse of its wings exceeds five feet. It does not, 
 however, weigh more than three pounds and a half, and 
 its buoyancy in flight is consequently very considerable. 
 The general colour of the whole upper surface of the bird 
 is an ashy gray with somewhat of a bluish tinge. This 
 is deeper on the back of the head, which is likewise orna- 
 mented with a dependant crest of narrow blackish feathers 
 three inches or more in length, overshadowing the back of 
 the neck. The upper part and sides of the neck are of a 
 light gray, running into the pure ash-colour of the back, 
 and the latter passing into a deeper shade of ashy gray 
 upon the tail. The wing-coverts are nearly of the same 
 colour, with a slight tinge of reddish ; and the quill-fea- 
 thers black with a bluish gloss. On the under parts the 
 ground-colour of the plumage is a pure white, marked 
 
 they may be known asunder, as well by their 
 colour as by the stork's claws, which are very 
 peculiar, and more resembling a man's nails 
 than the claws of a bird. The heron may be 
 
 on the fore part of the neck and breast with large longi- 
 tudinal black drops. The abdomen, upper part of the 
 throat, and legs, are pure white. The naked space be- 
 tween the bill and eyes is of a grayish yellow ; the iris is 
 yellow ; the bill bluish above and yellow beneath ; the 
 legs, which are bare of feathers for two or three inches 
 above the knees, are somewhat flesh-coloured in their 
 upper part and grayish brown below ; and the claws 
 black. The middle toe, with the addition of its claw, 
 does not measure more than four inches ; and is conse- 
 quently much shorter than the tarsus, which exceeds six 
 inches in length. Beneath the anterior half of the bill, 
 which is about five inches long, the skin is capable of 
 considerable distention. There is little difference in 
 the colours of the female ; but the young bird has no 
 crest on the head, and its back and wings are of a darker 
 gray. 
 
 The herons may be regarded as birds of passage, but 
 their stay and departure seems everywhere to be regu- 
 lated by their means of procuring food. They are no 
 where very abundant, although they are met with in 
 almost every part of the northern and temperate regions 
 of the old continent, and perhaps also in the new. In 
 Europe they migrate as far northward as Drontheim, 
 and are found even in Russia and Poland, but they are 
 most common in England, France, and Holland. They 
 build their nests, in numerous companies, on lofty trees, 
 and more especially oaks, in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of streams and marshes. The nest is of large 
 dimensions, constructed externally of twigs, dry herbs, 
 and reeds, and lined internally with feathers and wool. 
 In this the female deposits her eggs, three or four in 
 number, about the size of those of the common hen, but 
 more elongated, and of a greenish brown colour without 
 spots. The male does not share in the task of incuba- 
 tion ; but flies abroad in search of food, while the female 
 tends her charge at home. They are particularly fond 
 of the society of ravens, but the latter often carry otf 
 their eggs ; and the falcons, weasels, and martens, are 
 dangerous enemies to their young. When the young 
 are hatched, both parents assist in providing them with 
 food until they are able to fly, and bring them abund- 
 ance of fish for their support. But as soon as they be- 
 come capable of a continued flight they are driven from 
 the nest, and proceed each in a separate direction to 
 seek its own subsistence wherever it may be most plenti- 
 fully procured. The old birds quit their nests about the 
 middle of August, and wander from stream to stream, 
 and from lake to lake, forming themselves into gradually 
 increasing bands as the colder season approaches. To- 
 wards the beginning of September they are often met 
 with in companies of from twenty to thirty in a spot ; 
 but as soon as the frost sets in, they begin their migra- 
 tion to the southward, taking their flight by moonlight, 
 like the cranes, but not with the same order and regu- 
 larity. They return about the latter end of March, when 
 the severity of the season is no longer to be dreaded. 
 Some few, however, remain throughout the winter, espe- 
 cially when the weather is variable, and are occasion- 
 ally seen, in company with the wild ducks, at the com- 
 mencement of a sudden thaw. They usually disappear 
 with the return of frost. Their food consists principally, 
 like that of most of the birds of the wading order, of fresh- 
 water fishes, but more particularly of the young fry of 
 carp and trout. In pursuit of these they wade gently 
 into the water, where the fish abound, and stand in it 
 up to their knees, (or rather to their knee, for they rest 
 only on one foot,) with their heads drawn in by the fold- 
 ing of their long necks upon the breast, quietly watching 
 
182 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 distinguished from both, as well by its size, 
 which is much less, as by its bill, which in 
 proportion is much longer ; but particularly 
 by the middle claw on each foot, which is 
 toothed like a saw, for the better seizing and 
 holding its slippery prey. Should other 
 marks fail, however, there is anatomical dis- 
 tinction, in which herons differ from all other 
 birds ; which is, that they have but one 
 ccecum, and all other birds have two. 
 
 Of this tribe, Brisson has enumerated not 
 less than forty-seven sorts, all differing in 
 their size, figure, and plumage; and with ta- 
 lents adapted to their place of residence, or 
 
 the approach of their prey. It has been remarked, not 
 merely by the vulgar, but by observers deserving of im- 
 plicit confidence, that the fish generally swarm around 
 them in sufficient numbers to afibrd them a plentiful sup- 
 ply; and this has been commonly accounted for on the 
 supposition that their legs communicate a peculiar odour 
 to the water, which entices the fish to their destruction. 
 But M. Bechtein, who vouches for the fact as one which 
 he had seen innumerable times, suspects that the source 
 of attraction is in the excrements of the bird, which it 
 lets fall into the water, and which the fish, as is proved 
 by experiment, devour with the utmost avidity. The 
 time of fishing is usually before sunrise or after sunset. 
 They generally swallow their prey entire, and many 
 stories are current of eels escaping alive through their 
 intestines, and being a second time devoured by the 
 voracious birds. Besides fishes, frogs form a consider- 
 able portion of their food, and in winter they are fre- 
 quently compelled to content themselves with snails 
 and worms, or, according to M. de Salerne, even with 
 the duck-weed that floats upon the stagnant waters. 
 At such times they occasionally become so emaciated 
 as to appear to consist of little else than feathers and 
 bones. 
 
 Herons are taken in various ways. Sometimes they 
 are shot while fishing, or sweeping leisurely along the 
 banks ; but they are so shy that the sportsman can rare- 
 ly g e t within gunshot of them. Occasionally a living 
 fish is attached to a hook at the end of a line, and left 
 to swim in the waters which they are known to fre- 
 quent; and they are thus caught as it were by angling. 
 Wheu falconry was in fashion, hawking at the heron 
 was regarded as the most noble of its branches; the 
 powerful wings of the heron, unequalled by any bird of 
 its size, enabling it to mount in the air to an almost in- 
 credible height, and thus to put the powers of the falcon 
 to their proof. For this purpose it was customary to es- 
 tablish the herons in a proper situation, to which they 
 were attached by precautions taken for providing them 
 with necessaries. These heronries, as they were called, 
 have now become extremely rare ; but one of them may 
 still be seen at Didlington in Norfolk, the seat of Colo- 
 nel Wilson. 
 
 The heron, when taken young, readily becomes habi- 
 tuated to captivity ; but the old birds generally refuse 
 all sustenance, and perish of inanition. In former days, 
 when it was necessary to procure such for the training 
 of the hawks, it was usual, according to Sir J. Sebright, 
 "to cram them with food, and to tie a piece of mat 
 round their necks to prevent them from throwing it up 
 again." Sometimes, however, the old birds have been 
 known to become tame and even domesticated ; and the 
 same distinguished authority to whom we have just re- 
 ferred, mentions an instance that occurred within his 
 own knowledge, in which, after recourse had been had 
 to the operation of cramming and tying down the food, 
 the bird " became so tame as to follow its master on the 
 
 their peculiar pursuits. But, how various so- 
 ever the heron kind may be in their colours 
 or their bills, they all sctm possessed of the 
 same manners, and have but one character of 
 cowardice, rapacity, and indolence, yet insa- 
 tiable hunger. Other birds are found to grow 
 fat by an abundant supply of food ; but these, 
 though excessively destructive and voracious, 
 are ever found to have lean and carrion bodies, 
 as if not even plenty were sufficient for their 
 support. 
 
 The common heron is remarkably light, in 
 proportion to its bulk, scarcely weighing three 
 pounds and a half, yet it expands a breadth 
 
 wing to the distance of some miles, to come into the 
 house when called, and to take food from the hand." 
 
 The Night Heron, so called from the hoarse croaking 
 which it utters during the night, is about twenty inches 
 in length. The bill is three inches and three quarters 
 long, slightly arched, strong, and black, inclining to yel- 
 low at the base ; the skin from the beak round the eyes 
 is bare, and of a greenish colour; irides yellow. A 
 white line is extended from the beak over each eye ; a 
 black patch, glossed with green, covers the crown of the 
 head and nape of the neck, from which three long nar- 
 row white feathers, tipped with brown, hang loose and 
 waving ; the hinder part of the neck, coverts of the 
 wings, the sides and tail, are ash-coloured ; throat white ; 
 fore part of the neck, breast, and belly, yellowish white 
 or hurT; the back black ; the legs a greenish yellow. 
 The female is nearly of the same size as the male ; but 
 she difiers considerably in her plumage, which is less 
 bright and distinct, being more blended with clay or 
 dirty white, brown, gray, and rusty ash-colour ; and she 
 has not the delicate plumes that flow from the head of 
 the male. The night-heron frequents the sea-shores, 
 rivers, and inland marshes ; and lives upon insects-, 
 slugs, frogs, reptiles, and fish. It remains concealed 
 during the day, and does not roam abroad until the ap- 
 proach of night, when it is heard and known by its harsh, 
 rough, and disagreeable cry, which is by some compared 
 to the noise made by a person straining to vomit. Some 
 ornithologists affirm, that the female builds her nest in 
 trees ; others, that she builds it on rocky cliffs ; probably 
 both accounts are right. She lays three .or four white 
 p. 
 
 Crested Purple Heron. It inhabits Asia, and is two 
 feet ten inches in length. The bill is brown, tipt with 
 dusky brown, and is yellowish beneath ; the crest is of a 
 black colour ; the orbits naked and yellowish ; from the 
 angle of the mouth to the hind head it has a black streak ; 
 the chin is white; upper half of the neck rufous, with 
 three longitudinal black lines; the rest olive behind, 
 and rufous at the sides, and reddish on the fore-part ; 
 the feathers are long, narrow, each marked with a black 
 spot ; a black band passes from the middle of the breast 
 to the vent; the lower tail coverts are white, mixed 
 with rufous and tipt with black; angles of the wings 
 rufous; the quill feathers dusky; and the legs greenish; 
 hind-head black ; the crest pendant, consisting of two 
 long feathers ; the body is of an olive colour, and be- 
 neath it is purplish. 
 
 The smaller herons with shorter feet have been railed 
 Crab-eaters. The Egrets are herons, whose plumes on 
 the lower part of the back are, at a certain period, long 
 and attenuated. These plumes were formerly used to 
 decorate the helmets of warriors ; they are now applied 
 to a gentler and better purpose, in ornamenting the 
 head-dresses of the European ladies, and the turbans of 
 the Persians and Turks. Supplement to the English 
 edition of Cuvier. 
 
THE HERON. 
 
 183 
 
 of wing, which is five feet from tip to tip. Its 
 bill is very long, being five inches from the 
 point to the base ; its claws are long, sharp, 
 and the middlemost toothed like a saw. Yet, 
 thus armed as it appears for war, it is indo- 
 lent and cowardly, and even flies at the ap- 
 proach of a sparrow-hawk. It was once the 
 amusement of the great to pursue this timor- 
 ous creature with the falcon : and heron-hawk- 
 ing was so favourite a diversion among our 
 ancestors, that laws were enacted for the pre- 
 servation of the species ; and the person who 
 destroyed their eggs was liable to a penalty 
 of twenty shillings for each offence. 
 
 At present, however, the defects of the ill- 
 judged policy of our ancestors, is felt by their 
 posterity; for, as the amusement of hawking 
 has given place to the more useful method of 
 stocking fish-ponds, the heron is now become 
 a most formidable enemy. Of all other birds, 
 this commits the greatest devastation in fresh 
 waters ; and there is scarce a fish, though 
 never so large, that he will not strike at and 
 wound, though unable to carry it away. But 
 the smaller fry are his chief subsistence ; these, 
 pursued by their larger fellows of the deep, 
 are obliged to take refuge in shallow waters, 
 where they find the heron a still more formid- 
 able enemy. His method is to wade as far as 
 he can go into the water, and there patiently 
 wait the approach of his prey, which, when it 
 comes within sight, he darts upon with inevit- 
 able aim. In this manner he is found to des- 
 troy more in a week than an otter in three 
 months. " I have seen a heron," says Wil- 
 loughby, " that had been shot, that had seven- 
 teen carps in its belly at once, which he will 
 digest in six or seven hours, and then to fish- 
 ing again. I have seen a carp," continues 
 he, " taken out of a heron's belly, nine inches 
 and a half long. Several gentlemen who 
 kept tame herons, to try what quantity one of 
 them would eat in a day, have put several 
 smaller roach and dace in a tub : and they have 
 found him eat fifty in a day, one day with 
 another. In this manner a single heron will 
 destroy fifteen thousand carp in half a year." 
 
 So great are the digestive powers of this 
 fresh-water tyrant, and so detrimental to those 
 who stock ponds with fish. In general, he is 
 seen taking his gloomy stand by the lake's 
 side, as if meditating mischief, motionless, 
 and gorged with plunder. His usual attitude 
 on this occasion is to sink his long neck be- 
 tween his shoulders, and keep his head turned 
 on one side, as if eyeing the pool more in- 
 tently. When the call of hunger returns, the 
 toil of an hour or two is generally sufficient 
 to fill his capacious stomach ; and he retires 
 long before night to his retreat in the woods. 
 Early in the morning, however, he is seen 
 assiduous at his usual occupation. 
 
 But, though in seasons of fine weather the 
 heron can always find a plentiful supply ; in 
 cold or stormy seasons, his prey is no longer 
 within reach : the fish that before came into 
 the shallow water, now keep in the deep ; as 
 they find it to be the warmest situation. Frogs 
 and lizards also seldom venture from their 
 lurking places ; and the heron is obliged to 
 support himself upon his long habits of pa- 
 tience, and even to take up with the weeds 
 that grow upon the water. At those times he 
 contracts a consumptive disposition, which 
 succeeding plenty is not able to remove ; so 
 that the meagre glutton spends his time be- 
 tween want and riot, and feels alternately the 
 extremes of famine and excess. Hence, not- 
 withstanding the care with which he takes 
 his prey, and the amazing quantity he devours, 
 the heron is always lean and emaciated ; and 
 though his crop be usually found full, yet his 
 flesh is scarcely sufficient to cover the bones. 
 
 The heron usually takes his prey by wading 
 into the water ; yet it must not be supposed 
 that he does not also take it upon the wing. 
 In fact, much of his fishing is performed in 
 this manner ; but he never hovers over deep 
 waters, as there his prey is enabled to escape 
 him by sinking to the bottom. In shallow 
 places he darts with more certainty ; for 
 though the fish at sight of its enemy instantly 
 descends, yet the heron, with his long bill and 
 legs, instantly pins it to the bottom, and thus 
 seizes it securely. In this manner, after hav- 
 ing been seen with his long neck for above a 
 minute under water, he rises upon the wing, 
 with a trout or an eel struggling in his bill to 
 get free. The greedy bird, however, flies to 
 the shore, scarcely gives it time to expire, but 
 swallows it whole, and then returns to fishing 
 as before. 
 
 As this bird does incredible mischief to 
 ponds newly stocked, Willoughby has given 
 a receipt for taking him. " Having found his 
 haunt, get three or four small roach or dace, 
 and having provided a strong hook with a 
 wire to it, this is drawn just within-side the 
 skin of the fish, beginning without-side the 
 gills, and running it to the tail, by which the 
 fish will not be killed, but continue for five 
 or six days alive. Then having a strong line 
 made of silk and wire, about two yards and 
 a half long, it is tied to a stone at one end, 
 the fish with the hook being suffered to swim 
 about at the other. This being properly dis- 
 posed in shallow water, the heron will seize 
 upon the fish to its own destruction. From 
 this method we may learn, that the fish must 
 be alive, otherwise the heron will riot touch 
 them, and that this bird, as well as all those 
 that feed upon fish, must be its own caterer ; 
 for they will riot prey upon such as die natu- 
 rally, or are killed by others before them." 
 
184. 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 Though this bird lives chiefly among pools 
 and marshes, yet its nest is built on the tops 
 of the highest trees, and sometimes on cliffs 
 hanging over the sea. They are never in 
 flocks when they fish, committing their depre- 
 dations in solitude and silence ; but in mak- 
 ing their nests they love each other's society; 
 and they are seen, like rooks, building in 
 company with flocks of their kind. Their 
 nests are made oi % sticks, and lined with wool ; 
 and the female lays four large eggs of a pale 
 green colour. The observable indolence of 
 their nature, however, is not less seen in their 
 nestling than in their habits of depredation. 
 Nothing is more certain, and I have seen it 
 a hundred times, than that they will not be 
 at the trouble of building a nest, when they 
 can get one made by the rook, or deserted by 
 the owl, already provided for them. This 
 they usually enlarge and line within, driving 
 off the original possessors, should they happen 
 to renew their fruitless claims. 
 
 The French seem to have availed them- 
 selves of the indolence of this bird in making 
 its nest ; and they actually provide a place 
 with materials fitted for their nestling, which 
 they call heronries. The heron, which with 
 us is totally unfit for the table, is more sought 
 for in France, where the flesh of the young 
 ones is in particular estimation. To obtain 
 this the natives raise up high sheds along 
 some fishy stream ; and furnishing them with 
 materials for the herons to nestle with, these 
 birds build and breed there in great abun- 
 dance. As soon as the young ones are sup- 
 posed to be fit, the owner of the heronry 
 comes, as we do into a pigeon-house, and car- 
 ries off such as are proper for eating ; and 
 these are sold for a very good price to the 
 neighbouring gentry. " These are a delicacy 
 which," as my author says, " the French are 
 very fond of, but which strangers have not yet 
 been taught to relish as they ought." Never- 
 theless, it was formerly much esteemed as 
 food in England, and made a favourite dish 
 at great tables. It was then said that the flesh 
 of a heron was a dish for a king ; at present 
 nothing about the house will touch it but a cat. 
 With us, therefore, as the heron, both old 
 and young, is thought detestable eating, we 
 seldom trouble these animals in their heights, 
 which are for the most part sufficiently inac- 
 cessible. Their nests are often found in great 
 numbers in the middle of large forests, and in 
 some groves nearer home, where the owners 
 have a predilection for the bird, and do not 
 choose to drive it from its accustomed habita- 
 tions. It is certain that by their cries, their 
 expansive wings, their bulk, and wavy motion, 
 they add no small solemnity to the forest, arid 
 give a pleasing variety to a finished improve- 
 ment. 
 
 When the young are excluded, as they are 
 numerous, voracious, and importunate, the old 
 ones are for ever upon the wing to provide 
 them with abundance. The quantity of fish 
 they take upon this occasion is amazing, and 
 their size is not less to be wondered at. I re- 
 member a heron's nest that was built near a 
 school-house ; the boys, with their usual ap- 
 petite for mischief, climbed up, took down the 
 young ones, sewed up their vents, and laid 
 them in the nest as before. The pain the 
 poor little animals felt from the operation in- 
 creased their cries ; and this but served to in- 
 crease the diligence of the old ones in enlar- 
 ging their supply. Thus they heaped the 
 nest with various sorts of fish, and the best of 
 their kind; and as their young screamed, they 
 flew off for more. The boys gathered up the 
 fish, which the young ones were incapable of 
 eating, till the old ones at last quitted their 
 nest ; and gave up their brood, whose appetites 
 they found it impossible to satisfy. 
 
 The heron is said to be a very long-lived 
 bird ; by Mr Keysler's account, it may ex- 
 ceed sixty years ; and by a recent instance of 
 one that was taken in Holland, by a hawk 
 belonging to the Stadtholder, its longevity is 
 again confirmed, the bird having a silver plate 
 fastened to one leg, with an inscription, im- 
 porting that it had been struck by the elector 
 of Cologne's hawks thirty-five years before. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF THE BITTERN, OR MIRE-DRUM. 
 
 
 THOSE who have walked in an evening by 
 the sedgy sides of unfrequented rivers, must 
 remember a variety of notes from different 
 water- fowl : the loud scream of the wild-goose, 
 the croaking of the mallard, the whining of 
 the lapwing, and the tremulous neighing of 
 the jack-snipe. But of all those sounds, lht>ve 
 is none so dismally hollow as the booming of 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 the bittern. It is impossible for words to give 
 those who have not heard this evening-call an 
 adequate idea of its solemnity. It is like the 
 interrupted bellowing of a bull, but hollower, 
 and louder, and is heard at a mile's distance, 
 as if issuing from some formidable being that 
 resided at the bottom of the waters. 
 
 The bird, however, that produces this ter- 
 rifying sound, is not so big as a heron, with a 
 weaker bill, not above four inches long. It 
 differs from the heron chiefly in its colour, 
 which is in general of a paleish yellow, spotted 
 and barred with black. Its windpipe is fitted 
 to produce the sound for which it is remark- 
 able ; the lower part of it dividing into the 
 lungs, is supplied with a thin loose membrane, 
 that can be filled with a large body of air, and 
 exploded at pleasure. These bellowing ex- 
 plosions are chiefly heard from the beginning 
 of spring to the end of autumn ; and however 
 awful they may seem to us, are the calls to 
 courtship, or of connubial felicity. 
 
 From the loudness and solemnity of the 
 note, many have been led to suppose, that the 
 bird made use of external instruments to pro- 
 duce it, and that so small a body could never 
 eject such a quantity of tone. The common 
 people are of opinion, that it thrusts its bill 
 into a reed, that serves as a pipe for swelling 
 the note above its natural pitch ; while others, 
 and in this number we find Thomson the poet, 
 imagine that the bittern puts its head under 
 water, and then violently blowing produces its 
 boomings. The fact is, that the bird is suffi- 
 ciently provided by nature for this call ; and 
 it is often heard where there are neither reeds 
 nor waters to assist its sonorous invitations. 
 
 It hides in the sedges by day, and begins 
 its call in the evening, booming six or eight 
 times, and then discontinuing for ten or twenty 
 minutes, to renew the same sound. This is 
 a call it never gives but when undisturbed, 
 and at liberty. When its retreats among the 
 sedges are invaded, when it dreads or expects 
 the approach of an enemy, it is then perfectly 
 silent. This call it has never been heard to 
 utter when taken or brought up in domestic 
 captivity ; it continues under the control of 
 man a mute forlorn bird, equally incapable of 
 attachment or instruction. But though its 
 boomings are always performed in solitude, it 
 has a scream which is generally heard upon 
 the seizing its prey, and which is sometimes 
 extorted by fear. 
 
 This bird, though of the heron kind, is yet 
 neither so destructive nor so voracious. It is 
 a retired timorous animal, concealing itself in 
 the midst of reeds and marshy places, and 
 living upon frogs, insects, and vegetables; 
 and though so nearly resembling the heron in 
 figure, yet differing much in manners and ap- 
 petites. As the heron builds on the tops of 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 the highest trees, the bittern lays its nest in a 
 sedgy margin, or amidst a tuft of rushes. 
 The heron builds with sticks and wool: the 
 bittern composes its simpler habitation of 
 sedges, the leaves of water-plants, and dry 
 rushes. The heron lays four eggs ; the bittern 
 generally seven or eight, of an ash-green 
 colour. The heron feeds its young for many 
 days ; the bittern in three days leads its little 
 ones to their food. In short, the heron is lean 
 and cadaverous, subsisting chiefly upon ani- 
 mal food ; the bittern is plump and fleshy, as 
 it feeds upon vegetables, when more nourish- 
 ing food is wanting. 
 
 It cannot be, therefore, from its voracious 
 appetites, but its hollow boom, that the 
 bittern is held in such detestation by the 
 vulgar. I remember, in the place where I 
 was a boy, with what terror this bird's note 
 affected the whole village ; they considered it 
 as the presage of some sad event; and gene- 
 rally found or made one to succeed it. I do 
 not speak ludicrously ; but if any person in 
 the neighbourhood died, they supposed it could 
 not be otherwise, for the night-raven had fore- 
 told it; but if no body happened to die, the 
 death of a cow or a sheep gave completion to 
 the prophecy. 
 
 Whatever terror it may inspire among the 
 simple, its flesh is greatly esteemed among 
 the luxurious. For this reason, it is as eager- 
 ly sought after by the fowler, as it is shunned 
 by the peasant ; and, as it is a heavy- rising 
 slow-winged bird, it does not often escape 
 him. Indeed, it seldom rises but when al- 
 most trod upon, and seems to seek protection 
 rather from concealment than flight. At the 
 latter end of autumn, however, in the evening, 
 its wonted indolence appears to forsake it. 
 It is then seen rising in a spiral ascent, till it 
 is quite lost from the view, making at the 
 same time a singular noise, very different from 
 its former boomings. Thus the same animal 
 is often seen to assume different desires ; and 
 while the Latins have given the bittern the 
 name of the star-reaching bird, (or the stellar- 
 z's,) the Greeks, taking its character from its 
 more constant habits, have given it the title of 
 the owes, or the lazy bird. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF THE SPOONBILL, OR SHOVELLER. 
 
 As we proceed in our description of the 
 crane kind, birds of peculiar forms offer, not 
 entirely like the crane, and yet not so far dif- 
 ferent as to rank more properly with any 
 other class. Where the long neck and stilt- 
 legs of the crane are found, they make too 
 2 A 
 
186 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 striking a resemblance not to admit such birds 
 of the number ; and though the bill, or even 
 the toes, should entirely differ, yet the outlines 
 of the figure, and the natural habits and dis- 
 positions, being the same, these are sufficient 
 to mark their place in the general group of 
 nature. 
 
 The Spoonbill is one of those birds which 
 differs a good deal from the crane, yet ap- 
 proaches this class more than any other. 
 The body is more bulky for its height, and 
 the bill is very differently formed from that 
 of any other bird whatever. Yet still it is a 
 comparatively tall bird ; it feeds among waters ; 
 its toes are divided; and it seems to possess 
 the natural dispositions of the crane. The 
 European spoonbill is of about the bulk of a 
 crane; but as the one is above four feet high, 
 the other is not more than three feet three 
 inches. The common colour of those of Europe 
 is a dirty white ; but those of America are of 
 a beautiful rose colour, or a delightful crim- 
 son. Beauty of plumage seems to be the pre- 
 rogative of all the birds of that continent ; and 
 we here see the most splendid tints bestowed 
 on a bird, whose figure is sufficient to destroy 
 the effects of its colouring ; for its bill is so 
 oddly fashioned, and its eyes so stupidly star- 
 ing, that its fine feathers only tend to add 
 splendour to deformity. The bill, which in 
 this bird is so very particular, is about seven 
 inches long, and running out broad at the end, 
 as its name justly serves to denote, it is there 
 about an inch and a half wide. This strangely 
 fashioned instrument in some is black; in others 
 of a light gray ; and in those of America, it 
 is of a red colour, like the rest of the body. 
 All round the upper chap there runs a kind 
 of rim, with which it covers that beneath ; 
 and as for the rest, its cheeks and its throat 
 are without feathers, and covered with a black 
 skin. 1 A bird so oddly fashioned might be 
 
 1 The Spoonbills are voyaging birds, not very wild, 
 and show no aversion to living in a state of captivity. 
 They are found in almost all countries of the old world. 
 In Europe they are seen but seldom in the interior parts, 
 and are only passagery on some lakes or the banks of 
 rivers. They frequent the marshy coasts of Holland, 
 of Brittany, and of Picardy. They are also seen in 
 Prussia, in Silesia, and in Poland, and in summer they 
 advance as far as West Bothnia and Lapland. They 
 are again to be found on the coasts of Africa, in Egypt, 
 and at the Cape of Good Hope, where they are called 
 Slangen-wreeter, that is, serpent-eaters. Commerson has 
 seen them at Madagascar, where the islanders give them 
 the name of Funguli-am-bava, which means spade-bill. 
 The negroes in some districts call them Fang-van, and 
 in others F~ourou-Doulou, or birds of the devil. 
 
 The White Spoonbill is an occasional, but rare visitor 
 of this country. They rise very high, and fly in waving 
 lines. Their flesh is tolerably good eating, and is des- 
 titute of the oily taste which is peculiar to most shore 
 birds. 
 
 The Roseate Spoonbill is an American species, and is 
 
 expected to possess some very peculiar appe- 
 tites ; but the spoonbill seems to lead a life 
 entirely resembling all those of the crane 
 kind ; and Nature, when she made the bill 
 of this bird so very broad, seems rather to have 
 sported with its form, than to aim at any final 
 cause for which to adapt it. In fact, it is but 
 a poor philosophy to ascribe every capricious 
 variety in nature to some salutary purpose : 
 in such solutions we only impose upon each 
 other, and often wilfully contradict our own 
 belief. There must be imperfections in every 
 being, as well as capacities of enjoyment. Be- 
 tween both, the animal leads a life of moderate 
 felicity ; in part making use of its many na- 
 tural advantages, and in part necessarily con. 
 forming to the imperfections of its figure. 
 
 The shoveller chiefly feeds upon frogs, toads, 
 and serpents; of which, particularly at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, they destroy great num. 
 bers. The inhabitants of that country hold 
 them in as much esteem as the ancient Egypt- 
 
 the Ajaja of Brazil (Marcgrave,) and the Tlauhquecul 
 of Fernandez, and Guirapita of the natives of Paraguay. 
 Its dimensions are not so great as those of the spoonbill 
 of the ancient continent. The plumage, in general, is 
 of a beautiful rose colour, while the upper part of the 
 wing and the tail-coverts, are of a lively red. Age, 
 however, operates the same changes of colour in these 
 spoonbills, as in the red curlew, and in the flamingo, 
 which in their first years are almost completely white 
 or gray. The bill and its membrane are of a yellowish- 
 green, which becomes white when the bird is terrified. 
 
 The beak of the spoonbills is longer than that of the 
 storks, and perfectly straight. Towards the extremity 
 it expands into an oval disk of greater breadth than the 
 remainder of the bill, and rounded at the point. In the 
 adult bird, the cheeks are naked, and a tuft of long 
 narrow feathers forms a crest on the back of the head. 
 The tongue is short, triangular, and pointed; the throat 
 capable of being dilated into a pouch ; the legs long and 
 covered with large reticulated scales; the toes four in 
 number; arid the claws short, narrow, and pointed. 
 
 The spoonbills usually frequent wooded marshes near 
 the mouths of rivers, building in preference upon the 
 taller trees, but where these are wanting taking up their 
 abode among the bushes, or even among the reeds. The 
 females usually lay three or four whitish eggs. They 
 associate together, but not in any considerable numbers, 
 and feed upon the smaller fishes and their spawn, shell- 
 fish, reptiles, and other aquatic or amphibious animals. 
 The form and flexibility of their bills are well adapted 
 for burrowing in the mud after their prey ; and the tuber- 
 cles which are placed on the inside of their mandibles 
 serve both to retain the more slippery animals and to 
 break down their shelly coverings. Their internal con- 
 formation, which is in nearly every respect similar to 
 that of the stork, is admirably suited to this kind of food. 
 They have no proper voice, the lower larynx being des- 
 titute of the muscles by which sounds are produced, arid 
 their only means of vocal expression consist in the snap- 
 ping of their mandibles, which they clatter with much 
 precipitation when under the influence of anger or 
 alarm. In captivity they are perfectly tame, living in 
 peace and concord with the other inhabitants of the 
 farm-yard, and rarely exhibiting any symptoms of wild- 
 ness or desire of change. They feed on all kinds of 
 garbage. 
 
THE FLAMINGO. 
 
 187 
 
 ians did their bird ibis : the shoveller runs 
 tamely about their houses ; and they are con- 
 tent with its society , as a useful, though a home- 
 ly, companion. They are never killed ; and, 
 indeed, they are good for nothing when they 
 are dead, for the flesh is unfit to be eaten, 
 
 This bird breeds, in Europe, in company 
 with the heron, in high trees ; and in a nest 
 formed of the same materials. Willoughby 
 tells us, that in a certain grove, at a village 
 called Seven Huys, near Leyden, they build 
 and breed yearly in great numbers. In this 
 grove, also, the heron, the bittern, the cormor- 
 ant, and the shag, have taken up their resi- 
 dence, and annually bring forth their young to- 
 gether. Here the crane kind seem to have 
 formed their general rendezvous ; and, as the 
 inhabitants say, every sort of bird has its 
 several quarter, where none but their own 
 tribe are permitted to reside. Of this grove, 
 the peasants of the country make good profit. 
 When the young ones are ripe, those that 
 farm the grove , with a hook at the end of a 
 long pole, catch hold of the bough on which 
 the nest is built, and shake out the young 
 ones ; but sometimes the nest and all tumble 
 down together. 
 
 The shoveller lays from three to five eggs, 
 white, and powdered with a few sanguine or 
 pale spots. We sometimes see, in the cabinets 
 of the curious, the bills of American shovellers, 
 twice as big and as long as those of the com- 
 mon kind among us ; but these birds have 
 not yet made their way into Europe. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE FLAMINGO. 
 
 THE Flamingo has the justest right to be 
 placed among cranes, and though it happens 
 
 to be web-footed, like birds of the goose kind, 
 yet its height, figure, and appetites, entirely 
 remove it from that grovelling class of animals. 
 With a longer neck and legs than any other of 
 the crane kind, it seeks its food by wading 
 among waters, and only differs from all of 
 this tribe in the manner of seizing its prey ; 
 for as the heron makes use of its claws, the 
 flamingo uses only its bill, which is strong 
 and thick for the purpose, the claws being 
 useless, as they are feeble, and webbed like 
 those of water-fowl. 
 
 The flamingo is the most remarkable of all 
 the crane kind, the tallest, bulkiest, and the 
 most beautiful. The body, which is of a 
 beautiful scarlet, is no bigger than that of a 
 swan ; but its legs and neck are of such an 
 extraordinary length, that, when it stands 
 erect, it is six feet six inches high. Its wings, 
 extended, are five feet six inches from tip to 
 tip ; and it is four feet eight inches from tip 
 to tail. The head is round and small, with 
 a large bill, seven inches long, partly red, 
 partly black, and crooked like a bow. The 
 legs and thighs, which are not much thickei 
 than a man's finger, are about two feet eight 
 inches high ; and its neck near three feet long. 
 The feet are not furnished with sharp claws, 
 as in others of the crane kind ; but feeble, and 
 united by membranes, as in those of the goose. 
 Of what use these membranes are does not 
 appear, as the bird is never seen swimming, 
 its legs and thighs being sufficient forbearing 
 it into those depths where it seeks for prey. 
 
 This extraordinary bird is now chiefly 
 found in America ; but it was once known on 
 all the coasts of Europe. Its beauty, its size, 
 and the peculiar delicacy of its flesh, have been 
 such temptations to destroy or take it, that it 
 has long since deserted the shores frequented 
 by man, and taken refuge in countries that 
 are as yet but thinly peopled. In those de- 
 sert regions, the flamingos live in a state of 
 society, and under a better polity than any 
 other of the feathered creation. 
 
 When the Europeans first came to America, 
 and coasted down along the African shores, 
 they found the flamingos on several shores on 
 either continent, gentle, and no way distrust- 
 ful of mankind. 1 They had long been used 
 to security, in the extensive solitudes they had 
 chosen ; and knew no enemies but those they 
 could very well evade or oppose. The ne- 
 groes and the native Americans were posses- 
 sed but of few destructive arts for killing them 
 at a distance ; and when the bird perceived 
 the arrow, it well knew how to avoid it. But 
 it was otherwise when the Europeans first 
 came among them ; the sailors, not consider- 
 ing that the dread of fire-arms was totally un- 
 
 ' Albin's New History of Birds. 
 
188 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 known in that part of the world, gave the 
 flamingo the character of a foolish bird, that 
 suffered itself to be approached and shot at. 
 When the fowler had killed one, the rest of 
 the flock, far from attempting to fly, only re- 
 garded the fall of their companion in a kind 
 of fixed astonishment; another and another 
 shot was discharged ; and thus the fowler often 
 levelled the whole flock, before one of them 
 began to think of escaping. 
 
 But at present it is very different in that 
 part of the world ; and the flamingo is not 
 only one of the scarcest, but of the shyest birds 
 in the world, and the most difficult of ap- 
 proach. They chiefly keep near the most de- 
 serted and inhospitable shores ; near salt-water 
 lakes and swampy islands. They come down 
 to the banks of rivers by day; and often retire 
 to the inland mountainous parts of the country 
 at the approach of night. When seen by 
 mariners in the day, they always appear 
 drawn up in a long close line of two or three 
 hundred together ; and, as Dampier tells us, 
 present at the distance of half a mile, the ex- 
 act representation of a long brick wall. Their 
 rank, however, is broken when they seek for 
 food ; but they ahvays appoint one of the 
 number as a watch, whose only employment is 
 to observe and give notice of danger, while 
 the rest are feeding. As soon as this trusty 
 centinel perceives the remotest appearance of 
 danger, he gives a loud scream r with a voice 
 as shrill as a trumpet, and instantly the whole 
 cohort are upon the wing. They feed in si- 
 lence ; but upon this occasion, all the flock 
 are in one chorus, and fill the air with intoler- 
 able screamings. 
 
 From this it appears, that the flamingos 
 are very difficult to be approached at present, 
 and that they avoid mankind with the most 
 cautious timidity ; however, it is not from any 
 antipathy to man that they shun his society, 
 for in some villages, as we are assured by 
 Labat, along the coasts of Africa, the flamin- 
 gos come in great numbers to make their re- 
 sidence among the natives. There they as- 
 semble by thousands, perched on the trees, 
 within and about the village ; and are so very 
 clamorous, that the sound is heard at near a 
 mile's distance. The negroes are fond of 
 their company ; and consider their society as 
 a gift of Heaven, as a protection from acci- 
 dental evils, The French, who are admitted 
 to this part of the coast, cannot, without some 
 degree of discontent, see such a quantity of 
 game untouched, and rendered useless by the 
 superstition of the natives : they now and then 
 privately shoot some of them, when at a con- 
 venient distance from the village, and hide 
 them in the long grass, if they perceive any 
 of the negroes approaching ; for they would 
 probably stand a chance of being ill used, if 
 
 the blacks discovered their sacred birds thus 
 unmercifully treated. 
 
 Sometimes, in their wild state, they are 
 shot by mariners ; and their young, which run 
 excessively fast, are often taken. Labat has 
 frequently taken them with nets, properly ex- 
 tended round the places they breed in. When 
 their long legs are entangled in the meshes, 
 they are then unqualified to make their es- 
 cape : but they still continue to combat with 
 their destroyer; and the old ones, though 
 seized by the head, will scratch with their 
 claws ; and these, though seemingly inoffen- 
 sive, very often do mischief. When they 
 are fairly disengaged from the net, they 
 nevertheless preserve their natural ferocity : 
 they refuse all nourishment; they peck, and 
 combat with their claws, at every opportunity. 
 The fowler is, therefore, under a necessity of 
 destroying them, when taken ; as they would 
 only pine and die, if left to themselves in 
 captivity. 
 
 The flesh of the old ones is blaek and hard ; 
 though, Dampier says, well tasted : that of the 
 young ones is still better. But of all other 
 delicacies, the flamingo's tongue is the most ce- 
 lebrated. " A dish of flamingos' tongues," 
 says our author, " is a feast for an emperor." 
 In fact, the Roman emperors considered them 
 as the highest luxury ; and we have an ac- 
 count of one of them, who procured fifteen 
 hundred flamingos' tongues to be served up 
 in a single dish. The tongue of this bird, 
 which is so much sought after, is a good deal 
 larger than that of any other bird whatever. 
 The bill of the flamingo is like a large black 
 box, of an irregular figure, and filled with a 
 tongue which is black and gristly ; but what 
 peculiar flavour it may possess, I leave to be 
 determined by such as understand good eating 
 better than I do. It is probable, that the 
 beauty and scarcity of the bird might be the 
 first inducements to studious gluttony to fix 
 upon its tongue as meat for the table. What 
 Dampier says of the goodness of its flesh, can- 
 not so well be relied on ; for Dampier was 
 often hungry, and thought any thing good 
 that could be eaten: he avers, indeed, with 
 Labat, that the flesh is black, tough, and 
 fishy ; so that we can hardly give him credit, 
 when he asserts, that its flesh can be formed 
 into a luxurious entertainment. 
 
 These birds, as was said, always go in 
 flocks together ; and they move in rank, in the 
 manner of cranes. They are sometimes seen,, 
 at the break of day, flying down in great 
 numbers from the mountains, and conducting 
 each other with a trumpet cry, that sounds- 
 like the word Tococo, from whence the sava- 
 ges of Canada have given them the name. In 
 their flight, they appear to great advantage ; 
 for they then seem of as bright a red as a 
 
THE AVOSETTA. 
 
 189 
 
 burning coal. When they dispose themselves 
 to feed, their cry ceases ; and then they dis- 
 perse over a whole marsh, in silence and as- 
 siduity. Their manner of feeding is very 
 singular : the bird thrusts down its head, so 
 that the upper convex side of the bill shall 
 only touch the ground ; and in this position 
 the animal appears, as it were, standing upon 
 its head. In this manner it paddles and 
 moves the bill about, and seizes whatever fish 
 or insect happens to offer. For this purpose 
 the upper chap is notched at the edges, so as 
 to hold its prey with the greater security. 
 Catesby, however, gives a different account of 
 their feeding. According to him, they thus 
 place the upper chap undermost, and so work 
 about, in order to pick up a seed from the 
 bottom of the water, that resembles millet: 
 but as in picking up this they necessarily also 
 suck in a great quantity of mud, their bill is 
 toothed at the edges in such a manner as to 
 let out the mud while they swallow the grain. 
 
 Their time of breeding is according to the 
 climate in which they reside: in North Ame- 
 rica they breed in our summer ; on the other 
 side of the line, they take the most favourable 
 season of the year. They build their nests in 
 extensive marshes, and where they are in no 
 danger of a surprise. The nest is not less 
 curious than the animal that builds it: it is 
 raised from the surface of the pool about a 
 foot and a half, formed of mud scraped up to- 
 gether, and hardened by the sun, or the heat 
 of the bird's body ; it resembles a truncated 
 cone, or one of the pots which we see placed 
 in chimneys ; on the top it is hollowed out to 
 the shape of the bird, and in that cavity the 
 female lays her eggs without any lining but 
 the well-cemented mud that forms the sides of 
 the building. She always lays two eggs, and 
 no more ; and, as her legs are immoderately 
 long, she straddles on the nest, while her legs 
 hang down, one on each side, into the water. 
 
 The young ones are a long while before 
 they are able to fly ; but they run with amaz- 
 ing swiftness. They are sometimes caught ; 
 and, very different from the old ones, suffer 
 themselves to be carried home, and are tamed 
 very easily. In five or six days they become 
 familiar, eat out of the hand, and drink a sur- 
 prising quantity of sea-water. But though 
 they are easily rendered domestic, they are 
 not reared without the greatest difficulty ; for 
 they generally pine away, for want of their 
 natural supplies, and die in a short time. 
 While they are yet young, their colours are 
 very different from those lively tints they ac- 
 quire with age. In their first year they are 
 covered with plumage of a white colour, 
 mixed with gray : in the second year the 
 whole body is white, with here and there 
 a slight tint of scarlet ; and the great co- 
 
 vert feathers of his wings are black ; the 
 third year the bird acquires all its beauty ; 
 the plumage of the whole body is scarlet> ex- 
 cept some of the feathers in the wings, that 
 still retain their sable hue. Of these beauti- 
 ful plumes the savages make various orna- 
 ments; and the bird is sometimes skinned by 
 the Europeans, to make muffs. But these 
 have diminished in their price, since we have 
 obtained the art of dying feathers of the 
 brightest scarlet. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE AVOSETTA, OR SCOOPER ; AND THE 
 CORRIRA, OR RUNNER. 
 
 THE extraordinary shape of the Avosetta's 
 bill might incline us to wish for its history ; 
 and yet in that we are not able to indulge the 
 reader. Natural historians have hitherto, like 
 ambitious monarchs, shown a greater fondness 
 for extending their dominions, than cultivat- 
 ing what they possess. While they have 
 been labouring to add new varieties to their 
 catalogues, they have neglected to study the 
 history of animals already known. 
 
 The avosetta is chiefly found in Italy, and 
 now and then comes over into England. It 
 is about the size of a pigeon, is a pretty up- 
 right bird, and has extremely long legs for 
 its size. But the most extraordinary part of 
 its figure, and that by which it may be distin- 
 guished from all others of the feathered tribe, 
 is the bill, which turns up like a hook, in an 
 opposite direction to that of the hawk or the 
 parrot. This extraordinary bill is black, flat, 
 sharp, and flexible at the end, and about three 
 inches and a half long. From its being bare 
 a long way above the knee, it appears that it 
 lives and wades in the waters. It has a chirp- 
 ing pert note, as we are told ; but with its 
 other habits we are entirely unacquainted. I 
 have placed it, from its slender figure, among 
 the cranes ; although it is web-footed, like the 
 duck. It is one of those birds of whose his- 
 tory we are yet in expectation. 1 
 
 1 The Avosets of Europe and America prefer cokl and 
 temperate climates to hot countries. Their migrations 
 
190 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 To this bird of the crane kind, so little 
 known, I will add another, still less known ; 
 the Corrira, or runner, of Aldrovandns. All 
 we are told of it is, that it has the longest legs 
 of all web-footed fowls, except the flamingo 
 and avosetta ; that the bill is straight, yellow, 
 and black at the ends ; that the pupils of the 
 eyes are surrounded with two circles, one of 
 which is bay, and the other white; below, 
 near the belly, it is whitish ; the tail, with 
 two white feathers, black at the extremities ; 
 and that the upper part of the body is of the 
 colour of rusty iron. It is thus that we are 
 obliged to substitute dry description for in- 
 structive history ; and employ words to ex- 
 press those shadings of colour which the pen- 
 cil alone can convey. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 SMALL BIRDS OF THE CRANE KIND, WITH 
 THE THIGHS PARTLY BARE OF FEATHERS. 
 
 As I have taken my distinctions rather from 
 the general form and manners of birds, than 
 from their minuter though perhaps more pre- 
 cise discriminations, it will not be expected 
 that I should here enter into a particular his- 
 tory of a numerous tribe of birds, whose man- 
 ners and forms are so much alike. Of many 
 of them we have scarcely any account in our 
 historians, but tedious descriptions of their 
 dimensions, and the colour of their plumage ; 
 and of the rest, the history of one is so much 
 that of all, that it is but the same account re- 
 peated to a most disgusting reiteration. I will 
 therefore group them into one general draught ; 
 in which the more eminent, or the most whimsi- 
 cal, will naturally stand forward on the canvass. 
 
 In this tribe we find an extensive tribe of 
 native birds, with their varieties and affinities ; 
 and we might add a hundred others, of distant 
 climates, of which we know little more than the 
 colour and the name. In this list is exhibited 
 the Curlew, a bird of about the size of a duck, 
 with a bill four inches long: the Woodcock, 
 
 ai'e determined by the want or abundance of food. In 
 winter they assemble in small flocks of six or seven, and 
 frequent our shores, especially the mouths of large muddy 
 rivers, in search of worms and marine insects. Those 
 they scoop out of the mud with their recurved bills, 
 which are admirably adapted for that purpose, being 
 tough and flexible like whalebone. The feet seem cal- 
 culated for swimming, but they are never observed to 
 take the water: it is therefore probable, that they are 
 furnished with a web merely to prevent their sinking 
 into the mud. The female lays two eggs, about the 
 size of those of a pigeon, of a white colour tinged with 
 green, and marked with large black spots. It is said to 
 be very tenacious of its young, and when disturbed at 
 this season, will fly round in repeated circles, uttering 
 a note that resembles the word twit-tivit. 
 
 about the size of a pigeon, with a bill three 
 inches long : the Godwit, of the same size ; 
 the bill four inches: the Green Shank, longer 
 legged; the bill two inches and a half : the 
 Red Shank, differing in the colour of its feet 
 from the former: the Snipe, less by half, 
 with a bill three inches. Then with shorter 
 bills The Ruff, with a collar of feathers 
 round the neck of the male : the Knot, the 
 Sandpiper, the Sanderling, the Dunlin, the 
 Purre, and the Stint. To conclude: with 
 bills very short -The Lapwing, the Green 
 Plover, the Gray Plover, the Dottrel, the 
 Turnstone, and the Sea-lark. These, with 
 their affinities, are properly natives or visi- 
 tants of this country ; and are dispersed along 
 our shores, rivers, and watery grounds. Tak- 
 ing in the birds of this kind, belonging to 
 other countries, the list would be very widely 
 extended; and the whole of this class, as 
 described by Brisson, would amount to near 
 a hundred. 1 
 
 All these birds possess many marks in 
 common ; though some have peculiarities that 
 
 1 The Curlew. There are two species of the curlew 
 to be found in Europe the Common Curlew and the 
 
 Little Curlew, but there are various other species, in 
 Asia, Africa, and America, differing very much in size, 
 the longest measuring about twenty-five inches, and 
 sometimes weighing thirty-six ounces. These birds 
 fly in considerable flocks, and are well known upon the 
 sea-coasts in moist parts, where, and in the marshes, 
 they frequent in winter. They feed on worms, frogs, 
 and all kinds of marine insects. In April, or the be- 
 ginning of May, they retire into mountainous and un- 
 frequented parts on the sea-shore, where they breed ; 
 and do not return again till the approach of winter. 
 There have been some advocates in favour of the flesh 
 of this bird, but in general it is strong and fishy. It 
 has a long black bill, much curved or arched, about eight 
 fingers long, and beginning to bend a little downwards 
 about three fingers from the head. The middle parts of 
 the feathers on the head, neck, and bark, are black; 
 the borders or outsides ash-coloured, with an inter- 
 mixture of red; and those between the wings and back 
 are of a most beautiful glossy blue, and shine like silk. 
 The vent and belly are white. The feet are divided, 
 but joined by a little membrane at the root. The 
 tongue is very short, considering the length of the bill, 
 and bears some resemblance to an arrow. The female 
 is somewhat larger than the male, which is commonly 
 called the jack-curlew ; and the spots with which her 
 body is covered almost over, is more inclining to a red. 
 
THE CRANE KIND. 
 
 191 
 
 deserve regard. All these birds are bare of 
 feathers above the knee, or above the heel, as 
 some naturalists choose to express it. In fact, 
 that part which I call the knee, if compared 
 
 The Woodcock. During the summer time the wood- 
 cock is an inhabitant of Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and 
 
 other northern countries, where it breeds. As soon, 
 however, as the frosts commence, it retires southward 
 to milder climates. These birds arrive in Great 
 Britain in flocks; some of them in October, but not in 
 great numbers till November and December. They 
 generally take advantage of the night, being seldom 
 seen to come before sun-set. The time of their arrival 
 depends considerably on the prevailing winds ; for 
 adverse gales always detain them, they not being able 
 to struggle with the boisterous squalls of the Northern 
 ocean. After their arrival in bad weather, they have often 
 been seen so much exhausted as to allow themselves to 
 be taken by the hand, when they alighted near the coast. 
 They live on worms and insect?, which they search for 
 with their long bills in soft ground and moist woods, 
 feeding and flying principally in the night. They go 
 out in the evening; and generally return in the same 
 direction, through the same glades, to their day-retreat. 
 The greater part of them leave this country about the 
 latter end of February, or the beginning of March, 
 always pairing before they set out. They retire to the 
 coast, and, if the wind be fair, set out immediately; but 
 if contrary, they are often detained in the neighbouring 
 woods and thickets for some time. In this crisis the 
 sportsmen are all on the alert, and the whole surround- 
 ing country echoes to the discharge of guns ; seventeen 
 brace have been killed by one person in a day. But ii 
 they are detained long on the dry heaths, they become 
 so lean as to be scarcely eatable. 1 he instant a fai 
 wind springs up, they seize the opportunity; and where 
 the sportsman has seen hundreds in one day, he will not 
 find even a single bird the next. Very few of them 
 breed in England; and perhaps with respect to those 
 that do, it may be owing to their having been wounded 
 by the sportsman in the winter, so as to be disabled from 
 taking their long journey in the spring. They build 
 their nests on the ground, generally at the root of some 
 tree, and lay four or five eggs about the size of those ol 
 a pigeon, of a rusty colour, and marked with brown spots 
 They are remarkably tame during incubation. A persoi 
 who discovered a woodcock on its nest, often stood 
 over, and even stroked it; notwithstanding it hatched 
 the young ones, and in due time, disappeared with 
 them. 
 
 The Snipes, though agreeing very much in externa 
 resemblance with the woodcocks, differ from them ir 
 natural habits. They do not inhabit woods, but reman 
 in the marshy parts of meadows, in the herbage, and 
 amongst the osiers which are on the banks of rivers 
 They are still more generally spread than the woodcocks, 
 and there are no portions of the globe in which some o: 
 them have not been found. They are observed to be 
 incessantly employed in picking the ground, and Aldro 
 vandus has remarked' that the}' have the tongue termin- 
 
 with the legs of mankind, is analogous to the 
 leel ; but as it is commonly conceived other- 
 wise, I have conformed to the general ap- 
 prehension. I say, therefore, that all these 
 
 ating in a sharp point, proper for piercing the small 
 worms, which, probably, constitute their food ; for 
 though nothing is found in their stomachs but liquid, 
 and an earthy sediment, it must be that such soft bodies 
 as worms, &c. dissolve there very quickly, and that the 
 earth which enters along with them, is the only sub- 
 stance unsusceptible of liquefaction. Autumn is the 
 season for the arrival of the common snipe in most 
 of the southern and western countries of Europe. It 
 then extends through meadows, marshes, bogs, and 
 along the banks of streams and rivers. When it walks, 
 it carries the head erect, without either hopping or flut- 
 tering, and gives it a horizontal movement, while the 
 tail moves up and down. When it takes flight, it rises 
 so high as often to be heard after it is lost sight of. Its 
 cry has been sometimes likened to that of the she-goat. 
 The snipes for the most part, migrating northwards, in 
 the spring, nestle in Germany, Switzerland, Silesia, &c. 
 Some, however, continue in their more southern stations, 
 making their nest in the month of June, under the root 
 of some alder or willow, in a sheltered place. This 
 nest is composed of dry plants and feathers, and the fe- 
 male lays four or five oblong eggs, of a whitish tint, 
 spotted with red. If the female be disturbed during in- 
 cubation, she rises very high, and in a right line, then 
 utters a particular cry, and re-descends with great ra- 
 pidity. While the female is hatching, the male is fre- 
 quently observed to hover around her, uttering a kind 
 of hissing noise. The young quit the nest on issuing 
 from the shell, and then appear very ugly and deformed. 
 Until their bill grows firm, the mother continues her 
 care of them, and does not leave them until they can do 
 without her. The snipe usually grows very fat, both 
 in Europe and North America ; but much less so in 
 warm climates. Its flesh, after the early frosts, acquires 
 a fine arid delicate flavour. It is cooked, as well as the 
 woodcock, without being drawn, and is in universal esti, 
 mation as an exquisite game. It is caught in various 
 ways, and is well known to be a difficult shot, when 
 turned and winding in the air ; though by no means 
 so when suffered to proceed in a right line, especially as 
 the smallest grain of lead is sufficient to bring it down, 
 and the slightest touch will make it fall. 
 
 The Double Snipe was considered by Buflbn as $ 
 mere variety of the common, as that naturalist proba- 
 bly took into consideration only its superior size, and the 
 trifling difference of the plumage. It has, however, 
 since his time, been ascertained to be a different species. 
 It differs from the common snipe in its cry, in its flight, 
 which is generally direct, and with few or no circlings, 
 and in its habits, preferring to marshy and muddy 
 grounds, those places where there is but little water, 
 and where it is clear. There is little else worth re,, 
 marking concerning it. 
 
 The Little Snipe is not larger than a lark. It is less 
 generally extended than the common species. In France, 
 it remains in the marshes almost during the whole year, 
 where it nestles and lays eggs, like those of the common 
 snipe. Concealed in reeds and rushes, it remains there 
 so pertinaciously that it is necessary almost to walk upon 
 it to make it rise. Its flight is less rapid and more 
 direct than that of the common snipe. Its fat is equally 
 fine, and its flesh similarly well-flavoured. It is not 
 very common in this country. For Variegated Snipe, 
 see Plate XIX. fig. 18. ; for Wilson's Snipe, see 
 fig. 19. 
 
 There is a number of other species of woodcock and 
 snipe, but there is nothing in their habits to induce us 
 to exceed the limits to which we are necessarily pre- 
 
192 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 birds are bare of feathers above the knee ; and 
 in some they are wanting half way up the 
 thigh. The nudity in that part, is partly 
 natural, and partly produced by all birds of 
 
 scribed in this portion of our work, 
 represents the Common Snipe. 
 
 The following cut 
 
 The Godwits are to be distinguished from the forego- 
 ing. The woodcocks, properly so called, inhabit woods. 
 The snipes live in fresh water marshes; but the god- 
 wits prefer the sea-shore. The passage of the last into 
 the temperate climates of Europe takes place in Septem- 
 ber, and, for their short stay, they frequent salt marshes, 
 where like the snipes, &c. they live on small worms, 
 which they draw out of the mud. Those which are 
 sometimes to be met with in island places, have doubt- 
 less been driven there by the wind. Mauduyt, who ob- 
 served some of them exposed for sale in the Parisian 
 markets, in spring, concluded, and justly, that they 
 make a second passage in spring, and not that they ever 
 nestle on the French coasts. These timid birds, whose 
 sight moreover is weak, remain in the shade during the 
 day-time, and it is only by evening twilight, or early 
 dawn, that they proceed in search of food, for the dis- 
 crimination of which their bill is particularly fitted. 
 Little stones are sometimes found in their gizzard, but 
 we cannot conclude that these hard substances answer 
 with them, as with the gallinse, for the trituration of 
 their food, which is too soft to require any thing of the 
 kind, but rather that they have been taken in along with 
 it. These birds are particularly wild, and fly precipi- 
 tately from the slightest appearance of danger, uttering 
 a cry which Belon compares to the smothered bleating 
 of a she-goat. At the time of their arrival they are 
 seen in flocks, and often heard, passing very high, in the 
 evening or by moonlight. But the moment they alight, 
 they are so much fatigued that they resume their flight 
 with much difliculty ; at such times, though they run 
 with swiftness, they can be easily turned, and sufficient 
 numbers driven together to enable the fowler to kill seve- 
 ral of them with a single shot. They remain but a short 
 time at one place, and it is not uncommon to find them 
 no longer in the morning, in those marshes, where, the 
 preceding evening, they had been extremely numerous. 
 For marbled Godwit, see Plate XX. fig. 17. 
 
 The Sanderlings are found in Europe, in Asia, in 
 North America, and in New South Wales. They in- 
 habit the sea- shores, and abound, in spring and autumn, 
 both on the coasts of Holland and of this country. They 
 are only seen accidentally in countries remote from the 
 sea. There is but one species ; but as these birds, 
 which undergo two moultings, are most frequently seen 
 in their summer plumage, in which red, or reddish, is 
 the predominant colour, while in the winter it is gray, 
 it is not wonderful that naturalists have made a distinct 
 species under the title of Charadrius Rulidus. The 
 sanderlings traverse in their periodical migrations a 
 large portion of the globe. But they are only seen ac- 
 cidentally along rivers, which leads to the presumption 
 that their -Mment consists of small marine worms and 
 
 this kind habitually wading in water. The 
 older the bird, the barer are its thighs; yet 
 even the young ones have not the same downy 
 covering reaching so low as the birds ot any 
 
 insects. They breed in the North. The following 
 cut represents a Common Sandcrliitg. 
 
 The Sea Larks, a name exceedingly improper, as 
 tending to the confusion of two genera so widely remote, 
 never quit the edge of waters, and especially prefer the 
 sea-shore, although they occasionally remove to a con- 
 siderable distance from it, since they are frequently seen 
 around the lakes and along the rivers of the Vosges and 
 the Pyrenees. They are birds of passage, at least in 
 many countries of Europe. They proceed very far to 
 the north ; for they are found in Sweden, on the borders 
 of the Caspian sea, and throughout the whole of Siberia. 
 During winter they are very common both in France 
 and England. The species is named by Latham, Purre 
 Sandpiper. Except during the nestling time, these 
 birds unite in flocks, often so crowded, that a great 
 number of them may be killed by a single shot. Noth- 
 ing, says Belon, is more wonderful concerning this little 
 bird, than to see five or six hundred dozens of them 
 brought, on a single Saturday, in winter, to the Pan's 
 market. They constitute an excellent game, but must 
 be eaten fresh ; they are not, however, destitute of that 
 oily taste which appertains to almost all species of 
 aquatic birds. 
 
 The Plovers habitually frequent the sea-coast, the 
 mouths of rivers, and salt marshes. They fced upon 
 Crustacea, and small molluscous animals, which they 
 catch in the sand along the line of waters, over which 
 they are seen continually flying, uttering a little cry. 
 Many species live solitarily, or in couples; some others 
 in small flocks. These birds are to be found in almost 
 all the countries of the globe, from the equator to the 
 coldest latitudes of the northern and southern hemi- 
 sphe'res. They are all clad in sombre colours, the dis- 
 tribution of which is, however, not unpleasing. Most 
 of them undergo a double moulting, and are vested in 
 various liveries, according to age and sex. Some 
 species have spines, which serve as defensive weapons, 
 attached to their wings; some others have fleshy ap- 
 pendages at the base of the bill. The plovers emigrate 
 every year, in flocks of greater or less numbers, and 
 this principally takes place in autumn, during the rainy 
 season, whence their French name (pluviers) is derived, 
 and of which our word plover is an obvious corruption. 
 At this time they are seen in the greatest abundance. 
 They do not remain quiet when on the ground, but are 
 seen in incessant motion. They fly in an extended 
 file, or in transverse zones, very narrow and of a great 
 length. Their flesh is delicate and much esteemed. 
 They are frequently taken, in great quantities, in the 
 countries where they are common, by means of nuts 
 variously fabricated. 
 
 Of these, the first and most common is the Golden 
 Plover. This bird frequents humid and marshy grounds. 
 In winter it is very common on the coasts of France and 
 Holland. It is found in England during the entire 
 
THE CRANE KIND. 
 
 193 
 
 other class. Such a covering there would 
 rather be prejudicial, as being continually 
 liable to get wet in the water. 
 
 As these birds are usually employed rather 
 
 year; it is also very abundant in the Highlands of Scot- 
 land, in the Western islands, and in the Isle of Man. 
 
 It is again found in America, in Asia, and in the 
 islands of the South sea. Throughout the north of 
 Europe it is common, and in all parts of Germany, 
 Italy, and Spain. From the latter country we trace it 
 into Barbary, and other parts of Africa; and it is to be 
 found as far to the south-east of Asia, as India, China, 
 and the Archipelago of the Eastern ocean. These birds 
 lay from three to five eggs, of rather an olive-green 
 colour, with black spots. They live on worms, insects, 
 and larvae. There is very little difference in appear- 
 ance between the male and female. These plovers 
 strike the earth with their feet to cause the worms, &c., 
 to issue from their retreat. In the morning, like the 
 lapwings and the snipes, they visit the water side to 
 wash their bills and feet. They are rarely seen longer 
 than twenty-four hours in the same place, which doubt- 
 less proceeds from their numbers, which cause a rapid 
 exhaustion of their means of subsistence in any given 
 spot. They migrate from the districts which they in- 
 habit when the snow falls and the frost begins to be 
 intense, as their resources of provision are then cut off', 
 and they are deprived of the water, which their consti- 
 tution renders indispensable to them. It is very rare to 
 see a golden plover alone, and Belon tells us that the 
 smallest flocks in which they fly amount at least to fifty 
 each. When they are seeking their food, several of 
 them act as sentinels, and on the appearance of any 
 danger, set up a shrill cry, as a warning to the others, 
 and a signal for flight. These flocks disperse in the 
 evening, and each individual passes the night apart ; 
 but at the dawn of day, the first that awakes gives a 
 cry of appeal to the rest, which immediately re-assemble 
 on this call. This cry is imitated by the fowlers to 
 draw these birds into their nets. The flesh of these 
 plovers is in high estimation, in general, though the 
 peculiarity of its flavour does not equally please every 
 palate. It is best when the birds are rather fat than 
 otherwise. 
 
 The Dotterel Plover. The length of this bird is about 
 nine inches. Its bill is black; the cheeks and throat 
 are white ; the back and wings are of a light brown, in- 
 clining to olive ; the breast is of a dull orange : the 
 belly, thighs and vent are of a reddish white ; the tail 
 Is of an olive brown, and tipped with white ; the legs 
 are of a dark olive colour. The dotterel is common in 
 various parts of Great Britain, though in some places it 
 is scarcely known. They are supposed to breed in the 
 mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland, where 
 they are sometimes seen in the month of May, during 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 in running than in flying, and as their food 
 lies entirely upon the ground, and not on trees 
 or in the air, so they run with great swiftness 
 for their size/and the length of their legs 
 
 the breeding season; they likewise breed on several of 
 the Highland hills. They are very common in Cam- 
 bridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire, appearing in 
 small flocks on the heaths and moors of these counties 
 during the months of May and June ; and are then very 
 fat, and much esteemed for the table. This bird is 
 remarkable for its stupidity. 
 
 The Redshank. This bird weighs about five ounces 
 and a half; its length is twelve inches, and the breadth 
 twenty-one. The bill, from the tip to the corners of the 
 mouth, is more than an inch and three quarters long, 
 black at the point, and red towards the base: the fea- 
 thers on the crown of the head are dark brown, edged 
 with pale rufous ; a light or whitish line passes over, 
 and encircles each eye, from the corners of which a dark 
 brown spot is extended to the beak : i rides hazel : the 
 hinder part of the neck is obscurely spotted with dark 
 brown, or a rusty ash-coloured ground ; the throat and 
 fure-part are more distinctly marked in streaks of the 
 same colour : on the breast and belly, which are white, 
 tinged with ash, the spots are thinly distributed, and 
 are shaped something like the heads of arrows or darts. 
 
 The Spotted Redshank. The length of this bird, from 
 the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, is twelve inches, 
 and to the end of the toes fourteen inches and a half; its 
 breadth twenty-one inches and a quarter; and its weight 
 above five ounces avoirdupois. The bill is slender, mea- 
 sured two inches and a half from the corners of the 
 mouth to the tip, and is, for half its length nearest the 
 base, red; the other part black: irides hazel; the head, 
 neck, breast, and belly, are spotted in streaks, mottled 
 and barred with dingy ash brown and dull white, darker 
 on the crown and hinder part of the neck ; the throat is 
 white ; and lines of the same colour pass from the upper 
 sides of the beak over each eye, from the corners of 
 which two brown ones are extended to the nostrils. The 
 ground colour of the shoulders, scapulars, lesser coverts, 
 and tail, is a glossy olive brown ; the feathers on all 
 these parts are indented on the edges, more or less, with 
 triangular-shaped white spots. The back is white ; the 
 rump barred with wave lines of ash-coloured brown, 
 and dingy white ; the vent feathers are marked nearly 
 in the same manner, but with a greater portion of 
 white: the tail and coverts are also barred with narrow 
 waved lines of a dull ash-colour, and, in some speci- 
 mens, are nearly black and white. Five of the primary 
 quills are dark brown, tinged with olive ; the shaft of 
 the first quill is white ; the next six are, in the male, 
 rather deeply tipped with white, and slightly spotted 
 and barred with brown: the secondaries, as far as they 
 are unconverted when the wings are extended, are of 
 the same snowy whiteness as the back. The feathers 
 which cover the upper part of the thighs, and those near 
 them, are blushed with a reddish or vinous colour: the 
 legs are of a deep orange red, and measure, from the 
 end of the middle toe-nail to the upper bare part of the 
 thigh, five inches and a half. 
 
 The Green Sandpiper. This bird measures about 
 ten inches in length, to the end of the toes nearly twelve, 
 and weighs about three ounces and a half. The bill is 
 black, and an inch and a half long: a pale streak ex- 
 tends from it over each eye ; between which, and the 
 corners of the mouth, there is a dusky patch. The 
 crown of the head, and the hinder part of the neck, are 
 of a dingy, brownish ash-colour; in some specimens 
 narrowly streaked with white. The throat is white ; 
 fore-part of the neck mottled or streaked with brown 
 spots on a white or pale ash-coloured ground. Tho 
 whole upper part of the plumage is of a glossy bronze, 
 
194 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 assists their velocity. But, as in seeking 
 their food, they are often obliged to change 
 their station ; so also are they equally swift 
 of wing, and traverse immense tracts of 
 country without much fatigue. 
 
 It has been thought by some, that a part 
 of this class lived upon an oily slime, found 
 in the bottoms of ditches and of weedy pools ; 
 they were thence termed, by AVilloughby, 
 Mudsuckers. But later discoveries have shown 
 that, in these places, they hunt for the cater- 
 pillars and worms of insects. From hence, 
 therefore, we may generally assert, that all 
 birds of this class live upon animals of one 
 kind or another. The long-billed birds suck 
 up worms and insects from the bottom ; those 
 furnished with shorter bills, pick up such 
 insects as lie nearer the surface of the mea- 
 dow, or among the sands on the sea-shore. 
 
 Thus the curlew, the woodcock, and the 
 snipe, are ever seen in plashy brakes, and 
 under covered hedges, assiduously employed 
 in seeking out insects in their worm state ; 
 
 or olive brown, elegant marked on the edge of each fea- 
 ther with small roundish white spots: the quills are 
 without spots, and are of a darker brown: the secondaries 
 and tertials are very long : the insides of the wings are 
 dusky, edged with white gray; and the inside coverts 
 next the body are curiously barred, from the shaft of each 
 feather to the edge, with narrow white lines, formed 
 nearly of the shape of two sides of a triangle. The belly, 
 vent, tail coverts, and tail, are white ; the last broadly 
 barred with black, the middle feathers having four bars, 
 and those next to them decreasing in the number of 
 bars towards the outside feathers, which are quite plain: 
 the legs are green. 
 
 The Dunlin (see Plate XIX. fig. 14.) This is the 
 size of a jack snipe. The upper parts of the plumage 
 are ferruginous, marked with large spots of black and a 
 little white; the lower parts are white, with dusky 
 streaks. It is found in all the northern parts of Europe. 
 
 The Lapwing or Peewit. This bird is about the size 
 of a common pigeon, and is covered with very thick 
 plumes, which are black at the roots, but of a different 
 colour on the outward part. The feathers on the belly, 
 thighs, and under the wings, are most of them white as 
 snow ; and the under part on the outside of the wings 
 white, but black lower. It has a great liver divided 
 into two parts; and, as some authors affirm, no gall. 
 Lapwings are found in most parts of Europe, as far 
 northward as Iceland. In the winter they are met with 
 in Persia, and Egypt. Their chief food is worms ; and 
 sometimes they may be seen in flocks nearly covering 
 the low marshy grounds in search of these, which they 
 draw with great dexterity from their holes. When the 
 bird meets with one of these little clusters of pellets, or 
 rolls of earth that are thrown out by the worm's perfora- 
 tions, it first gently removes the mud from the mouth 
 of the hole, then strikes the ground at the side with its 
 foot, and steadily and attentively waits the issue; the 
 reptile, alarmed by the shock, emerges from its retreat, 
 and is instantly seized. These birds make a great noise 
 with their wings when flying; and are called pee-wits, 
 in Scotland and the north of England, from their parti- 
 cular cry. In other parts of the island, they are called 
 green plovers. They remain here the whole year. 
 The female lays two eggs on the dry ground, near some 
 marsh, upon a little bed which it prepares of dry grass. 
 She sits about three weeks ; and the young, are able to 
 
 and it seems, from their fatness, that they 
 find a plentiful supply. Nature, indeed, has 
 furnished them with very convenient instru- 
 ments for procuring their food. Their bills 
 are made sufficiently long for searching ; but 
 still more they are endowed with an exquisite 
 sensibility at the point, for feeling their provi- 
 sion. They are furnished with no less than 
 three pair of nerves, equal almost to the optic 
 nerves in thickness ; which pass from the roof 
 of the mouth, and run along the upper chap 
 to the point. 
 
 Nor are those birds with shorter bills, and 
 destitute of such convenient instruments, with- 
 out a proper provision made for their subsis- 
 tence. The lapwing, the sandpiper, and the 
 redshank, run with surprising rapidity along 
 the surface of the marsh or the sea-shore, 
 quarter their ground with great dexterity, 
 and leave nothing of the insect kind that hap- 
 pens to lie on the surface. These, however, 
 are neither so fat nor so delicate as the former; 
 as they are obliged to toil more for a subsis- 
 
 run two or three days after they are hatched. The follow- 
 ing cut represents a crested or Green Lapwing. 
 
 The Turnstone Is about the size of a thrush ; the 
 bill is nearly an inch long, and turns a little upwards. 
 The head, throat, and belly, are white: the breast black ; 
 and the neck encircled with a black colour. The upper 
 parts of the plumage are of a pale reddish brown. These 
 birds take their name from their method of finding their 
 food, which is by turning up small stones with their bills 
 to get the insects that lurk under them. 
 
 The WTiimbrel (see Plate XIX. fig. 13.) The whim- 
 brel is only about half the size of the curlew, which it 
 very nearly resembles in shape, the colours of its plum- 
 age, and manner of its living. It is about seventeen 
 inches in length, and twenty-nine in breadth ; and weighs 
 about fourteen ounces. The bill is about three inches 
 long; the upper mandible black, the under one pale red. 
 The upper part of the head is black, divided in the 
 middle of the crown by a white line from the brown to 
 the hinder part ; between the bill and the eyes there is 
 a darkish oblong spot ; the sides of the head, the neck, 
 and breast, are of a pale brown, marked with narrow 
 dark streaks pointing downwards ; the belly is of the 
 same colour, but the dark streaks upon it are larger ; 
 about the vent it is quite white ; the lower part of the 
 back is also white. The rump and tail feathers are 
 barred with black and white ; the shafts of the quillg 
 are white, the outer webs totally black, but the inner 
 ones marked with large white spots: the secondary quills 
 are spotted in the same manner on both the inner and 
 outer webs. The legs and feet are of the same shape 
 and colour as those of the curlew. 
 
THE CRANE KIND. 
 
 195 
 
 tence, they are easily satisfied with whatever 
 offers ; and their flesh often contracts a relish 
 of what has been their latest, or their prin- 
 cipal food. 
 
 Most of the birds formerly described, have 
 stated seasons for feeding and rest : the eagle 
 kind prowl by day, and at evening repose ; 
 the owl by night, and keeps unseen in the 
 day- time : but these birds, of the crane kind, 
 seem at all hours employed; they are seldom 
 at rest by day ; and, during the whole night- 
 season, every meadow and marsh resounds 
 with their different calls, to courtship or to 
 food. 
 
 This seems to be the time when they least 
 fear interruption from man ; and though they 
 fly at all times, yet at this season, they ap- 
 pear more assiduously employed, both in pro- 
 viding for their present support, and continu- 
 ing that of posterity. This is usually the 
 season when the insidious fowler steals in 
 upon their occupations, and fills the whole 
 meadow with terror and destruction. 
 
 As all of this kind live entirely in waters, 
 and among watery places, they seem provided 
 by nature with a warmth of constitution to fit 
 them for that cold element. They reside, by 
 choice, in the coldest climates : and as other 
 birds migrate here in our summer, their mi- 
 grations hither are mostly in the winter. 
 Even those that reside among us the whole 
 season, retire in summer to the tops of our 
 bleakest mountains : where they breed, and 
 bring down their young, when the cold 
 weather sets in. 
 
 Most of them, however, migrate, and retire 
 to the polar regions ; as those that remain 
 behind in the mountains, and keep with us 
 during summer, bear no proportion to the 
 quantity which in winter haunt our marshes 
 and low grounds. The snipe sometimes builds 
 here ; and the nest of the curlew is sometimes 
 found in the plashes of our hills ; but the num- 
 ber of these is very small ; and it is most pro- 
 bable that they are only some stragglers who, 
 not having strength or courage sufficient for 
 the general voyage, take up from necessity 
 their habitation here. 
 
 In general, during the summer, this whole 
 class either choose the coldest countries to 
 retire to, or the coldest and the moistest part 
 of ours to breed in. The curlew, the wood- 
 cock, the snipe, the godwit, the gray plover, 
 the green and the long-legged plover, the 
 knot, and the turnstone, are rather the guests 
 than the natives of this island. They visit 
 us in the beginning of winter, and forsake us 
 in the spring. They then retire to the moun- 
 tains of Sweden, Poland, Prussia, and Lap- 
 land, to breed. Our country, during the sum- 
 mer season, becomes uninhabitable to them. 
 The ground parched up by the heat; the 
 
 springs dried away ; and the vermicular in- 
 sects already upon the wing; they have no 
 means of subsisting. Their weak and deli- 
 cately pointed bills are unfit to dig into a 
 resisting soil ; and their prey is departed, 
 though they were able to reach its retreats. 
 Thus, that season when nature is said to teem 
 with life, and to put on her gayest liveries, is 
 to them an interval of sterility and famine. 
 The coldest mountains of the north are then 
 a preferable habitation ; the marshes there 
 are never totally dried up ; and the insects 
 are in such abundance, that both above 
 ground and underneath, the country swarms 
 with them. In such retreats, therefore, these 
 birds would continue always ; but that the 
 frosts, when they set in, have the same effect 
 upon the face of the landscape, as the heats 
 of summer. Every brook is stiffened into 
 ice ; all the earth is congealed into one solid 
 mass ; and the birds are obliged to forsake a 
 region where they can no longer find subsis- 
 tence. 
 
 Such are our visitants. With regard to 
 those which keep with us continually, and 
 breed here, they are neither so delicate in 
 their food, nor perhaps so warm in their con- 
 stitutions. The lapwing, the ruff, the red. 
 shank, the sand-piper, the seapie,the Norfolk 
 plover, and the sea-lark, breed in this coun- 
 try, and for the most part reside here. In 
 summer they frequent such marshes as are 
 not dried up in any part of the year ; the 
 Essex hundreds, and the fens of Lincolnshire. 
 There, in solitudes formed by surrounding 
 marshes, they breed and bring up their young. 
 In winter they come down from their retreats, 
 rendered uninhabitable by the flooding of the 
 waters, and seek their food about our ditches 
 and marshy meadow-grounds. Yet even of 
 this class, all are wanderers upon some occa- 
 sions ; and take wing to the northern cli- 
 mates, to breed and find subsistence. This 
 happens when our summers are peculiarly 
 dry ; and when the fenny countries are not 
 sufficiently watered to defend their retreats. 
 
 But though this be the usual course of na- 
 ture, with respect to these birds, they often 
 break through the general habits of their kind ; 
 and as the lapwing, the ruff, and the sand- 
 piper, are sometimes seen to alter their man- 
 ners, and to migrate from hence, instead of 
 continuing to breed here ; so we often find the 
 wood-cock, the snipe, and the curlew, reside 
 with us during the whole season, and breed 
 their young in different parts of the country. 
 In Case wood, about two miles from Tun- 
 bridge, as Mr Pennant assures us, some wood- 
 cocks are seen to breed annually. The young 
 have been shot there in the beginning of Au- 
 gust ; and were as healthy and vigorous as 
 they are with us in winter, though not so well 
 
196 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 tasted. On the Alps, and other high moun- 
 tains, says Willoughby, the woodcock conti- 
 nues all summer ; I myself have flushed them 
 on the top of Mount Jura, in June and July. 
 The eggs are long, of a pale red colour, and 
 stained with deeper spots arid clouds. The 
 nests of the curlew and the snipe are fre- 
 quently found; and some of these perhaps 
 never entirely leave this island. 
 
 It is thus that the same habits are, in some 
 measure, common to all ; but in nestling, and 
 bringing up their young, one method takes 
 place universally. As they all run and feed 
 upon the ground, so they are all found to nes- 
 tle there. The number of eggs generally to 
 be seen in every nest, is from two to four ; 
 never under, and very seldom exceeding. 
 The nest is made without any art; but the 
 eggs are either laid in some little depression 
 of the earth, or on a few bents and long grass, 
 that scarcely preserve them from the moisture 
 below. Yet such is the heat of the body of 
 these birds, that the time of incubation is 
 shorter than with any other of the same size. 
 The magpie, for instance, takes twenty-one 
 days to hatch its young ; the lapwing takes 
 but fourteen, Whether the animal oil, with 
 which these birds abound, gives them this su- 
 perior warmth, I cannot tell ; but there is no 
 doubt of their quick incubation. 
 
 In their seasons of courtship, they pair as 
 other birds ; but not without violent contests be- 
 tween the males, for the choice of the female. 
 The lapwing and the plover are often seen to 
 fight among themselves : but there is one little 
 bird of this tribe, called the Ruff> that has got 
 
 the epithet of the fighter^ merely from its 
 great perseverance and animosity on these oc- 
 casions. In the beginning of spring, when 
 these birds arrive among our marshes, they 
 are observed to engage with desperate fury 
 against each other : it is then that the fowlers, 
 seeing them intent on mutual destruction, 
 spread their nets over them, and take them in 
 great numbers. Yet even in captivity their 
 animosity still continues : the people that fatten 
 them up for sale, are obliged to shut them up 
 in close dark rooms; for if they let ever so 
 little light in among them, the turbulent pri- 
 soners instantly fall to fighting with each 
 
 other, and never cease till each has killed its 
 antagonist, especially, says Willoughby, if 
 any body stands by. A similar animosity, 
 though in a less degree, prompts all this tribe; 
 but when they have paired, and begun to lay, 
 their contentions are then over. 
 
 The place these birds chiefly choose to 
 breed in, is in some island surrounded with 
 sedgy moors, where men seldom resort ; and 
 in such situations I have often seen the ground 
 so strewed with eggs and nests, that one could 
 scarcely take a step, without treading upon 
 some of them. As soon as a stranger intrudes 
 upon these retreats, the whole colony is up, 
 and a hundred different screams are heard 
 from every quarter. The arts of the lapwing, 
 to allure men or dogs from her nest, are per- 
 fectly amusing. When she perceives the 
 enemy approaching, she never waits till they 
 arrive at her nest, but boldly runs to meet 
 them : when she has come as near them as she 
 dares to venture, she then rises with a loud 
 screaming before them, seeming as if she were 
 just flushed from hatching ; while she is then 
 probably a hundred yards from the nest. 
 Thus she flies with great clamour and an- 
 xiety, whining and screaming around the in- 
 vaders, striking at them with her wings, and 
 fluttering as if she were wounded. To add 
 to the deceit, she appears still more clamo- 
 rous, as more remote from the nest. If 
 she sees them very near, she then seems 
 to be quite unconcerned, and her cries cease, 
 while her terrors are really augmenting. If 
 there be dogs, she flies heavily at a little 
 distance before them, as if maimed; still 
 vociferous and still bold, but never offering to 
 move towards the quarter where her treasure 
 is deposited. The dog pursues, in hopes 
 every moment of seizing the parent, and by 
 this means actually loses the young ; for the 
 cunning bird, when she has thus drawn him 
 off to a proper distance, then puts forth her 
 powers, and leaves her astonished pursuers to 
 gaze at the rapidity of her flight. The eggs 
 of all these birds are highly valued by the 
 luxurious ; they are boiled hard, and thus 
 served up without any further preparation. 
 
 As the young of this class are soon hatched, 
 so, when excluded, they quickly arrive at 
 ! maturity. They run about after the mother 
 as soon as they leave the egg; and being 
 covered with a thick down, want very little 
 of that clutching which all birds of the poultry 
 kind, that follow the mother, indispensably 
 require. They come to their adult state long 
 before winter; and then flock together till 
 the breeding season returns, which for a 
 while dissolves their society. 
 
 As the flesh of almost all these birds is in 
 high estimation, so many methods have been 
 contrived for taking them. That used in 
 
THE WATER-HEN, 
 
 197 
 
 taking the ruff, seems to be most advantage- 
 ous ; and it may not be amiss to describe it. 
 The Ruff, which is the name of the male, the 
 Reeve that of the female, is taken in nets 
 about forty yards long, and seven or eight 
 feet high. These birds are chiefly found in 
 Lincolnshire and the Isle of Ely, where they 
 come about the latter end of April, and dis- 
 appear about Michaelmas. The male of this 
 bird, which is known from all others of the 
 kind by the great length of the feathers round 
 his neck, is yet so various in his plumage, 
 that it is said, no two ruffs were ever seen 
 totally of the same colour. The nets in 
 which these are taken, are supported by 
 sticks, at an angle of near forty-five degrees, 
 and placed either on dry ground, or in very 
 shallow water, not remote from reeds : among 
 these the fowler conceals himself, till the 
 birds, enticed by a stale or stuffed bird, come 
 tinder the nets; he then, by pulling a string, 
 lets them foil, and they are taken ; as are 
 godwits, knots, and gra/ plovers, also in the 
 same manner. When these birds are brought 
 from under the net, they are not killed imme- 
 diately, but fattened for the table, with bread 
 and milk, hemp-seed and sometimes boiled 
 wheat; but if expedition be wanted, sugar is 
 added, which will make them a lump of fat 
 in a fortnight's time. They are kept, as ob- 
 served before, in a dark room ; and judgment 
 is required in taking the proper time for kill- 
 ing them, when they are at the highest pitch 
 of fatness: for if that is neglected, the birds 
 are apt to fall away. They are reckoned a 
 very great delicacy; they sell for two shil- 
 lings, or half-a-crown, a piece ; and are served 
 up to the table with the train, like woodcocks, 
 where we will leave them. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 OF THE WATER-HEN, AND THE COOT. 1 
 
 BEFORE we enter upon water-fowls, pro- 
 perly so called, two or three birds claim our 
 
 1 As bearing some affinity to this genus of birds, we 
 may here notice the Rails, so called from the rattling 
 sound of their cry. These birds, which remain during 
 the day concealed in the grass, seek their food morning 
 and evening in the reeds and plants of marshes and 
 meadows. They fly very far, and walk with great 
 agility. They never join in families and flocks. They 
 raise their neck like hens when they are disturbed, and 
 the young quit the nest immediately after birth, and 
 seize of their own accord the food which is indicated to 
 them by the mother. To the Land-rail or Corn-crake, 
 these remarks are not perhaps applicable in all respects. 
 
 The Water-rail runs along stagnant waters as fast as 
 the corn-crake does over the fields. Sometimes, instead 
 of traversing the water by swimming, it sustains itself 
 
 attention, which seem to form the shade be- 
 tween the web-footed tribe and those of the 
 crane kind. These partake rather of the form 
 than the habits of the crane; and though 
 furnished with long legs and necks, rather 
 swim than wade. They cannot properly be 
 called web-footed ; nor yet are they entirely 
 destitute of membranes, which fringe their 
 toes on each side, and adapt them for swim- 
 ming. The birds in question are, the Water 
 Hen and the Bald- Coot. 
 
 These birds have too near an affinity, not 
 to be ranked in the same description. They 
 are shaped entirely alike, their legs are long, 
 and their thighs partly bare ; their necks are 
 proportionable, their wings short, their bills 
 short and weak, their colour black, their 
 foreheads bald and without feathers, and their 
 habits entirely the same. These, however, 
 naturalists have thought proper to range in 
 different classes, from very slight distinctions 
 in their figure. The water-hen weighs but 
 fifteen ounces; the coot twenty-four. The 
 bald part of the forehead in the coot is black ; 
 in the water-hen it is of a beautiful pink 
 colour. The toes of the water-hen are edged 
 with a straight membrane ; those of the coot 
 have it scolloped and broader. 
 
 The differences in the figure are but 
 slight ; and those in their manner of living 
 still less. The history of the one will serve 
 for both. As birds of the crane kind are fur- 
 nished with long wings, and easily change 
 place, the water-hen, whose wings are short, 
 
 on the broad leaves of aquatic plants. Its food consists 
 of insects, snails, and shrimps. It makes its nest in 
 the midst of plants, by the side of ponds and streams, 
 and the female Jays from six to ten yellowish eggs, 
 marked with spots of reddish-brown. The flesh of this 
 bird has a marshy taste, but is, notwithstanding, in some 
 estimation. 
 
 The Land- rail, or Corn-crake, is in the genus Galli- 
 nule of Latham. In the more southern countries this 
 
 ;^_?^- 
 
 is a bird of passage. It arrives among us and in France 
 about April or May, and disappears in the commence- 
 ment of October. By its short and sharp cry, crik, crik, 
 we recognize its return. On approaching the quarter 
 whence this cry proceeds, the sound is not discontinued, 
 but heard a little farther on, which is occasioned by the 
 bird, which can fly away but with difficulty, running 
 with extreme swiftness through the tufted grass. In 
 consequence of the coincidence between the return and 
 departure of the quails and this bird, the latter has been 
 sometimes deemed the conductor of the former. These 
 birds are insectivorous when young, but the adult add 
 grains, &c. of various kinds to this aliment. 
 
198 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 is obliged to reside entirely near fhose places 
 where her food lies : she cannot take those 
 long journeys that most of the crane kind 
 are seen to perform ; compelled by her na- 
 tural imperfections, as well perhaps as by 
 inclination, she never leaves the side of the 
 pond or the river in which she seeks for pro- 
 vision. Where the stream is selvaged with 
 sedges, or the pond edged with shrubby trees, 
 the water-hen is generally a resident there: 
 she seeks her food along the grassy banks, 
 and often along the surface of the water. 
 With Shakspeare's Edgar, she drinks the 
 green mantle of the standing pool ; or, at 
 least seems to prefer those places where it is 
 seen. Whether she makes pond-weed her 
 food, or hunts among it for water-insects, 
 which are found there in great abundance, is 
 not certain. I have seen them when pond- 
 weed was taken out of their stomach. She 
 builds her nest upon low trees and shrubs, of 
 sticks and fibres, by the water-side. Her 
 eggs are sharp at one end, white, with a tinc- 
 ture of green, spotted with red. She lays 
 twice or thrice in a summer; her young ones 
 swim the moment they leave the egg, pursue 
 their parent, and imitate all her manners. 
 She rears, in this manner, two or three 
 broods in a season : and when the young are 
 grown up, she drives them off to shift for 
 themselves. 
 
 As the Coot is a larger bird, it is always 
 seen in larger streams, and more remote from 
 
 mankind. The water-hen seems to prefer 
 inhabited situations: she keeps near ponds, 
 moats, and pools of water near gentlemen's 
 houses; but the coot keeps in rivers, and 
 among rushy margined lakes. It there makes 
 a nest of such weeds as the stream supplies, 
 and lays them among the reeds, floating on 
 the surface, and rising and falling with the 
 water. The reeds among which it is built 
 keep it fast; so that it is seldom washed into 
 the middle of the stream. But if this hap- 
 pens, which is sometimes the case, the bird 
 sits in her nest, like a mariner in his boat, 
 and steers with her legs her cargo into the 
 nearest harbour: there, having attained her 
 port, she continues to sit in great tran- 
 quillity, regardless of the impetuosity of the 
 
 current; and though the water penetrates 
 her nest, she hatches her eggs in that wet 
 condition. 
 
 The water-hen never wanders; but the coot 
 sometimes swims down the current, till it 
 even reaches the sea. In this voyage these 
 birds encounter a thousand dangers : as they 
 cannot fly far, they are hunted by dogs and 
 men; as they never leave the stream, they 
 are attacked and destroyed by otters; they 
 are preyed upon by kites and falcons; and 
 they are taken in still greater numbers in 
 weirs made for catching fish ; for these birds 
 are led into the nets, while pursuing small 
 fish and insects, which are their principal 
 food. Thus animated nature affords a picture 
 of universal invasion ! Man destroys the otter, 
 the otter destroys the coot, the coot feeds upon 
 fish, and fish are universally the tyrants of 
 each other '. 
 
 To these birds, with long legs and finny 
 toes, I will add one species more, with short 
 legs and finny toes ; I mean the Grebe. The 
 entire resemblance of this bird's appetites and 
 manners to those of the web- footed class, 
 might justly induce me to rank it among 
 them ; but as it resembles those above des- 
 cribed, in the peculiar form of its toes, and 
 bears some similitude in its manners also, I 
 will for once sacrifice method to brevity. The 
 grebe is much larger than either of the former, 
 and its plumage white and black ; it differs 
 also entirely in the shortness of its legs, 
 which are made for swimming, and not walk- 
 ing : in fact, they are from the knee upward 
 hid in the belly of the bird, and have conse- 
 quently very little motion. By this mark, 
 and by the scolloped fringe of the toes, may 
 this bird be easily distinguished from all 
 other. 
 
 As they are thus, from the shortness of 
 their wings, ill formed for flying, and from 
 the uncommon shortness of their legs utterly 
 unfitted for walking, they seldom leave the 
 water, and chiefly frequent those broad shal- 
 low pools where their faculty of swimming 
 can be turned to the greatest advantage, in 
 fishing and seeking their prey. 
 
 They are chiefly, in this country, seen to 
 frequent the meres of Shropshire and Che- 
 shire ; where they breed among reeds and 
 flags, in a floating nest, kept steady by the 
 weeds of the margin. The female is said to 
 be a careful nurse of her young, being ob- 
 served to feed them most assiduously with 
 small eels; and when the little brood is tired, 
 the mother will carry them either on her back 
 or under her wings. This bird preys upon 
 fish, and is always perpetually diving. It 
 does not show much more than the head above 
 water ; and is very difficult to be shot, as it 
 darts down on the appearance of the least 
 
THE WATER-HEN. 
 
 199 
 
 danger. It is never seen on land ; and, 
 though disturbed ever so often, will not leave 
 that lake, where alone, by diving and swim- 
 ing, it can find food and security. It is 
 chiefly sought for the skin of its breast, the 
 plumage of which is of a most beautiful 
 
 silvery white, and as glossy as satin. This 
 part is made into tippets ; but the skins are 
 out of season about February, losing their 
 bright colour ; and in breeding-time their 
 breasts are entirely bare. 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 OF WATER-FOWL. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 WATER-FOWL IN GENERAL. 
 
 IN settling the distinctions among the other 
 classes of birds, tliere was some difficulty ; one 
 tribe encroached so nearly upon the nature 
 and habitudes of another, that it was not easy 
 to draw the line which kept them asunder : 
 but in water-fowl, nature has marked them 
 for us by a variety of indelible characters ; so 
 that it would be almost as unlikely to mistake 
 a land-fowl for one adapted for living and 
 swimming among the waters, as a fish for a 
 bird. 
 
 The first great distinction in this class ap- 
 pears in the toes, which are webbed together 
 for swimming. Those who have remarked 
 the feet or toes of a duck, will easily conceive 
 how admirably they are formed for making 
 way in the water. When men swim, they 
 do not open the fingers, so as to let the fluid 
 pass through them ; but closing them toge- 
 ther, present one broad surface to beat back 
 the water, and thus push their bodies along. 
 What man performs by art, nature has sup- 
 plied to water-fowl; and, by broad skins, has 
 webbed their toes together, so that they ex- 
 pand two broad oars to the water ; and thus, 
 moving them alternately, with the greatest 
 ease paddle along. We must observe also, that 
 the toes are so contrived, that as they strike 
 backward, their broadest hollow surface beats 
 the water; but as they gather them in again, 
 for a second blow, their front surface con- 
 tracts, and does not impede the bird's progres- 
 sive motion. 
 
 As their toes are webbed in the most con- 
 venient manner, so are their legs also made 
 most fitly for swift progression in the water. 
 The legs of all are short, except the three 
 birds described in a former chapter ; namely, 
 
 the flamingo, the avosetta, and the corrira : all 
 which, for that reason, I have thought proper 
 to rank among the crane kind, as they make 
 little use of their toes in swimming. Except 
 these, all web-footed birds have very short 
 legs ; and these strike, while they swim, with 
 great facility. Were the leg long, it would 
 act like a lever whose prop is placed to a dis- 
 advantage; its motions would be slow, and 
 the labour of moving it considerable. For 
 this reason, the very few birds whose webbed 
 feet are long, never make use of them in 
 swimming : the web at the bottom seems only 
 of service as a broad base, to prevent them 
 from sinking while they walk in the mud ; 
 but it otherwise rather retards than advances 
 their motion. 
 
 The shortness of their legs in the web-footed 
 kinds, renders them as unfit for walking on 
 land, as it qualifies them for swimming in 
 their natural element. Their stay, therefore, 
 upon land, is but short and transitory ; and 
 they seldom venture to breed far from the 
 sides of those waters where they usually re- 
 main. In their breeding seasons, their young 
 are brought up by the water-side ; and they 
 are covered with a warm down, to fit them for 
 the coldness of their situation. The old ones, 
 also, have a closer, warmer plumage, than 
 birds of any other class. It is of their feath- 
 ers that our beds are composed ; as they nei- 
 ther mat, nor imbibe humidity, but are fur- 
 nished with an animal-oil that glazes their 
 surface, and keeps each other separate. In 
 some, however, this animal-oil is in too great 
 abundance, and is as offensive from its smell, 
 as it is serviceable for the purposes of house- 
 hold economy. The feathers, therefore, of all 
 the penguin kind are totally useless for do- 
 mestic purposes ; as neither boiling nor bleach- 
 ing can divest them of their oily rancidity, 
 Indeed, the rancidity of all new feathers, of 
 
THE PELICAN. 
 
 201 
 
 whatever water-fowl they be, is so disgusting, 
 that our upholsterers give near double the 
 price for old feathers that they afford for new : 
 to be free from smell, they must all be lain 
 upon for some time ; and their usual method 
 is to mix the new and the old together. 
 
 This quantity of oil, with which most 
 water-fowl are supplied, contributes also to 
 their warmth in the moist element where they 
 reside. Their skin is generally lined with 
 fat ; so that, with the warmth of the feathers 
 externally, and this natural lining more in- 
 ternally, they are better defended against the 
 changes or the inclemencies of the weather, 
 than any other class whatever. 
 
 As, among land-birds, there are some found 
 fitted entirely for depredation, and others for 
 a harmless method of subsisting upon vegeta- 
 bles, so also, among these birds, there are 
 tribes of plunderers that prey, not only upon 
 fish, but sometimes upon water-fowl them- 
 selves. There are likewise more inoffensive 
 tribes, that live upon insects and vegetables 
 only. Some water-fowls subsist by making 
 sudden stoops from above, to seize whatever 
 fish come near the surface ; others again, not 
 furnished with wings long enough to fit them 
 for flight, take their prey by diving after it 
 to the bottom. 
 
 From hence all water-fowl naturally fall 
 into three distinctions. Those of the Gull 
 kind, that, with long legs and round bills, fly 
 along the surface to seize their prey : those of 
 the Penguin kind, that, with round bills, legs 
 hid in the abdomen, and short wings, dive 
 after their prey : and, thirdly, those of the 
 Goose kind, with flat broad bills, that lead 
 harmless lives, and chiefly subsist upon in- 
 sects and vegetables. 
 
 These are not speculative distinctions, made 
 up for the arrangement of a system ; but they 
 are strongly and evidently marked by nature. 
 The gull kind are active and rapacious ; con- 
 stantly, except when they breed, keeping upon 
 the wing ; fitted for a life of rapine, with 
 sharp straight bills for piercing, or hooked at 
 the end for holding their fishy prey. In this 
 class we may rank the Albatross, the Cormo- 
 rant, the Gannet or Solan Goose, the Shag, 
 the Frigate-bird, the Great Brown Gull, and 
 all the lesser tribe of gulls and sea-swallows. 
 
 The Penguin kind, with appetites as vora- 
 cious, bills as sharp, and equally eager for 
 prey, are yet unqualified to obtain it by flight. 
 Their wings are short, and their bodies large 
 and heavy, so that they can neither run nor 
 fly. But they are formed for diving in a very 
 peculiar manner. Their feet are placed so far 
 backward, and their legs so hid in the abdo- 
 men, that the slightest stroke sends them head 
 foremost to the bottom of the water. To this 
 class we may refer the Penguin, the Auk, 
 
 VOL II. 
 
 the Skout, the Sea-turtle, the Bottlenose, and 
 the Loon. 
 
 The Goose kind are easily distinguishable, 
 by their flat broad bills covered with a skin, 
 and their manner of feeding, which is mostly 
 upon vegetables. In this class we may place 
 the Swan, the Goose, the Duck, the Teal, the 
 Widgeon, and all their numerous varieties. 
 
 In describing the birds of these three clas- 
 ses, I will put the most remarkable of each 
 class at the beginning of their respective tribes, 
 and give their separate history ; then, after 
 having described the chiefs of the tribe, the 
 more ordinary sorts will naturally fall in a 
 body, and come under a general description, 
 behind their leaders. But before I offer to 
 pursue this methodical arrangement, I must 
 give the history of a bird, that, from the sin- 
 gularity of its conformation, seems allied to no 
 species ; and should, therefore, be separately 
 described I mean the Pelican. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THE PELICAN. 
 
 THE Pelican of Africa is much larger in 
 the body than a swan, and somewhat of the 
 same shape and colour. Its four toes are all 
 webbed together; and its neck, in some mea- 
 sure, resembles that of a swan : but that sin- 
 gularity in which it differs from all other birds 
 is in the bill and the great pouch underneath, 
 which are wonderful, and demand a distinct 
 description. 1 This enormous bill is fifteen 
 
 1 The Pelican is one of the largest water-birds, consi- 
 derably exceeding the size of the swan, and frequently 
 measuring from five to six feet between the extremity of 
 the bill and that of the tail, and from ten to twelve be- 
 tween the tips of the expanded wings. Its bill is nearly 
 a foot and a half in length, and from an inch and a half 
 to two inches broad; and its pouch is capable of contain- 
 ing, when stretched to its utmost extent, two or three 
 gallons of water. The quantity of fish which it some- 
 times accumulates in the same serviceable repository is 
 spoken of as enormous. Notwithstanding their great 
 2c 
 
202 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 inches from the point to the opening of the 
 mouth, which is a good way back behind the 
 eyes. At the base, the bill is somewhat 
 greenish, but varies towards the end, being of 
 a reddish-blue. It is very thick in the be- 
 ginning, but tapers off to the end, where it 
 hooks downwards. The under chap is still 
 more extraordinary; for to the lower edges of 
 it hangs a bag, reaching the whole length of 
 the bill to the neck, which is said to be capa- 
 ble of containing fifteen quarts of water. This 
 bag the bird has a power of wrinkling up into 
 the hollow of the under-chap : but by opening 
 the bill, and putting one's hand down into the 
 bag, it may be distended at pleasure. The 
 skin of which it is formed will then be seen 
 of a bluish ash-colour, with many fibres and 
 veins running over its surface. It is not co- 
 vered with feathers, but a short downy sub- 
 stance, as smooth and as soft as satin, and is 
 attached all along the under edges of the chap, 
 to be fixed backward to the neck of the bird 
 by proper ligaments, and reaches near half 
 way down. When this bag is empty it is 
 not seen ; but when the bird has fished with 
 success, it is then incredible to what an extent 
 it is often seen dilated. For the first thing 
 the pelican does in fishing is to fill up the 
 bag ; and then it returns to digest its burden 
 at leisure. When the bill is open to its 
 widest extent, a person may run his head into 
 the bird's mouth, and conceal it in this mon- 
 strous pouch, thus adapted for very singular 
 purposes. Yet this is nothing to what Ruysch 
 assures us, who avers, that a man has been 
 seen to hide his whole leg, boot and all, in the 
 monstrous jaws of one of these animals. At 
 first appearance this would seem impossible, 
 as the sides of the under chap, from which the 
 bag depends, are not above an inch asunder 
 when the bird's bill is first opened ; but then 
 they are capable of great separation ; and it 
 must necessarily be so, as the bird preys upon 
 the largest fishes, and hides them by dozens 
 in its pouch. Tertre affirms, that it will hide 
 
 bulk and apparent clumsiness, the large extent of their 
 wings, and the extreme lightness of their bones, which 
 are so thin as to be almost transparent, enable these birds 
 to rise to a lofty pitch in the air, to hover at a moderate 
 elevation, or to skim rapidly along the surface of the 
 water with as much facility as they dive into its depths 
 in pursuit of their prey. They sometimes assemble in 
 large numbers, and in this case are said by Buffon to 
 act in concert, and to show no little skill in manoeuvring 
 with the view of securing a plentiful quarry, forming 
 themselves into a circular line, and gradually narrowin* 
 the extent of the space enclosed, until they have driven 
 the fishes into so small a compass as to render them a 
 certain proy ; when at a given signal they all at once 
 plunge into the water and seize upon their terrified vic- 
 tims, filling their pouches with the spoil, and flying to 
 the land, there to devour it at their leisure. This fish- 
 iry is carried on both at sea and in fresh water. 
 
 as many fish as will serve sixty hungry men 
 for a meal. 
 
 Such is the formation of this extraordinary 
 bird, which is a native of Africa and Ameri- 
 ca. The pelican was once also known in Eu- 
 rope, particularly in Russia ; but it seems to 
 have deserted our coasts. This is the bird 
 of which so many fabulous accounts have been 
 propagated; such as its feeding its young 
 with its own blood, and its carrying a provi- 
 sion of water for them in its great reservoir in 
 the desert. But the absurdity of the first ac- 
 count answers itself; and as for the latter, the 
 pelican uses its bag for very different purpo- 
 ses than that of filling it with water. 
 
 Its amazing pouch may be considered as 
 analogous to the crop in other birds, with this 
 difference, that as theirs lies at the bottom of 
 the gullet, so this is placed at the top. Thus, 
 as pigeons and other birds macerate their food 
 for their young in their crops, and then supply 
 them, so the pelican supplies its young by a 
 more ready contrivance, and macerates their 
 food in its bill, or stores it for its own particu- 
 lar sustenance. 
 
 The ancients were particularly fond of giv- 
 ing this bird admirable qualities and parental 
 affections ; struck, perhaps, with its extraordi- 
 nary figure, they were willing to supply it 
 with as extraordinary appetites ; and bav.ng 
 found it with a large reservoir, they were 
 pleased with turning it to the most tender and 
 parental uses. But the truth is, the pelican 
 is a very heavy, sluggish, voracious bird, and 
 very ill fitted to take those flights, or to make 
 those cautious provisions for a distant time, 
 which we have been told they do. Father 
 Labat, who seems to have studied their man- 
 ners with great exactness, has given us a mi- 
 nute history of this bird, as found in America; 
 and from him I will borrow mine. 
 
 The pelican, says Labat, has strong wings, 
 furnished with thick plumage of an ash-co- 
 lour, as are the rest of the feathers over the 
 whole body. Its eyes are very small when 
 compared to the size of its head ; there is a 
 sadness in its countenance, and its whole air 
 is melancholy. It is as dull and reluctant in 
 its motions, as the flamingo is sprightly and 
 active. It is slow of flight; and when it rises 
 to fly, performs it with difficulty and labour. 
 Nothing, as it would seem, but the spur of 
 necessity could make these birds change their 
 situation, or induce them to ascend into the 
 air ; but they must either starve or fly. 
 
 They are torpid and inactive to the last de- 
 gree, so that nothing can exceed their indol- 
 ence but their gluttony ; it is only from the 
 stimulations of hunger that they are excited to 
 labour ; for otherwise they would continue al- 
 ways in fixed repose. When they have raised 
 themselves about thirty or forty feet above the 
 
THE PELICAN. 
 
 203 
 
 surface of the sea, they turn their head with 
 one eye downwards, and continue to fly in 
 that posture. As soon as they perceive a lish 
 sufficiently near the surface, they dart down 
 upon it with the swiftness of an arrow, seize it 
 with unerring- certainty, and store it up in 
 their pouch. They then rise again, though 
 not without great labour, and continue hover- 
 ing and fishing, with their head on one side 
 as before. 
 
 This work they continue with great effort 
 and industry till their bag is full, and then 
 they fly to land to devour and digest at 
 leisure the fruits of their industry. This, 
 however, it would appear, they are not long 
 in performing ; for towards night they have 
 another hungry call, and they again reluc- 
 tantly go to labour. At night, when their 
 fishing is over, and the toil of the day 
 crowned with success, these lazy birds retire 
 a little way from the shore ; and, though with 
 the webbed feet and clumsy figure of a goose, 
 they will be contented to perch no where but 
 upon trees, among the light and airy tenants 
 of the forest. There they take their repose 
 for the night ; and often spend a great part of 
 the day, except such times as they are fish- 
 ing, sitting in dismal solemnity, and, as it 
 would seem, half asleep. Their attitude is, 
 with the head resting upon their great bag, 
 and that resting upon their breast. There 
 they remain without motion, or once chang- 
 ing their situation, till the calls of hunger 
 break their repose, and till they find it indis- 
 pensably necessary to fill their magazine for 
 a fresh meal. Thus their life is spent be- 
 tween sleeping and eating ; and our author 
 adds, that they are as foul as they are vora- 
 cious, as they are every moment voiding ex- 
 crements in heaps as large as one's fist. 
 
 The same indolent habits seern to attend 
 them even in preparing for incubation, and 
 defending their young when excluded. The 
 female makes no preparation for her nest, nor 
 seems to choose any place in preference to lay 
 in ; but drops her eggs on the bare ground to 
 the number of five or six, and there continues 
 to hatch them. Attached to the place, with- 
 out any desire of defending her eggs or her 
 young, she tamely sits, and suffers them to be 
 taken from tinder her. Now and then she 
 just ventures to peck, or to cry out when a 
 person offers to beat her off. 
 
 She feeds her young with fish macerated 
 for some time in her bag ; and when they 
 cry, flies off for a new supply. Labat tells 
 us, that he took two of these when very young, 
 and tied them by the leg to a post stuck into 
 the ground, where he had the pleasure of 
 seeing the old one for several days come to 
 feed them, remaining with them the greatest 
 part of the day, and spending the night on 
 
 the branch of a tree that hung over them. 
 By these means they were all three become 
 so familiar, that they suffered themselves to 
 be handled ; and the young ones very kindly 
 accepted whatever fish he offered them. These 
 they always put first into their bag, and then 
 swallowed at their leisure. 
 
 It seems, however, that they are but disagree- 
 able and useless domestics ; their gluttony can 
 scarcely be satisfied ; their flesh smells very 
 rancid; and tastes a thousand times worse 
 than it smells. The native Americans kill 
 vast numbers ; not to eat, for they are not fit 
 even for the banquet of a savage ; but to con- 
 vert their large bags into purses and tobacco 
 pouches. They bestow no small pains in 
 dressing the skin with salt and ashes, rubbing 
 it well with oil, and then forming it to their 
 purpose. It thus becomes so soft and pliant, 
 that the Spanish women sometimes adorn 
 it with gold and embroidery to make work- 
 bags of. 
 
 Yet with all the seeming habitudes of this 
 bird, it is not entirely incapable of instruction 
 in a domestic state. Father Raymond assures 
 us, that he has seen one so tame and well edu- 
 cated among the native Americans, that it 
 would go off in the morning at the word of 
 command, and return before night to its 
 master, with its great pouch distended with 
 plunder ; a part of which the savages would 
 make it disgorge, and a part they would per- 
 mit it to reserve for itself. 
 
 " The pelican," as Faber relates, "is not^ 
 destitute of other qualifications. One of 
 these which was brought alive to the duke of 
 Bavaria's court, where it lived forty years, 
 seemed to be possessed of very uncommon 
 sensations. It was much delighted in the 
 company and conversation of men, and in 
 music both vocal and instrumental : for it 
 would willingly stand," says he, " by those 
 that sung, or sounded the trumpet ; and 
 stretching out its head, and turning its ear to 
 the music, listened very attentively to its 
 harmony ; though its own voice was little 
 pleasanter than the braying of an ass." Ges- 
 ner tells us, that the emperor Maximilian had 
 a tame pelican, which lived for above eighty 
 years, and that always attended his army on 
 their march. It was one of the largest of the 
 kind, and had a daily allowance by the 
 emperor's orders. As another proof of the 
 great age to which the pelican lives, Aldro- 
 vandus makes mention of one of these birds 
 that was kept several years at Mechlin, 
 which was verily believed to be fifty years 
 old. We often see these birds at our shows / 
 about town. 
 
204 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE ALBATROSS, THE FLRST OF THE 
 GULL KIND. 1 
 
 THOUGH this is one of the largest and most 
 formidable birds of Africa and America, yet 
 we have but few accounts to enlighten us in 
 its history. The figure of the bird is thus de- 
 
 1 The ocean has its own peculiar birds as well as the 
 land. Compelled to traverse incessantly its solitudes to 
 obtain their subsistence, they are endowed with a won- 
 derful power of flight, so that in a few hours they are 
 able to cross immense distances, and to betake them- 
 selves to those places to which their instinct directs them. 
 Among these numerous tribes there exist distinctions 
 of manners as decided as the physical characters by 
 which they are classified ; and this induces us to give 
 the name of birds of the ocean (mseaiuc pelagiens), pro- 
 perly so called, to the petrels and the albatrosses. The 
 former are found in every sea, under every meridian, 
 and in almost every latitude. Except the short time 
 which they devote to rearing their young, all the rest of 
 their life is occupied in traversing the ocean, and 
 laboriously seeking, in the midst of storms, a scanty 
 sustenance, almost as soon digested as procured ; which 
 seems to place them under subjection to a single duty, 
 that of obtaining nourishment. 
 
 Boobies (Sula JBassana), noddies (Sterna), men of 
 war birds (Pelecanus Aquilus, L.), and tropic birds 
 (Phaeton erubescens) although they occasionally take 
 long flights over the sea, do not deserve the name of 
 birds of the ocean : they simply make excursions ; and 
 preferring their lonely cliffs to the rocking of the waves, 
 they generally return to them every evening. 
 
 The discrimination of the several species of albatross 
 has become a matter of great difficulty, from the many 
 different names that successive travellers have bestowed 
 upon them, and from the difference between the sexes, 
 as well as from the change which takes place in the 
 same individual at different ages and at different seasons 
 of the year. 
 
 The greatest number of albatrosses are met with 
 between the 55th and 59th parallel of latitude; and 
 probably in that direction they may have no boundary 
 but the polar ice. Although they are to be met with 
 over the whole of this va-t space, there are some places 
 for which they have a preference, and in which they 
 are found in greater numbers than elsewhere. They 
 are most abundant about the Cape of Good Hope and 
 about Cape Horn, and both these places are well known 
 to be almost constantly the scenes of very violent storms. 
 The petrels are more numerous, and more widely dif- 
 fused, since they are to be met with from pole to pole, 
 and they vary very much in size. The albatross is 
 distinguishable by its great size ; but one species of the 
 petrel (Procellaria gigantea) is nearly as large, while 
 another species is as different from this as a sparrow 
 from a goo^e. 
 
 It is certain that fish do serve for food to the albatross 
 and petrel, although they were never seen pursuing the 
 flying-fish, which are said to fall a prey to them when 
 they leave the deep, and, betaking themselves to their 
 wings to avoid the enemy in the water, only encounter 
 e new danger in the albatross; nor were any remains, 
 either of these or of the mollusca which, as it were, 
 cover these seas, and would alone be sufficient to satisfy 
 one of these birds for a whole day ever found in their 
 stomachs. \Ve have seen them surrounded with sea- 
 blubbers, physalia-, Salpje, &<., but these afforded them 
 ot> nourishment; they invariably sought other food. 1 
 
 scribed by Edwards : " The body is rather 
 larger than that of a pelican ; and its wings, 
 when extended, ten feet from tip to tip. The 
 bill, which is six inches long, is yellowish, 
 and terminates in a crooked point. The top 
 of the head is of a bright brown ; the back is 
 of a dirty deep spotted brown ; and the belly 
 and under the wings is white ; the toes, 
 which are webbed, are of a flesh colour." 
 Such are the principal traits in this bird's 
 
 This was not the case with cuttlefish and calmar?, 
 fragments of which were constantly found in their 
 stomachs. 
 
 One circumstance which could not escape notice 
 during our long voyages, is the habit we should almost 
 say the necessity which these birds are under of fre- 
 quenting rough seas. The tempest itself does not 
 alarm them; and when the wind is blowing most 
 furiously, they may be seen wheeling about without 
 appearing at all affected by it. When, on the other 
 hand, the face of the ocean is smoothed by a calm, they 
 fly to other regions, again to appear with the return of 
 winds and storms. No doubt the reason of this is, that 
 the agitation of the waves brings to their surface those 
 marine animals which serve for food to these birds. It 
 is from the same reason that they keep near the eddying 
 and disturbance occasioned by the passing of a vessel 
 through the water. This design was clearly demon- 
 strated to us when approaching the Cape of Good Hope. 
 We were accompanied by a great number of small 
 petrels, of the size of kingfishers, who were busy skim- 
 ming the surface of the water in a line of exactly the 
 width of our track. None were to be seen anywhere 
 else. We took great care that nothing should be 
 thrown from the corvette, and yet we saw them every 
 instant darting their bills into the water to seize some 
 object which we were unable to distinguish. 
 
 The duration, the rapidity, the strength, and the 
 manner of flight of these birds in general, has been a 
 subject of study and astonishment to us. Their agility 
 in casting themselves, like a harpoon, on their prey, in 
 raising it with their beak, their activity in striking the 
 backs of the waves with their foot, or in traversing their 
 long unsteady ridges, were sometimes the only spec- 
 tacle which the solitudes of the ocean had to offer to us. 
 
 One of the peculiar characters of these palmipedes 
 (web- footed birds) is, that their flight is effected almost 
 entirely by sailing as it were through the air. If they 
 do sometimes flap their wings, it is in order to raise 
 themselves more quickly; but such instances are rare. 
 In the albatross, which was principally remarked upon, 
 both from its great size and from its approaching nearer 
 to the ships, it was observed that their long wings were 
 concave underneath, and that they did not show any 
 apparent vibration in whatever position the bird might 
 be ; whether when skimming the surface of the wave 
 they regulated their flight by its undulations, or when 
 rising into the air they described wide circles around 
 the vessel. 
 
 Land birds of prey who fly in this way without mov- 
 ing their wings, are generally descending towards the 
 earth when they adopt this mode of flight ; while the 
 petrel and the albatross easily raise themselves up into 
 the air, turn quickly round by means of their tail, and 
 go on in the face of the highest wind without their pro- 
 gress appearing to be at all diminished by its force, and 
 without any apparent motion being imparted to their 
 wings. But still we must admit that some impulse is 
 given to the air which sustains them although we can- 
 not perceive it, it is true, since it probably is exerted at 
 the end of very long levers (at the extremities of their 
 wings); for, otherwise, we cannot conceive how the pro- 
 
THE ALBATROSS. 
 
 205 
 
 figure : but these lead us a very short way 
 in its history; and our naturalists have thought 
 fit to say nothing more. However, I am apt 
 to believe this bird to be the same with that 
 described by Wicquefort, under the title of 
 the Alcatraz; its size, its colours, and its 
 prey, incline me to think so. He describes 
 it as a kind of great gull, as large in the 
 body as a goose, of a brown colour, with a 
 long bill, and living upon fish, of which they 
 kill great numbers. 
 
 This bird is an inhabitant of the tropical 
 climates, and also beyond them as far as the 
 Straits of Magellan in the South seas. It is 
 one of the most fierce and formidable of the 
 aquatic tribe, not only living upon fish, but 
 also such small water-fowl as it can take by 
 surprise. It preys, as all the gull kind do, 
 upon the wing ; and chiefly pursues the 
 flying-fish, that are forced from the sea by the 
 dolphins. The ocean in that part of the 
 world presents a very different appearance 
 from the seas with which we are surrounded. 
 In our seas we see nothing but a dreary 
 expanse, ruffled by winds, and seeming for- 
 saken by every class of animated nature. 
 But the tropical seas, and the distant southern 
 latitudes beyond them, are all alive with birds 
 and fishes, pursuing and pursued. Every 
 various species of the gull kind are there seen 
 hovering on the wing, at a thousand miles' dis- 
 tance from the shore. The flying fish are every 
 moment rising to escape from their pursuers 
 of the deep, only to encounter equal dangers 
 in the air. Just as they rise the dolphin is 
 seen to dart after them, but generally in vain ; 
 the gull has more frequent success, and often 
 takes them at their rise ; while the albatross 
 pursues the gull, and obliges it to relinquish 
 
 gressive motion of the animal is accomplished. The 
 exceedingly long wings which many of these birds pos- 
 sess, spoil the beauty of their figure when closed, as 
 they produce a thickness in the posterior part of the 
 body. It is when flying that they display themselves 
 to the greatest advantage; and they are endowed with 
 a wonderful strength to enable them to perform their 
 flights. When in 59 south latitude, where there is 
 scarcely any night as long as the sun is under the tropic 
 of Capricorn, we have seen the same petrels sailing on 
 the wing several days together without interruption. 
 The petrels do not dive after their food, but if it lies 
 only at a certain depth, they endeavour to seize it by 
 forcing part of their body under water. 
 
 From what has been said, it appears, that the mere 
 presence of these birds is not a sure sign of the approach 
 of land. 
 
 With respect to the incubation of these pelagic birds, 
 the French naturalists observe that the petrels flock in 
 immense numbers to the " Isles Malouines," along the 
 shores of which their eggs are deposited in such abun- 
 dance as to be a source of subsistence to the seamen 
 employed in the seal-fishery. They were also informed 
 that these birds arrange their eggs with much order, 
 and, living as it were in a republic, exercise by turns 
 the function of incubation in this kind of temporary 
 establishment. Zoological Magazine. 
 
 its prey ; so that the whole horizon presents 
 but one living picture of rapacity and eva- 
 sion. 
 
 So much is certain ; but how far we are (o 
 credit Wicquefort, in what he adds concern- 
 ing this bird, the reader is left to determine. 
 " As these birds, except when they breed, 
 live entirely remote from land, so they are 
 often seen, as it should seem, sleeping in the 
 air. At night, when they are pressed by 
 slumber, they rise into the clouds as high as 
 they can ; there, putting their head under one 
 wing, they beat the air with the other, and 
 seem to take their ease. After a time, how- 
 ever, the weight of their bodies, only thus 
 half supported, brings them down ; and they 
 are seen descending, with a pretty rapid 
 motion, to the surface of the sea. Upon this 
 they again put forth their efforts to rise ; and 
 thus alternately ascend and descend at their 
 ease. But it sometimes happens," says my 
 author, " that in these slumbering flights, 
 they are off their guard, and fall upon deck, 
 where they are taken." 
 
 What truth there may be in this account I 
 will not take upon me to determine : but 
 certain it is, that few birds float upon the air 
 with more ease than the albatross, or support 
 themselves a longer time in that element. 
 They seem never to feel the accesses of 
 fatigue ; but night and day upon the wing, 
 are always prowling, yet always emaciated 
 and hungry. 
 
 But though this bird be one of the most 
 formidable tyrants of the deep, there are some 
 associations which even tyrants themselves 
 form, to which they are induced either by 
 caprice or necessity. The albatross seems to 
 have a peculiar affection for the penguin, and 
 a pleasure in its society. They are always 
 seen to choose the same places for breeding ; 
 some distant uninhabited island, where the 
 ground slants to the sea, as the penguin is 
 not formed either for flying or climbing. In 
 such places their nests are seen together, as if 
 they stood in need of mutual assistance and 
 protection. Captain Hunt, who for some time 
 commanded at our settlement upon Falk- 
 land islands, assures me, that he was often 
 amazed at the union preserved between these 
 birds, and the regularity with which they 
 built together. In that bleak and desolate 
 spot, where the birds had long continued un- 
 disturbed possessors, and no way dreaded the 
 encroachment of men, they seemed to make 
 their abode as comfortable as they expected it 
 to be lasting. They were seen to build with 
 an amazing degree of uniformity; their nests 
 covering fields by thousands, and resembling 
 a regular plantation. In the middle, on high, 
 the albatross raised its nest, on heath, sticks, 
 and long grass, about two feet above the sur- 
 
206 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 face: round this the penguins made their 
 lower settlement, rather in holes in the 
 ground, and most usually eight penguins to 
 one albatross. Nothing is a stronger proof of 
 Mr Buffon's fine observation, that the presence 
 of man not only destroys the society of meaner 
 animals, but their instincts also. These nests 
 are now, I am told, totally destroyed ; the 
 society is broke up; and the albatross and 
 penguin have gone to breed upon more desert 
 shores, in greater security. 1 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 THE CORMORANT. 2 
 
 THE Cormorant is above the size of a large 
 Muscovy duck, and may be distinguished 
 from all other birds of this kind, by its four 
 toes being united by membranes together ; 
 and by the middle toe being toothed or notched 
 like a saw, to assist it in holding its fishy 
 prey. The head and neck of this bird are of 
 a sooty blackness; and the body thick and 
 
 1 The Albatross is also called the man-of-war bird. 
 In the West Indies these birds are said to foretell the 
 arrival of ships; which is frequently true, and may arise 
 from a very natural cause. They always fish in fine 
 weather; so that, when the wind is rough at sea, they 
 retire into the harbours, where they are protected by 
 the land ; and the same wind that blows them in, brings 
 likewise whatever vessels may be exposed to its fury, to 
 seek a retreat from it. They devour fish with great 
 gluttony and are often so gorged as to be unable to fly. 
 Their cry resembles the braying of an ass. 
 
 The Chocolate 4U>alross.This bird inhabits the 
 Pacific Ocean, and is three feet long. The bill is 
 whitish ; the body of a deep chestnut brown colour ; 
 belly pale; face and wings beneath whitish. The irides 
 are brown; the legs bluish white, with white claws. 
 
 Yellow-Nosed Albatross. The colour is white ; the 
 bill is black; keel of the upper mandible, and base 
 of the lower one yellow ; the body above is of a black- 
 blue colour ; beneath it is white. It inhabits the Pacific 
 ocean, and is about three feet long. The irides are 
 brown; the nape of the neck and rump, white; the legs 
 are pale yellow; the foro-part and connected mem- 
 brane dusky. 
 
 - Although the cormorant appears to have been always 
 common upon our coasts, and of known extensive dis- 
 tribution throughout the maritime districts of the north 
 of Europe, it is only within the last few years that the 
 
 heavy, more inclined in figure to that of the 
 goose than the gull. The bill is straight, till 
 near the end, where the upper chap bends 
 into a hook. 
 
 changes of plumage to which it is subject, have been 
 perfectly investigated, and that the mistakes of earlier 
 writers have been corrected by the observations of 
 Montagu, Temminck, and other eminent ornithologists. 
 It has been described by several as a distinct species 
 when in its summer or nuptial plumage. Some have 
 considered this state as indicative only of the male bird, 
 whilst others have regarded it as a common or an ac- 
 cidental variety. It is now, however, well ascertained, 
 that, on the approach of spring, both sexes invariably 
 undergo the change that assimilates them to the Crested 
 Cormorant of Bewick and others, and which garb they 
 retain till after reproduction has been effected. This I 
 have had repeated opportunities of verifying from my 
 own observations, and by the dissection of many speci- 
 mens from a colony that annually breed at the Fern 
 islands on the Northumbrian coast. This bird is per- 
 haps generally looked on with dislike, from an associa- 
 tion of ideas produced by the extravagant descriptions 
 of different authors, and from the prominent part it is 
 made to perform in the sublime poem of " Paradise 
 Lost." As naturalists, however, and believers in the 
 unerring wisdom so greatly and wonderfully displayed 
 throughout the animated creation, we are not to judge 
 of its qualities from the exaggerations of fancy, but to 
 consider whether its powers are not fitly and beautifully 
 adapted to the place it is destined to fill in the great 
 chain of the universe. Viewed in this, the only true 
 light, we shall find much to admire, since its instincts 
 and habits are in such perfect accordance with, and so 
 ably support, the economy of its being, So far, indeed, 
 from possessing the bad qualities attributed to it, it 
 seems, from the testimony of Montagu, to be endowed 
 with a nature directly the reverse; for he states, that 
 he found it extremely docile, of a grateful disposition, 
 and without the smallest tincture of a savage or vindic- 
 tive spirit. This character I can confirm, from having 
 kept it in a domesticated state; arid the very fact, in- 
 deed, of these birds having been trained to fish, as many 
 of the Fulconidae are to fowl, is a further proof of its 
 docility and tractable nature. Like other piscivorous 
 birds, its digestion is rapid, and its consumption of food 
 consequently great, but the epithet of glutton, and the 
 accusation of unrelenting cruelty, are no more applicable 
 to it, than to any other bird destined by its Creator to 
 prey on living matter. In Britain, where it is numer- 
 ous and widely dispersed, the Cormorant breeds upon 
 rocky shores and islands, selecting the summits of the 
 rocks for the situation of the nest, and not (like the Green 
 Cormorant) the clefts or ledges. In some countries it 
 breeds upon trees, possessing, as I have before observed, 
 the power of grasping firmly with its feet. Upon the 
 Fern islands, its nest is composed entirely of a mass of 
 sea-weed, frequently heaped up to the height of two 
 feet, in which are deposited from three to five eggs, of 
 a pale bluish-white, with a rough surface, from the un- 
 equal deposition of the calcareous matter. The young, 
 when first hatched, are quite naked and veiy ugly, the 
 skin being of a purplish-black; this in six or seven days 
 becomes clothed with a thick black down, but the fea- 
 thered plumage is not perfected in less than five or six 
 weeks. Instinct, that powerful substitute for reason, is 
 no where more beautifully exemplified than in the young 
 of this bird ; for I have repeatedly found, that, upon 
 being thrown Into the sea, even when scarcely half- 
 fledged, they immediately plunge beneath the surface, 
 and endeavour to escape by diving. This they will do 
 to a great distance, using their imperfect wings, and 
 pursuing their submarine flight in the same manner, 
 
THE CORMORANT. 
 
 207 
 
 But notwithstanding the seeming heaviness 
 of its make, there are few birds more power- 
 fully predaceous. As soon as the winter ap- 
 proaches, they are seen dispersed along the 
 sea-shore, and ascending up the mouths of 
 fresh-water rivers, carrying destruction to all 
 the finny tribe. They are most remarkably 
 voracious, and have a most sudden digestion. 
 Their appetite is for ever craving, and never 
 satisfied. This gnawing sensation may pro- 
 bably be increased by the great quantity of 
 small worms that fill their intestines, and 
 which their unceasing gluttony contributes to 
 engender. 
 
 Thus formed with the grossest appetites, 
 this unclean bird has the most rank and dis- 
 agreeable smell, and is more fetid than even 
 carrion, when in its most healthful state. Its 
 form, says an ingenious modern, is disagree- 
 able ; its voice is hoarse and croaking ; and 
 all its qualities obscene. No wonder then 
 that Milton should make Satan personate this 
 bird, when he sent him upon the basest pur- 
 poses, to survey with pain the beauties of 
 Paradise, and to sit devising death on the tree 
 of life. 1 It has been remarked, however, of 
 
 and with almost as much effect, as their parents. When 
 unfledged in the nest, the young of this species, if alarmed 
 by an approach, raise the head and neck to the full stretch, 
 at the same time gaping wide, and vibrating in a curi- 
 ous manner the loose skin of the neck and throat, accom- 
 panied by a constant and querulous cry. In winter, cor- 
 morants are frequently seen in our rivers and lakes at a 
 considerable distance from the sea, where they occasion- 
 ally perch and roost in such trees as grow upon the im- 
 mediate banks. They feed entirely on fish, which they 
 obtain by active pursuit beneath the surface of the water, 
 and having the gullet very large and dilatable, they are 
 enabled to swallow those of considerable size. The prey 
 is killed by being squeezed in their powerful and hooked 
 bill, and always swallowed head foremost ; and should the 
 fish happen to have been awkwardly captured for this 
 operation, it is tossed into the air, and in descending 
 caught in a more favourable position. In swimming, 
 the body of this bird is almost entirely submerged, the 
 head and part of the neck only being visible. Montagu 
 also observes, that when in the act of looking for its 
 prey, it always carries the head under water, being able 
 thus to discover it at a greater distance than if the eyes 
 were kept above the surface, which is generally in some 
 degree agitated. It may frequently be observed stand- 
 ing upon the shore or rocks, with the wings expanded, 
 for several minutes at a time, in order to dry the feathers 
 and bring them to the proper state for preening, as 
 they are apt to become wet from long continued div- 
 ing, causing the gradual loss of the oily matter that 
 partly defends them from the action of the water. 
 This species is a native of the new as well as of the 
 ancient continent, being found in various parts of North 
 America ; it is also met with in Northern Asia, and 
 in Europe its distribution is wide, extending to high 
 latitudes. The bronchi in this bird are of great length, 
 and of equal diameter, issuing from the lower larynx, 
 which is formed of a single cartilaginous ring. Im- 
 mediately below the glottis, the tube is enlarged, but 
 soon contracts, and remains of the same diameter through 
 the rest of its course. Selhy's British Ornithology, 
 Vol. II. 
 1 Vide Pennant's Zoology, j>. 177. 
 
 our poet, that the making a water-fowl perch 
 upon a tree, implied no great acquaintance 
 with the history of nature. In vindication 
 of Milton, Aristotle expressly says, that the 
 cormorant is the only water-fowl that sits 
 on trees. We have already seen the pelican 
 of this number ; and the cormorant's toes 
 
 sm as fit for perching upon trees as for 
 swimming ; so that our epic bard seems to 
 have been as deeply versed in natural history 
 as in criticism. 
 
 Indeed this bird seems to be of a multiform 
 nature ; and wherever fish are to be found, 
 watches their migrations. It is seen as well 
 by land as sea ; it fishes in fresh-water lakes, 
 as well as in the depths of the ocean ; it builds 
 in the cliffs of rocks, as well as on trees; and 
 preys not only in the day-time, but by night. 
 
 Its indefatigable nature, and its great 
 power in catching fish, were probably the 
 motives that induced some nations (o breed 
 this bird up tame, for the purpose of fishing ; 
 and Willoughby assures us, it was once used 
 in England for that purpose. The descrip- 
 tion of their manner of fishing is thus delivered 
 by Faber. 
 
 " When they carry them out of the rooms 
 where they are kept, to the fish-pools, they 
 hoodwink them, that they may not be frighted 
 by the way. When they are come to the 
 rivers, they take off their hoods; and having 
 tied a leather thong round the lower part of 
 their necks, that they may not swallow down 
 the fish they catch, they throw them into 
 the river. They presently dive under water, 
 and there for a long time, with wonderful 
 swiftness, pursue the fish ; and when they 
 have caught them, rise to the top of the water, 
 and pressing the fish lightly with their bills, 
 swallow them ; till each bird hath, after this 
 manner, devoured five or six fishes. Then 
 their keepers call them to the fist, to which 
 they readily fly ; and, one after another, 
 vomit up all their fish, a little bruised with 
 the first nip, given in catching them. When 
 they have done fishing, setting their birds on 
 some high place, they loose the string from 
 their necks, leaving the passage to the sto- 
 mach free and open; and, for their reward, 
 they throw them part of their prey ; to each 
 one or two fishes, which they will catch most 
 dexterously, as they are falling in the air. 
 
 At present the cormorant is trained in 
 every part of China for the same purpose, 
 where there are many lakes and canals. 
 " To this end,'' says Le Compte, " they are 
 educated as men rear up spaniels or hawks, 
 and one man can easily manage a hundred. 
 The fisher carries them out into the lake, 
 perched on the gunnel of his boat, where 
 they continue tranquil, and expecting his 
 orders with patience. When arrived at the 
 
208 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 proper place, at the first signal given each 
 flies a different way to fulfil the task assigned 
 it. It is very pleasant, on this occasion, to 
 behold with what sagacity they portion out 
 the lake or the canal where they are upon 
 duty. They hunt about, they plunge, they 
 rise a hundred times to the surface, until they 
 have at last found their prey. They then 
 seize it with their beak by the middle, and 
 carry it without fail to their master. When 
 the fish is too large, they then give each other 
 mutual assistance: one seizes it by the head, 
 the other by the tail, and in this manner carry 
 it to the boat together. There the boatman 
 stretches out one of his long oars, on which 
 they perch, and being delivered of their bur- 
 den, they fly off to pursue their sport. When 
 they are wearied, he lets them rest for a 
 while ; but they are never fed till their work 
 is over. In this manner, they supply a very 
 plentiful table ; but still their natural gluttony 
 cannot be reclaimed even by education. They 
 have always while they fish the same string 
 fastened round their throats, to prevent them 
 from devouring their prey, as otherwise they 
 would at once satiate themselves, -and discon- 
 tinue their pursuit the moment they had filled 
 their bellies." 
 
 As for the rest, the cormorant is the best 
 fisher of all birds ; and though fat and heavy 
 with the quantity it devours, is nevertheless 
 generally upon the wing. The great activity 
 with which it pursues, and from a vast height 
 drops down to dive after its prey, offers one 
 of the most amusing spectacles to those who 
 stand upon a cliff on the shore. This large 
 bird is seldom seen in the air, but where there 
 are fish below 5 but then they must be near 
 the surface, before it will venture to souse upon 
 them. If they are at a depth beyond what 
 the impetus of its flight makes the cormorant 
 capable of diving to, they certainly escape 
 him ; for this bird cannot move so fast under 
 water, as the fish can swim. It seldom, how- 
 ever, makes an unsuccessful dip ; and is often 
 seen rising heavily, with a fish larger than it 
 can readily devour. It sometimes also hap- 
 pens, that the cormorant has caught the fish 
 by the tail ; and consequently the fins prevent 
 its being easily swallowed in that position. 
 In this case, the bird is seen to toss its prey 
 above its head, and very dexterously to catch 
 it, when descending, by the proper end, and 
 so swallow it with ease. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE GANNET, OR SOLAN GOOSE. 
 
 THE Gannet is of the size of a tame goose, 
 but its wings much longer, being six feet 
 
 1 Although the Gannet (or, as it is more frequently 
 called in Scotland, the Solan Goose) deserts its breeding 
 stations and the northern coasts of the kingdom upon the 
 approach of autumn, it is occasionally found throughout 
 the winter in the English channel, where it keeps at a 
 distance from the land, feeding upon the pilchards and 
 herrings, which at that season retire to the deeper parts 
 of the ocean. The main body of these birds, however, 
 appears to seek more southern latitudes, as they are met 
 with in great numbers during winter in the Bay of Bis- 
 cay, on the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and in the Me- 
 diterranean ; and here they find an abundant supply of 
 the anchovy and sardine, both species of Clupea (her- 
 ring). They generally make their appearance about the 
 end of March or beginning of April, in the vicinity of 
 their breeding stations : these are the isle of Ailsa, at 
 the mouth of the Frith of Clyde; St Kilda; Souliskerry 
 near the Orkneys ; the Skelig isles upon the Irish coast, 
 and the Bass Rock at the entrance of the Frith of Forth. 
 Upon the precipitous rocks of these islands they breed 
 in innumerable multitudes, occupying all the ledges 
 and summits wherever they find sufficient space for the 
 nest, which is formed of a mass of sea-weed, and other 
 materials, which they either find on the rocky clifls, or 
 gather from the surface of the sea as they pass on the 
 wing. They lay but one egg each (not two, as stated 
 by Temminck), exceeding in size that of the cormo- 
 rant, but much less than the egg of the common goose, 
 with which it has been compared. Its colour, when first 
 laid, is white, but it soon becomes soiled, and as incu- 
 bation proceeds, acquires a yellowish or clay-coloured ap- 
 pearance. The young, when hatched, are naked, their 
 skin smooth and of bluish-black, but covered in a few 
 days with a white down, which, growing rapidly, soon 
 becomes very thick, giving them in this state the ap- 
 pearance of large powder-pufls, or masses of cotton. 
 Over this warm clothing, the regular plumage gradually 
 extends ; and after about two months they are fully 
 fledged and able to take wing. Great numbers of the 
 young birds are annually taken upon the Bass Rock, not 
 merely on account of the feathers ami down, for the 
 bodies are also sold in the neighbouring towns, and in 
 the Edinburgh market, at the rate of Is. 8d. each, 
 being much esteemed, when roasted, as a relish 
 a short time before the hour of dinner. Their flesh 
 is very oily and rank, and though habit has recon- 
 ciled the Scotch to such an unusual whet, few stran- 
 gers would find their appetites increased, after par- 
 taking of such a dish. This precipitous rock (the 
 Bass} is rented from the proprietor at 60 or 7Q 
 
THE GANNET 
 
 209 
 
 over. The bill is six inches long, straight 
 almost to the point, where it inclines down, 
 and the sides are irregularly jagged, that it 
 may hold its prey with greater security. It 
 differs from the cormorant in size, being 
 larger ; and its colour, which is chiefly white ; 
 and by its having no nostrils, but in their 
 place a long furrow that reaches almost to the 
 end of the bill. From the corner of the mouth 
 is a narrow slip of black bare skin, that ex- 
 tends to the hind part of the head ; beneath 
 the skin is another that, like the pouch of the 
 pelican, is dilatable, and of size sufficient to 
 contain five or six entire herrings, which in 
 the breeding season it carries at once to its 
 mate or its young. 
 
 These birds, which subsist entirely upon 
 fish, chiefly resort to those uninhabited islands 
 where their food is found in plenty, and men 
 seldom come to disturb them. The islands to 
 the north of Scotland, the Skelig islands off" 
 the coasts of Kerry in Ireland, and those that 
 lie in the north sea off Norway, abound with 
 them. But it is on the Bass island, in the 
 Frith of Edinburgh, where they are seen in 
 
 per annum,* and as the proceeds chiefly depend upon 
 the produce of the gannets, great care is taken to pro- 
 tect the old birds, which the tenant is enabled to do from 
 the privilege possessed by the proprietor, of preventing 
 any person from shooting or otherwise destroying them 
 within a certain limited distance of the island. From 
 the accounts I have received from the resident there, 
 it appears that the gannet is a very long-lived bird, as 
 he has recognised, from particular and well-known 
 marks, certain individuals for upwards of forty years, 
 that invariably returned to the same spot to breed. He 
 also confirmed to me the time required for this bird to 
 attain maturity, viz. four years; and pointed out several 
 in the different garbs they assume during that period, 
 stating also, that until fully matured, they have never 
 been known to breed. During incubation, in conse- 
 quence of being unmolested, they become very tame; 
 and, where the nests are easily accessible upon the flat 
 surface of the rock on the south-west side of the island, 
 will allow themselves to be stroked by the hand without 
 resistance, or any show even of impatience, except the 
 low guttural cry of grog, grog. Upon the other breed- 
 ing stations above mentioned, the produce of the gannet 
 is equally prized, and immense numbers, both of the 
 eggs and young, are annually taken, and preserved by 
 the inhabitants for winter's consumption. From the 
 great development of the wings, and the peculiar appa- 
 ratus of air-cells distributed over different parts of the 
 body, the flight of this bird is powerful and buoyant, 
 and can be supported for any length of time. When in 
 search of prey, it soars usually at a considerable eleva- 
 tion, as it thus obtains a sufficient impetus in its fall to 
 reach the fish beneath the surface; at other times, when 
 making its way to any distant point, or in dark and 
 stormy weather, it flies comparatively low. Its food 
 consists almost entirely ot the different species of her- 
 ring, which it always takes by plunging vertically upon 
 them as they rise within a certain distance of the top of 
 the water. The force with which it descends in this 
 operation, may be conceived from the fact of gannets 
 having been taken by a fish fastened to a board sunk to 
 
 * Other statements make tlie rental only 30. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 the greatest abundance. " There is a small 
 island," says the celebrated Harvey, " called 
 the Bass, not more than a mile in circum- 
 ference. The surface is almost wholly co- 
 vered during the months of May and June 
 with their nests, their eggs, and young. It 
 is scarcely possible to walk without treading 
 on them : the flocks of birds upon the wing, 
 are so numerous, as to darken the air like a 
 cloud ; and their noise is such, that one can- 
 not without difficulty be heard by the person 
 next to him. When one looks down upon 
 the sea from the precipice, its whole surface 
 seems covered with infinite numbers of birds 
 of different kinds, swimming and pursuing 
 their prey. If, in sailing round the island, 
 one surveys its hanging cliffs, in every crag, 
 or fissure of the broken rocks, may be seen 
 innumerable birds, of various sorts and sizes, 
 more than the stars of heaven, when viewed 
 in a serene night. If they are viewed at 
 a distance, either receding, or in their ap- 
 proach to the island, they seem like one vast 
 swarm of bees." 
 
 They are not less frequent upon the rocks 
 
 the depth of two fathoms, in which cases the neck has 
 either been found dislocated, or the bill firmly fixed in 
 the wood. Pennant, and some other writers, describe 
 this bird as having a gular pouch similar to that of the 
 pelican, and capable of containing five or six herrings; 
 this, however, is not correct, as that part is not more 
 dilatable than the rest of the gullet, which, as well as 
 the skin of the neck, can occasionally stretch to much 
 extent, readily allowing a passage to the largest herring, 
 or even to a fish of still greater dimensions. Montagu 
 observes, that he was not able to keep the gannet alive 
 in confinement; but this probably arose from the want 
 of a due supply of fish, as I have known them to live for 
 a long time in a domesticated state, and my friend Mr 
 Neill of Canonmills, near Edinburgh, (well known to 
 the scientific world as a botanist and a lover of natural 
 history), has at present, or at least within a very late 
 period had, one in the full enjoyment of health for many 
 years past. This bird, when herrings could not be pro- 
 cured, was fed with flounders, which it swallowed with 
 the greatest apparent ease, the gape readily accomodat- 
 ing itself to their greater breadth. It is almost un- 
 necessary to add, that all fish are swallowed with the 
 head foremost. Sometimes the gannet becomes so 
 gorged with food, as to be compelled to alight on the 
 water, and to repose there in ja lethargic state ; and 
 when thus situated, it may, by being advanced upon in 
 a boat from the windward, be easily run down and cap- 
 tured. This arises from its being unable to leave the 
 water except when breasting the wind, and ft never 
 makes any attempt to dive, of which power it seems to 
 be totally divested. This species is widely distributed 
 throughout the northern parts of Europe, and is also 
 common to North America. The body of this bird is 
 long and much flattened, with the neck elongated, and 
 thick and muscular, in order to support its powerful 
 bill ; the wings are of great length, the radius (or second 
 joint) measuring fully eight inches; and the legs are not 
 placed so far behind as in the cormorants, so that the 
 horizontal position is preserved in walking. In its 
 affinities it seems to connect the true pelicans with the 
 
 genera Tachypetes and Phaeton Selby's British Orni* 
 
 thology. 
 
 2 D 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 of St Kilda. Martin assures us, that the 
 inhabitants of that small island consume 
 annually near twenty-three thousand young 
 birds of this species, besides an amazing 
 quantity of their eggs. On these they prin 
 cipally subsist throughout the year ; and fron 
 the number of these visitants, make an esti 
 mate of their plenty for the season. The^ 
 preserve both the eggs and fowls in smal 
 pyramidal stone buildings, covering them witl 
 turf ashes, to prevent the evaporation of thei 
 moisture. 
 
 The gannet is a bird of passage. In win- 
 ter it seeks the more southern coasts of Corn- 
 wall, hovering over the shoals of herrings anc 
 pilchards that then come down from the nor- 
 thern seas ; its first appearance in the northern 
 islands is in the beginning of spring ; and it con- 
 tinues to breed till the end of summer. But, 
 in general, its motions are determined by the 
 migrations of the immense shoals of herrings 
 that come pouring down at that season through 
 the British Channel, and supply all Europe, 
 as well as this bird, with their spoil. The 
 gannet assiduously attends the shoal in their 
 passage, keeps with them in their whole cir- 
 cuit round our island, and shares with our fish- 
 ermen this exhaustless banquet. As it is 
 strong of wing, it never comes near the land ; 
 but is constant to its prey. Wherever the 
 gannet is seen, it is sure to announce to the 
 fishermen the arrival of the finny tribe ; they 
 then prepare their nets, and take the herrings 
 by millions at a draught ; while the gannet, 
 who came to give the first information, comes, 
 though an unbidden guest, and often snatches 
 its prey from the fisherman even in his boat. 
 While the fishing season continues, the gan- 
 nets are busily employed ; but when the pil- 
 chards disappear from our coasts, the gannet 
 takes its leave to keep them company. 
 
 The cormorant has been remarked for the 
 quickness of his sight; yet in this the gannet 
 seems to exceed him. It is possessed of a 
 transparent membrane under the eye-lid, with 
 which it covers the whole eye at pleasure, 
 without obscuring the sight in the smallest 
 degree. This seems a necessary provision for 
 the security of the eyes of so weighty a crea- 
 ture, whose method of taking its prey, like 
 that of the cormorant, is by darting headlong 
 down from a height of a hundred feet or more 
 into the water to seize it. These birds are 
 sometimes taken at sea, by fastening a pil- 
 chard to a board, which they leave floating. 
 The gannet instantly pounces down from 
 above upon the board, and is killed or maimed 
 by the shock of a body where it expected no 
 resistance. 
 
 These birds breed but once a year, and lay 
 but one egg, which being taken away, they j 
 lay another; if that is also taken, then a] 
 
 third ; but never more for that season. Their 
 egg is white, and rather less than that of the 
 common goose ; and their nest large, composed 
 of such substances as are found floating on the 
 surface of the sea. The young birds, during 
 the first year, differ greatly in colour from the 
 old ones ; being of a dusky hue, speckled with 
 numerous triangular white spots ; and at that 
 time resembling the colours of the speckled 
 diver. 
 
 The Bass island, where they chiefly breed, 1 
 belongs to one proprietor ; so that care is 
 taken never to fright away the birds when 
 laying, or to shoot them upon the wing. By 
 that means, they are so confident as to alight 
 and feed their young ones close beside you. 
 They feed only upon fish, as was observed ; 
 yet the young gannet is counted a great dainty 
 by the Scots, and is sold very dear ; so that 
 the lord of the islet makes a considerable an- 
 nual profit by the sale. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF THE SMALLER GULLS AND PETRELS. 
 
 HAVING described the manners of the great 
 ones of this tribe, those of the smaller kinds 
 may be easily inferred. They resemble the 
 more powerful in their appetites for prey, but 
 lave not such certain methods of obtaining it. 
 In general, therefore, the industry of this 
 ;ribe, and their audacity, increase in propor- 
 :ion to their imbecility ; the great gulls live 
 at the most remote distance from man ; the 
 smaller are obliged to reside wherever they 
 can take their prey ; and to come into the 
 most populous places, when solitude can no 
 onger grant them a supply. In this class 
 we may place the Gull, properly so called, of 
 which there are above twenty different kinds; 
 he Petrel, of which there are three ; and the 
 Sea-swallow, of which there are as many. 
 The gulls may be distinguished by an angu- 
 ar knob on the lower chap ; the petrels by 
 heir wanting this knob ; and the sea-swallow 
 ly their bills, which are straight, slender, and 
 harp-pointed. They all, however, agree in 
 heir appetites, and their places of abode. 2 
 
 1 Solan Geese also frequent Aiisa Craig, an insulated 
 rock in the Frith of Clyde, somewhat similar in appear- 
 ance to the Bass, but nearly double its size in circum- 
 ference and height. 
 
 2 Besides the faculty of swimming, Petrels possess 
 that of supporting themselves on the water, by striking 
 very rapidly with their feet, which has caused them to 
 be compared to St Peter walking upon the water. 
 Hence the name. The petrels are to be seen in all 
 seas of the globe from one pole to the other. They are 
 the inseparable companions of mariners, during their 
 long navigations. The flight of these birds is almost al- 
 
THE GULL. 
 
 211 
 
 The gull, arid all its varieties, is very well 
 known in every part of the kingdom. It is 
 seen with a slow-sailing flight, hovering over 
 rivers to prey upon the smaller kinds of fish ; 
 
 ways performed by hovering, and without presenting ap- 
 parent vibrations. They rise with facility, and can fly 
 against the strongest winds, which never slacken their 
 movements. The tempest not only does not affright 
 them, but they are almost necessitated to seek those seas 
 where the agitation of the waves brings to the surface 
 those marine animals which constitute their food. In 
 consequence of this, they are frequently seen in all wea- 
 thers, in the vortices which are formed by the track ot 
 vessels. The following cut represents the common 
 Stormy Petrel. 
 
 The Little Stormy Petrel breeds in the Orkneys. 
 Mr Scarth states that, in passing over a tract of peat- 
 moss, near the shore, in a small uninhabited island in 
 Orkney, one evening in the month of August, he 
 was surprised to hear a low, purring noise, somewhat 
 resembling the sound of a spinning-wheel in motion ; 
 and, on inquiry, he was informed by one of the boatmen 
 who accompanied him, that it was the noise commonly 
 emited by the Alimonty (the Orkney name for the 
 stormy petrel, that frequented the island when hatch- 
 ing. On examining a small hole in the ground, he 
 found the bird and its nest, which was very simple, 
 being little more than a few fragments of shells laid on 
 the bare turf. It contained two round, pure-white eggs, 
 which were very large in comparison with the size of 
 the bird. [One egg is the more usual production of the 
 Petrel.] When he seized the bird, she squirted out of 
 her mouth an oily substance of a very rancid smell. He 
 took her home, and having put her into a cage, he 
 offered her various kinds of worms to eat ; but, as far 
 as he could observe, she ate nothing till after the expira- 
 tion of four days, when he observed that she occasionally 
 drew the feathers of her breast singly across, or rather 
 through her bill, and appeared to suck an oily substance 
 from them. This induced him to smear her breast with 
 common train oil ; and, observing that she greedily 
 sucked the feathers, he repeated the smearing two or 
 three times in each day for about a week. He then 
 placed a saucer containing oil in the cage, and observed 
 that she regularly extracted the oil by dipping her breast 
 in the vessel, and then sucked the feathers as before. 
 In this way he kept her for three months. After feed- 
 ing, she sat quietly at the bottom of the cage, sometimes 
 making the same purring noise which first attracted his 
 notice and sometimes whistling very shrilly. " There 
 are," says Wilson, " few persons who have crossed the 
 Atlantic that have not observed these solitary wanderers 
 of the deep, skimming along the surface of the wild and 
 wasteful ocean ; flitting past the vessel like swallows, 
 or following in her wake, gleaning their scanty pittance 
 of food from the rough and whirling surges. Habited 
 in mourning, and making their appearance generally in 
 greater numbers previous to or during a storm, they 
 have long been fearfully regarded by tho ignorant and 
 superstitious, not only as the foreboding messengers of 
 tempests and dangers to the hapless mariner, but as 
 wicked agents, connected some how or other in creating 
 them. Nobody/ say they, cau tell any thing of 
 
 it is seen following the ploughman in fallow 
 fields to pick up insects; and when living 
 animal food does not offer, it has even been 
 known to eat carrion, and whatever else of 
 
 where they come from, or how they breed, though (as 
 sailors sometimes say) it is supposed that they hatch 
 their eggs under their wings as they sit on the water.' 
 This mysterious uncertainty of their origin, and the 
 circumstances above recited, have doubtless given rise 
 to the opinion, so prevalent among this class of men, 
 that they are in some way or other connected with 
 the prince of the power of the air. In every country 
 where they are known, their names have borne some 
 affinity to this belief. They have been called witches, 
 stormy petrels, the Devil's birds and Mother Gary's 
 chickens, probably from some celebrated ideal hag of 
 that name ; and their unexpected and numerous ap- 
 pearance has frequently thrown a momentary damp over 
 the mind of the hardiest seamen. It is the business d 
 the naturalist, and the glory of philosophy, to examine 
 into the reality of these things ; to dissipate the clouds 
 of error and superstition wherever they darken and be- 
 wilder the human understanding, and to illustrate na- 
 ture with the radiance of truth." When we inquire, 
 accordingly, into the unvarnished history of this ominous 
 bird, we find that it is by no means peculiar in presag- 
 ing storms, for many others of very different families 
 are evidently endowed with an equally nice perception 
 of a change in the atmosphere. Hence it is that, before 
 rain swallows are seen more eagerly hawking for flies, 
 and ducks carefully trimming their feathers, and tossing 
 up water over their backs, to try whether it will run off 
 again without wetting them. But it would be as absurd 
 to accuse the swallows and ducks on that account of 
 being the cause of rain, as to impute a tempest to the 
 spiteful malice of the poor petrels. Seamen ought rather 
 to be thankful to them for the warning which their deli- 
 cate feelings of aerial change enable them to give of an 
 approaching hurricane. "As well," says Wilson, 
 " might they curse the midnight light-house that, star- 
 like, guides them on their watery way ; or the buoy 
 that warns them of the sunken rocks below, as this harm- 
 less wanderer, whose manner informs them of the ap- 
 proach of the storm, and thereby enables them to pre- 
 pare for it." The petrels are nocturnal birds. When, 
 therefore, they are seen flying about and feeding by day, 
 the fact appears to indicate that they have been driven 
 from their usual quarters by a storm ; and hence, per- 
 haps, arose the association of the bird with the tempest. 
 Though the petrels venture to wing their way over the 
 wide ocean, as fearlessly as our swallows do over a mill- 
 pond, they are not, therefore, the less sensible to danger; 
 and, as if feelingly aware of their own weakness, they 
 make all haste to the nearest shelter. When they can- 
 not then find an island or a rock to shield them from the 
 blast, they fly towards the first ship they can descry, 
 crowd into her wake, and even close under the stern, 
 heedless, it would appear, of the rushing surge, so that 
 they can keep the vessel between them and the unbroken 
 sweep of the wind. It is not to be wondered at, in such 
 cases, that their low wailing note of Meet, weet, should 
 add something supernatural to the roar of waves and 
 whistling of the wind, and infuse an ominous dread into 
 minds prone to superstition. The popular opinion 
 among sailors, that the petrels carry their eggs under 
 their wings in order to hatch them, is no less unfounded 
 than the fancy of their causing storms: it is, indeed, 
 physically impossible. On the contrary, the petrels have 
 been ascertained to breed on rocky shores, in numerous 
 communities, like the bank-swallow, making their nests 
 in the holes and cavities of the rocks above the sea, re- 
 turning to feed their young only during the night, with 
 the superabundant oily food from their stomachs. Tha 
 
212 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 the kind that offers. Gulls are found in 
 great plenty in every place ; but it is chiefly 
 round our boldest rockiest shores that they are 
 seen in the greatest abundance ; it is there 
 that the gull breeds and brings up its young ; 
 it is there that millions of them are heard 
 screaming with discordant notes for months 
 together. 
 
 Those who have been much upon our 
 coasts know that there are two different kinds 
 of shores ; that which slants down to the 
 water with a gentle declivity, and that which 
 rises with a precipitate boldness, and seems 
 set as a bulwark to repel the force of the 
 invading deeps. It is to such shores as these 
 that the whole tribe of the gull kind resort, as 
 the rocks offer them a retreat for their young, 
 and the sea a sufficient supply. It is in the ca- 
 vities of these rocks, of which the shore is com- 
 posed, that the vast variety of sea-fowls retire 
 to breed in safety. The waves beneath, that 
 continually beat at the base, often wear the 
 
 quantity of this oily matter is so considerable, that, in 
 the Faro Isles, they use petrels for candles, with no other 
 preparation than drawing a wick through the body of the 
 birds from the mouth to the rump. 
 
 The Gulls, Buffon terms the vultures of the sea, for 
 they feed upon carcasses of every description, which are 
 either floating on its surface, or cast upon its shores. 
 They swarm upon the borders of the sea, where they 
 seek fish, either fresh or corrupted, flesh in the same 
 states, worms, or mollusca, all of which their stomach is 
 capable of digesting. Spread throughout the entire 
 globe, they cover with their multitudes the shores, rocks, 
 and cliffs, causing them to re-echo with their clamours. 
 There are even some species which frequent the fresh 
 waters, and some are to be met with at sea, at more 
 than a hundred leagues distant from land. D'Azara, 
 who has seen them, in innumerable quantities, near the 
 slaughter houses of Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, and 
 even in the squares, where they pick up the offal of the 
 shambles, &c., and sometimes perch on the roofs, tells 
 us that they proceed considerably to inland, whither 
 they are attracted by dead animals. They dart with 
 such violence on their prey, that they will swallow both 
 bait and hook, and spit themselves on the point placed 
 by the fisher under the fish which he presents to them. 
 It is, therefore, very natural that they should pursue 
 individuals of their own species, in whose possession 
 they see any food, a fact, moreover, of which we are 
 constant eye-witnesses in other species, such as sparrows, 
 hens, &c. The following cut represents a Common 
 Gull. Gulls have been found by navigators in all lati- 
 
 tudes? (hey are, however, both more numerous and 
 larger in the northern regions, where the carcasses of 
 large fishes and cetacea present them with more abuu- 
 
 shore into an impending boldness ; so that it 
 seems to jut out over the water, while the 
 raging of the sea makes the place inaccessible 
 from below. These are the situations to 
 which sea-fowl chiefly resort, and bring up 
 their young in undisturbed security. 
 
 Those who have never observed our boldest 
 coasts, have no idea of their tremendous sub- 
 limity. The boasted works of art, the high- 
 est towers, and the noblest domes, are but 
 ant-hills when put in comparison : the single 
 cavity of a rock often exhibits a coping higher 
 than the ceiling of a Gothic cathedral. The 
 face of the shore offers to the view a wall of 
 massive stone, ten times higher than our 
 tallest steeples. What should we think of a 
 precipice three quarters of a mile in height? 
 and yet the rocks of St Kilda are still higher ! 
 What must be our awe to approach the edge 
 of that impending height, and to look down 
 on the unfathomable vacuity below; to ponder 
 on the terrors of falling to the bottom, where 
 
 dant food, and it is on the desert islands of the two 
 polar zones, where they are undisturbed, that they prefer 
 to nestle. They deposit their eggs either in a hole upon 
 the sand, or in the crevices of rocks ; but in less deserted 
 countries the smaller species seek the borders of waters, 
 or of the sea, which are covered with plants. The Sea- 
 mew is a species of gull, distinguished from the rest by 
 its black and white pie-bald appearance, although the 
 individuals vary from each other in the colour of their 
 plumage. 
 
 The Tern* have been also called Sea Swallows, from 
 the resemblance of their forked tail, long wings, and 
 their constant habit of shaving the surface of the water 
 in all directions, in pursuit of small fish. But the term 
 is objectionable, as tending to the inter-confusion of 
 birds of such different orders, and such essential differ- 
 ences of conformation and habits. The terns are con- 
 tinually on the wing, and, though webfooted, are not 
 seen to swim; they rest but seldom, and only on the 
 land ; their food consists, for the most part, of small fish 
 and mollusca, which they seize upon the surface of the 
 water; but they also catch aerial insects. In flying 
 they send forth sharp and piercing cries, especially dur- 
 ing nestling time. In calm weather they sometime rise 
 very high, and are often seen to come plump down. 
 The young differ from the adult and aged, only before 
 the moulting, which is double in the known species, and 
 there is no external difference between the two sexes. 
 The females deposit their eggs, usually two or three in 
 number, in a cavity, and these nests are sometimes so 
 close, that the sitting birds touch each other. Terns 
 are found in both continents, from the seas, lakes, and 
 rivers of the north, as far as the vast coasts of the 
 
 Austral ocean, and in almost all the intermediate clim- 
 ates. The above cut represents a Common Tern 
 
THE GULL. 
 
 213 
 
 the waves that swell like mountains are 
 scarcely seen to curl on the surface, and the 
 roar of an ocean a thousand leagues broad 
 appears softer than the murmur of a brook ! 
 it is in these formidable mansions that myriads 
 of sea-fowls are for ever seen sporting, flying 
 in security down the depth, half a mile be- 
 neath the feet of the spectator. The crow 
 and the chough avoid those frightful preci- 
 pices ; they choose smaller heights, where 
 they are less exposed to the tempest ; it is the 
 cormorant, the gannet, the tarrock, and the 
 tern, that venture to these dreadful retreats, 
 and claim an undisturbed possession. To the 
 spectator from above, those birds, though 
 some of them are above the size of an eagle, 
 seem scarcely as large as a swallow; and 
 their loudest screaming is scarcely percep- 
 tible. 
 
 But the generality of our shores are not so 
 formidable. Though they may rise two 
 hundred fathoms above the surface, yet it 
 often happens that the water forsakes the 
 shores at the departure of the tide, and leaves 
 a noble and delightful walk for curiosity on 
 the beach. Not to mention the variety of 
 shells with which the sand is strewed, the 
 lofty rocks that hang over the spectator's head, 
 and that seem but just kept from falling, pro- 
 duce in him no unpleasing gloom. If to this 
 be added the fluttering, the screaming, and 
 the pursuits of myriads of water-birds, all 
 either intent on the duties of incubation, or 
 roused at the presence of a stranger, nothing 
 can compose a scene of more peculiar solem- 
 nity. To walk along the shore when the tide 
 is departed, or to sit in the hollow of a rock 
 when it is come in, attentive to the various 
 sounds that gather on every side, above and 
 below, may raise the mind to its highest and 
 noblest exertions. The solemn roar of the 
 waves swelling into and subsiding from the 
 vast caverns beneath, the piercing note of the 
 gull, the frequent chatter of the guillemot, the 
 loud note of the hawk, the scream of the he- 
 ron, and the hoarse deep periodical croaking 
 of the cormorant, all unite to furnish out the 
 grandeur of the scene, and turn the mind to 
 HIM who is the essence of all sublimity. 
 
 Yet it often happens that the contemplation 
 of a seashore produces ideas of an humbler 
 kind, yet still not unpleasing. The various 
 arts of these birds to seize their prey, and 
 sometimes to elude their pursuers, their so- 
 ciety among each other, and their tenderness 
 and care of their young, produce gentler sen- 
 sations. It is ridiculous also now and then to 
 see their various ways of imposing upon each 
 other. It is common enough, for instance, 
 with the arctic gull, to pursue the lesser gulls 
 so long, that they drop their excrements 
 through fear, which the hungry hunter quick 
 
 ly gobbles up before it ever reaches the water. 
 In breeding too they have frequent contests ; 
 one bird who has no nest of her own, attempts 
 to dispossess another, and puts herself in the 
 place. This often happens among all the 
 gull-kind: and I have seen the poor bird, 
 thus displaced by her more powerful invader, 
 sit near the nest in pensive discontent, while 
 the other seemed quite comfortable in her new 
 habitation. Yet this place of pre-eminence is 
 not easily obtained ; for the instant the inva- 
 der goes to snatch a momentary sustenance, 
 the other enters upon her own, and always 
 ventures another battle before she relinquishes 
 the justness of her claim. The contemplation 
 of a cliff thus covered with hatching birds, af- 
 fords a very agreeable entertainment ; and as 
 they sit upon the ledges of the rocks, one 
 above another, with their white breasts for- 
 ward, the whole group has not unaptly been 
 compared to an apothecary's shop. 
 
 These birds, like all others of the rapa- 
 cious kind, lay but few eggs ; and hence, in 
 many places, their number is daily seen to di- 
 minish. The lessening of so many rapacious 
 birds may, at first sight, appear a benefit to 
 mankind ; but when we consider how many 
 of the natives of our islands are sustained by 
 their flesh, either fresh or salted, we shall find 
 no satisfaction in thinking that these poor peo- 
 ple may in time lose their chief support. The 
 gull, in general, as was said, builds on the 
 ledges of rocks, and lays from one egg to 
 three, in a nest formed of long grass and sea- 
 weed. Most of the kind are fishy tasted, with 
 black stringy flesh ; yet the young ones are 
 better food : and of these, with several other 
 birds of the penguin kind, the poor inhabi- 
 tants of our northern islands make their 
 wretched banquets. They have been long 
 used to no other food ; and even salted gull 
 can be relished by those who know no better. 
 Almost all delicacy is a relative thing ; and 
 the man who repines at the luxuries of a well- 
 served table, starves not for want, but from 
 comparison. The luxuries of the poor are in, 
 deed coarse to us, yet still they are luxuries 
 to those ignorant of better ; and it is probable 
 enough that a Kilda or a Feroe man may be 
 found to exist, outdoing Apicius himself in 
 consulting the pleasures of the table. In- 
 deed, if it be true that such meat as is the 
 most dangerously earned is the sweetest, no 
 men can dine so luxuriously as these, as none 
 venture so hardily in the pursuit of a dinner. 
 In Jacobson's History of the Feroe islands, 
 we have an account of the method in which 
 those birds are taken ; and I will deliver it in 
 his own simple manner. 
 
 " It cannot be expressed with what pains 
 and danger they take these birds in those high 
 steep dills, whereof many are two hundred 
 
214 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 fathoms high. But there are men apt by na- 
 ture, and fit for the work, who take them usu- 
 ally in two manners ; they either climb from 
 below into these high promontories, that are 
 as steep as a wall ; or they let themselves 
 down with a rope from above. When they 
 climb from below, they have a pole five or six 
 ells long with an iron hook at the end, which 
 they that are below in the boat, or on the 
 cliff, fasten unto the man's girdle, helping 
 him up thus to the highest place where he 
 can get footing ; afterwards they also help up 
 another man ; and thus several climb up as 
 high as they possibly can; and, where they 
 find difficulty, they help each other up, by 
 thrusting one another up with their poles. 
 When the first hath taken footing, he draws 
 the other up to him, by the rope fastened to 
 his waist ; and so they proceed, till they come 
 to the place where the birds build. They 
 there go about as well as they can in those 
 dangerous places ; the one holding the rope 
 at one end, and fixing himself to the rock ; 
 the other going at the other end from place to 
 place. If it should happen that he chanceth 
 to fall, the other that stands firm keeps him 
 up, and helps him up again. But if he pass- 
 eth safe, he likewise fastens himself till the 
 other has passed the same dangerous place 
 also. Thus they go about the cliffs after birds 
 as they please. It often happeneth, however, 
 (the more is the pity) that when one doth not 
 stand fast enough, or is not sufficiently strong 
 to hold up the other in his fall, that they both 
 fall down, and are killed. In this manner 
 some do perish every year." 
 
 Mr Peter Clanson, in his description of 
 Norway, writes, that there was anciently a 
 law in that country, that whosoever climbed 
 so on the cliffs that he fell down and died, if 
 the body was found before burial, his next 
 kinsman should go the same way ; but if he 
 durst not, or could not do it, the dead body 
 was not then to be buried in sanctified earth, 
 as the person was too full of temerity, and 
 his own destroyer. 
 
 ' When the fowlers are come, in the man- 
 ner aforesaid, to the birds within the cliffs, 
 where people seldom come, the birds are so 
 tame, that they take them with their hands ; 
 for they will not readily leave their young. 
 But when they are wild, they cast a net, with 
 which they are provided, over them, and en- 
 tangle them therein. In the meantime, there 
 lieth a boat beneath in the sea, wherein they 
 cast the birds killed ; and, in this manner, 
 they can in a short time fill a boat with fowl ! 
 When it is pretty fair weather, and there is ' 
 good fowling, the fowlers stay in the cliff se- 
 ven or eight days together ; for there are here 
 and there holes in the rocks, where they can 
 safely rest ; and they have meat let down to 
 
 them with a line from the top of the moun- 
 tain. In the meantime some go every day to 
 them, to fetch home what they have taken. 
 
 " Some rocks are so difficult, that they can 
 in no manner get unto them from below ; 
 wherefore they seek to come down thereunto 
 from above. For this purpose they have a 
 rope eighty or a hundred fathoms long, made 
 of hemp, and three fingers thick. The fowler 
 maketh the end of this fast about his waist, 
 and between his legs, so that he can sit there- 
 on ; and is thus let down, with the fowling- 
 staff in his hand. Six men hold by the rope, 
 and let him easily down, laying a large piece 
 of wood on the brink of the rock, upon which 
 the rope glideth , that it may not be worn to 
 pieces by the hard and rough edge of the 
 stone. They have, besides, another small 
 line, that is fastened to the fowler's body ; on 
 which he pulleth, to give them notice how 
 they should let down the great rope, either 
 lower or higher ; or to hold still, that he may 
 stay in the place whereunto he is come. Here 
 the man is in great danger, because of the 
 stones that are loosened from the cliff, by the 
 swinging of the rope, and he cannot avoid 
 them. To remedy this, in some measure, he 
 hath usually on his head a seaman's thick and 
 shaggy cap, which defends him from the 
 blows of the stones, if they be not too big ; and 
 then it costeth him his life ; nevertheless, they 
 continually put themselves in that danger, for 
 the wretched body's food sake, hoping in 
 God's mercy and protection, unto which the 
 greatest part of them do devoutly recommend 
 themselves when they go to work : otherwise, 
 they say, there is no other great danger in it, 
 except that it is a toilsome and artificial la- 
 bour ; for he that hath not learned to be so let 
 down, and is not used thereto, is turned about 
 with the rope, so that he soon groweth giddy, 
 and can do nothing ; but he that hath learned 
 the art, considers it as a sport, swings himself 
 on the rope, sets his feet against the rock, 
 casts himself some fathoms from thence, and 
 shoots himself to what place he will : he 
 knows where the birds are, he understands 
 how to sit on the line in the air, and how to 
 hold the fowling-staff in his hand; striking 
 therewith the birds that come or fly away : 
 and when there are holes in the rocks, and it 
 stretches itself out, making underneath as a 
 ceiling under which the birds are, he knoweth 
 how to shoot himself in among them, and 
 there take firm footing. There, when he is 
 in these holes, he maketh himself loose of 
 the rope, which he fastens to a crag of the 
 rock, that it may not slip from him to the 
 outside of the cliff. He then goes about in 
 the rock, taking the fowl either with his 
 hands or the fowling-staff. Thus, when he 
 hath killed as many birds as he thinks fit, he 
 
THE PENGUIN. 
 
 215 
 
 ties them in a bundle, and fastens them to a 
 little rope, giving a sign, by pulling, that 
 they should draw them up. When he has 
 wrought thus the whole day, and desires to 
 get up again, he sitteth once more upon the 
 great rope, giving a new sign that they should 
 pull him up; or else he worketh himself up, 
 climbing along the rope, with his girdle full 
 of birds. It is also usual, where there are 
 not folks enough to hold the great rope, for 
 the fowler to drive a post sloping into the 
 earth, and to make a rope fast therefrom, by 
 which he lets himself down without any 
 body's help, to work in the manner aforesaid. 
 Some rocks are so formed that the person can 
 go into their cavities by land. 
 
 " These manners are more terrible and 
 dangerous to see than to describe ; especially 
 if one considers the steepness and height of 
 the rocks, it seeming impossible for a man to 
 approach them, much less to climb or descend. 
 In some places, the fowlers are seen climbing 
 where they can only fasten the ends of their 
 toes and fingers; not shunning such places, 
 though there be a hundred fathom between 
 them and the sea. It is a dear meat for these 
 poor people, for which they must venture 
 their lives ; and many, after long venturing, 
 do at last perish therein. 
 
 " When the fowl is brought home, a part 
 thereof is eaten fresh; another part, when 
 there is much taken, being hung up for 
 winter provision. The feathers are gathered 
 to make merchandise of, for other expenses. 
 The inhabitants get a great many of these 
 fowls, as God giveth his blessing and fit 
 weather. When it is dark and hazy, they 
 take most; for then the birds stay in the 
 rocks: but in clear weather, and hot sun- 
 shine, they seek the sea. When they pre- 
 pare to depart for the season, they keep them- 
 selves most there, sitting on the cliffs towards 
 the sea-side, where people get at them some- 
 times with boats, and take them with fowling, 
 staves." 
 
 Such is the account of this historian; but 
 we are not to suppose that all the birds caught 
 in this manner are of the gull kind : on the 
 contrary, numbers of them are of the penguin 
 kind ; auks, puffins, and guillemots. These 
 all come, once a season, to breed in these 
 recesses ; and retire in winter to fish in more 
 southern climates. 1 
 
 1 By many of the earlier systematists, the skuas were 
 included in the gulls, but as essential characteristics 
 (not possessed by the former), are developed in their 
 structure, particularly in the bill, feet, and tail, and as 
 a marked difference also exists in their habits, it has 
 been considered necessary to establish a distinct genus 
 for their reception. They are the determined enemies 
 of the gulls, whom they unceasingly persecute on the 
 wing, in order to make them disgorge their half digested 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF THE PENGUIN KIND t AND FIRST, OF THE 
 GREAT MAGELLAN 1C PENGUIN. 
 
 THE gulls are long-winged, swift flyers, 
 that hover over the most extensive seas, and 
 
 or recently swallowed food, and which is then adroitly 
 caught by the former before it can reach the water. 
 They also feed upon the flesh of the whale and other 
 marine animal substances. An approach to the petrels 
 is seen in their general contour, and in the structure of 
 their feet, the hind toe in some species consisting of 
 little more than a nail. Their wings are long and 
 pointed, and their flight, which is strong, and at times 
 astonishingly rapid, is performed by successive jerks 
 (in each of which a considerable curve is described), 
 bearing but little resemblance to that of the true gulls. 
 They are natives of the arctic regions, and are found, 
 particularly during the season of reproduction, in very 
 high latitudes. The plumage of both sexes is alike, 
 but some species undergo great changes in their pro- 
 gress to maturity. 
 
 Common Skua. Provincial. Sea-eagle, Bonxie, or 
 Skui. This bird, which appears to be the largest of its 
 genus, is of compact form, and bold disposition ; which 
 latter quality is more especially seen during the season 
 of reproduction, a period when the instinctive passions 
 of the feathered race are called into unwonted activity. 
 It will at that time attack even man without hesitation, 
 should he happen to approach the site of its nest; and 
 so impetuous is its attack, that the natives of the Shet- 
 land isles (its peculiar habitat in this kingdom) are 
 compelled on such occasions to defend themselves by 
 holding up a knife, or sharp stick; upon which the 
 assailant lias frequently been known to transfix and kill 
 itself, whilst making its pounces upon the head of the 
 intruder. Dogs, foxes, and other animals, are instantly 
 attacked, and so severely dealt with by the wings and 
 beak of the strong and pugnacious skua, as to be soon 
 driven to a hasty retreat, and no bird is permitted to 
 approach with impunity; the eagle itself being beaten 
 off with the utmost fury, should it happen to venture 
 within the limits of the breeding territory. As above ob- 
 served, it inhabits the Shetland isles, breeding in com- 
 munities upon Foulah, Unst, and Rona's hill in Mainland. 
 It selects the wild and unfrequented heaths for the site of 
 its nest, which is formed of afew dried weeds and grasses; 
 and its eggs, two in number, are of a dark oil-green 
 colour, blotched with irregular brown spots, with smaller 
 whitish ones intermixed. After performing the duties 
 of incubation, it retires to the adjacent seas, where it 
 leads a solitary life, rarely approaching the land till the 
 advance of spring again urges it to seek its summer 
 retreat. It is but seldom found in the southern parts 
 of Scotland, and the instances of its capture upon the 
 English coast are of still rarer occurrence, Montagu 
 only mentioning one, of a bird that was shot at Sand- 
 wich, in Kent. The food of the skua consists of fish, 
 the carcasses of cetacea, and other marine animal 
 matter; a great part of which is obtained from the 
 larger gulls, whom it attentively watches, and pursues 
 with unceasing hostility, till they are compelled to dis- 
 gorge the fish or other substance that they had previously 
 swallowed, and which, from its rapid evolutions on the 
 wing, it generally catches before reaching the surface 
 of the water. In this, as well as in the other species, 
 the claws are strong and much hooked, particularly that 
 of the inner toe ; and it is said to make use of them in 
 holding fast its prey, which is torn in pieces after the 
 manner of raptorial birds. The skua inhabits alsq 
 
216 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 dart down upon such fish as approach too near 
 Ihe surface. The penguin 1 kind are but ill 
 fitted for flight, and still less for walking. 
 Every body must have seen the awkward 
 manner in which a duck, either wild or tame, 
 attempts to change place : they must recollect 
 with what softness and ease a gull or a kite 
 waves its pinions, and with what a coil and 
 flutter the duck attempts to move them ; how 
 many strokes it is obliged to give, in order to 
 gather a little air ; and even when it is thus 
 raised, how soon it is fatigued with the force 
 of its exertions, and obliged to take rest again 
 But the duck is not, in its natural state, half 
 so unwieldly an animal as the whole tribe of 
 the penguin kind. Their wings are much 
 shorter, more scantily furnished with quills, 
 and the whole pinion placed too forward to 
 be usefully employed. For this reason, the 
 largest of the penguin kind, that have a thick 
 heavy body to raise, cannot fly at all. Their 
 
 various parts of the arctic regions, and is well known in 
 the Feroe islands, in Norway, and Iceland. It is, 
 moreover, a native of the high latitudes of the southern 
 hemisphere, and is mentioned by Cook, and other cir- 
 cumnavigators, under the name of the Port Egmont 
 hen. Dr Fleming observes, that the feathers of these 
 birds have a veiy strong smell, not unlike that peculiar 
 to the petrels, to which genus they show much affinity. 
 (For a representation of Richardson's Skua, see Plate 
 XIX. fig. 43.) 
 
 1 In the "Zoological Proceedings for 1835" is an 
 account of the penguin, by the late Mr G. Bennett. 
 That able naturalist, to whom science is indebted for 
 many original observations, and whose work, entitled 
 '* Wanderings," &c., is well known, paid much atten- 
 tion to the Patagonian, or King Penguin (see Plate XX. 
 fig. 34.) which he met with in various islands in the 
 high southern latitudes ; and he describes particularly 
 a colony of these birds, which covers an extent of thirty 
 or forty acres at the north end of Macquarrie island, in 
 the South Pacific ocean. 
 
 " The number of penguins collected together in this 
 spot is immense, but it would be almost impossible to 
 guess at it with any near approach to truth, as, during 
 the whole of the day and night, 30,000 or 40,000 of 
 them are continually lauding, and an equal number 
 going to sea. They are arranged, when on shore, in 
 as compact a manner and in as regular ranks as a regi- 
 ment of soldiers; and are classed with the greatest 
 order, the young birds being in one situation, the 
 moulting birds in another, the sitting hens in a third, 
 the clean birds in a fourth, &c. ; and so strictly do birds 
 in similar condition congregate, that should a bird that 
 is moulting intrude itself among those which are clean, 
 it is immediately ejected from among them. 
 
 " The females hatch the eggs by keeping them close 
 between their thighs; and, if approached during the 
 time of incubation, move away, carrying the eggs with 
 them. At this time the male bird goes to sea and 
 collects food for the female, which becomes very fat. 
 After the young is hatched, both parents go to sea, 
 and bring home food for it; it soon becomes so fat as 
 scarcely to be able to walk, the old birds getting very 
 thin. They sit quite upright in their roosting places, 
 and walk in the erect position until they arrive at the 
 beach, when they throw themselves on their breasts in 
 order to encounter the very heavy sea met with at their 
 landing-place. 
 
 Although the appearance of penguins generally indi- 
 
 wings serve them rather as paddles to help them 
 forward, when they attempt to move swiftly, 
 and in a manner walk along the surface of 
 the water. Even the smallest kinds seldom 
 fly by choice ; they flutter their wings with the 
 swiftest efforts without making way ; and 
 though they have but a small weight of body 
 to sustain, yet they seldom venture to quit the 
 water, where they are provided with food and 
 protection. 
 
 As the wings of the penguin tribe are un- 
 fitted for flight, their legs are still more awk- 
 wardly adapted for walking. This whole 
 tribe have all above the knee hid within the 
 belly : and nothing appears but two short legs, 
 or feet, as some would call them, that seem 
 stuck under the rump, arid upon which the 
 animal is very awkwardly supported. They 
 seem, when sitting, or attempting to walk, 
 like a dog, that has been taught to sit up, or 
 to move a minuet. Their short legs drive 
 
 cates the neighbourhood of land, Mr G. Bennet cited 
 several instances of their occurrence at a considerable 
 distance from any known land. 
 
 The observations of Mr Bennet are confirmed by 
 Lieut. Liardet. They assemble on the shore, herd 
 together in vast bodies, forming a dense phalanx, all 
 moving and acting in concert together ; one party 
 going off to sea, another party returning, another 
 remaining in array on the beach. They appear to be 
 very peaceable among each other, but are sometimes 
 observed to fight, striking with the posterior edge of 
 the wing. Should a person attempt to lay hold of 
 them, they not only use their wings, but their beak, 
 which is a far more formidable weapon, and capable of 
 inflicting a severe wound. Cuttle-fishes appear to con- 
 stitute the greater part of their food ; in the stomach of 
 the specimen dissected was found a considerable num- 
 ber of the homey parrot-like beaks of these molluscous 
 animals. Their mode of walking is very singular ; it 
 is a sort of awkward waddle, the body turning with the 
 action of the limbs in motion, which cross each other 
 alternately; it is, in fact, an " over-handed," mode of 
 progression, if the word be allowed, producing a strange 
 and ludicrous effect. We see a tendency to it in the 
 waddle of the duck and other swimming-birds. During 
 the period of incubation the females all assemble to- 
 gether, sitting upright on a kind of general nest, of 
 loosely-arranged sticks, which they carry to the selected 
 spot in their bills, and flourish if then approached, as 
 if in defiance of the intruder on their secluded haunt. 
 They lay but one egg, of a whitish colour, and twice 
 the size of that of the goose ; this they carry between 
 their thighs, supporting it beneath by the short stiff tail, 
 which is bent underneath it. The young are covered 
 with thick soft down, of a brownish gray ; in this state 
 the bird is the Woolly penguin of Latham, which must 
 not be regarded as a distinct species, but as the King 
 Penguin in nestling plumage. At night they utter 
 loud moaning noises in concert, the general chorus of 
 voices resounding to a great distance, and clearly dis- 
 tinguishable from the roar of the surf or lashing of the 
 waves. The flesh of the penguin is rank, and unfit 
 for food ; both the muscles and bones are oily, and the 
 skin is lined with a thick layer of oleaginous fat ; yet 
 more than 500 were taken in New Year's island (near 
 Staten island), as food for the crew, by the sailors in 
 Captain Cook's ship who found them occupying that 
 pot in thousands. 
 
THE PENGUIN. 
 
 217 
 
 the body in progression from side to side ; and 
 were they not assisted by their wings, they 
 could scarcely move faster than a tortoise. 
 
 This awkward position of the legs, which 
 so unqualifies them for living upon land, 
 adapts them admirably for a residence in 
 water. In that, the legs placed behind the 
 moving body, pushes it forward with the 
 greater velocity; and these birds, like Indian 
 canoes, are the swiftest in the water, by hav- 
 ing their paddles in the rear. Our sailors, 
 for this reason, give these birds the very 
 homely, but expressive, name of arse-feet. 
 
 Nor are they less qualified for diving than 
 swimming. By ever so little inclining their 
 bodies forward, they lose their centre of 
 gravity ; and every stroke from their feet only 
 tends to sink them the faster. In this manner 
 they can either dive at once to the bottom, or 
 swim between two waters ; where they con- 
 tinue fishing for some minutes, and then 
 ascending, catch an instantaneous breath, to 
 descend once more to renew their operations. 
 Hence it is, that these birds, which are so 
 defenceless, and so easily taken by land, are 
 impregnable by water. If they perceive 
 themselves pursued in the least, they instantly 
 sink, and show nothing more than their bills, 
 till the enemy is withdrawn. Their very 
 internal conformation assists their power of 
 keeping long under water. Their lungs are 
 fitted with numerous vacuities, by which 
 they can take in a very large inspiration ; 
 and this probably serves them for a length of 
 time. 
 
 As they never visit land, except when they 
 come to breed, their feathers take a colour 
 from their situation. That part of them which 
 has been continually bathed in the water, is 
 white ; while their backs and wings are of 
 different colours, according to the different 
 species. They are also covered more warmly 
 all over the body with feathers, than any 
 other birds whatever ; so that the sea seems 
 entirely their element : and but for the neces- 
 sary duties of propagating their species, we 
 should scarcely have the smallest opportunity 
 of seeing them, and should be utterly unac- 
 quainted with their history. 1 
 
 1 The Crested Penguin, (see Plate XX. fig. 33.) is 
 the most beautiful of the penguin tribe. It is nearly 
 two feet in length. The female is destitute of the 
 crest. These birds have also the names of hopping 
 penguins, and jumping jack, from their action of leaping 
 quite out of the water, sometimes three or four feet, on 
 meeting with any obstacle in their course; and, indeed, 
 they frequently do this without any other apparent 
 cause than the desire of advancing by that means. 
 They are inhabitants of several of the South Sea islands. 
 
 The Manchots bear a close relation to the penguins, 
 but are found only in the antarctic seas and islands, 
 while the penguins inhabit the northern seas. Instead 
 of wings, they have simple winglets, which perform the 
 ofTice of oars or fins. 
 
 vor. n. 
 
 Of all this tribe, the Magellanic Penguin 
 is the largest, and the most remarkable. In 
 size it approaches near that of a tame goose. 
 It never flies, as its wings are very short, and 
 covered with stiff hard feathers, and are 
 always seen expanded, and hanging uselessly 
 down by the bird's sides. The upper part of 
 the head, back, and rump, are covered with 
 stiff black feathers ; while the belly and 
 breast, as is common with all of this kind, 
 are of a snowy whiteness, except a line of 
 black that is seen to cross the crop. The 
 bill, which from the base to about half way is 
 covered with wrinkles, is black, but marked 
 crosswise with a stripe of yellow. They 
 walk erect, with their heads on high, their 
 fin-like wings hanging down like arms ; so 
 that to see them at a distance, they look like 
 so many children with white aprons. From 
 hence they are said to unite in themselves the 
 qualities of men, fowls, and fishes. Like 
 men, they are upright; like fowls, they are 
 feathered ; and like fishes, they have fin-like 
 instruments, that beat the water before, and 
 serve for all the purposes of swimming, rather 
 than flying. 2 
 
 2 " This day we visited what they call a ' penguin 
 rookery.' The spot of ground occupied by our settlers 
 is bounded on each end by high bluffs, which extend far 
 into the sea, leaving a space in front, where all their 
 hogs run nearly wild, as they are prevented going be- 
 yond those limits by those natural barriers; and the 
 creatures who, at stated periods, come up from the sea, 
 remain in undisturbed possession of the beaches beyond 
 our immediate vicinity. The weather being favour- 
 able, we launched our boat early in the morning, for the 
 purpose of procuring a supply of eggs for the consump- 
 tion of the family. We heard the chattering of the 
 penguins from the rookery long before we landed, which 
 was noisy in the extreme, and groups of them were 
 scattered all over the beach; but the high thick grass on 
 the declivity of the hill seemed their grand establish- 
 ment, and they were hidden by it from our view. As 
 we could not find any place where we could possibly 
 land our boat in safety, I and two mere swam on shore 
 with bags tied round our necks to hold the eggs in, and 
 the boat with one of the men lay off; out of the surf. I 
 should think the ground occupied by these birds (if I 
 may be allowed so to call them) was at least a mile in 
 circumference, covered in every part with grasses and 
 reeds, which grew considerably higher than my head ; 
 and on every gentle ascent, beginning from the beach, 
 on all the large gray rocks, which occasionally appeared 
 above this grass, sat perched groups of these strange and 
 uncouth-looking creatures ; but the noise which rose up 
 from beneath baffles all description ! As our business 
 lay with the noisy part of this community, we quickly 
 crept under the grass, and commenced our plundering 
 search, though there needed none, so profuse was the 
 quantity. The scene altogether well merits a better 
 description than I can give' thousands and hundreds of 
 thousands of these little two-legged erect monsters hop- 
 ping around us, with voices very much resembling in 
 tone that of the human ; aJl opening their throats to- 
 gether; so thickly clustered in groups, that it was 
 almost impossible to place the foot without despatching 
 one of them. The shape of the animal, their curious 
 motions, and their most extraordinary voices, made me 
 
218 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 They feed upon fish ; and seldom come 
 ashore, except in the breeding season. As 
 the seas in that part of the world abound with 
 a variety, they seldom want food ; and their 
 extreme fatness, seems a proof of the plenty 
 in which they live. They dive with great 
 rapidity, and are voracious to a great degree. 
 One of them, described by Clusius, though 
 but very young, would swallow an entire 
 herring at a mouthful, and often three succes- 
 sively before it was appeased. In conse- 
 quence of this gluttonous appetite, their flesh 
 is rank and fishy; though our sailors say, 
 that it is pretty good eating. In some the 
 flesh is so tough, and the feathers so thick, 
 that they stand the blow of a scimitar without 
 injury. 
 
 They are a bird of society ; and, especially 
 when they come on shore, they are seen 
 drawn up in rank and file, upon the ledge of 
 a rock, standing together with the albatross, 
 as if in consultation. This is previous to 
 their laying, which generally begins, in that 
 part of the world, in the month of November. 
 Their preparations for laying are attended 
 with no great trouble, as a small depression in 
 the earth, without any other nest, serves for 
 this purpose. The warmth of their feathers 
 and the heat of their bodies is such, that the 
 progress of incubation is carried on very 
 rapidly. 
 
 But there is a difference in the manner of 
 this bird's nestling in other countries, which I 
 can only ascribe to the frequent disturbances 
 it has received from man or quadrupeds in its 
 recesses. In some places, instead of content- 
 
 fancy myself in a kingdom of pigmies. The regularity 
 of their manners, their all sitting in exact rows, resem- 
 bling more the order of a camp than a rookery of noisy 
 birds, delighted me. These creatures did not move 
 away on our approach, but only increased their noise, 
 so we were obliged to displace them forcibly from their 
 nests; and this ejectment was not produced without a 
 considerable struggle on their parts; and, being armed 
 with a formidable beak, it soon became a scene of 
 desperate warfare. We had to take particular care to 
 protect our hands and legs from their attacks; and for 
 this purpose each one had provided himself with a short 
 stout club. The noise they continued to make during 
 our ramble through their territories, the sailors said 
 was, ' caver 'em up, cover 'em up.' And, however 
 incredible it may appear, it is nevertheless true, that I 
 heard those words so distinctly repeated, and by such 
 various tones of voices, that several times I started, and 
 expected to see one of the men at my elbow. Even 
 these little creatures, as well as the monstrous sea- 
 elephant, appear to keep up a continued warfare with 
 each other. As the penguins sit in rows, forming 
 regular lanes leading down to the beach, whenever one 
 of them feels an inclination to refresh herself by a plunge 
 into the sea, she has to run the gauntlet through the 
 whole ttreet, every one pecking at her as she passes 
 without mercy ; and though all are occupied in the 
 same employment, not the smallest degree of friendship 
 seems to exist ; and whenever we turned one off her 
 nest, she was sure to bu thrown among foes; and, be- 
 sides the loss of her eggs, was invariably doomed to re- 
 
 ing itself with a superficial depression in the 
 earth, the penguin is found to burrow two or 
 three yards deep : in other places it is seen 
 to forsake the level, and to clamber up the 
 ledge of a rock, where it lays its egg, and 
 hatches it in that bleak exposed situation. 
 These precautions may probably have been 
 taken, in consequence of dear-bought experi- 
 ence. In those places where the bird fears 
 for her own safety, or that of her young, she 
 may providently provide against danger, by 
 digging, or even by climbing ; for both 
 which she is but ill adapted by nature. In 
 those places, however, where the penguin has 
 had but few visits from man, her nest is made, 
 with the most confident security, in the middle 
 of some large plain, where they are seen by 
 thousands. In that unguarded situation, 
 neither expecting nor fearing a powerful 
 enemy, they continue to sit brooding ; and 
 even when man comes among them, have at 
 first no apprehension of their danger. Some 
 of this tribe have been called by our seamen, 
 the Booby ,' from the total insensibility which 
 they show when they are sought to their 
 destruction. But it is not considered that 
 these birds have never been taught to know 
 the dangers of a human enemy ; it is against 
 the fox or the vulture that they have learned 
 to defend themselves ; but they have no idea 
 of injury from a being so very unlike their 
 natural opposers. The penguins, therefore, 
 when our seamen first came among them, 
 tamely suffered themselves to be knocked on 
 the head, without even attempting an escape. 
 They have stood to be shot at in flocks, with- 
 
 ceive a severe beating and pecking from her com- 
 panions. Each one lays three eggs, and, after a time, 
 when the young are strong enough to undertake the 
 journey, they go to sea, and are not again seen till the 
 ensuing spring. Their city is deserted of its numerous 
 inhabitants, and quietness reigns till nature prompts 
 their return the following year, when the same noisy 
 scene is repeated, as the same flocks of birds return to 
 the spot where they were hatched. After raising a 
 tremendous tumult in this numerous colony, and sus- 
 taining continued combat, we came off victorious, mak- 
 ing capture of about a thousand eggs, resembling in 
 size, colour, and transparency of shell, those of a duck ; 
 and the taking possession of this immense quantity did 
 not occupy more than one hour, which may serve to 
 prove the incalculable numbers of birds collected to- 
 gether. We did not allow them sufficient time, after 
 landing, to lay all their eggs; for, had the season been 
 farther advanced, and we had found three eggs in each 
 nest, the whole of them might probably have proved 
 addled, the young partly formed, and the eggs of no use 
 to us ; but the whole of those we took turned out good, 
 and had a particularly fine and delicate flavour. It 
 was a work of considerable difficulty to get our booty 
 safe into the boat so frail a cargo with so tremendous 
 a surf running against us. However, we finally suc- 
 ceeded, though not without smashing a considerable 
 number of the eggs." Earle's ' Narrative of a Resi~ 
 dence in New Zealand and Tristan d'Acunha* 
 
 1 The Booby belongs to the pelican tribe, and not to 
 the penguins. 
 
THE AUK, &c. 
 
 219 
 
 out offering to move, in silent wonder, till 
 every one of their number has been destroyed. 
 Their attachment to their nests was still more 
 powerful ; for the females tamely suffered the 
 men to approach and take their eggs without 
 any resistance. But the experience of a few 
 of those unfriendly visits, has long since 
 taught them to be more upon their guard in 
 choosing their situations ; or to leave those re- 
 treats where they were so little able to oppose 
 their invaders. 
 
 The penguin lays but one egg ; and, in fre- 
 quented shores, is found to burrow like a rab- 
 bit : sometimes three or four take possession 
 of one hole, and hatch their young together. 
 In the holes of the rocks, where nature has 
 made them a retreat, several of this tribe, as 
 Linnaeus assures us, are seen together. There 
 the females lay their single egg, in a common 
 nest, and sit upon this, their general posses- 
 sion, by turns ; while one is placed as a sen- 
 tinel, to give warning of approaching danger. 
 The egg of the penguin, as well as of all this 
 tribe, is very large for the size of the bird, 
 being generally found bigger than that of a 
 goose. But as there are many varieties of the 
 penguin, and as they differ in size, from that 
 of a Muscovy duck to a swan, the eggs differ 
 in the same proportion. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 OF THE AUK, PUFFIN, AND OTHER BIRDS 
 OF THE PENGUIN KIND. 
 
 OF a size far inferior to the penguin, but 
 with nearly the same form, and exactly of the 
 same appetites and manners, there is a very 
 numerous tribe. These frequent our shores, 
 and, like the penguin, have their legs placed 
 behind. They have short wings, which are 
 not totally incapable of flight; with round bills 
 for seizing their prey, which is fish. They 
 live upon the water, in which they are conti- 
 nually seen diving; and seldom venture upon 
 land, except for the purposes of continuing 
 their kind. 
 
 The first of this smaller tribe is the Great 
 Northern Diver, which is nearly the size of 
 a goose : it is beautifully variegated all over 
 with many strips, and differs from the pen- 
 guin, in being much slenderer, and more ele- 
 gantly formed. The Gray Speckled Diver 
 does not exceed the size of a Muscovy duck ; 
 and, except in size, greatly resembles the 
 former. The Auk, which breeds on the 
 islands of St Kilda, chiefly differs from the 
 penguin in size and colour : it is smaller than 
 a ducki and the whole of the breast and belly, 
 as far as the middle of the throat, is white. 
 
 The Guillemot is about the same size ; it dif- 
 fers from the auk, in having a longer, a slen 
 derer, and a straighter bill. The Scarlet- 
 Throated Diver may be distinguished by its 
 name ; and the Puffin, or Coulterneb, is one 
 of the most remarkable birds we know. 1 
 
 1 The Great Northern Diver, (see Plate XIX. fig. 
 41.) which is the principal of the auk tribe, is nearly 
 three feet and a half in length. The female is less 
 than the male. It inhabits chiefly the northern seas, 
 and is common on some of the coasts of Scotland. 
 
 Most people, who have exercised any degree of ob- 
 servation, know that the swimming of birds is nothing 
 more than a walking in the water, where one foot suc- 
 ceeds the other, as on the land. " But no one, as far 
 as I am aware," says the Rev. Mr White, " has re- 
 marked, that diving fowls, while under water, impel 
 and row themselves forward by a motion of their wings, 
 as well as by the impulse of their feet; yet such is really 
 the case, as any one may easily be convinced who will 
 observe ducks when hunted by dogs in a clear pond. 
 Nor do I know that any one has given a reason why the 
 wings of diving fowls are placed so forward; doubtless 
 not for the purpose of promoting their speed in flying, 
 since that position certainly impedes it ; but probably for 
 the increase of their motion under water, by the use of 
 four oars instead of two : and were the wings and feet 
 nearer together, as in land birds, they would, when in 
 action, rather hinder than assist one another." 
 
 The Speckled Diver is not quite so large as the other. 
 The Great Auk. (See Plate XX. fig. 32.) This 
 bird inhabits Europe and America; is three feet in 
 length; is very timid ; it has not the power of flying ; 
 its food is chiefly fishes. The wings are so short as to 
 appear as only rudiments ; secondary quill feathers tipt 
 with white ; the legs are black. Its egg is six inches 
 long, and white, with purplish lines and spots. The 
 Little Auk also inhabits Europe and America, and mea- 
 sures nine inches in length. 
 
 The Guillemot is about the size of a common duck. 
 The upper parts of the body are of a dark brown colour, 
 inclining to a black. These are simple birds, and easily 
 taken. They generally join company with other birds, 
 and breed on the inaccessible rocks and steep cliffs in 
 the Isle of Man ; and likewise in Cornwall ; on Pries- 
 holm Island, near Beaumaris, in the isle of Anglesey; 
 also on the Fern Islands, near Northumberland : and the 
 clifls about Scarborough, in Yorkshire ; and several other 
 places in England. They lay exceeding large eggs, 
 being full three inches long, blunt at the one end, sharp 
 at the other, of a sort of bluish colour, spotted generally 
 with some black spots or strokes. (For little Guillemot, 
 see Plate XIX. fig. 23.) 
 
 The Black Guillemot. The length of the black Guil- 
 lemot is about fourteen inches, breadth twenty-two, and 
 its weight fourteen ounces. These birds are found in 
 great numbers in the north sea, in Greenland, Iceland, 
 Spitzbergen, and the Feroe isles; and when the winter 
 sets in, they migrate southward along the shores of Scot- 
 land and England, where some of them remain and 
 breed. The nest is made in the deep crevices of rocks 
 which overhang the sea; the eggs are of a gray colour. 
 Some ornithologists assert, that the female lays only 
 one : others, that she lays two. They fly commonly in 
 pairs, and so low that they raise the surface of the sea by 
 the flapping of their narrow wings. The Greenlanders 
 eat the flesh of this bird, and use its skin for clothing, 
 and the legs as a bait for their fishing-lines. Ray, Al- 
 bin, Willoughby, and Edwards have named it the Green- 
 land dove, or sea-turtle. In the Orkneys it is called 
 the tyste. 
 
 The Grebes belong to this family of birds. They are 
 
220 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 Words cannot easily describe the form of 
 the bill of the puffin, which differs so greatly 
 from that of any other bird. Those who have 
 seen the coulter of a plough, may form some 
 idea of the beak of this odd-looking animal. 
 The bill is flat ; but, very different from that 
 of a duck, its edge is upwards : it is of a 
 triangular figure, and ending in a sharp 
 point, the upper chap bent a little downward, 
 where it is joined to the head ; and a certain 
 callous substance encompassing its base, as in 
 parrots. It is of two colours; ash-coloured 
 near the base, and red towards the point. It 
 has three furrows or grooves impressed in it ; 
 one in the livid part, two in the red. The 
 eyes are fenced with a protuberant skin, of a 
 livid colour ; and they are gray or ash-col- 
 oured. These are marks sufficient to distin- 
 guish this bird by; but its value to those 
 in whose vicinity it breeds, renders it still 
 more an object of curiosity. 
 
 The puffin, (see Plate XX. fig. 9.) like 
 all the rest of this kind, has its legs thrown 
 so far back, that it can hardly move without 
 tumbling. This makes it rise with difficulty, 
 and subject to many falls before it gets upon 
 the wing : but as it is a small bird, not much 
 bigger than a pigeon, when it once rises, it 
 can continue its flight with great celerity. 
 
 Both this and all the former build no nest ; 
 but lay their eggs either in the crevices of 
 rocks, or in holes under ground near the shore. 
 They chiefly choose the latter situation ; for 
 the puffin, the auk, the guillemot, and the 
 rest, cannot easily rise to the nest when in a 
 lofty situation. Many are the attempts these 
 birds are seen to make to fly up to those nests 
 which are so high above the surface. In ren- 
 dering them inaccessible to mankind, they 
 often render them almost inaccessible to them- 
 selves. They are frequently obliged to make 
 three or four efforts, before they can come at 
 the place of incubation. For this reason, the 
 auk and guillemot, when they have once laid 
 their single egg, which is extremely large for 
 the size, seldom forsake it until it is excluded. 
 The male, who is better furnished for flight, 
 feeds the female during this interval ; and so 
 bare is the place where she sits, that the egg 
 would often roll down from the rock, did not 
 the body of the bird support it. 
 
 But the puffin seldom chooses these inac- 
 cessible and troublesome heights for its situa- 
 tion. Relying on its courage and the strength 
 of its bill, with which it bites most terribly, 
 it either makes or finds a hole in the ground, 
 where to lay and bring forth its young. All 
 the winter these birds, like the rest, are ab- 
 
 not web-footed, but the toes are enlarged as in the coots. 
 They live on lakes and ponds, and build in the rushes. 
 Their plumage, which changes much with age, is used 
 frequently by furriers. The following cut represents 
 the Cretted Grebe. 
 
 This is one of the largest of the genus, and is an in- 
 digenous species, breeding annually on the pools amidst 
 the fens, on the moors of Shropshire and Cheshire, and 
 on a few of the northern Scottish lakes. During the 
 winter, when the waters of the interior of the country 
 are frozen, it retires to the mouths of rivers, and to the 
 line of sea-coast, where it obtains the necessary supply 
 of fish and small crustaceous animals, which constitute 
 its principal food. Being upwards of three years in ac- 
 quiring maturity, or at least the full development of the 
 frieze that surrounds the neck and the occipital tufts, it 
 is much more frequently met with in the young or im- 
 perfect state of plumage, than in that of the adult ; and 
 out of more than a dozen specimens, which have at dif- 
 ferent times come under my observation, not one had 
 
 attained the distinguishing characters of the Crested 
 Grebe. In this immature state it was long supposed to 
 be- a distinct species, and as such was known by the 
 name of the Tippet Grebe, adopted from the use to which 
 the soft and silky plumage of the lower parts of the body 
 was often applied. When swimming, it moves very 
 rapidly, and, from the flatness of its body, exhibits little 
 more than the head and neck above the water. It dives 
 with remarkable quickness, and is able to avoid the shot 
 from a fowling-piece fired by flint and steel, though it 
 cannot so easily escape from the sudden inflammation 
 of the percussion- lock. Its progress when below the sur- 
 face, which (as in other diving birds) is performed by an 
 action of the wings somewhat similar to that of flying, is 
 so speedy, as frequently to baffle the pursuit of a well- 
 managed boat, and a stretch of 200 yards is sometimes 
 made, before it rises again to breathe ; and this act of 
 respiration, before the bird becomes fatigued by continued 
 pursuit, is commonly effected by merely raising the head 
 above water. It rarely flies, according to Temminck, 
 even making its migrations by swimming, which, 
 however, cannot always be the case, as it is sometimes 
 found on isolated pieces of water, where it could not 
 arrive unless by the use of its wings ; and these, though 
 short, are not comparatively smaller than in some other 
 species that are known to fly occasionally. Upon the 
 continental parts of Europe it is abundant, particularly 
 in Holland and certain districts of Germany. It is also 
 known in America, and is mentioned in the Fanna 
 America; Borealis, as having been killed by Dr Richard- 
 son upon the Saskatshcwan . It breeds in the fresh 
 water, amidst reeds and other rank herbage, and the 
 nest, which is very large and floats on the surface, is 
 composed of a mass of decayed vegetable roots, flags, 
 stems of water-lily, &c. The eggs, three or four in 
 number, are of a greenish-white, in size rather bigger 
 than those of a Teal. The young, when first excluded, 
 are clothed in a parti-coloured down of reddish-brown 
 and grayish-white, and are assiduously attended by the 
 
THE AUK. 
 
 221 
 
 sent ; visiting regions too remote for discovery. 
 At the latter end of March, or the beginning 
 of April, come over a troop of their spies or 
 harbingers, that stay two or three days, as it 
 were to view and search out for their former 
 situations, and see whether all be well. This 
 done, they once more depart ; and about the 
 beginning of May, return again with the 
 whole army of their companions. But if the 
 season happens to be stormy and tempestu- 
 ous, and the sea troubled, the unfortunate 
 voyagers undergo incredible hardships: and 
 they are found, by hundreds, cast away upon 
 the shores, lean and perished with famine. 1 
 It is most probable, therefore, that this voyage 
 is performed more on the water than in the 
 air ; and as they cannot fish in stormy wea- 
 ther, their strength is exhausted before they 
 can arrive at their wished-for harbour. 
 
 The puffin, when it prepares for breeding, 
 which always happens a few days after its 
 arrival, begins to scrape up a hole in the 
 ground not far from the shore ; and when it 
 has some way penetrated the earth, it then 
 throws itself upon its back, and with bill and 
 claws thus burrows inward, till it has dug a 
 hole with several windings and turnings, from 
 eight to ten feet deep. It particularly seeks 
 to dig under a stone, where it expects the 
 greatest security. In this fortified retreat it 
 lays one egg ; which though the bird be not 
 much bigger than a pigeon, is of the size of 
 a hen's. 
 
 When the young one is excluded, the 
 parent's industry and courage is incredible. 
 Few birds or beasts will venture to attack 
 them in their retreats. When the great sea- 
 raven, as Jacobson informs us, comes to take 
 away their young, the puffins boldly oppose 
 him. Their meeting affords a most singular 
 combat. As soon as the raven approaches, 
 the puffin catches him under the throat with 
 its beak, and sticks its claws into its breast, 
 which makes the raven, with a loud scream- 
 ing, attempt to get away ; but the little bird 
 still holds fast to the invader, nor lets him 
 go till they both come to the sea, where they 
 drop down together, and the raven is drowned; 
 yet the raven is but too often successful; 
 and, invading the puffin at the bottom of its 
 hole, devours both the parent and its family. 
 
 But were a punishment to be inflicted for 
 immorality in irrational animals, the puffin is 
 justly a sufferer from invasion, as it is often 
 itself one of the most terrible invaders. Near 
 the isle of Anglesey, in an islet called 
 Priesholm, their flocks may be compared, 
 for multitude, to swarms of bees. In another 
 
 parent, who procures food for them, and, according to 
 
 Pennant, has often been observed to feed them with 
 
 small eels. For Horned Grebe, see Plato XX. fig. 18. 
 
 i VVilloughby's Ornith. p. 33o. 
 
 islet, called the Calf of Man, a bird of this 
 kind, but of a different species, is seen in 
 great abundance. In both places, numbers 
 of rabbits are found to breed; but the puffin, 
 unwilling to be at the trouble of making a 
 hole, when there is one ready made, dispos- 
 sesses the rabbits, and it is not unlikely de- 
 stroys their young. It is in these unjustly 
 acquired retreats that the young puffins are 
 found in great numbers, and become a very 
 valuable acquisition to the natives of the 
 place. The old ones (I am now speaking of 
 the Manks puffin) early in the morning, at 
 break of day, leave their nests and young, 
 and even the island, nor do they return till 
 night-fall. All this time they are diligently 
 employed in fishing for their young ; so that 
 their retreats on land, which in the morning 
 were loud and clamorous, are now still and 
 quiet, with not a wing stirring till the approach 
 of dusk, when their screams once more an- 
 nounce their return. Whatever fish, or other 
 food, they have procured in the day, by night 
 begins to suffer a kind of half digestion, and 
 is reduced to an oily matter, which is ejected 
 from the stomach of the old ones into the 
 mouth of the young. By this they are nour- 
 ished, and become fat to an amazing degree. 
 When they are arrived to their full growth, 
 they who are intrusted by the lord of the 
 island, draw them from their holes ; and, that 
 they may more readily keep an account of the 
 number they take, cut off one foot as a token. 
 Their flesh is said to be excessively rank, as 
 they feed upon fish, especially sprats, and 
 sea-weed; however, when they are pickled 
 and preserved with spices, they are admired 
 by those who are fond of high eating. We 
 are told, that formerly their flesh was allowed 
 by the church on Lenten days. They were, 
 at that time, also taken by ferrets, as we do 
 rabbits. At present, they are either dug out, 
 or drawn out, from their burrows, with a 
 hooked stick. They bite extremely hard, and 
 keep such fast hold of whatsoever they seize 
 upon, as not to be easily disengaged. Their 
 noise, when taken, is very disagreeable, 
 being like the efforts of a dumb person at- 
 tempting to speak. 
 
 The constant depredation which these birds 
 annually suffer, does not in the least seem to 
 intimidate them, or drive them away; on the 
 contrary, as the people say, the nest must be 
 robbed or the old ones will breed there no 
 longer. All birds of this kind lay but one 
 egg ; yet if that be taken away, they will lay 
 another, and so on to a third ; which seems to 
 imply, that robbing their nests does not much 
 intimidate them from laying again. Those, 
 however, whose nests have been thus de- 
 stroyed, are often too late in bringing up their 
 young ; who, if they be not fledged and pre- 
 
222 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 pared for migration when all the rest depart, 
 are left at land to shift for themselves. In 
 A ugust the whole tribe is seen to take leave 
 of their summer residence; nor are they ob- 
 served any more till the return of the ensuing 
 spring. It is probable that they sail away to 
 more southern regions, as our mariners fre- 
 quently see myriads of water-fowl upon their 
 return, and steering usually to the north. 
 Indeed the coldest countries seem to be their 
 most favoured retreats ; and the number of 
 water-fowl is much greater in those colder 
 climates than in the warmer regions near the 
 line. The quantity of oil which abounds in 
 their bodies, serves as a defence against cold, 
 and preserves them in vigour against its 
 severity; but the same provision of oil is 
 rather detrimental in warm countries, as it 
 turns rancid, and many of them die of dis- 
 orders which arise from its putrefaction. In 
 general, however, water-fowl can be properly 
 said to be of no climate ; the element upon 
 which they live being their proper residence. 
 They necessarily spend a few months of 
 summer upon land, to bring up their young; 
 but the rest of their time is probably consumed 
 in their migrations, or near some unknown 
 coasts, where their provision of fish is found 
 in greatest abundance. 
 
 Before I go to the third general division 
 of water-fowls, it may not be improper to 
 observe, that there is one species of round- 
 billed water- fowl that does not properly lie 
 within any of the former distributions. This 
 is the Gooseander ;* a bird with the body and 
 
 1 This is the largest of the Auk kind, weighing about 
 four pounds. It seldom makes its appearance in the 
 
 more southern districts of the country, except in winters 
 attended by long continued frost ; but in the northern 
 parts of Scotland, and in the Orkneys and other Scottish 
 islands, it is a permanent resident ; finding subsistence 
 throughout the year either in the fresh-water lakes of 
 the interior, or (when these are frozen) in the deep in- 
 dentations of the coast, formed by the saline lochs, so 
 numerous in that part of the kingdom. It is widely 
 distributed throughout the arctic regions of both the 
 ancient and new worlds. In Europe, during its equa- 
 torial migration, it visits France, Holland, Germany, 
 and even more southern countries; and Wilson men- 
 tions it as a well known winter visitant upon the coasts, 
 lakes, and rivers of the United States. During the 
 summer the great body of these birds retires to high 
 latitudes, for tire purpose of reproduction; and at that 
 time they are found in Iceland, Greenland, and other 
 northern parts of Europe. In Asia, they visit Siberia, 
 
 wings shaped like those of the penguin kind, 
 but with legs not hid in the belly. It may 
 be distinguished from all others by its bill, 
 which is round, hooked at the point, and 
 toothed, both upper and under chap, like a 
 saw. Its colours are various and beautiful; 
 however, its manners and appetites entirely 
 resemble those of the diver. It feeds upon 
 fish, for which it dives ; and is said to build 
 its nest upon trees, like the heron and the 
 cormorant. It seems to form the shade be- 
 tween the penguin and the goose kind ; hav- 
 ing a round bill like the one ; and unem- 
 barrassed legs, like the other. In the shape 
 of the head, neck, and body, it resembles them 
 both. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 OF BIRDS OF THE GOOSE KIND, PROPERLY 
 SO CALLED. 
 
 THE Swan, the Goose, and the Duck, are 
 leaders of a numerous, useful, and beautiful 
 tribe of birds, that we have reclaimed from a 
 state of nature, and have taught to live in 
 dependence about us. To describe any of 
 these, would be as superfluous as definitions 
 usually are when given of things with which 
 we are already well acquainted. There are 
 
 Kamtschatka, &c., and in America, during the above 
 period, they are distributed through the fur countries of 
 that vast continent. The nest is constructed (near to 
 the edge of the water) of a mass of grass, roots, and 
 other materials, mixed and lined with down. It is 
 placed sometimes among stones or other debris, and 
 sometimes in the long grass, or under the cover of 
 bushes, and (when the locality affords them) in the 
 stumps or hollows of decayed trees. The eggs are from 
 twelve to fourteen in number, of a cream-yellow colour ; 
 and their form is a long oval, both ends being equally 
 obtuse. 
 
 The gooseander, except when on wing, is almost 
 always seen upon the water, being unable to make any 
 great progress on land, in consequence of the backward 
 position of the legs, and the slight degree of freedom 
 that the tibiae possess from their situation within the 
 integuments of the abdomen. Its activity, however, in 
 the former element, makes ample amends for this 
 deficiency. In swimming, the body, from its broad 
 and flattened shape, is deeply sunk in the water, having 
 the head, neck, and back only visible. It is an excel, 
 lent diver, with the power of remaining for a long time 
 submerged, and making its way with great rapidity 
 beneath the surface. In this manner its food is ob- 
 tained, consisting entirely of fish; and which, when 
 once seized, are securely held in its serrated bill. It 
 rises with difficulty, or at least with much apparent 
 exertion, from the surface of the water, but when once 
 fairly on wing, its flight is not only swift, but can be 
 sustained for a considerable time. By earlier writers, 
 the females and young males (which resemble that sex 
 for upwards of a year) were considered and described as 
 a distinct species. 
 
THE GOOSE. 
 
 223 
 
 few that have not had opportunities of seeing 
 them, and whose ideas would not anticipate 
 our description. But, though nothing be so 
 easy as to distinguish these in general from 
 each other, yet the largest of the duck kind 
 approach the goose so nearly, that it may be 
 proper to mark the distinctions. 
 
 The marks of the goose are, a bigger body, 
 large wings, a longer neck, a white ring 
 above the rump, a bill thicker at the base, 
 slenderer towards the tip, with shorter legs 
 placed more forward on the body. They 
 both have a waddling walk ; but the duck 
 from the position of its legs, has it in a greater 
 degree. By these marks, these similar tribes 
 may be known asunder ; and though the 
 duck should be found to equal the goose in 
 size, which sometimes happens, yet there are 
 still other sufficient distinctions. 
 
 But they all agree in many particulars; 
 and have a nearer affinity to each other than 
 the neighbouring kinds in any other depart- 
 ment. Their having been tamed has pro- 
 duced alterations in each, by which they 
 differ as much from the wild ones of their 
 respective kinds, as they do among them- 
 selves. There is nearly as much difference 
 between the wild and the tame duck, as be- 
 tween some sorts of the duck and the goose ; 
 but still the characteristics of the kind are 
 strongly marked and obvious ; and this tribe 
 can never be mistaken. 
 
 The bill is the first great obvious distinc- 
 tion of the goose kind from all of the feathered 
 tribe. In other birds, it is round and wedge- 
 like, or crooked at the end. In all the goose- 
 kind it is flat and broad, made for the purpose 
 of skimming ponds and lakes of the mantling 
 weeds that stand on the surface. The bills 
 of other birds are made of a horny substance 
 throughout ; these have their inoffensive bills 
 sheathed with a skin which covers them all 
 over. The bill of every other bird seems, in 
 some measure, formed for piercing or tearing; 
 theirs are only fitted for shovelling up their 
 food, which is chiefly of the vegetable kind. 
 
 Though these birds do not reject animal 
 food when offered them, yet they can content- 
 edly subsist upon vegetables, and seldom seek 
 any other. They are easily provided for ; 
 wherever there is water, there seems to be 
 plenty. All the other web-footed tribes are 
 continually voracious, continually preying. 
 These lead more harmless lives : the weeds 
 on the surface of the water, or the insects at 
 the bottom, the grass by the bank, or the 
 fruits and corn in cultivated grounds, are 
 sufficient to satisfy their easy appetites ; yet 
 these, like every other animal, will not reject 
 flesh, if properly prepared for them ; it is 
 sufficient praise to them that they do not 
 eagerly pursue it. 
 
 As their food is chiefly vegetables, so their 
 fecundity is in proportion. We have had 
 frequent opportunities to observe, that all the 
 predatory tribes, whether of birds or quadru- 
 peds, are barren and unfruitful. We have 
 seen the lion with its two cubs ; the eagle 
 with the same number ; and the penguin with 
 even but one. Nature that has supplied them 
 with powers of destruction, has denied them 
 fertility. But it is otherwise with these 
 harmless animals I am describing, They 
 seem formed to fill up the chasms in animated 
 nature, caused by the voraciousness of others. 
 They breed in great abundance, and lead their 
 young to the pool the instant they are ex. 
 eluded. 
 
 As their food is simple, so their flesh is 
 nourishing and wholesome. The swan was 
 considered as a high delicacy among the an- 
 cients ; the goose was abstained from as totally 
 indigestible. Modern manners have inverted 
 tastes ; the goose is now become the favourite ; 
 and the swan is seldom brought to table, un- 
 less for the purpose of ostentation. But at 
 all times the flesh of the duck was in high 
 esteem ; the ancients thought even more highly 
 of it than we do. We are contented to eat it 
 as a delicacy ; they also considered it as a medi- 
 cine ; and Plutarch assures us, that Cato kept 
 his whole family in health, by feeding them 
 with duck whenever they threatened to be 
 out of order. 
 
 These qualities, of great fecundity, easy 
 sustenance, and wholesome nourishment, have 
 been found so considerable as to induce man 
 to take these birds from a state of nature, and 
 render them domestic. How long they have 
 been thus dependents upon his pleasure is not 
 known ; for, from the earliest accounts, they 
 were considered as familiars about him. The 
 time must have been very remote ; for there 
 have been many changes wrought in their 
 colours, their figures, and even their internal 
 parts, by human cultivation. The different 
 kinds of these birds, in a wild state, are sim- 
 ple in their colourings ; when one has seen a 
 wild goose or a duck, a description of its 
 plumage will, to a feather, exactly correspond 
 with that of any other. But in the tame 
 kinds, no two of any species are exactly alike. 
 Different in their size, their colours, and fre- 
 quently in their general form, they seem the 
 mere creatures of art ; and having been so 
 long dependent upon man for support, they 
 seem to assume forms entirely suited to his 
 pleasures or necessities. 
 
224 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 OF THE SWAN, TAME AND WILD. 1 
 
 No bird makes a more indifferent figure 
 upon land, or a more beautiful one in the 
 
 1 The extensive family of Swimming Birds to which 
 these noble ornaments of our rivers and lakes belong, 
 are at once characterized by their straight broad bills, 
 clothed with a continuation of the common epidermis 
 instead of the usual horny covering, and armed at the 
 edges with a regular series of laminated teeth. Their 
 wings are of moderate length; their legs short; and 
 their feet divided into four toes, the three anterior 
 united throughout by a palmated expansion, and the 
 posterior perfectly distinct from the rest. They are for 
 the most part inhabitants of fresh water rather than of 
 the sea ; and subsist more upon vegetable than animal 
 substances. 
 
 In the Linnean system of classification the great 
 majority of these birds were referred to a single genus, 
 under the generic name of Anas, derived originally from 
 the common duck, and extended from it to the whole of 
 its tribe. But the vast number of species thus brought 
 together, and the consequent difficulty of determining 
 any unknown bird that might be referable to the group, 
 long since suggested the expediency of its dismember- 
 ment, and the formation of smaller and more manage- 
 able subdivisions. Many naturalists, from Ray down 
 to the present time, have attempted, with more or less 
 success, to simplify by these means the study of the 
 most interesting family among our water-fowl; but 
 several of the divisions that have been established 
 among them rest upon such apparently trivial charac- 
 ters, that we are by no means prepared to adopt them 
 j u their fullest extent. There are some, however, 
 such as the swans, the geese, and the ducks, so strik- 
 ingly distinguished, as to have been separated, in 
 popular nomenclature, from the earliest times ; and this 
 separation being confirmed by tangible characters, we 
 cannot hesitate to consider it as founded upon just and 
 sufficient principles. 
 
 Of the characters by which the swans are distin- 
 guished from the rest of the family, the most remarkable 
 are the extreme length of their necks; the oval shape 
 of their nostrils, which are placed about the middle of 
 their bill ; the nakedness of their cheeks ; the equal 
 breadth of their bills throughout; the great depth of 
 that organ at the base, where the vertical considerably 
 exceeds the transverse diameter; and the position of 
 their legs behind the centre of gravity. They are by 
 far the largest species of the family; and there are very 
 few birds that exceed them in magnitude. They live 
 almost constantly upon the water, preferring the larger 
 streams and open lakes; and feed chiefly upon aquatic 
 plants, the roots of which they are enabled to reach by 
 means of their long necks, for they rarely if ever plunge 
 the whole of their bodies beneath the surface. They 
 also devour frogs a.nd insects, and occasionally, it is said, 
 even fishes; but this last assertion is contradicted by 
 almost every observer who has attended particularly to 
 their habits, and seems quite at variance with the fact 
 that the fish-ponds to which they are sometimes confined 
 do not appear to suffer the smallest diminution in the 
 number of their inhabitants from the presence of these 
 inoffensive birds. We are moreover informed by Mr 
 Yarrell that he has never found in the stomachs of any 
 of the numerous individuals dissected by him the least 
 vestige of such a diet. In their habits they are as 
 peaceable as they are majestic in form, elegant in atti- 
 lude, graceful in their motions, and, in the two species 
 
 water, than the swan. When it ascends from 
 its favourite element, its motions are awkward, 
 and its neck is stretched forward with an air 
 of stupidity; but when it is seen smoothly 
 sailing along the water, commanding a thou- 
 sand graceful attitudes, moving at pleasure 
 without the smallest effort ; " when it proudly 
 
 that are most commonly known to us, unsullied in the 
 purity of their white and glossy plumage. 
 
 Of these species that which is known, improperly 
 with reference to a large proportion of the individuals 
 that compose it, as the tame swan, is probably the 
 most common, being found in a state of domestication 
 throughout the greater part of the northern hemisphere. 
 In a wild state it is met with in almost every country 
 of Europe, especially towards the east, and is particu- 
 larly abundant in Siberia. Its distinguishing characters 
 are found chiefly in its bill, which is throughout of an 
 orange red, with the exception of the edges of the man- 
 dibles, the slight hook at the extremity, the nostrils, 
 and the naked spaces extending from the base towards 
 the eyes, all of which are black. A large protuberance, 
 also of a deep black, surmounts the base of the bill ; 
 the iris is brown ; and the legs black, with a tinge of 
 red. All the plumage, without exception, ia the adult 
 bird, is of the purest white. In length the full grown 
 male measures upwards of five feet, and more than 
 eight in the expanse of its wings, which reach, when 
 closed, along two-thirds of the tail. Its weight is 
 usually about twenty pounds, but it sometimes attains 
 five and twenty or even thirty; and those which in- 
 habit the southern coast of the Caspian are said to 
 reach a still more enormous size. The female is rather 
 smaller than the male ; her bill is surmounted by a 
 smaller protuberance ; and her neck is somewhat more 
 slender. When first hatched the young are of a dusky 
 gray, with lead-coloured bill and legs; in the second 
 year their plumage becomes lighter, and their bill and 
 legs assume a yellowish tinge ; in the third year they 
 put on the adult plumage and colouring of the naked 
 parts. 
 
 The wild birds of this species, like most of the water, 
 fowl, are migratory in their habits. In the temperate 
 regions of Europe they begin to absent themselves in 
 October, and return towards the end of March to the 
 quarters which they occupied in the preceding year. 
 But when the winter is not particularly severe, they 
 frequently remain through it, seeking for shelter among 
 the dams and sluices of the rivers, and returning to 
 their former quarters at the breaking of the frost. To 
 protect the tame birds from the severity of the season, 
 it is usual to drive them into the same houses with the 
 ducks and geese; but in such strict confinement they 
 entirely lose their spirits, become melancholy and dis- 
 eased, and are constantly making attempts to escape. 
 It is much better, whenever it is possible, both with 
 them and with the commoner species of water-fowl, to 
 leave them at liberty upon a piece of water, which, if 
 their number is at all considerable, they will always 
 keep open by their continual motion, without any risk 
 of freezing their feet. Swans kept in this manner dur- 
 ng the winter are generally in much better condition 
 at the return of spring than those which have been con. 
 fined to the house. 
 
 The females choose for their nesting-place the least 
 equented situations on the banks of the rivers or lakes 
 which they inhabit, and build their nests in the rudest 
 manner of twigs and reeds, lined with a comfortable 
 coating of their breast feathers. They lay six or eight 
 grayish eggs, and sit for five weeks, generally in Apri) 
 and May. As soon as the young birds are hatched, 
 hey are carried by both parents to the water, and for 
 
THE SWAN. 
 
 225 
 
 rows in state," as Milton has it, <c with arched 
 neck, between its white wings mantling," 
 there is not a more beautiful figure in all 
 nature. In the exhibition of its form, there 
 
 two or three weeks afterwards are borne upon their 
 backs, or placed for shelter and warmth beneath their 
 wings. The attentions of the parent birds are con- 
 tinued until the next pairing season, when the old males 
 drive the young from their society, and compel them to 
 shift for themselves. To prevent the tame ones from 
 flying away, it is necessary every year to clip their quill- 
 feathers ; and this mutilation seems to deprive them not 
 only of the power, but also of the desire, to regain their 
 liberty. They accustom themselves with ease to the 
 society of man, and seem even to become attached to 
 him, probably in consequence of the kindness with which 
 they are every where treated, and the peculiar privileges 
 which they enjoy at his hands. Besides their natural 
 food, consisting of plants, insects, snails, and similar 
 productions, they eagerly devour bread and all kinds of 
 grain, and in winter are chiefly kept upon these sub- 
 stances and the same kind of provender that is given to 
 ducks and geese. 
 
 Although naturally one of the most gentle and inof- 
 fensive of birds, the large size and great muscular power 
 of the Swan render it a formidable enemy when driven 
 to extremity, and compelled to act on the defensive. 
 In such a case it is said to give battle to the eagle, 
 and frequently even to repel his attack, forcing him to 
 seek his safety in flight. It never attempts to molest 
 any of the smaller water-fowl that inhabit its domains; 
 but in the season of its amours it will not suffer a rival 
 to approach its retreat without a sanguinary struggle, in 
 which one or other is generally destroyed. It is said 
 to attain a very great age, thirty years being commonly 
 spoken of as the term of its existence. It is even 
 asserted that in Alkmar, a town in the north of Hol- 
 land, there died, in the year 1672, a swan belonging 
 to the municipality, which bore 011 its collar the date 
 of 1573, and must consequently have been a century 
 old ; and several other instances of a similar nature 
 have been related by authors. We must confess, how- 
 ever, that we entertain strong doubts of the authenticity 
 of such statements, founded merely on popular tradition 
 and unsupported by any positive evidence. 
 
 The mid Swan. The wild swan, or, as it is not 
 unfrequently termed, the hooper, is a native of nearly the 
 whole northern hemisphere. In the old world it passes 
 northwards as far as Iceland and Kamtschatka, skirting 
 the borders of the arctic circle, but rarely entering 
 Avithin its limit?. Those which inhabit Europe gen- 
 erally pass the winter in its more southern regions, and 
 even extend their flight to Egypt and Barbary ; while 
 the Asiatic birds seem rarely to pass much farther south 
 than the shores of the Caspian and Black seas. In 
 America the range of their migrations is bounded by 
 Hudson's bay on the north, and Louisiana and the 
 Carolinas on the south. They are extremely abundant 
 in the northern parts of the new continent and in 
 Siberia; and in many districts of Russia they take the 
 place of that which is improperly termed the tame 
 species, submitting themselves with equal readiness to 
 the process of domestication. 
 
 The external differences between these two swans 
 are not at first sight very obvious ; but, trivial as they 
 appear, they^are uniform and constant. The bill of 
 the present species is entirely destitute of protuberance 
 at its base, and its colours are in a great degree 
 reversed, the black occupying the point and nearly 
 the whole of the bill, its base alone and the spaces 
 extending from it beneath the eyes being of a bright 
 yellow. The legs are black or dusky ; the iris brown; 
 and the entire plumage, as in the other species, pure 
 VOL. ii. 
 
 are no broken or harsh lines, no constrained 
 or catching motions ; but the roundest con- 
 tours, and the easiest transitions; the eye 
 wanders over every part with insatiable plea- 
 
 white, but with an occasional tinge of yellowish gray. 
 The young pass through similar gradations of colour 
 with those of the tame swan, and arrive, like them, at 
 their perfect plumage about the third or fourth year. 
 
 Slight as are these outward differences, they are 
 fully sufficient for the detection of the species; and the 
 separation founded upon them receives ample confir- 
 mation from anatomical characters of the highest im- 
 portance. Not to speak of the difference in the number 
 of their ribs, which are twelve in the wild swan and 
 eleven only in the tame, their tracheae or windpipes 
 afford unquestionable evidence of their distinctness. 
 This organ, which, in the tame swan, passes directly 
 from the neck into the cavity of the chest without 
 forming any previous convolution, enters in the wild 
 species an appropriate cavity in the keel of the breast- 
 bone, within which it passes to a considerable depth, 
 then returns upwards, and is again inflected over the 
 edge of the sternum before plunging into the chest. 
 Ray was the first to point out this marked distinction 
 between the two birds, which had previously been 
 regarded as doubtful species. It was neglected, how- 
 ever, by later naturalists, and even Buflbn and Linnaeus 
 were inclined to consider them as mere varieties; but 
 in these days, when the importance of anatomical cha- 
 racters is fully recognised, they are universally allowed 
 to be distinct. 
 
 So essential indeed is this character that we have no 
 hesitation in admitting a third species, lately described 
 by Mr Yarrel, as equally distinct from the hooper 
 and the tame swan, although inhabiting the same 
 localities as the former and apparently by no means of 
 unfrequent occurrence. This bird, which had been 
 entirely overlooked by all systematic ornithologists, is 
 about one third less than the common wild swan ; but 
 its trachea, of smaller comparative calibre, passes still 
 more deeply into the cavity of the sternum, at the 
 extremity of which, quitting the keel, it takes a hori- 
 zontal direction, and occupies the posterior flattened 
 portion of the bone. The bronchi or subdivisions of 
 the windpipe are less than half the length of the same 
 parts in the common hooper. Outwardly the differ- 
 ences between the two birds are even less strongly 
 marked than those which distinguish the wild and 
 tame swans from each other ; consisting principally in 
 the deep orange colour of the base of the bill, which is 
 confined to a more limited space than the yellow on 
 the same part in the hooper, and does not advance 
 upon the sides; and in the number of the quill-feathers 
 of the tail, which are eighteen in the new species and 
 twenty in the old. To this fine addition to our list 
 of native birds Mr Yarrell has applied the name of 
 Bewick's swan, (see a representation of it in Plate XIX. 
 fig. 25.) in commemoration of an artist whose labours 
 have done more to render the study of ornithology po- 
 pular in this country than the works of any writer that 
 could be named. 
 
 The Black Swan. When the classical writers of 
 antiquity spoke of the black swan as a proverbial rarity, 
 so improbable as almost to be deemed impossible, little 
 did they imagine that in these latter days a region would 
 be discovered, nearly equal in extent to the Roman em- 
 pire even at the proudest period of its greatness, in which 
 their " rara avis" would be found in as great abundance 
 as the common wild swan upon the lakes of Europe. 
 Such, however, has been one of the least singular 
 among the many strange and unexpected results of the 
 discovery of the great southern continent of Austra- 
 lia. Scarcely a traveller who has visited its shores 
 
226 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 sure, and every part takes a new grace with 
 a new motion. 
 
 This fine bird has long been rendered do- 
 mestic ; and it is now a doubt whether there 
 be any of the tame kind in a state of nature. 
 The wild swan, though so strongly resembling 
 this in colour and form, is yet a different bird; 
 for it is very differently formed within. The 
 wild swan is less than the tame by almost a 
 fourth ; for as the one weighs twenty pounds, 
 the other only weighs sixteen pounds and 
 three quarters. The colour of the tame swan 
 is all over white ; that of the wild bird, is 
 along the back and the tips of the wings, of 
 an ash-colour. But these are slight differen- 
 ces compared to what are found upon dissec- 
 tion. In the tame swan, the windpipe sinks 
 down into the lungs in the ordinary manner ; 
 
 omits to mentiou this remarkable bird. An early notice 
 of its transmission to Europe occurs in a letter from 
 
 Witsen to Dr Martin Lister, printed in the twentieth 
 volume of the Philosophical Transactions ; and Valen- 
 tyn published iu 1726 an account of two living speci- 
 mens brought to Batavia. Cook, Vancouver, Philip, 
 and White, mention it incidentally in their Voyages ; 
 and Labillardiere, in his narrative of the expedition of 
 D'Entrecasteaux in search of La Perouse, has given 
 a more particular description, together with a tolerable 
 figure. Another figure, of no great value, has also been 
 given by Dr Shaw in his Zoological Miscellany. Since 
 this period many living individuals have been brought 
 to England, where they thrive equally well with the 
 Emeus, the Kanguroos, and other Australian animals, 
 insomuch that they can now scarcely be regarded as 
 rarities even in this country. They are precisely 
 similar in form and somewhat inferior in size to the wild 
 and tame swans of the old world; but are perfectly 
 black in every part of their plumage, with the excep- 
 tion of the primary and a few of the secondary quill-fea- 
 thers, which are white. Their bill is of a bright red 
 above, and is surmounted at the base in the male by a 
 slight protuberance, which is wanting in the female. 
 Towards its anterior part it is crossed by a whitish 
 band. The under part of the bill is of a grayish white ; 
 and the legs and feet are of a dull ash-colour. In every 
 other respect, except in the mode of convolution of its 
 trachea, this bird perfectly corresponds with its well 
 known congeners. The black swans are found as 
 well in Van Diemaii's Land as in New South Wales 
 and on the western coast of New Holland. They 
 are generally seen in flocks of eight or nine together, 
 floating on a lake; and when disturbed, flying off 
 like wild geese in a direct line one after the other. 
 They are said to be extremely shy, so as to render it 
 difficult to approach within gunshot of them. Gar- 
 dens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society illustrated, 
 Vol. II. 
 
 but in the wild, after a strange and wonderful 
 contortion, like what we have seen in the 
 crane, it enters through a hole formed in the 
 breast-bone; and being reflected therein, re- 
 turns by the same aperture ; and being con- 
 tracted into a narrow compass by a broad and 
 bony cartilage, it is divided into two branches, 
 which, before they enter the lungs, are di- 
 lated, and, as it were, swollen out into two 
 cavities. 
 
 Such is the extraordinary difference be- 
 tween these two animals, which externally 
 seem to be of one species. Whether it is in 
 the power of long-continued captivity and do- 
 mestication to produce this strange variety, 
 between birds otherwise the same, I will not 
 take upon me to determine. But certain 
 it is, that our tame swan is no where to 
 be found, at least in Europe, in a state of 
 nature. 
 
 As it is not easy to account for this differ- 
 ence of conformation, so it is still more diffi- 
 cult to reconcile the accounts of the ancients 
 with the experience of the moderns, concern- 
 ing the vocal powers of this bird. The tame 
 swan is one of the most silent of all birds ; and 
 the wild one has a note extremely loud and 
 disagreeable. It is probable, the convolutions 
 of the wind- pipe may contribute to increase 
 the clangour of it ; for such is the harshness 
 of its voice, that the bird from thence has been 
 called the hooper. In neither is there the 
 smallest degree of melody ; nor have they, for 
 above this century, been said to give speci- 
 mens of the smallest musical abilities ; yet, 
 notwithstanding this, it was the general opi- 
 nion of antiquity, that the swan was the most 
 melodious bird ; and that even to its death, its 
 voice went on improving. It would show no 
 learning to produce what they have said upon 
 the music of the swan : it has already been 
 collected by Aldrovandus ; and still more pro- 
 fessedly by the Abbe Gedoyn, in the Trans- 
 actions of the Academy of Belles Lettres. 
 From these accounts, it appears that, while 
 Plato, Aristotle, and Diodorus Siculus, be- 
 lieved the vocality of the swan, Pliny and 
 Virgil seem to doubt that received opinion. 
 In this equipoise of authority, Aldrovandus 
 seems to have determined in favour of the 
 Greek philosophers ; and the form of the 
 windpipe in the wild swan, so much resem- 
 bling a musical instrument, inclined his be- 
 lief still more strongly. In aid of this also, 
 came the testimony of Pendasius, who affirmed, 
 that he had often heard swans sweetly singing 
 in the lake of Mantua, as he was rowed up 
 and down in a boat ; as also of Olaus Wor- 
 mius, who professed that many of his friends 
 and scholars had heard them singing. " There 
 was," says he, " in my family, a very honest 
 young man, John Rostorph, a student in di- 
 
THE SWAN. 
 
 227 
 
 vinity, and a Norwegian by nation. This 
 man did, upon his credit, and with the inter- 
 position of an oath, solemnly affirm, that once 
 in the territory of Dronten, as he was stand- 
 ing on the sea-shore, early in the morning, he 
 heard an unusual and sweet murmur, com- 
 posed of the most pleasant whistlings and 
 sounds; he knew not at first whence they 
 came, or how they were made, for he saw no 
 man near to produce them ; but looking round 
 about him, and climbing to the top of a cer- 
 tain promontory, lie there espied an infinite 
 number of swans gathered together in a bay, 
 and making the most delightful harmony ; a 
 sweeter in all his life- time he had never 
 heard." These were accounts sufficient at 
 least to keep opinion in suspense, though in 
 contradiction to our own experience ; but Al- 
 drovandus, to put, as he supposed, the ques- 
 tion past all doubt, gives us the testimony of 
 a countryman of our own, from whom he had 
 the relation. This honest man's name was 
 Mr Geo. Braun, who assured him, that no- 
 thing was more common in England than to 
 hear swans sing ; that they were bred in 
 great numbers in the sea near London ; and 
 that every fleet of ships that returned from 
 their voyages from distant countries, were met 
 by swans, that came joyfully out to welcome 
 their return, and salute them with a loud and 
 cheerful singing ! It was in this manner that 
 Aldrovandus, that great and good man, was 
 frequently imposed upon by the designing 
 and the needy : his unbounded curiosity drew 
 round him people of every kind, and his ge- 
 nerosity was as ready to reward falsehood as 
 truth. Poor Aldrovandus ! after having spent 
 a vast fortune for the purposes of enlightening 
 mankind ; after having collected more truth, 
 and more falsehood, than any man ever did 
 before him, he little thought of being reduced 
 at last to want bread, to feel the ingratitude of 
 his country, and to die a beggar in a public 
 hospital ! 
 
 Thus it appears that our modern authori- 
 ties, in favour of the singing of swans, are 
 rather suspicious, since they are reduced to 
 this Mr G. Braun, and John Rostorph, the 
 native of a country remarkable for ignorance 
 and credulity. It is probable the ancients 
 had some mythological meaning in ascribing 
 melody to the swan ; and as for the moderns, 
 they scarcely deserve our regard. The swan, 
 therefore, must be content with that share of 
 fame which it possesses on the score of its 
 beauty ; since the melody of its voice, without 
 better testimony, will scarcely be admitted by 
 even the credulous. 
 
 This beautiful bird is as delicate in its ap- 
 petites, as elegant in its form. Its chief food, 
 is corn, bread, herbs growing in the water, 
 and roots and seeds, which are found near the 
 
 margin. It prepares a nest in some retired 
 part of the bank, and chiefly where there is 
 an islet in the stream, This is composed of 
 water-plants, long grass, and sticks ; and the 
 male and female assist in forming it with 
 great assiduity. The swan lays seven or 
 eight eggs, white, much larger than those of 
 a goose, with a hard, and sometimes a tuber- 
 ous, shell. It sits near two months before its 
 young are excluded ; which are ash-coloured 
 when they first leave the shell, and for some 
 months after. It is not a little dangerous to 
 approach the old ones when their little family 
 are feeding round them. Their fears as well 
 their pride, seem to take the alarm ; and they 
 have sometimes been known to give a blow 
 with their pinion, that has broke a. man's leg 
 or arm. 
 
 It is not till they are a twelvemonth old 
 that the young swans change their colour with 
 their plumage. All the stages of this bird's 
 approach to maturity are slow, and seem to 
 mark its longevity. It is two months hatch- 
 ing ; a year in growing to its proper size : and 
 if, according to Pliny's observation, those ani- 
 mals that are longest in the womb are the 
 longest lived, the swan is the longest in the 
 shell of any bird we know, and is said to be 
 remarkable for its longevity. Some say that 
 it lives three hundred years ; and Willoughby , 
 who is in general diffident enough, seems to 
 believe the report. A goose, as he justly ob- 
 serves, has been known to live a hundred ; and 
 the swan, from its superior size, and from its 
 harder, firmer flesh, may naturally be sup- 
 posed to live still longer. 
 
 Swans were formerly held in such great es- 
 teem, in England, that by an act of Edward 
 the Fourth none, except the son of the king, 
 was permitted to keep a swan, unless posses- 
 sed of five marks a year. By a subsequent 
 act, the punishment for taking their eggs was 
 imprisonment for a year and a day, and a fine 
 at the king's will. At present, they are but 
 little valued for the delicacy of their flesh ; but 
 many are still preserved for their beauty. 
 We see multitudes on the Thames and Trent; 
 but no where greater numbers than on the 
 salt water inlet of the sea, near Abbotsbury, 
 in Dorsetshire. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 OF THE GOOSE, AND ITS VARIETIES. 1 
 
 THE Goose, in its domestic state, exhibits 
 a variety of colours. The wild goose always 
 
 1 From the concurrent testimony of our old writers, 
 (says Mr Selby) it appears that this species was formerly 
 
228 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 retains the same marks; the whole upper part 
 is ash-coloured ; the breast arid belly are of a 
 dirty white; the bill is narrow at the base, 
 and at the tip it is black ; the legs are of a 
 saffron colour, and the claws black. These 
 
 very abundant in Britain ; and was also a permanent re- 
 sident here, breeding annually in great numbers in the 
 
 fens of Lincolnshire, and some of the adjoining counties. 
 The draining and cultivation of these marshy tracts, 
 under progressive agricultural improvement, and the in-- 
 creasing population of the kingdom, has, however, ba- 
 nished these birds from their ancient haunts ; and they 
 are now, comparatively speaking, of rare occurrence, 
 and, as far as I can ascertain, only met with in small 
 flocks during the winter. They seem to have given 
 place, as it were, to the Bean Goose which, as a winter 
 visitant, is very numerous, and widely spread through- 
 out the country. According to Temminck, the present 
 species seldom advances much beyond the fifty-third de- 
 gree of north latitude ; its geographical distribution ex- 
 tending over the central and eastern parts of Europe, 
 Northern Asia, and some parts of Western Africa, where 
 it inhabits the marshes, and the borders of lakes and in- 
 land seas. It breeds amongst the rushes and other 
 coarse herbage, making a large nest of vegetable matter, 
 and laying from six to twelve eggs of a sullied white. 
 Its food consists principally of the various grasses of the 
 moist and marshy tracts it affects, though it eats grain 
 with avidity. It is also very fond of the tender blades 
 of wheat, &c., and often, during its periodical visits, 
 does considerable damage to corn fields in an early stage 
 of growth. Being a bird of great shyness and vigi- 
 lance, it can only be approached by stealth, and with the 
 utmost caution ; this is generally effected by that mode 
 of fowling called stalking, in which a horse is so trained, 
 as, hiding the person of the fowler, to advance by de- 
 grees, and in an easy and natural manner, upon the 
 flock, as they are at rest or feeding on the ground. In 
 the latter state, which only occurs during the day- 
 time, sentinels (occasionally relieved) are always on the 
 watch to give notice of approaching danger, which they 
 do, on the slightest suspicion, by a cry of alarm ; and 
 immediately the whole flock take wing, with an alert- 
 ness and rapidity that could scarcely be expected 
 in birds of such bulky appearance. At night they 
 generally retire to the water for repose, but the 
 same watchful attention to safety is maintained by sen- 
 tinels, that distinguishes their conduct during the 
 day. They usually fly at a great height in the air, 
 moving either in a single diagonal line, or in two lines 
 forming an angle, or inverted V. In this order the 
 office of leader is taken by turns, the foremost, when 
 fatigued, retiring to the rear, and allowing the next in 
 station to lead the flight. It is generally admitted that 
 our race of domestic geese has originally sprung from 
 this species, and however altered they may now appear 
 in bulk, colour, or habits, the essential characters re- 
 main the same; no disinclination to breed with each 
 other is evinced between them, and the offspring of 
 
 marks are seldom found in the tame ; whose 
 bill is entirely red, and whose legs are en- 
 tirely brown. The wild goose is rather less 
 than the tame ; but both invariably retain 
 a white ring round their tail, which shows 
 
 wild and domesticated birds are as prolifi as their 
 mutual parents. 
 
 The Bean, or as it is very frequently called, the wild 
 goose, bears in general appearance, and in the colour of 
 its plumage, a great resemblance to the preceding 
 species, and with which it is sometimes confounded. It 
 may, however, be always distinguished from the ray 
 lag by the form of its bill, which is comparatively much 
 smaller, shorter, and more compressed towards the end. 
 The colour of that member also differs, the basal part 
 of the under mandible, and that of the upper as far as 
 the line of the nostrils, with the nails of both mandibles, 
 being black, and the intermediate part flesh-red, inclin- 
 ing to orange. It is also generally less. In Britain 
 it is well known as a regular winter visitant, arriving 
 in large bodies from its northern summer haunts, dur- 
 ing September or the beginning of October, and sel- 
 dom taking its final departure before tho end of April 
 or beginning of May. The various flocks, during 
 their residence in this country, have each their par- 
 ticular haunts or feeding districts, to which on each 
 ensuing season they invariably return, as I have found 
 to be the case in Northumberland and the southern 
 parts of Scotland, where wild geese have been known to 
 frequent certain localities for a continued series of years. 
 The habits of this and the preceding species are very 
 similar, and they show the same vigilance, and use the 
 same means of guarding against surprise : their capture 
 is therefore proportionably difficult, and it is only by 
 stratagem that, when at rest on the ground or feeding, 
 they can be approached within gun-shot. In stormy 
 weather, when they are compelled to fly lower than they 
 usually do, they may be sometimes intercepted from a 
 hedge or bank, situated in the route they are observed 
 to take early in the morning, in passing to their feed- 
 ing ground. At night they retire to the water, or else 
 to some ridge or bar of sand on the sea coast, suffi- 
 ciently distant from the main land to afford a secure 
 retreat ; and where the approach of an enemy must be- 
 come visible, or at least audible to their acute organs, 
 before it could endanger their safety. The haunts or 
 feeding grounds of these birds are more frequently in 
 the higher districts than in the lower and marshy tracts 
 of the country, and they give the preference to open 
 land, or where the inclosures are very large. They 
 feed much upon the tender wheat, sometimes injuring 
 these fields to a great extent; and they frequent also 
 the stubbles, particularly such as are laid down with 
 clover and other grasses. In the early part of spring 
 they often alight upon the newly sown bean and pea 
 fields, picking up greedily such of the pulse as is left on 
 the surface; and I am inclined to think that their 
 trivial name has been acquired from their apparent pre- 
 dilection for this kind of food, rather than from the 
 shape and aspect of the nail of the upper mandible, to 
 which it has been generally attributed. They usually 
 fly at a considerable elevation, either in a diagonal line, 
 or in two such lines, opposed to each other, and form- 
 ing a leading acute angle, like the other species; and 
 when on wing they maintain a loud cackling, in which 
 the voices of the two sexes may be easily distinguished. 
 The rate at which they move, when favoured by a gentle 
 breeze, is seldom less than from forty to fifty miles an 
 hour, a velocity which enables them to have their roost- 
 ing place far removed from the district they frequent by 
 day. The principal breeding stations, or summer re- 
 treats, of the bean goose are in countries within the 
 arctic circle; it is said, however, that great 
 
THE GOOSE. 
 
 229 
 
 that they are both descended from the same 
 original. 
 
 The wild goose is supposed to breed in the 
 northern parts of Europe ; and, in the begin- 
 ning of winter, to descend into more temperate 
 regions. They are often seen flying at very 
 great heights, in flocks from fifty to a hun- 
 dred, and seldom resting by day. Their cry 
 is frequently heard when they are at an im- 
 perceptible distance above us ; and this seems 
 bandied from one to the other, as among 
 hounds in the pursuit. Whether this be the 
 note of mutual encouragement, or the neces- 
 sary consequence of respiration, is doubtful; 
 but they seldom exert it when they alight in 
 these journeys. 
 
 Upon their coming to the ground by day, 
 they range themselves in a line, like cranes; 
 and seem rather to have descended for rest, 
 than for other refreshment. When they have 
 sat in this manner for an hour or two, I have 
 heard one of them, with a loud long note, 
 sound a kind of charge, to which the rest 
 punctually attended, and they pursued their 
 journey with renewed alacrity. Their flight 
 is very regularly arranged ; they either go in 
 a line abreast, or in two lines, joining in an 
 angle in the middle. I doubt whether the 
 form of their flight be thus arranged to cut 
 the air with greater ease, as is commonly be- 
 lieved ; I am more apt to think it is to pre- 
 sent a smaller mark to fowlers from below. 
 A bullet might easily reach them if huddled 
 together in a flock, and the same discharge 
 might destroy several at once ; but, by their 
 manner of flying, no shot from below can 
 affect above one of them ; and from the 
 height at which they fly this is not easy to 
 be hit. 
 
 The Barnacle differs, in some respects, from 
 both these ; being less than either, with a 
 black bill, much shorter than either of the 
 preceding. It is scarcely necessary to combat 
 the idle error of this bird's being bred from a 
 shell sticking to ships' bottoms ; it is well 
 known to be hatched from an egg in the 
 ordinary manner, and to differ in very few 
 particulars from all the rest of its kind. 
 
 The Brent goose is still less than the for- 
 mer, and not bigger than a Muscovy duck, 
 except that the body is longer. The head, 
 neck, and upper part of the breast, are black ; 
 but about the middle of the neck, on each 
 side, are two small spots or lines of white, 
 which together appear like a ring. 
 
 breed annually in Harris, and some of the other outer- 
 most Western isiands. The nest is made in the marshy 
 grounds, and formed of grasses and other dry vegetable 
 materials ; the eggs are white, and from eight to twelve 
 in number. Among the other winter visitants to this 
 island, are the White-fronted Goose, the Barnacle 
 Goose, the Brent Goose, and the Red-breasted Goose. 
 
 These, and many other varieties, are found 
 in this kind, which agree in one common 
 character of feeding upon vegetables, and 
 being remarkable for their fecundity. 1 Of 
 
 The Canadian Goose, (see Plate XIX. fig. 26.) 
 The Canadian goose is somewhat larger than our com- 
 mon domesticated breed. It is also slenderer in its 
 make and especially in its neck, which consequently 
 approaches more nearly to that of the swan. The en- 
 tire length of the bird is about three feet, and the expanse 
 of its wings rather more than five. The back and wing- 
 coverts are of a dull brown, with a whitish tip to each 
 of the feathers; the quill-feathers of the wings and tail 
 black; the sides pale ashy brown ; and the upper part 
 of the head and neck black, with a broad patch of white 
 spreading from the throat on either side over the lower 
 part of the cheeks. By this latter character, which is 
 extremely obvious, this species may at all times be 
 readily distinguished. Its bill is black: its iris dark 
 hazel; and its legs and feet grayish-black, or lead- 
 coloured. There is little or no distinction in plumage 
 between the two sexes. Although commonly known by 
 the name of Canada geese, these birds are by no means 
 confined to that country, but extend their migrations 
 from the lowest latitudes of the United States to the 
 highest parallels that have yet been visited in the nor- 
 thern regions of America. Throughout the whole of 
 this vast extent of territory they are familiarly known 
 as the harbingers of spring when passing to the north, 
 and the presage of approaching winter on their return. 
 In the United States it is the popular belief that their 
 journeys are bounded by the great chain of lakes, in the 
 islands of which they are supposed to breed ; but even on 
 the shores of Hudson's bay they are still found to be pro- 
 ceeding northwards, and they rarely nest further south 
 than 60 deg. Captain Phipps mentions having seen 
 wild geese at Spitzbergen, in more than 80 deg. of lati- 
 tude ; and Wilson deems it " highly probable that they 
 extend their migrations under the very pole itself, amid 
 the silent desolation of unknown countries, shut out 
 since the creation from the prying eye of man by ever- 
 lasting and insuperable bars of ice." 
 
 The passage of the geese to the north commences 
 with the breaking up of the ice, their first appearance 
 in Canada and on the shores of Hudson's bay varying 
 with the forwardness of the spring, from the middle of 
 April to the latter end of May. Their flight is heavy 
 and laborious, but moderately swift, in a straight line 
 when their number is but few, but more frequently in 
 two lines meeting in a point in front. The van is said 
 to be always led by an old gander, in whose wake the 
 others instinctively follow. But should his sagacity fail 
 in discovering the land -marks by which they usually 
 steer, as sometimes happens in foggy weather, the whole 
 flock appear in the greatest distress, and fly about in an 
 irregular manner, making a great clamour. In their 
 flights they cross indiscriminately over land or water, 
 differing in this respect from several other geese, which 
 prefer making a circuit by water to traversing the land. 
 They also pass far inland, instead of confining their 
 course to the neighbourhood of the sea. So important is 
 the arrival of the geese to the inhabitants of these nor- 
 thern regions that the month in which they first make 
 their appearance is termed by the Indians, as we are 
 informed by Pennant, the goose moon. In fact not only 
 the Indians, but the English settlers also, depend greatly 
 upon these birds for their subsisteiice, and many thou- 
 sands of them are annually killed, a large proportion of 
 which are salted and barrelled for winter consumption. 
 Many too that are killed on their return, after the com- 
 mencement of the frost, are suffered to freeze, and are 
 thus kept as fresh provision for several months. Others, 
 either taken young or wounded, are frequently detained 
 
230 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 these, however, the tame goose is the most 
 fruitful. Having less to fear from its ene- 
 mies, leading a securer and a more plentiful 
 life, its prolific powers increase in proportion 
 to its ease ; and though the wild goose seldom 
 lays above eight eggs, the tame goose is 
 often seen to lay above twenty. The female 
 hatches her eggs with great assiduity ; while 
 the gander visits her twice or thrice a day, 
 and sometimes drives her off to take her 
 place, where he sits with great state and com- 
 posure. 
 
 But beyond that of all animals is his pride 
 when the young are excluded : he seems then 
 to consider himself as a champion, not only 
 obliged to defend his young, but also to keep 
 off the suspicion of danger ; he pursues dogs 
 and men that never attempt to molest him : 
 and, though the most harmless thing alive, is 
 then the most petulant and provoking. When, 
 in this manner, he has pursued the calf or the 
 mastiff, to whose contempt alone he is in- 
 debted for safety, he returns to his female and 
 her brood in triumph, clapping his wings, 
 screaming, and showing all the marks of con- 
 scious superiority. It is probable, however, 
 these arts succeed in raising his importance 
 among the tribe where they are displayed ; 
 
 in captivity during the winter. They seldom breed in 
 so lo\v a latitude as Churchhill river ; but Hearne 
 states that he has occasionally met with their eggs in 
 that neighbourhood. The females rarely lay more than 
 four eggs, but the whole number is generally hatched. 
 They are said usually to select an island in preference 
 to the mainland, for the performance of the maternal 
 office in greater safety. 
 
 The Spur-winged Goose. Another species of the 
 same group, is the Gambo or spur-winged goose, a 
 native of northern, and more particularly of western, 
 Africa. This bird agrees with the Canadian goose in 
 some of those characters which connect the geese with 
 the swans, but is much more robust in make and more 
 anserine in general appearance. Its size and propor- 
 tions are nearly those of the common goose ; its legs 
 long and placed beneath the middle of the body ; and 
 its neck of moderate length and proportionate thickness. 
 At the base of the bill, which is broad and flat, it has 
 a tubercle like that of the tame swan, increasing in size 
 with the age of the individual ; and the bend of its wings 
 is furnished with a large blunt spur, which appears to be 
 occasionally doubled. The spur-winged goose was con- 
 founded by Willoughby, and afterwards by Buflbn, with 
 a variety of the Egyptian goose, equally distinguished 
 by the presence of a spur upon the wing, but differing 
 considerably in the form of its bill, and in its colours. 
 In the former the entire hill and the tubercle at its 
 base are of a dull red; the sides of the head are white ; 
 the upper parts of the body black, with a metallic brilli- 
 ancy ; a patch of white, mottled with black spots occu- 
 pies the base of each of the wings ; and the under parts 
 are white, sometimes marked with indistinct zigzag 
 lines of gray. The legs have an obscure tinge of red ; 
 and the spurs of the wings are horn-coloured ; but the 
 latter are visible only when the wings are expanded, 
 being concealed at all other times beneath the plumage. 
 Gardens and Menageries of the Zoological Gardens 
 Illustrated, Col II. 
 
 and it is probable there is not a more re- 
 spectable animal on earth to a goose than a 
 gander ! 
 
 A young goose is generally reckoned very 
 good eating ; yet the feathers of this bird still 
 farther increase its value. I feel my obliga- 
 tions to this animal every word I write ; for, 
 however deficient a man's head may be, his 
 pen is nimble enough upon every occasion : 
 it is happy indeed lor us that it requires no 
 great effort to put it in motion. But the fea- 
 thers of this bird are still as valuable in 
 another capacity, as they make the softest and 
 the warmest beds to sleep on. 
 
 Of goose-feathers most of our beds in Eu- 
 rope are composed ; in the countries bordering 
 on the Levant, and in all Asia, the use of 
 them is utterly unknown. There they use 
 mattresses, stuffed with wool, or camel's hair, 
 or cotton; and the warmth of their climate 
 may perhaps make them dispense with cush- 
 ions of a softer kind. But how it happens 
 that the ancients had not the use of feather- 
 beds is to me surprising : Pliny tells us, in- 
 deed, that they made bolsters of feathers to 
 lay their heads on; and this serves as a 
 proof that they turned feathers to no other 
 uses. 
 
 As feathers are a very valuable commodity, 
 great numbers of geese are kept tame in the 
 fens in Lincolnshire, which are plucked once 
 or twice a year. These make a considerable 
 article of commerce. The feathers of Somer- 
 setshire are most in esteem ; those of Ireland 
 are reckoned the worst. Hudson's bay also 
 furnishes very fine feathers, supposed to be of 
 the goose kind. The down of the swan is 
 brought from Dantzic. The same place also 
 sends us great quantities of the feathers of the 
 cock and hen; but Greenland, Iceland, and 
 Norway, furnish the best feathers of all : and 
 in this number we may reckon the Eider 
 down, of which we shall take notice in its 
 place. The best method of curing feathers is 
 o lay them in a room, in an open exposure to 
 ;he sun ; and when dried, to put them into 
 Dags, and beat them well with poles to get 
 ;he dust off. But, after all, nothing will pre- 
 vent, for a time, the heavy smell which arises 
 From the putrefaction of the oil contained in 
 every feather ; no exposure will draw this off, 
 iow long so ever it be continued ; they must 
 )e lain upon, which is the only remedy ; and 
 or this reason old feathers are much more 
 valuable than new. 
 
THE DUCK. 
 
 231 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 OF THE DUCK, AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 THE Tame Duck is the most easily reared 
 of all our domestic animals. The very in- 
 stincts of the young ones direct them to their 
 favourite element ; and though they are con- 
 ducted by a hen, yet they despise the admoni- 
 tions of their leader. 
 
 This serves as an incontestable proof that 
 all birds have their manners rather from 
 nature than education. A falcon pursues the 
 partridge, not because it is taught by the old 
 one, but because its appetites make their 
 importunate call for animal food : the cuckoo 
 follows a very different trade from that which 
 its nurse endeavoured to teach it ; and, if we 
 may credit Pliny, in time destroys its instruc- 
 tor : animals of the duck kind also follow 
 their appetites, not their tutor, and come to 
 all their various perfections without any 
 guide. All the arts possessed by man are 
 the result of accumulated experience ; all the 
 arts of inferior animals are self-taught, and 
 scarcely one acquired by imitation. 
 
 It is usual with the good women to lay 
 duck-eggs under a hen, because she hatches 
 them better than the original parent would 
 have done. 1 The duck seems to be a heed- 
 less inattentive mother ; she frequently leaves 
 her eggs till they spoil, and even seems to 
 forget that she is intrusted with the charge : 
 she is equally regardless of them when ex- 
 cluded ; she leads them to the pond, and 
 thinks she has sufficiently provided for her 
 offspring when she has shown them the water. 
 
 1 The rearing of ducks is made an object of great 
 importance in China. The greater part of them are 
 hatched by artificial warmth; the eggs being laid in 
 boxes of sand, are placed on a brick hearth, to which a 
 proper degree of heat is given during the time re- 
 quired for hatching. The ducklings are fed with craw- 
 fish and crabs, boiled and cut small, and afterwards 
 mixed with boiled rice ; and in about a fortnight they 
 are able to shift for themselves. The Chinese then 
 provide them with an old step-mother, who leads them 
 where they are to find provender, being first put on 
 board a " sampane " or boat, which is destined for 
 their habitation, and from which the whole flock, often 
 300 or 400 in number, go out to feed, and return at 
 command. This method is used nine months out of 
 the twelve, for in the colder months it does not suc- 
 ceed ; and is so far from a novelty that it may be seen 
 everywhere, more especially about the time of cutting 
 the rice, when the masters of the duck-boats row up and 
 down the rivers, according to the opportunity of procur- 
 ing food, which during that season is found in plenty, 
 at the ebb of the tide, on the rice plantations, which are 
 overflowed at high water. It is curious to see how the 
 ducks obey their master; for some thousands belonging 
 to different boats will feed at large on the same spot, 
 and on a signal given, follow the leader to their re- 
 spective boats, without a stranger being found among 
 them. 
 
 Whatever advantages may be procured by 
 coming nearer the house, or attending in the 
 yard, she declines them all ; and often lets 
 the vermin, who haunt the waters, destroy 
 them, rather than bring them to take shelter 
 nearer home. The hen is a nurse of a very 
 opposite character : she broods with the ut- 
 most assiduity, and generally brings forth a 
 young one from every egg committed to her 
 charge ; she does not lead her younglings to 
 the water indeed, but she watchfully guards 
 them when there, by standing at the brink. 
 Should the rat, or the weasel, attempt to seize 
 them, the hen can give them protection; she 
 leads them to the house when tired with 
 paddling, and rears up the supposititious 
 brood, without ever suspecting that they be- 
 long to another. 
 
 The wild duck 2 differs, in .many respects, 
 from the tame ; and in them there is still 
 greater variety than among the domestic 
 kinds. Of the tame duck there are not less 
 
 2 The IFild Duck or Mallard is nearly two feet in 
 length, two feet ten inches in extent of wing, and 
 
 weighs from two and a half to three pounds. The bill 
 is of a greenish yellow colour ; the head and upper part 
 of the neck are of a glossy changeable green, terminated 
 in the middle of the neck by a white collar, with which 
 it is nearly encircled. The scapulars are white, barred 
 or rather undulated with minute lines of brown ; the 
 back is brown, and the rump black, glossed with green. 
 On the wing coverts two transverse white streaks edged 
 with black enclose a broad stripe of a lucid violet-green 
 colour. The lower part of the neck aud breast is of a 
 chestnut-colour; the belly is pale gray, crossed with 
 numerous transverse dusky lines. The tail consists of 
 twenty feathers and is pointed in shape ; the four mid- 
 dle are of a greenish blapk colour and curve upward in a 
 remarkable manner ; the others as usual of a gray 
 brown, margined with white. Legs orange. The 
 female is very plain. The bill is shorter and smaller 
 than that of the male ; and the ground colour of the 
 plumage is pale reddish brown, speckled with black. 
 The violet-green stripe on the wings is as in those of the 
 male; but none of the tail feathers are curved. The 
 young male birds, previously to their first moult, resem- 
 ble rather the female than the male parent. In a 
 domestic state some individuals appear in nearly the 
 same plumage as the wild ones; others vary greatly 
 from them as well as from each other, and are marked 
 with nearly every colour ; but all the males, or drakes, 
 still retain the curled feathers of the tail. The tame 
 cluck is, however, of a more dull and less elegant form 
 and appearance than the wild, domestication having 
 deprived it of its lofty gait, long tapering neck, and 
 sprightly eyes. 
 
232 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 than ten different sorts ; and of the wild, 
 Brissou reckons above twenty. The most 
 obvious distinction between wild and tame 
 ducks is in the colour of their feet : those of 
 
 Wild ducks inhabit Europe, Asia, and America, in 
 summer frequenting the lakes and marshes of the north, 
 and in autumn migrating southward in large bodies, 
 and spreading themselves over the lakes and marshes 
 of more temperate latitudes. Considerable numbers of 
 them return northward in spring: but many straggling 
 pairs, as well as former colonists, stay in this country 
 to rear their young, which become natives, and remain 
 throughout the year in the marshy tracts of the British 
 isles. Large flocks visit Egypt, in November after the 
 inundation of the Nile. In an opposite direction of the 
 globe, the lakes in the Orkneys form one of their great 
 resorts in winter ; and when the lakes happen to be 
 frozen, they betake themselves to the shores of the 
 islands. In these districts they may be seen in great 
 multitudes, and on the report of a gun they rise like 
 clouds. They are also known to abound on the lake of 
 Zirknitz in Carniola, where they are often swallowed 
 entire by the huge pikes which frequent that remark- 
 able piece of water. On the approach of a storm they 
 issue from the caverns in the rocks, and fly about the 
 country, where they are soon captured by the peasants ; 
 many of them are killed with clubs at the very open- 
 ings of the cavities, being dazzled by the light of day. 
 In England they abound most in the fens of Lincoln- 
 shire, where prodigious numbers are annually taken in 
 the decoys. 
 
 Wild ducks are naturally very shy birds, and fly at a 
 considerable height in the air, in the form of a wedge or 
 triangle. Before they alight on any spot, they describe 
 several turns round it, as if to reconnoitre it, and then 
 descend with great precaution. They generally keep 
 at a distance from the shore when they swim ; and when 
 the greater part of them sleep upon the water, with 
 their heads under their wings, some of the party are 
 always awake to watch over the common safety, and to 
 apprize the sleepers of the approach of danger. The 
 extreme wariness of these birds renders much patience 
 and ingenuity necessary on the part of the fowler. 
 They rise vertically from the water with loud cries ; and 
 in the night-time their flight over head may be known 
 by the hissing noise which they make. They are more 
 active by night than by day ; indeed those that are 
 seen by day have, in general, been roused either by a 
 sportsman or by some bird of prey. 
 
 Wild ducks breed only once in the year, the pairing- 
 time commencing about the end of February or be- 
 ginning of March, and lasting three weeks, during 
 which period each couple lives apart, concealed among 
 the reeds and bushes during the greater part of the day. 
 The female generally selects a thick tuft of bushes, 
 insulated in a pool or lake, for her breeding station, and 
 binds, cuts, and arranges the bushes in the form of a 
 nest; sometimes she makes her nest on heaths at some 
 distance from the water, scraping together a heap of 
 the nearest vegetables for the purpose: a rick of straw 
 in the fields occasionally serves her purpose. Latham 
 says, that she has even been known to lay her eggs in 
 a high tree, in the deserted nest of a magpie or crow ; 
 and he records an instance of one that was found at 
 Etchingham, in Sussex, sitting xipon nine eggs, in an 
 oak, at the height of twenty-five feet from the ground, 
 the eggs being supported by some small twigs placed 
 crosswise. The female, during the incubation, usually 
 plucks the down from her breast to line her nest, in 
 which she frequently deposits sixteen eggs, which she 
 generally covers when she leaves the nest for the purpose 
 of feeding. Whenever she returns to it, she alights at 
 some distance, and approaches it by winding paths ; 
 
 the tame duck being yellow, those of the wild 
 duck black. The difference between wild 
 ducks among each other, arises as well from 
 their size as the nature of the place they feed 
 
 but when she has resumed her seat she is not easily 
 induced to quit it. The male keeps watch near the 
 nest, or accompanies and protects his mate in her tem- 
 porary excursions in quest of food. All the young are 
 hatched in one day, and on the following the mother 
 leads them to the water ; or if the nest be high, or at a 
 distance from water, both parents convey them, one 
 by one, in their bills or between their legs, and they 
 are no sooner consigned to the water than they begin 
 to swim about with the greatest ease, and to feed on 
 insects. The mother-bird is a most attentive and 
 watchful parent until her young progeny are able to 
 fly: this is in about three months after their birth, and 
 in three months more they attain to their full size and 
 plumage. 
 
 The flesh of the wild duck is more delicate and juicy, 
 and of a finer flavour, than that of the domestic. It is 
 almost every where in high estimation as an article of 
 food, and hence the ingenuity of man, in all the coun- 
 tries which it frequents, has been employed in devising 
 stratagems for the capture of this most cautious and 
 wily bird. We shall now proceed to furnish our readers 
 with an account of some of the more remarkable of 
 these stratagems. Some of the methods of capturing 
 the wild ducks in America, as described by Wilson 
 in his " American Ornithology," are among the most 
 singular resorted to in any country, and claim to be 
 noticed in this place. 
 
 In some ponds frequented by these birds, five or six 
 wooden figures, cut and painted so as to represent ducks, 
 and sunk, by pieces of lead nailed to their bottoms so as to 
 float at the usual depth on the surface, are anchored in a 
 favourable position for being raked from a concealment 
 of brushwood, &c., on shore. The appearance of these 
 decoys usually attracts passing flocks, which alight and 
 are shot down. Sometimes eight or ten of these painted 
 ducks are fixed in a frame in various swimming pos- 
 tures, and secured to the bow r of the gunner's skiff, 
 projecting before it in such a manner that the weight 
 of the frame sinks the figures to their proper depth ; 
 the skin" is then dressed with sedge or coarse grass, in 
 an artful manner, as low as the water's edge ; and 
 under cover of this, which appears like a covey of ducks 
 swimming by a small island, the gunner floats down 
 sometimes to the very skirts of a whole congregated 
 multitude, and pours in a destructive and repeated fire 
 of shot among them. In winter, when detached pieces 
 of ice are occasionally floating in the river, some of the 
 fowlers on the Delaware paint their whole skift' or canoe 
 white, and laying themselves flat at the bottom, with 
 their hand over the side silently managing a small 
 paddle, direct it imperceptibly into or near a flock, 
 before the ducks have distinguished it from a floating 
 mass of ice, and generally do great execution amongst 
 them. A whole flock has sometimes been thus surprised 
 asleep with their heads under their wings. On land, 
 another stratagem is sometimes practised with great 
 success: a large tight hogshead is sunk in the flat 
 marsh or mud, near the place where ducks are ac- 
 customed to feed at low water, and where, otherwise, 
 there is no shelter. The edges and top are artfully 
 concealed with tufts of long coarse grass and reeds, or 
 sedge. From within this the fowler, unseen and un- 
 suspected, watches the collecting party, and, when a 
 sufficient number offers, sweeps them down with great 
 effect. 
 
 Of the method of capturing wild ducks in the fens of 
 Lincolnshire, a particular description will be found in 
 the text, towards the close of the present chapter. See 
 
THE DUCK. 
 
 233 
 
 in. Sea-ducks, which feed in salt-water, and 
 dive much, have a broad bill, bending up- 
 wards, a large hind toe, and a long blunt tail. 
 Pond-ducks, which feed in plashes, have a 
 straight and narrow bill, a small hind-toe, and 
 a sharp-pointed train. The former are called, 
 by our decoy-men, foreign ducks : the latter 
 are supposed to be natives of England. It 
 would be tedious to enter into the minute 
 varieties of such a number of birds ; all agree- 
 ing in the same general figure, the same habits 
 and mode of living, and differing in little 
 more than their size and the colours of their 
 plumage. In this tribe we may rank, as na- 
 tives of our own European dominions, the 
 Eider Duck, 1 which is double the size of a 
 
 also Nos. 183 and 184 of " Penny Magazine," to which 
 we are indebted for the above Note. 
 
 1 In Britain the range of this valuable species extends 
 to about the 55th degree of north latitude, to the south- 
 ward of which it becomes of very rare occurrence. Its 
 limits, however, towards the pole are scarcely ascertained, 
 as it has been found, I believe, in the highest latitudes yet 
 penetrated by navigators. In Iceland, Spitzbergen, and 
 other arctic regions of Europe, it is very abundant; and 
 in those cold countries is highly beneficial to the inhabi- 
 tants, on account of its feathers, elastic down, eggs, &c. 
 It is equally common in parallel latitudes of the North | 
 American continent, and, in fact, may be considered a 
 general inhabitant of the Frigid zone. Upon the Nor- 
 thumbrian coast many eiders breed upon the group of 
 Fern islands, situated towards the northern extremity 
 of that county, and from two to eight miles distant from 
 the shore, and which, with Coquet island (about ten 
 miles farther along the coast,) may be reckoned the most 
 southern breeding-stations of these birds. About April 
 they are seen assembling in small groups along the shores 
 of the mainland, from whence they cross over to the 
 islands in May, soon after which the females begin to 
 prepare their nests, and they usually commence laying 
 about the twentieth of that month. The males, as soon 
 as this takes place, and incubation commences, leave the 
 females, and again spread themselves along the shore, in 
 companies of four or five together, and do riot (as far as 
 my observation goes) " continue on watch near the 
 shore, as long as the females remain sitting," and then 
 desert both her and the newly hatched brood, as men- 
 tioned in Shaw's Zoology. The usual number of eggs 
 is five, of a pale asparagus-green colour, of an oblong 
 shape, and not much less than those of a goose. The 
 nest is composed of dried grasses, mixed with a quantity 
 of the smaller algae, and as incubation proceeds (and 
 which lasts for a month) a lining of down, plucked by 
 the bird from her own body, is added. This addition is 
 made daily, and at last becomes so considerable in mass, 
 as to envelope and entirely conceal the eggs, contribut- 
 ing, perhaps by its effect, as a nonconductor of heat, to 
 the perfect developement of the foetus, and serving also 
 as a protection from gulls and other enemies. The 
 young, as soon as hatched, are conducted to the water, 
 which in some instances must be effected by the parent 
 conveying them in her bill, as I have often seen the 
 nest in such situations as to preclude the possibility of 
 their arriving at it in any other way ; and indeed, the 
 keeper of one of the lighthouses (upon the impending 
 rock close to which an eider duck, for many seasons, 
 had her nest, and hatched her young) assured me, that 
 he had seen the bird engaged in this interesting duty. 
 The down of the eider is remarkably light and elastic, 
 not more so perhaps than that of its congener the King 
 
 VOL. ii. 
 
 common duck, with a black bill ; the Velvet 
 Duck, not so large, and with a yellow bill ; 
 the Scoter, with a knob at the base of a yel- 
 low bill ; the Tufted Duck, adorned with a 
 thick crest ; the Scaup Duck, (see Plate XX. 
 fig. 13.) less than the common duck, with the 
 bill of a grayish blue colour ; the Golden Eye, 
 (see Plate XIX. fig. 34.) with a large white 
 spot at the corners of the mouth, resembling 
 an eye ; the Sheldrake, with the bill of a 
 bright red, and swelling into a knob ; the 
 Mallard, which is the stock from whence our 
 tame breed has probably been produced ; the 
 Pintail, with the two middle feathers of the 
 tail three inches longer than the rest ; the Po- 
 chard, with the head and neck of a bright 
 
 Eider, the Scoter, and some others of the oceanic Ana- 
 tidae; hut as it is procured in greater quantity from this 
 species, the whole imported from Iceland and other nor- 
 thern countries (though mixed with that of several others) 
 is still sold under the denomination of Eider down. 
 From the nest of two or three of these birds, I have fre- 
 quently procured as much down as would fill a middling- 
 sized pillow, though the same, when compressed, was 
 not above two handfuls, and did not weigh above an 
 ounce. As plucked from the living bird, it is much 
 more elastic than when taken from the body after death, 
 a fact confirmative of what I have formerly advanced, 
 viz. that the plumage is not mere inert matter, as be- 
 lieved by Montagu and others, but is endowecf with a 
 kind of living principle, and influenced by the state and 
 condition of the bird. In Iceland, Greenland, &c. where 
 the eider down forms a great branch of their commerce, 
 and where the birds breed in great numbers near to each 
 other, the natives wait anxiously for the event. The 
 first production of eggs, together with the down, is taken 
 from them, but the next they are allowed to incubate, 
 and rear the young, though a part of the down is from 
 time to time removed, the female continuing to supply 
 it as long as any remains upon the lower part of her 
 body. The food of the eider consists of various species 
 of shell-fish, crustaceous animals, and the roes of these 
 and fishes. Such as I have dissected were generally 
 filled with the triturated remains of mytili, tellineae, &c.; 
 and twice I found the subjects gorged with the spawn of 
 fish. They dive for their food like the Scoters, remain- 
 ing for a long time submerged, and often in water of six 
 or eight fathoms deep. They also fly with great strength, 
 and at the rate (as calculated) of more than ninety miles 
 in the hour. When approached in a boat they generally 
 take wing whilst beyond gun-shot, and when suddenly 
 surprised they dive ; but if actively pursued, and com- 
 pelled to dive repeatedly, they may be stfefar tired out 
 as at last to be incapable of submerging with sufficient 
 quickness to prevent a fatal aim being taken. In this 
 manner I have often succeeded in procuring specimens; 
 and the same mode, it appears, is in use amongst the 
 Greenlanders, who strike them with their darts as they 
 rise fatigued to the surface after long-continued pursuit. 
 The trachea of the malebird is of equal diameter through- 
 out its length, and composed of hard and perfect rings, 
 lined with a membrane. The lower larynx, or bone of 
 divarication, is enlarged in front, and furnished on the 
 left side with an elevated, flatly globose, bony protuber- 
 ance, or labyrinth, about the size of a large nut. The 
 bronchi are large, swelling much toward their middle, 
 and composed of imperfect rings, united by a membrane. 
 That on the left side, which proceeds from the tympan- 
 um, is of much larger diameter than the other, and both 
 suddenly decrease when they enter the substance of the 
 2 a 
 
HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 bay ; the Widgeon, (see Plate XX. fig. 36.) 
 with a lead coloured bill, arid the plumage of 
 the back marked with narrow black and white 
 undulated lines, but best known by its whist- 
 ling sound ; lastly, the Teal, which is the 
 smallest of this kind, with the bill black, the 
 head and upper part of the neck of a bright 
 bay. These are the most common birds of 
 the duck kind among ourselves : but who can 
 describe the amazing variety of this tribe if 
 he extends his view to the different quarters 
 of the world ? The most noted of the foreign 
 tribe are the Muscovy Duck, or, more properly 
 speaking, the Musk Duck, so called from a 
 supposed musky smell, with naked skin round 
 the eyes, and which is a native of Africa ; the 
 Brazilian Duck, that is of the size of a goose, 
 all over black except the tips of the wings ; 
 the American Wood Duck, with a variety of 
 beautiful colours, and a plume of feathers that 
 falls from the back of the head like a friar's 
 cowl. These, and twenty others, might be 
 added, were increasing the number of names 
 the way to enlarge the sphere of our compre- 
 hension. 
 
 All these live in the manner of our domes- 
 tic ducks, keeping together in flocks in the 
 winter, and flying in pairs in summer, bring- 
 ing up their young by the water-side, and 
 leading them to their food as soon as out of 
 the shell. Their nests are usually built among 
 heath or rushes, not far from the water, and 
 they lay twelve, fourteen, or more eggs, before 
 they sit : yet this is not always their method ; 
 the dangers they continually encounter from 
 their ground situation, sometimes obliges them 
 to change their manner of building ; and their 
 awkward nests are often seen exalted on the 
 tops of trees. This must be a very great la- 
 bour to perform, as the duck's bill is but ill 
 formed for building a nest, and giving the 
 materials of which it is composed a sufficient 
 
 lungs. Several attempts have been made to domesticate 
 the eider, but hitherto without much success ; that it 
 may be done with care and attention, I have no doubt, 
 as I have twice succeeded in rearing these birds from the 
 egg, and preserving them alive till upwards of twelve 
 months ; but as 1 had no appropriate place for them at 
 the time, they fell victims to accident, being trodden 
 upon by horses or cattle. Indeed, their sluggish nature, 
 or rather their inactivity upon land, renders their escape 
 from any sudden danger a matter of great difficulty. I 
 know also other instances in which they have been reared 
 from the egg to maturity. The eider drake is long in 
 reaching the adult state, that plumage not being per- 
 fected before the fourth year. This would seem, ana- 
 logically reasoning, to indicate a great longevity, as we 
 find the eagle and some other birds that do not attain 
 perfection till after two or three years, endowed with 
 singular length of life. The flesh of this species in the 
 natural state, from the kind of food they subsist on, is 
 very unpalatable ; but would probably, under a different 
 diet, lose its rank and fishy flavour. (For King Eider, a 
 variety of the Eider, see Plate XX. fig. 29.) Setoy's 
 British Ornithology, Vol. //. 
 
 stability to stand the weather. The nest, 
 whether high or low, is generally composed 
 of singular materials. The longest grass mixed 
 with heath, and lined with the bird's own 
 feathers, usually go to the composition : how- 
 ever, in proportion as the climate is colder, 
 the nest is more artificially made, and more 
 warmly lined. In the Arctic regions, nothing 
 can exceed the great care all of this kind 
 take, to protect their eggs from the intense- 
 ness of the weather. While the gull and the 
 penguin kind seem to disregard the severest 
 cold, the duck, in those regions, forms itself a 
 hole to lay in, shelters the approach, lines it 
 with a layer of long grass and clay ; within 
 that another of moss ; and, lastly, a warm coat 
 of feathers, or down. The eider duck is par- 
 ticularly remarkable for the warmth of its 
 nest. This bird, which, as was said, is above 
 twice as large as the common duck, and re- 
 sides in the colder climates, lays from six to 
 eight eggs, making her nest among the rocks 
 or the plants along the sea-shore. The exter- 
 nal materials of the nest are such as are in 
 common with the rest of the kind ; but the in- 
 side lining, on which the eggs are immediately 
 deposited, is at once the softest, warmest, and 
 the lightest substance with which we are ac- 
 quainted. This is no other than the inside 
 down which covers the breast of the bird in the 
 breeding season. This the female plucks off 
 with her bill, and furnishes the inside of her 
 nest with a tapestry more valuable than the 
 most skilful artists can produce. The natives 
 watch the place where she begins to build, 
 and, suffering her to lay, take away both the 
 eggs and the nest. The duck, however, not 
 discouraged by the first disappointment, builds 
 and lays in the same place a second time ; and 
 this they in the same manner take away : the 
 third time she builds, but the drake must 
 supply the down from his breast to line the 
 nest with : and if this be robbed, they both 
 forsake the place, and breed there no more. 
 This down the natives take care to separate 
 from the dirt and moss with which it is mixed : 
 and though no people stand in more need of 
 a warm covering than themselves, yet their 
 necessities compel them to sell it to the more 
 indolent and luxurious inhabitants of the south 
 for brandy and tobacco. 
 
 As they possess the faculties of flying and 
 swimming, so they are in general birds of 
 passage, and, it is most probable, perform 
 their journeys across the ocean, as well on the 
 water as in the air. Those that migrate to 
 this country, on the approach of winter, are 
 seldom found so well-tasted or so fat as the 
 fowls that continue with us the year round : 
 their flesh is often lean, and still oftener fishy ; 
 which flavour it has probably contracted in the 
 journey, as their food in the lakes of Lapland, 
 
THE DUCK. 
 
 235 
 
 from whence they descend, is generally of the 
 insect kind. 
 
 As soon as they arrive among us, they are 
 generally seen flying in flocks to make a sur- 
 vey of those lakes where they intend to take 
 up their residence for the winter. In the 
 choice of these they have two objects in view ; 
 to be near their food, and yet remote from in- 
 terruption. Their chief end is to choose some 
 lake in the neighbourhood of a marsh, where 
 there is at the same time a cover of woods, and 
 where insects are found in great abundance. 
 Lakes, therefore, with a marsh on one side, 
 and a wood on the other, are seldom without 
 vast quantities of wild-fowl ; and where a 
 couple are seen at any time, that is a suffi- 
 cient inducement to bring hundreds of others. 
 The ducks flying in the air, are often lured 
 down from their heights by the loud voice of 
 the mallard from below. Nature seems to 
 have furnished this bird with very particular 
 faculties for calling. The windpipe, where it 
 begins to enter the lungs, opens into a kind of 
 bony cavity, where the sound is reflected as in a 
 musical instrument, and is heard a great way 
 off. To this call all the stragglers resort ; and 
 in a week or a fortnight's time, a lake, that 
 before was quite naked, is black with water- 
 fowl that have left their Lapland retreats, to 
 keep company with our ducks who never 
 stirred from home. 
 
 They generally choose that part of the lake 
 where they are inaccessible to the approach 
 of the fowler, in which they all appear hud- 
 dled together, extremely busy, and very loud. 
 What it is can employ them all the day it is 
 not easy to guess. There is no food for them 
 at the place where they sit and cabal thus, 
 as they choose the middle of the lake: and as 
 for courtship, the season for that is not yet 
 come ; so that it is wonderful what can so 
 busily keep them occupied. Not one of them 
 seems a moment at rest. Now pursuing one 
 another, now screaming, then all up at once, 
 then down again ; the whole seems one strange 
 scene of bustle, with nothing to do. 
 
 They frequently go off in a more private 
 manner by night to feed in the adjacent mea- 
 dows and ditches, which they dare not ven- 
 ture to approach by day. In these nocturnal 
 adventures they are often taken ; for though 
 a timorous bird, yet they are easily deceived, 
 and every spring seems to succeed in taking 
 them. But the greatest quantities are taken 
 in decoys; which, though well known near 
 London, are yet untried in the remoter parts 
 of the country. The manner of making and 
 managing a decoy is as follows : 
 
 A place is to be chosen for this purpose far 
 remote from the common highway, and all 
 noise of people. A decoy is best where there 
 is a large pond surrounded by a wood, and 
 
 beyond that a marshy and uncultivated coun. 
 try. When the place is chosen, the pool, if 
 possible, is to be planted round with willows, 
 unless a wood answers the purpose of shading 
 it on every side. On the south and north side 
 of this pool are two, three, or four ditches or 
 channels, made broad towards the pool, and 
 growing narrower till they end in a point. 
 These channels are to be covered over with 
 nets, supported by hooped sticks bending 
 from one side to the other ; so that they form 
 a vault or arch growing narrower and nar- 
 rower to the point, where it is terminated by 
 a tunnel-net, like that in which fish are 
 caught in weirs. Along the banks of these 
 channels so netted over, which are called 
 pipes, many hedges are made of reeds slant- 
 ing to the edge of the channel, the acute 
 angles to the side next the pool. The whole 
 apparatus, also, is to be hidden from the pool 
 by a hedge of reeds along the margin, behind 
 which the fowler manages his operations. 
 The place being fitted in this manner, the 
 fowler is to provide himself with a number of 
 wild ducks made tame, which are called de- 
 coys. These are always to be fed at the 
 mouth or entrance of the pipe, and to be ac- 
 customed to come at a whistle. 
 
 As soon as the evening is set in, the decoy 
 rises, as they term it, and the wild-fowl feed 
 during the night. If the evening be still, the 
 noise of their wings, during their flight, is 
 heard at a very great distance, and produces 
 no unpleasing sensation. The fowler, when 
 he finds a fit opportunity, and sees his decoy 
 covered with fowl, walks about the pool, and 
 observes into what pipe the birds gathered in 
 the pool may be enticed or driven. Then 
 casting hemp-seed, or some such seed as will 
 float on the surface of the water, at the en- 
 trance, and up along the pipe, he whistles to 
 his decoy-ducks, who instantly obey the sum- 
 mons, and come to the entrance of the pipe, 
 in hopes of being fed as usual. Thither also 
 they are followed by a whole flock of wild 
 ones, who little suspect the danger preparing 
 against them. Their sense of smelling, how- 
 ever, is very exquisite ; and they would soon 
 discover their enemy, but that the fowler al- 
 ways keeps a piece of turf burning at his nose, 
 against which he breathes, and this prevents 
 the effluvia of his person from reaching their 
 exquisite senses. The wild ducks, therefore, 
 pursuing the decoy-ducks, are led into the 
 broad mouth of the channel or pipe, nor have 
 the least suspicion of the man, who keeps 
 hidden behind one of the hedges. When 
 they have got up the pipe, however, finding 
 it grow more and more narrow, they begin to 
 suspect danger, and would return back ; but 
 they are now prevented by the man, who 
 shows himself at the broad end below. Thi- 
 
236 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 ther, therefore, they dare not return ; and rise 
 they may not, as they are kept by the net 
 above from ascending. The only way left 
 them, therefore, is the narrow -funnelled net 
 at the bottom ; into this they fly, and there 
 they are taken. 
 
 It often happens, however, that the wild 
 fowl are in such a state of sleepiness or doz- 
 ing, that they will not follow the decoy-ducks. 
 Use is then generally made of a dog, who is 
 taught his lesson. He passes backward and 
 forward between the reed-hedges, in which 
 there are little holes, both for the decoy-man 
 to see, and for the little dog to pass through. 
 This attracts the eye of the wild-fowl ; who, 
 prompted by curiosity, advance towards this 
 little animal, while he all the time keeps play- 
 ing among the reeds, nearer and nearer the 
 funnel, till they follow him too far to recede. 
 Sometimes the dog will not attract their atten- 
 tion till a red handkerchief, or something very 
 singular, be put about him. The decoy-ducks 
 never enter the funnel-net with the rest, 
 being taught to dive under water as soon as 
 the rest are driven in. 
 
 The general season for catching fowl in de- 
 coys is from the latter end of October till Fe- 
 bruary. The taking them earlier is prohibi- 
 ted by an act of George the Second, which 
 imposes a penalty of five shillings for every 
 bird destroyed at any other season. 
 
 The Lincolnshire decoys are commonly let 
 at a certain annual rent, from five pounds to 
 twenty pounds a year ; and some even amount 
 to thirty. These principally contribute to sup- 
 ply the markets of London with wild-fowl. 
 The number of ducks, widgeon, and teal, that 
 are sent thither, is amazing. Above thirty 
 thousand have been sent up in one season 
 from ten decoys in the neighbourhood of 
 Wainfleet. This quantity makes them so 
 cheap on the spot, that it is asserted, that se- 
 veral decoy-men would be glad to contract for 
 years to deliver their ducks at the next town 
 for ten pence the couple. 1 
 
 To this manner of taking the wild-fowl in 
 England, I will subjoin another, still more 
 extraordinary, frequently practised in China. 
 Whenever the fowler sees a number of ducks 
 settled in any particular plash of water, he 
 sends off two or three gourds to float among 
 them. These gourds resemble our pompions ; 
 but, being made hollow, they swim on the 
 surface of the water ; and on one pool there 
 may sometimes be seen twenty or thirty of 
 these gourds floating together. The fowl at 
 first are a little shy of coming near them ; but 
 by degrees they come nearer, and as all birds 
 at last grow familiar with a scare-crow, the 
 ducks gather about these, and amuse them- 
 
 1 They have now become comparatively rare. 
 
 selves by whetting their bills against them. 
 When the birds are as familiar with the 
 gourds as the fowler could wish, he then pre- 
 pares to deceive them in good earnest. He 
 hollows out one of these gourds large enough 
 to put his head in ; and making holes to 
 breathe and see through, he claps it on his 
 head. Thus accoutred, he wades slowly into 
 the water, keeping his body under, and no- 
 thing but his head in the gourd above the 
 surface ; and in that manner moves imper- 
 ceptibly towards the fowls, who suspect no 
 danger. At last, however, he fairly gets in 
 among them ; while they, having been long 
 used to see gourds, take not the least fright 
 while the enemy is in the very midst of them: 
 and an insidious enemy he is ; for ever as he 
 approaches a fowl, he seizes it by the legs, 
 and draws it in a jerk under water. There 
 he fastens it under his girdle, and goes to the 
 next, till he has thus loaded himself with as 
 many as he can carry away. When he has 
 got his quantity, without ever attempting to 
 disturb the rest of the fowls on the pool, he 
 slowly moves off again ; and in this manner 
 pays the flock three or four visits in a day. 
 Of all the various artifices for catching fowl, 
 this seems likely to be attended with the 
 greatest success, as it is the most practised in 
 China. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 OF THE KING-FISHER. 1 
 
 I WILL conclude this history of birds with 
 one that seems to unite in itself somewhat of 
 every class preceding. It seems at once pos- 
 sessed of appetites for prey like the rapacious 
 kinds, with an attachment to water like the 
 birds of that element. It exhibits in its form 
 the beautiful plumage of the peacock, the 
 shadings of the humming-bird, the bill of the 
 crane, and the short legs of the swallow. The 
 bird I mean is the King-fisher, of which 
 many extraordinary falsehoods have been pro- 
 pagated ; and yet of which many extraordinary 
 things remain to be said that are actually true. 
 
 The King-fisher is not much larger than a 
 swallow; its shape is clumsy; the legs dis- 
 proportionably small, and the bill dispropor- 
 tionably long: it is two inches from the 
 base to the tip; the upper chap black, and 
 the lower yellow : but the colours of this 
 bird atone for its inelegant form ; the crown 
 of the head and the coverts of the wings 
 are of a deep blackish green, spotted with 
 
 1 There are now known forty-two species of king- 
 fishers, and of some of these several varieties. 
 
THE KING-FISHER. 
 
 237 
 
 bright azure ; the back and tail are of 
 the most resplendent azure ; the whole under- 
 
 side of the body is orange-coloured ; a broad 
 mark of the same passes from the bill beyond 
 the eyes ; beyond that is a large white spot : 
 the tail is short, and consists of twelve fea- 
 thers of a rich deep blue ; the feet are of a 
 reddish yellow, and the three joints of the 
 outmost toe adhere to the middle toe, while the 
 inner toe adheres only by one. 
 
 From the diminutive size, the slender short 
 legs, and the beautiful colours of this bird, no 
 person would be led to suppose it one of the 
 most rapacious little animals that skims the 
 deep. Yet it is for ever on the wing, and 
 feeds on fish, which it takes in surprising 
 quantities, when we consider its size and fig- 
 ure. It chiefly frequents the banks of rivers, 
 and takes its prey after the manner of the 
 osprey, balancing itself at a certain distance 
 above the water for a considerable space, 
 than darting into the deep, and seizing the 
 fish with inevitable certainty. While it re- 
 mains suspended in the air, in a bright day, 
 the plumage exhibits a beautiful variety of 
 the most dazzling and brilliant colours. It 
 might have been this extraordinary beauty 
 that has given rise to fable ; for whenever 
 there is any thing uncommon, fancy is always 
 willing to increase the wonder. 1 
 
 Of this bird it has been said, that she built 
 her nest on the water, and thus, in a few 
 days, hatched and produced her young. But, 
 to be uninterrupted in this task, she was said 
 to be possessed of a charm to allay the fury of 
 the waves ; and during this period the mariner 
 might sail with the greatest security. The 
 ancient poets are full of these fables ; their 
 historians are not exempt from them. Cicero 
 has written a long poem in praise of the 
 
 1 Montague, in his Ornithological Dictionary, says, 
 that they never suspend themselves on the wing, and 
 dart on their prey, like the osprey ; but that they sit pa- 
 tiently on a bough over the water, and when a small fish 
 comes near the surface, they dart on it, and seize it with 
 their bill. He never could observe the old birds with 
 any thing in their bills, when they went in to feed their 
 young: from which he concludes that they eject it from 
 their stomachs for this purpose. Sticklebucks and min- 
 nows form the principal food of the king-fisher, but it 
 will also eat fry or spawn, slugs, worms, and leeches. 
 
 halcyon, of which there remain but two lines. 
 Even the emperor Gordian has written a 
 poem on this subject, of which we have no- 
 thing remaining. These fables have been 
 adopted each by one of the earliest fathers of 
 the church. " Behold/' says St Ambrose, 
 " the little bird, which in the midst of winter 
 lays her eggs on the sand by the shore. From 
 that moment the winds are hushed ; the sea 
 becomes smooth ; and the calm continues for 
 fourteen days. This is the time she requires ; 
 seven days to hatch, and seven days to foster 
 her young. Their Creator has taught these 
 little animals to make their nest in the midst 
 of the most stormy season, only to manifest 
 his kindness by granting them a lasting calm. 
 The seamen are not ignorant of this blessing ; 
 they call this interval of fair weather their 
 halcyon days ; and they are particularly care- 
 ful to seize the opportunity, as they then need 
 fear no interruption." This, and a hundred 
 other instances, might be given of the credu- 
 lity of mankind with respect to this bird ; they 
 enter into speculations concerning the manner 
 of her calming the deep, the formation of her 
 nest, and her peculiar sagacity ; at present 
 we do not speculate because we know, with 
 respect to our king-fisher, that most of the 
 facts are false. It may be alleged, indeed, 
 with some show of reason, that the halcyon 
 of the ancients was a different bird from our 
 king-fisher ; it may be urged, that many birds, 
 especially on the Indian ocean, build a float- 
 ing nest upon the sea ; but still the history of 
 the ancient halcyon is clogged with endless 
 fable ; and it is but an indifferent method to 
 vindicate falsehood, by showing that a part of 
 the story is true. 
 
 The king-fisher with which we are ac- 
 quainted at present, has none of those powers 
 of allaying the storm, or building upon the 
 waves ; it is contented to make its nest on the 
 banks of rivers, in such situations as not to be 
 affected by the rising of the stream. When 
 it has found a place for its purpose, it hollows 
 out with its bill a hole about a yard deep ; or 
 if it finds the deserted hole of a rat, or one 
 caused by the root of a tree decaying, it takes 
 quiet possession. This hole it enlarges at the 
 bottom to a good size; and lining it with the 
 down of the willow, lays its eggs there with- 
 out any further preparation. 2 
 
 2 Belon, who found the king-fisher plentiful on the 
 banks of the Hebrus, in Thrace, appears to have been 
 the first author who correctly stated that it makes its 
 nest by mining into the sand, and was somewhat fearful 
 that he should not be credited because he contradicted 
 the ancients. Up to the present time, however, more 
 or less misrepresentation has been introduced into the 
 descriptions of its burrow. Gesner furnished it with a 
 soft bed of reed flowers; Goldsmith says it lines its hole 
 with the down of the willow; and colonel Montague, 
 half reverting to the ball of fish bones described by 
 
238 
 
 HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
 
 Its nest, or rather hole, is very different 
 from that described by the ancients, by whom 
 it is said to be made in the shape of a long, 
 necked gourd of the bones of the sea-needle. 
 The bones, indeed, are found there in great 
 quantities, as well as the scales of fishes ; bat 
 these are the remains of the bird's food, and 
 by no means brought there for the purposes 
 of warmth or convenience. The king-fisher, 
 as Bellonius says, feeds upon fish, but is in- 
 capable of digesting the bones and scales, 
 which he throws up again, as eagles and owls 
 are seen to do a part of their prey. These 
 fill the bird's nest of course; and although they 
 seem as if designedly placed there, are only 
 a kind of nuisance. 
 
 In these holes, which, from the remains of 
 fish brought there, are very foetid, the king- 
 fisher is often found with from five eggs to 
 nine. There the female continues to hatch, 
 even though disturbed ; and though the nest 
 be robbed, she will again return and lay there. 
 " I have had one of those females brought 
 me," says Reaumur, " which was taken from 
 her nest about three leagues from my house. 
 After admiring the beauty of her colours, I 
 let her fly again, when the fond creature was 
 instantly seen to return back to the nest where 
 she had just before been made a captive. 
 There, joining the male, she again began to 
 lay, though it was for the third time, and 
 though the season was very far advanced. At 
 each time she had seven eggs. The older the 
 nest is, the greater quantity of fish-bones and 
 scales does it contain: these are disposed with- 
 out any order ; and sometimes take up a good 
 deal of room." 
 
 The female begins to lay early in the sea- 
 Aristotle, tells us that at the end of the hole there is a kind 
 of bedding formed of the bones of small fish and some other 
 substances, evidently the castings of the parent birds, 
 generally about half an inch thick, and mixed in with 
 earth. He farther thinks there is every reason to sup- 
 pose that both the male and the female come to this spot 
 to eject the refuse of their food for some time before the 
 latter begins to lay, and that they dry it by the heat of 
 their bodies, as they are frequently known to continue 
 in the hole for hours long before laying ; and on this dis- 
 gorged matter the female deposits and hatches her eggs. 
 Belon's account is very similar. From the high author- 
 ity of Montague, the latter description is now copied as 
 authentic by every modern author, with the exception 
 of Temminck, who says nothing on the subject, and 
 Wilson, who says of his belted king-fisher, that " its nest 
 is neither constructed cf glue nor fish-bones." We are 
 certain, says Mr Rennie, in his Architecture of Birds, 
 that this contradiction of the general belief will apply 
 equally to the king-fisher of England. In the bank of a 
 stream at Lee, in Kent, we have been acquainted with 
 one of these nests in the same hole for several successive 
 summers, but so far from the pellets of fish-bones, ejected 
 as is done by all birds of prey, being dried on purpose to 
 form the nest, they are scattered about the floor of the 
 hole in all directions, from its entrance to its termina- 
 tion, without the least order or working up with the earth, 
 and are all moist and fetid. That the eggs may by ac- 
 
 son ; and excludes her first brood about the 
 beginning of April. The male, whose fidelity 
 exceeds even that of the turtle, brings her 
 large provisions of fish while she is thus em- 
 ployed ; and she, contrary to most other birds, 
 is found plump and fat at that season. The 
 male, that used to twitter before this, now 
 enters the nest as quietly and as privately as 
 possible. The young ones are hatched at the 
 expiration of twenty days ; but are seen to 
 differ as well in their size as in their beauty. 
 
 As the ancients have had their fables con- 
 cerning this bird, so have the modern vulgar. 
 It is an opinion generally received among 
 them, that the flesh of the kirig-fisher will not 
 corrupt, and that it will even banish all ver- 
 min. This has no better foundation than that 
 which is said of its always pointing, when 
 hung up dead with its breast to the north. 
 The only truth which can be affirmed of this 
 bird, when killed, is, that its flesh is utterly 
 unfit to be eaten ; while its beautiful plumage 
 preserves its lustre longer than that of any 
 other bird we know. 
 
 Having thus given a short history of birds, 
 I own I cannot take leave of this most beauti- 
 ful part of the creation without reluctance. 
 These splendid inhabitants of the air possess 
 all those qualities than can soothe the heart, 
 and cheer the fancy, the brightest colours, 
 the roundest forms, the most active manners, 
 and the sweetest music. In sending the 
 imagination in pursuit of these, in follow- 
 ing them to the chirping grove, the screaming 
 precipice, or the glassy deep, the mind natu- 
 rally lost the sense of its own situation, and 
 attentive to their little sports, almost forgot 
 the TASK of describing them. Innocently to 
 
 cident be laid upon portions of these fish-bones, is highly 
 probable, for the floor is so thickly strewed with them, 
 that no vacant spot might be found ; but they assuredly 
 are not by design built into a nest. The hole is from 
 two to four feet long, sloping upwards, and narrow at 
 the entrance, but widening in the interior, in order per- 
 haps, to give the birds room to turn ; and for the same 
 apparent reason the eggs are not placed at the extrem- 
 ity. We are somewhat doubtful whether it selects, as 
 is said, the old hole of a water-rat to save itself trouble, 
 the water-rat being the deadly enemy of its eggs and 
 young; but it seems to indicate a dislike to the labour 
 of digging, that it frequents the same hole for a series of 
 years, and will not abandon it, though the nest be re- 
 peatedly plundered. The accumulation of cast bones in 
 one of these old holes has perhaps given origin to the 
 notion of the nest being formed of them. 
 
 Our own opportunities, continues Mr Rennie, of care- 
 fully studying the habits of this bird, lead us to remark, 
 that it is not so very shy and solitary as it has been re- 
 presented, for it has more than once allowed us to ap- 
 proach within a few yards of the bough on which it was 
 perched. The necessity for obtaining its food from 
 streams and shallow ponds causes this bird, however, to 
 frequent secluded places. The belted kingfisher of 
 America, is partial to mill-dams, in defiance of the clack 
 of the hopper, because there he finds facilities in watch- 
 ing for fish. 
 
THE KING -FISHER. 
 
 239 
 
 amuse the imagination in this dream of life is 
 wisdom ; and nothing is useless that, by fur- 
 nishing mental employment, keeps us for a 
 while in oblivion of those stronger appetites 
 that lead to evil. But every rank and state 
 of mankind may find something to imitate in 
 those delightful songsters, and we may not 
 only employ the time, but mend our lives, by 
 the contemplation. From their courage in 
 defence ol their young, and their assiduity in 
 
 incubation, the coward may learn to be 
 brave, and the rash to be patient. The in- 
 violable attachment of some to their compan- 
 ions may give lessons of fidelity ; and the 
 connubial tenderness of others be a monitor to 
 the incontinent. Even those that are tyrants 
 by nature never spread capricious destruction; 
 and, unlike man, never inflict a pain but 
 when urged by necessity. 
 
HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 1 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE ocean is the great receptacle of fishes. 
 It has been thought, by some, that all fish 
 
 1 Fishes (says professsor Blumenbach, in his Manual 
 of Natural History) are those animals which possess red 
 cold blood, which moves by means of true fins (with 
 bony or cartilaginous fibres,) and which breathe by true 
 gills lying deep at each side of the neck; and not, as in 
 the larvae of frogs, &c., projecting beyond it. I say 
 true gills and trite fins, in order to distinguish them 
 from organs to a certain degree analogous in young 
 frogs, salamanders, &c. 
 
 These gills (branchiae,} in fishes, almost perfectly 
 supply the place of lungs. They are placed on each side 
 behind the head, for the most part under one or more 
 large semilunar plates, hence called opercula branchialia, 
 and in most instances connected with the membrane 
 of the gills, membrana branchiostega. The gills them- 
 selves are filled with innumerable very delicate vessels, 
 and are mostly divided on each side into four layers, 
 which somewhat resemble the beard of a quill, and 
 which are attached at their bases to a corresponding 
 number of little bones. 
 
 Respiration, which fishes are nearly as incapable of 
 dispensing with as those animals which possess lungs, is 
 in them effected by introducing the air, which the water 
 holds in solution, through the mouth into the gills, and 
 then expelling it again through the branchial, (apertura 
 branchialis /) consequently not by inspiring and expir- 
 ing through the same passages, as in those animals which 
 possess lungs. 
 
 Not having lungs, it is evident that they cannot have 
 any voice, although some, as Cottuscataphractes, CobStis 
 fossilis, &c., can make a noise. 
 
 The form of the body in fishes, in general, is infinitely 
 more varied than in quadrupeds and birds. In most, 
 however, the body has a vertical direction, i. e. is flat- 
 tened at both sides, (corpus compressum) ; in some, on 
 the contrary, as the rays, it is horizontal and extended 
 laterally (corpus depressum) sive plagioplateum) ; in 
 others, as the eel, &c., it is more rounded; in others, 
 prismatic or quadrangular, &c. In all, the head and 
 trunk are connected immediately, without being sepa- 
 rated by a neck. 
 
 With only a few exceptions, fishes are covered with 
 
 are naturally of that salt element ; and that 
 they have mounted up into fresh water by 
 some accidental migration. A few still swim 
 up rivers to deposit their spawn; but of the 
 great body of fishes, of which the size is enor- 
 mous, and the shoals are endless, those all 
 
 scales ; in the osseous fishes the scales are real, are 
 formed of a peculiar substance, and in different species 
 present a great number of varieties in point of form, 
 marks, and colours, which latter sometimes shine like 
 gold and silver. On the other hand, the cartilaginous 
 fishes, in general, are covered with several bone-like 
 plates, hook-shaped prickles, &c. The scales are cov- 
 ered externally with a kind of slime, which appears to 
 be in a great measure excreted from small cavities, 
 which, in most fishes, are placed in a line along each 
 side of the body. 
 
 The fins, the organs of motion in fishes, in which a 
 very great power of reproduction has been remarked, 
 consist of their bony or cartilaginous spines or rays, con- 
 nected together by a particular membrane, fastened to 
 a bone, and set in motion by certain muscles. They are 
 called, according to their position, the upper dorsal fins; 
 those at the side, behind the gills, pectoral fins ; those on 
 the belly in front of the anus, abdominal fins ; those 
 behind this opening, anal fins ; and lastly, those on the tail, 
 which always have a vertical direction, caudal fins. The 
 flying-fish, as they are called, have very long and stiff pec- 
 toral fins, by means of which they can raise themselves 
 above the surface of the water, and fly for a short time. 
 
 Another auxiliary in the motion of fishes, particularly 
 in rising and sinking, is the swim-bladder, with which 
 fresh-water fish in particular are supplied, and which 
 communicates by a particular canal, (ductus pncumaticus} 
 generally with the oesophagus, seldom with the stomach. 
 
 With regard to their place of abode, fishes in general 
 are divided into sea-fish and fresh-water fish. Many 
 can live for some time out of water, as the eel, Mursena, 
 &c. Others in hot mineral springs. 
 
 Most fishes, especially those of the sea, are nocturnal 
 animals, that is, they are active during the night, and in 
 the day remain in a state of repose. Hence the inhabi- 
 tants of islands and coasts, who live on fish, choose the 
 night for catching them. 
 
 A great many species of fish change their place of 
 abode at certain seasons of the year. Many sea-fish 
 ascend the mouths of rivers and creeks to spawn ; many, 
 as the herring for instance, in the North Atlantic, make 
 
OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 241 
 
 keep to the sea, and would quickly expire in 
 fresh water. In that extensive and undis- 
 covered abode, millions reside, whose manners 
 are a secret to us, and whose very form is 
 unknown. The curiosity of mankind, indeed, 
 has drawn some from their depths, and his 
 wants many more ; with the figure of these 
 at least he is acquainted ; but for their pur- 
 suits, migrations, societies, antipathies, plea- 
 sures, times of gestation, and manner of 
 bringing forth, these are all hidden in the 
 turbulent element that protects them. 
 
 The number of fish to which we have given 
 names, and of the figure, at least, of which 
 we know something, according to Linnaeus, 
 
 extensive migrations at certain seasons of the year in 
 incalculable numbers between the coasts of the west of 
 Europe, and north-east of America. Fishes are in 
 great proportion carnivorous animals, and as they have 
 no feet with which to hold their prey, are supplied with a 
 variety of other contrivances for mastering it. Some 
 have long fibrous threads (cirri) about the mouth, for the 
 purpose of enticing other small marine animals, as with 
 a bait, as in the stargazer, frog-fish, &c. Others, as 
 the chaetodon rostratus, have a kind of syringe with which 
 they strike down the insects flying over the surface of 
 the water ; others, as the three sea-fish, the electric ray, 
 the tetrodon electricus, and trichiurus indicus, and the 
 two fresh-water fish, the electric eel and silurus electri- 
 cus, possess a peculiar benumbing paralyzing power, &c. 
 
 As to the external senses of fishes, smelling must in 
 many be very acute, from the distance at which they 
 discover a bait. Their hearing, also, is good, and they 
 have organs similar to those of the internal ear in other 
 red-blooded animals. Above all, however, there are 
 many peculiarities in their eyes, numerous membranes, 
 parts not found elsewhere, &c. From the deficiency of 
 correct observations, little can be said decidedly on their 
 instincts, and other mental faculties. It is known, 
 however, that many, trout for example, become very 
 docile ; and that others, as old carp, are very wary and 
 cunning. 
 
 As to their sleep, probably most have a winter sleep, 
 but only a very few a fixed daily sleep, as is said to be 
 the case with the gold-fish. 
 
 Except the small number of viviparous fishes, such as 
 the eel, the bleunius viviparous, but very few actually 
 copulate. In most instances, the female lays the unim- 
 pregnated eggs, the male coming afterwards and sprinkl- 
 ing them with his semen. Advantage of this circum- 
 stance has been taken in rural economy, young fish hav- 
 ing been procured by the artificial mixture of the ova 
 arid semen of trout, &c. Among other peculiarities in 
 the mode of generation in fishes, many, as the lamprey, 
 possess the organs of both sexes in perfection: whilst in 
 others, as the carp, anomalous instances of hermaphro- 
 dites are found. 
 
 The increase in the numbers of most fishes is wonder- 
 fully great, so that although the ova are in most instances j 
 proportionally much smaller than in any other class of j 
 animals, the ovaria of many are larger than the whole 
 of the body. Thus, in the herring, there have been 
 counted from 20,000 to 37,000 ova ; in the carp, up- 
 wards of 200,000; in the tench, 383,000; in the floun- 
 der, upwards of a million. 
 
 In some cases, the young fish have not their perfect 
 form when they escape from the egg ; but must, as in 
 the amphibia, undergo a kind of metamorphosis by which 
 they obtain fins, &c. 
 
 In proportion to their size, fishes reach a very ad- 
 vanced age. Examples are known of carp, pike, &c., 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 are above four hundred. 1 Thus to appear- 
 ance, indeed, the history of fish is tolerably 
 copious ; but when we come to examine, it will 
 be found that of the greatest part of these we 
 know very little. Those qualities, singular- 
 ities, or advantages, that render animals worth 
 naming, still remain to be discovered. The 
 history of fishes, therefore, has little in it en- 
 tertaining : for our philosophers hitherto, in- 
 stead of studying their nature, have been em- 
 ployed in increasing their catalogues ; and 
 the reader, instead of observations or facts, is 
 presented with a long list of names, that dis- 
 gust him with their barren superfluity. It 
 must displease him to see the language of 
 science increasing, while the science itself 
 has nothing to repay the increasing tax laid 
 upon his memory. 
 
 living 150 years. On the other hand, some small fishes, 
 as the stickleback, live only a few years. 
 
 The utility of fishes to man is not very various; for 
 the most part only as food, but in this respect of the 
 utmost importance to a great part of the human race, 
 who live only on this class of animals. Savage nations, 
 as the Kamschatkadales, Brazilians, &c., possess the art 
 of preparing fish in a great variety of ways, even as a 
 kind of flour, bread, &c. With many, as the islanders 
 of the Pacific ocean, fishing forms a principal occupation, 
 and a serious kind of study with reference to the ingen- 
 ious methods and instruments which they have invented. 
 To a great part of the cultivated world, the taking of the 
 herring, the cod, tunny, &c., is of still greater value. 
 The oil of the shark, cod, and herring, is used for burn- 
 ing in lamps, &c. The inhabitants of the eastern coasts 
 of the middle of Asia, clothe themselves with the tanned 
 skin of the salmon. Many parts of other fish are em- 
 ployed for purposes of art, as the scales of the bleak for 
 making false pearls. Shagreen is made from the skin 
 of sharks and rays; isinglass from the sturgeon, &c. 
 
 Fishes of prey are the most noxious, particularly the 
 shark in the ocean, and the pike in fresh water. Many 
 fishes, at least in certain spots, are poisonous, and prove 
 fatal when eaten. Such, in particular, are certain spe- 
 cies of the genus tetrodon. 
 
 The systematic classification of fishes appears to stand 
 in need of much improvement. In the mean time they 
 are arranged in two principal divisions, viz: 
 
 (A.) Cartilaginous fishes (Pisces cartilaginef), without 
 true bones: and 
 
 (B.) Bony fishes (Pisces spinosi), having bones, fishes 
 properly so called. 
 
 The cartilaginous fishes are divided into the following 
 two Orders, which M. de Lacepede has established, ac- 
 cording to the presence or absence of the covering of the 
 gills (operculuni), and has divided the genera which they 
 include accordingly : 
 
 Order I. Chondropterygii. Without an operculum. 
 II. Branchiostegi. With an operculnm. 
 
 Linnaeus has arranged the osseous, or true 
 fishes, according to the character and posi 
 tion of the ventral fins : viz. 
 
 III. Apodes. Without ventral fins. 
 
 IV. Jugulares. Having the ventral in the front 
 
 of the pectoral fins. 
 V. Thorucici. Having the ventral immediately 
 
 below the pectoral fins. 
 VI. Abdominales. Having the ventral behind 
 
 the pectoral fins. 
 
 1 About 1500 species of fish are now known, and of 
 this number about 200 are found on the coast or in tho 
 inland waters of Britain. 
 
242 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 Most fish offer us the same external form : | 
 sharp at either end, and swelling in the mid- 
 die; by which they are enabled to traverse the 
 fluid which they inhabit, with greater celerity 
 and ease. That peculiar shape which Nature 
 has granted to most fishes, we endeavour to 
 imitate in such vessels as are designed to sail 
 with the greatest swiftness : however, the pro- 
 gress of a machine moved forward in the water ; 
 by human contrivance, is nothing to the ra- j 
 pidity of an animal destined by nature to re- 
 side there. Any of the large fish overtake a i 
 ship in full sail with great ease, play round it 
 without effort, and outstrip it at pleasure. 
 Every part of the body seems exerted in this 
 despatch ; the fins, the tail, and the motion 
 of the whole back-bone, assist progression ; and j 
 it is to that flexibility of body at which art 
 cannot arrive, that fishes owe their great velo- 
 city. 
 
 The chief instrument in a fish's motion, are 
 the fins, which, in some fish, are much more 
 numerous than in others. A fish completely 
 fitted for sailing, is furnished with not less 
 than two pair ; also three single fins, two above 
 and one below. Thus equipped, it migrates 
 with the utmost rapidity, and takes voyages 
 of a thousand leagues in a season. But it 
 does not always happen that such fish as have 
 the greatest number of fins have the swiftest 
 motion ; the shark is thought to be one of the 
 swiftest swimmers, yet it wants the ventral or 
 belly fins ; the haddock does not move so swift, 
 yet it is completely fitted for motion. 
 
 But the fins serve not only to assist the ani- 
 mal in progression, but in rising or sinking, 
 in turning, or even leaping out of the water. 
 To answer these purposes, the pectoral fins 
 serve, like oars, to push the animal forward ; 
 they are placed at some little distance behind 
 the opening of the gills ; they are generally 
 large and strong, and answer the same pur- 
 poses to the fish in the water, as wings do to 
 a bird in the air. With the help of these, and 
 by their continued motion, the flying fish is 
 sometimes seen to rise out of the water, and 
 to fly above a hundred yards ; till, fatigued 
 with its exertions, it is obliged to sink down 
 again. These also serve to balance the fish's 
 head, when it is too large for the body, and 
 keep it from tumbling down to the bottom, as 
 is seen in large-headed fishes, when the pec- 
 toral fins are cut off. Next these are seen the 
 ventral fins, placed towards the lower part of 
 the body, under the belly ; these are always 
 seen to lie flat on the water, in whatever situ- 
 ation the fish may be; and they serve rather 
 to raise or depress the fish in its element, than 
 to assist progressive motion. The dorsal fin 
 is situated along the ridge of the back ; and 
 serves to keep it in equilibrio, as also to assist 
 its progressive motion. In many fishes this 
 
 is wanting ; but in all fiat fishes it is very 
 large, as the pectoral fins are proportionably 
 small. The anal fin occupies that part of the 
 fish which lies between the anus and the tail ; 
 and this serves to keep the fish in its upright 
 or vertical situation. Lastly, the tail, which 
 in some fishes is flat, and upright in others, 
 seerns the grand instrument of motion ; the 
 fins are but all subservient to it, and give di- 
 rection to its great impetus, by which the fish 
 seems to dart forward with so much velocity. 
 To explain all this by experiment ; a carp is 
 taken, and put into a large vessel. The fish, 
 in a state of repose, spreads all its fins, and 
 seems to rest upon its pectoral and ventral fins 
 near the bottom ; if the fish folds up (for it has 
 the power of folding) either of its pectoral fins, 
 it inclines to the same side ; folding the right 
 pectoral fin, the fish inclines to the right side ; 
 folding the left fin, it inclines to that side in 
 turn. When the fish desires to have a retro- 
 grade motion, striking with the pectoral fins, 
 in a contrary direction, effectually produces 
 it. If the fish desires to turn, a blow from 
 the tail sends it about ; but if the tail strikes 
 both ways, then the motion is progressive. 
 In pursuance of these observations, if the dor- 
 sal and ventral fins be cut off, the fish reels to 
 the right and left, and endeavours to supply 
 its loss by keeping the rest of its fins in con- 
 stant employment. If the right pectoral fin 
 be cut off, the fish leans to that side ; if the 
 ventral fin on the same side be cut away, then 
 it loses its equilibrium entirely. When the 
 tail is cut off, the fish loses all motion, and 
 gives itself up to where the water impels it. 
 
 From hence it appears, that each of these 
 instruments has a peculiar use assigned it; 
 but, at the same time, that they all conspire 
 to assist each other's motions. Some fish are 
 possessed of all, whose motions are yet not 
 the swiftest ; others have but a part, and yet 
 dart in the water with great rapidity. The 
 number, the size, and the situation of the fins, 
 therefore, seem rather calculated to correspond 
 with the animal's figure, than solely to answer 
 the purposes of promoting its speed. Where 
 the head is large and heavy, there the pec- 
 toral fins are large, and placed forward, to 
 keep it from oversetting. Where the head is 
 small, or produced out into a long beak, and 
 therefore not too heavy for the tail, the pec- 
 toral fins are small, and the ventral fins totally 
 wanting. 
 
 As most animals that live upon land are 
 furnished with a covering to keep off the in- 
 juries of the weather, so all that live in the 
 water are covered with a slimy glutinous mat- 
 ter, that, like a sheath, defends their bodies 
 from the immediate contact of the surrounding 
 fluid. This substance may be considered as a 
 secretion from the pores of the animal's body : 
 
OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 243 
 
 and serving not only to defend, but to assist the 
 fish's easy progress through the water. Beneath 
 this, in many kinds, is found a strong covering 
 of scales, that, like a coat of mail, defend it 
 still more powerfully;' and under that, before 
 we come to the muscular parts of the body, an 
 oily substance, which supplies the requisite 
 warmth and vigour. 
 
 The fish thus protected and fitted for motion 
 in its natural element, seems as well furnished 
 with the means of happiness as quadrupeds or 
 birds; but if we come to examine its faculties 
 more nearly, we shall find it very much their 
 inferior. The sense of touching, which beasts 
 and birds have in a small degree, the fish, 
 covered up in its own coat of mail, can have 
 but little acquaintance with. 
 
 The sense of smelling, which in beasts is 
 so exquisite, and among birds is not wholly 
 unknown, seems given to fishes in a very mo- 
 derate proportion. 1 It is true, that all fishes 
 have one or more nostrils ; and even those 
 that have riot the holes perceptible without, 
 yet have the proper formation of the bones for 
 smelling without. But as air is the only me- 
 dium we know for the distribution of odours, 
 it cannot be supposed that these animals, re- 
 siding in water, can be possessed of any power 
 of being affected by them. If they have any 
 perception of smells, it must be in the same 
 manner as we distinguish by our taste; arid, 
 it is probable, the olfactory membrane in fish 
 serves them instead of a distinguishing pa- 
 late ; and by this they judge of substances, 
 that, first tincturing the water with their va- 
 pours, are thus sent to the nostrils of the fish, 
 and no doubt produce some kind of sensation. 
 This most probably must be the use of that 
 organ in those animals, as otherwise there 
 would be the instruments of a sense provided 
 for them, without any power in them of en- 
 joyment. 
 
 As to tasting, they seem to make very little 
 distinction ; the palate of most fish is hard and 
 bony, and consequently incapable of the 
 powers of relishing different substances. This 
 sense among quadrupeds, who possess it in 
 some degree, arises from the soft pliancy of 
 the organ, and the delicacy of the skin which 
 covers the instruments of tasting ; it may be 
 considered, in them, as a more perfect and de- 
 licate kind of feeling : in the bony palate of 
 fish, therefore, all powers of distinguishing 
 are utterly taken away ; and we have accord, 
 ingly often seen these voracious animals swal- 
 low the fisherman's plummet instead of the 
 bait. 
 
 Hearing in fishes is found still more imper- 
 
 1 There is now no doubt but that fishes possess the 
 sense of smelling. Indeed, it seems to be mostly by 
 their smell that they'discover their food. 
 
 feet, if it be found at all. Certain it is, that 
 anatomists have not been able to discover, ex- 
 cept in the whale kind, the smallest traces of 
 an organ, either within or without the head 
 of fishes. It is true, that in the centre of the 
 brain of some fishes are found now and then 
 some little bones, the number and situation of 
 which are entirely accidental. These bones, 
 Mr Klein has supposed to constitute the or- 
 gan of hearing ; but if we consider their en- 
 tire dissimilitude to the bones that serve for 
 hearing in other animals, we shall be of ano- 
 ther opinion. The greatest number of fishes 
 are deprived of these bones entirely ; some fish 
 have them in small numbers, and others in 
 abundance ; yet neither testify any excellence 
 or defect in hearing. Indeed, of what advan- 
 tage would this sense be to animals that are 
 incapable of making themselves heard ? They 
 have no voice to communicate to each other, 
 and consequently have no need of an organ 
 for hearing. Mr Gouan, who kept some gold 
 fishes in a vase, informs us, that whatever 
 noise he made, he could neither disturb nor 
 terrify them ; he halloed as loud as he could, 
 putting a piece of paper between his mouth 
 and the water, to prevent the vibrations from 
 affecting the surface, and the fishes still seemed 
 insensible : but when the paper was removed, 
 and the sound had its full play upon the 
 water, the fishes seemed instantly to feel the 
 change, and shrunk to the bottom. From 
 this we may learn, that fishes are as deaf as 
 they are mute ; and that when they seem to 
 hear the call of a whistle or a bell at the edge 
 of a pond, it is rather the vibrations of the 
 sound that affect the water, by which they are 
 excited, than any sounds that they hear. 2 
 
 Seeing seems to be the sense fishes are pos- 
 sessed of in the greatest degree ; and yet even 
 this seems obscure, if we compare it to that of 
 other animals. The eye, in almost all fish, 
 is covered with the same transparent skin that 
 covers the rest of the head ; and which, pro- 
 bably, serves to defend it in the water, as they 
 are without eyelids. The globe is more de- 
 pressed anteriorly, and is furnished behind with 
 
 2 It was well ascertained by Dr John Hunter that 
 fishes possess the sense of hearing, and that water is an 
 excellent medium for the conveyance of sound. Their 
 organ of hearing is placed on the sides of the skull, or the 
 cavity that contains the brain ; but, differing in this 
 respect from that in quadrupeds and birds, it is entirely 
 distinct and detached from the skull. In some fishes, 
 as those of the ray kind, the organ of hearing is wholly 
 surrounded by the parts containing the cavity of the 
 skull ; in others, as the salmon and cod, it is in part 
 within the skull. In structure it is by no means so com- 
 plicated as in the quadrupeds and other animals who 
 live in the air. Some genera, as the rays, have the ex- 
 ternal orifice very small, and placed on the upper sur- 
 face of the head ; but in others there is no external 
 opening whatever. 
 
244 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 a muscle, which serves to lengthen or flatten 
 it, according to the necessities of the animal. 
 The crystalline humour, which in quadrupeds 
 is flat, and of the shape of a button-mould, in 
 fishes is round as a pea; or sometimes oblong, 
 like an egg. From all this it appears that 
 fish are extremely near-sighted ; and that 
 even in the water they can see objects at a 
 very small distance. This distance might 
 very easily be ascertained, by comparing the 
 refraction of bodies in the water with that 
 formed by a lens that is spherical. Those un- 
 skilled in mathematical calculations, will have 
 a general idea of this, from the glasses used 
 by near-sighted people. Those whose crys- 
 talline humour is too convex, or, in other 
 words, too round, are always very near-sigh ted; 
 and obliged to use concave glasses, to correct 
 the imperfections of nature. The crystalline 
 humour of fish is so round, that it is not in 
 the power of any glasses, much less of water, 
 to correct their vision. This crystalline humour 
 in fishes all must have seen ; being that little 
 hard pea-like substance which is found in 
 their eyes after boiling. In the natural state 
 it is transparent, and not much harder than a 
 jelly. 
 
 From all this it appears how far fish fall 
 behind terrestrial animals in their sensations, 
 and consequently in their enjoyments. 1 Even 
 their brain, which is by some supposed to be 
 of a size with every animal's understanding, 
 shows that fish are inferior even to birds in 
 this particular. It is divided into three parts, 
 surrounded with a whitish froth, and gives off 
 nerves as well to the sense of sight as of smell- 
 ing. In some fish it is gray , in others white ; 
 in some it is flatted, in others round ; but in 
 all extremely small, compared to the bulk of 
 the animal. 
 
 Thus Nature seems to have fitted these ani- 
 mals with appetites and powers of an inferior 
 
 1 Comparison by Baron Cuvier between fishes and 
 birds. " The aerial being discovers with facility an im- 
 mense horizon : its subtile ear appreciates every sound, 
 every intonation, which it re-produces with its voice. 
 If its beak is hard, if its body is covered with a kind of 
 down, to preserve it from the intense cold of the high 
 regions which it visits, it finds in its legs all the perfec- 
 tion of the most delicate touch. It enjoys all the sweets 
 of conjugal and paternal love, and it fulfils all its duties 
 with courage. The parents defend each other, and also 
 their offspring, a most surprising art presides in the 
 construction of their habitations. When the season is 
 come they work together and without remission ; while 
 the mother hatches the eggs with an extraordinary pa- 
 tience, the father from an impetuous lover, becomes the 
 most tender husband, and delights with his songs the 
 melancholy of his mate. The bird even in confinement 
 attaches itself to its master; it submits to him, and exe- 
 cutes by his order, the most neat and delicate actions ; 
 it hunts for him like the dog, and returns at his voice 
 liom the greatest height in the air; it imitates even his 
 language, and it is with some degree of difficulty that 
 we are compelled to refuse it a kind o f reason. 
 
 kind ; and formed them for a sort of passive 
 existence, in the obscure and heavy element 
 to which they are consigned. To preserve 
 their own existence, and to continue it to their 
 posterity, fill up the whole circle of their pur- 
 suits and enjoyments ; to these they are im- 
 pelled rather by necessity than choice, and 
 seem mechanically excited to every fruition. 
 Their senses are incapable of making any dis- 
 tinctions ; but they drive forward in pursuit 
 of whatever they can swallow, conquer, or 
 enjoy. 
 
 A ceaseless desire of food seems to give the 
 ruling impulse to all their motions. This ap- 
 petite impels them to encounter every danger; 
 and indeed their rapacity seems insatiable. 
 Even when taken out of the water, and almost 
 expiring, they greedily swallow the very bait 
 by which they were allured to destruction. 
 
 The maw is, in general, placed next the 
 mouth, and though possessed of no sensible 
 heat, is, however, endued with a surprising 
 facility of digestion. Its digestive power 
 seems, in some measure, to increase with the 
 quantity of food it is supplied with ; a single 
 pike having been known to devour a hundred 
 roaches in three days. Its faculties also are 
 as extraordinary ; for it digests not only fish, 
 but much harder substances ; prawns, crabs, 
 and lobsters, shells and all. These the cod 
 or the sturgeon will not only devour, but dis- 
 solve down, though their shells are so much 
 harder than the sides of the stomach which 
 contains them. This amazing faculty in the 
 cold maw of fishes, has justly excited the cu- 
 riosity of philosophers ; and has effectually 
 overturned the system of those who supposed 
 that the heat of the stomach was alone a suffi- 
 cient instrument for digestion. The truth 
 seems to be, and some experiments of the skil- 
 ful Dr Hunter seem to evince, that there is a 
 power of animal assimilation lodged in the 
 
 "The inhabitant of the water does not attach itself. 
 It has no language, no affection ; it does not know what 
 it is to bo husband arid father, or to make an abode for 
 itself. In time of danger it hides itself under the rocks 
 of the ocean, or rushes down into the depths of the sea ; 
 its life is monotonous; its voracity leads to its sole em- 
 ployment, and it is only thereby that we are able to direct 
 its motions by certain signs from above. Yet these 
 beings who possess so few enjoyments, have been adorned 
 by nature with all kinds of beauty, variety in their forms, 
 elegance in their proportions, diversity of colour: they 
 have everything adapted to attract the attention of man, 
 and it seems that it was this attention that nature was 
 desirous to excite. Reflecting the lustre of every metal 
 and precious stone, refracting the colours of the rainbow, 
 in bands, in spots, in undulating, angular, but always 
 regular and symmetrical lines, and always in shades ad- 
 mirably arranged and contrasted ; for what purpose have 
 they received these gifts they who hardly see one 
 another in depths where light can scarcely penetrate, 
 and who, could they gaze on one another, can scarcely 
 be supposed to feel any kind of pleasure by relations 
 thus established ?" 
 
OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 245 
 
 stomach of all creatures, which we can neither 
 describe nor define, converting the substances 
 they swallow into a fluid fitted for their own 
 peculiar support. This is done neither by 
 trituration, nor by warmth, nor by motion, 
 nor by a dissolving fluid, nor by their united 
 efforts ; but by some principle in the stomach 
 yet unknown, which acts in a different man- 
 ner from all kinds of artificial maceration. 
 The meat taken into the stomach or maw is 
 often seen, though very near being digested, 
 still to retain its original form, and ready 
 for a total dissolution, while it appears to the 
 eye as yet untouched by the force of the 
 stomach. This animal power is lodged in the 
 maw of fishes, in a greater degree than in any 
 other creatures ; their digestive powers are 
 quick, and their appetites are ever craving. 
 
 Yet though fish are thus hungry, and for 
 ever prowling, no animals can sutler the want 
 of food for so long a time. The gold and silver 
 fish we keep in vases seem never to want any 
 nourishment at all : whether it be that they 
 feed on the water-insects, too minute for our 
 observation, or that water alone is a sufficient 
 supply, is not evident ; but they are often 
 seen for months without apparent sustenance. 
 Even the pike, the most voracious of fishes, 
 will live in a pond where there is none but 
 himself : and what is more extraordinary, will 
 be often found to thrive there. 
 
 Still, however, fishes are of all other animals 
 the most voracious and insatiable. Whatever 
 any of them is able to swallow, possessed of 
 life, seems to be considered as the most desir- 
 able food. Some that have very small mouths 
 feed upon worms and the spawn of other fish ; 
 others, whose mouths are larger, seek larger 
 prey ; it matters not of what kind, whether of 
 another or their own. Those with the largest 
 mouths pursue almost every thing that has 
 life ; and often meet each other in fierce op- 
 position, when the fish with the largest swallow 
 comes off with the victory and devours its an- 
 tagonist. 
 
 Thus are they irritated by the continual 
 desire of satisfying their hunger ; and the life 
 of a fish, from the smallest to the greatest, is 
 but one scene of hostility, violence, and eva- 
 sion. But the smaller fry stand no chance 
 in the unequal combat ; and their usual way 
 of escaping is by swimming into those shal- 
 lows where the greater are unable, or too 
 heavy to pursue. There they become inva- 
 ders in turn, and live upon the spawn of lar- 
 ger fish, which they find floating upon the 
 surface of the water ; yet there are dangers 
 attending them in every place. Even in the 
 shallows, the mussel, the oyster, and the scal- 
 lop, lie in ambush at the bottom, with tlieir 
 shells open, and whatever little fish inadver- 
 tently approaches into contact, they at once I 
 
 close their shells upon him, and devour the 
 imprisoned prey at their leisure. 
 
 Nor is the pursuit of fishes, like that of ter- 
 restrial animals, confined to a single region, or 
 to one effort : shoals of one species follow those 
 of another through vast tracks of ocean, from 
 the vicinity of the pole, even down to the 
 equator. Thus the cod, from the banks of 
 Newfoundland, pursues the whiting, which 
 flies before it even to the southern shores of 
 Spain. The cachelot is said, in the same 
 manner, to pursue a shoal of herrings, and to 
 swallow thousands at a gulp. 
 
 This may be one cause of the annual mi- 
 gration of fishes from one part of the ocean to 
 the other ; but there are other motives which 
 come in aid of this also. Fishes may be in- 
 duced to change the place of their residence, 
 for one more suited to their constitutions, or 
 more adapted to depositing their spawn. It 
 is remarkable that no fish are fond of very 
 cold waters, and generally frequent those 
 places where it is warmest. Thus, in sum- 
 mer, they are seen in great numbers in the 
 shallows near the shore, where the sun has 
 power to warm the water to the bottom ; on 
 the contrary, in winter, they are found towards 
 the bottom in the deep sea ; for the cold of the 
 atmosphere is not sufficiently penetrating to 
 reach them at those great depths. Cold pro- 
 duces the same effect upon fresh-water fishes; 
 and when they are often seen dead after severe 
 frosts, it is most probable that they have been 
 killed by the severity of the cold, as well as 
 by their being excluded by the ice from air. 
 
 All fish live in the water ; yet they all stand 
 in need of air for their support. Those of the 
 whale kind, indeed, breathe air in the same 
 manner as we do, and come to the surface 
 every two or three minutes to take a fresh in- 
 spiration ; but those which continue entirely 
 under water are yet under a necessity of being 
 supplied with air, or they will expire in a very 
 few minutes. We sometimes see all the fish 
 of a pond killed, when the ice every where 
 covers the surface of the water, and thus keeps 
 off the air from the sub-adjacent fluid. If a 
 hole be made in the ice, the fish will be seen 
 to come all to that part, in order to take the 
 benefit of a fresh supply. Should a carp, in 
 a large vase of water, be placed under an air- 
 pump, and then be deprived of its air, during 
 the operation a number of bubbles will be seen 
 standing on the surface of the fish's body ; 
 soon after the animal will appear to breathe 
 swifter, and with greater difficulty ; it will 
 then be seen to rise towards the surface, to 
 get more air ; the bubbles on its surface begin 
 to disappear ; the belly, that was before swol- 
 len, will then fait of a sudden ; and the ani- 
 mal sinks expiring and convulsed at the 
 bottom. 
 
246 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 So very necessary is air to all animals, but j 
 particularly to fish, that, as was said, they j 
 can live but a few minutes without it ; yet | 
 nothing is more difficult to be accounted for 
 than the manner in which they obtain this ne- j 
 cessary supply. Those who have seen a fish ' 
 in the water must remember the motion of its 
 lips and its gills, or at least of the bones on 
 each side that cover them. This motion in 
 the animal is, without doubt, analogous to our 
 breathing ; but it is not air, but water, that 
 the fish actually sucks in and spouts out 
 through the gills at every motion. The man- 
 ner of its breathing is thus : the fish first takes 
 in a quantity of water by the mouth, which is 
 driven to the gills ; these close and keep the 
 water so swallowed from returning by the 
 mouth; while the bony covering of the gills 
 prevents it from going through them, until the 
 animal has drawn the proper quantity of air 
 from the body of water thus imprisoned : then 
 the bony-covers open, and give it a free pas- 
 sage : by which means also the gills again are 
 opened, and admit a fresh quantity of water. 
 Should the fish be prevented from the free 
 play of its gills, or should the bony-covers be 
 kept from moving, by a string tied round 
 them, the animal would soon fall into convul- 
 sions, and die in a few minutes. 
 
 But though this be the general method of 
 explaining respiration in fishes, the difficulty 
 remains to know what is done with this air, 
 which the fish in this manner separates from 
 the water. There seems to be no receptacle 
 for containing it ; the stomach being the chief 
 cavity within the body, is too much filled with 
 aliment for that purpose. There is indeed a 
 cavity, and that a pretty large one, I mean 
 the air-bladder or swim, which may serve to 
 contain it for vital purposes; but that our phi- 
 losophers have long destined to a very differ- 
 ent use. The use universally assigned to the 
 air-bladder, is the enabling the fish to rise or 
 sink in the water at pleasure, as that is dilated 
 or compressed. The use assigned by the an- j 
 cients lor it was to come in aid of the lungs, 
 and to remain as a kind of store-house of air 
 to supply the animal in its necessities. I own 
 my attachment to this last opinion ; but let us 
 exhibit both with their proper share of evi- 
 dence, arid the reader must be left to determine. 
 
 The air-bladder is described as a bag filled 
 with air, sometimes composed of one, some- 
 times of two, and sometimes of three divisions, 
 situated towards the back of the fish, and 
 opening into the maw or gullet. Those who 
 contend that this bag is designed for raising 
 or depressing the fish in the water, build ! 
 upon the following experiment. A carp being j 
 put into the air-pump, and the air exhaus- ! 
 ted, the bladder is said to expand itself to I 
 such a degree, that the fish swells in an ex- I 
 
 traordinary manner, till the bladder bursts, 
 and then the fish sinks, and ever after conti 
 nues to crawl at the bottom. On another 
 occasion, the air-bladder was pricked arid 
 wounded, which let out its air ; upon which 
 the fish sunk to the bottom, and was not seen 
 to rise after. From thence it is inferred, that 
 the use of the air-bladder must be by swell- 
 ing, at the will of the animal, thus to increase 
 the surface of the fish's body, and thence di- 
 minishing its specific gravity, to enable it to 
 rise to the top of the water, and keep there at 
 pleasure. On the contrary, when the fish 
 wants to descend, it is, say they, but to ex- 
 haust this bladder of its air; and the fish 
 being thus rendered slimmer and heavier, 
 consequently sinks to the bottom. 
 
 Such is the account given of the use of the 
 air-bladder; no part of which seems to me 
 well supported. In the first place, though 
 nothing is more certain than that a carp put 
 into the air-pump will swell, yet so will a 
 mouse or a frog ; and these we know to have 
 no air-bladders. A carp will rise to the sur- 
 face ; but so will all fish that want air, whe- 
 ther they have an air-bladder or not. The 
 air-bladder is said to burst in the experiment ; 
 but that I deny. The air-bladder is indeed 
 found empty, but it has suffered no laceration, 
 and may be distended by being blown into 
 like any other bladder that is sound. The fish 
 after the experiment, I grant, continues to 
 creep at the bottom ; and so will all fish that 
 are sick and wounded, which must be the 
 case with this after such an operation. Thus 
 these facts prove nothing, but that when the 
 fish is killed in an air-pump the air-bladder 
 is found exhausted, and that it will naturally 
 and necessarily be ; for the drain of air by 
 which the fish is supplied in the natural way 
 will necessarily oblige it to make use of all 
 its hidden stores ; and, as there is a commu- 
 nication between the gullet and the air-blad- 
 der, the air which the latter contains will thus 
 be obviously drawn away. But still farther, 
 how comes the air-bladder, according to their 
 hypothesis, to swell under the experiment of 
 the air-pump ? What is it that closes the 
 aperture of that organ in such a mannei as 
 at last to burst it? or what necessity has the 
 fish for dilating it to that violent degree? At 
 most, it only wants to rise to the surface ; and 
 that the fish can easily do without so great 
 a distention of the air-bladder. Indeed it 
 should rather seem that the more the air was 
 wanted without, the less necessity there was 
 for its being uselessly accumulated within ; 
 and, to make the modern system consistent, 
 the fish under the air-pump, instead of per- 
 mitting its bladder to burst, would readily 
 give up its contents ; which, upon their sup- 
 position, all can do at pleasure. 
 
OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 247 
 
 But the truth is, the fish can neither in- 
 crease nor diminish the quantity of air in its 
 air-bladder at will, no more than we can that 
 which is contained in our stomachs. The 
 animal has no one muscle, much less a pair of 
 muscles, for contracting or dilating this or- 
 gan ; its aperture is from the gullet ; and 
 what air is put into it must remain there till 
 the necessities, and not the will of the animal 
 call it forth as a supply. 
 
 But, to put the matter past a doubt, many 
 fish are furnished with an air-bladder, that 
 continually crawl at the bottom ; such as the 
 eel and the flounder ; and many more are en- 
 tirely without any bladder, that swim at ease 
 in every depth ; such as the anchovy and 
 fresh-water gudgeon. 1 Indeed, the number 
 of fish that want this organ is alone a suffi- 
 cient proof that it is not so necessary for the 
 purposes of swimming; and as the ventral 
 fins, which in all fish lie flat upon the water, 
 seem fully sufficient to keep them at all 
 depths, I see no great occasion for this inter- 
 nal philosophical apparatus for raising and de- 
 pressing them. Upon the whole, the air- 
 bladder seems adapted for different purposes 
 than that of keeping the fish at different depths 
 in the water ; but whether it be to supply them 
 with air when it is wanted from without, 
 or for what other purpose, I will not take 
 upon me to determine. 
 
 Hitherto we have seen fish in every res- 
 pect inferior to land animals ; in the simpli- 
 city of their conformation, in their senses, and 
 their enjoyments ; but of that humble exis- 
 tence which they have been granted by na- 
 ture, they have a longer term than any other 
 class of animated nature. " Most of the dis- 
 orders incident to mankind," says Bacon, 
 ** arise from the changes and alterations of the 
 atmosphere ; but fishes reside in an element 
 little subject to change ; theirs is a uniform 
 existence ; their movements are without ef- 
 fort, and their life without labour. Their 
 bones also, which are united by cartilages, 
 admit of indefinite extension ; and the differ- 
 ent sizes of animals of the same kind, among 
 fishes, is very various. They still keep grow- 
 ing ; their bodies, instead of suffering the 
 rigidity of age, which is the cause of natural 
 decay in land animals, still continue increas- 
 ing with fresh supplies ; and as the body 
 grows, the conduits of life furnish their stores 
 in greater abundance. How long a fish, that 
 seems to have scarcely any bounds put to its 
 growth, continues to live, is not ascertained ; 
 perhaps the life of a man would not be long 
 enough to measure that of the smallest." 
 
 There have been two methods devised for 
 determining the age of fishes which are more 
 
 - 
 
 Redi. 
 
 ingenious than certain ; the one is by the cir- 
 cles of the scales, the other by the transverse 
 section of the back-bone. The first method is 
 this : When a fish's scale is examined through 
 a microscope, it will be found to consist of a 
 number of circles, one circle within another, 
 in some measure resembling those which ap- 
 pear upon the transverse section of a tree, and 
 supposed to offer the same information. For 
 as in trees we can tell their age by the num- 
 ber of their circles, so in fishes we can tell 
 theirs by the number of circles in every scale, 
 reckoning one ring for every year of the ani- 
 mal's existence. By this method, Mr Buffbri 
 found a carp, whose scales he examined, to be 
 not less than a hundred years old ; a thing al- 
 most incredible, had we not several accounts 
 in other authors which tend to confirm the 
 discovery. Gesner brings us an instance of 
 one of the same age ; and Albertus of one 
 more than double that period. 
 
 The age of the skate and the ray, that want 
 scales, may be known by the other method ; 
 which is, by separating the joints of the back- 
 bone, and then minutely observing the num- 
 ber of rings, which the surface where it has 
 joined exhibits. By this the fish's age is said 
 to be known ; and perhaps with as much cer- 
 tainty as in the former instance. 
 
 But how unsatisfactory soever these marks 
 may be, we have no reason to doubt the great 
 age of some fishes. Those that have ponds, 
 often know the oldest by their superior size. 
 But the longevity of these animals is nothing 
 when compared to their fecundity. All sorts, 
 a few of the larger ones excepted, multiply 
 their kind, some by hundreds, and some by 
 millions. There are some that bring forth 
 their young alive, and some that only produce 
 eggs : the former are rather the least fruitful ; 
 yet even these are seen to produce in great 
 abundance. The viviparous blenny, for in- 
 stance, brings forth two or three hundred at 
 a time, all alive, and playing round the pa- 
 rent together. Those who exclude their pro- 
 geny in a more imperfect state, and produce 
 eggs, which they are obliged to leave to 
 chance, either on the bottom, at the edge of 
 the water, or floating on the surface where it 
 is deeper, are all much more prolific ; and 
 seem to proportion their stock to the dan- 
 ger there is of its consumption. Of these 
 eggs thus deposited, scarcely one in a hundred 
 brings forth an animal; they are devoured by 
 all the lesser fry that frequent the shores ; by 
 aquatic birds near the margin ; and by the 
 larger fish in deep water. Still, however, 
 there are enough for supplying the deep with 
 inhabitants ; and, notwithstanding their own 
 rapacity, and that of the fowls of various 
 tribes, the numbers that escape are sufficient 
 to relieve the wants of a very considerable 
 
248 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 part of mankind. Indeed, when we consider 
 the numbers that a single fish is capable of 
 producing, the amount will seem astonishing. 
 If, for instance, we should be told of a being 
 so very prolific, that in a single season it 
 could bring forth as many of its kind as there 
 are inhabitants in England, it would strike us 
 with surprise; yet a single cod produces full 
 that number. The cod spawns in one season, 
 as Lewenhoeck assures us, above nine millions 
 of eggs or peas, contained in one single roe. 
 The flounder is commonly known to produce 
 above one million ; and the mackarel above 
 five hundred thousand. Such an amazing 
 increase, if permitted to come to maturity, 
 would overstock nature, and even the ocean 
 itself would not be able to contain, much less 
 to provide for, the half of its inhabitants. But 
 two wise purposes are answered by this amaz- 
 ing increase ; it preserves the species in the 
 midst of numberless enemies, and serves to 
 furnish the rest with a sustenance adapted to 
 their nature. 
 
 Fishes seem, all except the whale kind, 
 entirely divested of those parental solicitudes 
 which so strongly mark the manners of the 
 more perfect terrestrial animals. How far 
 they copulate remains as yet a doubt; for 
 though they seem to join, yet the male is not 
 furnished with any external instrument of 
 generation. It is said, by some, that his only 
 end in that action is to emit his impregnated 
 milt upon the eggs that at that time fall from 
 the female. He is said to be seen pursuing 
 them as they float down the stream, and care- 
 fully impregnating them one after another. 
 On some occasions also the females dig holes 
 in the bottom of rivers and ponds, and there 
 deposit their spawn, which is impregnated 
 by the male in the same manner. All this, 
 however, is very doubtful ; what we know 
 with certainty of the matter, and that not dis- 
 covered till very lately, is, that the male has 
 two organs of generation, that open into the 
 bladder of urine, and that these organs do not 
 open into the rectum as in birds, but have a 
 particular aperture of their own. 1 These 
 organs of generation in the male are empty at 
 some seasons of the year ; but before the time 
 of spawning they are turgid with what is 
 called the milt, and emit the fluid proper for 
 impregnation. 
 
 Fish have different seasons for depositing 
 their spawn : some, that live in the depths of 
 the ocean, are said to choose the winter 
 months: but, in general, those with which 
 we are acquainted, choose the hottest months 
 in summer, and prefer such water as is some- 
 \vhat tepified by the beams of the sun. They 
 then leave the deepest parts of the ocean, 
 
 1 Vide Gaman de Generatione Phcium. 
 
 which are the coldest, and shoal round the 
 coasts, or swim up the fresh-water rivers, 
 which are warm as they are comparatively 
 shallow. When they have deposited their 
 burdens they then return to their old stations, 
 and leave their nascent progeny to shift for 
 themselves. 
 
 The spawn continues in its egg-state in 
 some fish longer than in others, and this in 
 proportion to the animal's size. In the salmon, 
 for instance, the young animal continues in 
 the egg from the beginning of December till 
 the beginning of April ; the carp continues in 
 the egg not above three weeks ; the little gold 
 fish fiom China is produced still quicker. 
 These all, when excluded, at first escape by 
 their minuteness and agility. They rise, sink, 
 and turn, much readier than grown fish; and 
 they can escape into very shallow waters 
 when pursued. But, with all their advant- 
 ages, scarcely one in a thousand survives the 
 numerous perils of its youth. The very male 
 and female that have given them birth are 
 equally dangerous and formidable with the 
 rest, forgetting all relation at their departure. 
 
 Such is the general picture of these heedless 
 and hungry creatures ; but there are some in 
 this class, living in the waters, that are pos- 
 sessed of finer organs and higher sensations; 
 that have all the tenderness of birds or quad- 
 rupeds for their young, that nurse them with 
 constant care, and protect them from every in- 
 jury. Of this class are the cetaceous tribe, or 
 the fishes of the whale kind. There are 
 others, though not capable of nursing their 
 young, yet that bring them alive into the 
 world, and defend them with courage and 
 activity. These are the cartilaginous kinds, 
 or those who have gristles instead of bones. 
 But the fierce unmindful tribe we have been 
 describing, that leave their spawn without 
 any protection, are called the spinous, or bony 
 kinds, from their bones resembling the sharp- 
 ness of thorns. 
 
 Thus there are three grand divisions in the 
 fish kind ; the cetaceous, the cartilaginous, and 
 the spinous : all differing from each other in 
 their conformation, their appetites, in their 
 bringing forth, and in the education of their 
 young. These three great distinctions are 
 not the capricious differences formed by a 
 maker of systems, but are strongly and firmly 
 marked in Nature. These are the distinc- 
 tions of Aristotle; and they have been adopted 
 by mankind ever since his time. It will be 
 necessary, therefore, to give the history of 
 each of these in particular; and then to ar- 
 range, under each head, those fishes whose 
 history is the most remarkable ; or, more pro- 
 perly speaking, those of which we have any 
 history. For we shall find, when we come 
 to any of the species in particular, how little 
 
OF CETACEOUS FISHES. 
 
 249 
 
 can be said of their habits, their stations, or 
 method of propagation. 
 
 Much, indeed, can be said of them if con- 
 sidered relatively to man ; and large books 
 have been written of the manner of taking 
 fish, or of dressing them. Apicius is rioted 
 for first having taught mankind to suffocate 
 fish in Carthaginian pickle ; and Quin, for 
 giving a sauce to the Johndory : Mrs Glasse 
 is famous for her eel-pie, and Mr Tull for his 
 invention of spaying carp, to give it a finer 
 flavour. In this manner our cooks handle the 
 subject. On the other hand, our physicians 
 assure us that the flesh of fishes yields little 
 nourishment, and soon corrupts ; that it abounds 
 in a gross sort of oil and water, and hath but 
 a few volatile particles, which render it less 
 fit to be converted into the substance of our 
 bodies. They are cold and moist, and must 
 needs, say they, produce juices of the same 
 kind, and consequently are improper to 
 strengthen the body. In this diversity of 
 opinion, it is the wisest way to eat our fish 
 in the ordinary manner, and pay no great at- 
 tention to cooks or doctors. 
 
 I cannot conclude this chapter without put- 
 ting a question to the learned, which I confess 
 I am not able to resolve. How comes it that 
 fish, which are bred in a salt element, have 
 yet no salt to the taste, or that is capable of 
 being extracted from them. 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF CETACEOUS FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 As on land there are some orders of animals 
 that seem formed to command the rest, with 
 greater powers and more various instincts, so 
 in the ocean there are fishes which seem 
 formed upon a nobler plan than others, and 
 that, to their fishy form, join the appetites and 
 the conformation of quadrupeds. These are 
 all of the cetaceous kind ; and so much raised 
 above their fellows of the deep, in their appe- 
 
 1 Though fishes live in a salt element they do not 
 subsist on it. All the water they take into their mouths 
 is again discharged through the gills, after retaining the 
 air contained in it for the purposes of life. The medium 
 of water answers the precise purpose to fishes, that the 
 medium of air does to man and other land animals. In 
 inspiration, the element is received into the lungs or 
 gills, and in expiration is returned deprived of its purer 
 parts, which are retained for the purpose of animal econ- 
 omy. And whatever salt may be taken into the stomachs 
 of fishes with their food, is decomposed and separated 
 into its component parts of acid and soda. The sailor 
 that feeds for twelve months together 011 salted meats, 
 has not his own flesh made salt; but a decomposition 
 taking place during the process of digestion, he becomes 
 corrupted and scorbutic by the excess of soda and mag- 
 nesia. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 tites and instincts, that almost all our modern 
 naturalists have fairly excluded them from 
 the finny tribes, and will have them called, 
 not fishes, but great beasts of the ocean. With 
 them it would be as improper to say men go 
 to Greenland fishing for whale, as it would 
 be to say that a sportsman goes to Blackwall 
 a fowling for mackarel. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding philosophers, mankind 
 will always have their own way of talking ; 
 and, for my own part, I think them here in 
 the right. A different formation of the lungs, 
 stomach, and intestines ; a different manner 
 of breathing or propagating ; are not sufficient 
 to counterbalance the great obvious analogy 
 which these animals bear to the whole finny 
 tribe. They are shaped as other fishes ; they 
 swim with fins ; they are entirely naked, with- 
 out hair ; they live in the water, though they 
 come up to breathe ; they are only seen in the 
 depths of the ocean, and never come upon 
 shore but when forced thither. These, sure, 
 are sufficient to plead in favour of the general 
 denomination, and acquit mankind of error 
 in ranking them with their lower companions 
 of the deep. 
 
 But still they are many degrees raised above 
 other fishes in their nature, as they are in 
 general in their size. This tribe is composed 
 of the Whale and its varieties, of the Cachalot, 
 the Dolphin, the Grampus, and the Porpoise. 
 All these resemble quadrupeds in their inter- 
 nal structure, and in some of their appetites 
 and affections. Like quadrupeds, they have 
 lungs, a midriff, a stomach, intestines, liver, 
 spleen, bladder, and parts of generation ; their 
 heart also resembles that of quadrupeds, with 
 its partitions closed up as in them, and driving 
 red and warm blood in circulation through the 
 body. In short, every internal part bears a 
 most striking similitude ; and to keep these 
 parts warm, the whole kind are also covered, 
 between the skin and the muscles, with a 
 thick coat of fat or blubber, which , like the 
 bacon fat of a hog, keeps out the cold, renders 
 their muscles glib and pliant, and probably 
 makes them lighter in swimming. 
 
 As these animals breathe the air, it is ob- 
 vious that they cannot bear to be any long 
 time under water. They are constrained, 
 therefore, every two or three minutes, to come 
 up to the surface to take breath, as well as 
 to spout out through their nostril (for they 
 have but one) that water which they sucked 
 in while gaping for their prey. This conduit 
 by which they breathe, and also throw out 
 the water, is placed in the head, a little before 
 the brain. Though externally the hole is but 
 single, it is internally divided by a bony par- 
 tition, which is closed by a sphincter muscle 
 on the inside, that, like the mouth of a purse, 
 shuts it up at the pleasure of the animal 
 
250 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 There is also another muscle or valve, which 
 prevents the water from going down the gul- 
 let. When therefore, the animal takes in a 
 certain quantity of water, which is necessary 
 to be discharged and separated from its food, 
 it shuts the mouth, closes the valve of the 
 stomach, opens the sphincter that kept the 
 nostril closed, and then breathing strongly 
 from the lungs, pushes the water out by effort, 
 as we see it rise by the pressure of air in a 
 fire-engine. 
 
 The senses of these animals seem also su- 
 perior to those of other fishes. The eyes of 
 other fishes, we have observed, are covered 
 only with transparent skin that covers the rest 
 of the head ; but in all the cetaceous kinds, it 
 is covered by eye-lids, as in man. This, no 
 doubt, keeps that organ in a more perfect 
 state, by giving it intervals of relaxation, in 
 which all vision is suspended. The other 
 fishes, that are for ever staring, must see, if 
 for no other reason, more feebly, as their or- 
 gans of sight are always exerted. 
 
 As for hearing, these also are furnished with 
 the internal instruments of the ear, although 
 the external orifice no where appears. It is 
 most probable that this orifice may open by 
 some canal, resembling the Eustachian tube, 
 into the mouth ; but this has not as yet been 
 discovered. 
 
 Yet Nature sure has not thus formed a 
 complete apparatus for hearing, and denied 
 the animal the use of it when formed. It is 
 most likely that all animals of the cetaceous 
 kind can hear, as they certainly utter sounds, 
 and bellow to each other. This vocal power 
 would be as needless to animals naturally deaf, 
 as glasses to a man that was blind. 
 
 But it is in the circumstances in which 
 they continue their kind, that these animals 
 show an eminent superiority. Other fish de- 
 posit their spawn, and leave the success to 
 accident ; these never produce above one 
 young, or two at the most; and this the female 
 suckles entirely in the manner of quadrupeds, 
 her breasts being placed, as in the human 
 kind, above the navel. We have read many 
 fabulous accounts of the nursing of the demi- 
 gods of antiquity, of their feeding on the mar- 
 row of lions, and their being suckled by 
 wolves : one might imagine a still more heroic 
 system of nutrition, if we supposed that the 
 young hero was suckled and grew strong upon 
 the breast-milk of a she-whale ! 
 
 The whale or the grampus are terrible at 
 any time ; but are fierce and desperate in the 
 defence of their young. In Waller's beautiful 
 poem of the Summer Islands, we have a story, 
 founded upon fact, which shows the maternal 
 tenderness of these animals for their offspring. 
 A whale and her cub had got in an arm of 
 the sea, where, by the desertion of the tide, 
 
 they were inclosed on every side. The people 
 from shore soon saw their situation, and drove 
 down upon them in boats, with such weapons 
 as the urgent occasion offered. The two ani- 
 mals were soon wounded in several places, 
 and the whole sea round was tinctured with 
 their blood. The whales made several at- 
 tempts to escape ; and at last the old one, by 
 its superior strength, forced over the shallow 
 into the depths of the ocean. But though in 
 safety herself, she could not bear the danger 
 that awaited her young one ; she therefore 
 rushed in once more where the smaller animal 
 was imprisoned, and resolved, when she could 
 not protect, at least to share its danger. The 
 story ends with poetical justice ; for the tide 
 coming in, brought off both in safety from 
 their enemies, though not without sustaining 
 an infinite number of wounds on every part. 
 
 As to the rest, the distinctive marks of this 
 tribe are, that the number of their fins never 
 exceed three ; namely, two pectoral fins, and 
 one back fin ; but in some sorts the last is 
 wanting. These fins differ very much from 
 those of other fishes, which are formed of 
 straight spines : the fins of the cetaceous tribe 
 are made up of bones and muscles ; and the 
 skeleton of one of their fins very much re- 
 sembles the skeleton of a man's hand. Their 
 tails also are different from those of all other 
 fish : they are placed so as to lie flat on the 
 surface of the water; while the other kinds 
 have them, as we every day see, upright or 
 edgeways. This flat position of the tail in 
 cetaceous animals, enables them to force them- 
 selves suddenly to the surface of the water to 
 breathe, which they are continually con- 
 strained to do. 
 
 Of these enormous animals some are without 
 teeth, and properly called whales : others have 
 the teeth only in the lower jaw, and are called, 
 by the French, cachalots : the narwhal has 
 teeth only in the upper jaw : the dolphin's 
 teeth as well as those of the porpoise and 
 grampus, are both above and below. These 
 are the marks that serve to distinguish the 
 kinds of this enormous tribe from each other ; 
 and these shall serve to guide us in giving 
 their history. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE WHALE PROPERLY SO CALLED, AND 
 ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 IF we compare land animals, in respect to 
 magnitude, with those of the deep, they will 
 appear contemptible in the competition. It 
 is probable, indeed, that quadrupeds once ex- 
 isted much larger than we find them at pre- 
 
THE WHALE. 
 
 251 
 
 sent. From the skeletons of some that have 
 been dug up at different times, it is evident 
 that there must have been terrestrial animals 
 twice as large as the elephant; but creatures 
 of such an immense bulk required a propor- 
 tionable extent of ground for subsistence, and, 
 by being rivals with men for large territory, 
 they must have been destroyed in the contest. 
 
 But it is not only upon land that man has 
 exerted his power of destroying the larger 
 tribes of animated nature, he has extended his 
 efforts even into the midst of the ocean, and 
 has cut off numbers of those enormous animals, 
 that had perhaps existed for ages. We now 
 no longer hear of whales two hundred, and 
 two hundred and fifty feet long, which we are 
 certain were often seen about two centuries 
 ago. They have all been destroyed by the 
 skill of mankind, and the species is now 
 dwindled into a race of diminutive animals, 
 from thirty to about eighty feet long. 
 
 The northern seas were once the region to 
 which the greatest of these animals resorted ; 
 but so great has been the slaughter of whales 
 for more than two ages, that they begin to 
 grow thinner every day ; and those that are 
 now found there, seem, from their size, not to 
 come to their full dimensions. The greatest 
 whales resort to places where they have the 
 least disturbance ; to those seas that are on the 
 opposite side of the globe, near the south pole. 
 In that part of the world there are still to be 
 seen whales that are above a hundred and 
 sixty feet long ; and perhaps even longer might 
 be found in those latitudes near the south 
 pole, to which we have not as yet ventured. 
 
 Taking the whale, however, at the ordinary 
 size of eighty feet long and twenty feet high, 
 what an enormous animated mass must it ap- 
 pear to the spectator! With what amaze- 
 ment must it strike him, to behold so great a 
 creature gamboling in the deep, with the ease 
 and agility of the smallest animal, and mak- 
 ing its way with incredible swiftness! This 
 is a sight which is very common to those who 
 frequent the northern or southern ocean. Yet 
 though this be wonderful, perhaps still greater 
 wonders are concealed in the deep, which we 
 have not had opportunities of exploring. 
 These large animals are obliged to show them- 
 selves in order to take breath ; but who knows 
 the size of those that are fitted to remain for 
 ever under water, and that have been increas- 
 ing in magnitude for centuries ! To believe 
 all that has been said of the Sea-Serpent, or 
 the Kraken, would be credulity ; to reject 
 the possibility of their existence, would be 
 presumption. 
 
 The Whale is the largest animal of which 
 we have any certain information ; and the 
 various purposes to which, when taken, its 
 different parts are converted, have brought us 
 
 tolerably acquainted with its history. Of the 
 whale, properly so called, there are no less 
 than seven different kinds ; all distinguished 
 from each other by their external figure, or 
 internal conformation. The Great Greenland 
 Whale, without a back -fin, and black on the 
 back ; the Iceland Whale, without a back- 
 iin, and whitish on the back ; the New-Eng- 
 land Whale, with a hump on the back; the 
 Whale with six humps on the back ; the Fin- 
 fish, with a fin on the back near the tail ; the 
 Pike-headed Whale, and the Round-lipped 
 Whale. All these differ from each other in 
 figure, as their names obviously imply. They 
 differ also somewhat is their manner of living ; 
 the fin-fish having a larger swallow than the 
 rest, being more active, slender, and fierce, 
 and living chiefly upon herrings. However, 
 there are none of them very voracious ; and, 
 if compared to the cachalot, that enormous 
 tyrant of the deep, they appear harmless and 
 gentle. The history of the rest, therefore, 
 may be comprised under that of the Great 
 Common Greenland Whale, with which we 
 are best acquainted. 
 
 The Great Greenland Whale (see Plate 
 XIV. fig. 23.) is the fish, for taking which 
 there are such preparations made in differ- 
 ent parts of Europe. It is a large heavy 
 animal, arid the head alone makes a third 
 of its bulk. It is usually found from sixty 
 to seventy feet long. The fins on each 
 side are from five to eight feet, composed of 
 bones and muscles, and sufficiently strong to 
 give the great mass of body which they move, 
 speed and activity. The tail, which lies flat 
 on the water, is about twenty-four feet broad ; 
 and, when the fish lies on one side, its blows 
 are tremendous. The skin is smooth and 
 black, and, in some places, marbled with 
 white and yellow ; which, running over the 
 surface, has a very beautiful effect. This 
 marbling is particularly observable in the fins 
 and the tail. In the figures which are thus 
 drawn by nature, fancy often forms the pictures 
 of trees, landscapes, and houses. In the tail 
 of one that was thus marbled, Ray tells us, 
 that the number 122 was figured very evenly 
 and exact, as if done with a pencil. 
 
 The whale makes use only of the tail to 
 advance itself forward in the water. This 
 serves as a great oar to push its mass along ; 
 and it is surprising to see with what force and 
 celerity its enormous bulk cuts through the 
 ocean. The fins are only made use of for turn- 
 ing in the water, and giving a direction to 
 the velocity impressed by the tail. The fe- 
 male also makes use of them when pursued, 
 to bear off her young, clapping them on her 
 back, and supporting them by the fins on each 
 side from falling. 
 
 The outward or scarf skin of the whale isiio 
 
252 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 thicker than parchment; but this removed, 
 the real skin appears, of about an inch thick, 
 and covering the fat or blubber that lies be- 
 neath ; this is from eight to twelve inches in 
 thickness; and is, when the fish is in health, 
 of a beautiful yellow. The muscles lie be- 
 neath ; and these, like the flesh of quadru- 
 peds, are very red and tough. 
 
 The cleft of the mouth is above twenty feet 
 long, which is near one-third of the animal's 
 whole length ; and the upper jaw is furnished 
 with barbs, that lie like the pipes of an or- 
 gan, the greatest in the middle, and the small- 
 est to the sides. These compose the whale- 
 bone; the longest spars of which are found to ; 
 be not less than eighteen feet ; the shortest, ! 
 being of no value, are thrown away. The ! 
 tongue is almost immovably fixed to the lower j 
 jaw, seeming one great lump of fat; and, in | 
 fact, it fills several hogsheads with blubber. | 
 The eyes are not larger than those of an ox ; j 
 and when the crystalline humour is dried, it 
 does not appear larger than a pea. They are 
 placed towards the back of the head, being 
 the most convenient situation for enabling , 
 them to see both before and behind ; as also | 
 to see over them, where their food is princi- 
 pally found. They are guarded by eye-lids 
 and eye-lashes, as in quadrupeds ; and they ; 
 seem to be very sharp sighted. 
 
 Nor is their sense of hearing in less perfec- j 
 tion ; for they are warned at great distances, i 
 of any danger preparing against them. It ! 
 would seem as if nature had designedly given I 
 them these advantages, as they multiply little, 
 in order to continue their kind. It is true, , 
 indeed, that the external organ of hearing is 
 not perceptible, for this might only embarrass 
 them in their natural element : but as soon as 
 the thin scarf-skin above mentioned is re- 
 moved, a black spot is discovered behind the | 
 eye, and under that is the auditory canal, 
 that leads to a regular apparatus for hearing. 
 In short, the animal hears the smallest sounds 
 at very great distances, and at all times, ex- 
 cept when it is spouting water ; which is the 
 time that the fishers approach to strike it. 
 
 These spout holes or nostrils, in all the ce- 
 taceous tribe, have been already described: in 
 this whale there are two, one on each side the 
 head before the eyes, and crooked, somewhat 
 like the holes on the belly of a violin. From 
 these holes this animal blows the water very 
 fiercely, and with such a noise, that it roars 
 like a hollow wind, and may be heard at three j 
 miles distance. When wounded, it then! 
 blows more fiercely than ever, so that it j 
 sounds like the roaring of the sea in a great 
 storm. 
 
 We have already observed, that the sub- 
 stance called whale-bone, is taken from the 
 upper jaw of the animal, and is very different 
 
 from the real bones of the whale. The real 
 bones are hard, like those of great land ani- 
 mals, are very porous, and filled with mar- 
 row. Two great strong bones sustain the upper 
 lip, lying against each other in the shape of a 
 half-moon : some of these are twenty-feet 
 long ; they are seen in several gardens set 
 up against each other, and are usually mista- 
 ken for the ribs of this animal. 
 
 Such is the general conformation and figure 
 of this great inhabitant of the deep, the pre- 
 cise anatomy of which has not been yet as- 
 certained. In those places where they are 
 caught in greatest abundance, the sailors are 
 not very curious as to the structure of the vis- 
 cera ; and few anatomists care to undertake a 
 task where the operator, instead of separating 
 with a lancet, must cut his way with an axe. 
 It is as yet doubted, therefore, whether the 
 whale, that in most points internally resem- 
 bles a quadruped, may not have one great 
 bowel fitted entirely for the reception of air, 
 to supply it, when constrained to keep longer 
 than usual at the bottom. The sailors uni- 
 versally affirm that it has; and philosophers 
 have nothing but the analogy of its parts to 
 oppose to their general assertions. 
 
 As these animals resemble quadrupeds in 
 conformation, so they bear a strong resem- 
 blance in some of their appetites and man- 
 ners. The female joins with the male, as is 
 asserted, more humano, and once in two years 
 feels the accesses of desire. 
 
 Their fidelity to each other exceeds what- 
 ever we are told of even the constancy of 
 birds. Some fishers, as Anderson informs us, 
 having struck one of two whales, a male and 
 a female, that were in company together, the 
 wounded fish made a long and terrible resist- 
 ance : it struck down a boat with three men 
 in it, with a single blow of the tail, by which 
 all went to the bottom. The other still at- 
 tended its companion, and lent it every assist- 
 ance ; till, at last, the fish that was struck 
 sunk under the number of its wounds; while 
 its faithful associate, disdaining to survive 
 the loss, with great bellowing stretched itself 
 upon the dead fish, and shared its fate. 
 
 The whale goes with young nine or ten 
 months, and is then fatter then usual, particu- 
 larly when near the time of bringing forth. 
 It is said that the embryo, when first percep- 
 tible, is about seventeen inches long, and 
 white ; but the cub, when excluded, is black, 
 and about ten feet long. She generally pro- 
 duces one young one, and never above two. 
 When she suckles her young, she throws her- 
 self on one side on the surface of the sea, and 
 the young one attaches itself to the teat. The 
 breasts are two, generally hid within the bel- 
 ly ; but she can produce them at pleasure, so 
 as to stand forward a foot and a half, or two 
 
THE WHALE. 
 
 258 
 
 feet; and the teats are like those of a cow. 
 In some, the breasts are white ; in others 
 speckled; in all, filled with a large quantity 
 of milk, resembling that of land animals. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the tenderness of the 
 female for her offspring ; she carries it with 
 her wherever she goes, and, when hardest 
 pursued, keeps it supported between her fins. 
 Even when wounded, she still clasps her 
 young one ; and when she plunges to avoid 
 danger, takes it to the bottom ; but rises sooner 
 than usual, to give it breath again. 
 
 The young ones continue at the breast for 
 a year ; during which time they are called by 
 the sailors, short-heads. They are then ex- 
 tremely fat, and yield above fifty barrels of 
 blubber. The mother, at the same time, is 
 equally lean and emaciated. At the age of 
 two years they are called stunts, as they do 
 not thrive much immediately after quitting 
 the breast ; they then scarcely yield above 
 twenty, or twenty-four, barrels of blubber : 
 from that forward, they are called skutt-JisJi, 
 and their age is wholly unknown. 
 
 Every species of whale propagates only 
 with those of its own kind, and does not at all 
 mingle with the rest ; however they are ge- 
 nerally seen in shoals, of different kinds toge- 
 ther, and make their migrations in large 
 companies, from one ocean to another. They 
 are a gregarious animal, which implies their 
 want of mutual defence against the invasions 
 of smaller, but more powerful, fishes. It 
 seems astonishing, therefore, how a shoal of 
 these enormous animals find subsistence toge- 
 ther, when it would seem that the supplying 
 even one with food would require greater 
 plenty than the ocean could furnish. To in- 
 crease our wonder, we not only see them herd- 
 ing together, but usually find them fatter than 
 any other animals of whatsoever element. We 
 likewise know that they cannot swallow large 
 fishes, as their throat is so narrow, that an 
 animal larger than a herring could not enter. 
 How then do they subsist and grow so fat ? 
 A small insect, which is seen floating in those 
 seas, and which Linnaeus terms the Medusa, 
 is sufficient for this supply. These insects are 
 black, and of the size of a small bean, and are 
 sometimes seen floating in clusters on the sur- 
 face of the water. They are of a round form, 
 like snails in a box, but they have wings, 
 which are so tender, that it is scarcely possi- 
 ble to touch them without breaking. These 
 serve rather for swimming than flying ; and 
 the little animal is called by the Icelanders, 
 the W^alfishoas, which signifies the whale's 
 provender. They have the taste of raw mus- 
 sels, and have the smell of burnt sugar. 
 These are the food of the whale, which it is 
 seen to draw up in great numbers with its 
 huge jaws, and to bruise between its barbs, 
 
 which are always found with several of these 
 sticking among them. 
 
 This is the simple food of the great Green- 
 land whale ; it pursues no other animal, leads 
 an inoffensive life in its element, and is harm- 
 less in proportion to its strength to do mis- 
 chief. 1 There seems too an analogy between 
 
 1 " Among the cetaceous tribes," says the Edinburgh 
 Cabinet Library, vol. I. on the Polar Regions, " the 
 chief place is due to the whale, of all animals ' mightiest 
 that swim the ocean stream.' Enormous as his bulk 
 is, rumour and the love of the marvellous have repre- 
 sented it as being at one time much greater, and the 
 existing race as only the degenerate remnant of might- 
 ier ancestors. Mr Scoresby, however, by collecting va- 
 rious good authorities, has proved that sixty feet was 
 always nearly the utmost length of the mysticetus, or 
 great Greenland whale. Of three hundred and twenty- 
 two individuals, in the capture of which that gentleman 
 was concerned, none occurred of a length exceeding 
 fifty-eight feet; and he gives no credence to any rumour 
 of a specimen which exceeded seventy feet. Even sixty 
 feet implies a weight of seventy tons, being nearly that of 
 three hundred fat oxen. Of this vast mass, the oil of a 
 rich whale composes about thirty tons, and when, as 
 was the case some years ago, that article brought 55 or 
 60 per ton, we may form some idea of the great value 
 of the capture; the bones of the head, fins, and tail, 
 weigh eight or ten ; the carcass, thirty or thirty-two 
 tons. The oleaginous substance, or blubber, the most 
 valuable part of the animal, forms a complete wrapper 
 round the whole body, of the thickness of from eight to 
 twenty inches. The head is disproportionally large, 
 forming about a third of the entire bulk. The basis 
 consists of the crown-bone, from each side of which des- 
 cend those immense jaw-bones which are sometimes 
 presented to our wondering eyes, and which the 
 whalers place on deck as trophies of their success, and 
 in order that the fine oil contained in them may ooze 
 from their lower extremities. These jaw-bones are 
 from sixteen to twenty feet in length, and extend along 
 the mouth in a curved line, till they meet and form a 
 species of crescent. The lips, nearly twenty feet long, 
 display, when open, a cavity capable of receiving a ship's 
 jolly-boat with her crew. The whale has no external 
 ear ; but when the skin is removed, a small aperture is 
 discerned for the admission of sound. This sense ac- 
 cordingly is very imperfect; yet the animal, by a quick 
 perception of all movements made on the water, disco- 
 vers danger at a great distance. The eyes are propor- 
 tionally small, though the sense of seeing is acute ; more 
 so, however, through clear water than through an aerial 
 medium. But the most unique feature in the structure 
 of this animal consists in the spiracles or blow-holes 
 placed nearly on the crown of the head. These have 
 been compared to natural jets d'eau throwing up water 
 to the height of forty or fifty feet ; but the more careful 
 scrutiny of Mr Scoresby ascertained that they emit only 
 a moist vapour, and are neither more nor less than huge 
 nostrils. When, however, this vehement breathing or 
 blowing is performed under the surface, a considerable 
 quantity of water is thrown up into the air. The sound 
 thus occasioned is the only thing like a voice emitted 
 by the animal, and, in the case of a violent respiration, 
 it resembles the discharge of a cannon. 
 
 " The tail is the most active limb of this mighty ani- 
 mal, and the chief instrument of his motion. It does 
 not rise vertically like that of most fishes, being flat 
 and horizontal, only four or five feet long, but more 
 than twenty feet broad. It consists of two beds of 
 muscles connected with an extensive layer surround- 
 ing the body, and enclosed by a thin covering of 
 
254 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 its manners and those of the elephant. They J ment. The fin-fish indeed, in some measure, 
 are both the strongest and the largest animals differs from the great whale in this particular, 
 in their respective elements; neither offer in- 
 
 iury, but are terrible when provoked to resent- 
 
 blubber. Its power is tremendous. A single stroke 
 throws a large boat with all its crew into the air. 
 Sometimes the whale places himself in a perpendicular 
 position with the head downwards, and, rearing his 
 tail on high, beats the water with awful violence. 
 On these occasions the sea foams, and vapours darken 
 the air, the lashing is heard several miles off, like 
 the roar of a distant tempest. Sometimes he makes 
 an immense spring, and rears his whole body above 
 the waves, to the admiration of the experienced whaler, 
 but to the terror of those who see for the first time this 
 astonishing spectacle. Other motions, equally expres- 
 sive of his boundless strength, attract the attention of 
 the navigator at the distance of miles." 
 
 There are various kinds of whales. That already 
 described is the mysticetus, or the right whale, as he 
 is called by British sailors, ou account of his superior 
 quantity of blubber having pointed him out as the 
 most proper subject for the fishery. The razor back \ 
 (Balcena physalis) is larger, more formidable, but has 
 much less oil, and is never attacked, unless by mis- 
 take. The cachalot or spermaceti whales, which chiefly 
 abound in the Southern Polar ocean, are gregarious; 
 that is to say, they usually appear in large herds. 
 Their oil is small in quantity, but is much esteemed. 
 The narwal is seldom above sixteen feet in length, and 
 has a tusk projecting above its upper jaw, from which 
 the sailors call him the sea unicorn. 
 
 When we consider the enormous bulk of the most 
 of cetaceous animals, we shall be surprised at the ra- 
 pidity of motion which is a general character of the 
 tribe. It has been computed that some of them are 
 capable of rushing through thirty- three feet in a se- 
 cond of time, and that, supposing them to proceed 
 with an uniform and uninterrupted motion, twenty- 
 three days would be sufficient for enabling them to 
 circumnavigate the globe. Though the mouth of the 
 whale is -eo large, that, in some individuals, several j 
 men have been able to stand upright in the inside of it, { 
 the throat is in general so very narrow as to admit of ! 
 only a small object passing. Some kinds are furnished 
 with teeth; but the balaenae, instead of those organs, 
 have a curious apparatus, from which the well-known 
 substance called whalebone is derived. According to 
 the description given by Baron Cuvier, "the maxil- 
 lary (cheek) bones in this tribe, form on their inferior 
 surface two inclined planes, which give to the palate the 
 appearance of the roof of a house reversed, and their 
 two surfaces are concave. To these are attached a 
 series of laminae (thin plates) parallel to each other, 
 and having a transverse direction with regard to the 
 axis of the body. Several hundred laminae may be 
 counted on each side, and in the Greenland whale 
 they often exceed ten feet in length. The laminse 
 present on their internal sides layers of horny fibres, 
 growing from the horny plates, but less fine, and which 
 form a fringe or loose border hanging down upon and 
 investing the whole bulk of the tongue. The use of 
 this apparatus seems to be to retain, as with a net, 
 those small animals which the whales seize and swal- 
 low for food. 
 
 Against these mighty animals man wages a war so ex- 
 terminating as to have driven them from their ancient 
 haunts to seek for safety in the more inaccessible 
 parts of the ocean ; hither, however, they are followed 
 and killed, in order to obtain the immense quantity of 
 oil which they yield, and of which we are now to 
 speak. Fat, or oil, which is lighter than water, is abun- 
 dantly supplied to fishes, in order to counteract their 
 
 as it subsists chiefly upon herrings, great, 
 shoals of which it is often seen driving before 
 
 tendency to sink in this fluid. The solid parts of 
 their bodies, as indeed of all other animals, beine 
 heavier than water, it is evident, that, unless pro- 
 vided with a sufficient supply of some substance lighter 
 than water, it would have required a constant erlbrt, 
 on their parts, to keep themselves at any given level. 
 Now, the quantity of fat with which fishes are in ge- 
 neral furnished, being very nearly in the same pro- 
 portion to the solid parts as to bring their body, collec- 
 tively taken, to about the same specific gravity as that 
 of the water which they inhabit, supersedes in them 
 the necessity of making any efforts except for the pur- 
 pose of changing their position. We all know of how 
 oleaginous a nature is the flesh of many fishes com- 
 monly brought to table, as the salmon and the eel ; 
 and in the internal parts of fishes in general the quan- 
 tity of fat is still more remarkable. The gall of fishes 
 is little else than a kind of oil, and it is well known 
 what large quantities of this may be got from the 
 livers of the cod, ling, and others in every-day use. 
 
 Now, it is for the same purpose of diminishing their 
 specific gravity that the cetaceous tribes are furnished, 
 like fishes, with a prodigious quantity of fat ; for it 
 must be remembered that they require not merely to 
 be kept at any given level below the water, but to be 
 raised again to the surface, as often as they have dived 
 below it. This is the main use of the enormous quan- 
 tity of oil which is found in these animals, situated 
 for the most part in what is called the blubber im- 
 mediately under the skin as the substance called 
 lard is under that of the hog and constituting the 
 train-oil of commerce. But besides this mass of sub- 
 cutaneous fat many cetaceous animals, as the bottle- 
 nosed or spermaceti whale (Physeter macrocephalus\ 
 have a second collection of a similar substance, except 
 that it is of a purer quality and firmer consistence, in 
 a large reservoir at the top of the head, near the part 
 where the pulmonary spiracles open. This is the 
 substance known in the shops by the name of sperma- 
 ceti ; and as the oil of the blubber serves to render 
 the body collectively lighter than the water which 
 these animals inhabit, so the spermaceti serves to 
 render the top of the head the most buoyant part of 
 the body, so that it is kept above the surface without 
 any exertion. The quantity of train-oil procured 
 from the great northern whale amounts frequently 
 to one-twelfth of the weight of its enormous carcase ; 
 the tongue alone, which is said to be "about the size 
 of a great feather-bed," often yielding five or six bar- 
 rels ; and when we are informed that the cavity in 
 the skull of the bottle-nosed whale, appropriated to 
 the reception of the spermaceti, is often sixteen or 
 eighteen feet long, and of a proportionate breadth, we 
 may form some idea of the quantity of this substance 
 which it contains. Such, then, is the source of the 
 oil for which men endure such privations, and brave 
 such dangers, and have done so from very ancient 
 times ; for the whale-fishery is of long standing. Al- 
 though the Norwegians probably captured the whale be- 
 fore any other European nation engaged in so perilous 
 an undertaking, the Biscayans were the first to prose- 
 cute it as a regular commercial pursuit. They carried 
 it on with great vigour and success in the twelfth, thir- 
 teenth, and fourteenth centuries. In 1261, we find 
 from the work of Noel, " Sur 1'Antiquite' de la Peche 
 de la Baleine," that a tithe was laid upon the tongues of 
 whales imported into Bayonne, they being then a highly 
 esteemed species of food. In 1338, Edward III. relin- 
 quished to Peter de Puyanue a duty of 6 sterling each 
 
THE WHALE. 
 
 255 
 
 it. Yet even the swallow of this fish is not 
 very large, if compared to the cachalot tribe ; 
 and its ravages are but sports in comparison 
 The stomach and intestines of all these ani- 
 mals, when opened, seldom have any thing in 
 them, except a soft unctuous substance of a 
 brownish colour ; arid their excrements are of 
 a shining red. 
 
 As the whale is an inoffensive animal, it is 
 not to be wondered that it has many enemies 
 willing to take advantage of its disposition, 
 and inaptitude for combat. There is a small 
 animal, of the shell-fish kind, called the 
 Whale-louse, that sticks to its body, as we see 
 shells sticking to the foul bottom of a ship. 
 This insinuates itself chiefly under the fins ; 
 and whatever efforts the great animal makes, 
 it still keeps its hold, and lives upon the fat, 
 which it is provided with instruments to ar- 
 rive at. 
 
 The sword-fish, however, is the whale's most 
 terrible enemy. " At the sight of this little 
 animal," says Anderson, " the whale seems 
 agitated in an extraordinary manner; leaping 
 from the water as if with affright : wherever 
 it appears, the whale perceives it at a distance, 
 and flies from it in the opposite direction. I 
 have been myself," continues he, " a spectator 
 
 whale, laid on those brought into the port of Biarritz, to 
 indemnify him for the extraordinary expenses he had 
 incurred in fitting out a fleet for the service of his ma- 
 jesty. The Biscayans, however, soon gave up the whale- 
 fishing, from the want of fish, which ceased to come 
 southward, no longer leaving the icy seas. The voyages 
 of the Dutch and English to the Northern ocean, in 
 order to discover a passage through it to India, though 
 they failed in their primary object, laid open the remote 
 haunts of the whale. The Muscovy company now ob- 
 tained a royal charter, prohibiting all vessels but theirs 
 from fishing in the seas round Spitzbergen, under pre- 
 tence that it, was discovered by Sir Hugh Willoughby. 
 The fact, however, was, that Barentz discovered it in 
 1596; and the company, after several severe and bloody 
 encounters, soon found themselves beaten from the 
 ground by the Dutch, who being left quietly and undis- 
 turbed to prosecute the fishery, soon acquired a decided 
 superiority over other nations, and towards the year 1680 
 employed in it about two hundred and sixty ships and 
 fourteen thousand sailors. The Muscovy company was 
 soon succeeded by another association no less fortunate. 
 In 1725, the South sea company embarked largely in 
 the trade, and prosecuted it for eight years, when, having 
 lost a large sum, they gave it up. The legislature now 
 resolved to support the trade : in 1732, a bounty of 20s. 
 a ton was granted to ships engaged in it. In 1749, 
 this was raised to 403., when, observes Mr Macculloch, 
 as many ships were fitted out for catching the bounty as 
 for catching fish. In 1777, this bounty was reduced to 
 30s. ; the consequence of which was, that during the next 
 five years the number of ships employed in the trade was 
 reduced from one hundred and five to thirty-nine! In 
 1781, the bounty was raised again to its old level; and 
 an inducement being thus held out for making money in 
 an easy but factitious way, the trade was soon restored 
 to its apparent prosperous state. The American war 
 now impeded the fisheries, and in 1787, 1792, and 1795, 
 the bounty was again decreased ; in 1824, it ceased al- 
 together. 
 
 of their terrible encounter. The whale has 
 no instrument of defence except the tail ; with 
 that it endeavours to strike the enemy ; and a 
 single blow taking place, would effectually 
 destroy its adversary : but the sword-fish is as 
 active as the other is strong, and easily avoids 
 the stroke; then bounding into the air, it falls 
 upon its great subjacent enemy, and endea- 
 vours not to pierce with its pointed beak, but 
 to cut it with its toothed edges. The sea all 
 about is seen dyed with blood, proceeding 
 from the wounds of the whale ; while the enor- 
 mous animal vainly endeavours to reach its 
 invader, and strikes with its tail against the 
 surface of the water, making a report at each 
 blow louder than the noise of a cannon. 
 
 There is still another and more powerful 
 enemy, called by the fishermen of New-Eng- 
 land, the Killer*. This is itself a cetaceous 
 animal, armed with strong and powerful teeth. 
 A number of these are said to surround the 
 whale, in the same manner as dogs get round 
 a bull. Some attack it with their teeth be- 
 hind ; others attempt it before, until at last 
 the great animal is torn down, and its tongue 
 is said to be the only part they devour when 
 they have made it their prey. They are said 
 to be of such great strength, that one of them 
 alone was known to stop a dead whale that 
 several boats were towing along, and drag it 
 from among them to the bottom. 
 
 But of all the enemies of these enormous 
 fishes, man is the greatest : he alone destroys 
 more in a year than the rest in an age, and 
 actually has thinned their numbers in that 
 part of the world where they are chiefly sftught. 
 The great resort of these animals was found 
 to be on the inhospitable shores of Spitzber- 
 gen ; where the distance of the voyage, the 
 coldness of the climate, the terrors of the icy 
 sea, and, still more, their own formidable bulk, 
 might have been expected to protect them from 
 human injury. But all these were but slight 
 barriers against man's arts, his courage, and 
 his necessities. The European ships, soon 
 after the improvement of navigation, found 
 the way into those seas ; and as early as the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century, the Bis- 
 cayneers were in possession of a very consid- 
 erable trade to the coast of Greenland. The 
 Dutch and the English followed them thither, 
 and soon took that branch of commerce out of 
 their hands. The English commenced the 
 business about the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century ; and the town of Hull had the honour 
 of first attempting that profitable branch of 
 trade. But, at present, it seems upon the de- 
 cline, as the quantity of fish is so greatly re- 
 duced, by the constant capture for such a vast 
 length of time. It is now said that the fishers, 
 from a defect of whales, apply themselves to 
 the seal-fishery ; yet, as these animals are ex- 
 
 
256 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 tremely timorous, they will soon be induced 
 to quit those shores, where they meet such 
 frequent disturbance and danger. The poor 
 natives of Greenland themselves, who used to 
 feed upon the whale, are diminishing, in pro- 
 portion as their sustenance is removed ; and it 
 is probable that the revolution of a few year 
 will see that extensive coast totally deserted 
 by its inhabitants, as it is already nearly de- 
 serted by the whales. The art of taking 
 whales, like most others, is much improved 
 by time, and differs in many respects from 
 that practised by the Biscayneers, when they 
 first frequented the icy sea. But as the des- 
 cription of their method is the least compli- 
 cated, and consequently the easiest understood, 
 it will be best suited to our purpose. 1 
 
 1 The whale (says Scoresby, who has written from 
 long personal observation on the subject) which is a 
 mammiferous animal, and closely allied, in its anatomical 
 structure, to the class of quadrupeds, aflbrds in the 
 modification of the parts and principles of land animals, 
 for applying them to a tribe inhabiting the sea, a great 
 number of those striking displays of wisdom and power, 
 the very contemplation of which is calculated to elevate, 
 in no inconsiderable degree, our conceptions of the Great 
 Supreme. The mysticetus feeds on the smallest insects ; 
 its capacious mouth, with the vast fringes of whalebone, 
 which is a most admirable filter, enables it to receive 
 some tons of water at a mouthful, and to separate every 
 substance from it, of the size of a pin's head and up- 
 wards. The physalis feeds on herrings, mackerel and 
 other fishes of a similar kind ; its whalebone therefore is 
 shorter, stronger, and less compact than that of the mys- 
 ticetus, and the filter formed by it less perfect. 
 
 As the whale must rise to the surface of the sea to 
 breathe, its tail is placed horizontally, to enable it to 
 ascend ,nd descend more quickly ; and its nostrils, or 
 blowholes, instead of being placed at the snout, are gen- 
 erally on the most elevated part of the head, that they 
 may be readily lifted clear of the water. 
 
 When the whale descends to the depths of the ocean, 
 it becomes exposed to an enormous pressure from the 
 superincumbent water. This pressure is sufficient to 
 force the water through the pores of the hardest wood ; 
 yet it is effectually resisted by the skin of the whale, 
 though it is remarkably soft and flexible. To exclude 
 the water from the lungs, which would occasion suflbca- 
 tion if admitted, the blow-holes are defended by the pe- 
 culiar valves that have been already described. 
 
 The variety discovered in the structure of whales, is 
 by no means one of the least interesting parts of their 
 physiology. In other classes of animals, whose habits 
 are similar, we often find that each organ is the same as 
 the corresponding one, in almost all the species of the 
 same genus, or even of the same order ; excepting when 
 their peculiar habits, or necessities, require a modifica- 
 tion of the general structure or principle. But in whales, 
 as if it were intended not only to exhibit the matchless 
 wisdom of the Creator, but to show that his resources 
 are unlimited, the structure of the breathing canals is 
 varied in the different genera of cetaceous animals, and 
 a number of contrivances, alike extraordinary, equally 
 beautiful, and equally efficient, are adapted for perform- 
 ing the same office. 
 
 The whale seems dull of hearing. A noise in the air, 
 such as that produced by a person shouting, is not noticed 
 by it, though at the distance only of a ship's length : but 
 a very slight splashing in the water in calm weather ex- 
 cites its attention, and alarms it. 
 
 For this navigation, the Biscayneers, in 
 favourable seasons, fitted out thirty ships, of 
 two hundred and fifty tons each, with fifty 
 choice men apiece, and a few boys. These 
 were stored with six months' provision ; and 
 each ship had its boats, which were to be 
 serviceable when come to the place of duty. 
 When arrived at the part where the whales 
 are expected to pass to the southward, they 
 always keep their sails set, and a sailor is 
 placed at the mast-head, to give information 
 when he spies a whale. As soon as he dis- 
 covers one, the whole crew are instantly in 
 employment : they fit out their boats and row 
 away to where the whale was seen. The har- 
 pooner, who is to strike the fish, stands at the 
 prow of the boat, with a harpoon or javelin in 
 
 Its sense of seeing is acute ; whales are observed to 
 discover one another in clear water, when under the 
 surface, at an amazing distance. When at the surface, 
 however, they do not see far. 
 
 They have no voice ; but in breathing or blowing they 
 make a very loud noise. The vapour they discharge is 
 ejected to the height of some yards, and appears at a 
 distance like a puff of smoke. When the animals are 
 wounded, it is often stained with blood ; and, on the ap- 
 proach of death, jets of blood are sometimes discharged 
 alone. They blow strongest, densest, and loudest, when 
 " running." When in a state of alarm, or when they 
 first appear at the surface, after being a long time down, 
 they respire or blow about four or five times a minute. 
 
 The whale being somewhat lighter than the medium 
 in which it swims, can remain at the surface of the sea, 
 with its " crown," in which the blowholes are situated, 
 and a considerable extent of the back, above water, with- 
 out any effort or motion. To descend, however, re- 
 quires an exertion. The proportion of the whale that 
 appears above water, when alive, or when recently killed, 
 is probably not a twentieth part of the animal ; but within 
 a day after death, when the process of putrefaction com- 
 mences, the whale swells to an enormous size, until at 
 least a third of the carcass appears above water, and 
 sometimes the body is burst by the force of air generated 
 within. 
 
 By means of the tail principally, the whale advances 
 through the water. The greatest velocity is produced 
 by powerful strokes against the water, impressed alter- 
 nately upward and downward ; but a slower motion, it is 
 believed, is elegantly produced, by cutting the water 
 aterally, and obliquely, downward, in a manner similar 
 io that in which a boat is forced along, with a single oar, 
 i)y the operation of skulling. The fins are generally 
 stretched out in a horizontal position : their chief ap- 
 alication seems to be the balancing of the animal, as the 
 moment life is extinct, it always falls over on its side, or 
 turns upon its back. They appear also to be used in 
 jearing off* their young, in turning, and giving a direc- 
 tion to the velocity produced by the tail. 
 
 Bulky as the whale is, and inactive, or indeed clumsy 
 as it appears to be, one might imagine that all its motions 
 ould be sluggish, and its greatest exertions productive 
 of but little celerity. The fact, however, is the reverse. 
 A whale extended motionless at the surface of the sea, 
 can sink in the space of five or six seconds, or less, be- 
 yond the reach of its human enemies. Its velocity along 
 ;he surface, or perpendicularly, or obliquely downward, 
 
 the same. I have observed a whale descending after 
 I had harpooned it, to the depth of 400 fathoms, with 
 ,he average velocity of seven or eight miles per hour. 
 The usual rate at which whales swim, however, even 
 
THE WHALE. 
 
 257 
 
 his hand five or six feet long, pointed with steel 
 like the barb of an arrow, of a triangular 
 shape. As this person's place is that of the 
 greatest dexterity, so also it is of the greatest 
 
 danger: the whale sometimes overturns the 
 boat with a blow of its tail ; or drives against 
 it with fury. In general, however, the ani- 
 mal seems to sleep on the surface of the water : 
 
 when they are on their passage from one situation to 
 another, seldom exceeds four miles an hour ; and though, 
 when urged by the sight of an enemy, or alarmed by the 
 stroke of a harpoon, their extreme velocity may be at 
 the rate of eight or nine miles an hour, yet we find this 
 speed never continues longer than for a few minutes, 
 before it relaxes to almost one half ; hence, for the space 
 of a few minutes, they are capable of darting through 
 the water with the velocity almost of the fastest ship 
 under sail, and of ascending with such rapidity as to leap 
 entirely out of the water. This feat they sometimes 
 perform as an amusement apparently, to the high ad- 
 miration of the distant spectators ; but to the no small 
 terror of the inexperienced fishers, who, even under such 
 circumstances, are often ordered by the fool-hardy har- 
 pooner to " pull away " to the attack. Sometimes the 
 whales throw themselves into a perpendicular posture, 
 with their heads downwards, and rearing their tail on 
 high in the air, beat the water with awful violence. In 
 both these cases the sea is thrown into foam, and the air 
 filled with vapours : the noise in calm weather is heard 
 to a great distance; and the concentric waves, produced 
 by the concussions on the water, are communicated 
 abroad to a considerable extent. Sometimes the whale 
 shakes its tremendous tail in the air, which, cracking 
 like a whip, resounds to the distance of two or three 
 miles. 
 
 When it retires from the surface, it first lifts its head, 
 then plunging it under water, elevates its back, like the 
 segment of a sphere, deliberately rounds it away towards 
 the extremity, throws its tail out of the water, and then 
 disappears. 
 
 In their usual conduct, whales remain at the surface 
 to breathe, about two minutes, seldom longer ; during 
 which time they " blow " eight or nine times, and then 
 descend for an interval usually of five or ten minutes, 
 but sometimes, v/hen feeding, fifteen or twenty. The 
 depth to which they commonly descend is not known, 
 though, from the eddy occasionally observed on the 
 water, it is evidently at times only trifling. But when 
 struck, the quantity of line they sometimes take out of 
 the boats, in a perpendicular descent, affords a good 
 measure of the depth. By this rule they have been 
 known to descend to the depth of an English mile, and 
 with such velocity, that instances have occurred, in 
 which whales have been drawn up by the line attached, 
 from the depth of 700 or 800 fathoms, and have been 
 found to have broken their jaw-bones, and sometimes 
 crown bone, by the blow struck against the bottom. 
 Some persons are of opinion that whales can remain 
 under a field of ice, or at the bottom of the sea in shallow 
 water, when undisturbed, for many hours at a time. 
 Whales are seldom found sleeping, yet in calm weather, 
 among ice, instances occasionally occur. 
 
 The food of the whale consists of various species of 
 actiniae, cliones, sepias, medusas, caneri, and helices, or, 
 at least, some of these genera are always to be seen, 
 wherever any tribe of whales is found stationary and 
 feeding. In the dead animals, however, in the very 
 few instances in which I have been enabled to open their 
 stomachs, squillas or shrimps were the only substances 
 discovered. In the mouth of a whale just killed, I once 
 found a quantity of the same kind of insect. 
 
 When the whale feeds, it swims with considerable 
 velocity below the surface of the sea, with its jaws widely 
 extended. A stream of water consequently enters its 
 capacious mouth, and along with it large quantities of 
 water insects ; the water escapes again at the sides ; but 
 the food is entangled and sifted, as it were, by the whale- 
 
 
 bone, which, from its compact arrangement, and the 
 thick internal covering of hair, does not allow a particle 
 the size of the smallest grain to escape. 
 
 There does not seem to be sufficient dissimilarity in 
 the form and appearance of the mysticete found in the 
 polar seas, to entitle them to a division into other spe- 
 cies ; yet such is the difference observed in the propor- 
 tions of these animals, that they may be well considered 
 as sub-species or varieties. In some of the mysticete, 
 the head measures four-tenths of the whole length of the 
 animal ; in others, scarcely three-tenths ; in some the 
 circumference is upwards of seven- tenths of the length, 
 in others less than six-tenths, or little more than one 
 half. 
 
 The sexual intercourse of whales is often observed 
 about the latter end of summer : and females with cubs 
 or suckers along with them, being most commonly met 
 with in the spring of the year, the time of their bringing 
 forth, it is presumed, is in February or March, and their 
 period of gestation about nine or ten months. In the latter 
 end of April, 1811, a sucker was taken by a Hull whaler, 
 to which the funis umbilicalis was still attached. The 
 whale has one young at a birth. Instances of two being 
 seen with a female are very rare. The young one, at 
 the time of parturition, is said to be at least ten if not 
 fourteen feet in length. It goes under the protection 
 of its mother for probably a year or more, or until, 
 by the evolution of the whalebone, it is enabled to 
 procure its own nourishment. Supposing the criterion 
 of the notches in the whalebone being indicative of the 
 number of years' growth to be correct, then it would 
 appear that the whale reaches the magnitude called 
 size, that is, with a six feet length of whalebone, in 
 twelve years, and attains its full growth at the age of 
 twenty or twenty-five. Whales, doubtless, live to a 
 great age. The marks of age are, increase in the quan- 
 tity of gray colour in the skin, and a change to a yel- 
 lowish tinge of the white parts about the head ; a de- 
 crease in the quantity of oil yielded by a certain weight 
 of blubber; an increase of hardness in the blubber, and 
 in the thickness and strength of the ligamentous fibres 
 of which it is partly composed. 
 
 The maternal affection of the whale, which, in other 
 respects, is apparently a stupid animal, is striking and 
 interesting ; the cub, being insensible to danger, is easily 
 harpooned ; when the tender attachment of the mother is 
 so manifested, as not unfrequently to bring her within 
 the reach of the whalers. Hence, though a cub is of 
 little value, seldom producing above a ton of oil, and 
 often less, yet it is sometimes struck as a snare for its 
 mother. In this case she joins it at the surface of the 
 water, whenever it has occasion to rise for respiration ; 
 encourages it to swim off" ; assists its flight by taking it 
 under her fin, and seldom deserts it while life remains. 
 She is then dangerous to approach ; but affords frequent 
 opportunities for attack. She loses all regard for her 
 own safety in anxiety for the preservation of her young: 
 dashes through the midst of her enemies ; despises the 
 danger that threatens her ; and even voluntarily remains 
 with her offspring, after various attacks on herself from 
 the harpoons of the fishers. In June, 1811, one of my 
 harpoouers struck a sucker, with the hope of its leading 
 to the capture of the mother. Presently she arose close 
 by the " fast boat," and seizing the young one, dragged 
 about a hundred fathoms of line with remarkable force 
 and velocity. Again she arose to the surface, darted 
 furiously to and fro, frequently stopped short, or sud- 
 denly changed her direction, and gave every possible 
 intimation of extreme agony. For a length of time shy 
 
 2K 
 
258 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 while the boat is approaching, the harpooner i possible away. It is some time before the 
 
 stands aloft, and with his harpoon tied to a 
 cord of several hundred fathoms length, darts 
 it into the animal, and then rows as fast as 
 
 continued thus to act, though closely pursued by the 
 boats; and, inspired with courage and resolution by the 
 concern for her offspring, seemed regardless of the danger 
 which surrounded her. At length one of the boats ap- 
 proached so near that a harpoon was hove at her. It 
 hit, but did not attach itself. A second harpoon was 
 struck ; this also failed to penetrate ; but a third was 
 more effectual, and held. Still she did not attempt to 
 escape ; but allowed other boats to approach ; so that, in 
 a few minutes, three more harpoons were fastened, and 
 in the course of an hour afterward she was killed. 
 
 There is something extremely painful in the destruc- 
 tion of a whale, when thus evincing a degree of affec- 
 tionate regard for its offspring, that would do honour to 
 the superior intelligence of human beings ; yet the ob- 
 ject of the adventure, the value of the prize, the joy of 
 the capture, cannot be sacrificed to feelings of compas- 
 sion. Whales, though often found in great numbers 
 together, can scarcely be said to be gregarious; found 
 most generally solitary, or in pairs, excepting when 
 drawn to the same spot by the attraction of an abundance 
 of palatable food, or a choice situation of the ice. 
 
 The superiority of the sexes, in point of numbers, 
 seems to be in favour of the male. Of 124 whales which 
 have been taken near Spitzbergen, in eight years, in 
 ships commanded by myself, 70 were males, and 54 
 were females, being in the proportion to five to four 
 nearly. The mysticetus occurs most abundantly in the 
 frozen seas of Greenland and Davis's Strait in the bays 
 of Baffin and Hudson in the sea to the northward of 
 Behring's Strait, and along some parts of the northern 
 shores of Asia, and probably America. It is never met 
 with in the German ocean, and rarely within 200 leagues 
 of the British coast ; but along the coasts of Africa and 
 South America it is met with periodically in considera- 
 ble numbers. In these regions it is attacked and cap- 
 tured by the southern British and American whalers, as 
 well as by some of the people inhabiting the coasts, to 
 the neighbourhood of which it resorts. Whether this 
 whale is precisely of the same kind as that of Spitzber- 
 gen and Greenland, is uncertain, though it is evidently 
 a mysticetus. One striking difference, possibly the effect 
 of situation and climate, is, that the mysticetus found 
 in southern regions is often covered with barnacles, (Le- 
 pas diadema, &o.) while those of the Arctic seas are 
 free from these shell fish. 
 
 It would be remarkable if an animal like the whale, 
 which is so timid that a bird alighting upon its back 
 sometimes sets it off in great agitation and terror, should 
 be wholly devoid of enemies. Besides man, who is 
 doubtless its most formidable adversary, it is subject to 
 annoyance from sharks, and it is also said from the nar- 
 whal, sword-fish, and thresher. With regard to the nar- 
 whal,! am persuaded that this opinion is incorrect, for so 
 far trom its being an enemy, it is found to associate with 
 the whale in the greatest apparent harmony, and its ap- 
 pearance, indeed, in the Greenland sea is hailed by the 
 fishers, the narwhal being considered as the harbinger of 
 the whale. But the sword-fish and thresher (if such an 
 animal there be) may possibly be among the enemies of 
 the whale, notwithstanding I have never witnessed their 
 combats; and the shark is known certainly to be an 
 enemy, though perhaps not a very formidable one. 
 Whales indeed flee the seas where it abounds, and evince 
 by marks occasionally found on their tails, a strong evi- 
 dence of their having been bit by the shark. A living 
 whale may be annoyed, though it can scarcely be sup- 
 posed to be ever overcome by the shark ; but a dead 
 
 whale seems to feel the blow ; the instrument 
 has usually pierced no deeper than the fat, 
 and that being insensible, the animal con- 
 
 whale is an easy prey, and affords a fine banquet to this 
 insatiable creature. 
 
 The whale, from its vast bulk, and variety of pro- 
 ducts, is of great importance in commerce, as well as 
 in the domestic economy of savage nations ; and its oil 
 and whalebone are of extensive application in the arts 
 and manufactures. 
 
 Though to the refined palate of a modern European, 
 the flesh of a whale, as an article of food, would be re- 
 ceived with abhorrence, yet we find that it is considered 
 by some of the inhabitants of the northern shores of 
 Europe, Asia, and America, as well as those on the 
 coasts of Hudson's Bay, and Davis's Strait, as a choice 
 and staple article of subsistence. The Esquimaux eat 
 the flesh and fat of the whale, and drink the oil with 
 greediness. Indeed, some tribes, who are not familiar- 
 ized with spirituous liquors, carry along with them in 
 their canoes, in their fishing excursions, bladders filled 
 with oil, which they nse in the same way, and with a 
 similar relish, that a British sailor does a dram. They 
 also eat the skin of the whale raw, both adults and chil- 
 dren ; for it is not uncommon, when the females visit 
 the whale-ships, for them to help themselves to pieces 
 of skin, preferring those with which a little blubber is 
 connected, and to give it as food to their infants sus- 
 pended on their backs, who suck it with apparent delight. 
 
 Blubber, when pickled and boiled, is said to be very 
 palatable; the tail, when parboiled, and then fried, is 
 said to be not unsavoury, but even agreeable eating ; and 
 the flesh of young whales, I know from experiment, is 
 by no means indifferent food. 
 
 Not only is it certain that the flesh of the whale is 
 now eaten by savage nations, but it is also well authen- 
 ticated that, in the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th centur- 
 ies, it was used as food by the Icelanders, the Nether- 
 landers, the French, the Spanish, and probably by the 
 English. M. S. B. Noel, in a tract on the whale fish- 
 ery, informs us that about the 13th century the flesh, 
 particularly the tongue of the whales, was sold in the 
 markets of Bayonne, Cibourre, and Beariz, where it was 
 esteemed as a great delicacy, being used at the best 
 tables ; and even so late as the 15th century, he conceives, 
 from the authority of Charles Etienne, that the principal 
 nourishment of the poor in Lent, in some districts of 
 France, consisted of the flesh and fat of the whale. 
 
 Besides forming a choice eatable, the inferior pro- 
 ducts of the whale are applied to other purposes by the 
 Indian and Esquimaux of arctic countries, and with 
 some nations are essential to their comfort ; some mem- 
 branes of the abdomen are used for an upper article of 
 clothing, and the peritoneum, in particular, being thin 
 and transparent, is used instead of glass in the windows 
 of their huts ; the bones are converted into harpoons and 
 spears, for striking the seal, or darting at the sea-birds, 
 and are also employed in the erection of their tents, and 
 with some tribes, in the formation of their boats ; the 
 sinews are divided into filaments, and used as thread, 
 with which they join the seams of their coats and tent 
 cloths, and sew with great taste and nicety the different 
 articles of dress they manufacture ; and the whalebone 
 and other superior products, so valuable in European 
 markets, have also their uses among them. 
 
 I shall conclude this account of the mysticetus with 
 a sketch of some of the characters which belong generally 
 to cetaceous animals. 
 
 Whales are viviparous ; they have but one young at 
 a time, and suckle it with teats. They are furnished 
 with lungs, and are under the necessity of approaching 
 
THE WHALE. 
 
 259 
 
 tinues for a while motionless ; but soon roused 
 from its seeming lethargy, as the shaft con- 
 tinues to pierce deeper and deeper into the 
 muscular flesh, it. flies off with amazing rapid- 
 ity. In the meantime, the harpoon sticks in 
 its side, while the rope, which is coiled up in 
 the boat, and runs upon a swivel, lengthens 
 as the whale recedes, but still shows the part 
 of the deep to which it has retreated. The 
 cord is coiled up with great care ; for such is 
 the rapidity with which it runs off, that if it 
 was but the least checked, as it yields with 
 the animal's retreat, it would infallibly over- 
 set the boat, and the crew would go to the 
 bottom. It sometimes happens also, that the 
 rapidity with which it runs over the swivel at 
 the edge of the boat, heats it, and it would 
 infallibly take fire, did not a man stand con- 
 tinually with a wet mop in his hand, to cool 
 the swivel as the cord runs. 1 The whale 
 having dived to a considerable depth, remains 
 at the bottom, sometimes for near half an hour, 
 with the harpoon in its body, and then rises 
 to take breath, expecting the danger over; 
 but the instant it appears, they are all with 
 their boats ready to receive it, and fling the 
 harpoons into its body ; the animal again 
 dives and again rises, while they repeat their 
 bknvs. The ship follows in full sail, like all 
 the rest, never losing sight of the boats, and 
 ready to lend them assistance ; the whole ocean 
 seems dyed in blood. Thus they renew their 
 attacks, till the whale begins to be quite en- 
 feebled and spent, when they plunge their 
 longer spears into various parts of its body, 
 and the enormous animal expires. 2 When it 
 
 is dead, to prevent it from sinking, they tie 
 it with a strong iron chain to the side of the 
 boat, and either cut it up in pieces, and carry- 
 it home in that manner, or extract the oil 
 from the blubber on ship-board. 
 
 Such is the manner in which these fish 
 were taken in the beginning ; but succeeding 
 rts have improved the method, and the har- 
 oon is now thrown by ; a machine being 
 sed which inflicts a deeper wound, and 
 trikes the animal with much greater certainty; 
 here are better methods for extracting oil, and 
 roper machines for cutting the animal up, 
 tian were used in the early fisheries. But 
 s an account of this belongs to the history of 
 rt, and not of nature, we must be contented 
 ith observing, that several parts of this ani. 
 mal, and all but the intestines and the bones, 
 re turned to a very good account ; not only 
 he oil, but the greaves from which it is sepa- 
 ated. The barbs also were an article of 
 great profit; but have sunk in their price 
 ince women no longer use them to swell out 
 heir petticoats with whalebone. The flesh 
 )f this animal is also a dainty to some nations, 
 and even the French seamen are now and 
 hen found to dress and use it as their ordin- 
 ary diet at sea. It is said, by the English 
 and Dutch sailors, to be hard and ill-tasted ; 
 mt the French assert the contrary ; and the 
 savages of Greenland, as well as those near 
 the south pole, are fond of it to distraction. 
 They eat the flesh, and drink the oil, which 
 is a first-rate delicacy. The finding a dead 
 whale is an adventure considered among the 
 ortunate circumstances of their wretched lives. 
 
 the surface of the water at intervals to respire in the air. 
 The heart has two ventricles and two auricles. The 
 blood is warmer than in the human species ; in a narwhal 
 that had been an hour and a half dead, the temperature 
 of the blood was 97 ; and in a mysticetus recently killed 
 102. All of them inhabit the sea. Some of them pro- 
 cure their food by means of a kind of sieve, composed oi 
 two fringes of whalebone ; these have no teeth. Others 
 have no whalebone, but are furnished with teeth. They 
 all have two lateral or pectoral fins, with concealed bones 
 like those of a hand ; and a large flexible horizontal tail, 
 which is the principal member of motion. Some have 
 a kind of dorsal fin, which is an adipose or cartilaginous 
 substance, without motion. This fin, varying in form, 
 size, and position, in different species, and being in a 
 conspicuous situation, is well adapted for a specific dis- 
 tinction. The appearance and dimensions of the whale 
 bone and teeth, especially the former, are other specifii 
 characteristics. All whales have spiracles or blowholes 
 some with one, others with two openings, through 
 which they breathe ; some have a smooth skin all over the 
 body ; others have rugse or sulci about the region o 
 the thorax and on the lower jaw. And all afford be 
 neath the integuments, a quantity of fat or blubber, fronr 
 wnence a useful and valuable oil, the train oil of com 
 merce, is extracted. Scoresby. 
 
 1 It is also customary to have a man stationary wit 
 an axe, ready to cut the rope asunder should it becom 
 entangled. 
 
 2 The extreme fidelity of these wonderful animals to 
 
 wards each other, and their affection for their offspring, 
 s most incredible. So fondly attached are they to the 
 society of their brethren, that many instances are re- 
 orded of their assuming a passive floating position, on 
 the surface, after offering much resistance ; as though 
 disdaining to survive the loss of their companions. Thus, 
 when the Cyrus had captured six, out of a herd of seven 
 whales, and they were supported around the vessel on 
 the water, the surviving one rose, and thrust its head 
 amongst its dead brethren, and remained immovable, 
 close to the vessel, while it was killed. In general, 
 the female is accompanied in her progress by her young 
 one, though, on the contrary, she sometimes wanders 
 very far from it ; and yet, by some unknown impulse, 
 highly calculated to excite our amazement, she has no 
 difficulty in finding it, though perfectly silent, in the 
 vast and trackless ocean, as often as she requires ; and 
 the same may be said of all the cetacea. But further, 
 when her young one is hardest pursued and harpooned, 
 she supports it under her fin, while she plunges with it for 
 safety into unfathomable depths. A young whale, hav- 
 ing been struck by a harpoon from a Hull vessel, being 
 at the time at some distance from its mother, had run 
 out some length of line, when the latter appeared in 
 sight, and rapidly bent her course towards it. In vain 
 did she use every usual means to induce it to leave the 
 place of danger, while swimming by its side, as far as 
 the line would allow, in circles around the boats, during 
 the space of four hours ; and within this time, on four 
 separate occasions, the parent was observed, when on 
 
260 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 They make their abode beside it ; and seldom 
 remove till they have left nothing but the 
 bones. 
 
 Jacobson, whom we quoted before in the 
 History of Birds, where he described his 
 countrymen of the island of Feroe as living a 
 part of the year upon salted gulls, tells us 
 also, that they are very fond of salted whale's 
 flesh. The fat of the head they season with 
 bay salt, and then hang it up to dry in the 
 chimney. He thinks it tastes as well as fat 
 bacon; and the lean, which they boil, is, in 
 his opinion, not inferior to beef. I fancy 
 poor Jacobson would make but an indifferent 
 taster at one of our city feasts ! 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE NARWHAL. 1 
 
 (See Plate XJ V. fig. 20.) 
 
 FROM whales that entirely want teeth, we 
 come to such as have them in the upper jaw 
 
 the surface, to throw one of her fius over the body of the 
 young whale, and to endeavour to drag it away by all 
 the force she possessed ; she, lastly, in this way set off 
 with it in a straight direction, carrying away additional 
 line, to the extent of seven hundred and twenty fathoms; 
 but by that time, the young one became so much ex- 
 hausted from loss of blood, that she necessarily aban- 
 doned it to its fate, and herself escaped, by pursuing her 
 progress towards the ice, roaring and spouting with 
 great vehemence ; for when a whale is struck with a 
 harpoon, or is enraged by the loss of its young, it ejects 
 the water through its spiracles with great force, produc- 
 ing a striduous kind of roaring, which may be heard the 
 distance of a mile. 
 
 1 The Beluga or White Whak, The general appear- 
 ance of this very beautiful animal will be perceived from 
 the following cut. A Beluga for nearly three months 
 
 during the summer of 1815 was observed to inhabit the 
 Frith of Forth, passing upwards almost every day with 
 the tide, and returning with the ebbing of the waters. 
 During this time it was generally known under the 
 name of the White Whale, and was supposed fre- 
 quently to be in pursuit of salmon. Many fruitless at- 
 tempts were made to secure it ; but at length it was 
 killed by the salmon-fishers, by means of spears and 
 fire-arms. It was purchased by Mr Bald of Alloa, and 
 
 only ; and in this class is found but one, the 
 Narwhal, or Sea-unicorn. This fish is not so 
 large as the whale, not being above sixty feet 
 long. Its body is slenderer than that of the 
 whale, and its fat not in so great abundance. 
 But this great animal is sufficiently distin- 
 guished from all others of the deep by its 
 tooth, or teeth, which stand pointing directly 
 forward from the upper jaw, and are from nine 
 to fourteen feet long. In all the variety of wea- 
 pons with which Nature has armed her various 
 tribes, there is not one so large or so formid- 
 able as this. This terrible weapon is gener- 
 ally found single, and some are of opinion 
 that the animal is furnished but with one by 
 nature ; but there is at present the skull of a 
 narwhal at the Stadthouse at Amsterdam, 
 with two teeth ; which plainly proves that in 
 some animals, at least, this instrument is 
 double. It is even a doubt whether it may 
 not be so in all ; and that the narwhal's want- 
 ing a tooth is only an accident which it has 
 met with in the encounters it is obliged daily 
 to be engaged in. Yet it must be owned, of 
 those that are taken only with one tooth, there 
 seem no socket, nor no remains of any other 
 upon the opposite side of the jaw, but all is 
 plain and even. However this be, the tooth, 
 or, as some are pleased to call it, the horn 
 of the narwhal, is the most terrible of all 
 natural instruments of destruction. It is 
 as straight as an arrow, about the thickness 
 of the small of a man's leg, wreathed in the 
 manner we sometimes see twisted bars of 
 
 transmitted by him to Professor Jameson, and is now 
 in the Royal museum at Edinburgh. It was examined 
 by Drs Barclay and Neil, whose observations are pub- 
 lished in Trans. Wernerian Soc. vol. iii. 
 
 The food of the Beluga is said to be cod, haddocks, 
 flounders, and smalier fish of this description. It seeks 
 them with perseverance, pursues them with ardour, and 
 devours them with avidity. Its favourite haunts are 
 evidently the higher latitudes of the Arctic regions. 
 They are plentiful in Hudson's bay, Davis's straits, and 
 on some parts of the northern coasts of Asia and Amer- 
 ica, where they frequent the large rivers. Steller men- 
 tions them as being found at Kamtschatka ; and accord- 
 ing to Charleroix, they are numerous in the Gulf of St 
 Lawrence, and go with the tide as high as Quebec. 
 There are fisheries both for them and the porpoise in 
 that river. A considerable quantity of oil is obtained, 
 and of their skins is made a sort of morocco leather, 
 thin, yet strong enough to resist a musket-ball (Pen. 
 Art. Zool. i. 183). They also abound near Disco 
 island in Greenland, and are not uncommon in Spitz- 
 bergen. Mr Scorseby never observed them lower than 
 Jan Mayen's land. This navigator also remarks, that 
 he has seldom seen them among the ice, but in those 
 places where the water is clearest and smoothest. They 
 are not at all shy, but often follow the ships, and tumble 
 about the boats in herds of thirty or forty ; bespangling 
 the surface with their splendid whiteness. They are 
 seldom pursued by the whale fishers, not only because 
 it is difficult to strike them, on account of their great 
 activity ; but because the harpoon often gives way ; and 
 they are, moreover, of comparatively little value when 
 killed. It is only a few stragglers that are seen in the 
 
THE NARWHAL. 
 
 261 
 
 iron ; it tapers to a sharp point ; and is whiter 
 heavier and harder, than ivory. It is ge- 
 nerally seen to spring from the left side of the 
 head directly forward in a straight line with 
 the body; and its root enters into the socket 
 above a foot and a half. In a skull to be seen 
 at Hamburgh there are two teeth, which are 
 each above seven feet long, and are eight 
 inches in circumference. When the animal, 
 
 southern latitudes, or even on the European shores 
 Besides the one mentioned above, Colonel imrie, in 
 1793, saw two young ones which had been cast upon th 
 beach in the Pentland Frith, some miles to the east oi 
 Thurso. They were both males, betweer seven and 
 eight feet long; they were white, mottled with brown- 
 ish-gray. 
 
 The Deductor or Co' ing Whale. Egede is perhaps 
 the first author who makes mention of the Deductor, 
 
 under the name of Butshead (Descrip. of Greenland, 
 75) ; and he was soon followed by Duhamel, who gave 
 a figure of one taken at Havre, under the name of " the 
 porpoise with the round snout." In 1806, Dr Neil, 
 in an appendix to his " Tour through some of the islands 
 of Orkney and Shetland," gives a more extended and 
 interesting account of them, under the name of Uyea- 
 Sound or Ca'ing Whales, than any which had previously 
 appeared ; and three years after, Dr Trail published in 
 Nicolson's Journal (1809) the first accurate description 
 of this species, giving it the appellation of Delphinus 
 Melas, with a drawing from his friend James Watson, 
 Esq., which was republished, with additional details, 
 by Scoresby in his "Arctic regions, 1830." In 1812, 
 an interesting memoir concerning this variety, named 
 by him Globiceps, appeared from the pen of Cuvier, in 
 vol. xix. Ann. du Museum. From these sources, some 
 interesting circumstances may be detailed of this species. 
 It would appear that the Northern ocean, from the 
 56 to the 66, is the favourite resort of the Deductor. 
 Sometimes it has been witnessed in lower latitudes; but 
 not frequently, nor in large mimbers: it would also 
 seem to have been seen in the Mediterranean, but 
 whether as a mere straggler or a permanent residenter, 
 we cannot decidely affirm. Of all the cetacea, this 
 would appear to be the most sociable, often herding toge- 
 ther in innumerable flocks. We shall here supply a few 
 facts which establish this point. From an old history 
 of the Feroe islands, quoted by Scoresby, it would ap- 
 pear that the inhabitants are in the habit of hunting 
 these animals, which they designate Grind Wholes, and 
 capture them in great numbers. In the year 1664, on 
 two excursions only, they killed about one thousand. 
 In the year 1748, forty individuals of this species were 
 seen in Tor bay, and one seventeen feet long was cap- 
 tured ; in 1799, about -two hundred ran ashore in Fetlar, 
 one of the Shetland isles; and in 1805, as mentioned 
 
 possessed of these formidable weapons, ia 
 urged to employ them, it drives directly for- 
 ward against the enemy with its teeth, that, 
 like protended spears, pierce whatever stands 
 before them. 
 
 The extreme length of these instruments 
 has induced some to consider them rather as 
 horns than teeth ; but they in every respect 
 resemble the tusks of the boar and the ele- 
 phant. They grow, as in them, from sockets 
 in the upper jaw ; they have the solidity of 
 the hardest bone, and far surpass ivory in all 
 its qualities. The same error has led others to 
 suppose, that as among quadrupeds the female 
 was often found without horns, so these in- 
 struments of defence were only to be found in 
 the male : but this has been more than once 
 refuted by actual experience ; both sexes are 
 found armed in this manner ; the horn is some- 
 times found wreathed, and sometimes smooth ; 
 sometimes a little bent, and sometimes straight; 
 but always strong, deeply fixed, and sharply 
 pointed. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all these appointments 
 for combat, these long and pointed tusks, 
 amazing strength, and unmatchable celerity, 
 the narwhal is one of the most harmless and 
 peaceful inhabitants of the ocean. It is seen 
 constantly and inoffensively sporting among 
 the other great monsters of the deep, no way 
 attempting to injure them, but pleased in 
 their company. The Greenlanders call the 
 narwhal the forerunner of the whale ; for 
 wherever it is seen, the whale is shortly after 
 sure to follow. This may arise as well from 
 the natural passion for society in these ani- 
 mals, as from both living upon the same food, 
 which are the insects described in the prece- 
 ding chapter. These powerful fishes make 
 war upon no other living creature ; and 
 though furnished with instruments to spread 
 general destruction, are as innocent and as 
 peaceful as a drove of oxen. Nay, so regard- 
 less are they of their own weapons, and so 
 utterly unmindful to keep them in repair for 
 engagement, that they are constantly seen 
 covered over with weeds, slough, and all the 
 ilth of the sea ; they seem rather considered 
 as an impediment than a defence. 
 
 iy Dr Neil, in February, one hundred and ninety, and 
 
 n March, one hundred and twenty more, out of a herd 
 of about five hundred, were forced ashore on the same 
 spot in Uyea-Sound in Unst. In 1806, ninety-two 
 were stranded in Scalpa bay, Orkney: in the winter of 
 1809 and 1810, eleven hundred and ten of these whales 
 approached the shore of Hvalfiord, Iceland, and were 
 
 ;aptured: in 1812, seventy were chased ashore near the 
 village of Bloubalzbance, on the coast of Bretagne; and 
 
 n 1814, one hundred and fifty were driven into Balta 
 sound, Shetland, and were there despatched. These 
 are only a few of the instances, in which, in modern 
 
 imes, an extensive slaughter of the Deductor has taken 
 place. Naturalist's Lib., ly Sir. W. Jardine. 
 
262 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 The manners and appetites both of the nar- 
 whal and the great whale are entirely similar ; 
 they both alike want teeth for chewing, and 
 are obliged to live upon insects; they both are 
 peaceable and harmless, and always rather fly 
 than seek the combat. The narwhal, how- 
 ever, has a much narrower gape than the 
 great whale, and, therefore, does not want the 
 use of barbs to keep in its food when once 
 sucked into the mouth. It is also much 
 swifter, and would never be taken by the fisher- 
 men but for those very tusks which at first 
 appear to be its principal defence. These 
 animals, as was said, being fond of living to- 
 gether, are always seen in herds of several hun- 
 dreds at a time; and whenever they are attacked 
 they crowd together in such a manner, that 
 they are mutually embarrassed by their tusks. 
 By these they are often locked together, and 
 are prevented from sinking to the bottom. It 
 seldom happens, therefore, but the fishermen 
 make sure of one or two of the hindmost, 
 which very well reward their trouble. 1 
 
 It is from the extraordinary circumstance 
 of the teeth, therefore, that this fish demands 
 a distinct history ; arid such has been the j 
 curiosity of mankind, and their desire to pro- 1 
 cure them, that a century ago they were con- 
 sidered as the greatest rarity in the world. 
 At that time the art of catching whales was 
 not known ; and mankind saw few, except 
 such as were stranded on the coasts by acci- 
 dent. The tooth of the narwhal, therefore, 
 was ascribed to a very different animal from 
 that which really bore it. Among other fos- 
 sil substances, they were sometimes dug up ; 
 and the narwhal being utterly unknown, na- 
 turalists soon found a terrestrial owner. They 
 were thought to be the horns of unicorns, an 
 animal described by Pliny as resembling a 
 horse, and with one straight horn darting for- 
 ward from the middle of its forehead. These 
 teeth were, therefore, considered as a strong 
 testimony in favour of that historian's veracity, 
 and were shown among the most precious 
 remains of antiquity. Even for some time 
 after the narwhal was known, the deceit was 
 continued, as those who were possessed of a 
 tooth sold it to great advantage. But at pre- 
 sent they are too well known to deceive any, 
 and are only shown for what they really are ; 
 their curiosity increasing in proportion to their 
 weight and size. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE CACHALOT, AND ITS VARIETIES." 2 
 
 (For Great Headed Cachalot, see Plate X IT. fig. 24.) 
 
 THE Cachalot which has generally gone 
 under the name of the spermaceti-whale, till 
 
 2 The Spermaceti Cachalot is found in greatest abun- 
 dance in the Pacific ocean, where large numbers of them 
 
 1 The blubber of the narwhal produces very fine oil; 
 but it is chiefly hunted for its tusk, which forms ivory 
 of a quality superior to that of the elephant. 
 
 are annually killed by the American and other whalers 
 for the sake of their oil and spermaceti. The spermaceti 
 cachalot is gregarious, and herds are frequently seen 
 containing two hundred or more individuals. Such herds, 
 with the exception of two or three old males, are com- 
 posed of females, who appear to be under the direction 
 of the males. The males are distinguished by the whalers 
 as bulls ; the females they call cows. The bulls attack 
 with great violence, and inflict dreadful injuries upon 
 other males of the species which attempt to join their 
 herd. These animals live separately, while young, ac- 
 cording to their age and sex. The young and half grown 
 males are found by themselves ; the old cows protect the 
 young females. When the young bulls attain sufficient 
 strength, they venture into a herd under the protection 
 of some old bulls, an intrusion that is said to produce a 
 severe contest, by which they succeed in gaining admit- 
 tance to, or are driven from the herd. 
 
 The mode of attacking these animals is as follows: 
 Whenever anumber of them are seen, four boats, each pro- 
 vided with two or three lines, two harpoons, four lances, 
 and a crew of six men, proceed in pursuit, and, if pos- 
 sible, each boat strikes or "fastens to" a distinct animal, 
 and each crew kill their own. When engaged in dis- 
 tant pursuit, the harpooner generally steers the boat, and 
 in such cases the proper boat steerer occasionally strikes, 
 but the harpooner mostly kills it. If one cachalot of a 
 herd is struck, it commonly takes the lead and is followed 
 by the rest. The one which is struck seldom descends 
 far under water, but generally swims off with great ra- 
 pidity, stopping after a short course, so that the boat can 
 be drawn up to it by the line, or be rowed sufficiently 
 near to lance it. In the agonies of death, the struggles 
 of the animal are truly tremendous, and the surface of 
 the ocean is lashed into foam by the motions of the fins 
 and tail. Tall jets of blood are discharged from the 
 blowholes, which show that the wounds have taken 
 mortal effect, and seeing this, the boats are kept aloof, 
 lest they should be dashed to pieces by the violent efforts 
 of the victim. 
 
 When a herd is attacked in this way, ten or twelve 
 of the number are killed ; those which are only woundt'd 
 are rarely captured. After the cachalot is killed, the 
 
THE CACHALOT. 
 
 263 
 
 Mr Pennant very properly made the distinc- 
 tion, by borrowing its name from the French, 
 has several teeth in the under jaw, but none 
 in the upper. As there are no less than seven 
 distinctions among whales, so also there are 
 ihe same number of distinctions in the tribe 
 we are describing. The cachalot with two 
 fins and a black back ; the cachalot with two 
 fins and a whitish back ; that with a spout in 
 the neck ; that with a spout in the snout ; that 
 with three fins and sharp-pointed teeth ; that 
 with three fins and sharp-edged teeth ; arid, 
 lastly, the cachalot, with three fins and flatted 
 teeth. 
 
 This tribe is not of such enormous size as 
 the whale, properly so called, not being above 
 sixty feet long, and sixteen feet high. In 
 consequence of their being more slender, they 
 are much more active than the common whale ; 
 they remain a longer time at the bottom ; and 
 afford a smaller quantity of oil. As in the 
 common whale the head was seen to make a 
 third part of its bulk, so in this species the 
 head is so large as to make one half of the 
 whole. The tongue of this animal is small, 
 but the throat is very formidable ; and with 
 very great ease it could swallow an ox. In 
 
 boats tow it to the side of the ship, and if the weather be 
 fine, and other objects of chase in view, they are again 
 sent to the attack. 
 
 The separation of the blubber from the animal, or 
 " flensing," is sometimes done differently from the 
 manner used in the polar whaling. A strap of blubber 
 is cut in a spiral direction, and being raised by tackles, 
 turns the cachalot round as on an axis, until nearly all 
 the blubber is stripped oft'. The material contained within 
 the head, consisting of spermaceti mixed with oil, being 
 in a fluid state while warm, is taken out of large cacha- 
 lots in buckets, while the animal remains in the water; 
 but in smaller ones, the part of the head containing the 
 spermaceti, is hoisted upon deck before the cavity is 
 opened. 
 
 The substances taken from the head, congealing as 
 soon as cold, the compound is thrown in its crude state 
 into casks, and is purified at the end of the voyage on 
 shore. The oil is reduced from the blubber shortly after 
 it is on board, in " try works," with which the ships 
 engaged in this business are always provided. There 
 are two coppers in the try works, placed side by side, 
 near the fore hatch. These, with their furnaces and 
 casing of brickwork, occupy a space of five or six feet in 
 length, by eight or nine in breadth, (or fore and aft 
 and athwart ship,) and four or five feet in height. The 
 cavity of the brick arches sustaining the coppers and 
 furnaces, forms a water cistern, so that while the 
 fire is burning, the deck is secured from injury by the 
 changing of the water in the cistern twice or thrice in 
 every watch. As the oil is extracted it is thrown into 
 coolers, whence, after about twenty-four hours, it is 
 transferred to casks. At first the coppers are heated 
 with wood, but afterward the cracklings or fritters of the 
 blubber, which still contain some oil, are employed as 
 fuel, and produce a fierce fire. About three tons of oil 
 are commonly obtained from a large cachalot of this spe- 
 cies; from one to two tons are procured from a small 
 one. A cargo, produced from one hundred cachalots, 
 may he from 150 to 200 tons of oil, besides the sperma- 
 ceti, &c. 
 
 the stomach of the whale scarcely any thing 
 is to be found ; but in that of the cachalot there 
 are loads offish of different kinds ; some whole, 
 some half digested, some small, and others 
 eight or nine feet long. The cachalot is, 
 therefore, as destructive among lesser fishes, 
 as the whale is harmless ; and can at one gulp 
 swallow a shoal of fishes down its enormous 
 gullet. Linnaeus tells us that this fish pursues 
 and terrifies the dolphins and porpoises so 
 much, as often to drive them on shore. 
 
 But, how formidable soever this fish may 
 be to its fellows of the deep, it is by far the 
 most valuable, and the most sought after by 
 man, as it contains two very precious drugs, 
 spermaceti and ambergris. The use of these, 
 either for the purposes of luxury or medi- 
 cine, is so universal, that the capture of this 
 animal, that alone supplies them, turns out to 
 very great advantage, particularly since the 
 art has been found out of converting all the 
 oil of this animal, as well as the brain, into 
 that substance called spermaceti. 
 
 This substance, as it is naturally formed, 
 is found in the head of the animal, and is no 
 other than the brain. The outward skin of 
 the head being taken off, a covering of fat 
 offers about three inches thick ; and under 
 that, instead of a bony skull, the animal has 
 only another thick skin that serves for a 
 covering and defence of the brain. The first 
 cavity or chamber of the brain, is filled with 
 that spermaceti which is supposed of the 
 greatest purity and highest value. From this 
 cavity there is generally drawn about seven 
 barrels of the clearest spermaceti, that thrown 
 upon water coagulates like cheese. Below 
 this there is another chamber just over the 
 gullet, which is about seven feet high ; and 
 this also contains the drug, but of less value. 
 It is distributed in this cavity like honey in a 
 hive, in small cells, separated from each other 
 by a membrane like the inner skin of an egg. 
 In proportion as the oily substance is drawn 
 away from this part, it fills anew from every 
 part of the body ; and from this is generally 
 obtained about nine barrels of oil. Besides 
 this, the spinal-marrow, which is as thick as 
 a man's thigh, and reaches all along the 
 backbone to the tail, where it is not thicker 
 than one's finger, affords no inconsiderable 
 quantity. 1 
 
 This substance, which is used in the com- 
 position of many medicines, rather to give 
 them consistence than efficacy, was at first 
 sold at a very high price, both from the many 
 virtues ascribed to it, and the small quantity 
 that the cachalot was capable of supplying : 
 
 1 The perfume called Ambergris, is found in large 
 masses in the intestines, and is now known to be nothing 
 more than the excrements of the animal. 
 
264 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 at present, the price is greatly fallen ; first, 
 because its efficacy in medicine is found to be 
 very small : and again, because the whole oil 
 of the fish is easily convertable into spermaceti. 
 This is performed by boiling it with a ley of 
 pot-ash, and hardening it in the manner of 
 soap. Candles are now made of it, which are 
 substituted for wax, and sold much cheaper; 
 so that we need not fear having our spermaceti 
 adulterated in the manner some medical books 
 caution us to beware of; for they carefully 
 guard us against having our spermaceti adul- 
 terated with virgin wax. 
 
 As to the ambergris, which is sometimes 
 found in this whale, it was long considered as 
 a substance fourtd floating on the surface of 
 the sea ; feftft 'time, that reveals the secrets of 
 the mercenary, has discovered that it chiefly 
 belongs to this animal. The name, which 
 has been improperly given to the former sub- 
 stance, seems more justly to belong to this ; 
 for the ambergris is found in the place where 
 the seminal vessels are usually situated in 
 other animals. It is found in a bag of three 
 or four feet long, in round lumps from one to 
 twenty pounds weight, floating in a fluid 
 rather thinner than oil, and of a yellowish 
 colour. There are never seen more than four 
 at a time in one of these bags; and that 
 which weighed twenty pounds, and which 
 was the largest ever seen, w?,s found single. 
 These balls of ambergris are not found in all 
 fishes of this kind, but chiefly in the oldest 
 and strongest. The uses of this medicine 
 for the purposes of luxury, and as a per- 
 fume, are well known ; though upon some 
 subjects ignorance is preferable to informa- 
 tion." 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OP THE DOLPHIN, THE GRAMPUS AND THE 
 PORPOISE, WITH THEIR VARIETIES. 
 
 ALL these fish have teeth both in the upper 
 and the lower jaw, and are much less than 
 the whale. The Grampus, which is the 
 largest, never exceeds twenty feet. It may 
 also be distinguished by the flatness of its 
 head, which resembles a boat turned upside 
 down. The Porpoise resembles the grampus 
 in most things except the snout, which is not 
 above eight feet long ; its snout also more 
 resembles that of a hog. The Dolphin has a 
 strong resemblance to the porpoise, except 
 that its snout is longer, and more pointed. 
 They have all fins on the back ; they all have 
 heads very large, like the rest of the whale- 
 kind; and resemble each other in their ap- 
 
 petites, their manners, and conformations ; 
 being equally voracious, active, and roving. 1 
 
 The great agility of these animals prevents 
 their often being taken. They seldom remain 
 
 1 The Dolphin tribe of cetaceous fishes comprehends 
 about thirteen species, eleven with the dorsal fin, and the 
 others without. Soosoo is the name which the Bengalese 
 about Calcutta give to a species of dolphin found in the 
 Ganges, especially in the slow-moving labyrinth of rivers 
 and creeks which intersect the Delta of that river to the 
 south, south-east and east of Calcutta. The description 
 of this new species we owe to Dr Roxburgh, who dis- 
 tinguishes it by the name of Delphinus Gangeticus. Its 
 body (including the head) is long and slender, thickest 
 about the forepart, and from thence tapering to the tail; 
 from the anus forward nearly round. The skiu is soft, 
 smooth, and of a shining pearl-gray when dry, with here 
 and there light-coloured spots or clouds, particularly 
 when old. When the animal is alive, and seen in the 
 act of rising to breathe, it appears much darker. The 
 length of the individual which Dr Roxburgh examined 
 (and which was young, little more than half grown,) was 
 six and a half feet, and at the thickest part, which is 
 rather behind the pectoral fins, three feet in circum- 
 ference. The weight 120 pounds. For Delphinus 
 Phogcena, or Porpoise, see Plate XIV. fig. 22. 
 
 Tne Common Dolphin. This animal is perhaps better 
 
 known as the fictitious creature of unrestrained imagi- 
 nation and of heroic poetry, than the sober Goose of the 
 sea. It is uniformly considered as the dolphin of 
 antiquity ; the original whence were produced those 
 fantastic beings, endowed with all those extraordinary 
 attributes and charms with which it was clothed. It is 
 the Hieros Ichthys, or Sacred Fish of the Greeks, to 
 which they originally paid divine honours, and which 
 they afterwards embellished with all the illusions of un- 
 bridled fancy. It was also sacred to their god Apollo ; 
 the reason assigned for which is, that when Apollo ap- 
 peared to the Cretans, and obliged them to settle on the 
 coasts of Delphis, where he founded that oracle so famous 
 throughout antiquity, he did so under the form of a dolphin. 
 Apollo was thus, according to Visconti, adored not only 
 in connection with the Delphin province, but the Del- 
 phinus fish. He was worshipped at Delphi with dolphins 
 for his symbols. The ancients respected the dolphin 
 as a benefactor of mankind ; they cherished the tale of 
 Phalantus, the founder of Tarentum, being carried on 
 shore by a dolphin when wrecked on the coast of Italy ; 
 and the story of the musician Arion, who, when about 
 to be thrown overboard by the sailors that they might 
 possess themselves of his wealth, begged that he might 
 be permitted to play some melodious tune, and then 
 throw himself into the sea ; upon which one of the many 
 Dolphins, which had been attracted by the music, car- 
 ried him on its back safe to Tenarus ; or rather, perhaps, 
 according to Ovid, 
 
 Secure he sits, and with harmonious strnins 
 Requites his bearer for his friendly pains. 
 
 It is also recorded that the shield and sword of Ulys?es 
 
THE DOLPHIN. 
 
 265 
 
 a moment above water; sometimes, indeed, 
 their too eager pursuits expose them to dan- 
 ger ; and a shoal of herrings often allures 
 them out of their depth. In such a case, the 
 hungry animal continues to flounder in the 
 shallows till knocked on the head, or till the 
 returning tide seasonably comes to its relief. 
 But all this tribe, and the dolphin in particu- 
 lar, are not less swift than destructive. No 
 fish could escape them, but from the awkward 
 position of the mouth, which is placed in a 
 manner under the head : yet, even with these 
 disadvantages, their depredations are so great, 
 that they have been justly styled the plun- 
 derers of the deep. 
 
 What could induce the ancients to a pre- 
 dilection in favour of these animals, particu- 
 larly the dolphin, it is not easy to account for. 
 Historians and philosophers seem to have con- 
 tended who should invent the greatest num- 
 ber of fables concerning them. The dolphin 
 was celebrated in the earliest time for its 
 fondness to the human race, and was distin- 
 guished by the epithets of the boy-loving and 
 philanthropist. Scarcely an accident could 
 happen at sea, but the dolphin offered himself 
 
 bore an image of the dolphin, and it is certain it is seen 
 in very ancient medals and coins. It very early ap- 
 peared on the shield of some of the princes of France ; 
 it gave a name to a fair province of that empire, and 
 hence a title to the heir-apparent of the crown. 
 
 Scarcely less fabulous are those other narratives which 
 have been transmitted on the testimony of the early 
 naturalists. They tell us that the dolphin made itself 
 familiar with man, and conceived a warm attachment 
 for him. Pliny narrates that in Barbary, near the town of 
 Hippo, a dolphin used to frequent the shore, and accept 
 of food from any hand which supplied it ; it would mix 
 among those who were bathing, -would allow them to 
 mount its back, would consign itself with docility to their 
 direction, and obey them with as much celerity as pre- 
 cision (lib. ix. chap. 48). Still more extraordinary is 
 that other tale the ancients relate in illustration of the 
 assertion that the dolphin was yet more partial to chil- 
 dren than to adults. Thus, according to Pliny, in 
 several chronicles it was recorded that a dolphin which 
 had penetrated the lake of Lucrinus, in Campania, every 
 day received bread from the hand of a child, answering 
 to his call, and transporting him on its back to school to 
 the other side of the lake. This intimacy continued for 
 several years, when the boy dying, the aflectionate dol- 
 phin, overwhelmed with grief, soon sunk under its be- 
 reavement. For such stories as these, which might be 
 easily multiplied from Herodotus, Plutarch, &c., we 
 apprehend that most of our readers will have but little 
 patience ; and we therefore dismiss them with the well 
 known apophthegm, 
 
 Sed quid non Grecia mendax 
 Audet in historia ? 
 
 The common dolphin is usually six or seven feet 
 long, sometimes nine or ten. Its proportions on the 
 whole are pleasing, and admirably adapted for swim- 
 ming. The pectoral fin is oval and placed very low; 
 the tail is large and powerful. Its tints, though not 
 gay, are attractive. It is black on the back, grayish 
 on the flanks, and white underneath, with a peculiar 
 and sstiny glistening when in, or newly taken out of 
 
 VOX.. II. 
 
 to convoy the unfortunate to shore. The 
 musician flung into the sea by pirates, the 
 boy taking an airing in the midst of the sea, 
 and returning again in safety, were obliged 
 to the dolphin for its services. It is not easy, 
 I say, to assign a cause why the ancients 
 should thus have invented so many fables in 
 their favour. The figure of these animals is 
 far from prejudicing us in their interest; 
 their extreme rapacity tends still -lew-4p en- 
 dear them ; Iknow nothing that can reconcile 
 them to man and excite his jpreiudices, except 
 that when taken they sometimes have a plain* 
 tive moan, with which tljey continue to 
 press their pain till the$ expire, .^^tis at 
 first, might have excited 'Unman pity ; 
 that might have produced affi^tiqrK J^t 
 sent, these fishes are regarae^evaj me 
 vulgar 'in a very different light; their appear- 
 ance is far from being esteemed a favourable 
 omen by the seamen ; and from their bound- 
 ings, springs, and frolics in the water, ex- 
 perience has taught the mariners to prepare 
 for a storm. 
 
 But it is not to one circumstance only that 
 the ancients have confined their fabulous re- 
 
 
 the water, which is striking and beautiful. It may 
 be well, however, here to remark, that " the dolphin 
 with its many dying colours" mentioned in many books, 
 and sung by modern poets, is not this, but quite another 
 animal, belonging to a different class of the animal king- 
 dom ; it is a true fish, the beautifully coloured Coryphaena 
 Hippuris, the Dorado of the Portuguese. 
 
 The common dolphin is an inhabitant of the Euro- 
 pean seas, of the Atlantic, and Mediterranean. It is 
 more common in the temperate zone than in places 
 that are further south. It is true that other species of 
 this genus frequent the seas of Africa, Asia, and Ame- 
 rica ; but it is by no means satisfactorily ascertained 
 that the species now under consideration has this exten- 
 sive range. The opposite opinion seems to be much 
 more probable. They navigate the waters of the ocean 
 in more or less numerous troops, and their vigorous 
 springs and rapid natation, which is daily observed by 
 voyagers, has long made them famous. The common 
 dolphin has long been peculiarly signalized for these 
 qualities, which however it enjoys only in common with 
 the larger number of its congeners, and on these points 
 it does not merit any particular distinctions. To swim 
 with the rapidity of an arrow, to shoot ahead of vessels 
 which are scudding before the breeze, to spring out of the 
 water, and over the waves, are qualifications possessed 
 alike by all the smaller cetacea which live in troops in 
 the ocean. 
 
 Pernetiy's Dolphin. On the 30th of October the 
 vessel of Bougainville, in which Pernetty sailed, being 
 near the Cape-de-Verd islands, was surrounded by about 
 a hundred dolphins, which approached very near them. 
 " They appeared," says Pernetty, " to have come only 
 for the purpose of amusing us ; they made extraordinary 
 leaps out of the water , many of these in their capering 
 vaulted four feet high, and turned over two or three 
 times in the air." 
 
 One of these dolphins which was taken, weighed a 
 hundred pounds ; its beak was slender, and covered 
 with a thick and grayish skin. "I think," says the 
 author, " it was of that species which is named the 
 Mcnk of the Sea, for the anterior part of the head ter~ 
 
 2L 
 
266 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 ports concerning these animals ; as from their 
 leaps out of their element, they assume a tem- 
 porary curvature, which is by no means their 
 natural figure in the water, the old painters 
 and sculptors have universally drawn them 
 wrong. A dolphin is scarcely ever exhibited 
 by the ancients in a straight shape, but curved, 
 in the position which they sometimes appear 
 in when exerting their force ; and the poets 
 too have adopted the general error. Even 
 Pliny, the best naturalist, has asserted, that 
 they instantly die when taken out of the 
 water ; but Rondelet^ on the contrary, assures 
 us that he has seen a dolphin carried alive 
 from Montpelier to Lyons. 
 
 The moderns have more just notions of 
 these animals ; and have got over the many 
 fables, which every day's experience contra- 
 dicts. Indeed their numbers are so great, 
 and, though shy, they are so often taken, that 
 such peculiarities, if they were possessed of 
 any, would have been long since ascertained. 
 They are found, the porpoise especially, in 
 such vast numbers, in all parts of the sea that 
 surrounds this kingdom, that they are some- 
 times noxious to seamen, when they sail in 
 small vessels. In some places they almost 
 darken the water as they rise to take breath, 
 and particularly before bad weather, are much 
 agitated, swimming against the wind, and 
 tumbling about with unusual violence. 
 
 \Vhether these motions be the gambols of 
 pleasure or the agitations of terror, is not well 
 known. It is most probable that they dread 
 those seasons of turbulence, when the lesser 
 fishes shrink to the bottom, and their prey no 
 longer offers in such abundance. In times of 
 fairer weather they are seen herding together, 
 and pursuing shoals of various fish with great 
 
 minated in a hood near the root of the muzzle, and 
 
 there presented something like the edge of a cloak; the 
 back was black, and the abdomen of a pearly-gray colour, 
 verging to yellowish, dappled with spots, some black 
 and others of an iron-gray colour: the teeth were sharp, 
 white, and in the form* of those of the pike." To these 
 peculiar characters, Pe.rnetty adds those which are com- 
 rnon to all the genii-, and subjoins one which, we believe, 
 a referred to many of them, viz. that they exhale 
 an odour which is so strong and penetrating, that what- 
 e.'er substance is impregnated with it, retains it for many 
 days, in spite of all that can be done to overcome it. 
 
 impetuosity. Their method of hunting their 
 game, if it may be so called, is to follow in a 
 pack, and thus give each other mutual assist- 
 ance. At that season, when the mackarel, 
 the herring, the salmon, and other fish of pas- 
 sage begin to make their appearance, the ce- 
 taceous tribes are seen fierce in the pursuit ; 
 urging their prey from one creek or bay to 
 another, deterring them from the shallows, 
 driving them towards each other's ambush, 
 and using a greater variety of arts than 
 hounds are seen to exert in pursuing the hare. 
 However, the porpoise not only seeks for prey 
 near the surface, but often descends to the 
 bottom in search of sand-eels, and sea-worms, 
 which it roots out of the sand with its nose, 
 in the manner hogs harrow up the fields for 
 food. For this purpose, the nose projects a 
 little, is shorter and stronger than that of the 
 dolphin ; and the neck is furnished with very 
 strong muscles, which enable it the readier to 
 turn up the sand. 
 
 But it sometimes happens, that the impe- 
 tuosity, or the hunger, of these animals, in 
 their usual pursuits, urges them beyond the 
 limits of safety. The fishermen, who extend 
 their long nets for pilchards, on the coasts of 
 Cornwall, have sometimes an unwelcome cap- 
 ture in one of these. Their feeble nets, which 
 are calculated only for taking smaller prey, 
 suffer a universal laceration from the efforts of 
 this strong animal to escape ; and if it be not 
 knocked on the head, before it has had time 
 to flounder, the nets are destroyed, and the 
 fishery interrupted. There is nothing, there- 
 fore, they so much dread, as the entangling a 
 porpoise ; and they do every thing to intimi- 
 date the animal from approaching. 1 
 
 Indeed, these creatures are so violent in the 
 pursuit of their prey, that they sometimes fol- 
 low a shoal of small fishes up a fresh-water 
 river, from whence they find no small diffi- 
 culty to return. We have often seen them 
 taken in the Thames at London, both above 
 the bridges and below them. It is curious 
 enough to observe with what activity they 
 avoid their pursuers, and what little time they 
 require to fetch breath above the water. The 
 manner of killing them is for four or five 
 boats to spread over the part of the river in 
 which they are seen, and with fire-arms to 
 shoot at them the instant they rise above the 
 water. The fish being thus for some time 
 kept in agitation, requires to come to the sur- 
 face at quicker intervals, and thus affords the 
 marksmen more frequent opportunities. 
 
 When the porpoise is taken, it becomes 
 
 no 
 
 i During a scarcity of fish, porpoises are said to dive 
 to the bottom, and root, like hogs, among the sand, for 
 sand-eels and sea-worms. Hence in most languages 
 they receive the name of sea-hogs. Porpoise has that 
 signification in the Italian. 
 
THE DOLPHIN. 
 
 267 
 
 inconsiderable capture, as it yields a very 
 large quantity of oil ; and the lean of some, 
 particularly if the animal be young, is said to 
 be as well tasted as veal. The inhabitants of 
 Norway prepare, from the eggs found in the 
 body of this lish, a kind of cavier, which is 
 said to be a very delicate sauce, or good when 
 even eaten with bread. There is a fishery for 
 porpoise along the western isles of Scotland 
 during the summer season, when they abound 
 on that shore; and this branch of industry 
 turns to good advantage. 
 
 As for the rest, we are told, that these ani- 
 mals go with young ten months ; that, like 
 the whale, they seldom bring forth above one 
 at a time, and that in the midst of summer : 
 that they live to a considerable age ; though 
 come say not above twenty-rive or thirty years ; 
 and they sleep with the snout above water. 
 They seem to possess, in a degree proportioned 
 to their bulk, the manners oi whales ; and the 
 history of one species of cetaceous animals, 
 will, in a great measure, serve tor all the rest 
 
HISTORY OF FISHES, 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF CARTILAGINOUS FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 WE have seen that fishes of the cetaceous 
 kind bear a strong resemblance to quadrupeds 
 in their conformation ; those of the cartilagi- 
 nous kinds are one remove separated from 
 them ; they form the shade that completes the 
 imperceptible gradations of nature. 
 
 The first great distinction they exhibit is, 
 in having cartilages or gristles instead of 
 bones. The cetaceous tribes have their bones 
 entirely resembling those of quadrupeds, thick, 
 white, and filled with marrow; those of the 
 spinous kind, on the contrary, have small 
 slender bones, with points resembling thorns, 
 and generally solid throughout. Fishes of 
 the cartilaginous kinds have their bones al- 
 ways soft and yielding ; and age, that hardens 
 the bones of other animals, rather contributes 
 still more to soften theirs. The size of all 
 fishes increases with age ; but from the plian- 
 cy of the bones in this tribe, they seem to 
 have no bounds placed to their dimensions ; 
 and it is supposed that they grow larger 
 every day till they die. 
 
 They have other differences, more obviously 
 discernible. We have observed, that the ce- 
 taceous tribes had lungs like quadrupeds, a 
 heart with its partition in the same manner, 
 and an apparatus for hearing ; on the other 
 hand, we mentioned that the spinous kinds 
 had no organs of hearing, no lungs to breathe 
 through, and no partition in the heart ; but 
 that their cold red blood was circulated by the 
 means of the impulse made upon their gills 
 by the water. Cartilaginous fishes unite both 
 these systems in their conformation : like the 
 cetaceous tribes, they have organs of hearing, 
 and lungs ; like the spinous kinds, they have 
 gills, and a heart without a partition. Thus 
 
 possessed of a twofold power of breathing, 
 sometimes by means of their lungs, sometimes 
 by that of their gills, they seem to rnite all the 
 advantages of which their situation is capable, 
 and drawing from both elements every aid to 
 their necessities or their enjoyments. 
 
 This double capacity of breathing in these 
 animals, is one of the most remarkable fea- 
 tures in the history of Nature. The apertures 
 by which they breathe, are somewhere placed 
 about the head ; either beneath, as in flat 
 fish ; on the sides, as in sharks ; or the top of 
 the head, as in pipe-fish. To these apertures 
 are the gills affixed, but without any bone to 
 open and shut them, as in spinous fishes ; from 
 which, by this mark, they may be easily dis- 
 tinguished, though otherwise very much alike 
 in appearance. From these are bending cy- 
 lindrical ducts, that run to the lungs, and are 
 supposed to convey the air, that gives the or- 
 gans their proper play. The heart, however, 
 has but one valve ; so that their blood wants 
 that double circulation which obtains in the 
 cetaceous kinds ; and the lungs seem to be 
 rather as an internal assistant to the gills, 
 than fitted for supplying the same offices as in 
 quadrupeds, for they want the pulmonary vein 
 and artery. 
 
 From this structure, however, the animal 
 is enabled to live a longer time out of water 
 than those whose gills are more simple. The 
 cartilaginous shark, or ray, live some hours 
 after they are taken ; while the spinous her- 
 ring or mackarel expire a few minutes after 
 they are brought on shore. From hence this 
 tribe seems possessed of powers that other 
 fishes are wholly deprived of; they can re- 
 main continually under water, without ever 
 taking breath ; while they can venture their 
 heads above the deep, and continue for hours 
 out of their native element. 
 
 We observed, in a former chapter, that 
 
THE SHARK. 
 
 269 
 
 spiuous fishes have not, or at least appear not 
 to have, externally any instruments of gener- 
 ation. It is very different with those of the 
 cartilaginous kind, for the male always has 
 these instrumpnts double. The fish of this 
 tribe are not (infrequently seen to copulate ; 
 and their manner is belly to belly, such as 
 may naturally be expected from animals whose 
 parts of generation are placed forward. They 
 in general choose colder seasons and situations 
 than other fish for propagating their kind ; 
 and many of them bring forth in the midst of 
 winter. 
 
 The same duplicity of character which 
 marks their general conformation, obtains also 
 with regard to their manner of bringing forth. 
 Some bring forth their young alive ; and some 
 bring forth eggs, which are afterwards brought 
 to maturity. In all, however, the manner of 
 gestation is nearly the same ; for upon dissec- 
 tion, it is ever found, that the young, while 
 in the body, continue in the egg till a very 
 little time before they are excluded : these 
 eggs they may properly be said to hatch 
 within their body ; and as soon as their young 
 quit the shell, they begin to quit the womb 
 also. Unlike to quadrupeds, or the cetaceous 
 tribes, that quit the egg state in a few days 
 after theii first conception, and continue in 
 the womb several months after, these continue 
 in the body of the female, in their egg state, 
 for weeks together ; and the eggs are found 
 linked together by a membrane, from which, 
 when the foetus gets free, it continues but a 
 very short time till it delivers itself from its 
 confinement in the womb. The eggs them- 
 selves consist of a white and a yolk, and have 
 a substance instead of shell, that aptly may 
 be compared to softened horn. These, as I 
 observed, are sometimes hatched in the womb, 
 as in the shark and ray kinds ; and they are 
 sometimes excluded, as in the sturgeon, before 
 the animal comes to its time of disengag- 
 ing. Thus we see that there seems very little 
 difference between the viviparous and the 
 oviparous kinds, in this class of fishes : the 
 one hatch their eggs in the womb, and the 
 young continue no long time there ; the others 
 exclude their eggs before hatching, and leave 
 it to time and accident to bring their young 
 to maturity. 
 
 Such are the peculiar marks of the cartila- 
 ginous class of fishes, of which there are many 
 kinds. To give a distinct description of every 
 fish is as little my intention, as perhaps it is 
 the wish of the reader ; but the peculiarities 
 of each kind deserve notice, and the most 
 striking of these it would be unpardonable to 
 omit. 
 
 Cartilaginous fish may be divided first into 
 those of the shark kind, with a body growing 
 less towards the tail, a rough skin, with the 
 
 mouth placed far beneath the end of the nose, 
 five apertures on the sides of the neck for 
 breathing, and the upper part of the tail longer 
 than the lower. This class chiefly compre- 
 hends the. Great White Shark, the Balance 
 Fish, the Hound Fish, the Monk Fish, the 
 Dog Fish, the Basking Shark, the Zygasna, 
 the Tope, the Cat Fish, the Blue Shark, the 
 Sea Fox, the Smooth Hound Fish, and the 
 Porbeagle. These are all of the same nature, 
 and differ more in size, than in figure or con- 
 formation. 
 
 The next division is that of flat fish ; and 
 these their broad, flat, thin shape, is suffi- 
 ciently capable of distinguishing from all 
 others of this kind. They may be easily dis- 
 tinguished also from spinous flat fish, by the 
 holes through which they breathe, which are 
 uncovered by a bone ; and which, in this kind, 
 are five on each side. In this tribe we may 
 place the Torpedo, the Skate, the Sharp-nosed 
 Ray, the Rough Ray, the Thornback, and 
 the Fire Flare. 
 
 The third division is that of the slender 
 snake-shaped kind ; such as the Lamprey, the 
 Pride, and the Pipe-fish. 
 
 The fourth division is that of the Sturgeon 
 and its variety, the Ising-glass Fish. 
 
 The last division may comprise fish of dif- 
 ferent figures and natures, that do not rank 
 under the former divisions. These are the 
 Sun- Fish, the Tetrodon, the Lump Fish, the 
 Sea Snail, the Chimaera, and the Fishing 
 Frog. Each of these has somewhat peculiar 
 in its powers or its forms, that deserves to be 
 remarked. The description of the figures of 
 these at least may compensate for our general 
 ignorance of the rest of their history. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF CARTILAGINOUS FISHES OF THE SHAllK 
 KIND. 1 
 
 OF all the inhabitants of the deep, those of 
 the shark kind are the fiercest and the most 
 
 
 1 About thirty species of sharks have been distin- 
 guished, of which twelve have been seen on the British 
 coasts. Some, from pursuing their prey in concert, are 
 called sea-dogs, hounds, and beagles. We may here 
 particularize the Blue Shark, the Basking Shark, and 
 the Angel Shark. 
 
 The Blue Shark. The back of this shark is blue ; 
 the belly white. No orifices are to be seen behind the 
 eye, as is usual with fish of this genus. Two white 
 membranes, one to each eye, perform the office of eye- 
 lids. When the head was placed downwards, a pretty 
 large white pouch came out of its mouth. ^Slian sup- 
 posed this to serve as an asylum for the young in time 
 of danger; and Mr Pennant, who gives credit to the 
 story, thinks that this fish, like the opossum, may have 
 
270 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES 
 
 voracious. The smallest of this tribe is not less 
 dreaded by greater fish, than many that to 
 appearance seem more powerful; nor do any 
 of them seem fearful of attacking animals far 
 
 a place fitted by nature for the reception of her young. 
 Tin's, however, has been denied by some writers. 
 
 The Basking Shark. This, though a very large fish, 
 possesses none of the voracity and ferociousness that 
 mark the generality of the shark tribe. It will frequently 
 
 lie motionless on the surface of the water, generally on 
 its belly, but sometimes on its back ; and it seems so 
 little afraid of mankind as often to suffer itself to be 
 patted and stroked. Its body is slender, and from three 
 to twelve yards in length ; of a deep lead colour above, 
 and white below. The upper jaw is blunt at the end, 
 and much longer than the lower. The mou'h is placed 
 beneath, and furnished with small teeth ; these before 
 much bent, and the remote ones conical and sharp- 
 pointed. On each side of the neck are five breathing 
 apertures. There are two dorsal, two pectoral, two 
 ventral fins, and one small anal fin. Within the mouth, 
 near the throat, is a short kind of whale-bone. Tiie liver 
 is of such an immense size as frequently to weigh near 
 a thousand pounds. From this a great quantity of good 
 oil is extracted, which renders this shark an animal of 
 considerable importance to the Scotch fishermen ; for 
 according to Anderson, the oil of a single fish will some- 
 times sell for twenty or thirty pounds sterling. The 
 basking shark (which derives its name from its propen- 
 sity to lie on the surface of the water, as if to bask itself 
 in the sun) frequents our seas during the warm summer 
 months, and is not uncommon on the Welch and Scot- 
 tish coasts, where they come in shoals, usually after in- 
 tervals of a certain number of years. In the intervening 
 summers, those that are seen upon the Welch coast are 
 generally single; fish, that have probably strayed from the 
 rest. They appear in the frith of Clyde, and among the 
 Hebrides, about midsummer, in small droves of seven 
 or eight, or more commonly in pairs. Here they con- 
 tinue till the latter end of July, when they disappear. 
 The food of these sharks seems to consist entirely of 
 marine plants, and some of the species of medusae. They 
 swim very deliberately, and generally with their upper 
 fins above water. Sometimes they maybe seen sporting 
 about amongst the waves, and leaping several feet above 
 the surface. The natives of our northern coasts are 
 very alert in the pursuit, and very dexterous in the 
 killing of those fish. When pursued, they do not accel- 
 erate their motion till the boat comes almost in contact 
 with them, when the harpooner strikes his weapon into 
 the body as near the gills as he can. They seem not 
 very susceptible of pain; for they often remain in the 
 same place till the united strength of two men is exerted 
 to force the harpoon deeper. As soon as they perceive 
 themselves wounded, they plunge headlong to the bot- 
 tom, and frequently coil the rope round their bodies in 
 agony, attempting to disengage themselves from the 
 fatal instrument by rolling on the ground. Discovering 
 that these efforts are in vain, they swim off' with such 
 amazing rapidity, that one instance has occurred of a 
 basking shark towing to some distance, a vessel of 
 feeventy tons burden against a fresh gale. They some- 
 times run on" with two hundred fathoms of line, and two 
 harpoons in them ; and will employ the men from twelve 
 
 above their size ; but the Great White Shark, 
 which is the largest of the kind, joins to the 
 most amazing rapidity, the strongest appetites 
 for mischief : as he approaches nearly in size 
 to the whale, he far surpasses him in strength 
 and celerity, in the formidable arrangement 
 of his teeth, and his insatiable desire of 
 plunder. 
 
 TheWhite Shark is sometimes seen to rank 
 even among whales for magnitude ; and is 
 
 found from twenty to thirty feet long. Some 
 assert that they have seen them of four 
 
 to twenty- four hours before they are subdued. As soon 
 as they are killed, the fishermen haul them on shore ; or, 
 if at a distance from land, to the vessel's side, to cut 
 them up and take out the liver, which is the only useful 
 part of their bodies. This is melted into oil in kettles 
 provided for the purpose ; and if the fish be a large one, 
 it yields eight barrels or upwards. 
 
 The Angel-shark. This is very unlike the common 
 sharks, being distinguished by its flat body, which forms 
 
 the connecting link, as it were, between the genus of rays 
 and that of sharks, as it partakes of the figure of both. 
 It is called Angel-shark from its extended pectoral fins 
 having the appearance of wings. The head is of a cir- 
 cular form, and rather broader than the body. The mouth 
 is wide, and is situated at the extremity of the head. 
 Like the sharks, the old fish of this species have more 
 teeth than the young ones. Thus two angel-sharks, 
 only a foot long, in the possession of Dr Block, had only 
 two rows of teeth in the upper jaw, and three in the 
 lower ; while Willoughby and Roiidelet assert, that there 
 are three in the former, and five in the latter. Of a 
 certain portion of the skin the Turks make the most 
 beautiful shagreen for watch cases. The angel-shark is 
 found in the Mediterranean and German ocean. 
 
 The Spotted Dog-fish is an inhabitant of most seas, 
 and measures fourVeet long ; it is very voracious, and 
 feeds chiefly upon fish. The body is reddish brown, with 
 large distinct black spots; it is white beneath, and a 
 little compressed at each end : the skin, when dried, is 
 used for various purposes. The head is small, and the 
 snout short ; the eyes are oblong, and the pupil is of a sea- 
 green colour ; the iris of the eye is white ; the mouth is 
 oblong, and wide, armed with three rows of teeth ; the 
 tongue is cartilaginous, and with the palate is rough; the 
 nostrils are surrounded with a lobe and vermiform ap- 
 pendage ; the vent is placed before the middle of the 
 
THE SHARK. 
 
 271 
 
 thousand pound weight ; and we are told par- 
 ticularly of one, that had a human corpse in 
 his belly. The head is large and somewhat 
 flatted ; the snout long, and the eyes large. 
 The mouth is enormously wide, as is the 
 throat, and capable of swallowing a man with 
 great ease. But its furniture of teeth is still 
 more terrible; of these there are six rows, ex- 
 tremely hard, sharp-pointed, and of a wedge- 
 like figure. It is asserted that there are 
 seventy-two in each jaw, which make a hun- 
 dred and forty-four in the whole ; yet others 
 think that their number is uncertain ; and 
 that in proportion as the animal grows older, 
 these terrible instruments of destruction are 
 found to increase. With these the jaws, both 
 above and below, appear planted all over ; but 
 the animal has a power of erecting or depress- 
 ing them at pleasure. When the shark is at 
 rest, they lie quite flat in his mouth; but 
 when he prepares to seize his prey, he erects 
 all this dreadful apparatus, by the help of a set 
 of muscles that join them to the jaw; and the 
 animal he seizes, dies, pierced with a hundred 
 wounds, in a moment. 
 
 Nor is this fish less terrible to behold as to 
 the rest of his form : his fins are larger in pro- 
 portion ; he is furnished with great goggle 
 eyes, that he turns with ease on every side, 
 so as to see his prey behind him as well as 
 before ; and his whole aspect is marked with 
 a character of malignity: his skin also is 
 rough, hard and prickly; being that substance 
 which covers instrument cases, called sha- 
 green. 
 
 As the shark is thus formidable in his ap- 
 pearance, so is he also dreadful from his 
 courage and activity, No fish can swim so 
 fast as he ; none so constantly employed in 
 swimming ; he outstrips the swiftest ships, 
 plays round them, darts out before them, re- 
 turns, seems to gaze at the passengers, and 
 all the while does not seem to exhibit the 
 smallest symptom of an effort to proceed. 
 Such amazing powers, with such great appe- 
 tites for destruction, would quickly unpeople 
 even the ocean, but providentially, the shark's 
 upper jaw projects so far above the lower, that 
 he is obliged to turn on one side, (not on his 
 back, as is generally supposed,) to seize his 
 prey. As this takes some small time to per- 
 form, the animal pursued seizes that oppor- 
 tunity to make its escape. 
 
 Still, however, the depredations he commits 
 are frequent and formidable. The shark is 
 the dread of sailors in all hot climates ; where, 
 like a greedy robber, he attends the ships, in 
 
 body, the ventral fins distinct ; the first dorsal fin is 
 placed behind the ventral ; the second dorsal fin is less, 
 and nearly opposite the anal ; the tail is narrow, ending 
 below in a sharp angle. 
 
 expection of what may drop over-board. A 
 man who unfortunately falls into the sea at 
 such a time, is sure to perish, without mercy. 
 A sailor that was bathing in the Mediter- 
 ranean, near Antibes, in the year 1744, while 
 he was swimming about fifty yards from the 
 ship, perceived a monstrous fish making to- 
 wards him, and surveying him on every side, 
 as fish are often seen to look round a bait. 
 The poor man, struck with terror at its ap- 
 proach, cried out to his companions in the 
 vessel to take him on board. They accord- 
 ingly threw him a rope with the utmost ex- 
 pedition, and were drawing him up by the 
 ship's side, when the shark darted after him 
 from the deep, and snapped off his leg. 
 
 Mr Pennant tells us, that the master of a 
 Guinea-ship, finding a rage for suicide pre- 
 vail among his slaves, from a notion the un- 
 happy creatures had, that after death they 
 should be restored again to their families, 
 friends, and country ; to convince them at least 
 that some disgrace should attend them here, 
 he ordered one of their dead bodies to be tied 
 by the heels to a rope, and so let down into 
 the sea; and, though it was drawn up again 
 with great swiftness, yet in that short space, 
 the sharks had bit off all but the feet. Whether 
 this story is prior to an accident of the same 
 kind, which happened at Belfast in Ireland, 
 about twenty years ago, I will not take upon 
 me to determine ; but certain it is, there are 
 some circumstances alike in both, though more 
 terrible in that I am going to relate. A 
 Guinea captain was, by stress of weather, 
 driven into the harbour of Belfast, with a lad- 
 ing of very sickly slaves, who, in the manner 
 above-mentioned, took every opportunity to 
 throw themselves overboard when brought up 
 upon the deck, as usual, for the benefit of the 
 fresh air. The captain perceiving, among 
 others, a woman slave attempting to drown 
 herself, pitched upon her as a proper example 
 to the rest. As he supposed that they did not 
 know the terrors attending death, he ordered 
 the woman to be tied with a rope under the 
 arm-pits, and so let her down into the water. 
 When the poor creature was thus plunged in, 
 and about half way down, she was heard to 
 give a terrible shriek, which at first was as- 
 cribed to her fears of drowning : but soon 
 after, the water appearing red all round her, 
 she was drawn up, and it was found that a 
 shark, which had followed the ship, had bit 
 her off from the middle. 
 
 Such is the frightful rapacity of this ani- 
 mal ; nothing that has life is rejected. But 
 it seems to have a peculiar enmity to man : 
 when once it has tasted human flesh, it never 
 desists from haunting those places where it 
 expects the return of its prey. It is even 
 asserted, that along the coasts of Africa, 
 
272 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 where these animals are found in great abun- 
 dance, numbers of the negroes, who are oblig- 
 ed to frequent the waters, are seized and de- 
 voured by them every year. The people of 
 these coasts are firmly of opinion, that the 
 shark loves the black man's flesh in prefer- 
 ence to the white, and that when men of dif- 
 ferent colours are in the water together, it 
 always makes choice of the former. 
 
 However this be, men of all colours are 
 equally afraid of this animal, and have con- 
 trived different methods to destroy him. In 
 general, they derive their success from the 
 shark's own rapacity. The usual method of 
 our sailors to take him, is by baiting a great 
 hook with a piece of beef or pork, which is 
 thrown out into the sea by a strong cord, 
 strengthened near the hook with an iron chain. 
 Without this precaution, the shark would 
 quickly bite the cord in two, and thus set 
 himself free. It is no unpleasant amusement 
 to observe this voracious animal coming up 
 to survey the bait, particularly when not 
 pressed by hunger. He approaches it, ex- 
 amines it, swims round it, seems for a while 
 to neglect it, perhaps apprehensive of the 
 cord and chain ; he quits it for a little ; but 
 his appetite pressing, he returns again ; ap- 
 pears preparing to devour it, but quits it once 
 more. When the sailors have sufficiently di- 
 verted themselves with his different evolu- 
 tions, they then make a pretence, by drawing 
 the rope, as if intending to take the bait 
 away : it is then that the glutton's hunger ex- 
 cites him ; he darts at the bait, and swallows 
 it, hook and all. Sometimes, however, he 
 does not so entirely gorge the whole, but that 
 he once more gets free ; yet even then, though 
 wounded and bleeding with the hook, he will 
 again pursue the bait until he is taken. 
 When he finds the hook lodged in his maw, 
 his utmost efforts are then excited but in vain, 
 to get free ; he tries with his teeth to cut the 
 chain : he pulls with all his force to break 
 the line ; he almost seems to turn his stomach 
 inside out, to disgorge the hook : in this man- 
 ner he continues his formidable though fruit- 
 less efforts ; till, quite spent, he suffers his 
 head to be drawn above water, and the sail- 
 ors, confining his tail by a noose, in this man- 
 ner draw him on ship-board, and despatch 
 him. This is done by beating him on the 
 head till he dies ; yet even that is not effected 
 without difficulty and danger ; the enormous 
 creature, terrible even in the agonies of death, 
 still struggles with his destroyers ; nor is 
 there an animal in the world that is harder to 
 be killed. Even when cut in pieces, the 
 muscles still preserve their motion, and vibrate 
 for some minutes after being separated from 
 f .he body. Another method of taking them, 
 is by striking a barbed instrument, called a 
 
 fizgig, into his body, as he brushes along by 
 the side of the ship. As soon as he is taken 
 up, to prevent his flouncing, they cut off the 
 tail with an axe, with the utmost expedition. 
 
 This is the manner in which Europeans 
 destroy the shark ; but some of the Negroes 
 along the African coast, take a bolder and 
 more dangerous method to combat their terri- 
 ble enemy. Armed with nothing more than 
 a knife, the Negro plunges into the water, 
 where he sees the shark watching for his 
 prey, and boldly swims forward to meet him: 
 though the great animal does not come to pro- 
 voke the combat, he does not avoid it, and 
 suffers the man to approach him ; but just as 
 he turns upon his side to seize the aggressor, 
 the Negro watches the opportunity, plunges 
 his knife into the fish's belly, and pursues his 
 blows with such success, that he lays the ra- 
 venous tyrant dead at the bottom : he soon 
 however returns, fixes the fish's head in a 
 noose, and drags him to shore, where he 
 makes a noble feast for the adjacent villages. 
 
 Nor is man alone the only enemy this fish 
 has to fear : the Remora, or Sucking-fish, is 
 probably a still greater, and follows the shark 
 every where. This fish has got a power of 
 adhering to whatever it sticks against, in the 
 same manner as a cupping-glass sticks to the 
 human body. It is by such an apparatus 
 that this animal sticks to the shark, and drains 
 away its moisture. The seamen, however, 
 are of opinion, that it is seen to attend on the 
 shark for more friendly purposes, to point him 
 to his prey, and to apprise him of his danger. 
 For this reason it has been called the Shark's 
 Pilot. 
 
 The shark so much resembles the whale in 
 size, that some have injudiciously ranked it 
 in the class of cetaceous fishes ; but its real 
 rank is in the place here assigned it, among 
 those of the cartilaginous kind. It breathes 
 with gills and lungs, its bones are gristly, and 
 it brings forth several living young. Belonius 
 assures us, that he saw a female shark pro- 
 duce eleven live young ones at a time. But 
 I will not take upon me to vouch for the ve- 
 racity of Rondeletius, who, when talking of 
 the blue shark, says, that the female will per- 
 mit her small brood, when in danger, to swim 
 down her mouth, and take shelter in her belly. 
 Mr Pennant, indeed seems to give credit to 
 the story, and thinks that this fish, like the 
 oppossum, may have a place fitted by nature 
 for the reception of her young. To his opin- 
 ion much deference is due, and is sufficient, at 
 least, to make us suspend our dissent ; for 
 nothing is so contemptible as that affectation 
 of wisdom which some display, by universal 
 incredulity. 1 
 
 Sharks, as well as the Ray tribe, bring forth theh 
 
THE RAY. 
 
 273 
 
 Upon the whole, a shark, when living, is a 
 very formidable animal ; and, when dead, is 
 of very little value. The flesh is hardly di- 
 gestible by any but the Negroes, who are 
 fond of it to distraction; the liver affords 
 three or four quarts of oil ; some imaginary 
 virtues have been ascribed to the brain ; and 
 its skin is, by great labour, polished into that 
 substance called shagreen. Mr Pennant is of 
 opinion, that the female is larger than the 
 male in all this tribe ; which would, if con- 
 firmed by experience, make a striking agree- 
 ment between them and birds of prey. It 
 were to be wished that succeeding historians 
 would examine into this observation, which is 
 offered only as a conjecture ! * 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF CARTILAGINOUS FLAT-FISH, OR THE RAY 
 KIND. 
 
 THE same rapacity which impels the shark 
 along the surface of the water, actuates the 
 flat fish at the bottom. Less active, and less 
 formidable, they creep in security along the 
 bottom, seize every thing that comes in their 
 way ; neither the hardest shells nor the sharp- 
 est spines give protection to the animals that 
 bear them; their insatiable hunger is such, 
 that they devour all ; and the force of their 
 
 young aiive, more than one at a time, and each inclosed 
 in a square horny case, terminated at the four corners by 
 slender filaments. After being in the water some time, 
 these natural pouches open at one end, and the young 
 fish escapes from his confinement. These receptacles 
 are, in the shark, of a pellucid horn-colour, terminated 
 at the corners by very long slender filaments, which are 
 generally found twisted round coral, sea-weeds, and 
 other substances, to prevent their being driven on shore 
 before the young is excluded : those of the Ray tribe are 
 black, with the filaments hardly longer than the case, 
 and are frequently cast on our shores in great abun- 
 dance. 
 
 1 The Small Spotted Dog- Fish is a species cf shark, 
 sometimes found on our shores. It is called Morgay in 
 Scotland. It lies near the bottom of the water, and its 
 
 food is small fish and Crustacea. It is often caught on 
 the fishermen's lines, but is a useless capture to them. 
 It is injurious to the fisheries from its voracity. Its 
 length is about eighteen inches. 
 
 The Large Spotted Dog- Fish, called in Scotland 
 Bounce, is easily distinguished from the other by its 
 larger but less numerous spots, and by the greater bulk 
 of the body for the same length. Like the Small Spot- 
 ted Dog-Fish, its haunts are near the bottom, and its 
 food similar, but it also frequents rocky ground, and is 
 hence sometimes called the Rock Dog-Fish. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 
 stomach is so great, that it easily digests 
 them. 
 
 The whole of this kind resemble each other 
 very strongly in their figure; nor is it easy, 
 without experience, to distinguish one from 
 another. The stranger to this dangerous tribe 
 may imagine he is only handling a skate, 
 when he is instantly struck numb by the tor- 
 pedo; he may suppose he has caught a thorn- 
 back, till he is stung by the fire-flare. It 
 will be proper, therefore, after describing the 
 general figure of these animals, to mark their 
 differences. 
 
 All fish of the ray kind are broad, cartila- 
 ginous, swimming flat on the water, and 
 having spines on different parts of their body, 
 or at the tail. They all have their eyes and 
 mouth placed quite under the body, with 
 apertures for breathing either about or near 
 them. They all have teeth, or a rough bone, 
 which answers the same purpose. Their 
 bowels are very wide towards the mouth, and 
 go on diminishing to the tail. The tail is 
 very differently shaped from that of other fishes; 
 and at first sight more resembling that of 
 a quadruped, being narrow, and ending either 
 in a bunch or a point. But what they are 
 chiefly distinguished by, is, their spines or 
 prickles, which the different species have on 
 different parts of their body. Some are 
 armed with spines both above and below; 
 others have them on the upper part only ; 
 some have their spines at the tail ; some have 
 three rows of them , and others but one. These 
 
 soft and 
 
 strong ana! piercing. 
 The smallest of these spines are usually in- 
 clining towards the tail ; the larger towards 
 the head. 
 
 It is by the spines that these animals are 
 distinguished from each other. The skate 
 has the middle of the back rough, and a single 
 row of spines on the tail. The sharp-nosed 
 ray has ten spines that are situated towards 
 the middle of the back. The rough ray has 
 its spines spread indiscriminately over the 
 whole back. The thorn-back has its spines dis- 
 posed in three rows upon the back. The fire- 
 flare has but one spine, but that indeed a ter- 
 rible one. This dangerous weapon is placed 
 on the tail, about four inches from the body, 
 and is not less than five inches long. It is of 
 a flinty hardness, the sides thin, sharp-pointed, 
 and closely and sharply bearded the whole 
 way. The last of this tribe that I shall men- 
 tion is the torpedo ; and this animal has no 
 spines that can wound ; but in the place of 
 them it is possessed of one of the most potent 
 and extraordinary faculties in nature. 
 
 Such are the principal differences that may 
 enable us to distinguish animals, some of 
 which are of very great use to mankind, from 
 2 M 
 
 prickles in some are comparatively 
 feeble ; those of others, strong and 
 
274 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 others that are terrible and noxious. With 
 respect to their uses, indeed, as we shall soon 
 see, they differ much ; but the similitude 
 among them, as to their nature, appetites, and 
 conformation, is perfect and entire. They are 
 all as voracious as they are plenty ; and as 
 dangerous to a stranger, as useful to him who 
 can distinguish their differences. 
 
 Of all the larger fish of the sea, these are 
 the most numerous ; and they owe their num- 
 bers to their size. Except the white shark 
 and cachalot alone, there is no other fish that 
 has a swallow large enough to take them in ; 
 and their spines make them a still more dan- 
 gerous morsel. Yet the size of some is such, 
 that even the shark himself is unable to de- 
 vour them ; we have seen some of them in 
 England weigh above two hundred pounds ; 
 but that is nothing to their enormous bulk in 
 other parts of the world. Labat tells us of a 
 prodigious ray that was speared by the Ne- 
 groes at Guadaloupe, which was thirteen feet 
 eight inches broad, and above ten feet from 
 the snout to the insertion of the tail. The tail 
 itself was in proportion, for it was no less 
 than fifteen feet long, twenty inches broad at 
 its insertion, and tapering to a point. The 
 body was two feet in depth ; the skin as thick 
 as leather, and marked with spots ; which 
 spots, in all of this kind, are only glands, that 
 supply a mucus to lubricate and soften the 
 skin. This enormous fish was utterly unfit 
 to be eaten by Europeans ; but the Negroes 
 chose out some of the nicest bits, and carefully 
 salted them up as a most favourite provision. 
 
 Yet, large as this may seem, it is very pro- 
 bable that we have seen only the smallest of 
 the kind ; as they generally keep at the bot- 
 tom, the largest of the kind are seldom seen ; 
 and as they may probably have been growing 
 for ages, the extent of their magnitude is un- 
 known. It is generally supposed, however, 
 that they are the largest inhabitants of the 
 deep ; and, were we to credit the Norway 
 bishop, there are some above a mile over. But 
 to suppose an animal of such a magnitude is 
 absurd ; yet the overstretching the supposition 
 does not destroy the probability that animals 
 of this tribe grow to an enormous size. 
 
 The ray generally chooses for its retreat 
 such parts of the sea as have a black muddy 
 bottom ; the large ones keep at greater depths; 
 but the smaller approach the shores, and feed 
 upon whatever living animals they can sur- 
 prise, or whatever putrid substances they meet 
 with. As they are ravenous, they easily take 
 the bait, yet will not touch it if it be taken 
 up and kept a day or two out of water. 
 Almost all fish appear much more delicate 
 with regard to a baited hook than their ordin- 
 ary food. They appear by their manner to 
 perceive the line, and to dread it ; but the im- 
 
 pulse of their hunger is too great for their 
 caution ; and, even though they perceive the 
 danger, if thoroughly hungry they devour the 
 destruction. 
 
 These fish generate in March and April; 
 at which time only they are seen swimming 
 near the surface of the water, several of the 
 males pursuing one female. They adhere so 
 fast together in coition, that the fishermen 
 frequently draw up both together, though only 
 one has been hooked. The females are pro- 
 lific to an extreme degree ; there having been 
 no less than three hundred eggs taken out of 
 the body of a single ray. These eggs are 
 covered with a tough horny substance, which 
 they acquire in the womb ; for before they 
 descend into that, they are attached to the 
 ovary pretty much in the same manner as in 
 the body of a pullet. From this ovary, or 
 egg-bag, as it is vulgarly called, the fish's 
 eggs drop one by one into the womb, and there 
 receive a shell by the concretion of the fluids 
 of that organ. When come to proper matur- 
 ity, they are excluded, but never above one 
 or two at a time, and often at intervals of three 
 or four hours. These eggs, or purses, as the 
 fishermen call them, are usually cast about 
 the beginning of May, and they continue 
 casting during the whole summer. In Octo- 
 ber, when their breeding ceases, they are ex- 
 ceedingly poor and thin ; but in November 
 they begin to improve, and grow gradually 
 better till May, when they are in the highest 
 perfection. 
 
 It is chiefly during the winter season that 
 our fishermen take them ; but the Dutch, who 
 are indefatigable, begin their operations earlier, 
 and fish with better success than we. The 
 method practised by the fishermen of Scar- 
 borough is thought to be the best among the 
 English ; and, as Mr Pennant has given a 
 very succinct account of it, I will take leave 
 to present it to the reader. 
 
 " When they go out to fish, each person is 
 provided with three lines : each man's lines 
 are fairly coiled upon a flat oblong piece of 
 wicker-work ; the hooks being baited and 
 placed very regularly in the centre of the coil. 
 Each line is furnished with two hundred and 
 eighty hooks, at the distance of six feet two 
 inches from each other. The hooks are fas- 
 tened to lines of twisted horse-hair, twenty- 
 seven inches in length. 
 
 " When fishing, there are always three 
 men in each coble ; and consequently nine of 
 these lines are fastened together, and used as 
 one line, extending in length near three miles, 
 and furnished with above two thousand five 
 hundred hooks. An anchor and a buoy are 
 fixed at the first end of the line, and one more 
 at each end of each man's lines ; in all, four 
 anchors, and four buoys made of leather or 
 
THE RAY. 
 
 275 
 
 cork. The line is always laid across the cur- 
 rent. The tides of flood and ebb continue an 
 equal time upon our coast ; and, when undis- 
 turbed by winds, run each way about six 
 hours. They are so rapid that the fishermen 
 can only shoot and haul their lines at the turn 
 of the tide ; and therefore the lines always re- 
 main upon the ground about six hours. The 
 same rapidity of tide prevents their using 
 hand lines ; and, therefore, two of the people 
 commonly wrap themselves in the sail and 
 sleep, while the other keeps a strict look-out, 
 for fear of being run down by ships, and to 
 observe the weather ; for storms often rise so 
 suddenly, that it is sometimes with extreme 
 difficulty they escape to the shore, though they 
 leave their lines behind them. 
 
 " The coble is twenty feet six inches long, 
 and five feet extreme breadth. It is about 
 one ton burden, rowed with three pair of oars, 
 and admirably constructed for the purpose of 
 encountering a mountainous sea. They hoist 
 sail when the wind suits. 
 
 " The five-men-boat is forty feet long, fif- 
 teen broad, and twenty-five tons burden. It 
 is so called, though navigated by six men and 
 a boy ; because one of the men is hired to 
 cook, and does not share in the profits with 
 the other five. All our able fishermen go in 
 these boats to the herring fishery at Yarmouth, 
 the latter end of September, and return about 
 the middle of November. The boats are then 
 laid up until the beginning of Lent, at which 
 time they go off in them to the edge of the 
 Dogger, and other places, to fish for turbot, 
 cod, ling, skate, &c. They always take two 
 cobles on board, and when they come upon 
 their ground, anchor the boat, throw out the 
 cobles, and fish in the same manner as those 
 do who go from the shore in a coble ; with 
 this difference only, that here each man is 
 provided with double the quantity of lines, 
 and, instead of waiting the return of the tide 
 in the coble, return to the boat, and bait their 
 other lines ; thus hauling one set, and shoot- 
 ing another, every turn of tide. They com- 
 monly run into the harbour twice a.-week, to 
 deliver their fish. The five-men-boat is 
 decked at each end, but open in the middle, 
 and has two long sails. 
 
 " The best bait for all kinds of fish, is fresh 
 herring cut in pieces of a proper size: and 
 notwithstanding what has been said to the 
 contrary, they are taken there at any time in 
 the winter, and all the spring, whenever the 
 fishermen put down some nets for that pur- 
 pose : the five-men boats always take some 
 nets for that end. Next to herrings are the 
 lesser lampreys, which come all winter by 
 land-carriage from Tadcaster. The next baits 
 in esteem are small haddocks cut in pieces, 
 sand-worms, muscles, and limpets; and, lastly, 
 
 when none of these can be found, they use 
 bullock's liver. The hooks used there are 
 much smaller than those employed at Iceland 
 and Newfoundland. Experience has shown 
 that the larger fish will take a living small 
 one upon the hook, sooner than any bait that 
 can be put on ; therefore they use such as the 
 fish can swallow. The hooks are two inches 
 and a half long in the shank ; and near an 
 inch wide between the shank and the point. 
 The line is made of small cording, and is 
 always tanned before it is used. All the rays 
 and turbots are extremely delicate in their 
 choice of baits : if a piece of herring or had- 
 dock has been twelve hours out of the sea, and 
 then used as a bait, they will not touch it." 
 
 Such is the manner of fishing for those fish 
 that usually keep near the bottom on the 
 coasts of England ; and Duhamel observes, 
 that the best weather for succeeding, is a half- 
 calm, when the waves are just curled with a 
 silent breeze. 
 
 But this extent of line, which runs, as we 
 have seen, three miles along the bottom, is 
 nothing to what the Italians throw out in the 
 Mediterranean. Their fishing is carried on 
 in a tartan, which is a vessel much larger 
 than ours ; and they bait a line of no less than 
 twenty miles long, with above ten or twelve 
 thousand hooks. This line is called thepara- 
 sina ; and the fishing goes by that of the pie- 
 logo- This line is not regularly drawn every 
 six hours, as with us, but remains for some 
 time in the sea, and it requires the space of 
 twenty-four hours to take it up. By this ap- 
 paratus they take rays, sharks, and other fish; 
 some of which are above a thousand pounds 
 weight. When they have caught any of this 
 magnitude, they strike them through with a 
 harpoon to bring them onboard, and kill them 
 as fast as they can. 
 
 This method of catching fish is obviously 
 fatiguing, and dangerous; but the value of 
 the capture generally repays the pains. The 
 skate and the thornback are very good food, 
 and their size, which is from ten pounds to 
 two hundred weight, very well rewards the 
 trouble of fishing for them. But it sometimes 
 happens that the lines are visited by very un- 
 welcome intruders; by the rough ray, the fire- 
 flare, or the torpedo. To all these the fisher- 
 men have the most mortal antipathy; and, 
 when discovered, shudder at the sight: how- 
 ever, they are not always so much upon their 
 guard, but that they sometimes feel the differ- 
 ent resentments of this angry tribe : and, in- 
 stead of a prize, find they have caught a vin- 
 dictive enemy. When such is the case, they 
 take care to throw them back into the sea with 
 the swiftest expedition. 
 
 The rough ray inflicts but slight wounds 
 with the prickles with which its wholo body 
 
 
276 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 is furnished. To the ignorant it seems harm- 
 less, and a man would at iirst sight venture to 
 take it in his hand, without any apprehension ; 
 but he soon finds, that there is not a single 
 part of its body that is not armed with spines ; 
 and that there is no way of seizing the animal 
 but by the little fin at the end of the tail. 
 
 But this animal is harmless, when com- 
 pared to the fire-flare, which seems to be the 
 dread of even the boldest and most exper- 
 ienced fishermen. 1 The weapon with which 
 
 1 Tlie Rays, or Skate, as they are popularly called, 
 are remarkable for tlie rhomboidal form and consequent 
 breadth of their bodies, contrasted with their long narrow 
 tails, frequently furnished with two and sometimes three 
 small fins, and mostly armed with one or more rows of 
 sharp spines along the whole length. The whole body is 
 very much depressed ; the great breadth of it is produced 
 by the expansion of what are considered as the pectoral 
 fins, the base of each of which is equal to the whole 
 length of the side of the fish. The Skate may almost 
 be considered as having no true head or neck, the sides 
 of both being included and thus protected by the ex- 
 panded anterior margin of each pectoral fin. The nos- 
 trils, mouth, branchial and anal apertures, are on the 
 under surface ; the eyes and temporal orifices on the 
 upper surface. The texture of the skin of the body varies 
 considerably, and will be referred to when describing the 
 different species. From tlie peculiar form of the body, 
 admirably adapted to exist at the bottom of the water, 
 the skate may with more propriety be called a Flatfish 
 than any species of the Pleuronectida. Their mode of 
 progression is not very easily described : it is, when they 
 ;ire not alarmed, performed with a slight motion of the 
 pectoral fins, something between a slide and a swim. 
 1 once heard a North-country fisherman call it sludder- 
 ing. When a skate makes the best of its way either to 
 gain a prize in the matter of food, or to escape an enemy, 
 great muscular exertion is evident. The mode of de- 
 fending itself, as described by Mr Couch, is very effect- 
 ual : the point of the nose and the base of the tail are 
 bent upwards toward each other ; the upper surface of 
 the body being then concave, the tail is lashed about in 
 all direction? over it and the rows of sharp spines fre- 
 quently inflict severe wounds. 
 
 Eight species of true Rays are found on the coasts of 
 this country, four of which have the snout more or less 
 elongated and sharp, and four have blunt noses, two of 
 the latter being furnished with numerous sharp spines on 
 various parts of the surface of the body. The skate, as 
 food, are held in very different degrees of estimation in 
 different places. In London, particularly, large quan- 
 tities are consumed, and the flesh is considered delicate 
 and well-flavoured ; but on some parts of the coast, 
 though caught in considerable numbers, both by lines 
 and nets, tlie flesh is seldom devoted to any purpose be- 
 yond that of baiting pots for catching crabs and lobsters. 
 Skate are in the best condition for the table during au- 
 tumn and winter. In spring, and in the early part of 
 summer, they are usually maturing eggs or young, and 
 their flesh is then soft and woolly. 
 
 The Long Nosed Skate is immediately distinguished 
 from any other skate found on the British coast, not only 
 hy the great length of the nose, but also by the distance 
 between its most extreme point and the transverse line 
 of the mouth ; characters particularly observable in com- 
 parison with the species next in order, with which it 
 most assimilates in colour. The snout is very much 
 produced, narrow and sharp, slender as far as the eyes, 
 from whence the body dilates gradually to its greatest 
 bieadth, which is behind the centre ; the whole length 
 
 nature has armed this animal, which 
 from the fail, and which we described as 
 barbed, and five inches long, hath been an 
 instrument of terror to the ancient fishermen 
 
 of the body and tail one-third longer than the width. 
 On the upper surface the body is slightly roughened, and 
 of a light lead colour ; the tail rather more rough, with 
 a row of large crooked spines on each side of the central 
 line, and this species is observed never to have more or 
 less than these two lateral rows; the small fins on the 
 tail not far removed from each other, the second about 
 its own length from the end. The under surface is a 
 dirty grayish white, marked with dusky specks like the 
 true skate, but the body is thinner in substance than 
 either that or the sharp-nosed skate: the nostrils are 
 lobed ; the mouth narrow ; the teeth in old males sharp, 
 with frequently nine or ten spines above the eyes; on 
 the snout two rows of minute tubercular spines ; behind 
 the head seven or eight spines ranged in a line along the 
 dorsal ridge ; towards the outer upper edge of the pec- 
 toral fins on each side are the usual rows of sharp hooked 
 spines, and close to the tail the long pendant claspers. By 
 some of the West-country fishermen this species is called 
 the Dun Cow: it attains considerable size, and is said to 
 feed on sand-eels and sand-launce. According to Mr 
 Couch, it frequents deep water, and is not caught through 
 the winter: fishermen state that it is exceedingly violent 
 when hooked. I may here state generally, that the 
 greater part of the skate brought to market are taken iu 
 the trawlnets. 
 
 The Skate called in Scotland Blue Skate, arid Gray 
 Skate. This species, which is frequently called the 
 True Skate to distinguish it from the thornback and 
 
 homelyn, which are also populaiiy called skate, is not so 
 commonly taken as either, but is still better than either 
 as an article of food. It appears to be found among the 
 Orkneys, and on the coasts of Scotland, where it is called 
 blue skate and gray skate. From thence southward as 
 far as Kent, and again westward to Cornwall, it is found 
 along the whole line of coast. In Ireland, the skate is 
 taken from Cork up the east coast to Antrim, and from 
 thence northward and westward to Londonderry and 
 Donegal. At Lyme Regis, on account of its dusky gray 
 colour, it is called the tinker. 
 
 In this species both sexes when adult have sharp teeth, 
 the points beginning to elongate by the time the body of 
 the fish has attained the breadth of twelve or fourteen 
 inches. The females are generally called maids ; and 
 fishermen distinguish the females of the three species of 
 most frequent occurrence by the names of skate maid, 
 thornback maid, and homelyn maid, frequently calling 
 the old male of the skate with his two long appendages the 
 three-tailed skate. In each of these species the females 
 are observed to be much more numerous as well as larger 
 than the males. Pennant mentions having seen a skate 
 
THE KAY. 
 
 277 
 
 
 as well as the modern : and they have deliv- 
 ered many tremendous fables of its astonish- 
 ing effects. Pliny, JElian, and Oppian, have 
 supplied it with a venom that affects even the 
 inanimate creation : trees that are struck by 
 
 that weighed t\vo hundred pounds: it is very voracious, 
 and Mr Couch has known five different species of fish, 
 besides Crustacea, taken from the stomach of a single 
 individual. There is reason to believe that the true skate 
 produces its young later in the season than either the 
 thornback or the homelyn. 
 
 The breadth of the body is to its length nearly as four 
 to three ; the form of the nose conical: the lines from 
 the extreme lateral angle of each pectoral fin being 
 nearly straight, similar lines taken in a direction back- 
 ward to a point on the tail two inches below the end of 
 the ventral fins, would form a true rhomb: the eyes are 
 slightly elevated above the line of the upper surface of 
 the body, with a short, hard tubercle in the front of each, 
 and a second on the inner side of each ; the irides yel- 
 low; the temporal orifices valvular, and placed close 
 behind : the dorsal ridge of the body without spines till 
 near the origin of the ventral fins ; then commence a 
 single row on the centre, reaching along the tail as far as 
 the first of the two small fins, all the points of the spines 
 directed backwards ; one spine between the two small 
 dorsal fins. On the sides of the tail of a female of small 
 size there were no lateral spines ; but in a young male 
 of the same size, there were several lateral spines on 
 each side, the points of which were directed forwards, 
 and are in that respect characteristic of this species. The 
 colour of the upper surface of the body and tail grayish 
 brown ; the margins anterior to the angles of the pec- 
 toral fins tinged with reddish brown ; those behind the 
 angles brownish black, darker than the body: the colour 
 on the under surface is sooty white, with dark lines in 
 various directions, and numerous blue specks with small 
 sharp points disposed among them over the surface. The 
 nostrils are valvular, half the width of the mouth in ad- 
 vance of each of its angles ; the mouth rather wide ; the 
 teeth in this species are sharp in both sexes when adult, 
 the inner angles of the central teeth beginning to elon- 
 gate in specimens when they are about twelve inches in 
 breadth across the body. 
 
 The Sharp-Nosed Ray. This species, says Mr Couch, 
 " may be easily recognised by its sharp snout, by the 
 waved line of the margin of the body from the snout to 
 the extremity of the expansion, and by its pure white 
 colour on the lower surface. It is the largest of the 
 British rays; for though in length and breadth it may 
 not exceed the common skate, its superior thickness 
 renders it heavier." 
 
 Colonel Montagu, in the Wernerian Memoirs, says, 
 by way of further distinction, the snout in this species 
 is slender, the lateral margins in a moderately- ;ized fish 
 running nearly parallel to each other for three or four 
 inches at the extremity. The skin is smooth, with 
 the exception of the spines on the upper surface, pecu- 
 liar to the males, the colour a plain brown without spots 
 or lines, and never so dark as the skate last described, 
 with which it is sometimes confounded. The teeth of 
 the males, according to a specimen of the mouth very 
 kindly sent to me by Mr Couch, are longer, more pointed, 
 and sharper than those of any other species I have had an 
 opportunity of examining. The tail is armed with three 
 rows of spines. Mr Couch states that the smaller-sized 
 specimens are taken throughout the year; but those which 
 are larger keep in deep waters, and are only taken in sum- 
 mer and autumn. The French are great consumers of 
 skate, and this species is their favourite fish: their boats 
 come to Plymouth during Lent to purchase skate, which 
 they preserve fresh and moist during the run back to their 
 own coast by keeping them covered with wet sand. 
 
 it instantly lose their verdure, and rocks 
 themselves are incapable of resisting the 
 potent poison. The enchantress Circe armed 
 her son with a spear headed with the spine 
 of the trygon, as the most irresistible wea- 
 pon she could furnish him with ; a weapon 
 that soon after was to be the death of his own 
 father. 
 
 " That spears and darts," says Mr Pennant, 
 " might in very early times have been headed 
 with this bone instead of iron, we have no 
 doubt. The Americans head their arrows 
 with the bones of fishes to this day ; and, 
 from their hardness and sharpness, they are 
 no contemptible weapons. But that this 
 spine is possessed of those venomous qualities 
 ascribed to it, we have every reason to doubt ; 
 though some men of high reputation, and the 
 whole body of fishermen, contend for its ven- 
 omous effects. It is, in fact, a weapon of 
 offence belonging to this animal, and capable, 
 from its barbs, of inflicting a very terrible 
 wound, attended with dangerous symptoms ; 
 but it cannot be possessed of any poison, as 
 the spine has no sheath to preserve the sup. 
 
 This species is the white skate of the Orkneys, and of 
 Scotland generally ; and is said to have been taken on 
 the south-east coast of Ireland. 
 
 The Thornback. The thornback exhibits very marked 
 distinguishing characters, and being also a very com- 
 mon fish, is one of the best known of the species of rays, 
 
 a term which Mr Couch considers to be derived from 
 the Anglo-Saxon ' Reho/ which means 'rough,' and is 
 particularly appropriate to the thornback, which, on the 
 Cornish coasts, is pre-eminently distinguished as the ray. 
 The thornback is also taken commonly both on the coast 
 of Scotland and Ireland. From the good quality of the 
 flesh of this fish, and the immense quantity taken every 
 year, the thornback, and its female, the maid, is one of 
 the most valuable of the species. Mr Couch says that 
 the flesh takes salt well, and in this preserved state 
 aflbrds the poor fishermen and their families many whole- 
 some meals when stormy weather prevents them obtain- 
 ing fresh supplies. The thornback is taken in the great- 
 est abundance during spring and summer, because the 
 fish then frequent sandy bottoms in shallower water and 
 nearer the shore than usual, for the purpose of depositing 
 their eggs ; but the flesh of the thornback at this season 
 is not, as before noticed, so firm as in autumn and winter. 
 It is in the best condition for table about November. 
 Their food is various other fish, particularly flatfish, 
 testaceous molhisca, and Crustacea. YarreWs British 
 Fishes, Pol. If. 
 
278 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 posed venom on its surface ; and the animal 
 has no gland that separates the noxious fluid ; 
 besides, all those animals that are furnished 
 with envenomed fangs or stings, seem to have 
 them strongly connected with their safety and 
 existence ; they never part with them ; there is 
 an apparatus of poison prepared in the body 
 to accompany their exertions ; and when the 
 fangs or stings are taken away, the animal 
 languishes and dies. But it is otherwise with 
 the spine of the fire flare ; it is fixed to the 
 tail, as a quill is into the tail of a fowl, and is 
 annually shed in the same manner : it maybe 
 necessary for the creature's defence, but it is 
 no way necessary for its existence. The 
 wound inflicted by an animal's tail, has some- 
 thing terrible in the idea, and may from 
 thence alone be supposed to be fatal. From 
 hence terror might have added poison to the 
 pain, and called up imagined dangers ; the 
 Negroes universally believe that the sting is 
 poisonous ; but they never die of the wound ; 
 for by opening the fish, and laying it on the 
 part injured, it effects a speedy cure. The 
 slightness of the remedy proves the innocence 
 of the wound. 1 
 
 The Torpedo (see Plate XXI. fig. 10.) is 
 an animal of this kind, equally formidable 
 and well known with the former ; but the 
 manner of its operating is to this hour a mystery 
 to mankind. 2 The body of this fish is almost 
 circular, and thicker than others of the ray 
 kind ; the skin is soft, smooth, and of a yellow- 
 ish colour, marked, as all the kind, with large 
 annular spots ; the eyes very small ; the tail 
 tapering to a point ; and the weight of the fish 
 from a quarter to fifteen pounds. Redi found 
 one twenty-four pounds weight. To all out- 
 ward appearance, it is furnished with no ex- 
 traordinary powers; it has no muscles formed 
 for particularly great exertions ; no internal 
 conformation perceptibly differing from the 
 rest of its kind; yet such is that unaccount- 
 able power it possesses, that, the instant it is 
 touched, it numbs not only the hand and arm, 
 but sometimes also the whole body. The 
 shock received, by all accounts, most resembles 
 the stroke of an electrical machine; sudden, 
 tingling, and painful. " The instant," says 
 Kempter, " I touched it with my hand, I 
 felt a terrible numbness in my arm, and 
 as far up as the shoulder. Even if one 
 treads upon it with the shoe on, it affects not 
 only the leg, but the whole thigh upwards. 
 
 1 The account of the venomous properties of this 
 spine, as well as that it is shed annually, appears to be 
 altogether fabulous. It is probable that, by its great 
 strength, it may be able to inflict a painfully lacerated 
 wound. 
 
 * The Torpedo Ray is rare on the British coast. 
 Two or three species inhabit the Mediterranean, and 
 others are to be found in different parts of the world. 
 
 Those who touch it with the foot, are seized 
 with a stronger palpitation than even those 
 who touch it with the hand. This numbness 
 bears no resemblance to that which we feel 
 when a nerve is a long time pressed, and the 
 foot is said to be asleep ; it rather appears like 
 a sudden vapour, which passing through the 
 pores in an instant, penetrates to the very 
 springs of life, from whence it diffuses itself 
 over the whole body, and gives real pain. 
 The nerves are so affected, that the person 
 struck imagines all the bones of his body, and 
 particularly those of the limb that received 
 the blow, are driven out of joint. All this is 
 accompanied with a universal tremor, a sick- 
 ness of the stomach, a general convulsion, and 
 a total suspension of the faculties of the mind. 
 In short," continues Kempfer, " such is the 
 pain, that all the force of our promises and 
 authority could not prevail upon a seaman to 
 undergo the shock a second time. A negro, in- 
 deed, that was standing by, readily undertook 
 to touch the torpedo, and was seen to handle it 
 without feeling any of its effects. He informed 
 us, that his whole secret consisted in keeping in 
 his breath ; and we found, upon trial, that this 
 method answered with ourselves. When we 
 held in our breath, the torpedo was harmless ; 
 but when we breathed ever so little, its effi- 
 cacy took place." 
 
 Kempfer has very well described the effects 
 of this animal's shock ; but succeeding exper- 
 ience has abundantly convinced us, that hold- 
 ing in the breath no way guards against its 
 violence. Those, therefore, who depending 
 on that receipt, should play with a torpedo, 
 would soon find themselves painfully unde- 
 ceived : not but that this fish may be many 
 times touched with perfect security ; for it is 
 not upon every occasion that it exerts its po- 
 tency. Reaumur, who made several trials 
 upon this animal, has at least convinced the 
 world that it is not necessarily, but by an ef- 
 fort, that the torpedo numbs the hand of him 
 that touches it. He tried several times, and 
 could easily tell when the fish intended the 
 stroke, and when it was about to continue 
 harmless. Always before the fish intended 
 the stroke, it flattened the back, raised the 
 head and the tail, and then, by a violent con- 
 traction in the opposite direction, struck with 
 its back against the pressing finger ; and the 
 body, which before was flat became humped 
 and round. 
 
 But we must not infer, as he has done, that 
 the whole effect of this animal's exertion arises 
 from the greatness of the blow which the 
 fingers receive at the instant they are struck. 
 We will, with him, allow the stroke is very 
 powerful, equal to that of a musquet-ball, since 
 he will have it so ; but it is very well known, 
 that a blow, though never so great, on the 
 
THE RAY. 
 
 279 
 
 points of the lingers, diffuses no numbness 
 over the whole body : such a blow might break 
 the ends of the fingers indeed, but would hardly 
 numb the shoulder. Those blows that numb, 
 must be applied immediately to some great 
 and leading nerve, or to a large surface of the 
 body ; a powerful stroke applied to the points 
 of the fingers will be excessively painful in- 
 deed, but the numbness will not reach beyond 
 the fingers themselves. We must, therefore, 
 look for another cause producing the powerful 
 effects wrought by the torpedo. 
 
 Others have ascribed it to a tremulous 
 motion which this animal is found to possess, 
 somewhat resembling that of a horse's skin, 
 when stung by a fly. This operating under 
 the touch with an amazing quickness of vibra- 
 tion, they suppose produces the uneasy sensa- 
 tion described above ; something similar to 
 what we feel when we rub plush cloth against 
 the grain. But the cause is quite dispropor- 
 tioned to the effect ; and so much beyond our 
 experience, that this solution is as difficult as 
 the wonder we want to explain. 
 
 The most probable solution seems to be, 
 that the shock proceeds from an animal elec- 
 tricity, which this fish has some hidden power 
 of storing up, and producing on its most 
 urgent occasions. The shocks are entirely 
 similar ; the duration of the pain is the same ; 
 but how the animal contrives to renew the 
 charge, how it is prevented from evaporating 
 on contiguous objects, how it is originally 
 procured, these are difficulties that time alone 
 can elucidate. 
 
 But to know even the effects is wisdom. 
 Certain it is, that the powers of this animal 
 seem to decline with its vigour ; for as its 
 strength ceases, the force of the shock seems 
 to diminish ; till, at last, when the fish is dead, 
 the whole power is destroyed, and it may be 
 handled or eaten with perfect security: on the 
 contrary, when immediately taken out of the 
 sea, its force is very great, and not only affects 
 the hand, but if even touched with a stick, the 
 person finds himself sometimes affected. This 
 power, however, is not to be extended to the 
 degree that some would have us believe ; as 
 reaching the fisherman at the end of the line, 
 or numbing fishes in the same pond. Godig. 
 nus, in his History of Abyssinia, carries this 
 quality to a most ridiculous excess ; he tells 
 us of one of these that was put into a basket 
 among a number of dead fishes, and that the 
 next morning the people, to their utter as- 
 tonishment, perceived that the torpedo had 
 actually numbed the dead fishes into life 
 again ! 1 
 
 1 The Gymnotus, or Electric Eel. The gymnoti, or 
 electrical eels, which, resemble large water serpents, in- 
 habit several streams of South America,, and abound also 
 
 To conclude, it is generally supposed that 
 the female torpedo is much more powerful 
 than the male. Lorenzini, who has made 
 several experiments upon this animal, seems 
 
 
 in the Oroonoko, the Amazon, and the Meta, hut the 
 strength of the current, and the depth of the water in 
 these large rivers, prevent their being caught by the 
 Indians. They see these fish less frequently than they 
 fee] electric shocks from them, when swimming or 
 bathing in the river. To catch the gymnoti with nets 
 is very difficult, on account of the extreme agility of the 
 fish, which bury themselves in the mud like serpents. 
 Roots are sometimes thrown into the water to intoxicate 
 or benumb these animals, but we would not employ 
 these means, as they would have enfeebled the gymnoti : 
 the Indians, therefore, told us, that they would '' fish 
 with horses." We found it difficult to form an idea of 
 this extraordinary manner of fishing; but we soon saw 
 our guides return from the savannah, which they had 
 been scouring for wild horses and mules. They brought 
 about thirty with them, which they forced to enter the 
 pool. 
 
 The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs, 
 makes the fish issue from the mud, and excites them to 
 combat; they swim on the surface of the water, and 
 crowd under the bellies of the horses and mules. A 
 contest between animals of so different an organization, 
 furnishes a very striking spectacle. The Indians, pro- 
 vided with harpoons and long slender reeds, surround 
 the pool closely ; and some climb upon the trees, the 
 branches of which extend horizontally over the surface 
 of the water. By their wild cries, and the length of 
 their reeds, they prevent the horses from running away, 
 and reaching the bank of the pool. The eels, stunned 
 by the noise, defend themselves by the repeated dis- 
 charge of their electric power, and during a long time 
 they seem to prove victorious. Several horses sink be- 
 neath the violence of the invisible strokes, which they 
 receive from all sides, and stunned by the force and 
 frequency of the shocks, disappear under the water. 
 Others panting, with mane erect, and haggard eyes, ex- 
 pressing anguish, raise themselves, and endeavour to 
 flee from the storm by which they are overtaken. They 
 are driven back by the Indians into the middle of the 
 water; but a small number succeed in eluding the active 
 vigilance of the fishermen. These regain the shore, 
 stumbling at every step, and stretch themselves on the 
 sand, exhausted with fatigue, and their limbs benumbed 
 by the electric shocks of the gymnoti. In less than five 
 minutes two horses were drowned. The eel being five 
 feet long, and pressing itself against the belly of the 
 horses, makes a discharge along the whole extent of its 
 electric organ. The horses are probably only stunned, 
 not killed, but they are drowned from the impossibility 
 of rising, amid the prolonged struggles between the other 
 horses and the eels. 
 
 We had little doubt, that the fishing would terminate 
 by killing, successively, all the animals engaged, but, by 
 degrees, the impetuosity of this unequal contest dimin- 
 ished, and the wearied gymnoti dispersed. The mules 
 and horses appeared less frightened; their manes no 
 longer bristled, and their eyes expressed less dread. The 
 gymnoti, which require a long rest and abundant nour- 
 ishment to repair what they have lost of galvanic force, 
 approach timidly the edge of the marsh, where they are 
 taken by means of small harpoons, fastened to long 
 cords. 
 
 The gymnotus is the largest of electrical fishes ; I 
 measured some that were from five to five feet three 
 inches long, and the Indians assert that they have seen 
 still longer. We found that a fish of three feet ten inches 
 long weighed twelve pounds; the transverse diameter 
 of the body was three inches five lines. The gymnoti 
 
280 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 convinced that its power wholly resides in two 
 thin muscles that cover a part of the back. 
 These he culls the trembling fibres ; and he 
 asserts that the animal may be touched with 
 safety in any other part. It is now known 
 also that there are more fish, than this of the 
 ray kind, possessed of the numbing quality, 
 which has acquired them the name of the tor- 
 pedo. These are described by Atkins and 
 Moore, and found in great abundance along 
 the coast of Africa. They are shaped like a 
 mackarel, except that the head is much larger; 
 the effects of these seem also to differ in some 
 respects. Moore talks of keeping his hand 
 upon the animal ; which in the ray torpedo it 
 is actually impossible to do. " There was no 
 man in the company," says he, " that could 
 bear to keep his hand on this animal the 
 twentieth part of a minute, it gave him so 
 great pain ; but upon taking the hand away, 
 the numbness went off, and all was well again. 
 This numbing quality continued in this tor- 
 pedo even after it was dead ; and the very 
 skin was still possessed of its extraordinary 
 power till it became dry." Condamine in- 
 forms us of a fish possessed of the powers of 
 the torpedo, of a shape very different from the 
 
 of Cano de Bera are of a fine olive-green; the under 
 part of the head is yellow, mingled with red. Along 
 the back are two rows of small yellow spots, from which 
 exudes a slimy matter that spreads over the skin of the 
 animal, and which, as Volta has proved, conducts elec- 
 tricity twenty or thirty times better than pure water. 
 It is, in general, somewhat remarkable, that no electri- 
 cal fish yet discovered in the different parts of the world, 
 is covered with scales. 
 
 The gymnoti, which are objects of the most lively 
 interest to the philosopher of Europe, are dreaded and 
 detested by the natives. Their flesh furnishes pretty 
 good food, but the electric organ fills the greater part of 
 the body, and this being slimy and disagreeable to the 
 taste, is carefully separated from the rest. The presence 
 of the gymnoti is also considered as the principal cause 
 of the want of fish in the ponds and pools of the Llanos, 
 where they kill many more fish than they devour. The 
 Indians told us, that when they take young alligators 
 and gymnoti at the same time in very strong nets, the 
 latter never display the slightest trace of a wound, be- 
 cause they disable the young alligators before they are 
 attacked by them. All the inhabitants of the waters 
 dread the gymnoti ; lizards, tortoises, and frogs, seek 
 the pools, where they are secure from their action. It 
 became necessary to change the direction of a road near 
 Uritucu, because these electrical eels were so numerous 
 in one river, that they every year killed a great number 
 of mules of burden as they forded the river. 
 
 It would be temerity to expose ourselves to the first 
 shocks of a very large and strongly irritated gymnotus. 
 If by chance you receive a stroke before the fish is 
 wounded, or wearied by a long pursuit, the pain and 
 numbness are so violent, that it is impossible to describe 
 the nature of the feeling they excite. I do not remem- 
 ber having ever received from the discharge of an elec- 
 trical machine, a more dreadful shock, than that which 
 1 experienced by imprudently placing both my feet on a 
 gymnotus just taken out of the water. I was affected 
 the rest of the day with a violent pain in the knees, and 
 in almost every joint. Humboldt's Personal Narrative. 
 
 former, and every way resembling a lamprey. 
 This animal, if touched by the hand, or even 
 with a stick, instantly benumbs the hand and 
 arm to the very shoulder ; and sometimes the 
 man falls down under the blow. These ani- 
 mals, therefore, must affect the nervous sys- 
 tem in a different manner from the former, 
 both with respect to the manner and the in- 
 tention ; but how this effect is wrought, we 
 must be content to dismiss in obscurity. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE LAMPREY, AND ITS AFFINITIES 
 
 THERE is a species of the Lamprey served 
 up as a great delicacy among the modern 
 
 The governor at New Amsterdam has a large elec- 
 tric eel, which he has kept for several years in a tub, 
 made for that purpose, placed under a small shed near 
 to the house. This fish possesses strong electrical powers, 
 and often causes scenes of diversion among the soldiers 
 and sailors, who are struck with astonishment at its 
 qualities, and believe it to be in league with some evil 
 spirit. Two sailors, wholly unacquainted with the pro- 
 perties of the animal, were one day told to fetch an eel, 
 which was lying in the tub in the yard, and give it the 
 cook to dress for dinner. It is a strong fish, of seven or 
 eight pounds weight, 'and gives a severe shock on being 
 touched, particularly if at all irritated or enraged. The 
 sailors had no sooner reached the shed, than one of them 
 plunged his hand to the bottom of the tub to seize the 
 eel ; when he received a blow which benumbed his whole 
 arm : without knowing what it was, he started from the 
 tub, shaking his fingers, and holding his elbow with his 
 other hand, crying out, " I say, Jack, what a thump he 
 fetched me with his tail !" His messmate, laughing at 
 " such a foolish notion," next put down his hand to 
 reach out the eel, but receiving a similar shock, he snap- 
 ped his fingers likewise, and ran off, crying out, " Why, 
 he did give you a thump ! He's a fighting fellow : he 
 has fetched me a broadside too ! Let's both have a haul 
 at him together, Jack ; then we shall board his slippery 
 carcass, spite of his rudder." Accordingly they each 
 plunged their hands into the tub, and seized the fish, 
 by a full grasp round the body. This was rougher treat- 
 ment than he commonly experienced, and he returned 
 it with a most violent shock, which soon caused them to 
 quit their hold. For a moment they stood aghast, then 
 rubbing their arms, holding their elbows, and shaking 
 their fingers, they capered about with pain and amaze- 
 ment, swearing that their arms were broken, and that 
 it was the devil in the tub in the shape of an eel. They 
 now perceived that it was not a simple blow with the 
 tail which they had felt before ; nor could they be pre- 
 vailed upon to try again to take out the fish, but stole 
 away, rubbing their elbows, and abusing ' the trick about 
 the cook and the eel." Pinckard's Notes on the Wesl 
 Indies. 
 
 1 Lampreys. These fishes are, in reference to their 
 skeleton, and in some other respects, the lowest in the 
 scale of organization among vertebrated animals. 
 
 The lampreys, like the sharks and rays, have no swim- 
 ming-bladder; and being also without pectoral fins, are 
 usually seen near the bottom. To save themselves from 
 the constant muscular exertion which is necessary to 
 prevent them being carried along by the current of the 
 water, they attach themselves by the mouth to stones or 
 
THE LAMPREY. 
 
 281 
 
 Romans, very different from ours. Whether 
 theirs be the marasna of the ancients, I will 
 not pretend to say ; but there is nothing more 
 certain than that our lamprey is not. The 
 Roman lamprey agrees with the ancient hsh 
 in being kept in ponds, and considered by the 
 luxurious as a very great delicacy. 
 
 The lamprey, known among us, is differ- 
 ently estimated, according to the season in 
 which it is caught, or the place where it' has 
 been fed. Those that leave the sea to deposit 
 their spawn in fresh waters are the best : those 
 that are entirely bred in our rivers, and that 
 have never been at sea, are considered as 
 much inferior to the former. Those that are 
 taken in the months of March, April, or May, 
 just upon their leaving the sea, are reckoned 
 very good ; those that are caught after they 
 have cast their spawn, are found to be flabby, 
 and of little value. Those caught in several 
 of the rivers in Ireland, the people will not 
 venture to touch ; those of the English Severn, 
 are considered as the most delicate of all other 
 fish whatever. 
 
 rocks, and were in consequence called Petromyzon, or 
 Stone-sucker ; while the circular form of the mouth in- 
 duced the name of Cyclostomes, or Round-mouthed 
 Fishes, which was bestowed upon them by M. Dumeril. 
 
 In reference to the respiratory apparatus in the species 
 of this genus, Mr Owen has remarked, that " when the 
 lamprey is firmly attached, as is commonly the case, to 
 foreign bodies by means of its suctorial mouth, it is ob- 
 vious that no water can pass by that aperture from the 
 pharynx to the gills; it is therefore alternately received 
 and expelled by the external apertures. If a lamprey, 
 while so attached to the side of a vessel, be held with 
 one series of apertures out of the water, the respiratory 
 currents are seen to enter by the submerged orifices, 
 and, after traversing the corresponding sacs and the 
 pharynx, to pass through the opposite branchiae, and to 
 be forcibly ejected therefrom by the exposed orifices. 
 The same mode of respiration must take place in the 
 Mixiue," (a species of this family to be described imme- 
 diately) " while its head is buried in the flesh of its prey. 
 The cyclostomous fishes thus present an obvious affinity 
 to the Cephalopoda, inasmuch as the branchial currents 
 are independent of the actions of the parts concerned in 
 deglutition." 
 
 The intestinal canal is small, and extends in a straight 
 line along the abdomen to the anal aperture without any 
 convolution. The lampreys are oviparous, spawning 
 late in the spring; the roe escaping, in both sexes, by a 
 small membranous sheath, which has internally at its 
 base five apertures, one leading upward to the intestine, 
 one to each kidney, and one to each lateral cavity of the 
 abdomen. 
 
 The Marine Lamprey, (see Plate XXII. fig. 5.) 
 which from its mottled appearance was called P. macu- 
 losus, by Artedi, has a veiy extensive geographical 
 range. It is found in the Mediterranean, and from 
 thence northwards in most of the rivers of Europe as far 
 as Scandinavia, during the spring. Professor Reinhardt 
 includes it among the fishes of Iceland, and our country- 
 man Pennant gives it a place in his Arctic Zoology. 
 From a description and figure in the Natural History of 
 the Fishes of Massachusetts, by Dr Smith of Boston, this 
 fish appears to be common in the rivers of North Amer- 
 ica, attaining a large size in those of the more southern 
 states, but not exceeding seventeen or twenty inches in 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 The lamprey much resembles an eel in its 
 general appearance, but is of a lighter colour, 
 and rather a clumsier make. It differs how- 
 ever in the mouth, which is round, and placed 
 rather obliquely below th,e end of the nose. It 
 more resembles the mouth of a leech than an 
 eel ; and the animal has a hole on the top of 
 the head through which it spouts water, as in 
 the cetaceous kind. There are seven holes on 
 ! each side for respiration ; and the fins are 
 I formed rather by a lengthening out of the skin, 
 I than any set of bones or spines for that pur- 
 pose. As the mouth is formed resembling 
 that of a leech, so it has a property resembling 
 that animal, of sticking close to and sucking 
 any body it is applied to. It is extraordinary 
 the power they have of adhering to stones ; 
 which they do so firmly, as not to be drawn 
 off without some difficulty. We are told of 
 one that weighed but three pounds, and yet 
 it stuck so firmly to a stone of twelve pounds, 
 that it remained suspended at its mouth, from 
 which it was separated with no small difficulty. 
 This amazing power of suction is supposed to 
 
 length in a high northern latitude. Dr Mitchell also 
 includes this species among his fishes of New York. It 
 is rather common during spring and summer in some of 
 the rivers on the southern coast of England, particularly 
 the Severn, and is found in smaller numbers in several 
 of the rivers of Scotland and Ireland about the same 
 period of the year. 
 
 In Scotland, the appearance of the lamprey in the 
 fresh water is rather later in the year than in the rivers 
 of the south. Sir William Jardine says, " They ascend 
 our rivers to breed about the end of June, and remain 
 until the beginning of August. They are not furnished 
 with any elongation of the jaw, afforded to most of our 
 fresh-water fish, to form the receiving furrows at this 
 important season ; but the want is supplied by their 
 sucker-like mouth, by which they individually remove 
 each stone. Their power is immense. Stones of a very 
 large size are transported, and a large furrow is soon 
 formed. The P. marinus remain in pairs, two on each 
 spawning place; and while there employed, retain them- 
 selves affixed by the mouth to a large stone." 
 
 After the spawning season is over, the flesh of the 
 lamprey, like that of other fish, loses for a time its firm- 
 ness and other good qualities, and the weakened fish 
 makes its way back to the sea, to recruit its wasted con- 
 dition. The food of the lamprey consists generally of 
 any soft animal matter ; and in the sea it is known to 
 attack other fishes even of large size, by fastening upon 
 them, and with its numerous small rasp-like teeth eating 
 away the soft parts down to the bone. It is not very 
 often caught while it remains at sea. 
 
 This species usually measures from twenty to twenty- 
 eight inches in length. 
 
 The River Lamprey, or Lampern, as it is called by 
 fishermen for distinction, is a well-known species which 
 abounds in many rivers of England, particularly the 
 Thames, the Severn, and the Dee : it is also abundant 
 in several rivers of ScotlRiid and Ireland. Some authors 
 state that this species, like that last described, visits our 
 rivers in spring, and returns to the sea after spawning ; 
 but the recorded opinions of others, and my own obser- 
 vations, induce me to believe that it generally remains 
 all the year in the fresh water. In the Thames I am 
 certain it is to be obtained every month in the year ; but 
 is considered in the best condition for the table from 
 
282 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 arise from the animal's exhausting the air 
 within its body by the hole over the nose, 
 while the mouth is closely fixed to the object, 
 and permits no air to enter. It would be easy 
 to determine the weight this animal is thus 
 able to sustain ; which will be equal to the 
 weight of a column of air of equal diameter 
 with the fish's mouth. 
 
 From some peculiarity of formation, this 
 animal swims generally with its body as near 
 as possible to the surface ; and it might easily 
 be drowned by being kept by force for any 
 time under water. Muralto has given us the 
 anatomy of this animal ; but, in a very minute 
 description, makes no mention of lungs. Yet 
 I am very apt to suspect, that two red glands 
 tissued with nerves, which he describes as 
 lying towards the back of the head, are no 
 other than the lungs of this animal. The ab- 
 solute necessity it is under of breathing in 
 
 October to March, during which time it is permitted to 
 be caught, according to the rules adopted for the conser- 
 vation of the fishery. 
 
 Formerly the lampern was considered a fish of con- 
 siderable importance. It was taken in great quantities 
 in the Thames from Battersea Reach to Taplow Mills, 
 and was sold to the Dutch as bait for the turbot, cod, 
 and other fisheries. Four hundred thousand have been 
 sold in one season for this purpose, at the rate of forty 
 shillings per thousand. From five pounds to eight pounds 
 the thousand have been given; but a comparative scar- 
 city of late years, and consequent increase in price, has 
 obliged the line fishermen to adopt other substances for 
 bait. Formerly the Thames alone supplied from one 
 million to twelve hundred thousand lamperns annually. 
 They are very tenacious of life, and the Dutch fishermen 
 managed to keep them alive at sea for many weeks. 
 
 If this species, which is very easily obtained, be ex- 
 amined in the months of March or April, the distinc- 
 tion of the sexes will be immediately evident on opening 
 them. The female may generally be known externally 
 by the larger size of the abdomen, and the male by his 
 lips being more tumid and the mouth larger than that 
 of the female. The season of spawning is May, and the 
 process has been described by several observers. This 
 sometimes takes place in pairs only, and at others by 
 many of both sexes occupying one general spawning bed. 
 
 The food of this species, according to Bloch, is in- 
 sects, worms, small fish, and the flesh of dead fish. The 
 adult fish is usually from twelve to fifteen inches in 
 length. Yarrelfs British Fishes, Vol. II. 
 
 The Myxine Glutinous Hag-fish, or Borer, a species 
 of lamprey, (see Plate XXII. fig. 2.) This little fish, 
 although seldom more than twelve or fourteen inches in 
 length, is well deserving of notice, on account of its 
 singular method of obtaining its food. The myxine is 
 found as far north as the shores of Scandinavia, and it is 
 also of frequent occurrence on the British coasts, more 
 particularly off Scarborough. It enters, says Pennant, 
 the mouths of other fish when on the hooks attached to 
 the lines, which remain a tide under water, aud totally 
 devours the whole except the skin and bones. The 
 Scarborough fishermen often take it in the robbed fish 
 on drawing up their lines. On this account it is called, 
 on this part of the coast, the Hag or the Borer, because, 
 as others say, it first pierces a small aperture in the skin, 
 and afterwards buries its head in the body of its prey. 
 it is most usually found in the body of the cod, or 
 some other equally rapacious fish. 
 
 the air, convinces me that it must have lungs, 
 though I do not know of any anatomist that 
 has described them. 
 
 The adhesive quality in the lamprey may 
 be, in some measure, increased by that slimy 
 substance with which its body is all over 
 smeared ; a substance that serves at once to 
 keep it warm in its cold element, and also to 
 keep its skin soft and pliant. This mucus is 
 separated by two long lymphatic canals, that 
 extend on each side from the head to the tail, 
 and that furnish it in great abundance. As 
 to its intestines, it seems to have but one great 
 bowel, running from the mouth to the vent, 
 narrow at both ends, and wide in the middle. 
 
 So simple a conformation seems to imply 
 an equal simplicity of appetite. In fact, the 
 lamprey's food is either slime and water, or 
 such small water-insects as are scarcely per- 
 ceivable. Perhaps its appetite may be more 
 
 Its worm-like figure induced several systematic writers 
 to class it with the worms, and " it was not till after dis- 
 sections arid published descriptions, that its true relations 
 with the lampreys were acknowledged." 
 
 "The myxine, (says Mr Yarrell,) is not uncommon at 
 Berwick, but it is only to be obtained at a particular 
 season of the year, in one or two localities, when, during 
 fine weather, at the end of spring, or the beginning of 
 summer, the fishermen lay their long lines, on a bank 
 with a soft mud bottom, near the coast, when fishing for 
 cod or haddock. It is considered by some, that the 
 myxine, which is without eyes, obtains access to the in- 
 terior of the body of the fish by passing in at the anal 
 aperture ; others endeavour to account for its being found 
 in the belly of a voracious fish, by supposing it had been 
 swallowed ; while many experienced fishermen still re- 
 peat their belief, that the myxine enters the mouth of 
 the cod-fish while it is hanging on the line. It is con- 
 jectured that the myxine does not fasten upon any fish, 
 unless it be either dead or hanging on a hook; but how 
 a fish that is blind is able to find its way to a particular 
 aperture, is a matter not easily explained. The eight 
 barbules, or cirri, about the mouth of the myxine are, 
 there is no doubt, delicate organs of touch, by which it 
 obtains cognizance of the nature and quality of the sub- 
 stances with which they are in contact, and its single- 
 hooked tooth upon the palate enables it to retain its hold 
 till the double rows of teeth, or the tongue, are brought 
 into action, to aid the desire to obtain food." 
 
 Along the whole length of the under surface of the 
 body, from head to tail, there are two rows of mucous 
 pores, from which a large quantity of a gelatinous secre- 
 tion is expressed occasionally, at the will of the animal, 
 and by which, in reference either to its quality or quan- 
 tity, or both, this fish is said to escape its enemies. So 
 copious and so thick in its consistence is this jelly-like se- 
 cretion, that some of the older naturalists believed this 
 fish had the power of converting water into glue, and it 
 obtained in consequence the name of the Glutinous Hag. 
 
 The body is long, and cylindrical throughout nearly 
 its whole length, tapering and compressed near the tail ; 
 in colour the myxine is dark-brown along the back, 
 lighter chesnut-brown along the sides, and yellowish- 
 white underneath. 
 
 The bones of the back in the lamprey are of a soft 
 consistence, and indistinctly divided into rounded por- 
 tions. In the myxine, in place of a series of bones com- 
 posing the vertebral column, there is merely a soft and 
 flexible cartilaginous tube. 
 
THE STURGEON. 
 
 283 
 
 
 active at sea, of which it is properly a native ; 
 but when it comes up into our rivers, it is 
 hardly perceived to devour any thing. 
 
 Its usual time of leaving the sea, which it 
 is annually seen to do in order to spawn, is 
 about the beginning of spring ; and after a 
 stay of a few months it returns again to the 
 sea. Their preparation for spawning is pe- 
 culiar ; their manner is to make holes in the 
 gravelly bottom of rivers ; and on this occasion 
 their sucking power is particularly service- 
 able ; for if they meet with a stone of a consid- 
 erable size they will remove it, and throw it 
 out. Their young are produced from eggs in 
 the manner of flat fish ; the female remains 
 near the place where they are excluded, and 
 continues with them till they come forth. She 
 is sometimes seen with her whole family play- 
 ing about her ; and after some time she con- 
 ducts them in triumph back to the ocean. 
 
 But some have not sufficient strength to re- 
 turn ; and these continue in the fresh water 
 till they die. Indeed the life of this fish, ac- 
 cording to Rondeletius, who has given its 
 history, is but of very short continuance ; and 
 a single brood is the extent of the female's 
 fertility. As soon as she has returned after 
 casting her eggs, she seems exhausted and 
 flabby. She becomes old before her time ; 
 and two years is generally the limit of her 
 existence. 
 
 However this may be, they are very indif- 
 ferent eating after they have cast their eggs, 
 and particularly at the approach of hot weather. 
 The best season for them is the months of 
 March, April, and May ; and they are usu- 
 ally taken in nets with salmon, and sometimes 
 in baskets at the bottom of the river. It has 
 been an old custom for the city of Gloucester 
 annually to present the king with a lamprey, 
 pie ; and as the gift is made at Christmas, it 
 is not without great difficulty the corporation 
 can procure the proper quantity, though they 
 give a guinea a-piece for taking them. 1 
 
 How much they were valued among the 
 ancients, or a fish bearing some resemblance 
 to them, appears from all the classics that 
 have praised good living, or ridiculed glut- 
 tony. One story we are told of this fish, with 
 which I will conclude its history. A senator 
 of Rome, whose name does not deserve being 
 transmitted to posterity, was famous for the 
 delicacy of his lampreys. Tigelinus Manu- 
 cius, and all the celebrated epicures of Rome, 
 were loud in his praises : no man's fish had 
 such a flavour, was so nicely fed, or so ex- 
 actly pickled. Augustus, hearing so much 
 of this man's entertainments, desired to be 
 his guest ; and soon found that fame had been 
 
 1 Henry I. of England died of a surfeit from eating 
 lampreys. 
 
 just to his merits ; the man had indeed very 
 fine lampreys, and of an exquisite flavour. 
 The emperor was desirous of knowing the 
 method by which he fed his fish to so fine a 
 relish; and the glutton, making no secret of 
 his art, informed him, that his way was to 
 throw into his ponds such of his slaves as had 
 at any time displeased him. Augustus, we 
 are told, was not much pleased with his re- 
 ceipt, and instantly ordered all his ponds to 
 be filled up. The story would have ended 
 better if he had ordered the owner to be flung 
 in also. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE STURGEON, AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 THE Sturgeon, with a form as terrible, and 
 a body as large, as the shark, is yet as harm- 
 less as the fish we have been just describing ; 
 incapable and unwilling to injure others, it 
 flies from the smallest fishes, and generally 
 falls a victim to its own timidity. 
 
 The sturgeon, in its general form, resembles 
 a fresh water pike. The nose is long ; the 
 
 mouth is situated beneath, being small, and 
 without jaw-bones or teeth. But though it is 
 so harmless and ill provided for war, the body 
 is formidable enough to appearance. It is 
 long, pentagonal, and covered with five rows 
 of large bony knobs, one row on the back and 
 two on each side, and a number of fins to give 
 it greater expedition. Of this fish there are 
 three kinds ; the Common Sturgeon, the Ca- 
 viar Sturgeon, and the Huso or Isinglass Fish. 
 The first has eleven knobs or scales on the 
 back; the second has fifteen ; and the latter 
 thirteen on the back, and forty-three on the 
 tail. These differences seem light to us who 
 only consider the animal's form ; but those 
 who consider its uses find the distinction of 
 considerable importance. The first is the 
 sturgeon, the flesh of which is sent pickled 
 into all parts of Europe. The second, is the 
 fish from the roe of which that noted delicacy 
 called caviar is made ; and the third, besides 
 supplying the caviar, furnishes also the valu- 
 able commodity of isinglass. They all grow 
 to a very great size ; and some of them have 
 been found above eighteen feet long. 
 
 There is not a country in Europe but what 
 this fish visits at different seasons ; it annually 
 ascends the largest rivers to spawn, and pro- 
 pagates in an amazing number. The inhabi- 
 
284 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 tants along the banks of the Po, the Danube, 
 and the Wolga make great profit yearly of 
 its incursions up the stream, and have their 
 nets prepared for its reception. 1 The sturgeon 
 also is brought daily to the markets of Rome 
 and Venice, and they are known to abound 
 in the Mediterranean sea. Yet those fish that 
 keep entirely either in salt or fresh water are 
 but comparatively small. When the sturgeon 
 enjoys the vicissitude of fresh and salt, water, 
 it is then that it grows to an enormous size, 
 so as almost to rival even the whale in mag- 
 nitude. 
 
 Nor are we without frequent visits from 
 this much esteemed fish in England. It is 
 often accidentally taken in our rivers in sal- 
 mon-nets, and particularly in those parts that 
 are not far remote from the sea. The largest 
 we have heard of, caught in Great Britain, 
 was a fish taken in the Eske, where they are 
 most frequently found, which weighed four 
 hundred and sixty pounds. 3 An enormous 
 size to those who have only seen our fresh- 
 water fishes ! 
 
 North America also furnishes the sturgeon: 
 their rivers in May, June, and July, supply 
 them in very great abundance. At that time 
 they are seen sporting in the water, and leap- 
 ing from its surface several yards into the air. 
 When they fall again on their sides, the con- 
 cussion is so violent, that the noise is heard, 
 in still weather, at some miles' distance. 
 
 But of all places where this animal is to be 
 found, it appears no where in such numbers 
 as in the lakes of Frischehaff and Curischaff, 
 near the city of Pillau. In the rivers also 
 
 1 Sturgeon Fishery. The river Volga, especially 
 near its mouth, is the principal scene of this fishery. 
 When the fish enter the river, which they do, like many 
 others, at stated seasons, for the purpose of depositing 
 their spawn, large enclosures of strong stakes are set 
 across the river to intercept and prevent its return; the 
 enclosures narrow up the river, and the animal, getting 
 into these confined places, is easily speared. 
 
 This fish (Accipenser sturo, or common sturgeon ; for 
 Accipenser huso, see Plate XXI. fig. 27.) of which there 
 are several species, breeds in the Caspian sea, in such 
 numbers as to fill the rivers flowing into that lake. Fif- 
 teen thousand sturgeons are sometimes taken in one day, 
 with the hook, at the station of Sallian, on the Persian 
 coast, and upwards of 700,000 were taken in the year 
 1 829, in the Russian dominions on the coasts of the 
 Caspian. 
 
 The flesh of the sturgeon is salted and dried for con- 
 sumption during the numerous fasts enjoined by the 
 Greek church, but the two products the most valuable, 
 are isinglass and caviare. The former is prepared from 
 the air-bladder, and large quantities of it are annually 
 imported into England from St Petersburg. Caviare 
 is a preparation from the roe, of a strong, oily, but 
 agreeable flavour, and is increasing in estimation here, 
 if we may judge by the increased importation of it; a 
 great deal is also consumed iu Italy. 
 
 8 One caught in a stake net near Findhorn, in Scot- 
 IMld, in July, 1833, measured eight feet six inches in 
 length, and weighed two hundred and three pounds. 
 
 that empty themselves into the Euxine sea 
 this fish is caught in great numbers, particu- 
 larly at the mouth of the river Don. In all 
 these places the fishermen regularly expect 
 their arrival from the sea, and have their nets 
 and salt ready prepared for their reception. 
 
 As the sturgeon is a harmless fish, and no 
 way voracious, it is never caught by a bait 
 in the ordinary manner of fishing, but always 
 in nets. From the description given above of 
 its mouth, it is not to be supposed that the 
 sturgeon would swallow any hook capable of 
 holding so large a bulk and so strong a swim- 
 mer. In fact, it never attempts to seize any 
 of the finny tribe, but lives by rooting at the 
 bottom of the sea, where it makes insects and 
 sea- plants its whole subsistence. From this 
 quality of floundering at the bottom it has re- 
 ceived its name ; which comes from the Ger- 
 man verb jloe?'en, signifying to wallow in the 
 mud. That it lives upon no large animals is 
 obvious to all those who cut it open, where 
 nothing is found in its stomach but a kind of 
 slimy substance, which has induced some to 
 think it lives only upon water and air. From 
 hence there is a German proverb, which is 
 applied to a man extremely temperate, when 
 they say, he is as moderate as a sturgeon. 
 
 As the sturgeon is so temperate in its ap- 
 petites, so is it also equally timid in its nature. 
 There would be scarcely any method of taking- 
 it, did not its natural desire of propagation 
 induce it to incur so great a variety of dan- 
 gers. The smallest fish is alone sufficient to 
 terrify a shoal of sturgeons ; for, being unfur- 
 nished with any weapon of defence, they are 
 obliged to trust to their swiftness and their 
 caution for security. Like all animals that 
 do not make war upon others, sturgeons live 
 in society among themselves: rather for the 
 purposes of pleasure than from any power of 
 mutual protection. Gesner even asserts, that 
 they are delighted with sounds of various 
 kinds ; and that he has seen them shoal to- 
 gether at the notes of a trumpet. 
 
 The usual time, as was said before, for the 
 sturgeon to come up rivers to deposit its spawn, 
 is about the beginning of summer, when the 
 fishermen of all great rivers make a regular 
 preparation for its reception. At Pillau, par- 
 ticularly, the shores are formed into districts, 
 and allotted to companies of fishermen, some 
 of which are rented for about three hundred 
 pounds a-year. The nets in which the stur- 
 geon is caught are made of small cord, and 
 placed across the mouth of the river ; but in 
 such a manner that, whether the tide ebbs or 
 flows, the pouch of the net goes with the 
 stream. The sturgeon thus caught, while in 
 the water, is one of the strongest fishes that 
 swims, and often breaks the net to pieces that 
 incloses it ; but the instant it is raised, with 
 
THE STURGEON. 
 
 285 
 
 its head above water, all its activity ceases ; 
 it is then a lifeless, spiritless lump, arid suffers 
 itself to be tamely dragged on shore. It has 
 been found prudent, however, to draw it to 
 shore gently ; for if excited by any unneces- 
 sary violence, it has been found to break the 
 fisherman's legs with a blow of its tail. The 
 most experienced fishers, therefore, when they 
 have drawn it to the brink, keep the head still 
 elevated, which prevents its doing any mis- 
 chief with the hinder part of the body ; others, 
 by a noose, fasten the head and the tail to- 
 gether ; and thus without immediately des- 
 patching it, bring it to the market, if there be 
 one near, or keep it till their number is com- 
 pleted for exportation. 
 
 The flesh of this animal, pickled, is very 
 well known at all the tables of Europe ; and 
 is even more prized in England than in any 
 of the countries where it is usually caught. 
 The fishermen have two different methods of 
 preparing it. The one is by cutting it in long 
 pieces lengthwise, and, having salted them, 
 by hanging them up in the sun to dry: the 
 fish thus prepared is sold in all the countries 
 of the Levant, and supplies the want of better 
 provisions. The other method, which is usually 
 practised in Holland, and along the shores 
 of the Baltic, is to cut the sturgeon cross- 
 wise, into short pieces, and put it in small 
 barrels, with a pickle made of salt and sau- 
 mure. This is the sturgeon which is sold 
 in England ; and of which great quanti- 
 ties came from the North, until we gave en- 
 couragement to the importation of it from 
 North America. From thence we are very 
 well supplied; but it is said, not with such 
 good fish as those imported from the North of 
 Europe. 
 
 A very great trade is also carried on with 
 the roe of the sturgeon, preserved in a parti- 
 cular manner, and called Caviare : it is made 
 from the roe of all kinds of sturgeon , but par- 
 ticularly the second. This is much more in 
 request in other countries of Europe than with 
 us. To all these high-relished meats, the ap- 
 petite must be formed by degrees ; and though 
 formerly, even in England, it was very much 
 in request at the politest tables, it is at present 
 sunk entirely into disuse. It is still, how- 
 ever, a considerable merchandise among the 
 Turks, Greeks, and Venetians. Caviare some- 
 what resembles soft soap in consistence ; but 
 it is of a brown, uniform colour, and is eaten 
 as cheese with bread. The manner of making 
 it is this : they take the spawn from the body 
 of the sturgeon for it is to be observed, the i 
 sturgeon differs from other cartilaginous fish, 
 in that it has spawn like a cod, and not eggs 
 like a ray. They take the spawn, I say, and 
 freeing it from the small membranes that con- 
 nect it together, they wash it with vinegar, 
 
 and afterwards spread it to dry upon a table; 
 they then put them into a vessel with salt, 
 breaking the spawn with their hands, and not 
 with a pestle ; this done, they put it into a 
 canvass bag, letting the liquor drain from it; 
 lastly, they put it into a tub, with holes in the 
 bottom, so that, if there be any moisture still 
 remaining, it may run out; then it is pressed 
 down, and covered up close for use. 
 
 But the Huso or Isinglass fish furnishes a 
 still more valuable commodity. This fish is 
 caught in great quantities in the Danube, from 
 the month of October to January : it is seldom 
 under fifty pounds weight, and often above 
 four hundred : its flesh is soft, glutinous, and 
 flabby ; but it is sometimes salted, which 
 makes it better tasted, and then it turns red 
 like salmon. It is for the commodity it fur- 
 nishes that it is chiefly taken. Isinglass is of 
 a whitish substance, inclining to a yellow, 
 done up into rolls, and so exported for use. It 
 is very well known as serviceable, not only in 
 medicine, but many arts. The varnisher, the 
 wine-merchant, and even the clothier, know 
 its uses ; and very great sums are yearly ex- 
 pended upon this single article of commerce. 
 The mariner of making it is this : they take 
 the skin, the entrails, the fins, and the tail of 
 this fish, and cut them into small pieces ; these 
 are left to macerate in a sufficient quantity of 
 warm water, and they are all boiled shortly after 
 with a slow fire, until they are dissolved and 
 reduced to a jelly ; this jelly is spread upon 
 instruments made for the purpose, so, that 
 drying, it assumes the form of parchment, and, 
 when quite dry, it is then rolled into the form 
 which we see in the shops. 1 
 
 This valuable commodity is principally fur- 
 nished from Russia, where they prepare great 
 quantities surprisingly cheap. Mr Jackson, 
 an ingenious countryman of our own, found 
 out an obvious method of making a glue at 
 home that answered all the purposes of isin- 
 glass ; but what with the trouble of making 
 it, and perhaps the arts put in practice to un- 
 dersell him, he was, as I am told, obliged to 
 discontinue the improvement of his discovery. 
 Indeed, it is a vain attempt to manufacture 
 among ourselves those things which may be 
 more naturally and cheaply supplied else- 
 where. We have many trades that are un- 
 naturally, if I may so express it, employed 
 among us ; who furnish more laboriously those 
 necessaries with which other countries could 
 easily and cheaply supply us. It would be 
 wiser to take what they can thus produce ; and 
 to turn our artizans to the increase and manu- 
 
 1 Isinglass is prepared from various other fishes, but 
 principally from the White Dolphin, or Belluga of North 
 America. This well-known substance is made from the 
 sound, or air-bladder. 
 
286 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 facture of such productions as thrive more rea- 
 dily among us. Were, for instance, the num- 
 ber of hands that we have now employed in 
 the manufacture of silk, turned to the increase 
 of agriculture, it is probable that the increased 
 quantity of corn thus produced, would be more 
 than an equivalent for the diminution of na- 
 tional wealth in purchasing wrought silk from 
 other countries 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OP ANOMALOUS CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 1 
 
 OF all others, the Cartilaginous class seems 
 to abound with the greatest variety of ill- 
 
 1 Eels . The general appearance of the Eel is so well 
 known, and so unlike that of mo?t other fishes, as to require 
 but a slight description ; yetit was not till a period of very 
 modern date that naturalists became acquainted with the 
 fact that the fresh waters of several countries produce 
 three or four distinct species which had previously been 
 confounded together. Thus the first edition of the 
 Regne Animal, published in 1817, included but one 
 species of common fresh-water eel as well known : the 
 second edition, published in 1829, contains a short no- 
 tice of four different species ; three of which, if not all 
 four, are found in this country. 
 
 The form of the eel, resembling that of the serpent, 
 has long excited a prejudice against it, which exists in 
 some countries even to the present time ; and its simi- 
 larity to snakes has even been repeated by those, who, 
 from the advantages of education, and their acquirements 
 in natural history, might have been supposed capable of 
 drawing more accurate conclusions. There is but little 
 similarity in the snake and the eel except in the exter- 
 nal form of the body : the important internal organs of 
 the two animals, and the character of the skeleton, are 
 most decidedly different. 
 
 Eels are in reality a valuable description of fish: their 
 flesh is excellent as food; they are very numerous, very 
 prolific, and are found in almost every part of the world. 
 The various species are hardy, tenacious of life, and very 
 easily preserved. In this country they inhabit almost 
 all our rivers, lakes, and ponds ; they are in great esteem 
 for the table, and the consumption in our large cities is 
 very considerable. The London market is principally 
 supplied from Holland by Dutch fishermen. There are 
 two companies in Holland, having five vessels each : 
 their vessels are built with a capacious well, in which 
 large quantities of eels are preserved alive till wanted. 
 One or more of these vessels may be constantly seen ly- 
 ing off Billingsgate ; the others goto Holland for fresh 
 supplies, each bringing a cargo of 15,000 to 20,000 
 pounds' weight of live eels, for which the Dutch mer- 
 chant pays a duty of 13 per cargo for his permission to 
 sell. Eels and salmon are the only fish sold by the pound 
 weight in the London market. 
 
 Eels are not only numerous, but they are also in great 
 request, in many other countries. Ellis, in his Polyne- 
 sian Researches, vol. ii. page 286, says: "In Otaheite, 
 eels are great favourites, and are tamed and fed until 
 they attain an enormous size. These pets are kept in 
 large holes, two or three feet deep, partially filled with 
 water. On the sides of these pits they generally re- 
 mained, excepting when called by the person who fed 
 them. I have been several times with the young chief, 
 
 formed animals ; and, if philosophy could al- 
 low the expression, we might say, that the 
 cartilaginous class was the class of monsters ; 
 in fact, it exhibits a variety of shapeless beings, 
 
 when he has sat down by the side of the hole, and, by 
 giving a shrill sort of whistle, has brought out an enor- 
 mous eel, which has moved about the surface of the 
 water, and eaten with confidence out of its master's 
 hand." 
 
 " Most of the writers on the habits of the eel have 
 described them as making two migrations in each year: 
 one in the autumn to the sea ; the other in spring, or at 
 the beginning of summer, from the sea. The autumn 
 migration is performed by adult eels, and is believed to 
 be for the purpose of depositing their spawn; it is also 
 said that these parent fish never return up the rivers. 
 The spring migration is commonly supposed to be con- 
 fined to very small eels, not more than three inches in 
 length, and in reference to the fry alone, it is too well 
 known, and too often recorded, to be matter of doubt. 
 The passage of countless hundreds of young eels has 
 been seen and described as occurring in the Thames, 
 the Severn, the Parrett, the Dee, and the Ban. I am. 
 however, of opinion, that the passage of adult eels to the 
 sea, or rather to the brackish water of the estuary, is an 
 exercise of choice, and not a matter of necessity; and 
 that the parent eels return up the river as well as the 
 fry." 
 
 " All authors agree that eels are extremely averse to 
 cold. There are no eels in the arctic regions, none in 
 the rivers of Siberia, the Wolga, the Danube, or any of 
 its tributary streams ; yet the rivers of the southern parts 
 of Europe produce four species. There is no doubt that 
 fishes in general, and eels in particular, are able to ap- 
 preciate even minute alterations in the temperature of 
 the water they inhabit. The mixed water they seek to 
 remain in during the colder months of the year is of a 
 higher temperature than the pure fresh water of the river, 
 or that of the sea. It is a well-known law in chemistry, 
 that when two fluids of different densities come in con- 
 tact, the temperature of the mixture is elevated for a 
 time in proportion to the difference in density of the 
 two fluids, from the mutual penetration and condensa- 
 tion. Such a mixture is constantly taking place at the 
 mouths of rivers that run into the sea, and the mixed 
 water maintains a temperature two degrees warmer than 
 that of the river or the sea. This elevation in the tem- 
 perature of the water of estuaries and the mouths of ri- 
 vers is, I have no doubt, one reason why they in general 
 abound in young fish." 
 
 In a tideway river the descent of the eels towards the 
 brackish water takes place during the autumn, and va- 
 rious devices are employed in ditferent streams to inter- 
 cept them in their progress. One apparatus used in va- 
 rious parts of the Thames, called an eelbuck, consists of a 
 framework of wood supporting various wicker-baskets of 
 a particular form. The large open end of each basket is 
 opposed to the stream, and by the peculiar structure of 
 the inside, any fish once within the body of the basket, 
 cannot escape. 
 
 During the cold months of the year eels remain im- 
 bedded in mud; and large quantities are frequently 
 taken by eel-spears in the soft soils of harbours and 
 banks of rivers, from which the tide recedes, and leaves 
 the surface exposed for several hours every day. The 
 eels bury themselves twelve or sixteen inches deep, 
 near the edge of the navigable channel, and generally 
 near some of the many land-drains, the water of which 
 continues to run in its course over the mud into the 
 channel during the whole time the tide is out. In So- 
 mersetshire the people know how to find the holes in the 
 banks of rivers in which eels are laid up, by the hoar- 
 
CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 
 
 287 
 
 the deviations of winch from the usual form 
 of fishes are beyond the power of words to 
 describe, and scarcely of the pencil to draw. 
 In this class we have the Pipe Fish, that al- 
 
 frost not lying over them as it does elsewhere, and dig 
 them out in heaps. The practice of searching for eels 
 in mud in cold weather is not confined to this country ; 
 Dr Mitchill, in his paper on the Fishes of New York, 
 published in the Transactions of the Literary and Philo- 
 sophical Society of that city, says, " In the winter eels 
 lie concealed in the mud, and are taken in great num- 
 bers by spears." Thus imbedded in mud, in a state of 
 torpidity, the eel indicates a low degree of respiration. 
 Dr Marshall Hall has shown that the quantity of respi- 
 ration is inversely as the degree of irritability. With a 
 high degree of irritability and a low respiration, co-ex- 
 ist 1st. The power of sustaining the privation of air 
 and of food ; 2nd. A low animal temperature ; 3rd. 
 Little activity; 4th. Great tenacity of life. All these 
 peculiarities eels are well known to possess. The 
 high degree of irritability of the muscular fibre ex- 
 plains the restless motions of eels during thunder- 
 storms, and helps to account for the enormous cap- 
 tures made in some rivers by the use of gratings, boxes, 
 and eel pots or baskets, which imprison all that enter. 
 The power of enduring the effects of a low temperature 
 is shown by the fact, that eels exposed on the ground till 
 frozen, then buried in snow, and at the end of four days 
 put into water, and so thawed slowly, discovered gradu- 
 ally signs of life, and soon perfectly recovered. 
 
 The mode by which young eels are produced appears 
 to have long been a subject of inquiry, and the notions of 
 the ancients as well as of some of the moderns were nu- 
 merous and fanciful. Aristotle believed that they sprang 
 from the mud ; Pliny, from fragments which were sepa- 
 rated from their bodies by rubbing against rocks; others 
 supposed that they proceeded from the carcasses of ani- 
 mals ; Helmont believed that they came from May-dew, 
 and might be obtained by the following process : " Cut 
 up two turfs covered with May-dew, and lay one upon 
 the other, the grassy sides inwards, and thus expose them 
 to the heat of the sun; in a few hours there will spring 
 from them an infinite quantity of eels." Horse-hair 
 from the tail of a stallion, when deposited in water, was 
 formerly believed to be a never-failing source of a supply 
 of young eels. It was long considered certain that they 
 were viviparous : this belief had its origin probably in 
 the numerous worms that are frequently to be found in 
 various parts of the bodies of eels, sometimes in the se- 
 rous cavities, at others in the intestinal canal. Rudol- 
 phi has enumerated eight different species of entozoa 
 common to fresh-water eels. The enormous number of 
 young known to be produced by eels is a good negative 
 proof that they are oviparous ; viviparous fishes produc- 
 ing, on the contrary, but few young at a time, and 
 these too of considerable size when first excluded. Hav- 
 ing devoted time and attention to the close examination 
 of numbers of eels for many months in succession, the 
 further details of which will be found in Mr Jesse's se- 
 cond series of Gleanings in Natural History, I need only 
 here repeat my belief that eels are oviparous, producing 
 their young like other true bony fishes. 
 
 " The sexual organ consists of two long narrow sacs ex- 
 tending one on each side of the air-bladder throughout the 
 whole length of the abdominal cavity, and continuing for 
 two inches posterior to the vent. The membranes form- 
 ing this tubular sac, secreting on the inner surface the 
 milt of the male, and affording attachment for the ova in 
 the female, are puckered or gathered along the line of 
 junction to the peritoneal covering of the spine, and the 
 free or loose floating edge is therefore thrown into creases 
 or plaits like a frill. It is probably from this folded 
 or convoluted appearance the sexual organs of the eel 
 
 most tapers to a thread, and the Sun Fish, 
 that has the appearance of a bulky head, but 
 the body cut oft' in the middle ; the Hippocam- 
 pus, with a head somewhat like that of a horse, 
 
 have frequently been called fringes. By the kind- 
 ness of my friends Mr Clift and Mr Owen, of the Royal 
 College of Surgeons, I have had the pleasure of seeing 
 some drawings belonging to the collection of John Hun- 
 ter, in which these peculiarities of the sexual organs in 
 the eel are beautifully exhibited in various magnified re- 
 presentations." 
 
 Dr Mitchill of New York, whose paper on Fishes has 
 been already referred to, says " the roes or ovaria of eels 
 may be seen by those who will look for them in the pro- 
 per season, like those of other fishes." 
 
 Eels that have lain in brackish water all the winter 
 under the constant influence of the higher temperature 
 of that locality, probably deposit their spawn earlier in 
 the spring than those which have passed the winter in 
 places from which there existed for them no possible 
 egress. In the Mole, the Wey, the Longford river, and 
 in some large ponds, the eels in the spring of 1833 did 
 not deposit their spawn till near the end of April ; but in 
 two eels from Sheerness received and examined on the 
 18th of May, the internal appearances induced me to 
 believe that the roes had been passed some time. How 
 long the ova remain deposited before the young eel is 
 produced, is, I believe, unknown. The duration of this 
 interval is very variable in different fishes. The roe of 
 the herring, deposited at the end of October or the be- 
 ginning of November, is said to become living fry within 
 three weeks : the ova of eels, the produce of which is 
 very small, do not probably require a longer period. 
 Both the parent eels and the fry occupying the brackish 
 water appear to have the power of going either to the 
 salt water or to the fresh without inconvenience, from 
 the previous preparation which the respiratory organs 
 have undergone, and many of both are found in pure sea 
 water : the great bulk of the young, however, certainly 
 ascend the stream of the river, and their annual appear- 
 ance in certain places is looked for with some interest. 
 The passage of young eels up the Thames at Kingston 
 in the year 1832 commenced on the 30th of April, and 
 lasted till the 4th of May; but I believe I am correct in 
 stating that few young eels were observed to pass up the 
 Thames either in the year 1834 or 1835. Some notion 
 may be formed of the quantity of young eels, each about 
 three inches long, that pass up the Thames in the spring, 
 and in other rivers the beginning of summer, from the 
 circumstance that it was calculated by two observers of 
 the progress of the young eels at Kingston in 1832, tiiat 
 from sixteen to eighteen hundred passed a given point in 
 the space of one minute of time. This passage of young 
 eels is called ee\-fare on the banks of the Thames, 
 the Saxon word signifying to go, to pass, to travel ;* and 
 I have very little doubt that the term Elver, in common 
 use on the banks of the Severn for a young eel, is a mo- 
 dification or corruption of eel-fare. 
 
 " When the elvers appear in the Severn, they are 
 taken in great quantities with sieves of hair-cloth, or 
 even with a common basket, and, after being scoured 
 and boiled, are offered for sale. They are either fried in 
 cakes or stewed, and are accounted very delicious." 
 
 There is no doubt that eels occasionally quit the 
 water, and when grass meadows are wet from dew, or 
 other causes, travel during the night over the moist sur- 
 face in search of frogs and other suitable food, or to 
 change their situation. Some ponds continually produce 
 eels, though the owners of these ponds are most desirous 
 
 * A pedestrian on the road is called "away-faring man;-' 
 and hence, also, the price for travelling 1 by a conveyance is 
 called " the fare." We have also ''thoroughfare," &c. 
 
288 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 and the Water Bat, whose head can scarcely 
 be distinguished from the body. In this class 
 we find the Fishing Frog, which from its de- 
 formity some have called the Sea Devil ; the 
 Chimaera, the Lump Fish, the Sea Porcu- 
 pine, and the Sea Snail. Of all these the 
 history is but little known ; and naturalists 
 supply the place with description. 
 
 The Sun Fish sometimes grows to a very 
 large size ; one taken near Plymouth was five 
 hundred weight. In form it resembles a 
 
 of keeping the water free from eels, from a knowledge 
 of their destructive habits towards the spawn and fry of 
 other fishes. Other ponds into which eels have been 
 constantly introduced are obnoxious to them from some 
 quality in the water ; and they are known to leave such 
 places during the night, and have been found, on their 
 passage to other retreats. Dr Hastings, in his Illustra- 
 tions of the Natural History of Worcestershire, says at 
 page 134, " I will here mention a curious confirmation 
 of the opinion in favour of the overland migration of 
 eels. A relative of the late Mr Perrott was out in his 
 park with his keeper near a large piece of water, on a 
 very beautiful evening, when the keeper drew his atten- 
 tion to a fine eel quietly ascending the bank of the pool, 
 and with an undulating motion making its way through 
 the long grass: on further observation he perceived a 
 considerable number of eels quietly proceeding to a 
 range of stews, nearly the distance of a quarter of a mile 
 from the large piece of water from whence they started. ! 
 The stews were supplied by a rapid brook, and in all 
 probability the instinct of the fish led them in that di- 
 rection as a means of finding their way to some large 
 river from whence their ultimate destination, the sea, 
 might be obtained. This circumstance took place at 
 Sandford Park, near Enstone." 
 
 That eels breed also in the fresh water of inland 
 rivers and lakes from which they are unable to visit the 
 sea. is, I believe, certain. A constant supply for the 
 table is obtained throughout the winter in these locali- 
 ties, as well as at other seasons, by gamekeepers and 
 fishermen, who have charge of waters thus situated ; and 
 no doubt exists in their minds that these eels are bred 
 in the places from which they are obtained, and of which 
 the great variation that occurs in the size is an additional 
 proof. 
 
 The eel is a voracious feeder during certain months 
 of the year. In winter the stomachs of those which I 
 examined were empty: by the middle of March I found 
 the stomachs of others distended with the larvae of vari- 
 ous insects, and the bones of small fishes. They are 
 known to consume a large quantity of spaxvn, and will 
 attack large carp, seizing them by the fins, though with- 
 out the power of doing them further injury. Occasion- 
 ally they eat vegetable substances, and have been seen 
 swimming about the surface of water, cropping the 
 leaves of small aquatic plants. By means of a long and 
 capacious air-bladder, eels' rise to various elevations in 
 the water with great ease, and sometimes swim very 
 high even in deep water. When whitebait-fishing in 
 the Thames, I once caught an eel in the net in twenty- 
 six feet depth of water, though the whitebait-net does 
 not dip more than about three feet below the surface. 
 
 Eels appear to be slow of growth, not attaining greater 
 length than twelve inches during the first year, and do 
 not mature roe till the second or third year. The sharp- 
 nosed species, however, acquires a large size. I saw at 
 Cambridge the preserved skins of two which weighed to- 
 gether fifty pounds ; the heaviest twenty-seven pounds, 
 the second twenty-three pounds. They were taken on 
 draining a fen-dyke at Wisbeach. 
 
 bream, or some deep fish cut off in the middle : 
 the mouth is very small, and contains in each 
 jaw two broad teeth, with sharp edges : the 
 colour of the back is dusky and dappled, and 
 the belly is a silvery white. When boiled, 
 it has been observed to turn to a glutinous 
 jelly, and would most probably serve for all 
 the purposes of isinglass, were it found in 
 sufficient plenty. 
 
 The Fishing Frog 1 in shape very much 
 resembles a tadpole or young frog; but then 
 
 Ely is said to have been so named from rents being 
 formerly paid in eels: the lords of manors in the isle 
 were annually entitled to more than 100,000 eels. A 
 stich or stick of eels was twenty-five ; and the practice 
 of stringing eels on tough slender willow-twigs, put in 
 at the gill-aperture and out at the mouth, still prevails 
 in Dorsetshire among those who carry eels about for 
 sale from house to house ; one, two, or three pounds' 
 weight being thus strung on a stick, to suit different 
 customers. Elmore on the Severn obtained its name 
 from the immense number of eels which are tai\en 
 there. Yarrell's British Fishes, vol. II. 
 
 1 The Fishing-Frog, Angler, Sea-Devil, or tJ'idc- 
 Gab. This fish, (says Mr Yarrell) which is not uncom- 
 mon in all the seas of Europe, and was in consequence 
 
 called Lophius Europasus by Shaw, has also been called 
 frog and frog-fish from the earliest time, from its resem- 
 blance to a frog in the tadpole state. Its habits appeared 
 to the fishermen of former days so exact a representation 
 ofHhe art themselves practised that they by common con- 
 sent called it the Fisher. Aristotle calls it a sort of frog, 
 which, he says, is also called a fisher; and he adds; 
 that this fish owes its name to the tact and industry it 
 exercises to procure food. This fish has been taken on 
 the coast of Londonderry, Antrim, Dublin, Waterford, 
 and Cork, in Ireland; in England, on the coasts of 
 Cornwall, Devonshire, Norfolk, and Yorkshire ; in Scot- 
 land, in the Forth and among the Northern islands. It 
 is also named by authors as common on the shores of the 
 Baltic and Norway. 
 
 In its appetite this fish is most voracious ; and as it 
 is not a rapid swimmer, possessing but little power in 
 its pectoral fins, it is supposed to be obliged to have 
 recourse to art in order to satisfy its appetite. Upon 
 the head, as will be seen in the figure, are two slender 
 elongated appendages, the first of them broad and flat, 
 tened towards the end, and having at this dilated part a 
 shining silvery appearance. These elongated filaments 
 are curiously articulated at the base with the upper sur- 
 face of the head. They have great freedom of motion 
 in any direction, the first filament more especially, pro- 
 duced by numerous muscles, amounting, according to 
 M. Bailly, to twenty-two. 
 
 These elongated shafts are formed of bone covered by 
 the common skin ; and as the soft parts are abundantly 
 supplied with nerves, they may also serve the angler as 
 delicate organs of touch. The uses to which they are 
 applied are singular. While couching close to the ground, 
 the fish, by the action of its ventral and pectoral fins, 
 
CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 
 
 289 
 
 a tadpole of enormous size , for it grows to above 
 five feet long, and its mouth is sometimes a 
 yard wide. Nothing can exceed its deformity. 
 The head is much bigger than the whole 
 body; the under jaw projects beyond the 
 upper, and both are armed with rows of slender 
 sharp teeth: the palate and the tongue are 
 furnished with teeth in like manner: the eyes 
 are placed on the top of the head, and are en- 
 compassed with prickles : immediately above 
 the nose, are two long beards or filaments, 
 small in the beginning, but thicker at the 
 end, and round : these, as it is said, answer 
 a very singular purpose ; for being made 
 somewhat resembling a fishing-line, it is as- 
 serted, that the animal converts them to the 
 purposes of fishing. With these extended, as 
 Pliny asserts, the fishing frog hides in muddy 
 waters, and leaves nothing but the beards to 
 be seen : the curiosity of the smaller fish brings 
 them to view these filaments, and their hunger 
 induces them to seize the bait; upon which 
 the animal in ambush instantly draws in its 
 filaments, with the little fish that had taken 
 the bait, and devours it without mercy. This 
 story, though apparently improbable, has found 
 credit among some of our best naturalists ; 
 but what induces me to doubt the fact is, that 
 there is another species of this animal, that 
 has no beards, which it would not want if they 
 were necessary to the existence of the kind. 
 Rondeletius informs us, that if we take out 
 the bowels, the body will appear with a kind 
 of transparence ; and that, if a lighted candle 
 be placed within the body, as in a lantern, 
 the whole has a very formidable appearance. 
 The fishermen, however, have in general a 
 
 stirs up the sand or mud : hidden by the obscurity thus 
 produced, it elevates these appendages, moves them in 
 various directions by way of attraction as a bait, and 
 the small fishes approaching either to examine or to seize 
 them, immediately become the prey of the fisher. 
 
 Numerous are the writers who have borne their testi- 
 mony to this habit, and some have extolled it as raising 
 the intellectual character of this fish beyond that of 
 most of its class. Half the animal world seem destined 
 to destroy each other, some by open violence, others by 
 stratagem ; and this design in the angler, though singu- 
 lar, is not more wonderful than that of the spiders among 
 insects, who spin and repair their widely-spread webs 
 to catch other insects upon which they subsist. 
 
 The angler has been known to measure five feet in 
 length, but the most common size is about three feet. 
 Mr Couch says, "It makes but little difference what 
 the prey is, either in respect of size or quality. A 
 fisherman had hooked a cod-fish, and while drawing it 
 up he felt a heavier weight attach itself to his line : this 
 proved to be an angler of large size, which he compelled 
 to quit its hold by a heavy blow on its head, leaving its 
 prey still attached to the hook. In another instance, 
 an angler seized a conger eel that had taken the hook j 
 but after the latter had been engulphed in the enormous 
 jaws and perhaps stomach, it struggled through the 
 gill-aperture of the angler, and in that situation both 
 were drawn up together. I have been told of its swal- 
 lowing the large ball of cord employed as a buoy to a 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 great regard for this ugly fish, as it is an 
 enemy to dog-fish, the bodies of those fierce 
 and voracious animals being often found in its 
 stomach ; whenever they take it, therefore, 
 they always set it at liberty. 
 
 The Lump Fish is trifling in size, com- 
 pared to the former ; its length is but sixteen 
 inches, and its weight about four pounds ; the 
 shape of the body is like that of a bream, 
 deep, and it swims edgeways; the back is 
 sharp and elevated, and the belly flat; the 
 lips, mouth, and tongue of this animal, are of 
 a deep red ; the whole skin is rough, with 
 bony knobs; the largest row is along the 
 ridge of the back ; the belly is of a bright 
 crimson colour : but what makes the chief 
 singularity in this fish, is an oval aperture in 
 the belly, surrounded with a fleshy soft sub- 
 stance that seems bearded all round ; by 
 means of this part it adheres with vast force 
 to any thing it pleases. If flung into a pail 
 of water, it will stick so close to the bottom, 
 that on taking the fish by the tail, one may 
 lift up pail and all, though it holds several 
 gallons of water. Great numbers of these 
 fish are found along the coasts of Greenland 
 in the beginning of summer, where they 
 resort to spawn. Their roe is remarkably 
 large, and the Greenlanders boil it to a pulp 
 for eating. They are extremely fat, but not 
 admired in England, being both flabby and 
 insipid. 
 
 The Sea Snail takes its name from the soft 
 and unctuous texture of its body, resembling 
 the snail upon land. It is almost transparent, 
 and soon dissolves and melts away. It is but 
 a little animal, being not above five inches 
 
 bulter, or deep-sea line ; and the fact this implies of its 
 mounting to the surface is further confirmed by the evi- 
 dence of sailors and fishermen, who have seen it floating, 
 and taken it with a line at mid-water. These fishes 
 sometimes abound, and a fisherman who informed me 
 of the circumstance found seven of them at one time 
 on the deck of a trawl-boat : on expressing his surprise 
 at the number, he was told that it was not uncommon 
 to take a dozen at once." Couch. 
 
 " When this fish is taken in a net, its captivity does 
 not destroy its rapacious appetite, but it generally de- 
 vours some of its fellow-prisoners, which have been 
 taken from the stomach alive, especially flounders. It 
 is not so much sought after for its own flesh, as for the 
 fish generally to be found in its stomach: thus, though 
 the fishermen reject the fish itself they do not reject 
 those that the fish has collected." 
 
 " A female examined measured three feet three 
 inches, the breadth across the body at the pectoral fins 
 fifteen inches. Within the teeth, on the lower jaw, is a 
 loose skin of a brown colour, like the back of the fish, 
 forming a sort of bag, which probably assists in prevent- 
 ing the escape of its smaller prey. A male examined 
 was three feet five inches long. When this fish was 
 suspended by the head, the contents of its stomach were 
 readily seen, and I perceived several cuttle-fish. The 
 sexes are distinctly marked by external appendages, as 
 iu some species of Raia" Montagu. 
 
 2 
 
290 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 long. The colour, when fresh taken, is of a 
 pale brown, the shape of the body round, and 
 the back fin reaches all the way from the 
 head to the tail. Beneath the throat is a 
 round depression, of a whitish colour, sur- 
 rounded by twelve brown spots, placed in a 
 circle. It is taken in England at the mouth of 
 rivers, four or five miles distant from the sea. 
 The body of the Pipe Fish, in the thickest 
 part, is not thicker than a swan-quill, while it 
 is above sixteen inches long. This is angular, 
 but the angles being not very sharp, they are 
 not discernible until the fish is dried. Its 
 general colour is an olive-brown, marked with 
 numbers of bluish lines, pointing from the 
 back to the belly. It is viviparous ; for on 
 crushing one that was just taken, hundreds of 
 very minute young ones were observed to 
 crawl about. 1 
 
 1 There are several varieties of pipe fish, such as the 
 Great Pipe Fish, (for which see Plate XXII. fig. 3.) 
 the Deep Nosed Pipe Fish, the Worm Pipe Fish, the 
 Snake Pipe Fish, &c. The following cut represents the 
 Snake Pipe Fish. 
 
 The Hippocampus is a species of Pipe Fish of singular 
 construction. The following represents its figure. It 
 
 is about five inches long. For Hippocampus foliatus, 
 see Plate XXII. fig. 10. 
 
 The Gar Fish.lte Gar Fish belongs to the class of 
 needle fish, which denomination they have received from 
 the extreme length of their bodies in proportion to their 
 thickness. They have no scales, but scuta or bucklers, 
 with several angles. The hexagonal form of the body and 
 the anal fin, are the distinguishing characters of the gar 
 fish. The body is composed of eighteen scuta, and the 
 tail of thirty-six, which form as many joints; the tail is 
 square. It is found in the North and Baltic seas ; it 
 scarcely exceeds the length of a foot, and the thickness of 
 a finger. Besides the appellation of needle fish and gar 
 fish, it is sometimes called by that of a shorter pipe and 
 horn fish. 
 
 The Needle Fish are natives of the ocean, and the 
 North and Baltic seas. They are usually found in deep 
 places near the coasts, where they are caught with other 
 fish. They produce their young in a perfect state, one 
 after the other, from eggs hatched in their bodies, like 
 the sharks and rays. Having but little flesh they are 
 fit only for 'baiting lines; and they are the more proper 
 for this purpose as they are tenacious of life: and it is 
 well known that fish bite more eagerly at a living bait 
 llian a dead one. 
 
 The Hippocampus, which, from the form 
 of its head, some call the seahorse, never ex- 
 ceeds nine inches in length. It is about as 
 thick as a man's thumb, and the body is said, 
 while alive, to have hair on the fore-part, 
 which falls oif when it is dead. The snout is 
 a sort of a tube with a hole at the bottom, to 
 which there is a cover, which the animal can 
 open and shut at pleasure. Behind the eyes 
 there are two fins which look like ears ; and 
 above them are two holes which serve for res- 
 piration. The whole body seems to be composed 
 of cartilaginous rings, on the intermediate 
 membranes of which several small prickles 
 are placed. It is found in the Mediterranean, 
 and also in the Western ocean ; and, upon 
 the whole, more resembles a great caterpillar 
 than a fish. The ancients considered it as 
 extremely venomous ; probably induced by its 
 peculiar figure. 
 
 From these harmless animals, covered with 
 a slight coat of mail, we may proceed to others, 
 more thickly defended, and more formidably 
 armed, whose exact station in the scale of 
 fishes is riot yet ascertained. While Linnasus 
 ranks them among the cartilaginous kinds, a 
 
 The Sea Adder, or little pipe, is nearly round, having 
 only some very small and scarcely perceptible angular 
 projections on the sides. It has but one fin ; and the 
 body is divided into joints, like that of the common 
 worm. It grows to the length of two feet, and is not 
 thicker than a swan's quill. It inhabits the North and 
 Baltic seas, and is of the same nature as the two for- 
 mer fish. 
 
 The Long File Fish. The body of the long file fish 
 is not very deep; the skin is divided by smooth furrows, 
 with small rough scale-like spaces: each of these, on 
 the sides, have a small spine pointing towards the tail ; 
 the first dorsal fin has three spines, the first of which is 
 very large, and rough in front like a file, and hence the 
 English name; the third very short, and situated at a 
 considerable distance from the other two; the skin at 
 the back and belly, at the base of the dorsal and anal fins 
 drawn out and compressed; pectoral fins small; dorsal 
 and anal fins triangular, and situated nearly opposite each 
 other; the tail even at the end. A singular property is 
 possessed by the first dorsal fin of this fish, which is, that 
 no force can depress the first spine; but if the last be 
 depressed in ever so gentle a manner, the other two im- 
 mediately fall down upon it, and as instantaneously as 
 when a cross-bow is let off by pulling the trigger. One 
 sort found in the Mediterranean, near Rome, is on that 
 account called pisce balestra, the cross-bow fish. 
 
 There is another species, mentioned by Walcott, the 
 body of which is much compressed and deep; the rays 
 of the dorsal fin, spiny; the first ray very long and 
 rough; first dorsal fin, and the back from its base, black; 
 skin rough ; tail rough ; and in the place of each ventral 
 fin a long rough spine. Also another species, (named 
 hispidus by naturalists,) is found in Carolina ; the head 
 fin of which is not radiated, and there is a round black 
 spot in the tail fin. The body is rough, and bristly to- 
 wards the tail. The spine, or horn, is situated between 
 the eyes ; and instead of a belly fin it has a jagged sharp 
 spine. Several more species, or varieties, are found in 
 the Indian ocean, and at Ascension island, all which, 
 together with the unicorn, go by the general name of the 
 belestes. For common file fish, see Plate XXI. fig. 22 
 
CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 
 
 291 
 
 later naturalist places them among the spinous 
 class. With which tribe they most agree, 
 succeeding observations must determine. At 
 present we seem better acquainted with their 
 figure than their history : their deformity is 
 obvious; and the venomous nature of the great- 
 est number has been confirmed by fatal ex- 
 perience. This circumstance, as well as the 
 happy distance at which they are placed from 
 us, being all found in the Oriental or Amer- 
 ican seas, may have prevented a more critical 
 inquiry; so that we know but little of the 
 nature of their malignity, and still less of their 
 pursuits and enmities in the deep. 
 
 In the first of this tribe we may place the 
 Sea Orb, which is almost round, has a mouth 
 like a frog, and is from seven inches to two 
 feet long. Like the porcupine, from whence 
 it sometimes takes its name, being also called 
 the Sea Porcupine, it is covered over with 
 long thorns or prickles, which point on every 
 side; and, when the animal is enraged, it can 
 blow up its body as round as a bladder. Of 
 this extraordinary creature there are many 
 kinds : some threatening only with spines, as 
 the Sea Hedgehog ; others defended with a 
 bony helmet that covers the head, as the Os- 
 tracion; others with a coat of mail from the 
 head to the tail, where it terminates in a point, 
 as the Centriscus ; and others still armed of- 
 fensively and defensively with bones and 
 spines, as the Shield Orb. 1 
 
 Of these scarcely one is without its peculiar 
 weapon of offence. The centriscus wounds 
 with its spine ; the ostracion poisons with its 
 venom ; the orb is impregnable, and is abso- 
 lutely poisonous if eaten. Indeed, their figure 
 is not such as would tempt one to make the 
 experiment ; and the natives of those countries 
 
 1 The Eared Ostracion (See Plate XXI. fig. 21.) 
 This fish has a brown spine over each eye, two on each 
 side of the back, the same on each side of the abdomen, 
 and one on each side of the body. Its teeth are cylin- 
 drical, blunt, and pointing forwards. The whole body 
 is mailed with a complete bony covering. This species 
 is found about the islands of the Pacific ocean, and is 
 readily distinguished from the rest of its cogeners. Its 
 length is about four inches and a half. (For Ostracion 
 turritus, see Plate XXII. fig. 13.) 
 
 The Lineated Tetrodon. The jaws are bony, and 
 divided at the tip; the body is roughened beneath, and 
 the ventral fins wanting; the abdomen is variegated by 
 longitudinal brown bands. This singular fish, which is 
 a native of the Mediterranean sea, is also said to be 
 sometimes found in the river Nile. Like many others 
 of its genus, it has a power of inflating at pleasure the 
 skin of its body ; and being covered on the abdomen with 
 numerous small spines, is said to inflict considerable pain 
 on the hands of those who incautiously touch it. It grows 
 to the length of from eight to ten inches. (For Tetrodon 
 hispidus, see Plate XXI. fig. 4.) 
 
 The Orbicular Diadon. This remarkable fish grows 
 about a foot in length, and is a native of the tropical seas. 
 It is of a rounder shape than the Diadon Hy striae, or 
 Porcupine Diadon ; (for which see Plate XXII. fig. 17.) 
 
 where they are found, are careful to inform 
 foreigners of their danger: yet a certain sailor 
 at the Cape of Good Hope, not believing what 
 the Dutch told him concerning their venom, 
 was resolved to make the experiment, and 
 break through a prejudice, which, he supposed, 
 was founded on the animal's deformity. He 
 tried, and ate one ; but his rashness cost him 
 his life; he instantly fell sick, and died a few 
 days after. 
 
 These frightful animals are of different 
 sizes ; some not bigger than a foot-ball, and 
 others as large as a bushel. They almost all 
 flatten and erect their spines at pleasure, and 
 increase the terrors of their appearance in 
 proportion to the approach of danger. At first 
 they seem more inoffensive ; their body oblong, 
 with all their weapons pointing towards the 
 tail ; but, upon being provoked or alarmed, 
 the body, that before seemed small, swells to 
 the view ; the animal visibly grows rounder 
 and larger, and all its prickles stand upright, 
 and threaten the invader on every side. The 
 Americans often amuse themselves with the 
 barren pleasure of catching these frightful 
 creatures by a line and hook, baited with a 
 piece of sea-crab. The animal approaches the 
 bait with its spines flattened ; but when hooked 
 and stopped by the line, straight all its spines 
 are erected ; the whole body being armed 
 in such a manner at all points, that it is 
 impossible to lay hold of it on any part. For 
 this reason it is dragged to some distance from 
 the water, and there it quickly expires. In 
 the middle of the bejly of all these there is a 
 sort of bag or bladder filled with air, and by 
 the inflation of which the animal swells itself 
 in the manner already mentioned. 
 
 In describing the deformed animals of this 
 
 its jaws are bony, and undivided ; and the body beset 
 with movable spines. The spines are much shorter than 
 the porcupine diadon, with broader bases, forming a kind 
 of curved reticular pattern on the skin. 
 
 The Scaly Centriscus. The head of this fish is pro- 
 duced into a very narrow snout; its mouth is toothless, 
 with the lower jaw longer than the upper one. The 
 gill-openings are wide; its body is compressed, with the 
 abdomen carinated; and the ventral fins united. The 
 Scaly Centriscus or Bellows Fish is a native of the Me- 
 diterranean sea, and grows to the length of five or six 
 inches: it feeds on worms, and the smaller kinds of ma- 
 rine insects. 
 
 The Telescope Fish. The whole body of this fish, and 
 the ground colour of the fins, is of a beautiful red, darker 
 towards the back, and lighter towards the belly: the 
 membranes of the fins are almost white ; and the red 
 rays shining through them have a very fine eflect; the 
 three white points of the tail give you an idea of a tri- 
 dent or tulip. The head is short, but large; the mouth 
 is small ; the nostrils single. The pupil of the eye is 
 black, the iris yellow ; the back is round ; the lateral 
 line nearer the back than the head. The scales on the 
 belly are large; the rays of the fins are ramified. This 
 beautiful fish is found in the fresh waters of China, and 
 is supposed to be a variety of the gold fish. 
 
292 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 class, one is sometimes at a loss whether it be 
 a lish or an insect that lies before him. Thus 
 the hippocampus and the pipe-fish bear a strong 
 resemblance to the caterpillar and the worm ; 
 while the lesser orb bears some likeness to the 
 class of sea-eggs to be described after. I will 
 conclude this account of cartilaginous fishes 
 with the description of an animal which I 
 would scarcely call a fish, but that Father La- 
 bat dignifies it with the name. Indeed, this 
 class teems with such a number of odd-shaped 
 animals, that one is prompted to rank every 
 thing extraordinary of the finny species among 
 the number : but besides, Labat says, its bones 
 are cartilaginous, and that may entitle it to a 
 place here. 
 
 The animal I mean is the Galley Fish, 
 which Linnaeus degrades into the insect tribe, 
 under the title of the medusa, but which I 
 choose to place in this tribe, from its habits, 
 that are somewhat similar. To the eye of an 
 unmindful spectator, this fish seems a trans- 
 parent bubble swimming on the surface of the 
 sea, or like a bladder variously and beautifully 
 painted with vivid colours, where red and 
 violet predominate, as variously opposed to 
 the beams of the sun. It is, however, an ac- 
 tual fish ; the body of which is composed of 
 cartilages, and a very thin skin filled with air, 
 which thus keeps the animal floating on the 
 surface, as the waves and the winds happen to 
 drive. Sometimes it is seen thrown on the 
 shore by one wave, and again washed back 
 into the sea by another. Persons who happen 
 to be walking along the shore often happen to 
 tread upon these animals ; and the bursting of 
 their body yields a report like that when one 
 treads upon the swim of a fish. It has eight 
 broad feet, with which it swims, or which it 
 expands to catch the air as with a sail. It 
 fastens itself to whatever it meets by means 
 of its legs, which have an adhesive quality. 
 Whether they move when on shore, Labat 
 could never perceive, though he did every 
 thing to make them stir ; he only saw that it 
 strongly adhered to whatever substances he 
 applied it. It is very common in America, 
 and grows to the size of a goose-egg, or some- 
 what more. It is perpetually seen floating; 
 and no efforts that are used to hurt it can sink 
 it to the bottom. All that appears above water 
 is a bladder clear and transparent as glass, 
 
 and shining with the most beautiful colours of 
 the rainbow. Beneath, in the water, are four 
 of the feet already mentioned, that serve as 
 oars, while the other four are expanded above 
 to sail with. But what is most remarkable 
 in this extraordinary creature, is the violent 
 pungency of the slimy substance with which 
 its legs are smeared. If the smallest quantity 
 but touch the skin, so caustic is its quality, 
 that it burns it like hot oil dropped on the 
 part affected. The pain is worst in the heat 
 of the day, but ceases in the cool of the even- 
 ing. It is from feeding on these that he 
 thinks the poisonous quality contracted by 
 some West Indian fish may be accounted for. 
 It is certain these animals are extremely 
 common along all the coasts in the gulf of 
 Mexico; and whenever the shore is covered 
 with them in an unusual manner, it is con- 
 sidered as a certain forerunner of a storm. 1 
 
 1 The Remora or Sucking- Fish. (See Plate XXI. 
 fig. 16.) This extraordinary fish is furnished with a 
 most peculiar apparatus, on the crown of its head, by 
 which it is enabled at will to fix itself firmly to any other 
 body. For what purpose this uncommon arrangement 
 of parts has been bestowed on it, we have no certain 
 means of judging; for the wonders of the deep are but 
 partially unfolded to our view, and the deep recesses of 
 its caves, the feeding-grounds of fish, are completely 
 out of our reach. We may, however, by observing the 
 peculiar formation of the remora, make some reasonable 
 conjecture at the intention of Providence in thus depart- 
 ing from its ordinary course. 
 
 The small size of the fins in this fish, take away 
 from it the power of rapid motion ; it may therefore be 
 supposed, that at times it fixes itself to the moving 
 bodies, such as ships, or larger fish, on which it is fre- 
 quently found, for the purpose of rest, or to help it more 
 rapidly onward in its course. It may also feed, in one 
 instance, on substances thrown overboard by the sailors, 
 and in the other, on such portions of food as its larger 
 companion rejects or lets slip. In addition to this, the 
 power of attaching itself to rocks or other fixed bodies at 
 the bottom of the sea, while waiting for the passing by 
 of any small object on which it can prey, will, no doubt, 
 at times, be of great advantage to its possessor. 
 
 A foolish idea prevailed, in former times, that when 
 this fish attached itself in great numbers to the bottoms 
 of vessels, it impeded, or even stopped them in their 
 course, and many fabulous tales have been told to that 
 effect. If no other object has been gained, by the 
 study of natural history, than the removal of such 
 simple prejudices, which would seem to imply that one 
 part of the creation was made for the useless destruction 
 of another, still that study would be a useful object of 
 cultivation. 
 
HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 OF SPINOUS FISHES. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 THE DIVISION OF SPINOUS FISHES. 
 
 THE third general division of fishes is into 
 that of the spinous or bony kind. These are 
 obviously distinguished from the rest by having 
 a complete bony covering to their gills ; by 
 their being furnished with no other method of 
 breathing but gills only ; by their bones, 
 which are sharp and thorny ; and their tails, 
 which are placed in a situation perpendicular 
 to the body. This is that class which alone 
 our later naturalists are willing to admit as 
 fishes. The cetaceous class with them are but 
 beasts that have taken up their abode in the 
 ocean ; the cartilaginous class are an amphi- 
 bious band, that are but half denizens of that 
 element : it is fishes of the spinous kind that 
 really deserve the appellation. 
 
 This distinction the generality of mankind 
 will hardly allow ; but whatever be the jus- 
 tice of this preference in favour of the spinous 
 class, it is certain that the cetaceous and car- 
 tilaginous classes bear no proportion to them 
 in number. Of the spinous classes are already 
 known above four hundred species ; so that 
 the numbers of the former are trifling in com- 
 parison, and make not above a fifth part of the 
 finny creation. 
 
 From the great variety in this class, it is 
 obvious how difficult a task it must have been 
 to describe or remember even a part of what 
 it contains. When six hundred different sorts 
 of animals offer themselves to consideration, 
 the mind is bewildered in the multiplicity of 
 objects that all lay some claim to its attention. 
 To obviate this confusion, systems have been 
 devised, which, throwing several fishes that 
 agree in many particulars into one group, and 
 thus uniting all into so many particular bodies, 
 the mind that was incapable of separately con- 
 
 sidering each, is enabled to comprehend all, 
 when thus offered in larger masses to its con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Indeed, of all the beings in animated na- 
 ture, fishes most demand a systematical ar- 
 rangement. Quadrupeds are but few, and 
 can be all known; birds, from their seldom 
 varying in their size, can be very tolerably 
 distinguished without system ; but among 
 fishes, which no size can discriminate, where 
 the animal ten inches, and the animal ten feet 
 long, is entirely the same, there must be some 
 other criterion by which they are to be distin- 
 guished ; something that gives precision to our 
 ideas of the animal whose history we desire to 
 know. 
 
 Of the real history of fishes, very little is 
 yet known ; but of very many we have full 
 and sufficient accounts, as to their external 
 form. It would be unpardonable, therefore, 
 in a history of these animals, not to give the 
 little we do know : and, at least, arrange our 
 forces, though we cannot tell their destination. 
 In this art of arrangement, Artedi and Lin- 
 naeus have long been conspicuous: they have 
 both taken a view of the animal's form in dif- 
 ferent lights; and, from the parts which most 
 struck them, have founded their respective 
 systems. 
 
 Artedi, who was foremost, perceiving that 
 some fishes had prickly fins, as the pike; that 
 others had soft pliant ones, as the herring ; and 
 that others still wanted that particular fin by 
 which the gills are opened and shut, as the 
 eel, made out a system from these varieties. 
 Linnaeus, on the other hand, rejecting this 
 system, which he found liable to too many ex- 
 ceptions, considered the fins not with regard 
 to their substance, but their position. The 
 ventral fins seem to be the great object of his 
 system ; he considers them in fishes supplying 
 the same offices as feet in quadrupeds ; and 
 
294 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 from their total absence, or from their being 
 situated nearer the head or the tail, in differ- 
 ent lishes, he takes the differences of his sys- 
 tem. 
 
 These arrangements, which are totally arbi- 
 trary, and which are rather a method than a 
 science, are always fluctuating ; and the last 
 is generally preferred to that which went be- 
 fore. There has lately appeared, however, a 
 system composed by Mr Gouan, of Montpel- 
 lier, that deserves applause for more than its 
 novelty. It appears to me the best arrange- 
 ment of this kind that ever was made ; and in 
 it the divisions are not only precisely systema- 
 tical, but, in some measure, adopted by Na- 
 ture itself. This learned Frenchman has 
 united the systems of Artedi and Linnaeus to- 
 gether ; and, by bringing one to correct the 
 other, has made out a number of tribes that 
 are marked with the utmost precision. A 
 part of this system, however, we have already 
 gone through in the cartilaginous, or, as he 
 calls a part of them, the branchiostegous tribe 
 of fishes. In the arrangement of these, I 
 have followed Linnaeus, as the number of them 
 was but small, and his method simple. But 
 in that which is more properly called the spi- 
 nous class of fishes, I will follow Mr Gouan's 
 system ; the terms of which, as well as of all 
 the former systems, require some explanation. 
 I do not love to multiply the technical terms 
 of a science ; but it often happens that names, 
 by being long used, are as necessary to be 
 known as the science itself. 
 
 If we consider the substance of the fin of a 
 fish, we shall find it composed, besides the 
 skin, either of straight, hard, pointed, bony 
 prickles or spines, as in the pike; or of soft, 
 crooked, or forked bones, or cartilages, as in 
 the herring. The fish that have bony prickly 
 fins, are called prickly -finned fish; the latter, 
 that have soft, or cartilaginous fins, are called 
 soft-Jinned fish. The prickly-finned fish have 
 received the Greek new-formed name of 
 Acanthoptei'igii ; the soft-firmed fish have like- 
 wise their barbarous Greek name of Malacop- 
 terigii. Thus far Artedi has supplied Mr 
 Gouan with names and divisions. All spin- 
 ous fish are divided into prickly-finned fish 
 and soft-finned fish. 
 
 Again, Linnasus has taught him to remark 
 the situation of the fins ; for the ventral, or 
 belly-fins, which are those particularly to be 
 remarked, are either wholly wanting, as in 
 the eel, and then the fish is called Apodal (a 
 Greek word, signifying without feet) ; or the 
 ventral fins are placed more forward than the 
 pectoral fins, as in the haddock, and then the 
 animal is a Jugular-fish; or the ventral fins are 
 placed directly under the pectoral fins, as in 
 the father-lasher, and then it is called a Tho- 
 racic-fish ; or, lastly, the ventral fins are placed 
 
 ; nearer the tail than the pectoral fins, as in the 
 j minnow, arid then it is an Abdominal-fish. 
 
 Possessed of these distributions, the French 
 naturalist mixes and unites them into two 
 grand divisions. All the prickly-finned fish 
 make one general division ; all the soft-finned 
 fish another. These first are distinguished 
 from each other, as being either apodal, jugu- 
 lar, thoracic, or abdominal. Thus there are 
 prickly-finned apodal fishes ; prickly-finned 
 jugular fishes ; prickly-finned thoracic fishes; 
 and prickly-finned abdominal fishes. On the 
 other hand, the soft-finned fishes fall under a 
 similar distribution, and make the other gene- 
 ral division. Thus there are soft-finned apo- 
 dal fishes, soft-finned jugular fishes, soft-finned 
 thoracic fishes, and soft-finned abdominal fishes. 
 These general characters are strongly marked, 
 and easily remembered. It only remains, 
 therefore, to divide these into such tribes as 
 are most strongly marked by nature ; and to 
 give the distinct characters of each to form a 
 complete system with great simplicity. This 
 Mr Gouan has done ; and the tribes into 
 which he has distributed each of these divi- 
 sions, exactly amount to fifty. Thus the read- 
 er, who can contain in his memory the charac- 
 teristic marks of fifty kinds, will have a toler- 
 able idea of the form of every kind of spincms 
 fish. I say, of the form; for as to the history 
 and nature of the animal itself, that can only 
 be obtained by experience and information. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 PRICKLY-FINNED FISHES. 
 
 Pricltly -finned Apodal Fish. 
 
 1. THE Trichurus. The body of a sword- 
 form ; the head oblong ; the teeth sword-like, 
 bearded near the points ; the fore-teeth lar- 
 gest ; the fin that covers the gills with seven 
 spines ; the tail ending in a point without fins ; 
 an inhabitant near the Oriental and American 
 shores ; of a silvery white ; frequently leap- 
 ing into the fishermen's boats in China. 
 
 2. The Xiphias, or Sword-fish. The body 
 round; the head long ; the upper jaw termi- 
 nating by a long beak, in form of a sword ; the 
 fin that covers the gills with eight spines ; an 
 inhabitant of Europe; an enemy to the 
 whale. 1 
 
 1 The general colour of the common sword-fish (ariph- 
 ias gladius, see Plate XXI. fig. 11.) is brown, accompa- 
 nied by a deep steel-blue cast on the head and upper 
 parts, and inclining to silvery white on the sides and 
 abdomen. It sometimes grows to a very large size, and 
 as much as twenty feet in length. Pennant mentions 
 one cast on shore near Laugharne, Caermarthenshire, 
 
PRICKLY-FINNED FISHES. 
 
 295 
 
 3. Ophidium or Gilthead. The body sword- 
 like ; the bead blunt ; the iin covering the 
 gills with seven spines ; the opening of the 
 mouth side-ways ; the fins of the back, the 
 anus, and the tail, all joining together ; the 
 most beautiful of all fishes, covered over with 
 green, gold, and silver ; it is by sailors called 
 the dolphin, arid gives chase to the flying- 
 fish. 
 
 Priclily -finned Jugular Fish. 
 
 4. The Trachinus or Weever. The body 
 oblong ; the head obtuse ; the bones covering 
 
 the gills jagged at the bottom ; the fins cover- 
 ing the gills with six spines ; the anus near 
 the breast ; buries itself in the sands, leaving 
 only its nose out ; and if trod upon, immedi- 
 ately strikes with the spines that form its 
 dorsal fins, which are venomous and dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 5. The Uranoscopus. The body wedge- 
 like ; the head almost round, and larger than 
 the body; the mouth flat; the eyes on the top 
 of the head ; the fin covering the gills with 
 
 the head of which alone weighed seventy-five pounds, 
 and was furnished with a snout three feet long. 
 The sword-fish is very active in its movements and vor- 
 acious in its appetite. It feeds on the smaller kinds of 
 fish, which it kills by piercing them with its sword. It 
 is said to he in particular a very great enemy to the 
 tunny, which is described byBelon to be as much alarmed 
 by its appearance as a sheep is at the sight of a wolf. 
 
 This fish is highly esteemed as an article of food by 
 the Sicilians, who buy it up eagerly at any price at the 
 commencement of the season, which lasts from May to 
 August. They cut it into pieces, and salt it for future 
 use. This process was in ancient times particularly 
 performed at the town of Thnri in the bay of Tarentum, 
 whence the fish was called tomus thurianus. A de- 
 scription of the ancient manner of taking this fish has 
 been left us by Strabo, from which it appears that the 
 process was the same as that now in use. Tlit operation 
 resembles whale fishing on a small scale. 
 
 The broad-fumed sword-fish (xiphias piatypterus) is of 
 a thinner and more elegant form than the preceding, 
 and is also distinguished by an extremely broad back 
 fin, and by very long sharp-pointed thoracic appendages, 
 which are entirely wanting in the other. The general 
 colour of the fish is of a silvery-bluish white, except in 
 the back, head, tail, and fins, which in the living animal 
 are of a deep blue, fading into brown in the dried speci- 
 mens. This fish is found in the Brazilian and East 
 Indian seas, and also in the Northern seas, where and 
 elsewhere it is a great enemy to whales, piercing them 
 with its formidable weapon. A specimen of this fish 
 occupies a very conspicuous situation at the British 
 Museum in a distinct case, which also contains three 
 specimens of detached swords. In the same room there 
 is a small specimen of the common sword-fish. 
 
 six spines ; the anus in the middle of the body; 
 an inhabitant of the Mediterranean sea. 
 
 6. Callyonymus or Dragonel. The body 
 almost wedge-like ; the head broad, and larger 
 than the body; the mouth even with the body ; 
 the bony covering of the gills close shut ; the 
 opening to the gills behind the head ; the fin 
 covering the gills with six spines ; an inhabi- 
 tant of the Atlantic ocean. 
 
 7. The Blennius or Blenny. The body ob- 
 long ; the head obtusely bevel ; the teeth a 
 single range ; the fin covering the gills with 
 six spines ; the ventral-fins have two small 
 blunt bones in each ; a species of this animal 
 is viviparous. 
 
 Priddy finned Thoracic Fish. 
 
 8. The Gobius or Gudgeon. The body 
 round and oblong ; the head with two little 
 
 holes between the eyes, one before the other; 
 the fin covering the gills with four spines ; the 
 ventral fins joined together. 
 
 9. The Cepola. The body sword-like ; the 
 head blunt; the mouth flat ; the fin covering 
 the gills with six spines; the fins distinct; 
 an inhabitant of the Mediterranean sea. 
 
 The captain of an East Indiaman sent to Sir Joseph 
 Banks an account of an astonishing but not singular in- 
 stance of the strength of an individual of this broad-fm- 
 ned species : the bottom of his ship was pierced through 
 by its sword in such a manner that it was completely 
 imbedded, or driven through almost to its base, the 
 animal having been killed with the violence of the shock. 
 It is a fortunate circumstance that the fish is generally 
 either killed in this manner or else perishes from being 
 unable to withdraw its weapon, for could it efiect this 
 object, the vessel must inevitably founder in consequence 
 of the leak ; and indeed instances are recorded in which 
 some vessels, probably old or of a slight description, have 
 been greatly endangered, or even lost, in consequence 
 of having been struck by a sword-fish. In the present 
 instance, the wood, with the sword imbedded in it, was 
 sawed out, and is now in the British Museum, where 
 it forms one of the detached swords just mentioned. 
 
 The sword-fish and the whale are said never to meet 
 without coming to battle; and the former has the repute 
 of being always the aggressor. Sometimes two of them 
 join against one whale, in which the combat is by no 
 means equal. When the whale discovers the sword-fish 
 darting upon him, he dives to the bottom, but is closely 
 pursued by his antagonist, who compels him again to 
 rise to the surface. It would seem that the sword-fish 
 aims its formidable thrusts at vessels, not so much from 
 a disposition to attack every thing that falls in its way 
 as under the impression that the said vessels are whales, 
 or other great fish : and may not the fact, that vessels 
 are rarely if ever so attacked in the Mediterranean, be 
 in a great degree owing to this, that there are not in 
 that sea any fish so large that a sword-fish of ordinary 
 penetration could mistake a ship for them. 
 
296 
 
 10. The Coryphana or Razor-fish. The 
 body wedge-like ; the head very bevel ; the fin 
 covering the gills with five spines. 
 
 11. The Skomber or Mackerel. The body 
 oblong; the line running down the side zig- 
 zagged towards the tail ; the head sharp and 
 small; the fins covering the gills with seven 
 spines ; several false fins towards the tail. 1 
 
 i The Mackerel, (Scomber scombrus,} The mackerel, 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 though of the same order as the herring, pilchard, and 
 sprat, belongs to a distinct/am%, to which also belong 
 the tunny, the bonito, the sword-fish, the dory, or doree, 
 and several other kinds. The mackerel, which is placed 
 at the head of this division of acanthopterygii, was 
 known to the Greeks by the name of trxofittys (scombros}; 
 and the generic term for all fish comprised in this class 
 is Scomberidae. The name given to the mackerel by the 
 French, German, and Dutch, as well as by the British, 
 is derived from the Latin word macula, a spot; that is, 
 the spotted or streaked fish. Hence the term " mack- 
 erel-sky" is also applied to a well-known formation of 
 the clouds. The mackerel is perhaps the most beautiful 
 of our British fishes, being elegant in its form as well 
 as brilliant in colour. 
 
 For the following account of the habits and mode of 
 taking this useful fish, we are indebted to the elegant 
 and valuable History of British Fishes, by Mr Yarrell. 
 On the coast of Ireland, the mackerel is taken from 
 the county of Kerry in the west, along the southern 
 shore, eastward to Cork and Waterford; from thence 
 northward to Antrim, and north-west to Londonderry 
 and Donegal. Dr Macculloch says it visits some of 
 the lochs of the western islands, but is not considered 
 very abundant. On the Cornish coast, this fish occurs 
 sometimes as early as March, and appears to be pursuing 
 a course from west to east. They are plentiful on the 
 Devonshire coast, and swarm in West bay about June. 
 On the Hampshire and Sussex coast, particularly the lat- 
 ter, they arrive as early as March, and sometimes, as will 
 be shown, even in Feburary ; and the earlier in the year 
 the fishermen go to look for them, the further from the 
 shore do they seek for them and find them. Duhamel says 
 the mackerel are caught earlier at Dunkirk than at Dieppe 
 or Havre: up our eastern coast, however, the fishing is 
 later. The fishermen of LowestofTe and Yarmouth, gain 
 their great harvest from the mackerel in May and June. 
 The mackerel spawns in June, and according to Bloch, 
 five hundred and forty thousand eggs have been counted 
 in one fish. The young mackerel, which are called 
 shiners, are from four to six inches long, by the end oi 
 August. They are half grown, says Mr Couch, by 
 November, when they retire to deep water, and are seen 
 no more that winter; but the adult fishes never wholly 
 quit the Cornish coast, and it is common to see some 
 taken with lines in every month of the year. The 
 mackerel as feeders are voracious, and their growth i 
 rapid. The ordinary length varies from fourteen to six 
 teen inches, and their weight is about two pounds each 
 but they are said to attain the length of twenty inches 
 The largest fish are not, however, considered the bes 
 for the table. 
 
 As an article of food they are in great request, an< 
 those taken in the months of May and June are gener 
 ally considered superior in flavour to those taken eithe 
 
 12. Thea&rw*J?l.XXI.fig.23.The body 
 
 l ; the head middling ; the lips doubled 
 
 nward ; both cutting and grinding teeth ; the 
 
 Covers of the gills scaly ; the fin covering 
 
 arlier in the spring, or in autumn. To be eaten in 
 >erfection, this fish should be very fresh, as it soon 
 ecomes unfit for food. Mackerel were first allowed to 
 e cried through the streets of London on a Sunday, in 
 698, and the practice prevails to the present time. 
 
 At our various fishing-towns on the coast, the mack- 
 rel season is one of great bustle and activity ; the high 
 irice obtained by early cargoes being the inducement to 
 ;reat exertions. 
 
 In May, 1807, the first Brighton boat-load of mackerel 
 old at Billingsgate for forty guineas per hundred, 
 even shillings each, reckoning six score to the hundred, 
 the highest price ever known at that market. The 
 icxt boat-load produced but thirteen guineas the hun- 
 red. Mackerel were so plentiful at Dover in 1808, 
 hat they were sold sixty for a shilling. At Brighton, 
 n June of the same year, the shoal of mackerel was so 
 great, that one of the boats had the meshes of her nets 
 o completely occupied by them, that it was impossible 
 o drag them in. The fish and nets, therefore, at length 
 unk together. The boats engaged in fishing, are 
 isually attended by other fast-sailing vessels, which are 
 ent away with the fish taken. From Hastings, and other 
 fishing-towns on the Sussex coast, the fish are brought 
 o London by vans, which travel up during the night. 
 
 The most common made of fishing for mackerel, and 
 n which the greatest numbers are taken, is by drift- 
 nets. The drift-net is twenty feet deep, by one hun- 
 dred and twenty feet long, well corked at the top, but 
 without lead at the bottom. They are made of small 
 fine twine, which is tanned of a reddish-brown colour, 
 ;o preserve it from the action of the sea water. The 
 size of the mesh is about two and a half inches, or rather 
 arger. Twelve, fifteen, and sometimes eighteen of 
 these nets are attached lengthways, by tying along a 
 thick rope called the drift-rope, and at the end of each 
 net to each other. When arranged for depositing in the 
 sea, a large buoy attached to the end of the drift-rope, is 
 thrown overboard; the vessel is put before the wind, 
 and as she sails along, the rope with the nets thus 
 attached, is passed over the stem into the water, till the 
 whole of the nets are run out. The net thus deposited, 
 hangs suspended in the water perpendicularly, twenty 
 feet deep from the drift-rope, and extending from three 
 quarters of a mile to a mile, or even a mile and a half, 
 depending on the number of nets belonging to the party 
 or company engaged in fishing together. When the 
 whole of the nets are thus handed out, the drift-rope is 
 shifted from the stern to the prow of the vessel, and she 
 rides by it as if at anchor. The benefit gained by the 
 boat's hanging at the end of the drift-rope is, that the 
 net is kept strained in a straight line, which, without 
 this pull upon it, would not be the case. 
 
 The nets are shot in the evening, and sometimes 
 hauled once during the night, at others allowed to re- 
 main in the water all night. The fish roving in the 
 dark through the water, hang in the meshes of the net, 
 which are large enough to admit them beyond the gill- 
 covers and pectoral fins, but not large enough to allow 
 the thickest part of the body to pass through. In the 
 morning early, preparations are made for hauling the 
 nets. A capstan upon the deck is manned, about which 
 two turns of the drift-rope are taken. One man stands 
 forward to untie the upper edge of each net from the 
 drift-rope, which is called casting off' the lashings : others 
 hand in the net with the fish caught, to which one side 
 of the vessel is devoted ; the other side is occupied by 
 
 the drift-rope, which is wound in by the men at the 
 capstan. The whole of the net in, and the fish secured, 
 
PRICKLY FINNED FISHES. 
 
 297 
 
 the gills with five spines ; the pectoral fins 
 pointed. 
 
 1 3. The Sparus or Sea-Bream. The body 
 oblong; the head middling ; the lips not in- 
 
 cover of the gills scaly; the fins covering the 
 
 gills with five rays; the pectoral fins pointed. 
 
 14. The Chcstodon or Cat-fish. The body 
 
 oblong ; the head small ; the teeth slender and 
 
 verted ; the teeth cutting and grinding ; the 
 
 the vessel runs back into harbour with her fish, or de- 
 posits them on board some other boat in company. 
 
 Near to land, another mode of fishing is adopted, 
 which is thus described by Mr Couch. "A long deep 
 net is employed, of which, unlike the former, the meshes 
 are too small to admit any of the fish. Two boats are 
 necessary, one of which is rowed round the schull, while 
 the net is thrown overboard by two men to enclose it: the 
 other boat is employed in keeping steady the end of the 
 net, and warping it, the sooner and more surely to pre- 
 vent the escape of the fish. When this is effected, the 
 net stands like a circle, enclosing the captives, and the 
 men proceed to draw it together at the end and bottom; 
 at the same time throwing pebbles at that place where 
 the circle closes, to prevent the approach of the fish to 
 the only place where escape is possible : when at last 
 the enclosure is perfect, and the net raised from the 
 ground, the fish thus brought to the surface are taken on 
 board in flaskets." Such is the mode of proceeding with 
 the seine-net in deep water, or at a distance from shore, 
 but in some places it is hauled on the beach in the 
 manner of a ground-net, with less trouble and expense. 
 
 A third mode of fishing is with the line, and is called 
 railing, (trailing.} The mackerel will bite at any bait 
 that is used to take the smaller kind of fish ; but prefer- 
 ence is given to that which resembles a living and active 
 prey, which is imitated by what is called a lask, along 
 slice cut from the side of one of its own kind near the 
 tail ; it is found, also, that a slip of red leather, or a 
 piece of scarlet cloth, will commonly succeed. The boat 
 is placed under sail, and a smart breeze is considered 
 favourable, hence termed a mackerel-breeze. The line 
 is short, but weighed down by a heavy plummet, and in 
 this manner, when these fish abound, two men will take 
 from five hundred to a thousand a day. It is singular 
 that the greatest number of mackerel are caught when 
 the boat moves most rapidly, and that even then the 
 hook is commonly gorged. It seems that the mackerel 
 takes its food by striking across the course of what is 
 supposed to be its flying prey. 
 
 The Tunny. The common Tunny (Thynnus vul- 
 garis,} is a large fish belonging to the mackerel tribe ; 
 
 
 although but little known in England, it is an object of 
 considerable importance to many of the nations bordering 
 on the Mediterranean ; to none more so, perhaps, than 
 the Sicilians. The tunnies, like the mackerel, appear 
 in great shoals, or banks, which are believed to enter 
 the Mediterranean at the beginning of April, for the 
 purpose of depositing their spawn ; but it is very likely 
 that instead of coming from any great distance, they 
 VOL. II. 
 
 merely rise from the deeper parts of that sea, in order 
 to reach the shoal water, that the spawn, or ova, may be 
 placed within the influence of the sun's rays. The ap- 
 pearance of the mackerel is said to indicate the approach 
 of the tunnies, these last being voracious fish, and de- 
 vouring great quantities of their smaller brethren. 
 
 At the time when these fish make their periodical ap- 
 pearance, the strongest and the boldest precede their 
 companions at distances determined by their greater 
 vigour or courage. The form assumed by a shoal of 
 tunnies, is that of a long triangle, the weaker fish bring- 
 ing up the rear. The approach of this living mass is 
 perceived at a considerable distance, from the noise 
 which accompanies their rapid movements, for the tail 
 of the tunny is large and powerful, and striking forcibly 
 and rapidly against the water, produces a sound which 
 can be heard at a great way cfT. " This murmuring 
 noise, which is heard from afar, is echoed from rock to 
 rock, and repeated from shore to shore, resembling that 
 dull but imposing sound, which during a deceitful calm 
 on a burning summer's day, announces the approach of 
 a hurricane." 
 
 In spite, however, of their number, their strength, 
 and their swiftuess, a sudden noise will often arrest the 
 whole shoal in the middle of their course, or even the 
 unexpected appearance of any bright object. If we may 
 believe the reasoning of Pliny, the Roman naturalist, 
 who speaking of the tunny, says, " in the spring, the 
 tunnies pass in troops, composed of numerous individu- 
 als, from the Mediterranean into the Euxine or the 
 Black sea, and in the strait which separates Europe 
 from Asia, a rock of dazzling whiteness, and of great 
 elevation, rises near Chalcedony, on the Asiatic shore ; 
 and the sudden appearance of this rock, terrifies the 
 tunnies to such an extent, as to force them to alter their 
 course, and suddenly turn towards the Cape of Byzan- 
 tium, opposite the Chalcedonian shore; and this forced 
 direction of the course of these fish, causes the fishery 
 to be very abundant near the Cape of Byzantium." The 
 usual size of this fish is from two to three feet in length; 
 they are at times, however, taken as long as ten feet. 
 Aristotle mentions an old tunny which weighed upwards 
 of two hundred weight. 
 
 The tunny-fishery was attended to with great care by 
 the ancients, and still employs a vast number of hands 
 in different parts of the Mediterranean, chiefly in Cata- 
 lonia, Provence, Liguria, Sardinia, and, as we have 
 already mentioned, Sicily. 
 
 The tunnies are taken in two ways. In the first case, 
 when a sentinel, posted on an elevated spot, has made a 
 signal that the fish are in view, and has pointed out the 
 quarter from which they are coming, a number of boats 
 put to sea under the command of a leader, and arrange 
 themselves in a curve, and joining their nets form an 
 enclosure, which alarms the tunnies, and gradually 
 drives them into closer ranks : they still continue to 
 add fresh nets, continually driving the fish towards the 
 shore. When they have reached water only a few 
 fathoms in depth, they cast their last and largest net, 
 which has a kind of pocket or long bag attached to it; 
 this they draw towards the land, and with it they bring 
 all the fish. The small ones are then taken out with 
 the hands, and the larger are landed after they are des- 
 patched with boat hooks. This mode of fishing, which 
 is employed on the coast of Languedoc, produces some- 
 times at a single take as much as fifteen ton weight of 
 fish. 
 
 The second mode is that with nets, called by the 
 
298 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 bending ; the fin covering the gills with three 
 to six spines ; the fins of the back and anus 
 scaly. 1 
 
 15. The Scicena. The body nearly ellipti- 
 cal; the head bevel, the covers of the fins 
 scaly; the fin covering the gills with six rays; 
 the fins of the back jagged, and hidden in a 
 furrow in the back. 
 
 16. The Perch, 2 The body oblong; the 
 
 Italians tonnaro. These are much more complicated ; 
 Brydone calls the whole apparatus a kind of aquatic 
 castle, constructed at great cost, a double row of large 
 long nets, supported in an upright position by means of 
 corks fastened to their upper edge, and by lead weights 
 and stones at the lower, are fixed by anchors in such a 
 manner as to form an enclosure parallel to the shore for 
 many hundred fathoms, sometimes an Italian mile in 
 length, and divided into many chambers by transverse 
 nets, and open on the land-side by a sort of door. 
 
 The flesh of the tunny, when uncooked, bears a close 
 resemblance to beef. " You would scarcely believe," 
 says Cetti, " the different tastes of the various parts of 
 the tunny ; at each part of the body, and at various 
 depths from the surface, it varies ; here it is like veal, 
 there pork. The Sardinian fishermen employ a host 
 of words, which the memory can scarcely retain, to dis- 
 tinguish these different morsels. The flesh of the belly, 
 which is the most delicious, is called sorra, and costs 
 twice as much as the netta, which is flesh of the second 
 quality." Like all the mackerel tribes, the tunny 
 remains fresh and good for a few hours only after it is 
 taken ; if the least tainted it is not only unwholesome, 
 but even a dangerous kind of food. 
 
 > The Cat- Fish, or Sea- Wolf, (Anarhichas lupus.} 
 This singular-looking fish is found in the more northern 
 parts of the seas that surrounds the British islands; it is 
 seldom met with on the southern coasts. 
 
 The appearance of this fish, (says Mr Yarrell,) is not 
 prepossessing. Independently of a ferocious-looking, cat- 
 like head, with an exceedingly thick coarse skin, covered 
 with slime, it possesses most formidable teeth, and nei- 
 ther wants the will nor the power to attack others or 
 defend itself. It is occasionally caught with a baited hook, 
 at times decoyed into the meshes of a net by the tempta- 
 tion of the fishes already entangled ; but fights despe- 
 rately, even when out of its own element, inflicting 
 severe wounds if not cautiously avoided. The nets also, 
 are frequently torn by its powerful struggles, and a spirit 
 of retaliation for the labour thereby occasioned, or for 
 personal injury inflicted by it, brings a speedy death to 
 the unfortunate fish. Handspikes and spars of wood are 
 articles always at hand in fishing-boats, and the savage 
 sea-cat is speedily rendered incapable of doing further 
 harm by heavy well aimed blows upon the head. 
 
 As an article of food it is said to be excellent, although 
 its appearance may disgust a squeamish stomach. The 
 food of this fish consists chiefly of crabs, lobsters, and 
 other crustaceous animals, to enable it to crush the hard 
 covering of its prey, it is admirably furnished with teeth 
 well adapted for the purpose; sharp in front to seize, 
 and strong and rounded on each side of the jaw, on the 
 roof of the mouth, and on the tongue itself, to crush. 
 This fish sometimes attains the size of six or seven feet, 
 and in the colder and more extreme northern seas is said 
 to become still larger. 
 
 It swims rapidly, with a lateral undulating motion, 
 and has acquired the name of sea-wolf from its voracity. 
 It is called swine fish in the Orkneys, from a particular 
 motion of the nose. It approaches the shore to deposit 
 its spawn in the months of May and June, and the young, 
 of a green colour, are usually found among sea-weed. 
 
 * The Common Perch was a great favourite with the 
 
 head bevel ; the covers of the gills scaly and 
 toothed ; the fin covering the gills with seven 
 spines ; the fins in some jagged. 
 
 1 7. The Scorpcena or Father-lasher. The 
 body oblong ; the head great, with beards; the 
 covers of the gills armed with prickles; the 
 fin covering the gills with seven spines. 
 
 18. The Mullus or Surmukt. The body 
 slender ; the head almost four-cornered ; the 
 fin covering the gills with three spines ; some 
 of these have beards ; a fish highly prized by 
 the Romans, and still considered as a very 
 great delicacy. 
 
 19. The Trigla or the Gurnard. The body 
 slender ; the head nearly four-cornered, and 
 covered with a bony coat, the fin covering the 
 gills with seven spines ; the pectoral and ven- 
 tral fins strengthened with additional muscles 
 and bones, and very large for the animal's 
 size. 
 
 20. The Coitus or Bull-head. The body 
 wedge-like ; the head flat and broader than 
 the body; the fin covering the gills with six 
 spines ; the head furnished with prickles, 
 knobs, and beards. 
 
 21. The Zeus or Doree. The body oblong; 
 the head large, bevel; the fin covering the 
 gills with seven rays; the fins jagged; the 
 upper-jaw with a loose floating skin depend- 
 ing into the mouth. 
 
 22. The Trachipterus or Sabra. The body 
 sword-like ; the head bevel; the fin covering 
 the gills with six spines; the lateral line 
 straight ; the scales in a single order ; a loose 
 skin in both the jaws. 
 
 23. The Gasterosteus or Stickleback. The 
 body broadest towards the tail ; the head ob- 
 
 Greeks and Romans as an article of food. In modern 
 days, trout and salmon are preferred. The perch is ex- 
 tensively spread over the lakes and rivers of Europe in 
 many varieties. In Great Britain, its general habitat 
 is in lakes with a clear bottom and grassy margin, or in 
 slow running streams. It is easily taken with various 
 kinds of bait, the most successful of which, however, is 
 the minnow. Its average size is from one pound to a 
 pound and a half, though some of three and four pounds 
 are by no means uncommon. In some of the Highland 
 lochs, particularly those of Perthshire, perch are re- 
 markably fine and abundant. 
 
 The Basse or Sea Perch, like the common perch, 
 was much esteemed by the ancients. It is to be found 
 on the coasts of England during the summer, while the 
 Dutch have established fisheries of it. There are various 
 species, among which may be mentioned the Rock-fish 
 or Striped Basse of the Americans, which is abundant 
 
 n the vicinity of New York, where it is brought to the 
 markets weighing often sixty or seventy pounds. 
 
 The Granulated Perch (see Plate XXI. fig. 14.) 
 
 nhabits the large rivers of America, and is so similar to 
 that of Europe as to have been confounded with it. 
 
 The Common Pike Perch is to be found in the rivers 
 and lakes of the north and east of Europe, but is unknown 
 
 n Britain, France, and Italy. It attains a length of 
 three or four feet, and a weight of twenty pounds. Large 
 quantities of this fish, smoked and sslted, are exported 
 from Prussia and Silesia. 
 
SOFT-FINNED FISH. 
 
 299 
 
 long; the fin covering the gills with three, six, 
 or seven spines ; prickles starting backward 
 before the back fins and the fins of the anus. 1 
 
 Prickly -finned Abdominal Fish. 
 
 24. The Silurus or Sheath-fish. The body 
 oblong; the head large; the fin covering the 
 gills from four to fourteen spines ; the leading 
 bones or spines in the back and pectoral fins 
 toothed. 
 
 25. The Mugul or Mullet. The body ob- 
 long; the head almost conical ; the upper-jaw 
 witli a furrow, which receives the prominence 
 of the under ; the fin covering the gills with 
 seven rays. 
 
 26. The Polynemus. The body oblong ; 
 the head with a beak ; the fin covering the 
 gills with from five to seven spines ; the bones 
 that move the pectoral fins not articulated to 
 those fins. 
 
 27. The Teuthys. The body almost ellipti- 
 cal ; the head abruptly shortened ; the fin 
 covering the gills with five rays ; the teeth in 
 a single row, close, strong, and even. 
 
 28. The Elops or Sea-serpent. The body 
 slender; the head large; the fin covering the 
 gills double, with thirty spines, and armed 
 externally with five bones resembling teeth. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 SOFT-FINNED FISHES. 
 
 Soft-finned Apodal Fish. 
 29. The Murcena or Eel. The body round 
 
 1 Thejifteen-spined Stickleback or Great Stickleback 
 
 This fish, which is the largest species of the sticklebacks, 
 is slender, being only an inch thick, and nine in length: 
 the snout is long ; and the body of a pentagonal figure 
 towards the tail, which is flat, the mouth is small, and 
 the upper jaw projects beyond the lower. The gills and 
 the bony plate on the belly are brown upon the upper 
 part, silvery and streaked upon the lower. It has two 
 pectoral fins, one dorsal, rising in a triangular form from 
 the middle of the back; between this and the head are 
 fifteen distinct spines inclined towards the tail, which, 
 when depressed, are insensible to the touch. The fins 
 of the belly consist of two spines, the foremost of which 
 is the longest. In the fin at the anus 'there is also a 
 covered spine, but the other fins are soft and ramified. 
 The fifteen-spined sticklebacks, like the last mentioned 
 species, are found in the Baltic sea and the German 
 ocean ; they are very common in Holland, and also near 
 Lubeck in the duchy of Holstein. M. Bloch says, that 
 their ordinary size does not exceed seven inches, and 
 that he has found small crabs in their stomach. The 
 great stickleback does not ascend the rivers like the other 
 kinds, never leaving the sea, where it is taken among 
 other fish. Large quantities are sometimes taken by 
 kindling a fire on the shore, which draws them in shoals 
 to the nets. A kind of lamp oil is extracted from them 
 
 and slender ; the head terminating in a beak ; 
 the fin covering the gills with ten rays; the 
 opening to the gills pipe-fashion, placed near 
 the pectoral fins; the fins of the back, the anus, 
 and the tail, united in one. 2 
 
 30. The Gymnotus or Carapo* The body 
 roundest on the back, like theblade of a knife; 
 the head small ; the fin covering the gills with 
 five rays ; the back without a fin ; two beards 
 or filaments from the upper lip; an inhabitant 
 of Brazil. 
 
 31. The Anarhicas or Wolf fish. The body 
 roundish and slender; the head large and 
 blunt; the fore-teeth above and below conical; 
 the grinding teeth and those in the palate 
 round; the fin covering the gill has seven 
 rays. 
 
 32. The Stromateus. The body oblong; 
 the head small ; the teeth moderately sharp; 
 the fin covering the gills with five or six rays. 
 
 33. The Ammodytes or Launce. The body 
 slender and roundish ; the head terminated by 
 a beak; the teeth of a hair-like fineness; the 
 fin covering the gills with seven rays. 
 
 Soft-finned Jugular Fish. 
 
 34. The Lepadogaster. The body wedge- 
 like; the head oblong, forwarder than the 
 body, flattish, the beak resembling that of a 
 duck ; the pectoral fins double, two on each 
 side ; the ventral fins joined together ; a kind 
 of bony breastplate between the pectoral fins; 
 the fin covering the gills with five rays ; the 
 opening to the gills pipe-fashion. 
 
 35. The Gadus or Cod-fish. The body ob- 
 long ; the head wedge-like; the fin covering the 
 
 gills with seven rays: several back and anal 
 fins. 4 
 
 Soft finned Thoracic Fish. 
 
 36. The Pleuronectes or Flatfish. The body 
 elliptical; the head small; both eyes on one 
 side of the head ; the fin covering the gills 
 with from four to seven rays. 
 
 and what remains is used as manure. They are, how- 
 ever, frequently eaten by the poor. 
 
 2 See an account of Eels given in Note at page 286. 
 
 3 See an account of the Gymnotus given in Note 
 at page 279. 
 
 4 The Cod is taken in immense numbers in all the 
 northern coasts. It is abundant among the islands to 
 the north and west of Scotland. It spawns about Feb- 
 ruary, and is in the greatest perfection as food from the 
 
300 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 37. The Echineis or Sucking-fish. The 
 body almost wedge-like, moderately round ; 
 the head broader than the body ; the tin 
 covering the gills with ten rays ; an ovai 
 
 end of October to Christmas. There are two varieties of 
 the Common Cod the Dogger Bank Cod, with a sharp 
 nose, and of a dark brown colour, and the Scotch Cod, 
 with a blunt nose, and of a yellowish ash-green colour. 
 
 The Haddock. This well-known fish is a species of 
 the cod ; it has a bearded mouth, and three fins on the 
 back; the upper jaw longest, and the tail a little forked. 
 On each side of the body, just beyond the gills, there 
 is a dark spot, which the superstitious assert is the im- 
 pression of St Peter's finger and thumb, when he took 
 the tribute money (at the command of his Master) out 
 of the mouth of a fish of this species, and which has ever 
 since been continued to the whole race of haddocks. 
 
 Haddocks seldom grow to any great size ; they very 
 rarely become so large as to weigh twelve or fourteen 
 pounds : they are esteemed more delicate eating when 
 they do not exceed three pounds in weight. These fish, 
 during stormy weather, are said to take shelter in the 
 sand or mud, or among the sea-weeds. They feed on 
 various small marine animals, and frequently become fat 
 on herrings. The females deposit their spawn on the 
 sea-weeds near the shore. The larger ones begin to be 
 in roe in November, and continue so for somewhat more 
 than two months: from this time till May they are 
 reckoned out of season, and are not good. They then 
 begin to recover. The small ones are extremely good 
 from May till February; and those that are not old 
 enough to breed, for even two months longer. 
 
 The Whiting is another species of the cod, but with- 
 out a beard. Its flesh is more delicate than that of any 
 other of the cod species. 
 
 The Ling. The Ling is a valuable species of cod. 
 It is taken in large quantities among the Western 
 
 Islands, in the Orkneys, and on the Yorkshire and Corn- 
 wall coasts. In Yorkshire, the young are called Driz- 
 zles. The ling is very prolific, of voracious appetite, 
 and tenacious of life. Its usual length is from three 
 to four feet. 
 
 The Torsk. The Torsk or Tusk, another species of 
 cod, is occasionally caught in the Forth, and brought to 
 
 the Edinburgh market. It is abundant in Orkney and 
 Shetland. It is a somewhat tough fish, but excellently 
 adapted for curing. Its usual length is from eighteen 
 inches to two feet. 
 
 To the Plcuronectes or Flat-fish belong the Turbot, 
 Sole, Flounder, Plaice, Dab, &c. 
 
 Turbots have sometimes been known to weigh from 
 twenty-five to thirty pounds. Their general form is 
 somewhat square. The upper parts of the body and 
 fins are cinereous, with dark spots ; and the under parts 
 white : on the upper parts there are numerous short 
 
 breastplate, streaked in form of a ladder, 
 toothed. 
 
 38. The Lipidopus or Garter -fish. The 
 body sword-like, the head lengthened out ; 
 
 and blunt spines. The eyes are on the left side of the 
 head. The northern parts of the English coast, and some 
 
 places off the coast of Holland, afford turbots in great 
 abundance, and in greater excellency there than any 
 other parts of the world. Lying here, however, in deep 
 waters, they are seldom to be caught but by lines. In 
 fishing for turbot off the Yorkshire coast, three men go 
 out in each of the boats, each man provided with three 
 lines, every one of which is furnished with two hundred 
 and eighty hooks, baited and placed exactly six feet two 
 inches asunder. These are coiled in an oblong piece of 
 wicker-work, with the hooks baited and placed very 
 regularly in the centre of the coil. When they are 
 used, the nine are generally fastened together, so as to 
 form one line with about two thousand hooks, and ex- 
 tending nearly three miles in length. This is always 
 laid across the current. An anchor and a buoy are fixed 
 at the end of each man's line. The tides run here so 
 rapidly, that the fishermen can only shoot and haul their 
 lines in the still water, at the turn of the tide ; and 
 therefore as it is flood and ebb about every alternate six 
 hours, this is the longest time the lines can remain on 
 the ground. When the lines are laid, two of the men 
 usually wrap themselves in the sail and sleep, whilst the 
 third is on watch to prevent their being run down by 
 ships. The voracity of the turbot in pursuit of its prey 
 is oftentimes such, that it carries them into the mouths 
 of rivers, or the entrance of ponds in salt marshes, which 
 communicate with the sea. But they are not contented 
 with merely employing agility and strength in the pro- 
 curing of their prey, they likewise have recourse to 
 stratagem. They plunge themselves into the mud or 
 sand at the bottom of the sea, and cover their whole 
 body, except their eyes and month. Thus concealed, 
 they seize upon, and devour all the smaller kinds of fish 
 which incautiously approach them. It is said they are 
 very particular in the choice of their food, refusing, in- 
 variably, all except living animals, or such as are not in 
 the least degree putrid. And the fishermen assert, that 
 they are never to be caught with baits which have been 
 bitten by other fish. The holibut has been known to 
 attain so great a weight as between two and three hun- 
 dred pounds. Its general shape is long and narrow. The 
 upper parts are.dusky; and the under parts white. The 
 skin is smooth, and destitute of spines. The eyes on 
 the right side of the head. 
 
 The Sole. This well-known and delicious fish is 
 remarkable for one very extraordinary circumstance; 
 among various other marine productions, they have been 
 known to feed on shell fish, although they are furnished 
 with no apparatus whatever in their mouth for reducing 
 them to a state calculated for digestion. Some that 
 were purchased by Mr Collinson, (as his letter inserted 
 in the Philosophical Transactions states,) had their bellies 
 hard and prominent, appeared to be filled with rows of 
 some hard substance, which, on being opened, were 
 found to be shell-fish. These, from the bulging of the 
 
SOFT-FINNED FISH. 
 
 301 
 
 the fins covering the gills with seven rays ; 
 three scales only on the whole body ; two in 
 the place of the ventral fins ; and the third 
 from that of the anus. 
 
 shells and the intervening interstices, give the intestines 
 somewhat the appearance of strings of heads. On further 
 examination, some of them were found nearly dissolved, 
 others partly so, but many of them whole. The most 
 usual food of soles is, the spawn and young of other fish. 
 These fish are found on all of the British coasts ; but 
 those of the western shores are much superior in size to 
 what are taken in the north, since they are sometimes 
 found of the weight of six or seven pounds. The prin- 
 cipal fishery for soles is in Torbay. 
 
 The Flounder, or Fluke, is one of the most common 
 of the flat fish, and is abundant in our rivers and 
 coasts. It feeds on aquatic insects, worms, and small 
 insects. There are more varieties of the flounder than 
 of any other species of flat-fish. 
 
 The Bearded Flounder. The eyes of this fish are 
 both on the same side of the head. The body is com- 
 pressed, one side representing the back, and the other 
 the abdomen. The whole body is scattered with gray 
 spots ; and it is bearded all round the fore part of the 
 head. This fish is a native of the Indian and Red seas, 
 measuring seven or eight inches in length. It seems to 
 have been first considered a distinct species by Gronovius, 
 but does not occur in the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus. 
 
 The Plaice. Plaice are very flat, and much more 
 square than the generality of flat-fish. Behind the left 
 eye there is a row of six tubercles, that reaches to the 
 commencement of the lateral line. The upper part of 
 the body and fins are of a clear brown, marked with large 
 bright orange- coloured spots ; the belly is white. These 
 fish are very common on most of our coasts, and some- 
 times taken of the weight of fifteen pounds,butthey seldom 
 reach that size, one of eight or nine pounds being reck- 
 oned a large fish. The best and largest are taken off 
 Rye, on the coast of Sussex, and in Ireland; also off the 
 Dutch coasts. They are watery eating ; but are, not- 
 withstanding, admired by some. They spawn in the 
 beginning of February. 
 
 Ihe Dab, or, as it is called in Edinburgh, the Saltic 
 or Salt-water Fluke , is found with the preceding species, 
 but is less common. It is generally of a uniform brown 
 colour on the upper side, though sometimes clouded 
 with a darker. The scales are small and rough, which is a 
 character of this species. The lateral line is extremely 
 incurvated in the beginning, then goes quite straight to 
 the tail. The lower part of the body is white. This fish 
 is in best season during February, March, and April, 
 theyspawn in May and June, and become flabby and watery 
 the rest of the summer. They are superior in quality 
 to the plaice and flounder, but rather inferior in size. 
 
 The Lemon Dab, Smooth Dab, or Sand Fluke, is not 
 so common as the above. It is a prettier fish to look at, 
 
 having various shades of reddish brown and yellow. The 
 flesh is equal to that of the common dab, and the sub- 
 stance of the body thicker. 
 
 The Holibut is one of the largest species of flat fish, 
 but is chiefly confined to the Northern seas. Their flesh 
 ts dry and has little flavour, but oil is obtained from them. 
 
 Soft-famed Abdominal Fish. 
 
 39. The Loricaria. The body crusted over ; 
 the head broad with a beak; no teeth; the 
 fin covering the gills with six rays. 
 
 40. The Atlierina or Atherine. The body 
 oblong; the head of a middling size; the lips 
 indented; the fin covering the gills with six 
 rays ; the line on the sides resembling a silver 
 band. 
 
 41. The Salmo or Salmon 1 (See Plate 
 
 In April. 1828, a holibut, taken near the Isle of Man, 
 was exhibited at the Edinburgh market, measuring seven 
 
 feet six inches in length, three feet six inches in breadth, 
 and weighing 320 Ibs. It was the largest specimen ever 
 seen there. 
 
 1 The Salmon. The Salmon, which was known to 
 the Romans, but not to the Greeks, is a soft-finned ab- 
 dominal fish. It is distinguished from other fish by 
 having two dorsal fins, of which the hindermost is fleshy 
 and without rays : it has teeth both in the jaws and in 
 the tongue ; and the body is covered with round and 
 minutely striated scales. The colour of the back and 
 sides is gray, sometimes spotted with black, and some- 
 times plain ; the covers of the gills are subject to the 
 same variety; and the belly is silvery. The nose i3 
 sharp-pointed : and in the males the under jaw some- 
 times turns up in the form of a hook. Rapid and stony 
 rivers, where the water is free from mud, are the fa- 
 vourite places of most of the salmon tribe, the whole of 
 which is supposed to afford wholesome food for mankind. 
 This fish seems confined in a great measure to the 
 northern seas, being unknown in the Mediterranean, 
 and in the waters of other climates. It lives in fresh, 
 as well as in salt waters, forcing itself in autumn up the 
 rivers, sometimes for hundreds of miles, for the purpose 
 of depositing its spawn. It abandons the seas where it 
 finds an abundant sustenance, ascends the rivers depo- 
 pulated by man, endeavours by every kind of artifice to 
 escape the snares of the fishermen, and all this solely 
 for the purpose of finding a convenient place for deposit- 
 ing its eggs. In these peregrinations it is that salmon 
 are caught in the great numbers that supply our markets 
 and tables. Intent only on the object of their journey, 
 they spring up cataracts and other obstacles of a very 
 great height. This extraordinary power seems to he 
 owing to a sudden jerk that the fish gives to its body 
 from a bent into a straight position. When they are 
 unexpectedly obstructed in their progress, it is said they 
 swim a few paces back, survey the object for some min- 
 utes, motionless, retreat, and return again to the charge ; 
 then, collecting all their force, with one astonishing 
 spring leap over every obstacle. When the *vater is 
 low, or sand-banks intervene, they throw themselves on 
 one side, and in that position soon work themselves over 
 into the deep water beyond. On the river Lifly, in 
 Ireland, there is a cataract above nineteen feet high ; 
 here, in the salmon season, many of the inhabitants 
 amuse themselves in observing the fish leap up the tor- 
 rent. They frequently fall back many times before they 
 surmount it; and baskets, made of twigs, are placed 
 near the edge of the stream to catch them in their 
 fall. 
 
302 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 XXII. fig. 1.) The body oblong ; the head 
 a little sharp ; the fin covering the gills from 
 four to ten rays ; the last fin on the back, 
 without its corresponding muscles, fat. 
 
 The Parr, or Samlet. This little fish, (says Mr 
 Yarrell) one of the smallest of the British salmonidae, 
 has given rise to more discussion than any other species 
 of the genus. Abounding in our salmon rivers, and 
 
 conspicuous for those lateral marks which are now known 
 to be borne also for a time by the young of the trout as 
 well as the fry of the other salmonidae^ and this fish al- 
 ways appearing of small comparative size, it has fre- 
 quently been insisted upon as the young of the salmon, 
 and local regulations have as generally been invoked for 
 its preservation. The fry, however, of the different 
 species of migratory salmonidee are even now probably 
 accurately known only to a few persons : their great sim- 
 ilarity when very small has so frequently deceived even 
 those who have lived the greater part of their lives on 
 the salmon river banks, that the fry marked by them, in 
 their experiments, believing them all to be what they 
 considered the young of the parr, have been retaken as 
 grilse, bull-trout, salmon-trout, and river-trout. That 
 the parr is not the young of the salmon, or indeed of any 
 other of the larger species of salmonidas, as still consid- 
 ered by some, is sufficiently obvious from the circum- 
 stance that parrs by hundreds may be taken in the rivers 
 all the summer, long after the fry of the year of the larger 
 migratory species have gone down to the sea ; and the 
 greater part of those parrs taken even in autumn do not 
 exceed five inches in length, when no example of the 
 young of the salmon can be found under sixteen or 
 eighteen inches, and the young of the bull-trout and 
 salmon-trout are large in proportion. The transverse 
 dusky bars from which this fish has obtained the name 
 of brandling and fingerling are family marks, borne by 
 all the species of the genus for a time, are obliterated by 
 degrees, and at periods depending on the ultimate size 
 attained by the individual species when adult; the 
 soonest, probably in the salmon, and certainly the latest 
 in the parr. 
 
 The Trout. The general shape of the trout is rather 
 long than broad : in several of the Scotch and Irish rivers, 
 they grow so much thicker than those in England, that 
 a fish from eighteen to twenty-two inches will often 
 weigh from three to five pounds. This is a fish of prey ; 
 has a short roundish head, blunt nose, wide mouth filled 
 with teeth, not only in the jaws, but in the palate and 
 tongue ; the scales are small ; the back of an ash-colour; 
 the sides yellow; and, when in season, is sprinkled all 
 over the body and covers of the gills with small beautiful 
 red and black spots; the tail is broad. The female has 
 a smaller head and deeper body than the male, and is of 
 superior flavour. In fact, the colour of the trout and its 
 spots vary greatly in different waters, and at different 
 seasons* 
 
 This fish, although very delicate, and at present well 
 known, was in no esteem among the ancients. It 
 abounded in most of the lakes of the Roman empire, yet 
 is only mentioned by writers on account of its beautiful 
 colours. 
 
 In some rivers trouts begin to spawn in October, but 
 November is the chief month of spawning. About the 
 end of September they quit the deep water to which they 
 had retired during the hot weather, and make great ef- 
 forts to gain the course of the currents, seeking out a 
 
 42. The Fistularia. The body angular, in 
 form of a spindle ; the head pipe-fashion, with 
 a beak; the fin covering the gills with seven 
 rays; the under jaw covering the upper. 
 
 proper place for spawning. This is always on a gravelly 
 bottom, or where gravel and sand are mixed among 
 stones towards the end and sides of the streams. At this 
 period they turn black about the head and body, and 
 become soft and unwholesome. They are never good 
 when they are big with roe, which is contrary to the 
 nature of most other fish. They multiply very fast, 
 though they produce much less spawn than any other 
 fish, which is probably owing to the voracious fish in 
 these cold streams where they reside ; and they would 
 be still more numerous, if they were not so greedy as 
 to devour each other. After spawning they become 
 feeble, their bodies are wasted, and those beautiful spots, 
 which before adorned them, are imperceptible ; their 
 heads appear swelled, and their eyes are dull. In this 
 state they seek still waters, and continue there sick, as 
 is supposed, all the winter. There are in all trout rivers 
 some barren female fish, which continue good throughout 
 the winter. 
 
 These fish begin to leave their winter quarters in 
 March, or sometimes earlier, if the weather be mild, 
 and approach the shallows and tails of streams, where 
 they cleanse and restore themselves. As they acquire 
 strength they advance still higher up the rivers, till they 
 fix on their summer residence ; for which they generally 
 choose an eddy behind a stone, a log, or bank, that 
 projects into the water, and against which the current 
 drives. 
 
 The varieties of the common trout are almost infinite; 
 from the great lake trout, which weighs above sixty or 
 seventy Ibs. to the trouts of the little mountain brook, 
 which is scarcely larger than the finger. The gilleroo trout 
 and par, samlet or brandling may be considered as form- 
 ing distinct species. 
 
 The Great Gray Trout of Lochawe. According to 
 Sir William Jardine, this fi?h, as far as can be traced, 
 
 seems to have been first noticed about forty-five years 
 since by the late Mr Morison of Glasgow, who used to 
 exhibit them to his friends as the trophies of his expedi- 
 tions. The first specimens taken in Loch Awe by 
 Mr Selby and Sir William Jardine were considered as 
 a species undescribed and new to Britain; and the name 
 of Salmoferox was given to it, from its extreme voracity 
 and rapacious habits. M. Agassiz, who saw specimens 
 of this fish when he was in Edinburgh, pronounced it to 
 be different from any of the large continental species. 
 
 In Scotland this fish appears to be generally distri- 
 buted in all the larger and deeper lochs. Loch Awe, 
 Loch Laggan, the upper end of Loch Shin, Lochs Loyal 
 and Assynt, they certainly inhabit, roving indiscrimin- 
 ately, and feeding almost entirely upon the smaller fish. 
 By persons residing on the banks they are taken by night- 
 lines, few rising at the artificial fly; but they may al- 
 ways be taken by strong trolling tackle, baited with a 
 small trout. They are extremely voracious, and having 
 seized the bait, they will allow themselves to be dragged 
 by the teeth for forty or fifty yards; and when acciden- 
 tally freed, will immediately again seize it. 
 
 This great trout is almost entirely confined to the 
 lochs, seldom venturing far either up or down any of the 
 streams communicating with them, and never descend- 
 ing to the sea. It is known to spawn in September. 
 
SOFT-FINNED FISH. 
 
 SOS 
 
 43. The Esox or Pike. 1 The body round; 
 the head with a beak ; the under jaw pierced 
 longitudinally with small holes ; the fin cov- 
 ering the gills with from seven to twelve rays. 
 
 The most usual mode of fishing for this great lake 
 trout is from a boat, which is rowed gently through the 
 water; the bait, as before mentioned, a small trout, 
 guarded by six or eight large hooks; the rod and line of 
 great strength; for this fish is considered to be even 
 stronger than a salmon of the same size, but not so ac- 
 tive. Young fish from one to two pounds' weight rise 
 freely to the usual trout flies. 
 
 The Salmon-trout, so called from its resemblance 
 to the two fish whose name it bears, attains the size 
 of a small salmon; is spotted in the same manner as the 
 trout ; and, like it, spawns in winter. Like the salmon 
 it sometimes inhabits the sea, and sometimes the rivers; 
 it likewise ascends into the latter to deposit its spawn. 
 The salmon-trouts, however, do not quit the sea so early 
 as the salmon, being seldom seen in the rivers before 
 the month of May. They spawn in the same manner 
 as salmon, in November or December; but as the rivers 
 are then frozen, they do not retire to the sea till after 
 the thaw. Like all other fish of the same genus, they 
 live upon aquatic insects, worms, arid small fish, and are 
 fond of rapid streams, with a bottom of sand and gravel. 
 Their flesh is red, and well-tasted, particularly before 
 the spawning season. Its quality depends, in a great 
 measure, on the greater or less degree of purity of the 
 streams in which the fish are taken ; their colour and 
 spots vary extremely from the same cause. They die 
 soon after they are taken out of the water. Young salmon 
 trout are known by the name of whitlings ; and many 
 have supposed them to be young salmon, which opinion 
 has been proved to be ill-founded. 
 
 Salmon-trouts attain a considerable size, weighing 
 sometimes eight or ten pounds. Dr Bloch describes 
 one that was twenty inches in length, an inch and a half 
 thick, and which weighed five pounds and three quarters. 
 This gentleman discovered, that this tish, like several 
 kinds of sea-fish, possesses the quality of emitting light 
 in a dark place ; and that the palate, tongue, gills, and 
 eyes, were endowed with that property in an eminent 
 degree. When touched with the finger, those parts cast 
 a considerable light ; and when any other part was rub- 
 bed with the same finger, that quality was likewise 
 communicated to it. The luminous matter, the doctor 
 imagines, is contained in the slimy substance which 
 covers those parts ; for the flesh does not afford the 
 smallest appearance of light. He kept fish eight days, 
 and this luminous property diminished in proportion as 
 the viscous matter was dried up. 
 
 The Grayling is a scarce fish in England, and is not 
 to be found in Scotland or Ireland. They frequent rivers 
 of peculiar temperature or current. 
 
 1 The Pike, from its fierce disposition and great vor- 
 acity, has been called, not unaptly, the fresh-water 
 shark y it is found in almost all of the fresh waters of 
 Europe, and in those of the north of Asia and of Amer- 
 ica, being everywhere noted for the great rapidity of its 
 growth. 
 
 The head of the pike is large, flattened in front, and 
 compressed on the sides. The opening of the mouth is 
 extremely deep, and extends as far back as the eyes; the 
 lower jaw is somew.hat longer than the upper ; the front 
 teeth on this jaw are strong but small, and every other 
 
 44. The Argentina or Argentine. The body 
 a little round and slender ; the head with a 
 beak, broader than the body ; the fin covering 
 the gills with eight rays ; a spurious back-fin. 
 
 one is moveable. The upper jaw is furnished with teeth 
 in front only, but the palate also possesses three rows of 
 teeth, the two outer rows of which are very strong and 
 turned backwards. As many as seven hundred teeth 
 have been counted in the jaws of a pike, without in- 
 cluding those which are found in the throat, and near 
 the internal opening to the gills. The mouth of this 
 tyrant is, indeed, every way formidable, for even the 
 tongue itself is covered with teeth. 
 
 This fish, in the course of the first year's growth, at- 
 tains the length of eight or ten inches, in the second, 
 twelve or fourteen, and in the third, eighteen or twenty. 
 It has been found as much as eight feet in length, and 
 in the great fresh-water lakes of the north of Europe, 
 and the rivers of Northern Asia, as for instance the 
 Volga, specimens four or five feet in length are far from 
 rare. 
 
 Among the extraordinary tales recorded of this fish, 
 the following is one of the most remarkable, and, at the 
 same time, among the best authenticated. In 1497 a 
 pike was taken at Kayserslautern, in the palatinate of the 
 Rhine, which weighed three hundred and fifty pounds; 
 a painting was made of this wonderful fish, which is pre- 
 served in the castle of Lantern, and the skeleton wa3 
 preserved at Manheim. The emperor Barbarossa had 
 placed this fish in the lake in the year 1230, with a 
 ring of gilded copper attached to it, so constructed as to 
 be capable of expanding with the growth of the fish. So 
 that when taken, a period of two hundred and sixty-seven 
 years had elapsed from the period when it had been re- 
 consigned to the lake encumbered with this singular 
 memento. 
 
 As already observed, the pike is common in all the 
 rivers, lakes, and ditches, of the north of Europe, but it 
 is much less seldom met with towards the south. It is 
 said to have been introduced into England in the reign 
 of Henry VIII. when it was so rare that a pike sold 
 at double the price of a house lamb in February, and 
 a pickerel ( small pike,) for more than a fat capon. 
 
 The instances of the voracity of this fish are numer- 
 ous ; for, not content with small fish and frogs, it will 
 devour rats, young ducks, and occasionally much more 
 formidable prey. In the History of Staffordshire it is 
 stated that, " at Lord Gower's estate at Trentham, a 
 pike seized the head of a swan, as she was feeding under 
 water, arid gorged so much of it as killed them both. 
 The servants, perceiving the swan remain in the same 
 position for a considerable time, went in a boat, and 
 found both swan and pike dead. 
 
 Gesner says, that a famished pike, in the Rhone, fixed 
 on the lips of a mule that was drinking, and was drawn 
 out by the beast before it could disengage itself. 
 
 In December, 1765, a pike was caught in the river 
 Ouse, weighing upwards of twenty-eight pounds, and 
 was bought by a gentleman in the neighbourhood for a 
 guinea. When opened, the cook found a watch witb 
 two seals attached to it by a black riband, in the body 
 of the fish. These, it was afterwards discovered, had 
 belonged to a gentleman's servant, who had been drowned 
 about six weeks before. 
 
 Pikes are necessarily great destroyers of fish in ponds, 
 but there are two descriptions ot fishes, namely, the 
 perch and the stickleback, which they are unwilling to 
 attack ; the sharp spines of their back-fins sticking in 
 the throat of the pike, more particularly that of the 
 stickleback. 
 
 An instance lately occurred at Edmonton of a pike 
 capturing a sparrow, that was perched on the edge of a 
 water-lily in a pond. The fish surprised the unsuspect- 
 
304 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 45. The Clupea or Herring. 1 The body 
 a little oblong ; the head with a small 
 beak; the fin covering the gills with eight 
 rays. 
 
 ing bird, by springing out of the water and seizing it 
 by a sudden snap. 
 
 A singular encounter, which took place at Waldstein, 
 between a pike and a fox, is commemorated in a German 
 print. Some country-people had taken a large pike, 
 but in conveying it home during the night, it escaped. 
 As it was a large fish, they returned with torches in 
 search of their prize, and after some time found it on the 
 grass, having fast hold of a fox by the nose. The fox, 
 caught in this novel trap, endeavoured in vain to escape, 
 and it was not until the pike was killed, that it was 
 possible to separate them. 
 
 Pikes are in the habit of basking in the sun, when 
 they float upon the surface of the water ; at this time 
 they are sometimes shot, or taken by a noose of wire, 
 ijxed to a strong pole about four yards long, by which 
 the wire, with great slowness, is conducted over the 
 pike's head, gills, and fins, and then hoisted with a jerk 
 to land. 
 
 The Saury Pike or Skipper, was first described as a 
 British species by Ray : those he saw were taken on 
 
 the Cornish coast. The Rev. Mr Low, in his Natural 
 History of Orkney, says, that the year preceding that 
 in which he wrote his Fauna Orcadensis, such a glut of 
 these fish set into the head of Kerston bay, that they 
 could be taken by pailfuls: numbers were caught, and 
 heaps flung ashore. According to Mr Neill, the saury 
 is not at all an uncommon fish in the Frith of Forth, 
 numbers running up with the flood-tide in the autumn; 
 hut they do not, like other fishes, retire from the shallows 
 at the ebbing of the tide, but are then found by hundreds, 
 having their long noses stuck in the sludge, and are 
 picked up by people from Kincardine, Alloa, and other 
 places Mr Pennant mentions that great numbers of 
 sauries were thrown ashore at Leith, by a storm, in 
 November 176S. The saury has been taken at Yarmouth 
 on the east, and off" Portland Island on the south ; being, 
 on some occasions, even plentiful in Cornwall. Mr 
 Couch says 
 
 " The skipper is more strictly than the gar-pike a 
 migratory fish, never being seen in the channel until the 
 month of June, and it commonly departs before the end 
 of autumn. It does not swim deep in the water ; and 
 in its harmless manners resembles the flying fish, as well 
 as in the persecution it experiences from the ravenous 
 inhabitants of the ocean, and the method it adopts to 
 escape from their pursuit. It is gregarious, and is some- 
 times seen to rise to the surface in large shoals, and flit 
 over a considerable space. But the most interesting 
 spectacle, and that which best displays their great agility, 
 is when they are followed by a company of porpoises, or 
 their still more active and persevering enemies the 
 tunny and bonito. Multitudes then mount to the sur- 
 face, and crowd on each other as they press forward. 
 When still more closely pursued, they singly spring to 
 the height of several feet, leap over each other in singu- 
 lar confusion, and again sink beneath. Still further 
 urged, they mount again, and rush along the surface by 
 repeated starts for more than a hundred feet, without 
 
 1 See an account of the Herring in a succeeding page. 
 
 46. The Exocctus or Flyiiuj-fish.* The body 
 oblong ; the head almost three-cornered ; the 
 fin covering the gills with seven rays ; the 
 pectoral fins placed high, and as long as the 
 
 once dipping beneath, or scarcely seeming to touch the 
 water. At last, the pursuer springs alter them, usually 
 across their course ; and again they all disappear toge- 
 ther. Amid such multitudes for more than twenty 
 thousand have been judged to be out of the water toge- 
 ther some must fall a prey to the enemy ; but as many 
 hunt in company, it may be long before the pursuit is 
 abandoned. From inspection, we should scarcely judge 
 the fish to be capable of such considerable flights ; for 
 the fins, though numerous, are small, and the pectorals 
 far from large though the angle of their articulation is 
 well fitted to raise the fish by the direction of their mo- 
 tions to the surface; the force of its spring must there- 
 fore be chiefly ascribed to the tail and finlets. It rarely 
 takes a bait; and when this has happened, the boat has 
 been under sail, the men fishing with a lask, or slice of 
 mackerel made to imitate a living bait. The skipper has 
 not been commonly taken since the drift fishermen began 
 the practice of sinking their nets a fathom or two beneath 
 the surface a circumstance which marks the depth to 
 which they swim ; but before this, it was usual to take 
 them, sometimes to the amount of a few hundreds, at 
 almost every shoot of the pilchard nets." YarreWs 
 British Fishes. 
 
 2 The Flying Fish. " No familiarity," says Captain 
 Basil Hall, " with the sight, can ever render us indirler- 
 ent to the graceful flight of these most interesting of all 
 the finny, or, rather, winged tribe. On the contrary, 
 like a blight day, or a smiling countenance, the more 
 we see of them, the more we value their presence. I 
 have, indeed, hardly ever observed a person so dull, that 
 his eye did not glisten as he watched a shoal, or, it may 
 be called, a covey of flying-fish, rise from the sea, and 
 skim along for several hundred yards. There is some- 
 thing in it so peculiar, so totally different from every 
 thing else in other parts of the world, that our wonder 
 goes on increasing every time we see one take its flight ; 
 so that we may easily excuse the old Scottish wife, who 
 said to her son, when he was relating what he had seen 
 abroad; "You may hae seen rivers o' milk, and moun- 
 tains o' sugar, but you'll ne'er gar (make) me believe 
 you hae seen a fish that could flee !' 
 
 " I have endeavoured to form an estimate as to the 
 length of these flights, and find two hundred yards, or 
 about an eighth of a mile, set down in my notes as about 
 the longest distance, which they perform in somewhat 
 more than half a minute. These flights, however, vary 
 from that length to a. mere skip out of the water. Gener- 
 ally speaking, they fly to a considerable distance in a 
 straight line, in the wind's eye, that is, exactly towards 
 the point from which the wind blows, and then gradually 
 turn off to leeward. But sometimes they merely skim 
 the surface, so as to touch only the tops of the waves. 
 A notion prevails afloat, but I know not how just it may 
 be, that they can fly no longer than whilst their wings, 
 or fins, remain wet. That they rise as high as twenty feet 
 above the water is certain, from their being found in 
 parts of a ship, which are full as much as that out of the sea. 
 I remember seeing one about nine inches in length, and 
 weighing not less, I should suppose, than half a pound, 
 skim into the Volage's main-deck port just abreast of 
 the gang-way. One of the seamen was coming up the 
 quarter-deck ladder at the moment, when the fish, enter- 
 ing the port, struck the astonished mariner on the temple, 
 knocked him off the step, and very nearly threw him 
 down at full length. 
 
 " The amiable Humboldt good-naturedly suggests that 
 the flights of these fish may be mere gambols, and 
 not proofs of their being pursued by their enemy, the 
 
SOFT-FINNED FISH. 
 
 305 
 
 
 whole body; the back-fin at the extremity of 
 the back. 
 
 47. Cyprinus or Carp. Tlie body elongated, 
 almost round; the head with a small beak; 
 
 dolphin. I wish I could believe so; for it were much 
 more agreeable to suppose, that at the end of the fine 
 sweep which they take, they fall safely on the bosom of 
 the sea. 
 
 "I do not recollect whether that eminent traveller, 
 who not only observes many more things than most men, 
 but describes them much better, has any where men- 
 tioned his having witnessed one of these chases. The 
 best I remember, was during the first voyage I ever 
 made, through those regions of the sun, the tropical 
 seas, and I will therefore describe it. 
 
 " We were stealing along pleasantly enough, under 
 the influence of a newly-formed breeze, which, as yet, 
 was confined to the upper sails, and every one was look- 
 ing open-mouthed to the eastward, to catch a little cool 
 air, or was congratulating his neighbour on getting rid 
 of the calm in which we had been so long half-roasted, 
 half- suffocated, when about a dozen flying fish rose out of 
 the water, and skimmed away to windward, at the height 
 of ten or twelve feet above the surface- Shortly after, 
 discovered two or three dolphins, ranging past the ship 
 in all their beauty. Presently, the ship in her course, 
 put up another shoal of those little creatures, which flew 
 in the same direction which the others had taken. 
 
 " A large dolphin, which had been keeping company 
 with us at the depth of two or three fathoms, and as 
 usual, glistening most beautifully in the sun, no sooner 
 detected our poor dear little friends taking wing, than 
 he turned his head towards them, and darting to the 
 surface, leaped from the water with a swiftness little 
 short, as it seemed, of a cannon-ball. But, although 
 the force with which he shot himself into the air, made 
 him gain upon the flying-fish at first, yet the start which 
 they had got, enabled them to keep ahead of him for a 
 considerable time. 
 
 " The length of the dolphin's first spring, could not 
 be less than ten yards ; and after he fell, we could see 
 him gliding like lightning through the water, for a 
 moment, when he again rose and shot forward with a 
 speed considerably greater than at first, and of course, 
 to a still greater distance. In this manner, the merciless 
 pursuer seemed to stride along the sea with fearful ra- 
 pidity, whilst his brilliant coat sparkled and flashed in 
 the sun quite splendidly. As he fell headlong on the 
 water, at the end of each huge leap, a series of circles 
 were sent far over the still surface, which lay as smooth 
 as a mirror. 
 
 " The group of flying-fish thus hotly pursued, at length 
 dropped into the sea ; but we were rejoiced to observe, 
 that they merely touched the top of the swell, and 
 scarcely sunk into it : at least, they instantly set off 
 again in a fresh, and even more vigorous flight. It was 
 particularly interesting to observe, that the direction 
 they now took was quite different from the one in which 
 they had set out ; thus implying, that they had detected 
 their fierce enemy, who was following them, with giant 
 steps, along the waves, and was now rapidly gaining 
 upon them. His terrific pace, indeed, was two or three 
 times as swift as theirs, poor little things ! 
 
 " The dolphin was fully as quick-sighted as the fly- 
 ing-fish. For whenever they changed their flight in the 
 smallest degree, he lo>t not the tenth part of a second 
 in shaping a new course in pursuit, whilst they in a 
 manner really not unlike that of the hare, doubled more 
 than once upon their pursuer. But it was soon too 
 plainly to be seen, that the strength and confidence of 
 the flying-fish was fast ebbing. Their flights became 
 shorter and shorter, and their course more fluttering and 
 uncertain, whilst the enormous leaps of the dolphin 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 the hinder part of the bone covering the gills, 
 marked with a crescent; the iin covering the 
 gills with three rays. 1 
 
 48. The Cobitis or Loach. The body ob- 
 
 appeared to giow only more vigorous at each bound. At 
 last, indeed, we could see, or fancied we could see, that 
 this skilful sea-sportsman so arranged all his springs, 
 that he contrived to fall at the end of each, just under 
 the very spot, on which the exhausted flying-fish were 
 about to drop ! Sometimes this took place at too great a 
 distance for us to see from the deck exactly what hap- 
 pened ; but on our mounting high into the rigging, we 
 could discover that many of the unfortunate little crea- 
 tures, one after another, either fell right into the dol- 
 phin's jaws, as they lighted on the water, or were snapped 
 up instantly afterwards." 
 
 1 The Common Carp. In their general habits these 
 fish exhibit so great a degree of cunning, as to be some- 
 times called by the country people the River Fox. When 
 attempted to be taken by a net, they will often leap over 
 it; or immerse themselves so deep in the mud, as to 
 sufler the net to pass over without touching them. They 
 are also very shy of taking a bait; but, during spawning- 
 time, so intent are they on the business of depositing 
 their ova, that they will sutler themselves to be handled 
 by any one who attempts it. They breed three or four 
 times in the year, but their first spawning is in the begin- 
 ning of May. Carp are found in the slow rivers and 
 stagnant waters of Europe and Persia ; and here princi- 
 pally in deep holes, under the roots of trees, hollow 
 banks, or great beds of flags, &c. They do not often 
 exceed four feet in length, and twenty pounds in weight; 
 but Jovius mentions some caught in the Lago de Como, 
 in Italy, that weighed two hundred pounds each, and 
 others have been taken in the Dueister five feet in 
 length. 
 
 The carp is the least carnivorous among fishes. It is 
 very tenacious of life, and can be carried alive over land 
 for great distances. It has been frequently carried alive 
 from Strasburgh to Paris, by keeping a little wet moss 
 in contact with the gill-lids; and without even this sim- 
 ple precaution it will live for a long time out of water. 
 " And, doubtless," says Izaac Walton, " as of sea-fish, 
 the herring dies soonest out of the water, and of fresh- 
 water fish, the trout, so, except the eel, the carp endures 
 most hardness, and lives longest out of his own proper 
 element. And, therefore, the report of the carp's being 
 brought out of a foreign country into this nation, is the 
 more probable." One of the recent editors of Walton 
 says that it is a common practice in Holland to keep 
 carp alive for three weeks or a month, by hanging them 
 in a cool place, with wet moss in the mouth, and feeding 
 them with bread and milk. 
 
 The carp does not delight in troubled waters : it loves 
 to haunt placid streams which steal along without any 
 perceptible current; such as the moats and trenches of 
 old castles ; or retired shady ponds, where aquatic plants 
 accumulate. It feeds upon these vegetables, and, from 
 the quietness of its habits, it attains a great age. When 
 very old its back becomes quite white. Gesner says, 
 that a carp has been known to live in the palatine above 
 a hundred years. In 1782, a gentleman of Emanuel 
 college, Cambridge, published an account of a carp which 
 had inhabited a small artificial pond in the college for 
 thirty-six years ; and that, although the fish had lost one 
 eye, yet it knew, and would constantly swim up to its 
 feeder. Carps are not timid, but rather fond of society; 
 and, as in the instance just given, they are so far capable 
 of being educated, as to come and be led at stated hours 
 on being whistled to. There are immense numbers of 
 this fish in the stilly part of the Rhine, near Strasburgh ; 
 and vast quantities are sent annually to Paris. 
 
 The food of the carp is animal, as well as vegetable. 
 2fi 
 
306 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 long; almost equally broad throughout ; the 
 head small, a little elongated ; the eyes in the 
 hinder part of the head ; the fin covering the 
 gills from four to six rays: the covers of the 
 gills closed below. 
 
 49. The Amia or Bonito. The body round 
 ind slender; the head, forehead, and breast, 
 without skin ; the fin covering the gills with 
 welve rays ; two beards from the nose. 
 
 50. The Mormyrus. The body oblong ; the 
 
 It eats worms and aquatic insects, and is also said to 
 swallow the mud at the bottom of its abode for the sake 
 of larvse and seeds. Hence the flavour of its flesh de- 
 pends upon the nature of its food. Walton says, in his 
 usual quaint and amusing style, " the tongues of carps 
 are noted to be choice and costly meat, especially to 
 them that buy them ; hut Gesner says, carps have no 
 tongue like other fish, but a piece of flesh like fish, in 
 their mouth, like to a tongue, and should be called a 
 palate ; but it is certain it is choicely good, and that the 
 carp is to be reckoned among those leather-mouthed fish, 
 which, I told you, have their teeth in their throat; and 
 for that reason he is very seldom lost by breaking his 
 hold, if your hook be once stuck in his chops.'' 
 
 The general length of the carp is about two feet: 
 specimens have, however, been found of four feet in 
 length. 
 
 The frog is said to be the mortal enemy of the carp. 
 Walton says, that a pond, well stocked with carp has 
 been known to lose all its fish in a single summer, in 
 consequence of the depredations of the frogs. He says 
 that a " gentleman of tried honesty" told him that he 
 saw, in a hot day in summer, a large carp swim near 
 the top of the water, with a frog upon its head ; and 
 that he upon that occasion caused his pond to be let dry 
 and I say, of seventy or eighty carps, he only found five 
 or six in the said pond, and those very sick and lean 
 and with every one a frog, sticking so fast on the" head 
 of the said carps, that the frog could not be got off' with- 
 out extreme force or killing. And a person of honour, 
 now living in Worcesteshire, assured me he had seen a 
 necklace, or collar of tadpoles, hang, like a chain, or 
 necklace of beads, about a pike's neck, and so killec 
 him ; whether it were for meat or malice, must be to 
 roe a question. 
 
 Gold and Silver Carp, or what are called Gold and 
 Silver Fishes, the Cyprinus duratus, of Linnaeus 
 were brought originally to England from China about the 
 year 1691. 
 
 The former are of an orange gold colour, with very 
 shining scales, and finely variegated with black and dark 
 brown. When young, its colour is dark brown or black, 
 which is afterwards replaced by the orange gold hue. It 
 is naturalized in this country, and in other parts o 
 Europe, and breeds freely in warm and sheltered situa 
 tions. Our supply is chiefly obtained from Portugal 
 where this fish abounds. The silver fish differs from 
 the former only in colour, which is similar to silve 
 tissue ; it generally has scarlet fins, and is curiously 
 marked in several parts of the body. Both varieties are 
 also subject to variation in the fins, which are occasion 
 ally double ; and specimens have been seen with tripl< 
 tails, but such a developement is generally at the ex 
 pense of some other fin. 
 
 When I happen to visit a family (says Gilber 
 White) where gold and silver fishes are kept in a glas 
 bowl, I am always pleased with the occurrence, becausi 
 it offers me an opportunity of observing the actions am 
 propensities of those beings with whom we can be littli 
 acquainted in their natural state. Not long since I spen 
 a fortnight at the house of a friend, where there was sue" 
 a vivary, to which I paid no small attention, taking ever 
 occasion to remark what passed within its narrow limits 
 It was here that I first observed the manner in whic 
 fishes die. As soon as the creature sickens, the hea 
 sinks lower and lower, and it stands as it were on it 
 head ; till, getting weaker, and losing all poise, the ta 
 turns over, and at last it floats on the surface of th 
 
 vater, with its belly uppermost. The reason why fishes, 
 when dead, swim in that manner is very obvious ; be- 
 muse when the body is no longer balanced by the fins of 
 he belly, the broad muscular back preponderates by its 
 iwn gravity, and turns the belly uppermost, as lighter, 
 rom its being a cavity, and because it contains the 
 wimming bladders, which contribute to render it buoy- 
 .nt. 
 
 Some that delight in gold and silver fishes have adopted 
 i notion that they need no aliment. True it is, that 
 hey will subsist for a long time without any apparent 
 bod, but what they can collect from pure water, fre- 
 quently changed ; yet they must draw some support 
 rom animalcnlse, and other nourishment supplied by the 
 ,vater; because, though they seem to eat nothing, yet 
 ndioations of their having eaten are found in their glass 
 abodes. That they are best pleased with such jejune 
 diet may easily be confuted ; since, if you toss them 
 crumbs they will seize them with great readiness, not to 
 say greediness : however, bread should be given spar- 
 ngly, lest, turning sour, it corrupt the water. They 
 will also feed on the aquatic plant called lemna, or 
 duck's meat, and also on small fry. 
 
 Hawkins, the editor of Walton, says that fine gravel 
 should be strewed at the bottom of the vessel containing 
 the fish ; " frequently changing the water, and feeding 
 them with bread and gentles. Those who can take more 
 pleasure in angling for, then in beholding them, which 
 I confess I could never do, may catch them with gentles ; 
 but though costly, they are but coarse food." 
 
 When they want to move a little (continues White) 
 they gently protrude themselves with their pinnae pec- 
 torales ; but it is with their strong muscular tails only 
 that they, and all fishes, shoot along with such incon- 
 ceivable rapidity. It has been said that the eyes of 
 fishes, are immovable : but these apparently turn them 
 forward or backward in their sockets, as their occasions 
 require. They take little notice of a lighted candle, 
 though applied close to their heads, but flounce and 
 seem much frightened by a sudden stroke of the hand 
 against the support whereon the bowl is hung, especially 
 when they have been motionless, and are perhaps asleep. 
 As fishes have no eyelids, it is not easy to discern when 
 they are sleeping or not, because their eyes are always 
 open. Nothing can be more amusing than a glass bowl, 
 containing such fishes : the double refractions of the 
 glass and water represent them when moving in a shift- 
 ing and changeable variety of dimensions, shades, and 
 colours; while the two mediums, assisted by the concavo- 
 convex shape of the vessel, magnify and distort them 
 vastly; not to mention that the introduction of another 
 element and its inhabitants into our parlours engages 
 the fancy in a very agreeable manner. Some people 
 exhibit this sort of fish in a very fanciful way; for they 
 cause a glass bowl to be blown with a large hollow space 
 within, that does not communicate with it. In this 
 cavity they put a bird occasionally, so that you may see 
 a goldfinch or a linnet, hopping as it were in the midst 
 of the water, and the fishes swimming in a circle round 
 it. The simple exhibition of the fishes is agreeable and 
 pleasant ; but in so complicated a way, becomes whim- 
 sical and unnatural, and liable to the objection due to him, 
 
 Qui variare cupit rem prodigalitor uiiam. * 
 
 The Tench. This, according to Artedi, is a species 
 of the carp, and is thick and bulky in proportion to its 
 
 " Who desires to impart a monstrous variation to an object." 
 
SOFT-FINNED FISFI. 
 
 307 
 
 head elongated ; the fin covering the gills 
 with a single ray , the opening to the gills is 
 linear, and has no bone covering them. 
 
 Such is the system of Mr Gouan ; by re- 
 ducing to which any fish that offers, we can 
 know its rank, its affinities, and partly its 
 anatomy, all which make a considerable part 
 in its natural history. But to show the use 
 of this system still more apparently, suppose 
 I meet with a fish, the name to me unknown, 
 of which I desire to know something more. 
 The way is first to see whether it be a cartil- 
 aginous fish, which may be known by its 
 wanting fins to open and shut the gills, which 
 the cartilaginous kinds are wholly without. 
 If I find that it has them, then it is a spinous 
 fish ; and in order to know its kind, I examine 
 its fins whether they be prickly or soft ; I find 
 
 length. The colour of the back is dusky ; the dorsal 
 and ventral fins of the same colour ; the head, sides, and 
 
 
 helly, are of a greenish cast, most beautifully mixed with 
 gold, which is in its greatest splendour when the fish is 
 in highest season. They love still waters, and are rarely 
 found in rivers; they are very foolish, and easily caught. 
 This is one of those fish that prefer foul and weedy 
 waters ; and its haunts in rivers are chiefly amongst 
 weeds, and in places well shaded with rushes. These 
 fish thrive best in standing waters, where they lie under 
 weeds near sluices and pond-heads. They are much 
 more numerous in pools and pits than in rivers ; but those 
 taken in the latter are far preferable for the table. They 
 begin to spawn in June, and may be found spawning in 
 some waters till September. The best season is from 
 that time Mil the end of May. These fish do not often 
 exceed four or five pounds in weight. Mr Pennant, 
 hou'ever, mentions one that weighed ten pounds. Tench 
 are in great repute with us as delicious and wholesome 
 food ; but in Guernsey they are considered bad fish, and 
 in contempt called shoemaker. Gesner even says, that 
 it is insipid and unwholesome. Like the barbel, it was 
 unnoticed by early writers ; and Ausonius, by whom it 
 was first mentioned, treats it with that disrespect which 
 evinces the capriciousness of taste. These fish are 
 sometimes found in waters where the mud is excessively 
 fetid, and the weeds so thick that a hand-net can hardly 
 be thrust down. In these situations they grow to a large 
 aize, and their exterior becomes completely tinged by the 
 mud. Their flavour from this, if cooked immediately 
 un being taken out, is often very unpleasant ; but if they 
 are transferred into clear water, they soon recover from 
 the obnoxious taint. A tench was taken at Thornville- 
 Iloyal in Yorkshire, in 1802, of such enormous size, and 
 so singular in its shape, as rather to be accounted a lusus 
 natural than a regular product. A piece of water which 
 kid been ordered to be filled up, and into which wood 
 end rubbish had been thrown for some years, was directed 
 to be cleared out. So little water remained, and in such 
 quantity were the weeds and mud, that it was expected 
 :io fish would be found, except perhaps a few eels ; but, 
 greatly to the surprise of the persons employed, nearly 
 two hundred brace of tench, arid as many perch, were 
 discovered. After the pond was supposed to be quite 
 
 them soft ; it is therefore to be ranked among 
 the soft-finned fishes. I then examine its ven- 
 tral or belly fins, and finding that the fish has 
 them, I look for their situation, and find they 
 lie nearer to the tail than the pectoral fins. 
 By this I find the animal to be a soft-finned 
 abdominal fish. Then, to know which of the 
 kinds of these fishes it is, I examine its figure 
 and the shape of its head : I find the body 
 rather oblong ; the head with a small beak ; 
 the lower jaw like a saw ; the fin covering the 
 gills with eight rays. This animal must, 
 therefore, be the herring, or one of that family, 
 such as the pilchard, the sprat, the shad, or 
 the anchovy. To give another instance : upon 
 examining the fins of a fish to me unknown, I 
 find them prickly; I then look for the situation 
 of the ventral fins; I find them entirely want- 
 cleared, an animal was observed to be under some roots, 
 which was conjectured to be an otter. The place was 
 surrounded ; and on making an opening, a tench was 
 found of a most singular form, having literally taken the 
 shape of the hole in which he had of course been many 
 years confined. His length was four feet nine inches, 
 his circumference two feet three inches, and his weight 
 near twelve pounds. The colour was also singular, his 
 belly being tinged with vermilion like that of a char. 
 This extraordinary animal, after having been examined 
 by many gentlemen, was carefully put into a pond. At 
 first it merely floated, and after a while it swam gently 
 away. When Mr Daniel produced his " Rural Sports " 
 it was alive and well. 
 
 The Chub. This fish, which is called cheven, nab, 
 or, botlJng, very much resembles the carp, but is of a 
 
 longer form. The body is oblong, rather round, and is 
 of an equal thickness in the greater part of the slope ; 
 the scales are large ; the iricles silvery; the cheeks of 
 the same colour ; the head and back of a deep dusky 
 green; the sides silvery, but in the summer yellow; the 
 belly white ; the pectoral fins of a pale yellow ; the ven- 
 tral and anal fins red ; and the tail forked, of a brownish 
 hue, but tinged with blue at the end. It is altogether a 
 handsome fish, but in no esteem for the table, being very 
 coarse, and when out of season full of small hairy bones : 
 the roe however is veiy good ; and this fish stewed as 
 carp will, it is said, deceive a connoisseur. Its name 
 is derived from the shape of the head, cop being an old 
 English word for head ; and the French and Italians 
 know it by a name synonymous with ours. The haunts 
 of these fish are rivers whose bottoms are of sand or clay, 
 or which are bounded by clayey banks, in deep holes, 
 under hollow banks, shaded by trees or weeds. They 
 are also found in the Esk, a river noted for the crystal- 
 line clearness of its waters, flowing over a rocky bottom. 
 These fish often float on the surface, and are sometimes 
 found in deep waters, where the currents are strong. In 
 ponds fed by a rivulet they grow to a large size. They 
 seldom, however, exceed the weight of four or five 
 pounds, though Salvanus speaks of them as increasing 
 to eight or nine. They deposit their spawn in April ; 
 and are in great perfection during the months of Decem- 
 ber and January. 
 
308 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 ing ; this then must be a prickly-finned apodal 
 fish. 01' this kind there are but three : and 
 by comparing the fish with the description, I 
 find it either of the trichurus kind, the sword- 
 fish, or the gilt-head. Upon examining also 
 its internal structure, I shall find a very great 
 similitude between my fish and that placed at 
 the head of the family. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF SPINOUS FISHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 HAVING given a method by which Spinous 
 Fishes may be distinguished from each other, 
 the history of each in particular might natur- 
 ally be expected to follow ; but such a distinct 
 account of each would be very disgusting, 
 from the unavoidable uniformity of every des- 
 cription. The history of any one of this class 
 very much resembles that of all the rest : they 
 breathe air and water through the gills; they 
 live by rapine, each devouring such animals 
 as its mouth is incapable of admitting ; and 
 they propagate, not by bringing forth their 
 young alive, as in the cetaceous tribes, nor 
 by distinct eggs, as in the generality of the 
 cartilaginous tribes, but by spawn, or peas, 
 as they are generally called, which they pro- 
 duce by hundreds of thousands. These are 
 the leading marks that run through their 
 whole history, and which have so much 
 swelled books with tiresome repetition. 
 
 It will be sufficient therefore to draw this 
 numerous class into one point of view, arid 
 to mark how they differ from the former 
 classes ; and what they possess peculiarly 
 striking, so as to distinguish them from each 
 other. The first object that presents itself, 
 and that by which they differ from all others, 
 are the bones. These, when examined but 
 slightly, appear to be entirely solid; yet when 
 viewed more closely, every bone will be found 
 hollow, and filled with a substance less rancid 
 and oily than marrow. These bones are very 
 numerous, and pointed ; and, as in quadru- 
 peds, are the props or stays to which the 
 muscles are fixed which move the different 
 parts of the body. 
 
 The number of bones in all spinous fishes 
 of the same kind, is always the same. It is 
 a vulgar way of speaking to say, that fishes 
 fire at some seasons more bony than at others; 
 but this scarcely requires contradiction. It is 
 true indeed, that fish are at some seasons much 
 fatter than at others : so that the quantity of 
 the flesh being diminished, and that of the 
 bones remaining the same, they appear to 
 increase in number, as they actually bear a 
 greater proportion. 
 
 All fish of the same kind, as was said, have 
 the same number of bones : the skeleton of a 
 fish, however irregularly the bones may fall 
 in our way at table, has its members very 
 regularly disposed ; and every bone has its 
 fixed place, with as much precision as we 
 find in the orders of a regular fabric. But 
 then spinous fish differ in the number of bones 
 according to the species : for some have a 
 greater number of fins by which they move 
 in the water. The number in each is always 
 in proportion to the number and size of these 
 fins : for every fish has a regular apparatus 
 of bones and muscles by which the fins are 
 moved ; and all those fish, where they are 
 numerous or large, must, of consequence, be 
 considerably bony. Indeed, in the larger 
 fish, the quantity of flesh is so much, and the 
 bones themselves are so large, that they are 
 easily seen and separated ; but in the smaller 
 kinds with many fins, the bones are as numer- 
 ous as in the great; yet being so very minute, 
 they lurk almost in every part of the flesh, 
 and are dangerous as well as troublesome to 
 be eaten. In a word, those fish which are 
 large, fat, and have few fins, are found to be 
 the least bony ; those which are small, lean, 
 and have many fins, are the most bony of all 
 others. Thus, for instance, a roach appears 
 more bony than a carp, because it is leaner 
 and smaller; and it is actually more bony 
 than an eel, because it has a greater number 
 of fins. 
 
 As the spinous fish partake less of the 
 quadruped in their formation than any others, 
 so they can bear to live out of their own ele- 
 ment a shorter time. In general, when taken 
 out of the water they testify their change by 
 panting more violently and at closer intervals, 
 the thin air not furnishing their gills the pro- 
 per play ; and in a few minutes they expire. 
 Some indeed are more vivacious in air than 
 others; the eel will live several hours out of 
 water; and the carp has been known to be 
 fattened in a damp cellar. The method is 
 by placing it in a net well wrapped up in 
 wet moss, the mouth only out, and then hung 
 up in a vault. The fish is fed with white 
 bread and milk; and the net now and then 
 plunged into the water. The animal, thus 
 managed, has been known not only to live 
 fora fortnight, but to grow exceedingly fat, 
 and of a superior flavour. From this it would 
 seem that the want of a moisture in the gills 
 is the chief cause of the death of these ani- 
 mals ; and could that be supplied, their lives 
 might be prolonged in the air, almost as well 
 as in their own element. 
 
 Yet it is impossible to account for the dif- 
 ferent operations of the same element, upon 
 animals that, to appearance, have the some con- 
 formation. To some fishes, bred in the sea, fresh 
 
SPINOUS FISH. 
 
 309 
 
 iter is immediate destruction : on the other 
 land, some fishes, that live in our lakes and 
 ponds, cannot bear the salt water. Whence 
 this difference can arise, is not easily to be 
 accounted for. The saline quality of the 
 water cannot properly be given as the cause; 
 since no fishes imbibe any of the sea's saltness 
 with their food, or in respiration. The flesh 
 of all fishes is equally fresh, both in the river, 
 and in the saltest depths of the ocean; the 
 salt of the element in which they live no way 
 mixing with their constitution. Whence 
 then is it that animals will live only there, 
 and will quickly expire when carried into fresh 
 water? It may probably arise from the supe- 
 rior weight of the sea-water ; as from the great 
 quantity of salt dissolved in its composition, it 
 is much heavier than fresh water, so it is pro- 
 bable it lies with greater force upon the 
 organs of respiration, and gives them their 
 proper and necessary play ; on the other hand, 
 those fish which are used only to fresh water, 
 cannot bear the weight of the saline fluid, and 
 expire, in a manner suffocated in the gross- 
 ness of the strange element. 
 
 But though there are some tribes that live 
 only in the sea, and others only in fresh water, 
 yet there are some whose organs are equally 
 adapted to either element ; and that spend a 
 part of their season in one, and a part in the 
 other. Thus the salmon, the shad, the smelt, 
 and the flounder, annually quit their native 
 ocean, and come up our rivers to deposit their 
 spawn. This seems the most important busi- 
 ness of their lives ; and there is no danger 
 which they will not encounter, even to the 
 surmounting precipices, to find a proper place 
 for the deposition of their future offspring. 
 The salmon, upon these occasions, is seen to 
 ascend rivers five hundred miles from the sea; 
 and to brave not only the danger of various 
 enemies, but also to spring up cataracts as high 
 as a house. As soon as they come to the bot- 
 tom of the torrent, they seem disappointed to 
 meet the obstruction, and swim some paces 
 back: they then take a view of the danger that 
 lies before them, survey it motionless for some 
 minutes, advance, and again retreat; till at 
 last summoning up all their force, they take 
 a leap from the bottom, their body straight, 
 and strongly in motion ; and thus most fre- 
 quently clear every obstruction. It sometimes 
 happens, however, that they want strength to 
 make the leap ; and then, in our fisheries, they 
 are taken in their descent. But this is one 
 of the smallest dangers that attend these ad- 
 venturing animals in their progress : number- 
 less are the methods of taking them ; as well 
 by the hook, as by nets, baskets, and other 
 inventions, which it is not our business here 
 to describe. Their capture makes, in several 
 countries, a great article of commerce; and 
 
 being cured in several different manners, either 
 by salting, pickling, or drying, they are sent 
 to all the markets of Europe. 
 
 As these mount up the rivers to deposit 
 their spawn, others, particularly the eel, de- 
 scend the fresh water stream, as Redi assures 
 us, to bring forth their young in the sea. 
 About the month of August, annually, these 
 animals take the opportunity of the most ob- 
 scure nights, and when the rivers are flooded 
 by accidental rains seek the ocean. When 
 they have reached the sea, and produced their 
 young, for they are viviparous, they again 
 ascend the stream, at different times, as op- 
 portunity offers, or as the season is favourable 
 or tempestuous. Their passage begins usually 
 about the end of January, and continues till 
 towards the end of May, when they are taken 
 in the river Arno by millions, and so small 
 that a thousand of them goes to a pound. 
 There is nothing more certain than that they 
 descend our own rivers after floods in great 
 abundance, and are thus caught in nets to 
 very great advantage. They are possessed 
 also of a power of climbing over any obstacle ; 
 for, by applying their glutinous and slimy 
 bodies to the surface of the object they 
 desire to surmount, they can thus creep up 
 locks, weirs, and every thing that would 
 prevent their ascending the current of the 
 stream. 
 
 But the length of the voyage performed by 
 these fishes, is short, if compared to what is 
 annually undertaken by some tribes, that con- 
 stantly reside in the ocean. These are known 
 to take a course of three or four thousand miles 
 in a season, serving for prey to whales, sharks, 
 and the numerous flocks of water-fowl, that 
 regularly wait to intercept their progress. 
 These may be called fish of passage, and bear 
 a strong analogy to birds of passage, both from 
 their social disposition, and the immensity of 
 their numbers. Of this kind are the cod, the 
 haddock, the whiting, the mackarel, the tunny, 
 the herring, arid the pilchard. Other fish live 
 in our vicinity, and reside on our coasts all the 
 year round ; or keep in the depths of the ocean, 
 and are but seldom seen : but these, at stated 
 seasons, visit their accustomed haunts with 
 regular certainty, generally returning tho 
 same week in the succeeding year, and oftei* 
 the same day. 
 
 The stated returns, and the regular progress 
 of these fish of passage, is one of the most ex- 
 traordinary circumstances in all the history of 
 nature. What it is that impels them to such 
 distant voyages ; what directs their passage ; 
 and what supports them by the way ; and what 
 sometimes prompts them to quit, for several 
 seasons, one shore lor another, and then return 
 to their accustomed harbour ; are questions that 
 curiosity may ask, but philosophy can hardly 
 
310 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 resolve. We must dismiss inquiry, satisfied 
 with the certainty of the facts. 
 
 The cod seems to be the foremost of this 
 wandering tribe, and is only found in our 
 northern part of the world. This animal's 
 chief place of resort is on the banks of New- 
 foundland, and the other sand-banks that lie 
 oif Cape Breton. That extensive flat seems 
 to be no other than the broad top of a sea- 
 mountain, extending for above five hundred 
 miles long, and surrounded with a deeper sea. 
 Hither the cod annually repair in numbers 
 beyond the power of calculation, to feed on the 
 quantity of worms that are to be found there 
 in the sandy bottom. Here they are taken in 
 such quantities, that they supply all Europe 
 with a considerable share of provision. The 
 English have stages erected all along the 
 shore for salting and drying them ; and the 
 fishermen, who take them with the hook 
 and line, which is their method, draw them 
 in as fast as they can throw out. This im- 
 mense capture, however, makes but a very 
 small diminution when compared to their 
 numbers; and when their provision there is 
 exhausted, or the season for propagation re- 
 turns, they go off to the polar seas, where 
 they deposit their roes in full security. From 
 thence want of food forces them, as soon as 
 the first more southern seas are open, to repair 
 southward for subsistence. Nor is this fish an 
 unfrequent visitant upon our own shores : 
 but the returns are not so regular, nor does 
 the capture bear any proportion to that at 
 Newfoundland. 
 
 The haddock, the whiting, and the mack- 
 erel are thought by some to be driven upon 
 our coasts rather by their fears than their 
 appetites ; and it is to the pursuit of the larger 
 fishes we owe their welcome visits. It is 
 much more probable, that they come for that 
 food which is found in more plenty near the 
 shore than farther out at sea. One thing is 
 remarkable, that their migrations seem to be 
 regularly conducted. The grand shoal of 
 haddocks that comes periodically on the 
 Yorkshire coasts, appeared there in a body on 
 the tenth of December, 1 766 ; and exactly on 
 the same day in the following year. This 
 shoal extended from the shore near three 
 miles in breadth, and in length for move than 
 forty. The limits of a shoal are precisely 
 known ; for if the fishermen put down their 
 lines at the distance of more than three miles 
 from shore, they catch nothing but dog-fish: 
 a proof that the haddock is not there. 
 
 But of all migrating fish, the herring arid 
 the pilchard take the most adventurous voy- 
 ages. Herrings are found in the greatest 
 abundance in the highest northern latitudes. 
 In those inaccessible seas, that are covered 
 with ice for a great part of the year, the her- 
 
 ring and pilchard find a quiet and sure retreat 
 from all their numerous enemies ; thither 
 neither man, nor their still more destructive 
 enemy, the fin-fish, or the cachalot, dares to 
 pursue them. The quantity of insect food 
 which those seas supply, is very great ; 
 whence, in that remote situation, defended by 
 the icy rigour of the climate, they live at ease, 
 and multiply beyond expression. From this 
 most desirable retreat, Anderson supposes they 
 would never depart, but that their numbers 
 render it necessary for them to migrate ; and, 
 as with bees from a hive, they are compelled 
 to seek for other retreats. 
 
 For this reason, the great colony is seen to 
 set out from the icy sea about the middle of 
 winter: composed of numbers, that if all the 
 men in the world were to be loaded with her- 
 rings, they would not carry the thousandth 
 part away. But they no sooner leave their 
 retreats, but millions of enemies appear to 
 thin their squadrons. The fin-fish and the 
 cachalot swallow barrels at a yawn ; the por- 
 poise, the grampus, the shark, and the whole 
 numerous tribe of dog-fish, find them an easy 
 prey, and desist from making war upon each 
 other ; but, still more, the unnumbered flocks 
 of sea. fowl, that chiefly inhabit near the pole, 
 watch the outset of their dangerous migration, 
 and spread extensive ruin. 
 
 In this exigence the defenceless emigrants 
 find no other safety but by crowding closer 
 together, and leaving to the outmost bands the 
 danger of being first devoured; thus, like 
 sheep when frighted, that always run together 
 in a body, and each finding some protection 
 in being but one of many that are equally 
 liable to invasion, they are seen to separate 
 into shoals, one body of which moves to the 
 west, and pours down along the coasts of 
 America 1 ., as far as south Carolina, and but 
 seldom farther. In Chesapeak Bay, the 
 annual inundation of these fish is so great, 
 that they coyer the shores in such quantities 
 as to become a nuisance. Those that hold 
 more to the east, and come down towards 
 Europe, endeavour to save themselves from 
 their merciless pursuers, by approaching the 
 first shore they can find ; and that which first 
 offers in their descent, is the coast of Iceland, 
 in the beginning of March. Upon their arri- 
 val on that coast, their phalanx, which has 
 already suffered considerable diminutions, is 
 nevertheless, of amazing extent, depth, and 
 closeness, covering an extent of shore as large 
 as the island itself. The whole water seems 
 alive ; and is seen so black with them to a 
 great distance, that the number seems inex- 
 haustible. There the porpoise and the shark 
 continue their depredations ; and the birds 
 devour what quantities they please. By 
 these enemies the herrings are cooped up into 
 
THE HERRING. 
 
 311 
 
 : 
 
 so close a body, that a shovel, or any hollow 
 vessel, put into the water, takes them up 
 without farther trouble. 
 
 That body which comes upon our coasts, 
 
 gins to appear off the Shetland isles in 
 April. These are the forerunners of the 
 grand shoal which descends in June ; while 
 its arrival is easily announced, by the number 
 of its greedy attendants, the gannet, the gull, 
 the shark, and the porpoise. When the main 
 body is arrived, its breadth and depth is such 
 as to alter the very appearance of the ocean. 
 It is divided into distinct columns, of five or 
 six miles in length, and three or four broad; 
 while the water before them curls up, as 
 if forced out of its bed. Sometimes they 
 sink for the space of ten or fifteen minutes, 
 then rise again to the surface; arid, in bright 
 weather, reflect a Variety of splendid colours, 
 like a field bespangled with purple, gold, and 
 azure. The fishermen are ready prepared to 
 give them a proper reception ; and, by nets 
 made for the occasion, they take sometimes 
 above two thousand barrels at a single draught. 
 
 From the Shetland isles, another body of 
 this great army, where it divides, goes off to 
 the western coasts of Ireland, where they meet 
 with a second necessity of dividing. The one 
 takes to the Atlantic, where it is soon lost in 
 that extensive ocean ; the other passes into the 
 Irish sea, and furnishes a very considerable 
 capture to the natives. 
 
 In this manner the herrings, expelled from 
 their native seas, seek those bays and shores 
 where they can find food, and the best defence 
 against their unmerciful pursuers of the deep. 
 In general, the most inhabited shores are the 
 places where the larger animals of the deep 
 are least fond of pursuing ; and these are chosen 
 by the herrings as an asylum from great dan- 
 gers. Thus, along the coasts of Norway, the 
 German shores, and the northern shores of 
 France, these animals are found punctual in 
 their visitations. In these different places 
 they produce their young; which, when come 
 to some degree of maturity, attend the general 
 motions. After the destruction of such num. 
 bers, the quantity that attempts to return is 
 but small; and Anderson doubts whether they 
 ever return. 
 
 Such is the account given of the migration 
 of these fishes, by one who, of all others, was 
 best acquainted with their history ; and yet 
 many doubts arise, in every part of the migra- 
 tion. The most obvious which has been made 
 is, that though such numbers perish in their 
 descent from the north, yet, in comparison to 
 those that survive, the account is trifling: and 
 it is supposed, that of those taken by man, the 
 proportion is not one to a million. Their 
 regularly leaving the shore also at a stated 
 time, would imply that they are not in these 
 
 visits under the impulse of necessity. In fact, 
 there seems one circumstance that shows these 
 animals governed by a choice with respect to 
 the shores they pitch upon; and not blindly 
 drove from one shore to another. What I 
 mean, is their fixing upon some shores for 
 several seasons, or, indeed, for several ages 
 together; and, after having regularly visited 
 them every year, then capriciously forsaking 
 them, never more to return. The first great 
 bank for herrings was along the shores of Nor- 
 way. Before the year 1584, the number of ships 
 from all parts of Europe that resorted to that 
 shore exceeded some thousands. The quantity 
 of herrings that were then assembled there 
 was such, that a man who should put a spear 
 in the water, as Glaus Magnus asserts, would 
 see it stand on end, being prevented from 
 falling. But soon after that period, these 
 animals were seen to desert the Norway shores, 
 arid took up along the German coast, where 
 the Hanse- Towns drove a very great trade by 
 th^r capture and sale; but, for above a century, 
 the herrings have, in a great measure forsaken 
 them ; and their greatest colonies are seen in 
 the British channel, and upon the Irish shores. 
 It is not easy to assign a cause for this seem- 
 ingly capricious desertion : whether the num- 
 ber of their finny enemies, increasing along 
 the northern coasts, may have terrified the 
 herring tribe from their former places of re- 
 sort; or, whether the quantity of food being 
 greater in the British Channel, may not allure 
 them thither; is not easy to determine. 1 
 
 1 The Herring, with the pilchard, sprat, shad, anchovy, 
 and white-bait, belongs to the Clupese genus. It weighs 
 about five ounces and a half. The upper part of the 
 
 body is blue or dark green, and the lower parts of a silvery 
 white. Owing to the gill-lids being very loose and 
 opening wide, the herring dies almost the instant it is 
 taken out of the water; hence, perhaps, the saying, "as 
 dead as a herring." In twenty-four hours the gill-covers 
 present an extravasated appearance. 
 
 The herring is not found in warm regions, nor farther 
 south than the northern coasts of France. The most 
 interesting point connected with its natural history is 
 the annual movement which it makes. Pennant, whose 
 zoological labours entitle him to much respect, about the 
 middle of the last century gave an account of their per- 
 iodical migration, which has been implicitly copied by 
 nearly every succeeding writer, Goldsmith among tho 
 rest. In a work on subjects of marine natural history, 
 published quite recently, Pennant's account is substan 
 tially repeated, and it is stated in addition that the dif- 
 ferent columns of herrings, in the course of their migra- 
 tions, are led by herrings of more than ordinary size. 
 Other writers have stated that the annual visitations of the 
 herring are adjusted with the most scrupulous precision to 
 the character of the country along which they pass, and 
 that wherever the soil is meagre and the climate severe, 
 there they never fail to resort. This is going much 
 
312 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 The pilchard, which is a fish differing little 
 from the herring, makes the coast of Cornwall 
 its place of principal resort. Their arrival on 
 that coast is soon proclaimed by their aften- 
 
 farther than Mr Pennant, who notices the caprice 
 which the herrings exercise with regard to their haunts. 
 The promulgation of these and similar erroneous notions 
 is productive of mischief in various ways. The belief 
 that a particular part of the coast was invariably haunted 
 by the herrings, excited hopes of commercial prosperity 
 from the fishery, and led to the formation of establish- 
 ments which it was afterwards found necessary to 
 abandon, owing to the laws which direct the arrival of 
 the fish being so completely fluctuating. Factitious 
 views of the designs of Providence have been taken, 
 which, being founded on error, were liable to be sud- 
 denly overthrown ; whereas, within the bounds of ascer- 
 tained facts, there are to be found abundant manifesta- 
 tions of beneficent design, the evidence of which rests 
 upon a more secure foundation. The very uncertainty 
 which characterizes the herrings in the choice of their 
 haunts is attended with advantage, as it occasions atten- 
 tion to be directed to agriculture and to other means of 
 subsistence than that which the ocean supplies, and 
 thus the chances of scarcity are lessened. 
 
 So far from the arctic seas being the great resort to 
 which the herrings retire for the winter after having 
 deposited their spawn, it is nearly certain that they are 
 not in the habit of leaving the seas on the shores of 
 which they periodically appear. They leave the shore 
 for the deep sea, and the return of warm weather again 
 brings them around the coasts. The herring, it may 
 also be stated, is nearly unknown within the polar seas, 
 and has scarcely been observed by the navigators of 
 those regions ; nor are they taken by the Greenlanders. 
 A small variety of the herring is sometimes found, and 
 is noticed by Sir John Franklin. -The young are found 
 at the mouth of the Thames, and on the coasts of Essex 
 and Kent during the winter. The Dutch at one period 
 carried on the fishery in the deep sea at all seasons. 
 On the western coast of Scotland the fishery has some- 
 times terminated before that on the eastern coast has 
 commenced. It has sometimes commenced earlier in a 
 southern part of the coast than further north, and on 
 the western coast of the county Cork before any other 
 part of the united kingdom. These facts are all ad- 
 verse to the accounts which have been given of a grand 
 movement in military order from the Arctic seas. On 
 the east coast cf Scotland the herrings often spawn at 
 a different period from those which resort to the western 
 coast, and at the same time their condition is quite dissi- 
 milar. Mr Jesse, in his " Gleanings in Natural History," 
 states that the herrings of Cardigan bay are much supe- 
 rior to those taken at Swansea. Dr John Macculloch 
 is of opinion that this may arise from their obtaining more 
 abundant or different food. He states that in Scotland 
 no migration takes place even between the two coasts, 
 and that when the herrings first appear on the western 
 coast it is not in shoals; and instead of being taken by 
 the net, they are taken by the line. Sir Humphry 
 Davy has remarked as follows in his " Salmonia:" " It 
 has always appeared to me, that the two great sources 
 of change of places of animals, was the providing of 
 food for themselves, and resting-places and food for 
 their young. The great supposed migrations of her- 
 rings fron the poles to the temperate zone, have ap- 
 peared to me to be only the approach of successive shoals 
 from deep to shallow water, for the purpose of spawn- 
 ing." The presumption, therefore, is that the herring is 
 a permanent inhabitant of our seas, and that there are 
 diflerent varieties of the species. Mr Yarrell says:- 
 " There are three species of herrings said to visit the 
 Baltic, and three seasons of roe and spawning. The 
 btiomling, or small spring herring, spawns when the 
 
 dants the birds and the larger fishes ; and the 
 whole country prepare to take the advantage 
 of this treasure, providentially thrown before 
 them. The natives sometimes enclose a bay 
 
 ice begins to melt ; then a large summer herring ; and 
 lastly, towards the middle of September, the autumn 
 herring makes its appearance and deposits its spawn." 
 The same naturalist has discovered what he believes to 
 be a second species of British herring: it is found heavy 
 with roe at the end of January, which it does not de- 
 posit till the middle of February. The flavour is milder 
 than that of the common herring, but it is not so large, 
 its length being seven inches, and its depth two. 
 
 The frequent changes of their haunts by herrings have 
 been a fruitful source of speculation, though this fact is 
 adverse to the accounts which give to their migration all 
 the regularity which would seem to belong to so well 
 organized an army. At one time they frequent a parti- 
 cular part of the coast for several years, and they after- 
 wards suddenly abandon it. The change is doubtless 
 occasioned by circumstances which it is their nature to 
 obey. In the time of Charles I. the Long island, one 
 of the western islands of Scotland, was a favourite resort 
 of the herring, and buildings were erected for the pur- 
 pose of establishing a fishery, but it was abandoned ii> 
 consequence of the fish ceasing to frequent that part ol 
 the coast. Dr Macculloch, in his work on the " High- 
 lands and Western isles of Scotland," has introduced 
 some remarks which are too apt to be omitted in this 
 place. " As vulgar philosophy (he says) is never satis- 
 fied unless it can find a cause for everything, this dis- 
 appearance of the herring has been attributed to the 
 manufacture of kelp. But kelp was not introduced for 
 very many years after the herrings had left the Long 
 island, as well as many other coasts which they had 
 frequented. It is also a popular belief that naval 
 engagements, or even the firing of guns, cause them to 
 change their haunts. Thus their desertion of Sweden 
 was attributed to the battle of Copenhagen; and now, 
 when guns are at peace, the steam-boats are the ' suffi- 
 cient reason.' The one reason is as valid as the other. 
 It is a chance if there has been a gun fired in the west- 
 ern islands since the days of Cromwell, and they have 
 shifted their quarters within that period many a time. 
 They have long left loch Hourn, and loch Torridon, 
 where steam-boats never yet smoked ; and since the 
 steam-boat has chosen to go to Inverary, they have also 
 thought fit to prefer loch Fyne to all the western bays. 
 But theories like this have at least the merit of antiquity. 
 Long before the days of gunpowder, the ancient high- 
 landers thought that the fish deserted those coasts where 
 blood had been shed; so that the gun hypothesis is only 
 an old one revived, with the necessary modifications." 
 
 Assuming that the herring approaches our shores from 
 the deep surrounding seas, and does not migrate from the 
 polar seas alone, there are three diflerent circumstances 
 which may occasion its movements : 1. For the pur- 
 pose of spawning. 2. In pursuit of food. 3. To escape 
 from enemies which prey upon them. 
 
 The herring spawns towards the end of October or the 
 beginning of November: and for the purpose of vivifica- 
 tion, it is necessary that it should be deposited in shallow 
 water, where it may receive the heat of the sun. This 
 instinctive movement is felt in the middle of July, and 
 they are thus brought within the reach of man when they 
 are in the highest perfection. They are worthless as 
 food after having deposited their spawn, and the fishing 
 season of course terminates. Mr Yarrell is of opinion, 
 from repeated examinations, that the herringsile, or young 
 herrings, do not mature any roe during their first year ; 
 and hence they are not impelled to retire to the deep sea, 
 but haunt the coasts. The weight of spawn in the her- 
 ring is 480 grains, and the number of eggs between 3000 
 and 4000. This spawn has been thrown ashore in Oik 
 
THE HERRING. 
 
 313 
 
 of several miles extent with their nets called 
 saines. To direct them in their operations, 
 tiiere were some years ago (but I believe they 
 are discontinued) several men placed on emi- 
 
 
 riey, found around the isle of Man and all along the 
 western snores of Scotland, and in the western lochs. 
 A greater degree of observation would most probably 
 prove that it is deposited around the British coasts gen- 
 erally, particularly the coast of Scotland. 
 
 Fishermen have remarked that the herring was most 
 abundant where the medusa;, and other marine animals 
 which give the sea a luminous appearance, were to be 
 found. The movements of herrings are doubtless fre- 
 quently determined by the time and place where food is 
 abundant. If it is not to be found in one spot it must 
 be sought for in another; and the apparent caprice which 
 they show in frequenting places at irregular times and 
 irregular intervals, is determined by a provident regard 
 to the abundance of food with which those places are 
 supplied. 
 
 Lastly, in endeavouring to escape from whales, gram- 
 puses, sharks, and other enemies, the movements of the 
 herring are the result of necessity; and nothing seems 
 more unlikely than that they should, under such circum- 
 stances, display an instinctive attachment to particular 
 places. 
 
 Herrings enter the Frith of Forth about the end of 
 December or the beginning of January, and remain two 
 or three weeks at the mouth of the estuary before they 
 attempt to ascend. This delay seems greatly to depend 
 on the state of the weather, for in some seasons when it 
 is mild and fine, the herring has been observed to swarm 
 in the Frith oft' Musselburgh in the early part of Janu- 
 ary ; whilst in the rough and stormy seasons they do not 
 make their appearance in that part of the river before 
 the middle of February, and always disappear before the 
 end of March. They seem to visit the Frith regularly 
 every winter, and a season very seldom passes without a 
 few being captured and sent to the Edinburgh market. 
 Some years they appear in much larger shoals than in 
 others, the reason of which is not accounted for. In the 
 year 1816, pilchards were taken in the Frith of Forth 
 in great abundance, when not a dozen herrings were 
 seen during the whole winter. Since that time not a 
 single pilchard has been known to enter the estuary. 
 
 In June, July, and August, herring are taken off the 
 Dunbar and Berwick coasts in considerable number, 
 from whence the Edinburgh market is abundantly sup- 
 plied, when scarcely a single herring is to be seen higher 
 in the Frith of a size worth the notice of the fisher- 
 men. 
 
 Herrings are said to deposit their spawn towards the 
 end of October, but this spawning does not account for the 
 number of small fry, two inches in length, that are found 
 in the Frith of Forth during the month of July, and the 
 young herrings that are taken from six to seven inches 
 long in the month of February, mixed with fry from two 
 to three inches in length. When herrings are brought 
 to the market in the first two months of the year, they 
 are found full of spawn, and in the middle of March 
 they are observed to be very lank, with not a single ovum 
 to be seen. Hence it is not improbable, that the same 
 species of herring might spawn twice in the year, early 
 in the month of March and also towards the end of 
 October. 
 
 The most common length of a full-grown herring is 
 eleven inches, and two and a quarter deep. Each jaw on 
 the anterior part is furnished with six or eight teeth placed 
 in one row, which are more perceptible on the lower than 
 on the upper jaw ; the vomer is supplied with a double 
 row, about sixteen in number; on each side is another 
 row of teeth, which are rather smaller; the tongue is also 
 armed with teeth, arranged in three or four rows, with 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 nences near the shore, called huers, who, with 
 brooms in their hands, gave signals where the 
 nets were to be extended, and where the shoals 
 of fishes lay : this they perceived by the colour 
 
 their points directed inwards; the under jaw is longest, 
 and is tipped with black ; eyes large and silvery, placed 
 nearer to the point of the nose than to the posterior 
 margin of the operculm. The first ray of the dorsal fin 
 in an adult fish arises exactly half way between the point 
 of the upper jaw and the base of the middle caudal rays ; 
 the origin of the ventral fins is placed behind the third 
 dorsal ray, half way between the point of the lower jaw, 
 and a little beyond the end of the middle caudal rays. 
 
 The tail is deeply forked, the middle rays less than 
 half the length of the longest ray of the same fin ; the 
 second ray of the dorsal fin, a little longer than the base 
 of that fin ; the scales are large, oval, and very decidu- 
 ous, placed in fifteen rows between the dorsal and ven- 
 tral fins. Most authors suppose that the belly of the 
 herring is not serrated in any stage of its growth, which 
 is said to form a good specific distinction between it and 
 the sprat ; but it will be found that this is not the case, 
 for a herring less than six inches in length is as dis- 
 tinctly serrated on the belly with thirty-six teeth, 
 between the ventral and anal fins, as a sprat of equal 
 size ; but as the herring increases in size, so the serra- 
 tures become obliterated, and, by the time the fish reaches 
 to the length of eight inches, the belly will be found to 
 be no longer serrated, but carinated. 
 
 The most prominent specific distinction of the herring, 
 from the sprat, white-bait, and pilchard, is in the posi- 
 tion of the dorsal fin, which is placed exactly in the 
 middle of the fish, half way between the point of the 
 upper jaw, and the end of the longest caudal ray. 
 
 Dr Knox considers the food of the herring, while 
 inhabiting the depths of the ocean, to consist principally 
 of minute entomostracous animals; but it is certainly 
 less choice (adds Mr Yarrell) in its selection when near 
 the shore. Dr Neill found five young herrings in the 
 stomach of a large female herring; he has also known 
 them to be taken by the fishermen on their lines, the 
 hooks of which were baited with limpets. The young 
 of the white-bait and small shrimps are often found in 
 the stomach of herrings when they are not in roe ; but 
 when they are about to spawn, their stomachs (as is ob- 
 served in most other fishes at that period,) appear as if 
 empty and destitute of any perceptible food. On the 
 authority of Dr Fleming the fry have even been caught 
 with a trout- fly < 
 
 On the coasts of the West Highlands, herrings for 
 many years past have been taken with the rod, the hook 
 dressed with a white feather (generally from some of the 
 gulls.) Near Oban, and upon the shores of Mull and 
 Jura, twelve dozen are sometimes taken by a single boat 
 during the evening. 
 
 Mode of taking and curing Herrings, The herring- 
 fishery is only carried on during the spawning season, 
 when the fish are in the highest perfection. The Yar- 
 mouth herring-fishery commences about the middle of 
 September, but the season varies at different parts of 
 the coast. On the coast of Sutherland the early her- 
 ring-fishery commences in June ; the late fishery about 
 the middle of July, and continues until September. 
 On the coast of Cromarty large shoals appear as early 
 as the month of May. The great object is to obtain a 
 supply for the purpose of curing, although, in the early 
 part of the season, large numbers of fresh herrings are 
 brought to the London market from Yarmouth ; and 
 the consumption at Norwich and other places, which 
 are not at a great distance from the coast, is also con- 
 siderable. The fish are sometimes so rich in the early 
 part of the season as to be unfit for curing, and on tins 
 account they are brought into the market for immediate 
 2 R 
 
314 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 of the water, which assumed a tincture from 
 the shoals beneath. By these means, they 
 sometimes take twelve or fifteen hundred bar- 
 rels of pilchards at a draught ; and they place 
 
 consumption. The spawning season being over by the 
 end of October or the beginning of November, the fish- 
 ing terminates, as the herrings are then in a poor and 
 exhausted condition. 
 
 The description of vessel fitted out for the herring- 
 fishery on the eastern and western coasts of Scotland 
 is called a " buss," of from fifty to eighty tons burden, 
 cutter built. They ply from loch to loch in pursuit 
 of the herrings, and come to anchor in the nearest 
 harbour when the fish appear. A man or two is left 
 on board the buss to take charge of her, and the rest 
 go out in the boats, each manned with four hands, for 
 the purpose of setting the nets. Each boat has two 
 trains of nets, 230 or 240 yards long, and from eleven 
 to twelve yards deep. In deep water both trains are 
 tied together by the back-rope, one end to windward 
 and the other to leeward. The boats are fastened at 
 each end and allowed to drive to leeward with the nets. 
 Every half-hour, or oftener, the men endeavour to 
 ascertain if there are any herrings in the net. This 
 they do by following along the line of the back-rope, 
 and here and there raising a piece of netting. By this 
 means they not only find when they are upon good 
 fishing-ground, but learn whether the herrings swim 
 high or low, and they raise or sink the nets accordingly, 
 by shortening or lengthening the buoys by which the 
 nets are kept up. Sometimes they traverse ten or 
 twenty miles in a night, setting their nets ten or twelve 
 times in different places. The fishing is never carried 
 on but in the night, and the darkest nights, accompanied 
 by a slight breeze, are the most propitious. In the 
 morning, at daylight, the fishermen take their cargo to 
 their respective busses. When the herrings are in 
 great numbers, their labours are comparatively light. 
 The nets are set in the evening, a small anchor 
 is fixed to each end of the train, and they are not hauled 
 or raised until morning. In this case the trains are 
 not joined together, but are set separately, and near the 
 buss, on board of which the men sleep. The crews of 
 the busses are engaged by the month, and a great pro- 
 portion of them are landsmen, pursuing other labours 
 when the fishing season is over. Each man receives, 
 in addition to his wages, a certain quantity of herrings, 
 when the season is a good one, and a smaller proportion 
 when it is unfavourable. 
 
 The Dutch Herring Fishery. Mr William Chambers, 
 in his Recollections of a Continental Tour, gives an in- 
 teresting description of the Dutch herring fishery. 
 "The Dutch greatly excel," he says, "in the art of curing 
 herrings. The herring in a salted state is the animal 
 delicacy of Holland, and enjoys a very different estima- 
 tion from that of the common salt herring in Britain. 
 Yet the fish of both countries are the same, being caught 
 in the same fishing-grounds ; and there is no reason why 
 our herrings should be in any respect inferior in quality 
 and mercantile value. There are about eighty vessels 
 employed in the Dutch herring fishery, nearly all of 
 which belong to Vlaardingen and Maas-sluis, two ports 
 on the Maas, situated between Rotterdam and the sea. 
 The fishing is conducted on an organized plan. All the 
 vessels set sail on a fixed day, namely, the 15th of June, 
 which is held as a day of rejoicing and merriment. They 
 are accompanied by a vessel of war, which carries a 
 chaplain for the fleet ; and to this vessel, at the beat of 
 drum, the fishermen proceed on Sundays for public 
 worship. The fishing-grounds are towards the northern 
 coasts of Scotland ; but agreeably to a law of old standing, 
 no vessel is expected to approach within three leagues of 
 the shore. The first day that nets are allowed to be 
 
 them in heaps on the shore. It often hap- 
 pens that the quantity caught exceeds the 
 salt or the utensils for curing them ; and they 
 then are carried off to serve for the purposes 
 
 hauled is the 24th of June, when the fishing at once com- 
 mences in all its vigour. The whole process of curing 
 is conducted on shipboard. Immediately on being 
 caught, the herrings are bled, gutted, cleaned, salted, 
 and barrelled. The bleeding is effected by cutting them 
 across the back of the neck, and then hanging them up 
 for a few seconds by the tail. By being thus relieved 
 of the blood, the fish retain a certain sweetness of flavour 
 or delicacy of flesh which unbled herrings cannot possibly 
 possess. The rapidity of the process of curing must 
 likewise aid in preserving the native delicacy of the ani- 
 mal, for the herring is salted and in the barrel in a very 
 few minutes after it has been swimming in the water. 
 The superiority of the Dutch herrings, I was assured, is 
 solely ascribable to this mode of curing, though it is not 
 unlikely that something is also owing to the nature of 
 the salt employed, as I have somewhere seen it men- 
 tioned that the salt in use, in reference to other processes 
 of curing in Holland, is of a less bitter quality than 
 that which is commonly employed in this country. The 
 first herrings caught and cured, to the extent of two or 
 three barrels, are instantly dispatched by a fast-sailing 
 vessel for Holland, where their arrival is anxiously ex- 
 pected. On landing at Maas-sluis, one barrel, decorated 
 with flowers and with flags flying, is dispatched to the 
 Hague as an offering to his majesty, who on this occasion 
 presents the fortunate fishers with 1000 guilders. The 
 other barrels are sold by public auction, and generally 
 fetch from 900 to 1100 guilders. These precious barrels 
 are then subdivided among the dealers, who retail them 
 at a high price. A single herring of this first importa- 
 tion brings one and a half to two guilders that is, half 
 a crown to three shillings and fourpence each. So highly 
 are they esteemed, that a single herring is considered 
 a handsome present ; and it is a custom to make such 
 gifts to friends and acquaintances on this auspicious oc- 
 casion. Livery servants may be seen passing through 
 the streets with a plate, on which lie one or two herrings, 
 covered with a fine white cloth and a neat card of pre- 
 sentation. When a second importation takes place, the 
 price falls perhaps to a guilder, to half a guilder, to five- 
 pence, and, finally, to a penny each. The period of my 
 visit was shortly after the early importations of the her- 
 rings from the Dutch fleet, and I observed some shops 
 still decorated with the gaudy crowns of flowers with 
 which their exterior had been invested a few weeks be- 
 fore. Both in Holland and in the countries up the 
 Rhine, I had an opportunity of seeing these delicious 
 Dutch herrings brought to table. Two or three of them 
 form a dish at dinner, and are partaken of as &n entre- 
 met, or something tasteful between the courses. I ob- 
 served that some persons at the table-d'h&tes began their 
 meals by taking a small piece of them. They are always 
 brought to the table raw, and cut across, as if crimped. 
 At Rotterdam, on asking for one boiled, I shocked the 
 feelings of our domestic attendant, who expressed no 
 small degree of surprise at so singular a proposition." 
 
 The Pilchard, (Clupea pikhardus,) is a species of the 
 herring-tribe, and differs from the common herring^ 
 
 chiefly, in being rather shorter in the head, and thicker 
 in the body, and in having its dorsal or back-fin, some- 
 what forwarder: but it may be more readily distinguished 
 
THE HERRING. 
 
 315 
 
 of manure. This fishery employs not only 
 great numbers of men at sea, training them 
 to naval affairs, but also numbers of women 
 and children at land, in salting and curing 
 
 by its scales, which are nearly half as large again as those 
 of a herring ot the same size. It is found, during the 
 months of August and September, in great shoals, or 
 schools, as they are called by the fishermen, on the south- 
 west coast of England, and aflbrd employment, for a 
 time, to a great number of boats and men, belonging to 
 the fishing-towns of Cornwall. This fish is also met with 
 ofl" the French coast, and other parts of Europe, but its 
 chief place of resort, appears to be the coasts of Cornwall 
 and Devon. The pilchard is rarely met with in the 
 London markets, but there is a fish, found sparingly 
 among the sprats, which has obtained its name, which 
 in reality, is merely a small, and we believe, undescribed 
 species of herring. The value of this fishery was well 
 known as long back as the reign of Elizabeth, when an 
 act of parliament, containing the following clause, was 
 passed : " No stranger should transport beyond seas, 
 any pilcherd or other fish in cask, vnlesse hee did bring 
 into the realme for every sixe tnnnes, two hundred of 
 clap boord fit to make cask, and so rateably, vpon payne 
 of forfeiting the said pilcherd or fish." The reason the 
 stranger was obliged to bring in a certain quantity of 
 wood, appears to have arisen from the circumstance of 
 Cornwall being nearly without timber of any kind. 
 
 There are several signs by which the presence of a 
 shoal of pilchards may be known ; the luminous appear- 
 ance of the sea at night, the number of birds of prey which 
 accompany it, and, when seen from a moderate distance, 
 the appearance of the water, which seems for miles 
 around to be, as it were, boiling or bubbling. 
 
 When the annual visit of the pilchards is expected, to 
 prevent their passing unnoticed, men are continually 
 on the alert, watching from all the elevated spots on the 
 coast, from which stations they are also able by signs to 
 direct the operations of their friends at sea, so that they 
 may be enabled to enclose as many of the fish as possible. 
 The largest net which is employed, is called a scan, and 
 is upwards of sixty fathoms (three hundred and sixty feet,) 
 in length, and thirty-six feet in depth; the lower part of 
 this net is kept down by means of leaden weights, while 
 the upper floats on the surface, being rigged out with a 
 number of corks; if one of these nets is found to be in- 
 sufficient for the purpose of surrounding the shoal, a 
 second, or even a third, is attached to it. The scan now 
 forms a kind of wall, within which the fish are enclosed, 
 and the object of the fishermen is to bring this net as 
 near as possible to the shore, so that at low water, the 
 fish shall have all means of escape cut ofl', except by 
 overleaping the net. As soon as the tide is out, a net 
 called a truck-net, which differs from the scan in being 
 smaller, and without leads, is cast among the pilchards, 
 and, cords being attached to its four corners, it is hauled 
 on shore, along with as many fish as it may happen to 
 contain; and this is repeated until the whole of them 
 are taken or have made their escape. 
 
 While these means are employed for the capture of the 
 larger quantity, other boats are engaged in taking the 
 scattered parts of the shoal by means of driving-nets. 
 The boats and nets of the seaners being very expensive, 
 are generally provided by some capitalist or company of 
 proprietors, and the men during the season are paid a 
 small weekly sum, and also a certain portion of the cap- 
 tured fish. As soon as they are brought on shore, they 
 are carried ofl" in baskets to the curing-house, where they 
 are carefully laid in rows one above the other, with al- 
 ternate layers of salt, till a pile of considerable height is 
 formed. They are said now to be in bulk, and are al- 
 lowed to remain in this state from a fortnight to five 
 wueks. During this time a quantity of brime and oil 
 
 the fish ; in making boats, nets, ropes, and 
 casks, for the purposes of taking or fitting them 
 for sale. The poor are fed with the superfluity 
 of the capture ; the land is manured with the 
 
 has drained from them, which runs ofl" through gutters 
 in the floor and is carefully collected ; they are next 
 thrown into a large wooden trough which contains a false 
 bottom formed of battens or long strips of wood, and are 
 freed from the salt and impurities that are attached to 
 them; they are now very carefully and neatly packed in 
 hogsheads, arranged in circles, one within the other, the 
 heads all pointing inwards. 
 
 As soon as the hogshead is full, a circular board is 
 placed on the top of the fish, and they are pressed very 
 closely together by the application of heavy weights, the 
 weights being large blocks of granite. This pressure re- 
 duces the bulk of the fish by nearly one third, and the 
 hogshead has to be filled up three times before it is con- 
 sidered well packed. A quantity of pure oil runs ofl', 
 during this part of the process, through a small hole in 
 the bottom of the cask. It is calculated, that a hogshead 
 of pilchards which weigh about four hundred weight and 
 a quarter, will yield from three to four gallons of oil, 
 worth about 1 7 a tun, or rather better than 1*. 4d. a 
 gallon. 
 
 The oil is used in the manufacture of cart-grease, and 
 for many other purposes to which the more common kind 
 of whale-oil, called train-oil, is applied. Attempts have 
 been made to purify this oil, so as to render it serviceable 
 to the currier, but hitherto without success, en account 
 of the quantity of salt and glutinous matter which it 
 contains. The pilchards, when thus packed, are exported 
 chiefly to the West Indies, for the use of the slave-popu- 
 lation, and to different parts of the Mediterranean and 
 are likewise salted and dried in great quantities for 
 winter-provision, by the poorer classes in Cornwall and 
 Devon. 
 
 The myriads of fish that a shoal of pilchards contains, 
 are almost beyond the power of calculation ; some of the 
 shoals will form almost solid masses, covering a surface 
 frequently of six square miles, and extending- in depth 
 upwards of one hundred feet. In successful times, as 
 many as from five to seven hundred hogsheads have been 
 taken from one shoal. The annual value of the fish that 
 are exported is from fifty to sixty thousand pounds. 
 
 The appearance of a shoal of pilchards on a dark night, 
 when enclosed by the nets, is splendid beyond descrip- 
 tion ; struggling and leaping in every direction, to escape 
 from their confinement, or to avoid the attacks of their 
 numerous enemies (particularly the dog-fish,) who are 
 imprisoned along with their victims, they appear like so 
 many flakes of fire, and the sea itself seems like a lake 
 of liquid flame. 
 
 The pilchard fisheries, according to evidence laid be- 
 fore a committee of the house of commons, appear, of 
 late years, to have decreased considerably. Several causes 
 have tended to produce this state of the fishery ; among 
 others, the removal of a bounty of 8s. 6d. a hogshead, 
 which had been paid to the exporters till within these five 
 or six years, and the increase of duty at present is as 
 much as ]8s. 2d. a hogshead, imposed by the govern- 
 ment at Naples, to which place large quantities were 
 exported. 
 
 The fishery is also injured by the illegal practice of 
 employing drift and other nets too near the shore, 
 by which means the shoals are dispersed as they ap- 
 proach. It is likely, however, that the statute of the 
 14th of Charles II. will soon be more strictly enforced. 
 This Act imposes a fine upon all persons who " shall 
 in any year, from the first of June till the last day of 
 November, presume to take fish in the high sea, or ir. 
 any bay, port, creek, or coast, of or belonging to 
 Cornwall and Devon, with any drift-net, trammel, or 
 
316 
 
 offals; the merchant finds (lie gain of com- 
 mission, and honest commerce ; the fisherman a 
 comfortable subsistence from his toil. " Ships," 
 says Dr Borlase, " are often freighted hither 
 
 stream-net or nets, or any other nets of that sort or 
 kind, unless it be at the distance of one league and a halt' 
 at least from the respective shores." 
 
 The number of boats at present engaged in this 
 fishery is about 1000, giving employment to 3500 men 
 at sea, and upwards of 5000 men, women, and children, 
 on shore. 
 
 The White-bait (Clupea alba,} which is found so 
 plentifully in the Thames, and is so well known in the 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 neighbourhood of London, as a delicate and well- flavoured 
 fish, was supposed by naturalists to be the young of the 
 shad, until Mr Yarrell, in the Magazine of Natural His- 
 tory, proved it to be a distinct species. In many respects 
 it differs materially from all the other British species of 
 Clupea, not only in specific characters, but also in its 
 habits, and is one as distinctly marked as any of its con- 
 geners. From the beginning of April to the end of 
 September, this fish, according to Mr Yarrell, may be 
 caught in the Thames as high up as Woolwich or Black- 
 wall, every flood tide, in considerable quantity; while 
 during the first three months of this period, neither spe- 
 cies of the genus Clupea of any age or size, except 
 occasionally a young sprat, can be found. About the 
 end of March, or early in April, white- bait begin to 
 make their appearance in the Thames, and remain till 
 the end of September, when they are no longer to be 
 found in the river. In the months of June, July, 
 and August, provided the weather be fine, immense 
 quantities are consumed by visitors to Greenwich and 
 Blackwall, where epicures of all orders assemble for a 
 white-bait feast. The fishery for these fish is continued 
 in the Thames frequently so late as September, and 
 specimens of young fish of the year, from four to five 
 inches long, are then not uncommon, but mixed, even 
 at this late period of the season, with others of very 
 small size, as if the roe had continued to be deposited 
 throughout the summer. 
 
 The white-bait (says Dr Parnell, in a communication 
 in the first volume of the Magazine of Zoology and 
 Botany, to which we are indebted for the present ac- 
 count) is not, as it Avas formerly considered to be, pe- 
 culiar to the Thames, as I have found it to inhabit the 
 Frith of Forth in considerable numbers during the sum- 
 mer months. From the beginning of July to the end of 
 September they are found in great abundance in the 
 neighbourhood of Queensferry, and opposite Hopetoun 
 House, where I captured on one dip of a small net, of 
 about a foot and a half square, between two and three 
 hundred fish, the greater part of which were white-bait 
 of small size, not more than two inches in length; the 
 remainder were sprats, young herring, and fry of other 
 fish. In their habits they appear to be similar to the 
 young of the herring, always keeping in shoals, and 
 occasionally swimming near the surface of the water, 
 where they often fall a prey to aquatic birds. 
 
 I have no doubt (continues Dr Parnell) that the white- 
 bait will be found to exist in the Frith of Forth* through- 
 out the whole of the year in considerable quantity, and 
 that the fishermen would find it a new source of income, 
 equal or superior to the spirling fishery, did they use 
 
 * The white-bait has also been observed by Dr Parnell in 
 abundance in the Sol way Frith. 
 
 with salt, and into foreign countries with the 
 fish, carrying off at the same time a part of 
 our tin. The usual produce of the number 
 of hogsheads exported for ten years, from 1747 
 
 the mode of fishing for white-bait that is practised in the 
 Thames. But in consequence of the large extent 
 of the estuary, and of no means being used exclusive y 
 for the capture of these fish, we can form but a faint 
 idea of the number that may there exist. 
 
 The white-bait net which is used in the Thames is 
 not large ; the mouth of it measures only about three 
 feet across, but the mesh of the hoes, or bag-end of the 
 net, is very small. A boat is moored in the tide-way, 
 where the water is from twenty to thirty feet deep ; and 
 the net with its wooden frame is fixed to the side of the 
 boat. The tail of the hose, swimming loose, is from 
 time to time brought into the boat, the end untied, and 
 its contents shaken out. The wooden frame forming 
 the mouth of the net does not dip more than four feet 
 below the surface of the water. 
 
 The largest specimen of Clupea alba that I have met 
 with, taken from the Frith of Forth, measures five 
 inches in length. The upper part of the back, from the 
 nape to the tail, is of a pale greenish ash-colour, the 
 sides, gill covers, pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, of a 
 beautiful pure white; the dorsal and caudal fins straw 
 colour, minutely spotted with dark brown. The head 
 on the summit in young specimens is marked with a 
 large brown spot, which is divided anteriorly by a white 
 line. Each orbit on the superior margin is tinged with 
 black, as well as the posterior inferior margin, but in a 
 less degree. The shape of the body resembles that of 
 the young herring, but it is more compressed and of a 
 deeper form. 
 
 The first ray of the dorsal fin commences exactly 
 midway between the point of the upper jaw and the end 
 of the middle caudal ray; the ventral fins are placed 
 behind the third ray of the dorsal; the tail is deeply 
 forked, the middle ray being not quite half the length of 
 the longest ray of the same fin. 
 
 The head, in a specimen five inches long, is not 
 quite one-fourth the length of the whole fish. In a fish 
 four inches long, the head is exactly one-fourth the entire 
 length. In one two inches long, the head measures more 
 than one-fourth the whole length. Each jaw on the 
 anterior part is furnished with a few small slender teeth, 
 about six in number, placed in one row ; which are 
 more perceptible on the lower than on the upper jaw ; 
 on the roof of the mouth as well as on the tongue, are 
 placed three or more rows of teeth, which can be easily 
 felt by the assistance of the point of a needle. In this 
 respect my observations differ from those of Mr Yarrell, 
 who says, the tongue of the white-bait has an elevated 
 central ridge without teeth ; but it is probable that that 
 author did not examine a dried specimen, for until in 
 that state, it is almost impossible to perceive the teeth, 
 in consequence of their extreme minuteness. This is 
 a most important character, and at once removes it from 
 the shad, which has the tongue and roof of the mouth 
 destitute of teeth. 
 
 The white-bait, four inches long, differs from the 
 herring, sprat, and pilchard of the same length, in the 
 following characters : 
 
 The herring has the dorsal fin half-way between the 
 point of the upper jaw and end of the long caudal rays ; 
 with the head nearly one-fifth the entire length. The 
 white-bait has the dorsal fin much nearer the tip of the 
 tail, than to the point of the upper jaw, with the head 
 one-fourth the length of the whole fish ; the body is more 
 compressed, of a much lighter colour, and the belly much 
 rougher under the pectorals, than is observed in th 
 herring. 
 
 The sprat has the origin of the ventral fins situated 
 
SPINOUS FISH. 
 
 317 
 
 to 1 756 inclusive, amounted to nearly thirty 
 thousand hogsheads each year ; every hogs- 
 head has amounted, upon an average, to the 
 price of one pound thirteen shillings and 
 threepence. Thus the money paid for pilchards 
 exported, has annually amounted to near fifty 
 thousand pounds." 
 
 Whence these infinite numbers are derived, 
 still remains obscure ; but it will increase our 
 wonder to be told, that so small a fish as the 
 stickleback, which is seldom above two inches 
 long, and that one would think could easily 
 find support in any water, is yet obliged to 
 colonize, and leave its native fens in search of 
 new habitations. Once every seventh or eighth 
 year, amazing s.hoals of these appear in the 
 river Welland, near Spalding, and come up 
 the stream, forming one great column. There 
 are supposed to be multitudes collected in some 
 of the fens, till overcharged with numbers, 
 they are periodically obliged to migrate. An 
 idea may be had of their numbers, when we 
 are informed, that a man, employed by a 
 farmer to take them, for the purpose of man- 
 uring his grounds, has got, for a considerable 
 time, four shillings a day by selling them at 
 a halfpenny a bushel ! 
 
 Thus we see the amazing propagation of 
 
 anterior to a vertical line dropped from the first dorsal 
 ray, with forty-eight vertebrae; the white-bait has fifty-six 
 vertebra, with the origin of the ventral fins placed behind 
 the third ray of the dorsal. In the pilchard the dorsal 
 fin is placed exactly in the centre of gravity, so that 
 when the fish is held up by the anterior rays, the body 
 preserves an equilibrium, whereas if the white- bait, 
 herring, or sprat, be taken up by the same part, the head 
 will be observed to dip considerably. 
 
 The stomach of the white-bait I have found frequently 
 filled with minute Crustacea. 
 
 Sprat or Garvie Herring, (Clupea sprattus.) This little 
 fish, although well known to every one by the name of Sprat 
 or Garvie herring, is not admitted by all to be a distinct 
 species, being considered as the young of the pilchard or 
 the herring. This mistake is not to be wondered at, 
 since authors either omit the most important characters, 
 or place reliance on characters which do not exist. 
 
 Sprats are found in the Frith of Forth, throughout the 
 whole of the year, and, like many small animals, appear 
 to be very susceptible of cold. During the warm sum- 
 mer months, they are seen sporting about in large shoals, 
 in every part of the Frith, occupying a considerable ex- 
 tent of water, and causing a ripple on the surface with 
 their fins, while they become the principal food of many 
 marine birds, which assail them in the water, or prey on 
 them from above. As the cold weather advances, these 
 little fish are no longer seen in the lower part of the 
 estuary, but are found to ascend the Frith to a consider- 
 able distance, and to select that part of the river where 
 the fresh and salt waters mingle together ; for it is a well 
 known law in chemistry, that when two fluids of differ- 
 ent densities come in contact, the temperature of the 
 mixture is elevated for a time in proportion to the dif- 
 ference in density of the two fluids. Owing to mutual 
 penetration and condensation, such a mixture is con- 
 stantly taking place in the rivers that run into the sea, 
 and the temperature of the mixed water is accordingly 
 elevated. In the year 1830, the sprat was remarkably 
 abundant all over the British coast, but more particularly 
 
 fishes along our own coasts and rivers ; but 
 their numbers bear no proportion to the vast 
 quantities found among the islands of the In- 
 dian ocean. The inhabitants of these coun- 
 tries are not under the necessity even of pro- 
 viding instruments for fishing: it is but going 
 down to the shore, and there the fish are found 
 in great numbers in the plashes that still con- 
 tinue to have water in them. In some of these 
 places the quantity is so great that they are 
 left in shoals on those swamps, dried up by 
 the sun, and their putrefaction contributes to 
 render the country unhealthful. 
 
 This power of increasing in these animals, 
 exceeds our ideas, as it would in a very short 
 time outstrip all calculation. A single herring, 
 if suffered to multiply unmolested and undi- 
 minished for twenty years, would show a pro- 
 geny greater in bulk than ten such globes as 
 that we live upon. But happily the balance 
 of Nature is exactly preserved ; and their con- 
 sumption is equal to their fecundity. For this 
 reason we are to consider the porpoise, the 
 shark, or the cod-fish, not in the light of plun- 
 derers and rivals, but of benefactors to man- 
 kind. Without their assistance, the sea would 
 soon become overcharged with the burden of 
 its own productions ; and that element, which 
 
 on the coasts of Kent and Essex, where they were taken 
 in immense quantity, so that they were sold at sixpence 
 a bushel as manure for the land. 
 
 The sprat is generally considered as a delicious well- 
 flavoured and wholesome fish, and is eaten in consider- 
 able quantity in this country, both in the fresh and salted 
 conditions, but is very seldom brought to the Edinburgh 
 market. They spawn early in the month of March, and 
 feed on small crustaceous animals. 
 
 The most common size of a sprat is from four to five 
 inches in length, but it is observed occasionally to exceed 
 six inches and a half, when it is named in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Alloa the King of Garvies. 
 
 The colour of the back is a deep glossy blue, the sides, 
 belly, and gill-covers of a pure silvery white, passing 
 into green and blue reflections, when viewed in different 
 lights; the dorsal and caudal fins dusky, minutely spotted 
 with black ; the pectoral and ventral fins white, slightly 
 tinged with orange. On the crown of the head is a ilark 
 spot placed between the eyes, which is very perceptibly 
 seen when young, but as the fish increases in size the 
 spot gradually becomes obliterated. The eye is large, the 
 diameter being not less than one-fourth of the whole 
 head ; the upper and lower margins are tinged with 
 black. Each operculum has a slight notch placed on 
 its upper and posterior edge. The teeth in the jaws are 
 small, slender, and few in number; they are situated on 
 the most anterior parts, and are more obvious on the 
 lower than on the upper jaw; the tongue as well as the 
 roof of the mouth is also armed with fine teeth, their 
 points being slightly bent inwards. The under jaw is 
 the longest. The belly is strongly serrated as far as 
 the anal aperture. The convexity of the dorsal and ab- 
 dominal lines is much greater than is observed either in 
 the white-bait or the herring. 
 
 The sprat differs from the herring, white-bait, pilchard, 
 and shad, in two most striking characters; in having only 
 forty-eight vertebras, and in having the origin of the 
 ventral fins placed before a vertical line dropped from 
 the commencement of the first dorsal ray. 
 
318 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 at present distributes health and plenty to the 
 shore, would but load it with putrefaction. 
 
 In the propagation of all fish, some degree 
 of warmth seems absolutely necessary, not 
 only to their preservation, but to the advance- 
 ment of their posterity. Their spawn is al- 
 ways deposited in those places where the sun 
 beams may reach them, either at the bottom 
 of shallow shores, or floating on the surface in 
 deeper waters. A small degree of heat answers 
 all the purposes of incubation, and the animal 
 issues from the egg in its state of perfect for- 
 mation, never to undergo any succeeding 
 change. 
 
 Yet, still I have some doubts whether most 
 fish come from the egg completely formed. 
 We know that in all the frog tribe, and many 
 of the lizard kind, they are produced from the 
 egg in an imperfect form. The tadpole, or 
 young frog, with its enormous head and slen- 
 der tail, are well known; a species of the lizard 
 also, which is excluded from the shell without 
 legs, only acquires them by degrees, and not 
 till after some time does it put off its serpent 
 form. It is probable that some kinds of fish 
 in like manner suffer a change ; and though 
 it be too inconsiderable to strike the fisherman 
 or the inattentive spectator, yet it .makes a 
 very material difference to the naturalist, and 
 would, perhaps, disarrange his most favourite 
 systems. A slight alteration in the fins or 
 bones that cover the gills would overturn the 
 whole fabric of the most applauded ichthyolo- 
 gist; and yet, as I observed, it is most proba- 
 ble that these minute alterations often take 
 place. 
 
 As a proof of this, during the month of 
 July, there appear near Greenwich, innumer- 
 able shoals of small fishes, which are known 
 to the Londoners by the name of White bait. 
 It is universally agreed that they are the 
 young of some fish ; they are never seen but 
 at this time of the year, and never found to 
 have any roe, a circumstance that proves their 
 not being come to maturity. The quantity is 
 amazing ; and the fish that produces them in 
 such numbers must be in plenty, though it is 
 not yet known what that fish is, as they cor- 
 respond with no other species whatever. They 
 most resemble the smelt in form ; and yet they 
 want a fin, which that animal is never without. 
 They cannot be the bleak, as they are never 
 found in other rivers where the bleak breed 
 in great abundance. It is most probable, 
 therefore, that they are the young of some 
 animal not yet come to their perfect form, and 
 therefore reducible to no present system. 
 
 The time that spinous fishes continue in the 
 pea is in proportion to the size of the kind. It 
 is a rule that chiefly holds through nature, 
 that the larger the animals are, the longer 
 they continue before exclusion. This I say 
 
 holds generally through all nature, though it 
 is not easy to assign a cause for so well known 
 a truth. It may probably be, that as all large 
 bodies take a longer time to grow hot than 
 small ones, so the larger the egg, the longer 
 influence of vital warmth it requires to reach 
 through all its recesses, and to unfold the 
 dormant springs that wait to be put into 
 motion. 
 
 The manner in which the eggs of fishes are 
 impregnated is wholly unknown. All that 
 obviously offers is, that in ponds the sexes are 
 often seen together among the long grass at 
 the edge of the water; that there they seem to 
 struggle; and that during this time they are 
 in a state of suffering; they ^row thin ; they 
 lose their appetite, and their flesh becomes 
 flabby; the scales of some grow rough, and 
 they lose their lustre. On the contrary, when 
 the time of coupling is over, their appetite 
 returns ; they re-assume their natural agility, 
 and their scales become brilliant and beau- 
 tiful. 
 
 Although the usual way with spinous fishes 
 is to produce by spawn ; yet there are some, 
 such as the eel and the blenny, that are known 
 to bring forth their young alive. Bowlker, 
 who has written a treatise upon fishing, seems 
 to determine the question relative to the vivi- 
 parous production of eels, upon the authority 
 of one or two credible witnesses. An eel, 
 opened in the presence of several persons of 
 credit, was found to have an infinite number 
 of little creatures, closely wrapped up together 
 in a lump, about the size of a nutmeg, which 
 being put into a basin of water, soon separated, 
 and swam about : yet still, whether these may 
 not have been worms generated in the animal's 
 body, remains a doubt; for there are scarcely 
 any fishes that are not infested with worms in 
 that manner. 1 
 
 With respect to the growth of fishes, it is 
 observed, that among carps, particularly the 
 first year, they grow to about the size of the 
 leaf of a willow-tree ; at two years, they are 
 about four inches long. They grow but one 
 inch more the third season, which is five inches. 
 Those of four years old are about six inches ; 
 and seven after the fifth. From that to eight 
 years old they are found to be large in pro- 
 portion to the goodness of the pond, from eight 
 to twelve inches. With regard to sea-fish, 
 the fishermen assure us, that a fish must be 
 six years old before it is fit to be served up to 
 table. They instance it in the growth of a 
 mackarel. They assure us that those of a 
 year old are as large as one's finger ; that those 
 of two years, are about twice that length ; at 
 three and four years, they are that small kind 
 of mackarel that have neither milts nor roes ; 
 
 The eel, it is known, is viviparous. 
 
SPINOUS Fisri. 
 
 319 
 
 and between five and six, they are those full- 
 grown fish that are served up to our tables. 
 in the same manner, with regard to flat fishes, 
 they tell us, that the turbot and barbel at one 
 year are about the size of a crown-piece ; the 
 second year, as large as the palm of one's 
 hand ; and at the fifth and sixth year, they are 
 large enough to be served up to table. Thus 
 it appears, that fish are a considerable time 
 in coming to their full growth, and that they 
 are a long time destroyed before it comes to 
 their turn to be destroyers. 1 
 
 All fish live upon each other in some state 
 of their existence. Those with the largest 
 mouths attack and devour the larger kinds ; 
 those whose mouths are less, lie in wait for 
 the smaller fry; and even these chiefly subsist 
 upon spawn. Of those which live in the ocean, 
 of the spinous kinds, the dorado is the most 
 voracious. This is chiefly found in the tro- 
 pical climates ; and is at once the most active 
 and the most beautiful of the finny region. 
 It is about six feet long ; the back all over 
 enamelled with spots of a bluish green and 
 silver ; the tail and fins of a gold colour ; 
 and all have a brilliancy of tint, that nothing 
 but nature's pencil can attain to; the eyes are 
 placed on each side of the head, large and beau- 
 tiful, surrounded with circles of shining gold. 
 In the seas where they are found, these fish are 
 always in motion, and play round ships in full 
 sail with ease and security : for ever either 
 pursuing or pursued, they are seen continu- 
 ally in a state of warfare; either defending 
 themselves against the shark, or darting after 
 the smaller fishes. Of all others, the Flying- 
 fish most abounds in these seas ; and as it is 
 a small animal, seldom growing above the 
 size of a herring, it is chiefly sought by the 
 dorado. Nature has furnished each respec- 
 tively with the powers of pursuit and evasion. 
 The dorado being above six feet long, yet not 
 thicker than a salmon, and furnished with a 
 full compliment of fins, cuts its way through 
 the water with amazing rapidity : on the 
 other, hand, the flying-fish is furnished with 
 two pair of fins longer than the body, and 
 these also moved by a stronger set of muscles 
 than any other. This equality of power seems 
 to furnish one of the most entertaining spec- 
 tacles those seas can exhibit. The efforts to 
 seize on the one side, and the arts of escaping 
 on the other, are perfectly amusing. The 
 dorado is seen, upon this occasion, darting 
 after its prey, which will not leave the water, 
 while it has the advantage of swimming, in 
 the beginning of the chase. But, like a 
 hunted hare, being tired at last, it then has 
 recourse to another expedient for safety by 
 
 1 Traite des Peches, par Monsieur Duhamel. Sect. 
 3. p. 100. 
 
 flight. The long fins, which began to grow 
 useless in the water, are now exerted in a dil- 
 ferent manner, and different direction, to that 
 in which they were employed in swimming : 
 by this means, the timid little animal rises 
 from the water, and flutters over its surface 
 for two or three hundred yards, till the mus- 
 cles employed in moving the wings are en- 
 feebled by that particular manner of exertion. 
 By this time, however, they have acquired a 
 fresh power of renewing their efforts in the 
 water, and the animal is capable of proceed, 
 ing with some velocity by swimming: still, 
 however, the active enemy keeps it in view, 
 and drives it again from the deep ; till, at 
 length, the poor little creature is seen to dart 
 to shorter distances, to flutter with greater 
 effort, and to drop down at last into the mouth 
 of its fierce pursuer. But not the dorado alone, 
 all animated nature seems combined against 
 this little fish, which seems possessed of double 
 powers, only to be subject to greater dangers. 
 For though it should escape from its enemies 
 of the deep, yet the tropic bird and the alba- 
 tross are for ever upon the wing to seize it. 
 Thus pursued in either element, it sometimes 
 seeks refuge from a new enemy ; and it is 
 not un frequent for whole shoals of them to fall 
 on shipboard, where they furnish man with 
 an object of useless curiosity. 
 
 The warfare in fresh water is not carried 
 on with such destructive activity ; nor are the 
 inhabitants of that element so numerous. It 
 would seem that there is something more 
 favourable to the fecundity of fishes in the 
 ocean than in an element less impregnated 
 with salt. It has been the opinion of some 
 philosophers that all fish are natives of that 
 great reservoir ; and that only colonies have 
 been sent up rivers, either through accident, 
 or the necessity of procuring subsistence. 
 They have been led to this opinion by the 
 superior fecundity of sea-fish, which breed 
 twenty to one ; as well as by their superiority 
 in strength and size, over those of the same 
 kind found in lakes and rivers. This is a 
 matter too remotely speculative to be worlh 
 pursuing ; but certain it is that, in fresh water, 
 fishes seem to abate much of their courage and 
 rapacity ; pursue each other with less violence, 
 and seem to be less powerfully actuated by 
 all their appetites. The greediness with 
 which sea-fish devour the bait is prodigious, 
 if compared with the manner they take" it in 
 fresh water. The lines of such fishermen as 
 go off' to sea are coarse, thick, and clumsy, 
 compared to what are used by those who fish 
 at land. Their baits are seldom more than 
 a piece of a fish, or the flesh of some quadruped, 
 stuck on the hook in a bungling manner ; and 
 scarcely any art is employed to conceal the 
 deception. But it is otherwise in fresh water: 
 
320 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 the lines must often be drawn to a hair-like 
 fineness; they must be tinctured of the pecu- 
 liar colour of the stream ; the bait must be 
 formed with the nicest art, and even, if pos- 
 sible, to exceed the perfection of nature: yet 
 still the fishes approach it with diffidence, and 
 often swim round it with disdain. The cod, 
 on the banks of Newfoundland, the instant 
 the hook, which is only baited with the guts 
 of the animal last taken, is dropped into the 
 water, darts to it at once, and the fishermen 
 have but to pull up as fast as they throw 
 down. But it is otherwise with those who 
 fish in fresh waters, they must wait whole 
 hours in fruitless expectation ; and the patience 
 of a fisherman is proverbial among us. 1 
 
 1 Fish usually taken ly anglers in Great Britain. The 
 Barbel, so called from its four barbs, two of which are 
 at the corners of its mouth, and the others at the end of 
 its snout, is a heavy, dull fish, and gives very inferior 
 
 Bport to the angler, in proportion to his size and strength. 
 They begin to shed their spawn about the middle of 
 April, and come in season about a month or six weeks 
 after. In their usual haunts, among weeds, &c., they 
 are fond of rooting with their nose like the pig. In sum- 
 mer, they frequent the most powerful and rapid currents, 
 and settle among logs of wood, piles, and weeds, where 
 they remain for along time apparently immovable; dur- 
 ing the winter time, they return to deep bottoms. The 
 most killing baits lor the barbel are the spawn of trout, 
 salmon, or indeed of any other fish, especially if it be 
 fresh, respecting which, the barbel is very cunning; the 
 paste that imitates it must, therefore, be well made, 
 and of fresh flavour. It is also an advisable plan to bait 
 the water over night, by spawn or a quantity of cut 
 w'orms. The barbel will also bite well at the cobworm, 
 gentles, and cheese, soaked in honey. The rod and 
 line, with which you fish for barbel, must both be ex- 
 tremely long, with a running plummet attached to the 
 latter, as they swim very close to the bottom. By a 
 gentle inclination of the rod, you may easily ascertain 
 when there is a bite; immediately upon which the fish 
 should be struck, and seldom escapes, unless he break 
 the line. 
 
 The Bleak, or Blay, is a common river fish, so called 
 from its bleak or white appearance, that spawns in March ; 
 and is fond of many of the baits for trout. It is usually 
 caught with a small artificial fly of a brown colour; and 
 the hook should be suited in size to the fly. The bleak 
 seldom exceeds six inches in length; its flesh is highly 
 valued by epicures, and beads are made of its scales. 
 
 Bream (see it figured at page 297) shed their spawn 
 about midsummer, and although they are occasionally 
 met with in slow running rivers, are reckoned a pond 
 fish, where they will thrive in the greatest perfection; 
 and have been known to weigh from eightto ten Ibs. In 
 fishing for them, the angler should be very silent, and 
 take all possible care to keep concealed from the fish, 
 which are angled for near the bottom. His tackle also 
 must be strong. This fish, according to Dr Shaw, is a 
 native of many parts of Europe, inhabiting the still lakes 
 and rivers, and sometimes found even in the Caspian 
 
 This comparative neglect of food, which is 
 found in all the tribes of fresh-water fishes, 
 renders them less turbulent and less destruc- 
 tive among each other. Of all these the pike 
 
 Bull head, or Miller's thumb, is a small ugly fish, 
 which hides itself in brooks and rivers under a gravelly 
 bottom. They spawn in April, and their average length 
 is from four to five inches. When their gill fins are cut 
 off they serve as good baits for pike and trout, and, like 
 the cray fish, when boiied, their flesh turns red. 
 
 Carp (see it described at page 305) is a fish that by 
 its frequency of spawning, and quickness of growth, is 
 greatly used to stock ponds, where it thrives better, and 
 lives longer than in rivers. Gesner speaks of one who 
 lived to 100 years old; there is much doubt about its 
 general age, but it is supposed to be a very long lived 
 fish. They spawn three or four times a year, but the 
 earliest time is about the commencement of May. They 
 are observed to live uncommonly long out of water, and 
 in Holland are frequently kept alive for three weeks, or 
 a month, in a cool place, by being hung with wet moss 
 in a net, and fed with bread, steeped in milk. In ang- 
 ling for carp, it is necessary to make use of strong tackle, 
 with a fine gut next the hook, and a float formed of the 
 quill of a goose. They bite almost close to the bottom, 
 and are rarely caught if angled for in a boat. From its 
 subtlety, it has been sometimes called the water fox. 
 The river carp is accustomed to haunt, in the winter, the 
 most quiet and broad parts of the stream. In summer 
 they live in deep holes, reaches, and nooks, under the 
 roots of trees, and among great banks of weeds, until 
 they are in a rotten condition. The pond carp loves a 
 rich and fat soil, and will seldom or never thrive in cold, 
 hungry waters. The carp ponds of Germany yield a 
 considerable income to the gentry. 
 
 The Chub, (see it figured at page 307) or Chevin, is, 
 like the perch, a very bold biter, and will rise eagerly 
 at a natural or artificial fly. They spawn in June, or 
 at the latter end of May, at which time they are easily 
 caught by a fly, a beetle with its legs and wings cut oflj 
 or still more successfully by a large snail. When they 
 are fished for at mid-water, or at bottom, a float should 
 be made use of; when at top, it is customary to dip for 
 them, or to use a fly, as if a trout were the angler's ob- 
 ject. Strong tackle is also requisite, as they are a heavy 
 fish, and usually require a landing net to pull them out. 
 Their average length is from ten to fourteen inches. 
 
 Dace, Dart, or Dare, are a very active and cautious 
 fish, and rise to a fly, either real or artificial. It is 
 necessary, in angling for them, to remain in concealment 
 as much as possible. They spawn in February and 
 March, and their flesh is but inferior in point of flavour. 
 They frequent gravelly, clayey, and sandy bottoms, 
 leaves of the water lily, and deep holes, if well shaded. 
 In sultry weather they are frequently caught in the 
 shallows; and during that period, are best taken with 
 grasshoppers or gentles. In fishing at bottom for roach 
 and dace, who are similar in their haunts and disposition, 
 bread soaked in water, and kneaded to a good consistency, 
 and then made up together with bran into round balls, 
 and thrown into the place where it is proposed to angle, 
 will be found very serviceable, but must always be thrown 
 up the stream. There is a mode of intoxicating dace, 
 and by this means rendering them an easy prey; but this 
 is no part of the real angler's sport. The Thames is 
 well known to abound in dace, arid the graining of the 
 Mersey is thought to be a variety of the same species 
 
 The Eel (see an account of eels at page 286) is rarely 
 angled for, but it is usually caught by the process of 
 sniggling or bobbing, with night lines, &c. Being fond 
 of quiet in the day time, all who expect much sport in 
 eel fishing must devote their evenings and even whole 
 nights to the pursuit. The method for sniggling for eels 
 
SP1NOUS FISH. 
 
 321 
 
 Is the most active and voracious; and our poets, 
 whose business it is to observe the surface of 
 nature, have called it the tyrant of the watery 
 plain. In fact, in proportion to its strength 
 
 is as follows : Take a common needle, attached in the 
 middle by fine waxed twine, a packthread line, or a strong 
 small hook fixed to this kind of line ; place a large lob- 
 worm, by the head end, on your needle or hook, and draw 
 him on to his middle ; affix another needle to the end of 
 a long stick, and guide your bait with it into any of the 
 known haunts of the fish, between mill boards, or into 
 clefts of banks or holes, holding the line in your hand; 
 now give the eel time to gorge the bait, and then by a 
 sharp twitch fix tlie needle across his throat, or the hook 
 into his body; tire him well, and your triumph is cer- 
 tain. Although this is not strictly a method of angling, 
 the lovers of that sport will find it so successful a mode 
 of diversifying their pursuits, where eels are common, 
 that the present appeared the most convenient place to 
 insert it. Bobbing is a rough species of angling. The 
 best method is to provide yourself with a considerable 
 number of good-sized worms, and string them from head 
 to tail, by a needle, on fine strong twine, viz. to the 
 amount of a pound, or a pound and a half in weight. 
 Wind them round a card into a dozen or fifteen links, 
 and secure the two ends of each Jink by threads. 
 Now tie a strong cord to the bundle of strung worms, 
 about a foot from which put on a bored plummet, and 
 angle with a line from two to three feet long, attached 
 to a stout tapering pole. Eels, and perhaps pike, are 
 found in no part of Great Britain in such numbers or 
 variety as in the marshy parts of the counties of Cam- 
 bridge and Lincoln. The silver eel is the finest, and is 
 very common in Scotland The manner in which this 
 fish is propagated, has long been a matter of dispute. 
 They have neither spawn nor melt, as known organs of 
 generation. Walton gravely argues for their being bred 
 of corruption, " as some kind of bees and wasps are;" 
 others strongly contend for their being viviparous. It 
 is a subject, indeed, upon which naturalists have no cer- 
 tain information. The lamprey, (see it noticed at page 
 280) "a lamhendo petras, from licking the rocks," says 
 the quaint author of the Worthies of England, is a spe- 
 cies of eel, variously esteemed. In Worcestershire and 
 Gloucestershire, the Severn lamprey is regarded as a 
 luxury; and, by the city of Gloucester, a pie made of 
 this fish is anmially presented to the queen. In the 
 north of Great Britain it is much disliked. Eels bait 
 in a shower, and in w'ndy, gloomy weather, at the lob 
 and garden worm, designed for other fish, particularly 
 trout. Unlike other fish, they are never out of season. 
 They are a very greedy fish, and if you wish to angle 
 for them in the ordinary way, they will take a lam- 
 prey, wasp, grubs, minnows, &c., but particularly the 
 first. 
 
 The Pinnock, or Hirling, is a species of sea trout 
 which usually attains the length of from nine to four- 
 teen inches, and is principally known in Scotland ; the 
 whitling, another species, is from sixteen to twenty-four 
 inches long. They will both rise equally at an artificial 
 fly, but require generally a more showy one than the 
 common trout. 
 
 The Grayling, or Umber, (noticed at page 303) 
 spawns in May, and is in the best condition in Novem- 
 ber. They will greedily take all the baits that a trout 
 does, and frequent the same streams. They are said to 
 have the fragrant smell of the plant Thymallus. Their 
 average length is from sixteen to eighteen inches; and 
 they must be angled for with very fine tackle, as they are 
 a remarkably timid fish. When hooked, they must also 
 be cautiously worked, as the hold in their mouth easily 
 gives way; but they will speedily return to the bait. 
 It is fine eating, unknown to Scotland or Ireland. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 and celerity, the pike does some mischief; 
 but what are its effects compared to those of 
 the cachalot or the shark ! they resemble the 
 petty depredations of a robber, put in com- 
 
 The Gudgeon (figured at page 295) is a fish in some 
 request, botli for its flavour and the sport it affords to the 
 inexperienced angler. It is very simple, and is allured 
 with almost any kind of bait. It spawns two or three 
 times during the year; is generally from five to six 
 inches long, and fond of gentle streams with a gravelly 
 bottom. In angling for gudgeon, the bottom should be 
 previously stirred up, as this rouses them from a state of 
 inactivity, and collects them in shoals together. Some 
 anglers use two or three hooks in gudgeon fishing. A 
 float is always used, but the fish should not be struck 
 on the first motion of it ; as they are accustomed to 
 nibble the bait before they swallow it. It frequently 
 happens, that in angling for gudgeons, perch are 
 caught. 
 
 The Loach, or Groundling, sheds its spawn in April, 
 and remains in the gravel ; where they are usually 
 caught with a small red worm. They are principally 
 found in the north of Great Britain, and in the streams 
 of the mountainous parts. They are about three 
 inches in length; and their flesh is pleasant and whole- 
 some. 
 
 The Minnow, or Minim, one of the smallest river 
 fish, seldom exceeds two inches in length. They spawn 
 generally about once in two or three years, and swim 
 together in shoals, in shallow waters, where they are 
 very free, and bold in biting. They serve also as excel- 
 lent baits for pike, trout, chub, perch, and many other 
 fish, which prey upon and devour them greedily. 
 
 The Mullet takes almost the same baits as the trout, 
 and will very eagerly rise to an artificial fly; they are 
 considered free baiters, and come and go with the tide. 
 If artificial flies are made use of, their size should be 
 larger than those generally used to insnare the trout. 
 They are found in their greatest perfection, in the river 
 Arun, Sussex ; but are seldom or never seen in Scot- 
 land. 
 
 The Par, or Samlet, (see it figured and described at 
 page 302) is a fish that is known by different names in 
 different parts of Great Britain. On the river Wye it 
 is usually called a skirling; in Yorkshire, a brandling; 
 in Northumberland, a rack-rider ; arid in some parts of 
 England, a fingering, from the resemblance of its spotted 
 streaks to the human fingers. Par, or Samlet, is its 
 Scottish name, and in that part of Britain it is best 
 known. Some have affirmed, that it is the blended 
 spawn of the trout and salmon. This opinion is strength- 
 ened by the circumstances of their usually frequenting 
 the same haunts with the salmon and sea trout, and flieir 
 being forked in their tail like the former. 
 
 The Perch (see it noticed at page 298) is a very bold 
 biting fish, and affords excellent amusement to the 
 angler. He is distinguished by the beauty of his 
 colours, and by a large erection on his back, strongly 
 armed with stiff and sharp bristles, which he can raise 
 or depress at pleasure. Defended by this natural excres- 
 cence, he bids defiance to the attacks of the ravenous 
 and enormous pike, and will even dare to attack one of 
 his own species. Perch spawn about the beginning of 
 March, and measure from eight to fourteen inches. 
 In fishing for perch with a minnow, or brandling, the 
 hook should be run through the back fin of the bait, 
 which must hang about six inches from the ground. A 
 large cork float should be attached to the line, which 
 should be leaded about nine inches from the hook. It 
 must be observed, that they invariably refuse a fly. 
 
 The Pike, Luce, or Jack, (see it figured and described 
 at page 303) is a fish of enormous size, and the greatest 
 voracity; indeed, so notorious is he for the latter quality, 
 2 s 
 
822 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 petition with the ravages of a conqueror! 
 However, the pike will attack every fish less 
 than itself; and it is sometimes seen choked, 
 by attempting tc swallow such as are too 
 
 as to have gained the appellation of the fresh water 
 shark. They are also great breeders. Their usual time 
 of shedding their spawn is about March, in extremely 
 shallow waters. The finesc pike are those which feed 
 in clear rivers; those of lens or meres, being of very 
 inferior quality. They grow to a vast size in these last 
 mentioned places, where the/ feed principally on frogs, 
 and such like nutriment. They are reckoned to be the 
 most remarkable for longevity of all fresh water fish; 
 are solitary and melancholy in their habits, generally 
 swimming by themselves, and remaining alone in 
 their haunts, until compelled by hunger to roam in 
 quest of food. There are three modes of catching pike: 
 by the ledger, the trolling, or walking bait, and the 
 trimmer. 
 
 The Pope, or Ruff, is a fish very similar in its nature 
 and appearance to the perch, and is frequently caught 
 when fishing for the latter. They spawn in March and 
 April, and are taken with a brandling, gentles, or caddis. 
 They are extremely voracious in their disposition, and 
 will devour a minnow, which is almost as big as them- 
 selves. In their favourite haunts of gentle deep streams, 
 overhung by trees, they swim in shoals together; and 
 you may fish for them either at the top or the bottom of 
 the water, as they are known to bait in almost any wea- 
 ther, and in any situation. Their average length is from 
 six to seven inches. 
 
 Roach are frequently taken with flies under water. 
 They will bite at all the baits which are prepared for chub 
 or dace, and are considered a simple and foolish fish. They 
 spawn in May, and turn red when boiled. The compact- 
 ness of their flesh gave rise to the proverb, " sound as a 
 roach." The roach haunts shallow and gentle streams, 
 and the mouths of small streams which run into larger 
 ones. In angling for roach, the tackle must be strong, 
 and the float large and well leaded. 
 
 The Rud, or Finscale, is a very scarce fish, found 
 only in the river Charwell, in Oxfordshire, and a few 
 of the lakes of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. It sheds 
 its spawn in April, will take all kinds of worms, and will 
 rise at an artificial fly. Its colour is a kind of yellowish 
 brown, and its average length from nine to fifteen 
 inches. 
 
 Salmon (see page 301) are accustomed to quit the 
 fresh waters, and retire into the sea at the approach of 
 winter, which, at the commencement of April, they 
 usually leave for rivers; but the Wye and Usk in Mon- 
 mouthshire, and the Exe in Devonshire, have them in 
 season during the six wintry months. The finest species 
 are caught in the Exe, Thames, and Tamar, but not so 
 abundantly as in many other places. Salmon prefer more 
 chilly streams, and are consequently found in greater 
 numbers northward, in the rivers of Scotland, particularly 
 in the Tweed, the Tyne, the Clyde, and the Tay. In 
 the latter, they occasionally occur at the immense weight 
 of seventy pounds ; and in the Tweed, and Clyde, at 
 about fifty or sixty pounds weight. They are also found 
 in all the great streams of Europe north of 51, arid in the 
 United States of America north of 41. Some recent ac- 
 counts of the north-west coast of America, describe them 
 also as abounding there. In the American rivers, they 
 seldom exceed from fifteen to twenty pounds weight. 
 They appear some time in the rivers before they are in 
 a healthy state ; and the best season for the angler to 
 commence his operation, is in the close of the month of 
 May, or the early part of June. The usual time for the 
 salmon to deposit their spawn, is from the first of Sep- 
 tember to the latter end of October, when they grow 
 very sickly both in appearance and flavour. Previous to 
 
 large a morsel. It is immaterial of what 
 species the animal it pursues appears to he, 
 whether of another or its own, all are indis- 
 criminately devoured ; so that every fish owes 
 
 this, they generally retire to brooks which branch out ir- 
 regularly from the main river, or remain in shallows, 
 where they sometimes are scarcely covered with water. 
 During their residence in fresh water, it is a well authen- 
 ticated circumstance, that they always lie with their 
 heads pointing up the river; and never swim down the 
 stream, unless during the period of their emigration to 
 the sea, or when their position is molested. The length 
 of the rod for catching salmon should be from about seven- 
 teen to twenty feet, which, however, can be regulated 
 according to the breadth and general size of the river in 
 which the angler pursues his operations. The reel, which 
 on these occasions, forms the most material appendage 
 to the rod, is made of brass ; it should be constructed 
 with the utmost nicety, and capable of the swiftest cir- 
 cumvolutions. The line, which is fastened to the reel, 
 may be composed either of strong silk or twisted horse 
 hair, gradually diminishing at the top, and having a loop 
 at the end of the wheel, and another at the cast lines, to 
 fasten them to each other. Let this last line be very 
 carefully twisted with the fingers, and shorter than the 
 rod, so that none of the knots may come within the top 
 ring; sixteen to twenty horse hairs may be used in the 
 upper links, but they must be diminished toward the 
 hook, where they are best made of three small round 
 twisted silk worm guts, or a few strong horse hairs. Of 
 worms, lob-worms, earth-bobs, &c., and of fish, minnow 
 have been used with great success. The artificial flies 
 should be generally of large dimensions, and of a gaudy 
 and glittering colour. The materials that compose 
 them are hairs, furs, and wools, of every variety that 
 can be collected, mingled with the tail-feathers of cocks 
 and game, and secured together by plated wire, or gold 
 and silver thread, marking silk, shoemakers' wax, bees' 
 wax, &c. Their wings may be made of the feathers 
 of domestic fowls, or any others of a showy colour. 
 Imitate principally the natural flies ; but you may safely 
 indulge your fancy, rather than depart without a bite ; 
 for many anglers succeed with the most monstrous and 
 capricious baits of this kind. A raw cockle, or muscle, 
 taken out of the shell, prawns, and minnows, have also 
 been recommended as salmon baits. The mode of 
 angling with these is to drop the line, which must be 
 totally unincumbered with shot, into some shallow which 
 approximates to the edge of a hole of considerable depth, 
 and in this situation to suffer it to be carried in by the 
 current. The noviciate in angling will, at first, exper- 
 ience considerable difficulty in throwing his line to any 
 great extent. For this we can give no recipe, but a 
 most inflexible determination to proceed, and the most 
 consummate patience in disappointment. It should al- 
 ways be thrown across the river, and on the offside from 
 the spot where you expect the fish to rise. When you 
 imagine that the salmon has been struck, be cautious in 
 giving him time sufficient to enable him to poach his 
 bait, that is, to swallow it fairly and securely. After 
 this, fix the hook firmly in him, by a gentle twitch. On 
 the first sensation of this pain, the salmon will plunge 
 and spring with great violence, and use every endeavour 
 of strength and cunning to eflect his escape. He will 
 then, perhaps, run away with a considerable length of 
 line, which is to be kept in a gently relaxed situation, 
 so that it may always yield with facility to his obstinate 
 resistance: nor can you give him too much line, if you 
 do but clear it of weeds and encumbrances. If he now 
 become sullen and quiet in the water, rouse him gently, 
 by flinging in a few stones; and when he once more 
 commences resistance, do not be too eager in checking 
 his career, but let him gradually exhaust himself of his 
 
SPINOUS FISH. 
 
 323 
 
 its safety to its minuteness, its celerity, or its 
 courage: nor does the pike confine itself to 
 feed on fish arid frogs ; it will draw down the 
 water-rat and the young ducks, as they are 
 swimming about. Gesrier tells us of a mule 
 that stooped to drink in the water, when a 
 famished pike, that was near, seized it by 
 the nose, nor was it disengaged till the beast 
 flung it on shore. So great is their rapacity, 
 that they will contend with the otter for his 
 prey, and even endeavour to force it from him. 
 For this reason it is dreaded by all other fish : 
 and the small ones show the same uneasiness 
 and detestation at the presence of their tyrant, 
 as the little birds do at the sight of a hawk 
 or an owl. When the pike lies asleep near' 
 the surface, as is frequently the case, the 
 lesser fish are often observed to swim around 
 it in vast numbers, with a mixture of caution 
 and terror. 
 
 The other tribes of fresh-water fish are 
 much inferior to this animal in courage and 
 rapacity : they chiefly subsist upon worms 
 
 strength; follow him down the stream, or allow him to 
 cross it ; while, at every, opportunity, you keep winding 
 up your line until you approach him in this wearied 
 state, and take him softly by the gills out of the water. 
 The salmon peal may be caught in the same manner; he 
 is smaller than the salmon, and seldom exceeds fourteen 
 or fifteen inches in length. 
 
 Tench, (see page 306 for a figure of the Tench) like the 
 carp, are generally considered pond fish, although they 
 have been frequently caught in the river Stour. They 
 shed their spawn about the commencement of July, and 
 are in season from September to the latter end of May. 
 They will bite very freely during the sultry months. 
 Their haunts are similar to those of the carp; except 
 that they frequent the foulest and muddiest bottoms, 
 where they may shelter themselves among an infinite 
 quantity of reeds ; hence you must angle for them very 
 near the bottom, and allow them sufficient time to gorge 
 the bait. 
 
 Trout (see page 302) are considered as one of the 
 finest river fish that this country can produce. Its 
 colours are beautifully varied at different seasons of the 
 year, and according to the rivers it frequents. They 
 abound in the generality of our streams, rivers, and lakes, 
 and are usually angled for with an artificial fly. Their 
 weight also differs from half a pound to three ; some few 
 have been caught which weighed upwards of four pounds. 
 Trout are extremely voracious ; and, by their activity and 
 eagerness, afford famous diversion to the angler. Previous 
 to their spawning, they are observed to force a passage 
 through weirs and flood-gates against the stream ; and 
 how they are enabled to overcome some of these 
 impediments, is a subject of much conjecture. Their 
 general time of shedding the spawn is about October or 
 November; in some rivers, however, it is much sooner, 
 in others later. They are also met with in eddies, where 
 they remain concealed from observation behind a stone, 
 cr log, or a bank that projects into the stream; during 
 ihe latter part of the summer, they are frequently caught 
 in a mill-tail, and sometimes under the hollow of a bank, 
 or the roots of a tree. In angling for trout, there are 
 many things worthy of particular observation : 1st. That 
 the day on which the sport is undertaken, be a little 
 windy, or partially overcast, and the south wind is supe- 
 rior to all others, if it do not too much disturb your 
 
 and insects, pursuing them at the bottom, or 
 jumping after them to the surface of the water. 
 In winter also, their appetite seems entirely 
 to forsake them ; at least they continue in so 
 torpid a state, that few baits will tempt them 
 to their destruction. At that season, they 
 forsake the shallow waters, and seek those 
 deep holes to be found in every river, where 
 they continue for days together, without ever 
 appearing to move. The cold seems to affect 
 them ; for at that time they lie close to the 
 bottom, where the water is most warm, and 
 seldom venture out, except the day be pecu- 
 liarly fine, and the shallows at the edges of 
 the stream become tepified by the powerful 
 rays of the sun. Indeed I have been assured, 
 that some fishes may be rendered so torpid by 
 the cold, in the northern rivers, as to be frozen 
 up in the great masses of ice, in which they 
 continue for several months together, seem- 
 ingly without life or sensation, the prisoners 
 of congelation, and waiting the approach of a 
 warmer sun to restore them at once to life and 
 
 tackle. 2d. The sportsman should remain as far as 
 possible from the stream, fish it downwards, the line 
 never touching the water, as the agitation proceeding 
 from the fall might disturb the fish, and preclude all 
 possibility of capturing them. 3d. Clear streams are 
 famous for sport, and in fishing in them, a small fly with 
 slender wings must be attached to the hook. When the 
 water is thick, and the sight more imperfect from this 
 disadvantage, a larger species of bait must of necessity 
 be used. 4th. The line should, on an average, be about 
 twice as long as the rod, unless in cases of emergency, 
 when the number and variety of trees exclude the pro- 
 bability of a successful throw, if at any distance. 5th. 
 Let the fly be made to suit the season. After a shower, 
 when the water becomes of a brown appearance, the 
 most killing bait is the orange fly ; in a clear day, the 
 light coloured fly ; and on a gloomy day, in overshadowed 
 streams, a dark fly. Very large trout have been killed 
 in Ullswater, in Cumberland, and still larger in Loch 
 Awe in Argyleshire. Specimens of this great fish are to 
 be found in Loch Awe, weighing from ten to twenty 
 pounds. (See it figured and described at page 302.) It 
 is said to be by far the most powerful of our fresh-water 
 fishes, exceeding the salmon in actual strength, though 
 not in activity. The most general size caught by troll- 
 ing, ranges from three to fifteen pounds; beyond that 
 weight they are of uncommon occurrence. If hooked 
 upon tackle of moderate strength, they afford excellent 
 sport; but the general method of fishing for them is 
 almost as well adapted for catching sharks as trout; the 
 angler being apparently more anxious to have it in his 
 power to state that he had caught a fish of such a size, 
 than to enjoy the pleasure of the sport itself. However, 
 to the credit of both parties, it may be stated, that the very 
 strongest tackle is sometimes snapped in two by its first 
 tremendous springs. The ordinary method of fishing for 
 this king of trouts is with a powerful rod, from a boat row- 
 ing at the rate of from three to four miles an hour ; the 
 lure, a common trout, from three to ten inches in length, 
 baited upon six or eight salmon hooks, tied back to back 
 upon strong gimp, assisted by two swivels, and the 
 wheel-line strong whip cord. Yet all this, in the first 
 impetuous efforts of the fish to regain its liberty, is fre- 
 quently carried away for ever into the crystal depths o/ 
 Loch Awe ! 
 
324 
 
 HISTORY Ol- FISHES. 
 
 liberty. Thus that cheerful luminary not 
 only distributes health and vegetation to the 
 productions of the earth, but is ardently 
 sought even by the gelid inhabitants of the 
 water. 
 
 As fish are enemies one to another, so each 
 species is infested with worms of different 
 kinds peculiar to itself. The great fish 
 abound with them ; and the little ones are not 
 entirely free. These troublesome vermin 
 lodge themselves either in the jaws and the 
 intestines internally, or near the fins without. 
 When fish are healthy and fat they are not 
 much annoyed by them ; but in winter, when 
 they are lean or sickly, they then suffer very 
 much. 
 
 Nor does the reputed longevity of this class 
 secure them from their peculiar disorders. 
 They are not only affected by too much cold, 
 but there are frequently certain dispositions 
 of the element in which they reside unfavour- 
 able to their health and propagation. Some 
 ponds they will not breed in, however artfully 
 disposed for supplying them with fresh 
 recruits of water, as well as provisions. In 
 some seasons they are found to feel epidemic 
 disorders, and are seen dead by the water 
 side, without any apparent cause : yet still 
 they are animals of all others the most viva- 
 cious, and they often live and subsist upon such 
 substances as are poisonous to the more per- 
 fect classes of animated nature. 
 
 It is not easy to determine whether the 
 poisonous qualities which many of them are 
 found to possess, either when they wound our 
 bodies externally with their spines, or when 
 they are unwarily eaten at our tables, arises 
 from this cause. That numbers of fishes in- 
 flict poisonous wounds, in the opinion of many, 
 cannot be doubted. The concurrent testimony 
 of mankind they think sufficient to contradict 
 any reasonings upon this head, taken from 
 anatomical inspection. The great pain that 
 is felt from the sting given by the back fin of 
 the weaver, bears no proportion to the small- 
 ness of the instrument that inflicts the wound. 
 How the poison is preserved, or how it is con- 
 veyed by the animal, it is not in our power to 
 perceive ; but its actual existence has been 
 often attested by painful experience. In this 
 instance we must decline conjecture, satisfied 
 with history. 
 
 The fact of their being poisonous when 
 eaten, is equally notorious ; and the cause 
 equally inscrutable. My poor worthy friend, 
 Dr Grainger, who resided for many years at 
 St Christopher's, assured me, that of the fish 
 caught, of the same kind, at one end of the 
 island, some were the best and most wholesome 
 in the world ; while others taken at a different 
 end were always dangerous, and most com- 
 monly fatal. We have a paper in the Philo- 
 
 sophical Transactions, giving an account of 
 the poisonous qualities of those found at New 
 Providence, one of the Bahama islands. The 
 author assures us, that the greatest part of the 
 fish of that dreary coast are all of a deadly 
 nature : their smallest effects being to bring 
 on a terrible pain in the joints, which, if ter- 
 minating favourably, leaves the patient without 
 any appetite for several days after. It is not 
 those of the most deformed figure, or the most 
 frightful to look at, that are alone to be dread- 
 ed ; all kinds, at different times, are alike dan- 
 gerous ; and the same species which has this 
 day served for nourishment, is the next, if 
 tried, found to be fatal ! 
 
 This noxious quality has given rise to much 
 speculation, and many conjectures. Some 
 have supposed it to arise from the fishes on 
 these shores eating of the manchineel apple, a 
 deadly vegetable poison, that sometimes grows 
 pendent over the sea ; but the quantity of those 
 trees growing in this manner, bears no pro- 
 portion to the extensive infection of the fish. 
 Labat has ascribed it to their eating the gal- 
 ley-iish, which is itself most potently poisonous: 
 but this only removes our wonder a little 
 farther back; for it maybe asked, with as 
 just a cause for curiosity, how comes the gal- 
 ley-fish itself to procure its noxious qualities <: 
 Others have ascribed the poison of these fishes 
 to their feeding upon copperas-beds : but I 
 do not know of any copper-mines found in 
 America. In short, as we cannot describe the 
 alembic by which the rattlesnake distils its 
 malignity, nor the process by which the scor- 
 pion, that lives among roses, converts their 
 sweets to venom, so we cannot discover the 
 manner by which fishes become thus danger- 
 ous ; and it is well for us of Europe that we 
 can thus wonder in security. It is certain 
 that with us, if fishes, such as carp or tench, 
 acquire any disagreeable flavour from the lakes 
 in which they have been bred, this can be re- 
 moved, by their being kept some time in finer 
 and better water: there they soon clear away 
 all those disagreeable qualities their flesh had 
 contracted, and become as delicate as if they 
 had been always fed in the most cleanly man- 
 ner. But this expedient is with us rather the 
 precaution of luxury than the effect of fear : we 
 have nothing to dread from the noxious quali- 
 ties of our fish; for all the animals our waters 
 furnish are wholesome. 
 
 Happy England! where the sea furnishes 
 an abundant and luxurious repast, and the 
 fresh waters an innocent and harmless pastime; 
 where the angler, in cheerful solitude, strolls 
 by the edge of the stream, and fears neither 
 the coiled snake, nor the lurking crocodile ; 
 where he can retire at night, with his few 
 trotits (to borrow the pretty description of old 
 Walton) to some friendly cottage, where the 
 
SPINOUS FISH. 
 
 landlady is good, and the daughter innocent 
 mid beautiful ; where the room is cleanly, 
 with lavender in the sheets, and twenty ballads 
 stuck about the wall ! There he can enjoy 
 the company of a talkative brother sportsman, 
 have his trouts dressed for supper, tell tales, 
 
 sing old tunes, or make a catch ! There he 
 can talk of the wonders of nature with learned 
 admiration, or rind some harmless sport to 
 content him, and pass away a littlo time, 
 without offence to God, or injury to man ' 
 
HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 OF CRUSTACEOUS AND TESTACEOUS FISHES. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 THE DIVISION OF SHELL FISH. 
 
 IN describing the inhabitants of the water, a 
 class of animals occur, that mankind, from the 
 place of their residence, have been content to 
 call fish; but that naturalists, from their for- 
 mation, have justly agreed to be unworthy of 
 the name. Indeed the affinity many of this 
 kind bear to the insect tribe, may very well 
 plead for the historian who ranks them rather 
 as insects. However, the common language 
 of a country must not be slightly invaded ; the 
 names of things may remain, if the philoso- 
 pher be careful to give precision to our ideas 
 of them. 
 
 There are two classes of animals, therefore, 
 inhabiting the water, which commonly re- 
 ceive the name of fishes, entirely different from 
 those we have been describing, and also very 
 distinct from each other. These are divided 
 by naturalists into Crustaceous and Testaceous 
 Animals; both, totally unlike fishes to ap- 
 pearance, seem to invert the order of nature ; 
 and as those have their bones on the inside, 
 and their muscles hung upon them for the 
 purposes of life and motion, these, on the con- 
 trary, have all their bony parts on the outside, 
 and all their muscles within. Not to talk 
 mysteriously all who have seen a lobster or 
 an oyster, perceive that the shell in these 
 bears a strong analogy to the bones of other 
 animals ; and that, by these shells, the ani- 
 mal is sustained and defended. 
 
 Crustaceous fish, such as the crab and the 
 lobster, have a shell not quite of a stony hard- 
 ness, but rather resembling a firm crust, and 
 in some measure capable of yielding. Testa- 
 ceous fishes, such as the oyster or cockle, are 
 furnished with a shell of a stony hardness ; 
 very brittle, and incapable of yielding. Oi" 
 
 the crustaceous kinds are the Lobster, the 
 Crab, and the Tortoise : of the testaceous, that 
 numerous tribe of Oysters, Mussels, Cockles, 
 and Sea-Snails, which offer with infinite va- 
 riety. 
 
 The crustaceous tribe 1 seems to hold the 
 middle rank between fishes, properly so called, 
 and those snail-like animals that receive the 
 name of testaceous fishes. Their muscles are 
 strong and firm, as in the former; their shell 
 is self-produced, as among the latter. They 
 have motion, and hunt for food with great avi- 
 dity, like the former. They are incapable of 
 swimming, but creep along the bottom, like 
 the latter: in short, they form the link that 
 unites these two classes, that seem so very op. 
 posite in their natures. 
 
 Of testaceous fishes we will speak hereafter. 
 As to animals of the crustaceous kind, they 
 are very numerous, their figure offers a hun- 
 dred varieties : but as to their nature, they are 
 obviously divided into two very distinct kinds, 
 differing in their habits and their conforma- 
 tion. The chief of one kind is the Lobster; 
 the chief of the other, the Tortoise. Under 
 the Lobster we rank the Prawn, the Cray-fish, 
 the Shrimp, the Sea-Crab, the Land-Crab, 
 and all their varieties. Under the Sea-Tor- 
 toise, the Turtle, the Hawksbill-Turtle, the 
 Land-Tortoise, and their numerous varieties. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 CRUSTACEOUS ANIMALS OF THE LOBSTER 
 KIND. 
 
 HOWEVER different in figure the lobster and 
 the crab may seem, their manners and con- 
 
 1 All the animals of this class are covered with inte- 
 
THE LOBSTER KIND. 
 
 327 
 
 formation are nearly the same. With all the 
 voracious appetites of fishes, they are condemned 
 to lead an insect life at the bottom of the 
 \vater ; and though pressed by continual hun- 
 ger, they are often obliged to wait till acci- 
 dent brings them their prey. Though with- 
 out any warmth in their bodies, or even with, 
 out red blood circulating through their veins, 
 they are animals wonderfully voracious. What- 
 ever they seize upon that has life, is sure to 
 perish, though never so well defended : they 
 even devour each other; and to increase our 
 surprise still more, they may, in some mea- 
 sure, be said to eat themselves; as they change 
 their shell and their stomach every year, and 
 tlieir old stomach is generally the first morsel 
 that serves to glut the new. 
 
 The lobster is an animal of so extraordinary 
 a form, that those who first see it are apt to 
 mistake the head for ihe tail ; but it is soon 
 
 discovered that the animal moves with its 
 claws foremost; and that the part which plays 
 within itself by joints, like a coat of armour, 
 is the tail. The two great claws are the lob- 
 ster's instruments of provision and defence ; 
 these, by opening like a pair of nippers, have 
 great strength, and take a firm hold ; they are 
 usually notched like a saw, which still more 
 increases their tenacity. Beside these power- 
 ful instruments, which may be considered as 
 arms, the lobster has eight legs, four on each 
 side, and these, with the tail, serve to give the 
 animal its progressive and sidling motion. Be- 
 tween the two claws is the animal's head, very 
 small, and furnished with eyes that seern like 
 two black horny specks on each side ; and 
 these it has a power of advancing out of the 
 socket, and drawing in, at pleasure. The 
 mouth, like that of insects, opens the long way 
 of the body, not crossways, as with man, and 
 the higher race of animals. It is furnished 
 with two teeth for the comminution of its food; 
 but, as these are not sufficient, it has three 
 more in the stomach ; one on each side, and 
 the other below. Between the two teeth there 
 is a fleshy substance, in the shape of a tongue. 
 The intestines consist of one long bowel, which 
 reaches from the mouth to the vent ; but what 
 this animal differs in from all others, is, that 
 
 guments of a cru>taceous substance, more calcareous than 
 that which envelopes the myriapods, the arachnida, and 
 the insects. Most of -them feed on bodies in a state of 
 putrefaction, and in all the sexes are distinct. 
 
 the spinal marrow is in the breast-bone. It 
 is furnished with two long feelers or horns, 
 that issue on each side of the head, that seem 
 to correct the dimness of its sight, and apprize 
 the animal of its danger, or of its prey. The 
 tail, or that jointed instrument at the other 
 end, is the grand instrument of motion ; ana 
 with this it can raise itself in the water. 
 Under this we usually see lodged the spawn 
 in great abundance ; every pea adhering to 
 the next by a very fine filament, which is 
 scarcely perceivable. Every lobster is an her- 
 maphrodite and is supposed to be self-impreg- 
 nated I 1 The ovary, or place where the spawn 
 is first produced, is backwards toward the tail, 
 where a red substance is always found, and 
 which is nothing but a cluster of peas, that 
 are yet too small for exclusion. From this 
 receptacle there go two canals, that open on 
 each side at the jointures of the shell, at the 
 belly ; and through these passages the peas 
 
 
 1 The animals of this tribe are by no means herma- 
 phrodites, but are found distinctly male and female. The 
 eggs are deposited under the tail of the females, which 
 for that purpose is often much broader than that of the 
 males. Amongst the numerous examples given by Dr 
 Paley, of the wonderful manner in which Nature con- 
 trives to overcome difficulties, which would at first ap- 
 pear insurmountable, there is perhaps none more strik- 
 ing than the mode in which the lobster is released from 
 his case when the increasing size of his body requires 
 more room. In most animals the skin grows with their 
 growth. In some animals, instead of a soft skin, there 
 is a shell, which admits by its form of gradual enlarge- 
 ment. Thus the shell of the tortoise, which consists of 
 several pieces, is gradually enlarged at the joinings of 
 those pieces which are called " sutures." Shells with 
 two sides, like those of the mussel, grow bigger by addi- 
 tion at the edge. Spiral shells, as those of the snail, re- 
 ceive this addition at their mouth. The simplicity of 
 their form admits of this; but the lobster's shell being 
 applied to the limbs of his body, as well as to the body 
 itself, does not admit of either of the modes of enlarge- 
 ment which is observed in other shells. It is so hard 
 that it cannot expand or stretch, and it is so complicated 
 in its form that it does not admit of being enlarged by 
 adding to its edge. How, then, was the growth of the 
 lobster to be provided for ? We have seen that room 
 could not be made for him in his old shell : was he then 
 to be annually fitted with a new one ? If so, another 
 difficulty arises: how was he to get out of his present 
 confinement? How was he to open his hard coat, or 
 draw his legs out of his boots which are become too tight 
 for him ? The works of the Deity are known by expe- 
 dients, and the provisions of his power extend to the 
 most desperate cases. The case of the lobster is thus 
 provided for : At certain seasons his shell grows soft. 
 The animal swells his body; the seams open, and the 
 claws burst at the joints. When the shell is thus be- 
 come loose upon the body, the animal makes a second 
 effort, and by a trembling motion, a sort of spasm, casts 
 off his case. In this state ot nakedness the poor defence- 
 less fish retires to a hole in the rocks. The released 
 body makes a sudden growth. In about eight and forty 
 hours a fresh concretion of humour takes place all over 
 the surface of his body; it quickly hardens; and thus a 
 new shell is formed, fitted in every part to the increased 
 size of the body and limbs of the animal. See the sub- 
 ject fully handled by Mr Couch, in the following Note. 
 
328 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 descend to be excluded, and placed under the 
 tail, where the animal preserves them from 
 danger for some time, until they come to ma- 
 turity ; when, being furnished with limbs and 
 motion, they drop off into the water. 
 
 When the young lobsters leave the parent, 
 they immediately seek for refuge in the 
 smallest clefts of rocks, and in such like cre- 
 vices at the bottom of the sea, where the 
 entrance is but small, and the opening can be 
 easily defended. There, without seeming to 
 take any food, they grow larger in a few 
 weeks' time, from the mere accidental sub- 
 stances which the water washes to their 
 retreats. By this time, also, they acquire a 
 hard firm shell, which furnishes them with 
 both offensive and defensive armour. They 
 then begin to issue from their fortresses, and 
 boldly creep along the bottom, in hopes of 
 meeting with more diminutive plunder. The 
 spawn of fish, the smaller animals of their 
 own kind, but chiefly the worms that keep at 
 the bottom of the sea, supply them with 
 plenty. They keep in this manner close 
 among the rocks, busily employed in scratch- 
 ing up the sand with their claws for worms, 
 or surprising such heedless animals as fall 
 within their grasp : thus they have little to 
 apprehend, except from each other ; for in 
 them, as among fishes, the large are the most 
 formidable of all other enemies to the small. 
 
 But this life of abundance and security is 
 soon to have a most dangerous interruption ; 
 for the body of the lobster still continuing to 
 increase, while its shell remains unalterably 
 the same, the animal becomes too large for its 
 habitation, and, imprisoned within the crust 
 that it has naturally gathered round it, there 
 comes on a necessity of getting free. The 
 young of this kind, therefore, that grow faster, 
 as I am assured by the fishermen, change their 
 shell oftener than the old, who come to their 
 full growth, and who remain in the same 
 shell often for two years together. In general 
 however, all these animals change their shell 
 once a-year ; and this is not only a most pain- 
 ful operation, but also subjects them to every 
 
 dan 
 
 er. 
 
 Moulting season is generally about 
 
 1 Process of Exuviation in Shrimps, Lobsters, and 
 Crabs. Dr Milne Edwards, in his Histoire Naturelle 
 des Crustaces, has given an account of what may be 
 considered the present state of our knowledge, of the 
 rircumstanc.es under which the process of exuviation is 
 effected, and the methods by which it is accomplished 
 in the long-tailed stalk-eyed crustaceans ; but as much 
 of what that eminent naturalist advances is derived from 
 other authorities, and I have reason to conclude, con- 
 trary to the general opinion, that the circumstances 
 amending this process of nature, are different in even 
 nearly allied species, there still remains space for inquiry. 
 
 Reaumur is our only original authority for the minute 
 rir-umstances attending the process of exuviation, which 
 he observed in the river crayfish (Potamohius flnviatilis, 
 Leach ,) but not having an opportunity of consulting 
 
 the beginning of summer, at which time their 
 food is in plenty, and their strength and vigour 
 in the highest perfection. But soon all their 
 activity ceases ; they are seen forsaking the 
 
 that author's work, I copy his narrative from Dr M. 
 Edwards's quotation: A few days previous to the 
 commencement of the operations, the creature abstains 
 from all solid nourishment, and the carapace and abdo- 
 minal segments will be found to offer less than the usual 
 resistance to the pressure of the finger. Shortly after- 
 wards the crayfish appears restless, and rubs its legs 
 against each other; it then throws itself on its back, 
 agitates its whole body and then distends it, by which 
 the membrane joining the carapace to the abdomen is 
 burst, and this great dorsal plate is raised. Some degree 
 of rest follows these first struggles ; but after a short time 
 the animal again puts all its organs in motion, the ca- 
 rapace is seen to rise gradually from the legs beneath, 
 and in less than half an hour, the animal has extricated 
 itself from this portion of its slough. By retracting its 
 head, the antennae, eyes, and legs are withdrawn as from 
 a case ; and the extrication of the last, being the most 
 difficult and complicated operation, is attended with so 
 much pain, that the effort sometimes occasions the loss 
 of one or more of the organs. The hinder parts are 
 withdrawn with less difficulty; the head is conducted 
 below the carapace, and the tail being thrown off by a 
 forward motion attended with a brisk and distensive 
 action, the creature is seen divested of all its encum- 
 brances, and the case is left unbroken, as il no struggle 
 had ever taken place within it. 
 
 I have no doubt that the process here described in the 
 cray-fish corresponds to what takes place in the common 
 prawn (Palsemon serratus, Leach,) although I have never 
 been able to observe it in operation : the following is 
 a description of the rase from which the animal has 
 recently extricated itself : The whole is thin, elastic and 
 transparent ; the carapace with its serrated process whole, 
 the antennae perfect to their minute extremities: the 
 palpi and jaws drawn within the cavity of the thorax, 
 and partially separated from the sternal plate ; the latter 
 with the legs still forming a loose attachment to each 
 other, and without fracture, but drawn somewhat pos- 
 teriorly into the thoracic cavity. The case and pedestal 
 of one eye \vere within the thorax, but the other could 
 not be found; the legs perfect, and attached to the 
 sternal plate. The caudal plates were united at their 
 joints, but in no part was there any intervening mem- 
 brane, this portion of the body not appearing to be 
 thrown off with the more solid covering: a circumstance 
 which will account for the fact, that the eyes do not long 
 remain attached to the adjacent parts after the slough is 
 left by its inhabitant. 
 
 The habits of the lobster (Astacus Europeus, Leach,) 
 at this periodical crisis, and the circumstances attending 
 it, present a very considerable difference from those of 
 the species already mentioned. So far from abstaining 
 from food, it is not uncommon for it to be taken in crab 
 pots, which it has been enticed to enter by the allure, 
 ment of the usual bait; and instances have been related 
 to me, where, when the fishermen commenced to handle 
 his capture, the animal has slipped away, leaving an 
 empty husk as the only reward of his labour. It was by 
 a circumstance somewhat similar that the opportunity is 
 afforded me of giving a minute description of a very per- 
 fect case, left by the creature when it made its escape: 
 
 for escape it did, through an aperture too narrow to 
 
 have allowed it to pass if its new covering had possessed a 
 very moderate degree of firmness to the no small 
 annoyance of the fisherman, who had calculated on the 
 possession of a prize somewhat, above the ordinary mag- 
 nitude. I cannot find that any extraordinary actions or 
 contortions have been observed in the lobster, whcrt 
 
THE LOBSTER KIND. 
 
 329 
 
 open parts of the deep, and seeking some 
 retired situation among the rocks, or some 
 outlet where they may remain in safety from 
 the attacks of their various enemies. For 
 
 engaged in delivering itself from its trammels, or that 
 the time is prolonged, as is the case with the cray-fish ; 
 circumstances which are easily accounted for by an ex- 
 amination of the crust ; and it is certain that when 
 delivered it possesses great activity in effecting its escape, 
 and that neither the prawn nor the lobster devour, HS 
 has been supposed, any portion of the old shell. 
 
 In the specimen referred to, the case of the antennae 
 and palpi was perfect to their minutest extremities ; the 
 stalk also, and transparent covering of the eyes, were 
 uninjured, but the former was attached on its inferior 
 portion only, the superior half hanging loose, so that it 
 would soon have fallen away in the agitation of the sea. 
 The segments and joints of the posterior portion of the 
 body, with the caudal plates, were all joined together, 
 but without any intervening membrane ; and the infer- 
 ior parts from beneath the snout, including the jaws and 
 footjaws, chelaedlegs, with the sternal plate, oesophagus 
 and internal coat of the stomach, formed one connected 
 portion, with no further separation than arises from the 
 absence of every portion of membrane. The whole of 
 these inferior portions was drawn very considerably 
 within the carapace ; and it was the latter section of the 
 surface only that showed a mark of the manner in which 
 the animal had delivered itself from its case ; and this 
 it did in a way not to be mistaken. Through the middle 
 of this space, ran a line as straight as if it had been cut 
 with a knife, and evidently formed by a natural process 
 of separation : for it even proceeded through the centre 
 of the snout, to the terminal pointed process, at the root 
 of which it turned off on the right side ; so that the 
 least effort of the animal was sufficient to afford it a 
 passage. 
 
 The observation here made on a very perfect specimen 
 that came into my possession by great accident, has been 
 further confirmed by a careful examination, both of the 
 living lobster, in which an obscure line is perceptible, 
 where the natural separation takes place: and also of a 
 specimen of small size, in which the sloughing or natural 
 process of di vision had only begun. In the latter case a deep 
 channel had been formed on the external part, nearly 
 half through the carapace ; while the internal portion 
 still remained firm; but I have little doubt that if the 
 creature had lived but a few days longer, the separation 
 would have been complete, and the animal would have 
 escaped from its prison. 
 
 The growth of the young of the long-tailed Crusta- 
 ceans, is well known to be exceedingly rapid ; and there 
 seems reason to believe that the process of exuviation is 
 repeated at least two or three times in the course of the 
 first year of their age. In the course of a summer, 
 among many prawns one or two may always be found in 
 a state that indicates the having lately passed through 
 this process; but about October or November they all 
 seem to undergo it at once, the breeding season finishes, 
 and no further change in the shell takes place until the 
 approach of the spring. It is not improbable that the 
 general opinion is correct, which limits the exuviation 
 of the adult animals to once in the year; but from the 
 marks of old injuries, and the incrustation of parasitic 
 animals, I have come to the conclusion that in advanced 
 age the lobster does not throw off its case with any regu- 
 larity, and perhaps not at all. 
 
 When about to throw off its exuviae the crab com- 
 monly retires to some secret place, in the near neigh- 
 bourhood of rocks that will afford it shelter when unable 
 to escape from danger, or defend itself from enemies. 
 Its craving appetite seems also at this time to be sus- 
 pended ; hut the particular subject of my observation 
 
 VOL. II 
 
 
 some days before their change, the animal 
 discontinues its usual voraciousness ; it is nc 
 longer seen laboriously harrowing up the sand 
 at the bottom, or fighting with others of its 
 
 differed fjom others, in wandering into a crab-pot at this 
 period, in search of food; and being known by the 
 fishermen to be what is called peel, that is, about to 
 throw off its crust, it was transferred to the safe custody 
 of the store-pot, on Saturday, July 30th, where, on the 
 morning of August 1, it was found just then delivered 
 from its covering. As quickly as possible, and without 
 injury, the living crab and its empty representative were 
 brought to me: and the following is a description of the 
 exuviae. 
 
 The longest diameter of the carapace was 6 J inches ; 
 compass of the largest chela, and length of the flap or 
 tail, severally Sf inches: the individual a female, or 
 what is termed by fishermen a Bon Crab. The carapace 
 was sound, except on its under surface, where in its 
 ordinary state a curved line passes backward from the 
 jaws to the hinder part of the body. When caught on 
 the 30th this portion was observed by the fishermen to 
 be loosened ; and now the portion included between this 
 waved line and the sternal plate, was entirely separate 
 and fallen inward. The sheaths of the antennae and 
 palpi perfect ; one eye gone, the other remaining, with 
 the transparent covering perfect, the stalk loosely attached ; 
 the tail and all its appendages perfect ; the sternal plate 
 beginning to break across in the middle, leaving to each 
 portion a pair of legs on each side ; but this not being a 
 complete or natural separation, may have been produced 
 by the weight of the limbs alone, or the efforts of the 
 animal. The chelae and legs perfect in all their attach- 
 ments, the membranes unbroken ; and the flat bones 
 which occupy the middle of the muscles and serve them 
 for tendons or points of attachment for motion, were un- 
 injured and fastened to each joint, their distant extrem- 
 ities hanging loosely in the cavity of the case of the limb. 
 The coverings of the branchiae were perfect to their mi. 
 nutest extremities ; and besides the internal coat of the 
 stomach, the whole internal skeleton of the animal was 
 thrown off without fracture or displacement: including 
 the two motive bones or levers that pass through the mid- 
 dle of the body from the jaws, to be attached to the in- 
 ternal dorsal aspect of the carapace: where formerly 
 attached, however, to the carapace they hung loose. The 
 curious bony articulations of the grinding apparatus of the 
 stomach, which renders the digestion of these Crusta- 
 ceans analogous to the rumination of quadrupeds, toge- 
 ther with the double crustaceous body (perhaps gland) at 
 the pyloric orifice, and the whole of the bony crusts or 
 chambers that receive the muscles which move the legs, 
 were disengaged with displacement. 
 
 The living representative of this wonderful skeleton 
 measured 7 inches in its longest diameter, the compass 
 of the largest chela, and length of the flap or tail, 4 
 inches; the weight 24 ounces, being 5 ounces less 
 than an ordinary crab of the same dimensions, weighed 
 with it for comparison. It was plump, having much 
 the appearance of a lump of dough enclosed in a mem- 
 brane ; and it was also equally soft, with scarcely more 
 power of motion : appearing sensitive only when pressed 
 on the under surface of the carapace. The colour above 
 was red, beneath a pale yellow, the flap purplish ; the 
 bristles on the legs fully formed, but soft, which is the 
 more worthy of notice, as I have seen the Procellana 
 platycheles, in which villosity forms a conspicuous 
 character, entirely naked when just escaped from the 
 crust. On cutting open the legs and chelae, the bony 
 plates to which the muscles are attached, and which 
 serve for tendons, were found as soft as wet parchment, 
 and towards the extreme joints, could not be distinguished 
 with certainty. On breaking off the largest chela at the 
 ft 
 
S30 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 kind, or hunting its prey ; it lies torpid and 
 motionless, as it in anxious expectation of the 
 approaching change. Just before casting its 
 shell, it throws itself upon its back, strikes its 
 
 jcint where the animal is itself accustomed to separate 
 it when injured, the usual membrane formed towards 
 the body, and no discharge took place ; but a watery 
 fluid proceeded copiously from the surface towards the 
 limb, which was thus soon left empty, speedily becoming 
 capable of being blown up with air like a bladder. On 
 proceeding to dissect the body a similar circumstance 
 took place, the fluid running off in so large a quantity, 
 that I regretted when too late, that I had not taken the 
 precaution to have measured it. In a few minutes, the 
 body had so sunk into one mass that I was unable to 
 distinguish the separate parts. At the lower and inner 
 part of each joint of the chelae and legs, an opening re- 
 mained, in the form of a slit; through which the flat 
 central bony plate, found in the empty crust, had been 
 withdrawn ; which opening of course must be closed 
 when the shell is finally consolidated. 
 
 It appears from close inspection, that the exuviae of a 
 lobster consists of the same parts as those of a crab ; the 
 whole internal skeleton and external surface of the 
 branchiae, with the osseous tendons of the muscles, hav- 
 ing been rejected. But they are more distinctly ascer- 
 tained in the latter species, from their greater firmness 
 of texture ; and I may add also in reference to myself, 
 that a desire to preserve the specimen perfect, had in 
 the former case prevented a very minute examination of 
 the internal structure. 
 
 Having procured a crab that was beginning to show 
 signs of a commencement of the process of exuviation, 
 I found the limbs shrunk to three-fourths of what the shell 
 could well contain ; the soft contents of the points of the 
 chelae being diminished much more than the muscular 
 structure. A greater diminution than this, however, 
 takes place before the process of deliverance is accom- 
 plished; but all the vigilance that I have exerted has 
 not enabled me to see the actual escape from the crust ; 
 which is usually left in some void place, often in a sandy 
 basin, and, as several fishermen have informed me, always 
 on its back : as the living specimen I have described is 
 represented also to have been found in the store-pot. 
 
 The newly extricated crab has at first strength enough 
 to crawl off to a place of safety, commonly beneath the 
 shelter of a neighbouring crevice, of such limited dimen- 
 sions at its entrance, that it seems surprising it should 
 rver be able to return from it, in its new state of growth. 
 The first instinct of nature after securing a place of 
 retreat, is to absorb, I suppose by swallowing it, as much 
 fluid as will distend its organs and their common cover- 
 ing, now as flexible as velvet, to the full extent of their 
 rapacity; by which means the deposition of crustaceous 
 particles is made according to the dimensions of its 
 newly acquired bulk: which in the instance now des- 
 cribed, that had arrived at the ordinary size of a female, 
 and allowing for the thickness of the first crust, exceeded 
 the former by at least an inch in its longest diameter, 
 and in all its dimensions in the same proportion. In 
 the early stages of growth, the increase of bulk at ex- 
 uviation is, of course, much more considerable, in rela- 
 tive proportion. Some of these smaller specimens may 
 he found passing through this natural process in every 
 month of the year ; but in some adult individuals, the 
 same crust must continue for a long time, since I have 
 seen one with oysters measuring two inches and a half 
 in length, on the carapace ; and in another, a mussel 
 (mytilus) about an inch in length, attached by its byssus 
 to a joint near the body. 
 
 Whether, as has been said, the rejected case forms a 
 meal for its old inhabitant, on its first return to habits of 
 activity, may well be questioned; though I have known 
 
 claws against each other, and every limb 
 seems to tremble ; its feelers are agitated, and 
 the whole body is in violent motion ; it then 
 swells itself in an unusual manner, and at last 
 the shell is seen beginning to divide at its 
 junctures ; particularly, it opens at the junc- 
 tures of the belly, where, like a pair of jumps, 
 it was before but seemingly united. It also 
 seems turned inside out, and its stomach comes 
 away with its shell. After this, by the same 
 operation, it disengages itself of the claws, 
 which burst at the joints ; the animal, with a 
 tremulous motion, casting them off as a man 
 would kick off' a boot that was too big for him. 
 
 Thus, in a short time, this wonderful crea- 
 ture finds itself at liberty, but in so weak and 
 enfeebled a state, that it continues for several 
 hours motionless. Indeed, so violent and 
 painful is the operation, that many of them 
 die under it; and those which survive are in 
 such a weakly state for some time, that they 
 neither take food nor venture from their re- 
 treats. Immediately after this change, they 
 have not only the softness but the timidity of 
 a worm. Every animal of the deep is then 
 a powerful enemy, which they can neither 
 escape nor oppose ; and this, in fact, is the time 
 when the dog-fish, the cod, and the ray, devour 
 them by hundreds. But this state of defence- 
 less imbecility continues for a very short time: 
 the animal, in less than two days, is seen to 
 have the skin that covered its body grown al- 
 most as hard as before ; its appetite is seen lo 
 increase ; and, strange to behold ! the first ob- 
 ject that tempts its gluttony, is itsown stomach, 
 which it so lately was disengaged from. This 
 it devours with great eagerness ; and some time 
 after eats even its former shell. In about 
 forty-eight hours, in proportion to the animal's 
 health and strength, the new shell is perfectly 
 formed, and as hard as that which was but 
 just thrown aside. 
 
 To contribute to the speedy growth of the 
 shell, it is supposed by some, that the lobster 
 is supplied with a very extraordinary concre- 
 tion within its body, that is converted into the 
 shelly substance. It is a chalky substance, 
 found in the lower part of the stomach of all 
 lobsters, improperly called crabs' eyes, and 
 
 an instance where one crab has devoured another, leav- 
 ing nothing but the points of the legs, and a small por- 
 tion of the carapace ; but in the analogous instance of 
 a prawn, that had just thrown off its exuviae, I have 
 detected the source of the firmness of the new covering, 
 in the presence of small shell-fish in its stomach. Under 
 a lens, a minute trochus, perhaps the T. zizyphinus, and 
 some specimens of an oval bivalve, were distinguishable. 
 This is perhaps the only period of their lives when their 
 food is of this kind, but its nature cannot often be ascer. 
 tained, by the comminution it undergoes from the man- 
 ner in which it is devoured, when the jaws have attained 
 their firmness. From, two communications by Mr Couch 
 in the Magazine of Zoology and Botany. 
 
THE LOBSTER KIND. 
 
 331 
 
 sold under that title in the shops. About the 
 time the lobster quits its shell, the teeth in 
 its stomach break these stones to pieces, and 
 the fluids contained therein dissolve them. 
 This fluid, which still remains in the new 
 stomach, is thought to be replete with a petri- 
 fying quality, proper for forming a new shell: 
 however, the concreting power that first formed 
 these, shows a sufficient power in the animal 
 t3 produce also the shell ; and it is going but 
 a short way in the causes of things when we 
 attempt to explain one wonder by another. 
 
 When the lobster is completely equipped in 
 its new shell, it then appears how much it has 
 grown in the space of a few days ; the dimen- 
 sions of the old shell being compared with 
 those of the new, it will be found that the 
 creature is increased above a third in its size ; 
 and, like a boy that has outgrown his clothes, 
 it seems wonderful how the deserted shell was 
 able to contain so great an animal as entirely 
 fills up the new. 
 
 The creature thus furnished, not only with 
 a complete covering, but also a greater share 
 of strength and courage, ventures more boldly 
 among the animals of the bottom ; and not a 
 week passes, that, in its combats, it does not 
 suffer some mutilation. A joint, or even a 
 whole claw, is sometimes snapped off in these 
 encounters. At certain seasons of the year 
 these animals never meet each other without 
 an engagement. In these, to come off with 
 the loss of a leg, or even a claw, is considered 
 as no great calamity ; the victor carries off the 
 spoil to feast upon at leisure, while the other 
 retires from the defeat to wait for a thorough 
 repair. This repair it is not long in procuring. 
 From the place where the joint of the claw 
 was cut away, is seen in a most surprising 
 manner to burgeon out the beginning of a new 
 claw. This, if observed at first, is small and 
 tender, but grows, in the space of three weeks, 
 to be almost as large and as powerful as the 
 old one. I say almost as large, for it never 
 arrives to the full size; and this is the reason 
 we generally find the claws of lobsters of un- 
 equal magnitude. 1 
 
 After what has been thus described, let us 
 pause a little, to reflect on the wonders this 
 extraordinary creature offers to our imagina- 
 tion ! An animal without bones on the inside, 
 yet furnished with a stomach capable of di- 
 gesting the hardest substances, the shells of 
 muscels, of oysters, and even its own ; an ani- 
 mal gaining a new stomach and a new shell 
 at stated intervals ! furnished with the instru- 
 ments of generation double in both sexes ; and 
 
 1 In the water, these animals are able to run nimbly 
 upon their legs or small claws ; and, if alarmed, they 
 can spring, tail foremost, to a surprising distance almost 
 as swiftly as a bird can fly. 
 
 yet with an apparent incapacity of uniting ! 
 without red blood circulating through the body, 
 and yet apparently vigorous and active ! but, 
 most strange of all, an animal endowed with 
 a vital principle that furnishes out such limbs 
 as have been cut away ; and keeps continually 
 combating it, though in constant repair to re- 
 new its engagements ! These are but a small 
 part of the wonders of the deep, where nature 
 sports without a spectator ! 
 
 Of this extraordinary yet well-known ani, 
 mal there are many varieties, with some dif- 
 ferences in the claws, but little in the habits 
 or conformation. 2 It is found above three 
 feet long ; and if we may admit the shrimp 
 and the prawn into the class, though un- 
 furnished with claws, it is seen not above 
 an inch. These all live in the water, and can 
 bear its absence for but a few hours. The 
 shell is black when taken out of the water, but 
 turns red by boiling. The most common way 
 of taking the lobster is in a basket, or pot, as 
 the fishermen call it, made of wicker-work, in 
 which they put the bait, and then throw it to 
 the bottom of the sea, in six or ten fathom 
 water. The lobsters creep into this for the 
 sake of the bait, but are not able to get out 
 again. The river cray-fish 3 differs little from 
 
 a The Norway Lobster. It has generally eight legs, 
 besides two claspers, with six unequal feelers; two eyes, 
 commonly distant, placed on fast stakes, and movable; 
 the tail is articulated and unarmed. The body is long, 
 with the thorax aculeated forwards; and prismatic arms, 
 with the angles spiny. This species is nearly equal in 
 size to the common lobster, and is principally found in 
 the northern ocean. It also inhabits Great Britain. 
 
 The Prawn. Prawns have a long serrated snout, 
 bending upwards ; three pair of very long filiform feelers ; 
 claws small, furnished with two fangs ; smooth thorax ; 
 five joints to the tail ; middle caudal fin subulated, two 
 outmost flat and rounded. It is frequent in several shores 
 among loose stones; sometimes found at sea, and taken 
 on the surface over thirty fathoms depth of water: ciner- 
 eous when fresh, and of a fine red when boiled. 
 
 The Shrimp. Shrimps possess long slender feelers, 
 and between them two protective laminae ; the claws have 
 a single-hooked movable fang ; they have three pair of 
 legs; seven joints in the tail; the middle caudal, fin 
 snbulated, the four others round and fringed ; a spine on 
 the exterior side of each of the outmost. These animals 
 inhabit the shores of Britain in vast quantities, and are 
 the most delicious of the genus. 
 
 The Squilla. This has a snout like a prawn, but 
 deeper and thinner ; the feelers longer in proportion to 
 the bulk; the sub-caudal fins rather larger. This ani- 
 mal is, at full growth, not above the bulk of the shrimp. 
 The squilla inhabits the coast of Kent, and is sold in 
 London under the name of the white shrimp, as it as- 
 sumes that colour when boiled. 
 
 8 Cray or Craw fish This species of lobster has a 
 
 projecting snout, slightly serrated on the sides ; a smooth 
 thorax ; the back smooth, with two small spines on each 
 side; the claws large, beset with small tubercles; the 
 two first pair of legs clawed, the two next subulated ; 
 the tail consists of five joints ; and the caudal fins are 
 rounded. The flesh of the craw-fish is cooling, moisten- 
 ing, and adapted to nourish such as labour under con- 
 
332 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 the lobster, bat that the one will live only in 
 fresh water, and the other will thrive only in 
 the sea. 
 
 The crab is an animal found equally in fresh 
 and suit water; as well upon land as in the 
 ocean. In shape it differs very much from 
 
 the lobster, but entirely resembles it in habits 
 and conformation. The tail in this animal is 
 not so apparent as in the former, being that 
 broad flap that seems to cover a part of the 
 belly, and when lifted discovers the peas or 
 spawn, situated there in great abundance. It 
 resembles the lobster in the number of its 
 claws, which are two ; and its legs, which are 
 eight, four on either side. Like the lobster, 
 it is a bold voracious animal ; and such an en- 
 mity do crabs bear each other, that those who 
 carry them for sale to market, often tie their 
 claws with strings to prevent their fighting 
 and maiming themselves by the way. In 
 short, it resembles the lobster in 'every thing 
 but the amazing bulk of its body compared to 
 the size of its head, and the length of its in- 
 testines, which have many convolutions. 
 
 As the crab, however, is found upon land 
 as well as in water, the peculiarity of its situ- 
 ation produces a difference in its habitudes, 
 which it is proper to describe. The Land 
 
 sumptions. Though they are variously dressed, yet no 
 parts of them are eatable except their claws and tails. 
 Soups are frequently made of them. 
 
 There are great quantities of these fish in the river 
 Ohra, on the borders of Silesia ; but the people find them 
 scarcely eatable, because of a bitter aromatic flavour, 
 very disagreeable in food. Craw- fish also abound in the 
 river Don, in Muscovy, where they are laid in heaps to 
 putrefy, after which the stones called crab's eyes are 
 picked out. These animals are very greedy of flesh, 
 and flock in great numbers about carcases thrown in the 
 water where they are, and never leave them while any 
 remains: they also feed on dead frogs when they come 
 in their way. In Switzerland there are some craw-fish 
 which are red when they are alive, and others bluish. 
 Some kinds of them also will never become red, even by 
 boiling, but continue blackish. 
 
 Craw-fish are found in many of our rivers lodged in 
 holes which they form in the clayey banks ; and their 
 presence is generally esteemed an evidence of the good- 
 ness of the water. They are frequently taken by means 
 of sticks, split at the end, with a bait inserted in the 
 cleft, and stuck in the mud at the distance of a few feet 
 from each other. These sticks, after remaining some 
 time, are taken up, generally with an animal adhering to 
 each. They are gently drawn out of the mud, and a 
 basket is put under them, to receive the animals which 
 always drop oil when brought to the surface of the water. 
 
 Crab is found in some of the warmer regions 
 of Europe, and in great abundance in all the 
 tropical climates in Africa and America. 
 They are of various kinds, and endued wilh 
 
 2 Who would expect an auiiijal so low in the scale of 
 creation as a crab, to be furnished with ten or twelve 
 pair of jaws to its mouth? Yet such is the fact; and 
 all these variously constructed pieces are provided with 
 appropriate muscles, and move in a manner which can 
 scarcely be explained, though it may be very readily 
 comprehended when once observed in living nature. 
 But after all the complexity of the jaws, where would 
 an inexperienced person look for their teeth ? surely 
 not in the stomach ? Nevertheless, such is their situa- 
 tion ; arid these are not mere appendages, that are called 
 teeth by courtesy, but stout regular grinding teeth, with 
 a light brown surface. They are not only within the 
 stomach, but fixed to a cartilage nearest to its lower ex- 
 tremity, so that the food, unlike that of other creatures, 
 is submitted to the action of the teeth as it is passing 
 from the stomach, instead of being chewed before it is 
 swallowed. In some species the teeth are five in num- 
 ber ; but throughout this class of animals the same ge- 
 neral principle of construction may be observed. Crabs 
 and their kindred have no brain, because they are not 
 required to reason upon what they observe; they have a 
 nervous system excellently suited to their mode of life, 
 and its knots or ganglia send out nerves to the organs of 
 sense, digestion, motion, &c. The senses of these 
 beings are very acute, especially their sight, hearing, 
 and smell. Most of my readers have heard of crab's 
 eyes, or have seen these organs in the animal on the 
 end of two little projecting knobs, above and on each side 
 of the mouth ; few of them, however, have seen the crab's 
 ear; yet it is very easily found, and is a little triangular 
 bump placed near the base of the feelers. This bump 
 has a membrane stretched over it, and communicates 
 with a small cavity, which is the internal ear. The or- 
 gan of smell is not so easily demonstrated as that of hear- 
 ing, though the evidence of their possessing the sense to 
 an acute degree is readily attainable. 
 
 The greater proportion of the genera feed on animal 
 matter, especially after decomposition has begun ; a large 
 number are exclusively confined to the deep waters, and 
 approach the shoals and lands only during the spawning 
 season. Many live in the sea, but daily pass many 
 hours upon the rocky shores for the pleasure of basking 
 in the sun; others live in marshy or moist ground, at a 
 considerable distance from the water, and feed principal- 
 ly on vegetable food, especially the sugar cane, of which 
 they are extremely destructive. Others again reside 
 habitually on the hills or mountains, and visit the sea 
 only once a-year, for the purpose of depositing their eggs 
 in the sand. All those which reside in burrows made in 
 moist ground, and those coming daily on the rocks to 
 bask in the sun, participate in about an equal degree in 
 the qualities of vigilance and swiftness. Many a breath- 
 less race have I run in vain, attempting to intercept 
 them, and prevent their escaping into the sea. Many 
 an hour of cautious and solicitous endeavour to steal 
 upon them unobserved, has been frustrated by their long- 
 sighted watchfulness; and several times, when, by ex- 
 treme care and cunning approaches, I have actually suc- 
 ceeded in getting between a fine specimen and the sea, 
 and had full hope of driving them farther inland, have all 
 my anticipations been ruined by the wonderful swiftness 
 of their flight, or the surprising facility with which they 
 would dart ofl'in the very opposite direction, at the very 
 moment I felt almost sure of my prize. 
 
 The fleet-running crab (Cypoda pugilator\ mentioned 
 as living in burrows dug in a moist soil, and preying 
 chiefly on the sugar cane, is justly regarded as one of the 
 
THE LOBSTER KIND. 
 
 333 
 
 various properties; some being healthful, de- 
 licious, and nourishing food ; others, poisonous 
 or malignant to the last degree ; some are not 
 above half an inch broad, others are found a 
 
 most noxious pests that can infest a plantation. Their 
 burrows extend to a great depth, and run in various di- 
 rections; they are also, like those of our fiddlers, nearly 
 full of muddy water; so that, when these marauders 
 once plump into their dens, they must be considered as 
 entirely beyond pursuit. They are so numerous, and 
 they multiply in such numbers, as in some seasons to 
 destroy a large proportion of a sugar crop, and some, 
 times their ravages, combined with those of the rats and 
 other plunderers, are absolutely ruinous to the sea-side 
 planters. I was shown, by the superintendent of a place 
 thus infested, a great quantity of cane utterly killed by 
 these creatures, which cut it ofl" in a peculiar manner, 
 in order to suck the juice ; and he assured me that, dur- 
 ing that season, the crop would be two-thirds less than 
 its average, solely owing to the inroads of the crabs and 
 rats, which, if possible, are still more numerous. It was 
 to me an irresistible source of amusement to observe the 
 air of spite and vexation with which he spoke of the 
 crabs; .the rats he could shoot, poison, or drive ofl' for a 
 time with dogs. But the crabs would not eat his poi- 
 son while sugar cane was growing ; the dogs could only 
 chase them into their holes; and if, in helpless irritation, 
 he sometimes fired his gun at a cluster of them, the shot 
 only rattled over their shells like hail against a window. 
 It is truly desirable that some summary mode of lessen- 
 ing their number could be devised, and it is probable that 
 this will be best effected by poison, as it may be possible 
 to obtain a bait sufficiently attractive to ensnare them. 
 Species of this genus are found in various parts of our 
 country, more especially towards the south. About Cape 
 May, our friends may have excellent opportunities of 
 testing the truth of what is said of their swiftness and 
 vigilance. 
 
 The land crab, which is common to many of the West 
 India islands, is more generally known as the Jamaica 
 crab, because it has been most frequently described from 
 observation in that island. Wherever found, they have 
 all the habit of living, during great part of the year, in 
 the highlands, where they pass the daytime concealed in 
 huts, cavities, and under stones, and come out at night 
 for their food. They are remarkable for collecting in 
 vast bodies, and marching annually to the sea-side, in 
 order to deposit their eggs in the sand ; and this accom- 
 plished, they return to their former abodes, if undisturbed. 
 They commence their march in the night, and move in 
 the most direct line towards the destined point. So ob- 
 stinately do they pursue this route, that they will not turn 
 out of it for any obstacle that can possibly be surmounted. 
 During the daytime, they skulk and lie hid as closely as 
 possible, but thousands upon thousands of them are taken 
 for the use of the table by whites and blacks, as on their 
 seaward march they are very fat and of fine flavour. On 
 the homeward journey, those that have escaped capture 
 are weak, exhausted, and unfit for use. Before dismiss- 
 ing the crabs, I must mention one which was a source 
 of much annoyance to me at first, and of considerable in- 
 terest afterwards, from the observation of its habits. At 
 that time I resided in a house situated about two hun- 
 dred yards from the sea, fronting the setting sun, having 
 in clear weather the lofty mountains of Porto Rico in 
 view, distant about eighty miles. Like most of the 
 houses in the island, ours had seen better days, as was 
 evident from various breaks in the floors, angles rotted 
 oft' the doors, sunken sills, and other indications of de- 
 cay. Our sleeping room, which was on the lower floor, 
 was especially in this condition ; but as the weather was 
 delightfully warm, a few cracks and openings, though 
 
 foot over; some are of a dirty brown, and 
 others beautifully mottled. That animal called 
 the Violet Crab of the Caribbee islands, is 
 the most noted, both for its shape, the deli- 
 
 rather large, did not threaten much inconvenience. Our 
 bed was provided with that indispensable accompaniment, 
 a mosquito bar or curtain, to which we were indebted 
 for escape from various annoyances. Scarcely had we 
 extinguished the light, and composed ourselves to rest, 
 than we heard, in various parts of the room, the most 
 startling noises. It appeared as if numerous hard and 
 heavy bodies were trailed along the floor; they then 
 sounded as if climbing up the chairs and other furniture, 
 and frequently something like a large stone would tum- 
 ble down from such elevations with a loud noise, followed 
 by a peculiar chirping uoise. What an effect this pro- 
 duced upon entirely inexperienced strangers, may well 
 be imagined by those who have been suddenly waked up 
 in the dark, by some unaccountable noise in the room. 
 Finally, these invaders began to ascend the bed ; but 
 happily the musquito bar was securely tucked under the 
 bed all around, and they were denied access, though their 
 efforts and tumbles to the floor produced no very com- 
 fortable reflections. Towards daylight they began to re- 
 tire, and in the morning no trace of any such visitants 
 could be perceived. On mentioning our troubles, we 
 were told that this nocturnal disturber was only Bernard 
 the Hermit, called generally the soldier crab, perhaps 
 from the peculiar habit he has of protecting his body by 
 thrusting it into an empty shell, which he afterwards 
 carries about, until he outgrows it, when it is relin- 
 quished for a larger. Not choosing to pass another night 
 quite so noisily, due care was taken to exclude Mon- 
 sieur Bernard, whose knockings were thenceforward 
 confined to the outside of the house. I baited a large 
 wire rat-trap with some corn meal, and placed it out- 
 side of the back door, and in the morning found it 
 literally half filled with these crab?, from the largest 
 sized shell that could enter the trap, down to such as 
 were not larger than a hickory nut. Here was a fine 
 collection made at once, affording a very considerable 
 variety in the size and age of the specimens, and the 
 different shells into which they had introduced them- 
 sel ves. 
 
 The soldier, or hermit crab, when withdrawn from 
 his adopted shell, presents about the head and claws a 
 considerable family resemblance to the lobster. The 
 claws, however, are very short and broad, and the body 
 covered with hard shell only in that part which is liable 
 to be exposed or protruded. The posterior or abdominal 
 part of the body is covered only by a tough skin, and 
 tapers towards a small extremity, furnished with a sort 
 of hook-like apparatus, enabling it to hold on to its facti- 
 tious dwelling. Along the surface of its abdomen, as 
 well as on the back, there are small projections, appar- 
 ently intended for the same purpose. When once fairly 
 in possession of a shell, it would be quite a difficult matter 
 to pull the crab out, though a very little heat applied to 
 the shell will quickly induce him to leave it. The shells 
 they select are taken solely with reference to their suit 
 ableness, and hence you may catch a considerable num 
 ber of the same species, each of which is in a different 
 species or genus of shell. The shells commonly used by 
 them, when of larger size, are those of the whilk, which 
 are much used as an article of food by the islanders, or 
 the smaller conch (strombus) shells. The very young 
 hermit crabs are found in almost every variety of small 
 shell found on the shores of the Antilles. I have fre- 
 quently been amused by ladies eagerly engaged in making 
 collections of these beautiful little shells, and not dream- 
 ing of their being tenanted by a living animal, suddenly 
 startled, on displaying their acquisitions, by observing 
 
334 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 cacy of its flesh and (lie singularity of its 
 manners. 
 
 The Violet Crab somewhat resembles two 
 hands cut through the middle and joined 
 together ; for each side looks like four fingers, 
 and the two nippers or claws resemble the 
 thumbs. All the rest of the body is covered 
 with a shell as large as a man's hand, and 
 bunched in the middle, on the fore part of 
 which there are two long eyes of the size of a 
 grain of barley, as transparent as crystal, and 
 as hard as horn. A little below these is the 
 mouth, covered with a sort of barbs, under 
 which there are two broad sharp teeth as white 
 as snow. They are not placed, as in other 
 animals, crossways, but in the opposite direc- 
 tion, not much unlike the blades of a pair of 
 scissars. With these teeth they can easily 
 cut leaves, fruits, and rotten wood, which is 
 their usual food. But their principal instru- 
 ment for cutting and seizing their food is their 
 nippers, which catch such a hold, that the 
 animal loses the limb sooner than its grasp, 
 and is often seen scampering off, having left 
 its claw still holding fast upon the Tenemy. 
 The faithful claw seems to perform its duty, 
 and keeps for above a minute fastened upon 
 the finger while the crab is making off. In 
 fact, it loses no great matter by leaving a leg 
 or an arm, for they soon grow again, and the 
 animal is found as perfect as before. 1 
 
 them to be actively endeavouring to escape ; or on in- 
 troducing the hand into the reticule to produce a par- 
 ticular fine specimen, to receive a smart pinch from the 
 claws of the little hermit. The aquatic soldiers may be 
 seen towing along shells of most disproportionate size ; 
 but their relatives, who travel over the hills by moon- 
 light, know that all unnecessary encumbrance of weight 
 should be avoided. They are as pugnacious and spiteful 
 as any of the crustaceous class ; and when taken, or when 
 they fall and jar themselves considerably, utter a chirp- 
 ing noise, which is evidently an angry expression. They 
 are ever ready to bite with their claws, and the pinch of 
 the larger individuals is quite painful. It is said that 
 when they are changing their shells for the sake of ob- 
 taining more commodious covering*!, they frequently 
 fight for possession, which may be true where two that 
 have forsaken their old shells meet, or happen to make 
 choice of the same vacant one. Rambles of a Naturalist, 
 by John D. Godman, M. D. United States. 
 
 1 The skeleton of the crab is external. Each side is 
 provided with four legs and a hand. The latter is di- 
 vided at the extremity into two parts, resembling the 
 notched jaws of a pair of pincers. One of these parts is 
 movable and the other is not. The feet are furnished 
 with bristles. The senses of the crab are not deficient 
 in acuteness. The sense of smell is not wanting, though 
 it is not yet known where that organ is seated. The 
 powers of vision are lively, and are the result of a com- 
 plex structure, while the organ of hearing, placed near 
 the base of the antennae, is doubtless in every respect 
 adapted to its necessities. It is generally dillicult to 
 surprise land-crabs ; their acuteness of sight or hearing, 
 or perhaps both, being soon alarmed. The antennae are 
 the organs of touch. The crab has no tongue, but pos- 
 sesses the organ of taste. It is a voracious feeder, find 
 not very delicate in its choice. The mouth is furnished 
 
 This, however, is the least surprising part 
 of this creature's history; and what I am going 
 to relate, were it not as well known and as 
 confidently confirmed as any other circumstance 
 in natural history, it might well stagger our 
 belief. These animals live not only in a kind 
 of orderly society in their retreats in the moun- 
 tains, but regularly once a year march down to 
 the sea-side in a body of some millions at a 
 time. As they multiply in great numbers, they 
 choose the months of April or May to begin 
 their expedition; and then sally out by thou- 
 sands from the stumps of hollow trees, from 
 the clefts of the rocks, and from the holes 
 which they dig for themselves under the sur- 
 face of the earth. At that time the whole 
 ground is covered with this band of adventur- 
 ers ; there is no setting down one's foot with- 
 out treading upon them. 8 The sea is their 
 place of destination, and to that they direct 
 their march with right-lined precision. No 
 geometrician could send them to their destined 
 s-tation by a shorter course ; they neither turn 
 to the right or left, whatever obstacles inter- 
 vene ; and even if they meet with a house, they 
 will attempt to scale the walls to keep the un- 
 broken tenor of their way. But though this 
 be the general order of their rout, they upon 
 other occasions are compelled to conform to the 
 lace of the country ; and if it be intersected 
 by rivers, they are then seen to wind along 
 the course of the stream. The procession sets 
 forward from the mountains with the regular- 
 ity of an army, under the guidance of an ex- 
 perienced commander. They are commonly 
 divided into three battalions ; of which the 
 first consists of the strongest and boldest males, 
 that, like pioneers, march forward to clear the 
 route, and face the greatest dangers. These 
 are often obliged to halt for want of rain, and 
 go into the most convenient encampment till 
 the weather changes. The main body of the 
 army is composed of females, which never 
 leave the mountains till the rain is set in for 
 some time, and then descend in regular battalia, 
 being formed into columns of fifty paces broad 
 and three miles deep, and so close that they 
 almost cover the ground. Three or four days 
 after this the rear-guard follows; a straggling 
 undisciplined tribe consisting of males and fe- 
 males, but neither so robust nor so numerous 
 as the former. The night is their chief time 
 of proceeding ; but if it rains by day, they do 
 not fail to profit by the occasion ; and they 
 
 with eight pieces or pairs of jaws ; and grinding teeth 
 are attached to a cartilaginous appendage in the stomach, 
 where the process of mastication is completed. Hence 
 the crab is said to be a ruminating animal. The liver 
 is very large, and is considered by epicures as a delicious 
 morsel. The blood is either colourless or has a slight 
 blue tinge. 
 * Labat. Voyage aux Isle FranQoises, vol. ii. p. 221. 
 
THE CRAB. 
 
 335 
 
 continue to move forward in their slow uniform 
 manner. When the sun shines and is hot 
 upon the surface of the ground, they then 
 make a universal halt, and wait till the cool 
 of the evening. When they are terrified, they 
 march back in a confused disorderly manner, 
 holding up their nippers, with which they 
 sometimes tear off a piece of the skin, and then 
 leave the weapon where they inflicted the 
 wound. They even try to intimidate their 
 enemies; for they often clatter their nippers 
 together, as if it were to threaten those that 
 come to disturb them. Bui though they must 
 strive to be formidable to man, they are much 
 more so to each other ; for they are possessed 
 of one most unsocial property, which is, that 
 if any of them by accident is maimed in such 
 a manner as to be incapable of proceeding, the 
 rest fall upon and devour it on the spot, and 
 then pursue their journey. 
 
 When after a fatiguing march, and escap- 
 ing a thousand dangers, (tor they are some- 
 times three months in getting to the shore,) 
 they have arrived at their destined port, they 
 prepare to cast their spawn. The peas are as 
 yet within their bodies, and not excluded, as 
 is usual in animals of this kind, under the tail ; 
 for the creature waits for the benefit of the 
 sea-water to help the delivery. For this pur- 
 pose, the crab has no sooner reached the shore, 
 than it eagerly goes to the edge of the water, 
 and lets the waves wash over its body two or 
 three times. This seems only a preparation 
 for bringing their spawn to maturity ; for with- 
 out farther delay they withdraw to seek a 
 lodging upon land : in the mean time the 
 spawn grows larger, is excluded out of the 
 body, and sticks to the barbs under the flap, 
 or more properly the tail. This bunch is seen 
 as big as a hen's egg, and exactly resembling 
 the roes of herrings. In this state of preg- 
 nancy, they once more seek the shore for the 
 last time, and shaking off their spawn into the 
 water, leave accident to bring it to maturity. 
 At this time whole shoals of hungry fish are 
 at the shore, in expectation of this annual sup- 
 ply ; the sea to a great distance seems black 
 with them ; and about two-thirds of the crabs' 
 eggs are immediately devoured by those rapa- 
 cious invaders. The eggs that escape are 
 hatched under the sand ; and soon after mil- 
 lions at a time of these little crabs are seen 
 quitting the shore, and slowly travelling tip to 
 the mountains. 
 
 The old ones, however, are not so active to 
 return ; they have become so feeble and lean, 
 that they can hardly creep along, and the flesh 
 at that time changes its colour. The most of 
 them, therefore, are obliged to continue in the 
 flat parts of the country till they recover, 
 making holes in. the earth, which they cover 
 at the mouth with leaves and dirt, so that no 
 
 air may enter. There they throw off their 
 old shells, which they leave as it were quite 
 whole, the place where they opened on the 
 belly being unseen. At that time they are 
 quite naked, and almost without motion for 
 six days together, when they become so fat as 
 to be delicious food. They* have then under 
 their stomachs four large white stones, which 
 gradually decrease in proportion as the shell 
 hardens, and when they come to perlection are 
 not to be found. It is at that time that the 
 animal is seen slowly making its way back ; 
 and all this is most commonly performed in 
 the space of six weeks. 
 
 This animal, when possessed of its retreats 
 in the mountains, is impregnable ; for only 
 subsisting upon vegetables, it seldom ventures 
 out ; and its habitation being in the most in- 
 accessible places, it remains for a great part of 
 the season in perfect security. It is only 
 when impelled by the desire of bringing forth 
 its young, and when compelled to descend into 
 the flat country, that it is taken. At that time 
 the natives wait for its descent in eager expec- 
 tation, and destroy thousands : but disregard- 
 ing the bodies, they only seek for that small 
 spawn which lies on each side of the stomach 
 within the shell ; of about the thickness of a 
 man's thumb. They are much more valuable 
 upon their return, after they have cast their 
 shell ; for being covered with a skin resem- 
 bling soft parchment, almost every part ex- 
 cept their stomach may be eaten. They are 
 taken in their holes by feeling for them in the 
 ground with an instrument: they are sought 
 after by night, when on their journey, with 
 flambeaux. The instant the animal perceives 
 itself attacked, it throws itself on its back, and 
 with its claws pinches most terribly whatever 
 it happens to fasten on. But the dexterous 
 crab-catcher takes them by the hinder legs in 
 such a manner, that its nippers cannot touch 
 him, and thus he throws it into his bag. 
 Sometimes also they are caught when they 
 take refuge at the bottom of holes, in rocks by 
 the sea-side, by clapping a stick at the rnouth 
 of the hole, which prevents their getting out ; 
 and then soon after the tide coming, enters the 
 hole, and the animal is found, upon its retir- 
 ing, drowned in its retreat. l 
 
 1 There are various modes of taking crabs some ex- 
 tremely simple, and others on a larger and more complex 
 scale for commercial purposes. In the West Indies the 
 monkeys adopt an ingenious expedient for catching crabs. 
 They insert their tails in the holes where the crabs take 
 refuge, and the crab fastening upon it, the monkey with- 
 draws his tail with a jerk, and then conveys his prey on 
 shore. By what expedient the crab is induced to release 
 its hold we are not informed, but this must be no easy 
 matter, as it grasps whatever it seizes in its claws with 
 remarkable tenacity. Several species of birds, which oc- 
 casionally live on shell-fish, obtain the meat out of the 
 shell by dropping the shell from a considerable height ; 
 
336 
 
 HISTORY OF FISEIES. 
 
 These crabs are of considerable advantage 
 lo the natives ; and the slaves very often feed 
 entirely upon them. In Jamaica, where they 
 are found in great plenty, they are considered 
 as one of the greatest delicacies of the place. 
 Yet still, the eating of them is attended with 
 some danger ; for even of this kind many are 
 found poisonous, being fed, as it is thought, 
 upon the manchineel apple ; and whenever 
 they are found under that noxious plant, they 
 are always rejected with caution. It is thus 
 
 and the monkeys are probably not less ingenious in their 
 devices. Brickell gives an interesting account, in his 
 History of North Carolina of the wonderful cunning ma- 
 nifested hy the racoon in that country. It is fond of 
 crabs, and, when in quest of them, will take its station 
 by a swamp, and hang its tail over into the water, which 
 the crabs mistake for food, and lay hold of it; as soon as 
 the racoon feels them pinch, he pulls up his tail with a 
 sudden jerk, and they generally quit their hold upon being 
 removed from the water. The racoon instantly seizes 
 the crabs in his mouth, removes them to a distance from 
 the water, and greedily devours his prey. He is very 
 careful how he takes them up, which he always does from 
 behind, holding them transversely, in order to prevent 
 them catching his mouth with their nippers. The chil- 
 dren of fishermen are often employed in crab-catching, 
 as crabs are found on a rocky beach at low water, hidden 
 in crevices and under stones. A stick, with a hook at 
 the end of it, is inserted in their retreat, and the crab, 
 instantly grasping it, is drawn out. But only a small 
 number, and those not of the finest sort, are taken in this 
 manner, as the largest and strongest crabs betake them- 
 selves to the sea on the ebbing of the tide. On a shore 
 which is rugged, and abounding in cavities which afford 
 it a hiding place, the crab is also taken, on a small scale 
 hy another method. At the spot where they are most 
 numerous, the fisherman places a bait at the end of a 
 small cord, at the other end of which a stone is tied. 
 When the tide flows the crab seizes the bait, which it 
 drags to some hole, and the stone, which it draws after 
 it, closes the entrance. As a stone may be dragged in 
 the water, which cannot be moved by the same power 
 exerted in a less advantageous manner, the animal finds 
 itself a prisoner. The stone must be large enough to 
 close the entrance of the cavity in which the crab con- 
 ceals itself, and not too heavy to obstruct its movements. 
 But none of these methods are sufficient to provide for 
 an extensive demand. 
 
 Crab-fishing, as generally pursued along the British 
 coasts, is conducted by two men who go out in one boat. 
 In addition to their boat they require creels, cruives, or 
 crab-pots, and lines. These creels (in the south of Eng- 
 land generally termed crab-pots) are made of dry osier, 
 and resemble basket-work. They are constructed on the 
 same principle as a wire mouse-trap, but the aperture in- 
 stead of being on the side is at the top. Within the 
 creel the bait, consisting of pieces of thorn-back or skate, 
 is fastened at the bottom, and the creel is then dropped 
 in some favourable situation, three stones of sufficient 
 weight being fastened in the inside to sink it. The 
 creels are sometimes sunk to the depth of twenty fathoms, 
 the fishermen being guided in this respect by the state 
 of the weather or the nature of the ground. In fine 
 weather they are dropped in from three to five fathoms 
 deep; hut the crabs are chiefly to be found where the 
 bottom is rocky. A line is fastened to the creel, and at 
 the upper end of the line a cork is attached which floats 
 on the surface. By this means the place where the creel 
 is sunk is known to the fishermen, who usually set from 
 forty to fifty creels at one time. The bait is suspended 
 
 with almost all the productions of those luxur- 
 ious climates ; however tempting they may be 
 to the appetite, they but too often are found 
 destructive ;and scarce a delicacy among them 
 that does not carry its own alloy. 
 
 The descent of these creatures for such im- 
 portant purposes, deserves our admiration ; but 
 there is an animal of the lobster kind that 
 annually descends from its mountains in like 
 manner, and for purposes still more important 
 and various. Its descent is not only to produce 
 
 about the middle of the creel, and can easily be seen by 
 the crabs, which, entering at the aperture, find, like a 
 mouse in a wire-trap, that escape is impossible. The 
 difficulty of egress is increased by the entrance being over- 
 head. Lobsters, prawns, and shrimps are frequently found 
 captured in the same creel with crabs. When the fish- 
 ermen have sunk the whole of their creels, they have 
 still some time left to proceed farther out to sea for other 
 fish before it is necessary to visit them. Crab-fishing is 
 therefore a valuable addition to their moans of livelihood, 
 for it does not preclude the pursuit of other fish at the 
 same season. The demand for this species of shell-fish 
 is usually good, and in the nearest large town on many 
 parts of the coast it is often fully equal to the supply. 
 Thither the fisherman's wife or some of his family may 
 convey the quantity taken ; and, if the market be already 
 abundantly provided, they can by means of the well-boxes, 
 although already caught, be kept back for a time un- 
 til prices rise again. These are all advantages peculiar 
 to this fishery. When a few hours have elapsed, the 
 fishermen visit their creels, one of them rowing and 
 the other keeping a look-out for the floats, and taking 
 out of the creels whatever lias been captured. There 
 may perhaps he a dozen different owners of boats thus 
 engaged, and it is therefore necessary to have recourse 
 to some means by which they may each secure the fruits 
 of their individual industry without the risk of dispute. 
 This is accomplished by distinguishing their respective 
 floats by some peculiar mark by a notch in the side 
 a mark in the shape of a diamond cut on the top an 
 angle cut off, &c. &c. The necessity of mutual protec- 
 tion points out to them the value of combination and 
 union, and the marks adopted by the fishermen to dis- 
 tinguish their floats are consequently the result of some 
 common understanding amongst them ; or otherwise, of 
 an instinctive regard to the means by which not only one 
 but all are enabled to pursue their calling in confidence 
 and security. 
 
 Crabs are brought to market both in a boiled and in 
 a raw state. If the market be distant they are placed in 
 a well-box, which is attached to the outside of the fish- 
 ing-vessel, and in this manner they are brought to Bil- 
 lingsgate from parts so distant as Norway. The crab 
 is so tenacious of life that it does not lose its vital powers 
 until two or three days after leaving its native element. 
 May, June, and July are the months in which it is 
 generally out of season: but even in these months many 
 may be obtained which are in a perfectly good state for 
 the table. The male is of greater value than the female, 
 and has larger claws. The sexes are distinguished as 
 the cock and the hen. Before boiling, a good crab is 
 known by the roughness of its shell, particularly on the 
 claws. When boiled, the mode of ascertaining its good- 
 ness is by holding the claws tight, and shaking the body, 
 which will rattle, or seem as if water were in the inside, 
 if it be not in perfection. The time they are usually 
 boiled is from a quarter of an hour to a couple of hours 
 in sea-water, or in water in which salt has been infused. 
 Sometimes they are put into cold water, which is after* 
 wards heated to the boiling point. 
 
THE TORTOISE. 
 
 337 
 
 an offspring, but to provide itself a covering; not 
 only to secure a family, but to furnish a house. 
 The animal I mean is the Soldier Crab, which 
 has some similitude to the lobster, if divested of 
 its shell. It is usually about four inches long, 
 has no shell behind, but is covered down to 
 the tail with a rough skin, terminating in a 
 point. It is, however, armed with strong 
 hard nippers before, like the lobster; and one 
 of them is as thick as a man's thumb, and 
 pinches most powerfully. It is, as I said, 
 without a shell to any part except its nippers; 
 but what nature has denied this animal, it 
 takes care to supply by art ; and taking pos- 
 session of the deserted shell of some other ani- 
 mal, it resides in it, till, by growing too large 
 for its habitation, it is under a necessity of 
 change. It is a native of the West India 
 islands; and, like the former, it is seen every 
 year descending from the mountains to the 
 sea-shore, to deposit its spawn, and to provide 
 itself with a new shell. This is a most bust- 
 ling time with it, having so many things to 
 do ; and in fact, very busy it appears. It is 
 very probable that its first care is to provide 
 for its offspring, before it attends to its own 
 wants; and it is thought, from the number of 
 little shells which it is seen examining, that 
 it deposits its spawn in them, which thus is 
 placed in perfect security till the time of ex- 
 clusion. 
 
 However this be, the soldier is in the end 
 by no means unmindful of itself. It is still 
 seen in its old shell, which it appears to have 
 considerably outgrown ; for a part of the naked 
 body is seen at the mouth of it, which the 
 habitation is too small to hide. A shell, there- 
 fore, is to be found large enough to cover the 
 whole body ; and yet not so large as to be un- 
 manageable and unwieldy. To answer both 
 these ends it is no easy matter, nor the attain- 
 ment of a slight inquiry. The little soldier 
 is seen busily parading the shore along that 
 line of pebbles and shells that is formed by 
 the extremest wave ; still, however, dragging 
 its old incommodious habitation at its tail, un- 
 willing to part with one shell, even though a 
 troublesome appendage, till it can find another 
 more convenient. It is seen stopping at one 
 shell, turning it, and passing it by, going on 
 to another, contemplating that for a while, and 
 then slipping its tail from its old habitation, 
 to try on the new. This also is found to be 
 inconvenient; and it quickly returns to its old 
 shell again. In this manner it frequently 
 changes, till at last it finds one light, roomy, 
 and commodious ; to this it adheres, though 
 the shell be sometimes so large as to hide the 
 body of the animal, claws and all. 1 Yet it is 
 not only till after many trials, but many combats 
 
 1 Pere du Festre. 
 
 VOL. 
 
 also, that the soldier is thus completely equip- 
 ped ; for there is often a contest between two 
 of them for some well-looking favourite shell 
 for which they are rivals. They both endea- 
 vour to take possession ; they strike with their 
 claws, they bite each other, till the weakest 
 is obliged to yield, by giving up the object of 
 dispute. It is then that the victor immediately 
 takes possession, and parades it in his new 
 conquest three or four times backwards and 
 forwards upon the strand before his envious 
 antagonist. 
 
 When this animal is taken, it sends forth 
 a feeble cry endeavouring to seize the enemy 
 with its nippers; which if it fastens upon, it 
 will sooner die than quit the grasp. The 
 wound is very painful, and not easily cured. 
 For this reason, and as it is not much esteemed 
 for its flesh, it is generally permitted to return 
 to its old retreat to the mountains in safety. 
 There it continues till the necessity of chang- 
 ing once more, and -the desire of producing 
 an offspring expose it to fresh dangers the 
 year ensuing. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE TORTOISE AND ITS KINDS. 
 
 HAVING described the lobster and the crab 
 as animals in some measure approaching to 
 the insect tribes, it will appear like injustice 
 to place the Tortoise among the number, that 
 from its strength, its docility, and the warm 
 red blood that is circulating in its veins, de- 
 serves to be ranked even above the fishes. 
 But as this animal is covered, like the lobster, 
 with a shell ; as it is of an amphibious nature, 
 and brings forth its young from the egg with- 
 out hatching; we must be content to degrade 
 it among animals that in every respect it in- 
 finitely surpasses. 
 
 Tortoises are usually divided into those that 
 live upon land, and those that subsist in the 
 water ; and use has made a distinction even in 
 the name ; the one being called Tortoises, the 
 other Turtles. However, Seba has proved 
 that all tortoises are amphibious ; that the land 
 tortoise will live in the water, and that the 
 sea turtle can be fed upon land. A land tor- 
 toise was brought to him that was caught in 
 one of the canals of Amsterdam, which he kept 
 for half a year in his house, where it lived 
 very well contented in both elements. When 
 in the water, it remained with its head above 
 the surface ; when placed in the sun, it seemed 
 delighted with its beams, and continued im- 
 movable while it felt their warmth. The 
 difference, therefore, in these animals, arises 
 
333 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 rather from their habits than their con forma- 
 tion: and, upon examination, there will be 
 less variety found between them than between 
 birds that live upon land, and those that swim 
 upon the water. 
 
 Yet, though nature seems to have made 
 but few distinctions among these animals, as 
 to their conformation, yet, in their habits, they 
 are very dissimilar ; as these result from dif- 
 ferent qualities of their food, and the different 
 sorts of enemies they have to avoid or encoun- 
 ter. I will therefore exhibit their figure and 
 conformation under one common description, 
 by which their slight differences will be more 
 obvious ; and then I will give a separate his- 
 tory of the manners of each, as naturalists and 
 travellers have taught us. 
 
 All tortoises, in their external form, pretty 
 much resemble each other ; their outward 
 covering being composed of two great shells, 
 the one laid upon the other, and only touch- 
 ing at the edges: however, when we come to 
 look closer we shall find that the upper shell 
 is composed of no less than thirteen pieces, 
 which are laid flat upon the ribs, like the tiles 
 of a house, by which the shell is kept arched 
 and supported. The shells both above and 
 below that, which seem, to an inattentive ob- 
 server, to make each but one piece, are bound 
 together at the edges by very strong and hard 
 ligaments, yet with some small share of mo- 
 tion. There are two holes at either edge of 
 this vaulted body ; one for a very small head, 
 shoulders, and arms, to peep through ; the other 
 at the opposite edge, for the feet and the tail. 
 These shells the animal is never disengaged 
 from : and they serve for its defence against 
 every creature but man. 1 
 
 The tortoise has but a small head, with no 
 teeth ; having only two bony ridges in the 
 place, serrated and hard. These serve to 
 
 gather and grind its food; and such is the 
 amazing strength of the jaws, that it is im- 
 possible to open them where they once have 
 fastened. Even when the head is cut off, the 
 jaws still keep their hold ; and the muscles in 
 death, preserve a tenacious rigidity. Indeed, 
 the animal is possessed of equal strength in 
 
 1 There are various species of land tortoise, such as 
 the Indian tortoise the Radiated tortoise the Tabular 
 tortoise the Geometrical tortoise the Starred tortoise 
 
 the Leopard tortoise the Kinyxis tortoise, &c. and 
 
 the Emys tortoise, which latter term is employed to 
 designate the species that live habitually in fresh water. 
 
 all other parts of its body : the legs, though 
 short, are inconceivably strong; and torpid as 
 the tortoise may appear, it has been known 
 to carry five men standing upon its back, with 
 apparent ease and unconcern. Its manner of 
 going forward is by moving its legs one after 
 the other ; and the claws with which the toes 
 are furnished, sink into the ground like the 
 nails of an iron-shod wheel, and thus assist 
 its progression. 
 
 With respect to its internal parts, not to 
 enter into minute anatomical disquisitions, it 
 may not be improper to observe, that the 
 blood circulates in this animal as in some 
 cartilaginous fishes, and something in the 
 manner of a child in the womb. The great- 
 est quantity of the blood passes directly from 
 the vena cava into the left ventricle of the 
 heart, which communicates with the right 
 ventricle by an opening ; while the auricles 
 only receive what the ventricles seem incap- 
 able of admitting. Thus the blood is driven 
 by a very short passage through the circula- 
 tion ; and the lungs seem to lend only 
 occasional assistance. From this conforma- 
 tion, the animal can subsist for some time, 
 without using the lungs, or breathing; at 
 least the lungs are not so necessary an instru- 
 ment for driving on the circulation as with us. 
 
 Such is the general structure of this animal, 
 whether found to live by land or water. 
 With regard to the differences of these ani- 
 mals, the land-tortoise, from its habits of 
 making use of its feet in walking, is much 
 more nimble upon land than the sea-turtle : 
 the land-tortoise, if thrown upon its back, by 
 rocking and balancing its body, like a child 
 rocking in a cradle, at last turns itself upon 
 its face again ; but the turtle, when once 
 turned, continues without being able to move 
 from the spot. In comparing the feet also of 
 these animals, the nails upon the toes of one 
 that has long been used to scratch for subsis- 
 tence upon land, are blunt and worn ; while 
 those that have only been employed in swim- 
 ming, are sharp and long, and have more the 
 similitude of fins. The brain of the land- 
 tortoise is but small ; and yet it is three times 
 as large as that of the turtle. There is a differ- 
 ence also in the shape of their eggs, and in the 
 passage by which they are excluded ; for, in 
 the land-tortoise, the passage is so narrow, 
 that the egg conforms to the shape of the 
 aperture, and though round when in the body, 
 yet becomes much more oblong than those of 
 fowls upon being excluded; otherwise they 
 would never be able to pass through the bony 
 canal by which they are protruded ; on the 
 contrary, the passage is wider in the turtle, 
 and therefore its eggs are round. These are 
 the most striking distinctions ; but that which 
 is most known is their size ; the land-tortoise 
 
THE TORTOISE. 
 
 339 
 
 often not exceeding three feet long, by two 
 feet broad ; the sea-turtle being sometimes 
 from five to seven feet long. The size, how- 
 ever, is but a fallacious distinction: since 
 land-tortoises, in some parts of India, grow 
 to a very great magnitude ; though probably 
 not, as the ancients affirm, big enough for a 
 single shell to serve for the covering of a 
 house. 
 
 But if the different kinds of tortoises are 
 not sufficiently distinguished by their figure, 
 they are very obviously distinguishable by 
 their methods of living. The land-tortoise 
 lives in holes dug in the mountains, or near 
 marshy lakes ; the sea-turtle in cavities of 
 rocks, arid extensive pastures at the bottom of 
 the sea. The tortoise makes use of its feet to 
 walk with, and burrow in the ground ; the 
 turtle chiefly uses its feet in swimming or 
 creeping at the bottom. 
 
 The land-tortoise is generally found, as was 
 observed above, from one foot to five feet long, 
 from the end of the snout to the end of the 
 tail ; and from five inches to a foot and a half 
 across the back. It has a small head, some- 
 what resembling that of a serpent; an eye 
 without the upper lid ; the under eye- lid serv- 
 ing to cover and keep that organ in safety. 
 It has a strong scaly tail, like the lizard. Its 
 head the animal can put out and hide at plea- 
 sure, under the great penthouse of its shell; 
 there it can remain secure from all attacks; 
 there, defended on every side, it can fatigue 
 the patience of the most formidable animal of 
 the forest, that makes use only of natural 
 strength to destroy it. As the tortoise lives 
 wholly upon vegetable food, it never seeks 
 the encounter ; yet, if any of the smaller ani- 
 mals attempt to invade its repose, they are 
 sure to suffer. The tortoise, impregnably 
 defended, is furnished wilh such a strength of 
 jaw, that, though armed only with bony 
 plates instead of teeth, wherever it fastens it 
 infallibly keeps its hold, until it has taken out 
 the piece. 
 
 Though peaceable in itself, it is formed for 
 war in another respect, for it seems almost 
 endued with immortality. Nothing can kill 
 it ; the depriving it of one of its members, is 
 but a slight injury : it will live, though 
 deprived of the brain; it will live, though 
 of its head. Redi informs us, that in making 
 some experiments upon vital motion, he, in 
 the beginning of the month of November, took 
 a land-tortoise, made a large opening in its 
 skull, and drew out all the brain, washed the 
 cavity, so as not to leave the smallest part 
 remaining, and then leaving the hole open, 
 set the animal at liberty. Notwithstanding 
 this, the tortoise marched away without seem- 
 ing to have received the smallest injury; only 
 it shut the eves, and never opened them after- 
 
 wards. Soon after the hole in llie skull was 
 seen to close ; and in three days, there was a 
 complete skin covering the wound. In this 
 manner the animal lived without a brain, for 
 six months ; walking about unconcernedly, 
 and moving its limbs as before. But the 
 Italian philosopher, not satisfied with this ex- 
 periment, 'carried it still farther; for he cut 
 off the head, and the animal lived twenty-three 
 days after its separation from the body. The 
 head also continued to rattle the jaws, like a 
 pair of castanets, for above a quarter of an 
 hour. 
 
 Nor are these animals less long-lived than 
 difficult in destroying. Tortoises are com- 
 monly known to exceed eighty years old ; and 
 there was one kept in the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury's garden, at Lambeth, that was 
 remembered above a hundred and twenty. It 
 was at last killed by the severity of a frost, 
 from which it had not sufficiently defended 
 itself in its winter retreat, which was a heap 
 of sand, at the bottom of the garden. 1 
 
 i " From a document belonging to the archives of the 
 cathedral, called the Bishop's Barn, it is well ascer- 
 tained that the tortoise at Peterborough must have been 
 about 220 years old. Bishop Marsh's predecessor in the 
 see of Peterborough had remembered it above sixty years, 
 and could recognize no visible change. He was the 
 seventh bishop who had worn the mitre during its sojourn 
 there. If I mistake not, its sustenance and abode were 
 provided for in this document. Its shell was perforated, 
 in order to attach it to a tree?, &c., to limit its ravages 
 among the strawberry borders. The animal had its 
 antipathies and predilections. It would eat endive, 
 green peas, and even the leek ; while it positively re- 
 jected asparagus, parsely, and spinage. In the early 
 part of the season, its favourite pabulum were the flowers 
 of the dandelion, of which it would devour twenty at a 
 meal ; and lettuce, of the latter a good sized one at a 
 time; but if placed between lettuce and the flowers of 
 the dandelion, it would forsake the former for the latter. 
 It was also partial to the pulp of an orange, which it sucked 
 greedily. About the latter end of June, (discerning the 
 times and the seasons,) it looked out for fruit, when its 
 former choice was forsaken. It ate currants, raspberries, 
 pears, apples, peaches, nectarines, &c., the riper, the 
 better, but would not taste cherries. Of fruits, however, 
 the strawberry and gooseberry were the most esteemed : 
 it made great havoc among the strawberry borders, and 
 would take a pint of gooseberries at intervals. The 
 gardener told me it knew him well, the hand that gener- 
 ally fed it, and would watch him attentively at the goose- 
 berry bush, where it was sure to take its station while 
 he plucked the fruit. I could not get it to take the root 
 of the dandelion, nor indeed any root I offered it, as that 
 of the carrot, turnip, &c. All animal food was discarded, 
 nor would it take any liquid; at least neither milk nor 
 water ; and when a leaf was moist, it would shake it to 
 expel the adhering wet. This animal moved with ap- 
 parent ease, though pressed by a weight of eighteen 
 stones ; itself weighed 13 Ibs. In cloudy weather it 
 would scoop out a cavity, generally in a southern expo- 
 sure, where it reposed, torpid and inactive, until the 
 genial influence of the sun roused it from its slumber. 
 When in tins state the eyes were closed, and the head 
 and neck a little contracted, though not drawn within 
 the shell. Its sense of smelling was so acute, that it 
 wa3 roused from its lethargy if any person approached, 
 
340 
 
 HISTORY OK FISHES. 
 
 The usual food of the land tortoise seems 
 not so nourishing as to supply this extraordin- 
 ary principle of vitality. It lives upon vege- 
 tables in its retreats in the mountains or the 
 plain ; and seldom makes its prey of snails or 
 worms, but when other food is not found in 
 grateful plenty. It is fond also of fruits ; and 
 when the forest affords them, is generally 
 found not far from where they grow. As it 
 can move but slowly, it is not very delicate in 
 the choice of its food ; so that it usually fills 
 itself with whatever offers. Those that are 
 kept in a domestic state will eat any thing ; 
 leaves, fruits, corn, bran, or grass. 
 
 From the smallness of its brain, and the 
 slowness of its motion, it obviously appears to 
 be a torpid heavy animal, requiring rest and 
 sleep ; and, in fact, it retires to some cavern 
 to sleep for the winter. I already observed 
 that its blood circulated through the heart by 
 a short passage ; and that it did not, as anato- 
 mists express it, go through the great circulation. 
 With us, and quadrupeds, the blood goes from 
 the veins to the heart ; and from the heart it is 
 sent to be spread over the lungs ; from the 
 lungs it returns to the heart again ; and from 
 thence it goes to the arteries to be distributed 
 through the whole body. But its passage in 
 the tortoise is much shorter; for, from the 
 veins it goes to the heart ; then leaving the 
 lungs entirely out of its course, it takes a short 
 cut, if I may so say, into the beginning of the 
 arteries, which send it round the animal frame. 
 From hence we see the lungs are left out of 
 the circulation ; and, consequently, the animal 
 is capable of continuing to live without conti- 
 nuing to breathe. In this it resembles the bat, 
 the serpent, the mole, and the lizard ; like 
 them it takes up its dark residence for the 
 winter ; and, at that time, when its food is no 
 longer in plenty, it happily becomes insensible 
 to the want. Nor is it unmindful to prepare 
 its retreat, and make it as convenient as pos- 
 sible ; it is sometimes buried two or three feet 
 in the ground, with its hole furnished with 
 moss, grass, and other substances, as well to 
 
 even at a distance of twelve feet. About the beginnniiig 
 of October, or latter end of September, it began to im- 
 mure itself, and had for that purpose for many years 
 selected a particular angle of the garden ; it entered in 
 an inclined plane, excavating the earth in the manner of 
 the mole; the depth to which it penetrated varied with 
 the character of the approaching season, being from one 
 to two feet, according as the winter was mild or severe. 
 It may be added, that for nearly a month prior to this 
 entry into its dormitory, it refused all sustenance what- 
 ever. The animal emerged about the end of April, and 
 remained for at least a fortnight before it ventured on 
 taking any species of food. Its skin was not perceptibly 
 cold : its respiration, entirely effected through the nos- 
 trils, was languid. I visited the animal, for the last 
 time, on the 9th June, 1813, during a thunder storm : 
 it then lay under the shelter of a cauliflower, and ap- 
 parently torpid." Murray's Experimental Researches. 
 
 keep (he retreat warm, as to serve for food, in 
 case it should prematurely awake from its 
 state of stupefaction. But it must not be 
 supposed, that, while it is thus at rest, it to- 
 tally discontinues to breathe ; on the contrary, 
 an animal of this kind, if put into a close ves- 
 sel, without air, will soon be stifled ; though 
 not so readily as in a state of vigour and acti- 
 vity. 
 
 From this dormant state the tortoise is 
 awakened by the genial return of spring ; and is 
 thought not to be much wasted by its long con- 
 finement. To animals that live a hundred and 
 fifty years, a sleep of six months is but as the 
 nap of a night. All the actions of these long- 
 lived creatures seem formed upon a scale an- 
 swering the length of their existence ; their 
 slumbers are for a season ; their motions are 
 slow, and require time in every action ; even 
 the act of procreation, which among other ani- 
 mals is performed in a very few minutes, is 
 with them the business of days. About a 
 month after their enlargement from a torpid 
 state, they prepare to transmit their posterity; 
 and both continue joined for near a month to- 
 gether. The eggs of the female are contained 
 in the ovary, above the bladder, which is ex- 
 tremely large ; and these are, before their ex- 
 clusion, round and naked, with some spots of 
 red ; after they are laid, however, they assume 
 another form, being smaller and longer than 
 those of a hen. This alteration in the figure 
 of the eggs most probably proceeds from the 
 narrowness of the bony passage through which 
 they are excluded. Swammerdam, who com- 
 pared the size of the eggs taken out of this 
 animal's body with the diameter of the passage 
 through which they were excluded, was of 
 opinion that the bones themselves separated 
 from each other, and closed again ; but, in 
 my opinion, it is more probable to suppose, 
 that the eggs, and not the bones, alter their 
 form. Certain it is, that they are round in 
 the body, and that they are oval upon being 
 protruded. 
 
 The eggs of all the tortoise kind, like those 
 of birds, are furnished with a yolk and a white ; 
 but the shell is different, being somewhat like 
 those soft eggs that hens exclude before their 
 time ; however, this shell is much thicker and 
 stronger, and is a longer time in coming to 
 maturity in the womb. The land-tortoise lays 
 but a few in number, if compared to the sea- 
 turtle, who deposits from a hundred and fifty 
 to two hundred in a season. 
 
 The amount of the land-tortoise's eggs I 
 have not been able to learn; 1 but, from the 
 scarceness of the animal, I am apt to think 
 they cannot be numerous. When it prepares 
 
 1 Land tortoises are supposed to lay five or six eggs, 
 but on this point we have no very positive information. 
 
THE TORTOISE. 
 
 341 
 
 lay, the female scratches a slight depression 
 in the earth, generally in a warm situation, 
 where the beams of the sun have their full ef- 
 fect : there depositing her eggs, and covering 
 them with grass and leaves, she forsakes them, 
 to be hatched by the heat of the season. The 
 young tortoises are generally excluded in about 
 twenty-six days ; but, as the heat of the wea- 
 ther assists, or its coldness retards incubation, 
 sometimes it happens that there is a difference 
 of two or three days. The little animals no 
 sooner leave the egg than they seek for their 
 provision, entirely self-taught; and their shell, 
 with which they are covered from the begin- 
 ning, expands and grows larger with age. As 
 it is composed of a variety of pieces, they are 
 all capable of extension at their sutures, and 
 the shell admits of increase in every direction. 
 It is otherwise with those animals, like the 
 lobster, whose shell is composed all of one 
 piece, that admits of no increase ; which , when 
 the tenant is too big for the habitation, must 
 burst the shell, and get another. But the co- 
 vering of the tortoise grows larger in propor- 
 tion as the internal parts expand ; in some 
 measure resembling the growth of the human 
 skull, which is composed of a number of bones, 
 increasing in size in proportion to the quantity 
 of the brain. All tortoises, therefore, as they 
 never change their shell, must have it formed 
 in pieces ; and though in some that have been 
 described by painters or historians, these marks 
 have not been attended to, yet we can have 
 no doubt that they are general to the whole 
 tribe. 
 
 It is common enough to take these animals 
 into gardens, as they are thought to destroy 
 insects and snails in great abundance. We 
 are even told that in hot countries, they are 
 admitted into a domestic state, as they are 
 great destroyers of bugs. How so large and 
 heavy an animal is capable of being expert at 
 such petty prey is not easy to conceive ; but I 
 have seen several of them about gentlemen's 
 houses, that, in general, appear torpid, harm- 
 less, and even fond of employment. Children 
 have sometimes got upon the back of a tor- 
 toise ; and such was the creature's strength, 
 that it never seemed overloaded, but moved 
 off with its burden to where it expected to be 
 fed, but would carry them no further. In 
 winter they regularly find out a place to sleep 
 in; but in those warm countries in which the 
 tortoise is found larger, and in greater plenty 
 than in Europe, they live, without retiring, 
 the whole year round. 
 
 The Sea Tortoise, or Turtle, as it is now 
 called, is generally found larger than the for. 
 mer. This element is possessed with the pro- 
 perty of increasing the magnitude of those ani- 
 mals, which are common to the land and the 
 ocean. The sea pike is larger than that of i 
 
 fresh water; the sea bear is larger than that 
 of (he mountains ; and the sea turtle exceeds 
 the land tortoise in the same proportion. It 
 is of different magnitudes, according to its 
 different kinds ; some turtles being not above 
 fifty pounds weight, and some above eight 
 hundred. 
 
 The Great Mediterranean Turtle (or Coria- 
 ceous Turtle) * is the largest of the turtle kind 
 with which we are acquainted. It is found from 
 
 five to eight feet long, and from six to nine 
 hundred pounds weight. But, unluckily, ils 
 utility bears no proportion to its size; as it is 
 unfit for food, and sometimes poisons those who 
 eat it. The shell also, which is a tough strong 
 integument, resembling a hide, is unfit for all 
 serviceable purposes. One of these animals 
 was taken in the year 1729, at the mouth of 
 the Loire, in nets that were not designed for 
 so large a capture. This turtle, which was of 
 enormous strength, by its own struggles in- 
 volved itself in the nets in such a manner as 
 to be incapable of doing mischief: yet, even 
 thus shackled, it appeared terrible to the fish- 
 ermen, who were at first for flying ; but find- 
 ing it impotent, they gathered courage to drag 
 it on shore, where it made a most horrible 
 bellowing ; and when they began to knock it 
 on the head with their gaffs, it was to be heard 
 at half a mile's distance. They were still far- 
 ther intimidated by its nauseous and pestilen- 
 tial breath, which so powerfully affected them, 
 that they were near fainting. This animal 
 wanted but four inches of being eight feet 
 long, and was above two feet over : its shell 
 more resembled leather than the shell of a tor- 
 toise ; and, unlike all other animals of this 
 kind, it was furnished with teeth in each jaw, 
 one rank behind another, like those of a shark: 
 its feet also, different from the rest of this 
 kind, wanted claws ; and the tail was quile 
 disengaged from the shell, and fifteen inches 
 long, more resembling that of a quadruped 
 than a tortoise. This animal was then un- 
 known upon the coasts of France, and was 
 supposed to have been brought into the Euro, 
 pean seas, in some India ship that might be 
 wrecked upon her return. Since that$io\v- 
 ever, two or three of these animals have been 
 
 1 Also called the Leathery Turtle, from its tough 
 leathery covering. 
 
342 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 taken upon the coasts; two in particular upon 
 those of Cornwall, in the year 1756, the largest 
 of which weighed eight hundred pounds; 
 and one upon the isle of Rhe, but two years 
 before, that weighed between seven and eight 
 hundred. One, most probably of this kind 
 also, was caught about thirty years ago near 
 Scarborough, and a good deal of company was 
 invited to feast upon it : a gentleman, who 
 was one of the guests, told the company that 
 it was a Mediterranean turtle, and not whole- 
 some; but a person, who was willing to satisfy 
 his appetite at the risk of his life, ate of it : 
 he was seized with a violent vomiting and 
 purging; but his constitution overpowered the 
 malignity of the poison. 
 
 These are a formidable and useless kind, if 
 compared to the turtle caught in the South 
 seas and the Indian ocean. These are of 
 different kinds ; not only unlike each other in 
 form, but furnishing man with very different 
 advantages. They are usually distinguished 
 by sailors into four kinds; the Trunk Turtle, 
 (he Loggerhead, the Hawksbill, and the Green 
 Turtle. 
 
 The Trunk Turtle is commonly larger than 
 the rest, and its back higher and rounder. 
 The flesh of this is rank, and not very whole- 
 some. 
 
 The Loggerhead is so called from the large- 
 ness of its head, which is much bigger in pro- 
 portion than that of the other kinds. 1 The 
 
 1 The Loggerhead Turtle. The Loggerhead turtle (tes- 
 tudo caretta) has some resemblance to the green turtle ; 
 hut the head is larger, the shell broader, and the colours 
 more intense. There are also two more pieces in the 
 
 brick plate, and the fore legs are longer and the hind legs 
 shorter in proportion. It is much more active than the 
 green turtle, and ranges over a much greater extent in 
 latitude. It is by no means uncommon in the Mediter- 
 ranean, not merely on the coasts of Africa, but on those 
 of Italy and Sicily. The flesh is tough and harsh, though 
 eaten by the poor. The shell too, is thin, dull, and of 
 little value, though the Italian workmen sometimes use 
 it in veneering. The principal value of the animal is 
 for its oil, which is abundant, considerably superior to 
 whale-oil, and some suppose it would answer well for 
 the dressing of leather, for which cod-oil, made from the 
 liver, is chiefly used in this country. The eggs of the 
 loggerhead are more palatable than the flesh. 
 
 The loggerhead is as formidable and fierce as the green 
 turtle is gentle and inoffensive. Its jaws are very hard 
 and strong, and they come together with much force. 
 They are, however, well adapted to its food, the princi- 
 pal part of which is shelled animals, and it can easily 
 break the hardest shell. It ran also strike and scratch 
 with its long fore legs, which have strong claws project- 
 ing beyond the webs of the toes. It will snap at a stick 
 
 flesh of this also is very rank, and not eaten 
 but in case of necessity. 
 
 The Hawksbill Turtle (or Imbricated Tur- 
 tle) is the least of the four, and has a long and 
 small mouth, somewhat resembling the bill of 
 a hawk. 2 The flesh of this also is very indif- 
 
 or any other object with which it is threatened ; and Us 
 hold is so firm that it will break a thick stick, or bend a 
 rod of iron. It is exceedingly difficult to get it to quit 
 its hold after once it has been taken ; and it is commonly 
 said that the " loggerhead" continues to bite after it has 
 been separated from the body. The hold which, in that 
 case it retains, is not the stillness of death, for the head 
 of any tortoise lives for some time after it has been cut 
 off. 
 
 The?e animals are formidable in size, too; for it has 
 been said that some weighing 1500 or 1600 pounds have 
 been met with. They also swim with more rapidity 
 than the green turtle, being much more frequently met 
 with " on the high seas." When young, they have so 
 great a resemblance to the green turtle as to lead to a 
 suspicion that the specimens met with on the western 
 coast of France, and described as green turtle, were in 
 fact loggerheads ; because green turtle have not been 
 found in the Mediterranean, the shores of which have a 
 much more tropical character than the coast of France. 
 It is probable that all the green turtle described as being 
 found far out at sea, were in truth the species now under 
 consideration.- Asa grazing animal, the green turtle is 
 not likely to go often or far to places where it can find 
 no bottom, while the loggerhead, a devourer of flesh, can 
 range the ocean at its pleasure. In Europe this turtle 
 is not often found to the north of the Mediterranean ; and 
 in America it is seldom found to the north of Floiitla. 
 As it has not the same charms for the palate of the epi- 
 cure, its habits, though it has been much longer known, 
 have not been so much studied as those of the other. 
 
 The Hawksbill Turtle. The Hawksbill turtle 
 (Testudo imbricata) gets its scientific name from the 
 arrangement of the plates, which overlap each other like 
 the tiles on a roof ; and it gets its common English name 
 from the partial resemblance of its mouth, seen in profile, 
 to the bill of a hawk. Its head, neck, and legs are longer 
 in proportion to their thickness than those of the other 
 turtles ; it is more active, swimming with greater velo- 
 city, and righting itself when turned. Its eggs are eat- 
 able, but its flesh is not good, and the chief value of it 
 to man are the plates on its back, which are the true 
 tortoise-shell of commerce, and have been highly esteemed 
 from the earliest ages. There are thirteen plates in the 
 central part, surrounded by twenty-five smaller ones. 
 The large central plates are the finest shell ; and they 
 are often of considerable thickness. The plates of shell 
 do not form the entire case of the animal. The inner or 
 supporting part is bony, and may be considered as part 
 of the skeleton. The true skin is between the bony sub- 
 stance and the plates of shell. The plates are a pro- 
 duction of that skin, and in the living state they are 
 covered by an epidermis, or scarfskin. The common 
 way of obtaining the plates is to heat the entire back- 
 piece of the animal, by fire applied under the hollow on 
 the inside. By that means the gelatine of the skin is 
 dissolved, the skin itself swells, and the plates are easily 
 detached entire. A turtle of about cOO pounds weight 
 will produce about ten or twelve pounds of shell ; but in 
 the common way of obtaining the shell, the animal, 
 which is otherwise useless in the arts, is sacrificed. In 
 the eastern isles, where the hawksbill turtle is very 
 abundant, the Malays, who procure large quantities of 
 shell for the Chinese, pursue a different method. They 
 catch the turtle aliv0, and retain it while they detach 
 the central plates, so dexterously as not to lacerate the 
 
THE TURTLE. 
 
 343 
 
 ferent eating ; but the shell serves for the 
 most valuable purposes. This is the animal 
 that supplies the tortoise-shell, of which such 
 a variety of beautiful trinkets are made. The 
 substance of which the shells of other turtle 
 are composed is thin and porous ; but that of 
 the hawksbill is firm, and when polished, is 
 beautifully marbled. They generally carry 
 about three pounds; but the largest of all, six 
 pounds. The shell consists, as in all the kind, 
 of thirteen leaves or plates, of which eight are 
 flat, and five hollow. They are raised and 
 taken off by means of fire, which is made 
 under the shell after the flesh is taken out. 
 As soon as the heat affects the leaves, they 
 start from the ribs, and are easily raised with 
 the point of a knife. By being scraped and 
 polished on both sides, they become beauli- 
 i'ully transparent, or are easily cast into what 
 form the workman thinks proper, by making 
 them soft and pliant in warm water, and then 
 screwing them in a mould, like a medal: 
 however, the shell is most beautiful before 
 it undergoes this last operation. 
 
 But of all animals of the tortoise kind, 
 the Green Turtle 1 is the most noted and the 
 
 skin. The animal is said not to show much uneasiness 
 during the operation, and when that is performed it is 
 returned into the sea, where, after a time, the plates are 
 said to be reproduced. That is by no means unlikely, 
 as the reproduction of parts is not uncommon among 
 reptiles, any more than among some of the Crustacea, 
 which have at least some analogy with the reptiles. 
 
 The hawksbill, or shell turtle, is much more widely 
 diffused than the green turtle. It is found in almost all 
 the tropical seas ; being peculiarly abundant in the shal- 
 lows near Belese, the chief settlement in the mahogany 
 country of Honduras. It is indeed general in the 
 Caribbean sea ; and is found browsing on its favourite 
 sea weed, wherever that abounds in latitudes sufficiently 
 warm. It is also plentiful on the shores of tropical 
 Africa, on those of New Holland, and in the Indian 
 ocean. Tortoise-shell is thus so abundant, that though 
 it has been a favourite article of luxury from very early 
 times, the supply is still undiminished. 
 
 1 The Green Turtle. The Green turtle, of which we 
 hear so much as a luxury at the tables of the rich, is a 
 native of the seas in the warm and tropical parts of the 
 world ; and instead of being considered as a rarity or a 
 
 dainty there, it is so abundant, that the flesh of it is sold 
 ( heaper than that of any land animal. The tropical 
 shores of America, both on the Atlantic and the Pacific 
 side, the tropical shores of Africa, and those of New 
 Holland, are the favourite haunts of the turtle. These 
 animals prefer lonely places, and thus they are much 
 more plentiful on desert shores and about little barren 
 islands, than they are on those of fertile countries. The 
 little isles called the "Alligator isles, in the West Indian 
 
 most valuable. The delicacy of its flesh, and its 
 nutritive qualities, together with the property 
 of being easily digested, were, lor above a 
 century, known only to our seamen, and the 
 inhabitants of the coasts where they were taken. 
 It was not till by slow degrees the distinction 
 came to be made between such as were malig- 
 nant and such as were wholesome. The con- 
 troversies and contradictions of our old travel- 
 lers were numerous upon this head : some as- 
 serting, that the turtle was delicious food ; and 
 others, that it was actual poison. Dampier, 
 that rough seaman, who has added more to 
 natural history than half of the philosophers 
 that went before him, appears to be the first 
 who informed us of their distinctions ; and 
 that, while the rest might be valuable for 
 other purposes, the green turtle alone was 
 chiefly prized for the delicacy of its flesh. He 
 never imagined, however, that this animal 
 would make its way to the luxurious tables of 
 Europe ; for he seems chiefly to recommend 
 it as salted up for ship's provision, in case of 
 necessity. 
 
 At present the turtle is very well known 
 among us, and is become the favourite food of 
 those that are desirous of eating a great deal 
 without the danger of surfeiting. This is a 
 
 sea; the barren volcanic rocks of the Gallipagos in the 
 Pacific; the island of Ascension, in the Atlantic, and 
 the northern shores of New Holland, which are gener- 
 ally speaking, dreary and barren, abound more with them 
 than any other parts of the world. The green turtle 
 attains an enormous size and weight; some individuals 
 measuring six or seven feet in length from the tip of the 
 nose to the extremity of the tail, by three or four feet 
 broad, and weighing as much as eight hundred pounds. 
 The more common weight, however, is from two to three 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 The instinct which leads the female turtle to the shore 
 to lay her eggs, exposes her to the danger of becoming 
 the prey of man. She deposits her eggs on the loose 
 sand, and abandons them at once to the chance, which 
 approaches almost to a certainty in the southern hemi- 
 sphere, that they will be hatched by the influence of the 
 sun's rays. She digs, by means of her fore-feet, one or 
 more holes about a foot wide and two feet deep, in which 
 she usually deposits more than a hundred eggs. These 
 eggs are round, and are two or three inches in diameter; 
 they are covered with a membrane something like wet 
 parchment. The female generally Jays three times in 
 each year, at intervals of about a fortnight or three 
 weeks. They almost always go ashore in the night 
 time. A loose sand being essential to the hatching 
 of the eggs, the turtles frequent only particular shores; 
 hut these are often several hundred miles from their 
 feeding places. The eggs are hatched in less than 
 a month after they are laid; and in about eight or 
 ten days the young reptiles crawl to the water. Few 
 however, reach their native element, in proportion to 
 the number produced. They become the prey of sea- 
 fowl and various quadrupeds of prey. The tiger is an 
 especial enemy to the tortoise ; but man is still more 
 actively engaged in their destruction. The collection of 
 tortoise eggs forms one of the most important of the 
 occupations of the Indians of the Orinoco. Humboldt 
 gives an interesting account of this branch of commerce. 
 
344 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 property the flesh of the turtle seems peculiarly 
 possessed of ; and by the importation of it alive 
 among us, gluttony is freed from one of its 
 greatest restraints. The flesh of the turtle is 
 become a branch of commerce ; and therefore 
 ships are provided with conveniences for sup- 
 plying them with water and provision, to bring 
 them over in health from Jamaica and other 
 West India islands. This, however, is not 
 always effected ; for though they are very vi- 
 vacious, and scarcely require any provision 
 upon the voyage, yet, by the working of the 
 ship, and their beating against the sides of the 
 boat that contains them, they become battered 
 and lean ; so that to eat this animal in the 
 highest perfection, instead of bringing the tur- 
 tle to the epicure he ought to be transported 
 to the turtle. 
 
 This animal is called the green turtle, from 
 the colour of its shell, which is rather greener 
 than that of others of this kind. It is gene- 
 rally found about two hundred weight ; though 
 some are five hundred, and others not above 
 fifty. Dampier tells us of one that was seen 
 at Port-Royal, in Jamaica, that was six feet 
 broad across the back ; he does not tell us its 
 other dimensions ; but says that the son of 
 Captain Roach, a boy about ten years old, 
 sailed in the shell, as in a boat, from the shore 
 to his father's ship, which was above a quarter 
 of a mile from land. But this is nothing to 
 the size of some turtles the ancients speak of. 
 jElian assures us, that the houses in the island 
 of Taprobane are usually covered with a sin- 
 gle shell. Diodorus Siculus tells us that a 
 people neighbouring on Ethiopia, called the 
 Tur tie- eater s , coasted along the shore in boats 
 made of the upper shell of this animal; and 
 that in war, when they had eaten the flesh, 
 the covering served them as a tent. In this 
 account, Pliny, and all the rest of the an- 
 cients, agree ; and as they had frequent op- 
 portunities of knowing the truth, we are not 
 lightly to contradict their testimony. 
 
 At present, however, they are not seen of 
 such amazing dimensions. We are told by 
 Laet, that on the isle of Cuba they grow to 
 such a size, as that five men can stand on the 
 back of one of them together ; and what is 
 more surprising still, that the animal does not 
 seem overloaded, but will go off with them 
 upon its back, with a slow steady motion, to- 
 wards the sea. 
 
 They are found in the greatest numbers on 
 the island of Ascension ; where for several 
 years, they were taken to be salted to feed the 
 slaves, or for a supply of ship's provision. 
 Their value at present seems to be better 
 known. 
 
 This animal seldom comes from the sea but 
 to deposit its eggs, and now and then to sport 
 in fresh water. Its chief food is a submarine 
 
 plant, that covers the bottom of several parts 
 of the sea not far from the shore. There the 
 turtles are seen, when the weather is fair r 
 feeding in great numbers, like flocks cf sheep, 
 several fathoms deep, upon the verdant carpet 
 below. At other times they go to the mouths 
 of rivers ; and they seem to find gratification 
 in fresh water. After some time thus em- 
 ployed, they seek their former stations : and 
 when done feeding, they generally float with 
 their heads above water, unless they are 
 alarmed by the approach of hunters or birds of 
 prey, in which case they suddenly plunge to 
 the bottom. They often seek their provision 
 among the rocks, feeding upon moss and sea- 
 weed ; arid it is probable will not disdain to 
 prey upon insects and other small animals, as 
 they are very fond of flesh when taken and 
 fed for the table. 
 
 At the time of breeding, they are seen to 
 forsake their former haunts and their food, and 
 to take sometimes a voyage of nine hundred 
 miles to deposit their eggs on some favourite 
 shore. The coasts they always resort to upon 
 these occasions are those that are low, flat, and 
 sandy: for, being heavy animals, they cannot 
 climb a bold shore ; nor is any bed so proper 
 as sand to lay their eggs on. They couple in 
 March, and continue united till May; during 
 a great part of which they are seen locked to- 
 gether, and almost incapable of separation. 
 The female seems passive and reluctant ; but 
 the male grasps her with his claws in such a 
 manner, that nothing can induce him to quit 
 his hold. It would seem that the grasp, as in 
 frogs, is, in some measure, convulsive, and 
 that the animal is unable to relax its efforts, 
 
 When the time for laying approaches, the 
 female is seen towards the setting of the sun 
 drawing near the shore, and looking earnestly 
 about her, as if afraid of being discovered. 
 When she perceives any person on shore, she 
 seeks for another place ; but if otherwise, she 
 lands when it is dark, and goes to take a 
 survey of the sand where she designs to lay. 
 Having marked the spot, she goes back 
 without laying, for that night, to the ocean 
 again ; but the next night returns to deposit a 
 part of her burden. She begins by working 
 and digging in the sand with her fore-feet 
 till she has made a round hole, a foot broad, and 
 a foot and a half deep, just at the place a little 
 above where the water reaches highest. This 
 done, she lays eighty or ninety eggs at a time, 
 each as big as a hen's egg, and as round as a 
 ball. She continues laying about the space 
 of an hour; during which time, if a cart were 
 driven over her, she would not be induced to 
 slir. The eggs are covered with a tough 
 white skin, like wetted parchment. When 
 she has done laying, she covers the hole so 
 dexterously, that it is no easy matter to find 
 
THE TURTLE. 
 
 345 
 
 the place ; and those must be accustomed to 
 the search to make the discovery. When the 
 turtle has done laying, she returns to the sea, 
 and leaves her eggs to be hatched by the heat 
 of the sun. At the end of fifteen days she 
 lays about the same number of eggs again ; 
 and at the end of another fifteen days she 
 repeats the same ; three times in all, using 
 the same precautions every time for safety. 
 
 In about twenty-four or twenty-five days 
 after laying, the eggs are hatched by the heat 
 of the sun ; and the young turtles being about 
 as big as quails, are seen bursting from the 
 sand, as if earth-born, and running directly 
 to the sea, with instinct only for their guide : 
 but, to their great misfortune, it often happens 
 that, their strength being small, the surges of 
 the sea, for some few days, beat them back 
 upon the shore. Thus exposed, they remain 
 a prey to thousands of birds that then haunt 
 the coast ; and these stooping down upon them 
 carry off the greatest part, and sometimes the 
 whole brood, before thoy have strength suf- 
 ficient to withstand the waves, or dive to the 
 bottom. Helbigius informs us, that they have 
 still another enemy to fear, which is no other 
 than the parent that produces them, that waits 
 for their arrival at the edge of the deep, and 
 devours as many as she can. 1 This circum- 
 stance, however, demands further confirma- 
 tion ; though nothing is more certain than 
 that the crocodile acts in the same unnatural 
 manner. 
 
 When the turtles have done laying, they 
 then return to their accustomed places of feed- 
 ing. Upon their outset to the shore where 
 they breed, they are always fat and healthy ; 
 but upon their return, they are weak, lean, 
 and unfit to be eaten. They are seldom, 
 therefore, molested upon their retreat ; but the 
 great art is to seize them when arrived, or to 
 intercept their arrival. In these uninhabited 
 islands, to which the green turtle chiefly 
 resorts, the men that go to take them land 
 about night-fall, and without making any 
 noise (for these animals, though without any 
 external opening of the ear, hear very dis- 
 tinctly, there being an auditory conduit that 
 opens into the mouth,) lie close while they see 
 the female turtle coming on shore. They let 
 her proceed to her greatest distance from the 
 sea ; and then, when she is most busily em- 
 ployed in scratching a hole in the sand, they 
 sally out and surprise her. Their manner 
 is to turn her upon her back, which utterly 
 incapacitates her from moving; and yet as the 
 creature is very strong, and struggles very 
 hard, two men find it no easy matter to lay 
 her over. When thus secured they go to the 
 
 1 This account of -the turtle's preying upon its young 
 is incorrect. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 next ; and in this manner, in less than 
 three hours, they have been known to turn 
 forty or fifty turtles, each of which weighs 
 from a hundred and fifty to two hundred 
 pounds. Labat assures us, that when the 
 animal is in this helpless situation, it is 
 heard to sigh very heavily, and even to shed 
 tears. 
 
 At present, from the great appetite that 
 man has discovered for this animal, they are 
 not only thinned in their numbers, but are 
 also grown much more shy. There are several 
 other ways, therefore, contrived for taking 
 them. 2 One is, to seize them when coupled 
 
 * Audubon, in his Ornithological Biography, has a 
 chapter, headed The Turtlers, in which he gives an in- 
 teresting account of the habits of turtles, and the methods 
 of taking them. " The Tortugas," he says, "are a group 
 of islands lying about eighty miles from Key West, and the 
 last of those that seem to defend the peninsula of the 
 Floridas. They consist of five or six extremely low un- 
 inhabitable banks formed of shelly sand, and are resorted 
 to principally by that class of men called Wreckers and 
 Turtlers. Between these islands are deep channels, 
 which, although extremely intricate, are well known to 
 those adventurers, as well as to the commanders of the 
 revenue cutters, whose duties call them to that danger- 
 ous coast. The great coral reef or wall lies about eight 
 miles from these inhospitable isles, in the direction of 
 the Gulf, and on it many an ignorant or careless navi- 
 gator has suffered shipwreck. The whole ground around 
 them is densely covered with corals, sea-fans, and other 
 productions of the deep, amid which crawl innumerable 
 testaceous animals, while shoals of curious and beautiful 
 fishes fill the limpid waters above them. Turtles of dif- 
 ferent species resort to these banks, to deposit their egg? 
 in the burning sand, and clouds of sea-fowl arrive every 
 spring for the same purpose. These are followed by 
 persons called 'Eggers,' who, when their cargoes are 
 completed, sail to distant markets, to exchange their ill, 
 gotten ware for a portion of that gold, on the acquisition 
 of which all men seem bent. 
 
 " But the Tortugas are not the only breeding places 
 of the turtles; these animals, on the contrary, frequent 
 many other keys, as well as various parts cf the coast of 
 the mainland. There are four different species, which are 
 known by the names of the green turtle, the hawksbill 
 turtle, the loggerhead turtle, and the trunk turtle. Tiie 
 first is considered the best as an article of food, in which 
 capacity it is well known to most epicures. It approaches 
 the shores, and enters the bays, inlets, and rivers, early 
 in the month of April, after having spent the winter in 
 the deep waters. It deposits its eggs in convenient 
 places, at two different times in May, and once again in 
 June. The first deposit is the largest, and the last the 
 least, the total quantity being at an average about t\vo 
 hundred and forty. The hawksbill turtle, whose shell is 
 so valuable as an article of commerce, being used for 
 various purposes in the arts, is the next with respect to 
 the quality of its flesh. It resorts to the outer keys only, 
 where it deposits its eggs in two sets, first in July, and 
 again in August, although it 'crawls' the beaches of 
 these keys much earlier in the season, as if to look for 
 a safe place. The average number of its eggs is about 
 three hundred. The loggerhead visits the Tortugas in 
 April, and lays from that period until late in June 
 three sets of eggs, each set averaging a hundred and 
 seventy. The trunk turtle, which is sometimes of an 
 enormous size, and which has a pouch like a pelican, 
 reaches the shores latest. The shell and flesh are so 
 soft that one may push his finger into them, almost a* 
 2 x 
 
346 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 together, at the breeding season, when they 
 are very easily approached, and as easily 
 seen ; for these animals, though capable of 
 living for some time under water, yet rise 
 every eight or ten minutes to breathe. As 
 
 into a lump of butter. This species is therefore con- 
 sidered as the least valuable, and indeed is seldom eaten, 
 unless by the Indians, who, ever alert when the turtle 
 season commences, first carry oft" the eggs, and after- 
 wards catch the turtles themselves. The average num- 
 ber of eggs which it lays in the season, in two sets, may 
 be three hundred and fifty. 
 
 " The loggerhead and the trunk turtles are the least 
 cautious in choosing the places in which to deposit their 
 eggs, whereas the two other species select the wildest 
 and most secluded spots. The green turtle resorts 
 either to the shores of the main, between Cape Sable 
 and Cape Florida, or enters Indian, Halifax, and other 
 large rivers or inlets, from which it makes its retreat as 
 speedily as possible, and betakes itself to the open sea. 
 Great numbers, however, are killed by the turtlers and 
 Indians, as well as by various species of carnivorous ani- 
 mals, as cougars, lynxes, bears, and wolves. The hawks- 
 bill, which is still more wary, and is always the most 
 difficult to surprise, keeps to the sea islands. All the 
 species employ nearly the same method in depositing 
 their eggs in the sand, and as I have several times 
 observed them in the act, I am enabled to present you 
 with a circumstantial account of it. 
 
 *' On first nearing the shores, and mostly on fine calm 
 moonlight nights, the turtle raises her head above the 
 water, being still distant thirty or forty yards from the 
 beach, looks around her, and attentively examines the 
 objects on the shore. Should she observe nothing likely 
 to disturb her intended operations, she emits a loud hiss- 
 ing sound, by which such of her many enemies as are 
 unaccustomed to it are startled, and so are apt to remove 
 to another place, although unseen by her. Should she 
 hear any noise, or perceive indications of danger, she 
 instantly sinks and goes off to a considerable distance ; 
 but should every thing be quiet, she advances slowly 
 towards the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the 
 full stretch of her neck ; and when she has reached a 
 place fitted for her purpose, she gazes all round in 
 silence. Finding ' all well,' she proceeds to form a hole 
 in the sand, which she effects by removing it from under 
 her body with her hind flappers, scooping it out with so 
 much dexterity that the sides seldom if ever fall in. The 
 sand is raised alternately with each flapper, as with a 
 large ladle, until it has accumulated behind her, when 
 supporting herself with her head and fore part on the 
 ground fronting her body, she with a spring from each 
 flapper sends the sand around her, scattering it to the 
 distance of several feet. In this manner the hole is dug 
 to the depth of eighteen inches, or sometimes more than 
 two feet. This labour I have seen performed in the 
 short period of nine minutes. The eggs are then dropped 
 one by one, and disposed in regular layers, to the number 
 of a hundred and fifty, or sometimes nearly two hundred. 
 The whole time spent in this part of the operation may 
 be about twenty minutes. She now scrapes the loose 
 sand back over the eggs, and so levels and smooths the 
 surface that few persons on seeing the spot could ima- 
 gine any thing had been done to it. This accomplished 
 to her mind, she retreats to the water with all possible 
 dispatch, leaving the hatching of the eggs to the heat of 
 the sand. When a turtle, a loggerhead for example, is 
 in the act of dropping her eggs, she will not move 
 although one should go up to her, or even seat himself 
 on her back, for it seems that at this moment she finds 
 it necessary to proceed at all events, and is unable to in- 
 termit her labour. The moment it is finished, how- 
 
 soon as they are thus perceived, two or three 
 people draw near them in a canoe, and slip a 
 noose either round their necks or one of their 
 feet. If they have no line, they lay hold of 
 them by the neck, where they have no shell, 
 
 ever, off she starts ; nor would it then be possible for 
 one, unless he were as strong as a Hercules, to turn her 
 over and secure her. 
 
 " To upset a turtle on the shore, one is obliged to fall 
 on his knees, and, placing his shoulder behind her 
 forearm, gradually raise her up by pushing with great 
 force, and then with a jerk throw her over. Sometimes 
 it requires the united strength of several men to accom- 
 plish this; and if the turtle should be of very great 
 size, as often happens on that coast, even hand-spikes 
 are employed. Some turtlers are so daring as to swim 
 up to them while lying asleep on the surface of the 
 water, and turn them over in their own element, when, 
 however, a boat must be at hand to enable them to secure 
 their prize. Few turtles can bite beyond the reach of 
 their forelegs, and few, when once turned over, can with- 
 out assistance regain their natural position ; but notwith- 
 standing this, their flappers are generally secured by 
 ropes, so as to render their escape impossible. 
 
 " Persons who search for turtles' eggs are provided 
 with a light stiff cane or gun-rod, with which they go 
 along the shores, probing the sand near the tracks of the 
 animals, which, however, cannot always be seen, on ac- 
 count of the winds and heavy rains that often obliterate 
 them. The nests are discovered not only by men, but 
 also by beasts of prey, and the eggs are collected, or des- 
 troyed on the spot in great numbers, as on certain parts 
 of the shores hundreds of turtles are known to deposit 
 their eggs within the space of a mile. They form a 
 new hole each time they lay, and the second is gener- 
 ally dug near the first, as if the animal were quite un- 
 conscious of what had befallen it. It will be readily 
 understood that the numerous eggs seen in a turtle on 
 cutting it up could not be all laid the same season. The 
 whole number deposited by an individual in one summer 
 may amount to four hundred, whereas if the animal is 
 caught on or near her nest, as I have witnessed, the re- 
 maining eggs, all small, without shells, and as it were 
 threaded like so many large beads, exceed three thou- 
 sand. In an instance where I found that number, the 
 turtle weighed nearly four hundred pounds. The young, 
 soon after being hatched, and when yet scarcely larger 
 than a dollar, scratch their way through their sandy cov- 
 ering, and immediately betake themselves to the water. 
 
 " The food of the green turtle consists chiefly of ma- 
 rine plants, more especially the grasswrack (Zostera ma- 
 rina), which they cut near the roots to procure the most 
 tender and succulent parts. Their feeding grounds, as 
 I have elsewhere said, are easily discovered by floating 
 masses of these plants on the flats, or along the shores to 
 which they resort. The hawk-billed species feeds on 
 sea-weeds, crabs, various kinds of shell-fish, and fishes ; 
 the loggerhead mostly on the fish of conch-shells of large 
 size, which they are enabled, by means of their powerful 
 beak, to crush to pieces with apparently as much ease as 
 a man cracks a walnut. One which was brought on board 
 the Marion, and placed near the fluke of one of her an- 
 chors, made a deep indentation in that hammered piece 
 of iron that quite surprised me. The trunk turtle feeds 
 on mollusca, fish, Crustacea, sea urchins, and various 
 marine plants. 
 
 " All the species move through the water with sur- 
 prising speed ; but the green and hawk-billed in par- 
 ticular remind you, by their celerity and the ease of 
 their motions, of the progress of a bird in the air. It 
 is therefore no easy matter to strike one with a spear, and 
 yet this is often done by an accomplished turtler. . . 
 
TESTACEOUS FISH. 
 
 347 
 
 with their hands only ; and by this means 
 they usually catch them both together. But 
 sometimes the female escapes, being more 
 shy than the male. 
 
 Another way of taking them is by the har- 
 poon, either when they are playing on the 
 surface of the water, or feeding at the bottom ; 
 when the harpoon is skilfully darted, it sticks 
 fast in the shell of the back ; the wood then 
 disengages from the iron, and the line is long 
 
 " Turtles such as I have spoken of are caught in vari- 
 ous ways on the coasts of the Floridas, or in estuaries and 
 rivers. Some turtlers are in the habit of setting great nets 
 across the entrance of streams, so as to answer the purpose 
 either at the flow or at the ebb of the waters. These nets 
 are formed of very large meshes, into which the turtles par- 
 tially enter, when, the more they attempt to extricate 
 themselves, the more they get entangled. Others harpoon 
 them in the usual manner ; but in my estimation no me- 
 thod is equal to that employed by Mr Egan, the pilot of 
 Indian isle. 
 
 " That extraordinary turtler had an iron instrument, 
 which he called a peg, and which at each end had a 
 point not unlike what nail-makers call a brad, it being 
 four-cornered but flattish, and of a shape somewhat re- 
 sembling the beak of an ivory-billed woodpecker, toge- 
 ther with a neck and shoulder. Between the two shoul- 
 ders of this instrument a fine tough line, fifty or more 
 fathoms in length, was fastened, by one end being passed 
 through a hole in the centre of the peg, and the line itself 
 was carefully coiled up and placed in a convenient part 
 of the canoe. One extremity of this peg enters a sheath 
 of iron that loosely attaches it to a long wooden spear, 
 until a turtle has been pierced through the shell by the 
 other extremity. He of the canoe paddles away as 
 silently as possible whenever he spies a turtle basking on 
 the water, until he gets within a distance of ten or twelve 
 yards, when he throws the spear so as to hit the animal 
 about the place which an entomologist would choose, 
 were it a large insect, for pinning it to a piece of cork. 
 As soon as the turtle is struck, the wooden handle sepa- 
 rates from the peg, in consequence of the looseness of 
 its attachment The smart of the wound urges on the 
 animal as if distracted, and it appears that the longer the 
 peg remains in its shell, the more firmly fastened it is, 
 so great a pressure is exercised upon it by the shell of the 
 turtle, which being suffered to run like a whale, soon 
 becomes fatigued, and is secured by hauling in the line 
 with great care. In this manner, as the pilot informed 
 me, eight hundred green turtles were caught by one man 
 in twelve months. 
 
 " Each turtler has his crawl, which is a square wooden 
 building or pen, formed of logs, which are so far separated 
 as to allow the tide to pass freely through and stand 
 erect in the mud. The turtles are placed in this in- 
 closure, fed and kept there until sold. If the animals 
 thus confined have not laid their eggs previous to their 
 seizure, they drop them, in the water, so that they are 
 lost. 
 
 " When I was in the Floridas, several turtlers assured 
 me, that any turtle taken from the depositing ground, 
 and carried on the deck of a vessel several hundred 
 miles, would, if then let loose, certainly be met with at 
 the same spot, either immediately after, or in the follow- 
 ing breeding season. Should this prove true, and it 
 certainly may, how much will be enhanced the belief of 
 the student in the uniformity and solidity of Nature's 
 arrangements, when he finds that the turtle, like a 
 migratory bird, returns to the same locality, with per- 
 haps a delight similar to that experienced by the tra- 
 veller, who, after visiting distant countries, once more 
 returns to the bosom of his cherished family !" 
 
 mough for the animal to take its range ; for 
 f the harpooner should attempt at once to 
 draw the animal into his boat till it is weak- 
 ened by its own struggling, it would probably 
 
 et free. Thus the turtle struggles hard to 
 _et loose, but all in vain ; for they take care 
 the line fastened to the harpoon shall be strong 
 
 nough to hold it. 
 
 There is yet another way, which, though 
 seemingly awkward, is said to be attended 
 with very great success. A good diver places 
 himself at the head of the boat: and when the 
 turtles are observed, which they sometimes 
 are in great numbers, asleep on the surface, 
 he immediately quits the vessel, at about fifty 
 yards distance, and keeping still under water, 
 directs his passage to where the turtle was 
 seen, and, coming up beneath, seizes it by the 
 tail ; the animal awaking struggles to get 
 free ; and by this both are kept at the surface 
 until the boat arrives to take them in. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE SHELL OF TESTACEOUS FISHES. 
 
 ONE is apt to combine very dissimilar 
 objects in the same group, when hurried into 
 the vortex of method. No two animals are 
 more unlike each other than the whale and 
 the limpet, the tortoise and the oyster. Yet, 
 as these animals must find some place in the 
 picture of animated nature, it is best to let 
 them rest in the station which the generality 
 of mankind have assigned them ; and as they 
 have been willing to give them all from their 
 abode the name of fishes, it is wisest in us to 
 conform. 
 
 But before I enter into a history of shell- 
 fish, it may not be improper to observe, that 
 naturalists, who have treated on this part of 
 history, have entirely attended to outward 
 forms ; and, as in many other instances, for- 
 saking the description of the animal itself, 
 have exhausted all their industry in describ- 
 ing the habitation. In consequence of this 
 radical error, we have volumes written upon 
 the subject of shells, and very little said on 
 the history of shell-fish. The life of these 
 industrious creatures, that, for the most part, 
 creep along the bottom, or immovably wait 
 till driven as the waves happen to direct, is 
 almost entirely unknown. The wreathing of 
 the shells, or the spots with which they are 
 tinctured, have been described with a most 
 disgusting prolixity ; but their appetites and 
 their combats, their escapes and humble arts 
 of subsistence, have been utterly neglected. 
 
 As I have only undertaken to write the 
 history of animated nature, the variety of 
 
348 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 shells and their peculiar spots or blemishes, 
 do not come within my design. However, 
 the mariner in which shells are fanned is a 
 part of natural history connected with my 
 plan, as it presupposes vital force or industry 
 in the animal that forms them. 
 
 The shell may be considered as a habita- 
 tion supplied by nature. It is a hard stony 
 substance, made up somewhat in the manner 
 of a wall. Part of the stony substance the 
 animal derives from outward objects, and the 
 fluids of the animal itself furnish the cement. 
 These united make that firm covering which 
 shell-fish generally reside in till they die. 
 
 But, in order to give a more exact idea of 
 the manner in which sea-shells are formed, we 
 must have recourse to an animal that lives 
 upon land, with the formation of whose shell 
 we are best acquainted. This is the garden- 
 snail, that carries its box upon its back, whose 
 history Swammerdam has taken such endless 
 pains to describe. As the manner of the for- 
 mation of this animal's shell extends to that 
 of all others that have shells, whether they 
 live upon land or in the water, it will be 
 proper to give it a place before we enter upon 
 the history of testaceous fishes. 
 
 To begin with the animal in its earliest 
 state, and trace the progress of its shell from 
 the time it first appears The instant the 
 young snail leaves the egg, it carries its shell 
 or its box on its back. It does not leave the 
 egg till it is arrived at a certain growth, when 
 its little habitation is sufficiently hardened. 
 This beginning of the shell is not much bigger 
 than a pin's head, but grows in a very rapid 
 manner, having at first but two circumvolu- 
 tions, for the rest are added as the snail grows 
 larger. In proportion as the animal increases 
 in size, the circumvolutions of the shell in- 
 crease also, until the number of these volutes 
 come to be five, which is never exceeded. 
 
 The part where the animal enlarges its 
 shell is at the mouth, to which it adds in pro- 
 portion as it finds itself stinted in its habita- 
 tion below. Being about to enlarge its shell, 
 it is seen with its little teeth biting and clear- 
 ing away the scaly skin that grows at the 
 edges. It is sometimes seen to eat those bits 
 it thus takes off; at other times it only cleans 
 away the margin when covered with films, 
 and then adds another rim to its shell. 
 
 For the purposes of making the shell, 
 which is natural to the animal, and without 
 which it could not live three days, its whole 
 body is furnished with glands, from the orifices 
 of which flows out a kind of slimy fluid, like 
 small spider threads, which join together in 
 one common crust or surface, and in time con- 
 dense and acquire a stony hardness. It is this 
 slimy humour that grows into a membrane, 
 and afterwards a stony skin ; nor can it have 
 
 escaped any who have observed the track of 
 a snail; that glistening substance which it 
 leaves on the floor or the wall, is no other 
 than the materials with which the animal adds 
 to its shell, or repairs it when broken. 
 
 Now to exhibit in a more satisfactory man- 
 ner the method in which the shell is formed 
 The snail bursts from its egg with its shell 
 upon its back ; the shell, though very simple, 
 is the centre round which every succeeding 
 convolution of the shell is formed, by new 
 circles added to the first. As the body of the 
 snail can be extended no where but to the 
 aperture, the mouth of the shell only can, of 
 consequence, receive augmentation. The sub- 
 stance of which the shell is composed is chiefly 
 supplied by the animal itself, and is no more 
 than a slimy fluid which hardens into bone. 
 This fluid passes through an infinite number 
 of little glands, till it arrives at the pores of 
 the skin ; but there it is stopped by the shell 
 that covers the part below ; and therefore is 
 sent to the mouth of the shell, where it is 
 wanted for enlargement. There the first 
 layer of slime soon hardens ; and then another 
 is added, which hardens also, till in time the 
 shell becomes as thick as is requisite for the 
 animal's preservation. Thus every shell may 
 be considered as composed of a number of 
 layers of slime, which have entirely proceeded 
 from the animal's own body. 
 
 But though this be the general opinion 
 with regard to the formation of shells, I can- 
 not avoid thinking there are still other sub- 
 stances besides the animal's own slime which 
 go to the composition of its shell, or at least 
 to its external coat, which is ever different 
 from the internal. The substances I mean 
 are the accidental concretions of earthy or 
 saline parts, which adhere to the slimy matter 
 upon its first emission. 1 By adopting this 
 theory, we can more satisfactorily account for 
 the various colours of the shell, which cannot 
 be supposed to take its tincture from the 
 animal's body, as is the usual opinion ; for all 
 the internal parts of the shell are but of one 
 white colour ; it is only the outermost layer 
 of the shell that is so beautifully varied, so 
 richly tinctured with that variety of colours 
 we behold in the cabinets of the curious. If 
 the external coat be scaled off, as Mr Argen- 
 ville asserts, all the inner substances will be 
 found but of one simple colouring ; and con- 
 sequently the animal's own juices can give 
 only one colour; whereas we see some shells 
 stained with a hundred. 
 
 1 Our author is mistaken in supposing that any part 
 of the shell is composed of extraneous matter. If such 
 were the case, the same species of shell would often be 
 found to differ in its composition and external appearance, 
 whereas some species are so uniformly alike, that it is 
 difficult to distinguish between two shells. 
 
TESTACEOUS FISH. 
 
 349 
 
 The usual way of accounting for the dif- 
 ferent colouring of shells, which seems to me 
 erroneous, is this ; in the body of every one 
 f these animals, several streaks are discerned 
 f a different colour from the rest. " This 
 variety," say they, " is an incontestable proof 
 that the juices flowing from these parts will 
 be also of a different hue ; and will con- 
 sequently tinge that part of the shell which 
 their slime composes of a different colour." 
 But this system, as was observed before, is 
 overthrown by the fact, which discovers that 
 only the outer surface of the shell is tinged ; 
 whereas by this it would have been coloured 
 throughout ; nay, by this system, the internal 
 parts of the shell would be stained with the 
 most vivid colouring, as being least exposed 
 to the external injuries of the element where 
 it is placed. But the truth is, the animal 
 residing in the shell has none of these various 
 colours thus talked of: its slime is a simple 
 pellucid substance; and the only marblings 
 which appear in its body, are the colour of the 
 food, which is seen through its transparent in- 
 testines. We must, therefore, account for the 
 various colouring of its shell upon a different 
 principle. 
 
 If, as I said, we examine the cabinets of the 
 curious, we shall find shells with various 
 and beautiful colouring ; we shall find them 
 generally furnished with a white ground, 
 tinctured with red, yellow, brown, green, and 
 several other shades and lovely mixtures, but 
 never blue. Shells are of almost all colours 
 but blue. The reason seems to be obvious ; 
 for blue is the colour which sea-water changes. 
 A piece of silk, or a feather, of this colour, 
 put into an infusion of salt, urine, or nitre, lose 
 their tint entirely. Now may not this give 
 us a hint with respect to the operation of 
 nature in colouring her shells? May we not 
 from hence conclude, that sea-water is effica- 
 cious in giving colour, or taking it away? 
 That, to produce colour, the animal not only 
 furnishes its juices, but the sea or the earth 
 that mixture of substance which is to unite 
 with them? Neither the animal slime alone, 
 nor the external earthy or saline substances 
 alone, could produce colours; but both united, 
 produce an effect which neither, separately, was 
 possessed of. Thus shells assume every colour 
 but blue ; and that sea-water, instead of pro- 
 ducing, would be apt to destroy. 
 
 From hence, therefore, it appears, that the 
 animal does not alone tincture its own shell ; 
 but that external causes co-operate in contri- 
 buting to its beauty. It is probable that, 
 from the nature of its food, or from other cir- 
 cumstances unknown to us, the external 
 layers of its slime may be of different consis- 
 tences ; so, as when joined with the particles 
 of earth or salt that are accidentally united 
 
 with them from without, they assume various 
 and beautiful hues. But the internal layers, 
 which receive no foreign admixture, still pre- 
 serve the natural colour of the animal, and 
 continue white without any variation. 
 
 Thus far we see that the animal is not 
 wholly the agent in giving beauty and colour- 
 ing to its shell : but it seems otherwise with 
 respect to its convolutions, its prominences, and 
 general form. These entirely depend upon 
 the art of the animal ; or rather upon its in- 
 stincts; which, in the same kinds, are ever 
 invariable. The shell generally bears some 
 rude resemblance to the body upon which it 
 has been moulded. Thus, it is observable in 
 all sea-shells, that if the animal has any 
 tumour, or excrescence on its body, it creates 
 likewise a swelling in that part of the incrus- 
 tation to which it corresponds. When the 
 animal begins to alter its position, and to 
 make new additions to its apartments, the same 
 protuberance which had raised the shell before 
 in one part, swells it again at some little dis- 
 tance; by which means we see the same in. 
 equality, in a spiral line, all round the shell. 
 Sometimes these tumours of the animal are so 
 large, or so pointed, that those which rise 
 over them in the incrustation appear like 
 horns : after this the animal disengages itself 
 from its first cavities; and then, by fresh 
 evacuations, assumes a new set of horns; and 
 so increases the number in proportion to its 
 growth. If, on the other hand, the body hap- 
 pens to be channelled, the shell that covers it 
 will be channelled likewise ; if there be any 
 protuberances in the body, which wind in a 
 spiral line about it, the shell will likewise have 
 its tumours and cavities winding round to 
 the end. 
 
 In this manner, as the animals are of vari- 
 ous forms, the shells exhibit an equal variety. 
 Indeed, the diversity is so great, and the 
 figures and colours so very striking, that 
 several persons, with a kind of harmless indo- 
 lence, have made the arrangement of them the 
 study and the business of their lives. Those 
 who consult their beauty alone, take care to 
 have them polished, and to have an external 
 crust, or periosteum, as Swammerdam calls 
 it, scoured off from their surfaces by spirit of 
 salt. But there are others that, with more 
 learned affectation, kept them exactly in the 
 state in which they have been found, with 
 their precious crust still round them. The 
 expense men have sometimes been at, in mak- 
 ing such collections, is amazing ; and some 
 shells, such as the Stairs shell, or the Admiral- 
 shell, are not more precious for their scarce- 
 ness, than pearls are for their beauty. Indeed, 
 it is the scarcity, and not the beauty of the 
 object, that determines the value of all na- 
 tural curiosities. Those shells that offer but 
 
350 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 little beauty to the ignorant are often the moi 
 precious ; and those shells which an unlearne 
 spectator would stop to observe with admira 
 tion, one accustomed to the visitation of cabi 
 nets would pass over with disdain. Thes 
 collections, however, have their use ; not onlj 
 by exhibiting the vast variety of Nature' 
 operations, but also by exciting our curiosit} 
 to the consideration of the animals that form 
 them. A mind that can find innocent enter 
 tainment in these humble contemplations i 
 well employed; and, as we say of children, i 
 kept from doing mischief. Although there 
 may be nobler occupations than that of con- 
 sidering the convolutions of a shell, yet there 
 may be some who want the ambition to aspire 
 after such arduous pursuits ; there may be 
 some unfit for them ; there may be some who 
 find their ambition fully gratified by the 
 praise which the collectors of shells bestow 
 upon each other. Indeed, for a day or two, 
 there is no mind that a cabinet of shells 
 cannot furnish with pleasing employment. 
 " What can be more gratifying," as Pliny 
 says, 1 " than to view nature in all her irregu- 
 larities, and sporting in her variety of shells ! 
 Such a difference of colour do they exhibit ' 
 such a difference of figure ! flat, concave, long, 
 lunated, drawn round in a circle, the orbit cut 
 in two ! some are seen with a rising on the 
 back, some smooth, some wrinkled, toothed, 
 streaked, the point variously intorted, the 
 mouth pointing like a dagger, folded back, 
 bent inwards ! all these variations, and many 
 more, furnish at once novelty, elegance, and 
 speculation." 8 
 
 1 Plin. ix. 33. 
 
 2 Conchology. Aristotle had three orders of Testacea, 
 Univalves, Bivalves and the Turbinated, hut the 
 class itself and these divisions were loosely defined ; and 
 the same vagueness is to be found in the writings of those 
 authors who followed his method. Perhaps Dr Walter 
 Charleton, Physician in Ordinary to Charles II. was the 
 first who had a full conviction of the importance of 
 system, but his attempt to arrange the Mollusca is very 
 faulty.* The Limaces he places with apodous insects ; 
 and aquatic animals being divided as usual into the 
 sanguineous and exsanguineous, the remaining mollus- 
 cas are arranged under two classes viz. the moUia or 
 molluscula and the testacea. The first embraces all the 
 cuttles and the Lepus marinus or Aplysia ; the second 
 the shelled tribes, whose primary sections are the same 
 as those of Aristotle's, while his genera, in general 
 without definitions, rest on characters of little or no 
 value. Jean-Daniel Major, Professor of Practical 
 Medicine in the university of Keil, in the duchy of 
 HolsteSn, was the next to make the attempt, (1675,) 
 which is pronounced by two critics, to whose opinion 
 much deference has been shown, to be " infinitely too 
 complicated and ramifying to admit of any useful ap- 
 plication." Sibhald, Grew, Bonanni, Lister, Langius, 
 Hebenstreit, Tournefort, D'Argenville, and Klein are 
 perhaps the principal who followed in their wake, but it 
 is evident that they had all entered on their (ask without 
 a previous study of what the real object and use of method 
 
 * Onomastikon Zoikon. Lond. 1C71. 4to. 
 
 With respect to the figure of shells, Aris- 
 totle has divided them into three kinds : and 
 his method is, of all others, the most conform- 
 able to nature. These are, first the univalve. 
 
 was, what principles were to guide them in framing the 
 various sections, or what the relative bearing of these 
 divisions on one another should be. The division of 
 shells primarily into Multivalve, Bivalve, and Univalve 
 had perhaps superseded the Aristotelian, and many new 
 divisions of secondary rate were of course invented, but 
 they were arbitrary, founded on no common principle, 
 either too lax or too complex to be applicable in practice, 
 cumbersome to the memory, and clumsy in writing. 
 To analyse these methods would be wearisome and un- 
 profitable, they were next to useless when promulgated, 
 and have now no attraction even in the eyes of the pure 
 conchologist. It is when we rise from their examina- 
 tion that we are in the best mood to appreciate the 
 merits of Linnaeus 
 
 Linnaeus having, with a tact characteristic of his 
 genius for system, divided invertebrated animals into 
 two great classes Insecta and Ferm^s, was less happy 
 in his reduction of the latter into their secondary groups 
 or orders. The testaceous mollusca occupy one order by 
 themselves, in which there are four sections of equal 
 value the multivalve, bivalve (Conchas?) the univalves 
 with a regular spire (Cochlea}, and the univalves with- 
 out a regular spire. \ In each section there are several 
 enera defined with neat precision, the characters of 
 the multivalves being derived from the position of the 
 alves of the bivalves from the number and structure 
 of the hinge-teeth, or, in the absence of these, from a part 
 'nfluencing the opening of the valves, of the Cochleae 
 rom the unilocular or multilocular shell, but in most 
 rom the formation of the aperture ; while in the last 
 division the shape of the shell affords the means of dis- 
 ;riminatingthem, excepting in Teredo, which is defined 
 *T. intrusa ligno," in evident contrariety to his priri- 
 siples and his better custom. The naked tribes are 
 )laced in the order denominated " Mollusca," where 
 hey stand, in "admired disorder," with radiated zoo- 
 >hytes, annelidans, parasitical worms, and the Echinoder- 
 mata, which latter, however, are better in this strange 
 miscellany, than they were when they stood either 
 mongst simple or multivalved shells. 
 
 In estimating the merits of this system it is not fair 
 o look back from our present vantage ground, and 
 magnify its defects by a comparison with modern classi- 
 cations : we are in candour to place ourselves behind 
 ts author, and looking forward, say how far his efforts 
 lave been useful or quickening. J Standing thus we 
 ust to offend none of his admirers when we admit that 
 lere is nothing in its principle of a novel character: 
 le soft mollusca were previously recognized and better 
 ssorted by Charleton ; and every one of the sections, 
 nd, if we mistake not, of the genera also, of the shelled 
 
 bes, had been already recognized. It labours under 
 e censure of having too small regard to the animal, a 
 ensure in some degree just, for assuredly more was 
 nown of these than the definitions of the "Systema," 
 ould lead us to suppose ; and it had still less regard to 
 he position of the groups in reference to their organical 
 ffinities. It often associates species of dissimilar habits; 
 nd species are found in almost every genus at variance 
 ith the character of this, and where consequently the 
 udent ought not to have sought for them. The super!- 
 ity of it lies in its simplicity; in the regulated subor- 
 
 t The expounders of Tinnseus* system do not adopt this last 
 
 vision, why, it is difficult to say. By disregarding it they 
 
 ave injured the naturalness of the method. 
 
 J The first edition of the ' Systema Naturae,' was published 
 1735, but 1758 is properly the year which gave birth to his 
 com-hological system, when the tenth edition was published. 
 It was perfected in 1766. 
 
TESTACEOUS FISH. 
 
 351 
 
 or turbinated, which consists of one piece, like 
 the box of a snail ; secondly, the bivalve, con- 
 sisting of two pieces, united by a hinge, like 
 an oyster; and, thirdly, the multivalve, con- 
 
 dination of all its parts; in the admirable sagacity with 
 which the families or genera are limited ; in the assump- 
 tion of more stable characters for these, and for the clear 
 distinct manner in which they are applied ; in the 
 suitableness of its nomenclature; in the invention of 
 trivial names which give a facility in writing hitherto 
 unknown, and was a welcome relief to the memoiy ; in the 
 conciseness of the specific characters and the skill with 
 which those characters were chosen ; in the regular in- 
 dication of the stations which the species occupy on the 
 globe ; and in the beauty of the more extended descrip- 
 tions, and the peculiar felicity of language in which the 
 thoughts suggested by any remarkable structure in the 
 species under review are conveyed to us. That merits 
 of this kind should secure him something more than ap- 
 probation was natural: there was much excellence in it 
 which prejudice or jealousy only could not see, and 
 which folly alone would have rejected ; and while every 
 collector and amateur found it easy to be understood, 
 ready in practice, and neat in nomenclaturing their 
 cabinets, their pursuit assumed the garb of science when 
 they could tell the scorner that they were following the 
 steps, and had the sanction, of a man whose genius has 
 justly won him a place in the first rank of those whom 
 succeeding ages continue to venerate for the good they 
 have done in the promotion of useful knowledge. 
 
 While the eyes of almost all were turned to this 
 northern luminary for light to guide them in their pur- 
 suit, or as an object by barking at which a few drew 
 notice on their littleness, Jussieu of Paris, the admirer 
 of Linnaeus' genius and industry, and his correspondent, 
 was explaining to his select but few disciples the prin- 
 ciples of what has been commonly called the " Natural 
 System." Jussieu's profound studies were confined to 
 botany, but he had colleagues and contemporaries who 
 attempted their application to conchology, and whose 
 want of success is to be ascribed mainly to the meagre- 
 ness of the anatomy of the mollusca then attained, to the 
 fewness of the observations made on the living species, 
 and in part also to the imperfection of the views of the 
 authors. Daubenton, the colleague of Bufibn, so early 
 as 1743, insisted on a knowledge of the animal as 
 necessary to form a natural classification of shells ; and 
 in 1756, Guttard, who was the personal friend of Jussieu, 
 not only gave his sanction to this opinion, but showed 
 its practicability and excellence by defining, from the 
 peculiarities of the animal and shell combined, a con- 
 siderable number of the univalves, comprehending among 
 these, in evident agreement with their relations, though 
 contrary to general use, the slugs, the Aplysia, and the 
 Bulloea. But the fullest attempt of this kind was made 
 byAdanson, whose work on Senegal was published some 
 years before Linnseus had given the last revision to his 
 system. Impelled by an indomitable enthusiasm, Adan- 
 son visited Senegal, under many disadvantages, to ex- 
 amine and describe the natural productions of a tropical 
 climate ; and for this purpose he made very extensive 
 collections in every department of nature, but of his 
 great work the first volume only, containing the outline 
 of his travels and his account of the shells, was ever given 
 to the people. The character of this volume has risen 
 with the progress of the science, and it is more valued 
 by the conchologists of the present day than it was by 
 the contemporaries of its author. He had some personal 
 peculiarities too visible in his writings which could 
 not fail to hurt his popularity : an austere temperament, 
 which caused him to treat his fellow-labourers with con- 
 temptuous acerbity, a -mind that would neither bend to 
 nor treat with respect the prejudices, as he deemed them, 
 
 sisting of more than two pieces, as the Acorn- 
 shell, which has not less than twelve pieces 
 that go to its composition. All these kinds 
 are found in the sea at different depths, and 
 
 of his age, an unflinching severity in criticising the 
 writings of others, and a pertinacious tenacity of his own 
 views, while some barbarisms he attempted to intro- 
 duce into the nomenclature of conchology repelled the 
 naturalists of a too nice taste, and the very extent of his 
 requirements from those who claimed to be naturalists 
 operated against him, for it was not to be supposed that 
 mere collectors or virtuosos were to enter on so difficult 
 a path, or would be willing to allow themselves to be 
 pushed aside as idlers, and put without the pale of the 
 scientific circle. Shell-fish were, according to him, dis- 
 tinguishable, in the first place, into " Limagons" and 
 "Conques;" the former were subdivided into univalves 
 and operculated univalves, and the conques into bivalves 
 and multivalves ; these primary families were still 
 further divided into smaller groups from the position of 
 the eyes in the Limagons, and from the figure of the 
 respiratory tubes in the Conques. Now it was a pure 
 arbitrariness in him to fix upon the opercnlum as a part or 
 organ of primary value, for there is nothing in its use or 
 position to justify the choice, nor did he attempt, by any 
 analysis, to show that it was a regxilator of structure and 
 habits; and it was equally arbitrary to divide the bivalves 
 into two sections on the mere existence of a few 
 additional pieces over the hinge, for these pieces were 
 not proved to be an index to the animal's economy. 
 But Adanson's services to conchology are very great, 
 of those of its labourers who have passed in review we 
 place him next to Lister. He has the merit of having 
 altogether removed from the Testacea the Lepas and 
 Balani, whose structure he saw was modelled after tho 
 type of another category ; his interesting discovery of 
 the Vermetus was a fine illustration of the shell being of 
 itself useless as a character in natural history j and his 
 knowledge of affinities was made evident by the acute 
 ness which led him to approximate the Teredo to the 
 Pholas. If not the first to point out the importance of 
 the operculum, he was undoubtedly the first who knew 
 its value as an index to natural relationship between 
 genera ; perhaps the first who was fully aware that the 
 entireness or canaliculate formation of the aperture of 
 the shell gave an insight into the habits of the snail in 
 regard to food ; the first too to point out fully the in- 
 fluence of age and sex in altering the shape of the shell, 
 and more especially of its aperture ; the first to describe 
 and delineate the animal tenant of many genera ; and 
 although his attention was exclusively directed to ex. 
 ternal characters, yet we are above all indebted to him 
 for his strong advocacy of the maxim that the anatomy 
 of the animal was the sole sure foundation of a rational 
 arrangement which had in view the mutual affinities of 
 the objects it attempted to classify, and present them not 
 fancifully commixed as they might be placed in a 
 museum, but according to those characters which nature 
 itself had given them of affinity or dissemblance. 
 
 The example of Adanson was followed by Geoffrey 
 who, in a history of the shells found in the vicinity 
 of Paris, attempted to arrange them on the external 
 anatomy of their animals ; and by Muller, who described 
 in the same manner the mollusca of the north of Europe. 
 The writings of Muller are still deservedly held in high 
 estimation. They contain the descriptions of many 
 novelties, and his descriptions of them, as well as of 
 species previously known, are remarkable for their 
 accuracy ; they are thickly strewed with notices of the 
 external anatomy and habits of those he had examined 
 alive ; and his style of writing is interesting, rising 
 occasionally to eloquence. As an observer and teller of 
 what he had observed, he claims a place among the first. 
 
352 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 are valuable in proportion to their scarceness 
 or beauty. 
 
 From the variety of the colours and figures 
 of shells, we may pass to that of their place 
 
 hut he was the discoverer of no fact in their structure or 
 physiology of any consequence we speak in reference 
 to the mollusca only ; and his systematic efforts were 
 limited and partial, although he sometimes drops a hint 
 on the subject, which makes us almost believe that he was 
 capable of better things, had he had courage to have made 
 the attempt. In relation to the mollusca, he clearly saw 
 the impropriety of making the presence or absence of 
 the shell an ordinal character ; and he knew, vaguely it 
 may be, the affinity between the bivalvular mollusca and 
 the Tunicata. 
 
 The celebrated Pallas was another who at this period 
 had obtained a glimpse of the true relations of the mol- 
 lusca as a class even clearer than Muller, but he did 
 not pursue the subject, and as his slight incidental 
 notice, though it might have originated inquiry in a 
 predisposed mind, was not otherwise of a nature to pro- 
 duce any effect, so the pains of Geoffrey and Muller 
 were equally unproductive. The authority of Linnaeus 
 prevailed every where. The force of his genius having 
 swept away all previous systems, there was no other 
 safety for a naturalist, than to take refuge in the Linnaean 
 ark, which floated on the surface proud amid the ruins, 
 the systems of his contemporaries also sinking one 
 after another in the waters of forgetfulness. His dis- 
 ciples were distinguished by their enthusiasm in the 
 pursuit of nature, and their love of their master ; and the 
 facility with which they found theirdiscoveries were regis- 
 tered, and the easy nature of the discoveries which 
 sufficed to give them a certain reputation, requiring 
 nought but zeal, opportunity, and a knowledge of the 
 4 Systema' not difficult to be acquired, rivetted their at- 
 tachments. In England nothing was tolerated that was 
 not according to the letter of Linnaeus: his works were 
 a code of laws which, like an act of Parliament, was to 
 be interpreted verbally, and the spirit of them was un- 
 seen or overlooked. Under his reforming hand, Con- 
 chology having passed 'from confusion and incongruity 
 to lucid order and simplicity,' the slightest attempt to 
 alter this order was treated as an attempt to replunge 
 us into the chaos, whence he had brought us, and further 
 improvement or alteration was declared to be futile, since 
 the ' beauties' of the Linnaean ' must perpetuate its 
 pre-eminence.' Were it shewn that, from the very 
 subsidiary station the animal was made to occupy in this 
 system, there was a fear attention should be drawn from 
 the object most worthy of it, we were seriously told that 
 the animal, even could it be procured, which was 
 doubtful, would never present those ' permanent and 
 obvious points of distinction' indispensable in the ap- 
 plication of a system meant to be practical. Wherein 
 does the animal differ, it was asked in a tone of triumph, 
 signifying that reply was impossible, ' wherein does 
 the animal differ from an unshapen mass of lifele 
 matter when coiled up within its shelly habitation ? 
 And how are its natural shape and appendages to be ex- 
 amined, but by the knife of an anatomist?' Were it 
 proved, what indeed was most palpable, that species of 
 opposite habits and habitations were huddled together 
 under a common head, it was answered that to derive 
 characters from such particulars was contrary to axiom 
 and unphilosophical; and if it were demonstrative that 
 the class of Testacea, as a whole, was constituted o 
 heterogeneous disparates, as for example, when Pallas 
 indicated the difference between this class and the 
 Serpulae, what then ? Nature gloried in variety anc 
 oppositions, and was herself systemless, as if it were 
 possible to believe that He who made every thing it 
 wisdom and order had shook His creatures from his 
 
 and situation. Some are found in the sea ; 
 
 some in fresh-water rivers ; some alive upon 
 and; and a still greater quantity dead in the 
 jowels of the earth. But wherever shells 
 
 land, with the same wanton unordered profusion that 
 he poet has represented the jocund May, flinging the 
 flowerets from her teeming lap. Such were the futile 
 easons by which this System was upheld, and so firm 
 was its despotism that, until within these twenty years, 
 ;here was little or no relaxation on its hold of public 
 opinion ; and its evil effects are too evident in the super- 
 icialness of the productions which emanated from this 
 school. 
 
 Even in France the Linnaean system soon became 
 ittle less predominant under the leading of Bruguiere, 
 but the regard the French paid to it was of a less slavish 
 character than it had assumed in Britain. Bruguiere, 
 though a Linnaean in principle, carried forward in some 
 degree the system of his master by intercalating several 
 new and obviously necessary genera ; and he was other- 
 wise a conchologist of higher attainments than any Eng- 
 land could at that period boast of. He cannot be said 
 to have promoted conchology in any very sensible de- 
 gree, but he made no effort to arrest it, or detain the 
 science at the stage where Linnseus had left it. Nor 
 indeed is it perhaps possible to stop the march of any, 
 however trivial the branch of science, to perfection. 
 Like the operations of Nature in her living productions 
 ever tending to maturity, there are periods of accelera- 
 tion and delay, and causes may for a season induce a 
 ickly weakness that waits long for a remedy, but come 
 at last this will. Conchology was now in her sickly 
 time, nevertheless in a state of constant advancement. 
 Ellis, Baster, Bohadtch, Pallas, Muller, Forskal, So- 
 lander, and Otho Fabricius, all of whom might have 
 seen Linnaeus in the flesh, and were his immediate suc- 
 cessors, drew attention to the naked molluscans in par- 
 ticular, whose curious variety was enticing and provoca- 
 tive to further quest ; Herissant, Scopoli, Bruguiere, and 
 Olivi, described many species with their animals, and 
 entered too into physiological questions which it was 
 worthy reasonable men to solve ; Knorr, Davila, Mar- 
 tini and Chemnitz, Schroter, Born, Pennant, Da Costa, 
 and Martyn, set forth at intervals volumes of figures 
 more numerous in species and more correct than had 
 been hitherto attempted ; and the minute or microscopic 
 species, which notwithstanding their littleness have played 
 a most important part in the revolutions of our globe, 
 were well illustrated in the works of Soldani, Plancus, 
 Boys and Walker, and of Fichtel and Moll. Yet this 
 array of names only proves a wider spread of the study, 
 the students may have been, and we think were, 
 mediocrists, many of them were simply ichniographists 
 and collectors.* We can remember no discovery by 
 which to distinguish the period, for the developement or 
 improvement of an artificial system, the accumulation 
 of species, and their more accurate discrimination, though 
 points of considerable importance, are not sufficiently so 
 to mark an era. Perhaps the most curious and interest- 
 ing discovery that was made in it is that of the capa- 
 bility of the snail to reproduce its tentacula, eyes, and 
 head, when these have been cut off', the phenomena of 
 which singular reintegration were amply elucidated by 
 the experiments of Spallanzani, Bonnet, and others. 
 
 * It is most especially necessary to except from this remark 
 John Hunter, but his labours and views were not published, 
 and were not appreciated. 'John Hunter Avas a great discov- 
 erer in his own science ; but one who well knew him lias told 
 us, that few of his contemporaries perceived the ultimate object 
 of his pursuits ; and his strong and solitary genius laboured to 
 perfect his designs without the solace of sympathy, without 
 one cheering approbation.' !>' Israeli's Literary Character, 
 Vol. i. p 146- See Abernethy's Physiological Lectures p 193, 
 for . list of the Mollusca anatomized and exhibited in Hunter' 
 Museum ; also p. 217, 263. 
 
TESTACEOUS FISH. 
 
 353 
 
 
 are found, they are universally known to be 
 composed of one arid the same substance. 
 They are formed of an animal or calcareous 
 earth, that ferments with vinegar and other 
 
 The first to raise us from this enchained slumber was 
 Cuvier. Before this great naturalist entered the field, 
 Poli, a Neapolitan physician, had indeed anatomized 
 with admirable skill the bivalved mollusca of his native 
 shores, and had constructed a new arrangement of them 
 from the characters of the animal alone, but partly from 
 the political position of Europe, partly from the very ex- 
 pensive fashion in which Poli's work was published, and 
 its consequent extremely limited circulation, and in part 
 also from the partial application of his system and its did- 
 actic character, the erroneousness of his general views, 
 and the novelty of his nomenclature, we cannot trace 
 Its influence either as diffusive or propulsive of con- 
 chology. The result of Cuvier's labours was happily 
 very different. In 1788, when he was scarcely nine- 
 teen years of age, circumstances fixed Cuvier for a time 
 at Caen in Normandy. His sojourn on the borders of 
 the sea induced him, already an enthusiast in natural 
 history, to study marine animals, more especially the 
 mollusca, and the anatomies of them which he now 
 made conducted him to the developemeut of his great 
 views on the whole of the animal kingdom. With un- 
 wearied zeal he collected the materials which were at no 
 distant date to become the basis of a classification which 
 ran through all its details in a harmonious parallelism 
 with the developement of organization, so that the stu- 
 dent of it, when in search of the name and place of the 
 object in his hand, was necessitated simultaneously to 
 acquire a knowledge of its principal structural peculi- 
 arities, on which, again, as Cuvier beautifully explained, 
 all its habits in relation to food, to habitation, and to 
 locomotion, were made dependant. The Liausean sys- 
 tem of avertebrated animals, even in its primary sections, 
 rested on a single external character. The Insecta were 
 antennulated, and the Vermes were tentaculated averte- 
 hrates. Had the character been constant or even general, 
 it might have had some claim for adoption, but to a want 
 of constancy was added the fundamental defect of its in- 
 appreciable influence over the organisms of the body. 
 Cuvier's object being to give us not merely a key to the 
 name, but to make that key open at the same time a 
 knowledge of the structure and relations of the creature, 
 such arbitrary assumption of a character was to him 
 useless. After innumerable dissections had made him 
 familiar with many structures, and after a careful con- 
 sideration of the respective value of characters, as 
 shown iu their constancy and influence on the economy 
 of the species, Cuvier resolved to divide the animal 
 kingdom, not as hitherto into two, but into four prin- 
 cipal sub-kingdoms, drawing their Hues of separation 
 from differences exhibited in the plan on which their 
 muscular, their nervous, and their circulating systems 
 were formed. " There exist in nature," he says, "four 
 principal forms, or general plans, according to which all 
 animals seem to have been modelled, and the ulterior 
 divisions of which, whatever name the naturalists may 
 apply to them, are but comparatively slight modifica- 
 tions, founded on developement or addition of certain 
 parts, which do not change the essence of the plan." 
 Of these forms the mollusca furnish the second, of which 
 the essential character is derived from the peculiar ar- 
 rangement of the nervous system, consisting of some 
 ganglions scattered as it were irregularly through the 
 body, and from each of which nerves radiate to its vari- 
 ous organs. As there is no skeleton, so the muscles are 
 attached to the skin, which forms a soft contractile en- 
 velope protected, in many species, by a shell. The 
 greater number possess the senses of taste and sight, but 
 the last is often wanting. " Only one family can boast 
 VOL. n. 
 
 acids, and that burns into lime, and will not 
 easily melt into glass. Such is the substance 
 of which they are composed ; and of their 
 spoils, many philosophers think that a great 
 
 of the organ of hearing ; they have always a complete 
 system of circulation, and organs peculiarly adapted to 
 respiration ; those ot digestion and secretion are nearly 
 as complicated as the same organs in vertebrated ani- 
 mals." The sub-kingdom, characterized and limited 
 by those important features, is next divided into six 
 classes, the characters of which are mostly derived from 
 the organs of locomotion, or others not less influential. 
 Thus the Cephalopodes bear their feet and arms like a 
 coronet round the summit of the head ; the Pteropodes 
 swim in their native seas by fin-like oars ; and the 
 Gasteropodes crawl on the belly by means of a fiat disk 
 or sole. Reaching now tribes among whom the organs 
 of motion are less developed, and accordingly less 
 influential on their manners, Cuvier resorts to others. 
 Thus the fourth class is named Acephales, because it is 
 strikingly distinguished by the want of head and amorph- 
 ous form of its constituents; the Brachiopodes are 
 equally acephalous, but near the mouth they have two 
 fringed fleshy organs which simulate feet ; and the 
 Cirropodes have several pairs of subarticulated fringed 
 feet, in addition to a multivalved shell of a peculiar con- 
 struction. The orders of these classes, when the class 
 admits of further subdivision, rest upon distinct differ- 
 ences in the structure and position of the branchiae or 
 respiratory organs ; and when we reflect a moment on 
 the paramount necessity of these to the animal, and their 
 necessary co-adaptation to its locality and wants, it is 
 scarcely possible to conceive that a happier choice could 
 have been made.* 
 
 Early in 1799, Lamarck published his Prodromus of 
 a new classification of shells, laying down, more precise- 
 ly, the generic characters, and establishing many new 
 genera, and still continuing the old division into uni- 
 valves, bivalves, and multivalves. Up to this time, La- 
 marck does not seem to have profited much by the la- 
 bours of his predecessors towards the establishment of a 
 natural conchyliological method, but acknowledges that 
 he has adopted the principles and views of Bruguiere. 
 Late in 1799, Cuvier published a table of the divisions 
 of the class of mollusca, at the end of the first volume of 
 his Lessons of Comparative Anatomy. We see, in this, 
 that Cuvier derived light from the Prodromus of La- 
 marck. Indeed, these two great naturalists, by their 
 successive works, seem to have allbrded light alternately 
 to each other for a number of years. In 1801, Lamarck 
 published his Animaux sans Vertdbres, in which, not 
 confining himself entirely to the shells, he has, like Cu- 
 vier, paid atttention also to the animals. From this pe- 
 riod until 1822, when he finished publishing the second 
 edition of Animaux sans FertHbres, under the title of 
 Histoire nuturelle des Animaux suvs Fertdbres, many 
 authors, both continental and British, had published me- 
 moirs and treatises on conchology, and many interesting 
 facts had been collected, shedding much additional light 
 on the science. Part of the 5th and the whole of the 
 6th and 7th volumes of the Histoire naturelle des Ani- 
 maux sans VertGbres, are devoted to the conchyliopho- 
 rous animals, the proper subjects of conchology. In this 
 excellent work, Lamarck has improved upon the views 
 of his friend Bruguiere in the following particulars : 
 not confining himself to the consideration of the shell ; 
 viewing the shell as forming part of an animal; introdu- 
 cing into conchology a great number of new generic 
 groups ; using a very rigorous and exact terminology ; 
 
 * For the above sketch of the different systems of cnnchologv, 
 we are indebted to an elaborate article on the History of Con. 
 chology, in the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, Edinburgh. 
 
 2 Y 
 
354 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 part of the surface of the earth is composed at 
 present. It is supposed by them, that chalks, 
 marls, and all such earths as ferment with vi- 
 negar, are nothing more than a composition of 
 
 and treating as the foundation of the principal division 
 among bivalves, the number of the muscular impressions. 
 He has also abandoned the divisions, multi valves, bivalves, 
 and univalves, which had been followed by most of 
 the preceding conchologists, and has increased the num- 
 ber of genera to 261. 
 
 Synoptical Table of the Generic Characters of Lamarck's 
 Conchological System; arranged according to the des- 
 cending scale; with some additional genera, distinguished 
 
 CLASS I. MOLLUSCA UNIVALVES. 
 ORDER. I. HETEROPODA. 
 
 Having a head ; two eyes ; no arms ; body free ; swims 
 horizontally ; destitute of a foot ; fins, but irregular. 
 Phytliroe and Pterotrachea, destitute of shells. 
 Carnaria, Cymbium, pi. 31. fig. 1. 
 
 ORDER II. CEPHALOPODA. 
 DIVISION I. CEPHALOPODA SEPIARIA. 
 
 FAMILY 1. AMMONACEA. 
 
 Mantle bag-shaped ; liead protruding from the bag, 
 with inarticulate arms, haying suckers around the 
 mouths ; two eyes ; mouth with horny mandibles. 
 
 The genera are Sepia, Loligo, Loligopsis, and Octopus, 
 all destitute of shells. 
 
 DIVISION II. CEPHALOPODA MONOTHALAMA. 
 Argonauta Argo, pi. 31, fig. 2. 
 DIVISION III. CEPHALOPODA POLYTHALAMA. 
 FAMILY I. AMMONACEA. 
 
 Bacidites, Turrilites, Ammonoceras, Orbulites, and Am- 
 monites, are fossil. 
 
 FAMILY II. NAUTILACEA. 
 
 Nautilus pompilius,ipl. 31. fig. 3. Nummulites, Vorticialis, 
 Polystomella, Siderolites, and Discorbis, are fossil. 
 
 FAMILY III. RADIOLACEA. 
 Placentula, Lenticulina, and Rotalia, fossil. 
 
 FAMILY IV. SPHERULACEA. 
 Melonia, fossil. Miliola concentrica. 
 FAMILY V. CRISTACEA. 
 
 Orbiculina, Cristellarea, and Renulina, principally fos- 
 sil. 
 
 FAMILY VI. LITUOLACEA. 
 
 Lituola and Spirolina, fossil. Spirula Peronii, pi. 31. 
 fig. 4. 
 
 FAMILY VII. ORTHOCERATA. 
 
 Conilites and Hippurites, fossil. Nodosaria radicula, 
 pi. 31, fig. 5. Orthocera raphanus, fig. 5. Belemnites, 
 fossil. 
 
 ORDER III. TRACHELIPODA. 
 
 SECTION I. ZOOPHAGOUS TRACHELIPODA. 
 
 Body of the animal spirally convolute posteriorly, se- 
 parated from the foot ; shell spiral enveloping the ani- 
 mal. This order is divided into three sections. 
 
 FAMILY I. INVOLUTA. 
 
 Conus betulinus, pi. 31, fig. 6. Oliva utriculus, f. 7. An- 
 cillaria glandiformis, f. 8. Terebellum Rubulatum, f. 9. 
 Cj/prcea Lynx. f. 10. Ovula verrucosa, f. 11. 
 
 FAMILY II. COLUMELLARIA. 
 Volvaria cylindrica, pi. 31, fig. 12. Marginetta bivar- 
 
 shells, decayed, and crumbled down to one 
 uniform mass. 
 
 Sea-shells are either found in the depths of 
 the ocean, or they are cast empty, and forsaken 
 
 icostata, f. 13. Voluta scaplia, f. 14. Mitra tameata, f. 15. 
 Columbella rustica, f. 16. 
 
 FAMILY III. PURPURIFERA. 
 
 Terebra vittata, pi. 31. fig. 17. Eburna spirata, f. 18. 
 Buccinum lineolatum, f. 19. Dolium tessetatum, f. 20. 
 Harpa nobilis, f. 21. Concliolepas Peruvianus, f. 22. 
 Monoceros glabratum, f. 23. Purpura bicostalis, f. 24. 
 Recinula arachnoides, f. 25. Cassis areola, f. 26. Cassi- 
 daria echinophora, f. 27. 
 
 FAMILY IV. ALATA. 
 
 Strombus succinctus,p\. 31. fig. 28. Pterocera millepeda. 
 f. 29. Rostellaria columbina, f . 30. 
 
 FAMILY V. CANALIFERA. 
 
 Triton scorbiculator, pi . 3 1 . fi g. 3 1 . Murex acantJiopterus, 
 f. 32. Ranetta granulata, f. 33. Struthiolaria nodulosa, f. 
 34. Fyrula reticulata, f. 35. Fusus longicaudata, f. 3ti. 
 Fasdolaria tulipa, f. 37. Cancettaria asperella, f. 38. Tur- 
 binella scolymus, f. 39. Pleurotoma Babylonia f. 40. 
 Cerithium aluco, f. 41. 
 
 SECTION II. PHYTOPHAGA. 
 
 FAMILY I. TURBINACEA. 
 
 Turitella duplicata, pi. 31. fig. 42. Phasianella varia, f. 
 43. Planaxis undulata, f. 44. Turbo smaragdus, f. 45. 
 Monodonta canalifera, f. 46. Trochus papiflosus, f. 47. 
 Rotella vestrarius, f. 48. Solarium variegatum, f. 49. 
 
 FAMILY II. SCALARIDES. 
 
 Delphinula laciniata, pi. 31. fig. 50. Scalaria coronata, 
 f. 51. Vermetus lumbricalis, f. 52. 
 
 FAMILY III. PLICACEA. 
 
 Pyramidella maculosa, pi. 31. fig. 53. Tornatella flam- 
 med, f. 54. 
 
 FAMILY IV. MACROSTOMA. 
 
 Haliotis tuberculata, pi. 31. fig. 55. Stomatia phymotis, 
 f. 56. Stomatella auricula, f. 57. Sigaretus haliotoideus, 
 f. 58. Galerindum larijatttm. fig. 111. 
 
 FAMILY V. IANTHINIA. 
 lantliina exigua, pi. 31. fig. 59. 
 
 FAMILY VI. NERITACEA. 
 
 Natica stercus-muscarum, pi. 31. fig. 60. Nerita pelo- 
 ronta,f.6l. *Neritoideslittoralis,i.\\ : l. Neritma, punc- 
 tulata, f. 62. Navicella tesselaria, f. 63. 
 
 FAMILY VII. PERISTOMIDA. 
 
 Ampullaria rugosa, pi. 31. fig. 64. Paludina vivipara, 
 f. 65. Valvata depressa, f. 66. Pirena Madagascar ensix, 
 f. 67. Melanopsis costata, f. 68. Melania granifera, f. 69. 
 
 FAMILY IX. LYMW.EACEA. 
 
 Lymncea auricularia, pi. 31. fig. 70. Physa hypnorum, 
 f. 71. Planorbis corneus, f. 72. 
 
 FAMILY X. COLIMACEA. 
 
 Cyclostoma bistriatus, pi. 31. fig. 73. Auricula felis, f. 
 74. Succinea amphibia, f. 75. Achatina perdior, f. 76. 
 Bulimus-radiatus, f. 77. Clausilia ventricosa, f. 78. Pu- 
 pa unidentata, f. 79. Helicina major, f. 80. Anastoma 
 globosa, f. 81. Carocolla Madagascar ensis, f. 82. Helix 
 nemoralis, f. 83. 
 
 ORDER IV. GASTEROPODA. 
 
 Body always straight, never enveloped in a shell 
 which can entirely contain it; foot situated under the 
 abdomen, united to the body nearly its whole length. 
 
TESTACEOUS FISH. 
 
 355 
 
 f their animals, upon shore. Those which 
 are fished up from the deep,, are called by 
 the Latin name Pelagii ; those that are 
 cast upon shore are called Littorales. Many 
 
 FAMILY 1. LIMACINEA. 
 
 Vitrina dongata, pi. 31 . fig. 84. Testacdla Haliotoidea, 
 f. 85. Limax rufus, f. 86. Parmacella Olivieri, f. 87. 
 Onchidium. Destitute of a shell. P. Calyculata, f. 108. 
 
 SECTION II. HYDROBRANCHI^:. 
 
 FAMILY II. LAPLYSIACEA. 
 
 Ddabdla cattosa, pi. 31. fig. 88. Laplysia radiata, f. 
 89. 
 
 FAMILY III. BULLACEA. 
 
 Butta amygdala., pi. 31. fig. 90. BuHaea catena, f. 91. 
 *Utricwlusobtusa,f.HQ. *Akera flencilis, f. 109. Acera. 
 Destitute of a sheil. 
 
 FAMILY IV. CALYPTRACEA. 
 
 Ancylusjluviatilis, pi. 31. fig. 92. Crepidula fornicata, 
 f. 93. Calyptrcea sinense, f. 94. Pileopsis Ungarica, f. 95. 
 Fisuretta Groeca, f. 96. *Sipho striata, f. 1 1 3. Emargi- 
 nulafissura, f. 97. Parmophorus Australia, f. 98. 
 
 FAMILY V. SEMPHYLLIDIACEA. 
 
 Umbrella Indica, pi. 31. fig. 99. Pleurobranchus plu- 
 mula, f. 100. 
 
 FAMILY VI. PHYLLIDIACEA. 
 
 Patella vulgata, pi. 31 . fig. 101. Chiton marginatus, f. 
 102. Chitonellus striatus, f. 103. Phyllidia. Destitute 
 of a shell. 
 
 FAMILY VII. TRITONIACEA. 
 
 Doris, Tethys, Scyllaea, Titonia, Eolis, and Glaucus. 
 Destitute of shells. 
 
 ORDER V. PTEROPODA. 
 
 Destitute of foot and arms ; two opposite fins ; body 
 free. Pneumodermon. Shelless. Cymbulia proboscidea, 
 pi. 31. fig. 104. Limacinahelicialis,L 105. Cleodorapy- 
 ramidata, f. 106. Clio. Destitute of a shell. Hyalcea 
 cuspidata,f. 107. 
 
 CLASS II. CONCHIFERA. BIVALVES. 
 
 Animals soft, inarticulated, without head or eyes, and 
 adhering to a bivalve shell; having external branchiae, 
 simple circulation, and a unilocular heart. 
 
 ORDER. I. MONOMYARIA. 
 
 With one muscular attachment, and one sub ventral 
 muscular impression. 
 
 SECTION I. No LIGAMENT. 
 FAMILY I. BRACHIOPODA. 
 
 Lingula anatina, pi. 32. fig. 1. Terebratula vttrea, f. 3. 
 Orbicula Norwegica, f. 2. 
 
 FAMILY II. RUDISTA. 
 
 Crania striata, pi. 32. fig. 4. Discina ostreoides,f.t>5. 
 (ren. Birostritus, Calicola, Radiolites, and Sphaerulites, 
 fossil. 
 
 SECTION II. LIGAMENT MARGINAL. 
 FAMILY I. OSTRACEA. 
 
 Anomia Ephipphium, pi. 32. fig. 6. Placuna sella, f. 
 7. VulseUa spongiarum, f. 8. Ostrea cornucopia, f. 9. 
 Gryphcea secunda, f. 10. 
 
 FAMILY II. PECTINIDES. 
 
 Podopsis truncata,pl. 32. fig. 11. Spondylus spatulifor- 
 mis, f. 12. Plicatula cristata, f. 13. Pecten radula, f. 14. 
 Phlagiostoma semilunaris, f. 15. Lima fragilis, f. 16. 
 , f. 17. 
 
 of the pelagii are never seen upon shore ; they 
 continue in the depths where they are bred ; 
 and we owe their capture only to accident. 
 These, therefore, are the most scarce shells, 
 
 SECTION III. LIGAMENT ELONGATED AND MARGINAL. 
 FAMILY I. MALLEACEA. 
 
 Meleagrina margaritifera, pi. 32. fig. 18. Avicula obli- 
 qua, f. 19. Malleus vulgaris, f. 20. Perna isognomum, f. 
 2 1 . Crenatula phasianoptera, f . 22. 
 
 FAMILY II. MYTILACEA. 
 
 Pinna elegans, pi. 32. fig. 23. Mytitus Afer, f. 24. 
 Modiola papuana, f. 25. 
 
 FAMILY III. TRIDACNITES. 
 
 Hippopus maculatus, pi. 32. fig. 26. Tridacna squamo- 
 sa, f. 27. 
 
 ORDER II. DlMYARIA. 
 
 Muscular impressions two, separate and lateral. 
 SECTION I. IRREGULAR AND ALWAYS INEQUIVALVE. 
 FAMILY I. CAMACEA. 
 
 Etheria dliptica, pi. 32. fig. 28. Cliama ardnella, f. 29. 
 Diceras arietina, f. 30. 
 
 SECTION II. LAMELLIPEDES. 
 
 FAMILY I. NAYADES. 
 Inhabit fresh water. Iridina exotica, pi. 32. fig. 31. 
 
 ya, pi 
 ta, f . ; 
 
 Anadonta cygnea, f. 32. Hyria corrugata, f. 33. Unio ir- 
 roratus, f. 34. 
 
 FAMILY II. TRIGONACEA. 
 
 Castalia ambigua, pi. 32. fig. 35. Trigonia scabra, f. 3b'. 
 FAMILY III. ARCACEA. 
 
 Nucula tennis, pi. 32. fig. 37. Pectunculus pilosus, f. 
 38. Area tortuosa, f. 39. Cucuttcea auriculifera, f. 40. 
 
 FAMILY IV. CARDIACEA. 
 
 Isocardia Mdikiana, pi. 32. fig. 41. Hiatella arctica, f. 
 42. Cypricardia coraliiopJiaga, f. 43. Cardita crassicosta, 
 f. 44. Cardium elongatum, f. 45. 
 
 FAMILY V. CONCHACEA. 
 
 Venericardia imbricata, pi. 32. fig. 46. *Ortygia sulca- 
 ta, f. 47. Venus verrucosa, f. 48. Cytherea erycina, f. 49. 
 *Exoleta lincta, f. 50. Cyprina Islandica, f. 51. *Lascea 
 rubra, f. 52. Galathea radiata, f. 53. Cyrena fuscata, f. 
 54. Cydas cornea, f. 55. *Pisidium obliqua, f. 56. 
 
 SECTION III. TENUIPEDES. 
 FAMILY I. NYMPHACEA. 
 
 Crassina sulcata, pi. 32. fig. 57. Capsa Braziliensis, f. 
 58. Donax denticulata, f. 59. Lucina carnaria, f. 60. 
 *Mysia rotundata, f. 61. Corbis lamellosa, f. 62. *Arco- 
 pagia crassa,f. 63. Tellinides roseus, f. 64. Tellinapuni- 
 cea, f. 65. Psammotaea variegata, f. 66. Psammobia ves- 
 pertina, f. 67. Sanguinolaria Occidens, f. 68. 
 
 FAMILY II. LITHOPHAGI. 
 
 Venerupis irus, pi. 32. fig. 69. Petricola PTioladiformis, 
 f. 70. Samcava Prcedsa, f. 71. 
 
 FAMILY III. CORBULACEA. 
 Pandora rostrata, pi. 32. fig. 72. Corbula sulcata, f. 
 
 73. 
 
 FAMILY IV. MACTRAC^A. 
 
 Amphidesma Lucinalis, pi. 32. fig. 74. Solemya Medi- 
 terranea, f. 75. *Tellimya suborbicularis, f. 76. Unguhna 
 transversa, f. 77. Erycina striata, f. 78. Crassatella Kin- 
 gicola, f. 79. *Ligula tennis, f. 80. *Muctrina triangula- 
 
356 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 and consequently the most valuable. The li- 
 torales are more frequent, and such as are of 
 the same kind with the pelagii are not so beau- 
 tit'ul. As they are often empty and forsaken, 
 
 ris, f. 81. Matra, Stultorum, f. 1. Lutraria compressa, 
 
 1. . 
 
 SECTION IV. CRASSIPEDES. 
 Posterior margin gaping. 
 
 FAMILY I. MYARIA. 
 
 Anatina convexa, pi. 33. fig. 3. Mya arenaria, f. 4. 
 *Galeomma Turtoni, f. 5. *Magdala striata, f. 6. *My- 
 atel.la striata, f. 7. *Crenella elUptica, f. 8. *Spenia Bing- 
 hami, f. 9. 
 
 FAMILY II. SOLENIDES. 
 
 Gh/cimeris Siliqua, pi. 33. fig. 10. Panopea Aldrovandi, 
 f. ir.Solen V aff ina,f. 12. 
 
 FAMILY III. PHOLADARIA. 
 Gastrochaena modiolina, pi. 33. fig. 13. PMas dactylus, 
 
 FAMILY IV. TUBICOLA. 
 
 Teredo navalis, pi. 33. fig. 15 ; 16, side valve ; 17, one 
 of the bivalves ; 18, section of interior part of the tube. 
 Teredina personata, f. 1 9. Septaria arenaria, f. "20. Fis- 
 tulana clava, f. 21. Fig. 22. a side valve. Clavagella 
 aperta, f. 23. Fig. 24 a face valve. A spergillum Java- 
 num, f. 25. 
 
 CLASS III. CIRRIPEDA. 
 
 Animals soft, destitute of head or eyes, covered with 
 an adhering shell. 
 
 ORDER. I. PEDUNCULATA. 
 
 Body supported on a tubular peduncle. 
 
 Otion Cuvieri, pi. 33. fig. 26. Cineras rittata, f. 27. 
 Pollicipes mitella, f. 28. *Scalpdlum vulyare, f. 29. Ana- 
 tifa vitrea, f. 30. 
 
 ORDER H.-SESSILIA. 
 
 Body inclosed in a multivalve shell which is seated 
 on rocks or marine bodies ; mouth and tentacula in the 
 opening of the shell ; operculated. 
 
 Pyryoma crenata, pi. 33. fig. 31. Creusia verruca, f. 
 32. Acasta Montagui, f. 33. *Adna Anglica, f. 34. Ba- 
 lanus Cranchii, f. 36. Coronula testudinaria, f. 37. Tu- 
 bicinilla balcenarum, f. 38. 
 
 DIVISION III. ARTICULATA. 
 
 CLASS V. ANNELIDES. 
 
 Elongated, soft, consisting of segments; having red 
 
 f\f\A 
 
 blood. 
 
 ORDER I. SEDENTARE.E. 
 
 Animals placed in a testaceous tube, in which they 
 ever live; branchiae at one extremity of the body. 
 
 FAMILY I. SERPULACEA. 
 
 Magilus antiquus, pi. 33. fig 39. Ckdedaria recumlens, 
 f. 40. Vermilia triquetra, f. 41. Serpula tubularia, f. 42. 
 Spirorbis spirillum, f. 43. 
 
 FAMILY II. AMPHITRIT^EA. 
 
 Ampltitrite ventilabrum, pi. 33. fig. 44. Terebella con- 
 chilega, f. 45. Sabellaria crassissima, f. 46. Pcclinaria 
 Belyica, f. 47. 
 
 FAMILY III. MALDANI.E. 
 
 Dentalium entalis, pi. 33. fig. 48. Brochus reticulatus, f. 
 4J. Cornuoides minor, f. 50. Clymene. 
 
 FAMILY IV. DORSALS. 
 
 Siliquaria anyuina,p\. 33. fig. 51. Arnicola. Desti- 
 tute of shell. 
 
 and as their animal is dead, and, perhaps, pu- 
 trid in the bottom of the shell, they, by this 
 means, lose the whiteness and the brilliancy 
 of their colouring. They are not, unfrequently 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE PARTS OF SHELLS. 
 
 OF THE OPERCULA OF UNIVALVE SHELLS. 
 
 The opening, or aperture of many univalve shells, is 
 covered, when the animal is withdrawn within, by an 
 operculum or lid, intended for the protection of the in- 
 habitant. This is attached to the foot of the animal, 
 and is either of a horny substance, or is testaceous, be- 
 ing as hard as the shell itself. This appendage will be 
 familiar to all who have seen the common periwinkle, 
 which is abundant on most rocky shores. Its texture 
 is of a horny nature. 
 
 Operculum of Nerita Undulata, pi. 33. fig. 52. Phn- 
 sianella Bulimoides, 53. Trochus Pharaoms, 54. Me- 
 lania Byronensis, 55. Neritia fluviatilis, 56. Panlu- 
 dina achatina, 57. Turbo Pica, 58. Neritoides littora- 
 lis, 59. Murex Brandaris, 60. Buccinum undatum, 
 6 1 . Strombus Auris-Dianae, 62. Trochus littoralis, 63. 
 
 Animal of the Monodonta Pica. 64. a, thotentacnla, or 
 feelers ; b, the trunk ; cc, the pedicles, with the eyes .at 
 their tips; dd, the branchiae or gills; ee, mantle ;/j foot; 
 </, the operculum; h, the tail, or that extremity of the 
 animal which occupies the volutions at the tip of the 
 shell. 
 
 The following are the shells figured, explanatory of 
 the different parts: Fig. 65, Fusus antiquus; 66, Volut;i 
 vespertilio; 67, A lusus naturae of Helix Pomatia; 68, 
 Spirula Peronii; 69, Cassis ariola; 70, Cyprsea exanthe- 
 ma; 71, Clausilia ventricosa; 72, Planorbis Planata; 73, 
 Crepidula aculeata; 74, Fusus discrepans; 75, Dolium 
 galea ; 76, Turitella terebra ; 76,* Helix Umbilicata ; 
 77, Cytherea Chione ; 78, Hinge of Lutraria elliptica ; 
 79, Solen truncatus ; 80, Cardium elongatum ; 81, Spon- 
 dylus gaederopus ; 82, Anomia squamula ; 83, Cardium 
 edule ; 84, Venus Cassina ; 85, Pecten obsoletus ; 86, 
 Pholas candidus ; 87, Anatifa striata ; 88, Balanus com- 
 munis ; 89, Operculum of Balanus Cranchii ; 90, Chiton 
 cinereus. 
 
 Apex, is the summit or tip of the spire, pi. 33. fig. 65 
 a. 
 
 Base, the opposite extremity to the apex, pi. 33. fig. 
 65 b. In simple univalves, such as the patellae, it is the 
 margin of the aperture, the tip of the vertex being the 
 apex. Example of the base in a depressed shell, pi. 33. 
 fig. 726. 
 
 Body. The lower volution of the shell in which the 
 aperture is placed, pi. 33 fig. 65 m, m, m. 
 
 Front, is the place where the aperture is situated. 
 
 Back, the opposite of the front, opposed to that in 
 which the aperture is situated. 
 
 Venter, the most bulging part of the front, pi. 33. fig. 
 6.5 c. 
 
 Sides, the extreme edges of the shell, pi. 33. fig. 65 
 dd. Right is the opposite to that in which the aper- 
 ture is situated. 
 
 Aperture, the mouth or opening -g. 
 
 Beak, the elongated process at the base of many ge- 
 nera of univalves, pi. 33. fig. 65. i, f. 75 c. 
 
 Canal, the inside of the beak, pi. 33. fig. 65. h, 75 b. 
 
 Pillar or columclla, is that process which runs through 
 the spire, for the support of the volutions, f. 76 a, a. 
 
 Platted columella, is Avhen there are folds at the base 
 of the pillar lip, f. 66 a. 
 
 Pillar lip, a continuation of the enamelled process 
 which lines the inside of the shell, and is reflected en 
 the base of the pillar : this also is termed the inmr Up, 
 pi. 33. fig. 65 k. 
 
 Outer lip, the expansion of the body of the shell or 
 outer edge of the aperture, pi. 33. fig. 65 /. 
 
 Spire, is the whole volutions of the shell but the lower 
 one, pi. 33. fig. 65 e, e, e. The remaining or lower 
 one is the body, as above noticed. 
 
 Croivncd or coronated spire, f. 66 b, b, b. 
 
 Whorl, is one of the volutions, or turnings of the spire, 
 
 Depressed spire, is when the spire is partly flattened, 
 or entirely so, as exemplified in 1 he shells of the genus 
 planorbis, pi. 33. fig. 72 a. 
 
TESTACEOUS FISH. 
 
 337 
 
 ilso found eaten through, either by worms, 
 or by each other ; and they are thus rendered 
 less valuable ; but what decreases their price 
 still more is, when they are scaled and worn 
 
 Involuted spire. Those univalve shells which have 
 their volutions concealed inside of the body of the shell, 
 as in the Nautili and Cypraea, pi. 33. fig. 70. 
 
 Reversed or Heterostrophe spire, is when the volutions 
 of the spire revolve in a contrary direction to that of a 
 common screw; in which case the aperture is on the 
 right side, in place of the left, which is the case with 
 all dextral shells, pi. 33. fig. 71. 
 
 Detaclied spire, is when the volutions are not adhering 
 together at their base, pi. 33. fig. 67. 
 
 Suture of the spire a fine thread-like line, which runs 
 spirally between the volutions, pi. 33. fig. 65 f, f,f,f\f. 
 
 Sides, are the extreme edges of the shell, when the 
 back or front is held next the observer, d, d. 
 
 Chamfers, are the intervals, between the partitions or 
 septa, of multilocular shells, pi. 33. fig. 6866, &c., and 
 also occur in simple univalves, f. 73. 
 
 Siphuncle is the tube which extends through some of 
 the multilocular univalves, pi. 33. fig. 68 a. 
 
 Septa, are partitions which divide the chambers in 
 multilocular shells, f. 68 c, c, &c. 
 
 Varices, are transverse ribs which cross the volutions 
 in some species of Murex, Triton, Buccinum, Cassis, 
 &c., f. 69 aa. 
 
 Ribs, longitudinal and transverse projections, f. 75 a 
 a; an example of the former; those in f. 74 illustrate 
 the latter. 
 
 Teeth, some projecting laminae in the aperture of uni- 
 valves as represented in the aperture of pi. 33. fig. 71. 
 
 Umbilicus, a perforation in the base of the body of 
 Helices, Trochi, &c., pi. 33. fig. 76* a. 
 
 PARTS OP BIVALVES. 
 
 Equilateral Shells, are those whose sides are alike, that 
 is, both of a uniform size and shape, pi. 33, fig. 85. 
 
 Inequilateral Shells, have unequal sides, and of differ- 
 ent shapes, as in Donox Lutraria, &c., pi. 33, fig. 77. 
 
 Summit, is the most elevated part of the shell, in which 
 the hinge is usually situated, pi. 33, fig. 77 a. 
 __Base, the opposite extremity of the above, pi. 33, fig. 
 77 o. 
 
 Anterior slope, is that side of the shell in which the 
 ligament is. situated, pi. 33, fig. 77 d. 
 
 Posterior slope. The opposite of the above, and may 
 be distinguished by viewing the shell in front, when the 
 beaks point to the observer, pi. 33, fig. 77 -e. 
 
 Disk, the most prominent part of a valve, if lying with 
 its inside undermost. 
 
 Cicatrix, the internal impression by which the animal 
 was aflixed to the shell, pi. 33, fig. 1lgg,f 80; d,L 81 
 e. 
 
 Lunule, the crescent-shaped depressions, in the pos- 
 terior and anterior slopes, pi. 33, fig. 77 h, 
 
 Ligament perforation, the circular aperture through 
 which the ligament passes, as exemplified in the Ano- 
 mise, pi. 33, fig. 82 a. 
 
 Hinge, that part by which the shells are united. It 
 is generally constructed of teeth ; those of the one valve 
 fitting into a socket in the opposite one. Some shells 
 have no teeth, but are merely kept together by the li- 
 gament, in which case they are called inarticulate-, when 
 they have many teeth, they are called multiartieulate. 
 The Hinge is that part which affords the most promi- 
 nent generic distinction in bivalves. 
 
 Teeth of the hinge. The number, relative situation, and 
 construction of these, afford the best specific distinc- 
 tions in bivalves. A spatuliform central tooth is exhi- 
 bited, pi. 33, fig. 78. 
 
 Primary teeth, are those situated in the centre of the 
 hinge. They are also termed the cardinal teeth, pi. 33, 
 "g. 77 i. 
 
 Lateral teeth, are those divergent from the umbo; are 
 usually long, flat, and frequently double, or divided by 
 a groove, pi. 33. fig. 80 a a. 
 
 Double teeth. When teeth are very deeply cleft they 
 are so termed. 
 
 by lying too long empty at the bottom, or ex- 
 posed upon the shore. Upon the whole, how- 
 ever, sea-shells exceed either land or fossil- 
 shells in beauty; they receive the highest 
 
 Incurved teeth, are those which are bent round, as in 
 the Spondylus Gsederopus, Solen Siliqua, &c., pi. 33. fig. 
 79. c. 
 
 Recurved teeth, such teeth as are bent backwards are 
 so termed, as in the hinge of the Panopea Aldrovandi, 
 pi. 33. fig. 11 ;f. 81 a a. 
 
 Numerous teeth, are generally set in rows, either 
 straight or curved as in pi. 32. fig. 37, 38, 39. 
 
 Cavity of the hinge, is a pit or hollow in which the li- 
 gament is inserted in the Ostrea, &c., as may be seen in 
 pi. 32. fig. 20. 
 
 Ligament, is that cartilaginous substance by which 
 the valves are held together, and is situated under the 
 hinge of the shell, pi. 33. fig. 77 k ; f. 806. The ca- 
 vity in which it is inserted, f. 81 6; f. 83 6. 
 
 Beak, the extreme point or summit of bivalves, which, 
 for the most part, is turned aside, or downwards, so 
 that it is seldom the highest part of the bivalve. 
 
 Umbo, that part situated immediately under the 
 beak, pi. 33. fig. 84 a. 
 
 Ears or Auricles, are those processes, situated on one 
 or both sides of the beak, as in the scallops, pi. 33. fig. 
 81' c c. Superior ear, 85 a. Inferior ear, b. 
 
 Margin, the extreme edges of the entire shell. 
 
 Crenulated margin. When the margin is notched as 
 in the common edible cockle it is so termed, pi. 33. fig. 
 80 cc. 
 
 Strice, are fine thread-like lines, which traverse the 
 exterior surface of shells, as exemplified, pi. 32. fig. 62, 
 63. 
 
 Spines, are exterior acutely pointed protrusions, com- 
 posed of shelly matter, pi. 33. fig. 81 d d. 
 
 Right valve, may be distinguished by the anterior 
 slope, pointing to the right hand, when the valve is 
 viewed with the inside uppermost, pi. 32. fig. 46 the 
 under valve, in many species, is flattened, as in the os- 
 trea. 
 
 Left valve, the opposite of the above, or where the an- 
 terior slope points to the left hand, pi. 32. fig. 46. 
 
 Length of the shell is always understood to be from 
 that part in which the ligament is situated to the oppo- 
 site extremity. Bivalve shells are called longitudinal, 
 when their greatest length is from the hinge to the op- 
 posite margin, pi. 33. fig. 80 and 85, from a to 6 ; 
 and transverse, when their breadth exceeds their length 
 fig. 77 from c to c; and fig. 79 from a to a. 
 
 Byssus, or beard. An accessory filamentary appen- 
 dage of a silky texture, by which some bivalve shells are 
 affixed to rocks, stones, &c. as may be instanced>in the 
 common muscle. Sides the right and left parts of the 
 valves ; pi. 33. fig. 77 c, c. 
 
 Ribs are longitudinal or transverse protuberances, ge- 
 nerally running parallel to each other on the external 
 surface of bivalves. Longitudinal ribs, pi. 33. fig. 83 a. 
 Transverse ribs, f. 84. 
 
 Accessory valves are small, unattached valves in the 
 genus Pholas, pi. 33. fig. 86. a. 
 
 Valves of Chitons are placed transversely along the 
 back of the animal, usually eight in number, pi. 33. fig. 
 90 a, a, &c. Fig. 91, a central valve ; 92, a terminat- 
 ing valve. 
 
 Margin in Chitons, is a fleshy border which surrounds 
 the valves, pi. 33. fig. 906. 
 
 PARTS OF CIRRIPEDES. MULTIVALVES. 
 
 Opercuhim consists of from two to four small valves, 
 placed in the opening at top of the Balani, pi. 33. fig. 
 
 Base the part by which the shells of the genus Ba- 
 lanus, &c. are attached to rocks, pi. 33. fig. 87 e; f. 88 
 6. 
 
 Ligament a membranous substance, by which the 
 valves are attached, pi. 33. fig. %1d. 
 
 Ridges are convexities in the Balani, &c., sometimes 
 longitudinal and at others transverse. 
 
358 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 polish, and exhibit the most brilliant and va- 
 rious colouring. 
 
 Fresh-water shells are neither so numerous 
 so various, nor so beautiful, as those belonging 
 to the sea. They want that solidity which the 
 others have ; their clavicle, as it is called, is 
 neither so prominent nor so strong; and not 
 having a saline substance to tinge the surface 
 of the shell, the colours are obscure. In fresh- 
 water there are but two kinds of shells, name- 
 ly, the bivalved and the turbinated. 
 
 Living land-shells are more beautiful, 
 though not so various, as those of fresh water; 
 and some not inferior to sea-shells in beauty. 
 They are, indeed, but of one kind, namely, 
 the turbinated; but in that there are found 
 four or five very beautiful varieties. 
 
 Of fossil, or, as they are called, extraneous 
 shells, found in the bowels of the earth, there 
 are great numbers, and as great a variety. In 
 this class there are as many kinds as in the 
 sea itself. There are found the turbinated, 
 the bivalve, and the multivalve kinds ; and of 
 all these, many, at present, are not to be found 
 even in the ocean. Indeed, the number is so 
 great, and the varieties so many, that it was 
 long the opinion of naturalists, that they were 
 merely the capricious productions of nature, 
 and had never given retreat to animals whose 
 habitations they resembled. They were found, 
 not only of various kinds, but in different states 
 of preservation ; some had the shell entire com- 
 posed, as in its primitive state, of a white cal- 
 careous earth, and filled with earth, or even 
 empty ; others were found with the shell en- 
 tire, but filled with a substance which was 
 petrified by time ; others, and these in great 
 numbers, were found with the shell entirely 
 mouldered away, but the petrified substance 
 that filled it still exhibiting the figure of the 
 shell ; others still, that had been lodged near 
 earth or stone, impressed their print upon these 
 substances, and left the impression, though 
 they themselves were decayed: lastly, some 
 shells were found half mouldered away, their 
 parts scaling off from each other in the same 
 order in which they were originally formed. 
 However, these different stages of the shell, 
 arid even their fermenting with acids, were at 
 first insufficient to convince those who had be- 
 fore assigned them a different origin. They 
 were still considered as accidentally and spor- 
 tively formed, and deposited in the various re- 
 positories where they were found, but no way 
 appertaining to any part of animated nature. 
 This put succeeding inquirers upon more mi- 
 
 Pedunde, or pedide a sort of stem, or hollow mem- 
 branaceous tube, on which the Anatifae are seated, pi. 
 33. fig. 87 b. 
 
 Feelers, or tentacula are those arms by which the ani- 
 mals of the Balani and Anatif;e secure their food, pi. 
 33. fig. 87 a. (See a description of Fossil Mollusca. at 
 p. 25, Vol. I.) 
 
 nute researches; and they soon began to find, 
 that often, where they dug up petrified shells 
 or teeth, they could discover the petrified re- 
 mains of some other bony parts of the body. 
 They found that the shells, which were taken 
 from the earth, exhibited the usual defects and 
 mischances which the same kind are known 
 to receive at sea. They showed them not only 
 tinctured with a salt-water crust, but pierced 
 in a peculiar manner by the sea- worms, that 
 make the shells of fishes their favourite food. 
 These demonstrations were sufficient, at last, 
 to convince all but a few philosophers, who 
 died away, and whose erroneous systems died 
 with them. 
 
 Every shell, therefore, wherever it is found, 
 is now considered as the spoil of some animal, 
 that once found shelter therein. It matters 
 not by what unaccountable means they may 
 have wandered from the sea ; but they exhi- 
 bit all, and the most certain marks of their 
 origin. From their numbers and situation we 
 are led to conjecture, that the sea reached the 
 places where they are found ; and from their 
 varieties we learn how little we know of all 
 the sea contains at present; as the earth fur- 
 nishes many kinds which our most exact and 
 industrious shell-collectors have not been able 
 to fish up from the deep. It is most probable 
 that thousands of different forms still remain 
 at the bottom unknown ; so that we may justly 
 say with the philosopher, Ea quce scimus sunt 
 pars minima eorum quce ignoramus. 
 
 It is well, however, for mankind, that the 
 defect of our knowledge on this subject is, of 
 all parts of learning, that which may be most 
 easily dispensed with. An increase in the 
 lumber of shells would throw but very few 
 lights upon the history of the animals that in- 
 habit them. 1 For such information we are 
 
 1 Uses and Value of Shells. The greater part of the 
 ime used in America for agricultural and architectural 
 purposes, is made of calcined shells: the public streets 
 of Christianstadt and Santa Cruz are paved with the 
 Strombus Gigas; and the town of Conchylion is entirely 
 built of marine shells. The blue and white belts of the 
 [ndians of North America, as symbols of peace and 
 amity, in opposition to the war hatchet, and by 
 ivhich the fate of nations is often decided, are made of 
 ;he Venus Mercenaria ; and the gorget of the chieftain's 
 .var-dress is formed of the Mytilus Margaritiferus. The 
 military horn of many African tribes is the Murex Tri- 
 *oius; the rare variety of which, with the volutions re- 
 versed, is held sacred, and only used by the high priests. 
 The highest order of dignity among the Friendly Islands, 
 s the permission to wear the Cypraea Auraritium, or 
 orange cowry. And Lister relates that the inhabitants of 
 he province of Nicaragua fasten the Ostrea Virginica 
 o a handle of wood, and use it as a spade to dig up the 
 ground. As matter of traffic, they bear a nominal va- 
 ue and appreciation proportionate to their supposed scar- 
 -ity or beauty. Rumphius is said to have given nearly 
 a thousand pounds for one of the first discovered speci- 
 mens of the Venus Dione. The Conus Cedo nulli, so 
 try rarely offered for sale, is valued at three hundred 
 
TURBINATED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 359 
 
 obliged to those men who contemplated some- 
 tiling more than the outside of the objects be- 
 fore them. To Reaumur we are obliged for 
 examining the manners of some with accura- 
 cy; but to Swammerdam for more. In fact, 
 this Dutchman has lent an attention to those 
 animals that almost exceeds credibility; he 
 has excelled even the insects he dissected, in 
 patience, industry, and perseverance. It was 
 in vain that this poor man's father dissuaded 
 him from what the world considered as a bar- 
 ren pursuit : it was in vain that an habitual 
 disorder, brought on by his application, inter- 
 rupted his efforts; it was in vain that mankind 
 treated him with ridicule while living, as they 
 suffered his works to remain long unprinted 
 and neglected when dead: still the Dutch 
 philosopher went on, peeping into unwhole- 
 some ditches, wading through fens, dissecting 
 spiders, and enumerating the blood-vessels of 
 a snail : like the bee, whose heart he could 
 not only distinguish, but dissect, he seemed 
 instinctively impelled by his ruling passion, 
 although he found nothing but ingratitude 
 from man, and though his industry was appa- 
 rently becoming fatal to himself. From him 
 I will take some of the leading features in the 
 history of those animals which breed in shells ; 
 previously taking my division from Aristotle, 
 who, as was said above, divides them into 
 three classes: the Turbinated, or those of the 
 Snail-kind ; the Bivalved, or those of the 
 Oyster-kind; and the Multivalved, or those 
 of the Acorn-shell kind. Of each I will treat 
 in distinct chapters. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF TURBINATED SHELL-FISH, OR THE SNAIL 
 KIND. 
 
 To conceive the manner in which those ani- 
 mals subsist that are hid from us at the bot- 
 
 guineas. The Turbo Scalaris, if large and perfect, is 
 worth a hundred guineas; the Cypraea Aurantiurr,, with- 
 out a hole beaten through it, is worth fifty; and it has 
 been calculated, that a complete collection of the British 
 Conchology is worth its weight in pure silver. In an 
 economical and political view, they are of no inconsi- 
 derable import. Pearls, the diseased excrescences of 
 mussels and oysters, form a portion of the revenues of 
 these and some other kingdoms; and constitute, with 
 jewels, the rich and costly ornaments by which the high 
 and wealthy ranks of polished society are distinguished. 
 The Cyprsea Moneta, or money cowry, forms the current 
 coin of many nations of India and Africa; and this co- 
 vering or coat of an inconsiderable worm, stands at this 
 day as the medium of barter for the liberty of man ; a 
 certain weight of them being given in exchange for a 
 slave. The scholar needs not the reminiscence, that the 
 suffrages of the ancient Athenians were delivered in, 
 marked upon a shell ; the record of which is still com- 
 
 tom of the deep, we must again have recourse 
 to one of a similar nature and formation that 
 we know. The history of the garden-snail 1 
 has been more copiously considered than that 
 
 memorated in the derivation of our terms, testament and 
 attestation. 
 
 1 Garden Snails The most common in this country 
 of herbivorous Trachelipods, is the Garden-snail; but 
 the species whose history has been most copiously rela- 
 ted, is that called in France the Escargot, which, though 
 stated to have been originally imported into this coun- 
 try, now abounds in some parts of Surrey, and other 
 southern countries. On the continent, especially in 
 France, this large snail, which is more than double the 
 size of our garden one, is used as an article of food, and 
 though said not to be easy of digestion, is very palatable. 
 They are thought to be in best season in the winter, 
 when they are invested with their temporary calcareous 
 covering, which falls off in the spring. 
 
 Early in the spring, snails lay, at different times, a 
 great number of white eggs, varying at each laying from 
 twenty-five to eighty, as large as little peas, enveloped 
 in a membraneous shell, which cracks when dried. They 
 lay these eggs in shady and moist places, in hollows 
 which they excavate with their foot, and afterwards, 
 cover with the same organ. These eggs are hatched 
 sooner or later, according to the temperature, producing 
 little snails, exactly resembling their parent, but so de- 
 licate that a sun- stroke destroys them, and animals iced 
 upon them ; so that few, comparatively speaking, reach 
 the end of the first year, when they are sufficiently de- 
 fended by the hardness of their shell. 
 
 The animal, at first, lives solely on the pellicle of the 
 egg from which it was produced. This pellicle, con- 
 sisting of carbonate of lime, united to animal substance, 
 is necessary to produce the calcareous secretion of the 
 mantle, and to consolidate the shell, as yet too soft for 
 exposure. When this envelope is eaten, the little snail 
 finds its nutriment, more or less, in the vegetable soil 
 around it, and from which it continues to derive materials 
 for the growth and consolidation of the shell. It remains 
 thus concealed for more than a month, when it first issues 
 forth into the world, and attacks the vegetable produc- 
 tions around, returning often to an earthly aliment, pro- 
 bably still necessary, for the due growth and hardening 
 of its portable house. 
 
 These snails cease feeding when the first chills of 
 autumn are felt ; and associating, in considerable num- 
 bers, on hillocks, the banks of ditches, or in thickets and 
 hedges, set about their preparations for their winter re- 
 treat. They first expel the contents of their intestines, 
 and then concealing themselves under moss, grass, or 
 dead leaves, each forms, by means of its foot, and the 
 viscid mucus which it secretes, a cavity large enough to 
 contain its shell. The mode in which it effects this is re- 
 markable: collecting a considerable quantity of the mucus 
 on the sole of its foot, a portion of earth and dead leaves 
 adheres to it, which it shakes off on one side ; a second 
 portion is again thus selected and deposited, and so on 
 till it has reared around itself a kind of wall of sufficient 
 height to form a cavity that will contain its shell ; by 
 turning itself round it presses against the sides and 
 renders them smooth and firm. The dome, or covering, 
 is formed in the same way: earth is collected on the foot, 
 which then is turned upwards, and throws it off by exud- 
 ing fresh mucus ; and this is repeated till a perfect roof 
 is formed. Having now completed its winter-house, it 
 draws in its foot, covering it with the mantle, and opens 
 its spiracle to draw in the air. On closing this, it forms 
 with its slime a fine membrane, interposed between the 
 mantle and extraneous substances. Soon afterwards, 
 the mantle secretes a large portion of very white fluid 
 over its whole surface, which instantly sets uniformly, 
 
 
360 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 of the elephant; and its anatomy is as well, 
 it' not better, known: however, not to give 
 any one object more room in the general 
 picture of nature than it is entitled to, it will 
 be sufficient to observe that the snail is sur- 
 prisingly fitted for the life it is formed to lead. 
 It is furnished with the organs of life in a 
 manner almost as complete as the largest ani- 
 mal : with a tongue, brain, salival ducts, 
 glands, nerves, stomach, and intestines ; liver, 
 heart, and blood-vessels: besides this, it has 
 a purple bag that furnishes a red matter to 
 different parts of the body, together with 
 strong muscles that hold it to the shell, and 
 which are hardened, like tendons, at their 
 insertion. 
 
 But these it possesses in common with 
 other animals. We must now see what it 
 has peculiar to itself. The first striking pe- 
 
 and forms a kind of solid operculum about half a line in 
 thickness, which accurately closes the mouth. When 
 this is become hard, the animal separates the mantle 
 from it. After a time, expelling a portion of the air it 
 had inspired, and thus "being reduced in bulk, it retreats 
 a little further into the shell, and forms another leaf of 
 mucus, and continues repeating this operation till there 
 are sometimes five or six of these leaves forming cells 
 filled with air between it and the operculum. 
 
 The mode in which these animals escape from their 
 winter confinement is singular. The air they had ex- 
 pired on retiring into their shell further and further 
 remains between the different partitions of mucous mem- 
 brane above mentioned, which forms so many cells 
 hermetically sealed: this they again inspire, and thus 
 acquiring fresh vigour, each separate partition, as they 
 proceed, is broken by the pressure of the foot, projected 
 in part through the mantle ; when arrived at the oper- 
 culum, they burst it by a strong effort, and finally de- 
 taching it, then emerge, begin to walk, and to break their 
 long fast. 
 
 In all these proceedings, the superintending care and 
 wise provisions of a Father Being are evident. This 
 creature can neither foresee the degree of cold to which 
 it may be exposed in its state of hibernation, nor know 
 by what means it may secure itself from the fatal effects 
 it would produce upon it, if not provided against. But 
 at a destined period, at the bidding of some secret 
 power, it sets about erecting its winter dwelling, and 
 employing its foot both as a shovel to make its mortar, 
 as a hod to transport it, and a trowel to spread it duly 
 and evenly, at length finishes and covers in its snug and 
 warm retreat ; and then, still further to secure itself from 
 the action of the atmosphere, with the slimy secretion 
 with which its Maker has gifted it, fixes partition after 
 partition, and fills each cell formed by it, with air, till 
 it has retreated as far as it can from every closed orifice 
 of its shell and thus barricades itself against a frozen 
 death. Again, in the spring, when the word is spoken 
 Awake ! it begins immediately to act with energy, 
 it re-inspires the air stored in its cells, bursts all its 
 cerements, returns to its summer-haunts, and again lays 
 waste our gardens. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that the terrestrial animals of 
 this tribe all delight in shady and moist places, and that 
 during hot and dry weather, they seldom make their ap- 
 pearance ; but no sooner comes a shower than they are 
 all in motion. It is probable that their power of motion 
 is impeded by a dry soil, and that the grains of earth 
 and small stones, when quite dry, adhere to their slimy 
 feet. Abridged from Kirby's Bridgewater Treatise. 
 
 culiarity is, that the animal has got its eyes on 
 the points of its largest horns. When the 
 snail is in motion, four horns are distinctly 
 seen : but the two uppermost, and longest, 
 deserve peculiar consideration, both on ac- 
 count of the various motions with which they 
 are endued, as well as their having their eyes 
 fixed at the extreme ends of them. These 
 appear like two blackish points at their ends. 
 When considered as taken out of the body, 
 they are of a bulbous or turnip-like figure ; 
 they have but one coat ; and the three 
 humours which are common in the eyes of 
 other animals, namely, the vitreous, the aque - 
 ous, and the crystalline, are, in these, very 
 indistinctly seen. The eyes the animal can 
 direct to different objects at pleasure, by a 
 regular motion out of the body ; and some- 
 times it hides them by a very swift contrac- 
 tion into the belly. Under the small horns is 
 the animal's mouth ; and though it may ap- 
 pear too soft a substance to be furnished with 
 teeth, yet it has not less than eight of them, 
 with which it devours leaves, and other sub- 
 stances, seemingly harder than itself; and 
 with which it sometimes bites off pieces of its 
 own shell. 
 
 But what is most surprising in the forma- 
 tion of this animal are the parts that serve for 
 generation. Every snail is at once male and 
 female; and while it impregnates another, is 
 itself impregnated in turn. The vessels sup- 
 plying the fluid for this purpose, are placed 
 chiefly in the fore part of the neck, arid extend 
 themselves over the body ; but the male and 
 female organs of generation are always found 
 united, and growing together. There is a 
 large opening on the right side of the neck, 
 which serves for very different purposes. As 
 a vent, it gives a passage to the excrements; 
 as a mouth, it serves for an opening for res- 
 piration; and also as an organ of generation, 
 it dilates when the desire of propagation be- 
 gins. Within this each animal has those 
 parts, or something similar thereto, which 
 continue the kind. 
 
 For some days before coition, the snails ga- 
 ther together, and lie quite near to each other, 
 eating very little in the meantime; but they 
 settle their bodies in such a posture, that the 
 neck and head are placed upright. In the 
 meantime, the apertures on the side of the 
 neck being greatly dilated, two organs, resem- 
 bling intestines, are seen issuing from them, 
 which some have thought to be the instru- 
 ments of generation. Beside the protrusion 
 of these, each animal is possessed of another 
 peculiarity ; for, from the same aperture, they 
 launch forth a kind of dart at each other, 
 which is pretty hard, barbed, and ending in a 
 very sharp point. This is performed when 
 the apertures approach each other ; and then 
 
TURBINATED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 861 
 
 the one is seen to shoot its weapon, which is 
 received by the other, though it sometimes 
 falls to the ground; some minutes after, the 
 snail which received the weapon, darts one of 
 its own at its antagonist, which is received in 
 like manner. They then softly approach still 
 nearer, and apply their bodies one to the 
 other, as closely as the palms and fingers of 
 hands when grasped together. At that time 
 the horns are seen variously moving in all di- 
 rections ; and this sometimes for three days to- 
 gether. The coupling of these animals is ge- 
 nerally thrice repeated, at intervals of fifteen 
 days each; and, at every time, a new dart is 
 mutually emitted. 
 
 At the expiration of eighteen days, the 
 snails produce their eggs, at the opening of 
 the neck, and hide them in the earth with the 
 greatest solicitude and industry. These eggs 
 are in great numbers, round, white, and co- 
 vered with a soft shell : they are also stuck to 
 each other by an imperceptible slime, like a 
 bunch of grapes, of about the size of a small 
 pea. 
 
 When the animal leaves the egg, it is seen 
 with a very small shell on its back, which has 
 but one convolution ; but in proportion as it 
 grows, the shell increases in the number of its 
 circles. The shell always receives its addi- 
 tions at the mouth, the first centre still re- 
 maining; the animal sending forth from its 
 body that slime which hardens into a stony 
 substance, and still is fashioned into similar 
 volutions. The garden-snail seldom exceeds 
 four rounds and a half; but some of the sea- 
 snails arrive even at ten. 
 
 The snail, thus fitted with its box, which is 
 light and firm, finds itself defended, in a very 
 ample manner, from all external injury. 
 Whenever it is invaded, it is but retiring into 
 this fortress, and waiting patiently till the 
 danger is over. Nor is it possessed only of a 
 power of retreating into its shell, but of mend- 
 ing it when broken. Sometimes these ani- 
 mals are crushed seemingly to pieces, and, to 
 all appearance, utterly destroyed; yet still 
 they set themselves to work, and, in a few 
 days, mend all their numerous breaches. The 
 same substance by which the shell is original- 
 ly made goes to the re-establishment of the 
 ruined habitation. But all the junctures are 
 very easily seen, for they have a fresher col- 
 our than the rest; and the whole shell, in some 
 measure, resembles an old coat patched with 
 new pieces. They are sometimes seen with 
 eight or ten of these patches ; so that the da- 
 mage must have been apparently irreparable. 
 Still, however, though the animal is possessed 
 of the power of mending its shell, it cannot, 
 when come to its full growth, make a new 
 one. Swammerdam tried the experiment; he 
 stripped a snail of its shell, without hurting 
 
 any of the blood-vessels, retaining that part of 
 the shell where the muscles were inserted; 
 but it died in three days after it was stripped 
 of its covering : not, however, without making 
 efforts to build up a new shell ; for, before its 
 death it pressed out a certain membrane round 
 the whole surface of its body. This mem- 
 brane was entirely of the shelly nature, and 
 was intended, by the animal, as a supply to- 
 wards a new one. 
 
 As the snail is furnished with all the or- 
 gans of life and sensation, it is not wonderful 
 to see it very voracious. It chiefly subsists 
 upon leaves of plants and trees ; but is very 
 delicate in its choice. When the animal 
 moves to seek its food, it goes forward by 
 means of that broad muscular skin which 
 sometimes is seen projecting round the mouth 
 of the shell ; this is expanded before, and then 
 contracted with a kind of undulating motion, 
 like a man attempting to move himself for- 
 ward by one arm while lying on his belly. 
 But the snail has another advantage, by which 
 it not only smooths and planes its way, but also 
 can ascend in the most perpendicular direc- 
 tion. This is by that slimy substance with 
 which it is so copiously furnished, and which 
 it emits wherever it moves. Upon this slime, 
 as upon a kind of carpet, it proceeds slowly 
 along, without any danger of wounding its 
 tender body against the asperities of the pave- 
 ment; by means of this it moves upwards to its 
 food upon the trees ; and by this descends 
 without danger of falling, and breaking its 
 shell by the shock. 
 
 The appetite of these animals is very great ; 
 and the damage gardeners in particular sus- 
 tain from them, makes them employ every 
 method for their destruction. Salt will destroy 
 them, as well as soot ; but a tortoise in a garden 
 is said to banish them much more effectually. 
 
 At the approach of winter, the snail buries 
 itself in the earth ; or retires to some hole, to 
 continue in a torpid state, during the severity 
 of the season. It is sometimes seen alone, but 
 more frequently in company in its retreat; se 
 veral being usually found together, apparently 
 deprived of life and sensation. For the pur- 
 poses of continuing in greater warmth and se- 
 curity, the snail forms a cover or lid to the 
 mouth of its shell with its slime, which stops 
 it up entirely, and thus protects it from every 
 external danger. The matter of which the 
 cover is composed, is whitish, somewhat like 
 plaster, pretty hard and solid, yet, at the same 
 time, porous and thin, to admit air, which the 
 animal cannot live without. When the cover 
 is formed too thick, the snail then breaks a 
 little hole in it, which corrects the defect of 
 that closeness, which proceeded from too much 
 caution. In this manner, sheltered in its hole 
 from the weather, defended in its shell by a 
 
362 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 cover, it sleeps during the winter ; and, for 
 six or seven months, continues without food or 
 motion, until the genial call of spring breaks 
 its slumber, and excites its activity. 
 
 The snail, having slept for so long a season, 
 wakes one of the first fine days of April, 
 breaks open its cell, and sallies forth to seek 
 for nourishment. It is not surprising that so 
 long a fast should have thinned it, and ren- 
 dered it very voracious. At first, therefore, 
 it is not very difficult in the choice of its food ; 
 almost any vegetable that is green seems wel- 
 come , but the succulent plants of the garden 
 are chiefly grateful ; and the various kinds of 
 pulse are, at some seasons, almost wholly des- 
 troyed by their numbers. So great is the 
 multiplication of snails in some years, that 
 gardeners imagine they burst from the earth. 
 A wet season is generally favourable to their 
 production ; for this animal cannot bear very 
 dry seasons, or dry places, as they cause too 
 great a consumption of its slime, without 
 plenty of which it cannot subsist in health and 
 vigour. 
 
 Such are the most striking particulars in 
 the history of this animal ; and this may serve 
 as a general picture, to which the manners 
 and habitudes of the other tribes of this class 
 may be compared and referred. These are, 
 the sea-snail, of which naturalists have, from 
 the apparent difference of their shells, men- 
 tioned fifteen kinds; 1 the fresh-water-snail, of 
 which there are eight kinds; and the land- 
 snail, of which there are five. These all bear 
 a strong resemblance to the garden-snail, in 
 the formation of their shell, in their herma- 
 phrodite natures, in the slimy substance with 
 which they are covered, in the formation of 
 their intestines, and the disposition of the hole 
 on the right side of the neck, which serves at 
 once for the discharge of the faeces, for the 
 lodging the instruments of generation, and for 
 respiration, when the animal is under a ne- 
 cessity of taking in a new supply. 
 
 But, in nature, no two kinds of animals, 
 however like each other in figure or conforma- 
 tion, are of manners entirely the same. Though 
 the common garden-snail bears a very strong 
 resemblance to that of fresh-water, and that 
 of the sea, yet there are differences to be 
 found, and those very considerable ones. 
 
 If we compare them with the fresh-water 
 snail, though we shall find a general resem- 
 blance, yet there are one or two remarkable 
 distinctions: and, first, the fresh-water snail, 
 and, as I should suppose, all snails that live 
 in water, are peculiarly furnished with a con- 
 trivance by Nature, for rising to the surface, 
 or sinking to the bottom. The manner in 
 which this is performed, is by opening and 
 
 1 D'Argeuville's Conchyliologie. 
 
 shutting the orifice on the right side of the 
 neck, which is furnished with muscles for 
 that purpose. The snail sometimes gathers 
 this aperture into an oblong tube, and stretches 
 or protends it above the surface of the wa- 
 ter, in order to draw in or expel the air, as it 
 finds occasion. This may not only be seen, 
 but heard also by the noise which the snail 
 makes in moving the water. By dilating this 
 it rises; by compressing it the animal sinks 
 to the bottom. This is effected somewhat in 
 the manner in which little images of glass are 
 made to rise or sink in the water, by pressing 
 the air contained at the mouth of the tubes, so 
 that it shall drive the water into their hollow 
 bodies, which, before, were filled only with 
 air, and thus make them heavier than the ele- 
 ment in which they swim. In this manner 
 does the fresh water snail dive or swim, by 
 properly managing the air contained in its 
 body. 
 
 But what renders these animals far more 
 worthy of notice is, that they are viviparous, 
 and bring forth their young not only alive, but 
 with their shells upon their backs. This 
 seems surprising ; yet it is incontestably true : 
 the young come to some degree of perfection 
 in the womb of the parent ; there they receive 
 their stony coat ; and from thence are exclu- 
 ded, with a complete apparatus for subsis- 
 tence. 
 
 " On the twelfth of March," says Swam- 
 merdam, " I began my observations upon this 
 snail, and collected a great number of the 
 kind, which I put into a large basin filled 
 with rain-water, and fed, for a long time, with 
 potter's earth, dissolved in the water about 
 them. On the thirteenth of the same month 
 I opened one of these snails, when I found 
 nine living snails in its womb : the largest of 
 these were placed foremost, as the first candi- 
 dates for exclusion. I put them into fresh- 
 water, and they lived till the eighteenth of the 
 same month, moving and swimming, like 
 snails full grown : nay, their manner of swim- 
 ming was much more beautiful." Thus, at 
 whatever time of the year these snails are 
 opened they are found pregnant with eggs, or 
 with living snails; or with both together. 
 
 This striking difference between /the fresh- 
 water and the garden snail, obtains also in 
 some of the sea kind: among which there are 
 some that are found viviparous, while others 
 lay eggs in the usual manner. Of this kind 
 are one or two of the Buccinums ; within 
 which living young have been frequently found 
 upon their dissection. In general, however, 
 the rest of this numerous class bring forth 
 eggs; from whence the animal bursts at a 
 proper state of maturity, completely equipped 
 with a house, which the moistness of the ele- 
 ment where it resides does not prevent the in 
 
TURB1NATED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 363 
 
 habitant from enlarging. How the soft slime 
 of the snail hardens, at the bottom of the sea, 
 into the stony substance of a shell, is not easy 
 to conceive. This slime must at least be pos- 
 sessed of very powerful petrifying powers. 
 
 All animals of the snail kind, as was ob- 
 served before, are hermaphrodites ; each con- 
 taining the instruments of generation double. 
 But some of the sea kinds copulate in a differ- 
 ent manner from those of the garden. The 
 one impregnates the other ; but, from the po- 
 sition of the parts, is incapable of being im- 
 pregnated by the same in turn. For this rea- 
 son it is necessary for a third to be admitted 
 as a partner in this operation : so that, while 
 one impregnates that before it, another does 
 the same office by this; which is itself im- 
 pregnated by a fourth. In this manner, Mr 
 Adanson has seen vast numbers of sea-snails 
 united together in a chain impregnating each 
 other. The Bulin and the Coret perform the 
 offices of male and female at the same time. 
 The orifices in these are two, both separated 
 from each other: the opening by which the 
 animal performs the office of the male being 
 at the origin of the horns ; that by which it is 
 passive, as the female, being farther down 
 upon the neck. It may also be observed, as 
 a general rule, that all animals that have this 
 orifice, or verge, as some call it, on the right 
 side, have their shells turned from the right 
 to the left; on the contrary, those which have 
 it on the left side, have their shells turned from 
 lett to right, in a contrary direction to the 
 former. 
 
 But this is not the only difference between 
 land and sea-snails. Many of the latter en- 
 tirely want horns; and none of them have 
 above two. Indeed, if the horns of snails be 
 furnished with eyes, and if, as some are will- 
 ing to think, the length of the horn, like the 
 tube of a telescope, assists vision, these ani- 
 mals that chiefly reside in the gloomy bottom 
 of the deep, can have no great occasion for 
 them. Eyes would be unnecessary to crea- 
 tures whose food is usually concealed in the 
 darkest places; and who, possessed of very 
 little motion, are obliged to grope for what 
 they subsist on. To such, I say, eyes would 
 rather be an obstruction than an advantage ; 
 and, perhaps, even those that live upon land 
 are without them. 
 
 Those that have seen the shells of sea-snails, 
 need not be told that the animal which produ- 
 ces them is larger than those of the same de- 
 nomination upon land. The sea seems to have 
 the property of enlarging the magnitude of all 
 its inhabitants; and the same proportion that 
 a trout bears to a shark, is often seen to obtain 
 between a shell bred upon the land, and one 
 bred in the ocean; Its convolutions are more 
 numerous. The garden-snail has but five 
 
 turns at the most ; in the sea-snail the convo- 
 lutions are sometimes seen amounting to ten. 
 
 There is a difference also in the position of 
 the mouth in the garden and the water snail. 
 In the former, the mouth is placed crosswise, 
 as in quadrupeds; furnished with jaw-bones, 
 lips, and teeth. In most of the sea-snails, the 
 mouth is placed longitudinally in the head ; 
 and in some obliquely, or on one side. Others, 
 of the Trochus kind, have no mouth whatso- 
 ever; but are furnished with a trunk, very 
 long in some kinds, and shorter in others. 
 
 Snails of the Trochus kind, furnished thus 
 with an instrument of offence, deserve our par- 
 ticular attention. The trunk of the Trochus 
 is fleshy, muscular, supple, and hollow. Its 
 extremity is bordered with a cartilage, and 
 toothed like a saw. The snails that are pro 
 vided with this may be considered as the pre- 
 dacious tribe among their fellows of the bot- 
 tom. They are among snails what the tiger, 
 the eagle, or the shark, is among beasts, birds, 
 or fishes. The whole race of shelled animals 
 avoid their approach ; for their habitations, 
 however powerfully and strongly built, though 
 never so well fortified, yield to the superior 
 force of these invaders. Though provided 
 with a thick clumsy shell themselves, yet they 
 move with greater swiftness at the bottom 
 than most other shell-fish, and seize their prey 
 with greater facility. No shell so large but 
 they will boldly venture to attack; and, with 
 their piercing auger-like trunk, will quickly 
 bore it through. No efforts the other animal 
 makes can avail : it expands itself, and rises 
 to the surface ; but the enemy rises with it : 
 it again sinks to the bottom, but still its des- 
 troyer closely adheres. In this manner the 
 carnivorous shell-fish, as some naturalists call 
 it, sticks for several days, nay, weeks, to its 
 prey, until, with its trunk, it has sucked out 
 all the substance, or until it drops off, when 
 the other begins to putrefy. 
 
 Thus it would seem, throughout nature, 
 that no animal is so well defended but that 
 others are found capable of breaking in upon 
 its intrenchments. The garden-snail seems 
 tolerably well guarded ; but the wall of its 
 shell is paper itself, in comparison with that 
 which fortifies some of the sea-snail kind. 
 Beside this thick shell, many of them are also 
 furnished with a lid, which covers the mouth 
 of the shell, and which opens and shuts at the 
 animal's pleasure. When the creature hunts 
 for food, it opens its box, gropes or swims 
 about; and, when satisfied, drops its lid, and 
 sinks to the bottom : there it might be sup- 
 posed to remain in perfect security; but the 
 trochus soon finds the way to break into the 
 thickest part of its inclosure, and quickly de- 
 stroys it with the most fatal industry. 
 
 The being liable to the attacks of the trochus 
 
364 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 seems to be a calamity to which most of 
 tins tribe are subject. Scarce a shell is met 
 with entire and sound to the end of its convo- 
 lutions ; but particularly the thinnest shells 
 are the most subject to be thus invaded. As 
 their shells are easily pierced, the predatory 
 shell-fish, or the sea-worm, chiefly seek them 
 for subsistence ; and of those thin paper-like 
 shells, not one in a hundred is found that has 
 not suffered some disaster. As they are lighter 
 than other shell-fish, they swim with greater 
 ease ; and this is the chief method of avoiding 
 their heavier thick-shelled pursuers. The 
 food of all snails properly lies at the bottom; 
 when, therefore, the nautilus, or other thin- 
 shelled fish, are seen busily swimming at the 
 surface, it may be that, instead of sporting or 
 sunning themselves, as some are apt to sup- 
 pose, they are actually labouring to escape 
 their most deadly pursuers. 
 
 Of all sea-snails, that which is most fre- 
 quently seen swimming upon the surface, and 
 whose shell is the thinnest, and most easily 
 pierced, is the nautilus. Whether, upon these 
 occasions, it is employed in escaping its nu- 
 merous enemies at the bottom, or seeking for 
 food at the surface, I will not venture to de- 
 cide. It seems most probable, that the former 
 is the cause of its frequently appearing ; for, 
 upon opening the stomach, it is found to con- 
 tain chiefly that food which it finds at the 
 bottom. This animal's industry, therefore, 
 may be owing to its fears ; arid all those arts 
 of sailing which it has taught mankind, may 
 have been originally the product of neces- 
 sity. But the nautilus is too famous not to 
 demand a more ample description. Although 
 there be several species of the nautilus, yet 
 they all may be divided into two: the one 
 with a white shell, as thin as paper, which it 
 often is seen to quit, and again to resume; the 
 other with a thicker shell, sometimes of a beau- 
 tiful mother-of-pearl colour, and that quits its 
 shell but rarely. This shell, outwardly, re- 
 sembles that of a large snail, but is generally 
 six or eight inches across ; within it is divided 
 into forty partitions, that communicate with 
 each other by doors, if I may so call them, 
 through which one could not thrust a goose- 
 quill : almost the whole internal part of the 
 shell is filled by the animal ; the body of 
 which, like its habitation, is divided into as 
 many parts as there are chambers in its shell : 
 all the parts of its body communicate with 
 each other, through the doors or openings, by 
 a long blood-vessel, which runs from the head 
 to the tail, thus the body of the animal, if 
 taken out of the shell, may be likened to a 
 number of soft bits of flesh, of which there are 
 forty, threaded upon a string. From this ex- 
 traordinary conformation, one would not be 
 apt to suppose that the nautilus sometimes 
 
 quitted its shell, and returned to it again ; yet 
 nothing, though seemingly more impossible, 
 is more certain. The manner by which it 
 contrives to disengage every part of its body 
 from so intricate a habitation, by which it 
 makes a substance, to appearance as thick as 
 one's wrist, pass through forty doors, each of 
 which would scarcely admit a goose-quill, is 
 not yet discovered : but the fact is certain ; for 
 the animal is often found without its shell ; 
 and the shell more frequently destitute of the 
 animal. It is most probable, that it has a 
 power of making the substance of one section 
 of its body remove up into that which is next ; 
 and thus, by multiplied removals, it gets free. 1 
 But this, though very strange, is not the 
 peculiarity for which the nautilus has been 
 the most distinguished. Its " spreading the 
 thin oar," and " catching the flying gale," to 
 use the poet's description of it, has chiefly ex- 
 cited human curiosity. These animals, par- 
 ticularly those of the white light kind, are 
 chiefly found in the Mediterranean ; and 
 scarcely any who have sailed on that sea, but 
 must often have seen them. When the sea 
 is calm, they are observed floating on the 
 surface ; some spreading their little sail ; 
 some rowing with their feet, as if for life and 
 death ; and others still, floating upon their 
 mouths, like a ship with the keel upward. 
 If taken while thus employed, and examined, 
 the extraordinary mechanism of their limbs 
 for sailing will appear more manifest. The 
 nautilus is furnished with eight feet, which 
 issue near the mouth, and may as properly be 
 called barbs: these are connected to each 
 other by a thin skin, like that between the 
 toes of a duck, but much thinner and more 
 transparent. Of these eight feet thus con- 
 nected, six are short, and these are held up 
 as sails to catch the wind in sailing ; the two 
 others are longer, and are kept in the water, 
 
 1 Goldsmith has confounded two shells very different 
 in their characters. The one is an Argonauta, and the 
 other a Nautilus. The paper argonaut is extremely 
 thin, spiral, involute, membraneous, and unilocular, or 
 consisting of a single apartment or cell. It has a narrow 
 keel, bordered on each side by a row of conical sharp 
 tubercles ; its sides are nearly fiat, with numerous 
 angular waved ridges ; its colour is white, with the keel 
 often brown. The shell is very thin and brittle ; from 
 which circumstance it has obtained the name of paper 
 nautilus. This shell is the nautilus of the ancients, 
 mentioned in the writings of Pliny and others. It is 
 supposed, that, in the early ages of society, the art of 
 navigation owed its origin to the expert management of 
 this instinctive sailor. 
 
 Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, 
 
 Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. Pope. 
 
 It swims on the surface of the sea, on the back of its 
 shell, which exactly resembles the hull of a ship ; it 
 raises two feet like masts, and extends a membrane 
 between, which serves as a sail ; the other two feet are 
 employed as oars. This fish is usually found in the 
 Mediterranean. 
 
BIVALVED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 365 
 
 serving like paddles to steer their course by. 
 When the weather is quite calm, and the 
 animal is pursued from below, it is then seen 
 expanding only a part of its sail, and rowing 
 with the rest : whenever it is interrupted, or 
 fears danger from above, it instantly furls the 
 sails, catches in all its oars, turns its shell 
 mouth downward, and instantly sinks to the 
 bottom. Sometimes also it is seen pumping 
 the water from its leaking hulk ; and, when 
 unfit for sailing, deserts its shell entirely. 
 The forsaken hulk is seen floating along, till 
 it dashes, by a kind of shipwreck, upon the 
 rocks or the shore. 
 
 From the above description, I think we 
 may consider this animal rather as attempting 
 to save itself from the attacks of its destroyers, 
 than as rowing in pursuit of food. Certain 
 it is, that no creature of the deep has more 
 numerous or more powerful enemies. Its 
 shell is scarcely ever found in perfect preser- 
 vation ; but is generally seen to bear some 
 marks of hostile invasion. Its little arts, 
 therefore, upon the surface of the water may 
 have been given it for protection ; and it may 
 be thus endued with comparative swiftness, 
 to avoid the crab, the sea-scorpion, the trochus, 
 and all the slower predacious reptiles that 
 lurk for it at the bottom of the water. 
 
 From this general view of snails, they ap- 
 pear to be a much more active animated tribe, 
 than from their figure one would at first con- 
 ceive. They seem to an inattentive spectator, 
 as mere inert masses of soft flesh, rather loaded 
 than covered with a shell, scarcely capable 
 of motion, and insensible to all the objects 
 around them. When viewed more closely, 
 they are found to be furnished with the organs 
 of life and sensation in tolerable perfection ; 
 they are defended with armour that is at once 
 both light and strong ; they are as active as 
 their necessities require ; and are possessed 
 of appetites more poignant than those of ani- 
 mals that seem much more perfectly formed. 
 In short, they are a fruitful industrious tribe; 
 furnished, like all other animals, with the 
 powers of escape and invasion ; they have 
 their pursuits and their enmities ; and, of all 
 creatures of the deep, they have most to fear 
 from each other. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF BIVALVED SHELL-FISH, OR SHELLS OF 
 THE OYSTER KIND. 
 
 IT may seem whimsical to make a distinc- 
 tion between the animal perfections of turbin- 
 
 * The Oyster, the Mussel, and the Cockle /The 
 
 
 ated and bivalved shell-fish ; or to grant a 
 degree of superiority to the snail above the 
 oyster. Yet this distinction strongly and ap- 
 parently obtains in nature ; and we shall find 
 
 Mollusca which inhabit bivalved shells, such as the 
 Oyster, the Mussel, and the Cockle, are all acephalous ; 
 that is, destitute of a head. The two valves of the shell 
 are united at the back by a hinge-joint, often very 
 artificially constructed, having teeth that lock into each 
 ther; and the mechanism of this articulation varies 
 much in different species. The hinge is secured by a 
 substance of great strength. 
 
 During the life of the animal, the usual and natural 
 state of its shell is that of being kept open for a little 
 distance, so as to allow of the ingress and egress of the 
 water necessary for its nourishment and respiration ; but, 
 as a security against danger, it was necessary to furnish 
 the animal with the means of rapidly closing the shell, 
 and retaining the valves in a closed state. These ac- 
 tions being only occasional, yet requiring considerable 
 force, are effected by a muscular power, for which pur- 
 pose sometimes one, sometimes two, or even a greater 
 number of strong muscles are placed between the valves, 
 their fibres passing directly across from the inner surface 
 of the one to that of the other, and firmly attached to 
 both. They are named, from their office of bringing 
 the valves towards each other, the adductor muscles. 
 
 The simple actions of opening and closing the valves, 
 are capable of being converted into a means of retreat- 
 ing from danger, or of removing to a more commodious 
 situation, in the case of those bivalves which are not 
 actually attached to rocks or other fixed bodies. Dique- 
 marc long ago observed, that even the oyster has some 
 power of locomotion, by suddenly closing its shell, and 
 thereby expelling the contained water with a degree of 
 force, which, by the reaction of the fluid in the opposite 
 direction, gives a sensible impulse to the heavy mass. 
 He notices the singular fact, that oysters which are at- 
 tached to rocks occasionally left dry by the retreat of the 
 tide, always retain within their shells a quantity of water 
 sufficient for respiration, and that they keep the valves 
 closed till the return of the tide ; whereas, those oysters 
 which are taken from greater depths, where the water 
 never leaves them, and are afterwards removed to situa- 
 tions where they are exposed to these vicissitudes, of 
 which they have had no previous experience, improvi- 
 dently open their shells after the sea has left them ; 
 and, by allowing the water to escape, soon perish. 
 
 Many bivalved mollusca are provided with an instru- 
 ment shaped like a leg and foot, which they employ ex- 
 tensively for progressive motion. In the cardium, or 
 cockle, this organ is composed of a mass of muscular 
 fibres, interwoven together in a very complex manner, 
 and which may be compared to the muscular structure 
 of the human tongue ; the effect in both is the same, 
 namely, the conferring a power of motion in all possible 
 ways ; thus it may be readily protruded, retracted, or 
 inflected at every point. The solen, or razor-shell fish, 
 has a foot of a cylindrical shape, tapering at the end, and 
 much more resembling in its form a tongue than a foot. 
 In some bivalves the dilatation of the foot is effected by 
 a curious hydraulic mechanism: the interior of the organ 
 is formed of a spongy texture, capable of receiving a con- 
 siderable quantity of water, which the animal has the 
 power of injecting into it, and of thus increasing its 
 dimensions. 
 
 The foot of the Mytilus edulis, or common mussel, can 
 be advanced to the distance of two inches from the shell, 
 and applied to any fixed body within that range. By 
 attaching the point to such body, and retracting the foot, 
 this animal drags its shell towards it, and by repeating 
 the operation successively on other points of the fixed 
 object, continues slowly to advance. 
 
366 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 the bivalved tribe of animals in every respect 
 inferior to those we have been describing. 
 Inferior in all their sensations ; inferior in 
 their powers of motion ; but particularly in 
 
 This instrument is of great use to such shell-fish as 
 conceal themselves in the mud or sand, which its struc- 
 ture is then peculiarly adapted for scooping out. The 
 cockle continually employs its foot for this purpose ; first 
 elongating it, directing its point downwards, and insin- 
 uating it deep into the sand, and next, turning up the 
 end, and forming it into a hook, by which, from the resis- 
 tance of the sand, it is fixed in its position, and then the 
 muscles which usually retract it are thrown into action, 
 and the whole shell is alternately raised and depressed, 
 moving on the foot as on a fulcrum. The effect of these 
 exertions is to drag the shell downwards. When the 
 animal is moderately active, these movements are repeated 
 two or three times in a minute. The apparent pro- 
 gress is at first but small ; the shell, which was raised on 
 its edge at the middle of the stroke, falling back on its 
 side at the end of it ; but when the shell is buried so far 
 as to be supported on its edge, it advances more rapidly, 
 sinking visibly at every stroke, till nothing but the 
 extremity of the tube can be perceived above the 
 sand. 
 
 By a process exactly the inverse of this, that is, by 
 doubling up the foot, and pushing with it downwards 
 against the sand below, the shell may be again made to 
 rise by the same kind of efforts which before protruded 
 the foot. By this process of burrowing, the animal is 
 enabled quickly to retreat when danger presses, and when 
 this is past, it can, with equal facility, emerge from its 
 hiding-place. 
 
 The Cardium can also advance at the bottom of the 
 sea along the surface of the soft earth, pressing back- 
 wards with its foot, as a boatman impels his boat onwards 
 by pushing, with his pole against the ground in a con- 
 trary direction. It is, likewise, by a similar expedient, 
 that the Solen forces its way through the sand, expand- 
 ing the end of its foot into the form of a club. The 
 Tellina is remarkable for the quickness and agility with 
 which it can spring to considerable distances, by first 
 folding the foot into a small compass, and then suddenly 
 extending it, while the shell is at the same time closed 
 with a loud snap. 
 
 The Pinna, or marine mussel, when inhabiting the 
 shores of tempestuous seas, is furnished, in addition, 
 with a singular apparatus for withstanding the fury of the 
 surge, and securing itself from dangerous collisions, 
 which might easily destroy the brittle texture of its shell. 
 The object of this apparatus is to prepare a great num- 
 ber of threads, which are fastened at various points to the 
 adjacent rocks, and then tightly drawn by the animal, 
 just as a ship is moored in a convenient station, to avoid 
 the buffeting of the storm. The foot of this bivalve is 
 cylindrical, and has, connected with its base, a round 
 tendon, of nearly the same length as itself, the office of 
 which is to retain all the threads in firm adhesion Avith 
 it, and concentrate their power, on one point. The 
 threads themselves are composed of a glutinous matter, 
 prepared by a particular organ. They are not spun by 
 being drawn out of the body like the threads of the silk- 
 worm, or of the spider, but they are cast in a mould, 
 where they harden, and acquire a certain consistence 
 before they are employed. This mould is curiously 
 constructed ; there is a deep groove which passes along 
 the foot, from the root of the tendon to its other extrem- 
 ity, and the sides of this groove are formed so as to fold 
 and close over it, thereby converting it into a canal. 
 The glutinous secretion, which is poured into this canal, 
 dries into a solid thread ; and, when it has acquired 
 sufficient tenacity the foot is protruded, and the thread 
 it contains is applied to the object to which it is to be 
 
 ferior in their system of animal genera, 
 tion. The snail tribe, as we saw, are her- 
 maphrodite, but require the assistance of each 
 other for fecundation ; all the bivalve tribe 
 are hermaphrodite in like manner, but they 
 require no assistance from each other towards 
 impregnation ; and a single mussel or oyster, 
 if there were on other in the world, would 
 quickly replenish the ocean. As the land- 
 snail, from its being best known, took the 
 lead in the former class, so the fresh-water 
 mussel, for the same reason, may take the 
 lead in this. The life and manners of such 
 as belong to the sea will be best displayed in 
 the comparison. 
 
 The mussel, as is well known, whether 
 belonging to fresh or salt water, consists of 
 two equal shells, joined at the back by a 
 strong muscular ligament, that answers all 
 the purposes of a hinge. By the elastic con. 
 traction of these, the animal can open its shell 
 at pleasure, about a quarter of an inch from 
 each other. The fish is fixed to either shell 
 by four tendons, by means of which it shuts 
 them close, and keeps its body firm from being 
 crushed by any shock against the walls of its 
 own habitation. It is furnished, like all other 
 animals of this kind, with vital organs, though 
 these are situated in a very extraordinary man- 
 ner. It has a mouth furnished with two 
 fleshy lips; its intestine begins at the bottom 
 of the mouth, passes through the brain, and 
 makes a number of circumvolutions through 
 the liver; on leaving this organ, it goes on 
 straight into the heart, which it penetrates v 
 and ends in the anus : near which the lungs 
 are placed, and through which it breathes, 
 
 fixed, its extremity being carefully attached to the solid 
 surface of that object. The canal of the foot is then 
 opened along its whole length, and the thread, which 
 adheres by its other extremity to the large tendon at the 
 base of the foot, is disengaged from the canal. Lastly, 
 the foot is retracted, and the same operation is repeated. 
 Thread after thread is thus formed, and applied in 
 different directions around the shell. Sometimes the 
 attempt fails, in consequence of some imperfection in 
 the thread ; but the animal, as if aware of the impor- 
 tance of ascertaining the strength of each thread, on 
 which its safety depends, tries every one of them as soon 
 as it has been fixed, by swinging itself round, so as to 
 put it fully on the stretch ; an action which probably 
 also assists in elongating the thread. When once the 
 threads have been fixed, the animal does not appear to 
 have the power of cutting or breaking them off. The 
 liquid matter out of which they are formed, is soexceed- 
 
 ngly glutinous as to attach itself firmly to the smoothest 
 iodies. It is but slowly produced, for it appears that no 
 Pinna is capable of forming more than four, or at most 
 five threads, in the course of a day and night. The 
 ;hreads which are formed in haste, when the animal is 
 disturbed in its operations, are more slender than those 
 which are constructed at its leisure. In Sicily, and 
 other parts of the Mediterranean, these threads have 
 
 een manufactured into gloves, and other articles, which 
 esemble silk. Abridged from, Dr Rogefs Bridgewater 
 Treatise. 
 
BIVALVE!) SHELL-FISH. 
 
 like those of the snail kind; and in this man- 
 ner its languid circulation is carried on. 1 
 
 But the organs of generation are what most 
 deserve to excite our curiosity. These consist 
 in each mussel of two ovaries, which are the 
 female part of its furniture, and of two seminal 
 vessels, resembling what are found in the 
 male. Each ovary and each seminal vessel, 
 has its own proper canal : by the ovary canal 
 the eggs descend to the anus ; and there also 
 the seminal canals send their fluids to impreg- 
 nate them. By this contrivance, one single 
 animal suffices for the double purposes of 
 generation ; and the eggs are excluded and 
 impregnated by itself alone. 
 
 As the mussel is thus furnished with a kind 
 of self-creating power, there are few places 
 where it breeds that it is not found in great 
 abundance. The ovaries usually empty them- 
 selves of their eggs in spring, and they are 
 replenished in autumn. For this reason they 
 are found empty in summer, and full in winter. 
 They produce in great numbers, as all bivalved 
 shell-fish are found to do, The fecundity 
 of the snail kind is trifling in comparison to 
 the fertility of these. Indeed it may be as- 
 serted as a general rule in nature, that the 
 more helpless and contemptible the animal, 
 the more prolific it is always found. Thus 
 all creatures that are incapable of resisting 
 their destroyers, have nothing but their quick 
 multiplication for the continuation of their ex- 
 istence. 
 
 The^ multitude of these animals in some 
 places is very great ; but from their defence- 
 less state, the number of their destroyers are 
 in equal proportion. The crab, the cray-fish, 
 and many other animals, are seen to devour 
 them; but the trochus is their most formidable 
 enemy. When their shells are found deserted, 
 if we then observe closely, it is most probable 
 we shall find that the trochus has been at work 
 in piercing them. There is scarcely one of 
 them without a hole in it ; and this probably 
 was the avenue by which the enemy entered 
 to destroy the inhabitant. 
 
 But notwithstanding the numbers of this 
 creature's animated enemies, it seems still 
 more fearful of the agitations of the element 
 in which it resides ; for if dashed against rocks, 
 or thrown far on the beach, it is destroyed 
 without a power of redress. In order to guard 
 against these, which are to this animal the 
 commonest and the most fatal accidents, al- 
 though it has a power of slow motion, which 
 I shall presently describe, yet it endeavours to 
 become stationary, and to attach itself to any 
 fixed object it happens to be near. For this 
 purpose, it is furnished with a very singular 
 capacity of binding itself by a number of 
 
 1 M. Meiy. Anat. des Monies d'Etang. 
 
 threads to whatever object it approaches ; and 
 these Reaumur supposed are spun artificially, 
 as spiders their webs which they fasten against 
 a wall. Of this, however, later philosophers 
 have found very great reason to doubt. It is 
 therefore supposed that these threads, which 
 are usually called the beard of the mussel, are 
 the natural growth of the animal's body, and 
 by no means produced at pleasure. Indeed 
 the extreme length of this beard in some, 
 which far exceeds the length of the body, 
 seems impossible to be manufactured by the 
 thrusting out and drawing in of the tongue, 
 with the glutinous matter of which the French 
 philosopher supposed those threads were formed. 
 It is even found to increase with the growth 
 of the animal ; and as the mussel becomes lar- 
 ger and older, the beard becomes longer, and 
 its filaments more strong. 2 Be this as it will, 
 nothing is more certain than that the mussel 
 is found attached by these threads to every 
 fixed object ; sometimes, indeed, for want of 
 such an object, these animals are found united 
 to each other ; and though thrown into a lake 
 separately, they are taken out in bunches of 
 many together. 
 
 To have some fixed resting place where the 
 mussel can continue, and take its accidental 
 food, seems the state that this animal chiefly 
 desires. Its instruments of motion, by which 
 it contrives to reach the object it wants to 
 bind itself to, is that muscular substance re- 
 sembling a tongue, which is found long in 
 proportion to the size of the mussel. In some 
 it is two inches long, in others not a third part 
 of these dimensions. This the animal has a 
 power of thrusting out of its shell ; and with 
 this it is capable of making a slight furrow in 
 the sand at the bottom. By means of this 
 furrow it can erect itself upon the edge of its 
 shell ; and thus continuing to make the furrow 
 in proportion as it goes forward, it reaches out 
 its tongue, that answers the purpose of an arm, 
 and thus carries its shell edge-ways, as in a 
 groove, until it reaches the point intended. 
 There, where it determines to take up its re- 
 sidence, it fixes the ends of its beard, which 
 are glutinous, to the rock or the object, what- 
 ever it be ; and thus, like a ship at anchor, 
 braves all the agitations of the water. Some- 
 times the animal is attached by a large num 
 her of threads ; sometimes but by three or four, 
 that seem scarce able to retain it. When the 
 mussel is fixed in this manner, it lives upon 
 the little earthy particles that the water tran- 
 sports to its shells, and perhaps the flesh of the 
 most diminutive animals. However, it does 
 not fail to grow considerably ; and some of 
 this kind have been found a foot long. I 
 have seen the beards a foot and a half; and of 
 
 * Mercier du Paty, stir le Bouchots a Moules. Tom. 
 ii. de 1'Academie de la Rochelle. 
 
368 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 <his substance the natives of Palermo sometimes 
 make gloves and stockings. 
 
 These shell-fish are found in lakes, rivers, 
 and in the sea. Those of the lake often grow 
 to a very large size ; but they seem a solitary 
 animal, and are found generally separated 
 from each other. Those of rivers are not so 
 large, but yet in greater abundance ; but the 
 sea-mussel of all others is perhaps the most 
 plenty. These are often bred artificially in 
 salt-water marshes that are overflowed by the 
 tide ; the fishermen throwing them in at the 
 proper seasons; and there being undisturbed 
 by the agitations of the sea, and not preyed 
 upon by their powerful enemies at the bottom, 
 they cast their eggs, which soon become per- 
 fect animals, and these are generally found in 
 clusters of several dozen together. It requires 
 a year for the peopling of a mussel bed ; so 
 that, if the number consists of forty thousand, 
 a tenth part may annually be left for the 
 peopling the bed anew. Mussels are taken 
 from their beds from the month of July to Oc- 
 tober ; and they are sold at a very moderate 
 price. 1 
 
 From this animal the oyster differs very 
 little, except in the thickness of its shell, and 
 its greater imbecility. The oyster, like the 
 mussel, is formed with organs of life and res- 
 piration, with intestines which are very volu- 
 minous, a liver, lungs, and heart. Like the 
 mussel, it is self-impregnated; and the shell, 
 which the animal soon acquires, serves it for 
 its future habitation. Like the mussel, it 
 opens its shell to receive the influx of water ; 
 and like that animal is strongly attached to its 
 shell both above and below. 
 
 But it differs in many particulars. In the 
 first place, its shells are not equal, the one 
 being cupped, the other flat: upon the cupped 
 shell it is always seen to rest ; for if it lay 
 upon the flat side it would then lose all its 
 water. It differs also in the thickness of its 
 shells, which are so strongly lined and defen. 
 
 1 Some shell-fish are poisonous when eaten. This is 
 frequently the case with mussels. In the month of June, 
 1827, a great number of the poor in Leith were poisoned 
 hy eating these shell-fish, which they procured from the 
 docks. " The town," says Dr Combe, " was in a ferment, 
 and the magistrates, with great propriety, issued a warn- 
 ing against the use of the mussels. Many deaths were 
 reported, and hundreds of individuals were stated to be 
 suffering under it. Luckily, matters were not so de- 
 plorable; but we ascertained that in addition to the man 
 mentioned before, the companion of our patient, an el- 
 derly woman, had died. In all, about thirty cases oc- 
 curred, with great uniformity of symptoms, but varying 
 very much in severity : but none, so far as I know, have 
 left any permanent bad effects." To what cause these 
 deleterious effects are to be ascribed is uncertain. Some 
 attribute them to disease in the fish, or to its being in a 
 state of putrefaction ; others to its having fed on some 
 poisonous articles, more particularly on the ores of 
 copper. 
 
 ded, that no animal will attempt to pierce 
 them. But though the oyster be secured from 
 the attacks of the small reptiles at the bottom, 
 yet it often serves as an object to which they 
 are attached. Pipe-worms, and other little 
 animals, fix their habitation to the oyster's 
 sides, and in this manner continue to live in 
 security. Among the number of these is a 
 little red worm, that is often found upon the 
 shell ; which some, from never seeing oysters 
 copulate, erroneously supposed to be the male 
 by which their spawn was impregnated. 
 
 The oyster differs also from the mussel, in 
 being utterly unable to change its situation. 
 The mussel, as we have observed, is capable 
 of erecting itself on an edge, and going for- 
 ward with a slow laborious motion. The oys- 
 ter is wholly passive, and endeavours by all 
 its powers to rest fixed to one spot at the bot- 
 tom. It is entirely without that tongue which 
 we saw answering the purposes of an arm in 
 the other animal ; but nevertheless is often at- 
 tached very firmly to any object it happens to 
 approach. Rocks, stones, pieces of timber, or 
 sea-weeds, all seem proper to give it a fixture, 
 and to secure it against the agitation of the 
 waves. Nothing is so common in the rivers 
 of the tropical climates as to see oysters grow- 
 ing even amidst the branches of the forest. 
 Many trees which grow along the banks of 
 the stream often bend their branches into the 
 water, and particularly the mangrove, which 
 chiefly delights in a moist situation. To these 
 the oysters hang in clusters, like apples upon 
 the most fertile tree ; and in proportion as the 
 weight of the fish sinks the plant into the 
 water, where it still continues growing, the 
 number of oysters increase, and hang upon the 
 branches. Thus there is nothing that these 
 shell-fish will not stick to ; they are often even 
 found to stick to each other. This is effected 
 by means of a glue proper to themselves, 
 which, when it cements, the joining is as hard 
 as the shell, and is as difficultly broken. The 
 joining substance, however, is not always of 
 lue ; but the animal grows to the rocks, 
 somewhat like the mussel, by threads; al- 
 though these are only seen to take root in the 
 shell, and not, as in the mussel, to spring from 
 the body of the fish itself. 
 
 Oysters usually cast their spawn in May, 
 which at first appear like drops of candle - 
 grease, and stick to any hard substance they 
 fall upon. These are covered with a shell in 
 wo or three days ; and in three years the ani- 
 mal is large enough to be brought to market. 
 As they invariably remain in the places where 
 hey are laid, and as they grow without any 
 other seeming food than the afflux of sea-water, 
 t is the custom at Colchester, and other parts 
 of the kingdom, where the tide settles in 
 marshes on land, to pick up great quantities of 
 
BIVALVED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 369 
 
 small oysters along the shore, which, when first 
 gathered, seldom exceed the size of a sixpence. 
 These are deposited in beds where the tide 
 comes in, and in two or three years grow to a 
 tolerable size. They are said to be better 
 tasted from being thus sheltered from the agita- 
 tions of the deep ; and a mixture of fresh water 
 entering into these repositories, is said to im- 
 prove their flavour, and to increase their 
 growth and fatness. 1 
 
 1 Oysters, Oysters are said to be in season in every 
 month of the year that has an E in its name, beginning 
 with September and ending with April ; but the season 
 in many places extends from August to May. Every 
 city has its favourite oyster-bank. In London, the Col- 
 chester and Milton oysters are held in most esteem ; 
 Edinburgh has her " whiskered Pandores," and, latterly, 
 Aberdour oysters ; and Dublin, the Carlingford and 
 " Powldoodies of Burran." For the convenience of ob- 
 taining a ready supply of oysters, they are often trans- 
 ported from their original beds, and laid down on pro- 
 per places of the coast ; but these exiles are seldom 
 found in such perfection as those which are called na- 
 tives that is, such as have never been rudely torn from 
 their native homes, and sent on voyages of profit. Oys- 
 ters, when just dredged, may be so packed in small bar- 
 rels as to keep good for a week or ten days ; and in this 
 state they are sent to distant places. They may also 
 be preserved good for some time bv feeding ; and custom, 
 which brings g ourmands to admire game most when in 
 a state of putridity, has taught them to relish the flavour 
 of stale oysters better than those recently taken from the 
 beds. The fresher oysters are, they are the better, but when 
 to be kept, lay them, bottom downwards, in a tub, or any 
 vessel suited to the quantity to be preserved, and cover 
 them with water in which a good deal of salt is dis- 
 solved ; change the water every twelve hours. Most 
 cooks direct that this delicate animal should be fed with 
 oatmeal or flour sprinkled in the water ; and others, on 
 the principle which leads a mother of the parish of St 
 Giles to bathe her new-born darling in a drop of gin, are 
 for feeding them with white wine and bread crumbs ! 
 It is said, by those who have the charge of fish-ponds, 
 that " fish will eat nothing but what comes out of the 
 sea ;" now, though we are not perfectly convinced of 
 this fact, we can at least believe that salt-water gruel 
 is not over well suited to the delicate stomach of an 
 oyster. Those large, fat oysters, called Pandores, 
 which are so much prized in Edinburgh, are said to 
 owe their superior excellence to the blackish contents 
 of the pans of the adjacent salt-works of Prestonpans 
 flowing out upon the beds, a subject worthy the serious 
 investigation of the oyster amateur, who may here receive 
 some excellent hints for fattening and improving the 
 quality of his favourite morsel. 
 
 Shell-fish, and the oyster above all, have long been 
 deemed highly restorative and easy of digestion: they 
 are therefore recommended for the food of the delicate 
 and declining, and of those whose digestive powers have 
 been impaired by excess. When eaten for health, an 
 oyster is best swallowed with its own liquor, the moment 
 the shell is opened : or if found too cold for the stomach, 
 a sprinkling of black pepper may be allowed. Vinegar 
 counteracts the effect of eating oysters to enrich the 
 blood, or render it more balsamic; and ought, therefore, 
 to be avoided by the declining. As there are no reason- 
 able bounds to oyster-eating, it may be useful to notice 
 here that, when too many of these or other shell -fish are 
 swallowed, the unpleasant feeling may be removed by 
 drinking half a pint of hot milk. Consumptive persons 
 are recommended to use hot milk after their oysters at 
 ail times. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 The oysters, however, which are prepared 
 in this manner, are by no means so large 
 as those found sticking to rocks at the bot- 
 tom of the sea, usually called rock oysters. 
 These are sometimes found as broad as a 
 plate, and are admired by some as excellent 
 food. But what is the size of these compared 
 to the oysters of the East-Indies, some of 
 whose shells I have seen two feet over! The 
 oysters found along the coast of Coromandel 
 are capable of furnishing a plentiful meal to 
 eight or ten men ; but it seems universally 
 agreed, that they are no way comparable to 
 ours for delicacy of flavour. 2 
 
 Thus the mussel and the oyster appear to 
 have but few distinctions, except in their shape 
 and the power of motion in the former. Other 
 bivalved shell-fish, such as the cockle, the 
 scallop, and the razor shell, have differences 
 equally minute. The power of changing 
 place, which some of them effect in a manner 
 quite peculiar to themselves, makes their 
 greatest difference. The scallop is particu- 
 larly remarkable for its method of moving for- 
 ward upon land, or swimming upon the sur- 
 face of the water. When this animal finds 
 itself deserted by the tide, it makes very 
 remarkable efforts to regain the water, mov. 
 ing towards the sea in a most singular man- 
 ner. It first gapes with its shell as widely as it 
 can , the edges being often an inch asunder ; then 
 it shuts them with a jerk, and by this the 
 whole animal rises five or six inches from the 
 ground. It thus tumbles any how forward, 
 and then renews the operation until it has 
 attained its journey's end. When in the 
 water, it is capable of supporting itself upon 
 the surface; and there opening and shutting 
 its shells, it tumbles over and over, and makes 
 its way with some celerity. 
 
 The Pivot, or Razor-shell, has a very dif- 
 ferent kind of motion. As the former moves 
 laboriously and slowly forward, so the razor- 
 shell has only a power of sinking point down. 
 
 Of the univalved shells, the periwinkle (Turbo littoreus) 
 and common whelk (Bucciuum lapillus, Lin.) frequently 
 furnish to the poorer classes of our sea-coast towns and 
 villages a repast, perhaps sufficiently wholesome, and 
 certainly not destitute of relish. But, even to them 
 these may be regarded merely in the light of luxuries : 
 it is far otherwise with the still poorer inhabitants of 
 several of the Western isles of Scotland. Periwinkles 
 and limpets (Patella vulgata), which so profusely stud 
 the rocks of their shores, are their daily fare, and on 
 which they are sometimes reduced to the necessity of 
 altogether subsisting. In the Isle of Sky, for example, 
 we are told that there is almost annually a degree of 
 famine, when the poor are left to Providence's care, and 
 prowl, like other animals, along the shores, to pick up 
 limpets and other shell-fish : ' the casual repast," adds 
 Mr Pennant, "of hundreds, during part of the year, in 
 these unhappy islands." 
 
 2 The shell here alluded to is probably the Giant 
 Chama, a native of the Indian ocean, and the largest 
 shell at present known. 
 
 3 A 
 
370 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 ward. The shells of this animal resemble 
 nothing so much as the haft of a razor ; and 
 by this form it is better enabled to dive into 
 the soft sand at the bottom. All the motions 
 of this little animal are confined to sinking or 
 rising a foot downwards or upwards in the 
 sand, for it never leaves the spot where it first 
 was planted. From time to time it is seen to 
 rise about halfway out of its hole ; but if any 
 way disturbed, it sinks perpendicularly down 
 again. Just over the place where the razor 
 buries itself, there is a small hole like a 
 chimney, through which the animal breathes, 
 or imbibes the sea-water. Upon the deser- 
 tion of the tide, these holes are easily distin- 
 guished by the fishermen who seek for it ; and 
 their method of enticing the razor up from the 
 depth of its retreat, is by sprinkling a little 
 sea-salt upon the hole. This melting no 
 sooner reaches the razor below, than it rises 
 instantly strait upwards, and shows about 
 half its length above the surface. This ap- 
 pearance, however, is instantaneous ; and if 
 the fisher does not seize the opportunity, the 
 razor buries itself with great ease to its former 
 depth. There it continues secure: no salt 
 can allure it a second time ; but it remains 
 unmolested, unless the fisher will be at the 
 trouble of digging it out sometimes two feet 
 below the surface. 
 
 Such are the minute differences between 
 bivalved shell-fish ; but in the great outlines 
 of their nature they exactly resemble each 
 other. It is particularly in this class of shell- 
 fish that pearls are found in greatest abund- 
 ance ; and it is in the internal parts of those 
 shells that are of a shining silvery colour, that 
 these gems are usually generated ; but the 
 pearl is also found to breed as well in the 
 mussel or the scallop as in the oyster. In 
 fact, it is found in all bivalved shells, the in- 
 sides of which resemble that well-known sub- 
 stance called mother-of-pearl. 
 
 Whether pearls be a disease or an accident 
 in the animal is scarcely worth inquiry. The 
 common opinion is, that they are a kind of 
 calculose concretion in the body of the animal, 
 somewhat resembling a stone in the bladder, 
 and are consequently to be considered as a 
 disorder. It is said, in confirmation of this 
 opinion, that those coasts upon which pearls 
 are fished, are very unhealthy; and therefore 
 most probably oysters share the general in- 
 fluence of the climate ; it is also added, that 
 those oysters in which pearls are found are 
 always ill-tasted, which is a sign of their 
 being unsound : and, lastly, it is asserted, that 
 the pearl grows sometimes so big as to keep 
 the shells of the animal from shutting, and 
 that thus it dies by being exposed. It is easy 
 to see the weakness of these assertions, which 
 seem neither true nor amusing. To answer 
 
 them in their own way : If a stone in the 
 bladder be a disorder, a stone in the stomach 
 of an ostrich is a benefit, and so it may be in 
 the shell of an oyster. If the shores where 
 the pearls are fished be unwholesome to man, 
 that, instead of being disadvantageous, is so 
 much the more lucky for the oyster. If the 
 pearl oysters are the worst tasted, so are kites 
 and ravens among birds; and yet we know 
 that they are healthy and long-lived animals. 
 If the oyster had never its shell kept asunder 
 by the pearl within it, that would be a disease 
 indeed ; but this, in reality, never happens y 
 for the oyster that breeds a large pearl always 
 breeds a large shell, and the shell itself indents 
 to receive its impression. The pearl upon the 
 whole seems bred from no disorder in the ani- 
 mal, but accidentally produced by the same 
 matter that goes to form the shell. This sub- 
 stance, which is soft at first, quickly hardens ; 
 and thus, by successive coats, layer over layer, 
 the pearl acquires its dimensions. If cut 
 through, it will be found to consist of several 
 coats, like an onion ; and sometimes a small 
 speck is seen in the middle, upon which the 
 coats were originally formed. 
 
 All oysters, and most shell-fish, are found 
 to contain pearls ; but that which particularly 
 obtains the name of the pearl oyster, has a 
 large strong whitish shell, wrinkled and rough 
 without, and within smooth and of a silver 
 colour. From these the mother-of-pearl is 
 taken, which is nothing more than the inter- 
 nal coats of the shell, resembling the pearl in 
 colour and consistence. This is taken out, 
 and shaped into that variety of utensils which 
 are found so beautiful: but the pearl itself is 
 chiefly prized ; being found but in few oysters, 
 and generally adhering ; sometimes making a 
 print in the body of the shell, sometimes at 
 large within the substance of the fish. 
 
 There are a great number of pearl fisheries 
 in America and Asia : but as pearls bear a 
 worse price than formerly, those of America 
 are in a great measure discontinued. The most 
 famous of all the Asiatic fisheries is in the 
 Persian Gulf, near the isle of Bahreen. 1 There 
 
 1 Pearls. The Persian Gulf, the shores of Japan, and 
 ;he Bay of Condatchy in Ceylon, are the situations where 
 )earls are found in greatest abundance at the present 
 day, and where the most extensive fisheries are carried 
 on. The Ceylon coast, in particular, yields in success- 
 'ul seasons a great produce, the revenue derived being 
 sometimes nearly two hundred thousand pounds. In 
 some years, however, the produce falls far short of this, 
 and this deficiency is generally occasioned by the ex- 
 haustion, for the time, of the oyster beds. To prevent 
 his, the bays where they are found are marked out into 
 divisions called banks, of which a certain number only are 
 ished each year, the rest being allowed to lie untouched. 
 The fishing season lasts about two months, commencing 
 n February and ending in April ; and the particular 
 banks to he wrought upon are put up to auction by gov- 
 ernment, and farmed out to the highest bidder. Pie- 
 
BIVALVED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 371 
 
 is another between the coast of Madura and 
 the island of Ceylon ; and there was a third 
 on the coast of Japan : but as these noble 
 islanders have a contempt for jewels, and an 
 
 viously to this, the banks are surveyed, and the beds 
 ascertained to have reached a state of maturity. 
 
 The oysters are brought out of the sea, not by means 
 of dredging nets, as in common fisheries, but by men 
 trained to the practice of diving. They proceed in 
 boats to the quarter allotted for the season's operations, 
 each boat containing twenty men, ten of whom are 
 divers, while ten row the boats and assist their com- 
 panions in reaching the surface of the water after div- 
 ing. Five of the divers descend at a time, and when 
 they come up, the other five go down ; by which alterna- 
 tion the whole have a certain time to recruit between 
 each exertion. The fishing commences at sunrise, and 
 ceases on account of the rising sea-breeze at noon, and 
 during the whole of the intervening period, the divers 
 pursue their hazardous occupation. To facilitate their 
 descent, each of them has a weight attached round his 
 body, or to his feet, in such a way that he can relieve 
 himself of it easily. A bag of network is grasped with 
 his toes, the right hand holds a rope, the left keeps the 
 nostrils closed, and in this condition the diver fearlessly 
 plunges in, and speedily reaches the bottom. Hanging 
 the bag around his neck, he collects as many oysters as 
 he can, generally about a hundred at one time, and on 
 making a signal, is drawn up to the surface ; the stone 
 or weight which assisted his descent is hauled out after- 
 wards. The length of time he continues under water 
 is from one to two minutes, although instances have been 
 known of divers who could remain four and even five 
 minutes ; and the longest period ever known was that 
 of a diver who could prolong his stay under water full six 
 minutes. The sea at the oyster banks is generally from 
 four to ten fathoms deep, which is a descent easily accom- 
 plished by the divers. One boat, with the complement 
 of men we have described, has been known, when the 
 oysters were abundant, to bring to land thirty-three 
 thousand in one day, while at other times a hundred or 
 two are the whole day's produce. The divers on the 
 Asiatic coasts are all natives, trained to this employ- 
 ment from infancy, and so expert from custom that they 
 will make from forty to fifty plunges a-day ; but the 
 exertion is so violent, that water, and occasionally blood 
 gushes from the mouth, nose, and ears. Some of the 
 divers use no precautionary means whatever, while 
 others rub their bodies with oil, and stuff their ears 
 and noses to prevent the entrance of the water. They 
 take no food while in the boats, nor till they have 
 bathed themselves with fresh water, after returning 
 to land. The only danger which the divers appear to 
 apprehend in the course of their occupation, is from 
 the shark, particularly the ground shark, whi< h is a 
 native of the Asiatic seas. Some of the divers are so 
 expert in their movements as to avoid this enemy, 
 even when they have been under water for a consider- 
 able time ; but the chief reliance for security is on the 
 priests and conjurors, some of whom always accompany 
 the boats, by order of government, to inspire courage by 
 their presence. Upon the whole, it must be admitted 
 that few of the divers pursue their occupation voluntar- 
 ily, but rather act under the compulsion of their employ- 
 ers and masters. 
 
 As soon as the boats land with the oysters an immense 
 number of labourers, men, women, and children, rush 
 to them, and carry on" the produce of the day's fishing. 
 Every speculator has his own group of huts, and in the 
 midst of each of these is a coutto, or space of ground en- 
 closed with poles and transverse pieces of bamboo, but 
 open to the air. In these couttos are deposited the 
 oysters as they are landed, and there they are left to 
 
 abhorrence for such Europeans as come in 
 pursuit of them, that fishery, which is thought 
 to be the most valuable of all others, is dis- 
 continued. The diving business is now 
 
 putrefy, which they soon do under a burning sun. It is 
 a curious fact, that though these numerous couttos, each 
 containing an enormous mass of oysters, all putrefy 
 together on a narrow extent of soil, and emit the most 
 detestable odours, yet the health of the precarious but 
 crowded population gathered there is in no ways affected. 
 "During two consecutive years," says M. de Noe, "that 
 I did duty at the fishery, I never saw a soldier of my regi- 
 ment sick: Europeans and Sepoys all equally enjoyed 
 good health." And Mr Marshall has observed to us, 
 that in this climate, where the effects of vegetable de- 
 composition are so fatal and so rapid, those of animal 
 decomposition are almost innocuous. As soon as the 
 putrefaction is sufficiently advanced, the oysters are taken 
 from the coutto, and placed in troughs, made of the trunk 
 of trees, hollowed ; sea-water is then thrown over them. 
 In this putrid state the oysters easily render the pearls 
 they contain ; and a number of men, all standing on the 
 same side of the trough, rapidly shake them out and wash 
 them. Inspectors stand at each end of the trough to see 
 that the labourers secrete none of the pearls, and others 
 are in the rear to examine whether the shells thrown out 
 as worthless may not contain some of the precious sub- 
 stance. The workmen are prohibited, under penalty of 
 a beating, to lift their hands to their mouths while they 
 are washing the pearls. Notwithstanding these precau- 
 tions and the vigilance of the inspectors, a man some- 
 times contrives to swallow a pearl of high price. 
 
 The various operations in preparing pearls for the 
 market, occupy in Ceylon a great number of the inhabi- 
 tants. After being thoroughly cleansed, they are 
 rounded, and polished with a powder made of the pearls 
 themselves, and arranged into classes according to their 
 various sizes. They are then drilled and strung together, 
 the largest classes being generally sent to the Indian, 
 while the smaller meet with a ready sale in the Euro- 
 pean, market. The operation of drilling is an exceed- 
 ingly nice one, and is performed with great expertness 
 by the black people. The drilling instrument is a wooden 
 machine in the form of an inverted cone, in the upper 
 flat surface of which are pits, or depressions, to receive 
 the pearls. The holes are made by spindles of various 
 sizes, which revolve in a wooden head, by the action of 
 a bow handle to which they are attached. During the 
 operation, which is performed with one hand, while the 
 other presses on the machine, the pearls are moistened 
 occasionally, and the whole is done with astonishing 
 rapidity. The colour of the pearls is in general a bluish 
 or silvery white, but they are met with of a variety of 
 hues, transparent, semi-transparent, opaque, brown and 
 black. 
 
 The pearl fishery at the Bahreen Islands, in the 
 Persian Gulf, is the most extensive in the world, but 
 very little of its produce is brought to Europe. The 
 pearls are of a golden yellow tint, and are held in great 
 estimation by the Asiatics, on account of their retaining 
 permanently their colour, whereas the white ones are 
 liable to tarnish, and to lose their lustre. The oyster 
 shells from this fishery are of a finer character than usual, 
 and are sent to Constantinople, and to China, where 
 they are manufactured into a great variety of useful and 
 ornamental articles. Long before the discovery of 
 America, pearls were highly valued by the natives; and 
 ihe Spaniards, on their landing in the country, found 
 arge quantities of them in different quarters. The 
 early colonists established regular fisheries, and a great 
 evenue was derived by the Spanish monarchy from their 
 mportation into Europe. In one year 697 Ibs. of pearls 
 were brought over, many of them of great size and beauty. 
 
372 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 carried on only in those countries where the 
 wretchedness of one part of mankind goes to 
 support the magnificence of the other. 
 
 The chief fishery, as was said, is carried 
 on in the Persian Gulf, and the most valuable 
 pearls are brought from thence. The value 
 of these jewels increases not only in propor- 
 tion to their size, but also their figure and 
 colour ; for some pearls are white, others are 
 yellowish, others of a lead colour ; and some 
 affirm they have been found as black as jet. 
 What it is that gives these different tinctures 
 to pearls is not known : Tavernier ascribes it 
 to their lying two or three weeks upon the 
 shore after the oyster is taken : Reaumur 
 thinks it proceeds from the colour of that part 
 of the fish's body upon which the pearl lies. 
 It is most probable that this colour proceeds, 
 like the spots frequently found on the inter- 
 nal surface of the shell itself, from some acci- 
 dent while the pearl is growing. 
 
 The best coloured pearls, and the roundest 
 are brought from the East : those of America 
 are neither so white nor so exactly oval. All 
 pearls, however, in time become yellow ; 
 they may be considered as an animal sub- 
 stance converted into a stony hardness, and, 
 like ivory, taking a tincture from the air. 
 They have been even found to decay when 
 in damp or vaulted places, and to moulder 
 into a substance scarcely harder than chalk. 
 When the daughters of Stilicon, who were 
 both betrothed, one after the other, to the 
 emperor Honorius, were buried, much of their 
 finery was also deposited with them in the 
 same tomb. In this manner they remained 
 buried for above eleven hundred years, till the 
 foundations of the church of St Peter were 
 
 From the fishery of St Magueritta, one was sent to Philip 
 II. weighing 250 carats, and valued at 150,000 dollars. 
 From neglect and improper management, the Ameri- 
 can pearl fisheries now produce little or nothing, and all 
 that is procured is from the gulfs of Panama and Cali- 
 fornia. A fishery of no contemptible extent existed 
 about a century ago in the river Tay, but, either from 
 being exhausted, or from the market being better supplied 
 from other quarters, neither at this point nor on any 
 other part of the British shores does any establishment 
 of the kind now exist. 
 
 Pearls are found on analysis to consist of calcareous 
 or chalky matter, disposed in thin coats or layers, an 
 arrangement which corroborates the opinion that they 
 are gradually deposited by the animal upon a small 
 nucleus of sand, or other foreign body, which, being 
 admitted along with the food, causes irritation, to pre- 
 vent which the animal covers them with a gelatinous 
 fluid, that grows hard by degrees. A grain of sand is 
 often found in the centre of the pearl, but many of the 
 largest want it altogether : and hence we are left in 
 doubt regarding the correctness of the theory. What- 
 ever be the cause of the formation of the pearl, there 
 seems little doubt that it is produced by an unnatural or 
 morbid action ; and it is not a little curious, upon the 
 whole, that a little functional derangement in an oyster 
 should generate a gem, which for ages has been an orna- 
 ment of crowns and courts. 
 
 laying. Their tomb was then discovered, 
 and all their finery was found in tolerable 
 preservation except the pearls, which were 
 converted by time and damps into a chalky 
 powder. 
 
 The wretched people that are destined to 
 fish for pearls, are either negroes or some of 
 the poorest of the natives of Persia. The 
 inhabitants of this country are divided into 
 tyrants and slaves. The divers are not only 
 subject to the dangers of the deep, to tem- 
 pests, to suffocation at the bottom, to being 
 devoured by sharks, but from their profession 
 universally labour under a spitting of blood, 
 occasioned by the pressure of air upon their 
 lungs in going down to the bottom. The 
 most robust and healthy young men are chosen 
 for this employment, but they seldom survive 
 it above five or six years. Their fibres be- 
 come rigid ; their eye-balls turn red ; and 
 they usually die consumptive. 
 
 It is amazing how very long they are seen 
 to continue at the bottom. Some, as we are 
 assured, have been known to continue three 
 quarters of an hour under water without 
 breathing ; and to one unused to diving^ 
 ten minutes would suffocate the strongest. 1 
 Whether from some effort the blood bursts the 
 old passage which it had in the foetus, and 
 circulates without going through the lungs, 
 it is not easy to tell ; but certain it is that 
 some bodies have been dissected with this 
 canal of communication open, and these ex- 
 traordinary divers may be internally formed 
 in that manner. 
 
 Be this as it may, no way of life seems so 
 laborious, so dangerous, or so painful. They 
 fish for pearls, or rather the oysters that con- 
 tain them, in boats twenty-eight feet long; 
 and of these there are sometimes three or four 
 hundred at a time, with each seven or eight 
 stones, which serve for anchors. There are 
 from five to eight divers belonging to each, 
 that dive one after another. They are quite 
 naked, except that they have a net hanging 
 down from the neck to put their oysters in, 
 and gloves on their hands to defend them 
 while they pick the oysters from the holes in 
 the rocks ; for in this manner alone can they 
 
 1 From the previous Note, it will be seen, that the 
 period during which pearl-divers are said to remain 
 under water is here grossly exaggerated. Fifty seconds 
 is about the time that men in the bay of Naples, who 
 dive furfrutta dimare, or small shell-fish, and the Greek 
 islanders of the Archipelago, who dive for sponges, re- 
 main under water ; and these two classes are the most 
 famous divers in Europe, and likely, from their physical 
 construction, sober way of living, and constant practice, 
 to carry their art to its utmost natural limits. Ribeyro, 
 a Portuguese officer, who was nineteen years on the 
 island, says, that the Ceylon plunger could stay under 
 water for the space of time in which two credos might 
 be repeated, and the Catholic belief may be said over 
 twice in about fifty seconds. 
 
B1VALVED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 373 
 
 be gathered. Every diver is sunk by means 
 of a stone, weighing fifty pounds, tied to the 
 rope by which he descends. He places his 
 foot in a kind of stirrup, and laying hold of 
 the rope with his left hand, with his right he 
 stops his nose to keep in his breath, as upon- 
 going down he takes in a very long inspira- 
 tion. They are no sooner come to the bottom, 
 but they give the signal to those who are in 
 the boat to draw up the stone ; which done, 
 they go to work, filling their net as fast as 
 they can ; and then giving another signal, the 
 boats above pull up the net loaded with oysters, 
 and shortly after the diver himself, to take a 
 new inspiration. They dive to the depth of 
 fifteen fathoms, and seldom go deeper. They 
 generally go every morning by break of day 
 to this fatiguing employment, taking the land 
 wind to waft them out to sea, and returning 
 with the sea-breeze at night. The owners of 
 the boats usually hire the divers, and the rest 
 of the boat's crew, as we do our labourers, at 
 so much a day. All the oysters are brought 
 on shore, where they are laid in a great heap, 
 till the pearl fishery is over, which continues 
 during the months of November and Decem- 
 ber. When opportunity serves, they then ex- 
 amine every oyster, and it is accidental whether 
 the capture turns out advantageous. Indeed no 
 human being can wish well to a commerce, 
 which thus chains such a number of fellow- 
 creatures to the bottom, to pluck up a glitter- 
 ing mouldering pebble. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF MULTI VALVE SHELL- FISH. 
 
 MULTIVALVE Shell- Fish may be considered 
 as animals shut up in round boxes. To view 
 their habitations externally, one would be 
 little apt to consider them as the retreats of 
 living creatures; and still less, to suppose that 
 some of them carry their boxes with a toler- 
 able share of swiftness, so as to escape their 
 pursuers. Of these there are principally two 
 kinds ; such as move, and such as are station- 
 ary : the first are usually known in our cabi- 
 nets by the name of Sea-eggs ; the others are 
 as often admired, from the cavities which they 
 scoop out for their habitation in the hardest 
 marble. The first are called by naturalists, 
 Echini, or Urchins; 1 the latter are called 
 
 l The sea-urchins are very improperly placed in the 
 multivalve division of shells, as they are very different 
 from testaceous worms, not only in their functions, but 
 also in the composition of their shells. They are placed 
 by naturalists in the crustaceous order, the shells or 
 crusts of Echini being composed of phosphate of lime with 
 animal matter ; those- of the testaceous shells being car- 
 bonate of lime. 
 
 Pholades, or File fish. Of both there are 
 several sorts ; but, by describing these two, 
 we shall have a competent idea of all the rest. 
 
 On a slight view, the sea-urchin may be 
 compared to the husk of a chestnut; being, 
 like it, round, and with a number of bony 
 prickles standing out on every side. To 
 exhibit this extraordinary animal in every 
 light if we could conceive a turnip stuck full 
 of pins on every side, and running upon these 
 pins with some degree of swiftness, we should 
 have some idea of this extraordinary creature 
 The mouth is placed downwards ; the vent is 
 above; the shell is a hollow vase, resembling 
 a scooped apple ; and this filled with a soft 
 muscular substance, through which the intes- 
 tines wind from the bottom to the top. The 
 mouth, which is placed undermost, is large 
 and red, furnished with five sharp teeth, 
 which are easily discerned. The jaws are 
 strengthened by five small bones, in the 
 centre of which is a small fleshy tongue ; and 
 from this the intestines make a winding of 
 five spires, round the internal sides of the 
 shell, ending at the top, where the excrements 
 are excluded. But what makes the most ex- 
 traordinary part of this animal's conformation, 
 are its horns and its spines, that point from 
 every part of the body, like the horns of a 
 snail, and that serve at once as legs to move 
 upon, as arms to feel with, and as instruments 
 of capture and defence. Between these horns 
 it has also spines that are not endued with 
 such a share of motion. The spines and the 
 horns issue from every part of its body ; the 
 spines being hard and prickly; the horns 
 being soft, longer than the spines, and never 
 seen except in the water. They are put for- 
 ward and withdrawn like the horns of a snail, 
 and are hid in the bases of the spines, serving, 
 as was said before, for procuring food and 
 motion. All this apparatus, however, is only 
 seen when the animal is hunting its prey at 
 the bottom of the water; for a few minutes 
 after it is taken, all the horns are withdrawn 
 into the body, and most of the spines drop off. 
 
 It is generally said of insects, that those 
 which have the greatest number of legs 
 always move the slowest ; but this animal 
 seems to be an exception to the rule ; for 
 though furnished with two thousand spines, 
 and twelve hundred horns, all serving for legs, 
 and from their number seeming to impede 
 each other's motion, yet it runs with some 
 share of swiftness at the bottom, and it is 
 sometimes no easy matter to overtake it. It 
 is often taken upon the ebb, by following it 
 in shallow water, either in an osier basket, 
 or simply with the hand. Both the spines 
 and the horns assist its motion ; and the ani- 
 rnal is usually seen running with the mouth 
 downward. 
 
HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 Some kinds of this animal are as good eating 
 as the lobster ; and its eggs, which are of a deep 
 red, are considered as a very great delicacy. 
 But of others the taste is but indifferent ; and in 
 all places, except the Mediterranean, they are 
 little sought for, except as objects of curiosity. 
 
 Very different in motion, though not much 
 different in shape, from these, are the Acorn 
 Shell- Fish, the Thumb-footed Shell-Fish, and 
 the imaginary Barnacle. These are fixed to 
 one spot, and appear to vegetate from a stalk. 
 Indeed, to an inattentive spectator, each actu- 
 ally seems to be a kind of fungus that grows 
 in the deep, destitute of animal life, as well 
 as motion. But the inquirer will soon change 
 his opinion, when he comes to observe this 
 mushroom-like figure more minutely. He 
 will then see that the animal residing within 
 the shell has not only life, but some degree of 
 voraciousness ; that it has a cover, by which 
 it opens and shuts its shell at pleasure ; that 
 it has twelve long crooked arms, furnished 
 with hair, which it thrusts forth for its prey ; 
 and eight smaller, which are generally kept 
 in the shell. They are seen adhering to every 
 substance that is to be met with in the ocean ; 
 rocks, roots of trees, ships' bottoms, whales, 
 lobsters, and even crabs, like bunches of 
 grapes clung to each other It is amusing 
 enough to behold their operations. 1 They for 
 some time remain motionless within their 
 shell ; but when the sea is calm, they are seen 
 opening the lid, and peeping about them. 
 They then thrust out their long neck, look 
 round them for some time, and then abruptly 
 retreat back into their box, shut their lid, and 
 lurk in darkness and security. Some people eat 
 them ; but they are in no great repute at the 
 tables of the luxurious, where their deformed 
 figure would be no objection to their being 
 introduced. 
 
 Of all animals of the shelly tribe, the 
 Pholades are the most wonderful. From their 
 great powers of penetration, compared with 
 their apparent imbecility, they justly excite 
 the astonishment of the curious observer. 
 These animals are found in different places; 
 sometimes clothed in their proper shell, at the 
 bottom of the water; sometimes concealed in 
 lumps of marly earth ; and sometimes lodged, 
 shell and all, in the body of the hardest marble. 
 In their proper shell they assume different fig- 
 ures ; but, in general, they somewhat resem- 
 ble a mussel, except that their shell is found 
 actually composed of five or more pieces, the 
 smaller valves serving to close up the open- 
 ings left by the irregular meeting of the two 
 principal shells. But their penetration into 
 rocks, and their residence there, makes up 
 the most wonderful part of their history. 
 
 1 Anderson's History of Greenland. 
 
 This animal, when divested of its shell, re- 
 sembles a roundish soft pudding, with no in- 
 strument that seems in the least fitted for 
 boring into stones, or even penetrating the soft- 
 est substances. It is furnished with two 
 teeth indeed: but these are placed in such a 
 situation as to be incapable of touching the 
 hollow surface of its stony dwelling : it has 
 also two covers to its shell, that open and shut 
 at either end ; but these are totally unservice- 
 able to it as a miner. The instrument with 
 which it performs all its operations, and 
 buries itself in the hardest rocks, is only a 
 broad fleshy substance, somewhat resembling 
 a tongue, that is seen issuing from the bottom 
 of its shell. With this soft yielding instru- 
 ment, it perforates the most solid marbles ; and 
 having, while yet little and young, made its 
 way, by a very narrow entrance, into the sub- 
 stance of the stone, it then begins to grow 
 bigger, and thus to enlarge its apartment. 
 
 The seeming unfitness, however, of this 
 animal for penetrating into rocks, and there 
 forming a habitation, has induced many 
 philosophers to suppose that they entered the 
 rock while it was yet in a soft state, and from 
 the petrifying quality of the water, that the 
 whole rock hardened round them by degrees. 
 Thus any penetrating quality, it was thought, 
 was unjustly ascribed to them, as they only 
 bored into a soft substance, that was hardened 
 by time. This opinion, however, has been 
 confuted, in a very satisfactory manner, by 
 Dr Bohads, who observed that many of the 
 pillars of the temple of Serapis at Puteoli 
 were penetrated by these animals. From 
 thence he very justly concludes, that the 
 pholades must have pierced into them since 
 they were erected ; for no workman would 
 have laboured a pillar into form, if it had been 
 honey-combed by worms in the quarry. In 
 short, there can be no doubt but that the 
 pillars were perfectly sound when erected ; 
 and that the pholades have attacked them, 
 during the time in which they continued 
 buried under water, by means of the earth- 
 quake that swallowed up the city. 2 
 
 From hence it appears that, in all nature, 
 there is not a greater instance of perseverance 
 and patience than what this animal is seen to 
 exhibit. Furnished with the bluntest and 
 sofest auger, by slow successive applications, 
 it effects what other animals are incapable of 
 performing by force ; penetrating the hardest 
 bodies only with its tongue. When, while 
 yet naked, and very small, it has effected an 
 entrance, and has buried its body in the stone, 
 it there continues for life at its ease ; the sea- 
 water that enters at the little aperture sup- 
 plying it with luxurious plenty. When the 
 
 8 Bohadsch de Animalibus Marinis, p. 153. 
 
BIVALVED SHELL-FISH. 
 
 375 
 
 animal has taken too great a quantity of water, 
 it is seen to spurt it out of its hole with some 
 violence. Upon this seemingly thin diet it 
 quickly grows larger, and soon finds itself 
 under a necessity of enlarging its habitation 
 and its shell. The motion of the pholas is 
 slow beyond conception ; its progress keeps 
 pace with the growth of its body ; and, in 
 proportion as it becomes larger, it makes its 
 way farther into the rock. When it has got 
 a certain way in, it then turns from its former 
 direction, and hollows downward ; till at last, 
 when its habitation is completed, the whole 
 apartment resembles the bowl of a tobacco 
 pipe ; the hole in the shank being that by 
 which the animal entered. 
 
 Thus immured, the pholas lives in darkness, 
 indolence, and plenty ; it never removes from 
 the narrow mansion into which it has pene- 
 trated ; and seems perfectly content with 
 being inclosed in its own sepulchre. The 
 influx of the sea-warer that enters by its little 
 gallery satisfies all its wants ; and, without 
 any other food, it is found to grow from seven 
 to eight inches long, and thick in proportion. 
 
 But they are not supplied only with their 
 rocky habitation; they have also a shell to 
 protect them : this shell grows upon them in 
 the body of the rock, and seems a very 
 unnecessary addition to their defence, which 
 they have procured themselves by art. These 
 shells take different forms, and are often com- 
 posed of a different number of valves ; some- 
 times six, sometimes but three ; sometimes 
 the shell resembles a tube with holes at either 
 end, one for the mouth, and the other for void- 
 ing the excrements. * 
 
 Yet the pholas thus shut up, is not so soli- 
 tary an animal as it would at first appear ; for 
 though it is immured in its hole without egress, 
 though it is impossible for the animal, grown 
 to a great size, to get out by the way it made 
 in, yet many of this kind often meet in the 
 heart of the rock, and like miners in a siege, 
 who sometimes cross each other's galleries, 
 they frequently break in upon each other's 
 retreats. Whether their thus meeting be the 
 work of accident or of choice, few can take 
 upon them to determine : certain it is, they 
 are most commonly found in numbers in the 
 same rock ; and sometimes above twenty are 
 discovered within a few inches of each other. 1 
 
 1 Molluscae. Many may have probably noticed, in 
 their ramblings along the sea beach, certain gelatinous 
 transparent masses deposited by the receding tide upon 
 the sands. They resemble very large planoconvex lenses, 
 and are devoid of colour, except in a few minute points, 
 which appear like grains of yellow sand, or the eggs of 
 some shells embedded in their substance. This has led 
 many to consider them as the spawn of some marine ani- 
 mal. If one of these jellies be placed in a tub of brine 
 immediately after it reaches the shore, the observer, will 
 be surprised to find it possessed of animation. The su- 
 
 As to the rest, this animal is found in great- 
 est numbers at Ancona, in Italy ; it is found 
 along the shores of Normandy and Poitou, in 
 France ; it is found also upon some of the 
 coasts of Scotland: and, in general, is con- 
 sidered as a very great delicacy at the tables 
 of the luxurious. 
 
 perior, or convex part, will expand like the top of an 
 umbrella, and from its under surface several fringed and 
 leaf-like membranes will be developed. The remains 
 of numerous threads, or tendrils, will float out from the 
 margin of the umbrella, following the motions of the ani- 
 mal as it swims around the tub. These threads are often 
 several feet in length before they are broken by the sand ; 
 they are probably employed both to entice and secure the 
 prey, and they produce a sharp, stinging sensation, when 
 applied to the skin. It is from the appearance and offen- 
 sive power of these last organs, that seamen have given 
 the animal the title of the sea nettle, and naturalists the 
 generic name Medusa. 
 
 The medusa is a familiar example of the class of 
 animated beings which are the subjects of the following 
 remarks. They are all alike gelatinous and transparent, 
 and many of them melt and flow away when exposed in 
 the open air to the direct rays of the sun. 
 
 Of all the tribes of molluscse which are scattered over 
 every part of the ocean, the most splendid and the best 
 known is the Portuguese man-of-war (Physalid). This 
 is an oblong animated sack of air, elongated at one extre- 
 mity into a conical neck, and surmounted by a mem- 
 braneous expansion running nearly the whole length of 
 the body, and rising above into a semicirclar sail, whicn 
 can be expanded or contracted to a considerable extent, 
 at the pleasure of the animal. From beneath the body 
 are suspended from ten to fifty or more little tubes, from 
 half an inch to an inch in length, open at their lower ex- 
 tremity, and formed like the flower of the blue-bottle. 
 These have been regarded as temporary receptacles for 
 food, like the first stomach of cattle ; but as the animal 
 is destitute of any visible mouth or alimentary canal, and 
 as I have frequently seen fish in their cavities apparently 
 half digested, I cannot but consider them as proper stom- 
 achs ; nor indeed is it a greater paradox in zoology that 
 an animal should possess many independent stomachs ; 
 than that the strange carnivorous vegetable, the saracinea, 
 should make use of its leaves apparently for a similar 
 purpose. From the centre of this group of stomachs 
 depends a little cord, never exceeding the fourth of an 
 inch in thickness, and often forty times as long as the 
 body. The size of the Portuguese man-of-war varies from 
 half an inch to six inches in length. When it is in mo- 
 tion, the sail is accommodated to the force of the breeze, 
 and the elongated neck is curved upward, giving to the 
 animal a form strongly resembling the little glass swans 
 which we sometimes see swimming in goblets. 
 
 The mode in which the animal secures his prey has 
 been a subject of much speculation, for the fish and crabs 
 that are frequently found within the little tubes are often 
 large enough to tear them in pieces could they retain 
 their natural vigour during the contest. Deceived by the 
 extreme pain which is felt when the cable is brought into 
 contact with the back of the hand, naturalists have con- 
 cluded, I think too hastily, that this organ secretes a poi- 
 sonous or acrid fluid, by which it benumbs any unfortu- 
 nate fish or other animal that ventures within its toils, 
 allured by the hope of making a meal upon what, in its 
 gnorance, it has mistaken for a worm. The secret will 
 )e better explained by a more careful examination of the 
 organ itself. The cord is composed of a narrow layer oi 
 contractile fibres, scarcely visible when relaxed, on ac- 
 count of its transparency. If the animal be large, this 
 layer of fibres will sometimes extend itself to the length 
 
376 
 
 HISTORY OF FISHES. 
 
 of four or five yards. A spiral line of blue bead-like bo- 
 dies, Jess than the head of a pin, revolves around the 
 cable from end to end, and under the microscope these 
 beads appear covered with minute prickles, so hard and 
 sharp, that they will readily enter the substance of wood, 
 adhering with such pertinacity that the cord can rarely 
 be detached without breaking. It is to these prickles 
 that the man-of-war owes its power of destroying animals 
 much its superior in strength and activity. When any 
 thing becomes impaled upon the cord the contractile 
 fibres are called into action, and rapidly shrink from 
 many feet in length to less than the same number of 
 inches, bringing the prey within reach of the little tubes 
 by one of which it is immediately swallowed. 
 
 I might now proceed to describe many analogous ani- 
 mals scarcely inferior in interest, but it is time to notice 
 some individuals of another tribe, residing beneath the 
 surface, and therefore less generally known. 
 
 The grandest of these is the beroe. In size and form 
 it precisely resembles a purse, the mouth, or orifice, an- 
 swering to one of the modern metallic clasps. It is per- 
 fectly transparent ; and in order to distinguish its filmy 
 outlines, it is necessary to place it in a tumbler of brine 
 held between the observer and the light. In certain di- 
 rections the whole body appears faintly irridescent, but 
 there are several longitudinal narrow lines which reflect 
 the full rich tints of the rainbow in the most vivid man- 
 ner, for ever varying and mingling the hues, even while 
 the animal remains at rest. Under the microscope these 
 lines display a succession of innumerable coloured scales 
 or minute fins, which are kept unceasingly in motion, 
 thus producing the play of colours by continually chang- 
 ing the angle of reflection. The movements of the beroe 
 are generally retrograde, and are not aided by the col- 
 oured scales, but depend upon the alternate contraction 
 and dilatation of the mouth. The lips are never per- 
 fectly closed, and the little fish and shrimps which play 
 around them are continually entering and leaving them 
 at pleasure. The animal is dependent for its food upon 
 such semi-animated substances as it draws within its 
 grasp by moving slowly backwards in the water, and 
 retains them in consequence of their own feebleness and 
 inability to escape the weakest of snares. 
 
 Another tribe of the sea-purses (Salpa), though much 
 smaller than the beroe, are more complex in structure, 
 and possesses a higher interest in consequence of the sin- 
 gular habits of some of the species. They are double 
 sacks, resembling the beroe in general form, but desti- 
 tute of irridescence. The outer sack, or mantle, rarely 
 
 exceeds an inch in length, and is commonly about half 
 as wide. The inner sack is much smaller, and the in- 
 terval between these forms a cavity for the water which 
 they breathe, and for some of the viscera. Their visible 
 organs are a transparent heart, which can only be seen 
 in the strongest light ; a splendid double row of whitish 
 bead-like cavities forming a spiral line near one extrem- 
 ity, and supposed to be either lungs or ovaries ; numerous 
 broad, fiat, pearly muscles, barely distinguished by their 
 mistiness, and an alimentary canal as fine as horse-hair, 
 with a slight enlargement at one spot, which has been 
 called a stomach. This enlargement resembles both in 
 size and colour a grain of sand. From the base of the 
 animal arises two longer and four or five shorter conical 
 spines of jelly, curved into hooks at the points, by means 
 of which numerous individuals attach themselves toge- 
 ther in double rows like the leaflets of a pinnated leaf. 
 Cords of this kind, composed of forty or fifty animals, 
 were often taken, but they separate and reattach them- 
 selves at pleasure. 
 
 To the gregarious habits of this little mollusque we 
 owe a very singular and striking phenomena, which I 
 have never seen noticed by naturalists, although we fre- 
 quently witnessed it near the Cape of Good Hope. The 
 animals are occasionally found associated together in such 
 countless myriads that the sea is literally filled with them, 
 sometimes over three or four square miles of surface, 
 and to the depth of several fathoms. The yellow spots 
 which have been described being the only coloured por- 
 tions of their body, give to the whole tract the appear- 
 ance of a shoal or sand-bank at some distance below the 
 surface. The deception is heightened by the greater 
 smoothness of the water at these places, particularly in 
 calm weather ; for so closely are the animals crowded to- 
 gether, that the water is rendered in a manner less fluid , 
 the smaller billows break around the margin and are lost, 
 while the heavy waves of the Southern ocean are some- 
 what opposed in their progress, and take on in a slight 
 degree the usual appearance of the ground-swell. There 
 can be but little doubt that many of the numerous shoals 
 laid down in the charts of this region, but which have 
 never been seen by any but the supposed discoverers, 
 have been immense banks of these gregarious mollusc-se. 
 In sailing through a tract of this description, in which the 
 progress of the ship was very sensibly retarded, I have 
 dipt up with the ship's bucket a greater bulk of the ani- 
 mals than of the water in which they were suspended. 
 How wonderful are the effects produced by the minute 
 links of creation !" Dr Reynall Coates of Philadelphia. 
 
OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF FROGS AND TOADS. 
 
 '. frog and 
 days under 
 ion ; they 
 id what is 
 gs, like bladders, 
 ded with wind, and 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF FROGS AND TOADS I GENERAL. 
 
 it? we emerge from the deep, tin first and 
 
 most obvious class of amphibious animals that 
 
 occur upon land are frogs and . These, 
 
 wherever they reside, seem equally adapted 
 
 for living upon land, and in tl e water, having 
 
 their hearts formed i manner as to 
 
 dispense with the assist;* of the lungs in 
 
 carrying on tht? circ 
 
 the toad, thr; -Fore, c 
 
 water, without 
 
 want but li 
 
 wanting is 
 
 which are < 
 
 answer all the purposes of voir from 
 
 whence to breathe. 
 
 To describe the form of animals so well 
 known would be superfluous : to mark those 
 differences that distinguish them from each 
 other may be necessary. The frog moves by 
 leaping : the toad crawls along the ground : 
 the frog is, in general, less than the toad ; its 
 colour is brighter, and with a more polished 
 surface ; the toad is brown, rough and dusty. 
 The frog is light and active, and its belly 
 comparatively small ; the toad is slow, swol- 
 len, and incapable of escaping. The frog, 
 when taken, contracts itself so as to have a 
 lump on its back ; the toad's back is straight 
 and even. Their internal parts are nearly the 
 same, except that the lungs of the toad are 
 more compact than those of the frog ; they 
 have fewer air-bladders, and, of consequence, 
 the animal is less fitted for living underwater. 
 Such are the differences with respect to figure 
 and conformation ; their habitudes and man- 
 ners exhibit a greater variety, and require a 
 separate description. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE FROG, AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 I 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 THE external figure of the frog is too well 
 known to need a description. Its power of 
 taking large leaps is remarkably great, com- 
 pared to the bulk of its body. It is the best 
 swimmer of all four-footed animals ; and na- 
 ture hath finely adapted its parts for those 
 ends, the arms being light and active, the legs 
 and thighs long, and furnished with very 
 strong muscles. 
 
 If we examine this animal internally, we 
 shall find that it has a very little brain for its 
 size ; a very wide swallow ; a stomach seem- 
 ingly small, but capable of great distension. 
 The heart in the frog, as in all other animals 
 that are truly amphibious, has but one ventri- 
 cle; so that the blood can circulate without the 
 assistance of the lungs, while it keeps under 
 water. The lungs resemble a number of 
 small bladders joined together, like the cells 
 of a honey-comb : they are connected to the 
 back by muscles, and can be distended or ex- 
 hausted at the animal's pleasure. The male 
 has two testiculi lying near the kidneys ; and 
 the female has two ovaries lying near the same 
 place ; but neither male nor female have any 
 of the external instruments of generation; the 
 anus serving for that purpose in both. Such 
 3 B 
 
378 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 are the most striking peculiarities in the ana- 
 tomy of a frog ; and in these it agrees with 
 the toad, the lizard, and the serpent. They 
 are all formed internally pretty much in the 
 same manner, with spongy lungs, a simple 
 heart, and are destitute of the external instru- 
 ments that serve to continue the kind. 
 
 Of all those who have given histories of the 
 frog, Mr Rassal, of Nuremberg, seems the 
 most accurate and entertaining. His plates of 
 this animal are well known ; his assiduity 
 and skilfulness in observing its manners are 
 still more deserving our esteem. Instead, 
 therefore, of following any other, I will take 
 him for my guide ; and though it be out of 
 my power to amuse the reader with his beau- 
 tiful designs, yet there will be some merit in 
 transcribing his history. 
 
 The common brown frog begins to couple 
 early in the season, and as soon as the ice is 
 thawed from the stagnating waters. In some 
 places the cold protracts their genial appetite 
 till April; but it generally begins about the 
 middle of March. The male is usually of a 
 grayish brown colour ; the female is more in- 
 clining to yellow speckled with brown. When 
 they couple, the colours of both are nearly 
 alike on the back; but as they change their 
 skins almost every eighth day, the old one fall- 
 ing off in the form of mucus, the male grows 
 yellower, and the female more brown. In 
 the males the arms and legs are much stronger 
 than in the females ; and at the time of coup- 
 ling, they have upon their thumbs a kind of 
 fleshy excrescence, which they fix firmly to 
 the breast of the female. This Linnaeus sup- 
 posed to be the male instrument of generation ; 
 but, by closer inspection, it is found only of 
 service in holding the female in a more strict 
 embrace. It may be cut off, and the impreg- 
 nation continue unimpaired : it is sometimes 
 found in the opposite sex; and some of the 
 males are found entirely without it; however, 
 when it is cut off, the male cannot hold the fe- 
 male so strongly as before. 
 
 The sexes couple only once a year : and 
 then continue united sometimes for four days 
 together. At this time they both have their 
 bellies greatly swollen ; that of the female 
 being filled with eggs; the male having the 
 skin of the whole body distended with a lim- 
 pid water, which is ejected in impregnation. 
 As soon as the male has leaped upon the fe- 
 male, he throws his fore legs round her breast, 
 and closes them so firmly, that it is impossible, 
 with the naked hands, to loose them. The 
 male clasps his fingers between each other, in 
 the same manner as people when they are 
 praying ; the thumbs press with their thickest 
 sides against the breast of the female ; and 
 though she should struggle ever so much, no- 
 thing can induce him to let go his hold. The 
 
 rasp seems involuntary and convulsive ; they 
 cannot be easily torn asunder ; and they swim, 
 creep, and live united, for some days succes- 
 sively, till the female hath shed her spawn, 
 which, at length, she does almost in an in- 
 stant. But how the impregnation is performed, 
 without any apparent instruments of genera- 
 tion, has long been an object o inquiry ; and 
 still continues in great obscuri.y. To inves- 
 tigate the difficulty as carefully as possible, 
 our German philosopher continued to examine 
 their mutual congress for three years together, 
 and availed himself of all the lights that the 
 knife, or analogy, could furnish. 1 
 
 After having chosen twelve couple of frogs 
 that were thus joined to each other, and having 
 placed each ouple in a glass vessel with 
 water, he scarcely let them out of his sight day 
 or night, and e/en sat up two nights together 
 to examine their operations. The first day he 
 observed nothing that deserved remark: but 
 
 1 Different developncnts of embryo of Frogs. Dur- 
 ing the cohesion ot the two sexes, the female com- 
 mences the deposition of the spawn, which is fecundated 
 during its passage. When first spelled it consists of 
 numerous small opaque globular bodies, enveloped in a 
 small glairy, or glutinous mass. This latter substance 
 soon absorbs a largo quantity of water, and, in the course 
 of an hour or two, eich becomes not less than a quarter 
 of an inch in diameter. The convenience of this aug- 
 mentation in the bulk of the transparent mass, surround- 
 ing each embryo, i? * all the latter are removed from 
 each other by a wh< ~ter < ( ,a<'h globe; and they 
 
 appear like black dc distributed throughout a 
 
 large mass of trans; 
 
 The deposit of th at the bottom of 
 
 the water, notwitlist* of some natu- 
 
 ralists, and of Reesel a -hat they are expel- 
 
 led at the surface. e, probably, arose from 
 
 the mass of eggs l/ping generally found at the surface ; 
 but this arises merely from the disengagement of gas in 
 the substance of the glairy envelope, in consequence of 
 partial decomposition. 
 
 The changes which now begin to take place in the 
 embryo are most interesting. They have been detailed 
 in a very minute and satisfactory manner by Rusconi 
 and I have taken considerable pains during the last 
 spring to follow out his investigations, and by actual ob- 
 servation to correct or confirm his account. I may here 
 observe, once for all, that with the exception of a few of 
 the details in the earliest periods, I have been able to sa- 
 tisfy myself of his correctness ; and in those points, I be- 
 lieve that I only failed to do so, partly by my not hav- 
 ing obtained the ova immediately after their expulsion, 
 and partly by the want of time to enter into all the ne- 
 cessary minutiae of the investigation. 
 
 I have also to observe that the development of the 
 young is more or less rapid, according to the tem- 
 perature of the atmosphere ; and that I was enabled to 
 retard or hasten it by regulating this circumstance. I 
 therefore kept my reservoir of eggs in & very cold situa- 
 tion, and occasionally brought a few of them into my 
 drawing-room for the purpose of observation ; in which 
 place, being in an elevated temperature, the development 
 became very rapid. As my object, therefore, was to as- 
 certain positive facts, rather than the periods of the 
 changes, which were dependant upon variable circum- 
 stances, I kept no register of the temperature or of the 
 periods; and I shall, in both these particulars, give some 
 of the statements of the accurate Rusconi. 
 
THE FROG. 
 
 379 
 
 the second they began to be agitated more 
 than before ; the males made a noise some- 
 what resembling the grunting of a hog; the 
 females only kept sinking and rising in the 
 water. 
 
 The embryo is found, in the first place, to consist of 
 a small globular body, one side, or hemisphere, of which 
 is of a dark brown colour, the other being much paler. 
 In a very short period after the egg is deposited, four 
 hours, according to Rusconi, a deep furrow across the 
 dark hemisphere divides it into two equal parts, and this 
 is soon afterwards crossed by another at right angles; a 
 third and a fourth furrow are produced, and so on, until 
 the whole surface of this side of the sphere is, as it were, 
 granulated. This appearance, however, is but transi- 
 tory, the surface soon becoming almost smooth. In the 
 course of the second day, the sphere begins to elongate, 
 and a groove, which had previously divided the upper 
 part of it into two equal parts, begins to close up. The 
 head becomes prominent, the tail begins to show itself, 
 the little hooks by which it subsequently lays hold of ob- 
 jects and supports itself, begin to appear. At this pe- 
 riod the examination becomes more easy, and more in- 
 teresting. At somewhat more than fifty hours in an ele- 
 vated temperature, the head is very well marked, the 
 tail somewhat elongated, and even the rudiment of the 
 membrane, or web, which is destined to form its fin, is 
 visible. About this time, also, a small projection takes 
 place on each side of the head, which is the earliest in- 
 dication of the branchiae, and the muscles of the spine 
 may just be seen. In figure 2 of the woodcut, I have 
 given an outline of the embryo in this condition. At 
 this time the water is seen to flow in a distinct and ra- 
 pid current to the branchial orifice over the rudiments of 
 the branchiae, which are now just visible, the course of 
 which current I have indicated by arrows. These parts 
 gradually become more developed; the body is more 
 elongated, the branchiae more distinct; the fin extends 
 round the tail and partly over the back; and the head is 
 distinguished from the body by a slight contraction at 
 the neck ; and a short period more suffices to bring it to 
 
 The male of the first couple ejected the hu- 
 midity with which his bociy was swollen, by 
 which the water in the glass was made mud- 
 dy ; and he soon after quitted the female. 
 Our philosopher continued for twelve hours to 
 
 the condition represented in figures 3, 4, of the woodcut, 
 in which the branchiae are seen to consist of two tuber- 
 cles on each side, as yet simple and undivided ; the hold- 
 ers, which are small simple organs placed near the situ- 
 ation of the future mouth, and which serve to enable the 
 little animal to attach itself by means of a viscid secre- 
 tion at their extremities, have become longer, the web, 
 or fin, is also enlarged. By this time the first voluntary 
 motion of the embryo is discovered on the application of 
 any means of excitement or disturbance ; but it consists 
 only of a slight movement of the head or tail. The nos- 
 trils are seen more distinctly, but the mouth is scarcely 
 yet observable, and shortly afterwards the eye, in a ru- 
 dimentary state, may be just discerned. The next step 
 in the development is a slight division of the branchiae 
 into lobes, and the appearance of that beautiful and in- 
 teresting phenomenon, the circulation of the blood 
 through these organs. The embryo, which is still con- 
 fined to a curved position by the envelopes (fig. 1), is 
 now seen frequently to extend itself by sudden jerks, as 
 if to emancipate itself from its confinement, which it 
 eventually does by tearing the membrane of the egg. 
 The Tadpoles, we see, are now hatched (fig. 5). Ac- 
 cording to Rusconi, this takes place within four days 
 after the deposit of the eggs, in a temperature, varying 
 only from 23 to 27 Centigr. (73. 4 to 80. 6 Fahr.); 
 but certainly in our own climate, in the ordinary tem- 
 perature of our spring, it does not take place until at 
 least a month. As I before observed, the development 
 may be greatly hastened by a constant elevation of tem- 
 perature, and I was often surprised at the degree to 
 which this was the case in the course of my own obser- 
 vations ; but the comparatively low temperature of our 
 spring, and the cold frosty nights which occur in March 
 and April, may well account for such a discrepancy. 
 If the eggs be deposited at the middle or latter end of 
 March, it is generally, with us, the latter end of April 
 before they are hatched. The situation of the mouth is 
 now distinctly visible, though the opening is but small; 
 and even when it becomes considerably enlarged it has 
 no power of movement, and there are no distinct lips. 
 The branchiae now speedily enlarge, and each of the two 
 branches on either side is seen to consist of about four 
 leaves (figs. 6. 9); these are sessile upon the body or 
 stem of the branchia ; they are somewhat granular on 
 the surface, and slightly irregular in their form; there is 
 also frequently a short additional branch at the base of 
 the posterior one, as is shown in the outline, figure 9. 
 The present state of these organs, which have now ar- 
 rived at their maximum of development, constitutes one 
 of the most charming objects for microscopic observation 
 which can be conceived, and to view which a very high 
 power is not necessary, nor even desirable. The current 
 of the blood poured in regular pulsations at each crn- 
 traction of the heart, passes up each stem or main branch 
 of the branchiae, and a distinct stream is given off to 
 each leaf; it is propelled to the extremity, and then re- 
 turns down the opposite sides in the most regular man- 
 ner, and the parts are so transparent that every globule 
 of blood is distinctly and beautifully visible. 
 
 This state of things, however, is destined to last but 
 a short time. No sooner have these interesting organs 
 attained their greatest development than they begin to 
 diminish in size ; they become obtuse (fig. 7,) and a^e 
 gradually so reduced as to be withdrawn within the bran- 
 chial cavity, and concealed by a little operculum of the 
 integument. The eyes are now perfectly formed. The 
 holders have become much diminished in size; ttie 
 
380 
 
 HISTORY Of FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 observe whether the female would cast her 
 spawn ; but finding her tardy, he dissected 
 both her and the male : in the latter, the sper- 
 matic vessels were quite empty, as might na- 
 turally have been supposed ; but for the fe- 
 male, her spawn still remained in her body. 
 Upon its being extracted, and put into water, 
 it perished without producing any animal 
 whatever. From hence he justly concluded, 
 that it required that the eggs should be ejected 
 from the body of the female before they could 
 be at all prolific. In another pair the male 
 quitted the female, who did not eject her 
 spawn till sixteen days after ; and these, like 
 the former, came to nothing. But it was very 
 different with some of the rest. The females 
 ejected their spawn while the male still re- 
 mained in his station, and impregnated the 
 masses at different intervals as they fell from 
 her : and these all brought forth animals in 
 the usual course of generation. From these 
 observations it was easy to infer, that the fe- 
 male was impregnated neither by the mouth, 
 as some philosophers imagined, nor by the 
 excrescence at the thumbs, as was the opinion 
 of Linnseus, but by the inspersion of the male 
 seminal fluid upon the eggs, as they proceeded 
 from the body. 
 
 A single female produces from six to ele- 
 ven hundred eggs at a time ; and, in general, 
 she throws them all out together by a single 
 effort; though sometimes she is an hour in 
 performing this task. While she is thus 
 bringing forth, it may be observed that the 
 male acts the part of a midwife, and promotes 
 the expulsion of the eggs by working with his 
 thumbs, and compressing the female's body 
 more closely. The eggs which were com- 
 pressed in the womb, upon being emitted, ex- 
 pand themselves into a round form, and drop 
 to the bottom of the water; while the male 
 swims off, and strikes with his arms as usual, 
 though they had continued so long in a state 
 of violent contraction. 
 
 The egg, or little black globe, which pro- 
 duces a tadpole, is surrounded with two differ- 
 ent kinds of liquor. That which immediately 
 surrounds the globe is clear and transparent, 
 
 mouth has acquired movable lips, and has changed its 
 position from the inferior part of the head to near the 
 extremity, and the little creature which has hitherto de- 
 rived its sustenance either from its own resources or by 
 absorption, now seeks its food amid softened and decom- 
 posing vegetable matter. The candal web (fig. 8) has, 
 therefore, become considerably developed, and serves for 
 very rapid as well as varied locomotion. The colour of 
 the body, too, has undergone a considerable change, hav- 
 ing become of a soft olive green, the abdomen being 
 dotted with golden yellow. The Tadpole now undergoes 
 but little change in its external form for a considerable 
 time, but increases rapidly in bulk, and by and by a lit- 
 tle tubercle appears on each side of the vent, which is 
 the rudiment of the posterior extremity. Bell's History 
 of British Reptiles. 
 
 I and is contained in its proper membrane: that 
 which surrounds the whole is muddy and rnu- 
 
 cous. The transparent liquor serves for the 
 nourishment of the tadpole from time to time ; 
 and answers the same purposes that the white 
 of the egg does to birds. The tadpoles, when 
 this membrane is broken, are found to adhere 
 with their mouth to part of it; and when they 
 get free, they immediately sink to the bottom 
 of the water, never being able to get to the 
 top after, while they continue in their tadpole 
 form. 
 
 But to return When the spawn is emitted 
 and impregnated by the male, it drops, as was 
 said, to the bottom, and there the white quickly 
 and sensibly increases. The eggs, which, 
 during the four first hours, suffer no perceptible 
 change, begin then to enlarge and grow 
 lighter ; by which means they mount to the 
 surface of the water. At the end of eight 
 
 j hours the white in which they swim grows 
 thicker, the eggs lose their blackness, and, as 
 they increase in size, somewhat of their spher- 
 ical form. The twenty-first day, the egg is 
 seen to open a little on one side, and the be- 
 ginning of a tail to peep out, which becomes 
 more and more distinct every day. The 
 thirty-ninth day the little animal begins to 
 have motion ; it moves at intervals its tail ; 
 and it is perceived that the liquor in which it 
 is circumfused serves it for nourishment. In 
 two days more some of these little creatures 
 fall to the bottom ; while others remain swim- 
 ming in the fluid around them, while their vi- 
 vacity and motion is seen to increase. Those 
 which fall to the bottom remain there the 
 whole day; but having lengthened themselves 
 a little, for hitherto they are doubled up, they 
 mount, at intervals, to the mucus which they 
 had quitted, and are seen to feed upon it with 
 great vivacity. The next day they acquire 
 their tadpole form. 1 In three days more they 
 are perceived to have two little fringes, that 
 serve as fins beneath the head ; and these, in 
 four days after, assume a more perfect form. 
 It is then, also, that they are seen to feed very 
 greedily upon the pond-weed with which they 
 are to be supplied; and, leaving their for- 
 mer food, on this they continue to subsist 
 till they arrive at maturity. When they 
 come to be ninety-two days old, two small 
 feet are seen beginning to bourgeon near 
 the tail : and the head appears to be se- 
 parate from the body. The next day the legs 
 are considerably enlarged : four days after 
 
 1 The tadpole is furnished with a small tube beneath 
 the lower jaw, which acts as a sucker, and by means of 
 which it can, at pleasure, attach itself to the under sur- 
 face of aquatic plants: from these plants it can also sus- 
 pend itself, when very young, by a kind of glutinous 
 thread, in the same manner as spiders drop from the 
 ceiling to the ground. 
 
THE FROG. 
 
 S81 
 
 they refuse all vegetable food ; their mouth 
 appears furnished with teeth ; and their 
 binder-legs are completely formed. In two 
 days more the arms are completely produced; 
 and now the frog is every way perfect, except 
 that it still continues to carry the tail. In 
 this odd situation the animal, resembling at 
 once both a frog and a lizard, is seen fre- 
 quently rising to the surface, not to take food, 
 but to breathe. In this state it continues for 
 about six or eight hours, and then, the tail 
 dropping off by degrees, the animal appears 
 in its most perfect form. 
 
 Thus the frog, in less than a day, having 
 changed its figure, is seen to change its appe- 
 tites also. So extraordinary is this transfor- 
 mation, that the food it fed upon so greedily 
 but a few days before, is now utterly rejected ; 
 it would even starve if supplied with no other. 
 As soon as the animal acquires its perfect 
 state, from having fed upon vegetables, it be- 
 comes carnivorous, and lives entirely upon 
 worms and insects. But as the water cannot 
 supply these, it is obliged to quit its native 
 element, arid seek for food upon land, where 
 it lives by hunting worms, and taking insects 
 by surprise. At first, being feeble and un- 
 able to bear the warmth of the sun, it hides 
 among bushes and under stones ; but when a 
 shower comes to refresh the earth, then the 
 whole multitude are seen to quit their retreats, 
 in order to enjoy the grateful humidity. 
 Upon many occasions the ground is seen per- 
 fectly blackened with their numbers ; some 
 hunting for prey, and some seeking secure 
 lurking places. From the myriads that offer 
 on such occasions, some have been induced 
 to think that these animals were generated 
 in the clouds, and thus showered down on 
 the earth. But had they, like Derham, 
 traced them to the next pool, they would 
 have found out a better solution for the diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 The frog lives for the most part out of the 
 water ; but when the cold nights begin to set in, 
 it returns to its native element, always choos- 
 ing stagnant waters, where it can lie without 
 danger concealed at the bottom. In this man- 
 ner it continues torpid, or with but very little 
 motion, all the winter: like the rest of the 
 dormant race, it requires no food ; and the 
 circulation is slowly carried on without any 
 assistance from the air. 
 
 It is at the approach of spring that all 
 these animals are roused from a state of slum- 
 ber to a state of enjoyment. A short time 
 after they rise from the bottom they begin to 
 pair, while those that are as yet too young come 
 upon land before the rest. For this reason, 
 while the old ones continue concealed in the 
 beginning of spring, the small ones are more 
 frequently seen ; the former remaining in the 
 
 lake to propagate, while the latter are not yet 
 arrived at a state of maturity. 1 
 
 The difference of sexes, which was men- 
 tioned above, is not perceivable in these ani- 
 
 1 There are various species of frogs, of which we may 
 notice the more remarkable. The Common Frog of this 
 country is called the Red Frog by the French. The 
 Green Frog is the common frog of France, and is the 
 one chiefly used at table. Its thighs are in great request 
 there among the amateurs of good cheer, although in this 
 country a stupid prejudice exists against it. Its colour 
 is an olive green, distinctly marked v/ith black patches 
 on the ba^k, and on its limbs with transverse bars of the 
 same. From the tip of the nose three distinct stripes of 
 a pale yellow extend to the extremity of the body, the 
 middle one slightly depressed, and the lateral ones con. 
 siderably elevated. The under parts are of a pale whitish 
 colour tinged with green, and marked with irregular 
 brown spots. Though not common in England, it is 
 found in great plenty in Italy, France, and Germany. 
 This species seldom deposits its spawn before the month 
 of June. During this season the male is said to croak 
 so loud as to be heard at a great distance. In some 
 particular places, where these animals are numerous, 
 their croaking is very oppressive to persons unaccustomed 
 to it. The globules of spawn are smaller than those of 
 the common frog ; and the young are considerably 
 longer in attaining their complete state, this seldom tak- 
 ing place till November. They arrive at their full growth 
 in about four years, and live to the age of sixteen or 
 seventeen. They are excessively voracious, frequently 
 seizing young birds, and even mice, which, like the rest 
 of their prey of snails, worms, &c. they swallow whole. 
 
 Edible frogs are brought from the country, thirty or 
 forty thousand at a time, to Vienna, and sold to the 
 great dealers, who have conservatories for them, which 
 are large holes, four or five feet deep, dug in the ground, 
 the mouth covered with a board, and in severe weather 
 with straw. In these conservatories, even during a hard 
 frost, the frogs never become quite torpid ; when taken 
 out, and placed on their backs, they are always sensible 
 of the change, and have strength enough to turn them- 
 selves. They get together in heaps, one upon another, 
 instinctively, and thereby prevent the evaporation of 
 their humidity ; for no water is ever put to them. In 
 Vienna, in the year 1793, there were only three great 
 dealers, by whom most of those persons were supplied 
 who brought them to the market ready for the cook. As 
 their spawning time is so very late in the year, those ani- 
 mals that are brought to market before the month of June 
 for edible frogs, are supposed to be either common frogs, 
 or sometimes toads. 
 
 The large water, or Bull-frog, is also edible, having as 
 much on them as a young fowl. It frequently measures 
 from the nose to the hind feet, a foot and a half, or up- 
 wards. Its colour is a dusky olive brown, marked with 
 numerous dark spots, lighter beneath than above. The 
 external membranes of the ears are large, round, and of 
 a brownish red surrounded by a yellowish margin. This 
 species is chiefly found in the anterior parts of America, 
 where, at the springs and small rills, they are said to sit 
 in pairs. Kalm, however, says, that they frequent only 
 ponds and marshes. In Virginia they are in such 
 abundance, that there is scarcely a single spring that has 
 not a pair of them. The inhabitants, who respect them 
 as genii of the fountains, imagine that they purify the 
 water. The women, however, are no friends to them, 
 because they kill and eat young ducks and goslings; and 
 sometimes they carry offchickens that venture too near the 
 pond. When suddenly surprised, by a long leap or two they 
 enter their hole, at the bottom of which they lie perfectly 
 secure. A full-grown bull-frog will sometimes leap three 
 yards. Kalm relates the following story respecting one 
 
382 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 mals, until they have arrived at their fourth 
 year; nor do they begin to propagate, till 
 they have completed that period. By com- 
 paring their slow growth with their other 
 habitudes, it would appear that they live 
 
 of them. The American Indians are known to be ex- 
 cellent runners, being almost able to equal the best horse 
 in its swiftest course. In order, therefore, to try how 
 well the bull-frog could leap, some Swedes laid a wager 
 with a young Indian that he could not overtake one of 
 them, provided it had two leaps beforehand. They 
 carried a bull-frog, which they had canght in a pond, 
 into a field, and burnt its tail. The fire and the Indian 
 who endeavoured to get up to the frog, had together 
 such an effect on the animal, that it made its long leaps 
 across the field as fast as it could. The Indian pursued 
 it with his might. The noise he made in running 
 frightened the poor frog; probably it was afraid of being 
 tortured with fire again, and therefore it redoubled its 
 leaps, and by that means reached the pond, which was 
 fixed on as their goal, before the Indian could overtake 
 it. This animal is called the bull-frog on account of its 
 croaking, which is said somewhat to resemble the hoarse 
 lowing of a bull ; and when, in a calm night, many of 
 them are making a noise together, they may be heard to 
 the distance of a mile and a half. The night is the time 
 when they croak, and they are said to do it at inter- 
 vals. In this act they are either hidden among the 
 grass or rushes, or they are in the water, with their heads 
 above the surface. Kalm informs us that, as he was one 
 day riding out, he heard one of them roaring before him, 
 and supposed it to be a bull hidden in the bushes at a 
 little distance. The voice was, indeed, more hoarse than 
 that of a bull, yet it was too loud for him to conceive that 
 it could be emitted by so small an animal as a frog, and 
 he was in considerable alarm for his safety. He was 
 undeceived a few hours afterwards, by a party of Swedes, 
 to whom he had communicated his fears. 
 
 The Tree-frog, which is a native of America, France, 
 Germany, Italy, and many other European regions, hut 
 
 never found in Britain, is small, and of a slender and 
 very elegant shape. It is the only species found in 
 Europe of a genus called Hylce, which are distinguished 
 from frogs and toads by the viscous cushions by which 
 the toes are terminated. Its upper parts are green, and 
 the abdomen is whitish, marked by numerous granules. 
 The under surface of the limbs is reddish, and on each 
 side of the body there is a longitudinal blackish or violet- 
 coloured streak. The body is smooth above, and the 
 hind legs are very long and slender. At the end of each 
 toe is a round, fleshy, concave apparatus, not unlike the 
 mouth of a leech, by means of which the animal is en- 
 abled to adhere even to the most polished surfaces. This 
 animal, during the summer months, resides principally 
 on the upper branches of the trees, where it wanders 
 among the foliage in quest of insects. These it catches 
 with great dexterity, stealing softly to them, as a cat 
 does to a mouse, till at a proper distance, when it makes 
 a sudden spring upon them of frequently more than a 
 foot in height. It often suspends itself 'by its feet, or 
 abdomen, to the upper parts of leaves, remaining thus 
 concealed among the foliage. The skin of the abdomen 
 
 about twelve years : but having so many 
 enemies, both by land and water, it is pro- 
 bable that few of them arrive at the end of 
 their term. 
 
 Frogs live upon insects of all kinds; but 
 
 is covered with small glandular granules of such a nature 
 as to allow the animal to adhere as well by these as by 
 the toes. It will even stick to glass by pressing its belly 
 against it. About the end of autumn the tree-frog retires 
 to the water and lies concealed in a torpid state in the 
 mud till the spring, when, on the return of warm weather, 
 it emerges, like the rest of the genus, to deposit its 
 spawn in the water. At this period the male inflates 
 his throat in a surprising manner, forming a large sphere 
 beneath his head ; he also exerts a very loud and sharp 
 croak, that may be heard to a vast distance. The tad- 
 poles become perfected about the beginning of August, 
 and they soon afterwards begin to ascend the adjacent 
 trees. At this time they are particularly noisy in the 
 evenings on the approach of rain ; therefore, if kept in 
 glasses in a room, and supplied with proper food, they 
 will supply the place of barometers by affording sure 
 presage of changes of weather. 
 
 Tree-frogs have been kept also by Dr Townson, who 
 had them in a window, and appropriated to their use a 
 bowl of water, in which they lived. They soon grew 
 quite tame ; and to two that he had had for a consider- 
 able length of time, and were particular favourites, the 
 doctor gave the names of Damon and Musidora. In 
 the evening they seldom tailed to go into the water, un. 
 less the weather was cold and damp, in which case they 
 would sometimes stay out a couple of days. When they 
 were out of the water, if a few drops were thrown upon 
 the board, they always applied their bodies as close to it 
 as they could ; and from this absorption through the skin, 
 though they were flaccid before, they soon again appeared 
 plump. A tree frog that had not been in the v/ater 
 during the night was weighed, and then immersed ; 
 after it had remained half an hour in the bowl it came 
 out, and was found to have absorbed nearly half its own 
 weight in water. From other experiments, it was dis. 
 covered that these animals frequently absorbed nearly 
 their whole weight of water ; and that, as was clearly 
 proved, by the under surface only of the body. They 
 will even absorb water from wetted blotting paper. 
 Sometimes they eject water with considerable force from 
 their bodies, to the quantity of a fourth part or more of 
 their weight. Before the flies had disappeared in au- 
 tumn, the doctor collected for his favourite tree-frog, 
 Musidora, a great quantity, as winter provision. When 
 he laid any of them before her she took no notice of them, 
 but the moment he moved them with his breath, she 
 sprung upon and ate them. Once, when flies were 
 scarce, the doctor cut seme flesh of a tortoise into small 
 pieces, and moved them by the same means ; she seized 
 them, but the instant afterwards rejected them from her 
 tongue. Afttr he had obtained her confidence, she ate 
 from his ringers dead as well as living flies. Frogs will 
 leap at the moving of any small object : and, like toads, 
 they will also soon become sufficiently familiar to sit on 
 the hand, and be carried from one side of a room to the 
 other, to catch flies as they settle on the wall. This 
 gentleman accordingly made them his guards at Got- 
 tingen, for keeping these troublesome creatures from his 
 dessert of fruit, and they performed their task highly to 
 his satisfaction. He has seen the small tree-frogs eat 
 humble-bees, but this was never done without some con- 
 test ; they are in general obliged to reject them, being 
 incommoded by their stings and hairy roughness ; but 
 in each attempt the bee is further covered with the 
 viscid matter from the frog's tongue, and when thus 
 coated it is swallowed with facility. 
 
 A battle between a tree-frog and snake was seen in 
 
THE FROG. 
 
 383 
 
 
 they never eat any unless they have motion, 
 They continue fixed and immovable till their 
 prey appears ; and just when it comes 
 sufficiently near, they jump forward with 
 great agility, dart out their tongues, and seize 
 it with certainty. The tongue, in this ani- 
 mal, as in the toad, lizard, and serpent kinds, 
 is extremely long, and formed in such a man- 
 ner, that it swallows the point down its throat; 
 so that a length of tongue is thus drawn out, 
 like a sword from its scabbard, to assail its 
 prey. This tongue is furnished with a gluti- 
 nous substance ; and whatever insect it touches, 
 infallibly adheres, and is thus held fast till it 
 is drawn into the mouth. 
 
 As the frog is thus supplied with the power 
 of catching its prey, it is also very vivacious, 
 and able to bear hunger for a very long time. 
 I have known one of them continue a month 
 in summer without any other food than the 
 turf on which it was placed in a glass vessel. 
 We are told of a German surgeon, that kept 
 one eight years in a glass vessel, covered with 
 a net. Its food was at all times but sparing : 
 in summer he gave it fresh grass, which it is 
 said to have fed upon ; and, in the winter, hay, 
 a little moistened ; he likewise, now arid then, 
 put flies into the glass, which it would follow 
 with an open mouth, and was very expert in 
 catching them. In winter, when the flies 
 were difficult to be found, it usually fell away, 
 
 the top of a mangrove-tree, by one of the officers who 
 was with Captain Stedman, when he was sailing up one 
 of the rivers of Surinam in a canoe. When the captain 
 first perceived them, the head and shoulders of the frog 
 were in the jaws of the snake, which was about the size 
 of a large kitchen poker. This creature had its tail 
 twisted round a tough limb of the mangrove, while the 
 frog, which appeared about the size of a man's fist, had 
 laid hold of a twig with his hind feet. In this position 
 they were contending, the one for life, the other for his din- 
 ner, forming one straight line between the two branches; 
 and thus they continued for some time, apparently 
 stationary, and without a struggle. Still it was hoped, 
 that the poor frog might extricate himself by his exer- 
 tions, but the reverse was the case. The jaws of the 
 snake, gradually relaxing, and by their elasticity forming 
 an incredible orifice, the body and fore legs of the frog 
 by little and little disappeared, till finally nothing more 
 was seen than the hinder feet and claws, which were at 
 last disengaged from the twig, and its formidable adver- 
 sary drew it down its throat by suction. The frog passed 
 some inches further down the alimentary canal, and at 
 last stuck, form'ng a knob or knot at least six times as 
 thick as the snake, whose jaws and throat immediately 
 contracted, and resumed their former natural shape. 
 
 The Fire Frog The fire-frog is the least of all the 
 European frogs, hardly ever equalling the tree-frog in 
 size, and is a native of Germany, Italy, and many other 
 parts of Europe, but is not found in England. Its colour 
 on the upper part is of a dull olive brown, the skin being 
 marked with large and small tubercles : round the edges 
 of the mouth is placed a row of blackish streaks or per- 
 pendicular spots. The under parts both of the body and 
 limbs are orange -coloured, spotted or variegated with 
 irregular markings of dull blue. It is from the colour 
 of the under surface of its body that this species has 
 obtained the name of fire-frog. 
 
 and grew very lean ; but in the summer, 
 when they were plenty, it soon grew fat again. 
 It was kept in a warm room, and was always 
 lively and ready to take its prey: however, in 
 the eighth winter, when there were no flies to 
 be found, it fell away and died. It is not cer- 
 tain how long it might have lived, had it been 
 supplied with proper nourishment ; but we are 
 certain, that a very little food is capable of 
 sufficing its necessities. 
 
 Nor is the frog less tenacious of life. It 
 will live and jump about several hours after 
 its head has been cut off. It will continue ac- 
 tive, though all its bowels are taken out; and 
 it can live some days, though entirely stripped 
 of its skin. This cruel trick, which is chiefly 
 practised among school-boys, of skinning 
 frogs, an operation which is done in an in- 
 stant, seems for some hours no way to abate 
 their vigour. I am assured that some of them 
 get a new skin, and recover, after this painful 
 experiment. 
 
 The croaking of frogs is well known ; and, 
 from thence, in some countries, they are dis- 
 tinguished by the ludicrous title of Dutch 
 Nightingales. Indeed, the aquatic frogs of 
 Holland are loud beyond what one would 
 imagine. We could hardly conceive that an 
 animal, not bigger than one's fist, should be 
 able to send forth a note that is heard at three 
 miles' distance ; yet such is actually the case. 1 
 The large water-frogs have a note as loud as 
 the bellowing of a bull ; and, for this purpose, 
 puff up the cheeks to a surprising magnitude. 
 Of all frogs, however, the male only croaks; 
 the female is silent, and the voice in the other 
 seems to be the call to courtship. It is cer- 
 tain, that at these times when they couple, the 
 loudness of their croaking is in some places 
 very troublesome ; for then the whole lake 
 seems vocal ; and a thousand dissonant notes 
 perfectly stun the neighbourhood. At other 
 times, also, before wet weather, their voices 
 are in full exertion : they are then heard with 
 unceasing assiduity, sending forth their call, 
 and welcoming the approaches of their favour- 
 ite moisture. No weather-glass was ever so 
 true as a frog in foretelling an approaching 
 change ; and, in fact, the German surgeon, 
 mentioned above, kept his frog for that pur- 
 pose. It was always heard to croak at the 
 approach of wet weather ; but was as mute as 
 a fish when it threatened a continuance of fair. 
 This may probably serve to explain an opin- 
 ion which some entertain, that there is a month 
 in the year, called Paddock Moon, in which 
 the frogs never croak : the whole seems to be 
 no more than that, in the hot season, when the 
 moisture is dried away, and consequently, when 
 these animals neither enjoy the quantity of 
 
 1 Raesel. ibid. 
 
384 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 health or food that at other times they are sup- 
 plied with, they show, by their silence, how 
 much they are displeased with the weather. 
 All very dry weather is hurtful to their health, 
 and prevents them from getting their prey. 
 They subsist chiefly upon worms and snails ; 
 and as drought prevents these from appearing, 
 the frog is thus stinted in its provisions, and 
 also wants that grateful humidity which mois- 
 tens its skin, and renders it alert and active. 
 
 As frogs adhere closely to the backs of their 
 own species, so it has been found, by repeated 
 experience, they will also adhere to the backs 
 of fishes. Few that have ponds, but know 
 that these animals will stick to the backs of 
 carp, and fix their fingers in the corner of each 
 eye. In this manner they are often caught 
 together ; the carp blinded and wasted away. 
 Whether this proceeds from the desires of the 
 frog, disappointed of its proper mate, or whe- 
 ther it be a natural enmity between frogs and 
 fishes. I will not take upon me to say. A 
 story told us by Walton, might be apt* to in- 
 cline us to the latter opinion. 
 
 " As Dubravius, a bishop of Bohemia, was 
 walking with a friend by a large pond in that 
 country, they saw a frog, when a pike lay very 
 sleepily and quiet by the shore side, leap upon 
 his head, and the frog having expressed ma- 
 lice or anger by his swoln cheeks and staring 
 eyes, did stretch out his legs, and embraced 
 the pike's head, and presently reached them 
 to his eyes, tearing with them and his teeth 
 those tender parts ; the pike, irritated with 
 anguish, moves up and down the water, and 
 rubs himself against weeds, and whatever he 
 thought might quit him of his enemy ; but all 
 in vain, for the frog did continue to ride tri- 
 umphantly, and to bite and torment the pike 
 till his strength failed, and then the frog sunk 
 with the pike to the bottom of the water: then 
 presently the frog appeared again at the top, 
 and croaked, and seemed to rejoice like a con- 
 queror; after which he presently retired to his 
 secret hole. The bishop, that had beheld the 
 battle, called his fisherman to fetch his nets, 
 and by all means to get the pike, that they 
 might declare what had happened. The pike 
 was drawn forth, and both his eyes eaten out; 
 at which, when they began to wonder, the 
 fisherman wished them to forbear, and assured 
 them he was certain that pikes were often so 
 served." 
 
 CHAP. Ill, 
 
 OF THE TOAD, AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 IF we regard the figure of the toad, there 
 seems nothing in it that should disgust more 
 
 than that of the frog. Its form and propor- 
 tions are nearly the same ; and it chiefly dif- 
 fers in colour, which is blacker; and its slow 
 and heavy motion, which exhibits nothing of 
 the agility of the frog : yet such is the force of 
 habit, begun in early prejudice, that those 
 who consider the one as a harmless playful 
 animal, turn from the other with horror and 
 disgust. The frog is considered as a useful 
 assistant, in ridding our grounds of vermin ; 
 the toad, as a secret enemy, that only wants 
 an opportunity to infect us with its venom. 
 
 The imagination, in this manner biassed by 
 its terrors, paints out the toad in the most hi- 
 deous colouring, and clothes it in more than 
 natural deformity. Its body is broad; its 
 back flat ; covered with a dusky pimpled 
 hide ; the belly is large and swagging ; the 
 pace laboured and crawling ; its retreat gloomy 
 and filthy ; and its whole appearance calcula- 
 ted to excite disgust and horror : yet, upon my 
 first seeing a toad, none of all these deformi- 
 ties in the least affected me with sensations of 
 loathing : born, as I was, in a country where 
 there are no toads, I had prepared my imagi- 
 nation for some dreadful object ; but there 
 seemed nothing to me more alarming in the 
 sight, than in that of a common frog ; and in- 
 deed, for some time, I mistook, and handled 
 the one for the other. When first informed 
 of my mistake, I very well remember my sen- 
 sations : I wondered how I had escaped with 
 safety, after handling and dissecting a toad, 
 which I had mistaken for a frog. I then be- 
 gan to lay in a fund of horror against th 
 whole tribe, which, though convinced they 
 are harmless, I shall never get rid of. My 
 first imaginations were too strong not only lor 
 my reason, but for the conviction of my 
 senses. 
 
 As the toad bears a general resemblance of 
 figure to the frog, so also it resembles that ani- 
 mal in its nature and appetites. Like the 
 frog, the toad is amphibious; like that animal, 
 it lives upon worms and insects, which it seizes 
 by darting out its length of tongue; and 
 in the same manner also it crawls about in 
 moist weather. The male and female couple 
 as in all the frog kind ; their time of propaga- 
 tion being very early in the spring. Some- 
 times the females are seen upon land oppressed 
 by the males; but more frequently they ars 
 
THE TOAD. 
 
 385 
 
 coupled in the water. They continue toge- 
 ther some hours, and adhere so fast as to tear 
 the very skin from the parts they stick to. In 
 all this they entirely resemble the frog; bu 
 the assistance which the male lends the fe- 
 male, in bringing forth, is a peculiarity in 
 this species that must not be passed over in 
 silence. " In the evening of a summer's 
 day, a French gentleman, being in the king* 
 gardens at Paris, perceived two toads coupled 
 together, and he stopped to examine them. 
 Two facts equally new surprised him ; the first 
 was the extreme difficulty the female had in 
 laying her eggs ; the second was the assist- 
 ance lent her by the male for this purpose. 
 The eggs of the female lie in her body, like 
 beads on a string ; and after the first, by great 
 effort, was excluded, the male caught it with 
 his hinder paws, and kept working it till he 
 had thus extracted the whole chain. In this 
 manner the animal performed, in some mea- 
 sure, the functions of a midwife ; impregna- 
 ting, at the same time, every egg as it issued 
 from the body. 
 
 It is probable, however, that this difficulty 
 in bringing forth obtains only upon land ; and 
 that the toad, which produces its spawn in the 
 water, performs it with as much ease as a frog. 
 They propagate in England exactly in the 
 manner of frogs; and the female, instead of 
 retiring to dry holes, goes to the bottom of 
 ponds, and there lies torpid all the winter, 
 preparing to propagate in the beginning of 
 spring. On these occasions, the number of 
 males is found greatly to surpass that of the 
 other sex, there being above thirty to one ; 
 and twelve or fourteen are often seen clinging 
 to the same female. 
 
 When, like the frog, they have undergone 
 all the variations of their tadpole state, they 
 forsake the water ; and are often seen, in a 
 moist summer's evening, crawling up, by my- 
 riads, from fenny places, into dryer situations. 
 There, having found out a retreat, or having 
 dug themselves one with their mouth and 
 hands, they lead a patient solitary life, seldom 
 venturing out, except when the moisture of a 
 summer's evening invites them abroad. At 
 that time the grass is filled with snails, and 
 the pathways covered with worms, which make 
 their principal food. Insects also of every 
 kind they are fond of: and we have the au- 
 thority of Linnaeus for it, that they sometimes 
 continue immovable, with the mouth open, 
 at the bottom of shrubs, where the butterflies, 
 in some measure fascinated, are seen to fly 
 down their throats. 1 
 
 In a letter from Mr Arscott, there are some 
 curious particulars relating to this animal, 
 which throw great light upon its history. 
 
 VOL. It. 
 
 1 Amaenit. vol. vi. p. 201. 
 
 " Concerning the toad," says he, " that lived 
 so many years with us, and was so great a fa- 
 vourite, the greatest curiosity was its becom- 
 ing so remarkably tame ; it had frequented 
 some steps before our hall- door pome years be- 
 fore my acquaintance commenced with it, and 
 had been admired by my father for its size, 
 (being the largest I ever met with,) who con- 
 stantly paid it a visit every evening. I knew 
 it myself above thirty years; a id by constant- 
 ly feeding it, brought it to be so tame, that it 
 always came to the candle, and looked up, as 
 if expecting to be taken up and brought upon 
 the table, where I always fed it with insects 
 of all sorts. It was fondest of flesh maggots, 
 which I kept in bran; it would follow them, 
 and when within a proper distance, would fix 
 his eyes, and remain motionless for near a 
 quarter of a minute, as if preparing for the 
 stroke, which was an instantaneous throwing 
 its tongue at a great distance upon the insect, 
 which stuck to the tip by a glutinous matter. 
 The motion is quicker than the eye can follow. 
 I cannot say how long my father had been ac- 
 quainted with the toad, before I knew it ; but 
 when I was first acquainted with it, he used 
 to mention it as the old toad I have known so 
 many years; I can answer for thirty-six years. 
 This old toad made its appearance as soon as 
 the warm weather came ; and I always con- 
 cluded it retired to some dry bank, to repose 
 till spring. When we new layed the steps, 
 I had two holes made in the third step, on 
 each, with a hollow of more than a yard long 
 for it ; in which I imagine it slept, as it came 
 from thence at its first appearance. It was 
 seldom provoked. Neither that toad, nor the 
 multitudes I have seen tormented with great 
 cruelty, ever showed the least desire of re- 
 venge, by spitting or emitting any juice from 
 their pimples. Sometimes, upon taking it up, 
 it would let out a great quantity of clear wa- 
 ter, which, as I have often seen it do the same 
 upon the steps when quite quiet, was certainly 
 its urine, and no more than a natural evacua- 
 tion. Spiders, millipedes, and flesh maggots, 
 seem to be this animal's favourite food. I 
 imagine if a bee was to be put before a toad, 
 it would certainly eat it to its cost ; 2 but as 
 bees are seldom stirring at the same time that 
 toads are, they rarely come in their way ; as 
 hey do not appear after sun-rising, or before 
 sun-set. In the heat of the day they will 
 come to the mouth of their hole, I believe for 
 air. I once, from my parlour window, ob- 
 served a large toad I had in the bank of a 
 3owling-green, about twelve at noon in a very 
 lot day, very busy and active upon the grass. 
 So uncommon an appearance made me go out 
 
 * Rsesel tried a frog; it swallowed the bee alive : its 
 
 tomach was stung, and the animal vomited it up again. 
 
 3c 
 
386 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 to see what it was ; when I found an innum- ! 
 erable swarm of winged ants had dropped 
 round his hole ; which temptation was as irre- 
 sistible as a turtle would be to a luxurious al- 
 derman. In respect to its end, had it not 
 been for a tame raven, I make no doubt but 
 it would have been now living. This bird, 
 one day seeing it at the mouth of its hole, 
 pulled it out, and, although I rescued it, 
 pulled out one eye, and hurt it so, that not- 
 withstanding its living a twelvemonth, it 
 never enjoyed itself, and had a difficulty of 
 taking its food, missing the mark for want of 
 its eye. Before that accident, it had all the 
 appearance of perfect health." 
 
 To this account of the toad's inoffensive 
 qualities, I will add another from Valisnieri, 
 to show that, even taken internally, the toad is no 
 way dangerous. In the year 1692, some Ger- 
 man soldiers, who had taken possession of the 
 castle of Arceti, finding that the peasants of 
 the country often amused themselves in catch- 
 ing frogs, and dressing them for the table ; 
 resolved to provide themselves with a like en- 
 tertainment, and made preparations for frog 
 fishing, in the same manner. It may easily 
 be supposed that the Italians and their Ger- 
 man guests were not very fond of each other; 
 and indeed it is natural to think that the sol- 
 diers gave the poor people of the country many 
 good reasons for discontent. They were not 
 a little pleased, therefore, when they saw them 
 go to a ditch where toads, instead of frogs, 
 were found in abundance. The Germans, no 
 way distinguishing in their sport, caught them 
 in great numbers ; while the peasants kept 
 looking on, silently flattering themselves with 
 the hopes of speedy revenge. After being 
 brought home, the toads were dressed up af- 
 ter the Italian fashion : the peasants were 
 quite happy at seeing their tyrants devour 
 them with so good an appetite, and expected 
 every moment to see them drop down dead. 
 But what was their surprise to find that the 
 Germans continued as well as ever, and only 
 complained of a slight excoriation of the lips, 
 which, probably, arose from some other cause 
 than that of their repast." 
 
 I will add another story, from Solenander; 
 who tells us, that a tradesman of Rome and 
 his wife who had long lived together with mu- 
 tual discontent ; the man was dropsical, and the 
 woman amorous : this ill-matched society pro- 
 mised soon, by the very infirm state of the 
 man, to have an end ; but the woman was 
 unwilling to wait the progress of the disorder ; 
 and therefore concluded that, to get rid of her 
 husband, nothing was left her but poison. 
 For this purpose she chose out a dose that she 
 supposed would be the most effectual ; and 
 having calcined some toads, mixed their 
 powder with his drink. The man, after tak- 
 
 ing a hearty dose, found no considerable in. 
 convenience, except that it greatly promoted 
 urine. His wife, who considered this as a 
 beginning symptom of the venom, resolved 
 not to stint the next dose, but gave it in greater 
 quantities than before. This also increased 
 the former symptom; and, in a few days the 
 woman had the mortification to see her detested 
 husband restored to perfect health, and re- 
 mained in utter despair of ever being a widow. 
 
 From all this it will appear with what in- 
 justice this animal has hitherto been treated. It 
 has undergone every kind of reproach ; and 
 mankind have been taught to consider, as an 
 enemy, a creature that destroys that insect- 
 tribe which are their real invaders. We are 
 to treat, therefore, as fables, those accounls 
 that represent the toad as possessed of poison 
 to kill at a distance ; of its ejecting its venom, 
 which burns wherever it touches; of its in- 
 fecting those vegetables near which it resides ; 
 of its excessive fondness for sage, which 
 is rendered poisonous by its approach ; these, 
 and a hundred others of the same kind, 
 probably took their rise from an antipathy 
 which some have to all animals of the kind. 
 It is a harmless, defenceless creature, torpid 
 and unvenomous, and seeking the darkest 
 retreats, not from the malignity of its nature, 
 but the multitude of its enemies. 
 
 Like all the frog kind, the toad is torpid in 
 winter. It chooses then, for a retreat, either 
 the hollow root of a tree, the cleft of a rock, 
 or sometimes the bottom of a pond, where it 
 is found in a state of seeming insensibility. 
 As it is very long-lived, it is very difficult to 
 be killed ; its skin is tough, and cannot be 
 easily pierced ; and, though covered with 
 wounds, the animal continues to show signs 
 of life, and every part appears in motion. 
 But what shall we say to its living for cen- 
 turies lodged in the bosom of a rock, or cased 
 within the body of an oak-tree, without the 
 smallest access on any side either for nourish- 
 ment or air, and yet taken out alive and per- 
 fect ! Stories of this kind it would be as rash 
 to contradict as difficult to believe ; we have 
 the highest authorities bearing witness to their 
 truth, and yet the whole analogy of nature 
 seems to arraign them of falsehood. Bacon 
 asserts that toads are found in this manner; 
 Dr Plot asserts the same. There is, to this 
 day, a marble chimney-piece, at Chatsworth, 
 with the print of a toad upon it, and a tradition 
 of the manner in which it was found. In the 
 Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences there is 
 an account of a toad found alive and healthy 
 in the heart of a very thick elm, without the 
 smallest entrance or egress. 1 In the year 
 1731, there was another found, near Nantes, 
 
 1 Vide the year 1719. 
 
THE TOAD. 
 
 387 
 
 in the heart of an old oak, without the small- 
 est issue to its cell ; and the discoverer was of 
 opinion, from the size of the tree, that the 
 animal could not have been confined there 
 less than eighty or a hundred years, without 
 sustenance and without air. To all these we 
 can only oppose the strangeness of the facts; 
 the necessity this animal appears under of 
 receiving air; and its dying, like all other 
 animals, in the air-pump, when deprived of 
 this all-sustaining fluid. But whether these 
 be objections to weigh against such respect- 
 able and disinterested authority I will not 
 pretend to determine ; certain it is that if 
 kept in a damp place, the toad will live for 
 several months without any food whatsoever. l 
 
 1 In 1777, Herissaut undertook some experiments to 
 ascertain the truth of facts of this kind, which might 
 appear fabulous. He shut up three toads in sealed boxes 
 in plaster, and they were deposited in the Academy of 
 Sciences. At the end of eighteen months one of these 
 toads was dead, but the other two were still living. 
 Nobody could doubt the authenticity of this fact, yet the 
 experiments were severely criticised, as well as the ob- 
 servations which they seemed to confirm. It was con- 
 tended that the air must have come to these animals 
 through some imperceptible hole which escaped the 
 notice of the observer. Somte probability, however, was 
 given to this circumstance by the researches of Dr 
 Edwards, published in 1817. He observed that toads, 
 shut up totally in plaster, and absolutely deprived of air, 
 lived for a great number of days, and much longer than 
 those which were forced to remain under water. This 
 certainly is one of the most extraordinary phenomena 
 which the history of reptiles can furnish. It appears an 
 exception to the necessity of air, which is regarded as 
 indispensable to the life of all animals, and seems to 
 break the chain which united them under the most in- 
 teresting relations of existence. It appears, however, 
 that the air evidently penetrated through the plaster, as 
 Dr Edwards proved, for the toads perished as soon as the 
 plaster which enclosed them was placed under water. 
 The opponents of Herissaut were therefore justified to 
 some degree in their scepticism. Still the fact of ani- 
 mals existing so long under such circumstances, even 
 with a little air, is most surprising, and calculated to 
 produce very strange reflections. If these reptiles lived 
 in this manner longer than they would have done in the 
 open dry air, the reason is that they lost less by trans- 
 piration, and if they died much later than they would 
 have done in water, it was because the air certainly had 
 some access to them. 
 
 Professor Buckland has recently made some experi- 
 ments in order to throw light on this obscure subject. 
 Two blocks of stone were taken, one of porous oolite 
 limestone, and one of a compact silicious sandstone ; 
 twelve cells, five inches wide, and six inches deep, were 
 cut in the sandstone, and twelve others, five inches wide, 
 and twelve inches deep, in the limestone. In November, 
 1S25, one live toad was placed in each of the twenty, 
 four cells, its weight being previously ascertained with 
 care. A glass plate was placed over each cell as a cover, 
 with a circular slate above to protect it ; and the two 
 blocks of stone, with the immured toads, were buried in 
 Dr Buckland's garden under three feet of earth. They 
 were uncovered after the lapse of a year, in December, 
 1826. All the toads in the small cells of compact sand- 
 stone were dead, and their bodies so much decayed as to 
 prove that they had -been dead for some months. The 
 greater number of the toads in the larger cells of porous 
 
 To this extraordinary account, which is 
 doubtful, I will add another not less so; which 
 is, that of toads sucking cancerous breasts, 
 and thus extracting the venom, and perform- 
 ing a cure. The first account we have of 
 
 limestone were alive ; but they were all a good deal 
 emaciated, except two, which had increased in weight, 
 the one from one thousand one hundred and eighty-five 
 grains to one thousand two hundred and sixty-five, the 
 other from nine hundred and eighty-eight to one thous- 
 and one hundred and sixteen. With regard to these two, 
 Dr Buckland thinks they had both been nourished by in- 
 sects, which had got into the one cell through a crack 
 found in the glass cover, and into the other probably by 
 some small aperture in the luting, which was not carefully 
 examined. No insects were found in either cell, but an 
 assemblage of insects were found on the outside of an- 
 other glass, and a number within one of the cells whose 
 cover was cracked, and where the animal was dead. 
 Of the emaciated toads, one had diminished in weight 
 from nine hundred and twenty-four grains to six hundred 
 and ninety-eight, and one from nine hundred ajid thirty- 
 six to six hundred and fifty-two. " The results of the 
 experiments," says Dr Buckland, "amount to this: 
 All the toads, both large and small, enclosed in the 
 sandstone, and the small toads inclosed in the limestone 
 also, were dead at the end of thirteen months. Before 
 the expiration of the second year, all the large ones also 
 were dead. These were examined several times, dur- 
 ing the second year, through the glass covers of the cells, 
 but without removing them to admit air. They ap- 
 peared always awake, with their eyes open, and never 
 in a state of torpor, their meagerness increasing at each 
 interval, until at length they were found dead. Those 
 which had gained an increase of weight at the end of the 
 first year, and were then carefully closed up again, were 
 emaciated and dead before the expiration of the second 
 year." Four toads, inclosed in cavities cut in the trunk 
 of an apple tree, and closed up by plugs so tightly as to 
 exclude insects, and " apparently air," were found dead 
 at the end of a year. 
 
 The phenomena, then, of live toads inclosed in rocks, 
 he explains in this way. The young toad, as soon as it 
 leaves its tadpole state, and emerges from the water, 
 seeks shelter in holes and crevices of rocks and trees. 
 One may thus enter a small opening in a rock, and 
 when there find food, by catching the insects which seek 
 shelter in the same retreat ; and its increase of size 
 may prevent it from getting out again by the same open- 
 ing. It is probable that there are some small apertures 
 in all the stones in which toads are found, though they 
 escape the notice of the workmen, who have no motive 
 to induce them to make a narrow examination. In 
 other cases, there may have been an opening, which had 
 been closed up, after the animal was immured, by 
 stalactitic incrustation. Deprived of food and air, it 
 might fall into that state of torpor, or suspended anima- 
 tion, to which certain animals are subject in winter; but 
 how long it might continue in this state is uncertain. 
 
 The Rev. George Young, in his Geological Survey of 
 the Yorkshire Coast, second edition, 1828, mentions 
 several recent instances of living toads having been 
 found within solid blocks of sandstone. " We are the 
 more particular in recording these facts," he observes, 
 " because some modern philosophers have attempted to 
 explode such accounts as wholly fabulous." Mr Jesse 
 informs us, that he knew a gentleman who put a toad into 
 a small flower-pot, and secured it, so that no insect 
 could penetrate it, and then buried it so deep in his 
 garden that it was secured against the influence of frost. 
 At the end of twenty years he took it up, and found the 
 toad increased in bulk, and healthy. 
 
388 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 this is in a letter to the bishop of Carlisle 
 from Dr Pitfield, who was the first person of 
 consequence that attended the experiment. 
 His letter is as follows : 
 
 " Your lordship must have taken notice of 
 a paragraph in the papers with regard to the 
 application of toads to a cancered breast. A 
 patient of mine has sent to the neighbourhood 
 of Hungerford, and brought down the very 
 woman on whom the cure was done. I have, 
 with all the attention I am capable of, attended 
 the operation for eighteen or twenty days, and 
 am surprised at the phenomenon. I am in no 
 expectation of any great service from the ap- 
 plication ; the age, constitution, and thoroughly 
 cancerous condition, of the person, being un- 
 conquerable barriers to it. How an aliment 
 of that kind, absolutely local, in an otherwise 
 sound habit, and of a likely age, might be 
 relieved, I cannot say. But as to the opera- 
 tion, thus much I can assert, that there is 
 neither pain nor nauseousness in it. The 
 animal is put into a linen bag all but its head, 
 and that is held to the part. It has generally 
 instantly laid hold of the foulest part of the 
 sore, and sucked with greediness until it 
 dropped off dead. It has frequently happened 
 that the creature has swollen immediately, 
 and from its agonies, appeared to be in great 
 pain. I have weighed them for several days 
 together, before and after the application, and 
 found their increase of weight, in the differ- 
 ent degrees, from a drachm to near an ounce. 
 They frequently sweat exceedingly, and turn 
 quite pale, sometimes they disgorge, recover, 
 and become lively again : I think the whole 
 scene is surprising, and a very remarkable 
 piece of natural history. From the constant 
 inoffensiveness which I have observed in them, 
 I almost question the truth of their poisonous 
 spitting. Many people here expect no great 
 good from the application of toads to cancers ; 
 and where the disorder is not absolutely local, 
 none is to be expected. When it is seated in 
 any part not to be well come at for extirpa- 
 tion, I think it is hardly to be imagined, but 
 that the having it sucked clean as often as you 
 please, must give great relief. Every body 
 knows that dogs licking of sores cures them ; 
 which is, I suppose, chiefly by keeping them 
 clean. If there be any credit to be given to 
 history, poisons have been sucked out. Pal- 
 kntia vulnera lambtt ore venena frahens, are the 
 words of Lucan on the occasion. If the peo- 
 ple to whom these words are applied did their 
 cure by immediately following the injection 
 of the poison, the local confinement of another 
 poison brings the case to a great degree of si- 
 milarity. I hope I have not tired your lord- 
 ship with my long tale : as it is a true one, 
 and, in my apprehension, a curious piece of 
 natural history, I could not forbear communi- 
 
 cating it to you. I own I thought the story 
 in the papers to be an invention ; and when I 
 considered the instinctive principle in all ani- 
 mals of self-preservation, I was confirmed in 
 my disbelief ; but what I have related I saw ; 
 and all theory must yield to fact. It is only 
 the Rubeta, the land-toad, which has the pro- 
 perty of sucking : I cannot find any, the least, 
 mention of the property in any one of the old 
 naturalists. My patient can bear to have 
 but one applied in twenty-four hours. The 
 woman who was cured had them on day and 
 night, without intermission, for five weeks. 
 Their time of hanging at the breast has been 
 from one to six hours." 
 
 Other remarks made upon their method of 
 performing this extraordinary operation are as 
 follow : " Some toads die very soon after they . 
 have sucked ; others live about a quarter of 
 an hour, and some much longer. For exam- 
 ple, one that was applied about seven o'clock 
 sucked till ten, and died as soon as it was taken 
 from the breast; another that immediately 
 succeeded continued till three o'clock, but 
 dropped dead from the wound : each swelled 
 exceedingly, and grew of a pale colour. They 
 do not seem to suck greedily, and often turn 
 their heads away ; but during the time of their 
 sucking, they were heard to smack their lips 
 like a young child." * 
 
 From this circumstantial account of the pro- 
 gress of this extraordinary application, one 
 could hardly suppose that any doubt could re- 
 main of the ingenious observer's accuracy ; 
 and yet, from information which I have re- 
 ceived from authority still mere respectable, 
 there is much reason, as yet, to suspend our 
 assent A lady, who was under the care of 
 the present president of the College of Phy- 
 sicians, was induced by her friends to try 
 the experiment ; and as he saw the case was 
 desperate, and that it would quiet her mind as 
 well as theirs, he permitted the trial. Dur- 
 ing the whole continuance of their application, 
 she could never thoroughly perceive that they 
 sucked her ; but that did not prevent their 
 swelling and dying, as in the former instan- 
 ces. Once indeed, she said, she thought that 
 one of them seemed to suck; but the physician, 
 and those who attended, could not perceive 
 any appearance of it. Thus, after all, it is a 
 doubt whether these animals die by the inter- 
 nal or the external application of the cancer, 
 ous poison. 
 
 Of this animal there are several varieties ; 
 such as the water and the land toad, which 
 probably differ only in the ground-colour of 
 their skin. In the first, it is more inclining 
 to ash-colour, with brown spots ; in the other, 
 the colour is brown, approaching to black. 
 
 British Zoology, voi. iii. p. 338. 
 
THE TOAD. 
 
 389 
 
 The water toad is not so large as the other; 
 but both equally breed in that element. The 
 size of the toad, with us, is generally from 
 two to four inches long ; but in the fenny 
 countries of Europe I have seen them much 
 larger, and not less than a common crab, 
 when brought to table. But this is nothing to 
 what they are found in some of the tropical 
 climates, where travellers often, for the first 
 time, mistake a toad for a tortoise. Their usual 
 size is from six to seven inches : but there 
 are some still larger, and as broad as a plate. 
 Of these some are beautifully streaked and 
 coloured ; some studded over, as with pearls ; 
 others fjristled with horns or spines ; some 
 have the head distinct from the body, while 
 others have it so sunk in that the animal ap- 
 pears without a head. 1 All these are found 
 in the tropical climates in great abundance ; 
 and particularly after a shower of rain. It is 
 then that the streets seem entirely paved with 
 them ; they then crawl from their retreats, 
 and go into all places to enjoy their favourite 
 moisture. With us the opinion of its raining 
 toads and frogs has long been justly exploded; 
 but it still is entertained in the tropical coun- 
 tries; and that not only by the savage natives, 
 but the more refined settlers, who are apt 
 enough to add the prejudices of other nations 
 to their own. 
 
 It would be a tedious, as well as useless 
 task, to enter into all the minute discrimina- 
 tions of these animals, as found in different 
 countries or places ; but the pipa, or /Surinam 
 toad, is too strange a creature not to require 
 
 an exact description. There is not, perhaps, 
 in all nature, a more extraordinary phenome- 
 non than that of an animal breeding and 
 hatching its young in its back ; from whence, 
 as from a kind of hot-bed, they crawl one 
 after the other when come to maturity. 
 
 The pipa is, in form, more hideous than 
 even the common toad ; nature seeming to 
 have marked all those strange mannered ani- 
 mals with peculiar deformity. The body is 
 
 1 Among this numerous family there is one which, 
 for horrid and deformed appearance, probably, exceeds 
 all other created beings. This is the horned toad, of 
 South America. The colour is cinereous, with brown 
 stripes. The eye-lids project in a singular manner, and 
 give it the appearance as if the eyes -were placed at the 
 bottom of a pair of sharp pointed horns: the head is very 
 large, and the mouth is so enormous, as to exceed half 
 the length of its body. To add to its lothesome appear- 
 ance, it is likewise clothed all over, except the head and 
 feet, with short sharp spines. 
 
 flat and broad ; the head small ; the jaws, like 
 those of a mole, are extended, and evidently 
 formed for rooting in the ground : the skin of 
 the neck forms a sort of wrinkled collar : the 
 colour of the head is of a dark chestnut, and 
 the eyes are small: the back, which is very 
 broad, is of a lightish gray, and seems covered 
 over with a number of small eyes, which are 
 round, and placed at nearly equal distances. 
 These eyes are very different from what they 
 seem ; they are the animal's eggs, covered 
 with their shells, and placed there for hatch- 
 ing. These eggs are buried deep in the skin, 
 and in the beginning of incubation but just 
 appear ; and are very visible when the young 
 animal is about to burst from its confinement. 
 They are of a reddish shining yellow colour ; 
 and the spaces between them are full of small 
 warts jcesembling pearls. 2 
 
 This is their situation, previous to their 
 coming forth ; but nothing so much demands 
 our admiration as the manner of their produc- 
 tion. The eggs, when formed in the ovary, 
 are sent by some internal canals, which ana*, 
 tomists have not hitherto described to lie, and 
 come to maturity, under the bony substance 
 of the back ; in this state they are impregna- 
 ted by the male, whose seed finds its way by 
 pores very singularly contrived, and pierces 
 not only the skin but the periosteum. The 
 skin, however, is still apparently entire, and 
 forms a very thick covering over the whole 
 brood ; but as they advance to maturity, at 
 different intervals, one after another, the eg% 
 seems to start forward and bourgeon from the 
 back, becomes more yellow, and at last breaks, 
 when the young one puts forth its head: it 
 still, however, keeps its situation, until it has 
 acquired a proper degree of strength, and then 
 it leaves the shell, but still continues to keep 
 upon the back of the parent. In this manner 
 the pipa is seen travelling with her wondrous 
 family on her back, in all the different stages 
 of maturity. Some of the strange progeny, 
 not yet come to sufficient perfection, appear 
 quite torpid, and as yet without life in the 
 egg : others seem just beginning to rise through 
 the skin ; here peeping forth from the shell ; 
 and there, having entirely forsaken their pri- 
 son ; some are sporting at large upon the par- 
 ent's back ; and others descending to the 
 ground, to try their own fortune below. 
 
 Such is the description given of this strange 
 
 2 It is now demonstrated that the female lays its eggs 
 after the manner of toads, but that the male, fastened on 
 her back, fecundates them, and then places them on the 
 back of the mother ; she then repairs to the water, whfire 
 her skin swells, and forms rounded alveoli, in which 
 these eggs are lodged, to be subsequently disclosed. The 
 pipa lives in the fresh waters of South America, and 
 sometimes in the obscure parts of houses at Cayenne 
 and Surinam. The negroes are said sometimes to use 
 the pipa as food* 
 
390 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 production by Seba, in which he differs from 
 Ruysch, who affirms, that the young ones are 
 bred in the back of the male only, where the 
 female lays her eggs. I have followed Seba, 
 however, not because he is better authority, 
 but because he is more positive of the truth of 
 his account, and asserts, assuredly, that the 
 eggs are found on the back of the female only. 
 Many circumstances, however, are wanting 
 towards completing his information; such as 
 a description of the passage by which the egg 
 finds its way into the back ; the manner of 
 its fecundation ; the time of gestation ; as also 
 a history of the manners of this strange animal 
 itself; but, by a prolixity that much prevails 
 among naturalists at present, he leaves the 
 most interesting object of curiosity to give us a 
 detailed description of the legs and claws of the 
 
 pipa, about which we have very little con- 
 cern. 
 
 The male pipa is every way larger than the 
 female, and has the skin less tightly drawn 
 round the body. The whole body is covered 
 with pustules resembling pearls ; and the bel- 
 ly, which is of a bright yellow, seems as if it 
 were sewed up from the throat, to the vent, a 
 seam being seen to run in that direction. 
 This animal, like the rest of the frog kind, is 
 most probably harmless ; though we are told 
 of the terrible effects resulting from its powder 
 when calcined. This, however, must certainly 
 be false ; no creature whatever, when calcined, 
 can be poisonous ; for the fire burns away 
 whatever might have been dangerous in their 
 composition : all animal substances, when cal- 
 cined, being entirely the same. 
 
OF FEOGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF LIZARDS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF LIZARDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 THERE is scarcely a naturalist, who has treated 
 of lizards, but has a particular manner of 
 ranking them in the scale of animated nature. 
 Ray, rather struck with the number of their 
 legs than their habits and conformation, has 
 exalted them among quadrupeds ; while Lin- 
 naeus, attentive only to their long slender 
 forms, has degraded them among serpents. 
 Brisson gives them a distinct class by them- 
 selves, under the name of reptiles. Klein 
 gives them a class inferior to beasts, under the 
 name of naked quadrupeds. Some, in short, 
 from their scaly covering, and fondness for the 
 water, have given them to the fishes ; while 
 there have not been wanting naturalists who 
 have classed them with insects, as the smaller 
 kinds of this class seem to demand. 
 
 It is indeed no easy matter to tell to what 
 class in nature lizards are chiefly allied. 
 They are unjustly raised to the rank of beasts, 
 as they bring forth eggs, dispense with breath- 
 ing, and are not covered with hair. They 
 cannot be placed among fishes, as the major- 
 ity of them live upon land : they are excluded 
 from the serpent tribe by their feet, upon 
 which they run with some celerity : and from 
 the insects, by their size ; for though the Newt 
 may be looked upon in this contemptible light, 
 a Crocodile would be a terrible insect indeed. 
 Thus lizards are, in some measure, excluded 
 from every rank, while they exhibit somewhat 
 of the properties of all ; the legs and celerity 
 of the quadruped ; a facility of creeping 
 through narrow and intricate ways, like the 
 serpent; and a power of living in the water, 
 like fishes ; however, though endued with these 
 various powers, they have no real advantages 
 over any other class of animated nature ; for 
 
 what they gain in aptitude for one element, 
 they lose in their fitness for another. Thus, 
 between both, they are an awkward ungainly 
 tribe ; neither so alert upon land, nor so nim- 
 ble in the water, as the respective inhabitants 
 of either abode: and, indeed, this holds 
 throughout all nature, that in proportion as the 
 seeming advantages of inferior animals are 
 multiplied, their real ones are abridged; and all 
 their instincts are weakened and lost by the 
 variety of channels into which they are divided. 
 
 As lizards thus differ from every other class 
 of animals, they also differ widely from each 
 other. With respect to size, no class of be- 
 ings has its ranks so opposite. What, for in- 
 stance, can be more removed than the small 
 cameleon, an inch long, and the alligator of 
 the river Amazon, above twenty-seven feet? 
 To an inattentive observer, they would appear 
 entirely of different kinds ; and Seba wonders 
 how they ever came to be. classed together. 
 
 The colour of these animals also is very va- 
 rious, as they are found of a hundred different 
 hues green, blue, red, chestnut, yellow, 
 spotted, streaked, and marbled. Were colour 
 alone capable of constituting beauty, the liz- 
 ard would often please ; but there is some- 
 thing so repressing in the animal's figure, that 
 the brilliancy of its scales, or the variety of its 
 spots, only tend to give an air of more exqui- 
 site venom or greater malignity. The figure 
 of these animals is not less various ; sometimes 
 swollen in the belly ; sometimes pursed up 
 at the throat ; sometimes with a rough set of 
 spines on the back, like the teeth of a saw ; 
 sometimes with teeth, at others with none ; 
 sometimes venomous, at others harmless, and 
 even philanthropic : sometimes smooth and 
 even ; sometimes with a long slender tail ; and 
 often with a shorter blunt one. 1 
 
 The whole of this tribe is perfectly destitute of 
 
392 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 But their greatest distinction arises from 
 the manner of bringing forth their young. 
 First, some of them are viviparous. Secondly, 
 some are oviparous ; and which may be con- 
 sidered in three distinct ways. Thirdly, some 
 bring forth small spawn, like fishes. The 
 crocodile, the iguana, and all the larger kinds, 
 bring forth eggs, which are hatched by the 
 heat of the sun ; the animals that issue from 
 them are complete upon leaving the shell ; 
 and their first efforts are to run to seek food 
 in their proper element. The viviparous 
 kinds, in which are all the salamanders, come 
 forth alive from the body of the female, per- 
 fect and active, and suffer no succeeding 
 change. But those which are bred in the 
 water, and as we have reason to think, from 
 spawn, suffer a very considerable change in 
 their form. They are produced with an ex- 
 ternal skin or covering that sometimes incloses 
 their feet, and gives them a serpentine appear, 
 ance. To this false skin fins are added, above 
 and below the tail, that serve the animal for 
 swimming ; but when the false skin drops off, 
 these drop off also ; and then the lizard, with 
 its four feet, is completely formed, and forsakes 
 the water. 
 
 From hence it appears, that, of this tribe, 
 there are three distinct kinds, differently pro- 
 duced, and, most probably, very different in 
 their formation. But the history of these ani- 
 mals is very obscure ; and we are, as yet, 
 incapable of laying the line that separates 
 them. All we know, as was said before, is, 
 that the great animals of this kind are mostly 
 produced perfect from the egg ; the salaman- 
 ders are generally viviparous ; and some of the 
 water lizards imperfectly produced. In all 
 these most unfinished productions of Nature, 
 if I may so call them, the varieties in their 
 structure increase in proportion to their imper- 
 fections. A poet would say, that Nature 
 grew tired of the nauseous formation, and left 
 accident to finish the rest of her handy-work. 
 
 However, the three kinds have many points 
 of similitude ; and, in all their varieties of 
 figure, colour, and production, this tribe is 
 easily distinguished, and strongly marked. 
 They have all four short legs ; the two fore- 
 feet, somewhat resembling a man's hand and 
 arm. They have tails almost as thick as the 
 body at the beginning, and that generally run 
 tapering to a point. They are all amphibious 
 also ; equally capable of living upon land and 
 water; and formed, internally, in the same 
 manner with the tortoise, and other animals, 
 that can continue a long time without respira- 
 tion : in other words, their lungs are not so 
 
 son, and except the crocodile and alligator, quite inof- 
 fensive to mankind. Those that are bred in waters un- 
 dergo a metamorphosis, and pass through a tadpole 
 form. 
 
 necessary to continue life and circulation, bill 
 that their play may be stopped for some con. 
 siderable time, while the blood performs its 
 circuit round the body by a shorter communi- 
 cation. 
 
 These are differences that sufficiently sepa- 
 rate lizards from all other animals ; but it 
 will be very difficult to fix the limits that dis- 
 tinguish the three kinds from each other. 
 The crocodile tribe, and its affinities, are suf- 
 ficiently distinguished from all the rest by 
 :heir size and fierceness ; the salamander tribe 
 is distinguished by their deformity, their frog- 
 like heads, the shortness of their snouts, their 
 swollen bellies, and their viviparous produc- 
 ion. With regard to the rest, which we 
 may denominate the cameleon or lizard kind, 
 some of which bring forth from the egg, some 
 of which are imperfectly formed from spawn, 
 we must group them under one head, and 
 leave time to unravel the rest of their history. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE CROCODILE, AND ITS AFFINITIES * 
 
 THE Crocodile is an animal placed at a 
 happy distance from the inhabitants of Eu- 
 rope, and formidable only in those regions 
 where men are scarce, and arts are but little 
 known. In all the cultivated and populous 
 
 1 Crocodiles and Alligators. The true crocodile is 
 found in the river Nile, but by no means in such plenty 
 as in the times of the Pharaohs. The species which is 
 domesticated by the priests, and magnificently provided 
 for in a temple in Memphis, was of a green colour. It 
 was an object of profound worship, called a God, and em- 
 balmed when it died. On the other hand, the alligator 
 is exclusively found in America ; and instead of having 
 an uninterrupted series of teeth round both jaws, as in 
 the crocodile, the fourth tooth of the under jaw shuts into 
 a corresponding socket in the upper one. This law is 
 so universal, that any person by remembering this fact,- 
 may with certainty designate the one from the other. 
 
 The term alligator is applied to the various species of 
 crocodiles that are found in America, while the name 
 Gavial has been given to such as inhabit the East Indies 
 and the islands of the Indian ocean, and the original 
 word is more especially used when speaking of that 
 species which abounds in the Nile. In the central parts 
 of Africa, the crocodiles attain a very large size, in many 
 instances being found as much as thirty feet in length. 
 
 The crocodile swallows its prey whole, and feeds in- 
 differently on fish or small quadrupeds ; and the upper 
 teeth, instead of resting with their points upon the under 
 when the mouth is closed, enter between them, and thus 
 prevent all chance of escape. It but rarely attacks man- 
 kind. On either side of the under part of the lower 
 jaw, a small opening is found, from which the creature 
 can force, at will, a liquid possessing the smell of musk. 
 This property has been lately noticed by Mr Thomas 
 Bell, in a paper inserted in the Transactions of the 
 Royal Society of London, and, in his opinion, the rep- 
 tile employs it for the purpose of attracting fish into the 
 places it haunts. 
 
THE CROCODILE. 
 
 S93 
 
 parts of the world, the great animals are en- 
 tirely banished, or rarely seen. The appear- 
 ance of such raises at once a whole country up 
 in arms to oppose their force ; and their lives 
 
 The following cut represents the Double Crested Cro- 
 codile. It is the most common species in all the rivers 
 
 that lead to the Indian ocean. It is found in Java and 
 even in China. 
 
 The most remarkable distinguishing character of alli- 
 gators (as already said) is the shape of the head. The 
 gavials have it the most produced, the crocodiles the 
 next, and the alligators have it shortest. In them the 
 length, of the jaws from the articulation is only one-half 
 more than the greatest breadth. The teeth have a ragged 
 appearance, as some of them are long and others short. 
 There are never fewer than nineteen in each side of 
 either jaw, and sometimes two more in each side of the 
 under one. These grow with the growth of the ani- 
 mal; and receiving cavities are formed for them in the 
 upper jaw, especially from those fourth from the front, 
 which are longer than any of the others. The body is 
 low and squat ; the hind legs are nearly round in their 
 section, and have no membrane on their sides ; the webs 
 of the toes also extend only half the length ; and the 
 holes behind the orbits, which are understood to secrete 
 a musky fluid in the crocodiles, are small and obscure, 
 or wanting. From the structure of the feet, and the 
 want of fringed or pectinated membranes on the hind 
 legs, which are both a lessening of the pelagic structure, 
 alligators keep more to the fresh waters, the rivers, and 
 lagunes, than the crocodiles ; so that those in the bays 
 of the West India, islands, though popularly known as 
 alligators or caymans, are rather to be considered as 
 crocodiles, even in the popular sense of that term. 
 
 There are four species or more, of alligators, all natives 
 of the warmer parts of the American continent, but vary- 
 ing in their appearance, so as in some of the species to 
 resemble the crocodiles, and in others the gavials. The 
 species which, in the written accounts at least, is the 
 most ferocious and formidable to man, is that which in- 
 habits the Mississippi and the other rivers of the southern 
 parts of North America, and the swamps and lagunes 
 which these livers form when they are swollen by floods. 
 It is the pike-headed alligator (Alligator Indus} of Cuvier, 
 
 
 so called because its head, in shape at least, bears some 
 resemblance to that of the common pike. This species 
 Las been seen as long as fifteen feet, with the head two 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 generally pay the forfeit of their temerity. 
 The crocodile, therefore, that was once so 
 terrible along the banks of the river Nile, is 
 now neither so large, nor its numbers so great 
 
 feet long, and the gape nearly the same. The jaws are 
 more elongated than in some other species, the breadth 
 at the articulation not being in those of the size men. 
 tioned much more than one foot. The snout is flattened 
 on the upper surface, and slightly turned up at the ex- 
 tremity, which is bluntly pointed ; but the sides of the 
 jaws are, for the greater portion of the length of the gape, 
 nearly parallel. The teeth are large and irregular, with 
 the fourth from the front in each side of the under jaw 
 much larger than the rest, so that they can pene- 
 trate through a substance of considerable thickness, and, 
 with their points received into the sockets in the upper 
 jaw, hold on against a very considerable strain. It is 
 by this means that the animal is said to master the 
 larger mammalia, when they come to the shores to 
 quench their thirst. The alligator, having observed its 
 prey, swims slowly towards it, with the snout barely 
 above the water. When within reach, it seizes the 
 upper lip and nose; and at the same time incurvating its 
 body with more than ordinary exertion, hits a violent 
 blow on the shoulder with its thick and scaly tail. The 
 bite and the blow together bring the animal to its knees, 
 tumble it headlong and helpless ; and as the alligator 
 does not quit its hold while the animal continues to 
 struggle, and also contrives to keep the head under water, 
 the prey soon expires of pain and suffocation. The 
 smaller mammalia are generally foundered by the blow 
 of the tail, and then seized by the head and drawn under 
 water till they are sufibcated. But in what state soever 
 prey of this description is eaten, whether recent or after 
 it has been partially decomposed by time, it is always 
 eaten on land. They do not feed under water, any 
 more than they breathe in that situation. 
 
 The Parted Monitor, of which the following is a re- 
 presentation, resembles the crocodile as to form, but is 
 
 different in its habits. It swims with difficulty, runs 
 with considerable swiftness, and climbs trees with dex- 
 terity. It conceals itself in burrows, and bites desper- 
 ately. Its flesh and eggs are eaten. Its length is from 
 four to five feet. It inhabits the savannahs and marshy 
 soils of South America, particularly Guiana. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no country in which the alligator 
 more generally abounds, than in India. It is found in 
 most of the rivers, in the large tanks, and frequently, 
 during the monsoons, in small pools of water scarcely larger 
 than the common pond of an English farm -yard. In 
 the larger tanks these creatures are commonly fed by 
 the Hindoos, who venerate, though they do not, like the 
 ancient Egyptians, worship them. They become so 
 tame when daily supplied with food by the superstitious 
 Brahmins of the temples near which they take up their 
 undisturbed abode, that any person may fearlessly bathe 
 in the tanks, without the slightest chance of molesta-' 
 tion, these usually voracious reptiles being so pampered^ 
 as to have no further relish for human flesh. 
 
 In the Ganges, these creatures may be almost daily- 
 seen watching the numerous carcasses which constantly 
 float down that river, awaiting the moment when they 
 shall have atfained a state of luxurious maturity. Some, 
 times a solitary vulture appears sailing down the current, 
 3 a 
 
39* 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 as formerly. The arts of mankind have, 
 through a course of ages, powerfully operated 
 to its destruction ; and, though it is some- 
 times seen, it appears comparatively timorous 
 and feeble. 
 
 perched upon a human body, which the mistaken at- 
 tachment of superstitious friends had committed to the 
 stream to send on its roads to paradise, tearing the 
 scarcely cold flesh from the bones, until chased from its 
 horrid repast by the more dominant and not less voracious 
 alligator. 
 
 It is a very common thing for the native princes of 
 India, living in the neighbourhood of large rivers where 
 alligators abound, to have them caught for the purpose 
 of entertaining their court and guests, by making them 
 fight, or causing them to be attacked by other animals. 
 Captain Basil Hall has given the following animated 
 account of a fight of this kind, got up for the amusement 
 of the Admiral, Sir R. Hood, and performed by a corps 
 of Malays in the British service. 
 
 Very early (he says) in the morning, the party were 
 summoned from their beds, to set forth on the expedition. 
 In other countries, the hour of getting up may be left to 
 choice; in India, when any thing active is to be done, 
 it is a matter of necessity ; for after the sun has gained 
 even a few degrees of altitude, the heat and discomfort, 
 as well as the danger of exposure, become so great, that 
 all pleasure is at an end. The day, therefore, had 
 scarcely begun to dawn, when we all cantered up to the 
 scene of action. 
 
 The ground lay as flat as a marsh for many leagues, 
 and was spotted with small stagnant lakes connected by 
 sluggish streams, scarcely moving over beds of mud, 
 between banks fringed with a rank crop of draggled 
 weeds. The chill atmosphere of the morning felt so 
 thick and clammy, it was impossible not to think of 
 agues, jungle-fevers, and all the hopeful family of 
 malaria. The hardy native soldiers who had occupied 
 the ground during the night, were drawn up to receive the 
 Admiral, and a very queer guard of honour they formed. 
 The whole regiment had stripped off their uniform, and 
 every other stitch of clothing, save a pair of short trou- 
 sers, and a kind of sandal. In place of a firelock, each 
 man bore in his hand a slender pole, about six feet in 
 length, to the extremity of which was attached the 
 bayonet of his musket. His only other weapon, was 
 the formidable Malay crease, a sort of dagger, or small 
 two-edged sword. 
 
 Soon after the commander -in-chief came to the 
 ground, the regiment was divided into two main parties, 
 and a body of reserves. The principal columns, facing, 
 one to the right, the other to the left, proceeded to occupy 
 different points in one of the sluggish canals, connecting 
 the pools scattered over the plain. These detachments 
 being stationed about a mile from one another, enclosed 
 an interval where, from some peculiar circumstances 
 known only to the Malays, who are passionately fond of 
 the sport, the alligators were sure to be found in great 
 numbers. The troops formed themselves across the 
 canals, in three parallel lines, ten to twelve feet apart ; 
 but the men in each line stood side by side, merely leav- 
 ing room enough to wield their pikes. Tlie canal may 
 have been about four or five feet deep, in the middle of 
 the stream, if stream it can be called, which scarcely 
 moved at all. The colour of the water, when undis- 
 turbed, was a shade between ink and coffee ; but no 
 sooner had the triple line of Malays set themselves in 
 motion, than the consistence and colour became like 
 those of peas-soup. 
 
 On every thing being reported ready, the soldiers 
 planted their pikes before them in the mud, each man 
 crossing his neighbour's weapon, and at the word 
 " march " away they all started in full cry, sending forth 
 
 To look for this animal in all its natural 
 terrors, grown to an enormous size, propagated 
 in surprising numbers, and committing un- 
 ceasing devastations, we must go to the unin- 
 habited regions of Africa and America, to 
 
 a shout, or war-whoop, sufficient to curdle the blood of 
 those on land, whatever effect it may have had on the 
 inhabitants of the deep. As the two divisions of the in- 
 vading army gradually approached each other in pretty 
 close column, screaming, and yelling, and striking their 
 pikes deep in the slime before them, the startled animals 
 naturally retired towards the unoccupied centre. Gen- 
 erally speaking, the alligators, or crocodiles, had sense 
 enough to turn their long tails upon their assailant?, and 
 to scuttle off, as fast as they could, towards the middle 
 part of the canal. But every now and then, one of the 
 terrified monsters floundered backwards, and, by retreat- 
 ing in the wrong direction, broke through the first, 
 second, and even third line of pikes. This was the per- 
 fection of sport to the delighted Malays. A double circle 
 of soldiers was speedily formed round the wretched 
 aquatic who had presumed to pass the barrier. By 
 means of well-directed thrusts with numberless bayonets, 
 and the pressure of some dozens of feet, the poor brute 
 was often fairly driven beneath his native mud. When 
 once there, his enemies half-choked and half-spitted 
 him, till at last they put an end to his miserable days, 
 in regions quite out of sight, and in a manner as inglori- 
 ous as can well be conceived. 
 
 The intermediate space was now pretty well crowded 
 with alligators, swimming about in the utmost terror, at 
 times diving below, and anon showing their noses above 
 the surface of the dirty stream ; or occasionally making 
 a furious bolt, in sheer despair, right at the phalanx of 
 Malays. On these occasions, half-a-dozen of the soldiers 
 were often upset, and their pikes either broken or twisted 
 out of their hands, to the infinite amusement of their 
 companions, who speedily closed np the broken ranks. 
 There were none killed, but many wounded ; yet no man 
 flinched in the least. 
 
 The perfection of the sport appeared to consist in de- 
 taching a single alligator from the rest, surrounding and 
 attacking him separately, and spearing him till he was 
 almost dead. The Malays, then, by main strength, 
 forked him aloft, over their heads, on the end of a dozen 
 pikes, and, by a sudden jerk, pitched the conquered 
 monster far on the shore. As the alligators are amphibi- 
 ous, they kept to the water no longer than they found 
 they had an advantage in that element ; but on the two 
 columns of their enemy closing up, the monsters lost all 
 discipline, floundered up the weedy banks, scuttling 
 away to the right and left, helter-skelter. " Sauve qui 
 pent !" seemed to be the fatal watch-word for their total 
 rout. That prudent cry would, no doubt, have saved 
 many of them, had not the Malays judiciously placed 
 beforehand their reserve on each side of the river, to 
 receive the distracted fugitives, who, bathed in mud, 
 and half dead with terror, but still in a prodigious fury, 
 dashed off at right angles from the canal, in hopes of 
 gaining the shelter of a swampy pool, overgrown with 
 reeds and bulrushes, but which most of the poor beasts 
 were never doomed to reach. The concluding battle 
 between these retreating and desperate alligators, and the 
 Malays of the reserve, was formidable enough. Indeed, 
 had not the one party been fresh, the other exhausted, 
 one confident, the other broken in spirit; it is quite pos- 
 sible that the crocodiles might have worsted the Malays. 
 It was difficult, indeed, to say which of the two looked 
 at that moment the more savage ; the triumphant natives, 
 or the flying troop of alligators wallopping away from the 
 water. Many on both sides were wounded, and all 
 covered with slime and weeds. There could not have 
 been fewer than thirty or forty alligators killed. The 
 
THE CROCODILE. 
 
 395 
 
 those immense rivers that roll through exten- 
 sive and desolate kingdoms, where arts have 
 never penetrated, where force only makes dis- 
 tinction, and the most powerful animals exert 
 their strength with confidence and security. 
 Those that sail up the river Amazon, or the 
 river Niger, well know how numerous and 
 terrible those animals are in such parts of the 
 world. In both these rivers, they are found 
 from eighteen to twenty-seven feet long ; and 
 sometimes lying as close to each other as rafts 
 of timber upon one of our streams. There 
 they indolently bask on the surface, no way 
 disturbed at the approach of an enemy, since, 
 from the repeated trials of their strength, they 
 found none that they were not able to subdue. 
 
 Of this terrible animal there are two kinds ; 
 the Crocodile, properly so called, and the 
 Cayman or Alligator. Travellers, however, 
 have rather made the distinctions than Nature ; 
 for in the general outline, and in the nature 
 of these two animals, they are entirely the 
 same. It would be speaking more properly 
 to call these animals the Crocodiles of the 
 eastern and western world ; for, in books of 
 voyages, they are so entirely confounded 
 together, that there is no knowing whether the 
 Asiatic animal be the crocodile of Asia, or 
 the alligator of the western world. The dis- 
 tinctions usually made between the crocodile 
 and alligator are these : the body of the cro- 
 codile is more slender than that of the alliga- 
 tor ; its snout runs off tapering from the fore- 
 head, like that of a grayhound ; while that of 
 the other is indented, like the nose of a lap- 
 dog. The crocodile has a much wider swal- 
 low, and is of an ash-colour; the alligator is 
 black, varied with white, and is thought not 
 to be so mischievous. All these distinctions, 
 however, are very slight ; and can be reckoned 
 little more than minute variations. 
 
 This animal grows to a great length, being 
 sometimes found thirty feet long, from the tip 
 of the snout to the end of the tail ; its most 
 usual length, however, is eighteen. One 
 which was dissected by the Jesuits at Siam, 
 was of the latter dimensions ; and the descrip- 
 tion which is given of it, both externally and 
 internally, is the most accurate known of this 
 noted animal. I must beg leave to give it as 
 I find it, though somewhat tedious. It was 
 eighteen feet and a half, French measure, in 
 length ; of which the tail was no less than 
 five feet and a half, and the head and neck 
 above two feet and a half. It was four feet 
 
 largest measured ten feet in length, and four feet girth, 
 the head being exactly two feet long. Besides these 
 great fellows, a multitude of little ones, nine inches long, 
 were caught alive, many of which, being carried on 
 board, became great favourites amongst the sailors, whose 
 queer taste in the choice of pets has frequently been 
 noticed, * 7 
 
 nine inches in circumference, where thickest. 
 The fore legs had the same parts and confor- 
 mation as the arms of a man, both within and 
 without. The hands, if they may be so called, 
 had five fingers ; the two last of which had no 
 nails, and were of a conical figure. The 
 hinder legs, including the thigh and paw, 
 were two feet two inches long ; the paws, 
 from the joint to the extremity of the longest 
 claws, were above nine inches ; they were 
 divided into four toes, of which three were 
 armed with large claws, the longest of which 
 was an inch and a half ; these toes were united 
 by a membrane, like those of a duck, but 
 much thicker. The head was long, and had 
 a little rising at the top ; but the rest was 
 flat, and especially towards the extremity of 
 the jaws. It was covered by a skin, which 
 adhered firmly to the skull and to the jaws. 
 The skull was rough and unequal in several 
 places ; and about the middle of the forehead 
 there were two bony crests, about two inches 
 high : the skull between these two crests was 
 proof against a musket-ball ; for it only ren- 
 dered the part a little white that it struck 
 against. The eye was very small, in propor- 
 tion to the rest of the body, and was so placed 
 within its orbit, that the outward part, when 
 the lid was closed, was only an inch long, 
 and the line running parallel to the opening 
 of the jaws. It was covered with a double 
 lid, one within and one without: that within, 
 like the nictitating membrane in birds, was 
 folded in the great corner of the eye, and had 
 a motion towards the tail, but being transpa- 
 rent, it covered the eye without hindering the 
 sight. The iris was very large in proportion 
 to the globe of the eye, and was of a yellow- 
 ish gray colour. Above the eye the ear was 
 placed, which opened from above downwards, 
 as if it were by a kind of spring, by means of 
 a solid, thick, cartilaginous substance. The 
 nose was placed in the middle of the upper 
 jaw, near an inch from its extremity, and was 
 perfectly round and flat, being near two inches 
 in diameter, of a black, soft, spongy substance, 
 not unlike the nose of a dog. The jaws 
 seemed to shut one within another ; and no- 
 thing can be more false than that the animal's 
 under jaw is without motion ; it moves like 
 the lower jaw in all other animals, while the 
 upper is fixed to the skull, and absolutely im- 
 movable. The animal had twenty-seven 
 cutting teeth in the upper jaw, and fifteen in 
 the lower, with several void spaces between 
 them : they were thick at the bottom, and 
 sharp at the point, being all of different sixes, 
 except ten large hooked ones, six of which 
 were in the lower jaw, and four in the upper. 
 The mouth was fifteen inches in length, and 
 eight and a half in breadth, where broadest. 
 The distance of the two jaws, when opened 
 
396 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 as wide as they could be, was fifteen inches 
 and a half; this is a very wide yawn, and 
 could easily enough take in the body of a man. 
 The colour of the body was of a dark brown 
 on the upper part, and of a whitish citron 
 below, with large spots of both colours on the 
 sides. From the shoulders to the extremity of 
 the tail, the animal was covered with large 
 scales, of a square form, disposed like parallel 
 2,'irdles, and fifty-two in number ; but those 
 near the tail were not so thick as the rest. 
 The creature was covered not only with these, 
 but all over w r ith a coat of armour; which, 
 however, was not proof against a musket-ball, 
 contrary to what has been commonly asserted : 
 however, it must.be confessed, that the attitude 
 in which the animal was placed, might 
 contribute to render the skin more penetra- 
 ble ; for, probably, if the ball had struck 
 obliquely against the shell it would have 
 flown off. Those parts of the girdles un- 
 derneath the belly were of a whitish colour, 
 and were made up of scales of divers shapes, 
 but not so hard as thos-e on the back. 
 
 With respect to the internal parts of the 
 animal, the gullet was large in proportion to 
 the mouth ; and a ball of wood, as large as 
 one's head, readily ran down, and was drawn 
 up again. The guts were but short, in com- 
 parison, being riot so long as the animal's 
 body. The tongue, which some have errone- 
 ously asserted this animal was without, con- 
 sisted of a thick, spongy, soft flesh, and was 
 strongly connected to the lower jaw. The 
 heart was of the size of a caif's, of a bright 
 red colour, the blood passing as well from the 
 veins to the aorta as into the lungs. There 
 was no bladder ; but the kidneys sent the 
 urine to be discharged by the anus. There 
 were sixty-two joints in the back-bone, which, 
 though very closely united, had sufficient play 
 to enable the animal to bend like a bow to the 
 right and the left ; so that what we hear of es- 
 caping the creature by turning out of the right 
 line, and of the animal not being able to wheel 
 readily after its prey, seems to be fabulous. 
 It is most likely the crocodile can turn with 
 ease, for the joints of its back are not stiffer 
 than those of other animals, which we know, 
 by experience, can wheel about very nimbly 
 for their size. 
 
 Such is the figure and conformation of this 
 formidable animal, that unpeoples countries, 
 and makes the most navigable rivers desert 
 find dangerous. They are seen, in some 
 places, lying for whole hours, and even days, 
 stretched in the sun, and motionless ; so that 
 one not used to them might mistake them for 
 trunks of trees, covered with a rough and dry 
 bark ; but the mistake would soon be fatal, if 
 not prevented ; for the torpid animal, at the 
 near approach of any living thing, darts upon 
 
 it with instant swiftness, and at once drags it 
 down to the bottom. In the times of inunda- 
 tion, they sometimes enter the cottages of the 
 natives, where the dreadful visitant seizes the 
 first animal it meets with. There have been 
 several examples of their taking a man out of 
 a canoe in the sight of his companions, with- 
 out their being able to lend him any assist- 
 ance. 
 
 The strength of every part of the crocodile 
 is very great ; and its arms, both offensive and 
 defensive, irresistible. We have seen, from 
 the shortness of its legs, the amazing strength 
 of the tortoise : but what is the strength of such 
 an animal compared to that of the crocodile, 
 whose legs are very short, and whose size is 
 so superior! The back-bone is jointed in the 
 firmest manner ; the muscles of the fore and 
 hinder legs are vigorous and strong ; and its 
 whole form calculated for force. Its teeth are 
 sharp, numerous, and formidable ; its claws are 
 long and tenacious ; but its principal instru- 
 ment of destruction is the tail : with a single 
 blow of this it has often overturned a canoe, 
 and seized upon the poor savage its conduc- 
 tor. 
 
 Though not so powerful, yet it is very ter- 
 rible even upon land. The crocodile seldom, 
 except when pressed by hunger, or with a 
 view of depositing its eggs, leaves the water. 
 Its usual method is to float along upon the 
 surface, and seize whatever animals come 
 within its reach ; but when this method fails, 
 it then goes closer to the bank. Disappointed 
 of its fishy prey, it there waits, covered up 
 among the sedges, in patient expectation of 
 some land animal that comes to drink ; the 
 dog, the bull, the tiger, or man himself. No- 
 thing is to be seen of the insidious destroyer 
 as the animal approaches ; nor is its retreat 
 discovered, till it be too late for safety. It 
 seizes the victim with a spring, an-d goes at a 
 bound much farther than so unwieldly an 
 animal could be thought capable of exerting ; 
 then having secured the creature with both 
 teeth and claws, it drags it into the water, in- 
 stantly sinks with it to the bottom, and in this 
 manner quickly drowns it. 
 
 Sometimes it happens that the creature the 
 crocodile has thus surprised escapes from its 
 grasp wounded, and makes off from the river 
 side. In such a case the tyrant pursues with 
 all its force, and often seizes it a second time ; 
 for, though seemingly heavy, the crocodile 
 runs with great celerity. In this manner it 
 is sometimes seen above half a mile from the 
 bank, in pursuit of an animal wounded be- 
 yond the power of escaping, and then dragg- 
 ing it back to the river-side, where it feasts in 
 security. 
 
 It often happens, in its depredations along 
 the bank, that the crocodile seizes on a crea* 
 
THE CROCODILE. 
 
 397 
 
 ture as formidable as itself, and meets with a 
 most desperate resistance. We are told of 
 frequent combats between the crocodile and 
 the tiger. All creatures of the tiger kind are 
 continually oppressed by a parching thirst, 
 that keeps them in the vicinity of great rivers, 
 whither they descend to drink very frequent- 
 ly. It is upon these occasions that they are 
 seized by the crocodile ; and they die not un- 
 revenged. The instant they are seized upon, 
 they turn with the greatest agility, and force 
 their claws into the crocodile's eyes, while he 
 plunges with his fierce antagonist, into the 
 river. There they continue to struggle for 
 some time, till at last the tiger is drowned. 
 
 In this manner the crocodile seizes and de- 
 stroys all animals, and is equally dreaded by 
 all. There is no animal but man alone that 
 can combat it with success. We are assured 
 by Labat, that a negro, with no other weapons 
 than a knife in his right hand, and his left arm 
 wrapped round with a cow-hide, ventures 
 boldly to attack this animal in his own ele- 
 ment. As soon as he approaches the croco- 
 dile, he presents his left arm, which the ani- 
 mal swallows most greedily ; but sticking in 
 his throat, the negro has time to give it seve- 
 ral stabs under the throat ; and the water also 
 getting in at the mouth, which is held invo- 
 luntarily open, the creature is soon bloated up 
 as big as a tun, and expires. 
 
 To us who live at a distance from the ra- 
 pacity of these animals, these stories appear 
 strange, and yet most probably are true. 
 From not having seen any thing so formida- 
 ble or bold in the circle of our own experience, 
 we are not to determine upon the wonderful 
 transactions in distant climates. It is proba- 
 ble that these, and a number of more dreadful 
 encounters, happen every day among those 
 forests and in those rivers where the most for- 
 midable animals are known to reside ; where 
 the elephant and rhinoceros, the tiger and the 
 hippopotamus, the shark and the crocodile, 
 have frequent opportunities of meeting, and 
 every day of renewing their engagements. 
 
 Whatever be the truth of these accounts, 
 certain it is that crocodiles are taken by the 
 Siamese in great abundance. The natives of 
 that empire seem particularly fond of the cap- 
 ture of all the great animals with which their 
 country abounds. We have already seen 
 their success in taking and taming the ele- 
 phant ; nor are they less powerful in exerting 
 their dominion over the crocodile. The man- 
 ner of taking it in Siam, is by throwing three 
 or four strong nets across a river, at proper 
 distances from each other ; so that if the ani- 
 mal breaks through the first, it may be caught 
 by one of the rest. When it is first taken, 
 ir. employs the tail, which is the grand instru- 
 ment of strength, with great force ; but after 
 
 many unsuccessful struggles, the animal's 
 strength is at last exhausted. Then the na- 
 tives approach their prisoner in boats, and 
 pierce him with their weapons in the most 
 tender parts, till he is weakened by the loss of 
 blood. When he has done stirring, they be- 
 gin by tying up his mouth, and with the same 
 cord they fasten his head to his tail, which 
 last they bend back like a bow. However, 
 they are not yet perfectly secure from his 
 fury; but, for their greater safety, they tie his 
 fore-feet, as well as those behind, to the top 
 of his back. These precautions are not use- 
 less : for if they were to omit them, the croco- 
 dile would soon recover strength enough to do 
 a great deal of mischief. 
 
 The crocodile, thus brought into subjection, 
 or bred up young, is used to divert and enter- 
 tain the great men of the East. It is often 
 managed like a horse ; a curb is put into his 
 mouth, and the rider directs it as he thinks 
 proper. Though awkwardly formed, it does 
 not fail to proceed with some degree of swift- 
 ness; and it is thought to move as fast as some 
 of the most un wieldly of our own animals, the 
 hog or the cow. 1 Some, indeed, assert, that 
 no animal could escape it, but for its difficulty 
 in turning ; but to this resource we could wish 
 none would trust who are so unhappy as to 
 find themselves in danger. 
 
 Along the rivers of Africa this animal is 
 sometimes taken in the same manner as the 
 shark. Several Europeans go together in a 
 large boat, and throw out a piece of beef upon 
 a hook and strong fortified line, which the 
 crocodile seizing and swallowing, is drawn 
 along, floundering and struggling until its 
 strength is quite exhausted, when it is pierced 
 in the belly, which is its tenderest part; and 
 thus, after numberless wounds, is drawn 
 ashore. In this part of the world also, as well 
 as at Siam, the crocodile makes an object of 
 savage pomp near the palaces of their mo- 
 narchs. Philips informs us that at Sabi, on 
 the slave coast, there are two pools of water, 
 near the royal palace, where crocodiles are 
 bred, as we breed carp in our ponds in Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 Hitherto I have been describing the croco- 
 dile as it is found in unpeopled countries, and 
 
 1 Waterton, in his interesting Wanderings in South 
 America, gives an account of a ride he had on a croco- 
 dile's back. He and his Indians having secured a mon- 
 ster of the Essequibo, by a baited hook fastened to a 
 long rope, " they pulled the cayman," as he describes 
 (p. 231), " within two yards of me. I saw he was in a 
 state of fear and perturbation ; I instantly dropped the 
 mast, sprung up, and jumped on his back, turning half 
 round as I vaulted, so that I gained my seat with my 
 face in a right position. I immediately seized his fore 
 legs and by main force twisted on his back : thus they 
 served me for a bridle.". This was at first laughed at as 
 incredible, but it is now known to be a feat of not unus- 
 ual occurrence. 
 
398 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 undisturbed by frequent encounters with man- 
 kind. 1 In this state it is fierce and cruel, attack- 
 ing every object that seems endued with mo- 
 tion : but in Egypt, and other countries long peo. 
 pled, where the inhabitants are civilized, and 
 the rivers frequented, this animal is solitary and 
 fearful. So far from coming to attack a man, 
 it sinks at his approach with the utmost pre- 
 cipitation ; and, as if sensible of superior 
 power, ever declines the engagement. We 
 have seen more than one instance in animated 
 nature of the contempt which at first the lower 
 orders of the creation have for man, till they 
 have experienced his powers of destruction. 
 The lion and the tiger among beasts, the 
 whale among fishes, the albatross and the pen- 
 guin among birds, meet the first encounters of 
 man without dread or apprehension ; but they 
 soon learn to acknowledge his superiority, and 
 take refuge from his power in the deepest fast- 
 nesses of nature. This may account for the 
 different characters which have been given us 
 of the crocodile and the alligator, by travellers 
 at different times ; some describing them as 
 harmless and fearful, as ever avoiding the 
 sight of a man, and preying only upon fishes : 
 others ranking them among the destroyers of 
 nature; describing them as furnished with 
 strength, and impelled by malignity, to do 
 mischief; representing them as the greatest 
 enemies of mankind, and particularly desirous 
 of human prey. The truth is, the animal has 
 been justly described by both ; being such as 
 it is found in places differently peopled or dif- 
 ferently civilized. Wherever the crocodile 
 has reigned long unmolested, it is there fierce, 
 bold, and dangerous ; wherever it has been 
 harassed by mankind, its retreats invaded, and 
 its numbers destroyed, it is there timorous and 
 inoffensive. 
 
 In some places, therefore, this animal, 
 instead of being formidable, is not only inof- 
 fensive, but is cherished and admired. In 
 the river San Domingo, the crocodiles are the 
 most inoffensive animals in nature ; the chil- 
 dren play with them, and ride about on their 
 backs ; they even beat them sometimes, with- 
 out receiving the smallest injury. It is true 
 the inhabitants are very careful of this gentle 
 breed, and consider them as harmless domes- 
 tics. 
 
 It is probable that the smell of musk, which 
 all these animals exhale, may render them 
 agreeable to the savages of that part of Africa. 
 They are often known to take the part of this 
 
 1 It is a very remarkable observation, that the croco- 
 dile, when it appears out of the water, is almost sur- 
 rounded by various large birds, particularly the pelican. 
 It has been asked, whether there exists the same sym- 
 pathy between these birds (especially the pelican) and 
 the crocodile, which the heron has for bufialoes, oxen, 
 and cows ? 
 
 animal which contains the musk, and wear it 
 as a perfume about their persons. Travellers 
 are not agreed in what part of the body these 
 musk-bags are contained ; some say in the 
 ears ; some, in the parts of generation ; but 
 the most probable opinion is, that this musky 
 substance is amassed in glands under the legs 
 and arms. From whatsoever part of the body 
 this odour proceeds, it is very strong and 
 powerful, tincturing the flesh of the whole 
 body with its taste and smell. The crocodile's 
 flesh is at best very bad tough eating ; but 
 unless the musk bags be separated it is in- 
 supportable. The negroes themselves cannot 
 well digest the flesh ; but then, a crocodile's 
 egg is to them the most delicate morsel in 
 the world. Even savages exhibit their epi- 
 cures as well as we ; and one of true taste 
 will spare neither pains nor danger to furnish 
 himself with his favourite repast. For this 
 reason, he often watches the places where the 
 female comes to lay her eggs, and upon her 
 retiring seizes the booty. 
 
 All crocodiles breed near fresh waters ; and 
 though they are sometimes found in the sea, 
 yet that may be considered rather as a place 
 of excursion than abode. They produce their 
 young by eggs, as was said above ; and for 
 this purpose the female, when she comes to 
 lay, chooses a place by the side of a river, or 
 some fresh-water lake, to deposit her brood 
 in. She always pitches upon an extensive 
 sandy shore, where she may dig a hole with- 
 out danger of detection from the ground being 
 fresh turned up. The shore must also be 
 gentle and shelving to the water, for the 
 greater convenience of the animal's going arid 
 returning ; and a convenient place must be 
 found near the edge of the stream, that the 
 young may have a shorter way to go. When 
 all these requisites are adjusted, the animal 
 is seen cautiously stealing upon shore to de- 
 posit her burden. The presence of a man, a 
 beast, or even a bird, is sufficient to deter her 
 at that time ; and if she perceives any creature 
 looking on, she infallibly returns. If, how- 
 ever, nothing appears, she then goes to work, 
 scratching up the sand with her fore-paws, 
 and making a hole pretty deep in the shore. 
 There she deposits from eighty to a hundred 
 eggs, of the size of a tennis-ball, and of the 
 same figure, covered with a tough white skin 
 like parchment. She takes above an hour to 
 perform this task ; and then covering up the 
 place so artfully that it can scarcely be per- 
 ceived, she goes back to return again the next 
 day. Upon her return, with the same pre- 
 caution as before, she lays about the same 
 number of eggs ; and the day following also 
 a like number. Thus having deposited her 
 whole quantity, and having covered them close 
 up in the sand, they are soon vivified by the 
 
THE SALAMANDER. 
 
 399 
 
 heat of the sun ; and at the end of thirty days, 
 the young ones begin to break open the shell. 
 At this time the female is instinctively taught 
 that her young ones want relief; and she 
 goes upon land to scratch away (he sand, and 
 set them free. Her brood quickly avail them- 
 selves of their liberty : a part run unguided 
 to the water; another part ascend the back 
 of the female, and are carried thither in 
 greater safely. But the moment they arrive 
 at the water, all natural connection is at an 
 end ; when the female has introduced her 
 young to their natural element, not only 
 she, but the male, become among Ihe number 
 of their most formidable enemies, and devour 
 as many of them as they can. The whole 
 brood scatters into different parts of the bot- 
 tom ; by far the greatest number is destroyed, 
 and the rest find safety in their agility or min- 
 uteness. 
 
 But it is not the crocodile alone that is thus 
 found to thin their numbers ; the eggs of this 
 animal are not only a delicious feast to the sa- 
 vage, but are eagerly sought after by every 
 beast and bird of prey. The ichneumon was 
 erected into a deity among the ancients for its 
 success in destroying the eggs of these mon- 
 sters : at present that species of the vulture 
 called the Gallinazo is their most prevailing 
 enemy. All along the banks of great rivers, 
 for thousands of miles, the crocodile is seen to 
 propagate in numbers that would soon overrun 
 the earth, but for the vulture, that seems ap- 
 pointed by Providence to abridge its fecun- 
 dity. These birds are ever found in greatest 
 numbers where the crocodile is most numer- 
 ous : and hiding themselves within the thick 
 branches of the trees that shade the banks of 
 the river, they watch the female in silence, 
 and permit her to lay all her eggs without in- 
 terruption. Then when she has retired, they 
 encourage each other with cries to the spoil ; 
 and flocking all together upon the hidden trea- 
 sure, tear up the eggs, and devour them in a 
 much quicker time than they were deposited. 
 Nor are they less diligent in attending the fe- 
 male while she is carrying her young to the 
 water ; for if any one of them happens to drop 
 by the way, it is sure to receive no mercy. 
 
 Such is the extraordinary account given us 
 by late travellers of the propagation of this 
 animal ; an account adopted by Linnaeus and 
 the most learned naturalists of the age. 1 Yet, 
 if one might argue from the general analogy 
 of nature, the crocodile's devouring her own 
 young when she gets to the water seems 
 doubtful. This may be a story raised from 
 the general idea of this animal's rapacious 
 cruelty ; when, in fact, the crocodile only 
 seems more cruel than other animals, because 
 
 * Ulioa. 
 
 it has more power to do mischief. It is pro- 
 bable that it is not more divested of parental 
 tenderness than other creatures, and I am the 
 more led to think so from the peculiar forma- 
 tion of one of Ihe crocodile kind. This is 
 called the Open-Bellied Crocodile, and is fur- 
 nished with a false belly like the oppossum, 
 where the young creep out and in, as their 
 dangers or necessities require. The crocodile 
 thus furnished at least cannot be said to be an 
 enemy to her own young, since she thus gives 
 them more than parental protection. It is 
 probable, also, that this open-bellied crocodile 
 is viviparous, and fosters her young that are 
 prematurely excluded in this second womb, 
 until they come to proper maturity. 2 
 
 How long the crocodile lives we are not 
 certainly informed : if we may believe Aris- 
 totle, it lives the age of a man : but the an- 
 cients so much amused themselves in invent- 
 ing fables concerning this animal, that even 
 truth from them is suspicious. What we 
 know for certain from the ancients is, that 
 among the various animals that were produced 
 to fight in the amphitheatre at Rome, the com- 
 bat of the crocodile was not wanting. 3 Mar- 
 cus Scarus produced them living in his unri- 
 valled exhibitions ; and the Romans considered 
 him as their best citizen, because he furnished 
 them with the most expensive entertainments. 
 But entertainment at that corrupt time was 
 their only occupation. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE SALAMANDER. 4 
 
 THE ancients have described a lizard that is 
 bred from heat, that lives in the flames, and 
 
 2 None of the lizard tribe have any thing like an ab- 
 dominal pouch for the safety of their young. 
 
 3 Plin. lib. viii. c. 26. 
 
 4 The Salamander. The Salamander belongs to that 
 order of reptiles called Batrachians, from their resem- 
 blance, to a certain extent, to the frog tribes. The Ba. 
 trachia include all the reptiles with naked bodies, with- 
 out the hard covering of the tortoises, or scales like ser- 
 pents. The whole of this order are without nails on the 
 toes, and they all undergo various changes or metamor- 
 phoses; the different changes in the organization of the 
 salamanders nearly resemble those which occur in the 
 case of the frogs and toads. 
 
 The body of the salamander is covered with pores, 
 from which, when alarmed, or suffering from pain, an 
 acrid watery humour exudes, which is at times able so 
 far to quench the fury of the flames as to give the poor 
 creature time to escape, and in this simple fact consists 
 the whole of the mysterious power that has betn attri- 
 buted to it. 
 
 The salamanders are divided into two sections, the 
 aquatic, that rarely leave the water, (our common eft is 
 an example,) and the terrestrial, who only remain in 
 that element during their tadpole state. The aquatic 
 
400 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 feeds upon fire as its proper nourishment. As 
 they saw every other element, the air, the 
 earth, and water, inhabited, fancy was set to 
 work to find or make an inhabitant in fire ; 
 and thus to people every part of nature. It 
 will be needless to say that there is no such 
 animal existing ; and that of all others, the 
 modern salamander has the smallest affinity to 
 such an abode. 
 
 Whether the animal that now goes by the 
 name of Salamander be the same with that 
 described by Pliny, it is a doubt with me ; but 
 this is not a place for the discussion. It is 
 sufficient to observe, that the modern salaman- 
 der is an animal of the lizard kind, and under 
 this name is comprehended a large tribe that 
 all go by the same name. There have been 
 not less than seven sorts of this animal des- 
 cribed by Seba ; and to have some idea of the 
 peculiarity of their figure, if we suppose the 
 tail of a lizard applied to the body of a frog, 
 we shall not be far from precision. The com- 
 mon lizard is long, small, and taper ; the sala- 
 mander, like the frog, has its eyes towards the 
 back of the head ; like the frog, its snout 
 
 salamanders have a tail flattened sideways, so as to as- 
 sist them in swimming. 
 
 The experiments of Spallanzani, on their astonishing 
 power of reproducing a limb, have rendered them fa- 
 mous. The same limb can be reproduced several times 
 in succession, after it has been cut off, and that witli all 
 its bones, muscles, &c. Another faculty, not less sin- 
 gular, is that of remaining a long time encompassed with 
 ice without perishing. 
 
 The salamanders were erroneously placed by Linnaeus 
 among the lizards, but they have been most properly 
 transferred to the order to which they now belong, and 
 to which they bear a much greater affinity, especially 
 from their transformations. The following cut repre- 
 sents the Gigantic Salamander. 
 
 Although it is called gigantic, in reference to the size 
 of most of the genus, it does not exceed eighteen inches 
 in length. Some few years back, however, a salaman- 
 der was discovered in Japan, to which the name gigan- 
 tic might be applied with much greater propriety. A 
 living specimen was taken, and conveyed to the museum 
 at Leyden five years since; it was then about twelve 
 inches long, but it has since then grown to the length of 
 two feet and a half, although confined in a wooden ves- 
 sel containing water. It is of a very dark olive-green 
 colour, and covered with tubercles, nearly resembling in 
 form the species represented in the engraving. It feeds 
 sparingly on small living fish which are placed in its 
 prison ; its appetite, however, only recurs at long inter- 
 vals, and its destined prey seem perfectly unconscious of 
 the presence of an enemy, and when alarmed, take re- 
 fuge under the very jaws of the reptile. 
 
 is round, and not pointed, and its belly 
 thick and swollen. The claws of its toe's 
 are short and feeble ; its skin rough ; and 
 the tongue, unlike that of the smallest of the 
 lizard kind, in which it is long and forked, is 
 short, and adhering to the under jaw. 
 
 But it is not in figure that this animal 
 chiefly differs from the rest of the lizard tribe ; 
 for it seems to differ in nature and conforma- 
 tion. In nature it is unlike, being a heavy 
 torpid animal ; whereas the lizard tribe are 
 active, restless, arid ever in motion ; in confor- 
 mation it is unlike, as the salamander is pro- 
 duced alive from the body of its parent, and is 
 completely formed the moment of its exclu- 
 sion. It differs from them also in its general 
 reputation of being venomous : however, no 
 trials that have been hitherto made seem to 
 confirm the truth of the report. 
 
 Not only this, but many others of the lizard 
 tribe, are said to have venom ; but it were to 
 be wished that mankind, for their own happi- 
 ness, would examine into the foundation of 
 this reproach. By that means many of them, 
 that are now shunned and detested, might be 
 found inoffensive ; their figure, instead of 
 either exciting horror or disgust, would then 
 only tend to animate the general scene of na- 
 ture; and speculation might examine their 
 manners in confidence and security. Certain 
 it is, that all the lizard kind, with which we 
 are acquainted in this country, are perfectly 
 harmless ; and it is equally true that, for a 
 long time, till our prejudices were removed, 
 we considered not only the Newt, but the 
 Snake and the Blind-worm, as fraught with 
 the most destructive poison. At present we 
 have got over these prejudices; and, it is pro- 
 bable, that if other nations made the same 
 efforts for information, it would be found, that 
 the malignity of most, if not all, of the lizard 
 tribe, was only in the imagination. 
 
 With respect to the salamander, the whole 
 tribe, from the Moron to the Gekko, are said 
 to be venomous to the last degree ; yet, when 
 experiments have been tried, no arts, no pro- 
 vocations, could excite these animals to the 
 rage of biting. They seem timid and inoffen- 
 sive, only living upon worms and insects ; quite 
 destitute of fangs, like the viper, their teeth 
 are so very small that they are hardly able to 
 inflict a wound. But as the teeth are thus 
 incapable of offending, the people of the coun- 
 tries where they arc found have recourse to a 
 venomous slaver, which, they suppose, issues 
 from the animal's mouth ; they also tell us of 
 a venom issuing from the claws : even Lin- 
 naeus seems to acknowledge the fact ; but 
 thinks it a probable supposition that this ve- 
 nom may proceed from their urine. 
 
 Of all animals, the Gekko is the most no- 
 torious for its powers of mischief ; yet we are 
 
THE SALAMANDER. 
 
 401 
 
 told by those who load it with that calumny, 
 that it is very friendly to man, and though 
 supplied with the most deadly virulence, is 
 yet never known to bite. It would be absurd 
 in us, without experience, to pronounce upon 
 the noxious or inoffensive qualities of animals, 
 yet it is probable, from an inspection of the 
 teeth of lizards, and from their inoffensive qua- 
 lities in Europe, that the gekko has been un- 
 justly accused; and that its serpent-like figure 
 has involved it in one common reproach with 
 serpents. 
 
 The salamander best known in Europe, is 
 from eight to eleven inches long, usually 
 black, spotted with yellow; and, when taken 
 in the hand, feeling cold to a great degree. 
 There are several kinds. Our Black Water- 
 Newt is reckoned among the number. The 
 idle report of its being inconsumable in fire, 
 has caused many of these poor animals to be 
 burnt ; but we cannot say as philosophical 
 martyrs, since scarcely any philosopher could 
 think it necessary to make the experiment. 
 When thrown into the fire, the animal is seen 
 to burst with the heat of its situation, and to 
 eject its fluids. We are gravely told, in the 
 Philosophical Transactions, that this is a 
 method the animal takes to extinguish the 
 flames ! 
 
 When examined internally, the salamander 
 exhibits little difference from other animals of 
 the lizard kind. It is furnished with lungs 
 that sometimes serve for the offices of breathing ; 
 with a heart that has its communications open, 
 so that the animal cannot easily be drowned. 
 The ovary in the female is double the size of 
 what it is in others of this tribe ; and the 
 male is furnished with four testiculi instead 
 of two. But what deserves particular notice 
 is the manner of this animal's bringing forth 
 its young alive. 1 " The salamander," says 
 my author, " begins to show itself in spring, 
 and chiefly during heavy rains. When the 
 warm weather returns, it disappears; and 
 never leaves its hole, during either great heats 
 or severe colds, both which it equally fears. 
 When taken in the hand, it appears like a 
 lump of ice ; it consequently loves the shade, 
 and is found at the feet of old trees surrounded 
 with brushwood at the bottom. It is fond of 
 running along new ploughed grounds : proba- 
 bly to seek for worms, which are its ordinary 
 food. One of these," continues my author, 
 " I took alive some years ago in a ditch that 
 had been lately made. I laid it at the foot 
 of the stairs upon coming home, and there it 
 disgorged from the throat a worm three inches 
 long, that lived for an hour after, though 
 
 1 A eta Hafniensia, ann. 1676. Observ. 11. Memo! res 
 1'Academie Royale des Sciences, torn. iii. part 3. 
 
 p. 80. 
 VOL. ii. 
 
 wounded as I suppose by the teeth of the ani- 
 mal. I afterwards cut up another of these 
 lizards, and saw not less than fifty young ones, 
 resembling the parent, come from its womb, 
 all alive, and actively running about the 
 room." It were to be wished the author had 
 used another word besides that of worm; as 
 we now are in doubt whether he means a real 
 worm, or a young animal of the lizard species : 
 had he been more explicit, and had it appeared 
 that it was a real young lizard, which I take 
 to be his meaning, we might here see a won- 
 der of Nature brought to the proof, which 
 many have asserted, and many have thought 
 proper to deny ; I mean the refuge which the 
 young of the shark, the lizard, and the viper 
 kinds, are said to take, by running down the 
 throat of the parent, and there finding a tem- 
 porary security. The fact, indeed, seems a 
 little extraordinary ; and yet it is -so frequently 
 attested by some, and even believed by others, 
 whose authority is respectable, among the 
 number of whom we find Mr Pennant, that 
 the argument of strangeness must give way to 
 the weight of authority. 
 
 However this be, there is no doubt of the 
 animal's being viviparous, and producing 
 above fifty at a time. They come from the 
 parent in full perfection, and quickly leave 
 her to shift for themselves. These animals, 
 in the lower ranks of nature, want scarcely 
 any help when excluded ; they soon complete 
 the little circle of their education ; and in a 
 day or two are capable of practising all the 
 arts of subsistence and evasion practised by 
 their kind. 
 
 Theyare all amphibious, orat least are found 
 capable of subsisting in either element, when 
 placed there : if those taken from land are 
 put into water, they continue there in seeming 
 health : and, on the contrary, those taken 
 from the water will live upon land. In water, 
 however, they exhibit a greater variety in 
 their appearance ; and what is equally won- 
 derful with the rest of their history, during 
 the whole spring and summer, this water- 
 lizard changes its skin every fourth or fifth day ; 
 and during the winter every fifteen days. This 
 operation they perform by means of the mouth 
 and the claws : and it seems a work of no 
 small difficulty and pain. The cast skins are 
 frequently seen floating on the surface of the 
 water : they are sometimes seen also with a 
 part of their old skin still sticking to one of their 
 limbs, which they have not been able to get 
 " J -*- and thus, like a man with a boot half 
 
 rid of 
 
 drawn, in some measure crippled in their own 
 spoils, This also often corrupts, and the leg 
 drops off; but the animal does not seem to feel 
 the want of it, for the loss of a limb to all the 
 lizard kind is but a trifling calamity. They 
 can live several hours even after the loss of 
 SB 
 
HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 their head : and for some time under dissec- 
 tion, all the parts of this animal seem to retain 
 life : but the tail is the part that longest re- 
 tains its motion. Salt seems to be much more 
 efficacious in destroying these animals than the 
 knife ; for upon being sprinkled with it, the 
 whole body emits a viscous liquor, and the 
 lizard dies in three minutes, in great agonies. 
 The whole of the lizard kind are also 
 tenacious of life in another respect, and the 
 salamander among the number. They sustain 
 the want of food in a surprising manner. 
 One of them, brought from the Indies, lived 
 nine months, without any other food than 
 what it received from licking a piece of earth 
 on which it was brought over ;* another was 
 kept by Scba in an empty vial for six months, 
 without any nourishment ; and Rhedi talks 
 of a large one, brought from Africa, that lived 
 for eight months, without taking any nourish- 
 ment whatever. Indeed, as many of this 
 kind, both salamanders and lizards, are torpid, 
 or nearly so, during the winter, the loss of their 
 appetite for so long a time is the less surpris- 
 ing. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE CAMELEON, THE IGUANA, AND 
 LIZARDS OF DIFFERENT KINDS. 
 
 IT were to be wished that animals could be 
 so classed, that by the very mentioning their 
 rank, we should receive some insight into 
 their history. This I have endeavoured in 
 most instances ; but in the present chapter all 
 method is totally unserviceable. Here distri- 
 bution gives no general ideas : for some of the 
 animals to be here mentioned produce by eggs ; 
 some by spawn; and some are viviparous. 
 The peculiar manner of propagating in each, 
 is very indistinctly known. The Iguana and 
 the Cameleon, we know bring forth eggs ; 
 some others also produce in the same manner ; 
 but of the rest, which naturalists make amount 
 to above fifty, we have but very indistinct in- 
 formation. 
 
 In the former divisions of this tribe, we 
 had to observe upon animals, formidable from 
 their size, or disgusting from their frog-like 
 head and appearance ; in the present division, 
 all the animals are either beautiful to the eye, 
 or grateful to the appetite. The lizards, pro- 
 perly so called, are beautifully painted and 
 mottled ; their frolicsome agility is amusing 
 to those who are familiar with their appear- 
 ance ; and the great affection which some of 
 them show to man, should, in some measure, 
 
 1 Phil. Trans, ann. 1GC1. N. 21. art, 7. 
 
 be repaid with kindness. Others, such as 
 the Iguana, though not possessed of beauty, 
 are very serviceable, furnishing one of the 
 most luxurious feasts the tropical climates can 
 boast of. Those treated of before were ob- 
 jects of curiosity, because they were apparently 
 objects of danger; most of these here men- 
 tioned have either use or beauty to engage us. 
 
 Directly descending from the crocodile, we 
 find the Cordyle, the Tockay, and the Teju- 
 guacu, all growing less in order, as I have 
 named them. These fill up the chasm to be 
 found between the crocodile and the African 
 Iguana. 
 
 The Iguana, which deserves our notice, is 
 about five feet long, and the body about as 
 thick as one's thigh ; the skin is covered with 
 small scales, like those of a serpent; and the 
 back is furnished with a row of prickles, that 
 stand up, like the teeth of a saw : the eyes 
 seem to be but half opened, except when the 
 animal is angry, and then they appear large 
 arid sparkling : both the jaws are full of very 
 sharp teeth, and the bite is dangerous, though 
 not venomous, for it never lets loose till it is 
 killed. The male has a skin hanging under 
 his throat, which reaches down to his breast ; 
 and, when displeased, he puffs it up like a 
 bladder ; he is one-third larger and stronger 
 than the female ; though the strength of either 
 avails them little towards their defence. The 
 males are ash-coloured, and the females are 
 green. 3 
 
 8 The Common American Iguana is from lour to five 
 feet long. It is very common in all the warm parts of 
 America, where it remains in the woods, at the environs 
 of rivers, and sources of spring-water. It passes most 
 part of its time on trees, sometimes going to the water, 
 and living on fruits, grain, and leaves. Without being 
 either venomous or dangerous, its bite is exceedingly 
 painful ; arid when it is angry, the goitre which it has 
 under its neck becomes distended and expanded. This 
 reptile has great tenacity and endurance of life, and will 
 resist the blows of a stick or cudgel very well. Accor- 
 dingly, it is usually hunted with the bow or the gun. 
 
 The females are smaller than the males, but their 
 colours are much more brilliant. They lay eggs in the 
 sand, about as large as those of pigeons, but a little 
 longer, and of equal thickness at both ends. The shell 
 of these eggs is white, even, and soft. They are entirely 
 filled by the yolk, and can hardly be said to have any 
 albumen. They never harden by fire, but only become 
 a little pasty. But their flavour is very agreeable, and 
 they are constantly eaten in Surinam and Guiana. A 
 single female will lay about six dozen. 
 
 The flesh of the iguana is considered as delicious, and 
 is in great estimation throughout all the warm parts of 
 America. It is white and delicate. Many persons, 
 however, consider it as unwholesome, especially for those 
 who are infected with syphilis, some symptoms of which, 
 such as pains in the bones, &c. it is supposed to aggra- 
 vate or cause the return of. At Paramaraibo, it is sold 
 extremely dear, and highly thought of by epicures. 
 Pison, and many others of the old travellers in America, 
 have spoken in high terms of the virtues of the be/oar of 
 the iguana, a kind of stone, found, say they, in the stom- 
 ach or cranium of this reptile. But, at the present day, 
 
THE CAMELEON. 
 
 403 
 
 The flesh of these may be considered as the 
 greatest delicacy of Africa and America ; and 
 the sportsmen of those climates go out to hunt 
 the iguana, as we do in pursuit of the pheas- 
 ant or the hare. In the beginning of the 
 season, when the great floods of the tropical 
 
 this substance is fallen into the most absolute disrepute 
 among all medical practitioners. 
 
 The slate-coloured Iguana is but three feet in length. 
 It inhabits the same places as the former species, and 
 may be merely a variety of it, in age or sex. Seba 
 derives it from the island of Formosa. 
 
 The horned Iguana of St Domingo is about fonr feet 
 long. It is frequently found in the hills of St Domingo, 
 between Artibonite and Gonaives. It lives on fruits, 
 insects, and small birds, which it seizes with marvellous 
 agility, and during the day it couches on trees and rocks 
 to watch for its prey. During the night, and the entire 
 season of the great heats, it retires into the hollows of 
 rocks, or into the holes of old trees, and it passes about 
 five or six months of the year there in a state of lethargy. 
 This reptile is considered by the negroes as a delicious 
 meat, and is accordingly sought after by them with great 
 avidity. According to the report of the colonists, its 
 flesh resembles in flavour that of the roebuck, and the 
 maroon dogs make great slaughter among these reptiles. 
 The colours of this iguana are not precisely known. 
 
 Some authors place here the iguana fasciata. Its 
 colour is deep blue, with transverse bands of a clearer 
 tint. The goitre is moderate, and not denticulated. 
 There is no large scale at the angle of the jaw. This 
 iguana belongs to the island of Java. It may probably 
 be the reptile which Bontius has named cameleon. It 
 is also probable, that to this species must be referred the 
 very large iguanas which are found at Batavia, and 
 which are sometimes as thick as a man's thigh. In his 
 voyage with Captain Cook, Sir Joseph Banks killed one 
 of these, which was five feet in length. 
 
 Under the name of Basilisk is at present designated 
 a genus of reptiles, of this saurian order, which exhibits 
 many affinities with the iguanas and monitors. No ani- 
 mal, perhaps, has been the subject of so great a number 
 of prejudices as the one now under consideration. The 
 most ancient authors have spoken of the basilisk, as of a 
 serpent which had the power of striking its victim dead 
 by a single glance. Others have pretended that it could 
 not exercise this faculty, unless it first perceived the 
 object of its vengeance before it was itself perceived by it. 
 It was also most absurdly imagined to proceed from the 
 eggs of old cocks. Aldrovandus, and several other 
 writers have given figures of it. They have represented 
 it with eight feet, a crown on the head, and a hooked 
 and recurved beak. Pliny assures us that the serpent 
 named basilisk has a voice so terrible, that it strikes ter- 
 ror into all other species, that it thus chases them from 
 the spot which it inhabits, and of which it retains the 
 sole and undisputed dominion. The name, indeed, of 
 basilisk, B0-//u*0f, signifies royal. The fantastic forms, 
 and fabulous properties thus attributed to an animal, 
 which most probably never had any existence, rendered 
 this name too celebrated for naturalists not to endeavour 
 to apply it to another species, which accordingly they did. 
 Seba has figured a species of lizard, whose head is sur- 
 mounted with projecting lines, and the back furnished 
 with a broad vertical crest, which extends as far over the 
 tail, and which that author believed to be intended for 
 the purposes of flight. He has designated it under the 
 name of basilisk, or dragon of America, a flying amphibi- 
 ous animal. This is the animal which has subsequently 
 been described in all works of natural history under the 
 name of basilisk. Supplement to the English edition of 
 Gutter. 
 
 climates are passed away, and vegetation 
 starts into universal verdure, the sportsmen 
 are seen, with a noose and a stick, wandering 
 along the sides of the rivers to take the iguana. 
 The animal, though apparently formed for 
 combat, is the most harmless creature of all 
 the forest : it lives among the trees, or sports 
 in the water, without ever offering to offend ; 
 there, having fed upon the flowers of the 
 mahot, and the leaves of the mapou, that grow 
 along the banks of the stream, it goes to repose 
 upon the branches of the trees that hang over 
 the water. Upon the land the animal is swift 
 of foot ; but when once in possession of a tree, 
 it seems conscious of the security of its situation, 
 and never offers to stir. There the sportsman 
 easily finds it, and as easily fastens his noose 
 round its neck : if the head be placed in such 
 a manner that the noose cannot readily be 
 fastened, by hitting the animal a blow on the 
 nose with the stick, it lifts the head, and offers 
 it in some measure to the noose. In this 
 manner, and also by the tail, the iguana is 
 dragged from the trees, and killed by repeated 
 blows on the head. 
 
 The Cameleon is a very different animal; 
 and as the iguana satisfies the appetites of the 
 epicure, this is rather the feast of the philoso- 
 pher. Like the crocodile, this little animal 
 proceeds from an egg; and it also nearly re- 
 sembles that formidable creature in form ; but 
 it differs widely in its size and its appetites ; 
 being not above eleven inches long, and de- 
 lighting to sit upon trees, being afraid of ser- 
 pents, from which it is enabled to escape on 
 the ground. 
 
 The head of a large cameleon is almost two 
 inches long; and from thence to the begin- 
 ning of the tail, four and a half : the tail is five 
 inches long, and the feet two and a half : the 
 thickness of the body is different at different 
 times ; for sometimes, from the back to ihe 
 belly, it is two inches, and sometimes but one ; 
 for it can blow itself up, and contract itself at 
 pleasure. This swelling and contraction is 
 not only of the back and belly but of the legs 
 and tail. 
 
 These different tumors do not proceed from 
 a dilatation of the breast in breathing, which 
 rises and falls by turns ; but are very irregu- 
 lar, and seem adopted merely from caprice. 
 The cameleon is often seen, as it were, blown 
 up for two hours together ; and then it con- 
 tinues growing less and less insensibly ; for 
 the dilatation is always more quick and visi- 
 ble than the contraction. In this last state 
 the animal appears extremely lean ; the spine 
 of the back seems sharp, and all the ribs may 
 be counted ; likewise the tendons of the legs 
 and arms may be seen very distinctly. 
 
 This method of puffing itself up, is similar 
 to that in pigeons, whose crops are sometimes 
 
404 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 greatly distended with air. The cameleon 
 has a power of driving the air it breathes over 
 every part of the body; however, it only gets 
 between the skin and the muscles; for the 
 muscles themselves are never swollen. The 
 skin is very cold to the touch ; and though the 
 animal seems so lean, there is no feeling the 
 beating of the heart. The surface of the 
 skin is unequal, and has a grain not unlike 
 shagreen, but very soft, because each eminence 
 is as smooth as if it were polished. Some 
 of these little protuberances are as large as a 
 pin's head, on the arms, legs, belly, and tail ; 
 but on the shoulders and head they are of an 
 oval figure, and a little larger; those under 
 the throat are ranged in the form of a chaplet, 
 from the lower lip to the breast. The colour 
 of all these eminences, when the carneleon is 
 at rest in a shady place, is of a bluish gray, 
 and the space between is of a pale red and 
 yellow. 
 
 But when the animal is removed into the 
 sun, then comes the wonderful part of its his- 
 tory. At first it appears to suffer no change 
 of colour, its grayish spots still continuing 
 the same : but the whole surface soon seems 
 to imbibe the rays of light ; and the simple 
 colouring of the body changes into a variety 
 of beautiful hues. Wherever the light comes 
 upon the body, it is of a tawny brown ; but 
 that part of the skin on which the sun does 
 not shine, changes into several brighter col- 
 ours, pale yellow, or vivid crimson ; which 
 forms spots of the size of half one's finger : 
 some of these descend from the spine halfway 
 down the back ; and others appear on the 
 sides, arms, and tail. When the sun has 
 done shining, the original gray colour returns 
 by degrees, and covers all the body. Some- 
 times the animal becomes all over spotted 
 with brown spots, of a greenish cast. When 
 it is wrapt up in a white linen cloth for two 
 or three minutes, the natural colour becomes 
 much lighter; but not quite white, as some 
 authors have pretended : however, from hence 
 it must be concluded that the cameleon as- 
 sumes the colour of the objects which it ap- 
 proaches ; this is entirely an error, and pro- 
 bably has taken its rise from the continual 
 changes it appears to undergo. 1 
 
 1 The skin of the cameleon is composed of a sort o: 
 small, scaly grains, and, under ordinary circumstances, 
 is of a greenish-gray colour. The general form of the 
 body reminds one of the lizard, but the trunk is com- 
 pressed, and the back highly ridged or cutting. The 
 occiput, or hinder part of the head, is elevated pyramid- 
 ically ; the eyes are large, projecting far outwards, yel 
 almost entirely covered over by the skin, except imme- 
 diately opposite the pupil. What is still more singular, 
 the eyes are capable of moving independently of each 
 other, taking different directions at the same moment 
 there is no visible external ear ; the tongue is fleshy 
 round, and capable of being greatly lengthened ; the 
 
 Le Bruyn, in his Voyage to the Levant, 
 las given us a very ample description of the 
 cameleon. During his stay at Smyrna, he 
 Dought several of this kind ; and to try how 
 
 ,eeth are three-pronged. Each of the feet has five toes, 
 >ut these are separated into two portions (one containing 
 wo and the other three toes) by the skin, which covers 
 hem entirely to the nails. The tail is long and round, 
 md capable of grasping twigs or branches, to sustain 
 the animal. The lungs of the chameleon are so large, 
 that when inflated to the utmost, the whole body becomes 
 almost transparent. With the different degrees of infla- 
 ion, the surface undergoes changes of colour, owing to 
 the variations produced in the distribution of the blood, 
 and not, as has been fabled, by the animal assuming the 
 colour of the body upon which it happens to be placed. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to witness any thing more curi- 
 ous or beautiful than the transitions from hue to hue, 
 exhibited by the cameleon, when aroused to motion. 
 The cameleons are all exceedingly slow, dull and almost 
 torpid. The only part which they move with celerity 
 is their long tongue. This organ is clothed, at its ex. 
 tremity, with a viscid, gluey mucus, and is darted out 
 for the purpose of capturing insects, upon which the ani- 
 mal subsists. As they feed but seldom, and are fre- 
 quently seen inhaling the air, to inflate their bodies as 
 above-mentioned, ancient observers concluded that they 
 fed altogether on air ; but closer attention to their habits 
 has shown that they require a diet rather more substan- 
 tial. Three or four species are well known, and are na- 
 tives of Africa and the Molucca islands. They pass 
 their lives altogether upon trees, feeding upon small in- 
 sects, for which their construction shows them to be per- 
 fectly adapted. 
 
 The Variegated Lizard. This, which is by far the 
 largest in this division of the genus, sometimes exceeds 
 the guana in size. The head is covered, as in the green 
 lizard, with large scales or plates ; the body with small 
 and somewhat square scales, which are so disposed as to 
 mark the sides into numerous tapering annuli or striae, 
 passing from the back perpendicularly downwards, and 
 from the sides perpendicularly upwards, the narrow end 
 of each row alternating with the broader end of the oppo- 
 site one ; and in the younger animals a kind of plated 
 appearance, or continued lateral wrinkle appears to pass 
 along each side of the animal ; the tail, which is very 
 long, is surrounded by extremely numerous rings of 
 small square scales, and tapers to a slender point. The 
 colour in the larger animals is highly beautiful, consist- 
 ing of an elegant, and in general somewhat minute va- 
 riegation of brown, or blackish and purple spots, on a 
 pale bluish-white, and in some parts yellowish ground. 
 The whole form of the animal is rather thick or plump, 
 in comparison with many other lizards : the tongue is 
 broad, flat, long, forked at the tip, and curiously serrated 
 on each side ; the head shaped like that of the Arneivo, 
 to which this species is nearly allied. It is a native of 
 South America. 
 
 The Green Lizard. The common green lizard is a 
 native of both Europe and India. This species is also 
 extremely nimble ; it basks on the sides of dry hanks, 
 or under old trees in the hot weather, but, on being ob- 
 served, immediately retreats to its hole. The food of 
 this, as well as all other British lizards, is insects ; and 
 they themselves are devoured by birds of prey. They 
 are all perfectly harmless, yet their form strikes almost 
 every beholder with disgust, and has occasioned great 
 obscurity in their history. Mr Pennant mentions a 
 lizard killed in Worcestershire, in the year 1714, which 
 was two feet six inches long, and four inches in girth ; 
 the fore-legs were placed eight inches from the head, 
 the hind-legs five inches behind those ; the legs were 
 two inches long ; and the feet divided into four toes, 
 
THE CAMELEON. 
 
 405 
 
 long they could live, kept four of them in a 
 cage, permitting them at times to run about 
 the house. The fresh sea-breeze seemed to give 
 them most spirits and vivacity ; they opened 
 
 each furnished with a sharp claw. Another of the same 
 kind was afterwards killed in that county: but whether 
 these large lizards were natives of other countries, and 
 imported into England, or whether they were of British 
 growth, is uncertain, though the former is more probable, 
 as in this country they scarcely ever exceed six inches. 
 This species has a pretty long verticulated tail, with 
 sharp scales, and a scaly collar. 
 
 The green lizard of Carolina is denominated from its 
 colour. It is very slender ; the tail nearly double the 
 length of the body ; and the whole length above five 
 inches. It inhabits Carolina, where it is domestic, 
 familiar, and harmless. It sports on the tables and 
 windows, and amuses with its agility in catching flies. 
 Cold affects its colours; in that uncertain climate, when 
 there is a quick transition in the same day from hot to 
 cold, it changes instantly from the most brilliant green 
 to a dull brown. They are a prey to cats and ravenous 
 birds. They appear chiefly in summer ; and at the ap- 
 proach of cold weather they retire to their winter 
 recesses, and lie torpid in the holes and crevices of hol- 
 low trees. It frequently happens, that a few warm sun- 
 shiny days so invigorate them, that they will come out 
 of their holes and appear abroad ; when on a sudden the 
 weather changes to cold, they become so feeble as to be 
 unable to return to their retreats, and consequently ex- 
 pire. 
 
 The Nimble Lizard. This elegant little creature, 
 which is known in almost every part of the temperate 
 regions of Europe, seems to be the most gentle and in- 
 offensive, and at the same time, the most useful of all the 
 lizard tribe. It is fond of basking in the sun ; but, un- 
 able to bear extensive heat, in the hottest weather it 
 seeks for shelter. In spring, during fine weather, it 
 may sometimes be seen luxuriously extended on a 
 sloping green bank, or on a wall exposed to the sun. In 
 these situations it enjoys the full effects of the reviving 
 warmth, expressing its delight by gently agitating its 
 slender tail ; and its lively and brilliant eyes are ani- 
 mated with pleasure. Should any of the minute animals, 
 on which it feeds, appear, it springs upon them with the 
 quickness of thought ; and if any danger occurs, the 
 creature itself seeks a more secure retreat with equal 
 rapidity. On the least noise it turns suddenly round, 
 drops down, and seems, for a moment, perfectly stupified 
 by its fall ; or else it suddenly shoots away among the 
 bushes or thick grass. Its wonderful rapidity of motion 
 is chiefly to be observed in warm countries, for in the 
 temperate regions its evolutions are much more languid. 
 This gentle and peaceful animal excites no sensations of 
 terror ; and, when taken into the hand, makes not the 
 smallest attempt either to bite or offend. In some 
 countries, children use it as a play-thing ; and, in con- 
 
 their months to take it in ; he never perceived 
 that they eat any thing, except now and then 
 a fly, which they took half an hour to swal- 
 low : he observed their colour often to change, 
 three, or four times successively, without being 
 able to find out any cause for such alterations ; 
 their common colour he found to be gray, or 
 rather a pale mouse colour ; but its most fre- 
 quent changes were into a beautiful green, 
 spotted with yellow; sometimes the animal 
 was marked all over with dark brown ; and 
 this often changes into a lighter brown : some 
 colours, however, it never assumed ; and con- 
 trary to what was said above, he found red to 
 be amo-ng the number. 
 
 Though our traveller took the utmost care, 
 he was unable to preserve any of them alive 
 above five months ; and many of them died in 
 four. When the cameleon changes place, and 
 attempts to descend from an eminence, it 
 moves with the utmost precaution, advancing 
 one leg very deliberately before the other, 
 still securing itself by holding whatever it 
 can grasp by the tail. It seldom opens its 
 mouth, except for fresh air ; and when that 
 is supplied, discovers its satisfaction by its 
 motions, and the frequent changes of its colour. 
 The tongue is sometimes darted out after its 
 prey, which is flies ; and this is as long as the 
 whole body. The eyes are remarkably little, 
 though they stand out of the head ; they have 
 
 sequence of its natural gentleness of disposition, it be- 
 comes in a great measure tame and familiar. 
 
 The Sand Lizard. This species is found on sandy 
 
 heaths in some parts of England. Its colour is in general 
 brown, and its length seven inches. It is more sluggish 
 than the common lizard, and will attempt to bite any one 
 who handles it. 
 
 The Frilled Lizard, of which the following cut re- 
 
 presents the figure, is a curious species found in Austral!? 
 Little is known of its habits. 
 
406 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 a single eye-lid, like a cap with a hole in the 
 middle, through which the sight of the eye 
 appears, which is of a shining brown ; and 
 round it there is a little circle of a gold colour : 
 but the most extraordinary part of their con- 
 formation is, that the animal often moves one 
 eye, when the other is entirely at rest : nay 
 sometimes one eye will seem to look directly 
 forward, while the other looks backward; and 
 one will look upward, while the other regards 
 the earth. 
 
 To this class of lizards, we may refer the 
 Dragon, a most terrible animal, but most pro- 
 bably not of Nature's formation. Of this 
 death-dealing creature all people have read ; 
 and the most barbarous countries, to this day, 
 paint it to the imagination in all its terrors, 
 and fear to meet it in every forest. It is not 
 enough that nature has furnished those coun- 
 tries with poisons of various malignity ; with 
 serpents forty feet long ; with elephants, lions, 
 and tigers ; to make their situation really dan- 
 gerous, the capricious imagination is set at 
 work to call up new terrors; and scarce a 
 savage is found that does not talk of winged 
 serpents of immoderate length, flying away 
 with the camel or the rhinoceros, or destroying 
 mankind by a single glare. Happily, how- 
 ever, such ravagers are no where found to exist 
 at present ; and the whole race of dragons is 
 dwindled down to the Flying Lizard, a little 
 harmless creature, that only preys upon insects, 
 and even seems to embellish the forest with 
 its beauty. 
 
 The Flying Lizard of Java perches upon 
 fruit-trees, and feeds upon flies, ants, butter- 
 flies, and other small insects. It is a very 
 harmless creature, and does no mischief in 
 any respect. Gentil, in his voyage round the 
 World, affirms, that he has seen these lizards 
 at the island of Java, in the East Indies. He 
 observed they flew very swiftly from tree to 
 tree ; and having killed one, he could not but 
 admire the skin, which was painted with 
 several beautiful colours : it Was a foot in 
 
 length, and had four paws, like the common 
 lizards : but its head was flat, and had a small 
 hole in the middle ; the wings were very 
 thin, and resembled those of a flying fish. 
 About the neck were a sort of wattles, not un- 
 like those of cocks, which gave it no disagree- 
 able appearance. He intended to have pre- 
 served it, in order to bring it into Europe ; 
 but it was corrupted by the heat, before the 
 close of the day ; however, they have since 
 been brought into England, and are now 
 common enough in the cabinets of the curious. 
 The last animal of the lizard kind that I 
 shall mention, is the Chalcidian Lizard of 
 Aldrovandus, very improperly called the Sep? 
 by modern historians, This animal seems to 
 make the shade that separates the lizard from 
 the serpent race. It has four legs, like the 
 lizard ; but so short, as to be utterly unser- 
 viceable in walking : it has a long slender 
 body, like the serpent; and is said to have 
 the serpent's malignity also. The fore legs 
 are very near the head; the hind legs are 
 placed far backward ; but before and behind 
 they seem rather useless incumbrances, than 
 instruments serving to assist the animal in its 
 motions, or in providing for its subsistence. 
 These animals are found above three feet 
 long, and thick in proportion, with a large 
 head and pointed snout. The whole body is 
 covered with scales; and the belly is white 
 mixed with blue. It has four crooked teeth, 
 as also a pointed tail, which, however, can in- 
 flict no wound. Whether the teeth be similar to 
 the viper's fangs, we are not told; though Vola- 
 teranus says, they are covered with a mem- 
 brane ; by which I am apt to think he means 
 a venom-bag, which is ibund at the root of 
 teeth of all serpents that are poisonous.. It is 
 viviparous ; fifteen young ones having been 
 taken alive out of its belly. Upon the whole, 
 it appears to bear a strong affinity to the viper; 
 and, like that animal, its bite may be danger- 
 ous. 
 
OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 OF SERPENTS, ETC. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF SERPENTS IN GENERAL. 1 
 
 WE now come to a tribe, that not only their 
 deformity, their venom, their ready malignity, 
 but also our prejudices, and our very religion, 
 have taught us to detest. The serpent has, 
 from the beginning, been the enemy of man ; 
 and it has hitherto continued to terrify and an- 
 noy him, notwithstanding all the arts that 
 have been practised to destroy it. Formidable 
 in itself, it deters the invader from the pur- 
 
 1 The serpent tribes are distinguished from all other 
 animals by a peculiar character, in which their figure, 
 motion, and habits, so repulsive and disgusting, form a 
 striking contrast to the beautiful and variegated colours 
 with which their skin is studded, adding, if possible, to 
 their subtile and venomous appearance ; while their 
 crawling motion strikingly exemplifies the decree of the 
 Creator, made after the temptation and fall of man : 
 " Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all 
 cattle, and every bird of the field ; upon thy belly shalt 
 thou go, and dust thou shalt eat all the days of thy life." 
 
 The tribes are very numerous, and have been divided 
 by Lacepede into eight genera, each of which are subdi- 
 vided, and contain many species. The genera comprise 
 the Boas, containing 11 species; the Rattle-snake, 6 
 species; the Vipers, 196 species; the Snakes, 24 spe- 
 cies; the Amphisboena, 5 species; Langrata, 1; Coecilia, 
 2; and Acrochord, 1. 
 
 Although destitute of feet and wings, few animals are 
 so active as serpents, or can transport themselves from 
 place to place with equal agility. Whether to seize its 
 prey, or escape from danger, the serpent moves with the 
 velocity of an arrow, and surpasses several species of 
 birds in the ease and rapidity with which it gains the 
 summits of the highest trees, twisting and untwisting its 
 flexible body around their trunks and branches with such 
 celerity, that the quickest eye can scarcely follow its ra- 
 pid motion. Their size greatly varies ; some are but a 
 few inches long, while others are forty, or even fifty feet 
 in length. All are covered with scales, or scaly tuber- 
 cles. Their brain case is weak and shallow; and hence 
 serpents are easily killed by a blow on the head. The 
 formation and conjunction of the vertebrae are well adap- 
 ted for mobility. 
 
 suit; and, from its figure, capable of finding 
 shelter in a little space, it is not easily disco- 
 vered by those who would venture to try the 
 encounter. Thus possessed at once of potent 
 arms and inaccessible or secure retreats, it 
 baffles all the arts of man, though never so 
 earnestly bent upon its destruction. 
 
 For this reason, there is scarce a country in 
 the world that does not still give birth to this 
 poisonous brood, that seem formed to quell hu- 
 man pride, and repress the boasts of security. 
 Mankind have driven the lion, the tiger, and 
 the wolf from their vicinity ; but the snake 
 
 All parts of their body have great force, agility, and 
 elasticity. They are most abundant in warm and tem- 
 perate regions ; but increase in size and numbers, in pro- 
 portion to the heat and moisture, and to the freedom of 
 their range. They have less blood than quadrupeds, a 
 lower animal heat, and less interior activity of system. 
 They are more animated in times of tempest and hurri- 
 cane, when the electricity of the atmosphere is in the 
 greatest perturbation. Their sense of hearing is dull, 
 but their vision acute. Their sense of taste is probably 
 of considerable delicacy, as the tongue is very slender, 
 and divided into two joints, which admit of its being 
 readily applied to sapid bodies. Their sense of touch is 
 probably obscure. They give many indications of high 
 instinct and sensibility, and have the faculty of existing 
 a long period without food. 
 
 They have no voice, but a hiss, which is uttered softer 
 or stronger according to the exciting cause. It is exer- 
 ted exclusively in the declaration of their fiercer passions 
 the milder sensibilities are not accompanied by any 
 vocal annunciation. 
 
 Serpents have great strength from the peculiar con- 
 struction of their body. They are very tenacious of life. 
 They have been, from alt antiquity, and in most coun- 
 tries, celebrated for their great cunning and sagacity; 
 which is chiefly displayed in their mode of evading their 
 enemies, or of obtaining their prey. Some serpents are 
 eminently noted for their brilliant colours, of which se- 
 veral display fine iridescent changes. It is a curious dis- 
 tinction of these animals, which has lately been made by 
 M. de la Borde, of Cayenne, that nearly all the species 
 of serpents of which the young are hatched within the 
 mother, and which are therefore born alive, are veno- 
 mous. 
 
40$ 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 and the viper still defy their power, and fre- 
 quently punish their insolence. 
 
 Their numbers, however, are thinned by 
 human assiduity ; and it is possible some o 
 the kinds are wholly destroyed. In none o 
 the countries of Europe are they sufficiently 
 numerous to be truly terrible ; the philosopher 
 can meditate in the fields without danger ; and 
 the lover seek the grove without fearing any 
 wounds but those of metaphor. The various 
 malignity that has been ascribed to European 
 serpents of old is now utterly unknown ; there 
 are not above three or four kinds that are dan- 
 gerous, and their poison operates in all in the 
 same manner. A burning pain in the part, 
 easily removable by timely applications, is 
 the worst effect that we can experience from 
 the bite of the most venomous serpents of Eu- 
 rope. The drowsy death, the starting of the 
 blood from every pore, the insatiable and burn- 
 ing thirst, the melting down the solid mass of 
 the whole form into one heap of putrefaction, 
 these are horrors with which we are entirely 
 unacquainted. 
 
 But though we have thus reduced these 
 dangers, having been incapable of wholly re- 
 moving them, in other parts of the world they 
 still rage with all their ancient malignity. 
 Nature seems to have placed them as centin- 
 els, to deter mankind from spreading too 
 widely, and from seeking new abodes, till they 
 have thoroughly cultivated those at home. In 
 the warm countries that lie within the tropics, 
 as well as in the cold regions of the north, 
 where the inhabitants are few, the serpents 
 propagate in equal proportion. But of all 
 countries, those regions have them in the 
 greatest abundance where the fields are un- 
 peopled and fertile, and where the climate 
 supplies warmth and humidity. All along the 
 swampy banks of the river Niger or Oroonoko, 
 where the sun is hot, the forests thick, and the 
 men but few, the serpents cling among the 
 branches of the trees in infinite numbers, and 
 carry on an unceasing war against all other 
 animals in their vicinity. Travellers have as- 
 sured us, that they have often seen large snakes 
 twining round the trunk of a tall tree, encom- 
 passing it like a wreath, and thus rising and 
 descending at pleasure. In these countries, 
 therefore, the serpent is too formidable to be- 
 come an object of curiosity, for it excites much 
 more violent sensations. 
 
 We are not, therefore, to reject, as wholly 
 fabulous, the accounts left us by the ancients 
 of the terrible devastations committed by a 
 single serpent. It is probable, in early times, 
 when the arts were little known, and mankind 
 were but thinly scattered over the earth, that 
 serpents, continuing undisturbed possessors of 
 the forests, grew to an amazing magnitude : 
 and every other tribe of animals fell before 
 
 them. It then might have happened, that ser- 
 pents reigned the tyrants of a district for cen- 
 turies together. To animals of this kind, 
 grown by time and rapacity to a hundred or a 
 hundred and fifty feet in length, the lion, the 
 tiger, and even the elephant itself, were but 
 feeble opponents. The dreadful monster 
 spread desolation round him; every creature 
 that had life was devoured, or fled to a dis- 
 tance. That horrible foetor^ which even the 
 commonest and the most harmless snakes are 
 still found to diffuse, might, in these larger 
 ones, become too powerful for any living being 
 to withstand; and while they preyed without 
 distinction, they might thus also have poisoned 
 the atmosphere around them. In this manner, 
 having for ages lived in the hidden and un- 
 peopled forest, and finding as their appetites 
 were more powerful, the quantity of their prey 
 decreasing, it is possible they might venture 
 boldly from their retreats, into the more culti- 
 vated parts of the country, and carry conster- 
 nation among mankind, as they had before de- 
 solation among the lower ranks of nature. We 
 have many histories of antiquity, presenting us 
 such a picture; and exhibiting a whole nation 
 sinking under the ravages of a single serpent. 
 At that time, man had not learned the art of 
 uniting the efforts of many, to effect one great 
 purpose. Opposing multitudes only added 
 new victims to the general calamity, and in- 
 creased mutual embarrassment and terror. The 
 animal was, therefore, to be singly opposed by 
 him who had the greatest strength, the best 
 armour, and the most undaunted courage. In 
 such an encounter hundreds must have fallen ; 
 till one, more lucky than the rest, by a fortu- 
 nate blow, or by taking the monster in its tor- 
 pid interval, and surcharged with spoil, might 
 kill, and thus rid his country of the destroyer. 
 Such was the original occupation of heroes: 
 and those who first obtained that name, from 
 their destroying the ravagers of the earth, 
 gained it much more deservedly than their suc- 
 cessors, who acquired their reputation only for 
 ;heir skill in destroying each other. But as 
 we descend into more enlightened antiquity, 
 we find these animals less formidable, as being 
 attacked in a more successful manner. We 
 are told, that while Regulus led his army 
 along the banks of the river Bagrada, in 
 Africa, an enormous serpent disputed his pas- 
 age over. We are' assured by Pliny, who 
 says, that he himself saw the skin, that it was 
 hundred and twenty feet long, and that he 
 lad destroyed many of the army. At last, 
 lowever, the battering engines were brought 
 out against it ; and these assailing it at a dis- 
 ance, it was soon destroyed. Its spoils were 
 ;arried to Rome, and the general was decreed 
 an ovation for his success. There are, per- 
 aps, few facts better ascertained in history 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 409 
 
 than tins : an ovation was a remarkable 
 honour; and was given only for some signal 
 exploit that did not deserve a triumph: no his- 
 torian would offer to invent that part of the 
 story at least, without being subject to the 
 most shameful detection. The skin was kept 
 for several years after in the capitol ; and Pliny 
 says, he saw it there : now, though Pliny was 
 a credulous writer, he was by no means a false 
 one; and whatever he says he has seen, we 
 may very safely rely on. At present, indeed, 
 such ravages from serpents are scarcely seen 
 in any part of the world ; not but that in Af- 
 rica and America some of them are powerful 
 enough to brave the assaults of men to this 
 
 O 
 
 day. 
 
 But, happily for us, we are placed at such 
 a distance as to take a view of this tribe with- 
 out fearing for our safety ; we can survey their 
 impotent malignity with the same delight with 
 which the poet describes the terrors of a dead 
 monster. 
 
 Nequoant expleri corda tuendo 
 Terribiles oeulos villosaque setis pectora. 
 
 To us their slender form, their undulating 
 motion, their vivid colouring, their horrid 
 stench, their forky tongue, and their enven- 
 omed fangs, are totally harmless ; and in this 
 country their uses even serve to counterbalance 
 the mischief they sometimes occasion. 
 
 If we take a survey of serpents in general, 
 they have marks by which they are distin- 
 guished from all the rest of animated nature. 
 They have the length and the suppleness of 
 the eel, but want fins to swim with: they 
 have the scaly covering and pointed tail of the 
 lizard, but they want legs to walk with ; they 
 have the crawling motion of the worm, but, 
 unlike that animal, they have lungs to breathe 
 with : like all the reptile kind, they are re- 
 sentful when offended ; and nature has sup- 
 plied them with terrible arms to revenge every 
 injury. 
 
 Though they are possessed of very different 
 degrees of malignity, yet they are all formid- 
 ble to man, and have a strong similitude ol 
 rm to each other ; and it will be proper to 
 mark the general character before we descend 
 to particulars. With respect to their confor- 
 mation, all serpents have a very wide mouth, 
 in proportion to the size of the head ; and, what 
 is very extraordinary, they can gape and swal 
 low the head of another animal which is three 
 times as big as their own. I have seen a toad 
 taken out of the belly of a snake, at lord Spen- 
 cer's, near London, the body of which was 
 thrice the diameter of the animal that swal- 
 lowed it. However, it is no way surprising 
 that the skin of the snake should stretch to re- 
 ceive so large a morsel : the wonder seems 
 how the jaws could take it in. To explain 
 
 VOL. n . 
 
 this, it must be observed that the jaws of this 
 animal do not open as ours, in the manner of 
 a pair of hinges, where bones are applied to 
 bones, and play upon one another ; on the con- 
 trary, the serpent's jaws are held together at 
 the roots by a stretching muscular skin ; by 
 which means they open as widely as the ani- 
 mal chooses to stretch them, and admit of a 
 prey much thicker than the snake's own body. 
 The throat, like stretching leather, dilates to 
 admit the morsel ; the stomach receives it in 
 part ; and the rest remains in the gullet, till 
 putrefaction and the juices of the serpent's 
 body unite to dissolve it. 
 
 As to the teeth, I will talk more of them 
 when I come to treat of the viper's poison ; it 
 will be sufficient here to observe, that some 
 serpents have fangs, or canine teeth, and others 
 are without them. The teeth in all are crooked 
 and hollow ; and, by a peculiar contrivance, 
 are capable of being erected or depressed at 
 pleasure. 
 
 The eyes of all serpents are small, if com- 
 pared to the length of the body ; and though 
 differently coloured in different kinds, yet the 
 appearance of all is malign and heavy; and, 
 from their known qualities, they strike the 
 imagination with the idea of a creature medi- 
 tating mischief. In some, the upper eye-lid 
 is wanting, and the serpent winks only with 
 that below ; in others, the animal has a nicti- 
 tating membrane or skin, resembling that 
 which is found in birds, which keeps the eye 
 clean, and preserves the sight. The substance 
 of the eye in all is hard and horny ; the crys- 
 talline humour occupying a great part of the 
 globe. 
 
 The holes for hearing are very visible in all : 
 but there is no conduits for smelling ; though 
 it is probable that some of them enjoy that 
 sense in tolerable perfection. 
 
 The tongue in all these animals is long and 
 forky. It is composed of two long fleshy sub- 
 stances, which terminate in sharp points, and 
 are very pliable. At the root it is connected 
 very strongly to the neck by two tendons, that 
 give it a variety of play. Some of the viper 
 kind have tongues a fifth part of the length of 
 their bodies ; they are continually darting 
 them out, but they are entirely harmless, and 
 only terrify those who are ignorant of the real 
 situation of their poison. 
 
 If from the jaws we go on to the gullet, we 
 shall find it very wide for the animal's size, 
 and capable of being distended to a great de- 
 gree ; at the bottom of this lies the stomach, 
 which is not so capacious, and receives only a 
 part of the prey, while the rest continues in 
 the gullet for digestion. When the substance 
 in the stomach is dissolved into chyle, it passes 
 into the intestines, and from thence goes to 
 nourishment, or to be excluded by the vent. 
 3 F 
 
410 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 Like most other animals, serpents are fur- 
 nished with lungs, which, I suppose, are ser- 
 viceable in breathing, though we cannot per- 
 ceive the manner in which this operation is 
 performed; for though serpents are often seen, 
 apparently, to draw in their breath, yet we 
 cannot find the smallest signs of their ever re- 
 spiring it again. Their lungs, however, are 
 long and large, and doubtless are necessary to 
 promote their languid circulation. The heart is 
 formed as in the tortoise, the frog, and the lizard 
 kinds, so as to work without the assistance of 
 the lungs. It is single, the greatest part of 
 the blood flowing from the great vein to the 
 great artery by the shortest course. By this 
 contrivance of nature we easily gather two 
 consequences that snakes are amphibious, 
 being equally capable of living on land and in 
 the water; and that also they are torpid in 
 winter, like the bat, the lizard, and other ani- 
 mals formed in the same manner. 
 
 The vent in these animals serves for the 
 emission of the urine and the fasces, and for 
 the purposes of generation. The instrument 
 of generation in the male is double, being 
 forked like the tongue ; the ovaries in the fe- 
 male are double also ; and the aperture is very 
 large, in order to receive the double instrument 
 of the male. They copulate in their retreats: 
 and it is said by the ancients, that, in this si- 
 tuation, they appear like one serpent with two 
 heads : but how far this remark is founded in 
 truth, I do not find any of the moderns that 
 can resolve me. 
 
 As the body of this animal is long, slender, 
 and capable of bending in every direction, the 
 number of joints in the back-bone are numer- 
 ous beyond what one would imagine. In the 
 generality of quadrupeds, they amount to not 
 above thirty or forty ; in the serpent kind they 
 amount to a hundred and forty-five from the 
 head to the vent, and twenty-five more from 
 that to the tail. 1 The number of these joints 
 must give the back-bone a surprising degree 
 of pliancy ; but this is still increased by the 
 manner in which each of these joints are locked 
 into the other. In man and quadrupeds, the 
 flat surfaces of the bones are laid one against 
 the other, and bound tight by sinews: but in 
 serpents, the bones play one within the other, 
 like ball and socket, so that they have full 
 motion upon each other in every direction. 2 
 Thus, if a man were to form a machine com- 
 posed of so many joints as are found in the 
 back of a serpent, he would find it no easy 
 matter to give it such strength and pliancy at 
 the same time. The chain of a watch is but a 
 bungling piece of workmanship in comparison. 
 
 Though the number of joints in the back- 
 bone is great, yet that of the ribs is still great- 
 
 1 Vide CKarat. Anatom. 
 
 Derham, p. 390. 
 
 er ; for, from the head to the vent there are 
 two ribs to every joint, which makes their, 
 number two hundred and ninety in all. These 
 ribs are furnished with muscles, four in num- 
 ber ; which being inserted into the head, run 
 along to the end of the tail, and give the ani- 
 mal great strength and agility in all its mo- 
 tions. 
 
 The skin also contributes to its motions, 
 being composed of a number of scales, united 
 to each other by a transparent membrane, 
 which grows harder as it grows older, until 
 the animal changes, which is generally done 
 twice a year. This cover then bursts near the 
 head, and the serpent creeps from it, by an 
 undulatory motion, in a new skin, much more 
 vivid than the former. If the old slough be 
 then viewed, every scale will be distinctly 
 seen, like a piece of net- work, and will be 
 found greatest where the part of the body they 
 covered was largest. 
 
 There is much geometrical neatness in the 
 disposal of the serpent's scales for assisting the 
 animal's sinuous motion. As the edges of the 
 foremost scales lie over the ends of their fol- 
 lowing scales, so those edges, when the scales 
 are erected, which the animal has a power of 
 doing in a small degree, catch in the ground, 
 like the nails in the wheel of a chariot, and so 
 promote and facilitate the animal's progressive 
 motion. The erecting these scales is by means 
 of a multitude of distinct muscles, with which 
 each is supplied, and one end of which is 
 tacked each to the middle of the foregoing. 
 
 In some of the serpent kind there is the ex- 
 actest symmetry in these scales; in others, 
 they are disposed more irregularly. In some, 
 there are larger scales on the belly, and often 
 answering to the number of ribs ; in others, 
 however, the animal is without them. Upon 
 this slight difference Linnasus has founded his 
 distinctions of the various classes of the serpent 
 tribe. Human curiosity, however, and even 
 human interest, seem to plead for a very dif- 
 ferent method of distribution. It is not the 
 number of scales on a formidable animal's 
 belly, nor their magnitude or variety, that any 
 way excite our concern. The first question 
 that every man will naturally ask, when he 
 hears of a snake, is, whether it be large? the 
 second, whether it be venomous? In other 
 words, the strongest lines in the animal's his- 
 tory are those that first excite our attention ; 
 and these it is every historian's business to dis- 
 play. 
 
 When we come to compare serpents with 
 each other, the first great distinction appears 
 in their size ; no other tribe of animals differ- 
 ing so widely in this particular. What, for 
 instance, can be so remotely separated as the 
 Great Liboya of Surinam, that grows to thirty- 
 six feet long ; and the Little Serpent, at the 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 411 
 
 Cape of Good Hope, and the north of the river 
 Senegal, that is not above three inches, and 
 covers whole sandy deserts with its multi- 
 tudes! This tribe of animals, like that of 
 lishes, seems to have no bounds put to their 
 growth: their bones are, in a great measure, 
 cartilaginous, and they are, consequently, ca- 
 pable of great extension : the older, therefore, 
 a serpent becomes, the larger it grows; and 
 as they seem to live to a great age, they arrive 
 at an enormous size. 
 
 Leguat assures us, that he saw one in Java 
 that was fifty feet long. Carii mentions their 
 growing to above forty feet; and we have now 
 the skin of one in the Museum, that measures 
 thirty-two. Mr Wentwort, who had large 
 concerns in the Berbices, in America, assures 
 me, that in that country, they grow to an en- 
 ormous length. He one day sent out a sol- 
 dier, with an Indian, to kill wild fowl for the 
 table ; and they accordingly went some miles 
 from the fort; in pursuing their game, the In- 
 dian, who generally marched before, beginning 
 to tire, went to rest himself upon the fallen 
 trunk of a tree, as he supposed it to be; but 
 when he was just going to sit down, the enor- 
 mous monster began to move, and the poor sa- 
 vage perceiving that he had approached a Li- 
 boya, the greatest of all the serpent kind, 
 dropped down in an agony. The soldier, who 
 perceived, at some distance, what had hap- 
 pened, levelled at the serpent's head, and, by 
 a lucky aim, shot it dead: however, he conti- 
 nued his fire until he was assured that the ani- 
 mal was killed ; and then going up to rescue 
 his companion, who was fallen motionless by 
 its side, he, to his astonishment, found him 
 dead likewise, being killed 'by the fright. 
 Upon his return to the fort, and telling what 
 had happened, Mr Wentworth ordered the 
 animal to be brought up, when it was mea- 
 sured, and found to be thirty-six feet long. 
 He had the skin stuffed, and then sent to Eu- 
 rope, as a present to the Prince of Orange, in 
 whose cabinet it is now to be seen at the 
 Hague ; but the skin has shrunk, by drying, 
 two or three feet. 
 
 In the East Indies they grow also to an 
 enormous size ; particularly in the island of 
 Java, where, we are assured, that one of them 
 will destroy and devour a buffalo. In a letter, 
 printed in the German Ephemerides, we have 
 an account of a combat between an enormous 
 serpent and a buffalo, by a person who assures 
 us that he was himself a spectator. The ser- 
 pent had, for some time, been waiting near 
 the brink of a pool, in expectation of its prey ; 
 when a buffalo was the first that offered. Hav- 
 ing darted upon the affrighted animal, it in- 
 stantly began to wrap it round with its volumi- 
 nous twisdngs ; and, at every twist, the bones 
 of the buffalo were heard to crack almost as 
 
 loud as the report of a cannon. It was in vain 
 that the poor animal struggled and bellowed ; 
 its enormous enemy entwined it too closely to 
 get free ; till, at length, all its bones being 
 mashed to pieces, like those of a malefactor on 
 the wheel, and the whole body reduced to one 
 uniform mass, the serpent untwined its folds to 
 swallow its prey at leisure. To prepare for 
 this, and in order to make the body slip down 
 the throat more glibly, it was seen to lick the 
 whole body over, and thus cover it with its 
 mucus. It then began to swallow it at that 
 end that offered least resistance ; while its 
 length of body was dilated to receive its prey, 
 and thus took in at once a morsel that was three 
 times its own thickness. We are assured by 
 travellers, that these animals are often found 
 with the body of a stag in their gullet, while 
 the horns, which they are unable to swallow, 
 keep sticking out at their mouths. 
 
 But it is happy for mankind that the rapa- 
 city of these frightful creatures is often their 
 punishment ; for whenever any of the serpent 
 kind have gorged themselves in this manner, 
 whenever their body is seen particularly dis- 
 tended with food, they then become torpid, and 
 may be approached and destroyed with safety. 
 Patient of hunger to a surprising degree, 
 whenever they seize and swallow their prey, 
 they seem, like surfeited gluttons, unwieldly, 
 stupid, helpless, and sleepy : they, at that time 
 seek some retreat, where they may lurk for se- 
 veral days together, and digest their meal in 
 safety : the smallest effort, at that time, is ca- 
 pable of destroying them ; they can scarcely 
 make any resistance ; and they are equally un- 
 qualified for flight or opposition : that is the 
 happy opportunity of attacking them with suc- 
 cess ; at that time the naked Indian himself 
 does not fear to assail them. But it is otherwise 
 when this sleepy interval of digestion is over: 
 they then issue, with famished appetites, from 
 their retreats, and with accumulated terrors, 
 while every animal of the forest flies before 
 them. 
 
 Carli describes the Long Serpent of Congo 
 making its track through the tall grass, like 
 mowers in a summer's day. He could not, with- 
 out terror, behold whole lines of grass lying 
 levelled under the sweep of its tail. In this 
 manner it moved forward with great rapidity, 
 until it found a proper situation frequented by 
 its prey: there it continued to lurk, in patient 
 expectation, and would have remained for 
 weeks together, had it not been disturbed by 
 the natives. 
 
 Other creatures have a choice in their pro- 
 vision ; but the serpent indiscriminately preys 
 upon all ; the buffalo, the tiger, and the ga- 
 zelle. One would think that the porcupine's 
 quills might be sufficient to protect it ; but. 
 whatever has life serves to appease the him- 
 
412 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 ger of these devouring creatures: porcupines, 
 with all their quills, have frequently been 
 found in their stomachs, when killed and 
 opened ; nay, they most frequently are seen to 
 devour each other. 
 
 A life of savage hostility in the forest offers 
 the imagination one of the, most tremendous 
 pictures in nature. In those burning coun- 
 tries, where the sun dries up every brook for 
 hundreds of miles round ; when what had the 
 appearance of a great river in the rainy season, 
 becomes, in summer, one dreary bed of sand 
 in those countries, I say, a lake that is 
 never dry or a brook that is perennial, is con- 
 sidered by every animal as the greatest con- 
 venience of nature. As to food, the luxuriant 
 landscape supplies that in sufficient abundance: 
 it is the want of water that all animals endea- 
 vour to remove ; and inwardly parched by the 
 heat of the climate, traverse whole deserts to 
 find out a spring. When they have discovered 
 this, no dangers can deter them from attempt- 
 ing to slake their thirst. Thus the neighbour- 
 hood of a rivulet, in the heart of the tropical 
 continents, is generally the place where all the 
 hostile tribes of nature draw up for the engage- 
 ment. On the banks of this little envied spot, 
 thousands of animals of various kinds are seen 
 venturing to quench their thirst, or preparing 
 to seize their prey. The elephants are per- 
 ceived, in a long line, marching from the 
 darker parts of the forest ; the buffaloes are 
 there, depending upon numbers for security ; 
 the gazelles, relying solely upon their swift- 
 ness ; the lion and tiger waiting a proper op- 
 portunity to seize ; but chiefly the larger ser- 
 pents are upon guard there, and defend the ac- 
 cesses of the lake. Not an hour passes with- 
 out some dreadful combat ; but the serpent, de- 
 fended by its scales, and naturally capable of 
 sustaining a multitude of wounds, is, of all 
 others, the most formidable. It is the most 
 wakeful also ; for the whole tribe sleep with 
 their eyes open, and are, consequently, for ever 
 upon the watch : so that, till their rapacity is 
 satisfied, few other animals will venture to ap- 
 proach their station. 
 
 But though these animals are, of all others, 
 the most voracious, and though the morsel 
 which they swallow without chewing is greater 
 than what any other creature, either by land 
 or water, the whale itself not excepted, can 
 devour, yet no animals upon earth bear absti- 
 nence so long as they. A single meal, with 
 many of the snake kind, seems to be the adven- 
 ture of a season ; it is an occurrence for which 
 they have been for weeks, nay, sometimes for 
 months, in patient expectation of. When 
 they have seized their prey, their industry, for 
 several weeks, is entirely discontinued ; the 
 fortunate capture of an hour often satisfies 
 them for the remaining period of their annual 
 
 activity. As their blood is colder than that 
 of most other terrestrial animals, and as it cir- 
 culates but slowly through their bodies, so 
 their powers of digestion are but feeble. 
 Their prey continues for a long time, partly 
 in the stomach, partly in the gullet, and a 
 part is often seen hanging out of the mouth. 
 In this manner, it digests by degrees ; and in 
 proportion as the part below is dissolved, the 
 part above is taken in. It is not therefore, 
 till this tedious operation is entirely performed 
 that the serpent renews its appetite and its 
 activity. But should any accident prevent it 
 from issuing once more from its cell, it still 
 can continue to bear famine for weeks, months, 
 nay, for years together. Vipers are often 
 kept in boxes for six or eight months without 
 any food whatever; and there are little ser- 
 pents sometimes sent over to Europe from 
 Grand Cairo, the name of which I have not 
 been able to learn, that live, for several years, 
 in glasses, and never eat at all, nor even stain 
 the glass with their excrements. Thus the 
 serpent tribe unite, in themselves, two very 
 opposite qualities : wonderful abstinence, and 
 yet incredible rapacity. 
 
 If, leaving the consideration of their appe- 
 tites, we come to compare serpents, as to their 
 voices, some are found silent, some have a 
 peculiar cry ; but hissing is the sound which 
 they most commonly sent forth, either as a 
 call to their kind, or as a threat to their ene- 
 mies. In the countries where they abound, 
 they are generally silent in the middle of the 
 day, when they are obliged to retire from the 
 heat of the climate ; but as the cool of the 
 evening approaches, they are then heard issu- 
 ing from their cells with continued hissings ; 
 and such is the variety of their notes, that 
 some have assured me they very much resem- 
 ble the music of an English grove. This 
 some will hardly credit at any rate, such 
 notes, however pleasing, can give but very 
 little delight, when we call to mind the ma- 
 lignity of the minstrel. If considered, indeed, 
 as they answer the animal's own occasions, 
 they will be found well adapted to its nature, 
 and fully answering the purposes of terrifying 
 such as would venture to offend it. 
 
 With respect to motion, some serpents, 
 particularly those of the viper kind, move 
 slowly ; while others, such as the Ammodytes, 
 dart with amazing swiftness. The motion in 
 all is similar; but the strength of body in some 
 gives a very different appearance. The viper, 
 that is but a slow feeble-bodied animal, 
 makes way in a heavy undulating manner ; 
 advancing its head, then drawing up its tail 
 behind, and bending the body into a bow ; 
 then, from the spot where the head and tail 
 were united, advancing the head forward as 
 before. This, which is the motion of all 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 413 
 
 serpents, is very different from that of the 
 earth-worm, or the naked snail. The serpent, 
 as was said above, has a back-bone with num- 
 erous joints, and this bone the animal has a 
 power of bending in every direction, but with- 
 out being able to shorten or lengthen it at 
 pleasure. The earth-worm, on the other 
 hand, has no back-bone ; but its body is com- 
 posed of rings, which, like a barber's puff, it 
 can lengthen or shorten as it finds necessary. 
 The earth-worm, therefore, in order to move 
 forward, lengthens the body; then, by the fore 
 part clings to the ground, where it has reached, 
 and then contracts and brings up its rear : 
 then, when the body is thus shortened, the 
 fore part is lengthened again for another pro- 
 gression ; and so on. The serpent, instead of 
 shortening the body, bends it into an arch ; 
 and this is the principal difference between 
 serpentine and vermicular progression. 
 
 I have instanced this motion in the viper, 
 as most easily discerned ; but there are many 
 serpents that dart with such amazing swift- 
 ness, that they appear rather to leap than 
 crawl. It is most probable, however, that no 
 serpent can dart upon even ground farther 
 than its own length atone effort. Our fears, 
 indeed, may increase the force of their speed, 
 which is sometimes found so fatal. We are 
 told by some, that they will dart to a very 
 great distance ; but this my inquiries have 
 never been able to ascertain. The manner of 
 progression in the swiftest serpent we know, 
 which is the jacalus, is by instantly coiling 
 itself upon its tail, and darting from thence to 
 its full extent ; then carrying the tail as quick 
 as lightning to the head, coiling and darting 
 again ; and by this means proceeding with 
 extreme rapidity, without ever quitting the 
 ground. Indeed, if we consider the length 
 and the weakness of the back-bone in all these 
 animals ; ifwe regard the make of their verte- 
 brae, in which we shall find the junctures all 
 formed to give play, and none to give power; we 
 cannot be of opinion that they have a faculty 
 of springing from the ground, as they entirely 
 want a fulcrum, if I may so express it, from 
 whence to take their spring ; the whole body 
 being composed of unsupported muscles and 
 joints that are yielding. It must be confessed, 
 that they dart down from trees upon their prey ; 
 but their weight alone is sufficient for that 
 purpose without much effort of their own. 
 
 Though all serpents are amphibious, some 
 are much fonder of the water than others ; and, 
 though destitute of fins or gills, remain at the 
 bottom, or swim along the surface with great 
 ease. From their internal structure, just 
 sketched above, we see how well adapted they 
 are for either element ; and how capable their 
 blood is of circulating at the bottom, as freely 
 as in the frog or the tortoise. They can, how- 
 
 ever, endure to live in fresh-water only ; for 
 salt is an effectual bane to the whole tribe. 
 The greatest serpents are most usually found 
 in fresh-water, either choosing it as their fav- 
 ourite element, or finding their prey in such 
 places in the greatest abundance. But that 
 all will live and swim in liquids appears from 
 the experiment of Rhedi ; who put a serpent 
 into a large glass vessel of wine, where it 
 lived swimming about six hours ; though, when 
 it was by force, immersed and kept under that 
 liquid, it lived only one hour and a half. He 
 put another in common water, where it lived 
 three days ; but when it was kept under water, 
 it lived only about twelve hours. 1 Their 
 motion there, however, is perfectly the reverse 
 of what it is upon land ; far, in order to sup- 
 port themselves upon an element lighter than 
 their bodies, they are obliged to increase their 
 surface in a very artificial manner. On earth 
 their windings are perpendicular to the sur- 
 face ; in water they are parallel to it ; in other 
 words, if I should wave my hand up and 
 down, it will give an idea of the animal's pro- 
 gress on land ; if I should wave it to the right 
 and left, it will give some idea of its progress 
 on the water. 
 
 Some serpents have a most horrible foetor at- 
 tending them, which is alone capable of inti- 
 midating the brave. This proceeds from two 
 glands near the vent, like those in the weasel 
 or polecat ; and, like those animals, in propor- 
 tion as they are excited by rage, or by fear, the 
 scent grows stronger. It would seem, how- 
 ever, that such serpents as are most venomous, 
 are least offensive in this particular ; since the 
 rattlesnake and the viper have no smell what- 
 ever : nay, we are told that at Calicut and 
 Cranganon, in the East Indies, there are some 
 very noxious serpents who are so far from being 
 disagreeable, that their excrements are sought 
 after, and kept as the most pleasing perfume. 
 The Esculapian Serpent is also of this number. 
 
 Some serpents bring forth their young alive, 
 as the viper ; some bring forth eggs, which are 
 hatched by the heat of their situation : as the 
 common black snake, and the majority of the 
 serpent tribe. When a reader, ignorant of 
 anatomy, is told, that some of those animals 
 produce their young alive, and that some pro- 
 duce eggs only, he is apt to suppose a very 
 great difference in the internal conformation, 
 which makes such a variety in the manner of 
 bringing forth. But this is not the case : 
 these animals are internally alike, in whatever 
 manner they produce their young ; and the 
 variety in their bringing forth is rather a 
 slight, than a real discrimination. The only 
 difference is, that the viper hatches her eggs, 
 and brings them to maturity within her body ; 
 
 1 Rhedi, Exper. p. 170. 
 
414 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 the snake is more premature in her productions, 
 and sends her eggs into the light some time 
 before the young ones are capable of leaving 
 the shell. Thus, if either are opened, the 
 eggs will be found in the womb, covered with 
 their membranous shell, and adhering to each 
 other like large beads on a string. In the 
 eggs of both, young ones will be found, though 
 at different stages of maturity : those of the 
 viper will crawl and bite the moment the shell 
 that incloses them is broke open ; those of the 
 snake are not yet arrived at their perfect form. 
 
 Father Labat took a serpent of the viper 
 kind, that was nine feet long, and ordered it 
 to be opened in his presence. He then saw 
 the manner in which the eggs of these animals 
 lie in the womb. In this creature there were 
 six eggs, each of the size of a goose egg, but 
 longer, more pointed, and covered with a mem- 
 branous skin, by which also they were united 
 to each other. Each of these eggs contained 
 from thirteen to fifteen young ones, about six 
 inches long, and as thick as a goose-quill. 
 Though the female from whence they were 
 taken was spotted, the young seemed to have 
 a variety of colours very different from the 
 parent ; and this led the traveller to suppose 
 that the colour was no characteristic mark 
 among serpents. These little mischievous 
 animals were no sooner let loose from the shell 
 than they crept about, and put themselves into 
 a threatening posture, coiling themselves up, 
 and biting the stick with which he was des- 
 troying them. In this manner he killed se- 
 venty-four young ones ; those that were con- 
 tained in one of the eggs escaped at the place 
 where the female was killed, by the bursting 
 of the egg, and their getting among the bushes. 
 
 The last distinction that I shall mention, 
 but the most material among serpents, is, that 
 some are venomous, and some inoffensive. If 
 we consider the poison of serpents as it relates 
 to man, there is no doubt but that it is a 
 scourge and an affliction. The various cala- 
 mities that the poison of serpents is capable of 
 producing, are not only inflicted by the animal 
 itself, but by men, more mischievous than even 
 serpents, who prepare their venom to destroy 
 each other. With this the savages poison 
 their arms, and also prepare their revengeful 
 potions. The ancients were known to preserve 
 it for the purposes of suicide ; and even among 
 semi-barbarous countries at this day, the ve- 
 nom of snakes is used as a philtre. 
 
 But, though the poison be justly terrible to 
 us, it has been given to very good purposes 
 for the animal's own proper support and 
 defence. Without this, serpents, of all other 
 animals, would be the most exposed and de- 
 fenceless ; without feet for escaping a pursuit ; 
 without teeth capable of inflicting a dangerous 
 wound, or without strength for resistance ; in- 
 
 capable, from their size, of finding security in 
 very small retreats, like the earth-worm, and 
 disgusting all from their deformity, nothing 
 was left for them but a speedy extirpation. 
 But furnished as they are with powerful 
 poison, every rank of animals approach them 
 with dread, and never seize them but at. an 
 advantage. Nor is this all the advantage 
 they derive from it. The malignity of a few 
 serves for the protection of all. Though not 
 above a tenth of their number are actually 
 venomous, yet the similitude they all bear to 
 each other excites a general terror of the whole 
 tribe ; and the uncertainty of their enemies in 
 which the poison chiefly resides, makes even 
 the most harmless formidable. Thus provi- 
 dence seems to have acted with double precau- 
 tion ; it has given some of them poison, for 
 the general defence of a tribe naturally feeble ; 
 but it has thinned the numbers of those which 
 are venomous, lest they should become too 
 powerful for the rest of animated nature. 
 
 From these noxious qualities in the serpent 
 kind, it is no wonder that not only man, but 
 the beasts and birds, carry on an unceasing 
 war against them. The ichneumon of the 
 Indians, and the peccary of America, destroy 
 them in great numbers. These animals have 
 the art of seizing them near the head ; and it 
 is said that they can skin them with great 
 dexterity. The vulture and the eagle also 
 prey upon them in great abundance ; and 
 often sousing down from the clouds, drop upon 
 a long serpent, which they snatch up struggl- 
 ing and writhing in the air. Dogs are also 
 bred up to oppose them. Father Feuille tells 
 us, that being in the woods of Martinico, he 
 was attacked by a large serpent, which he 
 could not easily avoid, when his dog imme- 
 diately came to his relief, and seized the 
 assailant with great courage. The serpent 
 entwined him, and pressed him so violently, 
 that the blood came out of his mouth, arid yet 
 the dog never ceased till he had torn it to pieces. 
 The dog was not sensible of his wounds dur- 
 ing the fight ; but soon after his head swelled 
 prodigiously, and he lay on the ground as 
 dead. But his master having found hard by 
 a banana-tree, he applied its juice, mixed 
 with treacle, to the wounds, which recovered 
 the dog, and quickly healed his sores. 
 
 But it is in man that these venomous crea- 
 tures find the most dangerous enemy. The 
 Psylli of old were famous for charming and 
 destroying serpents. Some moderns pretend 
 to the same art. Casaubon says, that he knew 
 a man who could at any time summon a 
 hundred serpents together, and draw them 
 into the fire. Upon a certain occasion, when 
 one of them, bigger than the rest, would not 
 be brought in, he only repeated his charm, 
 and it came forward like the rest, to submit 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 415 
 
 to the flames. Philostratus describes par- 
 ticularly how the Indians charm serpents 
 " They take a scarlet robe, embroidered with 
 golden letters, and spread it before a serpent's 
 hole. The golden letters have a fascinating 
 power ; and, by looking steadfastly, the ser- 
 pent's eyes are overcome and laid asleep.' 
 These, and many other feats have been often 
 practised upon these animals by artful men, 
 who had first prepared the serpents for their 
 exercise, and then exhibited them as ad- 
 ventitiously assembled at their call. In In- 
 dia there is nothing so common as dancin 
 serpents, which are carried about in a broad 
 flat vessel, somewhat resembling a sieve. 
 These erect and put themselves in motion at 
 the word of command. When their keeper 
 sings a slow tune, they seem by their heads 
 to keep time; when he sings a quicker 
 measure, they appear to move more brisk and 
 lively. All animals have a certain degree of 
 docility ; and we find that serpents them- 
 selves can be brought to move and approach 
 at the voice of their master. From this trick, 
 successfully practised before the ignorant,, it 
 is most probable has arisen all the boasted 
 pretensions which some have made to charm- 
 ing of serpents ; an art to which the native 
 Americans pretend at this very day. One of 
 Linnaeus's pupils, we are told, purchased the 
 secret from an Indian, and then discovered it 
 to his master ; but, like all secrets of the kind, 
 it is probable this ended in a few unmeaning 
 words of no efficacy. 1 
 
 1 The incantation of serpents is one, of the most curi- 
 ous and interesting facts in natural history. This won- 
 derful art, which disarms the fury, and soothes the wrath 
 of the deadliest snake, and renders it obedient to 
 the charmer's voice, is not an invention of modern 
 times; for we discover manifest traces of it in the re- 
 motest antiquity. It is asserted, that Orpheus, who pro- 
 bably flourished soon after letters were introduced into 
 Greece, knew how to still the hissing of the approaching 
 snake, and to extinguish the poison of the creeping ser- 
 pent. The Argonauts are said to have subdued by the 
 power of song, the terrible dragon that guarded the golden 
 fleece ; and Ovid ascribes the same efi'ect to the soporific 
 influence of certain herbs, and magic sentences. It was 
 the custom of others to fascinate the serpent, by touching 
 it with the hand. Of this method Virgil takes notice, 
 in the seventh book of the ^Enead. But it seems to 
 have been the general persuasion of the ancients, that 
 the principal power of the charmer lay in the sweetness 
 of the music. Pliny says, accordingly, that serpents 
 were drawn from their lurking-places by the power of 
 music. Seneca held the same opinion. 
 
 The wonderful effect which music produces on the 
 serpent tribes is confirmed by the testimony of several 
 respectable moderns. Adders swell at the sound of a 
 flute, raising themselves up on the one half of their body, 
 turning themselves round, beating proper time and fol- 
 lowing the instrument. Their head, naturally round and 
 long like an eel, becomes broad and flat like a fan. The 
 tame serpents, many of which the Orientals keep in 
 their houses, are known to leave their holes in hot wea- 
 ther, at the sound of a musical Instrument, and to run 
 upon the performer. Dr Shaw had an opportunity of 
 
 Though the generality of mankind regard 
 this formidable race with horror, yet there 
 have been some nations, and there are some 
 at this day, that consider them with venera- 
 tion and regard. The adoration paid by the 
 ancient Egyptians to a serpent is well known: 
 many of the nations at present along the west- 
 ern coast of Africa retain the same unaccount- 
 able veneration. Upon the Gold and Slave 
 coasts, a stranger, upon entering the cottages 
 of the natives, is often surprised to see the 
 roof swarming with serpents, that cling there 
 without molesting, and unmolested by the 
 natives. But his surprise will increase upon 
 going farther southward to the kingdom of 
 Widah, when he finds that a serpent is the 
 god of the country. This animal, which 
 travellers describe as a huge overgrown crea- 
 ture, has its habitation, its temple, and its 
 priests. These impress the vulgar with an 
 opinion of its virtues ; and numbers are daily 
 seen to offer not only their goods, their pro 
 visions, and their prayers, at the shrine of 
 
 seeing a number of serpents keep exact time with the 
 dervishes in their circulating dances, running over their 
 heads and arms, turning when they turned, and stopping 
 when they stopped. 
 
 The rattle snake acknowledges the power of music as 
 much as any of his family ; of which the following in- 
 stance is a decisive proof. When Chateaubriand was 
 in Canada, a snake of this species entered their encamp- 
 ment ; a young Canadian, one of the party who could 
 play on the flute, to divert his associates, advanced 
 against the serpent with his new species of weapon. 
 On the approach of his enemy, the haughty reptile 
 curled himself into a spiral line, flattened his head, 
 inflated his cheeks, contracted his lips, displayed his 
 envenomed fangs, and his bloody throat ; his double 
 tongue glowed like two flames of fire ; his eyes were 
 burning coals ; his body, swoln with rage, rose and fell 
 like the bellows of a forge ; his dilated skin assumed a 
 dull and scaly appearance, and his tail, which sounded 
 the denunciation of death, vibrated with so great rapidity, 
 as to resemble a light vapour. The Canadian now began 
 to play upon his flute ; the serpent started with surprise, 
 and drew back his head. In proportion as he was struck 
 with the magic efiect, his eyes lost their fierceness, the 
 oscillations of his tail became slower, and the sound 
 
 hich it emitted became Aveaker, arid gradually died 
 away. Less perpendicular upon their spiral line, the 
 ings of the fascinated serpent were by degrees expanded, 
 and sunk one after another upon the ground in concen- 
 :ric circles. The shades of azure green, white, and 
 
 old, recovered their brilliancy on his quivering skin, 
 and slightly turning his head, he remained motionless in 
 the attitude of attention and pleasure. At this moment 
 
 he Canadian advanced a few steps, producing with his 
 lute sweet and simple notes. The reptile inclining his 
 variegated neck, opened a passage with his head through 
 the high grass, and began to creep after the musician, 
 stopping Avhen he stopped, and beginning to follow him 
 again as soon as he moved froward." In this manner 
 le was led out of the camp, attended by a great number 
 if spectators, both savages and Europeans, who could 
 
 carcely believe their eyes, when they beheld this won- 
 derful, effect of harmony. The assembly unanimously 
 decreed, that the serpent which had so highly entertained 
 hem, should be permitted to escape. Natural History 
 >f the Bible, 
 
416 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 their hideous deity, but also their wives and 
 daughters. These the priests readily accept 
 of, and after some days of penance, return 
 them to their suppliants, much benefited by 
 the serpent's supposed embraces. Such a 
 complicated picture of ignorance and imposture 
 gives no very favourable impressions of our 
 fellow-creatures; but we may say, in defence 
 of human nature, that the most frightful of 
 reptiles is worshipped by the most uncultivated 
 and barbarous of mankind. 
 
 From this general picture of the serpent 
 tribe, one great distinction obviously presents 
 itself ; namely, into those that are venomous, 
 and those that are wholly destitute of poison. 
 To the first belong the viper, the rattle-snake, 
 the cobra di capello, and all their affinities ; 
 to the other, the common black snake, the 
 liboya, the boiguacu, the amphisbsena, and 
 various others, that, though destitute of venom, 
 do not cease to be formidable. I will, there- 
 fore, give their history separately, beginning 
 with the venomous class, as they have the 
 strongest claims to our notice and attention. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 THE poison of serpents has been for ages 
 one of the greatest objects of human considera- 
 tion. To us, who seldom feel the vengeful 
 wound, it is merely a subject of curiosity ; but 
 to those placed in the midst of the serpent 
 tribe, who are every day exposed to some new 
 disaster, it becomes a matter of the most serious 
 importance. To remedy the bite of a serpent 
 is considered, among our physicians, as one 
 of the slightest operations in medicine : but 
 among the physicians of the East, the antidotes 
 for this calamity make up the bulk of their 
 dispensaries. In our colder climates, the 
 venom does not appear with that instantaneous 
 operation which it exhibits in the warmer 
 regions; for either its powers are less exquisite, 
 or our fluids are not carried round in such 
 rapid circulation. 
 
 In all countries, however, the poison of the 
 serpent is sufficiently formidable to deserve 
 notice, and to excite our attention to its nature 
 and effects. It will, therefore, in the firsi 
 place, be proper to describe its seat in the ani- 
 mal, as also the instrument by which the 
 wound is made, and the poison injected. In 
 all this venomous class of reptiles, whether 
 the viper, the rattle-snake, or the cobra d' 
 capello, there are two large teeth or fangs 
 that issue from the upper jaw, and that hang 
 out beyond the lower. The rest of the snake 
 tribe are destitute of these ; and it is mos 
 
 probable that wherever these fangs are wanf- 
 ng, the animal is harmless ; on the contrary, 
 vherever they are found it is to be avoided as 
 he most pestilent enemy. These are the 
 nstruments that seem to place the true dis- 
 inction between animals of the serpent kind ; 
 he wounds which these fangs inflict produce 
 he most dangerous symptoms ; the wounds 
 nflicted by the teeth only are attended with 
 lothing more than the ordinary consequences 
 attending the bite of any other animal. Our 
 irst great attention, therefore, upon seeing a 
 serpent, should be directed to the teeth. If 
 t has the fang teeth, it is to be placed among 
 he venomous class ; if it wants them, it may 
 3e set down as inoffensive. I am not igno- 
 rant that many serpents are said to be danger- 
 ous whose jaws are unfurnished with fangs ; 
 3ut it is most probable that our terrors only 
 lave furnished these animals with venom ; for 
 of all the tribe whose teeth are thus formed, 
 not one will be found to have a bag for con- 
 taining poison, nor a conduit for injecting it 
 into the wound. The Black Snake, the 
 Liboya, the Blind Worm, and a hundred 
 others that might be mentioned, have their 
 teeth of an equal size, fixed into the jaws, and 
 with no other apparatus for inflicting a danger- 
 ous wound than a dog or a lizard : but it is 
 otherwise with the venomous tribe we are now 
 describing ; these are well furnished, not only 
 with an elaboratory where the poison is formed, 
 but a canal by which it is conducted to the 
 jaw, a bag under the tooth for keeping it 
 ready for every occasion, and also an aperture 
 in the tooth itself for injecting it into the 
 wound. To be more particular : the glands 
 that serve to fabricate this venomous fluid are 
 situated on each side of the head behind the 
 eyes, and have their canals leading from thence 
 to the bottom of the fangs in the upper jaw, 
 where they enter into a kind of bladder, from 
 whence the fangs on each side are seen to grow. 
 The venom contained in this bladder is a 
 yellowish thick tasteless liquor, which injected 
 into the blood is death, yet which may be 
 swallowed without any danger. 
 
 The fangs that give the wound come next 
 under observation ; they are large in propor- 
 tion to the size of the animal that bears them ; 
 crooked, yet sharp enough to inflict a ready 
 wound. They grow one on each side, and 
 sometimes two, from two movable bones in 
 the upper jaw, which by sliding backward or 
 forward, have a power of erecting or depress- 
 ing the teeth at pleasure. In these bones are 
 also fixed many teeth, but no way venomous, 
 and only serving to take and hold the animal's 
 prey. Besides this apt disposition of the 
 i'angs, they are hollow within and have an 
 opening towards the point, like the slit of a 
 pen, through which, whexi the fang is pressed 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 417 
 
 down upon the bladder where it grows, there 
 is seen to issue a part of the venom that lay 
 below. To describe this operation at once : 
 when the serpent is irritated to give a venom- 
 ous wound, it opens its formidable jaws to the 
 widest extent ; the movable bones of the up- 
 per jaw slide forward ; the fangs that lay before 
 inclining are thus erected ; they are struck with 
 force into the flesh of the obnoxious person ; by 
 meeting resistance at the points, they press upon 
 the bladders of venom from whence they grow; 
 the venom issues up through the hollow of the 
 tooth, and is pressed out through its slit into 
 the wound, which by this time the tooth has 
 made in the skin. Thus from a slight punc- 
 ture, and the infusion of a drop of venom 
 scarcely larger than the head of a pin, the 
 part is quickly inflamed, and, without a pro- 
 per antidote, the whole frame contaminated. 
 
 The appearance which this venom produces 
 are different, according to the serpent that 
 wounds, or the season, or the strength of the 
 animal that strikes the blow. If a viper 
 inflicts the wound, and the remedy be ne- 
 glected, the symptoms are not without danger. 
 It first causes an acute pain in the place af- 
 fected, attended with a swelling, first red, 
 and afterwards livid. This by degrees spreads 
 to the neighbouring parts ; great faintness, 
 and a quick, though low and interrupted, 
 pulse ensues ; to this succeed great sickness at 
 the stomach, bilious and convulsive vomitings, 
 cold sweats, pains about the navel, and death 
 itself. But the violence of these symptoms 
 depends much on the season of the year, the 
 difference of the climate, the size or rage of 
 the animal, and the depth and situation of the 
 wound. These symptoms are much more 
 violent, and succeed each other more rapidly, 
 after the bite of a rattle-snake ; but when the 
 person is bit by the cobra di capello,he dies 
 in an hour, his whole frame being dissolved 
 into a putrid mass of corruption . 
 
 Nothing surely can more justly excite our 
 wonder, than that so small a quantity of venom 
 should produce such powerful and deadly 
 effects. If the venom itself be examined 
 through a microscope, it will be found to shoot 
 into little crystals, that, to an imagination 
 already impressed with its potency, look like 
 so many darts fit for entering the blood-vessels, 
 and wounding their tender coats. But all 
 these darts are wholly of our own making : the 
 softest, mildest fluid whatever, possessed of any 
 consistency, will form crystals under the eye of 
 the microscope, and put on an appearance ex- 
 actly like the venom of the viper. In fact, this 
 venom has no acrid taste whatever ; and to all 
 experiments that our senses can. make upon 
 it, appears a slimy insipid fluid. Charas, 
 who often tasted it, assures us of the fact ; and 
 asserts, that it maybe taken inwardly without 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 any sensible effects, or any prejudice to the 
 constitution. But the famous experiments that 
 were tried by Rhedi and others in the pre- 
 sence of the Great Duke of Tuscany and his 
 court, put this beyond any doubt whatsoever. 
 By these it appeared, that the serpent having 
 once bitten exhausted for that time the greatest 
 part of its poison : and though the wound caused 
 by its biting a second time was attended with 
 some malignant symptoms, yet they were 
 much milder than before. It appeared that 
 the serpent biting upon a sponge, or a piece of 
 soft bread, and then biting a dog immediately 
 after, did not inflict a wound more dangerous 
 than the prick of a needle. It appeared that 
 the venom being collected, and a needle dip- 
 ped therein, this produced almost as painful 
 effects as the tooth of the animal itself. But 
 what caused the greatest surprise in the court 
 was, the seeming rashness of one Tozzi, a vi- 
 per-catcher; who while the philosophers were 
 giving elaborate lectures on the danger of the 
 poison when taken internally, boldly desired 
 a large quantity of it might be put together ; 
 and then, with the utmost confidence, drank it 
 off before them all. The court was struck 
 with astonishment, and expected that the man 
 would instantly fall dead ; but they soon per- 
 ceived their mistake, arid found that taken in 
 this manner, the poison was as harmless as 
 water; so true is that famous passage of Lu- 
 can, 
 
 Noxia serpentum est admixto sanguine pestis : 
 Morsu virus habent, et fatum in dente minantur : 
 Pocula morte carent. 
 
 What then shall we say to the speedy ef- 
 fect of so seemingly harmless a liquid taken 
 into the circulation ? Let us first observe, that 
 milk is one of the most mild and nourishing of 
 all fluids, and seemingly the most friendly to 
 the human constitution ; yet if milk be injec- 
 ted into a vein, it will quickly become fatal, 
 and kill with more certain destruction than 
 even the venom of the viper. From hence 
 then we may infer, that the introducing not 
 only the serpentine venom, but also a quantity 
 of any other mixture, into the circulation, will 
 be fatal; and that, consequently, serpents kill 
 as well by their power of injecting the wound 
 as by the potency of their poison. Some in- 
 deed may inject a more acrimonious mixture, 
 and this may produce more speedy effects ; but 
 any mixture thus injected would be danger- 
 ous, and many would be fatal. 
 
 Ray gives us an instance of the potency of 
 the serpent-poison ; which, though it has all 
 the air of a fable, I cannot help transcribing. 
 " A gentleman who went over to the East 
 Indies, while he was one day sitting among 
 some friends, was accosted by an Indian jug- 
 gler, who offered to show him some experi- 
 ments respecting the venom of serpents ; an ex- 
 3 o 
 
418 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 hibition usual enough in that country. Hav- 
 ing- first, therefore, produced a large serpent, 
 he assured the company that it was harmless; 
 and to convince them of what he said, he tied 
 up his arm, as is usual with those who are 
 going to be bled, and whipped the serpent till 
 it was provoked to bite him. Having drawn in 
 this manner about half a spoonful of blood from 
 his arm, he put the congealed clot upon his 
 thigh. He then took out a much smaller ser- 
 pent, which was no other than the cobra dica- 
 peilo ; and having tied up his neck, he procured 
 about half a drop of its venom , which he sprink- 
 led on the clot of blood on his thigh, which 
 instantly began to ferment and bubble, and 
 soon changed colour from a red into a yellow." 
 
 This he pretended was caused by the ex- 
 treme malignity of that animal's venom : how- 
 ever, I have no doubt that the whole is either 
 a fable, or a trick of the Indian ; who, while 
 he seemed to mix the serpent's venom, actually 
 infused some stronger ingredient, some mineral 
 acid, into the mass of blood, which was capa- 
 ble of working such a change. It cannot be 
 supposed that any animal poison could act so 
 powerfully upon the blood already drawn and 
 coagulated ; for a poison that could operate 
 thus instantaneously upon cold blood, could not 
 fail of soon destroying the animal itself. 
 
 Be this as it will, the effects of serpent-poi- 
 son are but too well known, though the man- 
 ner of operation be not so clear. As none of 
 this malignant tribe grow to a great size, the 
 longest of them not exceeding nine feet, they 
 seldom seek the combat with larger animals, 
 or offend others till they are first offended. Did 
 they exert their malignity in proportion to their 
 power, they could easily drive the ranks of 
 Nature before them ; but they seem uncon- 
 scious of their own superiority, and rather fly 
 than offer to meet the meanest opposer. Their 
 food chiefly consists of small prey, such as 
 birds, moles, toads, and lizards; so that they 
 never attack the more formidable animals, that 
 would seldom die unrevenged. They lurk 
 therefore in the clefts of rocks, or among stony 
 places ; they twine round the branches of trees, 
 or sun themselves in the long grass at the bot- 
 tom. There they only seek repose and safety. 
 If some unwary traveller invades their retreats, 
 their first effort is to fly ; but when either pur- 
 sued or accidentally trod upon, they then make 
 a fierce and fatal resistance. For this purpose 
 they raise themselves according to their strength 
 upon their tail, erect the head, seize the limb 
 that presses them, the wound is given, and the 
 head withdrawn in a moment. It is not there- 
 fore without reason, that the Asiatics, who live 
 in regions where serpents greatly abound, wear 
 boots and long clothes, which very well pro- 
 tect their lower parts from the accidental re- 
 sentment of their reptile annoyers. 
 
 In the eastern and western Indies, the 
 numbers of noxious serpents are various ; 
 in this country we are acquainted only with 
 one. 1 The viper is the only animal in Great 
 Britain from whose bite we have any thing 
 to fear. In the tropical climates, the rattle- 
 snake, the whip-snake, and the cobra di capello, 
 are the most formidable, though by no means 
 the most common, From the general notori- 
 ety of those particular serpents, and the uni- 
 versal terror which they occasion, it would 
 seem that few others are possessed of such 
 powerful malignity. 
 
 Vipers are found in many parts of this island ; 
 but the dry, stony, and particularly the chalky 
 countries, abound with them. 2 This animal 
 
 1 It is a curious fact, that since the introduction of 
 sheep farming into the Highlands of Scotland, the num- 
 ber of vipers has greatly diminished there. This is owing 
 to the flocks of sheep trampling them to death as they go 
 along. Formerly the viper used to be very destructive 
 to cattle, by biting them in the udder as they lay down : 
 from this the sheep are protected by their wool. 
 
 2 Common Viper or Adder. The Common Viper is 
 
 happily the sole British representative of any of the 
 poisonous groups of Serpents, and indeed the only poison- 
 ous reptile indigenous to this country. It is far more 
 numerous in Scotland than the Common Snake, and is 
 found in abundance in all parts of England and Wales, 
 frequenting heaths, dry woods, and banks. In Ireland 
 it has never been seen ; and it may, almost with cer- 
 tainty, be stated that it does not exist there. On the 
 continent of Europe it is extensively distributed, being 
 found from the northern parts of Russia to the south of 
 Italy and Spain. It is everywhere deservedly feared oa 
 account of its venom, which, although less virulent than 
 that of many other species, is yet sufficiently so to pro- 
 duce severe symptoms, and sometimes, in the warmer 
 climates, even fatal results. In this country I have 
 never seen a case which terminated in death, nor have 
 I been able to trace to an authentic source any of the 
 numerous reports of such a termination, which have at 
 various times been confidently promulgated. At the 
 same time the symptoms are frequently so threatening, 
 that I cannot but conclude that in very hot weather, and 
 when not only the reptile is in full activity and power, 
 but the constitution of the victim in a state of great 
 irritability and diminished power, a bite from the Com- 
 mon Viper would very probably prove fatal. The reme- 
 dies usually employed are the external application of 
 oil, and the internal administration of ammonia. 
 
 The poisonous fluid is perfectly innocuous when swal- 
 lowed. Dr Mead, and others, have made this experi- 
 ment, and never experienced the slightest ill effects from 
 it. It is, however, clear that there would be danger in 
 swallowing it, were any part of the mouth, the throat, or 
 the oesophagus, in a state of ulceration, or having an 
 abraded surface. 
 
 It will not perhaps be wholly uninteresting to des- 
 cribe briefly the very beautiful apparatus by which the 
 poison wounds are inflicted, which render these, and sd 
 many other serpents, so formidable. On each side of 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 419 
 
 seldom grows to a greater length than two 
 feet ; though sometimes they are found above 
 three. The ground colour of their bodies is a 
 dirty yellow ; that of the female is deeper. 
 The back is marked the whole length with a 
 series of rhomboid black spots, touching each 
 other at the points ; the sides with triangular 
 ones ; the belly entirely black. It is chiefly 
 distinguished from the common black snake by 
 the colour, which in the latter is more beauti- 
 
 the upper jaw, instead of the outer row of teeth which 
 are found, in non venomous serpents, there exist two or 
 three, or more, long, curved, and tubular teeth, the first 
 of which is larger than the others, and is attached to a 
 small movable bone, articulated to the maxillary bone, 
 and moved by a muscular apparatus, by which the ani- 
 mal has the power of erecting it. In a state of rest the 
 fang reclines backwards along the margin of the jaw, and 
 is covered by a fold of skin ; but when about to be called 
 into use, it is erected by means of a small muscle, and 
 brought to stand perpendicular to the bone. The tooth 
 itself is as it were perforated by a tube, the mode of for- 
 mation of which was not understood until it was demon- 
 strated by Mr Smith in the Philosophical Transactions 
 for 1818. This tube, although completely enclosed, ex- 
 cepting at its basal and apical orifices, must be considered 
 as formed merely by the closing round of a groove in the 
 external part of the tooth itself, and hence not in any 
 way connected with the inner cavity of the tooth, in 
 which exists the pulp upon which the substance of the 
 tooth is formed. The base of the tooth, and conse- 
 quently the basal orifice of the tube just described, is 
 embedded in a sac, into which the poison is poured from 
 the ducts of the glandular structure by which it is 
 secreted, and which is believed to represent the parotid 
 gland of the higher vertebrata. The poisonous fluid itself 
 is indorous, tasteless, and of a yellow colour. It is 
 secreted in greater quantity, and its qualities are more 
 virulent in a high temperature than in cold. Its secre- 
 tion may be greatly increased by local irritation; as is 
 evidenced by the following fact. Some years since I 
 was dissecting very carefully and minutely the poison 
 apparatus of a large rattlesnake, which had been dead 
 for some hours ; the head had been taken off immediately 
 after death ; yet as I continued my dissection the yellow 
 poison continued to be secreted so fast as to require to be 
 occasionally dried off with a bit of rag or sponge ; I 
 believe that there could not have been less altogether 
 than six or eight drops at the least. 
 
 When the animal inflicts the wound, the pressure on 
 the tooth forces a small drop of the poison through the 
 tube ; it passes through the external orifice, which is 
 situated on the concave side of the curved tooth, and is 
 in the form of a slit- The manner in which the blow is 
 inflicted is as follows. The animal generally throws 
 itself in the first place into a coil more or less close, and 
 the anterior part of the body is raised. The neck is bent 
 somewhat abruptly backwards, and the head fixed almost 
 horizontally. In an instant the head is, as it were, 
 launched by a sudden effort towards the object of its 
 anger, and the erected tooth struck into it, and withdrawn 
 with the velocity of thought. It is found by experi- 
 ment that the effect of subsequent wounds is greatly di- 
 minished either by the diminution of the quantity of 
 venom, or by some deterioration of its strength ; so that 
 if a venomous serpent be made repeatedly to inflict 
 wounds, without allowing sufficiently long intervals for 
 it to recover its powers, each successive bite becomes 
 less and less effective. A gentleman of my acquaint, 
 ance had some years since received a living rattlesnake 
 from America. Intending to try the effects of its bite 
 some rats, he introduced one of these animals into 
 
 fully mottled, as well as by the head, which is 
 thicker than the body ; but particularly by the 
 tail, which in the viper, though it ends in a 
 point, does not run tapering to so great a length 
 as in the other. When, therefore, other dis- 
 tinctions fail, the difference of the tail can be 
 discerned at a single glance. 
 
 The viper differs from most other serpents 
 in being much slower, as also in excluding its 
 young completely formed, and bringing them 
 
 the cage with the serpent ; it immediately struck the 
 rat, which died in two minutes. Another rat was then 
 placed in the cage ; it ran to the part of the cage furthest 
 from the serpent, uttering cries of distress. The snake 
 did not immediately attack it ; but after about half an hour, 
 and on being irritated, it struck the rat, which did not 
 exhibit any symptoms of being poisoned for several min- 
 utes, and died at twenty minutes after the bite. A third, 
 and remarkably large rat, was then introduced into the 
 cage. It exhibited no signs of terror at its dangerous 
 companion, which, on its part, appeared to take no notice 
 of the rat. After watching for the rest of the evening, 
 my friend retired, leaving the serpent and the rat toge- 
 ther; and on rising early the next morning to ascertain 
 the fate of his two heterogeneous prisoners, he found the 
 snake dead, and the muscular part of its back eaten by 
 the rat. I do not remember at what time of the year 
 this circumstance took place, but I believe it was not du- 
 ring very hot weather. 
 
 Although there is no reason to believe that the viper 
 employs this powerful means of destruction for the pur- 
 pose of disabling its prey before it is finally seized ; but, 
 on the contrary, all the observations which have been 
 made upon its mode of feeding, tend to show that, like 
 the snake, it seizes its prey at once, and immediately 
 begins to swallow it; yet it is not at all improbable, con- 
 sidering how instantaneously the poison begins to affect 
 small animals, that even in the act of seizing a mouse or 
 bird, or any other victim, it may instil a sufficient quan- 
 tity of venom into its system to paralyze and presently 
 destroy it. Still the action by which it takes its 
 prey is very different from that which it employs in 
 its defensive attack, and resembles that employed by the 
 innocuous tribes. Its favourite food consists of the 
 smaller mammalia, field-mice, shrews, -and similar 
 little animals, of frogs also, though less commonly, and 
 occasionally of birds. It does not always confine its vo- 
 racity within the limits of its powers of deglutition ; for 
 I have in my possession a specimen of a small viper 
 which was taken on Pcole Heath in Dorsetshire, in a 
 dying state, in the act of attempting to swallow a mouse 
 which was too large for it, the skin of the neck being so 
 distended as to have burst in several places. 
 
 The viper, like the other reptilia, seeks a secret and 
 secure place in which to hibernate during the cold months 
 of the year. Here several are found entwined together, 
 and in a very torpid condition ; and if at this period a 
 viper be made to wound an animal with its poison-fang, 
 no injury is likely to result from it ; the poison either 
 does not exist at all, or it is inert. 
 
 It frequents dry sandy heaths and waste places, not re. 
 quiring, like the snake, the neighbourhood of water, nor 
 swimming so readily as that species. In many parts of 
 the country it is even more common than the snake. 
 
 The name Adder, by which it is known in many parts 
 of England and Scotland, is anciently written nedre, and 
 afterwards eddre, the initial n being dropped. It is from 
 the Anglo Saxon naedre, neither, lower, from its 
 creeping position, and the name was applied to all the 
 Serpent tribe. The word Viper, Latin Vipera, is de- 
 rived from its viviparous habit. Bell's British Pep- 
 tiles. 
 
420 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 forth alive. The kindness of Providence 
 seems exerted, not only in diminishing the 
 speed, but also the fertility, of this dangerous 
 creature. They copulate in May, and are 
 supposed to be about three months before they 
 bring forth, and have seldom above eleven eggs 
 at a time. These are of the size of a black- 
 bird's egg, and chained together in the womb 
 like a string of beads. Each egg contains from 
 one to four young ones ; so that the whole of a 
 brood may amount to about twenty or thirty. 
 They continue in the womb till they come to 
 such perfection as to be able to burst from their 
 shell ; and they are said by their own efforts 
 to creep from their confinement into the open 
 air, where they continue for several days with- 
 out taking any food whatsoever. " We have 
 been assured," says Mr Pennant, " by intelli- 
 gent people, of the truth of a fact, that the 
 young of the viper, when terrified, will run 
 down the throat of the parent and seek shelter 
 in its belly, in the same manner as the young of 
 the opossum retire into the ventral pouch of the 
 old ones. From this," continues he, u some have 
 imagined, that the viper is so unnatural as to 
 devour its own young ; but this deserves no 
 credit, as these animals live upon frogs, toads, 
 lizards, and young birds, which they often 
 swallow whole, though the morsel is often 
 three times as thick as their own body." 
 
 The viper is capable of supporting very long 
 abstinence, it being known that some have 
 been kept in a box six months without food ; 
 yet during the whole time they did not abate 
 of their vivacity. They feed only a small part 
 of the year, but never during their confine- 
 ment; for if mice, their favourite diet, should 
 at that time be thrown into their box, though 
 they will kill, yet they will never eat them. 
 When at liberty, they remain torpicj through- 
 out the winter ; yet, when confined, have never 
 been observed to take their annual repose. 
 Their poison, however, decreases in proportion 
 to the length of their confinement ; and it is 
 thought that the virtues of the animal's flesh, 
 are, by the same restraints, considerably les- 
 sened. 
 
 They are usually taken with wooden tongs, 
 by the end of the tail, which may be done 
 without danger; for, while held in that posi- 
 tion, they are unable to wind themselves up 
 to hurt their enemy : yet, notwithstanding this 
 precaution, the viper-catchers are frequently 
 bit by them ; but, by the application of salad 
 oil, the bite is effectually cured. 
 
 One William Oliver, a viper-catcher at 
 Bath, was the first who discovered this admir- 
 able remedy. On the first of June, 1735, in 
 the presence of a great number of persons, he 
 suffered himself to be bit by an old black vi- 
 per, (brought by one of the company,) upon 
 the wrist and joint of the thumb of the right 
 
 hand, so that drops of blood came out of ihe 
 wounds: he immediately felt a violent pain, 
 both at the top of his thumb and up his arm, 
 even before the viper was loosened from his 
 hand; soon after he felt a pain, resembling 
 that of burning, trickle up his arm; in a few 
 minutes his eyes began to look red and fiery, 
 and to water much ; in less than an hour he 
 perceived the venom seize his heart, with a 
 pricking pain, which was attended with faint- 
 ness, shortness of breath, and cold sweats ; in 
 a few minutes after this, his belly began to 
 swell, with great gripings, and pains in his 
 back, which were attended with vomitings and 
 purgings: during the violence of these symp- 
 toms, his sight was gone for several minutes, 
 but he could hear all the while. He said, that 
 in his former experiments he had never deferred 
 making use of his remedy longer than he per- 
 ceived the effects of the venom reaching his 
 heart ; but this time, being willing to satisfy 
 the company thoroughly, and trusting to the 
 speedy effects of his remedy, which was noth- 
 ing more than olive-oil, he forbore to apply any 
 thing till he found himself exceeding ill and 
 quite giddy. About an hour arid a quarter 
 after the first of his being bit, a chafing dish 
 of glowing charcoal was brought in, and his 
 naked arm was held over it, as near as he could 
 bear, while his wife rubbed in the oil with her 
 hand, turning his arm continually round, as if 
 she would have roasted it over the coals : he 
 said the poison soon abated, but the swelling 
 did not diminish much. Most violent purgings 
 and vomitings soon ensued ; and his pulse be- 
 came so low, and so often interrupted, that it 
 was thought proper to order him a repetition 
 of cordial potions : he said he was not sensible 
 of any great relief from these ; but that a glass 
 or two of olive-oil drank down, seemed to give 
 him ease. Continuing in this dangerous con- 
 dition, he was put to bed, where his arm was 
 again bathed over a pan of charcoal, and rub- 
 bed with salad oil, heated in a ladle over the 
 charcoal, by Dr Mortimer's direction, who was 
 the physician that drew up the account. From 
 this last operation he declared that he found 
 immediate ease, as though by some charm : he 
 soon after fell into a profound sleep, and, after 
 about nine hours' sound rest, awaked about six 
 the next morning, and found himself very well ; 
 but in the afternoon, on drinking some rum 
 and strong beer, so as to be almost intoxicated, 
 the swelling returned, with much pain and cold 
 sweats, which abated soon, on bathing the arm, 
 as before, and wrapping it up in brown paper 
 soaked in the oil. 1 
 
 1 The treatment for the bite of the viper has been very 
 well indicated by Celsus in his treatise of medicine, and 
 it merits some attention, especially as naturalists are fre- 
 quently exposed to accidents from this reptile. The first 
 precaution to be observed in a case of this kind, is, when 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 421 
 
 Such are the effects of the viper's bite ; yet 
 its flesh has long been celebrated as a noble 
 medicine. A broth, made by boiling one 
 viper in a quart of water till it comes to a 
 pint, is the usual method in which it is given 
 at present ; and it is said to be a very power- 
 ful restorative in battered constitutions ; the 
 salt of vipers is also thought to exceed any 
 other animal salt whatever, in giving vigour 
 to the languid circulation, and prompting to 
 venery. 
 
 The Rattle-snake is bred in America, and 
 in no part of the old world. Some are as 
 thick as a man's leg, and six feet in length ; 
 but the most usual size is from four to five 
 feet long. In most particulars it resembles 
 the viper; like that animal having a large 
 head and a small neck, being of a dusky 
 colour, and furnished with fangs- that inflict 
 the most terrible wounds. It differs, however, 
 in having a large scale, which hangs like a 
 pent-house over each eye. The eye also is 
 furnished with a nictitating membrane, that 
 preserves it from dust ; and its scales are of a 
 considerable degree of hardness. They are 
 of an orange, tawny, and blackish colour on 
 the back ; and of an ash-colour on the belly, 
 inclining to lead. The male may be readily 
 distinguished from the female, by a black 
 velvet spot on the head, and by the head being 
 smaller and longer. But that which, besides 
 their superior malignity, distinguishes them 
 
 the disposition of the parts will permit, to fix a ligature 
 above the wounded place, and not to tighten it too much, 
 for fear of giving rise to mortification. Immediately 
 after, a cupping-glass is applied on the wound, the parts 
 adjacent being first scarified, and this mode, highly 
 praised by Celsus, has very recently been attended with 
 happy results in the hands of Messrs Mangili, Barry, and 
 Bouillaud. This method, from analogy, affords an addi- 
 tional recommendation to employ the plan of suction, 
 which has received the further confirmation of profes- 
 sional experiments tried by a number of physiologists and 
 physicians. When the cupping-glass has performed its 
 office, the lips of the wound, already scarified, should be 
 cauterized deeply and extensively. This should be done 
 with a red -hot iron, chlorine of antimony, or concreted 
 potassium. A variety of different substances, taken in- 
 ternally, has been lauded from time to time as efficacious 
 against the bite of the viper. Sudorifics have been espe- 
 cially recommended, and among them the flesh of the 
 lizard, of the coluber, and the viper itself, have been 
 preferred, in consequence of the great quantity of am. 
 monia which it has been ascertained to contain. An 
 alexipharmic virtue of the same kind has been also attri- 
 buted to theriaca and other analogous electuaries. 
 
 The Cherscea (Swedish viper, Shaw) is common in the 
 environs of Upsal, in Sweden: also in Smaland, Scania, 
 and Pomerania, where it retires into thickets, under 
 hedges, and to the foot of tufted trees. It is sometimes 
 seen in Prussia, Poland, Denmark, and in the Pyrenees. 
 In Sweden it is known under the name of oespinff, which 
 seems evidently a corruption of aspic, and it has been 
 sometimes called the red tiper. It is erroneously loca- 
 ted by Linnaeus, Wolf, and Laurenti, in the genus colu- 
 ber. Its resemblance- to the common viper is very strik- 
 ing. The chersaja of Sweden is a small reptile, about 
 
 from all other animals, is their rattle, an in- 
 strument lodged in their tail, by which they 
 make such a loud rattling noise, when they 
 move, that their approach may readily be per. 
 ceived, and the danger avoided. This rattle, 
 which is placed in the tail, somewhat resem- 
 bles, when taken out of the body, the curb- 
 chain of a bridle : it is composed of several 
 thin, hard, hollow bones, linked to each other, 
 and rattling upon the slightest motion. It is 
 supposed by some that the snake acquires an 
 additional bone every year ; and that, from 
 hence, its age may be precisely known : how- 
 ever this may be, certain it is, that the young 
 snakes, of a year or two old, have no rattles 
 at all : while many old ones have been killed, 
 that had from eleven to thirteen joints each. 
 They shake and make a noise with these rattles 
 with prodigious quickness, when they are 
 disturbed : however, the peccary and the 
 vulture are no way terrified at the sound, but 
 hasten, at the signal, to seize the snake, as 
 their most favourite prey. 
 
 It is very different with almost every other 
 animal. The certain death which ensues from 
 this terrible creature's bite, makes a solitude 
 wherever it is heard. It moves along with 
 the most majestic rapidity ; * neither seeking 
 to offend the larger animals, nor fearing their 
 insults. If unprovoked, it never meddles 
 with any thing but its natural prey ; but 
 when accidentally trod upon, or pursued to be 
 
 six inches long, and as thick as one's little finger. That 
 of Switzerland and France differs from it much both in 
 size and number of plates. Herpetologists, however, ad- 
 mit the identity of these animals, and make but one spe- 
 cies of them. Be this as it may, the Swedish viper is a 
 reptile of the most dangerous kind. Its bite is often mortal, 
 and its deleterious effects are manifested with greater ra- 
 pidity than those which follow from the bite of the com- 
 mon viper. 
 
 The Ammodytes is a native of all the south of Europe. 
 It is found in Dauphine, and in the neighbourhood of 
 Lyons in France, and in the east of Europe, in the 
 mountains of Illyria. It habitually frequents the rocks 
 which border on the Danube, the neighbourhood of the 
 city of Gorice and the Japidian mountains. This reptile 
 passes the winter concealed in clefts and crevices of rocks, 
 from which it issues forth when the warmer rays of the 
 sun announce the return of spring. Then it casts its 
 skin, and the time of reproduction begins. Its habitual 
 food differs in nothing from that of the common viper, 
 and its bite is not less dangerous. 
 
 The Cerastes has received its name from the Greek 
 word xii>ets t in consequence of the eminences which sur- 
 round its eyes, and which, from the most ancient times, 
 have been erroneously compared to the horns of mammi- 
 fercus animals. Shunning humid and marshy situations, 
 it is found only in the burning and arid sands of Egypt, 
 Arabia, and Syria sands in which it remains concealed 
 during the entire day, and notwithstanding its great agi- 
 lity, it waits patiently until some victim presents itself to 
 its insatiable voracity. It sometimes in this way gets 
 possession of the jerboa, whose hole, according to Bruoo, 
 is very often contiguous to its own. 
 
 1 This is an error: the movements of the rattle-snake 
 are extremely sluggish. 
 
422 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 destroyed, it then makes a dreadful and des- 
 perate defence. It erects itself upon its tail, 
 throws back its head, and inflicts its wound 
 in a moment ; then parts and inflicts a second 
 wound : after which, we are told by some, 
 that it remains torpid and inactive, without 
 even attempting to escape. 
 
 The very instant the wound is inflicted, 
 though small in itself, it appears more painful 
 than the sting of a bee. This pain, which is 
 so suddenly felt, far from abating, grows 
 every moment more excruciating and dan- 
 gerous : the limb swells ; the venom reaches 
 the head, which is soon of a monstrous size ; 
 the eyes are red and fiery ; the heart beats 
 quick, with frequent interruptions ; the pain 
 becomes insupportable, and some expire under 
 it in five or six hours ; but others, who are of 
 stronger constitutions, survive the agony for a 
 few hoqrs longer, only to sink under a general 
 mortification, which ensues, and corrupts the 
 whole body. 1 
 
 1 Death by the bite of a Rattle-snake At the meet- 
 ing of the Academy of Sciences of France on the 9th of 
 April, 1827, some documents were presented by M. Du- 
 merel. connected with the death of Mr Drake by the bite 
 of a rattle-snake, forming part of a collection of reptiles 
 which that person had exhibited at London, and had 
 taken to France for the same purpose. These docu- 
 ments were transmitted to the Academy by the Minister 
 of the Interior; and seem to have excited fears in some 
 of the members, lest, the climate of France being favour- 
 able, some of these dangerous reptiles might escape and 
 propagate. 
 
 From these documents it appears, that Mr Drake 
 arrived at an inn in Rouen on the 8th of February, with 
 three live rattle-snakes and some young crocodiles, arid 
 that, notwithstanding his care to preserve them from 
 cold on the road, he saw with grief on his arrival that the 
 finest of the three was dead. The dead animal was 
 removed from the cage, and the cage itself, with the 
 other two, were taken into the dining-room, and placed 
 near the stove. Here Mr Drake endeavoured to rouse 
 them with a stick ; but, perceiving that one of the two 
 gave no signs of animation, he opened the cage, took the 
 serpent by the head and tail, and approaching a window 
 to ascertain by handling if life was extinct, the animal 
 turned its head half round, and fixed one of its fangs in 
 the posterior external part of the left hand. Mr Drake 
 shrieked, pronounced some words in English, according 
 to the .report, and was replacing the serpent in the cage, 
 when it again bit him on the palm of the same hand. 
 Mr Drake now ran out into the court calling eagerly for 
 a surgeon : and, not finding water readily, rubbed his 
 hand upon some ice, which he found at the door. Two 
 minutes after, having procured a cord, he himself made 
 a ligature on the arm above the hand. Notwithstanding 
 these precautions, his agitation from the fear of the con- 
 sequences continued to increase till the arrival of Dr 
 Pihorel. The presence of this gentleman somewhat 
 composed the feelings of Mr Drake; and he saw with 
 eager joy the chafing-dish and irons arrive, with which 
 the wounds were to be cauterized. This operation was 
 instantly performed, and the patient took internally half 
 a glassful of olive oil. Drake seemed now to have re- 
 sumed his tranquillity. But in a few minutes more 
 symptoms made their appearance which rendered the 
 case hopeless, and he died in eight hours and three 
 quarters after the bites. 
 
 As a gentleman in Virginia was walking 
 in the fields for his amusement, he accidently 
 trod upon a rattle-snake, that had been lurk- 
 ing in a stony place ; which, enraged by the 
 pressure, reared up, bit his hand, and shook 
 its rattles. The gentleman readily perceived 
 that he was in the most dreadful danger ; but, 
 unwilling to die unrevenged, he killed the 
 snake, and carrying it home in his hand, 
 threw it on the ground before his family, cry- 
 ing out, " I am killed, and there is my 
 murderer." In such an extremity, the speed- 
 iest remedies were the best. His arm, which 
 was beginning to swell, was tied up near the 
 shoulder, the wound was anointed with oil, 
 and every precaution taken to stop the infec- 
 tion. By the help of a very strong constitu- 
 tion he recovered ; but not without feeling 
 the most various and dreadful symptoms for 
 several weeks together. His arm, below the 
 ligature, appeared of several colours, with a 
 writhing among the muscles, that, to his 
 
 The body was afterwards opened. The internal 
 organs appeared healthy ; the brain and spinal cord were 
 unaltered. The membrane which covered these parts, 
 however, was observed to have a reddish tinge. The 
 veins presented no trace of inflammation ; and the only 
 appearance of derangement in the system, consisted in 
 the veins of the affected side having the blood curdled or 
 clotted. 
 
 In a curious memoir on the habits of the rattle-snake, 
 read by M. Audubon at the Wernerian Society, that 
 gentleman mentioned a circumstance which tends to 
 show that the poisonous fangs of this reptile, even when 
 withdrawn from the animal, retain their virulence for 
 years. A person had been bitten by a rattle-snake in 
 the wood, through a strong boot. He died without the 
 cause of his death being properly investigated. The 
 boots descended to his son, who, after putting them on, 
 was taken suddenly ill, and also died. The effects of 
 this last were brought to sale ; and a younger brother 
 fancying the boots, or willing to preserve some memorial 
 of his father and brother, was the purchaser. He used 
 them only once, when he also fell ill and died. The 
 medical men, whom such an occurrence had led to 
 investigate its cause, at last ripped up the fatal boot, and 
 found, firmly fixed in the substance of the leather, the 
 fang of the rattle-snake, which had thus caused the death 
 of three individuals. Rattle-snakes, M. Audubon 
 further observed, are often found coiled up and torpid 
 when the temperature is low ; and he himself once nar- 
 rowly escaped from perhaps a serious accident, in trust- 
 ing to their continued torpidity. He had found an ex- 
 cellent specimen coiled up and torpid, which he put in 
 his knapsack along with some wild ducks which he had 
 shot. The motion and heat of his body, together with 
 the additional heat afforded by a sportsman's fire at a 
 repast in the woods, had, however, revived the animal ; 
 and the motions of his knapsack, observed from the out- 
 side, indicated life within. M. Audubon at first thought 
 that some of his ducks, imperfectly killed, had found 
 their situation irksome, and were testifying their im- 
 patience ; but the recollection of the rattle-snake flash- 
 ing at once on his mind, he threw off his bag, duck, and 
 reptile, altogether. The removal of the animal to a 
 colder temperature brought on again its torpidity. He 
 carried the snake home; and the identical specimen, if we 
 rightly understood him, is now in the Museum of the Ly- 
 ceum of Natural History of New York. Brewster's Jour. 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 423 
 
 terrified imagination, appeared like the mo- 
 tions of the animal that wounded him. A 
 fever ensued ; the loss of his hair, giddi- 
 ness, drought, weakness, and nervous faint- 
 ings ; till, by slow degrees, a very strong 
 Iidbit overpowered the latent malignity of the 
 poison. 
 
 Several remedies have been tried to alleviate 
 this calamity. A decoction of the Virginian 
 snake-root is considered as the most effectual ; 
 and at the same time the head of the animal, 
 bruised and laid upon the part affected, is 
 thought to assist the cure. In general, how- 
 ever, it is found to be fatal : and the Indians, 
 sensible of this, take care to dip their arrows 
 in the poison under the rattle-snake's fangs, 
 when they desire to take a signal revenge of 
 their enemies. 
 
 Thus much concerning this animal is agreed 
 upon by every naturalist : there are other cir- 
 cumstances in its history, which are not so 
 well ascertained. And first, its motion, which 
 some describe as the swiftest imaginable ; 
 asserting, that its Indian name of JEcacoa.lt, 
 which signifies the wind-serpent, implies its 
 agility : others, on the contrary, assert that it 
 is the slowest and the most sluggish of all 
 serpents ; and that it seldom moves from one 
 place. In this opposition of opinions, there 
 are others, who assert, that on even ground it 
 moves but slowly ; but then, among rocks, 
 that it goes at a great rate. If we may argue 
 from analogy, the opinion of those who con- 
 tend for its slow motion, seems the most pro- 
 bable ; as the viper, which it so very much 
 resembles, is remarkable among serpents for 
 its inactivity. 
 
 It is said also by some, that the rattle-snake 
 has a power of charming its prey into his 
 mouth ; and this is as strongly contradicted 
 by others. The inhabitants of Pennsylvania 
 are said to have opportunities of observing 
 this strange fascination every day. The 
 snake is often seen basking at the foot of a 
 tree, where birds and squirrels make their 
 residence. There, coiled upon its tail, its 
 jaws extended, and its eyes shining like fire, 
 the rattle snake levels its dreadful glare upon 
 one of the little animals above. The bird or the 
 squirrel, whichever it may be, too plainly per- 
 ceives the mischief meditating against it; and 
 hops from branch to branch, with a timorous 
 plaintive sound, wishing to avoid, yet incapable 
 of breaking through the fascination : thus it 
 continues for some time its feeble efforts and 
 complaints, but is still seen approaching lower 
 and lower towards the bottom branches of the 
 tree, until, at last, as if overcome by the po- 
 tency of its fears, it jumps down from the tree 
 directly into the throat of its frightful destroyer. 1 
 
 1 The power said to be possessed by the Rattle-snake 
 
 1 The powe 
 
 In order to ascertain the truth of this story, 
 a mouse was put into a large iron cage, where 
 a rattle-snake was kept, and the effects care- 
 fully observed. The mouse remained motion- 
 less at one end of the cage ; while the snake, 
 at the other, continued fixed, with its eye gla- 
 ring full on the little animal, and its jaws 
 opened to their widest extent : the mouse for 
 some time seemed eager to escape ; but every 
 effort only served to increase its terrors, and to 
 draw it still nearer the enemy; till, after se- 
 veral ineffectual attempts to break the fascina- 
 tion, it was seen to run into the jaws of the 
 rattle-snake, where it was instantly killed. 
 
 To these accounts the incredulous oppose the 
 improbability of the fact : they assert, that 
 such a power ascribed to serpents, is only the 
 remnant of a vulgar error, by which it was 
 supposed that serpents could be charmed, arid 
 had also a power of charming. They aver, 
 that animals are so far from running down the 
 throat of a rattle-snake in captivity, that the 
 snake will eat nothing in that state, but actu- 
 ally dies for want of subsistence. 
 
 A serpen.t, called the Whip-snake, is still 
 more venomous than the former. This ani- 
 mal, which is a native of the East, is about 
 five feet long, yet not much thicker than the 
 thong of a coachman's whip. It is exceed- 
 ingly venomous ; and its bite is said to kill in 
 about six hours. One of the Jesuit mission- 
 aries, happening to enter into an Indian pa- 
 goda, saw what he took to be a whipcord lying 
 on the floor, and stooped to take it up ; but, 
 upon handling it, what was his surprise to find 
 that it was animated, and no other than the 
 whip-snake, of which he had heard such for- 
 midable accounts : fortune, however, seemed 
 favourable to him, for he grasped it by the 
 head, so that it had no power to bite him, and 
 only twisted its folds up his arm. In this 
 manner he held it, till it was killed by those 
 who came to his assistance. 
 
 To this formidable class might be added the 
 Asp, whose bite, however, is not attended with 
 those drowsy symptoms which the ancients as- 
 cribed to it. The Jaculus of Jamaica also is 
 one of the swiftest of the serpent kind. The Has 
 morrhois, so called from the h&morrhages which 
 its bite is said to produce; the Seps, 2 whose 
 
 of fascinating its prey, has been the theme of many an 
 astonishing tale, and the possession of this faculty is still 
 believed by many. There is no doubt that the smaller 
 animals on which the reptile subsists are alarmed in the 
 presence of their known enemy, and that fear may 
 cause them to lose their self-possession, and thus they 
 are more readily seized by their cunning opponent. 
 
 8 The Seps. This word, which comes from a Greek 
 word, signifying to corrupt, was used by the ancients to 
 designate an animal which some considered a lizard and 
 others a serpent. 
 
 The Seps is no longer considered to be a lizard, nei- 
 ther is it quite a serpent. Its lengthened body gives, at 
 
424 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 wound is very venomous, and causes the part 
 affected to corrupt in a very short time ; the 
 Coral Serpent, which is red, and whose bite is 
 said to be fatal. But of all others, the Cobra 
 di Capello, or Hooded Serpent, inflicts the 
 most deadly and incurable wounds. 1 Of this 
 
 first sight, a striking resemblance to the Blind-worm, but 
 on closer examination it is found to possess two pair of 
 such very short paws, that they cannot possibly reach the 
 ground. 
 
 Tii is animal belongs to the family of the Scinoides, 
 which are all distinguished by the extreme smallness of 
 their members, and of which some species present very 
 remarkable peculiarities. Some Seps are only provided 
 with one toe on each foot; the bipeds possess only one 
 pair of paws, situated at the hinder part of their body; 
 the foremost paws only are observable in the bimanus. 
 
 One species inhabits the southern part of France, but 
 is rare; in the north it is entirely unknown. In Italy, 
 where it is more common, it is known by the name of 
 Cicella or Ciciqua. The scales of its belly are separated 
 from those of ils back by three lines. This reptile is not 
 dangerous, for nature has not bestowed upon it any ve- 
 nom, &nd even if it possessed any, its mouth is too small 
 for it to bite a man, or any other large animal. 
 
 1 The naj'a or cobra di capello is equally remarkable 
 
 foi the elegance of its form, the strength of its body, and 
 the danger which accompanies its bite. It has received 
 the name of spectacle snake, in consequence of a black 
 mark which more or less exactly represents spectacles on 
 the extensible portion of its neck. When the animal is 
 in a state of repose, the neck has no greater a diameter 
 than the head, but under the influence of passion, the skin 
 of this part extends in the form of a coif or hood. This 
 serpent inhabits Coromandel, and is not found in Peru or 
 Mexico, as many modern naturalists have erroneously 
 stated, after Seba. It is very formidable from its enve- 
 nomed bite, which is as dangerous as that of any other 
 species of reptiles. When surprised by some imprudent 
 traveller, it slowly raises its head, swells its neck, and 
 advances against its aggressor in undulating movements 
 executed solely by the tail. 
 
 In the sixth volume of the " Asiatic Researches," Mr 
 Boaz, after having examined with care the ancient cu- 
 rative processes for the bite of venomous serpents, recom- 
 mends in the last place as a specific in the dreadful ma- 
 lady caused by the poison of the cobra di capello, nitrate 
 of silver, which was a remedy long since proposed by 
 Fontana in the case of the viper. In the second volume 
 of the same collection, Mr J. Williams has inserted a 
 paper on the caustic volatile alkali against the deleterious 
 eflects of the bite of different serpents, and particularly 
 that of the cobra di capello. It seems that this medica- 
 ment should be applied both externally on the wound, 
 and at the same time administered internally. A re- 
 medy much boasted of by some of the ancient mission- 
 aries, who had travelled in the East Indies, and who pre- 
 tended to cure the bite of the naja, as well as that of other 
 venomous animals, has been proved useless by the expe- 
 riments of the learned Redi. This is a calculous con- 
 cretion, which according to them is formed near the head, 
 or in the body of the serpent in question, and which is 
 named serpent or cobra-stone. This account of the ori- 
 gin of this pretended stone is assuredly false, and it is 
 
 formidable creature there are five or six differ- 
 ent kinds ; but they are all equally dangerous, 
 and their bite followed by speedy and certain 
 death. It is from three to eight feet long, 
 with two large fangs hanging out of the 
 upper jaw. It has a broad neck, and a mark 
 
 nothing but a factitious medicament composed by some 
 charlatan. It appears to be nothing hut a blackish or 
 greenish argillaceous earth, which has the property of 
 absorbing with great facility the humours which are 
 formed at the surface of any wound whatever. But in 
 India it is believed to imbibe quickly the poison dis- 
 charged recently into the body of an animal bitten by the 
 naja. 
 
 The name of aspic has been given amongst all civilized 
 nations to a serpent rendered ever memorable by the 
 death of Cleopatra, whose beauty, glory, honours, and 
 deplorable end, have occupied the historians and poets 
 of all nations. It has been only since the expedition of 
 the French to Egypt that the true species of the aspic 
 has been ascertained. During the period of that expedi- 
 tion, the French philosophers attached to the army ob- 
 served a species of ophidian, regarded as harmless by 
 Linnaeus and most herpetologists, but considered as ex. 
 tremely venomous by the traveller, Forskal. This ser- 
 pent is called haje by the inhabitants, and recent travel- 
 lers have incontestably proved that it is the true aspic 
 of the ancients, which never inhabited Europe; for the 
 reptile which some years since infested the forest of Fon. 
 tainbleau, and was called by this name, was nothing but 
 a variety of the common viper, and the cesping of the 
 Swedes is quite another species from the one in ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Forskal informs us that when the haje is provoked, it 
 swells and extends its neck greatly, and then springs 
 with a single bound xipon its enemy. This habit of rear- 
 ing up when it is approached, caused the ancient inhabi- 
 tants of the countries watered by the Nile, to believe 
 that this serpent guarded the fields which it inhabited. 
 They made it in consequence the emblem of the protect- 
 ing divinity of the world. They sculptured it on the 
 two sides of a globe, on the portico of all their temples. 
 It is often exhibited by the jugglers at Cairo, apparently 
 metamorphosed into a rod or wand, which is done by 
 pressing its nape with the finger, and thus causing a sort 
 of catalepsy. They take care, however, to remove the 
 fangs, which might cause very serious accidents. 
 
 The poison of the haje is excessively violent, and far 
 more deleterious than that of the European viper, which 
 it resembles in its yellowish tint, and its transparence. 
 Forskal relates, that having taken a very small drop of 
 it, and introduced it into a slight incision made in the thigh 
 of a pigeon, he saw this unfortunate bird perish in a 
 quarter of an hour in convulsions and vomitings. The 
 modes adopted against the bite of the haje are the same, 
 for the most part, as those used in the case of that of the 
 viper, particularly cauterization by fire, alcholized pot- 
 assum, &c, and the administration of sudorifics inter- 
 nally. Supplement to the English edition of Cuvier by 
 Edward Griffith and others. 
 
 Serpents in South Africa. The late excellent Mr 
 Thomas Pringle, whose residence in South Africa, though 
 unproductive to himself in a pecuniary sense, was fertile 
 in observation, and has added largely to our knowledge 
 of that portion of the globe, gives the following account 
 of the Venomous Serpents to be found there: 
 
 " The serpents of South Africa (he says) commonly 
 accounted the most dangerous, are the Cobra-Capello (or 
 hooded snake), the Pufl-Adder, and the Berg-Adder (or 
 mountain snake). The first of these is exceedingly 
 fierce and active, and sometimes, it is said, attains the 
 formidable length of ten feet ; I have, however, never 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 425 
 
 of dark brown on the forehead; which, when 
 viewed frontwise, looks like a pair of spec- 
 tacles; but behind, like the head of a cat. 
 The eyes are fierce, and full of fire ; the head 
 
 met with any of much more than half that size. The 
 cobra has been known to spring at a man on horseback, 
 and to dart himself with snch force as to overshoot his 
 aim. The puff-adder, on the other hand, is a heavy and 
 sluggish animal, very thick in proportion to its length, 
 and incapable, when attacked in front, of projecting 
 itself upon its enemy. To make amends, however, it 
 possesses the faculty of throwing itself backward with 
 perilous and unexpected effect ; but its disposition is 
 inert, and unless accidentally trod upon or otherwise 
 provoked, it will seldom attack mankind. The berg- 
 adder, though much smaller in size than either of the 
 preceding, is generally considered not less deadly, and it 
 is the more dangerous from its being less easily discov- 
 ered and avoided. 
 
 " During a residence of six years in the interior of the 
 Cape Colony, and in the course of various journeys 
 through the interior (extending to upwards of three thou- 
 sand miles), I have met with a considerable number of 
 snakes; yet I do not recollect of ever being exposed, 
 except in one instance, to any imminent hazard ofbeing 
 bit by any of them. On the occasion referred to I was 
 superintending some Hottentots, whom I had employed 
 to clear away a patch of thicket from a spot selected for 
 cultivation, when one of the men, suddenly recoiling 
 with signs of great alarm, exclaimed, that there was a 
 cobra-capello in the bush. Not being at that time 
 fully aware of the dangerous character of this species of 
 snake, I approached to look at him. The Hottentots 
 called out to me to take care, for he was going to spring. 
 Before they had well spoken, or I had caught a view of 
 the reptile, I heard him hiss fiercely, and then dart him- 
 self towards me amidst the underwood. At the same 
 instant, instinctively springing backward to avoid him, 
 I fell over a steep bank into the dry stony bed of a tor. 
 rent ; by which I suffered some severe bruises, but for- 
 tunately escaped the more formidable danger to which I 
 had too incautiously exposed myself. The Hottentots 
 then assailed the snake with sticks and stones, and forced 
 him (though not before he had made another spring and 
 missed one of them still more narrowly then myself) to 
 take refuge up a mimosa tree. Here he became a safe 
 and easy mark to their missiles, and was speedily beaten 
 down, with a broken back, and consequently rendered 
 incapable of farther mischief. The Hottentots having 
 cut off his head, carefully buried it in the ground, a prac- 
 tice which they never omit on such occasions, and which 
 arises from their apprehension of some one incautiously 
 treading on the head of the dead snake, and sustaining 
 injury from its fangs ; for they believe that the deathful 
 virus, far from being extinguished with life, retains its 
 fatal energy for weeks, and even months afterwards. 
 This snake measured nearly six feet in length, and was 
 the largest cobra I have met with. 
 
 " My little Hottentot corporal, Piet (or Peter) Span- 
 dilly, who assisted in killing this cobra, had a still 
 narrower escape from a small but venomous snake, of 
 which I have forgotten the colonial appellation. Piet 
 and his men (six soldiers of the Cape Corps, placed at 
 that time under my direction for the protection of our 
 remote settlement against the Caffres) slept in a tent 
 adjoining to mine, pitched in a grove of mimosas on the 
 brink of the Bavian's river ; and one morning when he 
 rose from his couch of dry grass, Piet felt some living 
 creature moving about his thigh in the inside of his 
 leathern trousers. Thinking it was only one of the 
 harmless, lizards which swarm in every part of South 
 Africa, he did not at first much mind it, but came out 
 to the open air, laughing, and shaking his limb to dis- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 is small, and the nose flat, though covered 
 with very large scales, of a yellowish ash- 
 colour ; the skin is white, and the large tumour 
 on the neck is flat, and covered with oblong, 
 
 lodge the vermin. But when a black wriggling snake 
 came tumbling down about his naked ancles, poor Span- 
 dilly, uttering a cry of horror, kicked the reptile off, 
 springing at the same moment nearly his own height 
 from the ground ; and, though he had in reality sus- 
 tained no injury, could scarcely for some time be per- 
 suaded that he was not 'a gone man.' 
 
 "It is, in fact, from apprehensions of danger, or the 
 instinct of self-defence, far more than from any peculiar 
 fierceness or innate malignity, that the serpent race ever 
 assail man or any of the larger animals. They turn, 
 of course, against the foot that tramples or the hand that 
 threatens them ; but happily nature has not armed them, 
 in addition to their formidable powers of destruction, 
 with the disposition of exerting these powers from 
 motives of mere wanton cruelty, or for purposes uncon- 
 nected with their own subsistence or security. Were it 
 otherwise, countries like the Cape would be altogether 
 uninhabitable. As it is, the annoyance experienced 
 from the numerous poisonous snakes is not such as, on 
 the whole, to affect in any considerable degree the 
 comfort of those accustomed to them. 
 
 "Conversing on this subject one day with my friend 
 Captain Harding, who had been for many years a resi- 
 dent and magistrate in the interior, I inquired whether 
 he had ever, in the course of his campaigns on the Caffre 
 and Bushman frontiers, and when necessarily obliged to 
 sleep in the desert or jungle in the open air, suffered 
 injury or incurred danger from serpents he replied, 
 that the only occasion he recollected of incurring any 
 great hazard of this sort, was the following: 
 
 " ' Being upon a military expedition across the fron- 
 tier, ' said he, ' I had slept oiie night, as usual, wrapt 
 in my cloak, beneath a tree. On awaking at daybreak, 
 the first object I perceived on raising my head from the 
 saddle, which served for my pillow, was the tail of an 
 enormous puff-adder lying across my breast, the head 
 of the reptile being muffled under the folds of the cloak 
 close to my body, whether it had betaken itself, appa- 
 rently for warmth, during the dullness of the night. 
 There was extreme hazard that if I alarmed it by 
 moving, it might bite me in a vital part ; seizing it 
 therefore softly by the tail, I pulled it out with a sudden 
 jerk, and threw it violently to a distance. By this means 
 I escaped without injury: but had I happened to have 
 unwittingly offended this uninvited bedfellow before I 
 was aware of his presence, I might in all probability 
 have fatally atoned for my heedlessness.' 
 
 "It is not very unusual for snakes of various sorts to be 
 found in the houses at the Cape, nor does it, in ordinary 
 cases, excite any violent alarm when such inmates are 
 discovered. They make their way both through the 
 roofs and under the walls, in search of food and shelter, 
 and especially in pursuit of mice, which many of them 
 chiefly subsist upon. During my residence in the in- 
 terior, however, I recollect only two instances of their 
 being found in my own cabin. On one of these occa- 
 sions I had sent a servant girl (a bare-legged Hottentot) 
 to bring me some article from a neighbouring hut. It 
 was after night-fall ; and on returning with it, she cried 
 out before entering the cabin 'Oh, Mynheer; Mynheer! 
 what shall I do ? A snake has twined itself round my 
 ancles, and if I open the door he will come into the 
 house.' * Never mind,' I replied, ' open the door, 
 and let him come if he dare.' She obeyed, and in 
 glided the snake, luckily without having harmed the 
 poor girl. I stood prepared, and instantly smote him 
 dead ; and afterwards found him to- be one of the very 
 venomous sort called Nachtskmg. 
 
 SH 
 
426 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 smooth scales. The bite of this animal is 
 said to be incurable, the patient dying in 
 about an hour after the wound ; the whole 
 frame being dissolved into one putrid mass of 
 corruption. 
 
 " People get used to these things, and even Europeans 
 by degrees come to regard them with much indifference. 
 Just before leaving the colony, I spent a week or two 
 ivith my friend Major Pigot, at his residence near Gra- 
 ham's Town ; and going one day to take a book from 
 some shelves in the drawing-room, I found a beautiful 
 yellow snake, about five feet long, lying asleep upon the 
 uppermost range of books. It lay so still that I at first 
 thought it was a stuffed specimen ; but perceiving a 
 slight movement in its tail, I lent him such a thwack 
 with a quarto volume as broke the poor fellow's back, 
 and enabled me to demolish him at my leisure. I 
 afterwards learned that another snake had been killed a 
 few days previously in the very same spot, and a third in 
 Major P.'s dressing-room. They had all entered through 
 a loop hole which had casually been left open, and 
 apparently had no other object in coming there (mousing 
 apart) than literary seclusion. 
 
 " Such as these are no very uncommon occurrences, 
 and as such pass even for subjects of jocularity amidst 
 the adventures of a wild country. Instances, however, 
 both frightful and revolting, sometimes occur. 
 
 "It is well known that the Bushmen, a tribe of wild 
 Hottentots who inhabit the mountains and deserts of 
 South Africa, imbue the points of their arrows in a 
 strong and subtle poison, and that the venom of the 
 most dangerous serpents to be found in that country 
 forms a principal ingredient in its composition. The 
 boldness and dexterity displayed by these wild hunts- 
 men, and by many also of the colonial Hottentots, 
 in searching out and seizing alive the formidable 
 cobra-capello and puff-adder, are truly astonishing. 
 Still more surprising is it to witness the snake-hunter 
 extracting from the yet living and writhing reptile, 
 held fast by his naked foot planted on its neck, the little 
 bag containing the secreted venom, which the rage of 
 the animal injects into the wound made by its fangs at 
 the moment it strikes its victim, to see him take this, 
 and fearlessly drink its contents, as school-boys in 
 England would suck the blob of the honey-bee ! The 
 swallowing of this venom, they conceive, renders them 
 in time proof against its deleterious effects, when it is 
 brought into immediate contact with the blood, whether 
 by the bite of a snake or the barb of an arrow. 
 
 " Several of the most respectable Dutch colonists as- 
 sured me, as a fact which had come within their own 
 knowledge, that there are to be found among the wander- 
 ing Bushmen persons whom they term slang mcesters 
 (snake masters), who actually possess the power of 
 charming the fiercest serpents, and of readily curing 
 their bite ; and who pretend that they can communicate 
 to others their mysterious powers and invulnerability, 
 by putting them through a regular course of poison- 
 eating. 
 
 " The more usual object, however, of the Bushman in 
 catching serpents (exclusive of their value to him as an 
 cuticle of food), is to procure poison for his arrows. The 
 animal venom, too thin and volatile to preserve its 
 efficacy long unimpaired when used alone, is skilfully 
 concocted into a black glutinous consistency, by the 
 admixture of powerful vegetable and mineral poisons ; 
 the former being generally the juice of the root of a 
 species of amaryllis, called by the boors, from this cir- 
 cumstance, the gift-bolt or poison-bulb : the latter, a 
 bituminous or unctuous substance which is said to exude 
 from certain rocks and caverns. With this deadly mix- 
 lure the dwarfish and despised African anoints the des- 
 
 To remedy the bite of all these animals, per- 
 haps salad oil would be very efficacious ; how- 
 ever, the Indians make use of a composition, 
 which is called in Europe, Petro de Cobra, or 
 the Serpent-stone ; and which applied to the 
 
 perate weapons with which he resists (though unavail- 
 ingly) the aggressions of the colonists, and sometimes 
 cruelly revenges the injuries they have inflicted." 
 
 To the above interesting account, by Mr Pringle, of 
 the Serpents of South Africa, we may here add Mr 
 Waterton's observations on the Snakes of South America, 
 or, more properly, Demerara. 
 
 " Snakes," says that eccentric and enterprising na- 
 turalist, "are frequently met with in the woods betwixt 
 the sea-coast and the rock Saba, chiefly near the creeks 
 and on the banks of the river. They are large, beauti- 
 ful, and formidable. The rattle-snake seems partial to a 
 tract of ground known by the name of Canal, No. 3 ; 
 there the effects of his poison will be long remembered. 
 
 "The camoudi has been killed from thirty to forty 
 feet long ; though not venomous, his size renders him 
 destructive to the passing animals. The Spaniards in 
 the Oroonoque positively affirm that he grows to the 
 length of seventy or eighty feet, and that he will destroy 
 the strongest and largest bull. His name seems to con- 
 firm this : there he is called ' matatoro,' which literally 
 means 'bull killer.' Thus he may be ranked amongst 
 the deadly snakes ; for it comes nearly to the same thing 
 in the end, whether the victim dies by poison from the 
 fangs which corrupts his blood and makes it stink horri- 
 bly, or whether his body be crushed to mummy, and 
 swallowed by this hideous beast. 
 
 " The whip-snake, of a beautiful changing green, and 
 the coral, with alternate broad traverse bars of black and 
 red, glides from bush to bush, and may be handled with 
 safety; they are harmless little creatures. 
 
 "The labarri snake is speckled, of a dirty brown 
 colour, and can scarcely be distinguished from the 
 ground or stump on which he is coiled up ; he grows to 
 the length of about eight feet, and his bite often proves 
 fatal in a few minutes. 
 
 " Unrivalled in his display of every lovely colour of 
 the rainbow, and unmatched in the effects of his deadly 
 poison, the counacouchi glides undaunted on, sole mon- 
 arch of these forests ; he is commonly known by the 
 name of the bush-master. Both man and beast fly be- 
 fore him, and allow him to pursue an undisputed path. 
 He sometimes grows to the length of fourteen feet. 
 
 ' A few small caimen, from two to twelve feet long, 
 may be observed now and then in passing up and down 
 the river ; they just keep their heads above water, and 
 a stranger would not know them from a rotten stump. 
 
 "Snakes in these wilds are certainly an annoyance, 
 though, perhaps, more in imagination than reality, for 
 you must recollect that the serpent is never the first to 
 offend ; his poisonous fang was not given him for conquest; 
 he never inflicts a wound with it but to defend exis- 
 tence. Provided you walk cautiously, and do not 
 absolutely touch him, you may pass in safety close by 
 him. As he is often coiled up on the ground, and 
 amongst the branches of the trees above you, a degree of 
 circumspection is necessary, lest you unwarily disturb 
 him. One morning I had been following a new species 
 of parouquet, and the day being rainy, I had taken an 
 umbrella to keep the gun dry, and had left it under a tree ; 
 whilst searching about for it I observed a young coula- 
 canara, ten feet long, moving slowly onwards in a path 
 where timber had formerly been dragged along ; I saw 
 he was not thick enough to break my arm in case he got 
 twisted round it. There was not a moment tq be lost. 
 I laid hold of his tail with the left hand, one knee, beiiig 
 on the ground ; with the right I took off' my hat, 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 427 
 
 wound, is said to draw out the venom. The 
 composition of this stone, for it is an artificial 
 substance, is kept a secret ; and perhaps its 
 effects in extracting the venom may be imag- 
 inary : nevertheless, it is certain that it has 
 a power of sticking to the skin, and sucking 
 a part of the blood from the wound. This it 
 may do somewhat in the same manner as we 
 see a tobacco-pipe stick to the lips of a man 
 who is smoking ; yet still we are ignorant of 
 the manner ; and the secret might probably 
 be of some use in medicine. It were to be 
 wished, therefore, that those who go to India 
 would examine into this composition, and give 
 us the result of their inquiries ; but I fear that 
 it is not to benefit mankind, that our travel- 
 lers now go to India. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF SERPENTS WITHOUT VENOM. 
 
 THE class of serpents without poison may be 
 distinguished from those that are venomous by 
 their wanting the fang-teeth : their heads also 
 are not so thick in proportion to their bodies ; 
 and, in general, they taper off to the tail more 
 gradually in a point. But, notwithstanding 
 their being destitute of venom, they do not 
 cease to be formidable : some grow to a size 
 by which they become the most powerful ani- 
 mals of the forest ; and even the smallest and 
 most harmless of this slender tribe find protec- 
 tion from the similitude of their form. 
 
 The fangs make the great distinction among 
 serpents; and all this tribe are without them. 
 Their teeth are short, numerous, and, in the 
 smaller kinds, perfectly inoffensive : they lie 
 in either jaw, as in frogs and fishes, their 
 points bending backwards, the better to secure 
 their prey. They want that artificial mecha- 
 nism by which the poisonous tribe inflict such 
 deadly wounds : they have no gland in the 
 head for preparing venom : no conduits for 
 conveying it to the teeth ; no receptacles there: 
 no hollow in the instrument that inflicts the 
 wound. Their bite, when the teeth happen to 
 be large enough to penetrate the skin (for, in 
 
 and held it as you would hold a shield for defence. The 
 
 snake instantly turned and came on at me with his head 
 
 about a yard from the ground, as if to ask me what 
 
 usiness I had to take liberties with his tail. I let him 
 
 come, hissing and open-mouthed, within two feet of my 
 
 face, and then, with all the force I was master of, I drove 
 
 fist, shielded by my hat, full in his jaws. He was 
 
 stunned and confounded by the blow, and ere he could 
 
 cover himself, I had seized his throat with both hands 
 
 > such a position that he could not bite me ; I then al- 
 
 o him to coil himself round my body, and marched 
 
 "to him as my lawful prize. He pressed me hard 
 
 alarmingly w." JToferftw'j Wanderings. 
 
 general, they are too small for this purpose) is 
 attended with no other symptoms than those 
 of an ordinary puncture; and many of this 
 tribe, as if sensible of their own impotence, 
 cannot be provoked to bite, though never so 
 rudely assaulted. They hiss, dart out their 
 forky tongues, erect themselves on the tail, and 
 call up all their terrors to intimidate their ag- 
 gressors ; but seem to consider their teeth as 
 unnecessary instruments of defence, and never 
 attempt to use them. Even among the largest 
 of this kind the teeth are never employed, in 
 the most desperate engagements. When a 
 j hare or a bird is caught, the teeth may serve 
 to prevent such small game from escaping; 
 but when a buffalo or a tiger is to be encoun- 
 tered, it is by the strong folds of the body, by 
 the fierce verberations of the tail , that the enemy 
 is destroyed: by thus twining round, and 
 drawing the knot with convulsive energy, this 
 enormous reptile breaks every bone in the ani- 
 mal's body, and then, at one morsel, devours 
 its prey. 
 
 From hence we may distinguish the unve- 
 nomous tribe into two kinds : first, into those 
 that are seldom found of any considerable mag- 
 nitude, and that never offend animals larger 
 or more powerful than themselves, but which 
 find their chief protection in flight, or in the 
 doubtfulness of their form ; secondly, into such 
 as grow to an enormous size, fear no enemy, 
 but indiscriminately attack all other animals 
 and devour them. Of the first kind is the 
 Common Black Snake, the Blind Worm, the 
 Esculapian Serpent, the Amphisbaena, and se- 
 veral others. Of the second, the Liboya, the 
 Boiguacu, the Depona, and the Boiquatrara. 
 
 The Black Snake is the largest of English 
 
 serpents, sometimes exceeding four feet in 
 length. The neck is slender ; the middle of 
 the body thick ; the back and sides covered 
 with small scales ; the belly with oblong, nar- 
 row, transverse plaits ; the colour of the back 
 and sides are of a dusky brown ; the middle of 
 the back marked with two rows of small black 
 spots, running from the head to the tail ; the 
 plaits on the belly are dusky ; the scales on 
 the sides are of a bluish white ; the teeth are 
 small and serrated, lying on each side of the 
 jaws in two rows, The whole species is per- 
 fectly inoffensive ; taking shelter in dunghills, 
 
428 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 and among bushes in moist places ; from 
 whence they seldom remove, unless in the 
 midst of the day in summer ; when they are 
 called out by the heat to bask themselves in 
 the sun. If disturbed or attacked, they move 
 away among the brambles with great swift- 
 ness ; but if too closely pursued, they hiss arid 
 threaten, and thus render themselves formid- 
 able, though incapable of offending. 1 
 
 The black snake preys upon frogs, insects, 
 worms, mice, and young birds: and, consider- 
 ing the smallness of the neck, it is amazing 
 how large an animal it will swallow. The 
 black snake of Virginia, which is larger than 
 ours, and generally grows to six feet long, 
 takes a prey proportionable to its size ; par- 
 tridges, chickens, and young ducks. It is ge- 
 nerally found in the neighbourhood of the hen- 
 roost, and will devour the eggs even while the 
 hen is sitting upon them : these it swallows 
 whole ; and often, after it has done the mis- 
 chief, will coil itself round in the nest. 
 
 The whole of this tribe are oviparous, ex- 
 cluding eighty or a hundred eggs at a time, 
 which are laid in dunghills or hot-beds ; the 
 heat of which, aided by that of the sun, brings 
 them to maturity. During winter they lie 
 torpid, in banks or hedges, and under old trees. 
 
 The Blind Worm is another harmless rep- 
 
 
 1 This snake, though not poisonous, is sometimes bold 
 enough to attack a man, but may be driven off' by a smart 
 stroke from a stick, or whatever weapon he may chance 
 to have in his hand. When it overtakes a person who 
 has endeavoured to escape, (not having had courage enough 
 to oppose it,) it is said to wind itself round his legs in 
 such a manner as to throw him down, and then to bite 
 him several times in the leg, or whatever it can lay hold 
 of, and run off again. 
 
 The black snake is very greedy of milk, and it is diffi- 
 cult to keep it out when once it is accustomed to get into 
 a cellar where milk is kept. It has been seen taking 
 milk out of the same' dish with the children without bit- 
 ing them, though they often gave it blows with their 
 spoons upon the head when it was too greedy. 
 
 These snakes are, however, found extremely useful in 
 America in clearing houses of rats, which they pursue 
 with wonderful agility, even to the very roofs of barns 
 and out-houses ; for which good services they are cher- 
 ished by the generality of the Americans, who are at 
 great pains to preserve and multiply the breed. 
 
 There are many species and varieties of this genus of 
 eryeuts, which it would be tedious to enumerate. 
 
 tile, with a formidable appearance. The usual 
 length of this species is eleven inches. The 
 eyes are red ; the head small ; the neck still 
 more slender ; from that part the body grows 
 suddenly, and continues of an equal bulk to 
 the tail, which ends quite blunt : the colour of 
 the back is cinereous, marked with very sma'll 
 lines, composed of minute black specks ; the 
 sides are of a reddish cast ; the belly dusky , 
 and marked like the back. The motion of 
 this serpent is slow ; from which, and from 
 the smallness of the eyes, are derived its 
 names ; some calling it the slow, and some the 
 blind worm. Like all the rest of the kind in 
 our climates, they lie torpid during winter ; 
 and are sometimes found in vast numbers, 
 twisted together. This animal, like the for- 
 mer, is perfectly innocent ; however, like the 
 viper, it brings forth its young alive. Ges- 
 ner tells us, that one of these being struck on 
 the forehead when it was pregnant, it imme- 
 diately cast forth its young. 
 
 The Amphisbasna, or the Double Headed 
 Serpent, is remarkable for moving along with 
 either the head, or the tail foremost ; and from 
 thence it has been thought to have two heads. 2 
 This error took its rise from the thickness of 
 the tail, which, at a distance, may be 
 mistaken for another head. Upon a nearer 
 view, however, the error is easily discov- 
 ered, and the animal will be found formed 
 according to the usual course of nature. It is 
 as thick at one end as at the other ; and the 
 colour of the skin is like that of the earth, being 
 rough, hard, and variously spotted. Some 
 have affirmed that its bite is dangerous ; but 
 this must be a mistake, as it wants the fangs, 
 and, consequently, the elaboratory that pre- 
 pares the poison. 
 
 These animals are only formidable from 
 their similitude to the viper tribe. In some 
 
 a Amphisbaena literally signifies double -walker, and 
 was applied to these animals because they can move both 
 backwards and forwards. The amphisbaeiie of modern 
 naturalists all belong to America, and must therefore be 
 different from the amphisbsense of the ancients. They 
 are not venomous. The White Amphisbaena is common 
 in Brazil, and feeds chiefly on ants. Its length is about 
 a foot and a half. All the amphisbaenaB which are varied 
 with brown and white are known under the name of/W- 
 iginosa. The following cut represents a Punctated Am- 
 phisbaena. 
 
 The tail of an amphisbaina is almost as bulky as the 
 head; and as the eyes are extremely small, it is difficult 
 at first sight to say at which end the head is situated. 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 429 
 
 countries, where such reptiles are common, 
 they make the distinction so exactly, that, 
 while they destroy serpents of one kind with 
 great animosity, they take others into their 
 houses, and even into their bosoms, with a kind 
 of unaccountable affection. The Esculapian 
 Serpent of Italy is among this number. It is 
 there suffered to crawl about the chambers ; 
 and often gets into the beds where people lie. 
 It is a yellow serpent, of about an ell long ; 
 and though innocent, yet will bite when exas- 
 perated. They are said to be great destroy- 
 ers of mice ; and this may be the reason why 
 they are taken under human protection. The 
 Boyuna of Ceylon is equally a favourite among 
 the natives ; and they consider the meeting it 
 as a sign of good luck. The Surinam Ser- 
 pent, which some improperly call the Ammo- 
 dytes, is equally harmless and desirable among 
 the savages of that part of the world. They 
 consider themselves as extremely happy if this 
 animal comes into their huts. The colours of 
 this serpent are so many and beautiful, that 
 they surpass all description; and these, per- 
 haps, are the chief inducements to the savages 
 to consider its visits as so very fortunate. A 
 still greater favourite is the Prince of Ser- 
 pents, a native of Japan, that has not its equal 
 for beauty. The scales which cover the back 
 are reddish, finely shaded, and marbled with 
 large spots of irregular figures mixed with 
 black. The fore part of the head is covered 
 with large beautiful scales ; the jaws bordered 
 with yellow; the forehead marked with a black 
 marbled streak; and the eyes handsome and 
 lively. But, of all others, the Gerendaof the East 
 Indies is the most honoured and esteemed. 
 To this animal, which is finely spotted with 
 various colours, the natives of Calicut pay 
 divine honours ; and while their deity lies 
 coiled up, which is its usual posture, the peo- 
 ple fall upon their faces before it with stupid 
 adoration. The African Gerenda is larger, 
 and worshipped in the same manner by the 
 inhabitants of the coasts of Mosambique. The 
 skin is not so finely spotted as the former ; but 
 it is variegated all over the body with very 
 fine white, ash-coloured, and black spots. 
 The brilliancy of colouring in these reptiles 
 would only serve with us to increase our dis- 
 gust ; but in those countries where they are 
 common, distinctions are made ; and even in 
 this horrid class there are some eyes that can 
 discover beauty. 
 
 But in the larger tribe of serpents, there is 
 nothing but danger to be apprehended. This 
 formidable class, though without venom, have 
 something frightful in their colour, as well as 
 their size and form. They want that vivid 
 hue with which the savages are so much 
 pleased in the lesser kinds ; they are all 
 found of a dusky colour, with large teeth, 
 
 which are more formidable than danger- 
 
 ous. 
 
 The first of this class is the great Liboya 
 of Java and Brazil, which Legaut affirms, he 
 has seen fifty feet long. 1 Nor is he singular 
 
 1 The Boa Constrictor. This is the largest of the 
 serpent race, reaching generally to thirty feet in 
 length. Its ground colour is yellowish gray, on which is 
 distributed, along the back, a series of large, chine-like, 
 reddish brown, and sometimes perfectly red variegations, 
 with other smaller and more irregular marks and spots. 
 They are readily distinguished from other serpents in the 
 under surface of the tail, being covered with scuta or 
 divided plates, like those on their belly, and in their body 
 not being terminated by a rattle. There are three 
 species, natives of Africa, India, the larger Indian 
 islands, and South America, where they chiefly reside 
 in most retired situations in woods and marshy retreats. 
 In those cases where the boa attacks a large quadruped, 
 such as an antelope, he entwines himself round his prey, 
 and by his great muscular power crushes the principal 
 bones, so that the dimensions of the victim are consider- 
 ably reduced, and after a series of efforts which some- 
 times approach to strangulation, the monster makes an 
 end of his meal. There are stories of the boa constrictor 
 destroying even the buffalo and the tiger, by crushing 
 them in this manner by the astonishing force of its 
 muscles. We shall confine ourselves at present to a 
 well-authenticated account of the voracious appetite of a 
 serpent of this species, which was brought from Batavia, 
 in the year 1817, on board a vessel which conveyed 
 Lord Amherst and his suite to England. This serpent 
 was of large dimensions, though not of the very largest. 
 A living goat was placed in his cage. He viewed his 
 prey for a few seconds, felt it with his tongue, and then, 
 withdrawing his head, darted at the throat. But the goat, 
 displaying a courage worthy of a better fate, received the 
 monster on his horns. The serpent retreated, to return 
 to the combat with more deadly certainty. He seized 
 the goat by the leg, pulled it violently down, and twisted 
 himself with astonishing rapidity round the body, throw, 
 ing his principal weight upon the neck. The goat was 
 so overpowered that he could not even struggle for escape. 
 For some minutes after his victim was dead the serpent 
 did not change his posture. At length he gradually 
 slackened his grasp, and having entirely disengaged 
 himself, he prepared to swallow the lifeless body. Feel- 
 ing it about with his mouth, he began to draw the head 
 into his throat ; but the horns, which were four inches 
 in length, rendered the gorging of the head a difficult 
 task. In about two hours the whole body had disappeared. 
 During the continuance of this extraordinary exertion 
 the appearance of the serpent was hideous ; he seemed 
 to be suffering strangulation ; his cheeks looked as if 
 they were bursting ; and the horns appeared ready to 
 protrude through the monster's scales. After he had ac- 
 complished his task, the boa measured double his ordi- 
 nary diameter. He did not move from his posture for 
 several days, and no irritation could rouse him from his 
 torpor. 
 
 The Anaconda is a name which, like that of the Boa 
 Constrictor, has been popularly applied to all the larger 
 and more powerful snakes. It appears to be of Ceylonese 
 origin, and may therefore belong of right, as well as of 
 usage, to the Indian species. 
 
 Happily the appetite of these gigantic snakes bears no 
 proportion to their means of gratifying it, as a full meal 
 is uniformly succeeded by a state of torpor, which fre- 
 quently lasts for a month or six weeks, or, during the 
 cold season, even for a longer period. 
 
 The term Python is bestowed on a genus approximat- 
 ing to the Boa, and which Cuvier conceives to contain all 
 the pretended Boas of the ancient continent. Among 
 
430 
 
 HISTORY OF FROGS LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 
 
 in this report, as many of the missionaries 
 affirm the same ; and we have the concurrent 
 testimony of historians as a further proof. 
 The largest animal of this kind which has 
 been brought into Europe, is but thirty-six 
 feet long ; and it is probable that much greater 
 have been seen and destroyed before they v/ere 
 thought worth sending so far to satisfy Euro- 
 pean curiosity. The most usual length, how- 
 ever, of the Liboya, is about twenty feet, and 
 the thickness in proportion. The teeth are 
 small in proportion to the body ; nor are they 
 used but when it seizes the smallest prey. It 
 lies in wait for wild animals near the paths, 
 and when it throws itself upon them, it wraps 
 them round so closely as to break all the 
 bones; then moistening the whole body over 
 with its slaver, it makes it fit for deglutition, 
 and swallows it whole. 
 
 The Boiguaca is supposed to be the next in 
 magnitude, and has often been seen to swal- 
 low a goat whole. It is thickest in the mid- 
 dle of the body, and grows shorter and smaller 
 towards the head and the tail : on the middle 
 of the back there is a chain of small black 
 spots running along the length of it; and on 
 each side there are large, round, black spots, 
 
 the species of this genus is the Javan snake, which is as 
 large as any boa. It inhabits the rice fields of Java, and 
 feeds usually on birds, rats, &c. Its bite is not venom- 
 ous. The following cut represents a Python, called 
 
 Peron's Python. 
 
 The Bungai, like the boa, have simple plates under 
 the beily and under the tail. They inhabit the East 
 Indies, where they are called Rock-Serpents. Their 
 length is about seven feet. The following cut represents 
 
 a Banded Bungarum. 
 
 The Hydras have the posterior part of the body and 
 tail very much compressed, and greatly raised in the 
 verticle direction, which, giving them the faculty of 
 swimming, constitutes them aquatic animals. They are 
 
 common in fome latitudes of the Indian seas, 
 hbove is a figure cf the Spiral Hydra. 
 
 The 
 
 at some distance from each other, which are 
 white in the centre ; between these, near the 
 belly, there are two rows of lesser black spots, 
 which run parallel to the back. It has a 
 double row of sharp teeth in each jaw, of a 
 white colour, and shining like mother-of-pearl. 
 The head is broad ; and over the eyes it is 
 raised into two prominences ; near the ex- 
 tremity of the tail there are two claws, resem- 
 bling those of birds. 
 
 These serpents lie hid in thickets, from 
 whence they sally out unawares, and, raising 
 themselves upright on their tails, will attack 
 both men and beasts. They make a loud hissing 
 noise when exasperated ; and sometimes wind- 
 ing up trees, will dart down upon travellers, 
 and twist themselves so closely round their 
 bodies, as to despatch them in a very few 
 minutes. Condamine, however, affirms that 
 their bite is not dangerous ; for though the 
 teeth are so large as to inspire the beholder 
 with terror, yet the wound they make is 
 attended with no dangerous consequences 
 whatever. Dellon affirms, that they gener- 
 ally haunt desert places ; and though they are 
 sometimes seen near great towns, or on the 
 banks of rivers, yet it is generally after some 
 great inundation : he never saw any but what 
 were dead ; and they appeared to him like 
 the trunk of a great tree lying on the ground. 
 
 To this class of large serpents we may refer 
 the Depona, a native of Mexico, with a very 
 large head and great jaws. The mouth is 
 armed with cutting crooked teeth, among 
 which there are two longer than the rest, 
 placed in the fore part of the upper jaw, but 
 very different from the fangs of the viper. All 
 round the mouth there is a broad scaly border; 
 and the eyes are so large, that they give it a 
 very terrible aspect. The forehead is covered 
 with very large scales ; on which are placed 
 others that are smaller, curiously ranged : 
 those on the back are grayish, and along it 
 runs a double chain, whose ends are joined in 
 the manner of a buckler. Each side of the 
 belly is marbled with large square spots, of a 
 chestnut colour, in the middle of which is a 
 spot which is round and yellow. They avoid 
 the sight of man ; and, consequently, never 
 do much harm. 
 
 Such are the most noted animals of the 
 serpent tribe; but to recount all, would be a 
 vain, as well as useless, endeavour. In those 
 countries where they abound, their discrimina- 
 tions are so numerous, and their colours so 
 various, that every thicket seems to produce a 
 new animal. The same serpent is often found 
 to bring forth animals of eight or ten differ- 
 ent colours ; and the naturalist who attempts 
 to arrange them by that mark, will find that 
 he has made distinctions which are entirely 
 disowned by Nature : however, a very con. 
 
THE SERPENT. 
 
 431 
 
 siderable number might be added to enlarge 
 the catalogue ; but having supplied a general 
 history, the mind turns away from a subject, 
 where every object presents something formid- 
 able or lothesome to the imagination. Indeed, 
 the whole tribe resemble each other so nearly, 
 
 1 Supplemental Note on Reptiles. This department of 
 animated beings, forming the third class of vertebrate ani- 
 mals, according to the arrangement of Cuvier, has occu- 
 pied various situations in the classification ol authors. 
 Many of this species were known to the ancients. 
 Pliny, in his Historia Naturalis, has given all the infor- 
 mation, respecting those that were known during his 
 time, which was, however, extremely limited, in com. 
 parison to what is our present stock of knowledge. The 
 first of the moderns who increased our knowledge respect- 
 ing the Reptilia was Aldrovandus, a Bohemian noble- 
 man, and a professor of the university of Bologna : he 
 published the first volume of his Natural History in 
 folio, in the 1599, which was continued by his successors, 
 and completed in fourteen volumes, in the year 1640. 
 Gesner, a physician of Zurich, was the next who took 
 up this subject ; he published a work entitled a History 
 of Animals, in three volumes folio, which appeared in 
 1620. To this work he added a treatise on Serpents. 
 Ho was followed by Topsel, a British author, who pub- 
 lished a History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents 
 in folio, 1718. These several works contain much 
 curious information respecting reptiles, but so mixed up 
 with fable, and the romance of travellers, that the 
 accounts are not to be depended upon, and it is difficult 
 to separate the pure matter from the dross. The ani- 
 mals of this class have in all ages furnished matter for 
 fiction, from the dangerous qualities of many of the 
 species, or the disgusting forms and frightful appearance 
 of others. We are told that the march of the army of 
 Attilius Regulus was arrested by the power of an African 
 serpent, 120 feet long ; and the Basilisk was said to 
 possess the power of killing any person who looked at it, 
 with a glance from its eyes. 
 
 But it was not until the publication of the Synopsis 
 Methodica Animalium, Quadrupedum et Serpentini 
 generis, in the year 1693, by Ray, that we had any 
 distinct classification of reptiles which was worthy of 
 attention. His arrangement consists of three orders ; 
 first, oviparous animals, with red blood, which respire 
 by means of lungs, and which have a heart consisting of 
 one ventricle. This order includes frogs, divided into 
 aquatic and terrestrial, toads, and tortoises. Second^ 
 Lizards, and their congeners, including the saurians of 
 Cuvier ; and third, Serpents, or the ophidians of Cuvier. 
 
 The next systematic writer who followed Ray was 
 Linnaeus, who arranged this class of animals under the 
 title of Amphibia in his Systema Naturae : these he 
 divided into three orders : namely, Reptilia, Serpents, 
 and Nantes, which last most improperly included the carti- 
 laginous fishes ; these were removed to their proper 
 station by Gmelin, who published an edition of the 
 Systema Naturce, with additions, in the year 1758. 
 Linnaeus was followed by Klein, who, in 1755, pub- 
 lished his Tentamcn Erpetologiae, in which he arranged 
 serpents into two orders ; first, those whose heads are 
 distinct from the body, with an elongated tail; and 
 second, those with the head not distinctly developed 
 irom the body, and provided with an obtuse tail. 
 
 The next author was Laurentirii, a physician of Vienna, 
 who published his Specimen Medicum exhibens Synopsin 
 Reptilium emendatam, in 1768, in which he divides 
 them into three orders; namely, 1. Leapers, including 
 frogs and their congeners; 2. talkers, such as lizards ; 
 3. Serpents. But this author entirely omitted tortoises 
 in his classification. 
 
 The naturalist whose works are next worthy of notice, 
 
 that the history of one may almost serve for 
 every other. They are all terrible to the im- 
 agination, all frightful to behold in their fury, 
 and have long been considered as a race of 
 animals, between whom and man there is a 
 natural antipathy. 1 
 
 is Lacepede, who in 179S 1800, published his His- 
 toire Naturette, Generate et Particultere des Quadrupedes 
 ovipares et des Serpentes, intended as a continuation of 
 the Histoire Naturelle of Buflon. His classification 
 differs but little from that of Lfnnseus, but contains a 
 great mass of new and interesting matter, and he gives 
 more accurate details, and more precise generic distinc- 
 tion than that author. 
 
 We now come to Brongniart, whose classification of 
 reptiles far outstripped all those who preceded him. In 
 1799, he first made known his arrangements, which was 
 published in 1805, under the title of Essai d'une Classi- 
 fication Naturelle des Reptiles. This has superseded all 
 other arrangements, and has been followed by Cuvier in 
 his Regne Animal. His orders are constructed upon 
 their organization, such as generation and respiration, 
 together with the exercise of the animal function, such 
 as touch, digestion, and locomotion. Founded upon 
 these, he divides the class Reptiles into four orders ; viz. 
 
 1. Chelonians, in which the body is covered with a 
 shield or plate, comprehending the turtles and tortoises. 
 
 2. Saurians, having the body covered with scales, in- 
 cluding crocodiles, and their congeners. 3. Ophidians, 
 destitute of feet, such as serpents. Batrachians, whose 
 bodies are covered with a naked skin ; exemplified in 
 frogs, &c. 
 
 In the Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles of Latreille, 
 published inDeterville's edition of the Histoire Naturelle 
 of Buffon, as also in his Families Naturelles du Regne 
 Animal, published in 1825, he has attempted some 
 trivial changes on the classification of Brongniart ; re- 
 taining, however, all the principal features of his arrange, 
 ment untouched. 
 
 Dumeril, in his Elemens des Sciences Naturelles, has 
 also made some changes ; but these are unimportant. 
 
 Daudin published his Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles, 
 in eight volumes 8vo., at Paris, in 1802, 1803. In this 
 elaborate work much curious information is brought for- 
 ward, and many particular facts, which were before un- 
 known ; but in his arrangement he has followed Brong- 
 niart, with some slight modification in the genera. 
 
 In the Linnaean Transactions and Zoological Journal 
 are some interesting papers on Reptiles by Mr Thomas 
 Bell. His monography of the tortoises having a mov- 
 able sternum in the second volume of the Zoological 
 Journal, and also his essay on Leptophina, a group of 
 serpents, contain some valuable additions to our know- 
 ledge of reptiles. 
 
 The heart in reptiles is so constructed, that at each of 
 its contractions, only a portion of the blood which it re- 
 ceives is transmitted to the lungs, the remainder of this 
 fluid is returned to circulate again, without having 
 passed into the lungs, and, consequently without having 
 been subjected to respiration ; hence it results that the 
 action of oxygen on the blood is greatly less than in 
 mammiferous animals and birds, where all the blood, by 
 passing through their lungs, is exposed to the action of 
 the air. Consequently, as respiration causes the heat in 
 the blood, and gives to the muscular fibre its suscepti- 
 bility for nervous irritation, the temperature of reptiles 
 is much lower, and their muscular power greatly weaker 
 than that of the mammalia, and birds. Therefore they 
 are said to be cold blooded animals. Their general 
 habits are also much less energetic, almost all their mo- 
 tions consisting of crawling and swimming, and although 
 several species run or leap, at times with considerable 
 facility, yet upon the whole, their actions are sluggish, 
 
432 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON REPTILES. 
 
 and their sensations obtuse, with a slow digestion ; and 
 in temperate countries they pass the winter in an almost 
 constant state of torpidity. 
 
 The brain in reptiles is proportionably small, and not 
 so essential to the exercise of their animal and vital 
 functions as to the mammalia and birds ; and their sen- 
 sations appear to be referred to a common centre, for 
 they continue to live, and exhibit voluntary motions long 
 after being deprived of their brain, and in many instances 
 after the head has been cut off. The connection of the 
 nervous system with the muscular fibre is also less 
 necessary to its contractions, and their muscles preserve 
 their irritability after being severed from the body much 
 longer than in the higher animals. The pulsations of 
 the heart have been knon - n to continue for many hours 
 after being separated from the body; and even without 
 it, the body will move for a considerable length of time. 
 It has been observed that the cerebellum in several of 
 the species is extremely small, which facts agree with 
 their slight propensity to motion. 
 
 The smallness of the pulmonary vessels in reptiles en- 
 ables them to suspend respiration without retarding the 
 circulation of the blood ; this enables them to dive with 
 more facility, and to remain longer under water than 
 quadrupeds or birds. The cells of their lungs are also less 
 numerous, and generally large, in consequence of their 
 having fewer vessels to lodge on their parietes, and the 
 lungs take sometimes the form of simple sacs, scarcely 
 cellular in their structure. 
 
 The whole class are provided with a trachea and 
 larynx, yet many of them are incapable of producing 
 articulate sounds. 
 
 As their blood is cold, teguments for retaining heat 
 are unnecessary, and instead of these, therefore, they are 
 clothed with scales, or simply with a naked skin. 
 
 The females are provided with a double ovary and two 
 oviducts, and the males of several genera are furnished 
 with furcated organs of generation, but the batrachians 
 are destitute of this organ. Those females which couple 
 deposit eggs which are protected by a shelly covering, 
 and those species which do not, produce soft and glary 
 eggs, destitute of any crust. These they abandon after 
 the deposition in some convenient situation ; but there 
 are a few species which carry them about with them. 
 The young is hatched perfect in its form in many species: 
 but there are other species, which, on quitting the ova, 
 have the organization of fishes, and whose form is not 
 perfectly developed until after a certain time has elapsed, 
 when they undergo a complete metamorphosis. This is 
 well exemplified in the frog being hatched as a tadpole. 
 These are provided with branchiae, or gills, like fishes, 
 and some of the genera retain these organs even after the 
 developement of their lungs. In several of the oviparous 
 reptiles, particularly in the coluber, the young animal in 
 the egg is formed and considerably advanced at the mo- 
 ment it is deposited by the mother ; and there are even 
 some species which may be artificially rendered vivipar- 
 ous, by simply retarding the time of laying the egg, 
 which M. Geoffrey St Hilaire has proved by depriving 
 the colubra of water. 
 
 The quantity of respiration in reptiles is not fixed, as 
 is the case with mammalia and birds, but varies with the 
 proportions of the diameter of the pulmonary artery, com- 
 pared to that of the aorta. Tortoises and lizards, for 
 example, respire much more than frogs, &c. ; and hence 
 results a much greater difference of sensibility and ner- 
 vous energy than can exist between one mammiferous 
 animal and another, or between birds. 
 
 A greater variety of form prevails amongst reptiles 
 than is found among the mammalia and birds, and it is 
 in the production of these forms that Nature seems to 
 have imagined shapes of the most fantastic description, 
 and modifying in every possible manner the general plan 
 which she has prescribed to herself in the vertebrata, 
 and iu the oviparous class in particular. 
 
 Reptiles are endowed with five senses, but none of 
 them. in great perfection. In those species which are 
 covered with scales or plates, the sense of touch is very 
 obtuse ; and in the species which have a naked skin, such 
 as the frog, it is also weak, in consequence of not being 
 adherent to the body, but invelopes it like a bag. In the 
 serpents, the eyes are immovable, and are destitute of 
 eyelids ; and the eyes covered with a corneous substance ; 
 in some genera, three eyelids are distinguishable, while 
 others are destitute of sight. They have no cochlea, and 
 only provided with a small bone under the tympanum. 
 Their nostrils are small, and they appear to have a very 
 weak sense of smell. They have no delicacy of taste, lor 
 almost all the species swallow their food entire, and those 
 in which the tongue is soft and flexible, this organ serves 
 chiefly as an instrument for the seizure of their food. 
 None of them have true fleshy lips ; and some, such as 
 the tortoises, are provided with a horny bill, like that of 
 a parrot ; others have teeth of various forms, which are 
 not, however, formed for mastication, but to assist in 
 holding their prey: various serpents have hollow fangs, 
 which they can erect at pleasure, when they open their 
 mouths to bite, and these fangs have apertures, from 
 which they inject into the wounds made by them an active 
 and deadly poison. The anal opening in serpents 
 serves for rejected matters, as well as for organs of gen- 
 eration. 
 
 The physical construction of reptiles varies consider- 
 ably in the different orders ; deviating in several essen- 
 tial particulars, to which no general characters will 
 apply. The following is an outline of these particulars. 
 
 I. The Chelonia, or Tortoises, have a heart with two au- 
 ricles, and a ventricle, divided into two unequal cavities, 
 which communicate with each other. The blood from 
 the body is poured into the right auricle, and from the 
 lungs into the left, but both kinds of blood are partially 
 mixed in passing through the ventricle : their body is 
 inveloped by two plates, or bucklers, formed by the ribs 
 and sternum, supported by four feet. The envelope of 
 the body permits no part to project, except the head, 
 neck, tail, and four feet. The upper shield, which is 
 called the carpace, is formed by the ribs, of which there 
 are eight pairs; these are widened and reunited by den- 
 ticulated sutures, and with plates adhering to the 
 annular portion of the dorsal vertebrae, in such a man- 
 ner, that all these parts are deprived of mobility. The 
 lower shell, called the plastron, is formed of pieces, 
 usually nine or ten in number, analogous to a sternum ; 
 and this has been denominated the sternum by the more 
 recent writers on natural history. A frame work, con- 
 sisting of bony pieces, which have been considered as 
 analogous with the cartilaginous portion of the ribs in 
 the mammalia, generally encompasses the upper shell, 
 uniting all the ribs which comprise it. The vertebrae 
 of the neck and tail are alone movable. These two 
 bony envelopes being covered with skin or by scales, the 
 scapula and all the muscles of the arms and neck, in- 
 stead of being articulated to the ribs and spine, as in 
 other animals, are attached beneath ; the same arrange- 
 ment is found in the bones of the pelvis, and also in all 
 the muscles of the thigh, so that in this respect tor- 
 toises have been termed retroverted animals. The ver- 
 tebral extremity of the scapula is articulated with the 
 shield, and the opposite extremity of the clavicle with 
 the breastplate or sternum, in such a manner, that the 
 shoulders form a ring for the passage of the trachea and 
 oesophagus. A third and larger bony branch, is directed 
 downward and backwards, representing the coracoid 
 apophysis in birds. The lungs are extensive, and situated 
 in the same cavity with the other viscera. The thorax 
 being immovable in the greater number, it is by the 
 action of the mouth that the tortoise respires; this pro- 
 cess being effected by keeping the jaws closed, and 
 alternately raising and depressing the os hyoides. The 
 first movement permits the air to enter by the nostrils, 
 and the tongue afterwards closing the interior opening, 
 the second movement forces the air into the lungs. Tor- 
 toises are devoid of teeth; their jaws are invested by a 
 horny covering, similar to the mandibles of birds, ex- 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON REPTILES. 
 
 433 
 
 cept in the Chelids, where they are covered with a skin 
 only. Their tympanum and palatine arch are fixed to 
 the cranium and immovable; the tongue is short and 
 bristled with fleshy filaments ; their stomach simple and 
 strong; their intestines of medium length, and destitute 
 of a caecum. Tortoises lay numerous eggs, which are 
 invested by a hard shell. 'These are deposited in the 
 warm sand, under the influence of a southern sun, where 
 they are abandoned by the parents, and are hatched in 
 summer by the influence of the atmosphere. The ani- 
 mals of this order possess great tenacity of life, and they 
 have been known to move for several weeks after am- 
 putation of the head. They require but little nourish- 
 ment and can pass whole months, and even years, with- 
 out food. 
 
 II. The Sauria, or Lizards. have a heart with two au- 
 ricles, and a ventricle sometimes divided by imperfect 
 partitions and their body covered by scales, supported 
 by four or two feet. The ribs are movable, and par- 
 tially attached to the sternum, and can be raised or de- 
 pressed during respiration. The lung extends more or 
 less towards the posterior part of the body; it frequently 
 penetrates very far into the lower part of the abdomen, 
 the transverse muscles of which pass under the ribs, and 
 even towards the neck to clasp it. Those species in 
 which this organ is very large, possess the singular 
 faculty of changing the colours of their skin, according 
 to the excitement produced on them by their wants or 
 passions. Their mouth is invariably provided with 
 teeth, and in most instances, their toes are armed with 
 nails; their skin is covered with scales, more or less com- 
 pact, and in a few species with scaly granules. All the 
 species have a tail more or less long, which is very thick 
 at the base. Most of them have four legs, but a few have 
 only two. They subsist on animal food. Like the ani- 
 mals of the former order, they deposit their eggs favour- 
 ably to their being hatched, where they abandon them ; 
 the young animal is hatched perfect in its form, and 
 never undergoes any metamorphosis. 
 
 III. The Ophidia, or Serpents, have a heart with two 
 auricles, and are destitute of feet, consequently they are 
 the only order of this class, to which the name reptile is 
 strictly applicable. C'uvier divides this order into three 
 families. In the first, the terms Anguines, the teeth and 
 tongue of which are similar to those of the genus Seps, 
 of the preceding order, and the eye is provided with 
 three eyelids. In the second family, or the true serpents, 
 all the genera are destitute of a sternum or the slightest 
 developement of collar bones ; the ribs are articulated 
 to each other by a convex and a concave surface, and 
 encompass almost the entire circumference of the trunk. 
 They are devoid of the third eyelid and tympanum. 
 Although their heads are large, the true cranium forms 
 but a small portion of it. Their eyes are fixed, but they 
 are destitute of external ears. Their nostrils are short, 
 and but slightly developed, and are generally situate at 
 the extremity or sides of the muzzle. The Tongue 
 varies much with the species ; and although it is soft, 
 moist, long, and forked, it seems rather destined to assist 
 in seizing their prey, than as an organ of taste. The scaly 
 covering with which they are invested, necessarily ren- 
 ders their sense of touch rather obtuse. They change 
 their skin at least once a year. The third family em- 
 braces the Naked serpents, or those remarkable animals 
 which form the genus C&cilia. The whole animals of 
 this order are provided with conical and curved teeth, 
 which seem rather fitted for securing their prey, than 
 for gnawing their food. Some of the genera are furnished 
 with previous fangs in the superior jaw, which, when 
 erected, press a gland or sac, in which is a deadly 
 
 Eoison, which flows through the tube, and is injected 
 ito the wounds pierced by the fangs. In many species, 
 the jaws are united in the middle, which renders the 
 mouth susceptible of considerable dilatation, and en- 
 ables them to swallow their prey entire. The process 
 of digestion is extremely slow in all the animals of the 
 order ; and after feeding, they assume a lethargic con- 
 dition, in which they continue frequently for weeks. 
 Serpents possess a heart with two auricles and one ven- 
 tricle, divided into two compartments, and they have 
 only a single lung. Their circulation is slow. The only 
 sound emitted by serpents is a hissing noise. The eggs 
 are usually protected by a covering, or shell, which is 
 somewhat calcareous ; when laid, they are commonly 
 VOL. II. 
 
 I united like a string of beads, or in the form of a wreath. 
 Some species are, however, viviparous. 
 
 IV. The Batrachia are provided with a heart which 
 has but one auricle, and a single ventricle ; their body 
 is naked ; most of the species are metamorphosed from 
 the form of a fish, breathing by the branchiae, or gills, 
 to that of a quadruped, breathing by lungs, when in a 
 perfect condit ion. In two genera, however, namely, the 
 Serena and Protetis, they retain the gills. In the 
 former condition the aorta leading from the heart is 
 branched into as many stems as there are gills. In 
 those species, the branches which lead to the gills are 
 all obliterated except two, which unite in a dorsal 
 artery, give off each a small branch to the lung. This 
 fact, as observed by Cuvier, is the circulation of a fish, 
 changed into that of a reptile. All the Batrachian rep- 
 tiles are destitute of scales, shields, or nails on their 
 toes ; the whole body and limbs being covered only by 
 a naked skin. Their eggs have a membranous covering. 
 In some species fecundation is performed during the 
 extrusion of the eggs ; in others they are deposited in 
 some favourable situation, and afterwards impregnated 
 in the same manner as the spawn of fishes. 
 
 ORDER I. CHELONIA. 
 
 Heart provided with two auricles ; body inveloped in 
 two bony plates or shields, which are formed from the 
 ribs and sternum ; furnished with four feet. 
 
 SUBDIVISION I. LAND TORTOISES. 
 
 Testudo. 
 
 Testudo radiata,i\\e Radiated Tortoise. PL 25, fig. 1. 
 
 SUBDIVISION II. FRESHWATER TORTOISES. 
 
 Emys Europosa, European Emys. 
 Emys picta, the Painted Tortoise, pi. 25, fig. 2. 
 Cistuda. 
 
 Cistiida dausa, the Close Tortoise, pi. 25 fig. 3. In 
 habits North America. 
 Chelonura Serpentina. 
 
 SUBDIVISION III. SEA TORTOISES. 
 
 Chelonia. 
 
 Chelonia imlricata, the Hawk-billed Turtle. PI. 25, f. 
 4. Inhabits the seas of the Torrid Zone. 
 Chelys fimbricatd. 
 Trionyxferox. 
 
 ORDER II. SAURIA. 
 
 Body elongated, invested with scales, generally fur- 
 nished with four feet ; toes armed with claws, at least 
 in part ; tail more or less long ; mouth generally with 
 numerous teeth. 
 
 FAMILY I. CROCODILIDJS. 
 
 Body elongated, covered with square scales, of which 
 the upper and under are the largest, and those above, 
 raised into a ridge or corina in the middle ; provided 
 with four feet, with five toes before, and five behind, the 
 three interior armed with nails, and all of them more or 
 less united by membranes ; each jaw provided with a 
 single row of acute teeth ; tongue fleshy, depressed, 
 and almost entirely attached to the lower jaw ; t;iil 
 compressed, and provided above with a strongly dentat- 
 ed crest. The whole animals of this family are large, 
 their bodies are covered with square, or oblong scales, 
 of which those above form elevated lines, which are 
 raised into a double crest on the tail. Their heads are 
 long in proportion to the body, and ponderous; their 
 jaws are articulated behind the cranium. Their nostrils 
 form an elongated canal, which has its origin in the 
 throat, and terminates at the point of the muzzle, where 
 it is provided with a semilunar orifice, which it can open 
 or shut at pleasure. Their eyes are furnished with 
 three eyelids ; the exterior ear is very small and can be 
 closed at the will of the animal, by means of two fleshy 
 coverings ; under the throat there are two glands which 
 secrete a musky substance, through small orifices. The 
 crocodiles are the only family of this order which are 
 destitute of clavicles, or collarbones] but their coracoid 
 3i 
 
434 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON REPTILES. 
 
 apophysis is attached to the sternum, as in all the 
 others. 
 
 Gaviala. 
 
 Gaviala Gangetica, the Gangetic Crocodile. PI. 25, f. 
 6. Grows from twelve to eighteen feet in length. In- 
 habits the rivers of India, and is very numerous in the 
 Ganges. 
 
 Crocodihis. 
 
 Crocodilus vulgaris, the Common Crocodile. PL 25, f. 
 5. This animal grows to the great size of from twenty 
 to thirty feet in length. 
 
 Alligator. 
 
 Alligator sclerops, the Common Alligator. PL 25, f. 7. 
 Grows from eighteen to twenty feet in length. Inhabits 
 Guiana and Brazil. Crocodile's Egg, f. 12. 
 
 FAMILY il. LACEKTINIDJS. 
 
 The members of this family are characterised by a 
 slender extensible tongue, terminating in two long fila- 
 mentary processes like the viper. Their bodies are 
 elongated, and their motions rapid. All their feet are 
 provided with five toes, armed with nails, which are 
 separate and unequal, particularly those on the hind 
 feet. Under the abdomen and around the tail, their 
 scales are disposed in traverse and parallel bands. Their 
 tympanum is on a level with the head ; the eyes are 
 protected by a produced skin, which is longitudinally 
 cleft, and which shuts by a sphincter. Under the an- 
 terior angle there is a rudimentary third eyelid. Their 
 false ribs do not form a complete circle. 
 
 Monitor. 
 
 This genus is divided into sections. L With a com- 
 pressed and carinated tail. 2. Tail nearly round, with 
 a dentated ridge above. 3. Tail nearly round without 
 a carinated ridge above. Of the last section is the land 
 Monitor, which inhabits Egypt, and is trained by the 
 jugglers of Cairo, to perform tricks, they having previous- 
 ly extracted their teeth. 
 
 Dracaena. 
 
 Draccena Guianensis. PL 25, f. 10. Body reddish 
 brown, blended with green. From four to six feet long. 
 Inhabits Guiana. Its flesh is eaten by the natives. 
 There are two sections of this genus, viz. 1. With a 
 carinated tail. 2. With the tail smooth and compressed 
 towards the point. 
 
 Teius. There are two sections of this genus. 1 . Tail 
 carinated. 2. Tail smooth ; compressed towards the 
 point. 
 
 Teius Teguucin, the Teguixin Lizard. PL 25, f. 15. 
 Body black, spotted with blue above, and of a bluish 
 hue below. Nearly six feet long. Inhabits Brazil. 
 
 Amevia lemniscata, the Striped Amevia. PL 25, f. 1 1 . 
 Inhabits Africa. 
 Lacerta. 
 Tachydromus. 
 
 FAMILY III. IGUANIDJE. 
 
 _ Lizard shaped ; with a thick, fleshy, and not exten- 
 sible tongue, which is notched at the point. 
 
 Cordylus, Head simple. 
 
 Stellio. Head inflated behind. 
 
 Amblyrhynchus. Head short and truncated. 
 
 Agama. With a tumid head. 
 
 Agama muricata, the Muricated Agama. PL 25, f. 8. 
 
 Trapelus. Head tumid ; scales small and destitute of 
 spines. The only species of this genus is the Egyptian 
 Trapelus, which has the property of changing the col- 
 our of its skin, in a still more remarkable degree than 
 the cameleon. 
 
 Calotes. Upwards of a footlong. Inhabits New South 
 Wales. 
 
 Basilicas mitratus, the Mitred Basilisk. PL 25, f. 9. 
 Inhabits Brazil. The flesh is eatable. There are only 
 two species of this genus known, that above described, 
 and the Aboyna Basilisk; they are disagreeable look- 
 ing animals, but are entirely destitute of the deadly 
 properties attributed by the ancients to the fabulous 
 annual of that name. 
 
 Draco. 
 
 JJmco limatus, the Flying Dragon. PL 25, f. 16. Never 
 
 exceeding nine or ten inches in length. Inhabits Asia 
 and Africa. 
 
 Iguana. 
 
 Iguana vulgaris, the Common Guana. PL 25, f. 1 3. 
 
 Polycknu. Like the chameleon, the animals of this 
 genus have the power of changing colour. 
 
 Anolius. There are two sections of this genus. 1. 
 With the tail crested. 2. With the tail rounded. 
 
 FAMILY IV. GECKOTID.E. 
 
 Gecko. Head considerably depressed ; eyes large ; 
 tongue fleshy, but not extensible ; jaws provided with 
 a series of small close-set teeth, body flattened, covered 
 above with small shagreen-like scales, and frequently 
 tubereulate ; below the scales are smaller, flat, and 
 imbricated ; tail with circular folds ; toes widened their 
 whole length, or at the extremity only, with the skin 
 plated or scaly. The animals of this genus have the 
 power of ascending perpendicular walls, and they can 
 even walk on ceilings. Cuvier divides the genus into 
 the following subgenera : 
 
 I. Platydactyll. 
 
 II. Heinidadyli. 
 
 III. Thecadactyli. 
 
 IV. Ptyodactyli. 
 
 Ptyodactyli caudiverbcra, the Scalloped- tailed Gecko. 
 PL 25, f. 14. Inhabits Arabia. 
 
 V. Phyluri. Animals similar in form to the Gecko. 
 
 FAMILY V. CHAM^LEONID^:. 
 
 CJtamaeleon. Tongue fleshy, cylindrical, and extremely 
 extensible ; teeth trilobed ; eyes large, but nearly cov- 
 ered by a skin, and with separate movements ; destitute 
 of an external ear ; occiput pyramidal ; body com- 
 pressed, back edged or carinated, the whole covered 
 with small shagreen-like granules ; all the feet furnished 
 with five toes, which are divided into two sets : the 
 one with three toes, and the other with two, each 
 united to the nails by a membrane ; tail round and 
 prehensile. 
 
 Cliamoeleon vulgaris, the Common Chameleon. PL 25, 
 f. 17. Twenty-two inches long, including the tail. In- 
 habits India and Africa. 
 
 FAMILY VI. SCINCID.E. 
 
 Tongue not extensible ; body covered with equal- 
 sized inbricated scales ; legs short. 
 
 Sdncus. 
 
 Scincus occuluus, the Galley wasp. PL 25, f. 26. From 
 twelve to eighteen inches in length. Inhabits Jamaica. 
 
 Seps. 
 
 Seps palustris, the Great Water Newt, PL 25, f. 1.'5. 
 Inhabits stagnant waters in Europe. 
 
 Bipes. 
 
 Bipes apus, the Apoidal Apus. PL 25, f. 27. Inhabits 
 the shores of the Volga. 
 
 Cholcides. 
 
 Chirotes. 
 
 ORDER III. OPIIIDIA. 
 
 Body greatly cylindrical, elongated, generally covered 
 with scales, and destitute of feet. 
 
 FAMILY I. ANGUINES. 
 
 With small teeth nearly of equal size ; tongue uni- 
 formly notched ; ribs more or less united, being a sub- 
 stitute for a sternum : eyes provided with three eyelids. 
 
 Ophisaurus. 
 
 Anguis. 
 
 Acontias. 
 
 FAMILY II. SERPENTES. 
 
 The species of this family are very numerous, and are 
 all destitute of a sternum and scapular bones, and want 
 the third eyelid, and also the tympanum. Cuvier sub- 
 divides them. The first subdivision includes those 
 which have the lower jaw supported by a tympanal 
 bone articulated to the cranium : the two branches 
 of this jaw fixed before, and those of the upper jaw to 
 the cranium, and to an intennaxilliary bone ; which 
 
SUPPLEMETAL NOTE ON REPTILES. 
 
 435 
 
 prevents their dilatation. The eyes are small ; the 1 
 body cylindrical and covered with scales ; the tongue 
 short ; the trachea long : the heart situate far behind, 
 and provided with a single lung only. 
 
 I. JAWS NOT DILATABLE. 
 
 A mphisbcena. 
 
 Amphisbc&M fuliginosa, the Shining Amphisbsena. Two 
 feet long. Inhabits Ceylon. PI. 25. f. 25. 
 Typhhps. 
 
 II. JAWS DILATABLE. 
 
 (1.) Body Cylindrical, with SJtort Tongue. 
 Torlrix, 
 
 (2.) Occiput more or less gibbous , Tongue Forked and 
 Extensible. 
 
 Boa. 
 
 Boacanina, the South American Boa. PI. 25, f. 24. In- 
 habits South America. In this genus are included the 
 largest serpents, some ol which reach from thirty to 
 forty feet in length. 
 
 Erix. 
 
 Erpeton. 
 
 (3.) Shields under tin tail ranged in pairs. 
 
 PytJion. 
 
 Hurria. 
 
 Dipsas. 
 
 Coluber. 
 
 Dryinm. 
 
 Leptophis. 
 
 Acrochordus. 
 
 (4.) Serjyenls provided with Poison Fangs. 
 
 The teeth in this section are fewer in number in the 
 exterior row, than in the preceding section; the first of 
 those teeth is larger than the others, it is hollow and 
 conducts the poison from the sac into the wound. 
 
 Pseudoboa. 
 
 Trimeresurus. 
 
 Hydrophis. 
 
 Pel amis. 
 
 Chefsydrus. 
 
 (5.) With isolated Fangs. 
 
 Crotalus. 
 
 Crotalus horridus, the Common Rattlesnake. PI. 25, 
 f. 23. From four to six feet long. Inhabits America. 
 Scytalus. 
 Acanthophis. 
 Lanyalui. 
 
 (6.) Abdomen with Traimvrse Plates, divided into 
 under tJie Tail. 
 
 Triflonocephalus. 
 
 1'fataurits. 
 
 Naia. 
 
 Elaps. 
 
 Cnbra. 
 
 Vipera. 
 
 FAMILY III. NAKED SERPENTS. 
 
 Ccedlia. Eyes extremely small ; body cylindrical, 
 skin naked, with longitudinle folds. 
 
 ORDER IV. BATRACHIA. 
 
 Heart with one auricle ; body covered with naked 
 skin ; lungs two, in the mature condition, but provided 
 with branchiae, like fishes, in their early state. 
 
 liana. 
 
 Rana taurina, the Bull Frog. PL 25, f. 21. Inhabits 
 North America. 
 
 Hyla. 
 
 Bufo. 
 
 Bufofuscus, the Brown Toad. PI. 25, f. 22. Inhabits 
 Germany. 
 
 Pipa. ' 
 
 Saiamandra. 
 
 This genus is divided into sections : 
 
 1. Terrestial Tail rounded in the adult state. 
 
 2. Aquatic Tail compressed. 
 
 Proteus. 
 
 Proteus anguinus, the Proteus. PL 25, f. 20. This is 
 the only species of the genus, and has several remarka- 
 ble peculiarities. Besides being furnished with lungs, 
 it has three tufted branchiae on each side, which it 
 seems to retain through life. The skeleton is nearly 
 allied to that of the salamander, but is provided with 
 more numerous vertebrae j and the general form of the 
 cranium is considerably different. It inhabits dark 
 subterraneous streams, in Carniola ; and is the only 
 animal known to exist in siich situations. 
 
 Siren. Provided with a short thick adherent tongue ; 
 having both persistant branchiae and interior lungs ; 
 body elongated, cylindrical, and furnished with a com- 
 pressed tail ; it has two feet only, which are placed for- 
 wards on the body, each provided with four toes. 
 
 Siren lacertina, the Siren. PL 25, f. 19. From two 
 to three feet long. Inhabits the marshes of South Car- 
 olina. There is but one species of this remarkable 
 genus : which, like the Proteus, retains during its life, 
 three free branchial tufts, situate on each side of the 
 neck, while it has at the same time lungs for breath- 
 ing, formed in the ordinary manner. 
 
HISTORY OF INSECTS, &c. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE FIRST ORDER. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF INSECTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 HAVING gone through the upper ranks of Na- 
 ture, we descend to that of insects ; a subject 
 
 1 Insects. The following is Blummenbach's descrip- 
 tion of Insects. We have already given his account of 
 Birds and of Fishes. 
 
 Insects (he says) derive their name from the circum- 
 stance, that, at least in the perfect state, the head, thorax, 
 and abdomen are separated from one another, as though by 
 incisions, nay, in many cases, seem as though connected 
 only by a thread. Besides this, however, they are dis- 
 tinguished, with a few exceptions among the Genera of 
 the Apterous Order, by peculiar and often very sensible or- 
 gans, which, in the perfect state, are affixed to the head, 
 (Antenna; or feelers,} which are always articulated at the 
 root and, in addition, often formed into several joints; 
 and lastly, by their horny, jointed legs, the number 
 being always greater than in other animals; in perfect in- 
 sects at least six, and in many instances, as many as one 
 hundred and fifty, &c. 
 
 These characters excepted, insects, in general, have 
 but little in their external appearance that is common to 
 all. The almost incalculable number of species, the 
 endless variety of offices they are destined to perform, 
 and the consequent difference of their modes of life, 
 wants, &. require an extreme diversity in their forms, 
 in which respect, as well as in the inequality of their 
 sizes, we find remarkable contrasts. 
 
 Even their external coverings are much more diver- 
 sified than is the case among other animals. Many are 
 protected by a horny coat, composed of several portions, 
 moving on one another like the pieces of a gauntlet, 
 which serve to secure them from the effects of various 
 accidents, and to compensate the deficiency of bones, 
 which in other animals afford attachment to muscles, &c. 
 Many are covered with fine hairs, arid in butterflies, &c. 
 the wings with little feathers or rather scales, which are 
 occasionally of most beautiful colours : indeed, I may 
 remark, that many animals of undescribable beauty are 
 included in this class. 
 
 Insects also differ materially from other animals, with 
 regard to the disposition of their organs of sense, and, pro- 
 bahly, their mode of sensation, insomuch that, many 
 naturalists have refused them certain of our external 
 senses, as hearing and smell ; but without iustice, as the 
 
 almost inexhaustible, from the number of its 
 tribes, and the variety of their appearance. 
 Those who have professedly written on this 
 subject, seem to consider it as one of the great- 
 est that can occupy the human mind, as the 
 most pleasing in animated nature. *' After 
 
 former clearly exists in many which emit certain sounds, 
 as an enticement at the time of breeding, and the latter 
 in a still greater number, which are capable of smelling 
 out their food, though hidden. 
 
 The eyes of insects are particularly remarkable, and 
 with respect to their structure, are of two kinds. The 
 first are large hemispheres, mostly composed of thousands 
 of facets, but in some instances, of numerous conical 
 points, and covered on the inner surface with a layer 
 sometimes glittering, sometimes variegated. Such are 
 found in most winged insects, but also in many Aptera, 
 as the lobster, &c. Those of the second kind (stemma- 
 ta, ocelli,) are simple, small, and vary as well in num- 
 ber as position. Eyes of the first kind seem calculated 
 for seeing at a distance ; of the second, for looking at 
 near objects ; at least it may be supposed so, as we find 
 that butterflies, in their winged perfect state, have such 
 large, compound, telescopic eyes, whilst as caterpillars, 
 they have small myopic ones. Only a few insects, 
 crabs, for instance, can move their eyes. 
 
 The Antennae (feelers) which vary much in different 
 species, in many instances even according to the sex, 
 and which many naturalists have supposed to be organs 
 of smell, taste, &c., seem to be nothing more than their 
 name implies organs of feeling, probes, which are of 
 great importance to insects on account of their hard, in- 
 sensible covering, and the immobility of their eyes in 
 most instances. They appear to possess their most acute 
 feeling in the Antenna?, as man has in the tips of the 
 fingers ; and as for the most part they live in darkness, 
 supply the want of light by this contrivance. On the 
 other hand, the purposes of the Palpi, placed near the 
 organs of mastication, found in almost all insects, and 
 considered by some naturalists to be organs of sense, are 
 as yet undetermined. 
 
 In their internal structure also, insects differ ma- 
 terially from red-blooded animals. For instance, what 
 has been considered as a heart in caterpillars, is a long 
 canal of unequal width, placed along the back, but with- 
 out any vessel arising from it ; consequently, the nutrition 
 of these insects must be effected in a peculiar manner, 
 totally different from that of red-blooded anirrals. On 
 
INSECTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 437 
 
 an attentive examination," says Swammer- 
 dam, ' of the nature and anatomy of the 
 smallest as well as the largest animals, I can- 
 not help allowing the least an equal, or, per- 
 
 the other hand, they are provided with an incalculable 
 number of air-vessels of an astonishingly delicate struc- 
 ture, and with numerous muscles, differing, however, as 
 well in form as in colour, from those of red-blooded ani- 
 mals. 
 
 Although insects stand in need of the exchange of 
 carbon of oxygen to effect the continuance for life, there 
 are but few, as crabs, grasshoppers, many cicada? and 
 chafers, in which a motion resembling respiration can be 
 observed. Insects in general breathe, not by the mouth, 
 but by many spiracula*. The greater number of them 
 can live in a vacuum much longer than red-blooded 
 animals, and many in mephitic atmospheres so fatal to 
 others, and in which animal and vegetable substances 
 become putrid, as carburetted hydrogen gas, &c. 
 
 The abode of insects on and under the surface of the 
 earth, is much less limited than that of the other classes 
 of animals. They are found on almost all warm-blooded 
 animals, and even the larger insects, as bees, chafers, 
 &c., are infested by peculiar kinds of lice. There are but 
 few plants, also, (such as perhaps, the yew, savine, and 
 most tree-mosses,) which do not serve for the abode and 
 support of known insects. Many again, as the oak, are 
 frequented and inhabited by more than a hundred dis- 
 tinct species. Generally, however, as insects are diffused 
 over the earth, the residence of individual species is not 
 less frequently limited to a very small number of ani- 
 mals and plants, or even particular parts of them. 
 
 Only a few insects live in a social state, affording 
 mutual assistance in their labours. The greater number 
 follow their pursuits singly : many, as spiders, live in 
 society when young, but afterwards separate and live in 
 a state of solitude, seeing creatures of the same species 
 only at the time of pairing. 
 
 The remarkable edifices and habitations, which so 
 many insects are capable of executing, have been already 
 mentioned in speaking of instinct. There are but few 
 creatures of this class which do not, at least om:e in their 
 life, give proofs of this natural power of construction ; 
 either, as the cloth-moth and water-moth, form a habita- 
 tion in their complete and larva state ; or, like others, 
 spin and prepare a receptacle to contain them during 
 their metamorphosis and death -like sleep ; or like the 
 lion-ant, dig pits ; and like the spider, weave webs for 
 their prey ; or like many species of the genus Dyticus, 
 and some spiders, form bags or nets for the security of 
 their posterity, and in which they deposit their eggs. 
 Many of those which live in communities, build common 
 residences, by their united powers, and under the 
 guidance of an extremely regular, geometrical, innate 
 instinct. 
 
 As to the kind of nourishment in insects, it is easy to 
 see that it is not, as in most red-blooded animals, calcu- 
 lated merely for the preservation of the individual, but 
 more particularly for the purpose of consuming organized 
 matter. Insects must eat, not solely to satisfy hunger, 
 but also to destroy carrion, to annihilate other insects, to 
 extirpate weeds, &c. An admirable provision, to the 
 execution of which, besides the almost incalculable num- 
 ber of species, the extremely rapid multiplication of 
 many, the unexampled voracity of others, and the quick- 
 ness with which digestion is carried on in their very 
 short intestinal canal, all tend to contribute. Thus it is 
 known that a caterpillar will in twenty-four hours con. 
 
 * On the other hand, this class, in proportion to its vast 
 number of species, contains but few aquatic animals : and of 
 these, but very few exist in the ocean, which forms the abode 
 
 t by far the greater number of species in the preceding and 
 succeeding classes. 
 
 haps, a superior degree of dignity. If, while 
 we dissect with care the largest animals, we 
 are tilled with wonder at the elegant disposi- 
 tion of their parts ; to what a height is our 
 
 sume more than three times its own weight. The organs 
 of mastication in insects are more diversified than in any 
 other class of animals : many are provided with jaws, 
 having teeth and moving laterally ; others, Avith a horny, 
 pointed snout, (rostruni) tor boring ; others with a 
 fleshy snout having a wide opening, (proboscis} ; and 
 others with a tongue, so called, rolled into a spiral shape. 
 
 Some insects are secured from the attacks of their 
 enemies by their deceptive form ; others by having the 
 same colour as the plants on which they live, and con- 
 sequently being less readily noticed ; others, by the 
 powerful smell which they can diffuse in case of neces- 
 sity; others by their social mode of life ; others again by 
 their astonishing strength, &c. Many are provided 
 with weapons, as horns like forceps or nippers, or with 
 stings and venom. 
 
 In the mode of propagation of insects there are also 
 many peculiarities. Thus the two sexes in one and the 
 same species are often so extremely different in form 
 that they seem like animals of distinct kinds: in bees, 
 and many similar insects, the greater number is without 
 sex ; that is to say, they are themselves produced with- 
 out being destined in the ordinary course of nature for 
 generation or impregnation. 
 
 This peculiarity extends in different insects to the 
 mode of copulation. In not a few species, for instance, 
 it is effected in flying, and many possess wings only 
 during the short season of breeding. In general, the 
 greater number live in a state of compulsory monogamy, 
 inasmuch as they are incapable of copulating more than 
 once in the course of life : death is with them so 
 inevitable a result of their first copulation, that life may 
 be prolonged by delaying the period of sexual connec- 
 tion. 
 
 Among other peculiarities of the business of propa- 
 gation in insects, many, as the cochineal-worm, the 
 land-flea, become of an enormous size during pregnancy: 
 thus, in the white ant, it has been calculated that the 
 abdomen of the female, when about to lay her eggs, is 
 2000 times larger than previous to impregnation. 
 
 Most insects lay eggs, which the mother, by a truly 
 wonderful instinct, always deposits precisely in the situa- 
 tions best adapted for the future progeny. Many, for in- 
 stance, lay their eggs in the bodies of living insects of 
 other kinds, as in caterpillars, pupae, &c. ; or even in the 
 eggs of other kinds of insects. The eggs of insects are 
 occasionally, particularly among butterflies, of very vari- 
 ous and remarkable form and appearance, and when de- 
 posited by the mother in the open air, are covered with 
 a kind of varnish, protecting them from the des- 
 tructive influence of rain and other accidents. Some few 
 insects are viviparous, and many, as the plant-lice 
 (Aphides), propagate in both ways. 
 
 A very remarkable phenomenon, almost confined to 
 this class of animals, or at least much less striking in the 
 others, is their metamorphosis. There is not any winged 
 insect which escapes from the egg as such, but all, as 
 well as many insects which have not wings, must first 
 undergo a kind of change at certain periods of their ex- 
 istence. By this, not only their external form, but also 
 at the same time their internal structure, contrary to com- 
 mon opinion, is altered in a certain degree, a circum- 
 stance which by no means coincides with the supposed 
 pre -existence of pre-formed germs. 
 
 If the moth existed already formed in the caterpillar, 
 we should at least expect that similar moths should be 
 produced by similar caterpillars. Bnt many American 
 caterpillars, which resemble European ones in the closest 
 manner posible, give origin to moths having totally dif-* 
 
438 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 astonishment raised, when we discover all 
 these parts arranged in the least in the same 
 regular manner ! Notwithstanding the small- 
 ness of ants, nothing hinders our preferring 
 
 ferent forms: and on the other hand, many remarkably 
 similar moths of both these parts of the world, are devel- 
 oped from caterpillars altogether unlike. 
 
 Insects which undergo metamorphosis are called 
 Larvae, whilst in the state in which they escape from 
 the egg. They are mostly very small on their first ap- 
 pearance, so that a full grown caterpillar ot the willow 
 moth for instance, is 72,000 times heavier than when it 
 issues from the egg. On the other hand, they grow 
 with great rapidity, so (hat as an example, the maggot 
 of the meat-fly, at the end of twenty-four hours, is 155 
 times heavier than at its birth. Some larvae have feet, 
 as caterpillars and the grubs of chafers ; others have not, 
 as maggots : none have wings. In this state also they 
 are incapable of propagating ; they merely feed, increase, 
 and change their covering several times. 
 
 The form into which the larva is converted is called 
 nympha. Many can move about and take food when in 
 this state. Others, on the contrary, are covered up, as 
 pupae (chrysalis, Aurelia), and pass this portion of their 
 life in a state of torpor without eating or moving. 
 
 During the time, however, that the creature thus lies 
 insensible and torpid within its coverings, a great change 
 is going forward, by which it quits the larva-state, and 
 is enabled to leave its prison as a perfect insect (Insectum 
 dectaratum, imago}. Many insects finish this last por- 
 tion of their existence in a very short time. Several, 
 when they break from the coverings of the larva-state 
 are unprovided with a mouth, and cease to eat or grow. 
 These two functions of all organized bodies they per- 
 formed while larvae; a third only remains to propa- 
 gate the species, and then to give way to their posterity 
 and perish. 
 
 The immediate utility of insects to man, is but 
 limited ; but, on the other hand, the parts which these small 
 and unnoticed animals perform in the general economy 
 of nature, is in an equal degree varied and incalculable. 
 Some destroy numerous kinds of weeds in the bud, or 
 extirpate them when full grown. Another extremely 
 useful object is effected by many insects which feed on 
 carrion, live in dung, &c., and by that means destroy, 
 disperse and change noxious animal substances ; on the 
 one hand, obviating the infection of the air, and on the 
 other, promoting the fertilization of the earth. It is in 
 this way, for instance, that flies are so serviceable in warm 
 climates. So again, there are innumerable insects which 
 effect the impregnation of plants in a very remarkable 
 manner, as a species of Cynips is employed for the 
 artificial fructifications of the fig. Various kinds of 
 insects are used as baits for fishing. Many animals of 
 this class, as crabs and some kinds of locusts, are eatable. 
 So also is the honey of bees, from which mead is pre 
 pared in many parts of Europe and Africa. Silk is em 
 ployed for clothing and many other purposes. Several 
 insects afford excellent dyes, as cochineal, &c. Galls 
 are employed for ink, wax for lights, and other pur- 
 poses. Lac, which is the product of certain Indian species 
 of coccus, is employed to make varnish, sealing-wax, &c. 
 As medicines, we have Spanish flies, wood-lice, ants 
 the oil-beetle, recommended in hydrophobia, and many 
 beetles for relieving toothache. 
 
 Great as is the utility of insects, the injury done by 
 many is also very considerable. Many are noxious to 
 the products of the earth in general, cause scarcity, or 
 as locusts, destroy every thing in their course. Some are 
 especially injurious to corn ; others, as caterpillars, 
 grubs, &c., to garden-plants, or fruit-trees ; the various 
 species of coccus, to orange-trees in particular ; the 
 larva; of suine species of dermestes, &c. to forest trees ; 
 
 them to the largest animals ; if we consider 
 either their unwearied diligence, their won- 
 derful strength, or their inimitable propensity 
 to labour. Their amazing love to their young 
 is still more unparalleled among the larger 
 classes. They not only daily carry them to 
 such places as may afford them food ; but if, 
 by accident, they are killed, and even cut 
 into pieces, they, with the utmost tenderness, 
 will carry them away, piecemeal, in their 
 arms. Who can show such an example 
 among the larger animals, which are dignified 
 with the title of perfect? Who can find an 
 instance in any other creature, that can come 
 in competition with this?" 
 
 Such is the language of a man, who, by 
 long study, become enamoured of this subject; 
 but to those who judge less partially, it will 
 be found that the insect tribe, for every reason, 
 deserve but the last and lowest rank in ani- 
 mated nature. As in mechanics the most 
 complicated machines are required to perform 
 the nicest operations, so in anatomy the noblest 
 animals are most variously and wonderfully 
 made. Of all living beings man offers the 
 most wonderful variety in his internal confor- 
 mation ; quadrupeds come next, and other 
 animals follow in proportion to their powers 
 or their excellencies. Insects seem, of all 
 others, the most imperfectly formed : from 
 their minuteness, the dissecting knife can go 
 but a short way in the investigation ; but one 
 thing argues an evident imperfection, which 
 is, that many of them can live a long time, 
 though deprived of those organs which are 
 necessary to life in the higher ranks of nature. 
 Many of them are furnished with lungs and a 
 heart, like nobler animals ; yet the caterpillar 
 continues to live, though its heart and lungs, 
 which is often the case, are entirely eaten 
 away. 
 
 But it is not from their conformation alone, 
 that insects are inferior to other animals, but 
 from their instincts also. It is true that the 
 ant and the bee present us with very strik- 
 ing instances of assiduity ; but how far are 
 theirs beneath the mark of sagacity exhibited 
 in the hound or the stag ! A bee, taken from 
 the swarm, is totally helpless and inactive, 
 incapable of giving the smallest variation to 
 its instincts : it has but one single method of 
 operating, and, if put from that, it can turn to 
 no other. In the pursuits of the hound, there 
 is something like a choice ; in the labours of 
 
 ants, &c. to meadows; cock-roaches, to victuals, tho 
 hite ants, &c. to furniture ; moths to woollen goods, 
 fur, &c. ; the larvae of many small insects, to books, 
 collections of natural history, &c. Lastly, some kinds 
 of vermin infest man, horses, sheep, fowls, other domes- 
 tic animals, and even other serviceable insects, as bees, 
 silk-worms. Others again, as scorpions, are formidable 
 jy their venom. 
 
INSECTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 439 
 
 the bee, the whole appears like necessity or 
 compulsion. 
 
 It' insects be considered as bearing a rela- 
 tion to man, and as assisting him in the plea- 
 sures or necessities of life, they will, even in 
 this respect, sink in the comparison with the 
 larger tribes of nature. It is true that the bee, 
 the silk-worm, the cochineal fly, and the can- 
 tharides, render him signal services ; but how 
 many others of this class are either noxious or 
 totally unserviceable to him ? Even in a coun- 
 try like ours, where all the noxious animals 
 have been reduced by repeated assiduity, the. 
 insect tribes still maintain their ground, and 
 are but too often unwelcome intruders upon the 
 fruits of human industry. But in more un- 
 cultivated regions, their annoyance and devas- 
 tations are terrible. What an uncomfortable 
 life must the natives lead in Lapland, and some 
 parts of America, where, if a candle be lighted, 
 the insects swarm in such abundance, as in- 
 stantly to extinguish it with their numbers ; 
 where the inhabitants are obliged to smear their 
 bodies and faces with tar, or some other com- 
 position, to protect them from the puncture of 
 their minute enemies ; where, though millions 
 are destroyed, famished millions are still seen 
 to succeed, and to make the torture endless ! 
 
 Their amazing number is also an argument 
 of their imperfection. It is a rule that obtains 
 through all nature, that the nobler animals are 
 sloAvly produced, and that nature acts with a 
 kind of dignified economy ; but the meaner 
 births are lavished in profusion, and thousands 
 are brought forth merely to supply the neces- 
 sities of the more favourite objects of creation. 
 Of all other productions in nature, insects are 
 the most numerous. Vegetables that cover 
 the surface of the earth, bear no proportion to 
 their multitudes ; and though, at first sight, 
 herbs of the field seem to be the parts of orga- 
 nized nature produced in the greatest abun- 
 dance ; yet, upon minuter inspection, we shall 
 find every plant supporting a number of 
 scarcely perceptible creatures, that fill up the 
 various stages of youth, vigour, and age, in 
 the pompass of a few days' existence. 
 
 All other animals are capable of some de- 
 gree of education ; their instincts may be sup- 
 pressed or altered : the dog may be taught to 
 fetch and carry ; the bird to whistle a tune ; 
 and the serpent to dance : but the insect has 
 but one invariable method of operating ; no 
 arts can turn it from its instincts ; and, indeed, 
 its life is too short for instruction, as a single 
 season often terminates its existence. 
 
 For these reasons, the insect tribe are deser- 
 vedly placed in the lowest rank of animated 
 nature; and, in general, they seem more allied 
 to the vegetables on which they feed, than to 
 the nobler classes above them. Many of them 
 are attached to one vegetable, often to a sin- 
 
 gle leaf ; there they increase with the flourish- 
 ing plant, and die as it decays ; a few days 
 fill up the measure of their contemptible lives ; 
 while the ends for which they were produced, 
 or the pleasures they enjoyed, to us at least, 
 are utterly unknown. 
 
 Yet while I am thus fixing the rank of a 
 certain class of animals, it seems necessary to 
 define the nature of those animals which are 
 thus degraded. Definitions in general pro- 
 duce little knowledge ; but here, where the 
 shades of nature are so intimately blended, 
 some discrimination is necessary to prevent 
 confusion. The smallness of the animal, for 
 instance, does not constitute an insect ; for 
 then, many of the lizard kind, which are not 
 above two inches long, would come under this 
 denomination ; and if the smaller lizards, why 
 not the crocodile ? which would be a terrible 
 insect indeed ! In the same manner, small- 
 ness, with a slow creeping motion, does not 
 constitute an insect; for, though snails might 
 be called insects, with the same propriety the 
 whole tribe of sea shell-fish would then have 
 equal pretensions ; and a very troublesome in- 
 novation would be brought into our language, 
 which is already formed. Excluding such 
 animals, therefore, from the insect tribe, we 
 may define insects to be little animals without 
 red blood, bones, or cartilages, furnished with a 
 trunk, or else a mouth, opening lengthwise, with 
 eyes which they are incapable of covering, and 
 with lungs ivhich have their opening on the sides. 
 This definition comprehends the whole class ot 
 insects, whether with or without wings ; whe- 
 ther in their caterpillar or butterfly state ; 
 whether produced in the ordinary method of 
 generation between male and female, or from 
 an animal that is itself both male and female, 
 or from the same animal cut into several parts, 
 and each part producing a perfect animal. 
 
 From hence it appears, that in this class of 
 animals there are numerous distinctions, and 
 that a general description will by no means 
 serve for all. Almost every species has its 
 own distinct history ; and exhibits manners, 
 appetites, and modes of propagation, peculiarly 
 its own. In the larger ranks of existence, two 
 animals that nearly resemble each other in 
 form, will be found to have a similar history ; 
 but here insects almost entirely alike will be 
 often found perfectly dissimilar, as well in 
 their manner of bringing forth and subsisting, 
 as in the changes which they undergo during 
 their short lives. Thus, as this class is proli- 
 fic beyond computation, so are its varieties 
 multiplied beyond the power of description. 
 The attempt to enumerate all the species of a 
 fly or a moth would be very fruitless ; but to 
 give a history of all would be utterly imprac- 
 ticable : so various are the appetites, the man- 
 ners, and the lives of this humble class of 
 
440 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 beings, that every species requires its distinct 
 history. An exact plan, therefore, of Nature's 
 operations in this minute set of creatures, is 
 not to be expected; and yet such a general 
 picture may be given, as is sufficient to show 
 the protection which Providence affords its 
 smallest as well as its largest productions, and 
 to display that admirable circulation in nature 
 by which one set of living beings find subsis- 
 tence from the destruction of another ; and by 
 which life is continued without. a pause in 
 every part of the creation. 
 
 Upon casting a slight view over the whole 
 insect tribe, just when they are supposed to 
 rouse from their state of annual torpidity, when 
 they begin to feel the genial influence of 
 spring, and again exhibit new life in every 
 part of nature, their numbers and their varie- 
 ties seem to exceed all powers of calculation, 
 and they are indeed too great for description. 
 When we look closer, however, we shall find 
 some striking similitudes, either in their pro- 
 pagation, their mariners, or their form, that 
 give us a hint for grouping several of them 
 into one description, and thus enabling us to 
 shorten the labour of a separate history for 
 every species. Swammerdam, Reaumur, and 
 Linnaeus, have each attempted to abridge the 
 task of description, by throwing a number of 
 similar animals into distinct classes, and thus 
 making one general history stand for all. I 
 will avail myself of their labours ; and uniting 
 their general distinctions, throw the whole 
 class of insects into four separate distributions, 
 giving under each the history of every species 
 that seems to me considerable enough to de- 
 serve our notice. Thus our labour will be 
 shortened ; and the very rank in which an in- 
 sect is placed, will, in some measure, exhibit 
 a considerable part of its history. 1 
 
 1 Sketch of the History of Insects. The observation 
 of this numerous, diversified, and interesting class of 
 beings, and, consequently, the origin of entomological 
 science, must necessarily have been coeval with the crea- 
 tion of man. About five hundred years before Christ 
 Hippocrates wrote upon insects. Aristotle describes them 
 as consisting of three parts head, trunk and abdomen : 
 he then speaks of what he calls tribes of insects, dividing 
 them, from their modeof progression, into those that walk 
 and those that fly, noticing and commenting on their wings, 
 proboscis, antennae, and feet, carefully observing the latter, 
 and exhibiting in this, as in every other department of 
 zoology, thataccuracy which soeminently distinguished the 
 philosophical preceptor of Alexander the Great. Pliny is 
 the next author of any note whose attention seems to have 
 been directed to the study in question, for, in his ele- 
 venth book, he speaks of various bees, wasps, &c. From 
 this period, down to 1519, when the work of Albertus 
 Magnus upon insects was published, the science made a 
 silent but certain progress. Its advance in the succeed- 
 ing thirty years is visible in the efficient attempt at a 
 better system of classification than had hitherto prevailed, 
 in the De Animalibus Subterraneis of the last mentioned 
 author, in 1549. He there divides insects into three 
 classes those that walk, those that fly, and those that 
 
 In our cursory inspection of the insect tribe, 
 the first animals that offer themselves are those 
 which want wings, that appear crawling about 
 on every plant, and on every spot of earth we 
 
 swim, describing several species of each class. In 1552, 
 Wotton published his De Differcntiis Animulium, and 
 was followed by numerous writers on the subject of in- 
 sects, whose books possessed more or less merit: some of 
 them were illustrated with figures, and all tended to ren- 
 der the study more worthy of the name of a science. 
 We may mention in particular the folio of the learned 
 and liberal Aldrovandus, IC02, and Mouffet's Insectorum 
 Theatrum. The Expert 'msnta, &c. of Recli, 1671, also 
 deserves especial attention for its triumphant refutation 
 of the then popular error of equivocal generation an er- 
 ror whose origin is buried in the remotest antiquity, up- 
 held by the ancient philosophers, and not even yet eradi- 
 cated from the minds of the common people. Redi de- 
 monstrated the fact, that every living animal is derived 
 from an egg, deposited by a parent every way similar to 
 itself. 
 
 Previous to this, in 1669, the great work of Swam- 
 merdam Historia Insectorum, Generalis was given to 
 the public, but was utterly neglected until the death of 
 the author, in 1680. when it was instantly discovered to 
 be of such value as to demand a translation. No book, 
 seller could be fonnd who would risk the expense of 
 printing the Biblia Natures, a second wcrk from the 
 same pen, until it accidentally fell into the possession of 
 the learned Boerhaave, who published it, together with 
 the life of Swammerdam, in 1738. In that book, which 
 is still considered as one of the most valuable we possess 
 on the anatomy of insects, he divides them into the four 
 following classes : 1. those whose characters are con- 
 stant, undergoing no change whatever, and which preserve 
 for life the form in which they leave the ovum; spiders, 
 &c. : 2. those which, on their liberation from the ovum, 
 have the appearance of an insect without wings, but 
 otherwise completely formed, and that pass into the state 
 of a nymph or chrysalis, from which they issue provided 
 with wings, and fitted for continuing the species ; dra- 
 gon-flies, &c. : 3. those which, having existed in the 
 ovum in a disguised form, leave it under the appearance 
 of an insect (caterpillar), which feeds and increases in 
 size, while the various parts of the new animal, into 
 which it is to be converted, are forming under its skin, 
 and finally becomes a nymph; moths, butterflies, &c. : 
 4. those which, having arrived at maturity, do not divest 
 themselves of their skin, but pass into the chrysalis state 
 under it, remaining there till the metamorphosis is com- 
 pletely effected, when, quitting both skins at once, they 
 come forth in their final and perfect form; iclmeumons, 
 &c. 
 
 Malpighi and Vallisnieri also enriched the science 
 with the results of their observations, in common with 
 others of less note. The Memoires, &c., of Perrault 
 (Paris, 1671), Lister's book on spiders, the Historia 
 Animalium dnglioe, &c., (167^), and those of Ferrand, 
 Mollerus, and Berelio, all tended to the same result. In 
 16S5, a Latin edition of the works of Goedart was pub- 
 lished by Dr Lister, just named, a learned entomologist 
 of that period, and physician to queen Anne, who gave a 
 new arrangement to the materials collected by his indus- 
 trious though not very acute author, who was more of a 
 collector and painter of insects than a scientific observer. 
 In that work, Lister establishes ten classes of Insects : 
 1. moths with erect wings, or diurnal butterflies; 2. 
 moths with horizontal wings, the perfect insect of the ca- 
 terpillar, called the geometra by Goedart; 3. moths with 
 deflected wings: 4. libellulrc; 5. bees; 6. beetles; 7. 
 grasshoppers: 8. dipterous flies; 9. millipedes; and, 10. 
 spiders. There is nothing, however, in this mode of di- 
 vision, which merits any peculiar praise, or that should 
 
INSECTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 441 
 
 regard with any degree of attention. Of these, 
 some never obtain wings at any period of their 
 existence : but are destined to creep on the ve- 
 getable, or the spot of earth, where they are 
 stationed for their whole lives. On the con- 
 prevent us from passing immediately to the microscopi- 
 cal discoveries of the celebrated Leuwenhoeck, from 
 whose inventive genius and patient observations the sci- 
 ence received such essential benefit, not more by what he 
 himself discovered, than by the foundation he laid for 
 that system of close and minute observation which alone 
 leads to truth. Our limits will only permit us to desig- 
 nate Blankaart and Geyerus, as occupying a similar rank 
 with Goedart. 
 
 Ray, however, deserves more particular notice. His 
 descriptions are very exact and detailed, and his various 
 works, Synopis Methodica Animalium, &c., (Lond., 
 1783), Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium, (Lond., 
 1713), atid the Historia Insectorum (Lond., 1710), suf- 
 ficiently demonstrate his claim to the title of the first 
 true systematist. His was the glory of serving as a zoo- 
 logical guide to the illustrious Swedish reformer, of whom 
 we shall soon have to speak. Ray divides insects into 
 two great classes those which undergo a metamorphosis 
 after having been produced, and those which do not. 
 He again subdivides each of these classes into orders, 
 characterized by the feet, or by their absence; by their 
 habitations ; by the size or conformation of the various 
 parts of the body ; by their larvae, &c. In this arrange- 
 ment were included certain tribes of vermes, subsequently 
 separated by Linnaeus. The voluminous productions, 
 upon this subject, of the indefatigable Reaumur who di- 
 rected his researches into every department of science, 
 appeared in Paris in 6 vols., 4to., 1734. 1742. His 
 Memoires pour servir a I' Histoire des Insects for such 
 is its modest title is an admirable work, both with res- 
 pect to the number and value of the observations it con- 
 tains. It is to be lamented that the 7th volume, which 
 is completed, remains unpublished. The intended re- 
 maining ones were not commenced when Reaumur died, 
 in 1757. 
 
 But a greater name than any we have yet mentioned 
 is that of the illustrious reformer of the nomenclature of 
 the natural sciences. Notwithstanding the labours of so 
 many ingenious, learned and acute observers of nature, 
 the history of animals, and that of insects in particular, 
 remained in a confused state until the illustrious Linnaeus 
 reduced the chaotic pile to order. Directing all the en- 
 ergies of his clear and comprehensive mind to the sub- 
 ject, he produced, in his well known Systema Naturae, 
 1735, the first truly methodical work. In a final edition 
 of the same book, we find an arrangement of insects dif- 
 fering from that contained in the former; and, as that is 
 the one always referred to at the present day, and as his 
 divisions are, to a certain extent, still retained, we deem 
 it proper to notice it here. He divides insects into 
 caleoptera, hemoptera, lepidoptera, neuroptera, hymenop- 
 tera, diptera, and aptera. In this class were also inclu- 
 ded the Crustacea and arachnides, now forming the first 
 and second classes of the third great division of the ani- 
 mal kingdom, or the animalia articulata. The system 
 of Linnaeus, though not a natural one, was well adapted 
 to the limited number of animals then known, and which, 
 with respect to insects, did not exceed 800 or 900. Its 
 subsequent alterations necessarily arose from the immense 
 number of new ones which the increasing zeal of obser- 
 vers detected in every part of the globe. 
 
 L'Admiral, Letharding, Lesser, Degeer, Roesel, Sco- 
 poli, and Geoffrey, all contributed and some of them 
 greatly, to multiply facts and detect errors. Lyonnet, 
 however, merits something more than the bare mention 
 of his name. Animated by a zeal that no disappoint- 
 muit could damp, and armed with a patience that set 
 
 VOL. ii. 
 
 trary, others are only candidates for a more 
 happy situation ; and only wait their growing 
 wings, when they may be said to arrive at their 
 state of full perfection. 
 
 Those that never have wings, but creep 
 
 obstacles at defiance, this untiring inquirer devoted seven 
 years of his life to the anatomy of a single insect the 
 larva of a species of cossus that inhabits the willow. The 
 plates of his work, the Traitf Anatomique de la Chenille 
 du Saule (4to., 1762), eighteen in number, were all en- 
 graved by his own hand, with a minuteness, fidelity, and 
 elegance that have seldom, if ever, been equalled. The 
 ensemble is pronounced, by the greatest authority of our 
 age, a chef-d'oeuvre both of anatomy and engraving. 
 
 We cannot stop to notice particularly the labours of 
 Schseffer, Seba, Forster, and Drury, each of whom added 
 something to the general fund of knowledge. With res- 
 pect to those of Fabricius, it is otherwise. This cele- 
 brated entomologist, and pupil of Linnaeus, published nu- 
 merous and valuable works on his favourite science, of 
 which we will only cite the Entomologia Systcmatica, 
 emendata et aucta (4 vols., 8vo., 17921794), the Sup. 
 plementum Entomologice Systematicce (1798), and the 
 Systema Eleutheratorum,, Rhyngotorum, &c., (from 1801 
 to 1805). He was the first who had recourse to the 
 parts of the mouth, or organs of manducation, as a basis 
 of distribution ; and a vast number of new species of in- 
 sects were described by him, in his remarkably concise 
 but clear manner, with which Gmelin, a naturalist, or 
 or rather editor, of a very different class, enriched the 
 Systema of Linnaeus. The splendid and costly works of 
 Oliver (5 vols., fol., Paris, 17S9 1808), Donovan 
 (London, 17781805), Palisot de Beauvois, (Paris, 
 fol., 1805, et seq.) Cramer, (4 vols., 4to, with 400 col- 
 oured plates, Amsterdam, 1779, continued by Stoll, in 
 1 vol., 4to., 1790 et seq.), together with a multitude of 
 others of a less magnificent description, bring our sketch 
 down to a period in the annals of the natural sciences 
 which is graced by the name of Cuvier. It is to him 
 that we are indebted for what is termed the natural me- 
 thod, or an arrangement in which, to use his own words, 
 " all beings of the same genus are placed nearer to each 
 other than to those of all other genera of the same order 
 similarly disposed with respect to those of all other or- 
 ders, &c." The energy and discrimination of this mo- 
 dern oracle of the natural sciences, as he has justly been 
 styled, aided by untiring industry, have fixed the foun- 
 dations of zoology upon the immutable basis of compara- 
 tive anatomy. From the moment his Table au elemen- 
 taire de V Histoire naturelle des Animaux, and his Le~ 
 cons d 1 Anatomic Comparee, made their appearance, the 
 entomologist, in common with the cultivators of every 
 other branch of zoology, was sensible that he at last held 
 the clew by which he could hope to traverse the hitherto 
 impracticable labyrinth. The study now became a 
 greater object of interest than ever. Lamarck produced 
 his work upon invertebral animals, and Latreille, guided 
 by Cuvier, soon gave to the world his famous entomologi- 
 cal system. 
 
 Among the modern writers of eminence on the sub. 
 ject of insects, MacLeay, Leach, and Kirby stand pre- 
 eminent in England. Prussia boasts of her Klug and 
 Illiger; Germany of her Knoch, Mannerheim, and Ger- 
 mar ; Russia of her Fischer ; Sweden of her Paykull, 
 Gyllenhal, and Schoenherr ; and France, that favourite 
 seat of science, gave birth to Latreille, the greatest of 
 entomologists. There, too, count Dejean is busied with 
 his admirable work on coleopterous insects, which, when 
 completed, will leave nothing to be desired with respect 
 to that order. Leon Dufour,of the same country, by his 
 various memoirs on the anatomy of a new species of 
 brachinus, on that of the coleoptcra, of the cicaderiee, of 
 the cicadella, of the forfifulce, &c., has given ample 
 SK 
 
4-42 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 about till they die, may be considered as con- 
 stituting the FIRST CLASS of insects. All these, 
 the flea and the woodlouse only excepted, are 
 produced from an egg; and when once they 
 
 proofs of his devotion to the science, and of his title to 
 the rank of the first entomological anatomist of the age. 
 Savigny, also, who sacrificed his sight to his anatomical 
 investigations, and was one of the savants who accompa- 
 nied the expedition to Egypt, has rendered the most im- 
 portant services to this branch of zoology, by his work on 
 the mouths of insects. In America, Melsheimer (who 
 furnished Knoch with the greater part of his species), 
 Say, Hentz, Le Conte, Harris, arid many others, have 
 successfully exerted themselves in detecting and describ- 
 ing the insects of the United States. 
 
 In the earlier writings of Lamarck, he included the 
 Crustacea, as well as the Arachnides, in his Class In- 
 secta. These have since been formed into separate 
 Classes by him, but as the latter of these is so nearly 
 allied to the true insects, we retain it at the head of that 
 Class, under its own proper title. 
 
 ARACHNIDES. 
 
 The Arachnides are oviparous animals, provided 
 with articulated members, but do not undergo a meta- 
 morphosis, similar to insects. They respire, either by 
 bronchiae or by means of a trachea, the openings for 
 the admission of air being stigmatiform ; and they are 
 destitute of antennae. 
 
 ORDER I. PULMONARY. 
 
 With a heart ; each side of the abdomen with bron- 
 chial sacs ; six to eight eyes ; two pedipalpi ; two jaws 
 and palpi ; and four pair of feet : sexual organs double. 
 
 SECTION I. PEDIPALPI. 
 
 Very large palpi; abdomen distinctly unnulated, hav- 
 ing no web-spinning papillse. 
 
 FAMILY I. SCORPIONIDES. 
 
 With a sessile abdomen, provided with four spiracles, 
 the six terminal segments forming a tail ; the last one 
 pointed, and serving as a sting, perforated for the pas- 
 sage of poison ; palpi forceps-shaped. Scorpio Afer, pi. 
 26. f. 1. 
 
 FAMILY II. TARANTULA. 
 
 With a pedimculated abdomen, each side below fur- 
 nished with two spiracles, and terminated by a stingless, 
 jointed filament ; palpi arm-shaped, with spinous ex- 
 tremities ; mandibles rnonodactyle ; anterior feet longer 
 than the others ; tongue long and dart-shaped. Ttiely- 
 pJionus Ca2ulatus, pi. *26. f. 2. 
 
 SECTION II. ARANEIDES. 
 
 Palpi like small feet, ending in a hook ; last joint 
 bearing the sexual organs in the male ; four or six ma- 
 millse placed near the anal opening, in both sexes, for 
 the purpose of spinning. 
 
 I. TETRAPNEUMONES. 
 
 Provided with two spiracles, and two pulmonary sacs 
 on both sides. Mygale Ccementaria, pi. '26. f. 3. 
 
 II. DlPNEUMONES. 
 
 Having only one spiracle, and one pulmonary sac, on 
 each side ; six spinning orifices ; the four exterior quad- 
 rangular, and two smaller ones iu the middle. 
 
 FAMILY I. TUBITEL.E. 
 
 Spinning orifices fasciculated, approximated, and cy- 
 lindrical ; feet strong. Aranea Douiedica, pi. "26, f. 4. 
 
 FAMILY II. IN^QUITELI.^. 
 Spinning papillae converging and conical; feet very 
 
 break the shell, they never suffer any further 
 change of form, but continue to grow larger 
 till they die. Thus the louse or the spider are 
 produced from an egg, never suffering any al- 
 
 slender ; first and last pairs are usually longer than the 
 others ; jaws inclined upon the labium. Scytodes thoni- 
 cica, pi. 26, f. 5. 
 
 FAMILY III. ORBIIEL^E. 
 
 Differing from the preceding family, m the first and 
 second pair of feet being usually longest ; the jaws are 
 straight, and wider above. Epeira diadema, pi. 26, f. 6. 
 
 FAMILY IV. LATERIGRAD^E. 
 
 When in a state of repose the feet are horizontally ex- 
 tended, four anterior longest and nearly equal ; eyes 
 forming the segment of a circle in one division, and in 
 two parallel lines in another. Tliomisus castaneus, pi. 26, 
 
 FAMILY V. CITIGRAD.E. 
 
 Eyes, eight in number, placed curvilinearly triangu- 
 lar, or ovally truncated. They spin no webs ; capture 
 their prey by leaping. Lycosa* Tarantula, pi. 26, f. 8. 
 
 FAMILY VI. SALTIGRAD.E, 
 
 Legs formed for leaping ; eyes either in a single or 
 double quadrangular group, the smaller ones within the 
 other. Eresus moniliyerus, pi. 26, f. 9. 
 
 ORDER II. TRACHEARI^. 
 
 Without a heart, but in its stead a single dorsal ves- 
 sel ; they respire through a radiated trachea, the air 
 passing through spiracles in the abdomen or thorax ; 
 eyes from two to four ; some are blind ; mouth usually 
 syphon-shaped ; sexual organs single. 
 
 FAMILY I. PYCNOGONIDES. 
 
 With a projecting syphon ; four eyes placed on a sin- 
 gle tubercle ; feet mostly long, terminated by unequal 
 hooks ; at the base of the first are two oviferous feet. 
 Pycnoyonon Balanarum, pi. 26, f. 10. 
 
 FAMILY II. PSEUDOSCORPIONES. 
 
 With very large, pediform palpi, with a didactyle 
 hand or a vascular button. Clidifer Cancroides, pi. 26, 
 
 FAMILY III. PHALANGITA. 
 
 With slender filiform palpi, terminated by a hook. 
 Siro ruttem, pi. 26, f. 12. 
 
 FAMILY IV. ACARIDES. 
 
 With an oval or globular extremely minute body ; ge- 
 nerally with two filiform palpi ; eyes minute ; eight 
 hairy feet, each terminated with two or three hooks. 
 Trombidium tindorum, pi. 26, f. 1 3. 
 
 FAMILY V. HYDRACHNELL.E. 
 
 Mouth generally produced and feet adapted for swim- 
 ming. Hydrachna geographica, pi. 26, f. 14. 
 
 FAMILY VI. RICINI^E. 
 
 Mouth produced, legs formed for walking, wandering, 
 or parasitical land animals. Argas reflexus, pi. 26, f. lo. 
 
 FAMILY VII. MICROPHTHIRA. 
 
 Having six legs, and always parasitical. Leptus Au- 
 tumnalis. PL 26, f. 15. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 ORDER I. THYSANOURA. 
 
 These ;trc apterous insects, with six feet, and under- 
 
INSECTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 443 
 
 teration when once they are excluded; but, 
 like the chicken or the duck, remaining inva- 
 riably the same, from their birth to their dis- 
 solution. 
 
 go no metamorphosis ; head distinct ; two antennae, 
 which are longer than the head ; abdomen with a ter- 
 minal forked or filamentary tail. 
 
 FAMILY I. LEPISMEN.E. 
 
 Antennae with many small joints ; palpi produced; ab- 
 domen provided with a series of movable appendages 
 011 each side. Machilia polypoda, pi. 28, f. 1. 
 
 FAMILY II. PODURELL^E. 
 
 Antennae four jointed ; mouth destitute of palpi ; no 
 lateral appendages on the abdomen ; tail forked (used 
 in leaping) while in repose it is folded under the abdo- 
 men. Pudura Ptumbea, pi. 28, f. 2. 
 
 ORDER II. PARASITA. 
 
 With six feet ; no abdominal appendages ; two or four 
 small eyes ; exterior mouth, nipple or snout-shaped, in- 
 closing a retractile sucker ; sometimes having membra- 
 nous lips, with doubly hooked mandibles. 
 
 FAMILY I. MANDIBULATA. 
 
 Having two lips, mandibles, and jaws. Ricinus corvi- 
 coracis, pi. 28, f. 3. 
 
 FAMILY II. SIPHUNCULATA. 
 
 No mandibles ; mouth consisting of a beak, from 
 which a sucker can be protruded at will. Pediculus co- 
 Itu-nicis, pi. 28, f. 4. 
 
 ORDER III. SYPHONAPTERA. 
 
 With a compressed body ; mouth provided with a 
 two-pieced sucker, inclosed between two articulated 
 laminae ; these form a conical or cylindrical beak, co- 
 vered with scales at the base. It consists of but one 
 genus. 
 
 Pulex irritans, pi. 28, f. 5. With an oval compressed 
 body, consisting of twelve segments ; three of which 
 compose the thorax, and the remaining the abdomen ; 
 six feet ; beak, jointed, consisting of two plates inclosing 
 a sucker. 
 
 ORDER IV. COLEOPTERA. 
 
 Having four crustaceous elytra or wings, the two up- 
 per ones in the form of cases, and covering the under 
 ones when at rest, which are folded across ; they are 
 provided with mandibles and jaws for mastication ; the 
 suture betwixt the elytra straight. 
 
 SECTION I.-PENTAMERA. 
 Tarsi with five joints. 
 
 FAMILY I. ADEPHAGI. 
 
 Each jaw with two palpi, in all six ; antennae gene- 
 rally filiform, and simple. Tribe i. Cicendeletae. Ter- 
 restrial. Cicendela octonotata, pi. 28, f. 6. Tribe ii. 
 Carabici. Bracldnus JurincB, f. 7. Tribe iii. Hydro- 
 canthari. Aquatic. Colymbetes marmoratus, f. 8. Tribe 
 iv. Gyrinites. Gyrinus sulcatus, f. 9. 
 
 FAMILY II. BRACHYPTERA. 
 
 Body elongated, narrow ; antennae moniliform ; each 
 jaw provided with a palpus ; elytra shorter than the ab- 
 domen, but covering the wings ; anal appendages hairy. 
 Tribe i. Fissilabri. Oxyporus ntfus, pi. 28, f. 10. Tribe 
 ii. Longipalpi. Pcederus ruficollis, f. 11. Tribe iii. 
 Depress!. Lesteva dichroa, f. 12. Tribe iv. Microce- 
 phali. Taddnus atricapillus, f. 13. 
 
 FAMILY III. SERRICORNES. 
 With filiform or setaceous antennae, tufted, serrated, 
 
 The SECOND ORDER of insects consists of such 
 as have wings ; but which, when produced 
 from the egg, have those wings cased up in 
 such a manner as not to appear. This casing 
 
 or pectinated in the males ; some ending in a toothed 
 club ; upper part of abdomen covered by the elytra, ex- 
 cept in one genus ; tarsal penult joint frequently bi- 
 lobed. Tribe i. Buprestides. Buprestis rujipes, pi. 28, 
 f. 14. Tribe ii. Elaterides. Eiater areolus, f. 1.5. 
 Tribe 
 Tribe iv. 
 
 Tribe v. Melyrides. Malachius emeus, pi 
 Tribe vi. Clerii. Opilo mollis, f. 19. Tribe vii.- 
 Xylotrogi. Hyleccetus Dermestoides, f. 21. Tribe viii. 
 Ptiniores. Anobium tesselutum, f. 20. 
 
 FAMILY IV. CLAVICORNES. 
 
 With four palpi, elytra nearly covering the abdomen; 
 antennae eleven jointed, knobbed at their points ; tarsi 
 five jointed. Tribe i. Hystroida. Hololepta glaLra,pl. 
 28, f. 22. Tribe ii. Peltoides. Necrophorus mallei, f. 
 
 vi. Macrodactyli. Aquatic. Hderocerus maryimdus, 
 pi. 29, f. 28. 
 
 FAMILY V. PALPICORNES. 
 
 Antennae compressed, six or nine jointed, with a per- 
 foliated or solid claviform termination ; body hemisphe- 
 rical, or ovoid ; mentum large ; maxillary palpi long. 
 Tribe i. Hydrophilii. Hydrophilus caraboides, pi. 29, f. 
 29. Tribe ii. Sphaeridiota. Spluzridium scarabaeuides, 
 f.30. 
 
 FAMILY VI. LAMELLICORNES. 
 
 Antennae eight to eleven jointed, but nine or ten the 
 prevailing number, placed in a furrow, short and clavi- 
 form, consisting of pectinated laminae ; two anterior 
 legs externally dentated ; chin large, frequently cover- 
 ing the labium. Tribe i. Scarabaeides. Orydes Chc- 
 vrolatii, pi. 28, f. 31. The animals of this tribe are nu- 
 merous, subject to great variety, and are, in consequence, 
 arranged in six sub-tribes. Tribe ii. Lucanides. Lu- 
 canus cinnamoneus, f. 32. 
 
 SECTION II. HETEROMERA. 
 
 First four tarsi five, and last two four jointed. 
 FAMILY I. MELASOMA. 
 
 Tarsal joints mostly entire ; antennae moniliform, 
 third joint elongated, always inserted under the project- 
 ing borders of the head ; point of mandibles bifid ; in- 
 ternal side of jaws with a tooth or hook. Tribe i. Pi- 
 meliariae. Pimelia vestita, pi. 28. f. 33. Tribe ii. Blap- 
 sides. Blaps mortisaga, f. 34. Tribe iii. Tenebrionites. 
 Crypticus gibbulus, f. 35. 
 
 FAMILY II. TAXICORNES. 
 
 Mandibles bifid at their points ; joints of tarsi, except 
 the anterior four, entire ; antennae length of head and 
 thorax, with claviform tips, and usually partly perfoli- 
 ated. Tribe i. Diaperiales. Diaperis boleti, pi. 29, f. 
 36. Tribe ii. Cossyphenes. Cossyphenes Hoffmansegqii, 
 pi. 28, f. 37. Tribe iii. Crassicornes. Cnodalon nodo- 
 sum, f. 38. 
 
 FAMILY III. STENELYTRA. 
 
 Mandibles sometimes pointed, jaws unarmed ; penult 
 joint of tarsi bilobate, antennae, filiform or setaceous, 
 often longer than the head and thorax. Tribe i. He- 
 lopii. Helops violaceus, pi. 28, f. 39. Tribe ii. Cistel- 
 ides. Cistela sulphu rea.pl. 29, f. 40. Tribeiii. Securipalpi. 
 Melandrya caraboides, f. 41. Tribe iv. CEdemerites. 
 CEdemera podograria, f. 42. Tribe v. Rhynchostoma. 
 Stenostoma rostratu. 
 
444 
 
 HISTORY OF IN 7 SECTS. 
 
 up of the wings, however, does not prevent the 
 animal's running, leaping, and moving with 
 its natural celerity ; but when the case bursts, 
 and the wings have a power of expanding, all 
 
 FAMILY IV. TRACHELIDES. 
 
 With a cordiform, triangular head, apart from the 
 thorax ; antennae simple, flabelliform, pectinated, or 
 serrated ; jaws without corneous teeth ; tarsal hooks 
 entire ; penult joint usually bilobed. Tribe i. Lagria- 
 rise. Lagriaria hirta, pi. 29, f. 44. Tribe ii. Pyrochro- 
 ides. Pyrochroa coccinea, f. 45. Tribe iii. Mordellonas. 
 Mordella aculeata, pi. 28, f. 46. Tribe iv. Anthicides. 
 Notoxus monoceros, pi. 29, f. 47. Tribe v. Horiales. 
 Horia maculata, pi. 28, f. 48. Tribe vi. Cantharidise. 
 Cuntharis vesicatoria, f. 49. 
 
 SECTION III. TETRAMERA. 
 All the tarsi four-jointed. 
 
 FAMILY I. RHYNCHOPHORA. 
 
 Head rostriform, mouth terminal ; antennae generally 
 claviform, geniculate, and inserted on the proboscis; 
 abdomen large ; penult joint of tarsi usually bilobate. 
 Tribe i. Bruchelse. Bruchus pisi, pi. 29, f. 50. Tribe 
 ii. Anthribides. Anthribus latirostris, f. 51. Tribe iii. 
 Attelabides. Attelabus femoralis, pi. 28, f. 52. Tribe 
 iv. Brentides. Brentus anchorago, pi. 29, f. 52. Tribe 
 v. Curculionites. Curculio imp'eriaiis, pi. 28, f. 53. 
 
 FAMILY II. XYLOPHAGI. 
 
 Tarsal joints usually entire, or when the penult joint 
 is bilobed, the palpi are small and conical ; antennae 
 frequently with less than eleven joints, claviform, and 
 perfoliated at the base. Tribe i. Scolytarii. Scolytus 
 ulmi, pi. 29, f. 54. Tribe ii. Bostrichini. Bostrichus 
 capucinus,f. 55 f Tribe iii. Paussili. Paussus microce- 
 pkalus, f. 56. Tribe iv. Trogossitarii. Dasycerus sulca- 
 tus, f. 57. 
 
 FAMILY III. PLATYSOMA. 
 
 Tarsal joints entire ; body depressed, oblong ; head 
 breadth of body, narrowed behind into a sort of peak ; 
 mandibles projecting, especially in the males ; labrum 
 small ; palpi short ; thorax nearly square ; antennae fili- 
 form. Cucujus Dejeanii, pi. 28, f. 58. 
 
 FAMILY IV. LO.XGICORNJES*- * 
 
 First three joints of tarsus provided with pencils be- 
 low, two intermediate broad, triangular, or cordiform, 
 third deeply bifoliate ; labiuni triangular, cordiform, or 
 notched ; antennae filiform, generally longer than the 
 body, sometimes inserted in a notch at the eyes, some- 
 times outside ; foot long, slender, with long tarsi ; body 
 elongated. Tribe i. Prionii. Prionis coriarius, pi. 28, 
 f. 59. Tribe ii. Cerambycfni. Cerambyx hirtipes, pi. 
 
 28, f. 50. Tribe iii. Necydalides. Necydalis major, pi. 
 
 29, f. 61 . Tribe iv. Lamiariae. Saperda albicans, pi. 28, 
 f. 62. Tribe v. Lepturetae. eptura annulata, pi. 29. 
 f. 63. 
 
 FAMILY V. EUPODA. 
 
 Body oblong, antennae filiform, gradually thickening 
 to the points, and inserted near the eyes ; about the 
 length of head and thorax, which is narrow, cylindrical, 
 or square : head sunk in the thorax to nearly the eyes; 
 exterior and terminal lobe of jaws widening towards the 
 extremity. Tribe i. Sagrides. Sagra Cayanea, pi. 29, 
 i. 64. Tribe ii. Criocerides. Crioceris merdigera, pi. 28, 
 t. 65. 
 
 FAMILY VI. CYCLICA. 
 
 Labium thick, square, or oval, entire, or slightly 
 lotched ; exterior and terminal division of jaws cylin- 
 drical ; body oval, ovoid, globular, or somewhat square; 
 antennae filiform or setaceous, sometimes slightly clavi- 
 form, but not rounded or oval ; three first joints of tarsi 
 
 the animal's motions become more extensive, 
 and the animal arrives at full perfection. Thus 
 the grasshopper, the dragon-fly, and the ear- 
 wig, have their wings at first bound down ; 
 
 spongy, or provided with brushes below. Tribe i. 
 
 Cassidariae. Cassida viridis, pi. 28, f. 66. Tribe ii. 
 Chrysomelinse. Chlamys cuprea, pi. 29, f. 67. Tribe iii. 
 Galerucitae. Galeruca tanaceti, pi. 29, f. 68. 
 
 FAMILY VII. CLAVIPALPI. 
 
 Three first joints of tarsi with brushes, and the last 
 bifid ; antennae with a terminal, oval, perfoliated club ; 
 jaws with a horny tooth interiorly ; palpi with a large 
 terminal joint ; body orbicular or oval. Erotylus qiaan- 
 teus, pi. 28, f. 69. 
 
 SECTION IV. TRIMERA. 
 
 Tarsi three jointed ; antennas clavate ; body hemi- 
 spherical or oval. 
 
 FAMILY I. APHIDIPHAGI. 
 
 Tarsi with two terminal hooks, first joint distinct ; 
 elytra covering the abdomen ; antennae shorter than the 
 thorax, with a terminal club in the form of a reversed 
 triangle ; last joint of maxillary palpi being large, dola- 
 briform; body hemispherical ; thorax short, and nearly 
 luniform. Cocinella septempunctata, pi. 28, f. 70. 
 
 FAMILY II. FUNGICOL.E. 
 
 Tarsi with two terminal hooks, the first joint distinct, 
 elytra covering the abdomen ; antennas longer than tha 
 head and thorax ; maxillary palpi filiform, or simply 
 thickened towards the tips ; body oval. Eumorphm 
 tetraspilotus, pi. 29, f. 71. 
 
 FAMILY III. PSELAPHII. 
 
 With short truncated elytra ; first tarsal joint short 
 and indistinct. Chennium bituberculatum, pi. 29, f. 7'-. 
 
 SECTION V. MONOMERA. 
 
 Tarsi having but one joint. 
 
 FAMILY I. DERMESTINI. 
 
 Antennas shorter than the thorax, radical joint large, 
 ovate, seven following short, slender, remaining three 
 forming an ovate compressed club, two lower joints 
 somewhat dilated in the inner side, terminal smaller and 
 rounded. Dermestes lardarius, pi. 29, f. 1 57. 
 
 ORDER V. ORTHOPTERA. 
 
 With coriaceous elytra, the margin of the one cover- 
 ing that of the other ; mouth provided with mandibles; 
 wings longitudinally folded, and sometimes transversely 
 besides ; metamorphosis semi-complete. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Elytra and wings horizontal ; feet formed for running. 
 FAMILY I. FORFICULARI^B. 
 
 Tarsi three jointed ; elytra nearly crustaceous, not 
 reticulated, very short, posteriorly truncate, joining in 
 a straight suture, and covering the wings, which are 
 plicated, and their extremities projecting beyond the 
 elytra, while in repose ; abdomen terminating in a 
 horny forceps. Forjicula spongiphora, pi. 28, f. 73. 
 
 FAMILY II. BLATTARI.E. 
 
 Tarsi five jointed; wings simply doubled longitudin- 
 ally, and covered by elytra, frequently coriaceous and 
 thin, reticulated or crossing each other ; body depressed, 
 oval, or orbicular ; head concealed under the semicircu- 
 lar or orbicular thorax ; maxillary palpi long, terminal 
 joint axe-shaped ; feet spinous. Blatta maculata. pi. 28, 
 f. 74. 
 
INSECTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 445 
 
 but when the skin, that like a pair of stays, 
 kept them confined, bursts, they are then ex- 
 panded, and the animal pursues the purposes 
 for which it was produced. 
 
 FAMILY III. MANTIDES. 
 
 Tarsi five jointed ; wings simply folded longitudin- 
 ally ; body elongated, head uncovered ; palpi short, 
 filiform ; two anterior feet greatly longer than the 
 others, haunches long, thighs strong, compressed ; legs 
 terminated by a strong hook,- capable of being folded 
 under the thighs ; thorax large. Mantis relyiosa, pi. 
 28, f. 75. 
 
 FAMILY IV. SPECTRA. 
 
 Under lip unequally divided ; anterior margin of up- 
 per lip notched ; antennae placed nearer the mouth than 
 the centre of the head ; head projecting, elongated, and 
 posteriorly rounded ; eyes small ; first segment of the 
 thorax short, being scarcely longer than the second. 
 Phyllium psama, pi. 29, f. 76. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 With the exception of the first family, the elytra and 
 wings are sloping like a roof ; posterior thighs and feet 
 very large, and formed for leaping. 
 
 FAMILY I. GRYLLIDES. 
 
 Elytra and wings horizontal ; antennae setaceous or 
 filiform, tarsi three jointed. Gryllus trifasciatus, pi. 28, 
 f. 77. 
 
 FAMILY II. LOCUSTARTJB. 
 
 ted 
 158. 
 
 Elytra and wings sloping like a roof ; tarsi four join- 
 d, antennae setaceous. Locusta viridissima, pi. 29, f. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Elytra and wings sloping like a roof ; posterior feet 
 formed for leaping ; tarsi five jointed ; elytra alike in 
 both sexes ; antennae sword-shaped, filiform in both sex- 
 es, claviform in the males only, in some species. 
 
 ACRIDITES. 
 
 Posterior feet weak, shorter than the body, hardly 
 formed for leaping ; abdomen turned. Acridium orna- 
 tum, pi. 28, f. 78. 
 
 ORDER VI. HEMIPTERA. 
 
 Two wings covered by elytra ; mouth constructed for 
 suction ; the rostrum composed of a tubular articulated 
 sheath, enveloping four scaly setae, instead of mandibles 
 and jaws ; elytra in some of the species crustaceous, 
 with the posterior extremity membranous ; in others 
 nearly similar to wings, but more extended, thicker, and 
 coloured. 
 
 SECTION I. HETEROPTERA. 
 
 Rostrum placed on the anterior extremity of the 
 head ; elytra and wings horizontal, terminated abruptly 
 by a membranous appendage. 
 
 FAMILY I. GEOCORIS^B. 
 
 Antennae placed near the internal margin of the eyes, 
 and somewhat longer than the head ; tarsi three jointed, 
 the first in some species very short. Tribe i. Longila- 
 bra. Scutellcra vasalis, pi. 28, f. 79. Tribe ii. Mem- 
 branaceae. Cimex lectularius, f. 80. Tribe iii. Nudicollis. 
 Reduvius raptatorius, f. 81. Tribe iv. Oculatae. Lep- 
 topus littoralis. Tribe v. Ploteres. ffydrometra linea- 
 ro, pi. 29, f. 82. 
 
 FAMILY II. HYDROCORIS.E. 
 Antennae placed under the eyes, concealed, and even 
 
 The THIRD ORDER of insects is of the moth 
 and butterfly kind. These all have four 
 wings, each covered with a mealy substance of 
 various colours, which when handled comes off 
 
 longer than the head ; tarsi two jointed. Tribe i. 
 Nepides . Belostoma marginata, pi. 28, f. 84. Tribe ii. 
 Notonectides. Noctonecta glauca, f. 85. 
 
 SECTION II. HOMOPTERA. 
 
 Rostrum projected from the lower part of the head, 
 between the tAvo anterior feet ; elytra generally inclined, 
 of equal thickness throughout, sometimes resembling 
 
 wings. 
 
 FAMILY III. CICADARIJE. 
 
 With wings and elytra ; tarsi three jointed ; antennas 
 small, conical, or subulate ; three to six jointed, includ- 
 ing the setae, which terminate them ; female ovipositor 
 dentated. Tribe i. Stridulantes. Cicada flavopunctata, 
 pi. 28, f. 86. Tribe ii. Fulgorellao. Fulgora punctata, 
 f. 87. Tribe iii. Membracides. Darnis camelus, f. 
 88. Tribe iv. Cicadella. Ledra aurata. 
 
 FAMILY IV. HYMENELYTRA. 
 
 Tarsi two jointed, generally with two terminal hooks, 
 or simply vesicular ; antennae ten or eleven jointed, 
 longer than the head ; body soft. Tribe i. Psyllides. 
 Liviajuncorum, pi. 28, f. 90. Tribe ii. Physapi. Thrips 
 physapus,f.9\. Tribe iii. Aphidii. Aphis rosice, f. 92. 
 f. 92 a, larva of the same. 
 
 FAMILY V. GALLINSECTA. 
 
 Tarsi of one joint, with a terminal hook. Males two 
 winged, or with two elytra, and devoid of a rostrum. 
 Females apterous ; antennae eight, nine, and eleven 
 jointed, and in some instances twenty-two to twenty- 
 four. Coccus cacti, pi. 28, f. 93. 
 
 ORDER VII. NEUROPTERA. 
 
 Wings four, naked, reticulated and transparent ; 
 mouth formed for mastication ; jaws and lips straight, 
 extended ; joints of the tarsi various, mostly entire. 
 
 SECTION I. SUBULICORNES. 
 
 Antennae little longer than head ; subulate, seven 
 jointed, the last formed of a seta; mandibles and jaws 
 covered by lips, or by an anterior projection of the 
 head ; eyes projecting, large ; wings extended horizon- 
 tally, or perpendicular. 
 
 FAMILY I. LIBELLULIN^E. 
 
 Tarsi three jointed ; mandibles and jaws corneous, 
 very strong ; dentated ; wings equal. Libellula varia, 
 pi. 28, f. 94. 
 
 FAMILY II. EPHEMERIN^J. 
 
 Tarsi four jointed ; body very soft ; lower wings much 
 smaller than the upper ones, in some species exceed- 
 ingly minute ; abdomen terminated by two or three fil- 
 aments. Ephemera bioculata, pi. 28, f. 95. 
 
 SECTION II. FILICORNES. 
 
 Joints of antennae generally numerous, thickened to- 
 wards the end, filiform, or setaceous, and longer than 
 the head. 
 
 FAMILY III. PLANIPENNES. 
 
 Tribe i. Panorpatae. Panorpa rufa, pi. 28, f. 96. 
 Tribe ii. Myrmeleonides. Ascalaphus barbarus, f. 97. 
 Tribe iii. Hemerobini. Hemerobius longicornis, pi. 29, 
 f. 98. Tribe iv. Psoquillae. Psocus bipundatus. Tribe 
 v. Termitinae. Termes lucifugum. Tribe'.vi. Raphidina? 
 Raphidia ophiopsis. Tribe vii. Semblides. Corydalis 
 cornuta. Tribe viii. Perlides. Perla lutea. 
 
446 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 upon the fingers; and, if examined by the 
 microscope, will appear like scales, with which 
 the wing is nicety embroidered all over. These 
 insects also are produced in a manner peculiar 
 
 FAMILY IV. PLICIPENNES. 
 
 Destitute of mandibles ; lower wings broader than 
 the upper, longitudinally folded ; antennae setaceous, 
 usually long, with numerous joints ; tarsi five jointed ; 
 maxillary palpi long and setaceous. Phryganea striata. 
 
 ORDER VIIL HYMENOPTERA. 
 
 Four naked veined wings of unequal size ; mouth with 
 jaws, mandibles, and two lips ; lip tubular at its base, 
 terminating by a labium, either doubled or folded in- 
 wards, and forming a kind of sucker ; females provided 
 with a compound ovipositor. 
 
 SECTION I. TEREBRANTIA. 
 
 Abdomen in many species sessile ; females furnished 
 with an ovipositor ; antennae twelve or thirteen jointed, 
 in some more or less. 
 
 FAMILY I. SECURIFERA. 
 
 Abdomen perfectly sessile, or connected at its base to 
 the metathorax. Tribe i. Tenthredinetse. Perga scu- 
 tellata, pi. 29, f. 101. Tribe ii. Urocerata. Termex col- 
 u,nba,f. 102. 
 
 FAMILY II. PUPIVOBA. 
 
 Wings of many species cellular, in others devoid of 
 nerves ; first abdominal segment posteriorly inclosing 
 the metathorax, and forming part of it ; the second, 
 which appears like the first, fixed to the preceding by a 
 pedicle. Tribe i. Evaniales. Pelecinus policerator, pi. 
 29, f. 103. Tribe ii. Ichneumonides. Ichneumon uni- 
 fasciatorius^pl. 28, f. 104. Tribe iii. Gallicolae. Cinips 
 
 ?wrcusfolii. Tribe iv. Chalcidites. Chalcis clavipes, f. 
 06. Tribe v.Chrysides. Chrysis ignita, f. 107. Tribe 
 vi. Oxyuri. Bdliyllus hemipterus. 
 
 SECTION II. ACULEATA. 
 
 Abdomen pedunculated, inclosing in the females and 
 neuters a sting ; antennae of the male thirteen jointed, 
 female twelve. 
 
 FAMILY III. HETEROGYNA. 
 
 Females and neuters or those which live in society, 
 devoid of wings ; antennae geniculated ; labium small, 
 rounded, vaulted. Tribe i. Formicariae. Formica 
 Herculanea, pi. 28, f. 109. Tribe ii. Mutillariaj. Mu- 
 
 FAMILY IV. FOSSORES. 
 
 Wings extended ; in some the prothorax laterally 
 prolonged, in others short. Tribe i. Scolietse. Sculia 
 tricincta, pi. 29, f. 111. Tribe ii. Sapygites. Sapyga 
 prisma. Tribe iii. Pompilii. Pompilusviaticus, pi. 28, 
 f. 113. Tribe iv. Sphegides. Podium nigripes, f. 114. 
 Tribe v. Bembecides. Bembex rostrata, f. 115. Tribe 
 vi. Labratae. Labra Ickneumoniformis. Tribe vii. 
 Nyssonii. Nysson maculatus, pi, 29, f. 117. Tribe viii. 
 Crabronites. Crabro cribrarius, f. 1 18. 
 
 FAMILY V. DIPLOPTERA. 
 
 Wings longitudinally folded ; antennae geniculate, 
 clavate ; eyes notched ; prothorax reaching insertion of 
 upper wings ; feet not fitted for collecting pollen. Tribe 
 i. Vesparise. Sytagri cornuta, pi. 29, f. 1J9. Tribe ii. 
 Masarides. Masaris apiformis, f. 120. 
 
 FAMILY VI. MELIFERA. 
 
 Wings extended ; first joint of posterior tarsi large, 
 compressed, square, or triangular, provided with a tuft 
 of hair adapted for collecting pollen of flowers ; jaws 
 
 to themselves. They are at first hatched from 
 an egg, from whence proceeds a caterpillar 
 that eats, and often casts its skin ; the cater- 
 pillar having divested itself for the last time, 
 
 and lip long, narrow, produced into a proboscis ; chin 
 elongated, supported on a pedicle ; labium mostly lan- 
 ceolate or filiform, long and hairy. Tribe i. Andreu- 
 etae. Andrena pilipes, pi. 29, f. 121. Tribe ii. Apiariae. 
 Apis centhuncularia,pl. 28, f. 122. 
 
 ORDER IX. LEPIDOPTERA. 
 
 Four membranaceous wings, covered with a farina 
 composed of minute scales, and having a trunk spirally 
 rolled up, inserted at the mouth. 
 
 FAMILY I. DIURNA. 
 
 Wings free in repose, perpendicular to the plane of 
 position, and devoid of a scaly bristle at the base of the 
 inferior wings ; antennae, in many, claviform, or termi- 
 nating in a button, more or less conical or triangular, in 
 others slender, and hooked at the termination. Tribe i. 
 Papilionides. Papilio Childreni, pi. 29, f. 123. Tribe 
 ii. Hesperides. Hesperia malvce, f. 124. 
 
 FAMILY II. CREPUSCULARI.E. 
 
 With a stiff, horny bristle near the insertion of the 
 lower wings, at their margin, entering a groove below 
 the upper ones, keeping them horizontal in repose ; an- 
 tennae claviform elongated, frequently pectinated-or ser- 
 rated. Caterpillars with sixteen large feet. Tribe i. 
 Hesperia Sphinges. Castnia acroeoides, pi. 29, f. 125. 
 Tribe ii. Sphingides. Sphinx convolvuli, f. 126. Tribe 
 iii. Zygaenides. Zygcenapulchellayf. 127. 
 
 FAMILY III. NOCTURNA. 
 
 Wings horizontal or inclined in repose; antennas seta- 
 ceous. Tribe i. Bombycites. Bombyx pavonia, pi. 29, 
 f. 128. Tribe ii. Noctuo- Bombycites. Cossus tigniper- 
 da, f. 127. Tribe iii. Tineites. Tinea tapizana, f. 129. 
 Tribe iv. Noctuaelites. Noctua oculata, f. 1 30. Tribe 
 v. Tortrices. fferminia Sidonia, f. 131. Tribe vi. 
 Phalaenites. Phalcena machaonaria, f. 132. Tribe vii. 
 Crambites. Crambus retusalis, f. 1 33. Tribe viii. Pte- 
 rophorites. Orneodes hexadactylus, f. 1 34. 
 
 ORDER X. STREPSIPTERA. 
 
 Wings two, naked and membranous, accompanied by 
 two balancers, longitudinally folded, forming nearly the 
 quadrant of a circle; metamorphosis incomplete. 
 
 This order consists but of two genera. Stylops Child- 
 reni, pi. 29, f. 135. 
 
 ORDER XL DIPTERA. 
 
 With two membranous extended wings, and a balan- 
 cer under each in most species ; six feet ; provided with 
 a sucker, composed of a variable number of scaly, setae- 
 form pieces, either inclosed in the upper furrow of a 
 sheath, or inarticulated proboscis, terminated by two 
 lips, or cased in one or two plates. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Head large or of medium size, distinct from the tho- 
 rax ; tarsal hooks simple, or unidentated ; sucker in- 
 closed in a sheath. 
 
 FAMILY I. NEMOCERA. 
 
 Antennae with six joints at least, but usually with 
 fourteen to sixteen. Tribe i. Culicides. Culex pipiens, 
 pi. 29, f. 136. Tribe ii.Tipulariae. Tipula oleracea, f. 137 
 
 FAMILY II. TANYSTOMA. 
 
 Rostrum frequently lengthened, sometimes nearly 
 concealed ; sucker of six pieces. Tribe i. Tabanii. 
 Tabanus Afric.anis, pi. 29, f. 138. Tribe ii. Sicarii. 
 CcBnomyia pallida, f. 139. Tribe iii. Mydasii. Mydas* 
 Lusitanicus, f. 140, a and b. Tribe iv. Leptides. Leptw , 
 
INSECTS WITHOUT WINGS. 
 
 447 
 
 assumes a new covering, which is called a 
 chrysalis, or the cone in the silkworm, in 
 which it continues hidden till it come forth a 
 perfect moth, or butterfly. 
 
 The FOURTH ORDER is of those winged insects 
 which come from a worm instead of a cater- 
 pillar, and yet go through changes similar to 
 those which moths and butterflies are seen to 
 undergo. They are first excluded from the 
 egg as a worm, and then become a chrysalis; 
 in some, their wings and legs are seen ; in 
 others, the animal is quite detached from the 
 cone in which it is concealed ; but all at length 
 break their prison and come out perfect winged 
 animals ; some furnished with two wings, and 
 some with four. The wings of all these differ 
 from those of the butterfly and moth kind, by 
 not having the mealy scales which are ever 
 found on the wings of the former. In this 
 class we may place the numerous tribes of 
 gnats, beetles, bees, and flies. 
 
 To these I will add, as a FIFTH ORDER, a nu- 
 merous tribe lately discovered, to which natu- 
 ralists have given the name of Zoophytes. 
 These do not go through the ordinary forms of 
 generation but may be propagated by dissection. 
 Some of these, though cut into a hundred parts, 
 
 fasdata, f. 141. Tribe v. Dolichopoda. Porphyrops 
 diaphanus, f. 142. Tribe vi. Asilici. Asilus crabroni- 
 formis,L 143. Tribe vii. Hybotini. Ocydromya gkibri- 
 cola,f. 144. Tribe viii. Empides. Empis pennipes, f. 
 1 45. Tribe ix. Anthracii. A nthrax maryinicollis, f. 1 46 . 
 Tribe x. Bombyliarii. Bombylius major, f. 147. Tribe 
 xi. Vesiculosa. Henops marginatus, f. 148. 
 
 FAMILY III. NOTACANTHA. 
 
 Rostrum generally membranous, short, concealed, ex- 
 cept the terminal lips ; sucker of two pieces ; in others 
 long, syphon shaped, and concealed by a produced beak, 
 winch supports the antennae ; terminal joint of antennse, 
 with many rings ; wings resting on the body, and pro- 
 vided with a central radiated ariola. Tribe i. Xylo- 
 phagei. Bens violaceus^ pi. 29, f. 149. Tribe ii. Stra- 
 tiomydes. Stratiomys chamaleon, f. 150. 
 
 FAMILY IV. ATHERICERA. 
 
 Sucker consisting of two or four pieces, the two con- 
 tiguous ones provided with palpi ; retracted within the 
 sucker into a furrow of the proboscis. Tribe i. Syr- 
 phise. Syrpkus obscurus, f>l. '29. f. 151. Tribe ii. Co- 
 
 nopsarise. Conops macrocephala, f. 152. Tribe iii. 
 
 (Estrides. CEstrus Bovis, f. 153. Tribe iv. Muscides. 
 Musca Vomitoria, f. 154. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Proboscis consisting of two setae, emerging from the 
 buccal cavity, covered by two plates or palpi, instead of 
 a sheath. 
 
 FAMILY V. PUPIPARJE. 
 
 Tribe i. Coriacege. Hippobosca equina, pi. 29, f. 155. 
 Tribe ii. Phthyromyige. Nycteribia vesper tilionis, f. 1 56. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF EXTERNAL PARTS OF 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 PLATE XXVI. 
 
 THE HEAD AND ITS EXTERNAL ORGANS. 
 
 The Head furnishes' the most distinctive characters of 
 insects. It is exceedingly varied in its general form, as 
 
 ] still retain life in each, and are endued wilh 
 such a vivacious principle, that every part 
 will in a short time become a perfect animal. 
 They seem a set of creatures placed between 
 animals and vegetables, and make the shade 
 that connects animated and insensible nature. 
 To this class belong the polypus, the earth- 
 worm, and all the varieties of the sea-nettle. 
 
 Having thus given a general distribution 
 of insects, I will proceed to describe each 
 class in the order I have mentioned them ; 
 beginning with insects without wings, as they 
 more nearly resemble the higher ranks of 
 nature, as well in their habits as their confor- 
 mation. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF INSECTS WITHOUT WINGS. 
 
 EVERY moment's observation furnishes us 
 with instances of insects without wings ; but 
 the difficulty is to distinguish those which are 
 condemned continually to lead reptile lives, 
 from such as only wait the happy moment of 
 
 well as in its several parts. The most important of these 
 are the mouth, antenna, and eyes. The head of a Dipte- 
 rous insect is represented, figure 22, with all its appen- 
 dages; but the head, independently of these is confined 
 within the limits of a a f. 22, 25. 
 
 Mouth. This organ is very complicated, and subject 
 to great diversity of form, and construction, admirably 
 adapted to the nature of its food. It consists of six parts, 
 the fobntm, mandibles, maxilla, palpi, labium, and men- 
 
 turn. Labi-urn, or upper lip, figs. 22, 23, 25, e, c, e. Man 
 dibles, f. 25, k, k. Maxilla, f. 24, i. Palpi, f. 22, 23, 24, 
 25, b, b, b, b, b, and f. 29, b. Labial lobes, f. 22, 23, 25, g, 
 g, g. Men/urn, f. 29, a. Proboscis, f. 29, b. Lingua or 
 tongue, f. 29, c. 
 
 Antenna. Horn-like processes consisting of several 
 joints ; considered by some naturalists as organs of 
 touch, and by others, organs of hearing, f. 24, 25, d, d. 
 Nasus or nose, f. 22,/. Eyes, f. 22, 1, 1. Neck, f. 22, h. 
 
 The Thorax and its several divisions; f. 26. Cottar, or 
 prothoracic scutellum, f. 22, 26, m, m. Prascutum, f. 26, 
 n. Scutum, o. Scutellum, p. Metathoracic Scutum, f. 26, o. 
 
 To the thorax arc attached the Wings, r, r; the rudi- 
 mental alula or winglets s; the base of the intermediate 
 femur t the balancers u; the base of tire posterior femur 
 v, and the legs. Wings, f. 25, iv. Elytra, are membra- 
 nous, or horny substances which cover the wings of in- 
 sects of the order Coleoptera, f. 25, x, or. Upper or supe- 
 rior wing of a Lepidopterous insect, f. '27. Anterior 
 margin, or costal nerve, a. Interior margin, b. Exterior 
 margin, c. Post- costal nerve, d. Anal nerve, e. Com- 
 pound ocellus, or the discoidal cell, f. Dentate fascia, g. 
 
 Lower or inferior wing of a Lepidopterous insect, f. 
 28. Anterior margin, a. Exterior margin, b. Interior 
 margin, c. 
 
 The Abdomen is that part which is attached to the 
 posterior extremity of the thorax, and consists of six 
 segments or wings, to which there are never any legs 
 attached, f. 2.9. 
 
 In the whole insect tribe, they are provided with but 
 six Legs: they are composed of "five parts, f. 30. Coxa, 
 or haunch, is the first joint, a. Troclianter, or second 
 joint, b. Femur, or thigh, c. Tibia, or shank, d. Tar- 
 sus, e. This member consists of from three to five arti- 
 culate parts, among Coleopterous insects, and most 
 others. To the last of these articulations are attached 
 the claws. 
 
448 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 transmutation. For this, nothing but a long 
 and intimate acquaintance will suffice ; but, in 
 general, all animals resembling the flea, the 
 louse, the spider, the bug, the wood-louse, the 
 water-louse, and the scorpion, never acquire 
 wings, but are produced from the egg in that 
 form which they never change afterwards. 
 
 If we con^sider this class as distinct from 
 others, we shall find them in general longer 
 lived than theirest, and often continuing their 
 term beyond one season, which is the ordi- 
 nary period of an insect's existence. They 
 seem also Jjess subject to the influence of the 
 weather ;"" and often endure the rigours of 
 winter without being numbed into torpidity. 
 The whole race of moths, butterflies, bees, and 
 flies, are rendered lifeless by the return of 
 cold weather ; but we need not to be told, that 
 the louse, the flea, and many of these wingless 
 creatures, that seem formed to tease mankind, 
 continue their painful depredations the whole 
 year round. 
 
 They come to perfection in the egg, as was 
 said before ; and it sometimes happens, that 
 when the animal is interrupted in performing 
 the offices of exclusion, the young ones burst 
 the shell within the parent's body, and are 
 thus brought forth alive. This not unfre- 
 quently happens with the wood-louse, and 
 others of the kind, which are sometimes seen 
 producing eggs, and sometimes young ones 
 perfectly formed. 
 
 Though these creatures are perfect from the 
 beginning yet they are often, during their ex- 
 istence, seen to change their skin: this is a 
 faculty which they possess in common with 
 many of the higher ranks of animals, and 
 which answer the same purposes. However 
 tender their skins may seem to our feel, yet, 
 if compared to the animal's strength and size, 
 they will be found to resemble a coat of mail, 
 or, to talk more closely, the shell of a lobster. 
 By this skin these animals are defended from 
 accidental injuries, and particularly from the 
 attacks of each other. Within this they con- 
 tinue to grow, till their bodies become so 
 large as to be imprisoned in their own cover- 
 ing, and then the shell bursts, but is quickly 
 replaced by a new one. 
 
 Lastly, these animals are endued with a de- 
 gree of strength , for their size , that at first might 
 exceed credibility. Had man an equal degree 
 of strength, bulk for bulk, with a louse or flea, 
 the history of Samson would be no longer 
 miraculous. A flea will draw a chain a hun- 
 dred times heavier than itself ; and to com- 
 pensate for this force, will eat ten times its 
 own size of provision in a single day. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE SPIDER, AND ITS VARIETIES. 1 
 
 THE animal that deserves our first notice in 
 this principal order of insects is the Spider, 
 
 1 Modern naturalists do not rank spiders among insect?, 
 because they have no antennae, and no division between 
 the head and the shoulders ; they breathe by leaf-shaped 
 gills, situated under the belly, instead of spiracles in the 
 sides ; have a heart connected with these ; have eight 
 legs instead of six ; and eight fixed eyes. But as spiders 
 are popularly considered insects, it will sufficiently suit 
 our purpose to introduce them here as such. The neat- 
 est, though the smallest spider's nest which we have seen, 
 was constructed in the chink of a garden post, which we 
 had cut out the previous summer in getting at the cells 
 of a carpenter-bee. The architect was one of the larger 
 hunting-spiders erroneously said by some naturalists to 
 be incapable of spinning. The nest in question was 
 about two inches high, composed of a very close satin- 
 like texture. There were two parallel chambers placed 
 perpendicularly, in which position also the inhabitant 
 reposed there during the day, going, as we presume, 
 only abroad to prey during the night. But the most re- 
 markable circumstance was, that the openings (two above 
 and two below) were so elastic, that they shut almost as 
 closely as the boat cocoon of the Tortrix chlorana. We 
 observed this spider for several months, but at last it dis- 
 appeared, and we took the nest out, under the notion that 
 it might contain eggs; hut we found none, and there- 
 fore concluded that it was only used as a day retreat. 
 The account which Evelyn has given of these hunting- 
 spiders is so interesting, that we must transcribe it. 
 
 " Of all sorts of insects," says he, "there is none has 
 afforded me more divertisement than the venatores 
 (hunters), which are a sort of lupi (wolves) that have 
 their dens in rugged walls and crevices of our houses ; 
 a small brown and delicately-spotted kind of spiders, 
 whose hinder legs are longer than the rest. Such I did 
 frequently observe at Rome, which, espying a fly at three 
 or four yards distance upon the balcony where I stood, 
 would not make directly to her, but crawl under the 
 rail, till being arrived at the antipodes, it would steal 
 up, seldom missing its aim ; but if it chanced to want 
 any thing of being perfectly opposite, would, at first 
 peep, immediately slide down again, till, taking bettei 
 notice, it would come the next time exactly upon the 
 fly's back : but if this happened not to be within a com- 
 petent leap, then would this insect move so softly, as the 
 very shadow of the gnomon seemed not to be more im- 
 perceptible, unless the fly moved ; and then would the 
 spider move also in the same proportion, keeping that 
 just time with her motion as if the same soul had ani- 
 mated both these little bodies ; and whether it were for- 
 wards, backwards, or to either side, without at all turn- 
 ing her body, like a well managed horse : but if the 
 capricious fly took wing and pitched upon another place 
 behind our huntress, then would the spider whirl its body 
 so nimbly about, as nothing could be imagined more 
 swift ; by which means she always kept the head towards 
 her prey, though, to appearance, as immovable as if it 
 had been a nail driven into the wood, till by that indis- 
 cernible progress (being arrived within the sphere of her 
 reach) she made a fatal leap, swift as lightning, upon the 
 fly, catching him in the pole, where she never quitted 
 hold till her belly was full, and then carried the remain- 
 der home." 
 
 One feels a little sceptical, however, when he adds, 
 " I have beheld them instructing their young ones how 
 to hunt, which they wo'ild sometimes discipline for not 
 
THE SPIDER. 
 
 449 
 
 whose manners are of all others the most sub- 
 tle, and whose instincts are most various. 
 Formed for a life of rapacity, and incapable 
 of living upon any other than insect food, all 
 its habits are calculated to deceive and sur- 
 
 well observing ; but when any of the old cues did (as 
 sometimes) miss a leap, they would run out of the field 
 and hide themselves in their crannies, as ashamed, and 
 haply not to be seen abroad for four or five hours after ; 
 for so long have I watched the nature of this strange in- 
 sect, the contemplation of whose so wonderful sagacity 
 and address has amazed me ; nor do I find in any chase 
 whatsoever more cunning and stratagem observed. I 
 have found some of these spiders in my garden, when 
 the weather, towards spring, is very hot, but they are 
 nothing so eager in hunting as in Italy." 
 
 We have only to add to this lively narrative, that the 
 hunting spider, when he leaps, takes good care to provide 
 against accidental falls by always swinging himself 
 from a good strong cable of silk, as Swammerdam cor- 
 rectly states, and which any body may verify, as one of 
 the small hunters, known by having its back striped with 
 black and white like a zebra, is very common in Britain. 
 
 As a contrast to the little elastic satin nest of the 
 hunter, we may mention the largest with which we are 
 acquainted, that of the labyrinthic spider. Our readers 
 must often have seen this nest spread out like a broad 
 sheet in hedges, furze, and other low bushes, and some- 
 times on the ground. The middle of this sheet, which 
 is of a close texture, is swung like a sailor's hammock, 
 by silken ropes extended all around to the higher 
 branches ; but the whole curves upwards and backwards, 
 sloping down to a long funnel-shaped gallery which is 
 nearly horizontal at the entrance, but soon winds obliquely 
 till it becomes quite perpendicular. This curved gallery 
 is about a quarter of an inch in diameter, is much more 
 closely woven than the sheet part of the web, and some- 
 times decends into a hole in the ground, though oftener 
 into a group of crowded twigs, or a tuft of grass. Here 
 the spider dwells secure, frequently resting with her legs 
 extended from the entrance of the gallery, ready to spring 
 out upon whatever insect may fall into her sheet net. 
 She herself can only be caught by getting behind her and 
 forcing her out into the web ; but though we have often 
 endeavoured to make her construct a nest under our eye, 
 we have been as unsuccessful as in similar experiments 
 with the common house spider. 
 
 The house spider's proceedings were long ago described 
 by Homberg, and the account has been copied, as usual, 
 by almost every subsequent writer. Goldsmith has, 
 indeed, given some strange mis-statements from his own 
 observations, and Bingley has added the original remark, 
 that, after fixing its first thread, creeping along the wall 
 and joining it as it proceeds, it " darts itself to the op- 
 posite side, where the other end is to be fastened ! " Hom- 
 berg's spider took the more circuitous route of travelling to 
 the opposite wall, carrying in one of the claws the end of 
 the thread previously fixed, least it should stick in the 
 wrong place. This we believe to be the correct state- 
 ment, for as the web is always horizontal, it would sel- 
 dom answer to commit a floating thread to the wind, as 
 is done by other species. Homberg's spider, after stretch- 
 ing as many lines by way of warp, as it deemed sufficient 
 between the two walls of the corner which it had chosen, 
 proceeded to cross this in the way our weavers do in 
 adding the woof, with this difference, that the spider's 
 threads were only laid on and not interlaced. The 
 domestic spiders, however, in these modern days, must 
 have forgot this mode of weaving, for none of their webs 
 will be found to be thus regularly constructed. 
 
 The geometric, or net-working spiders, are as well 
 known in most districts as any of the preceding ; almost 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 prise : it spreads toils to entangle its prey; it 
 is endued with patience to expect its coming; 
 and is possessed of arms and strength to des- 
 troy it when fallen into the snare. 
 
 In this country, where all the insect tribes 
 
 every bush and tree in the gardens and hedge rows hav 
 ing one or more of their nets stretched out, in a vertical 
 position between adjacent branches. '/-"-The common 
 garden spider and the long-bodied spider are the best 
 known of this order. 
 
 The chief care of a spider of this sort is, to form a 
 cable of sufficient strength to bear the net she means to 
 hang upon it; arid, after throwing out a floating line as 
 above described, when it catches properly she doubles 
 and redoubles it with additional threads. On trying its 
 strength she is not contented with the test of pulling it 
 with her legs, but drops herself down several feet from 
 various points of it, as we have often seen, swinging and 
 bobbing with the whole weight of her body. She pro- 
 ceeds in a similar manner with the rest of the frame- 
 work of her wheel-shaped net: and it may be remarked 
 that some of the ends of these are not simple, but in form 
 of a Y, giving her the additional security of two attach- 
 ments instead of one. 
 
 In constructing the body of the net, the most remark- 
 able circumstance is her using her limbs as a measure, 
 to regulate the distances of her radii or wheel-spokes, and 
 the circular meshes interweaved into them. These are 
 consequently always proportional to the size of the spider. 
 She often takes up her station in the centre, but not al- 
 ways, though it is so said by inaccurate writers ; for she 
 as frequently lurks in a little chamber constructed under 
 a leaf or other shelter at the corner of her web, ready to dart 
 down upon whatever prey may be entangled in her net. 
 The centre of the net is said also to be composed of more 
 viscid materials than itssuspensory lines, acircumstance 
 alleged to be proved by the former appearing under the 
 microscope studded with globules of gum. We have not 
 been able to verify this distinction, having seen the 
 suspensory lines as often studded in this manner as those 
 in the centre. 
 
 A no less wonderful structure is composed by a sort 
 of spiders, natives of the tropics and the south of Europe, 
 which have been justly called the mason-spiders by M. 
 Latreille. One of these (Mygale nidulans, Walckn.) 
 found in the West Indies, " digs a hole in the earth 
 obliquely downwards, about three inches in length, and 
 one in diameter. This cavity she lines with a tough 
 thick web, which, when taken out, resembles a leathern 
 purse ; but what is most curious, this house has a door 
 with hinges, like the operculum of some sea-shells, and 
 herself and familyj who tenant this nest, open and shut 
 the door whenever they pass and repass. This history 
 was told me," says Darwin, " and the nest, with its door, 
 shown me by the late Dr Butt, of Bath, who was some 
 years a physician in Jamaica." 
 3 L 
 
450 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS, 
 
 are kept under by human assiduity, the 
 spiders are but small and harmless. We are 
 acquainted with few but the house-spider, 
 which weaves its web in neglected rooms ; the 
 garden-spider, that spreads its toils from tree 
 to tree, and rests in the centre; the wander- 
 ing spider, that has no abode like the rest; 
 and the field-spider, that is sometimes seen 
 mounting, web and all, into the clouds. These 
 are the chief of our native spiders ; which', 
 though reputed venomous, are entirely inoffen- 
 sive. But they form a much more terrible 
 tribe in Africa and America. In those regions, 
 where all the insect species acquire their great- 
 est growth, where the butterfly is seen to ex- 
 pand a wing as broad as our sparrow, and the 
 ant to build a 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 Martinico spider's body is as 
 large as a hen's egg, and covered all over with 
 hair. Its web is strong, and its bite danger- 
 ous. It is happy for us, however, that we 
 are placed at a distance from these formidable 
 creatures, and that we can examine their his- 
 tory without feeling their resentment. 
 
 Every spider has two divisions in its body. 
 The fore part, containing the head and breast, 
 is separated from the hinder part or belly 
 by a very slender thread, through which, 
 however, there is a communication from one 
 part to the other. The fore part is covered 
 with a hard-shell, as well as the legs, which 
 adhere to the breast. The hinder part is 
 clothed with a supple skin, beset all over with 
 hair. They have several eyes all round the 
 head, brilliant and acute; these are sometimes 
 eight in number, sometimes but six ; two be- 
 hind, two before, and the rest on each side. 
 Like all other insects, their eyes are immov- 
 able, and they want eye-lids; but this organ 
 
 is fortified with a transparent horny substance, 
 which at once secures and assists their vision. 
 As the animal procures its subsistence by the 
 most watchful attention, so large a number of 
 eyes was necessary to give it the earliest in- 
 formation of the capture of its prey. They 
 have two pincers on the fore part of "the head, 
 rough, with strong points, toothed like a saw, 
 and terminating in claws, like those of a cat. 
 A little below the point of the claw there is a 
 small hole, through which the animal emits a 
 poison, which, though harmless to us, is 
 sufficiently capable of instantly destroying its 
 prey. This is the most powerful weapon they 
 have against their enemies ; they can open or 
 extend these pincers as occasion may require ; 
 and when they are undisturbed, they suffer 
 them to lie one upon the other, never openino- 
 them but when there is a necessity for their ex- 
 ertion. They have all eight legs, jointed like 
 those of lobsters, and similar also in another 
 respect; for if a leg be torn away, or a joint 
 cut off, a new one will quickly grow in its 
 place, and the animal will find itself fitted for 
 combat as before. At the end of each 
 leg there are three crooked movable claws, 
 namely, a small one, placed higher up, like 
 a cock's spur, by the assistance of which it 
 adheres to the threads of its web. There are 
 two others larger, which meet together like 
 a lobster's claw, by which they can catch hold 
 of the smallest depressions, walking up or 
 down the very polished surfaces, on which 
 they can find inequalities that are imperceptible 
 to our grosser sight. But when they walk 
 upon such bodies as are perfectly smooth, as 
 looking-glass or polished marble, they squeeze 
 a little sponge, which grows near the extrem- 
 ity of their claws, and thus diffusing a glutin- 
 ous substance, adhere to the surface until they 
 make a second step. Besides the eight legs 
 
 Among our native spiders there are several which, 
 not contented with a web like the rest of their congeners, 
 take advantage of other materials to construct cells where, 
 " hush'd in grim repose," they " expect their insect 
 prey." The most simple of those spider- cells is con- 
 structed by a longish-bodied spider, which is a little 
 larger than the common hunting spider. It rolls up a 
 leaf of the lilac or poplar, precisely in the same manner 
 as is done by the leaf-rolling caterpillars, upon whose 
 cells it sometimes seizes to save itself trouble, having 
 first expelled, or perhaps devoured, the rightful owner. 
 The spider however, is not satisfied with the tapestry of 
 the caterpillar, and always weaves a fresh set of her own, 
 much more close and substantial. 
 
 Another spider common in woods and copses weaves 
 together a great number of leaves to form a dwelling for 
 herself, and in front of it she spreads her toils for entrap- 
 ping the unwary insects which stray thither. These, as 
 soon as caught, are dragged into her den, and stored up 
 for a time of scarcity. Here also her eggs are deposited 
 and hatched in safety. When the cold weather ap- 
 proaches, and the leaves of her edifice wither, she 
 abandons it for the more secure shelter of a hollow tree, 
 where she soon dies ; but the continuation of the species 
 depends upon eggs, deposited in the nest before winter, 
 
 and remaining to be hatched with the warmth of the 
 ensuing summer. 
 
 The spider's den of united leaves, however, which lias 
 just been described, is not always useless when withered 
 and deserted ; for the dormouse, or the harvest mouse, 
 we are not certain which, usually selects it as a ready- 
 made roof for its nest of dried grass. That those old 
 spiders' dens are not accidentally chosen by the mouse, 
 appears from the fact, that out of about a dozen mouse - 
 nests of this sort found during winter in a copse between 
 Lewisham and Bromley, Kent, every second or third 
 one was furnished with such a roof. 
 
 That spiders may be able to breath under water, we 
 can well understand from their breathing like amphibious 
 reptiles by means of gills; but there is an aquatic spider 
 which is not contented, as a frog would be, with the air 
 furnished by the water, but actually carries down a sup- 
 ply of air from the atmosphere to her subaqueous nest. 
 This spider does not like stagnant water, but prefers 
 slow-running streams and ditches, where she may often 
 be seen, in the vicinity of London and elsewhere, living 
 in her diving-bell, which shines through the water like 
 a little globe of silver: her singular economy was first, 
 we believe, described by Clerck, L. M. de Lignac, and 
 De Geer. Rennie's Insect Architecture. 
 
THE SPIDER. 
 
 451 
 
 just mentioned, these animals have two others 
 which may more properly be called arms, as 
 they do not serve to assist motion, but are usec 
 in holding and managing their prey. 
 
 The spider, though thus formidably equipped, 
 would seldom prove successful in the capture, 
 were it not equally furnished with other instru 
 ments to assist its depredations. As it lives 
 wholly upon flies, and is without wings to 
 pursue them, it is obvious they must for ever 
 escape so important an adversary; but the 
 spider is a most experienced hunter, and spreads 
 its nest to catch those animals it is enabled to 
 pursue. The spider's web is generally laid in 
 those places where flies are most apt to come 
 and shelter ; in the corners of rooms, round 
 the edges of windows, and in the open air 
 among the branches of trees. There the 
 little animal remains for days, nay, weeks to- 
 gether, in patient expectation, seldom chang- 
 ing its situation though never so unsuccessful. 
 
 For the purposes of making this web, na- 
 ture has supplied this animal with a large 
 quantity of glutinous matter within its body, 
 and five dugs or teats for spinning it into 
 thread. This substance is contained in a 
 little bag, and at the first sight it resembles 
 soft glue ; but when examined more accurately, 
 it will be found twisted into coils of an agate 
 colour, and upon breaking it, the contents 
 may be easily drawn out into threads, 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 threads of its little net, the 
 orifices of the five teats above mentioned, 
 through which the thread is drawn, contract- 
 ing or dilating at pleasure. The threads 
 which we see, and appear so fine, are, notwith- 
 standing, composed of five joined together, and 
 these are many times doubled when the web 
 is in formation. 
 
 When the house-spider purposes to begin 
 a web, it first makes choice of some commo- 
 dious spot, where there is an appearance of 
 plunder and security. The animal then distils 
 one little drop of its glutinous liquor, which is 
 very tenacious, and then creeping up the wall, 
 and joining its thread as it proceeds, it darts 
 itself in a very surprising manner, as I have 
 often seen, to the opposite place, where the 
 other end of the web is to be fastened. The 
 first thread thus formed, drawn tight, and fixed 
 at each end, the spider then runs upon it back- 
 ward and forward, still assiduously employed 
 in doubling and strengthening it, as upon its 
 force depends the strength and stability of the 
 whole. The scaffolding thus completed, the 
 spider makes a number of threads parallel to 
 the first, in the same manner, and then crosses 
 them with others ; the clammy substance of 
 
 which they are formed, serving to bind them, 
 when new ly made, to each other. The insect, 
 after this operation, doubles and trebles the 
 thread that borders its web, by opening all 
 its teats at once, and secures the edges, so as 
 to prevent the wind from blowing the work 
 away. The edges being thus fortified, 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 concealed. To this 
 are two passages, or outlets, one above and 
 the other below, very artfully contrived, to 
 give the animal an opportunity of making ex- 
 cursions at proper seasons, of prying into every 
 corner, and cleaning those parts which are 
 observed to be clogged or encumbered. Still 
 attentive to its web, the spider, from time to 
 time, cleans away the dust that gathers round 
 it, which might otherwise clog and incom- 
 mode it: for this purpose, it gives the whole 
 a shake with its paws ; still, however, proper- 
 tioning the blow so as not to endanger the 
 fabric. It often happens, also, that from the 
 main web there are several threads extended 
 at some distance on every side; these are, in 
 some measure, the outworks of the fortifica- 
 tion, which, whenever touched from without, 
 the spider prepares for attack or self-defence. 
 If the insect impinging be a fly, it springs 
 forward with great agility ; if, on the con- 
 trary, it be the assault of an enemy stronger 
 than itself, it keeps within its fortress, and 
 never ventures out till the danger be over. 
 Another advantage the spider reaps from this 
 contrivance of a cell or retreat behind the web, 
 is, that it serves for a place where the creature 
 can feast upon its game with all safety, and 
 conceal the fragments of those carcases which 
 it has picked, without exposing to public view 
 the least trace of barbarity, that might create 
 a suspicion in any insects that their enemy 
 was near. 
 
 It often happens, however, that the wind, 
 or rustling of the branches, or the approach 
 of some large animal, destroys in a minute 
 the labours of an age. In this case, the spider 
 is obliged to remain a patient spectator of the 
 universal ruin ; and when the danger is passed 
 away, it sets about repairing the calamity. 
 For this purpose, it is furnished with a large 
 store of the glutinous substance of which the 
 web is made ; and with this, it either makes 
 a new web, or patches up the old one. In 
 ;eneral, however, the animal is much fonder 
 f mending than making, as it is furnished 
 originally with but a certain quantity ot 
 glutinous matter, which when exhausted 
 nothing can renew. The time seldom fails 
 o come, when the reservoirs are entirely dried 
 up, and the poor animal is left to all the 
 chances of irretrievable necessity. An old 
 pider is thus frequently reduced to the great- 
 
452 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 est extremity ; its web is destroyed, and it 
 wants the materials to make a new one. But 
 as these animals have been long accustomed 
 to a life of shifting, it hunts about to find out 
 a web of another spider, younger and weaker 
 than itself, with whom it ventures a battle. 
 The invader generally succeeds ; the young 
 one is driven out to make a new web, and the 
 old one remains in quiet possession. If how- 
 ever, the spider is unable to dispossess any 
 other of its web, it then endeavours, for a 
 while, to subsist on accidental depredation ; 
 but in two or three months it inevitably dies 
 of hunger. 1 
 
 The garden-spider seems to work in a dif- 
 ferent manner. The method with this insect 
 is, to spin a great quantity of thread, which 
 floating in the air in various directions, hap- 
 pens, from its glutinous quality, at last to 
 stick to some object near it, a lofty plant or 
 the branch of a tree. The spider only wants 
 to have one end of the line fast, in order to 
 secure and tighten the other. It accordingly 
 draws the line when thus fixed, and then by 
 passing and repassing upon it, strengthens the 
 thread in such a manner as to answer all its 
 intentions. The first cord being thus stretched, 
 the spider walks along a part of it, and there 
 fastens another, and dropping from thence, 
 fastens the thread to some solid body below, 
 then climbs up again and begins a third, which 
 it fastens by the same contrivance. When 
 three threads are thus fixed, it forms a square, 
 or something that very nearly resembles one, 
 and in this the animal is generally seen to 
 reside. It often happens, however, when 
 
 1 From its having been frequently remarked that 
 spiders spread their webs in solitary and confined places, 
 to which it is difficult for flies to penetrate, M. de Vail- 
 lant naturally concluded that these creatures must often 
 remain long without food, and that consequently they 
 were capable of enduring considerable abstinence. To 
 ascertain the truth of this circumstance, he took a large 
 garden spider, whose belly was about the size of a nut, 
 and enclosed it under a glass bell, which he secured with 
 cement round its bottom, and left it in that situation for 
 ten months. Notwithstanding this deprivation of food, 
 it appeared during the whole time equally vigorous and 
 alert ; but its belly decreased, till at last it was scarcely 
 larger than the head of a pin. He then put under the 
 bell to it another spider of the same species. For a 
 little while they kept at a respectful distance from each 
 other, and remained motionless, but presently the meagre 
 one, pressed by hunger, approached and attacked the 
 stranger. It returned several times to the charge; and, 
 in these different conflicts, its enemy became deprived 
 of almost all its claws ; it carried these away, and re- 
 tired to its former situation to devour them. The meagre 
 one had likewise lost three of its own claws, on which 
 also it fed ; and M. de Vaillant perceived that by this 
 repast, its plumpness was in some measure restored. 
 The day following, the new comer, deprived of all its 
 means of defence, fell a complete sacrifice. It was 
 speedily devoured ; and in less than twenty-four hours, 
 the old inhabitant of the bell became as plump as it was 
 at the first moment of its confinement. 
 
 the young spider begins spinning, that its web 
 becomes too buoyant, and not only the thread 
 floats in the air, but even the little spinster. 
 In this manner we have often seen the threads 
 of spiders floating in the air ; and what is still 
 more surprising, the young spiders themselves 
 attached to their own web. The reason is 
 obvious ; for as even gold itself may be so 
 finely drawn out as to float in the air, so the 
 finer threads of a spider are so buoyant as not 
 only to swim in the air, but also to lift the 
 spider itself ; which, like the tail of a kite, 
 rises with its own manufacture. 
 
 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 in the toil. For this purpose, it re- 
 mains for weeks, and even months, upon the 
 watch, without ever catching a single fly ; for 
 the spider, like most other insects, is surpris- 
 ingly patient of hunger. It sometimes hap- 
 pens that too strong a fly strikes itself against 
 the web, and thus, instead of being caught, 
 tears the net to pieces. In general, however, 
 the butterfly or the hornet, when they touch 
 the web, fly off again, and the spider seems 
 no way disposed to interrupt their retreat. 
 The large blue-bottle-fly, the ichneumon-fly, 
 and the common meat-fly, seem to be its 
 favourite game. When one of these strikes 
 into the toils, the spider is instantly seen alert 
 and watchful at the mouth of its hole, careful 
 to observe whether the fly be completely im- 
 meshed ; if that be the case, the spider walks 
 leisurely forward, seizes its prey, and instantly 
 kills it by instilling a venomous juice into the 
 
 When two spiders of the same size meet in combat, 
 neither of them will yield ; they hold each other by the 
 fangs so fast, that in general one of the two must die be- 
 fore they are separated. M. Leeuwenhoeck says, he saw 
 one spider that was, however, only wounded in one leg 
 by his antagonist. A drop of blood as large as a grain 
 of sand issued from the sore ; and not being able to use 
 this wounded leg in running away from his adversary, he 
 held it up, and presently afterwards the whole limb 
 dropped away from his body. When spiders are wounded 
 in the breast, or upper parts of the body, they always die. 
 
 The spider, the ptinus, and many insects of the beetle 
 kind, exhibit an instinct of a very extraordinary nature. 
 When put in terror by a touch of the finger, the spider 
 runs off with great swiftness ; but if he finds in what- 
 ever direction he takes he is opposed by another finger, 
 he then seems to despair of being able to escape, con tracts 
 his limbs and body, lies perfectly motionless, and coun- 
 terfeits every symptom of death. " In this situation," 
 says Smellie, " I have pierced spiders with pins, and 
 torn them to pieces, without their discovering the small- 
 est marks of pain. This simulation of death has been 
 ascribed to a strong convulsion, or stupor, occasioned by 
 terror. But this solution of the phenomenon is errone- 
 ous. I have repeatedly tried the experiment, and uni- 
 formly found, that, if the object of terror be removed, in 
 a few seconds the animal runs on" with the greatest 
 rapidity. Some beetles, when counterfeiting death, will 
 suffer themselves to be gradually roasted without moving 
 a single joint." 
 
THE SPIDER. 
 
 453 
 
 wound it makes. If, however, the fly be not 
 entirely immeshed, the spider patiently waits, 
 without appearing until its prey has fatigued 
 itself by its struggles to obtain its liberty ; for 
 if the ravager should appear in all its terrors 
 while the prey is but half involved, a despe- 
 rate effort might give it force enough to get 
 free. If the spider has fasted fora long time, 
 it then drags the fly immediately into its hole, 
 and devours it ; but if there has been plenty 
 of game, and the animal be no way pressed 
 by hunger, it then gives the fly two or three 
 turns in its web, so as completely to immesh 
 it, and there leaves it impotently to struggle 
 until the little tyrant comes to its appetite. 
 Why the spider should at one time kill its 
 prey, and at another suffer it to struggle in 
 the toils for several hours together, I am not 
 able to say ; perhaps it only likes its prey 
 newly killed, and therefore delays to put the 
 captive to death until it is to be eaten. 
 
 It has been the opinion of some philoso- 
 phers, that the spider was in itself both male 
 and female ; but Lister has been able to dis- 
 tinguish the sexes, and to perceive that the 
 males are much less in size than the females. 
 But this is not the chief peculiarity ; for, dif- 
 ferent from all other animals, except the fish 
 called the -Ray, it has its instruments of gen- 
 eration placed in the fore arms, which have 
 been already described. When these ani- 
 mals copulate, they for some time seize each 
 other with their legs and arms, then appear 
 the instruments of generation in the male, as 
 if bursting out from the points of its fore-feet, 
 and are inserted into the receptacle beneath 
 the body of the female. 
 
 The female generally lays from nine hun- 
 dred to a thousand eggs in a season ; they are 
 of a bluish colour, speckled with black, and 
 separated from each other by a glutinous sub- 
 stance, not unlike frog-spawn water. These 
 eggs are large or small in proportion to the 
 size of the animal that produces them. In 
 some they are as large as a grain of mustard- 
 seed ; in others they are scarcely visible. The 
 female never begins to lay till she be two 
 years old at the least, and her first brood is 
 never so numerous as when she has come to 
 her greatest maturity. 
 
 When the number of eggs which the spider 
 has brought forth have remained for an hour 
 or two to dry after exclusion, the little animal 
 then prepares to make them a bag, where 
 they are to be hatched until they leave the shell. 
 For this purpose she spins a web four or five 
 times stronger than that made for catching 
 flies ; and besides, lines it within-side by a 
 down, which she plucks from her own breast. 
 This bag, when completed, is as thick as pa- 
 per, is smooth within-side, but rougher with- 
 out. Within this they deposit their eggs ; 
 
 and it is almost incredible to relate the concern 
 and industry which they bestow in the pre- 
 servation of it. They stick it by means of 
 their glutinous fluid to the end of their body ; 
 so that the animal, when thus loaded, appears 
 as if she had one body placed behind another. 
 If this bag be separated from her by any acci- 
 dent, she employs all her assiduity to stick it 
 again in its former situation, and seldom aban- 
 dons her treasure but with her life. When the 
 young ones are excluded from their shells, 
 within the bag, they remain for some time in 
 their confinement, until the female, instinc- 
 tively knowing their maturity, bites open their 
 prison, and sets them free. But her parental 
 care does not terminate with this exclusion ; 
 she receives them upon her back for some time, 
 until they have strength to provide for them- 
 selves, when they leave her never to return, and 
 each begins a separate manufactory of its own. 
 The young ones begin to spin when they can 
 scarcely be discerned ; and prepare for a life 
 of plunder before they have strength to over- 
 come. Indeed, Nature seems to have formed 
 them in every respect for 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 them- 
 selves. Even after a severe defeat, they 
 quickly recover of their wounds ; and as for 
 their legs, they consider the Iq^s of them as 
 but a small misfortune, as they grow again 
 very speedily to their former magnitude. 
 
 Thus there is no insect to which they are 
 not an enemy ; but what is more barbarous 
 still, spiders are the enemies of each other. 
 M. Reaumur, who was fond of making experi- 
 ments upon insects, tried to turn the labours 
 of the spider to human advantage, and actually 
 made a pair of gloves from their webs. 
 
 For this purpose, he collected a large num- 
 ber of those insects together : he took care to 
 have them constantly supplied with flies, and 
 the ends of young feathers, fresh picked 
 from chickens and pigeons, which being full 
 of blood, are a diet that spiders are particularly 
 fond of. But, notwithstanding all his care, 
 he was soon convinced that it was impractic- 
 able to rear them, since they were of such a 
 malignant nature, that they could never be 
 brought to live in society; but instead of their 
 usual food, chose to devour each other. Indeed, 
 were it practicable to reconcile them to each 
 other, it would require too much attendance 
 to rear up a sufficient number to make the 
 project any way useful. Their thread is four, 
 if not five times finer than that of the silk- 
 worm ; so that, upon the smallest calculation, 
 there must have been sixty thousand spiders 
 to make a single pound of silk. That which 
 Reaumur made use of was only the web in 
 which they deposited their eggs, which is five 
 
454- 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 times stronger than their ordinary manufac- 
 ture. 
 
 Of this animal, there are several kinds, 
 slightly differing from each other, either in 
 habits or conformation. 1 The Water-spider 
 is the most remarkable of the number. This 
 insect resembles the common spider in its 
 appearance, except that its hinder part is made 
 rather in the shape of a nine-pin than a ball. 
 They differ in being able to live as well by 
 land as water ; and on being capable of spin- 
 ning as well in one element as the other. 
 Their appearance under water is very remark- 
 able ; for though they inhabit the bottom, yet 
 they are never touched by the element in which 
 they reside, but are inclosed in a bubble of air 
 that, like a box, surrounds them on every side. 
 This bubble has the bright appearance, at the 
 bottom, of quicksilver : and within this they 
 perform their several functions of eating, 
 
 1 The gossamer, bird-catching, and branded spiders 
 are among the most remarkable. Gossamer spiders first 
 appear in the beginning of October, in woods, gardens, 
 and meadows, where their eggs are hatched in safety ; 
 thence they spread themselves over whole districts, and, 
 during the rest of October, and till the middle of Nov- 
 ember, may be found in dry fields throughout Europe. 
 Extensive tracts of land are sometimes seen swarming 
 with them. In the beginning of October, when but very 
 few are hatched, some single threads of their webs, ex- 
 tending from twig to twig, are seen only in the sun. 
 shine : about the middle of the month their threads are 
 more perceptible ; and toward the end, if a person stand 
 in such a position as to see the sunbeams play upon 
 their slender threads, hedges, meadows, cornfields, stub- 
 ble land, and even whole districts, appear covered 
 as with a sort of white gauze. The gossamer spider 
 does not weave a web, but only extends its threads from 
 one place to another. These are so delicate, that a 
 single thread cannot be seen unless the sun shines on it. 
 One of them, to be visible at other times, must be com- 
 posed of at least six common threads twisted together. 
 In serene, calm days, these spiders work with great 
 diligence, especially after the disappearance of the morn- 
 ing fogs. Between twelve and two, however, their 
 industry excites the greatest admiration. A person 
 with a pretty quick eye, or by the help of a glass, may 
 sometimes perceive among the barley stubble such a 
 multitude of these insects extending their threads, that 
 the fields appear as if covered with swarms of gnats. 
 Several of the single threads become twisted together by 
 the gentlest breath of wind, and form perceptible threads, 
 which, being broken by stronger winds, unite into thick 
 threads, or even into balls, and float through the atmo- 
 sphere. These are then called in Germany, the flying 
 summer, because the summer seems to fly away at the 
 same time. The spiders are conveyed in them : but it 
 is not uncommon to find spiders of other species in them, 
 which have been entangled and dragged away ; and even 
 the webs of other spiders, and the dried husks of insects 
 that have been caught by them, are often found in the 
 gossamer. The gossamer-spiders appear in swarms only 
 during the harvest; but single spiders are to be found 
 through the whole summer. 
 
 The Bird-catching Spider is of gigantic size, and great 
 muscular power, extending with its feet a space of near 
 ten inches. From the head to the extremity of the ab- 
 domen it often measures above three inches. The legs 
 are as thick as a goose's quill, and closely covered with 
 
 spinning, and sleeping, without its ever burst 
 ing, or in the least disturbing their operations; 
 sometimes the bubble is seen divided into three 
 distinct apartments ; and in the spring, the 
 male enters one of these to impregnate the 
 female in the manner mentioned above, while 
 the bubble in which he was contained unites 
 with the other, like two drops of water when 
 approached to each other. . They spin their 
 webs as well in the water as upon land; and 
 it is most probable that they make their food 
 of the small insects of either element. 
 
 The Tarantula is also of this species, and 
 deserves particular notice, not for any remark- 
 able properties that really attend it, but for 
 the numerous falsehoods which have been pro- 
 pagated concerning it. What may be said 
 with truth concerning it is, that it is the lar- 
 gest of the spider kind known in Europe, and 
 is a native of Apulia in Italy. Its body is 
 
 hair. The body is brown, and the fangs are as strong 
 and sharp as in some of the rapacious species of birds. It 
 is not uncommon in many parts of America, but is gen- 
 erally found in the southern division of that continent, 
 and particularly in Guinea, and is a terror to all the 
 feathered tribe. It resides in the trees, and frequently 
 seizes on small birds, which it destroys by sucking their 
 blood, after having first wounded them by its fangs, 
 which distil a poisonous liquid into the wound. The 
 slit or orifice near the tip of the fangs, through which this 
 poison is emitted, is so visible as to be distinctly per- 
 ceived without a glass. The eight eyes of this terrible 
 insect are placed somewhat in the form of an oblong 
 square in the front of the thorax ; of these the two mid. 
 die ones are so large as to be capable of being set in the 
 manner of glasses, and used as microscopes ; the rest 
 are smaller, and of an oval shape. The thorax is orbi- 
 cular, and has a transverse excavation. Captain Stedman, 
 while residing in Surinam, had one of them given to 
 him, which he put into a case bottle above eight inches 
 long ; and, when this was filled with spirits, the ani- 
 mal reached the surface with some of its claws, while 
 others rested on the bottom. On the whole, he says, 
 this spider is so hideous a creature, that the very sight 
 of it is sufficient to occasion a tremor of abhorrence, even 
 in persons most accustomed to inspect the deformities of 
 nature. 
 
 The Banded Spider is a native of Barbary, and is as 
 large as a man's thumb. It has yellow bands round the 
 belly, and dusky rings round the legs. It inhabits 
 hedges and thickets. Its webs have large meshes, and 
 it resides in the centre ; the snares are spread for large 
 flies, wasps, drones, and even locusts ; the lesser insects 
 can escape through the meshes. The animal which it 
 entangles is soon bound with strong threads, killed by the 
 spider's jaws, and partly eat if the spider be hungry ; 
 the, rest is concealed under some neighbouring dry leaves, 
 covered with a kind of web, and blackish blue in great 
 abundance : its larder is said to be often plentifully 
 stored. Its nest is of the size of a pigeon's egg, divided 
 horizontally, and suspended by the threads of the insect, 
 which are of a silvery white, and stronger than silk. The 
 young ones live in amity, but when grown up are mortal 
 enemies ; they never meet but they fight with violence, 
 and their battle only ends with the death of the weakest : 
 the dead body is carefully stored in the larder. Twelve of 
 these spiders, by way of experiment, were shut up together, 
 and after a battle of eight days the strongest only re- 
 mained alive. Rennie. 
 
THE FLEA. 
 
 455 
 
 three quarters of an inch long, and about as 
 thick as one's little finger ; the colour is gene- 
 rally an olive brown, variegated with one that 
 is more dusky ; it has eight legs and eight 
 eyes, like the rest, and nippers, which are 
 sharp and serrated: between these and the 
 fore legs, there are two little horns, or feelers, 
 which it is observed to move very briskly 
 when it approaches its prey. It is covered all 
 over the body with a soft down, and propa- 
 gates, as other spiders, by laying eggs. In 
 the summer months, particularly in the dog 
 days, the tarantula, creeping among the corn, 
 bites the mowers and passengers; but in win- 
 ter it lurks in holes, and is seldom seen. 
 
 Thus far is true; but now the fable begins: 
 for though the bite is attended with no dan- 
 gerous symptoms, and will easily cure of it- 
 self, wonderful stories are reported concerning 
 its virulence. The part which is bitten, as 
 we are told, is soon after discoloured with a 
 livid, black, or yellowish circle attended with 
 an inflammation. At first the pain is scarcely 
 felt ; but a few hours after, come on a violent 
 sickness, difficulty of breathing, fainting, and 
 sometimes trembling. The person bit, after 
 this does nothing but laugh, dance, skip about, 
 putting himself into the most extravagant pos- 
 tures, and sometimes also is seized with a most 
 frightful melancholy. At the return of the 
 season in which he was bit, his madness be- 
 gins again ; and the patient always talks of 
 the same things. Sometimes he fancies him- 
 self a shepherd, sometimes a king ; appearing 
 entirely out of his senses. These troublesome 
 symptoms sometimes return for several years 
 successively, and at last terminate in death. 
 But so dreadful a disorder has, it seems, riot 
 been left without a remedy; which is no other 
 than a well-played fiddle. For this purpose 
 the medical musician plays a particular tune, 
 famous for the cure, which he begins slow, and 
 increases in quickness as he sees the patient 
 affected. The patient no sooner hears the 
 music, but he begins to dance ; and continues 
 so doing till he is all over in a sweat, which 
 forces out the venom that appeared so danger 
 ous. This dancing sometimes continues for 
 three or four hours, before the patient is weary 
 and before the sweating is copious enough to 
 jure the disorder. Such are the symptoms re- 
 ited of the tarantula poison; symptoms which 
 )me of the best and gravest physicians have 
 credited, and attempted to account for. Bui 
 the truth is, that the whole is an imposition oi 
 the peasants upon travellers who happen to 
 pass through that part of the country, and who 
 procure a trifle for suffering themselves to be 
 bitten by the tarantula. Whenever they find 
 a traveller willing to try the experiment, they 
 readily offer themselves, and are sure to coun- 
 terfeit the whole train of symptoms which mu 
 
 ic is supposed to remove. A friend of mine, 
 vho passed through that part of the country, 
 lad a trusty servant bitten, without ever ad- 
 ministering the musical cure : the only symp- 
 oms were a slight inflammation, which was 
 readily removed, and no other consequence 
 ever attended the bite. It is thus that false- 
 ioods prevail for a century or two ; and man- 
 dnd at last begin to wonder how it was possi 
 Die to keep up the delusion so long. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE FLEA. 
 
 THE history of those animals with which we 
 are the best acquainted, is the first object of 
 our chiefest curiosity. There are few but who 
 are well-informed of the agility and blood- 
 thirsty disposition of the Flea ; of the caution 
 with which it comes to the attack ; and the 
 readiness with which it avoids the pursuit. 
 This insect, which is not only the enemy of 
 mankind, but of the dog, cat, and several other 
 animals, is found in every part of the world, 
 but bites with greater severity in some coun- 
 tries than in others. Its numbers in Italy 
 and France are much greater than in Eng- 
 land ; and yet its bite is much more trouble- 
 some here, than I have found it in any other 
 place. It would seem that its force increased 
 with the coldness of the climate; and, though 
 less prolific, that it becomes more predaceous. 1 
 
 1 The Common Flea. At a meeting of a Scientific 
 Society at Oxford, some time ago, Mr Hussey, of Christ 
 Church, read a paper on the growth of the flea, in which 
 the changes through which the flea passes were described, 
 and an account was given of some observations of the 
 manner in which changes may be retarded. The flea, 
 it was stated, lays from eight to twelve eggs, which fall 
 down into crevices, or among dust, where they are 
 hatched in about five days; they produce small white 
 maggots like cheese-mites, which increase in size for 
 about fourteen days, when they spin a bag or case of silk 
 around them, and become chrysalids. Within this case 
 they gradually darken in colour, until, at the end of 
 about sixteen days, they come out of it perfect fleas; hav- 
 ing been, on the whole, about thirty-four days from the 
 laying of the egg to the perfect state. M. Defrance's 
 opinion concerning the food of the young maggot, was 
 quoted : namely, that it is fed by small grains of dried 
 blood, which the parent has the power of extracting from 
 the skin of the animals on which it feeds. 
 
 The strength of this animal is astonishing for its size. 
 A flea will drag after it a chain a hundred times heavier 
 than itself; and, to compensate for this force, will eat 
 ten times its own weight of provisions in a day. Mr 
 Boverich, an ingenious watch-maker who some years 
 ago lived in the Strand, London, exhibited to the public 
 a little ivory chaise, with four wheels, and all its proper 
 apparatus, and a man sitting on the box, all of which 
 were drawn by a single flea. He made a small landau, 
 which opened and shut by springs, with six horses har- 
 nassed to it ; a coachman sitting on the box, and a dog 
 between his legs, four persons in the carriage, two foot. 
 
456 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 If the flea be examined with a microscope, 
 it will be observed to have a small head, large 
 eyes, and a roundish body. It has two feel- 
 ers, cr horns, which are short, and composed 
 of four joints : and between these lies its trunk, 
 which it buries in the skin, and through which 
 it sucks the blood in great quantities. The 
 body appears to be all over curiously adorned 
 with a suit of polished sable armour, neatly 
 jointed, and beset with multitudes of sharp 
 pins, almost like the quills of a porcupine. It 
 has six legs, the joints of which are so adapted, 
 that it can, as it were, fold them up one with- 
 in another ; and when it leaps, they all spring 
 out at once, whereby its whole strength is ex- 
 erted, 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 pearl 
 colour : in a fortnight's time they come to a 
 tolerable size, and are very lively and active ; 
 but if they are touched at this time, they roll 
 themselves up in a ball : soon after this they 
 begin to creep like silk-worms that have no 
 legs; and they seek a place to lie hid in, 
 where they spin a silken thread from their 
 mouth, and with this they inclose themselves 
 in a small round bag or case, as white within 
 as writing-paper, but dirty without : in this 
 they continue for a fortnight longer; after 
 which they burst from their confinement per- 
 fectly formed, and armed with powers to dis- 
 turb the peace of an emperor. 1 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE LOUSE AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 THE antipathies of mankind are various ; 
 some considering the toad, some the serpent, 
 
 men behind it, and a postilion riding on one of the fore 
 horses, which WKS easily drawn along by a flea. He 
 likewise had a chain of brass, about two inches long, 
 containing two hundred links, with a hook at one end, 
 and a padlock and key at the other, which the flea drew 
 very nimbly along. 
 
 1 The Chigoe. This troublesome insect, which is a 
 kind of small sand flea, is so diminutive as to be almost 
 imperceptible. Its legs have not the elasticity of those 
 of fleas; for had the chigoes their power of leaping, there 
 is not a living creature of the climates where they abound 
 that would not be full of them ; and this lurking race 
 would destroy three-fourths of mankind by the evils they 
 would produce. They are common in Surinam, and in 
 many parts of America, and are always found among the 
 dust, and principally in filthy places ; they fix themselves 
 on the legs, to the soles of 'the feet, and even to the fin- 
 gers. 
 
 The chigoe gets in between the skin and the flesh, 
 and generally under the nails of the toes, in such a sub- 
 tile manner, that, at the time, the person is not sensible 
 of it; nor is it to be perceived till it begins to extend it- 
 
 some the spider, and some the beetle, with a 
 strong degree of detestation : but while all 
 wonder at the strangeness of each other's aver- 
 sions, they all seem to unite in their dislike to 
 the Louse, and regard it as their natural and 
 most nauseous enemy. Indeed, it seems the 
 enemy of man in the most odious degree, for 
 wherever wretchedness, disease, or hunger, 
 seize upon him, the louse seldom fails to add 
 itself to the tribe, and to increase in proportion 
 to the number of his calamities. 
 
 In examining the human louse with the 
 microscope, its external deformity first strikes 
 us with disgust : the shape of the forepart of 
 the head is somewhat oblong ; that of the hind 
 part somewhat round : the skin is hard, and 
 being stretched, transparent, with here and 
 there several bristly hairs: in the forepart is a 
 proboscis or sucker, which is seldom visible : 
 on each side of the head are antennas, or horns, 
 each divided into five joints, covered with 
 bristly hair ; and several white vessels are 
 seen through these horns : behind these are 
 the eyes, which seem to want those divisions 
 observable in other insects, and appear encom- 
 passed with some few hairs : the neck is very 
 short, and the breast is divided into three 
 parts; on each side of which are placed six 
 
 self. At first it is not difficult to extract it; but, al- 
 though it may only have introduced its head, it makes so 
 firm a lodgment that a part of the skin must be sacrificed 
 before it will quit its hold. If it be not soon perceived, 
 the insect completes its lodgment, sucks the blood, and 
 forms a nest of a white thin tunicle, in the shape of flat 
 pearl. It extends itself in this space in such a manner, 
 that its head and feet are towards the exterior side, for 
 the convenience of nourishment ; and the other part of 
 the body answers to the inner side of the tunicle, in or- 
 der to lay its eggs there. In proportion as these are 
 laid, the little pearl is enlarged; and in four or five days 
 it is at least four or five lines in diameter. It is then of 
 the utmost consequence to have it extracted ; for if this 
 be neglected it bursts of itself, and spreads an infinity of 
 nits, which, when hatched, fill the whole part, and pro- 
 duce excessive anguish j and the difficulty of dislodging 
 them becomes very great. These penetrate to the very 
 bones ; and even when the sufferer has got rid of them, 
 the pain will last till the flesh and skin are entirely 
 healed. 
 
 The operation of extracting them, at which the black 
 girls are extremely dexterous, is long and painful. It 
 consists in separating, with the point of a needle, the 
 flesh next to the membrane where the eggs are lodged ; 
 which is not easily done without bursting the tunicle. 
 After having separated even the most minute ligaments, 
 the nest is to be extracted. If unfortunately it bursts, 
 particular care must be taken to extract every root of it, 
 and especially not to leave behind the principal insect. 
 This would begin to lay its eggs again before the wound 
 could be healed ; and penetrating much farther into the 
 flesh, would increase the difficulty of extracting. During 
 the great heats extreme care must be taken not to wet 
 the part affected. Without this precaution, experience 
 has proved that the patient is subject to consequences that 
 frequently prove fatal. Tobacco ashes are put into the 
 orifice, by which, in a little time, the sore is perfectly 
 healed. Some, by having neglected in time to root out 
 these detestable vermin, have not only lost their limbs by 
 amputation, but even their lives. 
 
THE LOUSE. 
 
 457 
 
 legs, consisting of six joints, covered also with 
 bristly hairs ; the ends of the legs are armed 
 with two smaller and larger ruddy claws, serv- 
 ing these insects as a finger and thumb, by 
 which they catch hold of such objects as they 
 approach : the end of the body terminates in a 
 cloven tail, while the sides are all over hairy ; 
 the whole resembling clear parchment, and, 
 when roughly pressed, crackling with a noise. 
 When we take a closer view, its white 
 veins and other internal parts appear, as like- 
 wise a most wonderful motion in its intestines, 
 from the transparency of its external covering. 
 When the louse feeds, the blood is seen to 
 rush, like a torrent, into the stomach ; and its 
 greediness is so great, that the excrements con- 
 tained in the intestines are ejected at the same 
 time, to make room for this new supply. 
 
 The louse has neither beak, teeth, nor any 
 kind of mouth, as Dr Hooke described it, 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 
 pointed hollow sucker, with which it pierces 
 the skin, and sucks the human blood, taking 
 that for food only. The stomach is lodged 
 partly in the breast and back ; but the great- 
 est portion of it is in the abdomen. When 
 swollen with blood, it appears of a dark brown 
 colour, which is visible through the skin ; and 
 is either a faint red, or a full or bright brown, 
 as the contents of the stomach are more or less 
 changed. When it is empty, it is colourless ; 
 but when filled, it is plainly discernible, and 
 its motion seems very extraordinary. It then 
 appears working with very strong agitations, 
 and somewhat resembles an animal within an 
 animal. Superficial observers are apt to take 
 this for the pulsation of the heart : but if the 
 animal be observed when it is sucking, it will 
 then be found that the food takes a direct pas- 
 sage from the trunk to the stomach, where the 
 remainder of the old aliment will be seen mix- 
 ing with the new, and agitated up and down 
 on every side. 
 
 If this animal be kept from food two or 
 three days, and then placed upon the back of 
 the hand, or any soft part of the body, it will 
 immediately seek for food ; which it will the 
 more 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 diligently searches for some pore : 
 when found, it fixes the trunk therein, and soon 
 the microscope discovers the blood ascending 
 through the head, in a very rapid, and even 
 frightful stream. The louse has at that time 
 sufficient appetite to feed in any posture ; it is 
 then seen sucking with its head downward, 
 and its tail elevated. If, during this opera- 
 tion, the skin be drawn tight, the trunk is 
 bound fast, and the animal is incapable of dis- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 engaging itself ; but it more frequently suffers 
 from its gluttony, since it gorges to such a de- 
 gree, that it is crushed to pieces by the slight- 
 est impression. 
 
 Whether lice are distinguished by the parts 
 of generation into males and females is not yet 
 discovered : Swammerdam is inclined to think 
 that they are hermaphrodites, having found an 
 ovary in all those he examined ; and he dis- 
 sected not less than forty-two. In one of 
 these animals were found ten large eggs ; and 
 forty-four smaller, that were not yet come to 
 their full perfection. 
 
 There is scarce any animal that multiplies 
 so fast as this unwelcome intruder. It has been 
 pleasantly said, that a louse becomes a grand- 
 father in the space of twenty- four hours : this 
 fact cannot be ascertained ; but nothing is more 
 true than that the moment the nit, which is no 
 other than the egg of the louse, gets rid of its 
 superfluous moisture, and throws off its shell, 
 it then begins to breed in its turn. Nothing 
 so much prevents the increase of this nauseous 
 animal as cold and want of humidity ; the nits 
 must be laid in a place that is warm, and mo- 
 derately moist, to produce any thing. This is 
 the reason that many nits laid on the hairs in 
 the night-time, are destroyed by the cold of the 
 succeeding day; and so stick for several 
 months, till they at last come to lose even their 
 external form. 
 
 The louse is found upon every part of the 
 human body : but particularly in the heads of 
 children. 1 Those found upon the miners in 
 
 1 All lice live on blood, some on that of man, others on 
 that of quadrupeds. They suck it with their proboscis, 
 which is hardly ever perceived, unless it be in action. 
 There is no quadruped which has not its particular louse, 
 and some nourish several. Man, as we have already 
 seen, is attacked by three species. 
 
 Swammerdam, who has given us the anatomy of the 
 human louse, was unable to discover any male among 
 those which he examined. He always found in them 
 an ovary; which occasioned him to suspect that they 
 were hermaphrodites. But the observations of Leeuwen. 
 hock, differ much from those of that author. He has 
 observed individuals among these insects provided with 
 all the parts which characterize the male sex, and he 
 has given the figures of those parts. The same author 
 has also discovered in those which he regards as males, 
 a recurved sort of sting, situated under the abdomen, 
 with which, according to him, they can prickle. He 
 believes that the great itching which they occasion pro- 
 ceeds from the pricking of this sting, having remarked 
 that the introduction of their proboscis into the flesh 
 produces scarcely any sensation, unless perchance that 
 it touch on any of the nerves. Degeer tells us, that he 
 has seen a similar sting situated at the end of the abdo- 
 men in several human lice as well those of the body, as 
 of the head. The individuals, which according to the 
 opinion of Leeuwenhock are the males, have, according 
 to Degeer, the end of the abdomen rounded, whereas 
 the females, or those which have no sting, have it emar- 
 giriated. M. Latreille has also observed, very distinctly 
 in a great number of individuals, the sting, or at least 
 the conical and scaly point of which the aforesaid authors 
 have made mention. 
 
 SB 
 
458 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 Sweden, are said, by Linnaeus, to be very 
 large ; and he is of opinion that the head and 
 the body-louse differ in no respect from 
 each other. The phthiriasis, or lousy disease, 
 
 The multiplication of these insects is unfortunately 
 far too great, but they are not quite so prolific as some 
 have represented. Experiments have proved that in six 
 days a louse can lay fifty eggs, and that some will still 
 remain in the belly. The young ones soon issue from 
 the eggs, (at the end of six days,) and change their skin 
 several times, after which, they are in a state to repro- 
 duce. This occurs about eighteen days after, when they 
 begin to lay in their turn. According to these observa- 
 tions, and the calculations to which they have given rise, 
 two female lice may have eighteen thousand descendants 
 in the course of two months. 
 
 Linnaeus considered the louse, which remains con- 
 stantly on the human head, as a variety of the common 
 louse. It is, however, from its characters, and also 
 from its undeviating locality, proved to be a distinct 
 species. This same great naturalist also informs us, 
 that the largest lice he ever met with, are to be found 
 in the warm caverns of Fahlun, in Sweden. 
 
 Children, and persons who totally neglect their hair, 
 and are otherwise of filthy habits, are generally infested 
 by the head-lice. When powder was fashionable, and 
 preposterously esteemed an embellishment to the hair, it 
 frequently proved a productive cause of these vermin. 
 Those who left too long upon their head the dandriff 
 produced by the use of powder, or who employed adul- 
 terated powder for the ornament of their hair, were very 
 liable to the intrusion of these unamiable guests. The 
 other species, which is found on all parts of the body, 
 excepting those of generation, comes generally in con- 
 sequence of the neglect of personal cleanliness, and the 
 not changing the linen and internal garments sufficiently 
 often. It is from this same species that those persons 
 suffer who are afflicted with that most dreadful and dis- 
 gusting malady phthiriasis. It may be observed that 
 their appearance, though in fewer numbers, is some- 
 times indicative of the approach, or even of the crisis of 
 other diseases, and that where there is no neglect of per- 
 sonal cleanliness. 
 
 As for the third species, we believe, that its appear, 
 ance is invariably the result of indiscriminate debauch- 
 ery, accompanied of course with personal neglect. 
 
 Dirt attracts these insects, and prepares for them a 
 nidus favourable to the reproduction of their posterity. 
 This is the vice which must be first eradicated if we are 
 desirous of being protected from their inroads, or if al- 
 ready attacked by them, of rendering more efficacious 
 any other means employed for their destruction. 
 
 The remedies employed against these vermin act in 
 two ways. Some of them, such as oily and fatty sub- 
 stances, or such as contain azotic gas, close up the stig. 
 mata of these insects, or the apertures destined for the 
 admission of air, and smother them. Others, such as 
 the seeds of staphis agria, of larks-spur, tobacco, &c. 
 reduced to a powder, produce the effect of a violent 
 poison, and exercise their influence on the general or- 
 ganization of the animals. Mercurial preparations are, 
 of all others, the most certain arid speedy agents of their 
 destruction. They may also be employed for the ex- 
 tinction of the species which infest our domestic ani- 
 mals. 
 
 It is said that lice, by piercing the skin, often produce 
 pustules which may be converted into itch or tinea. 
 Their multiplication, in certain subjects, is carried to 
 such an extent as to produce the mortal malady which 
 has been already noticed, namely, morbus pedicularis or 
 phthiriasis. History has afforded us many examples of 
 this ; Pherelima, mentioned by Herodotus ; Sylla, An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes, the two Herods, Maximin, and 
 
 though very little known at present, was fre- 
 quent enough among the ancients : Herod, 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, Alcman the poet, Phe- 
 recydes, Cassander, Callisthenes, and Sylla, 
 
 Philip the Second, perished of this disease, or something 
 very analogous to it. Mr Kirby is prone to think that 
 it has fallen particularly as a judgment from God on the 
 oppressors of mankind and the persecutors of religion. 
 But this and all such notions ought to be admitted with 
 caution, or rather rejected altogether. Until it is shown 
 that the disease in question has fallen upon such persons 
 alone, and on no others, we must discard the idea of its 
 being an instrument of Divine vengeance. But this is 
 so far from being the case, that the reverend entomo- 
 logist himself informs us that "this most loathsome of 
 all maladies, or one equally disgusting, has been the 
 inheritance of the rich, the wise, the noble, and the 
 mighty; and in the list of those who have fallen victims 
 to it, you will find poets, philosophers, princes, kings, 
 and emperors." It would be somewhat hard to believe 
 that among all these there was not one less bloody than 
 the first, or less profligate than the second Herod, less 
 oppressive than Maximin, or less bigotted than Philip. 
 The fact is, diseases of all kinds, like the rain of heaven, 
 fall upon the just and the unjust. They follow, to be 
 sure, as a pretty certain consequence, the indulgence in 
 some vices. Intemperance of all kinds will entail them 
 on the practiser as a necessary, but a natural punish- 
 ment. But the man who unites a sound constitution to 
 a prudent care of his health, may be at once supremely 
 wicked and remarkably healthy. He may cheat and 
 rob, and oppress and murder, but while he avoids the 
 vices which are ruinous to health, he is more likely to 
 find the reward of his villanies here from the indigna- 
 tion of mankind than from any heaven-descended visita- 
 tion of disease. 
 
 Mr Kirby seems doubtful whether all the cases re- 
 corded as of morbus pedicularis are referrable to the 
 same specific cause. He believes there is sufficient 
 reason for thinking that three different kinds of insects 
 are concerned in the production of diseases which have 
 all been confounded under the name of phthiriasis. Be- 
 sides those produced by pediculi, this eminent naturalist 
 refers many cases to the agency of acari, or mites, and 
 larvae in general. 
 
 It has never been proved, in any Avell authenticated 
 way, that the species of the genus pediculus burrow be- 
 neath the skin, or are subcutaneous. This remark is 
 equally applicable to man, and the lower animals, as far 
 as we know anything of the habits of the genus in ques- 
 tion. For this we have the highest medical authority, 
 as far as man is concerned. Dr Mead informs us that 
 "the louse feeds on the surface of the skin," and Dr 
 Willan, in a work on cutaneous diseases, states, respect- 
 ing the body-louse, that "the nits or eggs, are deposited 
 on the small hairs of the skin, and the animals are found 
 on the skin, or on the linen, and not under the cuticle, 
 as some authors have represented." The same writer 
 informs us, '* that many marvellous stories are related 
 by Forestus, Schenkius and others, respecting lice bred 
 under the skin, and discharged in swarms from absces- 
 ses, strumous ulcers, and vesications. The mode in 
 which pediculi are generated being now so well ascer- 
 tained, no credit can be given to these accounts." He 
 thinks, however, that those authors have mistaken some 
 other insects for lice, as some such animals may some- 
 times be found in putrid ulcers. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that cases of disease from ani- 
 mals residing under the cuticle, cannot be referred to 
 pediculi. The poet Alcman, and Pherecydes Syrius, 
 the philosopher, are mentioned by Aristotle, as having 
 died of some complaint of this kind. But it could not 
 have been a true phthiriasis, as that great philosopher, 
 
THE LOUSE. 
 
 459 
 
 all died of this disorder. The use of mercury, 
 which was unknown among the ancients, may 
 probably have banished it from among the mo- 
 derns ; for certain it is, that these animals sel- 
 dom attack any in our climate, but such as 
 from sloth or famine invite their company. 
 
 Such is the history of the human louse, 
 which, from its connection with mankind, de- 
 serves first notice : but it would be endless to 
 describe the various tribes that go under this 
 name, and swarm upon every part of Nature. 
 There is scarce an animal, and scarce even a 
 vegetable, that does not suffer under its own 
 peculiar louse. The sheep, the horse, the hog, 
 and the elephant, are all teased by them ; the 
 whale, the shark, the salmon, and the lobster, 
 
 \vlio attributed it to lice, imagined; for he tells us, that 
 "they are produced in the flesh, in small pustules, like 
 tumour?, which have no pus, and from which, when 
 punctured, they issue." Dr Heberden, in his Com- 
 mentaries, informs us of a similar case, which he terms 
 morbus pedicularis, but which could not be so, for the 
 same reason. He represents the insect as inhabiting 
 tumours, from which, when opened, they issue. He 
 also tells us, that in all respects they resemble the com- 
 mon louse, but in being whiter. But an observer not 
 accurately skilled in entomology, might, as Mr Kirby 
 very justly remarks, easily mistake an acarus for a 
 pediculus. 
 
 Dr Willan has cited two other cases, which he seems 
 to think may with propriety be referred to true phthiri- 
 asis. In one of these cases, it is stated that the pediculi 
 so abounded, that two black servants had no other em- 
 ployment than that of carrying baskets full of these in- 
 sects, and throwing them into the sea. This, as Mr 
 Kirby observes, appears to be somewhat exaggerated 
 and hyperbolical. We shall conclude this part of the 
 subject, by observing, that phthiriasis must vary in its 
 types, according to the species of pediculus by which it 
 is produced. 
 
 The facts mentioned by Cuvier, that lice abandon the 
 Spanish sailors, in a certain degree of latitude when 
 going to the Indies, and revisit them again on their re- 
 turn, and that body lice are unknown in India, are ob- 
 servations that have need of being corroborated by more 
 certain testimonies than we are yet in possession of. 
 But, if true, there would be nothing in the fact very 
 surprising. A degree of considerable heat, and a more 
 abundant transpiration, might prove unfavourable to the 
 propagation of the pediculi carports. As their skin is 
 more tender, the influence of the air might prove detri- 
 mental to them in those burning climates. 
 
 The disgusting fact, of these vermin being eaten, is 
 not confined to the Hottentots, the Negroes of Western 
 Africa, and the Simise. It has been observed to pre- 
 vail among some of the American tribes, and is not un- 
 common even in Europe, as amongst the beggars in 
 Spain and Portugal. Some authors have pointed out 
 the courses which should be adopted to protect or free 
 the person from these disgusting insects. The best of 
 all, in ordinary cases, is cleanliness. Of the medical 
 uses to which these animals have been applied, it is un- 
 necessary to dilate here. No one, we fancy, of the least 
 degree of intelligence, gives any credit to such remedies 
 at present. It was imagined that their introduction into 
 the uretha of new-born infants, troubled with suppression 
 of urine, might, by the titillation which they caused in 
 that canal, force the sphincter to relax, and give pas- 
 sage to the urine, farriers used to employ the same 
 remedy with horses in similar cases. 
 
 The pediculi proper, are confined to men and quad- 
 
 are not without their company ; while every 
 hot-house, and every garden, is infested with 
 some peculiarly destructive. Linnaeus tells us, 
 that he once found a vegetable-louse upon some 
 plants newly arrived from America ; and, will- 
 ing to trace the little animal through its vari- 
 ous stages, he brought it with him from Lon- 
 don to Leyden, where he carefully preserved 
 it during the winter, until it bred in the 
 spring ; but the louse it seems did not treat 
 him with all the gratitude he expected ; for it 
 became the parent of so numerous a progeny, 
 that it soon overran all the physic-garden of 
 that beautiful city ; and leaves, to this day, 
 many a gardener to curse the Swede's too in- 
 dulgent curiosity. 
 
 rupeds. The ricini, or bird-lice, to the feathered 
 race. 
 
 It appears that the ancients designated under the 
 name of ricinus, those acarides, or acari, vulgarly called 
 ticks, which attach themselves to the skin of dogs, oxen, 
 &c. Degeer might, therefore, have better employed 
 another denomination for the present genus, and which 
 preceding naturalists confounded with that of lice. Ac- 
 cordingly, Dr Leach has adopted, from Herman, the 
 denomination of nirmus. 
 
 It was by no means surprising, that the earlier natur- 
 alists did not distinguish these animals from the lice ; 
 their external physiognomy is almost the same, but their 
 organization is different in many essential points, and it 
 is evident that these two genera approximate in a natu- 
 ral series. From the consideration of their resemblances 
 and differences, and from some other facts, furnished by 
 the trachean arachnida, and the branchiopoda, we may 
 see that nature, in preserving always the same type of 
 general forms, is pleased to modify, and sometimes rather 
 abruptly, that of the manducatory apparatus, or that she 
 easily converts organs adapted for grinding, into sucking 
 organs, and vice versa. Her views in this respect are 
 subordinate to the model on which the body of the ani- 
 mal is at first formed. This consideration caused M. 
 Latreille to reject as a primary character, the division 
 of insects into two lines one composed of the grinding, 
 and the other of the sucking insects. 
 
 The ricini live exclusively on animals of the class 
 Aves. Degeer, it is true, makes mention of a ricinus 
 found on the body of a dog; but this species M. La- 
 treille refers to pediculus, and could discover no man- 
 dibles on it. 
 
 These insects remain by preference under the wings, 
 about the axilla, and on the head of birds; they attach 
 themselves there very strongly, by means of the two ro- 
 bust and equal crotchets which terminate their tarsi. 
 They multiply there sometimes, in such quantities, that 
 the birds grow considerably thinner, and may even die 
 in consequence. Care should be taken to examine do- 
 mestic birds, supposed to be infested by these vermin, 
 and often to clean out the places in which they are kept, 
 and where they are accustomed to rest. By such means 
 they may also be protected from a species of mite, which 
 multiplies prodigiously in such places, and by which 
 these domestic animals are seriously incommoded. 
 
 The genus of the ricini is very numerous; there is 
 no bird without one or two species. Redi has figured a 
 great number of them, and though his figures are rude, 
 one may easily see how many varieties the forms of these 
 insects present. Their characters, manners, &c., are, 
 with the exceptions already stated, the same as those of 
 the lice. There is one singularity in the ricinus pavo- 
 nis, and that is, that the antennae are forked. Supple- 
 ment to the English edition of Cuvier. 
 
460 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 The animal which some have called the 
 Leaf-Louse, is of the size of a flea, and of a 
 bright green, or bluish-green colour ; the body 
 is nearly oval, and is largest and most convex 
 on the hinder part; the breast is very small, 
 and the head is blunt and green : the eyes may 
 be seen very plainly, being prominent on the 
 fore part of the head, and of a shining black 
 colour ; near these there is a black line on 
 each side ; and the legs are very slender. 1 
 
 These animals are usually found on the 
 leaves of the orache, and other plants ; and the 
 weaker the leaves and buds are, these insects 
 swarm upon them in greater abundance. Some 
 plants are covered over with them ; though 
 they are not the cause of the plant's weakness, 
 but the sign : however, by wounding and suck- 
 ing the leaf, they increase the disease. They 
 generally assume their colour from the plant 
 on which they reside. Those that feed upon 
 pot-herbs and plum-trees, are of an ash-colour; 
 only they are greenish when they are young : 
 
 1 Of the Aphides, or Plant Lice. The minute ani- 
 mals which compose this singular tribe live entirely on 
 vegetables, and the loftiest trees are as liable to their at- 
 tacks as the most humble plant. Their numbers are 
 often incalculably great. They prefer the young shoots 
 on account of their tenderness, and frequently insinuate 
 themselves into the very hearts of the plants, doiug irre- 
 parable mischief even before they are discovered. But 
 for the most part they beset the foliage, and are always 
 found on the under side of the leaf. This they prefer, 
 not only on account of its being most tender, but because 
 it affords them protection from the weather. 
 
 Some of the species are constantly and unalterably at- 
 tached to one or more particular kind of plants ; but 
 others feed indiscriminately on most sorts of herbage. 
 
 These insects are sometimes winged, and sometimes 
 destitute of wings, without any distinction of sex. In 
 the spring they are viviparous, producing their offspring 
 alive; and in the autumn they are oviparous, depositing 
 their eggs, like most other insects, in places where they 
 remain secure through the winter till the ensuing spring, 
 when they are hatched. The aphides afford also another 
 surprising deviation from the general laws of nature ; one 
 impregnation of a female is sufficient for nine genera- 
 tions. 
 
 The larvae, chrysalides, and perfect insects, have so 
 little difference in external appearance, that they can- 
 not be distinguished from each other. 
 
 If the aphides had not many enemies, their increase 
 in summer would be so great, as by wounding and ex- 
 hausting the tender shoots of the trees, sometimes to sup- 
 press their vegetation. Among their enemies, one of 
 the principal is a small black species of ichneumon-fly, 
 which darts its pointed tail into the bodies of the aphi- 
 des, and at the same time deposits an egg in each. This 
 egg afterwards produces a grub, which feeds on the body 
 of the insect till it has acquired its full growth, when it 
 undergoes its change, and entirely destroys its living 
 nidus. 
 
 After a mild spring, most of the species of aphis be- 
 come so numerous as to do considerable injury to the 
 trees on which they are found. The best mode to re- 
 medy this evil is to lop off the infected shoots before the 
 iinects greatly multiplied, repeating the same operation 
 before the time that the eggs are deposited. By the first 
 pruning, a very numerous present increase will be pre- 
 vented ; and by the second, the following year's supply 
 may in a great measure be cut off. 
 
 those that belong to the alder and cherry-tree, 
 are black ; as also those upon beans, and some 
 other-plants : those on the leaves of apples and 
 rose-trees, are white : but as they leap, like 
 grasshoppers, some place them in the number 
 of the flea kind. The most uncommon colour 
 is reddish ; and lice of this sort may be found 
 on the leaves of tansey ; and their juice , when 
 rubbed in the hands, tinges them with no dis- 
 agreeable red. All these live upon their res- 
 pective plants ; and are often engendered with- 
 in the very substance of the leaf. 
 
 All these bring forth their young alive ; and 
 the foetus, when it is ready to be brought forth, 
 entirely fills the belly of the female ; its fore 
 parts being excluded first, and then the hin- 
 der. The young one does not begin to move 
 till the horns or feelers appear out of the body 
 of the old one ; and by the motion of these it 
 first shows signs of life, moving them in every 
 direction, and bending all their joints. When 
 the horns and head are excluded, the two fore- 
 feet follow, which they move with equal agi- 
 lity ; after this follow the middle feet, and 
 then the hinder : still, however, the young one 
 continues sticking to its parent, supported only 
 at one extremity, and hanging, as it were, in 
 air, until its small and soft members become 
 hardened and fitted for self-support. The pa- 
 rent then gets rid of its burden ; by moving 
 from the place where she was sitting, and for- 
 cing the young one to stand upon its legs, 
 leaves it to shift for itself. 
 
 As the animal has not far to go, its provi- 
 sions lying beneath it, during the summer it 
 continues to eat and creep about with great 
 agility. But as it is viviparous, and must ne- 
 cessarily lurk somewhere in winter, where its 
 body may be defended from the cold, it endea- 
 vours to secure a retreat near the trees or plants 
 that serve to nourish it in the beginning of 
 spring. They never hide themselves in the 
 earth, like many other insects, because they 
 have no part of their bodies fitted to remove 
 the earth : nor can they creep into every chink, 
 as their legs are too long : besides, their bo- 
 dies are so tender, that the least rough particle 
 of the earth would hurt them. They, there- 
 fore, get into the deep chinks of the bark, and 
 into the cavities of the stronger stalks, from 
 whence they sally out upon the branches and 
 leaves when the warmth of the sun begins 
 to be felt. Neither the cold in the autumnal 
 season, nor the lesser degree of heat in the 
 spring, ever hurts them ; they seldom, there- 
 fore, seek for hiding-places before the fall of 
 the leaf, and are alert enough to take the ear- 
 liest advantage of the returning spring. 
 
 Like many other insects, they cast their 
 skins four several times : and, what is very 
 remarkable, the males have four wings, but 
 the females never have any. They all have 
 
THE BUG. 
 
 461 
 
 long legs, not only to enable them to creep 
 over the long hairs of plants of leaves, but also 
 to travel from one tree to another when they hap- 
 pen to stand at a distance. Their trunk or 
 snout lies under their breast ; and this they 
 thrust into the pores of the plant to suck out 
 the juice, for they do not gnaw them, like the 
 caterpillar ; but so hurt them by sucking, that 
 the leaves become spotted, and as it were over- 
 run with scabs ; for which reason their edges 
 always turn up towards the middle. 
 
 It has been said, that these insects are often 
 carried away and devoured by ants ; but this 
 Frysch, from whom this description is taken, 
 could never observe. The ants, indeed, are 
 fond of those trees where there is a great num- 
 ber of these insects ; but then it is only to suck 
 the juice which flows from the leaves that have 
 been just wounded. This more particularly 
 happens in the heat of summer, when other 
 moisture is wanting : however, he never found 
 them hurting or carrying away any of these 
 insects while alive ; nor, indeed, were they 
 able, for the leaf-louse is more than a match 
 for the ant at single combat. Whenever they 
 perceive the ant approaching behind them, 
 they kick back with their hinder-feet, and thus 
 drive off the invader, as a horse would a lion. 
 
 The three principal and constant enemies 
 to these insects are, first, the fire-fly, which 
 lays its eggs where these insects are in great- 
 est number, which, producing a worm, seizes 
 and devours all the leaf-lice that come near 
 it : another enemy is the worm of a peculiar 
 kind of beetle, which destroys them in great 
 numbers : but the most formidable of all ene- 
 mies, is the ichneumon fly, that seizes upon 
 one of the largest females, and laying its egg 
 upon her, this is hatched into a worm, which 
 soon devours and destroys the animal from 
 whose body it sprung. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF THE BUG AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 THE Bug is another of those nauseous in- 
 sects that intrude upon the retreats of man- 
 kind ; and that often banish that sleep, which 
 even sorrow and anxiety permitted to approach. 
 This, to many men, is of all other insects the 
 most troublesome and obnoxious. The night 
 is usually the season when the wretched have 
 rest from their labour; but this seems the 
 only season when the bug issues from its re- 
 treats, to make its depredations. By day it 
 mrks, like a robber, in the most secret parts of 
 the bed; takes the advantage of every chink 
 and cranny, to make a secure lodgment; and 
 contrives its habitation with so much art, that 
 
 scarce any industry can discover its retreat. 
 It seems to avoid the light with great cun- 
 ning ; and if candles be kept burning, 
 this formidable insect will not issue from its 
 hiding-place. But when darkness promises 
 security, it then issues from every corner of the 
 bed, drops from the tester, crawls from behind 
 the arras, and travels with great assiduity to 
 the unhappy patient, who vainly wishes for 
 rest and refreshment. It is generally vain to 
 destroy one only, as there are hundreds more 
 to revenge their companion's fate ; so that the 
 person who thus is subject to be bitten, re- 
 mains the whole night like a centinel upon 
 duty, rather watching the approach of fresh 
 invaders, than inviting the pleasing approaches 
 of sleep. 1 
 
 Nor are these insects less disagreeable from 
 their nauseous stench, than their unceasing 
 appetites. When they begin to crawl, the 
 whole bed is infected with the smell : but if 
 they are accidentally killed, then it is insup- 
 portable. 
 
 These are a part of the inconveniences that 
 result from the persecution of these odious in- 
 sects ; but happily for Great Britain, they 
 multiply less in these islands than in any part 
 of the continent. 2 In France and Italy the 
 
 1 Bugs. Female bugs lay their eggs four times a- 
 year, namely, in March, May, July, and September, at 
 each season laying fifty eggs; in other words, producing 
 two hundred young in the space of a year. At the age 
 of eleven weeks the young bugs have arrived at maturi- 
 ty, and are ready to become parents in turn. With this 
 data, the following calculation may be made : Suppose 
 one female bug is allowed to enter a house just before 
 laying time in spring, it will produce 50 young in 
 March, of which 25 may be females. In May, the 26 
 females (that is, including the mother) will produce 1300 
 young; take 750 of these as females, we have in July 
 35,500 young; take 15,750 of these as females, along 
 with the former 750, that will be 16,500 females, which 
 in September will bring forth 825,000 young; take 
 412,500 of these as females, along with the former, 
 16,500 females, that will make 429,000, which in the 
 ensuing March will produce 21,450,000; add to these 
 the 429,025 males not reckoned, there is a total of 
 21,909,025, or very nearly twenty-two millions of bugs, 
 all from a single parent in the course of twelve months. 
 If a knowledge of this fact will not induce activity in 
 extirpating the first bug which makes its appearance in 
 a dwelling, we do not know what will. 
 
 2 The Bed Bug. It is supposed to have been in- 
 troduced into this country in the fir timber that was 
 brought over for the purpose of rebuilding London, after 
 it had suffered by the great fire. For it is generally said 
 that bugs were not known in England before that time; 
 and many of them were found almost immediately after- 
 wards in the new-built houses. Their most favourite 
 food is blood, dried paste, size, deal, beech, osier, and 
 some other kinds of timber, the sap of which they suck ; 
 and on any of these they are able to exist. They will 
 riot feed on oak, walnut, cedar, or mahogany ; for seve- 
 ral pairs which, for the sake of experiment, were confined 
 with these kinds of wood, soon died, whilst those kept 
 with the other continued to thrive through the whole 
 year. 
 
 Bugs appear to have been favourite ingredients among 
 
462 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 beds, particularly in their inns, swarm with 
 them ; and every piece of furniture seems to 
 afford them a retreat. They grow larger also 
 with them than with us, and bite with more 
 cruel appetite. 
 
 This animal, if examined minutely, appears 
 to consist of three principal parts ; the head, 
 the corselet, and the belly. It has two brown 
 eyes, that are very small, and a little promi- 
 nent, besides two feelers, with three joints ; 
 underneath these there is a crooked trunk, 
 which is its instrument of torture, and which, 
 when in motion, lies close upon the breast. 
 The breast is a kind of ring, in which are 
 placed the two first pair of legs. The belly 
 consists of nine rings ; under which are placed 
 two pair of legs more, making six in all. Each 
 leg has three joints, which form the thigh, the 
 leg, and the foot, which is armed with a crooked 
 claw, like a hook. The body is smooth, ex- 
 cept a few short hairs, that may be seen by 
 the microscope, about the vent, and on the two 
 last rings. Its motion is slow and unwieldy ; 
 yet its sight is so exquisite, that the instant it 
 perceives the light, it generally makes good 
 its retreat ; and they are seldom caught, though 
 the bed swarms with them. 
 
 If we examine this insect internally, we 
 shall find the great artery, which in all in- 
 sects performs the functions of the heart ; we 
 shall find the apertures of the lungs on the 
 right side and the left, through which the ani- 
 mal breathes ; we shall find a stomach and in- 
 testines, which, as in other animals, run from 
 the mouth to the anus. If the insect has been 
 long kept fasting, there will be a mucus found 
 in its body, like the white of an egg ; but if 
 crushed after a full meal, the human blood 
 which it has sucked in will appear a little 
 darkened, by having passed through the in- 
 sect's body. 
 
 The male and female of these animals are 
 plainly distinguishable from each other ; and 
 the parts of generation are obvious enough. 
 They are often found coupling tail to tail ; and 
 
 the medicaments of ancient doctors. They were pre- 
 scribed in wine for colic, and an ancient writer says, 
 " It is no new remedy, and it is a certain cure: it once 
 helped a governor of Zurich, so that he had like to have 
 written a commendation in favour of them." 
 
 The Leek-Green Bug The leek-green bug is to 
 
 found in Great Britain, as well as in many other parts of 
 Europe. Its body is green, without spots ; the abdomen 
 Mack above, the margin spotted with yellow; the body 
 beneath of a yellowish green ; with six yellow legs. The 
 antennae sometimes entirely reddish brown ; their last 
 joints are tipt with black. 
 
 The Harvest Bug. This is one of the most teasing 
 little animals in nature. Though bred and intended, 
 like its congener, the red spider, to live on vegetables, 
 as currents, rasp-berries, and French beans, yet it will 
 desert these, whether by accident or design, to live on 
 and annoy the most delicate and sensitive portion of the 
 human race. These insects are so minute, that they are 
 only visible to the keenest eyes, and then only whci 
 
 in this state are very easily destroyed. The 
 f emale has an ovary filled with eggs, joined 
 
 ogether like a bunch of grapes ; each egg 
 Deing an oblong, almost cylindrical, inclining 
 :o white, and pretty transparent. In about 
 ;wo days after impregnation by the male, she 
 deposits her eggs to the number of about a 
 iimdred and fifty, in some convenient place 
 where they are likely to receive no disturbance. 
 There they continue for some months ; during 
 which time, neither cold nor heat, neither 
 moisture nor fumigation, can in the least re- 
 tard their exclusion ; but they come forth ac- 
 dve, and ready for mischief. 1 It is this hardi- 
 ness in the shell that seems to continue the 
 breed ; as the old ones die every winter, or 
 are easily destroyed by any fumigation that is 
 used for that purpose. But the eggs seem in- 
 capable of destruction; even those men who 
 make a livelihood by killing these nauseous 
 insects, though they can answer 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 
 
 xterminate them by perseverance. 
 
 The manner of destroying them seems rather 
 the effects of assiduity than antidote ; for the 
 men called in upon this occasion, take every 
 part of the furniture asunder, brush every part 
 of it with great assiduity, anoint it with a li- 
 quid which I take to be a solution of corrosive 
 sublimate, and having performed this opera- 
 tion twice or thrice, the vermin are most usu- 
 ally destroyed. 
 
 Cleanliness, therefore, seems to be the best 
 antidote to remove these nauseous insects ; and 
 wherever that is wanting, their increase seems 
 but a just punishment. Indeed, they are 
 
 placed on any very smooth white surface ; in course, they 
 are only known by their effects. Ladies and children are 
 the first to complain of their attacks; and chiefly where 
 any part of the dress fits closely to the skin. There 
 they seat themselves at the intersection of the lines, and 
 lay such firm hold with their feet and jaws, that they 
 cannot be displaced by rubbing, nor by washing, unless a 
 powerful spirit or acid be used. A microscope readily 
 detects them; and, by its assistance, they may be dis- 
 lodged with the point of a muslin needle, and, if placed 
 on writing-paper, will be seen to have eight legs, two 
 tentacula or feelers, and an abdomen something egg- 
 shaped ; colour livid red ; and in size no bigger than the 
 point of a small needle. They lacerate the epidermis in 
 some way or other, as a small hole is observable where 
 they have been seated ; and cause extreme itching and 
 considerable inflammation of the part. Magazine Nat. 
 Hist. 
 
 1 The female bug (as we have stated in a previous 
 note) generally lays about fifty eggs at a time, which 
 are white, and when protruded are covered with a vis- 
 cous matter, which afterwards hardening sticks them 
 firmly to the place where they are deposited. These are 
 usually hatched in about three weeks. The young, for 
 some time after they first escape from the egg, are per- 
 fectly white, but they generally become brown in the 
 course of about three weeks. In eleven weeks they are at 
 full growth. 
 
THE WOOD-LOUSE. 
 
 463 
 
 sometimes found in such numbers among old 
 furniture and neglected chambers, exposed to 
 the south, that, wanting other sustenance, they 
 devour each other. They are also enemies to 
 other vermin, and destroy fleas very effectu- 
 ally ; so that we seldom have the double per- 
 secution of different vermin in the same bed. 
 Of the bug kind Linnaeus reckons up forty. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF THE WOOD-LOUSE AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 THE common wood-louse is seldom above 
 half an inch long, and a quarter of an inch 
 broad. The colour is of a livid black, espe- 
 cially when found about dunghills, and on the 
 ground ; but those that are to be met with un- 
 der tiles, and in drier places, are of the colour 
 of the hair of an ass. It has fourteen feet, 
 seven on each side ; and they have only one 
 joint each, which is scarcely perceivable. It 
 has two short feelers, and the body is of an 
 oval shape. When it is touched it rolls itself 
 up into a sort of ball ; and the sides near the 
 feet are dentated like a saw. It is often found 
 among rotten timber, and on decayed trees : 
 in winter it lies hid in the crevices of walls 
 qnd all sorts of buildings. The male is easily 
 distinguishable from the female, being less 
 and more slender. The eggs they lay are 
 white and shining, like seed-pearls, and are 
 very numerous : however, more properly speak- 
 ing, although, when excluded, the young have 
 all the appearance of an egg, yet they are 
 alive, and, without throwing off any shell, stir 
 and move about with great vivacity ; so that 
 this animal may properly be said to be vivi- 
 parous. The little worms at first seem scarcely 
 able to stir ; but they soon feed, and become 
 very brisk. These animals are of great use 
 in medicine, being impregnated with a saline 
 quality, which is diuretic and stimulating. Of 
 this insect, Linnaeus makes three species. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 OF THE MONOCULUS; OR, ARBORESCENT 
 WATER- FLEA. 
 
 THIS animal, which is of the size of a flea, 
 appears to the sight, unassisted by the micros- 
 cope, to have but one eye; for the eyes, by 
 reason of the smallness of the head, seem to be 
 joined to each other : they are situated in the 
 trunk of this insect, and the beak is likewise 
 very small and sharp-pointed. The structure 
 >f the eye is seen, by the microscope, to be re- 
 
 ot the < 
 
 ticulated, or made like a net; and the trunk 
 of this insect, by which it feeds, is not only 
 small and sharp, but also transparent. The 
 insects are of a blood-red colour ; and some- 
 times are seen in such multitudes on the sur- 
 face of standing waters, as to make them ap- 
 pear all over red, whence many fanciful people 
 have thought the water to be turned into blood. 
 
 Swammerdam tells us of a celebrated pro- 
 fessor at Leyden, who was at first astonished 
 by an appearance of this kind. Being once 
 intent upon his studies, he heard a noise, of 
 which, as it increased by degrees, he was de- 
 sirous to know the cause. The maid-servant 
 attending to his summons, appeared quite pe- 
 trified with fear, and told him with a tremu- 
 lous voice, that all the waters of Leyden were 
 turned into blood ! Upon this he went di- 
 rectly, in a small bark, to the place where the 
 water was thus changed, and put some of the 
 bloody water into a glass ; but upon viewing 
 it with attention, he observed, that it abounded 
 with infinite numbers of these little red insects, 
 which tinged the whole body of the fluid with 
 that seemingly formidable colour. Thus his 
 sudden fright was changed into lasting admi- 
 ration. 1 
 
 Of all parts of this animal, its branching 
 arms, arid the motion it makes with them in 
 the water, deserve our greatest attention. By 
 these the little creature can move in a straight 
 line ; waving its arms, as a bird does its wings 
 in the air, sometimes upward, sometimes down- 
 ward, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the 
 left, yet still continuing to proceed in a right 
 line. By striking the water with its arms, it 
 can ascend with great velocity ; and by strik- 
 ing it in a contrary direction, it dives with equal 
 ease. As these motions are very rapid, the 
 little animal appears to jump in the water, its 
 head always tending to the surface, and its 
 tail stretched downward. This insect is pro- 
 duced from an egg, which, when excluded, is 
 
 1 The Cancroid Monoculus. This curious little ani- 
 mal has a convex shell rounded in front, and truncated 
 behind ; the tail is furnished with two bristle-shaped pro- 
 cesses. This insect is by far the largest of the European 
 monoculi ; exhibiting with great distinctness the nume- 
 rous brachial and other parts, which in the smaller spe- 
 cies are only to be viewed by the assistance of the micro- 
 scope. The Linnaean genus monoculus has, by Fabricius 
 Muller, been subdivided into different distinct genera, 011 
 account of the disposition of the eyes, which in some spe- 
 cies are approximated, so as to appear as if single, while 
 in others they are remote from each other. 
 
 The Four-horned Monoculus. This may be consi- 
 dered as one of the most common of the genus to which 
 it belongs, occuring during the whole year in the clearer 
 ponds of stagnant waters, wells, &c. In the size of the 
 body it scarcely exceeds a large mite, but if measured 
 from the extremities of its limbs, will sometimes be 
 found to equal the eighth of an inch in length. The fe- 
 male is, in general, distinguished by the remarkable ap- 
 pearance of the ovaries, which bear a resemblance to a 
 double cluster of grapes in miniature. 
 
464 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 carried on the back of the female, and soon is 
 seen floating in the water round her. Its ap- 
 pearance at first is that of a very small whitish 
 insect, endued with a very nimble motion. 
 Except in colour, it suffers no change, only 
 continuing to grow larger and redder as it 
 grows old. They sometimes remain several 
 days on the surface of the water ; and some- 
 times are seen at the bottom only ; but they 
 are never at rest. They change their skin, 
 like most other insects ; and the cast skin re- 
 sembles the insect itself so exactly, that one 
 might mistake the mask for the animal. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 OF THE SCORPION AND ITS VARIETIES. 1 
 
 THERE is scarcely an insect without wings 
 that is not obnoxious to man: the smallest 
 have the power of annoying him, either by 
 biting or stinging him ; and though each is in 
 itself contemptible, they become formidable 
 from their numbers. But of all this class, 
 there is none so terrible as the Scorpion, whose 
 shape is hideous, whose size among the insect 
 tribe is enormous, and whose sting is generally 
 fatal. Happy for England, the scorpion is en- 
 tirely a stranger among us ! In several parts 
 of the continent of Europe it is but too well 
 known, though it seldom grows above four 
 inches long: but in the warm tropical cli- 
 mates it is seen a foot in length, and in every 
 respect as large as a lobster. 
 
 The scorpion is one of the largest of the in- 
 sect tribe, and not less terrible from its size 
 than its malignity. It resembles a lobster 
 somewhat in shape, but is infinitely more hi- 
 deous. There have been enumerated nine 
 different kinds of this dangerous insect, chiefly 
 distinguished by their colour, there being scor- 
 pions yellow, brown, and ash coloured; others 
 that are the colour of rusty iron, green, pale 
 yellow, black, claret-colour, white, and gray. 
 
 There are four principal parts distinguish- 
 able in this animal ; the head, the breast, the 
 belly, and the tail. The scorpion's head 
 seems, as it were, jointed to the breast ; in the 
 middle of which are seen two eyes ; and a little 
 more forward, two eyes more, placed in the 
 fore-part of the head : these eyes are so small, 
 that they are scarcely perceivable ; and it is 
 probable the animal has but little occasion for 
 seeing. The mouth is furnished with two 
 jaws ; the undermost is divided into two, and 
 the parts notched into each other, which serve 
 the animal as teeth, and with which it breaks 
 its food, and thrusts it into its mouth : these 
 
 1 The Scorpion is placed by naturalists among the 
 Arachnites or Spiders. 
 
 the scorpion can at pleasure pull back into its 
 mouth, so that no part of them can be seen. 
 On each side of the head are two arms, each 
 composed of four joints ; the last of which is 
 large, with strong muscles, and made in the 
 manner of a lobster's claw. Below the breast 
 are eight articulated legs, each divided into 
 six joints ; the two hindmost of which are each 
 provided with two crooked claws, and here and 
 there covered with hair. The belly is divided 
 into seven little rings ; from the lowest of which 
 is continued a tail composed of six joints, 
 which are bristly, and formed like little globes, 
 the last being armed with a crooked sting. 
 This is that fatal instrument which renders 
 this insect so formidable: it is long, pointed, 
 hard, and hollow ; it is pierced near the base 
 by two small holes, through which, when the 
 animal stings, it ejects a drop of poison, which 
 is white, caustic, and fatal. The reservoir in 
 which this poison is kept, is in a small blad 
 der near the tail, into which the venom is dis- 
 tilled by a peculiar apparatus. If this blad- 
 der be gently pressed, the venom will be seen 
 issuing out through the two holes above-men- 
 tioned ; so that it appears, that when the ani- 
 mal stings, the bladder is pressed, and the ve- 
 nom issues through the two apertures into the 
 wound. 
 
 There are few animals more formidable, or 
 more truly mischievous, than the scorpion. As 
 it takes refuge in a small place, and is gene- 
 rally found sheltering in houses, so it cannot 
 be otherwise than that it must frequently sting 
 those among whom it resides. In some of the 
 towns of Italy, and in France, in the province 
 of Languedoc, it is one of the greatest pests 
 that torment mankind : but its malignity in 
 Europe is trifling, when compared to what the 
 natives of Africa and the East are known to 
 experience. In Batavia, where they grow 
 twelve inches long, there is no removing any 
 piece of furniture, without the utmost danger 
 of being stung by them. Bosman assures us, 
 that, along the Gold Coast, they are often 
 found larger than a lobster ; and that their 
 sting is inevitably fatal. In Europe, how- 
 ever, they are by no means so large, so veno- 
 mous, or so plentiful. The general size of 
 this animal does not exceed two or three inch- 
 es ; and its sting is very seldom found to be 
 fatal. Maupertuis, who made several experi- 
 ments on the scorpion of Languedoc, found it 
 by no means so invariably dangerous as had 
 till then been represented. He provoked one 
 of them to sting a dog, in three places of the 
 belly, where the animal was without hair : in 
 about an hour after, the poor animal seemed 
 greatly swollen, and became very sick; he 
 then cast up whatever he had in his bowels ; 
 and for about three hours continued vomiting 
 a whitish liquid. The belly was always 
 
THE SCORPION. 
 
 465 
 
 greatly swollen, when the animal began to 
 vomit; but this operation always seemed to 
 abate the swelling ; which alternately swelled, 
 and was thus emptied, for three hours succes- 
 sively. The poor animal, after this, fell into 
 convulsions, bit the ground, dragged himself 
 along upon his fore-feet, and at last died, five 
 hours after being bitten. He was not partially 
 swollen round the place which was bitten, 
 as is usual alter the sting of a wasp or a bee ; 
 but his whole body was inflated, and there only 
 appeared a red spot on the places where he 
 had been stung. 
 
 Some days after, however, the same expe- 
 riment was tried upon another dog, and even 
 with more aggravated cruelty; yet the dog 
 seemed no way affected by the wounds, but 
 howling a little when he received them, conti- 
 nued alert and well after them ; and soon after 
 was set at liberty, without showing the small- 
 est symptoms of pain. So far was this poor crea- 
 ture from being terrified at the experiment, that 
 he left his own master's house, to come to that 
 of the philosopher, where he had received more 
 plentiful entertainment. The same experi- 
 ment was tried by fresh scorpions, upon seven 
 other dogs, and upon three hens; but not the 
 smallest deadly symptom was seen to ensue. 
 From hence it appears that many circumstan- 
 ces, which are utterly unknown, must contri- 
 bute to give efficacy to the scorpion's venom. 
 Whether its food, long fasting, the season, the 
 nature of the vessels it wounds, or its state of 
 maturity, contribute to, or retard its malignity, 
 is yet to be ascertained by succeeding experi- 
 ment. In the trials made by our philosopher, 
 he employed scorpions of both sexes, newly 
 caught and seemingly vigorous and active. 
 The success of this experiment may serve to 
 show, that many of those boasted antidotes 
 which are given for the cure of the scorpion's 
 sting, owe their success rather to accident than 
 their own efficacy. They only happened to 
 cure, when the sting was no way dangerous ; 
 but in cases of actual malignity, they might 
 probably be utterly unserviceable. 
 
 The scorpion of the tropical climates being 
 much larger than the former, is probably 
 much more venomous. Helbigius, however, 
 who resided for many years in the East, as- 
 sures us, that he was often stung by the scor- 
 pion, and never received any material injury 
 from the wound : a painful tumor generally 
 ensued; but he always cured it, by rubbing 
 the part with a piece of iron or stone, as he 
 had seen the Indians practise before him, un- 
 til the flesh became insensible. Seba, Moore, 
 and Bosman, however, give a very different 
 account of the scorpion's malignity ; and as- 
 sert, that, unless speedily relieved, the wound 
 becomes fatal. 1 
 
 
 1 Many experiments have been made to ascertain the 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 It is certain that no animal in the creation 
 seems endued with such an irascible nature. 
 I have often seen them taken and put into a 
 place of security, exerting all their rage against 
 the sides of the glass vessel that contained them. 
 I have seen them attempt to sting a stick, when 
 put near them; and attack a mouse or a frog, 
 while those animals were far from offering any 
 injury. Maupertuis put three scorpions and 
 a mouse into the same vessel together, and 
 they soon stung the little animal in different 
 places. The mouse, thus assaulted, stood for 
 some time upon the defensive, and at last 
 killed them all, one after another. He tried 
 this experiment, in order to see whether the 
 mouse, after it had killed, would eat the scor- 
 pions ; but the little quadruped seemed en- 
 tirely satisfied with the victory, and even sur- 
 vived the severity of the wounds it had re- 
 ceived. Wolkamer tried the courage of the 
 scorpion against the large spider, and enclosed 
 several of both kinds in glass vessels for that 
 purpose. 2 The success of this combat was very 
 remarkable. The spider at first used all its 
 efforts to immesh the scorpion in its web, 
 which he immediately began spinning ; but 
 the scorpion rescued itself from the danger, by 
 stinging its adversary to death : it soon after 
 cut off, with its claws, all the legs of the spi- 
 der, and then sucked all the internal parts at 
 its leisure. If the scorpion's skin had not been 
 so hard, Wolkamer is of opinion that the spi- 
 der would have obtained the victory ; for he 
 had often seen one of these spiders destroy a 
 toad. 
 
 The fierce spirit of this animal is equally 
 dangerous to its own species ; for scorpions are 
 
 strength of the poison; and in warm climates it has uni- 
 formly been found fatal to the smaller animals. To man 
 the wound is extremely painful. The place becomes in- 
 flamed, and the surrounding parts often turn livid, and 
 require to be carefully dressed in order to prevent mor- 
 tification. 
 
 A French physician, who paid great attention to the 
 habits of these animals, has related many particulars re- 
 specting them. The care with which the female attended 
 upon her young, and, by degrees, instructed them in the 
 mode of hollowing out their burrow or nest, particularly 
 attracted his attention. He made also many curious ex- 
 periments on the effects of their poison; by allowing 
 himself to be frequently stung, he discovered that these 
 effects became less and less painful at every repetition, 
 so that, by degrees, he became almost proof against their 
 venom. He describes the part affected as becoming 
 much swollen, and extremely painful, immediately after 
 the infliction of the injury; and, according to the con- 
 stitution of the individual, this painful feeling continued 
 from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, or even as much 
 as three days. But the most peculiar effect is a sudden 
 and complete prostration of strength, to such an extent 
 that the patient becomes at once deprived of the power 
 of supporting himself. This curious symptom induced 
 the doctor even to propose the use of the sting of the 
 scorpion in medicine, in cases where it became neces- 
 sary suddenly to reduce the pulsations of the heart. 
 
 2 Ephemerides, Dec. 2, 1687. Observ. 224. 
 o __ 
 
466 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 the cruelest enemies to each other. Matiper- 
 tuis put about a hundred of them together in 
 the same glass; and they scarce came into 
 contact, when they began to exert all their 
 rage in mutual destruction : there was nothing 
 to be seen but one universal carnage, without 
 any distinction of age or sex ; so that in a few 
 days there remained only fourteen, which had 
 killed and devoured all the rest. 
 
 But their unnatural malignity is still more 
 apparent in their cruelty to their offspring. 
 He enclosed a female scorpion, big with young, 
 in a glass vessel, and she was seen to devour 
 them as fast as they were excluded : there was 
 but one only of the number that escaped the 
 general destruction, by taking refuge on the 
 back of its parent ; and this soon after reven- 
 ged the cause of its brethren, by killing the 
 old one in its turn. 
 
 Such is the terrible and unrelenting nature 
 of this insect, which neither the bonds of 
 society nor of nature can reclaim : it is even 
 asserted that, when driven to an extremity, the 
 scorpion will often destroy itself. The follow- 
 ing experiment was ineffectually tried by 
 Maupertuis : but I am so well assured of it 
 by many eye-witnesses, who have seen it both 
 in Italy and America, that I have no doubt 
 remaining of its veracity. A scorpion, newly 
 caught, is placed in the midst of a circle of burn- 
 ing charcoal, and thus an egress prevented on 
 every side : the scorpion, as I am assured, runs 
 for about a minute round the circle, in hopes of 
 escaping : but finding that impossible, it stings 
 itself on the back of the head, and in this man- 
 ner the undaunted suicide instantly expires. 
 
 It is happy for mankind that these animals 
 are thus destructive to each other; since other- 
 wise they would multiply in so great a degree 
 as to render some countries uninhabitable. 
 The male and female of this insect are very 
 easily distinguishable ; the male being smaller 
 and less hairy. The female brings forth her 
 young alive, and perfect in their kind. 1 Rhedi 
 having brought a quantity of scorpions, selec- 
 ted the females, which by their size and rough, 
 ness were easily distinguishable from the rest, 
 and putting them in separate glass vessels, he 
 kept them for some days without food. In 
 about five days one of them brought forth 
 thirty-eight young ones, well shaped, and of 
 a milk-white colour, which changed every day 
 more and more into a dark rusty hue. An- 
 other female, in a different vessel, brought 
 forth twenty-seven of the same colour : and the 
 day following the young ones seemed all fixed 
 to the back and belly of the female. For near 
 
 1 All the scorpion tribe are produced from eggs, of 
 which one female lays a considerable number. After 
 their escape from the egg, they undergo no farther trans- 
 formation, except occasionally casting their skin like the 
 spider. 
 
 a fortnight all these continued alive and well: 
 but afterwards some of them died daily ; until, 
 in about a month, they all died except two. 
 
 Were it worth the trouble, these animals 
 might be kept living as long as curiosity 
 should think proper. Their chief food is worms 
 and insects; and upon a proper supply of 
 these, their lives might be lengthened to their 
 natural extent. How long that may be, we 
 are not told: but if we may argue from ana- 
 logy, it cannot be less than seven or eight 
 years ; and perhaps, in the larger kind, double 
 that duration. As they have somewhat the 
 form of the lobster, so they resemble that ani- 
 mal in casting their shell, or more properly 
 their skin ; since it is softer by far than the 
 covering of the lobster, and set with hairs, 
 which grow from it in great abundance, parti- 
 cularly at the joinings. The young lie in the 
 womb of the parent each covered up in its own 
 membrane, to the number of forty or fifty, and 
 united to each other by an oblong thread, so 
 as to exhibit altogether the form of a chaplet. 
 
 Such is the manner in which the common 
 scorpion produces its young; but there is a 
 scorpion of America, produced from the egg, 
 in the manner of the spider. The eggs are no 
 larger than pin-points ; and they are deposited 
 in a web, which they spin from their bodies, 
 and carry about wilh them till they are hatched. 
 As soon as the young ones are excluded from 
 the shell, they get upon the back of the parent, 
 who turns her tail over them, and defends 
 them with her sting. It seems probable, there- 
 fore, that captivity produces that unnatural 
 disposition in the scorpion, which induces it 
 to destroy its young ; since, at liberty, it is 
 found to protect them with such unceasing as- 
 siduity. 2 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 OF THE SCOLOPENDRA AND GALLY-WORM. 
 
 OF these hideous and angry insects we know 
 little, except the figure and the noxious quali- 
 
 2 Black Scorpion. The black Scorpion of Ceylon is 
 a very dangerous insect, and its sting is frequently mor- 
 tal. This species is about four inches long, and from one 
 to two broad over the middle of the body. When run- 
 ning, or disturbed, their tail is usually carried on their 
 backs. They bite with their fangs, or forceps, and in- 
 stantly dart the sting, which lies in their tail, into the 
 place they have bitten. Their sting emits a poison re- 
 sembling milk, but not altogether so white. When these 
 scorpions are attacked by their inveterate enemy the ant, 
 and cannot get rid of him, they sting themselves to 
 death. 
 
 The African Scorpion. The general colour of this 
 animal is a deep brown, nearly approaching in some spe- 
 cimens to black. It grows to a very large size, some- 
 times nearly a foot long. 
 
THE LEECH. 
 
 467 
 
 ties. Though with us there are insects some- 
 what resembling them in form, we are placed 
 at a happy distance from such as are really 
 formidable. With us they seldom grow above 
 an inch long ; in the tropical climates they are 
 often found above a quarter of a yard. 
 
 The Scolopendra is otherwise called the 
 Centipes, from the number of its feet; and it 
 is very common in many parts of the world, 
 especially between the tropics. Those of the 
 East Indies, where they grow to the largest 
 size, are about six inches long, of a ruddy co- 
 lour, and as thick as a man's ringer : they con- 
 sist of many joints ; and from each joint is a 
 leg on each side : they are covered with hair, 
 and seem to have no eyes ; but there are two 
 feelers on the head, which they make use of 
 to find out the way they are to pass : the head 
 is very round, with two small sharp teeth, with 
 which they inflict wounds that are very pain- 
 ful and dangerous. A sailor that was bit by 
 one on board a ship, felt an excessive pain, and 
 his life was supposed to be in danger : how- 
 ever, he recovered by the application of three 
 roasted onions to the part, and was soon quite 
 well. Of this animal there are different 
 kinds ; some living, like worms, in holes in 
 the earth ; others under stones, and among 
 rotten wood ; so that nothing is more danger- 
 ous than removing those substances, in the 
 places where they breed. 1 
 
 1 The Great Centipede. None of the insect tribe, the 
 scorpions excepted, are so formidable in appearance as 
 the centipede or great scolopendra. It is found in the 
 East and West Indies, and in various parts of Africa, in- 
 habiting chiefly the woods, where it is preyed upon by 
 the different species of snakes. It is, however, some- 
 times found in houses, and is said to be so common in 
 particular districts, that the inhabitants are obliged to 
 have the feet of their beds placed in vessels of water, in 
 order to prevent their being annoyed during night by 
 these horrible reptiles. 
 
 The scolopendne vary greatly both in size and colour. 
 Some of them are of a deep reddish brown ; others of a 
 yellow ochre colour, livid yellow, or tinged with red ; and 
 are sometimes seen about a foot in length : they are, how- 
 ever, generally much less. Their legs terminate in very 
 sharp hooks, or nails, of a shining black colour; and all 
 the other legs are furnished with smaller ones of the same 
 kind. 
 
 Gronovius says, that all the legs of this detestable ani- 
 mal are venomous ; but its most formidable weapons are 
 the two sharp and hooked instruments that are placed 
 under its mouth, with which it destroys its prey. At the 
 extremity of each of these there is a small opening, and 
 from thence extends a tube, through which it is supposed 
 the centipede emits the poisonous fluid into the wound 
 inflicted by these fangs. 
 
 Leeuwenhock, desirous of ascertaining the influence of 
 the poison, placed a large fly within reach of a centipede. 
 He seized it between a pair of the middle feet, then passed 
 it from one pair to the next, till it was brought under the 
 fangs, which were plunged into its body, and it died in 
 stantly. St Pierre says, that in the Isle of France his 
 dog was bitten by one of them which was upwards of six 
 inches in length, and that the wound turned to a kind oi 
 ulcer, which was tliree weeks in healing. He was highly 
 
 The G ally-worm differs from the scolopen- 
 dra, in having double the number of feet; 
 there being two on each side, to every joint of 
 the body. Some of them are smooth, and 
 others hairy; some are yellow, some black, 
 and some brown. They are found among de- 
 cayed trees, between the wood and the bark ; 
 as also among stones that are covered with 
 moss. They all, when touched, contract them- 
 selves, rolling themselves up like a ball. 
 Whatever may be their qualities in the tropi- 
 cal parts of the world, in Europe they are per- 
 fectly harmless ; having been often handled 
 and irritated, without any vindictive conse- 
 quences. 
 
 All these, as well as the scorpion, are sup- 
 posed to be produced perfect from the parent, 
 or the egg ; and to undergo no changes after 
 their first exclusion. They are seen of all 
 and this is a sufficient inducement to 
 
 sizes 
 
 suppose, that, they preserve their first appear- 
 ance through the whole of their existence. It 
 is probable, however, that, like most of this 
 class, they often change their skins ; but of 
 this we have no certain information. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 OF THE LEECH. 2 
 
 THE last of this wingless tribe that I shall 
 mention is the Leech, which, like all the for- 
 
 cliverted in observing one of them overcome by a vast 
 number of ants, that attacked it in conjunction, and, after 
 seizing it by all its legs, bore it along as workmen would 
 do a large piece of timber. Its poison is not more inju- 
 rious than that of the scorpion, and seldom proves fatal 
 to the larger animals. 
 
 8 Cuvier classes leeches with worms, among the 
 Annelida, or invertebrated animals with red blood. 
 
 The Medicinal Leech, (Hirudo medicinalis\ may be 
 known by having six yellowish lines, or striae, on its 
 back, while the under part is of a grayish hue, spotted 
 with black ; but, as we shall presently see, these mark- 
 ings are not uniformly found. The medicinal leech is 
 common throughout the whole of Europe, but is much 
 more abundant in the southern parts ; it is generally 
 about three inches in length. Formerly it was very 
 abundant in Great Britain, but the improvements in 
 agriculture, and the consequent drainage of the land, 
 together with the great use made of it in medicine, have 
 of late years rendered it of less frequent occurrence. 
 On this account great quantities of leeches are imported ; 
 these chiefly come from Bourdeaux and Lisbon. The 
 prevailing colour of the medicinal leech appears to vary 
 according to the nature of the soil on which it is found. 
 In winter the leech retires to waters of considerable 
 depth, and seeks shelter in the mud at the bottom ; but 
 in the summer it appears to delight in shallow pools, 
 basking, as it were, in the warmth of the sun: but if the 
 water it frequents is in danger of being dried up by the 
 summer heat, the leech buries itself in the mud at a 
 considerable depth. Just before a thunder-storm, leeches 
 appear much agitated, arid rise frequently to the surface 
 of the water; this, therefore, is considered by the leech- 
 
468 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 mer, undergoes no varieties of transformation ; 
 but when once excluded from the body of the 
 parent, preserves its first figure to the end. I 
 place the history of the Leech among the first 
 class of insects ; while I have degraded the 
 earth-worm, the Tasnia, and the Polypus, into 
 the class of zoophytes, or that imperfect tribe 
 which serves to make the shade between ani- 
 mal and vegetable nature. Not but that the 
 earth-worm or the polypus have their motions, 
 their appetites, and their vital principles, as 
 complete as the leech, and, to a cursory view, 
 appear every way as complete animals. But 
 there is one circumstance that lays the line 
 between them; that exalts the one, and de- 
 grades the other. The earth-worm and the 
 polypus may be cut into pieces, and each piece 
 will produce a new and perfect animal : the 
 leech cannot suffer this dissection, but dies 
 when cut in two ; an evident instance that it 
 is possessed of a more perfect organization 
 than those animals which it otherwise very 
 much resembles. 
 
 The leech, from its uses in medicine, is one 
 of those insects that man has taken care to 
 provide ; but, of a great variety, one kind only 
 is considered as serviceable. The horse-leech, 
 which is the largest of all, and grows to four 
 inches in length, with a glossy black surface, 
 is of no use, as it will not stick to the skin ; 
 ihe snail-leech is but an inch in length ; and 
 though it will stick, is not large enough to ex- 
 tract a sufficient quantity of blood from the pa- 
 tient; the broad-tailed leech, which grows to 
 an inch and a half in length, with the back 
 raised into a sort of ridge, 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 history best merits 
 our curiosity. 
 
 The leech has the general figure of a worm, 
 and is about as long as one's middle finger. 
 Its skin is composed of rings, by means of 
 which it is possessed of its agility, and swims 
 in water. It contracts itself, when out of 
 water, in such a manner, that when touched it 
 is not above an inch long. It has a small 
 head, and a black skin, edged with a yellow 
 line on each side, with some yellowish spots 
 on the back. The belly also, which is of a 
 reddish colour, is marked with whitish yellow 
 
 gatherers as a favourable time for collecting them. The 
 property by which a leech anticipates thunder, has in- 
 duced some persons to employ it as a species of barom- 
 eter; but its indications are very uncertain. 
 
 The Horse-Leech, (Hirudo sanguisuga), is much 
 larger than the medicinal leech, and altogether of a 
 greenish black. It is said to be dangerous, from the 
 wounds which it inflicts ; but much difference of opinion 
 exists, even among learned naturalists, as to its power of 
 drawing blood. 
 
 Leeches prey on worms, tadpoles, &c., which they 
 devour with avidity. 
 
 spots. But the most remarkable part of this 
 animal is the mouth, which is composed of 
 two lips, that take whatever form the insect 
 finds convenient. When at rest, the opening 
 is usually triangular ; and within it are placed 
 three very sharp teeth, capable of piercing not 
 only the human skin, but also that of a horse 
 or an ox. Still deeper in the head is disco- 
 vered the tongue, which is 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 this vora- 
 cious creature applied to the skin, than it 
 buries its teeth therein, then closes its lips 
 round the wounds which it has made ; and 
 thus, in the manner of a cupping-glass, 
 extracts the blood as it flows to the different 
 orifices. 
 
 In examining this animal's form farther to- 
 wards the tail, it is seen to have a gullet and 
 an intestinal canal, into which the blood flows 
 in great abundance. On each side of this are 
 seen running along several little bladders, 
 which, when the animal is empty, seem to be 
 filled with nothing but water ; but when it is 
 gorging blood, they seem to communicate with 
 the intestines, and receive a large portion of 
 the blood which flows into the body. If these 
 bladders should be considered as so many sto- 
 machs, then every leech will be found to have 
 twenty-four. But what is most extraordinary 
 of all in this animal's formation is, that though 
 it takes so large a quantity of food, it has no 
 anus or passage to eject it from the body when 
 it has been digested. On the contrary, the 
 blood which the leech has thus sucked remains 
 for several months clotted within its body, 
 blackened a little by the change, but no way 
 putrified, and very little altered in its texture 
 or consistence. In what manner it passes 
 through the animal's body, or how it contri- 
 butes to its nourishment, is not easily accoun- 
 ted for. The water in which they are kept is 
 very little discoloured by their continuance ; 
 they cannot be supposed to return the blood by 
 the same passage through which it was taken 
 in : it only remains, therefore, that it goes off 
 through the pores of the body, and that these 
 are sufficiently large to permit its exclusion. 
 
 But it is not in this instance alone that the 
 leech differs from all other insects. It was 
 remarked in a former chapter, that the whole 
 insect tribe had the opening into their lungs 
 placed in their sides, and that they breathed 
 through those apertures as other animals 
 through the mouth. A drop of oil poured on 
 the sides of a wasp, a bee, or a worm, would 
 quickly suffocate them, by stopping up the 
 passages through which they breathe : but it 
 is otherwise with the leech, for this animal 
 may be immersed in oil without injury ; nay, 
 it will live therein ; and the only damage it 
 
THE LEECH. 
 
 469 
 
 will sustain is, that, when taken out, it will 
 be seen to cast a fine pellucid skin exactly of 
 the shape of the animal, after which it is as 
 alert and vigorous as before. It appears from 
 hence that the leech breathes through the 
 mouth ; and, in fact, it has a motion that seems 
 to resemble the act of respiration in more per- 
 fect animals : but concerning all this we are 
 much in the dark. 
 
 This animal seems to differ from all others 
 in several respects : the rest of the reptile tribe 
 are brought forth from eggs ; the leech is vi- 
 viparous, and produces its young one after the 
 other, to the number of forty or fifty at a birth. 1 
 It is probable that, like the snail, each insect 
 contains the two sexes, and that it impregnates 
 and is impregnated in the same manner. The 
 young ones are chiefly found in the month of 
 July, in shallow ru'nning waters, and particu- 
 larly when they are tepified by the rays of the 
 sun. The large ones are chiefly sought after; 
 and being put into a glass vessel filled with 
 water, they remain for months, nay, for years, 
 without taking any other subsistence. But 
 they never breed in this confinement ; and, 
 consequently, what regards that part of their 
 history still remains obscure. 
 
 1 It was long a matter of dispute as to whether leeches 
 were produced from eggs or born alive, but it is now as- 
 certained that the ova are developed in a singular case, 
 having some resemblance to the cocoon of a silk-worm. 
 This cocoon is formed by the parent animal, and by it 
 deposited in the mud or clay which composes the bed of 
 the pool it inhabits. 
 
 The fact of the young leech being produced from these 
 cocoons, although only latterly ascertained by naturalists, 
 was long since well known to the dealers in leeches on 
 the French coast, who avail themselves of this knowledge 
 of their habits, to multiply them for the purpose of sale. 
 It was by these means the leech-dealers of Bretagne, and 
 particularly in Finisterre, replenished the ponds in which 
 they preserved those leeches which were intended for 
 the Paris market. 
 
 About the month of April or May, according to the 
 nature of the season, they send out labourers, provided 
 with spades aud baskets, to the little muddy marshes, 
 where they are known to exist in abundance. These 
 workmen then set about removing those portions of mud 
 that are known to contain cocoons, which are afterwards 
 deposited in sheets of water previously prepared lor their 
 reception; here the young leeches quit the cocoons, and 
 ire allowed to remain six months, when they are re- 
 1 to larger ponds. 
 
 In this part of the world they seldom grow 
 to above four inches ; but in America and the 
 East they are found from six to seven. The 
 pools there abound with them in such num- 
 bers that it would be dangerous bathing, if for 
 no other consideration. Our sailors and sol- 
 diers, who the last war were obliged to walk 
 in those countries through marshy grounds, 
 talk with terror of the number of leeches that 
 infested them on their march. Even in some 
 parts of Europe they increase so as to become 
 formidable. Sedelius, a German physician, 
 relates, that a girl of nine years old, who was 
 keeping sheep near the city of Bomist in Pol- 
 and, perceiving a soldier making up to her, 
 went to hide herself in a neighbouring marsh 
 among some bushes ; but the number of leeches 
 was so great in that placu, and they stuck to 
 her so close, that the poor creature expired 
 from the quantity of blood which she lost by 
 their united efforts. Nor is this much to be 
 wondered at, since one of those insects which, 
 when empty, generally weighs but a scruple, 
 will, when gorged, weigh more than two 
 drachms. 
 
 When 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 
 more readily. When saturated with blood, 
 they generally fall off of themselves; but if it 
 be thought necessary to take them from the 
 wound, care should be used to pull them very 
 gently, or even to sprinkle them with salt if 
 they continue to adhere : for if they be plucked 
 rudely away, it most frequently happens that 
 they leave their teeth in the wound, which 
 makes a very troublesome inflammation, and 
 is often attended with danger. If they be slow 
 in fixing to the part, they are often enticed by 
 rubbing it with milk or blood, or water mixed 
 with sugar. As salt is a poison to most in- 
 sects, many people throw it upon the leech 
 when it has dropped from the wound, by which 
 means it disgorges the blood it has swallowed, 
 and it is then kept for repeated application. 
 They seldom, however, stick after this opera- 
 tion ; and as the price is but small, fresh leeches 
 should always be applied whenever such ap- 
 plication is thought necessary. 
 
HISTORY OF INSECTS, &c. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE SECOND ORDER. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF THE SECOND ORDER OF INSECTS. 
 
 IN the former part we gave a concise history 
 of the most considerable insects that, without 
 wings, were produced in a perfect state ; either 
 from the body of the parent alive, like quad- 
 rupeds, or from the egg, in the manner of 
 birds. We come now to a second order of in- 
 sects, that are produced from the egg, like the 
 former, but not in a perfect state ; for when 
 first excluded, they are without wings. This, 
 however, does not hinder the exercise of their 
 animal functions ; the insect, although not yet 
 come to perfection, walks, leaps, and eats ; 
 nor is it ever deprived of motion, only that it 
 rests a little when it is about to cast that part 
 of its skin previous to its state of perfection. 
 It is then seen to assume two wings, which, 
 like a budding flower, burst through the case 
 that contained them, and the animal becomes a 
 winged insect in its state of highest perfec- 
 tion. To this order we may refer the Libella, 
 01 Dragon-Fly ; the Formica Leo, or Lion- 
 Ant; the Grasshopper ; the Locust ; the Crick- 
 et , the Wood- Cricket ; the Mole- Cricket ; 
 the Flea-Locust ; the Flying-Bug ; the Ti- 
 pula ; the Water-scorpion ; the Notonect, or 
 Water- Fly ; and many others. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE LIBELLA, OR DRAGON-FLY. 
 
 OF all the flies which adorn or diversify 
 the face of nature, these are the most various 
 and the most beautiful : they are of all colours ; 
 green, blue, crimson, scarlet, white: some 
 
 unite a variety of the most vivid tints, and ex- 
 hibit in one animal more different shades than 
 are to be found in the rainbow. They are called, 
 in different parts of the kingdom, by different 
 names; but none can be at a loss to know 
 them, as they are distinguished from all other 
 flies by the length of their bodies, by the large- 
 ness of their eyes, and the beautiful transpar- 
 ency of their wings, which are four in number. 
 They are seen in summer flying with great 
 rapidity near every hedge, and by every run- 
 ning brook ; they sometimes settle on the leaves 
 of plants, and sometimes keep for hours together 
 on the wing. 
 
 Dragon-flies, though there are three or four 
 different kinds, yet agree in the most striking 
 parts of their history, and one account may 
 serve for all. The largest sort are generally 
 found from two to three inches long ; their tail 
 is forked; their body divided into eleven 
 rings ; their eyes are large, horny, and trans- 
 parent, divided by a number of intersections ; 
 and their wings, that always lie flat when 
 they are at rest, are of a beautiful glossy trans- 
 parency ; sometimes shining like silver and 
 sometimes glistening like gold. Within the 
 mouth are to be seen two teeth covered with 
 a beautiful lip : with these the creatures bite 
 fiercely when they are taken ; but their bite 
 is perfectly harmless, as I have experienced 
 more than once. 
 
 These insects, beautiful as they are, are 
 produced from eggs, which are deposited in 
 the water, where they remain for some time 
 without seeming life or motion. They are 
 ejected by the female into the water in clus- 
 ters, like a bunch of grapes, where they sink 
 to the bottom by their natural weight, and 
 continue in that state till the young ones find 
 strength enough to break the shell, and to 
 separate from each other. The form in which 
 
INSECTS OF THE SECOND ORDER. 
 
 471 
 
 they first show life, is that of a worm with six 
 legs, bearinga strong resemblance to the dragon- 
 fly in its winged state, except that the wings 
 are yet concealed within a sheath peculiar to 
 this animal. The rudiments of these appear 
 in bunches on the back, within \vhich the 
 wings are folded up into each other, while all 
 colours and varieties of painting appear trans- 
 parent through the skin. These animals, upon 
 quitting the egg, still continue in the water, 
 where they creep and swim, but do riot move 
 swiftly. They have likewise a sharp sight, 
 and immediately sink to the bottom, if any 
 one come to the places wherein they live, or 
 whenever they perceive the least uncommon 
 object. Their food at that time is soft mud 
 and the glutinous earthy substances that are 
 found at the bottom. 
 
 When these animals prepare to change 
 from their reptile to their flying state, they 
 then move out of the water to a dry place, as 
 into grass ; to pieces of wood, stone, or any 
 thing else they meet with. They there firmly 
 fix their acute claws ; and, for a short time, 
 continue quite unmovable, as if meditating 
 on the change they are to undergo. It is 
 then observed, that the skin first opens on the 
 head and back ; and out of this opening they 
 exhibit their real head and eyes, and at length 
 their six legs ; whilst, in the mean time, the 
 hollow and empty skin, or slough of their legs, 
 remains firmly fixed in its place. After this, 
 the enclosed creature creeps forward by de- 
 grees ; and by this means draws first its wings 
 and then its body out of the skin ; and pro- 
 ceeding a little farther, sits at rest for some 
 time, as if immovable. During this time, 
 the wings, which were 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 insensibly extended, until all 
 the limbs have obtained their proper size and 
 dimensions. All these surprising and difficult 
 operations arc accomplished by the force of the 
 blood and the circulating humours. The crea- 
 ture cannot at first make use of its new wings, 
 and therefore is forced to stay in the same 
 place until all its limbs are dried by the cir- 
 cumambient air. It soon, however, begins to 
 enter upon a more noble life than it had hither- 
 to led in the bottom of the brook ; and from 
 creeping slowly and living accidentally, it 
 now wings the air, and makes choice from 
 amidst the variety of its provisions. 
 
 Indeed, no animal is more amply fitted for 
 motion, subsistence, and enjoyment. As it 
 hunts and seeks after its food flying in the air, 
 Nature has provided it with two large eyes, 
 which make almost the whole head, and which 
 resemble glittering mother-of-pearl. It 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 
 furnished with a very long body, which, like 
 a rudder, directs its motions. As the wings 
 are long, and the legs short, they seldom 
 walk, but are ever seen either resting or fly- 
 j ing. For this reason, they always choose dry 
 ! branches of trees or shrubs to remain on ; and 
 when they have refreshed themselves a little, 
 they renew their flight. Thus they are seen 
 adorning the summer with a profusion of 
 beauty, lightly traversing the air in a thousand 
 directions, and expanding 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 em- 
 ployed a part of their childhood in the pursuit. 
 But while these beautiful flies appear to us 
 so idly and innocently employed, they are in 
 fact the greatest tyrants of the insect tribe ; 
 and, like the hawk among birds, are only hov- 
 ering up and down to seize their prey. They 
 are the strongest and the most courageous of 
 all winged insects ; nor is there one, how large 
 soever, that they will not attack and devour. 
 The blue-fly, the bee, the wasp, and the hor- 
 net, 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 troublesome wounds. 
 
 But the males are upon the wing for another 
 purpose beside that of food, as they are very 
 salacious, and seek the females with great 
 ardour. The sun no sooner begins to warm 
 the fields, than the males are found assiduous- 
 ly employed each in seeking its mate ; and 
 no sooner does a female appear, but two or 
 three males are seen pursuing, and endeavour- 
 ing to seize her with all their arts and agility. 
 The instrument of generation in the male is 
 placed very different from that of any other 
 insect, being not at the end of the tail, as in 
 others, but immediately under the breast, and 
 consequently, at first view, incapable of being 
 united to the sexual part of the female : which, 
 as in order insects, lies in the tail. To per- 
 form this junction, Nature has provided the 
 male with a very peculiar manner of proceed- 
 ing, As soon as he perceives the female, and 
 finds himself sufficiently near, he seizes upon 
 the back of her head by surprise, and fasten- 
 ing his claws upon her, turns round his forky 
 tail, which he fastens round her neck, and in 
 this manner fixes himself so closely and firmly, 
 that no efforts can remove him. It is in vain 
 
472 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 that she flies from one branch to another, and 
 settles upon them, he still keeps fixed, and of- 
 ten continues in this situation for three or four 
 hours successively. \Vhen he flies, she is 
 obliged to fly with him ; but he still directs 
 the way : and though she moves her wings, 
 she seems entirely guided by his motion. As 
 yet, however, the business of impregnation is 
 not performed ; for to this the female must con- 
 tribute ; and she at last seems, by the continu- 
 ance of her constraint, to comply ; for, turn- 
 ing up the end of her tail to that part of the 
 breast of the male in which lies the part pro- 
 per for generation, both instruments meet, and 
 the eggs of the female receive the necessary 
 fecundation. An hour or two after this she 
 flies to some neighbouring pool, where she de- 
 posits her eggs, as was already mentioned. 
 There they continue in a reptile state for a 
 year ; and then are changed into a beautiful 
 fly, resembling the parent. 1 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE FORMICA LEO, OR LION-ANT. 
 
 ALTHOUGH this animal properly belongs to 
 no order of insects, yet as it is changed into a 
 fly very much resembling that described in 
 the preceding chapter, it may not be improper 
 
 1 During the grub-state of the dragou-fly, it preys with 
 the most savage ferocity on all aquatic insects. It is, 
 likewise, at this period, furnished with an apparatus at 
 the end of the body, by which it can suck up and eject 
 water with such considerable force, that the stream is 
 perceptible to the distance of two or three inches from 
 their bodies. If they are kept some time out of water, 
 the desire or necessity of respiration is augmented : and 
 accordingly, when replaced in a vessel filled with water, 
 inspirations and respirations are repeated with unusual 
 force and frequency. 
 
 The Depressed Dragon-fly. This beautiful insect, 
 the general manners or habits of which resemble those of 
 its cogenera, is of so different a colour in the different 
 sexes, that the shape is the chief criterion of the species. 
 The body of the male is of a bright blue, with brown 
 marginal variegations, while that of the female, on the 
 contrary, is of a bright yellow, with similar marginal 
 markings. Like the libellula grandis, this species is 
 principally seen towards the decline of summer, and flies 
 with great rapidity about the neighbourhood of brooks and 
 stagnant waters. It differs much from other species of 
 this genus, from the body being much flattened. 
 
 The Black-winged Dragon-fly. This is one of the 
 most common species in this country, arid is generally 
 seen flying, during the morning hours, about the banks 
 of rivers or stagnant waters. The general colour of the 
 body is deep blue-green, while the wings are marked in 
 the middle by a very large patch or area of bluish black. 
 The insect varies, however, in point of colour, more than 
 any other species, and is sometimes seen with the wings 
 perfectly plain or unmarked, and sometimes, on the con- 
 trary, entirely blue-black : the tinge of the body also va- 
 ries in a similar manner, being either bright golden- 
 green, deep livid blue, or sometimes brown. 
 
 to give its history here. If we consider the 
 life of this animal, in its different stages of 
 existence, we shall find it equally wonderful 
 in all; but as it changes to a dragon-fly, what 
 we have said of that animal above, need not 
 be repeated here. The lion-ant, when it be- 
 comes an inhabitant of air, in every respect 
 resembles that which has been already des- 
 cribed ; its glossy wings, its voracious appe- 
 tites, its peculiar manner of generation, are 
 entirely the same. It is in its reptile state 
 that it differs from all other insects ; and in 
 that state it will be amusing to pursue its his- 
 tory. 
 
 The lion-ant, in its reptile state, is of the 
 size of a common wood-louse, but somewhat 
 broader. It has a pretty long head and a round- 
 ish body, which becomes a little narrower to- 
 wards the tail. The colour is a dirty gray, 
 speckled with black, and the body is composed 
 of several flat rings, which slip one upon ano- 
 ther. It has six feet, four of which are fixed 
 to the breast, and two to the neck. The head 
 is small and flat, and before there are two little 
 smooth horns or feelers, which are hard, about 
 a quarter of an inch long, and crooked at the 
 ends. At the basis of the feelers there are 
 two small black lively eyes, by which it can 
 see the smallest object, as it is easily discov- 
 ered by its starting from every thing that ap- 
 proaches. 
 
 To a form so unpromising, and so ill provid- 
 ed for the purposes of rapacity, this animal 
 unites the most ravenous appetites in nature ; 
 but to mark its imbecility still stronger, as 
 other animals have wings or feet to enable them 
 to advance towards their prey, 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. Thus 
 famished and rapacious as it ever seems, its 
 prey must come to it, or rather into the snare 
 provided for it, or the insidious assassin must 
 starve. 
 
 But Nature, that has denied it strength or 
 swiftness, has given it an equivalent in cun- 
 ning, so that no animal fares more sumptuous- 
 ly, without ever stirring from its retreat. For 
 this purpose, it chooses a dry sandy place at 
 the foot of a wall, or under some shelter, in 
 order to preserve its machinations from the 
 rain. The driest and most sandy spot is the 
 most proper for it ; because a heavy clogged 
 earth would defeat its labour. When it goes 
 about to dig the hole where it takes its prey, 
 it begins to bend the hinder part of its body, 
 which is pointed, and thus works backward ; 
 making, after several attempts, a circular fur- 
 row, which serves to mark out the size of the 
 hole it intends making, as the ancients mark- 
 ed out the limits of a city with a plough. 
 
THE ANT-LION. 
 
 473 
 
 Within this first furrow it digs a second, then 
 a third, and afterwards others, which are al- 
 ways less than the preceding. Then it begins 
 to deepen its hole, sinking lower and lower 
 into the sand, which it throws with its horns 
 and feelers towards the edges, as we see men 
 throw up sand in a gravel-pit. Thus, by re- 
 peating its labours all round, the sand is thrown 
 up in a circle about the edge of the pit, until 
 the whole is quite completed. This hole is 
 always formed in a perfect circle ; and the pit 
 itself resembles the inside of an inverted fun- 
 nel. 1 When this insect first leaves the egg 
 
 1 The Ant- Lion. The observations of the continental 
 naturalists have made known to us a pitfall constructed 
 by an insect, the details of whose operations are exceed- 
 ingly curious we refer to the grub of the ant-lion 
 (Myrmeleonformicarius), which, though marked by Dr 
 Turton and Mr Stewart as British, has not (at least of 
 late years) been found in this country. As it is not, 
 however, uncommon in France and Switzerland, it is 
 probable it may yet be discovered in some spot hitherto 
 unexplored. 
 
 The ant-lion grub being of a gray colour, and having 
 its body composed of rings, is not unlike a wood-louse 
 (Oniscus), though it is larger, more triangular, has only 
 six legs, and most formidable jaws, in form of a reaping- 
 hook, or a pair of calliper compasses. These jaws, how- 
 ever, are not for masticating, but are perforated and tu- 
 bular, for the purpose of sucking the juices of ants upon 
 which it feeds. Vallisnieri was, therefore, mistaken, as 
 Reaumur well remarks, when he supposed that he had 
 discovered its mouth. Its habits require that it should 
 walk backwards, and this is the only species of locomotion 
 it can perform. Even this sort of motion it exe- 
 
 of the Ant-Lion magnified, with one perfect Trap, 
 
 and another begun. 
 
 cutes very slowly ; and were it not for the ingenuity oi 
 its stratagems, it would fare but sparingly, since its chiel 
 iood consists of ants, whose activity and swiftness of foot 
 would otherwise render it impossible for it to make asin- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 and is newly hatched, the first pit it makes is 
 very small ; but as it grows bigger, it makes 
 a larger hole ; which is destined, like a pit- 
 fall, to entrap its prey. It is generally about 
 two inches deep, and as much in diameter. 
 
 gle capture. Nature, however, in this, as in nearly every 
 other case, has given a compensating power to the indi- 
 vidual animal, to balance its privations. The ant-lion is 
 slow- but it is extremely sagacious ; it cannot follow 
 its prey, but it can entrap it. 
 
 The snare which the grub of the ant-lion employs, con- 
 sists of a funnel-shaped excavation formed in loose sand, 
 at the bottom of which it lies in wait for the ants that 
 chance to stumble over the margin, and cannot, from the 
 looseness of the walls, gain a sufficient footing to effect 
 their escape. When the pitfall is intended to be small, 
 it only thrusts its body backwards into the sand as far as 
 it can, throwing out at intervals the particles which fall 
 in upon it, till it is rendered of the requisite depth. 
 
 By shutting up one of these grubs in a box with loose 
 sand, it has been repeatedly observed constructing its 
 trap of various dimensions, from one to three inches in 
 diameter, according to circumstances. When it intends 
 to make one of considerable diameter, it proceeds as me- 
 thodically as the most skilful architect or engineer 
 amongst ourselves. It first examines the nature of the 
 soil, whether it be sufficiently dry and fine for its pur- 
 pose, and if so, it begins by tracing out a circle, where 
 the mouth of its funnel-trap is intended to be. Having 
 thus marked the limits of its pit, it proceeds to scoop out 
 the interior. Getting within the circle, and using one 
 of its legs as a shovel, it places therewith a load of sand 
 on the flat part of its head, and it throws the whole with 
 a jerk some inches beyond the circle. It is worthy of re- 
 mark that it only uses one leg in this operation the 
 one, namely, which is nearest the centre of the circle. 
 Were it to employ the others in digging away the sand, it 
 would encroach upon the regularity of its plan. Working 
 with great industry and adroitness in the manner we 
 have just described, it quickly makes the round of its 
 circle, and as it works backwards it soon arrives at the 
 point where it had commenced. Instead, however, of 
 proceeding from this point in the same direction as be- 
 fore, it wheels about and works a round in the contrary 
 direction, and in this way it avoids throwing all the fa- 
 tigue of the labour on one leg, alternating them every 
 round of the circle. 
 
 Were there nothing to scoop out but sand or*loose 
 earth, the little engineer would have only to repeat the 
 operations we have described, till it had completed the 
 whole. But it frequently happens in the course of its 
 labours, sometimes even when they are near a close, that 
 it will meet with a stone of some size which would, if 
 suffered to remain, injure materially the perfection of its 
 trap. But such obstacles as this do not prevent the in- 
 sect from proceeding : on the contrary, it redoubles its 
 assiduity to remove the obstruction, as M. Bonnet re- 
 peatedly witnessed. If the stone be small, it can man- 
 age to jerk it out in the same manner as the sand ; but 
 when it is two or three times larger and heavier than its 
 own body, it must have recourse to other means of re- 
 moval. The larger stones it usually leaves till the last, 
 and when it has removed all the sand which it intends, 
 it then proceeds to try what it can do with the less ma. 
 riageable obstacles. For this purpose, it crawls back- 
 wards to the place where a stone may be, and thrusting 
 its tail under it, is at great pains to get it properly ba- 
 lanced on its back, by an alternate motion of the rings 
 composing its body. When it has succeeded in adjusting 
 the stone, it crawls up the side of the pit with great care 
 and deposits its burden on the outside of the circle. 
 Should the stone happen to be round, the balance can be 
 kept only with the greatest difficulty, as it has to travel 
 with its load upou a slope of loose sand which is ready to 
 3o 
 
474 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 The work being thus, with great labour, 
 finished, the insidious insect places itself in 
 ambush, hiding itself in 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 are made of the most loose and 
 crumbling materials ; so that scarce any insect 
 can climb up that has once got down to the 
 bottom. Conscious of this, the lion-ant re- 
 mains in patient expectation, ready to profit 
 by that accident which throws some heedless 
 little animal into its den. If then, by misfor- 
 tune, an ant, a wood-louse, or a small cater- 
 pillar, 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 destruction. The fall of a single 
 grain of sand gives the murderer notice at the 
 bottom of its cave ; and it never fails to sally 
 forth to seize upon its prey. It happens some- 
 
 give way at every step ; and often when the insect has 
 carried it to the very brink it rolls off' its back and tum- 
 bles down to the bottom of the pit. This accident, so far 
 from discouraging the ant-lion, only stimulates it to more 
 persevering efforts. Bonnet observed it renew these at- 
 tempts to dislodge a stone, five or six times. It is only 
 when it finds it utterly impossible to succeed, that it 
 abandons the design and commences another pit in a fresh 
 situation. When it succeeds in getting a stone beyond 
 the line of its circle, it is not contented with letting it 
 rest there ; but to prevent it from again rolling in, it goes 
 on to push it to a considerable distance. 
 
 The pitfall, when finished, is usually about three inches 
 in diameter at the top, about two inches deep, and gra- 
 dually contracting into a point in the manner of a cone 
 or funnel. In the bottom of this pit the ant-lion stations 
 Itself to watch for its prey. Should an ant or any other 
 insect wander within the verge of the funnel, it can 
 scarcely fail to dislodge and roll down some particles of 
 sand, which will give notice to the ant-lion below to be 
 on the alert. In order to secure the prey, Reaumur, 
 Bonnet, and others have observed the ingenious insect 
 throw up showers of sand by jerking it from his head in 
 quirk succession, till the luckless ant is precipitated within 
 reach of the jaws of its concealed enemy. It feeds only 
 on the blood or juice of insects ; and as soon as it has ex- 
 tracted these, it tosses the dry carcase out of its den. 
 Its next care is to mount the sides of the pitfall and re- 
 pair any damage it may have suffered; and when this is 
 accomplished, it again buries itself among the sand at the 
 bottom, leaving nothing but its jaws above the surface, 
 ready to seize the next victim. 
 
 When it is about to change into a pupa, it proceeds in 
 nearly the same manner as the caterpillar of the water- 
 betony moth (Cucullia scrophularits). It first builds a 
 case of sand, the particles of which are secured by threads 
 of silk, and then tapestries the whole with a silken web. 
 Within this it undergoes its transformation into a pupa, 
 and in due time, it emerges in form of a four-winged fly, 
 closely resembling the dragon-flies (Libellulas}, vulgarly 
 and erroneously called horse -stingers. 
 
 The instance of the ant-lion naturally leads us to con- 
 sider the design of the Author of Nature in so nicely ad- 
 justing, in all animals, the means of destruction and of 
 escape. As the larger quadrupeds of prey are provided 
 with a most ingenious machinery for preying on the 
 weaker, so are these furnished with the most admirable 
 powers of evading their destroyers. In the economy of 
 insects, we constantly observe, that the means of defence, 
 not only of the individual creatures, but of their larvae and 
 
 times, 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 contrivance, 
 still more wonderful than the former ; for, 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 efforts can retrieve or 
 release it ; the lion-ant seizes it with its feel- 
 ers, which are hollow, and darting them both 
 into its body, sucks out all the little animal's 
 juices with the utmost rapacity. 
 
 When the prey is thus reduced to a husk, 
 and nothing but the external form remains, 
 the next care of the murderer is to remove the 
 body from its cell ; since the appearance of 
 dead carcases might forewarn other insects of 
 
 pupae, against the attacks of other insects, and of birds, 
 is proportioned, in the ingenuity of their arrangements, 
 to the weakness of the insect employing them. Those 
 species which multiply the quickest have the greatest 
 number of enemies. Bradley, an English naturalist, has 
 calculated that two sparrows carry, in the course of a 
 week, above three thousand caterpillars to the young in 
 their nests. But though this is, probably, much beyond 
 the truth, it is certain that there is a great and constant 
 destruction of individuals going forward ; and yet the spe- 
 cies is never destroyed. In this way a balance is kept 
 up, by which one portion of animated nature cannot usurp 
 the means of life and enjoyment which the world offers 
 to another portion. In all matters relating to reproduc- 
 tion, Nature is prodigal in her arrangements. Insects 
 have more stages to pass through before they attain their 
 perfect growth than other creatures. The continuation 
 of the species is, therefore, in many cases, provided for 
 by a much larger number of eggs being deposited than 
 ever become fertile. How many larvae are produced, in 
 comparison with the number which pass into the pupa 
 state; and how many pupae perish before they become 
 perfect insects ! Every garden is covered with cater- 
 pillars ; and yet how few moths and butterflies, compara- 
 tively, are seen, even in the most sunny season ! In- 
 sects which lay few eggs are, commonly, most remark- 
 able in their contrivances for their preservation. The 
 dangers to which insect life is exposed are manifold ; and 
 therefore are the contrivances for its preservation of the 
 most perfect kind, and invariably adapted to the peculiar 
 habits of each tribe. The same wisdom determines the 
 food of every species of insect; and thus some are found 
 to delight in the rose-tree, and some in the oak. Had 
 it been otherwise, the balance of vegetable life would not 
 have been preserved. It is for this reason that the con- 
 trivances which an insect employs for obtaining its food 
 are curious, in proportion to the natural difficulties of its 
 structure. The ant-lion is carnivorous, but he has not 
 the quickness of the spider, nor can he spread a net over 
 a large surface, and issue from his citadel to seize a vic- 
 tim which he has caught in his outworks. He is there- 
 fore taught to dig a trap, where he sits, like the unwieldy 
 giants of fable, waiting for some feeble one to cross his 
 path. How laborious and patient are his operations 
 how uncertain the chances of success ! Yet he never 
 shrinks from them, because his instinct tells him that 
 by these contrivances alone can he preserve his own ex- 
 istence, and continue that of his species Insect Archi- 
 tecture. 
 
THE GRASSHOPPER, &c. 
 
 475 
 
 the danger of the place. The insect, therefore , 
 takes up the wasted trunk with its feelers, and 
 ihrows it, with wonderful strength, at least six 
 inches from the edge of its hole ; and then 
 patiently sets about mending the breaches 
 which its fortifications had received in the last 
 engagement. Nothing can abate its indus- 
 try, its vigilance, its patience, or its rapacity. 
 It will work for a week together to make its 
 pit-fall; it will continue upon the watch for 
 more than a month, patiently expecting the ap- 
 proach of its prey ; and if it comes in greater 
 quantities than is needful, yet still the little 
 voracious creature will quit the insect it has 
 newly killed, and leave it half eaten, to kill 
 and attack any other that happens to fall with- 
 in the sphere of its malignity : though so vor- 
 acious, it is suprisingly patient of hunger ; 
 some of them having been kept in a box with 
 sand for six months and upwards, without feed- 
 ing at all. 
 
 When the lion-ant attains a certain age, in 
 which it is to change into another form, it 
 then leaves off its usual rapacious habits, but 
 keeps on its industry. It no longer continues 
 to make pits, but furrows up the sand all 
 around in an irregular manner ; testifying those 
 workings and violent agitations which most 
 insects exhibit previous to their transformation. 
 These animals are produced in autumn, and 
 generally live a year, and perhaps two, before 
 they assume a winged form. Certain it is, 
 that they are found at the end of winter of all 
 sizes ; and it would seem that many of the 
 smaller kinds had not yet attained sufficient 
 maturity for transformation. Be this as it 
 may, when the time of change approaches, if 
 the insect finds its little cell convenient, it 
 seeks no other ; if it is obliged to remove, after 
 furrowing up the sand, it hides itself under it, 
 horns and all. It there 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, 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 centre. This ball is about 
 half an inch in diameter ; and within it the 
 insect resides, 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 no- 
 thing to external 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 
 >r two months ; and gradually parts with its 
 *yes, its feelers, its feet, and its skin ; all which 
 are thrust into a corner of the inner apart- 
 
 ment, like a rag. The insect then appears al- 
 most 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 
 sometime longer: at length, when the members 
 of this new insect have acquired the necessary 
 consistence and vigour, it tears open its lodg- 
 ing, and breaks through its wall. For this pur- 
 pose it has two teeth, like those of grasshoppers, 
 with which it eats through, and 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 in length ; 
 while its wings, that seemed to occupy the 
 smallest space, in two minutes' time unfold, 
 and become longer than the body. In short, 
 it becomes a large and beautiful fly, of the 
 libellula kind, with a long slender body, of a 
 brown colour ; a small head, with large bright 
 eyes, long slender legs, and four large trans- 
 parent reticulated 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 hatched into that rapacious 
 insect so justly admired for its method of 
 catching its prey. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF THE GRASSHOPPER, THE LOCUST, THE 
 
 CICADA, THE CRICKET, AND THE 
 
 MOLE-CRICKET. 
 
 BELONGING to the second order of insects, 
 we find a tribe of little animals, which, though 
 differing in size and colour, strongly resemble 
 each other in figure, appetites, nature, and 
 transformation. But though they all appear 
 of one family, yet man has been taught to hold 
 them in different estimation ; for while some of 
 this tribe amuse him with their chirpings, and 
 banish solitude from the fields, others come in 
 swarms, eat up everything that is green, and 
 in a single night convert the most delightful 
 landscape into a dreary waste. However, it* 
 these animals be separately considered, the 
 devouring locust is not in the least more mis- 
 chievous than the musical grasshopper ; the 
 only difference is, that one species comes for 
 food in a swarm, the other feeds singly. 
 
 That animal which is called the grasshop- 
 per with us, differs greatly from the cicada of 
 antiquity ; for as our insect is active enough 
 in hopping through the long grass, from 
 whence it has taken its name, the cicada had 
 
 
476 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 not this power, but either walked or flew. 1 
 The little hissing note also of our grasshopper 
 is very different from the song of the cicada, 
 which was louder and far more musical. The 
 
 The Cicada is celebrated for its song, by the ancient 
 Greek poets, under the name of TSTT<|. The Romans 
 called it Cicada, which we sometimes, but erroneously, 
 translate "grasshopper;" for the grasshoppers belong to 
 an entirely different order of insects. We shall, there- 
 fore, (says Mr Rennie) take the liberty of calling the 
 Cicadce, Tree-hoppers, to which the cuckoo-spit insect 
 (Tettigonia spumaria, Oliv.) is allied; but there is only 
 one of the true cicadae hitherto ascertained to be British, 
 namely, the Cicada haematodes (Linn.) which was taken 
 in the New Forest, Hampshire, by Mr Daniel Bydder. 
 
 M. Reaumur was exceedingly anxious to study the 
 economy of those insects; but they not being indigenous 
 in the neighbourhood of Paris, he commissioned his friends 
 to send him some from more southern latitudes, and he 
 procured in this way specimens not only from the South 
 of France and from Italy, but also from Egypt. From 
 these specimens he has given the best account of them 
 yet published ; for though, as he tells us, he had never had 
 the pleasure of seeing one of them alive, the more inter- 
 esting parts of their structure can be studied as well in 
 dead as in living specimens. We ourselves possess se- 
 veral specimens from New Holland, upon which we have 
 verified some of the more interesting observations of 
 Reaumur. 
 
 Virgil tells us, that in his time " the cicadae burst the 
 very shrubs with their querulous music ;" but we may 
 well suppose that he was altogether unacquainted with the 
 singular instrument by means of which they can actually 
 (not poetically) cut grooves in the branches they select 
 for depositing their eggs. It is the male, as in the case 
 of birds, which fills the woods with his song; while the 
 female, though mute, is no less interesting to the natu- 
 ralist on account of her curious ovipositor. This instru- 
 ment, like all those with which insects are furnished by 
 nature for cutting, notching, or piercing, is composed of 
 a horny substance, and is also considerably larger than 
 the size of the tree-hopper would proportionally indicate. 
 It can on this account be partially examined without a 
 microscope, being, in some of the larger species, no less 
 than five lines * in length. 
 
 The ovipositor or auger (tariere) as Reaumur calls it, 
 is lodged in a sheath which lies in a groove of the termi- 
 nating ring of the belly. It requires only a very slight 
 pressure to cause the instrument to protrude from its 
 sheath, when it appears to the naked eye to be of an equal 
 thickness throughout except at the point, where it is 
 somewhat enlarged and angular, and on both sides finely 
 indented with teeth. A more minute examination of 
 the sheath demonstrates that it is composed of two horny 
 pieces slightly curved, and ending in the form of an elon- 
 gated spoon, the concave part of which is adapted to re- 
 ceive the convex end of the ovipositor. 
 
 When the protruded instrument is further examined 
 with a microscope, the denticulations, nine in number on 
 each side, appear strong, and arranged with great sym- 
 metry, increasing in fineness towards the point, where 
 there are three or four very small ones, beside the nine 
 that are more obvious. The magnifier also shows that 
 the instrument itself, which appeared simple to the na- 
 ked eye, is in fact composed of three different pieces, two 
 exterior armed with the teeth before-mentioned, deno- 
 minated by Reaumur files, (limes}, and another pointed 
 like a lancet, and not denticulated. The denticulated 
 pieces moreover are capable of being moved forwards and 
 backwards, while the centre one remains stationary, and 
 as this motion is effected by pressing a pin or the blade 
 of a knife over the muscles on either side at the origin 
 * A line is about the twelfth part of an inch. 
 
 manner in which this note is produced by the 
 two animals is very different ; for the cicada 
 makes it by a kind of buckler, which the male 
 has beneath its belly ; the grasshopper by a 
 
 of the ovipositor, it may be presumed that those muscles 
 are destined for producing similar movements when the 
 insect requires them. By means of a finely pointed pin 
 carefully introduced between the pieces, and pushed very 
 gently downwards, they may be, with no great difficulty, 
 separated in their whole extent. 
 
 The contrivance by which those three pieces are held 
 united, while at the same time the two files can be easily 
 put in motion, are similar to some of our own mechani- 
 cal inventions, with this difference, that no human work- 
 man could construct an instrument of this description so 
 small, fine, exquisitely polished, and fitting so exactly. 
 We should have been apt to form the grooves in the cen- 
 tral piece, whereas they are scooped out in the handles of 
 the files, and play upon two projecting ridges in the cen- 
 tral piece, by which means this is rendered stronger. M. 
 Reaumur discovered that the best manner of showing the 
 play of this extraordinary instrument is to cut it ofl' with 
 a pair of scissors near its origin, and then, taking it be- 
 tween the thumb and the finger at the point of section, 
 work it gently to put the files in motion. 
 
 Beside the muscles necessary for the movement of the 
 files, the handle of each is terminated by a curve of the 
 same hard horny substance as itself, which not only fur- 
 nishes the muscles with a sort of lever, but serves to 
 press, as with a spring, the two files close to the central 
 piece, as is shown in the lower figure. 
 
 M. Pontedera, who studied the economy of the tree- 
 hoppers with some care, was anxious to see the insect it- 
 self make use of the ovipositor in forming grooves in 
 wood, but found that it was so shy and easily alarmed, 
 that it took to flight whenever he approached ; a circum- 
 stance of which Reaumur takes advantage to soothe his 
 regret that the insects were not indigenous in his neigh- 
 bourhood. But of their workmanship when completed, 
 he had several specimens sent to him from Provence and 
 Languedoc by the Marquis de Caumont. 
 
 The gall-flies, when about to deposit their eggs, se- 
 lect growing plants and trees ; but the tree-hoppers, on 
 the contrary, make choice of dead, dried branches, for 
 the mother seems to be aware that moisture would injure 
 her progeny. The branch, commonly a small one, in 
 which eggs have been deposited, may be recognised by 
 being covered with little oblong elevations caused by 
 small splinters of the wood, detached at one end, but left 
 fixed at the other by the insect. These elevations are 
 for the most part in a line, rarely in a double line, nearly 
 at equal distances from each other, and form a lid to a 
 cavity in the wood about four lines in length, containing 
 from four to ten eggs. It is to be remarked, that the in- 
 sect always selects a branch of such dimensions, that it 
 can get at the pith, not because the pith is more easily 
 bored, for it does not penetrate into it at all, but to form 
 a warm and safe bed for the eggs. M. Pontedera says, 
 that when the eggs have been deposited, the insect closes 
 the mouth of the hole with a gum capable of protecting 
 them from the weather; but M. Reaumur thinks this 
 only a fancy, as out of a great number which he exam- 
 ined, he could discover nothing of the kind. Neither is 
 such a protection wanted ; for the woody splinters above 
 mentioned furnish a very good covering. 
 
 The grubs hatched from these eggs (of which, M. Pon- 
 tedera says, one female will deposit from five to seven 
 hundred) issue from the same holes through which the 
 eggs have been introduced, and betake themselves to the 
 ground to feed on the roots of plants. They are not 
 transformed into chrysalides, but into active nymphs, re- 
 markable for their fore limbs, which are thick, strong, 
 and furnished with prongs for digging; and when we are 
 
THE GRASSHOPPER, &c. 
 
 477 
 
 
 transparent membrane that covers a hole at 
 the base of its wings. There is still a greater 
 variety in all these with regard to shape and 
 colour. Some are green, some black, some livid, 
 and some variegated ; but many of them do not 
 show all their colours till they fly. Some have 
 long legs, some short, some with more joints, 
 others with fewer. Some sing, others are mute: 
 some are innocent, doing no damage to the 
 husbandman ; while others do such prodigious 
 mischief, that they are looked upon in some 
 countries as one of the terrible scourges of 
 the incensed Divinity. 
 
 Of this variegated tribe, the little grass- 
 hopper that breeds in such plenty in every 
 meadow, and that continues its chirping through 
 the summer, is best known to us ; and by having 
 its history, we shall be possessed of that of all 
 the rest. This animal is of the colour of green 
 leaves, except a line of brown which streaks 
 the back, and two pale lines under the belly 
 and behind the legs. It may be divided into 
 the head, the corselet, and the belly. The 
 head is oblong, regarding the earth, and bear- 
 ing some resemblance to that of a horse. Its 
 mouth is covered by a kind of round buckler 
 jutting over it, and armed with teeth of a 
 brown colour, hooked at the points. Within 
 the mouth is perceivable a large reddish 
 tongue, and fixed to the lower jaw. The 
 feelers or horns are very long, tapering off to a 
 point; and the eyes are like two black specks, 
 a little prominent. The corselet is elevated, 
 narrow, armed above and below by two ser- 
 rated spines. The back is armed with a strong 
 buckler, to which the muscles of the legs are 
 firmly bound, and round these muscles are seen 
 the vessels by which the animal breathes, as 
 white as snow. The last pair of legs are much 
 longer and stronger than the first two pair, 
 fortified by thick muscles, and very well formed 
 for leaping. It has four wings ; the anterior 
 one springing from the second pair of legs, 
 the posterior from the third pair. The hinder 
 wings are much finer and more expansive than 
 the foremost, and are the principal instruments 
 of its flight. The belly is considerably large, 
 composed of eight rings, and terminated by a 
 forky tail, covered with down, like the tail of 
 a rat. When examined internally, besides 
 the gullet, we discover a small stomach ; and 
 behind that a very large one, wrinkled and 
 furrowed within side : lower down there is 
 still a third ; so that it is not without reason 
 that all the animals of this order are said to 
 chew the cud, as they so much resemble ru- 
 
 inant animals in their internal conformation. 
 
 A short time after the grasshopper assumes 
 
 told by Dr Le Fevre, that they make their way easily 
 into hard stifi'clay, to the depth of two or three feet, we 
 perceive how necessary to them such a conformation 
 must be. Insect Architecture. 
 
 its wings, it fills the meadow with its note; 
 which, like that among birds, is a call to 
 courtship. The male only of this tribe is vocal; 
 and, upon examining at the base of the wings, 
 there will be found a little hole in its body, 
 covered with a fine transparent membrane. 
 This is thought, by Linnaeus, to be the instru- 
 ment it employs in singing : but others are of 
 opinion the sound is produced by rubbing its 
 hinder legs against each other : however this 
 be, the note of one male is seldom heard, but 
 it is returned by another; and the two little 
 animals, after many mutual insults of this 
 kind, are seen to meet and fight desperately. 
 The female is generally the reward of victory; 
 for, after the combat, the male seizes her with 
 his teeth behind the neck, and thus keeps her 
 for several hours till the business of fecundation 
 is performed. They are at that time so strong- 
 ly united, that they can scarcely be separated 
 without tearing asunder. Towards the latter 
 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 furnished her with an in- 
 strument at her tail, somewhat resembling a 
 two-edged sword, which she can sheathe and 
 unsheathe at pleasure: with this she pierces 
 the earth as deep as she is able ; and into the 
 hole which her instrument has made, she de- 
 posits her eggs, one after the other. 
 
 Having thus provided for the continuation 
 of her posterity, the animal herself does not 
 long survive ; but as the winter approaches, 
 she dries up, seems to feel the effects of age, 
 and dies from total decay. Some, however, 
 assert, that she is killed by the cold : and 
 others, that she is eaten by worms : but certain 
 it is, that neither the male nor female are ever 
 seen to survive the winter. In the meantime 
 the eggs which have been deposited continue 
 unaltered, either by the severity of the season 
 or the retardation of the spring. They are of 
 an oval figure, white, and of the consistence of 
 horn ; their size nearly equals that of a grain 
 of anise : they are enveloped in the body with- 
 in a covering, branched all over with veins 
 and arteries ; and when excluded they crack, 
 on being pressed between the fingers; their 
 substance within is a whitish, viscous, and 
 transparent fluid. In this manner they re- 
 main deposited beneath the surface of the earth 
 during the whole winter; till the genial re- 
 turn of spring begins to vivify and hatch them. 
 The sun, with its warmth, beginning to ani- 
 mate all nature, the insect eggs feel its benign 
 influence ; and generally, about the beginning 
 of May, every egg 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 
 
478 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 they turn 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 agi- 
 lity. 
 
 Yet still they are by no means arrived at 
 their state of full perfection, although they bear 
 a strong resemblance to the animal in its per- 
 feet form. They want, or seem to want, the 
 wings, which they are at last seen to assume ; 
 and can only hop among the grass, without 
 being able to fly. The wings, however, are 
 not wanting, but are concealed within four 
 little bunches, that seem to deform the sides of 
 the animal : there they lie rolled up in a most 
 curious manner ; and occupying a smaller 
 space than one could conceive who saw them 
 extended. Indeed, all insects, whatever trans- 
 mutations they seem to undergo, are yet 
 brought forth with those very limbs, parts, and 
 wings, which they afterwards seem to acquire. 
 In the most helpless caterpillar there is still to 
 be seen the rudiments of that beautiful plum- 
 age which it afterwards expands when a but- 
 terfly: and though many new parts seem un- 
 folded to the view, the animal acquires none 
 but such as it was from the beginning posses- 
 sed of. The grasshopper, therefore, though 
 seemingly without wings, is, in reality, from 
 the first, possessed of those instruments, and 
 only waits for sufficient force to break the 
 bonds that hold them folded up, and to give 
 them their full expansion. 
 
 The grasshopper, that, for above twenty 
 days from its exclusion, has continued without 
 the use of its wings, which were folded up to 
 its body, at length prepares for its emancipa- 
 tion, and for a life of greater liberty and plea- 
 sure. To make the proper dispositions for the 
 approaching change, it ceases from its grassy 
 iood, and seeks about for a convenient place 
 beneath some thorn or thistle, that may protect 
 it from an accidental shower. The same la- 
 borious writhings and workings, heavings and 
 palpitations, which we have remarked in every 
 other insect upon an approaching change, are 
 exhibited in this. It swells up its head and 
 neck ; it then seems to draw them in again ; 
 and thus alternately, for some time it exerts 
 its powers to get free. At length, the skin 
 covering the head and breast is seen dividing 
 above the neck ; the head is seen issuing out 
 first from the bursting skin ; the efforts still 
 continuing, the other parts follow successively; 
 so that the little animal, with its long feelers, 
 legs and all, works its way from the old skin, 
 that remains fixed 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 covereth every part of its body. 1 
 
 1 A curious circumstance regarding the grasshopper is 
 
 The grasshopper, thus disengaged from its 
 outer skin, appears in its perfect form ; but 
 then so 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 exhibi- 
 ted before, but of a greenish white, which be- 
 comes more vivid as the moisture on the sur- 
 face is dried away. Still, however, the ani- 
 mal continues to show no signs of life, but ap- 
 pears quite spent and fatigued with its labour 
 for more than an hour together. During this 
 time, the body is drying, and the wings un- 
 lolding to their greatest expansion ; and the 
 curious observer will perceive them, fold after 
 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 
 operation, and it becomes much more beauti- 
 ful than before. 
 
 These insects are generally vocal in the 
 midst of summer, arid they are heard at sun- 
 setting much louder than during the heats of 
 the day. They are fed upon grass ; and, if 
 their belly be pressed, they will be seen to re- 
 turn the juices of the plants they have last fed 
 upon. Though unwilling to fly, and slow in 
 flight, particularly when the weather is moist 
 or cool, they are sometimes seen to fly to con- 
 siderable distances. If they are caught by 
 one of the hinder legs, they quickly disengage 
 themselves from it, and leave the leg behind 
 them. This, however, does not grow again, 
 as with crabs or spiders ; for as they are ani- 
 mals but of a single year's continuance, they 
 have not sufficient time for repairing those ac- 
 cidental misfortunes. The loss of their leg also 
 prevents them from flying ; for being unable 
 to lift themselves in the air, they have not room 
 upon the ground for the proper expansion of 
 their wings. If they be handled roughly, 
 they will bite very fiercely ; and when they 
 fly, they make a noise with their wings. They 
 generally keep in the plain, where the grass 
 
 related in the American Quarterly Review. The large 
 winged grasshopper, which flutters with so much viva- 
 city through our meadows during the autumn, feeds upon 
 vegetable matter, and deposits its eggs upon vege- 
 tables, for the purpose of being supported until matured. 
 Before the grasshopper takes wing another insect, the 
 ichneumon, lights upon its body, and thrusts under its 
 skin a number of its eggs, by means of a tubular awl- 
 shaped oviduct. Those eggs slowly acquire perfection, 
 become living worms, and feed upon the body of the hap- 
 less grasshopper, until themselves are ready to take 
 wing. So admirably do they perform their office, that 
 they do not injure the vital organs of the insect they are 
 internally devouring, until they are just ready to change 
 their state : and at the proper season, hundreds of grass- 
 hoppers, in this condition, have just strength enough 
 remaining to flutter to a tree or fence, and with a dying 
 effort fix their hooked feet so firmly as to retain their 
 position long after death. Examine their bodies at this 
 season, and you will find an empty shell or one filled with 
 large and active worms, just ready to burst their cover- 
 ings and become winged insects. 
 
THE GRASSHOPPER, &c. 
 
 479 
 
 is luxuriant, and the ground rich and fertile : 
 there they deposit their eggs, particularly in 
 those cracks which are formed by the heat of 
 the sun. 
 
 Such are the habits and nature of those little 
 vocal insects that swarm in our meadows, and 
 enliven the landscape. The larger kinds only 
 differ from them in size, in rapidity of flight, 
 and the powers of injuring mankind, by swarm- 
 ing upon the productions of the earth. The 
 quantity of grass which a few grasshoppers 
 that sport in the fields can destroy is trifling ; 
 but when a swarm of locusts, two or three 
 miles long, and several yards deep, settle upon 
 a field, the consequences are frightful. The 
 annals of every country are marked with the 
 devastation which such a multitude of insects 
 produces ; and though they seldom visit Eu- 
 rope in such dangerous swarms as formerly, 
 yet, in some of the southern kingdoms, they 
 are still formidable. Those which have, at 
 uncertain intervals, visited Europe, in our me- 
 mory, are supposed to have come from Africa, 
 and the animal is called the Great Brown Lo- 
 cust. It was seen in several parts of England 
 in the year 1748, and many dreadful conse- 
 quences were apprehended from its appear- 
 ance. This insect is about three inches long; 
 and has two horns or feelers, an inch in length. 
 The head and horns are of a brownish colour; 
 it is blue about the mouth, as also on the in- 
 side of the larger legs. The shield that covers 
 the back is greenish ; and the upper side of 
 the body brown, spotted with black, and the 
 under side purple. The upper wings are 
 brown, with small dusky spots, with one lar- 
 ger at the tips; the under wings are more 
 transparent, and of a light brown, tinctured 
 with green, but there is a dark cloud of spots 
 near the tips. This is that insect that has 
 threatened us so often with its visitations; 
 arid that is so truly terrible in the countries 
 where it k-bre'dS- 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 
 coldness of our climate, and the humidity of 
 our soil, are no way favourable to their pro- 
 duction ; and as they are but the animals of a 
 year, they visit us and perish. 
 
 The Scripture, which was written in a coun- 
 try where the locust made a distinguished fea- 
 ture in the picture of nature, has given us se- 
 veral very striking images of this animal's 
 numbers and rapacity. It compares an army, 
 where the numbers are almost infinite, to a 
 swarm of locusts : it describes them as rising 
 out of the earth, where they are produced ; as 
 pursuing a settled march to destroy the fruits 
 of the earth, and co-operate with divine indig- 
 nation. 
 
 When the locusts take the field, as we are 
 
 assured, they have a leader at their head, 
 whose flight they observe, and pay a strict at- 
 tention to all his motions. They appear, at a 
 distance, like a black cloud, which, as it ap- 
 proaches, gathers upon the horizon, and almost 
 hides the light of the day. It often happens 
 that the husbandman sees this imminent cala- 
 mity pass away without doing him any mis- 
 chief; and the whole swarm proceeds onward, 
 to settle upon the labours of some less fortun- 
 ate country. But wretched is the district upon 
 which they settle : they ravage the meadow 
 and the pasture ground ; strip the trees of their 
 leaves, and the garden of its beauty: the visi- 
 tation of a few minutes destroys the expecta- 
 tions of a year; and a famine but too fre- 
 quently ensues. In their native tropical cli- 
 mates they are not so dreadful as in the more 
 southern parts of Europe. There, though the 
 plain and the forest be stripped of their ver- 
 dure, the power of vegetation is so great, that 
 an interval of two or three days repairs the ca- 
 lamity : but our verdure is the livery of a sea- 
 son ; and we must wait till the ensuing spring 
 repairs the damage. Besides, in their long 
 flights to this part of the world, they are fa- 
 mished by the tediousness of their journey, 
 and are, therefore, more voracious wherever 
 they happen to settle. But it is not by what 
 they devour that they do so much damage as 
 by what they destroy. Their very bite is 
 thought to contaminate the plant, and to pre- 
 vent its vegetation. 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. But if they 
 be noxious while living, they are still more so 
 when dead ; for wherever they fall, they infect 
 the air in such a manner, that the smell is un- 
 supportable. Orosius tells us, that, in the 
 year of the world 3800, there was an incredi- 
 ble number of locusts which infected Africa ; 
 and, after having eaten up every thing that 
 was green, they flew off, and were drowned 
 in the African sea: where they caused such a 
 stench, that the putrefying bodies of hundreds 
 of thousands of men could not equal it. 
 
 In the year 1690, a cloud of locusts was 
 seen to enter Russia in three different places ; 
 and from thence to spread themselves over 
 Poland and Lithuania, in such astonishing 
 multitudes, that the air was darkened, and the 
 earth covered with their numbers. In some 
 places they were seen lying dead, heaped upon 
 each other four feet deep ; in others, they co- 
 vered the surface like a black cloth : the trees 
 bent beneath their weight ; and the damage 
 which the country sustained exceeded compu- 
 tation. In Barbary their numbers are formid- 
 able, and their visits are frequent. In the 
 year 1724, Dr Shaw was a witness, in that 
 country, of their devastations. Their first ap- 
 
480 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 pearance was about the latter end of March, 
 when the wind had been southerly for some time. 
 In the beginning of April, their numbers 
 were so vastly increased, that, in the heat of the 
 day they formed themselves into large swarms, 
 which appeared like clouds, and darkened the 
 sun. In the middle of May they began to dis- 
 appear, retiring into the plains to deposit their 
 eggs. In the next month, being June, the young 
 brood began to make their appearance, form- 
 ing many compact bodies of several hundred 
 yards square ; which afterwards marching for- 
 ward, climbed the trees, walls, and houses, 
 eating every thing that was green in their way. 
 The inhabitants, to stop their progress, laid 
 trenches all over their fields and gardens, fill- 
 ing them with water. Some placed large 
 quantities of heath, stubble, and such like 
 combustible matter, in rows, and set them on 
 fire on the approach of the locusts. But all 
 this was to no purpose ; for the trenches 
 were quickly filled up, and the fires put .out 
 by the vast number of swarms that succeeded 
 each other. A day or two after one of these 
 was in motion, others that were just hatched 
 came to glean after them, gnawing off the 
 
 Stung branches and the very bark of the trees, 
 aving lived near a month in this manner, 
 they arrived at their full growth, and threw 
 off their worm-like state, by casting their 
 skins. To prepare themselves for this 
 change, they fixed their hinder feet to some 
 bush or twig, or corner of a stone, when im- 
 mediately, by an undulating motion used on 
 this occasion, their heads would first appear, 
 and soon after the rest of their bodies. K^The 
 
 l/v whole transformation was performed in seven 
 or eight minutes' time ; after which, they were 
 a little while in a languishing condition ; but 
 as soon as the sun and air had hardened their 
 wings, and dried up the moisture that remained 
 after casting off their sloughs, they returned 
 again to their former greediness, with an ad- 
 dition both of strength and agility. But they 
 did not continue long in this state before they 
 were entirely dispersed ; after laying their 
 eggs, directing their course northward, they 
 probably perished in the sea. It is said that 
 the holes these animals make, to deposit their 
 
 ' e &g s > are f ur f ee t deep in the ground ; the 
 eggs are about fourscore in number, of the size 
 
 | of caraway comforts, and bundled up together 
 
 Uin clusters. 1 
 
 1 The Locust, Df Clarke, in his Travels in Tartary, 
 on approaching Cuffa, thus notices the number of locusts: 
 
 " We now began to perceive the truth of those surpri- 
 sing relations which we had often heard and read con- 
 cerning the locust in countries infested with that insect. 
 The steppes were entirely covered by their bodies; and 
 their numbers falling, resembled flakes of snow, carried 
 obliquely by the wind, and spreading a thick mist over 
 the sun. Myriads fell over the carriage, the horses, 
 and the drivers. The stories of these animals, told us 
 
 It would be endless to recount all the mis- 
 chiefs which these famished insects have at 
 different times occasioned ; but what can have 
 induced them to take such distant flights, when 
 
 by the Tartars, were more marvellous than any we had 
 before heard. They said that instances had occurred of 
 persons being suffocated by a fall of locusts in the steppes. 
 It was now the season, they further added, in which their 
 numbers began to diminish. When they first make 
 their appearance, a thick dark cloud is seen very high in 
 the air, which, as it passes, obscures the sun. I had al- 
 ways supposed the stories of the locust to exaggerate their 
 real appearance ; but found their swarms so astonishing 
 in all the steppes over which we passed in this part of our 
 journey, that the whole face of nature might have been 
 described as concealed by a living veil. They were of 
 two kinds ; the gryllus Tartaricus, and the gryllus mi- 
 gratorius, or common migratory locust. The first is al- 
 most twice the size of the second, and since it precedes 
 the other, bears the name of the herald or messenger. 
 The migratory locust has red legs, and its inferior wings i 
 'have a lively red colour, which gives~VT>right fiery ap- I 
 pearance to the animal when fluttering in the sun's rays. ' 
 The strength of limbs possessed by it is amazing : when 
 pressed down by the hand upon a table, it has almost 
 power to raise the fingers ; but this force resides wholly 
 in the legs ; for if one of these be broken off, which hap- 
 pens by the slightest accident, the power of action ceases. 
 There is yet a third variety of locust, gryllus viridis- 
 simus of Linnaeus, found near the Don and the Kuban, 
 which is entirely of a green colour. This last 1 have 
 since seen upon the banks of the Cam in my own coun- 
 try, and felt for the moment intimidated, lest such a pre- 
 sage should be the herald of the dreadful scourge which 
 the locust bears wherever it abounds. On whatever spot 
 these animals fall, the whole vegetable produce disap- 
 pears. Nothing escapes them, from the leaves of the 
 forest to the herbs of the plain. Fields, vineyards, gar- 
 dens, pastures, everything is laid waste; and sometimes 
 the only appearance left upon the naked soil is a disgust- 
 ing superficies caused by their putrefying bodies, the 
 stench of which is sufficient to breed a pestilence." 
 
 Ravages of Locusts.- When Captains Irby and Man- 
 gles were travelling round the southern extremity of the 
 Dead Sea, in the end of May, they had an opportunity 
 of observing these insect depredators. "In the morn- 
 ing," say they, " we quitted Shobek. On our way we 
 passed a swarm of locusts that were resting themselves 
 in a gully; they were in sufficient numbers to .alter ap- 
 parently the colour of the rock on which they had alight- 
 ed, and to make a sort of crackling noise while eating, 
 which we heard before we reached them. Volney com- 
 pares it to the foraging of an army. Our conductors told 
 us they were on their way to Gaza, and that they pass 
 almost annually." 
 
 Even our own island has been alarmed by the appear- 
 ance of locusts, a considerable number having visited us 
 in 1748 ; but they happily perished without propagating. 
 Other parts of Europe have not been so fortunate. They 
 have frequently come also from Africa into Italy and 
 Spain. In the year 591 an infinite army of locusts, of a 
 size unusually large, ravaged a considerable part of Italy, 
 and being at last cast into the sea, (as seems for the most 
 part to be their fate,) a pestilence, it is alleged, arose 
 from their stench, which carried off nearly a million of 
 men and beasts. In the Venetian territory, likewise, in 
 1478, more than 30,000 persons are said to have per- 
 ished in a famine chiefly occasioned by the depredations 
 of locusts. Insect Transformation. 
 
 Mode of Dispersing Locusts We traversed the 
 grand steppe or desert of Astrakhan for two days. On 
 the evening of the 1st of August, we arrived at a Rus- 
 sian village, which was surrounded by a considerable tract 
 
THE GRASSHOPPER, &c. 
 
 481 
 
 
 they come into Europe, is not easy to be ac- 
 counted 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 no- 
 thing to allure them from their height, they 
 proceed forward across the 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 that purpose. They 
 parch them over the fire in an earthen pan ; 
 and when their wings and legs are fallen off, 
 they turn reddish, of the colour of boiled 
 shrimps. Dampier has eaten them thus pre- 
 pared, 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. 
 
 There is a locust in Tonquin, about the big- 
 ness of the top of a man's finger, and as long 
 as the first joint. It breeds in the earth, in 
 low grounds ; and in the months of January 
 and February, which is the season for taking 
 them, they issue from the earth in vast swarms. 
 At first they can hardly fly, so that they often 
 fall into the rivers in great numbers : however, 
 the natives in these months watch the rivers, 
 and take them up in multitudes in small nets. 
 They either eat them fresh, broiled on the 
 coals, or pickle them for keeping. They are 
 considered as a great delicacy in that part of 
 the world, as well by the rich as the poor. In 
 the countries where they are eaten, they are 
 regularly brought to market, and sold as larks 
 or quails in Europe. They must have been a 
 common food with the Jews, as Moses, in the 
 book of Leviticus, permits them to eat four 
 different kinds of this animal, which he takes 
 care to specify. This dish, however, has not 
 yet made its way into the kitchens of the lux- 
 
 of well-cultivated land. While changing horses, I wit- 
 nessed what was to me a very curious sight a vast 
 flight of locusts, extendin g fifteen miles, suddenly made 
 their appearance from the east, and came in a huge pha- 
 lanx to attack the crops. In an instant every villager 
 was on the road to his own field. Some took dogs, others 
 were on horseback, and others ran shouting and clapping 
 their hands all the way, the inhabitants finding from ex- 
 perience that the locusts very much dislike noise. My 
 fellow-traveller told me, that in the colony of Harass, 
 when the locusts come in sight, not only all the inhabi- 
 tants, but the military turn out, and endeavour to drive 
 them off, by drums and fifes, and a perpetual discharge 
 of musketry. The enemy, thus repulsed, make a speedy 
 retreat and commit their depredations on' the land of 
 those who are less on the alert to resist them. Captain 
 KeppeVs Travels. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 urious in Europe ; and though we may ad- 
 mire the delicacies of the East, we are as yet 
 happily deprived of the power of imitation. 
 
 Of all animals, however, of this noxious 
 tribe, the Great West Indian Locust, indivi- 
 dually considered, is the most formidable. It 
 is about the thickness of the barrel of a goose- 
 quill, and the body is divided into nine or ten 
 joints ; in the whole, about six or seven inches 
 long. It has two small eyes standing out of 
 the head, like those of crabs; and two feelers, 
 like long hair. The whole body is studded 
 with small excrescences, which are not much 
 bigger than the points of pins. The shape is 
 roundish, and the body diminishes in circum- 
 ference to the tail, which is forked into two 
 horns. Between this, there is a sort of a 
 sheath containing a small dangerous sting. If 
 any person happens to touch this insect, he is 
 sure to be stung ; and is immediately taken 
 with a shivering and trembling all over the 
 body; which, however, may soon be put a 
 stop to, by rubbing the place that was affected 
 with a little palm oil. 1 
 
 From the locust we descend to the Cricket, 
 which is a very inoffensive and pretty animal. 
 Though there be a species of this insect that 
 lives entirely in the woods and fields, yet that 
 with which we are best acquainted is the 
 House-cricket, whose voice is so well known 
 behind a country fire in a winter's evening. 
 There is something so unusual in hearing a 
 sound while we do not see the animal produc- 
 ing it, nor discover the place from whence it 
 comes, that, among the country people, the 
 chirping of the cricket is always held ominous; 
 and whether it deserts the fire-side, or pays an 
 unexpected visit, the credulous peasantry al- 
 ways find something to be afraid of. In ge- 
 neral, however, the killing of a cricket is con- 
 sidered as a most unlucky omen : and though 
 their company is not much desired, yet no me- 
 thods must be taken to remove them. 2 
 
 1 It is now known that every insect of this tribe is per- 
 fectly harmless. 
 
 2 The Cricket. While many other insects must be 
 sought after in fields, and woods, and waters, the gryl- 
 lus domesticus, or house-cricket, resides altogether with- 
 in our dwellings, intruding itself upon our notice whe- 
 ther we will or not. This species delights in new-built 
 houses, being, like the spider, pleased with the moisture 
 of the walls ; and, besides, the softness of the mortar en- 
 ables them to burrow and mine between the joints of the 
 bricks or stones, and to open communications from one 
 room to another. They are particularly fond of kitchens 
 and bakers' ovens, on account of their perpetual warmth. 
 
 Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy only the 
 short period of one summer, or else doze away the cold 
 uncomfortable months in profound slumbers; but these, 
 residing as it were in a torrid zone, are always alert and 
 merry; a good Christmas fire is to them like the heats 
 of the dog-days. Though they are frequently heard by 
 day, yet is their natural time of motion only in the niglit. 
 As soon as it grows dusk, the chirping increases, and 
 they come running forth, and are from the size of a /lea 
 3 p 
 
482 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 The cricket very much resembles the grass- 
 hopper in its shape, its manner of ruminating, j 
 its voice, its leaping, and methods of propaga- 
 tion. It differs in its colour, which is uni- 
 formly of a rusty brown ; in its food, which is 
 more various ; and in its place of residence, 
 which is most usually in the warmest chinks 
 behind a country hearth. They are in some 
 measure obliged to the bad masonry employed 
 in making peasants' houses for their retreats. 
 The smallest chink serves to give them shel- 
 ter ; and where they once make their abode 
 they are sure to propagate. They are of a 
 most chilly nature, seldom leaving the fire- 
 side : and, if undisturbed, are seen to hop 
 from their retreats to chirrup at the blaze 
 in the chimney. The wood-cricket is the 
 most timorous animal in nature ; but the 
 chimney-cricket, being used to noises, disre- 
 gards not only those, but the appearance of 
 people near it. Whether the voice of this 
 animal is formed in the same manner with 
 that of the grasshopper, by a fine membrane 
 at the base of the wings, which is moved by a 
 muscle, and which being coiled up, gives a 
 sound like a quail-pipe, is not yet ascertained; 
 nor do we well know the use of this voice, 
 
 to that of their full stature. As one should suppose, from 
 the burning atmosphere which they inhabit, they are a 
 thirsty race, and show a great propensity for liquids, be- 
 ing found frequently drowned in pans of water, milk, 
 broth, or the like. Whatever is moist they affect ; and, 
 therefore, often gnaw holes in wet woollen stockings and 
 aprons that are hung to the fire ; they are the house- 
 wife's barometer, foretelling her when it will rain ; and are 
 prognostics sometimes, she thinks, of ill or good luck ; of 
 the death of a near relation, or the approach of an absent 
 lover. By being the constant companions of her solitary 
 hours, they naturally become the objects of her supersti- 
 tion. These crickets are not only very thirsty, but very 
 voracious; for they will eat the scummings of pots, and yeast, 
 salt, crumbs of bread, and any kitchen offal or sweepings. 
 In the summer we have observed them to fly, when it be- 
 came dusk, out of the windows, and over the neighbour- 
 ing roofs. This feat of activity accounts for the sudden 
 manner in which they often leave their haunts, as it 
 does for the method by which they come to houses where 
 they were not known before. It is remarkable, that 
 many sorts of insects seem never to use their wings but 
 when they have a mind to shift their quarters and settle 
 new colonies. When in the air, they move volatu un- 
 doso, in waves, or curves, like woodpeckers, opening and 
 shutting their wings at every stroke, and so are always 
 rising or sinking. 
 
 When they increase to a great degree, as they did once 
 in the house where I am now writing, they become noi- 
 some pests, flying into the candles, and dashing into 
 people's faces ; but may be blasted and destroyed by 
 gunpowder discharged into their crevices and crannies. 
 In families, at such times, they are, like Pharaoh's 
 plague of frogs, " in their bed-chambers, and upon their 
 beds, and in their ovens, and in their kneading-troughs." 
 Their shrilling noise is occasioned by a brisk attrition of 
 their wings. Cats catch hearth -crickets, and, playing 
 with them as they do with mice, devour them. Crick- 
 ets may be destroyed, like wasps, by phials half filled 
 with beer, or any liquid, set in their haunts ; for, being 
 always eager to drink, they will crowd in till the bottles 
 .ere full. Natural History of Selborne. 
 
 since anatomical inspection has not yet been 
 able to discover the smallest organs of hear- 
 ing. Still, however, we can make no doubt 
 of their power of distinguishing sounds, though 
 probably not in the same manner with the 
 more perfect ranks of nature. Certain it is, 
 that I have often heard them call, and this 
 call was as regularly answered by another, al- 
 though none but the males are vocal. 
 
 As the cricket lives chiefly in the dark, so 
 its eyes seem formed for the gloominess of its 
 abode ; and those who would surprise it, have 
 only to light a candle unexpectedly ; by 
 which it is dazzled, and cannot find the way 
 back to its retreat. It is a very voracious 
 little animal, and will eat bread, flour, and 
 meat ; but it is particularly fond of sugar. 
 They never drink, but keep for months toge- 
 ther at the back of the chimney, where they 
 could possibly have had no moisture. The 
 warmth of their situation only serves to in- 
 crease their mirth and loquacity. Except in 
 the very coldest weather, they never cease 
 their chirruping, but continue that little pier- 
 cing note, which is as pleasing to some as it 
 is disagreeable to others. The great Scaliger 
 was particularly delighted with the chirruping 
 of crickets, and kept several of them for his 
 amusement, enclosed in a box, which he placed 
 in a warm situation. Others, on the contrary, 
 think there is something ominous and melan- 
 choly in the sound, and use every endeavour 
 to banish this insect from their houses. Le- 
 delius tells us of a woman who was very much 
 incommoded by crickets, and tried, but in vain, 
 every method of banishing them from her 
 house. She at last accidentally succeeded ; 
 for having one day invited several guests to 
 her house, where there was a wedding, in or- 
 der to increase the festivity of the entertain- 
 ment, she procured drums and trumpets to 
 entertain them. The noise of these was so 
 much greater than what the little animals were 
 used to, that they instantly forsook their situ- 
 ation, and were never heard in that mansion 
 more. 
 
 But of all the cricket kind, that which is 
 called the Mole Cricket is the most extraordi- 
 nary. This animal is the largest of all the 
 insects with which we are acquainted in this 
 country, being two inches and a half in length, 
 and three quarters of an inch in breadth. The 
 colour is of a dusky brown ; and at the extre- 
 mity of the tail there are two hairy excrescen- 
 ces, resembling, in some sense, the tail of a 
 mouse. The body consists of eight scaly joints, 
 or separate folds; is brown on the upper part, 
 and more deeply tinged below. The wings 
 are long, narrow, and terminate in a sharp 
 point, each having a blackish line running 
 down it: however, when they are extended, 
 they appear to be much broader than could at 
 
THE EARWIG, &c. 
 
 483 
 
 first sight be supposed. The shield of the 
 breast is of a firm texture, of a blackish col- 
 our, and hairy. The fore-feet, which are this 
 animal's principal instruments of burrowing in 
 the earth, are strong, webbed, and hairy ; it 
 generally, however, runs backward; but it is 
 commonly under ground, where it burrows 
 even faster than a mole. It is thought also to 
 be amphibious, 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 
 which lies light, and where it finds sufficient 
 plenty under the surface. Thus, in a single 
 night's time, it will run along a furrow, which 
 lias 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 under-ground habitation, 
 and, like the cricket, has its chirping call. 
 When the female is fecundated, she makes a 
 cell of clammy earth, the inside of which is 
 large enough to hold two hazel-nuts ; and in 
 this she lays her eggs. The whole nest 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 generally 
 amount to the number of a hundred and fifty, 
 being white, and about the size of a caraway 
 comfort. They are thus carefully covered, as 
 well to defend them from the injuries of the 
 weather, as from the attacks of the black- 
 beetle ; that being itself an under-ground in- 
 habitant, would, but for this precaution, de- 
 vour or destroy them. To prevent this, the 
 female mole-cricket is often posted as a senti- 
 nel near the nest ; and when the black inva- 
 der plunges in to seize its prey, the guardian 
 insect seizes him behind, and instantly bites 
 him in two. 1 
 
 Nothing can exceed the care and assiduity 
 which these animals exhibit in the preserva- 
 tion of their young. Wherever the nest is 
 placed,there seems to be a fortification, avenues, 
 and entrenchments drawn round it: there are 
 numberless winding-ways that lead to it, and 
 a ditch drawn about it, which few of its insect 
 enemies are able to pass. But their care is 
 not confined to this only ; for at the approach 
 of winter they carry their nest entirely away, 
 and sink it deeper in the ground, so that the 
 frost can have no influence in retarding the 
 
 1 Among this tribe may be numbered the great Lan- 
 tern Fly of Peru, an insect the most splendid and lumi- 
 nous of all that are yet known. In the head is contained 
 a phosphorescent light, sufficiently vivid to serve the 
 purposes of a candle in a dark room; or, when two or 
 three are put together at the end of a stick, to light tra- 
 vellers on the road like a lantern. It is about the size of 
 a larger kind of locust, and the wings and whole body are 
 beautifully variegated. 
 
 young brood from coming to maturity. As 
 the weather grows milder, they raise their 
 magazine in proportion ; till, at last, they 
 bring it as near the surface as they can, to 
 receive the genial influence of the sun, with- 
 out, wholly exposing it to view ; yet should the 
 frost unexpectedly return, they sink it again 
 as before. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE EARWIG, THE FROTH INSECT, AND 
 
 SOME OTHERS BELONGING TO THE 
 
 SECOND ORDER OF INSECTS. 
 
 WE should still keep in memory, that all 
 insects, of the second order, though not pro- 
 duced quite perfect from the egg, yet want 
 very little of their perfection, and require but 
 a very small change to arrive at that state 
 which fits them for flight and generation. The 
 natural functions in these are never suspended: 
 from the instant they leave the egg, they con- 
 tinue to eat, to move, to leap, and pursue their 
 prey : a slight change ensues ; a skin, that in- 
 closed a part of their body and limbs, bursts 
 behind, like a woman's stays, and gives free- 
 dom to a set of wings, with which the animal 
 expatiates, and flies in pursuit of its mate. 
 
 Of all this class of insects, the earwig 2 un- 
 dergoes the smallest change. This animal is 
 so common, that it scarce needs a description : 
 its swiftness in the reptile state is not less re- 
 markable than its indefatigable velocity when 
 upon the wing. That it must be very prolific, 
 appears from its numbers ; and that it is very 
 harmless, every one's experience can readily 
 testify. It is provided with six feet, and two 
 feelers ; the tail is forked ; and with this it 
 often attempts to defend itself against every 
 
 2 The Earwig, The name of this insect, in almost 
 all European languages, has given it a character which 
 causes a feeling of alarm even at the sight of it. Whe- 
 ther or not they ever did enter the human ear is doubtful, 
 that they might endeavour to do so, under the influ- 
 ence of fear, is more than probable ; and this, perhaps, 
 has been the origin of their name, and the universal pre- 
 judice against them. As it is said that anatomists deny 
 the possibility of their deep or dangerous entrance info 
 the ear, it is a pity that this is not generally known, as 
 it might defend the constitutionally timid from unneces- 
 sary alarm, and give a more favourable idea of a part of 
 animal creation, which forms a most necessary link in the 
 chain of being. Brande's Journal. 
 
 The great dread of the Ear-wig entering (he ear is a 
 popular error, whence, indeed, the animal derives its 
 trivial name. Like many other insects, it enters any 
 cavity in search of food or shelter ; and it may, like them, 
 enter the human ear as well as any other hole or hollow, 
 but that it has a special predilection for that situation is 
 a mistaken notion respecting the habits of the Forficula. 
 " Miscellaneous Memoranda' in Notes on Nets, by the 
 Hon. and Rev. C. Bathurst. 
 
484 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 assailant. But its attempts are only the 
 threats of impotence ; they draw down the re- 
 sentment of powerful animals, but no way 
 serve to defend it. The deformity of its figure, 
 and its slender make, have also subjected it 
 to an imputation, which though entirely found- 
 ed in prejudice, has more than once procured 
 its destruction. It is supposed, as the name 
 imports, that it often enters into the ears of 
 people sleeping ; thus causing madness from 
 the intolerable pain, and soon after death it- 
 self. Indeed, the French name which signi- 
 fies the Ear-piercer, urges the calumny against 
 the harmless insect in very plain terms ; yet 
 nothing can be more unjust : the ear is already 
 filled with a substance which prevents any 
 insect from entering ; and besides, it is well 
 lined and defended with membranes, which 
 would keep out any little animal, even though 
 the ear- wax were away. These reproaches, 
 therefore, are entirely groundless: but it were 
 well if the accusations which gardeners bring 
 against the earwig were as slightly founded. 
 There is nothing more certain than that it 
 lives among flowers, and destroys them. 
 When fruit also has been wounded by flies, 
 the earwig generally comes in for a second 
 feast, and sucks those juices which they first 
 began to broach. Still, however, this insect 
 is not so noxious as it would seem ; and sel- 
 dom is found but where the mischief has been 
 originally begun by others. Like all of this 
 class, the earwig is hatched from an egg. As 
 there are various kinds of this animal, so they 
 choose different places to breed in : in gene- 
 ral, however, they lay their eggs under the 
 bark of plants, or in the clefts of trees, when 
 beginning to decay. They proceed from the 
 egg in that reptile state in which they are 
 most commonly seen ; and as they grow lar- 
 ger, the wings bound under the skin begin to 
 bourgeon. It is amazing how very little room 
 four large wings take up before they are pro- 
 truded ; for no person could ever conceive such 
 an expansion of natural drapery could be rolled 
 up in so small a packet. The sheath in 
 which they are enveloped, folds and covers 
 them so neatly, that the animal seems quite 
 destitute of wings ;* and even when they are 
 burst from their confinement, the animal, by 
 the power of the muscles and joints which it 
 has in the middle of its wings, can closely fold 
 them into a very narrow compass. When 
 the earwig has become a winged insect, it flies 
 in pursuit of the female, ceasing to feed, and 
 is wholly employed in the business of propa- 
 gation. It lives in its winged state but a few 
 days; and having taken care for the continu- 
 ance of posterity, dries up, and dies to all ap- 
 pearance consumptive. 8 
 
 1 Swammerrtatn, p. 114. 
 
 8 The indefatigable M. de Geer has discovircd that 
 
 To this order of insects we may also refer 
 the Cuckoo Spit, or Froth Worm, that is often 
 found hid in that frothy matter which we find 
 on the surface of plants. It has an oblong ob- 
 tuse body ; and a large head with small eyes. 
 The external wings, for it has four, are of a 
 dusky brown, marked with two white spots : 
 the head is black. The spume in which it is 
 found wallowing is all of its own formation, 
 and very much resembles frothy spittle. It 
 proceeds from the vent of the animal, and other 
 parts of the body; and if it be wiped away, 
 a new quantity will be quickly seen ejected 
 from the little animal's body. Within this 
 spume it is seen in time to acquire four tuber- 
 cles on its back, wherein the wings are en- 
 closed : these bursting, from a reptile it be- 
 comes a winged animal; and thus rendered 
 perfect, it flies to meet its mate, and propagate 
 its kind. 
 
 The Water Tipula also belongs to this class. 
 It has an oblong slender body, with four feet 
 fixed upon the breast, and four feelers near the 
 mouth. It has four weak wings, which do 
 not at all seem proper for flying, but leaping 
 only. But what this insect chiefly demands 
 our attention for, is the wonderful lightness 
 wherewith it runs on the surface of the water, 
 so as scarce to put it in motion. It is some- 
 times seen in rivers, and on their banks, es- 
 pecially under shady trees ; and generally in 
 swarms of several together. 
 
 The Common Water-fly also breeds in the 
 same manner with those above mentioned. 
 This animal is by some called Notonecta, be- 
 cause it does not swim, in the usual manner, 
 upon its belly, but on its back : nor can we 
 help admiring that fitness in this insect for its 
 situation, as it feeds on the under-side of 
 plants which grow on the surface of the water ; 
 and therefore it is thus formed with its mouth 
 upwards, to take its food with greater conve- 
 nience and ease. 
 
 We may also add the Water- Scorpion, 
 which is a large insect, being near an inch in 
 length, and about half an inch in breadth. Its 
 body is nearly oval, but very flat and thin ; 
 and its tail long and pointed. The head is 
 small ; and the feelers appear like legs, re- 
 sembling the claws of a scorpion, but without 
 sharp points. This insect is generally found 
 in ponds ; and is, of all others, the most tyran- 
 nical and rapacious. It destroys, like a wolf 
 among sheep, twenty times as many as its 
 hunger requires. One of these, when put into 
 a basin of water, in which were thirty or forty 
 worms of the libellula kind, each as large as 
 itself, destroyed them all in a few minutes ; 
 getting on their backs, and piercing with its 
 trunk through their body. These animals, 
 
 the female earwig sits over her eggs, and fosters her 
 young, in the same manner as a hen does her chickens. 
 
THE EPHEMERA. 
 
 485 
 
 however, though so formidable to others, are 
 nevertheless themselves greatly overrun with 
 a little kind of louse, about the size of a nit, 
 which very probably repays the injury which 
 the water-scorpion inflicts upon others. 
 
 The water-scorpions live in the water by 
 day : out of which they rise, in the dusk of 
 the evening, into the air, and so flying from 
 place to place often betake themselves, in quest 
 of food, to other waters. The insect, before 
 its wings are grown, remains in the place 
 where it was produced; but when come to its 
 state of perfection, sallies forth in search of a 
 companion of the other sex, in order to conti- 
 nue its noxious posterity. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF THE EPHEMERA. 1 
 
 THE last insect we shall add to the second 
 order is the Ephemera; which, though not 
 
 1 Ephemera. There are many species of these in- 
 sects, some larger and some smaller, some longer-lived 
 and some shorter, but as few of them live to behold the 
 rising and the setting sun, they are all called ephemera, 
 or "things of a clay," their name is used to express all 
 things that are very fleeting. 
 
 In autumn any one who walks by the water-side when 
 the air is still, especially towards morning or evening, 
 may catch them by thousands. They have four-wings, of 
 a beautiful transparent membrane or film, spread out 
 upon a fine net- work, of a substance very similar to horn. 
 These fibres in the wings are called nerves, and the in- 
 sects which have such wings are by naturalists called 
 neuroptera, which is the Greek for "nerve-winged ;" but 
 these are not nerves. Nerves are understood to be or- 
 gans of feeling or sensation ; whereas, the fibres in the 
 wings of those insects, merely support the membrane, just 
 as the arm-frames of a windmill, or the masts and yards 
 of a ship, support the canvas. 
 
 The eggs of the day-flies are all laid in the water, and 
 hatched there ; so that they so far partake of the nature 
 of the eggs, or race of fishes, that they " come into ac- 
 tive life," in less heat than land eggs, and do not need 
 any incubation, or sitting, of the mother. Each female 
 lays from 700 to 800, and she does it in less time than it 
 takes to speak the words. The eggs are expelled in two 
 portions, one of each at a time; but so fast, that the eggs 
 seem two little knotted rods ; but they separate and sink 
 to the bottom undiscovered by the keen eyes of the fish. 
 The female instantly dies, exhausted by the effort, which 
 appears to be the only labour of her winged state of exis- 
 tence ; if, indeed, she is not captured in the midst of her 
 maternal duty by some darting fish, or skimming swal- 
 low; both of which prey upon countless thousands of the 
 day-flies. When the fly lights to deposit her eggs, she 
 raises her wings over her back, till they are nearly touch- 
 ing; and, at the same time, she elevates the hinder part 
 of her body, and erects the three setae, or bristles, in 
 which it terminates. The wings and these bristles sup- 
 port her so that she barely touches the water, and so rises 
 and falls with the ripple. 
 
 The moment that the females are in a condition to lay 
 their eggs, they hasten to the waters, so that they are not 
 
 strictly belonging to it, yet seems more pro 
 perly referred to this rank than any other. In- 
 deed, we must not attend to the rigour of me- 
 thod in a history where Nature seems to take 
 delight to sport in variety. 
 
 That there should be a tribe of flies whose 
 duration extends but to a day, seems, at first, 
 surprising ; but the wonder will increase, when 
 we are told, that some of this kind seem to be 
 born and to die in a space of a single hour. 
 The reptile, however, from which they are 
 bred, is by no means so short-lived; but is 
 sometimes seen to live two years, and many 
 times three years together. 
 
 All ephemeras, of which there are various 
 
 so often seen as the males, whose only occupation is to 
 sport in the air, in the neighbourhood of the cradle of 
 their future offspring. Of these the little day-fly, which 
 is born after dawn, produces her eight hundred, and is 
 dead and gone, before the first gleam of the sun breaks 
 over the eastern hill ! 
 
 How long the eggs remain in the water before they 
 are hatched, is not known; but possibly it varies with the 
 season and the weather. The larva or young, in their 
 first state, not only burrow, or make holes in the mud, 
 but live on it; they are consequently not so numerous in 
 sand and gravel as in places that are fat and oozy. 
 
 In summer the ponds, brooks, and ditches, are full of 
 these larvae, and so are water tanks, cisterns, and butts, 
 if they are not kept clean. They (with the larvae of 
 other species) are among the chief summer impurities in 
 the water at London and other places. If the water is 
 not settled, they may come from the river; but the mud 
 and sediment will enable them to breed in vessels, and 
 the parent flies are every where. In themselves they are 
 not unwholesome, and, as they are alive, they cannot 
 render the water putrid. The mud that breeds them, is 
 putrid, however, as it contains dead animal and vegetable 
 matter; and thus, though the young flies are not in them- 
 selves unwholesome, they are accompanied by substances 
 that are so. 
 
 The larvae remain in the mud two or three years ; but 
 in that they probably vary. The banks of rivers, in some 
 parts of the continent, are so full of them, that to the 
 depth of some inches, they actually contain more living 
 matter than dead. They are all, however, lower than 
 the surface of the water, and they breathe water, like 
 fishes, by means of little gills on their sides. At length 
 they attain their full size, and change into nymphte, 
 which are not unlike the larvae, only they have wings 
 folded up under their coats, of which they still have 
 two, and must get out of both before they appear as flies. 
 
 The time that they remain nymphs is uncertain, and 
 must vary, as the weather is one element in bringing 
 about their last change. When that is to take place, 
 they come out of the water, in vast numbers, and leave 
 their old coats so abundant as to cover the water like a 
 scum. After a little while they cast their inner coat ; 
 their wings stretch and become firm, and they mount into 
 the air, to spend the hour, or the day, which is to them 
 the whole period of air-breathing life. 
 
 That period is short; but that is necessary: for, in 
 some places, if they were to live long, there would abso- 
 lutely not be room for them. They eat nothing, and so 
 destroy nothing; but there are places in France and 
 Germany where, if they lived but for a month on the 
 wing, they would build up the air solid to the tops of the 
 trees. As it is, they sometimes fall on the ground near 
 the rivers in showers like snow, and the people collect 
 them in heaps as manure to the fields. 
 
486 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 kinds are produced from the egg in the form 
 of worms ; from whence they change into a 
 more perfect form ; namely, that of aurelias, 
 which is a kind of middle state between a 
 worm and a fly ; and from thence they take 
 their last mutation, which is into a beautiful 
 fly, of longer or shorter duration, according to 
 its kind. 
 
 The ephemera, in its fly state, is a very 
 beautiful-winged insect, and has a strong si- 
 militude to the butterfly, both from its shape 
 and its wings. It is about the size of a mid- 
 dling butterfly; but its wings differ in not 
 being covered with the painted dust with which 
 those of butterflies are adorned, and rendered 
 opaque, for they are very transparent, and very 
 thin. These insects have four wings, the up- 
 permost of which are much the largest ; when 
 the insect is at rest, it generally lays its wings 
 one over the other, on the back. The body 
 is long, being formed of six rings, that are 
 larger at the origin than near the extremity ; 
 and from this a tail proceeds, that is longer 
 than all the rest of the fly, and consists some- 
 times of three threads of an equal length, or 
 sometimes of two long and one short. To ac- 
 quire this beautiful form, the insect has been 
 obliged to undergo several transmutations: but 
 its glory is very short-lived, for the hour of its 
 perfection is the hour of its death ; and it seems 
 scarcely introduced lo pleasure, when it is 
 obliged to part with life. 
 
 The reptile that is to become a fly, and that 
 is granted so long a term, when compared to 
 its latter duration, is an inhabitant of the wa- 
 ter, and bears a very strong resemblance to 
 fishes, in many particulars ; having gills by 
 which it breathes at the bottom, and also the 
 tapering form of aquatic animals. These in- 
 sects have six scaly legs, fixed on their corse- 
 let. Their head is triangular: the eyes are 
 placed forward, and may be distinguished by 
 their largeness and colour. The mouth is fur- 
 nished with teeth ; and the body consists of 
 six rings ; that next the corselet being largest, 
 but growing less and less to the end : the last 
 ring is the shortest, from which the three 
 threads proceed, which are as long as the 
 whole body. Thus we see that the reptile 
 bears a very strong resemblance to the fly ; 
 and only requires wings to be very near its 
 perfection. 
 
 As there are several kinds of this animal, 
 their aurelias are consequently of different col- 
 ours ; some yellow, some brown, and some 
 cream-coloured. Some of these also bore 
 themselves cells at the bottom of the water, 
 from which they never stir out, but feed upon 
 the mud composing the walls of their habita- 
 tion, in contented captivity ; others, on the 
 contrary, range about, go from the bottom to 
 the surface, swim between two waters, quit 
 
 that element entirely to feed upon plants by 
 the river side, and then return to their favour- 
 ite element for safety and protection. 
 
 The reptile, however, though it lives two or 
 three years, offers but little, in its long dura- 
 tion, to excite curiosity : it is hid at the bot- 
 tom of the water, and feeds almost whollv 
 within its narrow habitation. The most strik- 
 ing facts command our attention during the 
 short interval of its fly state ; into which it 
 crowds the most various transactions of its 
 little life. It then may be said to be in a 
 hurry to live, as it has but so small a time to 
 exist. The peculiar sign whereby to know 
 that these reptiles will change into flies in a 
 short time, consists in a protuberance of the 
 wings on the back. About that time the 
 smooth and depressed form of the upper part 
 of the body is changed into a more swollen 
 and rounder shape ; so that the wings are, in 
 some degree, visible through the external 
 sheath that covers them. As they are not na- 
 tives of England, he who would see them in 
 their greatest abundance must walk, about 
 sun-set, along the banks of the Rhine, or the 
 Seine near Paris ; where, for about three days, 
 in the midst of summer, he will be astonished 
 at their numbers and assiduity. The thick- 
 est descent of the flakes of snow in winter 
 seems not to 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 be- 
 gin their transformation. The most industri- 
 ous shake off their old garments about eight 
 o'clock ; and those who are the most tardy, are 
 transformed before nine. 
 
 W^e have already seen that the operation of 
 change in other insects is laborious and pain- 
 ful ; but with these nothing seems shorter, or 
 performed with greater ease. The aurelias 
 are scarcely 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 
 in this manner to the surface ; and at once 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, like a 
 'deep snow, for several hundred yards, on every 
 side of the river. Their numbers are then in. 
 credible, and every object they touch becomes 
 fatal to them ; for they instantly die if they 
 hit even against each other. 
 
 At this time the males and females are very 
 differently employed. The males, quite in- 
 
THE EPHEMERA. 
 
 487 
 
 aciive, and apparently without desires, seem 
 only born to die : no way like the males of 
 other insects, they neither follow the opposite 
 sex, nor bear any enmity to each other : after 
 fluttering for an hour or two, they drop upon 
 iand, without seeming to receive wings for 
 scarce any other purpose but to satisfy an idle 
 curiosity. It is otherwise with the females ; 
 they are scarce risen from the surface of the 
 water, and have dried their wings, but they 
 hasten to drop their eggs back again. If they 
 happen also to flutter upon land, they deposit 
 their burden in the place where they drop. 
 But then it may be demanded, where, and in 
 what manner, are these eggs fecundated, as no 
 copulation whatever appears between the sexes 
 in their transitory visits in air? Swammer- 
 dam is of opinion, that they are impregnated 
 in the manner of fish-spawn, by the male, after 
 being ejected by the female ; but beside that 
 this doctrine is exploded even from the history 
 of fishes, it is certain that the males have not 
 time for this operation, as the eggs drop to the 
 bottom the instant they are laid on the water. 
 Reaumur is of opinion that they copulate ; but 
 that the act bears a proportion in shortness to 
 the small duration of their lives ; and, conse- 
 quently, must be so soon performed as to be 
 scarcely visible. This, however, is at best for- 
 cing a theory ; and it is probable, that as there 
 are many insects known to breed without any 
 impregnation from the male, as we have al- 
 ready seen in muscles and oysters, and shall 
 hereafter see in the gnat, and a species of the 
 beetle, so the ephemera may be of this num- 
 ber. Be this as it may, the females are in 
 such haste to deposit their eggs, that multi- 
 tudes of them fall to the ground ; but the 
 greatest part are laid in the water. As they 
 flutter upon the surface, two clusters are seen 
 issuing from the extremity of their body, each 
 containing about three hundred and fifty eggs, 
 which make seven hundred in all. Thus, of 
 all insects, this 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 care- 
 ful to provide themselves with these insects, 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 ano- 
 ther case or skin to get rid of. These are of- 
 ten seen in the fields and woods distant from 
 the water; but they are more frequently found 
 
 in its vicinity. They are often found sticking 
 upon walls 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 di- 
 vested of their last incommodious garment, 
 which sometimes does not happen for two or 
 three days together. 1 
 
 1 House-fly. Of all insects, perhaps the most widely 
 distributed and abundant in number of individuals, is the 
 house fly, Musca Domestica, a species which from its 
 constant occurrence in every situation, will render any 
 precise description of it unnecessary ; and yet, many 
 of our readers are, perhaps, unaware that, of the flies 
 which crawl up our windows, there are not only several 
 distinct species, but also that the insect at whose torment- 
 ing attacks upon our legs in the showery days of summer, 
 we are so often enraged, does not even belong, notwith- 
 standing its apparent identity, to the same genus. If one 
 of these annoying tormentors (which is the Stomoxys 
 calcitrans) be caught and examined, it will be found that 
 the mouth is formed into a horny sharp-pointed weapon, 
 capable of piercing the flesh, whilst the soft blunt ap- 
 paratus of the mouth of the musca is quite incompetent 
 to such an operation, being fitted only for the sipping of 
 fluids, or the extraction of honied sweets ; forming in 
 fact, a long tubular sucker, jointed in the middle so as 
 
 B A 
 
 Head of the Jly, with the mouth extended; A. seen sideways, 
 B. seen from above. 
 
 to fold back close to the head (Fig. A. and B.), and armed 
 at the base with a pair of exarticulate feelers and at the 
 extremity with two fleshy lobes, which are employed as 
 instruments of suction. This organ possesses very great 
 muscular power, and we have seen the insect by its 
 assistance alone carry off pieces of sugar much larger than 
 its head. The under surface of the terminal lobes is also 
 transversely ridged, which must necessarily give greater 
 facility to the actions of the organs, by enabling it to 
 adapt itself more readily to rough surfaces (Fig. c.). It 
 is essential, however, that the mouth should be provided 
 
 Extremity of the sucker of the fly, sJiowing its annulated 
 appearance. 
 
 with some instrument for piercing even the soft substances 
 of which the food is composed, and we accordingly find 
 a fine point (the tongue) arising near the elbowed part of 
 the proboscis, which is for safety lodged in a stronger 
 point (the labrum), both when at rest fitting into the canal 
 of the proboscis, as represented in our figure B. 
 
488 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 In figure D. we have exhibited the mouth in another 
 position, showing the sharpened upper lip raised from 
 
 E D 
 
 the fleshy proboscis, and in figure E the mouth of the 
 blue-bottle fly is represented, having the tongue disen- 
 gaged from the superior stronger labrum. 
 
 Another interesting peculiarity observable in the do- 
 mestic fly, arises from the structure of its feet, enabling it 
 to walk with the greatest facility, not only upon upright 
 surfaces, but also upon the ceilings of rooms, back down- 
 wards, without its position being disturbed in consequence 
 of being contrary to gravity. Much diversity of opinion 
 lias taken place amongst naturalists upon this curi- 
 ous subject, and even in the latest works we find the 
 matter still forming a " questio vexata." Dr Derham, 
 in his " Physico-Theology," speaking of the means 
 
 Leg of the flyldghly magnified, with the terminal joint still more 
 increased, seen in different positions, to show the suckers, 
 
 whereby insects maintain their position upon smooth 
 substances, states, that < divers flies and other insects, 
 besides their sharp-hooked nails, have also skinny palms 
 to their feet, to enable them to stick on glass and other 
 smooth bodies by means of the pressure of the atmosphere, 
 after the manner as I have seen boys carry heavy stones 
 with only a wet piece of leather clapped on the top of the 
 
 stone." Gilbert White, of Selborne, adopted Derham 's 
 opinion, adding, that although the flies are easily enabled, 
 from their lightness and alertness, to overcome the 
 weight of air in warm weather, yet that in the decline 
 of the year this resistance becomes too mighty for their 
 diminished strength, and we see flies labouring along 
 and lugging their feet in windows as if they stuck fast to 
 the glass, and it is with the utmost difficulty that they 
 can draw one foot from another, and disengage their 
 hollow caps from the slippery surface. 
 
 This opinion, which has been entertained by the 
 majority of Entomologists of the present day, has acquired 
 additional weight by the elaborate investigations of Sir 
 Everard Home, undertaken at the suggestion of Sir Joseph 
 Banks, with the assistance of that unrivalled microscopic 
 artist, M. Bauer, and published in the Philosophical 
 Transactions for 1816. The suckers, of which several 
 kinds of flies possess three to each foot, are attached, as 
 will be seen from our figures, beneath the base of the 
 claws, and are of an oval shape and membranous texture, 
 being convex above, having the sides minutely serrated, 
 and the under concave surface covered with down or 
 hairs. In order to cause the alleged vacuum, these 
 suckers are extended, but, when the fly wishes to raise 
 its legs, they are brought together and folded up as it 
 were between the hooks. Messrs. Kirby and Spence 
 have likewise adopted this opinion, considering it as 
 " proved most satisfactorily." Other authors of no mean 
 repute have, however, entertained a different opinion, 
 and have entirely rejected the idea of a vacuum being 
 produced ; thus Dr Hooke describes the suckers as palms 
 or soles, beset underneath with small bristles or tenters 
 like the cone teeth of a card for working wool, which he 
 conceived gives them a strong hold upon objects having 
 irregular or yielding surfaces ; and he imagined that 
 there is upon glass a kind of smcky substance, penetrable 
 by the points of their bristles. The same opinion is alsa 
 given by Shaw in his " Nature Displayed," and, more 
 recently, Mr Blackwall has considered that the motions 
 of the fly are to be accounted for upon mechanical prin- 
 ciples alone ; thus upon inspecting the structure of the 
 parts of the suckers (regarding which great want of ac- 
 cordance exists in the descriptions of authors), " it was 
 immediately perceived that the function ascribed to them 
 by Dr Derham and Sir E. Home is quite incompatible 
 with their organisation. Minute hairs very closely set 
 and directed downwards so completely cover the inferior 
 surface of the expanded membranes, improperly denom- 
 inated suckers, with which the terminal joint of the foot 
 of flies is provided, that it cannot possibly be brought 
 into contact with the object on which those insects move, 
 by any muscular force they are capable of exerting; the 
 production of a vacuum between each membrane and the 
 plane of position is therefore clearly impracticable, unless 
 the numerous hairs on the underside of these organs 
 individually perform the office of suckers ; and there 
 does not appear to be any thing in their mechanism, 
 which in the slightest degree countenances such a hypo- 
 thesis. When highly magnified, their extremities, it is 
 true, are seen to be somewhat enlarged, but when they 
 are viewed in action or in repose, they never assume a 
 figure at all adapted to the formation of a vacuum." 
 Moreover, on enclosing a house-fly in the receiver of an 
 air-pump, "it was demonstrated to the entire satisfac- 
 tion of several intelligent gentlemen present, that the 
 house-fly, while it retains its vital powers unimpaired, 
 cannot only traverse the upright sides, but even the in- 
 terior of the dome of an exhausted receiver, and that the 
 cause of its relaxing its hold, and ultimately falling from 
 the station it occupied, was a diminution of muscular 
 force, attributable to impeded respiration." Hence Mr 
 Blackwall is induced to believe, in the memoir above 
 referred to, that insects are enabled to take hold of any 
 roughness, or irregularity of surface, by means of the fine 
 hairs composing the brushes, the most carefully polished 
 
THE EPHEMERA. 
 
 489 
 
 g^ss not being found free from flaws and imperfec- 
 tions, when viewed in a favourable light with a powerful 
 lens. 
 
 A still different opinion has been maintained by other 
 authors upon this subject; who, setting aside all idea of 
 a vacuum, have conjectured that the suckers, as they 
 have been termed, contain a glutinous secretion, capable 
 of adhering to well-cleaned glass ; thus the Abbe de la 
 Pluche states, that when the fly marches over any pol- 
 ished body, on which neither her claws nor her points 
 can fasten, she sometimes compresses her sponge and 
 causes it to evacuate a fluid, which fixes her in such a 
 manner as prevents her falling, without diminishing the 
 facility of her progress ; " but it is much more probable," 
 he adds, " that the sponges correspond with the fleshy 
 balls which accompany the claws of dogs and cats, and 
 that they enable the fly to proceed with a softer pace, 
 and contribute to the preservation of its claws, whose 
 pointed extremities would soon be impaired without this 
 prevention." Notwithstanding the ridicule which has 
 been thrown upon this opinion in a recent entomological 
 work, it appears, from still more recent investigations, to 
 be the best founded of any hitherto advanced. Thus, an 
 anonymous writer has published an account of various 
 experiments and examinations upon this subject, which 
 appear satisfactorily to prove, that it is not by the ap- 
 plication of extremely small points to invisible irregular- 
 ities on the surface of glass, that the pulvilli or suckers 
 are attached, but by simple adhesion of the enlarged ends 
 of the hairs assisted by a fluid that is probably secreted 
 there, and the author is therefore reduced to refer the 
 
 effect to molecular attraction only. It is also stated, 
 that when the foot of the fly is detached, a distinct fluid 
 trace will often be left by each individual hair, the spotty 
 pattern thus left on the glass appearing to be of an oily 
 character, for if breathed on, it remains after the moisture 
 is evaporated. The contrary opinion, although contained 
 in a review of Mr Blackwall's Memoir above noticed, 
 was evidently written in ignorance of the subsequent 
 observations of that author contained in the appendix of 
 the volume in which it appeared, and in which several 
 facts are stated, which appear " quite inexplicable, ex- 
 cept on the supposition that an adhesive secretion is 
 emitted by the instruments employed in climbing ;" 
 and it is subsequently affirmed, that careful and re- 
 peated examinations made with lenses of moderately 
 high magnifying powers, in a strong light and at a favour. 
 able angle, speedily convinced Mr Blackwall that his 
 conjecture was well founded, as he never failed to dis- 
 cover " unequivocal evidence of its truth." 
 
 We have had a two-fold object in thus setting before 
 the reader, at considerable length, the various opinions 
 promulgated upon the subject, the first being occasioned 
 by the interest attached to so peculiar a phenomenon ; 
 and the second resulting from a desire to show that, even 
 in the commonest insects, there are most ample ma- 
 terials of no ordinary or uninteresting kind for the full 
 exercise of the mind of the ingenious observer of nature. 
 It will seem extraordinary, but it is nevertheless true, 
 that there is scarcely any domestic insect of whose econ- 
 omy we are more ignorant than that of the Musca do- 
 mcstica. History of Insects, London 1835. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
HISTORY OF INSECTS, &c. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE THIRD ORDER. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF CATERPILLARS IN GENERAL. 
 
 IF we take a cursory view of insects in general, 
 caterpillars alone, and the butterflies and moths 
 they give birth to, will make a third part of 
 the number. Wherever we move, wherever 
 \ve turn, these insects, in one shape or another, 
 present themselves to our view. Some, in 
 every state, offer the most entertaining spec- 
 tacle ; others are beautiful only in their wing- 
 ed form. Many persons, of which number I 
 am one, have an invincible aversion to cater- 
 pillars and worms of every species : there is 
 something disagreeable in their slow crawling 
 motion, for which the variety of their colouring 
 can never compensate. But others feel no re- 
 pugnance at observing, and even handling, 
 them with the most attentive application. 
 
 There is nothing in the butterfly-state so 
 beautiful or splendid as these insects. They 
 serve, not less than the birds themselves, to 
 banish solitude from our walks, and to fill up 
 our idle intervals with the most pleasing spe- 
 culations. The butterfly makes one of the 
 principal ornaments of oriental poetry ; but in 
 those countries, the insect is larger and more 
 beautiful than with us. 
 
 The beauties of the fly may, therefore, very 
 well excite our curiosity to examine the reptile. 
 But we are still more strongly attached to this 
 tribe from the usefulness of one of the number. 
 The silk-worm is, perhaps, the most serviceable 
 of all other animals; since, from its labours, and 
 the manufacture attending it, near a third part 
 of the world are clothed, adorned, and sup- 
 ported. 
 
 Caterpillars may be easily distinguished 
 from worms or maggots, by the number of their 
 feet ; and by their producing butterflies or 
 
 moths. 1 When the sun calls up vegetation, and 
 vivifies the various eggs of insects, the cater- 
 pillars are the first that are seen upon almost 
 every vegetable and tree, eating its leaves, and 
 preparing for a state of greater perfection. 
 They have feet both before and behind; 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 vegetables, and to 
 stretch themselves out from the boughs and 
 
 1 There is one tribe of caterpillar called Surveyors, or 
 Geometers, which walk by first fixing the fore- feet, and 
 then doubling the body into a vertical arch ; this action 
 brings up the hind part of the caterpillar, which is fur- 
 nished with prolegs, close to the head. The hind ex- 
 tremity, being then fixed by means of the prolegs situ- 
 ated at that part, the body is again extended into a 
 straight line ; and this process being repeated, the ca- 
 terpillar advances by a succession of paces, as if it were 
 measuring the distance, by converting its body into a 
 pair of compasses. At the same time that they employ 
 this process, they further provide for their security, by 
 spinning a thread, which they fasten to different points 
 of the ground, as they go along. 
 
 Many other species of caterpillar practise the same 
 art of spinning fine silken threads, which especially as- 
 sist them in their progression over smooth surfaces, and 
 also in descending from a height through the air. The 
 caterpillar of the cabbage-butterfly, is thus enabled to 
 climb up and down a pane of glass, for which purpose it 
 fixes the threads that it spins in a zigzag line, forming so 
 many steps of a rope-ladder. The material of which 
 these threads are made, is a glutinous secretion, which, 
 on being deposited on glass, adheres firmly to it, and very 
 soon acquires consistence and hardness by the action of 
 the air. 
 
 Other caterpillars, which feed on trees, and have often 
 occasion to descend from one branch to another, send out 
 a rope made with the same material, which they can pro- 
 long indefinitely; and thus either suspend themselves at 
 pleasure in the air, or let themselves down to the ground. 
 They continue, while walking, to spin a thread as they 
 advance, so that they can always easily retrace their 
 steps by gathering up the clue they have left, and re- 
 ascend to the height from which they had allowed them- 
 selves to drop. Dr Rogefs Bridgewater Treatise. 
 
THE CATERPILLAR. 
 
 49 J 
 
 stalks to reach their food at a distance. All 
 of this class have from eight feet, at the least, 
 to sixteen ; and this may serve to distinguish 
 them from the worm-tribe, that never have so 
 many. The animal into which they are con- 
 verted is always a butterfly or moth ; and these 
 are always distinguished from other flies, by 
 having their wings covered over with a paint- 
 ed 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: from such, the wing of a 
 butterfly may be easily distinguished; and 
 words would obscure their differences. 
 
 From hence it appears, that caterpillars, 
 whether in the reptile state, or advanced to 
 their last state of perfection into butterflies, 
 may easily be distinguished from all other in- 
 sects; being animals peculiarly formed, and 
 also of a peculiar nature. The transmutations 
 they undergo are also more numerous than 
 those of any insect hitherto mentioned ; and, 
 in consequence, they have been placed in the 
 third order of changes bv Swaminerdam, who 
 has thrown such lights upon this part of natu- 
 ral history. In the second order of changes, 
 mentioned before, we saw the grasshopper and 
 the earwig, when excluded from the egg, assume 
 a form very like that which they were after 
 to preserve ; and seemed arrived at a state of 
 perfection , in all respects, except in not having 
 wings ; which did not bud forth until they 
 were come to maturity. But the insects of this 
 third order, that we are now about to describe, go 
 through a much greater variety of transforma- 
 tions; for when they are excluded from the egg, 
 they assume the form of a small caterpillar, which 
 feeds and grows larger every day, often chang- 
 ing its skin, but still preserving its form. 
 When the animal has come to a certain mag- 
 nitude in this state it discontinues eating, 
 makes itself a covering or husk, in which it 
 remains wrapped up, seemingly without life or 
 motion ; and after having, for some time, con- 
 tinued in this state, it once more bursts its 
 confinement, and comes forth a beautiful but- 
 terfly. Thus we see this animal put on no 
 less than three different appearances from the 
 time it is first excluded from the egg. It ap- 
 pears a crawling caterpillar ; then an insensi- 
 ble aurelia, as it is called, without, life or mo- 
 tion ; and, lastly, a butterfly, variously paint- 
 ed, according to its different kind. Having 
 thus distinguished tlr.s class of insects from all 
 others, we will first survey their history in 
 general ; and then enter particularly into the 
 manners and nature of a few of them, which 
 most deserve our curiosity and attention. 
 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CATER- 
 PILLAR INTO ITS CORRESPONDING 
 BUTTERFLY OR MOTH. 
 
 WHEN winter has disrobed the trees of their 
 leaves, nature then seems to have lost her in- 
 sects. There are thousands of 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 
 ;he leaves are completely unfolded. Those 
 aterpillars, which we then see, may serve to 
 jive us a view of the general means, which 
 nature employs to preserve such a number of 
 insects during that season, when they can no 
 longer find subsistence. It is known, by 
 united experience, that all these animals are 
 hatched from the eggs of butterflies ; and those 
 who observe them more closely, will find the 
 fly very careful in depositing its eggs, in those 
 places, where they are likely to be hatched, 
 with the greatest safety and success. During 
 winter, therefore, the greatest number of cater- 
 pillars are in an egg-state ; and in this lifeless 
 situation brave all the rigours and the humid- 
 ity of the climate ; and though often exposed 
 to all its changes, still preserve the latent 
 principles of life, which is more fully exerted 
 at the approach of spring. That same power 
 that pushes forth the budding leaf and the 
 opening flower, impels the insect into anima- 
 tion ; and nature at once seems to furnish the 
 guest and the banquet. When the insect has 
 found force to break its shell, it always finds 
 its favourite aliment provided in abundance be- 
 fore it. 
 
 But all caterpillars are not sent off from the 
 egg in the beginning of spring ; for many of 
 them have subsisted during the winter in 
 their aurelia state ; in which as, we have 
 briefly observed above, the animal is seem- 
 ingly deprived of life and motion. In this 
 state of insensibility, many of these insects 
 continue during the rigours of winter ; some 
 inclosed in a kind of shell, which they have 
 spun for themselves at the end of autumn ; 
 some concealed under the bark of trees ; others 
 in the chinks of old walls ; and many buried 
 under ground. From all these, a variety of 
 butterflies are seen to issue in the beginning of 
 spring ; and adorn the earliest part of the year 
 with their painted flutterings. 
 
 Some caterpillars do not make any change 
 whatsoever at the approach of winter; but 
 continue to live in their reptile state through 
 all the severity of the season. They choose 
 
492 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 themselves some retreat, where they may re- 
 main undisturbed for months together ; and 
 there they continue motionless, and as insensi- 
 ble as if they were actually dead. Their con- 
 stitution is such, that food at that time would 
 be useless ; and the cold prevents their mak- 
 ing those dissipations which require restora- 
 tion. In general, caterpillars of this kind 
 are found in great numbers together, inclosed 
 in one common web, that covers the mall, 
 and serves to protect them from the injuries of 
 the air. 
 
 Lastly, there are some of the caterpillar 
 kind, whose butterflies live all the winter ; and 
 who, having fluttered about for some part of 
 the latter end of autumn, seek for some retreat 
 during the winter, in order to answer the ends 
 of propagation at the approach of spring. 
 These are often found lifeless and motionless 
 in the hollows of trees or the clefts of timber ; 
 but by being approached to the fire, they re- 
 cover life and activity, and seem to anticipate 
 the desires of the spring. 
 
 In general, however, whether the animal has 
 subsisted in an egg state, during the winter ; 
 or whether as a butterfly, bred from an aurelia, 
 in the beginning of spring ; or a butterfly that 
 has subsisted during the winter, and lays eggs 
 as soon as the leaves of plants are shot for- 
 ward ; 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 egg, at 
 the foot of the tree, and climb up to its leaves 
 for subsistence ; the eggs of others have been 
 glued by the parent butterfly to the leaves ; 
 and they are no sooner 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 increases in 
 magnitude, it improves in its appetites ; so 
 that, in its adult caterpillar state, it is the 
 most ravenous of all animals whatsoever. A 
 single caterpillar will eat double its own weight 
 of leaves in a day, and yet seems no way dis- 
 ordered by the meal. What would mankind do, 
 if their oxen or their horses were so voracious ? 
 
 These voracious habits, with its slow crawl- 
 ing motion, but still more a stinging like that 
 of nettles, which follows upon handling the 
 greatest number of them, make these insects 
 not the most agreeable objects of human curi- 
 osity. However, there are many philosophers 
 who have spent years in their contemplation; 
 and who have not only attended to their habits 
 and labours, but minutely examined their 
 structure and internal conformation. 
 
 The body of the caterpillar, when anatomi- 
 
 cally considered, is found composed of rings, 
 whose circumference is pretty near circular or 
 oval. They are generally twelve in number, 
 and are all membranaceous ; by which cater- 
 pillars may be distinguished from many other 
 insects, that nearly resemble them in form. 
 The head of the caterpillar is connected to the 
 first ring by the neck ; that is generally so 
 short and contracted, that it is scarce visible. 
 All the covering of the head in caterpillars 
 seems to consist of a shell ; and they have nei- 
 ther upper nor under jaw, for they are both 
 placed rather vertically, and each jaw armed 
 with a large thick tooth, which is singly 
 equal to numbers. With these the ani- 
 mals devour their food in such amazing 
 quantities ; and with these, some of the 
 kind defend themselves against their ene- 
 mies. Though the mouth be kept shut, 
 the teeth are always uncovered ; and while 
 the insect is in health they are seldom with- 
 out employment. Whatever the caterpillar 
 devours, these teeth serve to chop it into small 
 pieces, and render the parts of the leaf fit for 
 swallowing. Many kinds, while they are yet 
 young, eat only the succulent part of the leaf, 
 and leave all the fibres untouched ; others, 
 however, attack the whole leaf, and eat 
 it clean away. One may be amused, for a 
 little time, in observing the avidity with 
 which they are seen to feed ; some are seen 
 eating the whole day ; others have their hours 
 of repast ; some choose the night, and others 
 the day. When the caterpillar attacks a leaf, 
 it places its body in such a manner that the 
 edge of the leaf shall fail between its feet, 
 which keeps it steady while the teeth are em- 
 ployed in cutting it : these fall upon the leaf 
 somewhat in the manner of a pair of gardener's 
 shears ; and every morsel is swallowed as soon 
 as cut. Some caterpillars feed upon leaves 
 so very narrow, that they are riot broader than 
 their mouths ; in this case the animal is seen 
 to devour it from the point, as we would eat 
 a radish. 
 
 As there are various kinds of caterpillars, 
 the number of their feet are various ; some 
 having eight, and some sixteen. Of these feet 
 the six foremost are covered with a sort of 
 shining gristle ; and are therefore called the 
 shelly legs. The hindmost feet, whatever be 
 their number, are soft and flexible, and are 
 called membranaceous. Caterpillars also, with 
 regard to their external figure, are either 
 smooth or hairy. The skin of the first kind 
 is soft to the touch, or hard like shagreen ; the 
 skin of the latter is hairy, and as it were 
 thorny ; and generally, if handled, stings like 
 nettles. Some of them even cause this sting- 
 ing pain if but approached too nearly. 
 
 Caterpillars, in general, have six small 
 black spots placed on the circumference of the 
 
THE CATERPILLAR. 
 
 493 
 
 fore ring, and a little to the side of the head 
 Three of these are larger than the rest, anc 
 are convex and transparent : these Reaumu 
 takes to be the eyes of the caterpillar ; how- 
 ever most of these reptiles have very little oc 
 casion for sight, and seem only to be directec 
 by their feeling. 
 
 But the parts of the caterpillar's body which 
 most justly demand our attention, are the stig 
 mata,as they are called ; or those holes on the 
 sides of its body, through which the animal is 
 supposed to breathe. All along this insect's 
 body, on each side, these holes are easily dis 
 coverable. They are eighteen in number 
 nine on a side, rather nearer the belly than 
 the back; a hole for every ring, of which the 
 animal's body is composed, except the second 
 the third, and the last. These oval openings 
 may be considered as so many mouths, through 
 which the insect breathes ; but with this dif- 
 ference, that as we have but one pair of lungs 
 the caterpillar has no less than eighteen. I 
 requires no great anatomical dexterity to dis- 
 cover these lungs in the larger kind of cater- 
 pillars : they appear, at first view, to be hollow 
 cartilaginous tubes, and of the colour of mother- 
 of-pearl. These tubes are often seen to unite 
 with each other ; some are perceived to open int 
 the intestines ; and some go to different parts of 
 the surface of the body. That these vessels 
 serve to convey the air, appears evidently, from 
 the famous experiment of Malpighi ; who, by 
 stopping up the mouths of the stigmata with 
 oil, quickly suffocated the animal, which was 
 seen to die convulsed the instant after. In 
 order to ascertain his theory, he rubbed oil 
 upon other parts of the insect's body, leaving 
 the stigmata free ; and this seemed to have no 
 effect upon the animal's health, but it continued 
 to move and eat as usual : he rubbed oil on 
 the stigmata of one side, and the animal under- 
 went a partial convulsion, but recovered soon 
 after. However, it ought to be observed, that 
 air is not so necessary to these as to the nobler 
 ranks of animals, since caterpillars will live 
 iti an exhausted receiver for several days to- 
 gether ; and though they seem dead at the 
 bottom, yet when taken out, recover, and re- 
 sume their former vivacity. 
 
 If the caterpillar be cut upon longitudinally 
 along the back, its intestines will be perceived 
 running directly in a straight line from the 
 mouth to the anus. They resemble a number 
 of small bags opening into each other ; and 
 strengthened on both sides by a fleshy cord by 
 which they are united. These insects are, 
 upon many occasions, seen to cast forth the 
 internal coat of their intestines with their food, 
 in the changes which they so frequently undergo. 
 
 But the intestines take up but a small part 
 of the animal's body, if compared to the fatty 
 substance in which they are involved. This j 
 
 substance changes its colour when the insect's 
 metamorphosis begins to approach ; and from 
 white it is usually seen to become yellow. If 
 to these parts we add the caterpillar's imple- 
 ments for spinning, (for all caterpillars spin at 
 one time or another,) we shall have a rude 
 sketch of this animal's conformation : how- 
 ever, we shall reserve the description of those 
 parts till we come to the history of the silk- 
 worm, where the manner in which these in- 
 sects spin their webs, will most properly find 
 a place. 
 
 The life of a caterpillar seems one contin- 
 ued succession of changes, and it 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. 1 We 
 must not, however, confound this changing ot 
 the skin with the great metamorphosis which 
 
 1 One of the most singular circumstances respecting 
 the moult of caterpillars, is the manner in which the 
 hairs are deposited in the new skin before moulting. 
 These are not, like the feet and other organs, sheathed 
 
 Moulting of caterpillars, a a, caterpillar magnified, l> b, the 
 same when it has just cast its skin, the hairs still moist; r, the 
 same, natural size; d efg. tufts of its hairs magnified; //, leg ami 
 "oot magnified; , the caterpillar wedging through the old skin ; 
 *, hairy caterpillar of the sycamore. 
 
 in the hairs of the old skin, hut smoothly folded down 
 iu separate tufts ; and if the old skin be removed a short 
 
49* 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 it is afterwards to undergo. The throwing 
 one skin, and assuming another, seems, in com- 
 parison, 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 caterpillars only, but is com- 
 mon to all the insect kind ; and even to some 
 animals that claim a higher rank in nature. 
 We have already seen the lobster and the crab 
 outgrowing their first shells, and then bursting 
 from their confinement, in order to assume a 
 covering more roomy and convenient. It is 
 probable that the louse, the flea, and the spi- 
 der, change their covering from the same ne- 
 cessity ; and growing too large for the crust 
 in which they have been for some time enclos- 
 ed, burst it for another. This period is pro- 
 bably that of their growth ; for as soon as 
 their new skin is hardened round them, the 
 animal's growth is necessarily circumscribed, 
 while it remains within it. With respect to 
 caterpillars, many of them change their skins 
 five or six times in a season ; and this cover- 
 ing, when cast off, often seems so complete, 
 that many might mistake the empty skin for 
 the real insect. Among the hairy caterpil- 
 lars, for instance, the cast skin is covered with 
 hair ; the feet, as well gristly as membrane- 
 ous, remain fixed to it ; even the parts which 
 nothing but a microscope can discover, are vi- 
 sible in it ; in short, all the parts of the head; 
 not only the skull, but the teeth. 
 
 In proportion as the time approaches in 
 which the caterpillar is to cast its old skin, its 
 colours become more feeble, the skin seems to 
 wither and grow dry, and in some measure re- 
 sembles a leaf, when it is no longer supplied 
 with moisture from the stock. At that time, 
 the insect begins to find itself under a neces- 
 sity of changing ; and it is not effected with- 
 out violent labour, and perhaps pain. A day 
 or two before the critical hour approaches, the 
 
 time before it would be naturally cast, these tufts maybe 
 seen in a moist state, very similar to small wetted ca- 
 mel's hair pencils lying close to the inner skin, those 
 on the fore part of the body laid towards the head, and 
 from the fourth ring backwards in a contrary direction. 
 Swammerdam, Reaumur, and other naturalists, repeat- 
 edly tried the experiment of cutting off the hair from ca- 
 terpillars about to moult, without in the least affecting the 
 hairs on the new skin ; but when a foot or any other 
 member is accidently mutilated, it is also wanting in the 
 moulted caterpillar. It is a still more singular circum- 
 stance, ascertained by Swammerdam, De Geer, Lyonnet, 
 and Bonnet, that caterpillars and grubs not only cast 
 their external skins, but also that which lines their 
 breathing-tubes and intestines. " Some days," says 
 Bonnet, "before the change, the caterpillar voids, along 
 with its excrements, the membrane which invests the in- 
 terior of its stomach and intestines. I have also re- 
 marked, that during the moult, packets of the trachea! 
 vessels may be seen attached to the cast skin, and thrown 
 oil along with it." Insect Transformations. 
 
 insect ceases to eat, loses its usual activity, 
 and seems to rest immovable. It seeks some 
 place to remain in security ; and no longer ti- 
 morous, seems regardless even of the touch. 
 It is now and then seen to bend itself and ele- 
 vate its back ; again it stretches to its utmost 
 extent ; it sometimes lifts up the head, and 
 then lets it fall again ; it sometimes waves it 
 three or four times from side to side, and then 
 remains in quiet. At length, some of the 
 rings of its body, particularly the first and se- 
 cond, are seen to swell considerably, the old 
 skin distends and bursts, till by repeated 
 swellings and contractions in every ring, the 
 animal disengages itself, and creeps from its 
 inconvenient covering. 
 
 How laborious soever this operation may 
 be, it is performed in the space of a minute ; 
 and the animal, having thrown off its old skin, 
 seems to enjoy new vigour, as well as acquired 
 colouring and beauty. Sometimes it happens 
 that it takes a new appearance, and colours 
 very different from the old. Those that are 
 hairy still preserve their covering ; although 
 their ancient skin seems not to have lost a 
 single hair : every hair appears to have been 
 drawn like a sword from the scabbard. How- 
 ever, the fact is, that a new crop of hair grows 
 between the old skin and the new, and pro- 
 bably helps to throw off' the external covering. 
 
 The caterpillar having in this manner con- 
 tinued for several days feeding, and at inter- 
 vals casting its skin, begins at last to prepare 
 for its change into an aurelia. It is most pro. 
 bable that, from the beginning, all the parts 
 of the butterfly lay hid in this insect, in its 
 reptile state ; but it required time to bring 
 them to perfection ; and a large quantity of 
 food, to enable the animal to undergo all the 
 changes requisite for throwing off these skins, 
 which seemed to clog the butterfly form. 
 However, when the caterpillar has fed suffi- 
 ciently, and the parts of the future butterfly 
 have formed themselves beneath its skin, it is 
 then time for it to make its first great and 
 principal change into an aurelia, or a chrysa- 
 lis, as some have chosen to call it; during 
 which, as was observed, it seems to remain for 
 several days, or even months, without life or 
 motion. 
 
 Preparatory to this important change, the 
 caterpillar most usually quits the plant, or the 
 tree on which it fed : or at least attaches itself 
 to the stalk or the stem, more gladly than the 
 leaves. It forsakes its food, and prepares, by 
 fasting, to undergo its transmutation. In this 
 period, all the food it has taken is thoroughly 
 digested ; and it often voids even the internal 
 membrane which lined its intestines. 
 
 Some of this tribe, at this period also, are 
 seen entirely to change colour ; and the vi- 
 vacity of the tints, in all, seems faded. 
 
THE CATERPILLAR. 
 
 495 
 
 Those of them which are capable of spin- 
 ning themselves a web, set about this oper- 
 ation ; those which have already spun, await 
 the change in the best manner they are able. 
 The web or cone, with which some cover 
 themselves, hides the aurelia contained within 
 from the view ; but in others, where it is more 
 transparent, the caterpillar, when it has done 
 spinning, strikes into it the claws of the two 
 feet under the tail, and afterwards forces in 
 the tail itself, by contracting those claws, and 
 violently striking the feet one against the 
 other. If, however, they be taken from their 
 web at this time, they appear in a state of 
 great languor ; and, incapable of walking, re- 
 main on that spot where they are placed. In 
 this condition they remain one or two days, 
 preparing to change into an aurelia ; some- 
 what in the manner they made preparations 
 for changing their skin. They then appear 
 with their bodies bent into a bow, which they 
 now and then are seen to straighten : they 
 make no use of their legs ; but if they attempt 
 to change place, do it by the contortions of 
 their body. In proportion as their change 
 into an aurelia approaches, their body becomes 
 more and more bent; while their extensions 
 and convulsive contractions become more fre- 
 quent. The hinder end of the body is the 
 part which the animal first disengages from 
 its caterpillar skin ; that part of the skin re- 
 mains empty, while the body is drawn up 
 contractedly towards the head. In the same 
 manner they disengage themselves from the 
 two succeeding rings; so that the animal 
 is then lodged entirely in the fore part of its 
 caterpillar covering : that half which is aban- 
 doned, remains flaccid and empty ; while the 
 fore part on the contrary, is swollen and dis- 
 tended. The animal, having thus quitted the 
 hinder part of its skin, to drive itself up into 
 the forepart, still continues to heave and work 
 as before ; so that the skull is soon seen to 
 burst into three pieces, and a longitudinal 
 opening is made in the three first rings of the 
 body, through which the insect thrusts forth 
 its naked body with strong efforts. Thus at 
 last it entirely gets free from its caterpillar 
 skin, and for ever forsakes its most odious rep- 
 tile form. 
 
 The caterpillar, thus stripped of its skin 
 for the last time, is now become an aurelia : 
 in which the parts of the future butterfly are 
 all visible ; but in so soft a state, that the 
 smallest touch can discompose them. The 
 animal is now become helpless and motion- 
 less ; but only waits for the assistance of the 
 air to dry up the moisture on its surface, and 
 supply it with a crust capable of resisting ex- 
 ternal injuries. Immediately after being 
 stripped of its caterpillar skin, it is of a green 
 colour, especially in those parts which are dis- 
 
 tended by an extraordinary afflux of animal 
 moisture ; but in ten or twelve hours after 
 being thus exposed, its parts harden, the air 
 forms its external covering in a firm crust, and 
 in about four and twenty hours the aurelia 
 may be handled, without endangering the little 
 animal that is thus left in so defenceless a si- 
 tuation. Such is the history of the little pod 
 or cone that is found so common by every path 
 way, sticking to nettles, and sometimes shin- 
 ing like polished gold. From the beautiful 
 and resplendent colour with which it is thus 
 sometimes adorned, some authors have called 
 it a Chrysalis, implying a creature made of 
 gold. 1 
 
 1 Transformations of the Butterfly. The metamor- 
 phoses which a butterfly undergoes will be found depicted 
 in the following Cuts. The eggs of a butterfly and moth 
 are first given, as they appear under magnifying glasses. 
 
 The eggs of insects vary much more in form than those 
 of birds, and the reason of this appears to be that the in 
 
 sects themselves differ from each other in their general 
 form more than birds. In the annexed cut, fig. 1. re- 
 presents the larva .just issued from the egg. Fig 2. the 
 
496 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 Such are the efforts by which these little ! 
 animals prepare for a state of perfection ; but 
 their care is still greater to provide themselves 
 a secure retreat, during this season of their 
 imbecility. It would seem like erecting them- 
 selves a monument, where they were to rest 
 secure, until Nature had called them into a 
 new and more improved existence. For this 
 purpose, some spin themselves a cone or web, 
 in which they lie secure till they have arrived 
 at maturity : others, that cannot spin so copi- 
 ous a covering, suspend themselves by the tail, 
 in some retreat where they are not likely to 
 meet disturbances. Some mix sand with their 
 
 same in progress to maturity. 3. The same at its full 
 growth. 4. Its appearance when about to change into 
 the pupa state. 5. In the act of changing on the follow, 
 ing day. 6. The pupa come forth, the change having 
 been performed in about four minutes. The exuvia of 
 the larva being raised up to the point of suspension, was 
 thrown off, and is represented afterwards at fig. 7. After 
 remaining in the pupa state about twelve days, the per- 
 fect insect begins to appear as at fig. 8. 9 represents the 
 butterfly in the act of escape, and 11 a the pupa case. 
 Tiie following (11 4) is the insect totally extricated, with 
 
 11 b 
 
 the wings folded, collapsed, and humid. 15 is the 
 head of the larva magnified. We have now (12) the in- 
 sect gradually expanding the wings, during which oper- 
 
 ation it voids a sanguineous-looking excrement. And 
 last (fig. 13) the perfect insect (apapileo Urticts) is seen 
 
 with the wings expanded for flight. The whole of the pro- 
 cess from fig. 8. is performed in about seven minutes. 
 
 gummy and moist webs, and thus make them- 
 selves a secure incrustation ; while others, be 
 fore 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 proportioned 
 to such duration. Those that are to lie in 
 that state 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 unfolds, the insect wraps itself 
 within, as in a mantle, till the genial warmth 
 of the sun enables it to struggle for new life, 
 and burst from its confinement. 1 Others, 
 
 1 Leaf -Rolling Caterpillars. The caterpillars which 
 are familiarly termed leaf-rollers, are perfect hermits. 
 Each lives in a cell, which it begins to construct almost 
 immediately after it is hatched ; and the little structure 
 is at once a house which protects the caterpillar from its 
 enemies, and a store of food for its subsistence, while it 
 remains shut up in its prison. But the insect only de- 
 vours the inner folds. The art which these caterpillars 
 exercise, although called into action but once, perhaps, 
 in their lives, is perfect. They accomplish their pur- 
 pose with a mechanical skill, which is remarkable for its 
 simplicity and unerring success. The art of rolling 
 leaves into a secure and immovable cell may not ap- 
 pear very difficult ; nor would it be so if the caterpillars 
 had fingers, or any parts which were equivalent to those 
 delicate and admirable natural instruments with which 
 man accomplishes his most elaborate works. And yet 
 the human fingers could not roll a rocket-case of paper 
 more regularly than the caterpillar rolls his house of 
 leaves. A leaf is not a very easy substance to roll. In 
 some trees it is very brittle. It has also a natural elasti- 
 city, a disposition to spring back if it be bent, which 
 is caused by the continuity of its threads, or nervures. 
 This elasticity is speedily overcome by the ingenuity 
 with which the caterpillar works ; and the leaf is thus 
 retained in its artificial position for many weeks, under 
 every variety of temperature. We will examine, in de- 
 tail, how these little leaf-rollers accomplish their task. 
 
 One of the most common as well as the most simple 
 fabrics constructed by caterpillars, may be discovered du- 
 ring summer on almost every kind of bush and tree. We 
 shall take as examples those which are found on the li- 
 lac, and on the oak. 
 
 A small but very pretty chocolate -coloured moth, abun- 
 dant in every garden, but not readily seen from its fre- 
 quently alighting on the ground which is so nearly of its 
 own colour, deposits its eggs on the leaves of the lilac, 
 and of some other trees, appropriating a leaf to each egg. 
 As soon as the caterpillar is hatched, it begins to secure 
 itself from birds and predatory insects by rolling up the 
 lilac leaf into the form of a gallery, where it may feed in 
 safety. We have repeatedly seen one of them when just 
 escaped from the egg, and only a few lines long, fix se- 
 veral silk threads from one edge of a leaf, to the other, 
 or from the edge to the mid-rib. Then going to the 
 middle of the space, he shortened the threads by bending 
 them with his feet, and consequently pulled the edges of 
 the leaves into a circular form ; and he retained them in 
 that position by glueing down each thread as he short- 
 ened it. In their younger state, these caterpillars sel- 
 dom roll more than a small portion of the leaf; but 
 when farther advanced, they unite the two edges toge- 
 
THE CATERPILLAR. 
 
 497 
 
 whose time of transformation 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 caterpillars, 
 on the other hand, as are seen to lie several 
 months in their aurelia state, act with much 
 greater circumspection. Most of them mix 
 their web with sand, and thus make them- 
 selves a strong covering : others build in wood, 
 which serves them in the nature of a coffin. 
 Such as have made 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 glutinous silk, make a kind of paste, 
 in which they wrap themselves up. Many 
 are the forms which these animals assume in 
 this helpless state ; and it often happens, that 
 the most deformed butterflies issue from the 
 most beautiful aurelias. 
 
 In general, however, the aurelia takes the 
 rude outline of the parts of the animal which 
 is contained within it; but as to the various 
 
 ther in their whole extent, with the exception of a small 
 opening at one end, by which an exit may be made in 
 case of need. 
 
 I 
 
 
 Nest of a Lilac-leaf Roller. 
 
 Another species of caterpillar closely allied to this, 
 rolls up the lilac-leaves in a different form, beginning at 
 the end of a leaf, and fixing and pulling its threads till it 
 gets it nearly into the shape of a scroll of parchment. To 
 retain this form more securely, it is not contented, like 
 the former insect, with threads fixed on the inside of the 
 leaf; but has also recourse to a few cables which it weaves 
 on the outside. 
 
 Another species of moth allied to the two preceding, is 
 of a pretty green colour, and lays its eggs upon the 
 leaves of the oak. This caterpillar folds them up in a 
 similar manner, but with this difference, that it works 
 on the under surface of the leaf, pulling the edge down- 
 wards and backwards, instead of forwards and upwards. 
 This species is very abundant, and may readily be found 
 
 soon as the leaves expand. In June, when the per- 
 insect has appeared, by beating a branch of an oak, 
 whole shower of these pretty green moths may be shook 
 into the air. 
 
 Among the leaf-rolling caterpillars, there is a small 
 dark-brown one, with a black head and six feet, very 
 common in gardens on the currant-bush or the leaves of 
 the rose-tree. (Lozotcenia Rosana, Stephens.) It is 
 exceedingly destructive to the flower-buds. The eggs 
 are deposited in the summer, and probably also in the 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 colours which it is seen to assume, they are 
 rather the effect of accident : for the same spe- 
 cies of insect does not at all times assume the 
 same hue, when it becomes an aurelia. In 
 some the beautiful gold colour is at one time 
 found ; in others, it is wanting. This bril- 
 liant hue, which does not fall short of the best 
 gilding, is formed in the same manner in 
 which we see leather obtain a gold colour, 
 though none of that metal ever enters into the 
 tincture. It is only formed by a beautiful 
 brown varnish, laid upon a white ground ; 
 and the white thus gleaming through the trans- 
 parency of the brown, gives a charming golden 
 yellow. These two colours are found, one 
 over the other, in the aurelia of the little ani- 
 mal we are describing ; and the whole appears 
 gilded without any real gilding. 
 
 The aurelia thus formed, and left to time 
 to expand into a butterfly, in some measure 
 resembles an animal in an egg, that is to wait 
 lor external warmth to hatch it into life and 
 vigour. As the quantity of moisture, that is 
 
 autumn or in spring, in little oval or circular patches of 
 a green colour. The grub makes its appearance with the 
 first opening of the leaves, of whose structure in the half- 
 expanded state it takes advantage to construct its sum- 
 mer tent. It is not, like some of the other leaf-rollers, 
 contented with a single leaf, but weaves together as 
 many as there are in the bud where it may chance to 
 have been hatched, binding their discs so firmly with 
 silk, that all the force of the ascending sap, and the in- 
 creasing growth of the leaves, cannot break through ; a 
 farther expansion is of course prevented. The little in- 
 habitant in the mean while banquets securely on the par. 
 titions of its tent, eating door-ways from one apartment 
 into another, through which it can escape in case of dan- 
 ger or disturbance. 
 
 The leaflets of the rose, it may be remarked, expand in 
 nearly the same manner as a fan, and the operations of 
 this ingenious little insect retain them in the form of a 
 fan nearly shut. Sometimes, however, it is not con- 
 tented with one bundle of leaflets, but by means of its 
 silken cords unites all which spring from the same bud 
 into a rain proof canopy, under the protection of which 
 it can feast on the flower-bud, and prevent it from ever 
 blowing. 
 
 In the instance of the currant leaves, the proceedings 
 of the grub are the same, but it cannot unite the plaits 
 so smoothly as in the case of the rose leaflets, and it re- 
 quires more labour also, as the nervures being stiff, de- 
 mand a greater effort to bend them. When all the ex- 
 ertions of the insect prove unavailing in its endeavours to 
 draw the edges of a leaf together, it bends them inwards 
 as far as it can, and weaves a close web of silk over the 
 open space between. This is well exemplified in one of 
 the commonest of our leaf-rolling caterpillars, which may 
 be found as early as February on the leaves of the nettle 
 and the white archangel (Lamium album.} It is of a 
 light dirty-green colour, spotted with black, and covered 
 with a few hairs. In its young state it confines itself to 
 the bosom of a small leaf, near the insertion of the leaf- 
 stalk, partly bending the edges inwards, and covering in 
 the interval with a silken curtain. As this sort of co- 
 vering is not sufficient for concealment when the animal 
 advances in growth, it abandons the base of the leaf for 
 the middle, where it doubles up one side in a very se- 
 cure and ingenious manner.. Rennie's Insect Architec- 
 ture. 
 
 3 B 
 
498 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 inclosed within the covering of the aurelia, 
 continues to keep its body in the most tender 
 state, so it is requisite that this humidity 
 should be dried away, before the little butter- 
 fly can burst its prison. Many have been the 
 experiments to prove that nature may in this 
 respect be assisted by art ; and that the life of 
 the insect may be retarded or quickened, with- 
 out doing it the smallest injury. For this 
 purpose, it is only requisite to continue the 
 insect in its aurelia state, by preventing the 
 evaporation of its humidity ; which will conse- 
 quently add some days, nay weeks, to its life : 
 on the other hand, by evaporating its moisture 
 in a warm situation, the animal assumes its 
 winged state before its usual time, and goes 
 through the offices assigned its existence. To 
 prove, this, Mr Reaumur enclosed the aurelia 
 in a glass tube ; and found the evaporated 
 water, which exhaled from the body of the 
 insect, collected in drops at the bottom of the 
 tube : he covered the aurelia with varnish ; 
 and this making the evaporation more difficult 
 and slow, the butterfly was two months longer 
 than its natural term in coming out of its 
 case: he found, on the other hand, that by 
 laying the animal in a warm room, he hasten- 
 ed the disclosure of the butterfly ; and by 
 keeping it in an ice-house, in the same manner 
 he delayed it. Warmth acted, in this case, 
 in a double capacity: invigorating the animal, 
 and evaporating the moisture. 
 
 The aurelia, though it bears a different ex- 
 ternal appearance, nevertheless contains with- 
 in it all the parts of the butterfly in perfect 
 formation ; and lying each in a very orderly 
 manner, though in the smallest compass. 
 These, however, are so fast and tender, that 
 it is impossible to visit without discomposing 
 them. When either by warmth, or increas- 
 ing vigour, the parts have acquired the neces- 
 sary force and solidity, the butterfly then seeks 
 to disembarrass itself of those bands which 
 kept it so long in confinement. Some insects 
 continue under the form of an aurelia not 
 above ten days ; some twenty ; some several 
 months ; and even for a year together. 
 
 The butterfly, however, does not continue 
 so long under the form of an aurelia, as one 
 would be apt to imagine. In general those 
 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 
 smallest sustenance during the whole time : 
 and though in the caterpillar state no animals 
 were so voracious, when thus transformed they 
 appear a miracle of abstinence. In all, sooner 
 or later, the butterfly bursts from its prison ; 
 not only 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 it has enclosed itself. 
 
 The efforts which the butterfly makes to 
 get free from its aurelia state, are by no means 
 so violent as those which the insect had in 
 changing from the caterpillar into the aurelia. 
 The quantity of moisture surrounding the but- 
 terfly is by no means so great as that attending 
 its former change ; and the shell of the aurelia 
 is so dry, that it may be cracked between the 
 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 
 observe the manner in which it thus gets rid 
 of the aurelia covering, we must cut open the 
 cone, and then we shall have an opportunity 
 of discovering the insect's efforts to emancipate 
 itself from its natural shell. When this oper- 
 ation begins, there seems to be a violent agi- 
 tation in the humours contained within the 
 little animal's body. Its fluids seem driven 
 by a hasty fermentation, through all the ves- 
 sels ; while it labours violently with its legs, 
 and makes several other violent struggles to 
 get free. As all these motions concur with 
 the growth of the insect's wings and body, it 
 is impossible that the brittle skin which co- 
 vers it should longer resist : it at length gives 
 way by bursting into four distinct and regular 
 pieces. The skin of the head and legs first 
 separates ; then the skin at the back flies open, 
 and dividing into two regular portions, disen 
 gages the back and wings : then there like- 
 wise happens another rupture, in that portion 
 which covered the rings of the back of the 
 aurelia. After this, the butterfly, as if fa- 
 tigued with its struggles, remains very quiet 
 for some time, with its wings pointed down- 
 wards, and its legs fixed in the skin which it 
 had just thrown off. At first sight the animal, 
 just set free, and permitted the future use of 
 its wings, seems to want them entirely ; they 
 take up such little room, that one would won- 
 der where they were hidden. But soon after 
 they expand so rapidly, that the eye can scarce 
 attend their unfolding. From reaching scarce 
 half the length of the body, they acquire, in 
 a most wonderful manner, their full extent 
 and bigness, so as to be each five times larger 
 than they were before. Nor is it the wings 
 alone that are thus increased ; all their spots 
 and paintings before so minute as to be scarce 
 discernible, are proportionably extended; so 
 that what a few minutes before seemed only 
 a number of confused unmeaning points, now 
 become distinct and most beautiful ornaments. 
 Nor are the wings, when they are thus expanded, 
 unfolded in the manner in which earwigs and 
 grasshoppers display theirs, who unfurl them 
 
THE BUTTERFLY. 
 
 499 
 
 like a lady's fan : on the contrary, those of 
 butterflies actually grow to their natural size 
 in this very short space. The wing, at the 
 instant it is freed from its late confinement, is 
 considerably thicker than afterwards ; so that 
 it spreads in all its dimensions, growing thin- 
 ner as it becomes broader. If one of the wings 
 be plucked from the animal just set free, it may 
 be spread by the fingers, and it will soon be- 
 come as broad as the other which has been 
 left behind. As the wings extend themselves 
 so suddenly, they have not yet had time to 
 dry; and accordingly appear like pieces of 
 wet paper, soft and full of wrinkles. In 
 about half an hour they are perfectly dry, 
 their wrinkles entirely 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-coloured liquid, which are the last re- 
 mains of its superfluous moisture. 1 Those 
 aurelias which are enclosed within a cone, find 
 that exit more difficult, as they have still an- 
 other prison to break through : this, however, 
 they perform in a short time ; for the butter, 
 fly, freed from its aurelia 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 sur- 
 face away ; till it is at last seen bursting its 
 way into open light ; and, in less than a quar- 
 ter of an hour, the animal acquires its full per- 
 fection. 
 
 Thus, to use the words of Swammerdam, we 
 see a little insignificant creature distinguished, 
 in its last birth, with qualifications and orna- 
 ments, which man, during his stay upon earth, 
 can never even hope to acquire. The butter- 
 fly , to enjoy life, needs no other food but the dews 
 of heaven, and the honeyed juices which are 
 distilled from every flower. The pageantry 
 of princes cannot equal the ornaments with 
 which it. is invested ; nor the rich colouring 
 that embellishes its wings. The skies are 
 the butterfly's proper habitation, and the air 
 is its element : whilst man comes into the 
 world naked, and often roves about without 
 habitation or shelter ; exposed on one hand to 
 the heat of the sun, and on the other to the 
 damps and exhalations of the earth ; both 
 alike enemies of his happiness and existence. 
 
 1 These red drops, which several of the butterfly tribe 
 discharge immediately upon their transformation, have 
 been recorded by ancient writers as showers of blood, 
 portending some convulsion of nature, or national cala- 
 mity. In the year 1608, the inhabitants of the town of 
 Aix were in the utmost consternation, in consequence of 
 a discharge of this kind, which fell in the suburbs, and 
 for some miles round. But the philosopher Pieresc soon 
 quieted their alarms, by showing them that the whole of 
 this wonder originated in a flight of harmless butterflies, 
 that had just taken wing from their chrysalis state. 
 
 A strong proof that, while this little animal is 
 raised to its greatest height, we are as yet in 
 this world only candidates for perfection! 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 IT has been already shown, that all butter- 
 flies are bred from caterpillars ; and we have 
 
 2 Butterflies, Hawk- moths, and Moths belong to the 
 order Lepidoptera, so called from the scales on their 
 wings. Their generic names are Papilio, Sphinx, and 
 Phalcena : recent writers have divided them according 
 to the seasons of their flight, into Diurnal, Crepuscular, 
 and Nocturnal. "The term Butterfly," says Mr Duncan, 
 in the Naturalist's Library, " is a literal translation of 
 the Saxon word Buttor-fleoze, and is supposed to be ap- 
 plied because the insects first become prevalent in the 
 beginning of the season for butter. They are distinguished 
 from the other scaly-winged kinds, by possessing antenna; 
 with a knob or club at the summit, * and holding their 
 wings, when in a state of repose, erect or very slightly 
 inclined. They are the most generally and familiarly 
 known of our insect tribes, and, by their conspicuous ap- 
 pearance, seldom fail to attract the notice even of those 
 whose perceptions are least alive to the beauty of natural 
 objects. The graceful curves of their outline their gay 
 and fitful flight the splendour of their colouring and 
 decorations, which present every variety of tint found in 
 the different kingdoms of nature, distributed in markings 
 and delineations of the most beautiful and diversified 
 character, seem to confer on them a kind of superiority 
 over other insects. Some naturalists have accordingly 
 considered them as entitled to stand at the head of the 
 insect class: and if, as Mr Kirby remarks, beauty, and 
 grace, and gaiety, and splendour of colours were the 
 great requisite, and the law enjoined Detur pulchriori 
 they are doubtless deserving oi this preference. Their 
 wings are augmented to a size that seems quite dispro- 
 portioned to that of the body, as if nature had wished to 
 enlarge the surface on which she was to employ her 
 pencil, that it might admit of more varied and profuse 
 decoration. Even the under face of the wings, contrary 
 to what is observed in other flying animals, is usually as 
 much adorned as the surface, and often in an entirely 
 different manner. Each wing, therefore, presents what 
 may be called two different pictures. No kind of orna- 
 ment found among other insects is omitted in this fa- 
 voured tribe : and so many new modes of embellish- 
 ment are employed, that nature seems to have made 
 them the objects of her peculiar care, and designed 
 them, as has been remarked by the learned and pious 
 Ray, for the adornment of the universe, and to form 
 delightful objects for the contemplation of man, bearing 
 conspicuous marks of the hand of a divine Artist. 
 
 "The habits of these insects are well fitted to confirm 
 the preference we assign to their beauty. Unlike many 
 others of this class, which delight to riot among substances 
 most offensive to our senses, or which destroy the pro- 
 perty and lives of their less powerful companions, butter- 
 flies derive their sustenance from the nectareous juices 
 and secretions of fruits and flowers. Instead of grovel- 
 ling on the ' dungy earth,' they are generally seen either 
 sporting in the air, or resting on the disk of some ex- 
 
 * Certain foreign genera, however, such as Morpho and 
 Urania, form an exception to this rule, as they have anteunrp 
 either of equal thickness throughout, or tapering slightly to the 
 summit. 
 
500 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 exhibited the various circumstances of that 
 surprising change. It has been remarked, 
 that butterflies may be easily distinguished 
 from flies of every other kind, by their wings : 
 
 panded flower, and all their habits are such as beseem 
 ' pure creatures of the element.' They are seldom 
 noticed but in fine weather, and never in profusion but 
 when the season is in its highest bloom, and their ap- 
 pearance thus becomes associated in our minds with the 
 charms of external nature, and is connected with those 
 images of life and beauty which give rise to many of 
 the genial influences of summer. Several species also 
 contrive to outlive the winter, although their frail forms 
 seem but ill adapted to resist the rigours of that incle- 
 ment season, and issuing from their retreats in the first 
 warm days of spring, are among the earliest and not least 
 interesting heralds of the ' purple year*.' These cir- 
 cumstances, together with the very striking manner in 
 which they exhibit the phenomena of transformation, 
 have long rendered them general favourites, and caused 
 their history to be investigated with greater attention 
 than has been bestowed on insects of a less conspicuous 
 and attractive kind. 
 
 "The diurnal Lepidoptera (or butterflies) are very 
 numerous in species, although but a limited number in- 
 habit this country. Between 2000 and 3000 have been 
 described, and it is probable that no inconsiderable num- 
 ber yet remain undiscovered. About seventy-five diffe- 
 rent species are recorded as indigenous to Britain. A 
 great proportion of the largest and most highly orna- 
 mented kinds are natives of the new world, especially of 
 Brazil ; but they abound in all tropical countries, and 
 some of these exotics present the most sumptuous ex- 
 amples of insect beauty. ' I should undertake an end- 
 less task,' say Messrs Kirby and Spence, or one or other 
 of these authors did I attempt to specify all the modes 
 of marking, clouding, and spotting, that variegate a wing, 
 and all the shades of colour that paint it, among the 
 lepidopterous tribes ; I shall therefore confine myself to 
 a few of the principal, especially those that distinguish 
 particular tribes and families. Of whole coloured wings, 
 I know none that dazzle the eye of the beholder so much 
 as the upper surface of those of Morpho Menelaus and 
 Tetemachus. Linne justly observes, that there is scarcely 
 any thing in nature that, for brightness and splendour, 
 can be paralleled with this colour: it is a kind of rich 
 ultramarine, that vies with the deepest and purest azure 
 of the sky ; and, what must cause a striking contrast in 
 flight, the prone surface of the wings is as dull and dark 
 as the supine is brilliant, so that one can conceive this 
 animal to appear like a planet in full radiance, and under 
 eclipse, as its wings open and shut in the blaze of a tro- 
 pical sun. Another butterfly (Papilio Ulysses) by its 
 radiating cerulean disk, surrounded on every side by a 
 margin intensely black, gives the idea of light first emer- 
 ging from primeval obscurity : it was probably this idea 
 of light shining in darkness, that induced Liune to give 
 it the name of the wisest of the Greeks in a dark and 
 barbarous age. I know no insect upon which the sight 
 rests with such untired pleasure as upon the lovely but- 
 terfly that bears the name of the unhappy Trojan king 
 (P. Priamus) ; the contrast of the rich green and black 
 of the velvet of its wings with each other, and with the 
 orange of its abdomen, is beyond expression regal and 
 magnificent.' 
 
 " Although our British butterflies can in no way com- 
 pete with the magnificent examples just referred to, we 
 
 * In the sunny clime of Italy, where it may be said that na- 
 never dies, and probably also in other southern countries 
 Europe, most of the species which with us retire on the ap- 
 proach of winter into the crevices of walls, and other sheltered 
 i nth n Vi re 8 r" U i P " the win S throughout even the colder 
 months-at least we know that it is so with Van. cardui, Ata- 
 lanta, and a few others. 
 
 for, in others, they are either transparent, like 
 gauze, as we see in the common flesh-fly ; or 
 they are hard^and crusted, as we see in the 
 wings of the beetle. But in the butterfly, the 
 
 yet possess many of great beauty, whether as regards the 
 brilliancy of their colour, or the harmonious manner in 
 which these colours are distributed. The bluish -purple 
 reflection that plays on the wings of the Emperor of the 
 woods, has a richness and brilliancy of tint, which is not 
 often surpassed. The prevailing hue among the Lyc&nce, 
 is fulgid copper colour, of a high degree of resplendency ; 
 and the Polyommati, which are so abundant in our pas- 
 tures, are remarkable for exhibiting, in great variety of 
 shade, the most delicate and beautiful tints of blue. What 
 can exceed the fine pencilling and harmonious tinting on 
 the under surface of the wings of Cynthia Cardui, Li- 
 menitis Camilla, and Vanessa Atalanta ; or the richness 
 of the eye-like spots that decorate the wings of the pea- 
 cock butterfly, and numerous other species ? The warm 
 and beautiful shades of yellow in Colias and Gonepteryx, 
 render them objects on which the eye rests with con- 
 tinual pleasure ; and the silvery spots and streaks on the 
 under side of the Fritillaries, form a fine relief, by their 
 brilliant metallic lustre, to the uniform and compara- 
 tively duller tints of black and brown which predominate 
 among that tribe. 
 
 ** The mode of painting employed to produce these rich 
 tints, may not improperly be called a kind of natural 
 mosaic, for the colours invariably reside in the scales, 
 which form a dense covering over the whole surface. 
 These scales are usually of an oval or elongated form, 
 and truncated at the tip, where they are occasionally 
 divided into teeth ; but sometimes they are conical, 
 linear, or triangular. They are fixed in the wing by 
 means of a narrow pedicle, and are most commonly dis- 
 posed in transverse rows, placed close together, and over- 
 lapping each other like the tiles of a rcfof. In some in- 
 stances, they are placed without any regular order, and 
 in certain cases there appear to be two layers of scales on 
 both sides of the wings. When they are rubbed on", the 
 wing is found to consist of an elastic membrane, thin and 
 transparent, and marked with slightly indented lines, 
 forming a kind of groove for the insertion of the scales. 
 The latter are so minute that they appear to the naked 
 eye like powder or dust, and as they are very closely 
 placed, their numbers on a single insect are astonishingly 
 great. Leeuwenhock counted upwards of 400,000 on 
 the wings of the silk moth, an insect not above one-fourth 
 of the size of some of our native butterflies. But how 
 much inferior must this number be to that necessary to 
 form a covering to some foreign butterflies, the wings of 
 which expand upwards of half a foot: or certain species 
 of moths, some of which (such as the atlas moth of the 
 east, or the great owl moth of Brazil,) sometimes mea- 
 sure nearly a foot across the wings ! A modern mosaic 
 picture may contain 870 tesserulse, or separate pieces, in 
 one square inch of surface: but the same extent of a 
 butterfly's wing sometimes consists of no fewer than 
 100,736 ! 
 
 " In common with several other extensive races of 
 insects, butterflies derive their nourishment eiitirely from 
 liquid substances, and the structure of the mouth is con- 
 sequently very different from that of the masticating 
 kinds. They are hence classed among the haustellated 
 or suctorial tribes of insects. The most conspicuous and 
 elaborately constructed organ, is the long flexible tube 
 projecting from the mouth, which forms a canal through 
 which the alimentry juices are absorbed. This instru- 
 ment, which is sometimes of great length, is spirally con- 
 voluted when unemployed, but it can be unrolled with 
 great rapidity, and is admirably fitted to explore the 
 tubular corollas and deep-seated nectarias of flowers, for 
 the purpose of extracting their sweet secretions. It is of 
 
THE BUTTERFLY. 
 
 501 
 
 wings are soft, opaque, and painted over with 
 a beautiful dust, that comes off with hand ling. 
 
 The number of these beautiful animals is 
 very great ; and though Linnaeus has reckoned 
 up above seven hundred and sixty different 
 kinds, the catalogue is still very incomplete. 
 Every collector of butterflies can show un- 
 described species : and such as are fond of 
 minute discovery can here produce animals 
 that have been examined only by himself. In 
 general, however, those of the warm climates 
 are larger and more beautiful than such as are 
 bred at home ; and we can easily admit the 
 beauty of the butterfly, since we are thus freed 
 from the damage of the caterpillar. It has 
 been the amusement of some to collect these 
 animals from different parts of the world ; or 
 to breed them from caterpillars at home. 
 These they arrange in systematic order, or 
 dispose so as to make striking and agreeable 
 pictures ; and all must grant, that this specious 
 idleness is far preferable to that unhappy state 
 which is produced by a total want of employ- 
 ment. 
 
 The wings of butterflies, as was observed, 
 fully distinguish them from flies of every other 
 kind. They are four in number ; and though 
 two of them be cut off, the animal can fly with 
 the two others remaining. They are, in their 
 own substance, transparent; but owe their 
 opacity to the beautiful dust with which they 
 are covered ; and which has been likened, by 
 some naturalists, to the feathers of birds; by 
 others, to the scales of fishes : as their imagi- 
 
 a cartilaginous substance, and owes its great flexibility 
 to its being composed of numerous rings or transverse 
 fibres, bearing some resemblance to the annulose struc- 
 ture of earth-worms and some other animals. It is 
 formed of two distinct pieces, which admit of being 
 separated throughout their whole length. Each of these 
 pieces is traversed longitudinally by a cylindrical tube, 
 and being grooved on their inner side, they form when 
 united another canal in the centre, of a somewhat square 
 form, and wider than either of the two lateral ones. The 
 junction of the two parts is so close that the enclosed tube 
 is perfectly air-tight : and this union is effected by means 
 of an infinite number of filets, resembling the lamina of 
 a feather, which interlace and adhere to each other. Of 
 these three tubes, the central one alone serves for the 
 influx of the alimentary fluids, the two lateral ones being 
 probably employed in transmitting air in aid of respira- 
 tion, which, however, is mainly carried on by means of 
 stigmata or literal pores. The outer extremity of the 
 proboscis is frequently beset with many membraneous 
 papillae, resembling leaflets, which have been regarded 
 by some authors as absorbents. From having observed 
 them chiefly in long and slender trunks, Reaumur was led 
 to conceive, that their only use is to render that organ more 
 steady, byafibrding numerous points of support, and adher- 
 ing in some degree to the substances into which it is in- 
 serted ; an explanation rendered highly .probable by the 
 fact, that the long and slender ovipositors of ichneumons, 
 and many other insects, are generally provided with some 
 pointed projections near the tip, evidently intended for this 
 purpose." Naturalist's Library. British Butterflies. 
 By James Duncan, Edin. 1835. 
 
 nations were disposed to catch the resemblance. 
 In fact, if we regard the wing of a butterfly 
 with a good microscope, we shall perceive it 
 studded over with a variety of little grains of 
 different dimensions and forms, generally sup- 
 ported upon a footstalk, regularly laid upon the 
 whole surface. Nothing can exceed the beauti- 
 ful and regular arrangement of these little 
 substances : which thus serve to paint the but- 
 terfly's wing like the tiles of a house. Those 
 of one rank are a little covered by those that 
 follow : they are of many figures ; on the part 
 of the wing may be seen a succession of oval 
 studs ; on another part, a cluster of studs, each 
 in the form of a heart : in one place they re- 
 semble a hand open ; and in another they are 
 long or triangular ; while all are interspersed 
 with taller studs, that grow between the rest, 
 like mushrooms upon a stalk. The wing it- 
 self is composed of several thick nerves, which 
 render the construction very strong, though 
 light ; and though it be covered over with 
 thousands of these scales or studs, yet its 
 weight is very little increased by the number. 
 The animal is with ease enabled to support 
 itself a long while in air, although its flight 
 be not very graceful. When it designs to fly 
 to a considerable distance, it ascends and des- 
 cends alternately; going sometimes to the right 
 and sometimes to the left, without any appar- 
 ent reason. Upon closer examination , however, 
 it will be found that it flies thus irregularly 
 in pursuit of its mate ; and as dogs bait and 
 quarter the ground in pursuit of their game, 
 so these insects traverse the air in quest of 
 their mates, whom they discover at more than 
 a mile's distance. 
 
 If we prosecute our description of the 
 butterfly, the animal may be divided into 
 three parts; the head, the corselet, and the 
 body. 
 
 The body is the hinder part of the butterfly, 
 and is composed of rings, which are generally 
 concealed under long hair, with which that 
 part of the animal is clothed. The corselet is 
 more solid than the rest of the body, because 
 the forewings and the legs are fixed therein. 
 The legs are six in number, although four 
 only are made use of by the animal; the two 
 forelegs being often so much concealed in the 
 long hair of the body, that it is sometimes 
 difficult to discover them. If we examine 
 these parts internally, we shall find the same 
 set of vessels in the butterfly that we observed 
 in the caterpillar ; but with this great difference, 
 that as the blood or humours in the caterpillar 
 circulated from the tail to the head, they are 
 found in the butterfly to take a direct contrary 
 course, and to circulate from the head to the 
 tail ; so that the caterpillar may be considered 
 as the embryo animal, in which, as we have 
 formerly seen, the circulation is carried on 
 
502 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 differently from what it is in animals when ex- 
 cluded. 
 
 But leaving the other parts of the butterfly, 
 let us turn our attention particularly to the 
 head. The eyes of butterflies have not all 
 the same form ; for in some they are large, in 
 others small ; in some they are the larger por- 
 tion of a sphere, in others they are but a small 
 part of it, and just appearing from the head. 
 In all of them, however, the outward coat has 
 a lustre, in which may be discovered the vari- 
 ous 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 sides or facets, in the manner 
 of a brilliant cut diamond. In this particular 
 the eye of the butterfly, and of most other in- 
 sects, entirely correspond; and Leuwenhoek 
 pretends there are about six thousand facets 
 on the cornea of the flea. These animals, 
 therefore, see not only with great clearness, 
 but view every object multiplied in a surpris- 
 ing manner. Puget adapted the cornea of a 
 fly in such a position as to see objects through 
 it by the means of a microscope ; and nothing 
 could exceed the strangeness of its representation. 
 A soldier, who was seen through it, appeared 
 like an army of pigmies ; for while it multi- 
 plied, it also diminished the object; the arch 
 of a bridge exhibited a spectacle more mag- 
 nificent than human skill could perform ; the 
 flame of a candle seemed a beautiful illumin- 
 ation. It still, however, remains a doubt, 
 whether the insect sees objects singly, as with 
 one eye ; or whether every facet is itself a 
 complete eye, exhibiting its own object distinct 
 from all the rest. 
 
 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 animals, 
 in being movable at their base ; and in hav- 
 ing a great number 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 the external 
 edge of each eye. What the use of these in- 
 struments may be, which are thus formed with 
 so much art, and by a WORKMAN who does no- 
 thing without reason, is as yet unknown to 
 man. They may serve to guard the eye ; they 
 may be of use to clean it ; or they may be the 
 organ of some sense which we are ignorant of: 
 but this is only explaining one difficulty by an- 
 other. We are not so ignorant of the uses of the 
 trunk, which few insects of the butterfly kind 
 are without. This instrument is placed ex- 
 actly between the eyes ; and when the animal 
 is not employed in seeking its nourishment, it 
 is rolled up like a curl. A butterfly, when it 
 is feeding, flies round some flower and settles 
 upon it. The trunk is then uncurled, and 
 
 thrust out either wholly or in part ; and is em. 
 ployed in searching the flower to its very bot- 
 tom, let it be ever so deep. This search being 
 repeated seven or 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 these 
 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 ex- 
 pand the most beautiful colouring at those 
 hours when there is no spectator. This tribe 
 of insects has, therefore, been divided into 
 Diurnal and Nocturnal Flies ; or, more pro- 
 perly speaking, into Butterflies and Moths : 
 the one flying only by day, the other most 
 usually on the wing in the night. They may 
 be easily distinguished from each other by 
 their horns or feelers : those of the butterfly 
 being clubbed or knobbed at the end ; those 
 of the moth tapering finer and finer to a point. 
 To express it technically the feelers of but- 
 terflies are elevated : those of moths are fili- 
 form. 1 
 
 1 Moths are distinguished from butterflies, among 
 other characters, by having at the base of the under 
 wings, near the anterior edge, a stiff bristle or hair 
 which passes through a hook on the under side of the 
 anterior wings and maintains them when at rest in a 
 horizontal or somewhat inclined position. The most 
 characteristic and distinctive mark of the hawk-moths 
 is to be found in the form of the antennae, which en- 
 crease in diameter from a slender base nearly to the apex, 
 forming a prismatic, fusiform club, and usually termin- 
 ating in a subulated point which is occasionally some- 
 what curved. This thickening of the antennae upwards 
 indicates affinity to the diurnal lepidoptera, but in most 
 of their other properties they are more closely allied to 
 the moths or nocturnal kinds. The wings are narrow 
 and elongated, of a firm consistence, and never borne 
 perpendicularly in repose, but either parallel to the 
 plain of position or slightly deflexed. The suctorial trunk 
 (maxillae) is usually of great length, often equal to that 
 of the whole body ; and appears, at least in some instances, 
 to be of a more simple structure than among butterflies, 
 consisting only of a simple semi-cylindric canal. When, 
 for example, that of the death's-head-moth, which is 
 short and rigid, and so sharply pointed as to be able to 
 pierce the skin of the hand, is cut across, only a single 
 perforation of an oval shape is visible. The palpi em- 
 brace the base of the trunk, consist of three articulations, 
 and are so densely invested with hairs and scales, that 
 their jointed structure is not discernible till these are 
 rubbed off. The eyes are large, globose, and prominent, 
 composed of a great number of facets. The tarsi are 
 all divided into five joints ; the intermediate tibiae are 
 furnished with two spines, and the hinder ones with 
 four ; and in the anterior pair, which are destitute of 
 spines, there is a slender lobe lying along a part of the 
 under side of the tibia, and attached to it by the upper 
 extremity. 
 
 These insects constituted the genus Sphinx of Linnaeus, 
 and they compose the family named Crepuscularia by 
 
THE BUTTERFLY. 
 
 603 
 
 The butterflies, as well as the moths, em- 
 ploy the short life assigned them in a variety 
 of enjoyments. Their whole time is spent 
 either in quest of food, which every flower 
 
 Latreille. The latter term has been applied to them, 
 because many of the most conspicuous species are observed 
 on the wing chiefly during the morning and evening 
 twilight ; others, however, do not shun the "garish eye 
 of day," but may be seen darting about in the sunshine 
 in company with butterflies and other exclusively diurnal 
 kinds. Their flight is exceedingly rapid, and continued 
 nearly in a direct line, somewhat like that of a bird, 
 differing greatly in this respect from the devious zig-zag 
 motion of most other lepidoptera, many of which seem to 
 float rather than to be impelled by muscular exertion. 
 The wings, notwithstanding, are rather of small size 
 compared with the body ; but the thickness and massive- 
 ness of the latter admits of great development in the 
 muscles by which these organs are moved, and a momen- 
 tum is thus communicated to them more than sufficient 
 to compensate for their somewhat limited extent of sur- 
 face. By their rapid vibration, the taper body of the 
 insect is poised in the air like that of a hawk, while it 
 hovers over the petals of a flower, and extracts the melli- 
 fluous juices by means of its long tubular proboscis. The 
 resemblance just alluded to has caused them to be named 
 hawk-moths ; and as many of them, when thus hover- 
 ing in the air, produce a humming sound, and in this 
 respect, as well as in feeding on the wing and in the 
 darting rapidity of their movements, bear some likeness 
 to humming-birds, a few are named after these "winged 
 gems," and are well known under the somewhat com- 
 posite title of humming-bird hawk-moths. 
 
 The number of these insects found in Britain is not 
 inconsiderable, and includes all the kinds indigenous to 
 Europe, except a few species. Several conspicuous kinds 
 have been admitted into our native lists, in consequence 
 of the occurrence of one or two examples ; but from what 
 we know of their history and geographical distribution, 
 it seems more proper to ascribe their appearance in this 
 country to fortuitous causes, such as accidental importa- 
 tion along with foreign productions, than to their being 
 aboriginal natives of the soil. 
 
 Although moths (proper) may be characteristically said 
 to be nocturnal insects, it must not be understood that 
 their appearance is exclusively confined to the night, or 
 even the twilight. The gamma-moth, the majority of 
 the male bombycidae, and others too numerous to men- 
 tion, may often be seen "floating amid the liquid noon," 
 associated with the multitude of other tribes which the 
 sunshine awakes to active life and enjoyment. But with 
 far the larger proportion, night is the chosen and appro- 
 priate season of activity. During the day they conceal 
 themselves in clefts of trees, among tangled vegetation 
 and under leaves, and seldom issue from their retreats 
 till the light is beginning to fail. Some are on the wing 
 only in the earlier part of the night, others are later in 
 appearing, and continue their flight till the morning is 
 far advanced. During these excursions many fall a prey 
 to bats and night-birds of various kinds, which delight 
 to capture their insect food when on the wing, seldom 
 searching for it when at rest, according to the general 
 practice of their day-feeding companions. 
 
 The great beauty of many of these insects, the almost 
 infinite variety of their colours and markings, as well as 
 their curious habits and economy, have long rendered 
 this a favourite branch of study with the generality of 
 entomologists. A large proportion of the works relating 
 to insects, especially works of the illustrated class, are 
 devoted to the elucidation of this tribe ; and in almost 
 every collection of indigenous specimens, they occupy a 
 prominent place. The zeal with which the rarer and 
 more beautiful kinds have been sought after, and the 
 
 offers ; or in pursuit of the female,, whose ap- 
 proach they can often perceive at two miles' 
 distance. Their sagacity in this particular is 
 not less astonishing than true ; but by what 
 
 estimation in which they have been held when obtained, 
 is sufficiently evinced by the high-sounding names, by 
 means of which collectors have attempted to express 
 their admiration. Such designations as the Emperor, 
 Nonpareil, Kentish Glory, Richmond Beauty, &c. have 
 been applied to them almost as liberally as similar names 
 are used by the fanciers of gigantic gooseberries and 
 peerless tulips, in reference to the objects of their pre- 
 dilection. In proportion to the eagerness shown in the 
 pursuit, has been the variety of plans adopted to obtain 
 specimens with the greatest ease and in the best possible 
 condition. One of the most satisfactory methods is to 
 rear the larvae, when these can be obtained, till they 
 change to pupae, and the moths are thus secured as soon 
 as they emerge, with the beauty of their plumage unim- 
 paired. Mr Kirby mentions, that the seasons in which 
 the London amateurs repair to the woods in search of 
 larvae, are the beginning of April, June, the beginning 
 of July, and September; and they dig for the pupae late in 
 July, and in January and February. The perfect insects 
 are to be found all the summer and autumn, and certain 
 kinds even iu winter. The attractions of a youthful 
 female of their own species affords a means of procuring 
 several of the larger Bombycidae, even in places where they 
 might not previously be supposed to exist. Advantage 
 is often taken of the propensity which these insects show, 
 in common with many other nocturnal animals, to repair 
 to a light, when they may be readily seized as they con- 
 tinue to flutter around it in a kind of bewildered state. 
 As the most effectual means of employing a light, it is 
 recommended that it should be placed in a lanthora, and 
 the latter fixed on the breast by means of a belt around 
 the waist, both hands being thus left at liberty. If in- 
 disposed, however, to make much personal exertion, the 
 Aurelian may often reap a rich harvest merely by open- 
 ing the windows of a lighted apartment, especially if his 
 dwelling be in the vicinity of woo4s, and securing such 
 visitors as make their appearance within. The following 
 extract shows with what success this plan has been 
 attended. " My success in obtaining lepidoptera, to 
 which I am particularly attached," says the Rev. C. S. 
 Bird, '* I owe to the use of a lamp to attract moths. 
 During the moonless nights of summer, I sit with a 
 Sinumbra-lamp, and perhaps one or two smaller lamps, 
 placed on a table close to the window. The moths 
 speedily enter the room, if the weather he warm. I have 
 had a levee of more than a hundred between the hours of 
 ten and twelve. In the spring, too, and autumn, I have 
 been frequently fortunate, though generally having my 
 patience sufficiently tried. In March, for instance, I 
 have taken many specimens of Biston prodromarius in 
 one evening; Glcca rubricosa and Lytcca leucographa 
 have accompanied them. In April and May, Cucullia 
 fissina, and Peridaea serrata have visited me. When 
 November has arrived, Petasia cassinea and Paecilocampa 
 populi have crowded into my room. Of course, at such 
 cool times of the year the window must be kept shut till 
 the moths knock for admittance. If at any time of the 
 year a warm mist pervade the air, there is almost a cer- 
 tainty of success. But should any one be induced by 
 this account to try the lamp, he must make up his mind 
 to experience more of unfavourable evenings than favour- 
 able. There is, however, this advantage in my seden- 
 tary plan of mothing, that it can be combined with read- 
 ing or writing ; and the intervals between the arrivals 
 need not be lost. Moths are extremely sensible of any 
 keenness in the air ; a north or east wind is very likely 
 to keep them from venturing abroad. Different species 
 have different hours of flight. Thus, on a mild and dark 
 
504 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 sense they are thus capable of distinguishing each 
 other at such distances is not easy to conceive. 
 It cannot be by the sight, since such small 
 objects as they are, must be utterly imper- 
 ceptible at half the distance at which they 
 perceive each other : it can scarcely be by the 
 sense of smelling, since the animal has no 
 organs for that purpose. Whatever be their 
 powers of perception, certain it is that the 
 male, after having fluttered, as if carelessly 
 about for some time, is seen to take wing, and 
 go forward, sometimes for two miles together, 
 
 November evening, Pacilocampa populi will occupy 
 from seven to ten o'clock, after which it will make way 
 for Petasia cassinea, which will fly till one or two in the 
 morning. I have for experiment's sake, sat up in the 
 summer till three o'clock, when the whole heaven was 
 bright with the rising sun, and moths of various kinds 
 have never ceased arriving in succession till that time. 
 Some of them must come from a considerable distance. 
 Scotophila porphyrea, being a heath moth, must come 
 nearly a mile. Moths like butterflies, have their pecu- 
 liar modes of flight, by which I can generally distinguish 
 them oil their entrance, before I can see their colours. 
 Some announce themselves by a loud knock on the floor ; 
 this is the case with Leiocampa dicasa. Some ascend 
 instantly to the ceiling, as Agroiis corticea. Many, I 
 might say the majority, pass the lamp rapidly : and this 
 shows the comparative inutility of using the lamp out of 
 doors, where only those that loiter about it can be taken. 
 Some have a soft and gentle flight ; as, for instance, 
 Cosmia pyralina, one of my most welcome visitors, 
 whose entrance I am usually made aware of by seeing 
 something drop down on the table, as quick as hail, but 
 as light as a fleece of snow ; whilst, on the contrary, the 
 conceited vagaries and absurd violence of Clisiocampa 
 neustria are absolutely amusing ; and cratcegi and populi 
 are nearly as bad. It is not the Nocturna alone that 
 come to me in the night many of what Mr Stephens 
 calls the Semidturna, the Geometridae, accompany them 
 at all hours. It may likewise be worth while to say a 
 word on my method of securing my prey. Suppose that, 
 either with or without a bag-net, I have imprisoned a 
 moth under an inverted wine-glass, I then light a small 
 piece of German tinder, half the size of a sixpence, or 
 less, and introduce it under the edge, and by means of 
 the smoke the insect is stupified almost immediately. 
 It is then wholly in my power, though it would quickly 
 revive : I pierce it ; and, by means of a pin dipped in 
 oxalic acid, and thurst into the body beneath the thorax, 
 I prevent its revival, and fix it on the settling board. 
 The German tinder does not injure the colour, as brim- 
 stone would, whilst it puts the moth so completely in my 
 power for a few moments, that the specimens I thus take 
 and kill are often as perfect and beautiful as if I had bred 
 them. Of course, I use it for insects taken in the day, 
 or bred, as well as for those captured by the lamp." The 
 locality to which the above account refers is the vicinity 
 of Reading in Berkshire. The list given by Mr Bird 
 of the species taken in. the manner described, includes 
 many of the rarer and most beautiful kinds found in this 
 country. 
 
 Another method of capturing moths has recently been 
 practised in the north of England by P. J. Selby, Esq. of 
 Twizel, and has been attended with so much success, 
 that we have much pleasure in being enabled to subjoin 
 the following account of it as communicated by that dis- 
 tinguished naturalist. " In the course of my entomol- 
 ogical pursuits for that fascinating department of Zoo- 
 logy has for the last year engrossed a great part of my 
 leisure, my attention was first directed to the mode I 
 have since adopted for the capture of nocturnal lepidoptera, 
 
 in a direct line, to where the female is perched 
 on a flower. 
 
 The general rule among insects is, that the 
 female is larger than the male ; and this ob- 
 tains particularly in the tribe I am describing. 
 The body of the male is smaller and slenderer ; 
 that of the female more thick and oval. Pre- 
 vious to the junction of these animals, they 
 are seen sporting in the air, pursuing and 
 flying from each other, and preparing, by a 
 mock combat, for the more important business 
 of their lives. If they be disturbed while 
 
 by the extraordinary success that I understood had at- 
 tended the exposure of a sugar-cask, recently emptied, 
 in a favourable situation ; and by means of which attrac- 
 tion a great variety of moths, some of them of very rare 
 occurrence, had been secured. As sugar casks are not 
 easily procured in this country, I bethought myself of 
 some succedaneum, and it presently struck me that a 
 beehive, or as it is generally called here, a skep, recently 
 emptied of its honey, or well anointed with the same, 
 might answer the purpose, as it was evident the insects 
 were attracted by the saccharine matter and smell. I 
 accordingly had one prepared, and the very first evening 
 was convinced that it would prove a very efficient trap, 
 as several moths of different species were seen and taken 
 upon it. Unfortunately, the best part of the season was 
 nearly over before I commenced operations, as it was not 
 exposed till after the middle of August ; but from the 
 success I have had up to the present time, I am con- 
 vinced it is one of the most effectual modes of obtaining 
 the noctuidae, and that many which would otherwise 
 escape observation are thus to be obtained. Indeed, 
 some of those I have already procured, I had never be- 
 fore met with in this district ; and I dare say, but for 
 this attractive trap, they would have remained long un- 
 discovered, as some of them are in their force or full 
 flight at a much later period than we are generally ac- 
 customed to look after moths. I anticipate a rich harvest 
 during the ensuing spring and summer, not only of the 
 noctuidae, but also of the other large moths ; the Geome- 
 tridae and smaller species I know come to it, as some of 
 them have already been taken upon it. By this mode 
 also, many interesting particulars relating to their natural 
 history are likely to become known to us, such as the 
 period of duration of different species, the proportion of 
 males and females, &c. I find that in the early part of 
 the season their duration is much shorter than at a later; 
 in many of those occurring in August and September, it 
 seldom exceeded two or three weeks ; whereas such as 
 did not appear till towards the end of October have con- 
 tinued till the present period, that is, nearly three 
 months ; as I have taken every mild evening specimens 
 of Cleza Satellitia up to the 26th of January, and Calo- 
 campa exoleta as late as the 7th of the same month. 
 The skep should be well anointed on the exterior with 
 honey (the refuse will answer perfectly well), and should 
 be supported on a forked stake about four feet from the 
 ground, or so that the insect can be easily got at and 
 enclosed in the flappers as they alight and settle upon it. 
 In this way they may be taken in as fine and perfect 
 condition as if they had been bred from the larva; within 
 doors. I generally select a sheltered situation and near 
 to wood ; of late I have had it near a service tree, whose 
 berries I had previously observed attracted the moths. 
 The following are a few of the species taken : Agrotis 
 suflusa, Pyrophila Tragopogonis, Pyrophila tetra, Glaca 
 Vaccinii, Glaaa spadicea, Apamea nictitans,Polia occulta, 
 Polia Chi, Xanthia fulvago, Xanthia gilvago, Phlogophora 
 meticulosa, several species of Hadena, Caradrina glareosa," 
 &c. &c. Naturalist's Library. British Moths. By 
 James Duncan, Edin. 1836. 
 
ENEMIES OF THE CATERPILLAR. 
 
 505 
 
 
 united, the female flies off with the male on 
 her back, who seems entirely passive upon 
 the occasion. 
 
 But the females of many moths and butter- 
 flies seein to have assumed their airy form for 
 no other reason but to fecundate their eggs, 
 and lay them. They are not seen fluttering 
 about in quest of food or a mate : all that 
 passes during their short lives, is a junction 
 with the male of about half an hour ; after 
 which they deposit their eggs and die, with- 
 out taking any nourishment, or seeking any. 
 It may be observed, however, that in all the 
 females of this tribe, they are impregnated by 
 the male by one aperture, and lay their eggs 
 by another. 
 
 The eggs of female butterflies are disposed 
 in the body like a bed of chaplets ; which, 
 when excluded, are usually oval, and of a 
 whitish colour: some, however, are quite round; 
 and others flatted like a turnip. The cover- 
 ing, or shell of the egg, though solid, is thin 
 and transparent : and in proportion as the 
 caterpillar grows within the egg, the colours 
 change, and are distributed differently. The 
 butterfly seems very well instructed by nature 
 in its choice of the plant, or the leaf, where it 
 shall deposit its burthen. Each egg contains 
 but one caterpillar : and it is requisite that 
 this little animal, when excluded, should be 
 near its peculiar provision. The butterfly, 
 therefore, is careful to place her brood only 
 upon those plants that afford good nourish- 
 ment to its posterity. Though the little winged 
 animal has been fed itself upon dew, or the 
 honey of flowers, yet it makes choice for its 
 young of a very different provision, and lays 
 its eggs on the most unsavoury plants ; the 
 rag-weed, the cabbage, or the nettle. Thus 
 every butterfly chooses not the plant most 
 grateful to it in its winged state ; but such as 
 it has fed upon in its reptile form. 
 
 All the eggs of butterflies are attached to 
 the leaves of the favourite plant, by a sort of 
 size or glue ; where they continue unobserved, 
 unless carefully sought after. The eggs are 
 sometimes placed round the tender shoots of 
 plants, in the form of bracelets, consisting of 
 above two hundred in each, and generally 
 surrounding the shoot like a ring upon a finger. 
 Some butterflies secure their eggs from the 
 injuries of air, by covering them with hair 
 plucked from their own bodies, as birds some- 
 times are seen to make their nests : so that 
 their eggs are thus kept warm, and also en. 
 tirely concealed. 
 
 All the tribe of female moths lay their eggs 
 a short time after they leave the aurelia ; but 
 there are many butterflies that flutter about 
 the whole summer, and do not think of laying 
 till the winter begins to warn them of their 
 approaching end : some even continue the 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 whole winter in the hollows of trees, and do 
 not provide for posterity until the beginning 
 of April, when they leave their retreats, 
 deposit their eggs, and die. Their eggs soon 
 begin to feel the genial influence of the season : 
 the little animals burst from them in their 
 caterpillar state, to become aurelias and but- 
 terflies in their turn, and thus to continue the 
 round of nature. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OP THE ENEMIES OF THE CATERPILLAR, 
 
 NATURE, though it has rendered some ani- 
 mals surprisingly fruitful, yet ever takes care 
 to prevent their too great increase. One set 
 of creatures is generally opposed to another : 
 and those are chiefly the most prolific that are, 
 from their imbecility, incapable of making any 
 effectual defence. The caterpillar has, per- 
 haps, of all other animals, the greatest number 
 of enemies ; and seems only to exist by its 
 surprising fecundity. Some animals devour 
 them by hundreds ; others more minute, yet 
 more dangerous, mangle them in various ways ; 
 so that, how great soever their numbers may 
 be, their destroyers are in equal proportion. 
 Indeed, if we consider the mischiefs these 
 reptiles are capable of occasioning, and the 
 various damages we sustain from their insa- 
 tiable rapacity, it is happy for the other ranks 
 of nature, that there are thousands of fishes, 
 birds, and even insects, that live chiefly upon 
 caterpillars, and make them their most fa- 
 vourite repast. 
 
 When we described the little birds that live 
 in our gardens, and near our houses, as des- 
 tructive neighbours, sufficient attention was 
 not paid to the services which they are fre- 
 quently found to render us. It has been 
 proved, that a single sparrow and its mate, 
 that have young ones, destroy above three 
 thousand caterpillars in a week ; not to men- 
 tion several butterflies in which numberless 
 caterpillars are destroyed in embryo. It is in 
 pursuit of these reptiles that we are favoured 
 with the visits of many of our most beautiful 
 songsters, that amuse us during their continu- 
 ance, arid leave us when the caterpillars disap- 
 pear. 
 
 The maxim which has often been urged 
 against man, that he, of all other animals, is 
 the only creature that is an enemy to his own 
 kind, and that the human species only are 
 found to destroy each other, has been adopted 
 by persons who never considered the history 
 of insects. Some of the caterpillar kind, in 
 particular, that seem fitted only to live upon 
 leaves and plants, will, how ever, eat each other; 
 3s 
 
506 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 and the strongest will devour the weak in pre- 
 ference to their vegetable food. That which 
 lives upon the oak is found to seize any of its 
 companions, which it conveniently can, by the 
 iirst rings, and inflict a deadly wound : it then 
 feasts in tranquillity on its prey, and leaves 
 nothing to the animal but the husk. 
 
 But it is not from each other they have the 
 most to fear, as in general they are inoffensive ; 
 and many of this tribe are found to live in a 
 kind of society. Many kinds of flies lay their 
 eggs either upon or within their bodies ; and, 
 as these turn into worms, the caterpillar is seen 
 to nourish a set of intestine enemies within its 
 body, that must shortly be its destruction : 
 Nature having taught flies, as well as all other 
 animals, the surest methods of perpetuating 
 their kind. " Towards the end of August," 
 says Reaumur, "I perceived a little fly, of a. 
 beautiful gold colour, busily employed in the 
 body of a large caterpillar, of that kind which 
 feeds upon cabbage. I gently separated that 
 part of the leaf on which these insects were 
 placed, from the rest of the plant, and placed 
 it where I might observe them more at ease. 
 The fly, wholly taken up by the business in 
 which it was employed, walked along the 
 caterpillar's body, now and then remaining 
 fixed to a particular spot. Upon this occasion, 
 I perceived it every now and then dart a sting, 
 which it carried at the end of its tail, into the 
 caterpillar's body, and then draw it out again, 
 to repeat the same operation in another place. 
 It was not difficult for me to conjecture the 
 business which engaged this animal so ear- 
 nestly ; its whole aim was to deposit its eggs 
 in the caterpillar's body ; which was to serve 
 as a proper retreat to bring them to perfection. 
 The reptile thus rudely treated, seemed to 
 bear all very patiently, only moving a little 
 when stung too deeply ; which, however, the 
 fly seemed entirely to disregard. I took par- 
 ticular care to feed this caterpillar ; which 
 seemed to me to continue as voracious and 
 vigorous as any of the rest of its kind. In 
 about ten or twelve days, it changed info an 
 aurelia, which seemed gradually to decline, 
 and died : upon examining its internal parts, 
 the animal was entirely devoured by worms ; 
 which, however, did not come to perfection, 
 as it is probable they had not enough to sustain 
 them within." 
 
 What the French philosopher perceived 
 upon this occasion is every day to be seen in 
 several of the larger kinds of caterpillars, 
 whose bodies serve as a nest to various flies, 
 that very carefully deposit their eggs within 
 them. The large cabbage caterpillar is so 
 subject to its injuries, that, at certain seasons, 
 it is much easier to find them with than with- 
 out them. The ichneumon fly, as it is called, 
 particularly infests these reptiles, and pre- 
 
 vents their fecundity. This fly is of all others 
 the most formidable to insects of various kinds. 
 The spider, that destroys the ant, the moth, 
 and the butterfly, yet often falls a prey to the 
 ichneumon ; who pursues the robber to his 
 retreat, and despising his net, tears him in 
 pieces, in the very labyrinth he has made. 
 This insect, as redoubtable as the little quad- 
 ruped that destroys the crocodile, has received 
 the same name ; and from its destruction of 
 the caterpillar tribe, is probably more service- 
 able to mankind. This insect, I say, makes 
 the body of the caterpillar the place for depo- 
 siting its eggs, to the number of ten, fifteen or 
 twenty. As they are laid in those parts 
 which are not mortal, the reptile still continues 
 to live and to feed, showing no signs of being 
 incommoded by its new guests. The cater- 
 pillar changes its skin, and sometimes under- 
 goes the great change into an aurelia : but still 
 the fatal intruders work within, and secretly 
 devour its internal substance : soon after they 
 are seen bursting through its skin, and moving 
 away, in order to spin themselves a covering, 
 previous to their own little transformation. It 
 is indeed astonishing sometimes to see the 
 number of worms, and those pretty large, that 
 thus issue from the body of a single cater- 
 pillar and eat their way through its skin : but 
 it is more extraordinary still that they should 
 remain within the body, devouring its entrails, 
 without destroying its life. The truth is, they 
 seem instructed by nature not to devour its 
 vital parts ; for they are found to feed only 
 upon that fatty substance which composes the 
 largest partof the caterpillar's body. When this 
 surprising appearance was first observed, it was 
 supposed that the animal thus gave birth to a 
 number of flies different from itself; and that the 
 same caterpillar sometimes bred an ichneumon, 
 and sometimes a butterfly : but it was not till 
 after more careful inspection it was dis- 
 covered, that the ichneumon tribe were not the 
 caterpillar's offspring, but its murderers. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE SILKWORM. 
 
 HAVING mentioned, in the last chapter, the 
 damages inflicted by the caterpillar tribe, we 
 now come to an animal of this kind, that alone 
 compensates for all the mischief occasioned by 
 the rest. This little creature, which only 
 works for itself, has been made of the utmost 
 service to man ; and furnishes him with a 
 covering more beautiful than any other ani- 
 mal can supply. We may declaim indeed 
 against the luxuries of the times, when silk 
 is so generally worn ; but were such garments 
 
THE SILKWORM. 
 
 507 
 
 to fail, what other arts could supply the de- 
 ficiency ? 
 
 Though silk was anciently brought in smal 
 quantities to Rome * yet it was so scarce as to 
 
 1 Silk was very little known at Rome till the reign of 
 Augustus and during a long succeeding period it re- 
 mained extremely costly, only a small quantity reaching 
 the imperial city by a circuitous and expensive land and 
 water carriage. The increasing luxury of the Roman 
 people caused the demand for silk manufacture to in- 
 crease much faster than the supply, and the price be- 
 came exorbitantly high. 
 
 Two monks, engaged as missionaries in China, suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining a quantity of silkworms' eggs, which 
 they concealed in a hollow cane ; and at length in the 
 year 552, they conveyed them in safety to Constanti- 
 nople. The eggs were hatched in the proper season by 
 the warmth of manure ; and the worms were fed with 
 the leaves of the wild mulberry-tree. These worms in 
 due time spun their silk, and propagated under the care- 
 ful tenderice of the monks, who also instructed the Romans 
 in the whole process of manufacturing their production. 
 The insects thus produced were the progenitors of the 
 generations of silkworms which have since been reared 
 in Europe and the western parts of Asia. Thus, a cane- 
 ful of the eggs of an oriental insect became the means of 
 establishing a manufacture which fashion and luxury have 
 rendered so important. 
 
 The mulberry -tree was then eagerly planted in Europe, 
 for the nourishment of these valuable insect labourers ; 
 and on this, their natural food, they were successfully 
 reared in different parts of Greece. 
 
 The Venetians soon after this time opened commercial 
 relations with the Greek empire, and continued for many 
 centuries the channel for supplying the western parts of 
 Europe with silks. The estimation in which this manu- 
 facture was held, continued sufficiently high for it to be 
 considered worthy of being made a regal gift : it appears 
 that in the year 790, the Emperor Charlemagne gave 
 two silken vests to Offa, king of Mercia. 
 
 Although at this period the Roman empire was fast 
 declining, they alone possessed the valuable breed of 
 silkworms, which 600 years before had been transferred 
 from the remotest extremity of the East ; and none 
 others had manufactured its costly spoils. Roger I., 
 king of Sicily, led into captivity a considerable number 
 of silk-weavers, whom he compulsorily settled in Palermo, 
 obliging them to impart to his subjects the knowledge of 
 their art. In twenty years from this forcible establish- 
 ment of the manufacture, the silks of Italy are described 
 as having obtained a decided excellence, being of diver- 
 sified patterns and colours : some fancifully interwoven 
 with gold. By degrees the manufacture spread over the 
 greater part of Italy, and was carried into Spain and in 
 the reign of Francis I., took root in France. 
 
 A still longer interval occurred before its adoption into 
 England, and its introduction was very slow, till the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century. Bologna was the 
 only city of Italy which possessed proper throwing mills, 
 or the machinery necessary for twisting and preparing 
 silken fibres for weaving. 
 
 The business of a silk-factory was considered a noble 
 employment in Venice, and might be followed without 
 degradation by the higher classes. 
 
 . The silk trade made very little progress in France till 
 the reign of Francis I., who procured artisans from Milan, 
 and introduced them into Lyons. The French then 
 made rapid progress in this pursuit ; and, in addition to 
 those of Lyons, many manufactories were speedily 
 started in the southern provinces ; supplying sufficient 
 for their own consumption, and soon afterwards a super- 
 abundance for competition in foreign markets ; furnish- 
 ing many parts of Europe with the fruits of their newly- 
 
 be sold for its weight in gold ; and was con- 
 sidered as such a luxurious refinement in dress, 
 that it was infamous for a man to appear in 
 habits of which silk formed but half the corn- 
 cultivated art ; deriving great wealth from prosecuting 
 this branch of trade with England. Queen Elizabeth, 
 in the third year of her reign, 1560, was gratified by 
 being presented with a pair of knitted black silk stockings 
 by Mrs Montague, her silk woman ; at which she was so 
 delighted that she never afterwards condescended to wear 
 those of cloth. Sir Thomas Gresham presented Edward 
 VI. with a pair of long Spanish silk stockings, and, from 
 their rarity, this offering was deemed worthy of much 
 notice. 
 
 When Antwerp was captured by the Duke of Parma, 
 in 1585, it was consigned during three days to indis- 
 criminate plunder and destruction ; and about a third 
 part of their artisans and merchants who wrought and 
 dealt in silk, took refuge in England, where they finally 
 settled, and taught those arts by which they had long 
 prospered 'in their native land, by which means the 
 manufacture was materially improved in this country. 
 
 Every attempt at rearing silk-worms and producing 
 silk having, after endless trials, failed, attention was dir- 
 ected to the establishments for producing both raw and 
 wrought silks in the settlements at British India ; where 
 proximity to the country of its original production, the 
 fitness of the climate, and, above all, the cheapness of 
 labour, have contributed to insure complete success. The 
 island of Cossimbuzar and its neighbourhood, in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, are particularly favourable to the labours 
 of the silkworm. There are at this time eight principal 
 silk-filatures, the produce of eight factories, belonging to 
 the East India Company, in Bengal. In every filature 
 there are employed, according to its size, from 3000 to 
 10,000 people ; and if to these were added the mulberry- 
 planters, worm feeders, &c., the number dependent on 
 each establishment, would be from 10,000 to 40,000 
 men, women, and children. Silk requires so much care 
 and attention for its production, and so great a number 
 of persons must be employed in an establishment for 
 rearing silkworms, that it is only in countries where the 
 number of the poorer classes is in great proportion to 
 capital, and therefore labour veiy cheap, that silk can 
 )e reared at an expense which offers successfully to com- 
 pete with other countries. The sWk, consumed in Eng- 
 and alone, exceeds four millions of pounds in a year. 
 Fourteen thousand millions of animated creatures an- 
 ually live and die to supply this little corner of the 
 world with an article of luxury. The importation of 
 raw silk from China in 1829 amounted to 600,000 Ibs. 
 
 A Lyons newspaper in 1812 states that there were 
 10,720 looms, employing 15,506 workmen. In 1824 
 here were 24,000 looms employing 36,000 hands. 
 
 In the year 1685, the revocation of the edicts of 
 Slantes compelled many merchants, manufacturers, and 
 artificers, to fly from France. About 70,000 made their 
 way to England and Ireland ; many of them resorted to 
 pitalfields, contributing much by their knowledge and 
 kill to the improvement of the silk manufacture. To them 
 >ve are indebted for the art of manufacturing brocades, 
 atins, black and coloured mantuas, black paduasoys, 
 ducates, watered satins, and velvets, all of which fabrics 
 lad been imported up to the year 1718. Our machinery 
 eing very defective, we were in a great degree depen- 
 dent on the throwsters of Italy for a supply of organzine ; 
 )ut at that time, Mr Lombe, of Derby, having, in the 
 lisguise of a common workman, succeeded in taking 
 ccurate drawings of the throwing machinery in Pied- 
 mont, erected a stupendous mill for that purpose on the 
 iver Derwent, at Derby, and obtained a patent for the 
 ole and exclusive property in the same for fourteen 
 r ears. This grand machine was constructed with 26,586 
 
508 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 position. It was most probably brought among 
 them from the remotest parts of the East ; 
 since it was, at the time of which I am speak- 
 ing, scarcely known even in Persia. 
 
 Nothing can be more remote from the truth, 
 fhan the manner in which their historians 
 describe the animal by which silk is produced. 
 Pausanias informs us, that silk came from the 
 country of the Seres, a people of Asiatic 
 Scythia ; in which place an insect as large as 
 the beetle, but in every other respect resembl- 
 ing a spider, was bred up for that purpose. 
 They take great care, as he assures us, to feed 
 and defend it from the weather ; as well dur- 
 ing the summer's heat as the rigours of winter. 
 This insect, he observes, makes its web with 
 its feet, of which it has eight in number. It 
 is fed for the space of four years upon a kind 
 of paste, prepared for it; and at the beginning 
 of the fifth, it is supplied with the leaves of 
 the green willow, of which it is particularly 
 fond. It then feeds till it bursts with fat ; 
 after which they take out its bowels, which 
 are spun into the beautiful manufacture so 
 scarce and costly. 
 
 The real history of this animal was unknown 
 among the Romans till the time of Justinian ; 
 and it is supposed, that silk-worms were not 
 brought into Europe till the beginning of the 
 twelfth century ; when Roger, of Sicily, 
 brought workmen in this manufacture from 
 Asia Minor, after his return from his expedi- 
 tion to the Holy Land, and settled them in 
 Sicily and Calabria. From these the other 
 kingdoms of Europe learned this manufacture ; 
 and it is now one of the most lucrative carried 
 on among the southern provinces of Europe. 
 
 The silkworm is now very well known to be 
 a large caterpillar, of a whitish colour, with 
 twelve feet, and producing a butterfly of the 
 moth kind. l The cone on which it spins, is 
 
 wheels, and 97,746 movements, which worked 73,726 
 yards of orgauzine thread with every revolution of the 
 water-wheel, whereby the machinery was actuated. So 
 rapid was the growth of the silk trade from this time, 
 that in 1783 the estimated value of silk goods manufactured 
 in England was 3,350,000. 
 
 A great improvement had been effected (ten years 
 before, viz. 1772) in Bengal raw silk. Better machinery 
 being brought into use on the Italian system, and com- 
 petent persons employed as heads of each factory. The 
 shipments about this period, being from 515,000 to 
 560,000 Ibs., have steadily increased to 1,500,000 Ibs. 
 annually. In Italy there is but one regular crop in the 
 year ; while in Bengal there are three at intervals of four 
 months, March, July, and November. 
 
 1 The silkworm, like all other insects of the same class, 
 undergoes a variety of changes during the short period of 
 its life ; assuming, in each of its three successive trans- 
 formations, a form wholly dissimilar to that with which 
 it was previously invested. 
 
 We will proceed to trace the changes which it under- 
 goes, commencing with the egg, which is about the size 
 of a grain, and of a yellow colour, when fresh ; but after a 
 few days, become rather dark, of a bluish cast. The 
 
 formed for covering it while it continues in the 
 aurelia state ; and several of these, properly 
 wound off, and united together, form those 
 strong and beautiful threads which are woven 
 
 period which the egg requires is dependent on the tern- 
 perature of the climate ; so much so, that some eggs may 
 be preserved during the winter and spring ; or they may 
 be quickened by artificial means, when the natural food 
 appears in sufficient quantity for their support. 
 
 When hatched, it appears as a black worm, about a 
 quarter of an inch in length, gradually becomes larger 
 and whiter, and in about eight days its head enlarges 
 and it is attacked by illness, which lasts for three days ; 
 refusing food, and remaining in a state of lethargy. This 
 illness is supposed to be on account of the smailuess of 
 the skin. The worm appears at the end of the third day 
 much wasted, and throwing off a kind of humour, which 
 has exuded between its body and the skin about to be cast 
 off", at the same time emits from its body silken cords, so 
 as to fasten the abandoned skin to a spot whilst the insect 
 forsakes it, which it performs in the following manner. 
 It first rubs its head among the leafy fibres, so as to dis- 
 encumber itself of the scaly covering, and then breaks 
 through that part of the skin nearest the head. This 
 action causes the larva very great exertion. Soon after- 
 wards, it disengages its fore feet, and then the body is 
 quickly drawn from the skin, which remains stationary. 
 This operation occupies two or three minutes. The insect 
 then begins to feed with renewed vigour and'health. The 
 skin sometimes refuses to separate from the body ; in 
 which case, the pressure occasions swelling and inflam- 
 mation, and generally terminates in death. 
 
 Those worms which have recently shed their skin, are 
 easily known from the others, by the pale colour and 
 wrinkled appearance of their new skin. The larva 
 changes its skin five separate times ; and, on each oc- 
 casion, increases in size and weight, as may be seen in 
 following table. 
 
 When born 
 < >ne moult 
 Two 
 Three 
 Four 
 
 Five 
 
 Inches, 
 
 . 2to3 
 
 Take to an ounce. 
 
 54,526 
 
 3,840 
 
 610 
 
 144 
 
 35 
 
 6 
 
 Thus, in the space of a few short weeks, the worm in- 
 creases in weight more than nine thousand times. 
 
 The annexed figures represent the worm in its last 
 stage, the chrysalis, and the cocoon. 
 
 The caterpillar, having arrived at its last moult, de- 
 vours its food most voraciously, and for ten days continues 
 ncreasing in size ; so that its structure can be better ex- 
 plained than in its former stages. It is now about three 
 nches in length, and is composed of twelve membranous 
 rings ; the head is scaly, hard, and tapering ; the mouth 
 s horizontal ; it has sixteen feet, six of which are placed 
 n front, armed with claws, on the three rings nearest to 
 ;he head ; the other ten feet are placed behind, eight of 
 which are on the sixth to the ninth, and two on the last 
 
THE SILKWORM. 
 
 509 
 
 into silk. The feeding these worms, the 
 gathering, the winding, the twisting, and the 
 weaving their silk, is one of the principal 
 manufactures of Europe ; and, as our luxuries 
 increase, seems every day to become more and 
 more necessary to human happiness. 
 
 ring. These feet may be termed holders. There is also 
 a kind of tail on the upper part of the last ring but one. 
 
 At the end of the period above stated, the worm's 
 desire for food begins to lessen, though it continues to 
 nibble the leaves, which it scatters about; its colour is 
 now of a light green ; it is very restless and uneasy, 
 erects its head, and moves from side to side in a circular 
 manner, seeking a corner where it can commence its 
 labour of forming its cocoon, before which, however, the 
 
 body becomes firmer, more glossy, and somewhat trans- 
 parent towards its head ; it also lessens in size. 
 
 It may not be out of place to mention here from 
 whence the silk proceeds ; The silk is secreted in the 
 form of a fine yellow gum, in two long slender vessels, 
 one on each side of the body. This silky material, when 
 drawn from the orifices beneath the mouth, appears to be 
 one thread, but is, in fact, composed of two fibres, which 
 are extracted from the orifices, and brought together by 
 means of two hooks placed in the mouth. 
 
 The worm, having fixed upon some corner that will 
 suit its purpose, commences the labour by spinning thin 
 and irregular threads, so as to support its future dwel- 
 ling ; it then forms upon these a loose structure of an 
 oval shape, which is called floss silk ; in the three fol- 
 lowing days it forms a firm and consistent yellow ball, 
 the anterior of which is smeared with a peculiar gum, 
 so as to shield it against the rain and various changes 
 of temperatures. The filament is not spun in regular 
 concentric circles, but in stops, going backwards and 
 forwards with a sort of waving motion, which the 
 worm effects by means of its fore feet while it remains in 
 the interior. 
 
 Isnard, an old author, affirms, that the length of the 
 silk of one cocoon, when drawn out, will measure six 
 miles, that is, 10,565 yards ; but Count Dandolo says, 
 the probable length is 625 yards ; other authors state it to 
 be about 400 yards, while Pullein says the average length 
 is 300 yards. The latter author thus writes ; " There 
 is scarcely anything among the various wonders which 
 the animal creation affords, more admirable than the 
 variety of changes which the silkworm undergoes ; but 
 the curious texture of that silken covering with which it 
 surrounds itself, when it arrives at the perfection of its 
 auimal life, vastly surpasses what is made by other ani- 
 
 There are two methods of breeding silk- 
 worms ; for they may be left to grow, and to 
 remain at liberty upon the trees where they 
 are hatched ; or they may be kept in a place 
 built for that purpose, and fed every day with 
 fresh leaves. The first method is used in 
 
 mals of this class. All the caterpillar kind do, indeed, 
 undergo changes like those of the silkworm, and the 
 beauty of them in their butterfly state greatly exceeds it j 
 but the covering which they put on before this change 
 into a fly is poor and mean, when compared to that 
 golden tissue in which the silkworm wraps itself. They, 
 indeed, come forth in a variety of colours, their wings 
 bedropped with gold and scarlet, yet are they but the 
 beings of a summer's day; both their life and beauty 
 quickly vanish, and they leave no remembrance after 
 them, but the silkworm leaves behind it such beautiful, 
 such beneficial monuments, as at once record both the 
 wisdom of their Creator and his bounty to man." 
 
 The worm, having finished its cocoon, rests awhile 
 from its labour, and at the same time decreases in size 
 and bulk ; it then throws off its last skin, and undergoes 
 its metamorphosis into a chrysalis, which is of a chest- 
 nut colour, and smooth. The time during which the 
 insect remains in this state of lethargy is generally from 
 fifteen to thirty days, as it is influenced by the tempera- 
 ture of the climate in which this metamorphosis is about 
 to take place, viz. in England it requires thirty days, in 
 France twenty-one, in Spain and Italy eighteen to twenty, 
 and in India only eleven days. 
 
 After the above stated periods the insect breaks through 
 the upper end of the cocoon, by emitting a liquid from its 
 mouth, which moistens the gum with which it has lined 
 the interior of its chamber. After this operation, it ap- 
 pears as the perfect insect, with four wings of a grayish 
 white colour, with two transverse undiriated bands on 
 
 the fore and wings. The stationary arid sluggish habits 
 of these moths are not entirely owing, as is generally 
 supposed, to the insect being confined within certain 
 limits during the period of several generations ; as these 
 habits are also common to others of the same family, 
 which are only found in certain local districts ; and thus 
 proves that this valuable insect partakes of the same 
 mode of life in the domestic as in the wild or natural 
 state. Their life continues for the short period of two or 
 three days, in which time they are wholly occupied in 
 securing the continuance of their kind. Various ac- 
 counts are given as to the number of eggs which the 
 female lays, some stating 250, while others mention 400 
 to 500 as the usual number. Natural History of Insects, 
 London, 1835. Vol. If. 
 
510 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 China, Tonquin, and other hot countries ; the 
 other is used in those places where the ani- 
 mal has been artificially propagated, and still 
 continues a stranger. In the warm climates, 
 the silkworm proceeds from an egg, which has 
 been glued by the parent moth upon proper 
 parts of the mulberry-tree, and which remains 
 in that situation during the winter. The 
 manner in which they are situated and fixed 
 to the tree, keeps them unaffected by the 
 influence of the weather ; so that those frosts 
 which are severe enough to kill the tree, have 
 no power to injure the silkworm. 
 
 The insect never proceeds from the egg till 
 Nature has provided it a sufficient supply; 
 and till the budding leaves are furnished, in 
 sufficient abundance, for its support. When 
 the leaves are put forth, the worms seem to 
 feel the genial summons, and bursting from 
 their little eggs, crawl upon the leaves, where 
 they feed with a most voracious appetite. 
 Thus they become larger by degrees ; and 
 after some months' feeding, they lay, upon 
 every leaf, small bundles or cones of silk, 
 which appear like so many golden apples, 
 painted on a fine green ground. Such is the 
 method of breeding them in the East ; and 
 without doubt it is the best for the worms, and 
 least troublesome for the feeder of them. But 
 it is otherwise in our colder European cli- 
 mates ; the frequent changes of the weather, 
 and the heavy dews of our evenings, render 
 the keeping them all night exposed, subject to 
 so many inconveniences, as to admit of no 
 remedy. It is true, that, by the assistance of 
 nets, they may be preserved from the insults 
 of birds ; but the severe cold weather, which 
 often succeeds the first heats of summer, as 
 well as the rain and high winds, will destroy 
 them all : and, therefore, to breed them in 
 Europe, they must be sheltered and protected 
 from every external injury. 
 
 For this purpose, a room is chosen, with a 
 south aspect ; and the windows are so well 
 glazed as not to admit the least air : the walls 
 are well built, and the planks of the floor ex- 
 ceedingly close, so as to admit neither birds 
 nor mice, nor even so much as an insect. In 
 the middle there should be four pillars erected, 
 or four wooden posts, so placed as to form a 
 pretty large square. Between these are dif- 
 ferent stories made with osier hurdles ; and 
 under each hurdle there should be a floor with 
 an upright border all round. These hurdles 
 and floors must hang upon pullies, so as to be 
 placed or taken down at pleasure. 
 
 When the worms are hatched, some tender 
 mulberry leaves are provided, and placed in 
 the cloth or paper-box in which the eggs were 
 laid, and which are large enough to hold a 
 great number. When they have acquired 
 some strength, they must be distributed on 
 
 beds of mulberry leaves, in the different stories 
 of the square in the middle of the room, round 
 which a person may freely pass on every side. 
 They will fix themselves to the leaves, and 
 afterwards to the sticks of the hurdles, when 
 the leaves are devoured. They have then a 
 thread, by which they can suspend themselves 
 on occasion, to prevent any shock by a fall ; 
 but this is by no means to be considered as the 
 silk which they spin afterwards in such abun- 
 dance. Care must be taken that fresh leaves 
 be brought every morning, which must be 
 strewed very gently and equally over them ; 
 upon which, the silkworms will forsake the 
 remainder of the old leaves, which must be 
 carefully taken away, and every thing kept 
 very clean ; for nothing hurts these insects so 
 much as moisture and uncleanliness. For this 
 reason their leaves must be gathered when the 
 weather is dry, and kept in a dry place, if it 
 be necessary to lay in a store. As these ani- 
 mals have but a short time to live, they make 
 use of every moment, and almost continually 
 are spinning, except at those intervals when 
 they change their skins. If mulberry leaves 
 be difficult to be obtained, the leaves of lettuce, 
 or hollyhock, will sustain them ; but they do 
 not thrive so well upon their new diet ; and 
 their silk will neither be so copious, nor of so 
 good a quality. 
 
 Though the judicious choice and careful 
 management of their diet is absolutely 
 necessary, yet there is another precaution ol 
 equal importance ; which is, to give them air, 
 and open their chamber windows, at such 
 times as the sun shines warmest. The place 
 also must be kept as clean as posible ; not only 
 the several floors that are laid to receive their 
 ordure, but the whole apartments in general. 
 These things well observed, con tribute greatly 
 to their health and increase. 
 
 The worm, at the time it bursts the shell, 
 is extremely small, and of a black colour ; 
 but the head is of a more shining black than 
 the rest of the body : some days after, they 
 begin to turn whitish, or of an ash-coloured 
 gray. After the skin begins to grow too 
 rigid, or the animal is stinted within it, the 
 insect throws it off, and appears clothed anew: 
 it then becomes larger, and much whiter, 
 though it has a greenish cast; after some days, 
 which are more or less, according to the dif- 
 ferent heat of the climate, or to the quality of 
 the food, it leaves off eating, and seems to 
 sleep for two days together : then it begins to 
 stir, and put itself into violent motions, till the 
 skin falls off the second time, and is thrown 
 aside by the animal's feet. All these changes 
 are made in three weeks or a month's time ; 
 after which it begins to feed once more, still in 
 its caterpillar form, but a good deal differing 
 from itself before its change. In a few days' 
 
THE SILKWORM. 
 
 511 
 
 time it seems to sleep again ; and, when it 
 awakes, it again changes its clothing, and 
 continues feeding as before. When it has 
 thus taken a sufficiency of food, and its parts 
 are disposed for assuming the aurelia form, 
 the animal forsakes, for the last time, all food 
 and society, and prepares itself a retreat to 
 defend it from external injuries, while it is 
 seemingly deprived of life and motion. 
 
 This retreat is no other than its cone, or ball 
 of silk, which Nature has taught it to compose 
 with great art ; and within which it buries 
 itself, till it assumes its winged form. This 
 cone or ball is spun from little longish kinds 
 of bags that lie above the intestines, and are 
 filled with a gummy fluid, of a marigold col- 
 our. This is the substance of which the 
 threads are formed ; and the little animal is 
 furnished with a surprising apparatus for 
 spinning it to the degree of fineness which its 
 occasions may require. This instrument in 
 some measure resembles a wire-drawer's 
 machine, in which gold or silver threads are 
 drawn to any degree of minuteness ; and 
 through this the animal draws its thread with 
 great assiduity. As every thread proceeds 
 from two gum-bags, it is probable that each 
 supplies its own ; which however, are united, 
 as they proceed from the animal's body. If 
 we examine the thread with a microscope, it 
 will be found that it is flatted on one side, and 
 grooved along its length : from hence we may 
 infer, that it is doubled just upon leaving the 
 body : and that the two threads stick to each 
 other by that gummy quality of which they 
 are possessed. Previous to spinning its web, 
 the silkworm seeks out some convenient place 
 to erect its cell, without any obstruction. 
 When it has found a leaf, or a chink fitted to 
 its purpose, it begins to wreathe its head in 
 every direction, and fastens its thread on every 
 side to the sides of its retreat. Though all its 
 first essays seem perfectly confused, yet they 
 are not altogether without design : there ap- 
 pears, indeed, no order or contrivance in the 
 disposal of its first threads ; they are by no 
 means laid artfully over each other, but are 
 thrown out at random, to serve as an external 
 shelter against rain ; for nature having ap- 
 pointed the animal to work upon trees in the 
 open air, its habits remain, though it is 
 brought up in a warm apartment. 
 
 Malpighi pretends to have observed six dif- 
 ferent layers in a single cone of silk : but what 
 may easily be observed is, that it is composed 
 externally of a kind of rough cotton-like sub- 
 stance, which is called floss ; within, the 
 thread is more distinct and even ; and next the 
 body of the aurelia, the apartment seems lined 
 with a substance of the hardness of paper, but 
 of a much stronger consistence. It must not 
 be supposed, that the thread which goes to 
 
 compose the cone, is rolled round, as we roll a 
 bottom ; on the contrary, it lies upon it in a 
 very irregular manner, and winds off now 
 from one side of the cone, and then from the 
 other. This whole thread, if measured, will 
 be found about three hundred yards long ; and 
 so very fine, that eight or ten of them are 
 generally rolled oft* into one by the manufac- 
 turers. The cone, when completed, is in form 
 like a pigeon's egg, and more pointed at one 
 end than the other: at the smaller end, the 
 head of the aurelia is generally found : and 
 this is the place that the insect, when con- 
 verted into a moth, is generally seen to burst 
 through. 
 
 It is generally a fortnight or three weeks 
 before the aurelia is changed into a moth; 
 but no sooner is the winged insect completely 
 formed, than having divested itself of its aurelia 
 skin, it prepares to burst through its cone, or 
 outward prison : for this purpose it extends its 
 head towards the point of the cone, butts with 
 its eyes, which are rough, against the lining 
 of its cell, wears it away, and at last pushes 
 forward, through a passage which is small at 
 first, but which enlarges as the animal in- 
 creases its efforts for emancipation ; while the 
 tattered remnants of its aurelia skin lie in con- 
 fusion within the cone, like a bundle of dirty 
 linen. 
 
 The animal, when thus set free from its 
 double confinement, appears exhausted with 
 fatigue, and seems produced for no other pur- 
 pose but to transmit a future brood. It neither 
 flies nor eats ; the male only seeking the fe- 
 male, whose eggs he impregnates; and their 
 union continues for four days, without inter- 
 ruption. The male dies immediately after 
 separation from his mate ; and she survives 
 him only till she has laid her eggs, which are 
 not hatched into worms till the ensuing spring. 
 
 However, there are few of these animals 
 suffered to come to a state of maturity ; for as 
 their bursting through the cone destroys the 
 silk the manufacturers take care to kill the 
 aurelia, by exposing it to the sun, before the 
 moth comes to perfection. This done, they 
 take off the floss, and throw the cones into 
 warm water, stirring them till the first thread 
 offers them a clue for winding all off. They 
 generally take eight of the silken threads 
 together ; the cones being still kept under 
 water, till a proper quantity of the silk is 
 wound off: however, they do not take all; 
 for the latter parts grow weak, and are of a bad 
 colour. As to the paper-like substance which 
 remains, some stain it with a variety of colours, 
 to make artificial flowers ; others let it lie in 
 the water, till the glutinous matter which 
 cements it is all dissolved : it is then carded 
 like wool, spun with a wheel, and converted 
 into silk stuffs of an inferior kind. 
 
HISTORY OF INSECTS, &c. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 INSECTS OF THE FOURTH ORDER. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF THE FOURTH ORDER OF INSECTS IN 
 GENERAL. 
 
 IN the foregoing part we treated of caterpillars 
 changing into butterflies ; in the present will 
 be given the history of grubs changing into 
 their corresponding winged animals. These, 
 like the former, undergo their transformation, 
 and appear as grubs or maggots, as aurelias, 
 and at last as winged insects. Like the for- 
 mer, they are bred from eggs ; they feed in 
 their reptile state ; they continue motionless 
 and lifeless, as aurelias ; and fly and propa- 
 gate, when furnished with wings. But they 
 differ in many respects : the grub or maggot 
 wants the number of feet which the caterpillar 
 is seen to have ; the aurelia is not so totally 
 wrapped up, but that its feet and its wings 
 appear. The perfect animal, when emanci- 
 pated, also has its wings either cased, or trans- 
 parent like gauze ; riot coloured with that 
 beautifully painted dust which adorns the 
 wings of the butterfly. 
 
 In this class of insects, therefore, we may 
 place a various tribe, that are first laid, .as 
 eggs, then are excluded as maggots or grubs, 
 then change into aurelias, with their legs and 
 wings not wrapped up but appearing ; and, 
 lastly, assuming wings, in which state they 
 propagate their kind. Some of these have 
 four transparent wings, as bees ; some have 
 two membranous cases to their wings, as bee- 
 tles ; and some have but two wings, which 
 are transparent as ants. Here, therefore, we 
 will place the bee, the wasp, the humble-bee, 
 the ichneumon fly, the gnat, the tipula or long 
 legs, the beetle, the may-bug, the glow-worm, 
 and the ant. The transformations which all 
 these undergo, are pretty nearly similar ; and 
 
 though very different animals in form , yet are 
 produced nearly in the same manner. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE BEE. 
 
 To give a complete history of this insect in 
 a few pages, which some have exhausted vol- 
 umes in describing, and whose nature and 
 properties still continue in dispute, is impossi- 
 ble. 1 It will be sufficient to give a general 
 idea of the animal's operations ; which, though 
 they have been studied for more than two 
 thousand years, are still but incompletely 
 known. The account given us by Reaumur 
 is sufficiently minute ; and, if true, sufficient- 
 ly wonderful : but I find many of the facts 
 which he relates, doubted by those who are 
 most conversant with bees : and some of them 
 actually declared not to have a real existence 
 in nature. 
 
 It is unhappy, therefore, for those whose 
 method demand? a history of bees, that they 
 are unfurnished with those materials which 
 have induced so many observers to contradict 
 so great a naturalist. His life was spent in 
 
 1 Many works have been written on the nature and 
 habits of bees. Among those who have contributed 
 largely to our knowledge of the subject may be mentioned, 
 Swammerdam, Reaumur, Schirach, ThorJey, Wildman, 
 Huish, Howison, Huber, and Bonner. The two latter 
 made many valuable discoveries regarding the bee under 
 very peculiar and, one would almost imagine, insur- 
 mountable disadvantages. Huber was stone blind, and 
 Bonnet's researches were conducted in the midst of a 
 populous city, and during the pressure of daily toil, he 
 being a poor weaver, and his hives being kept for many 
 years in a garret in the Gallowgate of Glasgow ! Bon- 
 ner's work on Bees was published at Edinburgh in 1795, 
 (one volume, 8vo) and an English translation of Huber's 
 was published in 1806, (I2mo.) 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 513 
 
 the contemplation ; and it requires an equal 
 share of attention, to prove the error of his dis- 
 coveries. Without entering, therefore, into 
 the dispute, I will take him for my guide ; 
 and just mention, as I go along, those parti- 
 culars in which succeeding observers have be- 
 gun to think him erroneous. Which of the 
 two are right, time only can discover ; for my 
 part, I have only heard one side, for as yet 
 none have been so bold as openly to oppose 
 Reaumur's delightful researches. 
 
 There are three different kinds of bees in 
 every hive. 1 First, the labouring bees, which 
 
 1 Functions of the inmates of a hive. A hive consists 
 of the Queen, or mother-bee, the Workers varying m 
 numbers, from 10,000, to 20,000 or 30,000, and the 
 Males or Drones, from 700 to double that number. 
 
 Functions of the Queen. The Queen is the parent 
 
 
 of the hive, and her sole province and occupation consist 
 in laying the eggs, from which originate those prodigious 
 multitudes that people a hive, and emigrate from it in 
 the course of one summer. In the height of the season, 
 her fertility is truly astonishing, as she lays not fewer 
 than 200 eggs per day, and even more when the season 
 is particularly warm and genial, and flowers are abun- 
 dant ; and this laying continues, though at a gradually 
 diminishing rate, till the approach of cold weather in 
 October. So early as February, she resumes her labours 
 in the same department, and supplies the great blank 
 made in the population by the numerous casualties that 
 take place between the end of summer and commence- 
 ment of spring. Her great laying of the eggs of workers 
 begins generally about the fifth day of her age ; and she 
 continues to deposit eggs of the same kind for the suc- 
 ceeding eleven months ; after which she commences 
 laying those of males. It is during the depositing of 
 these last, that the Bees are led by their instinct to lay 
 the foundation of royal cells, in which, if the population 
 be abundant, the Queen deposits eggs at intervals of one 
 or two days between each. In the operation of laying, 
 which we have a thousand times witnessed, the Queen 
 puts her head into a cell, and remains in thai position 
 about a second or two, as if to ascertain whether it is 
 in a fit state to receive the deposit. She then withdraws 
 her head, curves her body downwards, inserts her ab- 
 domen into the cell, and turns half round on herself; 
 having kept this position for a few seconds, she with- 
 draws her body, having in the meantime laid an egg. 
 The egg itself, which is attached to the bottom of the 
 cell by a glutinous matter with which it is imbued, is of 
 a slender oval shape, slightly curved, rather more point- 
 ed in the lower end than in the other. She passes on 
 from cell to cell, furnishing each with the germ of a 
 future inhabitant ; and during these proceedings, she 
 receives the most marked and affectionate attention from 
 the workers. She is seen continually surrounded by a 
 circle of them, who caress her fondly with their antennae, 
 and occasionally supply her with food from their pro- 
 bosces. This appearance has given rise to the notion 
 commonly entertained, and asserted even by some Na- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 make up the far greatest number, and are 
 thought to be neither male nor female, but 
 merely born for the purposes of labour, and 
 continuing the breed, by supplying the young 
 with provision, while yet in their helpless state. 
 The second sort are the drones ; they are of a 
 darker colour, longer, and more thick by one- 
 third than the former ; they are supposed to 
 be the males ; and there is not above a hun- 
 dred of them in a hive of seven or eight thou- 
 sand bees. The third sort is much larger 
 than either of the former, and still fewer in 
 number ; some assert that there is not above 
 
 turalists, that the Queen is followed in her progress 
 through the hive by a number of her subjects formed in 
 a circle round her, and these of course have been regard- 
 ed as the Queen's body guards. The truth is, however, 
 that her Bee-majesty has no attendants, strictly speak- 
 ing; none who follow in her train; but wherever she 
 moves, the workers whom she encounters in her progress 
 instantly and hurriedly clear the way before her, and all 
 turning their heads towards their approaching sovereign, 
 lavish their caresses upon her with much apparent 
 affection, and touch her softly with their antennae ; and 
 these circumstances, which may be observed every hour 
 in the day, in a properly constructed glass hive, have 
 given rise to the idea of guards. The moment she 
 has left the circle, the bees who had surrounded her 
 instantly resume their labours, and she passes on, receiv- 
 ing from every group in her way the homage due to a 
 Mother and a Queen 
 
 Functions of the irorker-Bee.The workers, to the 
 
 number of 10,000, 20,000, and even 30,000, constitute 
 the great mass of the population of a hive, and on them 
 devolve the whole labours of the establishment. Theirs 
 is the office of searching for and collecting the precious 
 fluid which not only furnishes their daily food, as well as 
 that of their young, and the surplus of which is laid up 
 for winter stores, but also the materials from which they 
 rear their beautiful combs. In the little basket-shaped 
 cavity in their hind-legs, they bring home the pollen or 
 farinaceous dust of flowers, kneaded by the help of the 
 morning dew into tiny balls, which form an important 
 ingredient in the nourishment of the brood ; and also the 
 propolis or adhesive gum extracted from willows, &c., 
 with which they attach their combs to the upper part 
 and sides of the hive, and stop every crevice that might 
 admit the winter's cold. Exploring a glass hive in a 
 soft spring morning, and following with his eye a bee 
 loaded with farina, the observer will perceive the little 
 active forager, on her arrival in the interior, hurrying 
 over the surface of the comb in search of a proper cell in 
 which to deposit her burden; and having found one, 
 fastening herself by the two fore-feet on its superior bor- 
 der, then bending her body a little forward, that her hin- 
 der feet may catch hold of the opposite edge of the cell. 
 In this position she is next seen thrusting back her se- 
 cond pair of feet, one on each side, and sweeping with 
 them from top to bottom along the two hinder legs, 
 where the farina balls are fixed, and by this means de- 
 taching them from the hairy linings of the cavities, and 
 depositing them in the cell. To the workers, also, are 
 committed the various offices of guarding the entrance 
 3 T 
 
514 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 one in every swarm : but this later observers 
 affirm not to be true, there being sometimes 
 five or six in the same hive. These are called 
 queen bees, and are said to lay all the eggs 
 
 of the hive by night and day, during the honey season ; 
 of repulsing marauders ; of keeping their abode free from 
 all offensive matters ; of renewing the air within by an 
 ingenious mode of ventilation ; of replacing a lost Queen, 
 and of destroying the drones at the decline of the honey 
 season. Receiving from nature these weighty charges, 
 they labour assiduously to fulfil them ; and, while each 
 member of the community acts by the impulse of its 
 individual instinct, it works less for private than for the 
 general good. These labours appear unceasing; yet do 
 the weary labourers sometimes snatch an interval of re- 
 pose. During the busy season, we have seen hundreds 
 of the workers retiring into the cells, and exhibiting all 
 the marks of profound sleep. This fact is very easily 
 observable, especially in those cells which are construct- 
 ed, as sometimes happens, against the glass, and where 
 that substance forms one side of the cell. There they 
 are, the fatigued labourers, stretched at full length, with 
 their heads at the bottom, and every limb apparently in 
 a relaxed state, while the little body is seen heaving 
 gently from the process of respiration. Huber thinks 
 he has ascertained that there are two kinds of workers in 
 a hive, one of which he calls Wax -workers, and the other 
 Nurses. The office of the first class, according to Hu- 
 ber, is not only to collect honey, which both kinds do, 
 but also to elaborate the wax, and construct the combs. 
 The particular function of the other, is to take care of 
 the young. They may be distinguished in entering the 
 hive, by carefully examining their shape ; the wax-work- 
 ers having their bellies somewhat cylindrical, while 
 those of the nurses retain their ovoidal figure. The 
 anatomical structure of the two is said to be differ- 
 ent, and the capacity of stomach not the same ; so that 
 the one species is incapable of fulfilling all the functions 
 of the other. Huber has also directed our attention to 
 a class of workers, which he calls Black Bees, and 
 which he first observed in 1809. and on several other 
 occasions from that time to the year 1813. In every 
 thing they bear a perfect resemblance to their fellow- 
 workers, except in colour, which in them is a deep 
 black. He describes them as persecuted by the other 
 workers, and finally expelled the hives, or destroyed. 
 We have noticed them, though rarely ; perhaps not more 
 than one or two in a season. The other bees didnot molest 
 them, as far as we observed, nor indeed seem in any way 
 sensible of their presence. It is not improbable, as 
 Kirby and Sperice conjecture, that they are merely aged 
 bees, and that their deeper colour arises from the hair or 
 down, with which the young are so thickly clothed, being 
 worn off their bodies. 
 
 In describing the functions of the Working Bee, it 
 would be improper to pass over unnoticed the fact, that 
 it sometimes exercises the functions of a mother. To 
 account for this apparent anomaly, we must remember 
 that it has been ascertained by minutely accurate dissec- 
 tion, that all the workers are females, though of imper- 
 fect organization ; a fact confirmed by the very circum- 
 stance we are now discussing. We must also keep in 
 mind, that the larva of a Queen is nourished with food 
 of a different kind from that of common bees ; and 
 this difference, in conjunction with a more roomy cell, 
 has, in the opinion of naturalists, the effect of expanding 
 the ovarium, and qualifying her to become a mother. 
 It is evident, therefore, that, if the larva of a common 
 bee were fed with the royal jelly, the imperfection in her 
 bodily organs would, as far at least as depended on the 
 nature of the food, be removed, and she would become 
 capable of laying eggs. Now this does occasionally take 
 place ; some of the royal food is dropped, probably by 
 
 from which the whole swarm is hatched in a 
 season. 
 
 In examining the structure of the common 
 working bee, the first remarkable part that 
 
 accident, into some of the cells adjoining that of the 
 Queen, and the bees therein reared acquire the power of 
 laying eggs. This fact was discovered by the naturalist 
 Riem, and has been confirmed by Huber. There is, 
 however, a very material and hitherto unaccounted for 
 difference between these fertile workers and perfect 
 Queens ; the former lay the eggs of males only. We 
 would certainly have expected, a priori, that a differ- 
 ence between them should exist ; because the workers 
 have fed on the royal jelly only for a short time, and be- 
 cause their birth-place is so much smaller. But we 
 cannot easily conceive how these circumstances should 
 be the cause of their laying only male eggs. In truth, 
 it appears to be one of those mysteries in bee- economy, 
 which, with all our researches on the subject, we cannot 
 yet unravel. These fertile workers are never found in 
 any hives but such as have lost their natural Queen. 
 
 The natural term of the worker's existence does not 
 extend, we think, beyond six or eight months. It is 
 the opinion of Dr Bevan that all the bees brought into 
 existence at the Queen's great laying in spring die before 
 winter. But many never reach that period. Showers 
 of rain, violent blasts of wind, sudden changes of atmos- 
 phere, destroy them in hundreds. In the clear cold 
 mornings and evenings of autumn, their eagerness for 
 foraging entices them abroad early and late; when, 
 alighting on the ground, many are chilled, and quickly 
 perish. And should they escape the blighting atmos- 
 phere at the close of autumn, a bright sunshine in a 
 winter day, when the ground perhaps is covered with 
 snow, brings them abroad in multitudes, and the half 
 of them never return. From these causes, independent 
 of the numbers which fall a prey to enemies, a swarm 
 which in July amounted to fifteen or twenty thousand, 
 will, by the following February or March, have dwindled 
 to a mere handful. It is otherwise with the Queen ; 
 going seldom abroad, she is little exposed to accidents. 
 Her natural life is prolonged to several years, though 
 the precise extent has not been accurately ascertained. 
 In 1834 we had one in our possession, which we had 
 every reason to believe was not less than four years 
 old. 
 
 Functions of the Male or Drone. The sole office of 
 
 the Male, or at least the primary one, is to pair with 
 the Queen. He is the father of the hive. Indolent 
 and luxurious, he takes no part in the internal operations 
 of the domicile, and never leaves it with a view of shar- 
 ing in the labours of the field. When he does venture 
 abroad, it is only in the finest weather, and during the 
 warmest part of the day, at which time the young Queens 
 are instinctively led to go out in search of the male. 
 He is easily distinguished from the workers by his larger 
 size, by his heavy motion in flight, and by his loud hum- 
 ming sound. We have said that the primary function 
 of the drones is to perpetuate the race of bees by pairing 
 with the Queen, but some naturalists have assigned 
 them a secondary office, namely, that of contributing by 
 their numbers to the heat of the hive, and thus aiding in 
 I bringing the brood to maturity. In some parts of the 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 515 
 
 offers is the trunk, which serves to extract the 
 honey from flowers. It is not formed, like 
 that of other flies, in the manner of a tube, by 
 which the fluid is to be sucked up ; but like a 
 besom to sweep, or a tongue to lick it away. 
 
 continent, accordingly, Feburier tells us, they have re- 
 ceived the name of Hatchers. There are occasionally 
 found drones of a small size in hives where the impreg- 
 nation of the Queen has been retarded. In such circum- 
 stances, her instinct is so impaired, that she lays her eggs 
 indiscriminately in all kinds of cells; those of males 
 sometimes in the cells of workers. The consequence is, 
 that these males, when hatched, are diminutive in size, 
 having been cramped in their growth by the smallness of 
 their birth-place. 
 
 The life of this vir gregis is extremely short ; the 
 favoured lover perishes soon after his union with the 
 female, and thus anticipates, though only by a short pe- 
 riod, the destruction which awaits his race. So early 
 as the beginning of August, the bees, as if wishing to 
 apply " the preventive check'' to a superabundant idle 
 population, begin to manifest deadly intentions towards 
 them; and the unfortunate victims, as if to derive con- 
 solation from one another's society, or perhaps driven 
 together by their irascible superiors, may be seen about 
 that period clustering closely together in some corner of 
 the combs, where they remain without motion, and with- 
 out once venturing to approach the provision-cells. Thus 
 weakened by hunger and captivity, and disqualified for 
 resistance by the want of a sting, they fall an easy prey 
 to their merciless assailants ; and a scene of carnage 
 takes place which it is difficult to describe. The un- 
 happy wretches are seen driven to the bottom of the hive 
 pursued with such fury, that, in spite of their strength, 
 which is greatly superior to that of their persecutors, and 
 which enables them to drag two or three of their assail- 
 ants along the board, and even to fly off with them, they 
 are unable to avoid the mortal thrust of their formidable 
 stings, and expire instantaneously from the effects of the 
 poison. But death overtakes them in various forms ; 
 for their enemies sometimes seize them by the wings, 
 and with their strong mandibles gnaw them at the roots, 
 and disable them from flying. They may then be seen 
 in numbers crawling on the ground, where they perish 
 from the cold, or are trampled under foot, and devoured 
 by birds or frogs. Such as escape for a while, may be 
 seen flying from destruction, lighting on the shrubs and 
 flowers to enjoy a moment's respite from their terrors ; 
 or buzzing about our windows, or wandering about from 
 hive to hive, into one of which they no sooner enter 
 than certain death awaits them. Nay, so bitter is the 
 fury of their tormentors, that, not satisfied with de- 
 stroying these unhappy beings themselves, they tear 
 from the cells such of the doomed race as are yet in the 
 state of larvae, and sucking from their bodies, with in. 
 stinctive economy, the fluids they contain, cast the life- 
 less remains out of the hive. There are cases, however, 
 in which this destruction of males does not take place. 
 " In hives that have lost their Queen," says Huber, " the 
 males are spared ; and, while a savage massacre rages 
 in other hives, they here find an asylum. They are 
 tolerated and fed, and many are seen even in the middle 
 of January." The cause of this may perhaps be looked 
 for in the additional heat which they would generate in 
 winter ; or perhaps they may be preserved for the pur- 
 pose of pairing with a new Queen. 
 
 The impregnation of the Queen-bee is a branch o: 
 Natural History which has given rise to more discussion 
 than almost any other fact, connected with the nature ol 
 the insect. And indeed the difficulty, we might almost 
 say impossibility of obtaining any thing like ocular evi- 
 dence on the subject, will readily account for the diver- 
 sity of opinion that has hitherto prevailed. And we 
 
 The animal is furnished also with teeth, which 
 serve it in making wax. This substance is 
 gathered from flowers, like honey ; it consists 
 jf that dust or farina which contributes to the 
 ecundation of plants, and is moulded into wax 
 
 should hope that this difficulty alone, and not any precon- 
 
 eived theory or unreasonable prejudice, is the cause of 
 
 that determined pertinacity with which the discoveries 
 
 and conclusions of Huber, on this subject, are still in 
 
 some instances rejected. That justly celebrated natu- 
 
 alist, instituted a set of experiments on the subject of 
 
 the Queen's impregnation, the result of which leads to the 
 
 conclusion that it takes place in the air. 
 
 There is a fact connected with this part of the natural 
 history of the mother-bee which involves great difficul- 
 ties. The fact itself was discovered by Huber, but its 
 cause he was unable to develope, and no succeeding 
 naturalist has been able to free it from the obscurity in 
 which he has left it, we mean the effects of retarded im- 
 pregnation. These effects are such as we could hardly 
 credit, were not the fact confirmed by numerous experi- 
 ments. If impregnation be delayed longer than twenty 
 days from the Queen's birth, the consequence is, that 
 none but male eggs are laid, even during the whole of 
 the Queen's life. This phenomenon has baffled every 
 attempt to explain its cause. " There are mysteries," 
 observes Feburier, " in the operations of nature, both in 
 reference to the rational and irrational creation, which 
 will, probably, for ever remain inscrutable to man." In 
 the natural state of things, that is, when fecundation has 
 not been postponed, the Queen lays the eggs of workers 
 in forty-six hours after her union with the male, and 
 continues for the subsequent eleven months to produce 
 these alone, and it is only after this period that a consi- 
 derable laying of the eggs of drones commences. These 
 male eggs require eleven months to attain to maturity, 
 but, under the effects of retardation, they are matured in 
 forty-six hours. The eggs of workers, which, in the 
 usual state of things, would have been laid first, never 
 come to light; their vitality has been destroyed by some 
 vitiation which has taken place, and the cause of which 
 has not yet been discovered. Huber, in reasoning on 
 the subject, and contemplating the difficulty attending 
 it, declares it to be fl an abyss in which he is lost." 
 There is another circumstance which he has not adverted 
 to, and which seems to increase these difficulties. He 
 asserts that before a Queen commences her great laying 
 of male-eggs, she must be eleven months old. But 
 he acknowledges that " a Queen hatched in spring, 
 will perhaps lay fifty or sixty eggs of drones in whole, 
 during the course of the ensuing summer." We know 
 this to be true from our own experience ; and also as 
 the usual consequence of this appearance of male-eggs, 
 that the bees commence building royal cells ; the Queen 
 lays in them, and swarming takes place. Now this par- 
 tial laying of drone-eggs takes place only in the case of 
 very early swarms ; and if the weather be unfavourable, 
 it does not happen even in them. But if in the natural 
 state, the space of eleven months be necessary for the 
 male-eggs to acquire that degree of increment they must 
 have attained when laid, how are we to explain the fact 
 of two or three score of these male-eggs making their 
 appearance before the mother-bee is six weeks old ? 
 Leaving this matter in the obscurity which we cannot 
 dispel, we have only further to observe, that in every 
 case of retarded impregnation the instinct of the Queen 
 appears to be greatly impaired. She lays her eggs indis- 
 criminately in drone and worker cells ; now and then 
 even in royal cells ; and does not evince that jealousy 
 and irritable temperament towards her rivals, which, in 
 the natural state, characterize the Queen. Naturalist's 
 Library. Entomology. Vol. vi. Bees, Edinburgh t 
 1840. 
 
516 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 by the little animal at leisure. Every bee, 
 when it leaves the hive to collect this precious 
 store, enters into the cup of the flower, parti- 
 cularly such as seem charged with the great- 
 est quantities of this yellow farina. As the 
 animal's body is covered over with hair, it 
 rolls itself within the flower, and soon becomes 
 quite covered with the dust, which it soon af- 
 ter brushes off with its two hind-legs, and 
 kneads into two little balls. In the thighs of 
 the hind-legs there are two cavities, edged 
 with hair, and into these, as into a basket, the 
 animal sticks its pellets. Thus employed, the 
 bee flies from flower to flower, increasing its 
 store, and adding to its stock of wax ; until 
 the ball upon each thigh becomes as big as a 
 grain of pepper : by this time, having got a 
 sufficient load, it returns, making the best of 
 its way to the hive. 1 
 
 1 The celebrated John Hunter shrewdly remarked 
 that the pellets of pollen seen on the thighs of bees are 
 of different colours on different bees, while the shade of 
 the new-made comb is always uniform ; and therefore he 
 concluded that pollen was not the origin of wax. Pol- 
 len also, he observed, is collected with greater avidity for 
 old hives, where the comb is complete, than for those 
 where it is only begun, which would hardly be the case 
 were it the material of wax. He found that when the 
 r weather was cold and wet in June, so that a young 
 swarm was prevented from going abroad, as much comb 
 was constructed as had been made in an equal time 
 when the weather was favourable and fine. The pellets 
 of pollen on the thighs being thence proved not to be wax, 
 he came to the conclusion that it was an external secre- 
 tion originating between the plates of the belly. When 
 he first observed this, he felt not a little embarrassed to 
 explain the phenomenon, and doubted whether new 
 plates were forming, or whether bees cast the old ones 
 as lobsters do their shells. By melting the scales, he 
 ascertained at least that they were wax; and his opinion 
 ivas confirmed by the fact, that the scales are only to be 
 found during the season when the combs are constructed. 
 But he did not succeed in completing the discovery by 
 observing the bees actually detach the scales, though he 
 conjectured they might be taken up by others, if they 
 were once shaken out from between the rings. 
 
 That wax is secreted, is proved both by the wax 
 pouches within the rings of the abdomen, and by actual 
 experiment. Huber and others fed bees entirely upon 
 honey or sugar, and, notwithstanding, wax was produced 
 and combs formed as if they had been at liberty to select 
 their food. " When bees were confined," says M. Hu- 
 ber, " for the purpose of discovering whether honey was 
 sufficient for the production of wax, they supported their 
 captivity patiently, and showed uncommon perseverance 
 in rebuilding their combs as we removed them. Our 
 experiments required the presence of grubs; honey and 
 water had to be provided; the bees were to be supplied 
 with combs containing brood, and at the same time it 
 was necessary to confine them, that they might not seek 
 pollen abroad. Having a swarm by chance, which had 
 become useless from the sterility of the queen, we devo- 
 ted it for our investigation in one of my leaf hives, which 
 was glazed on both sides. We removed the queen, and 
 substituted combs containing eggs and young grubs, but 
 no cell with farina; even the smallest particle of the 
 substance which John Hunter conjectured to be the ba- 
 sis of the nutriment of the young was taken away. No- 
 thing remarkable occurred during the first and second 
 day: the bees brooded over the young, and seemed to 
 
 The belly of the bee is divided into six 
 rings, which sometimes shorten the body, by 
 slipping one over the other. It contains with- 
 in it, beside the intestines, the honey-bag, the 
 
 take an interest in them; but at sunset, on the third, a 
 loud noise was heard in the hive. Impatient to discover 
 the reason, we opened a shutter, and saw all in confusion ; 
 the brood was abandoned; the workers ran in disorder 
 over the combs; thousands rushed towards the lower part 
 of the hive ; and those about the entrance gnawed at its 
 grating. Their design was not equivocal; they wished 
 to quit their prison. Some imperious necessity evidently 
 obliged them to seek elsewhere what they could not find 
 in the hive; and apprehensive that they might perish if 
 I restrained them longer from yielding to their instinct, 
 I set them at liberty. The whole swarm escaped ; but 
 the hour being unfavourable for their collections, they 
 flew around the hive, and did not depart from it. In- 
 creasing darkness and the coolness of the air compelled 
 them very soon to return. Probably these circumstances 
 calmed their agitation ; for we observed them peaceably 
 remounting their combs; order seemed re-established, 
 and we took advantage of this moment to close the hive. 
 Next day, the 19th of July, we saw the rudiments of 
 two royal cells, which the bees had lormed on one of the 
 brood combs. This evening, at the same hour as on the 
 preceding, we again heard a loud buzzing in the closed 
 hive ; agitation and disorder rose to the highest degree, 
 and we were again obliged to let the swarm escape. 
 The bees did not remain long absent from their habita- 
 tion ; they quieted and returned as before. We re- 
 marked on the 20th, that the royal cells had not been 
 continued, as would have been the case in the ordinary 
 state of things. A great tumult took place in the even- 
 ing ; the bees appeared to be in a delirium ; we set them 
 at liberty, and order was restored on their return. Their 
 captivity having endured five days, we thought it need- 
 less to protract it farther ; besides, we were desirous of 
 knowing, whether the brood was in a suitable condition, 
 and if it had made the usual progress ; and we wished 
 also to try to discover what might be the cause of the perio- 
 dical agitation of the bees. M. Burnens (the assistant 
 of Huber) having exposed the two brood combs, the royal 
 cells were immediately recognized; but it was obvious 
 that they had not been enlarged. Why should they ? 
 Neither eggs, grubs, nor that kind of paste peculiar to the 
 individuals of their species, were there ! The other 
 cells were vacant likewise ; no brood, not an atom of 
 paste was in them. Thus the worms had died of hun- 
 ger. Had we precluded the bees from all means of sus- 
 tenance by removing the farina ? To decide this point, 
 it was necessary to confide other broods to the care of the 
 same insects, now giving them abundance of pollen. 
 They had not been enabled to make any collections while 
 we examined their combs. On this occasion they es- 
 caped in an apartment where the windows were shut ; 
 and after substituting young worms for those they had 
 allowed to perish, we returned them to their prison. 
 Next day we remarked that they had resumed courage ; 
 they had consolidated the combs, and remained on the 
 brood. They were then provided with fragments ol 
 combs, where other workers had stored up farina ; and to 
 be able to observe what they did with it, we took this 
 substance from some of their cells, and spread it on. the 
 board of the hive. The bees soon discovered both the 
 farina in the combs and what we had exposed to them. 
 They crowded to the cells, and also descending to the 
 bottom of the hives, took the pollen grain by grain in 
 their teeth, and conveyed it to their mouths. Those that 
 had eaten it most greedily, mounted the combs before 
 the rest, and stopping on the cells of the young worms, 
 inserted their heads, and remained there for a certain 
 time. M. Burnens opened one of the divisions of the 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 517 
 
 venom-bag, and the sting. The honey-bag 
 is as transparent as crystal, containing the 
 honey that the bee has brushed from the 
 flowers ; of which the greater part is carried 
 to the hive, and poured into the cells of the 
 honey-comb, while the remainder serves for 
 the bee's own nourishment ; for, during sum- 
 mer, it never touches what has been laid up 
 for winter. The sting which serves to defend 
 this little animal from its enemies, is compos- 
 ed of three parts ; the sheath and two darts, 
 which are extremely small and penetrating. 
 Both the darts have several small points or 
 barbs, like those of a fish-hook, which render 
 the sting more painful, and make the darts 
 rankle in the wound. Still, however, this 
 instrument would be very slight, did not the 
 bee poison the wound. The sheath, which 
 has a sharp point, makes the first impression ; 
 which is followed by that of the darts, and 
 then the venomous liquor is poured in. The 
 sheath sometimes sticks so fast in the wound, 
 that the animal is obliged to leave it behind ; 
 by which the bee soon after dies, and the 
 wound is considerably inflamed. It might 
 at first appear well for mankind, if the bee 
 were without its sting ; but upon recollection, 
 it will be found, that the little animal would 
 then have too many rivals in sharing its la- 
 bours. A hundred other lazy animals, fond 
 of honey, and hating labour, would intrude 
 upon the sweets of the hive ; and the treasure 
 would be carried off for want of armed guard- 
 ians to protect it. 
 
 From examining the bee singly, we now 
 come to consider it in society, as an animal 
 not only subject to laws, but active, vigilant, 
 laborious, and disinterested. All its provisions 
 are laid up for the community ; and all its 
 
 hive gently, and powdered the workers, for the purpose 
 of recognizing them when they should ascend the combs. 
 He observed them during several hours, and by this 
 means ascertained that they took so great a quantity of 
 pollen only to impart it to their young. Then with- 
 drawing the portions of comb which had been placed by 
 us on the board of the hive, we saw that the pollen had 
 been sensibly diminished in quantity. They were re- 
 turned to the bees, to augment their provision still far- 
 ther, for the purpose of extending the experiment. The 
 royal, as well as several common cells were soon closed ; 
 and, on opening the hive, all the worms were found to 
 have prospered. Some still had their food before them ; 
 the cells of others that had spun were shut with a waxen 
 covering. We witnessed these facts repeatedly, and al- 
 ways with equal interest. They so decisively prove the 
 regard of the bees towards the grubs which they are en- 
 trusted with rearing, that we shall not seek for any other 
 explanation of their conduct. Another fact, no less ex- 
 traordinary, and much more difficult to be accounted for, 
 was exhibited by bees constrained to work in wax, seve- 
 ral times successively, from the syrup of sugar. Towards 
 the close of the experiment they ceased to feed the young, 
 though in the beginning these had received the usual 
 attention. They even frequently dragged them from 
 their cells, and carried them out of the hive." 
 
 arts in building a cell, designed for the bene- 
 fit of posterity. The substance with which 
 bees build their cells, is wax ; which is fash- 
 ioned into convenient apartments for themselves 
 and their young. When they begin to work 
 in their hives, they divide themselves into 
 four companies : one of which roves in the 
 fields in search of materials ; another employs 
 itself in laying out the bottom and partitions 
 of their cells; a third is employed in making 
 the inside smooth from the corners and angles ; 
 and the fourth company bring food for the rest, 
 or relieve those who return with their respec- 
 tive burdens. But they are not kept constant 
 to one employment ; they often change the 
 tasks assigned them : those that have been at 
 work, being permitted to go abroad; and those 
 that have been in the fields already, take their 
 places. They seem even to have signs, by 
 which they understand each other ; for when 
 any of them wants food, it bends down its 
 trunk to the bee from whom it is expected, 
 which then opens its honey-bag, and lets some 
 drops fall into the other's mouth, which is at 
 that time open to receive it. Their diligence 
 and labour is so great, that in a day's time 
 they are able to make cells, that lie upon each 
 other, numerous enough to contain three thou- 
 sand bees. 
 
 If we examine their cells, they will be found 
 formed in the exactest proportion. It was 
 said by Pappus, an ancient geometrician, that 
 of all other figures, hexagons were the most 
 convenient; for when placed touching each 
 other, the most convenient room would be 
 given, and the smallest lost. The cells of the 
 bees are perfect hexagons : these, in every 
 honey-comb, are double, opening on either 
 side, and closed at the bottom. The bottoms 
 
 m 
 
 Port of Honey-comb with Queen's cell. 
 
 are composed of little triangular panes, which, 
 when united together, terminate in a point, 
 and lie exactly upon the extremities of other 
 panes of the same shape, in opposite cells. 
 These lodgings have spaces, like streets, be- 
 tween them, large enough to give the bees a 
 free passage in and out ; and yet narrow en- 
 ough to preserve the necessary heat. The 
 mouth of every cell is defended by a border, 
 which makes the door a little less than the in- 
 side of a cell, which serves to strengthen the 
 
518 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 whole. These cells serve for different purpo- 
 ses ; for laying up their young ; for their wax, 
 which in winter becomes a part of their food ; 
 and for their honey, which makes their prin- 
 cipal subsistence. 
 
 It is well known that the habitation of bees 
 ought to be very close ; and what their hives 
 want, from the negligence or unskilfulness of 
 man, these animals supply by their own in- 
 dustry: so that it is their principal care, when 
 first hived, to stop up all the crannies. For 
 this purpose they make use of a resinous gum, 
 which is more tenacious than wax, and differs 
 greatly from it. This the ancients called 
 propolis: it will grow considerably hard in 
 June ; though it will in some measure soften 
 by heat ; and is often found different in con- 
 sistence, colour, and smell. It has generally 
 an agreeable aromatic odour when it is 
 Avarmed ; and by some it is considered as a 
 most grateful perfume. When the bees be- 
 gin to work with it, it is soft, but it acquires a 
 firmer consistence every day ; till at length it 
 assumes a brown colour, and becomes much 
 harder than wax. The bees carry it on their 
 hinder legs ; and some think it is met with on 
 the birch, the willow, and poplar. However 
 it is procured, it is certain that they plaster the 
 inside of their hives with this composition. 
 
 If examined through a glass hive, from the 
 hurry the whole swarm is in, the whole ap- 
 pears at first like anarchy and confusion ; but 
 the spectator soon finds every animal diligent- 
 ly employed, and following one pursuit, with 
 a settled purpose. Their teeth are the instru- 
 ments by which they model and fashion their 
 various buildings, and give them such sym- 
 metry and perfection. They begin at the top 
 of the hive ; and several of them work at a 
 time at the cells which have two faces. If 
 they are stinted with regard to time, they give 
 the new cells but half the depth which they 
 ought to have ; leaving them imperfect, till 
 they have sketched out the number of cells ne- 
 cessary for the present occasion. The con- 
 struction of their combs costs them a great deal 
 of labour : they are made by insensible addi- 
 tions ; and not cast at once in a mould, as some 
 are apt to imagine. There seems no end of 
 their shaping, finishing, and turning them 
 neatly up. The cells for their young are most 
 carefully formed ; those designed for lodging 
 the drones, are larger than the rest ; and that 
 for the queen-bee the largest of all. The cells 
 in which the young brood are lodged, serve at 
 different times for containing honey ; and this 
 proceeds from an obvious cause : every worm, 
 before it is transformed into an aurelia, hangs 
 its old skin on the partitions of its cell ; and 
 thus, while it strengthens the wall, diminishes 
 the capacity of its late apartment. The same 
 cell, in a single summer, is often tenanted by 
 
 three or four worms in succession ; and the 
 next season by three or four more. Each 
 worm takes particular care to fortify the pan- 
 nels of its cell, by hanging up its spoils there: 
 thus, the partitions being lined six or eight 
 deep, become at last too narrow for a new 
 brood, and are converted into store-houses for 
 honey. 
 
 Those cells where nothing but honey is de- 
 posited, are much deeper than the rest. When 
 the harvest of honey is so plentiful that they 
 have not sufficient room for it, they either 
 lengthen their combs, or build more; which 
 are much longer than the former. Sometimes 
 they work at three combs at a time ; for when 
 there are three work-houses, more bees may 
 be thus employed, without embarrassing each 
 other. 
 
 But honey, as was before observed, is not 
 the only food upon which these animals sub- 
 sist. The meal of flowers, of which their wax 
 is formed, is one of their most favourite re- 
 pasts. This is a diet which they live upon 
 during the summer ; and of which they lay up 
 a large winter provision. The wax of which 
 their combs are made, is no more than this 
 meal digested, and wrought into a paste. 
 When the flowers upon which bees generally 
 feed, are not fully blown, and this meal or dust 
 is not offered in sufficient quantities, the bees 
 pinch the tops of the stamina in which it is 
 contained, with their teeth ; and thus antici- 
 pate the progress of vegetation. In April and 
 May, the bees are busy, from morning to even- 
 ing, in gathering this meal ; but when the 
 weather becomes too hot in the midst of sum- 
 mer, they work only in the morning. 
 
 The bee is furnished with a stomach for its 
 wax, as well as its honey. In the former of 
 the two, their powder is altered, digested, and 
 concocted into real wax, and is thus ejected 
 by the same passage by which it was swal- 
 lowed. Every comb, newly made, is white : 
 but it becomes yellow as it grows old, and al- 
 most black when kept too long in the hive. 
 Beside the wax thus digested, there is a large 
 portion of the powder kneaded up for food in 
 every hive, and kept in separate cells, for win- 
 ter provision. This is called by the country 
 people, bee-bread ; and contributes to the 
 health and strength of the animal during win- 
 ter. Those who rear bees, may rob them of 
 their honey, and feed them, during the win- 
 ter, with treacle; but no proper substitute has 
 yet been found for the bee-bread; and, with- 
 out it, the animals become consumptive, and 
 die. 
 
 As for the honey, it is extracted from that 
 part of the flower called the nectareum. From 
 the mouth this delicious fluid passes into the 
 gullet ; and then into the first stomach, or 
 honey-bag, which, when filled, appears like 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 519 
 
 an oblong bladder. Children that live in 
 country places, are well acquainted with this 
 bladder; and destroy many bees, to come at 
 their store of honey. When a bee has suffi- 
 ciently filled its first stomach, it returns back 
 to the hive, where it disgorges the honey into 
 one of the cells. It often happens that the bee 
 delivers its store to some other, at the mouth 
 of the hive, and flies off for a fresh supply. 
 Some honeycombs are always left open for 
 common use ; but many others are stopped up, 
 till there is a necessity of opening them. Each 
 of these is covered carefully with wax ; so 
 close, that the covers seem to be made at the 
 very instant the fluid is deposited within them. 
 Having thus given a cursory description of 
 the insect, individually considered, and of the 
 habitation it forms, we next come to its social 
 habits and institutions : and, in considering 
 this little animal attentively, after the necessary 
 precautions for the immediate preservation of 
 the community, its second care is turned to the 
 continuance of posterity. How numerous 
 soever the multitude of bees may appear in 
 one swarm, yet they all owe their original to 
 a single parent, which is called the Queen-Bee. 
 It is indeed surprising that a single insect 
 shall, in one summer, give birth to above 
 twenty thousand young : but, upon opening 
 her body the wonder will cease; as the num- 
 ber of eggs appearing at one time, amounts to 
 five thousand. 1 This animal, whose existence 
 
 1 On the conversion of the larva of a Worker into a 
 Queen. Bees, when deprived of their queen, are en- 
 dowed by nature with the power of remedying this ca- 
 lamity, by converting a worker larva into a royal one ; 
 and, by means of a cell of a larger size, and of a peculiar 
 kind of nourishment, of producing a female that shall be, 
 to all intents and purposes, a queen or mother-bee, cap- 
 able of perpetuating her kind. The discovery of this 
 singular fact is generally attributed to Schirach, and, 
 probably, with justice ; for, although the practice of mak- 
 ing artificial swarms, which can only be effected by 
 causing the production of artificial queens, is said to have 
 pervailed amongst the modern Greeks and Italians from 
 a very early period, it does not follow, nor does it appear 
 from any authentic documents, that they were aware of 
 the reason why. The manner in which Schirach made 
 the discovery is interesting: Having used a great 
 quantity of smoke in some of his operations, the bees 
 were so annoyed by it that numbers of them left the hive, 
 and, amongst them, the queen. Knowing the conse- 
 quences of her loss, he sought for her diligently, but in vain. 
 Next morning he observed a cluster of bees about the 
 size of an apple on the prop of the hive whose queen had 
 fled ; here he discovered a queen, and, having carried 
 her to the entrance of the hive which had lost its own, she 
 was immediately surrounded by the bees, and treated in 
 such a manner as plainly announced that she was their 
 queen. " What was my astonishment," he proceeds, 
 " when, wishing to introduce her among the combs, I 
 saw that the bees remaining had already planned and 
 almost finished three royal cells ! Struck with the ac- 
 tivity and sagacity of these creatures, to save themselves 
 from impending destruction, I was filled with admira- 
 tion, and adored the infinite goodness of God in the care 
 taken to perpetuate his works. Having carried away two 
 
 is of so much importance to her subjects, may 
 easily be distinguished from the rest by her 
 size, and the shape of her body. On her 
 safety depends the whole welfare of the com- 
 monwealth ; and the attentions paid her by 
 all the rest of the swarm, evidently show the 
 dependence her subjects have upon her 
 security. If this insect be carefully observed, 
 
 of the cells to ascertain whether the bees would continue 
 their operations, I beheld, next morning, with the utmost 
 surprise, that they had removed all the food from around 
 the third worm left behind, on purpose to prevent its 
 conversion to a queen." The fact of this power possessed 
 by the bees is so extraordinary, that its reality was at 
 first called in question by several eminent naturalists, 
 among others, by the justly celebrated Bonnet. This 
 naturalist was at last, however, convinced of its reality 
 by experiments instituted by himself, and, satisfied that 
 all the working-bees are females of imperfect organisa- 
 tion, expressed his opinion that the evolution of the germ 
 is effected by the action of the prolific matter as a stim- 
 ulant, as a substantial nutriment suitable for that pur- 
 pose ; and he supposes that a certain quality of food ad- 
 ministered more copiously than in ordinary cases, may 
 unfold those organs in the larvae of bees that never would 
 have appeared without it. He conceived, also, that a 
 habitation, like a queen-cell, considerably more spacious, 
 and differently placed, is absolutely necessary to the com- 
 plete development of organs, which the new nutriment 
 may cause to grow in all directions. It furnishes a sur- 
 prising evidence of the slow degrees by which scientific 
 facts make their way, if not essential to general utility, 
 when we consider that to this day, the knowledge of this 
 singularity in the natural history of this insect, is confined 
 almost exclusively to apiarians, and even rejected by 
 some of them. It has, however, been confirmed by so 
 many experiments instituted by many different individ- 
 uals, that no unprejudiced mind can withhold its assent 
 from its truth. 
 
 The proceedings of the bees, in order to supply the loss 
 of their queen, are extremely interesting. In about 
 twenty-four hours they are aware of the misfortune that 
 has befallen them, and, without loss of time, they set 
 about repairing the disaster. They fix upon a worm not 
 more than three days old, demolish the three contiguous 
 cells, and raise around it a regular cylindrical inclosure. 
 At the end of three days, the workers change the direc- 
 tion of the cell, which has hitherto been horizontal, into 
 a perpendicular position, working downwards till itassume 
 the appearance of a stalactite. In due time it is sealed, 
 and the larva undergoes its metamorphosis into a royal 
 nymph. Huber gives a detail of some interesting ex- 
 periments on this head, the substance only of which we 
 can present to our readers. He deprived a hive of its 
 queen, and put into it some pieces of comb containing 
 worker eggs. The same day several cells were enlarged 
 by the bees, and converted into royal cells, and the larvae 
 supplied with a profusion of jelly. He then removed 
 these worms from the royal cells, and substituted for 
 them as many common worms from workers' cells. The 
 bees did not seem aware of the change, they watched 
 over the new worms as intently as over those chosen by 
 themselves ; they continued enlarging the cells, and 
 closed them at the usual time. At the proper time, two 
 queens were hatched, almost at the same moment, of 
 the largest size, and well formed in every respect. Noth- 
 ing could be more conclusive than this experiment. It 
 demonstrated that bees have the power of converting the 
 worms of workers into queens, since they succeeded in 
 procuring them by operating on worms not chosen by 
 themselves, but selected for them. Naturalist's Library. 
 Edin. 1840. 
 
520 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 she will be seen at times attended with a 
 numerous retinue, marching from cell to cell, 
 plunging the extremity of her body into many 
 of them, and leaving a small egg in each. 
 
 The bees which generally compose her 
 train are thought to be males, which serve to 
 impregnate her by turns. These are larger 
 arid blacker than the common bees ; without 
 stings, and without, industry. They seem 
 formed only to transmit a posterity ; and to 
 attend the queen, whenever she thinks proper to 
 issue from the secret retreats of the hive, where 
 she most usually resides. Upon the union of 
 these two kinds depends all expectations of a 
 future progeny ; for the working bees are of 
 no sex, and only labour for another offspring : 
 yet such is their attention to the queen, that 
 if she happens to die, they will leave off 
 working, and take no further care of posterity. 
 If, however, another queen is, in this state of 
 universal despair, presented them, they im- 
 mediately acknowledge her for their sovereign, 
 and once more diligently apply to their labour. 
 It must be observed, however, that all this 
 fertility of the queen-bee, and the great at- 
 tentions paid to her by the rest, are contro- 
 verted by more recent observers. They assert, 
 that the common bees are parents themselves ; 
 that they deposit their eggs in the ceils which 
 they have prepared ; that the females are im- 
 pregnated by the males, and bring forth a 
 progeny, which is wholly their own. 1 
 
 However, to go on with their history, as 
 delivered us by Mr Reaumur. When the 
 queen-bee has deposited the number of eggs 
 necessary in the cells, the working bees under- 
 take the care of the rising posterity. They 
 are seen to leave olf their usual employments ; 
 to construct proper receptacles for eggs ; or to 
 complete those that are already formed. They 
 purposely build little cells, extremely solid, 
 for the young ; in which they employ a great 
 deal of wax : those designed for lodging the 
 males, as was already observed, are larger 
 than the rest ; and those for the queen-bees 
 the largest of all. There is usually but one 
 egg deposited in every cell ; but when the 
 fecundity of the queen is such, that it exceeds 
 the number of cells already prepared, there 
 are sometimes three or four eggs crowded 
 together in the same apartment. But this is 
 an inconvenience that the working bees will 
 by no means suffer. They seem sensible that 
 two young ones, stuffed up in the same cell, 
 when they grow larger, will but embarrass 
 and at last destroy each other : they therefore 
 take care to leave a cell to every egg ; and 
 remove or destroy the rest. 
 
 The single egg that is left remaining, is 
 xed to the bottom of the cell, and touches it 
 
 1 See Note at the beginning of the chapter. 
 
 but in a single point. A day or two after it 
 is deposited, the worm is excluded from the 
 shell of the egg, having the appearance of a 
 maggot rolled up in a ring, and lying softly 
 on a bed of a whitish-coloured jelly ; upon 
 which also the little animal begins to feed. 
 In the meantime, the instant it appears, the 
 working bees attend it with the most anxious 
 and parental tenderness ; they furnish it every 
 hour with a supply of this whitish substance, 
 on which it feeds and lies ; and watch the 
 cell with unremitting care. They are nurses 
 that have a greater affection for the offspring 
 of others, than many parents have for their 
 own children. They are constant in visiting 
 each cell, and seeing that nothing is wanting; 
 preparing the white mixture, which is nothing 
 but a composition of honey and wax, in their 
 own bowels, with which they feed them. 
 Thus attended, and plentifully fed, the worm, 
 in less than six days' time, comes to its full 
 growth, and no longer accepts the food offered 
 it. When the bees perceive that it has no 
 further occasion for feeding, they perform the 
 last offices of tenderness, and shut the little 
 animal up in its cell ; walling up the mouth 
 of its apartment with wax : where they leave 
 the worm to itself ; having secured it from 
 every external injury. 
 
 The worm is no sooner left inclosed, but 
 from a state of inaction, it begins to labour, 
 extending and shortening its body ; and by 
 this means lining the walls of its apartment 
 with a silken tapestry, which it spins in the 
 manner of caterpillars, before they undergo 
 their last transformation. When their cell is 
 thus prepared, the animal is soon after trans- 
 formed into an aurelia ; but differing from 
 that of the common caterpillar, as it exhibits 
 not only the legs, but the wings of the future 
 bee, in its present state of inactivity. Thus, 
 in about twenty or one and twenty days after 
 the egg was laid, the bee is completely formed, 
 and fitted to undergo the fatigues of its state. 
 When all its parts have acquired their proper 
 strength and consistence, the young animal 
 opens its prison, by piercing with its teeth the 
 waxen door that confines it. When just 
 freed from its cell, it is as yet moist, and in- 
 commoded with the spoils of its former situa- 
 tion : but the officious bees are soon seen to flock 
 round it, and to lick it clean on all sides with 
 their trunks ; while another band, with equal 
 assiduity, are observed to feed it with honey : 
 others again begin immediately to cleanse the 
 cell that has been just left ; to carry the ordure 
 out of the hive, and to fit the place for a new 
 inhabitant. The young bee soon repays their 
 care by its industry ; for as soon as ever its 
 external parts become dry, it discovers its 
 natural appetites for labour, and industriously 
 begins the task, which it pursues unremittingly 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 521 
 
 through life. The toil of man is irksome to 
 him, and he earns his subsistence with pain ; 
 but this little animal seems happy in its 
 pursuits, and finds delight in all its employ- 
 ments. 
 
 When just freed from the cell, and pro- 
 perly equipped by its fellow-bees for duty, it 
 at once issues from the hive, and instructed 
 only by Nature, goes in quest of flowers, 
 chooses only those that yield it a supply, 
 rejects such as are barren of honey, or have 
 been already drained by other adventurers ; 
 and when loaded, is never at a loss to find its 
 way back to the common habitation. After 
 this first sally, it begins to gather the mealy 
 powder that lies on every flower, which is 
 afterwards converted into wax ; and with this, 
 the very first day, it returns with two large 
 balls stuck to its thighs. 
 
 When bees first begin to break their prisons, 
 there are generally above a hundred excluded 
 in one day. Thus, in the space of a few weeks, 
 the number of the inhabitants in one hive, of 
 moderate size, becomes so great, that there is 
 no place to contain the new comers ; and they 
 are scarcely excluded from the cell, when they 
 are obliged, by the old bees, to sally forth in 
 quest of new habitations. In other words, the 
 hive begins to swarm, and the new progeny 
 prepares for exile. 1 
 
 1 Those not experienced in the nature of bees, may be 
 greatly deceived in the purchasing of hives for stock. It 
 can only be by a minute examination of the interior of 
 the hive, that a just estimate of its value may be gained ; 
 this, however, is attended with much difficulty, and some 
 danger; but by the outward appearance and weight of 
 the hive he may perhaps arrive at nearly a correct con- 
 jecture. The best season for purchasing is either in 
 February or at the swarming season ; in February it has 
 survived the rigour of winter, and the purchaser has 
 then only to attend to the population of the hive, or its 
 apparent age. Let the purchaser observe with attention 
 the number of bees which enter the hive loaded with the 
 fruits of their industry ; and if an apparently equal num- 
 ber departs in great bustle and hurry, he may then con- 
 jecture the hive to be in good health and well populated ; 
 and if a loud humming noise is heard within the hive, it 
 is a certain sign of its strength and prosperity. The 
 weight of a hive in February should never be under fifteen 
 pounds, nor in autumn under thirty ; and care should be 
 taken that the hive is new, for in old hives a quantity of 
 farina or bee-head accumulates, which adds considerably 
 to its weight ; the purchaser should also reject a hive 
 when he observes its straw decayed and rotten, the 
 ligaments loose, and frequent blotches over it, for it will 
 cost him incessant trouble and vexation to keep it in a 
 sufficient state of preservation, so as to maintain the 
 health of his bees. 
 
 The apiary, or place where the bee-hives are placed, 
 should in very warm situations be made to face the east, 
 and incolder districts the south-east. It should bewell pro- 
 tected from high winds, which not only prevent the bees 
 from leaving the hive in quest of honey, but they also 
 surprise them in the fields, and often kill them by dashing 
 them against the trees and rocks or into rivers. The 
 hives in an apiary should always be placed in a right 
 line ; but should the number of the hives be great, and 
 the situation not capacious enough to admit of flieir being 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 While there is room enough in the hive, 
 the bees remain quietly together ; it is neces- 
 sity alone that compels the separation. Some- 
 times, indeed, the young brood, with grace- 
 
 placed longitudinally it is more advisable to place them 
 over one another on shelves than in double rows on the 
 ground. A bee, on leaving the hive, generally forms an 
 angle of about forty-five with the horizon ; the elevation 
 of the hive should therefore be about two feet from the 
 ground, in order to protect it from humidity. The greater 
 the elevation of the hive, the longer is the flight of the 
 swarm ; and when they are at a certain point of eleva- 
 tion, the swarms are lost for ever to the proprietor. If 
 the hives are to be placed in a double row, the hinder 
 ones should alternate with, and be placed at such a dis- 
 tance from, the front ones, that when the bees take their 
 flight no obstruction is offered to their ascent. Huish 
 recommends placing every hive upon a single pedestal, 
 and at two or three feet distance from each other. By this 
 means, when any thing happens to one hive, the others 
 are less likely to be disturbed than when placed on a 
 shelf in a bee-house ; and the hive may be chained down 
 and locked. It is usual to have three or four legs or 
 supports to the bee-boards ; but those who have tried one 
 will never resort to more, as one is a much better pro- 
 tection from vermin and insects. The space in front of 
 the apiary should be kept clear of high plants for two or 
 three yards. 
 
 The variety of bees employed is a matter of some con- 
 sequence. To the common observer all working bees, 
 as to external appearance, are nearly the same ; but to 
 those who examine them with attention, the difference 
 in size is very distinguishable ; and they are, in their 
 vicious and gentle, indolent and active natures, essen- 
 tially different. Of the stock which Howison had in 
 1810, it required 250 to weigh an ounce ; but they were 
 so vicious and lazy that he changed it for a smaller 
 variety, which possessed much better dispositions, and of 
 which it required 296, on an average, to weigh an ounce. 
 Whether size and disposition are invariably connected, 
 is not determined. 
 
 The best material and form for hives is a straw thimble 
 or flower-pot placed in an inverted position. Hives 
 made of straw, as now in use, have a great advantage 
 over those made of wood and other materials, from the 
 effectual defence they afford against the extremes of heat 
 in summer and cold in winter. 
 
 The size of hives should correspond as nearly as pos- 
 sible with that of the swarms. This has not had that 
 attention paid to it which the subject demands, as much 
 of the success in the management of the bees depends on 
 that circumstance. From blind instinct bees endeavour 
 to fill with combs whatever hive they are put into, before 
 they begin to gather honey. Owing to this, when the 
 hive is too large for its inhabitants, the time for collect- 
 ing their winter store is spent in unprofitable labour ; and 
 starvation is the consequence. This evil also extends to 
 occasioning late swarming the next summer; it being 
 long before the hive becomes so filled with young bees as 
 to produce a necessity for emigration, from which cause 
 the season is too far advanced for the young colonies to 
 procure a winter stock. A full-sized straw hive will 
 hold three pecks ; a small-sized from one and a half to 
 two pecks. 
 
 The Polish hive appears to be the second in merit to 
 that described, and perhaps it may deserve the prefer- 
 ence, if the mode of using it were generally known. It 
 is simply the trunk of a tree, of a foot or fourteen inches 
 in diameter, and about nine feet long. It is scooped out 
 (boring in this country would be better) for about six feet 
 from one end, so as to form a hollow cylinder of that 
 length, and of six or eight inches in diameter within. 
 Part of the circumference of this cylinder is cut out dur- 
 ing the greater part of its length, about four inches wide 
 3 u 
 
522 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 less obstinacy, refuse to depart, and even 
 venture to resist their progenitors. The young 
 ones are known by being browner than the 
 old, with whiter hair ; the old ones are of a 
 lighter colour, with red hair. The two armies 
 are therefore easily distinguishable, and dread- 
 ful battles are often seen to ensue. But the 
 victory almost ever terminates with strict 
 political justice in favour of the veterans, and 
 the rebellious offspring are driven off, not 
 without loss and mutilation. 
 
 In different countries, the swarms make 
 their appearance at different times of the year, 
 and there are several signs previous to this 
 intended migration. The night before, an 
 unusual buzzing is heard in the hive ; in the 
 morning, though the weather be soft and in- 
 viting, they seem not to obey the call, be- 
 ing intent on more important meditations with- 
 in. All labour is discontinued in the hive ; 
 every bee is either employed in forcing, or re- 
 
 and a slip of wood is made to fit the opening. On the 
 sides of this slip, or segment, notches are made every two 
 or three inches, of sufficient size to allow a single bee to 
 pass. This slip may be furnished with hinges, and with 
 a lock and key ; but in Poland it is merely fastened in 
 by a wedge. All that is wanting to complete the hive 
 is a cover at top to throw off the rain ; and then it re- 
 quires only to be placed upright like a strong post in the 
 garden, so as the bottom of the hollow cylinder may be 
 not nearer the ground than two feet, and the opening slip 
 look to the south. When a swarm is to be put in, the 
 tree, with the door or slip opened, is placed obliquely 
 over it ; when the bees enter, the door is closed, and the 
 holes stopped with clay till the hive is planted or placed 
 upright. When honey is wanted, the door is opened 
 during the finest part of a warm day, when most of the 
 bees are out; its entire state is seen from top to bottom, 
 and the operator, with a segar in his mouth, or with a 
 lighted rag, to keep off the bees from his hands, cuts out 
 with a crooked knife as much comb as he thinks fit. In 
 this way fresh honey is obtained during the summer, the 
 bees are never cramped for room, nor does it become 
 necessary to kill them. The old comb, however, is 
 annually cut out, to prevent or lessen the tendency to 
 swarming, which, notwithstanding this and the size of 
 their dwelling, they generally do once a year ; for the 
 laws of nature are not to be changed. Though it be a 
 fact that a small swarm of bees will not do well in a large 
 hive ; yet, if the hive extend in length and not in 
 breadth, it is admitted both by Huber and Huish that 
 they will thrive in it. " If too great a diameter," says 
 Huber, " be not given to the abode of the bee, it may 
 without danger be increased in the elevation ; their 
 success in the hollow trees, their natural domicile, incon- 
 testably proves the truth of this assertion." 
 
 The feeding of bees is generally deferred till winter 
 or spring ; but this is a most erroneous practice. Hives 
 should be examined in the course of the month of Sep. 
 tember, or about the time of killing the drones ; and if 
 a large hive does not weigh thirty pounds, it will be 
 necessary to allow it half a pound of honey, or the same 
 quantity of soft sugar made into syrup, for every pound 
 that it is deficient of that weight ; and in like proportion 
 to smaller hives. This work must not be delayed, that 
 time may be given for the bees to make the deposit in 
 their empty cells before they are rendered torpid by the 
 /old. Sugar simply dissolved in water (which is a 
 practice), and sugar boiled with water into a 
 
 luctantly yielding, a submission ; at length, 
 after some noise and tumult, a queen-bee is 
 chosen to guard, rather than conduct the young 
 colony to other habitations, and then they are 
 marshalled without any apparent conductor. 
 In less than a minute they leave their native 
 abode, and forming a cloud round their pro- 
 tectress, they set off without seeming to know 
 the place of their destination ; the world be- 
 fore them, ivhere to choose their place of rest. 
 The usual time of swarming is from ten in the 
 morning to three in the afternoon, when the 
 sun shines bright, and invites them to seek 
 their fortunes. They flutter for a while in the 
 air, like flakes of snow, and sometimes un- 
 dertake a distant journey, but more frequently 
 are contented with some neighbouring asylum : 
 the branch of a tree, a chimney-top, or some 
 other exposed situation. It is, indeed, re- 
 markable, that all those animals, of whatever 
 kind, that have long been under the protection 
 
 syrup, form compounds very differently suited for the 
 winter store of bees. When the former is wanted for 
 their immediate nourishment, as in spring, it will answer 
 equally as a syrup ; but if to be laid up as store, the heat 
 of the hive quickly evaporating the water, leaves the 
 sugar in dry crystals, not to be acted upon by the trunks 
 of the bees. Hives may be killed with hunger while 
 some pounds' weight of sugar remain in this state in 
 their cells. The boiling of sugar into syrup forms a 
 closer combination with the water, by which it is pre- 
 vented from flying off, and a consistence resembling that 
 of honey retained. Howison had frequent experience of 
 hives, not containing a pound of honey, preserved in 
 perfect health through the winter with sugar so prepared, 
 when given in proper time and in sufficient quantity. 
 The quantity of food which ought to be given to a hive 
 may be calculated in the proportion of two pounds a 
 month ; but if the weather be very cold, a less quantity 
 will suffice. When a hive is fed in the spring, it should 
 always be after sunset, when the bees have returned from 
 the fields ; otherwise the most disastrous consequences 
 may ensue from the robberies committed by the bees of 
 other hives. If they are fed in the morning, it must be 
 before sunrise, and the entrance instantly stopped to keep 
 out depredators ; for as the bees leave the hive on the 
 very first appearance of day-light, a later period would 
 prevent the return of all those who had left the hive 
 previous to the entrance being secured. The following 
 receipt for bees is recommended as beneficial and eco- 
 nomical. To two quarts of good ale put one pound of 
 moist sugar ; boil them until the sugar is wholly dis- 
 solved, carefully skimming it ; when it is cold, it will be 
 found of the consistency of honey, and it may be given 
 to the bees in the following manner : If the bees are in 
 the plain cottage hive, an eek of the same diameter as 
 the hive must be provided, and from three to four hands 
 in height. When the sun is set, and the bees have 
 retired, let the hive be gently raised, and the eek placed 
 on the stool : then, having filled a soup-plate with the 
 food, place it on the eek, and put down the hive. To 
 prevent the bees being drowned in the liquid, it is 
 necessary to place some straws over the plate, and over 
 the straws a piece of paper, either thickly perforated or 
 cut into nicks ; these nicks, however, must not run 
 parallel with the straws, but either across or diagonally; 
 the entrance must then be closed, and the plate removed 
 on the following morning, and the whole of the liquid 
 will be transferred into the combs. 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 523 
 
 of man, seem to lose a part of their natural sa- 
 gacity in providing for themselves. The rab- 
 bit, when domesticated, forgets to dig holes, 
 the hen to build a nest, and the bee to seek a 
 shelter that shall protect it from the inclemen- 
 cies of winter. In those countries where the 
 bees are wild, and unprotected by man, they 
 are always sure to build their waxen cells in 
 the hollow of a tree ; but with us, they seem 
 improvident in their choice, and the first green 
 branch that stops their flight, seems to be 
 thought sufficient for their abode through win- 
 ter. However, it does not appear that the 
 queen chooses the place where they are to 
 alight, for many of the stragglers, who seemed 
 to be pleased with a particular branch, go and 
 settle upon it ; others are seen to succeed ; and, 
 at last, the queen herself, when she finds a 
 sufficient number there before her, goes to 
 make it the place of her head-quarters. When 
 the queen is settled, the rest of the swarm soon 
 follow ; and, in about a quarter of an hour, the 
 whole body seem to be at ease. It sometimes 
 is found, that there are two or three queens to 
 a swarm, and the colony is divided into par- 
 ties ; but it most usually happens, that one of 
 these is more considerable than the others, and 
 the bees, by degrees, desert the weakest, to 
 take shelter under the most powerful protec- 
 tor. The deserted queen does not long sur- 
 vive this defeat ; she takes refuge under the 
 new monarch, and is soon destroyed by her 
 jealous rival. Till this cruel execution is per- 
 formed, the bees never go out to work ; and if 
 there should be a queen-bee belonging to the 
 new colony left in the old hive, she always 
 undergoes the fate of the former. However, 
 it must be observed, that the bees never sacri- 
 fice any of their queens, when the hive is full 
 of wax and honey ; for there is at that time no 
 danger in maintaining a plurality of breeders. 
 When the swarm is thus conducted to a 
 place of rest, and the policy of government is 
 settled, the bees soon resume their former la- 
 bours. The making cells, storing them with 
 honey, impregnating the queen, making pro- 
 per cells for the reception of the rising pro- 
 geny, and protecting them from external dan- 
 ger, employ their unceasing industry. But 
 soon after, and towards the latter end of sum- 
 mer, when the colony is sufficiently stored 
 with inhabitants, a most cruel policy ensues. 
 The drone bees, which are (as has been said) 
 generally in a hive to the number of a hun- 
 dred, are marked for slaughter. These, which 
 had hitherto led a life of indolence and plea- 
 sure, whose only employment was in impreg- 
 nating the queen, and rioting upon the la- 
 bours of the hive, without aiding in the gene- 
 ral toil, now share the fate of most voluptuar- 
 ies, and fall a sacrifice to the general resent- 
 ment of society. 
 
 The working bees in a body declare war 
 against them ; and in two or three days' time 
 the ground all round the hive is covered with 
 their dead bodies. Nay, the working bees 
 will even kill such drones, as are yet in the 
 worm state, in the cell, and eject their bodies 
 from the hive among the general carnage. 
 
 When a hive sends out several swarms in 
 the year, the first is always the best, and the 
 most numerous. These having the whole 
 summer before them, have the more time for 
 making wax and honey, and consequently 
 their labours are the most valuable to the pro- 
 prietor. Although the swarm chiefly consists 
 of the youngest bees, yet it is often found that 
 bees of all ages compose the multitude of emi- 
 grants, and it often happens that bees of all 
 ages are seen remaining behind. The num- 
 ber of them is always more considerable than 
 that of some populous cities, for sometimes 
 upwards of forty thousand are found in a 
 single hive. So large a body may well be sup- 
 posed to work with great expedition ; and in 
 fact, in less than twenty-four hours they will 
 make combs above twenty inches long, and 
 seven or eight broad. Sometimes they will 
 half fill their hives with wax in less than five 
 days. In the first fifteen days, they are al- 
 ways found to make more wax than they do 
 afterwards during the rest of the year. 
 
 Such are the outlines of the natural history 
 of these animals, as usually found in our own 
 country. How they are treated, so as to pro- 
 duce the greatest quantity of honey, belongs 
 rather to the rural economist, than the natural 
 historian ; volumes have been written on the 
 subject, and still more remains equally curious 
 and new. One thing, however, it may be 
 proper to observe, that a farm, or a country, 
 may be over-stocked with bees, as well as with 
 any other sort of animal; for a certain num- 
 ber of hives always require a certain number 
 of flowers to subsist on. When the flowers 
 near home are rifled, then are these indus- 
 trious insects seen taking more extensive 
 ranges : but their abilities may be over taxed ; 
 and if they are obliged, in quest of honey, to 
 go too far from home, they are over-wearied in 
 the pursuit, they are devoured by birds, or' 
 beat down by the winds and rain. 
 
 From a knowledge of this, in some parts of 
 France and Piedmont, they have contrived, as 
 I have often seen, a kind of floating bee- 
 house. 
 
 They have on board one barge threescore 
 or a hundred bee-hives, well defended from 
 the inclemency of an accidental storm : and 
 with these the owners suffer themselves to 
 float gently down the river. As the bees are 
 continually choosing their flowery pasture 
 along the banks of the stream, they are fur- 
 nished with sweets before unrifled ; and thus 
 
524 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 a single floating bee-house yields the proprie- 
 tor a considerable income. Why a method si- 
 milar to this has never been adopted in Eng- 
 land, where we have more gentle rivers, and 
 more flowery banks, than in any other part of 
 the world, I know not : certainly it might be 
 turned to advantage, and yield the possessor a 
 secure, though perhaps a moderate income. 
 
 Having mentioned the industry of these ad- 
 mirable insects, it will be proper to say some- 
 thing of the effects of their labour of that wax 
 and honey which are turned by man to such 
 various uses. Bees gather two kinds of wax; 
 one coarse, and the other fine. The coarser 
 sort is bitter, and with this, which is called 
 propolis, they stop up all the holes and crevi- 
 ces of their hives. 1 It is of a more resinous 
 
 1 It was strongly suspected by Reaumur, that the bees 
 collected the propolis from those trees which are known 
 to produce a similar gummy resin, such as the poplar, 
 the birch, and the willow ; but he was thrown into doubt 
 by not being able to detect the bees in the act of procur- 
 ing it, and by observing them to collect it where none 
 of those trees, nor any other of the same description, 
 grew. His bees also refused to make use of bitumen, 
 and other resinous substances, with which he supplied 
 them, though Mr Knight was more successful. 
 
 Huber at length set the question at rest. ' For many 
 years," says he, " I had fruitlessly endeavoured to find 
 them on trees producing an analogous substance, though 
 multitudes had been seen returning laden with it. In 
 July, some branches of the wild poplar, which had been 
 cut since spring, with very large buds, full of a reddish, 
 viscous, odoriferous matter, were brought to me, and I 
 planted them in vessels before hives, in the way of the 
 bees going out to forage, so that they could not be insen- 
 sible of their presence. Within a quarter of an hour 
 they were visited by a bee, which separating the sheath 
 of a bud with its teeth, drew out threads of the viscous 
 substance, and lodged a pellet of it in one of the baskets 
 of its limbs : from another bud it collected another pellet 
 for the opposite limb, and departed to the hive. A se- 
 cond bee took the place of the former in a few minutes, 
 following the same procedure. Young shoots of poplar, 
 recently cut, did not seem to attract these insects, as 
 their viscous matter had less consistence than the for- 
 mer. Different experiments proved the identity of this 
 substance with propolis; and now, having only to disco- 
 ver how the bees applied it to use, we peopled a hive, 
 so prepared as to fulfil our views. The bees, building 
 upwards, soon reached the glass above ; but, unable to 
 quit their habitation, on account of rain, they were three 
 weeks without bringing home propolis. Their combs 
 remained perfectly white until the beginning of July, 
 when the state of the atmosphere became more favourable 
 for our observations. Serene warm weather engaged 
 them to forage, and they returned from the fields laden 
 with a resinous gum, resembling a transparent jelly, and 
 having the colour and lustre of the garnet. It was easily 
 distinguished from the farinaceous pellets then collected 
 by other bees. The workers bearing the propolis ran 
 over the clusters suspended from the roof of the hive, 
 and rested on the rods supporting the combs, or some- 
 times stopped on the sides of their dwelling, in expecta- 
 tion of their companions coming to discumber them of 
 their burden. We actually saw two or three arrive, and 
 carry the propolis from off the limbs of each with their 
 teeth. The upper part of the hive exhibited the most 
 animated spectacle : thither a multitude of bees resorted 
 from all quarters, to engage in the predominant occupa- 
 tion of the collection, distribution, and application of the 
 
 nature than the fine wax, and is consequently- 
 better qualified to resist the moisture of the 
 season, and preserve the works warm and dry 
 within. The fine wax is as necessary to the 
 
 propolis. Some conveyed that of which they had un- 
 loaded the purveyors in their teeth, and deposited it in 
 heaps; others hastened, before its hardening, to spread 
 it out like a varnish, or form it into strings, proportioned 
 to the interstices of the sides of the hive to be filled up. 
 Nothing could be more diversified than the operations 
 carried on. 
 
 The bees, apparently charged with applying the pro- 
 polis within the cells, were easily distinguished from the 
 multitude of workers, by the direction of their heads to- 
 wards the horizontal pane forming the roof of the hive, 
 and on reaching it, they deposited their burden nearly 
 in the middle of intervals separating the combs : then 
 they conveyed the propolis to the real place of its destina- 
 tion. They suspended themselves by the claws of the 
 hind legs to points of support, afforded by the viscosity of 
 the propolis on the glass ; and, as it were, swinging 
 themselves backwards and forwards, brought the heap of 
 this substance nearer to the cells at each impulse. Here 
 the bees employed their fore feet, which remained free, 
 to sweep what the teeth had detached, and to unite the 
 fragments scattered over the glass, which recovered all 
 its transparency when the whole propolis was brought to 
 the vicinity of the cells. After some of the bees had 
 smoothed down and cleaned out the glazed cells, feeling 
 the way with their antennae, one desisted, and having 
 approached a heap of propolis, drew out a thread with its 
 teeth. This being broken off, it was taken in the claws 
 of the forefeet, and the bee, re-entering the cell, imme- 
 diately placed it in the angle of two portions that had 
 been smoothed, in which operation the fore feet and teeth 
 were used alternately ; but probably proving too clumsy,' 
 the thread was reduced and polished ; and we admired 
 the accuracy with which it was adjusted when the work 
 was completed. The insect did not stop here : return- 
 ing to the cell, it prepared other parts of it to receive a 
 second thread, for which we did not doubt that the heap 
 would be resorted to. Contrary to our expectation, how- 
 ever, it availed itself of the portion of the thread cut off 
 on the former occasion, arranged it in the appointed 
 place, and gave it all the solidity and finish of which it 
 was susceptible. Other bees concluded the work which 
 the first had begun ; and the sides of the cells were speed- 
 ily secured with threads of propolis, while some were 
 also put on the orifices ; but we could not seize the mo- 
 ment when they were varnished, though it may be easily 
 conceived how it is done." 
 
 This is not the only use to which bees apply the pro- 
 polis. They are extremely solicitous to remove such in 
 sects or foreign bodies as happen to get admission into 
 the hive. When so light as not to exceed their powers, 
 they first kill the insect with their stings, and then dray 
 it out with their teeth. But it sometimes happens, as 
 was first observed by Maraldi, and since by Reaumur 
 and others, that an ill-fated snail creeps into the hive : 
 this is no sooner perceived than it is attacked on all 
 sides, and stung to death. But how are the bees to carry 
 out so heavy a burthen? Such a labour would be in 
 vain. To prevent the noxious smell which would arise, 
 from its putrefaction, they immediately embalm it, by 
 covering every part of its body with propolis, through 
 which no effluvia can escape. When a snail with a 
 shell gets entrance, to dispose of "it gives much less 
 trouble and expense to the bees. As soon as it receives 
 the first wound from a sting, it naturally retires within 
 its shell. Tn this case, the bees, instead of pasting it all 
 over with propolis, content themselves with gluing all 
 round the margin of the shell, which is sufficient to rea- 
 der the animal for ever immovably fixed. 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 525 
 
 animal's preservation as the honey itself. 
 With this they make their lodgings, with this 
 they cover the cells of their young, and in 
 this they lay up their magazines of honey. 
 This is made, as has been already observed, 
 from the dust of flowers, which is carefully 
 kneaded by the little insect, then swallowed, 
 and having undergone a kind of digestion, is 
 formed into the cells, which answer such a 
 variety of purposes. To collect this, the ani- 
 mal rolls itself in the flower it would rob, and 
 thus takes up the vegetable dust with the hair 
 of its body. Then carefully brushing it into 
 a lump, with its fore- paws it thrusts the com- 
 position into two cavities behind the thighs, 
 which are made like spoons to receive the 
 wax, and the hair that lines them serves to 
 keep it from falling. 
 
 As of wax, there are also two kinds of ho- 
 ney ; the white and the yellow. The white 
 is taken without fire from the honey-combs. 
 The yellow is extracted by heat, and squeezed 
 through bags, in a press. The best honey is 
 new, thick, and granulated, of a clear trans- 
 parent white colour, of a soft and aromatic 
 smell, and of a sweet lively taste. Honey 
 made in mountainous countries is preferable 
 to that of the valley. The honey made in the 
 spring is more highly esteemed than that of 
 autumn, when the flowers begin to fade, and 
 lose their fragrance. 
 
 The bees are nearly alike in all parts of 
 (he world ; yet there are differences worthy 
 our notice. In Guadaloupe, the bee is less 
 by one half than the European, and more 
 black and round. They have no sting, and 
 make their cells in hollow trees ; where, if the 
 hole they meet with is too large, they form a 
 sort of waxen house of the shape of a pear, 
 and in this they lodge and store their honey, 
 and lay their eggs. They lay up their honey 
 in waxen vessels, of the size of a pigeon's egg, 
 of a black or deep violet colour ; and these are 
 so joined together, that there is no space left 
 
 Mr Knight, President of the Horticultural Society, 
 discovered by accident an artificial substance, more at- 
 tractive than any of the resins experimentally tried by 
 Reaumur. Having caused the decorticated part of a 
 tree to be covered with a cement, composed of bees'-wax 
 and turpentine, he observed that this was frequented by 
 hive-bees, who, finding it to be a very good propolis 
 ready made, detached it from the tree by their mandi- 
 ble?, and then, as usual, passed it from the first leg to 
 the second, and so on. When one bee had thus collect- 
 ed its load, another often came behind and despoiled it 
 of all it had collected; a second and a third load were 
 frequently lost in the same manner; and yet the patient 
 insect pursued its operations without manifesting any 
 signs of anger. Probably the latter circumstance, at 
 which Mr Knight seems to have been surprised, was no- 
 thing more than an instance of the division of labour so 
 strikingly exemplified in every part of the economy of 
 bees. 
 
 between them. The honey never congeals, 
 but is fluid, of the consistence of oil, and the 
 colour of amber. Resembling these, there are 
 found little black bees, without a sting, in all 
 the tropical climates ; and though these coun- 
 tries are replete with bees like our own, yet 
 those form the most useful and laborious tribe 
 in that part of the world. The honey they 
 produce is neither so unpalatable nor so sur- 
 ieiting as ours ; and the wax is so soft that it 
 is only used for medicinal purposes, it being 
 never found hard enough to form into candles, 
 as in Europe. 
 
 Of insects that receive the name of bees 
 among us, there are several ; which, however, 
 differ very widely from that industrious social 
 race we have been just describing. The 
 Humble-bee is the largest of all this tribe, 
 being as large as the first joint of one's middle 
 finger. 1 These are seen in every field, and 
 
 1 The humble-bees of this country are now divided 
 into two generic groups, Bombus and Apathus. They 
 may be distinguished from the hive-bee, and other races 
 bearing affinity to them, by having the simple eyes ar- 
 ranged in a curve, instead of forming a triangle; by 
 having an impression in the shape of a cross on the 
 forehead ; the labrum transverse, and two distinct spines 
 at the apex of the posterior tibise. More obvious char- 
 acters are afforded by their large, comparatively rounded, 
 hirsute bodies, generally adorned with bands of light- 
 yellow or red. Upwards of forty different species are 
 described as inhabitants of Britain ; but as the three 
 distinct races of females, males, and workers, belonging 
 to the same species, often bear little resemblance to one 
 another, and as the hair or down covering their bodies, 
 often of the gayest colours, changes with age, like the 
 plumage of birds, it is by no means unlikely that indi- 
 viduals of the same family, and differing only in sex or 
 age, have in some instances, been described as of a dif- 
 ferent species. 
 
 The common humble-bee abounds in our fields and 
 gardens, and is almost equally common throughout all 
 
 Europe. It is distinguished above its congeners for 
 strength and activity. It is one of the earliest insects 
 that appear in the spring, and one of the latest to leave 
 us in autumn. It forms its nest, as is well known, in 
 holes in the ground, sometimes excavated laboriously 
 by its own efforts, sometimes previously formed by other 
 animals and taken possession of by the foundress of the 
 colony. The females of this, as of all the other species, 
 are largest in size, the males next, and the workers 
 smallest. Early in spring, when the willows begin to 
 bloom, the female may be seen traversing the gardens 
 by sun-rise with her usual sonorous booming, and busied 
 in collecting honey and pollen from the catkins. The 
 workers do not appear till a somewhat later period, and 
 the males not till autumn, when the thistles are in blos- 
 som, upon the flowers of which they are found in great 
 numbers, and in still greater, if possible, upon seeding 
 
526 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 perched on every flower. They build their 
 nest in holes in the ground, of dry leaves, 
 mixed with wax and wood, defended with 
 moss from the weather. Each humble-bee 
 makes a separate cell about the size of a small 
 nutmeg, which is round and hollow, contain- 
 ing the honey in a bag. Several of these 
 cells are joined together in such a manner, 
 that the whole appears like a cluster of grapes. 
 The females, which have the appearance of 
 wasps, are very few, and their eggs are laid 
 in cells, which the rest soon cover over with 
 wax. It is uncertain whether they have a 
 queen or not ; but there is one much larger 
 than the rest, without wings, and without 
 hair, and all over black, like polished ebony. 
 This goes and views all the works, from time 
 to time, and enters into the cell, as if it wanted 
 to see whether every thing was done right. 
 In the morning the young humble-bees are 
 very idle, and seem not at all inclined to la- 
 bour, till one of the largest, about seven o'clock, 
 thrusts half its body from a hole designed for 
 that purpose, and seated on the top of the nest, 
 beats its wings for twenty minutes succes- 
 sively, buzzing the whole time, till the whole 
 colony is put in motion. The humble-bees 
 gather honey as well as the common bees ; 
 but it is neither so fine nor so good, nor the 
 wax so clean, or so capable of fusion. 
 
 Beside the bees already mentioned, there 
 are various kinds among us, that have much 
 the appearance of honey-makers, and yet make 
 only wax. The Wood-Bee is seen in every 
 garden. It is rather larger than the common 
 
 leeks and onions, where, on a single flower, may be seen 
 half a dozen at the same moment. At this early period 
 of the year, the female is a solitary being, and her flights 
 are directed in search of a place suitable fora habitation. 
 The females only, of all the former year's colony, have 
 survived the winter, and now dispersing, each seeks a 
 residence for herself, where she may become the found- 
 ress of a new community. Having pitched upon a con- 
 venient spot, the laborious insect proceeds to excavate 
 first the passage or gallery, then the nest itself, detaching 
 the soil, as it were, grain by grain ; she seizes the mole- 
 cule with the first pair of legs, transfers it instantly to 
 the second, receives it next with the third, and finally 
 pushes it as far as possible behind her. These excava- 
 tions, situated often above a foot under the surface, are 
 wholly the work of the solitary female. Sometimes, 
 however, the nest is made close to, or even upon the 
 suri'ace when partially hollow, and covered with dry 
 moss ; but this is not the usual mode pursued by this 
 species, and in such localities the colony is far less 
 numerous than when at a greater depth. 
 
 Having finished the excavation, and carpeted her new 
 dwelling with soft leaves, &c., the insect proceeds 
 to construct brood cells. The wax of which these 
 are formed is secreted, as in the domestic bee, in cer- 
 tain receptacles placed on each side of the middle pro- 
 cess of the abdominal scales, and is extracted by the bee 
 in the form of laminae, moulded to the shape of the 
 insect's body. Uulike the queen of the hive bees, the 
 mother-bee of this family possesses these wax-secreting 
 organs as well as the workers, and produces the substance 
 in greater quantity than her progeny. 
 
 queen-bee ; its body of a bluish black, which 
 is smooth and shining. It begins to appear 
 at the approach of spring, and is seen flying 
 near walls exposed to a sunny aspect. This 
 bee makes its nest in some piece of wood, 
 which it contrives to scoop and hollow for its 
 purpose. 1 This, however, is never done in 
 
 1 We have frequently witnessed, says Mr Rennie, 
 the operations of these ingenious little workers, who are 
 particularly partial to posts, palings, and the wood -work 
 of houses which has become soft by beginning to decay. 
 Wood actually decayed, or aflected by dry-rot, they seem 
 to reject as unfit for their purposes ; but they make no 
 objections to any hole previously drilled, provided it be 
 not too large ; and, like the mason-bees, they not unfre- 
 quently take possession of an old nest, a few repairs 
 being all that in this case is necessary. When a new 
 nest is to be constructed, the bee proceeds to chisel suf- 
 ficient space for it out of the wood with her jaws. 
 We say her, because the task in this instance, as in most 
 others of solitary bees and wasps, devolves solely upon 
 the female, the male taking no concern in the afiair, and 
 probably being altogether ignorant that such a work is 
 going forward. It is at least certain the male is never 
 seen giving his assistance, and he seldom if ever ap- 
 proaches the neighbourhood. The female carpenter-bee 
 has a task to perform no less arduous than the mason-bee ; 
 for though the wood may be tolerably soft, she can only 
 cut out a very small portion at a time. The successive 
 portions which she gnaws off" may be readily ascertained 
 by an observer, as she carries them away from the place. 
 In giving the history of a mason-wasp, we remarked the 
 care with which she carried to a distance little fragments 
 of brick, which she detached in the progress of excavation. 
 We have recently watched a precisely similar procedure 
 in the instance of a carpenter-bee forming a cell in a 
 
 wooden post. The only difference was, that the bee did 
 not fly so far away with her fragments of wood as the 
 wasp did ; but she varied the direction of her flight every 
 time ; and we could observe, that after dropping the chip 
 of wood which she had carried off, she did not return in a 
 direct line to her nest, but made a circuit of some extent 
 before wheeling round to go back. 
 
 " On observing the proceedings of this carpenter-bee 
 next day, we found her coming in with balls of pollen 
 on her thighs ; and on tracing her from the nest into thu 
 adjacent garden, we saw her visiting every flower which 
 was likely to yield her a supply of pollen for her future 
 progeny. This was not all : we subsequently saw her 
 taking the direction of a clay-quarry frequented by the 
 mason-bees, where we recognized her loading herself with 
 a pellet of clay, and carrying it into her cJl in the 
 wooden post. We observed her alternating this labour for 
 several days, at one time carrying clay, and at another 
 pollen ; till at length she completed her task, and closed 
 the entrance with a barricado of clay, lo prevent the in- 
 trusion of any insectivorous depredator, who might make 
 prey of her young ; or of some prying parasite, whc might 
 introduce its own eggs into the nest she had taken so 
 much trouble to construct. 
 
THE BEE. 
 
 527 
 
 trees that are standing, for the wood it makes 
 choice of is half rotten. The holes are not 
 made directly forward, but turning to one 
 side, and have an opening sufficient to admit 
 one's middle finger, from whence runs the 
 inner apartment, generally twelve or fifteen 
 inches long. The instruments used in boring 
 these cavities are their teeth ; the cavity is 
 usually branched into three or four apartments ; 
 and in each of these they lay their eggs, to 
 the number of ten or twelve, each separate 
 and distinct from the rest : the egg is involved 
 in a sort of paste, which serves at once for the 
 young animal's protection and nourishment. 
 The grown bees, however, feed upon small 
 insects, particularly a louse, of a reddish brown 
 colour, of the size of a small pin's head. 
 
 " Some days after it was finished, we cut into the 
 post, and exposed this nest to view. It consisted of six 
 cells of a somewhat square shape, the wood forming the 
 literal walls ; and each was separated from the one ad- 
 jacent by a partition of clay, of the thickness of a 
 playing card. The wood was not lined with any ex- 
 traneous substance, but was worked as smooth as if it 
 had been chiselled by a joiner. There were five cells, 
 arranged in a very singular manner two being almost 
 horizontal, two perpendicular, and one oblique. The 
 depth to which the wood was excavated, in this instance, 
 was considerably less than what we have observed in 
 other species which dig perpendicular galleries several 
 inches deep in posts and garden-seats ; and they are 
 inferior in ingenuity to the carpentry of a bee described 
 by Reaumur, which has not been ascertained to be a 
 native of Britain, though a single indigenous species of 
 the genus has been doubtingly mentioned, and is figured 
 by Kirby, in his valuable 'Monographia.' If it ever be 
 found here, its large size and beautiful violet-coloured 
 wings will render mistakes impossible. 
 
 " The violet carpenter-bee usually selects an upright 
 piece of wood, into which she bores obliquely for about 
 an inch ; and then, changing the direction, works per- 
 pendicularly, and parallel to the sides of the wood, for 
 twelve or fifteen inches, and half an inch in breadth. 
 Sometimes the bee is contented with one or two of these 
 excavations ; at other times, when the wood is adapted 
 to it, she scoops out three or four a task which some- 
 times requires several weeks of incessant labour. The 
 tunnel in the wood, however, is only one part of the 
 work ; for the little architect has afterwards to divide 
 the whole into cells, somewhat less than an inch in depth. 
 It is necessary, for the proper growth of her progeny, 
 that each should be separated from the other, and be pro- 
 vided with adequate food. She knows, most exactly, 
 the quantity of food which each grub will require, during 
 its growth ; and she therefore does not hesitate to cut it 
 .off from any additional supply. In constructing her cells, 
 she does not employ clay, like the bee which we have 
 mentioned above, but the sawdust, if we may call it so, 
 which she has collected in gnawing out the gallery. It 
 would not, therefore, have suited her design to scatter this 
 about, as our carpenter-bee did. The violet bee, on 
 the contrary, collects her gnawings into a little store- 
 heap for future use, at a short distance from her nest. 
 She proceeds thus : At the bottom of her excavation 
 she deposits an egg, and over it fills a space nearly an 
 inch high with the pollen of flowers, made into a paste 
 with honey. She then covers this over with a ceiling 
 composed of cemented sawdust, which also serves for 
 the floor of the next chamber above it. For this purpose, 
 she cements round the wall a ring of wood chips, taken 
 
 Mason-Bees make their cells with a sort of 
 mortar made of earth, which they build against 
 a wall that is exposed to the sun. The mortar, 
 which at first is soft, soon becomes as hard as 
 stone, and in this their eggs are laid. Each 
 nest contains seven or eight cells, an egg in 
 every cell, placed regularly one over the other. 
 If the nests remain unhurt, or want but little 
 repairs, they make use of them the year en- 
 suing ; and thus they often serve three or four 
 years successively. From the strength of 
 their houses, one would think these bees in 
 perfect security ; yet none are more exposed 
 than they. A worm with very strong teeth 
 is often found to bore into their little fortifica- 
 tions, and devour their young. 
 
 The Ground- Bee builds its nest in the earth, 
 
 from her store-heap; and within this ring forms another, 
 gradually contracting the diameter till she has constructed 
 circular plate, about the thickness of a crown-piece, 
 and of considerable hardness. This plate of course ex- 
 hibits concentric circles, somewhat similar to the annual 
 circles in the cross section of a tree. In the same man- 
 ner she proceeds till she has completed ten or twelve 
 cells ; and then she closes the main entrance with a bar- 
 rier of similar materials. 
 
 "Let us compare the progress of this little joiner with 
 a human artisan one who has been long practised in his 
 trade, and has the most perfect and complicated tools for 
 his assistance. The bee has learned nothing by practice ; 
 she makes her nest but once in her life, but it is then as 
 complete and finished as if she had made a thousand. 
 She has no pattern before her but the Architect of all 
 things has impressed a plan upon her own mind, which she 
 can realize without scale or compasses. Her two sharp 
 teeth are the only tools with which she is provided for 
 her laborious work ; and yet she bores a tunnel, twelve 
 times the length of her own body, with greater ease than 
 the workman who bores into the earth for water, with 
 his apparatus of augers adapted to every soil. Her 
 tunnel is clean and regular; she leaves no chips at the 
 bottom, for she is provident of her materials. Further, 
 she has an exquisite piece of joinery to perform, when 
 her ruder labour is accomplished. The patient bee works 
 her rings from the circumference to the centre, and she 
 produces a shelf, united with such care with her natural 
 glue, that a number of fragments are as solid as one 
 piece. 
 
 " The violet carpenter-bee, as may be expected, oc- 
 cupies several weeks in these complicated labours ; and 
 during that period she is gradually depositing her eggs, 
 each of which is successively to become a grub, a pupa, 
 and a perfect bee. It is obvious, therefore, as she does 
 not lay all her eggs in the same place as each is separ- 
 ated from the other by a laborious process that the egg 
 which is first laid will be the earliest hatched ; and that 
 the first perfect insect, being older than its fellows in 
 the same tunnel, will strive to make its escape sooner, 
 and so on of the rest. The careful mother provides for 
 this contingency. She makes a lateral opening at the 
 bottom of the cells ; for the teeth of the young bees 
 would not be strong enough to pierce the outer wood, 
 though they can remove the cemented rings of saw-dust 
 in the interior. Reaumur observed these holes, in 
 several cases : and he further noticed another external 
 opening opposite to the middle cell, which he supposed 
 was formed, in the first instance, to shorten the distance 
 for the removal of the fragments of wood in the lower 
 half of the building." Insect Architecture. 
 
528 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 xvherein it makes round holes, five or six inches 
 deep ; the mouth being narrow, and only just 
 sufficient to admit the little inhabitant. 
 
 It is amusing enough to observe the patience 
 and assiduity with which they labour. They 
 carry out all the earth, grain by grain, to the 
 mouth of the hole, where it forms a little hil- 
 lock ; an Alps, compared to the power of the 
 artist by which it is raised. Sometimes the 
 walks of a garden are found undermined by 
 their labours : some of the holes running 
 directly downward, others horizontally beneath 
 the surface. They lay up in these cavities 
 provisions for their young, which consist of a 
 paste that has the appearance of corn, and is 
 of a sweetish taste. 
 
 The Leaf-cutting Bees make their nest and 
 
 lay their eggs among bits of leaves, very arti- 
 ficially placed in holes in the earth, of about 
 the length of a tooth-pick case. They make 
 the bits of leaves of a roundish form, and with 
 them line the inside of their habitations. This 
 tapestry is still further lined by a reddish kind 
 of paste, somewhat sweet or acid. These bees 
 are of various kinds ; those that build their 
 nests with chestnut leaves are as big as drones, 
 but those of the rose-tree are smaller than the 
 common bee. 1 
 
 The Wall-Bees are so called because they 
 make their nests in walls, of a kind of silky 
 membrane with which they fill up the vacu- 
 ities between the small stones which form the 
 sides of their habitation. Their apartment 
 consists of several cells placed end to end, each 
 in the shape of a woman's thimble. Though 
 the web which lines this habitation is thick 
 and warm, yet it is transparent, and of a 
 whitish colour. This substance is supposed 
 to be spun from the animal's body. The 
 males and females are of a size, but the former 
 are without a sting. To these varieties of the 
 bee kind might be added several others, which 
 are all different in their nature, but not 
 sufficiently distinguished to excite curiosity. 2 
 
 1 A species of the leaf-cutting or upholsterer bee is 
 called the poppy. bee, from its selecting the scarlet petals 
 of the poppy as tapestry for its cells. Kirby and Spence 
 express their doubts whether it is indigenous to this 
 country : but Mr Rennie is almost certain that he saw 
 the nests in Scotland. The poppy -bee may be known 
 by its being rather more than a third of an inch long, of 
 a black colour, studded on the head and back with red- 
 dish gray hairs ; the belly being gray and silky, and the 
 rings margined with gray above, the second and third 
 having an impressed transversal line. 
 
 s The Rev. Mr Kirbv has discovered that there are 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OP THE WASP. 
 
 HOWEVER similar many insects may be in 
 appearance, this does not imply a similitude 
 in their history. The bee and the wasp re- 
 semble each other very strongly, yet, in ex- 
 amining their manner and their duration, they 
 differ very widely : the bee labours to lay up 
 honey, and lives to enjoy the fruits of its in- 
 dustry : the wasp appears equally assiduous : 
 but only works for posterity, as the habitation 
 is scarcely completed when the inhabitant 
 dies. 
 
 The wasp 3 is well known to be a winged 
 
 no less than two hundred and twenty -one distinct species 
 of bees. He divides the Linnsean genus into mellitta 
 and apis, distinguishing them by their tongues ; the in- 
 sects of the first having short flattish inflected tongues. 
 
 We shall here merely specify the Carding-Bee, as one 
 of peculiar interest, and no ways uncommon about our 
 villages. This bee is yellow, with the hair of the throat 
 somewhat fawn-coloured. The carding-bees nearly al) 
 perish in winter ; a few of the females only survive. 
 These usually make their appearance early in spring, as 
 soon as the catkins of the willows are in blossom ; upon 
 which, at this time, they may commonly be seen collect- 
 ing honey from the female, and pollen from the male 
 catkins. The neuters do not appear till the spring is 
 somewhat advanced, and the males are most common in 
 autumn, when the thistles are in blossom, upon the 
 flowers of which they are abundant, sometimes appear- 
 ing to be asleep or torpid, and at other times acting as if 
 they were intoxicated with the sweets they have been 
 imbibing. When these insects of any sex are walking 
 on the ground, if a finger be moved to them, they lift up 
 three legs on one side, by way of defence, which give 
 them a very grotesque appearance. Their nests are 
 usually formed in meadows and pastures, sometimes in 
 groves and hedge-rows, where the soil is entangled with 
 roots ; but now and then these are found in heaps of 
 stones. When they do not meet with an accidental 
 cavity ready made, they excavate one themselves with 
 great labour. This they cover with a thick convex 
 vault of moss, sometimes casting the interior surface 
 with a kind of coarse wax, to keep out the wet. At the 
 lower part of the nest there is an opening for the inhab- 
 itants to go in and out at. This entrance is often through 
 a long gallery or covered way, a foot or upwards in length, 
 by which the nest is more effectually concealed from ob- 
 servation. The mode in which they transport the moss 
 which they employ in the formation of their nest is 
 singular. When they have discovered a parcel fitted to 
 that purpose, and conveniently situated, they place them- 
 selves in a line, with their backs turned towards the nest. 
 The foremost lays hold of some with their jaws, and 
 clears it, bit by bit, with her fore-feet. When this is 
 sufficiently disentangled, she drives it with her feet 
 under her belly, and as far as possible beyond, to the 
 second bee. The second, in like manner, pushes it on 
 to the third, and so on. Thus small heaps of prepared 
 moss are conveyed to the nest by a file of four or five in- 
 sects, where they are wrought with the greatest dexterity 
 by those that remain within. The nests are often six 
 or seven inches in diameter, and elevated to the height 
 of four or five inches above the surface of the ground. 
 
 8 The Wasps (Vespa), like the ants and bees, live in 
 society. They are comparable to the latter for their in- 
 
THE WASP. 
 
 529 
 
 insect with a sting ; to be longer in propor- 
 tion to its bulk than the bee, to be marked 
 with bright yellow circles round its body, and 
 to be the most swift and active insect of all 
 
 
 dustry, and approximate to the former in the extent of 
 their ravages. The bee, continually occupied with its 
 labours, lives only on what it gathers from flowers, and 
 the sting with which it is armed, is merely a defensive 
 weapon, never unsheathed but for the protection of itself 
 or its country. But the wasp, on the contrary, is fero- 
 cious, and subsists only on rapine and destruction. Its 
 sting is an offensive weapon, a means of overpowering 
 animals more feeble than itself. Nevertheless it is not 
 less ingenious than the others, nor less attached to its 
 oiispring. United in a single republic, the wasps spare 
 neither care nor labour. The works which they perform 
 evince their dexterity, their patience, and the delicacy 
 of their instinct. The peculiar style of their architec- 
 ture is worthy of admiration. 
 
 Among them we particularly distinguish two species, the 
 hornet (yespa crabrd), and the common wasp (vulgaris}. 
 The first makes its nests sheltered from winds and heavy 
 rains, either in barns or the holes of old walls, but most 
 frequently in the large trunks of trees, the interior of 
 which is rotten. There these insects form a large cavity, 
 hy detaching fragments of the wood, which is ready to 
 fall into dust. It is in spring that the females, after hav- 
 ing passed the winter in a lethargic state, and now re- 
 animated by the heat of the atmosphere, issue from their 
 retreat, to find out a suitable place in which to establish 
 tlieir nest. This place once found, they lay there the 
 first foundations of the edifice, which consist of a thick 
 and solid pillar of the same material as the rest of the 
 nest, but much harder, and more compact. The mate- 
 rial of which the wasps makes use, is the bark of the 
 slender branches of the ash, which they detach in fila- 
 ments. Then they grind and bruise it with their man- 
 dibles, so as to form a paste, which hardens after it has 
 been employed in building. Thy collect, at the same 
 time, a clear and saccharine fluid, which drops from the 
 places which have been recently gnawed from the branch 
 which they have been despoiling. This pillar is always 
 placed in the most elevated part of the vault, and the 
 hornets attach to it a sort of cap or covering of the same 
 material, which is to serve as a roof to the edifice, and 
 prevent the dirt, &c., detached from the upper part of 
 the ground cavity, from falling on the combs. Within 
 this cavity or vault they place a second pillar, which is in 
 some sort only a^ontinuation of the first. This is to 
 serve for a base to the first comb of the cells. These 
 cells are hexagonal, and their aperture is turned down- 
 wards. The mother constructs some of them. As none 
 but females are found in spring, it is probable that they 
 have been fecundated previously to the winter. What 
 is certain is, that the females commence laying as soon 
 as they have constructed a few cells in which to deposit 
 their eggs. These eggs soon disclose the young, and 
 the mother feeds the young larvae which issue from them, 
 with the products of the chase. When the latter have 
 acquired their full growth, they line their cells with silk, 
 arid stop them with a covercle of the same material. 
 Beneath this envelope they undergo their metamor- 
 phoses. They do not come forth from it until they are 
 perfect insects. The wasps which are first born are 
 workers. Analogy leads us to the belief that, as among the 
 bees, they are only females destitute of the ovarise. They 
 are designed for the occupation of constructing the nest, 
 and nursing the larvae. As the female continues to lay, 
 the family increases, and the lodging becomes too small. 
 Then the workers increase the covering and the comb, 
 and when the latter is pushed to the edge of this envelope, 
 they construct another immediately. This last is at- 
 tached to the first by one or many pillars. Speedily the 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 the fly kind. On each side of the mouth this 
 animal is furnished with a long tooth, notched 
 like a saw, and with these it is enabled to cut 
 any substance, not omitting meat itself, and 
 
 covering is finished, and filled with new combs. Then 
 there remains but a single aperture to the nest. This 
 aperture corresponds to that of the hole which is the gate 
 through which the wasps arrive at their nest. It is 
 often no more than an inch in diameter. 
 
 It is only towards the commencement of autumn that 
 the young females and young males come forth from 
 their nymph state. All the larva; which could not be- 
 come perfect insects until the month of October, usually 
 are put to death before this period, especially when the 
 cold begins to be sensibly perceptible. The wasps, in- 
 stead of continuing to nourish the larvae, are then solely 
 occupied in plucking them out of their cells, and flinging 
 them out of the nest. The nymphs, or pupae, meet with 
 no more mercy. The males and workers are daily 
 perishing, from the growing inclemency of the season ; 
 so that at the end of the winter, none but some females 
 remain, which have passed that season in a state of 
 lethargy, at the bottom of the nest. 
 
 In autumn, males and females are to be met with on 
 trees, from which acid and saccharine fluids exude. 
 They return no more to the nest, and perish miserably 
 on the first approach of cold. Thus invariably finishes 
 this society, whose largest population but little exceeds 
 one hundred, or one hundred and fifty individuals. 
 
 The common wasp makes its nest in the ground, 
 usually at the depth of about half a foot. The entrance 
 to it is a conduit of about an inch in diameter, and very 
 seldom in a straight line. The edges which are at the 
 surface of the earth look as if they were ploughed. 
 
 The most usual form of the vespiary is that of a ball. 
 It is thirteen or fourteen inches in diameter: its envelope 
 is a sort of paper or paste-board, which is sometimes 
 more than an inch in thickness. Its colour is a gray of 
 different shades, disposed in bands. This envelope is 
 rough, and appears formed of pieces, in the form of valves 
 of shells placed one upon the other, so that nothing is 
 seen but their convex exterior. When finished, this 
 envelope has two gates, which are two round holes, 
 through which the wasps enter and go out. The in- 
 terior of the nest is occupied by several combs, parallel, 
 and pretty nearly horizontal: they resemble those of the 
 bees in form, but are composed of a very different 
 material. The vespiary sometimes contains fifteen o; 
 sixteen combs of a diameter proportioned to that of the 
 envelope. All these combs are, as it were, so many 
 floors, disposed in stories, which furnish the means oi 
 lodging a great number of inhabitants. Free passages 
 are left between them. In these intervals are sorts of 
 columns, which serve to support the combs. The foun - 
 dations of the edifice, (if we may use such a solecism) 
 are, at its highest part, for the wasps, unlike other builders, 
 begin their work at the top, and descend as they go on 
 with it: these pillars, formed of the same material as the 
 combs and envelope, are massive ; their base and capital 
 are of greater diameter than the rest. 
 
 These wasps, which work under ground, are concealed 
 from our inspection; they must therefore be drawn, that 
 we may observe the manner in which they construct 
 their nest. When a nest is procured, which is easily 
 done, there is no fear that they will abandon it. It may 
 then be placed under a glass hive, where we can have 
 the pleasure of seeing these insects at their work. 
 
 As soon as they are lodged, they begin by repairing 
 the disorders which the vespiary may have suffered, after 
 having attached it solidly to the hive, and they increase 
 the thickness of its envelope. 
 
 This envelope deserves a description a little more 
 detailed. Its thickness, which is often more than an inch, 
 3x 
 
530 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 to carry it to its nest. Wasps live, like bees, 
 in community, and sometimes ten or twelve 
 thousand are found inhabiting a single nest. 
 
 Of all other insects the wasp is the most 
 fierce, voracious, and most dangerous, when 
 enraged. They are seen wherever flesh is 
 cutting up, gorging themselves with the spoil, 
 
 is not massive. It is formed of several layers, which 
 have vacancies between them : each layer is as thin as a 
 sheet of paper. In proportion as the wasps thicken this 
 envelope, they build another layer on those which are 
 already formed. The number of these layers sometimes 
 exceeds fifteen or sixteen. 
 
 Nothing can be more amusing than to see these wasps 
 working for the purpose of extending or thickening this 
 envelope. Several of them are engaged at this work, 
 which they perform with the greatest celerity, and with- 
 out the least confusion. They proceed into the country to 
 find the necessary materials: she that has collected some, 
 returns loaded with a little ball composed of a soft paste; 
 she holds it between her jaws. Arrived at the vespiary, 
 she takes it to the place where she intends to labour, 
 and immediately applies it there. She walks backwards; 
 at each step which she makes, she leaves before her a 
 portion of the ball, without detaching it from the rest, 
 which she holds between her two fore feet. When she 
 has thus applied it all, she unites and smooths it, by re- 
 passing over it several times. The materials which she 
 employs are filaments of wood, which she tears off with 
 her mandibles: she moistens and kneads them well pre- 
 viously to use. 
 
 These vespiaries contain males, females, and workers : 
 these last, as among the bees and other social insects, 
 are charged with all the labours of the society. Those 
 that go in search of provision are continually employed 
 in the chase ; some seize on insects by main force, which 
 they bring back almost entire to the nest; others pillage 
 the shops of butchers, where each one attaches herself to 
 the piece of meat which she prefers, and when she is 
 satiated, cuts off a piece, sometimes larger than herself, 
 to carry it home. Others again plunder the fruits of 
 gardens and orchards: they gnaw or suck them, and bring 
 back the juice. All share their spoils with the males 
 and females, and even with the other workers ; and the 
 division is made with the most perfect good will on all 
 sides. 
 
 The mothers do not fly into the country, excepting 
 in spring and autumn. During the summer, they are 
 shut up in the interior of the vespiary, occupied in lay- 
 ing, and especially in nursing their larvae. 
 
 A vespiary which has all its combs usually contains 
 fifteen or sixteen thousand cells, each of which is filled 
 by an egg or a nymph. It is the larvae principally that 
 occupy the attention of the wasps. The latter feed them 
 in the same manner in which birds feed their young, 
 giving them from time to time the bill-full, after having 
 softened in their mouth the aliments which the larvae 
 could not otherwise digest. 
 
 Twenty days having elapsed since the eggs were laid, 
 the larvae are now ready to be metamorphosed into 
 nymphs. Like those of the hornet, they inclose them- 
 selves in their cells, and become perfect insects eight or 
 nine days after they have been changed into nymphs. 
 The cell which a young wasp has quitted does not re- 
 main a long time vacant. An old wasp cleans it out 
 and renders it fit for the reception of a new egg. 
 
 The cells destined for the eggs which produce the 
 workers are never placed among those which contain the 
 'ggs destined to give birth to males and females. The 
 edifice buflt by the wasps, and which occupies them during 
 some months, is to last no longer than a year. This habi- 
 tation, so populous during summer, is almost deserted in 
 
 and then flying to their nests with their reek- 
 ing prey. They make war also on every 
 other fly, and the spider himself dreads their 
 approaches. 
 
 Every community among bees is composed 
 of females, or queens, drones or males, and 
 neutral or working bees. Wasps have similar 
 
 the winter, and entirely abandoned in the spring: most 
 of its inhabitants have perished the preceding autumn. 
 Some females destined to perpetuate the species pass the 
 winter in a state of numbness, and in the following spring 
 each of them becomes the foundress of a new republic, 
 and the mother of all the individuals which compose it. 
 The workers, as being the most useful, are the first who 
 are born: the males and females do not appear until to- 
 wards the end of summer, or the commencement of 
 autumn: they couple in the vespiary itself in which they 
 were born. 
 
 The occupation of the males in the vespiary is limited 
 to cleaning it out and removing the dead bodies: they 
 are smaller than the females, and larger than the workers, 
 which are the smallest of the three kinds of individuals 
 which compose the society. Like the males of the bees, 
 they are destitute of a sting. The mothers and the 
 workers are alone provided with this organ. The sting 
 of the females is longer than that of the workers, and the 
 wound which the wasps inflict is more severe, and causes 
 a sharper pain than that made by the bees. The violent 
 smarting which it produces is, however, caused in the 
 same manner, by a poisonous fluid, which is introduced 
 into the wound. 
 
 Peace does not always reign in the societies of the 
 wasps. Combats often take place among the workers, 
 or between them and the males. The last individuals 
 are more cowardly or weaker than the others; but these 
 combats are rarely fatal. 
 
 When the cold weather first approaches, the workers 
 snatch from their cells the larvae which are not yet meta- 
 morphosed, and assisted by the males, turn them neck and 
 heels out of the nest. It appears that they know that 
 the little ones could not support cold and hunger during 
 the winter season, when at this early period they can 
 scarcely find wherewithal to nourish them. To cause 
 them thus to perish is, therefore, an act of mercy, not of 
 cruelty. It is the quick prevention of a long and linger- 
 ing state of misery. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the admirable industry of the 
 wasps, agriculturists are not the less desirous to get rid 
 of these insects, which do most particular damage to 
 fruits, even previously to their maturity. Many means 
 have been pointed out for destroying the species which 
 live in a social state, especially the common wasp. 
 When the places which they inhabit can be discovered, 
 it is easy to dispatch thousands of them in a little time. 
 Some have adopted the plan of putting glue on blades of 
 straw, and placing them in the neighbourhood of the nest, 
 but this method is long and troublesome. Boiling water 
 cast into the hole may be used with success. But when 
 the nests are remote from houses, a sufficient quantity 
 cannot well be obtained to destroy the wasps: sulphur 
 matches are far more efficacious. The aperture of the 
 hole which conducts to the vespiary must be widened 
 a little, and lighted matches introduced into the hole, 
 after which its entrance must be closed with small stones, 
 so that the wasps cannot get out without mining, which 
 they cannot do in a little time: they will then assuredly 
 be suffocated by the vapour of the sulphur. Care must 
 be taken, however, not to close the hole so exactly as to 
 prevent all access of air, and give no issue to the smoke, 
 for then the matches would be too soon extinguished. 
 Supplement to the English edition of the minimal King- 
 dom, by Baron Cuvier. 
 
THE WASP. 
 
 531 
 
 occupations ; the two first are for propagating 
 the species, the last for nursing, defending, 
 and supporting the rising progeny. Among 
 bees, however, there is seldom above a queen 
 or two in a hive ; among wasps there are above 
 two or three hundred. 
 
 As soon as the summer begins to invigorate 
 the insect tribes, the wasps are the most of 
 the number, and diligently employed either 
 in providing provisions for their nest, if already 
 made ; or in making one, if the former habita- 
 tion be too small to receive the increasing 
 community. The nest is one of the most 
 curious objects in natural history, and con- 
 trived almost as artificially as that of the bees 
 themselves. Their principal care is to seek 
 out a hole that has been begun by some other 
 animal, a field-mouse, a rat, or a mole, to 
 build their nests in. They sometimes build 
 upon the plain, where they are sure of the 
 dryness of their situation ; but most commonly 
 on the side of a bank, to avoid the rain or 
 water that would otherwise annoy them. 
 When they have chosen a proper place, they 
 go to work with wonderful assiduity. Their 
 first labour is to enlarge and widen the hole, 
 taking away the earth, and carrying it off to 
 some distance. They are perfectly formed for 
 labour, being furnished with a trunk above 
 their mouths, two saws on each side, which 
 play to the right and left against each other, 
 and six strong muscular legs to support them. 
 They cut the earth into small parcels with 
 their saws, and carry it out with their legs or 
 paws. This is the work of some days ; and 
 at length the outline of their habitation is 
 formed, making a cavity of about a foot and a 
 half every way. While some are working 
 in this manner, others are roving the fields to 
 seek out materials for their building. To pre- 
 vent the earth from falling down and crushing 
 their rising city into ruin, they make a sort of 
 roof with their gluey substance, to which they 
 begin to fix the rudiments of their building, 
 working from the top downwards, as if they 
 were hanging a bell ; which, however, at 
 length they close up at the bottom. The 
 materials with which they build their nests 
 are bits of wood and glue. The wood they 
 get where they can from the rails and posts 
 which they meet with in the fields and else- 
 where. These they saw and divide into a 
 multitude of small fibres, of which they take 
 up little bundles in their claws, letting fall 
 upon them a few drops of gluey matter, with 
 which their bodies are provided, by the help 
 of which they knead the whole composition 
 into a paste, which serves them in their future 
 building. When they have returned with 
 this to the nest, they stick their load of paste 
 on that part where they make their walls and 
 partitions ; they tread it close with their feet, 
 
 and trowl it with their trunks, still going 
 backwards as they work. Having repeated 
 this operation three or four times, the compo- 
 sition is at length flatted out until it becomes 
 a small leaf of a gray colour, much finer than 
 paper, and of a pretty firm texture. This 
 done, the same wasp returns to the field to 
 collect a second load of paste, repeating the 
 same several times, placing layer upon layer, 
 arid strengthening every partition in propor- 
 tion to the wants or convenience of the general 
 fabric. Other working wasps come quickly 
 after to repeat the same operation, laying 
 more leaves upon the former, till at length, 
 after much toil, they have finished the large 
 roof, which is to secure them from the tumb- 
 ling in of the earth. This dome being finished, 
 they make another entrance to their habita- 
 tion, designed either for letting in the warmth 
 of the sun, or for escaping, in case one door 
 be invaded by plunderers. Certain however, 
 it is, that by one of these they always enter, 
 by the other they sally forth to their toil ; each 
 hole being so small that they can pass but one 
 at a time. The walls being thus composed, 
 and the whole somewhat of the shape of a 
 pear, they labour at their cells, which they 
 compose of the same paper-like substance that 
 goes to the formation of the outside works. 
 Their combs differ from those of bees not less 
 in the composition than the position which they 
 are always seen to obtain. The honey-comb 
 of the bee is edge-ways with respect to the 
 hive ; that of the wasp is flat, and the mouth 
 of every cell opens downwards. Thus is their 
 habitation contrived, story above story, sup- 
 ported by several rows of pillars, which give 
 firmness to the whole building, while the 
 upper story is flat-roofed, and as smooth as the 
 pavement of a room, laid with squares of mar- 
 ble. The wasps can freely walk upon these 
 stories between the pillars to do whatever 
 their wants require. The pillars are very 
 hard and compact, being larger at each end 
 than in the middle, not much unlike the col- 
 umns of a building. All the cells of the nest 
 are only destined for the reception of the 
 young, being replete with neither wax nor 
 honey. 
 
 Each cell is like that of the bee, hexagonal : 
 but they are of two sorts ; the one larger, for 
 the production of the male and female wasps ; 
 the other less, for the reception of the working 
 part of the community. When the females 
 are impregnated by the males, they lay their 
 eggs, one in each cell, and stick it in with a 
 kind of gummy matter to prevent its falling 
 out. From this egg proceeds the insect in its 
 worm state, of which the old ones are extremely 
 careful, feeding it from time to time till it 
 becomes large, and entirely fills up its cell. 
 But the wasp community differs from that of 
 
532 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 the bee in this ; that among the latter the 
 working bees take the parential duties upon 
 them, whereas among the wasps the females 
 alone are permitted to feed their young, and 
 to nurse their rising progeny. For this pur- 
 pose the female waits with great patience till 
 the working. wasps have brought in their pro- 
 visions, which she takes from them, and cuts 
 into pieces. She then goes with great com- 
 posure from cell to cell, and feeds every young 
 one with her mouth. When the young worms 
 have come to a certain size they leave off eat- 
 ing, and begin to spin a very fine silk, fixing 
 their first end to the entrance of the cell : then 
 turning their heads, first on one side, then on 
 the other, they fix the thread to different parts, 
 and thus they make a sort of door, which 
 serves to close up the mouth of the cell. After 
 this they divest themselves of their skins after 
 the usual mode of transformation ; the aurelia, 
 by degrees, begins to emancipate itself from 
 its shell ; by little and little it thrusts out its 
 legs and wings, and insensibly acquires the 
 colour and shape of its parent. 
 
 The wasp thus formed, and prepared for 
 depredation, becomes a bold, troublesome, and 
 dangerous insect : there are no dangers which 
 it will not encounter in pursuit of its prey, 
 and nothing seems to satiate its gluttony. 
 Though it can gather no honey of its own, no 
 animal is more fond of sweets. For this pur- 
 pose it will pursue the bee and the humble- 
 bee, destroy them with its sting, and then 
 plunder them of their honey-bag, with which 
 it flies triumphantly loaded to its nest to re- 
 gale its young. Wasps are ever fond of 
 making their nests in the neighbourhood of bees , 
 merely to have an opportunity of robbing their 
 hives, and feasting on the spoil. Yet the bees 
 are not found always patiently submissive to 
 their tyranny, but fierce battles are sometimes 
 seen to ensue, in which the bees make up by 
 conduct and numbers what they want in per- 
 sonal prowess. When there is no honey to 
 be had, they seek for the best and sweetest 
 fruits, and they are never mistaken in their 
 choice. From the garden they fly to the city, 
 to the grocer's shops, and butcher's shambles. 
 They will sometimes carry off bits of flesh 
 half as big as themselves, with which they fly 
 to their nests for the nourishment of their brood. 
 Those who cannot drive them away, lay for 
 them a piece of ox's liver, which being with- 
 out fibres, they prefer to other flesh; and when- 
 ever they are found, all other flies are seen to 
 desert the place immediately. Such is the 
 dread with which these little animals impress 
 all the rest of the insect tribes, which they 
 seize and devour without mercy, that they va- 
 nish at their approach. Wherever they fly, 
 like the eagle or the falcon, they form a de- 
 sert in the air round them. In this manner 
 
 the summer is passed in plundering the neigh, 
 bourhood, and rearing up their young : every 
 day adds to their numbers; and from their 
 strength, agility, and indiscriminate appetite 
 for every kind of provision, were they as long- 
 lived as the bee, they would soon swarm upon 
 the face of nature, and become the most noxi- 
 ous plague of man ; but providentially their 
 lives are measured to their mischief, and the) 
 live but a single season. 
 
 While the summer heats continue, they are 
 bold, voracious, and enterprising; but as the 
 sun withdraws, it seems to rob them of their 
 courage and activity. In proportion as the 
 cold increas-es, they are seen to become more 
 domestic ; they seldom leave the nest ; they 
 make but short adventures from home, they 
 flutter about in the noon-day heats, and soon 
 after return chilled and feeble. 
 
 As their calamities increase, new passions 
 soon begin to take place ; the care for posteri- 
 ty no longer continues ; and as the parents are 
 no longer able to provide their growing pro. 
 geny a supply, they take the barbarous reso- 
 lution of sacrificing them all to the necessity 
 of the times. In this manner, like a garrison 
 upon short allowance, all the useless hands are 
 destroyed ; the young worms, which a little 
 before they fed and protected with so much 
 assiduity, are now butchered, and dragged 
 from their cells. As the cold increases, they 
 no longer find sufficient warmth in their nests, 
 which grow hateful to them, and they fly to 
 seek it in the corners of houses, and places 
 that receive an artificial heat. But the win- 
 ter is still insupportable ; and before the new 
 year begins, they wither and die ; the work- 
 ing-wasps first, the males soon following, and 
 many of the females suffer in the general ca- 
 lamity. In every nest, however, one or two 
 females survive the winter, and having been 
 impregnated by the male during the preceding 
 season, she begins in spring to lay her eggs 
 in a little hole of her own contrivance. This 
 bundle of eggs, which is clustered together 
 like grapes, soon produces two worms, which 
 the female takes proper precaution to defend 
 and supply, and these, when hatched, soon 
 give assistance to the female, who is employed 
 in hatching two more ; these also gathering 
 strength, extricate themselves out of the web 
 that enclosed them, and become likewise as- 
 sistants to their mother; fifteen days after, two 
 more make their appearance ; thus is the com- 
 munity every day increasing, while the fe- 
 male lays in every cell, first a male and then 
 a female. These soon after become breeders 
 in turn, till from a single female, ten thousand 
 wasps are seen produced before the month of 
 June. After the female has thus produced 
 her progeny, which are distributed in differ- 
 ent districts, they assemble from all parts m 
 
THE WASP. 
 
 583 
 
 ie middle of summer, and provide for them- 
 selves the large and commodious habitation 
 \vhich has been described above. 1 
 
 Such is the history of the social wasp ; but, 
 as among bees, so also among these insects, 
 there are various tribes that live in solitude ; 
 these lay their eggs in a hole for the purpose, 
 and the parent dies long before the birth of its 
 offspring. In the principal species of the So- 
 litary-Wasps, the insect is smaller than the 
 working-wasp of the social kind. The fila- 
 ment by which the corselet is joined to the 
 body, is longer and more distinctly seen, and 
 the whole colour of the insect is blacker than 
 in the ordinary kinds. But it is not their 
 figure, but the manners of this extraordinary 
 insect, that claim our principal regard. 
 
 From the end of May to the beginning of 
 July, this wasp is seen most diligently em- 
 ployed. The whole purpose of its life seems 
 to be in contriving and fitting up a commodi- 
 ous apartment for its young one, which is not 
 to succeed it till the year ensuing. For this 
 end it is employed, with unwearied assiduity, 
 in boring a hole in the finest earth some inches 
 deep, but not much wider than the diame- 
 ter 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 chooses a gravelly soil to work in, and 
 where the earth is almost as hard as stone it- 
 self, the digging and hollowing this apartment 
 is an enterprise of no small labour : for effect. 
 
 1 " One of the most remarkable of our native social 
 wasps is the Vespa Britannica, or tree-wasp, which is 
 not uncommon in the northern, hut seldom to be met 
 with in the southern parts of the island. Instead of bur- 
 rowing in the ground like the common wasp, or in the 
 hollows of trees like the hornet, it boldly swings its nest 
 from the extremity of a branch, where it exhibits some 
 resemblance, in size and colour, to a Welsh wig, hung 
 out to dry. We have seen more than one of these nests 
 on the same tree, atCatrine, in Ayrshire, and at Wemyss 
 Bay, in Renfrewshire. The tree which the Britannic 
 wasp prefers is the silver fir, whose broad flat branch 
 serves as a protection to the suspended nest both from the 
 sun and the rain. 
 
 " Reaumur has given a very interesting account of the 
 wasps of Cayenne, which hang their nests on trees. Like 
 the bird of Africa called the Loxia, they fabricate a per- 
 fect hou?e, capable of containing many hundreds of their 
 community, and suspend it on high out of the reach of 
 attack. But the Cayenne wasp is a more expert artist 
 than the bird. He is a card-maker; and travellers of 
 veracity agree that the card with which he forms the ex- 
 terior covering of his abode is so smooth, so strong, so 
 uniform in its texture, and so white, that the most skil- 
 ful manufacturer of this substance might be proud of the 
 work. 
 
 " The nest of the card-making wasp is impervious to 
 water. It hangs upon the branch of a tree ; and those 
 rain-drops which penetrate through the leaves never rest 
 upon its hard and polished surface. A small opening 
 for the entrance of the insects terminates its funnel- 
 shaped bottom. It is impossible to unite more perfectly 
 the qualities of lightness and strength." Insect Archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 ing its operations, this insect is furnished with 
 two teeth, which are strong and firm, but not 
 sufficiently hard to penetrate the substance 
 through which it is resolved to make its way. 
 In order therefore to soften that earth which 
 it is unable to pierce, it is furnished with a 
 gummy liquor, which it emits upon the place, 
 and which renders it more easily separable 
 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 exhaus- 
 ted; and it is then seen taking up water either 
 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 des- 
 tined to continue the species ; there the nas- 
 cent animal is to continue for about nine 
 months, unattended and immured, and at first 
 appearance the most helpless insect of the 
 creation. But when we come to examine, 
 new wonders offer ; no other insect can boast 
 so copiously luxurious a provision, or such con- 
 firmed security. 
 
 As soon as the mother wasp has deposited 
 her egg at the bottom of the hole, her next 
 care is to furnish it with a supply of provi- 
 sions, which may be offered to the young in- 
 sect as soon as it leaves the egg. To this end 
 she procures a number 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 
 regularly arranged and laid in, the old one 
 then, with 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 in 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 it- 
 self, ranged in proper order around it, which, 
 however, give it no manner of apprehension. 
 Whether the parent, when she laid in the in- 
 sect provision, contrived to disable the worms 
 from resistance, or whether they were at first 
 incapable of any, is not known. Certain it is, 
 that the young glutton feasts upon the living 
 spoil without any control : his game lies at his 
 hand, and he devours one after the other as the 
 calls of appetite incite him. The life of the 
 young animal is therefore spent in the most 
 luxurious manner, till its whole stock of worms 
 is exhausted, when the time of its transforma- 
 
534 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 tion begins to approach ; and then spinning a 
 silken web, it continues fixed in its cell till 
 the sun calls it from its dark abode the ensu- 
 ing summer. 
 
 The wasps of Europe are very mischievous, 
 yet they are innocence itself when compared 
 to those of the tropical climates, where all the 
 insect tribes are not only numerous but large, 
 voracious, and formidable. Those of the West 
 Indies are thicker, and twice as long, as the 
 common bee ; they are of a gray colour, striped 
 with yellow, and armed with a very danger- 
 ous sting. They make their cells in the man- 
 ner of a honey-comb, in which the young ones 
 are hatched and bred. They generally hang 
 their nests by threads, composed of the same 
 substance with the cells, to the branches of 
 trees, and the eaves of houses. They are seen 
 every where in great abundance, descending 
 like fruit, particularly pears, of which shape 
 they are, and as large as one's head. The in- 
 side is divided into three round stories full of 
 cells, each hexagonal, like jfhose of a honey- 
 comb. In some of the islands these insects 
 are so very numerous, that their nests are 
 stuck up in this manner, scarce two feet asun- 
 der, and the inhabitants are in continual ap- 
 prehension from their accidental resentment. 
 It sometimes happens that no precautions can 
 prevent their attacks, and the pain of their 
 sting is almost insupportable. Those who 
 have felt it, think it more terrible than even 
 that of a scorpion ; the whole visage swells, 
 and the features are so disfigured, that a per- 
 son is scarcely known by his most intimate 
 acquaintance. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE ICHNEUMON FLY. 
 
 EVERY rank of insects, how voracious so- 
 ever, have enemies that are terrible to them, 
 and that revenge upon them the injuries done 
 upon the rest of the animated creation. The 
 wasp as we have seen, is very troublesome to 
 man, and very formidable to the insect tribe ; 
 but the ichneumon fly (of which there are 
 many varieties) fears not the wasp itself; it 
 enters its retreats, plunders its habitations, and 
 takes possession of that cell for its own young, 
 which the wasp had laboriously built for a 
 dearer posterity. 
 
 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. 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 rapacity. 
 
 Though this instrument is, to all appear- 
 ance, slender and feeble, yet it is found to be 
 a weapon of great, force and efficacy. There 
 is scarcely any substance which it will not 
 pierce; and indeed it is seldom seen but em- 
 ployed in penetration. This is the weapon of 
 defence ; this is employed in destroying its 
 prey ; and still more, by this the animal de- 
 posits her eggs wherever she thinks fit to lay 
 them. As it is an instrument chiefly em- 
 ployed for this purpose, the male is unprovi- 
 ded with such a sting, while the female uses 
 it with great force and dexterity, brandishing 
 it when caught, from side to side, and very 
 often wounding those who thought they held 
 her with the greatest security. 
 
 All the flies of this tribe are produced in 
 the same manner, and owe their birth to the 
 destruction of some other insect, within whose 
 body they have been deposited, and upon 
 whose vitals they have preyed, till they come 
 to maturity. There is no insect whatever, 
 which they will not attack, in order to leave 
 their fatal present in its body; the caterpillar, 
 the gnat, and even the spider himself, so for- 
 midable to others, is often made the unwilling- 
 fosterer of this destructive progeny. 
 
 About the middle of the summer, when 
 other insects are found in great abundance, the 
 ichneumon is seen 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 appe- 
 tites. 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 de- 
 vours the young wasp, but the whole supply 
 of worms which the parent had carefully pro- 
 vided for its provision. But the greatest num. 
 ber of the ichneumon tribe are seen settling 
 upon the back of the caterpillar, and darting, 
 at different intervals, their stings into its body. 
 At every dart they deposit an egg, while the 
 wounded animal seems scarcely sensible of the 
 njury it sustains. In this manner they leave 
 from six to a dozen of their eggs within the 
 fatty substance of the reptile's body, and then 
 fly off to commit further depredations. In the 
 meantime, the caterpillar, thus irreparably in- 
 jured, seems to feed as voraciously as before ; 
 does not abate of its usual activity ; and to all 
 appearance, seems no way affected by the in- 
 ternal enemies that are preparing its destruc- 
 ion in their darksome abode. But they soon 
 3urst from their egg state, and begin to prey 
 upon the substance of their prison. As they 
 
THE ANT. 
 
 535 
 
 grow larger, they require a greater supply ; 
 till at last the animal, by whose vitals they are 
 supported, is no longer able to sustain them, 
 but dies ; its whole inside being almost eaten 
 away. It often happens, however, that it 
 survives their worm-state, and then they 
 change into a chrysalis, inclosed in the cater- 
 pillar's body till the time of their delivery ap- 
 proaches, when they burst their prisons, and 
 fly away. The caterpillar, however, is irre- 
 parably destroyed, it never changes into a 
 chrysalis, but dies shortly after from the inju- 
 ries 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 incon- 
 ceivable ; and without such a destroyer, the 
 fruits of the earth would only rise to furnish a 
 banquet for the insect race, to the exclusion of 
 all the nobler ranks of animated nature. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE ANT. 
 
 THOUGH the number of two- winged flies be 
 very great, and the naturalists have taken 
 much pains to describe their characters and 
 varieties ; yet there is such a similitude in 
 (heir forms and manners, that in a work like 
 this, one description must serve for all. We 
 now, therefore, come to a species of four- 
 winged insects, that are famous from all anti- 
 quity for their social and industrious habits, 
 that are marked for their spirit of subordina- 
 tion, that are offered as a pattern of parsimony 
 to the profuse, and of unremitting diligence to 
 the sluggard. 
 
 In the experiments, however, which have 
 been more recently made, and the observations 
 which have been taken, much of their boasted 
 frugality and precaution seems denied them : 
 the treasures they lay up are no longer sup- 
 posed intended for future provision ; and the 
 choice they make in their stores, seems no way 
 dictated by wisdom. It is indeed somewhat 
 surprising, that almost every writer of anti- 
 quity should describe this insect, as labouring 
 in the summer, and feasting upon the produce 
 during the winter. Perhaps, in some of the 
 warmer climates where the winter is mild, and 
 of short continuance, this may take place ; but 
 in France and England, these animals can 
 have no manner of occasion for a supply of 
 winter provisions, as they are actually in a 
 state of torpidity during that season. 
 
 The common ants of Europe are of two or 
 three different kinds : some red, some black; 
 some with stings, and others without ; such as 
 
 have stings, inflict their wounds in that man- 
 ner ; such as are unprovided with these wea- 
 pons of defence, have a power of spurting from 
 their hinder parts an acid pungent liquor, 
 which, if it lights upon the skin, inflames and 
 burns it like nettles. 1 
 
 1 The formica rufa, or wood-ant, is the largest of our 
 British ants. It is called the Hill-ant by Gould, the 
 Fallow-ant by the English translator oi'Huber, and popu- 
 larly the Pismire. It invariably lives in or near woods 
 and forests. It may be readily distinguished from other 
 ants by the dusky black colour of its head and hinder 
 parts, and the rusty brown of its middle. The struc- 
 tures reared by this species are often of considerable 
 magnitude, and bear no small resemblance to a rook's 
 nest thrown upon the ground, bottom upwards. The ex- 
 terior of the riest is composed of almost every transport- 
 able material which the colonists can find in their vici- 
 nity ; but the greater portion consists of withered grass 
 and short twigs of trees, piled up in apparent confusion, 
 but with sufficient regularity to render the whole smooth, 
 conical, and sloping towards the base, for the purpose, 
 we may infer, of carrying off rain water. When within 
 reach of a corn-field, they often also pick up grains of 
 wheat, barley, or oats, and carry them to the nest as 
 building materials, and not for food as was believed by 
 the ancients. The coping which forms the exterior of 
 the wood-ant's nest, though only a small portion of the 
 structure, which consists of a great number of interior 
 chambers and galleries, with funnel-shaped avenues lead- 
 ing to them, is one of the most essential parts, and we 
 cannot follow a more delightful guide than the younger 
 Huber, in detailing its formation. 
 
 " The labourers," he says, " of which the colony is 
 composed, not only work continually on the outside of 
 their nest, but, differing very essentially from other spe- 
 cies, who willingly remain in the interior, sheltered 
 from the sun, they prefer living in the open air, and do 
 not hesitate to carry on, even in our presence, the greater 
 part of their operations. To have an idea how the 
 straw or stubble roof is formed, let us take a view of the 
 ant-hill at its origin, when it is simply a cavity in the 
 earth. Some of its future inhabitants are seen wander- 
 ing about in search of materials fit for the exterior work, 
 with which, though rather irregularly, they cover up the 
 entrance; whilst others are employed in mixing the 
 earth, thrown up in hollowing the interior, with frag- 
 ments of wood and leaves, which are every moment 
 brought in by their fellow -assistants ; and this gives a 
 certain consistence to the edifice, which increases in size 
 daily. Our little architects leave here and there cavi- 
 ties, where they intend constructing the galleries which 
 are to lead to the exterior, and as they remove in the 
 morning the barriers placed at the entrance of their nest 
 the preceding evening, the passages are kept open during 
 the whole time of its construction. We soon observed 
 the roof to become convex ; but we should be greatly 
 deceived did we consider it solid. This roof is destined 
 to include many apartments or stories. Having ob- 
 served the motions of these little builders through a pane 
 of glass, adjusted against one of their habitations, I am 
 thence enabled to speak with some degree of certainty 
 upon the manner in which they are constructed. I as- 
 certained, that it is by excavating or mining the under 
 portion of their edifice, that they form their spacious 
 halls, low, indeed, and of heavy construction, yet suffi- 
 ciently convenient for the use to which they are appro- 
 priated, that of receiving, at certain hours of the day, the 
 larvae and pupsc. These halls have a free communication 
 by galleries, made in the same manner. If the materials 
 of which the ant-hill is composed were only interlaced, 
 they* would fall into a confused heap every time the ants 
 
536 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 The body of an arit is divided into the head, 
 breast, and belly. In the head the eyes are 
 placed, which are entirely black, arid under 
 their eyes there are two small horns or feelers, 
 
 attempted to bring them into regular order. This, how- 
 ever, is obviated by their tempering the earth with rain- 
 water, which, afterwards hardened in the sun, so com- 
 pletely and effectually binds together the several substan- 
 ces, as to permit the removal of certain fragments from 
 the ant-hill without any injury to the rest ; it, moreover, 
 strongly opposes the introduction of the rain. I never 
 found, even after long and violent rains, the interior of 
 the nest wetted to more than a quarter of an inch from 
 the surface, provided it had not been previously out of 
 repair, or deserted by its inhabitants. The ants are ex- 
 tremely well sheltered in their chambers, the largest of 
 which is placed nearly in the centre of the building; it is 
 much loftier than the rest, arid traversed only by the 
 beams that support the ceiling; it is in this spot that all 
 the galleries terminate, and this forms, for the most 
 part, their usual residence. As to the underground 
 portion, it can only be seen when the ant-hill is placed 
 against a declivity ; all the interior may be then readily 
 brought in view, by simply raising up the straw-roof. 
 The subterranean residence consists of a range of apart- 
 ments, excavated in the earth, taking a horizontal direc- 
 tion." 
 
 There is this remarkable difference in the nest of the 
 wood-ants, that they do not construct a long covert way 
 as if for concealment, as the yellow and the brown ants 
 do. The wood-ants are not, like them, afraid of being 
 surprised by enemies, at least during the day, when the 
 whole colony is either foraging in the vicinity or em- 
 ployed on the exterior. But the proceedings of the 
 wood-ants at night are well worthy of notice ; and when 
 M. Huber began to study their economy, he directed 
 his entire attention to their night proceedings. " I re- 
 marked," says he, " that their habitations changed in 
 appearance hourly, and that the diameter of those spa- 
 cious avenues, where so many ants could freely pass each 
 other during the day, was, as night approached, gradu- 
 ally lessened. The aperture, at length, totally disap- 
 peared, the dome was closed on all sides, and the ants 
 retired to the bottom of their nest. In further noticing 
 the apertures of these ant-hills, I fully ascertained the 
 nature of the labour of its inhabitants, of which I could 
 not before even guess the purport ; for the surface of the 
 nest presented such a constant scene of agitation, and so 
 many insects were occupied in carrying materials in 
 every direction, that the movement offered no other image 
 than that of confusion. I saw then clearly that they 
 were engaged in stopping up passages ; and for this pur- 
 pose, they at first brought forward little pieces of wood, 
 which they deposited near the entrance of those avenues 
 they wished to close ; they placed them in the stubble; 
 they then went to seek other twigs and fragments of 
 wood, which they disposed above the first, but in a dif- 
 ferent direction, and appeared to choose pieces of less size 
 in proportion as the work advanced. They, at length, 
 brought in a number of dried leaves, and other materials 
 of an enlarged form, with which they covered the roof ; an 
 exact miniature of the art of our builders, when they form 
 the covering of any building ? Nature, indeed, seems 
 everywhere to have anticipated the inventions of which 
 we boast, and this is doubtless one of the most simple. 
 Our little insects, now in safety in their nest, retire 
 gradually to the interior before the last passages are 
 Hosed, one or two only remain without, or concealed be- 
 hind the doors on guard, whilst the rest either take their 
 repose, or engage in different occupations in the most 
 perfect security. 1 was impatient to know what took 
 place in the morning upon these ant-hills, and therefore 
 visited them at an early hour. I found them in the 
 
 composed of twelve joints, all covered with a 
 fine silky hair. The mouth is furnished with 
 two crooked jaws, which project outwards, in 
 each of which are seen incisors, that look like 
 
 same state in which I had left them the preceding even- 
 ing. A few ants were wandering about on the surface 
 of the nest, some others issued from time to time from 
 under the margin of their little roots formed at the en- 
 trance of the galleries ; others afterwards came forth, 
 who began removing the wooden bars that blockaded the 
 entrance, in which they readily succeeded. This labour 
 occupied them several hours. The passages were at 
 length free, and the materials with which they had been 
 closed, scattered here and there over the ant-hill. Every 
 day, morning and evening, during the fine weather, I 
 was a witness to similar proceedings. On days of rain 
 the doors of all the ant-hills remained closed. When 
 the sky was cloudy in the morning, or rain was indicated, 
 the ants, who seemed to be aware of it, opened but in 
 part their several avenues, and immediately closed them 
 when the rain commenced." 
 
 The galleries and chambers which are roofed in as thus 
 described, are very similar to those of the mason-ants, 
 being partly excavated in the earth, and partly built with 
 the clay thence procured. It is in these they pass the 
 night, and also the colder months of the winter, when 
 they become torpid or nearly so, and of course require 
 not the winter granaries of corn with which the ancients 
 fabulously furnish them. 
 
 The Carpenter. Ants, or ants that work in wood, per- 
 form much more extensive operations than any of the 
 other carpenter insects. Their only tools, like those of 
 bees and wasps, are their jaws or mandibles ; but though 
 these may not appear so curiously constructed as the 
 ovipositor file of the tree-hopper, or the rasp and saw of 
 the saw-flies, they are no less efficient in the perfor- 
 mance of what is required. Among the carpenter-ants 
 the emmet or jet-ant holds the first rank, and is easily 
 known by being rather less in size than the wood-ant, 
 and by its fine shining black colour. It is less common 
 in Britain than the others, though its colonies may oc- 
 casionally be met with in the trunks of decaying oak or 
 willow trees in hedges. 
 
 Among the foreign ants, we may mention a small 
 yellow ant of South America, described by Dampier, 
 which seems, from his account, to construct a nest of 
 green leaves. " Their sting," he says, " is like a spark 
 of fire ; and they are so thick among the boughs in some 
 places, that one shall be covered with them before he is 
 aware. These creatures have nests on great trees, 
 placed on the body between the limbs ; some of their 
 nests are as big as a hogshead. This is their winter 
 habitation ; for in the wet season they all repair to these 
 their cities, where they preserve their eggs. In the dry 
 season, when they leave their nests, they swarm all over 
 the woodlands, for they never trouble the savannahs. 
 Great paths, three or four inches broad, made by them, 
 may be seen in the woods. They go out light, but bring 
 home heavy loads on their backs, all of the same sub- 
 stance, and equal in size. I never observed any thing 
 besides pieces of grean leaves, so big that I could scarcely 
 see the insect for his burden ; yet they would march 
 stoutly, and so many were pressing forward that it was a 
 very pretty sight, for the path looked perfectly green 
 with them. 
 
 Ants observed in New South Wales, by the gentlemen 
 in the expedition under Captain Cook, are still more in- 
 teresting. " Some," we are told, " are as green as a 
 leaf, and live upon trees, where they build their nests of 
 various sizes, between that of a man's head and his fist. 
 These nests are of a very curious structure : they are 
 formed by bending down several of the leaves, each of 
 which is as broad as a man's hand, and glueing the points 
 
THE ANT. 
 
 537 
 
 
 teeth. The breast is covered with a fine silky 
 hair, from which project six legs, that are 
 pretty strong and hairy, the extremities of 
 each armed with two small claws, which the 
 
 of them together so as to form a purse. The viscous 
 matter used for this purpose is an animal juice which 
 nature has enabled them to elaborate. Another sort are 
 quite black. Their habitations are the inside of the 
 branches of a tree which they contrive to excavate, by 
 working out the pith almost to the extremity of the 
 slenderest twig, the tree at the same time flourishing as 
 if it had no such inmate. A third kind we found nested 
 in the root of a plant, which grows on the bark of trees 
 in the manner of misletoe, and which they had perfor- 
 ated for that use. This root is commonly as big as a 
 large turnip, and sometimes much bigger. When we 
 cut it we found it intersected by innumerable winding 
 passages, all filled with these animals, by which, how- 
 ever, the vegetation of the plant did not appear to have 
 suffered any injury. We never cut one of these roots 
 that was not inhabited, though some were not bigger than 
 a hazel-nut. The animals themselves are very small, 
 not more than half as big as the common red ant in 
 England. They had stings, but scarcely force enough 
 to make them felt ; they had, however, a power of tor- 
 menting us in an equal, if not in a greater degree ; for 
 the moment we handled the root, they swarmed from in- 
 numerable holes, and running about those parts of the 
 body that were uncovered, produced a titillation more 
 intolerable than pain, except it is increased to great 
 violence." 
 
 The species called Sugar-Ants in the West Indies 
 are particularly destructive to the sugar-cane, as well as 
 to lime, lemon, and orange-trees, by excavating their 
 nests at the roots, and so loosening the earth that they 
 are frequently uprooted and blown down by the winds. 
 If this does not happen the roots are deprived of due 
 nourishment, and the plants become sickly and die. 
 
 But the most extraordinary of ants is the White- Ants 
 or Termites, inhabiting the plains of East India, Africa, 
 and South America. Mr Smeathman has given in the 
 Philosophical Transactions a very complete account of 
 these wonderful creatures. He says that they are na- 
 turally divided into three orders : first, the working in- 
 sects, which he distinguishes by the name of labourers} 
 second, the fighters, or soldiers, which perform no other 
 labour than such as is necessary in defence of the nest ; 
 and third, the winged or perfect insects, which are male 
 and female, and capable of multiplying the species. The 
 latter he denotes the nobility or gentry, because they 
 neither labour nor fight. In their nest or hill, for they 
 build on the surface of the ground, the labourers are al- 
 ways the most numerous, there being at least a hundred 
 labourers for one of the fighting insects, or soldiers. In 
 this state they are about a quarter of an inch in length. 
 The second order, or soldiers, differ in figure from the 
 labourers. These appear to be such insects as have un- 
 dergone one change towards their perfect state. They 
 are now nearly half an inch in length, and equal in size 
 to about fifteen of the labourers. The shape of the head 
 is likewise greatly changed. In the former state the mouth 
 is evidently formed for gnawing, or for holding bodies; 
 but in this state the jaws being shaped like two sharp 
 awls, a little jagged, are destined solely for piercing or 
 wounding. For these purposes they are well calculated, 
 being as hard as a crab's claw, and placed in a strong 
 horny head, which is larger than all the rest of the body. 
 The insect of the third order, or in its perfect state, is 
 still more remarkable. The head, the thorax, and the 
 abdomen, differ almost in the same parts in the labourers 
 and soldiers. The animals are also now furnished with 
 lour large brownish transparent wings, by which they are 
 enabled, at the proper season, to emigrate, and to es~ 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 animal uses in climbing. The belly is more 
 reddish than the rest of the body, which is of 
 a brown chestnut colour, shining as glass, and 
 covered with extremely fine hair. 
 
 tablish new settlements. They are likewise greatly al- 
 tered in their size as well as figure, and have acquired 
 the powers of propagating the species. Their bodies now 
 measure nearly three quarters of an inch in length ; their 
 wings, from tip to tip, above two inches and a half ; and 
 their bulk is equal to that of thirty labourers, or two sol- 
 diers. Instead of active, industrious, and rapacious little 
 animals, when they arrive at their perfect state, they be- 
 come innocent, helpless, and dastardly. 
 
 Their numbers are great, but their enemies are still 
 more numerous. They are devoured by birds, by every 
 species of ants, by carnivorous reptiles, and even by the 
 inhabitants of many parts of Africa. After such devas- 
 tation, it seems surprising that even a single pair should 
 escape. Some, however, are so fortunate ; and being 
 found by some of the labouring insects, that are continu- 
 ally running about the surface of the ground under their 
 covered galleries, are elected kings and queens over new 
 states; all those who are not so elected and preserved, 
 certainly perish. The manner in which these labourers 
 protect the happy pair from their innumerable enemies, 
 not only on the day of the massacre of almost all their 
 race, but for a long time after, justifies the use of the 
 term election. The little industrious creatures imme- 
 diately enclose them in a small chamber of clay suitable 
 to their size, into which at first they leave but one en- 
 trance, large enough for themselves and soldiers to go in 
 and out at, but too little for either of the royal pair to 
 use; and when necessity obliges them to make more en- 
 trances, they are never larger, so that of course, the vol- 
 untary subjects charge themselves with the task of pro- 
 viding for the offspring of their sovereigns, as well as of 
 working and fighting for them, until they have raised a 
 progeny capable at least of dividing the task with them. 
 
 About this time a most extraordinary change takes 
 place in the queen; the abdomen begins to extend and 
 enlarge to such an enormous size, that an old queen will 
 sometimes have it so much increased, as to be nearly 
 two thousand times the bulk of the rest of her body. It 
 
 Queen distended with eggs. 
 
 is now of an irregular, oblong shape, and is become one 
 vast matrix full of eggs. When these are perfectly 
 formed, they begin to be protruded, and they come forth 
 so quickly, that about sixty in a minute, or upwards 01 
 eighty thousand in twenty -four hours, are deposited. The 
 eggs are immediately taken away by the attendants, and 
 carried to the nurseries : here they are hatched. The 
 young ones are attended and provided with every thing 
 necessary, until they are able to shift for themselves, and 
 take their share in the labours of the community. 
 
 The nests, or rather hills of these ants, (for they are 
 often elevated ten or twelve feet above the surface of the 
 ground,) are nearly of a conical shape ; and sometimes so 
 numerous, as at a little distance to appear like little vil- 
 lages of the Negroes. (See a representation of ant-hills 
 in plate I. fig. 1.) Jobson, in his history of Gambia, 
 says that some of them are twenty feet high, and that he 
 and his companions have often hidden themselves behind 
 them, for the purpose of shooting deer and other wild 
 animals. Each hill is composed of an exterior and inte- 
 rior part. The exterior cover is a large clay shell, 
 shaped like a dome, of strength and magnitude sufficient 
 
 3 Y 
 
538 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 From such a formation, this animal seems 
 bolder and more active, for its size, than any 
 other of the insect tribe, and fears not to attack 
 a creature often above ten times its own magni- 
 tude. 
 
 to enclose and protect the interior building from the in- 
 juries of the weather, and to defend its numerous inhabi- 
 tants from the attacks of natural or accidental enemies. 
 Different species of termites construct nests of very dif- 
 ferent forms. In the plate referred to, among others, are 
 represented turret-nests, the figures of which resemble a 
 pillar, with a large mushroom for a capital. These tur- 
 rets are composed of well-tempered black earth, and 
 stand nearly three feet high. One nest is represented 
 cut through with the upper part lying on the ground. 
 When one of these turrets is completed, the insects do 
 not enlarge them, when they become too small, but build 
 another at a short distance. They are so strongly built 
 that they will sooner tear up from the roots than break. 
 
 The royal chamber is always situated as near the cen- 
 tre of the building as possible, is generally on a level 
 with the surface of the ground, and of an obtuse oval 
 shape within. In the infant state of the colony it is not 
 above an inch in length : but in time it becomes en- 
 larged to six or eight inches, or more. The entrance 
 into the royal chamber not admitting any animal larger 
 than the labourers or soldiers, it follows that the king 
 and queen can never possibly get out. This chamber is 
 surrounded by a hundred of others, of different sizes, 
 figures, and dimensions ; all of them arched either in a 
 circular or an elliptical form. These either open into 
 each other, or have communicating passages, which being 
 always clear, are evidently intended for the conve- 
 nience of the soldiers and attendants, of whom great num- 
 bers are necessary. The latter apartments are joined by 
 the magazines and nurseries. The magazines are cham- 
 bers of clay, and are at all times well stored with provi- 
 sions, which to the naked eye seem to consist of the 
 raspings of wood and plants, but, when examined by the 
 microscope, they are found to consist chiefly of the gums 
 or inspissated juices of plants thrown together in small ir- 
 regular masses. 
 
 The magazines are always intermixed with the nur- 
 series, buildings totally different from the rest of the 
 apartments. These are composed entirely of wooden 
 materials, which seem to be cemented with gum. They 
 are invariably occupied by the eggs, and the young ones, 
 which first appear in the shape of labourers. These 
 buildings are exceedingly compact, and are divided into 
 a number of small irregular-shaped chambers, not one of 
 which is half an inch wide. They are placed all around, 
 and as near as possible to the royal apartments. When 
 a nest is in an infant state, the nurseries are close to the 
 royal apartment. But as in process of time the body of 
 the queen enlarges, it becomes necessary, for her accom- 
 modation, to augment the dimensions of her chamber. 
 She then likewise lays a greater number of eggs, and re- 
 quires more attendants : of course it is necessary that 
 both the number and dimensions of the adjacent apart- 
 ments should be augmented. For this purpose, the small 
 first built nurseries are taken to pieces, rebuilt a little 
 farther off, and made a size larger, and their number at 
 the same time is increased. Thus the animals are con- 
 tinually employed in pulling down, repairing, or rebuild- 
 ing their apartments ; and these operations they perform 
 with wonderful sagacity, regularity, and foresight. The 
 nurseries are enclosed in chambers of clay, like those 
 \vhich contain the provisions; but they are much larger. 
 In the early state of the nest they are not bigger than a 
 hazel-nut ; but in great hills they are oftentimes four or 
 live inches across. 
 
 The royal chamber, as before observed, is situated as 
 uearly under the apex of the hill as possible, and is sur 
 
 As soon as the winter is past, in the first 
 fine day in April, the ant-hill, that before 
 seemed a desert, now swarms with new life, 
 and myriads of these insects are seen just 
 awaked from their annual lethargy, and pre- 
 
 rounded on all sides, both above and below, by what Mr 
 Smeathman calls the royal apartments, which contain 
 only those labourers and soldiers that are employed in 
 defence of the common parents. These apartments 
 compose an intricate labyrinth, which extends a foot or 
 more in diameter from the royal chamber on every side. 
 Here the nurseries and magazines of provisions begin ; 
 and, being separated by small empty chambers and gal- 
 leries, which surround them, and communicate with each 
 other, are continued on all sides to the outward shell, and 
 reach up within two-thirds, or three-fourths of its height, 
 leaving an open area in the middle under the dome. 
 This is surrounded by large pointed arches, which are 
 sometimes two or three feet high next to the front of the 
 area, but diminish rapidly as they recede, and are soon 
 lost among the innumerable chambers and nurseries be- 
 hind them. The inferior building, or assemblage of nur- 
 series, chambers, and passages, has a flattish floor, with- 
 out any perforation. By this contrivance, if by accident 
 water should penetrate the external dome, the apartments 
 below are preserved from injury. The area has also a 
 flattish floor, which is situated above the royal chamber ; 
 it is likewise water-proof, and so constructed, that if 
 water gets admittance, it runs off by subterraneous pas- 
 sages, which are cylindrical, and some of them so much 
 as even thirteen inches in diameter. These subterrane- 
 ous passages are thickly lined with the same kind of clay 
 of which the hill is composed ; they ascend the internal 
 part of the external shell in a spiral form, and winding 
 round the whole building up to the top, intersect and 
 communicate with each other at different heights. From 
 every part of these large galleries, a number of pipes, or 
 smaller galleries, leading to different apartments of the 
 building, proceed. There are likewise a great many 
 which lead downward, by sloping descents, to a consider- 
 able depth under the surface of the ground. Other gal- 
 leries ascend and lead out horizontally on every side, and 
 are also carried under ground, but near the surface, to 
 great distances, for the purpose of foraging. 
 
 When a breach is made in one of the walls by an axe 
 or other instrument, the first object that attracts atten- 
 tion is the behaviour of the soldiers or fighting insects. 
 Immediately after the blow is given, a soldier comes 
 out, walks about the breach, and seems to examine the 
 nature of the enemy, or cause of the attack. He then 
 goes into the hill, gives the alarm, and in a short time 
 large bodies rush out as fast as the breach will permit. 
 It is not easy to describe the fury that actuates these 
 fighting insects. In their eagerness to repel the enemy, 
 they frequently tumble down the sides of the hill, but 
 quickly recover themselves, and bite everything they en- 
 counter. This biting, joined to the striking of their forceps 
 upon the building, makes a crackling or vibrating noise, 
 which is somewhat shriller and quicker than the ticking 
 of a watch, and may be heard at the distance of several 
 feet. While the attack proceeds they are in the most 
 violent bustle and agitation. If they seize hold of any 
 part of a man's body, they instantly make a wound which 
 gives some pain. When they attack the leg, the stain 
 of blood upon the stocking extends more than an inch in 
 width. They make their hooked jaws meet at the first 
 stroke, and never quit their hold, but suffer themselves 
 to be pulled away piece after piece, without any attempt 
 to escape. On the other hand, if a person keeps out of 
 their reach, and gives them no further disturbance, in 
 less than half an hour they retire into the nest, as if they 
 supposed the monster that damaged their castle had fled. 
 Before the whole of the soldiers have got in, the labouring 
 
THE ANT. 
 
 539 
 
 paring for the pleasure and fatigues of the 
 season. For the first day they never offer to 
 leave the hill, which may be considered as 
 their citadel, but run over every part of it, as 
 it' to examine its present situation, to observe 
 what injuries it has sustained during the 
 rigours of winter, l while they slept, and to 
 meditate and settle the labours of the day en- 
 suing. 
 
 At the first display of their forces, none but 
 the wingless tribe appears, while those fur- 
 nished with wings remain at the bottom. 
 These are the working ants that first appear, 
 and that are always destitute of wings ; the 
 males and females, that are furnished with 
 four large wings each, are more slow in mak- 
 ing their appearance. 
 
 Thus, like bees, they are divided into males, 
 females, and the neutral or the working tribe. 
 These are ail easily distinguished from each 
 other; the females are much larger than the 
 males ; the working ants are the smallest of 
 all. The two former have wings ; which, 
 however, they sometimes are divested of ; the 
 latter never have any, and upon them are 
 devolved all the labours that tend to the wel- 
 fare of the community. The female, also, 
 
 insects are all in motion, and hastening towards the 
 breach, each of them having a quantity of tempered mortar 
 in his mouth. This mortar they stick upon the breach as 
 fast as they arrive, and perform the operation with so much 
 despatch and facility, that, notwithstanding the immen- 
 sity of their number, they never stop or embarrass one an- 
 other. During this scene of apparent hurry and confusion, 
 the spectator is agreeably surprised, by observing a regular 
 wall rising and gradually filling up the chasm. While 
 the labourers are thus employed, almost all the soldiers 
 remain within, except here and there one, who saunters 
 about among six hundred or a thousand labourers, but never 
 touches the mortar. One soldier, however, invariably 
 takes his station close to the wall which the labourers are 
 building. This soldier turns himself leisurely on all 
 sides, and, at intervals of a minute or two, raises his 
 head, beats upon the building with his forceps, and makes 
 the vibrating noise formerly mentioned. A loud hiss 
 instantly issues from the inside of the dome, and all the 
 subterraneous caverns and passages. That this hiss pro- 
 ceeds from the labourers is apparent ; for, at every signal 
 of this kind, they work with redoubled quickness and 
 alacrity. A renewal of the attack, however, instantly 
 changes the scene. " On the first stroke," Mr Smeath- 
 man remarks, "the labourers run into the many pipes 
 and galleries with which the building is perforated, which 
 they do so quickly, that they seem to vanish ; for in a 
 few seconds, all are gone, and the soldiers rush out as 
 numerous and as vindictive as before. On finding no 
 enemy, they return again leisurely into the hill ; and, 
 soon after, the labourers appear loaded as at first, as ac- 
 tive, and as sedulous, with soldiers here and there among 
 them, who act just in the same manner, one or other o: 
 them giving the signal to hasten the business. Thus the 
 pleasure of seeing them out to fight or to work alternately 
 may be obtained as often as curiosity excites, or time 
 permits ; and it will certainly be found, that the one 
 order never attempts to fight, nor the other to work, let 
 the emergency be ever so great." 
 
 1 Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire des Insectes pai 
 Charles de Geer. 
 
 may be distinguished by the colour and struc- 
 ure of her breast, which is a little more brown 
 han that of the common ant, and a little 
 Drighter than that of the male. 
 
 In eight or ten days after their first appear- 
 ance, the labours of the hill are in some for- 
 wardness ; the males and females are seen 
 nixed with the working multitude, and pur- 
 sued or pursuing each other. They seem no 
 way to partake in the common drudgeries of 
 the state ; the males pursue the females with 
 reat assiduity, and in a manner force them 
 ;o compliance. They remain coupled for 
 some time ; while the males, thus united, 
 suffer themselves to be drawn along by the 
 will of their partners. 
 
 In the meantime, the working body of the 
 state take no part in their pleasures ; they are 
 seen diligently going from the ant-hill in 
 pursuit of food for themselves and their asso- 
 iates, and of proper materials for giving a com- 
 fortable retreat to their young, or safety to their 
 habitation. In the fields of England, ant-hills 
 are formed with but little apparent regularity. 
 In the more southern provinces of Europe, 
 they are constructed with wonderful contriv- 
 ance, and offer a sight highly worthy a na- 
 turalist's curiosity. These are generally formed 
 in the neighbourhood of some large tree and a 
 stream of water. The one is considered by 
 the animals as the proper place for getting 
 food ; the other for supplying them with mois- 
 ture, which they cannot well dispense with. 
 The shape of the ant-hill is that of a sugar- 
 loaf, about three feet high, composed of vari- 
 ous substances ; leaves, bits of wood, sand, 
 earth, bits of gum, and grains of corn. These 
 are all united into a compact body, perforated 
 with galleries down to the bottom, and wind- 
 ing ways within the body of the structure. 
 From this retreat, to the water, as well as to 
 the tree, in different directions, there are 
 many paths worn by constant assiduity, and 
 along these the busy insects are seen passing 
 and repassing continually ; so that from May, 
 or the beginning of June, according to the state 
 of the season, they work continually, till the 
 bad weather comes on. 
 
 The chief employment of the working ants 
 is in sustaining not only the idlers at home, 
 but also finding a sufficiency of food for them- 
 selves. They live upon various provisions, as 
 well of the vegetable as of the animal kind. 
 Small insects they will kill and devour: 
 sweets of all kinds they are particularly fond 
 of. They seldom, however, think of their 
 community, till they themselves are first 
 satiated. Having found a juicy fruit, they 
 swallow what they can, and then tearing it in 
 pieces, carry home their load. If they meet 
 with an insect above their match, several ol 
 them will fall upon it at once, and, having 
 
540 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 mangled it, each will carry off a part of the 
 spoil. If they meet, in their excursions, any 
 thing that is too heavy for one to bear, and 
 yet which they are able to divide, several of 
 them will endeavour to force it along, some 
 dragging and others pushing. If any one of 
 them happens to make a lucky discovery, it 
 will immediately give advice to others, and 
 then, at once the whole republic will put them- 
 selves in motion. If in these struggles one of 
 them happens to be killed, some kind survivor 
 will carry him off to a great distance, to pre- 
 vent the obstructions his body might give to 
 the general spirit of industry. 
 
 But while they are thus employed in sup- 
 porting the state in feeding abroad, and carry- 
 ing in provisions to those that continue at 
 home, they are not unmindful of posterity. 
 After a few days of fine weather, the female 
 ants begin to lay their eggs, and those are as 
 assiduously watched and protected by the 
 working ants, who take upon themselves to 
 supply whatever is wanting to the nascent 
 animal's convenience or necessity. They are 
 carried, as soon as laid, to the safest situation, 
 at the bottom of their hill, where they are 
 carefully defended from cold and moisture. 
 We are not to suppose, that those white sub- 
 stances which we so plentifully find in 
 every ant-hill, are the eggs as newly laid. 
 On the contrary, the ant's egg is so very small, 
 that, though laid upon a black ground, it can 
 scarcely be discerned. The little white bodies 
 we see are the young animals in their maggot 
 state, endued with life, long since freed from 
 the egg, and often involved in a cone, which 
 it has spun round itself, like the silk-worm. 
 The real egg when laid, if viewed through a 
 microscope, appears smooth, polished, and 
 shining, while the maggot is seen composed 
 of twelve rings, and is often larger than the 
 ant itself. It is impossible to express the fond 
 attachment which the working ants show to 
 their rising progeny. In cold weather they 
 take them in their mouths, but without offer- 
 ing them the smallest injury, to the very depths 
 of their habitation, where they are less subject 
 to the severity of the season. In a fine day 
 they remove them with the same care nearer 
 the surface, where their maturity may be 
 assisted by the warm beams of the sun. If a 
 formidable enemy should come to batter down 
 their whole habitation, and crush them by 
 thousands in the ruin, yet these wonderful in- 
 sects, still mindful of their parental duties, 
 make it their first care to save their offspring. 
 They are seen running wildly about, and dif- 
 ferent ways, each loaded with a young one, 
 often bigger than the insect that supports it. 
 
 have kept, says Swammerdara, several of 
 the working ants in my closet, with their 
 young in a glass filled with earth. I took 
 
 pleasure in observing, that in proportion a.* 
 the earth dried on the surface, they dug deeper 
 and deeper to deposit their eggs*; and when 
 I poured water thereon, it was surprising to 
 see with what care, affection, and diligence, 
 they laboured, to put their brood in safety, in 
 the driest place. I have seen also, that when 
 water has been wanting for several days, and 
 when the earth was moistened after it a little, 
 they immediately carried their young ones to 
 have a share, who seemed to enjoy and suck 
 the moisture. 
 
 When the young maggot is come to its full 
 growth, the breast swells insensibly, it casts 
 its skin, and loses all motion. All the mem- 
 bers which were hidden before, then begin to 
 appear; an aurelia is formed, which repre- 
 sents very distinctly all the parts of the ani- 
 mal, though they are yet without motion, and, 
 as it were, wrapped up in swaddling clothes. 
 When at length the little insect has passed 
 through all its changes, and acquired its pro- 
 per maturity, it bursts this last skin, to assume 
 the form it is to retain ever after. Yet this 
 is not done by efforts of the little animal alone, 
 for the old ones very assiduously break open, 
 with their teeth, the covering in which it is 
 enclosed. Without this assistance the aurelia 
 would never be able to get free, as M. de 
 Geer often found, who tried the experiment by 
 leaving the aurelias to themselves. The old 
 ones not only assist them, but know the very 
 precise time for lending their assistance ; for, 
 if produced too soon, the young one dies of 
 cold : if retarded too long, it is suffocated in 
 its prison. 
 
 When the female has done laying, and the 
 whole brood is thus produced, her labours, as 
 well as that of the male, become unnecessary ; 
 and her wings, which she had but a short time 
 before so actively employed, drop off. What 
 becomes of her when thus divested of her orna- 
 ments is not well known, for she is seen in 
 the cells for some weeks after. The males, 
 on the other hand, having no longer any oc- 
 cupation at home, make use of those wings 
 with which they have been furnished by na- 
 ture, and fly away, never to return or be heard 
 of more. It is probable they perish with the 
 cold, or are devoured by the birds, which are 
 particularly fond of this petty prey. 
 
 In the meantime, the working ants, having 
 probably deposed their queens, and being 
 deserted by the males, that served but. to clog 
 the community, prepare for the severity of the 
 winter, and bury their retreats as deep in the 
 arth as they conveniently can. It is now 
 found that the grains of corn, and other sub- 
 stances with which they furnish their hill, are 
 only meant as fences to keep off the rigours of 
 the weather, not as provisions to support them 
 during its continuance. It is found generally 
 
THE BEETLE. 
 
 541 
 
 to obtain, that every insect that lives a year 
 after it is'come to its full growth, is obliged to 
 pass four or five months without taking any 
 nourishment, and will seem to be dead all that 
 time. It would be to no purpose, therefore, 
 for ants to lay up corn for the winter, since 
 they lie that time without motion, heaped upon 
 each other, and are so far from eating, that 
 they are utterly unable to stir. Thus, what 
 authors have dignified by the name of a maga- 
 zine, appears to be no more than a cavity, 
 which serves for a common retreat when the 
 weather forces them to return to their lethargic 
 state. 
 
 What has been said with exaggeration of 
 the European ant, is however true, if asserted 
 of those of the tropical climates. They build 
 an ant-hill with great contrivance and regu- 
 larity, they lay up provisions, and as they pro- 
 bably live the whole year, they submit them- 
 selves to regulations entirely unknown among 
 the ants of Europe. 
 
 Those of Africa are of three kinds, the red, 
 the green, and the black; the latter are above 
 an inch long, and in every respect a most for- 
 midable insect. Their sting produces extreme 
 pain, and their depredations are sometimes 
 extremely destructive. They build an ant-hill 
 of a very great size, from six to twelve feet 
 high ; it is made of viscous clay, and tapers 
 into a pyramidal form. This habitation is 
 constructed with great artifice; and the cells 
 are so numerous and even, that a honey- 
 comb scarce exceeds them in number and re- 
 gularity. 
 
 The inhabitants of this edifice seem to be 
 under a very strict regulation. At the slight- 
 est warning they will sally out upon whatever 
 disturbs them; and if they have time to arrest 
 their enemy, he is sure to find no mercy. 
 Sheep, hens, and even rats, are often destroyed 
 by these merciless insects, and their flesh de- 
 voured to the bone. No anatomist in the 
 world can strip a skeleton so completely as 
 they; and no animal, how strong soever, when 
 they have once seized upon it, has power to 
 resist them. 
 
 It often happens that these insects quit 
 their retreat in a body, and go in quest of ad- 
 ventures. " During my stay," says Smith, 
 " at Cape Corse Castle, a body of these ants 
 came to pay us a visit in our fortification. It 
 was about day-break when the advanced guard 
 of this famished crew entered the chapel, 
 where some negro servants were asleep upon 
 the floor. The men were quickly alarmed at 
 the invasion of this unexpected army, and pre- 
 pared, as well as they could, for a defence. 
 While the foremost battalion of insects had al- 
 ready taken possession of the place, the rear- 
 guard was more than a. quarter of a mile dis- 
 tant. The whole ground seemed alive, and 
 
 crawling with unceasing destruction. After 
 deliberating a few moments upon what was 
 to be done, it was resolved to lay a large train 
 of gunpowder along the path they had taken: 
 by this means, millions were blown to pieces ; 
 and the rear-guard perceiving the destruction 
 of their leaders, thought proper instantly to 
 return and make back to their original habi- 
 tation." 
 
 The order which these ants observe, seems 
 very extraordinary; whenever they sally forth, 
 fifty or sixty larger than the rest are seen to 
 head the band, and conduct them to their des- 
 tined prey. If they have a fixed spot where 
 their prey continues to resort, they then form 
 a vaulted gallery, which is sometimes a quar- 
 ter of a mile in length ; and yet they will hol- 
 low it out in the space of ten or twelve hours. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OP THE BEETLE, AND ITS VARIETIES. 
 
 HITHERTO we have been treating of insects 
 with four transparent wings, we now come to 
 a tribe with two transparent wings, with cases 
 that cover them close while at rest, but which 
 allow them their proper play when flying. 
 The principal of these are the Beetle, the 
 May-bug, and the Cantharis. These are all 
 bred like the rest of their order, first from 
 eggs, then they become grubs, then a chrysa- 
 lis, in which the parts of the future fly are dis- 
 tinctly seen ; and, lastly, the animal leaves its 
 prison, breaking forth as a winged animal in 
 full maturity. 
 
 Of the Beetle there are various kinds ; all, 
 however, concurring in one common formation 
 of having cases to their wings, which are the 
 more necessary to those insects, as they often 
 live under the surface of the earth, in holes 
 which they dig out by their own industry. 
 These cases prevent the various injuries their 
 real wings might sustain, by rubbing or 
 crushing against the sides of their abode. 
 These, though they do not assist flight yet 
 keep the internal wings clean and even, and 
 produce a loud buzzing noise when the animal 
 rises in the air. 
 
 If we examine the formation of all animals 
 of the beetle kind, we shall find, as in shell- 
 fish, that their bones are placed externally and 
 their muscles within. These muscles are 
 formed very much like those of quadrupeds, 
 and are endued with such surprising strength, 
 that, bulk for bulk, they are a thousand times 
 stronger than those of a man. The strength 
 of these muscles is of use in digging the ani- 
 mal's subterraneous abode, where it is most 
 usually hatched, and to which it most fre- 
 
542 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 quently returns, even after it becomes a winged 
 insect capable of flying. 
 
 Beside the difference which results from the 
 shape arid colour of these animals, the size 
 also makes a considerable one ; some beetles 
 being not larger than the head of a pin, while 
 others, such as the elephant beetle, are as big 
 as one's fist. But the greatest difference 
 among them is, that some are produced in a 
 month, and in a single season go through all 
 the stages of their existence ; while others 
 take near four years to their production, 
 and live as winged insects a year more. 
 To give the history of all these animals, 
 that are bred pretty much in the same 
 way, would be insipid and endless ; it will 
 suffice to select one or two from the number, 
 the origin of which may serve as specimens 
 of the rest. I will, therefore, offer the history 
 of'the May-bug to the reader's attention ; pre- 
 mising that most other beetles, though not so 
 long lived, are bred in the same manner. 
 
 The May-bug, or dorr-beetle, as some call 
 it, has, like all the rest, a pair of cases to its 
 wings, which are of a reddish brown colour, 
 sprinkled with a whitish dust, which easily 
 comes off. In some years their necks are seen 
 covered with a red plate, and in others with a 
 black ; these, however, are distinct sorts, and 
 their difference is by no means accidental. 
 The fore-legs are very short, and the better 
 calculated for burrowing in the ground, where 
 this insect makes its retreat. It is well 
 known, for its evening buzz, to children ; but 
 still more formidably introduced to the ac- 
 quaintance of husbandmen and gardeners; for, 
 in some seasons, it has been found to swarm in 
 such numbers as to eat up every vegetable 
 production. 
 
 The two sexes in the May-bug are easily 
 distinguished from each other, by the superior 
 length of the tufts, at the end of the horns, in 
 the male. They begin to copulate in summer ; 
 and at that season they are seen joined toge- 
 ther a considerable time. The female being 
 impregnated, quickly falls to boring a hole 
 into the ground where to deposit her burden. 
 This is generally about half a foot deep, and 
 in it she places her eggs, which are of an ob- 
 long shape, with great regularity, one by the 
 other. They are of a bright yellow colour, 
 and no way wrapped up in a common covering, 
 as some have imagined. When the female 
 is lightened of her burden she again ascends 
 from her hole, to live as before upon leaves 
 and vegetables, to buzz in the summer evening, 
 and to lie hid among the branches of trees in 
 the heat of the day. 
 
 In about three months after these eggs have 
 been thus deposited in the earth, the contained 
 insect begins to break its shell, and a small 
 grub or maggot crawls forth, and feeds upon 
 
 the roots of whatever vegetable it happens to 
 to be nearest. 
 
 All substances of this kind seem equally 
 grateful, yet it is probable the mother insect 
 has a choice among what kind of vegetables 
 she shall deposit her young. In this manner 
 these voracious creatures continue in the worm 
 state, for more than three years, devouring the 
 roots of every plant they approach, and mak- 
 ing their way under ground, in quest of food, 
 with great dispatch and facility. At length 
 they grow to above the size of a walnut, being 
 a great thick white maggot with a red head, 
 which is seen most frequently in new-turned 
 earth, and which is so eagerly sought after by 
 birds of every species. When largest- they 
 are found an inch and a half long, of a whitish 
 yellow colour, with a body consisting of twelve 
 segments or joints, on each side of which there 
 are nine breathing-holes, arid three red feet. 
 The head is large in proportion to the body, 
 of a reddish colour, with a pincer before, and 
 a semi-circular lip, with which it cuts the 
 roots of plants, and sucks out their moisture. 
 As this insect lives entirely under ground, it 
 has no occasion for eyes, and accordingly it is 
 found to have none ; but is furnished with two 
 feelers, which, like the crutch of a blind man, 
 serve to direct its motion. Such is the form 
 of this animal, that lives for years in the worm 
 state under ground, still voracious, and every 
 year changing its skin. 
 
 It is not till the end of the fourth year, that 
 this extraordinary insect prepares to emerge 
 from its subterraneous abode, and even this is 
 not effected but by a tedious preparation. 
 About the latter end of autumn, the grub be- 
 gins to perceive the approach of its transforma- 
 tion; it then buries itself deeper and deeper 
 in the earth, sometimes six feet beneath the 
 surface, and there forms itself a capacious 
 apartment, the walls of which it renders very 
 smooth and shining by the excretions of its 
 body, its abode being thus formed, it begins, 
 soon after, to shorten itself, to swell, and to 
 burst its last skin, in order to assume the form 
 of a chrysalis. This, in the beginning, ap- 
 pears of a yellowish colour, which heightens 
 by degrees, till at last it is seen nearly red. 
 Its exterior form plainly discovers all the ves- 
 tiges of the future winged insect, all the fore- 
 parts being distinctly seen ; while behind, the 
 animal seems as if wrapped in swaddling 
 clothes. 
 
 The young May-bug continues in this state 
 for about three months longer ; and it is not 
 till the beginning of January, that the aurelia 
 divests itself of all its impediments, and be- 
 comes a winged insect, completely formed. 
 Yet still the animal is far from attaining its 
 natural strength, health and appetite. It un- 
 dergoes a kind of infant imbecility; and, un- 
 
THE BEETLE. 
 
 543 
 
 like most other insects, that the instant they 
 become flies are arrived at their state of full 
 perfection, the May-bug continues feeble and 
 sickly. Its colour is much brighter than in 
 the perfect animal, all its parts are soft, and 
 its voracious nature seems, for a while, to have 
 entirely forsaken it. As the animal is very 
 often found in this state, it is supposed, by 
 those unacquainted with its real history, that 
 the old ones of the former season have buried 
 themselves for the winter, in order to revisit 
 the sun the ensuing summer. But the fact is, 
 the old one never survives the season, but dies, 
 like all the other winged tribe of insects, from 
 the severity of cold in winter. 
 
 About the latter end of May, these insects, 
 after having lived for four years under ground, 
 burst from the earth, when the first mild even- 
 ing invites them abroad. They are at that 
 time seen rising from their long imprisonment, 
 from living only upon roots, and imbibing 
 only the moisture of the earth, to visit the 
 mildness of the summer air, to choose the 
 sweetest vegetables for their banquet, and to 
 drink the dew of the evening. Wherever 
 an attentive observer then walks abroad, he 
 will see them bursting up before him in his 
 pathway, like ghosts on a theatre. He will 
 see every part of the earth, that had its sur- 
 face beat into hardness, perforated by their 
 egression. When the season is favourable 
 for them, they are seen by myriads buzzing 
 along, hitting against every object that inter- 
 cepts their flight. The mid-day sun, how- 
 ever, seems too powerful for their constitutions; 
 they then lurk under the leaves and branches 
 of some shady tree ; but the willow seems par- 
 ticularly their most favourite food ; there they 
 lurk in clusters, and seldom quit the tree till 
 they have devoured all its verdure. In those 
 seasons which are favourable to their propaga- 
 tion, they are seen in an evening as thick as 
 flakes of snow, and hitting against every ob- 
 ject with a sort of capricious blindness. Their 
 duration, however, is but short, as they never 
 survive the season. They begin to join shortly- 
 after they have been let loose from their prison, 
 and when the female is impregnated, she cau- 
 tiously bores a hole in the ground, with an in- 
 strument fitted for that purpose, which she is 
 furnished with at the tail, and there deposits 
 her eggs, generally to the number of three- 
 score. If the season and the soil be adapted 
 to their propagation, these soon multiply as 
 already described, and go through the noxious 
 stages of their contemptible existence. This 
 insect, however, in its worm state, though pre- 
 judicial to man, makes one of the chief repasts 
 of the feathered tribe, and is generally the 
 first nourishment with which they supply their 
 young. Rooks arid hogs are particularly fond 
 of these worms, and devour them in great 
 
 numbers. The inhabitants of the county of 
 Norfolk, some time since, went into the prac- 
 tice of destroying their rookeries, but in pro- 
 portion as they destroyed one plague, they 
 were pestered with a greater; and these insects 
 multiplied in such an amazing abundance, as 
 to destroy not only the verdure of the fields, 
 but even the roots of vegetables not yet shot 
 forth. One farm in particular was so injured 
 by them in the year 1751, that the occupier 
 was not able to pay his rent, and the landlord 
 was content not only to lose his income for that 
 year, but also gave money for the support of 
 the farmer and his family. In Ireland they 
 suffered so much by these insects, that they 
 came to a resolution of setting fire to a wood of 
 some miles in extent, to prevent their mischie- 
 vous propagation. 1 
 
 1 Grubs. We frequently, (says Mr Rennie, in his in- 
 teresting work on Insect Transformations,) hear farmers 
 and gardeners complaining that their produce is de- 
 stroyed by " the grub ;" they might with equal propriety 
 accuse " the bird " when their ripe seeds are devoured 
 by sparrows, chaffinches, linnets, and other seed-eaters. 
 Instead of one sort of grub, as the expression seems to 
 indicate, we are far under the mark in reckoning a thou- 
 sand species indigenous to Britain, each peculiar in its 
 food and its manners. We shall, however, adhere as 
 nearly as possible to the terms in common use ; but as the 
 larvaB of the crane-flies (Tipulidae Leach), being without 
 legs, cannot be accurately ranked with the legged grubs 
 of beetles, we shall consider them as maggots, though 
 they are usually termed grubs by the farmers. 
 
 The most destructive, perhaps, of the creatures usu- 
 ally called grubs, are the larvre of the may-bug or cock- 
 chafer (Melolontha vulgaris), but too well known, par- 
 ticularly in the southern and midland districts of Eng- 
 land, as well as in Ireland, where the grub is called the 
 Connaught worm ; but fortunately not abundant in the 
 north. We only once met with the cockchafer in Scot- 
 land, at Sorn, in Ayrshire. Even in the perfect state, 
 this insect is not a little destructive to the leaves of both 
 forest and fruit trees. In 1823, we remember to have 
 observed almost all the trees about Dulwich and Camber- 
 well defoliated by them ; and Salisbury says, the leaves 
 of the oaks in Richmond Park were so eaten by them, 
 that scarcely an entire leaf was left. But it is in their 
 previous larvae state that they are most destructive, as we 
 shall see by tracing their history. 
 
 The mother cockchafer, when about to lay her eggs, 
 digs into the earth of a meadow or corn-field to the depth 
 of a span, and deposits them in a cluster at the bottom of 
 the excavation. Rb'sel, in order to watch their proceed- 
 ings, put some females into glasses half-filled with earth, 
 covered with a tuft of grass, and a piece of thin muslin. 
 In a fortnight, he found some hundreds of eggs deposited, 
 of an oval shape and a pale yellow colour. Placing the 
 glass in a cellar, the eggs were hatched towards autumn, 
 and the grubs increased remarkably in size. In the fol- 
 lowing May they fed so voraciously that they required a 
 fresh turf every second day; and even this proving too 
 scanty provender, he sowed in several garden pots a crop 
 of peas, lentils, and salad, and when the plants came up, 
 he put a pair of grubs in each pot ; and in this manner 
 he fed them through the second and third years. During 
 this period, they cast their skins three or four times, 
 going for this purpose deeper into the earth, and burrow- 
 ing out a hole where they might effect their change 
 undisturbed; and they do the same in winter, during 
 which they become torpid and do not eat. 
 
544 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 Of all the beetle kind this is the most 
 numerous, and therefore deserves the chief at- 
 tention of history. The numerous varieties of 
 other kinds might repay the curiosity of the 
 
 When the grub changes into a pupa, in the third 
 autumn after it is hatched, it digs a similar burrow about 
 a yard deep ; and when kept in a pot, and prevented from 
 sjoing deep enough, it shows great uneasiness and often 
 dies. The perfect beetle comes forth from the pupa in 
 
 Transformations of the cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris). a 
 newly hatched larvae, b, larvae, one year old. c, the same larvae 
 at the second year of its growth, d, the same three years old. 
 e, section of a bank of earth, containing the chrysalis of the 
 fourth year, f, the chafer first emerging from the earth, g, the 
 perfect chafer in a sitting posture. 
 
 The following (A) represents the insect flying. 
 
 January or February; but it is then as soft as it was 
 whilst still a grub, and does not acquire its hardness and 
 
 diligent observer, but we must be content in 
 general to observe, that in the great outlines of 
 their history, they resemble those of which we 
 have just been giving a description ; like them 
 
 colour for ten or twelve days, nor does it venture above 
 ground before May, on the fourth year from the time of 
 its hatching. At this time, the beetles may be observed 
 issuing from their holes in the evening, and dashing 
 themselves about in the air as if blind. 
 
 During the three summers then of their existence in 
 the grub state, these insects do immense injury, burrow- 
 ing between the turf and the soil, and devouring the 
 roots of grass and other plants ; so that the turf may easily 
 be rolled off, as if cut by a turfing spade, while the soil 
 underneath for an inch or more is turned into soft mould 
 like the bed of a garden. Mr Anderson of Norwich, 
 mentions having seen a whole field of fine flourishing 
 grass so undermined by these grubs, that in a few weeks 
 it became as dry, brittle, and withered as hay. Bingley 
 also tells us that " about sixty years ago, a farm near 
 Norwich was so infested with cockchafers, that the farmer 
 and his servants affirmed they gathered eighty bushels 
 of them ; and the grubs had done so much injury, that the 
 court of the city, in compassion to the poor fellow's mis- 
 fortune, allowed him twenty -five pounds." In the year 
 1785, a farmer, near Blois, in France, employed a number 
 of children and poor persons to destroy the cockchafers at 
 the rate of two liards a hundred, and in a few days they 
 collected fourteen thousand. 
 
 "I remember," says Salisbury, "seeing, in a nursery 
 near Bagshot, several acres of young forest trees, parti- 
 cularly larch, the roots of which were completely destroyed 
 by it, so much so, that not a single tree was left alive." 
 We are doubtful, however, whether this was the grub of 
 the cockchafer, and think it more likely to have been 
 that of the green rose beetle (Cetonia aurata), which 
 feeds on the roots of trees. 
 
 The grub of an allied genus, the midsummer chafer 
 (Zantheumia Solstitialis, Leach), has for the last two years 
 been abundant on Lewisham Hill, Blackheath, doing 
 considerable injury to herbage and garden plants. This 
 beetle may be known from being smaller and paler than 
 the cockchafer, and from its not appearing before mid- 
 summer. The grub is very similar. 
 
 The best way of preventing the ravages of these insects 
 would be to employ children to collect the perfect insects 
 when they first appear, before they lay their eggs; but 
 when a field is once overrun with the larvae, nothing can 
 be done with it, except paring and burning the surface, 
 or ploughing it up, and turning in a flock of ducks or other 
 poultry, or a drove of pigs, which are said to eat these 
 grubs, and to fatten on the fare. Drenching the field 
 with stable urine by means of reservoir carts, like those 
 used for watering roads, would, if sufficiently done, both 
 kill the grubs, and beneficially manure the land. 
 
 The grub called the wire worm, though not very ap- 
 propriately, is the larva of one of the spring or click 
 beetles (Hemirhipus lineatus, and H. obscurus, Latreille) 
 known by their long flattish body, and their power of 
 springing with a clicking sound out of the hand when 
 caught. In some works on agriculture, the larvae of a 
 common crane fly (Tipula oleracea or T. crocata) is 
 called the wire worm, we suppose by mistake. The 
 g'-ubs of the click beetles, just alluded to, are said by 
 Bierscander and by Mr Paul of Starston, Norfolk, who 
 watched their transformations, to continue five years be- 
 fore producing the perfect insect. During this time the 
 grub feeds chiefly on the roots of wheat, rye, oats, barley, 
 and grass; but seems also sometimes to attack the larger 
 roots of potatoes, carrots, and salads. Its ravages are 
 often so extensive as to cut off entire crops of grain. It 
 appears to be most partial to land newly broken up ; and 
 has not been found so abundant in meadows and pastures, 
 
THE BEETLE. 
 
 545 
 
 all other beetles are bred from the egg, which 
 is deposited in the ground, or sometimes, though 
 seldom, in the barks of trees, they change into 
 a worm; they subsist in that state by living upon 
 
 unless in fields recently laid down with grass. " The 
 wire worm," says Spence, "is particularly destructive 
 tor a few years in gardens recently converted from pas- 
 ture ground. In the botanic garden at Hull, thus cir- 
 cumstanced, a great proportion of the annuals sown in 
 1813 were destroyed by it. A very simple and effectual 
 remedy, in such cases, was mentioned to me by Sir Joseph 
 Banks. He recommended that slices of potatoes stuck 
 upon skewers, should be buried near the seeds sown, ex- 
 amined every day, and the wire-worm?, which collect 
 upon them in great numbers, destroyed." 
 
 The wire worm is long, slender, and very tough and 
 hard ; but otherwise it has no resemblance to wire, being 
 whitish in colour, of a flattish form, and jointed or ringed. 
 Its breathing spiracles, two in number, are on the back 
 of its last ring. 
 
 An insect of this family (Elater noctilucus, Linn.) is 
 exceedingly destructive in the West Indies to the sugar- 
 rane; the grub, according to Humboldt and Bonpland, 
 
 feeding on its roots and killing the plants The 
 
 insect most destructive to our peas is the pulse beetle 
 (Bruchus granarius, Linn.), which sometimes lays an 
 gg on every pea in a pod, which the grub, when hatched, 
 destroys. In the same way, clover seed is often attacked 
 l>y two or more species of small weevil (Apion, Herbst), 
 known by the yellow colour of their thighs or their feet ; 
 and when the farmer expects to reap considerable profit, 
 he finds nothing but empty husks. 
 
 Great ravages are committed in granaries by the 
 Caterpillars of small moths ; but these are rivalled in the 
 work of destruction by several species of grubs. One of 
 these grubs is called by the French cadelle (Trogosita 
 mauritanica, Olivier), and is reported to have done more 
 damage to housed grain than any other insect.* The 
 pest of the granaries, which is but too well known in 
 this country, is the grain weevil (Calandra granaria, 
 Clairville), the same, probably, which is mentioned by 
 Virgil, 
 
 Populatque ing-entem farris acervvim 
 Curculio. Georgm it 87 . 
 
 - The high stacks of corn 
 Are wasted by the weevil. Trapp. 
 
 Kirby and Spence calculate that a single pair of weevils 
 may produce in one season 6000 descendants ; and they 
 were told by an extensive brewer that he had collected 
 and destroyed them by bushels, meaning, no doubt, in. 
 sects and damaged grain together. 
 
 Another beetle grub, popularly called the meal worm, 
 the larvae of Tenebrio nwlitor, Linn., which lives in that 
 state two years, does no little damage to flour, as well as 
 to bread, cakes, biscuit, and similar articles. Accounts 
 are also given of the ravages committed by the grubs of 
 other beetles, of several species, apparently not well as- 
 certained, upon different sorts of provisions, such as ba- 
 con, ham, dried tongues, ship-biscuit, &c. Sparrman tells 
 us, that he has witnessed the ground peas on ship-board 
 so infested with these grubs, that they were seen in every 
 spoonful of the soup. In the case of soup, or of other 
 food which has been exposed to heat, the only inconveni- 
 ence is the disgust which must ensue ; but, unfortunately, 
 there may sometimes occur circumstances of a more 
 serious nature, from either the eggs or the insects them- 
 selves being incautiously swallowed alive. We do not 
 wish, however, to create, so much as to allay, the fears 
 itertained by those who are unacquainted with the ha- 
 M insects ; and nothing, we are persuaded, will do this 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 * Oliver, ii. 19. 
 
 the roots of vegetables, or the succulent parts 
 of the bark round them. They generally live 
 a year at least before they change into an au- 
 relia ; in that state they are not entirely mo- 
 more effectually than a statement of facts well ascertained. 
 " Several people," says Abbe de la pluche, "never eat fruit 
 because they believe that spiders and other insects scatter 
 their eggs upon it at random; but even if it were so, as 
 it is not, it would be impossible for the young, should 
 they be hatched in the stomach, to live there for an 
 instant." 
 
 Adhering (continues Mr Rennie) to the distinction of 
 terming those larvae which are destitute of feet, maggots, 
 we shall notice here a very destructive one, which is 
 sometimes popularly called the grub, and sometimes con- 
 founded with the wire worm. We allude to the larva of 
 one or two common species of crane flies (TipuMae), well 
 known by the provincial names of father-long-legs, Jenny- 
 spinners, and tailors. These insects are so common in 
 some meadows, that, being very shy and fearful of danger, 
 they rise in swarms at every step some of them flying 
 high, others only skipping over the grass, and others 
 running and using their long legs as the inhabitants of 
 marshy countries use stilts, and employing their wings 
 like the ostrich to aid their limbs. 
 
 These flies deposit their eggs in the earth; sometimes 
 in grass fields or moist meadows, and sometimes in the 
 tilled ground of gardens and farms. For this purpose 
 the female is provided with an ovipositor well adapted to 
 the operation, consisting of a sort of pincer or forceps of 
 a horny consistence, and sharp at the point. By pres- 
 sure, as Reaumur says, the eggs may be extruded from 
 this in the same way as the stone can be easily squeezed 
 out of a ripe cherry. 
 
 The eggs are exceedingly small and black, like grains 
 of gunpowder, and each female lays a good many hun- 
 dreds. The position which she assumes appears some- 
 what awkward, for she raises herself perpendicularly on 
 her two hind legs, using her ovipositor as a point of sup- 
 port, and resting with her fore legs upon the contiguous 
 herbage. She then thrusts her ovipositor into the ground 
 as far as the first ring of her body, and leaves one or more 
 eggs in the hole; and next moves onwards to another 
 place, but without bringing herself into a horizontal posi- 
 tion. The maggot, when hatched from the egg, imme- 
 diately attacks the roots of the grass and other herbage 
 which it finds nearest to it; and of course the portion of 
 the plant above ground withers for lack of nourishment. 
 In many districts of England these insects cut ofl'a large 
 proportion of the wheat crop, particularly, it would appear, 
 when it has been sown on clover leys. 
 
 The maggot of a minute fly of the same family, 
 known by the name of the wheat fly, (Cecidomyia Tri- 
 tid, Kirby), is frequently productive of great damage 
 in the crops of wheat. The parent fly is very small, 
 not unlike a midge (Culicoidcs punctata, Latr.), of an 
 orange colour, and wings rounded at the tip, and fring- 
 ed with hairs. The female is furnished with a re- 
 tractile ovipositor, fdlr times as long as the body, and as 
 fine as a hair, for depositing her eggs, which she does in 
 the glumes of the florets of the grain. 
 
 The Hessian fly of America is a little larger than our 
 wheat fly, more slender in the body, has longer legs, and 
 is not orange, but black and fulvous. The female depo- 
 sits from one to eight or more eggs on a single plant of 
 wheat, between the sheath of the inner leaf and the stem 
 nearest the roots ; in which situation, with its head to- 
 wards the root or first joint, the young larva passes the 
 winter, eating into the stem, and causing it to break. 
 
 The devastation committed by the Hessian fly seems 
 to have been first observed in 1776, and it was errone- 
 ously supposed that the insect was conveyed among straw 
 by the Hessian troops from Germany. It was first 
 3 z 
 
546 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 tionless, nor entirely swaddled up without 
 form. 
 
 It would be tedious and endless to give a 
 description of all ; and yet it would be an un- 
 pardonable omission not to mention the par- 
 ticularities of some beetles, which are singular 
 rather from their size, their manners, or their 
 formation. That beetle, which the Americans 
 call the Tumble-dung, particularly demands 
 our attention; it is all over of a dusky black, 
 rounder than those animals are generally found 
 to be, and so strong, though not much larger 
 than the common black beetle, that if one of 
 them be put under a brass candlestick, it will 
 
 cause it to move backwards and forwards, as 
 if it were by an invisible hand, to the admira- 
 tion of those who are not accustomed to the 
 sight; but this strength is given it for much 
 more useful purposes than those of exciting 
 human curiosity, for there is no creature more 
 laborious, either in seeking subsistence, or in 
 providing a proper retreat for its young. They 
 are endowed with sagacity to discover subsis- 
 tence by their excellent smelling, which directs 
 them in flights to excrements just fallen from 
 man or beast, ori which they instantly drop, 
 and fall unanimously to work in forming 
 round balls or pellets thereof, in the middle of 
 
 noticed in the wheat fields of Long Island, from which 
 it spread gradually at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles 
 round; and in 1789 it had advanced two hundred miles 
 from its original station in Long Island. Other accounts 
 state that it did not travel more than seven miles annu- 
 ally, and did little serious damage before 1 788. Their 
 numbers seem almost incredible. The houses in the in- 
 fested districts swarmed with them to so great a degree, 
 that every vessel was filled with them ; five hundred were 
 actually counted on a glass tumbler which had been set 
 down for a few minutes with a little beer in it. They 
 were observed crossing the Delaware river like a cloud ; 
 and even mountains do not seem to interrupt their pro- 
 gress. We can well understand, therefore, that so for- 
 midable a ravager should have caused a very great alarm ; 
 and even our own government was in fear lest the insect 
 should be imported. The privy council, indeed, sat day 
 after day in deep consultation what measures should be 
 adopted to ward off the danger of a calamity more to be 
 dreaded, as they well knew, than the plague or the pes- 
 tilence. Expresses were sent oft' in all directions to the 
 officers of the customs at the different outports respecting 
 the examination of cargoes, despatches were written to 
 the ambassadors in France, Austria, Prussia, and Amer- 
 ica, to gain information, and so important altogether 
 was the business deemed, that the minutes of council, 
 and the documents collected from all quarters, fill up. 
 wards of two hundred pages. 
 
 The cheese fly (Piophila Casei, Fallen) is very small 
 and black, with whitish wings margined with black. It 
 was one of those experimented upon by Redi to prove 
 that insects, in the fabric of which so much art, order, 
 contrivance, and wisdom appear, could not be the pro- 
 duction of chance or rottenness, but the work of the same 
 Omnipotent hand which created the heavens and the 
 earth. This tiny little fly is accordingly furnished with 
 an admirable instrument for depositing its eggs, in an 
 ovipositor, which it can thrust out and extend to a great 
 length, so that it can penetrate to a considerable depth 
 into the cracks of cheese, where it lays its eggs, 256 in 
 number. " I have seen them myself," says Swammer- 
 dam, " thrust out their tails for this purpose to an amaz- 
 ing length, and by that method bury the eggs in the 
 deepest cavities. I found in a few days afterwards a 
 number of maggots which had sprung from those eggs, 
 perfectly resembling those of the first brood that had 
 produced the mother fly. I cannot but also take notice 
 that the rottenness of cheese is really caused by these 
 maggots ; for they both crumble the substance of it into 
 small particles and also moisten it with some sort of li- 
 quid, so that the decayed part rapidly spreads, I once 
 observed a cheese which I had purposely exposed to this 
 kind of fly grow moist in a short time in those parts of it 
 where eggs had been deposited, and had afterwards been 
 hatched into maggots; though, before, the cheese was 
 perfectly sound and entire." 
 
 The cheese-hopper is furnished with two horny claw- 
 shaped mandibles, which it uses both for digging into the 
 cheese and for moving itself, being destitute of feet. Its 
 powers of leaping have been observed by every one ; and 
 Swammerdam says, " I have seen one, whose length did 
 not exceed the fourth of an inch, leap out of a box six 
 inches deep, that is, twenty-four times the length of its 
 own body : others leap a great deal higher. " For this 
 purpose it first erects itself on its tail, which is furnished 
 with two wart-like projections, to enable it to maintain 
 its balance. It then bends itself into a circle, catches the 
 skin near its tail with its hooked mandible?, and after 
 strongly contracting itself from a circular into an oblong 
 form, it throws itself with a jerk into a straight line, and 
 thus makes the leap. 
 
 Cheese hoppers (Piophila casei, Fallen), a, the rmifrsrot ex- 
 tended ; 6, in a leaping position ; d, the same magnified ; e, the 
 Ay magnified ;/, g, the fly, natural size. 
 
 One very surprising provision is remarkable in the 
 breathing-tubes of the cheese maggot, which are not 
 placed, as in caterpillars, along the sides, but a pair near 
 the head and another pair near the tail. Now, when 
 burrowing in the moist cheese, these would be apt to be 
 obstructed ; but to prevent this, it has the power of bring- 
 ing over the front pair a fold of the skin, breathing in 
 the meanwhile through the under pair. Well may Swam- 
 merdam denominate these contrivances " surprising mir- 
 acles of God's power and wisdom in this abject creature." 
 
 Like the other destructive insects above mentioned, 
 the multiplication of the cheese fly is checked by some 
 insect, whose history, so far as we are aware, is not yet 
 known. Swammerdam found many of the maggots with 
 other larvte in their bodies ; but he did not trace their 
 transformations. If they were the larva of an ichneumon 
 it must be exceedingly minute. 
 
THE BEETLE. 
 
 547 
 
 \vliich they lay an egg. These pellets, in 
 September, they convey three feet deep in the 
 earth, where they lie till the approach of 
 spring; when the eggs are hatched the nests 
 burst, and the insects find their way out of 
 the earth. They assist each other with inde- 
 fatigable industry, in rolling these globular 
 pellets to the place where they are to be buried. 
 This they are to perform with the tail fore- 
 most, by raising up their hinder part, and 
 shoving along the ball with their hind-feet. 
 They are always accompanied with other 
 beetles of a larger size, and of a more elegant 
 structure and colour. The breast of this is 
 covered with a shield of a crimson colour, and 
 shining like metal; the head is of the like co- 
 lour, mixed with green, and on the crown of 
 the head stands a shining black horn, bended 
 backwards. These are called the kings of the 
 beetles; but for what reason is uncertain, since 
 they partake of the same dirty drudgery with 
 the rest. 1 
 
 1 The scientific name for beetles is Coleoptera. They 
 are readily distinguished, (says Mr Duncan, in the Natur- 
 alist's Library,) from other insect?, by having the inferior 
 wings covered and protected by a hard case or shell. This 
 peculiarity of structure has suggested the name, which 
 is composed of two Greek words, and signifies wings in 
 a sheath (Xsoj, a sheath, and vrrsoa, wings). The 
 term was first used by Aristotle, and as the character to 
 which it refers forms a very obvious mark of distinction, 
 it has been almost universally adopted by subsequent 
 writers. In several instances, however, it fails to be an 
 accurate definition of the order, for there are some beetles 
 without either wings or sheath, and many others in which 
 the latter only is present. To the other characters more re- 
 cently added, such as the transverse folding of the wings,and 
 the straight sutural line down the middle of the wingcases, 
 separating them into two equal portions, there are likewise 
 exceptions; but these are too fewand unimportant to inva- 
 lidate materially the general correctness of the definition. 
 The insects to which these characters apply, constitute 
 one of the most numerous orders of their class. In this 
 country alone, they amount, by the latest and most ac- 
 curate census, to upwards of 3COO, thus forming nearly 
 a third part of our entire insect population. This is con- 
 siderably more than double the number of phanogamous 
 or flowering plants indigenous to Britain, and greatly ex- 
 ceeds the whole amount of our native vertebrate animals. 
 When compared with the two other orders that are next 
 to it in extent in this country, it will be found chat the 
 Coleoptera are nearly one half more numerous than the Le- 
 pidoptera, and that they stand much in the same relation to 
 the Diptera or two winged flies. Of the latter, indeed, all 
 the species ascertained to inhabit Europe scarcely exceed 
 the amount of British Coleoptera ; for the most accurate en- 
 umeration of the European Diptera which we possess makes 
 them about 3760. The native Coleoptera of Sweden, ac- 
 cording to the enumeration of them given by Gyllenhal, in 
 his admirable Insecta Succica, are about 4700 in number. 
 In advancing southwards, these insects increase in a ratio 
 similar to what is observed in other departments of na- 
 ture ; and in countries under the tropics, so redundant in 
 every kind of animal life, they may be said absolutely to 
 swarm. We are without sufficient data, however, from 
 which to form an accurate estimate of their total amount. 
 Some years since, the collection of the Count de Jean at 
 Paris, one of the most extensive that exists, contained 
 uo fewer than 20,000 species. Many others are no dcrubt 
 
 The Elephant-Beetle is the largest of this 
 kind hitherto known, and is found in South 
 America, particularly Guiana and Surinam, 
 as well as about the river Oroonoko. It is of 
 
 to be found in different collections ; and when we take 
 into account the discoveries daily made by the numerous 
 cultivators of this branch of zoology, and the extent and 
 fertility of the countries with the insect productions of 
 which we are wholly unacquainted, there seems reason 
 to believe that it cannot be much short of 30,000 that 
 i. fi , 10,000 above the estimate formed by Ray nearly a 
 century and a half ago, as the probable amount of the 
 whole class of insects ! 
 
 This order comprehends some of the largest as well as 
 the most minute insects with which we are acquainted. 
 Certain orihopterous species belonging to the genus 
 Phasma surpass them in length, and several gigantic 
 moths are of greater superficial extent ; but in many 
 beetles length of body is combined with a proportionate 
 breadth and thickness, which renders them the most 
 bulky and massive of their class. A fine specimen of 
 Prionus giganteus measures nearly half a foot in length, 
 the breadth is about two inches, and the expansion ot the 
 wings is nine inches. A handsome and scarce species 
 of the same family (Prionus armUlatus) is about five 
 inches long and one inch and three quarters broad, and 
 the antennae, which are very strong and rigid, are up- 
 wards of six inches in length. The Hercules beetle 
 (Dynastes Hercules}, and Scarabseus Actseon, measure 
 respectively about four and a half inches in length in- 
 cluding the horns. The largest coleopterous insects in- 
 habiting Britain are the Hydrous piceus, and the Stag- 
 beetle (Lucanus cervus). The latter is nearly two inches 
 in length, including the mandibles ; and the former is 
 not much short of the same dimensions, besides being of 
 considerably greater breadth. These maybe regarded 
 as the giants of this order of insects, occupying one ex- 
 tremity of the scale. At the opposite extremity may be 
 placed some species of the genera Trichopteryx, Ato- 
 maria, and Agathidium, which are so minute as not to 
 exceed one-eighth part of a line in length;* or, to adopt 
 an illustration sometimes employed, they are absolutely 
 not bigger than the full stop that closes this period. 
 
 The structure of these minute beings is perhaps even 
 more calculated to excite our admiration than that of the 
 larger animals. In the latter, most of the parts are of 
 sufficient size to come within the direct cognisance of 
 our senses, and there is no apparent discrepancy be- 
 tween their dimensions and the functions which they per- 
 form ; but when we reflect that a mere animated point, 
 almost invisible to the naked eye, possesses all the at- 
 tributes which belong to the largest of its race that it 
 is furnished with an external covering made up of many 
 parts adjusted to each other with the nicest accuracy 
 that it is supplied with all the requisite organs of sense 
 and motion, and has a nervous and respiratory system of 
 greater complexity than many of the larger animals 
 that the various processes of digestion, assimilation, and 
 secretion, are continually going forward that not a limb 
 can be put in motion without calling into play a multi- 
 tude of muscles and that this atomic being is more- 
 over endowed with instincts which regulate with almost 
 unerring certainty all its habits and economy we can 
 scarcely fail to regard it as affording a more striking in- 
 stance of consummate skill than if it had occupied a much 
 larger space. 
 
 " The shapely limb, and lubricated .joint, 
 Within the small dimensions of a point, 
 Muscle and nerve miraculously spun, 
 His mighty work, who speaks and it is done :> 
 The invisible in things scarce seen revealed, 
 To whom an atom is an ample field." 
 
 * A line is the twelfth part of a Fieneh inct. 
 
548 
 
 HISTORY OF IiNSECTS. 
 
 a black colour, and the whole body is covered 
 with a very hard shell, full as thick and as 
 strong as that of a small crab. Its length, 
 from the hinder part to the eyes, is almost 
 four inches, and from the same part to the end 
 of the proboscis, or trunk, four inches and 
 three quarters. The transverse diameter of 
 the body is two inches and a quarter, and the 
 breadth of each elytron, or case for the wings, 
 is an inch and three-tenths. The antennas, or 
 feelers, are quite horny ; for which reason the 
 proboscis, or trunk, is movable at its insertion 
 into the head, and seems to supply the place 
 of feelers. The horns are eight-tenths of an 
 inch long, and terminate in points. The 
 proboscis is an inch and a quarter long, and 
 turns upwards, making a crooked line, ter- 
 minating in two horns, each of which is near 
 a quarter of an inch long ; but they are not 
 perforated at the end like the proboscis of other 
 insects. About four-tenths of an inch above 
 the head, on that side next the body, is a pro- 
 minence or small horn, which, if the rest of 
 the trunk were away, would cause this part 
 to resemble the horn of a rhinoceros. There 
 is indeed a beetle so called, but then the horns 
 or trunk has no fork at the end, though the 
 lower horn resembles this. The feet are all 
 forked at the end, but not like lobster's claws. 
 To this class we may also refer the Glow- 
 worm, that little animal which makes such a 
 distinguished figure in the descriptions of our 
 poets. No two insects can differ more than 
 
 If superiority in certain qualities must be conceded 
 to some other tribes of insects, the Coleoptera certainly 
 surpass them all, as well as the higher races of animals, 
 in variety of form and singularity of structure. Among 
 butterflies, the Hymenoptera, and two-winged flies, 
 nearly as great a uniformity of outline prevails as in the 
 case of birds and serpents. But there appears to be no 
 general type of form according to which beetles have been 
 modelled. They differ as widely among themselves in 
 outward appearance, as separate classes of other animated 
 beings do from each other. Even the great deep, which 
 has ever been regarded as the fertile mother of all mon- 
 strous and all prodigious things, seldom produces an " odd 
 fish" equal in eccentricity to some species of beetles. 
 If we are less struck with the strange proportion of their 
 parts, than with any unusual figure among the larger 
 animals, it is on account of their small size, which is 
 generally too inconsiderable to arrest our attention, and 
 leads us to consider them in a great measure abstract- 
 edly from the idea of physical power with which we are 
 accustomed to regard animated beings of large dimen- 
 sions. But for this circumstance, they would excite the 
 astonishment of the most careless observer, and lead us 
 to fear lest they should realize the anticipations of the 
 poet, 
 
 " Their shape would make them, hnd they bulk and size, 
 More hideous foes then fancy can devise, 
 With helmet-heads, and dragon-scales adorned, 
 The mighty myriads, now securely scorned, 
 Would mock the majesty of man's high birth, 
 Despise his bulwarks, and unpeople earth." 
 
 Naturalist's Library, Vol. II. Beetles. By James 
 Duncan, Edinburgh, 1835. 
 
 the male and female of this species from each 
 other. The male is in every respect a beetle, 
 having cases to its wings, and rising in the 
 air at pleasure ; the female, on the contrary, 
 has none, but is entirely a creeping insect, 
 and is obliged to wait the approaches of her 
 capricious companion. The body of the fe- 
 male has eleven joints, with a shield breast- 
 plate, the shape of which is oval ; the head is 
 placed over this, and is very small, and the 
 three last joints of her body are of a yellowish 
 colour ; but what distinguishes it from all 
 other animals, at least in this part of the world, 
 is the shining light which it emits by night, 
 and which is supposed by some philosophers 
 to be an emanation which she sends forth to 
 allure the male to her company. Most trav- 
 ellers who have gone through sandy countries, 
 must well remember the little shining sparks 
 with which the ditches are studded on each 
 side of the road. If incited by curiosity to 
 approach more nearly, he will find this light 
 sent forth by the glow-worm ; if he should 
 keep the little animal for some time, its light 
 continues to grow paler, and at last appears 
 totally extinct. The manner in which this 
 light is produced has hitherto continued inex- 
 plicable ; it is probable the little animal is 
 supplied with some electrical powers, so that 
 by rubbing the joints of its body against each 
 other, it thus supplies a stream of light, which 
 if it allures the male, as we are told, serves 
 for very useful purposes. 1 
 
 1 We boast of our candles, our wax-lights, and our 
 Argand-lamps, and pity our fellow-men who, ignorant 
 of our methods of producing artificial light, are con- 
 demned to pass their nights in darkness. We regard 
 these inventions as the results of a great exertion of 
 human intellect, and never conceive it possible that other 
 animals are able to avail themselves of modes of illumin- 
 ation equally efficient; and are furnished with the means 
 of guiding their nocturnal evolutions by actual lights, simi- 
 lar in their effect to those which we make use of. Yet many 
 insects are thus provided. Some are forced to content 
 themselves with a single candle, not more vivid than the 
 rush-light which glimmers in the peasant's cottage ; 
 others exhibit two or four, which cast a stronger radi- 
 ance ; and a few can display a lamp little inferior in 
 brilliancy to some of ours. Not that these insects are 
 actually possessed of candles and lamps. You are aware 
 that I am speaking figuratively. But Providence has 
 supplied them with an effectual substitute a luminous 
 preparation or secretion, which has all the advantages of 
 our lamps and candles, without their inconveniences ; 
 which gives light sufficient to direct their motions, while 
 it is incapable of burning ; and whose lustre is main- 
 tained without needing fresh supplies of oil or the appli- 
 cation of the snuffers. 
 
 Of the insects thus singularly provided, the common 
 glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) is the most familiar 
 instance. Who that has ever enjoyed the luxury of a 
 summer evening's walk in the country, in the southern 
 parts of our island, but has viewed with admiration these 
 " stars of the earth and diamonds of the night ?" And if, 
 living like me in a district where it is rarely met with, 
 the first time you saw this insect, chanced to be, as it 
 was in my case, one of those delightful evenings which 
 
THE BEETLE. 
 
 549 
 
 The Cantharis is of the beetle kind, from 
 whence come cantharides, well known in the 
 shops by the name of Spanish flies, and for 
 their use in blisters. They have feelers like 
 
 an English summer seldom yields, when not a breeze 
 disturbs the balmy air, and ' every sense is joy," and 
 hundreds of these radiant worms, studding their mossy 
 couch with mild effulgence, were presented to your won- 
 dering eye in the course of a quarter of a mile you 
 could not help associating with the name of glow-worm 
 the most pleasing recollections. No wonder that an 
 insect, which chiefly exhibits itself on occasions so inter- 
 esting, and whose economy is so remarkable, should have 
 afforded exquisite images and illustrations to those poets 
 who have cultivated natural history. 
 
 If you take one of these glow-worms home with you 
 for examination, you will find that in shape it somewhat 
 resembles a caterpillar, only that it is much more depres- 
 sed ; and you will observe that the light proceeds from 
 a pale-coloured patch that terminates the underside of 
 the abdomen. It is not, however, the larva of an insect, 
 but the perfect female of a winged beetle, from which it 
 is altogether so different, that nothing but actual observa- 
 tion could have inferred the fact of their being the sexes 
 of the same insect. In the course of your inquiries, you 
 will find that sexual differences even more extraordinary 
 exist in the insect world. 
 
 It has been supposed by many that the males of the 
 different species of Lampyris do not possess the property 
 of giving out any light ; but it is now ascertained that 
 this supposition is inaccurate, though their light is much 
 less vivid than that of the female. Ray first pointed out 
 this fact with respect to L. noctiluca. Geoffrey also 
 observed that the male of this species has four small 
 niminous points, two on each of the two last segments of 
 the belly ; and his observation has been recently con. 
 firmed by Muller. This last entomologist, indeed, saw 
 only two shining spots ; but from the insect's having the 
 power of withdrawing them out of sight, so that not the 
 smallest trace of light remains, he thinks it is not impro- 
 bable that at times two other points still smaller may be 
 exhibited, as Geoffroy has described. In the males of 
 L. splendidula and of L. hemiptera the light is very dis- 
 tinct, and may be seen in the former while flying. The 
 females have the same faculty of extinguishing or con- 
 cealing their light a very necessary provision to guard 
 them from the attacks of the nightingale and other noc- 
 turnal birds. Mr White even thinks that they regularly 
 put it out between eleven and twelve every night ; and 
 tney have also the power of rendering it for awhile more 
 vivid than ordinary. 
 
 Authors who have noticed the luminous parts of the 
 common female glow-worm, having usually contented 
 themselves with stating that the light issues from the three 
 last ventral segments of the abdomen. I shall give you 
 the result of some observations I once made upon this 
 subject. One evening, in the beginning of July, meet- 
 ing with two of these insects, I placed them on my hand. 
 At first their light was exceedingly brilliant, so as to 
 appear even at the junctions of the upper or dorsal seg- 
 ments of the abdomen. Soon after I had taken them, 
 one withdrew its light altogether, but the other continued 
 to shine. While it did this, it was laid upon its back, 
 the abdomen forming an angle with the rest of its body, 
 and the last or anal segment being kept in constant mo- 
 tion. This segment was distinguished by two round and 
 very vivid spots of light ; which, in the specimen that 
 had ceased to shine, were the last that disappeared, and 
 they seem to be the first parts that become luminous, 
 when the animal is disposed to yield its light. The pen- 
 ultimate and antepenultimate segments each exhibited a 
 middle transverse band of yellow radiance, terminated 
 towards the trunk by an obtusely-dentated line j a 
 
 bristles, flexible cases to the wings, a breast 
 pretty plain, and the sides of the belly wrinkled. 
 Cantharides differ from each other in their 
 size, shape, and colour ; those used in the 
 
 greener and fainter light being emitted by the rest of 
 the segment. 
 
 Though many of the females of the different species of 
 Lampyris are without wings, and even elytra, (in which 
 circumstance they differ from all other apterous Coleo- 
 ptera,) this is not the case with all. The female of L. 
 Jtalica, a species common in Italy, and which, if we may 
 trust to the accuracy of the account given by Mr Waller 
 in the Philosophical Transactions for 1G84, would seem 
 to have been taken by him in Hertfordshire, is winged ; 
 and when a number of these moving stars are seen to 
 dart through the air in a dark night, nothing can have 
 a more beautiful effect. Dr Smith tells us that the 
 beaus of Italy are accustomed in an evening to adorn 
 the heads of the ladies with these artificial diamonds, by 
 sticking them into their hair ; and a similar custom pre- 
 vails amongst the ladies of India. 
 
 Besides the different species of the genus Lampyris, 
 all of which are probably more or less luminous, another 
 insect of the beetle tribe, Elater noctilucus, is endowed 
 with the same property, and that in a much higher de- 
 gree. This insect, which is an inch long, and about 
 one-third of an inch broad, gives out its principal light 
 from two transparent eye-like tubercles placed upon 
 the thorax ; but there are also two luminous patches con- 
 cealed under the elytra, which are not visible except 
 when the insect is flying, at which time it appears 
 adorned with four brilliant gems of the most beautiful 
 golden-blue lustre ; in fact, the whole body is full of 
 light, which shines out between the abdominal segments 
 when stretched. The light emitted by the two thoracic 
 tubercles alone is so considerable, that the smallest print 
 may be read by moving one of these insects along the 
 lines ; and in the West India Islands, particularly in St 
 Domingo, where they are very common, the natives were 
 formerly accustomed to employ these living lamps, which 
 they called Cucuij, instead of candles in performing their 
 evening household occupations. In travelling at night, 
 they used to tie one to each great toe ; and in fishing and 
 hunting required no other flambeau. Southey has hap- 
 pily introduced this insect in his " Madoc," as furnishing 
 the lamp by which Coatal rescued the British hero from 
 the hands of the Mexican priests. 
 
 " She beckoned and descended, and drew out 
 From underneath her vest a cage, or net 
 It rather might be called, so fine the twigs 
 Which knit it, where, confined, two fire-flies gave 
 Their lustre. By that light did Madoc first 
 Behold the features of his lovely guide.'" 
 
 The brilliant nocturnal spectacle presented by these 
 insects to the inhabitants of the countries where they 
 abound, cannot be better described than in the language 
 of the poet above referred to, who has thus related its first 
 effect upon the British visitors of the New World : 
 
 " Sorrowing' we beheld 
 
 The night come on ; hut soon did night display 
 More wonders than it veil'd : innumerous tribes 
 From the Avood cover swarm'd, and darkness made 
 Their beauties visible : one while they streamed 
 A bright blue radiance upon flowers that closed 
 Their gorgeous colours from the eye of day ; 
 Now motionless and dark, eluded search, 
 Self-shrouded ; and anon, starring the sky, 
 Rose like a shower of fire." 
 
 With regard to the immediate source of the luminous 
 properties of these insects, Mr Macartney, to whom we 
 are indebted for the most recent investigation on the 
 
550 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 shops also do the same. The largest in these 
 parts are about an inch long, and as much in 
 circumference, but others are not above three 
 quarters of an inch. Some are of a pure azure 
 
 subject, has ascertained that in the common glow-worm, 
 and in Elater noctilucus and ignitus, the light proceeds 
 from masses of a substance not generally differing, except 
 in its yellow colour, from the instertitial substance (corps 
 graisseux) of the rest of the body, closely applied under- 
 neath those transparent parts of the insect's skin which 
 afford the light. In the glow-worm, besides the last- 
 mentioned substance, which, when the season for giving 
 light is passed, is absorbed, and replaced by the common 
 instertitial substance, he observed on the inner side of the 
 last abdominal segment two minute oval sacs formed of 
 an elastic spirally-wound fibre similar to that of the 
 tracheae, containing a soft yellow substance of a closer 
 texture than that which lines the adjoining region, and 
 affording a more permanent and brilliant light. This 
 light he found to be less under the control of the insect, 
 than that from the adjoining luminous substance, which 
 it has the power of voluntarily extinguishing, not by re- 
 tracting it under a membrane, as Carradori imagined, 
 but by some inscrutable change dependent upon its will ; 
 and when the latter substance was extracted from living 
 glow-worms, it afforded no light, while the two sacs in 
 like circumstances shone uninterruptedly for several 
 hours. Mr Macartney conceives, from the radiated 
 structure of the instertitial substance surrounding the oval 
 yellow masses immediately under the transparent spots 
 in the thorax of Elater noctilucus, and the sub-transpar- 
 ency of the adjoining crust, that the instertitial substance 
 in this situation has also the property of shining a sup- 
 position which, if De Geer and other authors be correct in 
 stating that this insect has two luminous patches under its 
 elytra, and that the incisures between the abdominal seg- 
 ments shine when stretched, may probably be extended 
 to the whole of the instertitial substance of its body. What 
 peculiar organization contributes to the production of 
 light in the hollow projections of Fulgora laternaria and 
 candelaria, the hollow antennae of Puusus spheerocerus, 
 and under the whole integument of Scolopendra electrica, 
 Mr Macartney was unable to ascertain. Respecting this 
 last he remarks, what I have myself observed, that there 
 is an apparent effusion of a luminous fluid on its surface, 
 that may be received upon the hand, which exhibits a 
 phosphoric light for a few seconds afterwards ; and that 
 it will not shine unless it have been previously exposed 
 for a short time to the solar light.* 
 
 With respect to the remote cause of the luminous 
 property of insects, philosophers are considerably divided 
 in opinion. The disciples of modern chemistry have, 
 in general, with Dr Darwin, referred it to the slow 
 combustion of some combination of phosphorus secreted 
 from their fluids by an appropriate organization, and 
 entering into combination with the oxygen supplied in 
 respiration. This opinion is very plausibly built upon 
 the ascertained existence of phosphoric acid as an animal 
 secretion ; the great resemblance between the light of 
 phosphorus in slow combustion and animal light ; the 
 remarkably large spiracula in glow-worms ; and upon 
 the statement that the light of the glow-worm is ren- 
 dered more brilliant by the application of heat and oxy- 
 gen gas, and is extinguished by cold and by hydrogen 
 and carbonic acid gases. From these last facts, Spallan- 
 zani was led to regard the luminous matter as a com- 
 pound of hydrogen and carbonated hydrogen gas. Car- 
 radori having found that the luminous portion of the 
 belly of the Italian glow-worm (Lampyris italica) shone 
 
 * Phil. Trans. 1810, p. 281. Mr Macartney's statement on 
 this point is not very clear. He probably means that the insect 
 will not shine in a dark place in the daytime, unless previously 
 
 ixiAvd to the solar IL-iit : for it is often seen to shine at ni/ht 
 couid have had no recent exposure to the sun. 
 
 colour, others of a pure gold, and others again 
 have a mixture of pure gold and azure colours ; 
 but they are all very brilliant, and extremely 
 beautiful. These insects, as is well known, 
 
 in vacuo, in oil, in water, and when under other circum- 
 stances where the pressure of oxygen gas was precluded, 
 with Brugnatelli ascribed the property in question to the 
 imbibition of light separated from the food or air taken 
 into the body, and afterwards secreteo hi a sensible form. 
 Lastly, Mr Macartney having ascertained by experiment 
 that the light of a glow-worm is not diminished by immer- 
 sion in water, or increased by the application of heat ; 
 that the substance aflbrding it, though poetically em- 
 ployed for lighting the fairies' tapers, is incapable of in- 
 flammation if applied to the flame of a candle or red- 
 hot iron; and when separated from the body, exhibits no 
 sensible heat on the thermometer's being applied to it 
 rejects the preceding hypothesis as unsatisfactory, but 
 without substituting any other explanation ; suggesting, 
 however, that the facts he observed are more favourable 
 to the supposition of light being a quality of matter than 
 a substance. 
 
 Which of these opinions is the more correct, I do not 
 pretend to decide. But though the experiments of Mi- 
 Macartney seem fairly to bear him out in denying the exis- 
 tence of any ordinary combination of phosphorus in lumin- 
 ous insects, there exists a contradiction in many of the 
 statements, which requires reconciling before final deci- 
 sion can be pronounced. The different results obtained by 
 Forster and Spallanzani, who assert that glow-worms 
 shine more brilliantly in oxygen gas, and by Becker- 
 heim, Dr Hulme, and Sir H. Davy, who could perceive 
 no such effect, may perhaps be accounted for by the sup- 
 position that in the latter instances the insects having 
 been taken more recently, might be less sensible to the 
 stimulus of the gas than in the former, where possibly 
 their irritability was, as Brown would say, accumulated 
 by a longer abstinence : but it is not so easy to reconcile 
 the experiment of Sir H. Davy, who found the light ol 
 the glow-worm not to be sensibly diminished in hydro- 
 gen gas, with those of Spallanzani and Dr Hulme, who 
 found it to be extinguished by the same gas, as well as 
 by carbonic acid, nitrous and sulphurated hydrogen 
 gases. Possibly some of these contradictory results were 
 occasioned by not adverting to the faculty which the 
 living insect possesses of extinguishing its lights at plea- 
 sure ; or diflerent philosophers may have experimented 
 on diflerent species of Lampyris. 
 
 The general use of this singular provision is not much 
 more satisfactorily ascertained than its nature. I have 
 before conjectured and in an instance I then related it 
 seemed to be so that it may be a means of defence 
 against their enemies. In different kinds of insects, 
 however, it may probably have a different object. Thus, 
 in the lantern-flies (Futgoru) whose light precedes them, 
 it may act the part that their name imports, enabling 
 them to discover their prey, and to steer themselves 
 safely in the night. In the fire-flies, (Elater) if we con- 
 sider the infinite numbers that in certain climates and 
 situations present themselves every where in the night, 
 it may distract the attention of their enemies or alarm 
 them. And in the glow-worm since their light is 
 usually most brilliant in the female ; in some species, if 
 not all, present only in the season when the sexes are 
 destined to meet ; and strikingly more vivid at the very 
 moment when the meeting takes place besides the 
 above uses, it is most probably intended to conduct the 
 sexes to each other. This seems evidently the design 
 in view in those species in which, as in the common 
 glow-worm, (L. noutiluca, L.) the females are apterous. 
 The torch which the wingless female, dooired to crawl 
 upon the grass, lights up at the approach of night, is a 
 beacon which unerringly guides the vagrant male to her 
 
THE BEETLE. 
 
 are of the greatest benefit to mankind, making 
 a part in many medicines conducive to human 
 preservation. They are chiefly natives of 
 Spain, Italy, and Portugal; but they are to 
 be met with also about Paris in the summer 
 time, upon the leaves of the ash, the poplar, 
 and the rose-trees, and also among wheat, and 
 in meadows. It is very certain, that these 
 insects are fond of ash-leaves, insomuch that 
 they will sometimes strip one of these trees 
 quite bare. Some affirm that these flies de- 
 light in sweet smelling herbs ; and it is very 
 certain, that they are fond of honey-suckles, 
 lilac, and wild-cherry shrubs; but some that 
 have sought after them declare they never 
 could find them on eider-trees, nut-trees, and 
 among wheat. We are told that the country 
 people expect the return of these insects every 
 seven years. It is very certain, that such a 
 number of these insects have been seen to- 
 gether in the air, that they appeared like 
 swarms of bees ; and that they have so dis- 
 agreeable a smell, that it may be perceived a 
 great way off, especially about sun-set, though 
 they are not seen at that time. This bad 
 smell is a guide for those who make it their 
 business to catch them. When they are 
 caught they dry them, after which they are 
 so light, that fifty will hardly weigh a drachm. 
 Those that gather them tie them in a bag, or 
 a piece of linen cloth, that has been well worn, 
 and then they kill them with the vapours of 
 hot vinegar, after which they dry them in the 
 sun, and keep them in boxes. These flies, 
 thus dried, being chemically analysed, yield 
 a great deal of volatile caustic salt, mixed with 
 a little oil, phlegm, and earth. Cantharides 
 are penetrating, corrosive, and, applied to the 
 skin, raise blisters, from whence proceeds a 
 great deal of serosity. They are made use of 
 both inwardly and outwardly. However, 
 it is somewhat strange that the effects of 
 these flies should fall principally upon the 
 
 " love-illumined form," however obscure the place of her 
 abode. It has been objected, however, to this explana- 
 tion, that since both larva and pupa, as De Geer ob- 
 served, and the males shine as well as the females the 
 meeting of the sexes can scarcely be the object of their 
 luminous provision. But this difficulty appears to me 
 easily surmounted. As the light proceeds from a pecu- 
 liarly organized substance, which probably must in part 
 be elaborated in the larva and pupa states, there seems 
 nothing inconsistent in the fact of some light being then 
 emitted, with the supposition of its being destined solely 
 tor use in the perfect state : arid the circumstance of the 
 male having the same luminous property, no more proves 
 that the superior brilliancy of the female is not intended 
 lor conducting him to her, than the existence of nipples 
 and sometimes of milk in man, proves that the breast of 
 woman is not meant for the support of her offspring, 
 We often see, without being able to account for the fact, 
 except on Sir E. Home's idea, that the sex of the ovum 
 is undetermined, traces of an organization in gne sex 
 indisputably intended for the sole use of the other. In. 
 Entomology, by Kirby and Spence. 
 
 urinary passages ; for though some authors 
 have endeavoured to account for this, we are 
 still in the dark, for all they have said amounts 
 to no more than that they affect these parts in 
 a manner which may be very learnedly des- 
 cribed, but very obscurely comprehended. 
 
 An insect of great, though perhaps not 
 equal use in medicine, is that which is known 
 by the name of the Kermes ; it is produced 
 in the excrescence of an oak, called the berry- 
 bearing ilex, and appears at first wrapped up in 
 a membranaceous bladder, of the size of a 
 pea, smooth and shining, of a brownish-red 
 colour, and covered with a very fine ash-col- 
 oured powder. This bag teems with a num- 
 ber of reddish eggs or insects, which being 
 rubbed with the fingers pour out a crimson 
 liquor. It is only met with in warm countries 
 in the months of May and June. In the 
 month of April this insect becomes of the size 
 and shape of a pea, and its eggs some time 
 after burst from the womb, and soon turning 
 worms, run about the branches and leaves of 
 the tree. They are of two sexes, and the fe- 
 males have been hitherto described ; but the 
 males are very distinct from the former, and 
 are a sort of small flies like gnats, with six 
 feet, of which the four forward are short, and 
 the two backward long, divided into four 
 joints and armed with three crooked nails. 
 There are two feelers on the head, a line and 
 a half long, which are movable, streaked, and 
 articulated. The tail, at the back part of the 
 body, is half a line long, and forked. The 
 whole body is covered with two transparent 
 wings, and they leap about in the manner of 
 fleas. The harvest of the kermes is greater or 
 less in proportion to the severity of the Avinter, 
 and the women gather them before sun-rising, 
 tearing them oft' with their nails, for fear there 
 should be any loss from the hatching of the in- 
 sects. They sprinkle them with vinegar, and 
 lay them in the sun to dry, where they acquire 
 a red colour. 
 
 An insect, perhaps, still more useful than 
 either of the former, is the Cochineal, which 
 has been variously described by authors ; some 
 have supposed it a vegetable excrescence from 
 the tree upon which it is found ; some have 
 described it as a louse ; some, as a bug ; and 
 some, as a beetle. As they appear in our 
 shops when brought from America, they are 
 of an irregular shape, convex on one side, and 
 a little concave on the other ; but are both 
 marked with transverse streaks or wrinkles. 
 They are of a scarlet colour within, and with- 
 out of a blackish red, and sometimes of a 
 white, reddish, or ash colour, which are ac- 
 counted the best, and are brought us from 
 Mexico. The cochineal insect is of an oval 
 form, of the size of a small pea, with six feet, 
 and a snout or trunk. It brings forth its 
 
552 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 young alive, and is nourished by sucking the 
 juice of the plant. Its body consists of seve- 
 ral rings, and when it is once fixed on the 
 plant, it continues immovable, being subject 
 to no change. Some pretend there are two 
 sorts, the one domestic, which is best ; and 
 the other wild, that is of a vivid colour ; 
 however, they appear to be the same, only 
 with this difference*, that the wild feeds upon 
 uncultivated trees, without any assistance, 
 whereas the domestic is carefully, at a stated 
 season, removed to cultivated trees, where it 
 feeds upon a purer juice. Those who take 
 care of these insects, place them on the prickly 
 pear-plant in a certain order, and are very in- 
 dustrious in defending them from other insects; 
 for if any other kind come among them, they 
 fake care to brush them off with foxes' tails. 
 Towards the end of the year, when the rains 
 and cold weather are coming on, which are 
 fatal to these insects, they take off the leaves 
 or branches covered with cochineal, that have 
 not attained their utmost degree of perfection, 
 and keep them in their houses till win- 
 ter is past. These leaves are very thick and 
 juicy, and supply them with sufficient nour- 
 ishment, while they remain within doors. 
 When the milder weather returns, and these 
 animals are about to exclude their young, the 
 natives make them nests, like those of birds, 
 but less of tree moss, or soft hay, or the down 
 of cocoa-nuts, placing twelve in every nest. 
 These they fix on the thorns of the prickly- 
 pear plant, and in three or four days' time 
 they bring forth their young, which leave 
 their nests in a few days, and creep upon the 
 branches of the plant, till they find a proper 
 place to rest in, and take in their nourish- 
 ment; and until the females are fecundated 
 by the males, which, as in the former tribe, 
 differ very widely from the females, being 
 winged insects, whereas the others only creep, 
 and are at most stationary. When they are 
 impregnated, they produce a new offspring, so 
 that the propagator has a new harvest thrice 
 a-year. When the native Americans have 
 gathered the cochineal, they put them into 
 holes in the ground, where they kill them 
 with boiling water, and afterwards dry them 
 in the sun, or in an oven, or lay them upon 
 hot plates. From the various methods of kill- 
 ing them, arise the different colours which 
 they appear in when brought to us. While 
 they are living they seem to be sprinkled over 
 with a white powder, which they lose as soon 
 as the boiling water is poured upon them. 
 Those that are dried upon hot plates are the 
 blackest. What we call the cochineal are 
 only the females, for the males are a sort of 
 %, as already observed in the kermes. They 
 are used both for dying and medicine, and are 
 said to have much the same virtue as the 
 
 kermes, though they are now seldom used 
 alone, but are mixed with other things for the 
 sake of the colour. 1 
 
 1 To the beetle kind also belong those animals which 
 cause such alarm to the superstitious by their ticking 
 noise, which is vulgarly called the death-watch. Vari- 
 ous species of this insect are to be found in Britain. 
 
 The Death-watch or Ptinus, is a dusky or somewhat 
 hairy insect, with irregular brownish spots, about a 
 quarter of an inch in length. Notwithstanding its 
 smallness, this creature is often the cause of serious 
 alarm among the lower classes of people, from the noise 
 that it makes at a certain time of the year, resembling 
 the ticking of a watch. From this it has its name ; for, 
 whenever this faculty is exerted, it is esteemed portentive 
 of death to some one of the family in the house where it 
 is heard. It is chiefly in the advanced state of spring 
 that this insect commences its noise, which is no more 
 than a call or signal by which they are mutually attracted 
 to each other ; and it may be considered as analogous 
 to the call of birds. This noise does not arise from the voice, 
 but from the insect's beating on any hard substance with 
 the shield or fore-part of the head. The general number 
 of successive distinct strokes is from seven to nine, or 
 eleven. These are given in pretty quick succession, 
 and are repeated at uncertain intervals ; and in old 
 houses, where the insects are numerous, they may be 
 heard, if the weather be warm, every hour in the day. 
 The noise exactly resembles that made by beating with 
 the nail upon a table. The insect being difficult to dis- 
 cover, from its obscure grayish brown colour, nearly re- 
 sembling that of decayed wood, it is not always easy to 
 say from what exactly the sound proceeds. 
 
 Mr Stackhouse observed carefully the manner of its 
 beating. He says the insect raises itself on its hinder 
 legs, and with the body somewhat inclined, beats its head 
 with great force and agility against the place on which 
 it stands. One of them, on a sedge-bottomed chair, ex- 
 erted so much force, that its strokes were impressed and 
 visible in the exterior coat of the sedge, for a space equal 
 to that of a silver penny. Mr Stackhouse took this insect 
 and put it into a box. On the following day he opened 
 the box, and set it in the sun. It seemed very brisk, and 
 crept about with great activity on the bits of sedge and 
 rotten wood, till at last getting to the end of the pieces, 
 it extended its wings, and was about to take flight ; he 
 shut down the lid, when it withdrew them, and remained 
 quiet. He kept it by him about a fortnight. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, this little animal is capa- 
 ble of being tamed. Dr Derham kept a male and fe- 
 male together in a box for about three weeks ; and b> 
 imitating their noise, (beating with his nail, or the point 
 of a pen, on a table or board,) he made them beat when- 
 ever he pleased, and they would not only answer very 
 readily, but even continued their beatings as long as 
 required. At the end of this time one of them died, soon 
 after which the other gnawed its way out and escaped. 
 
 The Death-watch Termes. This insect, which is 
 sometime mistaken for the ptinus just mentioned, is of 
 a very different tribe, and about a tenth of an inch long. 
 At first sight it has greatly the appearance of a louse; its 
 mouth, however, with a glass, is seen to be reddish, and 
 its eyes are yellow. The antennae are sharply pointed, 
 and somewhat long. It is sometimes, though very rarely, 
 observed to have wings. 
 
 This insect is usually found in old wood, decayed 
 furniture, museums, and neglected books ; and both 
 the male and female have the power of making a tick- 
 ng noise, not unlike that of a watch, to attract each 
 other. The female lays her eggs in dry and dusty places, 
 where they are likely to meet with the least disturbance: 
 these are exceedingly small, and are not unlike the nits 
 or eggs of lice. When they are disturbed, they are 
 
THE GNAT TIPULA. 
 
 553 
 
 I shall end this account of the beetle tribe 
 with the history of an animal which cannot 
 properly be ranked under this species, and yet 
 cannot be more methodically ranged under 
 any other. This is the insect that forms and 
 resides in the gall-nut, the spoils of which are 
 converted to such useful purposes. The gall- 
 insects are bred in a sort of bodies adhering to 
 a kind of oak in Asia, which, differ with re- 
 gard to their colour, size, roughness, smooth- 
 ness, and shape, and which we call galls. 
 They are not fruit, as some have imagined, 
 but preternatural tumours, owing to the wounds 
 given to the buds, leaves, and twigs of the 
 tree, by a kind of insects that lay their eggs 
 within them. This animal is furnished with 
 an implement, by which the female penetrates 
 into the bark of the tree, or into that spot 
 which just begins to bud, and there sheds a 
 drop of corrosive fluid into the cavity. Hav- 
 ing thus formed a receptacle for her eggs, she 
 deposits them in the place, and dies soon after. 
 The heart of the bud being thus wounded, the 
 circulation of the nutritive juice is interrupted, 
 and the fermentation thereof, with the poison 
 injected by the fly, burns the parts adjacent, 
 and then alters the natural colour of the plant. 
 The juice or sap, turned back from its natural 
 course, extravasates, and flows round the egg. 
 After which it swells and dilates by the assis- 
 tance of some bubbles of air, which get ad- 
 mission through the pores of the bark, and 
 which run in the vessels with the sap. The 
 external coat of this excrescence is dried by 
 the air, and grows into a figure, which bears 
 some resemblance to the bow of an arch, or 
 the roundness of a kernel. This little ball 
 receives its nutriment, growth, and vegetation, 
 as the other parts of the tree, by slow degrees, 
 
 very shy in making their tickings ; but if they can be 
 viewed without being alarmed by noise, or moving the 
 place where they are, they will not only beat freely, but 
 even answer any person's beating with his nail. At 
 every stroke their body shakes, or seems affected as by a 
 sudden jerk ; and these jerks succeed each other so 
 quickly, that it requires great steadiness to perceive with 
 the naked eye that the body has any motion. They are 
 scarcely ever heard to beat before July, and never later 
 than the sixteenth of August. It appears strange that so 
 small an insect should be able to make a noise so loud as 
 is frequently to be heard from this ; sometimes equal to 
 that of the strongest beating watch. Dr Derham, who 
 examined and first described this species, says, he had 
 often heard the noise, and in pursuing it found nothing 
 but these insects, which he supposed incapable of pro- 
 ducing it; but one day, by finding that the noise pro- 
 ceeded from a piece of paper loosely folded, and lying in 
 a good light in his study window, he viewed it through, 
 and wkh a microscope observed, to his great astonish- 
 ment, one of them in the very act of beating. In some 
 years they are more numerous than in others, and their 
 ticking is of course more frequently heard. We are in. 
 formed by the ab .ve naturalist, that, during the month 
 uf July, in one particular summer, they scarcely ever 
 erased, either in the day or night. 
 
 and is what we call the gall-nut. The worm 
 that is hatched under this specious vault, finds 
 in the substance of the ball, which is as yet 
 very tender, a substance suitable to its nature ; 
 gnaws and digests it till the time comes for 
 its transformation to a nymph, and from that 
 state of existence changes into a fly. After 
 this, the insect, perceiving itself duly pro- 
 vided with all things requisite, disengages it- 
 self soon from its confinement, and takes its 
 flight into the open air. The case, however, 
 is not similar with respect to the gall-nut that 
 grows in autumn. The cold weather fre- 
 quently comes on before the worm is trans- 
 formed into a fly, or before the fly can pierce 
 through its inclosure. The nut falls with the 
 leaves, and although you may imagine that 
 the fly which lies within is lost, yet in reality 
 it is not so ; on the contrary, its being covered 
 up so close, is the means of its preservation. 
 Thus it spends the winter in a warm house, 
 where every crack and cranny of the nut is 
 well stopped up; and lies buried, as it were, 
 under a heap of leaves, which preserves it from 
 the injuries of the weather. This apartment, 
 however, though so commodious a retreat in the 
 winter, is a perfect prison in the spring. The 
 fly, roused out of its lethargy by the first heats, 
 breaks its way through, and ranges where it 
 pleases. A very small aperture is sufficient, 
 since at this time the fly is but a diminutive 
 creature. Besides, the ringlets whereof its 
 body is composed, dilate, and become pliant in 
 the passage. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF THE GNAT TIPULA. 
 
 THERE are two insects which entirely re- 
 semble each other in their form, and yet wide- 
 ly differ in their habits, manners, and propa- 
 gation. Those who have seen the tipula, or 
 long-legs, and the larger kind of gnat, have 
 most probably mistaken the one for the other; 
 they have often accused the tipula, a harmless 
 insect, of depredations made by the gnat, and 
 the innocent have suffered for the guilty; in- 
 deed the differences in their form are so very 
 minute, that it often requires the assistance of 
 a microscope to distinguish the one from the 
 other: they are both mounted on long legs, 
 both furnished with two wings and a slender 
 body; their heads are large, and they seem to 
 be hump-backed ; the chief and only differ- 
 ence, therefore, is, that the tipula wants a 
 trunk, while the gnat has a large one, which 
 it often ex/erts to very mischievous purposes. 
 The tipula is a harmless peaceful insect, that 
 offers injury to nothing ; the gnat is sanguin- 
 ary and predaceous, ever seeking out for a 
 4 A 
 
554 
 
 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 place in which to bury its trunk, and pumping 
 up the blood from the animal in large quantities. 
 The gnat proceeds from a little worm, which 
 is usually seen at the bottom of standing wa- 
 ters. The manner in which the insect lays its 
 eggs is particularly curious : after having laid 
 the proper number on the surface of the water, 
 it surrounds them with a kind of unctuous mat- 
 ter, which prevents them from sinking, but at 
 the same time fastens them with a thread to 
 the bottom, to prevent their floating away, at 
 the mercy of every breeze, from a place, the 
 warmth of which is proper for their production, 
 to any other, where the water may be too 
 cold, or the animals' enemies too numerous. 
 Thus the insects, in their egg state resemble 
 a buoy, which is fixed by an anchor. As they 
 come to maturity they sink deeper ; and at last 
 when they leave the egg as worms, they creep 
 to the bottom. 1 They now make themselves 
 lodgments of cements, which they fasten to 
 some solid body at the very bottom of the wa- 
 ter, unless by accident they meet with a piece 
 of chalk, which being of a soft and pliant na- 
 ture, gives them an opportunity of sinking a 
 
 1 We are hardly acquainted with any other than the 
 aerial life of the gnat, yet its aquatic life is also very in- 
 teresting. It is upon or under the water that the gnat 
 is in its stages of egg, larva, and nymph, that is, during 
 almost the whole of its existence, and that an existence 
 which in no way annoys man. 
 
 The eggs of this insect have the lengthened form of 
 an olive ; their own weight is sufficient to sink them, 
 but 250 or 300 united, and stuck together with a natural 
 glue in the shape of a boat, float on the surface of the 
 water till the larvae come out of them. The part of this 
 agglomeration which touches the water is convex, its 
 upper part concave; and this skiff is so well balanced, 
 that the most furious tempest would not upset it. The 
 learned Kirby made the experiment himself, by placing 
 a dozen of these little boats in a glass half full of water; 
 he then violently troubled the water in the glass, by 
 pouring in water from a pitcher, without being able to 
 succeed in sinking these little boats, of which riot one 
 contained a single drop of water when he had ended his 
 experiments. 
 
 The manner in which the gnat constructs this float- 
 ing apparatus is very singular. This insect, as -every 
 one knows, is provided with six legs ; it places its four 
 front-feet on a dead leaf, a twig, or any other floating 
 substance ; its body thus remains horizontally on the sur- 
 face of the water, with the exception of the last segment 
 of its abdomen, which it keeps a little raised ; it then ex- 
 tends its long hind legs, and crosses them in the shape 
 of the letter X, and thus forms a support for the first eggs 
 it is about to lay. Each egg, when laid, is enclosed in a 
 kind of glue ; the female supports the first in a vertical 
 position till the second egg is placed by its side, and 
 glued to it ; the third forms a triangle, and so on. When 
 the boat is completed, the gnat leaves it on the water, 
 and flies away, to end, in a short time, that existence of 
 which it has fulfilled the most important task. 
 
 Boat of gnat' s egs. 
 
 retreat for themselves, where nothing but the 
 claws of a cray-fish can possibly molest them. 
 The worm afterwards changes its form. It ap- 
 pears with a large head, and a tail invested with 
 hair, and moistened with an oleaginous liquor, 
 which she makes use of as a cork to sustain her 
 head in the air, and her tail in the water, and 
 to transport her from one place to another. 
 When the oil with which her tail is mois- 
 tened, begins to grow dry, she discharges out 
 of her mouth an unctuous humour, which she 
 sheds all over her tail, by virtue whereof she 
 is enabled to transport herself where she 
 pleases, without being either wet or anywise 
 incommoded by the water. The gnat, in her 
 second state, is, properly speaking, in her form 
 a nymph, which is an introduction or entrance 
 into a new life. In the first place, she di- 
 vests herself of her second skin ; in the next, 
 she resigns her eyes, her antennas, and her 
 tail ; in short, she actually seems to expire. 
 However, from the spoils of the amphibious 
 animal, a little winged insect cuts the air, 
 whose every part is active to the last degree, 
 and whose whole structure is the just object of 
 our admiration. Its little head is adorned 
 with a plume of feathers, and its whole body 
 invested with scales and hair, to secure it from 
 any wet or dust. She makes trial of the ac- 
 tivity of her wings, by rubbing them either 
 against her body, or her broad side-bags, which 
 keep her in an equilibrium. The furbelow, or 
 little border of fine feathers, \vhich graces her 
 wings, is very curious, and strikes the eye in 
 the most agreeable manner. There is nothing, 
 however, of greater importance to the gnat 
 than her trunk, and that weak implement may 
 justly be deemed one of nature's master-pieces. 
 It is so very small, that the extremity of it can 
 scarcely be discerned through the best micro- 
 scope that can be procured. That part which 
 is at first obvious to the eye, is nothing but a 
 long scaly sheath under the throat. At near 
 the distance of two-thirds of it, there is an 
 aperture, through which the insect darts out 
 four stings, and afterwards retracts them. 
 One of which, however sharp and active it 
 may be, is no more than the case in which 
 the other three lie concealed, and run in a long 
 groove. The sides of these stings are shar- 
 pened like two edged swords; they are like- 
 wise barbed, and have a vast number of cut- 
 ting teeth towards the point, which turns up 
 like a hook, and is fine beyond expression. 
 When all these darts are stuck into the flesh 
 of animals, sometimes one after another, and 
 sometimes all at once, the blood and humours 
 of the adjacent parts must unavoidably be ex- 
 travasated ; upon which a tumour must conse- 
 quently ensue, the little orifice whereof is 
 closed up by the compression of the external 
 air. When the gnat, by the point of her case, 
 
THE GNAT TIPULA. 
 
 555 
 
 which she makes use of as a tongue, has tasted 
 any fruit, flesh, or juice, that she has found 
 out; if it be a fluid, she sucks it up, without 
 playing her darts into it ; but in case she 
 finds the least obstruction by any flesh what- 
 ever, she exerts her strength, and pierces 
 through it, if possibly she can. After this she 
 draws back her stings into their sheath, 
 which she applies to the wound in order to ex- 
 tract, as through a reed, the juices which she 
 finds inclosed. This is the implement with 
 which the gnat performs her work in the sum- 
 mer, for during the winter she has no manner 
 of occasion for it. Then she ceases to eat, 
 and spends all that tedious season either in 
 quarries or in caverns, which she abandons at 
 the return of summer, and flies about in search 
 after some commodious ford, or standing water, 
 where she may produce her progeny, which 
 would be soon washed away and lost, by the 
 too rapid motion of any running stream. The 
 little brood are sometimes so numerous, that 
 the very water is tinged according to the col- 
 our of the species, as green, if they be green, 
 and of a sanguine hue, if they be red. 
 
 These are circumstances sufficiently extra- 
 ordinary in the life of this little animal ; but 
 it offers something still more curious in the 
 method of its propagation. However similar 
 insects of the gnat kind are in their appear- 
 ance, yet they differ widely from each other 
 in the manner in which they are brought forth, 
 for some are oviparous, and are produced from 
 eggs : some are viviparous, and come forth in 
 their most perfect form ; some are males, and 
 unite with the female ; some are females, re- 
 quiring the impregnation of the male ; some 
 are of neither sex, yet still produce young, 
 without any copulation whatsoever. This is 
 one of the strangest discoveries in all natural 
 history ! A gnat separated from the rest of 
 its kind, and inclosed in a glass vessel, with 
 air sufficient to keep it alive, shall produce 
 young, which also, when separated from each 
 other, shall be the parents of a numerous pro- 
 geny. Thus, down for five or six generations, 
 do these extraordinary animals propagate with- 
 out the use of copulation, without any congress 
 between the male and the female, but in the 
 manner of vegetables, the young bursting from 
 the body of their parents, without any previous 
 impregnation. At the sixth generation, how- 
 ever, their propagation stops ; the gnat no 
 longer produces its like, from itself alone, but 
 it requires the access of the male to give it 
 another succession of fecundity. 
 
 The gnat of Europe gives but little uneasi- 
 ness ; it is sometimes heard to hum about our 
 beds at night, and keeps off the approaches of 
 sleep by the apprehension it causes ; but it is 
 very different in the ill-peopled regions of 
 America, where the waters stagnate, and the 
 
 climate is warm, and where they are produced 
 in multitudes beyond expression. The whole 
 air is there filled with clouds of those famished 
 insects, and they are found of all sizes, from 
 six inches long to a minuteness that even re- 
 quires the microscope to have a distinct per- 
 ception of them. 1 The warmth of the mid-day 
 sun is too powerful for their constitutions ; but 
 when the evening approaches, neither art nor 
 
 1 Under the common names of gnat and musnuito^ a 
 numerous family are confounded, as if there were only 
 one or two species ; whereas Mr Stephen has enumerated 
 twenty-two species of the genera Culex and Anopheles, 
 found in Britain alone ; and hence, it is probable, the 
 foreign musquitoes are also of several species, though to 
 common observers they do not appear to differ from the 
 common gnat. 
 
 The Musquito-fly is very common in the woody and 
 marshy parts of all hot climates. It also abounds, dur- 
 ing their short summer, throughout Lapland, Norway, 
 and Finland, and other countries equally near the pole. 
 The female bites, and sucks the blood in such a severe 
 manner, as to swell and blister the skin very severely, 
 and sometimes leave obstinate sores. These insects are 
 found in such swarms, in the woods, that whoever enters 
 them is sure to have his face covered, and he is scarcely 
 able to see his way before him. A swelling and dis- 
 agreeable itch instantly follows the puncture, and these 
 are succeeded by small white ulcers ; so that the face of a 
 person coming from the country is scarcely to be recog- 
 nised, and it appears full of blotches. Even gloves are 
 not always found a protection against these troublesome 
 insects, as they often pass their stings through the seams. 
 It is the female only that bites ; the buzzing, however, of 
 both males and females is so very loud, as to be alone 
 sufficient to disturb the rest of persons at night. 
 
 The Ox Gad-fly has brown unspotted wings ; and the 
 abdomen is marked with a black band in the middle, and 
 has dusky yellow hairs at the tip. The front is white, 
 and covered with down ; and the thorax is yellowish be- 
 fore, black in the middle, and cinereous behind. The 
 female differs from the male in having a black style at 
 the end of the abdomen. This insect deposits its eggs 
 in the back of the ox, and the larvae live beneath the 
 skin, between this and the cellular membrane. Its sac 
 or abscess is somewhat larger than the insect, and by 
 narrowing upwards, it opens externally to the air by a 
 small aperture. The Ox Gad-fly is the largest of the 
 European species, and is very beautiful: it is, however, 
 the terror of cattle, as it inflicts great pain when depo- 
 siting its eggs. 
 
 The Horse Gad-fly is distinguished from the rest of 
 its tribe by having a black hand in the middle and two 
 dots at the tip of its whitish wings. The abdomen is 
 yellow brown, with black spots at the divisions of the 
 segments. The female is more brown than the male, 
 and has her abdomen elongated with a cleft terminal 
 style. The larvae are those odd-looking grubs which are 
 commonly found in the stomachs of horses, and some- 
 times, though much less frequently, in the intestines. 
 Here they hang in clusters of from half a dozen to more 
 than a hundred, adhering to the inner membrane of the 
 stomach, by means of two small hooks or tentaculre at 
 their heads, whose points turn outward. When they are 
 removed from the stomach, they will attach themselves 
 to any loose membrane, even to the skin of the hand. 
 To etiect this they draw back their hooks, which have a 
 joint near their base, almost entirely within their skin; 
 till the two points come close to each other ; then, keeping 
 them parallel, they pierce through the membrane, aiid 
 immediately afterwards expand in a lateral direction ; 
 and by these means they become perfectly fixed. 
 
556 
 
 HFSTORY OF INSECTS. 
 
 flight can shield the wretched inhabitants 
 from their attacks; though millions are des- 
 troyed, still millions more succeed, and pro- 
 duce unceasing torment. The native Indians, 
 who anoint their bodies with oil, and who 
 have from their infancy been used to their de- 
 predations, find them much less inconvenient 
 than those who are newly arrived from Europe; 
 they sleep in their cottages covered all over 
 
 with thousands of the gnat kind upon their 
 bodies, and yet do not seem to have their 
 slumbers disturbed by their cruel devourers. 
 If a candle happens to be lighted in one of 
 those places, a cloud of insects at once light 
 upon the flame and extinguish it : they are 
 therefore obliged to keep their candles in glass 
 lanterns ; a miserable expedient to prevent an 
 unceasing calamity! 
 
HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 OF THE ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF ZOOPHYTES IN GENERAL. 
 
 WE now come to the last link in the chain 
 of animated nature, to a class of beings so con- 
 fined in their powers, and so defective in their 
 formation, that some historians have been at a 
 loss whether to consider them as a superior 
 rank of vegetables, or the humblest order of 
 the animated tribe. In order, therefore, to 
 give them a denomination agreeable to their 
 existence, they have been called Zoophytes, a 
 name implying vegetable nature endued with 
 animal life; and, indeed, in some the marks 
 of the animal are so few, that it is difficult to 
 give their place in nature with precision, or to 
 tell whether it is a plant or an insect that is 
 the object of our consideration. 
 
 Should it be asked what it is that consti- 
 tutes the difference between animal and vege- 
 table life ; what it is that lays the line that se- 
 parates those two great kingdoms from each 
 other, it would be difficult, perhaps we should 
 find it impossible, to return an answer. The 
 power of motion cannot form this distinction, 
 since some vegetables are possessed of motion, 
 and many animals are totally without it. The 
 sensitive plant has obviously a greater variety 
 of motions than the oyster or the pholas. The 
 animal that fills the acorn-shell is immovable, 
 and can only close its lid to defend itself from 
 external injury, while the flower which goes by 
 the name of the fly-trap, seems to close upon 
 the flies that light upon it, and that attempt to 
 rifle it of its honey. The animal in this in- 
 stance seems to have scarce a power of self-de- 
 tence ; the vegetable not only guards its pos- 
 sessions, but seizes upon the robber that would 
 venture to invade them. In like manner, the 
 methods of propagation give no superiority to 
 
 the lower rank of animals. On the contrary, 
 vegetables are frequently produced more con- 
 formably to the higher ranks of the creation, 
 and though some plants are produced by cut- 
 tings from others, yet the general manner of 
 propagation is from seeds, laid in the womb of 
 the earth, where they are hatched into the si- 
 militude of the parent plant or flower. But a 
 most numerous tribe of animals have lately 
 been discovered, which are propagated by cut- 
 tings, and this in so extraordinary a manner, 
 that, though the original insect be divided into 
 a thousand parts, each, however small, shall 
 be formed into an animal, entirely resembling 
 that which was at first divided ; in this res- 
 pect, therefore, certain races of animals seem 
 to fall beneath vegetables, by their more im- 
 perfect propagation. 1 
 
 1 There is much less of acumen and solidity in these 
 remarks of our author than might have been expected. 
 That there is, to a certain extent, community of feature 
 and character between vegetable bodies and the zoophyte 
 tribes, is at once admitted, for the very name of the lat- 
 ter implies the junction of animal and vegetable charac- 
 teristics in the same individual. But there is never 
 wanting a broad and striking distinction between the 
 zoophyte and the mere vegetable. We may indeed pro- 
 duce plants possessing motion, and seemingly indued 
 with sensibility, but attentive examination arid reflection 
 uniformly convince us that such motion and apparent 
 sensitiveness are mere mechanical properties, in nowise 
 the result of a voluntary principle. We may, again, in- 
 stance zoophytes in which, at first view, the vegetable cha- 
 racter is so predominant, and the animal powers so limi- 
 ted, that they scarcely appear to fall within the lowest 
 orders of animated existences. On close examination, 
 however, we discover that their motions are undoubtedly 
 influenced by volition, or will; and that they have in- 
 stincts approximating to those of more perfect animals. 
 We readily admit that it requires long and patient obser- 
 vation to distinguish, in many cases, between vegetables 
 and zoophytes; but we believe no instance could be 
 brought forward in which the question of animality might 
 not be determined by the presence or absence of a will. 
 
558 
 
 HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 What, therefore, is the distinction between 
 them? or are the orders so intimately blended 
 as that it is impossible to mark the boundaries 
 of each? To me it would seem, that all ani- 
 mals are possessed of one power, of which 
 vegetables are totally deficient ; I mean, 
 either the actual ability, or an awkward at- 
 tempt at self-preservation. However vege- 
 tables may seem possessed of this important 
 quality, yet it is with them but a mechanical 
 impulse, resembling the raising one end of the 
 lever when you depress the other ; the sen- 
 sitive plant contracts and hangs its leaves, 
 indeed, when touched, but this motion noway 
 contributes to its safety: the fly-trap flower 
 acts entirely in the same manner ; and though 
 it seems to seize the little animal that comes 
 to annoy it, yet, in reality, only closes me- 
 chanically upon it, and this inclosure neither 
 contributes to its preservation nor its defence. 
 But it is very different with insects, even of 
 the lowest order ; the earth-worm not only 
 contracts, but hides itself in the earth, and 
 escapes with some share of swiftness from its 
 pursuers. The polypus hides its horns ; the 
 star-fish contracts its arms upon the appear- 
 ance even of distant dangers ; they not only 
 hunt for their food, but provide for their safety ; 
 and however imperfectly they maybe formed, 
 yet still they are in reality placed many de- 
 grees above the highest vegetable of the earth, 
 and are possessed of many animal functions, 
 as well as those that are more elaborately 
 formed. 
 
 But though these be superior to plants, they 
 are far beneath their animated fellows of ex- 
 istence. In the class of zoophytes, we may 
 place all those animals which may be propa- 
 gated by cuttings ; or in other words, which, 
 if divided into two or more parts, each part in 
 time becomes a separate and perfect animal ; 
 the head shoots forth a tail, and, on the con- 
 trary, the tail produces a head ; some of these 
 will bear dividing but into two parts, such as 
 the earth-worm ; some may be divided into 
 more than two, and of this kind are many of 
 the star-fish ; others still may be cut into a 
 thousand parts, each becoming a perfect ani- 
 mal ; they may be turned inside out, like the 
 finger of a glove ; they may be moulded into 
 all manner of shapes, yet still their vivacious 
 principle remains, still every single part be- 
 comes perfect in its kind, and, after a few 
 days' existence, exhibits all the arts and in- 
 dustry of its contemptible parent! We shall, 
 therefore, divide zoophytes according to their 
 several degrees of perfection, namely, into 
 worms, star-fish, and polypi; contenting our- 
 selves with a short review of those nauseous 
 and despicable creatures, that excite our curi- 
 osity chiefly by their imperfections ; it must 
 not be concealed, however, that much has of 
 
 late been written on this part of natural hia. 
 tory. A new mode of animul production, could 
 not fail of exciting not only the curiosity, but 
 the astonishment of every philosopher ; many 
 found their favourite systems totally over- 
 thrown by the discovery ; and it was not with- 
 out a wordy struggle, that they gave up what 
 had formerly been their pleasure and their 
 pride. At last, however, conviction became 
 too strong for argument; and a question, 
 which owed its general spread rather to its 
 novelty than to its importance, was given up 
 in favour of the new discovery. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF WORMS. 1 
 
 THE first in the class of zoophytes, are ani- 
 mals of the worm kind, which, being entirely 
 
 1 " The characters of insects are so distinct and in- 
 telligible, those of worms, on the contrary, so vague, and 
 so far from positive, that the shortest way of defining the 
 latter might perhaps he as animals with white blood, not 
 insects ; differing from them by the deficiency as well of 
 antennae as of articulated organs of motion. They have, 
 for the most part, soft glutinous bodies, a few only being 
 covered with hair, as the aphrodites, or with a calcare- 
 ous shell, as the sea-hedgehog. Many amphitrites 
 construct an artificial shell of grains of sand, &c; 
 whilst many other animals of this class, viz. the 
 testacea and certain polypes, inhabit a solid house re- 
 sembling porcelain or stone, congenital, and serving the 
 purposes of residence and defence ; in some cases it is 
 carried about by the animal, in others is firmly attached 
 to one spot. No animal of this class has wings, for the 
 springing of the cuttle-fish out of the water is not to be 
 called flying; neither has it any true legs for the support 
 of the body, or for motion. Earth-worms, sea-hedge- 
 hogs, sea-anemones, &c. have, however, particular organs, 
 which in some degree answer similar purposes. In many 
 instances too, the deficiency of external organs of motion 
 in worms, is supplied by the power which they possess 
 of alternately elongating and shortening themselves. 
 Instead of antenna;, many worms have tentacula, soft, 
 fleshy cords or fibres, attached to the head, flexible, not 
 articulated, in some cases of considerable length, and 
 serving a variety of purposes ; sometimes for touching, 
 at others for taking their prey, and so forth. Of the 
 senses of these animals and the organs devoted to them, 
 still less that is positive can be said than of those of 
 insects. Some have undoubtedly true eyes, as the sepije, 
 &c. and others, without having eyes, possess a most acute 
 feeling of sight. In their internal structure, most 
 worms differ as much from insects as these do from red- 
 blooded animals. 
 
 " This class also differs from insects in this, that no 
 animal belonging to it undergoes a true metamorphosis, 
 which is so generally the case amongst them. The 
 abode of these animals is generally in water ; and by far 
 the greater part of them in the ocean. Some live under 
 ground ; others exclusively in the living bodies of other 
 animals, as the intestinal worm?, seminal animalcule?, 
 &c. Their remarkable powers of reproduction serve to 
 insure the preservation of many animals of this class, 
 and some, as the animalcula of paste, the wheel-animal, 
 &c., possess a kind of revivesceiice, which appears to 
 
THF WORM. 
 
 559 
 
 destitute of feet, trail themselves along upon 
 Ihe ground, and find themselves a retreat 
 under the earth, or in the water. As these, 
 like serpents, have a creeping motion, so 
 both, in general, go under the common appel- 
 lation of reptiles : a lothesome, noxious, ma- 
 lignant tribe, to which man by nature, as well 
 as by religion, has the strongest antipathy. 
 But though worms, as well as serpents, are 
 mostly without feet, and have been doomed to 
 creep along the earth on their bellies, yet their 
 motions are very different. The serpent, as 
 has been said before, having a back-bone, 
 which it is incapable of contracting, bends its 
 body into the form of a bow, and then shoots 
 forward from the tail ; but it is very different 
 with the worm, which has a power of contract- 
 ing or lengthening itself at will. There is a 
 spiral muscle, that runs round its whole body, 
 from the head to the tail, somewhat resembling 
 a wire wound round a walking-cane, which 
 when slipped off, and one end extended and 
 held fast, will bring the other nearer to it; in 
 this manner the earth-worm, having shot out, 
 or extended its body, takes hold by the slime 
 of the forepart of its body, and so contracts and 
 brings forward the hinder part; in this man- 
 ner it moves onward, not without great efforts; 
 but the occasions for its progressive motions 
 are few. 
 
 As it is designed for living under the earth, 
 and leading a life of obscurity, so it seems to- 
 
 render them, in some degree, indestructible. The gen- 
 erality of the intestinal worms of animals, and, the sepife 
 excepted, by far the greater number of worms, are true 
 hermaphrodites, of which each individual is capable of 
 propagating the species. The mode of copulation in 
 many animals of this class is also very peculiar, as in the 
 common garden and tree snails, which at that time are pro- 
 vided with a remarkable little dart, composed of calcareous 
 matter, and having the shape of a four-edged lance. This 
 dart is fixed loosely in an opening in the neck, and when 
 the two snails meet, each presses its dart into the breast 
 of the other, this mutual excitement being precursory to 
 actual copulation. 
 
 " The vast numbers of marine animals in this class, par- 
 ticularly the testacea and corals, are of extreme impor- 
 tance to the general economy of nature, inasmuch as they 
 in the ocean, in the same manner with insects upon the 
 earth, incessantly destroy, consume, and, as it were, me- 
 tamorphose an infinite variety of noxious or superfluous 
 substances. To man, they are in so far serviceable, that 
 many, particularly of the mollusca and testacea, are eat- 
 able; some, as for instance, the venus mercenaria, and 
 mytilus bidens, serving as a principal article of diet to 
 many navigators and inhabitants of sea coasts. The 
 purple dye was procured from certain shell-fish, more for- 
 merly than at present. Ink and Indian ink are procured 
 from the peculiar fluid of the cuttle-fish. The beard of 
 certain species of pinna affords a kind of brown silk, which 
 may be manufactured. Many kinds of shells contain 
 pearls. Red coral is an important article of trade, par- 
 ticularly in the East Indies. Several kinds of shells, 
 either entire or divided, pass current as money among 
 some remote nations. From portions of similar shells, 
 the Iroquois and other North American people, made 
 tneir wampum, which serves the purpose of records. 
 
 lerably adapted to its situation. Its body is 
 armed with small stiff sharp burrs or prickles, 
 which it can erect or depress at pleasure ; un- 
 der the skin there lies a slirny juice, to be 
 ejected as occasion requires, at certain perfora- 
 tions, between the rings of the muscles, to 
 lubricate its body, and facilitate its passage into 
 the earth. Like most other insects it has breath- 
 ing holes along the back, adjoining each ring; 
 but is withoutbones, without eyes, without ears, 
 and properly without feet. It has a mouth, and 
 also an alimentary canal, which runs along to 
 the very point of the tail. In some worms, 
 however, particularly such as are found in the 
 bodies of animals, this canal opens towards the 
 middle of the belly, at some distance from the 
 tail. The intestines of the earth worm are 
 always found filled with a very fine earth, 
 which seems to be the only nourishment these 
 animals are capable of receiving. 
 
 The animal is entirely without a brain, but 
 near the head is placed the heart, which is 
 seen to beat with a very distinct motion, and 
 round it are the spermatic vessels, forming a 
 number of little globules, containing a milky 
 fluid, which have an opening into the belly, 
 not far from the head ; they are also often found 
 to contain a number of eggs, which are laid in 
 the earth, and are hatched in twelve or four- 
 teen days into life, by the genial warmth of 
 their situation; like snails, all these animals 
 unite in themselves both sexes at once ; the rep- 
 
 Many savage people use muscle and snail shells for drink- 
 ing vessels, spoons, Etc. The South sea islanders make 
 from them ingenious hooks and a variety of other fishing- 
 tackle. The North-western Americans point their har- 
 poons with angular pieces of muscle shells. In regard 
 to works of art: mother of pearl and many muscle and 
 snail shells are cut like onyx into camoes. The cuttle- 
 fish bone is employed by artists and workmen. Sponge 
 serves a variety of domestic purposes. Madrepore is 
 employed for paving and building on the coasts of the 
 Red sea. Numerous testacea (the shells) and corals 
 are burnt for lime. Some large thin shells are used as 
 glass in the south of China, and in India. The shells of 
 testacea are among the most common ornaments of sa- 
 vage nations. In the great collection of objects from 
 the South seas presented to the academical Museum of 
 Gottingen, is, among other articles, a necklace of neat 
 shells, carefully polished, bored, and ingeniously twisted 
 together with tendons, all the work of a race of men com- 
 monly considered as the most wretched outcasts of the 
 human species, viz. the natives of the Sierra del Fuego. 
 Lastly, the leech is of great importance in the treatment 
 of certain diseases. (See an account of the leech in the 
 present volume, page 467.) 
 
 "Among the noxious animals of this class, are, in par- 
 ticular, the worms of the human body, which either live 
 in the intestines, as the ascurides fseniae, &c., or as the 
 Guinea-worm, immediately under the skin. Others of a 
 similar character, are the flukes found in sheep, the hy- 
 ditids of swine, and the worms found in many quadru- 
 peds and fishes, producing disease. Earth-worms and 
 snails are injurious to plants. Certain species of the 
 genera teredo and pholas perforate ships and dams." 
 Blumenbach. 
 
560 
 
 HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 tile that impregnates, being impregnated in 
 turn . few that walk out, but must have ob- 
 served them, with their heads laid against 
 each other, and so strongly attached, that they 
 suffer themselves to be trode upon. 
 
 When the eggs are laid in the earth, which, 
 in about fourteen days, as has been said, are 
 hatched into maturity, the young ones come 
 forth very small, but perfectly formed, and 
 suffer no change during their existence ; how 
 long their lite continues is not well known, but 
 it certainly holds for more than two or three 
 seasons. During the winter, they bury them- 
 selves deeper in the earth, and seem in some 
 measure to share the general torpidity of the 
 insect tribe. In spring, they revive with the 
 rest of nature, and on those occasions, a moist 
 or dewy evening brings them forth from their 
 retreats, for the universal purpose of continu- 
 ing their kind. They chiefly live in a light, 
 rich, and fertile soil, moistened by dews or 
 accidental showers, but avoid those places 
 where the water is apt to lie on the surface of 
 the earth, or where the clay is too stiff" for their 
 easy progression under ground. 
 
 Helpless as they are formed, yet they seem 
 very vigilant in avoiding those animals that 
 chiefly make them their prey; in particular, 
 the mole, who feeds entirely upon them be- 
 neath the surface, and who seldom ventures, 
 from the dimness of its sight, into the open air ; 
 him they avoid, by darting up from the earth 
 the instant they feel the ground move; and 
 fishermen, who are well acquainted with this, 
 take them in what numbers they choose, by 
 stirring the earth where they expect to find 
 them. They are also driven from their re- 
 treats under ground, by pouring bitter or acrid 
 water thereon, such as that water in which 
 green walnuts have been steeped, or a ley 
 made of pot-ashes. 
 
 Such is the general outline of the history of 
 these reptiles, which, as it should seem, de- 
 grades them no way beneath the rank of other 
 animals of the insect creation: but now we 
 come to a part of their history which proves 
 the imperfection of their organs, from the easi- 
 ness with which these little machines may be 
 damaged arid repaired again. It is well 
 known in mechanics, that the finest and most 
 complicated instruments are the most easily 
 put out of order, and the most difficultly set 
 right; the same also obtains in the animal ma- 
 chine. Man, the most complicated machine 
 of all others, whose nerves are more numerous, 
 and powers of action more various, is most 
 easily destroyed ; he is seen to die under 
 wounds which a quadruped or a bird could 
 easily survive ; and as we descend gradually 
 to the lower ranks, the ruder the composition, 
 the more difficult it is to disarrange it. Some 
 animals live without their limbs, and often are 
 
 seen to reproduce them ; some are seen to live 
 without their brain for many weeks together ; 
 caterpillars continue to increase and grow 
 large, though all their nobler organs are en- 
 tirely destroyed within ; some animals continue 
 to exist, though cut in two, their nobler parts 
 preserving life, while the others perish that 
 were cut away ; but the earth-worm, and all 
 the zoophyte tribe, continue to live in separate 
 parts, and one animal, by the means of cutting, 
 is divided into two distinct existences, some- 
 times into a thousand ! 
 
 There is no phenomenon in all natural his- 
 tory more astonishing than this, that man at 
 pleasure should have a kind of creative power, 
 and out of one life make two, each completely 
 formed, with all its apparatus and functions ; 
 each with its perceptions, and powers of mo- 
 tion and self-preservation ; each as complete in 
 all respects as that from which it derived its 
 existence, and equally enjoying the humble 
 gratifications of its nature. 
 
 When Des Cartes first started the opinion, 
 that brutes were machines, the discovery of 
 this surprising propagation was unknown, 
 which might, in some measure, have strength- 
 ened his fanciful theory. What is life in 
 brutes ? he might have said, or where does it 
 reside ? In some we find it so diffused, that 
 every part seems to maintain a vivacious prin- 
 ciple, and the same animal appears possessed 
 of a thousand distinct irrational souls at the 
 same time. But let us not, he would say, 
 give so noble a name to such contemptible 
 powers, but rank the vivifying principle in 
 these with the sap that rises in vegetables, or 
 the moisture that contracts a cord, or the heat 
 that puts water into motion ! Nothing, in fact, 
 deserves the name of soul, but that which rea- 
 sons, that which understands, and by knowing 
 God, receives the mark of its currency, and 
 is minted with the impression of its great 
 Creator. 
 
 Such might have been the speculations of this 
 philosopher: however, to leave theory , it will be 
 sufficient to say, that we owe the first discovery 
 of this power of reproduction in animals to 
 Mr Trembley, who first observed it in the 
 Polypus, and after him, Spalanzani and others 
 found it taking place in the earth-worm, the 
 sea worm, and several other ill-formed ani- 
 mals of a like kind, which were susceptible 
 of this new mode of propagation. This last 
 philosopher has tried several experiments 
 upon the earth-worm, many of which succeed- 
 ed according to his expectation : every earth- 
 worm, however, did not retain the vivacious 
 principle with the same obstinacy ; some, 
 when cut in two, were entirely destroyed ; 
 others survived only in the nobler part ; and 
 while the head was living, the tail entirely 
 perished, and a new one was seen to bourgeon 
 
THE STAR- FISH. 
 
 561 
 
 from the extremity. But what was most sur- 
 prising of all, in some, particularly in the 
 small red-headed earth-worm, both extremi- 
 ties survived the operation; the head produced 
 a tail, with the anus, the intestines, the annu- 
 lar muscle, and the prickly beards ; the tail 
 part, on the other hand, was seen to shoot 
 forth the nobler organs, and in less than the 
 space of three months sent forth a head, a 
 heart, with all the apparatus and instruments 
 of generation. This part, as may easily be 
 supposed, was produced much more slowly 
 than the former, a new head taking above 
 three or four months for its completion ; a 
 new tail being shot forth in less than as many 
 weeks. Thus two animals, by dissection, 
 were made out of one, each with their separate 
 appetites, each endued with life and motion, 
 and seemingly as perfect as that single ani- 
 mal from whence they derived their origin. 
 
 What was performed upon the earth-worm 
 was found to obtain also in many of the ver- 
 micular species. The sea- worm, the white 
 water-worm, and many of those little worms 
 with feelers, found at the bottom of dirty 
 ditches ; in all these the nobler organs are of 
 such little use, that if taken away, the animal 
 does not seem to feel the want of them ; it 
 lives in all its parts, and in every part ; and 
 by a strange paradox in nature, the most use- 
 less and contemptible life is of all others the 
 most difficult to destroy. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE STAR-FISH. 
 
 THE next order of zoophytes, is that of the 
 star-fish, a numerous tribe, shapeless and de- 
 formed, assuming at different times different 
 appearances. The same animal that now ap- 
 pears round like a ball, shortly after flattens 
 as thin as a plate. All of this kind are 
 formed of a semi-transparent gelatinous sub- 
 stance, covered with a thin membrane, and to 
 an inattentive spectator often appear like a 
 lump of inanimate jelly, floating at random 
 upon the surface of the sea, or thrown by 
 chance on shore at the departure of the tide. 
 But upon a more minute inspection, they will 
 be found possessed of life and motion ; they 
 will be found to shoot forth their arms in every 
 direction, in order to seize upon such insects 
 as are near, and to devour them with great 
 rapacity. Worms, the spawn of fish, and 
 even muscles themselves, with their hard re- 
 sisting shell, have been found in the stomachs 
 ot these voracious animals ; and what is very 
 extraordinary, though the substance of their 
 own bodies be almost as soft as water, yet they 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 are no way injured by swallowing these shells, 
 which are almost of a stony hardness. They 
 increase in size as all other animals do. In 
 summer, when the water of the sea is warmed 
 by the heat of the sun, they float upon the 
 surface, and in the dark they send forth a kind 
 of shining light resembling that of phosphorus. 
 Some have given these animals the name of 
 sea-nettles, because they burn the hands of 
 those that touch them, as nettles are found to 
 do. They are often seen fastened to the rocks, 
 and to the largest sea-shells, as if to derive 
 their nourishment from them. If they be 
 taken and put into spirits of wine, they will 
 continue for many years entire : but if they 
 be left to the influence of the air, they are, in 
 less than four and twenty hours, melted down 
 into limpid and offensive water. 
 
 In all of this species, none are found to 
 possess a vent for their excrements ; but the 
 same passage by which they devour their food, 
 serves for the ejection of their fasces. These 
 animals, as was said, take such a variety of 
 figures, that it is impossible to describe them 
 under one determinate shape ; but in general 
 their bodies resemble a truncated cone, whose 
 base is applied to the rock to which they are 
 found usually attached. Though generally 
 transparent, yet they are found of different 
 colours, some inclining to green, some to red, 
 some to white, and some to brown. In some, 
 their colours appear diffused over the whole 
 surface, in some they are often streaked, and 
 in others often spotted. They are possessed 
 of a very slow progressive motion, and in fine 
 weather they are continually seen, stretching 
 out and fishing for their prey. Many of them 
 are possessed of a number of long slender 
 filaments, in which they entangle any small 
 animals they happen to approach, and thus 
 draw them into their enormous stomachs, 
 which fill the whole cavity of their bodies. 
 The harder shells continue lor some weeks un- 
 digested, but at length they undergo a kind 
 of maceration in the stomach, and become a 
 part of .the substance of the animal itself. 
 The indigestible parts are returned by the 
 same aperture by which they were swallowed, 
 and then the star-fish begins to fish for more. 
 These also may be cut in pieces, and every 
 part will survive the operation ; each becoming 
 a perfect animal, endued with its natural 
 rapacity. Of this tribe, the number is various, 
 and the description of each would be tedious 
 and uriinstructing ; the manners and nature 
 of all are nearly as described ; but I will just 
 make mention of one creature, which, though 
 not properly belonging to this cla.ss. yet is so 
 nearly related, that the passing it in silence 
 would be an unpardonable omission. 
 
 Of all other animals, the cuttie-nsh, though 
 in some respects superior to this tribe, posses- 
 4 B 
 
562 
 
 HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 ses qualities the most extraordinary. It is about 
 two feet long, covered with a very thin skin, 
 and its flesh composed of a gelatinous sub- 
 stance, which, however, within-side, is strength- 
 ened by a strong bone, of which such great 
 use is made by the goldsmith. It is possessed 
 of eight arms, which it extends, and which are 
 probably of service to it in fishing for its prey : 
 while in life, it is capable of lengthening or 
 contracting these at pleasure ; but when dead, 
 they contract, and lose their rigidity. They 
 feed upon small fish, which they seize with 
 their arms; and they are bred from eggs, 
 which are laid upon the weeds along the sea- 
 shore. 
 
 The cuttle-fish is found along many of the 
 coasts of Europe, but are not easily caught, 
 from a contrivance with which they are fur- 
 nished by nature ; this is a black substance, 
 of the colour of ink, which is contained in a 
 bladder generally on the left side of the belly, 
 and which is ejected in the manner of an ex- 
 crement from the anus. Whenever, there- 
 fore, this fish is pursued, and wheu vt finds a 
 difficulty of escaping, it spurts forth a great 
 quantity of this black liquor, by which the 
 waters are totally darkened, and then it es- 
 capes by lying close at the bottom. In this 
 manner the creature finds its safety ; and men 
 find ample cause for admiration, from the 
 great variety of stratagems with which crea- 
 tures are endued for their peculiar preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE POLYPUS. 1 
 
 THOSE animals which we have described in 
 the last chapter are variously denominated. 
 
 1 Dr George Johnston, in his elegant work on British 
 Zoophytes, recently published, (Edinburgh, 1838, 8vo), 
 has adopted a new and seemingly excellent classification 
 of the zoophyte division of the animal kingdom. Where 
 a plant-like aquatic production, such as the Sponge, can- 
 not be discovered to be the work of, or connected with, 
 a polype, he excludes it from the zoophyte class, limit- 
 ing that term to polypes and their polypidoms. This 
 arrangement clearly defines the class. Of the zoophytes 
 thus distinguished, he forms two sub-classes, radiated 
 zoophytes, and molluscan zoophytes. The characters of 
 these sub-classes are thus described : The radiated 
 zoophytes have a body contractile in every part, arid 
 symmetrical ; one aperture for receiving food, and ex- 
 pelling its refuse ; and are propagated .both by globules 
 and by eggs. The molluscan zoophytes have a body 
 non-contractile and non-symmetrical ; separate apertures 
 for the reception of food, and expulsion of refuse ; and 
 ire propagated both by globules and eggs. The radiated 
 zoophytes are so named from the star-like disposition of 
 the calcareous matter of their polypidoms, while the 
 molluscan zoophytes are so entitled, because their polypi- 
 doms, unlike those of the preceding class, are living por- 
 
 They have been called the Star-fish, Sea-net- 
 tles, and Sea-polypi. This last name has been 
 peculiarly ascribed to them by the ancients, 
 because of the number of feelers or feet of 
 
 tions of the polypes they contain, as is the case with the 
 shelled molluscous animals, of which the lobster is an 
 example. The radiated zoophytes, again, are divided 
 into three orders, the hydroida,(so called from some afii- 
 nity in their character to those of the many-headed 
 hydra, a fabulous serpent), the asteroida, (from the star- 
 like marks which distinguish them), and the helianthoida, 
 (a word which expresses their likeness to certain flowers, 
 as the anemone and marygold.) The molluscan class of 
 zoophytes has but one order, termed the ascidoida, of 
 which the chief distinctive characteristic is the vitality 
 of their enclosing crusts or cases. Of all these orders, 
 there are a number of families and species. Most of the 
 polypi form compound animals, attached to one another 
 by lateral appendages, or by their posterior extremity, 
 participating in a common life, while at the same time 
 they enjoy their individual and independent existence. 
 Many of this tribe are supposed to be gemmiferous, or 
 to extend the race by buds in the same manner as plants, 
 while others propagate their species by means of eggs. 
 In the lowest races of polypi, the distinctive characters 
 of animal life are so slightly developed, that there is much 
 difficulty in distinguishing them from the cryptogamit: 
 families' of the vegetable kingdom. The resemblance of 
 these animals to plants consists in this, that from the egg 
 is formed a bulb, which shoots up into a stem, and sends 
 off branches ; there is also a root, which, however, is 
 merely the organ of attachment, affording no nourish- 
 ment to the animals. Being thus immovably fixed to a 
 particular spot, they have no other means of providing 
 themselves with food, but by their long tentacula, which 
 act as arms to convey the food to the mouth ; these 
 members only are capable of voluntary motion. The 
 vegetable structure of this class, long obtained for them 
 the name of animal plants. Some of them, however, 
 float about in the ocean, as the pennatula, or sea pens. 
 
 About the year 1699, Imperati and Gesner had re. 
 marked the animal structure of polypi or corals ; and 
 Peysonnell, in 1727, was the first who ascertained the 
 living inhabitants of those stony and horny structures, 
 and his discoveries have been confirmed by Trembley's 
 treatise upon the hydrae, published in 1740 ; and subse- 
 quently by Reaumur, Jussieu, Donati, Ellis, Boccone, 
 Degeer, Baster, Cavolini, Pallas, Linnseus, and Cuvier. 
 All the animals of this class were placed by Linnseus as 
 an order of his class I'ermes, under the distinctive ap- 
 pellation of lithophytae. The sagacity of that yiviit 
 naturalist enabled him to form a superstructure, upon 
 which has been built the more improved, because better 
 known classifications of Pallas, Bruguiere, and Lamarck; 
 whose arrangement we mean to follow, as being more 
 comprehensive than that of Cuvier, who divides his class 
 polypi into two orders; the first of which embraces those 
 that are naked, and the second, such as live in polypi- 
 ferous masses, formed by the united labours of the com- 
 munity. These he subdivides into many families. 
 
 Minute as the beings are which construct and inhabit 
 those stony masses called corals, they form one of the 
 largest, and undoubtedly the most singular of the whole 
 classes of animated being. Such is the enormous accu- 
 mulation of the stony envelopes formed by them in tro- 
 pica! seas, that islands are produced, coasts extended, 
 and harbours blocked up by them. It was the opinion of 
 Lamarck, that it was these minute beings who originally 
 formed the calcareous strata of the globe. 
 
 In contemplating the structure of the polypi, the hy- 
 dra, for example, we find their nutritive organs the sim- 
 plest of all possible forms ; consisting of a mere stomach 
 adapted to receive and digest food, without any other 
 
THE POLYPUS. 
 
 563 
 
 which they are all possessed, and with which 
 they have a slow progressive motion ; but the 
 moderns have given the name of Polypus to a 
 reptile that lives in fresh water, by no means 
 
 apparent organ, being destitute of brain, nerves, or or- 
 gans of sense ; nor is there the slightest appearance of 
 any thing corresponding to lungs, heart, or even vessels 
 of any kind. We have given a magnified representation 
 of the hydra, laid open by a longitudinal section, pi. 30, 
 f. 79, exhibiting the cavity into which the food is received 
 and digested. The walls of this cavity must be adapted 
 not only to prepare and pour out the fluids by which the 
 food is digested, but also to permit of the transudation 
 through its substance, probably by means of invisible 
 pores, of the nutritious particles thus extracted from the 
 food for the purpose of its being incorporated and identi- 
 fied with the gelatinous pulp, of which the body appears 
 wholly to consist. The researches of Trembley have 
 brought to light the extraordinary fact, that not only the 
 internal surface of the polypus is endowed with the 
 power of digesting food, but that the same property be- 
 longs also to the external surface, or what we might call 
 the skin of the animal. He found that by a dexterous 
 manipulation, the hydra may be completely turned in- 
 side out, like the finger of a glove, and that the animal, 
 after having undergone this singular operation, will very 
 soon resume all its ordinary functions, just as if nothing 
 had happened. It accommodates itself in the course of a 
 day or two to the transformation, and resumes all its natural 
 habits, eagerly seizing animalcules with its tentacula, and 
 introducing them into its newly formed stomach, which 
 has for its interior surface what before was the exterior 
 skin, and which digests them with perfect ease. The 
 truth of this wonderful discovery was subsequently con- 
 firmed by Bonnet and Spallanzani. 
 
 Still more complicated are the forms and economy of 
 the aggregated polypi, which prolific nature has spread 
 in countless multitudes, over the rocky shores of the 
 whole globe. These grow in the form of plants, and are 
 supported on one common stem, with widely extended 
 flowering branches. These many-headed monsters pre- 
 sent myriads of open mouths, each surrounded by single 
 or numerous rows of tentacula, which are extended to 
 catch their prey; these are provided with a multitude of 
 cilia, which, by their incessant vibrations, determine 
 currents of water to flow towards their mouths, carrying 
 with them the floating animalcules on which the entire 
 mass of polypi subsists. 
 
 Each mouth leads into a separate stomach, whence the 
 food, after its digestion, passes into several channels, 
 generally five in number, which proceed in different di- 
 rections from the cavity of each stomach, dividing into 
 many branches, and being distributed over all the sur- 
 rounding portions of the flesh. These branches commu- 
 nicate with similar channels, proceeding from the neigh- 
 bouring stomachs, so that the food which has been taken 
 in by one of the mouths, contributes to the general nou- 
 rishment of the whole mass of aggregated polypi. 
 
 The polypi appear in general not to be provided with 
 any distinct channels for conveying aerated water into 
 the interior of their bodies, so that it may act in succes- 
 sion on the nutritive juices, and, after performing this 
 office, may be expelled, and exchanged for a fresh sup- 
 ply. It has accordingly been conjectured, on the pre- 
 sumption that this function is equally necessary to them 
 as it is to all other animals, that the vivifying influence 
 of the surrounding element, is exerted through the me- 
 dium of the surface of the body. Thus it is very possible 
 that in polypi, while the interior surface of the sac di- 
 gests the food, its external surface may perform the office 
 of respiration ; and no other mode of accomplishing this 
 function has been distinctly traced in the animals of the 
 order acalepha. 
 
 so large or observable. These are found at the 
 bottom of wet ditches, or attached to the under 
 surface of the broad-leafed plants that grow 
 and swim on the waters. The same difference 
 
 The form of the shelly covering which invests most of 
 the polypi, admits of almost infinite variety. In some it 
 encloses the flesh in a general sheath, leaving only an 
 opening at the end, sufficient for the expansion of each 
 set of tentacula, surrounding the various mouths of the 
 respective animals. In some species these tubes are 
 placed parallel to each other, in the manner of the pipes 
 of an organ, with transverse partitions at regular inter- 
 vals for their support ; as exemplified in the Tubipora 
 Musica, pi. 30, f. 34 and 66. This last figure repre- 
 sents a portion of the tubes highly magnified, and laid 
 open to show the polypi in their interior. Sometimes 
 the tubes are united together endwise, like the branches 
 of a tree, leaving lateral apertures for the animals to 
 extend their tentacula through as exemplified in the 
 sertularia frutescens, pi. 30, f. 4 and 10. In some 
 species the horny base is formed into a number of cells, 
 each of which answers the purpose of protecting its re- 
 spective polype. These are usually situated at the ex- 
 tremity of the branches, and have all the appearance of 
 flowers, as may be seen in the tabularia ramosa, pi. 30, 
 f. 59, 60- The different species of the genus Flustra, 
 as will be seen in the species carbacca, pi. 30, f. 61, and 
 F. foliajcea. f. 12, have the cells excessively minute. 
 These are extended over a flat membraneous substance, 
 having all the appearance of the leaves of plants. These 
 Cells are formed in very regular rows, as in the magnified 
 representation, of F. foliacea, f. 1, and are arranged 
 with as much regularity as the cells of a honeycomb. 
 Nearly the whole of the animals which constitute the 
 other polipiferous masses have an internal inorganic base 
 of support, constituting a kind of skeleton or axis ; the 
 mouths of the polypi being developed at intervals over 
 the surface of the fleshy layer by which this skeleton is 
 covered. This is especially the case with the genera 
 Gorgonia, Antipathes, and Corallium, as they bear the 
 strongest similitude to the branched forms of the stems 
 of vegetables. The flesh contains grains of calcareous 
 matter, which, in the dried specimens, adhere to the 
 surface of the stems. Plate 30, f. 6, is a branch of 
 Coralium rubrum, exhibiting the appearance presented 
 by the polypi in their expanded and contracted condi- 
 tions. F. 7 is the polype of the same, greatly magnified. 
 In many instances the polypi are located in cup-like de- 
 pressions, situate in the surface of the calcareous axis. 
 which protects them considerably. In the genus Madre- 
 pora, these depressions are intersected by radiating 
 plates, adapted to the number and construction of the 
 tentacula ; and in the Millepora the cells are closer and 
 more minute, and do not exhibit any of the star-like 
 radiations. In some species the plates have more of a 
 parallel arrangement ; and in others they form a reticu- 
 lated appearance. 
 
 The materials of which the axis is composed are inva- 
 riably arranged in concentric layers, thus indicating that 
 their deposition has been successive, and the surface is 
 always marked by longitudinal lines corresponding to the 
 figure of the animal covering the flesh. In some genera 
 the stem consists of horny and calcareous parts alternately 
 disposed, composing a jointed structure. This has been 
 by some naturalists considered an approximation to an 
 articulated skeleton ; as it is susceptible of considerable 
 flection, and yields readily to the currents or waves, 
 without being broken. An example of this structure is 
 seen in the Jsis Hippuris, pi. 30, f. 21. 
 
 Almost the entire class of polypi are attached, by the 
 root of the stem or base, to submarine rocks or other 
 extraneous bodies. The roots are possessed of a very 
 strong adhesive quality. 
 
564 
 
 HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 holds between these and the sea-water poly- 
 pus, as between all the productions of the sea, 
 and'of the land and the ocean. The marine 
 vegetables and animals grow to a monstrous 
 
 The reproduction of all the adhesive polypi depends 
 upon the detachment of gemmules,* or imperfectly 
 formed portions of their soft substance. These gemmules 
 are possessed of active powers of locomotion, apparently 
 for the sole purpose of seeking a place whereon to raise 
 its future habitation at a distance from its parents. This 
 situation once chosen, it is immovably fixed to that spot 
 during its natural life. In the earlier state these gem- 
 mules appear on the surface of the parent animal, in the 
 form of small specks, which are visible to the naked eye. 
 In the course of a few months they enlarge in size, and 
 each becomes pyriform, and are observed to protrude 
 from the sides of the internal canals of the parent, ad- 
 hering by their narrow ends. This form in particular 
 applies to the young of sponges. Shortly after, they are 
 freed, the one after the other, and are borne along by 
 the currents of fluid, which are quickly passing out of 
 the larger openings. Pi. 30, f. 75, represents one of 
 these detached gemmules. Were these devoid of life, 
 they would naturally sink to the bottom by their own 
 gravity, but on the contrary they spontaneously swim 
 about for two or three days, with their broad nd for- 
 wards. These gemmules, upon microscopic examina- 
 tion, are found to be about two-thirds covered with short 
 cilia, which are in constant and rapid motion : they are 
 extremely minute and transparent, broadest at the base, 
 and tapering to almost invisible points. The strokes of 
 these cilia are made without any regular order, but con- 
 spiring to propel the gemmule with the broad end for- 
 wards, but without seeming to have an apparent object 
 in view, by a slow gliding motion, quite unlike the zig- 
 zag course of animals in search of prey. They appear, 
 however, to have a consciousness of impressions made 
 on them ; for if they come in collision with each other, 
 or if they strike against any object, the motion of their 
 cilia is for a short time suspended ; they wheel round 
 the spot for some seconds, then renew their vibratory 
 motion, and proceed in their former course. 
 
 It is by the narrow extremity that these gemmules 
 become adherent, which soon begins to expand itself 
 laterally, so as to form a broad base of attachment. 
 While this is proceeding, the cilia continue to move 
 rapidly, but their motions soon become languid, and in 
 a very few hours cease entirely to move, and finally dis- 
 appear, being no longer of use. The same mode of pro- 
 ceeding is common to the gemmules of all the class 
 polypi, except that there is a variety in the head of the 
 gemmules which swims first. The time of their remain- 
 ing in a free condition varies with the species, from a 
 few hours to three days. 
 
 The tentacula of polypi are exquisitely sensible, and 
 are frequently seen, either singly or collectively, curving 
 their extremities towards the mouth, when any minute 
 floating body comes in contact with them. During the 
 time a polype is expanded, a constant current of water 
 is directed towards the mouth : the currents are never 
 produced by the motions of the tentacula themselves, 
 but are always the effects of rapid vibrations of the cilia 
 placed on the tentacula. The polypi of the Flustra 
 rarbasea, for example, f. 62, pi. 30, have each tentacula, 
 provided with a single row of cilia, extending along both 
 the lateral margins, from their base to their termination: 
 as we have represented at f. 63, in a portion of one of 
 their tentacula, highly magnified. Every polype is fur- 
 nished with twenty-two tentacula, and there are about 
 fifty cilia on each side of a tentaculum, so that every 
 
 * Tin- word Gemmule is taken from the Latin word gemma. 
 ' Had: and its meaning, ns applied t> polypi, is that of a you:i- 
 .1111111,1!, not contained within au euvelbpe'or ejjg. 
 
 size. The eel, the pike, or the bream, of 
 fresh-waters is but small ; but in the sea they 
 grow to an enormous magnitude. The herbs 
 of the field are at most but a few feet high ; 
 
 individual polype has no less than two thousand two 
 hundred cilia. Every square inch contains about one 
 thousand eight hundred cells ; the branches of an ordi- 
 nary specimen present about ten square inches of sur- 
 face, so that an ordinary specimen of this species pre- 
 sents a congregation of not less than eighteen thousand 
 polypi ; with three hundred and ninety-six tentacula, and 
 thirty-nine millions six hundred thousand cilia ; while 
 other species undoubtedly contain more than ten times 
 these numbers. Dr Grant has estimated that there are 
 about four hzindrcd millions of cilia on a single Flustra 
 foliacea ! the species which we have represented, f. 12. 
 We have given a representation of a gemmule of the 
 Flustra carbasea, pi. 30, f. 64. 
 
 It is still au unsettled point whether the aggregated 
 mass is to be considered as one individual, endowed with 
 a common principle of life and growth, or whether each 
 month is to be regarded as the organ of a separate ani- 
 mal. Dr Grant is of opinion that the detached polypi 
 called pennatula, or sea pens, f. 14, pi. 30, do not pos- 
 sess a voluntary power of locomotion, but that they are 
 carried along by the currents of the ocean. Indeed, 
 none of all this extensive tribe of beings which are inves- 
 ted in a stony covering, or which have a horny or calca- 
 reous axis, have the power of locomotion ; and it is not 
 until we descend to animals divested of these, that we 
 can trace animals having this power. The fresh-water 
 polypi, called hydra, are locomotive. These animals 
 present us with the simplest kind of structure which has 
 yet been ascertained. The hydra consists simply of a 
 fleshy tube, open at both extremities, and the aperture 
 of the tube serving as a mouth, which is situate in the 
 more dilated end, and this mouth is provided at its mar- 
 gin with a single row of tentacula. Looking to this ani- 
 mal, we may suppose that nature has formed it, to prove 
 that animal life may be carried on without the aid ol 
 the complicated machinery which she has given to the 
 higher orders of creation. The hydra can change place 
 at will. F. 69, pi. 30, represents the fiydra viridis. 
 This animal has the power of fixing itself in an erect 
 position by the foot, and if it wishes to change place, it 
 slowly bends till its head touches the plane on which it 
 is moving, and adheres to it by the mouth, or by one or 
 two of its tentacula ; the foot is then detached, and by 
 a curve of the body placed close to the head, where it is 
 again fixed, preparatory to a new step, which it performs 
 by a repetition of the same movements. 
 
 Sponges, in their general aspect, have much the ap- 
 pearance of plants, and they were by ma-ny regarded as 
 such ; but it has been satisfactorily ascertained that they 
 are composed of soft flesh, intermixed with a tissue of 
 fibres, some of which are solid, others tubular, and the 
 whole being curiously interwoven into a kind of network. 
 It will be perceived, on examining f. 70, pi. 30, that 
 every part of a living sponge presents to the eye tvo 
 kinds of orifices, the larger being somewhat round in its 
 shape, with the margins raised, forming projecting pa- 
 pillae ; the smaller being much more numerous, exceed- 
 ingly minute, and are usually termed the pores of the 
 sponge. 
 
 For many ages, indeed, so far back as the time of 
 Aristotle, who died 322 years before the birth of Christ, 
 sponges were supposed to be so sensitive, that they 
 shrunk from the touch ; and later naturalists asserted 
 that, if punctured by sharp instruments, they would ex- 
 hibit visible tremulous motions. But Dr Grant has 
 most effectually refuted this error, by subjecting sponges 
 to the most severe experiments, such as lacerating, punc- 
 turing, burning, or otherwise wounding their texture, by 
 
THE POLYPUS. 
 
 565 
 
 
 those of the sea often shoot forth a stalk of a 
 hundred. It is so between the polypi of both 
 elements. Those of the sea are found from 
 two feet in length to three or four, and Pliny 
 
 the application of corrosive chemical agents. He has 
 discovered the true nature of the currents of fluid issuing 
 at different points, which he thus graphically describes : 
 " I put a small branch of the spongia coalita, with some 
 sea-water, into a watch-glass, under the microscope, and, 
 on reflecting the light of a candle through the fluid, I 
 soon perceived that there was some intestine motion in 
 the opaque particles floating through the water. On 
 moving the watch-glass, so as to bring one of the aper- 
 tures on the side of the sponge fully into view, I beheld, 
 for the first time, the splendid spectacle of this living 
 fountain, vomiting forth, from a circular cavity, an im- 
 petuous torrent of liquid matter, and hurling along, in 
 rapid succession, opaque masses, which it strewed every 
 where around. The beauty and novelty of such a scene 
 in the animal kingdom, long arrested my attention, but 
 after twenty-five minutes of constant observation, I was 
 obliged to withdraw my eye from fatigue, without having 
 seen the torrent for one instant change its direction, or 
 diminish, in the slightest degree, the rapidity of its 
 course." It thus appears that the large orifices on the 
 surface of a living sponge, are destined for the discharge 
 of a constant stream of water from tlie interior of the 
 body. We have attempted to represent the particles 
 thrown out by these currents in f. 70. These currents, 
 issuing from the larger orifices, are best seen by placing 
 the living animal in a shallow vessel of sea-water, and 
 strewing a little powdered chalk over the surface, the 
 motions of which render the current very sensible to the 
 naked eye. It is by the myriads of minute pores, which 
 exist in every part of the surface, that this water enters, 
 conveying with it the materials necessary for the sub- 
 sistence of the animal. These pores conduct the fluid 
 into the interior, where, after percolating through the 
 numerous channels of communication which pervade the 
 substance of the body, it is collected into wider passages, 
 terminating in the focal orifices above described, and is 
 finally discharged. The mechanism by which these cur- 
 rents are produced, is involved in much obscurity. 
 
 The genus vorticella is constituted of a small tribe of 
 animals which differ from the polypi in one particular, 
 namely, that of being destitute of tentacula, and having 
 cilia only, surrounding the margin of a bell-shaped body, 
 which is mounted upon a long, slender peduncle. The 
 animals of this genus are always attached to some extra- 
 neous body by this footstalk, as represented in vorticella 
 polypina, pi. 30, f. 75, but have the power of moving 
 about in all direction?, to the extent of the range of the 
 footstalk. Currents are, as usual, excited by the vibra- 
 tions of the cilia, and these are the efficient instruments 
 of progressive motion. The ordinary position of the 
 peduncle of the vorticella is spiral, but it can extend it 
 quite in a straight line when in search of food ; but it 
 suddenly retreats from danger, by resuming the spiral 
 folds of its peduncle. 
 
 Lamarck arranges the polypi under five orders, with 
 the following characters : 
 
 I. POLYPI NATANTKS. Polypi provided with tenta- 
 cula, united in a common fleshy mass, placed on an axis, 
 free, and floating: in the water. 
 
 II. POLYPI TUBIFEBI. Tentaculated polypi united 
 in a common fleshy body, without any solid axis, and 
 covered with tubiform cylinders. 
 
 III. POLYPI VAGINATI. Polypi with tentacula, always 
 fi xcd in an inorganic covering, and forming in general 
 compound animals. 
 
 IV. POLYPI DKNUDATI. Tentaculated polypi not 
 forming a common .envelop, fixed either constantly or 
 spontaneously. 
 
 V. POLYPI CILIATI. Polypi without any tentacula; 
 
 has even described one, the arms of which 
 were no less than thirty feet long. Those in 
 fresh waters, however, are comparatively mi- 
 nute ; at their utmost size seldom above three 
 
 but instead of them, vibratile cilise, at or near the 
 mouth. 
 
 ORD?:R i. POLYPI NATANTES. 
 
 Polypi united in a common fleshy body, or congre- 
 gated mass, free, elongated, enveloping an inorganic 
 axis, cartilaginous, osseous, or stony; eaeli polypus pro 
 vided with tentacula placed around the mouth, and ra- 
 diating. The animals of this order are congregated on 
 a common body, in which they all participate, while 
 each appears to enjoy a separate existence, and distinct 
 powers of volition. The common body has the appear- 
 ance of a naked fleshy mass, with the polypi protruding 
 from its surface, and in the centre is placed an inorganic 
 axis resulting from some deposition of the animals, in- 
 the same manner as the outer covering in the other or- 
 ders. Some of these compound animals float freely in 
 the water, and others remain at the bottom in the mud 
 or sand. Many of them diffuse a vivid phosphorescent) 
 light. Umbell'ularia. G reenlandica, pi. 30, f. 13. Body 
 free, consisting of a long simple stem, with a bony in ar- 
 ticulated axis, enveloped by a fleshy membrane. In- 
 habits the Northern ocean. Vtryutoria ; body free, fili- 
 form or linear, greatly elongated'. Inhabits the North- 
 ern ocean. Renilla ; body free, depressed, kidney- 
 shaped, polypi provided with six rays each. Pemiatula 
 phosphorea,p\. 30, f. 14. Body free, fleshy, pen inform, 
 polypi with radiated tentacula. Fig. 65 represents- 
 some of the polypes greatly magnified. Inhabits the 
 British seas. Funiculina; body free, filiform, very sim- 
 ple, long, fleshy, and provided with warts. Inhabits- 
 the American ocean. Veretillum ; body free, fleshy, sim- 
 ple, cylindrical, polypiferous above, and with the base 
 naked. 
 
 ORDER II. POLYPI TUBIFERL 
 
 Polypi united in a common fleshy body, either simple, 
 lobed, or ramified, and constantly fixed at its base, des- 
 titute of any solid internal axis ; surface entirely or in 
 part covered with tubiform cylinders, rarely retractile; 
 mouth terminal, provided with eight pectinated tenta- 
 cula. The tubiferous polypi always exist in the form 
 of a fleshy subgelatinous body, invariably fixed by their 
 base. They are more or less simple, convex, lobed, or 
 slightly ramified. The upper part of the surface of their 
 body is covered with a vast number of small tubiform 
 movable cylinders; having at then 1 summit a roundish 
 sub-octagonal mouth surrounded by eight pectinated 
 tentacula. Lobularia dit/itata, pi. 30, f. 15. Common 
 body of a fleshy consistence, elevated upon the base. 
 Inhabits the coast of Europe. Fig. 16 is a magnified 
 view of a portion of this species. Ciiona; of a fleshy, ir- 
 ritable substance, provided with siliceous spicula, gen- 
 erally embedded in the cavities of shells. Inhabits 
 em 
 wit 
 
 branched stems. Inhabits the coasts of the Red sea. 
 Xenia; the common body provided with thick, some- 
 what short, naked stems, emanating from the base, and 
 divided at their summit. Anthelia ; common body 
 spread out in a thin plate, or depressed over marine 
 substances. Inhabits the shores of the Red sea. 
 
 ORDER III. POLYPI VAGINATI. 
 
 Each individual polype tentaculated, constantly fixed 
 in an inorganic body, or sheath, which completely enve- 
 lops them, and forming in general compound animals, 
 This is the most extensive class of polypi, and is divided 
 into seven sections. The animals are very delicate, 
 transparent, and extremely contractile, usually fixed in 
 an inorganic body of their own formation. This calcare- 
 ous mass is increased in size with every successive gen- 
 eration; and these, in the course of time, accumulate to 
 such a size, that they raise islands in the midst of the 
 ocean. The cells are short, long, or tubular, the orifice 
 
 mpty oyster shells on the British coasts. Ammothea ; 
 ith the common body divided into many short and 
 
566 
 
 HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 parts of an inch long, and when gathered up 
 into their usual form, not above a third even 
 of those dimensions. 
 
 It was upon these minute animals that the 
 
 sometimes irregular, and at others regular: the interior 
 walls, being simple, longitudinally striated, or lamel- 
 latcd, and stelliform. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 The polypiferous masses composed of two distinct 
 pai'ts; the jirst consisting of numerous horny fibres, 
 cither in fasciculi, radiated, interlaced, crossed, or fitted 
 together; the second is composed of a fleshy or gelatin- 
 ous pulp ; covering, enveloping, or attaching the fibres, 
 containing the polypi, and assuming in drying a consist- 
 ence more or less firm. Alcyonium<jor(/onoides,pl.BQ,f. 9. 
 The polypiferous masses polymorphous, soft, or fleshy, 
 when recent, but somewhat coriaceous and firm when 
 dried. Geodia; the polypiferous mass free, fleshy, tuber- 
 ous, hollow interiorly. Tet/iia; with a knotty subglobu- 
 lar polypiferous mass, the interior with numerous, fasci- 
 culated fibres Spongia tubidosa, pi. 30, f. 5. Polypiferous 
 mass soft, gelatinous, very flexible, and fixed; the car- 
 tilaginous matter supported by calcareous or siliceous 
 spicula; pores excessively nume'rous and irregular. The 
 spicula are represented 'at figs. 71 and 72. It will be 
 seen by the Spongia coa/ita. f. 70, that there are two kinds 
 of orifices; the larger having a rounded shape, provided 
 generally with raised margins, which form projecting pa- 
 pillae, the smaller being much more numerous, exceed- 
 inglyminute,and constituting what are termed the pores 
 of the sponge. Flabdlaria pavojiia, pi. 30, f. 17. The 
 polypifurous mass caulescent, fan-shaped, incrusted, and 
 frequently divided. Inhabits the seas of America. Fin- 
 crassata, pi. 30, f. 2. Penicillus capitatus, pi. 30, f. 18. 
 Polypiferous mass, supported on a simple, exteriorly 
 incrusted stalk, filled interiorly with many horny fasci- 
 culated fibres, and divided at its summit into a cluster 
 of filiform, dichotomous, articulated branches. Fig. 19 
 shows the articulations magnified. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 The polypiferous masses branched like plants, and 
 composed of two kinds of substance, namely, a central 
 solid axis, and a fleshy incrustation, which invests and 
 contains the polypi; axis inorganic, corneous, or stony; 
 when dried the polypiferous crust is porous, cellular, 
 and friable. Corallina corniculata, pi. 30, f. 1 1 . Polypi- 
 ferous mass adherent, greatly branched. Inhabit the 
 American and European seas. Fig. 4 is a magnified 
 view of some branches. Gorgonia verriculata, pi. 30, f. 
 8. Polypiferous mass branched and adherent. Indian 
 seas. Antipathes spiralis, pi. 30, f. 20. Polypiferous 
 mass adherent and branched. Indian ocean, his Up- 
 puris, pi. 30, f. 21. Polypiferous mass arborescent, and 
 fixed. Indian ocean. Militcea; adherent, tree-shaped, 
 h iving a. jointed knotty axis. Corallium rubrum, pi. 30, 
 1. 6. Adherent, branched, stiff, and devoid of articula- 
 tion. Fig. 7 represents one of the polypi greatly mag- 
 nified. Indian ocean. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 "With stony polypiferous masses, having star-shaped, 
 or waved laminar furrows. 
 
 1 . "Wmi LATERAL STARS, OR SPREAD OVER THE SURFACE. 
 
 Oriilina proUfera, pi. 30, f. 22. Polypiferous mass of a 
 stony consistence. Northern ocean. Seriatopora sulmlata, 
 pi. 30, f. 23. Adherent, stony, with slender, subcylindri- 
 cal branches. Madreporafunf/Uus,p\.'6Q,f.2'i. Adherent, 
 subdendroidal, branching. West Indian seas. Pocillopora; 
 adherent, branched, lobed, and stony. Forties clavaria, 
 I'l. ;- ( i, f. 2.5. Adherent, stony, branched, or lobed and 
 obtuse, with a stelliferous surface. American and In- 
 dian ocean. Fig. 26, this species greatly magnified. 
 Aitna rm!i,,f,,.. pi. 30, f. 27. Adherent, iucrusting marine 
 substances, or forming a hemispherical or globular mass 
 American seas. Astcria dentkulata, pi. 30, f. 26. .Em- 
 
 of dissection was first, tried in multiply- 
 ing their numbers. They had been long con- 
 sidered as little worthy the attention of obser- 
 vers, and were consigned to that neglect in 
 
 planaria mesenterina, pi. 30, f. 28. Adherent, stony, ex- 
 hibiting a free, foliaceous membrane. Indian ocean. 
 EcUnoptcra ; adherent, stony, depressed, and extended 
 into a free membrane. M onticularia ; adherent, stony, 
 incrusting marine substances. Meandrina labyrinthica, 
 pi. 30, f. 29. Adherent, stony, forming a simple, eon- 
 vex, or hemispherical mass. American ocean. Aqari- 
 cia ampliata, pi. 30. f. 30. Adherent, stony, with de- 
 pressed foliaceous expansions. Indian ocean. Pavoiiia, 
 miaricites, pi. 30, f. 31. Adherent, stony, frondescent, 
 with depressed subfoliaceous lobes. American seas. 
 
 2. STARS TERMINAL. 
 
 Finiffia arjariciformis ; free, stony, simple, orbicu- 
 lar, or oblong, convex and lamellar above. Indian 
 seas. Ci/dolites; free, stony, elliptical or orbicular, 
 convex and lamellar above, with a hollow centre, de- 
 pressed below. Turbinolia; free, simple, turbinated, or 
 
 68, animal fully expanded. Sarcinula; free, stony, con- 
 sisting of a simple, polypiferous, and thick mass. St//- 
 lina- mass stony, simple, exteriorly rough ; tubes nu- 
 merous. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 With a stony polypiferous, solid, and interiorly com- 
 pact mass: cells perforated, or tubular, and destitute of 
 lamince. Titbipora mmica, pi. 30, f. 34. Stony, com- 
 posed of cylindrical tubes, which are straight, and in- 
 dividually separate. Indian seas. Fig. 66 is a mag- 
 nified portion of the tubes. Catcmpora; stony, com- 
 posed of parallel tubes, inserted in the thickness of 
 vertical plates, anastomosed like net-work. Favoxites; 
 stony, simple, variable in form, composed of parallel 
 prismatic tubes. Milkpora cult-area, pi. 30, f. 35. Stony, 
 interiorly solid, polymorphous, branched, or fronde- 
 
 iree, stony, oroicuiar, aepressea, or slightly concave. 
 Lunulites; free, stony,orbicular, depressed. Ovulites; free, 
 stony, egg-shaped, or cylindrical; known only in a fossil 
 state. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Polypiferous masses of a substony consistence, with 
 frondescent or crustaceous expansions ; cells small, short, 
 sometimes in a regular series, at other times irregular, 
 and usually disposed at the surface of the expansions 
 of marine substances. Daclylopora; free, stony, cylin- 
 drical, obtuse at one extremity, contracted and perfor- 
 ate at the other. Occllaria; stony, depressed as a mem- 
 brane, variously twisted, somewhat funnel-shaped. 
 Alreolites; stony, either forming incrustations, or a free 
 mass disposed in numerous concentric layers, covering 
 one another. Retepora ccllulosa, pi. 30, f. 36. Stony, 
 interiorly porous, with thin depressed expansion's. 
 Adeona; nearly stony, caulescent, or fan-shaped. Es- 
 diarafoliacea, pi. 30, f. 37. Nearly stony, but not flexi- 
 ble. Cellepora pumicosa, pi. 30, f. 38." Nearly stony, 
 interiorly porous, spreading in a raised, foliaceous crust. 
 Fig. 39 is a magnified view of this mass of polypi. 
 European seas. Discopora; subcrustaceous, depressed, 
 extended in an undulated, discoid, stony plate, with 
 the upper surface cellular. Tubtdipora tranwersa, pi. 
 30, f. 40. Consisting of a parasitical or incrusting mass, 
 with submembranous cells disposed in clusters or series, 
 and mostly free. Fig. 41, one of the warts magnified. 
 Fig. 42 represents one of the particles of which the 
 crust is composed. Mediterranean, f lustra foliacea, 
 pi. 30, f. 12. Flexible, submembranous, stony and fron- 
 descent, or consisting of n thin crust, formed of contigu- 
 ous cells. Fig. 1 is a magnified view of the cells. 
 European seas. Fh'ntra carbasea, pi. 30, f. 61, i? the 
 
THE POLYPUS. 
 
 567 
 
 which thousands of minute species of insects 
 remain to this very day. It is true, indeed, 
 that Reaumur observed, classed, and named 
 them. By contemplating their motions, he 
 was enabled distinctly to pronounce on their 
 being of the animal and not of the vegetable 
 kingdom ; and he called them polypi, from 
 their great resemblance to those larger ones 
 that were found in the ocean. Still, however, 
 their properties were neglected, and their his- 
 tory unknown. 
 
 Mr Trembley was the person to whom we 
 owe the first discovery of the amazing proper- 
 ties and powers of this little vivacious crea- 
 ture. He divided this class of animals into 
 four different kinds : into those inclining to 
 green, those of a brownish cast, those of a 
 flesh colour, and those whichhe calls \\\zpolype 
 de panache. The differences of structure in 
 these, as also of colour, are observable enough ; 
 but the manner of their subsisting, of seiz- 
 
 polypiferous mass. Fig. 62 represents the tentacula in 
 the polypes of this species. Fig. 63 is a portion of one 
 of these tentacula highly magnified. Fig. 64 is a de- 
 lineation of one of the gemmules, greatly magnified. 
 Fig. 78 is a part of F. verticiliata greatly magnified. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Polypiferous masses consisting of one substance only, 
 slender, fistulous, membranous, or homy stems, flexible 
 and branched, containing polypi in their interior. Poly- 
 fthysu; polypiferous mass fungoid, with a calcareous 
 crust. Aoctabulum ; fungoid, with a calcareous crust. 
 Tibiana ; adherent, tubular, membranaceous, or horny. 
 Dichotomariafruticulosa., pi. 30, f. 43. Polypiferous mass 
 with tubular, subarticulate, dichotomous stems, and a 
 calcareous incrustation. American seas. Fig. 44 repre- 
 sents the D. obtusata, an inhabitant of the coasts of the 
 Bahama islands. An</uinaria spatulata, pi. 30, f. 45. 
 Adherent, and extending itself in the form of a plant. 
 Fig. 46 is a magnified portion. Cellaria thuia, pi. 30, f. 
 47. Adherent, with the stems tubular and branched. 
 Fig. 48, a portion of a stem magnified. European seas, 
 Liriozou Caribcea, pi. 30, f. 49. Adherent, branched, 
 calcareous ; with tubular stems, jointed, creeping. Fig. 
 50, a portion of a stem magnified. West Indian seas. 
 Scrinlaria lendigera, pi. 30, f. 51. Adherent, branched, 
 horny, stems, slender. Fig. 52, a portion of a stem 
 magnified. European seas. Plumularia myriophi/lujii, 
 pi. 30, f. 53. Adherent, branched, horny, stalks slender. 
 Fig. 54, a portion of a stem magnified. European seas. 
 Antennularia ramosa, pi. 30, f. 55. Adherent, horny, 
 with the stems fistulous, simple, or branched, Fig. 56, 
 a portion of a stem magnified. European seas. Sertu- 
 (aria frutescens, pi. 30, f. 10. Adherent, horny, steins 
 slender and fistulous. Fig. 4, a portion of a stem mag- 
 nified. European seas. S. abietina, pi. 30, f. 73 and 77. 
 Campamdlaria verticiliata, pi. 30, f. 57. Adherent, stems 
 fistulous, filiform, horny, simple, or branched. Fig. 58, 
 a magnified portion of a branch. Cornularia; adherent, 
 horny, with simple, funnel-shaped stems. Tubularia 
 ramosa, pi. 30, f. 59. Adherent, slender, tubular, sim- 
 ple, or branched, horny. Fig. GO, a magnified portion 
 of a branch. British seas. Fig. 74, T. magnifica. Tro- 
 pical seas. Plumatella; adherent, slender, tubular, 
 branching, submembranous, extremities of stems and 
 branches terminated each by a polypus. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Polypi ferous masses either free, isolated, and floating 
 in the water, or adherent, and agglomerated in cellular 
 masses, composed of one substance on aquatic bodies; 
 polypi provided with numerous tentacula, which do not 
 
 ing their prey, and of their propagation, is 
 pretty nearly the same in all. 
 
 Whoever has looked with care into the bot- 
 tom of a wet ditch when the water is stag- 
 nant, and the sun has been powerful, may re- 
 member to have seen many little transparent 
 lumps of jelly, about the size of a pea, and 
 flatted on each side ; such also as have exa- 
 mined the under side of the broad-leafed 
 weeds that grow on the surface of the water, 
 must have observed them studded with a num- 
 ber of these little jelly-like substances, which 
 were probably then disregarded, because their 
 nature and history were unknown. These 
 little substances, however, were no other than 
 living polypi, gathered up into a quiescent 
 state, and seemingly inanimate, because either 
 undisturbed, or not excited by the calls of appe- 
 tite to action. When they are seen exerting 
 themselves, they put on a very different appear- 
 ance from that when at rest: to conceive a just 
 
 complete the circle round the mouth. The animals of 
 this section chiefly inhabit fresh water. Alcyonella; in- 
 crusting, thick, convex, and irregular, consisting of an 
 aggregation of vertical subpentangular tubes, open at 
 thftir summit. Spongilla ; adherent polymorphous, cel- 
 lular, irregular, composed of subpiliferous laminas. 
 Cristatella ; free, globular, gelatinous, covered by short, 
 thick, polypiferous tubercles, each of which encloses ?i 
 polypus. Difflugia; body small, gelatinous, contractile, 
 enclosed in a testaceous tube, projecting. 
 
 ORDER IV. POLYPI DENUDATI. 
 
 Polypi provided with tentacula, and not forming apoly- 
 piferous mass; greatly diversified in form, in the num- 
 ber and situation of their tentacula, and fixed either 
 constantly or spontaneously. Pedicellaria; adherent, 
 formed of a stiff peduncle. Coryne ; fleshy, seated on a 
 peduncle. Hydra viridis, pi. 30, f. 76. Oblong, linear, 
 in the form of a reversed cone, narrowed below, gelatin- 
 ous, transparent, and fixed spontaneously by the base, 
 a. exhibits the body extended, and b. the body in a 
 contracted state. Fig. 69, body expanded. Inhabits 
 fresh waters. 
 
 ORDER V. POLYPI CILIATI. 
 
 Mouth provided with ciliated and gyratory organs 
 which agitate the water, but do not seize the food. 
 
 SECTION I. ROTIFERI. 
 
 With one or many organs in a circular form, ciliated, 
 and rotatory at the opening of the mouth. Tztfncolaria ; 
 body contractile, oblong, contained in a tube fixed on 
 aquatic bodies. Vorticella polypina, pi. 30, f. 75. 
 Body naked, pedunculated, fixed spontaneously, or con- 
 stantly by its base. Inhabits stagnant waters. Urceo- 
 laria ; body free, contractile, urceolate, sometimes elon- 
 gated, without tail or peduncle. Furcularia; body free, 
 contractile, oblong, provided with a short or elongated 
 tail. Bracliionus ; body free, contractile, nearly oval, 
 covered, at least partly, by a transparent sheath. Fol- 
 liculina; body contractile, oblong, inclosed in a trans- 
 parent sheath. 
 
 SECTION II. VIBRATILES. 
 
 Cilise placed near the mouth, moving in interrupted 
 vibrations. Vaginicola; body minute, oval, or oblong, 
 anteriorly ciliated, and provided with a tail; enclosed in 
 a transverse sheath, but not attached. Tridiocerca; 
 body minute, oval, or oblong, anteriorly truncated. 
 Rattulus; body minute, oblong, truncated, or anteriorly 
 obtuse. 
 
568 
 
 HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 idea of their figure, we may suppose the finger 
 of a g'love cut off at the bottom ; we may sup- 
 pose also several threads or horns planted round 
 the edge like a fringe. The hollow of this finger 
 will give us an idea of the stomach of the ani- 
 mal ; the threads issuing forth from the edges 
 may be considered as the arms or feelers with 
 which it hunts for its prey. The animal, at 
 its greatest extent, is seldom seen above an 
 inch and a half long, but it is much shorter 
 when it is contracted and at rest ; it is furnished 
 neither with muscles nor rings, and its man- 
 ner of lengthening or contracting itself more 
 resembles that of the snail, than worms, or any 
 other insect The polypus contracts itself 
 more or less, in proportion as it is touched, or 
 as the water is agitated in which they are 
 seen. Warmth animates them, and cold be- 
 numbs them ; but it requires a degree of cold 
 approaching congelation before they are re- 
 duced to perfect inactivity ; those of an inch 
 have generally their arms double, often thrice 
 as long as their bodies. The arms, where 
 the animal is not disturbed, and the season 
 not unfavourable, are thrown about in various 
 directions, in order to seize and entangle its 
 little prey ; sometimes three or four of the 
 arms are thus employed, while the rest are 
 contracted like the horns of a snail, within the 
 animal's body. It seems capable of giving 
 what length it pleases to these arms ; it con- 
 tracts and extends them at pleasure, and 
 stretches them only in proportion to the re- 
 rnoteness of the object it would seize. 
 
 These animals have a progressive motion, 
 which is performed by that power they have 
 of lengthening and contracting themselves at 
 pleasure ; they go from one part of the bot- 
 tom to another ; they mount along the margin 
 of the water, and climb up the side of aquatic 
 plants. They often are seen to come to the 
 surface of the water, where they suspend 
 themselves by their lower end. As they ad- 
 vance but very slowly, they employ a great 
 deal of time in every action, and bind them- 
 selves very strongly to whatever body they 
 chance to move upon as they proceed ; their 
 adhesion is voluntary, and is probably per- 
 formedin the manner of a cupping-glass applied 
 to the body. 
 
 All animals of this kind have a remarkable 
 attachment to turn towards the light; and this 
 naturally might induce an inquirer to look for 
 their eyes ; but however carefully this search 
 has been pursued, and however excellent the 
 microscope with which every part was ex- 
 amined, yet nothing of the appearance of this 
 organ was found over the whole body ; and it 
 is most probable that, like several other insects 
 which hunt their prey by their feeling, these 
 creatures are unfurnished with advantages 
 which would be totally useless for their support. 
 
 In the centre of the arms, as was said be- 
 fore, the mouth is placed, which the animal 
 can open and shut at pleasure, and this serves 
 at once as a passage for food, and an opening 
 for it after digestion. The inward part of the 
 animal's body seems to be one great stomach, 
 which is open at both ends ; but the purposes 
 which the opening at the bottom serves are 
 hitherto unknown, but certainly not for ex- 
 cluding their excrements, for those are ejected 
 at the aperture by which they are taken in. 
 If the surface of the body of this little creature 
 be examined with a microscope, it will be 
 found studded with a number of warts, as also 
 the arms, especially when they are contracted; 
 and these tubercles, as we shall presently see, 
 answer a very important purpose. 
 
 If we examine their way of living, we shall 
 find these insects chiefly subsisting upon 
 others, much less than themselves, particularly 
 a kind of millepedes that live in the waler, 
 and a very small red worm, which they seize 
 with great avidity. In short, no insect what- 
 soever, less than themselves, seems to come 
 amiss to them ; their arms, as was said before, 
 serve them as a net would a fisherman, or 
 perhaps, more exactly speaking, as a lime- 
 twig does a fowler. 
 
 \Vherever their prey is perceived, which 
 the animal effects by its feeling, it is sufficient 
 to touch the object it would seize upon, and it 
 is fastened without a power of escaping. The 
 instant one of this insect's long arms is laid 
 upon a millepede, the little insect sticks with- 
 out a possibility of retreating. The greater 
 the distance at which it is touched, the greater 
 is the ease with which the polypus brings the 
 prey to its mouth. If the little object be near, 
 though irretrievably caught, it is not without 
 great difficulty that it can be brought to the 
 mouth to be swallowed. When the polypus 
 is unsupplied with prey, it testifies its hunger 
 by opening its mouth; the aperture, however, 
 is so small that it cannot be easily perceived ; 
 but when, with any of its long arms, it has 
 seized upon its prey, it then opens the mouth 
 distinctly enough, and this opening is always 
 in proportion to the size of the animal which 
 it would swallow : the lips dilate insensibly 
 by small degrees, and adjust themselves pre- 
 cisely to the figure of their prey. Mr Trembley , 
 who took a pleasure in feeding this useless 
 brood, found that they could devour aliments 
 of every kind, fish and flesh, as well as in- 
 sects ; but he owns they did not thrive so well 
 upon beef and veal, as upon the little worms 
 of their own providing. When he gave one 
 of these famished reptiles any substance which 
 was improper to serve for aliment, at first it 
 seized the prey with avidity, but after keep- 
 ing it sometime entangled near the mouth, it 
 dropped it again with distirguishing nicety. 
 
TEIE POLYPUS. 
 
 When several polypi happen to fall upon 
 the same worm, they dispute their common 
 prey with each other. Two of them are often 
 seen seizing the same worm at different 
 ends, and dragging it at opposite directions 
 with great force. It often happens, that while 
 one is swallowing its respective end, the other 
 is also employed in the same manner, and thus 
 they continue, swallowing each his part, until 
 their mouths meet together ; they then rest, 
 each for some time in this situation, till the 
 worm breaks between them, and each goes off 
 with his share; but it often happens that a 
 seemingly more dangerous combat ensues, 
 when the mouths of both are thus joined upon 
 one common prey together ; the largest poly- 
 pus then gapes and swallows his antagonist ; 
 but what is very wonderful, the animal thus 
 swallowed seems to be rather a gainer by the 
 misfortune. After it has lain in the conquer- 
 or's body for about an hour, it issues unhurt, 
 and often in possession of the prey which had 
 been the original cause of contention. How 
 happy would it be for men if they had as little 
 to J'ear from each other ! 
 
 These reptiles continue eating the whole 
 year, except when the cold approaches to con- 
 gelation ; and then, like most others of the in- 
 Sect tribe, they feel the general torpor of na- 
 ture, and all their faculties are for two or three 
 months suspended : but if they abstain at one 
 time, they are equally voracious at another, 
 and, like snakes, ants, and other animals, that 
 are torpid in winter, the meal of one day suf- 
 fices them for several months together. In ge- 
 neral, however, they devour more largely in 
 proportion to their size, and their growth is 
 quick exactly as they are fed ; such as are best 
 supplied, soonest acquire their largest size, but 
 they diminish also in their growth with the 
 same facility if their food be taken away. 
 
 Such are the more obvious properties of 
 these little animals, but the most wonderful 
 still remain behind : their manner of propaga- 
 tion, or rather multiplication, has for some 
 years been the astonishment of all the learned 
 of Europe. They are produced in as great a 
 variety of manner as every species of vegeta- 
 ble. Some polypi are propagated from eggs, 
 as plants are from their seed : some are pro- 
 duced by buds issuing from their bodies, as 
 plants are produced by inoculation ; while 
 all may be multiplied by cuttings, and this to 
 a degree of minuteness that exceeds even phi- 
 losophical perseverance. 
 
 With respect to such of this kind as are 
 hatched from the egg, little curious can be 
 added, as it is a method of propagation so com- 
 mon to all the tribes of insect nature ; but with 
 regard to such as are produced like buds from 
 their parent stem, or like cuttings from an ori- 
 ginal root, their history requires a more de- 
 
 vot,. ii. 
 
 tailed explanation. If a polypus be carefully 
 observed in summer, when these animals are 
 chiefly active, and more particularly prepared 
 for propagation, it will be found to bourgeon 
 forth from different parts of its body several tu- 
 bercles or little knobs, which grow larger and 
 larger every day ; after two or three days' in- 
 spection, what at first appeared but a small 
 excrescence takes the figure of a small ani- 
 mal, entirely resembling its parent, furnished 
 with feelers, a mouth, and all the apparatus 
 for seizing and digesting its prey. This little 
 creature every day becomes larger, like the 
 parent to which it continues attached; it 
 spreads its arms to seize upon whatever insect 
 is proper for aliment, and devours it for its 
 own particular benefit : thus it is possessed of 
 two sources of nourishment, that which it re- 
 ceives from the parent by the tail, and that 
 which it receives from its own industry by the 
 mouth. The food which these animals receive 
 often tinctures the whole body, and upon this 
 occasion the parent is often seen communicat- 
 ing a part of its own fluids to that of its pro- 
 geny that grows upon it ; while, on the con- 
 trary, it never receives any tincture from any 
 substance that is caught and swallowed by its 
 young. If the parent swallows a red worm, 
 which gives a tincture to all its fluids, the 
 young one partakes of the parental colour ; but 
 if the latter should seize upon the same prey, 
 the parent polypus is no way benefited by the 
 capture, but all the advantage remains with 
 the young one. 
 
 But we are not to suppose that the parent is 
 capable of producing only one at a time ; se- 
 veral young ones are thus seen at once, of dif- 
 ferent sizes, growing from its body, some just 
 budding forth, others acquiring their perfect 
 form, and others come to sufficient maturity, 
 and just ready to drop from the original stem 
 to which they had been attached for several 
 days. But what is more extraordinary still, 
 those young ones themselves that continue at- 
 tached! to their parent, are seen to bourgeon, 
 and propagate their own young ones also, each 
 holding the same dependence upon its respec- 
 tive parent, and possessed of the same advan- 
 tages that have been already described in the 
 first connection. Thus we see a surprising 
 chain of existence continued, and numbers ot 
 animals naturally produced without any union of 
 the sexes, or other previous disposition of nature. 
 
 This seems to be the most natural way by 
 which these insects are multiplied ; their pro- 
 duction from the egg being not so common ; 
 and though some of this kind are found with a 
 little bladder attached to their bodies, which 
 is supposed to be filled with eggs, which after- 
 wards come to maturity, yet the artificial me- 
 thod of propagating these animals is much 
 more expeditious, and equally certain. It is 
 4c 
 
570 
 
 HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 indifferent whether one of them be cut into ten 
 or ten hundred parts, each becomes as perfec 
 an animal as that which was originally divi 
 ded; but it must be observed, that the smaller 
 the part which is thus separated from the rest 
 the longer it will be in coming to maturity, or 
 in assuming its perfect form. It would be 
 endless to recount the many experiments that 
 nave been tried upon this philosophical pro- 
 digy : the animal has been twisted and turned 
 into all mariner of shapes ; it has been turned 
 inside out, it has been cut in every division, 
 yet still it continued to move ; its parts adapted 
 themselves again to each other, and in a 
 short time it became as voracious and industri- 
 ous as before. 
 
 Besides these kinds mentioned by Mr Trem- 
 bley, there are various others which have been 
 lately discovered by the vigilance of succeed- 
 ing observers, and some of these so strongly 
 resemble a flowering vegetable in their forms, 
 that they have been mistaken by many natu- 
 ralists for such. Mr Hughes, the author of 
 the natural history of Barbadoes, has described 
 a species of this animal, but has mistaken its 
 nature, and called it a sensitive flowering 
 plant ; he observed it to take refuge in the 
 holes of rocks, and, when undisturbed, to 
 spread forth a number of ramifications, each 
 terminated by a flowery petal, which shrunk 
 at the approach of the hand, and withdrew into 
 the hole from whence before it had been seen 
 to issue. This plant, however, was no other 
 than an animal of the polypus kind, which is 
 not only to be found in Barbadoes, but also on 
 many parts of the coast of Cornwall, and along 
 the shores of the continent. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE LITHOPHYTES AND SPONGES. 
 
 IT is very probable that the animals we see 
 and are acquainted with, bear no manner 
 
 1 See the preceding note. There are about fifty difie- 
 rent species of sponges, of which nine or ten belong to this 
 country. They are found in the Mediterranean and those 
 seas in warm and temperate latitudes, diminishing in num- 
 ber and becoming of inferior quality on the approach to 
 cold regions. They adhere to rocks in places the least 
 exposed to the action of currents and waves, which the ebb- 
 ing tide does not leave uncovered. The best sponges known 
 to us are those which come from the Archipelago, where 
 they abound near many of the islands, whose inhabitants 
 may be said to subsist by the sponge-fishery, if we may 
 so call it. At the Cyclades, for instance, sponge-diving 
 forms the chief employment of the population. The sea 
 is at all times extremely clear, and the experienced di- 
 vers are capable of distinguishing from the surface the 
 points to which the sponge is attached below, when an 
 unpractised eye could but dimly discern the bottom. 
 Each boat is furnished with a large stone attached to a 
 n>l"N and this the diver seizes in his hand on plunging 
 
 of proportion to those that are concealed from 
 us. Although every leaf and vegetable 
 swarms with animals upon land, yet at sea 
 they are still more abundant ; for the greatest 
 part of what would seem vegetables growing 
 there, are in fact nothing but the artificial for. 
 mation of insects, palaces which they have 
 built for their own habitation. 
 
 If we examine the bottom of the sea along 
 some shores, and particularly at the mouths o) 
 several rivers, we shall find it has the appear- 
 ance of a forest of trees under water, millions 
 of plants growing in various directions, with 
 their branches entangled in each other, and 
 sometimes standing so thick as to obstruct na- 
 vigation. The shores of the Persian Gulf, 
 the whole extent of the Red sea, and the wes- 
 tern coasts of America, are so choked up in 
 many places with these coraline substances, 
 that though ships force a passage through 
 them, boats and swimmers find it impossible 
 to make their way. These aquatic groves are 
 formed of different substances, and assume va- 
 rious appearances. The coral plants, as they 
 are called, sometimes shoot out like trees with- 
 out leaves in winter ; they often spread out a 
 broad surface like a fan, and not uncommonly 
 a large bundling head like a faggot ; some- 
 times they are found to resemble a plant with 
 leaves and flowers ; and often the antlers of a 
 stag, with great exactness and regularity. In 
 other parts of the sea are seen sponges of vari- 
 ous magnitude, and extraordinary appearan- 
 ces, assuming a variety of fantastic forms, like 
 large mushrooms, mitres, fonts, and flower- 
 pots. To an attentive spectator, these various 
 productions seem entirely of the vegetable 
 iind ; they seem to have their leaves and their 
 lowers, and have been experimentally known 
 :o shoot out branches in the compass of a year. 
 Philosophers, therefore, till of late, thought 
 ;hemselves pretty secure in ascribing these 
 3roductions to the vegetable kingdom ; and 
 Count Marsigli, who has written very labori- 
 msly and learnedly upon the subject of corals 
 ind sponges, has not hesitated to declare his 
 >pinion, that they were plants of the aquatic 
 iind, furnished with flowers and seeds, and 
 
 head foremost from the stern. He does this in order to 
 ncrease the velocity of his descent; thus economizing his 
 tock of breath, as well as to facilitate his ascent when 
 ixhausted at the bottom, being then quickly hauled up 
 iy his companions. Few men can remain longer than 
 ibout two minutes below; and, as the process of detach- 
 ng the sponge is very tedious, three, and sometimes four 
 divers descend successively to secure a particularly fine 
 ipecimen. 
 
 The best sponge is that which is the palest and light- 
 !St, has small holes, and is soft to the touch. By the 
 )ld physicians, sponge was regarded as a cure for a long 
 ist of maladies; this list is now much abridged, though 
 >urned sponge, in which form only it is used, still has a 
 >lace in tiie mati:ri,i medini. 
 
THE LITHOPHYTES AND SPONGES. 
 
 571 
 
 endued with a vegetation entirely resembling 
 that which is found upon land. This opinion, 
 however, some time after, began to be shaken 
 by Rumphius and Jussieu, and at last by the 
 ingenious Mr Ellis, who, by a more sagacious 
 and diligent inquiry into nature, put it past 
 doubt, that corals and sponges were entirely 
 the works of animals, and that, like the honey- 
 comb which was formed by the bee, the coral 
 was the work of an infinite number of reptiles 
 of the polypus kind, whose united labours 
 were thus capable of filling whole tracts of the 
 ocean with those embarrassing tokens of their 
 industry. 1 
 
 1 Coral. The method in which the polypus secretes 
 the coral, which, when taken from the sea, is in stalks 
 about a foot high and half an inch thick, is understood 
 to be as follows : An egg or new animal, when ejected, 
 falls upon some body, to which, from its gelatinous na- 
 ture, it adheres. On this foundation it spreads and 
 moulds itself, till at length from the middle of it a sort 
 of excrescence rises upwards, containing the germ of 
 a new animal, which attains its growth by degrees, 
 and sends up a similar extension. These deposite cal- 
 careous or chalky matter in the middle, and by the con- 
 stant generation of new polypi, and the secretion of ad- 
 ditional matter, the coral, at the end of ten years, which 
 is the period necessary for its perfect growth, has at- 
 tained the height and thickness mentioned. It is of 
 various colours red, vermilion, and white, the latter 
 being most common, and consequently least valuable. 
 When taken out of the sea, it is covered with moss and 
 marine vegetable matter, and is generally somewhat 
 softer and duller in hue than it ultimately becomes. 
 
 The coral fisheries form a very considerable trade in 
 several parts of the Mediterranean. From the hollows 
 and caverns of the rocks, where it takes root, the coral 
 is brought up with nets ; it also grows, but in less quan- 
 tities, on the sides of the ocean crags. The greatest 
 height to which it attains is never above a foot, and its 
 usual thickness is about that of the little finger, though 
 often much less. The most extensive fisheries are those 
 carried on in the straits of Messina, off the Sicilian coast, 
 and about three miles distant generally from the land. 
 The fishermen have divided the whole tract, about six 
 miles in length, into ten parts. Every year they fish 
 only in one of these parts, and do not interfere with it 
 again till ten years have elapsed, for the purpose of 
 bringing away only such coral as has attained its full 
 growth. 
 
 The appearance of the coral as it is observed in the 
 sea, is said to resemble a miniature forest, from its great 
 quantity and branching character. The greatest portion 
 is procured from a depth of from sixty to a hundred and 
 twenty-five feet ; but some fisheries are carried on to 
 the depth of nine hundred feet. Those of the coasts of 
 Marseilles, Barbary, and Trapani, are the principal 
 rivals to the Sicilian fisheries in the European market, 
 but none of them produce the coral in equal quantities, 
 or of equal quality, with the latter. From Messina 3000 
 pounds are said to be exported annually ; the price of 
 which is so much affected by the colour and quality, that, 
 while some of it is valued at ten guineas a pound, other 
 portions are considered not worth ten pence. The ver- 
 milion-coloured coral, being the rarest, is the most ex- 
 pensive. The common red, however, brings a high 
 
 rice also, when the quality is good. Chemical analysis 
 proved that the coral consists of carbonate of lime, a 
 cies of chalk, for it dissolves completely in aquafortis, 
 or nitric acid. 
 
 Though we may regard with some degree of wonder 
 
 fva 
 
 1 
 
 If, in our researches after the nature of 
 these plants, we should be induced to break 
 off a branch of the coraline substance, and 
 observe it carefully, we shall perceive its 
 
 the production of stalks of coral by a small oyster-like 
 polypus, our astonishment cannot fail to be increased 
 when we consider, that, by an animal of the same size 
 and species as the coraliferous polypus, whole reefs of 
 great extent, and even islands, have been founded and 
 originated. The animal or polypus that accomplishes 
 this is called the Madrepore, and has long been errone- 
 ously considered as identical with the coral polypus ; 
 hence the masses of land alluded to have received the 
 appellation of coral reefs and islands. These have never 
 yet been found in any extent excepting in the Pacific and 
 Asiatic seas, but in these immense waters the coral rocks 
 and reefs are abundant. 
 
 The principal groups of islands of coral formation are, 
 from the New Hebrides, eastward, the Friendly islands, 
 Navigation islands, and the Society islands ; and, to 
 the northward of the latter group, the Marquesas. These 
 groups are separated from each other by channels or seas, 
 wider than those which separate the individual islands 
 which form the respective groups; but all these waters 
 abound with shoals and minor islets, which indicate the 
 existence of a common base, and show that the processes 
 by which they will hereafter be united above the level of 
 the sea, are in constant operation. 
 
 The structure and progress of these islands towards a 
 state of fitness for the habitation of man, has been thus 
 described. At a vast but unknown depth, below the 
 surface of the sea, the insects attach themselves to the 
 upper points and ridges of rocks, which form the bottom 
 of the ocean, and many of which, in the Pacific ocean, 
 are supposed to be of volcanic origin. Upon these foun- 
 dations, the little architects labour, building up by means 
 of the secretion before described, pile upon pile of their 
 rocky habitations, until at length the work rises above 
 the sea, and is continued to such a height, as to leave it 
 almost dry at low water, when the insect leaves ofi'build- 
 ing upon that part. A solid rocky base being thus formed, 
 sea-shells, fragments of coral, and sea-sand, thrown up by 
 each returning tide, and broken and mixed together, by 
 the action of the waves, become in time converted into 
 a sort of stone, and thus raise up the surface higher and 
 higher. The heat of the sun so penetrates this mass of 
 stone, that it brakes off into flakes, and these flakes are 
 again raised one upon another by the waves, at high 
 water. The. ever active surf continues to throw up the 
 shells of marine animals, and other materials, which fill 
 up the crevices between the stones, and the sand upon 
 the surface being now undisturbed, offers to the seeds of 
 trees and plants cast upon it by the waves, a soil upon 
 which they rapidly grow, and over-shadow the dazzling 
 whiteness of the new formed lands. Trunks of trees, 
 washed into the sea by the rivers from other countries 
 and islands, find here a resting place, and with these 
 come some small animals, chiefly of the lizard and insect 
 tribes. Even before the trees form a wood, the sea-birds 
 nestle among them, and soon the stray land-bird takes 
 refuge in the bushes. At a latter period, man appears, 
 builds his hut upon the fruitful soil formed by the cor- 
 ruption of the vegetation, and calls himself lord and pro- 
 prietor of this new creation. 
 
 These islands vary in extent, as well as in the degree 
 of finish to which they have arrived. Of thirty-two ex- 
 amined by captain Beechey, the largest was thirty miles 
 in diameter, and the smallest somewhat less than a mile. 
 They were of various shapes, and all formed of living 
 coral, except one, called Henderson's island, which was 
 partially surrounded by it ; and they all appeared to be 
 increasing in size by the active operations of the zoo- 
 phytes, which are gradually extending, and building up 
 
HISTORY OF ZOOPHYTES. 
 
 whole surface, which is very rugged and irre- 
 gular, covered with a mucous fluid, and al- 
 most in every part studded with little jelly- 
 like drops, which, when closely examined, 
 will be found to be no other than reptiles of 
 the polypus kind. These have their motions, 
 their arms, their appetites, exactly resembling 
 those described in the last chapter ; but they 
 soon expire when taken out of the sea, and 
 our curiosity is at once stopped in its career, 
 by the animals ceasing to give any mark of 
 their industry : recourse, therefore, has been 
 had to other expedients, in order to determine 
 the nature of the inhabitant, as well as the ha- 
 bitation. 
 
 If a coraline plant be strictly observed, 
 while still growing in the sea, and the animals 
 upon its surface be not disturbed, either by the 
 agitation of the waters, or the touch of the ob- 
 server, the little polypi will then be seen in in- 
 finite numbers, each issuing from its cell, and 
 in some kinds the head covered with a little 
 shell, resembling an umbrella, the arms spread 
 abroad, in order to seize its prey, while the 
 
 above the level of the sea those parts which are at pre- 
 sent below the water. Twenty-nine of the number had 
 lagoons, (or morasses) in the centres, within which, it 
 has been observed, the smaller species of coral seek a 
 quiet abode, and labour silently and slowly, in throwing 
 up banks, which, in process of time, unite with islets 
 that surround them, and at length fill up the lagoon, so 
 that what was at first a ring of Jittle islands, becomes one 
 connected mass of land. All these islands are situated 
 within the action of the trade wind, except one (Oeno,) 
 which is on the verge of it, and follow one general rule 
 in having their windward side higher, and more pro- 
 tected than the other, and not unfrequently, well wooded, 
 while the other is only a half drowned reef, or wholly 
 under water. At Gambier and Matilda islands this in- 
 equality is very conspicuous; the weather-side of both 
 being wooded, and, of the former, inhabited, while the 
 other sides were twenty or thirty feet under water, where 
 they might be perceived equally narrow and well defined. 
 One of these islands (Maiden island,) presented the sin- 
 gular appearance of perpendicular coral cliffs, elevated 
 eighty feet above the level of the sea ; these were of 
 dead coral, but the outside of the island was surrounded 
 with a belt of living coral, sloping from the cliffs, to 
 from three to twenty-five fathoms under water, after 
 which it descends abruptly to a depth where a 200-fa- 
 thom line does not reach the bottom. The surface of 
 this island is flat; and it is not easy to account for its 
 present elevation, unless by an earthquake or sub-marine 
 volcanic explosion. 
 
 Gambier Group consists of five large islands and seve- 
 ral smaller ones, the whole (as well as the five separate 
 islands,) being enclosed in a reef of coral, forming an 
 irregular diamond-shaped space. The older islands are 
 volcanic, and the largest rises in two peaks, 1248 feet 
 above the level of the sea. The outer belt of coral des- 
 cends abruptly outside to an unfathomable depth, but 
 slopes inward by a decreasing declination, to about 120 
 or 150 fathoms below the surface; and within this en- 
 closure, a number of low islands are already formed, and 
 others are in progress, rendering it almost certain that, 
 in process of time, the whole space will become one 
 island, each of the original islands being also inclosed with 
 its own reef. These are inhabited by a race of men with 
 line Asiatic countenances, wearing mustachios and 
 
 hinder part still remains attached to its habita- 
 tion, from whence it never wholly removes. 
 By this time it is perceived, that the number 
 of inhabitants is infinitely greater than was at 
 first suspected ; and that they are all assidu- 
 ously employed in the same pursuits, and that 
 they issue from their respective cells, and re- 
 tire into them at pleasure. Still, however, 
 there are no proofs that those large branches 
 which they inhabit, are entirely the construc- 
 tion of such feeble and minute animals. But 
 chemistry will be found to lend a clue to ex- 
 tricate us from our doubts in this particular. 
 Like the shells which are formed by snails, 
 mussels, and oysters, these coraline substan- 
 ces effervesce with acids : and may therefore 
 well be supposed to partake of the same ani- 
 mal nature. But Mr Ellis went still farther, 
 and examined their operations, just as they 
 were beginning. Observing an oyster-bed 
 which had been for some time neglected, he 
 there perceived the first rudiments of a coral- 
 ine plantation, and tufts of various kinds shoot- 
 ing from different parts of this favourable soil. 
 
 beards, and they appeared to be more civilized than those 
 of many other islands. Specimens of spars, crystals, alu- 
 mine, jasper, and chalcedony, have been procured on 
 these islands by the naturalists who accompanied captain 
 Beechey. They are covered with a deep soil, and well 
 wooded with trees and evergreens of different kinds. 
 
 It is a fact worthy of remark, that on all these islands, 
 a plentiful supply of fresh and sweet water may be ob 
 tained, by digging three or four feet into the coral ; and 
 that even within one yard of high water mark, such a 
 supply is to be found. This is an important considera- 
 tion to the navigators of those seas, where such a resource 
 is so valuable, on account of the extreme heat to which 
 they are exposed ; and it shows also the powerful proper- 
 ties of the coral, in divesting the sea-water of its saline 
 particles. These properties, which are probably chemi- 
 cal, and not merely the effect of filtration, have nevev 
 been examined or experimented upon, but they furnish a 
 subject of consideration for the naturalist, and the man of 
 science. 
 
 Of the rapidity with which the coral grows, we are not 
 in possession of sufficient information, on which to form 
 a correct judgment. Matilda, or Osnaburg island, is 
 supposed to have been only a reef of rocks, when the Ma- 
 tilda was wrecked there, in 1792 ; it is now an island, 
 fourteen miles in length, and covered on one side with 
 tall trees, and the lagoon in the centre is dotted with col- 
 umns. The coral, therefore, has probably made a rapid 
 growth since 1792, although Captain Beechey found two 
 anchors of a ton weight each, and a kedge anchor, which 
 he supposes belonged to the Matilda, thrown upon the 
 sunken w reef of live coral, and around these anchors, the 
 coral had made no progress in growing, while some large 
 shell-fish, adhering to the same rock, were so overgrown 
 with coral, as to have only space enough left to open 
 about an inch. It is probable, however, that the oxide 
 proceeding from the anchors may have been prejudicial, 
 as far as its effects extended, to the coral insect, and thus 
 have prevented its growth. All navigators, who have 
 visited these seas, state that no charts or maps are of any 
 service after a few years, owing to the number of fresh 
 rocks and reefs which are continually rising to the sur- 
 face ; and it is perfectly accordant with the instincts of 
 animals, to continue working without intermission, until 
 their labours are consummated or their lives are exthicU 
 
THE LITHOPHYTES AND SPONGES. 
 
 573 
 
 It was upon these he tried his principal expe- 
 riment. He took out the oysters which were 
 thus furnished with coralines, and placed them 
 in a large wooden vessel, covering them with 
 sea-water. In about an hour, he perceived 
 the animals, which before had been contracted 
 by handling, and had shown no signs of life, 
 expanding themselves in every direction, and 
 appearing employed in their own natural man- 
 ner. Perceiving them, therefore, in this state, 
 his next aim was to preserve them thus ex- 
 panded, so as to be permanent objects of curi- 
 osity. For this purpose, he poured, by slow 
 degrees, an equal quantity of boiling water into 
 the vessel of sea- water in which they were 
 immersed. He then separated each polypus 
 with pincers from its shell, and plunged each 
 separately into small crystal vases, filled with 
 spirit of wine mixed with water. By this 
 means the animal was preserved entire, with- 
 out having time to contract itself, and he thus 
 perceived a variety of kinds, almost equal to 
 that variety of productions which these little 
 animals are seen to form. He has been thus 
 able to perceive and describe fifty different 
 kinds, each of which is seen to possess its own 
 peculiar mode of construction, and to form a 
 coraline that none of the rest can imitate. It 
 is true, indeed, that on every coraline sub- 
 stance there are a number of polypi found, no 
 way resembling those which are the erecters 
 of the building : these may be called a vaga- 
 bond race of reptiles, that are only intruders upon 
 the labours of others, and that take possession 
 of habitations which they have neither art nor 
 power to build for themselves. But, in general, 
 the same difference that subsists between the 
 honeycomb of the bee, and the paper-like 
 cells of the wasp, subsists between the differ- 
 ent habitations of the coral-making polypi. 
 
 With regard to the various forms of these 
 substances, they have obtained different names 
 from the nature of the animal that produced 
 them, or the likeness they bear to some well- 
 known object, such as corallines, fungi-madre- 
 pores, sponges, astroites, and keratophytes. 
 Though these differ extremely in their out- 
 ward appearances, yet they are all formed in 
 the same manner by reptiles of various kinds 
 and nature. When examined chemically, 
 
 they all discover the marks of animal forma- 
 tion ; the corals, as was said, dissolve in 
 acids, the sponges burn with an odour strongly 
 resembling that of burnt horn. We are left 
 somewhat at a loss with regard to the precise 
 manner in which this multitude of cells, which 
 at last assume the appearance of a plant or 
 flower, are formed. 
 
 If we may be led in this subject by analogy, 
 it is most probable, that the substance of coral 
 is produced in the same manner that the shell 
 of the snail grows round it : these little reptiles 
 are each possessed of a slimy matter, which 
 covers its body, and this hardening, as in the 
 snail, becomes a habitation exactly fitted to 
 the body of the animal that is to reside in it ; 
 several of these habitations being joined to- 
 gether, form at length a considerable mass ; 
 and as most animals are productive in propor- 
 tion to their minuteness, so these multiplying 
 in a surprising degree, at length form those 
 extensive forests that cover the bottom of the 
 deep. 
 
 Thus all nature seems replete with life ; 
 almost every plant on land has its surface 
 covered with millions of these minute creatures, 
 of whose existence we are certain, but of whose 
 uses we are entirely ignorant ; while numbers 
 of what seem plants at sea, are not only the 
 receptacles of insects, but also entirely of in- 
 sect formation. This might have led some 
 late philosophers into an opinion, that all na- 
 ture was animated ; that every, even the most 
 inert, mass of matter was endued with life and 
 sensation, but wanted organs to make those 
 sensations perceptible to the observer : those 
 opinions, taken up at random, are difficultly 
 maintained, and as difficultly refuted; like 
 combatants that meet in the dark, each party 
 may deal a thousand blows without ever 
 reaching the adversary. Those, perhaps, are 
 wiser who view nature as she offers; who, 
 without searching too deeply into the recesses 
 into which she ultimately hides, are contented 
 to take her as she presents herself; and stor- 
 ing their minds with effects rather than with 
 causes, instead of the embarrassments of sys- 
 tems, about which few agree, are contented 
 with the history of appearances, concerning 
 which all mankind have but one opinion. 
 
SUPPLEMENT 
 
 ON 
 
 CRUSTACEA AND MOLLUSCA. 
 
 NATURALISTS have experienced much difficulty 
 in finding an appropriate place for Crustacea. 
 En the present volume, they will be found 
 described along with Mollusca, in book iv. of 
 Goldsmith's history of Fishes, p. 326, et seq. 
 To Goldsmith's description we have added 
 most copious notes ; and little more will be 
 required here than to give the scientific ar- 
 rangement of the animals, as figured in the 
 illustrative plates. 
 
 The Crustacea (which include crabs, lobsters, 
 pi awns, shrimps, &c.) rank among those ani- 
 mals which are destitute of a back bone ; and 
 are comprehended in the division termed 
 Artici lata, or animals whose members or limbs 
 consist of segments or rings, articulated into 
 each other, to the inside of which their mus- 
 cles are attached. Chemists have found the 
 shells of crustaceous animals to consist of 
 phosphate of lime in combination with animal 
 matter, while those of the testaceous mollusca 
 are composed of lime along with the gelatin- 
 ous substance. But a still more obvious dis- 
 tinction exists between these animals ; the 
 shells of oysters and other testaceous animals 
 generally consist of one or two pieces, enve- 
 loping the whole animal, (except in the Cirri- 
 pedes,seenoteon Conchology, p. 350-358) and 
 adheres permanently during life: while the 
 coverings of the Crustacea are cast and renewed 
 periodically, and invest the animals as it were 
 in a coat of mail. 
 
 Linnasus placed Crustacea between the fishes 
 ind mollusca, united them to his class Tnsecta. 
 In the earlier writings of Cuvier and Latreille, 
 they adopted the views of Linnaeus, while 
 Lamarck followed the ideas of Brisson, who 
 formed them into a separate class, as well as 
 spiders ; giving the former the name Crustacea 
 and the latter Arachnoides. This improve- 
 ment has been generally acknowledged, and 
 
 followed by subsequent writers on Natural 
 History. 
 
 Crustaceous animals present remarkable 
 physiological distinctions. They respire by 
 means of branchiae, or by branchial plates, 
 usually attached to their feet or to their jaws ; 
 they have from five to seven pairs of feet; their 
 head is frequently not distinct from the trunk, 
 provided with from two to four jointed setace- 
 ous antennae ; and two compound movable 
 eyes seated on peduncles, which are some- 
 times movable, and at others fixed ; they have 
 a distinct heart, and a regular circulating 
 system : their organs of reproduction are placed 
 either in the feet or tail. 
 
 In those genera where the head is not sep- 
 arated from the trunk, the shield or covering- 
 envelopes the whole thorax. In other genera 
 the head is distinct from the body, which is 
 divided into seven segments, to the lower sides 
 of which the feet are attached ; these for the 
 most part have a tail, consisting of many seg- 
 ments. The limbs vary from ten to fourteen, 
 each having six articulations. The two an- 
 terior limbs, and sometimes even three on each 
 side, are provided with forceps ; at other times 
 they are terminated by simple hooks, and in 
 many instances by appendages which fit them 
 for swimming. 
 
 The branchiae in crustaceous animals, un- 
 like those of fishes, are external, although fre- 
 quently concealed, and placed at the sides of 
 the feet, limbs, or under the tail ; they are, 
 however, more frequently at the sides of the 
 feet ; and consist either of filamentary tufts, 
 or pyramidal laminae. 
 
 The mouth has usually two mandibles, a 
 labiitm, or lip below, and from three to five 
 pairs of jaws. The first, or first three pairs 
 of these, have been termed feet-Jaws. These 
 small leg-shaped appendages are not fitted 
 
576 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 for locomotion, but, being situated near the 
 mouth, assist in the operation of feeding. 
 
 The nervous system consists of a ganglion 
 or brain situated above and before the intes- 
 tinal canal, with a continuous elongated double 
 chord, having ganglions placed on the lower 
 surface of the body, extending, in some in- 
 stances, its whole length ; while in others, it 
 consists of a central medullary circle, with 
 radiated elongations. 
 
 Many of the crustaceous animals have an 
 acute faculty of sight ; a number of them also 
 possess the senses of smell and taste; but from 
 their shelly envelope their sense of feeling 
 must be very blunt : while their touch must 
 be very sensible, from the number of tentacula 
 possessed by many of them. 
 
 Lamarck divides the Crustacea into five or- 
 ders. 
 
 ORDER I. DECAPODA. 
 
 The head is not distinct from the trunk; branchiae 
 formed like leaflets, close to the base of the four feet- 
 jaws, and hidden under the sides of the shell. 
 
 SECTION I. BRACHYURA. 
 
 Branchiae, seven on each side, moving on a common 
 axis; post-abdomen, bent underneath; generally re- 
 ceived into a cavity beneath the prae abdomen; without 
 a fin at the termination. 
 
 FAMILY I. QUADRILATERA. 
 
 Thorax nearly square, frequently heart-shaped; an- 
 terior angles expanded ; posterior extremity transverse- 
 ly truncated; front protruded, more or less inclined; 
 none of the feet terminated by a fin. The genera of 
 this family are Octypoda, Gelasimus, Myctris, Pinno- 
 therel, Gecarcinus, Plagusia, Grapsus, Gonoplax, Thes- 
 phusa, and Eriphia. TM'phusafluviatilis, pi. 23, fig. 1. 
 
 FAMILY II. ARCUATA. 
 
 The shell anteriorly arched, to nearly the centre of 
 the sides ; posteriorly narrowed and truncated. The 
 genera are, Pilumnus, Cancer, Pirimela, Atelecyclus, 
 Podophthalmus, Lupa, Portunus, Thia, and Portunus 
 corrugatus, pi. 23. f. 2. 
 
 FAMILY III. ORBICULATA. 
 
 Orbicular, narrowed before, usually with two furrows ; 
 exterior feet-jaws with their third joint triangular. The 
 genera are, Matuta, Orithyia, Corystes, Leucosia, and 
 Hcpatus. Leucosia Urania, pi. 23, f. 3. 
 
 FAMILY IV. CRYPTOPODA. 
 
 Nearly triangular; vaulted, and dilated at the pos- 
 terior angles, for the feet in repose : with large, crested, 
 and compressed forceps. The genera are, CEthra and 
 Calappa tuljerculata, pi. 23, f. 4. 
 
 FAMILY V. TRIGONA. 
 Subovoid or triangular ; anterior extremity compressed 
 
 Leptopodia, Pactolus, and Lithodes. Pisa tetraodon, 
 pi. 23, f. 5. 
 
 FAMILY VI. NOTOPODA. 
 
 Having two or four posterior feet, inserted on the 
 back, or somewhat above the line of the rest, The 
 
 genera are, Homola, Ran'ma, Dromia, and Donppe. no- 
 dulosa, pi. 23, f. 6. 
 
 SECTION II. MACROURA. 
 
 Bodies longer than in former section; post-abdomen 
 carinated above; antennae terminated by filaments. 
 
 FAMILY I. HIPPIDES. 
 
 Last abdominal segment lengthened, and foliaceous; 
 two anterior feet, tapering; frequently with a monodac- 
 tylous hand; sometimes with a claw; the other six feet 
 with their last joint fin-shaped. The genera are, Al- 
 bunea, Hippa, and Remipes testudinarius, pi. 23, f. 7. 
 
 FAMILY II. PAGURII. 
 
 Shell but slightly crustaceous; two anterior feet di- 
 dactyle ; next four pairs with long acute tarsi ; last four 
 pairs smaller, terminating with a forceps; sometimes 
 with a pointed hook. The genera are, Birgus, and Pa- 
 (jurus laticauda, pi. 23, f. 8. 
 
 FAMILY III. PALINURINI. 
 
 Terminated by a fan-shaped post-abdomen, produced 
 by the lateral appendages of the last and preceding 
 segments. There is but one genus: Polinurus locustu, 
 pi. 23, f. 9. 
 
 FAMILY IV. SYLLARIDES. 
 
 Having the peduncle formed like a depressed crest. 
 The genera are, Thenus and Scyllarus. 
 
 FAMILY V. GALATHIN.E. 
 
 Feet all alike, but the two anterior, which are diduo- 
 tyle. The genera are, Eryon, Magalopa, Galathea. 
 Porcellana platycMes, pi. 23, f. 10. 
 
 FAMILY VI. ASTACIN.E. 
 
 Four or six of the anterior feet didactyle; terminating 
 abdominal exterior leaflets, entire in some, and in others 
 divided by a suture. The genera are, Thalassina, Gebin, 
 Axius, Callianassa, Nephrops, and Astacus Marinus, pi. 
 23, f. 11. 
 
 FAMILY VII. CARIDES. 
 
 Intermediate antennae placed above the lateral ones, 
 protruding with two or three filamentary terminations, 
 The genera are, Penaeus, Stenopus, Alpheus, Hippolyte. 
 Autonomea, Gnathophyllum, Hymenocera, Nika, 
 Athanas, Atya, Egeon, Crangon, Pandalus, Paaipheea, 
 and Palcemon Serratus, pi. 23, f. 12. 
 
 FAMILY VIII. SCHIZOPODA. 
 
 Feet slender, filiform, fitted for swimming only; one 
 of them hand-shaped, but having either a long, lateral 
 appendage, or deeply cleft, or multifid at their extrem- 
 ity. The genera are. Mysis, Zoea, and Nelalia Herbtttii. 
 pi. 23, f. 13. 
 
 ORDER II. STOMAPODA. 
 
 The branchiae suspended, in the form of tufts, on the 
 lower appendages of the post-abdomen; head, distinct 
 from the trunk, large, and separated into two parts; 
 shell, membranaceous; intermediate antennae with two 
 or three filaments at their terminations ; six posterior 
 feet filiform; body terminated by a foliaceous fin. 
 
 FAMILY I. UNIPELTATA. 
 
 With an elongated and narrow body; eyes and inter- 
 mediate antennae placed on an anterior elongation of 
 the thorax; exterior feet-jaws, and four anterior limbs, 
 terminated by a monodactyle forceps; the other six 
 limbs fitted for swimming, with the last joint brush- 
 shaped; lateral antennae having a scale at the base; in- 
 termediate ones trifilamcntary. The genera are, Squilla, 
 Erichthus, and A lima Ifyufina, pi. 23, f. 14. 
 
CRUSTACEA. 
 
 577 
 
 FAMILY II. BIPELTATA. 
 
 Body depressed, membranous, and thin; thorax with 
 twin shields; anterior, very large, oval; posterior one 
 supporting the feet -jaws, and five pairs of transverse 
 and angular feet ; intermediate antennce with two fila- 
 ments. It has but one genus, Phyllosoma. 
 
 ORDER III. L^EMODIPODA. 
 
 Head not distinct from the trunk; the second and 
 third segments, having four vesicular bodies under 
 them; antennae four, multi-articulate; mandibles desti- 
 tute of palpi; post-abdomen short. 
 
 FAMILY I. OVALIA. 
 
 An oval body with transverse segments ; limbs strong, 
 of medium length; those of the second and third seg- 
 ments imperfect, with a long, cylindrical, blunt ter- 
 mination, each provided with an elongated vesicle at 
 the base. It has but one genus. Cyamus ceti, pi. 23, 
 f. 15. 
 
 FAMILY II. FILIFORMIA. 
 
 With an elongated, linear body, and narrow longi- 
 tudinal segments; limbs long and slender; last portion 
 of the upper antennae jointed. The genera are, Caprella, 
 Proto, and Leptomera. 
 
 ORDER IV. AMPHIPODA. 
 
 Head separate from the segment, to which the an- 
 terior feet-jaws are attached; post-abdomen provided 
 with branchial and swimming appendages beneath. 
 They are narrow, lengthened, and multi-articulate, 
 transversely striated, or branched; mandibles provided 
 with palpi; some of the feet having vesicles. 
 
 FAMILY I. GAMMARIN^E. 
 
 Body posteriorly furnished with cylindrical or conical 
 styliform appendages, or with none in some genera. 
 The genera are Cerapus, Mclita, Amphithoe, Dexamine, 
 Gammarus, Pherusa, Orchestia, Talirus, Atylus, Coro- 
 phium, Podocerus, Jassa, Phronima, and Leucothoe ar- 
 ticulosa, pi. 23, f. 16. 
 
 FAMILY II. UROPTERA. 
 
 Lateral appendages at the posterior extremity of the 
 body, in the form of leaflets, and acting as fins. The 
 genera are Hyperia and Phrosine. 
 
 FAMILY III. DECEMPEDES. 
 
 Animals provided with ten feet only. The genera 
 are Typhis, Anceus, and Praniza. 
 
 FAMILY IV. HETEROPA. 
 
 With fourteen feet, in most instances all fitted for 
 swimming on the four last only. The genera are, lone, 
 and Apseude talpas, pi. 23, f. 17. 
 
 ORDER V. ISOPODA. 
 
 Having a distinct head; mandibles devoid of palpi; 
 three pairs of jaws, the lower ones appearing like two 
 small feet united at their base, or a lip having two palpi ; 
 body somewhat depressed, divided into from three to 
 seven segments; feet ten or fourteen; tail varying from 
 one to nine segments, with branchials; destitute of 
 shell; eyes granulated; antennae generally four. 
 
 SECTION I. AQUATICA. 
 
 Antennae four, anterior with three or four joints; 
 sometimes without antennae; lower appendages of post- 
 abdomen usually vesicular, having no openings for the 
 entrance of air. 
 
 FAMILY I. EPICARIDES. 
 
 Body much depressed above, and concave below, hav- 
 VOL. ii. 
 
 ing neither eyes, antennae, mandibles, nor caudal fin. 
 But one genus, Bopyrus. 
 
 FAMILY II. CYMOTHOADES. 
 
 Eyes and antennae four, sometimes indistinct ; mandi- 
 bles horny ; feet fitted for walking and prehension ; pos 
 terior extremity with a fin on each side : post abdomen 
 with four or six segments. The genera are, Cymothoe, 
 Cirolana, Eurydice, Nelocira, Limnoria, Serolis, and 
 Mga Marginata, pi. 23, f. 18. 
 
 FAMILY III. SPH.EROMIDES. 
 
 Post- abdomen with three segments, the last with two 
 leaflets. The genera are, Zuzara, Sphocrema, Campe- 
 copea, Naesa, Dynamene, Cymodocea, and Antkura gra- 
 
 19. 
 FAMILY IV. 
 
 -ASELLOTA. 
 
 Last abdominal segment devoid of swimming appen- 
 dages. The genera are, Asellus, Janira, and Jsera. 
 
 FAMILY V. IDOTEIDES. 
 
 Branchial appendages situated under the post-abdo- 
 men, covered by the valves of the last segment; four 
 antennae in a transverse line, lateral ones with a fila- 
 mentous termination: post- abdomen of three segments. 
 The genera are, Idotea, and Stcnosoma lineare, pi. 23, 
 f. 20. 
 
 SECTION II. TERRESTRIA. 
 
 The two intermediate antennae hardly visible, one or 
 two jointed; post-abdomen of six segments; posterior 
 margin of the last with two or four cleft styles. 
 
 FAMILY VI. ONISCIDES. 
 
 Consisting of the true Oniscae. The genera are, Ligia, 
 Philoscia, Oniscus, Porcellio, and Armadillo Vulgaris. 
 pi. 23, f. 21. 
 
 ORDER VI. LOPHYROPODA. 
 
 Head not distinct from the trunk; eye, or eyes, com- 
 pound and sessile ; shell sometimes of two pieces, usually 
 large; no palpi on the mandibles; jaws destitute of 
 branchiae ; feet variable in number, fitted for swimming, 
 simple, or branched, or formed of hairy laminae, organs 
 of respiration supposed to be situated in them. 
 
 FAMILY I. UNIVALVIA. 
 
 Shell in one piece, the most part of the body being 
 uncovered. Cyclops quadricornis, pi. 23. f. 22. 
 
 FAMILY II. OSTRACODA. 
 
 Shell either folded in two, or in the form of two valves 
 united by a hinge, and enveloping the body. The genera 
 are Polyphemus, Daphnia, Lynceus, Ceytherina, and 
 Cypris ornata, pi. 23, f. 23. 
 
 ORDER VII. PHYLLOPODA. 
 
 Head not distinct from the trunk; eyes sessilfc, smooth, 
 and approximate; antennae very short; shield crusta- 
 ceous, free behind; mandibles two; destitute of palpi; 
 the first pair of feet oar-shaped, the other sixty set in 
 pairs, and fitted for swimming. 
 
 FAMILY I. ASPIDIPHORA. 
 
 Eyes not placed on peduncles. The genera arc, Lim- 
 nadia and Apus. 
 
 FAMILY II. CERATOPHTHALMA. 
 
 Having no shell, and the eyqs seated on peduncles. 
 The genera are, Artemia and Branchipus stagnates, pi. 
 23, f. 24. 
 
578 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 ORDER VIII. XYPHOSURA. 
 
 Body in two parts; without a siphon; base of the 
 feet, except the last, spinous, which serve as jaws; with 
 a hard twin shell covering the whole body, having 
 longitudinal furrows above; termination of the body 
 sabre -shaped. This order consists of but one species, 
 Liraulus Polyphemus. 
 
 ORDER IX. SIPHONOSTOMA. 
 FAMILY I. CALIGIDES. 
 
 Body somewhat oval, with a distinct shell. The 
 cenera are Artjulus, Caligus, Cecrops, and Antliosoma 
 Smithii, pi. 23, f. 25. 
 
 FAMILY II. LERN^IFORMES. 
 
 Destitute of shell; body nearly cylindrical, jointed, 
 and worm-shaped. This family consists but of one species, 
 Dichelesthium Sturionis. Many fossil species hare been 
 found, which naturalists refer to existing genera. 
 
 ANATOMY OF A PLAGUSIA. Order I. Family I. PL 
 30, f. 31, head; , a, eyes ; f. 32, an eye seated on its pedi- 
 cle; f. 35, tail; f. 29 and 34, teeth; f. 38 and 30, antenna ; 
 f. 27, post abdomen; f. 26, internal structure of thorax; 
 f. 33, internal structure of abdomen. 
 
 MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 
 
 MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS , like Crustacea, are com- 
 prehended in the second great division of the 
 animal kingdom animals without a back- 
 bone. They are destitute of an articulated 
 skeleton or vertebral column. The nervous 
 system is not developed in the form of a spi- 
 nal cord, but simply into a certain number of 
 medulary masses situated in different points 
 of the body, the principal of which is called 
 the brain, and is placed transversely on the 
 oesophagus, and envelopes it with a nervous 
 collar. The organs of sensation and motion 
 have not the same uniformity in point of num- 
 ber and position as in the vertebrate animals, 
 and a greater aberration is observable in the 
 position of the heart and organs of respiration, 
 as well as in the structure of the latter. Some 
 species are formed for breathing elastic air, 
 and others fresh or salt water. Their organs 
 of locomotion, and others, which are external, 
 are generally symmetrically arranged on the 
 two sides of an axis. 
 
 The mollusca have a double circulation, 
 their pulmonary system invariably describing 
 a distinct circle. The function of breathing 
 is always assisted by, at least, one ventrical, 
 situated^between the pulmonary veins and the 
 arteries of the body and not, as in fishes, be- 
 tween the veins of the body and pulmonary 
 arteries. It is then an aortic ventrical. It 
 is only the cephalopoda 1 that are provided 
 with a pulmonary ventrical, which is subdi- 
 vided. The aortic ventrical is likewise divided 
 in some genera, as in the area 2 and lingu- 
 la. 3 In some other bivalves, the auricle only 
 
 1 See note on Conchology, in the present volume. 
 Class I., Order II., p. 354. 
 
 3 Ih. Class II., Order II., p. 355. 
 9 Ib. Order I., p. 355. 
 
 is divided. When more than one ventrical 
 exists, they do not consist of a single mass, 
 as in warm-blooded animals, but are remote 
 from each other. 
 
 The blood in molluscous animals is white, 
 or bluish- white, and seems to contain a smaller 
 proportion of fibrin than that of vertebrate 
 animals. Cuvier supposes that the veins per- 
 form the functions of absorbent vessels. 
 
 The muscles in this class are attached to 
 their skin by various points, forming, in those 
 places, tissues which possess more or less den- 
 sity. Their motions consist of different con- 
 tractions, varying in their direction, produc- 
 ing inflections and prolongations, together 
 with relaxations of their several parts, by 
 means of which they creep, swim, and seize 
 upon such objects as the formation of these 
 parts are adapted to. They are, however, in- 
 capable of rapid progress, their limbs not being 
 supported by articulated and solid levers. 
 
 Most of the mollusca are possessed of great 
 irritability, frequently continuing after they 
 are cut asunder. Their skin is naked, ex- 
 tremely sensible, and usually covered with a 
 mucous substance, which is secreted from its 
 pores. No organ of smell has yet been de- 
 tected in them, although they appear to pos- 
 sess that sense. Cuvier thinks it probable 
 that the whole skin may be susceptible of dis- 
 tinguishing odours. All the cephala,brachio- 
 poda, cirripeda, and part of the gasteropoda, 
 and pteropoda are destitute of eyes, while the 
 cephalopoda enjoy them in as complicated a 
 degree as the warm-blooded animals. The 
 eyes are situated sometimes at the base, some- 
 times at the middle, and frequently at the ex- 
 tremity of the tentacula. The cephalopoda 
 are the only ones in which have been disco- 
 vered the organ of hearing, arid where the 
 brain is enveloped in a kind of case, of a car- 
 tilaginous consistence. 
 
 Almost all molluscous animals have a pe- 
 culiar development of the skin, which covers 
 their body, like a mantle, and has received 
 that appellation. This process, however, is 
 sometimes narrowed into a simple disk, or is 
 tubiform, or hollowed into a sac, and in some 
 cases it is divided and extended in the shape of 
 fins. There are two distinct kinds of mollus- 
 cous animals, namely, cephalous, or such as 
 are provided with a head, and acephalous, or 
 destitute of a head. These are again distin- 
 guished by such as are naked mollusca and 
 testaceous mollusca, or with a shelly envelop. 
 The naked mollusca have a membranous or 
 fleshy mantle ; which, however, has frequently 
 one or more hard laminae in its texture. These 
 are increased in dimensions and thickness, by 
 a deposit of earthy and animal matter com- 
 bined; the new layers overlapping the old 
 ones. When this substance remains concealed 
 
MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 
 
 579 
 
 within the tissue of the mantle, the animals 
 are called naked mollusca. The common 
 field-snail, (Limax agrestis, pi. 24, f. 5.) and 
 the black-snail, (L. ater, pi. 27, f. 25.) are 
 examples of animals of this kind. More fre- 
 quently however, this shelly matter becomes 
 so greatly developed that the animal, in a 
 state of repose, can contract itself within it ; 
 it is then termed a shell, or a testaceous ani- 
 mal, which is exemplified by the common 
 garden snail-shell. (Helix aspersa, pi. 24, f. 
 15.) The epidermis which covers these ani- 
 mals, is very thin and sometimes dessicated, 
 or of a woolly texture. 
 
 The variety of forms, surface, colour, bril- 
 liancy, and substance is almost infinite. They 
 are nearly all calcareous, although some are 
 simply of a horny consistence ; but in both 
 cases they consist of matter deposited in lay- 
 ers, or exuded from the skin under the epider- 
 mis, in the same manner as the hardened 
 mucous covering, nails, hairs, horns, scales, 
 and even teeth. The shelly tissue differs ac- 
 cording as its transudation is deposited, either 
 in parallel laminae, or in close set vertical fila- 
 ments. 
 
 Every mode of mastication and deglutition 
 is illustrated in the mollusca ; for we find their 
 stomachs simple, complicated, and frequently 
 provided with a peculiar armature ; the ali- 
 mentary canal is variously prolonged. Most 
 species have salivary glands, and always a 
 liver, but neither pancreas nor mesentery. 
 Several have peculiar secretions. 
 
 Several of the mollusca are bisexual. Some 
 produce their young alive, while others are 
 oviparous. The eggs in some are covered by 
 a shelly envelop, and others only by a simple 
 viscosity. 
 
 The turbinated mollusca appear to be ani- 
 mals in a slight state of development ; they 
 possess but little industry, and are only pre- 
 served by their great fecundity, and extreme 
 tenacity of life. They are all oviparous ; their 
 reproduction consequently dependingon sexual 
 impregnation. 
 
 Some genera of mollusca inhabit the sea 
 and fresh waters, while others are entirely 
 terrestrial : and a few species are amphibious, 
 as may be exemplified in the succinea, amphi- 
 bia, pi. 31, f. 75. 
 
 They feed on all substances, both animal 
 and vegetable ; some will eat these even in a 
 putrid state, while others will only consume 
 them fresh. 
 
 The uses of this numerous class are ex- 
 tremely varied. Many of them are taken as 
 food by man, and others supply nutritious prey 
 for birds and fishes. Their shelly coverings 
 are converted into many useful articles of com- 
 merce ; and from the veins of certain species 
 of shells called pwpura, is extracted the beau- 
 
 tiful dye of the ancients called Tynan purple. 
 The P. lapittus, which is common on the Bri- 
 tish shores, adhering to stones, yields this dye ; 
 it is represented in pi. 24, f. 79. For a des- 
 cription and figures of the different parts of 
 testaceous mollusca, see the note on Concho- 
 logy, in this volume, p. 350 358. 
 
 CLASS I. 
 
 CEPHALOUS MOLLUSCA, OR SOFT ANIMALS WITH A HEAD, 
 
 Lamarck divides the turbinated testaceous mollusca 
 into five orders, depending upon the complication of 
 their internal organization. These are first: 
 
 ORDER I. HETEROPODA. 
 
 Destitute of arms arranged around the head; unpro- 
 vided with a foot under the belly or throat for locomo- 
 tion, but furnished with one or more irregularly set 
 fins. 
 
 The animals of this order are distinguished from all 
 the other mollusca by the form of their foot, which, in 
 
 Elace of a horizontal disk, is compressed into a circular 
 imina, and is used as a fin, and on the edge of which, 
 in several species, is a dilatation forming a hollow cone, 
 representing the disk of the other orders. Their bran- 
 chiae are situated on the posterior part of the back, and 
 composed of plumiform lobes, directed forward; imme- 
 diately behind these are the heart, a small liver, with 
 part of the viscera and internal organs of generation. 
 Their bodies are of a gelatinous, transparent substance, 
 lined with a muscular layer, elongated, and terminated 
 by a compressed tail, in most species. There is a mus- 
 cular mass belonging to the mouth, and the tongue is 
 provided with little hooks; the oesophagus is very long; 
 the stomach thin; on the right side of the visceral mass 
 are two prominent tubes affording a passage for the 
 fceces, ova, &c. They generally swim on their back, 
 with the foot upwards. They possess the property of 
 distending their body by filling it with water, in a way 
 which is not yet properly understood. Carnaria Cym- 
 lium, pi. 31, f. 1. 
 
 ORDER II. CEPHALOPODA. 
 
 Lower part of the body enveloped in a bag-shaped 
 mantle, with the head issuing from the sac, and having 
 inarticulated arms, to which are attached cups, sur- 
 rounding the mouth of the animal, which is furnished 
 with two horny mandibles. The mantle unites under 
 the body; in several species the sides are extended intc 
 fleshy fins: head projecting from the sac, is provided 
 with two large eyes, and crowned with longer or shorter 
 fleshy arms or feet, capable of motion in all directions, 
 their surface provided with cup-shaped suckers, by 
 means of which they can adhere firmly to other bodies; 
 these feet are used for prehension, natation, and walk- 
 ing. They swim with the head behind, and crawl in 
 all directions, with the head under the body. At the 
 opening of the sac in front of the neck, is placed a fleshy 
 funnel as a passage to the excretions. See the note on 
 Conchology, p. 350358. 
 
 Division I. Cephalopoda Sepiaria. 
 Loligo vulyaris. Medium cuttle-fish, pi. 27, f. 6. 
 Division II. Cephalopoda MonotJtalama. 
 
 Shell unilocular, entirely external, and enveloping 
 the animal. Art/onauta Argo. Paper Nautilus' pi. 
 31, f. 2. and pi. 24, f. 1. 
 
 Division III. Cephalopoda Polythalama. 
 FAMILY i. AMMONACEA. 
 
 Septa sinuous, lobed and cut at the margin, meeting 
 together upon the inner wall of the shell, and articu- 
 lated by jagged sutures. Shell multilocular, partly or 
 
580 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 entirely internal, and inserted in the posterior part of 
 the body. 
 
 All the species of this division are fossil. See the 
 note on Organic Kemains, vol. i. p. 22. 
 
 FAMILY ir. NAUTILACEA. 
 
 Shell disciform, with a central spine, and short cells, 
 which do not extend from the centre of the circumfer- 
 ence. 
 
 Nautilus Pompilius, pi. 31, f. 3, and pi. 24, f. 63. 
 The other genera are fossil. See the note on Organic 
 Remains. 
 
 FAMILY in. RABIOLACEA. 
 
 All the genera are fossil. See the Note on Organic 
 Remains, vol. i. p. 2227. 
 
 FAMILY iv. SPIIERULACEA. 
 
 Fossil, except one species found near Corsica, which 
 is so minute that the animal has not been ascertained. 
 See as above. 
 
 FAMILY v. CRISTACEA. 
 All the species are fossil. See as above. 
 
 FAMILY vi. LITUOLACEA. 
 
 Shell partially spiral; the last volution continued in a 
 straight line. Spirula Peronii, pi. 31, f. 4. Animal a 
 cephalopode, pi. 24, f. 2. The body or that part which 
 inhabits the shell, a. 
 
 FAMILY vii. ORTHOCERATA. 
 
 Animals of the genera unknown. See the Note on 
 Conchology, p. 350358. 
 
 ORDER III. TRACHELIPODA. 
 
 Body usually spirally convoluted, and separated from 
 the foot, which is free, flat, and attached to the neck 
 at its base for the purpose of locomotion; the body 
 always enveloped by a spiral shell. 
 
 SECTION I.-ZOOPHAGOUS TRACHELIPODA. 
 
 FAMILY i. INVOLUTA. 
 
 Shell destitute of a canal, but with the base of its 
 aperture notched or effuse, and its volutions broad, com- 
 pressed, and rolled up in such a manner, that the last 
 nearly covers all the others. Conus genera/is, pi. 24. f. 3. 
 Cypraea Europea, pi. 24. f. 8. Buccinum undatum, pi. 24, 
 f. 19, 20. The extracted animal; a a, the foot; 6, the 
 head; e, a kind of platform raised above the thoracic 
 cavity, on which the point of the boring trunk rests. 
 This organ is represented at f. 31, 32, and 33. d, d, d, 
 the cavity of the thorax; e, the mantle; /, the rectum; 
 </, the stomach; li, the heart, thrown below, and to the 
 right side of its natural situation, to allow the opening 
 of the tube to be seen; i, the respiratory trunk; k, the 
 organs of the muscles of the boring trunk; I, the course 
 of the tube by which the foot is supplied with water; 
 w, its termination; f. 34, magnified representation of the 
 stomach and alimentary tubes; a, the throat; b, the 
 outer coating; c, the alimentary canal; rf, the opering 
 from the stomach. 
 
 FAMILY 11. COLUMELLARIA. 
 
 No canal at the base of the aperture, but asubdorsal 
 notch more or less apparent, and a fold upon the colu- 
 mella. Valuta scapha, pi. 31,f. 14. The animal has 
 a large thick and fleshy foot, and the head is provided 
 with a vail, from the sides of which issue the tentacula: 
 the proboscis is rather long, and there is an appendage 
 on each side of the base of the siphon. When the pro- 
 boscis is extended, it can bend in all directions, by 
 neans of the retractor muscles, acting with opposing 
 forces. This interesting mechanism is illustrated by 
 
 o2, wherein the proboscis is represented retracted 
 about a half; the external cylinder, a, is seen envelop- 
 ing a portion of the inner one, 6, the point of which c 
 * the termination of the proboscis; the muscles which 
 
 draw it within the body, d d, are in a state of contrac- 
 tion, and at e is represented the great annular muscle, 
 which pushes forward the inner cylinder, and conse- 
 quently lengthens the organ. 
 
 FAMILY in. PURPURIFERA. 
 
 Shell with a short canal ascending posteriorly, or 
 with an oblique notch at the base of its aperture, di- 
 rected backwards. They are all operculate. Purpuru 
 lapillus, pi. 24, f. 79. 
 
 FAMILY iv. ALATA. 
 
 Shell with a greater or less canal at the base of the 
 aperture, of which the right lip changes its form as the 
 animal advances in age, and has a sinus at the lower 
 part. Strombus Succinctus. 
 
 FAMILY v. CANALIFERA. 
 
 Shell with a canal more or less long at the base of 
 the aperture, and of which the right margin does not 
 change its form as the animal advances in" age. Mu- 
 rex acantliopterus, pi. 31, f. 32. 
 
 SECTION II. PHYTIPHAGA. 
 
 Destitute of projecting siphon, and respiring general- 
 ly by an orifice, furnished with jaws, and feeding on 
 vegetables, shell with the aperture entire, and without 
 any notch or canal. Many of the species live upon 
 land, and respire air, while others inhabit fresh water, 
 either stagnant or running. Many are marine. Some 
 families are furnished with an operculum attached to 
 the foot of the animal. 
 
 FAMILY i. TURBINACEA. 
 
 Shell turreted or conoid, having an oblong or rounded 
 aperture, not widened, and the margin disunited. Tur- 
 bo smaragdm, pi. 31 , f. 45. Turbo littoreus, pi. 24, f. 13. 
 
 FAMILY n. SCALARIDES. 
 
 Shell devoid of plicae or folds on the columella; the 
 margins of the aperture are united in circular forms. 
 Scalaria coronata, pi. 31, f. 51. 
 
 FAMILY in. PLICACEA. 
 
 Shell with the aperture not widened, and folds on the 
 columella. Tornatellafiammid^ pi. 31, f. 54. 
 
 FAMILY iv. MACROSTOMA, 
 
 Shell auriform, with the aperture very wide, and the 
 margins disunited; destitute of columella and opercu- 
 lum. Haliotis tuberculata, pi. 31, f. 55, and pi. 24, f. 
 12. Sigaretiis Haliotoideus, pi. 24, f. 42. Shell con- 
 cealed in the mantle; TO, the membranous shield under 
 which the shell is concealed; n, a sinus through which 
 an arm is sometimes protruded; o, the tentacula, at the 
 base of which the eyes are placed. 
 
 FAMILY v IANTIIENIA. 
 
 Shell gibbous, conoidal, thin, transparent, aperture 
 triangular, columella straight, surpassing the base of 
 the right margin ; destitute of an operculum. lanthenu 
 cocigua, pi. 31, f. 59. 
 
 FAMILY vi. NERITACEA. 
 
 Shells semiglobular or oval, destitute of a columella, 
 and the left margin edged and transverse, provided with 
 an operculum; inhabit fresh waters and the sea. 
 
 Natica monilifcra, pi. 24, f. 35. A front view, with 
 tentacular head and mantle reflected; c, the head; f. 
 37, a view of the head from beneath ; f. 38, one of the 
 cartilaginous jaws. Neritinafluviaiilis, pi. 24, f. 18. 
 
 FAMILY vn. PERTSTOMIDA. 
 
 Shell conoid or sub-conoid with an operculum, and 
 the margins of the aperture united. All the species 
 
MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 
 
 581 
 
 fire fluviatilc, the animals respiring in water. Paludina 
 iinpura, pi. 24, f. 1 1. Valvata piscinalis, pi. 24. f. 61. 
 
 FAMILY vm. MELANIDES. 
 
 The margins of the aperture disunited, and the right 
 one edged; animal provided with two tentacula. Pi- 
 rena Madagascar -crisis, pi. 31, f. G7. 
 
 FAMILY ix. LYMN/ECEA. 
 
 With an oblong acutely tapering spire, generally 
 smooth on the external surface, and having the outer 
 margin of the aperture always acutely edged, and not 
 reflected. Animal amphibious, generally destitute of 
 an operculum, and the tentacula flattened. Lymnaea, 
 staynalis, pi. 24, f. 4. 
 
 FAMILY x. COLIMACEA. 
 
 Shells acutely spiral, with no projecting parts on their 
 exterior, except the markings of their periodical addi- 
 tions; the right margin of the aperture frequently re- 
 flected outwards; the tentacula are cylindrical, and 
 usually four in number, but two in others, and destitute 
 of operculum. They are terrestrial animals. Cydostoma 
 dcrjans, pi. 24, f. 10, Succinea amphibia, pi. 24, f. 58. 
 Pupa seocdentatus, pi. 24, f . 57. Helix aspersa, pi. 24. f . ] 5 ; 
 f . 92, apparatus of vision in Helix Pomatea ; f. b'5, toothed 
 cartilage of do. 
 
 ORDER IV. GASTEROPODA. 
 
 Body never spiral, destitute of any shell, provided with 
 a muscular foot attached its whole length under the 
 belly, for the purpose of locomotion. Some of the animals 
 of this division are naked and destitute of any calcareous 
 covering, others are provided with a dorsal plate, and a 
 third series have a shell which is more or less concealed 
 in their mantle. The animals of this order are limited 
 by Lamarck to those whose bodies are straight, and 
 never spirally convoluted, and which are provided with 
 a muscular disk or foot, united to the body nearly its 
 whole length. F. 66, pi . 24, exhibits the nervous system 
 of the Aplysia; f. 67,* Clio Borealis; f. 67 , the same in 
 the act of swimming. 
 
 SECTION I. PNEUMOBRANCHI^. 
 
 Branchiae in the form of a vascular net on the wall of 
 a, particular cavity, opening by a hole, which the animal 
 contracts and dilates at pleasure. 
 
 FAMILY i. LIMACINJE. 
 
 Branchiae in the form of a vascular net on the parti- 
 tion of a particular cavity, the aperture of which the 
 animal can contract or dilate at pleasure. The body of 
 the animals is elongated, and they crawl by means of a 
 ventral disk bordered on the sides by a very narrow 
 mantle. Vitrina bcryllina, pi. 24, f. 7. Testacella Seutu- 
 lum, pi. 24, f. 6. Limax ater, pi. 27, f. 25. Onhidium 
 Typha, pi. 27, f. 7. 
 
 SECTION II. HYDROBRANCHL3L 
 FAMILY in. LAPHYSIACEA. 
 
 The branchiae are situated in a particular cavity to- 
 wards the posterior part of the back, and covered by an 
 opercular scutellum; they are provided with tentacula. 
 The animals of this family resemble large snaile, but 
 have a thicker body, and are broader towards the pos- 
 terior part, and have a larger margin to their mantle; 
 the head projects, and is provided with four tentacula, 
 two of which are placed near the mouth, and the other 
 two more behind. The branchial scutellum is corneous 
 or cretaceous. Dolabella callosa, pi. 31, f. 88. LapJiysia 
 deplians, pi. 27, f. 8, pi. 24. f. 17. 
 
 FAMILY in. BULLACEA. 
 
 Head very distinct: the branchiae are situate in a 
 particular cavity, towards the posterior region of the 
 back, and covered by a mantle; they are destitute of 
 tentacula, and branchial operculum. Some species are 
 unprovided with either exterior or interior shell, and 
 in others the shell is completely concealed in the man- 
 tig, and there are several which have an external shell 
 
 attached by a muscle. Bulla liydatis, pi. 24, f. 86. 
 This figure exhibits the back of the shell, with the 
 lateral iin-like membranes protruded a. F. 87. The 
 gizzard magnified, a, a, a, the tips of the plates cover- 
 ed by a thin membrane, and surrounding a muscular 
 integument, thickened at the upper part b; the part 
 attached to the mouth c, with the oesophagus communi- 
 cating with the gizzard; rf,the intestinal canal. F. 88. 
 The gizzard laid open at its anterior end, showing the 
 three corrugated corneous plates e, e, e, with then- con- 
 necting ligaments/", magnified. Bulla aperta, pi. 24, f. 83 
 and 68. Lateral lobes of the foot thickened and reflect- 
 ed upwards; head indistinct; destitute of tentacula; 
 branchiae dorsal ; shell concealed in the mantle, a. F. 
 84, the gizzard composed of three testaceous plates, 
 showing the smaller plate b, with the connecting liga- 
 ment c. F. 85, another view of the gizzard, showing 
 the two larger plates d d, with their connecting liga- 
 ments; e, the gullet,/, the alimentary canal. 
 FAMILY iv. CALYPTRACEA. 
 
 The branchiae are situate in a cavity on the back ncrii 
 the neck, and projecting beyond or included in the ca- 
 vity ; shell always placed exteriorly Ancylusfluviatilis, 
 pi. 24, f. 9. 
 
 FAMILY v. SEMIPHYLLIDIACEA. 
 
 The branchiae are situated under the margin of the 
 mantle, and disposed in a longitudinal series on the 
 right side of the body ; respiring in water. Pleurobran- 
 clius phtmula, pi. 24, f. 14, f. 22. Alimentary canal; a 
 the first stomach; c the second stomach; d the third 
 stomach ; e the fourth stomach. The oesophagus dilates 
 into a membranous crop a ; at the lower part of which, 
 b, the bile is poured in. It communicates by a narrow 
 cardia with the second stomach c, which is a gizzard 
 with thin but muscular parietes. The third stomach 
 d, is membranous, and precisely resembles the plicated 
 stomach of ruminants, in being disposed in large but 
 delicate folds, by means of which the alimentary mat- 
 ter contained in it is moulded into long whitish cords. 
 The fourth stomach e, is membranous, like the crop, 
 but smaller. It is remarkable that the gizzard contains 
 a narrow groove, running through its whole length, 
 leading from the first to the fourth stomach, and pro- 
 bably subservient to a species of rumination. F. 44. 
 Another view of the animal; g, its protracted foramen; 
 h ft, the lower lamina, or border of the sustentaculum ; 
 z, the upper lamina, under the middle of which the shell 
 is concealed; k, a plumose feeler; I, the tentacula, at 
 the base of which the eyes are placed. 
 
 FAMILY VI. PHYLLIDIACEA. 
 
 The branchiae are situate under the margin of the 
 mantle, and disposed in a longitudinal series around 
 the body. The animals all respire in water. Patella 
 vulgata,p\. 24, f. 21. F. 23. The alimentary canal, a, 
 the mouth; 6, the buccal mass; c, the tongue; d, the 
 stomach ; e e, the intestine. F. 24, represents the tongue 
 of the patella of its natural size; f. 25, is a portion mag- 
 nified; f. 26, 27, and 28, are the cartilaginous jaws. 
 Chiton cinereus, pi. 24, f. 78. F. 93. The animal extracted. 
 a a, the ventre; ccc, the intestinal canal; e, the anal 
 opening; d d d d, the liver ;/j the ovarium. 
 
 FAMILY VII. TRITONIACEA. 
 
 The branchiae are placed exteriorly, and situated 
 above the mantle on the sides or on the back. The 
 animals respire in water. The animals of this family 
 are distinguished from those of the other Gasteropoda, 
 by the situation of their branchiae, which are all exter- 
 ior; in several genera these appear to be a degeneration 
 of the mantle, or to be formed by portions of it having 
 become branchial ; the body is always destitute of a 
 shelly covering, and neither have they one internally. 
 All the animals inhabit the sea. Doris argus, pi. 27, f. 
 9. Tethys leporina, pi. 24, f. 30. The alimentary canal, 
 a, the proboscis; b, the oesophagus; c, the stomach; rf, 
 the intestine; e, the hepatic duct; f, the liver; fl, the 
 hepatic artery; h h, salivary glands the parts arc laid 
 open; f. 29. the horny jaws of a Tritonia. 
 
582 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 ORDER V.- PTEROPODA. 
 
 Destitute of any shell, foot or arms, cither for loco- 
 motion or seizing their prey; but provided with two 
 opposite and similar fins, fitted for swimming. The 
 animals of this order are provided with two opposite 
 fins; they are mostly of a small size, and either desti- 
 tute of appendages, or having very short ones, situate 
 at the head; some species are provided with a thin 
 cartilaginous or horny shell. Hyalaa tridentata, pi. 24, 
 f. 3ti. 
 
 CLASS II. 
 
 ACEPHALOUS MOLLUSCA, OR SOFT ANIMALS DESTITUTE 
 OF A HEAD. 
 
 The second great division of testaceous Mol- 
 lusca, consists of animals which are destitute of 
 any apparent head, and have been denominated 
 by Lamarck, CONCHIFERA. Their mouth is con- 
 cealed in the bottom, or between the folds of 
 their mantle, which is usually doubled and 
 incloses the body, in the same manner as a 
 book is clasped over by its cover ; but it often 
 happens, that, in consequence of the two lobes 
 uniting before, it forms a tube ; sometimes it 
 is closed at one end, and then it represents a 
 sac. The mantle is generally covered by a 
 calcareous, testaceous bivalve shell united by 
 a hinge or ligament, and in some instances 
 the shell is multivalve ; in two genera, how- 
 ever, it is only of a cartilaginous or membrana- 
 ceous nature. The animal is always attached 
 (o this shelly covering by strong muscles, by 
 means of which it can open or close the sides 
 of its covering at pleasure. The brain is 
 situated over the mouth, where one or two 
 other ganglia are observable. The branchiae 
 or gills, generally consist of large lamellas 
 covered with vascular meshes, under or between 
 which passes the water ; and are more simple 
 in those genera which are destitute of a shell. 
 The leaflets of which the branchiae are com- 
 posed are generally crescent-shaped, placed 
 on each side of the cloak, covering the abdomen 
 of the animal upon the sides of which they are 
 attached in pairs ; they are formed of a tissue 
 of small vessels arranged close together, like 
 the pipes of an organ. From these branchiae 
 the blood proceeds to the heart, which is placed 
 towards the back, is very small, but provided 
 with venous and arterial vessels. The liver 
 is extensive, and embraces the stomach and 
 the greater proportion of the alimentary canal. 
 The mouth is always devoid of teeth, arid is 
 capable of only receiving the molecules, con- 
 ducted to it by the water ; at each side of the 
 mouth are four thin triangular leaflets, which 
 are the extremities of the lips. Some species 
 are provided with two stomachs. The whole 
 animals of this division fecundate themselves, 
 and in many of the species, the young ones 
 are extremely numerous, and pass some time 
 in the thickness of the branchiae before quitting 
 the parent. The whole acephala are aquatic 
 
 animals. The foot of the animal when it 
 exists is a mere fleshy mass, the motions of 
 which are effected by a mechanism analogous 
 to that which acts on the tongue of the mam- 
 malia. 
 
 The Conchifera of Lamarck are separated 
 into two orders as follows : 
 
 ORDER I. MONOMYARIA. 
 
 With but one internal muscle of attachment, and the 
 shell marked interiorly with one subcentral muscular 
 impression. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Ligament none, or at least unknown, or replaced by a 
 tendinous cord, which supports the shell. 
 
 FAMILY I. BRACHIOPODA. 
 
 With two opposite ciliated arms, placed near the 
 mouth, rolled up in a spiral form when the animal is in 
 a state of repose ; mantle provided with two separate 
 lobes before, which envelope the body. Shell bivalve, 
 adhering directly, or by means of a tendinous cord, to 
 marine substances. Lingula anatina, pi. 32, f. 1. 
 
 FAMILY II. RUDISTA. 
 
 Nothing is known of the animal, nor of the ligament 
 and hinge of the shell; the valves are very unequal; and 
 no distinct hooks are visible. Crania personata, pi. 24, 
 f. 75. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Ligament not marginal, but inclosed in a hollow space 
 under the beak, always perceptible, and never forming 
 a tendinous cord under the shell. 
 
 FAMILY I. OSTRACEA. 
 
 Ligament interior, or at least partly so; shell irregular, 
 foliaceous, and sometimes papyraceous. The animal 
 has neither foot, arm, nor projecting siphon. Anomia 
 epkippium, pi. 24 3 f. 41 . Ostrea Edulis, the Edible oyster, 
 pi. 24, f. 73. f. 98, muscle of the oyster. 
 
 FAMILY II. PECTENIDES. 
 
 Ligament either interior, or partly so, being discov- 
 erable in some through an opening in the joint; shell in 
 general regular, compact, and not foliaceous. Some 
 genera fix themselves to marine bodies, by a byssus, 
 while in others the lower valve is immovably attached; 
 and many of the pectens are at liberty. Sjxmdylus 
 qceder&pus, pi. 24, f. 52. d e, the branchiae; b, the mouth; 
 'g h e,the abdomen; &, the great adductor muscle. Pecten 
 'Jacobaus, pi. 24, f. 77. a b c d, the two lobes of the 
 mouth; e e, the byssus; //, the abdomen; z, the intes- 
 tinal canal; 9, the mouth, ornamented with a fringe; //, 
 the great adductor muscle. The animals of this genus 
 possess considerable powers of locomotion, which was 
 well known at the time Aristotle wrote. They have the 
 power of removing themselves from one place to another, 
 on dry land, by successive leaps. This has been fully 
 established by recent experiments. A basket filled 
 with the Pecten opercularis, or common edible scallop, 
 has been placed on the sea shore, near the edge of the 
 water, when all the individuals have speedily found 
 their way to the sea. Lima squamosa, pi. 24, f. 72. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Ligament marginal and elongated. 
 
 FAMILY I. MALLEACEA. 
 
 Ligament marginal, sublinear, and either simple or 
 interrupted by crenulations ; shell foliaceous or more 
 or less ineqinvalve. Avicula Tarcntimt, pi. 24. f. PO, 
 abed, the mantle, the duplicate of which contains the 
 
MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 
 
 583 
 
 ovnrium, f f g g\ the byssus, h i; the abdomen, k; s, the 
 annl opening. 
 
 FAMILY II. MYTILACEA. 
 
 _ Hinge with a sub-interior ligament, which is marginal, 
 linear, and very entire, occupying a great part of the 
 anterior border; shell but seldom foliaceous. Nearly 
 the whole of this family attach themselves to marine 
 bodies by a byssus,, They have a tongue-shaped foot, by 
 the aid of which they attach their byssus to extraneous 
 substances. Pinna nobilis, pi. 24, f. 9 1 . a, b, c, d, lobes of 
 the mantle: g g, K Ti, adductor muscles; x f, part of the 
 abdomen. Mytilis edulis, pi. 24, f. 71. f. 76, the animal. 
 
 FAMILY III. TRIDACNITES. 
 
 The shell is transversely equivalve, with the muscular 
 impressions situated under the middle of the upper 
 margin, and prolonged on each side ; the mantle is close 
 and perforated by three holes, through one of which 
 passes the foot; the second furnishes an entrance and 
 exit for the water requisite for respiration; and the 
 third is a passage for the excretions; the two latter 
 not being prolonged into tubes as in the Mytilacea. 
 Tridacna gigas, pi. 24, f. 64. The tendinous byssus by 
 which these gigantic shells sometimes weighing 300 
 pounds attach themselves to rocks, is so thick and 
 strong that an axe is required to sever it. Nearly allied 
 to this species is Tridacna squamosa, pi. 32, f. 27. 
 
 ORDER II. DIMYAIRA. 
 
 Shell having two distinct and lateral muscular im- 
 pressions, which are deep and widely separated, being 
 placed near the lateral extremities of the valves. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Shell always inequivalve and irregular. 
 FAMILY I. CHAMACEA. 
 
 Shell inequivalve, irregular, and 'adherent; with tAvo 
 separate muscular impressions; ligament placed exter- 
 nally; the animal provided with short, separate siphons, 
 Chama gryplioides, pi. 24, f. 54. Chama antiquata, pi. 24. 
 f. 55. a 6, the lobes of the mantle; c, the abdomen; d d, 
 the foot. 
 
 SECTION II. LAMELLIPEDES. 
 FAMILY I. NAYADES. 
 
 This family consists of fresh water shells; the hinge 
 sometimes provided with an irregular, simple, or cleft 
 tooth, and a longitudinal prolonged one; sometimes 
 destitute of any; or is furnished in its whole length with 
 irregular granular tubercles ; the posterior muscular im- 
 pression compound; and the umbones often decorti- 
 cated; the muscular impressions are lateral and dis- 
 tant, that of the posterior side being composed of two 
 or three distinct, unequal impressions ; the animal is 
 destitute of any projecting tube or siphon; the foot is 
 elongated, transverse, and rounded, which it protrudes 
 between the valves, and uses to change its position. 
 Anadonta cygnea, pi. 24, f. 43. a, the mouth, into which 
 a bristle has been introduced; 6, the stomach, under 
 which the intestine makes five turns in the foot amidst 
 the ovary, and then as it returns, runs posteriorly along 
 the back of the animal beneath the hinge, and above 
 the respiratory organs, passing through the midst of the 
 heart, c, and opening at d above the posterior muscle 
 closing the shells, beneath the small tube of the cloak. 
 This description applies generally to most trivalves, but 
 in the oyster the rectum does not pass through the 
 heart. Unio piclorum, pi. 24, f. 49. 
 
 FAMILY II. TRIGONACEA. 
 
 Primary teeth of the shell lamelliform, and striated 
 transversely; ligament 'exterior. Castalia ambigua, pi. 
 32j f. 35. 
 
 FAMILY III. ARCACEA. 
 
 Primary teeth of the shell small, numerous, and dis- 
 posed in a line on each valve of the shell, either in a 
 straight or interrupted series. The valves do not close 
 perfectly in the centre, in consequence of having a horny 
 plate or fillet placed before the abdomen of the animal, 
 that serves as a foot, and by which it adheres to sub- 
 merged bodies. Area Noce, pi. 24, f. 59. Area barbata, 
 pi. 24, f. 70. a, the foot. Pectunculus Pilosus, pi. 24, f. 
 56. f . 74, animal of do. 
 
 FAMILY IV. CARDTACEA. 
 
 Primary teeth of the shell irregular, both in their 
 form and situation, and having generally one or two 
 lateral teeth. In the animal, the mantle is open before, 
 and there are besides, two separate apertures, one for 
 respiration and the other for the faeces, which are pro- 
 longed in tubes, sometimes distinct, and at others 
 united in one single mass. There is always a transverse 
 muscle at each extremity, and a foot generally used 
 for locomotion. Those which are provided with long 
 tubes always live in ooze or sand. Isocardia cor, pi. 24, 
 f. 98. Cardium rusticum, pi. 24, f. 60. a e, the tracheae ; 
 a, part of the abdomen; b b, the branchiae; c, the adduc- 
 tor muscle. 
 
 FAMILY V. CONCHACEA. 
 
 Shell with three primary teeth, at least in one valve, 
 and the other with a similar number, or less in some 
 species; sometimes provided with lateral teeth. The 
 animal has generally two tubes or siphons projecting 
 from its mantle, one of which answers the purpose of a 
 passage for the water to the branchiae, and the other 
 for dejected matters; the foot is lamelliform. All the 
 animals of this family inhabit sand or mud. 
 
 Subdivision I. Generally destitute of lateral teeth ; 
 inhabiting the ocean; siphons of the animal elongated 
 and unequal; the foot broad and projecting. Venn? 
 Verrucosa, pi. 24, f. 39. Cytherea Chione. pi. 24, f. 48. 
 Artemis orbicutata, pi. 24, f. 53. 
 
 Subdivision II. Fresh water shells covered with a 
 spurious epidermis, and having lateral teeth. Cydas 
 cornea, pi. 24, f. 50. Piscidium obliauum, pi. 24. f. 51. 
 
 SECTION III. TENUIPEDES. 
 FAMILY I. NYMPHACEA. 
 
 Shell never having more than two primary teeth in 
 each valve ; frequently gaping at its lateral extremities ; 
 ligament exterior. The foot of the animal is small, and 
 often compressed; the species all inhabit the shores of 
 the sea. Donax trunculus, pi. 24, f. 46. The animal has 
 two long slender tubes, which are received into a sinus 
 of the mantle; and provided with a broad foot. F. 47. 
 The right valve removed, a a, the adductor muscles ; 
 A the foot ; s .<?, the right lip ; m n. the two lobes of the 
 branchiae ; b d, c e, the two tracheae ; the left vein is at i. 
 Tellina planata, pi. 24, f. 97. 
 
 FAMILY II. LITHOPHAGI. 
 
 The shells gape more or less at their anterior side; 
 ligament exterior; they bore into rocks and clay, with- 
 out the aid of accessory shells, but by what means 
 naturalists have not yet discovered. Venerupis irus, pi. 
 24 f. 69. 
 
 FAMILY III. CORBULACEA. 
 
 Shell inequivalve, with the ligament placed interiorly. 
 fundora rostrata, pi. 32, f. 72. 
 
 FAMILY IV. MACTRACEA. 
 
 Shell equivalve, frequently gaping at the lateral ex- 
 tremities; ligament placed interiorly, or partly exter- 
 iorly; animal with the foot small and compressed; the 
 tubes are united and short. Mactra Neapolitana, pi 24, 
 f. 40. b c, the trachcea; d, the foot. 
 
584 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 SECTION IV. CRASSIPEDES. 
 
 The mantle, either entirely or in part united before 
 the foot, thick, placed posteriorly; the shell gaping when 
 shut. 
 
 FAMILY I. MYARIA. 
 
 Shell with a broad spoon -shaped tooth in each valve, 
 or in one only, and gaping at both lateral extremities, 
 or at one only; ligament placed interiorly. Live sunk 
 in ooze or sand. Mya arenaria, pi. 24, f. 45. 
 
 FAMILY II. SOLENIDES. 
 
 Shell transversely elongated, without accessory pieces, 
 and gaping at the lateral extremities only; ligament 
 placed exteriorly; the foot issues from the anterior ex- 
 tremity or from that side in which the teeth are nearest. 
 Sden Vayina, pi. 24, f. 96. The foot of the animal is 
 conical, which enables it to burrow with great facility 
 in the sand, e, the trachiae; k, the cloak; n n, the ad- 
 ductor muscles; the foot, b c. 
 
 FAMILY III. PHOLADARIA. 
 
 Shell bivalve, with accessory pieces to the valves; 
 they generally gape much anteriorly. The whole fa- 
 mily are borers. Photos dactyls, pi. 24, f. 95. f. 89, 
 muscle of do. 
 
 FAMILY IV. TUBICOLA. 
 
 Shell contained in a testaceous sheath, distinct from 
 its valves, incrusted entirely or in part in the wall of 
 
 submerged pieces of 
 wood, such as piles and the bottoms of ships ; completely 
 destroying them in a very short space of time, a, the 
 oesophagus, which is very short, and lies on the left side 
 of the neck ; the canal swells out, and becomes a stomach, 
 b, which, in its external appearance, is a large bag, ex- 
 tending the whole length of the cavity of the abdomen, 
 but, when laid open, it is found to have a septum, c, 
 dividing it longitudinally into two equal cavities, except 
 at the lowest part, where they communicate at d, the 
 septum being wanting. The intestine has its origin 
 close to the termination of the oesophagus, is extremely 
 small, dilates into a cavity containing a hard, white 
 spherical body, the size of a pin's head, and then makes 
 a turn upon itself. The course it follows is shown by 
 the letters c e. 
 
 CLASS CIRRIPEDA. 
 
 The Cirripeda form an intermediate group 
 between the Mollusca and Articulata. The 
 bodies are enveloped in a mantle, and tes- 
 taceous plates or valves, which are nearly 
 allied to those of the Acephala. The mouths 
 of the animals are provided with lateral jaws, 
 and the abdomen with filamentary jointed pro- 
 cesses, named cirri, arranged in pairs, com- 
 posed of numerous little ciliated articulations, 
 and corresponding to feet or fins, similar to 
 those which exist under the tail of crustaceous 
 animals. Their heart is situated in the back, 
 and the branchiae emanate from the sides ; the 
 nervous system forms a series of ganglions, 
 on the lower part of the abdomen. These cirri, 
 however, may be considered as analogous to 
 the articulated appendages of some species of 
 Terredo, while the ganglions are in some 
 
 measure repetitions of the posterior ganglion 
 of the bivalve Mollusca. The position of these 
 animals in the shell is such , that the mouth is 
 at the bottom, and the cirri near the orifice. 
 Between the last two cirri is a long fleshy 
 tube, that has sometimes, but erroneously, been 
 taken for their proboscis, and at the base of 
 which, near the back, is the anal opening. 
 Internally, a stomach is found inflated by a 
 multitude of small cavities in itsparietes, which 
 appear to fulfil the functions of a liver, a simple 
 intestine, a double ovary, and a double serpen- 
 tine oviduct, whose walls produce the prolific 
 fluid, and which, prolonged in the fleshy tube, 
 open at its extremity. The animals of this 
 class are incapable of locomotion, being always 
 fixed. This class was all ranked under a 
 single genus by Linnaeus, by the title of Lepas. 
 Brugieres divided them into two, and Lamarck 
 has subdivided them still further, at the sug- 
 gestion of Dr Leach, and they now form a 
 class of themselves. The animals of this class 
 are always protected by a multivalve shelly 
 covering, which is composed of a number of 
 separate pieces ; these are connected by a 
 membrane in the pedunculata , and those of the 
 sessilia six in number are articulated at 
 their sides, and kept together from their base, 
 being attached to a calcareous plate, which is 
 firmly attached to some extraneous substance. 
 These last form a conical covering, open at 
 the top, which is protected by an operculum 
 or lid, composed of four pieces. The first order 
 of cirripeda have but five valves, and these 
 are placed on the summit of a tubular, mem- 
 braneous peduncle, varying in length in dif- 
 ferent species. In one genus, besides the five 
 principal valves, other smaller ones are found, 
 which are termed accessory valves. All the 
 animals are hermaphrodite and marine. The 
 characters of the class are, soft animals, des- 
 titute of head and eyes, covered with a plur- 
 ality of shells, and always fixed to a certain 
 spot ; the bodies are inarticulated, provided 
 with a mantle, tentacula, and cirri ; arms 
 issuing from above, and many-jointed. 
 
 ORDER I. PEDUNCULATA. 
 
 The body compressed, and supported on a tubular 
 peduncle. Otion Cuvieri,pl. 33, f. 26. Cineras z#ofa,pl. 
 33, f. 27. Pollidpes mitella, pi. 33, f. 28. Anatifa vitrea, 
 
 ORDER II. SESSILIA. 
 
 Body destitute of a peduncle, and inclosed in a shell 
 of various parts, fixed immovably by its base, with a 
 testaceous lamina to extraneous marine bodies; the 
 mouth at the upper and anterior part of the body. In 
 the interior of the opening is placed an operculum formed 
 of two or four movable pieces, which the animal opens 
 in the centre while projecting its tentacular arms. 
 Pyrgoma crenata, pi. 33, f. 31. Balanus communis, pi. 
 24, f. 94. aa, the ventre ; vv, the liver ; aa?, the ovarium ; 
 h, the spermatic ducts; AB, the oesophagus. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 585 
 
 CLASS ANNELIDES. 
 
 This class is the first of the great division 
 Articulata, consisting of animals which have 
 their bodies or members composed of articu- 
 lated rings. The characters of the Annelides, 
 are, the body soft, more or less elongated, and 
 either naked or enclosed in a tube, and divided 
 into a number of segments ; and are the only 
 animals devoid of a backbone, which have red 
 blood circulating in a double system of com- 
 plicated vessels. Their nervous system con- 
 sists in a double knotted cord, like that of 
 insects. Some species have a head, and others 
 are devoid of one ; when it exists it is merely 
 a slight anterior thickening, distinct from the 
 first segment of the body, and upon which the 
 eyes and antennae are placed. The antennas 
 consist of articulated filaments, sometimes short 
 and thick, a?nd never exceed five. They have 
 either two or four eyes, situate behind the an- 
 tennae. The tentacula are either situated on 
 the head or fore part of the body, they consist 
 of articulated filaments, or papillae more or 
 less elongated. They are provided with a 
 fleshy contractile proboscis, of either one or 
 two rings, inclosing horny or calcareous jaws. 
 The body of the Annelides in many species 
 is naked, and free from hairs ; some are fur- 
 nished with contractile bristles. The whole 
 class respire by branchiae, and inhabit the 
 waters, sand, mud, or moist earth. The bran- 
 chiae are extremely variable in form and situa- 
 tion ; as are also the tubes or sheaths, which 
 are either membranous or horny, incrusted 
 exteriorly with minute fragments of shells or 
 grains of sand ; in others they are solid testa- 
 ceous tubes. They are all carnivorous, suck- 
 ing the blood of other animals ; and are her- 
 maphrodite. 
 
 ORDER I. SEDENTARY. 
 
 The animals inhabit a testaceous tube, which they 
 never leave; they are destitute of eyes; the branchiae 
 are situated at one end of the body. The animal is 
 elongated, worm-shaped, having the sides of the body 
 provided with subulate short bristles; and also with 
 hooked bristles to enable it to move in its tube. 
 
 FAMILY I. SERPULACEA. 
 
 Branchiae separate, or covered by an operculum; tube, 
 solid and testaceous; destitute of tentacula, eyes, or 
 jaws ; body furnished on the sides with setaceous pa- 
 pillse, and hooked retractile bristles. Serpula vermicu- 
 laris, pi. 24, f. 82. 
 
 FAMILY II. AMPHITRIT^EA. 
 
 Branchiae neither separated nor covered by an oper- 
 culum, and disposed towards the anterior part of the 
 body ; with a horny or membranous tube, more or less 
 arenaceous; the branchiae are placed at or near the 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 anterior extremity, they are sometimes large, project- 
 ing above the mouth, and sometimes they are short. 
 Many of the animals have tentacula, but all of them 
 are destitute of eyes, proboscis, or jaws. Amphitrite 
 magnified, pi. 24, f. 81. 
 
 FAMILY III. MALDANI.E. 
 
 The branchiae are indeterminate; and the tube is open 
 at both ends. Dentalium entails, 
 
 FAMILY IV. DORSALI^E. 
 
 The branchiae are dorsal, or disposed longitudinally 
 along the body. Siliquaria anguina, pi. 33, f. 51. 
 
 ORDER II. ANTENNAT/E. 
 
 The head is antenniform, provided with two eyes, 
 and a projectile proboscis, frequently armed with jaws, 
 and setiferous retractile pediform papillae; branchiae 
 disposed longitudinally. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Branchiae in the form of complicated leaves or tufts, 
 or very ramose, always large and apparent; destitute of 
 spines. 
 
 FAMILY I. AMPHINOM^G. 
 
 Branchiae and cirri placed superiorly at all the pairs 
 of pediform papillae, and having no jaws. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Branchiae in the form of small crests or laminae, or 
 filamentous and pectinated on one side; sometimes not 
 distinct. 
 
 FAMILY II. EUNICE. 
 
 While the branchiae are distinct, all the pediform 
 papillae are placed without interruption ; jaws numerous, 
 and always more than two, but fewer on the right than 
 on the left side; destitute of the first pair of feet. 
 
 FAMILY III. NEREIDES. 
 
 When the branchiae are distinct, there are superior 
 cirri on all the pairs of pediform papillae; two jaws or 
 none. Spio quadricornis, pi. 27, f. 14. 
 
 FAMILY IV. APHRODITE. 
 
 The upper branchiae and cirri alternating in their 
 position to the twenty-third or twenty-fifth pair of 
 pediform papillae; having four jaws. Halitliea aculeata, 
 pi. 27 f. 4. 
 
 ORDER III. APODES. 
 
 Animals destitute of feet, or setiferous and retractile 
 papillae ; when provided with branchiae, they are dis- 
 posed interiorly along the body; but they have no an- 
 tenniferous head. Although the animals of this order 
 have red blood, and a true circulation, they are other- 
 wise the most imperfect in their form. They are des- 
 titute of head, tentacula, and pediform papillae; their 
 branchiae are situated internally, either in or under the 
 skin. They are usually naked, and have no retractile 
 spines. 
 
 FAMILY I. ECHIURE.E. 
 
 Body with bristles projecting, but not retractile. 
 Lutnbricus terrestris, pi. 27, f. 39. The earth worm. 
 
 FAMILY II. HIRUDINE.E. 
 
 Body without projecting bristles. Hirudo geometra, 
 pi. 27, f. 13. Leech. See it described in the present 
 volume, at p. 467. 
 
 4 B 
 
SUPPLEMENT 
 
 MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE invention of the microscope is justly con- 
 sidered one of the most important achieve- 
 ments of human science and art, claiming at 
 least equal eminence with the discovery of the 
 telescope. The latter instrument brings us 
 into comparative intimacy with other worlds, 
 or what we infer to be such from the analogies 
 discoverable between them and our terrestrial 
 globe; the former instrument carries us to the 
 opposite bounds of creation, and reveals the 
 atomic miracles with which we are immedi- 
 ately surrounded. The results of astronomical 
 research usually strike us with more awe than 
 those of microscopical inquiry ; yet perhaps we 
 regard the latter with deepest interest, and for 
 this reason , the telescope communicates a 
 lew particulars concerning things on which we 
 can bring but few analogies to bear, and con- 
 sequently imparts a vague and indefinite know- 
 ledge to the mind ; the microscope, on the con- 
 trary, refers us to objects wonderfully minute, 
 yet usually so analogous to larger existences, 
 that the information derived concerning them 
 is satisfactory and complete. 
 
 To estimate duly the value of the micro- 
 scope, as a means of enlarging the boundaries 
 of human knowledge, we must refer to the 
 utter ignorance concerning some things, and 
 the gross misconceptions regarding others, that 
 prevailed prior to its introduction. Before the 
 invention of this instrument, the mite was con- 
 sidered the least of animal beings, and the ex- 
 istence of living atoms, with which compared, 
 the mite may rank as an elephant, had never 
 been conjectured. The wondrous beauty and 
 contrivance in the formations and appendages 
 of the insect tribes had never been beheld. 
 
 The miracles of creative power, folded up in 
 every plant and blossom, had not been fully 
 displayed. Vague and indefinite opinions 
 were held regarding the vital fluid in ani- 
 mals ; and the manner of its circulation through 
 the body was very imperfectly understood. 
 The strange fallacy of equivocal generation 
 was universally maintained, and fetid corrup- 
 tion was deemed the parent of animal and ve- 
 getable life. It would occupy much space to 
 name all the instances of ignorance and mis- 
 conception that characterized the times in 
 which the microscope was unknown : let those 
 to which we have alluded suffice to show how 
 limited was the sphere of human knowledge 
 concerning many things that daily met the eye, 
 and how totally unconscious were the philoso- 
 phers of those ages of the wonderful creations 
 that science and art were preparing to unveil. 
 " Who," says Baker, " would have imagined 
 it possible to distinguish myriads of living 
 creatures in a single drop of water ! Or, that 
 the purple tide of life, and even the globules 
 of the blood, should be seen distinctly rolling 
 through veins and arteries smaller than the 
 finest hair? That millions of millions of ani- 
 malcules should be discovered in the semen 
 masculinum of all creatures? That not only 
 the exterior form, but even the internal struc- 
 ture of the bowels, and the motion of the fluids 
 in a gnat or louse should be rendered objects 
 of sight? Or, that numberless species of 
 creatures should be made visible, though so 
 minute, that a million of them are less than a 
 grain of sand? These," he continues, "are 
 noble discoveries, whereon a new philosophy 
 has been raised, that enlarges the capacity of 
 the human soul, and furnishes a more just and 
 sublime idea than mankind had before, of the 
 grandeur and magnificence of nature, and Ihe 
 
588 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 infinite power, wisdom, and goodness of na- 
 ture's Almighty Parent." 1 
 
 At the period when Goldsmith wrote, the 
 microscope had certainly been long in use, 
 and allusion is made in his Natural History 
 to some of the interesting facts it had then 
 made known. When, however, we consider 
 the inefficient construction of the instrument, 
 the consequent unsatisfactory results of many 
 observations, and the prevailing tendency to 
 exaggerate the discoveries of that day, we are 
 at no loss to comprehend the reason why our 
 author lays comparatively little stress on mi- 
 croscopic inquiry. Subsequent editions of the 
 Natural History have, it is true, supplied in 
 a good measure this deficiency in the original 
 work, and presented to the popular view a 
 large amount of discoveries in the minute 
 world; this information, however, has usually 
 been conveyed in a desultory form, ill cal- 
 culated to impress upon the rnind the vast 
 accessions of knowledge progressively derived 
 from microscopic investigation. The attention 
 which has, in late years, been given to the 
 construction of the microscope and the im- 
 provement of its elements, has given a new 
 impulse to inquiry, and led to the elucidation 
 of facts so astonishing, and to the discovery of 
 formations and phenomena so replete with 
 interest to the natural historian, that a new 
 edition of Goldsmith's work could scarcely be 
 deemed complete if it did not include a con- 
 nected view of the most remarkable discoveries 
 that have been made in the various kingdoms 
 of nature by the aid of optical science. This 
 digest we propose to give in three consecutive 
 chapters, dividing the subject as follows: 
 
 CHAP. I. The results of microscopical in- 
 quiry concerning the minute formations and 
 phenomena of the natural world. 
 
 CHAP. II. Infusorial Animalcules. 
 
 ('HAP. III. Spermatic Animalcules. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 THE RESULTS OF MICROSCOPICAL, INQUIRY 
 
 CONCERNING THE MINUTE FORMATIONS 
 
 AND PHENOMENA OF THE 
 
 NATURAL WORLD. 
 
 MICROSCOPIC investigation has been carried 
 to a greater or less extent through all the 
 kingdoms of nature. We shall, for the sake 
 of orderly arrangement, commence with the 
 Mineral Kingdom, the discoveries in which, 
 though less diversified, are equally interesting 
 with those in the animal and vegetable 
 
 article Microscope, iu the Supplement to the 
 Encyclopedia. 
 
 worlds. In this division of the subject our 
 attention is more particularly called to the 
 remarkable phenomena connected with con- 
 gelation and crystallization, to the formation 
 of minute mineral bodies, and to fossil remains 
 of insects, animalcules, and vegetables. We 
 shall first advert to the singular appearances 
 presented in the congelation of water and 
 snow crystals ; for though these cannot be in- 
 cluded amongst mineral bodies, they can be 
 more conveniently reviewed in this place than 
 in any other department of our essay. 
 
 If water be exposed to a freezing atmos- 
 phere in a capacious vessel, thin laminae, or 
 plates, of ice will shortly be observed on its 
 surface. These cross and intersect each other 
 in a most surprising manner, and present the 
 appearance of a fancifully tesselated device. 
 If one of these plates be separated from the 
 rest with a knife and brought under the mi- 
 croscope, a moderate power will develope its 
 conformation, which much resembles that of 
 a herring bone: a large stem runs through 
 the centre, and from each side of this diverge 
 a number of parallel spines, inclined to the 
 central stem in an angle of about sixty 
 degrees. In the Micrographia of Dr Hooke 
 notice is taken of a peculiarity in the congela- 
 tion of water thinly spread on smooth marble, 
 which is said to exhibit a variety of figures 
 resembling feathers ; these forms are however 
 nearly allied to the plates before mentioned, and 
 the points of difference between them are not 
 particularly remarkable. Urine when slightly 
 frozen discovers a number of very beautiful six- 
 branched figures ; but as the same formations, 
 or others very closely resembling them, may 
 be observed in a congelation of common salt 
 and water, we prefer directing our remarks to 
 the latter. These star-like figures commence 
 at the centre, which elevates itself, and ulti- 
 mately forms the apex of a solid angle ; from 
 the centre six branches jut out, each two in- 
 closing an angle of sixty degrees ; from these 
 main branches proceed a number of smaller 
 shoots, all on the same side of the branch being 
 parallel to each other, and forming with it an 
 angle of sixty degrees ; from these shoots issue 
 forth smaller branchings in like manner, and 
 from these latter others still more minute, till 
 at length the figure becomes too complicate 
 to be analysed, and presents merely the ap- 
 pearance of an even mass of ice. It is how- 
 ever to be observed, that the beauty of these 
 stars is greatly enhanced by accidental cir- 
 cumstances, which disturb the regular process 
 of congelation, and cause the branches at times 
 to throw out a number of circular plates curi- 
 ously overlapping each other. It may be 
 necessary to add that these figures differ ma- 
 terially from those observed in the ordinary 
 crystallization of common salt by evaporation. 
 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 582 
 
 The fantastic and picturesque formations so 
 commonly observed on the windows in the 
 winter season, will, if closely examined, be 
 found to consist of a series of branches dis- 
 posed under the uniform angle of sixty de- 
 grees ; and all the irregular variety is merely 
 the result of numerous small impediments to 
 the freezing process. 
 
 An almost infinite variety of configuration j 
 may be observed in the flakes of falling snow, 
 all however thus far resembling each other, j 
 that they uniformly consist of six branches ' 
 radiating from a centre. The side shoots are 
 also disposed according to the general prin- 
 ciple, and in all the peculiarities of figure we 
 discover the angle of sixty degrees determin- 
 ing the formation. Plate 35, figs. 50 and 51, 
 are two snow flakes. In fig. 50 we observe \ 
 the branchings from the centre, and the side 
 shoots disposed according to the general law. 
 The hexagonal figures terminating the main 
 branches are explained thus : the two sides 
 connecting with the branch are lateral shoots 
 from it, the two next are lateral shoots from 
 the former two, and the other two sides are 
 similar shoots from the second two. And it 
 is ia this manner by a little consideration of 
 the figure, that we are enabled, in almost every 
 instance, to trace out a uniform principle of 
 conformation. In fig. 51 we see the six 
 branches and the lateral shoots as before, and 
 the leaf-like outline of the figure is nothing 
 more than the natural result of the lateral 
 shoots near to the centre pressing upon each 
 other, and the central ones extending farther 
 out than those more recently put forth. 
 
 Congelation and crystallization, though 
 closely resembling each other, are distinct 
 operations. Congelation fixes the whole fluid 
 mass ; but the process of crystallization causes 
 the particles of mineral bodies, when sus- 
 pended in fluid or separated by fusion, to 
 assemble in regular figures, agreeably to 
 ascertained principles of formation. 
 
 Notwithstanding the variety of figure observ- 
 able in crystals, their primitive forms are few, 
 such as the cube, parallelopipedon, &c. ; and 
 all eccentric formations arise from a peculiar 
 arrangement of their laminae on the faces of 
 the primitive crystal. Dr Hooke suggested 
 that crystallization merely exhibited the vari- 
 ous regular forms resulting from the combina- 
 tion of small globular particles ; and this 
 opinion has been adopted by many writers. 
 There is, however, a difficulty in conceiving 
 how globular particles should with undeviat- 
 ing exactness constantly assume the same 
 primitive figure, in (for instance) the crystal- 
 lization of common salt. The simple form of 
 these crystals is always a cube ; now we can- 
 not comprehend the reason why this should be 
 the case on the supposition that they are 
 
 merely an accumulation of globular particles ; 
 for these particles can unite only by mutual- 
 attraction, and might, for ought we perceive to 
 the contrary, assemble in any other primitive 
 form as readily as that of the cube. A mare 
 recent theory supposes the particles to have 
 either the figure of the primitive crystal or 
 that of a cube, a solid angle, or a paral- 
 lelopipedon ; and we can pretty well discover 
 in every instance, on this hypothesis, how the 
 primitive form is in variably determined. Much 
 light has been thrown upon this subject by the 
 microscope, which brings immediately under 
 the eye of the observer the whole process of 
 crystallization, from (in several cases) the 
 primitive form, to the most intricate combina- 
 tion which it ultimately develops. A more 
 beautiful sight cannot be conceived than that 
 which is presented when any saline solution 
 is suffering gradual evaporation under the mi- 
 croscope, and the crystals begin to shoot and 
 extend themselves over the field of the instru- 
 ment. It is not exaggeration to say that it 
 partially draws aside the veil that is cast over 
 the first creation of material forms. Adopting 
 the hypothesis, that primitive chaos was a 
 fluid holding in solution the particles of all 
 solid matter, we may imagine the small drop 
 of water on the stage of the microscope to be- 
 that chaos, from which we see glaciers and 
 rocks rising up with a rapidity, precision, and 
 beauty truly astonishing. 
 
 In Plate 35 the figs. 44 and 45 exhibit 
 the compound crystals of common salt. These 
 have been selected for illustration in conse- 
 quence of their showing the process of super- 
 position in the most simple manner. The 
 figures closely resemble each other ; but 
 in fig. 44 the various laminae are not so 
 easily recognized as in fig. 45. The crystal 
 commences with the formation of the nucleus, 
 which in this case is a very minute cube, com- 
 posed of cubic particles ; a layer of four 
 similar cubes immediately begin to form under 
 this nucleus, and raise it up, or propel it for- 
 ward ; a third layer of nine similar cubes then 
 form under the layer of four ; and thus the 
 crystal goes on increasing, each successive 
 layer taking an additional cube into the side. 
 Now as the cubic particles are small beyond 
 our comprehension, and since the aggregation 
 will frequently be affected by the superposi- 
 tion of lamina?, the thickness of these particles 
 only, it -is easy to conceive the reason why, 
 even in microscopic crystals, the sides frequently 
 present to our weak vision, and its limited 
 aids, a perfectly polished surface free from 
 all irregularities. In fig. 44, the laminas 
 are not perceptible towards the apex of the 
 crystal ; whilst in fig. 45 the layers are dis- 
 tinctly recognised: these varieties are the 
 result of mere accidental circumstances, in the 
 
590 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 one case facilitating, and in the other retard- 
 ing the formation of the successive layers. 
 Fig. 48 is an irregular formation, in which, 
 however, the different laminae exhibit them- 
 selves with much distinctness. Figs. 47 and 
 52 are likewise crystalline structures of com- 
 mon salt ; but their integral parts are too 
 minute to be particularly noted; they are 
 drawn exactly as they appear under a super- 
 ficial magnifying power of 90,000. Fig. 46 
 shows the crystals of saliva, under the same 
 amplifying power ; these, as might naturally 
 be expected, bear strong resemblance to, indeed 
 are nearly identical with, fig. 52. 
 
 Our limits will not permit us to enter ex- 
 tensively into the subject of crystallization ; 
 but we deem it sufficient to have called atten- 
 tion to the fact that the microscope is an inva- 
 luable assistant in detecting the process by 
 which crystalline structures are matured. For 
 the instruction of young experimentalists, we 
 may add, that the salts whose crystals they 
 wish to examine must be dissolved in water ; 
 metallic substances, and those which have me- 
 tallic bases, on being heated, give out 
 crystals as they gradually cool; these latter 
 exhibit beautiful conformations when immer- 
 sed in solutions that act upon them chemically. 
 We conclude with an extract, relevant to our 
 subject, from Gould's Companion to the Mic- 
 roscope, a useful little treatise, by a talented 
 and practical man: 
 
 " Another important field of inquiry by the 
 microscope is chemical action. This opens an 
 endless subject of investigation of a very rich 
 order. The mode of pursuing this class of 
 observations is very simple. Prepare a few 
 pieces of thin and perfectly flat glass, of a size 
 suitable to the stage of the microscope ; some 
 of these should be the eighth of an inch less 
 every way than the others. A variety of che- 
 mical agents should be provided in small glass 
 bottles with stoppers, and a few glass rods 
 about four inches long, with a rounded end, 
 for the purpose of taking up a small drop of 
 liquid. In experimenting, at the outset adapt 
 the focus of the microscope to one of the glass 
 plates. Then, upon one of the larger plates, 
 spread thinly any chemical substance with 
 which you wish to work. Lay the glass upon 
 the stage, and examine leisurely the character 
 and form of the substance. Then, upon one 
 ot the smaller glasses, lay, with a glass rod, a 
 small drop of any acid or other fluid with which 
 you wish to act ; and, having spread it on 
 the glass, lower it down nearly upon the other 
 glass, so that the edges of the upper glass 
 shall not reach beyond the under one ; as the 
 upper glass, when once brought in contact, 
 should never be disturbed. The two substan- 
 ces will thus, by pressure, be reduced to one 
 uniformly thin film; and the action which 
 
 takes place may be very accurately investiga- 
 ted. 
 
 " For instance, let the first glass receive a 
 very minute portion of the carbonate of cop- 
 per, and the upper glass a drop of nitric acid ; 
 on contact, the carbonic acid of the carbonate 
 will be seen coming away in globules, whilst 
 the carbonate of copper breaks down and dis- 
 appears. The field is gradually occupied with 
 a solution of nitrate of copper ; and this is seen 
 to crystallize in minute rhombic crystals. 
 Lift up the upper glass, and add a small drop 
 of ammonia, and slip down the glass again ; 
 the crystals of the nitrate disappear ; a new 
 combination takes place; and you see the 
 beautiful foliations of the nitrate of ammonia 
 interspersed with groups of the still more beau- 
 tiful prisms of the deep blue ammoniuret of cop- 
 per. Or, instead of the ammonia, add muriatic 
 acid ; the nitrate is changed into a grass-green 
 solution of the muriate of copper, which crys- 
 tallizes in bundles of spears shooting in all di- 
 rections across the field of vision. 
 
 " These phenomena may be multiplied to 
 any extent by the use of the numerous chemi- 
 cal agents to be obtained. Iodine presents an 
 endless variety of aspects in combination with 
 different agents. The crystallization of hy- 
 driodate of potass is very beautiful, if a drop 
 of the solution is put on a glass. Put on the 
 other glass sulphuric acid. When brought in 
 contact, the acid takes the potass, and forms 
 crystals of the sulphate of potass, and the iodine 
 is developed both in solution, which passes off 
 by evaporation, and in the crystalline structure 
 of the substance itself. Again : combine solu- 
 tion of iodine with solution of sulphate of 
 soda. The alcohol, in the solution of iodine, 
 takes part of the water from the soda, and the 
 rest of the sulphate of soda crystallizes in 
 prisms. The iodine, deprived of the alcohol, 
 is developed in cherry-red drops of liquid and 
 in dark rhombic crystals. 
 
 " To these observations may be added, the 
 examination of various crystallizations in po- 
 larized light. Between the reflecting mirror 
 and the stage of the microscope insert a plate 
 of tourmaline, so that the condensed light of 
 the mirror be thrown upon the object through 
 the tourmaline. This polarizes the light re- 
 ceived. Then above the eye-piece lay another 
 plate of tourmaline, or, what is better, an ana- 
 lysing prism of Iceland spar. This enables 
 the observer to perceive the changes produced 
 by the polarized light. Many crystals so ob- 
 served, as sulphate of potass, &c. exhibit the 
 most beautiful colouring, according as the up- 
 per plate of tourmaline is turned round on its 
 axis. Some crystals, as nitrate of potass, ex- 
 hibit these colours without the upper, or ana- 
 lysing plate. The laminas of the crystal itself, 
 as is the case with the mineral called iolitc or 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 591 
 
 dichroite, serve to polarize the light passing 
 through it, and to make it visible. 
 
 " A few other similar experiments may be 
 mentioned : 
 
 " I. Add sulphuric acid to common salt, or 
 muriate of soda, or to carbonate of ammonia. 
 
 " 2. Add sulphuric acid to bichromate of pot- 
 ass or muriate of soda. The result is crystals 
 of sulphate of soda, with chloro-chromic acid. 
 
 " 3. Add acetic acid to the bichromate of pot- 
 ass. The crystallization of the bichromate 
 takes place in very beautiful forms, 
 
 " 4. Add sulphate of alumina and potass to 
 muriate of cobalt. The crystals of the alum 
 form in great perfection. 
 
 "5. Add acetic acid to nitrate of copper. The 
 biperacetate of copper forms slowly and crystal- 
 lizes in great beauty. 
 
 " 6. Add terrocyanate of potass to sulphate 
 of iron. 
 
 " 7. Add nitrate of potass, or aqua potassze, to 
 sulphuric acid. The sulphate of potass forms 
 in solution. Raise the upper glass with a 
 knife the smallest degree, and let it fall again ; 
 the crystallization is instant. 
 
 " 8. The smallest drop of any liquid contain- 
 ing lead may be examined by the usual tests 
 for lead ; and wine may, in the same way, be 
 tested in a drop not bigger than a pin's point. 
 
 "9. The ben-iodide of mercury is a beautiful 
 crystal, and open to a variety of experiments. 
 
 " 10. Investigate the comparative purity of 
 successive crystallizations of nitrate of potass." 1 
 
 In proceeding to consider the formation of 
 minute mineral bodies, our attention is called, 
 in the first place, to what are designated the 
 active molecules of matter. With the excep- 
 tion of bodies perfectly soluble in water, 
 metals that cannot be reduced to atoms suf- 
 ficiently minute, and a few other substances, 
 the whole range of matter exhibits the phe- 
 nomena of molecular activity. The method of 
 bringing these atoms under microscopic in- 
 vestigation is very simple. On a slip of glass, 
 adapted to the stage of the microscope, place 
 a small drop of water ; then with any sub- 
 stance sufficiently hard, rub the mineral body 
 whose atoms you require; touch the water 
 with the rubber, and it will transfer to the 
 fluid the minute particles separated by friction. 
 Apply a deep power, say a one-twentieth inch 
 doublet, and a vast number of apparently small 
 spheres will be seen in rapid and continual 
 motion. This motion of the particles will not 
 cease in any definite time, if care be taken to 
 supply fresh water as the other evaporates. 
 The movement of these atoms very closely re- 
 sembles that of the infusorial monads and the 
 spermatic animalcules. The writer was led 
 himself to experiment on the nature of these 
 
 1 Gould's Companion to the Microscope, p. 62, et seq. 
 
 active molecules, and from a variety of phe- 
 nomena presented by minute particles of cam- 
 phor floating in spirits of turpentine, he was 
 led to attribute the activity to electric or mag- 
 netic agency. Having put a drop of spirits 
 of turpentine on a slip of glass, he added 
 thereto an extremely thin shaving of camphor, 
 which was rapidly decomposed by the spirit, 
 and fell down into minute crystals, spheres, 
 cylinders, circular planes, &c. The activity 
 of these tiny forms was truly wonderful and 
 delightful to witness ; and though this is not 
 the great point to which he would now direct 
 attention, he still thinks that a detailed ac- 
 count of the appearances will be interesting 
 to all who have not made similar observations. 
 The crystals were rhomboidal, and frequently 
 revolved with greater or less rapidity on their 
 longest axis; after turning one way for some 
 time, they would then reverse their motion ; 
 at other times, the revolving movement would 
 be entirely suspended, and they would direct 
 alternately the two ends (poles?) of their axis 
 to some particular point in the field. The 
 spheres exhibited the same phenomena in re- 
 volving, with this peculiarity, that the rapidity 
 of their motion far exceeded that of the crystals ; 
 and whenever they ceased to revolve, it was 
 to fly off in a right line to another quarter of 
 the field. It should be remarked that whilst 
 revolving, neither the crystals nor the spheres 
 made any progressive advance, at least speak- 
 ing generally. The circular planes revolved 
 in like manner on a diametric axis ; and these 
 progressed over the field in the direction of the 
 revolution. The small cylindric forms pointed 
 their ends alternately to the same point, fre- 
 quently revolved on their axes, and occasion- 
 ally exhibited all the lively motions of the 
 most active vibrio animalcules. When the 
 crystallizing process began, as the turpentine 
 evaporated round the edges of the field, these 
 several forms cleared from the centre and 
 united themselves to the foliations. It was 
 then that a vast number of very minute par- 
 ticles were discovered, moving rapidly in the 
 manner of ordinary molecular atoms ; as the 
 star-shaped crystals began to form in the 
 midst of them, they were^seen to strike rapidly 
 and repeatedly against the projecting points, 
 till at length they adhered to the mass, and 
 were incorporated with it. The phenomenon 
 was precisely that of an insulated cork ball 
 striking against the conductor of an electrical 
 machine, in which case it becomes electrified 
 itself and is repelled, when quickly losing the 
 electricity it had acquired, it again strikes the 
 conductor. It seems probable then that mole- 
 cular activity is the mere result of successive 
 attraction and repulsion among a vast number 
 of suspended particles ; and it does not appear 
 difficult to conceive that motion will be- 
 
592 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 get motion in such a host of atoms, and that 
 their activity may be indefinitely prolonged. 
 We shall again refer to the activity of mole- 
 cules when we come to speak of infusorial and 
 spermatic animalcules whose movements they 
 greatly resemble. 
 
 Ores and minerals should first be examined 
 in very small portions in their native state ; 
 as their complex structure cannot be so well 
 understood from an artificial crystallization, 
 which father developes primitive forms and 
 elementary principles. The crystalline for- 
 mations and foliations of any mineral may be 
 subjected to microscopic examination, by dis- 
 solving a few particles in muriatic or nitric 
 acid. It would answer no purpose to enter 
 into an extended description of the crystalline 
 structures of minerals, as exhibited under the 
 microscope ; since these can only be adequately 
 comprehended from actual observation, or from 
 very elaborate illustrative engravings. We 
 shall therefore confine ourselves to the mention 
 of a variety of minute native bodies discovered 
 by various observers. 
 
 On the sea-shore, along the banks of rivers, 
 and in many inland places, various species of 
 sand are discovered, widely differing from 
 each other, and all exhibiting a beauty of 
 structure and finish well worthy of observation. 
 " These species differ in colour, figure and 
 size ; and as among stones some are called 
 precious for their excellency, so also amongst 
 sands there are some that deserve the same 
 epithet for their beauty. The grains of sea- 
 sarid are very large, and afford great variety 
 of all shapes and colours, both opaque and 
 transparent. River sands are smaller grained , 
 of different colours and forms ; and the in- 
 land, or pit sands, vary also exceedingly, 
 being some white, some brown, some yellow, 
 &c." " These varieties are very agreeable to 
 examine by the microscope, which shows, in 
 some of the shining kinds, grains having all 
 numbers of sides and angles, and so finely 
 polished, that no diamond is more exquisitely 
 beautiful. On others, grotesque figures, or 
 representations of landscapes, buildings, plants 
 and animals at once surprise and please." 
 There are several kinds of black sand brought 
 from the East Indies, and also from Virginia 
 and other parts of America, which exhibit 
 beautifully polished surfaces, and may be 
 attracted by the load-stone. A red-coloured 
 sand is also brought from abroad (we believe 
 from Africa) which presents a delightful pic- 
 ture under the magnifier, resembling a heap 
 of gems carelessly thrown together. 
 
 Small, irregularly shaped particles of the 
 precious stones, are very interesting micro- 
 scopic objects. Leuwenhoeck's method of 
 examining the diamond, and the phenomena 
 it presented, are thus described by Baker. 
 
 " He broke a small one between two hammers, 
 and placing the pieces before his microscope, 
 in the sun-shine, he saw many sparkling 
 flames issue from them, with a continual cor- 
 ruscation, in some, like faint lightning. 
 Then viewing them in the shade, he observed, 
 among other pleasing appearances, a little 
 flame that seemed to dart from each particle 
 of the diamond : and it was a glorious sight 
 to behold multitudes of sparkling flames, most 
 of a bright fire colour, and others greenish, 
 flashing faintly and like lightning at a dis- 
 tance. In other pieces of the diamond the 
 lamella, or layers, were very plainly distin- 
 guished." This description is somewhat 
 grandiloquent, yet perfectly agrees with later 
 observations : the powerful refractions of this 
 gem and its structure are both very distinctly 
 developed by the microscope. Minute crystal- 
 line formations, vulgarly called diamonds, are 
 frequently found in the cavities of flint or 
 rock ; these vary considerably in form, and 
 by their action on the rays of light become 
 objects of great interest to the microscopical 
 observer. Sir David Brewster has called 
 attention to the singularly shaped microscopic 
 cavities in gems and other mineral bodies, 
 " containing two fluids unknown to the 
 chemist, groups of crystals, floating balls, and 
 exhibiting actual chemical operations going 
 on in these minute laboratories when exposed 
 to changes of temperature. In some of the 
 precious stones, particularly in diamond, 
 garnet, &c., these cavities are perfect spheres." 
 In his recent Treatise on the microscope, this 
 unwearied observer gives diagrams of " the 
 cavities containing the two new fluids that 
 will not mix, though in the same cavity ; " 
 and also of the beautiful spear-shaped cavities 
 formed in topaz. 
 
 The examination of the interior minerals, 
 such as common free-stone, &c., whilst it has 
 gratified the observer with a view of their 
 structure, has also developed serviceable truths 
 relative to the value and capabilities of the 
 materials in the ordinary concerns of life. 
 Their compactness or porosity, their durable 
 or perishable nature, may be determined with 
 much exactness by the aid of the microscope. 
 What is called Kettering stone (from the 
 locality of the quarry whence it is dug) is 
 shown, for example, to be eminently adapted 
 for filters, as it is composed of small globular 
 particles cohering so firmly together as to form 
 a substance harder then free-stone, yet is 
 filled with innumerable interstices arising 
 from the spherical surfaces touching only in 
 certain points. 
 
 Before dismissing this portion of our sub- 
 ject, it may be interesting to transcribe the re- 
 marks of the old micrographers regarding the 
 minute globules of steel produced by the com. 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 533 
 
 nion operation of striking- fire from flint and 
 steel. 
 
 " In the common way of striking fire with 
 a flint and steel, fiery sparks fly out at every 
 blow; which sparks are nothing more than 
 small pieces of the flint or steel, (but usually 
 of the steel) broken off by the violence of the 
 stroke, and either melted instantaneously into 
 steel globules, or made at least red hot, and 
 thereby capable of kindling tinder or touch- 
 wood. The heat is likewise so intense as 
 sometimes even to vitrify the broken particles. 
 Dr Hooke struck .fire over a sheet of very 
 white paper, and observing diligently where 
 the sparks seemed to vanish, he discovered 
 there certain very small, black, but glittering 
 and movable specks, which when examined 
 with his microscope, appeared to be little round 
 globules; some whereof did, from their sur- 
 face, yield a very bright and strong reflection 
 on that side next the light, and resembled iron 
 balls. The melting of the particles of steel, 
 instantaneously, upon the collision, is very 
 wonderful, and comes up nearly to the effects 
 of lightning.'' The combustible nature of iron 
 and steel is evidenced by the simple experi- 
 ment of letting drop the filings of either 
 through the flame of a candle, when a num- 
 ber of the particles will be found melted into 
 small globules. On burning a red wafer over 
 a piece of glass, and submitting the latter to 
 the microscope, several very regularly formed 
 globules of lead will be discovered. 
 
 We must now glance at the minute petri- 
 factions, and fossil remains, of marine animals, 
 insects, animalcules and vegetables ; and this 
 division of our subject will bring before us 
 startling discoveries, to which the mind is 
 scarcely disposed to give credence. A little 
 reflection, however, upon the mighty opera- 
 tions which are continually going forward in 
 the microscopic world, will lead us to appre- 
 hend so much of these wonders as is necessary 
 to excite our belief in them. We shall of 
 course be understood to refer to the infusorial 
 organic remains discovered by Ehrenberg. 
 
 Referring to the remains of marine animals, 
 Mr Pritchard has the following observations, 
 in his Microscopic Illustrations, p. 20 : " Look 
 at the discoveries of Agassiz on the fossil crea- 
 tures of the deep! By a microscopic investi- 
 gation of such portions of them as have with- 
 stood the destructive power of time, namely, 
 their scaly covering, he has been able so to 
 group and class them, that the characters and 
 habits of the genera belonging to each distinct 
 era are clearly demonstrated. A microscopic 
 examination also of the testaceous remains of 
 sundry Entomostraceans, found in slate-clay 
 formations, now elevated much above the le- < 
 vel of the sea, prove them to have been at some ! 
 time or other imbedded in the waters. And 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 the naturalist may even determine by an in- 
 spection of the shell, whether the species were 
 the inhabitants of fresh or salt water, and con 
 sequently whether the strata themselves were 
 the indurated beds of the sea, or of some river 
 or lake." 
 
 Fossil remains of insects have hitherto 
 rarely been met with ; and of those which 
 have been discovered very few are satisfacto- 
 rily developed by the microscope. Blumenbach 
 divides them into three sections. j^ 
 
 I. " The Determinable ; such foi instance as 
 those found in the schist at Oeningen, larvas 
 of Libellulag, Notonectas, &c. II. Dubious; 
 to which head belong most of those inclosed in 
 amber, as also most of the petrified crabs. 
 III. Unknown; such are the celebrated Dudley- 
 fossils, which are found in various places, but 
 no where finer than at Dudley, in Worcester- 
 shire, and frequently retaining their crab-like 
 shell." Plate 4, figs. 39, 40,41, 42,43, 50,95, 
 represent a few of the insects that have been 
 discovered in a fossil state ; as these are par- 
 ticularly noticed in the general summary of 
 organic remains, it would be needless .repeti- 
 tion to describe them here. Plate 35, fig. 41, 
 exhibits a singular insect, much resembling a 
 mite, discovered in a siliceous formation at 
 Uckfield in Sussex. It is drawn with nearly 
 four times the surface it exhibited under a 
 doublet of one-thirtieth inch focus. Its real 
 size seems to vary from 1 -3000th to 1-1 500th 
 of an inch in diameter. 
 
 The recent discovery of animalcular fos- 
 sils by Dr Ehrenberg of Berlin, has caused a 
 great sensation in the philosophical world, and 
 promises to aid in no small degree the ad- 
 vancement of geological science. " These re- 
 mains," says Sir David Brewster,"are the si- 
 liceous shells of animalcules belonging to the 
 division Bacillaria, and form strata of tripoli, 
 or poli-schiefer (polishing-slate), at Franzen- 
 bad, in Bohemia. M. Ehrenberg has still 
 more recently discovered them in the semi- 
 opal found along with the polishing-slate in 
 the tertiary strata of Belin, in the chalk flints, 
 and even in the semi-opal or noble opal, of the 
 porphyritic rocks. The size of a single indi- 
 vidual of these animals is about l-288th of 
 a line, or l-3456th of an inch. In the po- 
 lishing slate from Belin, in which there ap- 
 pear to be no vacuities, a cubic line contains, in 
 round numbers, 23 millions of these animals, 
 and a cubic inch contains 41,000 millions of 
 them. The weight of a cubic inch of the po- 
 lishing-slate is 270 grains. There are, there- 
 fore, 187 millions of these animals in a single 
 grain, or the siliceous covering of one of these 
 animals weighs the 187th millionth part of a 
 grain !" 
 
 We anticipate the questions which will 
 arise on a perusal of this brief statement: 
 4 v 
 
594 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 How can animalcules so inconceivably minute 
 be congregated in such masses? What new 
 powers have been added to the microscope by 
 which it is enabled to develope these delicate 
 formations ? In reply to the latter question, 
 we simply state the fact, that recently a high 
 degree of defining and penetrating power has 
 been given to the microscope, for want of 
 which, at an earlier period, researches into the 
 minutice of nature were frequently inconclu- 
 sive anjideceptive. Deeper magnifiers than 
 any formerly known are now, also, brought 
 into effective use. The first inquiry, how 
 can these animalcules be collected in such 
 countless myriads of myriads ? will be satis- 
 factorily answered in the following extracts 
 from a most talented article in Chambers' 
 Edinburgh Journal. 
 
 " The productions of the kindred zoophytes, 
 in the innumerable coral reefs and islands 
 which bestud the ocean, are truly wonderful ; 
 but not less astonishing certainly is it, that the 
 organic remains of these invisible atoms should 
 abound to such an extent, as actually, in the 
 language of Dr Ehrenberg,to swell in no small 
 measure the amount of the solid matter of 
 the crust of the globe. Many of these ani- 
 malcules are of a beautiful green colour. If 
 water, then, containing some of these, be taken 
 from a pool or marsh, and conveyed into a co- 
 vered vessel, a layer of fine powder, speedily 
 becoming a green crust, will ere long be found 
 on its surface, and more particularly near the 
 margin of the glass. This crust, at first a 
 bright green, gradually assumes a brown and 
 yellow hue. This constitutes the well known 
 Priestley matter of former days, which at one 
 time so much engaged the attention of philo- 
 sophers. It seems formed of the more solid 
 portions of these animalcules, which, in succes- 
 sive generations, have ceased to live." The 
 fecundity of these small animals is beyond all 
 conception : each individual produces a host; 
 and " generation succeeds to generation with 
 a rapidity which cannot be estimated, and 
 their remains thus accumulate in countless 
 myriads, and to a vast extent." The slimy 
 substance which not unfreqnently covers stag- 
 nant waters, and is sometimes spread over 
 wet and marshy soils, has been discovered to 
 consist of large masses of animalcules in thin 
 layers. " When we are thus informed of lay- 
 ers of dead infusoria formed on common 
 marshes, or in ditches, we are in some mea- 
 sure prepared to understand how the same 
 substances may have formed great layers or 
 strata, taking their place amongst the other 
 rocks which fall under the attention of the ge- 
 ologist. The fact, however it may be received, 
 is so. Vast layers of rock, at or near the sur- 
 face of the earth, and many feet in thickness, 
 have been discovered in various parts of the 
 
 world, which the microscope has found to be 
 composed solely of the shields or hard parts of 
 Infusoria ; these remains of Infusoria having, 
 of course, been deposited from great bodies of 
 water which formerly overspread the place. 
 Dr Ehrenberg has actually shown, by experi- 
 ment in the royal deer park at Berlin, how such 
 rocks may be formed by means of the Infus- 
 ory tribes ; and the only difference between 
 the crust formed in experiments like his, and 
 a layer of rock several feet thick, and of 
 large extent, is in the scale on which the 
 phenomenon takes place. In the one case 
 we have a natural operation on a large 
 scale, and in the other an artificial operation 
 on a small one. All the other features of 
 the process must be considered as identical." 
 The writer from whom we have been quoting, 
 dismisses his subject with these apposite re- 
 marks : " No doubt the abundant vegetation 
 of the elder world, to which we are also in- 
 debted for our beds of coal, had something to 
 do with the production of these vast quantities 
 of animalcules, which never fail to be found 
 where the least amount of dead vegetable mat- 
 ter has been allowed to rest in still water. 
 Extensive seas of fresh water, commingled 
 with decaying forests, or which had passed 
 over such, would be the birth place of our fossil 
 Infusoria, the remains of which, as generation 
 after generation perished, would sink in an im- 
 palpable powder to the bottom . and there in time 
 be accumulated in the form of a layer of rock." 
 The fossil remains of vegetables present 
 most interesting phenomena to the geologist; 
 these have been already referred to and illus- 
 trated in the course of the work, and in this 
 place we have only to notice that the micro- 
 scope affords considerable aid in the develop- 
 ment of this class of objects, particularly the 
 fossil woods, specimens of which can now be 
 procured cut so extremely thin as to admit of 
 their being viewed by transmitted light, by 
 which means all their peculiarities of struc- 
 ture can be readily ascertained. We shall 
 lay before the reader Mr Pritchard's eloquent 
 and philosophical remarks on this subject : 
 " To the botanist the aid of the microscope is 
 indispensable. In the investigation of our 
 fossil-flora, what does it not exhibit to us ! 
 How beautiful and delicate is the structure 
 of the envelope of some of the fossil-fruits; 
 those, for instance of our London clay, 
 when viewed under this instrument! And 
 how important is it, that, by its assistance, 
 we can determine with accuracy the natural 
 orders, genera, and sometimes the very species 
 of the trees and plants of former epochs ! 
 How, beyond all question, is now demonstrated 
 Ihe vegetable origin of our coal ! Preserved 
 within a bituminous lump of coal, which has 
 been deposited for thousands of years deep in 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 595 
 
 the bowels of the earth, you may discern not 
 only the woody fibre, its arrangement, and 
 (he disposal and form of the medullary rays, 
 but even the most delicate of the vegetable 
 organs, such as the spiral vessels and the 
 beautiful terminations of those vessels ! These 
 are distinctly discoverable as in the finest pre- 
 parations of a recent plant. And what can 
 be more amusing and instructive than the 
 examinationof the silicified woods, when formed 
 into sections no thicker than the paper of a 
 bank-note? Thus rendered pervious to light, 
 the organic structure of the wood becomes 
 plainly distinguishable. And emanating from 
 this, what can be a more interesting subject 
 than the inquiry into the mode in which the 
 silicifying process has been carried on by 
 which the constituent elements of the inmost 
 and minutest portions are changed whilst 
 their form and situation and colour remain the 
 same ? In investigating also that extinct genus 
 of plants, the Lepidodendra, a similar idea is 
 raised in the mind, as to what must have been 
 the particular state of the earth with respect 
 to atmosphere and temperature at the period 
 of their growth, and what the changes which 
 have since taken place, in order to bring it to 
 its present condition." " In the foregoing 
 remarks on the application of the microscope 
 to botanical purposes, I have given the reader 
 only a general outline ; to enter upon any thing 
 like details, would of necessity extend our in- 
 troductory chapter of this description far be- 
 yond its proper bounds. I may, nevertheless, 
 be permitted to make use of one example by 
 way of illustration. But how shall I select 
 one where the materials suited to construct it 
 are so superabundant, and where they all 
 present so many points of interest ? It will 
 be readily admitted that this is by no means 
 an easy choice. I will limit my observations, 
 however, to a single microscopic slider, and see 
 what instruction is derivable from it. Suppose 
 this slider to contain some sections of a fossil 
 wood ; for instance, three specimens or shavings 
 of such extreme tenuity, that if they were ex- 
 posed, they would be wafted away on the 
 slightest breeze. Let them be weighed, and 
 they will not exceed a grain. Hand them to 
 the chemist, and he can only prove to you 
 that their primary constituents are oxygen, 
 hydrogen, carbon, &c., and in so doing, he will 
 destroy them. What, then, does an inspec- 
 tion of them under the microscope reveal ? It 
 will tell you, in the first place, whether they 
 grew up, like our forest trees, by yearly ad- 
 ditions to the outside of their woody centres, 
 or by internal accessions, like most of the pro- 
 ductions of the tropics. It will tell you 
 whether their leaves were veined or not 
 whether their embryos were dicotyledons or 
 monocotvledons whether the trees from which 
 
 they were cut had branches or not and, if 
 they had, whether these were thick and sturdy, 
 like the boughs of the oak ; or thin and flexible, 
 like the branches of the fir tribe. It will tell 
 you whether the wood might be easily cleft 
 asunder, like deal ; or would sooner break, 
 like beech ; whether it was elastic, like the 
 pine so admirably suited for the masts of 
 ships ; or like the stubborn oak, would rather 
 snap than yield to the wind. These are some 
 of the ordinary properties developed by the 
 microscope. Again, in taking a more minute 
 physiological survey, our information will be 
 by no means less complete. For these same 
 specimens will disclose to us, under the mi- 
 croscope, the form and arrangement of their 
 woody fibres, the disposition of their barks, 
 the beautiful structure of the tubular recep- 
 tacles by which their secretions have been 
 carried on, and their growth promoted. In 
 short, so much will be revealed by them in 
 this manner, that the actual distinction between 
 a wild and a cultivated tree may be, in some 
 cases, clearly traced." 1 
 
 We now proceed to the second branch of 
 our subject, namely, the consideration of the 
 minute formations and phenomena of the 
 Vegetable Kingdom. Here opens a rich field 
 of interesting observation, and the more in- 
 teresting because it embraces an extensive 
 range of objects with which readers in general 
 can claim familiar acquaintance, so far as their 
 features are obvious to the unassisted eye. It 
 would, we venture to say, be difficult to find 
 a person, young or old, who, in his rural walk, 
 has not stopped to look upon the broad and 
 massive foliage of the oak, or rested beneath 
 the shade of its far spreading branches, who 
 has not gathered the wild flowers that em- 
 broidered his sylvan couch, and wondered at 
 theirsurpassing loveliness, or has not lingered 
 with pleasing delight amidst the luxuriant 
 display of vbgetable beauty in the carefully 
 tended flower-garden. And to those who look 
 with admiration on trees, plants, and flowers, 
 as they exhibit themselves to the unaided 
 sight, and in a passing glance, it cannot be 
 uninteresting to know that under these obvious 
 beauties lie concealed formations so exquisite, 
 and mechanical powers so wonderfully con- 
 trived by the great Artificer of nature to pro- 
 duce, sustain, and carry on the vegetable or- 
 ganization, that, wanting a knowledge of 
 these, we can scarcely be said to know any- 
 thing of the vegetable creation. And here 
 again we call Mr Pritchard to our aid : 
 " Vegetable organography," he observes, 
 " upon which the modern botanist depends so 
 much for his systematic arrangement, and 
 
 1 Pritchard's Microscopic Illustrations, New Edition, 
 pp. 21 and 25. 
 
SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Ji which the student is so greatly interested, 
 .nd amused, owes almost its very existence 
 to the microscope. This observation will be 
 found to apply in an especial manner both to 
 the cellular and vascular tissues of plants. 
 The membraneous cellules of cellular tissue 
 are sometimes not more than 1-1 000th of an 
 inch in diameter ; and those of the ordinary 
 size, are about l-200th or l-300th. How then 
 is it possible that we could become acquainted 
 with their forms and arrangement but by the 
 aid of the microscope ? And so with respect 
 to vascular tissue : it is absolutely indispensa- 
 ble toward acquiring an accurate knowledge 
 of the structure and forms of these membrane- 
 ous tubes, and of the spiral, or annular, fibre 
 that surrounds them. A knowledge of the 
 fructification, if I may so express myself, of 
 that numerous and curious class of plants, the 
 Acrogens, could not be obtained without it ; 
 nor could the existence of many of them, such 
 as the Fungi, Algae, and some of the Musci, 
 be proved. By its powers, even the ashes of 
 vegetables may be seen to contain the decisive 
 characteristics of organic structure ; and the 
 long debated question of the antiquarian 
 whether the " fine linen of Egypt" in the times 
 of the Pharaohs, was of linen or cotton fibre, 
 seeing the latter is now indigenous to that 
 country, is for ever set at rest." 
 
 But, not to insist in this place on the aid 
 afforded by the microscope to the professed 
 botanist or the scientific inquirer, let us glance 
 at those simple yet highly interesting and 
 pleasing observations, which appeal so forcibly 
 to every one who has a mind constituted to 
 relish and enjoy the beauties of nature. In 
 an ordinary survey of flowers, we found our 
 admiration on the beautiful shape and texture 
 of the petals, their number, colour and arrange- 
 ment ; and the singular or striking disposition 
 of the stamina and other parts reposing in the 
 cup of the blossom. But when we take a 
 single flower and subject it in detached parts 
 to microscopic examination, what a fund of 
 pleasing knowledge is opened to us ! The 
 velvet surface of the petals is resolved into a 
 fabric which no human art can imitate ; and 
 the stamens and adjacent parts when examined 
 in detail, exhibit formations which could not 
 have been conceived to exist in so small a 
 space. Every flower has microscopic beauties 
 peculiar to itself; and it would occupy the 
 leisure of an extended life, to make one min- 
 utely acquainted with the floral products of 
 the humblest village garden. Then, again, 
 what a variety of shape and character is to be 
 observed in seeds ; some with beautiful shining 
 surfaces, others most singularly marked and 
 igured, or strangely peculiar in form, or pro- 
 'ided with curiously wrought appendages, 
 yet all strikingly adapted to further and assist 
 
 the reproduction of the plants to which they 
 respectively belong. The fibres, veins, pe- 
 culiarities of surface, &c., of the plant leaves 
 demand careful investigation ; and the young 
 wood of the shoots is likewise worthy of being 
 minutely examined. A thin transverse sec- 
 tion of the latter discovers under the micros- 
 cope a structure resembling, but far surpassing, 
 the richest lace work. It is time, however, 
 to leave these desultory remarks, and proceed 
 with our subject in an orderly manner. 
 
 We have before alluded to the active mole- 
 cules of matter in connection with the mineral 
 kingdom, and we are now briefly to notice the 
 same phenomenon of atomic activity in vege- 
 tables. Indeed, it was during a course of ex- 
 perimental observations on the latter sub- 
 stances, that this phenomenon was first wit- 
 nessed by Robert Brown, Esq. F.R.S. Hav- 
 ing found that the pollen of plants, when 
 suspended in water, exhibits a most remarkable 
 activity, evidently resulting from other causes 
 than the agitation of the fluid or the breath of 
 the observer, he naturally concluded, that the 
 minute particles of inorganic bodies might 
 present similar appearances, if similarly sus- 
 pended. 1 This conclusion is proved to be cor- 
 rect. So far as the writer has observed, there 
 is no difference between the motions of mineral 
 and vegetable molecules, beyond what may 
 be explained by the different principles on 
 which these two species of atoms are presumed 
 to combine, for the formation of inorganic and 
 organic bodies. Our space will not permit 
 us to speculate on this point of identity between 
 the vegetable and mineral kingdoms ; it must, 
 however, strike the reflecting reader as a re- 
 markable circumstance, that the minutest 
 atoms of vegetable and mineral bodies are con- 
 trolled by one common law ; and he may be 
 led to the inference that probably organic and 
 inorganic bodies are produced by one and the 
 same principle, modified by secondary agen- 
 cies. There is, notwithstanding, this broad 
 and decisive distinction between organic and 
 inorganic structures ; the former are mere ag- 
 gregations of atoms, the latter are laboratories, 
 in which complicated operations are continu- 
 ally going forward to prepare matter, so that 
 it may assimilate with and enter into their 
 constitution. 
 
 The circulation of the fluids in plants seems 
 to link them with animal existences ; but we 
 find, on close examination, that the motion of 
 vegetable fluids differs widely from that of 
 the blood. Blumenbach observes; "How- 
 ever varied the reticular and other connections 
 of the vessels may be, no relation can be 
 
 1 This molecular activity is exhibited, riot in the vege- 
 table dust, palpable to the naked eye, arid usually named 
 the pollen, but in the particles of the true farina hereafter 
 to be noticed. 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 597 
 
 detected between them, of such a nature as to 
 keep up a circulation of fluids, such as is 
 found in all red-blooded, and so many white- 
 blooded animals." Most probably what is 
 termed the circulation in plants is nothing 
 more than the nutritive juices proceeding 
 through capillary vessels to all parts of the 
 plants, whence they do not return. The 
 reader may, however, choose to hear Mr 
 Pritchard's remarks on this subject, the more 
 particularly as they are the result of careful 
 observation with the finest instruments that 
 can be constructed. " The circulation in 
 plants, termed cyclosis, is a revolution of the 
 fluid contained in each cellule, and is dis- 
 tinct from those surrounding it. It can be 
 observed in all plants in which the circu- 
 lating fluid contains particles of a different 
 refractive power or intensity, and the cellules 
 are of sufficient size and transparency. Hence 
 all lactescent plants, or those having a milky 
 juice, with the other conditions, exhibit this 
 phenomenon. The following aquatic plants 
 are g nerally transparent enough to show the 
 circulation in every part of them : Nitella 
 Hyalina, Nitella translucens, Chara vulgaris, 
 and Caulinia frigalis. In the Frog-bit 
 (Hydrocharis) it is best seen in the stipulae of 
 the leaves and the ends of the roots. The 
 magnifying powers suited for the above are 
 between 100 and 250 times linear. In the 
 Spider-wort (Tradescantia virginica) it is 
 seen in the filaments surrounding the stamens 
 of the flowers: power required, 300 to 500 
 times linear. In the common groundsel 
 (Senecio vulgaris) it is said to be seen in the 
 hairs surrounding the stalks and flowers." 
 
 The respiration of plants is another feature 
 in which we trace a similarity between vege- 
 table and animal bodies. The leaves in 
 plants answer the same purpose as the lungs 
 in animals, " for the execution of the phlogis- 
 tic process, which in the latter, is effected 
 principally by the inspiration of the respira- 
 ble part of the air on its basis, oxygen ; and 
 which, in plants, is performed almost exclu- 
 sively by the leaves. In plants also, this re- 
 spirable gas, or its basis, is, as in animals, 
 indispensable to the support of life ; particu- 
 larly as Ingen-Housz's experiments have 
 rendered probable, for the purpose of prepar- 
 ing in their vital laboratory their principal 
 material of nutrition, carbonic acid, the excess 
 of which they subsequently exhale in the form 
 of carbonic acid gas. This important process 
 .is carried on in its greatest activity in the 
 dark. During the day-time, on the contrary, 
 and particularly in sun-shine, it is much 
 more languid : hence at such time, plants 
 prepare and consume carbonic acid in smaller 
 quantities ; and, on the contrary, evolve 
 oxygen, the respirable part of the atmosphere. 
 
 from their leaves." By the assistance of the 
 microscope we discover, in the cuticle on the 
 under side of the leaves, a number of small 
 openings, termed stomata, which are considered 
 subservient to the respiration of plants, as well 
 as to the exhalation of the fluids which are 
 evaporated from them in considerable quantities. 
 It is worthy of remark with reference to the 
 evaporation of moisture, that this process is as 
 necessary to vegetable, as that of perspiration 
 is to animal life ; for if the stomata of the leaf 
 be closed up artificially, or otherwise, the 
 plant, or that immediate part of it, becomes 
 diseased and withers. The alternate exhala- 
 tion of oxygen and carbonic acid gas from the 
 leaves of plants, must appear a remarkable 
 provision, subservient to the health and comfort 
 of man. During the day, when mankind are 
 in activity and requiring a full supply of re- 
 spirable air, the plants, in place of taking 
 from, add to its healthy qualities ; and when, 
 at night, the human race are wrapt in slum- 
 bers, and the functions of the animal body are 
 performed with less activity, and when conse- 
 quently less oxygen is required to carry them 
 on, the plants, in turn, take in their supply of 
 this gas, evolving it again with the morning 
 light for the benefit of the awakening world. 
 
 Let us notice a few of the interesting facts 
 ascertained from a microscopic examination of 
 a flower. We will begin with the petals, or 
 leaves, which surround and protect the repro- 
 ductive organs of the vegetable, arid constitute 
 the largest portion of the flower. The upper 
 and under surface of these are first to be ex- 
 amined, and the disposition of the downy 
 covering, or spines, or other remarkable fea- 
 tures, carefully noted. If then we are able to 
 separate the cuticle on the under side, it will 
 discover to us the stomata ; and the removal 
 of the cuticle exposes the absorbents of the 
 petal, whose use is to absorb the elements of 
 vegetable nutrition from the atmosphere. 
 Strip off' the remaining petals from the flower, 
 and leave only the reproductive organs on the 
 receptacle, or base. Take one of the stamens 
 and carefully observe it ; it consists of two 
 parts, t\\e filament, and the anther. The former 
 of these is found to be a capillary tube for the 
 conveyance of nutrition to the anther, a vari- 
 ously shaped body placed on the summit of 
 the stamen. The anther is the principal object 
 of regard. When submitted to microscopic 
 examination, a number of minute particles are 
 seen scattered over its surface, but if it be 
 pressed, and its interior displayed, the particles 
 become innumerable ; these are, what is 
 usually termed, the pollen or fertilizing dust 
 necessary for the impregnation of the pistil, 
 or female organ of the blossom. They exhibit 
 a most wonderful variety of structure in dif. 
 ferent flowers, and have always been objects 
 
598 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 of great interest to the microscopic observer. 
 Plate 34, fig. 28, is the pollen of the marsh- 
 mallow, consisting of small globes thickly 
 studded with prickles. These atoms are not, 
 however, the actual farina ; for on examination 
 with deep powers they are found to be delicate 
 little bags, containing an inconceivably tine 
 powder, the true vegetable semen. The pistil 
 is the next object for observation : it consists 
 of three parts, the germen, the style, and the 
 stigma. The style is a hollow tube, forming 
 a communication between the other parts of the 
 pistil ; the stigma is usually a small bulbous 
 substance supported by the style ; and the 
 germert is the lower extremity of the pistil, 
 reposing within the corolla of the flower. At 
 the time of fecundation the farina falls on the 
 stigma s whence it is presumed to pass through 
 the style to the germen, the seeds in which 
 thus become impregnated and indued with 
 vegetable vitality. The stigma in some 
 flowers is either divided, or has a small open- 
 ing which contracts and expands at intervals ; 
 in others this organ exhibits a porous surface ; 
 in either case it is suitably constructed for the 
 office it fulfils. The germen is the most re- 
 markable part of the pistil, answering to the 
 ovaries in animals. If the outer covering be 
 care fully removed, the seeds will be discovered, 
 clustered like grapes, and a considerable dif- 
 ference of formation will be observed in the 
 germen of different flowers. We have here 
 slightly glanced at a few leading facts elicited 
 from a microscopic examination of blossoms ; 
 and in connection with them, we would men- 
 tion the singular means by which the impreg- 
 nation of the pistil by the farina is frequently 
 effected. Some flowers are hermaphrodite, 
 and contain within themselves both the male 
 and female organs of reproduction ; others are 
 either male or female. ** The motion which 
 is observed at the time of impregnation in 
 those flowers which unite the sexes is very 
 remarkable : thus, for example, the stamina of 
 the common barberry, when touched on their 
 inner side, (that turned towards the germen) 
 as may happen when an insect settles on 
 the flower, to suck the honey from its basis, 
 suddenly move inwards, and strike their 
 anthers against the stigma, by that means 
 effecting the fecundation." When the organs 
 are in separate flowers, and, as is the case 
 with the hop, hemp, &c., on different plants, 
 the farina will frequently be carried from the 
 stamen of the male flower to the stigma of 
 the female, by the honey bee, which visits 
 the various blossoms to collect their sweetness, 
 and almost invariably bears away on its wings 
 and body a portion of the farina from one 
 flower, and unconsciously deposits it on the 
 stigma of another. There are other means of 
 impregnation in these cases, more obvious; 
 
 such as the agency of the wind, or the actual 
 deposition by the florist of the farina on the fe- 
 male organ. 
 
 When the impregnation of the germen is 
 effected, all the superfluous parts of the plant 
 fall off, and the former increases in size till 
 the seeds contained in it have reached matu- 
 rity. " The form, as well of the different 
 seeds, as of the coverings in which they are 
 inclosed, is as various as that of the flowers, 
 and adapted in the most admirable manner to 
 the preservation of the species as regards their 
 extended dispersion, their security, &c. The 
 provision, too, is remarkable, by means of 
 which, whatever may be their position in the 
 ground, when they germinate, they invariably 
 shoot their radicle downwards, and the plum ula 
 upwards." The principal parts of a seed are the 
 cotyledons, or seed-lobes, which after germina- 
 tion become leaves, and the corculum or heart, 
 consisting of the radicle and the plum ula. Seeds 
 require, in general, to be prepared for micro- 
 scopic examination, by steeping them in hot 
 water, when the several parts just named separ. 
 ate and discover their respective formations. 
 The exterior of many seeds is, however, so re- 
 markable, that without any preparation they are 
 most interesting objects under everypower that 
 will afford light sufficient to develope theii 
 structure. To attempt a description of all the 
 varieties, is impossible ; we must simply refer to 
 some of their singular appendages, and des- 
 cribe a few whose formation is most striking. 
 
 The pappus, or down, with which many 
 seeds are provided is a wonderful characteristic, 
 whether we regard the structure of the down 
 itself, or the ends it is intended to serve. 
 Plate 34, fig. 9, exhibits a filament of thistle 
 down, as it appears under a linear magnify- 
 ing power of 80. This down, with some 
 variety of form, is either placed on the top of 
 seeds in the manner of a crown, or on each 
 side like wings, or it covers the entire surface ; 
 in any case the purpose is much the same, 
 namely, to provide the seed with means of 
 transit from the seed-case to the spot of earth 
 on which it is destined to fall and germinate. 
 And to this wonderful contrivance of nature 
 for the propagation of vegetable life, we are 
 to attribute much of the verdure and floral 
 loveliness of those wild, sequestered spots, 
 where the cultivating hand of man has never 
 been employed, and where the human foot 
 has rarely trod. The down is sometimes 
 designed as a protection to the seed ; it either 
 repels the moisture which would injure it, or 
 prevents undue pressure from contiguous bodies. 
 And in some cases, it is so disposed, that it not 
 only directs the seed into a proper position for 
 germination, but also, if the seed be placed in 
 the earth with its plum ula downwards, will 
 work it up to the surface again, and re -de- 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY, 
 
 599 
 
 posit it with the plume upwards ! The only 
 other appendage to which we shall refer, is 
 the a/a, or wing, a line membrane attached 
 either to the back or margin of certain seeds. 
 On a microscopic examination, this does not 
 appear to be intended so much for a means of 
 transit, as for absorbing nutriment to facilitate 
 the germination of the seed. It is, in most 
 instances, a layer or reticulation of capillary 
 tubes, protected by a double membrane. 
 
 The conformation of poppy seeds is exceed- 
 ingly curious. In outline they somewhat re- 
 semble a kidney, and their surfaces are divided 
 into angular compartments, by means of re- 
 ticulated fibres connected by an exceedingly 
 thin and transparent membrane. Plate 34, 
 fig. 29, is the seed of the Calampelus Scaber, 
 in which the ala, or wing, is a characteristic 
 feature ; the external tunic, or outer integu- 
 ment of the seed, is also worthy of observa- 
 tion. Fig. 30, represents a seed of the French 
 Marygold ; and in this we notice the wing- 
 like disposition of the down before adverted 
 to. Had the object been sufficiently magni- 
 fied, this down would have exhibited the char- 
 acter of fig. 9. It is barbed, or spinated ; 
 and whilst it serves as a vehicle for the transit 
 of the seed, it also controls its position when 
 placed in the earth, as previously stated. Fig. 
 42, exhibits the Theca, or seed vessel of Moss, 
 under a superficial magnifying power of 100. 
 Without the aid of the microscope, the fructi- 
 fication of the mosses could never have been 
 understood. Botanists are now enabled to 
 distinguish the various genera, by observing 
 ihe character of the fringe round the mouth of 
 /he seed-vessel, and the peculiarities of figure 
 in the seed itself. The powder, or seed, of 
 Puff-ball, a species of Fungus, is an object of 
 great interest, under a high magnifying power. 
 Baker describes it in these words : " The 
 seed of the Puff-ball seems to the naked eye 
 like a smoke or vapour ; but when examined 
 by one of the greatest magnifiers (for else it 
 cannot be distinguished) it appears to be in- 
 finite numbers of little globules, of an orange 
 colour, somewhat transparent, whose axis is 
 not above the fiftieth part of the diameter of a 
 hair : so that a cube of a hair's-breadth diame- 
 ter, would be equal to an hundred and twenty-- 
 five thousand of them." The same author's 
 remarks on the seed-vessels of ferns, the 
 second order of Cryptogamian plants, agree 
 with recent observations. " The ancients," 
 he says, " imagined the capillary plants and 
 many other kinds to produce no seeds at all, 
 but the microscope has discovered that all the 
 several species of fern are so far from being 
 barren in this respect, that they are amazingly 
 fruitful : that the seed-vessels are on the backs i 
 of the leaves, and that the dust which flies off I 
 when we meddle with them, is nothing but | 
 
 their minute seeds. These seed-vessels appear 
 to the naked eye like a black or brown scurf 
 on the back side of the leaf ; but, when viewed 
 by the microscope, resemble little circular 
 tubes, divided into many cells, containing seeds. 
 When the seed is ripe, the vessels fly open 
 with a spring, and spirt the seeds out on every 
 side, in the form of dust : and if at that season 
 some of the leaves are put in a paper cone, 
 and that be held to the ear, the seed-vessels 
 may be heard to burst with a considerable 
 noise. Some of these minute vessels contain 
 at least one hundred seeds, invisible to the 
 naked eye. Fig. 33, shows the pod and seed 
 of a kind of fern, named polypodium, that 
 vegetates on the bark of the oak. The seeds 
 contained in each pod correspond in number 
 to the divisions on its circumference. The 
 figures exhibit all the details observed under 
 a superficial magnifying power of 40,000." 
 
 The plant, or tree leaves, require to be 
 considered distinctly from the petals of the 
 blossom ; for though the two have some things 
 in common, the latter affect the flower only, 
 whilst the former are organs on which the 
 health and vitality of the whole vegetable 
 structure principally depends. We have al- 
 ready adverted to the cuticle, stomata, and 
 absorbent vessels, and the important offices 
 they fulfil ; the other points of microscopic 
 interest are included in the following observa- 
 tions by Blumenbach. " The leaves are es- 
 sentially the same in composition with the 
 trunk and branches, inasmuch as it is possible 
 to distinguish in them cuticle, bark, woody 
 substance and medullary cellular structure. 
 The latter occupies the middle of the leaf, be- 
 tween the two reticular layers of woody sub- 
 stance, from which the other parts may be 
 removed by corrosion and similar processes, 
 leaving a skeleton leaf, as it is called. This 
 reticular woody substance is covered on both 
 sides of the leaf with a peculiar membrane, 
 generally called cuticle, but differing mater- 
 ially from the proper cuticle already men- 
 tioned, (which is really expanded over the 
 outer surface of the leaves,) and penetrated by 
 numerous absorbing vessels." 
 
 We extract some interesting remarks con- 
 cerning leaves, from an author before quoted ; * 
 and the reader will admire the acuteness with 
 which he has anticipated the comparatively 
 recent discovery of the ct/clcsis, or circulation 
 in plants. 
 
 " The leaves of trees or plants are full of 
 innumerable veins arid ramifications, that con- 
 vey the perspirable juices to the pores, for 
 their discharge. Whether or no there be any 
 circulation in them is still a matter of doubt ; 
 but as their juices, when let out, immediately 
 
 * Baker. The Microscope made Easy, p. 246". 
 
GOO 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 break, coagulate, and become a stiff jelly, it 
 seems probable there may be some circulation 
 which prevents the same effects in the vessels. 
 The sudden shrinking, closing, and opening 
 of flowers, the rising and sinking of the heads 
 of poppies, &c., the vermicular motions of the 
 veins of plants when exposed to the air, seem 
 also to imply somewhat like sensation. The 
 microscope may perhaps be of service to dis- 
 cover much more on these subjects than we 
 yet know. Mr Leeuwenhoeck tearing to 
 pieces a leaf of the species of box called Pdlma 
 cereris, that he might examine it the better, 
 computed one side of it to be furnished with 
 one hundred and seventy-two thousand and 
 ninety pores ; and as the other side must have 
 as many, (?) the whole number of pores in a 
 single leaf of box will be three hundred and 
 forty-four thousand, one hundred and eighty. 
 The leaves of rue seem full of holes, like a 
 honey-comb ; all the kinds of St John's wort 
 appear likewise struck full of pin-holes to the 
 naked eye ; but the microscope shows that the 
 places where those holes seem to be, are really 
 covered with an exceeding thin and white 
 membrane. The under side of the herb Mer- 
 cury, looks as if rough cast with silver, and the 
 ribs full of white round transparent balls, like 
 numberless grapes, fastened by slender foot- 
 stalks. A sage leaf appears like rug or shag, 
 fall of knots, tasseled with silver thrums, and 
 embellished with fine round crystal beads or 
 pendants, fastened by little foot-stalks. The 
 under side of a rose leaf, but especially of 
 sweet-briar, looks diapered with silver." 
 
 " Every body knows that the leaves of sting- 
 ing nettles are thick set with sharp prickles, 
 that penetrate the skin when touched, and 
 occasion pain, heat, and swelling : which 
 symptoms were imagined, formerly, to ensue 
 from the prickles being left in the wounds 
 they make. But the microscope discovers 
 something much more wonderful in this com- 
 mon vegetable, and shows that its prickles are 
 formed and act in the same manner as the 
 stings of living animals. For every one of 
 them is found to be a rigid, hollow body, ter- 
 minating in the most acute point imaginable, 
 with an opening near its end. At the bottom 
 of this cavity lies a minute vessel or bag, con- 
 taining a limpid liquor, which, upon the least 
 touching of the prickles, is spirted through the 
 little outlet ; and, if it enters the skin, pro- 
 duces the mischief before mentioned by the 
 pungency of its salts. Hence it comes to pass, 
 that when the leaves of the nettles are consid- 
 erably dried by the heat of the sun, they sting- 
 but very little ; whereas such as are green 
 and juicy, produce violent pain and inflamma- 
 tion. But the quite contrary to this would 
 happen, if the symptoms were only owing to 
 the breaking of the prickles in the flesh : since 
 
 when dry, they must be more brittle, as weil 
 as more rigid, than when they abound with 
 juice." Our author concludes his remarks 
 by suggesting this query : " Are there any 
 valves in the vessels of vegetables, as in those 
 of animals, to let the juices pass, but hinder 
 their return ?" To this inquiry we believe 
 no answer has yet been returned by any sub- 
 sequent observer; it is scarcely necessary to 
 say that it is deserving of patient investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 We must now briefly glance at the general 
 structure of those cryptogamian plants, whose 
 parts are too minute to be distinctly seen by 
 the naked eye. Of these plants there are 
 four Orders: the Ferns, the Mosses, the 
 Algae, and the Fungi. 
 
 The most remarkable features in the ferns, 
 namely, their seed-vessels and seeds, have al- 
 ready been noticed. The seed-vessels are 
 termed capsules, and are usually surrounded 
 by an elastic ring ; the seeds themselves are 
 named sporuks. These are objects that re- 
 quire considerable magnifying power to de- 
 velope them. The leafy stem of the fern (the 
 frond) is an object of great interest when viewed 
 on the under side, which exhibits all the seed- 
 vessels arranged in regular dotted lines. 
 
 The mosses are a numerous family of very 
 minute plants. tt They are supposed to be 
 devoid of woody fibre and vascular tissue. 
 When a leaf is carefully examined, the septa 
 which divide the different cells that compose 
 it, will in many species be found to consist of 
 a single spiral line, taking a spiral course from 
 one end of the cell to another. To observe 
 this, it will be advisable previously to soak 
 the moss in water, in order to expand the cells. 
 In collecting mosses, it is essential to procure 
 them with the theca (before noticed and illus- 
 trated,) " as without it, it is very difficult to 
 determine the genera to which they belong." 
 Plate 35, fig. 37, is a leaf of sphagnum, more 
 usually known under the name of bog-moss. 
 By reflected light, and when laid on a dark- 
 coloured stage, it appears delicately white, 
 and the fibrous structure of the septa is readily 
 perceived. W^hen viewed by transmitted 
 light, the regularly disposed hexagonal cells 
 present the appearance of delicate tracery, or 
 lattice work. It is here shown under the low 
 power of 100 on the surface. " Mosses of all 
 kinds are agreeable objects, and appear, by 
 the microscope, to be as perfect in their leaves, 
 flowers and seeds, as the largest plants or trees. 
 Those, particularly, that grow on the rocks 
 and coasts of the sea, exhibit amazing beauties." 
 The order, named algce, includes the lichens, 
 fuci, and confervse ; and those exceedingly 
 minute vegetations which compose the green 
 matter on unfrequented paths, and also the 
 various kinds of mouldiness, may be placed 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 601 
 
 tinder this order. The lichens grow on rocks, 
 the trunks of trees, old palings, &c., and are 
 more usually known by the names of wall- 
 moss and tree-moss. Their generic distinc- 
 tions are founded on a microscopic examina- 
 tion of their organs of fructification, which 
 commonly resemble little cups or shields. The 
 fuci (or sea-weeds) form a most interesting 
 class of microscopic objects ; there is a won- 
 derful variety of them, and the structure of 
 every genera is either exceedingly beautiful, 
 or singularly curious in its details. Plate 35, 
 fig. 38, exhibits a species of sea-weed, under 
 a superficial amplification of 100. The con- 
 fervas are aquatic vegetations consisting of 
 capillary tubes only, and in many of them 
 the mode of propagation is extremely simple : 
 in the conferva fontinalis, it consists merely in 
 " the enlargement of one end of the thread-like 
 plant into a globular ball, which afterwards 
 falls off and expands into a thread of the same 
 kind." The confervas include the genera 
 Chara, and Nitella, in which, as before ob- 
 served, the cellular circulation is distinctly 
 seen. The appearances presented under the 
 microscope, by the different kinds of mouldi- 
 ness is most remarkable. Every species is 
 resolved into a perfect plant, " bearing," says 
 Baker, " leaves, flowers, and seeds, and in- 
 creasing in a manner almost incredible : for 
 in a very few hours the seeds spring up, ar- 
 rive at full maturity, and bring forth seed 
 themselves; so that a day produces several 
 generations of them." The usual form of these 
 minute plants consist, of a capillary tube, the 
 stem, and a small round head, the fruit or seed 
 vessel ; this latter ripens, bursts open, and 
 scatters the seed around it. The fungi, of 
 which the common mushroom is a representa- 
 tive, " consists of plants mostly of a spongy or 
 cork- like texture ; they are generally of short 
 duration, and bear their seeds in gills or tubes, 
 or attached to fibrous or spongy substances. 
 Their generic characters are taken from the 
 disposition of their seeds, or from their external 
 figure or appearance. The greater number 
 of the fungi are indigestible poisonous matter, 
 and the edible mushrooms ought to be collected 
 with care." 1 Mr Pritchard observes, "their 
 structure is simple, and mostly consists of cell- 
 ular tissue, in which the minute seeds or 
 sporules are disposed. They are found in all 
 damp places in which there is not a free cur- 
 rent of air." Before the invention of the mi- 
 croscope, it was believed that the various kinds 
 of fungi " might be generated at any time, 
 and from any kind of putrified substance, either 
 animal or vegetable, without seed ; merely by 
 the friendly concurrence of either natural or 
 artificial heat and moisture." In reference to 
 
 1 See Botanical Chart in the Popular Encyclopedia 
 VOL. li. 
 
 this opinion, an old micrographer justly re- 
 marks : " It must be owned, that heat and 
 moisture, and oftentimes a degree of putrefac- 
 tion in the substance, are requisite to make 
 these little plants thrive ; but that such prin- 
 ciples should be able to create them, must, I 
 think, be past belief." The destructive fungi 
 of wood, (merulius destruens and vastator^) more 
 popularly known as the dry rot, are singular 
 microscopic objects when examined in detail ; 
 as are also the uredo segctum, &&. , which cause 
 rust, smut, &c.,in grain, and whose fructifica- 
 tion consists in a mealy powder, under the 
 cuticle of the plants. 
 
 With a brief mention of the microscopic 
 phenomena exhibited in the woody formations 
 of trees, shrubs, &c., we shall conclude our 
 survey of the vegetable kingdom. " The stem 
 of trees and shrubs is covered externally with 
 a very fine cuticle, (rind,) under which lie 
 the bark and the liber (Bass,) the latter con- 
 sisting almost entirely of the most active sap 
 vessels, and consequently, one of the parts most 
 essential to the support of the plant. Placed 
 more internally, is the alburnum (sap ;) next 
 to it is the true wood, and next, the medulla 
 (pith) partly within the interstices of the wood, 
 partly down the middle of the stem; its quan- 
 tity gradually diminishing as the age of the 
 tree increases. In plants of this kind too, one, 
 or more properly, two new layers of wood are 
 produced yearly, probably by the alburnum, 
 whence it is possible, from the number of such 
 concentric layers, to form an estimate of the 
 probable age of the plant. The wood of palms 
 forms an exception to this disposition, in which 
 no such concentric layers exist, the trunk being 
 equally dense throughout, very hard, and ap- 
 parently traversed by partial tubes of albur- 
 num. This circumstance is of importance in 
 assisting the decision as to the nature of fossil 
 woods." In thin transverse and vertical sec- 
 tions of woods, (such as are prepared by Mr 
 Pritchard for the gratification of the micros- 
 copic observer,) all, or the greater part, of the 
 characteristics above named, are clearly dis- 
 tinguishable under a moderate magnifying 
 power. The great points of inquiry and ex- 
 amination in this class of objects, are the form 
 and disposition of the cellular tissue, woody fibre, 
 and vascular tissue. "The cellular tissue composes 
 the pith and soft parts of a tree or plant; when 
 minutely examined, it is found to consist of 
 distinct vesicles of various forms cohering 
 together: they vary in size from l-30th of an 
 inch to 1 -600th ; the largest are found in 
 aquatic plants and in the gourd tribe." This 
 cellular tissue, or the vesicles of which it is 
 composed, is filled with the nutritive juices 
 of the plant, whether absorbed by the bark or 
 furnished by capillary tubes from the root ; 
 and in these small reservoirs, it is probable, 
 4 a 
 
602 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 the fluids undergo a preparation for the pur- 
 poses they are to serve. " The woody-fibre is 
 best observed in the vertical sections, cut either 
 parallel or perpendicular to the medullary 
 rays: it consists of slender tubes gradually 
 diminishing towards the ends. The fibres 
 vary greatly in diameter ; the largest are in 
 the coniferae : in the lime-tree they often ex- 
 ceed l-50th of an inch. The vascular tissue 
 consists of membraneous tubes, with conical 
 extremities, internally furnished with fibre. 
 When the fibre consists of one or more threads 
 coiled spirally like a screw, it is called a spiral 
 vessel ; when the fibre consists of rings, it takes 
 the name of annular vessel; and if in small 
 pieces, ducted vessels, either reticulated or dotted." 
 The vascular tissue of plants acts in concert 
 with the cellular tissue for the collection and 
 preparation of the nutritive fluids. Our mi- 
 croscopic knowledge of the economy of vege- 
 table organization, is far from being complete ; 
 and, perhaps, at present we can do little more 
 than express our admiration at the wonderful 
 operations which muslloe continually going for- 
 ward in that laboratory, the trunk or stem of a 
 tree. " Every tree," Adams observes, "may be 
 considered as consisting of numerous concen- 
 tric strata or flakes, forming so many cones, 
 inscribed one within the other, and whose 
 number is almost indefinite. The most ex- 
 terior contain the rudiments of the bark ; the 
 more interior, those of the wood. In the 
 germ they are gelatinous, by degrees they 
 become herbaceous, and in process of time 
 assume the consistence of wood. Thus the 
 stem, the root, and the branch, may be con- 
 sidered as formed of a prodigious number of 
 concentric vertical strata, each composed of 
 different fascicles of fibres ; which fibres are 
 again formed of smaller ones. The spaces 
 between these, and among the fibres, are filled 
 up, interwoven with, and connected by the 
 cellular tissue, of which the radial insertions 
 are formed." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 39, exhibits the singular 
 formation of the aloe as developed in a trans- 
 verse section, under the amplifying power of 
 100 on the surface. This object discovers the 
 character of cellular tissue in a very pleasing 
 manner. 
 
 Fig. 40, shows the fine longitudinal fibres of 
 the palm, under a superficial power of 90,000. 
 
 Fig. 49, is a transverse section of the 
 clematis, showing, under a superficial power 
 of 400, the wonderful arrangement and ex- 
 quisite structure of its tissues. 
 
 We come now to consider the minute for- 
 mations and phenomena of the animal kingdom. 
 A large volume would scarcely suffice for a 
 particular and detailed examination of animal 
 minutiae : all therefore, that we can propose 
 to ourselves in a division of a single chapter, 
 
 is to take a general and comprehensive survey, 
 particularizing only in a few instances by way 
 of illustration. 
 
 We commence with a slight notice of the 
 bony structures in animals. These are brought 
 under microscopic examination, in the same 
 way as the cuttings of wood ; viz. by obtaining 
 extremely thin vertical and transverse sections, 
 which are 10 be viewed both in a dry state and 
 moistened with water. We are instantly struck 
 with the resemblance between them and 
 vegetable formations : in the transverse sec- 
 tions we observe the cavity formerly occupied 
 by the marrow, answering to the medulla in 
 plants ; the perforations, resembling cellular 
 tissue ; and the concentric circles, indicating 
 the process by which the structure is enlarged. 
 In verticle and oblique sections the vegetable 
 analogy is still preserved, in the disposition 
 and character of the fibres. The muscles of 
 animals are to be examined in like manner ; 
 by cutting thin slices of dried flesh in various 
 directions, and viewing them first in their dry 
 state, and afterwards when saturated with 
 water. The formation of the fibres and 
 muscular vessels, (the latter much resembling 
 the vascular tissue of plants,) is worthy of at- 
 tentive examination ; it is not, however, the 
 mere beauty or singularity of formation that 
 renders them interesting, for from a micro- 
 scopic investigation of these structures we are 
 enabled to infer with certainty concerning the 
 strength and activity of the animals to which 
 they respectively belong. The horns, hoofs, 
 nails, &c. of animals form a class of objects 
 that are brought under view in the same man- 
 ner as the preceding. Thin slices cut in 
 two or three directions exhibit the fibres and 
 cellular cavities ; and a vegetable structure is 
 farther evidenced by treating them as opaque 
 objects, and observing the character of the ex- 
 terior. If, for instance, the outer surface of 
 the human nails be attentively examined, it 
 will be found to consist of a vast number of 
 layers ; and if we take a hedgehog or porcu- 
 pine's quill (the structure of which is the same 
 in principle with that of the nails, hoofs, &c.) 
 we shall discover the true nature of these 
 layers, which are, in fact, conical cups shoot- 
 ing successively one out of the other. Plate 
 34, fig. 27, exhibits a transverse section of a 
 hedge-hog's quill, wherein we see a medulla 
 or pith, cellular cavities, and other vegetable 
 characteristics. We perceive, then, a won- 
 derful analogy in these structures to the 
 woody formations of trees, both in the infernal 
 disposition of parts, and the exterior accessions 
 arising from progressive growth. The hairs 
 of different animals are very similar to the 
 horns and nails, &c. inasmuch as they consist 
 of cups inserted within each other, and in- 
 teriorly exhibit, ("so far as micrographers have 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 603 
 
 succeeded in examining transverse sections,) 
 nearly the same vegetable characteristics. In 
 general, however, the cups are more readily 
 distinguished in hairs than in the nails, or 
 porcupine's quills, and other objects of this 
 class ; there is also a much greater variety of 
 structure in the former than in the latter. 
 Plate 34, figs. I to 7, exhibit some interesting 
 varieties of hairs, of which we shall speak in 
 order. We give no illustration of the human 
 hair, because in the adult its character is so 
 much defaced by friction, that it exhibits, 
 even under a deep power, little more than the 
 appearance of a polished cylinder. In the 
 hair of an infant newly born, the serratures 
 on the sides, or more properly, the cup shaped 
 processes, are readily distinguished ; we had 
 not, however, when engaged on our drawings, 
 an opportunity of procuring a specimen. Hairs 
 may be described generally as cylindrical 
 bodies, composed of a vast number of minute 
 fibres, with cellular cavities interposed ; some 
 have spiral lines running up the interior ; and 
 from observation of a few varieties, it may be 
 inferred that all are furnished with an appa- 
 ratus resembling the stomata in the leaves of 
 vegetables. We proceed at once to describe 
 the figures before referred to. 
 
 Fig. 1. The hair of the Dermestes. This 
 insect belongs to the order coleoptera, and is 
 remarkable for the beautifully formed hair 
 which covers it in the larva state. There is 
 a variety in the structure ; some of the hairs 
 resemble an oat beard, and others exhibit the 
 character shown in our specimen. A more 
 delicate and beautiful object than the spear- 
 shaped hair can scarcely be submitted to the mi- 
 croscope. The lowest power by which it can 
 be seen, is 100 linear ; but to develope its 
 details satisfactorily, a power of 200 linear is 
 requisite, which is the one we have used. 
 This object is considered an excellent test of 
 the defining power of a good microscope. 
 
 Fig. 2. *" The hair of a mouse. The char- 
 acteristics of this subject, when viewed by 
 transmitted light, are dark, transverse stripes, 
 some of which are broken, whilst others extend 
 quite across the hair. On closer and more 
 attentive observation, these appearances are 
 discovered to arise from a kind of spiral spring 
 occupying the tube of the hair, and a number 
 of im perforations on the surface. 
 
 Fig. 3. The hair of a bat. From the re- 
 semblance between the mouse and the bat, it 
 will excite a little surprise to observe the very 
 decisive difference of structure in the hairs of 
 these two animals. That of the latter some- 
 times presents the appearance of a screw, or 
 of a number of small conical cups inserted 
 into each other ; other specimens seem to be 
 formed of two distinct hairs twisted together ; 
 and some exhibit in connection with these pe- 
 
 culiarities, striped markings resembling those 
 on the hair of the mouse. 
 
 Fig. 4. The hair of a bee. This is a very 
 beautiful object, but requires a good defining 
 power to show the structure satisfactorily. 
 The hair itself resembles a jointed bamboo 
 cane ; and from each joint small delicate 
 spines shoot out. The hair terminates in a 
 number of these spikes, one of which is uni- 
 formly longer than the rest. 
 
 Fig. 5. The hair of a. dormouse. This is 
 very similar to the hair of a mouse. The 
 points of difference seem to consist in the 
 regularity of the stripes on that of the dormouse, 
 and its greater delicacy. 
 
 Fig. 6. The hair of a mole. This is a most 
 singular structure. The interior exhibits the 
 remarkable transverse stripes observed in the 
 hair of the mouse and dormouse, and the ex- 
 terior presents a formation somewhat resem- 
 bling that of the bat's hair. 
 
 Fig. 7. The. hair of a caterpillar. We 
 notice a great similarity between this object 
 and the hair of a bee. The tube of the hair 
 is not jointed, however, in the caterpillar, and 
 the lateral spines curve the contrary way. 
 
 These objects are all shown as developed 
 by a doublet linear power of 200. 
 
 The next animal appendage to which we 
 shall allude is the feathers of birds, wherein 
 we notice very distinctly the same degree of 
 analogy to vegetable formations, as is found 
 to exist in the hair, &c. The microscopic in- 
 quirer is frequently called upon to pause and 
 admire the wonderful adaptation of parts in the 
 various structures he examines ; and to note 
 the absolute dependency of the largest forma- 
 tions on the microscopic elements of which 
 they are composed. Let us illustrate this 
 remark in the case of feathers. The feathers 
 of birds unite to form the wing, a locomotive 
 member which must be light, yet at the same 
 time impervious to air ; which must have 
 great freedom of motion, and yet not be liable 
 to permanent disarrangement of its parts. The 
 most superficial observer will have noticed the 
 way in which the feathers are disposed in the 
 wing ; they over-lap each other through their 
 whole length, and this principle of over lap- 
 ping extends to all the divisions and minute 
 subdivisions of the feathers. Another thing 
 also is too obvious to have escaped notice, that 
 the upper side of every feather is convex, and 
 the under side concave, and that the convex 
 side of one feather lies partly within the con- 
 cave side of another. This principle of forma- 
 tion likewise extends to the most minute parts. 
 Then again there is an elastic force exerted in 
 every feather, and in every part of a feather 
 for preserving and restoring the natural ar- 
 rangement. There is, in short, a beautiful 
 display of creative Wisdom in the wing of a 
 
G04 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 bird, whether we regard the material of which 
 it is wrought, the elegance of its several parts, 
 or the admirable dependency of those parts 
 on each other. A feather consists of three 
 distinct parts the quill, the stem, and the 
 fibres that clothe the stem on each side. The 
 quill is at once the root of the structure, and 
 a reservoir for the nutriment required to sus- 
 tain it. The stem is the tree trunk ; and the 
 literal fibres are the branches which it puts 
 forth. When we examine one of these fibres 
 microscopically, we find smaller fibres arranged 
 along its edges ; and if these last be subjected 
 to a very deep power, we discover that they 
 are, in like manner, fringed with fibres cor- 
 respondingly minute. The most delicate 
 filaments of the feather exhibit a hair-like 
 structure, being composed of cups inserted one 
 within another ; or they present the appear- 
 ance of a jointed cane. The last named pecu- 
 liarity is illustrated in plate 34, fig. 8, which 
 shows an exceedingly minute filament of fea- 
 ther down as it appears under a linear magni- 
 fying power of 300. The exquisite finish of 
 the joints is very remarkable. We shall offer 
 only one general illustration of the structure 
 of feathers, selecting our specimens from the 
 delicate plumage of the humming-bird, as ex- 
 hibited and detailed in plate 34, figs. 26, 31, 
 34, 35, 36. Before entering into a descrip- 
 tion of these objects, we step aside to notice a 
 remark by Mr Pritchard on the hair of the 
 bird-catching spider of South Amercia(-fl/zc;-0- 
 scopic Objects, pi. 9.) " That taken from the 
 palpi is branched, and towards the extremity 
 the central stem enlarges, becomes fluted, and 
 assumes a bright orange colour. The use of 
 this augmentation in bulk towards the end is 
 not ascertained ; but I may remark that a 
 similar structure, on a larger scale, may be 
 observed in the small feathers from the breast 
 of the Indian humming-bird." Now from 
 observing a number of these feathers in dif- 
 ferent stages of developement, the writer was 
 enabled to ascertain the real character of the 
 formations to which Mr Pritchard alludes ; 
 and the reader will, we think, be disposed to 
 admire their singular use and remarkable 
 structure. Figs. 31 and 35, are perfect fea- 
 thers, about one-tenth of an inch in length ; 
 the latter exhibits the orange-coloured " en- 
 largements" just named and a number of 
 downy fibres of a pearly-gray tint. It forms 
 a most beautiful opaque object for the micro- 
 scope ; the rich colour of the pods contrasting 
 very pleasingly with the other parts of the 
 feather. Fig. 34, is one of the pods much 
 enlarged ; and we call particular attention 
 to the lateral fibres which are escaping from 
 crevices or fissures on each side of the pod. 
 We could have given other illustrations on 
 this point, showing the gradual opening of the 
 
 pod, and the expansion of the fibres therein 
 contained. Fig. 26, exhibits the ultimate 
 character of the pod when it has burst, and 
 suffered the formation within fully to expand 
 itself. In this state it still retains the bright 
 orange tint. Fig. 31, presents a faithful de- 
 lineation of the feather when all the pods have 
 opened. The three tufts which terminate 
 each division are worthy of regard ; and the 
 beautiful regularity of the whole must excite 
 admiration. It will be noticed that in under- 
 going this wonderful alteration of form, the 
 feather loses much of the fine downy filaments 
 observable in fig. 35. We should likewise 
 remark, that the perfect developement of the 
 feather is in some degree dependent on the 
 position it occupies on the body of the bird ; 
 for we observed several specimens in which the 
 pods gave no sign of opening, though the fea- 
 thers were as mature in other respects as those 
 which were on the point of full expansion. 
 Fig. 36, is one of the finest fibres of fig. 35, 
 magnified 300 times in diameter. In passing 
 from this brief notice of feathers, we would 
 earnestly recommend the admirer of natural 
 beauty, (if he should be a person with sense 
 sufficient not to despise small things^) to amuse 
 his leisure hours by attentively examining the 
 structure of the various plumage that adorns 
 the feathered race. 
 
 We proceed to remark upon the scales and 
 perspiratory pores of the human skin. The 
 scarf-skin of the human body is covered in all 
 parts with rows of exceedingly minute scales, 
 disposed three deep, that is, the first line of 
 scales is in a good degree covered by the se- 
 cond, and the second by the third. The white- 
 ness of the exterior skin is probably owing to 
 this triplication of the scales, since on the lips, 
 where they scarcely overlay each other at all, 
 the minute blood vessels shine distinctly. 
 Owing to the constant friction of the hands 
 and feet, and their becoming callous by con- 
 tinued use, it is not easy to procure good spe- 
 cimens of the scales from these members; 
 but from any of the unexposed parts of the 
 body they are readily obtained, by scraping 
 the skin with the back of a penknife. To the 
 naked eye they appear a mass of indistin- 
 guishable white-dust; but if they be suspend- 
 ed in a drop of water, which causes them to 
 separate, their true form is very pleasingly 
 developed. Their figure resembles the upper 
 half of a spear's head. To obtain a microsco- 
 pic view of the arrangement of the scales, cut 
 from between the fingers with a very sharp 
 penknife, an extremely thin piece of the skin 
 and submit it to a powerful magnifier. The 
 shortest diameter of these scales does not ex- 
 ceed 1- 1 500th of an inch; and their number 
 on a square inch of the human body is not 
 less than one million. 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 605 
 
 The pores of the skin are minute excretory 
 ducts, discharging the superfluous humours 
 of the body ; they also convey to the absorbent 
 vessels of the true skin, the fluid and gaseous 
 products of the surrounding atmosphere. 
 Hence it is, that a derangement of these mi- 
 nute valves, or a suspension of their functions, 
 causes serious injury in the animal economy ; 
 and it is almost a demonstrable fact, that all 
 the diseases to which the human body is lia- 
 ble, take their origin from a partial or gene- 
 ral interruption to the porous machinery of the 
 skin. It will readily be conceived that great 
 disorders must arise in the system when the 
 exhalation of humours is stopped, and those 
 active agents the absorbents, are inactive. As 
 a preservative of health, nothing is more wor- 
 thy of attention than this simple precept ; 
 wash the skin clean, remove with flesh-brushes 
 all the scales which are daily shed, and which 
 if suffered to remain upon the skin, mat toge- 
 ther and impede the action of the pores ; when 
 the perspiration is too scanty, as evidenced 
 by extreme dryriess of the skin, use medicines 
 that will determine the humours to the sur- 
 face ; when the perspiration is too profuse, as 
 indicated by an excess on the least exertion, 
 take medicines to moderate the activity of the 
 secretory organs. Here is a volume of do- 
 mestic medicine in a few lines. 
 
 To view the pores, it is necessary with a 
 keen-edged penknife, to shave off the outer 
 surface of the skin as thinly as possible, and 
 then to cut a second piece from the same place ; 
 there is no fear of inconvenience from the ope- 
 ration, if it be performed with a light hand, 
 and the skin be taken from between the fin- 
 gers. The pores are covered by the scales ; 
 indeed it would appear that the latter are prin- 
 cipally, if not wholly designed, as a protecting 
 covering to these minute vessels. The num- 
 ber of the pores dispersed over the human 
 skin is too large for our conceptions ; and when 
 we state, that on thelowestestimate,it amounts, 
 in round numbers, to two thousand millions ; 
 we offer this announcement, simply as an ef- 
 fective comment on the scriptural declaration, 
 that "we are fearfully and wonderfully made." 
 The process of perspiration may be pleasing- 
 ly observed on a warm day, in the following 
 manner : wash the hands with soap and warm 
 water, and dry them thoroughly, then with a 
 magnifier of one half inch focal distance, ob- 
 serve the small ridges in the palm of the hand, 
 and along the edges of these, the perspiration 
 will be seen arranged like rows of pearls, or 
 more properly, like dew drops on a flower. 
 
 The scales of fishes are objects of great in- 
 terest to the microscopic inquirer, from the 
 variety of form and texture observable in them. 
 Exceedingly minute scales have been detected 
 by the microscope lying between the epider- 
 
 mis and the true skin of an eel. We extract 
 a few general remarks on this class of objects 
 from Baker. " These scales are not supposed 
 to be shed every year, nor during the whole 
 life of the fish, but have an annual addition 
 of a new scale, growing over and extending 
 every way beyond the edges of the former, in 
 proportion to the growth of the fish ; some- 
 what in the same manner as the wood of trees 
 enlarges yearly, by the addition of a new cir- 
 cle next the bark ; and as the age of a tree 
 may be known by the number of ringlets its 
 trunk is made up of, so in fishes, the number 
 of plates composing their scales denote to us 
 their age. Mr Leeuwenhoeck took some 
 scales from an extraordinary large carp, forty- 
 two inches and a half long, and thirty-three and 
 a quarter in the round, which were as broad as 
 a dollar. These he macerated in warm water, 
 to make them cut the easier ; and then cutting- 
 oblique ly through one of them, beginning with 
 the first formed, and very little scale in the 
 centre, he by his microscope, plainly distin- 
 guished forty lamellae or scales, glued as it 
 were over one another ; whence he concluded 
 that the fish was forty years of age." To the 
 arguments here used we have sundry objec- 
 tions to offer : in the first place, the scale of a 
 fish increases exactly in the same manner as 
 a crystal, (say the crystal of common salt), by 
 superposition of thin laminae, and so far as 
 we have observed, it is as impracticable to as- 
 certain the exact number of layers in the one 
 as in the other; and consequently we can de- 
 rive from the scales no perfect data whence 
 to compute the age of the fish. And in the 
 second place, the yearly addition of a layer to 
 the scale, is nothing more than a mere suppo- 
 sition, from an overstrained analogy. If then, 
 the superpositions be effected in other than 
 yearly intervals, the age cannot be determin- 
 ed ; neither, we presume, can it be determined 
 by admitting the yearly additions, for we are 
 not assured when using the deepest magnifiers, 
 that we see the ultimate divisions. Indeed 
 Leeuwenhoeck himself states, that the scales 
 of fishes are composed of an infinitude of layers 
 or laminae ; an admission founded in fact, and 
 altogether fatal to the fanciful hypothesis we 
 have noticed. These objects require to be 
 viewed both by transmitted and reflected light, 
 in order that all their peculiarities of surface 
 and structure may be satisfactorily observed. 
 The crystalline lenses of fishes and other ani- 
 mals exhibit a most astonishing structure un- 
 der the microscope. We are indebted to Sir 
 David Brewster for a minute and particular 
 description of these formations, which we shall 
 present to the reader in his own words, intro- 
 ducing it by two or three sentences from Mr 
 Pritchard's Microscopic Objects. '* If the crys- 
 talline lens in the eye of a fish, be minutely 
 
 
606 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 examined by the aid of the microscope, it will 
 be found to be composed of concentric strata 
 or layers, somewhat resembling the coats of 
 an onion. One of these Jaminas separated, 
 and placed under a powerful microscope, will 
 be seen to consist of flat fibres or bands, aris- 
 ing from each pole of the globular lens, and 
 expanding towards the equator, like the spaces 
 between the meridians on the artificial globe. 
 The edges of these fibres are serrated, and 
 lit into each other like the teeth of a double 
 rack, or the sutures of the human skull." 
 " When the power," observes Sir D. Brews- 
 ter, "is small, or the microscope not good, or 
 the lamin?e too thick and riot nicely detached, 
 each row of interlocking teeth appears as a 
 dark line, sometimes as sharp as a black line 
 drawn upon paper with a pen. Sometimes 
 the lines appear rough and ragged, and as 
 the fibres become less in approaching the 
 poles, the black lines are as difficult to resolve 
 into teeth, as the lines on test objects. The 
 following measures will show what a wonder- 
 ful structure in the eye has been disclosed to 
 us by the microscope. The calculations refer 
 to the lens of a cod, four-tenths of an inch in 
 diameter. 
 
 Number of fibres in each laminae, . . 2500. 
 
 Number of teeth in each fibre, . . 12,500. 
 
 Number of teeth in each laminae, . 31,250,000. 
 
 Number of fibres in the whole lens, . 5,000,000. 
 
 Number of teeth in the lens, . 62,500,000,000. 
 
 Or the lens of a cod contains five millions 
 of fibres, and sixty two thousand five hundred 
 millions of teeth ; and if we reckon the curved 
 end of the tooth as one surface, each tooth 
 will have six surfaces, which come into 
 contact with the corresponding surfaces of the 
 adjacent tooth, so that the number of touching 
 surfaces will be three hundred and seventy-Jive 
 thousand millions, and yet this little sphere of 
 tender jelly is as transparent as a drop of the 
 purest water, and allows a beam of light to 
 pass across these almost innumerable joints, 
 without obstructing or reflecting a single ray." 
 We have here given Sir D. Brewster's des- 
 cription verbatim ; but we must enter our pro- 
 test against the system of wonder-making, 
 into which it appears even this eminent philoso- 
 pher can occasionally fall. No useful end 
 is obtained by entering into minute numeri- 
 cal details, of which the human mind can con- 
 jure up no idea ; this practice prevailed with 
 the early micrographers, and the consequence 
 was, that their writings fell into neglect, and 
 ultimately excited little attention, except from 
 those who delighted to number the repetitions 
 of a letter in the Bible, or to resolve the vast 
 bulk of the ocean into separate drops of wa- 
 ter. It is this practice, and it only, that has 
 caused a distaste for microscopic inquiry, and 
 exhibited it as a puerile pastime which should 
 give place to loftier pursuits. Let all the 
 
 wonders of the minute world be unveiled; but 
 let this be done without ridiculous exaggera- 
 tion or valueless precision. The microscope 
 will never be other than a childish toy, so 
 long as the observer's aim be rather to bewil- 
 der than to inform the popular mind. We 
 have deemed it right to make these observa- 
 tions, at a time when the instrument is ap- 
 proaching, possibly, to its highest perfection, 
 and when, in the words of Dr Goring, " a 
 new and golden age of observation may be 
 expected to commence." 
 
 The nature of the blood, and its circulation 
 through the veins and arteries of animal bo- 
 dies, can be thoroughly understood only by 
 microscopic observation. " When Dr Har- 
 vey made his grand discovery of the circula- 
 tion of the blood, and first lectured upon it in 
 St Bartholomew's hospital in 1619, he was 
 ridiculed, and lost his practice through main- 
 taining what was then supposed to be so ab- 
 surd and wild a theory. The idea was sug- 
 gested to his mind by reflecting on the valves 
 of the heart and veins, which were evidently 
 so planned as to allow a fluid to pass but one 
 way. All the philosophical reasoning, how- 
 ever, of this celebrated man, could not esta- 
 blish what appears to us so plain a truth, un- 
 til it was evidenced in the circulation of cold- 
 blooded animals by means of the microscope, 
 and thus placed beyond a doubt. Discerning, 
 as we can do, the very forms of the globules 
 of that fluid, as they flow through the capilla- 
 ries from the arteries to the veins, in obedience 
 to the laws impressed upon them by the Al- 
 mighty Creator viewing this sublime phe- 
 nomenon, by which life itself is diffused 
 throughout, and sustained in every part of the 
 system, who can resist conviction of the 
 great truth?" The same eloquent writer (Mr 
 Pritchard,) observes in another place : " The 
 globules of the blood may be seen passing ra- 
 pidly along the capillary ends of the arteries 
 into those of the veins, where the intervening 
 member is sufficiently diaphanous, as in the 
 ear of the young mouse, the fins and tail of 
 the carp, gold-fish, stickle-back, tadpole, and 
 of most small fish ; and in the web between 
 the toes of the frog, lizard, eft, &c. In the 
 arachnoida, (spider tribe,) at the joints of (lie 
 legs, I have observed the circulation very dis- 
 tinctly, the current of dark globules passing 
 rapidly at each pulsation of the dorsal vessel. 
 In the antennas and wings of terrestrial in- 
 sects, it has also been seen when they have 
 just emerged from the chrysalis, as in the 
 perla viridis and semblis bilineata. In several 
 aquatic larvae and small Crustacea, the circu- 
 lating fluid traverses the limbs, antennae and 
 tail, and thence moves along the dorsal vessel 
 towards the head, and down the sides of the 
 body, in cavities, and not distinct vessels ; 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 607 
 
 hence called diffused circulation. The most 
 favourable subjects for viewing this are the 
 larva of the ephemera, larva of hydrophilus, 
 small dysticus, &c. In several of the polypi- 
 ferous zoophytes, as the tubularia indivisa, 
 sertulariee, campanularise, plumulariae, &c. 
 Mr Lister has, by means of the achromatic 
 engiscope, discovered a circulation to exist, 
 which in many respects resembles that in 
 plants." We notice in the serum of the blood, 
 when microscopically examined, two distinct 
 kinds of bodies, named globules and discs ; and 
 accordingly as the one or the other preponde- 
 rate in the fluid mass, the vital stream is 
 healthy or diseased. The globules appear to 
 be the true particles of the blood, and the discs 
 a simple cohesion of a number of these into a 
 circular plane ; a certain proportion of these 
 discs may probably give impulse to and assist 
 the circulation, whilst an undue quantity may 
 render the motion either too tardy or too vio- 
 lent. " Upon submitting the blood to the mic- 
 roscope, a remarkable fact will strike every 
 observer, viz. there will be seen a continual 
 motion of the globules, as if they were acted 
 upon by some unknown agency. This motion 
 appears completely vibratory, like a balance 
 which has received an impulse. It is difficult 
 to account for this phenomenon, but the fol- 
 lowing hypothesis is hazarded ; this seeming 
 tendency to motion in the globules may be 
 a material assistance to the impulse given by 
 the heart, whose mere mechanical force, (how- 
 ever great,) appears hardly sufficient to propel 
 the globules through such inconceivably mi- 
 nute ramifications, through which we know 
 it does pass, previous to reaching the organ of 
 circulation by the large veins." 
 
 We now direct our remarks to the structure 
 of insects and their transformations, from which 
 we shall pass to a slight review of purely mi- 
 croscopical insects, or such as require the mag- 
 nifier to develope their entire figure: these 
 points accomplished, the present chapter must 
 be taken as complete. 
 
 The eggs of insects " assume a vast variety 
 of forms: some are furnished with covers, the 
 surfaces of many are elegantly embossed or 
 fluted, whilst others, as those of the bug, (ci- 
 mex lectularius,) have their surface curiously 
 granulated." "The eggs are contained and 
 arranged in the body of the insect, in vessels 
 which vary in number and figure in different 
 species. It is a general rule, that eggs do 
 not increase in size after they are laid ; among 
 insects, however, we find an exception to this; 
 the eggs of the tenthredo of Linnaeus increase 
 after they are laid, but their shell is soft and 
 membranaceous. The eggs of insects differ in 
 their colours ; some may be found of almost 
 every shade, of -yellow, green, brown, and 
 even black." The eggs of the lion puceron 
 
 are deposited on the leaves of the plum-tree, 
 and several other trees, in clusters of ten or 
 twelve. Each egg has a filament attached to 
 it; and sometimes the egg bursts, in which 
 state it resembles a minute flower with its 
 stem. These flower-like forms are the shells of 
 those eggs from which the insect has emerged. 
 " Divine Providence instructs the insects, by 
 a lower kind of perception, to deposit their 
 eggs not only in safety from their numerous 
 enemies, but also in situations where a suffi- 
 cient quantity of food is on the spot, to sup- 
 port and nourish the larva, immediately on 
 breaking the shell. Some deposit their eggs 
 in the oak-leaf, producing there the red gall ; 
 others choose the leaf of the poplar, which 
 swells into a red node or bladder. The leaves 
 of the veronica and cerastium, are drawn into 
 a globular head by the eggs of an insect lodged 
 therein. In the Lapland Alps there is a fly 
 covered with a downy hair, called the rhein- 
 deer gad-fly ; it hovers all day over these ani- 
 mals, whose legs tremble under them. They 
 prick up their ears, and flee to the mountains 
 covered with ice and snow, to escape from a 
 little hovering fly, but generally in vain, for 
 the insect but too soon finds an opportunity to 
 lodge its egg in the back of the deer ; the 
 worm hatched from this egg perforates the 
 skin, and remains under it during the whole/ 
 winter : in the following year it becomes a 
 fly. The gnat, the ephemera, the libellula, 
 and the phryganea, hover over the water all 
 day to drop their eggs, which are hatched in 
 the water, and continue there all the time they 
 are in the larva state. The gnat lays but one 
 egg at a time, which she deposits on the water 
 in a very ingenious and simple manner ; she 
 stretches her legs out, and crosses them, thus 
 forming an angle to receive and hold the first 
 egg, a second egg is soon placed next the first ; 
 then a third, and so on, till the base is capa- 
 ble of supporting itself; these, as they come 
 to maturity, sink deeper. The fecundity of 
 insects exceeds in an astonishing degree that of 
 all the productions of nature. The follow- 
 ing is an experiment of M. Lyonet on the 
 generation of a moth which comes from 
 the chenille a brosse ; out of a brood of 350 
 eggs, produced by a single moth of this kind, 
 he took eighty, from which he obtained, when 
 they were arrived at their perfect state, fifteen 
 females ; whence he deduces the following 
 consequence : if eighty eggs give fifteen females, 
 the whole brood of 350 would have produced 
 sixty-five; these sixty-five, supposing them 
 as fertile as their mother, would have pro- 
 duced 22,750 caterpillars, among which there 
 would have been at least 4265 females, who 
 would have produced for the third generation 
 a million and a half of caterpillars. It is nol 
 surprising, therefore, that these insects shouiJ 
 
608 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 be so numerous in years favourable to their 
 propagation." Few insects, however, long sur- 
 vive their last transformation ; and notwith- 
 standing their amazing fecundity , mankind suf- 
 fer comparatively small annoyance from them, 
 in consequence of the voracity with which they 
 prey on each other, and the avidity with which 
 they are sought and devoured by birds and other 
 animals. The eggs of insects are for the most 
 part opaque objects, and admit only the ex- 
 amination of their outer surface ; in some few 
 instances, however, they can be viewed by 
 transmitted light when the interior structure 
 presents not unfrequently the most surprising 
 and interesting phenomena. 
 
 From the egg the insect emerges into the 
 larva, or caterpillar state, which exhibits a won- 
 derful variety of structure and beauty of detail, 
 wholly dependent upon the microscope for their 
 satisfactory developement. This period of 
 insect existence, with all the interesting phe- 
 nomena therewith connected, will be rendered 
 perfectly familiar by the instances we have 
 selected for description and illustration. 
 
 " The larva of the musca chamelion lives 
 in the water, breallies by the tail, and carries 
 its legs within a little snout near its mouth. 
 Ttappears to consist of twelve annular divisions; 
 by these it is separated into a head, thorax, 
 and abdomen ; but as the stomach and intes- 
 tines lie equally in the thorax and abdomen, 
 it is not easy to distinguish their limits till 
 the insect approaches the pupa state. The 
 parts most worthy of notice are the tail and 
 snout. The tail is furnished with an elegant 
 crown or circle of hair, disposed quite round 
 in an annular form ; by means of this the 
 (ail is supported on the surface of the water, 
 while the worm or larva is moving therein, 
 the body in the meanwhile hanging towards 
 the bottom ; it will sometimes remain in this 
 situation for a considerable time, without the 
 least sensible motion. When it is disposed 
 to sink to the bottom by means of its tail, it 
 generally bends the hairs of that part towards 
 each other in the middle, but much closer 
 towards the extremity ; by these means a 
 hollow space is formed, and the bladder of air 
 pent up in it, looks like a pearl. It is by the 
 assistance of this bubble, or little balloon, that 
 the insect raises itself again to the surface of 
 the water. If this bubble escape, it can re- 
 place it from the pulmonary tubes ; sometimes 
 large quantities of air may be seen to arise in 
 bubbles from the tail of the worm to the sur- 
 face of the water, and there mix with the in- 
 cumbent atmosphere. This operation may be 
 easily seen by placing the worm in a glass 
 full of water, where it will afford a very en- 
 tertaining spectacle. The snout is divided 
 into three parts, of which that in the middle 
 is immovable ; the two other parts grow from 
 
 the sides of the former ; these are movable, 
 vibrating in a very singular manner, like the 
 tongues of lizards and serpents. The greatest 
 strength of the creature is fixed in these 
 lateral parts of the snout ; it is on these that 
 it walks when it is out of the water, appear- 
 ing, as it were to walk on its mouth, using it 
 to assist motion, as a parrot does its beak, to 
 climb, with greater advantage." 
 
 " We shall now consider the external 
 figures of this worm, as it appears with the 
 microscope. It is small towards the head, 
 larger about those parts which may be con- 
 sidered as the thorax ; it then again diminishes, 
 converging at the abdomen, and terminates 
 in a sharp tail, surrounded with hairs in the 
 form of the rays of a star." 
 
 " This worm, the head and tail included, 
 has twelve annular divisions. Its skin resem- 
 bles the covering of those animals that are 
 provided with a crustaceous habit, more than 
 it does that of naked worms or caterpillars ; it 
 is moderately hard, arid like the rough skin 
 called shagreen, being thick set with a num- 
 ber of grains, evenly distributed. The sub- 
 stance of the skin is firm and hard, and yet 
 very flexible. On each side of the body are 
 nine spiracula or holes, for the purpose of re- 
 spiration ; there are no such holes visible on 
 the tail ring, nor on the third ring counting 
 from the head ; for at the extremity of the tail 
 there is an opening for the admission and ex- 
 pulsion of air ; in the third ring the spiracula 
 are very small, and appear only under the 
 skin, near the place where the embryo wings 
 of the future fly are concealed. The skin 
 has three different shades of colour ; it is 
 adorned with oblong black furrows, with spots 
 of a light colour, and orbicular rings, from 
 which there generally springs a hair, as in the 
 figure before us. Only the hair that grows on 
 the insect's side is represented. The differ- 
 ence in colour in this worm arises from the 
 quantity of grains in the same space ; for in 
 proportion as there is a greater or less quantity 
 of these, the furrows or rings are of a deeper 
 or paler colour. The head is divided into 
 three parts, and covered with a skin, the grains 
 on which are hardly discernible. The eyes 
 are rather protuberant, and lie forwards near 
 the snout. It has also two small horns on the 
 fore part of the head, and a little above these 
 the eyes are situated. The snout is crooked, 
 and ends in a sharp point. 
 
 " The tail is constructed and planned with 
 great skill and wisdom. The extreme verge 
 or border, is surrounded by thirty hairs, arid 
 the sides adorned with others that are smaller; 
 here and there the large hairs branch out into 
 smaller ones, which maybe reckoned as single 
 hairs. These hairs are all rooted in the outer 
 skin, which in this place is covered with rough 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 609 
 
 grains. The hairs are very seldom disposed 
 in so regular a manner as they are represented, 
 except when the insect floats with the body 
 in the water, and the tail with its hairs a little 
 lower than the surface, for they are then dis- 
 played exactly as delineated in the cut annexed. 
 The tail serves the larva both for the purposes 
 of swimming and breathing, and it receives 
 through the tail that which is the universal 
 principle of life and motion in animals. By 
 means of (he hairs it can stop itself at pleasure 
 when swimming, cr remain suspended quietly 
 in the water for any length of time. The mo- 
 tion of the insect in swimming is very beauti- 
 ful, especially when it advances with its whole 
 body floating on the surface of the water; after 
 filling itself with air by the tail. To set out, 
 it first bends the body to the right or left, and 
 then contracts in the form of the letter S, and 
 again stretches it out in a straight line : by 
 thus alternately contracting and extending the 
 body, it moves along on the surface of the 
 water. These larvae are generally to be found 
 in shallow standing waters, about the begin- 
 ninor of June." 
 
 We are permitted by Mr Pritchard to copy 
 from the new edition of his Microscopic Illus- 
 trations (p. 70 et seq.) the following descrip- 
 tion and illustration of the larva of a British 
 llydrophilus (Hydrophilus caraboides^) 
 
 " In examining the peculiarities of the 
 structure and habits of this larva, what most 
 strikingly attracts our attention is its ferocious 
 and savage disposition, and the fitness of its 
 organs for the exercise of its ravenous propen- 
 sities. It may be safely asserted that no spe- 
 cies of larvae is. known to be provided with 
 weapons of destruction so powerful, so numer- 
 
 VOL. n. 
 
 ous, and so well adapted to their end, as those 
 which this creature possesses. It is on this 
 account that it has been properly called the 
 Water Devil. Its size is but little inferior to 
 that of the larvae of any of <he British cole- 
 optera, as it measures, when arrived at ma- 
 turity, an inch and a half in length, while the 
 superior strength and courage manifested in 
 its attacks on small fish, and other animals 
 larger than itself, is truly surprising. 
 
 " About the latter end of April, and during 
 the month of May, small nests of these insects 
 are often found floating among weeds and 
 water plants, in stagnant pools, and are fre- 
 quently taken in the nets of those who are 
 searching for the early kinds of larva. They 
 are in the form of balls, of a dusky white 
 colour, and a silky texture, and have each a 
 small stem of the same nature as th.e nest, but 
 more dense. By means of this filament they 
 are attached to the roots or stalks of weeds at 
 the bottom of the water. In tins situation 
 they remain during the winter, and are thus 
 effectually preserved from the effects of intense 
 cold. Early in the spring, the stem or cable 
 to which we have referred is detached from 
 the weeds, by the winds which at that time 
 prevail, and the nest rises to the surface of 
 the water, and there floating, receives the 
 genial influence of the sun. These nests may 
 be taken and placed in a basin of water, and, 
 as the season advances, hatched by the heat 
 of the sun. On the larva leaving the nest, 
 which it accomplishes by gnawing a hole in 
 the side, the infant immediately descends to 
 the bottom of the vessel, with its jaws extended 
 in search of prey, and eagerly devours all the 
 small aquatic insects that are within its reach ; 
 if however, there is a scarcity of food in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the nest, they 
 may be seen to attack and devour each other." 
 
 " These larvae, as well as most of those of 
 the larger kind, are found at a greater depth 
 of water than are the smaller ones ; although, 
 in their pursuit of small prey, they may oc- 
 casionally be taken in shallow places. In its 
 infant slate, this larva is very transparent ; 
 hence its internal structure may be clearly 
 distinguished. When about a quarter of an 
 inch in length, it swims very nimbly. The 
 colour of the head is a strong Indian yellow, 
 with darker shadings of a bright chestnut ; the 
 eyes are now bright carmine. It is more 
 sparingly covered with hairs, and its swim- 
 ming appendages are shorter than at a more 
 advanced period; and the head is larger, in 
 proportion to the size of the body, than when 
 the creature has arrived at maturity. In this 
 respect it resembles many other creatures in 
 its mode of growth, the head seeming to be 
 developed and perfected before the rest of the 
 system." 
 
 4H 
 
610 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 " The manner in which this larva treats its 
 prev evinces an extraordinary degree of in- 
 stinct. Many of the creatures on which it 
 feeds are crustaceous about the head and back; 
 hence they are most vulnerable at the under 
 part of the body. This part, therefore, the 
 larva attacks ; and, to accomplish its aim, 
 swims underneath the intended victim, and 
 bending back its head, is enabled thus to reach 
 its prey by means of its jointed antennas. (The 
 illustrative figure represents a magnified view 
 of the larva taken while young.) Its next 
 
 operation is to pierce its prey with the curved 
 mandibles. Having thus secured its object, 
 it immediately ascends to the top of the water, 
 and, holding it above the surface, so as to pre- 
 vent its struggling, shakes it as a dog would 
 a rat. ^ It next inserts the piercer and sucker, 
 (betwe'eri the mandibles) which are capable 
 of being thrust out or withdrawn .at pleasure. 
 When the juices of the victim are not easily 
 procured by suction or exhaustion, the serrated 
 forceps are employed to tear and masticate it, 
 and thus cause the juices to be more easily 
 obtained. If its food be plentiful, this larva 
 ar-ives at its full growth in the course of three 
 or four months, and is then nearly opaque and 
 covered with hair. It can be kept several 
 days without food, and by this exinanition 
 s structure becomes considerably more trans- 
 
 parent ; while its natural ferocity is greatly 
 increased, so that it will attack and fight with 
 creatures much larger than itself, and even 
 with its own species. It may be remarked, 
 that it studiously avoids any contest with the 
 nepa, or water scorpion." 
 
 " On a fine sunny day the larvas rise to the 
 surface of the water, and delight to bask in 
 the sun ; but if watched they remain motion- 
 less, with their claws extended. If a stick, 
 or any other substance, be presented to them, 
 they will immediately seize it, and will some- 
 times suffer themselves to be cut into pieces 
 before they relinquish their hold. Their bite 
 has been considered poisonous by m;my 
 persons, as it takes a greater length of time to 
 heal than other wounds of the same extent : so 
 that caution should be used in taking them. 
 Touching the anatomy of this creature, it may 
 be observed, that the sucker is contained in a 
 crustaceous sheath, and may be considerably 
 protruded or completely withdrawn at the 
 pleasure of the larva : in the annexed cut it 
 is shown extended to about three quarters of 
 its length. The eyes are compound, but of a 
 peculiar formation, consisting of seven oval 
 apertures ranged like leaves upon a branch. 
 The whole of the head and thorax are curi- 
 ously marked with a number of lines and 
 spots. The legs are six in number ; they are 
 thickly set with rows of hair on their opposite 
 sides, and each is furnished with a sharp claw. 
 The number of swimmers on each side is 
 seven ; they are covered with hairs, and to 
 the specimen from which the drawing was 
 taken, a vast number of vorticdlcz convellariai, 
 or bell-polypi, were attached. These will be 
 recognized in a subsequent engraving by their 
 bell. shaped figure, They sometimes infest 
 this species of larvae to such a degree as con- 
 siderably to impede its motion in swimming. 
 On each side of the abdomen, which com- 
 mences near the origin of the first pair of 
 swimmers, arise the great tracheas, or air- 
 vessels, distinguished in the cut by a deeper 
 shade than the other parts ; the two approach 
 each other near the tail, where an exceedingly 
 curious process is also distinctly exhibited. 
 The whole surface of the body is thickly 
 covered with hairs, and several tufts are dis- 
 posed in clusters with some regulaiity, down 
 the back and sides. The flexible pulsatory 
 organ, or dorsal vessel, situated at the lower 
 part of the body, is in perpetual motion. Its 
 form somewhat resembles the letter S inverted: 
 it however varies a little during its vibrating 
 motions. The use of the curious appendages 
 at the lower extremity of the body is unknown. 
 Its tail is bi-forked and crustaceous, and is 
 marked as shown in the cut. The short 
 line shows the natural size of the larva, 
 at the same period of its growth as that at 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 611 
 
 which the magnified drawing was made. 
 As it approaches maturity, it casts its skin 
 several times, from each of which it escapes 
 by a rent formed down the back." 
 
 " In this larva the air is supplied for res- 
 piration by proper orifices situated at the tail ; 
 and the creature is obliged to ascend to the 
 surface of the water, and elevate its tail out 
 of it, at every inspiration. When the air thus 
 inhaled has become unfit for inspiration, it is 
 expelled at the same orifice, and a small 
 bubble may frequently be seen issuing from 
 the tail, and ascending in the water. On a 
 careful examination of the skin, which by the 
 bye affords an excellent object for the micro- 
 scope, there will not appear any spiraculse 
 along the sides, as in perfect insects." 
 
 We have been compelled to abridge Mr 
 Pritchard's description from want of space, 
 and we have likewise made a few necessary 
 verbal alterations to connect it with our wood 
 engraving : in the Microscopic Illustrations, 
 the figure is exhibited in a most elaborately 
 executed coloured plate. 
 
 The preceding instance has shown us the 
 voracious and tierce propensities of insects in 
 the larva state ; we now reverse the picture, 
 and discover the sufferings and inconveniences 
 to which they are themselves exposed. The 
 following are the curious observations of an 
 ingenious naturalist. " As I was observing," 
 says he, "one day some caterpillars which were 
 feeding voluptuously on a cabbage leaf, my 
 attention was attracted to a part of the plant, 
 about which a small ichneumon fly was buzz- 
 ing on its wing, as if deliberating where to 
 settle: 1 was surprised to see the herd of cater- 
 pillars, creatures of twenty times its size, en- 
 deavouring, in an uncouth manner, by various 
 contortions of the body, to get out of its way, 
 and more so whenever the fly poised on the 
 wing as if going to drop ; at length the crea- 
 ture made its choice, and seated itself on the 
 back of one of the largest and fairest of the 
 cluster : it was in vain the unhappy larva en- 
 deavoured to dislodge the enemy. If the 
 caterpillar had shown terror on the approach 
 of the fly, its anguish at intervals now seemed in- 
 tolerable, and I soon found that it was in con- 
 sequence of the strokes or wounds given by 
 the fly. At every wound the poor caterpillar 
 wreathed and twisted its whole frame, en- 
 deavouring to disengage itself, by shaking off 
 the enemy, sometimes aiming its mouth to- 
 wards the place ; but it was all in vain, its 
 little, but cruel, tormentor kept its place. 
 When it had inflicted thirty or forty of these 
 wounds, it took its flight with a visible triumph ; 
 in each of these wounds the fly had deposited 
 an egg. I took the caterpillar home with me 
 to observe the progress of the eggs which 
 were thus placed in its body, taking care to 
 
 give it a fresh supply of leaves from time to 
 time, it recovered to all appearance in a few 
 hours from the wounds it had received, and 
 from that time, for the space of four or five 
 days, seemed to feed with its usual avidity. 
 The eggs were all hatched into small oblong 
 voracious worms, which fed from the moment 
 of their appearance on the flesh of the cater- 
 pillar, in whose body they were inclosed, and 
 seemingly without wounding the organs of 
 respiration or digestion ; and when they had 
 arrived at their full growth, they ate then- 
 way out of the sides of the larva, at the same 
 time destroying it. The caterpillar thus at 
 tacked by the larvae of the ichneumon fly never 
 escapes, its destruction is infallible ; but then 
 its life is not taken away at once ; the larva, 
 while it is feeding thereon, knows how to 
 spare the parts which are essential to its life, 
 because its own is at that time tied up in that 
 of the caterpillar. No butterfly is produced 
 from the caterpillar ; the worms that feed on 
 the wretched creature, are no sooner out ot 
 its body, than every one spins its own web, 
 and under this they pass the state of rest ne- 
 cessary to introduce them to their winged 
 form." 
 
 We conclude our notices of larvae with an 
 extract from Burt's " Observations on the 
 Curiosities of Nature," which appeared in 
 Chambers' Edinburgh Journal. The details 
 here offered are very similar to those just 
 given ; there are, however, several new and 
 interesting facts connected with the present 
 instance, which justify the partial repetition. 
 
 " The capada worm, or insect-fly carrier, 
 is produced, like the silk- worm, from the eggs 
 which its mother scatters every where, alter 
 she has undergone her metamorphosis into a 
 white butterfly. It begins to live at the end 
 of July, and at its birth is arrayed in a robe 
 of the most brilliant and variegated colours. 
 When on the point of undergoing its meta- 
 morphosis in August, it throws off this superb 
 livery, and puts on another of an admirable 
 sea-green hue. This fundamental col ur re- 
 flects all its various shades, according to the 
 different undulations of the animal, and the 
 different accidents of light ; but this new de- 
 coration announces the approach of a period 
 when it is doomed to undergo great tortures. 
 It is immediately assailed by a swarm of 
 ichneumon flies, one of which inserts itself into 
 each of the pores of its body, not an opening 
 being left unoccupied. All its struggles to 
 get free of its tormentors are in vain. These 
 flies, which are so small they can only be 
 studied by the microscope, drive their stinr 
 into the skin of their victim, over the wjd 
 extent of its back and sides. Afterwar^ggs 
 all at the same moment, they slip th&have 
 into the bottom of the wounds which 
 
 
612 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 inflicted. No sooner is this operation per- 
 formed, than the ichneumon flies disappear, 
 and the patient remains fur an hour in a 
 drowsy and even motionless state, out of which 
 it awakens to feed with its former voracity. 
 It then appears much larger, and its size in- 
 creases every day. Its green colour assumes 
 a deeper hue, and the tints produced by the 
 reflection of the light are more strongly marked. 
 About a fortnight after the worm has been 
 encumbered with this factitious pregnancy, 
 the prospect of a numerous progeny begins to 
 be apparent. By the aid cf a microscope the 
 eggs may be seen hatching in the body of the 
 animal ; and as they are all produced at the 
 same instant, a single glance reveals the 
 capada worm covered with a living robe of 
 (larvae of) ichneumon flies. They issue from 
 every pore, all the body being covered with 
 them, only the top of the head appearing bare. 
 Its colour then changes to dirty white, and the 
 little worms assume a black appearance to the 
 eye, although their true colour is a deep brown. 
 This operation lasts about an hour, and it is 
 followed by another, which is not much more 
 protracted, but still more singular. Immedi- 
 ately that the ichneumon worms are hatched, 
 without quitting the spot where they separate 
 themselves from the eggs, they yield a liquid 
 gum, which becomes solid on exposure to the 
 air. At the same time, and by a simultaneous 
 motion, they elevate themselves on their lower 
 extremities, shake their heads and one half of 
 their bodies, and swing themselves in every 
 direction. And now they commence a very 
 curious operation. Each of these animalcules 
 works himself a small and almost impercepti- 
 ble cocoon in the shape of an egg, in which 
 he wraps himself up. The formation of these 
 cocoOns occupies only about two hours, and 
 myriads of them being crowded close together, 
 form a white robe, with which the capada 
 worm appears elegantly and comfortably 
 clothed ; but while they are thus busily array- 
 ing him in his new attire, he remains appar- 
 ently unconscious of their assiduities ; he is then 
 in a state of insect paralysis. As soon as this 
 covering has been completed, and the little 
 artists who wove it have retired to their cells, 
 the worm endeavours to rid himself of his 
 officious guests, and of the robe which con- 
 tains them, but he does not succeed in the at- 
 tempt without the greatest efforts. At length 
 he contrives to get rid of the encumbrance ; 
 but instead of his former fat and shining ap- 
 pearance, he presents all the decrepitude of 
 extreme old age. He is flaccid and dull ; his 
 skin is wrinkled and dirty ; and, in short, 
 vmptoms of approaching dissolution begin to 
 el.v themselves. He still makes a desperate 
 devo\ gnaw a few leaves, but he no longer 
 them with that voracity which indi- 
 
 cates a vigorous constitution. Shortly after- 
 wards he passes into the state of a chrysalis, 
 and in giving life to thousands of eggs, he 
 relinquishes his own." 
 
 The pupa state of insects is the intermediate 
 stage between the larva and the perfect deve- 
 lopement, and affords many opportunities to 
 the microscopical observer for detecting curi- 
 ous and interesting formations and phenomena. 
 
 " When the larva has attained to its full 
 growth and the parts of the future insect are 
 sufficiently formed beneath its skin, it prepares 
 for its change into the pupa state ; it seeks 
 for a proper place in which to perform the 
 important business. The different methods em- 
 ployed by these little animals to secure this 
 state of rest, may be reduced to four : 1. Some 
 spin webs or cones, in which they inclose 
 themselves. 2. Others conceal themselves in 
 little cells, which they form under ground. 
 3. Some suspend themselves by their posterior 
 extremity ; 4. While others are suspended 
 by a girdle that goes round their body. In 
 proportion as the change into the pupa form 
 approaches, the body is observed often to ex- 
 tend and contract itself ; the hinder part is 
 that which is first disengaged from the larva 
 skin ; when this part of the body is free, the 
 animal contracts and draws it up towards the 
 head ; it then liberates itself in the same man- 
 ner from the two succeeding rings, consequently 
 the insect is now lodged in the fore part of its 
 larva covering : the half which is abandoned 
 remains flaccid and empty, while the forepart 
 is swollen and distended. The animal, by 
 strong efforts, still forcing itself against the 
 fore part of the skin, bursts the skull into three 
 pieces, and forms a longitudinal opening in 
 the three first rings of the body ; through this 
 it proceeds drawing one part after the other, 
 by alternately lengthening and shortening, 
 swelling and contracting the body and differ- 
 ent rings ; or else, by pushing back the 
 exuvia, gets rid of its odious reptile form. The 
 larva, thus stripped from its skin, is what we 
 call the pupa, chrysalis, or aurelia, in which 
 the parts of the future insect are inclosed in a 
 crustaceous covering, but are so soft, that the 
 slightest touch will discompose them. The 
 exterior part of the chrysalis is, at first, ex- 
 ceedingly tender, soft, and partly transparent, 
 being covered with a viscous fluid ; this soon 
 dries up, thickens, and forms a new covering 
 for the animal, capable of resisting external 
 injuries ; a case, which is at the same time 
 the sepulchre of the larva, and the cradle of 
 the insect ; where, as under a veil, this won- 
 derful transformation is carried on. The chrys- 
 alis of the common white butterfly furnishes 
 a most beautiful object for the microscope. 
 Those who are desirous to examine the various 
 members of the insect in its pupa state, should 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 613 
 
 examine it before the fore mentioned fluid is 
 dried up, when it will be found to be the per- 
 fect insect with the members glued together ; 
 these, by degrees, acquire sufficient i'orce to 
 break their covering, and disengage them- 
 selves from the bands which confine them. 
 While in this state, all the parts of the insect 
 may be traced out, though so folded and laid 
 together, that it cannot make use of them ; 
 nor is it expedient that it should, as they 
 merely pass through this state to be hardened 
 and strengthened." 
 
 The exuviae or cast skins, of insects, in 
 their larva, pupa, or perfect state, form most in- 
 te re sting microscopic objects. " We find in 
 the exuviae of the caterpillar, the skull, the 
 jaws, and all the exterior parts, both scaly and 
 rnembranaceous, which compose its upper and 
 under lip, its antennae, palpi, and even those 
 crustaceous pieces within the head, which 
 serve as a fixed basis to a number of muscles ; 
 we further find the spiracula, the claws, and 
 sheaths of the interior limbs, and in general 
 all that is visible of the caterpillar." From 
 an attentive examination of the various exuviae 
 which are cast off by insects in different stages 
 of their existence, we are led to consider them 
 a compound system of organized bodies, con- 
 tained one within another ; for we not only 
 find in the cast skins all the exterior charac- 
 ters of the insect, but even the coats of the 
 gullet, pulmonary tubes, tracheal vessels, &c. 
 Indeed, there is not in animated nature a 
 more incomprehensible phenomenon than the 
 faculty which insects possess of throwing off, 
 repeatedly, the first surface of their exterior 
 members and internal organs. The writer 
 was walking, some years since, on a warm 
 summer evening, along the banks of a river 
 in the south of England, when a number of 
 small ephemera settled on his dress ; he paid 
 particular attention to one that had alighted 
 on his arm, and witnessed, in the course of a 
 quarter of an hour, no fewer than five exuviae 
 thrown off by the insect. These moultings, 
 as they maybe termed, appeared to be effected 
 with much effort and suffering : the body of 
 the insect swelled, and deepened in colour, 
 and seemed to be exerting great muscular 
 energy to detach the exuviae. Another change 
 of colour to dusky white, indicated the mo- 
 ment when the skin was about to be cast off ; 
 the insect appeared to emerge from it easily ; 
 and for an instant the rejected covering pre- 
 sented a perfect skeleton, but immediately 
 afterwards collapsed and shrivelled up. What 
 is very remarkable, the insect suffered no ap- 
 parent diminution of bulk from these repeated 
 skinnings, and at length flew off and joined 
 the countless swarrn that hovered about the 
 water, into which, after a very brief interval, 
 they would fall lifeless 
 
 The imago, or fly state of insects, is the 
 ultimate development of their forms, and 
 usually exhibits structures which for beauty 
 and delicacy are the very antipodes of the 
 larvae whence they are derived. For instance, 
 the unsightly caterpillar, crawling painfully 
 from leaf to leaf, or gorging itself with gross 
 nutriment, is transformed into the butterfly, 
 that skims lightly over the earth, or mounts 
 with sylph-like wing into the very clouds ; 
 which feeds daintily, and sips only the purest 
 nectar of the opening flowers. It was a most 
 happy thought of the early times to make the 
 butterfly an emblem of immortality ; it was, 
 however, reserved for latter ages to discover all 
 the pertinence and value of the type. By the 
 aid of the microscope we have ascertained, that 
 not only the ravenous jaws and the whole exterior 
 parts of the larva are thrown off, even to the 
 eyes themselves, but that the internal system, 
 the stomach, lungs and various organs, are all 
 exchanged for other organs, members, and fa- 
 culties, suited to that higher state of existence 
 to which the insect form is summoned. 'Surely 
 we may, with no irreverent fancy, admire this 
 lively emblem of the corruptible putting on 
 incorruption, and the mortal putting on im- 
 mortality. 
 
 We proceed to notice the wonderful struc- 
 ture observable in the different parts and 
 members of insects. 
 
 The antenncB and palpi are fine slender 
 articulated horns, movable in nearly all direc- 
 tions, and constituting one of the distinguish- 
 ing characteristics of the insect tribes. The 
 antennae are beautiful and various in form, of 
 a delicate structure, and so minutely jointed 
 as to be instantaneously movable at the plea- 
 sure of the insect. They are situated on the 
 fore part of the head. The articulations differ 
 in shape, length and number, and vary greatly 
 in different species ; the antennae of the male 
 differ also from those of the female. The 
 greater number of insects have only two an- 
 tennae, but some few have four. Regular rows 
 of minute holes are said to have been discovered 
 in the antennae. Several insects cover their 
 eyes with them whilst they sleep. Many 
 conjectures have been formed regarding the 
 use of these appendages : some have con- 
 sidered them organs of smelling and hearing, 
 others have supposed them to be appropriated 
 to a delicate species of feeling. From the 
 use to which the creature applies them, we 
 are perhaps justified in considering them the 
 organs of touch and hearing. If any sudden 
 noise be made close by an insect provided 
 with antennae, the motion of these horns suf- 
 ficiently indicates that they are affected by the 
 vibrations of the air; and, indeed, it is rational 
 to suppose that their delicate structure and 
 articulations must convey a sensation of sound 
 
 
6U 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 to the insect. That an acute sense of touch 
 resides in the antennas, cannot be doubted by 
 any one who has noticed how carefully insects 
 pilot their way with them, and that they 
 never, except when flying, pass from one twig 
 or leaf to another without first testing its 
 security with their horns. 
 
 The annexed cut represents one of the an- 
 tennas of the Bombyx antiqua, highly magnified. 
 
 In the following figure, a portion of the an- 
 tennae is seen vertically, covered with an im- 
 brication of white scales or feathers, under 
 which the pectens issue on each side. 
 
 The head of the Bombyx cnja, exhibiting 
 one antenna?, and the insertion of the other, is 
 represented by the following figure. 
 
 The palpi are small filiform articulated 
 horns, from four to six in number, placed 
 near the mouths of insects. These are usually 
 termed \\\z feelers, as the creature is observed 
 to thrust them in every matter, as a hog 
 would its nose, when in search of food. Some 
 have supposed them to be a provision by which 
 the insect is enabled to hold its food near the 
 mouth. 
 
 The eye 3 of insects are a wonderful piece 
 of mechanism, differing considerably in their 
 construction from those of other animals. 
 " Among the exterior parts of insects, none 
 are more worthy of minute investigation, and 
 very few persons can be found who are insen- 
 sible to the beauties of this organ when ex- 
 hibited under the microscope, which instru- 
 ment alone can point out to us the prodigious 
 art employed in its organization." The eyes 
 of insects differ in different species ; they vary 
 also in number, situation, connection, and 
 figure. " In other creatures they are move- 
 able, and two in number ; in insects, the 
 genus cancri excepted, they are fixed ; they 
 have no eyebrows or eyelids, but the outer 
 coating is hard and transparent. The greater 
 part of insects have two eyes ; some have a 
 larger number varying from three to eight. 
 The eyes of insects are of two kinds : the 
 stemmata, or single eyes ; and the reticulated, 
 or clustered eyes." The stemmata were first 
 noticed by M. de la Hire ; they are three 
 lucid protuberances placed on the back part 
 of the head of many insects : their surface is 
 glossy, of an hemispheric figure, and a coal 
 black colour. Reaumur made experiments on 
 these eyes, and found that when they were 
 covered the insects flew to a small distance 
 only, and apparently at random ; the reticu- 
 lated eyes appear to be adapted only for long 
 vision, and do not give distinct images of 
 objects close at hand^ The reticulated eyes 
 are wonderful structures when examined by 
 the microscope : they are those hemispherical 
 protuberances on the sides of the insect's head, 
 which in the mass are obvious to the unas- 
 sisted eye, and are even seen, without optical 
 assistance, to be composed of a kind of net 
 work. Each protuberance, in its natural 
 state, is a body cut into a number of faces, 
 like an artificial multiplying glass ; but with 
 this superiority in the workmanship, that as 
 there, every I'ace is a. plane, here, every one is 
 convex, immensely more numerous, and con- 
 tained in a much smaller space. If one of 
 these protuberances be taken from the head of 
 the insect, washed clean, and placed before 
 the microscope, its whole structure is seen, 
 and it becomes an object worthy of the highest 
 admiration. Each separate eye is found to 
 have an hexagonal, a quadrangular, or other 
 regular sided figure, varying in size according 
 to its situation in the head, and including a 
 convex, or in point of fact, a meniscus lens, 
 composed of a number of layers, which may 
 be separated by maceration, and subjected tc 
 special examination. 
 
 " The eyes of the libellula, or dragon-fly, 
 on account of their size, are peculiarly adapted 
 for microscopical examination ; and by the as- 
 sistance of the instrument, you will iind that 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 615 
 
 they are divided into a number of hexagonal 
 cells, each of which forms a complete eye. 
 The external parts of these eyes aro so perfectly 
 smooth, and so well polished, that, when 
 viewed as opaque objects, they will, like so 
 many mirrors, reflect the images of all the 
 surrounding objects. The figure of a candle 
 may be seen on their surface multiplied almost 
 to infinity, shifting its beam to each eye, ac- 
 cording to the motion given to it by the hands 
 of the observer. Other creatures are obliged 
 to turn their eyes towards the object, but 
 insects have eyes directed thereto, on whatso- 
 ever side it may appear : they more than 
 realize the wonderful accounts of fabulous 
 history : poets gave to Argus an hundred eyes ; 
 insects are furnished with thousands, having 
 the benefit of vision on every side with the 
 utmost ease and speed, though without any 
 motion of the eye or flexion of the neck." 
 
 The reticulated eyes in someof the fly class are 
 not inferior in appearance to the richest gems : 
 they exhibit nearly every variety of colour 
 under a brilliant and surpassing lustre. In con- 
 nection with the general description, we have 
 only to add that the number of separate lenses 
 in the hemispherical reticulations of some 
 insects are almost beyond belief: the agrion 
 lias no fewer than 12,000 distinct lenses, or 
 separate eyes, the common house fly 8,000, 
 the hawk moth 20,000, the libellula 12,544, 
 the melolontha 8,820, the mordella 25,088, 
 papilio 17,008, phaslana cossus 11,300, the 
 scarabaeus 3,180. We in vain attempt to 
 reason regarding these lucid points, each of 
 which is a meniscus lens of several layers, con- 
 nected with a pyramid of fibres and pulmon- 
 ary tubes whose uses we cannot deter- 
 mine. 
 
 The tongue or proboscis of insects is a taper 
 and compact instrument, by which they obtain 
 the juices of plants or other nutriment requisite 
 for them. Some creatures can contract or 
 expand it, others roll it up with dexterity ; in 
 some it is inclosed within a sheath. It is 
 taper and spiral in the butterfly, tubular and 
 fleshy in the fly ; in all affording agreeable 
 amusement for the microscope. 
 
 The following represents the tongue of the 
 
 riohurticce taken out and unrolled, displaying 
 two segments, as united with the rugae of which 
 
 they are composed, and the papillae or absor- 
 bents towards the end. 
 
 The following figure on the left hand gives 
 a front view of the mouth without the palpi, 
 the clipeus being raised to show the opening 
 of the mouth and insertion of the tongue. 
 
 The right hand figure shows the manner in 
 which the tongue, after the extremity has been 
 applied to the nectary of a flower and has 
 absorbed the juices, is conveyed to the mouth, 
 and the papillae cleansed by scraping on the 
 under part of it. 
 
 Above is represented the under part of the 
 mouth and tongue, with the articulations of the 
 palpi. 
 
 "The bee's tongue, for its complex yet fin- 
 ished structure, and the trunk of the common 
 house-fly, with the spiral fibres of the muscles 
 which surround its termination, will amply re- 
 pay the pains of an attentive and minute ex- 
 amination." These two objects form the prin- 
 cipal subjects of our illustrations on this head ; 
 and the brief descriptions we are enabled to 
 give of them, will convey a general idea of the 
 wonderful structure and admirable adaptation 
 of parts by which these insect organs are dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 Plate 34, fig. 32, exhibits the tongue or 
 trunk of the common house-fly, as it appears 
 under a considerable magnifying power. This 
 is one of the most interesting and beautiful 
 objects that can be submitted to the microscope, 
 especially when it is mounted in Canada bal- 
 sam and viewed by transmitted light. Baker 
 thus describes it : " It consists of two parts 
 folding over one another and sheathed in the 
 mouth. The extremity thereof is sharp like a 
 knife, for the separation of any thing. The 
 two parts can also be formed, occasionally, into 
 a pair of lips for taking up proper quantities 
 of food, and by the fly's sucking in the air, 
 they become a kind of pump to draw up the 
 juices of fruits or other liquors." We call 
 particular attention to the serrations of the 
 tongue ; these are separate and perfect teeth, 
 
616 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 as may readily be ascertained on exami lation 
 \vith a moderate magnifier of good defining 
 power. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 43, represents the trunk of 
 the honey-bee, magnified in the same degree 
 as the preceding object. Swarnmerdam and 
 Reaumur have described this subject at great 
 length ; but as the instruments they used were 
 very deficient in defining power, they were 
 led into hypothetic statements not altogether 
 agreeing with facts more recently ascertained. 
 Their drawings of this insect member are very 
 wide of the truth. Our illustration was copied 
 from a specimen finely prepared in balsam ; 
 and it oilers the best resemblance to the object 
 of any that has hitherto appeared, taking into 
 consideration the limited scale on which it is 
 drawn, which does not admit of extensive de- 
 tail. The reader will at once notice the 
 similarity between the trunk of the bee and 
 that of the elephant ; their mechanism appear, 
 indeed, to be identical so far as it is intended 
 to facilitate the curvature, contraction, and 
 extension of the member. The trunk of the 
 bee is, however, peculiar in its termination, 
 and seems to be so constructed that the insect 
 may fix it, in the manner of a leech, within 
 the nectarium of the flower, and, by alternately 
 contracting and extending the organ, pump 
 or suck up the juices of the blossom. The 
 surface of the member is marked with a num- 
 ber of parallel rings, and covered with a fine 
 hair. The two bodies, one on each side, are 
 a pair of the palpi. 
 
 The legs and feet of insects exhibit most 
 curious and elegant structures, worthy of 
 minute examination by all who take interest 
 in the adaptation of animal members and the 
 mechanical powers which they respectively 
 possess. From a microscopic consideration of 
 the limbs of insects, we ascertain that muscular 
 energy increases as the size of the animal 
 decreases. " The motions of animals are 
 proportioned to their weight and structure ; a 
 flea can leap to the distance of at least two 
 hundred times its own length ; were an ele- 
 phant, a camel, or a horse to leap in the same 
 proportion, their weight would crush them to 
 atoms. The softness of their texture, and the 
 comparative smallriessof their specific gravity, 
 enable insects to fall without injury from 
 heights that would prove fatal to large ani- 
 mals." The legs of insects are named and 
 classed according to the motions for whicl 
 they appear to be principally adapted. "Thus 
 some are named cursoni, from their adaptation 
 lor running ; these are the most numerous. 
 The saltatorii are those that are used for leap- 
 ing ; the thighs of these are remarkably 
 large, by which means they possess consider- 
 able strength and power to leap to great dis- 
 tances. The nataturii are those that serve as 
 
 ars for swimming ; the feet of these are flat 
 nd edged with hairs, possessing a proper 
 surface to strike against the water, as in the 
 It/tiscus, notonecta, &c. Such feet as have 
 10 claws are termed nutici. The chclce, or 
 claws, are an enlargement of the extremity of 
 he fore-feet, each of which is furnished with 
 wo smaller claws, which act like a thumb 
 and finger, as in the crab. The under part 
 of the feet in some insects is covered wilh a 
 und of brush or sponge, by which they are 
 enabled to walk with ease, on the most polished 
 substances, and in situations from which it 
 would seem they must necessarily fall." We 
 give an illustration of this class of objects in 
 plate 34, fig. 24, which exhibits, under a low 
 magnified power, the leg and foot of that 
 voracious aquatic fly, the dytiscus. We have 
 referred principally to the strong claws, or 
 talons, with which it is armed : a more inter- 
 esting feature in this object is the web that 
 surrounds (he foot, this however, from its ex- 
 eedingly complicate structure; could not have 
 been effectively shown on a small scale. 
 
 This cut represents the legs of a bee as 
 developed by a moderate magnifying power. 
 
 The wings and iving cases (elytrd)ot insects 
 form an exceedingly numerous and a highly 
 interesting class of microscopic objects. " The 
 variety in the form and structure of these 
 insect appendages is almost infinite ; the 
 beauty of their colouring, the art with which 
 they are connected to the body, the curious 
 manner in which some are folded up, the finer 
 articulations provided for this purpose, by 
 which they are laid up in their cases when 
 out of use, and yet are ready to be extended 
 in a moment for flight ; together with the 
 various ramifications, by which the nourish- 
 ing juices are circulated, and the wings 
 strengthened, afford a fund of rational inves- 
 tigation highly entertaining : exhibiting, par- 
 ticularly when examine 1 by the microscope, 
 a most wonderful d.spliy of divine wisdom 
 and power. The more delicate and trans- 
 parent wings are covered and protected by 
 elytra, or cases, which are generally hard ami 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 617 
 
 opaque. The wings of moths and butterflies 
 tire mostly farinaceous, covered with a fine dust; 
 by the assistance of the microscope, we dis- 
 cover that this dust is a regular assemblage of 
 organized scales. Under the wings of most 
 insects which have only two, there is a small 
 head placed on a stalk, frequently under a 
 little arched scale ; these are called halttres, 
 or poisers ; they appear to be rudiments of 
 their hinder wings," or substitutes for them : 
 " it has been supposed that they serve to keep 
 the body in equilibrio when the insect is fly- 
 ing. The elytra, or exterior wing cases, are 
 harder and more opaque than the wings under 
 them ; they are generally highly polished, and 
 often enriched with various colours, adorned 
 with ornamental flutings, and studded with 
 brilliants, whose beauties are beyond descrip- 
 tion. All these ornaments are united in the 
 wing case of the curculio imperiulis, or diamond 
 beetle, one of the richest and most magnificent 
 creatures in nature. It is said, that in the 
 Brazils, whence they come, it is almost im- 
 possible to look at them on a sunny day, when 
 ihey are flying in little swarms, so great is 
 the glowing splendour of their heightened 
 colours." 
 
 Our illustrations of wings will be found 
 in plate 34, figs. 22, 23, and 25. To have 
 given with full effect the remarkable details 
 in these members, they must necessarily have 
 been drawn upon a large scale, and by con- 
 sequence have limited the variety of our 
 objects. The reader must, therefore, consider 
 these figures as little more than an indication 
 of the wondrous beauty and delicacy observ- 
 able in these objects when subjected to deep 
 magnifying powers. 
 
 Fig. 22. The wing of a gnat. This object 
 is remarkable for the delicate punctce, or dots, 
 that cover the entire membrane, and from each 
 of which an exceedingly fine spine, or point, 
 juts out. The fibres of the wing are serrated, 
 or, more properly, armed with thorny projec- 
 tions, similar in character to fig. 9. The 
 outer margin is thickly set with a vast num- 
 ber of small scales, or feathers, much resem- 
 bling those on the wings of butterflies. The 
 low power under which we have exhibited 
 this object is not sufficient to develope the 
 true character of the minute details. 
 
 Fig. 23. The wing of an ichneumon fly . This 
 object is shown under the same power as the 
 preceding ; and it will be seen that the dots on 
 the membrane, and the spine of each dot, are 
 much less delicate in this wing than in that 
 of the gnat. The upper margin is serrated. 
 
 Fig. 25. The wing of an earwig. " Though 
 the earwig is so common an insect, yet few 
 people know that it has wings, and fewer yet 
 hive seen them ; they are of a curious and 
 elegant texture, and wonderful structure. The 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 upper part is crustaceous and opaque, while 
 the other part is beautifully transparent. They 
 fold up into a very small compass, and lie 
 neatly concealed under the elytra, which are 
 not more than a sixth part of the wing in size. 
 The insect shuts up the ribs like a fan ; the 
 strong muscles used for this purpose are seen 
 at the upper part of the figure. The ribs are 
 extended from the centre to the outer edge, 
 others are extended only from the edge about 
 halfway ; but they are all united by a band 
 at a small but equal distance from the edge ; 
 the whole evidently contrived to strengthen 
 the wing, and facilitate the various motions 
 thereof ; so that in these wings you find all 
 the motions that are in the most elaborate and 
 portable umbrellas, executed with a neatness 
 and elegance surpassing description." 
 
 " The wings of butterflies are covered with 
 a fine dust which renders them opaque, and 
 produces those beautiful and variegated colours 
 by which they are so richly adorned, and so 
 profusely decked. If this be wiped oft, you 
 find the remaining part, or naked wing, to 
 consist of a number of ribs, like those in the 
 leaves of plants, but of a crustaceous or talcy 
 nature ; the largest rib runs along and fortilies 
 the exterior edge of the wing ; the interior 
 edge is strengthened by a smaller vessel or 
 rib. The ribs are all hollow, by which means 
 the wing, though comparatively large, is very 
 light. The substance between the ribs, which 
 constitutes the body of the wing, resembles 
 talc, and is surprisingly thin and transparent; 
 as this is extremely tender, one use of the 
 scales may be to protect it from injuries. 
 When the fly emerges from the chrysalis, the 
 wings are soft and thick, and if they be ex- 
 amined in that state, will be found to consist 
 of two membranes that may be raised up and 
 separated, by blowing between them with a 
 small tube : the ribs lie between these mem- 
 branes. Ever since the microscope WHS in- 
 vented, the dust that covers these wings has 
 engaged the attention of microscopic observers; 
 as by this instrument it is found to be a regular 
 collection of organized scales of various shapes, 
 in whose construction there is as much 
 symmetry, as there is beauty in their colours. 
 Their shapes are not only very diiierent in 
 butterflies and moths of various species, but 
 those on the same moth or fly are also found 
 to diifer. Of the scales, some are so long and 
 slender that they resemble hairs, except that 
 they are a little flattened and divided at the 
 ends, some are short and broad ; some are 
 notched at the edges, others smooth ; some are 
 nearly oval, while others are triangular : they 
 are mostly furnished with a short stalk or stem 
 to fix them to the wing." The prodigious 
 number of small scales which cover the wings 
 of papillae, and their regular arrangement, 
 4 i 
 
618 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 covering one another like the tiling of a house, 
 are interesting facts ascertained by microscopic 
 observation. 
 
 Many of the improvements recently intro- 
 duced into the elements of the microscope, are 
 the results of elaborate inquiries respecting 
 the scales on the wings of butterflies, whence 
 the latter have come to be denominated test 
 objects, as being peculiarly fitted to test or 
 prove the defining and penetrating power of 
 the best instruments. The information in 
 consequence derived concerning these delicate 
 formations, may be regarded by some as more 
 curious than useful; it is at least curious, and 
 we believe few persons will deem it beneath 
 the dignity of science to investigate the min- 
 utest atom, since it could be produced only by 
 the same plastic energy that evoked the universe 
 into being. Dr Goring has the merit of being 
 the first to examine into all the details of these 
 objects, which he has developed with much 
 success, though principally with a view to 
 suggest those important improvements in the 
 microscope, which have since been reduced to 
 practice by his talented coadjutor, Mr Pritchard, 
 Avho by his various writings and optical con- 
 structions, has at once stamped himself a 
 philosopher, and if not the first, one of the first 
 practical opticians of the day. 
 
 Leeuwenhoeck remarks, when speaking of 
 the scales on the wings of butterflies, u that 
 if an hundred, or more, of them were to be 
 seen lying together, each would appear of a 
 different shape." Now, though this observa- 
 tion is strictly true, inasmuch as there is the 
 same variety exhibited in the formation of 
 these atoms as in that of the human counte- 
 nance, still this is not the grand point of admi- 
 ration : the most wonderful fact connected with 
 them is, that amidst all the variety of indi- 
 viduals, we no more mistake the different spe- 
 cies of these scales, than we do the various 
 species of the human race, in consequence of 
 the great variety of features observable in 
 them. Since these objects have been subjec- 
 ted to severe examination, questions have arisen 
 regarding the real nature of their structure, 
 which have perhaps been disputed beyond the 
 point of usefulness. In describing the varie 
 ties which are offered in our illustrations, we 
 shall take occasion to remark upon the various 
 opinions that are entertained respecting the 
 striated markings on these scales. It may be 
 necessary to inform the general reader that 
 these minute atoms form that impalpable pow- 
 der on the wing of a butterfly, which clings 
 1o the finger whenever we touch the insect. 
 
 We proceed to describe in order figs. 10 to 
 21 inclusive, in plate 34. The objects are all 
 shown under a superficial magnifying power 
 o f 9 00 . F i g 1 0. Scale of th e red under -wing 
 buttr.rjiy This is an exceedingly beautiful 
 
 formation, under a deep power of the micro- 
 scope. The longitudinal and cross striae (or 
 markings) are easily developed by a good de- 
 fining power. The cross lines give to the 
 others the appearance of strings of beads. It 
 is asserted that this apparent structure in the 
 object under review, and in others of this class, 
 is really the interlocking of the serrated 
 edges of the fibres composing the scale. The 
 opinion is founded on a presumed analogy be- 
 tween these formations and the laminse in the 
 crystalline lenses of fishes, &c. We are, how- 
 ever, inclined to dispute this opinion, since 
 there is no general resemblance between 
 the structures to justify the argument from 
 analogy in this case ; and moreover, a less 
 overstrained analogy may be inferred between 
 different, objects of this class, some of which 
 present their details to view, under a powerful 
 magnifier in a manner that dispels all doubt 
 as to their real nature. Of these we shall 
 speak in order ; simply observing in this place, 
 that from an attentive examination of various 
 scales, and their probable similarity of struc- 
 ture, we are led to think that, in the formation 
 before us, the longitudinal striae are fibres, pro- 
 duced on the same principle as the hairs of 
 animals, and consist of a number of minute 
 cups growing out of each other ; and that the 
 cross strise are merely indications of the seve- 
 ral insertions. The fibres are connected by a 
 delicate tissue. 
 
 Figs. 11, 12, and 13. Scales of the brassica 
 butterfly. These are three varieties of scales 
 from the wings of the brassica, or cabbage 
 butterfly. Fig. 11. resembles the object pre- 
 viously described, excepting that there is a 
 marked and decisive difference between the 
 contour of the two scales. Fig. 13. is termed 
 the Brassica curiosa ; and is no less remarkable 
 for its exterior form, than for the singular dis- 
 position of the striae on its surface. Fig. 13. is 
 a scale from the pieris brassica^ and we shall 
 connect our remarks upon this object with fig. 
 17, the scale of the podura plumbea, as these 
 two delicate formations are the severest tests of 
 microscopic definition and penetration, and the 
 examination of them has led to a lengthened con- 
 troversy regarding the true character of the 
 lines that cover them. In our illustrations, 
 the delicate longitudinal striae only are shown ; 
 but under a suitable power, and with a due 
 management of the light, these objects exhibit 
 diagonal lines whose real nature, owing to 
 their extreme fineness, can merely be inferred 
 from assumed analogies. The scales ot the 
 lepisma saccharina offer their details to the 
 eye in a very satisfactory manner, under a linear 
 power of 200 or 300 ; and we are convinced 
 that they afford the best explanation that can 
 be obtained regarding the podura and brassi- 
 ca. The lepisma distinctly shows a series ol 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 619 
 
 strong longitudinal fibres, from whose sides 
 proceed a number of spines much resembling 
 those in fig. 4. These spines form, we be- 
 lieve, the diagonal lines in other and more de- 
 licate scales, such as the podura ; for by vary- 
 ing the illumination arid moving the object, 
 we can discover in the lepisma all the ap- 
 pearances which perplex the observer when 
 examining the podura and brassica. And, 
 indeed, it is a fair inference that these minute 
 scales have great similarity of structure, and 
 that those most easily developed may justly be 
 taken as an index to others more difficult of 
 examination, when, as in the present case, 
 there is nothing to contradict the analogy. Mr 
 Pritchard seems to hold opinion with us; for 
 he re marks, in his List of Microscopic Objects, 
 " In my best engiscopes, under certain il- 
 luminations, the markings (of the podura) ap- 
 pear detached, like short hairs or spines cover- 
 ing the delicate tissue of the scales." The 
 high authority of Sir David Brewster is, how- 
 ever, opposed to our explanation of the pheno- 
 mena of the tests; and we deem it proper to 
 give his theory as a necessary check upon our 
 own. 
 
 " After a laborious examination of the lined 
 tests, and the use of every optical resource 
 which he could command, Sir David Brews- 
 ter has found that the mysterious lines on these 
 test objects are only apparent lines, being com- 
 posed of a succession of interlocking teeth, by 
 which the fibres to which they are attached 
 form that delicate film that composes the scale I 
 of a moth." This is Sir David Brewster's 
 opinion regarding the luigitudinal striae ; and is 
 the result of his examinations into the struc- 
 ture of the crystalline lenses of fishes. " With 
 regard to the diagonal or oblique lines," it is 
 added, " which have been such a source of 
 perplexity to microscopical observers, we have 
 little hesitation in pronouncing those which we 
 have seen to be optical illusions, from the acci- 
 dental aliynement of the sides of the teeth in dif- 
 ferent grooves, when similarly illumined by 
 oblique rays. When the scales are immersed in 
 diluted sulphuric acid, we have never seen the 
 diagonal lines. When the sulphuric acid is too 
 strong, the scales curl up, and often in this 
 state exhibit the lines very beautifully. We 
 have observed diagonal lines singularly deve- 
 loped in the laminae of the crystalline, and 
 clearly arising from the interference of the 
 rays acted upon by the lines on one side of the 
 laminae, with the rays acted upon by the 
 lines on the other side, and therefore we have 
 been the more confirmed in our opinion." 
 
 Fig. 14. Scale of the menelans butterfly. This 
 object consists of a fine tissue overlaid with 
 strong and well defined lines. The latter are 
 frequently detached from the membrane, as 
 shown in our specimen ; and consequently, 
 
 there can be no illusive misconception regard- 
 ing these lines, which are evidently fine fibrous 
 cords in relief, upon the surface of the scale. 
 
 Fig. 15. This is a very singular scale, 
 observed amongst a miscellaneous group. The 
 longitudinal striae are strongly defined, and 
 the cross markings arise from a contraction, 
 or shrivelling up, of the membraneous part 
 between each two of the striae. 
 
 Fig. 16. Scale of the azure blue butterfly. 
 The light coloured and most diaphanous scales 
 of this species form beautiful test objects for 
 the microscope. The striae are delicate, but 
 are easily developed by a good doublet. 
 
 Fig. 18. Scale of the lepisma. The strias on 
 this object are easily defined, and they have 
 the same character with those on the scale of 
 the menelaus, as is evidenced by the partial 
 detachment of the lines from the membrane- 
 ous tissue. There is a variety in these scales : 
 the one we have selected, and on which the 
 markings are more delicate, is nearly oval- 
 shaped ; but there are others much resembling 
 a shell, and having the upper edge scalloped 
 very regularly. Diagonal markings are per- 
 ceptible on the latter species, produced by 
 undoubted spiny projections from the longi- 
 tudinal fibres. 
 
 Fig. 19. Scale of the diamond beetle. The 
 elytra, or wing case, of the diamond beetle is a 
 splendid opaque object, familiar to every pos- 
 sessor of a microscope. We may compare 
 the appearance it presents to that of the ancient 
 Jewish breastplate ; a number of small cavities 
 regularly disposed over the surface, are filled 
 with a vast number of small scales, which re- 
 flect every variety of hue, and exhibit a lustre 
 and magnificence that dims the splendour of 
 the most richly arranged jewellery. Our 
 figure shows one of these minute scales, with 
 its semi-opaque spots and striae ; the latter, it 
 will be noticed, have precisely the same char- 
 acter with figs. 10. and 1 1. 
 
 Fig. 20. The scale of a moth. This object 
 is very opaque compared with preceding ones, 
 and it is consequently difficult to trace its 
 structure with much precision. The contour, 
 it will be seen at once, is that of a leaf; and 
 the vegetable analogy would seem to extend 
 much further. This scale appears to consist 
 of a fibrous frame- work, resembling very much 
 the skeleton of a leaf; and the interstices are 
 filled up with a mossy substance, whilst the 
 prismatic reflections and other characteristics 
 of the surface would indicate that smaller scales 
 are scattered over it. 
 
 Fig. 21. Disposition of the scales. This is 
 a small diagram, intended to convey an idea 
 of the disposition of the scales on the mem- 
 brane of a butterfly's wing. The double 
 lines of points mark the places where the 
 scales are inserted; and it will be noticed, 
 
620 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 that there are two sets of them, one consider- | 
 ably shorter than the other. The longer scales 
 are inserted in the upper line, overlapping 
 each other, and the shorter, in the line beneath ; 
 by which means these extend to the middle 
 of the long scales, and have their extremities 
 covered by the next line. 
 
 We shall notice only one other remarkable 
 appendage to some of the insect tribes, namely, 
 the sting ; the properties and mechanism of 
 which are worthy of consideration. The 
 sting of an insect, is a weapon with which 
 nature has armed it for purposes of self-defence ; 
 in no instance, we believe, is the sting resorted 
 to unless the insect has an instinctive sense of 
 danger, or has suffered provocation ; and, in- 
 deed, this may be inferred from the fact, that 
 the creature frequently inflicts fatal injury on 
 itself, when it strikes this weapon into its op- 
 ponent ; for from the barbs on the sides, it is 
 not able readily to disengage the sting, and 
 not un frequently, by using desperate efforts to 
 obtain release, the insect tears out a portion of 
 its entrails. There are three distinct parts 
 connected with an insect's sting, each worthy 
 of attentive examination ; these are, the sheath, 
 the darts with their barbs, and the poison bag. 
 The following description of the sting of a bee, 
 extracted from Adam's Essays on the micro- 
 scope, will serve as a general exemplification. 
 
 " The apparatus consists of two piercers 
 conducted in a sheath, groove, or director. 
 This groove is rather large at the base, but 
 terminates in a point ; it is affixed to the last 
 scale of the upper side of the abdomen by 
 thirteen thin scales, six on each side, and one 
 behind the rectum. These scales inclose the 
 rectum all round, and are attached to each 
 other by thin membranes, which allow of a 
 variety of motions ; three of them are, how- 
 ever, attached more closely to a round and 
 curved process, which comes from the basis 
 of the groove in which the sting lies, as also 
 to the curved arms of the sting, which spread 
 out externally. The two stings may be said 
 to begin with these two curved processes at 
 their union with the scales, and converging 
 towards the groove at its base, which they 
 enter, and then pass along to its point. The 
 two stings are notched or serrated towards 
 the point ; they can be thrust out a little way, 
 and drawn within it. These parts are all 
 moved by very strong muscles, which give 
 motions in almost all directions, but most par- 
 ticularly outwards. It is wonderful how deep 
 they will pierce solid bodies with this sting. 
 To perform this by mere force, two things are 
 necessary power of muscles and strength of 
 sting ; neither of which they seem to possess 
 in a sufficient degree. Mr J. Hunter thinks 
 that it cannot be by simple force, because the 
 least pressure bends the sting in any direction. 
 
 It is probable that the serrated edges may as- 
 sist, by cutting their way like a saw. The ap- 
 paratus for the poison consists of two small ducts, 
 which are the glands that secrete the poison ; 
 these lie in the abdomen among the air cells, 
 they soon, however, unite into one oblong bag ; 
 at the opposite end of which a duct passes out, 
 which runs towards the angle where the two 
 stings meet, and, entering between them, 
 forms a canal by the union of the two stings at 
 this point. From the serrated construction of 
 the stings, the bee can seldom disengage them, 
 and hence, when (hey pass into materials of 
 too strong a nature, the bee generally leaves 
 them behind, and often a part of the bowels 
 therewith." 
 
 The poison bag is shown in the annexed 
 cut. 
 
 We pass on to notice a few insects which 
 are purely microscopical, and require optical 
 aid to render their entire figure sufficiently 
 distinct for observation. And here, it must 
 be obvious, our remarks will necessarily be 
 of a very cursory description, and our illustra- 
 tive instances few ; for this one department 
 of our chapter would furnish, if carried out to 
 its full extent, a large and closely printed 
 volume. 
 
 Amongst microscopical insects, the mono- 
 culus, or water flea, holds" a distinguished 
 place. This insect belongs to the crab genus. 
 So numerous is it, in the summer months, that 
 the ponds appear tinged with red or green, 
 owing to the myriads of these minute crea- 
 tures upon their surface. When full grown, 
 some species of the water flea are about the 
 size of a common flea * This insect appears 
 to have but one eye, which, however, is com- 
 pound, and at the same time movable by 
 muscles in the manner of the human eye. The 
 young, perfectly formed, may sometimes be 
 seen within the parent. Mr Pritchard calls 
 
 1 The Monoculus Polyphemus is the largest of all in- 
 sects, measuring four fet-t in length ; this, however, lies 
 beyond our province, which confines us to the miiu:>e. 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 621 
 
 the attention of the microscopic observer to 
 " the numerous muscles for moving the body, 
 and its elegant branched arms, the disposi- 
 tion of those for producing a revolution of its 
 compound eye, the position of those for rais- 
 ing and depressing the respiratory organs, and 
 others for contracting and dilating the pulsa- 
 tory organ. The curious form of its shell, 
 and the various shapes of the reticulations on 
 different parts of its surface, the articulations 
 of its arms the singular construction of its 
 digestive organs the circulation of its blood, 
 and the delicate fringes appended to its 
 branchiae, afford ample materials for observa- 
 tion." A very faithful illustration of the 
 Monoculus quadricornis will be found in a 
 future page, in connection with the Vorticdla 
 digitalis, which frequently attaches itself to the 
 body of this insect. 
 
 The Lepisma forms a genus in that order of 
 the insect class named aptera ; and includes 
 several varieties or species. The small book- 
 worm, as it is popularly called, ranks under 
 this genus : it is one of the most pleasing and 
 interesting microscopic objects known, whether 
 it be viewed in detail or observed entire. No 
 one seems to have examined this little crea- 
 ture with more attention than Hooke, whose 
 description is so popular and curious that we 
 offer it as the best account which can be given 
 of the inse-ct. "It is," says he, " a small, 
 white, silver-shining worm, which I found 
 much conversant among books and papers, and 
 is supposed to be that which corrodes and eats 
 holes through the leaves and covers ; it ap- 
 pears to the naked eye a small, glittering, 
 pearl-coloured moth, which upon the removing 
 of books and papers in the summer, is often 
 observed very nimbly to scud, and pack away 
 to some larking cranny, where it may the 
 better protect itself from any appearing dan- 
 gers. Its head appears big and blunt, and 
 its body tapers from it towards the tail, smaller 
 and smaller, being shaped almost like a car- 
 rot. This the microscopical appearance will 
 more plainly manifest, which exhibits a coni- 
 cal body, divided into fourteen several par- 
 titions, being the appearance of so many 
 several shells or shields that cover the whole 
 body ; every one of these shells is again covered 
 or tiled over with a multitude of thin trans- 
 parent scales, which, from the multiplicity 
 of their reflecting surface, make the whole 
 animal appear of a perfect pearl colour. This, 
 by the way, offers a reason for the appearances 
 presented by these scales, as also by mother- 
 of-pearl, and a multitude of other shelly sea- 
 substances ; for they each of them consisting 
 of an infinite number of very thin shells or 
 laminated orbiculations, cause such multitudes 
 of reflections, that the composition of them, 
 together with the reflection of others that are 
 
 so thin as to afford colours, gives a very pleas- 
 ant reflection of the light The small blunt 
 head of the book-worm was furnished on 
 either side of it with a cluster of eyes, each of 
 which seemed to contain but a very few, in 
 comparison of what I had observed the clusters 
 of other insects to abound with ; each of these 
 clusters was beset with a row of small bristles, 
 much like the cilia, or hairs, on the eyelids, 
 and perhaps they served for the same purpose. 
 It had two long horns before, which were 
 straight, and tapering towards the top, curiously 
 ringed or knobbed, and bristled much like the 
 marsh weed, called horse tail, or cat's-tail, 
 having at each knot a fringed girdle of 
 smaller hairs, and several larger bristles, here 
 and there dispersed among them ; besides 
 these, it had two shorter horns or feelers, 
 which were knotted and fringed just as the 
 former, but wanted bristles, and were blunt 
 at the ends ; the hinder part of the creature 
 was terminated with three tails, in every par- 
 ticular resembling the two longer horns that 
 grew out of the head : the legs of it were 
 scaled and haired much like the rest." The 
 singular scales of this small insect have already 
 been illustrated and described. 
 
 The lobster insect, represented in theannexed 
 cut, is figured and described by Adams in 
 
 his Essays on the microscope. This insect 
 approximates in form and character to the 
 phalangium cancroides of Linnaeus ; it presents, 
 however, many remarkable points of diilerence, 
 and forms a microscopic object of great variety 
 and interest. We take Adams' description 
 as the best we can offer, " This extraordin- 
 ary little creature was found by my ingenious 
 
 
622 
 
 SUPFLEMLNT 
 
 friend Mr John Adams, of Edmonton. He 
 was at the new Inn, Waltham Abbey, 
 where it was spied by some labouring men 
 who were drinking their porter. The man 
 who first perceived it, thought it was of an 
 uncommon form; on a more minute inspection 
 it was supposed to be a pediculus with un- 
 usually long horns ; others thought it was a 
 mite. This produced a debate, which attracted 
 the attention of my friend, who obtained the 
 insect from them for further observation. 
 Mr Martin has given some account of it, in 
 the third volume of the " Young Gentlemen 
 and Lady's Philosophy." Mr Adams favoured 
 me with the insect, that an accurate drawing 
 might be taken from it, which I thought 
 would be highly pleasing not only to the 
 lovers of microscopic observations, but also to 
 the entomologist. It appears to be quite a 
 distinct species from the phalangium cancroides, 
 of which a good drawing has been given by 
 Hooke, Rosel, Scbaeffer, &c. It has also 
 been described by Scopoli, Geoflfroy, and 
 other naturalists ; not one, however, of these 
 descriptions agrees with the animal under 
 consideration. The abdomen of this is more 
 extended, the claws are larger and much more 
 obtuse ; the body of the other being nearly 
 orbicular, the claws slender, and finishing 
 Imost in a point, more transparent and of a 
 paler colour. It is very probable that there 
 are several species nearly similar. Mr 
 Marsham has two in his possession, one like 
 the drawings of Reaumur, the other not to be 
 distinguished from that which is represented 
 in the annexed figure, except that it wants 
 the break or dent in the claws, so conspicuous 
 in this. The latter he caught on a flower in 
 Essex, the first week in August, firmly 
 affixed by its claws to the thigh of a large fly, 
 and could not disengage it from thence with- 
 out considerable difficulty ; to accomplish 
 which he was obliged to tear off the fly's leg, 
 and was much surprised to see the bold little 
 creature spring forward full a quarter of an 
 inch, and once more seize its prey, from which 
 it was again with much difficulty disengaged." 
 The insect is shown in the cut considerably 
 magnified ; an indication is also given of the 
 natural size. 
 
 " According to Aldrovandus, this insect 
 was not unknown to Aristotle, who mentions 
 it as being found in books and papers. 
 Wolphius, on the authority of Gesner, says 
 that a few are to be met with in some parts 
 of Switzerland. Scaliger also notices it, 
 having found two of them in his books. It 
 has been by various systematic writers referred 
 to different genera : De Geer has instituted 
 a^new genus for it under the name of chelifer ; 
 Frabricius has remanded it to that of scorpio, 
 to which perhaps it is more nearly allied than 
 
 any other. Amongst the number of naturalists 
 who have observed and described the insect, 
 it appears rather extraordinary that none have 
 met with one similar to that in the cut, in 
 respect to the break in the claws. In a 
 cabinet of curious microscopic objects which 
 I purchased several years since, and which 
 originally came from Holland, there were four 
 of them in the most perfect, condition. A botan- 
 ical friend, Mr Young, also favoured me with 
 a living one which he found among some 
 plants collected by him in one of his excur- 
 sions ; but as his box contained a variety of 
 plants, and he did not discover the insect till 
 his return, it was imposible to ascertain the 
 particular one on which it was taken. All 
 these resembled the one exhibited, excepting 
 the claws being longer and more slender, and 
 being deficient in the distinguishing charac- 
 teristic. I have lately seen another, in which 
 the two fangs that are shown highly magni- 
 fied in plate 85 of the Naturalist's Miscellany, 
 are very apparent, being so large, as to exceed 
 in diameter the thickest parts of the claws. 
 Rosel says, this insect dwells among paper, 
 in old books and their bindings, in chests of 
 drawers, and in the crevices of old buildings. 
 In order to discover whether the insect pos- 
 sessed a sting, he often, by various means, en- 
 deavoured to irritate it ; but it never showed 
 the smallest inclination to defend itself ; on 
 the contrary, it always endeavoured to avoid 
 a contest ; if so, it evidently appears that 
 those few met with in this country are of a 
 more bold and warlike disposition. Seba 
 asserts that these insects resemble the large 
 scorpions, the tail excepted, which is small, 
 and usually concealed by being drawn close 
 to the under part of the abdomen ; but in this 
 respect he must probably have been mistaken, 
 as it does not appear that this circumstance 
 has been noticed by any other person." 
 
 We have now extended this chapter much 
 beyond what was originally intended, yet 
 have found our space insufficient for so par- 
 ticular a detail of the microscopic formations 
 and phenomena of the natural world as we 
 could have wished to give. It will be obvious, 
 that a separate volume alone could embrace a 
 complete survey of the minute in nature : 
 what we have done, however, will present 
 under a systematic form a general outline of 
 the discoveries that have been made by means 
 of the microscope, and may lead the student 
 in natural history to give deep regard to the 
 atomic elements of material bodies ; it may 
 also increase his admiration and reverence for 
 the Great Creative Power from whom all 
 things proceed, when he perceives that Deity, 
 unconfined by the relative terms of large and 
 small, can display an equal share of plastic 
 energy in the atom, whose existence the un. 
 
O]S 7 MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 623 
 
 aided eye of man cannot detect, and the most 
 colossal animated structure that walks the 
 globe. An examination into the minute has 
 a manifest tendency to strengthen belief in 
 an universal and particular Providence, and 
 affords a striking comment on the declaration 
 of Holy Writ, that "not a sparrow falleth to 
 the ground without the knowledge of our 
 heavenly Father." 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 INFUSORIAL ANIMALCULES. 
 
 THE elaborate examinations that have re- 
 cently been made regarding infusorial ani- 
 malcules have brought vast accessions to our 
 knowledge of animated nature. Of these 
 atomic germs of vitality, little had been pre- 
 viously discovered beyond the fact of their 
 existence ; and indeed, many species, on ac- 
 count of their extreme minuteness, and the 
 vast amplifying power necessary for their 
 developement, had not till very recently been 
 observed at all. It is not however to their 
 mere existence that the microscopist now calls 
 attention, but to all the details of their exter- 
 nal form and internal structure ; to their habits, 
 modes of action, natural instincts, and to all 
 the economy of their being. The mind is 
 overwhelmed and confounded whilst we read 
 (as Mr Pritchard, in his Natural History of 
 Animalcules, has enabled us to do) of the 
 organization and vital properties of a living 
 atom, so inconceivably minute, that five hun- 
 dred millions of them in a mass, would present 
 little more than a sensible point to the un- 
 assisted eye. Such an announcement will be 
 met by much scepticism : and scepticism, in this 
 instance, is indeed pardonable ; for with the 
 object before him, the observer can scarcely 
 yield his belief, whilst mathematical truth 
 and actual observation are attesting the fact. 
 
 The term infusorial is applied to the various 
 species of animalcules discovered in vegetable 
 and animal infusions. They exist naturally 
 in all stagnant waters, wherein vegetable or 
 animal matter is decomposing ; and they can 
 be produced artificially by making an infusion 
 of vegetable substances, and suffering it to 
 stand till it has fermented, and become in 
 some degree putrid. The most rational and 
 philosophical way of accounting for the pre- 
 sence of animalcules in infusions, is to adopt 
 the hypothesis that the atmosphere is teeming 
 with minute germs of animal and vegetable 
 life, that they form part of every thing we 
 taste or touch, but that, for their perfect 
 development, a suitable nidus is necessary, 
 which nidus is presented in an infusion of 
 
 some kind or other. These animalcular ova, 
 it would appear, depend much for the form 
 they are to assume when evolved, upon the 
 peculiar nidus in which they are deposited ; 
 lor the same /infusion, in different stages of 
 fermentation and putrescence, developes dif- 
 ferent species of animalcules. Or, perhaps, 
 the ova themselves have distinct characters, 
 and the infusion may become successively 
 adapted for the developement of the various 
 species. Leaving this point as one of mere 
 conjecture, we pass on to observe that optical 
 science has rendered these animalcules legiti- 
 mate subjects of natural history : and we are 
 consequently to acquaint ourselves, as before 
 observed, not only with their extreme little- 
 ness, but with all the peculiarities that consti- 
 tute their generic and special differences. 
 
 Before entering upon a particular descrip- 
 tion of the various kinds of animalcules found 
 in infusions, we shall lay before the reader 
 Mr Pritchard's lucid arid perspicuous sum- 
 mary of their peculiarities. 
 
 " The term animalcule, which implies 
 nothing more than the diminutive of animal", 
 has been commonly used to denote those living 
 creatures inhabiting fluids, which are too 
 minute to be scanned, or even seen by the 
 naked eye : such, for instance, as those pro- 
 duced in inconceivable numbers from infusions 
 of animal and vegetable matter : it compre- 
 hends as well such as are found in, and are 
 peculiar to, the bodies of larger animals : this 
 latter class, however, does not fall within our 
 province. 
 
 " In the variety of systems that have been 
 put forth respecting these creatures, the 
 main characteristics of each have referred 
 either to a difference in their size, or to the 
 general appearance of their external forms : 
 the present design, however, is not to inves- 
 tigate the value of these. Until the introduc- 
 tion of vegetable colouring matter into the 
 fluid which supplies them with food an ex- 
 periment that has been attended with very 
 successful results these creatures were com- 
 monly supposed to be entirely devoid of in- 
 ternal organization, and to be nourished by the 
 simple process of cuiicular absorption. By 
 the application of coloured substances, which, 
 moreover, have been found to invigorate rather 
 than to depress the animalcule, and to main- 
 tain it in the full exercise of all its functions, 
 this erroneous notion is set at rest, and an 
 internal structure is discerned in some, equal 
 to, if not surpassing that of the larger inver- 
 tebrated animals, anct comprising a muscular, 
 nervous, and, in all probability, vascular 
 system ; all wonderfully contrived for the per- 
 formance of their respective offices. 
 
 " The most obvious portion of their in- 
 ternal structure is undoubtedly that connected 
 
624 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 with the digestive functions; and hence it 
 is that Elirenberg has selected this as the 
 leading feature of his arrangement, denomi- 
 nating his two grand divisions of the Phyto- 
 ssoa, Polygastrica and Rotat^ja ; the for- 
 mer of which implies such as are possessed of 
 several distinct stomachs or digestive sacs ; 
 and the latter such as have true alimentary 
 canals and rotatory organs provided with a 
 number of cilia aptly disposed for promoting 
 the objects ot life : these two grand divisions 
 of the Phytozoa are afterwards subdivided 
 into families and other minor branches. The 
 cilia, in their different combinations, supply 
 the means of locomotion, propelling the crea- 
 ture, in many cases, with great rapidity 
 through the water: they are apparently stiff 
 like eye-lashes ; and from Dr Ehrenberg's 
 description of some of the larger ones, they 
 issue from bulbous substances at their bases, 
 and being acted upon by muscular fibres, are 
 capable of being moved to and fro in particu- 
 lar directions, so as to occasion a current of 
 the fluid to flow towards the mouth of the 
 animalcule, by which it is furnished with 
 fresh water or food. They are sometimes 
 disposed, as before stated, round certain organs 
 of a circular form, which, on account of their 
 peculiar vibrations, giving the appearance of a 
 rotatory action, are termed rotatory organs. 
 A second curious feature in the construction 
 ot some of these minute creatures are the 
 seta, or bristles, attached to the surface of their 
 bodies : these short movable hairs in all pro- 
 bability act as fins, and contribute greatly to 
 their means of motion. The third feature, 
 are the unci/ii, or hooks, setaceous appendages 
 curved at their extremities, and serving the 
 creature to attach itself to any object it chooses. 
 A fourth are the styli, jointed at their bases, 
 and differing from the cilia in respect of their 
 being unable to effect a rotatory motion : 
 these, however, are more flexible, and have 
 more play, than the setae. Independently of 
 these peculiarities, some animalcules possess 
 the extraordinary faculty of thrusting out, or 
 elongating, portions of their bodies at various 
 points, which, assuming the appearance either 
 of legs or fins, are termed variable processes, 
 and enable the creature to walk or swim. 
 
 " It was a favourite hypothesis, with na- 
 turalists, some years ago, that the class of 
 animalcules under consideration was entirely 
 nourished by cutaneous absorption, and that 
 no suitable organs for transmitting and digest- 
 ing food were discoverable. Baron Gleichen 
 was the first who brought the truth of this 
 theory to the test ; for having tinged some 
 water containing animalcules with carmine, 
 he found on the second day that only some 
 distinct cavities, in the interior of their bodies, 
 were filled with the colouring matter, evidently 
 
 demonstrating the exisfence of an alimentary 
 structure : here however, he left the subject, 
 and it is to Dr Ehrenberg's further investiga- 
 tion of it that we are indtbted for an accurate 
 description of their different forms. In more 
 recent experiments, it has been found advisa- 
 ble to employ vegetable colouring substances 
 in their pure state ; such, for instance, as sap- 
 green and indigo, which, together with the 
 valuable accession of an excellent instrument, 
 enabled the doctor to contribute much to our 
 previously imperfect knowledge of this branch 
 of natural history. 
 
 " In the selection of vegetable substances 
 for infusions (for procuring animalcules) such 
 as stalks, leaves, flowers, seeds of plants, &c., 
 care must be taken that there be no admixture 
 of quinine (bark) in them, or the intention 
 will be frustrated. Immerse these, whatever 
 they may be, for a few days, in some clean 
 water, when, if the vessels which contain 
 them be not agitated, a thin pellicle, or film, 
 will be discerned on the surface, which, under 
 the microscope, will be seen to be inhabited 
 by several descriptions of animalcules : the 
 first produced are commonly those of the 
 simplest kind, called monads. In a few days 
 more, their numbers will increase to such an 
 amazing extent, that it would be utterly im- 
 possible to compute those in a single drop of 
 the fluid. After this again, they will begin 
 to diminish in numbers, and I have gener- 
 ally observed them supplanted by others of a 
 larger species and more perfect, organization ; 
 such as the cyclidia, paramesia, kolpodce, &c. 
 It is worthy of remark here, however, that in 
 their production they do not pursue any regu- 
 lar order, even in similar infusions. If the 
 vessel be large, and the circumstances under 
 which it is placed sufficiently favourable, a 
 still higher description of animalcules will 
 succeed, viz. the vorticdla, and lastly the 
 brachioni ; and thus a single infusion will 
 repay for the little trouble of making it with 
 a great variety of species. Water in which 
 flour has been steeped will be found to abound 
 also with animalcules : and it is remarked by 
 G. Leach, Esq., that the leaden troughs, con- 
 stantly appropriated for birds to drink out of, 
 contain several descriptions of them, and more 
 especially those of the wheel genus. In 
 ponds, too, especially in the shallow parts, 
 near the edges, and in the immediate vicinity 
 of water plants, prodigious quantities of all 
 kinds may be easily procured ; so that pos- 
 sessing as we do such myriads of them all 
 around us, that they impregnate almost every- 
 thing that we eat, drink, touch, and breathe, 
 an anxiety to know more about them, and the 
 effects they produce, cannot but be regarded 
 as rational and laudable." 
 
 " By a careful inspection of the drawings," 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 625 
 
 (Mr Pritchard here refers to the elaborate 
 engravings illustrating his Natural History 
 of Animalcules) , " it will be noticed that some 
 animalcules resemble spheres; others are egg- 
 aped ; others again represent fruits of various 
 inds eels, serpents, and many of the in- 
 ertebrated animals ; funnels, tops, cylinders, 
 itchers, wheels, flasks, &c. &c ; all of which 
 are found to possess their own particular 
 habits, and to pursue a course of life best 
 adapted to their peculiar constructions : thus, 
 for instance, whilst some move through the 
 water with the greatest imaginable rapidity, 
 leaping or swimming, others merely creep 
 or glide along ; and many are altogether so 
 passive, that it requires long- and patient 
 observation to discover any of their movements 
 at all. One description are perceptibly soft, 
 and yield easily to the touch; another are 
 covered with a delicate shell or horn-like coat. 
 Of the latter order there are different degrees 
 of density, as in the volvox, gonium, &c., 
 where the envelope is comparatively thick ; 
 and where, strange to say, the internal sub- 
 stance separates by the mode of propagation 
 into several portions, forming so many distinct 
 young ones, which at their birth burst the 
 envelope, and the parent becomes entirely 
 dissipated. In others of this order the shell 
 is merely a plate covering the body, resemb- 
 ling that of the tortoise : sometimes it includes 
 the body, so as to leave only two small aper- 
 tures at the extremities, and at others it is 
 bivalved, and incloses the creature, like that 
 of the oyster or muscle. 
 
 " All vertebrated animals are either ovipar- 
 ous or viviparous, which terms sufficiently 
 designate their modes of production : but it is 
 not so with animalcules ; for, in addition to 
 these two methods, 1. Animalcules propagate 
 by a spontaneous scissure, or division of their 
 bodies into two or more portions, each one 
 forming a new creature, which, on its arrival 
 at maturity, pursues the same course. These 
 divisions take place in some genera symme- 
 trically, as in the gonia, &c. ; in others by 
 transverse, longitudinal, or diagonal sections. 
 In these latter cases the produce have forms 
 differently proportioned from those of the 
 creatures from which they spring. 2. They 
 propagate, in the manner before mentioned 
 of the volvox, and some other genera, by a 
 distribution of the internal substance of the 
 parent into a proportionate number of young 
 ones, all of which at their birth issue forth, 
 and leave behind them nothing but the enve- 
 lope, soon to be dissolved. 3. They are pro- 
 duced by germs, shooting forth from the 
 parent's sides. 4. From spawn, which in the 
 act of being shed, carries along with it a por- 
 tion of the parent animalcule." 1 
 
 1 Natural History of Animalcules, Book 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 p. 1220. 
 
 We have not space to admit the detail of 
 a variety of additional and highly interesting 
 particulars relative to the infusoria that are 
 recorded by Ehrenberg. We may, however, 
 briefly state that the learned professor has 
 succeeded in developing the mouths and teeth 
 of these minute creatures, and has even ascer- 
 tained the number of the latter, their consis- 
 tency, and characteristic differences. He has 
 found them to be provided with assistant 
 organs of digestion, respiratory organs, and a 
 perfect vascular and nervous system. Even 
 the eyes of these tiny objects have been made 
 the subject of his examination, and many 
 remarkable particulars concerning them have 
 been ascertained. Regarding their fecundity, 
 it is sufficient to state, on the professor's author, 
 ity, that a single animalcule will in the course 
 of three or four days become a multitude of 
 separate existences, of whose number the 
 human mind can form no idea. 
 
 " Motion,'' says Adams, " seems to be the 
 great delight of the infusoria ; they pervade 
 with equal ease and rapidity, and in all forms 
 and directions, the whole dimensions of the 
 drop, in which they find ample space lor their 
 various progressions, sometimesdarting straight 
 forward, at other times moving obliquely, then 
 again circularly : they know how to avoid with 
 dexterity any obstacles that might obstruct 
 their progress. Hundreds may be seen in a 
 drop of water in constant action, yet never 
 striking against each other. It at any time 
 the clusters prove so thick as to impede any 
 of their motions, they roll and tumble them- 
 selves overhead, creeping under the whole 
 range, force their way through the midst, 
 or wheel round the cluster with surprising 
 swiftness ; sometimes they will suddenly 
 change the direction in which they are moving, 
 and take one diametrically opposite thereto. 
 By inclining the glass in which the drop of 
 water is laid, it may be made to move in any 
 direction ; the animalcules in the drop will 
 swim as easily against the stream as with it. 
 If the water begin to evaporate, and the drop 
 to grow smaller, they flock impetuously to- 
 wards the remaining part of the fluid ; an 
 anxious desire of attaining this momentary 
 respite of life is very visible, as well as an 
 uncommon agitation of the organs by which 
 they imbibe the water. These motions grow 
 more languid as the water fails, till at last 
 they entirely cease. 
 
 " Animalcules and insects will support a 
 great degree of cold, but both one and the 
 other perish when it is carried beyond a cer- 
 tain point. The same degree of heat that 
 destroys the existence of insects, is fatal to 
 animalcules ; as there are animalcules pro- 
 duced in water at the freezing point, so there 
 are insects which live in snow." 
 
626 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 We proceed to give Miiller's scientific ar- 
 rangement of the infusoria, connecting with 
 each genus the individual selected forillustra 
 tion of special character. 
 
 I. THOSE WANTING EXTERNAL ORGANS. 
 
 1. Monas: punctiforme. A mere point. Drop Monad 
 PI. 35, fig. 65. 2. Proteus: mutabile. Mutable, 01 
 changeable. Melting Proteus, f. 66. 3. Volvox : sphceri 
 cum. Spherical. Vegetable Volvox, f. 67. 4. Enchelis , 
 cylindraceum. Cylindrical. Egg- shaped Enchelis, f. 61, 
 5. Vibrio : elongatum. Long. Stick Vibrio, f. 68. 
 
 Membranaccous. 
 
 S.Cyclidium: ovale. Oval. Azure Cyclidium, f. 62 
 7. Paramcecium : oblongum. Oblong. Paramsecium 
 chrysalis, f. 63. 8. Kolpoda: sinuatum. Crooked or 
 bent. Cuckoo Kolpoda, f. 64. 9. Gonium : angulatum. 
 With angles. Breast-plate Gonium, f. 69. 10. Bur- 
 sari: hollow like a purse. Little Swallow-like Bur- 
 saria, f. 60. 
 
 II. THOSE THAT HATE EXTERNAL ORGANS. 
 
 Naked, or not inclosed in a shell. 
 
 11. Cercaria : caudatum. With a tail. Green Cer- 
 caria, f. 59. 1 2. Leitcophra : ciliatum undique. Every 
 part ciliated. Bracelet Leucophrys, f . 54. 13. Triclioda: 
 crinitum. Hairy. Triclioda vulgaris, f. 55. 14. 
 Kcrona : corniculatum. With horns. Kerona pul- 
 laster, f. 56. 1 5. Himantopus : cirratum. Cirrated, or 
 curled. Himantopus larva, f. 58. 16. Vorticella : cilia- 
 tum apice. The apex ciliated. Vorticella cyathini, f. 
 57. 
 
 Covered icitli a sJiell. 
 
 1 7. BracMomis : ciliatum apice. The apex ciliated. 
 Brachionus passus, f. 53. 
 
 I. MONADS. An invisible, 1 simple, pellucid, 
 punctiform worm. 
 
 Among the various animalcules which are 
 discovered by the microscope, these are the 
 most minute, and the most simple. The 
 monad is a small jelly-like point, eluding the 
 powers of the compound microscope, and even 
 of the single one until the recent improvements 
 in lenses had added large additional power. 
 " This genus includes the smallest forms in 
 which a voluntary motion has been observed, 
 even under the most powerful microscopes : 
 this motion, till lately, appeared to be the only 
 property of life with which they were endowed ; 
 but the observations of Dr Ehrenberg demon- 
 strate an organization equally perfect with 
 animated beings of much larger dimensions. 
 Their forms in general are simple, spherical, 
 or cylindrical masses, devoid of external 
 members, or processes ; the mouth, which is 
 with difficulty discerned, is a simple orifice, 
 not furnished with ciliae, or hairs, (except in 
 one or two species) : they are colourless, and 
 transparent as the clearest crystal, yet can 
 no internal organization be seen, excepting 
 that connected with their digestive function, 
 which consists of two or more globular cavities, 
 or sacs, probably communicating with each 
 other by a tubular membrane, as in the 
 larger polygastric animalcules, but which in 
 
 * By in visible, is here meant indiscernible by the naked 
 
 (his genus is too minute to be discerned ; 
 indeed, the stomachs or sacs themselves are 
 only to be observed when the animalcule is 
 fed with particles of colouring matter : the 
 food on which they usually exist being as 
 pellucid as themselves, the cavities are invisi- 
 ble. They increase by a spontaneous division 
 of the parent into two or more parts, and those 
 parts, or young, again divide when they have 
 attained their full age. As subjects of obser- 
 vation, the monads are principally interesting 
 from their minuteness, being as they are the 
 very limit of man's acquaintance with ani- 
 mated nature. Their diameters vary from 
 l-24000th of an inch to l-1200th, and con- 
 sequently require a very high magnifying 
 power to discern. They are numerous, and 
 generally found congregating at the surface 
 and around the decomposed matter of infus- 
 ions, either of vegetable or animal sub- 
 stances." 
 
 To enter into particular description of the 
 various species included under the monad 
 genus, would require more space than we can 
 devote to the subject : and, indeed, of all the 
 genera, we shall content ourselves with giving 
 one, or at most two or three, special illustra- 
 tions, adding a list only of the remaining spe- 
 cies, with their distinguishing characteristics 
 appended to each. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 65. The Drop Monad." This 
 animalcule is larger than the atom monad, and 
 somewhat globular. On account of its size 
 and transparency, its digestive cavities can 
 be much more distinctly observed. It revolves 
 about its longer axis, and in swimming, that 
 part which contains the coloured particles 
 follows the colourless part. Occasionally, 
 with attentive observation, currents in the 
 water may be seen about the fore part or 
 mouth ; it is therefore highly probable that it 
 is furnished with ciliae or hairs. Those found 
 at Petersburg!! measured from 1 -3000th to 
 l-2300th of an inch in diameter : they are 
 represented in the group magnified 380 
 times." 2 
 
 MONAD SPECIES. 
 
 1. Monas termo. A mere point. 2. Monas atomus, et 
 lens. Two species, the first appearing a simple white 
 
 point, and the second presenting a shining talc-like 
 appearance. 3. Monas punctum. Mere dark points, as- 
 suming under a deep power the form of short cylinders, 
 and sometimes exhibiting a slender filament or tail. 
 4. Monas guttula. The Drop Monad. Described. 5. 
 Monas mica. A lucid point, assuming sometimes a 
 spherical, at others an oval form. 6. Monas tranquilla. 
 
 Egg-shaped. 7. Monas lamellula. Of a white colour, 
 mostly found in salt water. 8. Monas pulvisculus. 
 Transparent, with a green margin. 9. Monas uva. In 
 clusters like grapes. 1 0. Monas crepusculum, 1 1 . Monas 
 
 2 Mr Pritchard, to whom we are indebted for much 
 )f our information in this department, expresses the 
 magnifying power in linear measure, i. e. by the mag- 
 ified diameter. 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY, 
 
 627 
 
 enrlieiis. Flask shaped. 12. Monas erulescens. 13. 
 Mottas hyalina.U. Monas kolpoda.\5. Monas Ovahs. 
 16. Monas polytoma. 17. Mowas umbra. 18. Mowas 
 vohox. Revolving monad. 
 
 II. PROTEUS. An invisible, very simple 
 pellucid worm, of a variable form. 
 
 " We now arrive at a larger class of ani- 
 malcules, whose habits are highly interesting 
 and curious : indeed there are few in the ex- 
 amination of which I have been more de- 
 lighted. This gratification arises not so much 
 from any complexity in their organization, 
 which in comparison with the Brachionus, 
 and some of the Vorticella, is more simple, 
 but from the great power they possess of di- 
 lating their bodies ; and their motions being 
 slow, the observer is enabled to examine their 
 changes of form distinctly." 
 
 Fig. 66. The melting Proteus. " The 
 drawing of this animalcule was taken from 
 a specimen found in some water containing 
 duck-weed (lemna major), in the month of 
 March. Miiller states he only saw them 
 twice. Their diameters vary from l-600th to 
 l-300th of an inch." 
 
 PllOTEUS SPECIES. 
 
 1 . Proteus diffluens. Branching itself out in a variety 
 of directions. 2. Proteus Tenax. A globular mass, ex- 
 tending a process terminating in a fine point. 
 
 III. VOLVOX. An invisible, very simple, 
 pellucid, spherical worm. 
 
 " The animalcules belonging to this genus 
 are of a globular form, and revolve in the 
 water. Some of the species are so large as 
 to be discerned by unassisted vision, while 
 others are very diminutive. Ehrenberg has 
 not demonstrated their digestive organization ; 
 but in a note to his table, conceives they ought 
 to follow the monads. In this genus is in 
 eluded that beautiful animalcule, called the 
 voloox globator, which forms so interesting a 
 spectacle in the solar and gas microscopes." 
 
 Fig. 67. The vegetable Vohox. " This 
 animalcule is rather scarce. Its most inter- 
 esting character is the short time which it 
 requires in arriving at maturity, and under- 
 going all its changes. In the space of hall 
 an hour, when fed with an infusion of indigo 
 a single globule may be observed to emerge 
 from a naked branch, increase in size, anc 
 divide into a cluster of smaller ones ; these 
 increase also, and after revolving, and bring- 
 ing a current of food towards them, finally 
 separate, and swirn away, each of the young 
 ones commencing a similar course. It con 
 sists of several opaque branches : at the ter 
 initiation of each is a small congeries of egg 
 shaped transparent bodies. Miiller, who 
 seems only to have seen them once, mistook 
 them for a vegetable production, until he 
 
 bserved the clusters to separate from the 
 >ranch, and swim about at pleasure." 
 
 " These animalcules produce a rapid cur- 
 ent of water towards them, as indicated by 
 he arrow in the figure ; and if supplied with 
 )lenty of coloured food, as indigo, they will 
 lot only assume the colour of the particles, 
 ut may be seen to increase in size, under 
 he eye of the observer. When the cluster 
 s fully developed, it breaks, off, and swims 
 away, revolving as it proceeds. After roving 
 ibout for a few minutes in search of a proper 
 lidus to attach itself to, it spins a very delicate 
 hread, like a spider's web, one end of which 
 t fixes to the substance it has selected ; this 
 filament, when drawn out to the proper length, 
 ncreases in size, and assumes the deep blue 
 colour of the indigo, while the end of the 
 stalk which it left shoots forth a new cluster. 
 The current above mentioned is sometimes 
 Droduced without any revolution of the cluster 
 of globules ; at other times I have observed 
 ;he whole cluster to revolve. The magnify- 
 ng power which I employed, while making 
 the drawing of this figure, was nearly 500 
 times. The medium diameter of the clusters, 
 while attached to their branches, I find to be 
 about the 800th part of an inch ; and when 
 fully developed and separate, about l-400th 
 of an inch. Miiller discovered these animal- 
 ules in river water in the month of Nov- 
 ember. Those on which the above observa- 
 tions were made I found in the month of 
 June, in some pond-water." 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 35. Vohox globator Spheri- 
 cal membranaceous volvox. 
 
 This is a transparent globule, of a greenish 
 colour ; the foetus is composed of smaller 
 greenish globules. It becomes whiter and 
 brighter with age, moves slowly round its 
 axis, and may be perceived by the naked eye. 
 But to the microscope the superficies of this 
 pellucid membrane appears covered with 
 molecules, as if it were granulated, which has 
 occasioned some observers to imagine it to be 
 hairy ; the round pellucid molecules that are 
 fixed in the centre are generally larger in 
 those that are young. The exterior molecules 
 may be wiped off, leaving the membrane 
 naked ; when the young ones are of a proper 
 size, the membrane opens, and they pass 
 through the fissure ; after this the parent is 
 dissipated. They sometimes change their 
 spherical figure, the superficies being flattened 
 in different places. Most authors speak of 
 finding eight lesser globules within the larger ; 
 but Miiller says, that he has counted thirty 
 or forty of different sizes. This wonderful 
 capsulate situation of its progeny is well 
 known ; indeed, it often exhibits a second and 
 third generation within it. Leeuwenhoeck 
 was the first who noticed this curious animal- 
 
628 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 cule, and depicted it ; a circumstance which 
 has not been mentioned by Baker, and other 
 microscopic writers, who have described it. 
 It may be found in great plenty in stagnant 
 waters in spring and summer, and in infusions 
 of hemp seed and trcmella. Baker describes 
 it as follows : This singular minute water 
 animal, seen before the microscope, appears 
 to be exactly globular, without either head, 
 tail, or fins. It moves in all directions, for- 
 ward or backward, up or down, rolling over 
 and over, like a bowl, spinning horizontally 
 like a top, or gliding along smoothly without 
 turning itself at all. Sometimes its motions 
 are very slow, and at other times very swift ; 
 and when it pleases, it can turn round as 
 upon an axis very nimbly, without moving 
 out of its place. The body is transparent 
 except where the circular spots are placed, 
 which are its young. The surface of the 
 body in some is, as it were, dotted all over 
 with little points, and in others, as if granu- 
 lated like shagreen. Baker thought also that 
 in general it appeared as if it were set round 
 with short movable hairs. By other writers, 
 they are thus described : These animalcules 
 are at first very small, but grow so large as to 
 be discerned with the naked eye ; they are 
 of a yellowish green colour, globular figure, 
 and in substance membranaceous and trans- 
 parent. In the midst of this substance several 
 small globes may be perceived ; each of these 
 is a smaller animalcule, which has also its 
 diaphanous membrane, and contains within 
 itself still smaller generations, which maybe 
 distinguished by the assistance of very powerful 
 glasses. The larger globules may be seen 
 to escape from the parent, and then increase 
 in size, as has been already observed. 
 
 VOLVOX SPECIES. 
 
 1 . Volvox pundum. Spherical, of a black colour, with 
 a lucid point. 2. Volvox granulum. Spherical and 
 green, the circumference of a bright colour. 3. Volvox 
 globuhts. Globular volvox, the hind part somewhat 
 obscure. 4. Volvox pilula. Small round volvox, with 
 immovable green intestines. 5. Volvox yrandinella. 
 Spherical and opaque, with immovable intestines. 6. 
 Volvox socialis. Spherical volvox, with crystalline 
 molecules, placed at equal distances from each other. 
 7. Volvox sphcericula. Spherical volvox, with round 
 molecules. H. Volvox lunula. An hemispherical volvox, 
 with lunular molecules. 9. Volvox ylobator. Described. 
 10. Volvox morum. Membranaceous, orbicular, with 
 Spherical green molecules in the centre. 11. Volvox 
 uva. Globular volvox, composed of green spherical 
 globules, which are not inclosed in a common mem- 
 brane. 12. Volvox vcgetans. Vegetable volvox. Des- 
 cribed. 
 
 IV. ENCHELIS. An invisible, simple, cy- 
 lindric worm. 
 
 " This genus of animalcules, according to 
 Miiller, contains twenty-seven species. The 
 size of the dilFerent species varies considerably, 
 and therefore requires different magnifying 
 powers to develope them (from 200 to 500 li- 
 
 near.) If the reader have an opportunity of 
 examining any of them, in instruments of dif. 
 ferent constructions, but of the same magnify- 
 ing power, he will readily perceive there is 
 something beyond mere amplification that is 
 essentially requisite in a microscope, in order 
 to show the details of objects." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 61. The Egg -shaped Enchelis. 
 " This animalcule is distinguished by its pellu- 
 cid appearance and the longitudinal folds of 
 the external membrane. A few bright spots 
 are also sometimes observed ; these have been 
 supposed to be the ova, but it is more probable 
 they are the sacs of the polygastric structure. 
 The figure is a magnified representation, show- 
 ing the sacs and folds, neither of which are 
 constant. Found in stagnant water." 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 30. EneJielis punctifera. 
 Green enchelis, subcylindric, the fore-part ob- 
 tuse, the hinder part pointed. This is an 
 opaque animalcule, of a green colour. The 
 hinder part is pellucid and pointed ; an inci- 
 sion is discovered at the apex of the fore-part, 
 which seems to be the mouth. It is found in 
 marshes. 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 45. Enchelis rttrograda. 
 Transparent enchelis, the fore-part rather 
 smaller, and terminating in a small globule. 
 It has a gelatinous, diaphanous body; no vi- 
 sible intestines, though a pellucid globule is 
 discoverable near the hinder part ; the body is 
 thickest in the middle, and grows smaller to- 
 wards each end. It generally moves side- 
 ways, sometimes in a retrograde manner ; and 
 if it be obstructed in its motion, draws itself 
 up, as represented in the figure. 
 ENCHELIS SPECIES. 
 
 1. Enchelis viridis. Green enchelis, of a subcylindric 
 figure, the fore part truncated. 2. Enchelis punctifera. 
 Described. 3. EncMis deses. Green, cylindrical, gela- 
 tinous, the end somewhat pointed. 4. Enchelis simi/is. 
 Egg-shaped, with opaque movable intestines. 5. EitcJtells 
 serotina. Partly oval, partly cylindrical, the interior parts 
 immovable. 6. Enchelis nebulosa. Oval and cylindri- 
 cal, with visible movable intestines. 7. EncMis semi- 
 nulum. Equally cylindric. 8. Enchelis intermedia. Cy- 
 lindrical, transparent, with a blackish margin, 9. En- 
 chelis ovulum. Egg-shaped. Described. 10. Enchelis 
 pirum. Pear-shaped, the hinder part transparent. 1 1 . 
 EncMis tremula. Oval, cylindrical, gelatinous. 12. En- 
 chelis constricia. Sub-oval, crystalline, with a stricture 
 in the middle. 1 3. Enchelis pulvisculits. Elliptic, with a 
 congeries of green intestines. 1 4. Enchelis fusus. Cylin- 
 drical, both ends truncated. 15. Enchelis fritillus. Cy- 
 lindric, the fore-part truncated. 16. Enchelis caudata. 
 
 f/cmmata. Body cylindrical, upper part prolonged into a 
 transparent neck , a double series of globules running down 
 the body. 19. EncMis retrnyrada. Described. L'O. En- 
 chelis festinans. Oblong, cylindrical, the ends obtuse, 
 the fore-part transparent. 21. Enchelis far cimen. Cy- 
 lindric, crooked and truncated at both ends. 22. En- 
 chelis index. Like an inverted cone, one edge of the apex 
 produced and forming an angle with the other part. 
 23. Enchelis truncus. Cylindrical, with a kind of head. 
 24. Enchelis Larva. Long, with two small nipples 
 projecting from the middle of the body, one on each 
 side. 25. EncMis spatula. Striated, the fore-part trans- 
 parent and of the shape of a spatula. 26. Enchelis pu- 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 629 
 
 . Cylindric, the fore-part papillary. 27. EncMis \ 
 . Kind of ventricose cylinder, 
 
 pupa 
 
 proceeding from the apex 
 
 . . 
 , with a small nipple 
 
 V. VIBRIO. An invisible worm, very sim- 
 ple, round, and rather long. 
 
 " The extensive range of this genus, in re- 
 gard to the structure, form, and size of the dif- 
 ferent species, offers great variety to the ob- 
 server. It includes animalcules both mem- 
 braneous and crustaceous : some as slight as a 
 thread, others whose breadth nearly equals 
 their length ; some whose organization is so 
 complete that modern naturalists have entirely 
 excluded them from the phytozoa ; and others, 
 which are with difficulty distinguished from 
 vegetables. To diminish somewhat the incon- 
 gruities, without rendering the arrangement 
 complex, I have separated them into three di- 
 visions. The first is the simplest, and re- 
 quires a magnifying power of from 200 to 500 
 times to examine them ; the second and third 
 vary so much in size that some do not require 
 half that power, and a few even less, being 
 just discernible by the naked eye." 
 
 First Division, Bacillaria. " These mi- 
 nute and inactive animalcules are covered with 
 a hard, shell-like coat, and appear closely al- 
 lied to some of the fresh-water algae, and are 
 not very appropriately classed with the vibrio. 
 Second Division, Phytozoa. " This term 
 was first made use of by Goldfuss, and is con- 
 fined by Ehrenberg to those microscopic crea- 
 tures whose digestive organs are polygastric, 
 or if they possess a simple alimentary canal, 
 it is always accompanied by rotatory organs." 
 Third Division, Entozoa. Includes those 
 animalcules of the vibrio genus which " pos- 
 sess an alimentary canal, but no cilia, nor oc- 
 casion currents when immersed in a mechani- 
 cal solution of coloured particles." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 68, and Plate 27, fig. 30. 
 Paxillifer Vibrio. " This animalcule, or 
 rather congeries of animalcules, for they are 
 mostly attached together in different forms, 
 when magnified appear like pieces of straw, 
 of a pale yellow colour, with the inside of an 
 orange brown. They are nearly round, and 
 if attentively watched, may be seen occasion- 
 ally to turn upon their longest axis, when a 
 longitudinal line may be observed ; this is 
 probably the hinge or opening of their shell. 
 They vary in length from 1- 1 00th to l-500th 
 of an inch, their diameter is from l-20th to 
 1-1 00th of their length : they require consi- 
 derable magnifying power, arid large angular 
 aperture, to distinguish thei-r structure. I find 
 on reference to my notes, made at different 
 times, that it was not until after I had exa- 
 mined them repeatedly I became satisfied of 
 their animal vitality. They generally reside 
 at the bottom of .ponds, but after rain are met 
 with near the surface, giving the water a green 
 
 tint ; in such cases they are found separate, 
 the agitation of the water having broken the 
 clusters." These animalcules are generally 
 found collected together in different parcels, 
 from seven to forty in number, and ranged in 
 a variety of forms, sometimes in a straight 
 line, then in the concave, as in fig. 30. This 
 creature, usually known as the stick vibrio, 
 seems to have affinity to the hair-like animal 
 described by Baker. 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 44. Vibrio Lunula. r \\Q 
 bow, or moon-shaped, vibrio, having both ends 
 similar. The body resembles much the shape 
 of the moon at the first quarter ; it is of a green 
 colour, and has generally from seven to ten 
 globules disposed lengthwise ; the smaller ones 
 are of a very pale colour, a pale green vacuity 
 may sometimes be seen in the middle : some 
 few varieties may be observed amongst them, 
 which are not easily described ; it will be 
 enough to have given the reader their general 
 and distinguishing characteristics. 
 
 The annexed cut represents a. kind of vibrio 
 found in wheat These animalcules were dis- 
 covered by Needham, and described by him 
 in a work entitled New Microscopical Disco- 
 veries, and afterwards more fully treated upon 
 by Baker. They are not lodged in those 
 blighted grains which are covered externally 
 with a soot-like dust, whose inside is often 
 little more than a black powder ; but abun- 
 dance of ears may be observed in fields of corn, 
 which have grains that appear blackish, as if 
 scorched: these, when opened, are found to 
 contain a soft white substance, that when at- 
 tentively examined looks like a congeries of 
 threads, or fibres, lying as close as possible to 
 
630 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 each other in a parallel direction, and much 
 resembling the unripe down of some thistles. 
 This fibrous matter does not discover any signs 
 of life, or motion, unless water be applied to 
 it ; the fibres then separate, and prove them- 
 selves to be living creatures. These vibrios 
 are in general of a large size, and may be 
 seen with a low magnifying power, being 
 about I- 13th of an inch in length, and 1- 1 40th 
 broad. They are in general of a bright chest- 
 nut colour; the lower extremity is whiter and 
 more transparent than the rest of the body. 
 The upper end is rather round, the lower one 
 is pointed. A distinguishing mark of these 
 little creatures is a row of transparent glo- 
 bules, which are placed at intervals through 
 the whole length of the body. These crea- 
 tures increase in size, till at last they may be 
 observed with great ease by the naked eye, 
 being two-tenths of an inch long, and about 
 one hundredth in diameter. The figure re- 
 presents one of these magnified about seventy 
 times linear. The ovary may be clearly 
 traced almost from the lower extremity to the 
 middle of the body, where the latter becomes 
 so opaque as to prevent its being seen any 
 farther. The eggs, when arrived at their 
 full growth, are nearly of a cylindric shape, 
 both ends rounded ; towards the lower extre- 
 mity there is an opening through which the 
 eggs are extruded. The eggs are formed of 
 a hue transparent membrane ; it covers the 
 young vibrio, which is folded curiously there- 
 in ; these eggs may be frequently found in the 
 grains of wheat containing the animalcules. 
 
 One of the most remarkable circumstances 
 in these animalcules is the faculty they have 
 of receiving again the powers of life, after 
 having lost them for a considerable time; for 
 instance, when some of the blighted grains of 
 wheat, that have been preserved for many 
 years, have been soaked in water for ten or 
 twelve hours, living vibrios have been found in 
 it; if the water evaporate, or begin to fail, 
 they cease to move, but on a fresh application, 
 will be again revived. It may be proper to 
 notice here, that according to the observations 
 oi Roffredi, those eels which have done laying 
 eggs are incapable of being resuscitated upon 
 being moistened ; the same seems to be the 
 case with those that are very young ; it is pro- 
 bable the animalcule must attain a certain age 
 and degree of strength before it is endowed 
 with this wonderful faculty. 
 
 VIBRIO SPECIES. 
 
 1. Vibrio lineofa. Very small, linear vibrio. 2. Vi- 
 brio ruyula. Like a bent line. 3. Vibrio bacillus. Li- 
 near, equally truncated at both ends. 4. Vibrio undula. 
 
 iliform, flexuous vibrio. .5. Vibrio serpens. Filiform, 
 the windings obtuse. 6. Vibrio spirillum. Filiform, 
 8p lf iV7 7> Viirio vei '" l ^ulm. Twisted and gelatinous. 
 
 -o J Brio mtestinum. Gelatinous, round, the fore-part 
 small. 9. Vibrio bipunctatus. Linear, both ends trun- 
 
 cated, two small globules in the middle of the body. 
 10. Vibrio tripundatus. Linear, smaller at the ends, 
 with three globular points, the two which are at the 
 extremities being smaller than the one at the middle. 
 11. Vibrio paodllifvr. Described. 12. Vibrio lunula. 
 Described. 13. Vibrio verminus. Linear, compressed, 
 the fore-part narrower than the hinder part. 14. Vib- 
 rio medians. Linear, with a globule at the base, and 
 transverse line at the apex. 15. Vibrio acus. Linear, 
 with a neck, the upper extremity obtuse, the lower one 
 terminating in a setaceous tail. 16. Vibrio sagitta. Li- 
 near, well-marked neck, apex truncated and open, tail 
 setaceous. 1 7 . Vibrio gordius. Of equal size, tail ter- 
 minating in a little tubercle. 18. Vibrio serpenttdus. 
 Pointed at both ends. 19. Vibrio colidwr. Filiform, 
 tail setaceous, and bending up nearly to a right angle 
 with the body. 20. Vibrio anguillida. Equal size 
 throughout, and somewhat hard, various kinds, of which 
 the wheat vibrio, described, is one, and the eels of vi- 
 negar another. 21. Vibrio linter. Ventricose oval vi- 
 brio, with a short neck. 22. Vibrio utricidus. Round, 
 fore-part narrow and truncated, lower part ventricose. 
 23. Vibrio fasciola. Fore part small, middle larger, 
 hind-part acute. 24. Vibrio colymbus. Thick, sharp- 
 ened at the end, the neck a little bent. 2.5. Vibrio 
 strictus. Lengthened out almost to a line, small to- 
 wards the fore-part, apex obtuse. 26. Vibiio anas. 
 Oblong, ends attenuated, neck longer than the tail. 
 
 27. Vibrio cyynus. Corpulent, with a crooked neck. 
 
 28. Vibrio anser. Elliptical, with a long neck, and a 
 small lump on its back. 29. Vibrio Olor. Elliptical, 
 with a very long neck, and a knob on the apex. 30. 
 Vibrio faloc. Gibbous, hind-part obtuse, neck crooked. 
 
 31. Vibrio intermedius. Membranaceous, fore-part 
 small, hinder part somewhat acute. 
 
 VI. CYCLIDIUM. A simple, invisible, flat, 
 pellucid, orbicular or oval worm. 
 
 " This genus is composed of animalcules of 
 a flat, round or oval form, without any appa- 
 rent cilia. Like some others, they are so very 
 diaphanous that the most delicately finished 
 engravings of them afford but a faint idea of 
 their exquisitely brilliant, crystal-like appear- 
 ance, when viewed under a good achromatic 
 microscope of large angular aperture." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 62. The azure Cydidium 
 " Is of a flat, oval form. In its usual condi- 
 tion it is pellucid, but when fed with colouring 
 matter, dark spots may be seen as in the en-' 
 graving, in swimming it sometimes rotates, 
 and exhibits its narrow side to view ; if the 
 water be filled with opaque particles, a cur- 
 rent may be perceived towards the front part 
 of it, indicating the presence of cilia, which 
 however can only be seen when the animal is 
 expiring. These creatures propagate by di- 
 vision, during the progress of which they alter 
 their form. They require a magnifying power 
 from 600 to 800 times in order to view them 
 distinctly. Length 1- 1400th to 1- 1800th of 
 an inch." 
 
 CYCLIDIUM SPECIES. 
 
 1. Cydidium bulla. Orbicular, bright. 2. Cydidium 
 milium. Elliptical, and crystalline. 3. Cydidium flui- 
 tans. Oval, crystalline. 4. Cydidium glaucoma. Oval, 
 intestines faintly seen. Described. 5. 'Cydviium ni<;ri- 
 caiis. Oblong, with black margin. 6. Cydidium ros- 
 tratium. Oval, fore-part pointed. 7. Cydidium nudeus. 
 Oval, hind-part pointed. 8. Cydidium hyalinum. Oval, 
 hind-part acute. 9. Cydidium pedicu/us. Oval, convex, 
 the bottom even. 10. Cydidium dubium. Oval, upper 
 part convex, under part concave. 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 631 
 
 VII. PARAM^CIUM. An invisible, simple, 
 membranaceous, flat, and pellucid worm. 
 
 The animalcules includedinthisgenus, toge- 
 ther with the kolpoda, are supposed by Ehren- 
 berg to be the same as the monads arid cycli- 
 dia, at a more advanced stage of their growth. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 63. Paramcecium chrysalis. 
 <l These interesting creatures appear like 
 milk-white specks to the naked eye. They 
 are soft, and yield to the presence of any hard 
 substance they may come in contact with. 
 The body is long, and in some positions the 
 cuticle appears to have a diagonal fold, as 
 shown in the figure. The mouth aperture is 
 situated on the inferior side, near the middle, 
 and in some views it appears like a papillary 
 projection. In good microscopes, the body is 
 seen covered with longitudinal rows of hair ; 
 by means of these, the creature is enabled to 
 produce a current in the water towards its 
 mouth. They propagate by transverse divi- 
 sion. These animalcules arc well adapted for 
 showing the structure of the alimentary or- 
 gans, as they are of sufficient magnitude to 
 render the sacs clearly distinguishable, when 
 filled with coloured particles. On the intro- 
 duction of indigo into the water they are 
 greatly agitated ; in a few minutes, however, 
 they are quiet ; and the digestive sacs become 
 coloured, as in the figure, when from 100 to 
 200 may be enumerated. Length, l-85th to 
 l-200th of an inch." 
 
 PARAMACIUM SPECIES. 
 
 1 . Paramcecium aurelia. Compressed, oblong, folded 
 towards the fore -part, hinder part acute. 2. Paramce- 
 
 Omrl!- ------- 
 
 ,,,..., v,*,y<,wiv. Cylindrical, folded towards the fore- 
 part, hinder part obtuse. Described. 3. Paramcecium 
 versutum. Cylindrical, lower part thick, both ends very 
 obtuse. 4. Paramcecium ovif'erum. Depressed, with 
 large oval molecules withinside. 5. Paramcecium margi- 
 natum. Depressed, gray, with a double margin. 
 
 VIII. KOLPODA. An invisible, very sim- 
 ple, pellucid, flat and crooked worm. " They 
 vary much in external form." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 64. The cuckoo Kolpoda, or 
 Common Bosom animalcule. " Its general 
 contour has some resemblance to a bean ; and 
 if we suppose the two convex lobes on the 
 front side equal, and do not perceive the pro- 
 boscis, which indeed is seen with difficulty, we 
 shall distinguish some likeness to the bosom ; 
 from which similitude it has received its name. 
 The mouth, which is more lightly tinted than 
 the surrounding parts, is situated in the hollow 
 between the upper lobe and the proboscis, and 
 marked by a cross, while the termination of 
 the alimentary canal is in the cavity immedi- 
 ately below the proboscis. The margin of the 
 two lobes is furnished with a row of delicate cilia, 
 only observable under favourable illumination. 
 These cilia, by producing a current in the 
 water towards the mouth, perform the same 
 
 important offices as members in some of the 
 mammalia; as the current brings all the par- 
 ticles of matter in the water to the mouth in 
 regular succession. By feeding these animal- 
 cules on vegetable colouring, the polygastric 
 form of their digestive organs is readily dis- 
 tinguished. Length of full grown specimens, 
 1.280th of an inch. They are found in vari- 
 ous vegetable infusions, and especially in 
 those of hay which have been kept a consider- 
 able time." 
 
 KOLPODA SPECIES. 
 
 1. Kolpoda lamella. Elongated, membranaceous, 
 hinder part curved. 2. Kolpoda gallimila. Oblong, 
 back towards the fore-part bright and membranaceous. 
 3. Kolpoda rostrum. Oblong, the fore part hooked. 
 4. Kolpoda ockrea. Long, membranaceous, apex at- 
 tenuated, base bent in a right angle to the body. 5. 
 Kolpoda mucronata. Membranaceous, dilated, fore -part 
 smaller than hind-part, with a small incision at one 
 side. 6. Kolpoda triquetra. Egg-shaped, one edge 
 turned back. 7. Kolpoda striata. Oblong, pear-shaped, 
 white, fore-part pointed, hind-part round. 8. Kolpoda 
 nucleus. Egg-shaped, with an acute vertex. 9. Kolpo- 
 da meleagris. Changeable, the fore-part like a hook, 
 
 with an oblique incision a little beloAV the apex. 13. 
 Kolpoda cucullio. Flat, oval, bending slightly beneath 
 the apex. 14. Kolpoda reu. Thick and curved in the 
 middle. 1 5. Kolpoda pirum. Convex, oval, apex formed 
 into a kind of beak. 16. Kolpoda cuneus. Clavated, 
 round, the apex dentated. 
 
 IX. GONIUM. An invisible, simple, smooth, 
 
 angular worm. 
 
 " The animalcules of this genus are in 
 clusters ; they are propagated by several inci- 
 sions across the body of the parent, dividing it 
 into a number of symmetrical forms. When 
 observed singly, most of the species resemble 
 the volvox. The structure of their digestive 
 organs is not known." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 69. The Breast-plate Go- 
 nium. " It consists of sixteen spherical bodies, 
 disposed regularly in a quadrangular form, like 
 the jewels in the breast-plate of the Jewish 
 high-priest. They are all arranged in the 
 same plane ; the four centre ones are general- 
 ly longer than those which surround them; 
 and the diameters of the three smaller balls 
 are only equal to the two larger centre ones to 
 which they are attached ; the external corners 
 are therefore vacant. The diameters of the 
 clusters vary from 1 -3500th to 1 -200th of an 
 inch. They are found near the surface of 
 clear water, and often along with the cercaria 
 viridis. A magnifying power of 200 is suf- 
 ficient for their examination." 
 
 GONIUM SPECIES. 
 
 1 . Gonium pedorale. Quadrangular, pellucid, with six- 
 teen spherical molecules. Described. 2. Gonium pul- 
 mnatum. Quadrangurlar, opaque, with four little pil- 
 lows. 3. Gonium Corrupatum. Quadrangular, white, 
 sunk a little in the middle. 4. Gonium rectangulum, 
 Rectangular, hind- part arched. 5. Gonium truncatum, 
 Gonium with obtuse corners, hind-part arched. 
 
632 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 X. BURSARIA. A very simple, hollow, mem- 
 bra naceous worm. 
 
 This animalcule takes its name from the 
 resemblance its bears to a purse, or bag. 
 Ein-enberg has noticed only one species, and 
 lias not decided as to the situation of the ge- 
 nus. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 60. The little swallow-like 
 Bursaria. " The form of this animalcule, by 
 a little effort of imagination, may be compared 
 to a bird, and its movements appear like the 
 flight of the swallow: hence its name. It is 
 found in stagnant water." 
 
 BURSARIA SPECIES. 
 
 \.Bursariatruncatella. Ventricose, the top trunca- 
 ted. 2. Bursaria bullina. Boat-shaped, the fore-part 
 formed into a lip. 3. Bursaria hirundinella. Described. 
 4. Bursaria duplMa. Elliptic, with the edge bent in 
 and out. 5. Bursaria globina. Spherical, very pellu 
 cid in the middle. 
 
 XL CERCARIA. An invisible, pellucid worm, 
 wiih a tail. 
 
 " If we consider the internal organization 
 of this genus, it comprehends a very wide 
 range; indeed, the different species vary so 
 much that it is difficult to give a general de- 
 finition of their characters with any degree of 
 accuracy." 
 
 Plate 35. fig. 59. The Green Cercaria. 
 "This is a highly interesting creature: the 
 bright green colour of its body ; its diaphanous 
 extremities; its well defined orange brown 
 eye ; and the numerous transformations of its 
 form, render it a very interesting object for 
 the microscope ; in addition to which it is 
 easily procured, and managed with great fa- 
 cility. The length of the specimen was about 
 l-350th of an inch: Ehrenberg gives l-280th 
 of an inch as their length. The magnifying 
 power best adapted for viewing them, is from 
 300 to 500 times, in an achromatic." 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 29. Cercaria inquieta. 
 This animalcule so frequently changes its 
 form, that it is not easy to describe it; it is 
 sometimes spherical, sometimes like a long 
 cylinder, at other times of an oval figure, white 
 and gelatinous; the tail is filiform and flexible, 
 the upper part vibrating vehemently; it has 
 no visible viscera. Two small dots, probably 
 the eyes, are sometimes distinguishable; and 
 occasionally there is seen a large circular 
 marking near the tail. 
 
 CERCARIA SPECIES. 
 
 1. Cercaria gyrinus. Round, with a sharp tail. 2. 
 t ercana mtba. Oval-shaped, convex, the fore-part ra- 
 ther acute, the tail round. 3. Cercaria inquieta. Des- 
 cribed. 4. Cercaria lemna. Mutable, somewhat flat- 
 tened, with an annulated tail. 5. Cercaria turbo. Glo- 
 bular the middle contracted, with a tail like a bristle. 
 6. Cercaria poduria. Cylindrie, the liind-psirt sharp 
 
 i somewhat cloven. 7. Cercaria riridis. Described. 
 
 i. Cercaria sell/era. Cylindrie, fore-part smallest, 
 
 hind-part pointed. 9. Cercaria Jdrta. Cylindrie, fore- 
 part somewhat truncated, lower part obtuse, finishing 
 with two small points. JO. Cercaria cntmena. Cylin- 
 drie, ventricose, fore-part obliquely truncated, tail lin- 
 ear, terminating with two diverging {mints. 11. Cerca- 
 ria catellus. Three-parted, tail divided into two parts. 
 12. Cercaria catelina. In three parts, with, a short 
 forked tail. 13. Cercaria lupus. Cylindrie, long, the 
 tail furnished with two spines. 1 4. Cercaria wniiexlaris. 
 Cylindrical, annulated, with a projecting proboscis, two 
 small spines for the tail. 1.5. Cercaria forcipata. Cy- 
 lindrie, wrinkled, with a forked proboscis, which it can 
 extend or contract. 16. Cercaria pleuroncdes. Orbicu- 
 lar, the tail consisting of one bristle. 17- Cercaria tripos. 
 Triangular, two bent arms, and a straight tail. 18. Cer- 
 caria cyclidium. Oval, hind-part somewhat notched, 
 with a tail that it thrusts out at pleasure. 19. Cercaria 
 tenax. Membranaceous, fore-part rather thick, trunca- 
 ted, the tail three times shorter. '20. Cercaria discus. 
 Orbicular, with a bent tail. 21. Cercaria orbis. Orbi- 
 cular, with a tail consisting of two very long bristles . 
 22. Cercaria luna. Orbicular, the tail of two short 
 spines, fore-part hollowed like a crescent. 
 
 XII. LEUCOPHRA. An invisible worm, pel- 
 lucid, and every where ciliated. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 54. The Bracelet Leucoplira. 
 This animalcule is shown with the inner 
 edge ciliated, sometimes the ciliae are disposed 
 on the- circumference. It is scarce. 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 54. Leucoplira cornuta. 
 This creature requires to be observed some 
 time before its peculiar character can be as- 
 certained ; the body is composed of molecular 
 vessels, of a dark green colour ; for the most 
 part it is like an inverted cone, the fore-part 
 being wide and truncated, with a little promi- 
 nent horn or hook on both sides ; the hind-part 
 conical, every where ciliated, the hairs ex- 
 ceedingly minute ; those in the fore-part are 
 three times longer than the latter, and move 
 in a circular direction. The hinder part is 
 pellucid, and sometimes terminates in two or 
 three obtuse pellucid projections. This ani- 
 malcule will at one moment appear oval, at 
 another reniform, and ciliated at the fore part; 
 but at another time the hairs are concealed. 
 When the water evaporates, it dissolves or 
 breaks into a number of molecular vesicles. 
 
 LEUCOPHRA SPECIES. 
 
 1. Leucoplira conflictor. Spherical, opaque, with 
 movable intestines. 2. Leucoplira mamVla. Spherical, 
 opaque, with a small papillary projection. 3. Leuco- 
 plira virescens. Cylindrical, opaque, the lower part much 
 thicker than the upper part. 4. Leucoplira viridis. 
 Oval, opaque. .5. Leucoplira, lursata. Green, oval, the 
 fore-part truncated. 6. Leucoplira postliuma. Globular, 
 opaque, and covered with a kind of pellucid net. 7. 
 Leucoplira aurea. Oval, yellow, both ends equally ob- 
 tuse. 8. Leucoplira pc.rtusa. Oval, gelatinous, apex 
 obtusely truncated, one side sunk down. 9. Leu- 
 coplira fracta. Long, with ciliated angles, rather 
 flat. 10. Leucoplira dilatata. Smooth, changeable, 
 with a ciliated edge. 11. Leucoplira scentillaus. Oval, 
 round, opaque, green. 12. Leucoplira vcsiculifera. Oval, 
 with vesicular intestines. 13. Leucoplira globulifera. 
 Crystalline, of an oblong, oval shape. 14, Leucoplira, 
 pnliuhda. Oblong, oval, the lower end obliquely trun- 
 cated. 15. Leucoplira turbinata. Like an inverted cone, 
 and rather opaque. 16'. Leucoplira acuta. Oval, round, 
 with the apex acute, mutable, yellow. 1 7. Leucoplira 
 notata. Oval, round, with a black point at the edge. 
 18. Leucoplira Candida. Oblong, one end smaller than the 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 633 
 
 other and bent back. 19. Leucophra, noduiata. Oblong, 
 oval, with a double row of little nodules. 20. Leucophra 
 siffnuta. Oblong, subdepressed, with a black margin, 
 filled with little molecular globules. 21. Leucophra 
 trii/omt. Thick, obtuse, angular, yellow. 22. Leucophra 
 jlnida. Kidney- shaped, ventricose. 23. Leucophra 
 //./. Reniform, sinuated. 24. Leucophra armilla. 
 Described. 25. Leucophra cornuta. Described. 26. 
 Leucopkra heteroclita. Cylindrical, forepart obtuse, 
 hind part furnished with a double tufted organ, which 
 it can thurst in and out at pleasure. 
 
 XIII. TRICHODA. An invisible, pellucid, 
 hairy worm. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 55. Trichoda vulgaris This 
 animalcule has a crustaceous covering in the 
 shape of a cup, at the circumference of which 
 radiate several strong spines. Its polygastric 
 structure may be seen in the figure. 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 37. Trichoda sol This 
 splendid creature constitutes a new genus, but 
 as we know of no more of the same kind, it 
 is introduced here. It is a little crystalline, 
 round corpuscule, the upper part convex; it is 
 beset with innumerable diverging rays, which 
 are no longer than the diameter of the body, 
 proceeding from every part of its surface : the 
 inside contains as many as twenty polygastric 
 sacs. The body contracts and dilates, but 
 the animalcule remains confined to the same 
 spot. 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 38. Trichoda cometa. A 
 pellucid globule, replete with bright intestines, 
 the fore-part furnished with hairs, the hind- 
 part with a pellucid appendant globule. 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 53. Trichoda bomba.k 
 thick animalcule, and of a yellow colour ; 
 pellucid, and replete with clay-like mole- 
 cules ; it is very lively, moving about with 
 so much velocity, as to elude the sharpest 
 sight, and most determined observer, and as- 
 suming various shapes, sometimes appearing 
 spherical, sometimes reriiform, or kidney- 
 shaped, and sometimes as in the figure. 
 
 TRICHODA SPECIES. 
 
 1. Trichoda grandlndla. Spherical, pellucid, upper 
 part hairy. 2. Trichoda cometa. Described. 3. Trickoda 
 yranata. Spherical, centre opaque, the circumference 
 hairy. 4. Trichoda trochus. Pear-shaped, pellucid, each 
 side of the fore part distinguished by a little bunch of 
 hairs. 5. Trichoda yyrinus. Oval, round, crystalline, 
 the front hairy. 6. Trichoda sol. Described. 7. 
 Trichoda solans. Spheroidal, with a few hairs round 
 the circumference. 8. Trichoda bomba. Described. 
 9. Trickoda orbis. Orbicular, the fore part notched and 
 hairy. 1(1. Trichoda urnula. In the form of a water 
 pitcher, the fore part hairy. 11. Trichoda diota. Pitcher- 
 shaped, fore part smallest, upper part of the mouth 
 ciliated. 12. Trichoda horrida. Somewhat conical, 
 fore-part rather broad and truncated, lower part 
 obtuse, the whole covered with radiating bristles. 13. 
 Trichoda urinarium. Egg-shaped, with a short hairy 
 beak. 14. Trichoda semiluna. Semiorbicular, fore part 
 hairy underneath. 15. Tricltoda trigona. Convex, fore 
 part ciliated, hind part apparently torn away. 16 
 Trichoda tinea. Clubbed, fore part hairy, hind part 
 large 17. Triclioda nu/ra. Oval, compressed, fore part 
 broader and hairy. '18. Trichoda pubes. Egg-shaped, 
 oblong, forepart depressed. 19. Trichoda floccus. 
 Membranaceous, fore-part rather conical ; three small 
 papilhe project from the base, which are set with hairs. 
 VOL. n. 
 
 20. Trichoda sinuata. Oblong, depressed, one margin 
 hollow and hairy, the lower end obtuse. 21. Trichoda 
 prceceps. Membranaceous, somewhat lunated, protu- 
 berant in the middle, a row of hairs on the outside. 22. 
 Trichoda proteus. Oval, the lower part obtuse, with a 
 long neck, which it has the power of contracting or ex- 
 tending. 23. Trichoda versatilis. Oblong, hind part acute, 
 with a neck that it can extend or contract at pleasure, 
 under part of the extremity of the neck hairy. 24. Trich- 
 oda gibba. Oblong, with a hunch on the back, the belly 
 hollowed out, the fore part ciliated, both ends obtuse. 
 25. Trichoda f oeta. Oblong, with the back protuber- 
 ant, the fore part ciliated, both ends obtuse. 26. 
 Trichoda patens. Long, round, a long hole in the fore 
 part, with the edges ciliated. 27. Trichoda patula. In- 
 clining to oval, with a small tube at the fore part, the 
 upper end covered with hairs. 28. Trichoda foreata. 
 Oblong, rather broad, three little horns on the fore 
 part, hinder part beardless. 29. Trichoda striata. Ob- 
 long, one edge rather curved, and furnished with a row 
 of hairs, both extremities obtuse. 30. Trichoda uvula. 
 Rather flat and long, of equal size throughout, fore 
 part hairy. 31. Trichoda aurantia. Sinuated, oval, 
 fore part broad, apex hairy to the middle. 32. Trichoda 
 iynita. Oval, apex rather acute, the under part fur- 
 rowed, the furrows hairy. 33. Trichoda prisma. Oval, 
 under part convex, upper part compressed into a kind 
 of keel, the fore part small. 34. Trichoda forceps. Oval, 
 with a pair of forceps at the fore part, with unequal 
 hairy legs. 35. Trichoda forf ex. Round and prominent, 
 the fore part formed into a kind of forceps, and two 
 small protuberances. 36. Trichoda index. Obovated, 
 under part of the front of the margin hairy, apex formed 
 by the fore part, projecting like the finger on a direc- 
 tion post. 37. TrichodaS. Striated, fore part ciliated, 
 the extremities bent in opposite directions. 38. Trich- 
 oda navicula. Three cornered, fore part truncated and 
 ciliated, hind part acute, and bent a little upwards. 
 39. Trichoda succisa. Flattened, oval, edge hairy, hinder 
 part hollowed out so as to form two unequal legs. 40. 
 Trichoda sulcata. Ovated, ventricose, apex acute, with 
 a furrow at the abdomen, and both sides of it ciliated. 
 41. Triclioda anas. Long, the apex of the neck un- 
 derneath hairy. 42. Trichoda barbata. Long, round, 
 the under part from the apex to the middle hairy. 
 43. Trichoda farcimen. Long and thick, surrounded 
 with small bristles. 44. Trichoda crinita. Long, round, 
 everywhere ciliated on the upper part, and also on the 
 under part as far as the middle. 45. Trichoda angulus. 
 Angular, the apex hairy. 46. Trichoda linita. Oblong, 
 with prominences at both extremities. 47. Trichoda 
 paxillus. Linear, flat, fore part truncated and hairy, 
 the hinder part obtuse. 48. Triclioda vermiadaris. ( 
 Long, cylindrical, with a short neck, the apex hairy. 
 49. Trickoda melitcea. Oblong, ciliated, with a dilatable 
 neck, the apex globular, and ciliated, and a kind of 
 peristaltic motion observable in it. 50. Trichoda fimbri- 
 ata. Obovated, the apex hairy, the hinder part ob- 
 liquely truncated and serrated. 51. Trichoda camel us. 
 Thick, fore part hairy, with notches on the middle and 
 each side. 52. Trichoda augur. Oblong, depressed, 
 pellucid, and filled with molecules, vertex truncated, 
 fore part forming a small beak, underneath are three 
 feet, the hinder part is furnished with bristles. 53. 
 Trichoda pupa. Hooded, front hairy, the tail inflected, 
 at the lower part of the head is a large pellucid cor- 
 puscule. 54. Triclioda hinaris. Arched, round, the 
 apex hairy, the tail bent. 55. Trichoda Munis. Arched, 
 flattened, the apex hairy, and tAvo little bristles pro- 
 ceeding from the tail. 56. Trichoda rattus. Oblong, 
 with a kind of keel, the fore part hairy, and a very long 
 bristle proceeding from the hinder part. 57. Trichoda 
 tup-is. Long, and somewhat cylindrical, apex hairy, 
 the tail divided into two long bristles. 58. Trichoda 
 pocillum. Oblong, fore part truncated and hairy, the 
 tail articulated, and divided into two bristles. 59. 
 Trichoda clavus. Fore part round and hairy, hind part 
 furnished with a sharp tail. 60. Trichoda cornuta. 
 Upper part convex, under side plane, apex hairy, tail 
 linear, and simple. 61. Triclioda gallina. Long, fore 
 part sinuated, the front hairy, the tail formed of small 
 hairs. 62. Trichoda musculus. Egg-shaped, fore part 
 hairy, the tail projecting from the under part. 63. 
 Trichoila delpliis. Clubbed, front hairy, the tail small 
 
 
634 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 and rather bent upwards. 64. Trichoda delphinus. Ob- 
 long, fore part hairy, the tail turned back and trunca- 
 ted. 65. Trichoda clava. Similar to the preceding in 
 most respects. 66. Trichoda cuniculus. Oblong, tore- 
 part hairy, hind part rather acute, filled with molecules 
 and black vesicles. 67. Trichoda felis. Curved, large, 
 the fore part small, hinder part gradually diminishing 
 into a tail, under part set longitudinally with hairs. 
 68. Trichoda piscis. Oblong, fore-part hairy, hinder part 
 terminating in a very slender tail. 69. Trichoda larus. 
 Long, round, surrounded with hairs, the tail divided 
 into two points. 70. TricJioda lonyicauda. Cylindrical, 
 fore part truncated and surrounded with hairs, the tail 
 long, furnished with two bristles, and having two joints. 
 71. Trichoda fioca. Spherical, the circumference set 
 with hairs, and a small pedicle projecting from the body. 
 72. Trichoda inqui/inus. Sheathed in a cylindrical 
 transparent bag, having a little pedicle bent back within 
 the bag. 73. Trichoda inyenita. Sheathed, the bag de- 
 pressed, the base broadest. 74. Trichoda innata. Shea- 
 thed, in a cylindrical bag, with a pedicle passing 
 through, and projecting beyond it. 75. Trichoda trans- 
 fuga. Broad, fore part hairy, hinder part full of bris- 
 tles, one side sinuated, the other pointed. 76. Trichoda 
 ciliata. Ventricose, the hinder part covered with hair. 
 77. Trichoda bulla. Membranaceous, sides bent in- 
 wards, fore and hind parts furnished with hairs. 78. 
 Trichoda pellionella. Cylindrical, fore-part hairy, hinder 
 part furnished with bristles. 79. Trichoda cyllidium. 
 Egg-shaped, the apex gaping, the base hairy. 80. 
 Trichoda cursor. Oval, fore part hairy, hinder part fur- 
 nished with straight and curved hairs in two fascicles. 
 81. Trichoda pulex. Egg-shaped, with an incision in 
 the fore-part ; the front and base hairy. 82. Trichoda 
 lynceus. Nearly square, with a crooked beak, the 
 mouth hairy. 83. Trichoda erosa. Orbicular, fore-part 
 notched, one side furnished with hairs, the hinder part 
 with bristles. 84. Trichoda, rostrata. Depressed, muta- 
 ble, yellow, with long cilia, and feet tapering to a point. 
 85. Trichoda layena. Round, ventricose, with a long 
 neck, and the lower end set with bristles. 86. Trichoda 
 cftaron. Boat-shaped, with furrows, the fore and hind 
 parts hairy. 87. Triclwda ciinex. Oval, with a lucid 
 margin, front and hind part hairy. 88. Trichoda cicada. 
 Oval, with an obscure margin, fore part covered with 
 hairs on the under side, and the hinder part beardless. 
 
 XIV. KERONA. An invisible worm with 
 horns. " Animalcules furnished with hooks 
 (uncini), bristles (setcs), or horn-like proces- 
 ses." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 58. Kerona pullaster. " The 
 fore part, in addition to the cilia, is stated to 
 have three setae. The cilia at the opposite 
 extremity are often separated ; at other times 
 they are collected in a cluster." 
 
 KERONA SPECIES. 
 
 1 . Kerona rostellum. Membranaceous, orbicular, with 
 one projecting point, the upper surface covered with 
 small horns. 2. Kerona lyncaster. Rather square, and 
 its disc furnished with shining horns. 3. Kerona histrio. 
 Oblong, membranaceous, with four or five black points 
 in the fore part, which are continually changing their 
 situation, thick set, with small globules in the middle, 
 among which four larger ones are perceived, probably 
 the eggs. 4. Kerona cypris. Egg-shaped, sinuated to- 
 wards the hind part, the fore part hairy. 5. Kerona 
 haustrum. Orbicular, with the horns in the middle, the 
 fore part membranaceous and hairy, and several bristles 
 in the hinder part. 6. Kerona haustellum. Differs 
 from the preceding only in wanting the bristles in 
 the hinder part. 7. Kerona patella. With a unival- 
 ved shell, orbicular, crystalline ; fore part somewhat 
 notched. 8. Kerona ranmis. Oval and rather flat, with 
 one edge bent, the opposite one ciliated ; the front fur- 
 nished with horns, and the hind part with bristles. 9. 
 Kerona pullaster. Described. 10. Kerona mytillus. 
 Rather clubbed, broad at both extremities, clear and 
 ciliated. 1 1 . Kerona Icpus. Egg-shaped, fore part hairy, 
 
 the base furnished with bristles. 12. Kerona silurus. 
 Oblong^the fore and hind parts hairy, the back ciliated. 
 13. Kerona calvitium. Rather broad, oblong, with 
 glittering horns on the fore part. 14. Kerona pustulata. 
 Oval, convex, one edge of the hinder part sinuated, 
 both ends set with hairs, and several horns placed on 
 the fore part. 
 
 XV. HJMANTOPUS. A pellucid, invisible, 
 cirrated* worm. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 58. Himanlopus larva. " This 
 is a very lively creature, swimming and turn- 
 ing in the water in a graceful and diverting 
 manner, inflecting itself, as shown in the 
 figure ; the body gradually decreases towards 
 the posterior, and at intervals several hairs 
 appear disposed along it. The margin is 
 fringed." 
 
 HIMANTOPUS SPECIES. 
 
 1. Himantopus acarus. Round and prominent, the 
 hinder part cirrated, the fore part sharp. 2. Himanto- 
 pus ludio. Curled, the upper part hairy, the tail ex- 
 tended upwards. 3. Himantopus sannio. Crooked, the 
 upper part ciliated, the under part hairy. 4. Himunto- 
 pus volutator. Lunated, the fore-part hairy. 5. Himan- 
 topus larva. Described. 6. Himantopus charon. Boat- 
 shaped, furrowed, the hollow part of the belly cirrated. 
 7. Himantopus corona. Semi-orbicular, flattened, 
 both sides cirrated. 
 
 XVI. VORTICELLA. A small animal with a 
 vascular cup ; the mouth is ciliated, and ca- 
 pable of being contracted, the stem fixed. 
 
 The variety that may be observed in these 
 minute animals confirms a principle, which, 
 the more it is inquired into, the more it will 
 be found to accord with the general operations 
 in nature, namely, that there is always a pre- 
 existent principle of life necessary to the orga- 
 nization both of animals and vegetables ; that 
 the alimentary and other particles which are 
 added to, or apparently belong to them, pro- 
 duce nothing of themselves; they are incapa- 
 ble of forming the least fibre, but they are able 
 to become constituent parts of one organical 
 whole, together with the instruments whereby 
 the former principle is manifested, and ren- 
 dered capable of acting upon certain orders of 
 creatures. The genus vorticella is very ex- 
 tensive. Miiller enumerates no less than se- 
 venty-five species, and other observers have 
 added to the number ; in this, however, and 
 in other similar instances, it would be better 
 if examination were conducted with a view to 
 lessen rather than increase the number of spe- 
 cies, that is to say, if the several stages of de- 
 velopment were carefully noted, when we be- 
 lieve many apparently distinct species would 
 be found to be one and the same, in its various 
 progressions towards maturity. The vorticella 
 differ considerably in their organization, and 
 Mr Pritchard has, in consequence, separated 
 them into two divisions, V. polycjastrica, and 
 V. rotatoria; the former of these includes the 
 
 * That is, furnished with a tuft, or lock, of hair. 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 t>35 
 
 animalcules whose alimentary structure con- 
 sists of a number of sacs only, and the latter, 
 those which have true alimentary canals and 
 rotatory organs. Of the entire genus, Mr 
 Pritchard remarks, " They are naked, con- 
 tractile, and possess cilia circularly disposed 
 near the mouth, producing a vortex in the 
 water : in many of them they appear to rotate 
 like a wheel ; to account for which, various 
 hypotheses have been invented. According 
 to Dr Ehrenberg, this is occasioned by their 
 peculiar disposition, and not from any differ- 
 ence of structure ; for as with the vibrating 
 cilia, the base of each is a bulb (similar to the 
 species of the JBchines), which by means of 
 muscular fibres it can move in any direction, 
 like a ball and socket joint. Thus each cilium 
 in its revolution describes a cone, the apex 
 of which is the bulb. Now if the cilia are ar- 
 ranged in a circle, and viewed laterally while 
 in motion, the whole wheel will appear to re- 
 volve as each cilium passes ; first, a little nearer 
 the eye on this side of the cone, and then 
 further off on the other side." 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 57. Vorticella cyatliini. 
 " This animalcule is shown swimming freely : 
 the edge of the bell is ciliated, though not ex- 
 hibited in the sketch : it can attach itself by 
 the stem, which it contracts spirally." Its po- 
 lygastric structure is shown in the figure. 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 28. Vorticella anastatica. 
 These polypi form a group resembling a 
 cluster, or more properly an open flower ; this 
 flower or cluster is supported by a stem, which 
 is fixed by its lower extremity to some of the 
 aquatic plants or extraneous bodies that are 
 found in the water ; the upper extremity forms 
 itself into eight or nine lateral branches, per- 
 fectly similar to each other ; these have also 
 subordinate branches, whose collective form 
 much resembles that of a leaf. Every one of 
 these assemblages is composed of one principal 
 branch or nerve, which makes with the main 
 stem of the cluster an angle somewhat greater 
 than a right one ; from both sides of this nerve 
 the smaller lateral branches proceed ; these 
 are shorter the nearer their origin is io the 
 principal branch. At the extremity of the 
 principal branch, and also of the lateral ones, 
 there is a polype or vorticella. There are 
 others on both sides of the lateral twigs, but 
 at different distances from their extremity. 
 These animalcules are all exceedingly small, 
 and of a bell-like figure : near their mouth a 
 quick motion may be discerned, though not 
 with sufficient distinctness to convey an ade- 
 quate idea of its cause ; upon the branches of 
 these clusters are round bodies, which will be 
 more particularly described presently. Every 
 cluster has eight or nine of these branches or 
 leaves ; they do not all proceed from the same 
 point, but the points from whence they set out 
 
 are not far asunder ; each oi these branches is 
 bent a little inwards, so that all of them taken 
 together form a kind of shallow cup. If the 
 eye be placed right over the base of this cup, 
 the appearance of the whole eight or nine 
 branches is like unto that of a star, with so 
 many rays proceeding from the centre. If 
 the cluster be slightly touched, all the branches 
 instantly fold up, and form a small round 
 mass. The stem which supports the cluster 
 contracts also, at the same time folding up 
 like a workman's measuring rule, that con- 
 sists of three or four joints. This extraordin- 
 ary assemblage constitutes one organized 
 whole, formed of a multitude of similar and 
 also particular ones ; a new species of society, 
 in which all the individuals are members 
 of each other in the strictest sense, and all 
 participate in the same life. 
 
 A few days after one of the clusters is 
 formed, small round bodies or bulbs may be 
 perceived to protrude in several places from 
 the body of the branch ; these grow very last, 
 and arrive at their greatest growth in two or 
 three days. The bulbs detach themselves 
 from the branches out of which they spring, 
 and go away, swimming till they can settle 
 upon some substance which they meet with in 
 the water, and to which they fix themselves 
 by a short pedicle ; the bulbs are then round, 
 only a little flatted on the under side, the pe- 
 dicle continues to lengthen gradually for about 
 twenty-four hours, during the same time the 
 bulbs also change their figure, and become 
 nearly oval. There are in a cluster but few 
 of these bulbs, compared with the number of 
 the vorticellae, neither do all the bulbs come 
 out at the same time. The bulb then divides 
 lengthways into two smaller ones, (see figure) 
 but which are still much larger than the vor- 
 ticellae themselves. It is not long before these 
 are separated like the first, and thus form four 
 bulbs on the same stalk ; these again divide 
 themselves, and form eight; which again sub- 
 divide, and consequently make sixteen. They 
 are all connected with the stalk by a proper 
 pedicle, but they are not all of an equal size ; 
 the largest continue to divide and the smallest 
 begin to open, and take the bell- formed shape. 
 Trembley observed from one round bulb, in 
 about twenty-four hours, by repeated divisions, 
 one hundred and ten vorticellae to be formed. 
 
 Vorticella digitalis. This species of the vor- 
 ticella is very scarce, it seems only to have 
 been seen by Rosel, who found it on the mo- 
 noculus quadricornis, (see figure) till it was 
 discovered in 1784, by M tiller, who had sought 
 for it several years before, but in vain. The 
 body is cylindrical, crystalline, and appears 
 almost empty ; it has three pellucid points dis- 
 posed lengthways, the apex is truncated in an 
 oblique direction, the margin bent back. The 
 
636 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 upper part contracts itself, and the margin 
 then assumes a conical shape, with a convex 
 surface ; there are in general but few branches 
 from the principal stem, and these are short 
 
 and thick. It excites an undulatory motion, 
 but neither hairs, nor rotatory motion, have 
 been discovered. The figure represents the 
 vorticella adhering to the monoculus quadri- 
 cornis. 
 
 Vorticella convallaria. These vorticellae, or 
 bell-animals, as they are termed by Baker, 
 
 are generally found adhering to some sub- 
 stance in the water ; they are represented here 
 as found by Rosel, fixed to a curious cornu 
 ammonis, with points projecting from the back. 
 To the naked eye they appear only as so many 
 little white points, but under the microscope, 
 as little bells, agitating the water to a consi- 
 derable distance. The stems of these have a 
 particular motion, they draw themselves up 
 and shorten all at once, taking the form of a 
 spiral wire or screw ; in a moment after they 
 again extend themselves. Many of them may 
 be seen at times adhering to each other by their 
 tails; the cilia are disposed round the mouth, and 
 require a good defining power to exhibit them 
 
 satisfactorily. On reference to the figure, it 
 will be perceived that some of the animalcules 
 differ in appearance from others : those which 
 are nearly circular are in a state of inactivity; 
 others, assuming an oval form, and beginning 
 to open, are in the act of stretching themselves 
 out to take their prey; and such as have taken 
 the perfect cup-like shape, are fully extended, 
 with their cilia in action, collecting food. One 
 is drawn on a considerably enlarged scale, to 
 exhibit more clearly the styli and cilia. 
 
 VORTICELLA SPECIES. 
 
 1. Vorticella cineta. In the form of a trapezium, of 
 a blackish green colour, and opaque. 2. Vorticella sphte- 
 roida. Globose, uniform, and opaque. 3. Vorticella 
 viridis. Cylindrical, uniform, green, and opaque. 4. 
 Vorticella lunifera. Green, the hinder part luminated, 
 with a point in the middle projecting from the edge. 
 5. Vorticella bursata. Green, the aperture truncated, 
 with a central papillary projection. 6. Vorticella varia. 
 Cylindrical, truncated, opaque, of a blackish colour, 
 the fore part ciliated. 7. Vorticella sputarium. Round 
 and prominent, with an orbicular aperture, and long 
 hairs radiating as from a centre. 8. Vorticella nigra. 
 Black, and top-shaped. 9. Vorticella m ultiformis. Green , 
 opaque, variable, with vesicles scattered about the body. 
 10. Vorticella polymorpJia. Many-shaped, green, 
 opaque. 1 1 . Vorticella cucullus. Long, round, the aper- 
 ture or mouth obliquely truncated. 12. Vorticella 
 utriculata. Green, the belly round and prominent, ca- 
 pable of being lengthened or shortened ; the fore-part 
 truncated, much in the shape of a common water-bottle : 
 the neck is sometimes very long, at others, very short^ 
 and filled with green molecules. 13. Vorticella ocreata, 
 Nearly of a cubical figure, the under part bent in an 
 obtuse angle. 1 4. Vortioella Taiga. Cubical, the lower 
 part divaricated. 15. Vorticella papillaris. Big-bellied, 
 the fore-part truncated, with a papillary tail, and a 
 splendid papillary excrescence on the side. 16. Vorti- 
 cella sacculus. Cylindrical, the aperture broad and flat, 
 the edge turned down. 17. Vorticella cirrata. Big-bel- 
 lied, the aperture sinuated, two tufts of hair on each 
 side of the belly. 18. Vorticella nasida. Cylindrical, 
 with a prominent point in the middle of the cup. 19. 
 Vorticella stellina. Orbicular, with a molecular disc, and 
 ciliated margin. 20. Vorticella d-iscina. Orbicular, the 
 edge ciliated, with a kind of convex handle on the un- 
 der side. 21. Vorticella sci/phina. Bowl-shaped, crys- 
 talline, with an opaque spherule in the middle. 22. 
 Vorticella albina. The fore-part cylindrical, the hinder 
 part tapering and ending nearly in a point. 23. Vorti- 
 cella fritillina. Empty, cylindrical, the apex truncated. 
 24. Vorticella truncatella. Cylindrical, stuffed or 
 filled, the apex truncated, with very short cilia. 2,5. 
 Vortacclla limacina. Cylindrical, truncated with two 
 pair of cilia. 26. Vorticella fraainina. Gregarious, cy- 
 lindrical, obliquely truncated, with two pair of cilia, 
 and a fissure or notch at the upper edge. 27. Vorticella 
 crategaria. Compound, with globous naked florets, 
 two ' tentacula, and a branched stem. 28. Vorticella 
 hamata. Purse-formed, the edge of its aperture or 
 mouth set with rigid points. 29. Vorticella crateriform- 
 is. Approaching to a square figure, with fascicles of 
 cilia even at the hinder part. 30. Vorticella canalicula- 
 ta. Dilated, pellucid, with an incision in the side. 3 1 . 
 Vorticella versatilis. Long, spear-formed, but often 
 changing into a pitcher-like form. 32. Vorticella am- 
 pulla. Contained in a pellucid bottle-shaped bag, the 
 head divided into two lobes. 33. Vorticella follicnlata. 
 Oblong, in a bright cylindrical bag. 34. Voriicdla lar- 
 va. Cylindrical, the aperture crescent-shaped, two 
 small thorny points projecting from the hinder part. 
 35. Vorticella sacculata. Like an inverted cone, the 
 aperture crescent- shaped, lower part of the trunk 
 notched, the tail biphyllous. 36. Vorticella aurita. 
 Cylindrical and big-bellied, the aperture destitute of 
 hairs, both sides of it are furnished with rotatory cilia, 
 tail biphyllous. 37. Vorticella tremula. Conical shape, 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 637 
 
 mth divided into two parts and set with smnll 
 spines, a point projecting from the tail. 38. Vortiaeua 
 serita. Somewhat cone-shaped, the aperture set with 
 spines, the tail short and divided into two points. 39. 
 Vorticella lacinulata. Like an inverted cone, the aper- 
 ture lobated, the tail small and furnished with two 
 bristles. 40. Vorticella constricta. Elliptical, ventricosc, 
 the mouth undivided, the tail annulated and forked. 
 41. Vorticella togata. Square, the aperture not divided, 
 the tail consisting of two long spines, which occasion- 
 ally unite and appear as one. 42. Vorticella lonf/iseta. 
 Long, flat, the tail formed of two very long bristles. 
 43. Vorticella rotatoria. Cylindrical, with a little organ 
 projecting from the neck, and a long tail furnished with 
 four points. 44. Vorticella furcata. Cylindrical, the 
 aperture undivided, the tail rather long, and divided 
 into two parts. 45. Vorticella catulus. Cylindrical, the 
 aperture plain, the tail short, bent back, and divided 
 into two points. 46. Vorticella canicula. Cylindrical, 
 the aperture plain, witli a short articulated tail divided 
 into two pointed parts. 47. Vorticella felis. Cylindri- 
 cal, beardless, with the tail terminating in two long 
 spines. 48. Vorticella stentorea. Long-tailed, trumpet- 
 shaped, the arms furnished with rows of short hairs. 
 
 49. Vorticella socialis. Bearded, thick, and wrinkled. 
 
 50. Vorticella Jlosculosa. An aggregated tail, oval-shaped, 
 with a dilated pellucid disc. 51. Vorticella citrina. 
 Simple, many-shaped, with an orifice admitting of 
 contraction, and an equally sized foot-stalk. 52. Vorti- 
 cella piriformis. Simple, oval, with a very short, retrac- 
 tile foot, which it can draw within itself. 53. Vorticella 
 tuberosa. Simple, the upper part broad, the under part 
 small, with two projections at the anterior end, fur- 
 nished with a number of fibrilla. 54. Vort-icella rin<;ens. 
 Simple, somewhat oval-shaped, with a small pedicle, 
 and an orifice which it contracts or dilates. 55. Vorti- 
 cella inclinans. Simple, bent, with a short pedicle, and 
 small retractile head. 56. Vorticella vayinata. Simple, 
 erect, shaped like a truncated egg, the pedicle con- 
 tained in a sheath. 57. Vorticella owbularia. Simple, 
 spherical, with a twisted pedicle. 58. Vorticella lunaris. 
 Simple, hemispherical, with a twisted pedicle. 59. 
 Vorticella convallaria. Described. 60. Vorticella nutans. 
 Simple, with a twisted turbinated pedicle. 61. Vorticella 
 ncbulifera. Simple, egg-shaped, the pedicle bent back. 
 62. Vorticella annukiris. Simple, truncated, with a 
 pedicle twisted at the end. 63. Vorticella acinosa. 
 Compound, with ciliated globous naked florets, and an 
 umbellated stem. 64. Vorticella fasciculata. Simple, 
 green, bell-shaped, the margin or edge turned back, the 
 pedicle twisted. 65. Vorticella hians. The head re- 
 sembling a citron, the apex truncated, the base narrow ; 
 a gaping cleft is observable descending from the apex 
 to one- third of the body. 66. Vorticella bellis. Simple, 
 hemispherical, with a margin, which it can contract at 
 pleasure. 67. Vorticella ffemella. Simple, spherical, 
 with a double heiid. 68. Vorticella pyraria. Com- 
 pound, with beardless oval florets, two double arms, 
 the stem branched. 69. Vorticella anastatica. Described. 
 70. Vorticella digitalis. Described. 1\ .Vorticella poly - 
 
 e'na. Compound, oval truncated, with a bending, 
 anching stalk. 72. Vorticella racemosa. Compound, 
 rigid pedicle, with small branched long feet. 73. Vor- 
 ticella cyathini. Described. 
 
 XVII. BRACHIONUS. A worm capable of 
 contracting, covered with a shell, and furnished 
 with rotatory cilia. 
 
 Plate 35, fig. 53. Brachionus passus. " A 
 carious little creature, with two long bristles 
 in front, like the antennae of an insect." 
 
 Plate 27, fig. 23. Brachionus Baheri The 
 
 general characteristics of this creature are as 
 follows: the shell ventricose, four teeth at 
 the apex, two horns at the base, and a long 
 tail terminating in two short points. From 
 each side of the shell there is a curved pro- 
 jection, inclining towards the tail. The 
 upper part of the shell has in general four 
 
 .longer spiculas, and two shorter ones. From 
 the head, two arms or branches are frequently 
 extended ; the circular end of each is furnished 
 with a tuft of little hairs, which sometimes 
 move in a vibratory manner, at other times 
 have a rotatory motion. The eggs are either 
 affixed to the tail, or the curved part of the 
 shell ; they have from one to five hanging 
 from them. 
 
 BRACHIONUS SPECIES. 
 
 I. Brachionus striatus. Univalve, the shell oval and 
 striated, six notches or teeth round the upper edge, 
 the base whole or even, without a tail. 2. Brachionus 
 squamula. Univalve, shell orbicular, the apex, trun- 
 cated, and having four teeth, the base smooth, no tail. 
 3. Brachionus pala. Univalve, with an oblong exca- 
 vated shell, four long teeth at the apex, the base 
 smooth, no tail, the colour yellow. 4. Brachionus bipa- 
 lium. Univalve, the shell oblong and inflected, ten 
 teeth at the apex, the base smooth, and a spurious tail. 
 5. Brachionus patina. Univalve, shell orbicular, the 
 edges regular, and having a long beardless tail. 6. 
 Brachionus clypcatus. Univalve, the shell oblong, the 
 apex notched, the base smooth, and the tail naked. 
 7. Brachionus lamellaris. Univalve, the shell extending 
 considerably beyond the body ; the base divided into 
 three small horns, with two hairs at the end of the 
 tail. 8. Brachionus patella. Univalve oval shell, two 
 teeth at the apex, the base notched, two bristles at 
 the tail. 9. Brachionus bractea. Univalve, shell rather 
 orbicular, lunated apex, smooth base, and the tail fur- 
 nished with two spines. 10. Brachionus plicatilis. Uni- 
 valve, with an oblong shell, the apex hairy, and the 
 base notched. 11. Brachionus oralis. Bivalve, with a 
 flattened shell, the apex notched, a hollow part at the 
 base, the tail formed of two tufts of hairs. 12. Brach- 
 ionus tripos. Bivalve, the apex of the shell beardless, 
 three horns at the base, and double tail. 13. Brachionus 
 dentatus. Bivalve, with an arched shell, the apex and 
 the base are both toothed, and the tail formed of two 
 spines. 14. Brachionus mucronatus. Bivalve, something 
 of a square form ; the apex and base pointed ; the tail 
 consisting of two spines. 15. Brachionus uncinatus. 
 Bivalve, with an oval shell, the apex even, the base 
 pointed, two thick bristles for the tail. 1 6. Brachionus 
 cirratus. Ventricose, somewhat pellucid, the head 
 conical, with a bundle of hairs on both sides ; it has 
 also a rotatory organ. 17. Brachionus paswts. De- 
 scribed. 18. Brachionus quadratus. Capsular, in a quad- 
 rangular shell, with two small teeth at the apex, two 
 horns proceeding from the base, and no tail. 19. Brach- 
 ionus impressus. Capsular, the shell quadrangular, a 
 smooth undivided apex, obtuse base, notched margin, 
 and a flexuous tail. 20. Brachionus urceolaris. Single, 
 with a short tail, and toothed mouth. 21. Brachionus 
 Bakeri. Described. 22. Brachionus patulus. Capsular, 
 shell ventricose, eight teeth at the apex, the base lun- 
 ated or hollowed into the form of a crescent, and fur- 
 nished with four horns ; the tail short, with two small 
 points at the end. 
 
 In closing this brief account of the Infus- 
 oria, we would again call the attention of 
 microscopists to the propriety of merging ap- 
 parently special differences into one individual, 
 by attentively noting the successive changes 
 which each creature undergoes. From our 
 own observation we are convinced that noth- 
 ing more is required than a good instrument, 
 extensive leisure, and considerable patience, 
 to enable the philosophical inquirer to simplify 
 the Infusorial arrangement : that this is a 
 desirable object for attainment none will deny, 
 except those who are so enamoured of system- 
 atic complexity, that they delight in nothing 
 
638 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 so much as in stringing together hard names,, 
 and in weaving learned labyrinths which shall 
 be " caviare to the general." 
 
 In our first chapter we remarked that 
 molecular activity closely resembles the vital- 
 ity of the infusorial monads, and stated our 
 intention of returning to the subject. We 
 shall in this place offer only a few incidental 
 observations. So far as the mere activity is 
 concerned, the movements of the monads and 
 molecules are apparently identical ; there 
 may, notwithstanding, on a careful examination, 
 be discovered an evident voluntary action on 
 the part of the monads, which cannot be de- 
 tected in the molecules ; these latter obviously 
 act upon each other, the former act independ- 
 ently of each other. All supposed identity 
 between molecular and monadic motion, is, 
 however, we conceive, entirely overthrown by 
 the recent discovery of the polygastric struc- 
 ture of infusoria. The monads, it is ascertained, 
 have polygastric sacs similar in principle to 
 those of the larger animalcules, regarding 
 whose animal vitality there can be no ques- 
 tion ; consequently we have a right to infer, 
 from analogy, that the monads, though placed 
 at the extreme limit on the descending scale 
 of animality, are not mere active atoms, but 
 really organized animal bodies ; and indeed 
 it is tolerably well ascertained that these 
 monads pass into other forms and are ulti- 
 mately developed in the larger and less 
 equivocal animalcular existences. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 SPERMATIC ANIMALCULES. 
 
 TOWARDS the close of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury the existence of seminal animalcules was 
 discovered and made known to the world by 
 Leeuwenhoeck and Hartsoeker, each of whom 
 claimed the honour of being the first observer. 
 The former micrographer, if he did not orig- 
 inate the discovery, at least explained and 
 illustrated it to a much greater extent than 
 his contemporary ; and he has consequently 
 been considered as the leading authority on 
 the subject. The hypotheses and contro- 
 versies which arose out of the inquiries regard- 
 ing spermatic animals, are interesting to the 
 natural historian ; and though, in a popular 
 work, the subject must be approached with 
 caution, it is still desirable that some general 
 information should be given concerning these 
 vital germs, whose existence is undeniable, 
 though their relation to the mature animal 
 has not even yet been ascertained. 
 
 Before the discovery of animalcules in the 
 semen mascitlinum, the egg system, as it was 
 termed, obtained universal consent. It was 
 
 asserted that the female ovaria contained eggs, 
 waiting only till a principle of life was com- 
 municated to them by the other sex, when 
 the previously formed foetus would burst 
 through these receptacles and claim their 
 birth. When the existence of spermatic ani- 
 mals was announced, a system entirely oppo- 
 site in principle was earnestly contended for 
 by many of the leading philosophers of the 
 day. The new hypothesis considered the 
 seminal animal to be identical with the 
 mature foetus, and that it needed only for its 
 perfect developement, a suitable nidus, which 
 was provided in the uterus of the female. 
 The advocates of each system contended 
 strenuously for its support ; but the data in 
 either case were insufficient to decide the pro- 
 blem of generation, and both parties continued 
 to argue hypothetically, advancing with every 
 fresh argument still nearer to the climax of 
 absurdity. At the present day we have no 
 certain knowledge concerning the mysterious 
 process by which the succession of animated 
 creatures is secured, and the intent of the 
 spermatic animals is still matter of perplexity. 
 These vital germs do, however, exist in the 
 seminal fluids of all animals, from the largest 
 to the least ; and it is to their mere existence 
 that our further remarks will principally be 
 directed. 
 
 Mr Leeuwenhoeck observed in the semen 
 of the human species, not less than ten thou- 
 sand living creatures, contained in a portion 
 of the fluid equal in surface to a grain of sand. 
 " Their size was smaller than the red globules 
 of the blood, and even less than the millionth 
 part of a grain of sand. Their bodies were 
 roundish, somewhat flat before, but ending 
 sharp behind, with tails exceedingly trans- 
 parent, five or six times longer, and about 
 five times more slender than their bodies. 
 They moved themselves along by the violent 
 agitation of their tails, in various bendings, 
 after the manner that eels and serpents swim : 
 and sometimes their tails were moved thus 
 eight or ten times in getting forwards the 
 diameter of a hair." Their shape may be 
 more popularly described as being very nearly 
 that of the tadpole. The seminal animalcules 
 of all living creatures, that have been ex- 
 amined, bear strong resemblance to each 
 other ; the size likewise does not vary accord- 
 ing to the disproportion of bulk in different 
 animals, and hence they are readily discovered 
 in the semen of birds, fishes, and insects. 
 
 " Upon viewing the milt, or semen mascul- 
 inum, of a living cod-fish, such numbers of 
 animalcules were found therein, that at least 
 ten thousand of them were supposed to exist 
 in the quantity of a grain of sand. Whence 
 Mr Leeuwenhoeck argues that the milt of 
 that single cod-fish contained more living 
 
ON MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 639 
 
 animalcules than there are people alive upon ! 
 the face of the whole earth at one and the 
 same time. To find the comparative size of 
 these creatures, he placed a hair of his head 
 near them, which hair through his micro- 
 scope appeared an inch in breadth ; and he 
 was satisfied 'that at least sixty such animal- 
 cules could lie within that diameter, whence, 
 their bodies being spherical, it must follow, 
 that two hundred and sixteen thousand of 
 them are but equal to a globe whose diameter 
 is no more than the breadth of such hair." 
 
 Mr Leeuwenhoeck assures us that he found 
 a fluid in male spiders, which was undoubt- 
 edly their semen, and he therein discovered 
 prodigious multitudes of animalcules so ex- 
 tremely minute, that many millions of them 
 would not equal the size of a grain of millet. 
 " He found them likewise in the semen of the 
 dormouse, in oysters, in silk-worms, in the 
 labella minima, or small dragon fly, in the 
 common fly, in the flea, in gnats, and in 
 several other insects." It has been objected 
 to these discoveries, that no organs have been 
 detected in insects for the secretion of a 
 seminal fluid, and that Leeuwenhoeck must 
 consequently have suffered his enthusiasm to 
 deceive him into a belief that he saw what 
 had no existence. Whether, however, secre- 
 tory organs may be detected or not, no curious 
 inquirer need remain in doubt as to the fact 
 of animalcules existing in insect bodies ; and 
 from the circumstances under which they are 
 obtained, and their striking similarity, both 
 in figure and activity, to the seminal animals 
 of larger creatures, the inference is fairly 
 drawn from analogy that their character and 
 uses are the same. 
 
 Buflbn asserts that what have been called 
 spermatic animals are not creatures really 
 possessing life, but something proper to com- 
 pose a living creature, distinguishing them 
 by the name of organic particles, and that the 
 moving bodies which are to be found in the 
 infusions either of animal or vegetable sub- 
 stance, are of the same nature. But to this 
 we may add, that all those who have examined 
 the subject with accuracy and attention, con- 
 cur in the belief that Buffon, and others who 
 adopted his views, had deceived themselves 
 by inaccurate experiments, and that Buffon 
 himself had not even seen the spermatic ani- 
 mals he supposed himself to be describing. 
 We do not altogether adopt this opinion : we 
 are inclined to think that Buffon had occa- 
 sionally seen the seminal animalcules, but it 
 was through the medium of glasses ill-adapted 
 for their development, that is to say, he observed 
 them under the confused powers of a com- 
 pound microscope of the old construction, the 
 most unsuitable instrument that could possibly 
 be employed in such researches. It is very 
 
 evident that he saw nothing distinctly and 
 satisfactorily, or he would not have confounded 
 the spermatic animals with the gelatine 
 masses that are occasionally found in the 
 semen. He says, " We do not always see, 
 in the human semen, the filaments (tails) I 
 have mentioned : for this purpose, the liquor 
 must be examined the moment it is extracted 
 from the body ; and even then they do not 
 uniformly appear. When the liquor is too 
 thick, it presents nothing but large globules, 
 which may be distinguished with a common 
 lens. When examined with the microscope 
 they have the appearance of small oranges ; 
 they are very opaque and one of them oc- 
 cupies the whole field of the microscope." 
 He proceeds to say that after examining these 
 globules, he diluted the semen and found no- 
 thing like life or motion therein. The sum 
 of all this is, that the semen here alluded to 
 was either unhealthy and contained no ani- 
 malcules, or had been so long removed from 
 the body, that the vital germs had ceased to 
 exist, in which case they would blend with 
 the liquor and be indistinguishable ; for it is 
 a fact familiar to every observer of these 
 creatures, that when their existence is draw- 
 ing to a close they collect together in large 
 groups, and when dead form nearly a homo- 
 geneous mass. 
 
 There is a strange degree of confusion 
 throughout Buffon 's experiments and observa- 
 tions on the spermatic animals, which can 
 only be accounted for by assuming that his 
 optical resources were inadequate, and that 
 whilst he saw nothing with sufficient distinct- 
 ness to furnish data for an accurate judgment, 
 he was willing to bend all the phenomena he 
 saw to the purpose of a preconceived and 
 favourite theory. For instance, he speaks of 
 the animalcules as being attached by their 
 tails to some foreign substance, as evidently 
 striving to rid themselves of the tails, and as 
 actually accomplishing this arid becoming in 
 consequence more active and lively. The 
 absurdity of these assertions is strikingly 
 shown by observation with the improved mi- 
 croscopic powers of the present day. These 
 animals are now readily seen in all their ex- 
 tent, and in all their movements ; the tail is 
 not, as Buffon says, a mere filament, but an 
 absolute elongation of the body, gradually 
 tapering and terminating in the finest point 
 imaginable ; and the animals evidently could 
 not, if so disposed, free themselves from this 
 appendage. Their motions are, as already 
 noticed, precisely that of an eel or a serpent 
 in water ; and if at any time they appear to 
 lose their tails, it is when their motions arc 
 about to cease, when they are dying, at which 
 time they not (infrequently coil themselves 
 into a circular mass. 
 
640 
 
 SUPPLEMENT, &c. 
 
 Mr Needham, who was contemporary with 
 Butfon, endeavoured to prove that all seminal 
 animalcules, so called, in place of being really 
 animated beings, are only prodigiously small 
 machines. He will be best understood in his 
 own words, when describing the milt of the 
 Calmar, a species of cuttle-fish, whose seminal 
 animals resemble spiral springs inclosed in 
 a transparent case. " When the small ma- 
 chines," he says," have come to maturity, se- 
 veral of them act as soon as they are exposed 
 to the air. Most of them, however, may be 
 commodiously viewed by the microscope be- 
 fore their action commences ; and even before 
 they act, it is necessary to moisten with a drop 
 of water the superior extremity of the exter- 
 nal case, which then begins to expand, while 
 the two slender ligaments that issue out of the 
 case are twisted and contorted in different 
 ways. At the same time, the screw rises 
 slowly, and the spirals at its superior end ap- 
 proach each other, and act against the top of 
 the case, those which are lower seeming to be 
 continually followed by others that issue from 
 the piston ; I say, that they seem to follow ; be- 
 cause I believe it to be only a deception produced 
 by the motion of the screw." We need not 
 pursue his remarks further, as they would be 
 unintelligible without a diagram. We may, 
 however, add Buffon's remark upon his theory. 
 
 Mr Needham concludes that it is natural to 
 imagine that the total action of this machine 
 is occasioned by the spring of the screw. But 
 unfortunately, he proves by several experi- 
 ments, that the screw is acted upon by a power 
 residing in the spongy part : as soon as the screw 
 is separated from the rest of the machine, it 
 ceases to act, and loses all motion." What 
 then is the sum of Mr Needham's hypothesis ? 
 Simply this : that spermatic animals, like all 
 other living creatures, considered apart from 
 the vital principle, are machines ; but that 
 these machines have within them a motive and 
 active force; or in other words, they are endued 
 with vitality, by which they move and act in- 
 dependently of any external agent. The ques- 
 tion of vitality, is not perilled by the statement 
 that " even before they act, it is necessary to 
 moisten the upper extremity." Sustenance is 
 necessary to all animals ; the organs cannot 
 act without a material on which to act, and 
 the inactivity of the organs is death or a sus- 
 pension of vitality. The fact of apparent death, 
 and repeated revivescence, at the pleasure of 
 the experimentalist, is strikingly witnessed in 
 the case of some Infusoria, that die when 
 the moisture in which they exist evaporates, 
 and revive again so soon as new fluid is ap- 
 plied to them. This phenomenon, it will also 
 
 be remembered, is observable in a class of ani- 
 malcules exhibiting a peristaltic action , and con- 
 sequently identified with animal existences. 
 
 Buffon, as an additional argument against 
 the actual vitality of seminal and other ani- 
 malcules, instances the fact of minute active 
 particles being found in various substances 
 and under circumstances that totally preclude 
 a living principle. These are nothing more 
 than what in the present day are designated 
 the active molecules of matter, those simple 
 inorganized particles of every description of 
 bodies which exhibit a singular and uniform 
 activity, arising, as we have previously sup- 
 posed, from their mutual action upon each 
 other. And though when the seminal animals 
 are crowded together, their motions appear to 
 be almost the same with those of the molecules, 
 we no sooner thin the multitudes of the former, 
 and spread them over a larger space, than we 
 distinctly perceive that their motions are inde- 
 pendent of external causes, and are directed 
 by a principle of volition resident in the indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 Having stated and replied to the principal 
 objections that have been urged against the 
 vitality of seminal animals, we shall briefly 
 advert to the wild speculations which arose out 
 of their discovery. Leeuwenhoeck and many 
 others strenuously contended that these ani- 
 malcules were really miniatures of human 
 kind ; " but what is still more amazing, Da- 
 lenpatius saw one of these animals break 
 through its coat or covering : it was then no 
 more an animalcule, but a real human body, 
 in which he easily distinguished the two arms 
 and legs, the breast and the head." ! The 
 doctrine of evolution, as it is termed, seemed to 
 be established by the discovery of the sperma- 
 tic animalcules : " according to it, all animals 
 have existed from the first creation as perfect, 
 preformed germs, within their ancestors, the 
 succeeding generations being lodged in the 
 preceding ones like nests of boxes, and pro- 
 gressively developed." There is a point where 
 human reasoning must pause : in the present 
 case, we must be content to know that the proli- 
 fic animal fluid contains myriads of living crea- 
 tures whose purpose in the generative economy 
 still remains unknown. What new discoveries 
 may be made concerning them with the vastly 
 improved instruments now in use, it is impos- 
 sible to say ; we may however, venture an 
 opinion that philosophic inquiry cannot be 
 better employed than in eliciting by all the 
 legitimate means which art and science 
 progressively supply, more and more of the 
 mysteries and wonders connected with the 
 continual succession of animated beings. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 * The Italic letter directs to the note in the page to which it is affixed The Roman numerals, of coure, 
 refer to the volumes of the work. 
 
 Abdominal-fish, characterised by the position of the ven- 
 tral fins, ii. 294; the prickly finned, 299; the soft 
 finned, 301307. 
 
 Abstinence, benefits of occasional,!. 186; Queen Eliza- 
 beth's commands concerning, ib. ; how defeated, ib. ; 
 of the primitive Christians, ib. ; instances of absti- 
 nence, ib. n. 
 
 Acanthopterigii, or prickly finned fish, ii. 294; the varie- 
 ties specified and described, ii. 299. 
 
 AcJiilles the second, a Roman tribune, his strength, i. 180. 
 
 Acorn, shell- fish, account of the, ii. 374. 
 
 Adder, account of the common viper or adder, ii. 418, 
 419, n.] treatment for its bite, 420, . 
 
 Adjutant, or gigantic crane, account of the, ii. 172, n. 
 
 JE<mqus, a species of ibex, i. 303, n. 
 
 JElian, his relations of the docility of the elephant, i. 
 519. 
 
 JEolip&e, an instrument for producing wind, described, 
 i. 116. 
 
 jEtna, in Sicily, a volcano, i. 41 ; eruption of, in 1537, 
 41 ; latest eruption of, ib. n.; description of, ib. 
 
 Africans. See Negroes. 
 
 Age, the effects of, on the human body, i. 204 ; on the 
 bones, ib. ; on the cartilages, ib. ; instances of great 
 age in man, 206 ; of fishes, how determined, ii. 247. 
 
 Agouti, distinguished from the rabbit in form, i. 444; 
 'its voracity, ib.; burrows in trees, ib.; habitudes, ib.; 
 flesh, 445; how hunted, ib.; its cry, ib. ; parturi- 
 tion, ib. 
 
 Ai, a species of sloth, i. 5.57. 
 
 Air, i. 1 04, its elasticity and weight, 1 04, 1 05, and n. ; ex- 
 pansion, 107; instruments to'measure its weight, 106 
 108, n. \ analysis of atmospheric air, 109, n.; how 
 changed from the elementary body, 108, 109, and 112; 
 its corroding qualities, 109; necessary for vegetation 
 and life, 110; that extracted from plants, &c., fatal 
 to life, 110, 111; effects of, on man, ib. ; the unwhole- 
 someness of hot, 112; of cold, ib. ; blessings of, 115; 
 supports fire, ib.; conveys sounds, 116; odours, ib. ; 
 taste, ib.; instruments to ascertain the quantity of 
 moisture in air, 1 1 3, n. ; necessary to the life of fishes, 
 ii. 24b'; how breathed by them, ib. 
 
 Air bladder of fishes, account of the, ii. 246, 247. 
 
 Air pump, account of the, i. 108. 
 
 Albatross, described by Edwards, ii. 204; by Wieque- 
 fort, 205; characteristics of the albatross tribe, 204, 
 n.; its climate, ib.; said to sleep in the air, ib. ; vora- 
 city and activity, 206; affection for the penguin, ib.; 
 nests of the, on the Falkland Isles, ib. ; removed, why, 
 ib.; account of, in the West Indies, ib. .; the choco- 
 late, ib., n. \ the yellow-nosed, ib. 
 
 Albouras, volcano of, i. 44. 
 
 Alcatrass, name given by Wicquefort to the albatross, 
 ii. 205. 
 
 Aldrovandus, the natural historian, his credulity, libe- 
 rality, and misfortunes, ii. 227. 
 
 A (gee, microscopic examination' of, ii. GOO. 
 
 Afgazel, a kind of gazelle, i. 309. 
 
 Atliyator, the, distinguished from the crocodile, ii. 392, 
 n., and 395; pike-headed alligator, 393, n.; alligators 
 of the Ganges, ib. ; sports with the, 394, n. 
 A loc, transverse section of, ii. 602. 
 
 Alps, description of a person ascending the, i. 60; rocks 
 full from them, 63; clefts in them, ib. 
 
 Ambergris, a perfume obtained from the cachalot, ii. 264. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 Ambrose, St , his credulity with respect to the halcyon, 
 
 America, South, "VVaterton's description of the birds of, 
 ii. 165167, n. 
 
 Americans, their pains in dressing their hair, i. 173; na- 
 tive, described, 21 3; its animals compared with those 
 of the other hemisphere, 242. 
 
 Amia, a fish, noticed, ii. 306. 
 
 Ammodytes, a soft-finned fish, ii. 299. 
 
 a reptile resembling the common viper, ii. 
 
 421,n. 
 
 Amour, a river of Tartary, i. 77. 
 
 Amphibious quadrupeds, their characteristics, i. 474. 
 
 Amphisbeena, or double-headed serpent, ii. 428, and .; 
 its remarkable motions, ib. 
 
 Anaconda, a large snake so called, ii. 429, . 
 
 Anarchicas, the wolf-fish, ii. 299. 
 
 Anatomy of the human body, i. 181, n. 
 
 Andes, volcanoes in the, i. 45; Ulloa's description of the, 
 L 6062. 
 
 Anemometers, instruments to measure the velocity of 
 the wind, i. 124; their imperfections, 125. 
 
 Angler, or fishing-frog, described, ii. 288, n. 
 
 Angora, goat of, described, i. 299, n., and 302. 
 
 Anhima, a kind of crane found in Brazil, described, ii. 
 180. 
 
 Animalcules, infusorial, ii. 623, et sea. ; have now become 
 legitimate subjects of natural history, 623; their in- 
 conceivable minuteness, ib. ; the term infusorial ex- 
 plained, ib. ; hypothesis accounting for the presence 
 of animalcules in infusions, ib.; Pritchard's summary 
 of their characteristics and economy, 623 625; term 
 animalcule defined, 623; discovery of internal struc- 
 ture of infusoria, 628; Ehrenberg's arrangement of 
 them, 624; the cilia, their motions and uses, ib.; the 
 setse,ib.; the styli,ib.; variable processes, ib. ; Baron 
 Gleichen's experiments with animalcules, ib.; pre- 
 paring infusions for production of animalcules, ib.; 
 variety of shape and figure observable in infusoria, 
 625 ; modes of generation or production, ib. ; remark- 
 able discoveries by Ehrenberg, ib. ; rapid motions of 
 infusoria, ib. ; ability to support extremes of heat and 
 cold, ib.; Miiller's scientific arrangement, 626; mon- 
 ads, ib. ; the drop monad, ib. ; monad species, ib., 627; 
 proteus genus, 627 ; the melting proteus, ib. ; pro- 
 teus species, ib. ; volvox genus, ib. ; vegetable volvox, 
 ib.; volvox globator, ib.; volvox species, 628; en- 
 chelis genus, ib. ; egg-shaped enchelis, ib. ; enchelis 
 punctifera, ib. ; enchelis retrograda, ib. ; enchelis 
 species, ib. ; vibrio genus, 629 ; its divisions, ib. ; pax- 
 illifer vibrio, ib.; vibrio lunula, ib. ; wheat vibrio, ib., 
 630; remarkable tenacity of life in vibrio, 630; vibrio 
 species,ib. ; cyclidium genus, ib. ; azure cyclidium, ib. ; 
 cyclidium species, ib. ; paramoecium genus, 631; pa- 
 ramcecium chrysalis, ib. ; paramcecium species, ib. ; 
 kolpoda genus, ib. ; cuckoo kolpoda, ib. ; kolpoda 
 species, ib. ; gonium genus, ib. ; breast-plate gonium, 
 ib.; gonium species, ib.; bursaria genus, 632; little 
 swallow-like bursaria, ib. ; bursaria species, ib. ; cer- 
 caria genus, ib. ; green cercaria, ib. ; cercaria inquieta, 
 ib. ; cercaria species, ib.; leucophra genus, ib. ; brace- 
 let leucophra, ib. ; leucophra cornuta, ib. ; leucophra 
 species, ib. ; trichoda genus, 633; trichoda vulgaris, 
 ib.; trichoda sol, ib. ; trichoda cometa, ib.; trichoda 
 bomba, ib. ; trichoda species, ib. ; kerona genus, 
 
 4 M 
 
042 
 
 NDEX. 
 
 634; keromi pullasta, ib. ; kcrona species, ib. ; hi- 
 inantopus genus, ib.; himantopus larva, ib.; himan- 
 topus species, ib.; vorticella genus, ib. ; vorticella cy- 
 atliini, 635; vorticella anastatica, ib. ; vorticella di- 
 gitalis, ib.; vorticella convallaria, G36; vorticella spe- 
 cies, ib. ; brachionus genus, 637 ; brachionus passus, 
 ib.; bracliionus Bakeri, ib.; brachionus species, ib.; 
 concluding remarks, ib., 638. See, also, Spermatic 
 Animalcules. 
 
 Animal Kingdom, discoveries therein by the microscope, 
 ii. 602 623 ; bony structures, 602; muscles, ib.; 
 horns, hoofs, nails, ib.; hedge-hog's quill, ib.; hairs, 
 general description of, ib., 603 ; hair of dcrmestes, 
 603; of a mouse, ib.; of a bat, ib.; of a bee, ib.; of a 
 dormouse, ib.; of a mole, ib.; of a caterpillar, ib. ; 
 feathers, general description of, ib.; filament of fea- 
 ther down, 604; bird-catching spider, hair of, ib.; 
 humming bird, feathers of, ib.; singular formations 
 connected with them, ib.; scales and perspiratory 
 pores of the human skin, ib.; remarks thereon with 
 reference to the preservation of health, 605; method 
 of viewing the pores by the microscope, ib.; scales of 
 fishes, ib.; of an eel, ib.; of a carp, ib.; hypothesis 
 concerning these scales, and objections thereto, ib.; 
 crystalline lenses of animals, ib. ; Pritchard's remarks 
 thereon, and Brewster's observations of the same, ib., 
 606; objections to Brewster's statements, 606; the 
 blood and its circulation, ib; Pritchard's observations 
 thereon, ib.; objects suited to exhibit the circulation 
 of the blood, 607; peculiar motion of the globules of 
 the blood, ib.; globules and discs in the serum of the 
 blood, ib. ; insects, their structure and transforma- 
 tion, ib.; eggs of insects, ib.; how and where depo- 
 sited, ib.; eggs of the rhein-deer gad-fly, ib.; of the 
 gnat, ib. ; M. Lyonet's observations on the fecundity 
 of a moth, ib.; larva, or caterpillar state of insects, 
 608; of the musca chamelion, ib. ; extended descrip- 
 tion of, ib. ; larva of a British hydrophilus, 6U9; 
 Pritchard's description of same, 609 611; ichneu- 
 mon fly deposits its eggs in the body of caterpillars, 
 611; capada worm, its sufferings from the attacks of 
 the ichneumon fly, ib.; larva of ichneumon fly, 612; 
 pupa state of insects, ib.; exuviae, or cast-skins of in- 
 sects, 613; singular instance of insect moultings, ib.; 
 imago, or fly state of insects, ib. ; the butterfly dis- 
 covered by the microscope to be a beautiful emblem 
 of immortality, ib.; members of insects, ib. ; antennae 
 and palpi, ib.; their number and use,ib.; antennas of 
 bombyx antiqua, 614; of bombyx caja, ib.; feelers, 
 ib. ; eyes of insects, ib. ; their varieties and numbers, 
 ib.; stemmata, or single eyes, ib.; reticulated eyes, 
 ib.; particular description of, ib. ; eyes of the dragon- 
 fly, ib., 615; other varieties, 6 15; tongue or proboscis 
 of insects, ib.; of the papilio urticae, ib.; tongue, or 
 trunk of the common house-fly, ib.; Baker's descrip- 
 tion, ib.; trunk of the honey-bee, 616; legs and feet 
 of insects, ib.; various kinds, ib.; leg and foot of 
 dytiscus, ib. ; legs of a bee, ib.; wings and wing 
 cases of insects, ib. ; elytra, ib. ; the poisers, 617; wing 
 case of diamond beetle, ib. ; wing of a gnat, ib. ; of an 
 ichneumon fly, ib.; of an earwig, ib.; membrane of a 
 butterfly's wing, ib. ; dust which covers it, ib. ; scales 
 or feathers on the wings of butterflies, ib., 618; Gor- 
 ing's observations thereon, 618 ; characteristics of 
 these objects, ib.; scale of red under- wing butterfly, 
 ib. ; of the brassica butterfly, ib. ; of the podura, ib. ; 
 microscopic tests, ib. ; scales of the lepisma, ib., 619; 
 observations regarding the singular markings on these 
 objects, 619; Brewster's theory, ib.; scale of mene- 
 laus butterfly, ib. ; of the azure-blue butterfly, ib. ; 
 of the diamond beetle, ib. ; of a moth, ib. ; disposition 
 of the scales on the wing, ib.; stings of insects, 620; 
 poison bag, ib. ; microscopical insects, ib. ; monoculus, 
 or water-flea, ib.; its eye, ib.; Pritchard's remarks 
 on this object, 621; four-horned monoculus, ib. ; le- 
 pisma, ib. ; the lobster insects, and Adam's descrip- 
 tion thereof, ib., 622; singular peculiarity in the one 
 described, 622 ; Seba's assertion regarding insects of 
 this class, ib. Sec, also, Animalcules. 
 Animal remains, i. 19. See Fossils. 
 Animals distinguished from vegetables, i. 1 46 ; how they 
 blend together, ib. ; resemblance of animals and ve- 
 getables in affection, ib.; in the climates in which 
 they luxuriate, 1 47 ; comparative number of animals 
 and plants, ib., n.; in the ocean, 148; how few useful 
 
 to man, 149; consume one another, ib. ; the small 
 numerous, the large ferocious, ib. ; different genera- 
 tive powers of animals and plants, 1 50, n. ; their gene- 
 ration, 151; distinguished thereby, 152; some multi- 
 plied by cutting, ib. (see Generation) ; their compara- 
 tive perfection, 160; great variety of, 229; use of sys- 
 tematic divisions of, 230; defects of, ib., 231 ; systems 
 of different authors, 231, 232; the classification used 
 in this work, 233 236; the wild and domestic, 240; 
 affected by food, climate, &c., 241 ; size of, in different 
 continents, 242. 
 
 Ant, ancient fame of the, ii. 535; modern doubts, ib.; 
 varieties of appearance, ib. ; the body of the, de- 
 scribed, 536; display of forces, 539; divisions in re- 
 spect of sex, ib. ; male and female, ib. ; the working 
 class, ib. ; their hills, ib.; objects of labour, ib.; con- 
 tests with one another, ib.; female and eggs, ib.; 
 maggot state, 540 ; care of the female, ib. ; loss of 
 wings, ib. ; preparations of the workers for winter, 
 ib.; size of the hills in tropical countries, ib.; the 
 African species, 541; migrations, ib.; the wood-ant 
 or pismire described, 535, n. ; carpenter ants, 536, n. ; 
 sugar ants, 537, n.; white ants, or termites, ib.; sin- 
 gular structure of their nests, ib., 538, n. 
 
 Ant-bear, one of the animals that live on ants, i. 555, and 
 n.', varieties, ib.; described, ib. ; its snout, 556; mouth, 
 ib.; tongue, ib. ; helplessness, ib. ; residence, ib.; 
 food, ib.; method of taking ants, ib.; manner of de- 
 fence, ib. 
 
 Antelope, animals of that kind, i. 304; the class scienti- 
 fically described, ib., and n. ; the antelope described, 
 309; the Indian, ib. n.; striped antelope, 310, .; 
 pigmy, 311, and .; African antelopes, ib., . 
 
 Antenna and palpi of insects, ii. 613. 
 
 Antioch, earthquakes there, i. 49. 
 
 Antiparos, grotto of Magnis, account of a visit to, i. 33 
 
 Antlers of the elk, described, i. 335; of the rein-deer, 
 ib.; of the stag, 319, 320; technical names of the, 
 324. 
 
 Ant-Lion. See Lion-Ant. 
 
 Ape, the, i. 497 ; the long-armed, or gibbon, ib. ; de- 
 scribed, ib., 498, and n.\ Barbavy ape, 498, n. 
 
 Aperea, or Brazilian rabbit, i. 426. 
 
 Aphides, or plant lice, ii. 460, . 
 
 Apicius, his method of dressing a hare, i, 433. 
 
 Apodal finh, what, ii. 294; prickly-finned, ib.; soft-fin- 
 ned, 299. 
 
 Arabia, the wild horse of, i. 246; estimation and treat- 
 ment of the horse there, 247, 248; its breed of horses 
 introduced into England, 258. 
 
 Aratoo, the goliath aratoo parrot, ii. 1 1 9, n. 
 
 Archimedes, his method of determining the purity of 
 gold, i. 72. 
 
 Arequipa, a burning mountain in Peru, i. 45. 
 
 Argali, a wild mountain sheep, described, i. 297, .; 
 Asiatic argali, ib. ; American argali, ib. ; bearded ar- 
 gali, ib. 
 
 Argentine, the fish described, ii. 302. 
 
 Argonaut, a small shell-fish, ii. 364, and n. 
 
 Aristoplianes, his advice about lions, i. 369. 
 
 Arlotta, a sleep walker, story of, i. 190. 
 
 Armadillo, or Tatou, an inhabitant of the new continent, 
 i. 468,469; its shell described, 469, 470; method of 
 rolling itself up for defence, 470; bears our climate, 
 
 snake, how, ib.; varieties of the, ib.; the pig-headed, 
 471; the weasel-headed, ib. 
 
 Arms, human, their shape, i. 175. 
 
 Arnee, a species of buffalo, described, i. 283, n. 
 
 Artedi, his classification of fishes, ii. 293. 
 
 Asiatics, the southern, described, i. 211, 212. 
 
 Asp, a venomous snake, ii. 423. 
 
 Asperea, by some called the Brazilian rabbit, described, 
 i. 446. 
 
 Aspic Viper, so called, ii. 424, n, 
 
 Ass, its similitude to the horse, i. 258; distinctness of 
 the species, 259 ; the wild ass, ib. ; hunting the wild 
 ass, ib., .; habits of the, 260, .; effect of internal 
 emotion on the, ib.; flesh of the wild ass eaten by the 
 Persians, ib, ; wild in America, how hunted, 26 1; 
 anecdote of the sagacity of the ass, ib., n. ; Sterne's 
 illustration of the patience of the, ib. ; patience of the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 tame, 262; habits of the, ib.; Lad treatment of the 
 ass general, ib.; highly esteemed in early times, ib., 
 263, n.', its strength and other qualifications, 263 ; 
 esteemed by the Spaniards, ib. ; once lost in England, 
 now common, ib. ; of different countries, ib. ; its 
 diseases, age, &c., ib. 
 
 Asterias, or star-fish tribe, described, ii. 561. 
 
 Astronomy, definition of, i. 1 ; comparative sizes of the 
 planets, ib., 2, and n. ; account of the different plane- 
 tary systems, the Ptolemaic, the Egyptian, the Ty- 
 chonic, the Copernican, and the Newtonian, ib., 3, n.; 
 description of the sun and planetary bodies, 5, 6, n. ; 
 of comets, 7, n.\ of fixed stars, ib., 8, n. 
 
 Atalantis, island of, disappeared, i. 66. 
 
 Athanatus, his strength, i. 1 80. 
 
 Athdstan, his attention to the improvement of the horse, 
 i. 255. 
 
 Athenians, cock-fighting among the, ii. 62; quail-fight- 
 ing, 85. 
 
 Atlierine, description of the fish, ii. 301. 
 
 Atmosphere. See Air. 
 
 Attitudes of the body express passion, i. 171, 172. 
 
 Attraction and Impulsion, influence of, i. 3 5; nature 
 and effects of the attraction of gravitation, ib. n. 
 
 -. how it produces the tides, i. 90. 
 
 Auk, characters of the class, i. 219; the great auk, ib.,. 
 
 Amelia or Chrysalis, state of ephemera, ii. 486; of the 
 caterpillar, 491; operations in that state described, 
 494, 495. 
 
 Aurora Borealis, phenomena of the, i. 136, n. 
 
 Aurora Monkey, i. 307, 308. 
 
 Avosetta, description of the, ii. 189, and n.: its extraor- 
 dinary bill, 190. 
 
 Axis Deer of eastern Asia, i. 327, n. 
 
 B 
 
 Baboon, relative position among animals, i. 499; the, de*- 
 scribed, ib. ; its facial angle, ib. and n. ; disposition in 
 the savage state, ib. ; account of the, at the Cape of 
 Good Hope, 500; tamed there, ib.; ferocity of one 
 described by Buffon, ib.; food, ib.; internal struc- 
 ture, ib. ; varieties, mandril, ib. ; wanderow, 501 ; 
 maimon, ib. ; dog-faced baboon, ib. n. 
 
 Baby, a dwarf, account of, i. 221, 222. 
 
 I3al>yrouessa, or Indian hog, why classed among the hog 
 kind, i. 351; the, described, ib.; its tusks, ib.; herd 
 together, ib.; dispositions, ib.; food,ib.; country, 352. 
 
 Back, shape of, in man, i. 1 76. 
 
 Bacon, his remarks on the age of fishes, ii. 247. 
 
 Badger, its appearance, i. 551, and n. ; habits, ib. ; habi- 
 tation, ib. ; carnivorous, ib. ; gestation, ib. ; the young 
 tameable, ib. ; instances of attachment of the, ib. n. ; 
 the spotted badger, 552, n. ; the American badger, 
 ib. 
 
 Bag of some animals. See Pouch. 
 
 Bahama Islands, poisonous quality of the fish caught 
 near one of the, ii. 324; by what caused, ib. 
 
 Bait for fish, what the best, ii. 275 ; what shell fish used 
 for, 352; white, account of it, 318. 
 
 Bala.nce, hydrostatical, i. 72. 
 
 Baldness, where it first takes place, i. 168. 
 
 Balearic Crane, ii. 178. See Crane. 
 
 Baltic Sea, its inundations, i. 99. 
 
 Bantam Cock and Hen, ii. 64, n. 
 
 Bardary Hen. See Hen. 
 
 Barbel, fish, account of the, ii. 320, n. 
 
 Barbs, or Barbary horses, i. 248; Italian sport with the, 
 ib., 249. 
 
 of certain flat fish, ii. 277. 
 
 Baris, a small tribe of the oran-outang, account of the, 
 i. 495. 
 
 Barnacle, distinguished from the wild goose, ii. 229. 
 
 Barometer, instrument to measure the weight of the 
 air, i. 107; ascertains the height of mountains, 108. 
 
 Barretiere, Philip, his long sleep, i. 189. 
 
 Basilisk, a species of lizard, account of the, ii. 403, n. 
 
 Bass, the resort of the solan goose, described, ii. 209. 
 
 Bastard wing of birds, what, ii. 2. 
 
 Bat kind, animals of the, where placed by different natu- 
 ralists, i. 471; most -resemble quadrupeds, ib.; the, 
 of England described, ib.; its appearance and habits, 
 ib.; a tame one seen by Mr White, could rise from 
 
 the ground, ib.; is torpid in winter, 472; its retreats, 
 ib. ; makes no nest for the young, ib. ; similitude to 
 birds, ib. ; that of our country harmless, varieties of 
 the, 473; the long- eared, horse-shoe, and rhinoceros 
 bats, ib.; that of the East and West Indies, ib.; for- 
 midable, ib. ; numerous, ib. ; the great, of Madagas- 
 car, ib. ; described, ib. ; voracity, ib. ; American vam- 
 pyre, ib. 
 
 Bear, varieties, i. 544, and n. ; the brown, where found, 
 ib. and ra. ; solitary animal, ib. ; its den, 545; sleeps 
 during the winter, ib. ; gestation, ib.; voice, ib.; ca- 
 pable of instruction, 546; not tameable when aged, 
 ib. ; hunted, ib. ; bear baiting, 545, n. ; black bear of 
 America, habits and manners of the, ib. n. ; bear 
 hunting in America, 546, n. ; description of the grizzly 
 bear, 547, n.; Bengal bear, 548, n, ; the white Green- 
 land, distinguished, ib. n., and 549; sagacity of the, 
 548, n.; its size in cold climates, ib.; how shot, ib.; 
 abundance, ib. ; haunts, 550. 
 
 Beard, customs of nations in the manner of wearing the, 
 i. 172, 173, and . 
 
 Beauty, female, when it is perfected,!. 166; tastes of 
 different nations in regard to, ib.; of the human 
 figure, 176. 
 
 Beaver, the remains of brutal society, i. 477, and n. ; its 
 disposition, 478, and n.; singularities in its form, ib., 
 480 ; their assembling, ib. ; formation of a dike, ib. ; 
 their apartments described, ib., 481 ; provisions, ib. ; 
 how caught, ib. 
 
 Bee, Reaumur's diligent researches into the history of 
 the, ii. 513; the three kinds in every hive, ib. ; the 
 labouring, ib. ; the drone, ib. ; the queen bee, ib. ; 
 structure of the bee, 514; teeth, ib.; how it collects 
 wax, 516; Hunter and Huber's experiments, ib., .; 
 the belly described, ib.; honey-bag, 517; sting, ib.; 
 community of the, ib.; four companies in construct- 
 ing cells, ib.; form of the cells, ib. ; passages, ib.; 
 uses of the cells, ib. ; manner of constructing the 
 combs, ib.; honey cells, 518; food,ib.; stomachs, ib. ; 
 bee bread, ib. ; honey, whence extracted, ib. ; eggs, 
 519; the bee's care of the worm, 520; labours of the 
 worm, ib.; transformations, ib.; the young bees, 521 ; 
 swarming, 522; settling, ib.; labours, ib.; slaughter 
 of the drones, 523; number of swarms, ib. ; rearing of 
 bees, ib. ; floating bee-houses in France, ib. ; their 
 wax, 524, and n. ; arts in using the propolis, ib. ; 
 honey, 525; the bee of Gaudaloupe, ib.; the humble, 
 ib., and n.; the wood, 526; the ground, ib.; the leaf- 
 cutting, 527; the wall, ib.; inmates of a hive, 513,.; 
 functions of the queen, ib. ; functions of the worker 
 bee, ib.; functions of the drone, 514, n. ; on the con- 
 version of the larva of a worker into a queen, 519, n. ; 
 description of different hives, 521, 522, re.; the car- 
 penter-bee, 526, n.; the poppy -bee, 528, n. ; the card- 
 ing-bee, ib. 
 
 Beetle, characteristics of the class, ii. 541 ; transmuta- 
 tions, ib., 542; cases of their wings, ib.; differences 
 in size, ib. ; dorr-beetle, (see May-bug) ; general cha- 
 racteristics, 542 547 ; the elephant, where found, 547 ; 
 general description of the class of beetles, ib., 548, n. 
 
 Bell. See Diving-bell. 
 
 Belly of the Oppossum. See Pouch. 
 
 Beluga, or White Whale, ii. 260, n. 
 
 Beroe, a molluscous animal, described, ii. 376, n. 
 
 Bewailer. See Sai, 
 
 Bezoar, German, a concretion found in the stomach of 
 the chamois, its supposed properties, i. 307; describ- 
 ed, 308, 309; oriental and occidental, 44; hog, ib. 
 
 Birds, their adaptations, ii. 1; conformation, 2, and .; 
 feathers, ib.; wings, ib.; head, 3 ; their internal struc- 
 ture, 4, 5; incubation, 7; nest, 8; professor Blumen- 
 bach's summary of the characteristic qualities of 
 birds, 7 ]Q, n.; construction of nests, 10, n.; differ- 
 ent styles of nests, 11,.; immense number of insects 
 destroyed by birds, 12, 13, n.\ migration of birds, 15, 
 16, n.; classification of, 17; according to Linnaeus, 18; 
 their use, 28; adaptation, 29 ; habits, 30; their fecun- 
 dity small, ib. ; superiority of the female, ib. ; classi- 
 fication of, ib., 31 ; of the poultry kind, their utility, 
 59; characteristics, ib.; sociability, ib.; love of eat- 
 ing, ib., 60; sensuality and infidelity, ib. ; habit of 
 dusting themselves, 61 ; of the pie kind, 86; of the 
 sparrow kind, 1 30; time of song of British birds, 132, 
 .; voices of birds, 133,., and 137; of the crane kind, 
 170; influence of birds on the imagination, 239. 
 
644 
 
 I N D E X. 
 
 Bird-catch Ina, liow performed, ii. 131. 
 
 Biscayvee^iheir method of whalefishing, 256 
 
 #wow described, i. 276, n. and 27 / ; where found, 2/8 
 and n. ; usefulness among the Hottentots, -:80; diver- 
 sities of, ib. 
 
 Bitch. See Dog. 
 
 valve. 
 
 Blackbird, the, described, ii. 141 and . 
 
 Blackcap, its lond note,ii. 1.52 ; migration of the, ib. ; 
 incubation, ib. ; note of the, ib. ; description of, 
 158,*. 
 
 Black vomit, fatal symptom of the Chapotonadas, i. 
 112. 
 
 Bleak or B'ay, river fish, notice of the, ii. 320, n. 
 
 Blenmt, account of the fish, ii. 29.5. 
 
 Blindness, progress of the perceptions of a person hav- 
 ing it removed, i. 193. 
 
 Blindworm, a harmless reptile, described, ii. 427, 428; 
 motion, 428 ; eyes, ib. ; viviparous, ib. 
 
 Blood, how affected by the air, i. 1 1 .5 ; its colour, ib. ; its 
 circulation, ii. 606 ; subjects in which it is most 
 readily seen, 607. 
 
 Blood bounds, English, i. 393. 
 
 Bluebird, its colour and change of, i. 142 ; note and ar- 
 ticulations, 1 43 ; how caught, ib. ; haunts, ib. 
 
 Blushing, how produced, i. 171. 
 
 Boa constrictor, account of the, ii. 429, n. 
 
 Boar, wild, described, i. 341 ; their strength and method 
 of defence, ib. ; how hunted, 342 and . ; a native of 
 Britain, 344. 
 
 Bobak, the marmout in Poland, i 444. 
 
 Body, human, its figure,!. 176; size, ib. ; weight, 177; 
 strength ; 177 1 HO. 
 
 Boiguaca, a great serpent, described, ii. 430 ; habits, ib. 
 
 Bonasus, a name of the bison, i. 277. 
 
 Bones, the, visited by the blood, i. 204 ; experiment 
 proving this, ib. ; how affected by age, ib. 
 
 microscopic examination of, Ii. 602. 
 
 Bonet chinois, a kind of monkey, i. 506. 
 
 Bonito, the fish, described, ii. 306. 
 
 Bottle-tit, or long-tailed titmouse, ii. 1 54, n. 
 
 Bottom of the sea, changes produced there, i. 1 02 ; na- 
 ture of, in the Red sea, ib. ; near America, ib. ; na- 
 ture of, in general, ib. 
 
 Boyuna, serpent of Ceylon, how regarded there, ii. 428. 
 
 Brachionus genus of infusoria, ii. 637. 
 
 Brain, first seen in the embryo, i. 192. 
 
 Bramliling, a kind of finch, ii. 159, n. and 161. 
 
 Bramins,' sensibility of their sense of smell, i. 201. 
 
 Bream, river fish, notice of the, ii. 297 and 320, n. 
 
 Breast, human, its form, i. 175, 176 ; female, ib.; its 
 beauty, ib.; Darwin's theory that it is the origin of 
 our ideas of beauty, 175, n. 
 
 Breezes. See Land and Sea Breezes. 
 
 Brisson, his classification of animals, i. 233. 
 
 Bubalus, of the ancients, of the cow kind, i. 277; a kind 
 of gazelle, described, 310. 
 
 Buffalo, distinguished from the cow, i. 281 ; described, 
 ib. n. and 283; Cape buffalo described, 282, n; 
 Indian and Chinese buffalo, 283, n.; domestic buffalo, 
 ib.; native country of the buffalo, 284; dangers from 
 the, in a wild state, ib.; method of escaping, ib. 
 
 cription of the perceptions of a man imagined newly 
 created, 202; his errors regarding the sperm animals, 
 ii. 638. 
 
 Bug, account of the, ii. 4G1 ; the bedbug, ib. n.: the 
 leek green bug, 462, n.; the harvest bug, ib. 
 
 Bull, musk, the wild or urus, described, i. 276. 
 
 Bull-dog, the, described, i. 3.91, n. and 394, 395. 
 
 LttJlfinch, one of our finest cage birds, ii. 156, n.\ its 
 vocal powers, habits, &c. ib. 
 
 Bullhead or Cottas, a fish, ii. 298, 320, n. 
 
 Bungai or rock serpents, ii.43(), n. 
 
 Buntings, description of the, ii. 1 51 , n. ; the yellow bunt- 
 ing, ib ; the foolish bunting, 1 52, n. ; the cirl bunting, 
 the reed bunting, ib.; the common bunting, ib.; 
 the ortolan bunting, ib.; the snow bunting, ib. 
 
 Unmet, Thomas, his theory of the earth, i. 13, 14. 
 /iurrampooter, its source, size, and course, i 77 n 
 
 Bursaria genus of infusoria, ii. 632. 
 
 Bustard^ its size and properties, ii. 76 ; where found, 
 ib. ; food, ib. ; difficulty to be shot, and why, ib. ; 
 chased by gray hounds, ib. ; the pouch of, a reservoir 
 for water, ib. ; incubation, 77 ; different species, ib. 
 n. ; food in winter, 77 ; age, ib. ; the little, described, 
 ib. and n. ; how taken, ib. ; habitudes, ib. 
 
 Butcher bird, the species classed, ii. 50 ; otherwise 
 called shrikes, ib. n. ; the lesser or red-backed, 50, 
 5\,n. ; the greater, 50, 52, n. ; marks of the, ib.; its 
 intrepidity, 51 ; prey, ib.; method of catching its prey, 
 ib. ; nest of the, ib. ; varieties. 
 
 Butterfly, transformations of the, ii. 495, n. ; account of 
 the butterflies and moths, 499 505 and n. ; butterfly 
 a beautiful emblem of immortality, 613. 
 
 Buzzard, a kind of falcon, the common, described, ii. 49 
 andw.; varieties, ib.; rough legged, ib. w.; honey-buzz- 
 ard, ib. n. 
 
 Cabiai, i. 350. See Capibara. 
 
 Cachalot, distinctions among the varieties of the tribe, 
 ii. 263 and n.; size, ib. ; properties, ib. ; pursued for 
 its spermaceti and ambergris, ib. ; how these sub- 
 stances obtained from it, ib. 264. 
 
 Cagui. See Saki. 
 
 Calabria, earthquake at, 1638, i. 49, n. and 51, 52. 
 
 Calandre, a bird resembling the lark, ii. 151, n. 
 
 Calao or horned Indian raven, ii. 96. 
 
 Calf, the young of the stag, i 319. 
 
 Call birds, how used by the bird-catcher, ii. 131. 
 
 Callitrix, kind of monkey, noticed, i. 507. 
 
 CaUyonomus or Drogonet, account of the fish, ii. 295. 
 
 Calinucks, a Tartar race, described, i. 201. 
 
 Camel, two species of, i. 535, 536 ; and n. ; fitness for 
 travelling in desert countries, 537, 538, and 7*. ; does 
 not multiply in cold countries, 538; uses to the Ara- 
 bian, ib. 539; docility, ib.; structure of its stomach, 
 ib. ; use in commerce, ib. ; patience, ib. ; Buffon's 
 opinion concerning the, ib.; the hump, 540; produce 
 of the animal to the Arabian, ib. 
 
 Cameleon, the, described, ii. 403; swelling and contrac- 
 tion of itself, ib. ; the skin, ib.; protuberances, ib.; 
 account of some by Le Bruyn, 404; seldom opens its 
 mouth, ib.; turns one eye towards a different direc- 
 tion from the other, ib. ; general description of, ib. n. 
 
 Camelopard, or giraffe, its extraordinary size and ap- 
 pearance, i. 534; description of, ib. n.; habits of the, 
 535, n. ; account of four brought to England, ib. 
 
 Campagnol, economic, a species of mouse, i. 452, n. 
 
 Canary bird, whence brought, ii. 155; original colour 
 and varieties, ib. ; food and habits of the domesticated 
 canary, ib. n. ; its song, 156; rules for choosing the 
 bird, 159; breeding of the bird, ib. ; method in Ger- 
 many, 160; common apparatus, ib.; mixed breed 
 with the linnet, ib. 
 
 Cane Del Grotto, noxious effects of the atmosphere in, 
 i. 39. 
 
 Cantharis, the, or Spanish fly, a kind of beetle, des- 
 cribed, ii. 549; where found, ib.; food. Cantharides, 
 how prepared, 551 ; their effects, ib. 
 
 Capada worm, its sufferings from the ichneumon fly, ii. 
 611. 
 
 Capercailzie or cock of tie wood, ii. 78, and n. 
 
 Capibara, account of, the hog kind, i. 350; its resembl- 
 ance to the hog, ib.; description of the, ib.; fre- 
 quents rivers and lakes, ib.; taste of its flesh, 351. 
 
 Capons, used for clutching chickens, ii. 63. 
 
 Caracal, where found, i. 381, 3H3; how connected with 
 the lion, 383; prey of the, ib. ; account of one which 
 died in the Tower, ib. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, a compound of air, i. 109, n. 
 
 Carcajou, name of the glutton in North America, i. 425. 
 See Glutton. 
 
 Carli, Father, how tended by monkeys, i. 504. 505. 
 
 Carp, the, described, ii. 305, and n.; habitudes of, 
 ib.; fed out of water, 308; growth of the, 318; how 
 fished for, 320 n.; gold and silver carp, 306, n. 
 
 Carpenter or wood bee, described, ii. 338; choice or for- 
 mation of her hole and nest, ib., 339; eggs and young, 
 340,341. 
 
 Carrier pigeon, described, ii. 127; whence so named, ib. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 6'45 
 
 Uartfiaqena. unwholesomeness of the air there, from 
 heat,i. 112. 
 
 Cartilaginous Fishes, why the tribe so named, ii. 268 ; 
 distinctions of the, ib. ; double capacity of breathing, 
 and organs for, ib.; generation, ib.; various methods 
 of bringing forth, 269; anomalous, 286; characteris- 
 tics and classification of, 268; flat fish, 273. 
 
 Cashmere Shawl Goat, account of the, i. 299, 300. 
 
 Cassique, a bird of South America, ii. 166, n. 
 
 Cassowary, its country and climate, ii. 25, and n. ; de- 
 scription of the, ib. ; its remarkable head, 26; its in- 
 ternal parts, ib.; quiet disposition, ib.; voracity, 27; 
 scarcity, ib. 
 
 Cat, dispositions of the, i. 356; form and habits, ib.; 
 generation, ib. ; prey, ib . ; patience, 357 ; form of their 
 eye, ib. ; how far tamed, ib. ; other habits, ib. ; use 
 of cats' whiskers, 355, n. ; reason of cats alighting on 
 their feet when falling, ib.; British wild cat distinct 
 from the domestic cat, 357, n. ; varieties of the do- 
 mestic cat, 359, n.; moral qualities of the cat, ib., 
 360, .; cat of the New Continent, 359. 
 
 wild, how distinguished, i. 357, n., and 358; its 
 
 abodes, ib.; internal characteristics, ib. 
 
 Cat Fish, notice of the. ii. 185, 298, n. 
 
 Cat kind, animals of the, their properties and distinctive 
 peculiarities, i. 353, and n. ; their resemblance to one 
 another, 355; their claws, ib.; teeth, ib.; manner of 
 seizing their prey, ib., 356; dispositions, ib.; animals 
 of the, difficulty of distinguishing the, 376. 
 
 Cat Lion, or of Angora, described, i. 359. 
 
 Catacombs, Egyptian sepulchres, account of the, i. 226. 
 
 Catamountain, or tiger cat, described, i. 379, 382, n. 
 
 Cataracts of rivers, i. 81. 
 
 Caterpillars, account of, ii. 490; their transformations, 
 491499, and n. ; leaf-rolling caterpillars, 496, 497, n. ; 
 of the enemies of the caterpillar, 505. 
 
 Caverns in the earth, i. 32; description of several, ib., 35; 
 origin of, ib. 
 
 Caviar Sturgeon, discriminated, ii. 283 ; the caviar, 
 whence furnished, ib., 285: how prepared, ib. 
 
 Cayman, the, a species of crocodile, ii. 395, and 393, n. 
 
 Cellular tissue of Plants, ii. 601. 
 
 Centipede, a name of the scolopendra, ii. 466; the great 
 centipede, 467, n. 
 
 Cepola, the fish described, ii. 290. 
 
 Cerastes, a reptile of Africa, ii. 421 , n. 
 
 Cercaria, genus of infusoria, ii. 632. 
 
 Cetaceous Fislies, called the great beasts of the ocean, ii. 
 249; why ranked as fishes, ib.; analogy to quadru- 
 peds, ib.; manner of breathing, ib. ; senses, 250; 
 young, ib.; maternal tenderness of, ib.; distinctive 
 marks of the tribe, ib. ; and of its subdivisions, ib. 
 See Whale. 
 
 Chcetodon, or Cat Fish, discriminated, ii. 297. 
 
 Chaffinch, their migration described, ii. 137; its habits, 
 vocal powers, &c., 1 56, 1 57, n. 
 
 Chamois, its properties, i. 304, andw. ; where found, 304; 
 acuteness of its senses, 305; its voice, ib.; its actions 
 when alarmed, ib.; beauty of its eyes, ib.; the animal 
 described, ib.; its motions, ib.; how hunted, 306, 307; 
 its skin, 307; what parts of the, said to be medicinal, 
 ib. ; account of the chamois hunters of the Alps, 306, 
 n. 
 
 Channel of Rivers, the form of the, i. 75; effect of incum- 
 brances on the, 76; rendered navigable, 81. 
 
 Cliapotonadas, a malignant distemper, i. 112. 
 
 Charles I. of England, his body found embalmed, i. 229. 
 XII., his action on being shot, i. 208. 
 
 Chasms in the Earth, i. 31, 32; in mountains, 63. 
 
 Chat genus of birds, ii. 153, n. 
 
 Chatterer, account of the, ii. 99. 
 
 Cheselden, his account of the perceptions of a boy who 
 
 was restored to sight, i. 193. 
 Chetah. See Leopard. 
 Chevrotin, or little Guinea Deer, i. 311. 
 Chickens, method of hatching in stoves, ii. 63; clutched 
 
 by capons, ib. 
 
 CJrigoe, a troublesome insect, account of the, ii. 456, n. 
 Child in the icomb, history of the, i. 158; state of when 
 
 born, ]fii. 
 
 CJtilders, the horse, speed of, i. 253, and n. 
 Clnmpanse, a species of oran outang, i. 491, n. 
 
 Chinese, the, described, i. 211. 
 
 Chochi, or Thrush of Paraguay, ii. 139, n. 
 
 Chough, Cornish, account of the, ii. 94. 
 
 Chrysalis, change of the caterpillar into that state, ii. 
 494, 495; meaning of the term, 494. 
 
 Chub, fish, description of, ii. 307j n. ; how fished for, 
 320, . 
 
 Cicada, the ancient, how distinguished from the grass- 
 hopper, ii. 476, n. 
 
 Citrel Finch, account of the, ii. 159, n.. 
 
 Civet, varieties of the, i. 423 ; its form and colours, ib. ; 
 its pouch described, ib. ; how the perfume obtained, 
 ib.; where reared, ib.; the perfume at Amsterdam 
 reckoned the best, ib. ; quantity of perfume obtained, 
 424; commerce in its perfume, ib.; its food, ib.; its 
 dispositions, ib. 
 
 Classification of animals, by different authors, i. 231, ., 
 232; that used in this work, 233 235; remarks on 
 its utility, ii. 166; offish, remarks on the, 347. 
 
 Clavicles, or Collar Bones, to what animals peculiar, i. 
 175. 
 
 Clematis, transverse section of, ii. 602. 
 
 Clouds, how produced, i. 128; how converted into rain. 
 129. 
 
 Coal, mode of working coal mines, i. 37, n. 
 
 Coan, a dwarf, account of, i. 221. 
 
 Coati, a kind of monkey, i. 308. 
 
 Coatimondi, a kind of weasel, i. 553; its description, ib., 
 and n. ; is tamed, ib. ; mode of sleeping, ib. 
 
 Cobra di Capello, or Hooded Serpent, ii. 424, n. ; the pe- 
 tro de cobra, or serpent stone, 426. 
 
 Cochineal, the insect described, ii. 551. 
 
 Cochlearia, the snail sties of the Romans, ii. 362. 
 
 Cock, early domestication and varieties of the, ii. 61 ; ori- 
 ginal country, ib., and n. ; where found wild, ib. ; ancient 
 estimations of its colour, ib., 62; boldness of several 
 breeds, il>.; salacity of the, ib. ; varieties of the do- 
 mestic cock and hen, 64, n. ; the dunghill cock and 
 hen, ib.; the Dorking cock and hen, ib. ; the Poland 
 cock and hen, ib.; the every-day cock and hen, ib.; 
 the bantam cock and hen, ib. ; the Chittagong, or 
 Malay hen, ib.; the shack-bag, or duke of Leed' 
 breed, ib.; the improved Spanish cock and hen, ib.; 
 instructions regarding breeding, 65, n. 
 
 Cock of the wood, ii. 78, and n.; cock of the plain, RO, n. 
 
 Cock fighting, early practised, ii. 62; an ungenerous amuse- 
 ment, ib. 
 
 Cockatoo, the tri-coloured crested, ii. 118, n. 
 
 Cockle, shell-fish, notice of the, ii. 365, n. 
 
 Codfish, the, discriminated, ii. 299, and n.', its peregri- 
 nations, 309, 310; easily taken, 320. 
 
 Cold, effects of, on water, i. 69 ; on the atmosphere, 112; 
 how it acts in increasing and refining fur, 414. 
 
 Colouring of Shells, how accounted for, ii. 349. 
 
 Colours, aid our ideas of distance, i. 194; the variable, 
 of the cameleon, described, ii. 403. 
 
 Comets, account of, i. 6; theories regarding, 7, n. 
 
 Complexion, different, of the human race, i. 214; which 
 colour preferable, ib.; how produced, 215; four va- 
 rieties of the complexion of the skin, ib.; darkened 
 by cold, &c., 216. 
 
 Compression of water, i. 70. 
 
 Conchology, sketch of the different systems of, ii. 350 
 353, n. See Shells. 
 
 Condoma, or Striped Antelope, described, i. 310. 
 
 Condor of America, whether of the eagle or vulture kind, 
 ii. 37; size and strength, 38; description of, as seen 
 by Condamine, ib. ; Labat's account, 39; account of 
 one by Mr Strong, ib.; by P. Feuille, ib.; whether 
 the same as the Arabian Roc, and others, ib.; its 
 true character first made known by Baron Von Hum- 
 boldt, ib., 40, n. ; its habits described, 40. 
 
 Concpate, a variety of the stinkard, i. 421. 
 
 Conserves, ii. 601. 
 
 Congelation, ii. 588. 
 
 Coot, the, discriminated from the water-hen and other 
 birds, ii. 197, 198; habitudes of the, 198. 
 
 ib.; different opinions, ib.; the plant examined, ib.; 
 its inhabitants, ib.; account of the formation of coral, 
 57 1 , 572, n. 
 
 Corbet, Peter, superintended the destruction of wolve? 
 in England, i. 402. 
 
64-6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Curdicr, M. lus investigation concerning subterraneous 
 
 heat, i. 48. 
 
 Conn, a kind of gazelle, i. 308. 
 
 Cormorant, size and description of the, ii. 206 and n. 
 appetite, ib. ; fetid odour, ib. ; how used in fishing, ib.; 
 bird's activity in pursuing its prey, 208. 
 
 Comaro, his life prolonged by temperance, i. 205. 
 
 Corn-crake or land-rail, described, ii. 197, n. 
 
 Cor rira t a bird of the crane kind, its long legs, ii. 190. 
 
 Corruption of dead bodies, how caused, i. 226; how pre- 
 vented, ib. 
 
 Cnrri/phcena, or Razor fish, noticed, ii. 296. 
 
 Cotinyas, birds of South America, ii. 165, n. 
 
 Cotopam, volcano of, i. 45. 
 
 Coitus or Bullhead, a prickly finned fish, ii. 298. 
 
 Couando, distinguished from the porcupine, i. 467. 
 
 Cougar or Red Tiger of America, described, i. 374; for- 
 midable nature', ib. ; its habits, 375 ; how encountered, 
 ib. ; combats witli the crocodile, 376; where found, 
 375, 376; flesh of the, 376. 
 
 Counting, how caused, i. 171, n. 
 
 Coulterneb, the puffin, why so called, ii. 219. 
 
 Cow kind, animals of the, i. 269; usefulness, 270; food, 
 ib.; teeth, ib.; age, how known, ib.; horns, 271; 
 native wild breed, description of, ib. n\ English breed 
 of the cow, how improved, ib. ; how affected by its 
 pasture, ib.; differences in its size, ib.; form, 272; 
 originally of a common stock, ib.; different breeds of 
 the, ib. n.; in Tartary, Egypt, Abyssinia, Denmark, 
 the Crimea, Germany, France, &c. ib.; different breeds 
 in Britain, ib.; the long-horned or Lancashire breed, 
 ib. ; the short-horned, ib. ; the middle-horned, 273, n. ; 
 the Devonshire cattle, ib. ; the Sussex and Hereford- 
 shire cattle, ib.; the polled or hornless breed, 274, n.; 
 
 Orkney and Zetland, ib.; the Fifeshire cattle, ib.; 
 cattle of Aberdeenshire, 276; Welsh cattle, ib.; 
 Aldemey cattle, ib.; Irish cattle, ib.; in Iceland, 277 ; 
 other countries, ib.; that with the hump, ib. (See 
 Bison) ; how to distinguish the classes of this kind, 
 285; an animal uniting the characters of the hog and, 
 
 Crab, the resemblance of its habits to those of the 
 lobster, ii. 327; where found, 332; the, described, ib.; 
 account of the violet land-crab, ib. ; strength of its 
 claw, 334; orderly society and march, ib.; casting of 
 the spawn, 335; return, ib.; casting of the shell, ib. 
 and 329, w.;in the mountains impregnable, 335; uses 
 of, ib. ; general characteristics of the crab, 332, n., and 
 ^34, n.\ the fleet running crab, 332, n.; the land crab, 
 333, n. the soldier crab, ib., and 337, 338; modes of 
 taking crabs, 335, 336, n. 
 
 Crabs-eyes, improperly so called, what they are, ii. 330. 
 
 Crane kind, birds of the, ii. 171 ; their distinctive quali- 
 ties, ib.; legs, ib.; bill, ib.; not domesticated and 
 why, 172; food, ib.; tribes, ib.; smaller birds of the, 
 
 of taking, 197. 
 
 - real dimensions of the, ii. 172; different species, 
 ib. n.; fables concerning the, and their origin, 173; 
 countries of the, ib. ; migrations, ib. ; scarcely ever 
 seen with us, and the reason why, ib.; favourite cli- 
 mate of the, ib. ; depredations, ib. ; aerial journeys, 
 174; loud cry and its use, ib.; the wind-pipe, tamed, 
 175; affection for man, ib.; popular respect for the, 
 ib.; Balearic, doubts concerning the, 178; its remark- 
 able appearance, 179; its country, ib.; habitudes, ib. ; 
 cranes distinguished from storks and herons, 180, 181. 
 n.; Numidian, the Demoiselle, 180. 
 
 Cray or crawfish, a species of lobster, described, ii. 331 
 ^andw. 
 
 Creepers, birds resembling woodpeckers, ii. 108, n. 
 
 tncctusoT German rat, the, described,!. 454; its pouches, 
 ib.; voracity, ib.; construction of its abode, 455, 456; 
 its stores, 456; propagation, ib.; fur, ib. 
 
 , account of the, ii. 481, 482 and n.' the mole- 
 /neket, 482, 483. 
 
 Crocodil^ distinguished from the alligator, ii. 392, 393, 
 
 double-crested crocodile, ib.; its resorts 30,5- 
 
 where largest and fiercest, ib., two varieties, ib'.; size 
 
 of the, ib. ; description taken from one, ib.; the iu 
 
 ternal parts, 3yo; its naoitudes, ib.; strength, ib.; on 
 what occasions it seeks the land, ib.; manner of 
 seizing its prey, ib.; contest with the tiger, 397; how 
 killed by the negro, ib. ; how taken by the Siamese, 
 ib ; managed like a horse, ib. ; Waterton's ride on a 
 crocodile's back, noticed,ib. n.', how taken in Africa, 
 ib.; state of the, in Egypt, 398; accounted for, ib.; 
 where inoffensive, ib.; musky smell of the, ib.; flesh, 
 ib.; eggs, and manner of breeding, ib.; whether it de- 
 vours its young, 399; age of the, ib.; produced in the 
 Roman amphitheatres, ib. and 395. 
 
 Crow, the, its characteristics, ii. 87 96 ; different species 
 of crows, 87, n. ; carrion crow, 89, n. and 93; hooded 
 crow, ib. ; rook, 90, n. and 93 and 94, n. 
 
 Crustaceous shell-fish characterised, ii. 326; classified, ib. 
 and 575 578. 
 
 Crystalline lenses of animals, ii. 605. 
 
 Crystallization, ii. 589. 
 
 Cuckoo, the, described, ii. 1 1 0, 1 1 1 and n. ; habits of 
 the, ib. n.\ its call, ib.; female makes no nest, 112; its 
 food, ib.; its migration, ib.; varieties, 113; the honey 
 guide, ib. and n. 
 
 Cuckoo spit or Froth worm, account of the, ii. 275, 276. 
 
 Cud, class of animals that chew the, i. 268. See Ritmin- 
 ating animals. 
 
 Curas'sows, American birds of the poultry kind, ii. 71, 
 n.; the crested curassow, ib.; the galeated curassow, 
 72, n. ; the razor-billed curassow, ib. 
 
 Curleiv, description of the common curlew and little 
 curlew, ii. 190, n. 
 
 Currents oftlie ocean, their causes,!. 92; where most vio- 
 lent, 93; that in the Mediterranean, ib.; various, 96. 
 
 Currents of air, some double, i. 124. See Wind. 
 
 Cuticle of plants, ii. 597. 
 
 Cuttle fish, the, described, ii. 561, 562; spurts forth a 
 dark liquor when pursued, ib. 
 
 Cuvier, his classification of dogs. i. 38; the same explain- 
 ed, 388. 
 
 Cyclidium genus of infusoria, ii. 630. 
 
 Cyclosis or circulation in plants, ii. 596, 597. 
 
 D 
 
 Dab fish, described, ii. 301, n.; lemon dab, ib. 
 
 Dace, dart, or dare, how fished for, ii. 321, n. 
 
 Dayenham in Essex, trees discovered by an inundation 
 of the sea there, i. 100. 
 
 Damp or deleterious air, fatal effects of, in mines, i. 37. 
 See Gas. See Lamp Safety. 
 
 Danube, its course and depth, i. 77; rivers received by, 
 80. 
 
 Darkness, how far the eye accommodates to, i. 195; 
 story illustrating the subject, ib. 
 
 Deafness, causes of, i. 199; perceptions of one recover- 
 ed from, ib. ; state of one born deaf, ib. ; case of James 
 Mitchell, born blind and deaf, 200, n. 
 
 Dead Sea, its saltness, i. 85. 
 
 Death, many causes of, i. 207; generally calmly endured, 
 ib.; not really terrible, 208; reflection in the article 
 of, ib.; gradual approach of, ib.; uncertainty of the 
 signs of, ib. 
 
 Death-watch, beetle, described, ii. 552, n. 
 
 Decoys for ducks, how managed, ii. 235; value of some, 
 236 ; those in China, ib. 
 
 Deductor or casing ivhale, ii. 261 ,n. 
 
 Deer kind, properties of the, i. 319; the stag, ib. &c. ; 
 red, or wild stag, 322 ; red deer in Scotland, 323, n. ; 
 fallow deer in ditto, 324, n. ; axis deer of the East In- 
 dies, 327, n. See Stag, Falloiu deer and Rein deer. 
 
 Defence, methods taken by animals for their, i. 240. 
 
 Demoiselle, why a kind of crane so called, ii. 180; account 
 of the, ib. 
 
 Depona, a great serpent of Mexico, the mouth des- 
 cribed, ii. 427; the body, 430; harmless, ib. 
 
 Description of animals, its utility and method, i. 235. 
 
 Desman, the, a kind of musk rat, i. 454. 
 
 Dew, how produced, i. 1 30 and n. ; how its remaining on 
 bodies is affected by their conducting powers, ib. 
 
 Di:iMcr,-t, fall of a part of the mountain of, i. 63. 
 
 Diamond, microscopic examination of, ii. 592. 
 
 Diamond beetle, wing case of, ii. 617 
 
 Digester, ascertaining the elasticity of ah-, i. 108. _ 
 
 Diseases from Jieat, i. 1 1 1 ; from cold, 112; from moisture, 
 
INDEX 
 
 647 
 
 ib.; from effluvia, 113; Boyle's reasons for revolutions 
 in, 115. 
 
 Disposition of animals affected by climate, i. 241. 
 
 Disruptions of mountains, i. 63. 
 
 Distance, whence our notions of, i. 193. 
 
 Diver, the great Northern, its size and colours, ii. 219, 
 and n. ; speckled diver, ib., n. 
 
 Diving-bell, Dr Halley's, i. 103. 
 
 Dodo, its body, bill, legs, &c., described, ii. 27; country, 
 ib.; flesh, ib.; whether the bird of Nazareth, ib.; a 
 now extinct animal, 28, n. 
 
 Dog, the, why not generally used in the chase in East- 
 cm countries, i. 382; intelligence, courage, and affec- 
 tion of, 385; anecdotes of dogs, ib., n.; important uses 
 of the, 385; to the shepherd, 386; in the chase, ib.; 
 the wild, described, ib. ; fidelity of the dog, ib.; di- 
 versities of the breed, ib.; original sameness, ib., 387; 
 internal structure the same, ib. ; which the original 
 kind, 388; proofs, ib., 391; a new classification of 
 dogs from Cuvier, 387, .; these divisions and their 
 varieties described, ib.,rc.; the New Holland dog, the 
 Dhole, the South American dog, the North American 
 dog, ib., n. ; the French matin, the Irish greyhound, 
 the great Danish dog, the common greyhound, the 
 Scotch greyhound, the Russian greyhound, the Italian 
 greyhound, 388, ra.; the shepherd's dog, the terrier, 
 the wolf-dog, the Siberian dog, the Esquimaux dog, 
 389, n. ; the spaniel, the setter, the Alpine spaniel, 
 the Newfoundland dog (with anecdote), 390, n. ; the 
 smaller spaniel, the Maltese dog, the great water 
 spaniel, the hound, the pointer, the turnspit, the bull- 
 dog, 391, n.\ the pug-dog, the mastiff, '692, n.; old 
 classification, the hound, harrier, and beagle, 391 ; 
 gray matin, 393; mastiff, ib.; English, classified by 
 Caius, 393, 394; the Turkish dog described, 394; the 
 Irish wolf-dog described, ib., 395; Indian dogs, forti- 
 tude of the, shoAvn to Alexander the Great, 395 ; flesh 
 of the, where eaten, 396; instances of the enmity be- 
 tween the dog and wolf, ib. ; and the fox, ib., 397 ; 
 description of the dog when whelped, 397; its genera- 
 tion, ib.; madness of the, 398. 
 
 Dog kind, characteristics of the, i. 384; habitudes, ib.; 
 qualifications of the, ib. ; sense of smelling, ib. 
 
 Dog-butcher, in China, attacked by dogs, i. 266. 
 
 Dog-fish, the spotted, ii. 270, n.; the small spotted, 273, 
 n.; the large spotted, ib. 
 
 Doqger Sands, a bank formed by two tides meeting, i. 
 97. 
 
 Dolphin, the, described, ii. 264, and n.; the common dol- 
 phin, ib., n.', Pernelty's dolphin, 265, n.; agility of 
 the, 265; partiality of the ancients to the, ib. ; how 
 regarded at present, 266 ; how wrong drawn by the 
 ancients, ib.; whether they live out of water, ib. See 
 Porpoise. 
 
 Don, its course, i. 77. 
 
 Dorado, the, beautiful colours of the fish, ii. 319; pur- 
 sues the flying fish, ib. 
 
 Doree, a prickly- finned fish, noticed, ii. 298. 
 
 Dormouse, its varieties, i. 453; habits, 454; sleeps in 
 winter, ib. 
 
 Dorr-beetle, or May -bug. See May-bug. 
 
 Douc, monkey of Cochin China, i. 307. 
 
 Dragonfly, account of the, ii. 470; the depressed dra- 
 gon-fly, 472, n. ; the black winged dragon-fly, ib. 
 
 Drawings of animals, Locke's opinion of the advantage 
 of, i. 235. 
 
 Dreams, how fashioned,!. 187; effects of, 189; sleep- 
 walking, 190; how accounted for, ib. 
 
 Dress, savages careful with respect to, i. 173; observa- 
 tions concerning, 174; objects pursued in, ib. 
 ill of Purchas, the oran-outang, i. 491. 
 
 idary, its distinction from the camel, i. 535, and 
 See Camel. 
 
 -k, the domestic, easily reared, ii. 231 ; hatched by 
 the hen, ib.; rearing of ducks in China, ib., .; dis- 
 tinguished from the wild, 232; wild duck, or mallard, 
 characteristics and habits of, 231, 232, n.; sea ducks, 
 ib.; pond, 232; eider, ib., and ra.,235; tufted, 233; 
 nest of the wild duck in the Arctic regions, 234; the 
 down, how obtained, ib. ; appearance of the, when it 
 comes among us, 235; choice of residence, ib. ; the 
 call of the, ib. ; nocturnal adventures, ib. ; how taken 
 by a decoy, ib. ; manner of taking them in China, 236 ; 
 summer, the, of America, builds its nest on a tree, 
 235; and perches, ib. 
 
 Dunlin, the, described, ii. 194, n. 
 
 Dwarfs, i. 220; account of several, ib.; of the marriage 
 
 of two celebrated by Peter of Russia, ib.; of Jeffrey, 
 
 ib.; of Baby, ib. 222. 
 Dwina river, its course, i. 77. 
 Dziggtai, a species of the horse, described, i. 264, . 
 
 E 
 
 Eagle, description of the, and its affinities, ii. 31 ; the 
 abode of the, ib. ; habits, ib.; not entirely tameable, 
 ib.; flight of the, 32; eye,ib.; strength, ib. ; prey,ib ; 
 instances of the, taking away children, ib.; localities 
 in England and Scotland where the golden eagle is 
 to be found, ib., n. ; manner in which the eagle hunts 
 for its prey, ib.; formidable when rearing the young, 
 ib.; instances of retaliation in the, ib.; the nest of the, 
 described, 33; plumage and change of colour, ib.; 
 food, ib.; varieties, 3133; the golden, ib ; the com- 
 mon, 34; bald, ib.; Wilson's description of the bald- 
 headed eagle, ib., n.; white, ib. ; rough-footed, ib. ; 
 white-tailed, ib.; favourite haunts on the northern 
 coasts of Scotland, ib., n.; erne, 35; black, ib.; sea, 
 ib., and n. ; bird of Washington, a species of sea eagle, 
 described, 36, 37, .; osprey, 36, and n.\ Jean de 
 blanc, ib. ; that of Brazil, 36 ; Oroonoko, ib. ; crowned 
 African, ib.; that of Pondicherry, ib. ; martial eagle, 
 or griffard, 38, n.; balbuzzard, ib.; great harpy, ib.; 
 wedge-tailed eagle, ib. 
 
 Ear, human, remarks on the, i. 172; construction of 
 the, 198. 
 
 Earth, its magnitude, i. 1 ; its comparative insignificance 
 in the great scale of creation, ib., n.\ its situation in 
 the solar system, 9 and 7, .; its motions, ib.; proofs 
 of its rotundity, 9; exact shape, ib.; its regions, 10, 
 11; appearance of its surface, 11, 12; internal struc- 
 ture, 12; theories of the, 13 17, and 16, .; strata of 
 the, 28 and n. ; their order, 30 ; fertility of the, 2931 ; 
 chasms in the, 31, 32; changed by the ocean, 96; its 
 defences against the sea, ib. ; considered in relation 
 to the Deity, 144, 145; varieties of its provisions, 145; 
 the earth gloomy without man, ib. ; fitted for his 
 abode, ib.; how subdued to his use, 149. 
 
 EarthquaJces, i. 46 ; different kinds of, ib. ; causes of, 46, 
 47, and n. ; several mentioned, 47 52; concomitant 
 circumstances, 52; swallow mountains, 64. 
 
 Earwig,-t\ie, described, ii. 483 and .; wing of, 617. 
 
 Ecaco'alt, the Indian name of the rattle-snake, on what 
 supposition given, ii. 623. 
 
 Echineis, or sucking fish, the, ii. 300. 
 
 Echini, ii. 373. See Urchins. 
 
 Echo, cause of the, i. 198; cannot be made by art, ib. 
 
 Education, different methods of, i. 163; what the best, 
 164; how to be pursued, ib. ; when most rapid, ib. 
 
 Ed, electric, account of the, ii. 279, n. ; anecdotes of 
 the, 280, n. . 
 
 Eels, Mr Yarrell's account of, ii. 286288, .; how 
 fished for, 320, 321, n.; descends towards the sea to 
 spawn, 309; viviparous, 318. 
 
 Egg, what animals produced from the, i. 154; disposi- 
 tion of substances in the, 155; progress of the animal 
 in the, traced by Malpighi and Haller, 154, 156, 157; 
 analogies between it and the embryo, 156 158. 
 
 Eggs, sea, ii. 373. See Urchins. 
 
 Egyptians, their embalmings described, i. 224; their se- 
 pulchres, 226 ; present superiority of their horses, 
 249. 
 
 Eider-duck, account of the, ii. 232 and n. 
 
 Ehrenberg's discoveries relating to infusoria, ii. 625. 
 
 Elasticity of the air, i. 107. 
 
 Elepliant, its appearance, i. 515; size, ib. ; description, 
 516; distinction between the African and Asiatic ele- 
 phant, ib., n.; strength of the, 516; peaceableness, 
 ib. ; gregarious habits, ib., 517; haunts, 517; move- 
 ments of the, ib., n. ; food, 517; excellence of its 
 senses, ib., 518; the trunk and its uses described,. 
 518 520, and .; strong sense of smell, 518, n.; habits 
 of the, ib. ; its difficulty of motion and encumbrances, 
 519; tusks, ib. ; its method of eating and drinking, 
 520; its hide, ib.; the elephantiasis, ib. ; where found 
 and how used in different countries, 521 ; first ele- 
 phant seen in England, ib., n.; the white esteemed, 
 521 : propagation, ib.; reproduction of the elephant 
 
648 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 
 when domesticated, 522, n. ; violently affected during 
 
 burdens, ib.; in executions, ib.; instance of the fatal 
 
 exertions of one, ib. ; of retaliation, ib.; of gratitude, 
 
 ib. : ancient and modern commerce in its ivory, ib. 
 
 and .; its teeth or tusks, 528; the fossil species, ib., 
 
 and . 
 
 Elephantiasis, or Arabian leprosy, i. .520. 
 Elizabeth, Queen, her regulations concerning fasting, i. 
 
 186; encouraged the woollen manufacture, i.288. 
 Elk, its country, i. 332 and n.; description of the, ib. ; 
 
 its haunts, ib.; how pursued by the Indians, ib.; 
 
 easily tamed, ib.; size of the, 332, 333; description of 
 
 one shown at Paris, 333; the American, ib.; their 
 
 climate, 334; a hunt of the, described, ib. ; its flesh, 
 
 horns, ib. &c.; diseases, 335 ; mistakes concerning the, 
 
 ib. 
 
 E/ops, or Sea serpent, ii. 299. 
 Ely, country round, deteriorated by the sea, i. 99; said 
 
 to le so named from rents being formerly paid there 
 
 in e.'ls, ii. 2!!8. n. 
 Embalming, early practised, i. 224 ; how performed by 
 
 the Egyptians, ib.; by the Guanches, 225; by the 
 
 Peruvians, ib. ; in France, 228. 
 Embryo, progress of the embryo in lower animals, i. 
 
 157; in man, 157 160. 
 Emigration of birds. See Birds. 
 Emu or American Ostrich, ii. 23; the term now applied 
 
 to the New Holland ostrich, ib. n.; description of the, 
 
 23, 24 ? n. 
 
 Enchelis genus of infusoria, ii. 628. 
 Encoubel-t, a kind of armadillo, i. 471 . 
 England, dogs of, Dr Gains' classification of the, i. 394. 
 E]ihfi)iera, account of the, ii. 48.), and n. 
 E(fuat<>r, earth at the, i. 10. 
 Ermine, its size and description, i. 413; its fur and its 
 
 change of colour, 413, 414; when called the stoat, ib.; 
 
 why its fur refined by cold, 413; its scent and food, 
 * 414; where found and how caught, ib. 
 Erne, a species of eagle, ii. 3.5. 
 Eruptions. See Volcanoes. 
 Esculapian, serpents of Italy, how regarded there, ii. 
 
 Esax. See Pike. 
 
 Eunuchs, barbarous policy in making, i. 1G5; in Italy, 
 ib.; described, 166. 
 
 European race of men, described, i. 213. 
 
 Eustachian tube, hearing by the, i. 1 99. 
 
 Evaporation, investigations regarding, i. 94, n. ; of water, 
 hoi it produces clouds, 129; Hamilton's theory con- 
 cerning, ib.: how affected by heat, ib.; frost, &c. ib. ; 
 how affected by night, 130. 
 
 Expression of the different parts of the human body, i. 167; 
 the face, ib.; the eyes, &c. 167172. 
 
 Evuvwtion, process of, in shrimps, lobsters, and crabs, 
 ii. 328, 330, n.; in insects, 613; singular instance of, 
 ib. 
 
 Eyes, state of them, in man at birth, i. 161 ; their ex- 
 pression, 167; their motions, ib. ; colours, ib.; alone 
 varied, ib.; early formed, 191 ; not exercised immedi- 
 ately after birth, 192; invert objects, ib.; another 
 error in sight, ib.: benefit of having two eyes, 193; 
 state of the, at different ages, 1 9.5 ; accommodate to 
 light and darkness, ib.; physiology of the, ib. .; of a 
 cat, i. 3.56; of birds, their conformation, ii. 3; of in- 
 sects, their varieties and numbers, 614. 
 
 Eyebrows, and eyelashes, their expression, i. 168. 
 
 Eyelids, their use, i. 168. 
 
 Face, human, its energy, i. 167; on what its expression 
 
 depends, ib.; form of the human, how affected, 217. 
 
 falcon kind, used in hawking, ii. 44 and n.; what varie- 
 
 us.-d in the sport, 44; the generous, how distin- 
 
 ushed, 4.5; the gyr falcon, 4.5, n. and 46; peregrine 
 
 lali-on, 4o,. ; the falcon, 46; falcon gentil, ib. f the 
 
 lanner, 47; kestril and merlin, 45, n. and 47; their 
 spirit, ib. ; method of training the, 47 ; method of 
 pursuing and taking different animals, 45; the igno- 
 bler varieties, 48; the secretary falcon, 50, n. See 
 Kite Buzzard. 
 Falcons, the gentle, used in hunting gazelles, i. 314; 
 
 their manner of pursuing, 315. 
 
 Falconry, an ancient sport, ii. 44; the hawk on hand in 
 paintings a mark of rank, ib.; expences of the sport, 
 ib.; how the bird trained for the sport, 47; how dis- 
 tinguished, 44. 
 
 Fallmo-deer, in Scotland, 324, .; distinguished from the 
 
 stag, i. 328, and n.; their properties, ib.; contest of 
 
 the, 328; tamed, ib.; their gestation, ib.; the chase 
 
 of the, 3'29 ; their varieties, ib. ; those of Guiana, ib. 
 
 Fangs, venomous, of the serpent, account of the, ii. 
 
 416. 
 
 Farina of flowers, as seen by the microscope, ii. 598. 
 Fascination, the, of the rattle-snake, account of, ii. 423. 
 Fashion, influence of, i. 174, n. 
 Fauvette, winter, ii. 153, n. 
 
 Fawn, the young of the fallow-deer, i. 329; of the roe- 
 buck, 331. 
 
 Feathers of birds, their position and beauty, ii. 1, 2; for 
 beds, whence obtained, 230; how cured, ib. ; examined 
 under the microscope, ii. 603, 604; feathers of hum- 
 ming birds, 604. 
 
 Female sex, how treated by savages, i. 165, 166; their 
 
 privileges in polished countries, 166; shape of the, 
 
 167; their comparative weakness, 181 ; in general live 
 
 longer than men, why, 205. 
 
 Ferns, their seed vessels, &c., as seen by the microscope 
 
 ii. 600. 
 
 Ferret, its country, i. 4/4; the, described, ib.; its 
 
 climate, 415: prey, ib.; how used in hunting rabbits, 
 
 ib. ; parturition of the, ib. ; sleep of the, ib. ; its smell 
 
 and bite, ib. 
 
 Field-fares, a species of thrush, ii. 138, n.; field-fare of 
 
 Canada, 140, n. 
 
 Figure, human, its proportions, i. 1 76. 
 File-fish, ii. 374, 375. See Pholas. 
 FincJies, account of the, ii. 136 and 156 159, n. 
 Fins of fishes, described, with their uses, ii. 242. 
 Fire, supported by air, i. 115. 
 Fires ofSt Helmo, meteors in Jamaica, description of, i. 
 
 1 34. 
 
 Fire-flare ray, ii. 273; its spine, ib.; terrible to fisher- 
 men, 275 277; ancient fables concerning it, 278; used 
 to head arrows, ib. ; whether venomous^ ib. 
 Fishes, their abodes, ii. 240, 241 ; numbers, ib. : form, 242; 
 fins, ib.; glutinous covering and scales, 243; smelling, 
 ib.; tasting, ib.; hearing, ib. and n.; seeing, 243; eye 
 described, ib.; appetite, 244; maws and digestion, 
 ib.; can endure want of food, 245: yet voracious, ib.; 
 their hostility to one another, ib. ; migrations, ib.; 
 require air, ib.; proofs, 246; use of the gills, ib.; the 
 air bladder and its use, ib.; their age, 247; methods 
 of determining, ib. ; extreme fecundity of, 248 ; gen- 
 eration, ib.; spawn, ib.; classification, ib.; whether 
 nourishing, ib. ; why not salt to the taste, 249 and 
 n.; professor Blumenbach's summary of the charac- 
 teristic qualities of fishes, 240, 241, n.; comparison 
 by baron Cuvier between fishes and birds, 244, n. ; 
 account of the fish usually taken by anglers in Great 
 Britain, 320-323, n. 
 
 Fishing-frog or Angler, described, ii. 288, n. 
 Fistul'aria, the fish described, ii. 301. 
 Flamingo, its class, ii. 1 87 ; properties, ib. ; haunts, ib. ; 
 in what state found by the Europeans in America, 
 ib. ; disposition now, 188; venerated by the negroes, 
 ib. ; untameable, ib. ; flesh, ib. ; flocks of the, ib.; man- 
 ner of feeding, 1 89 ; nests and young, ib. 
 Flat-fish, cartilaginous, ii. 273. 
 Flea, account of the, ii. 455 and n. 
 Floss, the external coating of the silk cone, ii. 511. 
 Flounder or Fluke, described, ii. 301, n.; bearded floun- 
 der, ib. 
 
 Flower, microscopic examination of a, ii. 597. 
 Fluidity, by what bodies possessed, i. 70. 
 Flur-birds, how used by the bird catcher, ii. 131. 
 Fly, account of the house-fly, ii. 487, 489, n. See 
 
 Dragon-fly. 
 
 Flying-fish, a soft- finned abdominal fish,ii. 303; Captain 
 Basil Hall's account of the, ib. n.; pursued by the 
 dorado, 319; in the air by the albatross, ib. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 649 
 
 Foetor, the horrible, of some serpents, ii. 408, 1 1 3. 
 
 Fongwang, the Chinese, description of that bird, ii. 75. 
 
 FonteneUe, his Ion,? life, i. 206. 
 
 Food, necessity of, to man, i. 183; its influence on ani- 
 mals, 242. 
 
 Foot, human, shape of the, i. 1 76. 
 
 Forehead, human, its proportions, i. 1 68. 
 
 Forests, found beneath the earth, i. 99. 
 
 Fossils, opinions concerning their formation, i. 19 21 
 and n. ; 22; in what countries found, 21, 22; their 
 varieties, 22; found in the stones of one of the pyra- 
 mids of Egypt, 25; elephants, an account of, i. 528; 
 (see Mammoth)', shells, in what condition found, ii. 
 358. 
 
 Fouine, name given by M. Buffon to the yellow-breasted 
 martin, i. 417. See Martin. 
 
 Foumart or polecat, described, i. 415 and n. 
 
 Fox, its resemblance to the dog, i. 403 and n. ; distin- 
 guished from it, and the wolf, 404; its cunning, ib.; 
 in choosing a residence, ib. ; in taking and conveying 
 its prey, ib.; its food ib.; chase of the, 403, ra. arid 
 40.5; generation, 405; antipathy of animals to the, ib., 
 406; different kinds of the, 406. 
 
 Frog, the, adapted to live on land or in water, ii. 377; 
 distinguished from the toad, ib.; its appearance, ib.; 
 its internal parts described, ib.; Raesal's plates of 
 the, 378; copulation of the, ib.; impregnation, ib. ; 
 eggs from a female, 380; their appearance, ib. ; pro- 
 gress of the, to perfect frog, 379, n. and 380 ; manner 
 of life, 381; season of enjoyment, ib. ; age, ib.; food, 
 382; manner of catching it, 383; vivacity, ib.; one 
 kept eight years in a glass, ib. ; tenacious of life after 
 the head off and other injuries, ib.; croaking des- 
 cribed, ib. ; season of, ib. ; adheres to the backs of 
 fishes, 384 ; story of one clinging to a pike and eating 
 out its eyes, ib.; different developements of embryo 
 of frogs, 378380, n. ; various species of frogs, des- 
 cribed, the common frog, the green frog, the bull 
 frog, the tree frog, and the fire frog, 38 1 383, 11. 
 
 Frog, the fishing, described, ii. 288 and n.; how it 
 takes its prey, 289 ; doubts, ib. 
 
 Frotk-worm, the, account of, ii. 484. 
 
 Fungi, as seen by the microscope, ii. 601. 
 
 Furs, of northern quadrupeds, why so abundant and 
 fine, i. 414. 
 
 Gad-fly, injurious to the rein- deer in Lapland, i. 337. 
 
 Gagal, a species of bison, described, i. 279, n. 
 
 Gail insect, its residence, ii. 553; how introduced into 
 
 the gall nut, ib.; how nourished, ib.; its escape from 
 
 the nut, ib. 
 Gall<>y-fish, appears like a bubble, ii. 291 ; described, ib.; 
 
 whether it moves, ib.; size in America, ib. ; colours 
 
 and transparency, ib. ; causticity of the, ib. ; poisonous 
 
 nature of the, 325. 
 Gaily worm, the, how distinguished from the Scolopen- 
 
 dra, ii. 467; appearance, ib.; how produced, ib. 
 Game laivs, arbitrary nature of the, ii. 82. 
 Ganges, its origin and course, i. 77 and n.; venerated by 
 
 the Indians, 78. 
 Gannet or solan goose, described, ii. 208, and n. ; haunts 
 
 of the, 209; migrations, 210; quickness of sight, ib. ; 
 
 its eyelids, ib. ; eggs and young, ib.; profit from the 
 
 sale of the, ib. 
 
 Gar-fish, described, ii. 290, n. 
 Gartar-fish, the, distinguished, ii. 300. 
 Gaur, a species of bison, described, i. 279, n. 
 Gaze hounds, the English, described, i. 393; how em- 
 
 ployed, ib. 
 Gazelles, a species of antelope, i. 304, n. ; their distin- 
 
 guishing marks, 307 and n.; beauty, ib.; Buffon's 
 
 varieties of the, 308, 309; additional varieties, 310; 
 
 their general properties, 311, 312; method of hunting 
 
 them, 314, 315. 
 Ge&ko, a kind of salamander, ii. 400; reported to be 
 
 poisonous, ib. ; probably not so, ib. 
 Generation of animals, i. 150; different generative powers 
 
 of animals and plants, ib., n.; whence the fecundity, 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 cutting, 153; from the egg, 154; traced, 156; from 
 embryo, 157; in man, ib.; comparative perfection of, 
 in different animals in respect of, 160; of animals, 
 243. 
 
 Gemt, its beauty and perfume,!. 422; described and 
 distinguished j ib.; its glands, ib. ; tamed at Constan- 
 tinople, ib.; scarcity of the, 423; its character, ib. 
 
 Genettes, Spanish, described, i. 250. 
 
 Geology. See Earth. 
 
 Geranda, a serpent of the East Indies, how regarded by 
 the natives, ii. 428; thatof Africa also worshipped, ib. 
 
 Gerboa. See Jerboa. 
 
 Giants, existence of a race of, ascertained, i. 222, 223. 
 
 Gibbon, or long-armed ape, described, i. 497, 499 ; several 
 species noticed, 497, 498, n. 
 
 Gilthead, or opMdium, the fish described, ii. 295. 
 
 Giraffe. See Camelopard. 
 
 Glow-worm, difference of the male and female, ii. 548 ; 
 the female described, ib.; its light whence, and IIOAV 
 emitted, ib., n. 
 
 Glutton, differences of opinion concerning the, i. 424; 
 Klein's account of one from Siberia, ib.; considered, 
 ib. ; where found, ib.; discription of the, ib.; its man- 
 ner of taking its prey, ib., 425 and n. ; prefers putrid 
 flesh, 425; pursues the beaver, ib.; its stratagems, 
 ib,; its impudence, 426; parturition, ib.; value of its 
 skin, ib. 
 
 Gluttony, its injuries, i. 186. 
 
 Gnat, injurious to the rein-deer, i. 337; manner of lay- 
 ing her eggs in the water, ii. 554 and n. ; change of 
 form, ib.; into a nymph, ib.; the fly, ib.; its trunk, 
 ib.; stings, ib.; method of using them, ib.; state dur- 
 ing winter, ib. ; their formidable nature in America, 
 556 ; wing of a gnat, 617. 
 
 Gnu, a singular species of African antelope, described, 
 i. 312, n. 
 
 Goat, nearly allied to the sheep, i. 286, n. ; characteris- 
 tics and properties of the, i. 299 ; their qualities, ib. ; 
 acuteness of their senses, 300; fitted for a life of 
 liberty, ib. ; natural attachment to man, proof of its, 
 301 ; propagation of the, ib. ; qualities of its milk, ib. ; 
 flesh ib.; pasture, ib.; varieties of the, 302; Angora 
 goat, described, ib. and 299, n.; the Assyrian, ib.; 
 African, ib. ; the blue, 302; the Juda, ib.; diversities 
 and analogies of the different kinds, ib. ; the ibex 
 and chamois, 302, 304, n. ; goats of Wales, 299, n.\ 
 Cashmere shawl goat, ib. ; singular dexterity of a goat, 
 300, n.\ goats used in suckling children, 301, n. 
 
 Goatsuckers or nocturnal swallows, ii. 162, .; European 
 goatsucker, ib. 
 
 Gobius. See Gudgeon. 
 
 Godwin Sands, i. 99. 
 
 Gvdwits, distinguished from snipes and woodcocks, u. 
 1 92, n. 
 
 Gold, not corroded by the atmosphere, i. 1 09. 
 
 Goldfinch, habits, vocal powers, &c. of the, ii. 157, n. 
 
 Gonium genus of infusoria, ii. 631. 
 
 Goose, characteristics of the wild, ii. 227, 228, and n.; 
 where it breeds, 229; flight described, ib.; fecundity 
 of the tame, 230; its valiant defence of its young, ib.; 
 flesh of the young, ib.; goose feathers, ib.; commerce 
 in, ib. ; varieties of the bird, the barnacle, 229; ac- 
 count of the Canadian goose, ib. n. ; the spur winged 
 goose, 230, n. 
 
 Goose, solan. See Gannet. 
 
 Goose kind, characteristics of the, ii. 222; bill, ib.; food, 
 ib.; fecundity, ib.; flesh, ib.; domestication, 223. 
 
 Gooseander, account of the, ii. 222 and n. 
 
 Goosehawk, a species of falcon, ii. 46, n. 
 
 Gottenburge, in Sweden, cataract near, i. 81. 
 
 Gouan, Mr, his classification of spinous fishes, ii. 294 
 307. 
 
 Graaf, his investigation of the growth of animals in the 
 womb, i. 1 57. 
 
 Grampus, how distinguished, ii. 264; its agility, 265. 
 
 Grass/toper, account of the, ii. <l75 478. 
 
 Gragling, fish, ii. 303, n. and 321, n. 
 
 Gravitation, account of the nature and effects of the 
 attraction of, i. 3, 5, n. ; Sir Isaac Newton's great dis- 
 covery on this subject, ib. 
 
 Grebe, analogies of the bird, to the web-footed and 
 crane class, ii. 198; account of the bird, 198. 219, n. ; 
 use of its skin, 199. 
 
 Greenlanders, c. described, i. 209; their pride, 211; 
 hardihood, ib. 
 
 4 N 
 
650 
 
 NDEX. 
 
 Greyhound. Sec D<y. 
 
 Groundling* or Loach, ii. 321. 
 
 Grouse, and its affinities, ii. 77; numerous species in 
 North America, Ib., n.; European grouse, ib. ; the 
 cock of the wood, or capercailzie, formerly plentiful 
 in Scotland, now extinct, 78 and n.\ description of its 
 habits, ib.; endeavours to restore it to Scotland, 70, 
 n. ; the black grouse, or black cock, ib. ; the red 
 grouse, or mail-fowl, ib. ; the white grouse, or ptar- 
 migan, 80, n.; tlie rock grouse, ib.; the sand grouse, 
 ib.; the heteroclitus grouse, ib.; the cock of the plain, 
 ib. 
 
 Growth of the human body traced, i. 162; of the mind, 1G3, 
 164. 
 
 drulis, account of various kinds of, ii. 543 546, n. 
 
 Guan, a bird of the poultry kind, described, ii. 72, n. 
 
 Guanc/ies, their method of embalming, i. 225. 
 
 Gudgeon, the, noticed, ii. '20,5; how fished for, 321, n. 
 
 GmKa, a kind of gazelle, i. 310. 
 
 Guillemot, a sea bird, described, ii. 219, n.} the black 
 guillemot, ib. 
 
 Guinea Pig, its country, i. 446; the animal described, 
 ib. ; its helplessness, ib.; domesticated, ib.; habits 
 and food in that state, ib.; cleanliness, 447; manner of 
 sleeping, ib.; salacity and generation of the, ib.; con- 
 tentions of the, ib.; timidity, ib.; is tamed, ib.; grunt 
 of the, ib.; flesh of the, ib. 
 
 Gulls, characteristics of the class, ii. 201 and 21 2, .; of 
 the smaller kind, 210, 21 1 ; haunts, 212; sublimity of 
 the scenes in which they often appear, ib., 213; con- 
 tests while breeding, 213; nests and eggs, ib.; the 
 birds how taken, 214; varieties, 210. 
 
 Gurnard, properties of the fish, ii. 298. 
 
 GymnotitSj or Electric Eel, account of the, ii. 279, n., and 
 
 II 
 
 Haddock, a species of cod, described, ii. 300, n. 
 
 Hcemorrhois, a viper, why so called, ii. 423. 
 
 ff off-fish, or Borer, a species of lamprey, ii. 282, n. 
 
 Hull, how produced, i. 130, and 131, n.\ storm in Hert- 
 fordshire, 1697, description of the, J32; of the one in 
 France, 1510, ib. 
 
 Hair of the human head contributes to beauty, i. 169; 
 different modes of wearing the, ib., .; what fails 
 soonest, ib.; its diversities, 169; structure, ib., and 
 .; colour, ib.; in different nations, ib.; its relation to 
 temperament, ib., 170; effect of the atmosphere on, 
 ib., .; practices of different nations with respect to, 
 172, 173. 
 
 Hairs of different animals microscopically examined, ii. 
 bOo. 
 
 Halcyon, the king-fisher, ii. 237; fables and poems con- 
 cerning the, 238. 
 
 Hallcy's theory to explain the constant cast winds near 
 the tropics, i. 121. 
 
 Halo round the moon, i. 136. 
 
 Hamster, name given by Buffon to the German rat, i. 
 454; the anomalous hamster, 455, n. 
 
 Hand, the connection between the hand and intellect, 
 i. 202. 
 
 Hare, its adaptation for flight and swiftness, i. 427; de- 
 scription of the common hare, the Irish hare, and the 
 white hare, 428, 429, n.; its numerous enemies, 429; 
 fertility, 430 ; extraordinary arrangement for this, ib. ; 
 treatment of young, ib.; food, ib.; sleep, ib.; pairing, 
 ib. ; motion in flight, ib.; age, 431 ; voice, ib.; instincts 
 for self-preservation, ib.; shifts to escape, 432; their 
 furs, 433; effect of heat on the, ib.; flesh of the, by 
 what nations not eaten, ib.; by what esteemed, ib.; 
 
 decrease of numbers, 434; Cowper's description of 
 three hares which he domesticated, 430432, n.\ 
 
 ,l:il'. lt__ . r> i* t* i , 
 
 tion of their lips, ib.; prolific propagation, ib 
 tfarfang, great Hudson's Bay owl, ii. 55. 
 Ifarner, the, described, i. 391, 393. 
 
 - a species of falcon, ii. 49,7?.; marsh -harriers, 
 
 10. .; hen harrier, 50, n.; ash-coloured harrier, ib., n. 
 Hart. Sec Stay. 
 
 Ifarret/s theory of generation, i. 151. 
 
 Haidiing Eygs, artificial method of, i. 154, n. 
 
 Hatfield Chuee, in Yorkshire, reduced to cultivation, i. 1 01 . I 
 
 Hawk, the, and hawking, ii. 44. Sec Falcon, Falconry, I 
 Goshairk, and Spcirrowhaick. 
 
 Hau'k-nwths, account of, ii. 499 501, n. 
 
 Head, state of, in man at birth, i. 162. 
 
 Heanttff) i. 195; errors to which liable, ib.; its object I 
 sound, ib. ; defects of, 199; inequality of, with differ- I 
 ent ears, ib.; necessity of, to man, ib.; how the sense I 
 of, supplied in birds, ii. 5. 
 
 Heat of atmosphere, variation of, in descending mines, i. I 
 36; causes of this, ib. ; its effects on water, 69; pro- I 
 duces a noxious quality in the air, 111. 
 
 Hecla, volcano of, i. 42. 
 
 Hedyehorj, characteristics of the species, i. 461 ; prickles I 
 of the, 462; harmlcssncss, ib.; varieties, ib.; method 
 of defence, ib., 463; habits and food, 463; habits in a 
 tame state, described by Buffon, ib. ; propagation, I 
 ib.; blood, ib.; said to be proof against poison, ib. n.\ 
 
 Srey or live on animals, ib.; anecdotes of, 464, n.; sea, 
 iscriminated, ii. 291 ; hedgehog's quills, as seen under 
 the microscope, 602. 
 
 Helmo. See Fires of St Hehno. 
 
 Hen, hatching of the, and number of its eggs, ii. 62; af- 
 fection for her chickens, 63. 
 
 Guinea or Barbary, ii. 79. See Pintado. 
 
 water, account of the, ii. 197, 198. 
 
 Hermaphrodites, all snails such, ii. 360; sea snails pecu- 
 liar, 362; bivalve shell-fish, 365. 
 
 Hermits, abstinence and long life of several, i. 186. 
 
 Herodotus, his description of the Egyptian method of 
 embalming, i. 224. 
 
 Heron, the, distinguished from the crane and stork, ii. 
 180 182, and n.; the common heron described, 181, I 
 .; its habits, ib.; how taken, 182, .; the night he- 
 ron, ib.; the crested purple heron, ib. ; crab eaters j 
 and egrets, ib. ; varieties, 182; the common purple, 
 ib. ; heron hawking, 183; prey of the, ib. ; flesh of the, 
 esteemed in France, 184; heronries, ib.; longevity of 
 the, ib. 
 
 Herring, the, characterised, ii. 303; where chiefly found, 
 310; why it migrates, ib.; destructive enemies of the, 
 ib. ; progress of the phalanx of the, ib. ; arrival on our 
 coasts, 31 1 ; its columns, ib.; detachments, ib.; whe- 
 ther any return, ib.; frequents a favourite bank for 
 many years, and then seeks another, ib. ; general ac- 
 count of its habitudes, 311 313, n.; mode of taking 
 and curing herring, 3 1 3, n. ; the Dutch herring fishery, 
 314,??. 
 
 Hiera, a new island, i. 53; lias increased, 54. 
 
 Himantopus genus of infusoria, ii. 634. 
 
 Hind) female of the stag, i. 219; her cry, 321 ; courage 
 and sagacity, 322. 
 
 Hippocampus, a fish, account of the, ii. 290. 
 
 Hippopotamus, description of the, i. 532; head of the, 
 ib., n. ; haunts, ib.; manner of life and prey, 533; 
 strength, ib.; manner of escape, ib.; flesh uf the, ib.; 
 propagation, ib. ; where found, 534. 
 
 Hoanko, river in China, i. 77; receives thirty-five rivers, 
 80. 
 
 Hoar-frost, what, 5. 130. 
 
 Hobby, a species of hawk, ii. 45, n. 
 
 Hog kind, animals of the, their distinguishing properties, 
 i. 342; hunting the wild hog in India, 343, n.: hog 
 trained as a pointer, 345, n. ; domestic breeds of swine, 
 346, n.', flesh of swine unwholesome in hot climates, 
 ib. 
 
 Holibut, flat fish, described, ii. 301, n. 
 
 Holland, gained from the sea, i. 98; inroads of the sen 
 on, ib., n. 
 
 Honey. See Bee. 
 
 Honey -dew, notice of, i. 131, n. 
 
 Hooded Serpent, account of the, ii. 423426. See Co- 
 bra. 
 
 Hooper, the wild swan, why so called, ft 226. 
 
 Hoopoes, birds resembling woodpeckers, it. 108, . 
 
 Horns, Hoofs, and Nails* microscopic examination of, 
 ii. 602. 
 
 Horse, its relative station, i. 245; its beauty, ib.; where 
 found in native state, ib.; habits when in droves, ib.; 
 its original country, 246; American, ib. ; Tartar wild 
 horses, ib.; African, ib.; Arabian, ib.; Arabian tamed 
 horse, 247; diffusion of the Arabian breed of the, 
 248; liarbary horse, ib. ; horse racing at Rome, ib., r. ; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 651 
 
 Persian, 24P and n. ; Kalian, D.-mish, &o. 2.*>0; French, 
 described, ih. and n. ; German, ib. n.; tame of Amer- 
 ica, '2.51 ; Avild horses of South America, ib. n.; of the 
 Archipelago, ib.; of Media, 252; India, ib. andw.; one 
 presented to our Queen, described, ib. ; of Guinea, 
 ib. ; of China, ib. ; Tartars live with their, ib. ; Gre- 
 cian, 253; English, ib. ; swiftness of the, ib. ; Flying 
 Childers, ib. n. ; English hunting, '2.54 ; number of, in 
 England at different times, ib.; different breeds of 
 horses in Britain, ib. n.; coach-horse, ib. ; draught 
 horses, 25.5, n. ; cavalry horses, ib.; race horse,ib.; the 
 hunter, 256, n. ; the Galloway, ib. ; the Welsh pony, 
 ib.; the Exmoor pony, 257, n. ; the Highland pony, 
 ib.; the Shetland pony, ib.; the Irish horse, ib. ; in- 
 structions for purchasing horses, ib. and 258, n.\ des- 
 cription of a perfect, ib. 
 
 Hotbntots, their encounters with the lion, i. 361. 
 
 Houtou, a bird of South America, ii. 166, n. 
 
 Houiet, a kind of owl, ii. 55. 
 
 Iluber, his experiments on bees, ii. 516. 
 
 Hudson, name given by Buffon to the Urson, i. 467. 
 
 Human Semen, animalcules in, ii. 638. 
 
 I lumber, an island formed at the mouth of the, i. 56. 
 
 /fumble Lee, an account of the, ii. 525; its cells, 526;' fe- 
 males, ib.; method of putting the colony into motion, 
 ib. 
 
 Humming bird, beauty of the colours of the, ii. 1 65 and 
 )>.; varieties, 1 0'7; the, described, ib. and n. ; visits 
 flowers, whether it extracts honey from them, ib.; 
 bar-tailed humming bird, 168, n.; topaz throated 
 humming bird, 169, n. ; account of its nest, ib.; of the 
 nest in America, 170; disappears in the winter, in 
 cold climates, ib. ; note of the, ib. ; plumage, ib. 
 
 Hunger, causes and consequences of, i. 1 84, n. 
 
 Hunting, American horses, how employed in 3 i. 251. 
 
 Hurricane, description of the, i. 125. 
 
 Huso sturgeon, account of the, ii. 285; its isinglass, ib. 
 
 HiitRna, distinguished from the wolf, 408 and n.; its 
 fierceness, 409; cry or moan, ib.; a solitary animal, 
 410; dispositions of the, ib.; fables concerning the, ib. 
 the stripped hycena described, 408, n.; spotted hyaena 
 described, 409, n. ; found in a fossil state in Britain, ib. 
 
 Hydras, reptiles so called, ii. 431, n. 
 
 Hydrostatics See JFufer paradoxes in, i. 71 ; metals, 
 
 . how weighed hydrostatically, 72; laws of hydrostatics 
 71,72. 
 
 Ibex, the, supposed by Buffon to be the source of the 
 goat, i. 303; their resemblance, ib.; described, ib. n. ; 
 Abyssinian ibex, ib.; Caucasian ibex, ib.; -ffigagrus, 
 ib. 
 
 Ibis, venerated by the Egyptians, ii. 1 78 and n. ; char- 
 acteristics of the genus, ib. .; the scarlet ibis, ib. 
 and 1 79, . 
 
 Ice, i. 69; its elasticity, 70; mountains and sheets of, at 
 the polar regions, 88; how formed, ib.; of what com- 
 posed, ib. : mountain ice, description of, 89; Crantz's 
 account of the formation of, ib. 
 
 Ichneumon, the, where found, i. 419; its size, shape, and 
 colour, ib. ; agility and courage, ib. andw.; its prey, 
 420 and n. ; destroys the crocodile's eggs, ib. ; fables 
 concerning, ib. ; its habitudes, ib. ; physiognomy, ib. ; 
 glands, ib.; account of one sent from Ceylon, 420; 
 veneration of the Egyptians for the, ib. 
 
 Ichneumon fly, the, inserts its eggs into the grasshopper, 
 ii. 534, 611; into the caterpillar, ib. ; its formidable 
 nature, ib.; whence the name, ib.; the, described, 
 ib. ; its weapon of offence, &c. ib.; manner of depos- 
 iting its eggs, ib.; progress to the fly state, ib.; its 
 uses. 535; wing of, 617. 
 
 I<jnis Fatuus, notice of the, i. 1 34, n. 
 
 Iguana, size and description of the, ii. 402; common 
 American iguana, ib. n.\ the slate coloured iguana, 
 403, n. ; the horned iguana, ib. ; the iguana fasciata, 
 ib.; how taken and killed by the Americans, ib. 
 
 Illusions, meteoric, i. 1 39, 1 40. 
 
 Imaijo orjli/ state of insects, ii. 613. 
 
 Incubation of birds, account of the, ii. 7. 
 
 Indians, American, how -they palliate hunger, i. 186; 
 their method of charming serpents, described by 
 Philostratus, ii. 415. 
 
 Indicator or honey-guide cuckoo, ii. 1 1 3, n. 
 
 Indus, tides at the mouth of the, i. 92. 
 
 Infancy of man, history of the, i. 160; sensations during, 
 161; vivacity of negroes during, ib.; infants when 
 newly born, their appearance, ib.; their voracity, 162; 
 endurance of hunger, ib.; their life precarious, ib. ; 
 their growth, 163; progress of their understanding, 
 163, 164. 
 
 Infusions for production of animalcules, ii. 624. 
 
 Infusoria, fossil, ii. 593. 
 
 Insects, Blumen bach's description of, ii. 436 438, n.; 
 Swammerdam's notions of their dignity, 437; their 
 real imperfection in formation, 438; instincts, ib.; 
 utility, ib.; their numbers uninstructible, ib.; defini- 
 tion of insects, 439; numerous distinctions among, ib. : 
 similitudes among, ib.; classification of, 440; sketch 
 of the history of, 440 442, n.; Lamarck's classifica- 
 tion of, 442 447, .; fossil remains of, ii. 593: struc- 
 ture and transformation of insects, 607; then: eggs, ib.; 
 microscopical insects, 620. 
 
 Instinct, discovered in the incubation of birds, ii. 12. 
 
 Inundation of rivers, different effects of, i. 81 ; diurnal 
 ib.; of the sea, 99. 
 
 Isatis, the, compared with the dog and fox, i. 408; cli- 
 mates in which found, ib.; change of colour with the 
 year, ib. 
 
 Isinglass, from what kind of sturgeon furnished, ii. 2/4, 
 285; its uses, 285; how prepared, ib.; commerce in, 
 ib. 
 
 Islands, new, i. 53; islands formed by rivers, 56; disap- 
 peared, ib. 
 
 Ivory, the commerce in, an account of the, i. 527. 
 
 Jabiru, a large bird of the crane kind, ii. 179; the Jabiru 
 guacu. discriminated, 180 and n. 
 
 Jackal, a species widely diffused, i. 406; its habits, 407; 
 
 packs of the, ib.; manner of hunting, ib. ; followed by 
 
 beasts of prey, ib.; its antipathy to the dog, ib.; cry 
 
 of the jackal, described, 408, n. 
 Jackdaw, account of the, ii. 93. 
 Jaculus of America, a swift serpent, ii. 423. 
 Jaguar of America, distinguished from the panther, i. 
 
 374, n.; description of the, ib. 
 
 uake in, 1692, i. 50; meteoric phenom- 
 
 Jamaica, earthqn 
 ena there, 135. 
 
 Japan, volcanoes in, 44; Japanese tribe, described, 21 1. 
 
 Jaw, human, motion of the upper, and under, i. 170; 
 position of the under in different ages and nations, 
 ib. 
 
 Jay, description of the, ii. 98; common jay, ib. n.', red- 
 billed jay, ib. ; blue jay, ib. 
 
 Jeffery, little, a dwarf, i. 220. 
 
 Jenisca, river in Tartary, i. 77. 
 
 Jenkins, his longevity, i. 206. 
 
 Jerboa, an animal between the kangaroo and rat, ac- 
 count of the, i. 455, n. and 559, 560. 
 
 Jevraska, the marmout in Siberia, i. 444. 
 
 Jucatan, a peninsula, left by the sea, i. 98. 
 
 Jugular fisli, what, ii. 294; prickly-fmned, 295; soft- fin- 
 ned, 3UO. 
 
 K 
 
 Kabassou, kind of armadillo, i. 471. 
 
 Kangaroo, discovered by Sir Joseph Banks, in New 
 South Wales, i. 560; description of the, ib. n. 
 
 Kermes, the insect, where produced, ii. 551 ; female des- 
 cribed, ib.; the male, ib.; how prepared, ib. 
 
 Keronct genus of infusoria, ii. 634 
 
 Kettering stone, examination of, ii. 592. 
 
 Kcstril, a species of falcon, ii. 45, n. 
 
 Kevel, a kind of gazelle, i. 308. 
 
 Kiny-fishfr, its appetites and beauty, ii. 237 and n. ; the 
 bird described, ib. ; its rapacity and activity in 
 seizing its prey, ib ; fables and poems with respect 
 to its power of allaying a storm, ib. ; nest of the bird, 
 described, 238; female and young, 238, 239. 
 
 Kite, the, a kind of hawk, ii. 48; localities and habits, 
 ib., ., and 49. 
 
652 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Kitten, its playfulness, i. 3">7; laws of Howel about the 
 
 price of a, 358. 
 
 Klein, his method of classifying animals, i. 233. 
 Kob, and Kolxi, two kinds of gazelles, i. 308. 
 Kolpoda genus of infusoria, ii. 631. 
 Koomkee, or female elephant, how employed in hunting 
 
 the male, i. 524. 
 
 Labrus, a prickly-finned fish, notice of the, ii. 296. 
 
 fakes, i. 75. 
 
 Lamprey, characteristics of the, ii. 280, n.; the marine 
 lamprey, 281, n.; the river lamprey, ib. ; that at pre- 
 sent served up among the Italians, '280; account of 
 those known among us, 281 ; the fish described, ib.; 
 its manner of swimming, ib.; its adhesive quality, 
 282; mucus, ib.; spawn, ib.; short life, ib.; how taken, 
 283; esteemed among the ancients, ib. 
 
 Lamprey-pie, one presented at Christmas by the city of 
 Gloucester to the king, ii. 283. 
 
 Land-breezes, i. 128. 
 
 Lands, new, formed by the sea, i. 97, 98. 
 
 Lapland, the country of the rein-deer, described, i. 336; 
 rein-deer, chief riches of the natives of, ib. ; their me- 
 thod of defending the rein-deer from its enemies, ib., 
 337; their method of spending the winter with the 
 rein-deer, 337; their comfortable life, 338; their pro- 
 fit from the misfortunes of the squirrel, 439 ; draw 
 omens from the contests of the leming, 457; the people 
 described, 209, 2 10. 
 
 Lapicing, or Peeicit, described, ii. 194, n. ; green lap- 
 wing, ib. 
 
 Lark, song of the, what it depends on for its agreeable 
 nature, ii. 150 152, and n. ; its nest, 152; female, ib.; 
 habits in winter, ib.; the crested lark, 150, n.', the 
 wood lark, ib. ; the short-toed lark, ib.; the clapper 
 lark, ib. ; the red-backed lark, ib. ; the Alpine lark, 
 151, .; the double-crested lark, ib. 
 
 L'tn-a, or Caterpillar state of Insects, ii. 608; larva of 
 musca chamelion, ib.; of British hydrophilus, 609. 
 
 Laughter, how produced, i. 171 and n. 
 
 Launce, a soft-finned fish, ii. 299. 
 
 Lawrence, St, course of the, i. 80; cataract of the, 82. 
 
 Leaf -cutting Bees. See Bee. 
 
 Leaves of plants as seen by the microscope, ii. 599; of 
 stinging nettles, 600. 
 
 Leech, the, its class, ii. 467; the medicinal leech, ib. n.', 
 the useless varieties, 468; that used in medicine, ib.; 
 its description, ib. ; its internal construction, 469; 
 breathes through the mouth, ib.; viviparous, ib. ; size 
 in America, ib.; how leeches should be applied, ib.; 
 the h- leech, 468, n. 
 
 Legs of quadrupeds, i. 238; of insects, 616. 
 
 Leming, boldness and numbers of the, i. 456; propaga- 
 tion, 457 ; manner of its migration in troops, ib. ; de- 
 stroy one another, ib.; their contests considered omi- 
 nous by the Laplanders, ib. ; propagation, ib. ; flesh,ib. 
 
 Lemurs, a group of quadrumanous "animals, described, 
 51 1, n. 
 
 distinguished from the panther, i. 376 and n.; 
 of P'-negal described, ib.; Chetah, or hunting 
 .v.^para, h/8, . 
 
 Lepudogaster, the fish, described, ii. 299. 
 
 Lepisma, the, ii. 621. 
 
 Lerot, a kind of dormouse, i. 453. 
 
 Letters, what most easily pronounced by infants, i. 163. 
 
 Leucophra genus of infusoria, ii. 632. 
 
 LeuvxnhoccVs theory of generation,!. 151; his discovery 
 of the seminal animals, ii. 638. 
 
 , . , size of the, 
 
 429; habits of the, 430. 
 Lichens, seen under the microscope, ii. 601. 
 Lidme, a kind of gazelle, i. 309. 
 Life, destroyed by withdrawing the air, i. 110; dura- 
 
 tion of, in an animal, how it may be determined, 205; 
 
 prolonged by management, ib.; by what affected, 
 
 206,207; love of, in man, 207, 208; its cessation, 208. 
 //, how produced, i. 130; phenomena of, 133, n. 
 Limpet, a small shell fish, ii. 3fi9. 
 Ling, a species of cod, described, ii. 300, n 
 
 Limueus, his classification of animals, i. 223; of fishes, H. 
 293. 
 
 Linnet, description of the, ii. 158, .; identity of the red 
 and gray linnet, ib. 
 
 Lion, the, affected by climate, i. 3GO; description of the, 
 361, n.\ courage of the, 362, .; anecdotes of the, ib.; 
 lion of Africa and mount Atlas, 361 ; their number 
 diminished, ib. ; how attacked by the Hottentots, ib. ; 
 boldness of the African, 362; feebleness of the Indian^ 
 ib.; disposition of the, ib., 363; outward form, hair, 
 muscles, &c., 364; mane, ib.; imperfection of sight 
 and smell, ib. ; method of seizing his prey, 365; iion 
 hunting in Africa, ib., n. ; roar and action, when furi- 
 ous, 365 ; combat with the wild boar, 366 ; rencoun- 
 ters with lions in South Africa, 366, n.; action Avhen 
 pursued, 367 ; its desperate sallies, ib. ; their combats 
 for the female, ib. ; the lioness, 368 ; their age, ib. ; 
 attachment of the female to the young, ib. ; the, of 
 Bildulgerid, ib. ; none in America, ib. ; Aristophanes' 
 advice with respect to trusting the lion, ib. 
 
 Lion-ant, account of the, ii. 472 475, and n. 
 
 Lion, sea, described by Anson, a kind of seal, i. 486. 
 
 Lips, human, their expression, i. 1 70. 
 
 Lisbon, earthquake at, i. 49, n., and 50. 
 
 Lilhophytes, account of, ii. 570. 
 
 Liltorales, shell fish cast on shore, ii. 355, 356. 
 
 Lizard kind, opinions of naturalists concerning their 
 rank in nature, ii. 391; differences among the tribe 
 of the, ib.; colours, ib.; figure various, ib.; distinc- 
 tion from the manner of bringing forth the young, 
 392; three classes thus formed, ib.; distinguishing 
 properties of the, ib. ; beauty of some, 402: the flying, 
 of Java, 405 ; the Chalcidian, the step between the 
 lizard and the serpent, ib. ; the variegated lizard, 404, 
 n.\ the green lizard, ib. ; the nimble lizard, 405, n.\ 
 the sand lizard, ib.; the frilled lizard, ib.; lizards in 
 general, 433, n. 
 
 Llama, the camel of the new world, i. 540 and n. ; co- 
 lours of the, 541 and n. ; habitation, 542 and n. ; size 
 and description, ib. ; usefulness of the, to the Ameri- 
 can Indians, ib. and n. ; description of the, in the 
 wild state, ib. 
 
 Loach, the, described, ii. 304. 
 
 Lobster insect, ii. 621, 622. 
 
 resemblance of the, to the crab,ii. 327 ; manner in 
 
 which it casts its shell, ib., n., and 328, 329, n. ; descrip- 
 tion of the, ib.; the ovary and young, ib. ; its food, 
 328; changes the shell once a year, ib.; how per- 
 formed, 329; state after change, 330; eats its own 
 stomach and shell, ib. ; concretion, within its body, 
 ib.; sudden increase of size, 331 ; contests, ib.; the 
 loss of a claw repaired, ib. ; the extraordinary proper- 
 ties of the animal enumerated, ib. ; varieties, ib.; how 
 taken, ib. 
 
 Lochatce, great gray trout of, ii. 302, n. ; how angled for, 
 323, n. 
 
 Locust, account of the, ii. 479 481 ; number of locusts, 
 480, n. ; their ravages, ib. ; mode of dispersing them. ib. 
 
 Loggerhead Turtles, described, ii. 342. 
 
 Loir, a kind of dormouse, i. 453. 
 
 London, number who die in, of destitution, i. 185. 
 
 Longevity, causes of, i. 205, 206; instances of, 206 and n. ; 
 of the patriarchs, 207; why diminished, ib. 
 
 Lori, its singular figure, i. 510. 
 
 Loricaria, account of the fish, ii. 301. 
 
 Lories, a species of parrots, ii. 114; purple-capped lory, 
 119, n. 
 
 Lorikeet, blue-bellied, ii. Jl9, n. 
 
 Louse, account of the. ii. 456 461, and n.: wood-louse, 
 463. 
 
 Luminous appearance of the waves by night, i. 89, 90. 
 
 Luminous Insects, account of, ii. 548 550, n. 
 
 Lump-fish, the, account of, ii. 289 ; where found, ib. 
 
 Lynx, Ray's mistake concerning the, i. 379 ; distinguished 
 from the panther kind, ib.; described, ib., n. ; where- 
 found, 383; method of taking its prey, ib.; its eyes, 
 bad memory, &c., ib. 
 
 Lyre bird, or Menura, ii. 110, n. 
 
 M 
 
 Mataguo, a kind of monkey, i. 505, 51 1 , n. 
 Macaw, the great green, ii. 1 17, . 
 
INDEX. 
 
 653 
 
 Mackarel, the fish noticed, ii. 296 ; account of its habits 
 
 and the mode of taking it, ib., n. 
 M-Launn, Professor, his jaw said to be dislocated by 
 
 yawning, i. 170. 
 Madness t case of, caused by music, i. 197; one cured by 
 
 music, 191). 
 Maelstroom, a dreadful whirlpool, description of the, i. 
 
 Maastricht, stone-quarry of, its size and beauty, i. 32. 
 Magellan, his voyage, and discovery of giants, i. 222, 
 
 Magot or Barbary ape, i. 498, n. 
 
 Mai /pie, general characters of the tribe, ii. 96; descrip- 
 tion of the, 97 ; insolence of the, ib. ; food, ib. ; archi- 
 tecture, of its nest, ib.; its character in the tame 
 state, ib. 
 
 Mahometans, their treatment of women, i. 165; of their 
 wives, l(i(). 
 
 Maid and Magpie, a drama, its origin, ii. 97. 
 
 Mahnon, a kind of baboon, noticed,!. 501. 
 
 M'i/ci, a kind of monkey, described, i. 509. 
 
 Malacopterigii, sofc-finned fish, ii. 294; varieties speci- 
 fied, 199 304. 
 
 Malbrouk, a kind of monkey, i. 505, 506 and n. 
 
 Mulpighi and Haller, their examination of the progress 
 of vivification in the egg, i. 156. 
 
 Mammoth, tusks of the, where found, i. 528; skeletons 
 of the, ib. ; diversities of the, ib. 
 
 Man, nature of his powers,!. 144; history of, in the 
 womb, 1,57; in infancy, 160; in puberty, 165; in man- 
 hood, 167; his shape, ib. ; features, 167 176; figure, 
 176; size, ib.; weight, 177; strength, 177183; ana- 
 tomy of the human body, 181, n.; his necessities, 183; 
 
 of food, ib. ; of sleep, 187; senses of, 191 ; old age and 
 , 204; various races of, 209; varieties of the 
 
 death, 
 
 human race, 213, n.; different colours of the, 21.5,.; 
 his conquest of the lower animals, 236; his influence 
 over, 240, 241. 
 
 M<oiati,the link between quadrupeds and fishes, i. 487; 
 described, ib.; tail like a fish, ib.; organs, ib. ; where 
 found, ib.; propagation, ib.; fat and flesh, 486. 
 
 Munchineel apple, a deadly poison, ii. 324; whether it 
 infects the fishes of the seas about it, ib. 
 
 Mangabey, a kind of monkey, i. 506, and n. 
 
 Manril, a kind of baboon, described, i. 500. 
 
 Marana, of the ancients, whether the lamprey, ii. 281 ; 
 celebrated at Rome, 283; dreadful manner in which 
 a senator fed the, ib. 
 
 Marmose, a kind of opossum, i. 514; peculiarity in its 
 pouch, 515. 
 
 Marmout,& species of the, i. 441 and n.; analogies to 
 the hare, ib.; its head, hair, and claws, 442; where 
 found, ib. ; its antipathy to the dog, ib. ; its habits 
 when domesticated, ib. ; its food, ib. ; and flesh, ib. ; 
 extraordinary suspension of animation in the, for 
 more than half the year, ib. ; its retreat for this pur- 
 pose described, 443; the watchfulness of the, when 
 abroad, ib. ; the lodging of the, how rendered conven- 
 ient, ib.; their abode secured, ib.; in what condition 
 it reposes, ib. ; account of the torpor in which it con- 
 tinues, ib.; breeding of the, 444; countries, and 
 names in different, ib. ; 
 
 Marikina, monkey, i. 509. 
 
 Marsupiata, or pouched animals, account of the class of, 
 i. 511 and 511 513, n. 
 
 Martin, its size, characteristics and beauty, i. 417; 
 described, ib. ; the yellow-breasted, described, ib. ; its 
 graceful motions, &c. ib.; formidable to animals 
 larger than itself, ib. ; account of one kept by Buffon, 
 418; where the varieties of, found, ib.; method of 
 taking its prey, ib.; its nest, litter, &c. ib. ; care of the 
 young, ib. ; country, ib.; skin, furs, and the commerce 
 in them, ib. ; the guinea martin and woolly martin 
 described, ib. n. 
 
 Mastiff, the, described, i. 392 and n. 
 
 Mavis or sony thrush, ii. 139, n.. 
 
 May-bug, the, described, ii. 542, 543 and n. 
 
 Maximin the emperor, his size, strength, feats, and for- 
 tune, i. 180. 
 
 Mediterranean sea, its remarkable currents,!. 93; opinion 
 concerning, ib. ; how replenished, ib.; its terrors di- 
 minished, 94. 
 
 Medusa or sea-nettle, ii. 375, n. 
 
 Melton Mowbray, a town in Leicestershire, noted as a 
 fox-hunting station, i. 404, n. 
 
 Membranes, effect of age on the membranes of the body, 
 i. 205. 
 
 Mendip mines, putrefying atmosphere in, i. 36. 
 
 Menura or Lyre bird, ii. 1 10, n. 
 
 Merlin, a species of falcon, ii. 46, n. 
 
 Meteors or atmospheric phenomena, i. 1 28 ; remarkable at 
 the pools, 132 ; at the tropics, 133 ; at Jamaica, 134 ; 
 at Quito, 135; seen at Bononia, ib.; beautiful, seen at 
 Quito, ib.; meteors of the polar regions, 136 139; 
 meteoric illusions, 139. 
 
 Meteorolites or falling stones, account of, i. 141 , n. 
 
 Mico, a kind of monkey, i. 509; one described, ib. 
 
 Microscope, its value to the natural historian, ii. 587; 
 Baker's remarks therein, 587, 588; recent improve- 
 ment of the instrument and the result", 588. 
 
 Microscopic Discovery, ii. 587 et seq.; in the mineral 
 kingdom, 588 595; in the vegetable kingdom, 595 
 602; in the animal kingdom, 602 et seq. 
 
 Microscopical Inquiry concerning the minute formations 
 and phenomena of the natural world, ii. 587 622. 
 
 Migration of birds, an account of the, ii. 14; observations 
 on the supposed analogy between migratory and 
 hybernating animals, 16. 
 
 Miller's Thumb or bull head fish, ii. 298 and 320, n. 
 
 Milo, his strength, i. 180. 
 
 Mi/ton, his description of the first sensations of Adam 
 alluded to, i. 202; a parallel to, by Buffon, 202204; 
 his notion of the cormorant vindicated, ii. 207. 
 
 Mind, growth of the human, i. 163. 
 
 Mineral Kingdom, discoveries therein by the microscope, 
 ii. 588595; congelation, 588; of water, ib.; star-like 
 figures produced by congelation of saline fluid, ib. ; 
 crystalline figures observed on windows, 589; flakes 
 of snow, their various forms, ib.; crystallization, ib.; 
 distinction between congelation and crystallization, 
 ib.; figures of crystals and their primitive forms, ib.; 
 Hooke's suggestion regarding the formations of crys- 
 tals, ib.; a more recent theory, ib.; actual crystalliza- 
 tion under the microscope, ib. ; crystals of common 
 salt, ib.; their formation, ib.; other crystalline struc- 
 tures of salt, 590; method of bringing the crystalliz- 
 ing process under microscopic revieAV, ib. ; various 
 chemical experiments exhibiting the crystallizing 
 process under the microscope, ib. ; active molecules 
 of matter, 59 1 ; how to be observed, ib. ; nature of 
 their motion, ib. ; singular appearances presented by 
 solution of camphor in turpentine, ib.; theory of 
 molecular activity thence derived, ib.> Ores and 
 minerals, examination of, 592; sands, different kinds 
 of, ib.; particles of- the precious stones, ib.; Leuwen- 
 hoeck's examination of a diamond, ib.; diamonds dis- 
 covered in flint, ib. ; cavities in gems and mineral 
 bodies, ib.; the two new and singular fluids discover- 
 ed therein, ib.; inferior minerals," ib.; kettering stone, 
 ib. ; minute globules of steel produced by friction of 
 flint and steel, 593; minute petrifactions and fossil 
 remainsjib. ; Pritchard's remarks thereon, ib. ; insects, 
 fossil remains of, ib.; a singular instance, ib.; Ehren- 
 berg's discoveries of fossil infusoria, ib.; objections 
 thereto anticipated and answered, 593, 594; how 
 layers of rock may be found by accumulation of in- 
 fusorial remains, 594; Ehrenberg's demonstrative ex- 
 periments, ib. ; vegetable fossil remains of, ib. ; Prit- 
 chard's remarks thereon, ib. ; microscopic examina- 
 tion of fossil woods, 595; the results, ib. 
 
 Mines, i. 35; depth of, ib.; noxious atmosphere in, 36. 
 See Damp and Gas. 
 
 Minnows, notice of the, ii. 321. 
 
 Mire-drum or bittern, account of the, ii. 184. 
 
 Missel thrush, ii. 139, n. 
 
 Mississippi, course of the, i. 80. 
 
 Mitchell, James, born blind and deaf, case of, i. 200, 
 . 
 
 Mocking bird, American, ii. 143, n., and 146; Barrington 
 and Wilson's description of, 1 46, n. 
 
 Mococo, a beautiful monkey, its appearance and habi- 
 tudes, i. 509,510. 
 
 Modena, country round, remarkable composition of the 
 layers of earth there, i. 100. 
 
 Mole, the, described, i. 457 460 ; its country, ib. ; un- 
 known in Ireland, ib.; its legs, teeth and tongue, 460; 
 adaptation of its form for digging, ib.; its eyes, ib.; 
 its prey, 461 ; sufferings from inundations, ib. ; propa- 
 gation, ib.; abode, ib.; where found, ib.; white ones, 
 ib.; ferocity of the mole, 457, .; moles addicted to 
 
654 
 
 N D E X. 
 
 swimming, 458, w.t use of the mole, ib.; habits of the, 
 1 .">!>, .; shrew-mole, 461, . 
 
 Mofi'ciil.-s nf matter, their activity, ii. 591. 
 
 Molltisca, account of the, ii. 375, ,'576, n., 578585. 
 
 Mona, a monkey, described, i. 506 and n. 
 
 Monad genus of infusoria, ii. 626. 
 
 AfonaXj the marmout, in Canada, i. 4 14. 
 
 Moniioz, a kind of monkey, i. 510, 51 1, n. 
 
 Monitor, a species of crocodile, ii. 393, n. 
 
 Monkey kind, animals of the, their characteristics, i. 48.9 
 491, and n ; varieties in the class, 491; ape, ib. ; 
 baboon, ib.; monkey, ib.; opossum, ib.; monkey, va- 
 rieties of the, numerous, 501 ; their numbers in tro- 
 pical climates, 502; dispositions, ib.; pests of other 
 animals, ib.; contests with the serpent tribe, ib.; en- 
 mity to mankind, 503; with difficulty caught, ib.; 
 pleasure of the Negroes on seeing them killed, ib.; 
 how they injure corn, &c.,ib.; and escape pursuit, 
 ib.; discipline of the, ib.; cry, ib. ; food, 504; propa- 
 gation and care of the young, ib.; amusing when 
 tame, ib. ; Sir Thomas More's, defended rabbits from 
 a weasel, ib.; their care of Father Caili, ib., 505: 
 those of Africa the most entertaining, ib. ; the red of 
 Pennant, its peculiar colour and description, ib. ..; 
 collared white eyelid monkey, 506, n.\ the striated 
 monkey, 508, n.; the Entellus monkey, ib.; monkey 
 tribes of India held in veneration, 509, n. 
 
 Monoculus, or Water-flea, described, ii. 4(i3; the cancroid 
 rnonoculus, ib., .; the four-horned monoculus, ib., 
 620; its eye, ib. 
 
 Monsters, what, described, i. 218; causes of malforma- 
 tion, ib., n.\ account of one by Malebranch, 219; 
 dwarfs, 220; giants, 222. 
 
 Moon, her effect in producing tides, i. 90. 
 
 Moose-deer, American name for the elk, its size, i. 333; 
 the gray, ib.; the black, ib.; largest of the family of 
 deer, ib., n. ; manner of shooting the, 334, n. See Elk. 
 
 Mormyrm, account of the fish, ii. 306. 
 
 Morse, the, its description, i. 487; habits, ib.; numbers 
 decreased, ib.; value of their teeth, ib.; great num- 
 bers killed by the Greenlanders, ib. 
 
 MOSXP.S, microscopic examination of,ii. 600; leaf of bog- 
 moss, 600. 
 
 Motlier-of-pearl Shells, composition of, ii. 96; whence 
 obtained, 98. 
 
 Moths, account of butterflies and moths, ii. 499 505, 
 and n. 
 
 Moufflon, the sheep in a wild state, its character,!. 287, 
 297. See Musmon and Argali. 
 
 MouJ.diness, plants of, as seen by the microscope, ii. 601 . 
 
 Moulting season of birds, account of the, ii. 5. 
 
 Mountains, inequality of their size, i. 57; theories con- 
 cerning, ib., 58 ; uses of, 58 ; appearance of, 59 and n. ; 
 some remarkable, 61 ; the highest, 62; disruptions of, 
 63; snowslips on, 64; swallowed by earthquakes, ib.; 
 height of, how determined by the barometer, 107. 
 
 Mouse, its dispositions, i. 451 ; timidity and enemies, 
 ib.; extraordinary increase of mice in the royal forests, 
 ib.,.; propagation, ib.; fecundity, 452 ; varieties, ib. ; 
 the long-tailed field, described, ib. ; short-tailed field, 
 ib.; white mice, ib., n.; harvest mouse, ib., n.', the 
 shrew, described, 453. 
 
 Moustoc, or Wliite-nosed Monkey, i. 507. 
 
 Mouth, its expression, i. 1 70. 
 
 Mulberry leaves, the best food for the silkworm, ii. 
 
 Mnl,'K, account of, i. 263 and n., 264. 
 
 Mullet, its method of escaping from the seal, i. 486; no- 
 tice of the, 299, 321, . 
 
 Miillns, the fish discriminated, ii. 298. 
 
 Multivalvc, shell-fish, ii. 373. 
 
 Mummies, commerce in, i. 226; supposed medicinal, ib. ; 
 method of searching for, ib., 227 ; in what state found, 
 22(i; account of one dug up at Auvergne, ib., 229; 
 conjectures concerning, 229. 
 
 Afuecardin, a kind of dormouse, i. 453. 
 
 Musde$, human, their strength, i. 177; mi 
 animation of, 602. 
 
 Music, how produced, i. 196; pleasures of, 197; strange 
 instances of the effects of, ib. : case of madness pro- 
 duced by, ib., 198, n.; cured by, ib. ; bite of the 
 tarantula said to be cured by, 198. 
 
 Mud animal, description of, L 316, n., 318; musk, how 
 'I'l.iniM.ib.,,!.; quantity exported from Asia, ib., 
 and !/,.; ^ virtues, ib.; Thebetian musk, 318, .; 
 
 microscopic ex- 
 
 Indirin musk, ib.; Guinea musk, ib.; Ceylon musk, 
 ib.; Brazilian musk, ib. 
 
 Mnxk Bull, account of the, i. 281, n. 
 
 Mask, pigmy, i. 31 1. 
 
 Musmon, a kind of wild sheep, described, i. 297, 298, n. 
 
 Musyuito Fly, where common, ii. 555 and n. 
 
 Mussel, the h'sh and shell, described, ii. 365, n., 366; 
 generation, 367; eggs, ib.; fecundity, ib.; multitudes, 
 ib.: enemies, ib.; afraid of storms, ib.; attaches it- 
 self to rocks by filaments, ib. ; its instrument of mo- 
 tion, ib.: its furrow in the sand, ib.; mussels some- 
 times poisonous, 368, n. 
 
 N 
 
 Nails, human, their properties, i. 176. 
 
 Nuru-hal, or Sea-Unicorn, its size, ii. 360; its remarkable 
 projecting tooth, ib.; a skull in the Stadhousc having 
 two, ib.; how it uses the tooth, ib.; whether a horn 
 or tusk, ib.; its peaceable disposition, 2fil ; associates 
 with the whale, ib.; distinguished from it, ib.; value 
 of the ivory of its tooth, ib. ; the fossil, has given ork 
 gin to the stories of the unicorn, 262. 
 
 Natural world, minute formations and phenomena of, ii. 
 587-622. 
 
 Nautilus, a kind of sea-snail, ii. 364 and n.: two kinds, 
 from the colour of the shell, ib.; the shell described, 
 ib.; disengages itself from the shell, ib.; the appear- 
 ance of the, sailing in the Mediterranean, 364, 365; 
 object'of its flight, 365. 
 
 Nazareth, bird of, whether the dodo be the, ii. 27. 
 
 Neck, the, its use, i. 174. 
 
 Needle-fish, described, ii. 290, n. 
 
 Negroes, vivacity of their infants, i. 161 ; their treatment 
 of women, 165; of Africa, described, 212; darkness of 
 complexion, 215; some, with white skins, 217. 
 
 Ness, river, near Bruges, phenomena of its mouth, i. 99. 
 
 Nests of birds, their structure, ii. 1012, and ..; of the 
 sparrow, ]ay, Avrcn, c., 10; hanging, of the wood- 
 pecker, described, 104117. 
 
 Nettles, sea, star-fish, or anemones, why so called, ii. 561. 
 
 Neivt, black water, its class, ii. 152; not inconsumable, 
 ib.; absurd remark on the, in the Philosophical Trans- 
 actions, ib. 
 
 Niagara, falls of, on the St Lawrence, i. 81, ., 82. 
 
 Nictitating membrane on tlie eyes of birds, what it is, ii. 3. 
 
 Nieper, its course, i. 77. 
 
 Niger, account of the, i. 78, n. 
 
 Night, an African, described, i. 239. 
 
 Nightingale, song of the, ii. 146, 147, n.; described by 
 Pliny, 146, 147; migrations and habits, 147; its note 
 in England, 148; nest and eggs, ib.; song in confine- 
 ment, ib. ; Gesner's anecdotes of its power of talking, 
 ib. ; how taken, 1 54 ; and reared, 1 55. 
 
 Nile, source of the, 78, 79, and n. ; benefits of its inun- 
 dations, 79, 80 ; rivers received by, 80. 
 
 Nitrogen, a component of atmospheric air, i. 109, n. 
 
 Nose',\is position and form, i. 170; peculiar to man, ib. 
 
 Notes, i.}96. See Tones. 
 
 Notonecta, or Water-Jly, described, ii. 201. 
 
 Numidia, bird of, ii. 76. See Pintado. 
 
 Nut-hatch, a bird resembling the woodpecker, ii. 107, n.; 
 the European nut-hatch, ib., 108, n. 
 
 Nyl-ghau, a species of antelope, desci'ibed, i. 31 4, n., and 
 544; habits in captivity, 544; manner of fighting, ib.; 
 where indigenous, ib. 
 
 Oakey-hole, a cavern, description of, 3 33. 
 
 Ocean, its extent, i. 8.'>; divisions of, ib.; estimate of its 
 bulk, 84; its uses, ib., 85; parts of, claimed by na- 
 tions, 85; its bays, &c., minutely known, ib.; saltness 
 of the, ib.; why not putrefied, 86; attempts to de- 
 prive sea water of its saltness, ib.; effects of the pu- 
 trefaction of the, ib., 89; advantages of its saltness, 
 08; freezes, ib.; luminous appearance of its waves by 
 niiiht, 89; tides of the, ib.; (see Tides); circulated 
 round the globe, 92; currents of the, ib.; (see Cur- 
 rent*) ; its various motions, 96 ; its effects on the earth, 
 ib.; lands gained from the, ib., 97; inundations of the, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 655 
 
 99; tcmpor;iry depredations of the, ib.; wonders in 
 the bottom of the, 102, 103; its waters at different 
 depths, 10'2. 
 
 Oc<jut, an animal of the cat tribe, described, i. 382 and 
 n. 
 
 Ocotximtzcan, or l\f concern Pigeon, ii. 129. 
 
 Odour, not a true test of wholesomeness, i. 201 ; taste of 
 different nations with respect to, ib.; how varied by 
 distance, ib.; by mixture of ingredients, ib. ; by dis- 
 ease, ib. 
 
 Oliver, W. a viper catcher at Bath, discovered salad oil 
 to be a cure for the viper's bite, ii. 420. 
 
 Ondatra, a kind of musk rat, described, i. 454. See 
 Rut, musk. 
 
 Ophidiiim, a beautiful fish, described, ii. 295. 
 
 Opossum, animals of the, kind, their relative position, i. 
 511; the head, &c., described, 512; their bag or pouch 
 described, and IIOAV the young accommodated in it, 
 513 and n.\ habits, 514; varieties, ib. 
 
 Oran-outnu, its sizes, i. 491; description of that seen 
 by Dr Tyson, ib. ; its resemblance to the human 
 figure, and essential difference, 492; its hair, hands, 
 &c., ib., 493; dispositions, 493; that seen by Edwards, 
 described by Buffon, ib. ; Dr Clarke Abel's descrip- 
 tion of the great oran-outang, 491, n. ; his account of 
 an oran-outang brought from Java, 493, n.; intelli- 
 gence of two belonging to L. Brosse, 49.5; smaller 
 tribe, ib.; Lc Compte's account of it, ib., 496; the gi- 
 gantic species, 496; where found, ib.; the African, or 
 pongo, described, ib. ; go in companies, ib.; size, 
 strength, &c., ib.; place of tlie, in the gradation of 
 nature, 497; helplessness of the, ib.; goes on all-fours, 
 ib. 
 
 Orb, sea, the, described, ii. 290; lesser, 291. 
 
 Ores and Minerals, examination of, ii. ,592. 
 
 Organic productions, classes of, i. 22, n., 25. See Fossils. 
 
 Oriole, a species of thrush, ii. 143, 144, n. 
 
 Ornaments of the person, savages admire, i. 173, 174; ob- 
 servations concerning, 174. 
 
 Ornithorkifnckus, or duck-billed Platypus, i. 488, n. ; the 
 most singular animal of Australia, being a compound 
 of the quadruped and the bird, 561, w. ; description 
 of, ib. 562, n.; habits of the, ib., n. 
 
 O^n-eii, or Ossifraqe, a kind of eagle, ii. 36. 
 
 OslrudoH, the, a kind of fish, described, ii. 291 and n. 
 
 manner of running, 22; how hunted, ib.; domesticated 
 and tamed, ib.; its flesh, ib., 23. 
 
 Otter, the, described, i. 4/5; where found, ib.; prey and 
 manner of fishing, ib.; propagation, 476; its retreats 
 and habitation described, ib.; how caught by dogs, 
 ib.; trained to hunt fish, ib.; countries of the, ib.; 
 sea-otter described, 477, n. 
 
 On/trine, a species of monkey, its significant voice,i. 504. 
 
 Ounce, confusion concerning the name. i. 380; that of 
 Linnaeus, described, 379; disposition of the, ib.; me- 
 thod of taking their prev, ib.; how used in hunting, 
 ib., 380. 
 
 Old, nocturnal, bird of prey, ii. 52; description of the 
 eye and ear of the, ib. n.\ owls divided into horned 
 and smooth-headed, ib., n. ; great horned or eagle 
 owl, ib., n., 54; long-eared owl, ib., n., 54; short-eared 
 owl, 53, n., 54; scops-eared owl, 53, n. ; snowy owl, 
 53, n., 5.5; barn or white owl, 53, n, ; tawny owl, 54, 
 n.; little owl, ib.; barn owls at Walton Hall, 55 57, 
 .; the common properties of the owl, 52 54; the 
 appetites, habits, retreats of the class, 55; cry, ib.,56; 
 antipathy of other birds to the, ib., .57; how" used to 
 lure the kite, 57; nest of the, ib.; indocility of the, 
 oil. 
 
 O-K. See Cow, Bison, and Bnjfalo ; Indian ox, i. 27 , n. 
 
 O-r-ney Island, produced by the sea, i. 97. 
 
 O'fyjjen, a component of atmospheric air, i. 109, n. 
 yster, the, ii. 365, .; its resemblance to the mussel, 
 3<i!>; its shells described, ib.; cannot move its situa- 
 tion, ib.; to what it attaches itself, ib. ; by what 
 means, ib. ; spawn, ib. ; growth, ib. ; deposited in beds 
 at Colchester, 369 ; season for oysters, ib., .: account 
 of those held in most esteem, ib.; method of feeding 
 oysters, ib.; oysters easy of digestion, &c., ib. 
 
 Paca, its characteristics,!. 445; roots like a hog, ib. ; 
 
 where found, ib.; its numerous enemies, ib.; courage, 
 
 ib. 
 Pacific Ocean, constancy of its winds in certain latitudes, 
 
 Paco, a kind of llama, i. 553. 
 
 Paddock Moon, the month in which frogs do not croak, 
 ii. 383; accounted for, ib. 
 
 Painters, their observation of the expression of passions 
 by the human body, i. 171. 
 
 Paleness, the effect of what passions, i. 1/1. 
 
 Palm, fibres of the, ii. 602. 
 
 Pangolin, or Scaly Lizard, distinguished from the liz- 
 ard tribe, i. 468; size and appearance, ib. ; its scaly 
 covering, ib.; a sufficient defence against all animals, 
 ib. ; but man, ib ; harmlessness of the, ib. ; its food, ib. ; 
 tongue, ib.; preys on ants, ib., 4G9; its habits, 46S. 
 
 Panther, the great,!. 376; distinguished from the leo- 
 pard, 377; its spots, ib.; dispositions, 381. 
 
 Paradise, bird of, mistakes concerning the, ii. 108; 
 its characters, 109 and n. ; the two varieties of the, 
 ib.; the animal described, ib.; where found, ib.; mi- 
 grations of the, ib.; how shot and preserved, 110; 
 grahle-bird of paradise, ib., n.; magnificent bird of 
 paradise, ib., n. 
 
 Paramceditm (jcnus of infusoria, ii. 631. 
 
 Parr, or Saiulet. See Salmon. 
 
 Parr, Samuel, his longevity, i. 206. 
 
 Parrakects, what, ii. 114; beauty and talkativeness of 
 the Brazilian, 116; Alexandrine ring parrakeet, 1 1 7. n. 
 
 Parrot, its docility, ii. 113; taught to speak, ib.; Wil- 
 loughby's story of one belonging to Henry VII., ib.; 
 numerous varieties of the, 114 and n.; peculiarities in 
 the toes of the, ib.; in the bill, 115; the tongue and 
 throat, ib.; its climate, ib.; cxpertness of the, taught 
 in France, ib. ; cause, ib.; of the Brazilian, ib.; ac- 
 count of one, ib.; sagacity in a state of nature, ib.; 
 eggs and young, 116; how taken, ib.; flesh of the, ib.; 
 beauty of the Brazilian, ib.; how found and shot,ib. ; 
 diseases, 119; varieties, 117 119; family of parrots 
 divided into six different groups, ib., n. ; ash-coloured 
 or gray parrot, 118, n.', ground parrot, 119, n. 
 
 Purtriduc, delicacy of the flesh of the, ii. 82; universal 
 diffusion of the, 83; venery, ib. ; care of its young, ib.; 
 partridge shooting, ib. ; the, never thoroughly domes- 
 ticated, ib.; bet in partridge shooting, ib., n. ; varie- 
 ties of the partridge, 84, n.; the mountain partridge, 
 ib. 
 
 Passions expressed by the features of the face and atti- 
 tudes of the body, i. 171. 
 
 Patas, or African Monkey, i. 505. 
 
 Paul, St, de Leon, in Lower Brittany, country round, 
 desolated by a sand storm, i. 127, 128. 
 
 Peacock, its beauty, ii. 64; scream, ib.; seen in flocks, 
 ib.; early domesticated, 65; considered a delicacy by 
 the Romans, ib ; in the times of Francis I., ib.; its 
 food, 66 ; salacity, ib. ; flocks of them in C'ambaya, ib. : 
 varieties, the Thibet, ib. and n.; the Japan peacock, 
 ib., .; the Chinese peacock, ib.; the white peacock, 
 ib. 
 
 Peahen, number of her eggs, ii. 66; her age, ib. 
 
 Peak, a mountain in the Molucca Islands, swallowed by 
 an earthquake, i. 64. 
 
 Pearls, whether a disease or an accident of the oyster, 
 ii. 370; from AV hat fishes obtained, 370; fisheries of, 
 370 372, n.\ whence the best, 372; account of the 
 divers for, ib., 373 and n. 
 
 Peccary, animal of the hog kind, i. 347; description of, 
 ib., n. \ collared peccary, 348, n. ; white-lipped pec- 
 cary, ib. ; hoofs, <!tc., described, 349 ; herds of the, ib. ; 
 food of the, ib. ; flesh, ib.; the young of the, ib.; dis- 
 tinct from the hog, 350. 
 
 Pencil, or Lapwiny, described, ii. 194, n. 
 
 Peuasse, a species of buffalo, described, i. 282 n. 
 
 Peyu, the Indian Nile, i. 80. 
 
 Pelauii, shell fish of the deep, ii. 355. 
 
 Pelican, size of the, ii. 201 and n.; account of the pouch 
 of the, audits use, 202; ancient notions of the, ib.; 
 Labat's account of the, ib.; indolence, ib.; except to 
 satisfy gluttony, ib. ; female and young, 203 ; for what 
 purpose killed by the Americans, ib.; Raymond's 
 
656 
 
 I N D E X. 
 
 account of a tame one, ib.; Fabcr's, of one that had 
 u taste for music, ib.; age of the, ib. 
 
 7V;/'7', characteristics of the species, ii. '215; Mings, 
 21 ()' ; legs, ib. ; power of diving, '21 7 ; Mr Sennet's des- 
 cription of penguins, 216, J the crested penguin, 
 '217, n.\ description of a penguin rookery, ib. ; colour, 
 ib.; Magellanio, ib.; described ib.; food, '218; flesh, 
 ib. ; social disposition, ib.; its remarkable nest, ib. ; 
 female and eggs, 219. 
 
 Pcnjwkhole, a cavern, Captain Sturmy's descent into, i. 
 ; J >3. 
 
 Perch, notice of the fish, ii. 298; varieties of the, ib., n.; 
 how fished for, 321, w. 
 
 Perfumes, i. 201 . See Odours. 
 
 Periwinkle, the shell fish so called, ii. 3GP, n. 
 
 Persia, dreadful wind in, i. 1*25; its breed of horses des- 
 cribed, 249. 
 
 Pcsce, Nicola, the diver, account of from Kircher, i. 103, 
 104. 
 
 Petrels, account of the, ii. 21 and n. ; the stormy petrel, 
 21 1. n. ; the little stormy petrel, ib. 
 
 Petrifactions and fossil remains, ii. .593. See Fossils. 
 
 Phalanqcr , & pouched animal, notice of, i. 512, n. and 
 5\5,'n. 
 
 PhatatffM, variety of the pangolin, described, i. 469. 
 
 Pheasant at first artificially propagated among us, ii. 72; 
 brought from Phasis, ib. ; beauty of the, ib. ; the ani- 
 mal described ib.; its flesh, 73: manner of hatching^ 
 ib. ; easily taken, ib.; or shot, 74; how domesticated 
 and reared, 75 ; a breed between the, and the com- 
 mon hen, ib.; varieties, ib.; pheasants all natives of 
 Asia, 73, n. ; golden pheasant of China, ib.; other 
 species noticed, ib. and 74, n. 
 
 PhUangcr, a species of opossum, how distinguished, i. 
 515; habits of the, ib. 
 
 I'/tolas or file fish, ii. 373; where found and in what 
 situation, 374; shell of the, ib.; the animal described, 
 ib.; power of penetrating hard substances, proved, 
 ib.; perseverance and slowness, 375; numbers meet 
 in the same rock, ib. ; where found, ib. 
 
 JPhysioffaomy, how marked, i. 167. 
 
 J'ie kind, birds of the, what class included under, ii. 86; 
 teasing and noxious, ib.; places of building, ib. ; re- 
 publican government, ib. ; archness, and capability of 
 instruction, 86, 87; other characteristics, 87. 
 
 Pigeon, the, and its varieties, ii. 120 and n. ; wild-rock 
 pigeon supposed to be the original of all the domestic 
 species, ib., n.: the passenger pigeon, ib. ; Audubon's 
 description of its habits and mighty flocks, 121, n.; 
 ring pigeon or cushet, 122, n. and 129; wood pigeon, 
 123, n.\ bisset or wild rock pigeon, ib.: management 
 of the dove cot, 124, w.: jacobinc pigeon, 125, n.; col- 
 lared turtle, ib. ; ferruginous ground dove, 1 26,*.; the 
 carrier pigeon, 127, n.; different breeds of the com- 
 mon domesticated pigeon, 128 and 129, .; turtle 
 dove, 129. 
 
 Pigmy fTy son i the oran-outang, i. 491. 
 
 Pigtail, a kind of baboon, noticed, i. 501 . 
 
 PVK. the, characterised, ii. 303 and n. ; its voracity des- 
 cribed, 322; mode of catching the, 321, 322, n. ; saury 
 pike, 304, n. 
 
 J'i/chard,its place of resort, ii. 312; arrival, how known, 
 ib.; great quantities of the, how taken, 313; uses, 
 315; profits of the fishery of, ib.; general account of 
 the habitudes of the pilchard, 314, 315, w.; the pil- 
 chard fishery 315, 316, w. 
 
 J'i/ori, a kind of musk rat, i. 454. 
 
 J'iitch, kind of monkey, i. .509. 
 
 Pinnock or Hirling, a species of sea trout, ii. 321, n. 
 
 Pintado or Guinea hen, its resemblance to the pheasant 
 and turkey, ii. 75; different names of the, 76; feeds in 
 flocks, ib.; the crested, and mitred, ib. 
 
 J'ijxil or Surinam toad, itslothesome appearance,ii. 389; 
 sent by internal canals to the buck, ib; the male 
 described, 390. 
 
 J'ija-fiiJi, account of the, ii, 290; varieties of the, ib., . 
 
 J'ipits, account of the,ii. 153, 154, n. 
 
 Pismire. See Ant. 
 
 J'iyfil <>faJli,ir<T, as seen by the microscope, ii. 598. 
 
 Pvthekoe of the ancients, the ape, i. 497. 
 
 Pint or Baxor^lteO, ii. 369. 
 
 Plague, how caused, i. 1 13; some places free from, 114; 
 that of 13l(i, ib.; its progress in England in 1348. ib.. 
 .: that in London, 1665, ib., 115. 
 
 Plaice, flat-fish, described, ii. 301, n. 
 
 PhnK'tx, comparative sizes of the, i. J, 2 and n. ; account 
 of the different planetary systems, 2, 3, w.; description 
 of the planetary bodies, 5, 6, n. 
 
 J'lants. See Vegetables. 
 
 Pleuronedes, the, or flat fish, ii. 299. 
 
 Plovers, account of the, ii. 1 92, n. ; the golden plover ib 
 the dotterel plover, 1 93, . 
 
 Plummet, used to sound the sea, i. 102. 
 
 Pluto, gulf of, a chasm, described by Aelian, i. 31. 
 
 Poison bay of insects, ii. 620. 
 
 Poisers of insects, ii. 617. 
 
 Poisonous qualities ofsomefisJics, whence derived, ii. 324. 
 
 Poisons sucked out, ii. 388; by the toad, ib. See Venom, 
 416. 
 
 Polar regions, descriptions of the earth there, i. 10; 
 voyages for exploring the polar seas, ib., n.; descrip- 
 tion of the ice there, 89 ; atmospheric phenomena of 
 the, 132, 136 139; the men found round the, des- 
 cribed, 209, 210. 
 
 Pole-cat, its size, &c. i. 415 and n.; distinguished from 
 the ferret, ib. ; its fine colours, &c. described, 416; des- 
 tructive to game, ib. ; residence, ib. ; infests dove- 
 houses and hives, ib.; its fur, 417; climate, ib. 
 
 Pollen, microscopic examination of, ii. 597, 598. 
 
 Polynemus, the fish described, ii. 299. 
 
 Polypus, description of the, i. 153; pullulation from the, 
 ib. ; multiplied by cutting, ib.; general account of 
 polypi, ii. 562570 and n. 
 
 Pompey, a lion, age of, i. 366. 
 
 Pongo. See Oran-Outang. 
 
 Pope or liufr\ a small fish described, ii. 322, n. 
 
 Porcupine, its quills described, i. 464; its figure and 
 body, ib. ; whether it darts its quills, 465, 466 and n. ; 
 its method of defence. 466 ; prey or food, ib. ; age, ib. ; 
 its escape from dogs, &c., ib.; how hunted by the 
 Indians, ib.; fables concerning the, ib.; when tamed, 
 its fretfulness, 467; varieties of the, ib. 
 
 Porpoise, the, distinguished, ii. 264; its agility, 265; 
 method of seeking its prey, 266; destructive to the 
 nets of fishermen in Cornwall, ib. ; follows fish up 
 fresh water, ib.; seen in the Thames at London, ib.; 
 how killed there, ib.; oil from the, ib. ; fishery on the 
 west shores of Scotland, ib. ; young, ib. ; age, ib. 
 
 Portuguese-man-of-ivar, a small molluscous animal so 
 called, account of the, ii. 375, n. 
 
 Pouch of the opossum kind, described, i. 514. 
 
 Pouched animals, or J\Iarsupiata, i. 511 513, n. 
 
 Poultry kinds, their utility, ii. 59; characteristics, ib.; 
 habitudes, 59 61. 
 
 Prawn, description of the, ii. 331, n. 
 
 Pregnancy, progress of the embryo during,!. 157 160; 
 a child wonderfully affected by an execution seen by 
 the mother, while in that state, 2 1 9. 
 
 Prey, beasts of, their habits, i. 239, 240. 
 
 Prince of serpents, a beautiful species in Japan, ii. 428; 
 a favourite there, ib. 
 
 Propolis, the substance with which bees stop crannies 
 in their abodes, ii. 524; whence collected, 525; man- 
 ner of using it, ib. 
 
 Proportions of the human body, i. 176. 
 
 Proteus genus of infusoria, ii. 627. 
 
 Ptarmigan or White Grouse, ii. 80, n. 
 
 Puberty, season of,i. 165; its time in different countries, 
 ib. : symptoms of, ib. 
 
 Puffin, bill of the, described, ii. 220 ; legs, ib. ; migration 
 for the purpose of hatching, 221 ; dangers undergone 
 then, ib.; enemies, ib. : dispossesses the rabbit of its 
 burrow at Priesholm, ib.; how taken there, ib.; flesh, 
 ib. ; migration, 222. 
 
 Puma, the, called the American lion, i. 368; description I 
 of the, 375, n. 
 
 Pupa state of insects, ii. 612. 
 
 Python, a genus of reptiles, ii. 429. n. 
 
 their rank, 
 their adapta- ' 
 
 Quadrupeds, classification of, 5. 234,235; 
 235; utility, 236; analogies to man, 237 ; 1 
 "on to their stations, 238; different structure's of 
 icir heads, ib.; teeth, ib.; legs, ib.; stomach, ib. 
 leir hostilities, 23!*; seasons of seeking prey, ib.; de 
 
 tion 
 
 their 
 
 their 
 
INDEX. 
 
 657 
 
 fences, 240; causes of variety among, 240 242; their 
 comparative size in the different "continents, 242 ; 
 their generation, 243, courage and art in defending 
 their young, ib. ; seasons of breeding, ib. ; those from 
 the egg, ib.; those covered with scales instead of 
 hah*, their distinguishing qualities, i. 467 ; amphibious 
 their characteristics, 475; observations on the subser- 
 vience of quadrupeds to man, 561. 
 
 Quadrumana, four-handed animals, the monkey kind, i. 
 489; their comparative advantages, 515. See Monlccy. 
 
 Q.uagya, a species of the horse, described, i. 264, n. 
 
 Quail, the, described, ii. 84 and n.; account of the mi- 
 gration of the, 85; quail-fighting among the Athe- 
 nians, ib.; how caught by a call, ib. 
 
 Queen bee in a hive, ii. 513; never more than one, ib.; her 
 eggs, ib. 
 
 Quito, a city on the Andes, i. 61 ; its height, 62; appear- 
 ance of meteors there, 135: the wild- ass how hunted 
 there, 261. 
 
 R 
 
 Itablit, stages of generation in the, i. 157; distinct from 
 the hare, i. 434; makes holes for security, ib.; said to 
 be originally from Spain, ib. n.', rabbits live in a social 
 state, ib.; care for their young, ib.; love the fields, 
 ib.; sometimes bring forth at a distance from the 
 warren, ib.; description of the apartment in which 
 the female brings forth, 435; the tame, does not 
 burrow, ib. ; various colours of the domestic breed, 
 ib.; account of the production and subordination of 
 some domestic ones, ib.; age of the, ib.; flesh, ib.; 
 multiplication of the, in Spain, ib.; prefers a warm 
 climate, ib.; tame, the larger, 436; the Syrian, ib.; 
 none in America, ib. 
 
 Race, human, varieties in the, i. 209 ; difference, small, 
 ib. ; classification of the, ib. ; several described, ib. ; in 
 the polar regions, ib.; the Tartars, 211 ; Negroes, 212; 
 Americans, 213; Europeans, ib. ; diversified by colour, 
 214, 215; stature, 216; face, ib.; all from one common 
 stock, 217, 218. 
 
 Racoon, called the Jamaica Rat, its description, i. 544; 
 abode, ib.; injurious to plantations, ib.; capable of 
 being tamed, ib.; sagacity of the, ib., n. 
 Raesal, his accurate history of the frog, ii. 378. 
 Rails, account of the birds so called, ii. 197, n.', water 
 
 rail, ib.; land rail, or corn-crake, ib. 
 Rain, how produced, i. 129, 130. 
 
 Rainbow, lunar, seen in the north, i. 136; phenomena of 
 the, 139, n.', solar, its appearance in the polar regions, 
 ib. 
 
 Rain-fowl, ii. 101. See Woodpecker. 
 Rain-water, its impurity, i. 68. 
 Ranking, his account of the Indian elephant, i. 522. 
 Rapacious birds, their adaptation, ii. 28, 29; habits, 29; 
 
 classification, 30, 31. 
 
 Rat, the great, or Norway, or Surmolot, its native coun- 
 try, i. 448; characteristics, ib.; hostility to the black 
 rat, 449 ; extirpated frogs in Ireland, ib. ; its habits of 
 rapacity, ib. ; propagation, ib. ; its enemies, the dog, cat, 
 and weasel, ib.; black, the common, 448; description 
 of the, 450, .; extraordinary numbers of rats at the 
 horse slaughter-houses of Paris, ib.; where found, 
 451; black -water, its distinctions and food, ib.; Ca- 
 nada rat, 454, n. 
 
 German, i. 454. See Cricdiis. 
 
 kind, animals of the, their characteristics, i. 428; 
 
 multiplication, ib. 
 
 musk, varieties of the, i. 454; the desman and pi- 
 
 lori, ib.; the ondatra, described, ib.; disposition and 
 manner of living, ib.; scent of the, ib.; variously es- 
 teemed, ib. 
 
 Rattlesnake, the, described, ii. 421; its rattle, ib.; its 
 mortal bite, 422; symptoms, ib.; fatal cases of its 
 bite, ib., and n. \ remedies, 423; account of its power 
 of fascination, ib. ; proof, ib. 
 
 Raven, its characteristics, ii. 87, 88, and n. ; influence ol 
 climate on the, 8892; the white, 92; reclaimed and 
 trained, ib. ; habits in the tame state, ib. ; in the wild, 
 ib.; reverenced by some, 93: ominous character oi 
 the, ib., n. 
 
 Ray, his classification of animals, i. 231, 232. 
 Ray kind, fish of the, their properties, ii. 273; charac 
 VOL. n. 
 
 teristics, ib.; the sharp-nosed, ib.; thornback, ib.; 
 fire-flare, ib. ; their size, ib.; safety from it, ib.; sto- 
 ries of some of prodigious size, 274; retreats of the, 
 ib.; female and eggs, ib.; fishing of the, how prac- 
 tised at Scarborough, ib.; the Italian method, 275; 
 injurious species, ib.; characteristics of the rays or 
 skate, ii. 276, n. See Slxite. 
 
 Razor-shell, its remarkable hole, ii 369; how taken, ib. 
 
 Redbreast, its note and habitudes, ii. 149 and n. 
 
 Red Sea, nature of its channel, i. 1 02. 
 
 Redshank, the, described, ii. 193, n,; spotted redshank, 
 ib. 
 
 Red-wing, description and habitudes of the, ii. 144, 138, 
 n., 141, n. 
 
 Rein-deer, its country, i. 335; usefulness, ib.; change of 
 hair, colour, horns, &c., 336; endeavour to introduce 
 into Britain unsuccessful, ib., n. ; Lapland, described, 
 ib. ; enemies to the, there, 337 ; how the natives pro- 
 tect it, ib. ; the female, its young and milk, ib. ; how 
 it spends the winter in Lapland, ib. ; said to eat 
 mountain rats, ib., n. ; dependence of the Laplander 
 on the, 338 ; the kinds of the, ib. ; migrations of the, 
 ib., n. ; patience of the tame, 339 ; the milking of the, 
 described, ib. ; their age, 340; uses of the flesh, ib.; 
 milk, ib.; skin, ib.; diseases of the, 341. 
 
 Relish, on what it depends, i. 201 ; how affected by cir- 
 cumstances, 202. 
 
 Remora, or Sucking-fish of the Shark, ii. 272, 292, n. 
 
 Reptiles, their characteristics and classification, ii. 431 
 -435, n. 
 ipiration on mountains, i. 62; of plants, ii. 597. 
 
 Rhine, cataracts of the, 81 ; a part of, lost in the sand, 
 83. 
 
 Rhinoceros, size of the, i. 529; shape, ib. ; horn, ib.,530, 
 n. ; contends with the elephant, 530 ; fables concern- 
 ing the, ib. ; account of that described by Parsons, 
 ib.; age, 531 ; country and haunts, ib.; food, ib. and 
 530; how taken, 531; varieties, ib.; the double -horned, 
 ib. and n. 
 bird, account of the, ii. 101, n. 
 
 Ring-dove, described, ii. 129. 
 
 Rivers, comparative purity of the water of, i. 68; opi- 
 nions concerning their origin, 73, 74; whence supplied, 
 74; in what manner, ib.; their channels, ib., 75; their 
 current, 75; sinuosities increase as they approach the 
 sea, ib.; some with many mouths, ib.; their rapidity 
 how affected, 76; the largest in Europe, 77 and.; 
 in Asia, 77; in Africa, 78; in America, 80, 81 ; cata- 
 racts of, 81; rivers lost in the sand, 83; quantity of 
 water in, 84. 
 
 Roach, how fished for, ii. 322, n. 
 
 Roc of Arabian writers supposed to be the condor, ii. 
 39. 
 
 Rocks formed of infusorial remains, ii. 594. 
 
 Roe-buck, described, i. 330; the haunts of the, ib.; me- 
 thod of running, ib. ; constancy of their attachment, 
 ib. ; their generation, growth, cry, &c., ib., 331 ; va- 
 rieties, 331. 
 
 Roller, a kind of jay, ii. 99. 
 
 Romans, destroyed the British forests,!. 101. 
 
 Rook, the, description of, ii. 90, w.; habits of, 91,.; 
 formation of rook's nests, and general character of 
 the community of a rookery, 93 96, and n. 
 
 Rope-ivalking, elephants taught, i. 526. 
 
 Rud, a small fish, notice of the, ii. 322, n. 
 
 Ruff, the, described, ii. 190196; how taken, 197; and 
 served up, ib. 
 
 Ruminating animals, the class of, i. 268; their habits, ib. ; 
 construction of their stomach and intestines, ib., 269 ; 
 birds, 269; fishes, ib.; insects, ib.; instance of a man 
 ruminating, ib. ; cow kind, ib.; sheep and goat kind, 
 286; deer kind, 318. 
 
 Runner, a name of the corrira, ii. 190. 
 
 Rusfiberg, immense projection of the mountain of, i. 
 
 Rutting season oftlie stag, i. 321. 
 
 Sable, value of its skin, i. 418; its fur described, ib.; 
 its habitudes, 419; country, ib.; scarcity, ib.; hunted, 
 ib.; encouragements to the hunting of, by the Rus- 
 sians, ib. 
 
 4 o 
 
6'58 
 
 N D E X. 
 
 .SV>m, the, or Trachiptcrus, notice of the fish, ii. 29.'5. 
 
 Sufl'ty-lamp, account of Davy's, i. 28, n. 
 
 Sagotns, a genus of monkeys, i. 508. 
 
 Sdi, or the ^Bcwailer, a kind of monkey, i. 508. 
 
 Snjou, kind of monkey, i. 508. 
 
 Sold, or Fox-tailed Monkey, i. 508. 
 
 Salad-oil, a cure for the viper's bite, ii. 420. 
 
 Sala*tander t ancient notion of the, ii. 399; description 
 of the, ib., TZ.; its appearance, 400; habits, ib.; whe- 
 ther venomous, ib. ; gekko and black-water newt spe- 
 cies, ib.; internal formation, ib.; viviparous, ib.; pro- 
 duces fifty at a time, 401; amphibious, ib.; changes 
 its skin often, ib. ; tenacity of life, ib. ; the gigantic 
 salamander, 400, n. 
 
 Salmon, the, characterised, ii. 301 ; its habits described, 
 ib., n.; how angled for, 322, .; parr, or samlet, 301, 
 302, n., 321, n. [The parr is now proved to be, con- 
 trary to what is stated in the note, the young of sal- 
 mon in its second season.] Salmon trout described, 
 302, 303, . 
 
 &ilt, scarcity of, in some countries, i. 86, n.; bay and 
 common, i. 87; rock-salt, description of, ib., .; uses 
 of salt, ib. 
 
 Saltness of the ocean, opinions concerning the, i. 85; of 
 lakes, ib. ; attempts to deprive sea- water of its salt- 
 ness, 86; advantages of the, 88; another effect of the, 
 
 Salt Water, why fishes that live in it will expire in fresh, 
 
 Samari Monkey, i. 508. 
 
 Sanderlings, account of the, ii. 192, n. 
 
 Sand-piper, the green, described, ii. 193, n. 
 
 Sand-storm of Africa, description of the, i. 126. 
 
 Santorin, a new island appeared at, 1707, i. 53, 
 
 Sarcophagi, or Stone coffins, described, i. 227, n. 
 
 Stooges, their barbarous^ treatment of women, i. 166; 
 
 their confined aims, i6. ; their attention to finery and 
 
 dress, 173, 174. 
 Scales and pores of the human skin, ii. 604; method of view- 
 
 ing them under the microscope, 6U5. 
 Scales of fishes, ii. 605; of an eel, ib.; of a carp, ib. ; hy- 
 
 pothesis relating thereto, ib. 
 Scales on the icings of butterflies, ii. 617, 618; varieties, 
 
 618, 619; disposition on the wing, 619. 
 Scallop, the, remarkable for its manner of motion, ii. 
 
 36.9. 
 Scaurus Marcus, his exhibition of crocodiles to the Ro- 
 
 mans, ii. 399. 
 
 Scicena, the, fish noticed, ii. 293. 
 Scolopendra of tfie East Indies, described, ii. 466, 467, 
 
 and n. 
 
 Scooper, a name of the avosctta, ii. 189. 
 Scorpion, account of the, ii. 462466, and .; the black 
 
 scorpion, 466, n. ; the African scorpion, ib. 
 Scotchman, one in the Tower, his endurance of hunger, 
 
 Scotland, great floods in, in 1829, i. 127, n. ; red and fal- 
 low deer in, 323, 324, n. ; capercailzie, or cock of the 
 wood, once plentiful in Scotland, now extinct, ii. 78 
 and n.; endeavours to restore it, 79, n. 
 
 Sea. See Ocean. 
 
 a prickly finned fish, ii. 297. 
 Sea-breezes, i. 1 23. 
 Seal, the parts of its body described, i. 4H1 ; its size and 
 
 mal, ib.; easily tamed, ib. .; actions in fine weather 
 and a storm, 484; migrates, ib.; propagation of the, 
 ib.; manner of taking seals in Scotland, 485, .; cry, 
 485; combats, ib.; method of pursuing fish, ib., 486; 
 how caught by Europeans, ib. ; by Greenlanders, ib., 
 and 484, n. ; its skin and oil, 486 ; flesh, ib. ; varieties 
 of the, ib. ; the ursine described, ib. ; habits and affec- 
 tion, ib. ; fights for its station, ib. ; and for the female, 
 ib. ; the hooded, described, ib. ; the bottle-nosed, ib. ; 
 food, ib. ; gregarious habits, ib.; sluggishness, ib.; 
 those seen by^ Lord Anson's people, ib.; their flesh, 
 ib.; where found, ib. 
 
 Sra-larks, account of the, ii. 1 92, n. 
 
 X<-a-purses, molluscous animals so called, ii. 376, n. 
 
 Sea-weeds, microscopic examination of, ii. 601 ; singular 
 species, ib. 
 
 >f plants, and their appendages, ii. 598 ; how to be 
 microscopically examined, ib. ; varieties, ib., 599. 
 
 Semen of animals, animalcules in, ii. 638, et seq. 
 
 Semnopitltecus genus of Monkeys, its remarkable charac- 
 ters, i. 508. ' 
 
 Senegal River, in Africa, i. 78; how far navigable, ib.; 
 inundations of, prejudicial, 80. 
 
 Sensations of a man newly brought into existence, de- 
 scribed by Buffon, i. 202204. 
 
 Senses of man, their comparative extent, i. 200 (see 
 Hearing, &c.); mutual aids, ib.; combination of ob- 
 jects of, ib. 
 
 Seps, a venomous viper, ii. 423 and n. 
 
 Sepulchres, Egyptian, described, i. 226, 227 ; one in 
 France described, 228. 
 
 Serpents, general characteristics of, ii. 407, n.', why held 
 in detestation, 407 ; operation of the poison of, 408 ; 
 uses of the, ib. ; where most abundant, ib.; ancient 
 devastations wrought by some not improbable, ib., 
 409; harmlessness with us, 409; distinguishing marks, 
 ib. ; swallow, ib. ; organs, ib. ; internal parts, 410; 
 number of joints in the back bone, ib.; the ribs, ib. ; 
 skin, ib.; scales, ib.; distinctions in size, 411; size of 
 some, ib. ; torpidity after feeding, ib. ; track of the, 
 ib.; indiscriminate prey, ib. ; contests for water, 412; 
 capability of abstinence, ib.; voices, ib.; motions, ib., 
 413; amphibious in fresh water only, 413; fcetor, by 
 what possessed, 408, 413; distinguished as viviparous 
 or oviparous, 414; as venomous or not, ib. ; their de- 
 fence from their poisonous qualities, ib. ; enemies, ib. ; 
 means to destroy and charm them, ib., 415 ; by what 
 nations adored, and how, 415; classification, ib.; in- 
 cantation of serpents, ib.,n.; venom, 416; (see Venom- 
 ous Serpents); those without venom, characteristics 
 of, 426; their bite, ib.; manner of attack, ib., 427; 
 varieties, 427, 433, n.; serpents in South Africa, 424, 
 425, n. ; serpents in Demerara, 426, n. 
 
 Scrpe?it, Sea, the, or Elops, noticed, ii. 299. 
 
 Serpent-stone, account of the, ii. 426 j how it produces its 
 effects, if any, ib. 
 
 Serval, described, i. 381 ; its resemblance to the caracal, 
 383. 
 
 Sexes, state of the, in different countries,!. 165, 181. 
 
 Shagreen, leather from the skin of the wild ass, i. 260. 
 
 Shape of man, i. 167; of woman, ib. 
 
 Shark, the, its varieties, ii. 269 and n. ; the blue shark, 
 269, n.; the basking shark, 270, n.; the angel shark, 
 ib.; the great white, its voracity, 270 ; the, described, 
 271; fins, ib.; eyes, ib.; swiftness, ib. ; how it seizes 
 its prey, ib. ; depredations, ib. ; instance of one biting 
 off a man's leg, ib. ; devouring persons let down into 
 the sea, ib.; enmity to man, ib. ; how taken by bait, 
 272; harpooned, ib. ; killed by the negroes, ib.; the 
 sucking fish, or shark's pilot, ib.; young of the, ib.; 
 flesh, 273; oil, ib. 
 
 Shaving, practice of, in different ages, i. 172, n. 
 
 Sheath-fish, or Silurus, notice of the, ii. 299. 
 
 Sheep kind, animals of the, i. 286; nearly allied to the 
 goat, ib., re. ; distinguished from the goat, 286, 287 ; 
 qualities and disposition of sheep, 287, 288, and n. ; 
 habits when tamed, 288; on the continent, follow 
 the shepherd, ib.; their fleece, 289 ; teeth, 290; their 
 young, ib. ; where found in their noblest state, 291 ; 
 effects of climate on, 293 ; different kinds of, out of 
 Europe, Iceland, ib.; Merino sheep, account of, 289, 
 n.; varieties of British sheep, 291, n.; long-woolled 
 British sheep, the old and new Leicester, the Tees- 
 water, the Devonshire nots,theExmoor and the Heath 
 sheep, ib.; short-woolled sheep, the Dorsetshire, the 
 Wiltshire, the Herefordshire, the South Down, the 
 Norfolk, the Cheviot, &c., ib., and 292, n.; HerdwJck 
 sheep, dun -faced breed, Hebridean and Zetland sheep, 
 292, 293, n.; breeds of Africa, 293, .; breeds of Asia, 
 294,295,w.; breeds of Iceland, 295, rc.; Wallachiaii 
 breed, 296, n. ; number of sheep in Great Britain, ib. ; 
 the primitive race of, ib. ; the musmon, 298 and n. 
 
 Shell, the, of testaceous fishes, its substance, ii. 347; ac- 
 count of the formation of that of the garden snail, 
 348; whether formed of the slime of the animal's 
 body, 349; colouring of the, how accounted for, ib. ; 
 convolutions of the, depend entirely on the animal, 
 ib. ; collections of shells, how polished, 350 ; pleasures 
 of the occupation, ib. ; birds that eat them, 351 ; shells 
 serve as abodes to other animals, 352 ; classification 
 of, ib.; Lamarck's synoptical table of, 3,54 358, w.; 
 various places where found, 352, 3,53 ; pclagii, or those 
 confined to the ocean, 355; littorales, or those cast 
 
INDEX. 
 
 659 
 
 on shore, ib., 356; fresh water, 358; living land shells, 
 ib.; fossil shells, their variety and condition, ib. ; see 
 also, i. 22, n. ; all the spoil of some animal, ib. ; his- 
 torians of this class of nature, ib., 359; uses and value 
 of shells, 358, n. See Concholoyy. 
 
 Shell-fish, claims to be considered as fish, ii. 326; the 
 two tribes of, ib.j crustaceous, characterised, ib.; 
 testaceous, 347. 
 
 Shepherd's dog, described, i. 388; patience and faithful- 
 ness of the, ib. ; hardiness, ib. 
 
 Shores, often a defence against the sea,i. 96; different 
 appearances of, ib., 97. 
 
 Short- siuhtednefs,i. 194. See Vision. 
 
 Shovelkr, ii. 1 85 1 87. See Spoonbill. 
 
 Shrew-mole, account of the, i. 461, n. 
 
 Shrikes. See Butcher-bird. 
 
 Shrimp tribe, the food of the whale, ii. 253; process of 
 casting its shell, 328, n.; shrimps described, 331, n. 
 
 Siamang, a long-armed ape, i. 498, n. 
 
 Silk, historical account of, ii. 507, n. 
 
 Silk-worm, ignorance of the ancients with respect to the, 
 ii. 507; when first brought into Europe, 508; the des- 
 cribed, ib. and n.; the two methods of breeding the, 
 509; in the warm climates of the East, 510; in Europe, 
 ib.;form,c. of the apartment in which it is bred, 
 ib.; provision of leaves, ib.; air, ib.; progress of the 
 worm, ib.; its formation of the silk-cone, 511; the 
 thread described, ib.; its change into the winged 
 state, ib.; male and female, ib.; eggs, ib.; method of 
 unwinding the thread, ib. 
 
 Simoom, described, i. 10, n., 126. 
 
 Singing-birds, their notes described, ii. 137; American, 
 1 46. 
 
 Sirli, a species of lark, ii. 151, n. 
 
 Sirocco ivind, notice of, i. 128, n. 
 
 Siskins, birds resembling the linnets, ii. 1 58, n. 
 
 Size of the human body, its varieties, i. 176; variations, 
 ib., 177. 
 
 Skate, the, discriminated, ii. 273; characteristics of the 
 rays or skates, ii. 276, n. ; the long-nosed skate, ib. ; 
 the blue skate, ib.; the sharp-nosed ray, 277, .; the 
 thornback, ib. 
 
 Skin, effects of age on the human, i. 205. 
 
 Skink, a kind of stinkard, described, i. 421. 
 
 Skuas, sea-birds, account of the, i. 215. 
 
 Slatberg in Iceland, disruption of the mountain of, i. 
 64. 
 
 Steep increases the weight of the body, i. 177; necessary 
 to all animals, 183; most of all to man, 187; some ani- 
 mals spend much time in, ib. ; effects of the want of, 
 on man, ib.; cause of unknown, 188; effects of. ib. ; 
 physiology of, ib., w.; instances of somnambulism, 189; 
 much required by the studious, ib. ; a German stu- 
 dent performed his tasks during, 1 90; story of a sleep- 
 walker, ib. 
 
 Slips of mountains, land-slips, i. 63; snow-slips, 64. 
 
 Sloth, varieties of the, i. 557; description of the, ib. and 
 n.; spends its whole life on trees, ib.,ra.; Waterton's 
 account of the, 558, n.; its method of scrambling on 
 the ground, ib. ; its structure and habits, 559 ; whether 
 an unfinished quadruped, ib.; abstinence, ib. 
 
 Smelling, an inferior sense in man, i. 2(JO; power of, pos- 
 sessed by some nations, ib. ; uses of ib.; the taste of 
 different nations in respect to the objects of, 201 
 and n. ; sense of, possessed by birds, ii. 3. 
 
 Snail, the garden, its process in forming its shell des- 
 cribed, ii. 348; organs of the, 359, 360; horns and eyes 
 on the two uppermost, 360; organs of generation, ib.; 
 coupling, ib.; eggs, ib. ; growth of the shell, 361; 
 can mend its shell when broken, ib.; not make a 
 new one, ib.; method of motion, ib.; slime, ib. ; ap- 
 petite, 362; killed by salt, &c. ib. ; torpidity, and 
 manner of burying itself, ib. ; awakening, and voracity, 
 ib.; varieties of the snail, ib.; the fresh -water, ib.; its 
 peculiarities, ib. ; manner of rising to the surface, ib. ; 
 viviparous, ib.; brought forth with the stony coat, 
 363; sea- snails, ib. ; manner of impregnation, ib. ; want 
 horns, ib. ; convolutions of the shell, ib. ; the trochus 
 kind, ib. ; the nautilus, 364. 
 
 the sea, whence the name, ii. 289; the, described, 
 
 290; account of the garden snail, 359, 360, n. 
 
 Snake, the black, the largest of English serpents des- 
 cribed, ii. 427; not venomous, ib. and n.; manner of 
 attack, and how repelled, ib.; prey of the, 428; ovi- 
 parous, ib. ; torpid in winter, ib. See Serpents. 
 
 Snake-root, Virginian, the best cure for the bite of the 
 
 rattle-snake, ii. 423. 
 Sneezing, description of, i. 171, n. 
 Snipes, described, ii. 191, n.; the double snipe, ib.; the 
 
 little snipe, ib. ; the common snipe, 1 92, n. 
 Sobbing, whence it proceeds, i. 171 and n. 
 Solan goose, ii. 208. See Gannet. 
 Sole-fish, described, ii. 300, n. 
 Soffatara, valley of, exhibits the effects of earthquakes, 
 
 Solon, his opinion of the beauty of the pheasant, ii. 72. 
 
 Sound, reflection of, i. 1 16; transmitted by the undula- 
 tion of the air, ib., n. ; how produced^ 196; how ren- 
 dered a tone, ib.; reflected, 198. 
 
 Soiv. See Hog. 
 
 Spalax, or blind rat, i. 461, n. 
 
 Spaniards, their value for asses, i. 264. 
 
 Spaniel, the large and small water, described, i. 3IK), 
 39], n. and 394. See Dog. 
 
 Sparroiv, the, its habits described, ii. 1 35 and 1 36, n. 
 
 kind, birds of the, their abode near man, ii. 130; 
 
 why they avoid forests, ib. ; attachment to places, ib. ; 
 accounts of their flights and passages, 1 31 ; arts of the 
 bird-catcher to take them, ib. ; contentions of the, 
 132; singing, proper to the male, ib.; the female, nest, 
 and young, ib. 135; paring of the, 135; chastity, des- 
 cribed by Addison, ib. ; exceptions, ib. ; resemblances 
 among the, ib.; classification, 136; slender-billed, ib.; 
 their food, ib. ; and song, ib. ; thick-billed, ib. ; their 
 food, 137: note, ib.; those of passage, ib. ; their sea- 
 sons of migration, ib. 
 
 Sparrow-hawk, ii. 46, n. 
 
 Sparus, a prickly-finned fish, ii. 297. 
 
 Spawn offislies, account of the, ii. 247, 248; estimate of 
 its immense amount, 249, 250. 
 
 Speech, acquisition of, by infants, i. 1 63. 
 
 Spermaceti, found in the head of the cachalot, ii. 263; 
 how distributed there, 264; uses of, ib.; how the 
 whole oil of the fish convertible into, ib. ; where the 
 whales that yield it, abound, ib. n. 
 
 Spermatic Animalcules, 638 et seq. ; discovered by Leeu- 
 wenhoeck and Hartsocker, ib.; hypothesis concern- 
 ing, ib.; Leeuwenhoeck's observations, ib. ; animal- 
 cules in the human semen, ib.; in that of a cod-fish, 
 639; general discoveries by Leeuwenhoeck in this de- 
 partment, ib.; objections to his discoveries, answered, 
 ib.; BufFon's notions concerning the sperm animals, 
 ib. ; BufFon's errors, ib. ; Needham's hypothesis, 640 ; 
 his reasonings regarding the seminal animal of the 
 calmar, ib.; BufFon's remarks thereon, ib.; the funda- 
 mental error exposed, ib. ; wild speculations concern- 
 ing the seminal animals, ib.; desirable to elicit more 
 information concerning them, ib. 
 
 Spider, the, described, ii. 448 453 and n.; construction 
 of its web, 449, n. ; different kinds of spiders, 455, .; 
 remarkable nest of one, 448 and n. 
 
 Spinous fishes, how distinguished by their gills, ii. 293; 
 numerous species, ib.; systems ib. ; Artedi's, ib. ; 
 Linnams', ib.; Gouan's, 294; particulars of, with des- 
 criptions, 294 307; uniformity of their description 
 307, 308; their bones, ib.; proportion of, to the fins, 
 ib. ; live but a short time out of water, 309 ; excep- 
 tions, ib. ; passage of some from salt to fresh water, 
 ib.; some from fresh towards salt to spawn, ib.; fishes 
 of passage, ib.; the cod, 310; haddock and mackarel, 
 310; herring, ib., 311; pilchard, 312 314; their im- 
 mense numbers, 314; their numbers in the Indian 
 ocean, 318; whether they come from the egg perfectly 
 formed, ib. ; white bait, ib, impregnation, ib.; growth 
 ib.; live on one another, ib.; the dorado, 319; warfan 
 in fresh water, ib. ; diffidence of fresli water fish, ib. 
 320; voracity of the pike, 322; torpidity in winter, ib. 
 323; diseases, 324; poisonous qualities of some, ib. 
 how caused, ib. 
 
 Sponges belong to tlie polypi, ii. 564, n.; different species 
 of,' 570, n. 
 
 Spoonbill, the, described, ii. 185, 186 and n. ; the Euro- 
 pean, 186 ; the American, ib. ; fine colour and uncouth 
 shape, ib.; habits, ib. and n. ; food, ib.; nest and 
 young, 187; white spoonbill, 18n,ra.; roseate spoonbill, 
 ib. 
 
 touts, water, one in the Mediterranean described by 
 Tournefort, i. 143; their origin, 144; dreaded by m;ir- 
 iners, ib. 
 
 Sprat, or Garvie Herriruj, description of the, ii. 317, n. 
 
660 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Springbok, a species of African antelope, described, i. 
 313. 314, n. 
 
 Sprinq-u-ater, i. 67; spouting and intermitting springs, 
 67, w.; hot, account of, 68; at Bath, ib.; at St Mi- 
 guel, ib. 
 
 Squash, a kind of stinkard, described, i. 279. 
 
 Squilla, or White Shrimp, ii. 331, w. 
 
 Squirrel, an idea of its form, i. 436; the tail and its uses, 
 ib.: varieties of the, ib.; the common described, ib.; 
 the ground squirrel, 437, n.; the gray Virginian, 437; 
 the Barbary, ib.; the Siberian white, ib.; Carolina 
 black, ib. ; Brazilian, ib. ; that of New Spain, ib. ; its 
 extensive diffusion, ib. ; the varieties differ in disposi- 
 tion and food, ib. ; the common, characteristics of the, 
 438; agility, ib. ; food, ib. ; its nest described, ib.; 
 provisions of nuts, ib. ; propagation of the, ib . ; watch- 
 fulness, ib. ; its nimbleness, ib. ; oaks planted by the 
 squirrel, ib., .; abode on trees, 439; migrations of 
 the, in Lapland, ib. ; method of crossing lakes there, 
 ib.; domesticated, ib., 440; preference of fixed to re- 
 volving cages for squirrels, 439, n. ; the flying, its class, 
 440 and n. ; European flying, where found, ib. ; its ha- 
 bits, ib. ; female's care of the young, ib. ; description of 
 the, and its nature, ib. ; its amazing spring, ib.; how 
 adapted for it, ib.; where found, ib.; tamed, ib. 
 
 Stajfa, description of, i. 33, n. 
 
 Stag, described, i. 319; its horns, ib., 320; the rutting 
 season of the, 320, 321 ; size, colour, and habits, 321, 
 
 described, ib.; Corsican, 327; that of Germany, ib.; 
 that of Sardinia, ib.; the American, ib., 328. 
 
 Stagnant water, i. 67. 
 
 Stamina of flowers, microscopic examination of, ii. 597. 
 
 Stare, or Starling, its description, ii. 1 44, and n. ; voice, 
 ib. ; migration and peculiar flight, ib. ; the red- winged 
 of America, 145, n. 
 
 Star-fish, the, described, ii. 5G1 ; hard substances found 
 in its stomach, ib.; increases in size, ib. ; properties, 
 ib. 
 
 Stars, fixed, i. 7, 8, n.; falling, what, 139; phenomena 
 of, 140, n. 
 
 Statues, ancient models of beauty, i. 1 76. 
 
 Stature of the body, how affected, i. 216; of men not di- 
 minished, 223. 
 
 Stewart, Dugald, his account of a boy born blind and 
 deaf, i. 199. 
 
 Stickleback, the, or Gasterosteus, described, ii. 298 and n. 
 
 Stings of insects, ii. 620; poison bag, ib. 
 
 Stinkard, foetid smell of the, i. 420; varieties of the, ib.; 
 anecdote of a, ib., n. ; the squash, skink, &c., ib. ; their 
 foetid glands described, ib., 421 ; uses of this odour to 
 the animal, ib.; strength and offensive nature of it 
 when the animal is enraged, ib.; an instance of this 
 by Kalm, 422; kept tame by the Americans, ib. 
 
 Stoat, when the ermine properly so called, i. 413 and n. 
 
 Stock-dove, the original of the pigeon, ii. 125; described, 
 ib.; young, 127. 
 
 Stomach of quadrupeds, i. 238. 
 
 Stomata of plants, ii. 597. 
 
 Stones, precious, whence then- value, i. 173; meteoric 
 stones, account of, 141, n. 
 
 Stork, its resemblance to the crane, ii. 175; distinguish- 
 ing characters of the genus from herons and cranes, 
 ib., n.; the white stork, ib., n., 176; the black stork, 
 
 Turks, ib., n. 
 Storm, account of the great storm in Britain, in 1703, i. 
 
 126, .; storm of 1783, ib., 127, n.; other storms, ib. 
 Strabism oftlie eyes, what, i. 194. 
 Strength of man, i. 177 180; instances of muscular 
 
 strength, 177, w.; some remarkable instances of the, 
 
 Strcpsichcros, breed of sheep, described, i. 296. 
 
 Stromateus, a soft-finned fish, ii. 299. 
 
 Sturgeon, its disposition, ii. 283; description, ib.; differ- 
 ent kinds and different uses of each, ib.; visits all the 
 seas of Europe, ib. ; size of one taken in the Eske, ib. ; 
 where most abundant, 284; how caught, ib , 285- 
 temperate and timid, 284; preserved, 285 ; trade with 
 the roe ib; isinglass, ib.; sturgeon fishery, 284, . 
 -, the, or Echincis, ii. 300. 
 
 Sun-fish, its size and appearance, described, ii. 287. 
 
 Suns, mock, or reflected, seen in the polar regions, i. 1 39 
 
 Surf of the sea, its dangerous nature, i. 97. 
 
 Surinam Toad, account of the, ii. 389; (see Pipal)', ser- 
 pent, its beauty, 428; considered fortunate by the 
 savages there, ib. 
 
 Surmolot, or great brown rat, described, i. 448. See Rat. 
 
 Surmulet, notice of the fish, ii. 298. 
 
 Swallow, its migration, ii. 16; peculiarities and varieties 
 of the, 160; characteristics of the, 161 ; food, ib.; agi- 
 lity, ib. ; tail, ib. ; its appearance in spring, ib. ; dif- 
 ference between the chimney swallow and window 
 swallow, ib., n.; nests of the various kinds of the, 162; 
 in China, ib.; how to discard them, ib.; eggs and 
 young, 163; assembling of the, ib. ; migration, ib. ; 
 seen at sea, ib.; whether all migrate, ib., 164, n.', the 
 swift and other varieties, ib., 160; the nocturnal, or 
 goat sucker, ib.; nests of the Chinese, in what esti- 
 mation held as a delicacy, 162; commercial statistics 
 regarding, ib., 163, n. 
 
 Swalloiv, sea, a kind of gull, ii. 210. 
 
 Swallows of Ternate, a name of the bird of paradise, ii. 
 109. 
 
 Swammerdam, his persevering inquiries into the nature 
 of shell-fish and insects, ii. 359. 
 
 Skvan, characteristics of the, ii. 224 and n.; the wild 
 swan, 225, n. ; the black swan, ib.; whether the 
 swan sings, 226; relations on the subject, ib., 227 ; 
 food of the, ib. ; incubation and young, ib. ; formerly 
 esteemed for the flesh, ib.; where now preserved for 
 their beauty, ib. 
 
 Sivift, a kind of swallow, its distinctions and habits, ii. 
 
 Swimmers, an order of birds, characteristics of, ii. 201. 
 
 Swine. See Hog. 
 
 Sword-fish, its attacks on the whale described, ii. 255; 
 the, described, 294 and n. 
 
 Syagush, name of the caracal, i. 381, 383. See Caracal. 
 
 Syria, animals of, the softness of their hair, i. 359. 
 
 Systems of natural history, method of using,!. 230; ad- 
 vantages of, ib.; defects of, 231; Ray's, ib.; Klein's, 
 232; Linnaeus', 233; that followed in* this work, 233 
 235. 
 
 Tadpole, the spawn of the frog. See Frvy. 
 
 Tajacu, i. 349. See Peccary. 
 
 Talapoin, a monkey, fine colours of the, i. 507 and n. 
 
 Tamain, kind of monkey, i. 508. 
 
 Tamandua, larger and smaller species of the ant- eater, 
 i, oob. 
 
 Tanrec, distinguished from the hedgehog, i. 464; de- 
 scribed, ib. ; habitudes, ib. 
 
 Tapeti, or Brazilian Rabbit, an account of the, i. 446. 
 
 Tapir, the hippopotamus of the new continent, i. 352, 
 
 n., 552, n.', described, 552; its food,ib.; flesh, ib.; the 
 
 tapir of Malacca and Sumatra, 553, n. 
 Tarantula, a dance practised in Italy, i. 198, n.; a kind 
 
 of spider, described, ii. 454; its fabled dangerous bite 
 
 and cure by music, 455. 
 Tarnassar, the great bird of, supposed to be the condor, 
 
 ii. 39. 
 
 Tartar race of men, described, i. 210, 211. 
 Tasting, opinions concerning the sense of, i. 201 ; sen- 
 sible in children, 202; affected by habit, ib. 
 Tatou, (see Armadillo), i. 469; apara, 471 ; of Ray, ib.; 
 
 tatuette, ib. 
 Teeth, variety of, in animals, i. 174; of quadrupeds, 238; 
 
 of the cow, 270. 
 
 Telescope fish, described, ii. 291, n. 
 Temperate regions, earth in the, i. 11. 
 Tench, fish, described, ii. 306, 307, n.; how angled for, 
 
 323, n. 
 Tendrac, the, distinguished from the hedgehog, i. 464; 
 
 size, movements, and habits, ib. 
 Tenertffe, peak of, a volcano, i. 44 ; its height, 62. 
 Termites, or WJiitc Ants, description of the, ii. 537, n.; 
 
 singular construction of their nests, ib., 538. 
 Ternate, how rendered unwholesome, i. 112. 
 Terns, or Sea Swallows, characteristics of the, ii, 212, . 
 Teuthys, the fish described, ii. 299. 
 Therasia, a new island, i. 53. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 661 
 
 Thermometer, i. 69; principle of the, ib. 
 
 Thirst, causes and consequences of, i. 1 85, n. 
 
 Thoracic fish, what, ii. 294; prickly-finncd, 295; soft- 
 finned, 299. 
 
 Thornback, a species of skate, ii. 277, n. 
 
 T/mtshki?id,Urdsof the, ii. 137; different species of 
 thrush, their habits, &c. 1 38, n. ; their prppertres, ib. ; 
 the song thrush or mavis, 1 39, n. ; the missel thrush, 
 its size and distinctions, ib. and n. ; the punctated 
 thrush, 141, n.; the rock thrushes, 142, n. ; the mock- 
 ing thrush, 143, .; other varieties, 145; the fieldfare, 
 blackbird, &c. See Fieldfare, Blackbird, 
 
 Thumb-footed shell-fish, account of the, ii. 374. 
 
 Thunder, phenomena of, i. 1 33, n. 
 
 Thyroid cartilage, seen in men, i. 1 75. 
 
 Tides of Hie ocean, i. 90; description of the, ib.; precise 
 account of the manner in which they are caused, 90, 
 91; affected by the channel of the sea, 91,92; the 
 greatest where, 92; an effect of the, ib.; 
 
 Tiger, the, its beauty, i. 369; fierceness, ib.; distinctions 
 of the, ib ; relative position, ib ; where found, ib. and 
 n.; tiger hunting in India, 370, 371, n.', habits, 371; 
 strength, ib. and 372; combat of one with three ele- 
 phants, ib. ;the three kinds of the, in SundahRajah's 
 dominions, 373; scarceness of the real species, ib.; 
 how far tameable, 369; tigress and her young, 373; 
 their skins, 374; clouded tiger, ib., n. 
 
 Tinea. See Moths. 
 
 Tipitla, the, gnat, described, ii. 553. 
 
 Titmice, account of the various species of, ii. 151, n.', 
 bottle tit or long-tailed titmouse, 154, n. 
 
 Toad, the, distinguished from the frog, ii. 334 ; hideous 
 to the imagination, ib. ; resemblance to the frog, ib. ; 
 propagation and assistance of the male, 385; food, 
 ib.; account of the habits of one tamed by Arscott, 
 ib. ; instance of Germans eating the, without injury, 
 386; another instance of its wholesoineness, ib. ; fables 
 concerning the, ib. ; its real character, ib. ; torpidity, 
 in winter, ib. ; account of several instances of its being 
 found in the heart of trees and stones, ib.; experi- 
 ments regarding this singular phenomenon, ib., n.', 
 account of their sucking cancerous sores, 388; varie- 
 ties, the water, ib.; the pipal or Surinam, 389; the 
 honied toad, ib. 
 
 Tococo, the flamingo, why so called by the natives of 
 Canada, ii. 188. 
 
 Tones, how produced, i. 196; their succession in propor- 
 tion make music, ib. 
 
 Tongue or proboscis of insects, ii. 615; of the house-fly, 
 ib.; of the honey bee, 616. 
 
 Tonquin, extraordinary tides there, i. 92; how accounted 
 for, ib. 
 
 Tornado, description of the, i. 125, 126. 
 
 Torpedo, a kind of ray, described, ii. 278 ; its electrical 
 shock described, by Kempfer, ib. ; causes ascribed 
 for the effect, 279 ; its power declines with its vigour, 
 ib. ; where the power resides, ib.; other fishes pos- 
 sessed of the same power, 280. 
 
 Torsk, a species of cod, described, ii. 300, n. 
 
 Tortoise, its superiority to the fish tribe, ii. 337; why 
 ranked among them, ib.; land and water, ib.; differ- 
 ence between the, and the turtle, ib., 338 ; habits of the 
 ib. ; shell, ib. ; the body described, ib. ; various species 
 of, ib., n.\ internal structure, ib. ; its organs described, 
 339 ; difficult to be killed, lives with the brains out 
 and the head off, ib.; longevity of the, ib.; account 
 of one at Peterborough which lived above 200 years, 
 ib., 72.; food of the, 340; motion of its blood, ib.; dor- 
 mant state, ib.; slowness of all the actions, and 
 changes of the, ib. ; eggs, ib. ; nest, ib., 341 ; shell com- 
 posed of several pieces, ib. ; habitudes, ib., 432, n. 
 Sea Tortoise, see Turtle. 
 
 Toucan, account of its extraordinary conformation, ii. 
 99 and n. ; of the red-beaked, 1 00 ; food or prey, ib. 
 and ra.; tongue of the, and its use, 101; how it pro- 
 tects its young, ib. ; where found, ib. 
 
 Touch, sense of, corrects sight, i. 193; its utility, 202; 
 widely diffused, ib.; affected by habit, ib.; where 
 chiefly seated, ib.; importance of, ib. 
 
 TrctchmUB, or ivcevcr, a kind of fish, described, ii. 295; 
 
 pain of the sting of its back fin, 324. 
 Trachipterus, or sabre, the fish, noticed, ii. 298. 
 Trade-winds, i. 117; history and theory of, 1 1 8, n. ; in the 
 
 Atlantic, 122; off Nova Zembla, &c. ib. 
 Traydaphns, the stag of Germany, i. 327. 
 
 Transformation of insects, ii. 437. 
 
 Tne wasp. See Wasp. 
 
 Tree-hoppers, Rennie's name for the ancient cicada, how 
 applicable, ii. 476; their instrument of sound, ib. 
 
 Trees, formation of, ii. 602. 
 
 Trembley, the discoverer of the reproduction of zoophy- 
 tes from cutting, ii. 567 ; his classification of the poly- 
 pus, 570. 
 
 Trichoda ycnus of infusoria, ii. 633. 
 
 Trichurus, a prickly-finned fish, ii. 294. 
 
 Trigla, properties of the fish, ii. 298. 
 
 Trochus, a peculiar kind of snail without mouth, ii. 3(>3; 
 preys on other snails, ib.; all sea-snails liable to its 
 attacks, 364. 
 
 Troglodyte , described, i. 491. 
 
 Trogons, e. family of birds peculiar to warm climates 
 described, ii. 101, 102, n. 
 
 Tropics, constancy of winds there, in certain seas, i. 117; 
 luirricanes at the, 125; atmospheric phenomena of 
 the 133135. 
 
 Trout, description of the, ii. 302, n. ; how angled for, 
 323, .; the great gray trout of Loch Awe, 302, n.; 
 salmon trout, 303, n. 
 
 Trunk of the elephant, account of the, i. 518. 
 
 Tumble-dung, a kind of beetle, described, ii. 546; its 
 sense of smelling, ib. ; kings of the class, 547. 
 
 Tumbler, a kind of dog, described, i. 394. 
 
 Tunny fish, described and tunny fisheries, ii. 297, 298 
 and n. 
 
 Turbinated shellfish, ii. 352359. 
 
 Turbotfish, described, ii. 300, n. 
 
 Turkey, its original country, ii. 66 and n. ; the American 
 wild, 67; Prince Charles Lncian Bonaparte's account 
 of the, ib., n. ; habits in the wild state, ib.; how hunt- 
 ed, ib. ; habits, animosities, and antipathies of the 
 tame, 70; cowardice, ib.; female and young, 71; 
 screams and agitation of the female when the young 
 attacked, ib. 
 
 Turnstone, described, ii. 194, n. 
 
 Turtle, the, whence its difference from the tortoise 
 arises, ii. 337; the, described, 341 ; the great Mediter- 
 ranean, or coriaceous, its great size and uselessnees, 
 ib.; poisonous, ib. ; account of one of this species, 
 ib.; of one caught near Scarborough, 342; those of 
 the Indian ocean, the trunk, ib. ; the loggerhead des- 
 cribed, ib. and n. ; hawksbill or imbricated, 343 and 
 342, n. ; the green, its estimation, 343 and n. ; quali- 
 ties of the, as food, 344; why called the green turtle, 
 ib.; its size, ib.; where most numerous, ib. ; comes 
 from the sea to fresh water, and to deposit its eggs, 
 ib.; breeding, ib.; eggs, ib.; hatched by the sun, 
 345; how taken, ib., 347; harpooned, ib ; how taken 
 by divers, ib. ; Audubon's account of the habits of 
 turtles and the methods of taking them, ii. 345347, 
 n. 
 
 Turtle-do-cQ, its fidelity, ii. 126; collared turtle, 125, n.\ 
 the bird described, 129; a bird of passage, ib.; ne&ts 
 and food, ib. 
 
 Turtle eaters, a people of Ethiopia, described, by Diodo- 
 rus Siculus, ii. 344. 
 
 Tusks of the hog kind, their connection with their venery, 
 i. 352; of the elephant, 519, 520; trade in the, 527,5l'8. 
 
 TypJtons,or water-spouts, seen at land, i. 144; descrip- 
 tion of one at Hatfield, 1687, ib.; conjectures concern- 
 ing, ib. 
 
 U 
 
 Unan, a kind of sloth, i. 557. 
 
 Unicom, animals found in Africa and Asia resembling 
 the fabulous unicorn, i. 532, n. ; whence the origin 
 of the stories concerning it, ii. 262; the sea or nar- 
 whal, described, 260. 
 
 Univalve, or turbinated shcll-Jish, ii. 359. 
 
 Uranoscopus, the fish, described, ii. 295. 
 
 Urchin, Sea, the proper class of the, described, ii. 373 
 and n. its horns and spines, ib.; its swiftness not- 
 withstanding its many spines, ib. ; what sort of food 
 it is, ib. 
 
 Urson, distinguished from the porcupine, and describ- 
 ed, i. 467. 
 
 Urus, white, the, or wild bull, where found, i. 276; dcs- 
 cribcdj ib. 
 
662 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Vampyre,i\\e American, described, i. 473; blood-sucker, 
 474; Ulloa's report on this subject confirmed, ib. 
 
 Vansire. a kind of ferret from Madagascar, described, i. 
 415. 
 
 Vapours, noxious, in mines, i. 36; (see Gas); inflam- 
 mable, in Persia, 40. 
 
 Vuri, a kind of monkey, i. 510. 
 
 Vascular tissue of plants, ii. G01. 
 
 Vegetable Kingdom, discoveries therein by the micro- 
 scope, ii. 595 ; Pritchard's remarks thereon, ib., 696; 
 microscope reveals a beauty in vegetable structures 
 not discoverable by unaided sight, 596 ; Brown's ex- 
 periments on the pollen of plants, ib.; remarks con- 
 cerning molecular activity as exhibited both in the 
 mineral and vegetable kingdoms, ib.; circulation of 
 fluids in plants, ib. ; Pritchard's account of the cy- 
 closis, 597 ; aquatic plants in which the circulation is 
 readily observed, ib. ; respiration of plants, ib. ; the 
 cuticle and stomata, ib.; singular alternate action of 
 plants, ib.; a flower, microscopic examination of, ib. ; 
 petals, ib. ; absorbents, ib. ; stamens, filament, and 
 anther, ib.; the pollen, ib., 598; true farina, 598; pis- 
 til, germen, style, and stigma, ib. ; pistil, how impreg- 
 nated, ib. ; seeds, their forms and appendages, ib. ; 
 seed-lobes, heart, ib. ; radicle and plumula, ib.; seeds, 
 how to be microscopically observed, ib. ; pappus, or 
 down, ib.; its uses, ib. ; ala, or wing, and its uses, 
 599; poppy seeds, their conformation, ib.; calampe- 
 lus scaber, seed of, ib.; French marigold, seed of, ib. ; 
 theca, or seed-vessel, of moss, ib.; puff-ball, seed of, 
 ib. ; seeds of fern, ib. ; polypodium of the oak, seeds 
 of, ib.; plant, or tree, leaves, ib.; their composition, 
 ib.; skeleton leaf, ib.; Baker's observations on the 
 leaves of plants, ib. ; leaves of stinging nettles, GOO ; 
 the ferns, their seed-vessels, capsules, sporules, and 
 frond, ib. ; the mosses, and septa of, ib. ; sphagnum, 
 or bog-moss, leaf of, ib. ; algae, ib. ; lichens, 601 ; fuci, 
 or sea- weeds, ib.; singular species, ib.; confervae, in- 
 cluding chara and nitella, in which circulation is very 
 apparent, ib.; mouldincss, plants of, ib.; fungi, their 
 formation, &c., ib.; old opinions concerning, and re- 
 marks thereon, ib.; fungi producing dry rot, smut, 
 &c., ib. ; woody formations, ib. ; stem, cuticle, bark, 
 liber, sap, pith, ib.; cellular tissue, ib.; woody fibre, 
 vascular tissue, ib.; microscopic examination of these, 
 ib., 602; spiral, annular, and ducted vessels, 602; for- 
 formation of trees, ib. ; aloe, microscopic view of 
 transverse section, ib. ; of fibres of the palm, ib.; 
 transverse section of clematis, ib. 
 
 Vegetables, their analogies to animals, i. 1 46 ; compara- 
 tive number of vegetables and animals, 147, ra.; dif- 
 ferent generative powers of vegetables and animals, 
 150, n.; most useful, 149; few noxious, ib.; organs of 
 
 ^generation in, 1 53, n. ; fossil remains of, ii. 594. 
 
 Venom of the serpent, the bag of, described, ii. 416; ap- 
 pearance of, through a microscope, 417; taste of, ib.; 
 has been drunk without producing a bad effect, ib. ; 
 Lucan's observation of this, ib.; how fatal introduced 
 into the circulation, ib., 41 8; experiment showing the 
 potency of, 418; doubts, ib. 
 
 Venomous Serpents, seat of the venom in the animals, ii. 
 416; fangs, ib.; teeth, ib.; venomous bag, ib.; the 
 fangs and the operation of wounding, ib., 417; ap- 
 pearances and effects caused by the wound, 417; the 
 venom, ib.; habitudes, 418; food, ib.; manner of the 
 
 ^attack, ib. 
 
 Vessels of vegetables, spiral, annular, and ducted, ii. 602. 
 
 Vesuvius, volcano of mount, i. 42; eruption of, in 17U7, 
 ib.; one in 1717, described by Berkley, 4244. 
 
 Vilirio (jenus of infusoria, ii. 629. 
 
 Viper, manner of its motion, 412,413; the, of Great 
 
 different ages, ib.; rendered indistinct by excessive 
 brightness of the object, ib. ; why, ib., 1 95. 
 Voices of birds, observations on the, ii. 4; of the various 
 singing birds, described, 1 37 ; of American singing 
 
 Volcanoes, i. 40 and n.\ their causes, 40; enumeration 
 of, 41 45; whether they proceed from deep regions, 
 41. 
 
 Volvox genus of infusoria, ii. 627. 
 
 Vorticella (jenus of^infusoria, ii. 634. 
 
 Vulture, its relative position among birds, ii. 40; dis- 
 tinctive qualities, ib. ; varieties, the golden particu- 
 larized, 40 43; localities of different species of vul- 
 ture, 41, 42, n.', black vulture described, ib.; question 
 whether the vulture is led to its prey by sight or 
 smell, 42, n. ; parts of the animal, 42 ; service of, in 
 Egypt, ib.; habits there, ib. ; in America, ib.; skill in 
 tearing a body to pieces, and manner of feeding, 43; 
 sloth and voracity, ib. ; hostility to the crocodile, ib. ; 
 nests, ib.; the king of the vultures described, ib., 4-1. 
 
 Wagtails, account of the, ii. 153, 154, n. 
 
 Walfisclioas, the Icelandic name for the food of tlu< 
 whale, ii. 253. 
 
 Wall-bees. See Bee. 
 
 Wanderow, a kind of baboon, an account of the, i. 501 5 
 and n. 
 
 Wapiti, a North American deer, i. 328, n. 
 
 Warblers, ii. 153, .; pensile warbler, ib. ; superb war- 
 bler, ib. 
 
 Warine, a Brazilian monkey, i. 508. 
 
 Washington, bird of, described, ii. 37, 38, n. 
 
 Wasp, very different from the bee, ii. 528; the, de- 
 scribed, ib., 529, n.; voracity and fierceness, 529; dis- 
 tinctions of the communities of the, 530; account of 
 the formation of its nest, ib. ; materials, ib. ; dome, 
 531 ; comb, ib. ; pillars and stories, ib. ; cell, ib. ; 
 worms and their processes, ib. ; formidable to other 
 insects, and voracious, 532 ; effects of winter on the, 
 ib.; the solitary wasp, 533; its apartment, ib. ; egg, 
 ib. ; provisions, ib. ; death, ib. ; emerging of the young, 
 ib.; account of the wasp of the West Indies, 534; the 
 tree wasp, 533, n. 
 
 Water, i. 65; its penetrating nature, ib.; absorption oi 
 by various bodies, ib., n. ; its subservience to vegeta- 
 tion, 66; rain-water, ib. ; spring-water, 67; river-wa- 
 ter, ib.; stagnant, ib. ; sea- water, ib.; mineral and 
 medicinal, 68; impurities in, ib.; operation of cold 
 and heat on water, 6870; compression of, 70; fluid- 
 ity, ib.; science of, or hydrostatics, 71 ; paradoxes in, 
 71 73; its ascent in fine glass tubes, 73. 
 
 ment showing this, ib., and n.', the method of cure 
 prescribed by Celsus, ib.; flesh said to be medicinal, 
 421 ; Swedish viper, ib., n. 
 
 Vision, errors in, i. 192, 193; does not give us an idea of 
 distance without the aid of touch, 193; experiment 
 on tins subject, ib., 194; near-sightedness of, 194; at 
 
 Waves, velocity of, i. 90, n. 
 
 Wax, how collected by the bee, ii.^516. 
 
 Weasel, its size and proportions, i. 411 ; description of 
 the, ib. ; its noxious nature and habits, ib. ; method 
 of stealing and eating its prey, ib., 412; parturition of 
 the, 412; effluvia, ib.; affection for putrefaction, and 
 instance of, ib., 413. 
 
 Weasel kind, animals of the, their characteristics, i. 41 0; 
 fur, ib., 418; method of taming the, 411, w. ; anec- 
 dotes of the, 412, n.\ their odorous glands, 410; habi- 
 tudes and shape, ib.; size, 411. 
 
 Weaver-fish, ii. 324. See Trachinus. 
 
 Web of the spider, how formed, ii. 440, 441 ; of the gar- 
 den-spider, 441 ; spun into thread, 442. 
 
 Werner, his theory of the earth, i. 17; classification of 
 rocks, 18. 
 
 Whale, its greatest size, ii. 250; its amazing appearance, 
 ib., 251 ; seven varieties of the, 251 ; the great Green- 
 land, described, ib., 253, .; its skin, 251; tail, ib.; 
 scarfskin, real skin, blubber, 252; cleft of its mouth, 
 ib.; whalebone, ib.; cyes,ib.; ears, ib. ; spouts or nos- 
 trils, ib.; its internal structure, ib. ; fidelity, ib.; fe- 
 male and young, ib., 253; gregarious, ib .; food of the, 
 ib.; inoffensiveness, 254; its enemies, ib.; historical 
 notice of the whale fishery, ib., 255, .; nations thnt 
 
I N D E X. 
 
 G63 
 
 fish the whale, 255; account of the Irish whale fish- 
 cry, ib., 256; whales diminishing in numbers, and the 
 effect, 256; the, how killed by the Biscayneers, ib., 
 258; Scoresby's account of the whale, 256 259, n.\ 
 maternal affection of the, 259, .; uses of the oil and 
 greaves, 258; barb and flesh, ib.; flesh, by what na- 
 tions prized, 260 ; the beluga, or white whale, ib., n. ; 
 the deductor, or ca'ing whale, 261, .; the sperma- 
 ceti whale, 262, n. 
 
 Whale-louse, its injury to the whale, ii. 255. 
 
 Whelk, a small shell-fish, ii. 369, n. 
 
 Whimbrel, described, ii. 194, n. 
 
 Whip-snake^ its appearance, ii. 423; venomous bite, ib. 
 
 Whirlpools, i. 96. See Currents, the Madstroom, &c. 
 
 Whiskers, veneration of the Spaniards and other nations 
 for, i. 1 73. 
 
 Whiston, his theory of the earth, i. 1416. 
 
 White bait, fishery of the, on the Thames, ii. 316, n.; 
 found in the Frith of Forth, ib. ; general description 
 of, ib.; account of the appearance of, near London, 
 318; what they are, ib. 
 
 Whiting, a species of cod, described, ii. 300, n. 
 
 WUlalL kingdom of, the serpent, how adored there, ii. 
 415. 
 
 Winds, \. 116; how produced, ib.; chiefly by the sun, 
 ib.; difficulty of a history of, 117; steadiness of, in 
 certain places, ib.; causes of, 117 119; history and 
 theory of trade- winds, 118, n. ; trade-winds, 121; 
 monsoons, 122 ; some winds peculiar to certain 
 coasts, 123; some change daily, ib.; east, why the 
 most powerful and constant, ib. ; on mountains, ib. ; 
 varied by the seasons, 124 ; its currents, how in- 
 creased, ib.; hot, 125; destructive, ib. ; in Persia, ib. ; 
 hurricane, ib. ; tornado, 126; sand-storm, ib. ; storms 
 in Britain, ib.; in France, 127; sirocco, 128. 
 
 Wind-gun, account of the, i. 1 07. 
 
 Wings of birds, their conformation, ii. 2, 3; wings and 
 wing cases of insects, 6' 16. 
 
 Wistiti, kind of monkey, i. 508. 
 
 Wolf, the, distinguished from the dog, i. 398 and n. ; 
 period of gestation, ib. ; size, colour, and disposition, 
 ib.; antipathy to the dog, 390 ; their untameableness, 
 ib., 400; their generation, 400, 401 ; strength, 401; 
 suspiciousness, ib. ; how hunted, ib., 402; how extir- 
 pated from England, 402 ; where found, ib. ; the Nor i h 
 American, its tractability, ib., 403. 
 
 Wolf-fish, notice of the, ii. 299. 
 
 Wolga, the largest river in Europe, what remarkable in 
 the, i. 75. 
 
 Wolverine. See Glutton. 
 
 Wood, fossil, ii. 595. 
 
 Wood cock. See Cock of tine wood. 
 
 a migratory bird, described, ii. 191, n. 
 
 Woodpecker, characteristics of the, ii. 101; colonies of 
 the, ib. ; green woodspite described, ib. ; tongue and 
 its use, 102; how it attacks ant-hills, 103; its nest, 
 ib.; young, ib.; hanging nests of the, in Guinea and 
 Brazil, 104; the gold- winged, account of the confine- 
 
 ment of one, 105; ivory -"oil led woodpecker, 103, w.; 
 gold- winged woodpecker, 104, n.\ red-headed wood- 
 pecker, ib., 105, n.\ downy woodpecker, 106, n. 
 
 Woodspite, green, ii. 102. See Woodpecker. 
 
 Woodward, his theory of the earth, i. 14; of earthquakcSj 
 46. 
 
 Woody fibres of plants, ii. 601. 
 
 Wool, manufacture of, when commenced in Britain, i. 
 288; that of Merino sheep described, 295. 
 
 Worms, their motion, how effected by the spiral muscle, 
 ii. 559; what organs they want, ib.; eggs, ib. ; young, 
 ib.; avoid the animals that prey on them, 560; what 
 peculiar in them, ib. ; reproduction by cutting, when 
 first observed, ib. 
 
 Wrasse, a prickly-finned fish, ii. 296. 
 
 Wren, ii. 153, n.\ golden- crested wren, ib.; willow- wren, 
 ib. ; wood-wren, ib. 
 
 Wryneck, a bird resembling the woodpecker, ii. 103, n. 
 
 Wynh/n de Worde, his qualifications of a good grey- 
 hound, i. 391. 
 
 X 
 
 Xipliias, ii. 294. See Su-ord-fsh. 
 
 Yaivning, how produced, i. 170; its sympathetic nature, 
 
 ^ib., 171,?2. 
 Yellow-hammer, or Yellotu-yeldring, a species of bunting, 
 
 ii. 151, n. 
 Young, courage and art of animals in defending their, i. 
 
 Youth. See Puberty. 
 
 Zebra, its beauty and untameableness, i. 265 ; distinc- 
 tion between the zebra of the plains and the moun- 
 tain zebra, ib., n.; original country of the, 265; its 
 shape and colours, ib. ; male described, ib. ; instances 
 of its fierceness, 266 ; reason why untamed, ib. ; swift - 
 ness of the, 267; instances of female zebras producing 
 mules, ib., n.; its food, ib.; voice, ib.; value, ib. 
 
 Zeiran, a kind of gazelle, i. 308. 
 
 Zeus, or Doree, a prickly-finned fish, ii. 298. 
 
 Zibet, a variety of the civet, its distinguishing marks, i. 
 4l.o 
 
 Zoophytes, moaning of the term, ii. 557; what kind of 
 life they have, ib., 558 : how distinguished from 
 plants, ib., and .; distinctions of the class,558; classi- 
 fication, 562 567, n.; Blumenbach's description of, 
 558, 559, n. 
 
 Zorille, a variety of the weasel kind, i. 421. 
 
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 
 
 The Plates to be placed at the commencement of each Volume agreeably to the subjoined List. 
 
 VOL. I. TO CONTAIN 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GOLDSMITH. 
 
 VIGNETTE TITLE. 
 
 NATURAL SCENERY AND PHENOMENA N. II. 
 
 GEOLOGY do. 
 
 Do. do. 
 
 ORGANIC REMA!NS do. 
 
 Do. do. 
 
 MOUNTAINS .. do. 
 
 MAN 
 
 N. II. 7 
 
 Do 
 
 do. 8 
 
 Do 
 
 do. 9 
 
 Do 
 
 do. 10 
 
 M \MMALIA 
 
 do. 11 
 
 Do 
 
 do. 12 
 
 D6 
 
 do. 13 
 
 Do. 
 
 do. 14 
 
 VOL. II. TO CONTAIN 
 
 PORTRAIT OF CUVIER. 
 
 VIGNETTE TITLE. 
 
 ORNITHOLOGY N. H. 15 
 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 
 do. 1C 
 
 do. 17 
 
 do. 18 
 
 do. 19 
 
 do. 20 
 
 ICHTHYOLOGY do. 21 
 
 Do do. 22 
 
 CRUSTACEA do. 23 
 
 MOLLUSCA... do. 24 
 
 REPTILES.. N. II. 25 
 
 ARACHNIDES, &c do. 
 
 ECHINODERMATA, &C do. 
 
 ENTOMOLOGY do. 
 
 Do do: 
 
 POLYPI do. .1-0 
 
 CONCHOLOGY do. 
 
 Do do. ii 
 
 Do do. 
 
 MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS ... do. 
 
 Do. 
 
 33 
 34 
 
 do. 35 
 
 
SPONGE. This well-known production of the sea 
 has been in use from the earliest times, and natural- 
 ists were long embarrassed whether to give it a place 
 in the animal or vegetable kingdom. Most authori- 
 ties now place it in the lowest scale of animal life. 
 There are fifty different kinds of sponge. Sponges 
 are found plentifully in the Mediterranean and other 
 seas of warm climates, but diminish in number and 
 deteriorate in quality as they approach cold latitudes. 
 They adhere to rocks in places the least exposed to 
 the action of the currents and waves, and below low 
 water mark. The best sponges come from the Archi- 
 pelago, where they abound near many of the islands, 
 whose inhabitants subsist entirely by the sponge fishe- 
 ry. At the Cyclades, sponge-diving forms the chief 
 employment of the population. The sea is at all times 
 very clear, and experienced divers can distinguish 
 from the surface the points to which the sponge is at- 
 tached below, when an unpractised eye could but 
 iimly discern the bottom. Each boat is furnished 
 with a large stone attached to a rope, and this the di- 
 ver seizes in his hand, on plunging head foremost 
 from the stern. He does this in order to increase the 
 velocity of the descent ; thus economizing his stock 
 of breath, as well as to facilitate his ascent, when ex- 
 hausted at the bottom, being then quickly hauled up 
 by his companions. Few men can remain longer 
 . than about two minutes below ; and, as the process of 
 detaching the sponge is very tedious, three, and some- 
 times four divers descend successively to secure a par- 
 ticularly fine specimen. The best" ..sponge is that 
 which is the palest and lightest, ua /small holes and 
 is soft to the touch. Of old, sponge was .regarded as 
 a cure for a long list of maladies. Burned sponge 
 still holdup ominent place among tin- iuat-vi;ils of 
 medicL .. 
 
 THE PEON, THE RAT, AND THE SNAKE. One ot 
 those singular escapes occurred a few davs back, for 
 narrating which old Indians get accused of drawing 
 
 e most formidable long-bows, when they settle 
 down on their pensions in that portion of the metro- 
 pohs dedicated to their retirement under the appro- 
 
 e appro- 
 
 priate name of Asia Minor. This, however, is a fact, 
 btless is many a similar story which has made 
 people stare and shake their heads! A peon in the 
 Tannah near the College Bridge, observed a rat run 
 across the floor. He stooped to" look after it, having 
 his turban off and his back hair loose. White "n 
 this position he suddenly felt as though some one 
 were tugging him back by his hair. He put his 
 hand up, and to his horror found there was a large 
 obra on his back, struggling to free its teeth from 
 
 iSSllSSS^ I 7 had / 0t entan 8kd. Probably 
 the reptile had also observed the rat, and had dropped 
 from the roof, imbued with as keen a love of huntinf 
 as the peon himself. Be that as it may the snake 
 ultimately succeeded in getting loose, and cscapedlo 
 a hole without inflicting any injury on the man By 
 the order of the chief magistrate the place was pulled 
 down the next day, and there, sure enough, was 
 
 * 11 thC rat hlhiS St maCh half ' 
 
 WESTERN GIANTS IN THEIR SLUMBER. The 
 Burlington (Iowa) State Gazette says that while 
 some workmen were engaged in excavating for 
 the cellar of Gov. Grimes' new building, on the 
 corner of Main and Valley streets, they came 
 upon an arched vault some ten feet square, which, 
 on being opened, was found to contain eight 
 human skeletons of gigantic proportions. The 
 walls of the vault were about fourteen inches 
 thick, well laid up with cement, or indestructible 
 mortar. The vault is about six feet deep from 
 the base to the arch. The skeletons are in a good 
 state of preservation, and we venture to say are 
 the largest human remains per found,, being a 
 little over eight feet long.^;'. 
 
 Who are the Longest Lived? 
 
 There appears to be a wide difference of opinior 
 between some of our most intelligent and respecta 
 ble cotemporaries in regard to the subject, who art 
 the longest lived of nations? We copy some o: 
 their remarks : 
 
 The Americans are the longest lived of people 
 inotwithstanding all the humbug about the greal 
 age to which the English live, their superior stam 
 ina, etc. And the longest lived of Americans an 
 to be found here, in this very New England, al 
 though such a mess of stuff is said about the Yan 
 kees working themselves to de.ath, being half-starvec 
 jand depriving themselves of the enjoyments of life 
 thus tending to abbreviate it ; and despite the ar 
 iguments which are based upon the changeability 
 I pf the climate, the east wind, and all that. Thes< 
 are but windy arguments. Statistics tell a differen 
 story. Boston Evening Ledger. 
 
 Americans are not the longest lived people, am 
 we much mistake if we are destined to be a long 
 ! lived nation, even ! The Irish, of whom the write 
 claims to be a descendant, are the longest lived ; 
 but we don't know whether to attribute it to thei 
 climate or the simple diet to which the genera 
 poverty confines them. Charleston (S. C.) Men 
 cury. 
 
 You should have confined yourself, brother Met 
 
 cury, before jou delivered that sapient opinion.- 
 
 Humboldt has placed it beyond a doubt that th 
 
 mountaineers of Peru can contest the palm wit 
 
 I death longer than anybody else. New Orleans P 
 
 ' cayune. 
 
 That's a lie. Humboldt says no such thing anj 
 where. New York Evangelist. [Tut, tut, tut.- 
 What language for an "evangelist'' to use ! Ca 
 there be any wonder that naughty boys curse an 
 awear, when they have such examples from sue 
 quarters ! Ed. Life Illustrated ] 
 
 Keep cool, gentlemen, or none of you will b 
 long-lived. We believe the greatest age of ma 
 to be obtained by the Hindostanees, and refer th 
 curious in such matters to Buffon's interesting a< 
 count of the people. New York Herald. 
 
 Our American friends are having a dispute as t 
 what people present the most numerous instances ( 
 advanced age in man. Cold regions we believe t 
 be the most favorable to the prolongation of lif< 
 but we have nothing to disprove that the Dutc 
 live longer than any other race too long for thei 
 own good, perhaps. London Times. 
 
 The London Times has been having a fling at th 
 Dutch, referring to the great age to which some c 
 the Mynheers attain, though nothing is mentione 
 about old Rip Van Winkle. The Times is famou 
 r wholesale slurs upon nations, though just no^ 
 it has not a word to say against its dear neighbo 
 France. If we were asked who lived the "longest 
 j of all people, we should say the Patagonians, fc 
 1 numbers of the stand full eight feet high Bosto 
 
 The Boston Post thinks the Patagonians live th 
 longest of all mankind. That may be ; but it i 
 certain that the inhabitants of the Himmalehmoui 
 tains live the highest. Boston Herald. 
 
 That may be, too, neighbor ; but a still sure 
 thing is, whether the Yankees/' 
 not, the 
 
 
?ept 6th, 
 
 MAN vs. BEAR. On Saturday In- 
 says the Stockton Argus, Mr. F. H. Ayres, living 
 on the San Joaquin river, went iu pursuit of a 
 bear that had been committing depredations on 
 his swine. Coming up with the animal, he dis- 
 charged the contents of both barrels of his gun. 
 into his body. This incensed, without disabling 
 the bear, causing him to turn upon his sassailant, 
 when, with one stroke of his paw, he tore away 
 a portion of his thigh, and, seizing his head in his 
 mouth, crushed it in a fearful manner, breaking 
 in the bones of the forehead and nose, and lay- 
 ing bare a portion of the brain. The brute then 
 left him. He was traced some distance by the 
 blood from the gunshot wounds inflicted upon 
 him, but was not overtaken. Dr. Ryer dressed 
 the wounds of Mr. Ayres, which are of such a 
 severe character as leaves little chance of his re- 
 covery. 
 
 We never could see the propriety of persons 
 acquainted with the fierce and dangerous nature 
 of the grizzly bear, going out to attack him in 
 the manner Mr. Ayres seems to have done. To 
 this reckless practice, nearly every accident of 
 this class may be traced. This animal is natu- 
 rally pacific in his disposition, rarely ever attack- 
 ing man unless provoked by an assault, and even 
 then, as a general thing, he appears to think dis- 
 cretion the better part of valor ; retreating, in 
 most cases, rather than engage in a fight. But, 
 when wounded, or closely beset, he never fails to 
 turn and defend himself, and generally with spirit 
 and effect. 
 
 He has but a few points fatally vulnerable, even 
 to the rifle ball ; hence, the hunter cannot always 
 calculate upon killing, even when he is fairry 
 within range. The heart and the brain are, of 
 course, always vital points when reached by the 
 leaden mi?sile. But it often happens that the 
 bullet, though well directed, strikes the bony 
 covering which protects these parts, at an angle 
 that turns it from its course, causing it to pro- 
 duce no further injury than just sufficient to irri- 
 tate the object of attack, and bring him upon the 
 now defenceless hunter. It is in this manner 
 that many have heretofore lost their lives, or 
 been terribly crushed and maimed iu their en- 
 counters with this usually peaceful friend, but 
 dangerous foe. Bruin is by no means a denizen 
 of cxemp[ary habits. He is a night-prowler, lax 
 and unscrupulous in his notions of honesty ; a 
 picker up of loose things about a barn yard too, 
 like a city official, preying upon pigs, poultry 
 and offal, left in exposed positions. 
 
 We cannot deny that, yet we can hardly recall 
 an instance of deadly conflict between him and 
 his human antagonist, in which he was decidedly 
 the aggressor. In view of his predatory, pilfer- 
 ing, shoulder-striking practices, we don't object 
 to iiis being attacked and driven from civilized 
 society, but would admonish those who under- 
 take the job, to make ample preparation for de- 
 fense, as well as attack. Don't go alone, depend- 
 ing on a simple shot or two, but in numbers, 
 we'll armed, not only with rifles, but alaoa heavy- 
 knife for close quarters, should it come to that. 
 Dogs are often of great service in attacking the 
 grizzly, by worrying and keeping him at bay, 
 thereby giving the hunter a better opportunity to 
 approach and secure a good shot. 
 
 Wonders of the Microscope. 
 
 The meaning O f Jlniinalcula is animals whos 
 figures cann it b;> discerned without the aid of th 
 magnifying glass. The recent asto lishing discov 
 eries of Eurenberg, a Prussian naturalist, hav 
 given a new aspect to this department of anima 
 nature, even in a geological poiat of view. H 
 has described seven hundred and twenty-two liv 
 ing species which swarm almost everywhere, eve 
 fa the fluids of living and healthy animals ii 
 countless numbers. Formerly they were though 
 to be the most simple of all animals in their or 
 ganization ; to be in fact little more than mer 
 particles of matter endowed vvit.i vitality ; but h 
 has discovered in them mouths, teeth stomach 
 muscles, nerves, glands, eyes and organs of re 
 production. Some of the smallest animalcule ar 
 not more than the twenty-four thousandth of a: 
 inch in diameter, and the thickness of the skin c 
 their stomachs not more than the fifty millionth 
 part of an inch. In their mode of reproduction 
 they produce their young alive, also by eg ;s, am 
 by buds or gems. An individual of the Hy (latin, 
 senta increased in ten days one million ; on the 
 eleventh day to four million, and on the twelftl 
 day to sixteen million. In anothtr case Ehronberj, 
 says that one individual is capable of becoming u 
 fours days one hundred and seventy b'llioiis! Leu 
 wenhoeck calculated that one billion animaLulae 
 euch as occur in common water, would not alto- 
 gether make a me?s so lar^re as a grain of sand 
 Ehrenberg estimates that five hundred million o 
 them do actually sometimes exist in a single drop 
 of water. In the Alps there is sometimes found a 
 enow of red color ; and it has been recently ascer 
 tained by M. Seutterworth that the coloring mat 
 ter is composed chiefly of sutusoria, with some 
 plants of the tribe of Algae. And what is 
 singular is, that when the snow had been melted 
 for a short time, so as to become a little warmer 
 than the freezing point, the animals die, because 
 they cannot endure so much heat. A specimen of 
 meteoric paper which fell from the sky in Courland 
 in 1686, has been examined by Ehrenberg. and 
 found to consist, like the red snow, of Conferva 
 and Infusoria. Of the latter he found twenty-nine 
 species. Surprising as these facts are, it will per- 
 haps seem still more incredible that the skeletons 
 of these animals should be found in a fossil state, 
 and actually constitute nearly (he whole mass of 
 soils and rocks, several feet in thickness, and ex- 
 teni ng over areas of many acres. Yet this, too, 
 has been ascertained by the same acute Prussian 
 naturalist. 
 
much larp 
 
 Jhis city, has beeu awarded by 
 'he publication of the uncalled for let- 
 1 Office for 1856. 
 
 FIRST EDITION. 
 
 SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 17, 1856. 
 
 A Snake Story A Live Snake in a Live Man. 
 
 A gentleman, whose name we did not learn, ar^ 
 rived in this city from Bird's Hill, on Monday lafct^ 
 for the purpose of procuring surgical advice in 
 relation to the possibility of removing from the 
 stomach a large snake, which has inhabited that | 
 locality for the past fifteen years. Exactly at what 
 time the reptile was taken into the stomach, the 
 sufferer is not aware. He first felt its presence in 
 the vicinity of the kidneys many years ago ; but 
 the pains experienced, although sometimes acute 
 and trontblesonie, occasioned no alarm until about 
 two years since, when one day feeling quite unwell^ 
 c he placed his hands upon his bowels and distinctly 
 felt the snake crawling within him. Since then it 
 iias grown enormously, acd has attained a length 
 T f at least fifteen inches, and a size around the raid- 
 lie of five or six inches. It. proportions caa be 
 pretty accurately ascertained, as its entire shape is 
 I fearfully obvious to the touch. It is quite active f 
 and possesses an insatiable appetite, judging from 
 the amount of food and water consumed by the 
 sufferer, who is continually parched with thirst* 
 and not unfrequently requires from three to four 
 gallons of fluid daily. Through the recommenoa 
 tion of an Indian he has lately found considerable 
 relief from his incessant thirst by drinking water 
 liberally diffused with vinegar. 
 
 He has made several ineffectual attempts to 
 dislodge the "varmint" by starvation and the free 
 use of stimulants. On one occasion he abstained 
 from both food and water for three days, in the 
 hope of bringing the occupant to some sort of terms. 
 The first day, the snake became uneasy, the second 
 boisterous, and the third furious, but still the man 
 held out. At the end of the third day, however, 
 his snakeship commenced an attack upon the walla 
 of his prison, with what appeared to be a tolera- 
 bly full set of teeth, and the result was an imme- 
 diate supply of food more agreeable to both parties. 
 As may be supposed, the man is reduced to a per- 
 fect skeleton under the extreme torture of mind 
 ,nd body preying upon him night and day, but he 
 
 oea not despair of finding a surgeon in the city 
 
 fficiently skillful to make an incision in the ab- 
 domen and remove the reptile. We have read of 
 similar cases, but this is the first that ever came 
 under our own observation and we hope it may 
 be the last, for we have felt "all-overish" ever 
 since. 
 
 East Indian Jugglery. 
 
 Madame Pfeiffer, in her " Second Journey Round 
 the World," gives the following description of cer- 
 tain unexplainable (eats of jugglery witnessed by 
 her whilst she was sojourning in the East Indies : 
 ' At the close of the entertainment, the perform- 
 ance of Hercules wa really curious in its way. 
 He appeared with nothing on but a pan: of draw- 
 ers, and a cord was passed around his neck, and 
 with this his hands and arras were so firmly tied 
 behind him that he could not make the smallest 
 movement. He came to us to have the knots 
 : examined, and then he crept under a high covered 
 basket, beneath which various garments were 
 placed ; and after the -lapse of a few minutes the 
 basket was lifted up, and the Hercules made his 
 appearance completely clothed in them. Then he 
 crept again under the basket, and came out with- 
 out them, but holding the cord with all its knots 
 fast in his hands, and so forth. All this would, of 
 course, have been nothing in a theatre, where 
 assistance might have been given him, but this 
 was in a meadow, where no assistance was possible. 
 One of the gentlemen present offered him twenty- 
 five rupees for his mystery, but he declined t^ 
 offer." ,* 
 
 THE CASHMERE GOATITS INTRODUCTION INTO 
 AMERICA. It is not, as yet, generally known 
 that the Thibet goat, from whose wool the famoug 
 Cashmere shawls are made, has been introduced 
 successfully into the United States. This enter- 
 prising undertaking was achieved a few years 
 since, after many difficulties, by Dr. J. B Davlg 
 of Columbia, S. C., at that time employ* d by the 
 Ottoman Porte in experimenting on the growth 
 of cotton in the Sultan's dominions. Dr. Davis 
 succeeded, at vast expense, in securing eleven of 
 the pure breed, which, on his way home, he ex- 
 hibited in London and Paris. Since that period 
 the goat has been introduced from South Caro- 
 lina to Tennessee, where it is said to thrive. The 
 value of a flock may be estimated from the faofc 
 that no real Thibet goat has ever been sold for 
 less than a thousand dollars. This enormoui 
 price, moreover, is not a speculative one, for no 
 fleeced animal has wool of such fineness, softness 
 and durability. The wool of all the Thibet goat* 
 in Tennessee, for example, has been engaged at 
 New York, this year, at eight dollars and a half 
 a pound, the purchasers designing to send it to 
 Paisley, in Scotland, in order to be manufactured 
 into shawls. Exchange. 
 
 THE VEGETABLE SERPENT. A new organization 
 of nature, being pronounced by naturalists the con- 
 necting link between animal and vegetable life, has 
 been found in the interior of Africa, in the form of 
 a serpent with a flower for head. This singular 
 freak of nature is spotted in the body, drags itself 
 along, and the flower forming its head is bell-shaped, 
 and contains a viscid fluid. Flies and other in 
 sects, attracted by the smell of the juice, enter into 
 the flower, where they are caught by the adhesive 
 matter. The flower then clooses, and remains shut 
 until the prisoners are bruised and transformed into 
 chyle. The indigestible portion, such as the head 
 and wings, are thrown out by aspiral openings 
 The vegetable serpent has a skin resembling leaves, 
 a white and soft flesh, and instead of a bony skele- 
 ton a cartilaginous frame, tilled with yellow mar- 
 row. The natives consider it a delicious food. 
 
 I ; . 
 
DECEMBER 29, 1855. 
 
 THE DAILY UNION. 
 
 East Indian Archipelago. 
 
 A very instructive and readable book has 
 
 lately been issued from the press, entitled " The 
 
 Prisoner of Weltevreden, and a Glance at the 
 
 East Indian Archipelago." The author is Capt. 
 
 Walter M. Gibson, who was some time ago ar- 
 
 iSted and imprisoned at Weltevreden, and after- 
 
 ards escaped. Even now he has pending a dc- 
 
 iand for redress. 
 
 The resources of this paradise of earth are but 
 eginning to be developed, owing mainly to the 
 xceeding jealousy with which the Dutch regard 
 he intrusion of outside barbarians. The New 
 .'ork Commercial Advertiser, which gives a brief 
 eview of the work, remarks that Capt. Gibson 
 s not a skillful writer his energy and enthusi- 
 ism are more remarkable than his judgment; 
 ind to add to the evils of a defective style, he 
 las rendered some portions of his narrative very 
 obscure by the introduction of far-fetched alle- 
 gory, which the illustrations are scarcely suffi- 
 cient to explain. Still the book is a very enter- 
 feaipiug one, and, for example, read what he says of 
 
 THE ORANG-KUBUS, OR HAIRY MEN OP SUMATRA. 
 
 I got a glimpse, amid a thick bower of foliage, 
 at a height 9f about eighty feet, of a dark brown 
 form, seeming to me as large as a human being.; 
 and when Bahdoo saw it, he cried out, " orang 
 kubu ! orang kubu !" 
 
 I raised a shout, and we all cried out at the top 
 of our voices. I struck at some low drooping 
 limbs with the pike in my hand ; and then we 
 heard rustles and leaping sounds at other points 
 in the great tree tops near the form we had seen ; 
 this one shifted, slid down a limb, came nearer to 
 view, and then we could partly see a very human- 
 like form, holding a little creature with a Very 
 1 human-like face, peering down upon us. 
 
 The sailor had raised the carbine and was 
 about to fire, when I bid him stop ; it seemed 
 likp murder to sh ^ ''. at that human face, for I 
 had heard something of wild and hairy faces, 
 j roaming in the forest not far from the waters of 
 Palembang. I again raised a shout Bahdoo 
 made a peculiar piercing cry, and again the crea- 
 ture moved; it leaped, others leaped, and the 
 huge tre- shook. Downward came the sounds, 
 leaping, rustling, crashing, then dark bodies shot 
 before us, down, plunge into the creek. 
 
 <1 stood with weapons grasped, expect- 
 
 .ttack ; but, after hearing a quick flounder 
 
 ; .-h in the water, up sprang five or six 
 
 aturea, for a moment but diruly seen, 
 
 then up the bank and away into the thick forest 
 
 on the other sido. 
 
 Three-fourths of the day was now gone, and I 
 had seen enough for one day's excursion. The 
 boat was put about, and rowed quickly down the 
 canopied stream pulled with hands again through 
 the ^narrow neck, where the leafy tops brushed 
 our backs. Our fatigue felt lightened when we 
 shot out of the leafy cavern into the warm day- 
 light on the main stream we had left ; and our in- 
 creasing fatrgue was all forgotten when, upon 
 turning the bend of the stream into the Moosee, 
 we beheld the graceful, golden tipped spars of 
 the Flirt walking up among the towering tree tops.i 
 A light breeze had risen, filling the clipper's 
 main and foretop sail, with which she 
 
 ward to me by many Arab and Chinese traders I 
 have met with. The Kubus deposit the gum they 
 collect, and other articles to exchange, in a cer- 
 tain place, when traders are in the neighborhood ; 
 then they strike with a club upon a suspended 
 hollow log, called taloh by the Malays, making a 
 loud, drum-sound and run off back into the re- 
 cesses of the forest. The traders come to the 
 spot, take away the gum, and leave what they 
 think proper. After they have gone, the Kubus 
 cautiously venture out of the thicket, and carry 
 off what has been left for them. Sometimes this 
 mode of barter is reversed the trader^ deposit- 
 ing trinkets and cloths then beat a gong, and 
 retire ; whilst the wild men come and take away 
 what has been offered, and honestly and gener- 
 ously leave all that they have got of gum or other 
 articles. Thus the chief material for the purify- 
 ing incense used in the ceremonial of the Church 
 of Home is gathered by these rude hands. 
 
 Marsden, who resided many years on the west- 
 ern coast of Sumatra, in his account of the abo- 
 rigines of the island, ^ays that he had heard of 
 two species of people, dispersed in the woods, 
 and avoiding all communication with the other 
 inhabitants ; these were the orang Kubu, and 
 the orang Gugar : the former being, as he under- 
 stood, very numerous on the south-east coast be- 
 tween the Palembang and Jambee territories. 
 He speaks of having heard of several that had 
 been caught and put to work as slaves ; and of a 
 young Kubu female that was captured by a man 
 in the Laboon country. He says that the Gugars 
 are much scarcer than the Kubus, differing in 
 little, but the use of some uncouth kind of speech, 
 from the orang utan of Borneo they being en- 
 tirely covered with hair. But Marsden is rather 
 skeptical about the existence of these beings of 
 doubtful humanity. 
 
 You will have an opportunity when at Palem- 
 bang, said the Dutch officer, to learn something 
 more definite about these creature*; and may 
 probably see some of them in the possession of 
 the old pensioned Sultan, who resides there. I 
 lid learn much more about these wild people at 
 Palembang and at Batavia, which I shall relate 
 ty the course of my narrative. 
 3 ^,v ------ * 1.1 v 
 
 CABIN OF BONES. In the Placerville A..\eri- 
 of Saturday, Aug. lf>tb, we find the follow- 
 
 ing: ; /$J& 
 
 On Weber Creek, forty-five miles east of Salt 
 ike City, is a large cabin literally filled with the 
 >nes and carcasses of animals. But how came 
 ley there ? All will remember the account we 
 'jave of a drove of cattle on their way from the 
 ites to Salt Lake, last fall, getting snowed in on 
 'the mountains, that all but two of the animals 
 and one of the men perished two men escaping 
 by taking each an animal and making the best of 
 their chances through the deep and rapidly fall- 
 ing snows to Salt Lake. 
 
 The third man, after laboring in the snow for a 
 tinn , determined on returning to the ^abin and 
 wait till relief could be sent hint, but he perish- 
 ed before it reached him. The starving cattle , 
 rushed into f,he cabin to screen themselvt -, from 
 the cold, and as they fell and died, others made 
 their way v in only to perish in their turn and 
 make room for yet others, and this T&pide"U r what 
 it will doubtless long remain the ;C*&1jfi;f' bones. 
 
 - *-'' 
 
 he cool wafts of air that 
 
 nnrls 
 
 away from the lumbering bark, that crept 
 ' ^md, with all sails set. It was sweet, y 
 r>i 'u '^'//'^ and adventurf S to sit upon 
 
RETURN BIOLOGY LIBRARY 
 
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 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FORM NO. DD4 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 
 BERKELEY, CA 94720 
 
K 
 
 Discovery of Enormous Fossil Eggs. / 
 
 The Calcutta Englishman says : The Mauri- 
 n mentions, on the authority of a Bourbon 
 ournal, that a singular discovery has been made 
 ij|.:-in Madagascar. Fossil eggs of an enormous size 
 Reave been found in the bed of a torrent. The 
 Ehells are an eighth o? an inch thick, and 'the cir- 
 !* cumference of the egg itself is two feet eight inches 
 lengthwise, and tw.o feet -two inches round the 
 '! middle. One, which has been opened, contains 
 1 eight and a half litres, or about two gallons! 
 What was to have come out of these eggs? Bird 
 I; or crocodile? The natives seem to be well ac- 
 | quainted with them, and say. that ancient traditicTn 
 | is uniform as to the former existence of a bird 
 ge enough to carry off. an ox. This is only a 
 little smaller than the roc of the oriental fable, 
 which waited patiently till he saw the elephant and ! 
 rhinoceros fighting, and then carried them of both 
 <ne swoop. Some fossil bones were found in 
 place as the eggs, but the Bourbon editor 
 3, lie will leave it to the pupils off the great 
 Cuvier to decide to what animal they belong. If 
 they should prjove to be the bones of a bird of size 
 corresponding with the eggs, the discovery will 
 , indeed be an. extraordinary m-p 
 
 THE CALIFORNIA SILK-WORM. The Saturnia Ceane- 
 thi can now be seen to advantage, in all its metamor- 
 phoses, from the cocoon, its first, to the full grown 
 caterpillar, its last state, in the grounds of the San 
 Francisco College, on Bush street, between Mason and 
 Taylor streets. There are upwards of one thousand 
 caterpillars, that will shortly be transformed into co- 
 coons and chrysalides. Those of the public who are in- 
 terested in this discovery may. on proper application to 
 the establishment named, have an opportunity to ex- 
 amine the insects. Bulletin. 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPERS. These insects have made their 
 appearance in countless numbers near this city, and are 
 consuming vegetables with great' rapidity. We have 
 been assured that many of the growing crops near the 
 Partera and Cieneguitas have already been quite des- 
 troyed by them. They appear to have a partiality for 
 young bean vines and growing grain. The dry season 
 has doubtless favored the development of the destruc- 
 tive insects. Santa Barbara Gazette. 
 
 T<:lenraplt. 
 
 a negro woman in Bibb 
 aadred and nineteen de- 
 
 ut she has been blind for six 
 
 f her descendants, as well us her- 
 iow owned by a gentleman in this coun- 
 Another heir owns fifty-two iu another coun- 
 
 le name of the woman is Sena. She was one 
 iree slaves inherited by a lady married in 
 lisville, Jefferson county, Georgia, in 1801. 
 
 a this as a fact in slave statistics from 
 1 drawn, that negroes 
 in Georgia, or "they 
 nonweo at sui li a n.to. 
 eeHf cTirioshy !> s<-v the eld bidy and 
 descendants, I will take pleasure, iu showing 
 to you, us iill live within a few hours' travel 
 of each other. 
 
 If 
 
 RespectftUI^vyours, 
 * " 
 
 rift ("reek, Bibb 
 
 BAY GALL. 
 Feb. 22, 18o7. 
 
 w yV^^Manin America. 
 
 We find. the following communication iu the 
 Cassville (Ga.) Standard, of the 20th inst. : 
 
 Mr: SmUA: A recent notice in a New York pa- 
 per makes Peter Nassau, a colored man, residing 
 at Woodstock, Vermont, the oldest man in Amen? 
 ca. He nas attained the extraordinary age of 
 hundred and twenty-six years. Albeit, in hi, 
 of short hved humanity, this appears a wonderful 
 accumulation of years-there is in 6? 
 of longevity that 
 
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