trees from the ravages of caterpillars, better than by carefully pruning them. By this they acquire much more fap; and, as thefe infects are not fond of a too abundant juice, they feek elfewhere a food more to their taste. If the approach of winter obliges them to gather together in the nefts which they form at the extremities of the branches, they must be taken off, before the fpring has made any progrefs.

It is poffible that thefe means may not be practicable at all times; but then, other ftratagems muft be fallen upon, to ftifle the evil in its birth. If caterpillars, ants, and other infects roam over the ground, and have not yet got upon the trees they are in fearch of, a ftratum of afhes or of chalk muft be laid at the bottom, which will obftruct their paffage. I believe this to be infallible; for befides, that they are enemies to all constraint, they would be fo embarraffed by these fubftances, that they would not be able to difengage themfelves. Twifted firaw, clay, wool and cotton, are likewife fuccefsful obitacles to their afcent. Circles of them are put round the ftem of the tree, and, if a little refinous fubftance is added to them, the tree will be out of danger. Let us change the cafe, and fuppofe that infects have alrea dy got upon the trees, plants, and bufhes, the hand mult then be employed. But, there are fome times when this is done with greater fuccefs than at others, as in the morning, the evening, and during rain. These times are preferable to any other part of the day, because coolness and humidity caufe infects ta collect together, and then they form heaps, which may be crushed at once. If, moreover, they have gained the top, and that the height prevents their being reached with the hand, the tree must be fhaken, or a pole, with rags at the end of it, employed to fweep them off. But expedients must be fuggefted by circumstances. There is not a cafe, in which

the

the induftry of man may not remedy, in whole, or in part, the injuries fuftained from infects. Some put honey in water, and place bottles, filled with the mixture, in different places: others put hollow veffels, fmooth, and varnished on the infide, among their heaps of fruit and corn. These baits have the happieft effects; the first leads infects to drown themfelves; the fecond entices them to a precipice, over which they fall into the veffel, and then may bẹ thrown into the fire, or into boiling water. Another fnare, the fuccefs of which is not lefs happy, for fecuring fruit-trees, is, to lay the trunk over with glue. The most common artifice, made ufe of againft locufts, is to dig a ditch in the ground, a yard in breadth, and as much in depth. A number of perfons are then fet to ftrike the ground from right to left, and continue to drive them, till they fall into the ditch, which is then filled up. The moft proper time for this experiment, is the period before they have got wings, or when thefe are too much wetted with the dew to be uled; otherwife, they would take flight and render the labour ineffectual.

Fresh ftraw, often renewed in a bed, is another fecret against fleas, which every body knows, and has an intereft in practifing for their own repofe: however, it is right to mention, that no perfect tranquil dity can be expected, while thefe are allowed to conceal themfelves in rough boards. The averfion they have for certain things, is a circumftance which betrays them, and furnishes us with arms for their ruin, as for that of other infects. The greater part hate fmoke; and therefore, no fooner feel it, than they fly, or are fuffocated, when they cannot avoid it in time. It is therefore probable, that fumigation is noxious to them, efpecially, if, among the burnt matters, there are any fubftances whofe (mell is dif agreeable to them; fuch as amber, orpiment, fulph

ur,

We

ur, coriander, black cumin, fcabious, garlick, wormwood, bdellium, galbanum, myrrh, ftorax, incenfe, owls feathers, bats dung, hair, horns of quadrupeds, and a number of other things of this nature. can also destroy or drive away infects, by watering the places where they are found, with quick-lime, falt diffolved in water, with dwarf elder, coloquintida, cumin, rue, and other bitter plants boiled; or, with the gall of an ox, diffolved in water. Befides fumigation and watering, there are poifons which kill infects, fuch as arfenic, orpi.nent, hellebore and pepper prepared with common water or milk. Fire and water are of themselves affiftances as fpeedy as infallible. To inundate meadows for eight and forty hours, will certainly deftroy the ants that infeft it. Boiling water, poured into their holes, not only deftroys their magazines, but their young. Fire muft be applied at the proper time, that is, when locufts and other infects are ftill in their unwinged ftate; then straw laid on the ground, and fet on fire, will effectually deftroy them. Gun powder may be ufed against flies, by being put into a piftol, without ramming it, and difcharging the piftol, when the flies are collected on fome fugar, spread on purpose, or it may be mixed with bruised fugar, and ftrowed in a line, and then fet fire to; but as thefe methods may be attended with fome danger, they are to be used with caution.

We have mentioned above, the wounds inflicted on man and other animals, by different forts of infects; we come now to the proper means of curing them. It often happens, that what caufes the disease, affords the remedy, and thus, one infect fometimes cures, the wound made by another, either by crufhing it, and applying it to the part affected, or by anointing the part with olive oil, in which a number of the fame fpecies has been infufed. Mud may alfo be ufed as a cataplafm

plasm, especially when the wound is recent; and, though it may not have the power of effecting a ra dical cure, yet it may moderate the heat of the part, and fo prevent inflammation. Some rather chufe bruifed herbs, fuch as laurel leaves, thyme, favory, marjoram, rue, and other aromatic plants; others prefer urine, with which they carefully bathe the

wound.

Mercury is of fingular effect, not only for perfons troubled with vermin, but for those whose skin, flesh and bowels are affected. This metal is prepared in three different ways; boiled in water, it ferves as an apozem; mixed with topical remedies, as an unguent; with purgatives, it becomes phyfic; and in whatever way it is used, it always produces the defired effect. Another way of curing the fame difeafe, is, to make a decoction of garlic, fcordium, lavender, laurel berries, and tamarind leaves, in which the body or parts affected are bathed. A balfam, compo. fed of oil of fpikenard and laurel, of hellebore and flowers of fulphur may be fubftituted for the former. To give them additional ftrength, little bags, filled with faffron, may be worn under the armpits, or camphor may be applied to the pit of the ftomach, not forgetting a frequent change of linen, which has paffed through a folution of falt or fea-water. For vermin, which inteft thofe parts which it is indecent to name, the shortest and most tolerable way is, to to use a balfam, made of the juice of wormwood, of fcabious, aloes, quick filver, fulphur, oil of tobacco, and dulcified mercury. For internal remedies, I advife the effence of myrrh, or the tincture of antimony, corrected with the cream of tartar, fpirit of hartfhorn, elixir proprietatis, effence of centaury, and in fhort, all thofe medecines, in which mercury is an ingredient. There are other infects, which are very troublefome, because they appear under the fkin of

children,

hildren, in the form of thick and fhort hairs or briftles, and fo cannot be got out, without irritating them. They are discovered, and the child cured. by rubbing his back oppofite to a warm ftove, or in a bath of honey and garlic. The infects come forth along with the fweat, and it is then eafy to fcrape them off with a knife, or a cruft of bread, as foon as they fhew their head. Some, instead of this bath, put the children as far as the neck into a lee, in which the dung of fowls has been boiled,and allowing them to fweat,while they excite the infects to come out, by rubbing them with their hand dipt in honey. As foon as they are seen, they are scraped off as before, and this must be continued two or three days, till no more appear. During this procefs, it is advantageous to give the patient a dofe of tincture of antimony, or effence of myrrh, and to wafh him in water, in which wormwood has been fteeped, and a fuitable quantity of aloes.

It is customary to extirpate worms from the intestines, by various forts of bitter herbs. The most in ufe are the leffer centaury, camomile, marsh trefoil, feverfew and rue; thefe are boiled in water, and the decoction drunk for fome time. Things that are fweet, prove equally efficacious with thofe that are bitter, provided they be accompanied with wormfeed, or infused in hydromel, or enclosed in an apple, a pear, a peach, in prunes, or any thing elfe that children are fond of. If they difcover repugnance or disgust, and refuse to swallow thefe, they are rubbed on them about the navel, and the friction ferves for what ought to have been taken internally. All forts of oil, however, do not anfwer this purpofe; they must be such as have a strong fiell, and are of a glutinous and bituminous quality, for example, petroleum, oil of amber, and all those which exude from the juniper, the birch, the box, or the hazel

Ii

tree.