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which would perish in fresh waters. On the other hand, the faltnefs of the fea would kill many which cannot live but in fresh waters. Hot fprings, in which a perfon cannot hold his hand without being burnt, would seem to be a very improper abode for living beings; and yet there are infects found, which live and thrive in them, and die when taken elfewhere. It is well known that thefe little creatures very much dread the cold, which generally benumbs them; would one then expect to find fome in fnow? We know likewife that offenfive fmells and oily fubftances are injurious to them, yet fome inhabit the water of dunghills, in which both thefe inconveniences are united. There are even Naturalifts who pretend to have difcovered fome in fire; but I doubt the truth of their obfervations, Fire is an element which deftroys and diffolves every thing! how then fhould an infect refift its action? It is very certain that they are found both in natural and artificial liquors. The curious have perceived them in the bleedings of the vine newly drawn, in wine, in vinegar, and in infufions of every kind; a phenomenon the more furprising as the greatest part of infects have an averfion at every thing which is acid or pungent, as fome of thefe liquors are. Laftly there are amphibious infects as well as other animals. Many fpecies live equally well in water or in air. They delight to be in the vicinity of water, on the furface of which they are feen flying, and ferve for food to the animals of both elements.

The carth, both in its furface and below it, is not lefs peopled with numbers of infects than the waters. Some have no other domicile than below the furface of the earth; others may retire thither for protection against the rigours of winter; hence many derive the names which diftinguish them from other fpecies. For example, we call thofe flies, larve and fpi

K 2

ders

ders which live in the earth, land infects, to diftinguish them from others of the fame kind that live elfewhere. It is not indifferent to them what foil they make use of; they are seen seeking with anxiety for that which is fitteft for their purpofe, and there they fix. Others make vaults underground, through which they creep and walk; others content themfelves with a hole which they fabricate with wonderful art, and in which they nestie. Grafshoppers delight in a dry foil, and crickets love to dwell in walls conflructed of mud. Earth newly dug, fwarms with infects, fome of which feed on the roots of plants, and others on the earth itself. Some live only in Some live only in fandy foils, others only in that formed of rotten wood. Some lodge in the fat and putrid earth of dunghills, and find what is neceffary to life in a place which would kill other infects. In this clafs I rank flies, fome beetles, and the larvae of dunghills. Others feek their food in the excrement of animals, and are found in it both before and after its exclufion. Some put themselves under ftones which ferve them as a canopy; while others gnaw them, however hard, till they have excavated a hole in which they can lodge. Laftly they are found in vaft numbers on the furface of the earth; fuch are the land pulices, grafshoppers, millepieds, &c.

There is hardly a plant which does not nourish fome infect. Some people even affirm that each has a fpecies of infect peculiar to itfelf; but it alfo often happens that the fame plant ferves as a refidence to many fpecies of thefe little animals. Some creep in the grafs, or conftruct in it dwellings for themfelves. Others lodge about the roots of plants, or fabricate fmall apartments near them; fome laítly harbour in the bulbs of flowers.

The grafs is like a large carpet on which many

fpecies

1

fpecies of infects are found. The larvae of all forts of infects are found on the wormwood, the cabbage, the borrage, the nettle, on fennel, flax ground ivy, motherwort, chervil, mint, crefs, orach, bugiofs, melilot, anife, plaintain, and fpurge. Some lodge between the two membranes of the leaf; the under one ferves them for a bed, the upper for a covering. Others which have derived their name from the circumfiance, roll up the leaves like a cylinder; attach the different folds with a thread which they draw from themfelves, and fhut themfelves up in it. Laftly fome are found fixed on flowers. The anemone, the flowers of the wild crefs, of hyacinths, July flow. ers, larkspurs, rofes, violets &c. ferve as a habitation for many fpecies,

Nothing is fecure against the voracity of thefe importunate guests; they fpare no fort of fruit whether dry or green. They are found not only on the leaves, the ears and ftems of corn, but also in the dried grain; fuch as pease, beans, oats, &c. and in the bread made of thefe,

They mount up on fhrubs and lodge there. They delight in the hawthorn, the elder, the goofe-berry, the quince, the vine &c. Some keep themselves on the outfide of the leaves, while others penetrate within, between the two membranes, attach themfelves to the flowers or infinuate themselves into the wood itself, and there caufe fmall excrefcences.

The larger trees are worlds peopled with various fpecies ofinfects, and there is hardly a partofthem which thefe little animals do not attack. Some that have acquired the name of ambulones, do not confine themfelves to a fingle tree, but go from one to another, feemingly defirous of tafting all. Others are more conftant, and attach themselves to the root, the bark

or

or wood of the tree, and keep fixed there. The tafle of thefe laft varies. Some prefer green to rotten wood, others efteem dry wood before what is moift, and are better pleafed with thofe places in which corruption has begun, than with those that are found. Some live on the leaves of trees, as the lime, the mulberry, the alder, the willow &c. Some infinuate themfelves within the parenchyma of those leaves, and live between the two membranes which cover them, while others are the caufe of an excref cence in which they lodge. These are of many fpecies; and it is cafy to know them by the different form of the excrefcence they live in. Some make it of a round form either on the upper furface of the leaf, as thofe on the beech, or on the under furface like thofe of the oak; fome on the margins as those of the willow, others give it the figure of a cone like thofe on the lime. The flowers of trees, have likewife their inhabitants. Infects are found on thofe of the cherry, the apple, the plumb, the hazle, &c. nay, they penetrate the fruit, and spoil our apples, pears, figs, cherries, nuts, &c.

But it is not plants alone that infects chufe for their abode, they likewife effect a lodgement in animals and even in other infects. It is well known that the ichneumon flies lay their eggs in the bodies of caterpillars and fpiders where they are afterwards hatched. Before this fact was perfectly afcertained it was eafy to fall into error, and to believe that one fpecics of infects fometimes produced a fpecies different from itfelf. Can we be furprifed then that fome naturalifts fhould advance this paradox? Some are found attaching themselves to the outfide of another infect without penetrating further; thus we find a fort of lice on aquatic infects, on bees, butterflies and beetles. Serpents likewise nourish many infects. I have not yet been able to

difcover

difcover if animals covered with a hard fhell, fuch as crabs, are infefted with any fort of vermin; this is not impoffible, fince fome writers affirm that they have found fuch on fhell fifh. Oyfters are faid to have infects with many feet in them, and we fee evidently that the fhells of fea fnails and mufcles have been eaten by worms.

Fishes though living conftantly in water, and having their bodies covered with fcales, are not exempt from the infults of infects; thefe attack the most monftrous whale, as well as the fmalleft fifh. Some harbour under the fcales, as under a roof; others attach themfelves near the very eyes, and adhere fo ftrongly, that notwithstanding the rapi dity of the fith, it cannot fhake them off. Others infinuate themfelves under the ears of whales, and are there nourished; others pierce the flesh, and penetrate fo deeply, that they cannot be feen or expell ed. Some glide into the inteftines which they pervade in all directions; or fettle in the stomach.

Many authors have obferved that infects harbour in the feathers of birds; not however always in equal numbers; for in autumn, there are fewer of them than at any other feafon. The cause of this may be, that they are then fatter, and that they have imparted a good number of thefe attendants to the young they have hatched. Thofe who have the care of poultry yards, know that pullets and geefe, are attacked by vermin, and this is perhaps the reason why hawks are so tormented with them. The birds they feize, communicate thefe vermin to them which they never can afterwards rid themfelves of. If we may believe the teftimony of authors, cranes have alfo a great number of infects adhering to them. The fame is to be faid of Peacocks, and Turkies; but few birds are more cruelly infefted with them than phea

fants.

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